CURRENT EVENTS March 31, 2016

4th  Nuclear Security Summit -2016 will begin in Washington DC, US from March 31, 2016.

 -A total of 53 countries and five international organizations including the UNO, International Atomic Energy Ageny -IAEA will take part in the two-day summit that was initiated by President Barack Obama in 2009.
- The last three summits were held in Washington, Seoul and The Hague in the Netherlands in 2010, 2012 and 2014 respectively.

United Nations urges all countries to accommodate half million Syrian refugees

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all countries to show solidarity and accept nearly half a million Syrian refugees for resettlement by 2018.

Htin Kyaw sworn in as President of Myanmar

Myanmar’s new President has been sworn in, the first elected civilian leader in more than 50 years. Htin Kyaw from the National League for Democracy, NLD, takes over from Thein Sein, who introduced wide-ranging reforms during his five years in power.

‘World Class’ Optical Telescope, and India’s Largest, launched Iin Devasthal Uttrakhand near Nainital.

‘World Class’ Optical Telescope, and India’s Largest, to Be Activated Iin Devasthal near Nainital.

-Built by  an Indo-Belgian collaborative effort, assisted by the Russian Academy of Sciences, that was kicked off in 2007. 

-It is going to be operated by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous research body under the Department of Science and Technology.

The Devasthal optical telescope will also be Asia’s largest ground-based optical telescope, succeeding the Vainu Bappu Observatory in Kavalur, Tamil Nadu.

The telescope – held by ARIES to be of “world class”

– will be able to log the physical and chemical properties of stars and star clusters, high-energy radiation emanating from sources like blackholes; and the formation and properties of exoplanets.

Telescope -

Devasthal, Uttrakhand

Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve (ABR) included in UNESCO Biosphere Reserve recently added 20 reserves meeting held in LIMA.

Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve (ABR) was Established in 2001 and includes 3,500.36 km²(1,351.50 sq mi) of which 1828 km² is in Kerala and 1672.36 km² is in Tamil Nadu.

Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve became part of World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 2016.

-ABR includes the Indian Ecoregions of South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests, South Western Ghats montane rain forests and Shola.

- It is the habitat for 2,000 varieties of medicinal plants, of which at least 50 are rare and endangered species.

- Rare animals include the tiger, Asian Elephant, and Nilgiri Tahr.

- Agastyamalai is also home to the Kanikaran, one of the oldest surviving ancient tribes in the world.

- Ecotourism is popular in the area.

IR - Exiled Tibetans vote to elect political leader to succeed Dalai Lama.

Exiled Tibetans have started voting to elect a political leader for the next five years in a bid to help sustain their struggle to secure complete autonomy for Chinese-ruled Tibet.
-The second such election follows a decision by the Dalai Lama, the 80-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate, to relinquish his political authority and vest it in a democratic system that could outlast him..

-China does not recognise the government that represents more than 100,000 exiled Tibetans living mainly in India, Nepal and Bhutan.

-The "Sikyong", or elected leader, will be solely responsible for political and diplomatic decisions, as the charismatic monk steps back from the limelight amid uncertainty over how his successor will be chosen.

-Tibetan Buddhism holds that the soul of a senior lama is reincarnated in the body of a child after he dies. 

• -Tibetans-in-exile around the world voted for a new Parliament as well as for their choice of ‘Sikyong’ (term for the so-called Prime Minister-in-exile)
• -The Sikyong post itself isn’t recognised officially by any country, but is part of the Central Tibetan Administration(CTA) that looks after the welfare of lakhs of Tibetan refugees
• -The challenges the winner of the election for the post of Sikyong would face are daunting
• -For one, some exiles feel that it may be easier if the CTA encourages the next generation to pursue Indian citizenships instead of living as refugees so they have better opportunities to study and work
• -Also there is the challenge from radicals who want Tibet to completely break away from China

ISRO NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITE 6th IRNSS

• ISRO launched the 6th satellite of the IRNSS system on March 10, 2016
• This was the 34th flight of PSLV and 12th with the ‘XL’ configuration in PSLV
• ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan, Karnataka will control the satellite
• The satellite has a life of about 12 years
• All previous five satellites have been put in place and functioning properly
• IRNSS-1G will be launched in April 2016 which will complete the constellation of IRNSS

IRNSS-1F is the sixth of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. 

IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, ID and IE, the first five satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013, April 04, 2014, October 16, 2014, March 28, 2015 and January 20, 2016 respectively.

 IRNSS-1G, the remaining satellite of this constellation, is scheduled to be launched by PSLV in April 2016, thereby completing the IRNSS constellation.