DPN
New amendments in wildlife trade rules enable issuing licences for certain Schedule II species Subject: Environment Section: Environmental law and Org Context: The Indian government has revised the Wild Life (Protection) Licensing (Additional Matters for Consideration) Rules 2024, providing new guidelines for issuing wildlife trade licenses. This is the first update since 1983 […]
What are ecological droughts? Subject: Geography Section: Climatology Drought impact in India: India has reported a drought at least once every three years in the last five decades. It has lost between two and five per cent of its GDP due to the impacts of drought, according to a 2022 report from the […]
Climate crisis: Drought causes mass elephant deaths in Zimbabwe game reserve Subject: Environment Section: Protected Areas Context: In the last two months of 2023, over 160 elephants and numerous other wildlife species perished in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park due to a severe drought caused by climate change, as reported by the Zimbabwe Parks […]
NISAR Mission on track for a launch soon: NASA official Subject: S&T Section: Space tech Context: The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Mission, designed to observe natural processes and changes in Earth’s complex ecosystems, is on track for an “early 2024” launch. About the Mission: The Joint Collaboration: NISAR is a Low Earth […]
Museveni regrets Indians’ expulsion by Idi Amin in 1970s Subject: IR Section: Places in news Context: Nearly 52 years after Ugandan dictator Idi Amin expelled the Indian community from Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni acknowledged the decision as a mistake and expressed gratitude for the Indian community’s contributions to Uganda. This rare expression of […]
Daily Prelims Notes 21 January 2024 Table Of Contents India-Myanmar border will be fenced like that of Bangladesh, Centre reconsidering Free Movement Regime: Amit Shah Israeli strike on Damascus kills 4 Iranian Revolutionary Guards Iran launches ‘Sorayya’ satellite into 750 km orbit, its highest yet What are labour rules for workers abroad? From […]
Either a massive neutron star or low-mass black hole found Subject: S&T Section: Space tech In the news: Researchers who used a telescope in South Africa reported the discovery of an object in the Milky Way that could either be the most massive — mass between 2.09 and 2.71 solar masses — neutron […]
Urbanisation in Bhubaneshwar impacts winter temperatures Subject: Geography Section: Climatology Context: Bhubaneswar, a tier-II city in Odisha, exemplifies rapid urbanization and warming trends, with a 166% increase in built-up area from 2004-2015 and a 0.68C temperature rise in the last two decades, especially pronounced in newly urbanized peripheries. Details: The ministerial meeting at […]
Wetland ‘nature tourism’ gets a fillip Subject: Environment Section: Ecosystem In the news: The Central government has embarked on a mission to promote tourism at ecologically sensitive wetlands better known as Ramsar sites. Details: The focus would be to shift these fragile wetlands from high-value tourism to nature tourism by directly supporting conservation […]
Why are conflicts spreading in West Asia? Subject: IR Section: Places in news Context: West Asia is in flux which started as a direct military confrontation between Israel and Hamas has snowballed into a regional security crisis. Hezbollah, Kataib Hezbollah, Hashad al Shabi, Houthis, Iran, Pakistan and the United States are all now part of an expanding conflict theatre. What initiated the Israel-Palestine conflict? The Palestinian group Hamas […]