Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• Assam government has decided to upgrade the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary into a national park.

About Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary

• Located in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts, the 111.19 sq km Dehing Patkai was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 2004.
• It forms the largest stretch of lowland rainforest in the country.
• Dehing is the name of the river that flows through this forest and Patkai is the hill at the foot of which the sanctuary lies.
• The Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary and a part of Dehing Patkai Rainforest, due to their importance for elephant habitat, were declared as Dehing-Patkai Elephant Reserve under Project Elephant.
• There are more than a dozen different ethnic groups living in the area including the indigenous Assamese communities, particularly Tai Phake, Khamyang, Khampti, Singpho, Nocte, Chutia, Ahom, Kaibarta, Moran and Motok, Burmese, and non-indigenous Nepali people.

Explanation :

• A new species of fish has been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The fish species is named as Schizothorax sikusirumensis.
• The fish species belongs to genus Schizothorax.
• The name of this fish species has been derived from the name of the rivers where it was found- junction of River Siku and Sirum near Gakang area under Mebo circle of East Siang District.

Explanation :

• Gee's golden langur (Trachypithecus geei), also known as simply the golden langur, is an Old World monkey found in a small region of western Assam, India and in the neighboring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan.
• It is one of the most endangered primate species of India.
• Their habitat is restricted to the region surrounded by four geographical landmarks: the foothills of Bhutan (North), Manas river (East), Sankosh river (West), and Brahmaputra river (South).
• They are highly dependent on trees, living in the upper canopy of forests. They are also known as leaf monkeys.

Conservation Status

• IUCN List of Threatened Species: Endangered
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES): Appendix I
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 : Schedule I

Ecological Role

• Like most primates who eat fruits, golden langurs likely play a role in seed dispersal, seed predation, and pollination, all of which are critical for forest repopulation.

Explanation :

Mugger

• The mugger crocodile, also called the Indian crocodile, or marsh crocodile, is found throughout the Indian subcontinent.
• It is mainly a freshwater species, and found in lakes, rivers and marshes.

Conservation Status

• IUCN : Vulnerable
• CITES : Appendix I
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 : Schedule I

Saltwater Crocodile

• It is the largest of all living reptiles.
• It is found throughout the east coast of India.

Conservation Status

• IUCN: Least Concern
• CITES: Appendix I (except the populations of Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, which are included in Appendix II).
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 : Schedule I

Gharial

• The Gharial or fish eating crocodile is native to the Indian subcontinent.
• The chambal river in the northern slopes of the Vindhya mountains ( Madhya Pradesh) is known as the primary habitat of gharials.

Conservation Status

• IUCN: Critically Endangered
• CITES : Appendix I
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 : Schedule I

Explanation :

• On the occasion of the World Environment Day (5^th June, 2020), Andhra Pradesh government launched an online waste management platform to handle liquid waste, hazardous, and non-hazardous solid waste and air pollutants.
• The Andhra Pradesh Environment Management Corporation (APEMC), which will handle the platform, will henceforth be responsible for safe disposal of all industrial waste generated in the state.
• The APEMC will streamline collection of the waste from industries, sort and streamline the waste as hazardous or non-hazardous or e-waste according to category, and scientifically dispose it off at various waste disposal centres.
• It will work in close coordination with Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB), with a strong regulatory framework to handle the waste from cradle to grave,” Reddy said.

Need

• Andhra Pradesh has a large number of industries falling under red and orange categories, which generate significant quantities of liquid waste, hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste and air pollutants.
• They also generate other waste like e-waste, which needs to be addressed. As of now, the waste management system is not adequately organised to handle the total quantity being generated.
• Hence, there is a requirement for an appropriate system intervention to streamline and scientifically dispose off the waste generated in the state.

