GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) in Coimbatore recently carried out a survey of slender loris populations in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul forest division.

About Slender Loris:

• The gray slender loris (b) belongs to the family Loridae.
  • It is a species of primate.
• Adult size: The average length of the Slender Loris is just 18-26 cm. It weighs 85-350 grams
• Natural Range: India and Sri Lanka
• Social life: Solitary nocturnal forager
• Habitat: Tropical forest, woodland and thorny scrub jungle
  • The animal is largely found in the Eastern Ghats of the Karur and Dindigul Forest Divisions.
    
    
    
• Diet: Insects, young leaves, shoots, hard-rind fruits and flowers, occasional eggs and small vertebrates
• Habitat: Being arboreal, Slender Lorises spend most of their life on the trees.
  • Though their movements are slow, they can climb up fast to the tree top when threatened.
  • Among the strange habits they have is the urine washing of their face and limbs, which is said to soothe or defend against the sting of the toxic insects they prefer to eat.
  • They are known to be very social at dusk and dawn, interacting with others of their own.
• Lifespan: The lifespan of Slender Loris is about 10 to 12 years in its natural habitat.
• Sexual maturity: 10-18 months
• Mating: Every 9.5 months
• Gestation: 166 – 169 days
• Number of young: 1 – 2 offspring every 9 – 10 months
• The two species of slender loris are: The red slender loris (Loris tardigradus) and the gray slender loris (L. lydekkerianus).
• Protection Status:
  • IUCN: Endangered,
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act of India, 1972: Schedule I
  • CITES: Appendix II
• Threats:
  • As it is believed that these animals have some medicinal properties, they are captured and sold.
  • Since there is great demand for keeping these animals as pets, they are illegally smuggled.
  • Habitat loss, electrocution of live wires and road accidents are other threats that have caused its populations to dwindle.
    

The Kerala health department recently identified Shigella bacteria as the cause for the food poisoning incident in Kasaragod, which claimed the life of a 16-year-old girl and led to 30-odd others being admitted to hospital.

What is Shigella?

• Shigella is a bacterium that belongs to the enterobacter family — a group of bacteria that reside in the intestine, not all of which cause disease in humans.
• It mainly affects the intestine and results in diarrhoea, sometimes bloody, stomach pain, and fever.
• The infection spreads easily as it takes only a small number of bacteria to make someone ill.
• It is a food- and water-borne infection, and can happen when someone consumes contaminated food.
• The disease is easily spread by direct or indirect contact with the excrement of the patient.

What are the symptoms?

• Diarrhoea (often containing blood or mucous)
• Stomach pain or cramps
• Fever
• Nausea or vomiting

How widespread is Shigella infection?

• Shigellosis happens, but it is not a very common infection.
• Shigella outbreaks appear to be exacerbated during pregnancy and in children less than five years of age, and in those with weakened immune systems.
• There are four types of Shigella bacteria that affect humans — Shigella sonnei, Shigella flexneri, Shigella boydii, and Shigella dysenteriae.
• The fourth type causes the most severe disease because of the toxin it produces.
  

The Delimitation Commission finalised the Delimitation Order for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.

Important takeaways from the order of the delimitation panel:

• The Delimitation Commission recommended seven additional constituencies; six for Jammu and one for Kashmir, taking the total number of seats in the UT to 90 from 83 earlier. 
  • This will increase the number of seats in the Jammu Division to 43 from 37 seats earlier, and that in the Kashmir Valley to 47 from 46 earlier.
• Reorganisation of the Parliamentary constituencies such that the five Lok Sabha seats now are made up of exactly 18 Assembly constituencies each, taking the total number to 90.
• Reservation of nine Assembly seats for Scheduled Tribes – six in Jammu and three in Kashmir
• Removal of the regional distinction between Jammu and Kashmir and treating it as one, as is reflected in the combining of Anantnag region in Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu to carve out Anantnag-Rajouri as a Parliamentary constituency.
• The panel also recommended that the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory have at least two members – one of them a woman – from the Kashmiri migrant community with the right to vote at par with nominated members like in the Puducherry Assembly.
• Besides, it also recommended some representation to Persons displaced from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
  

