Daily News Discussion (DND) 1st March 2021 Visit our website www.sleepyclasses.com or our YouTube channel for entire GS Course FREE of cost Also Available: Prelims Crash Course || Prelims Test Series T.me/SleepyClasses Table of Contents 1. Geography ...............................................................................................................1 1.1.This February among hottest in the Capital since 1901 .............................................1 2. Polity .........................................................................................................................3 2.1.In Nagaland, an itch for reviving prickly cages for offenders .....................................3 3. Environment ...........................................................................................................4 3.1.Elephant traders held in Mumbai ......................................................................................4 3.2.Eviction of Prawn gherries at Chilka .................................................................................5 4. Security & International Relations .................................................................7 4.1.Surya Kiran Aerobatics Team (SKAT) ................................................................................7 5. Science & Technology ..........................................................................................8 5.1.ISRO successfully launches Brazil's Amazonia 1 satellite, along with 18 other passenger satellites .................................................................................................................8 5.2.Hyderabad CSIR lab helped develop key molecule for Covaxin ................................10 T.me/SleepyClasses 1. Geography 1.1.This February among hottest in the Capital since 1901 • After a chilly winter, Delhi is now experiencing record high temperatures in the month of February • While February is hotter than normal, Delhi experienced the most number of cold wave days in more than ten years in January. There were as many as seven cold wave days in January, which were the most in the month since 2008. • According to the experts, the weather pattern in the last few months has a lot to do with the lack of western disturbances during the season. These western disturbances make it possible that the maximum and minimum temperatures in the region do not reach an extreme number, as they are known to regulate the temperature. • The IMD suggests that there were fewer western disturbances, with only one witnessed in January and one thus far in February. • However, after March 2, a fresh western disturbance likely to affect western Himalayan region that is likely to decrease temperature About Western Disturbance • It is an extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that brings sudden winter rain to the north-western parts of the Indian sub-continent. It is a non-monsoonal precipitation pattern driven by the westerlies. • Extratropical storms are a global phenomenon with moisture usually carried in the upper atmosphere, unlike their tropical counterparts where the moisture is carried in the lower atmosphere. In the case of the Indian subcontinent, moisture is sometimes shed as rain when the storm system encounters the Himalayas. Formation • Western Disturbance originates in the Mediterranean Sea as extra-tropical cyclones. A high-pressure area over Ukraine and neighbourhood consolidates, causing the intrusion of cold air from Polar Regions towards an area of relatively warmer air with high moisture. • This generates favourable conditions for cyclogenesis in the upper atmosphere, which promotes the formation of an eastward-moving extratropical depression. They gradually travel across the middle- east from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan to enter the Indian sub-continent. Impact • Plays important role in bringing moderate to heavy rain in low-lying areas and heavy snow to mountainous areas of the Indian Subcontinent. • This disturbance is usually associated with cloudy sky, higher night temperatures and unusual rain. This precipitation has great importance in agriculture, particularly for the Rabi crops. Wheat among them is one of the most important crops, which helps to meet India’s food security. www.sleepyclasses.com Available on App Store 1 Call 6280133177 and Play Store T.me/SleepyClasses • Excessive precipitation due to this disturbance can cause crop damage, landslides, floods and avalanches. Over the Indo-Gangetic plains, it occasionally bring cold wave conditions and dense fog. These conditions remain stable until disturbed by another western disturbance. When western disturbances move across northwest India before the onset of monsoon, a temporary advancement of monsoon current