* Indiscriminate usage of banned Oxytocin drug on cattle is still rampant in Krishna District (Andhra Pradesh). India banned the schedule H drug, Oxytocin under Prevention of Cruelty to animal act and section 12 of Food and Drug Adulteration Prevention Act, 1960. The drug will directly disturb the reproductive system of the cattle and redues its life expectancy. "Consumption of Oxytocin-injected milk would certainly result in hormone imbalances in humans. The Health hazard is differently from person to person."
* Yamuna Biodiversity Park in Delhi comes alive on International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22. It was collaboration between the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the University of Delhi. This year the theme was 'Water and Biodiversity'. The pack has approximately 50 threatened communities of Yamuna basin and the Aravalli hills and acts as a sink for CO and other Pollutants.
* Delegations from some 140 countries have agreed to adopt a ground-breaking treaty limiting the use of health-hazardous Mercury. The world's first legally binding treaty on Mercury. This will aim to reduce global emission levels of the toxic heavy metal also known as quicksilver, which poses risks to human health and the environment. Mercury is found in products ranging from electrical switches to light-bulbs to amalgam dental fillings and even facial creams, and large amounts of the heavy metal are released from small-scale gold mining. Serious mercury poisoning affects the body's immune system and can lead to cardiovascular and respiratory tracts and poses the greatest risk to foetuses and infants.
* Using Bio-resources scientists from the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, have synthesised eco-friendly Gold Nanoparticles which could be used as carriers for delivering anti-cancer drugs and also for diagnosing the disease. It could reduce the toxicity of the anti-cancer drug, increase its efficacy and ensure better retention of the drug in the blood system.
* Cryptography as a means to counter Internet Censorship.
* Great Knot is shorebird classified as Vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
* The colour of the fur, stripes and eye of the tiger is determined independently by two types of melanin- pheomelanin and eumelanin. A change in a single amino acid in one pigmentation-related gene causes some tigers to have white fur with dark or sepia brown stripes, scientists from Beijing have found.
* Why is a large part of an iceberg under water through ice is lighter than water? Ice floats in water because it is lighter (less dense) than water, the medium in which it floats but with most part of the solid ice under water. This is simply because ice and water differ in their densities only in a small way.
* Melanoma- the deadliest form of Skin Cancer.
* The World Health Organisation (WHO) has approved a first-of-its-kind, non-surgical circumcision device to forestall the spread of AIDS. The device called PrePex is the only adult circumcision method, aside from conventional surgery, to gain WHO approval to date. The non-surgical circumcision device relies on a rubber band and was approved by the WHO recently, opening the way for its widespread use in Africa. the US has paid for more than two million circumcisions in quickly put in place by a two-nurse team. The foreskin dies from the pressure of the rubber band in a grooved ring, and drop off or is clipped off a week later, the report said. The procedures uses only topical anaesthesia and is safer than surgery.
* 5th June was declared as the "World Environment Day" on the recommendations made by UN Conference on Human Environment in 1972. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) through the celebration of World Environment Day spreads awareness and gets citizens support for environment protection across globe. The theme for this year's World Environment Day (WED) is Think, Eat, Save-Reduce our Foodprint.
* The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has included a section on disaster management in the new national conservation policy for protected monuments. The officials telling "disaster management plan should be made an important pre-requisite of the conversation plan for a monument". "Monuments and Archaeological site are increasingly being subject to a variety of hazards (natural and human-induced), exposing their vulnerability to threats and risks. It is important for all agencies concerned to be sufficiently prepared to mitigate a disaster, should it strike, and to develop mechanisms for quick response and recovery," said an official.
* One of the critically endangered bird species in the world, the move is aimed at studying this rare bird's movement and its preferred habitat. The Great Indian Bustard, one of the endangered flying bird species in the world, will soon be tracked by satellite by the Wildlife Institute of India (WWI) to understand to understand the movement of this rare bird and its preferred habitat. Great Indian Bustard is amongst one of the largest flying bird species found in the world today. It can easily be distinguished by its black crown on the forehead contrasting with the pale neck and head. "The coastal grasslands of Abdasa and Mandvi talukas of Kutch district in Gujarat support of its population. It has brownish body and wings marked with black, brown and grey, the Great Indian Bustard is listed in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of India, 1972, and its international trade is prohibited. Concerned over rapid reduction in the population of Indian Bustards, Union Ministry of Environment and Forests prepared a recovery programme in 2012, for three species of bustards- Great Indian Bustard, Bengal Florican and Lesser Florican.
