Mission 2018-2019

NISAR

• NISAR stands for NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar Mission
• Aims to study the hazards and global environmental changes
• Slated to launched in 2020-21
• NISAR is a dual frequency (L & S Band) Radar Imaging Satellite. It will be the first radar imaging satellite to use dual frequency.
• Will be launched in a Sun Synchronous Low -Earth
• It is designed to observe and take measurements of some of the planet’s most complex processes, including ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, and natural hazards such as earth quakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides.
• The satellite is likely to be launched from India aboard an Indian launch vehicle.
• Applications:
• NISAR would provide info about a place more frequently. For Ex. If the present satellite takes 23 to 25 days to revisit a particular spot and give the next round of info about it, NISAR would provide the repeat info in two to five days.
• Objectives:
• Estimation of soil moisture
• Agriculture and forest biomass
• Estimation of glacier
• Snow and possibility of landslide

Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY)

Ministry/Department : Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

Objective: To correct regional imbalances in the availability of affordable/ reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.

Scheme:

• Started in 2003
• It has two components
• setting up of AIIMS like institutions and
• upgradation of Government medical college institutions.

Purchasing Managers Index

• The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is an indicator of the economic health of the manufacturing sector.
• The PMI is based on five major indicators:
• New orders,
• Inventory levels,
• Production,
• Supplier deliveries and
• Employment environment.
• The purpose of the PMI is to provide information about current business conditions to company decision makers, analysts and purchasing managers.

Vice President Elections

• Election is held through a secret ballot
• Electoral College consists of all members of both house of Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha).
• Proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote is used.
• The nominated Members of Rajya Sabha as well as of Lok Sabha are also eligible in this election.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

• ETFs are Index Funds
• An ETF is a basket of stocks that reflects the composition of an Index, like S&P CNX Nifty or BSE Sensex.
• They are listed and traded on exchanges like stocks.
• They enable investors to gain broad exposure to entire stock markets in different Countries and specific sectors with relative ease, on a real-time basis and at a lower cost than many other forms of investing.
• ETFs trading value is based on the net asset value of the underlying stocks that it represents
• They are similar to mutual funds in a certain manner but are more liquid as they can be sold quickly on stock exchanges like shares.

Why in news?

Finance Ministry has launched Bharat 22, an ETF. Bharat 22 comprise of 22 stocks including those of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), public sector banks (PSBs) and its holdings under the Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI). It will help to speed up Government’s disinvestment programme budgeted to raise a record Rs 72,500 crore in the FY 2018.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

• This is an international financial institution
• It aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia Pacific region
• It is an initiative of government of China
• Started operation in 2016
• HQ : Beijing, China
• 56 members (More are expected to join)
• The capital of the bank is $100 billion, equivalent to 2/3 of the capital of the Asian Development Bank and about half that of the World Bank
• China will remain the biggest shareholder in the bank (India second largest), and the shares of non-Asian countries will be restricted to 25% of the total
• China is the largest shareholder with 26.06% voting shares. India is the second largest shareholder with 7.5% voting shares followed by Russia (5.93%) and Germany (4.5%)
• The purpose of the multilateral development bank is to provide finance to infrastructure projects in the Asia Pacific region.
• AIIB is regarded by some as a rival for the IMF, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which the AIIB says are dominated by developed countries like the United States and Japan
• AIIB will concentrate on infrastructure
• Critics (such as the US) warn that the China-led bank may fail to live up to the environmental, labour and procurement standards that are essential to the mission of development lenders. China says the AIIB will adopt international best practises. The UK, Germany, and France have now decided to join in as founding members, drawing protests from the USA

Measles-rubella Disease

• The disease is commonly known as German Measles (or three-day measles) and is symptomatically similar to measles.
• It can have devastating consequences if a pregnant mother is infected with it and the foetus may be born with incurable congenital anomalies.
• Symptoms of the infection can include cataracts and deafness.
• It can also affect the heart and the brain.
• The congenital rubella infection is believed to affect approximately 25,000 children born in India every year.
• Measles vaccine is currently provided under Universal Immunization Programme (UIP). However, rubella vaccine will be a new addition to it.

What is Measles?

Measles is a deadly disease and one of the important causes of death in children. It is highly contagious and spreads through coughing and sneezing of an infected person. It can make a child vulnerable to life threatening complications such as diarrhoea, pneumonia and brain infection.

What is Rubella?

Rubella is generally a mild infection, but has serious consequences if infection occurs in pregnant women, causing CRS, which is a cause of public health concern. CRS is characterized by congenital anomalies in the foetus and newborns affecting the eyes (cataract, glaucoma), ears (hearing loss), brain (mental retardation, microcephaly) and heart defects, causing a huge socio-economic burden on the families in particular and society in general.