Category Archives: Nature

INTERNATIONAL: PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD: Indian-origin California-based Engineer Karthik Subramaniam Wins the Top ‘National Geographic Picture of the Year Photography Award’ for his Photograph of the Bald Eagles catching Salmon in Alaska titled ‘Dance of the Eagles’

The prize-winning picture was captured on the final day of his week-long photography trip to Alaska, in Eagle Preserve, where he watched bald eagles catch salmon from the water.

Karthik Subramaniam, an Indian-origin software engineer in the U.S. and a hobbyist photographer, has won the prestigious National Geographic’s ‘Pictures of The Year’ award with his photograph titled “Dance of the Eagles”.

Selected from nearly 5,000 entries, Subramaniam’s picture won the grand prize on Friday, earning him a feature in the magazine’s May issue alongside Nat Geo’s leading photographers.

The award-winning photograph captured a bald eagle intimidating its peers to claim a prime log while salmon hunting in the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve in Alaska.

“Every year in November, hundreds of bald eagles gather at Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines, Alaska, to feast on salmon. I visited there last two November to photograph them,” Subramaniam was quoted as saying in the statement.

Salmon and chaos

Camped in the preserve, waiting for the perfect click, Subramaniam’s motto was, “Wherever there’s salmon there’s going to be chaos.”

The California-based software engineer started experimenting with wildlife photography only after being grounded by the pandemic in 2020, before which he used to capture landscapes and his travels.

The prize-winning picture was captured on the final day of his week-long photography trip to Alaska, in Eagle Preserve, where he watched bald eagles catch salmon from the water.

“They (the eagles) also seemed to have some favourite spots to hang out, and usually, commotion ensues when an eagle wants an already occupied spot. This photo was taken during one such commotion,” Subramaniam was quoted as saying in the statement.

“Hours of observing their patterns and behaviour helped me capture moments like these,” he added.

Homage to George R.R. Martin

According to the statement, he titled the photograph “Dance of the Eagles” as a homage to a fictional dragon war in George R.R. Martin’s novel A Dance with Dragons.

In recognition of his work, Subramaniam also received a six-month digital subscription to the magazine.

Tied to the annual ‘Pictures of the Year’ list featuring National Geographic’s top images of the year — 118 out of more than 2 million total — the photo contest invited aspiring photographers from across the country to submit the favourite image they captured in 2022, broken into four categories: Nature, People, Places and Animals, the statement said.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: TRAVEL & TOURISM: India to Showcase Success in ‘Rural and Archaeological Tourism’ at G-20 meeting

Rural tourism and archaeological tourism will be the topics for two side events at the first tourism ministerial meeting of the G-20 from February 7 to 9.

The Ladpura Khas village of Madhya Pradesh , Khonoma village of Nagaland and heritage sites like Dholavira will be showcased as success stories of rural and archaeological tourism by India during the first tourism working group meeting of the G-20 nations to be held at the Rann of Kutch.

Rural tourism and archaeological tourism will be the topics for two side events at the first tourism ministerial meeting of the G-20 from February 7 to 9 where India will highlight the most successful and innovative initiatives of these from various parts of India, Tourism Secretary Arvind Singh said on Friday.

The Ladpura Khas village of Madhya Pradesh was nominated as the Best Rural Tourism Village by the UNWTO. In this village, the State government developed homestays in villages under the Responsible Tourism Mission of the State.

Success stories will be presented of Kevadiya, Gujarat and some sensitive areas of Jammu and Kashmir like Poonch where OYO Hotels and tribal homestays have been developed.

India will also present the innovative model of community based Astrotourism that involves rural homestays and community spaces that are completely run by villagers and provides travellers an integrated experience of stargazing along with cultural immersion in the Himalayas, while Nagaland’s Khonoma Village will present the model of Ecotourism Management Board that develops Rural Tourism Products and promotes responsible travel.

The success of developing many rural tourism products in and around Rann of Kutch will also be presented.

“The idea is to present rural tourism as a means of community empowerment and poverty alleviation,” Mr. Singh said.

India will also showcase its success in archaeological tourism  and discuss shared cultural heritage with the G-20 delegates. The delegates will be taken to Dholavira which is the southern centre of the Harappan civilisation.

Officials said that the guests would be presented with gifts made under the One District One Product programme to showcase Indian heritage and culture.