* UNESCO's World Heritage Committee increased pressure on the Australian government to conserve the Great Barrier Reef. The committee gave Canberra until next year to present a plan on how to protect the reef, listed as a World Heritage site since 1981, from increasing coal and gas extraction and shipping. Failure to come up with a satisfactory plan could result in the site being placed on the "danger" list. The site encompasses the world's largest coral reef. The more than 3,000 individual reef systems and coral cays, and hundreds of tropical islands, contain an abundance of marine life.
* The World Heritage Committee granted Italy's Mount Etna World Heritage Site Status, one of the world's most active volcanoes.
* The Soft-Shell (N nigricans) turtle, a rare species found only in the tank of the Tripureswari temple in Gomati district of Tripura, is facing extinction. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had classified that specimen, popularly known as Bostami turtle, as extinct in the wild.
* In recognition of the notable contributions made by Late Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in the fields of economic planning and statistical development, the Government of India has designated 29th June every year, coinciding with his birth anniversary as the "Statistics Day" in the category of Special Day to be celebrated at the national level. The theme for this year's Statistics Day is "Labour and Employment Statistics".
* Stockholm Convention Approves alternatives to Endosulfan, the Conference of Parties COP6 in geneva is Stockholm Convention. The Conference approved as many as 100chemical alternatives to endosulfan. The approved chemical alternative include pesticides- Malathion, Pyrethrin, Carbofuran, Fipronil, Methyl parathion and Aldicarb which are used in india. Dicofol was dropped as it was considered a potential persistent Organic Pollutant.
* The 19thInternational Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer isbeing celebrated by India on 14thSeptember , 2013 . The theme of this year isA healthy atmosphere, the Future We Want.
* Measles to be eliminated from South East Asian countries by 2020: WHO (World Health Organisation) Measles is a highly infectious disease contracted by children with low immunity and can cause acute respiratory problems, diarrhoea and pneumonia. It can also result in disabilities such as visual impairment. While India has made significant improvement in reducing child mortality due to immunisation coverage, measles continues to remain a major cause of death among children, claiming between 50,000 to 100,000 lives every year. It can be prevented by a single dose of vaccine if given when the child is between nine and 12 months, but only 70% of children in the country are protected against it.
* The US and other developed nations may want India to toe their line in phasing out hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) - climate damagingrefrigerant gas. It was also stated in the joint statement that the HFC issue be dealt with at multilateral forum, based on the provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol. India and other developing countries have started switching to HFC from the ozone-depleting hydrocholorofluorocarbons (HCFC) under provisions of the multilateral Montreal Protocol which is meant for complete phase-out of production and consumption of ozone depleting substances.
* A team of U.N. inspectors has found clear and convincing evidence that a chemical weapons attack using "the nerve agent sarin" killed a large number of civilians near Damascus on 21 August. Although the teams report does not discuss who was responsible for the attack, it includes information on the rockets used to deliver the sarin that some countries say implicates the Syrian government.
* The World Rhino Day is celebrated every year on September 22. There is an urgent need for the government to adopt a National Rhino Conservation Plan for India to save the one-horned rhino, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) stressed on the occasion of World Rhino Day. There are four rhino-bearing States in India Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
* The fly ash being produced by the Narla Tatarao Thermal Power Station (NTTPS) ash contains toxic heavy metals such as like arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead, beryllium, boron, chromium, manganese, selenium, strontium, thallium and vanadium, along with dioxins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds are found in fly ash. But it is the heavy metals arsenic, mercury, cadmium and lead. The fly ash is mixed with water and pumped into huge ash tanks. The heavy metals that get into the water get leeched into the ground water because the fly ash tanks of the NTTPS are not lined, or, they end up contaminating the surface water and get into the food chain. The water is used for drinking by the people and the cattle. Contaminated grass is again consumed by the cattle and humans consume the milk. The heavy metals, particularly mercury, which are ingested faster than they are excreted, get accumulated in living tissue in small amounts acting like slow poison. The bio-accumulation of mercury causes the Minamata disease, named after the place in Japan where it first occurred due to the consumption of fish in which the concentrations of mercury were very high.
* Deepak Sandhu is First Woman Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of India. The Chief Information Commissioner is appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee led by Prime Minister which includes the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM.
* The rainforests are essential to the Survival of man been called 'Lungs of the Planet' for the role they play in absorbing Carbon di oxide (Co2) and Producing Oxygen (O2).
