About Great Indian Bustard: 

• It is a bustard found on the Indian subcontinent. 
• It is among the heaviest of the flying birds.
• Habitat: It inhabits dry grasslands and scrublands.
• Distribution: It is found mainly in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan that holds about 100 individuals. Also found in the arid regions of Maharashtra (Solapur), Karnataka (Bellary and Haveri) and Andhra Pradesh (Kurnool)
• Features:
  • It is a large bird with a horizontal body and long, bare legs, giving it an ostrich-like appearance. 
  • The sexes are roughly the same size, with the largest individuals weighing 15 kg (33 pounds). 
  • It can easily be distinguished by its black crown on the forehead, contrasting with the pale neck and head.
  • The body is brownish, and the wings are marked with black, brown, and grey.
  • They breed mostly during the monsoon season, when females lay a single egg on open ground. 
  • Lifespan: 12-15 years
• These birds are opportunistic eaters. Their diet ranges widely depending on the seasonal availability of food. They feed on grass seeds, insects like grasshoppers and beetles, and sometimes even small rodents and reptiles.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN: Critically Endangered
  • Wildlife (Protection)Act,1972: Schedule 1
  • CITES: Appendix 1

Q1: What is the International Union for Conservation of Nature?

It is a global organization composed of governments, NGOs, scientists, and experts dedicated to conserving nature and promoting sustainability. Its primary role involves assessing the conservation status of species, providing data and analysis on the state of biodiversity worldwide, and offering guidance and frameworks for conservation efforts.

Source: Just 150 left, glimmer of hope for great Indian bustard after first-ever artificial insemination birth in Jaisalmer

About Abhay Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC):

• It is built by India's leading shipbuilding and repairing company, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE).
• This vessel is the seventh in an eight-ship ASW SWC series, an initiative from a 2019 contract between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and GRSE. 
  • These ships are being designed with over 80 percent indigenous content.
  • Designed for anti-submarine operations in coastal waters, these advanced craft are also capable of Low-Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO) and mine-laying activities, enhancing the Navy’s operational reach and defensive capabilities along India’s coastlines.
  • These 77-meter-long, 10-meter-wide warships are engineered for powerful subsurface surveillance in coastal waters.
  • They can track various surface and underwater targets and conduct coordinated anti-submarine operationswith aircraft.
  • The ASW SWCs are compact, waterjet-propelled vessels capable of reaching speeds up to 25 knots, providing agility and swift response in tactical situations.
  • Equipped with an advanced anti-submarine warfare suite, these ships carry lightweight torpedoes, ASW rockets, and mines, making them formidable assets for coastal defence. 
  • They are armed with a 30 mm Close-in Weapon System (CIWS) and 12.7 mm Stabilized Remote-Control Guns, ensuring a robust defence against aerial and surface threats. 
  • The ships are fitted with a Hull-Mounted Sonar and Low-Frequency Variable Depth Sonar for comprehensive underwater surveillance, enhancing their detection and engagement capabilities in anti-submarine operations.

Q1: What are torpedoes?

A torpedo is a type of missile or bomb fired underwater. Torpedoes are cigar-shaped projectiles that are used to attack other submarines or boats. The word torpedo comes from the name of a kind of electric ray that numbs you with its sting (torpediniformes). Torpedoes can also be used to attack a target on land.

Source: Another milestone for Indian Navy: Seventh anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft launched

About Triton Island:

• It is a tiny island that’s part of the Paracel Islands chain located in the South China Sea.
• It covers a tiny area of about 1.2 square kilometers and is situated southwest of the main islands in the group.
• The island is approximately 4,000 feet long by 2,000 feet wide and, until recently, was completely uninhabited. 
• The Paracel Islands are claimed by multiple countries, primarily China, Vietnam, and Taiwan, as part of their territorial waters, making the region politically sensitive.
• Although Triton Island is uninhabited, it plays a strategic role due to its location in the South China Sea, an area known for its rich fishing grounds and potential oil and gas reserves.

Key Facts about South China Sea:

• It is an arm of the western Pacific Ocean that borders the Southeast Asian mainland.
• Boundaries: It is bordered by China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Vietnam.
• It is connected by the Taiwan Strait with the East China Sea and by the Luzon Strait with the Philippine Sea (both marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean).
• The South China Sea and the East China Sea together form the China Sea.
• The two major archipelagos are known as the Paracel Islands, controlled by China, and the Spratly Islands.
• Climate: Weather in the sea is tropical and largely controlled by monsoons.

