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What’s NASA’s new satellite CAPSTONE?
CAPSTONE, NASA’s recently launched satellite, will test a new lunar orbit that will be used for future missions.
NASA launched CAPSTONE on Wednesday, a microwave oven-sized CubeSat weighing just 55 pounds (25 kg). CAPSTONE stands for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment. It is designed to test a unique lunar orbit.
Using Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, the satellite took off from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 toward an orbit destined for Gateway, NASA’s Moon-orbiting outpost under the Artemis program.
By validating innovative navigation technologies and by verifying the dynamics of the halo-shaped orbit, CAPSTONE intends to help reduce the risk for future spacecraft.
A near-rectilinear halo orbit is known as an NRHO. It has an elongated shape, and it is located at a precise point where the gravitational pulls of Earth and the Moon are balanced. NASA said on its website that long-term missions like Gateway would remain stable with this arrangement.
A near pass by CAPSTONE on the Moon will bring it within 1,600 km of the North Pole, while its farthest pass will take it 70,000 km from the South Pole. Spacecraft will repeat the cycle every six-and-a-half days and maintain this orbit for at least six months to study dynamics.
NASA said CAPSTONE would gain experience with small dedicated launches of CubeSats beyond low-Earth orbit, to the Moon, and beyond.
At the moment, the spacecraft is in low-Earth orbit. It is attached to Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon spacecraft.
Who is Nadaprabhu Kempegowda?
The 16th-century chieftain of the Vijayanagara empire, Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, is credited as the founder of Bengaluru.
On the outskirts of Bengaluru, a bronze statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, the founder of Bengaluru, will be unveiled at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).
Moreover, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has announced that a Kempegowda statue will be installed inside the Vidhana Soudha premises within a year.
Bengaluru is believed to have been founded by Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, a 16th-century ruler of the Vijayanagara empire. According to legend, he conceived the idea of a new city on a hunting trip with his minister and later marked its territory by erecting towers at the corners.
Kempegowda also developed around 1,000 lakes to serve drinking and agricultural needs in the city.
In South Karnataka, he belonged to the dominant agricultural Vokkaliga community.
A member of the dominant agricultural Vokkaliga community in south Karnataka, he was a farmer.
Even the main metro station in the city is named Nadaprabhu Kempegowda metro station in honor of his name – the Kempegowda International Airport and the Kempegowda Bus Stand. In the old city, there is an arterial road called the K G Road or the Kempegowda Road.
In the 23-acre heritage park at the airport, a 108-foot bronze statue is being constructed. Bengaluru airport last month received a sword weighing 4,000 kilograms from Delhi. Special trucks were used to transport the sword from Delhi.
B S Yediyurappa announced in September 2019 that a bronze statue of Kempegowda would be installed at the city’s international airport at the cost of Rs 100 crore.
The announcement came the day after a massive protest by the Vokkaliga community in Bengaluru over the alleged targeting of its members by central probe agencies, including Congress leader D K Shivakumar, Café Coffee Day founder V G Siddharth (deceased), and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
At the time of the protest, the BJP was making plans to poach several Vokkaliga community leaders from southern Karnataka as part of its aggressive push to gain a foothold in the old Mysuru region, a Vokkaliga stronghold.
In the present CM’s tenure, Basavaraj Bommai has taken the initiative to build the statue.
According to the CM, the statue will be unveiled at the inauguration of Terminal-2 of the much-anticipated international airport.
According to Bommai, the statue of Kempegowda is in its final stages of completion and is the tallest statue of Kempegowda.
After the Lingayats, Kempegowda is one of Karnataka’s most dominant communities. As a way of wooing the Vokkaliga community, the saffron party is honoring Kempegowda.
A clear majority of over 113 seats has never been won by the BJP in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly due to its struggles to attract Vokkaligas. Old Mysuru is the heartland of the community.
In South Karnataka, the old Mysuru region includes the cities of Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Tumkur, Hassan, Chikmagalur, Kolar, and Bengaluru, excluding coastal areas and Kodagu.
The BJP had sensed a new opportunity to make inroads in the region since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when it virtually swept Karnataka.
Vokkaligas are usually supporters of the Congress party and former Prime Minister HD Devegowda’s JD(S).
China helping in Pakistan’s economic crisis.
The dwindling foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan have led to the country turning to various types of loan agreements as its economic condition has worsened.
Pakistan may consider giving United Arab Emirates minority stakes in public-owned companies at a negotiated price as a way to cope with its current economic crisis, according to Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune.
Another Pakistani ally, China, has also provided the country with a $2.3 billion loan.
Miftah Ismail, Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Finance and Revenue, tweeted about the Chinese consortium loan that was given to the State Bank of Pakistan on June 24.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have declined over the past few years, leading to a drop in its economic condition, which has led to various kinds of loan deals. It was reported that the UAE was not willing to lend Pakistan $2 billion after Pakistan had failed to repay the loan it had received in February 2019 for the same amount.
