Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Experiment (MACE) Observatory
✅ It is the largest imaging Cherenkov telescope in Asia.
✅ It is the highest Cherenkov telescope in the world, situated at an altitude of ~4,300 m.
✅ It is an indigenous project built by BARC with support from ECIL and other Indian industry partners.
✅ Significance: The telescope will advance India’s role in cosmic-ray research and study high-energy gamma rays to better understand the universe’s energetic events like supernovae, black holes, and gamma-ray bursts.
✅ It is the largest imaging Cherenkov telescope in Asia.
✅ It is the highest Cherenkov telescope in the world, situated at an altitude of ~4,300 m.
✅ It is an indigenous project built by BARC with support from ECIL and other Indian industry partners.
✅ Significance: The telescope will advance India’s role in cosmic-ray research and study high-energy gamma rays to better understand the universe’s energetic events like supernovae, black holes, and gamma-ray bursts.
SUBHADRA Scheme
✅Recently, the Prime Minister of India launched ‘SUBHADRA’, the flagship Scheme of Government of Odisha, in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
✅It is named after Goddess Subhadra, the younger sibling of Lord Jagannath, the presiding deity of Odisha.
✅All eligible beneficiaries between the age of 21-60 years would receive Rs. 50,000/- over a period of 5 years between 2024-25 to 2028-29.
✅An amount of Rs 10,000/- per annum in two equal installments will be credited directly to the beneficiary’s Aadhaar-enabled and DBT-enabled bank account.
✅Recently, the Prime Minister of India launched ‘SUBHADRA’, the flagship Scheme of Government of Odisha, in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
✅It is named after Goddess Subhadra, the younger sibling of Lord Jagannath, the presiding deity of Odisha.
✅All eligible beneficiaries between the age of 21-60 years would receive Rs. 50,000/- over a period of 5 years between 2024-25 to 2028-29.
✅An amount of Rs 10,000/- per annum in two equal installments will be credited directly to the beneficiary’s Aadhaar-enabled and DBT-enabled bank account.
Living Planet Report
✅It is published biennially by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
✅It is a comprehensive study of trends in global biodiversity and the health of the planet.
✅The Living Planet Report 2024 is the 15th edition of the report.
✅The WWF uses the Living Planet Index (LPI), which tracks the average trends in wildlife populations rather than focusing on increases or declines in individual species numbers.
✅By monitoring changes in species population sizes over time, the LPI serves as an early warning indicator of extinction risk and helps assess ecosystem efficiency.
📍 Highlights of the Living Planet Report 2024
✅The sharpest decline is reported in freshwater ecosystems at 85%, followed by terrestrial ecosystems at 69% and marine ecosystems at 56%.
✅WWF highlighted declines in monitored animal populations around the world as follows
Latin America and the Caribbean, where populations have dropped by 95 per cent
✅Africa: 76 % decline.
✅Asia-Pacific region: 60 % decline.
✅Central Asia: 35% decline
✅North America: 39 % decline.
✅Major threats to wildlife include Habitat loss, overexploitation, climate change, pollution, invasive species, and diseases, which were the dominant drivers of the decline of wildlife.
✅Habitat loss was driven by unsustainable agriculture, fragmentation, logging, mining, to name a few causes.
✅Ongoing mass coral reef bleaching, affecting over 75 per cent of the world’s reefs, the Amazon rainforest, the collapse of the subpolar gyre and the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets are all nearing critical tipping points.
✅More than half of the United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 are unlikely to meet their targets, with 30 per cent of them either already missed or worse off than their 2015 baseline.
✅It is published biennially by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
✅It is a comprehensive study of trends in global biodiversity and the health of the planet.
✅The Living Planet Report 2024 is the 15th edition of the report.
✅The WWF uses the Living Planet Index (LPI), which tracks the average trends in wildlife populations rather than focusing on increases or declines in individual species numbers.
✅By monitoring changes in species population sizes over time, the LPI serves as an early warning indicator of extinction risk and helps assess ecosystem efficiency.
📍 Highlights of the Living Planet Report 2024
✅The sharpest decline is reported in freshwater ecosystems at 85%, followed by terrestrial ecosystems at 69% and marine ecosystems at 56%.
✅WWF highlighted declines in monitored animal populations around the world as follows
Latin America and the Caribbean, where populations have dropped by 95 per cent
✅Africa: 76 % decline.
✅Asia-Pacific region: 60 % decline.
✅Central Asia: 35% decline
✅North America: 39 % decline.
✅Major threats to wildlife include Habitat loss, overexploitation, climate change, pollution, invasive species, and diseases, which were the dominant drivers of the decline of wildlife.
✅Habitat loss was driven by unsustainable agriculture, fragmentation, logging, mining, to name a few causes.
✅Ongoing mass coral reef bleaching, affecting over 75 per cent of the world’s reefs, the Amazon rainforest, the collapse of the subpolar gyre and the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets are all nearing critical tipping points.
✅More than half of the United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 are unlikely to meet their targets, with 30 per cent of them either already missed or worse off than their 2015 baseline.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said that Indian suppliers are the 3rd largest provider of organisation’s health and ration support to children globally.
Indian businesses have supplied goods and services worth nearly $6 billion to UNICEF for its global work.
UNICEF’s supply division Director, Leila Pakkala, who was on her first official visit to India, said that Indian suppliers of life-saving goods and services for children are key to UNICEF’s work for children globally.
Indian businesses have supplied goods and services worth nearly $6 billion to UNICEF for its global work.
UNICEF’s supply division Director, Leila Pakkala, who was on her first official visit to India, said that Indian suppliers of life-saving goods and services for children are key to UNICEF’s work for children globally.
💥Water chestnut:
✳️ known as goer in Kashmir, is an aquatic vegetable that grows in the Wular Lake, one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia. The grass-like sedge is in high demand during autumn in Kashmir.
✳️The harvest typically begins in late September with people from the villages around the lake, both men and women, taking part in the tedious work to pull out the water chestnuts.
✳️ The plants have extremely sharp spines with barbs that can cause serious injuries if stepped upon.
✳️The edible kernel, concealed beneath a thick outer layer, is peeled off, dried, and pounded into flour.
✳️People also use the sturdy dried outer shells as fuel in the traditional fire pots known as kangri during winter.Water chestnut and lotus stem are eaten in dishes during during Navaratri, especially when fasting rituals may not permit the use of grains
✳️ known as goer in Kashmir, is an aquatic vegetable that grows in the Wular Lake, one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia. The grass-like sedge is in high demand during autumn in Kashmir.
✳️The harvest typically begins in late September with people from the villages around the lake, both men and women, taking part in the tedious work to pull out the water chestnuts.
✳️ The plants have extremely sharp spines with barbs that can cause serious injuries if stepped upon.
✳️The edible kernel, concealed beneath a thick outer layer, is peeled off, dried, and pounded into flour.
✳️People also use the sturdy dried outer shells as fuel in the traditional fire pots known as kangri during winter.Water chestnut and lotus stem are eaten in dishes during during Navaratri, especially when fasting rituals may not permit the use of grains