In 2020, it was USGS Astrogeology Science Centre
That released “Unified Geologic Map of the Moon” (1:5,000,000 scale).
Now China has released comprehensive geologic map of the moon
The most detailed one (1:2,500,000 scale).
This is the result of the efforts many Chinese scientists from several institutions,
Who have developed high-resolution topographic maps
Largely from …

The recently released image
Captured by Event NASA’s Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)
Said to be the first visual evidence of the black hole.
This could be made possible due to the efforts of more than 300 researchers from 80 institutions around the world.
Though the black hole cannot be seen itself,
The view captures light …

 
Extreme climate events and many conflicts
Cause the upward trend in hunger
Even before the pandemic.
And as the pandemic was not enough,
The war has added to the miseries.
High energy prices, high fertilizers prices,
Disruption in supply chain and trades,
All lead to elevated inflation in food prices,
That is further worsened by the reduced income.
Many more millions are slipped into …

Raging pandemic inflicted enough wounds,
It is yet painful to see the lives of millions being razed.
The war, irrespective of being triggered by human tendency to increase its expanse,
Or an urge to punish the fellow ones for non-compliance,
Or even on the pretext for protection from a plausible threat,
This leads to the …

The ecosystem for drones in India is set to evolve,
With many recent initiatives such as…
Notification of ‘liberalized drone rules’,
launch of ‘interactive airspace maps’,
‘Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) for drones and their components,
Drone Shakti Scheme to promote ‘drones-as –a-service’ (DrAAS),
Agriculture drones, …
This month, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Government of …

James Webb Space Telescope
The telescope,
A joint international collaboration led by NASA in partnership with the European and Canadian space agencies,
Developed at a cost of $8.8 billion,
Was successfully launched on 25th December 2021.
Unlike its 30-year-old predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, operated primarily at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths.
Webb mainly will view the …

With the advent of the vaccines,
Year 2021 was anticipated as a year of recovery.
However, earlier this year it was the ferocious Delta variant of Covid-19,
That devastated the millions in many of the countries,
And now it is the Omicron variant wreaking havoc
Though the world is better equipped to deal with the …

Another wave of Covid-19 sweeps Europe.
Russia and the UK face a surge,
The Netherlands heads for partial lockdown.
Austria restricts unvaccinated people.
Germany says national emergency.
Apparently in Europe ‘vaccine hesitancy’ overwhelms the ‘vaccine availability’.
The tyranny of virus continue to rage,
And the irony is that millions yet to get the first dose …

In this divided world, emerges an additional fault line
Vaccinated vs. un-vaccinated.
If in high-income countries around 60% have been vaccinated with at least one dose, the percentage remains abysmally low at around 3% in low-income countries.
The priority to vaccinate ones own first is understandable and justifiable to some extent,
But the concerns towards …

A new draft policy by Department of Space (DoS), Government of India.
Recognizes that Space based navigation /augmentation system is essentially a public good which has to be accessible to all users.
It plans for continuity of NavIC and GAGAN services, ensuring compatibility and interoperability with other GNSS/SBAS signals.
It intends to work towards expanding …