Scientists spot rare Indian Pitta after 60 years

Indian Pitta, a bird endemic to the Himalayan foothills and Western Ghats, was spotted at Aravalli Biodiversity Park near Vasant Kunj in Delhi recently. As per ornithologists, Indian Pitta, a small and colourful bird which is mainly seen in closed-canopy forests, was spotted in Delhi after 60 years.

Why sighting of Indian Pitta is special for scientists?

The sighting of Indian Pitta or ‘Navaratna’ was last reported by ornithologist Usha Ganguli in her book-A Guide to the Birds of Delhi. But for scientists, the spotting of the bird in national capital after 60 years is special because it was seen in the mining pits which they have converted in to moist forests. As an experiment, scientists planted evergreen species in these despoiled pits of Aravalis which was a wasteland earlier. The bird discovered the type of atmosphere it needs at this location.

Research: “Canine Distemper Virus” killing endangered Tigers, Red Pandas and Lions

January 8:

As per researchers at Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly, the infection caused by the Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) is killing endangered tigers, red pandas and lions in the country. The disease has been detected in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Patna Zoo and many areas of West Bengal and Darjeeling.

What is Canine Distemper Virus(CDV)?

Canine Distemper Virus(CDV) is a disease causing virus common in domestic dogs and ferrets, although it can infect wild animals as well.

How does Canine Distemper Virus(CDV) affects animals?

CDV impacts different systems of the body including nervous and respiratory system in these animals. It shatters the immunity system and causes various secondary bacterial infections.

As this disease damages the brain of the animal, it severely affects their decision making power. Due to this, the animals go beyond their natural habitat and enter human settlements. It renders them easy prey for poachers.

How does the infection of Canine Distemper Virus(CDV) occur?

Activities of direct contact like licking are the major source of CDV transmission among tigers, lions and red pandas. Besides this, eating dogs infected with the virus, drinking water from same source are some other modes of transmission of infection.

Can Canine Distemper Virus(CDV) be checked?

Yes. If all the dogs in the buffer zone of forest are vaccinated, it can stop the spread of disease.

PARAM Yuva II: India’s no.1 and ranked 44th among most power efficient supercomputer in the world

January 7:

As per Green500 List announced at the Supercomputing Conference (SC 2013) in Denver, Colorado, in the US, India’s PARAM Yuva II supercomputer built by theCentre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), has been ranked no.1 in India, 9th in the Asia Pacific Region and 44th in the world among the most power efficient computer systems.

Why does ‘Green 500’ rank computer systems according to their power efficiency?

Generally, supercomputers eat up a lot of power and produce much heat that requires sophisticated cooling facilities to ensure proper functioning. This renders the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of operating supercomputer to increase. In a bid to draw attention towards development of energy efficient supercomputers, Green500 ranks computer systems in the world according to compute performance per watt, thus providing a world ranking based on energy efficiency.

Moclic software – can predict weather

January 6:

January 6:

Researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) designed the software Monitoring Climate Change (Moclic) by which anyone is able to determine their community, state or country’s weather activity for the days and months ahead.

Characteristics of Monitoring Climate Change (Moclic) software

• It is possible to organize, store and operate geo-referenced data from climate elements.
• Can calculate bio and agro-climatic indicators, such as humidity, aridity, rain erosion and rainfall concentration.
• The new software feeds on data from weather stations of any state or country, with which what happens in a small ranch regarding temperature, can b
  e known more accurately. Presently, the software we are using till date uses global information.
• Allows an agronomist to obtain annual rainfall records and relate them to the crops production figures for explanation of a possible event.

The software is very simple and can be used by decision making characters, as governors, breeders, physicians, farmers, students or anyone whose repercussions could have economic politic or social effects.

Assam will follow “Chaibagaan time”

January 6:

The state of Assam decided to follow the ‘Chaibagaan’ time instead of the Indian Standard Time (IST). The bagaan time will be helpful to save energy, reduce power consumption and increase productivity. IST is calculated on the basis of solar time in Allahabad in the northern-central state of Uttar Pradesh. States located to the west of this longitude have more daylight hours as compared to those in the east. Assam lies in the extreme east of the country and borders Bangladesh and Bhutan. This means that the sun sets as early as 16:31 (4:31 p.m.) IST in November and December. 

Clocks in India are 5:30 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), making the country one of the few territories with a half-hour UTC offset. If the time zone change is implemented, Assam will be 6:30 hours ahead of UTC.

Note:The chaibagaan time or bagaan time – Introduced by British people over 150 years ago, was set one hour ahead of the Indian Standard Time (IST) for tea estates, collieries and oil industry of Assam. This Baggan time is more suitable for tea plantations.

Study: Mangroves in Florida expanding poleward

January 3:

According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal, Mangrove trees, which are highly sensitive to cold, have expanded extremely on the pole ward side or on the Atlantic coast of Florida as the frequency of frosts has diminished.

Mangroves are restricted to the tropical areas as they cannot tolerate the extreme cold events that are so very typical of the temperate zone. Thus, the massive expansion of mangroves in the temperate zone of Florida during the last three decades is a proof of climate change’s role.

• Over 28 years, the Florida coast, from Miami northwards, gained more than 3,000 acres of Mangroves.
• The reason for this strange expansion/reduction in mangrove coverage boils down to extreme cold events — days colder than -4 Degree C. The -4 Degree C is the physiological temperature limit of mangrove survival.

Usefulness of Mangrove trees

• They form a biomass of trees that tolerate salt in tidal areas near freshwater estuaries on tropical coastlines.
• Support great biological diversity, including numerous species of crustaceans, fish, birds and molluscs.
• Both salt marshes and mangroves help contain flooding, store atmospheric carbon and contribute to the expansion of the land mass.

Note: At present, Mangrove forests face deforestation from carbon production, aquaculture and urbanization, and are threatened by drainage from sewers, while salt marshes are threatened by waste-water pollution and rising sea levels.

Survey by Trend Micro: Bitcoin malware, India among top targets

Survey by Trend Micro: Bitcoin malware, India among top targets

January 1: 

As per a survey conducted by the IT security firm Trend Micro, Bitcoin mining malware is infecting millions of computers globally and extending the threat of cyber security risks for users of the cyber currency. Thousands of computers, including in India, are being infected with malwares related to the virtual currency. Bitcoin mining is resource-intensive and can slow down the system due to the increased CPU load. The infected computers will become very slow on system operation, also appears heavy CPU and power consumption.

Major points related to the survey conducted by the IT security firm Trend Micro

• Most of the countries of the Asia Pacific (APAC) region are affected by the Bitcoin-mining malware. Japan is the most affected country, followed by Taiwan, Australia and India.
• Bitcoin users have become the hot target for cyber criminals as bitcoin transaction is permanent and has no reversal of charges.
• About 12,000 personal computers have been globally affected by malwares (related to bitcoin) which were causing severe slowdown of computer systems making them “virtual assets for the criminals

About Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a virtual currency that is unregulated by any central bank or government, but still works for purchasing goods and services from retailers willing to accept it. It can also be traded on an open market that fluctuates much like a stock market. Bitcoin is a distributed peer-to-peer digital currency that functions without the inter-mediation of any central authority. Bitcoin is also called a “cryptocurrency” since it is decentralized and uses cryptography to prevent double-spending, a significant challenge inherent to digital currencies.