• Indian Meteorological Department has predicted that heat dome over northwest India is likely to recede from land and back off into Central Arabian Sea soon, making way for moisture-laden western disturbance and associated cloud cover with rain or snow in Western Himalayas and adjoining plains.
  • It has led to unusual heat in February.
• Heat dome is a high-pressure circulation in atmosphere which acts like a dome or cap, trapping heat at surface and favouring heatwave formation.
  • It occurs when hot ocean air is trapped over a large area.
• Typically, heat domes are tied to the pattern of jet stream (fast winds high in atmosphere that generally runs west to east).
  • Normally, jet stream has a wavelike pattern, meandering north and then south and then north again.
  • When these meanders in jet stream become bigger, they move slower and can become stationary and resulting into heat domes.
• Hot air typically rises into atmosphere, but dome’s lid causes air to sink. As air sinks, it compresses and becomes warmer that causes temperature in dome to rise continually.
• Impacts of heat dome:
  • Affect sessional agricultural products;
  • Increased risk of wildfire,
  • heat-related illnesses such as heat rash, heat stroke, heat exhaustion etc.

• Martin Foundation, in association with Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam International Foundation and Space Zone India, launched the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Satellite Launch Vehicle Mission- 2023.
  • Around 3,500 students from government schools across the country became part of a team that designed and constructed a student satellite launch vehicle (rocket) and 150 PICO satellite research experiment cubes.
• Rocket can be used for research in weather, atmospheric conditions and radiations.
• Sounding rockets are one or two stage solid propellant rockets used for probing upper atmospheric regions (Aeronomy) and for space research.
  • Can also be used to test or prove prototypes of new components or subsystems intended for use in launch vehicles and satellites.
• Sounding rockets take their name from the nautical term “to sound,” which means to take measurements.
• Hybrid-rocket uses different propellants, i.e., one solid and other being either gas or liquid.

Brief History

• The launch of the first sounding rocket from Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on 21 November 1963, marked the beginning of the Indian Space Programme.
• In 1967, ISRO launched its own version of sounding rockets – Rohini RH-75.
• In 1975, ISRO consolidated all sounding rocket activities under Rohini Sounding Rocket (RSR) Programme.
• Rohini RH-200 (meteorology purpose) along with RH-300 Mk 2 and RH-560 Mk 2 (both for Aeronomy) are three sounding rockets currently operational with ISRO.

• Tibetans-in-exile celebrated Losar (Tibetan New Year 2150), at the Dalai Lama temple in McLeodganj, Dharamsala, on 21^st
• Prayers by monks & performance by artistes of Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts marked the festivities.
• The Dalai Lama said, “I am hopeful that Losar will be pleasant, joyful & comfortable for us all, not only for those of us in exile, but also for our fellow Tibetans throughout the three provinces of the Land of Snows.”

• Wildlife officials have caught the image of the wild cat on camera traps inside the Simbalbara National Park.
• It’s for the first time that a tiger has been captured on camera traps in the state. The image confirms the presence of a tiger in the national park, which is a great news.
• The wildlife staff had set up camera traps to confirm the presence of the tiger when the pugmarks were spotted a month ago.
• It is believed the tiger had arrived at the Simbalbara National Park from the Rajaji National Park by crossing the Yamuna over a month ago.
• The fact that it hasn’t gone back is a great news for the Simbalbara National Park as it will enhance the area’s biodiversity.
• The wild cat could be using the Simbalbara National Park and the adjoining Kalesar National Park as his territory.

About the protected areas

• Simbalbara National Park is a national park in India, located in the Paonta Valley of Sirmour District, Himachal Pradesh, along its border with Haryana. It is also known as Col. Sher Jung National Park.
• Kalesar National Park and adjacent Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary are protected areas in Yamunanagar district of Haryana state.
• Kalesar National Park was established in 2003.
• Kalesar National Park and Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary are contiguous to Simbalbara National Park in Himachal Pradesh and Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand.

• The Taj Mahotsav was officially launched on February 20 (Monday) in Agra.
• The event’s theme this year is “Vishwa Bandhutva,”
• About 300 artisans from various states and UTs, including Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Bihar, and Himachal Pradesh, are taking part in the event.
• This Mahotsav, which combines art, culture, and cuisines, draws locals as wells as international tourists.
• Several cultural events will be held at Agra’s Shilpgram and other locations over the course of the next ten days.

• Former IAS officer BVR Subrahmanyam has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of Niti Aayog.
• The former Commerce Secretary takes over from Parameswaran lyer, who has been named as the Executive Director of World Bank.
• Subrahmanyam’s appointment as NITI Aayog CEO was announced by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
• Subrahmanyam’s appointment is for two years from the date of assumption of the charge of the post.

• International Mother Language Day is celebrated every year on February 21to encourage linguistic, cultural, and multilingualism variety.
• The aim of the celebrations is to preserve traditional knowledge and cultures through sustainable methods and support multilingualism in societies.
• In India, we also refer to it as the Matribhasha Diwas.
• The theme of the 2023 International Mother Language Day is “Multilingual education – a necessity to transform education”.

• Saurashtra defeated Bengal by nine wickets to clinch its second Ranji Trophy 2022-23 title at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
• Saurashtra won the Ranji Trophy title for the first time in 2019-20.

About Ranji Trophy

• It is a domestic first-class cricket championship that is played in India between multiple teams representing regional and State cricket associations.
• There are 38 teams from 28 states in India and 4 of the 8 union territories have at least one representative.
• This tournament is named after the first Indian cricketer who played international cricket Ranjitsinhji, who was also known as Ranji.
• The first trophy was donated by Bhupinder Singh the Maharaja of Patiala.
• On November 4th, 1934 the first match was played between Madras and Mysore at the Chepauk ground in Madras.

• Observer Research Foundation has released a CPI to evaluate performance of G20 countries in climate change mitigation.
• On CPI, India ranks first among all G20 members in terms of overall climate performance.
• India’s rank is attributed to factors like significantly low per capita contributions to emissions, very limited share in legacy emissions relative to its population needs etc.

Other information

• Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) is published by Germanwatch, New Climate Institute and Climate Action Network.

• It was released by the Cross Dependency Initiative (XDI), a global organisation specialising in climate risk analysis for regions, banks and companies.
• The“world-first” index calculated the ‘physical climate risk’ to built environments across 2,600 States and provinces globally in 2050 due to extreme weather events.

Findings

• India, China and U.S are home to 80% of most vulnerable cities and centres of economic activity.
• Jiangsu and Shandong of China topped it.
• Nine out of 50 regions in the world facing high climate risk to a fragile physical infrastructure fall in India.
  • Bihar (22nd spot), Uttar Pradesh (25th), Assam (28th), Rajasthan (32nd), Tamil Nadu (36th), Maharashtra (38th), Gujarat (48th), Punjab (50th) and Kerala (52nd) are among the most vulnerable in the country,
  • It also identified the economic capital Mumbai to be at notable risk as well.