About Delimitation Commission:

• Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body.
• The job of delimitation is assigned to a high power body.
• Such a body is known as Delimitation Commission or a Boundary Commission. 
• The Delimitation Commission is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act to redraw the boundaries of the various assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies on a recent census.
• Under Article 82 of the Constitution of India, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census.
• Under Article 170, States also get divided into territorial constituencies as per Delimitation Act after every Census.
• The Central Government constitute the Delimitation Commission which consists of three members as follows:—
  • one member, who shall be a person who is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court, to be appointed by the Central Government who shall be the Chairperson of the Commission
  • the Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner nominated by the Chief Election Commissioner, ex officio:
    • Provided that after the nomination of an Election Commissioner as a member under this clause, no further nomination under this clause shall be made except to fill the casual vacancy of such member under section 6
  • the State Election Commissioner of concerned State, ex officio
• In India, such Delimitation Commissions have been constituted four times—
  • in 1952 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952
  • in 1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962
  • in 1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972
  • in 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002
• The Delimitation Commission in India is a high power body whose orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court.
  • These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the President of India in this behalf.
  • The copies of its orders are laid before the House of the People and the State Legislative Assembly concerned, but no modifications are permissible therein by them.

Union Home and Cooperation Minister inaugurated three floating Border Outposts (BOP) on the Indo-Bangladesh border to protect the inaccessible areas of the Sundarbans.

About:

• The floating Border Outposts (BOP) Sutlej, Kaveri and Narmada have been built by the Koch Shipyard.
• The floating BOPs are equipped with modern facilities and safety equipment.
• The front section of the BOP is bullet proof for the safety of the jawans. 
• A BOP is accompanied by 6 small boats and it has adequate arrangements to prevent both infiltration and smuggling.
• Laid the foundation stone of ‘Maitri Sangrahalaya’ or ‘Friendship Museum’.
• A boat ambulance at a floating border outpost (BOP) at Haridaspur in the state.
• The BOPs with three digi-sets can remain afloat without refilling fuel for a month and will guard the 80-km riverine border between India and Bangladesh.
  • Three more BOPs will be added to the fleet in the days to come.
    

The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), an average number of children per woman, has further declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level between National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 and 5.

Total fertility rate (TFR):

• According to MOSPI,Total fertility rate (TFR) is defined as the average number of children that would be born to a woman if she experiences the current fertility pattern throughout her reproductive span (15-49 years). 
• The fertility rate has declined across the majority of the states.
• All states MP, Rajasthan, UP, Jharkhand, Bihar, Manipur and Meghalaya have attained a replacement level of 2.1.

Reasons for demographic transition:

• Introduction of initiatives like contraception
• Government health and family welfare schemes
• Special emphasis on education of the girl child
• Exponential growth of institutional births
• Overall improvement in health and nutrition

Key highlights of the survey:

• There are only five States in India which are above replacement level of fertility of 2.1 - Bihar (2.98), Meghalaya (2.91), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26) Manipur (2.17), as per the national report of the NFHS-5.
• Institutional births have increased from 79% to 89% in India and in rural areas around 87% births being delivered in institutions and the same is 94% in urban areas.
• As per results of the NFHS-5, more than three-fourths (77%) children age 12-23 months were fully immunised, compared with 62% in NFHS-4.
• The level of stunting among children under five years has marginally declined from 38% to 36% in the country since the last four years.
• Stunting is higher among children in rural areas (37%) than urban areas (30%) in 2019-21.
• NFHS-5 shows an overall improvement in Sustainable Development Goals indicators in all States/Union Territories (UTs).
  • The extent to which married women usually participate in three household decisions (about health care for herself; making major household purchases; visit to her family or relatives) 
• Participation in decision-making is high, ranging from 80% in Ladakh to 99% in Nagaland and Mizoram.
  • Rural (77%) and urban (81%) differences are found to be marginal.
  • The prevalence of women having a bank or savings account that they use has increased from 53% to 79% in the last four years.
• Compared with NFHS-4, the prevalence of overweight or obesity has increased in most States/UTs in NFHS-5.
  • At the national level, it increased from 21% to 24% among women and 19% to 23% among men.