Wild Life In Maharashtra (MPSC)

WILDLIFE PARKS  Maharashtra is home to a large number of animals and bird species, including the tiger, Crocodile, Bison, Gawa, Neelgai, Wild Deer, Sambar and rare migratory birds. The state has taken adequate steps towards setting up many wildlife parks and sanctuaries to protect these regions and promote them as tourist attractions. The parks offer splendid opportunities to see a variety of wildlife in a spectacularly natural setting. Modern amenities such as jeep rides, night safaris, comfortable accommodation and efficient transport are also available at a nominal charge

Melghat Tiger Reserve This Reserve is in the enchanting sylvan beauty of the woodlands and greenery of Melghat, in the Amravati district, roams the tiger, and it is here that a greater part of Project Tiger is being implemented. In the heart of the luxuriant teak forests of Dhakna-Kolkaz is the Melghat Tiger Reserve, where Panthers, Bison, Sambar, Chital and the Flying Squirrel are familiar sights. Nagzira Wild Life Sanctuary Another wildlife sanctuary which is known for its verdant hills and dales, where the fauna offers a mesmerising blaze of colours, is the Nagzira

Wild Life Sanctuary. Ambling around in these idyllic environs is the sloth bear, tiger four horned antelope, the Bluebull, Chital, Barking Deer, Bison and the Panther. Besides these sanctuaries are alive with the Chirruping of the colourful and varied birds.

The Navegaon Forest Resort Navegaon, a popular forest resort in the Vidarbha region, was built in the 18th century. The picturesque lake set amidst lush green hills at Navegaon has a watch-tower beside it, from which visitors may find a bird's eye view of the surrounding forest and its abundant wildlife. Best known for the Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Navegaon is home to almost 60 per cent of the bird species found in the entire state. Every winter, flocks of migratory birds visit the region. Visitors can join the Jungle Safari and have a stroll to see the Sambar, Chital and Langurs. Staying in a unique tree-top house and riding a power or sail boat on the lake, are thrilling pastimes.

The Dajipur Bison Sanctuary  The jungle resort of Dajipur is situated on the border of Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts, near the backwaters of the Radhanagari dam. Surrounded by rugged mountains and dense forests, this secluded area is completely cut-off from human habitation. A home to bison, wild Deers, Chital, Gawa and many more spectacular wild animals and birds, Dajipur is an exciting and beautiful holiday getaway. An excursion to the nearby Gagangiri Maharaj's Math makes for a pleasant outing.

The Tadoba National Park

This is a large park spread over many acres of lush green forested land. Situated 45 kms from Chandrapur, Tadoba is an extremely beautiful jungle of mixed teak forests around a tranquil lake. The Tadoba National Park has migratory ducks visiting its lake, and also swarms with crocodiles. The rest houses are ideal for nature lovers as it commands a lovely view of the lake and the distant green hills beyond. Late nights are ideal times to see tigers, leopards, gaur, nilgai, sambar and chital. The park has facilities for tourists to stay overnight.

Bird Sanctuaries

There are many more types of birds than animals in Maharashtra, like the bulbul, shama, cuckoo, parakeet, drongoes, Wagtails Flycatchers, Purple Sunbirds, Grey Jungle Fowl, the great Indian bustard and above all the beautiful peacock. The great Indian bustard which is an endangered species, is an ostrich-like bird, found in the Ahmednagar and Sholapur districts. It is known for its royal gait and is a fast runner. The Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary is a must for ornithologists and so is the Karnala Bird Sanctuary which is the home of winged birds like the golden oriole Source--http://www.maharashtraweb.com/lifeleis/Wildlife.asp

Geography Concept (Coral Reefs)

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The Topic: Coral Reefs

Easier - Coral is a substance that is formed by the skeletons of sea animals. Live, healthy coral is often brightly colored. Large coral groups form rounded or branching masses. A strip or ridge of solidified coral at or near an ocean surface is called a coral reef.

