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The European Space Agency (ESA)

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The European Space Agency (ESA)
The European Space Agency (ESA)

The European Space Research Organisation (ESRO)  was an international organisation founded by 10 European nations with the intention of jointly pursuing scientific research in space. It was founded in 1964. As an organisation, ESRO was based on a previously existing international scientific institution, CERN. The ESRO convention, the organisations founding document outlines it as an entity exclusively devoted to scientific pursuits. This was the case for most of its lifetime but in the final years before the formation of the European Space Agency (ESA), ESRO began a programme in the field of telecommunications. ESA is not a mainly pure science  focused entity but concentrates on telecommunications, earth observation, and other application motivated activities. ESRO was merged with ELDO in 1975 to form the European Space Agency.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the exploration of space, with 20 member states. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a staff of more than 2,000.

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ESA’s space flight program includes human spaceflight, mainly through the participation in the International Space Station program, the launch and operations of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon, Earth observation, science, telecommunication as well as maintaining a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Center at Kourou, French Guiana, and designing launch vehicles. The main European launch vehicle Ariane 5 is operated through Arianespace with ESA sharing in the costs of launching and further developing this launch vehicle.

ESA science missions are based at ESTEC in Noordwijk, Netherlands, Earth Observation missions at ESRIN in Frascati, Italy, ESA Mission Control (ESOC) is in Darmstadt, Germany, the European Astronaut Center (EAC) that trains astronauts for future missions is situated in Cologne, Germany, and the European Space Astronomy Center is located in Villanueva de la Canada, Spain.

ESA in its current form was founded with the ESA Convention in 1975 when ESRO was merged with ELDO. ESA has 10 founding member states: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,  Spain,  Sweden,  Switzerland and the United Kingdom.  These signed the ESA Convention in 1975 and deposited the instruments of ratification by 1980 when the convention came into force. During this interval, the agency functioned in a de facto fashion. ESA launched its first major scientific mission in 1975, Cos-B, a space probe monitoring gamma-ray emissions in the universe first worked on by ESRO.

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The headquarters of ESA are in Paris, with four major ESA facilities in other countries. The European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC),  located  at  Noordwijk, the  Netherlands,  is the primary research center and manages the satellite projects. The European Space Operations Center (ESOC), located at Darmstadt, Germany, is responsible for satellite control, monitoring, and data retrieval. The European Space Research Institute (ESRIN), located at Frascati, Italy, supports the ESA documentation service and manages the data obtained from remote sensing satellites.

The European Astronaut Center (EAC), located in Cologne,  Germany, is responsible for the selection and training of astronauts for space station missions. In addition to the major centers, ESA operates sounding-rocket launch stations in Norway and Sweden, a meteorological program office at Toulon, France, and satellite tracking stations in Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

The foundation of ESA was laid with the formation of the European Space Research Organization(ESRO) in 1962 and of the European Launcher Development Organization (ELDO) in 1964. ESRO consisted of ten European countries and Australia, which placed its rocket-firing range at Woomera at the organization’s disposal; between  1968 and 1972 seven ESRO satellites—Iris (ESRO-2B), Aurorae (ESRO-1A), HEOS-1, BOREAS, HEOS-2, TD-1A, and ESRO-4—were launched on NASA rockets. ELDO, which consisted of seven European countries, developed Kourou’s launch  site. Intending to build the Europa 1 multistage launch vehicle—combining a British first stage, a French second stage, and a German third stage—to orbit an Italian satellite, ELDO was unsuccessful primarily because of organizational problems. By 1975 it was obvious that a new approach was required, and ESRO and ELDO were merged to form ESA.

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Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)

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Syskool
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Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)
Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)

Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), formerly Middle East Treaty Organization, or Baghdad Pact Organization,  mutual security organization dating from 1955 to 1979 and composed of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. Until March 1959 the organization was known as the Middle East Treaty Organization, included Iraq, and had its headquarters in Baghdad.

