Vultures in Telangana:
There is an increase in number of vultures in Bejjur forest range in Telangana mainly attributed by practice of cattle slaughter. The long billed vultures are listed under the ‘critically endangered’ category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Major reasons for decline of vultures in India:
- Presence of ‘Diclofenac’, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug in cattle.
- food scarcity as vultures do not feed on live animals and dead animals are hard to procure.
Source The Hindu – http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/vultures-thrive-in-bejjur-forest-of-telangana/article9181687.ece
Restricted sale of Airgun:
Government has ordered that sale of airgun will be only through a licensed arm dealer. These weapons were being used against birds, squirrels or dogs which is against animal rights.
Government set to amend FCR rules:
The Ministry of Home Affairs is planning to amend the Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules making it mandatory for all voluntary organisations to have dedicated accounts only in banks with core banking facilities for their real-time access.
There are around 33,000 NGOs registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. However, at least 6,000 of them do not have their FCRA accounts in banks with core banking facilities. Many have their FCRA accounts in cooperative banks or State governments-owned apex banks.
Importance/Need:
- This would allow the security agencies to access the accounts on real-time basis.
- It will ensure that no NGO is allowed to get foreign funds under the prior permission category more than once.
Source The Hindu – http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/centre-to-amend-rules-on-foreign-funding/article9181035.ece
Cell recycling:
Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan won the Nobel Medicine Prize for his pioneering work on autophagy — a process whereby cells “eat themselves” — which when disrupted can cause Parkinson’s and diabetes.
A fundamental process in cell physiology, autophagy is essential for the orderly recycling of damaged cell parts and understanding it better has major implications for health and disease, including cancer. It was de Duve who coined the term “autophagy”, which comes from the Greek meaning self-eating.
Mr. Ohsumi’s discoveries have led to a new paradigm in the understanding of how the cell recycles its content. Mr. Ohsumi’s findings opened the path to understanding the importance of autophagy in many physiological processes, such as how the body adapts to starvation or responds to infection.
Source The Hindu – http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/japanese-researcher-wins-nobel-for-work-on-cell-recycling/article9181679.ece