PM Modi launched big cats alliance to conserve seven cats
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA) during his visit to Karnataka on April 9, 2022.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA) during his visit to Karnataka on April 9, 2022. The IBCA aims to conserve seven species of big cats, including tigers, lions, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, snow leopards, and clouded leopards.
International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA): Focus on seven major big cats:
International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA) will focus on the protection and conservation of seven major big cat species in the world. These species are the tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar, and cheetah.
Significance of this initiative:
The alliance seeks to bring together countries, conservationists, and experts from around the world to collaborate on conservation efforts for these seven big cat species.
Through IBCA, India hopes to share knowledge, expertise, and best practices in conserving these species with other countries that have significant big cat populations, such as Indonesia, Brazil, and South Africa.
The alliance also aims to facilitate collaborations between governments, NGOs, and the private sector to create sustainable solutions for conservation.
The launch of IBCA marks a significant step towards the conservation of these magnificent animals, as their populations face unprecedented threats from habitat loss, poaching, and human-animal conflicts.
NASA’s High-Resolution Air Quality Control Instrument Launches
NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument has successfully launched, marking a significant step forward in the monitoring of major air pollutants.
NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument has successfully launched, marking a significant step forward in the monitoring of major air pollutants. The instrument will provide unprecedented resolution, allowing scientists to observe air quality from space with accuracy down to just four square miles. The TEMPO mission aims to revolutionize the way air quality is monitored, helping to improve life on Earth.
More About The Launch of NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument:
The instrument was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The Intelsat 40E satellite carried the payload, which separated from the rocket around 32 minutes after launch. Signal acquisition occurred at 1:14 a.m. TEMPO commissioning activities will begin in late May or early June.
Significance of The NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument:
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has said that the TEMPO mission is about more than just studying pollution. It aims to improve life on Earth by monitoring the effects of everything from rush-hour traffic to pollution from forest fires and volcanoes. NASA data will help improve air quality across North America and protect our planet.
The observations provided describe a new scientific instrument that is capable of monitoring air quality over North America at a high resolution and with a high frequency. This instrument is hosted in geostationary orbit, which means that it can continuously monitor the same region of the Earth’s surface, allowing for the tracking of changes in air quality over time.
What will it Observe:
The instrument is designed to measure several key pollutants, including ozone, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide, and formaldehyde. These pollutants are all known to have harmful effects on human health and the environment, so monitoring their levels is important for understanding and mitigating their impacts.
TEMPO, a NASA instrument, is set to revolutionize the way scientists observe air quality from space by providing unparalleled resolution of monitoring major air pollutants down to four square miles. As a fixed geostationary orbit above the equator, TEMPO will be able to measure air quality over North America hourly during the daytime, surpassing existing limits of about 100 square miles in the U.S.
Project Tiger: India’s tiger population was 3,167 in 2022
According to the latest tiger census data released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the tiger population in India has reached 3,167 in 2022,.
According to the latest tiger census data released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the tiger population in India has reached 3,167 in 2022, which is a significant increase compared to the previous census figures of 1,411 in 2006, 1,706 in 2010, 2,226 in 2014, and 2,967 in 2018. During the inauguration of the commemoration of 50 years of ‘Project Tiger’, the Prime Minister also launched the ‘International Big Cat Alliance’ that aims to protect and conserve seven major big cats worldwide, including tigers and lions. The Prime Minister emphasized that wildlife protection was a universal issue and that the IBCA was India’s contribution to protecting and conserving big cats. Additionally, he released a booklet named ‘Amrit Kaal Ka Tiger Vision’, which outlines the vision for tiger conservation in the next 25 years.
About the ‘Project Tiger’
‘Project Tiger’ is a tiger conservation programme launched in India on April 1, 1973, to protect and increase the tiger population in the country. Initially, the project covered nine tiger reserves spread over 18,278 sq km. Currently, there are 53 tiger reserves spanning more than 75,000 sq km, which is approximately 2.4% of India’s geographical area.
President of India takes a historic sortie in a Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft
President Draupadi Murmu took a trip to the strategic Tezpur Airforce station in Assam, where she embarked on a flight aboard a Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter jet.
As part of her three-day official visit to the northeastern state, President Draupadi Murmu boarded a Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter jet for a flight from the strategic Tezpur Airforce station in Assam. It is noteworthy that the previous instance of a President flying in a Sukhoi was in 2009, when India’s 12th President, Pratibha Devi Singh Patil, took a similar flight. Upon her arrival at the Tezpur Air Force Station, President Murmu was welcomed with a Guard of Honour.
About Su-30MKI:
The Su-30MKI is a multirole fighter aircraft designed jointly by Sukhoi and HAL, featuring thrust vectoring control and canards.
Development began in 1995, with Sukhoi leading design and Irkut Corporation responsible for production.
