The crocodile is suspected to have entered the town’s drainage system which was flooded due to the water overflow from the nearby river.

RATNAGIRI: An eight-foot-long crocodile was rescued from a roadside drain in the tourist resort of Chiplun in Maharashtra’s coastal Ratnagiri district, officials said on Tuesday.

A video of the reptile emerging out of the drain has gone viral on the internet. The incident occurred in Chiplun’s Dadar area, leading to confusion about whether it happened in suburban Mumbai.

Forest officials said that the incident occurred last Friday (July 26) when Ratnagiri was lashed by heavy rain leading to floods in the Vashishti River, which originates in the coastal district.

The crocodile is suspected to have entered the town’s drainage system which was flooded due to the water overflow from the nearby river. Locals alerted the fire brigade and the Forest Department after they heard some strange sounds emanating from the drain as the huge reptile struggled to escape.

“This is quite common in this region during the monsoon. We rescued this crocodile safely. Since it had not suffered any injuries, it was released back into the river,” Divisional Forest Officer V. K. Surve said.

“I have been barged with calls… I have said it’s the Dadar area of Chiplun and not the Dadar of Mumbai,” Surve said with a laugh.

He said that apart from this incident, the Divisional Forest Office handles calls to rescue other reptiles like snakes, and last month it rescued a leopard trapped during a torrential downpour.

With a population of around 55,000, Chiplun town, 325 kms south of Mumbai is a popular tourist resort and famed for its Alphonso mangoes and kokam, the Sawatsada Waterfalls, the Parshuram Temple and other temples, plus a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum.

Rajiv Kumar, Secretary in the Department of Financial Services, will take place of  Subhash Chandra Garg.

NEW DELHI: Rajiv Kumar, Secretary in the Department of Financial Services, was on Tuesday named the new Finance Secretary to take the place of Subhash Chandra Garg, who was shunted to the Power Ministry.

Garg sought voluntary retirement from government service earlier this week after he was transferred to the Ministry of Power in a bureaucratic reshuffle.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved designating Shri Rajiv Kumar, lAS (JH:1984), Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance as Finance Secretary,” read a statement issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

Earlier this week, the government had reshuffled top bureaucrats across 12 ministries, departments and agencies.

The rejig came less than three weeks after the Union Budget was presented in the Lok Sabha and a day after it was passed by Parliament.

Garg, who formerly served as the Finance Secretary, was on Tuesday moved to the Ministry of Power, a day after which Atanu Chakraborty, a 1985-batch Gujarat-cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was named Garg’s replacement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the All India Tiger Estimation Report 2018 on 29 July and said the country had emerged as of one of the biggest and safest habitats for tigers in the world.

UNITED NATIONS: India’s tiger population, which has more than doubled from 1,411 in 2006 to 2,967 in 2019, is a “good sign” as it meets UN’s sustainable development goal which encourages the preservation of all species, particularly those that are endangered, a spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres has said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday released the All India Tiger Estimation Report 2018 and said the country had emerged as of one of the biggest and safest habitats for tigers in the world.

The tiger population in India has grown from 1,411 in 2006 to 2,967 in 2019, according to the report.

“With around 3,000 tigers, India has emerged as of one of the biggest and safest habitats for them in world,” Modi said as he lauded all the stakeholders involved in the country’s tiger conservation exercise.

“We have a Sustainable Development Goal which encourages the preservation of biodiversity and of all species including, in particularly, those that are endangered. So, it’s always a good sign if endangered species are, in fact, being protected,” Secretary-General Guterres’ Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said at a press briefing here on Tuesday when asked to comment about the increase in tiger population in India.

Of the 17 UN sustainable development goals, 15 deal with “Life on Land” and are focussed on protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managing forests, combating desertification, halting and reversing land degradation and halting biodiversity loss.

Among the main targets of the 15 goals is to “take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species”.

It also stresses on the need for urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products.

According to the report, while the number of tigers have increased nationwide, there was a decline in its population in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

The report was prepared by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

The report covered 3,81,400 sq kms of forests which were surveyed for tiger signs and prey estimation.

Nearly 27,000 camera traps were set up at 141 locations covering an area of 121,337 sq km and taking nearly 3.48 crore photographs.

Out of the total pictures, nearly 77,000 were of tigers.

The impact of this on profitability was huge, as more than 40 % of the Airline’s operating cost were incurred on fuel.

NEW DELHI: Air India Express, the low-cost arm of Air India, has earned a net profit of Rs169 crore in FY 2018-19. The net profit earned in the last fiscal is particularly significant as the aviation sector has had to face high input costs.

