Ocean forecasting system for Madagascar and Mozambique

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences here inaugurated the Ocean Forecasting System for Comoros, Madagascar, and Mozambique at the third Ministerial Meeting of Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Asia and Africa (RIMES), held at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

The ocean forecast and early warming information on high wave, currents, winds, tides, sub-surface ocean conditions cater to users like fishermen, coastal population, tourism sector, coastal defence officials, marine police, port authorities, research institutions and offshore industries of these countries.

These ocean services are aimed towards safety at the sea. The system would offer oil spill advisory services, high wave alerts, port warnings, forecast along the ship routes in addition to tsunami and storm surge warnings and help in search and rescue operations.

INCOIS is already providing these operational services to Maldives, Sri Lanka and Seychelles.

The Ocean Forecast System developed for the Indian Ocean countries and the real-time data from their territories also help to improve the ocean forecast and early warning system for Indian coast too

World's first diamond futures contract

The Anil Ambani Group-anchored Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) became the world's first derivatives exchange to launch diamond futures contract.

India is a global diamond polishing hub where 14 out of every 15 rough diamonds in the world are polished. The futures contracts will enable companies involving in cut and polished gems business to better hedge price risks.

Successfully launched diamond futures trading . The contracts are initially launched in size of 1 carat with compulsory delivery. This will create an entirely new market for the diamond players where sellers can deliver their certified diamonds to different buyers

The exchange will offer a fair, transparent and nationwide market, bringing in large market participation into diamond trade. It will result in efficient price discovery and provide an effective hedging platform for all stakeholders

The new exchange will be able to make a meaningful contribution towards further development of commodity markets, Gems & Jewellery Export 

ICEX is powered by technology from MillenniumIT (MIT), part of the London Stock Exchange Group while International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research, a part of the DeBeers Group, certifies diamonds for the exchange delivery.

MALCA, the world's largest courier of diamonds, is the depository and transporter through its Indian arm Malca Amit.

International Day against Nuclear Tests

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day against Nuclear Tests brings public awareness and education about the effects of global nuclear weapon tests. The day aims to end nuclear testing and to promote peace and security.

The International Day against Nuclear Tests aims to raise people’s awareness on the need to prevent nuclear catastrophes to avert devastating effects on humankind, the environment and the planet.

The history of nuclear testing began on July 16, 1945, when an atomic bomb was used at a desert test site in Alamogordo, New Mexico, in the United States. More than 2000 nuclear tests were carried out worldwide between 1945 and 1996. Nuclear weapons tests are generally broken into different categories reflecting the test’s medium or location:

Atmospheric tests.

Underwater tests.

Underground tests.

The International Day against Nuclear Tests was declared to be annually held on August 29, which marks the closing of one of the world’s largest nuclear test sites (in Kazakhstan) in 1991. The day is devoted to enhancing public awareness and education about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions. It also promotes the need for a nuclear weapon-free world. The day’s first official observance was marked for August 29, 2010.

Govt launched the National Sports Talent Search portal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday paid tribute to hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand on his birth anniversary and launched the National Sports Talent Search portal.

Modi said the legend’s sporting skills did “wonders for Indian hockey”.

His birthday is celebrated as National Sports Day in India.

It would provide “essential direction and support to youngsters to pursue their sporting aspirations...”, Modi said, adding, “Sports is about physical fitness, mental alertness and personality enhancement.”

Special training programme on oceanography for students

The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is preparing to launch a Deep Ocean Mission by January 2018, to spur research activities in ocean science and develop technology to harness ocean resources.

India has 7,500 km of coastline and 2.4 million square km of exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The oceans along Indian peninsula contain enormous opportunities in energy, food, medicine and a host of other natural resources.

The Ministry would soon launch a special training programme on oceanography free of cost for university students.

The rapid warming up of the Indian Ocean would add to the threat of heat waves and extreme rainfall events. The increasing ocean heat content in the Indian Ocean could have a bearing on the intensity of cyclones in the region as well as ocean acidification and marine biodiversity.

Gobindobhog rice gets geographical indication status 

Gobindobhog rice,a speciality from Burdwan district of West Bengal, has got the geographical indication (GI) status. The state government had applied for GI status for Gobindobhog rice on August 24, 2015. 

The region of Burdwan (now divided into the districts of east and west Burdwan) is known as the rice bowl of Bengal. As a result of getting the GI tag, as the certification is also called, rice from other regions or rice of other varieties cannot be branded as ‘Gobindobhog’. Hence, the marketability of the rice would be strengthened, for the local, national and international markets, government officials said. 

The south Damodar belt has been the traditional area of Gobindobhog rice cultivation.

The rice has several advantages:

·         It is cultivated late and therefore not much affected by rains.

·         It is less prone to pests as well.

·         The productivity per area is high and farmers get better prices for Gobindobhog rice. 

World’s first low Enriched Uranium bank in Kazakhstan

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supported by the Kazakh government opened Aug. 29 its first-ever Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) Bank in Kazakhstan.

The LEU Bank will serve as a last-resort mechanism to provide confidence to countries that they will be able to obtain LEU for the manufacture of fuel for nuclear power plants in the event of an unforeseen, non-commercial disruption to their supplies,” IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said.

The LEU Bank is based at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant (UMP) in Ust-Kamenogorsk, in the East Kazakhstan region. The facility will store nuclear fuel and sell it to IAEA members. The bank will store up to 90 tonnes of low-enriched uranium, sufficient to run a 1,000 MW light water reactor or give power to a large city for three years.

It’s the largest producer of uranium and are ready to play an important role in the world energy. Also, Kazakhstan is in the mainstream of a global green trend.

The IAEA plans to start buying uranium soon and to start shipping it to the bank in 2018.

The IAEA is the world’s central intergovernmental organisation, established for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field. The IAEA seeks safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear technologies and science.

In 2009, Kazakhstan proposed to host the LEU bank in Kazakhstan under the IAEA. An agreement was signed with the IAEA on Aug. 27, 2015. Kazakhstan is a leading producer of uranium, boasting more than 15 percent of global uranium reserves.

Russia established its own LEU bank in 2010, but the LEU bank in Kazakhstan is the first to be fully owned and managed by the IAEA.