Prelim Bits 20-02-2018

Red Sanders

Pterocarpus santalinus occurs in the Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests.
It has a highly restrictive distribution in the South Eastern portion of Indian peninsula to which it is endemic.
It is generally found at altitudes of 150 - 900 m.
It prefers lateritic and gravelly soil and cannot tolerate water logging.

It is said to be used in the making of oriental musical instruments like Shamisen, Koto and Erhu and of high demand internationally especially in China.
Click here to know more about Red Sanders.

Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve

The reserve is situated in the Nallamalais - an offshoot of Southern Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh.
River Krishna forms northern most boundary of the Tiger Reserve.
The nomadic, shy, food gathering and hunting primitive tribe "Chenchus" of these hill ranges live in groups called gudems amidst forests of this sanctuary.
The reserve primarily comprises of southern tropical dry mixed deciduous forest.

The Nagarjuna sagar- Srisailam wildlife Sanctuary attained the Project Tiger status in 1983, then in 1992, it was renamed as Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary.
Post bifurcation of the state ,the northern part of the reserve in Telgana state which is called Amrabad Tiger reserve
Click here to know about Amrabad Tiger Reserve.

National Large Solar Telescope

National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) is a proposed ground based 2-m class optical and near infra-red (IR) observational facility in the country.
It is designed to address the scientific issues related to origin and dynamics of solar magnetic fields.
The instrument has a broad scope to support and substantiate the solar atmospheric observations from space-based ADITYA mission and ground based MAST telescope (Udaipur).
Click here to know about ADITYA L1 Mission.

The birds and the coffee beans

In India, coffee acreage has increased by 150% between 1990 and 2015.
Though Arabica variety of coffee is more flavorful, the planters prefer the Robusta variety which is less resource intensive.
Arabica is generally grown in shaded, low-intensity areas, while full sun monocultures are common for Robusta cultivation
To test the differential impact of Robusta and Arabica coffee cultivation on the local ecology, researchers carried out a survey of bird species in the plantation areas.
The survey points out that Robusta farms generally had the same abundances of bird species as Arabica farms.
The reason behind it was the dense canopy, landscape-level forest cover and less use of pesticide.
Arabica plantations were more avian species-rich, bird communities in the Robusta agro forests included many fruit-eating species.
The survey results suggest that coffee cultivation in the Western Ghats has not been inimical to the ecosystem or the endemic avian population.

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament1956.
In 1957, it took over the work of former All India Khadi and Village Industries Board.
The broad objectives that the KVIC has set before it are

Social objective: providing employment.
Economic objective: producing saleable articles.
Creating self-reliance amongst the poor and building up of a strong rural community spirit.

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is the nodal implementing agency for Prime Minister Employment Generation program (PMEGP) at the national level.
Click Here to know about PMEGP

Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble Telescope has tracked the Neptune’s Mysterious Shrinking Storm.
It is the world's first large, space-based optical telescope, named in honor of astronomer Edwin Hubble.
The Hubble is a joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency.
Sun is the energy source of this space based telescope.
Some of the interesting Hubble Discoveries are

Source: PIB, The Hindu, Business Standard