Asiatic Golden Cat
Category: Environment
- Golden is no longer the only colour the elusive Asiatic golden cat can be associated with. Its coat comes in five other shades in Arunachal Pradesh, scientists have discovered.
- The Asiatic golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) is listed as near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of threatened species.
- It is found across eastern Nepal through north-eastern India to Indonesia. Bhutan and China were known to have two morphs of the golden cat — one the colour of cinnamon and the other with markings similar to the ocelot, a small wild cat found in the Americas.
- Indian scientists) have discovered six colour morphs of the golden cat in Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh.
- The findings have contributed to an evolutionary puzzle because no other place on earth has so many colours of wild cats of the same species.
India-US Defence Pact
Category: International
- India and the US are working towards signing two more defence pacts, the Industrial Security Annexure (ISA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA) to further institutionalise defence cooperation between the two countries.
- .An ISA, which is an Annexure to the General Security Of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) between the two countries, will enable the US government and US defence companies to share classified information with Indian private defence manufacturers.
- India and the US had the GSOMIA 17 years ago, which allowed sharing of classified information from the US government and American defence manufacturers with Indian government and government-owned defence firms but not with Indian private companies.
- Signing the ISA is seen as a prerequisite for meaningful private sector participation in defence production in India, if it has to get modern technological inputs from US in a secure manner.
- With the Defence Ministry stressing Strategic Partnership model in defence manufacturing as part of Make in India, an ISA gains even greater importance.
- The US has also shared a draft of BECA, which will allow exchange of geospatial information between India and the US for both military and civilian use. Getting accurate locations will allow Indian weapons systems and military platforms to accurately hit their targets.
- BECA is the last of the three foundational agreement and the only one remaining to be signed.
- The two countries had signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in August 2016, wherein both the militaries can provide logistics support to the other side from their bases.
- Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), amended to meet Indian requirements, was signed last September at the 2+2 dialogue.
GM Crops
Category: Agriculture
- The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has sought a detailed report on the sowing of unapproved genetically modified (GM) cotton and brinjal in Maharashtra.
- In India, introduction of GM seeds requires approval of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), a body under the MoEF.
- Till date, commercial release is granted for Bt cotton, but similar approvals for Bt mustard and Bt brinjal are awaited.
- In case of cotton, the first two generations of Bt have seen introduction of ‘Cry1Ab’ and ‘Cry2Bc’ genes from the soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), into the cotton seed, which make the crop resistant to the attack of pink bollworm.
- The third generation variety saw the addition of ‘Cp4-Epsps’ gene from another soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which produces a modified protein that allows the plant to withstand herbicide glyphosate.
- Farmers are not able to spray glyphosate on normal cotton because the chemical does not distinguish between the crop and weed, but the herbicide tolerant Bt (HtBt) cotton remains unaffected by glyphosate.
