SAVE TIGERS

Project Tiger was launched in 1973 by the Government of India under its then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The project aims at ensuring a viable population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats and also to protect them from extinction, and preserving areas of biological importance as a natural heritage forever represented as close as possible the diversity of ecosystems across the tiger's distribution in the country.

The government has set up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers and funded relocation of villagers to minimize human-tiger conflicts.
During the tiger census of 2006, a new methodology was used extrapolating site-specific densities of tigers, their co-predators and prey derived from camara trap and sign surveys .Based on the result of these surveys, the total tiger population has been estimated at 1,411 individuals ranging from 1,165 to 1,657 adult and sub-adult tigers of more than 1.5 years of age.Owing to the project, the number of tigers has improved to 2226 as per the latest census report released on January 20, 2015.
  

If the tigers go extinct,the entire system would collapse.The tiger is a unique animal which plays a pivotal role in the health and diversity of an ecosystem. It is a top predator which is at the apex of the food chain and keeps the population of wild ungulates in check, thereby maintaining the balance between prey herbivores and the vegetation upon which they feed. Therefore, the presence of tigers in the forest is an indicator of the well being of the ecosystem. The extinction of this top predator is an indication that its ecosystem is not sufficiently protected, and neither would it exist for long thereafterSo when a species goes extinct, it leaves behind a scar, which affects the entire ecosystem. Another reason why we need to save the tiger is that our forests are water catchment areas. Therefore, it’s not just about saving a beautiful animal. It is about making sure that we live a little longer as the forests are known to provide ecological services like clean air, water, temperature, regulation.

India--- Prime Minister starts Japan visit

The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is starting a five-day visit to Japan this weekend.
The trip is being seen by analysts as an attempt by the two democracies to balance the rising weight of China across Asia.

Deadly landslide in south-west China

At least six people have died and 21 others are missing after a landslide struck a village in south-west China.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported that more than 70 houses in the village in Guizhou province were destroyed.
It also said, quoting officials, that 22 people were injured and had been transferred to hospitals for treatment.
The landslide was believed to have been caused by a breach from a small reservoir
Officials said that they were expecting environmental conditions to "bring some difficulties" to ongoing search and rescue operations.
The landslide which struck Yingping village on Wednesday night was the second disaster to hit China's southwestern region this month.

Earlier this month, an earthquake struck a remote region in neighbouring Yunnan province, killing 615 people.

Iraqi forces 'reach besieged Amerli'

Iraqi forces have reached the besieged town of Amerli in northern Iraq, where thousands have been trapped by jihadists, military officials say.

  
The apparent breakthrough comes after the US carried out air strikes overnight on Islamic State (IS) positions near the town.
The UK, France and Australia joined the US in dropping humanitarian aid.

Some 15,000 minority Shia Turkmen in Amerli have been surrounded by Islamic State militants for two months.
.Military sources told BBC Arabic that the Iraqi Army and volunteer militia entered Amerli town on Sunday.
Fifteen Islamic State fighters were said to have been captured.
The operation to reach Amerli began on Saturday when an alliance of Iraq government forces, Shia militias and Kurdish Peshmerga began a two-front attack on IS positions.
US and Iraqi planes provided air cover.
Reports described it as the biggest military operation since IS began making major gains in Iraq in June.
"Security forces and militia fighters are inside Amerli now after breaking the siege and that will definitely relieve the suffering of residents," Adel al-Bayati, mayor of Amerli, told Reuters news agency.
One resident of Amerli, Amir Ismael, told Reuters by phone: "I can see the tanks of the Iraqi army patrolling Amerli's street now. I'm very happy we got rid of the Islamic State terrorists who were threatening to slaughter us.
The UN had expressed fears there could be a massacre if IS took the town, which lies in Kurdish-controlled Iraq.
IS has been accused of atrocities in areas of Iraq and Syria under its control.

The jihadists see the Shia Turkmen in Amerli as apostates.
Islamic State has seized large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in recent months, including Iraq's second city, Mosul.
Pledging allegiance to their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the jihadists have imposed a harsh form of Islamic rule in areas under their control.
The group has declared a new caliphate, or Islamic state ruled by a religious leader, and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has announced himself as caliph.

The IS ideology has attracted would-be jihadists from a number of Western nations, including the UK, and has spread its message aggressively on social media, often posting gruesome pictures of beheadings and mass killings. 

Iraq 'struggling' against Isis militants

Fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) said they seized a border crossing to Syria and two towns in north-west Iraq on Saturday.
Correspondents say Isis appears to be better trained, better equipped and more experienced than the army.
The Sunni extremists attacked the city of Mosul in June and have since seized large swathes of territory across Iraq.

There is deep pessimism in Baghdad about the way the government's war against Isis is going, 
The Iraqi air force ran out of American Hellfire missiles two weeks ago, and in any case only has two Cessna planes capable of firing Hellfires, he adds.

Experts say Isis has established secure safe havens, including some in neighbouring Syria, which will be difficult to target.

On Saturday, Iraqi officials admitted that Isis had seized a border crossing near the town of Qaim, killing 30 troops after a day-long battle.
Rebels also said they had taken the towns of Rawa and Aneh along the Euphrates river.
Correspondents say a campaign along the river may eventually lead to an assault on Baghdad from the west.

The capture of the Qaim crossing in western Iraq could also help Isis transport weapons and other equipment to different battlefields, analysts say.

Calamity-hit Uttarakhand

123 bodies recovered from Kedarnath temple area

Stranded pilgrims climb in a row as they are evacuated by army soldiers in Govindghat on Saturday. Soldiers were working to evacuate tens of thousands of people still stranded in Uttarakhand

As many as 123 bodies were recovered from the Kedarnath shrine premises in Uttarakhand after a team of experts scoured the venue on Saturday. The death toll from the flood calamity is now 680

More bodies may come to the surface in the next couple of days as the slush and debris lying in the area is being removed.

NATIONAL CALAMITY IN[UTTRAKHAND]

Relief efforts are still on in flood-hit Uttarakhand where 97,000 people have been evacuated till Monday.

Still 6,000 are stranded. More than 25 helicopters and about 1,000 vehicles have been pressed into service

HEAVY LOSS OF LIFE /PROPERTY

The Public Works Department (PWD), by Monday, had deployed 5,775 employees and 364 heavy machinery for constructing roads.

A total of 549 roads, including the Joshimath, Uttarkashi and Guptkashi roads, which were blocked, had been declared open.

On Monday, 2,000 additional police personnel along with 6,500 Army and paramilitary personnel were undertaking the relief operations.

While people from Kedarnath, Jangalchatti, Ghangria, Gangotri and Guptkashi have been fully evacuated, more than 5,000 pilgrims are still stranded in Badrinath and some at Harsil in Uttarkashi district. 

KEDARNATH TEMPLE BEFORE AND AFTER 

April Sumatra quakes signal Indian ocean plate break-up

The sequence of huge earthquakes that struck off the coast of Sumatra in April may signal the creation of a new tectonic plate boundary.

Scientists give the assessment in this week's Nature journal.
They say their analysis of the tremors - the biggest was a magnitude 8.7 - suggests major changes are taking place on the ocean floor that will eventually split the Indo-Australian plate in two.
It is not something that will happen soon; it could take millions of years.
"This is a process that probably started eight to 10 million years ago, so you can imagine how much longer it will take until we get a classic boundary," said Matthias Delescluse from the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris.

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