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PRELIMS BOOSTER 2018: The Himalayan Quail and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

PRELIMS BOOSTER 2018:

The Himalayan Quail and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

The Himalayan Quail

  1. Critically endangered – IUCN
  2. quail belonging to the pheasant family
  3. Presumed to be extinct since no reliable records of sightings of this species exist after 1876. Possible sighting of this species was reported in Nainital in 2003
  4. extremely elusive, never flying except when almost stepped on

 

  1. Habitat
  • Tall grass and scrub on steep hillsides particularly south-facing slope crests, between 1,650 m and 2,400 m.
  • known from only 2 locations in the western Himalayas in Uttarakhand,  Western Himalayas

 

  1. Threats
  • Indiscriminate hunting during the colonial period
  • habitat modification – due to land use changes
  • open cast mining for limestone and related disturbance

 

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

  1. specialized agency of the United Nations (UN)
  2. a member of the United Nations Development Group
  3. headquarter : Paris
  4. successor of the League of Nations’ International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.
  5. Aim : to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information

 

  1. Members
  2. 195 member states] and ten associate members.
  3. Recently United States has announced its withdrawal accusing the body of anti-Israel bias

 

  1. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs:
  • Education
  • natural sciences
  • social/human sciences
  • culture
  • communication/information

 

  1. governance structure
  • Executive Board (EXB) —
  • 58 members elected by the General Conference for four-year term
  • examines work for UNESCO and the corresponding budget estimates.
  • it is main organ responsible for all policies and programmes of UNESCO.
  • General conference
  • All members meet every 2 years
  • Vote on policies, programs, budget
  • Elect executive board, DG every 4 year

 

  1. Programmes
  • UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network — 2004
  • to foster international cooperation with and between cities committed to investing in creativity as a driver for sustainable urban development, social inclusion and cultural vibrancy. It includes cities within its seven creative fields (Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music).
  • India — Varanasi (added as City of Music), Jaipur (City of Crafts and Folk Art) and Chennai
  • World Heritage Cities Programme
  • to assist state parties in the challenges of protecting and managing their urban heritage sites.
  • India — Allahabad
  • Llist of World Heritage in danger — drawing world’s attention to the prevailig situation