Important Facts for Prelims (31st January 2019)

• 31 Jan 2019

International Stock Taking Conference on Tiger Conservation

• Recently the 3^rd Stock Taking Conference on Tiger Conservation relating to Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP) implementation was held in New Delhi.
• This is the second edition to be held in India after 2012 wherein progress against resolution adopted by tiger range countries in 2010 at St. Petersburg, Russia, was measured.
• The conference was hosted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in close collaboration with the Global Tiger Forum which is an International, Intergovernmental Organization for conserving tigers in the world.

St. Petersburg Declaration on Tiger Conservation

• This resolution was adopted In November 2010, by the leaders of 13 tiger range countries (TRCs) assembled at an International Tiger Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
• The resolution’s implementation mechanism is called the Global Tiger Recovery Program whose overarching goal was to double the number of wild tigers from about 3,200 to more than 7,000 by 2022.
• 13 Tiger range countries are: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

African Asian Rural Development Organisation (AARDO)

• An international workshop on fisheries and aquaculture has called for regional cooperation among member countries of the African Asian Rural Development Organisation (AARDO) to develop joint fisheries management plans.
• African - Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO), headquartered in New Delhi, was formed in 1962, is an autonomous inter-governmental organization comprising 33 members from Africa and Asia.
• It was earlier known as Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization.
• AARDO is one of the earliest examples of South-South cooperation in rural development in the Afro-Asian region. The Organization was set up with a view to promote coordinated efforts, exchange of experiences and cooperative action for furthering the objectives of development of the rural areas.
• India is one of the Founder Members of the Organization and is the largest contributor in terms of membership contribution.
• The first Afro-Asian Conference on Rural Reconstruction held its historic Session in New Delhi during 18-25 January 1961.

Human Space Flight Center

• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has inaugurated Human Space Flight Center in Bengaluru.
• The center, a new management structure within the organization, will be in charge of all human-related programme at the ISRO, including the Gaganyaan project, that will send three astronauts to orbit the earth.
• Two unmanned flights are scheduled for December 2020 and July 2021, while manned flight is expected to take place by December 2021.