The first liquid mirror telescope in the country and the largest in Asia – was commissioned atop Devasthal, a hill in Uttarakhand. This will now keep a watch on the overhead sky to identify transient or variable objects such as supernovae, gravitational lenses, space debris, and asteroids.

 

 

 

* The Indian Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) will help in surveying the sky, making it possible to observe several galaxies and other astronomical sources just by staring at the strip of sky that passes overhead.

* Built by astronomers from India, Belgium and Canada, the novel instrument employs a 4-meter-diameter rotating mirror made up of a thin film of liquid mercury to collect and focus light.

* It is located at an altitude of 2,450 metres at the Devasthal Observatory campus of Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India in Nainital district, Uttarakhand.

 

The scientists from the three countries spun a pool of mercury, which is a reflective liquid so that the surface curved into a parabolic shape. It is ideal for focusing light. A thin transparent film of mylar protects the mercury from the wind. The reflected light passes through a sophisticated multi-lens optical corrector that produces sharp images over a wide field of view. A large-format electronic camera located at the focus records the images..

Source : The Hindu

“HarGharDastak campaign 2.0” to accelerate the pace and coverage of COVID19 vaccination across States and UTs has commenced across India by Union Health Ministry.

 

* Incorporating the experience & learning from “HarGharDastak campaign” launched in Nov 2021, ‘HarGharDastak 2.0’ will be implemented from 1st June 2022 to 31st July 2022.

* The objective of the ‘Har GharDastak2.0’ Abhiyan is to vaccinate and cover the eligible population groups for first, second and precaution doses through door-to-door campaigns.

* Major focus will also remain on improving sub-optimal coverage of persons aged ≥ 60years with precaution dose, along with considerably slower speed of coverage in the 12-14 years cohort.

* The ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ Teekakaran Abhiyaan has been inspired by the successful strategy of Mission Indradhanush..

Source : PIB

India and Sweden hosted the Industry Transition Dialogue in Stockholm, as a part of their joint initiative i.e. Leadership for Industry Transition (LeadIT).

 

* The Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT) gathers countries and companies that are committed to action to achieve the Paris Agreement.

* It was launched by the governments of Sweden and India at the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019 and is supported by the World Economic Forum.

* The LeadIT initiative lays specific focus on hard to abate sectors that are key stakeholders in the global climate action and require specific interventions.

* Japan and South Africa, the latest members of the initiative were welcomed. This extends the total membership of LeadIT to 37 including countries and companies together.

Source : PIB

* The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has condoled the passing away of the distinguished INA Veteran from Malaysia Anjalai Ponnusamy.

 

* Anjalai was once a soldier who served under the command of Netaji Bose, who led the Indian National Army in 1943.

* At the age of 21, Anjalai joined the Rani of Jhansi Regiment – the women’s regiment of the Indian National Army.

* After the war ended with the Japanese defeat, the Indian National Army was disbanded, and Anjalai returned home to continue her life in Malaysia.

* The Azad Hind Fauj, also known as the Indian National Army (INA), the fighting unit that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose famously raised, had within it the Rani of Jhansi Regiment (RJR), an all-women infantry combat unit. It was formed in 1943, and was among the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

Source : PIB

World Bicycle Day is celebrated every year on June 3rd. The day aims to develop a culture of cycling for basic transportation, commutation, and strengthening physical and mental health. 

 

World Bicycle Day draws attention to recognise the longevity, uniqueness, and versatility of the bicycle, and that it is an affordable, reliable, simple, clean and environmentally fit sustainable means of transport.

 

Cycling is a healthy, low-impact exercise that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, the scraped knees and scratched elbows after falling from our cycles are part of what makes childhood memories of playing so nostalgic.

 

World Bicycle Day History : The first bicycle day was celebrated on June 3, 2018. Professor Leszek Sibilski, a Polish social scientist working in the United States, led a grassroots campaign with his sociology class to promote a UN Resolution for World Bicycle Day.

 

The original UN Blue and White #June3WorldBicycleDay logo was designed by Isaac Feld and the accompanying animation was done by Professor John E. Swanson..

Source : India Today

Santoor maestro Bhajan Sopori, often referred to as the 'saint of santoor' and 'king of strings' for his mastery over the instrument, died on Thursday(2nd June 2022) at a Gurugram hospital following a battle with cancer. He was 73. 

 

He has received Padma Shri in 2004, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992 and the Jammu and Kashmir State Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

He belonged to north Kashmir's Sopore district and came from the 'Sufiana Gharana'.

 

He was specialised in both the sitar and the santoor.

 

He gave his first public performance at the age of 10..

Source : Business Today

India’s largest power generating firm NTPC Limited has issued renewed Biodiversity Policy 2022 to establish a comprehensive vision and guiding principle for conservation, restoration, and enhancement of biodiversity.

 

According to the Ministry of Power, this Biodiversity Policy is an integral part of NTPC’s Environmental Policy.

 

The Ministry said that its objectives are aligned with environmental and sustainability policies.

 

Moreover, the policy is also designed to support all the professionals of the NTPC Group to help them contribute toward the achievement of the targets set in this field.

 

“NTPC has always been mindful about avoiding operations in areas with the highest biodiversity value and judiciously selecting project sites. The company will further strengthen its current efforts to achieve a ‘no net loss’ of biodiversity at all of its currently operating sites and ensure there is a net positive balance wherever applicable,” it said.

NTPC also became a member of the India Business & Biodiversity Initiative (IBBI) in 2018.

Source : The Print

India and Israel today(2nd June 2022) discussed key issues pertaining to defence cooperation and global and regional scenarios.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held bilateral meeting with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Gantz in New Delhi. In a series of tweets, Mr. Singh said, both the countries have adopted a vision statement which will pave the way for defence cooperation in future.

He said, there is a broad consensus between the two countries on further strengthening the bilateral strategic and defence cooperation.

 

Defence Ministry said, a wide range of issues concerning bilateral, regional and defence industrial cooperation were discussed during the meeting. The two Ministers reviewed the existing military-to-military activities which have increased despite the challenges due to COVID-19 pandemic.

They discussed ways to increase cooperation in all domains with a focus on Research and Development in future technologies and defence co-production..

Source : News On Air

Puri residents had moved the High Court alleging that the structural safety of the 800-year-old Jagannath Temple could be in jeopardy if land around the temple were dug up.

 

National Monuments Authority (NMA) which functions under the Union Ministry of Culture, was set up in 2011 for the protection and preservation of monuments and sites through management of the prohibited and regulated area around the centrally protected monuments.

* Blue Dart has signed the 'Climate Neutral Now' (CNN) pledge by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

 

* The Climate Neutral Now is an Initiative to encourage and support the interested stakeholders to act now in order to achieve a climate neutral world by 2050.

 

* Blue Dart, is a part of the Deutsche Post DHL (DPDHL) Group.

 

* The Group has adopted a package of measures worth up to 7-billion Euros to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Source : The Hindu