News and Events - AUGUST 2009

[RPK]

Check sale of illegal arms: Gopalkrishna Gandhi

Check sale of illegal arms: Gopalkrishna Gandhi

Kolkata, Aug 7 (IANS) Asking the West Bengal government to move swiftly to check the sale of illegal arms and bring criminals to account, Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi has expressed his anguish at the rising level of political violence in the state.

In an emotional but hard-hitting statement Thursday night, the governor -- a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi -- observed that West Bengal was witnessing a "veritable tandava of political violence". In Hindu mythology, tandava is the dance of destruction of Lord Shiva.

Mr. Gopalkrishna Gandhi asked political leaders cutting across party lines to identify violent people within their own organisations and leave them to be dealt with by the law.

"The state too will, I am confident, (i) move swiftly to check the phenomenon of illicit arms; (ii) act to rapidly bring the perpetrators of violence to account; and (iii) instil confidence among the people that their politics and their security are not linked," he said in the wake of widespread political clashes in the state since the Lok Sabha elections this April-May.

The governor recalled Mahatma Gandhi's words: "There can be no reconstruction or hope for this land of ours, unless we eradicate the worship of force in all its forms, and establish work on a basis other than violence." The grandson said: "Ninety years later, that grim prognosis rings true again."

"Following the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha, our state has witnessed a veritable tandava of political violence. Not a day passes without someone somewhere being killed for his politics. The widow's wail rends each day," said Mr. Gandhi, whose stint in the Raj Bhavan has been marked by his much-discussed statements on vital political developments.

Referring to the requests from Congress, Trinamool Congress and the state's ruling Left Front that he do his bit to "stem this violence", the governor asked: "When the leading political formations of West Bengal have the same objective, why should violence not abate?"

"Because, I believe, those who can act are not doing so," he added.

Mr. Gandhi said the political life in the state was being engulfed by the fires of fear, bereavement and rage.

He reminded the political leaders that it was their duty to ask their followers to stamp out the fires and ensure "nobody provokes or gets provoked by violence into further violence".

"It becomes their duty to identify the violent within their own organisations and leave them to be dealt with by the law. This responsibility lies with all political leaders, right across party divides," he said.

On the Left Front legislators asking him to cooperate with the state government to protect life, property and democratic rights, Gandhi said: "I have done so in the past and consider it to be my duty to do so again and again. I believe that all of us must do our duty."

 

[I-G]

No instance of woman being hanged in 20 years

No instance of woman being hanged in 20 years
TNN 7 August 2009, 02:44am IST


If death sentence is imposed in the "rarest of rare cases", its execution is even rarer.


The last time anybody has been hanged in an Indian jail was in 2004, when Dhananjoy Chatterjee was executed in Kolkata for raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl. This was the first hanging since 1995, when Auto Shankar was executed in Chennai.

Though courts have imposed death penalty on women, most of those sentences have been commuted and there is no instance of any woman being hanged in at least the last two decades.

Sonia, who is on the death row in Ambala Central jail, may become the first woman to be hanged this century as she herself in February asked for her mercy petition to the President to be rejected.

Subsequently, the home ministry recommended to the President to reject Sonia's mercy petition. She and her husband Sanjeev had been awarded death sentence for killing eight persons, including her MLA father, for inheriting family property.

No instance of woman being hanged in 20 years - India - NEWS - The Times of India

 

[RPK]

CBI finds MBA student Ranbir Singh was shot 30 times

CBI finds MBA student Ranbir Singh was shot 30 times


Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe has found that the July 3 'shootout' in which the Dehradun police killed 24-year-old MBA student Ranbir Singh was staged and he was shot at point-blank range 30 times, according to highly placed sources in the agency.

In its preliminary report, the CBI's Special Investigation Team (SIT) has dismissed the police theory that Singh was trying to escape on a motorbike after stealing a service revolver from a senior policemen and that he was fired upon from a distance.

These findings were confirmed after the SIT conducted a recce of the site and also recorded statements of the witnesses last week.

The sources told IANS in New Delhi on Friday that police personnel dragged the badly bruised Singh out of one of the four police vehicles in the Ladpur jungles and laid him down before firing 30 shots from close range.

"All evidence and clues gathered by us clearly establish it is a fake encounter. They fired 30 gun shots at him from three different makes of firearms. Our investigation also shows that they badly beat up Singh in custody for two hours," a senior CBI official involved in the investigation told IANS on condition of anonymity.

