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Rarely do the literal and the figurative blend together so effectively. They did evening as the Chandrayaan-3 landed gently on the lunar surface: India was over the moon.
Scripting history and defining the finest moment till date of the Indian space programme, the Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module touched down on the Moon, near its south pole, at 6.04 pm after 17 minutes of powered descent, becoming the first spacecraft to land in the unexplored lunar region, believed to be a reservoir of frozen water key to future space missions.
We have achieved a soft-landing on the Moon. India is on the Moon, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath announced, triggering applause and celebrations not just among scientists who had gathered in hundreds at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Centre in Bengaluru, but across the nation with millions glued to TV sets for the final descent.
In a feat hailed by space agencies and leaders from across the world, India became only the fourth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon — after the erstwhile Soviet Union, United States and China — just three days after a failed attempt by Russia’s Luna-25 mission.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had joined via a video link from Johannesburg where he is attending the BRICS Summit, said, “This achievement of the Chandrayaan lunar missions will take India much further than the Moon. We will test the limits of our solar system and will work towards realising the possibilities of space exploration for the benefit of humankind.”
Next mission to moon is with Japanese more of Chandrayaan (Page no. 3)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
With Chandrayaan-3 successfully landing on the Moon’s surface, decks have been cleared for ISRO to unveil the next stage of its lunar exploration programme.
As of now, ISRO is preparing for one more lunar mission, this one in collaboration with Japanese space agency, JAXA. This mission, called LUPEX, or Lunar Polar Exploration, is slated for 2024-25. But there would be more in the Chandrayaan series as well.
“Of course, the Chandrayaan programme will not end with Chandrayaan-3. We have landed now. But there are many more things to do. It is natural to expect follow-up missions Chandrayaan-4, Chandrayaan-5 and so on.
Those plans can be expected to be revealed soon,” said Mylswamy Annadurai, the mission director of Chandrayaan-1 that was launched in 2008.
In fact, if Chandrayaan-2 had succeeded in landing, Chandrayaan-3 would have been a sample return mission. Now, maybe Chandrayaan-4 will be the sample return mission whenever it is planned. That is the next logical step to a lander and rover mission.
A sample return mission involves a spacecraft that can collect samples from the Moon’s surface and return to Earth. A returning spacecraft, and that too from the surface of the Moon and not just from space, adds several newer levels of complexity to a lander and rover mission. China did a sample return mission with Chang’e-5 in 2020.
India on the moon
Success will inspire private space industry to push on innovation (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
While Chandrayaan-3 mission has got the entire country excited, for a fast-emerging entrepreneur class in the private space industry in India, the mission’s success is closely tied to their growth and success too.
Srinath Ravichandran is the co-founder of Agnikul Cosmos, which makes launch vehicles and launch systems. Agnikul is preparing to launch its first rocket, Agnibaan, from its own launchpad at the ISRO launch facility in Sriharikota. Srinath is an electrical and aerospace engineer, and was a Wall Street trader before he started Agnikul in 2016.
Pawan Kumar Chandana is co-founder of Skyroot, which makes rockets for launching small satellites to Low-Earth orbits.
Last year, Skyroot tested its first rocket, Vikram-S. It was the first private rocket launch in India. Chandana, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, worked with ISRO before starting his own company.
Prateep Basu is CEO of Satsure, which aims to offer satellite-based space data and solutions for specific applications in agriculture, infrastructure, climate change and financial inclusion sectors.
Basu is a product of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and has worked with ISRO for about three years.
Stamp of labs founded by Sarabhai in lander eyes, rover’s curiosity (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Space Applications Centre (SAC) of ISRO and Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) have made crucial contributions to the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which landed close to the unexplored lunar south pole. Both institutions were founded in Ahmedabad by Dr Vikram Sarabhai, father of India’s space programme.
ISRO SAC played a crucial role in the landing process. It has developed a number of sensors on board the lander, including the hazard detection and avoidance camera and processing algorithm.
SAC has developed eight camera systems for the Chandrayaan-3 mission, four of which are on board the lander, and one on the rover. Three other cameras on the lander played a crucial role in the landing.
