DECEMBER - 2012: Vol .13 No.12

December 2012 VANA PREMI
49
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DECEMBER - 2012
Vol .13
No.12
JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED FOREST OFFICERS
ANDHRA PRADESH
Yearly Subscription - Rs. 200/-
1
1. President : Ex-Officio President of Assn.
2. Editor : Qamar Mohd. Khan
Tel : 40121132, 9849233624
e-mail : qamar_asima@yahoo.com
3. Associate
Editor : Sardar Iqbal Singh,
: 040-20081143, 9849909877
4. Member : A.H. Qureshi, IFS (Retd.)
5. Convenor : Ex-officio Secy.of Assn
VANA PREMI
Vol : 13 No.11 December - 2012
Editor : Qamar Mohd. Khan Associate Editor : Sardar Iqbal Singh
The Association of Retired Forest Officers,
Andhra Pradesh(Regd. No. 557/1990)
President : Sri. S.D. Mukherji, I.F.S. (Retd.)
Tel : 23551065, 9885236493
Vice President : Sri. Krishna Bhoopal Rao, I.F.S. (Retd.)
Tel : 23743774, 9866307808
Secretary : Sri K. Santokh Singh, I.F.S. (Retd.)
Tel : 27962929, 9848808101
Jt. Secretary : Sri. P. Upender Reddy, Dy. C.F.(Retd.)
Cum Treasurer Tel. 23342582, 9848754778
Editoriral Board
Contents
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VANA PREMI
1
Excutive committee members
1. Sri C. Subba Rao, I.F.S. (Retd.), 9848018796
2. Sri Sultan Mohiuddin,I.F.S. (Retd.), 9440057333
3. Sri M. Padmanabha Reddy, I.F.S. (Retd.), 9849269105
4. Sri J.V. Subba Rao, 9848486146
5. Sri A. V. Govinda Rajulu, 9440764611
Totla pages 48
}
1. Editorial ..................... QMK 2
2. Letters to the Editor ........ 4
3. Life, Not a Bed of Roses
........................................ M. Kamal Naidu 5
4. The lifetime story of Martyr K. Padma
Rao,Forest Guard of Karimnagar
East Division....... .............P.K. Sharma 8
5. Misuse of Govt. Land :
A Disservice to Nation
.................................... J.V.Sharma 13
6. Cities for Life
....................M. Padmanabha Reddy 20
7. Invitation ................... 22
6. Bio-Diversity and Global Awareness
......................S. Noor Ahmed 23
7. My Glimpses of A "Giantnaation"
.............................V.V.Hariprasad 25
8. Man of the Millennium 31
9. An Appeal to forest Officers of
the State of A.P. ......... Editor 31
10. A. Case Dealt Under Section44 (2-A)
of A.P. Forest Act 1967... V.S.S. Babu 32
11. Storks ........................ 34
12. Workaholics .............. 35
13. .:.c... r-. c- -. as
14. Birthday Greetings... Secretary 36
15. Bring Back the Bucks
................N.Shiva Kumar 37
16. News and Notes ....... 39
17. Legal Notes............... 47
+a
+a
Death at my thresh hold ... Dr.Ragotham Rao
2
International Anti-Corruption Day:- By a
resolution of October 31, 2003, the UN General
Assembly designated December 9 as the
International Anti-Corruption Day. Thereafter
Anti-Corruption Day is observed on 9
th
December every year throughout the world. This
has become a tradition since 2003, when 129
countries signed the United Nations Convention
against Corruptionin Merida. This decision aimed
to raise peoples awareness of corruption and
the role of the people against Corruption in
combating and preventing it. Thus, this is a great
day to remember that a lot has been done and
has yet to be done in the fight against corruption.
International Anti-Corruption Day is a time for
governments, legal bodies and lobby groups to
work together against corruption by highlighting
the issues that surround this malaise. What is
anti-corruption day? On this day anti-corruption
advocates organize events to engage the
general public to effectively fight against
corruption and fraud in communities. Some
organizations hold special recognition
ceremonies to pay tribute to people and
projects that provide assistance to nations and
communities in the battle against corruption.
Corruption is an issue that affects people and
governments of all countries around the world.
It refers to the destruction of ones honesty or
loyalty through undermining moral integrity or
EDITORIAL
acting in a way that shows lack of integrity and
honesty. It also refers to those who use their
position of power or trust for dishonest gain.