The police version is that Singh was riding a motorcycle with his two friends on July 3 when policemen stopped him at a check post near Dehradun.

They alleged that the three men got into an altercation with a police sub-inspector who had asked them to stop and then fled into a nearby forest after snatching his service revolver. In the ensuing shootout, Singh was gunned down while the other two managed to escape.

No policemen was injured, even as the state police termed it an encounter, a euphemism for shootout.

As the incident led to public outrage, the state government suspended eight police personnel including Senior Superintendent of Police Amit Sinha.

The Lucknow branch of the CBI registered a case on July 31 after Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal recommended the transfer of the probe to the agency.

"They (police) put him in a jeep and took him deep in the jungle. The 11 bullets we found buried seven inches deep in ground clearly suggest that the policemen laid him down and fired at him from close range."

"While some bullets pierced his body, there were other shots that missed him. There were in all 12 bullet marks on his body. The recovery of the bullets suggest that the shots were fired from three firearms - an assault rifle like an AK-47, a sophisticated 9mm pistol and a pistol of .38 bore," the official said.

The CBI also found that the pistol recovered from Singh's possession had not been fired. SIT sources said they had also managed to collect blood samples from the crime scene.

"We have also managed to collect a blood-soaked handkerchief from one of the four police vehicles. We will now conduct a DNA test and if the DNA and blood group matches that of Singh, it will establish beyond any doubt that he was carried in the police vehicle. That would nail the lie of Dehradun police which say that he was trying to flee on a motorbike," the official added.

The agency's preliminary report was also based on the post-mortem examination carried out on Singh's body that suggested there were 24 physical injury wounds inflicted apart from the bullet injuries.

In addition, the CBI has also dismissed the police claim that Singh and his friends had criminal records. "So far we have not found any criminal record either in Ghaziabad or in Meerut," said the official.

The SIT hopes to finalise its report once the forensic test results come in a fortnight and prepare a charge-sheet.

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

The policemen involved in this incident must be hanged from Quatab Minar in full public view.

 

[1.44]

Former Beijing airport chief executed for corruption

Former Beijing airport chief executed for corruption
​

The former head of Beijing airport's management company was executed today after his conviction on corruption charges, state media reported.

An intermediate court found 60-year-old Li Peiying guilty in February of accepting almost £2.4m in bribes and embezzling about £7.2m in public funds over the past 14 years, the Xinhua news agency said.

Li was executed after the supreme court upheld a lower court's rejection of his appeal, Xinhua said. The report did not say when the supreme court ruled and it did not describe the method of execution.

China has long struggled against corruption among high-level Communist party officials, especially in state-owned enterprises in energy, transport and other key sectors that wield vast power and influence.

In 2007, China executed the director of its food and drug agency for approving fake medicine in exchange for cash. One antibiotic was blamed for causing the deaths of at least 10 people.

The Capital Airports Holding Company, of which Li was chairman, operates more than 30 airports in nine Chinese provinces, managing assets of more than 100bn yuan (£8.7bn) and 38,000 employees, according to the company's website.

In handing down its sentence in February, the Jinan intermediate people's court said there was evidence that Li had solicited the bribes, making the crime more serious. It said the amount of public funds Li stole resulted in "extremely large economic losses" for the state and constituted an "extremely serious crime".

China puts to death more people every year than all other countries combined, with 5,000 executions expected to take place this year, according to the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation, a human-rights monitoring group. The Chinese government does not provide an annual tally.

Beijing airport chief Li Peiying executed for corruption | World news | guardian.co.uk

 

[1.44]

Venezuela Still Aids Colombia Rebels, New Material Shows

Venezuela Still Aids Colombia Rebels, New Material Shows
​

CARACAS, Venezuela — Despite repeated denials by President Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan officials have continued to assist commanders of Colombia’s largest rebel group, helping them arrange weapons deals in Venezuela and even obtain identity cards to move with ease on Venezuelan soil, according to computer material captured from the rebels in recent months and under review by Western intelligence agencies.

The materials point to detailed collaborations between the guerrillas and high-ranking military and intelligence officials in Mr. Chávez’s government as recently as several weeks ago, countering the president’s frequent statements that his administration does not assist the rebels. “We do not protect them,” he said in late July.