The first tourism working group meeting in the Kutch would also work on a Goa Roadmap and Action Plan for Tourism as a vehicle for achieving Sustainable Development Goals. Goa would be the venue for the G-20 ministerial meeting of tourism in June this year.

The meeting will provide a vision, roadmap and guidance for accelerated growth of tourism sector beyond pandemic based on the five key building blocks of Sustainability, Digitalisation, Skills, MSMEs and Destination management towards achieving SDGs, the Secretary said.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: FOSSILS DISCOVERY: Dinosaur Nest Cluster with 256  eggs found in Narmada Valley, Madhya Pradesh

While dinosaur nests and eggs having been found in the past, too, this recent find raised the possibility of the Narmada Valley having been a fertile hatchery location for dinosaurs millions of years.

A rare discovery of 92 closely located dinosaur nests and 256 fossilised eggs of herbivorous Titanosaurs (one of the largest known dinosaurs) has been made by a team of palaeontologists in Dhar district, which is part of the Narmada Valley in Madhya Pradesh.

While dinosaur nests and eggs having been found in the past, too, by other palaeontologists in the Jabalpur region of MP and Balasinor in Gujarat, this recent find raised the possibility of the Narmada Valley having been a fertile hatchery location for dinosaurs millions of years ago.

The field research was carried out by a team of palaeontologists from Delhi University, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohanpur-Kolkata and Bhopal in many villages of Bagh and Kukshi areas of Dhar district between 2017 and 2020.

A paper on their research by Harsha Dhiman, Vishal Verma, G V R Prasad and others was recently published in the PLOS ONE research journal. “A major inference from the three years of research is that the nests and eggs found in the villages of Dhar district date back 66 million years ago.

It’s quite possible that the Titanosaurs either just came to lay the eggs in this area of Narmada Valley or the eggs were also hatched there. The eggs found by us show evidence of hatching as well as not having been hatched,” Dhiman, the lead researcher told this newspaper on Saturday. “Since only nests and eggs and not bones have been found, we need to perform micro CT scan for further research,” Dhiman added.

Egg Diameter around 15-17 cm
The nests found in the Narmada valley were close to each other, which is generally not the case. These nests had eggs which ranged between 15 cm and 17 cm in diameter. “Each nest had between one and 20 eggs,” Dhiman said

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL / NATIONAL: GREEN / BIO-CHEMISTRY / ORGANIC INSECTICIDES: 17-year-old teen Researcher Sarvesh Prabhu,Wins International Award for Developing Organic Insecticide at International Science & Engineering Fair, Atlanta, USA

The extract of Ramphal leaves is effective against various insect and pests like, pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera, fall armyworm, spodoptera frugiperda, larvae, and green peach aphids.

Sarvesh Prabhu, a 17-year-old research intern at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), represented India at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta, USA and won the third prize in the biochemistry category. He was awarded $1,000 for developing a cost-effective bio-insecticide from the leaves of bullock’s heart, Annona reticulata, popularly known as Ramphal.

When asked what led him to such a discovery, he said, “During the lockdown, my sister did gardening as a hobby. All of our plants were getting eaten by insects before they could grow, resulting in a terrible harvest. While my sister wanted to use chemical insecticides, I was absolutely against them, which led me to find botanical insecticides as an alternative. Ramphal grows in our garden, and we noticed that it flourished when all other plants were struck by pests. Thus, began my project in the middle of the pandemic.”

The extract of Ramphal leaves is effective against various insects and pests like pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera, fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, larvae, and green peach aphids. Ramphal leaves were tested in a lab. The results showed a mortality range of 78-88 per cent.

He said, “One of my main goals was to make it cost-effective and easy to manufacture by the farmer themselves. The preparation process of the insecticide is simple and easy. The Ramphal tree is also commonly found across India. This botanical product is several times cheaper than most insecticides in the market.”

About winning the prestigious prize, he said, “It was truly a pursuit that I cannot forget. More than the prize, the journey was impactful. The friends I made, the knowledge I gained from previous research papers, and the skills I acquired from the experts at ICRISAT are invaluable.”

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: RURAL DEVELOPMENT: Sethrichem Sangtam of ‘Better Life Foundation’ gets ‘1st Rohini Nayyar Prize 2022’ for Rural Development in Nagaland

His organisation ‘Better Life Foundation’ focusses on rural livelihood security, environment sustainability and education for change.

