29 November 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

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HysIS

Context: The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C43) successfully launched earth observation satellite HysIS and 30 foreign satellites.

HysIS:

• HysIS is an earth observation satellite built around ISRO’s Mini Satellite2 (IMS-2) bus weighing about 380kg. The mission life of the satellite is five years.
• The primary goal of HysIS is to study the earth’s surface in both the visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• Data from the satellite will be used for a wide range of applications including agriculture, forestry, soil/geological environments, coastal zones and inland waters.
• The main purpose of the HysIS is to exactly identify the objects on the surface of the earth with high precision and resolution.

Foreign satellites included-

• Australia (1), Canada (1), Columbia (1), Finland (1), Malaysia (1), Netherlands (1), Spain (1) and USA (23). The total weight of these satellites was about 261.50 kg. Satellites from Australia, Columbia, Malaysia and Spain were flown aboard PSLV for the first time.
• These foreign satellites launched are part of commercial arrangements between Antrix Corporation Limited and customers.

IN – RN exercise KONKAN-18 begins at Goa

About:

• The Bilateral KONKAN exercise provides a platform for the two Navies to periodically exercise at sea and in harbour, so as to build interoperability and share best practices.
• Naval cooperation between India (Indian Navy) and the United Kingdom (Royal Navy) is based on the long-term strategic relationship between both countries.
• The thrust of the exercise this year would be on Anti-Air Warfare, Anti-Surface Warfare, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS) and Seamanship Evolutions. Besides exercises at sea, KONKAN-2018 also encompasses professional interactions and sports fixtures.
• The inter-operability achieved over the years as a result of such exercises has proved to be operationally beneficial to both navies.

8 States achieve 100% household electrification under Saubhagya

Context: 8 States have achieved 100% saturation in household electrification under Saubhagya namely Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Bihar, J&K, Mizoram, Sikkim, Telangana and West Bengal.

Saubhagya – ‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana’ was launched in September, 2017 with the objective to provide access to electricity to all the remaining households in the country.

• The States completing 100% household electrification by 31st 2018 will also receive additional grant of 15% of the project cost (5% for special category States) sanctioned under Saubhagya.

Benefits to the Citizen:

Electricity in households has brought new light into their lives. Electrification has a direct positive impact on the quality of all aspects of daily life, especially to the women and children.

With deeper penetration of electricity network, significant improvement is expected in delivery of other essential services like education, health, communication, etc. and thereby more opportunities for economic activities leading to employment generation, increase in income and poverty alleviation.

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