NABARD Grade A Current Affairs — 3 August 2026

Silent Valley National Park in Kerala's Nilgiri Hills hosts one of India's last undisturbed tropical rainforests. In the 1970s–80s, a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Kunthipuzha River threatened its ecosystem. A mass environmental movement, backed by the Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad and poet Sugathakumari, pressured Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to shelve the project. Silent Valley was declared a National Park in 1980 under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and later became part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.

Silent Valley represents a landmark convergence of ecological science and democratic environmental activism in India. The park shelters one of the world's rarest tracts of tropical wet evergreen forest — what ecologists call 'sholahs' — in the Western Ghats. It is home to the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus), an IUCN Endangered species, along with 34 mammal species, over 400 bird species, and extraordinary insect diversity.

The Western Ghats, of which Silent Valley is a jewel, is one of the 36 globally recognised biodiversity hotspots (as per Conservation International's framework). A biodiversity hotspot requires ≥1,500 endemic vascular plant species and has lost ≥70% of its original habitat.

The Silent Valley movement is historically significant because it predated India's Environment Protection Act, 1986 — the dam controversy was a catalyst for strengthening environmental legislation. The Kunthipuzha River, a tributary of the Bharathapuzha, would have been dammed for a 120 MW hydroelectric project by Kerala State Electricity Board.

Silent Valley was declared a National Park in 1980, and in 1986 it became part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve — India's first biosphere reserve, designated under UNESCO's Man and Biosphere (MAB) programme in 1986. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve was also the first Indian site inscribed on the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

For exam purposes: connect Silent Valley to (1) biodiversity hotspot classification, (2) UNESCO MAB programme, (3) lion-tailed macaque conservation, (4) the legislative history — Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and Environment Protection Act 1986.

The Government of India has selected 47,328 villages under the Adarsh Gram component of PM-AJAY (Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana), including 435 villages in Telangana. PM-AJAY consolidates three earlier SC welfare schemes — PMAGY, SEAP, and PMKPY — into a single umbrella programme. It targets socio-economic upliftment of Scheduled Caste communities through infrastructure development, income generation, and village-level convergence of government services in SC-majority habitations.

PM-AJAY (Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana) is a centrally sponsored scheme under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. It was formed by merging three pre-existing SC-focused schemes: Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY), Special Central Assistance to Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SEAP), and Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMKPY — originally for minority-concentrated areas, the SC-focused analogue being the merged component). The scheme has three components: (1) Adarsh Gram — integrated development of SC-majority villages with at least 50% SC population, (2) District/State-level projects for income-generating schemes for SC individuals below poverty line, and (3) Construction of Ambedkar Dham and related social infrastructure.

The Adarsh Gram component targets villages with 50% or more SC population and seeks to bridge the development gap between SC-majority villages and the national average on key indicators — health, education, sanitation, roads, and livelihood. The convergence model ensures that central and state scheme funds are directed at these selected villages in a coordinated manner rather than dispersed. The 47,328 village selection is significant because it represents the scaled-up national coverage of this programme, and Telangana's 435-village share reflects the state's SC-majority habitation density. For NABARD aspirants, the rural credit and livelihood support angle within the district project component is directly relevant to priority sector and rural development financing.

Chhattisgarh's Forest Department plans to translocate wild buffaloes from Assam to revive its critically diminished population — the wild buffalo is Chhattisgarh's state animal. Once widespread in central India, fewer than a dozen pure wild buffaloes survive in Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve. Hybridisation with domestic buffaloes, habitat loss, and disease have decimated the population. The translocation plan aims to introduce genetically pure individuals from Assam's Kaziranga to restore a viable breeding population before local extinction occurs.

The wild buffalo (Bubalus arnee) is distinct from the domestic buffalo and is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. India holds the majority of the global wild buffalo population, primarily in Assam's Kaziranga and Manas National Parks, with a small remnant population in Chhattisgarh's Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve.

The Chhattisgarh crisis illustrates multiple converging threats: genetic introgression (hybridisation with domestic livestock), poaching, disease transmission from cattle, and shrinking grassland habitat. Pure wild buffalo populations are increasingly rare because domestic buffalo genes infiltrate wild herds, reducing ecological fitness.

Translocation is a conservation tool governed by IUCN Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations (2013). Under Indian law, such inter-state wildlife translocation requires approval under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and coordination between state forest departments and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) or Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) as applicable.

Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve — the only habitat for wild buffalo in Chhattisgarh — falls under Project Tiger. The wild buffalo is also listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, granting it the highest legal protection. This case connects to broader debates on species-specific recovery plans, genetic conservation, and the role of protected area networks in preventing local extinctions.

Prime Minister launched the 'Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan' on August 2, targeting drug abuse prevention among Indian youth as part of the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. The campaign aims to mobilize youth against narcotics, linking anti-drug awareness to the broader national development goal. The initiative coordinates multiple ministries including Social Justice and Empowerment, which houses the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, and aligns with existing drug de-addiction and rehabilitation frameworks across India.

This scheme sits within India's broader anti-narcotics and youth welfare policy architecture. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment runs the parent programme — Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (NMBA), launched in 2020, targeting 272 most-affected districts. The new campaign extends this into a youth-specific mobilization drive under the Viksit Bharat 2047 umbrella, linking drug-free outcomes to long-term demographic dividend goals.

For exam purposes, the key policy mechanism is institutional convergence: the scheme links the Narcotics Control Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs), the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (AIIMS), and the Ministry of Social Justice's de-addiction infrastructure. This multi-ministry coordination model is exactly what UPSC tests in governance questions.

For NABARD aspirants, the rural dimension matters. Drug abuse in rural India affects agricultural productivity and credit repayment capacity. NABARD's rural livelihood and SHG-linked programmes often intersect with social welfare schemes in affected districts. Understanding how welfare schemes target specific districts (as NMBA's 272 districts framework does) reflects priority area mapping — a concept tested in NABARD's scheme-identification questions.

The 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp' branding is itself exam-relevant: it is the outreach campaign through which the government delivers multiple schemes simultaneously at gram panchayat level — aspirants must distinguish it as a delivery vehicle, not a standalone scheme.

The Border Security Force has partnered with the Rajasthan Forest Department to protect the caracal, a critically endangered wild cat found near the India-Pakistan border in Jaisalmer district. The caracal, listed as Critically Endangered on India's wildlife lists, faces threats from habitat loss, prey depletion, and border-zone human activity. BSF personnel will assist in monitoring and reporting sightings, effectively extending conservation reach into restricted border zones inaccessible to forest officials alone.

The caracal (Caracal caracal) is a medium-sized wild cat known for its distinctive tufted black ears. In India, it once ranged across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and parts of peninsular India, but has now virtually disappeared from most of its historic range. India's caracal population is estimated at fewer than 50 individuals, making it one of the most endangered felids in the country. It is listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 — the highest protection tier — and appears on the IUCN Red List as Least Concern globally, but is considered Critically Endangered at the national level in India, highlighting the difference between global and regional conservation status. The Jaisalmer-Barmer belt along the Thar Desert represents the last viable habitat in India. The BSF partnership is significant because the border zone is a restricted area where forest officials cannot freely operate; BSF jawans become de facto wildlife monitors. This model mirrors earlier conservation collaborations such as snow leopard monitoring in border areas with the ITBP. For exam purposes, the key static facts are: Schedule I protection, IUCN national vs. global status distinction, and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 as the governing legislation.