The first Sundarban Bird Festival was a recent event that documented an impressive 145 different bird species. The Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR), a division of the West Bengal Forest Department, organized the festival. Various teams visited different parts of the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve during the festival, which aimed to collect baseline data on the bird species diversity in Sundarbans. In 2021, The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) had catalogued 428 bird species in the Sundarbans, making up one-third of all avian species in India.
A Mysterious Ring Discovered around a Dwarf Planet
In a ground-breaking study, astronomers have discovered a ring surrounding Quaoar, a dwarf planet nestled in the borders of our solar system, within the Kuiper Belt. This finding hints at the possibility of uncovering more rings around smaller planets like Quaoar in the future, expanding our knowledge of planetary ring systems. Quaoar is about half the size of Pluto and orbits beyond Neptune, boasting a moon of its own named Weywot. The rings of Quaoar are located over seven planetary radii away from it – a unique trait compared to other ring-bearing planets.
The Paalam Project: Bridging the Gap Between Job Seekers and Employers
The City Livelihood Centre in Tamil Nadu’s Karur district is setting a precedent by successfully placing educated, unemployed youth in rewarding jobs through the Paalam Project. Unlike most government employment exchanges, the Paalam Project emphasises predominantly on private jobs. Launched in 2022, the initiative aims to act as a bridge between job-seekers and employers by utilising a myriad of known and lesser-known government schemes and opportunities.
Exercise TARKASH: Preparing for Chemical and Biological Threats
Recognising the looming threat of chemical and biological warfare, a joint exercise named TARKASH is currently being conducted by the National Security Guard (NSG) and US Special Operations Forces (SOF) in Chennai. For the first time, this Indo-US joint exercise includes a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) terror response in its drill. The objective of this exercise is to quickly neutralise terrorists, save hostages, and deactivate any chemical weapons that may be in possession of the terrorists. CBRN weapons are also classified as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and their usage has been recorded multiple times in history, with the most recent instance being a sarin gas in Syria in 2017.