Junior Digest

Now, based on official documents and proposals sent to the Centre by the three states, activists said that no scientific study was done before allowing culling of animals, in contravention of the environment ministry’s own advisory dated December 24, 2014. The ministry’s 2014 advisory, encouraged state governments to seek central assistance in declaring wild animals such as Nilgai and wild boars as vermins. But, it had asked states to also specify the scientific basis for seeking vermin status for animals, in their proposals, which is found to be missing.

“While our fundamental opposition is permission to cull animals for which we will move court, it has also come to light that state proposals were inadequate and lacking in data on crop damage, population studies and specific areas where the problem is acute. In the Uttarakhand proposal, senior officials have admitted themselves that no study or survey has been done,” said Gauri Maulekhi, an animal rights activist. State proposals and related documents reviewed by dna confirmed Maulekhi’s claims.

With the exception of Himachal Pradesh, who have provided some details on compensation paid to farmers, Uttarakhand and Bihar’s proposals find no mention of crop damage and monetary losses incurred. In fact, the Bihar wildlife board helmed by chief minister Nitish Kumar cleared the proposal to kill nilgai’s and boars without any deliberation during the meeting, minutes show.

Maulekhi added that monoculture, encroachment of forest land, unregulated tourism, reduction of buffer zones and consequent fragmentation, mining and blasting are some of the key reasons for the rise in human-animal conflict, and these issues will be raised in court. “When the herbivores and smaller mammals don’t have water to drink and adequate vegetation to feed on, they are bound to stray into human habitations,” Maulekhi said.

@Agency report.

Thousands of people, mostly Kashmiri Pandits, arrived from different parts of the country to take a holy dip and perform the Pind Dhanbesides hold puja at the Holy Shiv Lingum situated underneath the Prayag.

“We used to immerse the ashes of dead at this spot (before the migration). We used to perform Maha Shrad at this spot only. Today too we performed the Shrad of all the martyrs including security force personnel, Kashmiri pandits and other innocents here,” said Raina.

Usually the Maha Kumb happens at four places – Allahabad, Ujjain, Hardiwar and Nashik – where lakhs of people take a holy dip and perform the puja. Since 1931 it is only third time that Maha Kumb has happened in Kashmir. Earlier, the Maha Kumbh had occurred inKashmir after 10 years gap in 1941. The Maha Kumbh happens only where there is a unity of 10 nakashtaras.

“More than 4,000 people arrived here to take a holy dip at the Sangam. It is very unfortunate that administration did not construct the makeshift washrooms knowing that ladies too were participating in the Maha Kumbh,” said Vinod Pandit, chairman of All Parties Migrants Coordination Committee, an apex body of migrant Kashmiri Pandits.

Religious dimensions apart, the Maha Kumbh acted as a platform for Kashmiri pandits and Muslims to reduce the trust deficit. Muslims in large numbers had come to Sangam to help their pandit brethren. Kashmiri Muslims had made available the shikaras for Pandits to hire in order to perform the religious rituals at the Sangam.

“My eyes are flooded with tears to see such a great atmosphere. Flash back of older days played before my eyes. We want these pandits should return at the earliest,” said Mohommad Maqbool Malla, a local resident of Shadipora.

Official figures reveal that around 41,117 migrant families from Kashmir are registered in Jammu and 21,000 others in Delhi and other states. Of the total migrant families living in Jammu, 37,128 are Hindus, 2,246 Muslims, 1,738 Sikhs and five others. The return of the Kashmirimigrants to valley is a part of the Centre’s Rs 1,618-crore package, announced in 2008.

@Agency report.

Media reports said she had been shot and stabbed. West Yorkshire regional police said a 52-year-old man was arrested by officers nearby and weapons including a firearm recovered. “We are not in a position to discuss any motive at this time,” said Temporary Chief Constable Dee Collins.

Signals from the flight data recorders needed to track them down on the seabed are expected to expire on June 24. The John Lethbridge has provided the first images of wreckage to investigators. A search team on board along with investigators will now draw a map of the wreckage’s distribution spots, the committee said in a statement.

IAF sources said a letter was shot to J&K and Punjab governments on June 2, underlining threats of terrorist attacks through the use of sub-conventional methods to target installations belonging to IAF, defence, para military forces and police.

Such sub-conventional methods could be misuse of adventure sports facilities like para gliding, parasailing and air balloons.

The IAF has also sought the civil administration’s help in respective areas to identify the private agencies that are involved in these adventure sports and declaration of the equipments they own.

IAF chief Arup Raha in October publicly showed concern about the possibility of UAVs becoming tools at the hands of terrorists while speaking to reporters. Other security agencies too, have been seeking a high-priority focus on regulating their use.

Since these devices fly at low levels, detecting them by radars become difficult.

In January this year, IAF had to press its frontline fighter jet Sukhoi-30 to shoot down an “unidentified” balloon over Barmer in Rajasthan, close to the international border with Pakistan. It later turned out to be a helium filled and harmless balloon but sources in security establishment didn’t deny that such instances could be to test IAF’s response time on breaching of the Indian air space.

In May last year, security agencies went into a tizzy after five remote controlled parachutes were spotted in the Mumbai airport airspace. Though they were later identified to have been mistakenly entered the area and ‘harmless’, it led to Mumbai police banning the use of drones and paragliders in the city.

@Agency report.