The environment is not static. Both biotic and abiotic factors are in a flux and keep changing continuously.

Source: Shankar 

Consumers – Heterotrophs or phagotrophs (other nourishing): Consumers are incapable of producing their own food (photosynthesis). They depend on organic food derived from plants, animals or both.

Source: NCERT

Ecosystems are capable of maintaining their state of equilibrium. They can regulate their own species structure and functional processes. This capacity of ecosystem of self-regulation is known as homeostasis.

Source: NCERT

Ecotone is a zone of junction between two or more diverse ecosystems. For e.g. the mangrove forests represent an ecotone between marine and terrestrial ecosystem. Other examples are – grassland, estuary and river bank.

Source: Shankar

Carnivorous plants are usually categorized based on the way they catch the insects. There are wide varieties of common predator plants — pitcher plants, sundews, sarracenia, Venus fly trap and butterworts.

Source: The Hindu

The All-India Tiger Estimation done every four years once, it is

Steered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority

Technically supported by Wildlife Institute of India

Implemented by State Forest Departments and partners.

Source: The Hindu

The Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) are implemented by the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to bridge the financing and learning gap between international climate change agreements.

• They were designed by developed and developing countries. The World Bank is the Trustee of the CIFs.
• It includes a “sunset clause” to ensure that the Fund’s activities do not prejudice the outcome on the UNFCCC negotiations.

CIFs are two distinct funds

• Clean Technology Fund
• Strategic Climate Fund.

The CTF promotes scaled-up financing for demonstration, deployment and transfer of low carbon technologies with a significant potential for long-term greenhouse gas emissions savings.

Source: World Bank

Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) are being introduced with the roll-out of BS VI norms, which were not a part of BS IV.

• Real Driving Emission (RDE) will be introduced in India for the first time with the implementation of Bharat Stage VI emission norms.
• It will measure a vehicle’s emission in real-time conditions against laboratory conditions.
• Onboard Diagnostics (OD) has been made mandatory for all vehicles which will give the vehicle owner or repair technician access to the status of the various vehicle sub-systems.

Source: MOEFCC

Petcoke is a by-product (carbonaceous solid) of the oil refinery process mainly “the bottom of the barrel.”

It is characterized as a high-grade fuel with high calorific value of more than 8,000 Kcal per kg, having low ash content and low volatile matter but high Sulphur content, up to 7%.

Source: Indian Express

The permissible limit according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is 30 microgram per litre.

• However, unlike the limits for arsenic and other toxic or heavy metals specified in the under Bureau of Indian Standards’ Drinking Water Specifications, there is no limit maintained for uranium.

• Earlier, a report brought by Central Ground Water Board noted widespread uranium contamination in groundwater from aquifers across 16 states in India including Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, etc.

Uranium can cause serious ailments such as:

• If uranium-laced water, more than permissible level, is consumed for long, it can cause thyroid cancer, blood cancer, depression and other serious ailments.
• Some studies have also linked the excessive ingestion of uranium to chronic kidneys disease.

Source: Down to Earth

Option 1 is correctly matched. The Pantanal is the world’s largest tropical wetland located in southwestern Brazil and some part in neighboring Paraguay and Bolivia.
Option 2 is correctly matched. Los Llanos is vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an eco-region of the flooded grasslands and savannas biome.
Option 3 is incorrectly matched. The Sudd wetland in South Sudan, formed by the White Nile’s Baḥr al-Jabal section, represents one of the largest freshwater ecosystems in the world.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a major UN-sponsored effort to analyze the impact of human actions on ecosystems and human well-being, defined Ecosystem Services as “the benefits people derive from ecosystems” and identified four major categories of ecosystem services: provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services.

Provisioning services are: The products obtained from ecosystems, including, for example, genetic resources, food and fiber, and fresh water.

Regulating services are: The benefits obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes, including, for example, the regulation of climate, water, and some human diseases.

Cultural services are: The non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experience, including, e.g., knowledge systems, social relations, and aesthetic values.

Supporting services are: Ecosystem services that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services. Some examples include biomass production, production of atmospheric oxygen, soil formation and retention, nutrient cycling, water cycling, and provisioning of habitat.
# Ecosystem services provided by New Delhi’s National Zoological Park are estimated to have generated Rs 422.76 crore in 2019-20 as per the study by the Energy and Resources Institute commissioned by Central Zoo Authority.

The Living Planet Report, WWF’s flagship publication released every two
years, is a comprehensive study of trends in global biodiversity and the health of the planet.
Through multiple indicators including the Living Planet Index (LPI), provided by the
Zoological Society of London (ZSL), it shows an average 68% fall in almost 21,000 wildlife
populations between 1970 and 2016.
The 2020 report finds that the highest biodiversity loss due to land use change globally has
been found in Europe and Central Asia at 57.9 per cent, then in North America at 52.5 per
cent, Latin America and Caribbean at 51.2 per cent, Africa at 45.9 per cent and then Asia
at 43 per cent.
India has lost nearly one-third of its natural wetlands to urbanization, agricultural
expansion and pollution over the last four decades and WWF India’s report on Water
Stewardship for Industries revealed that 14 out of 20 river basins in India are already water
stressed and will be moving to extreme water scarcity by 2050.

The 2020 Ecological Threat Register (ETR) is the inaugural edition which
covers 157 independent states and territories. It has been released by the Institute for
Economics and Peace (IEP).
The ETR measures ecological threats that countries are currently facing and provides
projections to 2050. The Ecological Threat Register analyses risk from population growth,
water stress, food insecurity, droughts, floods, cyclones, rising temperatures and sea levels.
Report highlights:
-Over the next 30 years, 141 countries are exposed to at least one ecological threat by 2050.
-Country with the largest number of people at risk of mass displacements in Pakistan,
followed by Ethiopia and Iran. In these countries, even small ecological threats and
natural disasters could result in mass population displacement, affecting regional and
global security.
-Today, 2.6 billion people experience high or extreme water stress – by 2040, this will
increase to 5.4 billion people.
-So far, India received the largest amount of climate-related aid in 2018, amounting to the
US $6.5 billion dollars.

Statement 1 is correct. The iconic Blue Flag is one of the world’s most
recognized voluntary eco-labels awarded to beaches, marinas, and sustainable boating
tourism operators.
In order to qualify for this prestigious award, a series of stringent environmental,
educational, safety-related and access-related criteria must be met and maintained.
It has 33 stringent criteria in four major heads–environmental education and
information, bathing water quality, environment management and conservation and safety
and services in the beaches.
Statement 2 is incorrect. Blue Flag programme is operated under the auspices of the
Foundation for Environmental Education and is headquartered in Copenhagen,
Denmark.
# Eight beaches of the country have been awarded the coveted ‘Blue Flag’
international eco-label: Shivrajpur in Gujarat, Ghoghla in Daman and Diu, Kasarkod and
Padubidri in Karnataka, Kappad in Kerala, Rushikonda in Andhra Pradesh, Golden in Odisha
and Radhanagar in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Savanna Climate.
Statement 1 is correct: Savanna Climate is a type of climate has alternate wet and dry
seasons similar to monsoon climate but has considerably less annual rainfall. Also, there
is no distinct rainy season like in monsoon climate.
Statement 2 is correct: It is confined within the tropics and is best developed in Sudan,
hence its name the Sudan Climate.