Corruption undermines democracy, creates
unstable governments, and sets countries back
economically. Corruption comes in various
forms such as bribery, law-breaking without
thinking of the consequences, unfairly
amending the election processes and results,
and covering mistakes or silencing whistle
blowers, who try to expose corruption in the
hope that justice would be served.
We have seen that in our country a large number
of scams have taken place in the last few years.
Our politicians, bureaucrats, as well as the
general public are all responsible for this
corruption. Corruption is mainly due to illiteracy,
over population, poverty, selfishness and
character of the individuals. Corruption is a
monster that feeds on human greed and
discontentment. The desire to earn more, to
keep up with the joneses kindles the fire of
greed and leads people to acquire ill-gotten
wealth.
Contentment is a virtue that needs to be
nurtured in young minds. It is the home that can
inculcate the feeling of contentment and
empower the youth to overcome temptations
that allure a person throughout his life. Here I
3
would like to mention an incident which
happened in the year 1934 and was published
in a book known as Yadon Ki Baaraat (on page
number 221 to 224) written by Josh Malyabadi.
At a religious function the VII Nizam of Hyderabad
Mir Osman Ali Khan was present along with
others. While the discussion was going on the
Nizam was seen whispering in the ear of
Mr.Venkat Ram Reddy Bahadur who was the
commissioner of city police. Moulvi Ahmad
Hussain an ordinary clerk who was drawing a
salary of rupees 30/- per month requested the
Nizam to be silent probably because etiquette
demanded that a religious discourse should be
heard in absolute silence. Immediately the
commissioner of police tried to arrest the clerk
but the Nizam intervened and stopped the
commissioner from arresting the clerk.
After sometime the Nizam again started
whispering in the commissioners ear. Not due
to tolerate this in a reprimanding tone the clerk
told the king that he had no right to disturb a
religious congregation like this. Once again the
Police commissioner pounced on the clerk to
arrest him. But once again the Nizam ordered
him not to do so. Infact the Nizam left the place
after instructing the commissioner to come to
the Palace. After some time the Nizam sent
some valuables to the clerk as a gift in
appreciation of his boldness, which was brought
by the commissioner of police and others to his
house. The clerk thanked the Nizam and the
commissioner for the gifts but politely refused
to accept them as he did not wish to be obliged
to the king. When this was conveyed to the
Nizam by the commissioner he was very happy
and granted a pension of Rs 300/- per month to
the clerk till his death without doing any work.
This was informed to the clerk. He again thanked
the king and refused to accept this. He said I
am very happy with my job and a pay of Rs 30/
- per month is enough for his survival. I dont
need Rs 300/- per month without work. Please
restore my job. Such was the character and
contentment of the individuals. Kahaan Gaye
who log
In 2011 India was ranked 95th out of 178
countries in Transparency International
Corruption Perceptions Index. In a democracy,
we have four pillars which need to support it as
per the Indian constitution; these are legislative,
executive, judiciary and of course, the press. All
are important in their own places and they must
work in their fields honestly. But do we see them
all working to the satisfaction of the common
masses? India has high marginal tax rates and
numerous regulatory bodies with the power to
stop any citizen or business from going about
their daily affairs if they are found to be violating
the laws. This power to search and question
creates opportunities for corrupt public
officials to extract bribes; in cases of high taxes,
4
paying off the corrupt official is cheaper than
the tax. The net result is that the corrupt officials
collect the, bribes, state fails to collect taxes for
its own budget, and corruption grows. In the
same way we have very good and large number
of laws but implementation is very poor. While
the good laws are needed to enable sound
policies legislation is no substitute for effective
governance and executive actions. In the
absence of strong government action corruption
grows. .
The following steps may reduce corruption
in our society
1. Increase the literacy rate
2. Reduce population by adopting family
planning methods.
3. Amend anticorruption laws to provide
severe punishment for those who indulge
in corruption
4. Introduce subject of Ethics in schools from
1
st
class to improve the moral of students,
and make them honest from the beginning.
5. Simplify the use of Right to information Act
2005 to allow public to demand
information easily from the Government
departments for checking corruptions.
6. While recruiting select only right and
eligible candidates without any
recommendations.
