European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD): It is an international financial institution with the mandate to promote transition towards a sustainable, open-market economy and to foster innovation. The EBRD was created in April 1991 to help Eastern European and ex-Soviet countries transition into democracies by developing free-market economies after the fall of communism. Headquarters: London. It provides project financing mainly for private enterprises, usually together with other commercial lending partners, in countries that are committed to, and apply, democratic principles. It also works with public partners to support privatization, restructuring, and improvement of municipal services. It does this by financing investments, providing business services, and getting involved in high-level policy dialogue in these countries to support the private sector development. It prioritizes support for countries in Central and West Asia, and North Africa. It focuses on advancing developmental goals in finance and policy reform. The organization also promotes environmentally sustainable development and gender equality and promises to be fully transparent. The EBRD is owned by 72 countries, the European Union and the European Investment Bank. Each shareholder is represented individually on the Board of Governors of the EBRD, which has overall authority over the Bank and is responsible for approving its overall strategic direction. India became the EBRD’s 69th shareholder when it joined the Bank in July 2018.
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): JWST was built in collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and Canadian Space Agency. It was launched in December 2021.It is the largest and most powerful space telescope to date. It orbits around a point in space called the L2 Lagrange point (a gravitationally stable location in space). It is approximately 1.5 million km beyond Earth’s orbit and is one of the five points in the orbital plane of the Earth-Sun system. It will focus on four main areas: the first light in the universe, the assembly of galaxies in the early universe, the birth of stars and protoplanetary systems, and planets (including the origins of life).Its instruments are designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range. It comprises the Optical Telescope Element (OTE), the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM), the sunshield, and the spacecraft bus. The OTE is the eye of the Observatory. It consists of the mirrors and the backplane. The OTE gathers the light coming from space and provides it to the science instruments located in the ISIM. The backplane is like the “spine” of Webb. It supports the mirrors. The ISIM contains Webb’s cameras and instruments. It integrates four major instruments and numerous subsystems into one payload. The sunshield separates the observatory into a warm sun-facing side (spacecraft bus) and a cold anti-sun side.
Pir Panjal Valley: It is a mountain range in the northern Indian Himalayas. It starts in Ramban and extends westward in the south of Jammu and Kashmir to the last extremity of Muzaffarabad District. It is rising sharply to an average elevation of more than 13,000 feet. It separates the Jammu Hills to the south from the Vale of Kashmir, beyond which lie the Great Himalayas. It separates itself from the Himalayas near the bank of the Sutlej river and forms a divide between the rivers Beas and Ravi on one side and the Chenab on the other. Six historical passes, Hajipir Pass, Gulabgarh Pass, Ratanpir Pass, Pir Panjal Pass, Banihal Pass, and Bairam Gala Pass are in this mountain range. Deo Tibba and Indrasan are two important peaks at the eastern end of the mountain range.
