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👉🏻It's location in a transition zone between temperate western Himalaya and central Himalaya enhances the species diversity. 👉🏻Vegetation:- The area is covered with diverse forest types ranging from semi-evergreen to deciduous and from mixed broad-leaved to Terai grassland and has been classified as Indus-Ganges Monsoon Forest type. 👉🏻Flora:- Lofty strands of Sal trees (Shorea Robusta) dominate most parts of the reserve. Other popular flora found here include Rohini, Palash, Shisham, Sal, Sandan, Khair, Arjun, Baans, Semul, Chamaror, etc. 👉🏻Fauna:- It has a sizeable population of Tiger and Asian Elephants. It is home to a variety of wild animals like Leopard, Jungle cat, Himalayan Black Bear, Sloth Bear, Striped Hyena, Goral, Sambar, Wild Pig, Spotted Deer, Barking Deer, etc.

📍 Rajaji Tiger Reserve 👉🏻Overview:- The Uttarakhand government recently decided to establish Rajaji Tiger Reserve Conservation Foundation to accelerate the ecological, economic, social and cultural development of the landscapes in and around the reserve. ➡️About Rajaji Tiger Reserve:- 👉🏻Location:- Rajaji Tiger Reserve (earlier Rajaji National Park) is located in the Shivalik range of the Himalayas and spread over 820 kms. 👉🏻It covers a part of over three districts of Uttarakhand: Haridwar, Dehradun, and Pauri Garhwal. 👉🏻It was named after the famous freedom fighter C. Rajgopalachari popularly known as "Rajaji". 👉🏻The park was created in 1983 by the amalgamation of three sanctuaries: Rajaji Sanctuary and National park (estd. 1948), Motichur Sanctuary (estd. 1964), and Chilla sanctuary (estd. 1977). 👉🏻On 20 April 2015, its name has been changed to Rajaji Tiger Reserve. It is famous as an elephant habitat, as there are around 600 elephants in Rajaji.

➡️About Bering Sea:- 👉🏻It is a marginal sea in the northernmost part of the Pacific Ocean, separating the continents of Asia and North America. 👉🏻To the north, the Bering Sea connects with the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait, at the narrowest point of which the two continents are about 53 miles (85 kilometres) apart. 👉🏻It is bordered by the US state of Alaska to the east and northeast, the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Far Eastern region of Russia in the west, and the chain of the Aleutian Islands in the south. 👉🏻The boundary between the United States and Russia passes through the sea and the strait. 👉🏻The Bering Sea can be divided into two equal portions: a shallow area along the continental shelf in the northern and eastern parts of the sea, and a deeper area in its southwestern part. 👉🏻The Bering Strait is a relatively shallow passage, averaging 100 to 165 feet (30 to 50 metres) in depth. 👉🏻Canyons:- There are about 16 submarine canyons in the Bering Sea. Situated in the sea’s center is a large underwater canyon known as the Zhemchug Canyon. It is also the world’s largest and deepest submarine canyon. 👉🏻Rivers:- The two rivers that drain into the sea are the Anadyr and the Yukon Rivers. 👉🏻Islands:-In addition to the Aleutian and Komandor groups, there are several other large islands in both the sea and strait. These include Nunivak, St. Lawrence, and Nelson islands in Alaskan waters and Karagin Island in Russian waters. 👉🏻Springtime in the Bering Strait brings one of the largest migrations in the world. Each year, millions of birds and hundreds of thousands of marine mammals follow retreating sea ice north through the Bering Strait.

🎯Key Facts about Bering Sea 👉🏻Overview:- A recent study links a decline in sea ice moving from the Arctic to the Bering Sea in the north Pacific Ocean to an increased occurrence of wildfire hazards in northeast China.

👉🏻What is Caldera? 🔹It is a depression created after a volcano releases the majority of the contents of its magma chamber in an explosive eruption. 🔹Without any structural support below, the land around the erupting volcanic vent or vents collapses inwardly, creating the bowl-shaped caldera. 🔹A caldera-causing eruption is the most devastating type of volcanic eruption. 🔹These are formed by the inward collapse of a volcano. 🔹Calderas may have parts of their sides missing because land collapses unevenly.

📍Long Valley Caldera 👉🏻Overview:- More than 2,000 earthquakes were identified rumbling across the Long Valley Caldera in the last few years by scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). ➡️About Long Valley Caldera:- It is located in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, United states of America (USA). It is a dormant supervolcano. It was formed by a super-eruption about 760,000 years ago that blasted 140 cubic miles of magma, covering much of east-central California in hot ash that was blown as far away as present-day Nebraska. It has been unleashing earthquake swarms on a regular basis since 1978, raising concerns that it might be at risk of erupting.

