In Red Corridor along A.P.-Chhattisgarh border, a tribe keeps its customs, memories alive

• In the dense forest nearly 10 km from the main road on Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border in Kunavaram mandal of the district, three stone memorials greet visitors to the tiny village of Ramachandrapuram, inhibited by the Gutti Koya tribespeople.
• Gutti Koya tribe fleeing the Naxal-hit regions in Chhattisgarh during the 2005-11 conflict between Chhattisgarh government-sponsored Salwa Judum and Naxalites.
• This settlement comprises those who fled the erstwhile Dantewara district of Chhattisgarh and now falls in India’s Red Corridor, where Left Wing Extremist groups are still active.
• It is the tribespeople’s custom to place a stone in memory of a deceased dignitary of the settlement to express their gratitude for their services. They bury the bodies of only three persons in our village—Vejji (physician), poojari (priest) and the community head. When others die, their bodies are cremated in the forest.
• When anyone holding these positions die, the villagers will search for a stone (the size of the deceased person) in the nearby stream and bring it to the forest, where it is kept in that person’s memory. The family of the deceased dignitary would also organise a feast for the entire villagers for installing the memorial.
• As of now, the village does not have any official graveyard as it did not exist prior to the tribespeople’s migration. The villagers have, however, designated a forest patch as their graveyard, where they perform last rites for their dead.
• Under the stone memorial, the family of the deceased has placed a few things that the man loved the most when he was alive—a knife, a sickle, Mahua liquor and some clothes. In every community ritual, liquor extracted from the Mahua flower is kept at the memorial
• The Gutti Koya tribe appoints only men to these positions. They earn a living through animal husbandry and minor forest produce.

Koya Tribe:

• Koya tribe is the largest adivasi tribe of Telangana and listed as Scheduled Tribe in Telangana.
• The community is spread across Telugu speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
• Koyas popularly call themselves as Dorala Sattam (Lords group) and Putta Dora (original lords). Koyas call themselves “Koitur” in their dialect, like Gonds.
• Habitat and livelihood:
  • The Godavari and Sabari rivers which are flowing through their area of habitation exercise profound influence on Koyas’ economic, social and cultural life.
  • The Koyas are mainly settled cultivators. They grow Jowar, Ragi, Bajra and other millets.
• Language:
  • Many koya People have forgotten their Koya Dialect and adopted Telugu as their mother tongue but some in other parts still speak Koya dialect.
• Religion and festival:
  • Lord Bhima, Korra Rajulu, Mamili and Potaraju are the important deities to Koyas.
  • Their main festivals are Vijji Pandum (seeds charming festival) and Kondala Kolupu (festival to appease Hill deities).
  • Koyas perform a robust colourful dance called Permakok ata (Bison horn dance) during festivals and marriage ceremonies.

What it takes to enforce lane discipline on the roads

• Following a public interest litigation by a citizen about road accidents resulting from lane indiscipline, the Madras High Court recently directed the Greater Chennai Traffic Police to put checks in place to combat the problem.
• As per Indian Road Congress standards, Subramanian says, each lane should be 3.5 metres wide. Considering that we need four lanes — one each for cars, two-wheelers, heavy vehicles and a service road — and also footpath space of 1.5 metres on both sides, that is an impossiblity on most roads
• ‘Invest in technology’
• Chandigarh is the closest that I can think of as a city where a system of lane markings has been implemented effectively. The city has roads designed with every stakeholder in mind, which includes cyclists, pedestrians and vendors. This has made the job of the police easier as signboards clearly mention where vehicles can be parked, which lane to take etc.. adding the police there is also proactive in using technology.

Indian Road Congress

• Indian Road Congress (IRC) is the apex body of highway engineers in the country. The IRC was established in December 1934 on the recommendations of the Indian Road Development Committee, popularly known as the Jayakar Committee, set up by the government. Its aim is to develop roads in India.
• The IRC was formally registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 on September 24, 1937.
• Established in 1934 with 73 members, the IRC currently has over 50 lakh affiliates (direct/indirect) and over 17,300 registered members, including central and state governments, public sector, research institutes, local bodies, private sector, recipients Engineers and practitioners from all stakeholders of the road sector from multilateral and institutional organizations such as contractors, consultants, equipment manufacturers, machinery manufacturers, material manufacturers and suppliers, industrial associations, World Bank, ADB, JICA, JRA, IRF etc.

