PRELIMS BOOSTERS – 2018
Blyth’s tragopan (Tragopan blythii, grey-bellied tragopan) and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
Blyth’s tragopan (Tragopan blythii, grey-bellied tragopan)
- Vulnerable (VU) — IUC
- State bird of Nagaland
- pheasant species & omnivores bird
- These birds are secretive, shy and suspicious of humans, and quick to hide amongst the dense vegetation they inhabit if disturbed
- name — commemorates Edward Blyth (1810–1873), English zoologist and Curator of the Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal
- Habitat
- inhabits subtropical and temperate, evergreen oak and rhododendron forests, generally preferring a dense understorey, often dominated by bamboos or ferns, in steep or rocky terrain
- North-east India, Bhutan, North Myanmar to south-east Tibet, and China
- India — Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur
- Threats
- Habitat fragmentation due to deforestation ( result of shifting cultivation, fuelwood-collection and commercial timber extraction)
- Hunting for food (particularly in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh)
- hydroelectric project developments, and associated road-building and residential expansion (Arunachal Pradesh)
- Conservation
- CITES Appendix I.
- Schedule – I of wildlife (Protection) act, 1972
- Protected areas
- Blue Mountain National Park — Mizoram
- Mouling National Park — Arunachal Pradesh
- Mehao and Dibang wildlife sanctuaries — Arunachal Pradesh
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
- Eurasian political, economic, and security organization
- Headquarter – Beijing, China
- Founded – 1996
- official working languages — Chinese and Russian
- Timeline of organization development
- 1996 — Shanghai Five — China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan
- 2001 – Uzbekistan joined the group as sixth member & creation of SCO was announced
- 2002 — Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter was signed
- 2003 – SCO chartered was entered into force
- 2017 – Astana Summit – India and Pakistan joined group
- Observer status — Iran, Mongolia, Belarus, Afghanistan
- Organisation Structure
- Council of Heads of State — top decision-making body in the SCO.
- Council of Heads of Government — second-highest council in the organisation. This council also holds annual summits, at which time members discuss issues of multilateral cooperation. The council also approves the organisation’s budget.
- Council of Foreign Ministers — discuss the current international situation and the SCO’s interaction with other international organisation
- Council of National Coordinators — coordinates the multilateral cooperation of member states within the framework of the SCO’s charter
- Secretariat — primary executive body of the organization
- The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS)
- Headquarter —Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- permanent organ of the SCO
- promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism.
- Head of RATS is elected to a three-year term
- Each member state also sends a permanent representative to RATS
