MOSAIC expedition
- The MOSAiC mission stands for Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate is spearheaded by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany.
- It is the largest ever Arctic expedition in history.
- It will be the first to conduct a study of this scale at the North Pole for an entire year.
- Objectives – To parameterize the atmospheric, geophysical, oceanographic and all other possible variables in the Arctic, and use it to more accurately forecast the changes in our weather systems.
- It will help the researchers better understand the impact of climate change and aid in improved weather projections.
Acceptance Development Fund
- RBI has proposed to set up an ‘Acceptance Development Fund’ to develop debit and credit card acceptance infrastructure in the country.
- The fund will be used to ensure the growth of card acceptance infrastructure such as swipe machines, particularly in Tier III and Tier IV cities.
- The framework will be operationalised by December 2019.
CLASS
- CLASS (Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer) an instrument on Chandrayaan-2 which is to detect the presence of key elements like Sodium (Na), Calcium (Ca), Aluminium (Al), Iron (Fe), etc. on the lunar surface.
- According to ISRO, the intensity of these
charged particles (believed to be mostly electrons) changed as much as ten
times the levels outside the Geotail.The Geotail region exists as a result of
the interactions between the Sun and Earth.
Nomadic Elephant-14
The 14th edition of India-Mongolia joint military exercise is being held from 5th to 18th October at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh.
- It aimed at training troops in counter insurgency & counter terrorism operations under United Nations mandate.
- The joint exercise will enhance defense co-operation and military relations between the two nations. It is an ideal platform for the armies of both the nations to share their experiences & best practices and gain mutually during the joint training.
Department of Investment and Public Asset Management
- The Department of Disinvestment was one of the Departments under the Ministry of Finance. It was renamed as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) from 14th April, 2016.
- The mandate of the Department is as follows:
- All matters relating to the management of Central Government investments in equity including disinvestment of equity in Central Public Sector Undertakings.
- All matters relating to the sale of Central Government equity through offer for sale or private placement or any other mode in the erstwhile Central Public Sector Undertakings.
Strategic Disinvestment
- Disinvestment means the dilution of stake of the Government in a public enterprise.
- Strategic disinvestment is transferring the ownership and control of a public sector entity to some other entity (mostly to a private sector entity).
- Unlike the simple disinvestment, strategic sale implies some sort of privatization.