The impact of this on profitability was huge, as more than 40  per cent of the Airline’s operating cost was incurred on fuel. “Despite this we were able to drive-in profit by greater utilisation of our assets and resources, like aircraft, manpower and materials. Through concerted cost measures, the airline was able to contain the unit cost incurred on expenses other than fuel to be at the same level as in FY 18,” said K. Shyam Sundar, CEO, Air India Express.  

The airline’s revenues grew by 16.07 per cent, going up from Rs 3,620 crore in FY 2017-18 to Rs 4,202 crore in FY 2018-19.  

The number of passengers carried by the Airline increased by 12 per cent, to reach 4.36 million from the 3.89 million passengers carried in 2017-18. The Airline’s international carriage alone grew by about 10.5 per cent during this period.

Air India Express also inducted two more aircraft, to its fleet in September and October 2018. With the induction of these two aircraft, Air India Express expanded its network to three new Indian cities — Bengaluru, Kannur and Surat.

Vizianagaram traffic police, led by DSP L Mohana Rao, conducted a special drive on helmets at the APSRTC complex and high bridge road on Tuesday morning.

VIZIANAGARAM:  Three police personnel, including one ASI-ranked officer, were penalised for not wearing helmet while driving on city roads, as part of a campaign to create traffic awareness among public. Vizianagaram traffic police, led by DSP L Mohana Rao, conducted a special drive on helmets at the APSRTC complex and high bridge road on Tuesday morning.

As a part of the drive, police stopped the vehicles of police officers and imposed fine. Two female constables and one ASI rank officer were fined along with other bikers.Following the directives of SP B Raja Kumari, the district police officials are mulling to make helmet mandatory in Vizianagaram. Majority of fatalities during road accidents occur for not wearing helmet.

Keeping this in view, the police are mulling to implement the helmet rule strictly, the DSP told media persons.“As a part of creating awareness among the public, we have imposed a minimum fine of `135 for helmet-less driving. The fine would be hefty after completion of the awareness drive. We are also insisting the bikers not to drive without helmets,” he added.

Dhoni will also be visiting other military formations and get introduced to five local cricket teams and will play matches with them.

NEW DELHI: Lieutenant Colonel MS Dhoni has begun his latest innings. The former India captain joined his Territorial Army (TA) unit in Srinagar on Wednesday. Dhoni had opted out of the West Indies tour to complete his stint.

“Dhoni’s 15-day duty period (till August 15) with his unit 106 TA Battalion (Para) begins today,” an army officer said. .

It was in 2011 that Dhoni had been made a honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army. He was assigned to the 106 TA unit, which happens to be a para battalion in which every combatant is trained to jump from air using parachute and operate on ground.

Dhoni had already earned his wings by completing the mandatory five para training jumps in 2015 at Agra. 

It was the former India captain who had requested the Army Chief for permission to be with the troops in actual duty.

“As requested by the officer and approved by Army Headquarters, he will be taking on the duties of patrolling, guard and post duty and will be staying with troops,” Army sources said.

The unit is in Kashmir Valley as part of Victor Force. It is deployed in counter-terrorism activities and does ‘static duties’ like guard and sentry, and taking care of road opening and installation security of the important Badami Bagh Cantonment.

When it comes to active operations, Dhoni, however, will not be allowed as he has not been trained for this.

“Dhoni will be with the unit for seven days during which he will be carrying out his assigned duties. During the deployment he will be like any other officer and he will be given his own personal weapon (AK-47) with three loaded magazines,” the sources said. 

He will also be visiting other military formations and going to four Army Goodwill schools to meet the students there. He will also get introduced to five local cricket teams and will play matches with them.

Dhoni is only the second cricketer after Kapil Dev to wear the uniform. 

The other known faces who had been with the Territorial Army are politicians Sachin Pilot and Anurag Thakur, shooter Abhinav Bindra and South Indian superstar Mohan Lal. Former cabinet minister KP Singh Deo was also part of the Territorial Army.

Presently the Territorial Army (TA), the troops of which are also addressed as ‘Terriers’, has a strength of approximately 40000 comprising of Departmental TA units such as Railway, IOC, ONGC, and Non-departmental TA units of Infantry Battalion including Home and Hearth Battalions, Ecological Battalion (TA) affiliated to various Infantry Regiments and Engineer Regiment (TA) for maintenance of Line of Control Fencing.

