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PRELIMS BOOSTER 2018: Pink- headed Duck and Asian Development Bank (ADB)

PRELIMS BOOSTER 2018

Pink- headed Duck and Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Pink- headed Duck

  1. Critically endangered – IUCN
  2. CITES Appendix I. 
  3. has not been conclusively recorded in India since 1949
  4. It is shy and secretive
  5. Males have a deep pink head and neck from which the bird derives its name

 

  1. Habitat
  • secluded and overgrown still-water pools, marshes and swamps in lowland forest and tall grasslands, particularly areas subject to seasonal inundation and, in winter, also lagoons adjoining large rivers
  • Range — Recorded in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar
  • Maximum records are from north-east India

 

  1. Threats
  • Wetland degradation and loss of habitat — Clearance of forest and conversion of wetlands for agricultural
  • hunting
  • invasive alien species water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes may have contributed to its decline by altering wetland habitats to the detriment of this species

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

  1. regional development bank
  2. established on 19 December 1966
  3. headquartered — Manila, Philippines
  4. official United Nations Observer

 

  1. members
  • 67 members
  • admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and non-regional developed countries

 

  1. Voting rights
  • It is modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members’ capital subscriptions
  • United States > Japan  > China > India >Australia

 

  1. History — resolution passed at the first Ministerial Conference on Asian Economic Cooperation held by the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East in 1963.

 

  1. Aim — ADB defines itself as a social development organization that is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration

 

  1. This is carried out through investments – in the form of loans, grants and information sharing – in infrastructure, health care services, financial and public administration systems, helping nations prepare for the impact of climate change or better manage their natural resources, as well as other areas

 

  1. Focus areas – 80% of ADB’s lending is concentrated public sector lending in five operational area
  • Education
  • Environment, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Management
  • Finance Sector Development
  • Infrastructure, including transport and communications energy, water supply and sanitation, and urban development
  • Regional Cooperation and Integration
  • Private Sector Lending

 

  1. Creative Productivity Index is released by the Economic Intelligence Unit of Asian Development Bank and is used to study Asian knowledge economies on different parameters.

 

  1. ADB borrows from international capital markets with its capital as guarantee

 

  1. Governance structure
  • Board of Governors
  • ADB’s highest policy-making body is the Board of Governors, which comprises one representative from each member nation
  • Board of Directors
  • The Governors elect 12 members to form the Board of Directors, which performs its duties full time at the ADB headquarters.
  • The Directors supervise ADB’s financial statements, approve its administrative budget, and review and approve all policy documents and all loan, equity, and technical assistance operation