An ISRO image of the Chandrayaan-3 landing site taken after touchdown. One of the four legs of the lander is visible on the right
ISRO SAC director Nilesh Desai told The Indian Express, “the Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) will give the lander position while it is coming down, giving us the details of longitude and latitude during the 30-kilometre descent to the lunar ground.
The other two cameras will take pictures in real time while it is landing and correlate with stored images to find out if the landing is taking at the right place and adjust the track of the lander accordingly, so that it lands on the decided landing site.”
Express Network
2 Indian languages for classes 9-10, 1 for classes 11-12: NCF (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Education)
In a significant departure from the draft proposals released for public feedback in April this year, the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), released by the Centre, mandates teaching of three languages, including two Indian languages, in classes 9-10, and two languages, including one Indian language, in class 11-12.
The final version of the NCF has also dialled down on the emphasis on immediate transition from annual to semester system in class 12.
According to sources, several states objected to this proposal as they were not ready for the transition, given the infrastructural challenges — in terms of teaching and assessment – the shift to the semester system would have posed. The final NCF now states that “in the long term”, all boards should change to semester or term-based systems.
The final framework reiterates the draft document’s recommendation on holding the class 12 board exam twice a year. Board exams will be offered at least twice a year to ensure students have enough time and opportunity to perform well. Students can then appear for a board exam in subjects they have completed and feel ready for. They will also be allowed to retain the best score.
The mandate of teaching two Indian languages in classes 9-10 and one Indian language in classes 11-12 was included following “extensive feedback” from as many as 4,000 organisations in the past three months.
It is learnt that RSS-affiliated organisations had expressed dissatisfaction over the draft NCF not laying emphasis on Indian languages, especially in classes 11-12.
Article 370 was never intended to be permanent: SC (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
The reference to Article 1, a permanent feature of the Constitution of India, in Article 370 is “a clear indicator” that the latter was “never intended to be permanent”, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, presiding over a five-judge Constitution bench, made the remarks while hearing arguments on petitions challenging changes made to Article 370 and reorganisation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.
Article 1 is a permanent feature of the Constitution. What was the reason for Art 370(1) to contain a specific reference that Article 1 shall apply? Article 1 was in any case applicable. That’s an embedded part of the Constitution,” the CJI said as senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan was making submissions opposing the changes to Article 370.
On why a reference to Article 1 was introduced in Article 370, the CJI said that “during the interim period, when there was a power to modify provisions of the Constitution — those relatable to the Instrument of Accession (IoA) with consultation, those not relatable to the IoA with concurrence — there would have been a doubt whether Article 1 could also have been modified with concurrence. So the object of putting that in Article 370 was to redouble the Constitutional statement that Article 1 is a permanent feature of the Constitution.
Indigenous ASTRA missile tested from Tejas (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas successfully fired the ASTRA indigenous Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile off the coast of Goa, a day after IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari reviewed the status of the LCA programme in Air Headquarters.
A defence ministry statement said the missile release was successfully carried out from the aircraft at an altitude of about 20,000 ft. “All the objectives of the test were met and it was a perfect text book launch.
ASTRA is a state-of-the-art BVR air-to-air missile to engage and destroy highly maneuvering supersonic aerial targets. It is designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and other laboratories of DRDO.
The test launch was monitored by the Test Director and scientists of Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) along with officials from Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) and Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DG-AQA), the statement said, adding that the aircraft was also monitored by a Chase Tejas twin-seater aircraft.
Complimenting all agencies involved in the successful launch of the missile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the launch would significantly enhance the combat prowess of Tejas and reduce the dependency on imported weapons.
Editorial
To the moon and forward (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
By landing on the moon, ISRO has reached a very important milestone. This is also the beginning of a new phase involving very different kinds of work related to the exploration of the moon.
We need to understand the surface, the atmosphere and what is beneath the surface. There are lots of unknowns, lots of hows, whats and whys.
