Today’s Highlights: National Park, Darvaza Gas Crater

Today in History

Ø 1698: Aurangzeb captured the fort of Jinji after an eight-yearsiege. Ø 1882: First Test match played at Sydney Cricket Ground. Ø1966: NASA’s Discovery Program began as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifted off on the first mission ever to orbit and landed on an asteroid, 433 Eros. Birth Anniversaries: Ø1899: Jibanananda Das, an Indian poet, writer, novelist, and essayist in the Bengali language. Ø1954: K. Chandrashekhar Rao, an Indian politician and the first Chief Minister of Telangana. Ø 1957: Praful Patel, an Indian politician, and businessman. Death Anniversaries: Ø 1600: Giordano Bruno, an Italian philosopher. Ø 1883: Vasudev Balwant Phadke, an Indian independence activist and revolutionary.

Build a Better Vocabulary

1. RAMPANT (ADJECTIVE): (अनियंनित): uncontrolled

Synonyms: unrestrained, unchecked Antonyms: controlled Example Sentence: Political violence was rampant in our area. 2. ACCLAIM (VERB): (प्रशंसा करिा): praise

Synonyms: applaud, cheer Antonyms: criticise Example Sentence: He was acclaimed for his amazing work. 3. DODGY (ADJECTIVE): (बेईमाि): dishonest

Synonyms: deceitful, dubious Antonyms: honest Example Sentence: I had to deal with a dodgy second-hand car salesman. 4. IGNOMINIOUS (ADJECTIVE): (अकीनतिकर): humiliating

Synonyms: undignified, embarrassing Antonyms: glorious Example Sentence: No other party risked ignominious defeat. 5. GREGARIOUS (ADJECTIVE): (सुसामानिक): social

Synonyms: sociable, companionable Antonyms: unsociable Example Sentence: He was a popular and gregarious man.

Current Affairs

· Govt Of India Bans 54 Apps Of Chinese Origin · GoI Reduces Agri-Cess For Crude Palm Oil From 7.5 Percent To 5 Percent · RailTel Gets ICAI Award For Excellence In Financial Reporting · FM Sitharaman Launches First Colour Souvenir Coin On ‘Panchtantra’ · Retail Inflation Rose To 6.01% In January, Just Above RBI’s Upper Limit · Maru Mahotsav Or Jaisalmer Desert Festival Celebrated In Rajasthan · GoI Allocates Rs 2.26 Crores For Telangana’s Medaram Jatara Festival 2022 · ICICI Bank’s Sandeep Bakhshi Named Business Standard Banker of The Year 2020-21 · Dabur Becomes First Indian Plastic Waste Neutral’ FMCG Company · Indian Mining Major Vedanta To Manufacture Semiconductors InIndia

Knowledge Update

National Park · Even before the Indian independence, sanctuaries had been created in the form of shooting blocks, game reserves or hunting reserves by the provisional governments or by the native rulers in their respective areas. · In 1936, the first National Park in India was created and named as the Hailey National Park, now called the Corbett National Park, in Uttaranchal. · The Wildlife Protection Act 1972 provides for the declaration of five types of protected areas viz. National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Community Reserves, Conservation Reserves and Tiger Reserves. · A National Park is defined by state government via notification under the WPA. · The state government can fix and alter boundaries of the National Parks with prior consultation and approval with National Board of Wildlife. · There is no need to pass an act for alternation of boundaries of National Parks. · No human activities are permitted in a National Park. Orang National Park · Orang NP is located on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River in the Darrang and Sonitpur districts of Assam. · It was established as a sanctuary in 1985 and declared a national park in 1999. · It has a rich flora and fauna, including great Indian rhinoceros, pygmy hog,Asian elephant, wild water buffalo and Bengal tiger. · Orang, on the northern bank of the river, is strategic to the Kaziranga Orang Riverine Landscape. · Tigers and rhinos are known to use the islands in this riverine landscape, about 180 km long, to hop between Orang and Kaziranga.

Darvaza Gas Crater · Located in the Karakum desert, 260 kilometres away from Turkmenistan’s capital, Ashgabat, the crater has been burning for the last 50 years. · The crater is 69 meters wide and 30 meters deep. · While the details of the origin of the crater are contested but it has been said that the crater was created in 1971 during a Soviet drilling operation. · In 1971, Soviet geologists were drilling for oil in the Karakum desert when they hit a pocket of natural gas by mistake, which caused the earth to collapse and ended up forming three huge sinkholes. Why is it flamed?

· This pocket of natural gas contained methane, hence to stop that methane from leaking into the atmosphere, the scientists lit it with fire, assuming the gas present in the pit would burn out within a few weeks.

· The scientists seemed to have misjudged the amount of gas present in the pit, because the crater has been on fire for five decades now.

A popular tourist attraction

· The crater has become a significant tourist attraction in Turkmenistan.

· In 2018, the country’s president officially renamed it as the “Shining of Karakum”.

Why did Turkmenistan order to extinguish it?

· Calling it a human-made crater, it has negative effect son both environment and the health of the people living nearby.

· It also ends up losing valuable natural resources for which could fetch significant profits.

How harmful are methane leaks?

· Methane is the primary contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone, a hazardous air pollutant and greenhouse gas, exposure to which causes 1 million premature deaths every year.

· Methane is also a powerful greenhouse gas. Over a 20-year period, it is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide.

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