NASA to launch Psyche mission (GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Why in news?
- NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is set to embark on a groundbreaking mission to explore a metal-rich asteroid, following the completion of fueling and testing procedures.
- The launch is scheduled for October 5, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Where is Psyche mission going?
- The journey to the asteroid, also named Psyche, will span nearly six years and cover approximately 3.6 billion kilometers.
- The asteroid orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter and is believed to be a remnant core of a planetesimal, composed primarily of iron-nickel metal.
- While there are no plans to mine the asteroid, studying it from orbit could provide invaluable insights into the composition of Earth's core.
DSOC Experiment:
- In addition to its primary mission, the Psyche spacecraft will also host a pioneering technology demonstration known as NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment.
- This laser communications system aims to test high-bandwidth optical communications back to Earth during the first two years of Psyche's journey.
- This experiment could revolutionise how data is transmitted across vast distances in space, potentially enhancing our ability to explore the farthest reaches of the solar system.
Way Forward:
- This mission represents a significant step forward in our understanding of the early solar system and the formation of terrestrial planets.
India’s First Lighthouse Festival
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways inaugurated the maiden edition of ‘Bharatiya Prakash Sthamb Utsav’ or Indian Lighthouse Festival at the historic Fort Aguada in Panjim, Goa.
Mandate:
- The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways is aiming to leverage the Indian Lighthouse Festival to shore up base for Public Private Partnership route to develop the historic into world class tourist destinations.
- The Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships has already identified 75 such lighthouses, and this festival is a testament to the commitment of the government to celebrate and preserve our maritime heritage.
Key highlights:
- The key highlights of India’s First Lighthouse Festival are cultural exhibitions, session highlighting maritime history and culture, classical performances, light and sound shows, melodious evenings with celebrity singers, flavours of the coast and community engagements.
Way Forward:
- The festival is aimed at rejuvenating the rich maritime history of India’s 75 iconic lighthouses and unravel the illustrious stories to the world.
House panel asks govt. to monitor activities of ESIC
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Why in news?
- The Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Labour, has asked the Union government to strictly monitor the activities of the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), so that social security benefits reach more workers.
Details:
- In a report submitted in Parliament during the Special Session, the panel reviewed the ESIC’s applicability and benefits under the Employees State Insurance Scheme (ESIS), functioning of ESI Hospitals, management of the corpus, and recommended guidelines for organising special awareness campaigns about the scheme.
Key Highlights:
- The panel said there is a need for reviewing the provisions relating to coverage, contribution, entitlement of wages, and the wage limit for coverage under the ESIS.
- With the passage of time, wages have increased and the last revision of the wage ceiling was effected from January 1, 2017. The prevailing wage limit of ₹176 per day for exemption from paying contribution was effected from September 6, 2019.
- The panel recommended the setting up of an expert committee for suggesting the changes required in the provisions so that the coverage and the number of insured persons could be increased.
- The panel expressed concern that both the Labour Ministry and the ESIC are not fully geared to provide extended coverage as envisaged under the Code on Social Security.
- The Committee are of the considered view that preparatory work for implementation of the plan of action already identified by ESIC viz. conduct of extensive surveys; collection of data from Government Departments; identification of common business identifiers for establishments by the ESIC in consultation with EPFO; use of Aadhaar for identification of members/insured persons, etc. need to be undertaken in right earnest.
Gaps:
- Considering the shortage of manpower and lack of proper infrastructure in the ESIC, the panel asked the Centre to fill up the vacancies in hospitals and dispensaries.
- The ESIC had accorded approval for initial investment starting at 5%, and gradual increase up to 15% in Exchange Traded Funds (ETF). The expansion of the ESIC requires a substantial amount of funds.
Sahara desert was once green, and wet due to Earth's orbit
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
Why in news?
- A new study has unveiled insights into the periodic greening of the Sahara Desert over the past 8,00,000 years.
- The research reveals that these North African humid periods were driven by changes in Earth's orbit around the Sun and were suppressed during ice ages.
Climate modelling study:
- The study simulated the historic intervals of 'greening' of the Sahara, providing evidence for how the timing and intensity of these humid events were influenced remotely by the effects of large, distant, high-latitude ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Historically, the Sahara was periodically vegetated, with rivers, lakes, and water-dependent animals such as hippos thriving before it became the desert we know today. These North African Humid Periods may have been crucial in providing vegetated corridors out of Africa, allowing the dispersal of various species, including early humans, around the world.
- These 'greenings' are thought to have been driven by changes in Earth's orbital conditions, specifically Earth's orbital precession. This refers to how Earth wobbles on its axis, influencing seasonality over an approximate 21,000-year cycle.
- These changes determine the amount of energy received by the Earth in different seasons, which in turn controls the strength of the African Monsoon and the spread of vegetation across this vast region.
Key observations:
- The study used a recently-developed climate model to simulate the North African Humid periods, confirming they occurred every 21,000 years due to changes in Earth's orbital precession.
- This caused warmer summers in the Northern Hemisphere, intensifying the West African Monsoon system and increasing Saharan precipitation, resulting in the spread of savannah-type vegetation across the desert.
- The research also revealed that the humid periods did not occur during the ice ages, when large glacial ice sheets cooled the atmosphere and suppressed the African monsoon system.
- This highlights a major connection between these distant regions, which may have restricted the dispersal of species, including humans, out of Africa during the glacial periods of the last 800,000 years.
Way Forward:
- The revised model successfully represents past changes and also gives confidence in their ability to understand future change.