 

Harder - Coral is a limestone formation formed in the sea by millions of tiny animals called polyps. Most coral polyps live together in colonies. They attach themselves to each other with a flat sheet of tissue that connects to the middle of another polyp body; half of the coral polyp extends above and the remaining half is below the connective sheet. Coral polyps remove calcium out of the sea water to build their limestone skeletons. They then deposit calcium carbonate (limestone) around their lower body halves. When the animals die, they leave limestone "skeletons" that become the foundations of barriers and ridges called coral reefs. As new polyps grow, their mass makes the limestone formation larger and larger.

Diverse coral formations may resemble branching trees, large domes, small irregular crusts, or tiny organ pipes. The living coral-forming animals color the formations in beautiful hues of tan, orange, yellow, purple, and green. Coral animals cannot live in water cooler than 65 °F (18 °C), therefore coral reefs are found mostly in warm, shallow, and tropical seas.

 

CORAL REEFS DISTRIBUTION IN INDIA

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Gulf of Kutch

The reefs here are also of fringing type around a chain of islands from Jodhiya in the north to Port Okha in the south. These are the most northern reefs in the Indian subcontinent. Because of the environmental conditions which are extreme, with a large range in temperature and salinity, at this site, the reefs are relatively less developed and harbor a low biodiversity compared to other Indian reefs. The Gulf of Kutch is also a region of high industrial development - this has been responsible for a large scale of mortality of reef corals in the recent past. The entire Gulf of Kutch reefs have now been declared as a Marine National Park.
Details of Gulf of Kutch and Coral Reef Species

Lakshadweep Islands

The coral formation consists of 10 atolls with 36 islands of which 10 are inhabited. The atolls, with the lagoon at islands cover areas ranging from 30 to 300 sq. km. The islands, however, range from less than a km to about 9 km in length. The maximum width does not exceed two km across. The health of the reefs is generally excellent, especially in the uninhabited atolls whereas in the habitant islands, human impacts, as elsewhere, are significant.
Details of Lakshadweep Islands and Coral Reef Species

Gulf of Mannar

Fringing reefs occur around a chain of 20 islands from Rameswaram in the north to Tuticorin in the south. The reefs at the northern and southern ends of the chain are partially degraded due to human activities (mining, fishing and industrial development) whereas those in the middle, because of their location away from human settlements, are in a relatively better condition. These reefs form part of the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere reserve.
Details of Gulf of Mannar and Coral Reef Species

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

These islands in the Bay of Bengal number around 500 and all of them have fringing reefs. Most of them, like those at Nicobar, have healthy reefs with a large biodiversity. However, near human settlements, such as Port Blair, impacts are readily visible. A serious natural threat to these reefs in the last two decades was infestation with the crown-of-thorns starfish.
Details of Andman & Nicobar Islands and Coral Reef Species

Others

Coral patches occur at some intertidal locations and submerged banks on the continental shelf along the west coast. Coral diversity at these sites is generally restricted to few genera. The number of coral species known so far from Indian reefs is 206.

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Solar System and Roman Gods

Planets are named after mostly Roman gods and goddesses as given below.

Position	Planet	God / Goddess	Explanation
1	Mercury	Winged Messenger of Roman Gods (also God of Trade, Travel and Thievery)	Swiftest planet - completes one revolution in 88 days
2	Venus	Roman Goddess of Love & Beauty	Brightest object in night sky after Moon - appears beautiful in the heavens
3	Earth	Not named after any God	Only planet not named after mythological character
4	Mars	Roman God of War	Its red color associated by ancient civilizations with blood of battles
5	Jupiter	King of Roman Gods	Largest and most massive of the nine planets
6	Saturn	Roman God of Farming & Agriculture (also, father of Jupiter in Roman mythology)	Saturn is adjacent to Jupiter
7	Uranus	God of the Sky & Heavens (also, father of Saturn)	Uranus is adjacent to Saturn
8	Neptune	Roman God of the Sea	Neptune has a beautiful blue color
9	Pluto	Roman God of the Underworld	God of the Underworld was capable of becoming invisible - planet is farthest from Sun and in perpetual darknes