Sethrichem Sangtam, who helped triple the incomes of 1,200 marginalised farmers in Eastern Nagaland, was awarded the first Rohini Nayyar prize for outstanding contribution to rural development.

The prize awarded to an individual 40 years or under in age, was presented by the Niti Ayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery. The winner was selected by an eminent jury from civil society consisting of Dr. Ashok Khosla, founder, Development Alternatives; Dr. Rajesh Tandon, founder, PRIA; and Ms. Renana Jhabwala, national coordinator, SEWA.

Mr. Sangtam works with 1,200 marginalised farmers in Eastern Nagaland through his organisation ‘Better Life Foundation’, which focusses on rural livelihood security, environment sustainability and education for change.

Among his many achievements were encouraging farmers in the region to abandon wasteful slash, burn cultivation and move to permanent farming. The average income of the farmers tripled as a result of his interventions.

The prize had been instituted by the family of the late Dr. Rohini Nayyar, an eminent scholar-administrator who spent much of her professional life working on issues related to rural development in India.

Dr. Nayyar, a well-known economist and former principal adviser at the erstwhile Planning Commission, was one of India’s foremost authorities on rural development. She passed away in October 2021.

Developing India’s social and economic development

The prize will be given out annually by the Nayyar Foundation for Social and Economic Purpose, set up to contribute to the social and economic development in India.

While giving away the award, Mr. Bery said many initiatives for rural India which one saw around at present, like the aspirational districts programme, the development of multi-dimensional poverty index for India, and the digitisation to create financial inclusion in rural India, were results of the efforts by Dr. Rohini Nayyar and her team, while she was in the Planning Commission.

Dr Deepak Nayyar, director of the Foundation, said that during her more than two-decades-long stint in the Planning Commission she also worked on the conceptualisation of the MGNREGA.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: HEALTH & MEDICAL SCIENCES / ALTERNATIVE: 9th World Ayurveda Congress 2022: Experts pitch for Innovations and Research in Ayurveda

Anirudha Joshi said he was envisaging developing wearable devices that could provide vital information about anatomy.

Ayurveda has an enormous potential for innovation but that requires an extensive technology-based research and a concrete roadmap to make it a global brand and its products effective and successful, said experts at the 9th World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) here.

“There are great possibilities of innovations in Ayurveda. There are challenges to develop techniques more advanced than supercomputers. We will have to work on those areas of computing which have not been heard of,” Padma Bhushan Vijay Bhatkar said, while chairing a plenary session on ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurs in Ayurveda’.

Anirudha Joshi, who is credited with developing award-winning ‘Nadi Tarangini’, an Artificial Intelligence-based instrument for pulse-reading, said he was envisaging developing wearable devices that could provide vital information about the human body.

“It will be very helpful if we can develop wearables which can do ‘Astha-vidha-pariksha’. Our vision is to go into prediction of different stages of a disease so that we can defer a disease if we cannot prevent it,” he explained.

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Bhatkar said, “There is a need to develop new devices like `Nadi Tarangini’. We will have to think of ways of marketing, packaging, advertising our products and how they can be shown to the world.’‘ According to Kartikeya Baldva, CEO, Ixoreal Biomed Inc, Ayurveda, a traditional wellness system, had finally arrived but there was still a long way to go.

“It is very important to ensure the success of products but that would require quality, efficacy, branding, marketing and innovation,” he emphasised.

Ajit Kolatkar, Founder- Director of Pune- based Gastrolab India Pvt Ltd, said Ayurveda had to move in such a fashion that a doctor could diagnose the ailments of a patient by using minimum devices.

”We will have to start with fundamental research from Ayurvedic perspective. There has to be a concrete roadmap. There is a need to revisit Ayurveda in the context of contemporary science,” he said, adding there were many key areas where Ayurveda could contribute significantly.

Rishabh Chopra, founder of Ayurveda Experience, an Ayurvedic health and wellness platform, said ‘Ashwagandha’ had now become a popular product in the West.

However, there were several challenges to make Ayurvedic products globally acceptable. He also said Ashwagandha, turmeric and Yoga were some of the most online searched words in the West.

