60 Days Plan: UPSC IAS Prelims 2019- Environment and Current Affairs (Day 36)

The 2015 Census showed that there are 523 lions, up 27% from the last census conducted in 2010 in Gir sanctuary, the last habitat for the big cats globally.

The last census in 2010 showed 411 lions, up from 359 in 2005.

Hence statement 3 is correct.

Asiatic lions are slightly smaller than African lions. Adult males weigh 160 to 190 kg, while females weigh 110 to 120 kg.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

Asiatic Lion is listed in Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, in Appendix I of CITES and as Endangered on IUCN Red List.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

Additional Information:

The Asiatic Lion, endemic to Gir landscape of Gujarat, is one of the 21 critically endangered species identified by the MoEFCC for taking up recovery programmes. 

In 1999, as environmental issues continued to gain importance at the international stage, IUCN was granted official observer status to the United Nations.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

In 1964, IUCN established the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which has since evolved into the world’s most comprehensive data source on the global extinction risk of species.

Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

IUCN’s headquarters are located in Gland, Switzerland, in one of Europe’s greenest office buildings: the IUCN Conservation Centre.

Hence statement 3 is correct.

Additional Information:

Protected Planet is the most up to date and complete source of information on protected areas, updated monthly with submissions from governments, non-governmental organizations, landowners and communities. It is managed by the United Nations Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) with support from IUCN and its World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA).

Held once every four years, the IUCN World Conservation Congress brings together several thousand leaders and decision-makers from government, civil society, indigenous peoples, business, and academia, with the goal of conserving the environment and harnessing the solutions nature offers to global challenges.

The IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria are intended to be an easily and widely understood system for classifying species at high risk of global extinction. It divides species into nine categories: Not Evaluated, Data Deficient, Least Concern, Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, Extinct in the Wild and Extinct.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

The IUCN Red List is produced by the Red List Partnership, currently: Arizona State University, BirdLife International, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Conservation International, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), NatureServe, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Sapienza University of Rome, IUCN Species Survival Commission, Texas A&M University, and Zoological Society of London.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

Indian rhino vision 2020 is being implemented by the Department of Environment and Forest Assam, in partnership with Bodo Autonomous Council. It is supported by WWF India, WWF areas (Asian Rhino and Elephant action strategy) program, the international rhino foundation (IRF), US fish and wildlife service, save the rhino s campaign of zoological institutions worldwide, and several NGOs and local conservation groups.

Hence statement 1 is incorrect.

IRV 2020 aims to increase the total rhino population in Assam to 3000 by 2020. The population of rhinos are to be distributed in various rhino habit in at least 7 protected areas in order to provide a long-term sustainable population of one-horned Indian rhino species.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

Project Elephant (PE), a centrally sponsored scheme, was launched in February 1992 to provide financial and technical support to major elephant bearing States in the country for protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

Project Elephant (PE), a centrally sponsored scheme, was launched in February 1992 to provide financial and technical support to major elephant bearing States in the country for protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

13 Tiger Range Countries include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is a statutory multi-disciplinary body established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, to combat organized wildlife crime in the country.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

The Bureau has it’s headquarter in New Delhi.

Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

United Nation Environment has awarded Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), with Asia Environment Enforcement Awards, 2018 for excellent work done by the Bureau in combating transboundary environmental crime.

The awards are given to outstanding individuals and/or government organizations/teams that demonstrate excellence and leadership in enforcement of national laws to combat transboundary environmental crime in one of the following eligibility criteria areas: collaboration; impact; innovation; integrity and gender leadership.

WCCB has been conferred this award in Innovation category.

Hence statement 4 is incorrect.

WCCB has conducted Operation Save Kurma, Operation Thunder Bird, Operation Wildnet etc.

Hence statement 3 is correct.

The Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) was launched in 2008 as a global alliance of governments, international organizations, civil society, the conservation and scientific communities and the private sector, with the aim of working together to save wild tigers from extinction. In 2013, the scope was broadened to include Snow Leopards.

Hence statement 3 is correct.

The GTI’s founding partners included the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Smithsonian Institution, Save the Tiger Fund, and International Tiger Coalition (representing more than 40 non-government organizations). The initiative is led by the 13 tiger range countries (TRCs).

Hence statement 1 and 2 are correct.

Additional Information:

In November 2010, leaders of the tiger range countries (TRCs) assembled at an International Tiger Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia to adopt the St. Petersburg Declaration on Tiger Conservation and endorsed its implementation mechanism, called the Global Tiger Recovery Program. Their overarching goal was to double the number of wild tigers across their geographical area from about 3,200 to more than 7,000 by 2022.

The Bombay Natural History Society and Birdlife International have identifies Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in India.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

BirdLife International is a global partnership of conservation organisations (NGOs) that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources.

Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

BirdLife International is the Red List Authority for birds, coordinating the process of evaluating all of the world’s bird species against the Red List categories and criteria in order to assess their extinction risk. As of 2015, BirdLife has established that 1,375 bird species (13% of the total, or roughly one in eight) are threatened with extinction.

Hence statement 3 is correct.

Desert National Park, Great Himalayan National Park, Kudremukh National Park, Manas National Park, Mudumalai National Park, Nagarhole National Park, Orang National Park,  Panna National Park, etc. are recognized as Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in India.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has reclassified (in 2018) red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) as near threatened from the earlier endangered.

Hence statement 1 is incorrect.

Red Sanders is listed in Appendix II of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

Hence statement 2 is correct.

Additional Information:

Pterocarpus santalinus has a restrictive distribution in the South Eastern portion of Indian Peninsula to which it is endemic. It is native to the states of Andrhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka (Dry Deciduous region)  

More specifically it is found in the Palakonda and Seshachalam hill ranges of Cuddapha-Chittoor Districts of the State of Andhra Pradesh (Rajampet, Rayachoti, Ballepalle, Kodur ranges, Gangana Palle forest of Vempalle village and Lankamal Reserve Forest). It occurs less frequently in the regions of Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu and also in the North Arcot Hills.

Nilgiri Tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius) is listed under the endangered category of IUCN Red List.

The present distribution of the Nilgiri tahr is limited to approximately 5% of the Western Ghats in southern India, in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in southern India.

Lion Tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus) is listed under the endangered category of IUCN Red List.

This species is endemic to the Western Ghats hill ranges in southwestern India from the Kalakkadu Hills north to Anshi Ghat, in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris ssp. Tigris) is listed under the endangered category of IUCN Red List.

Malabar Civet (Viverra civettina) is listed under the critically endangered category of IUCN Red List.

Malabar Civet is endemic to the Western Ghats of southern India.

The Sarus crane is the tallest flying bird in the world standing 152-156 cm tall with a wingspan of 240cm.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

Sarus Crane is Listed in Schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and as Vulnerable on IUCN Red List.

Hence statement 2 is incorrect and statement 3 is correct.

Additional Information:

Towering at 152-156 cm, over 5 feet on average, the Sarus (Grus antigone) is not only the tallest flying bird in the world, it is also India’s only resident breeding crane, as per the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), a leading nature conservation organisation that works with the State wildlife department.

Some of the important National Parks and their Locations:

Vulture species of India

Pondicherry Shark (Carcharhinus hemiodon) is listed under the critically endangered category of IUCN Red List.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

Pondicherry Shark is listed under the 25 ‘most wanted lost’ species that are the focus of Global Wildlife Conservation’s ‘Search for Lost Species’ initiative.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

Pondicherry Shark is protected under Schedule 1 of The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Hence statement 3 is correct.

Additional information:

Whale Shark, Sawtooth Shark, Ganges River Shark and Pondicherry Shark were declared protected under Schedule 1 of The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Jim Corbett National Park is the oldest national park in India and was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

The Corbett National Park is one of the most prominent bird habitats in India and thus the park has been declared as an ‘Important Bird Area (IBA)’ by the Birdlife International.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

Jim Corbett National Park, which is a part of the larger Corbett Tiger Reserve, a Project Tiger Reserve lies in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand.

Hence statement 3 is correct.

Great Indian Bustard is listed under Critically Endangered Category of IUCN Red List.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

Great Indian Bustard is identified for the species recovery program under Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats Scheme.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

Great Indian Bustard will be the mascot for the 13th COP of the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) to be held in Gujarat (in 2020).

Hence statement 3 is incorrect.

Additional Information:

Great Indian Bustard is listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is also listed in Appendix I of CITES.

Resembling an artichoke with legs and a tail, the pangolin is the world’s only truly scaly mammal.

Hence statement 1 is correct.

Indian Pangolin is listed under Endangered Category of IUCN Red List.

Hence statement 2 is correct.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists six pangolin species as “endangered” and two as “critically endangered”.

Hence statement 3 is correct.

Of the two species found in India, the Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) is endangered and is found sporadically throughout the Himalayan foothills, the northern plains and southern India. The Chinese pangolin (Manispentadactyla) is found mostly in the north-eastern states of India and parts of Southeast Asia.

Hence statement 4 is incorrect.

Additional Information:

Chinese Pangolin is listed under Critically Endangered Category of IUCN Red List.

The pygmy falcon, or African pygmy falcon (Polihierax semitorquatus), is a falcon that lives in eastern and southern Africa and is the smallest raptor on the continent. As a small falcon, only 19 to 20 cm long, it preys on insects, small reptiles, and small mammals.

IUCN Status- Least Concern

It is produced by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN).

