Behind its high-decibel campaign, powered by well-organised party machinery, the BJP also appears to have made a slight departure from its 'next generation' approach to stay ahead of an aggressive Congress and enhance its prospects of securing a majority of seats.
The incident is seen as a major setback for the ambitious 'Project Cheetah' under which 20 felines were translocated to KNP in Sheopur district from Namibia and South Africa in separate batches in September 2022 and February this year.
After being rescued, Oban was brought back to the KNP and released into the Palpur forest area, the official said.
A large number of villagers gathered at the scene and captured the crocodile using a net, insisting that the child was still alive in its stomach, he said, adding that some villagers wanted to slit open the reptile's stomach.
The death of the more than four-and-a-half years old female feline is being seen as a setback to Project Cheetah, aimed at reviving the population of the world's fastest land animal in India, seven decades after they became extinct.
There may be those who could want to go slow, citing the large pendency of follow-up action and court cases that they would have to process and/or proceed with, before raiding more politicians, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
A modified Boeing aircraft carried the cheetahs in special wooden crates during the around 10-hour journey.
The death of 40 per cent of cheetahs translocated from South Africa and Namibia to the Kuno National Park (KNP) in less than one year doesn't present a "good picture", the Supreme Court said on Thursday, and asked the Centre to not make it a prestige issue and explore the possibility of shifting the animals to different sanctuaries.
The eight cheetahs flown to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP) from Namibia in mid-September will be moved to an acclimatisation enclosure this month before being released into the wild, a member of the Centre's task force on the big cats has said.
The successful first hunt by the cheetahs within 24 hours of moving to the larger enclosure has also allayed the park management's concerns about their prey hunting ability.
Cheetah will have to spend their entire air transit period empty stomach, a senior Indian forest department official said on Tuesday.
It also said the cheetahs will be allowed to move out of KNP and will not necessarily be "recaptured unless they venture into areas where they are in significant danger".
The cheetahs looked cheerful and active on Monday, said the official who is part of the team keeping a close watch on the movements of the animals.
He said the South African cheetahs will first arrive at the Gwalior Air Force base in MP on Saturday morning and 30 minutes later they will be transported some 165km away to KNP in Sheopur district by IAF helicopters.
The Madhya Pradesh forest department has asked the Centre for an "alternate" site for cheetahs currently introduced at the Kuno National Park, which has seen the death of two felines in less than a month, with officials citing lack of logistical support and space.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit out at the previous governments, saying that no constructive efforts were made to reintroduce cheetahs in India after they became extinct from the country seven decades ago.
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
After releasing cheetahs in special enclosures at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told 'cheetah mitras' (friends) to protect the carnivores and ensure that human-animal conflict is avoided.
All the eight cheetahs looked fit and fine and drank water kept at their quarantine enclosure in the KNP.
A formal signing of an agreement is holding up their inter-continental translocation, wildlife experts have said.
Modi had released the first batch of eight eight spotted felines -- five females and three males -- from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at Kuno on his 72nd birthday on September 17 last year.
Seven decades after they became extinct in India, eight Cheetahs arrived in the country from Namibia by a special flight on Saturday morning and were released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP).
The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to Madhya Pradesh government over reported deaths of 116 children due to malnutrition-related ailments in Sheopur district in the last five months.
The Bengal Tiger, the Asiatic Lion and the more widespread leopard have had to swallow their pride. Rarely has the prime minister turned up in person, sun hat and camera at the ready, to welcome a member of the big cat family, notes Shyam G Menon.
Wishing him, President Droupadi Murmu said the work for nation-building under his incomparable hardwork, dedication and creativity continue to advance.
On Monday, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly said, The day, the people of Chhindwara wish that I should retire from politics, I will call it quits."
The bank manager clarified to him that the currency was genuine and there might have been a printing error.
Pressing for 5 per cent reservation, Gujjars on Sunday intensified their agitation by blocking highways in parts of Rajasthan and threatening to expand it across the state as they alleged that the state government had failed to offer any concrete proposal to meet their demand.
An Indian Air Force MiG-21 'Bison' fighter aircraft crashed on Friday, apparently due to an engine problem, while on a routine sortie in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district, but the pilot ejected safely.The plane went down at 11.25 am near Bela-Bhimlat village, at approximately 150 km south-west of Gwalior air base after taking off from there. A rescue helicopter was sent to fetch the pilot, the spokesman said, adding that a court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident.
Data shows that the current system of decentralised marketing and centralised procurement helps Punjab and Haryana farmers the most, while its efficacy in other states has been poor. Experts and farm leaders say success of the laws rests heavily on implementation.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Ayanagar weather station recorded 99.2 mm rainfall, the maximum in the city, during the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Thursday.
Gandhi said Modi had "claimed that he wants to be a 'chowkidar' (watchman of the country) but he actually proved to be a 'chowkidar' of Anil Ambani, Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi and has been working for them since last four years."
The migrants were ferried to their villages in sanitised buses arranged by the Jharkhand government to take them home after preliminary medical screening at the station, officials said.
The ravines, which are sharp, steep mud hillocks, stretch over three states - Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, once home to several dreaded dacoits have long been the subject of several projects and government schemes to make them agriculturally viable.
This classification of districts is to be followed by states and union terrotories till a week post May 3, when the second phase of lockdown will end, for containment operations.
Time is running out: Will India manage to attain goals set by the UN.
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