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Environment: mangrove migration

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  A tale of mangrove migration This directly indicates changes in the micro-environment due to anthropogenic activities and climate change Green migrant: A mangrove plant at Millennium Park in the heart of Kolkata. Aswathi Pacha In 2008, Punarbasu Chaudhuri, mangrove ecologist from the University of Calcutta spotted an interesting mangrove plant at the bank of river Hooghly inside Kolkata city. It was quite unusual, as mangroves require a cyclic supply of saline water, and this growth at an upstream zone was remarkable. He then started an investigation on their distribution in the Hooghly estuary, and his recent paper suggests that the mangroves have started moving upstream, growing in less-saline regions. Redistributing plants After surveying the banks near Kolkata, he was able to spot a few mangroves belonging to Sonneratia. He says that over the years due to gradual environmental changes and anthropogenic activities, mangroves have started to redistribute. The paper, published i...
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Science &Tech:Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligenc

  India becomes founding member of Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence Shreya Nandi 2-3 minutes India on Monday joined international and multi-stakeholder initiative Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) on artificial intelligence as its founder member. “Delighted to announce that India has joined the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence or GPAI today as a founding member. This multi-stakeholder international partnership will promote responsible and human centric development and use of AI," IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a tweet. “This is also a first initiative of its type for evolving better understanding of the challenges and opportunities around AI using the experience and diversity of participating countries. In order to achieve this goal, the initiative will look to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge resear...
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Defence: JIMEX

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  skills in northern Arabian Sea JIMEX-20 will showcase high degree of interoperability, joint operational skills Steady progress: Indian and Japanese ships conducting operations in close formation at JIMEX-2020. ANIANI Dinakar Peri New Delhi The 4th edition of the biennial India and Japan naval exercise is under way in the borth Arabian Sea, the Navy said. This is the first exercise following the conclusion of the mutual logistics support agreement early this month. The maritime cooperation has significantly increased between the two sides with focus on information sharing and Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and Indo-Pacific. “JIMEX-20 will showcase high degree of inter-operability and joint operational skills through conduct of a multitude of advanced exercises, across the spectrum of maritime operations,” the Navy said in a statement. Multi-faceted tactical exercises involving weapon firings, cross-deck helicopter operations and complex surface, ...
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Defence: border dispute

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  Gilgit-Baltistan The land of peaks, streams and disputes Pak.’s move to give full statehood to the mountainous region claimed by India is set to escalate tensions between the two Add caption In focus Pakistan initially governed Gilgit-Baltistan directly from the central authority after it was separated from ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’ on April 28, 1949 On March 2, 1963, Pakistan gave away 5,180 sq km of the region to China, despite local protests Under Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the name of the region was changed to the Federally Administered Northern Areas. Now, the region is set to become Pakistan’s fifth state Kallol Bhattacherjee Seven decades after it took control of the region, Pakistan is moving to grant full statehood to Gilgit-Baltistan, which appears as the northernmost part of the country in its official map. The scenic region, which was featured in Hollywood thrillers like Vertical Limit (2000), was part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and i...
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Environment:amphibians to Madhya Pradesh’s fauna list

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  Field study adds five amphibians to Madhya Pradesh’s fauna list The group recorded advertisement calls of the western burrowing frog Familiar habitats:  The western burrowing frog was fiirst dentified in 2017 from populations in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka.Abhijit Das Abhijit Das Shubashree Desikan A study conducted by researchers from Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, on amphibians in the central Indian Panna Tiger Reserve has come up with a list of five species hitherto undocumented in this region. The researchers, apart from compiling an entire amphibian inventory of this region, have recorded a call library of eleven species and also have obtained molecular confirmation (through DNA) of the cryptic species – a term used to refer to species that appear the same but show up a difference when their DNA is examined. Cryptic species “We need multiple techniques to correctly identify [cryptic species]… So there may be two very similar looking frogs. In the field we...
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Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee

  The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) functions in the   Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) . As per Rules, 1989, it is responsible for appraisal of activities involving large scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental angle. The committee is also responsible for appraisal of proposals relating to release of genetically engineered (GE) organisms and products into the enviornment including experimental field trials. GEAC is chaired by the Special Secretary/Additional Secretary of MoEF&CC and co-chaired by a representative from the  Department of Biotechnology (DBT) . Presently, it has 24 members and meets every month to review the applications in the areas indicated above
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ITER (The Way" in Latin)

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  What is ITER? ITER ("The Way" in Latin) is one of the most ambitious energy projects in the world today. In southern France, 35 nations* are collaborating to build the world's largest tokamak, a magnetic fusion device that has been designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy based on the same principle that powers our Sun and stars. The experimental campaign that will be carried out at ITER is crucial to advancing fusion science and preparing the way for the fusion power plants of tomorrow. ITER will be the first fusion device to produce net energy. ITER will be the first fusion device to maintain fusion for long periods of time. And ITER will be the first fusion device to test the integrated technologies, materials, and physics regimes necessary for the commercial production of fusion-based electricity. Thousands of engin...
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