Let us hope the above steps will reduce
corruption in our country to the minimum. QMK
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To
The Editor,
Vana Premi,
Dear Sir,
The article titled Intellectual Property Rights and Bio-diversity by Mr. V. V. Hari Prasad published in
October 2012 issue of Vana Premi is well-written and informative. It is thoughtfully written to
appear just when COP-11 takes place in Hyderabad. It is an excellent article rich in content. The
author deserves immense praise for his effort. I wish to compliment him through your journal and
earnestly wish he writes many more such articles in future.
Regards,
-J V Sharma
5
After a six year spell managing two tough and
problematic divisions Atmakur followed by
Nizamabad I was transferred to Karimnagar East,
with Headquarters at Warangal. It was a division
with two ranges in Warangal District and two in
Karimnagar District. Manik Prabhu my worldly
wise and highly experienced, extremely loving,
and loyal ACF congratulated me for posting to a
nice division deservingly for a good turmoil free
tenure. He assured me of noninterference by
anybody, free of litigations, etc. based on his
tenure as RO Tadcherla for over three years. He
stated as to how two of my predecessors had
served for over four years each without
problems, and moved out by request out of
boredom being a small compact division, having
very valuable rich forests, barely being a sixth of
the district area, while the West division
occupied rest of the district.
I assumed charge of the division with great
hopes of long tenure too and a calm peacefully
time with opportunity of seeing lot of frequent
wildlife, particularly large herds of Gaur. This
division was that year reputed as the largest
revenue yielding division of the State. I found
was cut to size by the Manair river which was
then not negotiable, and a bridge was under
construction to open it up to Peddapally region,
hence accessible only via Warangal district, and
LIFE, NOT A BED OF ROSES
By
M. Kamal Naidu
so the headquarters was located at Warangal.
The division started at Bhupalpally 60 km from
HQ, a boring tedious journey. However once at
Bhupalpally, and thereafter to Mahadevpur,
Tadcherla and to Azamnagar were exciting
travels mostly through forested areas, with
plenty of gaur and spotted deer. I began liking
the division though not as picturesque as
Atmakur, an equally compact division.
The social life at Warangal was varied and
excellent with Mr. A L Rao as Conservator,
Madhav Rao as Collector, MV Bhaskar Rao as SP,
highly influential Mr Chandrasekhar Rao as
Working plan officer stationed there and lot of
doctors, lawyers and lecturers as members of
the throbbing Officers Club. Good school for my
son after foundation at Chenchu school at
Bairluty My social life had a set back with my
wife diagnosed of cancer and had to be at
Hyderabad for considerable periods,
dislocating my sons education and my
frequency to Hyderabad on weekends.
On the official side I began getting into hot
weather for the division was the native places
of the Chief Minister PV Narashima Rao, a large
hearted gentleman, and also the Zilla Parishad
Chairman Mr.Srinivas Rao, resident of
Mahadevpur, called and known by everyone as
6
Raja Saheb, and likewise treated so. I had called
on him at the earliest opportunity as ZPC at
Karimnagar at the ZP Meeting, and also the
Collector SV Subrahmanium and SP Mr. Krishna
Kumar. I never called on the ZPC at Mahadevpur
at his home for I thought it is improper unless
invited, which I never was. This was when the
trouble started, for he felt belittled and
considered me as arrogant. These feelings of his
were fueled further by some lesser persons in
the department in the garb of jackals, who
began playing between the lion and the bull in
the panchatantra for their own benefit, by
carrying tales and communicating his snidely
remarks to me. The unknown, unseen,
unexpected rift began to grow despite the
sincere attempts at reconciliation by ACF Pratap
Reddy, who repeatedly tried to bring us together
by inviting us for dinner on the least pretext at
his residence, speaking good about each of us
to the other.
My troubles were further fueled by boosting my
ego at the very start in the division by Indrasena
Reddy, Panchayat Samiti President of Itkiyal,
nephew of ZPC Warangal, a strapping tough
educated, rebellious youngster and a few other
disgruntled contractors who expressed their
desire that I should be fair and equally honest
with all contractors in the division as per their
enquiries, as they stated I had that reputation
built up in my earlier two division, without
showing partiality for anyone. I had promised to
do so of using a common yardstick on all equally
for similar offenses. I soon realized that Mr.