Hamas lets Gaza residents pose with weapons for first time

• The armed wing of Gaza''s Islamist rulers Hamas has put its weapons on public display, in a first open event drawing hundreds of Palestinians including children brandishing rocket launchers for selfies.
• Dressed in black balaclavas and tactical camouflage suits, members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades mingled with young men and women at the exhibition in Gaza City''s Unknown Soldier''s Square. The event was the first at which Hamas has allowed the public to take photos of weapons.
• Among the Hamas weapons on display in Gaza City on Friday were a range of locally manufactured missiles, "Shihab" drones, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and Russian-made "Kornet" missiles.

Hamas

• Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist political organization and militant group that has waged war on Israel since the group’s 1987 founding, most notably through suicide bombings and rocket attacks.
• It seeks to replace Israel with a Palestinian state. It also governs Gaza independently of the Palestinian Authority.

Gaza has been under a tightened Israeli blockade since 2007 in which most basic goods still enter the region under highly restricted measures.

• In May, an Israeli offensive left nearly 260 Palestinians dead and thousands wounded as well as a vast trail of destruction in Gaza. Palestinian resistance groups responded with rocket barrages into Israeli areas, killing at least 13 Israelis.

The Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip is an entirely artificial creation that emerged in 1948 when roughly three-fourths of Palestine’s Arab population was displaced, in some cases expelled, during the course of Israel’s creation. And most of the refugees, they were sort of scattered across the region in neighboring countries like Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

• Some went to the West Bank, which came under Jordanian rule after 1948. And a very large number went to the Gaza Strip, which is this tiny little coastal strip between Egypt and what is now Israel. Today, the population of Gaza, about 70% of Gaza’s population are refugees.

Hamas forcibly took control over the Gaza Strip in 2007. Shortly thereafter, the Israelis imposed a complete closure on Gaza’s borders. They declared Gaza to be an enemy entity. Of course, Gaza is not a state.

• Hamas, of course, is viewed by Israel and by much of the international community as a terrorist organization, including the United States, for their history of attacks on civilians and so forth.

Chloride levels posing risk to housing in NCR, experts call for relook of building norms

• While the quality of raw materials, such as cement, steel bars, sand and bricks etc., is vital for residential construction, that of water is often overlooked. However, a report published in early June by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, has raised concerns over the standard of water used in the National Capital Region.
• In its report, the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Delhi, said it found chloride in the concrete, noting this could have happened due to “the presence of chloride in water or aggregate used in concrete”.
• Chloride, when in contact with water, leads to initiation of corrosion of embedded steel reinforcement

Living dangerously

In February 2022, two women were killed when a sixth-floor apartment in an 18-storey tower of Chintels Paradiso housing society in Gurugram Sector 109 collapsed and the debris fell down to the first floor. The district administration set up a committee to table a report, which found that the affected tower was unsafe for inhabitation and unfeasible for any repair due to the high chloride levels in the concrete.

Chloride in Drinking Water

• Chloride is a naturally occurring element that is common in most natural waters and is most often found as a component of salt (sodium chloride) or in some cases in combination with potassium or calcium.
• The presence of chloride in groundwater can result from a number of sources including the weathering of soils, salt-bearing geological formations, deposition of salt spray, salt used for road de-icing, contributions from wastewaters and in coastal areas, intrusion of salty ocean water into fresh groundwater sources.
• In PEI, chloride levels in groundwater are relatively usually fairly low, but can become elevated in areas near the coast, or in areas of heavy salting of roads.

What are the health concerns

• Chloride is considered to be an essential nutrient for human health and the main source of chloride is from foods, with drinking water making up only a small portion of normal dietary intake.
• Chloride in drinking water is not harmful, and most concerns are related to the frequent association of high chloride levels with elevated sodium levels. The drinking water guideline for chloride levels of 250 mg/L

