Turtle frog is unique to Western Australia, and it subsists on termites.
It is mainly found in the semi-arid region in the southwest and central zones of west Australia.
It is very small and on average are around 2 inches (5cm) in length.
It has short and muscular limbs which help them dig into the ground.
It digs forward like turtles, rather than backwards which is characteristic of frogs.
The turtle frog species does not have a tadpole stage; instead the frog develops fully inside the egg.
Dead Zones
The Gulf of Mexico’s annual “dead zone” will likely persist for decades.
Hypoxic zones or Oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) are areas in the ocean of such low oxygen concentration that animal life suffocates and dies, and as a result are sometimes called "dead zones."
In dead zone area most marine life either dies, or, if they are mobile such as fish, leave the area.
Habitats that would normally be teeming with life become, essentially, biological deserts.
One of the largest dead zones forms in the Gulf of Mexico every spring.
Nutrients such as nitrogen flow from North America's Corn Belt through streams and rivers before ending up in the Gulf.
The dead zones or Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZ) in the Arabian Sea have been growing in size.
It is the thickest and the most intense OMZ among the world’s oceans and covers an area of around two million sq km.
Integrated Management of Public Distribution System (IM-PDS)
IM-PDS is central sector scheme that has been approved for implementation during 2018-19 and 2019-20.
The key objectives of the scheme are
To integrate PDS system/portals of States/UTs with Central System/portals,
Introduction of National Portability
De-duplication of ration cards/beneficiary
It will bring more transparency and efficiency in distribution of food grains.
Drought Hit regions
The Kerala State government has decided to declare nine districts as drought hit recently.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), there was considerable shortfall in rain during the North East Monsoon and also predicted serious drinking water shortage in these districts.
The five categories of indices listed in the Manual for Drought Management released by Ministry of Agriculture and farmer’s welfare include
rainfall
agriculture
soil moisture
hydrology
remote sensing (health of crops)
State Government can declare drought in the State or parts thereof.
Financial Assistance is provided through the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) / State disaster response fund maintained by the state under the administrative jurisdiction of state disaster management departments.
After drought is declared, if the funds available under CRF /SDRF are inadequate for meeting relief expenditures, the State Governments may consider submitting a Memorandum for assistance from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) / National Disaster Response Fund.
Moderate drought is no longer eligible for relief funds from the Centre.
Only if the calamity is of “severe nature” can the state governments submit a memorandum for financial assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund.
Mega fauna
The word 'mega fauna' means big (mega) animals (fauna).
At present, there are only 101 species of big, land-dwelling wild animals in the world.
Biologists warned that this modest number of species is sure to shrink to double digits, and could continue to diminish at an alarming rate.
Two-thirds of these iconic creatures are listed as threatened with extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The Saharan Addax antelope, Eastern Gorilla, orangutans of Borneo and Sumatra are some of the species which are in the path of extinction.
Over the course of the last century,
Lions, rhino and cheetah populations have collapsed by more than 90 %
Giraffes are down by 40 % in just three decades
Polar bears are forecast to lose a third of their numbers by mid-century.
Scientists agree that Earth has entered a so-called “mass extinction event” in which species of all sizes and shapes are disappearing at 100 times the normal rate.
Kaziranga National Park
The rhino census at the Kazaringa National Park has begun.
The Park lies partly in Golaghat District and partly in Nagaon District of Assam.
It is the oldest park in Assam along the river Brahmaputra on the North and the Karbi Anglong hills on the South.
It is UENSCO World Heritage Site, which is home to two-thirds of the world's population of the species.
The landscape of Kaziranga is of sheer forest, tall elephant grass, rugged reeds, marshes & shallow pools.
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 also a Tiger reserve.
Map of the Day
Asia Physical
Bo Hai, also called Gulf of Chihli, is the shallow northwestern arm of the Yellow Sea, off the northern coast of China.
Much of Caspian Depression area is below sea level at the north end of the Caspian Sea which is one of the largest such areas in Central Asia.
Both Ural and Volga drain through the depression into the Caspian Sea.
