India’s First ‘Night Sky Sanctuary’ To Be Set Up In Ladakh: Minister

Within the next three months, Ladakh will become home to India’s first-ever “Night Sky Sanctuary,” according to Union minister Jitendra Singh. According to Mr. Singh, “India’s first-ever ‘Night Sky Sanctuary’ will be established in Ladakh as a part of Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary and the proposed ‘Dark Sky Reserve’ will be completed at Hanle in Ladakh within three months, which will boost astro-tourism in India and make it one of the highest-located sites in the world for optical, infrared, and gamma-ray telescopes.

The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), and the UT administration recently signed a tripartite MoU for the establishment of the Dark Space Reserve.

RK Mathur, the lieutenant governor of Ladakh, called Mr. Singh in the meantime to discuss initiatives related to the leather centre, the Leh Berry, the Education Fair, and programmes backed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) will set up a distinctive and sizable pavilion for the Ladakh Education Fair, which will become an annual event, Mr. Singh informed the Lt. Governor. According to an official, he stated that DST will actively participate in the proper topic selection, scholarships, career counselling, skills development, and apprenticeship with the primary focus on the employability of youngsters.

The minister also announced that by the end of the year, a high-level delegation from the Central Leather Research Institute in Chennai will travel to Ladakh to investigate the possibility of establishing a regional branch of CLRI given that the Union territory has a very rich and varied population of animals suitable for leather research and industry, as well as to promote the bio-economy of products made from animal skin.

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