Accelerated breeding: Plastic waste in urban drains can lead to an explosion of mosquitoes

• The research establishes that the human-made chemical Bisphenol A can significantly shorten the breeding time of southern house mosquitoes (Culex quinquefasciatus).
• This mosquito is a major carrier of the West Nile virus, Rift Valley fever virus and avian pox in tropical and subtropical countries, and thereby aids in its quick multiplication.

Bisphenol A

• Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that is mainly used in combination with other chemicals to manufacture plastics and resins.
• It is produced by the condensation of phenol and acetone.
• This type of plastic is used to make some types of beverage containers, compact disks, plastic dinnerware, impact-resistant safety equipment, automobile parts, and toys.
• Generally, BPA acts on the hormonal level by distorting hormonal balance and inducing estrogenic effects through binding with estrogen-related receptors (ERR).

Haryana Govt to highlight PPP benefits at Summit

Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) Scheme:

• It was launched by the Haryana Government in 2015.
• The primary objective of PPP is to create authentic, verified, and reliable data of all families in Haryana.
• PPP identifies each and every family in Haryana and keeps the basic data of the family, provided with the consent of the family, in a digital format.
• Under the scheme, a unique identity card — called Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) is launched — through which the state government aims to monitor all the families living across the state.
• Under PPP, each family is considered a single unit.
• Each family will be provided an eight-digit Family Id.
• The Family ID will be linked to the Birth, Death, and Marriage records to ensure automatic updating of the family data as and when such life events happen.
• A family has to register itself on the PPP portal to avail the benefits of social-security schemes of the state government.
• Benefits:
  • PPP scheme makes citizens able to take benefits of government schemes and services by sitting at home through online medium.
  • It also brings transparency to the system and eliminates middlemen so as to stop ineligible people from taking advantage of any scheme.

Mandapam seagrass could treat liver cancer

• Seagrasses are flowering plants that grow submerged in shallow marine waters like bays and lagoons.
• They are so-named because most species have long green, grass-like leaves.
• Seagrasses have roots, stems, and leaves and produce flowers and seeds.
• Like terrestrial plants, seagrass also photosynthesizes and manufactures their own food and releases oxygen.
• They evolved around 100 million years ago, and there are approximately 72 different seagrass species that belong to four major groups.
• Some of the important seagrasses are Sea Cow Grass (Cymodocea serrulata), Thready Seagrass (Cymodocea rotundata), Needle Seagrass (Syringodium isoetifolium), Flat-tipped Seagrass (Halodule uninervis), Spoon Seagrass (Halophila ovalis) and Ribbon Grass (Enhalus acoroides).
• Distribution:
  • They are found on all continents except Antarctica.
  • The tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific hold the highest diversity of seagrasses in the world.
• Seagrass distribution in India:
  • They occur all along the coastal areas of India.
  • They are abundant in the Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannarin Tamil Nadu.
• Ecosystem services:
  • They are considered to be ‘Ecosystem Engineers’.
  • Seagrasses help maintain water quality. They trap fine sediments and suspended particles in the water column and increase water clarity.
  • They filter nutrients released from land-based industries before they reach sensitive habitats like coral reefs.
  • The extensive vertical and horizontal root systems of seagrasses stabilise the sea bottom.
  • They are one of the most productive ecosystems in the world.

Lakhs of women take part in Attukal Pongala festival

• It is a 10-day long festival celebrated annually at Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Trivandrum, Kerala.
• This festival is dedicated to Attukal Bhagavathy, also known as Goddess Kannaki or Bhadrakali.
• It is celebrated every year and falls in the month of February or March.
• Pongala, which means ''to boil over’, is the ritual in which women prepare sweet payasam (a pudding made from rice, jaggery, coconut and plantains cooked together) and offer it to the Goddess or ‘Bhagavathy’. This ritual is performed on the 9th day.
• It is one of the largest congregation of women for a festival in the world.
• During the 10-days festivities, a sacrificial offering known as Kuruthitharpanam is also included in the religious event.

PM congratulates Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awardees

• Karakattam is a form of folk dance performed at festivals, conferences, road shows, and primarily at Mariamman festivals.
• It is one of the many creative traditions that owe their existence to Mariamman, the rain goddess.
• While the dance form is not dying, it has undergone radical change and adaptation in recent years.
• Karakattam and agriculture have a link. It is because the Mariamman pooja is held in the month of Medam after Makarakkoythu (harvest season) in Kerala.
• Karakattam is mostly famous in Tamil Nadu, it’s performed in different parts of Kerala as well.

Karakattam

• Karakattam performances are characterised by a lot of swaying movements and joyous banter.
• It requires a lot of practice and dedication. Three tiers of flower arrangements of different colours sit on top of a container filled to the brim with either water, rice, or soil.
• All of this is balanced on the head of a Karakattam dancer while he or she dances.”
• Other highlights include blowing fire, inserting needles into eyes, and keeping balance while holding a bottle parallel to the ground on the performer’s back.

