UNESCO-IOC Tsunami Ready Programme

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Recently, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO recognised Twenty-four coastal villages in Odisha as 'Tsunami Ready'.

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• The recognition was given during the 2nd Global Tsunami Symposium held in Indonesia based on the verification by the National Tsunami Ready Recognition Board (NTRB).
• The Tsunami Ready Recognition Certificates were renewed for two villages namely Noliasahi in Jagatsinghpur district and Venkatraipur in Ganjam district as they were recognised as ‘Tsunami Ready’ in 2020.

The Tsunami Ready Recognition Programme 

• It is a voluntary international community performance-based programme initiated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO 
• It aims to promote tsunami preparedness through active collaboration of public, and community leaders, and national and local emergency management agencies.

Methodology for the recognition of 'Tsunami Ready' status

• It is a collaborative effort to meet a standard level of tsunami preparedness.
• 12 indicators have been conceived to provide a consistent evaluation standard and all must be met to gain the recognition, which is renewable every four years.
• The NTRB members visited coastal villages for verification of the 12 indicators and recommended that IOC-UNESCO recognise the communities as Tsunami Ready Communities.

Operation Dronagiri

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Recently, the Department of Science and Technology, launched Operation Dronagiri at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi.

About Operation Dronagiri

It is a pilot project under the National Geospatial Policy (NGP) 2022 to demonstrate the potential applications of geospatial technologies and innovations in improving the quality of life.

• NGP was launched by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to consolidate the governance framework to liberalise geospatial data access.

The first phase of the operation will be implemented in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Assam, Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra, 

• It will showcase the potential applications of integration of geospatial data and technology in 3 sectors -- Agriculture, Livelihoods, and Logistics and Transport. 

The operation is supported by the Integrated Geospatial Data Sharing Interface (GDI).

• GDI enables seamless data sharing, access, and analysis for urban planning, environmental monitoring, disaster management, and more.

Booker Prize 2024

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Recently, British author Samantha Harvey has been awarded the Booker Prize 2024 for her novel Orbital (Vintage). 

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• The winner was announced by the Chair of the judges, Edmund de Waal, at a ceremony held at Old Billingsgate in London.
• It is the first Booker Prize-winning book whose premise is set in space. The novel takes place over a single day in the life of six astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station.
• Orbital has been the biggest-selling book on the shortlist in the UK and has sold more copies than the past three Booker Prize winners combined. 

The Booker Prize 

• It is the leading literary award in the English-speaking world and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over five decades.
• The prize is awarded annually to what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best-sustained work of fiction written in English and published in the UK and Ireland.
• The winner receives £50,000 as well as the £2,500 awarded to each of the six shortlisted authors.