29 November 2014 Current Affairs
Pakistan To Host 19th SAARC summit In 2016
Pakistan’s capital Islamabad will host the 19th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in 2016. SAARC current chairperson Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala made the announcement at the concluding session of the 18th SAARC summit in Kathmand. The 18th South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit was held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 26 November 2014 to 27 November 2014.The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and geopolitical organisation of eight countries that are primarily located in South Asia. Eight members are Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan,Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka. The SAARC Secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The combined economy of SAARC is 3rd largest in the world in the terms of GDP (PPP) after the United States and China and 8th largest in the terms of GDP (Nominal). SAARC nations are having 3% of world’s area and in contrast having 21% (around 1.7 billion) of world’s total population.
SRM University Student Sultan Khetani Won Bright Futures Prize at Harvard
Sultan Khetani, a postgraduate student of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at SRM University, and his Project Instructor Dr. Shafee Hadi of Harvard Medical School have won the Bright Futures Prize 2014 for their research on fighting HIV/AIDS using a low cost flexible microchip. The Bright Futures Prize is a prestigious award with a cash prize of $100,000 for which more than 200 teams from Harvard and MIT affiliates had competed.
Forest Owlet Spotted In Western Ghats
The critically endangered Forest Owlet, which was till now considered to be endemic to the Satpura mountain ranges in central India, has now been spotted in Western Ghats by naturalists. The owlet was spotted in Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary in Palghar District of Maharashtra. The bird is endemic to the Satpura mountain ranges in central India. This time, the bird has been found in Tansa wildlife sanctuary about 250 km southwards of its earlier known range. The Tansa wildlife sanctuary near Mumbai is known to be an important bird habitat.