The new evidence — drawn from computer material captured from the rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC — comes at a low point for ties between Venezuela and Colombia. Mr. Chávez froze diplomatic relations in late July, chafing at assertions by Colombia’s government that Swedish rocket launchers sold to Venezuela ended up in the hands of the FARC. Venezuela’s reaction was also fueled by Colombia’s plans to increase American troop levels there.

“Colombia’s government is trying to build a case in the media against our country that serves its own political agenda,” said Bernardo Álvarez, Venezuela’s ambassador in Washington, describing the latest intelligence information as “noncorroborated.”

Mr. Chávez has disputed claims of his government’s collaboration with the rebels since Colombian forces raided a FARC encampment in Ecuador last year. During the raid, Colombian commandos obtained the computers of a FARC commander with encrypted e-mail messages that described a history of close ties between Mr. Chávez’s government and the rebel group, which has long crossed over into Venezuelan territory for refuge.

The newest communications, circulated among the seven members of the FARC’s secretariat, suggest that little has changed with Venezuela’s assistance since the raid. The New York Times obtained a copy of the computer material from an intelligence agency that is analyzing it.

One message from Iván Márquez, a rebel commander thought to operate largely from Venezuelan territory, describes the FARC’s plan to buy surface-to-air missiles, sniper rifles and radios in Venezuela last year.

It is not clear whether the arms Mr. Márquez refers to ended up in FARC hands. But he wrote that the effort was facilitated by Gen. Henry Rangel Silva, the director of Venezuela’s police intelligence agency until his removal last month, and by Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, a former Venezuelan interior minister who served as Mr. Chávez’s official emissary to the FARC in negotiations to free hostages last year.
In the message, Mr. Márquez discusses a plan by Mr. Rodríguez Chacín to carry out the deal near the Río Negro in Amazonas State in Venezuela. Mr. Márquez goes further, explaining that General Rangel Silva gave the arms dealers documents they could use to move around freely while in Venezuela.
Intelligence of this kind has been a source of tension between Colombia and Venezuela, with the government here claiming the information is false and used to further political ends. Colombian officials, by contrast, argue that the intelligence proves that the FARC survives in part on its ability to operate from Venezuela’s frontier regions.

The latest evidence, suggesting that the FARC operates easily in Venezuela, may put the Obama administration in a tough spot. President Obama has recently tried to repair Washington’s relations with Venezuela, adopting a nonconfrontational approach to Mr. Chávez that stands in contrast to the Bush administration’s often aggressive response to his taunts and insults.
But the United States and the European Union still classify the FARC as a terrorist organization. The Treasury Department accused General Rangel Silva and Mr. Rodríguez Chacín last year of assisting the FARC’s drug trafficking activities, opening the officials to freezes on their assets, fines and prison terms of up to 30 years in the United States. Venezuela has said the men are not guilty of those charges.

“We do not comment on intelligence matters,” said Noel Clay, a State Department spokesman, in relation to the latest captured communications. A spokesman from the Colombian Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the matter.

Computer records obtained in the Colombian raid in Ecuador last year appeared to corroborate the assertion that Venezuela helped the FARC acquire the Swedish-made rocket launchers at the heart of the latest diplomatic dispute between the two countries. The launchers were purchased by the Venezuelan Army in the late 1980s but captured in Colombia in combat operations against the FARC last year.
The FARC’s use of Swedish arms has an added dimension: the rebels kidnapped a Swedish engineer in Colombia in 2007, holding him hostage for nearly two years — during which he was reported to have suffered brain damage and paralysis from a stroke — before releasing him in March.

“The issue of these weapons is extremely serious for us,” said Tommy Stromberg, the political officer at the Swedish Embassy in Bogotá, the Colombian capital, which also oversees Sweden’s affairs in Venezuela. Mr. Stromberg said Venezuela had bought Swedish arms as recently as 2006. “We have asked Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry for clarification on how this happened, but have not had a response.”

The computer records from the raid in Ecuador last year also seem to match some of the information in the new communications under review by Western intelligence officials.