Formed at the urging of Britain and the United States, the Central Treaty Organization was intended to counter the threat of Soviet expansion into vital Middle East oil-producing regions. It was never very effective. Iraq withdrew from the alliance in 1959 after its anti-Soviet monarchy was overthrown. That same year the United States became an associate member, the name of the organization was changed to CENTO, and its headquarters was moved to Ankara. Following the fall of the shah in 1979, Iran withdrew, and CENTO was dissolved.

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The objective of the alliance was to prevent the spread of Communism and of Soviet influence in the Middle East. In the event of aggression against any of the Middle Eastern members of the alliance, the United States was pledged to take such appropriate action as would be mutually agreed upon. The members engaged in many cooperative nonmilitary projects.

CENTO was formed in 1955 at Baghdad, Iraq, as the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), and was commonly also referred to as the Baghdad Pact. When Iraq, one of the original members, withdrew in 1959 the alliance was reorganized under the new name. With the withdrawal of Pakistan and Iran in 1979, CENTO collapsed.

U.S. pressure and promises of military and economic aid were key in the negotiations leading to the agreement, although the United States could not initially participate “for purely technical reasons of budgeting procedures.” In 1958, the United States joined the military committee of the alliance. It is generally viewed as one of the least successful of the Cold War alliances. The organization’s headquarters were initially located in Baghdad (Iraq) 1955–1958 and Ankara (Turkey) 1958–1979. Cyprus was also an important location for CENTO due to its positioning within the Middle East and the British Sovereign Base Areas situated on the island.

CENTO did little to prevent the expansion of Soviet influence to non-member states in the area. Whatever containment value the pact might have had was lost when the Soviets ‘leap-frogged’ the member states, establishing close military and political relationships with governments in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, Somalia, and Libya. By 1970, the USSR had deployed over 20,000 troops to Egypt, and had established naval bases in Syria, Somalia, and P.D.R. Yemen.

Must Read: United Nations Organisation (UNO)

CENTO had an elaborate organizational structure, including a council of ministers, a secretariat, and an economic committee, with subcommittees in the health, trade, and communications fields. The council of min­isters, CENTO’s supreme source of authority, met annually at the prime ministers’ or foreign ministers’ level, alternatively in Tehran, Islamabad, Ankara, London, and Washington. A council of deputies held fortnightly meetings at the Ankara headquarters at the ambassadorial level.

CENTO was created as a conventional military alliance in the Cold War climate of the 1950s and served as the central link in the chain of strategic defense pacts against the Soviet Union and its allies established by the Western powers from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to the South East Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO). Although the fear of commu­nist expansion in the Northern Tier region was very real, it was unlikely that Persia, Iraq, Turkey, and Pakistan would have come together on their own initiative without British and American assurances.

London in particular con­sidered CENTO to be “vital” to its security and ardently hoped that other states would join in due time. For the British a Middle East security system required the participation of Arab states, espe­cially Egypt, to give it viability. Without the participa­tion of nationalist Arabs a defense pact associated with the West could not remain stable. After the Iraqi with­drawal in 1959, in spite of serious efforts, CENTO failed to secure the cooperation of any other Arab state. This deprived the alliance of much of its significance, and one might say that its sword lacked a cutting edge.

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Global warming

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Syskool
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Global warming
Global warming

Global warming is the unequivocal and continuing rise in the average temperature of Earth’s climate system. Since 1971, 90% of the warming has occurred in the oceans. “Global warming” is also used to refer to increases in average temperature of the air and sea at Earth’s surface.

The IPCC stated that the largest driver of global warming is carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel combustion, cement production, and land-use changes such as deforestation.

Warming is expected to be strongest in the Arctic, with the continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost, and sea ice. Other likely effects of the warming include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall; ocean acidification; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes. Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the loss of habitat from inundation.

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Human influence has been detected in warming of the atmosphere and the ocean, in changes in the global water cycle, in reductions in snow and ice, in global mean sea level rise, and in changes in some climate extremes.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) climate change. Parties to the UNFCCC have adopted a range of policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to assist in adaptation to global warming. Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required, and that future global warming should be limited to below 2.0 °C (3.6 °F) relative to the pre-industrial level. Reports published in 2011 by the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Energy Agency suggest that efforts as of the early 21st century to reduce emissions may be inadequate to meet the UNFCCC’s 2 °C target.