Under the Ramsar Criteria, wetlands should be selected for the Ramsar List
on account of their international significance in terms of the biodiversity and uniqueness
of their ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology. In addition, the Criteria
indicate that in the first instance, wetlands of international importance to water-birds at
any season should be included on the Ramsar List.

Mangrove swamps are coastal wetlands found in tropical and subtropical
regions. They are characterized by halophytic (salt loving) trees, shrubs and other plants
growing in brackish to saline tidal waters. These wetlands are often found in estuaries,
where fresh water meets salt water and are infamous for their impenetrable maze of woody
vegetation.
Important characteristics of Mangroves:
•They are basically evergreen land plants growing on sheltered shores, typically on
tidal flats, deltas, estuaries, bays, creeks and the barrier islands.
•They exhibits viviparity mode of reproduction, it means seeds germinate in the
tree itself.
•They require high solar radiation and have the ability to absorb fresh water from
saline/brackish water.

Cold water coral reefs.
Statement 1 is incorrect: Unlike tropical corals, cold-water corals don’t have symbiotic
algae living in their polyps so they don’t need sunlight to survive. They feed solely by
capturing food particles from the surrounding water. Their polyps tend to be much bigger
than tropical corals.
Statement 2 is correct: Cold-water coral reefs are commonly found where current flow is
accelerated. They are found on the continental shelf, and also in deep-sea areas with
topographic highs, such as seamounts, mounds, ridges, and pinnacles.

Sunderban Wetland.
•On January 30, 2019 the Indian Sundarban was accorded the status of ‘Wetland of
International Importance’ under the Ramsar Convention.
•The Sundarbans comprises hundreds of islands and a network of rivers, tributaries
and creeks in the delta of the Ganga and the Brahmaputra at the mouth of the Bay
of Bengal in India and Bangladesh.
•Located on the southwestern part of the delta, the Indian Sundarban constitutes
over 60% of the country’s total mangrove forest area.
•It is the 27th Ramsar Site in India, and with an area of 4,23,000 hectares is
now the largest protected wetland in the country.
•The Indian Sundarban, also a UNESCO world heritage site, and it is home to
the Royal Bengal Tiger.

MARKAL computes energy balances at all levels of an energy system:
primary resources, secondary fuels, final energy, and energy services.
•The model aims to supply energy services at minimum global cost by
simultaneously making equipment investment and operating decisions and primary
energy supply decisions, by region.
•For example, in MARKAL, if there is an increase in residential lighting energy service
(perhaps due to a decline in the cost of residential lighting), either existing
generation equipment must be used more intensively or new equipment must be
installed.
•The choice of generation equipment (type and fuel) incorporates analysis of both the
characteristics of alternative generation technologies and the economics of primary
energy supply.
•MARKAL is thus a vertically integrated model of the entire energy system.

The top five Species richness states are Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir and Kerala.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands has highest per capita dependence on forests for
Bamboo.

The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri
Prakash Javadekar today released the biennial “India State of Forest Report (ISFR)”, in New
Delhi.
•The report is published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) which has been
mandated to assess the forest and tree resources of the country including wall-towall
forest cover mapping in a biennial cycle.
•Starting 1987, ISFR 2019 is the 16th report in the series.
•Area-wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed
by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
•In terms of forest cover as percentage of total geographical area, the top five
States are Mizoram (85.41%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.63%), Meghalaya
(76.33%), Manipur (75.46%) and Nagaland (75.31%).

The mid-latitude desert is considered an arid climate in which the total annual precipitation is less than half the annual potential evapotranspiration.
• Precipitation is sparse as the interior location is distant from a source of moisture. Or, the lack of rainfall is due to its leeward, rain shadow location.
• Despite the inhospitality, the desert has always been populated by different group of inhabitations such as Bedouins of Arab, Bushmen of Kalahari, Bindibu of Australia etc.

The climate is known for warm to hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters. Winter temperatures are usually between 30 and 65 degrees. Summer months all average above 50 degrees. The warmest month averages about 72 degrees.
• The cause of this climate is directly related to large bodies of water such as the Mediterranean Sea and ocean currents.
• During the summer, cold currents keep the climate mild and dry. Ocean currents shift as the seasons change.
• During the winter the water that was warmed up all summer moves in and keeps the land warm and often brings rain.
• Plants in Mediterranean climate must be able to survive long dry summers. Evergreens such as Pine and Cypress trees are mixed with deciduous trees such as some Oaks.
• Fruit trees and vines such as grapes, figs, olives, and citrus fruits grow well here. Other plants include what are called “scrub”, which include small shrubs, grasses, and herbs.

For over 30 years, the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge has welcomed the greatest minds from around the world to Australia to push the limits of technological innovation and travel the outback in a vehicle powered only by the energy of the sun.

• Traversing 3,000km from Darwin to Adelaide, teams comprise of tertiary and secondary students from over 30 countries.

 These students and their support team have achieved greatness by engineering and building a vehicle with their own hands and powering it across some of the world’s most challenging landscape.

 In 2017, the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge celebrated its 30th Anniversary. The 2021 competition marks the 16th journey from the Top End to Adelaide.

 Based on the original notion that a 1000W car would complete the journey in 50 hours, solar cars are allowed a nominal 5kW hours of stored energy, which is 10% of that theoretical figure.

 All other energy must come from the sun or be recovered from the kinetic energy of the vehicle. These are arguably the most efficient electric vehicles.

Saprotrophs feed by a process known as absorptive nutrition, in which the nutritional substrate (e.g., dead organism or other nonliving organic matter) is directly digested by a variety of enzymes that are excreted by the saprotroph.

The enzymes convert the detritus into simpler molecules, which are then absorbed by the cells to feed the organism.

Tropical thorn forests occur in the areas which receive rainfall less than 50 cm.

 These consist of a variety of grasses and shrubs. It includes semi-arid areas of south west Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

 In these forests, plants remain leafless for most part of the year and give an expression of scrub vegetation.

 Important species found are babool, ber, and wild date palm, khair, neem, khejri, palas, etc. Tussocky grass grows upto a height of 2 m as the under growth.

Long-term exposure to outdoor and household air pollution contributed to over 1.67 million annual deaths from stroke, heart attack, diabetes, lung cancer, chronic lung diseases and neonatal diseases in India in 2019, according to the State of Global Air 2020 by the U.S.-based Health Effects Institute.

Overall, air pollution was now the largest risk factor for death among all health risks, the report noted.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/air-pollution-now-biggest-health-risk-in-india-says-report/article32912916.ece

New Delhi was the world’s most polluted capital for the third straight year in 2020, according to IQAir, a Swiss group that measures air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging airborne particles known as PM2.5.

• India was home to 35 of the world’s 50 most polluted cities, according to IQAir’s 2020 World Air Quality Report, which gathered data for 106 countries.
• The findings were based on the country’s annual average of particulate matter PM2.5, airborne particles with less than 2.5 microns in diameter.
• Prolonged exposure to PM2.5 can lead to deadly diseases, including cancer and cardiac problems.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/new-delhi-is-worlds-most-polluted-capital-for-third-straight-year-iqair-study-7230892/

PM2.5 and PM10 are mixture of solid and liquid particles generally having diameters of or less than 2.5 and 10 micrometers— smaller than the diameter of a single strand of average human hair, which is about 70 micrometers.

