Current Affairs 30/08/2015

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Contents

• Man-elephant conflict
• Project Elephant
• Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants ( MIKE ) Programme
• Ramcharitmanas
• Vitamin B9 (Folic acid)
• Africa presents $35 m opportunity for Indian IT companies: Nasscom

Man-elephant conflict

GS 3: Conservation

Causes

• Degradation of habitat.
• Proliferation of weeds such as lantana and parthenium etc.
• Habitat fragmentation and disturbances.
• Change in agricultural cropping pattern on the fringes of the forests (crops like sugarcane and banana which lure elephants).
• Low levels of quality forage.
• Proliferation of unpalatable species like lantana, and parthenium etc.
• Lack of regeneration of forage plants.
• Decline in the availability of quality water owing to diminishing rainfall over the years.

Solutions

• Weeds should be replaced by palatable species.
• Creation and maintenance of barriers to prevent elephants from entering agricultural field.
• Creation of rapid response team to manage crisis situation.
• Habitat improvement to augment fodder in forests, restoration of corridors.
• Translocation of unviable and small elephant populations to larger landscapes.
• Integrated management of home range areas of elephants, comprising both protected areas and other reserve forests to mitigate conflict situations.

Project Elephant

• Elephant (Elephas maximus)
• The status of elephant can be the best indicator of the status of the forests.
• Currently they are confined to Indian Subcontinent, South East Asia and some Asian Islands - Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia.
• About 60% of the Asian elephant population is in India.
• Current distribution of wild elephant in India is confined to South India; North East including North West Bengal; Central Indian states of Orissa, South WB and Jharkhand; and North West India in Uttarakahnd and UP.

Project Elephant (PE) was launched by the Government of India in the year 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with following objectives :

1. To protect elephants, their habitat & corridors
2. To address issues of man-animal conflict
3. Welfare of captive elephants

• Financial and Technical support are being provided to major elephant bearing States in the country.
• The Project is being mainly implemented in 16 States / UTs , viz. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal. 

Main activities under the Project

• Ecological restoration of existing natural habitats;
• Scientific and planned management for conservation of elephant habitats;
• Mitigation of man elephant conflict in crucial habitats;
• Strengthening of measures for protection of Wild elephants form poachers and unnatural causes of death;
• Research on Elephant management related issues;
• Public education and awareness programmes;
• Eco-development;
• Veterinary care;
• Elephant Rehabilitation/Rescue Centers.

Estimation of wild elephant population in the year 2007 and 2012.

• Estimated population of wild elephants in the country has increased to 29391-30711 as compared to 27657-27682 in 2007.

Elephent Reserves

• Till now 28 Elephant Reserves (ERs) have been formally notified by various State Governments.

Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants ( MIKE ) Programme

• Mandated by Conference of the Parties to CITES, MIKE program started in South Asia in the year 2003 with following purpose.

The main objectives of the MIKE are

• To measure levels and trends in the illegal hunting of elephants;
• To determine changes in these trends over time.

Mike Sites in India

• Chirang Ripu (Assam )
• Dhang Patki ( Assam )
• Eastern Dooars ( WB )
• Deomali ( Arun Pradesh )
• Garo Hills ( Meghalaya )
• Mayurbhanj ( Orissa )
• Mysore ( Karnataka )
• Nilgiri ( TN )
• Shivalik ( Uttarakhand )
• Wayanad ( Kerala )

Ramcharitmanas

GS 1: Culture - Literature

• Ramacharitamanasa, is an epic poem in Awadhi dialect of Hindi.
• Composed by the 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Goswami Tulsidas (c.1532–1623).
• The epic poem is, therefore, also referred to as Tulsikrit Ramayana.
• Ramcharitmanas literally means "Lake of the deeds of Rama".
• Ramcharitmanas made available the story of Rama to the common man to sing, meditate and perform on.
• Tulsidas was a great scholar of Sanskrit. However, he wanted the story of Rama to be accessible to the general masses and not just the Sanskrit-speaking elite.
• Tulsidas was acclaimed in his lifetime to be a reincarnation of Valmiki, the composer of the original Ramayana in Sanskrit.
• He is also considered to be the composer of the Hanuman Chalisa, a popular devotional hymn dedicated to Hanuman.
• Tulsidas spent most of his life in the city of Varanasi.

Vitamin B9 (Folic acid)

Prelims: General Science

• Vitamin B9, also called folate or folic acid, is one of 8 B vitamins.
• All B vitamins help the body convert food (carbohydrates) into fuel (glucose), which is used to produce energy.
• These B vitamins, often referred to as B-complex vitamins, also help the body use fats and protein.
• B-complex vitamins are needed for a healthy liver, and healthy skin, hair, and eyes. They also help the nervous system function properly.
• All the B vitamins are water-soluble, meaning the body does not store them.

Folic acid deficiency can cause

• Poor growth
• Tongue inflammation
• Loss of appetite
• Shortness of breath
• Diarrhea
• Mental sluggishness
• Pregnant women need more folic acid to lower the risk of neural tube birth defects

Africa presents $35 m opportunity for Indian IT companies: Nasscom

GS 1: Factors influencing the location of tertiary industry

Political Science: India and Global South

• The IT companies in India are eyeing $35 million opportunities in the burgeoning African market to expand business as they aim to reduce dependence on the U.S. and the U.K. markets.
• A lot of large infrastructure projects are coming up in Africa and hence a lot of demand will be created for IT services.

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