PIB Snippets
GS Paper II & III
Science, Governance & Welfare
24 July 2026 — PIB Digest
PIB Snippets: 24 July 2026
In This Digest
Aditya-L1 and Chandrayaan-3 Achievements
News Context
- Dr. Jitendra Singh (MOS for Atomic Energy and Space) provided details in Rajya Sabha on 23 July 2026.
- Both missions are producing primary, high-impact space science data, making India a major producer of such data.
- These missions feed into future plans, including the Venus Orbiter Mission, Chandrayaan-4, and Chandrayaan-5/LuPEX.
Aditya-L1: Key Scientific Achievements
- Captured the first-ever spectroscopic signatures of the onset phase of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME).
- Provided insights into the intense geomagnetic storms of May and October 2024 by combining ground and space observations.
- Delivered the first comprehensive analysis of photospheric iron fluorescence across 47 X-class solar flares during the Solar Cycle 25 peak in 2024.
- Recorded unprecedented high-resolution details of solar flares in near-ultraviolet (NUV) wavelengths.
- Recorded a first-of-its-kind detailed view of a rare solar plasma ejection in ultraviolet light.
Aditya-L1 Key Facts: Positioned around the Sun-Earth L1 point for continuous solar observation, it studies solar wind particles, solar corona, near-UV signatures, and the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF). It is a solar physics mission, not a space weather mission, though its data aids space weather understanding.
Chandrayaan-3: Key Scientific Achievements
- Chandrayaan-3 remains the only successful mission to the Moon’s polar region.
- The ChaSTE thermal probe penetrated 10 cm deep, recording the first-ever in-situ high-latitude temperature profile.
- It revealed a massive vertical temperature gradient and sub-zero temperatures below 8 cm.
- A two-layer “cake-like” regolith structure was revealed at approximately 6 cm depth.
- The top 2 to 6 cm of lunar regolith is hyper-porous but highly cohesive, acting as a thermal blanket for possible subsurface water-ice.
APXS on Pragyan
Detected elevated magnesium-rich minerals, supporting the Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) hypothesis. Findings suggest deep mantle elements were ejected during formation of the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin.
RAMBHA-LP & ILSA
The RAMBHA-LP Langmuir probe conducted the first-ever high-latitude near-surface plasma measurements (300-650 electrons/cm³). The ILSA seismometer recorded over 250 distinct vibration events at the Shiv Shakti point.
Source: PIB
PM SVANidhi Scheme
News Context
- The Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs provided PM SVANidhi details in Lok Sabha.
- A 2023 impact study found PM SVANidhi was the first bank loan for 95% of beneficiaries.
- The average time to sanction a loan under the scheme is 23 days.
First Bank Loan For
95% of Beneficiaries
Avg. Sanction Time
23 Days
Restructured
27 August 2025
Key Facts for Prelims
- PM SVANidhi (PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi) provides working capital loans to urban street vendors.
- Implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
- Street vendor identification is done under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.
- Surveys and Certificates of Vending are issued by Urban Local Bodies and State/UT Governments.
- Coverage was expanded under the restructured scheme (approved 27 August 2025) to include census towns and peri-urban areas.
- All street vendors, including seasonal, mobile, women, and tourism-dependent vendors, are eligible.
Key Features
- The scheme provides three loan tranches of increasing amounts on timely repayment.
- Digital payment adoption among street vendors rose significantly between 2023 and 2025.
- Cashback incentives are provided to promote cashless payments among beneficiaries.
- Street Food Hubs are being developed at locations with high public and tourist footfall.
- Digital literacy camps are conducted by ULBs in collaboration with Digital Payment Aggregators (DPAs).
Source: PIB
BioE3 Policy 2024
News Context
- Dr. Jitendra Singh (MOS for Science and Technology) provided BioE3 Policy details in Rajya Sabha.
Key Facts for Prelims
- BioE3 stands for Biotechnology for Economy, Environment, and Employment.
- It was approved by the Union Cabinet in August 2024 for High-Performance Biomanufacturing.
- Implemented by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council).
- The BioE3-Strain Resource Centre (SRC) is established at BRIC-NCCS, Pune, for access to indigenous microbial strains with “freedom-to-operate” for commercialisation.
Six Thematic Sectors
Key BioEnablers: BioEnablers include Bio-AI Hubs, Biofoundries, and Biomanufacturing Hubs. Biofoundries and Biomanufacturing Hubs provide shared infrastructure for pilot and pre-commercial scale biomanufacturing.
Source: PIB
