Missing rare white-rumped vulture from Nepal found in Bihars Darbhanga (GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- Recently, a rare white-rumped vulture, from Nepal which went missing some months ago, was found by Bihar's bird ringing station at Darbhanga.
About white-rumped vulture:
Habitat:
- White-rumped vultures, found generally near human habitations, were very common in the Indian subcontinent, besides Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and southern Vietnam.
Characteristics:
- The bird is medium-sized and dark with blackish plumage, a white neck-ruff, and a white patch of feathers on the lower back and upper tail, from which the name was derived.
- An adult white-rumped vulture is 75 to 85 cm tall.
- These birds feed mostly on the ground, but roost and nest in trees and cliffs, and spend much of their time soaring on wind currents, searching for carrion.
Bird ringing station Bihar:
- Bihar is the fourth state in the country to have a bird ringing (tagging) station.
- Rings are placed on the legs of the birds to study their migration pattern, mortality and territoriality.
- The Bhagalpur bird ringing station saved a Mongolian Pallas's fish eagle in October 2021.
Way Forward:
- The vulture is under observation at Bird Ringing and Monitoring Station in Bhagalpur, and will be released after a few days.
Taiwan to develop 100-plus ‘radar-killing suicide drones’ by 2025
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Taiwanese military has teamed up with the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST)to produce 104 suicide drones by 2025.
Background:
- The NCSIST first displayed the Chien Hsiang anti-radiation drone in the year 2017, drawing comparisons with the Israel Aerospace Industries’ Harpy anti-radiation weapon system.
- In 2019, the Taiwanese military confirmed its plans to invest $80 billion New Taiwan dollars ($2.57 billion) into the drone’s development over five years.
- The military had claimed that the cost of building an anti-radiation UAV would be lower than that for the TC-2A anti-radiation missile, or US-made AGM-88A/B HARM anti-radiation missile.
Salient features of Truck-launched drones:
- The truck-launched drones are designed to detect airborne, waterborne, grounded radar, and electromagnetic systems through their emissions and strike.
- The anti-radiation suicide drone had a maximum flight time of over five hours and will be able to strike targets 1,000 kms away.
- Its range allows it to target seaborne, coastal, and inland Chinese radar systems.
- The drone weighs 6 kgs (13 pounds) and is 1.2 meters (4 feet) long and 2 meters (6.56 feet) wide.
- It finds the target with an electro-optical or infrared payload and selects them via an ‘intelligence object detection system’.
- The drone hovers over a target for several hours until it is activated, swooping down at a speed of 600 km (373 miles) per hour to crash into it.
- It is possible to deploy 12-drone clusters of the Chien Hsiang, which can take flight without a runway.
Way Forward:
- The NCSIST is developing two versions of the drone- one for the attack while the other one as a decoy to protect essential systems from attacks by enemy anti-radiation missiles or UAVs.
Environmental DNA-based assay to detect invasive catfish in waterbodies
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Context:
- Invasive alien species are a severe threat to biodiversity, causing local extinction of native species and impacting ecosystem services, human livelihood, economy, and health.
- The North African Sharptooth catfish is one such species that was illegally introduced in India for aquaculture purposes. Now the species has invaded most freshwater ecosystems.
Environmental DNA (eDNA)-based molecular method:
- While the conventional methods to detect invasive species, like using nets, traps, and visual observations, are cumbersome, the researchers from Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB)now have developed Environmental DNA (eDNA)-based molecular methods that provide a time and cost-effective alternative.
- eDNA is defined as“genetic material obtained directly from environmental samples (soil, sediment, water, etc.) without any obvious signs of the biological source material.”
- It is an efficient, non-invasive and easy-to-standardise sampling approach. eDNA can be obtained from ancient and modern environments.
- Coupled with sensitive, cost-efficient and ever-advancing DNA sequencing technology, the technique is increasingly being used for biodiversity monitoring.
Significance:
- The pilot study will serve as a foundation to map the distribution of invasive Clarias gariepinus and also as a useful tool to inform management authorities for timely control and regular monitoring of this species.
- The developed assay helps detect invasive fish species using eDNA.
- The researchers have designed and optimised a reliable eDNA-based quantitative PCR assay to detect the African Sharptooth Catfish from water samples in the aquatic system.
Way Forward:
- The present workflow can be used to design assays to detect a wide range of aquatic species. The research study has been published in Biological Invasions.
