Environment & Biodiversity Current Affairs MCQs

Notes:
Heavy rain continues to batter Jammu, prompting India to forewarn Pakistan about potential flooding in the Tawi River as a humanitarian gesture. The warning comes despite the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) being in abeyance after the Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April 2025. Tawi River is a major left-bank tributary of Chenab River, originating from Kailash Kund glacier in Bhaderwah, Doda district, and flowing through Udhampur and Jammu districts into Sialkot, Pakistan. Tawi River divides Jammu city into old town on a hill and new town across the river, providing the main water source. The river is sacred, also called “Surya Putri” in ancient texts.

Notes:
Recently, conflict between humans and Himalayan brown bears has been rising across the Himalayas. The Himalayan brown bear is also called Himalayan red bear, isabelline bear, or Dzu-Teh and is a subspecies of the brown bear. It is mainly found in northwestern and central Himalayas in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet. In India, it is found in small, isolated populations in alpine and subalpine habitats of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) conservation status is Critically Endangered.

Notes:
A recent wildlife survey in Arunachal Pradesh recorded first-ever photographic evidence of the elusive Pallas’s cat. It was first described in 1776 by Peter Simon Pallas, based on specimens near Lake Baikal, Russia. It is mainly found in Central Asia, with its range extending to western Iran, Mongolia, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. It inhabits rocky montane grasslands and shrublands with snow cover below 15–20 cm. It preys mainly on lagomorphs (hares, pikas) and rodents. This finding is a major addition to Arunachal Pradesh’s wildlife records.

Notes:
Eustoma, an exotic flower previously imported to Odisha, has bloomed locally for the first time. The National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), cultivated it successfully in Odisha. The flower was grown in a polyhouse at Sanatanpali in Sambalpur, following successful cultivation at NBRI’s Lucknow campus. Eustoma is native to Mexico and America and can be grown twice a year in Odisha. Farmers can earn up to ₹2 lakh per acre per season from Eustoma cultivation. NBRI is a multi-disciplinary plant research institute conducting basic and applied research in strategic plant science areas.

Notes:
Researchers discovered a new flowering plant species Impatiens selvasinghii in Kudremukh range of the Western Ghats, Karnataka. It was found at 1,630 meters altitude during field exploration. The species is named after Prof. P Selva Singh Richard of Madras Christian College for his contribution to botany. It is one of the smallest flowered balsams in the Western Ghats, with unique lobed wing petals. Small insects depend on this plant for survival. India has over 280 taxa of Impatiens, with 210 endemic, 130 in the Western Ghats, and 80% of them endangered.

Notes:
Goa’s State Board for Wildlife recommended that the proposal for iron ore handling at Kalem railway station in Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary be placed before the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL). Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary is located in eastern Goa near Mollem village. It lies in the foothills of the Western Ghats. It was earlier called Mollem Game Sanctuary and declared a sanctuary in 1969. Later it was renamed Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary.

Notes:
Around 100 wild boars were found dead in Nangal Wildlife Sanctuary in March, likely due to toxic waste contamination in Nangal Lake. Nangal Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the foothills of the Shivalik Hills, Rupnagar district, Punjab. The sanctuary covers 116 hectares and is part of the Nangal Wetland on the Sutlej River. It lies within a man-made reservoir built under the Bhakra-Nangal Project.

Notes:
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified the gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) as “Critically Depleted” in its first-ever Green Status assessment. Survival depends on restoring undammed river stretches across South Asia, especially India, and supporting wild breeding. The Chambal river, spanning Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, is the last stronghold with several thousand individuals; other populations in northern India and Nepal are small and isolated. Only 0.5% of young gharials reach adulthood, making protection of nesting habitats critical for recovery.

Notes:
Recently, village hunters near Palamau Tiger Reserve surrendered their weapons, including guns and traps, during Wildlife Week celebrations. Palamau Tiger Reserve is located on the western side of Latehar district on the Chhotanagpur Plateau in Jharkhand. It forms part of the Betla National Park and covers an area of about 1,026 square kilometres. It is one of the first nine tiger reserves created in India under Project Tiger. It was the first reserve in the world to conduct a tiger census using pugmark count in 1932 under J.W. Nicholson.

Notes:
A team from the Botanical Survey of India recently discovered a new species of balsam flower named Impatiens rajibiana. It was found in the natural forests of Shergaon in West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh. The plant grows in moist and shaded forest areas at an elevation of over 2,000 meters. It belongs to the family Balsaminaceae, commonly called balsams. Many balsam species are endemic, existing only in small regions. India has around 230 known balsam species, including Impatiens balsamina or touch-me-not. Between 2013 and 2017, over 16 new balsam species were discovered in Arunachal Pradesh.