White-rumped vulture faces a perilous future in Nilgris’ Sigur plateau

• Despite the protective measures, the future remains extremely perilous for the critically endangered white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) in the Sigur plateau in the Nilgiris, the last southernmost viable breeding population for the species in India.
• Data from the recent synchronous vulture census in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have shown that the white-rumped vulture population remains roughly in the same range, with very few signs of a significant recovery from the last decade.
• The white-rumped and other vulture species in India have been decimated by the use of diclofenac and a few other Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) in cattle.
• Vultures in Sigur are also becoming the unwitting victims of retaliatory poisoning of tigers and leopards. Mr. Samson’s research has also shown that 46 white-rumped vultures died between 2013 and 2017.
• Of them, autopsies could be performed on the carcasses of only eight individuals. It emerged that these eight vultures died after consuming organophosphorus (insecticides) and urea used to poison carnivores
• Anthropogenic pressures, such as cattle-grazing and poorly designed check-dams, have depleted the habitats over the last few years. Mr. Samson said the species could be wiped out from the region in the next decade unless serious protective measures were taken.
• Due to anthropogenic pressures, one of the three nesting sites of the species in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve have been abandoned by the vultures, while another prime nesting site at Jagalikadavu has been impacted severely by the check-dams along the Sigurhalla river that have restricted water flow, killing off many Terminalia arjuna trees where the vulture nest.

White rumped Vulture

• It is also known as Gyps Bengalensis, and is one of the 9 species of Indian vulture which are identified for protection.
• They are medium in size and called white humped due to presence of white patch of feathers on the lower back and upper tail.

Habitat and distribution

• They are generally found in Indian subcontinent and the regions of south east Asia such as Thailand, Laos.
• They are more commonly found in the Indus valley and along the Himalayas to Assam valley.
• They are found in variety of landscapes including hilly regions and Plains near human settlements.

Conservation Status

• They are categorized as critically endangered species as per IUCN.
• They are listed under schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.

Threat

• Prime reason for decline - Use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for cattle treatment – for eg
• Habitat degradation and fragmentation.
• Loss of foraging range.
• Instances of electrocutions due to encounter with power lines.

Measures Taken

• Mass education and awareness programme are being undertaken for sensitizing about their significance.
• Involvement of local communities to report injured vulture to authorities.
• In 2006, Project Vulture was launched by Government of India in an effort to save vultures.
• Also various Vulture Captive Care facility and Vulture care centres have been established.
• There is a prohibition on manufacture of Diclofenac for animal use.
• A National Action Plan (2006) on Vulture Conservation has been formulated.

International Buddhist Confederation to celebrate Ashadha Purnima as Dharma Chakra Pravartana Divas

Ashadha Purnima

• The day is also celebrated as Guru Purnima and it falls every year on the full moon day of the month of Ashadha as per the Indian lunar calendar.
• The day is also celebrated as Esala Poya in Sri Lanka and Asanha Bucha in Thailand.
• The day is remembered for the first teaching of Gautam Budha after attaining Enlightenment to the first five ascetic disciples (pancavargiya) on at ''Deer Park'', Risipatana Mrigadaya in the present day Sarnath, near Varanasi.
• This day is also aptly observed as Guru Purnima by both Buddhists and Hindus as a day to mark reverence to their gurus.
• This day also marks the beginning of the rainy season retreat for the Monks and Nuns also starts with this day.
• The season lasts for three months from July to October. During the season they remain in a single place, generally in their temples dedicated to intensive meditation.

Revive Bengaluru''s raja kaluves instead of Mekedatu project

Mekedatu Reservoir Project

• The Mekedatu multi-purpose (drinking and power) project involves building a balancing reservoir near Kanakapura in Ramanagara district of Karnataka.
• It is 4 km from the Tamil Nadu border and 100 km from Bengaluru.
• The estimated Rs 9,000-crore project, once completed, is aimed at ensuring drinking water to Bengaluru and neighbouring areas (4.75 TMC) and it can also generate 400 MW of power.
• Named after the village where the project is expected to be constructed, the reservoir will have a capacity of 284,000 million cubic feet (TMC).
• The project is proposed at the confluence of Cauvery with its tributary Arkavathi.
• Issue:
  • Tamil Nadu — the lower riparian state — has claimed that the project is against the interest of the state’s water requirement.
  • The lower riparian state has to give its no-objection for any project that comes up on the Cauvery as per the Cauvery tribunal and Supreme Court order

