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Prelim Bits 31-05-2019

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May 31, 2019

Jal Shakti Ministry

  • Union government has created a new ministry, Jal Shakti to provide safe drinking water to people.
  • It has been created by reorganizing the earlier Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
  • Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has also been added to it.
  • Jal Shakti ministry will ensure clean water and top class irrigation water facilities for the farmers.

UN- Habitat Assembly

  • The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development.
  • UN-Habitat was established in 1978 and maintains its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya.
  • It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
  • The first UN-Habitat Assembly was held in Nairobi, Kenya.
  • India is elected as an executive board member in the assembly.

Microbiome

  • The human microbiota is the aggregate of microorganisms (community of bacteria, viruses and fungi) that live on the skin or in the gut, nose or reproductive tract.
  • Microbiomes start forming at birth and are different depending on whether babies were born vaginally or via C-section.
  • And they change with age and different exposures, such as a course of antibiotics that can wipe out friendly bacteria along with infection-causing ones.

Heat waves

  • A heat wave is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries.
  • A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual weather in the area and relative to normal temperatures for the season.
  • Intense heat waves are becomingly increasingly frequent due to effects of climate change globally.
  • The weather forecasters declare a heatwave when maximum temperatures reach the threshold value of 40 degree Celsius in the plains and 30º C in hilly areas.
  • Indian government is yet to consider heatwaves a natural disaster.

Orangutan

  • Orangutans are not native to India, recently India’s only orangutan which was brought from Singapore was died in Nanda Kannan Zoo, Odisha.
  • Orangutans are not migratory animals and stay rooted in their area, they suffer more due to deforestation.
  • Orangutans, with distinctive red fur, are the largest arboreal mammal, spending most of their time in trees.
  • According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), there are three species of orangutans — Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli.
  • Identified as the third species of orangutan in November 2017 is the Tapanuli orangutan.
  • All three kinds of orangutans are listed as “Critically Endangered” by the United Nations-affiliated International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

 

Source: The Hindu, Indian Express, Down to Earth

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