Illegal tree felling in Kalagarh division
Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has issued a notice to the chief wildlife warden of Uttarakhand on the issue of illegal tree felling in Kalagarh forest division in the name of establishing Pakhrau Tiger Safari.
The CZA has issued the said notice drafted by Gaurav Kumar Bansal, a practising advocate of the Supreme Court and a wildlife activist, wherein he has requested the CZA & NTCA to withdraw their approval for the establishment of the tiger safari in Pakhrau forest division.
In the notice, Bansal has stated that the Forest Advisory Committee, MoEFCC, Government of India recommended the said proposal only after the written assurance from the Uttarakhand forest department that only 163 trees would be felled for the establishment of the safari.
Uttarakhand safest state, but not for women
Uttarakhand has proved to be the safest state in India for the third consecutive year since 2018, reveals the 2020 report of the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB). Only six crimes were registered against senior citizens in 2018 and 2019 each and four in 2020.
A total of 24,794 crimes were recorded in 2020 across India, with Maharashtra (4,909), Madhya Pradesh (4,602) and Gujarat (2,785) topping the chart. However, on the flip side, Uttarakhand tops in crime against women among nine Himalayan states.
The state registered 2,846 cases of crime against women including, rape, murder and kidnapping in 2020 followed by Himachal Pradesh (1,614) and Meghalaya (568).
IIT-Roorkee detects unprecedented changes in radio pulsar
IIT-Roorkee has made a milestone achievement for the Indian Pulsar Timing Array (InPTA) team of astronomers, of which the IIT-R researchers are part. The InPTA team has detected unprecedented changes in a radio pulsar with the help of a highly versatile, sensitive and upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT).
The InPTA is a collaboration of Indian and Japanese astronomers from several institutes, including IIT-R. Earlier this year, the InPTA became a part of the International pulsar timing array (IPTA) consortium, an international collaboration aiming to catch the elusive nanohertz gravitational waves.
Dubious distinction for Uttarakhand
India has registered over 43 per cent rise in environment offences since 2018, revealed the NCRB 2020 report. Uttarakhand had registered a spike of 655 per cent in such offences from 2018 to 2020. In 2018, a total of 35,196 environmental offences were registered across all states and Union Territories followed by 34,676 cases in 2019, which rose to 61,767 in 2020.
Uttarakhand (11.1 per cent) stood on the third spot in the rate of offences, with Tamil Nadu (56 per cent) and Rajasthan (12 per cent) occupying the first two slots. In 2018, 194 offences were registered in Uttarakhand followed by 96 in 2019, which rose to 1,271 in 2020.