Rs 260 cr plan to reintroduce cheetah in India

February 22, 2014

Cheetah_in_IndiaBhopal, Feb 22: Cheetah, which became extinct from the country about seven decades back, may find a home in India if the Centre agrees to fund WII's Rs 260 crore project for reintroducing the feline in Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district.

If the project gets the nod, the spotted animal would be translocated here from Namibia in Africa.

"Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has found Nauradehi suitable for reintroduction of cheetah, which became extinct from India about seven decades back. Now, we have written to the Centre to fund the project as nearly 20-22 villages need to be shifted for the purpose," Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Wildlife, Narendra Kumar said today.

"The cost of shifting these villages and for making other suitable arrangements, the forest department will need more than Rs 260 crore. Therefore, the state government has requested the Centre to bear the entire cost of reintroduction of cheetah in Nauradehi," Kumar said.

Dehradun-based WII experts found Nauradehi sanctuary, spread over an area of 1,200 sq kms, suitable for cheetah reintroduction following which the project has been prepared for cheetah reintroduction there, forest sources said.

Earlier, Cheetah, the fastest land animal, was planned to be translocated to the state's Palpur-Kuno wildlife sanctuary, spread over 344 sq kms area in Sheopur district.

But two years back, after the Supreme Court directed that the Asiatic Lions from Gir should be reintroduced in Palpur-Kuno first, a search for another place to reintroduce cheetah was launched, the sources said.

The state government was of the view that since the project was of the Centre, Ministry of Environment and Forest and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) should bear its entire cost, they said.

Nauradehi has been found most suitable for the cheetah given that its forests are not dense to restrict the fast movement of the big cat. Besides, the prey base of cheetah is in abundance there, they said.

Former Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh conceived the cheetah reintroduction programme in 2009.

The last spotted mammal died at some place in Chhattisgarh way back in 1947 and five years later, cheetah was declared extinct in the country, sources added.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 19,2020

Shimla, Apr 19: A man, who had recovered from the novel coronavirus, was again found suffering from the infection in Himachal Pradesh, officials said.

The man, a Tablighi Jamaat member, tested positive for the infection on Saturday within a week of his two reports coming out negative, they said.

Residents of different places in Mandi district, the man along with two other Jamaatis had been staying in a mosque of Nakroh village in Una'a Amb tehsil and all tested positive on April 2.

They were admitted to Tanda's Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC) in Kangra district on April 3.

As per the available information, they had tested negative for the first time on April 10 and they were declared as cured as per protocol after they tested negative for the second time on April 12.

Subsequently they had been discharged from the RPGMC and were kept in institutional quarantine.

However, with the man again testing positive, the total number of active cases in the hill state has increased to 23 out of the total 40 positive cases.

Four persons have been shifted to a private hospital outside the state. Eleven have recovered while two others have died.

A total of 16 confirmed cases were found in Una and health department statistics now shows 14 active cases and two cured.

Officials said 11 patients — three each from Chamba, Kangra, and Solan districts and two from Una district — have recovered.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
March 22,2020

Mumbai, Mar 22: The total number of coronavirus positive patients in Maharashtra has risen to 74 with 10 more positive cases reported in the last 24 hours, officials said.

Of the 10 new cases, 6 are in Mumbai and 4 in Pune, they said on Sunday.

Earlier this week, a Covid-19 patient died in Mumbai.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
January 14,2020

Microsoft's Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella on Monday voiced concern over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying what is happening is "sad" and he would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant create the next unicorn in India.

His comments came while speaking to editors at a Microsoft event in Manhattan where he was asked about the contentious issue of CAA which grants citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

"I think what is happening is sad... It's just bad.... I would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India or becomes the next CEO of Infosys," Nadella was quoted as saying by Ben Smith, the Editor-in-Chief of New York-based BuzzFeed News.

In a statement issued by Microsoft India, Nadella said: "Every country will and should define its borders, protect national security and set immigration policy accordingly. And in democracies, that is something that the people and their governments will debate and define within those bounds.

"I’m shaped by my Indian heritage, growing up in a multicultural India and my immigrant experience in the United States. My hope is for an India where an immigrant can aspire to found a prosperous start-up or lead a multinational corporation benefitting Indian society and the economy at large".

The Centre last week issued a gazette notification announcing that the CAA has come into effect from January 10, 2020.

The CAA was passed by Parliament on December 11.

According to the legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

There have been widespread protests against the Act in different parts of the country.

In Uttar Pradesh, at least 19 persons were killed in anti-CAA protests.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.