Rajasthan’s State bird may be extinct soon

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

 

Context: 

         ★ Only 50 Great Indian Bustards left in the wild, no action on plan to save them.

         

Issue:

       ★ The population of the bird is on a decline and after becoming almost extinct from rest of the world, the bird is fighting for its survival

       ★ In India,the bird is found in 5 states and in the last 20 years they are have decreased to just 4-5 in each state.

       ★ In Rajasthan, the bird's population has come down to about 60- 70 but the official numbers are stated up to be around 100.

       ★ The bird has been given the status of the  Rajasthan State Bird.

                 ☪ The decreasing numbers of the Indian Bustard, the State government had created a project to protect it 8 years ago.

                 ☪ The captive breeding was started 8 years ago but despite the funds getting released two years ago , the numbers came down.

         

Loss of State bird:

         ★ This will be the first instance though that a state will lose its honoured state bird.

         ★ "If the bird is lost, it will be a setback to all the bird lovers. With immediate effect the breeding should start in Jaisalmer, which provides the ideal environment for it", says R N Mehrotra ( Former chief conservator of forest, Rajasthan ).

         ★ In the National Desert Park spread over 3162 sq km in Barmer and Jaisalmer, the number of Godavan ( Indian Bustard) has decreased in the last one and a half decades.

         ★ In Rajasthan there is no increase in the number of Godavana in the areas like Sum, Sudashree, Phulia, Mujalar, Khudi, Satto etc.

 

Captive breeding has not started yet :

         ★ The responsible parties for the captive breeding , Rajasthan forest department and Wild Life Institute of India ( WII), have not started the breeding process yet.

         ★ For captive breeding, a closure has to be built in the Kota city of Rajasthan but sources say that the environment is not conducive for the bird to survive.

         ★ The other point of dispute is that the flight path of the bird was to be ascertained through a radio collar.

         ★ The expert has said that if the captive breeding process is not initiated soon, the Great Indian Bustard will be lost forever.

         

Great Indian Bustard:         ★ Heaviest of the flying birds         ★ These birds are often found associated in the same habitat as blackbuck         ★ Found in India and the adjoining regions of Pakistan         ★ In India, the bird was historically found in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Today the bustard is restricted to isolated pockets in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan        ★ Arid and semi-arid grasslands with scattered short scrub, bushes and low intensity cultivation in flat or gently undulating terrain. It avoids irrigated areas   Protection:       ★ CITES Appendix I.       ★ Schedule 1 (Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2002 )       ★ Project Great Indian Bustard — state of Rajasthan — identifying and fencing off bustard breeding grounds in existing protected areas as well as provide secure breeding enclosures in areas outside protected areas

                                                                                                               Source:- The Hindu

Rajasthan govt. to push women’s quota

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes

 

Context:

         ★ Rajasthan cabinet decides to pass resolution for 33% reservation for women in assembly.

         ★ Rajasthan Chief minister Ashok Gehlot said former Congress president Sonia Gandhi had been fighting for reservation for women in Parliament and legislative Assemblies. After a long struggle, the Bill was passed in Lok Sabha but it was pending in Rajya Sabha.

         

Critical Analysis:

        ★ women in India are grossly under represented in Parliament and State assemblies.

        ★ Even the passage of 73rd and 74th Amendment Act of the Constitution, which reserves one-third of all seats in panchayats and urban local bodies for women, does little to gloss over the lack of representation in bodies that actually determine and facilitate important policy decisions.

        ★ The Economic survey for 2017 - 18 said, Lok Sabha had 64 (11.8 percent of 542 MPs) and Rajya Sabha 27 (11 percent of 245 MPs) women MPs.

        ★ The Survey, Further added - As on October 2016, out of the total 4,118 MLAs across the country, only 9 percent were women.

        ★ However, a recent study by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) found that assembly constituencies with women representatives show significantly higher economic growth than those under their male counterparts.

         ★ The Economic survey for 2017-18 tabled in Parliament said factors such as domestic responsibilities, prevailing cultural attitudes regarding roles of women in society and lack of support  from family were among main reasons that prevented them from entering politics.

