Buyant Rover for Under-Ice Exploration (BRUIE) is a robot developed by NASA for underwater exploration in extra-terrestrial, icy waters.
It will search for life in ocean worlds beyond Earth.
It could be used to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa or Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
As these moons are believed to have liquid water oceans beneath thick crusts of ice, they may be the most promising locations in our solar system to search for evidence of extra-terrestrial life.
It will be rolling into Antarctica soon to performdriving upside down under sea ice, since they are the closest Earth analog to the seas of an icy moon which makes them an ideal testing ground for it.
It uses buoyancy to remain anchored against the ice and is impervious to most currents.
NASA is already constructing the Europa Clipper orbiter, scheduled for launch in 2025 to study Jupiter's moon Europa, laying the groundwork for a future mission that could search for life beneath the ice.
UN Global Climate Action Awards
The UN Global Climate Action Awards are led by UN Climate Change’s Momentum for Change initiative.
The initiative is implemented with the support of The Rockefeller Foundation, and operates in partnership with the World Economic Forum.
It is given under 4 focus areas such as
Planetary Health,
Climate Neutral Now,
Women for Results, and
Financing for Climate Friendly Investment
15 projects across these focus areas will be awarded this year.
Indian NGO Mahila Housing Sewa Trust will be one of the 15 recipients for empowering women to fight climate change.
It organized a project that empowered women in low-income households to increase their resilience to impacts of climate change across seven cities in India, and neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Nepal.
For example, women were trained to be energy auditors under the project, who encourage households to switch to more energy-efficient products, thus forming a women-led network of green energy and building products.
Infosys in India will also receive an award for its journey to carbon neutrality.
It is one of the first companies of its type to commit to carbon neutrality, while investing in local carbon offsetting projects.
The award will be given at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25), hosted by the Chilean government in Madrid in Spain.
UNWTO
SumanBilla, the former director and secretary of Kerala Tourism, will join the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) as the director, technical cooperation and silk road development.
UNWTO is responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
It is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
The UNWTO Executive Council represents the Organization’s governing body.
The executive council take all necessary measures in consultation with the Secretary-General, for implementation of its own decisions and recommendations of the Assembly.
The Council meets at least twice a year.
The council consists of 30 Full Members elected by the assembly.
PSLV C-47
PSLV C-47 has launched CARTOSAT 3 satellite along with 13 nano satellites from the US.
Cartosat 3 is a third generation earth imaging satellite.
It is an advancement over the previous cartosat series satellites with higher spatial resolution parameter.
It is deployed for cartography (map-making applications), infrastructure planning, coastal land use and regulation, road-network monitoring and more importantly, change detection in bringing out geographical and man-made features.
Among the American satellites aboard is a technical demonstration spacecraft from US-based company Analytical Space Inc, which enables users to fain faster access to satellite data.
National Institute of Design (Amendment) Bill
Parliament has passed the National Institute of Design (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
It declares the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad as an institution of national importance.
It also seeks to declare 4 National Institutes of Designas institutions of national importance.
They are located at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Jorhat in Assam and Kurukshetra in Haryana.
Currently, these institutes are registered as Societies under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and do not have the power to grant degrees or diplomas.
On being declared institutions of national importance, the four institutes will be granted the power to grant degrees and diplomas.
