Lonar Crater

• Around 50,000 years ago, a meteorite about 50 to 60 km in diameter hit the ground in the Lonar region creating a crater.
• Lonar is in Buldana district in Maharashtra.
• The site was discovered by a Britisher, C. J. E. Alexander in 1823.
• Lonar crater is unique because it’s the world’s only high-velocity meteor crater in hard basalt.
• It is an impact crater or meteorite crater which is a bowl-shaped depression with a raised rim, formed by the impact of a meteoroid.
• Crater can be volcanic in origin too.
• The Lonar Lake formed in this depression is remarkable because its water is both saline and alkaline.

James Webb Space Telescope

• The James Webb Space Telescope, also called Webb or JWST, is a large, space-based observatory, optimized for infrared wavelengths, which will complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope.
• It will cover longer wavelengths of light than Hubble and will have greatly improved sensitivity.
• The longer wavelengths enable JWST to look further back in time to see the first galaxies that formed in the early universe, and to peer inside dust clouds where stars and planetary systems are forming today.

Public Financial Management System:

The Public Financial Management System (PFMS) is an end-to- end solution for processing payments, tracking, monitoring, accounting, reconciliation and reporting.

• It is administered by the Department of Expenditure.
• It is implemented by the Controller General of Accounts.
• It provides scheme managers a unified platform for tracking releases and monitoring their last mile utilisation.
• It provides platform for efficient management of funds through tracking of funds and real time reporting of expenditure and receipts through treasury and bank interface.
• The line ministries/departments utilise this platform to monitor the utilisation of funds provided to the implementing agencies and state governments.
• PFMS is also used for DBT payments under MGNREGA and other notified schemes of the Government of India.

GSAT- 6A satellite

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has successfully launched communication satellite GSAT-6A, on board its geosynchronous rocket GSLV-F08, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. This is the 12th flight of the GSLV rocket and the sixth with and indigenous cryogenic upper stage.

• The GSAT-6A is a high power S-band communication satellite with a mission life of about 10 years.
• A key feature of the satellite is to provide mobile communication to India through multi beam coverage facility.
• The satellite will also provide a platform for developing technologies such as demonstration of 6 m S-Band Unfurlable Antenna, handheld ground terminals and network management techniques that could be useful in satellite based mobile communication applications.
• The satellite is expected to be heavily used by security forces which are stationed in the remotest areas of the country.

Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight)

• InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) is a NASA Discovery Program mission that will place a single geophysical lander on Mars to study its deep interior.
• But InSight is more than a Mars mission – it is a terrestrial planet explorer that will address one of the most fundamental issues of planetary and solar system science – understanding the processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system (including Earth) more than four billion years ago.
• By using sophisticated geophysical instruments, InSight will delve deep beneath the surface of Mars, detecting the fingerprints of the processes of terrestrial planet formation, as well as measuring the planet’s “vital signs”: Its “pulse” (seismology), “temperature” (heat flow probe), and “reflexes” (precision tracking).

Kadaknath

• Madhya Pradesh has won the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Kadaknath, a black-feathered chicken known for its flavourful meat. The GI tag will ensure that no one else can use the name Kadaknath while selling any other black chicken and will also translate into higher prices for producers. 
• It is found mainly in the tribal district of Jhabua.
• Kadaknath is in demand not only because of its taste but also due to its low cholesterol and high protein content.

Interstitium

The new organ is known as the Interstitium and it is found everywhere in our bodies, acting as a shock absorber in all places where tissues are moved or subjected to force.

• It lies beneath the top layer of skin, but is also in tissue layers lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels, and muscles. The organ is a network of interconnected, fluid-filled spaces all over the body.
• Scientists say, it may even be one of the largest organs in the body. The organ acts like a shock absorber in all places where tissues are moved or subjected to force. 
• The organ is a network of interconnected, fluid-filled spaces all over the body and is made up of both strong (collagen) and flexible (elastin) connective tissue proteins, with interstitial fluid moving throughout.
• The discovery of the fluid ‘highway’ could help to explain how cancer spreads in the body, and pave the way for new ways to detect and treat the disease.

Naitwar Mori Project

• The Naitwar Mori Project with a generation potential of 60 MW is located on River Tons, a major tributary of River Yamuna on the Ganga basin, in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand state in North India.
• This run-of-the river project was allocated to SJVN Ltd by the Government of Uttarakhand. SJVN Ltd is a Mini Ratna PSU under administrative control of the Ministry of Power, Govt. of India.

Sarmat:

• It is Russia’s most advanced nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile. It was flight-tested recently. 
• The Sarmat is a heavy ICBM intended to replace Russia’s aging, Soviet-era missiles that form the basis of its nuclear deterrent.
• The chief innovation of the Sarmat is its ability to carry a large number of guided warheads.
• The missile is believed to be able to fly 16,000 miles and is capable of flying over the South Pole to strike the U.S.
• NATO has named this missile as ‘Satan 2’.