Depletion of the ozone layer by chemical refrigerants has also resulted in a strong cooling effect in the stratosphere. If the sun were responsible for observed warming, warming of both the troposphere and the stratosphere would be expected. The main negative feedback is the energy which the Earth’s surface radiates into space as infrared radiation.

Climate change could result in global, large-scale changes in natural and social systems. Two examples are ocean acidification caused by increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, and the long-term melting of ice sheets, which contributes to sea level rise.

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Global Warming Impacts

Rising Seas, Changes in rainfall patterns, The increased likelihood of extreme events, Melting of the ice caps, Widespread vanishing of animal populations, Spread of disease, Bleaching of Coral Reefs due to warming seas and acidification due to the carbonic acid formation, Loss of Plankton due to warming seas.

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Sports in India

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Syskool
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sports in India
sports in India

Athletics

Athletics is also known as track and field athletics. It is a collection of sports events that involve jumping, running and throwing. In 1896, athletics was first introduced in the Olympic Games and in 1928 women were first allowed to participate in track and field events. Sprints, middle distance events, long distance events, hurdles, relays, road races, race walking are some of the running events.

Badminton

Badminton is a sport that is played with racquets. Either two opposing players or two opposing pairs play this game. The court is divided by a net. The player has to hit the shuttlecock, also known as the feathered projectile with the racquets and pass it to the opponent’s side. The Badminton World Federation was established in 1934 with several founding members. In 1936, India joined as an affiliate. The nations that produces several world-class badminton players are China, Indonesia, South Korea and Malaysia.

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Basketball

Basketball is a team game, in which each team consists of five players. The main objective of the game is to score points by hitting the ball and throwing it into the basket of the opposition team. Basketball was first played in America, in 1891. In 1936, this game was for the first time introduced in the Olympics, which was held in Berlin.

In India, basketball was first played in the year 1930. The first Indian Nation Championship was held in 1934 in Delhi. The main governing body of basketball in India is the Basketball Federation of India that was formed in 1950.

Billiards

Billiards includes a range of cue games. These games are played on a billiards table to test the skill of hitting the billiards balls with a cue stick. Billiards is divided into three subdivisions: carom billiards, pocket billiards, and snooker. All the three games are played with same techniques but the origin and terminology of snooker are different.

In carom billiards, the player is required to hit a cue ball aiming to make contact with the rival’s cue ball. One-pocket, bank pool, eight-ball, nine-ball, and snooker are some of the pocket billiards games. In 2005, billiards was added as an event in the World Games and in 2006 billiards was given a place in the Asian Games.

Bowling

Bowling is an indoor sport in which the player is supposed to roll a bowling ball through a flat surface called lane and hit objects called pins. The main objective of hitting the pins is to make points. There are various categories of bowling that includes ten-pin bowling, candlepin bowling, duckpin bowling, five-pin bowling and bumper bowling. To promote indoor sport such as bowling in India and as a family recreation activity, the Bowling and Billiards Association of India have been established.

Boxing

Boxing is a sport blended with martial art. It is a combat game in which two participants of same weight fights with each other in a series of rounds of one to three minutes. The participants are called boxers. The main objective of the game is to avoid the punches of the opponents. The participant who is able to knock down the opponent is declared as the winner only if the opponent is unable to get up before the referee counts to ten.

Chess

Chess is a board game where mental skill is required to play it. It is a popular game and is played all over the world. This sport is played by two players. It is played on a square sized board on which 8 rows and 8 columns are made, giving 64 spares of alternative colours. The main objective of this game is to checkmate the king of the opposition player. Vishwanathan Anand of India is the present world champion of this game.

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Cricket

Cricket is a bat and ball game played by two teams consisting of eleven players each. It is played on a flat pitch of 22 yards with two sets of three stumps on each end of the pitch. The main objective of the game is to score as many runs as possible. It is the second most popular sport in the world after football. The British were the first to introduce cricket in India. The Indian Cricket Control Board was first formed towards the end of 1928. In 1932, India played its first official and international Test match against England.

