Today in History (September 5th, 2023)
On this day, in 1962, September 5 was first observed as Teacher’s Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
Summary of Today’s News
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), established in 1968 and headquartered in New York, focuses on global population and sexual and reproductive health. Renamed in 1987 while retaining the abbreviation UNFPA, it doesn’t directly collect statistics but provides technical and financial support for activities such as population censuses. UNFPA’s core areas include:
- Reproductive health (family planning and maternal health).
- Addressing population challenges.
- Promoting gender equality, especially in education.
Crucially, UNFPA operates only upon government requests, emphasizing collaborative efforts to ensure safe pregnancies and childbirth and fulfill the potential of young people worldwide.
Maritime Infrastructure Perspective Plan (MIPP) 2037
Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt released the Maritime Infrastructure Perspective Plan (MIPP) 2037 at the Naval Commanders Conference. This plan outlines infrastructure requirements for the Indian Navy over the next 15 years, aligning with government visions for sustainable infrastructure, PM Gati Shakti project, disaster resilience, and net-zero transition. Additionally, the Indian Register for Shipping (IRS) rules and regulations handbook was updated to accommodate technological advancements and self-reliance (Aatmanirbharta) in constructing and classifying Naval combatants. These releases aim to support the Navy’s modernization and compliance with evolving policies.
Sunspots
Sunspots are cooler, dark areas on the Sun’s surface with powerful magnetic forces. Some can be as large as 50,000 km in diameter. They are common during the solar maximum, the period of greatest solar activity in an 11-year solar cycle. Currently, we are in a solar minimum phase with fewer sunspots and solar flares. Sunspots consist of a dark ‘umbra’ surrounded by a lighter ‘penumbra.’ These phenomena follow a cyclic pattern, with the number of sunspots increasing and decreasing each solar cycle.
Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)
Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are massive releases of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona. They can expel billions of tons of material and carry a strong embedded magnetic field. CMEs travel from 250 km/s to 3,000 km/s, with the fastest reaching Earth in 15-18 hours, while slower ones take days. These ejections expand as they move away from the Sun, some growing to a quarter of the space between Earth and the Sun. CMEs have various impacts, including causing radio and magnetic disturbances on Earth and influencing space weather in near-Earth space.
