1. Markhor
The Markhor, a wild goat with spiral-shaped horns, was seen in a rare appearance in Noorkha village of Boniyar in Baramulla district of North Kashmir recently.
About Markhor:
- It is a large wild goatof the family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla).
- It is known for its thick fur, flowing beard, and corkscrew horns.
- It is a diurnal animal and is mainly active in the early morning and late afternoon.
- Distribution:
- It is found in the moist to semi-arid mountain tracts of Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.
- In J&K, Markhor’s population is found in Shopian, the Banihal pass and the Shamsbari area of the Kazinag Uri and Pir Panjal range in Poonch.
- The markhor is the national animal of Pakistan, where it is also known as the screw-horn or screw-horned goat.
- Conservation status:
- IUCN: ‘Near Threatened’
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
- CITES: Appendix I
2. Khorlochhu Hydropower Project
Tata Power has commenced construction on the Rs 6,900 crore Khorlochhu Hydropower Project in Bhutan, with commissioning expected by 2029.
About Khorlochhu Hydropower Project:
- Situated on the Kholongchhu River in Eastern Bhutan’s Trashiyangtse district, the project seeks to meet Bhutan’s rising electricity demands and aid India’s renewable energy transition.
- It is the first-ever energy project to be developed through a joint venture (JV) partnership between India and Bhutan.
- It will be constructed by Khorlochhu Hydro Power Limited (KHPL), a strategic partnership between Bhutan’s Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) and India’s Tata Power.
- The 600 MW project is expected to be commissioned in September 2029.
- The project will feature a 95m-high concrete gravity dam measuring 165m in length and 6m in width. The dam will create a 1.4 km long reservoir with 2.9 million cubic metres (MCM) of gross storage capacity.
- The electricity generated from the Kholongchhu hydroelectric project will be transmitted to the NEWNE grids of Bhutan and India via 400 kV transmission lines.
- The project is estimated to cost £488.14 m (INR 46.32bn), which is being financed under a debt-equity ratio of 70:30. The Government of India is providing DGPC’s share of equity.
3. Who are Nicobarese?
New genetic research on Nicobarese revealed a significant ancestral connection with Austro-Asiatic populations across South and Southeast Asia.
About Nicobarese:
- "Nicobarese" is a general term used by outsiders to refer to an indigenous community that inhabits much of the Nicobar Islands.
- The Nicobar Islands are part of the larger Andaman and Nicobar archipelago located some 1,200 km off the east coast of India in the Bay of Bengal.
- The Nicobar Island constitute a land mass of 1,841 sq. km, which is about a fourth of the total area of the entire Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. Of the twenty-four islands in the Nicobars, twelve are inhabited.
- The Nicobarese belong to the Southeast Asian cultural complex and speak an Austro-Asiatic language.
- However, they are far from being a homogenous group. The internal diversity among them takes the form of four distinct cultural groups. These are the islands of:
- Car Nicobar;
- Chowra (Chaura), Bompoka (Bompooka) and Teressa;
- Katchal (Katchall), Nancowry, Kamorta (Camorta) and Trinket;
- Little Nicobar, Kondul, Pulo Milo (Pilomillow), and Great Nicobar.
- According to the 2011 census, the indigenous Nicobarese number is 23,681. The population is unevenly distributed, with nearly half living in Car Nicobar.
- Largely self-sufficient, the Nicobarese practice a mix of hunting and gathering, fishing and raising pigs.
4. Indira Gandhi Peace Prize
The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament, and Development for 2024 will be conferred on former Chilean president and prominent human rights voice Michelle Bachelet, a statement issued by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust said recently.
About Indira Gandhi Peace Prize:
- The Indira Gandhi Peace Prize, also known as the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament, and Development, was instituted in the memory of the former prime minister by a trust in her name in 1986.
- It consists of a monetary award of 25 lakh rupees along with a citation.
- The award is given to individuals or organisations who work towards ensuring international peace and development, ensuring that scientific discoveries are used to further the scope of freedom and better humanity, and creating a new international economic order.
- Past recipients of this award include:
- Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union (1987);
- UNICEF (1989)
- Jimmy Carter, former president of the US (1997)
- UN and its secretary-general Kofi Annan (2003)
- Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany (2013)
- Indian Space Research Organisation (2014)
- Former Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh (2017)
- Sir David Attenborough (2019)
- Pratham NGO (2021)
- Indian Medical Association and the Trained Nurses Association of India (2022)
- Daniel Barenboim and Ali Abu Awwad (2023)
5. Key Facts about Jhelum River
A five-year-old girl died of multiple injuries three days after she was allegedly thrown off a bridge over the Jhelum River in Srinagar by her 'mentally ill' aunt.
About Jhelum River:
- It is a river of northwestern Indiaand northern and eastern Pakistan.
- It is a tributary of the Indus
- The Jhelum (Vyeth in Kashmiri, Vetesta in Sanskrit, and Hydaspes in Greek) is the main waterway of the Kashmir valley.
- It is the largest and most western of the five rivers of Punjaband passes through the Jhelum District in the North of Punjab province, Pakistan.
- Course:
- Origin: It originates at the Verinag Spring at Anantnag, at the foot of the Pir Panjal range in the Kashmir Valley.
- The river meanders northwestward from the northern slope of the Pir Panjal Range through the Vale of Kashmir to Wular Lake at Srinagar, which controls its flow.
