1. Chandrayan-III
- The Chandrayaan-3 is the successor to the Chandrayaan-2 mission and it is an attempt for another soft-landing on the lunar surface.
- It will be almost a repetition of the July 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission in the configuration of spacecraft, the landing spot on the moon and the experiments to be conducted on the lunar surface.
- So far, no other agency has landed in the southern hemisphere of the moon. ISRO hopes to be the first to do so.
- The mission will be launched in august 2022.
- Chandrayaan 2 was India’s second mission to the moon. It aims to explore the Moon’s south polar region.
- There are three components of the mission, an orbiter, a lander and a rover.
- The rover is named Pragyan.
- The mission’s lander is named Vikram after DrVikram A Sarabhai, the Father of the Indian Space Programme.
2. Unseeing the Real Problem
Budget 2022 has assured a move towards an ‘amrit kaal’ till 2047. However, the budget does little to meet the needs of farmers and other rural citizens.
Issues:
- The announcement of statutory guarantee for MSP was one of the key demands made by the farmers which was not dealt with.
- Other demands including abolition of GST on ingredients supplementing agricultural activities like power tiller, insecticides, pesticides, fertilizer, tractor, have also been ignored.
- Some of the measures announced in the budget like linking of rivers and emphasis on millets are futuristic in scope, and offer no immediate benefit to farmers reeling under the impact of COVID-19.
- Even the allocation of ₹2.37 lakh crore towards procurement of wheat and paddy under MSP was less than the ₹2.42 lakh crore announced in 2021.
Government’s arguments:
- The river-linking programme under which Rs 60,000 crore have been allocated for Ken-Betwa project will go a long way in meeting the irrigation needs of farmers.
- Rs 68,000 crore has been provisioned in the Budget for direct assistance to farmers under the Kisan Samman Nidhi.
- Farmers will also be provided with ‘Kisan Drones’, which will help them efficiently handle their crops.
- All the villages of the country will soon be connected with optical fibre cable which will take high-speed internet to the villages.
3. Not so Healthy
Budget’s contribution to healthcare:
- In 2022-23, the Budget has a 16% increase compared to 2021-22 Budget estimate in healthcare sector.
- Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission to support wellness centres, setting up of integrated public health labs, and critical care hospital blocks in districts with a population of more than 5 lakh.
- National tele-mental health programme- to deal with mental health issues which rose significantly during Covid.
- Open platform for the national health ecosystem: digital ecosystem will comprise an exhaustive list of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity, consent framework and universal access to health facilities.
Issues:
- Healthcare is currently pegged at 1.8 per cent of the GDP and the push in the budget appears very small.
- During the pandemic the unorganised middle class was caught without adequate (or even any) health insurance- One of the biggest expectations from the budget was that the lower end of the “missing middle” would get some handholding.
- There was an expectation that Ayushman Bharat would be expanded to cover the outpatient costs faced by the poor.
- There is a need to address the crisis of non-communicable diseases — hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases largely caused by unhealthy lifestyles.
- Budget speech did not mention if the mental health strategy will focus on all psychological problems or only those that have arisen in the wake of Covid. Many mental health conditions encompass disorders that are not amenable to teleconsultation.
Way forward:
While the budget has provided some financial leg up to the National Health Mission and more to the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana but the health sector outlay leaves many expectations unfulfilled.
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