Explanation :

• Mount Harriet National Park is a national park located in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory of India.
• The park, established in 1969, covers about 4.62 km².
• Mount Harriet (383 metres ), which is part of the park, is the third-highest peak in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago next to Saddle Peak (732 metres (2,402 ft)) in North Andaman and Mount Thullier (568 metres (1,864 ft)) in Great Nicobar.
• The park is named in commemoration of Harriet C. Tytler, the second wife of Robert Christopher Tytler, a British army officer, an administrator, naturalist and photographer, who were appointed Superintendent of the Convict Settlement at Port Blair in the Andamans from April 1862 to February 1864.
• The park's well-known faunal species are Andaman wild pigs (an endangered species), saltwater crocodiles, turtles and robber crabs. The park is also a butterfly hotspot.
• The park has evergreen primary forests, and at Chiriyatapu the forest type is mixed deciduous, a combination of primary and secondary forests.
• The three types of forests are categorized as tropical evergreen, hilltop tropical evergreen and littoral.
• The tribal community living in the tropical forest of the park is the Negrito people, who are hunter-gatherers.

Explanation :

• The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), also known as the gavial or the fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians.
• They have a distinct boss at the end of the snout, which resembles an earthenware pot known as a ghara, hence the name "gharial".
• Gharials live in clear freshwater river systems, congregating at river bends where the water is deeper. They’re not well-suited for land so they generally only leave the water to bask in the sun or to nest.
• Once found from Pakistan to Myanmar, the reptile's range has shrunk to two countries: India, along the Chambal, Girwa, and Son Rivers; and Nepal, along the Narayani River.
• Loss of habitat because of sand mining and conversion to agriculture, depletion of fish resources and detrimental fishing methods continue to threaten the population.

Conservation

• In 1975, the Indian Crocodile Conservation Project was set up under the auspices of the Government of India, initially in Odisha's Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary. It was implemented with financial aid of the United Nations Development Fund and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
• The gharial is listed on CITES Appendix I.
• In India, it is included in Schedule 1 under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
• In Nepal, it is fully protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1973.
• It has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2007.

Explanation :

• Bengaluru's Bannerghatta Biological Park has come out with a programme during the lockdown period for those who want to conserve wildlife and adopt animals at the zoo.
• The animal adoption programme is an opportunity to get involved in supporting feed and veterinary care expenses for zoo animals with provision for Income Tax rebate under 80G.
• The park has released a list of animals that can be adopted: King cobra, Indian rock python, Black buck, Sambar, Emu, Golden jackal, Indian leopard, Sloth bear, Hippopotamus, Bengal tiger, Giraffe, etc

Bannerghatta Biological Park

• It was carved out of the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) and brought under the Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) in 2004.
• The valley of Champakadhama hills is inside the park.

Explanation :

• Kaundinya Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary and an elephant reserve situated in Andhra Pradesh.
• It is the only sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh with a population of Asian elephants, which migrated after 200 years from neighbouring regions.
• Located near the city of Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, the sanctuary has dry deciduous forests with thorny scrubs interspersed with trees.
• The sanctuary is situated in region where the Kolar Plateau ends and slopes down into the plains of Tamil Nadu creating many valleys and ghats.
• Important flora consists of Albizia amara, Acacia, Lagerstroemia, Ficus, bamboo, and a species which is a regeneration of Santalum album.
• Apart from Indian elephant, other animals found in the sanctuary are: sloth bear, panther, cheetal, chowsingha, sambar, porcupine, wild boar, jungle cat, jackal, jungle fowl, starred tortoise and slender loris.
• Kalyana Revu Waterfalls (also called Kalyan Drive Falls) and Kaigal Waterfalls are situated within the sanctuary.

Explanation :

• The National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) is a “Statutory Organization” constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 was subsequently amended during 1991 and last during 2002.
• As per the amendment of the Act in 2002, a provision was incorporated for the constitution of NBWL, replacing the Indian Board for Wildlife.
• It came into existence with the Gazette Notification dated 22^nd September 2003.
• The board is “advisory” in nature and advises the Central Government on framing policies and measures for conservation of wildlife in the country.
• It has 47 members with the Prime Minister in the Chair. The Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment & Forests in the Central Government is the Vice-Chairperson.

Functions

• It is the apex body to review all wildlife-related matters and approve projects in and around national parks and sanctuaries i.e. Protected Areas.
• No alternation of boundaries in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries can be done without approval of the NBWL.