What is this India’s first-ever Night Sky Sanctuary in Ladakh that the Government of India is going to setup?

The Department of Science and Technology, or DST, has taken the unusual and ground-breaking step of establishing Ladakh as India’s first-ever Night Sky Sanctuary. Within the following three months, it will be finished.

The Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary in Hanle, Ladakh, will include the proposed Dark Sky Reserve. As one of the world’s highest-located sites for optical, infrared, and gamma-ray telescopes, it will promote astronomy tourism in India.

The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council LAHDC Leh, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, and the UT administration recently signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the launch of the Dark Space Reserve, according to Science and Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh. According to him, the location will host events that will support efforts to increase local tourism and the local economy through the use of science and technology.

A high-level delegation of scientists and administrators from the Central Leather Research Institute in Chennai will visit Ladakh by the end of this year to investigate the feasibility of establishing a regional branch of CLRI, according to Dr. Jitendra Singh. Ladakh is home to a very diverse and rich population of animals that are used for leather research, and industry, and to promote the bio economy of goods made from animal skin.

He also praised the CSIR for holding 4 training workshops, two of which were in Leh and two in Kargil, to cure the ailments of the well-known Pashmina goats.

The Ladakh Administration has decided to begin the Leh Berry commercial plantation. The Leh Berry is being promoted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which is a unique food item from the chilly desert as well as a way to engage in a variety of entrepreneurial endeavors and support one’s own living.