Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO)

• The SKAO is a next-generation radio astronomy-driven Big Data facility that will revolutionise our understanding of the Universe and the laws of fundamental physics.
• The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) is an intergovernmental organization that builds and operates radio telescopes.
• Mission – To build and operate cutting-edge radio telescopes to transform our understanding of the Universe and deliver benefits to society through global collaboration and innovation.
• The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an international project to build the world's largest radio telescope.
• The SKAO is not a single telescope but an array of thousands of antennas, to be installed in remote radio-quiet locations in South Africa and Australia.
• It will operate as one large unit meant to observe and study celestial phenomena.
• Currently, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) is the world's largest single-unit radio telescope.
• Countries have to sign, and ratify, the SKAO convention to formally become members.
• Member nations – Some of the countries taking part in building the SKA include the UK, Australia, South Africa, Canada, China, France, India, Italy and Germany.
• India – India, through the Pune-based National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) and some other institutions, has been involved in the development of SKA since its inception in the 1990s.
• India’s main contribution to the SKA is in the development, and operation, of the Telescope Manager element, the “neural network” or the software that will make the telescope work.
• Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) - Is the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope operating within the 110-1,460 MegaHertz frequency range.

Red Corner Notices

The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, USA in his recent visit to India have emphasised the importance of sharing biometric details of fugitive criminals which will ease in finding persons with Red Corner Notices.

• INTERPOL Notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.
• Notices are issued at the request of a member country’s INTERPOL National Central Bureau and are made available for all member countries to consult in our Notices database.
• Red Corner Notices – Are issued for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence.
• Red Corner Notices is also known as Red Notice.
• A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action.
• Red Notices are published by INTERPOL at the request of a member country, and must comply with INTERPOL’s Constitution and Rules.
• It is based on an arrest warrant or court order issued by the judicial authorities in the requesting country.
• INTERPOL has designated a National Central Bureau in all its 195 member countries as a single point of contact between law enforcement agencies of that member and INTERPOL.
• In India, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the officially designated agency to publish, maintain and update the Red Corner Notices.
• Yellow Notice – Is a global police alert for a missing person.
• It is published for victims of parental abductions, criminal abductions (kidnappings) or unexplained disappearances.
• Police in one of our member countries request a Yellow Notice via their National Central Bureau and provide information on the case.

Liquid Water on Exoplanets

Recently scientists have developed a new method to detect water on exoplanets, which in turn could help look for distant habitable worlds.

• The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet and its neighbouring planet can be used as an indication for habitable zones.
• If a planet has reduced amounts of carbon dioxide in atmosphere when compared to neighbouring planets, that planet could have liquid water on its surface.
• The decrease in carbon dioxide implies that some of it is being dissolved into an ocean or maybe even captured by a planet-scale biomass.
• Finding out water on exoplanets is an important step towards discovering potentially habitable distant worlds, which is crucial in the search for extra-terrestrial life.
• Some planets like Venus which are too close to the Sun indicate that any water present in the planet, gets vaporised.
• Some planets like Mars are so far from their stars that any water that exists will be frozen and habitable zone between is called the “goldilocks zone.”
• One method of identifying whether a planet has liquid water is using “glint,” or how starlight reflects off water.
• But this is way too weak to actually implement that method using currently available technology.
• It is easy to measure the amount of carbon dioxide in a planet’s atmosphere.
• This is because CO2 is a strong absorber in the infrared, the same property causing the current rise in global temperatures here on Earth.
• By comparing the amount of CO2 in different planets’ atmospheres, we can use this new habitability signature to identify those planets with oceans, which make them more likely to be able to support life.

Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme (GSLEP)

Recently the president of Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz Republic) announced that the national symbol of Kyrgyzstan is snow leopard which are protected by the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme.

• Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme (GSLEP) is an alliance of 12 snow leopard range countries, multi-lateral institutions, NGOs, scientists and local communities.
• It seeks to address high-mountain development issues using the conservation of the charismatic and endangered snow leopard as a flagship.
• The Bishkek Declaration is a 2013 pledge by 12 countries to ensure the well-being of snow leopards and the people who live among them.
• “Secure 20 by 2020” is an initiative of GSLEP that identified and aims to secure at least 20 snow leopard landscapes across the cat’s range by 2020.
• The 12 snow leopard range countries are Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz Republic), Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• Bletchley Declaration aims to enhance global collaboration on Artificial Intelligence (AI) safety.

Salton Sea

Recently World’s largest reserve of Rare Earth Element, Lithium was discovered Beneath Salton Sea, California of USA.

• Salton Sea is a saline lake in the lower Colorado Desert, southern California of United States of America.
• In rare-earth elements (REEs), lithium stands out because of its usefulness and potential value.
• Recently World’s largest reserve of Rare Earth Element, Lithium was discovered Beneath Salton Sea.
• To know about lithium reserve click here.