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.

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News Network
January 30,2020

New Delhi, Jan 30: In a major shift of strategy ahead of the Delhi assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to rope in its senior leaders for massive public rallies.

Its star campaigners like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and other union ministers would now be addressing massive public rallies in addition to ongoing neighbourhood meetings.

"The big rallies would begin from February 1. While 'Nukkad' meetings will take place till the last day of campaigning, there would be big rallies of the top leadership of the party, " informed a senior party leader.

Sources said the BJP has changed its strategy after the success of its grassroots contact programme as the party wants to consolidate its gains.

"As part of the reworked strategy the BJP has asked its various Mandals to organise public meetings of 10,000-15,000 people in each assembly segment to reach out to the masses," sources added.

While there are two planned for Prime Minister Modi, two have been planned for JDU chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with Nadda and Amit Shah. Yogi Aadityanath too would be addressing 12 rallies.

The party is leaving no stone unturned to secure massive gains, which it feels can be converted to victory in the forthcoming polls.

Party sources feel that the relentless campaigning under the guidance of Amit Shah and Nadda has ensured that the morale of party cadre is at an all-time high.

"The neighbourhood meetings have ensured that we have been able to make the people of Delhi aware of the lack of work under the Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party government. They have also been apprised about the anti-national views of the opponents and we think that this is expected to turn the polls into our favour," sources added.

Delhi is scheduled for assembly polls on February 8 and the results for the 70 constituencies will be declared on February 11.

As part of the new strategy, senior leaders like JP Nadda, Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, ministers like Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani would be holding public rallies in various parts of the city. Several other chief ministers from various BJP ruled states are also expected to be roped in for the campaign.

The strategy for reach out to the masses is an attempt at weakening the hold of AAP on Delhi. With positive feedback coming after the success of the neighbourhood meetings in the past week, the BJP is now looking to increase its potential reach with polls just days away.

Till now the party had deployed 70 union ministers to hold at least one public meeting and one 'padayatra' each as part of the campaign.

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News Network
June 26,2020

New Delhi, Jun 26: Petrol prices in the national capital have reached Rs 80.13 per litre on June 26, up by 21 paise from yesterday’s Rs 79.92 per litre; while diesel prices in Delhi also rose to Rs 80.19 per litre – up by 17 paise compared to yesterday’s Rs 80.02 per litre.

This is the 20th consecutive day that fuel prices have been hiked by oil marketing companies (OMCs). The hikes began from June 8 after a 83-day halt on revised pricing during the lockdown period.

The state government’s increased value-added tax (VAT) on diesel since May is causing the fuel’s prices to soar in Delhi. VAT was increased to 30 percent for both petrol and diesel from 27 percent and 16.75 percent, respectively.

Coupled with the Centre’s hiked excise duty of Rs 3 per litre since March 14 and then Rs 10 per litre on petrol and Rs 13 per litre on diesel since May 5 has affected prices.

The hike on diesel prices is unusual, as the government traditionally keeps the price for the fuel low due to its impact on agriculture and other high consumption economic activities.

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News Network
April 22,2020

New Delhi, Apr 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, manifests his government's commitment to protecting healthcare workers braving COVID-19 on the frontline.
"The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, manifests our commitment to protect each and every healthcare worker, who is bravely battling COVID-19 on the frontline. It will ensure the safety of our professionals. There can be no compromise on their safety!," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.
The Central government on Wednesday brought an ordinance to end the violence against health workers, making it a cognizable, non-bailable offence with the imprisonment of up to seven years for those found guilty.

"We have brought an ordinance under which any attack on health workers will be a cognizable, non-bailable offence. In the case of grievous injuries, the accused can be sentenced from 6 months to 7 years. They can be penalised from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh," Union Minister Prakash Javadekar briefed media after the meeting of the Cabinet.

"Such crime will now be cognisable and non-bailable. An investigation will be done within 30 days. Accused can be sentenced from three months to five years, and penalised from Rs 50,000 up to Rs 2 lakh," said Javadekar.

Moreover, if the damage is done to vehicles or clinics of healthcare workers, then a compensation amounting to twice the market value of the damaged property will be taken from the accused, said Javadekar.

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