📍Project Elephant 👉🏻It was launched by the GoI in 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with following objectives: ▪ To protect elephants, their habitat & corridors ▪ To address issues of man-animal conflict ▪ Welfare of captive elephants 👉🏻The Project is being mainly implemented in 16 States / UTs , viz. ➡️Andhra Pradesh ➡️Arunachal Pradesh ➡️Assam ➡️Chhattisgarh ➡️Jharkhand ➡️Karnataka ➡️Kerala ➡️Maharashtra ➡️Meghalaya ➡️Nagaland ➡️Orissa ➡️Tamil Nadu ➡️Tripura ➡️Uttarakhand ➡️Uttar Pradesh ➡️West Bengal 👉🏻The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change provides the financial and technical support to major elephant range states in the country through Project Elephant.

👉🏻The principal provisions of the Convention ruling the passage of vessels of war are:- 🔹Aircraft carriers, whether belonging to the littoral States or not, can in no way pass through the Turkish Straits. 🔹Only submarines belonging to littoral States can pass through the Turkish Straits for the purpose of rejoining their base in the Black Sea for the first time after their construction or purchase, or for the purpose of repair in dockyards outside the Black Sea. 🔹The total number and maximum aggregate tonnage of all foreign naval forces which may be in the course of passage through the Turkish Straits are limited to 9 and 15.000 tons respectively. 🔹The maximum aggregate tonnage which non-littoral States may have in the Black Sea is 45.000 tons. 🔹In this regard, the maximum aggregate tonnage of the vessels of war that one non-littoral State may have in the Black Sea is 30.000 tons. 🔹Vessels of war belonging to non-littoral States cannot stay more than 21 days in the Black Sea.

📍Montreux Convention 👉🏻Overview:- The Turkish Ministry of National Defense recently announced that it will impose restrictions on the passage of warships belonging to countries not bordering the Black Sea within the framework of the Montreux Convention. ➡️It is an agreement concerning the Dardanelles strait and the Bosporus strait, also known as the Turkish straits or the Black Sea straits. ➡️The Turkish straits are the only maritime passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. ➡️According to the 1936 Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits, often referred to simply as the Montreux Convention, Turkey has control over the Turkish Straits. ➡️In the event of a war, the pact gives Turkey the right to regulate the transit of naval warships and to block the straits to warships belonging to the countries involved in the conflict.

📍Key Facts about Indian One Horned Rhinoceros 👉🏻The greater one-horned rhino (or “Indian rhino”) is the largest of the rhino species. 👉🏻Scientific Name: Rhinoceros unicornis 👉🏻Distribution: It can be found in India and Nepal, particularly in the foothills of the Himalayas, in riverine (floodplain) grasslands, and adjacent woodland. Assam’s Kaziranga National Park (KNP) has the largest population with 2,613 animals. 👉🏻Features: 🔹It is identified by a single black horn about 8-25 inches long and a grey-brown hide with skin folds, which gives it an armor-plated appearance. 🔹It weighs approximately 2,200 kg, ranges in height from 170 to 186 cm, and is 368 to 380 cm long. 🔹The species is solitary, except when adult males or rhinos nearing adulthood gather at wallows or to graze. 🔹They primarily graze, with a diet consisting almost entirely of grasses as well as leaves. 👉🏻Conservation Status: ➡️IUCN Red List: Vulnerable ➡️CITES: Appendix I ➡️Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I

👉🏻Flora:- 🔹72% of Pabitora consists of wet savannah of Arundo donax, Erianthus ravennae, Phragmites karka, Imperata cylindrica, and Saccharum spp. 🔹Water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) is a major problem, especially to waterfowl, as it forms thick mats on the water surface. 👉🏻Fauna:- 🔹Besides rhinoceros, the other animals are leopard, wild boar, Barking deer, wild buffalo, etc. 🔹It is also home to more than 375 species of resident and migratory birds, such as the Indian pied Hornbill, Osprey, Hill Myna, Kalij Pheasant, etc.

🎯 Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary 👉🏻Overview:- Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, renowned for its population of one-horned rhinoceros, welcomed tourists once again as it officially reopened recently. 👉🏻Location:- It is located on the southern bank of the river Brahmaputra in Morigaon district, adjacent to Guwahati in Assam. It was declared a reserve forest in 1971 and a wildlife sanctuary in 1987. It is home to the highest population density of the Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros species (around 102 rhinos in an area of 38.8 sq. km). 👉🏻Landscape:- It is dominated by alluvial lowlands and marshland. The Brahmaputra River offers a natural boundary to the premises of the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary on the north, while the Garanga Beel offers a natural boundary to its south.