Western Hoolock Gibbons

A recent report from Wildlife Institute of India suggested that rerouted railway track of 1.65 km has divided the eastern Assam sanctuary disrupting the movements of the Hoolock hoolock

• They are also known as White-Browed Gibbons, are the only apes that live in the Indian sub-continent.
• Hoolock hoolock is the scientific name of it.
• They thrive in the dense forests that extend from east of the Brahmaputra River in northeast India, through Bangladesh and into western Myanmar.
• The landscape in the region is a mosaic of dense tropical evergreen rainforests, subtropical broadleaf hill or mountain forests, and subtropical monsoon evergreen broadleaf forests.
• These gibbons are arboreal and only come to the ground in exceptional circumstances.
• They form small, monogamous family groups and usually give birth to a single offspring.
• Healthy forests are critical to the survival of Western Hoolock Gibbons as they rely entirely on uninterrupted canopy.
• The IUCN red list category of the Western Hoolock Gibbons is endangered.

Sigur Landscape

A recent appeal by lobbyists for the resort owners in the Sigur plateau to reduce the extent of private lands demarcated as part of the notified Sigur elephant corridor has been criticised by conservation biologists

• Sigur Plateau is located in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu.
• Sigur landscape is a “critical node of central connection” between elephant populations in the Western Ghats.
• It connects the Western and the Eastern Ghats.
• It has the Nilgiri Hills on its southwestern side and the Moyar River Valley on its northeastern side.
• It is bounded to the northwest by the Bandipur National Park, to the east by the Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary and to the west by the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.
• It sustains elephant populations and their genetic diversity.
• It is a part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves of UNESCO.
• The elephants cross the plateau in search of food and water.
• Sigur plateau, Nilgiris is the last southernmost viable breeding population for the White-rumped vulture in India.
• The Sigur plateau is home to the Irular community tribals.

Self-Respect Marriages

Recently Supreme Court notified that ‘Self-respect’ marriages in Tamil Nadu don’t need public solemnisation

• A self-marriage practise was recognized by the Hindu Marriage (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1967.
• It allows a couple to solemnize their marriage through a joint declaration to live as husband and wife in the presence of relatives, friends or other persons.
• Section 7-A of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 deals with the special provision on “self-respect and secular marriages”.
• It legally recognises “any marriage between any two Hindus”, which can be referred to as “suyamariyathai” or “seerthiruththa marriage” or by any other name.
• Self-respect marriages allows a couple to tie a knot in the absence of a priest, through a written or an oral declaration.
• In this type of marriage, a Hindu couple is not needed to follow any religious practices and can be declared married to each other in the presence of relatives, friends or other persons.
• It is extended only to the state of Tamil Nadu.

Elements in Lunar Surface

Recently the rover of the Chandrayaan-3 detected few elements on the Lunar Surface

• The elements in the Lunar was detected by the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument in the Rover of the Chandrayaan-3.

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)

• The LIBS instrument on the rover is developed by ISRO’s Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS).
• It uses a high-energy pulsar to generate plasma from rocks or soil.
• In plasma state, elements emit characteristic wavelengths of radiation that can then be used to identify the elements on the Lunar.
• The other instrument on the rover, named Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer, is also meant to study the elemental composition of the lunar surface.

Vyommitra

• Vyommitra (Vyoma = space, Mitra = friend).
• Vyommitra's mission is to perform specific tasks in order to analyse how astronauts might behave.
• The robot was designed, developed, and integrated by the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU).
• An AI-enabled robot that is designed to ride aboard a rocket and survive stress and vibrations while in flight.
• It has the ability to speak, see and make facial expressions, it has been created to resemble a human.
• Vyommitra will accompany astronauts on manned missions in addition to the unmanned Gaganyaan mission.
• She will mimic every action that astronauts are required to take and respond to them in two languages.
• She will monitor via module parameters that can alert, carry out life support procedures, carry out tasks like operating switch panels and imitate other human actions in space throughout the un-crewed flight.
• Vyommitra will also acquire a digital twin, which would be built through collaboration with academic institutions such as the IITs.