The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) was constituted on 12th August, 1994 as a statutory body by an Act of Parliament viz. ‘National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993’, for a period of three years i.e. up to 31st March, 1997. As per sub-section (4) of Section 1 of the Act, it was to cease to exist after 31.3.1997. However, validity of the Act was extended up to March, 2002, and then up to February, 2004 vide Amendment Acts passed in 1997 and 2001 respectively.

With the lapsing of the “The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993” w.e.f. 29.2.2004, the Commission is acting as a Non-Statutory body of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis comprises one Chairman (in the rank and status of the Union Minister for States) and four members, including a lady member (in the rank and status of the Secretary to the Government of India) and the Secretary (in the rank of Joint Secretary to the Govt. of India) along with other supporting staff.

With the enactment of “The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013”, the mandate and scope of the Commission has also been enlarged. As per Section 31(1) of the said Act, the Commission shall perform the following functions, namely:-

• To monitor the implementation of the Act.
• To enquire into complaints regarding contravention of the provisions of the Act, and to convey its findings to the concerned authorities with recommendations requiring further action.
• To advise the Central and the State Governments for effective implementation of the provisions of the Act.
• To take suo motu notice of matter relating to non-implementation of the Act.

Read More – https://ncsk.nic.in/about-us/about-ncsk

Hojagiri is a folk dance, performed in the state of Tripura, India by the Bru(Reang) people. It is performed by women and young girls, about 4 to 6 members in a team, singing, balancing on an earthen pitcher and managing other props such as a bottle on the head and earthen lamp on the hand.

Angel tax is a term used to refer to the income tax payable on capital raised by unlisted companies via issue of shares where the share price is seen in excess of the fair market value of the shares sold. The excess realisation is treated as income and taxed accordingly. The tax was introduced in the 2012 Union Budget by then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to arrest laundering of funds. It has come to be called angel tax since it largely impacts angel investments in start-ups.

The government issued a notification in April this year to give exemption to start-ups under Section 56 of the Income Tax Act in cases where the total investment including funding from angel investors did not exceed Rs 10 crore. For the exemption, start-ups were also required to get approval from an inter-ministerial board and a certificate of valuation by a merchant banker. According to the notification, the exemption would apply only when the angel investor had a minimum net worth of Rs 2 crore or an average returned income of over ?25 lakh in the preceding three financial years.

They are located in Arunachal Pradesh

Oilfields of Assam are relatively inaccessible and are distantly located from the main consuming areas. Oil from Assam is, therefore, refined mostly in the refineries located at Digboi, Guwahati, Bongaigaon, Barauni and Nomaligarh.

Arunachal Pradesh has oil reserves at Manabhum, Kharsang (Nigreu Oil-fields) and Charali. In Tripura, promising oilfields have been discovered at Mamunbhanga, Baramura-Deotamura Subhang, Manu, Ampi Bazar, Amarpur-Dambura areas. Nagaland also has some oil bearing rock strata. In Nagaland oil­fields are at Borholla on the border between Nagaland and Assam.

The Carmichael coal mine is a proposed thermal coal mine in the north of the Galilee Basin in Central Queensland, Australia. Mining is planned to be conducted by both open-cut and underground methods.  The mine is proposed by Adani Mining, a wholly owned subsidiary of India’s Adani Group.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/mining/adani-to-fully-finance-controversial-oz-carmichael-mine-62336

The first global map of the distribution of atmospheric ammonia (NH3), prepared by analysing measurements taken by satellites between 2008 and 2016 is out.

The map has been prepared by a team of scientists from the Centre national de la recherche scientifique or CNRS, Paris and the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Brussels. Their findings have been published in the journal Nature.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/air/first-global-map-of-atmospheric-ammonia-distribution-published-62402

Manikaran Geothermal Field is located in the Parvati Valley on river Parvati, northeast of Bhuntar in the Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh.

A new analysis of available data on all such sites has shown that Puga geothermal field in Ladakh could be a good site for further exploration.

A team of researchers from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, have used nine parameters to analyse data relating to Puga in Ladakh, Chhumathang in Jammu and Kashmir, Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh, Tattapani in Chhattisgarh, UnhavreKhed in Maharashtra and Tapoban in Uttarakhand.

Based on this analysis, they have concluded that Puga has the most potential.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/energy/new-analysis-says-ladakh-s-puga-has-highest-geothermal-potential-62383

India Exclusion Report 2017-18 released by Centre for Equity Studies (CES).

This report look into evidences which shows whether Indian states succeeded or failed in fulfilling the constitutional mandate established by the country’s founding fathers.

These reports assemble evidence about the success of governments in India to ensure equitable access to what we call public goods to all segments of people, especially those who are most disadvantaged by class, caste, gender, religious identity, disability, age, ethnicity, language, education or geography.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/governance/niti-aayog-ineffective-in-curbing-inequality-report-62385