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Daily Current Capsules - 17th JUNE 2019


NITI Aayog
Fifth Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about NITI Aayog and about governing council ) + Mains ( GS III economic developments + GS II government interventions and policies)
What's the NEWS

  • PM Modi chaired the fifth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted that the goal of making India a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024 is "challenging, but achievable" with the concerted efforts of states.

Know! more about the governing council and meeting outcome

  • The Governing Council is a platform to discuss inter-sectoral, inter-departmental and federal issues to accelerate the implementation of the national development agenda in the spirit of "Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat".
  • The Vice Chairman, Members, CEO and senior officers of the NITI Aayog will take part in the proceedings of the Governing Council meeting
  • The NITI Aayog Governing Council reviews the action taken on the agenda of the previous meeting and deliberates upon the future priorities and issues.

The agenda of this Fifth Meeting of the Governing Council focused on :

  • Rain-Water Harvesting
  • Drought Situation
  • Achievements and Challenges of Aspirational Districts Programme
  • Structural Reforms on Transforming Agriculture with special emphasis on: Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act & Essential Commodities Act (ECA)
  • Security related issues with specific focus on LWE Districts

Know! more about NITI Aayog Governing Council & its meeting

  • The Governing Council is the central body tasked to engage with States in shaping their development narrative and evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, sectors and strategies.
  • The Governing Council of NITI Aayog is comprised of:
  1. Prime Minister
  2. Chief Ministers & Lt. Governors of all the States and Union Territories
  3. Other special invitees

 

  • The Governing Council is a platform to discuss inter-sectoral, inter-departmental and federal issues to accelerate the implementation of the national development agenda in the spirit of "Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat".
  • So far, four meetings of the Governing Council have been held under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Modi.
  • The First Meeting was held on February 8, 2015 which saw laying down of the key mandates of NITI Aayog such as fostering cooperative federalism and addressing national issues.

Space Awareness
Spitzer Space Telescope to retire in 2020
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Spitzer space telescope ) + Mains ( GS III awareness in the field of space)
What's the NEWS

  • Spitzer space telescope of NASA will be retired on January 30, 2020, confirmed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said in a statement.
  • Spitzer is going to shut down permanently after about 16 years of exploring the cosmos in infrared light. By 2020, Spitzer space telescope will have operated for more than 11 years beyond its prime mission.
  • It was launched in January 1983 as Infrared Astronomical Satellite, jointly developed by the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, to conduct the first infrared survey of the sky.

Know! more about Spitzer

  • Spitzer is a small but transformational observatory. It captures infrared light, which is often emitted by 'warm' objects that are not quite hot enough to radiate visible light.
  • Spitzer lifted the veil on hidden objects in nearly every corner of the universe, from a new ring around Saturn to observations of some of the most distant galaxies known.
  • In 2017, the telescope revealed the presence of seven rocky planets around the TRAPPIST-1 star.
  • In some cases, Spitzer's observations were combined with observations by other missions, including NASA's Kepler and Hubble space telescopes.

Know! more about Spitzer mission

  • Spitzer's highly sensitive instruments allow scientists to peer into cosmic regions that are hidden from optical telescopes, including dusty stellar nurseries, the centers of galaxies, and newly forming planetary systems.
  • Spitzer's infrared eyes also allows astronomers see cooler objects in space, like failed stars (brown dwarfs), extrasolar planets, giant molecular clouds, and organic molecules that may hold the secret to life on other planets.

What's after Spitzer

  • NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, set to launch in 2021, which will study the universe in many of the same wave-lengths observed by Spitzer.
  • It is a large, space-based observatory, optimized for infrared wavelengths, which will complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope.

ISRO to launch own space station by 2030
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about ISRO recent announcements and other upcoming missions) + Mains ( GS III awareness in the field of space)
What's the NEWS

  • ISRO, in one of its most ambitious projects, is planning to launch its own space station by 2030. The announcement was made by ISRO Chairman K Sivan. The project will enable ISRO to send more astronauts to space.

Know! more about the recent announcement

  • The ISRO Chairman clarified that India will not join the International Space Station (ISS) but instead build its own.
  • The full details of the mission will be revealed after the successful completion of India's first manned space mission - Gaganyaan.
  • The construction of India's own space station will be an extension of the Gaganyaan project.
  • India's space station is going to be very small. ISRO will launch a small module and that will be used for carrying out microgravity experiments. ISRO is not thinking of space tourism by planning a space station.

Know! more about India's own Space Station

  • The proposal for the space station will first be sent to the central government for approval after India's first Gaganyaan mission by 2022.
  • The execution of the space station programme is expected to take around 5-7 years time.
  • The weight of ISRO's own space station is likely to be 20 tonnes. It will be used to conduct microgravity experiments.
  • The initial plan of ISRO is to accommodate astronauts for 15-20 days in space. The space station is expected to be placed at an orbit of 400 km above the earth.
  • This mission will enhance India's space activity as the station would function as an independent facility in space.

Know! about space station

  • A space station is like a habitable artificial satellite that is designed to remain in space and is capable of being inhabited by crew members for an extended period of time.
  • The space station also enables other spacecraft to dock on it for re-stocking of supplies and for the to and fro of astronauts from the earth.
  • Presently, there is only one fully functional space station in the Earth's lower orbit, the International Space Station.

Know! about ISS

  • The International Space Station was built in partnership between the space agencies of the United States (NASA), European countries (ESA), Japan (JAXA), Canada (CSA) and Russia (Roscosmos).
  • The ISS is the world's largest international cooperative programme in science and technology. It is also the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit and can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth.
  • The space station's first component was launched into space in 1998 and the first long-term crew members arrived on it on November 2000, and since then, it has been inhabited continuously.
  • The space station comprises pressurised habitation modules, structural trusses, solar arrays, radiators, docking ports, experiment bays and robotic arms. The ISS components were launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets and American Space Shuttles.
  • It serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology and other fields.
  • The space station orbits the Earth in roughly 92 minutes and completes 15.5 orbits per day. The station is expected to operate until 2030.

Know! other upcoming ISRO projects

  • ISRO would first be launching its second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2 on July 15. ISRO aims to land the mission near the south pole of the moon, where no other nation has attempted to land before.
  • It would be followed by a mission to the Sun- Aditya-L1 in the first half of 2020. The Aditya L1 mission will study the corona of the Sun, which is the outermost part of its atmosphere. According to scientists, the corona has a major impact on climate change.
  • ISRO is also planning an interplanetary mission to Venus, which is expected to be launched in the next 2-3 years. The mission will be a collaboration between India and France.

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