Q1: What is a Strait?

It can be defined as a naturally formed narrow strip of water between two continents, islands or two larger bodies of water. It is usually used for navigational and other purposes.

Source: China “Deploys” Counter-Stealth Radar, Anti-Ship Missile Battery To Fortify Triton Island – Reports

About Coking Coal:

• Metallurgical coal, also known as met and coking coal, is a naturally occurring sedimentary rock found within the earth’s crust.
• It typically contains more carbon, less ash, and less moisture than thermal coal, which is used for electricity generation.
• It is an essential ingredient in the production of steel, making it one of the most widely used building materials on earth. 
• It is a bituminous coal with a suitable quality that allows the production of metallurgical coke, or simply named coke.
  • Coke is the main product of the high-temperature carbonisation of coking coal. 
  • It is an essential input material in steelmaking as it is used to produce pig iron in blast furnaces, acting as the reducing agent of iron ore and as the support of the furnace charge. 
  • It takes around 770 kilograms of coal to make one ton of steel, with approximately 70 percent of global steel produced in basic oxygen blast furnaces.
• The largest producers of coking coal were China (676 million tons in 2022-62%), Australia (169 million tons in 2022-15%), Russia (96 million tons in 2022-9%), USA (55 million tons-5%), and Canada (34 million tons-3%). 

Q1: What is pig iron?

Pig iron is an intermediate product and first product of Iron making reduced from Iron ore. Pig iron has a very high carbon content, typically 3.5–4.5%, along with silica, Manganese, Sulphur, Phosphorus, Titanium and other trace elements. It is obtained directly from the blast furnace and cast in molds.

Source: India’s coking coal imports surge to six-year high

About Benog Wildlife Sanctuary:

• Location: It is situated about 11 kilometers from Mussoorie, a popular hill station in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand.
• It was established in the year 1993 and is named after the highest peak in the area, Benog Hill, which rises to a height of 2,250 meters above sea level.
• It is a part of Rajaji National Park.
• It is located on a pine-clad slope and is surrounded by snowcapped peaks of the Himalayan ranges.
• Aglar River, a tributary of the Yamuna River flows through the sanctuary.
• Flora:
  • It is home to a variety of plant species, including oak and rhododendron forests.
  • It is surrounded by benedictory pines, old cedar trees, and medicinal plants that grow in large amounts in this area. 
• Fauna:
  • It is home to a variety of rare and common fauna, like the Himalayan goat, panther, leopard, deer, and bear.
  • The place is known for the rare species of birds that habitat in its area. The sanctuary is home to several species of exotic birds, such as the White Capped Water Red start and the Red Billed Blue Magpie, to name a few. 

Q1: Which are the main tributaries of the Yamuna River?

It is the longest river in India which does not directly flow to the sea. It has four main tributaries in the Himalayan region: Rishi Ganga, Hanuman Ganga, Tons and Giri. In the plains, the main tributaries are Hindon, Chambal, Sind, Betwa and Ken.

Source: 95 bird and 22 butterfly species spotted during 8th Uttarakhand bird festival at Benog

About 21st Livestock Census:

• The Livestock Census is conducted every five years.
• The census carries out a headcount of the number of domesticated animals, poultry, and stray animals in the country.
• The census takes into account information about the species, breed, age, sex, and ownership status of the animals in question.
• Background: Since 1919, a total of 20 livestock censuses have been carried out so far, with the last being conducted in 2019.
• The enumeration process for the 21st census will take place between October 2024 to February 2025.
• Focus of 21st Livestock Census
  • According to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, information on sixteen animal species will be collected in the 21st census. These include: cattle, buffalo, mithun, yak, sheep, goat, pig, camel, horse, ponies, mule, donkey, dog, rabbit, and elephant.
  • In total, the census will capture information on 219 indigenous breeds of these sixteen species recognised by ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR).
  • Besides these, the census will also carry out a headcount of poultry birds such as fowl, chicken, duck, turkey, geese, quail, ostrich, and emu.
• The census this time will be fully digitised, like the last one in 2019.
• This will include “online data collection through a mobile application, monitoring at various levels through a digital dashboard, capturing the latitude and longitude of data collection location, and generation of livestock census report through software.
• The 21st census will capture several new data points. These include:
  • Data on pastoral animals, pastoralists: The census will, for the first time, collect data on the contribution of pastoralists to the livestock sector, their socio-economic status, and livestock holding.
  • More details, granular information: The census will find out the proportion of households whose major income comes from the livestock sector. It will also contain data on the gender of stray cattle.

