Grizzled Giant Squirrel
Category: Environment
- For the first time, researchers have sighted nests of the grizzled giant squirrel in Eastern Ghats.
- It is an endangered species listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
- The grizzled giant squirrel is usually known to nest in the Western Ghats in Southern India ranging from Chinnar Wildlife sanctuary in Kerala to Anamalai Tiger Reserve and Palani hills in Tamil Nadu.
- Owing to habitat loss and poaching, the species has been categorised as near threatened by the Red List and listed under Schedule II of CITES.
- Several diverse and endangered species including the Golden Gecko, Bamboo Pit Viper and Mouse Deer have also been spotted.
Species Extinction
Category: Environment
- Relentless pursuit of economic growth, twinned with the impact of climate change, has put an”unprecedented” one million species at risk of extinction.
- Known as the Global Assessment, the report found that up to one million of Earth’s estimated eight million plant, insect and animal species is at risk of extinction, many within decades.
- The report has been compiled by 50 countries.
- The authors identified industrial farming and fishing as major drivers with the current rate of species extinction, tens to hundreds of times higher than the average over the last 10 million years.
- Climate change caused by burning the coal, oil and gas produced by the fossil fuel industry is exacerbating the losses.
- The report found that the average abundance of native species in most major land-based habitats has fallen by at least 20%, mostly since 1900.
- The threatened list includes more than 40% of amphibian species, almost 33% of reef-forming corals, and more than a third of all marine mammals.
- The picture was less clear for insect species, but a tentative estimate suggests 10% are at risk of extinction.
Genetic study of Lakshadweep
Category: Geography
- Lakshadweep is an archipelago of 36 islands with a population of approximately 65,000.
- However, the genetic composition of the first human settlement of this archipelago is not clear.
- Genetic studies done for the first time, have shown that a majority of human ancestry in Lakshadweep is largely derived from South Asia with minor influences from East and West Eurasia.
- And, there was no evidence of early human migration through the Lakshadweep islands.
Purple Frog
Category: Environment
- Purple frog is an odd-looking species endemic to the Western Ghats.
- It has been name ‘Maveli’ or ‘Mahabali’ inspired by mythology.
- The Purple frog (Nasikabatrachussahyadrensis), which lives almost its entire life in underground tunnels, comes out to the surface for a single day in a year to breed.
- It is listed as endangered on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
- It could soon be designated as Kerala’s state amphibian – a title that is hoped would to protect it’s fragile habitat and knowing more about its rich antecedents.
- The species should be rightly called a ‘living fossil’ as it’s evolutionary roots suggest it could have shared space with dinosaurs going back almost 70 million years ago.
- The frog’s closest relatives are found in Seychelles, an island in the Indian Ocean off East Africa. This discovery led many to ask whether the species could indeed be living proof of the theory of Gondwanaland.
B2B start-ups
Category: Economy
- Business-to-business (B2B) technology start-ups have more than trebled in the last five years.
- 70% of the B2B start-ups are in the area of enterprise technology, financial technology and health technology.
- Bengaluru is the top city for B2B technology start-ups followed by Delhi NCR and Mumbai, with the three cities accounting for about 60% of all B2B technology start-ups.
SCO
Category: International
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Foreign Ministers is to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
