What is the News ?

The Rashtriya Gokul Mission is actively supporting the promotion of the Gir indigenous cow breed.

Facts About:

• It is being implemented for the development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds since December 2014.
• With a budget of Rs. 2400 crore, the program is also carried out under the general Rashtriya Pashudhan Vikas Yojna from 2021 to 2026.
• The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying is the nodal ministry.

Mission Objectives:

• To use cutting-edge technologies to raise milk production and sustainably improve the productivity of cows.
• To spread the practice of breeding bulls with high genetic merit.
• To increase the breeding network's strength and provide farmers with doorstep artificial insemination services to increase the coverage of artificial insemination.
• To encourage the scientific, all-encompassing rearing of native cattle and buffalo as well as conservation.

What is the News ?

Recently, scientists from IIT Roorkee studied dinosaur fossils from the Middle Jurassic period. These fossils were discovered in the Thar desert near the Jaisalmer Basin by the Geological Survey of India.

Facts About:

• It is a member of the Dicraeosauridae family and the Diplodocoidea superfamily.
• These are the earliest dicraeosaurid sauropod fossils discovered in India.
• It is the world's oldest known diplodocoid fossil, dating back 167 million years.
• The dinosaur was named Tharosaurus indicus, with Tharo originating from the Thar desert, Saurus from the Greek'sauros', meaning lizard, and indicus from its Indian provenance.
• This family was distinct in that its members were smaller and had shorter necks and tails than other long-necked sauropods.
• Sauropods originally arrived on Earth some 200 million years ago, during the Jurassic period.
• They were one of the most dominating dinosaur clades, surviving until the late Cretaceous period 65 million years ago, when dinosaurs became extinct.
• According to the experts, dicraeosaurid dinosaur fossils have previously been discovered in North and South America, Africa, and China, but such fossils were unknown from India.