Belarusian embassy in Netherlands vandalized

Belarus

• It is a landlocked country of eastern Europe.
• Bordering countries: It borders Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.
• The capital and largest city is Minsk.
• Languages:
  • Spoken languages are Belarusian (official) 24%, but 70% speak Russian (official).
  • Ethnic Belarusians, who speak a language closely related to Russian and Ukrainian, make up more than three-quarters of the population.
• Relief:
  • Much of the country consists of flat lowlands separated by low level-topped hills and uplands.
  • About 40% of the country is forested; Białowieża Forest is one of the last and largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest that once stretched across the European plain.
• Rivers:
  • The greater part of the republic lies in the basin of the Dnieper—which flows across Belarus from north to south on its way to the Black Sea.
  • The extreme southwestern corner of Belarus is drained by the Mukhavyets, a tributary of the Bug (Buh) River, which forms part of the border with Poland and flows to the Baltic Sea.
• Climate: It has a cool continental climate moderated by maritime influences from the Atlantic Ocean.
• Until it became independent in 1991, Belarus, formerly known as Belorussia or White Russia, was the smallest of the three Slavic republics included in the Soviet Union (the larger two being Russia and Ukraine).

Successful Completion of Marine Engineering Specialisation Course at INS Shivaji

INS Shivaji

• It is an Indian Naval station placed in Lonavala, Maharashtra.
• It homes the Naval College of Engineering which trains officers of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard.
• Indian Navy already operates a primary damage manipulate simulator Akshat at INS Shivaji to train its officers and sailors on damage manage on a warship at sea.
• Indian Navy''s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence School and Center for Marine Engineering Technology also are also based here.
• INS Shivaji had its humble beginning as replacement for the ‘Stokers’ Training School’ at HMIS Dalhousie, in Naval Dockyard, Bombay.
• Commissioned with the aid of the then Governor of Bombay, Sir John Colville, as HMIS Shivaji on 15 February 1945, it has become INS Shivaji on 26 January 1950.

Human-wildlife conflict worsens in Nallamala region

Nallamala Forest

• It is one of the largest stretches of undisturbed forest in South India, apart from the Western Ghats.
• Location:
  • It is spread over five districts in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
  • It is located in Nallamala Hills, which is a part of the Eastern Ghats.
  • It lies south of the Krishna river.
• The forest has a good tiger population, and a part of the forest belongs to the Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, the largest tiger reserve in the country.
• Climate:
  • It has a warm to hot climate throughout the year, with summer especially hot and winters mostly cool and dry.
  • It gets most of its rain during the South West monsoon.
• Vegetation: Tropical dry deciduous.
• Flora: It harbours endemic species like Andrographis nallamalayana, Eriolaena lushingtonii, Crotalaria madurensis var, Dicliptera beddomei and premna hamitonii.
• Fauna: It is home to as many as 700 species of animals besides tigers, leopards, such as black buck, wild hog, peacock, pangolin, Indian Python and King Cobras and several rare bird species.

India, China ramp up infra on north bank of Pangong Tso lake

Pangong Tso lake

• It is one of the most famous lakes in Leh Ladakh, derives its name from the Tibetan word, “Pangong Tso”, which means “high grassland lake”.
• It is also known as Pangong Lake which is a long narrow, endorheic (landlocked) lake situated at a height of more than 14,000 ft (4,350 meters) in the Ladakh Himalayas.
• It is the world''s highest saltwater lake.
• India holds one-third of the 135 km-long boomerang-shaped Pangong lake.
• One-third of the Pangong Lake lies in India and the other two-thirds in China.
• It is also known to change colours, appearing blue, green, and red at different times.

This new tool can drive India''s eco-restoration initiatives

Diversity for Restoration (D4R) tool

• It is developed with information on 237 socio-economically important native trees from the Western Ghats.
• It is devised by Bioversity International.
• The team from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), with the help of Bioversity International, modified it to promote restoration programmes in India.

Features

• The researchers have claimed the tool will help improve the effectiveness of restoration programmes by providing manifold benefits to interested stakeholders while promoting sustainable development.
• The online tool precisely aims to help better decision-making and bring the best outcome for those plantation programmes.
• It could improve socio-ecological perspectives and help stakeholders in decision-making.
• The tool helps the user in identifying species that match their restoration objectives.
• It further helps identify species that can resist local stresses and adapt to evolving environmental conditions.
• It also helps pinpoint areas and regions to procure the seeds for the required species.
• The tool has information about 100 plant functional traits that have been considered to offer the best possible solution.
• Functional traits include information on economic and ecological uses from the tree species chosen for plantation.
• The tool informs the user whether the tree species offers timber, fruit, manure or other commercial benefits.
• It also informs if the tree is resilient to physiological stresses such as extreme high or low temperatures, salinity or acidity tolerance in the soil among others.
• The tool could also identify windbreakers - the trees can act as a barrier against high winds.
• The user can also know if the species offers better nitrogen fixing and whether it serves as a good pollinator for birds and bees.
• This tool is already being used in countries such as Malaysia, Ethiopia, Columbia, Peru, Burkina Faso, Cameroon etc.

