Project to bring back birds to Bharatpur sanctuary

By Anil Sharma,
Jaipur, Feb 7 (IANS) Rajasthan has drawn up an ambitious plan to bring migratory birds back to the famous Bharatpur sanctuary which has witnessed a crisis this winter due to an acute water shortage.

The Keoladeo Ghana National Park, as it is called, has suffered severely due to scanty rainfall and shortage of water.

"We have drawn out a Rs.200-million plan to bring water to the Ghana sanctuary from the nearby Goverdhan drain," Sunayan Sharma, director of the Keoladeo National Park, told IANS here.

"The project will be implemented soon after we get a go-ahead from the state government," Sharma said. Officials in the forest department said the floodwaters that are usually diverted to the Yamuna river will now be utilised for the sanctuary.

Officials said during monsoon, water would be transported to Ghana from the Goverdhan drain, about 20 km from Bharatpur, by constructing a lift canal as well as laying pipelines.

Owing to water scarcity migratory birds have not come this year and it wears a deserted look. Several birds that come here in their breeding season have also turned to other places.

Large parts of the water bodies in the sanctuary have dried up. The area had been receiving scanty rainfall for the last couple of years but this year the situation is at its worst. The number of birds has decreased to a great extent.

Several birds that initially landed here at the onset of monsoon flew back following scanty rainfall.

Keoladeo with its lakes and wetlands is spread over an area of 28.73 sq km. It was artificially created by the Maharaja of Bharatpur in the 19th century. By building small dykes and dams and diverting water from an irrigation canal, he converted the low-lying area into a fine wild fowl shooting preserve. In a few years, the new wetland surrounded by marginal forests was able to support thousands of water birds.

The park used to be a delight for bird watchers. Over 300 species of birds including open bills, spoon bills, egrets, cormorants, white ibises, harriers, fishing eagles, kingfishers and local and Siberian cranes are found here.

However, with water becoming a scarce commodity here, the chances of one seeing these birds have become negligible.

Radio rules amid militancy in Balochistan

Quetta (Pakistan), Feb 7 (IANS) Radio waves have lately been sweeping Pakistan's troubled Balochistan province, playing hip tunes and holding at bay political turmoil, raging militancy, a separatist movement and trouble on the border with Afghanistan.

A radio boom has overtaken the entire valley over the past few months, thanks to two FM stations. Although there are no clear estimates or market surveys, the number of radio listeners has increased tremendously.

Amidst fears that books and radio were two rapidly fading mediums that continuously failed to attract Balochistan's youth, comes the FM culture that has dramatically changed these perceptions, says The Daily Times in a special report.

The boom acts as a balm for youth trying to reach out to the world of music. This has been made possible by the two FM stations not airing anything remotely political.

Utterly oblivious to sensitive subjects like politics and religion, these two stations are engaged in entertaining their listeners with hip tunes from assorted genres.

"In a largely uneducated society, where entertainment is taboo and music is 'haraam' (not permissible), the FM stations, where education and information go hand in hand, have come as a pleasant surprise for the people of Balochistan," Rubina Rahim, Sachal 105 Station Director, told the newspaper.

Walk inside a swanky bookshop, a drug store or a restaurant in the Balochistan capital and the visitor immediately notices the FM mania that has come over the valley.

At present, only two FM radio stations are operating in Quetta. The government-controlled FM 101, located inside the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) compound, was the first to start its transmission about two years ago.

After nine months of trial transmission, a private station, Sachal 105, run by the Sachal Communication Group, became the second FM radio station.

Its service was regularised on Sep 20, 2006, and is just four months old.

Though controlled by the government, Tanveer Iqbal, the manager of FM 101, says FM 101 is very different from Radio Pakistan in terms of censorship. "We try to preach love and harmony. Our RJs observe self-censorship. There are no government dictations as to what sort of songs we can and can't play."

"On radio, there is no artificiality. The language used is a peculiar blend of English and Urdu, which is the one spoken colloquially. This frank and gracious lingo is easily digestible for listeners and makes FM radio different from traditional radio," she says.

Enthused by listeners' response, Tanveer argues that Quetta and the rest of Balochistan are very different from the image people living outside have about the province.

