Current Affairs May 2019 - Environment
1 - Yeti’s footprints sighted claims Indian Army tweet
The official Twitter account of the Indian Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information tweeted that an Indian Army mountaineering expedition team has sited mysterious footprints of mythical Himalayan creature “Yeti” measuring 32×15 inches (81 centimeters by 38centimeters) close to Makalu Base Camp, located in North-Eastern Himalayas on 09 April 2019.
2 - Country’s biggest stucco figurine unearthed in Telangana’s Phanigiri
Indian archaeologists recently unearthed a life-sized stucco sculpture from a Buddhist site at Phanigiri in Suryapet, Telangana.
As per heritage department officials it represents one of Bhodhisattva in JathakaChakra. This is the largest stucco sculpture found from India till date.
It is considered to have been built during the peak time of Ikshavaku dynasty.
3 - Bajirao, the last captive white tiger at Mumbai’s national park, dies
The last captive white tiger at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Borivali, Mumbai named Bajirao died due to old age related problems at the age of 18.
He was born at the SGNP in 2001 to tigress Renuka and tiger Sidharth.
He suffered from chronic ankylosis on left shoulderand chronic senile generalised arthritis for the last four years.
4 - 40% of amphibian species and 1 million of insect and fauna under threat: UN Report
The UN Report termed as ‘Global Assessment’, stated that, among the approximated 8 million
plant, insect and animal species, around 1 million is at risk of extinction within decades due to human activity. The report was endorsed by 130 countries, including the U.S., Russia and China.
The research study was launched in Paris by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
5 - Water found in samples taken from Asteroid Itokawa
Maitrayee Bose, Indian-origin cosmochemist along with Ziliang Jin, a postdoctoral scholar in Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration, have found water in asteroid Itokawa samples collected by the Japanese space probe Hayabusa.
The research paper detailing the analysis of five of the particles from the asteroid samples was published in the journal Science Advances.
6 - UNEP Report states that India & China tops a list of nations for illegal sand mining
According to the recent report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) titled ‘Sand and Sustainability: finding new solutions for environmental governance of global sand resources ‘.
India and China top a list of nations where illegal sand mining has become a key environmental issue.
7 - World’s 1st parent-wise genome for water buffaloes developed
Anand-based National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has developed world’s first complete parent-wise genome assembly of buffalo named “NDDB_ABRO_Murrah” of riverine buffaloes.
This comes on the back of the successful launch of a customized genotyping chip for indigenous cattle and their crosses, named INDUSCHIP.
8 - New fish species discovered that can detect wavelengths
A team of researchers led by Professor Walter Salzburger from the University of Basel, Switzerland have discovered that certain deep-sea fish have expanded their rhodopsin genes todetect various wavelengths in near-total darkness in the deep sea, the largest habitat on Earth.
This was published in the Journal of Science. One species, named silver spinyfin (Diretmus argenteus), has the maximum rhodopsin gene i.e. 38 copies.
9 - Non-venomous species of ‘rain snake’ discovered in Mizoram
A group of Taxonomists has unearthed a new non-venomous ‘rain loving’ snake species named “Smithophis atemporalis" from Mizoram in North-east India.
This was published in the taxonomic journal named Zootaxa. Varad Giri is the lead author of the paper.
10 - White-throated rail, extinct bird of 136,000 Years Ago is "Back From the Dead"
The white-throated rail (Dryolimnas cuvieri) which was extinct for more than 136,000 years reappeared on Indian Ocean Island. This new finding was published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.This is now the last species of flightless bird left in the Indian Ocean.
11 - India’s Smallest Orchids “Lecanorchis Taiwaniana” discovered in Assam
India’s Smallest Orchids named “Lecanorchis Taiwaniana”, a parasitic bloom, was discovered in Assam by a forest officer Jatindra Sarma who is a Member Secretary of State Medicinal plants Board.
It is small in terms of size as well as its tenure of bloom. The discovery was published in a Japanese Journal named Journal of Botany.
12 - Scientists of Germany found a new bird like Dinosaur "Alcmonavis Poeschli"
Researchers in Germany have unearthed a new bird-like Dinosaur in Bavaria, Germany and named it as "Alcmonavis Poeschli".
The lead author of the study is Oliver Rauhut from Ludwig-Maximilians University's (LMU) Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. This new studyis published in the journal called eLife Sciences.