Extreme sports

Extreme sports, also known as action sports and adventure sports are activities that are considered to have a high level of inherent danger. These sports often involve speed, height, physical exertion and spectacular stunts. In India, one can find a variety of extreme sports that are famous worldwide. Some of the adventure spots that can be enjoyed in India are cycling and motor biking in the Himalayas, mountaineering, gliding, rafting, scuba diving, skiing, trekking, skateboarding, snowboarding, and bungee jumping.

Hockey

Field hockey is one of the most popular games in India. The British Regiments were the first to introduce it in India. In 1885-1886, the first hockey club was formed in Kolkata by Punjab and Mumbai. Hockey is a team game in which each team consists of 11 players including a gaol-keeper. The first hockey association founded in India was the Bengal Hockey. In 1928, India for the first time played in Olympic Games, held in Amsterdam.

Football

Football is an outdoor game that was first introduced during the British Reign. Today, it is one of the major sports in India. It is a team game and is said to be the top sports in the states of West Bengal, Kerala, and Goa. Kolkata is considered as the home of Indian football.  India was considered as an Asian powerhouse of football. India was the champion of the Asian Games in 1951 and 1962. The present governing body of the Indian football is the All India Football Federation.

Golf

Golf is an outdoor sport in which a player is required to hit a ball into a hole with lowest number of strokes. This sport is played in golf courses and several types of clubs are used to play it. Each golf course is designed in a unique form and can consist of either 9 or 18 holes. In 1456 A.D, the first game of golf was played at Bruntsfield Links, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Ice hockey

Ice hockey is played on ice. It is known to be one of the world’s fastest sports, with players on skates capable of going high speeds either on artificial or natural ice surfaces. In the game, two teams consisting of six players skates through the ice surface to knock a flat round puck into goal of the opponents.

A helmet, shoulder pads, elbow pads, mouth guard, protective gloves, heavily padded shorts, a ‘jock’ athletic protector, shin pads, chest protector and a neck guard are the equipments required while playing ice hockey. In 2003, the first National Ice Hockey Championship was held in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Kabaddi

Kabaddi is a team game and is very popular among the people of Asia. Each team consist of seven players and the main objective is to score higher points by competing with the opponent team. Kabaddi involves physical strength and stamina and is a combination of rugby and wrestling. It is one among the most simple and inexpensive games that does not require a huge area or any expensive equipments.

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Kho-Kho

Kho-Kho is one of the popular traditional sports in India. It is believed by the historians that it is a modified form of ‘Run Chase’ which involves chasing and touching a player. Maharashtra is the origin of Kho-Kho. Like most of the Indian games, Kho-Kho is also enjoyable, inexpensive and simple.

To play this game two teams consisting of 9 players is required. One team chases while the other defends or runs. Each team gets 9 minutes twice to chase and defeat. The chaser has to follow the runner and touch or tag them to make them out. The game requires a ground, rectangular in shape. The only equipment required to play this game is two poles.

Lawn Tennis

Lawn Tennis is a game that can be either played indoors or outdoors. It is played by two or four player on a rectangular court. Racquets is used to strike the ball back and forth across a net situated in the middle of the court. To score points, the player has to hit the ball out of the opponents reach.

Lawn tennis was first played in India in the late 19th century. In 1910, the first All Indian Championship in Tennis was held. There are several Indians who have made a mark on the tennis court. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were the first doubles team to reach four Grand Slam finals. They have also won Wimbledon and French Open.

Rugby

Rugby is a team game that descended from the common form of football that was developed in Rugby, at Rugby school. American football, rugby league, rugby union and Canadian football are some of the modern sports that are originated from rugby. British were the first to introduce rugby in India. In 1998, India first played rugby internationally. The game has now spread all over the country and has attained great popularity. Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai are some of the main centres where rugby is played. The main governing body of rugby in India is the Indian Rugby Football Union.