- The river makes a deep, narrow gorge on its way to Pakistan.
- It joins the Chenab River near Trimmu, Pakistan.
- Length: It has a total length of about 725 km (450 mi).
- Major Tributaries:
- The largest tributary of the Jhelum is the Kishenganga (Neelum) River, which joins near Muzaffarabad and enters the Punjab province, Pakistan.
- The Kunhar River is the second largest tributary of the river, which connects Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan on the Kohala Bridge of the Kanghan valley.
- Other tributaries include the Sandran River, Bringi River, Arapath River, Watlara River, Lidder River, and Veshaw River.
6. What are Sacred Groves?
Sacred groves can harbour and support biodiversity and also act as carbon sinks; but most of them are under threat today.
About Sacred Groves:
- Sacred Groves are patches of natural or near-natural vegetation, dedicated by local communities to their ancestral spirits or deities.
- These groves are protected by local communities, usually through customary taboos and sanctions with ancestral and ecological implications.
- India has well over 13,000 documented sacred groves. The states particularly rich in abundance of groves are Kerala, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu.
- These are known as Kavu/Sarpa Kavu in Kerala,Devarakadu/
Devkad in Karnataka, Deorai/Devrai in Maharashtra, Jahera/Thakuramma in Odisha, e - The degree of sanctity of the sacred forests varies from one grove to another. For example, the Garo and the Khasi tribes of northeastern India completely prohibit any human interference in the sacred groves.
- The sacred groves are important repositories of floral and faunal diversity that have been conserved by local communities in a sustainable manner.
- They are often the last refuge of endemic species in the geographical region.
Source : Preserving India’s sacred groves can help country achieve its conservation & climate goals: Experts
7. What is the Kawasaki Disease?
Comedian Munawar Faruqui recently opened up about a tough time in his life when his young son was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease.
About Kawasaki Disease:
- It is also known as Kawasaki syndrome or mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome.
- It is a rare disease that causes fever and inflammation of the blood vessels, mainly in children under 5 years of age.
- The disease was first described in Japan by Tomisaku Kawasaki in 1967, and the first cases outside of Japan were reported in Hawaii in 1976.
- The cause of Kawasaki disease is unknown, although more cases happen in late winter and early spring.
- It is one of the most common forms of acquired heart disease in children.
- The condition causes the immune system to attack blood vessels, which become inflamed and swollen.
- It tends to affect the coronary arteries, which carry blood to the heart muscle. It can also cause problems with lymph nodes, skin, and the lining of a child's mouth, nose, and throat.
- Symptoms: Symptoms of Kawasaki disease can appear in two phases and may last several weeks. Common symptoms include:
- A high fever lasting more than five days.
- Red eyes without discharge.
- A rash on the body, often in the chest and groin area.
- Swollen hands and feet, sometimes with redness.
- Red, cracked lips and a swollen, red tongue.
- Swollen lymph nodes, especially on one side of the neck.
- Treatment:
- Kawasaki disease is usually treated in the hospital with an intravenous (IV) dose of immunoglobulin (IVIG) antibodies.
- The goals of treatment are to lower fever, reduce swelling, and prevent heart damage.
8. Anamalai Tiger Reserve
Coimbatore District Collector recently accorded community forest rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, to three tribal settlements in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR).
About Anamalai Tiger Reserve:
- It is a protected area located at an altitude of 1400 m in the Anamalai Hillsof Pollachi and Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu.
- It lies south of the Palakkad gap in the Southern Western Ghats.
- It is surrounded by the Parambikulum Tiger Reserve on the east, Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary,and Eravikulum National Park on the southwestern side.
- The reserve is also surrounded by the Nenmara, Vazhachal, Malayattur, and Marayur reserved forests of Kerala.
- It was declared a tiger reserve in the year 2007.
- Habitat:
- It supports diverse habitat types, viz. Wet evergreen forests, semi-evergreen forests, moist deciduous, dry deciduous, dry thorn, and shola forest
- Other unique habitats like montane grasslands, savannah and marshy grasslands are also present.
- Flora:
- Around 2500 species of angiosperms are found in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, with several species of Balsam, Crotalaria, Orchids, and Kurinchi.
- The reserve is rich in wild relatives of cultivated species like mango, jackfruit, wild plantain, ginger (Zingiber officinale), turmeric, pepper (Piper longum), cardamom, etc.
- Fauna: The important wild animals of the reserve include: Tiger, Asiatic elephant, Sambar, Spotted deer, Barking deer, Jackal, Leopard, Jungle cat, etc.
9. Laysan albatross
The world’s oldest known wild bird, a Laysan albatross named Wisdom, at 74 years old, has laid what experts estimate to be her 60th egg.
About Laysan albatross:
- The Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific.
- The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to 99.7% of the population.
- It spends most of its time on the open sea, spanning these tropical waters.
- It nests on open, sandy, or grassy expanses of islands, with 94% of breeding pairs on Laysan Island and Midway Atoll, as well as on other small Hawaiian Islands, the bigger islands of Oahu and Kauai, and a few sites off Japan and Mexico.
- It is an expert soarer and can travel hundreds of miles in a day with scarcely a wingbeat.
- Laysan albatrosses have blackish-brown backs and upper wings. The primary feathers have a flash of white.
- The underwing is also white, with black margins. There is a dark tail band that is visible during flight.
- Laysan albatrosses are a monogamous species, and they mate for life.
- IUCN Red List: Near Threatened