PIB Analysis for UPSC CSE
Topics Covered
- NITI Aayog governing council
- Future ISRO missions
- Prabhakar Barwe
1 . NITI Aayog Governing Council
Context : Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will chair the fifth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog
Background
- The Governing Council reviews the action taken on the agenda items of the previous meeting and deliberates upon the future developmental priorities.
- So far, four meetings of the Governing Council have been held under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister with the Chief Ministers/ Lt. Governors of the States/ UTs and other members of NITI Aayog.
About NITI Governing Council
- The Governing Council of NITI Aayog comprises of the Prime Minister of India, Chief Ministers of all the States and Union Territories with Legislatures and Lt. Governors of other Union Territories, and other special invitees.
- It is the premier body tasked with evolving a shared vision of national development priorities, sectors and strategies with the active involvement of States in shaping the development narrative.
NITI Governing Council Meetings & Outcomes
- The First Meeting was held on 8 February 2015, at which the Prime Minister laid down the key mandates of NITI Aayog such as fostering cooperative federalism and addressing national issues through active participation of the States.The Second Meeting of the Governing Council took place on 15 July 2015.Third Meeting was held on 23 April 2017, which laid down milestones in shaping the country’s development agenda through strategy and vision documents. The Fourth meeting of the Governing Council was held on 17 June 2018 and included reviewing measures taken for doubling farmers’ income and progress made under flagship schemes such as the Ayushman Bharat, POSHAN Abhiyaan and Mission Indradhanush.
2 . Future ISRO missions
Context : ISRO Chairman Dr Sivan gave details of Chandrayaan-2, Gaganyaan, Aditya L1 and a Mission to Venus.
Chandrayaan
- The objectives of Chandrayaan-2 are:
- To map the variations in lunar surface composition extensively in order to trace back the origin and evolution of the moon.
- Focused studies on the extent of water molecule distributionon the surface, below the surface and in the tenuous lunar exosphere to address the origin of water on moon
- The mission is planned to fly on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) with an approximate lift-off mass of 3,877 kg (8,547 lb) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota Island. The launch is scheduled for 15 July 2019.
- Controlled landing of rover on the lunar surface is the most challenging task.The mission will include 8 orbiter payloads, 3 Vikram Lander payloads and 2 Pragyaan Rover Payloads. Chandrayaan-2 represents a national effort with 500 industries and 15 institutions combining to achieve the desired objectives.
Gaganyaan
- ISRO has signed an MoU with Indian Air Force for selection and training of the crew. ISRO is also actively engaged in building capacity for India’s sustained human space flight programs, with the first manned flight scheduled in or before 2022.
- This will be the Gaganyaan mission, in which selected astronauts will spend 3-7 days in the Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) of 120-400 km.
Aditya L1
- The ISRO Chairman spoke about the solar mission Aditya L1, scheduled for launch in 2020. This would aim to study Sun’s Corona and its impact on climatic changes.
Mission to Venus
- A mission to Venus has been planned for a tentative launch in 2023, with the objective to study the atmosphere and surface topography of Venus.
Space Station
- ISRO is also planning to have its own Space station in the long term.
3 . Prabhakar Barwe
Context : Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) of Culture & Tourism, Government of India inaugurated the exhibition titled “Astitva: The Essence of Prabhakar Barwe”, at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
About Prabhakar Barwe
- Prabhakar Barwe was a pioneer of Modern Indian painting.
- Influenced by the esoteric tradition of Tantric painting, Barwe along with G. R. Santosh, P. T. Reddy, K.C.S. Paniker, Biren De, Om Prakash, K. V. Haridasan, Prafulla Mohanti and Mahirwan Mamtani was considered part of the modernist movement Neo-Tantra.