For example, a message obtained in the Ecuador raid and written in September 2007 contained an earlier reference to the arms deal discussed recently by the FARC. In the earlier message, Mr. Márquez, the rebel commander, referred to dealers he described as Australian, and went into detail about the arms they were selling, including Dragunov rifles, SA-7 missiles and HF-90M radios, the same items he discusses in the more recent communications.
Another file from the Ecuador raid mentioning an offer from the FARC to instruct Venezuelan officers in guerrilla warfare matches recently obtained material from a rebel commander, Timoleón Jiménez, that says the course took place. Other communications refer to FARC efforts to secure Venezuelan identity cards in a plan overseen by General Rangel Silva, the former Venezuelan intelligence chief.
In other material captured as recently as May, Mr. Márquez, the rebel commander, said Mr. Chávez had spoken personally with Mr. Jiménez, expressing solidarity for the FARC’s struggle. Then Mr. Márquez went into more mundane matters, referring to unspecified problems the FARC had recently encountered in La Fría, an area in Venezuela near the border with Colombia.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/world/americas/03venez.html?ref=americas

 

[Pintu]

Brain drain no worry,enough students to serve country: Krishna- Education-Services-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

Brain drain no worry,enough students to serve country: Krishna
8 Aug 2009, 2147 hrs IST, PTI

MELBOURNE: India is not worried about the "brain drain" as its universities and colleges are producing "enough number" of brilliant students to serve the country, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said on Saturday.

He, however, also said India will "like" it if students who have been settled abroad come back and pointed out that this has already started happening.

"I think Indian universities, colleges and educational institutes are producing enough number of brilliant students who can serve India," Krishna told reporters here.

"We would like them (students abroad) to come back," he said adding, the "reverse" trend is being witnessed after the emergence of the IT sector in the country.

"In fact, many students from the UK, the US and Germany are already coming back and perhaps it will be true for Australia tomorrow," the minister said.

Turning to bilateral matters, he said some high-level visits from Australia to India were in the pipeline during the year. He also said the issue of a Free Trade Agreement figured in his discussions with the Australian leadership.

To a question on rehabilitation of displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka, Krishna said New Delhi was in constant touch with Colombo in this regard. India has proposed to allocate Rs 500 crore for rehabilitation and reconstruction purposes.

"We have assured them all help from the Indian side," he said adding, "We have understood the problems of over 250,000 displaced people...it is a huge task and they have agreed to rehabilitate them in a timeframe of 180 days."

 

[Pintu]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/219131_India-to-be--ruthless--with-fake-education-agents


India to be 'ruthless' with fake education agents

STAFF WRITER 17:5 HRS IST

Natasha Chaku

Melbourne, Aug 8 (PTI) Amid reports that scores of Indian students were among those duped in a massive education scam in Australia, India today said it will be "ruthless" with the rogue education agents who take gullible youths for a ride.

The Indian government will go after unscrupulous education agents in the country as part of its effort to control the student crisis, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told a press conference here.

"We will be ruthless" with the fake agents who paint a rosy picture and take gullible students for a ride, Krishna, who is on a five-day visit here, said when asked what measures the Indian government will be taking to tackle the issue.

 

[I-G]

6 Bangladeshi nationals held in Saharanpur

6 Bangladeshi nationals held in Saharanpur

Updated on Saturday, August 08, 2009, 18:54 IST

Lucknow: Six Bangladeshi nationals were on Saturday arrested by intelligence sleuths from Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district for illegally entering the country, Home Department sources said.


A team of local intelligence unit arrested six Bangladeshi nationals, who have entered the country without proper documents, from Gulal Chowk this afternoon, they said, adding all the accused hailed from Badar Bagh district of Bangladesh.

Bureau Report

6 Bangladeshi nationals held in Saharanpur

 

[I-G]

Soldier killed in PKK attack in SE Turkey
2009-08-08 06:36:29 GMT2009-08-08 14:36:29 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

ANKARA, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- One soldier of the Turkish security forces was killed and another was wounded in an attack by the rebels of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Saturday.

The PKK militants staged the attack against the Turkish soldiers late Friday when they were on duty near Karlusus area in Hatay province, according to the report.

It said the injured was taken to Antakya State Hospital for treatment, adding that a large-scale operation in fight against the PKK in this region is underway.

Established in 1978, the PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Some 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts over the past two decades.

Turkey's military forces have taken tougher actions against the PKK after the country's legislature gave the government mandate to launch cross-border operations against the rebels in northern Iraq in October 2007 and extended it in 2008.

It is estimated that there are a total of 5,000 PKK militants, the majority of whom are holed up in northern Iraq where the PKK headquarters is situated.

Soldier killed in PKK attack in SE Turkey - World News - SINA English

 

[Known_Unknown]

Suspended? That's all? These policemen need to be charged for murder and given life sentences.

And inspite of such incidents, we reject reports by human rights organizations against the Indian police.