“Our vision is to go into prediction of different stages of a disease so that we can defer a disease if we cannot prevent it”Anirudha Joshi,Inventor,  ‘Nadi Tarangini’

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: ENVIRONMENT: Wildlife Biologist Dr. Purnima Devi Barman Honoured with the UN’s Highest Environmental Award, ‘The Champions of the Earth Award 2022’

Dr Purnima Devi Barman leads the “Hargila Army”, an all-female grassroots conservation movement dedicated to protecting the Greater Adjutant Stork from extinction.

UNITED NATIONS: Indian wildlife biologist Dr Purnima Devi Barman is among the honourees of this year’s Champions of the Earth award, the UN’s highest environmental honour, accorded for their transformative action to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation.

Barman has been honoured with the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) 2022 Champions of the Earth award in the Entrepreneurial Vision category.

A wildlife biologist, Barman leads the “Hargila Army”, an all-female grassroots conservation movement dedicated to protecting the Greater Adjutant Stork from extinction.

The women create and sell textiles with motifs of the bird, helping to raise awareness about the species while building their own financial independence.

Barman is also Senior Project Manager of the Avifauna Research and Conservation Division, Aaranyak.

The UNEP website said that at the age of five, Barman was sent to live with her grandmother on the banks of the Brahmaputra River in Assam.

“Separated from her parents and siblings, the girl became inconsolable. To distract her, Barman’s grandmother, a farmer, started taking her to nearby paddy fields and wetlands to teach her about the birds there. I saw storks and many other species. She taught me bird songs. She asked me to sing for the egrets and the storks. I fell in love with the birds,” said Barman, who has devoted much of her career to saving the endangered greater adjutant stork, the second-rarest stork species in the world.

“Barman’s pioneering conservation work has empowered thousands of women, creating entrepreneurs and improving livelihoods while bringing the greater adjutant stork back from the brink of extinction,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

“Dr Barman’s work has shown that conflict between humans and wildlife can be resolved to the benefit of all. By highlighting the damaging impact that the loss of wetlands has had on the species who feed and breed on them, she reminds us of the importance of protecting and restoring ecosystems.”

According to information on the UNEP website, to protect the stork, Barman knew she had to change perceptions of the bird, known locally as “hargila” in Assamese (meaning “bone swallower”) and mobilised a group of village women to help her.

Today the “Hargila Army” consists of over 10,000 women.

They protect nesting sites, rehabilitate injured storks which have fallen from their nests and arrange “baby showers” to celebrate the arrival of newborn chicks.

The greater adjutant stork regularly features in folk songs, poems, festivals and plays.

Since Barman started her conservation programme, the number of nests in the villages of Dadara, Pachariya, and Singimari in Kamrup District have risen from 28 to more than 250, making this the largest breeding colony of greater adjutant storks in the world, UNEP said.

“In 2017, Barman began building tall bamboo nesting platforms for the endangered birds to hatch their eggs. Her efforts were rewarded a couple of years later when the first greater adjutant stork chicks were hatched on these experimental platforms,” it added.

Barman said on the UNEP website that one of her biggest rewards has been the sense of pride that has been instilled in the Hargila Army and she hopes their success will inspire the next generation of conservationists to pursue their dreams.

“Being a woman working in conservation in a male-dominated society is challenging but the Hargila Army has shown how women can make a difference,” she said.

UNEP said that since its inception in 2005, the annual Champions of the Earth award has been awarded to trailblazers at the forefront of efforts to protect our natural world.

It is the UN’s highest environmental honour.

To date, the award has recognised 111 laureates: 26 world leaders, 69 individuals and 16 organisations.

This year a record 2,200 nominations from around the world were received.

The other honourees include Arcenciel (Lebanon); Constantino (Tino) Aucca Chutas (Peru); Sir Partha Dasgupta of the United Kingdom and Cecile Bibiane Ndjebet (Cameroon).

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: PLANETARY SCIENCE: Dr. Arshia M Jacob, Winner of the prestigious ‘German Astronomical Society Award’

Dr Arshiya M Jacob is currently living the life of her dreams. Interested in science since childhood, she is now a research scholar at the iconic Max Planck Society in Germany. Moreover, she won the German Astronomical Society Award for the best research thesis.

Hailing from Maradu in Ernakulam district, Arshiya completed her B.Sc (Hons) in Physics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. In the second year, she was associated with the PSLV project at ISRO as part of her internship. This attracted her to astronomy.

