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iasshikshalove · 5 years ago

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Daily Current Affairs 26th March 2020

Today’s Important Topic’s For UPSC Preparation

1. UNDISTURBED MASS NESTING OF OLIVE RIDLEYS AT RUSHIKULYA.

2. SAUDI KING TO CHAIR G20 VIRTUAL SUMMIT.

3. WHITE HOUSE, CONGRESS AGREE ON $2 TRILLION VIRUS RESCUE BILL.

4. FINANCE MINISTER WRITES TO RBI FOR RELAXING FARM LOAN NPA NORMS.

5. UNDERSTANDING PM GARIB KALYAN RELIEF PACKAGE.

UNDISTURBED MASS NESTING OF OLIVE RIDLEYS AT RUSHIKULYAOLIVE RIDLEY SEA TURTLE:Scientific Name: Lepidochelys olivaceaConservation Status: Vulnerable

Olive ridley sea turtle also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle.

The species is the second smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.

It is found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, but also in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

This turtle and the related Kemps ridley turtle are best known for their unique mass nesting called arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.

Though found in abundance, their numbers have been declining over the past few years, and the species is recognized as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red list and schedule 1 in wild life protection Act,1972.

The Olive ridley gets its name from its olive colored carapace, which is heart-shaped and rounded.

They are carnivores, and feed mainly on jellyfish, shrimp, snails, crabs, molluscs and a variety of fish and their eggs. These turtles spend their entire lives in the ocean, and migrate thousands of kilometers between feeding and mating grounds in the course of a year.

Threat:

Olive-ridleys face serious threats across their migratory route, habitat and nesting beaches, due to human activities such as turtle unfriendly fishing practices, development and exploitation of nesting beaches for ports, and tourist centres.

Though international trade in these turtles and their products is banned under CITES Appendix I, they are still extensively poached for their meat, shell and leather, and their eggs, though illegal to harvest, have a significantly large market around the coastal regions.

Most severe threat they face is the accidental killing of adult turtles through entanglement in trawl nets and gill nets due to uncontrolled fishing during their mating season around nesting beaches.

Increase in plastic waste in oceans.

Major Nesting Sites in India:Gahirmatha Beach, Odisha:

Gahirmatha beach of Odisha is largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley turtles in India. The beach is now now a part of the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary surrounded by mangroves forest and best place in India to spot Olive Ridley Sea Turtles.

Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary is very popular tourist attraction of Odisha, located in Bhitarkanika Mangroves and home to Olive ridley turtles, Indian python, King cobra, saltwater crocodile and water monitor.

Rushikulya River Mouth, Odisha:

The river flows from the Daringbadi hill station and meets the Bay of Bengal at Puruna Bandha in Ganjam, create Rushikulya river beach estuary. The mouth of the Rushikulya river is another best sites of olive ridley sea turtles in India and beach in Odisha.

Devi River Mouth, Odisha:

Devi river is a distributaries of Mahanadi that joins Bay of Bengal and the river mouth serves as a nesting ground for olive ridley sea turtles in Odisha during their breeding season. Rambha is another notified area in Odisha known to be a nesting site.

Marina Beach, Chennai:

Marina beach of Chennai is the longest natural urban beach in India, Also one of the most crowded beaches of South India. The beach and its rich ecosystem is a protected site for olive ridley turtle nests especially along the Neelankarai section of the beach.

Velas Beach, Ratnagiri:

Velas beach of Ratnagiri is not only home to turtles but the mangroves surrounded by coconut trees and a famous ecotourism place in Maharashtra where you can see endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles.

Cites:

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, often referred to as CITES also known as Washington Convention.

It is an agreement between governments that regulates the international trade of wildlife and wildlife products—everything from live animals and plants to food, leather goods, and trinkets.

It came into force in 1975 with the goal of ensuring that international trade does not threaten the survival of wild plants and animals.

There are about 5,800 species of animals and 30,000 species of plants protected by CITES currently.

They’re categorized into one of three appendices, depending on how at risk from trade they are.

As of June 2019, CITES had 183 party governments, which must abide by CITES regulations by implementing legislation within their own borders to enforce those regulations.

CITES was first conceived of at a 1963 meeting of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on the conservation status of wild animals and plants.

Classifications:

It classifies plants and animals according to three categories, or appendices, based on how threatened. They are.

Appendix I:

It lists species that are in danger of extinction because international trade.

It prohibits commercial trade of these plants and animals except in extraordinary situations for scientific or educational reasons.

The Asiatic lion and tigers are two species listed as Appendix I.

Appendix II species:

They are those that are not threatened with extinction but that might suffer a serious decline in number if trade is not restricted.

Their trade is regulated by permit.

American alligators are listed on Appendix II, for example.

They were overhunted through the 1960s for their skin, but their numbers are now on the rise.

CITES Appendix II listing helps ensure the alligator skin trade doesn’t become a threat again.

Appendix III species:

They are protected in at least one country that is a CITES member states and that has petitioned others for help in controlling international trade in that species.

What happens at CITES meetings?

Every two to three years, CITES parties meet at what’s called the Conference of the Parties (or “CoP”) to evaluate how the convention is being enforced.

The purpose of this two-week meeting is to consider new proposals for listing or removing species from appendices, to debate other decisions and resolutions about implementation of regulations, and to review conservation progress.

Appendix changes, the main event at the CoP, are proposed if a species is thought to need more—or less—protection from trade.

Why in News?

Restrictions in place for the COVID-19 threat are saving lakhs of Olive Ridley turtles from possible disturbance by humans, especially tourists, while they are continuing mass nesting at Odisha’s Rushikulya rookery.

According to the Forest Department’s enumeration, over 2,78,502 turtles nested at this coast.

Since Tuesday evening, over 72,142 Olive Ridleys have arrived at the beach to dig nests and lay eggs.

Day-time Nesting:

Olive Ridleys began mass nesting at the Rushikulya rookery from around 2 a.m. on March 21.

Later in the day, the unusual phenomenon of day-time mass nesting took place at the coast.

As a large number of turtles are still in the sea near this coast, mass nesting is expected to continue for some more nights.

Proper maintenance of cleanliness and provision of protection to the turtles at sea since November 2019, when the turtles mate, are major reasons for the large scale mass nesting at Rushikulya this year.

Cyclone’s Aftermath:

Cyclone Titli in October 2018, and the floods that followed, left huge piles of waste over about 8 km of the Rushikulya coast, which had to be cleaned with excavators.

It has been estimated that minute particles of waste remained, keeping Olive Ridleys away in 2019.

This year, the beach received a thorough cleaning long before the mass nesting commenced.

The Forest Department also set up 11 off-shore camps early this year to monitor the beach.

SAUDI KING TO CHAIR G-20 VIRTUAL SUMMITG-20:

The Group of 20, also called the G-20, is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 of the world’s largest economies, including those of many developing nations, along with the European Union.

Formed in 1999, the G-20 has a mandate to promote global economic growth, international trade, and regulation of financial markets.

The G-20 is a leading forum for global financial issues whose members include major developed and developing economies.

Although not a legislative body, its discussions help shape financial policy within each of its member countries.

It is worth to mention that G 20 members represent around 85% of global GDP, over 75% of global trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population.

G-20 Members:

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