Pink Bollworm-resistant GM cotton gets green light for field trials in Haryana’s Hisar

• It is one of the most destructive pests of cotton.
• Scientific name: Pectinophora gossypiella
• Distribution: Originally native to India, it is now recorded in nearly all the cotton-growing countries of the world.
• Description:
  • The adults are small moths about 3/8 inch long and are dark brown with markings on the fore wing.
  • The larval stage is the destructive and identifiable stage.
  • The larvae have distinctive pink bands and can reach a length of ½ inches right before they pupate.
• Ecological Threat:
  • Pink bollworms are major pests of cotton.
  • Adults only last for 2 weeks, but females will lay 200 or more eggs.
  • Adults lay eggs on cotton bolls; once hatched, the larvae eat the seeds and damage the fibers of the cotton, reducing the yield and quality
  • When the larvae mature, they cut out the boll and drop to the ground and cocoon near the soil surface.
  • It has also been observed to attack hibiscus, okra, and hollyhock plants.

Tree toad from biodiversity hotspot Mollem on nat''l list

Malabar tree toad:

• The Malabar tree toad is a small species found in the forest along the Western Ghats in wet tree hollows or leaf bases containing water.
• This toad species is found mainly during the monsoon season and then it disappears.
• It is believed to be the only toad to dwell on high canopies.
• Its population is shrinking mainly due to habitat loss, climate change and Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a deadly fungus that has been decimating entire amphibian populations worldwide.
• Conservation status
  • IUCN: Endangered

Mollem National Park

• It is located in Sanguem taluk in Goa close to the border with Karnataka.
• This park also has several temples dating back to the Kadamba Dynasty.
• The park was earlier known as Mollem game sanctuary.
• It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1969 and renamed Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary.
• Since then, the national park is called Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park.
• Fauna: King Cobra, Hump-nosed pit viper, Indian rock python and Malabar pit viper are found in the park.

As part of Banjara community outreach, Union government to mark Sant Sevalal Maharaj Jayanti

• Banjara is made of various groups found throughout India and most of them are found in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states in South India.
• This community settled across the country with different names, have permanently abandoned their nomadic lifestyle and settled in their settlements called Tandas.
• They speak Gor Boli also called Lambadi which belongs to the Indo-Aryan Group of Languages. Lambadi has no script.
• Banjara people celebrate the festival of Teej during Shravanam (in the month of august). In this festival young unmarried Banjara girls pray for a good groom.
• Fire dance and Chari are the traditional dance forms of the banjara people.

Santh Sevalal Maharaj

• He is considered a social reformer and spiritual teacher of the Banjara community.
• He travelled across the country with his Ladeniya Troup to serve especially the forest dwellers and nomadic tribes.
• Due to his extraordinary knowledge, excellent skills and spiritual background in Ayurveda and Naturopathy, he was able to dispel and eradicate myths and superstitions prevalent in the tribal communities.

Critical ecosystems: Congo Basin peatlands

• Leaders from across Africa and Asia at the international summit on the state of the world's tropical forests will have discussions focussing on the Congo Basin, which stores more planet-warming carbon than the Amazon but is disappearing. 
• The Congo Basin is home to the world’s largest tropical peatlands, along with Brazil and Indonesia. The peat swamp forest of the Congo Basin stores around 29 billion tons of carbon – approximately equivalent to three years’ worth of global greenhouse gas emissions – while the Basin as a whole absorbs nearly 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year . The Basin stretches across six countries- Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
• “The Congo Basin is one of the world’s last regions that absorbs more carbon than it emits,” says Doreen Robinson, the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Head of Biodiversity and Land. “We have to find ways to meet critical energy needs for development without sacrificing peatlands and the essential services they provide for people and the economy.”
• Peatlands are an effective carbon sink – they absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they produce. Carbon sinks are essential to combating the climate crisis and protecting planetary health. However, peatlands and other carbon sinks are already at risk of collapse due to climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, warns UNEP’s Becoming #GenerationRestoration report. Without the critical services these ecosystems provide, the climate and nature crisis will only worsen.

Peatlands and the climate crisis

• The climate crisis causes more frequent extreme weather events that worsen food and water scarcity, hinder global economies, and threaten human well-being. With human-caused greenhouse gas emissions forecast to rise, ensuring urgent cross-sector action and protecting and sustainably managing peatlands is considered crucial.
• Peatland ecosystems play a key role in mitigating the climate crisis. They house and protect rare and vital nature and offer resilience through water capture, storage and much more. According to a UNEP report, protecting and restoring the peatlands that are already degraded can reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 800 million metric tons per year.
• Peatlands cover only 3 per cent of the global land surface but store an estimated 600 billion tons of carbon – twice as much as in all the world’s forests. This makes them one of the most efficient carbon sink ecosystems and underlines the need to protect them, experts say.
• Plants absorb carbon during the process of photosynthesis, which they use to convert into wood, leaves and roots. Because peatlands are water-logged, plant matter takes longer to decompose. This traps more carbon and provides a net-cooling effect.