After completing her degree in 2015, Arshia did her post-graduation at Bonn University in Germany. The thesis she submitted as part of the course impressed the director of the Max Planck Institute of Radio Astronomy. After that she got an opportunity to do research at the Max Planck Institute. Her research can be described, in simple terms, as the study of how clouds transform into stars.

Arshia studies matter and radiation in the galaxy. She also discovered some information about the chemical origin of the Milky Way. As part of the studies, Arshia Sofia also flew in the research plane.

Arsia’s research won the Otto Hahn Award, established by the Max Planck Society. The prestigious Otto Hahn Award is given to thirteen scientists who have made impressive research in the fields of physics and chemistry.

She gained the fame of this award when she won the award by the German Astronomical Society.

Dr. Arshia, who is currently pursuing a post-doctoral fellowship at John Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States, may return to Germany after completing his course. At Max Planck she could continue her research work with her own team of scientists.

Founded in 1948, the Max Planck Society has produced 23 Nobel Laureates till date. Swedish geneticist Svante Pabo, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine this year, is part of the institute.

Research in science requires patience and dedication. Researchers should not be discouraged when results are negative or inconclusive. However, they have to work persistently to get the desired results that can significantly impact humanity.

Sofia
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. The Boeing 747 SP aircraft has a reflecting telescope that can be observed under infrared lighting. The plane flies in the stratosphere – the layer of atmosphere that surrounds the Earth at an altitude of 11-13 km. Ground-based telescopes cannot make observations in the infrared field because the Earth’s atmosphere and water particles block infrared rays.

The Sophia project, which started in 2010, ended in September this year.

source/content: techbric.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: GREEN PROJECTS/ INNOVATION: 2 Indian Projects ‘Phool’ and ‘Kheyti’ Among Finalists For Prince William’s Earthshot Prize

Five winners from the 15 worldwide projects will be announced in Boston next month, each receiving GBP 1 million to develop their projects.

A floral waste project which converts flowers dispersed into the river Ganga into sustainable leather called Fleather and a greenhouse-in-a-box solution for small farmers are among this year’s finalists from India for Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, dubbed the Eco Oscars.

Phool and Kheyti are among 15 worldwide projects in the running to receive a GBP 1 million award at the second annual Earthshot Prize awards ceremony next month.

The 2022 shortlist, which covers groundbreaking solutions to the biggest environmental challenges, follows last year’s winning project from Delhi – Vidyut Mohan led Takachar, which won the prize in the “Clean our Air” category for its cheap technology innovation to convert crop residues into sellable bio-products.

“The innovators, leaders, and visionaries that make up our 2022 Earthshot finalists prove there are many reasons to be optimistic about the future of our planet,” said Prince William on Thursday.

“They are directing their time, energy, and talent towards bold solutions with the power to not only solve our planet’s greatest environmental challenges, but to create healthier, more prosperous, and more sustainable communities for generations to come,” he said.

Phool was born in Uttar Pradesh soon after the festival of Makar Sankranti in 2015 when Founder and CEO Ankit Agarwal saw local temples dumping used flowers into the water, their pesticide coating poisoning the Ganga river.

“We began life with a simple idea: to clean up India’s holiest river. In the process, we’ve discovered a material growing on our factory floor that could one day replace animal leather for good. Sometimes ground-breaking ideas come from unlikely situations, and we want to thank the Earthshot Prize for recognising ours,” said Mr Agarwal.

At first, Phool collected the floral waste and turned it into incense sticks. As they did, a thick mat-like substance began to grow over the unused fibres lying on their factory floor. This mat, they realised, could be turned into a sustainable alternative to environmentally damaging animal and plastic leather – now called the new material Fleather.

The company today employs over 163 female “flowercyclers” from the Dalit community to collect waste flowers and in time, they hope to employ 5,000.

“With agreements to supply to fashion giants, that ambition is justified. Seven years ago, Ankit Agarwal saw worshippers poisoning their holy river. Today, Fleather has turned the tide, cleaning the river and helping those who worship it too,” the Earthshot Prize notes on Phool — shortlisted in the “Build a Waste-Free World” category.

Kheyti Co-founder and CEO Kaushik Kappagantulu launched his Telangana startup to help some of India’s nearly 100 million small-hold farmers among the poorest people on the planet and the most affected by climate change.

