Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Geography and Environment) – August 16, 2020

The term monsoon has been derived from the Arabic word mausin or from the Malayan word monsin meaning ‘season’.

Monsoons are seasonal winds (Rhythmic wind movements – Periodic Winds) which reverse their direction with the change of season.

Factors affecting monsoon in India–

• The differential heating of the landmass of Asia and the Indian Ocean.
• The existence of the Himalayan ranges and the Tibetan Plateau.
• The occurrence of heavy-light snow over the Tibetan Plateau.
• The existence and circulation of the upper air jet stream in the troposphere.
• Changes in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean have been known to have an inverse relationship with the Indian summer monsoon rainfall. This means if there is a cold phase in the Atlantic, it can bring more rainfall to India and vice versa.

India has opened its first specialised hydrotherapy treatment for elephants suffering from arthritis, joint pain and foot ailments near the Wildlife SOS’ Elephant Conservation and Care Centre (ECCC), which currently houses 20 rescued elephants and is run in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and the NGO Wildlife SOS.

• Situated on the banks of the Yamuna in Mathura, the new hydrotherapy jumbo pool is 11-foot-deep and has 21 high pressure jet sprays that create water pressure that massage the elephants’ feet and body and help in increasing blood circulation.
• “The hospital started in 2018 already offers state-of-the-art modern facilities including wireless digital X-ray, laser treatment, dental X-ray, thermal imaging and ultra-sonography to treat injured, sick and geriatric elephants”.

According to the recovery programs for saving critically endangered species and habitats (Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (IDWH)),There are 21 critically endangered species in India. Snow Leopard, Bustard (including Floricans), Dolphin, Hangul, Nilgiri Tahr, Marine Turtles, Dugongs, Edible Nest Swiftlet, Asian Wild Buffalo, Nicobar Megapode, Manipur Brow-antlered Deer, Vultures, Malabar Civet, Indian Rhinoceros, Asiatic Lion, Swamp Deer, Jerdon’s Courser, the Northern River Terrapin, Clouded Leopard, Arabian Sea Humpback Whale and Red Panda.

Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’ (IDWH) is an on-going centrally Sponsored Scheme which has been made operational by adding more components and activities to the erstwhile centrally Sponsored Scheme – “Assistance for the Development of National Parks and Sanctuaries” during the 11th Plan Period.

Under IDWH, the financial assistance is provided to State/UT Governments for protection and conservation of wildlife and its habitats in Protected Areas (PAs) as well as outside PAs and also for the recovery programmes of the critically endangered species.

Components of the scheme:

• Support to Protected Areas (National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves).
• Protection of Wildlife outside Protected Areas.
• Recovery programmes for saving critically endangered species and habitats.

The Botanical Survey of India has come up with the first comprehensive census of orchids of India putting the total number of orchid species or taxa to 1,256.

• Orchids of India: A Pictorial Guide, a publication detailing all the species of India was unveiled earlier this month by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• The 1,256 species or taxa of orchids belong to 155 genera and 388 species are endemic to India.
• A State-wise distribution of orchid species points out that the Himalayas, North-East parts of the country and Western Ghats are the hot-spots of the beautiful plant species.
• The highest number of orchid species is recorded from Arunachal Pradesh with 612 species, followed by Sikkim 560 species and West Bengal; Darjeeling Himalayas have also high species concentration, with 479 species.
• While north-east India rank at the top in species concentration, the Western Ghats have high endemism of orchids.
• There are 388 species of orchids, which are endemic to India of which about one-third (128) endemic species are found in Western Ghats. The publication point out that Kerala has 111 of these endemic species while Tamil Nadu has 92 of them.
• Another interesting factor is that the entire orchid family is listed under appendix II of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and hence any trade of wild orchid is banned globally.
• “Some of the orchids like Dendrobium , Phalaenopsis, Oncidium and Cymbidium are quite popular in floriculture trade and have a demand both within and outside country”.

NOTE: Orchids can be broadly categorised into three life forms:

• epiphytic (plants growing on another plants including those growing on rock boulders and often termed lithophyte),
• terrestrial (plants growing on land and climbers) and
• mycoheterotrophic (plants which derive nutrients from mycorrhizal fungi that are attached to the roots of a vascular plant).

About 60% of all orchids found in the country, which is 757 species, are epiphytic, 447 are terrestrial and 43 are mycoheterotrophic.

Dolphins are one of the oldest creatures in the world along with some species of turtles, crocodiles and sharks.

• The Ganges river dolphin was officially discovered in 1801.
• Ganges river dolphins once lived in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.
• But the species is extinct from most of its early distribution ranges.
• The Ganges river dolphin can only live in freshwater and is essentially blind.
• They hunt by emitting ultrasonic sounds, which bounces off of fish and other prey, enabling them to “see” an image in their mind.
• They are frequently found alone or in small groups, and generally a mother and calf travel together.
• Calves are chocolate brown at birth and then have grey-brown smooth, hairless skin as adults.
• Females are larger than males and give birth once every two to three years to only one calf.
• The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (VGDS), from Sultanganj to Kahalganj on the Ganga in Bihar is the only dolphin sanctuary in the country.

Recent Measures: Restricting the speeds of vessels and blowing sirens and horns is how the Ministry of Shipping plans to safeguard the population of the Ganges River Dolphin, in the country’s one dolphin reserve through which National Waterway-1 connecting Haldia to Varanasi passes.

In an effort to help aquaculture farmers, the Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University has developed a new feed that will aid in the growth of the vannamei shrimp and the tilapia fish.

• Using biofloc, a new technology that obviates the need for the use of plankton in aquaculture, the feed, called Nutrifloc, and has been developed.
• “We balance the carbon-nitrogen ratio in the water due to which certain microbes develop. These microbes help maintain the quality of the water and reduce formation of sludge”.
• The technology reduces the use of water, which earlier had to be changed on a regular basis, brings down power consumption and cuts the cost of feed.
• With the adoption of the technology, aquaculture can be done indoors as well since sunlight would be required only for those using plankton.

Fall Armyworm (FAW), an insect indigenous to the Americas, has been spreading across the globe harming crops.

• It migrated to Africa in 2016 and India in June 2018.
• It has also spread to neighboring countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Southern parts of China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh.
• The impact of the FAW is so intense that in one year — 2017-18 — it has damaged 20-25% crop yield worth $3.5 billion to 5 billion in about 40 African countries.
• For the first time, India has imported 5 million tonnes maize and it is suspected that the impact of FAW might be one of the reasons for that.
• This lepidopteran pest feeds in large numbers on leaves and stems of more than 80 plant species causing major damage to economically important cultivated crops and grasses such as maize, rice, sorghum and sugarcane, vegetable crops and cotton.
• America addressed the problem by introducing BT Maize.

Under Corporate Social Responsibility, Marico Company takes up water conservation projects, through the Parachute Kalpavriksha Foundation, largely in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

It identifies farm lands, talks to farmers, and promotes different types of water conservation systems – farm ponds, bunds on small farm lands, desilting of dams, Bhungroo, Urdhvam and a combination of Urdhvam and Bhungroo (recharging borewells).

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.