4 IAF pilots named as
possible Gaganyaan crew
·
India on Tuesday announced the names of four
astronauts designates for the Gaganyaan human space flight mission to be
launched in 2025 .
·
The names of four Indian Air force (IAF ) pilots
are
Ø
1. Group captain Prasanth Balkrishanan Nair
Ø
2. Group captain Ajith Krishnan
Ø
3. Group captain Angad Pratap and
Ø
4. Wing Commander Subhanshu Shukla
were
revealed for the first time in presence of PM Narendra Modi . The candidates
has
been shortlisted
from a rigourous training.The final crew will be picked from among
four.
·
Shortlisted through rigorous selection process
they have been undergoing training in various aspects of spaceflight ,
initially in Russia and then in Astronaut Training facility established by ISRO
in Bengaluru .
·
PM Modi dedicated three technical facilities
developed at a cost of Rs.1800 crore to ISRO .
·
Gaganyaan
Mission – ISRO will display it’s human spaceflight capability for first time .
For the first time on Astronauts will be sent to slow Earth Orbit ( LEO ) for
few days and then will return to earth .
·
The
mission is expected to pave the way for a “ sustained Indian human space exploration programme “ in
the long run .
India will have its own
space station by 2035 , says PM
·
Addressing scientists at ISRO , PM Modi said
that India will have its own space
station by 2035.
·
He added that the nation will once again go to the moon by 2040 . He was referring to
plans for a crewed lunar mission by 2040 .The ISRO has Venus on its radar, he
added .
‘10,000 genome‘ project
completed , says center
·
The department of Biotechnology ( DBT) on Tuesday officially announced the
completion of ‘10,000 genome ‘ projects – an attempt to create a reference
database of whole genome sequence out of India .
·
The database will help customising drugs and
therapies .About 20 institutions across country were involved in this .
·
The Indian population of 1.3 billion consists of
over 46,00 population groups . These factors have contributed to the genetic
diversity of current population .
·
The United States, United Kingdom and China are
among the countries that have programmes to sequence at least 1,00,000 of their
genomes.
Cross voting in UP and
Himachal allows BJP to claim two extra R.S. seats
·
Rajya Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal
Pradesh went down to the wire with heavy
cross voting by Samajwadi Party and Congress MLAs .
·
In UP BJP won eight out of 10 seats that is one
more seats than expected .
·
Rajya Sabha elections are held every 2 years
after one third of seats gets vacant .
·
Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by MLAs through
single Transferable Voting ( STV ) .
In
STV MLAs has to fill their pregeraves among the candidates .
Land Reform and capital
reform in top of agenda in third term , says Sitharaman
·
In a talk with FICCI finance Minister zNitmala
Sitharaman said that Narendra Modi , if returned for a third term in office
will place all factors of production such as land , labor and capital on “ top
of their agenda” along with “ 21 st
century factors “ such as digital
infrastructure , in the pursuit to make India world’s third largest economy .
Former SC judge A.M
Khanwilkar is Lokpal chairperson
·
The post was vacated by Pinaki Chandra
Ghose after completion of his term in 2022 .
‘HCES full result to be out
by June ‘
·
The center will release the complete findings of
the Housing Consumption and Expenditure Survey ( HCSE ) in June after the
election results are out .
·
The recently released data had shown Monthly Per
Capita Consumption Expenditure ( MPCE ) sliced across income classes urban and
rural .
At WTO India asserts food
subsidies for developing nations .
·
India has emphasized a comprehensive agreement
on fisheries subsidies being negotiated at the 13 th WTO Ministerial Conference
in Abu Dhabi .
·
India said that it must be built on the principle of Common but
differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities ( CBDR – RC ). It
must incorporate special and Differential Treatment ( S&DT ) ,to protect
the livelihood and growth of the fishing community in developing countries .
·
WTO in
2022 brought an Agreement on Fishery subsidy . The agreement talks of
reducing certain types of fishery subsidy .
·
Overfishing
is a major problem harming Life under water and fishery subsidies promote
overfishing .
·
India and
some developing countries have not signed the agreement citing that it is not
in favor of their fishermen who are already facing problems .
World
EU wary as Macron hints
at western troops in Ukraine
·
After a meeting with EU leaders French President
Emanual Macron said that “ everything
that is necessary “ must be doen to ensure to defeat the Russia including
depliyig of troops to fight alongside Ukriane.
·
Nothing
should be ruled out . We will do whatever it takes to ensure , Russia cannot
win this war “ .
·
However other leaders present such as Swedish ,
Sloavaks and German leaders denied that there was any plan to send EU ,NATO
troops to Ukriane .
Israel is ready to
pause it’s war in Gaza during Ramzan :
Biden
·
US
President Joe Biden talking to NBC signalled that there can be a ceasefire from
Israeli side from the beginning of Ramzan .
·
“ Ramzan is coming up and there is an
agreement with Israelis that they would
not engage in activities during Ramzan as well , in order to give us time to
get all the hitages out . “ said Mr. Biden .
·
Israeli officials however said that Mr. Biden
comment came as a surprise and were not made in coordination with country’s
leadership .Hamas too has downplayed any progress in talk with Israel
.Negotiators from the US, Egypt , Qatar have been working to broker a plan that
would result in release of Israeli hostages ,a six week of truce , and
increased aid to Gaza .
Text / Context
Why science needs sustainable funding
·
National Science Day is celebrated every year on
Fabruary 28 .
·
The theme for science day this year is “
science for sustainable development ,” . Science and Technology are key drivers
of India’s journey towards becoming a developed country by 2047 .
·
India is committed to making this progress
through sustainable means .
India’s spending on Research and
Development ( R&D )
·
Currently India’s funding to R&D stands 0.64
% of GDP .This is decline from recent years which stood nearly 0.8% .Still this
is very low .
·
Most developed countries on an average spend 2
to 4% of their respects GDPs on science and development ..
How India can Improve
R&D funding
·
India needs to consistently spend 3% of it’s GDP
on R&D till 2047 to get the desired results
·
One of the major challenge with India is that
here funding from Private sector is low .In 2020 – 21 , Private sector
contributed 36.4%, whereas Union govt share was 43.7 % .
·
In developed countries and average 70 % comes
from private sector .The reason for low private investment in R& D can be
ragulatory roadmap , lack of clear exit options for investors in sectors such
as biotech and fear of IP theft .
What does sustainable
funding entail ?
·
In the latest budget Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman indicated that govt would like more R&D funding from the private
sector .
·
This will require political prioritization under
concerned ministries , clear regulatory roadmap , rebates in FDI and taxation
among others .