 

[I-G]

Police cracks down on illegal Bangladeshis ahead of I-day

New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has increased vigil on the ghettos of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in the national capital following intelligence inputs of possible terror attack on Independence day.

Sources in the police said surveillance has been increased because many of them are allegedly working as sleeper cells for terror groups operating from Bangladesh.

Police said thousands of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants have taken shelter in the city. Atleast five of them are detained every day from different parts of the city, they added.

"We cannot deny the problem of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Delhi. Most of them are involved in crimes. Police frequently launch special drives for their deportation," a senior police officer said.

Around 945 Bangladeshis have already been deported from Delhi between January and July this year, while nearly 18,742 migrants have been deported since 2005, police said.

As many as 5,754 illegal migrants were deported to Bangladesh in 2005, while 4,742 were deported in 2006 apart from the 4,117 sent back in 2007. The figure stood at 3,184 for 2008, they said.

According to the officer, detection of illegal migrants is a herculean task as many of them have succeeded in obtaining fake identity proofs like ration cards and voters identity cards.

"They (Bangladeshis) are very shrewd. They give us wrong information about their antecedents every time we arrest them.

Due to lack of manpower and other infrastructural and technological shortcomings, we face trouble in verifying their claims," the officer said.

A dedicated 'Bangladeshi Cell' is also in place under each police station which is headed by an Inspector who regularly visit his area to detect and detain illegal migrants acting on the tip-off of intelligence agencies or through his own network of informers.

Intelligence inputs have confirmed that criminal elements both across and at the eastern border provide for the illegal migrants to cross over and arrange for access to easy hideouts and logistical help within the country.

"Delhi gets them good job and money. That is why they prefer to stay here. However, we are doing all to check their number," he said.

The city pockets where they stay include Seelampur, areas near Nizamuddin Shamshan Ghat, Ansari Nagar, Sadiq Nagar, Yamuna Pushta, Sarai Rohilla, Jahangirpuri, Narela, Bindapur, Adarsh Nagar, Uttam Nagar, Vikaspuri and Wazirabad.

The Hindu News Update Service

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

Uttarakhand cloudburst: 30 killed, 3 villages washed away​

Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand): At least 30 people were killed and 50 were missing as three mountain villages in Uttarakhand were washed away on Saturday by a landslide triggered by a cloudburst, an official said. The villages - La, Gherna and Lelu Nehar - in Munsiyari area of Pithoragarh district, about 450 km from state capital Dehradun, were located at a height of 5,000 feet. Twenty-nine bodies have been recovered so far, state police chief Subhash Joshi said. The hilly region was lashed by a downpour from Friday evening till Saturday afternoon.

Rescue workers from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) searched till the evening for around 50 people still missing. But the operation had to be called off due to darkness in the remote border villages, Joshi said. The inhospitable terrain also came in the way of the rescue operation, he said. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal announced compensation of Rs.100,000 for the families of each of those killed in the tragedy. The Munsiyari area borders Tibet and Nepal towards the east.

Link

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

Pithoragarh landslide toll rises to 43​

Pithoragarh: The death toll from the landslide in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district has risen to 43. According to sources, at least 20 bodies have been pulled out from the debris so far. On Saturday, the landslide buried three remote villages in Uttarakhand. At least 46 families have been affected by the tragedy. Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal has announced a compensation of one lakh rupees as exgratia to the kin of each of the deceased. A downpour has lashed the region since Friday evening.

Link

 

[Flint]

That's amazing.

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

City boy Aditya is first Indian to swim 8 seas​

PUNE: City swimmer Aditya Raut became the first Indian to swim eight seas when he conquered the Strait of Gibraltar in Spain on Saturday. He bettered Bula Chowdhury’s record of seven seas. The 16-year-old Aditya had swum the Swiss channel last fortnight. A student of Vikhe Patil high school, Aditya is coached by Vinay Marathe.

Speaking to TOI, Aditya’s father Santosh said apart from Spain and Switzerland, Aditya has conquered Cook Strait (New Zealand), Robben Island Channel (South Africa), Dharamtar to Gateway, Gulf of Toroneos (Greece), Catalina channel (US) and Seven Islands of Tunisia.