• The 24-hour exposure limit of PM2.5 in India is 60 micrograms per cubic meter air (ug/m3), while that of PM10 is 100 ug/m3.

• At the three highly polluted areas in Delhi between 12PM Thursday and Friday, the levels of PM2.5 and PM10 had reached 500 ug/m3 or close to it.
• These particulates are emitted from various sources and can be inhaled, causing serious health problems.
• Their physical and chemical characteristics vary by location, and common chemical composition includes nitrates, sulfates, ammonium, and also metals and biological components.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-as-pollution-peaks-in-delhi-a-look-at-pollutants-you-should-be-worried-of-6853273/

Combustion of diesel and petrol in engines, combustion of solid fuel for energy production, construction and industrial activities, and erosion of pavement by road traffic are some of the primary sources of PM, but they are also formed in the atmosphere through chemical reaction of gaseous pollutants.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-as-pollution-peaks-in-delhi-a-look-at-pollutants-you-should-be-worried-of-6853273/

Ammonia (NH3) is another gaseous pollutant that is monitored, whose 24-hour exposure limit is 400 ug/m3.

• The average 24-hour range of NH3 as of 1pm on Friday at the three highly polluted areas in Delhi was between 9 and 28 ug/m3, as per CPCB data.
• The EPA states that ammonia occurs naturally in air, soil and water, and is used as an agricultural fertilizer and in cleaning products.
• Short-term inhalation of high levels of ammonia can cause irritation and serious burns in the mouth, lungs and eyes.
• Chronic exposure to airborne ammonia can increase the risk of respiratory problems, including impaired lung function.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-as-pollution-peaks-in-delhi-a-look-at-pollutants-you-should-be-worried-of-6853273/

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter emitted from combustion of fossil fuels have, historically, been the main components of air pollution in many parts of the world.

• A Greenpeace report from 2019 had found that India was the largest emitter of SO2 in the world due to burning of coal.
• The EPA states that largest source of SO2 in atmosphere is burning of fossil fuels by power plants and other industrial facilities.
• Short-term exposure to SO2 can harm respiratory system, making breathing more difficult.
• SO2 emissions in the air can also lead to formation of other sulphur oxides (SOx), which can react with other compounds in the atmosphere and form particulate matter.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-as-pollution-peaks-in-delhi-a-look-at-pollutants-you-should-be-worried-of-6853273/

Cement can be replaced by fly ash up to 35%, thus reducing the cost of construction, making roads, etc.

• Fly ash bricks are light in weight and offer high strength and durability.
• Fly ash is a better fill material for road embankments and in concrete roads.
• Fly ash can be used in reclamation of wastelands.

• Abandoned mines can be filled up with fly ash.
• Fly ash can increase the crop yield and it also enhances water holding capacity of the land.

Source: Shankar page no: 58

National Air Quality Index was launched by the Prime Minister in April, 2015 starting with 14 cities to disseminate air quality information.

• The AQI has six categories of air quality, viz Good, Satisfactory, Moderately Polluted, Poor, Very Poor and Severe with distinct colour scheme.
• Each of these categories is associated with likely health impacts.

• AQI considers eight pollutants (PM10, PM 2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3 and Pb) for which (up to 24-hourly averaging period) National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.

Source: Shankar page no: 61

The higher amounts of waste increase the rates of decomposition and O2 consumption, thereby decreases the DO content of water.

• The demand for O2 is directly related to increasing input of organic wastes and is empresses as biological oxygen demand (BOD) of water.

• Water pollution by organic wastes is measured in terms of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD).
• BOD is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by bacteria in decomposing the organic wastes present in water. It is expressed in milligrams of oxygen per litre of water.
• The higher value of BOD indicates low DO content of water. Since BOD is limited to biodegradable materials only. Therefore, it is not a reliable method of measuring pollution load in water.
• Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is a slightly better mode used to measure pollution load in water.
• It is the measure of oxygen equivalent of the requirement of oxidation of total organic matter (i.e. biodegradable and non-biodegradable) present in water.

Source: Shankar page no: 63

Excess nitrate in drinking water reacts with hemoglobin to form non-functional methaemoglobin, and impairs oxygen transport. This condition is called methaemoglobinemia or blue baby syndrome.

Source: Shankar page no: 64

Overall objective of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) is comprehensive mitigation actions for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution besides augmenting the air quality monitoring network across the country and strengthening the awareness and capacity building activities.
Statement 1 is correct. The Central Government had launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 under the Central Sector “Control of Pollution” Scheme as a long-term, time-bound, national level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20 % to 30 % reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The NCAP will be a mid-term, five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year.
102 non-attainment cities (not Aspirational Districts) mostly in Indo-Gangetic Plains have been identified based on ambient air quality data for the period 2011 – 2015 and WHO report 2014/2018. The city specific Action Plans have been approved for all 102 non-attainment cities for implementation on ground.
Other features of NCAP include, increasing number of monitoring stations in the country including rural monitoring stations, technology support, emphasis on awareness and capacity building initiatives, setting up of certification agencies for monitoring equipment, source apportionment studies, emphasis on enforcement, specific sectoral interventions etc.

CSIR scientists had developed Less Polluting Firecrackers which are not
only environment friendly but 15-20 % cheaper than the conventional ones. These crackers
have been named as safe water releaser (SWAS), safe minimal aluminium (SAFAL) and
safe thermite cracker (STAR).
SWAS crackers eliminates usage of (KNO3) Potassium nitrate and Sulphur with consequent
reduction in particulate matter (30-35%) SO2 and NOx. It has matching sound intensity
with commercial crackers in the range of 105-110 dBA.
STAR eliminates usage of KNO3 and S with consequent reduction in particulate matter (35-
40%), SO2 and NOx. It has matching sound intensity with commercial crackers in the range
of 105-110 dBA.
SAFAL has minimal usage of aluminium (only in flash powder for initiation) with
consequent significant reduction in particulate matter (35-40 %) compared to commercial
crackers.

Both statements are incorrect.
Dissolving the 22-year-old Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority
(EPCA) that has so far addressed air pollution in Delhi, the Central Government
promulgated an ordinance to constitute “permanent” body — the Commission for Air
Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas.
The adjoining areas for the body include Delhi NCR, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar
Pradesh.
The proposed commission shall consist of a full-time chairperson who is or has been a
Secretary to Union Government or Chief Secretary to Government of State.

Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to
people interms, which are easy to understand. It transforms complex air quality data of
various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour.
There are six AQI categories, namely Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very
Poor, and Severe. Each of these categories is decided based on ambient concentration
values of air pollutants and their likely health impacts (known as health breakpoints). AQ
sub-index and health breakpoints are evolved for eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2,
SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb).