                                                                                                                                          Source:- The Hindu

Rural housing achieves only 66% target

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

 

Context:

        ★ The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Grameen) scheme to provide housing for the rural poor has achieved only 66% of its target to complete one crore houses.

         

More about the news:

           ★ The scheme has been successful in reducing the average time of construction from 314 days to 114 days, according to an official statement.

           ★ However, there has been little headway with regard to one bloc of beneficiaries: the landless, who do not possess the land on which to construct the PMAY homes they are entitled to.

         

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana:           ★ In pursuance to the goal - Housing for all by 2022, the rural housing scheme Indira Awas Yojana has been revamped to Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin           ★ Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided for construction of pucca house to all houseless and households living in dilapidated houses.           ★ It is proposed that one crore households would be provided assistance for construction of pucca house under the project during the period from 2016-17 to 2018-19.           ★ The scheme would be implemented in rural areas throughout India except Delhi and Chandigarh.   Objective:          ★ To provide pucca house to all who are houseless and living in dilapidated houses in rural areas by 2022.

                                                                                                                                    Source:- The Hindu

India flays Pakistani SC move on Gilgit-Baltistan

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - India and its neighborhood- relations.

 

Context:

       ★ India on Friday summoned a Pakistani diplomat and protested against a recent order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan that brought the region of Gilgit-Baltistan within its ambit.

         

More about the news:

      ★ Pakistan Supreme Court on January 17 ordered the federal government to promulgate a new law within a fortnight to grant more rights, including fundamental human rights, to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in PoK.

      ★ It also ordered that the people of the region should be give fundamental human rights as provided in the proposed constitutional order, which was made part of the detailed order.

      ★ However, it noted that until the plebiscite is held, a proper arrangement must be provided for by Pakistan for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan for purposes of governance within a framework of a constitutional nature, including most importantly the enjoyment of fundamental rights.

      ★ A press note from the External Affairs Ministry said the diplomat was told that the region was, and would remain, an integral part of India.

         

Issue :

     ★ Gilgit-Baltistan is a chunk of high-altitude territory at the northwestern corner of Jammu and Kashmir. The region was a part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, but has been under Pakistan’s control since November 4, 1947, following the invasion of Kashmir by tribal militias and the Pakistan army.

     ★ At present it has an elected Assembly and a Council headed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. This Council wields all powers, and controls the resources and revenues from the region.

     ★ In any case, the so-called regional government is under the overall control of the federal Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan in Islamabad.

     ★ Gilgit-Baltistan or Northern Areas do not find any mention in the Pakistani constitution: it is neither independent, nor does it have provincial status. This helps Pakistan maintain ambiguity about the region, in the way it does with PoK.

     ★ India sees Gilgit-Baltistan as part of Indian territory illegally occupied by Pakistan.

     ★ The unanimous parliamentary resolution of 1994 had reaffirmed that the region is a “part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India by virtue of its accession to it in 1947”.

 

Analysis:

    ★ Pakistan in recent months had taken a series of steps to ensure full constitutional and legal guarantees to the region which was strategically important for the country especially in view of the passage of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through the region.

                                                                                                                                   Source:- The Hindu

India ranks third in research papers on artificial intelligence

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

 

Context:

       ★India ranks third in the world in terms of high quality research publications in artificial intelligence (AI) but is at a significant distance from world leader China, according to an analysis by research agency Itihaasa, which was founded by Kris Gopalakrishnan, former CEO and co-founder of Infosys.

         

Methodology and Analysis:

        ★ The agency computed the number of ‘citable documents’— the number of research publications in peer-reviewed journals — in the field of AI between 2013-2017 as listed out by Scimago, a compendium that tracks trends in scientific research publications.

         

Highlights of the Report:

      ★ China ranked first with 37, 918 documents followed by the United States with 32,421 documents and India with 12,135 documents

      ★ When analysed by taking into account the number of times an article is referenced (citations), India ranked only fifth, behind the United Kingdom, Canada, the U.S. and China.

