“BRICS Astronomy Working Group” Proposes Networking of Existing Telescopes

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India virtually hosted the 7th meeting of the BRICS Astronomy Working Group (BAWG) under the Science, Technology, and Innovation track of the BRICS 2021.

Note: India has assumed the BRICS Presidency from January 2021.

About BRICS Astronomy Working Group(BAWG):

• Astronomy was established as one of five thematic science areas within BRICS at a ministerial meeting held in South Africa in 2014.
• Formed in: The BRICS Astronomy Working Group(BAWG) established in 2015.
• Purpose: The group provides a platform for the BRICS member countries to collaborate in the field of astronomy.

About 7th BRICS Astronomy Working Group(BAWG) Meeting:

• The Department of Science and Technology(DST), Government of India, and Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune coordinated the meeting from the Indian side.
• During the meeting, the countries recommended the networking of existing telescopes in BRICS countries and creating regional data networks.
• Further, the members recommended that each country should present the scientific results of the work being carried out in their country.
• Moreover, the countries indicated research in the following areas. Such as, building networks of intelligent telescopes, a study of transient astronomical phenomena in the universe, Big data, Artificial Intelligence among others.

About BRICS:

• Firstly, BRICS is the acronym coined for an association of five major emerging national economies. It stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
• Secondly, BRICS does not exist in the form of organization, but it is an annual summit between the supreme leaders of five nations.
• Thirdly, Chairmanship: The Chairmanship of the forum is rotated annually among the members, in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S.
• Fourthly, Recent Summits: The 2020 BRICS summit was the twelfth annual BRICS summit.It was hosted by Russia. The theme was “Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth”.
• Fifthly, BRICS 2021: The chair of BRICS 2021 is in India. It will be the third time that India will be hosting the BRICS Summit after 2012 and 2016.
  • The theme of the Summit is, ‘BRICS @ 15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation, and Consensus.’

Source: The Hindu