Senna Spectabilis

• Recently, the weed of this invasive species has a negative effect on local biodiversity, crowding out native species and limiting food availability for wildlife.
• Senna Spectabilis is an exotic species with bright yellow flowers used as firewood and native to South and Central America.
• In India this species has become highly invasive in the Sigur plateau in both the core and buffer zones of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR).
• Sigur plateau is a plateau in the north and east of Nilgiri District Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu.
• Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL) has planned to use wood from Senna spectabilis from the MTR for paper-making.
• Senna spectabilis, along with Lantana camara, are major invasive weeds that had taken over vast swathes of the Nilgiris.
• Lantana camara is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family, native to the American tropics.

Mangarh Dham

• Recently PM called for preparing a roadmap to develop Mangarh Dham in Rajasthan’s Banswara district as a tribal destination.
• Mangarh Dham is situated near the Rajasthan-Gujarat border, is known for massacre of tribals by the British Indian Army in 1913.
• About 1,500 Bhil tribals and forest dwellers were killed at a hill in this massacre.
• The Bhil tribes are an excellent archers with deep knowledge about their local geography.
• This massacre of tribals took place six years before Jallianwalla Bagh and is sometimes referred to as the Adivasi Jallianwala.

VIP securities in India

• In the case of the Centre, the decision is taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• The level of security protection for an individual needs in the case of states, it is the state government.
• The assessment by the MHA or states as the case may be is made on the basis of inputs received from intelligence agencies.
• These agencies include the Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) at the level of the Centre, and the state intelligence department at the level of the state.
• The Protection is generally given to someone who holds a position of consequence either in the government or in civil society hence the informal description VIP security.

Types of VIP Security

• There are mainly six categories of security cover: X, Y, Y+, Z, Z+, and SPG (Special Protection Group).
• SPG is meant only for the Prime Minister and his immediate family.
• X category security usually entails one gunman protecting the individual.
• Y has one gunman for mobile security and one (plus four on rotation) for static security.
• Z has six gunmen for mobile security, and two (plus eight) for residence security.
• Y+ has two policemen (plus four on rotation) for mobile security, and one (plus four on rotation) for residence security.
• Z+ has 10 security personnel for mobile security and two (plus eight) for residence security.

Coronal Hole

• Recently, the NASA shared an image of the sun with dark patches on its surface resembling eyes and a smile.
• Coronal Holes are regions on the sun’s surface from where fast solar wind gushes out into space.
• As they contain little solar material, they have lower temperatures and thus appear much darker than their surroundings.
• These ‘coronal holes’ are important to understanding the space environment around the earth through which our technology and astronauts travel
•  NASA explained that the patches are called coronal holes, which can be seen in ultraviolet light but are typically invisible to our eyes.
• The holes are not a unique phenomenon, appearing throughout the sun’s approximately 11-year solar cycle.
• It can last much longer during solar minimum.
• Solar minimum – A period of time when activity on the Sun is substantially diminished.

Ranipur Tiger Reserve

• The Ranipur Tiger Reserve is located in Uttar Pradesh and has become the 53rd tiger reserve of India.
• It is the fourth tiger reserve in Uttar Pradesh as the state already has three tiger reserves– Dudhwa, Pilibhit and Amangarh.
• Ranipur tiger reserve is covered by northern tropical dry deciduous forests.
• It is home to mammals like mega fauna tiger, leopard, bear, spotted deer, sambhar, chinkara among others.
• The establishment of this tiger reserve will lead to opening up of eco-tourism and the creation of immense employment opportunities.