      ★ The Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology were among the key centres for AI research.

      ★ The article observes that India must work at improving the quality of its research output in AI

                                                                                                                                     Source:- The Hindu

Saturn’s rings are younger than thought

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the field of Space.

 

Context:

       ★ Saturn’s rings are one of our solar system’s magnificent sights, but may be a relatively recent addition, according to data obtained from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft before the robotic explorer’s 2017 death plunge into the giant gas planet.

       ★ Scientists said that a calculation of the mass of the rings based on gravitational measurements of the planet collected by Cassini indicated they formed between 100 million and 10 million years ago in roughly the final 2% of Saturn’s current age.

       ★ The findings challenge the notion favoured by some astronomers that the rings developed soon after Saturn formed about 4.5 billion years ago along with the other planets, including the earth.

         

Saturn Ring:

      ★ Saturn’s rings are made up of billions of particles ranging from grains of sand to mountain-size chunks. Composed predominantly of water-ice, the rings also draw in rocky meteoroids as they travel through space.

      ★ Though Saturn appears surrounded by a single, solid ring when viewed by an amateur astronomer, several divisions exist.

                        ☪ The rings are named alphabetically in the order of discovery.

                        ☪ Thus the main rings are, from farthest from the planet to closest, A, B and C.

                        ☪ A gap 2,920 miles wide (4,700 kilometers), known as the Cassini Division, separates the A and B rings.

      ★ The rings themselves contain a number of gaps and structures. Some are created by Saturn’s many small moons, while others continue to puzzle to astronomers.

           

CASSINI Mission:           ★ Launched in 1997, the Cassini mission — a cooperation between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency — has sent back thousands of stunning images and made numerous discoveries about the ringed planet and its moons.           ★ Cassini–Huygens is an unmanned spacecraft sent to the planet Saturn. Cassini is the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter orbit.           ★ Its design includes a Saturn orbiter and a lander for the moon Titan.           ★ The lander, called Huygens, landed on Titan in 2005.           ★ The spacecraft was launched on October 15, 1997. This was the first landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System.   Objective:         ★ Determine the three-dimensional structure and dynamic behavior of the rings of Saturn.         ★ Determine the composition of the satellite surfaces and the geological history of each object.         ★ Determine the nature and origin of the dark material on Iapetus’s leading hemisphere.         ★ Measure the three-dimensional structure and dynamic behavior of the magnetosphere.         ★ Study the dynamic behavior of Saturn’s atmosphere at cloud level.         ★ Study the time variability of Titan’s clouds and hazes.         ★ Characterize Titan’s surface on a regional scale.

                                                                                                                        Source:- The Hindu

Japan satellite off to deliver artificial meteors

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

 

Context:

       ★ Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) conducted initial experiment for celestial show called “shooting stars on demand” service over Hiroshima early 2020; World’s first artificial meteor shower.

         

Artificial meteor Shower:

      ★ JAXA launched small Eplison 4 rocket containing seven micro satellites developed by StartUp AEL Co. Ltd

      ★ Micro-satellites payload contains 400 tiny chemical balls which glows brightly as it hurtle through atmosphere simulating meteor shower

      ★ Such chemical balls would shine for several seconds before they are completely burnt well before reaching earth

      ★ Possibility to simulate multi-colored flotilla of shooting star through tinkering the chemical ingredients in balls to change colors

      ★ Glow brightness would be visible even in light polluted metropolis of Tokyo

      ★ Micro satellites would also demonstrate various “innovative” technologies.

                                                                                                                                Source:- Times of India

Diffo Bridge

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

 

Context:

      ★ Raksha Mantri inaugurated the 426.60 metre long Pre Stressed Concrete Box Girder type bridge over Diffo river on Roing-Koron-Paya road in Arunachal Pradesh.

         

Significance:

     ★ It would provide uninterrupted access between Dibang valley and Lohit valley region of Eastern Arunachal Pradesh

     ★ It would provide an all-weather Road to the troops deployed on the China Border.

                                                                                                                             Source:- PIB

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