Animal Welfare Board of India
- The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) is a statutory advisory body under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MOEF).
- It derives its legal structure from the prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
- It is headquartered in Chennai, frames a range of rues on how animals ought to be humanely treated everywhere.
- The term of the office of Members is 3 years and presently consists of 22 members from several government organizations along with animal rights activists and parliamentarians.
- Recently, the Ministry of Environment issued a notification saying that the board will be permanently chaired by a senior MoEF official.
- Some of the functions performed by AWBI
- To advice the Central Government on the matters relating to the medical care provided in animal hospitals.
- To advice the Government related to the design of slaughter houses and vehicles to lessen the burden on draught animals.
- To give financial assistance to animal welfare organizations, rescue establishments and animal hospitals
Brown dwarfs
- Brown dwarfs are objects which are too large to be called planets and too small to be stars.
- The mass of brown dwarfs is too small for full nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium to take place i.e to become fully-fledged stars, but usually more massive than planets.
- Recently scientists have identified a brown dwarf, located at 750 light years away in the constellation of Pisces.
- It is made of gas that is around 250 times purer than the sun, hence consists of more than 99.9% hydrogen and helium.
- It is about 90 times as massive as the planet Jupiter, making it the most massive brown dwarf found to date.
- 3 Criteria given by International Astronomical Union (IAU) to classify any celestial body as planet,
- It needs to be in orbit around a any fully fledged star.
- It needs to have enough gravity to pull itself into a spherical shape.
- It has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat
- It is a programme organized by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
- It aims to actively enhance interaction between people of diverse cultures living in different States and UTs, with the objective of promoting greater mutual understanding amongst them.
- As per the programme, each year, every State/UT would be paired with another State/UT in India for reciprocal interaction between the people.
