Daily Quiz #53 UPSC Prelims Marathon – January 4, 2020

Explanation: The Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre (VCBC) is a joint project of the Haryana Forest Department and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). It is a collaborative initiative to save the three species of vultures, the White-backed, Long-billed and Slender-billed, from looming extinction.
The VCBC, earlier known as Vulture Care Centre (VCC), was established in September 2001 with the UK Government’s ‘Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species’ fund, to investigate the dramatic declines in India’s Gyps species of vultures.
Subsequent to the release of the South Asia Vulture Recovery Plan in February 2004, the VCC was adapted and upgraded to being the first VCBC, in line with a key recommendation of the Recovery Plan to set up a conservation breeding programme for the three critically endangered species of vultures. The centre sprawls over 5 acres of Haryana Forest Department’s land at village Jodhpur. The Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre (JCBC) is a joint project of the Haryana Forest Department and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).It is a collaborative initiative to save the three species of vultures, the White-backed, Long-billed and Slender-billed, from looming extinction. These three species are on Critically Endangered list of IUCN and under Schedule 1 of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 while Red headed vulture is on Critically Endangered list of IUCN but not under Schedule 1.

Explanation: The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international agreement which aims to ensure the safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health. It was adopted on 29 January 2000 and entered into force on 11 September 2003.
The Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology. It establishes an advance informed agreement (AIA) procedure for ensuring that countries are provided with the information necessary to make informed decisions before agreeing to the import of such organisms into their territory. The Protocol contains reference to a precautionary approach and reaffirms the precaution language in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. The Protocol also establishes a Biosafety Clearing-House to facilitate the exchange of information on living modified organisms and to assist countries in the implementation of the Protocol.

Explanation: Project Elephant (PE), a centrally sponsored scheme, was launched in February 1992 to provide financial and technical support to major elephant bearing States in the country for protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors. It also seeks to address the issues of human-elephant conflict and welfare of domesticated elephants. The Project is being implemented in 13 States / UTs, viz. Andhra pradesh , Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand , Karnataka , Kerala , Meghalaya , Nagaland , Orissa , Tamil Nadu , Uttranchal , Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Explanation: The Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme is an international collaboration that measures the levels, trends and causes of elephant mortality, thereby providing an information base to support international decision-making related to conservation of elephants in Asia and Africa. The MIKE Programme was established by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) by Resolution 10.10 adopted at the tenth Conference of the Parties in 1997.
There are currently 28 sites participating in the MIKE programme in Asia, distributed across 13 countries: India has 10 sites, followed by two sites each in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand, and one site each in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam.

Explanation: The overall aim of MIKE is to provide information needed for elephant range States and the Parties to CITES to make appropriate management and enforcement decisions, and to build institutional capacity within the range States for the long-term management of their elephant populations. MIKE aims to help range States improve their ability to monitor elephant populations, detect changes in levels of illegal killing, and use this information to provide more effective law enforcement and strengthen any regulatory measures required to support such enforcement.
MIKE Sites in India are:
•Chirang-Ripu Elephant Reserve
•Deomali Elephant Reserve
•Dihing Patkai Elephant Reserve
•Garo Hills Elephant Reserve
•Eastern Dooars Elephant Reserve
•Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve
•Shivalik Elephant Reserve
•Mysore Elephant Reserve
•Nilgiri Elephant Reserve
•Wayanad Elephant Reserve