The TA units were actively involved in the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars. The ‘Terriers’ have also taken part in Operation Pawan in Srilanka, Operation Rakshak in Punjab and J&K, Operation Rhino and Operation Bajrang in the North East in a most active manner.

Pramesh Jain

BJP to nominate Ashwajit Gaikwad from Udgir constituency ?.

With an aim to give opportunities to the youth in the assembly, BJP is likely to induct Ashwajit Gaikwadinto the party soon. Before the state goes for polls later this year, the saffron party is reportedly all set to nominate Gaikwad from the Udgirconstituency.

Udgir or Udaygiri is a city with a municipal council in Latur district of Maharashtra. It is located in the Marathwada division of the state.
The Gaikwad family has been loyal to the BJP for many years and Gaikwad has recently implemented a membership registration campaign for the party at Shivaji Chowk on Saturday. The day-long campaign was attended by district president Nagnath Nidwade, former MLA and state vice president Govindrao Kendra, city president Basavaraj Bagwande, deputy president Sudhir Bhosale, water supply chairperson Manoj Pudale, Balaji Gaware of scheduled tribal front, and others. As per reports, the campaign has managed to gather more than 2,000 young party members so far.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday launched a party helpline number and a website to reach out to the masses and address their grievances.

She said her party leaders and workers will reach out to people across the state, spend time with them and listen to their complaints.

“People can directly get in touch with us on the helpline number and the website and speak about issues affecting them. We will try and address them,” Banerjee told reporters here after a meeting with Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs and senior functionaries.

“Over the next 100 days, more than 1,000 party leaders and workers will reach out to 10,000 villages in the state, spend days there with local people and try and address their grievances,” she added.

Assembly elections in West Bengal is due in 2021.

Azam Khan had claimed his remarks were misinterpreted.

Samajwadi lawmaker Azam Khan, whose sexist remarks in parliament against Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker has evoked outrage, apologised to Rama Devi today. The Deputy Speaker, who earlier declared that she would never forgive him, today said his remark has “hurt both women and men in India”.

“He will not understand this. He has acquired really bad habits… I have not come here to hear such comments,” she said.

The Samajwadi Party lawmaker’s sexist remarks – made during Thursday’s debate on a bill to ban Triple Talaq – were so offensive that they were immediately expunged from the house records.  

Azam Khan — who made headlines with his sexist comments more than once — had claimed his remarks were misinterpreted.

“Sister, I have had a long political career, it is not possible for me to say anything bad. If there is a single unparliamentary word in what I said, then I declare my resignation from parliament,” he had told Rama Devi amid cries of “shame” from the lawmakers.

He, however, was vigorously criticised by colleagues across the board.

The BJP’s Sushma Swaraj said he crossed “all limits of decency” and suffered from “mental perversion”.

“This is an abominable act, I appeal to you for exemplary action,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had told Speaker Om Prakash Birla.

“If Azam Khan had apologized for his indecent statement on the same day, I would have forgiven him. He even walked off on Thursday after making this comment – adding insult to injury,” Rama Devi had said.

“I will tell the Speaker that Azam Khan has not only embarrassed Rama Devi, but women across the country have been insulted. I will tell the Speaker Om Birla that Azam Khan needs to be given such exemplary punishment that is remembered for generations to come,” she had added.

The schools have also been asked to submit a report regarding the presence of police personnel or police van.

NEW DELHI: 

The Delhi government has directed all schools in the national capital to allow random checking by police personnel around their premises during the period of change of shift or closing of school.

The schools have also been asked to submit a report regarding the presence of police personnel or police van. “The Task Force on Women Safety in Delhi has been holding meetings to ensure that actionable measures for women safety are taken. In one of the meetings, it had been decided that Delhi Police should intensify random checking around schools, especially at time of change of shift or closing of school.

“In a meeting held recently to review the progress on various action points relating to the recommendations of the Task Force, it had been decided that all schools under the Directorate of Education (DoE) must ascertain as to whether these checking are taking place or not,” a senior DoE official said.

“It has accordingly been decided that, all principals of government and private schools shall ascertain the presence of a police personnel or mobile police van around school premises during the period of change of shift or closing of school. Schools are also required to submit a report in this regard,” the official added.

The DoE has also directed that in case of schools running in double shift, principals of both the shifts of the school in consultation and coordination with each other shall depute 2 to 3 teachers for 15 minutes at the gate of school before the change of the shift and 15 minutes after closing.

Similarly, in case of schools running in single shift, heads of schools concerned shall depute 2 to 3 teachers for 15 minutes before the closing of school and 15 minutes after closing.