Category Archives: Nature

INDIA RECORDS : ARACHNOLOGY: New species of Jumping Spider ‘Pseudomogrus Sudhii’ from the Thar desert is named after Sudhikumar A.V., Arachnologist, Head of Dept of Zoology, Christ College, Kerala and Founder of Centre for Animal Taxonomy and Ecology (CATE).

Pseudomogrus sudhii inhabits dry glass blades of the desert.

A new species of spider discovered from the Thar desert of Rajasthan has been named after a Malayalee arachnologist.

The new species of jumping spider, Pseudomogrus sudhii, has been named after Sudhikumar A.V., Head, Department of Zoology, Christ College, Irinjalakuda, and founder of the Centre for Animal Taxonomy and Ecology (CATE) in recognition of his contributions to the field of Indian arachnology.

The jumping spider was discovered during a joint exploration by Dmitri Logunov (curator, Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester, UK), Rishikesh Balkrishna Tripathi and Ashish Kumar Jangid of Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL RECORDS: INDIA RECORDS: India-born Scientist & Conservation Biologist Kamal Bawa Elected to US National Academy of Sciences

Conservation biologist Kamal Bawa has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Kamal Bawa is president of the Bengaluru-based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE) as well as an elected fellow of the Royal Society (London) and the American Philosophical Society.

“The election is a reaffirmation of our important work on the ecology, conservation, and management of tropical forests that are declining all over the world but are critical to humanity’s well-being,” said Dr. Bawa.

A few years ago, Dr. Bawa brought together scientists from India’s leading institutions to develop the National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Wellbeing under the banner of the Biodiversity Collaborative.

The effort was supported by the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, and is currently funded by the Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies.

source/content: thehindu.com (edited)

The Indian Leg of the Great Backyard Bird Count, the 10th edition of Bird-O-Thon Records an Impressive 1,017 Species

A pair of bright yellow eyes stared right back at Angeline Mano, a 23-year-old birder, as she zoomed in with her binoculars. Angeline was at Stanley Reservoir in Salem, one of the largest fishing reservoirs in South India, documenting birds for the recently-concluded, annual Global Backyard Bird Count (GBCC). The bulky bird with a finely streaked breast, was a brown fish owl, perched on a branch just 10 metres away.

The India leg of the four-day event, coordinated by Bird Count India, allowed participants to count birds for as little as 15 minutes from a particular location. They upload their sightings online, on eBird (www.ebird.org/india), the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science platform.

source/content: thehindu.com (edited)

INT’L PARTICIPATION & RECORD : Agreement signed for setting up ‘ WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine’ (WHO GCTM) in India

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday,March 09th,  approved the establishment of a WHO (World Health Organization) Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM) at Jamnagar in Gujarat.

An agreement was signed by the Government of India with the world body in this regard.

The WHO GCTM, to be established under the Ministry of AYUSH ( Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy), will be the first and only global outposted centre (office) for traditional medicines.

source: thehindu.com

Discovery. New Species of Primate, White Cheeked Macaque Discovered in Arunachal Pradesh

A group of scientists from Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has discovered a new species of primate, White Cheeked Macaque, from Arunachal Pradesh.

After extensive survey, we have multiple evidences that includes two skin samples and a juvenile White Cheeked Macaque that was found in the house of a local villager that confirms our discovery,” ZSI scientist Mukesh Thakur, who led the study said.

He added that ZSI will not only push for its inclusion in Wildlife Protection Act but will take up long term monitoring to demarcate its distribution boundary and population size.”It is very rare in present days when a mammal species is discovered. The discovery of smaller animals like amphibians and insects are quite common,” Thakur said.

The discovery has been published in the international journal “Animal Gene.”

source: www.millenniumpost.in

Captain Harpeet Chandi creates History. First Indian-Origin Woman to reach South Pole trekking solo in 40 days

Hapreet ‘Polar Preet’ Chandi, an Indian-origin British Army Captain created history by becoming the first Indian-Origin woman and the first woman of colour trekking on a solo expedition of 700 miles (1127 Km) to reach the South Pole in just 40 days.

She is a trained Physiotherapist and part of the medical regiment of the British Army.

First hand-reared Rhino in India, to give birth to a calf . April 2013 .

Ganga became the first hand-reared one-horned rhino in India, to give birth to a calf. 

Ganga delivered in the wild in Manas National Park, Assam. In July 2004, an injured 4-month old Ganga was rescued from the flood waters of Brahmaputra Kaziranga National Park. She was then gently hand reared, bottlefed and weaned for 3 years before being acclimatisedinthe wild at Manas.