Shooting

Shooting is a competitive sport involving tests of accuracy and speed using various types of guns like firearms and airguns. This sport is basically categorised on the type of firearm or target used. India got the first Olympic individual silver medal in 2004. Shooting is considered as an expensive sport that can be perused only by the affluent, powerful and the talented with institutional support. In India, with the establishment of the National Rifle Association of India in 1951, the shooting sport took an organised form.

Table tennis

Table tennis is an indoor game played by two or four players. The players play with a ball and a small bat on a table divided by a net. This game is also known as ping-pong. India is known to be one among the countries named as the birth place of this famous sport. The Table Tennis Federation of India was formed in 1937, in Calcutta. India was a founder member of the International Table Tennis Championship as well as took part in the inaugural World championship held in London, in the year 1926. In 1952, for the first time in Asia, the World championship was held in Mumbai.

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team game that can be played either indoor or outdoor. Each team consist of six players. The main objective of this game is to score points by hitting a ball back and forth across a net. It is an inexpensive and popular game that can be played in all seasons. In 1958, volleyball was first introduced at the Asian Games held at Tokyo. Indian took part and gained third position. In 1960, for the first time, men’s volleyball was included as an event in the World Olympic Games. Soviet Union, Italy, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Poland and German are the countries who own the finest teams of volleyball.

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The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

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Syskool
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The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 191 Member States and Territories. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873. Established in 1950, WMO became the specialized agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences. It has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a member of the United Nations Development Group. The current Secretary-General is Michel Jarraud. The current president is David Grimes.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is the UN system’s authoritative voice on the state and behavior of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources.

WMO has a membership of 191 member states and territories, as of February 2014. The  Convention of the World Meteorological Organization was signed 11 October 1947 and established upon ratification in 1950. WMO became the specialized agency of the United Nations in 1951 for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873.

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The WMO hierarchy:

  • The World Meteorological Congress determines the policy of WMO and meets every four years. Each Member country is represented by a Permanent Representative with WMO. The Permanent Representative should be the director of the National Meteorological or Hydro meteorological Service.
  • The Executive Council (EC) implements Congress decisions and meets once a year.
  • Six regional associations for addressing regional concerns
  • Eight technical commissions provide technical recommendations for WMO and the national services.
  • The secretariat headed by the Secretary-General coordinates the activities of WMO with a regular staff of more than 250 employees.

The WMO and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) jointly created the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is also directly responsible for the creation of the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW). The IPCC has received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”

The framework of WMO programmes, National Meteorological and contribute substantially to the protection of life and property against natural disasters, to safeguarding the environment and to enhancing the economic and social well-being of all sectors of society in areas such as food security, water resources, and transport.

The World Meteorological Organization coordinates global scientific activity to allow increasingly prompt and accurate weather information and other services for public, private and commercial use, including international airline and shipping industries. WMO’s activities contribute to the safety of life and property, the socio-economic development of nations and the protection of the environment.

The vision of WMO is to provide world leadership in expertise and international cooperation in weather, climate, hydrology and water resources and related environmental issues and thereby contribute to the safety and well-being of people throughout the world and to the economic benefit of all nations.

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The mission of WMO is to:

  • Facilitate worldwide cooperation in the establishment of networks of stations for the making of meteorological observations as well as hydrological and other geophysical observations related to meteorology
  • Promote the establishment and maintenance of systems for the rapid exchange of meteorological and related information;
  • Promote standardization of meteorological and related observations and to ensure the uniform publication of observations and statistics;
  • Further the application of meteorology to aviation, shipping, water  problems,  agriculture and other human activities;
  • Promote activities in operational hydrology and to further close cooperation between Meteorological and Hydrological Services;
  • Encourage research and training in meteorology and, as appropriate, in related fields, and to assist in coordinating the international aspects of such research and training.

The WMOs purpose is to facilitate international cooperation in the establishment of networks of stations for making Meteorological, hydrological and other observations; and to promote the rapid exchange of meteorological information, the standardization of meteorological observations and the uniform publication of observations and statistics. It also furthers the application of meteorology to aviation, shipping, water problems, agriculture and other human activities, promotes operational hydrology and encourages research and training in meteorology.

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