The BJP-led central government suffered a setback on Thursday when the Uttarakhand High Court set aside President’s Rule in the state, restoring status quo ante with Congress leader Harish Rawat as the chief minister.
Wednesday 4 May 2016
Schools reversing fee hikes on our orders: Delhi government
“I am glad that many reputed private schools have complied with the Delhi government’s directions and reversed the fee hike,” Sisodia, also Delhi’s education minister, said in one of his tweets.
GD Salwan School is the latest to have received Sisodia’s direction against “arbitrary” fee hike, he said.
“Almost 250 parents met me and complained about the arbitrary fee hike. I have issued directions to GD Salwan Public School in Old Rajinder Nagar to reverse the fee hike,” Sisodia tweeted.
“Private schools running on land allotted by the government cannot hike fees without the prior permission of the Directorate of Education,” he said in another tweet.
Last week, the education department served notices on two branches of Maxfort School asking why it should not take over their management for violation of norms governing admission of children of EWS (economically weaker sections), keeping false records and misappropriating funds.
Odd-even day 8 sees heavy traffic on Delhi roads
Despite the vehicle restriction plan, there was a heavy rush of vehicles on the roads right from morning.
“At 11 a.m. I was stuck in heavy traffic near the Maharani Bagh flyover heading towards Noida,” Rashmi, a woman commuter told IANS.
According to several commuters there was heavy traffic between Lajpat Nagar to Ashram on the Ring Road and vehicles moved at a snail’s pace.
A similar situation was witnessed between Laxmi Nagar and Akshardham intersection in east Delhi where long lines of vehicles was seen between 9.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m..
Heavy traffic was also reported from Chirag Delhi to Nehru Place and between Dhaula Kuan to Safdarjung hospital in South Delhi during office hours as a truck and a DTC bus had breakdowns at the Savitri flyover and near Safdarjung hospital respectively.
According to Delhi traffic police, heavy traffic was reported during office hours, especially between 9 a.m. to 10.30 a.m., and it was heaviest at ITO, near Akshardham, Maharani Bagh area and Nehru Place in the morning hours.
The second phase of the odd-even scheme began on April 15 and will continue till April 30. The first phase was between January 1 and 15 this year.
Under the odd-even scheme, which is aimed at battling pollution, petrol and diesel driven vehicles with even registration numbers can ply only on even dates and those with odd numbers on odd dates.
Election panel permits TRS to hold plenary in Telangana’s Khammam
The party sought the EC’s permission to hold the plenary and a public meeting in view of the model code of conduct for the May 16 by-election to Palair assembly constituency in Khammam district.
The main opposition Congress had urged the panel not to grant the permission as the TRS might influence the voters.
State Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwarlal said the permission has been granted subject to the condition that all the expenses are met by the party and no official machinery is used or involved in making any arrangements.
The commission also laid down the condition that the chief minister and ministers do not undertake official visits to attend the event.
TRS is holding the plenary to commemorate the 15th anniversary of its founding. TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will preside over the meeting.
Roads and Buildings Minister T. Nageswara Rao, who is the TRS candidate for the by-election, said the process to make arrangements for the plenary were in full swing.
A delegates session will be held in the morning while a public meeting is scheduled for the evening.
Meanwhile, opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has decided to field former MP N. NageswaraRao for the by-election.
The seat fell vacant due to the death of Congress legislator Ramreddy Venkatreddy last month.
Reintroduction of tigers in Cambodia from India impractical: Experts
“It is not a practical idea if the objective is to establish a viable population of tigers. If they do release tigers, they are more likely to get killed in incidents of conflict with local people rather than survive and establish a population,” tiger ecologist K. Ullas Karanth told IANS.
Eight tigers from India – six females and two males – would be translocated to Cambodia where the big cats have been declared extinct.
The Indian tigers would be “re-introduced” in two different locations in Cambodia over the next five years. This was discussed at the recently concluded 3rd Asia Ministerial Conference on tiger conservation.
According to molecular ecologist Uma Ramakrishnan, known for her work in saving Indian tigers, behavioural issues and habitat challenges need to be addressed.
“As suggested by a recent study, the tigers in Cambodia are not that different from tigers in India. But looking at the genome could highlight more differences,” Ramakrishnan, associate professor at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, told IANS.
“Successful reintroduction is very difficult, more because of behavioural issues (will the new individuals adjust to a new place?) Additionally, it’s important to understand whether the habitat can support more individuals (is there enough prey?) and that the animals will survive (and not be hunted). From a genetic perspective, this is probably fine,” she said.
Karanth, who is one of the four experts who recently refuted a report claiming the world’s wild tiger population is on the rise, says he does not believe there is any site in Cambodia where certain conditions are met for the reintroduction.
“Reintroduction of tigers is justified only if there is evidence that problems why it went extinct originally have been fully addressed and as a result 3,000-4,000 square km of forests, with sufficient densities of wild prey is available, there are no human settlements and minimal or no impacts from resource extraction by people and livestock presence and of course no illegal hunting,” said Karanth, director for Science-Asia, Wildlife Conservation Society.
“If the introduced animals do not survive, the issue of genetics is not relevant. If one is talking about genetic viability, an even larger area would be needed,” he added.
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