Bengal tribal politics heats up after Ol Chiki figures in PM ‘Mann Ki Baat’

Ol Chiki script

• It was created in 1925 by Raghunath Murmu (1905-1982), writer and teacher from what is Mayurbhanj State (now part of Odisha) in India as a way to write Santhali a Munda language.
• Ol Chiki is also known as Ol Cemet'', Ol Ciki, Ol or the Santhali alphabet.
• It was created as a way to promote Santhali culture.
• The script was first publicized in 1939 at the Mayurbhanj State exhibition.
• Murmu published over 150 books in Santhali in the Ol Chiki script, including novels, poetry, drama, grammars, dictionaries and other information about the language and script.
• Santhali is also written with the Latin, Odia, Bengali and Devanagari alphabets.
• Santhali language is spoken mainly in Jharkhand and West Bengal states in northern India, and also in northwestern Bangladesh, eastern Nepal and Bhutan.

Hul Diwas

• The Santhal rebellion or ‘Hul’ – literally, revolution – began in 1855 two years before the uprising of 1857.
• It was an “organised war against colonialism” led by the Santals, standing against the myriad forms of economic oppression
• It was led by two brothers Sidhu and Kanhu.
• It saw the participation of as many as 32 caste and communities rallying behind them.

Third active Octopus nursery found beneath waves of Costa Rica.

Octopus nursery

• The newly found nursery is almost two miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
• This nursery belongs to the genus of Muusoctopus, and don’t have ink sacs - an organ found in most cephalopods.

Octopus

• It is a marine mollusc and a member of the class Cephalopoda, more commonly called cephalopods.
• Cephalopoda means “head foot” in Greek, and in this class of organisms the head and feet are merged.
• A ring of eight equally-long arms surrounds the head. They use their arms to "walk" on seafloor.
• The undersides of the arms are covered with suction cups that are very sensitive to touch and taste.
• The sack-like body is perched atop the head, which has two complex and sensitive eyes, while the mouth is on the underside.
• They have three functioning hearts.
• Two of the hearts work exclusively to move blood to the gills, while the third pumps blood through the rest of the body.
• Their blood is copper-based which is more efficient at transporting oxygen at low temperatures and makes their blood blue in colour.
• They are solitary creatures excellent at camouflaging and concealing themselves.
• They are about 90 percent muscle, and because they lack bones, they can fit through very small spaces.
• Their skin contains cells called chromatophores that allow the octopus to change colour and pattern.
• They are found in every ocean of the world.

Wildlife Bureau issues ‘red alert’ against poachers, hunters in all tiger reserves

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau

• It is a statutory multi-disciplinary body established by the Government of India to combat organized wildlife crime in the country.
• It was constituted by amending the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Nodal Ministry: The Ministry of Environment and Forests.
• Headquarter: New Delhi
• Mandate: Under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972it is mandated to
  • To collect and collate intelligence related to organized wildlife crime activities and to disseminate the same to State and other enforcement agencies for immediate action so as to apprehend the criminals.
  • To establish a centralized wildlife crime data bank.
  • To assist foreign authorities and international organization concerned to facilitate co-ordination and universal action for wildlife crime control.
  • In capacity building of the wildlife crime enforcement agencies for scientific and professional investigation into wildlife crimes and assist State Governments to ensure success in prosecutions related to wildlife crimes;
  • It advises the Government of India on issues relating to wildlife crimes having national and international ramifications, relevant policy and laws.
  • It also assists and advises the Customs authorities in inspection of the consignments of flora & fauna as per the provisions of Wild Life Protection Act, CITES and EXIM Policy governing such an item.
• It has developed an online Wildlife Crime Database Management System to get real time data in order to help analyse trends in crime and devise effective measures to prevent and detect wildlife crimes across India.
• This system has been successfully used to analyse trends, helping put in preventive measures as well as for successfully carrying out operations such as Operation SAVE KURMA, THUNDERBIRD, WILDNET, LESKNOW, BIRBIL, THUNDERSTORM, LESKNOW-II