Srinivas Rao, a nephew of CM together with ZPC
held almost 70% of all contracts in the division
of the baroon timber plots and beedi leaves units
between them. I soon found that these contracts
defects in working and pilferages were being
ignored by majority of the staff down the line,
who were also immune to threats to brace up
from me. The general feeling was, there are god-
fathers above who protect and nothing to worry.
Hence it was a free for all situations to allow
irregularities, benefit from irregularities was
assured and the staff never expected any action
on them. However I could not tolerate the
destruction around, and indiscipline that
prevailed with no action being taken to report,
and therefore suspended all the staff
foresters and FGs of two sections around
Mahadevpur and kept the areas under control
of selected staff from adjoining Warangal zone
ranges. This was too much of a confrontation to
ZPC and CMs representative, and I was both
openly and through my known sources to act
reasonably and discreetly including by the
higher ups in the department. It was not too
long after a rumor was spread that I was to move
with police escort and not alone in the interiors
because of a naxalite threat, the division being
then the hotbed of their activities. During this
period of threat by naxalites, one night Mr.
Indirasena Reddy drove up to my bed in his jeep
7
in the Bhupalpally Forest guest house
compound at night 2.00AM. Seeing me so
exposed, he threateningly chided the RO for
allowing sleeping that way without keeping
adequate staff around for my protection as the
all-knowing local official.
This threat rumor was confirmed by SP and
Collector as true, but was being favorably
received by naxalites as justified actions against
the atrocities committed by the rich and mighty
contractors. Infact the diary recovered from
naxals leader by police mentioned Luckily I did
not shoot the DFO thinking him to be a police
representative; he is a good man doing justice
and assuring the poor laborers correct wages.
This information from SP was an encouraging
certificate for my actions, and I continued to
follow my style, as dictated by my gut feeling till
I was transferred out prematurely within a year
of joining, unlike four years tenure stay of my
predecessors under pressure to CM. because I
had fined the favored contractors Rs.15000/- and
there about in 1973 for irregularities.
In fact there was a threat to transfer me a few
days after I fined the contractors, when Mr.
Srininvas Rao came to the Bhupalpally guest
house, when I was away in the field and told my
peon to pack up my things and ask me to go
back to HQ as he was going to Hyderabad to get
my posting order out of the division. This news
was conveyed to me when I came back from
field. Soon thereafter Mr. Inderasena Reddy
came to meet me at the FGH. I told him what
my peon told me. He was immediately ignited
with ferocity and told me If I am born to a Reddy
Mother no one dare to shift you, under peril of
PV Rao ministry collapsing Saying so he drove
away. I never packed my things and continued
my functioning in usual course. Two days later
Mr. Mazharuddin as in-charge CCF came to
Bhupalpally to request me as to which posting
in the state I desire of my choice since I need to
be shifted out. I replied once out of my home
in Hyderabad it was immaterial to me where
the CCF desires to post me. He cautioned me
to be careful from unnecessary hooliganism
particularly since my wife was hospitalized in
Hyderabad for cancer. So I requested an ideal
posting would be in or near Hyderabad. CCF
went back and I waited for the orders. The
following day Mr. Inderana Reddy came back to
me to Bhupalpally to inform I will not be shifted
till well past the Beedi leaf season. Accordingly
I was shifted to Palwancha in September rather
than mid-April as threatened, well after my wife
was discharged from hospital well after all the
follow up treatments of Chemo-therapy and
radium treatment.
With this I realized that one yardstick in
administration will not work. It needs to be
tailored according to situation to be a bed of
roses.
8
The news of organization of the first-
ever Forest Sports Meet in 1984 had
brought cheers on all the faces in the
Department. All the Officers and staff
wanted a break from the monotony
of going to forests on protection duty
or for inspection of plantations or
sitting in the office doing paper work.
Everybody had forsaken lethargy and started
visualizing the conduct of Sports Meets at
Division, Circle and State Level. Officers and staff
gave their names for various events most
enthusiastically. Preparations began in the right
earnest for organizing the event at District Level.
People started practicing for various events after
a long gap, since their passing out from their
respective Forest Training Institutions.
Finally, on 5
th
& 6
th
of September 1984, First
District Level Sports & Games Meet was
organized in the Police Stadium at Karimnagar
with fanfare. Officers and staff of Karimnagar East,
Karimnagar West, Logging Division, Karimnagar
and newly created Social Forestry Division and
Andhra Pradesh Forest Development
Corporation had been organized into 2 Teams
East and West. Officers from the rank of DFO to
FG and ministerial staff up to attender level were
pitted against each other in the Sports arena.