In pursuant to the Supreme Court’s order dated December 02, 2016 in the matter of M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India regarding air quality in National Capital Region of Delhi, a Graded Response Action Plan was prepared and notified for implementation under different Air Quality Index (AQI) categories namely, Moderate & Poor, Very Poor, and Severe as per National Air Quality Index.
Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change had notified for implementation of
Graded Response Action Plan through Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control)
Authority in 2017.
# The Environment Pollution
(Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) has directed Delhi and neighboring States to implement air pollution control measures under “very poor” and “severe” category air quality of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) from October 15, including a ban on the use of diesel generators, except for emergency activities.

Statement 1 is correct. The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020 was promulgated in October, 2020.
It provides for constitution of a CAQM for better co-ordination, research, identification, and resolution of problems related to air quality in the national capital region (NCR) and adjoining areas.
Adjoining areas refers to areas in the states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh where any source of pollution may cause adverse impact on air quality in the NCR.
Statement 2 is correct. The Commission is to be the sole authority with jurisdiction over matters defined in the Ordinance and in case of any conflict, the orders or directions of the Commission will prevail over the orders of the state governments (of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), state PCBs, and state-level statutory bodies.

Statement 1 is correct. The Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) aimed to develop river Ganges as a safe mode of navigation and is being implemented with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank. ‘Project Arth Ganga’ envisages to re-engineer the JMVP by involving the local community with a focus on economic activities in and around the Ganga river.
Apart from providing benefits in terms of trade and access to markets, local community’s economic enhancement and passenger facilitation, the ‘Arth Ganga’ project will also ensure large scale skills enhancement and public/private sector capability development.
Statement 2 is incorrect. Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) is a think tank formed under the aegis of NMCG. The Centre is headquartered at IIT Kanpur and has representation from most leading science and technological institutes of the country.
cGanga’s mandate is to serve as think-tank in implementation and dynamic evolution of Ganga River Basin Management Plan (GRBMP) prepared by the Consortium of 7 IITs.
# The Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), has signed an MOU for development of sludge management framework in India, in collaboration with cGanga.

Department of biotechnology (DBT) and NWO, the Netherlands Science Agency announced a joint call for proposals to clean the Barapullah drain in New Delhi.
• LOTUS-HR stands for Local Treatment of Urban Sewage streams for Healthy Reuse plant.
• The project was initiated in 2017. It aims to demonstrate a novel holistic waste-water management approach that will produce clean water that can be reused for various proposes.
• The project also aims to simultaneously recover nutrients and energy from the urban wastewater thus converting drain into profitable mines.
• The project is jointly supported by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Government of the Netherlands.
• The partners in the project are IIT-Delhi, NEERI and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Cadmium is a heavy metal with a high toxicity. Cadmium is toxic at very low
exposure levels and has acute and chronic effects on health and environment. Cadmium is
not degradable in nature and will thus, once released to the environment, stay in
circulation.
•The major natural sources for mobilizations of cadmium from the earth’s crust are
volcanoes and weathering of rocks.
•Within the biosphere the cadmium is trans-located by different processes. The major
sources for emission to air from natural sources are volcanoes, airborne soil
particles, sea spray, biogenic material and forest fires.

India’s first e-waste clinic has been inaugurated in Bhopal and will enable
segregation, processing and disposal of electronic waste from both household and
commercial units.
•It was set up by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation and the Central Pollution Control
Board.
•The e-waste clinic is developed on the bases of a three-month pilot project and, if
successful, more clinics will be built throughout the country.
•The clinic is set up in accordance with the Solid Waste Management
Rules adopted in 2016.

World Air Quality Report.
•The World Air Quality report was released by the pollution tracker IQAir and
Greenpeace.
•The ranking is based on a comparison of PM 2.5 levels.
•India was the fifth most polluted country in 2019 and an account for almost twothirds
of the world’s most polluted cities according to the World Air Quality Report
2019.

The Executive Body adopted the Protocol to Abate Acidification,
Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone in Gothenburg (Sweden) on 30 November 1999.
•The Protocol sets national emission ceilings for 2010 up to 2020 for four
pollutants: sulphur (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) and ammonia (NH3).
•These ceilings were negotiated on the basis of scientific assessments of pollution
effects and abatement options.
•The Protocol also sets tight limit values for specific emission sources (e.g.
combustion plant, electricity production, dry cleaning, cars and Lorries) and
requires best available techniques to be used to keep emissions down.
•VOCs emissions from such products as paints or aerosols also have to be cut.
•Finally, farmers have to take specific measures to control ammonia emissions.

Aqueduct’s global water risk mapping tool helps companies, investors, governments, and other users understand where and how water risks and opportunities are emerging worldwide.
• The Atlas uses a robust, peer reviewed methodology and the best-available data to create high-resolution, customizable global maps of water risk.
• With the support of a diverse group of partners, the World Resources Institute built Aqueduct to help companies, investors, governments, and communities better understand where and how water risks are emerging around the world.
• The World Resources Institute is committed to transparency and open data. The data and methodology behind Aqueduct are documented and available for download

The Actions on Air Quality report is released by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016, enacted since October 1, 2017, had further strengthened the existing rules.
• Over 21 products (Schedule-I) were included under the purview of the rule. The rule also extended its purview to components or consumables or parts or spares of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE), along with their products.

•The present rule has strengthened the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which is the global best practice to ensure the take-back of the end-of-life products.
• A new arrangement entitled, ‘Producer Responsibility Organisation’ (PRO) has been introduced to strengthen EPR further.
• PRO, a professional organisation, would be authorised or financed collectively or individually by producers, to share the responsibility for collection and channelisation of e-waste generated from the ‘end-of-life’ products to ensure environmentally sound management of such e-waste.

Fly ash, the end product of combustion during the process of power generation in the coal based thermal power plants.
• It is a proven resource material for many applications of construction industries and currently is being utilized in manufacturing of Portland Cement, bricks/blocks/tiles manufacturing, road embankment construction and low-lying area development, etc.
• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad have developed a cheap waterproofing material by coating fly ash, a waste by-product from coal-based thermal power plants, with stearic acid, which is a surfactant.
• While fly ash is extremely water-loving (hydrophilic), it turns into a highly water-repelling surface once coated with stearic acid.
• Fly ash varies in size from 100 nanometres to a few microns and can thus provide surfaces with different roughness based on the size of the particles chosen.

In an attempt to protect the coral reefs that divers so admire they have dubbed them the underwater Serengeti.
• The Pacific nation of Palau will soon ban many types of sunscreen.
• President Tommy Remengesau Jr. last week signed legislation that bans “reef-toxic” sunscreen from 2020.
• Banned sunscreens will be confiscated from tourists who carry them into the country, and merchants selling the banned products will be fined up to $1,000
.

The Agasthyamalai Mountain falls in the Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari
districts of Tamil Nadu and the Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts of Kerala.
•It is a Sacred Mountain and pilgrim centre, where devotees come to worship
sage Agasthya. Agasthya was a Dravidian sage, and is considered to be one of the
seven rishis (saptarishi) of Hindu mythology. The Tamil language is considered to be
a boon from Agasthya. There is a statue of Agasthya at the top of the peak and the
devotees can render poojas themselves.
•The Agasthyamalai region constitutes an extensive and compact tract of forest-clad
mountains and plays a very important role as a watershed and repository of
biodiversity. The region receives precipitation from both the southwest and
northeast monsoons and has a very short dry season of less than 2-3 months
duration.
•Agasthyamalai is one of the few safest homes in Western Ghats for many endemic
animals such as Lion -Tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Langur, Brown Palm Civet, Malabar
Spiny Dormouse, Nilgiri Marten and Nilgiri Tahr. The eastern side of
Agasthyamalai is composed of the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
(KMTR), a 900 sq km. protected area.

