Current Affair 1:

GPAI New Delhi AI Declaration

 

News:

The GPAI has unanimously adopted this declaration:

About GPAI

Launched in June 2020, GPAI is a multistakeholder initiative bringing together leading experts from science, industry, civil society, international organizations and government that share values to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.

GPAI Secretariat at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Membership in GPAI is open to countries, including emerging and developing countries.

Current Affair 2:

Soft Tunable 3D Photonic Crystals

 

News:

A new pathway to attain soft tunable 3D photonic crystal that can control light in all directions by introducing nanoparticles of appropriate shape and size in the blue phase liquid crystal can pave the way for sophisticated photonic devices.

What are Photonic crystals?

Photonic crystals like wings of a butterfly, peacock feathers, etc are fascinating optical materials owing to their ability to manipulate light. They are optical analogues of semiconductors with a refractive index contrast along the light propagation direction. Photonic crystals can control light either along a particular direction (incomplete photonic band gap -- PBG) or in all directions (complete PBG).

Fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals that can operate in the visible spectrum is challenging due to the nanometer length scales requiring sophisticated techniques.

The research team from the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences, Bengaluru, an autonomous institution of Department of Science and Technology (DST) has shown an elegant pathway to achieve complete photonic bandgap in BPs.

The simple and cost-effective methodology developed by the team led by Dr Geetha Nair involves ingenious ways of incorporating high refractive index nanoparticles of appropriate shape and size in the blue phase liquid crystal.

Current Affair 3:

Alarming increase in aerosol levels

 

News:

The study by the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) Physical Research Laboratory suggests that aerosol levels have increased specifically over the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) and the Himalayan foothills and have implication which may lead to increased temperatures, altered rainfall patterns and accelerated melting of glacier ice and snow.

The said study reports that the aerosol radiative forcing efficiency (ARFE) in the atmosphere is clearly high over the IGP and the Himalayan foothills (80–135 Wm−2 per unit aerosol optical depth (AOD)), with values being greater at higher elevations.  The aerosol-induced atmospheric warming and deposition of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols on snow and ice are reported to be the primary reasons for the current and future accelerated glacier and snow melt.

Current Affair 4:

Katabatic winds

News:

A new report using data collected from the Pyramid International Laboratory/Observatory climate station on Mount Everest has found that warming temperatures are triggering what are called katabatic winds, cold winds that are created by air flowing downhill.

 

This leads to cold air blowing to lower-altitude areas, potentially slowing down the effects of the global climate crisis in some regions.

The study reveals that a temperature gap between air above the mountains and cooler air in contact with ice masses causes increased turbulent heat exchange, leading to stronger cooling of the surface air mass.

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