What’s the news ? According to the discoveries made by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) and Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) in the past five years, India added at least 800 new species of plants and animals, including those …
What are Eco-Sensitive Zones ? As a general principle, land falling within 10 kms of the boundaries of the National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries are categorised as Eco-Fragile Zones or Eco-sensitive Zones. They are declared under the Environment Protection Act, …
About Global Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CATS) status Launched in 2013, CATS is a conservation tool that sets minimum standards to manage target species, and encourages assessments to benchmark progress. Tigers are the first species selected for the initiative. CATS …
About Elephants There are two species of elephants, African and Asian, and while they are similar in physiology, they are too biologically different to interbreed. According to IUCN, the Asian elephant is classified as endangered with less than 40,000 remaining …
What is Earth Overshoot Day Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. We maintain this deficit by rapidly using the stocks …
NEWS While we are still in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is airborne, we have forgotten that another such blight could well come from contaminated water. CONTEXT NITI Ayog and WaterAid (an international non-governmental organisation), amongst others, have …
NEWS Recently, China has announced that it is planning to build a major hydropower project as a part of its 14th FiveYear Plan (202125), on the Yarlung Zangbo River (upper stream of the Brahmaputra River), in Mêdog County in Tibet. …
Why in the News? The Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech announced Project Dolphin. Project Dolphin will be a 10-year project in the similar lines of Project Tiger and Project elephant. The idea is to increase the population of …
Recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the centre will launch Project Lion and Project Dolphin using modern technology to replicate the success of Project Tiger. Lion and Dolphin are very important species of the ecosystem and it maintains a …
Hornbills Hornbills are a family of tropical and sub-tropical birds which are found extensively in Africa, Asia and Melanesia. Famously dubbed the ‘Farmers of the Forest’, these frugivores help in seed dispersal of several endemic trees and are important for …