06.04.21

New species added to bird list of India from Arunachal

by

A team of scientists from Bombay Natural HISTORY Society (BNHS), Mumbai, while exploring the high-altitude coniferous forests ofArunachal Pradesh, has recorded a rarespeciesofbirdwhich has been identified as the Three-banded Rosefinch after detailed observations.

The bird was recorded on February 8, 2021, but the team some took time for confirmation. We recently published this finding in the journal Indian Birds. Our team is conductingintensive surveysof finches across the Eastern Himalayas as a part of an ongoing study funded by Oracle.

So far 1,340 bird species have been reported from India and with the advent of technology and enthusiast birders reaching remote areas of the country, several species are being reported each year.

A three-person team composed of the Orissa State High Court conducted a field visit to the Gahirmatha Marine Reserve to assess the measures taken to protect the endangered olive ridley sea turtles. Highlights:

by

According to a report in the Environmental Journal, since January, 800 olive ridley turtles have died due to the negligence of the States Forest and department.

Every year, thousands of olive ridley turtles on the coast of the Orissa Sea build large-scale nests.

Gahirmatha beach off the coast of the Bay of Bengal in Odisha is recognized as the worlds largest nesting site for these turtles.

Central Tamil Nadu records highest polling, voter turnout dips across state

by

Palacode constituency in Dharmapuri district witnessed the highest voter turnout of 87.33% andVillivakkamsegment in Chennai city the lowest, 55.52%.

Looking at region-wise voting pattern, constituencies in central TN recorded the highest voter turnout of 76%, followed by those in the west with 74.7%.

Polling details put out by the office ofTamil Naduchief electoral officer on Wednesday show that northern and southern regions recorded 71.5% and 71.1% voter turnout respectively.

Voter turnout has dropped marginally compared to the 2016 election in all the four regions. Central TN recorded 78.1%, west 76.9%, north 73.5% and south 72.9% in 2016 assembly election.

In all, there are 84 segments in the northern region, 36 segments in the central region, 54 in the western region and 60 segments in the south.

Across the state, 37 constituencies saw more than 80% polling and 31 segments saw turnout below 65%. Sholingur, Maduranthakam and Cheyyar are the only segments near Chennai with more than 80% polling.

Proposal on Vivekanandas statue at Unkal Lake triggers row

by

Union minister Pralhad Joshis recent statement on installing a big statue atUnkal Lakehas triggered a controversy with activists wanting the statue ofChannabasavanna, one of 12th-century sharanas, at the waterbody.

The erasing of Channabasava Sagar from a board there is the bone of contention. The lake was already named after Channabasavanna in January 2003. The erasing of his name form the board recently has left activists and the residents of Unkal and Hubballi upset.

Telanganas GST collection rises 17% compared to March 2020

by

The goods and Services tax (GST) collection has shown improvement a 17% Growth this March when compared to March 2020.

According to the latest figures on GST collection released by the Union Government, the had collected Rs 3,562 crore in March 2020, and the collection went up to Rs 4,166 crore in March 2021, registering a growth of 17%.

Among the southern states, Kerala recorded highest growth in GST collection at 24% and lowest growth in collection was observed in case of neighboring Andhra Pradesh (5%).
Among other states, Tamil Nadu witnessed a growth of 23% this year when compared to March 2020.

Karnatakatoo had good GST collection growth rate at 11% when compared to March last year.

Along withTelangana, two other states (HaryanaandNagaland) recorded 17% growth in GST collections in March when compared to last year. Coming to Telangana, there has been consistent growth in the GST collection since July last year, barring few months.

In November 2020, the state had shown negative growth rate 5% less growth in GST collection compared to November 2019.

Andhra Pradesh plans ambulance network for animals

by

As many as 175mobile ambulatory clinics(MVACs) will come up in every assembly segment in the state, say officials of theanimal husbandry department. The clinics, similar to 108ambulanceservices, will have a para-veterinarian and driver-cum-attendant led by an assistant veterinary surgeon. A tollfree number will be made available to contact these clinics.

The ambulatory vehicle will be designed to handle all kinds of animals including buffaloes, bulls, cows, sheep or hens. Thegovernmentwill hire a private agency to operate and maintain all these units, for which the government would allocate Rs6 crore to Rs 7 crore as operational cost per month at a rate of Rs 33.5 lakh per unit.

These mobile ambulatories will be a boon for both animals and their owners. This will be the first government-run ambulance Network (for animals) in the country

Cabinet clears Rs 4 crore spent on 60th L-Day launch celebration

by

The has spent funds to the tune of around Rs 4 crore tolaunchthe year-long celebrations of the 60th year of Goas Liberation from December 19, 2020.

The cabinet note said that the state government has decided to constitute a state-level organising and monitoring committee headed by thechief ministerfor coordinating the celebrations.

The committee authorised the chief minister to take urgent decisions.

The council of ministers also vested the chairman of the committee with financial and administrative powers, including the power to relax the codal formalities, where deemded appropriate, to enable timely planning and execution of planned activities/programmes.

Zoo sets up foundation, takes 1st step towards autonomy

by

In a first step towards making the historic Maharajbagh zoo autonomous, its operator the Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV) has decided to form Maharajbagh Zoo Foundation (MZF) to overcome crunch of funds hampering its development.

The CZA has already sanctioned the layout plan of Maharajbagh in 2020. However, due to lack of funds, the plan is not being brought into shape. During Covid-19 times, the zoo woes have multiplied with no income and expenses remaining the same. There is no to pay wages to several daily wagers working for the upkeep of animals and the zoo.

Haryana Chief Conservator of Forests (wildlife) ML Rajvanshi said that the State Wildlife and Forest Department has decided to carry out a wildlife census from May 1 to June 30.

by

The counting of these animals would also help the department to push its agenda of protecting bird species, animals and more forest areas. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, is the nodal agency for wildlife counting.

According to Forest officials, beat level survey will be done by department officials at identified beats of Shivalik and Aravali between May 5 and May 12. Camera mapping exercise by WII Dehradun team will be done in selected areas between May 1 and June 30.

The State Chief Conservator of Forests said that the distribution, numbers and behaviour of birds and animals are changing over the period of time because of various reasons. The Population of the black partridge (kala teetar), Haryana State bird, sparrow, butterfly, hog deer or pada deer, whit nape tilt, leopards among others has been decreasing over the past few years.

Punjab scraps 479 mandatory compliances for industry

by

To promote trade and and improve Ease of Doing Business in the state, the Punjab government has done away with 479 compliances that were earlier required for seeking various approvals and renewals by industrialists.

These compliances were part of a total 541 age-old mandatory approvals identified to be scrapped under Phase-I of reducing compliance burden by various departments.

The Chief Secretary was informed that as part of Phase-II plan, 70 compliances have been identified across four areas that require amendments to the existing laws, implementation of which is underway and needs to be completed by August 15.