Seeking to address some of the most pressing issues facing India, including air pollution, through innovation, the United Nations Development Programme in November 2019, launched the country chapter of its Accelerator Lab here.
• The laboratory that will be housed in the UNDP India office has partnered with the Indian government’s Atal Innovation Mission to achieve its objectives.
• Other issues that the laboratory will seek to address include sustainable water management and client-resilient livelihoods
.

The State of Global Air 2019 annual report and accompanying interactive website are designed and implemented by the Health Effects Institute in cooperation with the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Texas, Austin.
• According to the report exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution contributed to over 1.2 million deaths in India in 2017.
• The report added that worldwide, air pollution was responsible for more deaths than many better-known risk factors such as malnutrition, alcohol abuse and physical inactivity.
• In India, air pollution is the third-highest cause of death among all health risks, ranking just above smoking;
• Each year, more people globally die from air pollution related disease than from road traffic injuries or malaria.
• Meanwhile, for the first time, this year’s report and website include worldwide estimates of the effect of air pollution on life expectancy.
• Worldwide, air pollution reduced life expectancy by an average of 20 months in 2017, a global impact rivaling that of smoking; this means a child born today will die 20 months sooner, on average, than would be expected without air pollution.
• The report also highlighted that nearly half of the world’s population — a total of 3.6 billion people — were exposed to household air pollution in 2017. Globally, there has been progress: the proportion of people cooking with solid fuels has declined as economies develop.

E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016, enacted since October 1, 2017.
• Over 21 products (Schedule-I) were included under the purview of the rule.
• The rule also extended its purview to components or consumables or parts or spares of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE), along with their products.
• Currently, India’s e-waste rules have no laws mandating solar cell manufacturers to recycle or dispose waste from this sector.

NOTE: Some of the 21 products of Schedule 1 are Centralized data processing: Mainframes, Minicomputers, Personal Computers (Central Processing Unit with input and output devices), Cellular telephones, Television sets (including sets based on (Liquid Crystal Display and Light Emitting Diode technology), Refrigerator, Washing Machine and Air-conditioners excluding centralized air conditioning plants.

Global sportswear giant Adidas aims at eliminating the use of virgin plastics in its products by 2024 — with a little help from a Maharashtra-based firm — the only one of its kind in the country to produce yarn out of discarded PET bottles.
• At its first factory set up in Nashik five years ago, Polygenta Technology Limited deploys a unique technology to break down used PET (short for Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottles and convert them into polyester filament yarn.
• The firm, with a capacity to convert 30 tonnes of PET bottles into yarn a day, plans to scale up capacity to around 100 tonnes a day in the next two years to meet demand from the likes of Adidas — one of its first clients.

NOTE: According to the United Nations, around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year — roughly the weight of the entire human population. Of this, eight million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in the oceans; PET bottles are the main contributors to plastic waste globally and in India.

Ahead of the upcoming 2019 Climate Action Summit, the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) and Climate and Clean Air Coalition announced today the “Clean Air Initiative”, calling on governments at all levels to join the Initiative.
• The “Clean Air Initiative” calls on national and sub national governments to commit to achieving air quality that is safe for citizens, and to align climate change and air pollution policies by 2030.
• According to WHO, each year, air pollution causes 7 million premature deaths, of which 600,000 are children.
• According to the World Bank, air pollution costs the global economy an estimated US$5.11 trillion in welfare losses and in the 15 countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions, health impacts of air pollution are estimated to cost more than 4 per cent of GDP.
• Meeting the Paris Agreement on climate change, however, could save over 1 million lives a year by 2050 and yield health benefits worth an estimated US$54.1 trillion – about twice the costs of mitigation – through reduced air pollution alone.

: A local paint manufacturer and distributor have developed a type of paint that can eliminate harmful air pollutants such as nitrogen oxide (NOx) and other volatile organic compounds.
• Mainly generated by vehicle emissions, NOx is a common air pollutant known to have serious consequences for health and the environment, including causing acid rain and smog.
• Called KNOxOUT, the paint – developed by Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc. – contains ultrafine titanium dioxide that breaks down NOx and converts it into harmless substances.

Earth Beats, an international and collaborative initiative gathering 18 news media outlets from around the world to focus on solutions to waste and pollution

Notably Maharashtra’s oldest and largest National Park, the “Tadoba National Park”, also known as the “Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve” is one of India’s project tiger reserves existing in India.

• It lies in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state and is approximately 150 km from Nagpur city.
• The total area of the tiger reserve is 1,727 Sq.km, which includes the Tadoba National Park, created in the year 1955.

• The Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary was formed in the year 1986 and was amalgamated with the park in 1995 to establish the present Tadoba Andheri Tiger Reserve.
• The word ‘Tadoba’ is derived from the name of God “Tadoba” or “Taru,” which is praised by local tribal people of this region and “Andhari” is derived from the name of Andhari river that flows in this area.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/heres-how-national-parks-are-doing-after-the-pandemic-induced-hiatus/article33511629.ece

Ranthambore National Park is one of the biggest and most renowned national parks in Northern India.

• The Park is located in the Sawai Madhopur district of southeastern Rajasthan, which is about 130 km from Jaipur.
• Once considered as one of the famous and former hunting grounds of the Maharajas of Jaipur, today the Ranthambore National Park terrain is a major wildlife tourist attraction that has drawn the attention of many wildlife photographers and lovers.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/heres-how-national-parks-are-doing-after-the-pandemic-induced-hiatus/article33511629.ece

Panna Tiger Reserve had lost all its tigers to poaching by 2009 and it is only in the last decade through a careful process of relocation from other tiger reserves and natural breeding that the tiger population has climbed back to about 50.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/travel/tracking-tigers-at-panna-national-park-madhya-pradesh/article33793138.ece

Many wildlife habitats in the Northeast are understaffed, without trained manpower and proper infrastructure, the Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) report of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has said.

• The MEE has marked Meghalaya for fairly good management practices while the evaluated wildlife sanctuaries in Assam were found to have “extremely poor” infrastructure, thus adversely affecting their management.
• The best managed among the 16 evaluated protected areas in the region was found to be Meghalaya’s Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary because of the continuity of a management plan since 2001 “irrespective of who’s posted”.

• The report largely attributed the significant reduction in biotic interference in the sanctuary to community support.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/many-northeast-wildlife-habitats-understaffed-says-report/article33708546.ece

The only floating national park of its kind in the world, Keibul Lamjao National Park is a singular wetland ecosystem located on the Loktak Lake.

Home to brow-antlered deer or sangai, the state animal of Manipur.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/many-northeast-wildlife-habitats-understaffed-says-report/article33708546.ece

Papikonda National Park (PNP), with a dominant area covered with moist deciduous forest, has become home for the leopard cat (Prinailurus bengalensis) in the Eastern Ghats.

