Himalayan park on world heritage site shortlist

The Great Himalayan National Park may get global recognition, with Unesco's world heritage committee placing it in the latest shortlist of world heritage sites.

With magnificent glaciers, lofty mountains and gurgling streams, the national park in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu valley is one of the richest biodiversity sites in the western Himalayas.

"It is a matter of great pride for Himachal Pradesh that Unesco (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) has placed the Great Himalayan National Park in its tentative list of world heritage sites," park director Ajay Srivastav told IANS.

"We hope that this will get global recognition, which will help conserve the endangered flora and fauna species in a more effective way."

Three other parks -- the Bhitarkanika Conservation Area in Orissa, the Neora Valley National Park in West Bengal and the Desert National Park in Rajasthan -- are on Unesco's tentative list too, he added.

The Kaziranga National Park and the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam, , the Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, the Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks in Uttarakhand and the Sundarbans National Park in West Bengal are other areas in India that are already on Unesco's World Heritage list.

Spread over 754 sq km, the Great Himalayan National Park is home to many rare and endangered plants and animals.

Starting at an altitude of 1,700 metres, the highest peak within the national park approaches 5,800 metres.

According to Srivastav, most of the mammals found in the park, from subtropical to alpine, are endemic to the area and protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act.

The park, notified in the year 1999, is home to 203 bird species, including the endangered western tragopan, the Himalayan monal, the koklas, the white-crested kalij and the cheer pheasant.

Then there are 31 endemic mammal species, three reptiles, nine amphibians and 127 insect species, besides 425 species of plants.

Courtesy:hindu.com

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SGPC demands judicial probe into Sikh's killing

Mumbai (PTI): The Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Monday demanded a judicial probe into the killing of a city-based Sikh man allegedly by the bodyguards of Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Ram Rahim Singh last week.

Addressing a press conference here, SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar, said that they have submitted a memorandum to this effect to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil last night.

Makkar also said that the SGPC had demanded that the Dera chief be booked for Balkar Singh's murder.

The SGPC is satisfied by the action taken by Maharashtra in handling the situation, he said. Fourteen persons have been arrested so far.

Makkar said Patil has assured that those arrested during protests after 40-year-old's killing would be let off.

He said the protests following the murder were spontaneous as the community was outraged at the killing of an innocent unarmed person.

The situation is now peaceful as Sikhs are a peace loving community and have never done anything to disturb the peace and harmony in the country including Maharashtra, Makkar said.

Courtesy:thehindu.com
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It’s now or never

The Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement is once again facing stiff opposition from the Left parties. The latter appear to be determined to bring down this government if the UPA goes ahead with the negotiations in the IAEA. The UPA and the Congress are engaged in an exercise to somehow break the deadlock and are giving an opportunity to the Left to once again revise its stand.

In fact, the Congress has its options running out. If it succumbs to the Left pressure and abandons the deal that it construes to be in the overall interest of the country, it will be seen as a party that compromised on its beliefs just to remain in power for a few more months. Sonia Gandhi's sacrifice of shunning power when it was offered to her on a platter after the 2004 verdict will go in vain and the Congress shall be seen as party of power-hungry individuals who did not care for the principles and for the future of this country.

It is true that by postponing the decision to go along with the deal, the threat to the government may go but the political consequences of not signing the deal will be far greater than those of going ahead with it. The Left is a temporary ally since the 2004 elections were contested on an anti-communal plank. But the past record of the Left, particularly the CPI(M) shows that it has explained its flirtations with the BJP (Jana Sangh) in 1967, 1977 and 1989 in terms convenient to it.

Ideology had little to do with its decision to oppose Rajiv Gandhi in 1989 when it joined hands with the BJP to support the VP Singh government. It has been in the forefront of an exercise to launch a third alternative at the center despite having the best of both the worlds while supporting the UPA since 2004. Its leaders are heading important parliamentary committees and are busy appropriating political space once occupied by the Congress asthe voice of the weaker sections and poor in this country.

It is a common sight to see Left leaders like AB Bardhan using the strongest language on the TV while ridiculing or criticising the government given that the CPI has a handful of MPs in Parliament. The CPI(M), too, has been sometimes looking most unreasonable when somebody as articulate as Prakash Karat launches an attack on the ruling combination for some of the problems that cannot be addressed by coalition governments. The Congress and the UPA have shown a lot of patience in keeping quiet about what appears to be unfair criticism at times aimed at giving the Left parties undue political dividends.

Courtesy:hindustantimes.com
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