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Insights IAS Prelims Boosters – 2018
Blackbuck and World Economic Forum(WEF)
These are precise facts that will add value to your preparation. These boosters will help you remember important facts. These fact sheets are based on important topics that were in news. These are prepared keeping in mind only Prelims requirement. We will post daily TWO such boosters. These will be listed under Prelims Revision Plan – 2018 Page.
Black buck (Indian antelope) — Least Concern (IUCN)
- Found in — India, Nepal and Pakistan (extinct in Bangladesh).
- They are the sole extant member of the genus Antilope
- State animal of Andra Pradesh, Haryana & Punjab
- The blackbuck is a diurnal antelope (active mainly during the day)
- The blackbuck has been introduced in Argentina and the United States
Habitat — grassy plains and slightly forested areas. Due to their regular need of water, they prefer areas where water is perennially available.
- It is found in Central- Western India (MP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and Odisha) and Southern India (Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu).
LEKKING:
Males often adopt lekking as a strategy on the part of males to garner females for mating,
Lekking – is an aggregation of male animals gathered to engage in competitive displays, lekking, to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners for copulation
Threats
- excessive hunting
- deforestation
- habitat degradation through conversion to agricultural use
Conservation efforts
- Bishnoi community of Rajasthan is known worldwide for their conservation efforts to blackbuck and Chinkara
- In India, hunting of blackbuck is prohibited under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972
- CITES Appendix III (Nepal)
Protected Areas
Velavadar Blackbuck Sanctuary — Gujarat
Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary
Nilgiri biosphere reserve
Corbett national park
Cultural important in Hinduism and Buddhism:
Black buck is a vehicle of Chandrama (soma or chandra) (moon). This is a symbol of purity prosperity and peace. Its skin use in the time of taking secret thread (bratabanda) as well as at the time of worshipping. In Buddhism, a pair of buck symbolizes Buddha when he turned to the Sarnath India. The horns and skin are also regarded as sacred object in Hinduism.
World Economic Forum(WEF)
- It was established in 1971 by Klaus Schwab as a not-for-profit foundation
- headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland
- Formerly called European Management Forum
Motto : committed to improve the state of the world
- It is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
- It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests.
- The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does.
Governance
- Chairperson : Founder and Executive Chairman Professor Klaus Schwab
- Board of Trustees : exceptional individuals who act as guardians of its mission and values, and oversee the Forum’s work in promoting true global citizenship. Its membership is divided equally between representatives of the business community and leaders from international organizations and civil society.
- Managing Board : acts as the executive body of the WEF& acts as its representative to outside parties.
- The organization also convenes some six to eight regional meetings each year in locations across Africa, East Asia, and Latin America, and holds two further annual meetings in China, India and the United Arab Emirates
- Until 2012, it had observer status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council; it is under the supervision of the Swiss Federal Council.
Publications
- Global risk report, 2018
- Readiness for the future of production
- Global gender gap report
- Inclusive development index
- Global competitiveness report (index)
- Global human capital report (index)
- Travel and tourism competitiveness report (index)
- Global energy architecture performance index report