THE LIFETIME STORY OF MARTYR K. PADMA RAO,
FOREST GUARD OF KARIMNAGAR EAST DIVISION
By
P.K. Sharma
All the sports events, games and
cultural programmes were keenly
contested in true sportsmans
spirit. Young and old jostled along
with each other, forgetting the
hierarchies. Many new talents
were discovered. One such person
was Late K. Padma Rao, Forest
Guard of Shatrajpally Beat (Bhopalpalli East
Range of Karimnagar East Division), who came
out with flying colours in High Jump, Long
Jump, Races and Game of Football. He was a
young man in his thirties, full of zeal, bubbling
with energy. He was found out to be the best
sports person of the Karimnagar East Division/
District. I was really impressed with his
performance in the Games and Sports field. The
Circle level Sports & Games Meet was
conducted at Warangal on 12
th
& 13
th
of Sep 84.
He was selected in the Circle teams for the
State Level meet to be organized at Hyderabad
in the events of High Jump, 100 & 200 M Races,
Long Jump & the game of Football.
I found him to be a very active as Forest Officer
too. He was working with a missionary zeal to
stop illicit felling of precious trees and combat
with full force the evil of smuggling. His Beat
comprised of among others valuable Teak trees.
9
Two Teak-seed Production Areas and many Teak
Plantations were located in his Beat. There was
lot of pressure on the precious Teak forests of
this Beat from within the Range for domestic and
agricultural purposes and from outside for
commercial/smuggling purposes.
K. Padma Rao was well aware of the ground
realities. He was quite vigilant; had developed
strong intelligence-net work. He used to come
to know about the movement of suspected
smugglers well in advance or in time and used
to frustrate all their attempts to cause
destruction and smuggle out forest produce. He
had organized lots of raids and recovered lots of
Teak timber. He was courageous and used to
move out for patrolling day in and day out. He
had thus acquired nuisance value for the
smugglers and anti-social elements. In one such
raids he had recovered Teak timber and sawn
sizes of Teak from the houses of a few suspected
extremists along with those of the other
smugglers. This angered both the smugglers and
extremists.
In the past, Officers and staff had received
thrashings at the hands of smugglers/extremists
but nobody ever imagined that performance of
legitimate duty could lead to a fatal assault.
On the morning of October 8, 1984, I had reached
Mahadevpur and camped there. I received a
phone call from Koyyur, Dy. ROs HQ in Bhopalpalli
East Range, informing me that some smugglers
had killed K. Padma Rao along with two villagers
on the intervening night of 7
th
& 8
th
Oct 1984. I
was shell-shocked; just could not believe it. For
the first time I was face to face with the harsh
realities of the risks involved in the job of a
Forester; specially working at the grass root
level. I had informed the Conservator of Forests
at Warangal and Addl. Superintendent of Police,
Godavari Khani and the District Administration
about this heinous crime.
I left for Bhopalpalli to receive the Conservator
of Forests at Warangal. In those days the
Department was not equipped with the
wireless sets. Mobile phones were not even in
dreams. Communication was a real problem.
Had wireless sets or Mobile phones been
available to the frontline staff in those days,
perhaps life of Late K. Padma Rao could have
been saved. He could have contacted his FRO,
colleagues or DFO or Sub-DFO in time and
received the needed help and perhaps
offenders could have been confronted and
apprehended in time; but Alas! That was not to
happen.
While traveling to Bhopalpalli all the while I
was thinking about K. Padma Rao. I was recalling
his happy and jubilant face after winning
medals in the sporting events at District and
Circle Level Forest Sports Meets. I was
confident that he would win some Gold Medals
for the Circle in the forthcoming first ever State
level A.P. Forest Sports & Games and Sports
Meet. He was equally confident. I had
10
developed a special liking for him, being a good
person, daring Forest Officer and equally good
sportsman. His face is still vivid in my memory.
I received Sri R.P. Bahadur, IFS, Conservator of
Forests Warangal at Bhopalpalli. Then we
proceeded to Tadicherla. We reached the spot
near village Tadicherla by 10.30 a.m.
