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PRELIMS BOOSTERS – 2018: Gaur (Indian Bison) and Australia Group

 

 

 

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PRELIMS BOOSTERS 2018

Gaur and Australia Group

 

Gaur(Indian Bison)

  1. Vulnerable–IUCN Red ListGaur
  2. State animal of Goa
  3. Largest extant bovine
  4. Native to Indian Subcontinent andSoutheast Asia.
  5. Local names
  • Seladang — Malayan gaur
  • Pyoung — Burmese gaur
  • Gayal or mithun — domesticated form of gaur
  1. Habitat
  • Largely confined to evergreen forestsor semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests, but also occur in deciduous forest areas at the periphery of their range.
  • Habitat is characterized by large, relatively undisturbed forest tracts, hilly terrain below an altitude of 1,500 to 1,800 m (4,900 to 5,900 ft), availability of water, and an abundance of forage in the form of grasses, bamboo, shrubs, and trees

  1. Threats
  • Diseases, particularly rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease, transmitted by domestic cattle are a potentially serious threat.
  • Hunting for food, medicinal products and handicrafts products.
  • Loss of suitable habitat

 

  1. Conservation 
  • CITES Appendix I
  • Protected areas
  • Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
  • Mudumalai
  • Bandipur , Bhadra, Nagarahole — –Karnataka

 

 

 

Australia Group

 

  1. The Australia Group is a multilateral export control regime (MECR) and an informal group of countries (now joined by the European Commission) established in 1985 (after the use of chemical weapons by Iraq in 1984)
  2. The principal objective of Australia Group participants’ is to use licensing measures to ensure that exports of certain chemicals, biological agents, and dual-use chemical and biological manufacturing facilities and equipment, do not contribute to the spread of CBW.
  3. The Group achieves this objective by harmonising participating countries’ national export licensing measures.
  4. The export control lists of the Australia Group are considered fairly comprehensive and go beyond even the scope of the 1925 Geneva Protocol, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and BTWC (Biological and toxin weapon convention)
  5. All participants in the Australia Group are States Parties to both the BWC and the CWC.
  6. Members —43
    • India – 43rd member – 2018
    • China, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea are not its members

7. How does it work?

    • Australia Group gives a set of guidelines and a technology list to its participant countries. 
    • The participant countries are supposed to incorporate the guidelines and technology list in their export controls systems.