Fire in Valmiki Nagar Tiger Reserve
Bagaha (Bihar): A fire broke out on Sunday in Valmiki Nagar Tiger Reserve in West Champaran district destroying forest spread over two acres, but there was no report of casualty of any wild animal. Divisional Forest Officer
(DFO) Nand Kishor told the fire broke out in Madanpur forest range of the reserve due to unspecified reason. Forest guards on duty swung into action immediately and with normal fire fighting equipment sprinkled water to douse the flames, he said.
Manipur rape: Civil groups blame Centre
Imphal/ Guwahati: Students, women activists and civil society groups in the North-East on Saturday joined the chorus to condemn the rape of a minor Manipur girl at Munirka in New Delhi. The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) lashed out at the Union Home Ministry for not taking ‘stringent measures’ to stop harassment of NE people in Delhi. NESO chairman Samuel Jyrwa slammed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for failing to provide adequate security to the NE people residing in the national capital despite several assurances.
Intense cold wave grips Kashmir valley
Srinagar: Cold wave intensified its grip on Kashmir Valley as the minimum temperatures dropped in most places, even as some parts received light rainfall on Saturday night. Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir recorded a low of 0.4 degree celsius last night, down from 1.2 degree celsius the previous night, a Met official here said. He said the mercury in Qazigund — the gateway town to Kashmir valley — settled at minus 1.6 degree celsius, as against the previous night’s minus 1.1 degree celsius.
UP relief camp: Chicken pox hits eight children
Muzaffarnagar: At least eight children have come down with chicken pox at the riot relief camp at Malakpur village in Shamli district. The superintendent of the
Government health centre at Kairana, Ramesh Chandra, has confirmed that the children have contracted chicken pox and are now being administered treatment for the same. The afflicted children belong to families which were displaced from the Phugna, Dugar, Sisoli, Kutba, Kaserwa and lisadh villages during the riots which took place in September last year in the area.
Sikkim: first state with 100% sanitation cover
Gangtok: In a country ranked poorly on the health and environment front, Sikkim has done remarkably well to become India’s first State with 100 per cent sanitation coverage, according to a report of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry. Sikkim, one of the eight northeastern States nestled prettily in the eastern Himalayas, ranked first among the 28 States and seven union territories in terms of sanitation coverage for both urban and rural areas in households, schools, sanitary complexes and Aanganwadi centres. With 610,577 residents (2011 census), Sikkim is India’s least populated and second smallest State in area after Goa.