Mount LOGAN

mountain, highest point (19,524 feet [5,951 m]) in Canada and second in North America only to Mount McKinley. Located in the St. Elias Mountains of southwestern Yukon, the peak towers about 14,000 feet (4,300 m) above the Seward Glacier at the Alaska border to the south and is a focal point of Kluane National Park, an 8,500-square-mile (22,000-square-kilometre) rugged wilderness. The actual ridge crest of the mountainis about 10 miles (16 km) across, while the entire mass is more than 20 miles (32 km) long. An expedition under A.H. MacCarthy and H.F. Lambert on June 23, 1925, became the first to reach the summit. The peak was named after Sir William Logan (1798–1875), founder of the Geological Survey of Canada.

Indian Cities & Nicknames

SNo	Nick name	Place
1	Golden City	Amritsar
2	Manchester of India	Ahmedabad
3	City of Seven islands	Mumbai
4	Queen of Arabian Sea	Cochin
5	Space City	Bangalore
6	Garden City of India	Bangalore
7	Silicon Valley of India	Bangalore
8	Electronic city of India	Bangalore
9	Pink city	Jaipur
10	Gateway of India	Mumbai
11	Twin city	Hyderabad - Sikandarabad
12	City of festivals	Madurai
13	Deccan Queen	Pune
14	City of Buildings	Kolkata
15	Dakshin Ganga	Godavari
16	Old Ganga	Godavari
17	Egg bowls of Asia	Andhra Pradesh
18	Soya region	Madhya Pradesh
19	Manchester of the South	Coimbatore
20	City of Nawabs	Lucknow
21	Venice of the east	Cochin
22	Sorrow of Bengal	Damodar river
23	Sorrow of Bihar	Kosi river
24	Blue Mountains	Nilgiri
25	Queen of the Mountains	Mussoorie (Uttaranchal)
26	Sacred river	Ganga
27	Hollywood of India	Mumbai
28	City of Castles	Kolkata
29	State of five rivers	Punjab
30	City of weavers	Panipat
31	City of lakes	Srinagar
32	Steel city of India	Jamshedpur (Called Tatanagar)
33	City of temples	Varanasi
34	Manchester of the north	Kanpur
35	City of Rallies	New Delhi
36	Heaven of India	Jammu & Kashmir
37	Boston of India	Ahmedabad
38	Garden of spices of India	Kerala
39	Switzerland of India	Kashmir
40	Abode of the God	Prayag (Allahabad)
41	Pittsburg of India	Jamshedpur

Mudumalai Sanctuary - Tamil Nadu

This sanctuary is located where the Nilagiri Hills, the offshoot of the Western Ghats meet the eastern Ghats. The Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary has varied mixture of flat land, undulating parkland, open grassland, swamp, valleys and nullas. The Mayyar river in this region forms a series of spectacular cascades on its way 65 kms away from Udhagamandalam - Mysore highway, this sanctuary could be reached from Mysore as well.
This 321 sq kms wide sanctuary encompasses a National Park measuring are of 103 sq kms. The vegetation is varied. The hilly terrain of the Western Ghats, clothed in dense mixed and moist deciduous forests, make Mudumalai (the ancient hills) a most attractive wildlife reserve. The Mysore-Ooty highway runs through the Park, following the course of the Moyar River, which separates Mudumalai from Bandipur.
The fauna includes Elephant, Gaur, Bonnet, Macaque, Common langur, Tigers and Leopards, Chital, Dhole Panther, Sloth Bear, Python, Barking deer, Four-Horned- Antelope, Otter, Crocodiles (mugger), giant flying squirrel, Sambhar, Hyena, Wild Dog, Wild Boar, Mouse Deer, Spotted Deer, Jackal, Hare, Porcupine and Mangoose.
The Birds listed in this sanctuary are peacock-our national bird, grey jungle fowl, Malabar whistling thrush, large racket-tailed dronge, the shama, the magpie-robin, spotted babbler, small green barbet, germen pigeons, little brown dove, Malabar grey hornbill, bulbuls, mynahs etc. Among birds of prey, eagles, hawks, buzzards, harriers, falcons and king vulture are predominant, birdies some migratory water birds.