The aircraft has a length of 21.9m, wingspan of 14.7m, and a height of 6.4m, with a maximum take-off weight of 38,800kg.
Its cockpit accommodates two pilots, with equipment including a N011M radar, OLS-30 locator system, and Litening target designation pod.
It can launch air-to-surface missiles, including BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles.
The aircraft’s power plant provides a maximum speed of Mach 1.9 and a rate of climb of 300m/s.
It has an unrefueled flight range of 3,000km, with in-flight refueling extending its range to 8,000km.
India gives $2 million to African Union Transition Mission in Somalia
India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj, reiterated India's dedication to fostering peace and stability in Somalia by presenting a donation of USD 2 million.
India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ruchira Kamboj, reaffirmed India’s commitment to peace and stability in Somalia and the Horn of Africa by handing over a contribution of USD 2 million to the United Nations Trust Fund.
Significance of this Fund:
The fund is aimed at supporting the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS). By making this contribution, India seeks to support the efforts of the international community to promote peace and stability in the region.
India and African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS):
India’s Permanent Mission to the UN released a statement, highlighting India’s recognition of the crucial role played by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) in creating a secure environment in Somalia and in containing terrorism, particularly by the Al-Shabaab group.
India had previously contributed USD 4 million to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and has now pledged an additional USD 2 million to support ATMIS. This contribution reflects India’s continued commitment to promoting peace, security, and stability in the region.
About African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS):
The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) was established on 1 April 2022 in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2628 (2022) and the African Union Peace and Security Council Communique 1068th of 8 March 2022.
The mission was created to support the implementation of the Somali Transitional Plan, which aims to transfer full security responsibility to the Somali security forces and institutions by the end of 2024. ATMIS will work to create a secure environment in Somalia and support the development of the country’s security sector in order to achieve this objective.
C.R. Rao wins International Prize in Statistics 2023
The 2023 International Prize in Statistics, which is regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in statistics, has been awarded to Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao, an Indian-American statistician.
International Prize in Statistics 2023
The 2023 International Prize in Statistics, which is regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in statistics, has been awarded to Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao, an Indian-American statistician. The prize, established in 2016, is presented once every two years to an individual or team that has made significant contributions to science, technology, and human welfare through the use of statistics. The award is given out by a collaboration of five major international statistics organizations and recognizes major accomplishments by an individual or team. Rao will be honored with the prize, which carries an $80,000 cash award, at the International Statistical Institute World Statistics Congress in Ottawa, Canada, in July.
What was Rao’s 1945 paper about?
Rao’s groundbreaking paper, ‘Information and accuracy attainable in the estimation of statistical parameters’, was published in 1945 in the Bulletin of the Calcutta Mathematical Society, a journal that is otherwise not well known to the statistics community. The paper was subsequently included in the book Breakthroughs in Statistics, 1890-1990. This was an impressive achievement given Rao was only 25 at the time and had just completed his master’s degree in statistics two years prior.
About the C.R. Rao
Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao, born in Karnataka in 1920, is an Emeritus Eberly professor in the statistics department at Pennsylvania State University. He played a significant role in establishing the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata and has been associated with the institute since 1941. Rao holds PhD and ScD degrees from Cambridge University.
In addition to being awarded the Padma Bhusan in 1968 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001, Rao was the recipient of the SS Bhatnagar Prize in 1963 and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1967. He also received the Wilks Medal of the American Statistical Association in 1979 and the US National Medal of Science in 2002.
Throughout his career, Rao has held various positions such as Jawaharlal Nehru professor and national professor in India, university professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and Eberly professor and chair of statistics and director of the Center for Multivariate Analysis at the Pennsylvania State University.
Bharat Biotech wins award at World Vaccine Congress 2023
At the World Vaccine Congress 2023 held in Washington, USA from April 3-6, Bharat Biotech was awarded the Best Production/Process Development award as a part of the Vaccine Industry Excellence (ViE) a
At the World Vaccine Congress 2023 held in Washington, USA from April 3-6, Bharat Biotech was awarded the Best Production/Process Development award as a part of the Vaccine Industry Excellence (ViE) awards.
Bharat Biotech, headquartered in Hyderabad, was the sole Indian company among the nominees for the VIE awards in multiple categories such as the best clinical trial company, best clinical trial network, best central/specialty laboratory, best contract research organisation, and best production/process development, among others. Bharat Biotech is known for developing the world’s first intranasal Covid-19 vaccine, iNcovacc, and its intramuscular vaccine, Covaxin, which is used in India’s public vaccination programme and has also been exported.
About the World Vaccine Congress
The World Vaccine Congress is a major international conference focused on vaccines, covering the entire vaccine value chain from basic research to commercial manufacturing. It brings together experts from all over the world to share their knowledge and expertise in vaccine development. The conference has been particularly important in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and has been a platform for sharing groundbreaking discoveries and insights.