* The U.N. General Assembly has designated September 16th as International Day for Preservation of the Ozone Layer'. In 1987 Montreal Protocol agreement was made between 180 nations to stop making and using the Ozone-depleting gases.
* Nepal's Terai has the highest density of Bengal tiger population in the world. The Terai Arc landscape in the conservation area to the west of river Bhagmati and the east of river Yamuna. In the Nepal there are four National Parks namely Dudhwa, Chitwan, Valmiki and Bardiya.
* India ranks 141 of 162 countries in Global Peace Index, even lower than Sri Lanka because by Militarisation, Conflicts and Corruption. Europe remains in 13 of top 20 countries in GPI, this is the 7th Edition of Global Peace Index.
* Arunima is the First Indian Woman amputee to scale Mount Everest on a Prosthetic leg. She was trained by Bachendri Pal the first Indian Woman to Conquer Mount Everest.
* Rita Toto is First Woman Graduate from Toto Tribe. Toto community is present in region of north Bengal is endangered. 'Virginius Xaxa' a high-level committee to map status of tribals.
* 'Malayalam' language got Classical status and now joins with Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu are members of the Dravidian Linguistic family and Malayalam is the Fourth Classical language of south india.
* Geographical Indications (GI) for Nagpur Orange, Dharmavaram Saris and Kerala's Kaipad rice. The logo for Leather toys of Indore was also approved. The Hyderabad Biryani again has to wait for GI tag.
* Carbon di oxide effect-focus on Marine Fauna, the oceans absorb more than a quarter of carbon di oxide in the atmosphere, which dissolves in the water to Carbonic acid in water, leading to Ocean Acidification (OA). Polychaete Worms living around the Co2-rich volcanic vents off the Southern coast of Italy to higher levels of Carbonic acid.
* DimethylSulphide cools the atmosphere by reducing the amount of Solar energy reaching Earth's Surface.
* "Ug 99 Wheat rust" disease that hits the stem of a Wheat Plant. India is the Second Largest Wheat producer and consumer in the World.
* Corals spend their entire life in one place and also secrete "Calcium Carbonate" to create the most Productive Ecosystems known as 'Coral Reefs'.
* Bermuda is the only island within the Sargasso sea known for its mats of brownish "Sargassum Sea-Weed" and has the spawning place for European and American eels.
* A fungus and E.coli bacteria have been used to turn waste plant material into Isobutanol that matches gasoline's properties better than ethanol, giving off 82 per cent of the energy from gasoline, compared to ethanol's 67 per cent.
* Phenology- the study of cyclic natural phenomena related to plants and animal life.
* Caesium-134 causes Cancer this toxic radioactive substance recently found in groundwater in Fukushima Nuclear Plant and also found in Swiss lake water which is used for drinking purposes.
* Recently in Bihar mid-meals poisonous content was found which was five times more than what is found in insecticides. "Monocrotophos" is an insecticide used for agriculture purposes as well as in household insecticides. It is an Oganophosphorus compound. The Peak area of the poisonous substance in the oil was more than five times in comparison to the commercial preparations. Atropine- used as treatment for Phosphorus poisoning. Monocrotophos banned in U S because of toxicity. World Health Organisation classified it has highly hazardous substance based on its Oral toxicity.
* India is the First country in South Asia to ban the testing of cosmetics and its ingredients on animals.
* "New Danger Zone" which world entered with Earth-Warming Carbon di oxide, the level of Co2 at present 400 parts per million (ppm).
* To address adolescent anaemia the Government of India launched a Weekly Iron Folic Acid (WIFS) program from Karnataka. Each Tablet has 100mg iron and 500mg Folic acid.
* The Asiatic Lion in Gir is set to move to a new home in Kuno Wild Life Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. The Asiatic Lion is Smaller in size in comparison to the African Lion. In Asiatic Lions longitudinal fold of skin running along its belly is the most striking morphological character.
* Long billed Vulture (Gyps indicus) and Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuisrostris) Critically endangered Species of Vulture has been found inhabiting a steep cliff in the Murliguda Forests in Adilabad district of Andra Pradesh.
* The Rajaji National Park in Uttarkhand got the status of a tiger reserve. It will be the second tiger reserve in the state after the Corbett National Park. There are at present 42 tiger reserves in the country.
* Carbon di oxide (Co2) the most common greenhouse gas emitted by humans but other gases includes Black Carbon, Methane, Hydroflurocarbons (HFC) given by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Name:- Mohith S Yadav
List of References for above Article is as follows
1. www.thehindu.com
2. www. economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/developmental-issues
3. www.pib.nic.in