On earth, and even in its oceans, it is relatively easy to answer some of these hows and whats – the whys can sometimes be difficult even here.
In space, and on the moon, these are terribly difficult, at least at the present level of our understanding and technology.
The current round of lunar missions is often seen in terms of resource utilisation and extraction. It is a legitimate aspiration, and will possibly become a reality in a few years. But for that to happen, a lot of work needs to be done.
Let’s suppose we have to dig the surface to get to a resource material. Now, how do we implement that digging without knowing the elemental composition of the surface mineral composition, the strength of the soil, or the power complexities that the digging extraction tool will require? It is these kinds of studies that will have to be undertaken.
The current studies we are embarking on are the first steps towards achieving this goal. China, which has managed to land there already, is carrying out such studies. ISRO will have to join the efforts. Other countries, when they come, would also contribute.
Explained
ISRO arc to future: Aryabhatta to chandrayaan 3 and beyond (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Chandrayaan-3 lander made a successful soft landing on the surface of the Moon a little after 6 pm on Wednesday, making India the first country to reach close to the lunar south pole. India has also become the fourth nation in history to land on the lunar surface, after the United States, the erstwhile Soviet Union, and China.
As the nation celebrates the biggest breakthrough of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), here is a look at the previous notable milestones of the space agency through three of its major programmes: satellites, launch vehicles, and planetary exploration.
The launch of the Aryabhata satellite on April 19, 1975, marked India’s entry into the space era. Built to conduct experiments in X-ray astronomy, aeronomics, and solar physics, the 360 kg spacecraft was entirely designed and fabricated by ISRO.
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi named it after the legendary fifth-century mathematician and astronomer, choosing Aryabhata ahead of ‘Mitra’, to signify the friendship between the Soviet Union and India, and ‘Jawahar’.
Economy
G20 Jaipur meet: India to seek revival of WTO dispute resolution mechanism (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India is seeking re-establishment of the dysfunctional dispute resolution mechanism under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) based on the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’ along with a push towards consensus-based decision making as it sets the stage to discuss trade and investment issues during the two-day G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting beginning in Jaipur.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal Wednesday said India is confident that the ministerial meeting will yield a “concrete actionable outcome” which will help the world withstand future shocks and invoked a “Jaipur Call for Action” with support of G20 member countries to promote industry, MSMEs and expansion of trade.
Goyal said that there has been convergence on major issues in trade ministerial meetings among member G20 countries but acknowledged that there are some realities on which there is “no possibility of a consensus” — referring to the Russia-Ukraine war.
There is a good understanding between the member countries… but there are some realities (Russia-Ukraine conflict) on which there is no possibility of a consensus, agreeing on that is naturally not a possibility because it is a real situation. Barring this, we are trying to build a consensus on all the remaining priorities,” he said.
High inflation still a challenge: Das (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Admitting that the July inflation number was higher than the Reserve Bank of India’s estimates, Governor Shaktikanta Das Wednesday said the high inflation continues to remain a challenge that must be addressed effectively.
He said vegetable inflation, which led to a spike in consumer price index (CPI) inflation in July, will begin easing from September.
Retail inflation or CPI rose to a 15-month high of 7.44 per cent in July from 4.81 per cent in June. The government has mandated the central bank with keeping CPI at 4 per cent, with a comfort band of +/- 2 per cent.
The challenge of high inflation still persists and has to be effectively addressed. After reaching a low of 4.3 per cent in May 2023, headline inflation has risen to 7.4 per cent in July driven by the surge in tomato and other vegetable prices. The July print which was released after the MPC meeting was on the higher side compared to our estimates,” Das said while delivering a speech at the 29th Lalit Doshi Memorial Lecture.
RBI announced its monetary policy decision on August 10 and the CPI inflation print was released on August 14. In the monetary policy, The central bank left the repo rate — the rate at which it lends money to banks to meet their short-term funding needs — unchanged at 6.5 per cent for the third time in a row amid concerns over rising inflation. It revised its FY24 CPI inflation projection to 5.4 per cent from an estimate of 5.1 per cent announced in June.