Contents:
- Monsoon in Sunderbans likely to get longer, warn climate experts
- New highway threatens tiger territory in Arunachal Pradesh
- Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary
- Yakshagana
- China faces its biggest health emergency since 1949: Xi
- No country is doing enough to protect children’s health, finds study
- Govt. eyes public-private fund to give R&D a shot in the arm
- Geological Survey of India
MONSOON IN SUNDERBANS LIKELY TO GET LONGER, WARN CLIMATE EXPERTS
Why in news?
The monsoon in Sunderbans is likely to last longer and get more intense, according to a fact sheet titled The Sunderbans and Climate Change
More about the report
- Climate specialists have predicted that as climate change progresses, monsoon seasons in the Sundarbans will become longer and more intense.
- Conversely, drought conditions will also become more pronounced, presenting further challenges for agricultural producers in particular and ecosystems in general
NEW HIGHWAY THREATENS TIGER TERRITORY IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH
Why in news?
Namdapha National Park, India’s easternmost tiger reserve, a new highway project has been cleared
through yet another big cat reserve in Arunachal Pradesh
Named the East West Industrial Corridor, the highway aims to connect Bhairabhunda in West Kameng
district and Manmao in Changlang district along Arunachal Pradesh’s border with Assam
Details of Nameri, Pakhui, and Namdapha tiger reserve
- Nameri National Park is a national park in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in the Sonitpur District of Assam, India, about 35 km from Tezpur
- Nameri shares its northern boundary with the Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary of Arunachal Pradesh. Together they constitute an area of over 1000 km2 of which Nameri has a total area of 200 km2
- Pakke Tiger Reserve, also known as Pakhui Tiger Reserve, is a Project Tiger reserve in the East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India
- This Tiger Reserve has won India Biodiversity Award 2016 in the category of ‘Conservation of threatened species’ for its Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme.
- Namdapha National Park is a 1,985 km2 (766 sq mi) large protected area in Arunachal Pradesh of Northeast India.
- With more than 1,000 floral and about 1,400 faunal species, it is a biodiversity hotspot in the Eastern Himalayas.
- The national park harbours the northernmost lowland evergreen rainforests in the world at 27°N latitude
KAWAL WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
Why in news?
Adequate water to quench thirst of wild animals in Kawal Tiger Reserve
Details:
- The worrisome man-animal conflict in Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR) on account of water seems to be a thing of the past.
- There was no incident of wild animals straying into human habitations for water last year and it will hold good for the current season too as there is enough water for them to tide over the harsh summer in the Reserve
- It is spread over 893 sq km of core area and 1,122 sq km of buffer.
- Kawal Tiger Reserve is located at Jannaram mandal of Mancherial District (Old Adilabad district) in Telangana state of India.
- Govt of India declared Kawal wildlife sanctuary as Tiger Reserve in 2012.
- This sanctuary is catchment for the rivers Godavari and Kadam, which flow towards the south of the sanctuary.
YAKSHAGANA
Why in news?
Breaking barriers with Yakshagana: A young Muslim woman overcame resistance to acquire prowess in the art form
Details:
Yakshagana is a traditional Indian theatre form, developed in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and western parts of Chikmagalur districts, in the state of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district in Kerala that combines dance, music, dialogue, costume, make-up, and stage techniques with a unique style and form.
CHINA FACES ITS BIGGEST HEALTH EMERGENCY SINCE 1949: XI
Why in news?
The COVID19 epidemic that has killed over 2,400 people is communist China’s “largest public health emergency” since its founding in 1949, President Xi Jinping
COVID and world economy
- The deadly COVID19 outbreak could put the recovery of an already fragile global economy at risk, the IMF warned on Sunday, as G20 financial chiefs met here to discuss ways to contain its economic ripple effects
NO COUNTRY IS DOING ENOUGH TO PROTECT CHILDREN’S HEALTH, FINDS STUDY
Why in news?
- No single country is adequately protecting children’s health, their environment and their future, according to a recently released report by a Commission of more than 40 child and adolescent health experts from around the world.
- The Commission was convened by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and The Lancet
Country wise comparison
The index shows that children in Norway, the Republic of Korea and the Netherlands have the best chance at survival and wellbeing, while children in the Central African Republic, Chad, Somalia, Niger and Mali face then worst odds
GOVT. EYES PUBLIC-PRIVATE FUND TO GIVE R&D A SHOT IN THE ARM
Why in news?
In an effort to stimulate investment in research and development (R&D), the Department of Science and Technology is mooting a fund that will match the contributions made by private companies in R&D
Details:
- The idea is to pool funds from a group of companies willing to invest in fundamental research, such as quantum computers or artificial intelligence, and whatever is invested government will match that
- The scheme will be coordinated through the department’s Science and Engineering Research Board, which funds a variety of basic science projects in several universities.
- Though India is among the top five countries in terms of its output of scientific publications, it doesn’t match up in investments.
- As a lower middle-income country, it is not surprising that India’s spending on R&D lags upper-middle income and high-income countries such as China, Israel, and the U.S.
- However, it currently underspends even relative to its income level… In fact, in 2015, there was a sizeable decline in R&D spending even as GDP per capita continued to rise
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA
Why in news?
- The Geological Survey of India (GSI), founded in 1851, is a Government of India Ministry of Mines organisation, one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey in India after Survey of India (founded in 1767), for conducting geological surveys and studies of India
- Also acts as prime provider of basic earth science information to government, industry and general public, as well as the official participant in steel, coal, metals, cement, power industries and international geoscientific forums.
Kolar Gold Fields
- Kolar Gold Fields or KGF is a mining region and belongs to a KGF taluk, in the Kolar District of Karnataka state
