Artemis II Mission: NASA recently announced the crew that will fly aboard its Artemis II mission.It will be the first mission to carry humans to the moon’s vicinity since 1972.It is the second scheduled flight of the Artemis program and the first crewed Artemis mission. During Artemis II, four astronauts will fly around the moon before returning to Earth.It will use the huge Space Launch System (SLS) mega-rocket and Orion spacecraft to launch the crew on the lunar flyby mission.The astronauts and mission controllers will collect data on Orion and the crew’s performance to assess how ready the Artemis program is to send people to the moon’s surface.
National Mission for Cultural Mapping:It was launched in 2017 by the Union Ministry of Culture.Aim: To develop a comprehensive database of art forms, artists and other resources across the country.The government has identified and documented distinctive features of more than one lakh villages across the country.In this cultural asset mapping, villages have been broadly divided into seven-eight categories based on mythological ecological, developmental and scholastic importance.The Culture Ministry had approved the mission in 2017 for a period of three years.Detailed field surveys were carried out by joint teams of the Culture Ministry and the Common Services Centres (CSC), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
Exercise KAVACH:It was conducted under the aegis of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), the only Joint Forces Command in the country.It was a tri-service exercise and involved assets of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and Indian Coast Guard.Aim: To enhance operational synergy and joint warfighting capabilities among the three services.The exercise involved the synergised application of maritime surveillance assets, coordinated air and maritime strikes, air defence, submarine and landing operations.
International Finance Corporation:It was founded in 1956 with Washington, DC as its headquarters.It is a member of the World Bank Group.Mandate:Advance economic development and improve the lives of people by encouraging the growth of the private sector in developing countries.Functions: It helps countries develop their private sectors in a variety of ways.Investing in companies through loans, equity investments, debt securities and guarantees.Mobilizing capital from other lenders and investors through loan participations, parallel loans and other means.Advising businesses and governments to encourage private investment and improve the investment climate.Governance:The IFC is owned and governed by its member countries. It is a corporation whose shareholders are member governments that provide paid-in capital and have the right to vote on its matters.The President of the World Bank Group is also the President of the IFC.
Nathu La Pass: It is a mountain pass in the Himalayas in the East Sikkim district. It is situated at an altitude of 4302 m and is one of the highest motorable roads in the world.Nathu La connects the Indian state of Sikkim with China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Nathu La is one the three open trading border posts between India and China; the other two are in Himachal Pradesh (Shipkila) and Uttarakhand (Lipulekh).
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