- Noor-3 Satellite: It is an imaging satellite developed by Iran. It is a satellite with potential spying capabilities, boosting Iran’s abilities in space.It has been put in an orbit 450 kilometers (280 miles) above the Earth’s surface. It was launched by the three-stage Qased, or messenger carrier. The spacecraft’s two predecessors, Noor-1 and Noor-2, launched in April 2020 and March 2022, respectively, also atop Qased rockets. Noor-1 fell back to Earth in April 2022, but Noor-2 remains operational and may work in concert with Noor 3 when the latter satellite comes online. The launch was carried out by the aerospace arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The Guard operates its own space program parallel to Iran’s regular armed forces and answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It launched its first satellite into space in April 2020 (Noor-1).
- Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM): It is an independent body constituted to give advice on economic and related issues to the Government of India, specifically to the Prime Minister. It was set up for the first time in September 2017 with a term of two years. These could be either suo-motu or on reference from the Prime Minister or anyone else. EAC-PM is headed by a Chairperson and consists of eminent economists as members. It is supported in its functions by a team of officials and administrators. There is no fixed definition of the exact number of members and staff of the EAC-PM. It is common for the Council to be reconstituted time and again with different organizational structures headed by various economists who are of recognized international eminence. For administrative, logistic, planning, and budgeting purposes, the NITI Aayog serves as the nodal agency for the EAC-PM.
- Sankalp Saptah’: It is linked to the effective implementation of the Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP).To implement the ABP and prepare an effective block development strategy, “chintan shivirs (brainstorming sessions)” were organized at village and block levels across the country. The Sankalp Saptah is the culmination of these chintan shivirs.
Sankalp Saptah will be observed in all 500 aspirational blocks.Each day in Sankalp Saptah will be dedicated to a specific development theme on which all aspirational blocks will work.The themes for the first six days are “Sampoorna Swasthya”, “Suposhit Parivar”, “Swachhta”, “Krishi”, “Shiksha”, and “Samridhi Diwas”.The last day of the week will be a celebration of the work conducted during the entire week, as “Sankalp Saptah – Samavesh Samaroh”.The inaugural programme will witness the participation of about 3,000 panchayat and block-level people’s representatives and functionaries from across the country at the Bharat Mandapam.
- CRIIIO 4 GOOD Initiative: It is a new online life skills learning module. It consists of series of 8 cricket-based animation films to promote gender parity, equip girls with life skills and encourage their participation in sports. Using the popularity and passion of cricket young audiences, ICC and UNICEF released these modules to inspire children and youth to adopt critical life skills and appreciate the importance of gender equality. The programme is in three languages: English, Hindi and Gujarati.
The themes of the eight modules are: leadership, problem-solving, confidence, decision-making, negotiation, empathy, teamwork and goal setting and are visualized through state-of-the-art animation using cricketing examples. The programme was launched in association with the International Cricket Council, UNICEF, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
