From stage to streets: Manipur’s Shumang Leela performers grapple with survival amid ongoing ethnic strife.

• The artists of Shumang Leela are bearing the brunt of the enduring ethnic violence in Manipur which is also jeopardising the vibrant cultural fabric of the state.
• Shumang Leela is a traditional form of theatre in Manipur.
• In this, the roles of female artists are all played by male actors and male characters are played by female artists in the case of female theatre groups.
• It was started as a comic genre for royalty and has evolved into a powerful medium for mass education, entertainment, and relaxation.
• In this, the roles of women are all played by men, called Nupi Shabis.
• The tradition is believed to be descended from Lai Haraoba,a ritual of the Meitei community of Manipur.
• Purpose: The plays provide a vehicle for educating the public about social, political, and economic issues.
• Types - Shumang Leela is of two types
• Nupa Shumang Leela– It is Performed only by men
• Nupi Shumang Leela– It is Performed only by women

What is Lai Haraoba?

• Lai Haraoba is a religious festival celebrated by the Meitei people who are largely settled in and around Manipur.
• It is held at neighbourhood shrines dedicated to the local umanglai deities.
• It is observed in the months between February and May-June.

Scientists discover new kangaroo lizard species from Western Ghats.

• Researchers named the new, scaly reptiles after the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered of Existence (EDGE) program through the Zoological Society of London.
• The new species Agasthyagama edgeor the northern kangaroo lizard belongs to the Agamidae family.
• A group of scientists discovered the new species from the southern Western Ghats at Kulamavu in Idukki.
• The species is the second one of the Agasthyagama genus after A. beddomii or Indian kangaroo lizard that has been previously reported from Sivagiri hills in Tamil Nadu.

Features

• A reduced fifth toe makes these reptiles poor climbers and hence do not climb trees like other lizards.
• Instead, they are mostly terrestrial and found in areas with dense leaf litter cover.
• They feed on small insects, this variety of kangaroo lizard runs fast and hides within dry leaves to evade predators.
• It is known to have a maximum snout-vent length of 4.3 cm.

Eravikulam National Park is to be shut from February 1 for the calving season of Nilgiri Tahr.

• Eravikulam National Park (ENP), the natural habitat of the Nilgiri tahr, will soon be closed for the calving season of the species.
• Location: It is located along the Western Ghats in the Idukki district of Kerala.
• It was declared a National Park in 1978.
• The Park covers an area of 97 sq. km.
• The highest peak south of the Himalayas, the Anamudi (2695 metres), is situated on the southern side of the park.
• This is also the land of “Neelakurinji”, the flower that blooms once every twelve years.
• Climate: The park receives heavy showers during the southwest (June/July) and retreating (October/November) monsoons and is one of the wettest areas in the world.
• Vegetation: The major part of the park is covered with rolling grasslands, but several patches of shola forests are also found in the upper part of the valley.
• Flora:
• Important flora includes Actinodaphne bourdilloni, Microtropis ramiflora, Pittosporum tetraspermium, Sysygium aronottianum, Chrysopogon Zelanieus, etc.
• The shola grasslands are exceptionally rich in balsams and orchids, including the long-thought-extinct variety Brachycorythis wightii.
• Fauna:
• The Nilgiri Tahr, Gaur, Sloth Bear, Nilgiri Langur, Tiger, Leopard, Giant Squirrel, and wild dog are the common species.
• Half of the world population of the endangered Nilgiri Tahr lives here.
• The Atlas moth, the largest of its kind in the world, is seen in this park.
• 140 species of birds, of which 10 are unique to the Western Ghats. More than 100 varieties of butterflies have been recorded here.

Key Facts about Nilgiri Tahr:

• It is an endangered mountain ungulate endemic to the southern part of the Western Ghats.
• Scientific Name: Nilgiritragus hylocrius
• Locally, the animal is called ‘Varayaadu’.
• They are known for their gravity-defying skills in climbing steep cliffs, earning them the nickname Mountain Monarch.
• It is the state animal of Tamil Nadu.

Distribution:

• Their present distribution is limited to approximately 5% of the Western Ghatsin southern India (Kerala and Tamil Nadu).
• Eravikulam National Parkin Kerala has the highest density and largest surviving population of Nilgiri tahr.
• Habitat: They inhabit the open montane grassland habitatsat elevations from 1200 to 2600 m of the South Western Ghats.

