Prelim Bits 22-02-2024 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Cantor's Giant Softshell Turtle

A team of conservationists, uncovered the nesting site of Cantor's giant softshell turtle on banks of the Chandragiri River in Kerala.

• It is the 1^st breeding site that has been discovered in India.

The Chandragiri River also known as the Perumpuzha River, is the longest river in Kasaragod district in Kerala. River Payaswini is its tributary.

• Scientific name – Pelochelys cantorii
• Nativity – It is native to the rivers of South and Southeast Asia, including Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and India.
• It is also called Asian giant softshell turtle.
• Habitat – Mainly inland, slow-moving, freshwater rivers, lakes, streams, and estuaries but also extends to coastal areas.
• Features – It is an exceptionally large freshwater turtle, which reach over 1m in length and weigh more than 100 Kgs.
• It has broad head with eyes close to the tip of the snout, a frog-like appearance and so the name ‘Frog Head Turtle’.
• They are primarily carnivores (piscivores) feeding on fish, crustaceans, and mollusks but may also eat some aquatic plants.
• Secretive Nature – Mostly, they lie buried and motionless, with only their eyes and mouth protruding from the sand.
• They surface only twice a day to take a breath and capture their prey by sit-and-wait strategy using an element of surprise.

• Threat – Harvesting by local people for meat, accidental killing and persecution from fishermen when caught in fishing gear, and the destruction of its freshwater and coastal habitats.
• Protection status
  • IUCN – Critically Endangered (CR)
  • CITES – Appendix II
  • Wildlife Protection Act,1972 – Schedule 1

References

1. BBC| Discovery of Cantor’s Giant Softshell Turtle
2. Animalia| Cantor’s Giant Softshell Turtle

International Mother Language Day (IMLD)

Recently, International Mother Language Day 2024 was celebrated worldwide.

• International Mother Language Day – On February 21, every year globally.
• Started from – 2000, as a commitment towards understanding the importance of the mother language or mother tongue.
• Aim – To recognise and promote linguistic & cultural diversity and multilingualism.
• Historical background – It was initiated by Bangladesh, to commemorate a 1952 protest against West Pakistan’s imposition of Urdu as the official language in present-day Bangladesh.
• It was approved by UNESCO in 1999, and the UN General Assembly welcomed it in its resolution of 2002.

UN General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages to promote unity in diversity and international understanding, through multilingualism and multiculturalism.

• Significance – It is a cornerstone for achieving equitable access to education and lifelong learning opportunities for all individuals.
• It shows benefits in fostering better learning outcomes, self-esteem, and critical thinking skills and also supports intergenerational learning and cultural preservation.
• It promotes inclusive societies and also aids in preserving non-dominant, minority, and indigenous languages.
• Threat – Currently, 40% of the global population lacks access to education in their native language, it exceeds 90% in certain regions.
• Every 2 weeks a language disappears taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage.
• At least 45% of the estimated 7000 languages spoken in the world are endangered.

The theme of International Mother Language Day 2024 is ‘Multilingual education is a pillar of intergenerational learning’.

References

1. NDTV| Celebration of International Mother Language Day 2024
2. UN| Background of IMLD
3. Times of India| India’s Oldest Languages

Nilgiri Marten

Tamil Nadu Government has planned to conserve the lesser-known species such as Nilgiri Marten under its new “TN Endangered Species Conservation Fund”.

• It is a rare species of marten, a small carnivores belonging to the weasel and badger families.

The Nilgiri marten is the only marten species native to India.

• Scientific name – Martes gwatkinsii
• Native – Endemic to the Western Ghats.
• Distribution – It spans across the states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
• Habitat – 5 clusters in the Western Ghats namely Brahmagiri, Nilgiris, Anamalai, Cardamom Hills and Agasthyamalai.
• They are seen in Shola ecosystems, typically semi-evergreen forests, evergreen forests and forest patches interspersed with grasslands and also in tea, acacia, coffee, cardamom, and wattle plantations.
• Features - It is a small mustelid with a chocolate coloured fur and a canary yellow throat.
• It looks like a civet or a mongoose and it most prefers higher altitudes (300 to 1200 m).

The Mustelidae are a diverse family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, stoats, badgers, otters, martens, grisons, and wolverines.

• Life style – They are omnivorous, diurnal, and mainly arboreal but descend to the ground occasionally.
• They are social and spend their time and even hunt in groups.
• Threats – Habitat loss & fragmentation and poaching.
• Protection status
  • IUCN Status - Vulnerable
  • Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 - Schedule II

TN Endangered Species Conservation Fund is 1^st of its kind fund in India for Endangered Species. With an initial corpus of Rs. 50 crore, it aims to protect and recover lesser-known species facing extinction threats.

References

1. India Today| Need to Conserve Nilgiri Marten
2. Animalia| Nilgiri Marten

Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH)

Recently, a digital health platform ‘Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH)’ was launched as agreed upon in India’s G20 presidency in 2023.

Digital health refers to use of digital tool and technologies to improve health and provide better health care delivery. It is a proven accelerator to advance health outcomes and achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and health-related Sustainable Development Goals.

• Launched in – 2024
• Launched by – World Health Organisation (WHO)
• It is a WHO Managed Network (Network of Networks), to promote equitable access to digital health.
• Need – There is fragmentation and overlap because new tools are built without following common standards or shared vision and we need system to communicate with different digital health devices.
• Objectives – To assess and prioritize country needs for sustainable digital health transformation by aligning country-level digital health resources.
• To support the accelerated achievement of the strategic objectives of the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020-2025.
• To build capacity and converge efforts to encourage local development, maintenance, and adaptation of digital health technologies to continuously changing needs.
• Membership – Open to all institutions engaged in digital health.

Over 120 WHO Member States have developed a national digital health policy or strategy.

• Annual operating Budget – 14 million USD
• 4 foundational pillars

• 3 ways of supporting – By listening to their needs, by aligning resources to avoid fragmentation and overlap, and by providing quality assured products.
• Significance – It will help in democratising digital health technologies, especially for countries of the Global South.

While nearly half the world’s population might not have access to health services they need, nearly 90% have access to a 3G connection showing the potential for digital health.

References

1. The Indian Express| WHO launches GIDH
2. WHO| Global Initiative on Digital Health

Badwater Basin

The recent images of NASA shows that Badwater Basin, the driest place in North America has been home to a lake for 6 months.

• It is an endorheic basin with a depth of 282 feet below sea level.

• Location – Death Valley National Park, Death Valley in USA.

Death Valley is well-known as the hottest place on Earth and the driest place in North America and is essentially a dry salt flat.

• Lake formation – Being endorheic in nature, it allows water flows into it but not out, typically resulting in rapid evaporation and ephemeral lakes.
• Manly lake – It was formed in August 2023 after Hurricane Hilary.
• While the lake initially shrank as expected, it surprisingly persisted through the fall and winter months.
• Its resurgence came in February 2024, when a powerful atmospheric river replenished its waters.
• At its largest, it was about 11 kms long, 6.5 km wide and about 60 cm deep.
• It now fills the low-lying salt flat, sspanning several kilometers.

Reference

Down To Earth| Manly Lake formation in Badwater Basin