The Hindu Analysis 3
rd
January 2021)
Important articles
For Prelims
The Hindu Page No.
1. Assam throws a lifeline to its only Ramsar site (Environment)
1
2. Experts suggest ways to reduce hazards posed by birds to flights (Environment)
8
3. Woolly rhino from the Ice Age found in Russia (Environment)
11
4. Chhau dance (Art & Culture)
Magazine (page 3)
5. Covaxin gets expert panel nod (COVID-19)
8
Key points:
• The Kamrup (Metropolitan) district administration has prohibited community fishing in Deepor Beel, a wetland on the south-western edge of Guwahati and Assam’s only Ramsar site.
• The prohibition order under Section 144 of the Cr.P.C. underlines the possibility of community fishing on January 3 and will remain beyond the mid-January Magh or Bhogali Bihu that is preceded by mass fishing in many parts of the State.
• Officials said the order was necessary to prevent fishing, excavation and construction in and around the wetland that has been shrinking over the years.
• Deepor Beel was designated a Ramsar site in 2002 for sustaining a range of aquatic life forms besides 219 species of birds. A Ramsar site is a wetland designated to be of international importance under the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar.
• Satellite imagery has revealed that its area has shrunk by at least 35% since 1991.
• Expansion of the city, encroachment upon the natural channels through Guwahati and from the hills around, and a municipal waste dump at Boragaon almost on the edge of the wetland were the other factors.
• Habitat management of birds, preventing breeding inside airports and discou- raging people from dumping waste near airports and air-fields can reduce hazards posed by birds to aircraft,
a publication by theSalim Ali Centre For Ornithology and Natural History (SACON)(headquarters are at Anaikatti, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India) points out. “Best Practices for Mitigation of the Hazards Posed by Birds to Aircraft” recommendations:
• Location-specific habitat management information is needed to reduce the number of bird-aircraft conflicts.The habitat management is aimed at reducing the attractiveness of sites for challenging bird species by reducing the availability of food, water, cover and roosting sites.
• The document states that water flows related to irrigation and water stagnation of any type should be prevented.
• It says that ornithological training for the Air Traffic Control ( ATC) staff focussing on problematic birds would help them take adequate decision. • The experts also recommend that a database be prepared of all bird species in the 10 km radius of airports.
• They suggest that there is a need for awareness creation and public participation in reducing the hazards posed by birds. • Feeding of birds by people close to airports (within a radius of 2 km) should be discouraged and stopped.
• The scientists also call for discouraging slaughterhouses and dumping of waste very close to airports to avoid carnivorous birds such as kites. • To stop crows, food waste dumping areas around the airport must be relocated, while water stagnation should be cleared to keep away pigeons.
• To keep water fowls and water birds away from airports, the document calls for filing areas near the runway where water stagnates with earth and cover the banks of water bodies with
Key points:
• A well-preserved Ice Age woolly rhino with many of its internal organs still intact has been
recovered from permafrost in Russia's extreme north.
• It’s among the best-preserved specimens of the Ice Age animal found to date. The carcass has most of its soft tissues still intact, including part of the intestines, thick hair and a lump of fat. Its horn was found next to it.
• Recent years have seen major discoveries of mammoths, woolly rhinos, Ice Age foal, and
cave lion cubs as the permafrost increasingly melts across vast areas of Siberia because of global warming.
• Scientists dated the carcass as anywhere from 20,000- to 50,000-years- old.
• The carcass was found on the bank of the Tirekhtyakh river in the Abyisk district, close to the area where another young woolly rhino was recovered in 2014. Researchers dated that specimen, which they called Sasha, at 34,000 years old.
Key points:
• The word ‘Chhau’ probably comes from chhauni (camp), and the art form
was arguably invented to keep foot soldiers war-ready.
• The martial movements and mock fights subsequently took the shape of
dance, becoming popular in the Chota Nagpur Plateau region.
• Apart from Purulia Chhau, there are two other variants, Mayurbhanj and Seraikella Chhau, which are practised in Odisha and Jharkhand respectively.
• The mask is the defining feature of Purulia Chhau, differentiating it from its two other branches. Though Seraikella Chhau does use masks, they are
simpler, with none of the pomp of these.
• With stories taken from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas, the dance dramas celebrate the triumph of good over evil. In these pandemic times, Chhau has even been used to spread awareness about COVID-19.
• These days, Chhau festivals are held through the year and dancers are called to perform on national and international stages.
• And, in another development, women dancers have entered this male domain, with all women troupes sharply on the rise.
Practice Prelims MCQ
Q. Consider the following statements about Chhau dance form:
1. It is popular in Chota Nagpur Plateau region.
2. Mask is defining feature of Chhau dance.
3. Only male members participate in Chhau dance.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 2
c) 2 and 3
Key points:
• Indigenous COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Covaxin,
developed by Bharat Biotech, was recommended for “restricted use in emergency situation, subject to multiple regulatory conditionalties” by the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.
• The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) will take a final call on approving the roll-out of the vaccine in the country.
Key points:
• Free COVID-19 vaccination will be provided to three crore healthcare and
frontline workers in the first phase of vaccination, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday while taking stock of the nation-wide vaccination dry run conducted in 286 session sites spread across 125 districts.
• The Minister added that details of 27 crore priority beneficiaries - those above 50 years of age and those below it having co-morbidities - is also being finalised.