Features:

• It has a stocky body with short, coarse furand a bristly mane.
• Both sexes have curved horns, which are larger in the males, reaching up to 40 cm in males and 30 cm in females.
• Adult males develop a light grey area or ’saddle’ on their backsand are hence called ‘saddlebacks’.
• It has a short grey-brown or dark coat.
• Conservation Status:
• IUCN Red List: Endangered
• Wildlife (Protection) Act of India, 1972: Schedule I

Why Bharat Matters’ Book: By Dr. S. Jaishankar

• Addresing  geopolitical challenges: It offers a dialectic between present-day geopolitical challenges and the ancient wisdom contained in the eternal Hindu epic, the Ramayana.
• Rediscovering  cultural roots: It argues that India is regaining its rightful place in the comity of nations because it has rediscovered its cultural roots and has become an authentic self-defined force.

• Centrality of culture: It advocates the centrality of culture and core values in piloting a nation’s ascent in the international arena. 
• Setting own narrative: The antidote to the campaign to malign India’s image, the writer is of view to effectively communicate “our own narrative” and to invest in strategic communication at the international level.
• Analogy of India as the monkey god Hanuman: Analogy of India as the monkey god Hanuman who undergoes a transformation over the course of the Ramayana through greater “self-awareness” and “self-discovery”.

Views

• China: The writer has candidly taken on two principal opponents of India in this book— an expansionist, aggressive China
• He disapproves of  illusions of strategic partnerships with China and traces these arguments to idealism of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
• West: India may be non-West but must realize that there is little profit in being anti-West”.

The book “Why Bharat Matters” advocates that India must be accepted for what it is and what it represents, not forced to fit into straitjackets that benefit the agendas of others.

India ranks at 93 on the Corruption Index, China fares better with a rank of 76, and Denmark continues to top the index.

• Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is an annual index released by Transparency International, a global civil society organisation.
• Since its inception in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption.
• The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
• It uses data from 13 external sources, including the World Bank, World Economic Forum, private risk and consulting companies, think tanks and others.
• The scores reflect the views of experts and business people, not the public.

Highlights of CPI 2023:

• CPI-2023 results show that most countries have made little to no progress in tackling public sector corruption.
• CPI global average score remains unchanged at 43 for the twelfth year in a row.
• Denmark topped the index for the sixth consecutive year.
• Somalia was ranked last, other countries occupying the bottom spots included: Venezuela, Syria, South Sudan and Yemen.
• India has tied with Maldives, Kazakhstan, and Lesotho to rank at 93 out of 180 countries. In 2022, India was ranked at 85.
• Pakistan scored 29 with a rank of 133 and China, scored 42 occupying rank 76.

India says its elusive snow leopard population is at 718

• The first scientific survey of the snow leopard in India shows the country is home to 718 of the elusive cats.
• Snow Leopard is a large, long-haired Asian cat, classified as either Panthera uncia or Uncia uncia in the family Felidae.

Geographic Range:

• Snow leopards live across a vast area in northern and central Asia''s high mountains, including the Himalayan region.
• In the Himalayas, they live in high alpine areas, mostly above the tree line and up to 18,000 feet in elevation.
• They are found in 12 countries, including China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Russia, and Mongolia.
• In India, it is seen in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Features:

• Measuring from nose to tail, the length of an average adult is 1000 to 1300 mm.
• They have thick grey and yellow-tinged fur, with solid spots on their head, neck, and lower limbs and rosettes over the rest of the body.
• They also have very long, thick tails that they use for balancing on rocks and wrapping around their bodies for protection from the cold.
• They are solitary, and the only prolonged social contact occurs while females are raising their cubs.

Conservation status:

• IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
• CITES: Appendix I
• Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972: Schedule I

Can Alzheimer’s disease spread from human to human?

• As per a study, rare medical accidents can lead to the transmission of Alzheimer''s from one human to another.
• Alzheimer''s Disease is a brain condition that causes a progressive decline in memory, thinking, learning, and organising skills.
• It is the most common type of dementia, accounting for 60-80% of all dementia cases.
• It involves parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language.
• It can seriously affect a person’s ability to carry out daily activities.
• The condition usually affects people aged 65 years and over, with only 10% of cases occurring in people younger than this.
• Cause: The exact cause of Alzheimer''s disease is not fully understood, but it is believed to be influenced by a combination of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.

Symptoms:

• The early signs of the disease include forgetting recent events or conversations.
• Over time, it progresses to serious memory problems and loss of the ability to perform everyday tasks.
• Treatment: There’s no cure for Alzheimer’s, but certain medications and therapies can help manage symptoms

What is Dementia?

• Dementia is not a specific disease but is rather a general term for the impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions that interfere with everyday activities.
• Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. However, there are several other types of dementia, each with its own underlying causes. Some of the common types of dementia include Vascular Dementia, Lewy Body Dementia, Frontotemporal Dementia, and Mixed Dementia.
• Though dementia mostly affects older adults, it is not a part of normal ageing.