Three Himalayan Medicinal Plants in IUCN Red List

Three Himalayan Medicinal Plants in IUCN Red List

• Three medicinal plant species in the Himalayas have been included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. These are Meizotropis pellita (critically endangered), Fritilloria cirrhosa (vulnerable) and Dactylorhiza hatagirea (endangered).
• Meizotropis pellita is commonly known as Patwa. It is a perennial shrub that is found only in Uttarakhand. The species was listed as critically endangered in the IUCN List based on its limited area of occupation (less than 10 square kilometres).
• Fritillaria cirrhosa, commonly known as Himalayan fritillary, is a perennial bulbous herb. Its population has declined by 30 per cent over the past 22 to 26 years. The species has been listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List due to the high rate of population decline, long generation length, poor germination potential, high trade value, extensive harvesting pressure, and illegal trade.
• Dactylorhiza hatagirea or Salampanja is a perennial tuberous species endemic to the Hindu Kush and Himalayan ranges of Afghanistan, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. The species is listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List as its survival is threatened by habitat loss, livestock grazing, deforestation, and climate change.

Sanitation Workers’ Development Scheme launched in Tamil Nadu

• The Sanitation Workers’ Development Scheme was launched by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin to ensure the welfare of conservancy workers in the southern state.
• The Sanitation Workers’ Development Scheme was launched by the Tamil Nadu government to identify conservancy workers and ensure their welfare through various government initiatives.
• As part of this scheme, a mobile application was launched for the identification and census collection of sanitation workers.
• The scheme will benefit over 53,300 sanitation workers in the state, including 18,859 permanent employees and 34,442 temporary contract workers in the urban local bodies.
• It will also cover informal workers involved in conservancy operations in the private sector.

AAP to Become 9th National Party of India

• The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has scored enough votes in Gujarat in the recent elections to get the “national party” status.
• A national party is a political party having national presence, as opposed to regional party, whose presence is restricted to a specific region or a state. National parties include those that are the biggest in India (BJP and Congress) as well as smaller parties that do not necessarily have a lot of national political influence (communist parties).
• The AAP has large vote shares in Delhi and Punjab. In the Goa Assembly elections that was held in March, it received 6.77 per cent of the vote share. This means, before the Gujarat-Himachal Pradesh elections, the party fulfilled the criteria for receiving the status of state party in three states. While AAP received only 1 per cent of the vote in Himachal Pradesh, it received almost 13 per cent of the vote shares in Gujarat – more than double the requirement to be recognized as a state party there. That makes it four states.