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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
June 19,2020

New Delhi, Jun 19: Petrol price on Friday was hiked by 56 paise per litre and diesel by 63 paise a litre, taking the cumulative increase in rates to Rs 7.11 and Rs 7.67 per litre respectively in less than two weeks.

Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 78.37 per litre from Rs 77.81, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 77.06 a litre from Rs 76.43, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.

This is the 13th daily increase in rates in a row since oil companies on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day hiatus in rate revision.

In 13 hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 7.11 per litre and diesel by Rs 7.67 a litre.

The freeze in rates was imposed in mid-March soon after the government hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel to shore up additional finances.

Oil PSUs Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) instead of passing on the excise duty hikes to customers adjusted them against the fall in the retail rates that was warranted because of fall in international oil prices to two decade low.

International oil prices have since rebounded and oil firms are now adjusting retail rates in line with them.

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Agencies
May 24,2020

Lucknow, May 24: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has banned Corona patients from keeping mobile phones inside isolation wards of COVID-19 hospitals in the state.

Patients admitted in dedicated L-2 and L-3 COVID hospitals will no longer will allowed to take mobile phones along with them in the isolation wards in order to check the spread of the infection.

According to an order issued by the state government late on Saturday night, two mobile phones will now be available with the ward in-charge of the COVID care centres so that patients and talk to their family members and administration if required.

Further, the orders specify that the mobile numbers should be communicated to the family members of the patients also.

Director General Medical Education, K.K. Gupta, who issued the order, has informed all concerned officials and directors of dedicated COVID hospitals.

"To facilitate the communication between COVID-19 patients admitted in clinics, with their family members, or anyone else, ensure that two dedicated mobile phones while adhering to infection prevention norms, are kept with ward in-charge of COVID care centre," the order said.

According to the latest data available on the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Uttar Pradesh now has 5,735 cases of Corona positive patients and the numbers have been growing steadily since the past ten days.

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News Network
March 4,2020

New Delhi, Mar 4: The government on Wednesday permitted NRIs to own up to 100 per cent stake in disinvestment-bound Air India.

The decision comes at a time when the government is looking to sell 100 per cent stake sale in the national carrier.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the Cabinet has approved allowing Non-Residents Indians (NRIs) to hold up to 100 per cent stake in Air India.

Allowing 100 per cent investment by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in the carrier would also not be in violation of SOEC norms. NRI investments would be treated as domestic investments.

Under the Substantial Ownership and Effective Control (SOEC) framework, which is followed in the airline industry globally, a carrier that flies overseas from a particular country should be substantially owned by that country's government or its nationals.

Currently, NRIs can acquire only 49 per cent in Air India. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the airline is also 49 per cent through the government approval route.

As per the existing norms, 100 per cent FDI is permitted in scheduled domestic carriers, subject to certain conditions, including that it would not be applicable for overseas airlines.

In the case of scheduled airlines, 49 per cent FDI is permitted through automatic approval route and any such investment beyond that level requires government nod.

On January 27, the government came out witha Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) for Air India disinvestment. It has proposed selling 100 per cent stake in Air India along with budget airline Air India Express and the national carrier's 50 per cent stake in AISATS, an equal joint venture with Singapore Airlines.

Under the latest disinvestment plan, the successful bidder would have to take over only debt worth Rs 23,286.5 crore while the liabilities would be decided depending on current assets at the time of closing of the transaction.

This is the second attempt by the government in as many years to divest Air India, which has been in the red for long.

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