ANSWER: A

ANSWER: B

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: C

• Kelp Forests are declining because of climate change, showed a new study.
• Due to this, the unique adaptive or evolutionary genetic diversity that the rear-edge populations (populations in warm, low-latitudes) may contain is also under threat due to rapid warming.

According to Study

• Ecklonia radiata,a dominant kelp species in the southern hemisphere, is vulnerable to climate change, especially in regions near the equator.
• Rising temperatures are causing declines in the species along the eastern Australian coastline and it is expected to decline further in the future globally.
• In situ protection may not be possible but its unique genetic diversitycan be preserved through ex situ preservation in culture banks for use in future restoration, hybridization, or adaptation strategies.

About

• Kelp forests— underwater ecosystems formed in shallow water by the dense growth of several different species known as kelps
  • Kelps are large brown algae that live in cool,relatively shallow waters close to the shore.
  • They attach to the seafloor and eventually grow to the water’s surface and rely on sunlight to generate food and energy,kelp forests are always coastal and require shallow, relatively clear water.

Importance:

• Kelp forests provide underwater habitats to hundreds of species of invertebrates, fishes, and other algae and have great ecological and economic value.
  • It serves as a pertinent food source for a variety of marine creatures.Kelps are responsible for producing up to 60% of the carbon found in coastal invertebrates.
  • As a diverse invertebrate and fish ecosystem,they serve as a habitat for birds to forage.
  • It releases carbon into the coastal ecology, increasing its productivity.New biomass, detritus, and other materials are produced through primary production by kelp.
• Loss of kelp forests will also lead to a decline of the unique biodiversity that they support, the researchers wrote in the paper.

ANSWER: C

• According to a 2020 report published by the Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India, there are around 5 million peoplein India living with dementia.
  • Worldwide, 47.5 million people have dementia.
  • The number of people living with dementia worldwide is expected to double every 20 years, going up to 135.5 million by 2050.
• Dementia:
  • Dementia is a clinical syndrome caused by a range of diseases or injuries to the brain.
  • The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease.
  • It is implicated in up to 70% of dementia diagnoses.
• Early Symptoms:
  • Absent-mindedness, difficulty recalling names and words,
  • difficulty retaining new information, disorientation in unfamiliar surroundings, and reduced social engagement; Impairment in recognising visually presented objects (visual agnosia) despite a normal visual field, acuity and colour vision, word-finding difficulties (anomic aphasia).
• AdvancedSymptoms:
  • Marked memory loss and loss of other cognitive skills,
  • reduced vocabulary and less complex speech patterns.
  • monosyllabic speech,
  • psychotic symptoms,
  • behavioral disturbance,
  • loss of bladder and bowel control, and reduced mobility.
• Prevention:
  • The WHO has identified preventing Alzheimer’s diseaseto be a key element in the strategy to fight the world’s dementia epidemic.
  • Economic analyses have found that delaying the onset of the disease by even one year could reduce its prevalence by 11%, while a delay of five years could halve it.
  • Prevention programmes usually focus on lifestyle risk factors– such as sedentary behaviour, unhealthy diet, smoking, and excessive alcohol use – together with mental wellbeing and risk of cardiovascular diseases.

ANSWER: B

• Red Headed vulture was spotted in India after a gap of 2 decades in Delhi’s Bhatti mines.
• Red-headed vulture is also known as Asian King Vulture or Pondicherry Vulture.
• It was extensively found in the Indian Subcontinent but their population was drastically reduced by diclofenac poisoning.
• IUCN Status: Critically Endangered Species.
• Scientific name: Sarcogyps calvus.

Noble’s Helen Butterfly

• Noble’s Helen, a swallowtail butterfly disappearing from its previously known ranges has been sighted in India for the first time.
• Species was recorded at Namdapha National Park of Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Park is named after Namdapha river that flows in a North-South direction of Park.
• Butterflies are considered vital indicators representing state of biodiversity and key ecosystem functions.
• Distribution: Myanmar, Yunnan and Hubai regions of China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

 ANSWER: A

• Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has established three Grievance Appellate Committees (GAC) under rule 3A of IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
• Composition of GACs
  • Each GACs consists of a chairperson as Ex-officio, and two whole-time members (one is retired member) for a term of three years from the date of assumption of office or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• First GAC– Headed by Chief Executive officers of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Second GAC– Chaired by Joint Secretary in charge of policy and administration division in Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• Third GAC– Chaired by a senior scientist at MeitY.
• Role of GACs
  • Oversee and revoke content moderation-related decisions taken by social media and other internet-based platforms.
  • If a user is unsatisfied with content moderation decision taken by a social company’s grievance officer, they can appeal to GACs within one month. GAC will have to resolve the appeal within a month of receipt of appeal.
  • Committees can seek assistance of people with expertise and experience while dealing with users’ appeals.
  • They will adopt an online dispute resolution mechanism.

ANSWER: B

• It grows widely in Manipur and other north-eastern regions.
• Flowers of heimang tree are used as food and medicine.
• They can be used for common Gastrointestinal ailments purposes and urinary ulcers.
• Other parts of the heimang tree such as its leaves (including abnormal growths or galls on them), roots, stem, and bark are also found to have preventive and therapeutic effects.
• Local communities in state use heimang leaves to prepare herbal shampoo called chinghi by boiling them with rice water.
• Despite its extraordinary versatility, heimang has not yet found widespread commercial use.

ANSWER: A

• The northern states and UTs recorded low sex ratio at birth (SRB) during 2021-22.
• As per a Health Management Information System (HMIS) report released by the government recently, only Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh in the region have recorded a higher SRB than the national average. Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi have registered lower SRB than the national average.
• Even Himachal, J&K and Ladakh are not much above the national average of 934. While Ladakh recorded the highest SRB of 943 in the region, Himachal and J&K followed at the second and third place with 941 and 940, respectively.
• Meanwhile, Punjab (928), Delhi (924), Haryana (920) and Chandigarh (892) are among the 11 states and UTs having lower SRB than the national average. Chandigarh, in fact, is placed just above the last-placed Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
• Chandigarh, in fact, witnessed a huge drop in SRB during 2021-22 as compared to the previous year. In 2020-21, the SRB in Chandigarh was 941, which dropped by 49 points to 892 in 2021-22. The other northern state and UT in the region to register a drop in SRB are Ladakh and Haryana. While Ladakh’s SRB dropped from 973 to 943, it dipped to 920 from 927 in case of Haryana.
• The situation calls for stricter implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act.
  • The Act prohibits prenatal sex determination to promote gender equality.

ANSWER: D

• The Mugla Vikas Samiti of Chamba town has urged the district administration to focus on the conservation of all five chowgans of the town.
• Samiti president in a representation submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, had said that keeping in view their importance, the government had declared five Chowgans as ‘heritage sites’.
• So, the seriousness of the cause should be demonstrated and planting of ‘drub’, a local grass, be ensured so that their pristine glory is restored.
• These five Chowgans are lungs and heart of the town. Chamba is known for the beauty of Chowgans.
• Minjar fair every year is held here every year.
• Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner maintained that the Chowgan number one had been closed for all activities during the winter till the middle of April to ensure its conservation. Efforts were being made to take out weeds so that ‘drub’ was not overpowered by these weeds.

 ANSWER: C

ANSWER: C

 ANSWER: C