Peatland peril

• Several countries have recognized the importance of peatlands and have made commitments to protect the imperiled ecosystems. At the Global Peatlands Initiative meeting held in Brazzaville in 2018, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo and Indonesia signed the Brazzaville Declaration, which promotes better management and conservation of the Cuvette Centrale region in the Congo Basin, one of the world’s largest tropical peatlands.
• At the UN Environment Assembly in 2019, Member States played a key role in establishing a resolution that urges them and other stakeholders “to give greater emphasis to the conservation, sustainable management and restoration of peatlands worldwide.”
• Despite these agreements, peatlands remain especially vulnerable to human activity.
• Approximately 15 per cent of peatlands have been drained for agriculture, while an additional 5–10 per cent are degraded due to vegetation removal or alteration. The draining and burning of peatlands emit approximately 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide through oxidization or fires per year, which amounts to nearly 5 per cent of all human-caused emissions. An annual investment of US$46 billion by 2050 is needed to slash half of these emissions, and experts warn that the bill for saving peatlands will only increase without urgent investment.

Protecting peatlands

• Governments must conserve more protected areas and emphasize the importance of peatlands’ ecosystem services. Assigning economic value to peatlands and placing a price on carbon emissions would deter harmful and excessive resource extraction and also provide critical financial resources that can support local communities and sustainable development.
• “Peatlands and forests provide numerous ecological, economic and cultural benefits to millions of people,” says Robinson. “The long-term economic costs of ecosystem damage far exceed short-term financial gains from resource exploitation. Countries have recognized the importance of protecting peatlands and must act to meet those commitments.”
• Some jurisdictions, like the European Union, are considering imposing restrictions on commodities whose production caused the degradation of carbon sinks. Individuals can also urge governments and businesses to adopt nature-friendly behaviour and policies that promote net-zero emissions.
• The Global Peatlands Initiative, led by UNEP, connects experts and institutions to improve the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of peatlands. The UN-REDD Programme, the UN’s flagship partnership on forests and climate, acts as an advisory platform to realize forest solutions to the climate crisis. It plays an important role in managing peatlands in Indonesia, which is home to approximately 22.5 million hectares of the ecosystem.
• Preventing resource extraction and increasing the resiliency of peatlands benefits millions of people and enables progress towards reducing the climate crisis.
• “There is no possibility of limiting global warming to 2°C or 1.5°C if we don’t conserve existing carbon sinks, such as peatlands, and quickly cut fossil fuel emissions, reaching net-zero by 2050 – but ideally much sooner,” says Mark Radka, Chief of UNEP's Energy and Climate Branch. “We must also undertake a massive ecosystem restoration effort to reduce carbon emissions from non-fossil sources.”

What is ALMA telescope, that will soon get a ''new brain''?

• It is a state-of-the-art telescope that studies celestial objects at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths.
• They can penetrate through dust clouds and help astronomers examine dim and distant galaxies and stars out there.
• It also has extraordinary sensitivity, which allows it to detect even extremely faint radio signals.
• The telescope consists of 66 high-precision antennas, spread over a distance of up to 16 km.
• It is operated under a partnership between the United States, and 16 countries in Europe, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Chile.
• The radio telescope was designed, planned and constructed by the US’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

Discoveries made by ALMA

• It had observed the detailed images of the protoplanetary disc surrounding HL Tauri which is a very young T Tauri star in the constellation Taurus, approximately 450 light years from Earth.
• It helped scientists observe a phenomenon known as the Einstein ring, which occurs when light from a galaxy or star passes by a massive object en route to the Earth, in extraordinary detail.

30 tigers die in 2 months, officials say no cause for alarm

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA):

• It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• It was established in 2006 under Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.
• Objectives:
  • Providing statutory authority to Project Tiger so that compliance of its directives become legal.
  • Fostering accountability of Center-State in management of Tiger Reserves by providing a basis for MoU with States within the federal structure.
  • Providing for an oversight by Parliament.
  • Addressing livelihood interests of local people in areas surrounding Tiger Reserves.
• NTCA Members:
  • Minister in charge of MoEFCC (as Chairperson),
  • Minister of State in MoEFCC (as Vice-Chairperson),
  • three members of Parliament, the Secretary (MoEFCC), and other members.

‘Project Tiger’

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of the MoEFCC.
• It was launched on 1st April 1973.
• It provides funding support to tiger range States for the in-situ conservation of tigers in designated tiger reserves.
• Project Tiger has been the largest species conservation initiative of its kind in the world.
• National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is the immediate supervising agency.