Important Facts for Prelims (31st December 2018) | 31 Dec 2018

There has been an increase in the number of poachers arrested by forest officials in past one year.
The mobile app, M-STrIPES, used for surveillance and patrolling of tiger-populated areas has played a major role in this.
M-STrIPES (Monitoring System For Tigers-Intensive Protection and Ecological Status)
- This app was developed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife Institute of India in 2010.
- M-STrIPES allows patrol teams to keep a better tab on suspicious activity while also mapping the patrolling, location, routes and timings of forest officials.
- The App was also used in the All India-Tiger Estimation.
Dudhwa Tiger Reserve
- The Dudhwa Tiger Reserve is a protected area in Uttar Pradesh that stretches mainly across the Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich districts.
- It comprises of the Dudhwa National Park, Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary and Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
- Dudhwa is home to a number of wildlife species, including the Bengal Tiger, Gangetic dolphin, rhinoceros, leopard, hispid hare, sambhar, swamp deer, hog deer, cheetah, sloth bear, elephant and over 450 species of birds.

Prime Minister of India recently attended a regional summit of ODOP scheme in Varanasi.
ODOP Scheme was launched by the Uttar Pradesh Government to give a boost to traditional industries, synonymous with the respective state's districts.
Through this scheme, the state government wants to help local handicraft industries and products to gain national and international recognition through branding, marketing support, and easy credit.
Under the scheme, the state government of Uttar Pradesh has set a goal of providing employment to 25 lakh people in five years through the financial assistance of Rs. 25,000 crores.