Ashoka all fish and castration of animals during certain periods such as Chaturmasa and Uposatha. Ashoka also abolished the royal hunting of animals and restricted the slaying of animals for food in the royal residence. Because he banned hunting, created many veterinary clinics and eliminated meat eating on many holidays, the Mauryan Empire under Ashoka has been described as "one of the very few instances in world history of a government treating its animals as citizens who are as deserving of its protection as the human residents". The Ashoka Chakra (the wheel of Ashoka) is a depiction of the Dharmachakra (the
Blue Flag (Israeli Air Force exercise) as possible. In 2017 the exercise will host air forces from the United States of America, Poland, Italy and Greece – and for the first time India, France and Germany will participate as well. Blue Flag (Israeli Air Force exercise) Blue Flag is a military aviation exercise held by the Israeli Air Force. It first took place in November 2013 at Ovda Air Force Base in Israel. The exercise, which included the participation of several foreign air forces, is aimed at expanding international cooperation. Plans on making "Blue Flag" a biennial event were realised in 2015 with another "Blue Flag"