India re-joins Arctic Council intergovernmental panel as observer nation this year

Indian has been studying the possible link between monsoon & the Arctic at its base in Svalbard.

|May 08, 2019, 10:12:25 IST

India has been re-elected as an observer to intergovernmental forum Arctic Council, officials said Tuesday.The Arctic Council promotes cooperation, coordination and interaction among Arctic states, the region's indigenous communities and other inhabitants on common issues, particularly on sustainable development and environmental protection."At the 11th Arctic Council ministerial meeting at Rovaniemi with Vani Rao Ambassador, Finland. Happy news. India re-elected as Observer of the Arctic Council. India committed to do more contributions in the Arctic Council (sic)," M Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences tweeted.

Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States are members of the Arctic Council.[caption id="attachment_6592001" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]

Senior officials of the Arctic Council at a meeting in March 2017. Image courtesy: Linnea Nordström/Arctic Council Secretariat[/caption]Indian researchers have been studying whether there is a co-relation between the Indian monsoon and the Arctic region.India's National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, an institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, has set up a research station, 'Himadri', in Svalbard in Norway that works on the mass balance of glaciers, the effect of the warming on the marine system, the formation of clouds and precipitation, and the effect on biodiversity.

Careless Whispers: Scientists discover that plants can 'talk' to each other using smells

Japanese scientists have recorded a video that shows plants, in certain conditions, communicate with each other using mists that carry smells. The discovery, reveals that plants release a fine mist of airborne compounds, to warn nearby plants of potential dangers

Life on Mars? European Space Agency’s Orbiter discovers ice water deposits at equator

European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter has identified massive ice and ice water deposits beneath the surface of Mars. The Mars Express orbiter was also the first to confirmed the presence of ice on Mars in 2004

Microsoft briefly overtakes Apple as the most valuable company, Apple back on top again

At its peak during the session, Microsoft's value reached $2.903 trillion, with a 2% surge. As of writing this article, Apple closed at $2.89 trillion, whereas Microsoft closed at $2.86 trillion

Even NASA is facing a tough time, starts layoffs following major budget cuts

NASA is facing some massive budget cuts, because of which, it has been forced to postpone some upcoming missions. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been hit hard by recent federal budget cuts, resulting in the layoff of 100 contractors last week

ISRO, NASA's NISAR satellite to get ready by Jan-end, will monitor Earth's snow-covered regions

The NISAR satellite which has been developed jointly ISRO and NASA, should be ready for launch by the end of January 2024. The collaboration between NASA and ISRO on NISAR is the first time the two agencies have cooperated on hardware development for an Earth-observing mission

Up Next