Important Facts for Prelims (July 10th, 2018)

• 10 Jul 2018

Light ‘Sadmridangam’ gets a patent

• The Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks has given the patent for light ‘sadmridangam’ under the ‘drum’ category.
• The lightweight version of South Indian percussion instrument ‘mridangam’ was developed by Kuzhalmannam Ramakrishnan.
• The improvised instrument has all the features of a ‘mridangam’ and ensures more mobility for artists.

Note:

• A Patent is a statutory right for an invention granted for a limited period of time to the patentee by the Government, in exchange of full disclosure of his invention for excluding others, from making, using, selling, importing the patented product or process for producing that product for those purposes without his consent.
• The patent system in India is governed by the Patents Act, 1970 (No.39 of 1970) as amended by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 and the Patents Rules, 2003.
• Patent protection is a territorial right and therefore it is effective only within the territory of India. There is no concept of a global patent.

Seven new Wasp Species Discovered in the Amazon Forests

• Researchers have discovered seven new wasp species belonging to the genus Clistopyga from Peru, Venezuela and Colombia.
• The most notable among them is Clistopyga crassicaudata, named after its distinctly thickened ovipositor. The ovipositor is a tube-like organ present in many insects that helps in laying eggs and also in injecting venom
• The other new species include C.kalima, C. panchei and C. taironae, named in honour of Kalimas, Panches and Toiranas, indigenous tribe groups of Colombo.
• Another species was named C. nigriventri, indicating its entirely black body, and another C. splendida because of its multicoloured body. The seventh species, named C.isayae has a white and brown body.

First Quolls born in Australian Wild in 50 years

• The first eastern Quolls in 50 years have been born in the wild on the Australian mainland.
• This has raised hopes for the revival of the species of marsupial, which was devastated by foxes.