UPSC Prelims
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Prelims Pinpointer
Prelims Pinpointer — September 11, 2026
Today’s high-yield Prelims facts — Nandankanan Zoological Park’s rescued orangutans, and MoSPI’s first-ever district-level data on women in the informal workforce
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Nandankanan Zoological Park
Why in News
- Nandankanan Zoological Park is in the news for quarantining five rescued baby orangutans smuggled into India, and using music therapy to calm them.
Location and Composition — Key Facts
- Located near Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on the banks of Kanjia Lake, a wetland of national importance.
- The name “Nandankanan” means “Garden of the Gods.”
- Unlike most Indian zoos, it is built right inside a forest, giving animals a fairly natural habitat setting.
- Comprises three components: a Zoological Park, a State Botanical Garden, and the Kanjia wetland.
History — Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1960 | Nandankanan officially established (inaugurated 29 December 1960) |
| 1963 | Botanical Garden established within the park |
| 1979 | Opened to the public; also declared a Wildlife Sanctuary |
| 1980 | First zoo in the world to breed White Tigers in captivity; first-ever captive breeding of Gharials |
| 1981 | Renamed from “Nandankanan Biological Park” to “Nandankanan Zoological Park” |
| 1991 | India’s first White Tiger Safari established here |
| 2009 | First zoo in India to join WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) |
“Firsts” and Unique Features — Key Facts
- First zoo in the world to successfully breed White Tigers in captivity.
- First zoo in the world to breed the Melanistic Tiger (black-striped tiger caused by excess melanin, not a separate sub-species).
- First zoo in India where the endangered Ratel (honey badger) was born in captivity.
- The only conservation breeding centre for the Indian Pangolin in the world.
- The only zoological park in India that is an institutional member of WAZA.
- One of only two zoos in India to house Orangutans (the other being Kanpur Zoological Park, Uttar Pradesh).
White Tiger vs Melanistic Tiger — Concepts for Prelims
| Aspect | White Tiger | Melanistic (Black) Tiger |
|---|---|---|
| Cause | Recessive gene affecting coat colour | Excess melanin pigment causing black stripes/patches |
| Species status | Not a separate sub-species — a colour variant of the Bengal Tiger | Also a colour variant, not a separate sub-species |
| Occurrence | Rare; requires two tigers carrying the recessive gene to breed | Extremely rare worldwide |
| Nandankanan’s role | First zoo in the world to breed them in captivity | First zoo in the world to breed them in captivity |
Source: The Hindu
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District-Level Data on Women in the Informal Workforce
Why in News
- MoSPI has, for the first time, released district-level data on India’s informal sector based on ASUSE 2025.
- Nirmal (Telangana) has the highest share of women informal workers (78%), while Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand) has the lowest.
About ASUSE — Key Facts
- ASUSE stands for Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises, conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under MoSPI.
- Conducted annually since 2021-22. Measures unincorporated non-agricultural establishments — manufacturing, trade, and other services.
- ASUSE excludes agriculture and construction sectors.
- Collects data on employment size, GVA, emoluments, fixed assets, outstanding loans, and digital/ICT adoption.
- ASUSE 2025 is the first release to provide estimates for 757 districts — earlier releases gave only state/all-India figures.
Top and Bottom Districts by Share of Women Informal Workers
| Rank | District | State | % Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest | Nirmal | Telangana | 78% |
| 2nd | Imphal East | Manipur | 70% |
| 3rd | Nizamabad | Telangana | 70% |
| Lowest | Rudraprayag | Uttarakhand | 7% |
| 2nd lowest | Banaskantha | Gujarat | 9% |
Other Important Data Points
- All-India average: women make up only 29% of the informal workforce.
- Women form at least 50% of the informal workforce in only 25 districts — 22 in south India/north-east, and 3 (Chandel, Pakur, Deoghar) in east India.
- The top-10 districts by women’s share are concentrated in Telangana, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Mizoram.
The Pay Divide: Districts with high women’s participation don’t necessarily offer high wages. Dehradun (Uttarakhand) offers the highest emoluments to women-owned establishment workers (₹4.6 lakh), but only 19% of workers there are women — pointing to a structural pay-participation trade-off.
Concentration of Informal Economic Activity
- Nirmal also tops the list for female-owned proprietary establishments (~80%).
- North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) has the highest number of informal workers (21.3 lakh) and establishments (16.6 lakh) in the country.
- The top-50 districts by number of establishments contribute almost 25% of India’s GVA — highlighting high concentration of informal economic activity in a few districts.
Source: Indian Express
