Munabao-Khokhrapar train from Feb 1

     New Delhi: Giving a fillip to bilateral relations, India and Pakistan today decided to resume rail services between Munabao in Rajasthan and Khokhrapar in Sindh province from February 1. The decision arrived at the end of two days of meeting of officials of Indian Railway Ministry and Pakistan Railways. "An Indian delegation will visit Pakistan before the end of January 2006 for the signing of this Agreement," said an External Affairs Ministry spokesman. The Indian side was led by Advisor (Traffic) Ashok Gupta in the Railway Ministry, while Saleem-ur-Rahman Akhoond, General Manager of Pakistan Railways led the Pakistan side. Both sides discussed a draft Agreement on the modalities of the running of the train. The rake for the passenger train named "The Thar Express" will be provided alternately by Indian and Pakistan Railways on a six monthly basis. "For the first six months, the Pakistan train will cross into India to Munabao. Thereafter, the Indian train will cross into Pakistan to Zero Point Railway Station near Khokhrapar. This six monthly process will be repeated alternately," said the spokesman.

Cabinet approves renaming of Leh Airport (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today gave its ex-post- facto approval for renaming of civil enclave at Leh as Late Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe, Airport. His Holiness Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe, the Head Lama of Ladakh has been the most towering Buddhist spiritual leader of India committed to promote the message of peace, harmony and universal brotherhood among the different religious communities of the world. He has been called the modern architect of Ladakh and has played a pivotal role in the economic development of Ladakh. He was the first person to be elected to the Lok Sabha when a separate Parliamentary Constituency was created for Ladakh region in the year 1967. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by Government of India.

Charge-sheet against tiger killer Sansar Chand (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge-sheet against India's most wanted animal killer and smuggler Sansar Chand who allegedly had a major role in the disappearance of tigers in the national parks, including Sariska. The CBI also filed a charge-sheet against his four associates (Kumar, Babu, Badal and Ritu) under Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) and if convicted, the accused could be imprisoned for life. According to the charge sheet, during his investigation, he provided many clues to the CBI and informed about the existence of an organized crime syndicate that were involved in the operation across various wildlife reserves of the country. Fifty-year-old Chand known as 'Veerappan of North India', was arrested by Delhi Police on June 30 last year after which the CBI took his custody. Chand had over 40 cases, under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, registered against him in Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. He had been convicted twice in such cases, the last time being in April, 2004 when a court in Ajmer sentenced him to five years' rigourous imprisonment. This was the strictest punishment ever awarded under the Wildlife Act.

    In May, last year, Rajasthan High Court granted him parole which he jumped and went underground. Besides CBI, police in several states were hunting for him since then. Even by conservative estimates, Chand is believed to be responsible for the poaching of hundreds of tigers. The disappearance of tigers from the wildlife sanctuaries had evoked serious concern from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who ordered for investigation into these cases by the CBI. Following this, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted under CBI Joint Director Archana Ramasundaram, which not only started investigations of the cases transferred by Sariska Wildlife Department, but also initiated country-wide drives against crime syndicates involved in the wildlife sanctuaries.

First phase of tiger census on in Sunderbans (Go To Top)

     Sunderbans (West Bengal): A team of thirty-five highly trained wildlife experts on Friday continued for the second day with a Tiger count across a vast mangrove in West Bengal as part of the world's largest census of the endangered species. Experts said during the first phase, which will be on for four days, they would spend time recording signs of the tiger and other predators in the reserve. Alarmed by reports of large-scale poaching in India's famed tiger sanctuaries, about 250 officials used speedboats or walked through muddy creeks and marshland looking for tell-tale footprints, or pugmarks, in West Bengal's Sunderbans, the world's largest natural tiger habitat. Pradeep Vyas, Field Director, Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve, said they were changing their methodology for the tiger count this year for getting more accurate numbers. "This year our methodology has changed. In the last census, we used to do the plaster of paris cast pugmark method, now from this year onwards we have an elaborate method that is the phase 1 of all India Tiger Estimation Exercise. In this for first four days, we will be recording the signs of tigers and all the wildlife and on the 5th and 6th days there will be the creek transact method, which will be done by our 35 teams which are already on the job," said Vyas at Sunderbans a 10,000 sq km (3,900 sq mile) sparsely populated mangrove marshland on the eastern coast.

    The first phase of the latest census would end on January 10, during which experts would also try to study the food the health of the forest and the prey base of the tiger. For the first time, the latest tiger census is going to use specially designed computer programmes, camera traps and radio- collars tracked by satellite to avoid any duplication in recording pugmarks. Vyas added that the entire accumulated data would be put through a computer analysis provided by the Indian Statistical Institute. Conservationists, who have been highly critical of India's efforts to protect the tiger, have also expressed reservations over the accuracy of the pugmark system, saying the method has in the past masked the big cats' dwindling numbers in the country's national parks.

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