• The 1,012.86 sq km national park is on both sides of river Godavari in the northern Eastern Ghats.
• Of the 13 protected forests in Andhra Pradesh, the leopard cat has been sighted only in the PNP.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/papikonda-national-park-becomes-home-for-leopard-cats/article26981103.ece

In Western the Ghats, over 100 leopard cats have been sighted in the four reserves — Bhadra Tiger Reserve, BRT Tiger Reserve, Nagarhole and Bandipur reserves.

Sunabeda Tiger Reserve is located in Odisha.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/papikonda-national-park-becomes-home-for-leopard-cats/article26981103.ece

Nandankanan Zoological Park is a premier large zoo of India.

• Unlike other zoos in the country, Nandankanan is built right inside the forest and set in a completely natural environment.
• The animals are housed in enclosures with greenery with a feel of real forest and live with no fear or apprehension of becoming the hunter’s prey.
• Nandankanan is 15 kms from Odisha’s capital, Bhubaneswar.

• The Bhubaneswar railway station is at a distance of 18 kms and the Biju Patnaik International Airport is at a distance of 20 kms.

Source: The Hindu

The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 provides for the protection of wild animals, birds and plants; and for matters connected there with or ancillary or incidental thereto.

• It extends to the whole of India.
• It has six schedules which give varying degrees of protection.
• The cheetah falls in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Source: The Hindu

Crocodiles are ambush hunters and apex predator of river systems of the India.

• There are three crocodilians’ species found in India, Mugger crocodile, the Gharial and the Saltwater Crocodile.
• Mugger crocodile and the gharial are found throughout the Indian subcontinent and they are ambush hunters, mostly prey on fish, reptiles, birds and mammals.

• Saltwater Crocodiles are the largest species of crocodilians family and largest of all living reptiles in the world.
• The apex predator found in saline and brackish mangrove swamp forest of Bhitarkanika and Sunderbans.
• Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district of Odisha is a separates swamp region and mangroves forest.
• The Park is home to largest Saltwater Crocodiles in India and many other species of reptiles such as White Crocodile, Indian Python and King Cobra.

Source: The Hindu

Option 1 is correctly matched. Sariska Tiger Reserve is in the Alwar district, Rajasthan. It mainly comprises scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, grasslands, and rocky hills. This area was a hunting preserve of the Alwar state and was declared a wildlife reserve in 1955.
In 2004, it was reported that no tigers were sighted in the reserve. In July 2008, two tigers from Ranthambhore National Park were relocated to Sariska Tiger Reserve. Another female tiger was relocated in February 2009. By 2020, the tiger population in the reserve has risen to 20.
Option 2 is incorrectly matched. Pakke Tiger Reserve, also known as Pakhui Tiger Reserve, in the Pakke Kessang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The habitat types are lowland semi-evergreen, evergreen forest and Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests.
Option 3 is incorrectly matched. Nameri National Park is in the eastern Himalayas in the Sonitpur District of Assam, Nameri shares its northern boundary with the Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary of Arunachal Pradesh.
The vegetation type of Nameri is of semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forests with cane and bamboo brakes and narrow strips of open grassland along rivers Jia- Bhoroli and Bor Dikorai.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Area under Open Forest is much higher than under
Very Dense Forest (VDF) in India.

Very Dense Forest: All lands with tree canopy density of 70% and above.

–Moderately Dense Forest: All lands with tree canopy density of 40% and more but less

than 70%.

–Open Forest: All lands with tree canopy density of 10% and more but less than 40%.

–Scrub: Degraded forest lands with canopy density less than 10%.

Statement 2 is correct. The Ganga River passes through the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar

Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, among which Uttarakhand has highest

area under forest cover.

.

Area-wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by

Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra. In terms of forest cover as

percentage of total geographical area, the top five States are Mizoram (85.41%), Arunachal

Pradesh (79.63%), Meghalaya (76.33%), Manipur (75.46%) and Nagaland (75.31%).

# Data Source: India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Tso Kar Basin is a high-altitude wetland complex, consisting of two principal waterbodies, Startsapuk Tso, a freshwater lake of about 438 hectares to the south, and Tso Kar itself, a hypersaline lake of 1800 hectares to the north, situated in the Changthang region of Ladakh, India. It is called Tso Kar, meaning white lake, because of the white salt efflorescence found on the margins due to the evaporation of highly saline water.
It is southwest of the Pangong Tso lake.

Statement 2 is correct. India has added Tso Kar Wetland Complex in Ladakh as its 42nd Ramsar site, which is a second one in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh.

The Tso Kar Basin is an A1 Category Important Bird Area (IBA) as per Bird Life International and a key staging site in the Central Asian Flyway.

National Parks in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
NOTE: Indira Gandhi (Annamalai) National Park located in Tamil Nadu.

Black Buck National Park is located in Gujarat; Dinosaur Fossil National Park is located in
Madhya Pradesh, Guru Ghasidas National Park located in Chhattisgarh and Betla National
Park is located in Jharkhand.

Indravati National Park is the most famous wildlife sanctuary of the state of
Chhattisgarh. It has several wildlife sanctuaries in secure areas such as Barnawapara
Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamor Pingla, Kanger Ghati National Park, Pamed, Sanjay National
Park, Semarsot, Sitanadi Wildlife Sanctuary, Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary, Achanakmar
Wildlife Sanctuary, Badalkhol, Bhairamgarh, Gomarda wildlife sanctuaries etc.
Guindy National Park is a 2.70 km2 (1.04 sq mi) protected area of Tamil Nadu, located in
Chennai, India, is the 8th-smallest National Park of India and one of the very few national
parks situated inside a city.
Silent Valley National Park is located at Palakkad district in Nilgiri Mountains of Kerala. It
is at the heart of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and consists of areas of South Western Ghats
rain forests and tropical wet evergreen jungle. River Kunthi passes through it.

Madhav National park is situated near Shivpuri town in Madhya Pradesh. It
is a part of the upper Vindhyan hills.
•The Park was the hunting ground of Mughal emperors and Maharaja of Gwalior.
•It got the status of a National Park in 1958.
•The Park is a combination of dry deciduous & dry thorn forests that make home for
different varieties of antelopes like Nilgai, Chinkara and Deer.
•The park is home to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) like Saharia

The Kerala State government is set to declare the 148-sq-km buffer zone of the Silent Valley National Park as Bhavani wildlife sanctuary.
• Encompassing parts of the Mannarkkad and Nilambur (South) forest divisions, the region will become the 25th protected area in the State.
• Home to abundant faunal and floral wealth, the Bhavani wildlife sanctuary is also known to be an emerging haven of dragonflies and damselflies.
• A recent faunal survey revealed the presence of several rare species of odonates here.
• There are currently five national parks, 18 wildlife sanctuaries, including two tiger reserves at Parambikulam and Periyar, and one community reserve in the State.
• The government had notified the Karimpuzha wildlife sanctuary in Malappuram in December last.

Indira Gandhi Zoological Park is located amidst Kambalakonda Reserve Forest in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the third largest zoo in the country. The zoological park is named after the former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. It was declared open to the public on 19 May 1977.
Nehru Zoological Park is a zoo located near Mir Alam Tank in Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Amirthi Zoological Park is a zoo in Tiruvannamalai District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was opened in 1967 and is about 25 kilometres from the Vellore city. The area of the park is 25 hectares and one can find beautiful waterfalls.

Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary is a hidden gem hiding amidst Vindhyan
Hills in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
•This wildlife sanctuary is a well kept secret and is a safe haven for a large number of
flora and fauna.
•Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Barkheda, Madhya Pradesh is underway to
become India’s second home for the Asiatic lion.
•The species, whose only refuge in the country has been Gujarat’s Gir forest,
numbered in 523 in 2015.
•To prevent decline—and possible extinction—in a single habitat due to natural
disasters, epidemics, decline in prey or retaliatory killings, an action plan is being
implemented to relocate a number of lions to Kuno, a former royal hunting ground.

Wildlife researchers recently documented the presence of an Indian gaur in the Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary (PWS) in Roha and Murud talukas of Raigad district.
• According to the Maharashtra forest department, this is the first time a sighting of this species of bison has been reported or documented at the sanctuary.
• The Indian Gaur is listed as Schedule I species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and is tagged as ‘vulnerable’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.
• Gaurs are the world’s largest and tallest wild bovines, with 85% of their current population found in India.
• Male gaurs weigh 1,000-1,500kg, while females weigh 700-1,000kg. Their height ranges from 165-220cm (5 to 7ft).

Project Tiger was formally launched in India on 1st April 1973, with the goal of saving the tiger and its habitat in India.
• With an initial 9 Tiger Reserves, the Project went on to cover 50 Tiger Reserves across the country, incorporating an area of 71,027.10 sq. km.
• Although Project Tiger tackled various issues over the past 45 years, it was unable to keep pace with the rapid changes that affected the tiger landscape, including increased human pressures.
• In 2006, it was replaced by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

Both statements are correct.

Kaziranga National Park’s 430 square kilometer area in Assam is sprinkled with elephantgrass

meadows, swampy lagoons, and dense forests are home to more than 2200 Indian

one-horned rhinoceros. Along with the iconic Greater one-horned rhinoceros, the park is

the breeding ground of elephants, wild water buffalo, and swamp deer.

The park is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International for the

conservation of avifaunal species. Birds like lesser white-fronted goose, ferruginous duck,

Baer’s pochard duck and lesser adjutant, greater adjutant, black-necked stork, and Asian

Openbill stork specially migrate from the Central Asia during the winter season.

The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), with help from Gujarat’s forest department, is attempting for the first time a process to restore coral reefs using biorock or mineral accretion technology.

 A biorock structure was installed one nautical mile off the Mithapur coast in the Gulf of Kachchh.

 Biorock is the name given to the substance formed by electro accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater on steel structures that are lowered onto the sea bed and are connected to a power source, in this case solar panels that float on the surface.

 The technology works by passing a small amount of electrical current through electrodes in the water.

• When a positively charged anode and negatively charged cathode are placed on the sea floor, with an electric current flowing between them, calcium ions combine with carbonate ions and adhere to the structure (cathode).

 This results in calcium carbonate formation. Coral larvae adhere to the CaCO3 and grow quickly.

Scientists have discovered remnants of the world’s oldest fossil forest — an extensive network of trees around 386 million years old — in sandstone quarry in the U.S.

 The fossil forest in Cairo would have spread from New York all the way into Pennsylvania and beyond, according to the researchers from Binghamton University, and New York State Museum in the U.S.

 The forest is around 2 or 3 million years older than what was thought to be the world’s oldest forest at Gilboa, also in New York State and around 40 kilometres away from the Cairo site.

Severe Cyclone Fani rendered not only several thousand people homeless as it tore along India’s east coast last week, but also dealt a body blow to wildlife and forest resources in the region.

• The scenic stretch along the tree-lined Marine Drive that bisects the Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary adjacent to the Bay of Bengal between Puri and Konark, is now a wasteland with hardly any tree left untouched.

 “As many as 20% of the trees were uprooted, while the rest were found snapped and broken. The devastation has left around 400 spotted deer homeless”.

 Apart from deer, the sanctuary, spread over an area of 87 sq km, was home to wild boar, jackals, striped hyenas, wolves and mongooses.

 In Bhubaneswar, the cyclone had uprooted decades-old trees inside the Nandankanan Zoological Park.

 Several animal enclosures too have been affected forcing authorities to shut down the zoo for an indefinite period.

 The Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary, which is close by, has also been impacted with thousands of trees uprooted. Authorities are attempting to assess the extent of damage.

 As a result, hundreds of displaced monkeys have now entered residential colonies in the periphery of Bhubaneswar. Residents have reported cases of the simians attacking people after loss of habitat and food sources.

Changthang sanctuary is home to a diversity of flora and fauna and is spread over an area of 1,600 sq km.

 It is located in the Ladakhi Changthang Plateau in the Leh district of Ladakh Union Territory.

 It boasts of the highest lake on earth, Tso Moriri. Not just that it is also believed to include the world’s highest village, Korzok Village that draws tourists for the Korzok Monastery.

• From sighting the rare snow leopard, one can also spot a kiang or a wild ass, along with the dark-necked crane.

 Other interesting species one can find are the Tibetan wolf, wild yak, bharal, brown bear and the mormot that seems to be present everywhere.

 It also has a wide variety of avifauna and around 44 types of water birds and seasonal species of migratory birds are also found here.

: The Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) (Odisha) has lost one of its beloved members — 41-year-old Orangutan, an extant species of great apes.

 According to NZP, the Orangutan named ‘Bini’ died due to age-related complications.

 He also suffered from respiratory tract infection.

Over 30% of India’s protected area has been covered under the final ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) notification, the Environment Ministry informed the Lok Sabha.

 As on June 25, 2019, final ESZ notifications covering 316 protected areas (PAs) and draft ESZ notification covering 199 protected areas have been published by the ministry.

 According to the ministry, out of the 651 Protected Areas (PAs) in India, 316 have been covered under the final ESZ notification which provides for prohibition of mining, stone quarrying and crushing units located within one k.m. of such protected areas.

 In the absence of the notification, an area of 10 k.m. around the PAs is considered ‘default ESZ’ according to the directions of the Supreme Court.

 Out of the 316 areas covered in ESZ final notification, 100 PAs are in Andaman and Nicobar Islands followed by 29 in Maharashtra and 23 protected areas in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

 The ESZ notifications are issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Environment (Protection) Rules 1986.

The objective of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project is to assist Government of India (GoI) in building national capacity for implementation of comprehensive coastal management approach in the country, and piloting the integrated coastal zone management approach in states of Gujarat, Orissa and West Bengal.

 There are four components to the project, the first component being national ICZM capacity building. The national component will include mapping, delineation and demarcation of the hazard lines, and delineation of coastal sediment cells all along the mainland coast of India.

 The second component is the piloting ICZM approaches in Gujarat. This component will support capacity building of the state level agencies and institutions, including preparation of an ICZM plan for the coastal sediment cell that includes the Gulf of Kachchh, and pilot investments.

