PRELIMS BOOSTER 2018
Ganges shark and Commonwealth of Nations
Ganges shark
- critically endangered – IUCN
- Schedule I species
- shark found in the Ganges River (Padma River) and the Brahmaputra River of Bangladesh and India
- The genus is currently considered to contain three recent species
- Borneo river shark
- Irrawaddy river shark
- Ganges shark
- Habitat
Inhabit only freshwater, inshore marine, and estuarine systems in the lower reaches of the Ganges-Hooghly River system
- Range
Restricted to the rivers of eastern and northeastern India, particularly the Hooghly River of West Bengal, and the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mahanadi in Bihar, Assam, and Odisha, respectively
- Threats — restricted to a very narrow band of habitat that is heavily affected by human activity
- Overfishing
- habitat degradation from pollution
- increasing river use and management, including construction of dams and barrages
- consumed locally for its meat
- part of the Asian shark fin trade
Commonwealth of Nations
- Former name — British Commonwealth
- intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire
- It operates by intergovernmental consensus of the member states
- Established in 1949 by the London Declaration
- Structure
- Head of the Commonwealth — Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth. The position is symbolic.
- Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
- main decision-making forum
- biennial meeting
- Commonwealth Secretariat — London
- Facilitate consultation and co-operation among member governments and countries
- It organises Commonwealth summits, meetings of ministers, consultative meetings and technical discussions
- Secretary-General
- elected by Commonwealth heads of government for no more than two four-year terms
- Represent Commonwealth at United Nations General Assembly
- Peace in the home programme — help member states tackle domestic violence
