Facts in News

Facts in News

Pangolins

• A pangolin was rescued by police after being spotted in the Behlopur area of Noida and handed over to the forest department.

Key Points

• Features
  • Solitary, primarily nocturnal animals are easily recognized by their full armour of scales.
  • Only mammals wholly covered in scales are used to protect themselves from predators in the wild.
  • Diet: Ants, termites and larvae.
• Habitat
  • Eight species of pangolins are found on two continents namely Asia and Africa.
  • Only Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) and Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) are found in India.
  • The Indian pangolin occurs throughout the country south of the Himalayas, except in the northeast, where predominantly the Chinese pangolin is found.
• Threats
  • Habitat loss.
  • Illegal wildlife crimes like hunting and poaching for their meat and scales.
• Protection Status
  • All species range from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered in IUCN Red List.
  • WWF and TRAFFIC work together to protect them.
  • Indian Pangolin
    • Schedule I under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
    • Appendix I of the International Convention of Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
    • Endangered in IUCN Red List.
  • Chinese Pangolin
    • Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. 
    • Critically Endangered in IUCN Red List.

(Image Courtesy: IE)

Clinical trials of Ashwagandha

• The Ministry of Ayush has collaborated with the U.K.’s London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to conduct a study on ‘Ashwagandha’ for promoting recovery from COVID-19.

About

• After the trial’s success, Ashwagandha will be a proven medicinal treatment to prevent infection and be recognized by the scientific community worldwide.
• Successful completion of the clinical trials can provide a major breakthrough and provide scientific validity to the traditional medicinal system of India.

Key Points

• Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is commonly known as Indian winter cherry.
• Ashwagandha is widely grown in dry parts of subtropical regions. Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are major ashwagandha growing states in India.
• Being a hardy and drought-tolerant crop, ashwagandha requires a relatively dry season throughout its growing period. Areas with 60-75 cm rainfall are suitable for its cultivation.
• Temperature between 20°C to 35°C is most suitable.
• Black or heavy soils having good drainage are also suitable for ashwagandha cultivation.
• It is a traditional herb that boosts energy, reduces stress and makes the immune system stronger.
• It is an easily accessible, over-the-counter nutritional supplement in the UK and has a proven safety profile.
• Ashwagandha has shown clinical success in treating both acute and chronic rheumatoid arthritis.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that can cause joint pain and damage throughout your body.

Potential in Treating Covid-19 and other ailments

• The study suggests Ashwagandha as a potential therapeutic candidate for alleviating the long-term symptoms of COVID-19.
• Recently, randomized placebo-controlled trials of Ashwagandha were conducted in humans in India.  
  • A study demonstrated its efficacy in reducing anxiety & stress, improving muscle strength and reducing symptoms of fatigue in patients treated for chronic conditions. 

North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC)

• North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) has been roped in to do satellite mapping of border areas to help “scientifically” demarcate inter-state boundaries.

Key Points

• North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) was established as a joint initiative of the Department of Space (DOS) and the North Eastern Council (NEC).
• Established in 2005 and HO in Shillong.
• It helps in augmenting the developmental process in the region by providing advanced space technology support.

North Eastern Council (NEC)

• It is the statutory body established after amending the North-Eastern Council Act, 1971 in the year 2002. 
• It is the nodal agency for economic and social development of 8 North Eastern Region States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura including the four states having Schedule six areas.
• The Home Minister is the ex-officio chairperson of the Council. The DoNER Minister is the Vice-Chairman.  The council has Governors and Chief Ministers of all eight northeastern states as its members.

Muslim Women Rights Day

• In India, “Muslim Women’s Rights Day” is celebrated across the nation on August 01 to celebrate the enactment of the law against Triple Talaq. 

About

• The year 2021 marks the second anniversary of that historical bill which is officially known as the Muslim Women Act (Protection of Rights on Marriage) passed in the Rajya Sabha.
• The cases of women such as Shah Bano Begum & Ors vs Mohd. Ahmad Khan, Shayara Bano vs Union Of India and Ors. laid the foundation stones for this move.
• The law made the ‘triple talaq’ a criminal offence.
• The law is meant to promote women’s self-reliance, self-respect, and boost self-esteem as it strengthens the fundamental and democratic rights of Muslim women.

Muslim Women Act (Protection of Rights on Marriage)

• The Act makes all declarations of talaq, including in written or electronic form, to be void (i.e. not enforceable in law) and illegal.
• The declaration of talaq would be treated as a cognizable offence leading to 3 years imprisonment along with a fine.
• The Magistrate may grant bail to the accused. The bail may be granted only after hearing the woman (against whom talaq has been pronounced).

Triple Talaq

• Under the practice, a Muslim man can divorce his wife by simply uttering “talaq” three times but women cannot pronounce triple talaq and are required to move a court for getting a divorce under the Sharia Act, 1937.

Triple Talaq across the World

• Muslim-majority nations of the world had declared Triple Talaq as illegal and un-Islamic much earlier. 
• Egypt was the first Muslim nation which abolished this social evil in 1929. Sudan in 1929, Pakistan in 1956, Bangladesh in 1972, Iraq in 1959, Syria in 1953, Malaysia in 1969 had abolished the practice of Triple Talaq. 
• Besides, countries such as Cyprus, Jordan, Algeria, Iran, Brunei, Morocco, Qatar, UAE also ended this social evil many years ago.

Vanishing Permafrost

• About 13% of permafrost, an area on Daisetsu Mountains in Japan, estimated to be approximately 150 sq. km. in 2010 is likely to disappear by 2100 under business as usual scenario.

Permafrost

About:

• It is any type of ground—from soil to sediment to rock—that has been frozen continuously for a minimum of two years and as many as hundreds of thousands of years.
• It is mainly found near the polar zones and regions with high mountains covering parts of Greenland, Alaska, Russia, Northern Canada, Siberia and Scandinavia. These are found in mountains as well as high latitude tundra and taiga regions.
• Its thickness reduces progressively towards the south and is affected by a number of other factors, including the Earth’s interior heat, snow and vegetation cover, presence of water bodies, and topography.

Impact of Climate Change on Permafrost

• In 2016, Arctic permafrost temperatures were 3.5 degrees Celsius higher than at the beginning of the 20th century.
• A study has shown that every 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature can degrade up to 39 lakh square kilometres due to thawing. 
• This degradation is expected to further aggravate as the climate gets warmer, putting at risk 40 per cent of the world’s permafrost towards the end of the century– causing disastrous effects.

NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive or SMAP Mission

• Mission orbits Earth collecting information about moisture in the soil. It measures the amount of water in the top 2 inches (5 centimetres) of soil everywhere on Earth’s surface.