Q1: What is the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)?

ICAR is the apex body for coordinating, guiding, and managing research and education in agriculture in the entire country under the aegis of DARES, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Source: What is the livestock census? Why is it conducted?

About Flue Gas Desulphurisation:

• It is a technology to eliminate sulphur compounds from exhaust emissions.
• Flue gas is the emitted material produced when fossil fuels such as coal, oil, natural gas, or wood are burned for heat or power.
• FGD Process:
  • FGD is done through the addition of absorbents, which can remove up to 95% of the sulphur dioxide from the flue gas.
  • Substances such as ammonia or sodium sulphite are used as absorbents; however, the use of lime or limestone slurry (wet limestone scrubbing) is also widespread. 
  • The uncleaned flue gas is sprayed in a scrubber tower (absorber tower) with a mixture of water and limestone (scrubbing slurry), whereby most of the sulphur dioxide is bonded by chemical reaction.

How Sulfur dioxide impacts life?

• Sulfur dioxide is a major air pollutant which impacts all life.
• It is also a precursor of acid rain, which has significant adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters, and soils, in turn killing insect and aquatic life forms, causing paint to peel, corrosion of steel structures such as bridges, and weathering of stone buildings and statues.

Q1: What is Ammonia?

It is a colorless highly irritating gas with a sharp suffocating odor. It dissolves easily in water to form ammonium hydroxide solution which can cause irritation and burns. Ammonia gas is easily compressed and forms a clear, colorless liquid under pressure.

Source: A central meeting showed pushback against tech in power plants to reduce SO2 emissions. Here’s why it’s a bad idea

About Cybersquatting: 

• It is an act of registering or using a domain name to profit from a trademark, corporate or personal name of an individual. 
• Usually, cybersquatting is seen as a form of extortion or even as an attempt to take over business from its rival. 
• Types of Cybersquatting
  • Typosquatting: In this domains are bought with typological errors in the names of well-known brands. Examples of such misspelt domains are yajoo.com, facebok.com etc. The intention behind this act is to divert the target audience whenever they misspell a domain name.
  • Identity theft: In cases pertaining to identity theft, the website of an already existing brand is copied with the intention of confusing the target consumer.
  • Name jacking: It involves impersonating a well-known name/ celebrity in cyberspace. Instances of name jacking would include creating fake websites/ social media accounts with a celebrity’s name.
  • Reverse cybersquatting: It means an event whereby a person/s falsely claims a trademark as their own and falsely accuses the domain owner of cybersquatting. In essence, this act is the opposite of cybersquatting.
• In India, there are no specific laws that condemn, prohibit or penalize the act of cybersquatting.
• However, domain names are considered as trademarks under the Trademark Act, 1999. Hence, any person who starts using an identical/similar domain name will be held liable for trademark infringement as described under Section 29 of the Trademark Act, 1999.

Q1: What is Phishing?

It refers to an attempt to steal sensitive information, typically in the form of usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, bank account information or other important data in order to utilize or sell the stolen information.

Source: JioHotstar domain impasse: What is Cybersquatting? Is it punishable in India?

About Pandemic Fund Project: 

• It is a $25 Million initiative funded by the G20 Pandemic Fund.
• It is designed to enhance the country’s “animal health security” by upgrading and expanding animal health laboratories and developing laboratory networks.
• Implementation partners: The fund is to be implemented in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and to be utilised by August 2026. 
  • The Fund supports the existing initiatives of the department through enhancing disease surveillance, including genomic and environmental surveillance for early warning, laboratory infrastructure development, cross-border collaboration, and will create a more integrated system for monitoring and managing “zoonotic” diseases.
  • The Fund is also aimed at developing human capacity-building initiatives to enhance the skills and capabilities of animal health human resources.
  • It will also be used to upgrade data management systems, and enhancing analytics capabilities will enable better risk assessment, improved decision-making and more effective communication strategies related to animal health risks.
  • The project hopes to strengthen institutional capacity at both national and regional levels by supporting the development of a disaster management framework for the livestock sector.

Q1: What is the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)?

It is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. It is the oldest permanent specialized agency of the UN, established in October 1945.

It has mandate to improve nutrition, increase agricultural productivity, raise the standard of living in rural populations, and contribute to global economic growth.

Source: Union Minister Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh launches $25 Million Pandemic Fund Project; Aimed at Strengthening Animal Health Security in India