CURRENT AFFAIRS DESTINATION FOR UPSC & STATE CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATIONS
A recent genetic analysis, published in the National Academy of Sciences, has shown that African elephants actually represent two distinct species rather than one. It means, today world has three modern elephant species; two African (African savanna and the forest elephant) and one Asian elephant. According to the new research, the two major types of African elephants are about as genetically distinct from each other as the Asian elephant is from the Read More …
According to the latest Annual Monitoring, which was conducted on 24 February, the Chilika lake in Odisha has the largest habitat of Irrawaddy dolphins in the world. The first Annual Monitoring of 2018 says that ‘155 numbers of endangered Irrawaddy dolphins, the flagship species of Chilika Lake was spotted during monitoring making Chilika the single largest habitat of this species in the world. This compares favorably with 152 dolphins sighted by Wildlife Wing Read More …
According to the ‘The Hindu‘ newspaper, with 4,28,083 mother olive ridley turtles building nests till 26 February 2018, the endangered species has created a new record of mass nesting at the Rushikulya rookery coast in the Ganjam district of Odisha this year. Every year, a 3.5-kilometre-long stretch of the beach from Gokharkuda to Podampeta are fenced to stop predators from harming the olive ridleys during nesting and the eggs in Read More …
According to a recent study by the scientists of University of Kansas, all the wild horses of world are now extinct. As per the study published in the Journal Science, Przewalski’s horses, which were considered to be last surviving wild horses till now, were not the wild horses but the feral horses. Przewalskis were officially declared “extinct in the wild” in 1969, and today, there are still only about 2,000. Read More …
Scientists from the Botanical Survey of India have identified a new plant species from two protected National Parks’ Buxa and Jaldapara in West Bengal. To honor the former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam, the new plant species has been named ‘Drypetes kalamii’ It is a small floral shrub found to be shorter version of its close relative Drypetes ellisii. Features It is just 1 metre tall. Being unisexual in Read More …
Researchers has discovered more than 100 rarely seen fish species from a deep and cold abyss off Australia during a scientific voyage. Newly discovered creatures include blob fishes a cousin of the ‘world’s ugliest animal. Mr Blobby. Mr Blobby was voted the world’s ugliest animal in 2013 by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society. Mr Blobby belongs to the psychrolutidae family, and was discovered off the coast of New Zealand in Read More …
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Head of the UN Environment Erik Solheim announced on 19 February that India will host the global World Environment Day celebrations on 5 June 2018. The Central Government will organize and promote the World Environment Day celebrations through a series of engaging activities and events generating strong public interest and participation. It include pan India plastic clean-up drives in public areas, national reserves and forests to simultaneous Read More …
The forest guards in Assam, who faces threats from poachers, were given modern weapons like self-loading rifles (SLRs) and 9 MM pistols to check poaching of rhinos, tigers and other wild animals. The forest guards were given 954 SLRs, 272 INSAS rifles, 133 rifles of .12 bore, 20 of 9 MM pistols and 91 Ghatak rifles. To deal with poaching and other related crimes against wild animals, ten wildlife fast-track Read More …
World environmental conservation body Greenpeace is planning to build world’s largest wildlife reserve in Antarctica. The proposed ‘Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary‘ (originally a concept of EU) would measure 1.8 million square kilometres (1.1 million square miles approx.), making it the largest protected area on earth, and provide a safe haven for marine life from industrial fishing. It will be a fishing-free zone. The Sanctuary to be built in the Weddell Sea has Read More …
According to the new study published in the journal ‘Current Biology’, more than one lakh (1,00,000) Orangutans have been killed in the jungles of Borneo since 1999. The main culprit behind the killing of endangered species Orangutans is deforestation, driven by logging, oil palm, mining and paper mills. Even in standing forests orangutans were killed, which confirms hunting activities. These species are being killed in retaliation for crop-raiding also. About Orangutans Read More …
Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Sitasaran Sharma on February 16, 2018, dedicated the first butterfly park of the state at Gopalpur in Raisen district. This park houses 65 species of the colourful insect and nearly 137 plant varieties. As per the state forest department, the park is an important initiative to conserve nature. The beautiful butterflies of this park will attract people, especially children, and it will help them increase their Read More …
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the second edition ‘World Sustainable Development Summit-2018’ (WSDS) in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on February 16, 2018 Host: The summit is the flagship forum of ‘The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)’. Participants: Over two thousand delegates are expected to participate in the summit, including several Central Ministers, policymakers, researchers, diplomats and corporates from around the world. Theme: The theme of the three-day summit is ‘partnerships Read More …
The Madhya Pradesh government has given an in principle nod to the proposal of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA0 to translocate six (three pairs) of tigers to Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR). The six tigers (three male and thre female) will be be shifted by March-end, after the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) 2018 that is currently under way in the State. Why the translocation: The Satkosia Tiger Reserve is left Read More …
Various reports on climate change and its effect, have warned that due to global warming, rising sea level would ultimately cause pacific nation Tuvalu to disappear from world map. But truth is that it is actually growing in size. A University of Auckland study, published in the journal Nature Communications, observed the changes in the geography of Tuvalu’s nine atolls and 101 reef islands between 1971 and 2014, using aerial Read More …
According to the new study published in ‘Nature, Ecology and Evolution’, marbled crayfish (Procambarus virginalis) are multiplying rapidly and invading ecosystems across the world. This ten-legged pests are descended from one single female with a mutation allowing it to reproduce without males. Due its multiplying behaviour some scientists are calling it as a Self-cloning crayfish. In north America it is illegal to keep them as a pets. Even European Union Read More …