She said when the FM station began looking for talent in Quetta while launching Sachal it was surprised to see the huge number of young men and women who turned up for the auditions for RJs.

"There is no lack of talent and enthusiasm among the youth of Balochistan, just a shortage of opportunities that bars them from employing their full potential," she says.

"There is just no outlet for young men and women in Quetta. They don't know what to do, so they end up being exploited either by religious or nationalist elements for subversive activities."

The FM radio stations in Balochistan are also gaining popularity for the wide coverage given to regional languages. For instance, Sachal 105 airs programmes, most of them musical, in seven languages. These are Urdu, English, Balochi, Pashtoo, Bravi, Persian and Sindhi. Though FM 101 airs songs in several languages, its programs are presented solely in Urdu.

FM 101 is on the air 23 hours a day, while Sachal 105 broadcasts for 18 hours. The RJs at both these stations, both young men and women, are mostly students from the universities of Balochistan.

While these FM stations are gaining tremendous popularity among all listeners, the management of the privately owned Sachal 105 says the biggest problem is a shortage of advertisers, cutting the station's revenue generation.

"Quetta has no large public or private companies at all. People love to listen to music, but they prefer to advertise their products on cable television or in the local newspapers," says Rahim.

Raids at former Bihar police chief's house

Patna, Feb 7 (IANS) Raids were conducted at the homes of a former Bihar police chief and his son Wednesday for having assets more than his known source of income.

The raids at the Patna residence of Narayan Mishra, who is currently director general homeguard, were conducted by a team of the vigilance department's CLEAN (Corruption-Linked Efforts for Affirmative Action).

Besides, the special team, on its first assignment, also raided Mishra's son's home in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand.

Police has filed a first information report (FIR) against the senior officer, who was police chief during the previous government led by Rabri Devi.

Over 50 government officials have been arrested in the last one year as the vigilance department stepped up its drive against corruption.

Rajasekhara Reddy distributes surrendered land among poor

Hyderabad, Feb 7 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Wednesday distributed 997 acres of land surrendered by him among landless poor tribals in his native Kadpa district.

The chief minister, who had surrendered the land he and his family members were holding in excess of the limit fixed under various legislation, distributed the same among 108 poor tribal women who were the original assignees of the land.

The historic land distribution by the chief minister in the presence of All India Congress Committee general secretary and in-charge of the party affairs Digvijay Singh took place in Thimambapuram and Pangaluru villages in Konduru area.

The two leaders handed over 'pattas' or titles for 2.62 acres each, to the tribal women of three villages. The tribals were allotted 310 acres of cultivable land. The community will own another tract of land, which is not arable.

The district authorities have allotted another 321 acres out of the surrendered land for Vemana University to be set up as a 21st century 'gurukulam'.

The land given to one Rao Sahib Raghava Reddy by the British in 1940s was subsequently purchased by Madras Forest Plantation India Company Ltd belonging to Rajasekhara Reddy's family.

With this the chief minister has launched 'bhooyagnam', the second generation land reforms under which the lands originally assigned to poor but were purchased by the rich and the powerful would be taken back for distribution among the poor.

While asking the bigwigs to emulate him and surrender the assigned lands in their possession, the chief minister said no action would be taken against those who surrender the land within 90 days from Jan 29, when the notification for re-claiming the assigned lands was issued.

"All are equal before the law," said the chief minister, who had first surrendered 310 acres of land in December.

However, the move sparked a controversy with the opposition parties demanding his resignation for holding the land in violation of various laws for several decades.

The government, which distributed 437,000 acres of government land among poor during last two and half years, has also decided to set up a committee to look into various issues of resumption of assigned lands.

According to Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasad Rao, there were five million landless poor in the state.

He said 5.5 million acres of land was distributed to the poor since Independence but due to loopholes in the law and indifference on the part of officials, unauthorised people have grabbed or acquired this land over a period of time.

Rs.10 mn fine for denying sports feeds to Doordarshan

New Delhi, Feb 7 (IANS) A government ordinance that compels private broadcasters to share live feeds of exclusive national sports events with Prasar Bharati provides for a penalty up to Rs One crore (Rs 10 million) by defaulting media channels.