In an article in the Express Tribune, it was reported that the UAE government had offered to acquire 10 to 12 percent shares in government-owned companies in Pakistan through its sovereign wealth funds.
According to the Finance Minister, Miftah Ismail, a friendly country, has proposed buying Pakistani companies’ stocks on a buy-back basis, which means buying secured-loan securities. The Pakistani government would want to buy back its company stakes after a certain period.
Additionally, China has also offered loans to Pakistan in the past, such as a $2.1 billion loan in March 2019. The same year, it was reported that the country had received $1 billion each from Saudi Arabia and the UAE as part of their bailout packages. In 2018, Saudi Arabia agreed to a $6 billion bailout package. Saudi Arabia’s loans were part of that bailout package.
In addition to its traditional allies, Pakistan has turned to countries that have loaned it money in the past for temporary relief.
On June 27, the country’s Economic Affairs Division announced that it had signed a “Debt Service Suspension Agreement with the French Republic” so that loans worth $107 million would be suspended. The amount that had been repayable between July and December 2021 will now be repaid over six years (including a one-year grace period) in semi-annual installments.
In April 2021, the Japanese government agreed to suspend $370 million in loans to Pakistan due to the Covid-19 crisis, according to Express Tribune.
The IMF has not yet confirmed Pakistan’s request for a bailout, which is currently pending. According to a report in the Express Tribune, the IMF has set four “tough prior conditions,” including increasing electricity tariffs and imposing a Rs 50/liter petroleum levy. Although it is not part of the prior conditions, the IMF has also asked that an anti-corruption body be established to investigate government corruption.
Upon completion of this process, the IMF will present Pakistan’s request to its executive board for approval. In the end, approval could lead to a USD 2 billion loan for the country.
Pakistan has been facing economic problems due to escalating inflation and the depletion of its foreign exchange reserves over the past few years.
This has been attributed to “long-standing structural weaknesses of the economy and low productivity growth,” according to the World Bank’s April outlook. Additionally, a “less conducive external environment” has contributed to a record-high trade deficit.
This is not the first time the country has faced a financial crisis. Except for China, international organizations are not lending to the country on similar terms this time. As part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, China has made significant investments in Pakistan, but not limited to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
There has been a leadership change in Pakistan since many of these deals were negotiated, and the future outlook for its economy remains uncertain. During the peak of Covid, the World Bank said that prospects look good for rice and sugarcane farming and private consumption.
Pakistan has also recently been acknowledged by the FTAF for its efforts to address terror financing and may remove it from its gray list, potentially encouraging more investments and increasing the ability of the country to borrow from international organizations.
A World Bank statement warned that “protracted macroeconomic imbalances can also occur domestically” due to political tensions and policy slippages.
In the short term, droughts, inflation, and prolonged heat waves that affect agriculture, such as the one witnessed this year across the subcontinent, are some major concerns.
Aurangabad to Shambhaji Nagar!
Maharashtra’s Shiv Sena government has approved the renaming of Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad to Dharashiv. Is there a reason why these cities have been renamed?On Wednesday (June 29) evening, the Uddhav Thackeray Cabinet approved the renaming of Aurangabad city to Shambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad city to Dharashiv, which is named after Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last ruler of Hyderabad.
During the floor test scheduled for June 29, the Shiv Sena hopes to burnish its Hindutva credentials ahead of the imminent collapse of the 31-month-old Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
Under pressure from its secular allies NCP and Congress, the opposition BJP has repeatedly mocked the Sena for not renaming Aurangabad.
During the past week, Sena rebels led by Eknath Shinde openly questioned the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s commitment to Hindutva and alleged that the NCP and Congress are gradually undermining the party’s core ideology.
Malik Ambar, a Siddi general of the Nizamshahi dynasty of Ahmadnagar, founded Aurangabad in 1610. Following Malik Ambar’s death in 1626, Fateh Khan renamed the city from Khirki or Khadki to Fatehpur. Aurangabad, the city, was renamed Aurangabad by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb after he invaded the Deccan in 1653.
Ever since then, the city’s name has been associated with Aurangzeb. According to Aurangzeb’s orders, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was tortured and killed brutally in 1689 by his son and successor, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
In the late 1980s, the Shiv Sena began to focus on Aurangabad outside the Mumbai-Thane belt. Due to the city’s 30% Muslim population, it was fertile ground for polarization. The Sena won elections to the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation in 1988 following communal riots that killed over 25 people.
The city was renamed Sambhaji Nagar after Sambhaji Maharaj by Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray on May 8, 1988. An Aurangabad Corporation resolution was passed in 1995, and the then Sena-led government sought opinions and suggestions regarding the matter.
A placatory gesture was made by the MVA government in March 2020 by renaming Aurangabad airport Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Airport. This, however, has not yet received the Center’s approval.Although the Sena has used Sambhaji Nagar instead of Aurangabad in its political rhetoric and in its party newspaper Saamna, the city’s name never changed.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