Kheyti’s Greenhouse-in-a-Box offers shelter from unpredictable elements and destructive pests and the startup also trains and supports farmers to ensure their greenhouse is as effective as possible.

“The world depends on its small-hold farmers and yet their lives are amongst the hardest on earth. Our Greenhouse-in-a-Box is empowering farmers in India today. The steps we have already taken at Kheyti are now building to change farmers’ lives at scale,” said Kappagantulu, who has been shortlisted in the “Protect and Restore Nature” category.

Five winners from the 15 worldwide projects will be announced in Boston next month, each receiving GBP 1 million to develop their projects.

For the first time there are also finalists from the UK, including London start-up Notpla Hard Material, which makes packaging from seaweed and plants as an alternative to single-use plastic.

Other finalists include the City of Amsterdam Circular Economy group, which wants to see nothing wasted and everything recycled in the Netherland’s capital by 2050. Mikuru Clean Stoves, from Kenya, provides cleaner burning stoves to reduce unhealthy indoor pollution and a safer way to cook.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, are set to meet the finalists and winners at the awards gala in Boston, US, on December 2.

The Earthshot Prize’s name is a reference to the “Moonshot” ambition of 1960s America, which saw then-President John F. Kennedy pledge to get a man on the moon within a decade.

Each year for the next decade, the prize is awarding GBP 1 million each to five projects that are working to find solutions to the planet’s environmental problems.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

source/content: ndtv.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: NATIONAL: ANIMAL DIVERSITY, WILDLIFE & CONSERVATION: PM Modi releases Eight Cheetahs flown in from Windhoek, Namibia at the Kuno National Park, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh aimed at Restoring the Species under ‘Project Cheetah’

When cheetahs run again in Kuno National Park, the grassland ecosystem will be restored, biodiversity will increase further, the Prime Minister said

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on September 17, released a coalition of cheetahs into the Kuno National Park, in Madhya Pradesh.

Eight Cheetahs — five of which are female — were flown from Windhoek, Namibia to Gwalior, followed by a helicopter ride to the grasslands of Kuno Palpur.

The cheetahs were brought in wooden crates and will be released in a specially designed enclosure where they will live for a month and begin a lifetime of acclimatisation to Indian prey and forest conditions.

Mr. Modi, in a televised address, said it could be “months” before ordinary citizens could visit Kuno to spot the animals. “They have now come as guests and it will take some time before they can be used to living in India,” he said.

The cheetah are radio-collared and their movements will be tracked. Each animal has their dedicated tracking team. There is also a team of wildlife scientists, biologists and Laurie Marker, a renowned zoologist and founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund which has worked on restoring the species in Africa.

The introduction of the cheetah in India is being done under Project Cheetah which, according to the Environment Ministry, is the first time a large carnivorous species has been moved across continents for establishing a new population.

“Decades ago, the age-old link of biodiversity that was broken and became extinct, today we have a chance to restore it,” said Mr. Modi, adding “Today the cheetah has returned to the soil of India.”

He remarked that even though cheetahs had become extinct from India in 1952, no meaningful effort was made to rehabilitate them for the past seven decades.

The process to bring cheetahs into India spans several decades including an ingenious proposal in 2005 by the CSIR — Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, to clone an Asiatic cheetah. This came to naught after Iran, where the species was extant but dwindling, refused to share an animal.

In 2010, the Environment Ministry put together a plan recommending locations in India suitable for the cheetah and for sourcing cheetahs from Africa. This however brought legal problems as conservationists challenged estimates by the Wildlife Institute of India, an autonomous government body, of the suitability of Indian sanctuaries for the animal. Kuno Palpur, one of the recommended sites, was originally intended as a second home for the Asiatic lions in Gir, but which the Gujarat government has opposed despite a Supreme Court order directing the transfer.

In 2012, the Supreme Court stayed the Environment Ministry project to bring African cheetahs to Kuno.

In 2017, the National Tiger Conservation Authority revived the proposal and appealed to the Supreme Court to “clarify its order”. The Supreme Court in 2020 removed its bar on importing the cheetah and allowed it in on an experimental basis and this paved the way for the first batch of cheetahs.

About 10-12 cheetahs are expected to be brought into India every year and around 35 are believed to be necessary to create a sustainable population.

The success of this batch of animals will be the touchstone of India’s initiative to be home to four wildcats — the tiger, lion, leopard and cheetah.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)