Link

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

New figures show India emissions a fourth of China​

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India contributes around five percent to global carbon dioxide emissions, a new government report showed on Tuesday, but is still only about a quarter of the emissions of China and the United States. The finding is based on the 2007 World Development Indicators figures of the World Bank. The report, which said the energy sector contributed 61 percent of total emissions in India, pegged India's per capita emissions at only one-twentieth of the United States and about one-tenth of Western Europe and Japan. A separate government report said India's forests are absorbing about 11.25 percent of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) every year at 1994 levels -- or about 24 billion tonnes of CO2 -- a potential market worth $120 billion.

But it was not clear if India was quantifying climate benefits from forest cover to put in place a forest carbon trading mechanism or just demand funds to fight global warming under a U.N. scheme. "India can do both -- they can use this as a bargaining chip to get money under the U.N. scheme as well as use this for trading as the most developed countries look to achieve their emission reduction targets through offsets," said K. Srinivas, former climate campaigner of Greenpeace India. Forests soak up vast amounts of planet-warming CO2 and can act as a brake on climate change. Under an emerging U.N. scheme called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation, or REDD, developing nations could potentially earn billions of dollars by setting aside and rehabilitating their forests.

The valuable carbon offsets they earn could be sold to rich nations to help them meet emissions goals under the programme, likely to be part of a broader climate pact from 2013. Data released on Monday by German renewable energy industry institute IWR showed India's emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide grew 125 percent between 1990 and 2008, while China's grew 178 percent and the United States 17 percent. Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who released the report, said the government was setting up a national institute of Himalayan glaciology and would coordinate with China to study the health of glaciers. He said while "a couple of" Himalayan glaciers were receding, some others such as the Siachen glacier were advancing while others like the Gangotri glacier were receding at a decreasing rate compared to the last two decades. "There is as yet, these words are really important, there is as yet no conclusive robust scientific evidence to show that the receding of glaciers in the Himalayas is being caused by climate change," he said.

Link

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

Nine tiger cubs sighted in Satpura Reserve​

BHOPAL: Nine tiger cubs have been sighted in Madhya Pradesh's Satpura Tiger Reserve, amidst reports of dwindling cat population in the state. "Tigresses have given birth to nine cubs in our reserve, spread in an area of around 1453 sq kms in Hoshangabad district in last 13 months," its deputy director M K Pathak said. Pathak said that the youngest two cubs were around 5 months old, adding their gender had not been identified yet. He said proper care is being taken to ensure the cubs' safety in the Reserve.

The last tiger death due to old age was reported from this reserve three years back, officials said. Eastern Madhya Pradesh's Panna tiger reserve has become devoid of the big cat, except the two tigresses translocated there to revive its population. According to the tiger Census carried out by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Satpura tiger reserve has around 35-52 big cats, Pathak said.

Link

 

[Rage]

Delhi female births rise hailed

Delhi female births rise hailed

By Jyotsna Singh
BBC News, Delhi

There is a cultural preference for male children in India


India's capital, Delhi, recorded more female than male births during 2008, for the first time in many decades.

Latest government data shows for every 1,000 males, 1,004 girls were born in Delhi in 2008.

One of the main reasons for the earlier skewed male-female ratios was seen to be the greater number of abortions of female foetuses.

The news has been hailed as a gender revolution in a country that has been struggling to get the balance right.

Delhi is now second only to the southern state of Kerala, which has the highest number of female births.


Skewed sex ratios

Now activists hope that those days have been consigned to history.

They say that it is the news that they have been waiting for.

Although the government made scanning pregnant mothers to determine the sex of foetuses illegal, the practice continued.

Dr Dharm Prakash of the Indian Medical Association, which ran a campaign against aborting girl foetuses, welcomed the report.

"The community has responded to our request that girls should be born," he said.

His organisation started a "Say No To Sex Selective Abortions" campaign and urged doctors to refrain from doing so.

"Our own colleagues have stopped especially after the implementation of the law against it," Dr Prakash said.

Boys have traditionally been seen as superior to girls​

Officials also put the turnaround down to a number of schemes started by the Delhi government, including financial incentives for parents to register the births of female children.

Women's groups say more time is needed to analyse the data to know if it really indicates a favourable trend towards girls.

At the last count in 2001 the figure for females stood at 933 per 1,000 males.

Experts say achieving a normal sex ratio remains an uphill task but the latest figures show that it is not impossible.

The real challenge, they say, is changing the attitude towards daughters given the preference for boys in Indian society.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8200497.stm

 

[1.44]

At the last count in 2001 the figure for females stood at 933 per 1,000 males.

That's excellent!
I was afraid that 933 other guys will beat me to all the girls before i have a chance.