appears over the region. Available on App Store www.sleepyclasses.com 2 and Play Store Call 6280133177 T.me/SleepyClasses 2. Polity 2.1.In Nagaland, an itch for reviving prickly cages for offenders • It is made of logs of a tree that irritates the pores and skin, these cages are prescribed by customary legal guidelines for shaming law-breakers. • Such itchy cages are known as khujli ghar in Nagamese — a pidgin lingua franca — however every Naga group has its personal identify. The Aos, one of many main tribes of Nagaland, name it Shi-ki meaning flesh-house. • The cage is often positioned at a central spot within the village, often in entrance of the morung or bachelor’s dormitory, for the inmate to be in full public view. • The cage is made of the logs of Masang-fung • A prickly cage often accommodates one offender —invariably a male — who barely has area to take a seat for 24 hours or greater than every week, relying on the gravity of the offence. He could be fed by family members periodically and let loose to reply nature’s name throughout the punishment time period. • The khujli ghar too used to be common until lock-ups came up in police stations to house the offenders and some forms of punishment began clashing with those prescribed by Constitutional laws • Article 371(A) of the Constitution ensures the preservation of the Naga customary legal guidelines. The State additionally funds the customary courts in villages and cities the place circumstances — principally coping with land litigation, money-lending and marital disputes — have a excessive charge of immediate disposal. www.sleepyclasses.com Available on App Store 3 Call 6280133177 and Play Store T.me/SleepyClasses 3. Environment 3.1.Elephant traders held in Mumbai • After a four-month search, forest officials accused V. from Kollam district in Kerala on charges of wildlife offenses, including elephant trade. Shaji is arrested. About Asian Elephant • Asian Elephants: There are three subspecies of Asian elephant which are the Indian, Sumatran and Sri Lankan. • Global Population: Estimated 20,000 to 40,000. • The Indian subspecies has the widest range and accounts for the majority of the remaining elephants on the continent. • There are around 28,000 elephants in India with around 25% of them in Karnataka. • IUCN Red List Status: Endangered. • Wildlife protection Act 1972: Schedule I About Wildlife Crime control Bureau • 2007-Statutory body. WLPA 1972 (MoEF) • HQ- New Delhi • Regional offices – Delhi , Kolkata , Mumbai , Chennai , Jabalpur (MP) • Goal – To combat organised wildlife crime. Function • Collect intelligence about organised wildlife crime activities. • Establish Centralised organised crime data bank. • Advise govt on wildlife crime issues. • Operation Wildnet- To drag attention of enforcement agencies to focus attention on increasing illegal wildlife crime over internet. Wildlife protection act 1972 • There are six schedules provided in the Wildlife Protection Act. Schedule I • This Schedule covers endangered species. • These species need rigorous protection and therefore, the harshest penalties for violation of the law are under this Schedule. • Species under this Schedule are prohibited to be hunted throughout India, except under threat to human life. • Absolute protection is accorded to species on this list. Available on App Store www.sleepyclasses.com 4 and Play Store Call 6280133177 T.me/SleepyClasses • The Trade of these animals is prohibited. • Examples: tiger, blackbuck, Himalayan Brown Bear, Brow-Antlered Deer, Blue whale, Common Dolphin, Cheetah, Clouded Leopard, hornbills, Indian Gazelle, etc Schedule II • Animals under this list are also accorded high protection. • Their trade is prohibited. • They cannot be hunted except under threat to human life. • Examples: Kohinoor (insect), Assamese Macaque, Bengal Hanuman langur, Large Indian Civet, Indian Fox, Larger Kashmir Flying Squirrel, Kashmir Fox, etc Schedule III and IV • This list is for species that are not endangered. • This includes protected species but the penalty for any violation is less compared to the first two schedules. • Examples: hyena, Himalayan rat, porcupine, flying fox, Malabar tree toad, etc Schedule V • This schedule contains animals that can be hunted. • Examples: mice, rat, common crow, fruit bats, etc. Schedule VI • This list contains plants that are forbidden from cultivation. • Examples: pitcher plant, blue vanda, red vanda, kuth, etc. 3.2.Eviction of Prawn gherries at Chilka • Odisha government has started evicting illegal prawn enclosures in chilka lake to improve health of asia’s largest brackish water lagoon. About Chilka lake • Chilika is Asia's largest and world's second largest lagoon • t lies on the east coast of India in the state of Odisha, separated from the