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1. Karnataka's king cobra, locally known as ‘Kaalinga Sarpa,’ is now officially classified as Ophiophagus kaalinga in the scientific community. King cobras were first classified as Ophiophagus hannah in 1836 by Danish naturalist Theodore Edward Cantor and underwent no genetic studies for 186 years. Recent research has reclassified the species into four distinct lineages: Ophiophagus hannah (Northern King Cobra), found from Pakistan to eastern China and Southeast Asia; Ophiophagus bungarus (Sunda King Cobra), inhabiting Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, and parts of the Philippines; Ophiophagus kaalinga (Western Ghats King Cobra), endemic to India’s Western Ghats; and Ophiophagus salvatana (Luzon King Cobra), found only on Luzon Island, Philippines. King cobras are diurnal, primarily feeding on other snakes. They are the only snakes that build and guard nests until the eggs hatch. Their venom is used in developing pain relievers like Cobroxin and Nyloxin.
2. Cloud seeding is a weather modification technique that enhances precipitation by dispersing chemicals like silver iodide, potassium iodide, or dry ice into clouds, triggering rainfall. It is being considered as a potential solution to combat severe air pollution in Delhi, where the Air Quality Index (AQI) often exceeds 450. There are different types of cloud seeding: static, dynamic, hygroscopic, and glaciogenic, each with unique methods for inducing rainfall. While cloud seeding can improve air quality temporarily by washing away pollutants, it does not address the root causes of pollution like emissions. Challenges include environmental impact (toxicity of chemicals), availability issues (need for moisture-filled clouds), and high costs (Delhi's cloud seeding effort would cost Rs 13 crore). Despite providing short-term relief, its long-term effectiveness is uncertain.
3. Recently, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) announced the winners of the National Gopal Ratna Awards (NGRA) 2024 under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM), which were presented on National Milk Day (26th November 2024). These awards are among the highest honors in the livestock and dairy sectors. The award categories include Best dairy farmer rearing indigenous cattle/buffalo breeds, Best Artificial Insemination Technician (AIT), and Best dairy cooperative, milk producer company, or dairy farmer producer organisation. In 2024, special awards for the North Eastern Region (NER) were introduced. The Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM), launched in 2014, focuses on conserving and developing indigenous breeds under the National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development (NPBBDD). NPBBDD has two main components: the National Programme for Bovine Breeding (NPBB), which works on the conservation and development of indigenous breeds, and the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD), which aims to improve infrastructure for milk production, procurement, processing, and marketing through milk unions/federations.
4. In the Uppada coast villages of Andhra Pradesh, consanguineous marriages are leading to genetic conditions such as cerebral palsy, Dandy-Walker Malformation (DWM), albinism, and other deformities. A consanguineous marriage refers to a union between two individuals who are closely related by blood, typically second cousins or closer. It differs from incestuous marriages, which involve direct descendants, such as father and daughter or brother and sister. Practices like the ‘Voni’ promise, an oral agreement made at a girl's birth, enforce consanguinity in these marriages. The genetic outcome of consanguineous marriages is inbreeding, which increases the homozygosity in offspring, leading to the expression of recessive genetic disorders. Alleles, which are different versions of the same gene, can lead to inherited traits, such as eye color. Inbreeding raises the genetic load, which refers to the presence of harmful or disadvantageous genes in the population. The Hindu Marriage Act prohibits Sapinda marriages unless there is an established custom, as such marriages involve individuals with a certain degree of familial closeness.