 The third component is the piloting ICZM approaches in Orissa. This component will include capacity building of the state level agencies and institutions, including preparation of an ICZM plan for the coastal sediment cells that include the stretches of Paradip-Dhamra and Gopalpur-Chilika, including a regional coastal process study, and pilot investments.

 Finally, the fourth component is the piloting ICZM approaches in West Bengal.

The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve falls under the biogeographic region of the Malabar rain forest. The Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Wyanaad Wildlife Sanctuary Bandipur National Park, Nagarhole National Park, Mukurthi National Park and Silent Valley are the protected areas present within this reserve.

Tamil Nadu has been a pioneer State in Protected Area management and development of forest resources and wildlife.

 The total area under the protected area management is 7,072.95 sq. km. which comes to 30.92% of the State’s Forest area.

 The Protected Areas in the State includes 5 National parks, 15 Wildlife sanctuaries, 15 bird sanctuaries and 2 conservation reserves besides 4 Tiger Reserves viz. Anamalai, Kalakkad – Mundanthurai, Mudumalai and Sathyamangalam

• These Protected Areas have been established under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

 Further Tamil Nadu also has the distinction of having 3 Biosphere Reserves viz. Nilgiris, Gulf of Mannar and Agasthiarmalai, which are internationally acclaimed for their rich and unique biodiversity.

Bannerghatta National Park (Karnataka): was declared a national park in 1974, with a portion of it being made into BBP in 2002. BBP has four divisions: the zoo, the safari, the butterfly park and the rescue centre.

Machia Biological Park (Jhodpur, Rajasthan): The primary aim of the Park is conservation and to supplement the efforts for in situ conservation of the flora and fauna of the Aravalli and desert ecosystem.

Soor Sarovar Bird Sanctuary is located at Agra (Uttar Pradesh).

The Kudremukh National Park is located at a distance of 96 km from the district of Chikmagalur in the state of Karnataka in India.
• Nestled in the Western Ghats, the park is spread over an area of over 600 sq km at an altitude of 1,894 m above sea level.
• The Kudremukh National Park derives its name from a hill top that resembles the shape of the head of a horse.
• The park houses four ranges named Kudremukh, Kerekatte, Kalasa, and Shimoga. The entire park is covered by thick forests with various species of flora. It is also surrounded by tea and coffee plantations.
• The Kudremukh National Park falls under the Global Tiger Conservation Priority-I, under the format developed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and World Wide Fund-USA.
• It is also the origin of three very well-known rivers – the Nethravathi, the Tunga and the Bhadra.

•A statue of Lord Varaha at a height of six feet can be found inside an ancient cave and a temple of goddess Bhagavathi is also present here. These attract many tourists, mainly pilgrims, here.
• Kudremukh National Park is home to several species of flora and fauna. Eucalyptus, casuarinas, acacia auriculiformis and Grevillea Robusta are some of the species of flora found here.
• Together with a wide array of wildlife consisting of tigers, leopards, wild dogs, Malabar giant squirrels, common langurs, sloth bears, gaurs, porcupines, sambar, spotted deer, barking deer, jackals, giant flying squirrels and mongoose found here.

The path breaking Biological Diversity Act, 2002 not only supports the conservation and the sustainable use of biological resources, it also promotes an equitable sharing of benefits that come from their use.

· This one law has the potential to revolutionalise the rights of communities over the natural resources they live with.

· The BDA has made it mandatory for every local self-governing institution in rural and urban areas to constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) within their area of jurisdiction.

· Once constituted, the BMC must prepare a Peoples’ Biodiversity Register (PBR) in consultation with local people.

· A PBR comprehensively documents traditional knowledge of local biological resources.

· The BMC is the custodian of these resources, and any industry that extracts biological resources from these areas has to share part of its revenue with the local community.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/the-peoples-biodiversity-register-meant-to-empower-local-communities-is-leaving-them-out/article32869691.

The Raika tribes are a nomadic people, occupying the western districts of Rajasthan and Gujurat, including the Thar Desert.

· One estimate put their number at about 500,000, though Raikas many are abandoning the pastoralist way of life in the face of social, economic and legal pressures.

· They are known for their Arabian camels, or dromedaries, but many Raika families raise sheep and goats.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/the-peoples-biodiversity-register-meant-to-empower-local-communities-is-leaving-them-out/article32869691

The second meeting of the Conference of the Parties called for the preparation of a periodic report on biological diversity: the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO).

· It suggested that the GBO should provide a summary of the status of biological diversity and an analysis of the steps being taken by the global community to ensure that biodiversity is conserved and used sustainably, and that benefits arising from the use of genetic resources are shared equitably. Five editions of the report have been prepared.

· The Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 (GBO-5), published by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), offers an authoritative overview of the state of nature.

· It is a final report card on progress against the 20 global biodiversity targets agreed in 2010 with a 2020 deadline, and offers lessons learned and best practices for getting on track.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/pathways-to-diversity-the-hindu-editorial-on-un-biodiversity-summit/article32754839.ece & https://www.cbd.int/gbo/

Sundaland covers a small portion of southern Thailand (provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat); nearly all of Malaysia (nearly all of Peninsular Malaysia and the East Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah in northern Borneo); Singapore at the tip of the Malay Peninsula; all of Brunei Darussalam; and all of the western half of the megadiversity country of Indonesia, including Kalimantan (the Indonesian portion of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali).

· The Nicobar Islands, which are under Indian jurisdiction, are also included. Sundaland is bordered by three hotspots.

· The boundary between the Sundaland Hotspot and the Indo-Burma Hotspot to the northwest is here taken as the Kangar-Pattani Line, which crosses the Thailand-Malaysia border.

· Wallacea lies immediately to the east of the Sundaland Hotspot, separated by the famous Wallace’s Line, while the 7,100 islands of the Philippines Hotspot lie immediately to the northeast.

Source: http://bsienvis.nic.in/files/Biodiversity%20Hotspots%20in%20India.pdf

Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) is an umbrella term commonly used to include areas that contribute to the global persistence of biodiversity, including vital habitat for threatened plant and animal species in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems.

· Globally KBAs are designated based on 11 criteria defined under five broad categories of threatened biodiversity; geographically restricted biodiversity; ecological integrity; biological processes; and, irreplaceability.

· The criteria for designating a site as KBA have been described in the document “The Global Standard for the Identification of Key Biodiversity Areas (2016)” by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Source: http://www.wiienvis.nic.in/Database/Key_Biodiversity_Areas_8647.aspx

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value.

Source: http://www.wiienvis.nic.in/Database/ramsar_wetland_sites_8224.aspx

The IUCN is the world’s oldest global environmental organization (both government and civil society organizations) to promote nature conservation and the ecologically sustainable use of natural resources.

· Every four years, IUCN convenes the IUCN World Conservation Congress to set the global conservation agenda.

· The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, founded in 1964, is the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species.

Source: The Hindu

The Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972 provided for the declaration of certain areas by the State Government as wildlife sanctuaries if the area was thought to be of adequate ecological, geo-morphological and natural significance.

The Wild Life (Protection) Act (WPA) of 1972 provided for the declaration of National Parks by the State Government in addition to the declaration of wildlife sanctuaries.

Source: Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

Conservation Reserve and Community Reserves are the outcome of Amendments to the Wild life protection act in 2003.