Superintendent of Police, Karimnagar (Sri Ashok
Prasad, IPS) and Addl. Superintendent of Police,
Godavari Khani (Sri Madan Lal, IPS) had also
reached the spot via Manthani by then. The slain
bodies of Late K. Padma Rao and two villagers
were lying scattered in the agricultural fields of
Sri Yashadapu Lingaiah R/o Tadicherla on the out
skirts of Tadicherla village. Police conducted
inquest. All the Forest Officers and the villagers
assisted the Police in the conduct of inquest.
Next day, i.e. October 9, 1984, in the morning
the DIG of Police Sri S.R. Sukumar, IPS, had also
reached Bhopalpalli on learning about the
brutal killing of Sri Padma Rao and 2 others. I
along with C.F.,Warangal Circle & DIG reached
Tadicherla early in the morning from our camp
at Bhopalpalli. Police conducted enquiries into
the incident and completed other formalities.
Post mortem on the bodies of the slain persons
was organized on the spot itself. Afterwards the
bodies were handed over to the next of kin.
FORGOTTEN FOREST MARTYRS:
1. Late Sri Kesavulu, FG; Sri Somaiah, FW & Sri Penchalaiah, FW.
Rock memorial in Chitvel Beat
I came across a stone monolith Memorial in the memory of 3 Forest Officers
of Rajampet Division on 24
th
of July 2002 while working as Conservator of
Forests WLM Circle, Tirupati during the course of field inspection along a
peripheral Trench in C.No.1054, Chitvel RF of Chitvel Beat of Chitvel Range.
Inscription on the Stone Memorial proclaims that a Forest Guard and 2
Forest Watchers were found murdered there on 17
th
of March 1939. Names
of the Staff done to death are as follows: -
1. Sri Kesavulu, FG, 2. Sri Somaiah, FW and, 3. Sri Penchalaiah, FW.
However names of the above mentioned Forest Martyrs were not found in the Memorial at the
PCCFs Office. Hence I had instructed the DFO to clear the rank growth around the Memorial, up
to a radius of 5 M may be cleaned and it may also be painted and given a new look and trace out
the history of the above case so that they could be given fitting place and honour in the Annals
of the history of Forest Department. I was transferred in the month of November 2002 from
Tirupati. Apparently the history could not be traced. However, these Martyrs deserve a place in
the List of Forest Martyrs of Andhra Pradesh.
11
The Corpse of the Late K. Padma Rao was draped
in Tricolor and carried over in a van to his native
place Raikaldevpalli near Sultanabad in
Peddapalli Revenue Division. All the Officers and
staff of Karimnagar East Division, Logging Division
Karimnagar and Warangal Project Division of
APFDC accompanied the dead body from
Tadicherla to Raikaldevpalli. Officers and staff
from Karimnagar West and SF Division
Karimnagar also reached Raikaldevpalli in large
numbers to pay last tributes to the first reported
forest martyr of the District.
It was heart rending scene at Raikaldevpalli.
Entire village was flooded to have last Darshan
of the martyr. Senior Officers went to console the
bereaved family but they were dismayed at the
courage of Sri Raja Ratnam, his father. His father
was very proud of his sons deeds and
achievements. Large number of persons
participated in the Padma Raos last journey. His
body was cremated with full State Honours, with
21 Gun Salute, which was organized by the
District Police Administration. Sri Padma Rao
was survived by his wife Smt. Mary Vijaya Kumari
and 2 sons K. Vijay Amrutha Rao and Ajay
Amrutha Rao. Sri Raja Ratnam informed me that
Late K Padma Rao was highly impressed by ace
Tennis player Vijay Amrit Raj and hence his
name was given to his first son. He had a desire
to groom both his sons as ace athletes /
sportspersons.
Condolence meetings were organized at Range-
, Division and Circle levels between 8
th
and 10
th
of October 1984. CCF (General) Sri V.S Sastry, IFS,
had convened a meeting at CCFs Office on 12
th
October 1984 to review Forest protection vis-
-vis extremist activities in Warangal Circle in
the wake of this unfortunate incident. In this
LATE SRI PEERLA RAMASWAMI, FG:
This is another instance from Karim Nagar East Division, narrated by the grandson of Late Sri P.
Ramaswami during my field inspection in Karim Nagar East Division as in-charge APCCF of
Warangal Circle on 28
th
of January 2011.
It was reported that while some villagers were preparing Bullock cart wheels in the forest with
the illegally felled Teak timber, about 50 years ago (exact date not known) Late Sri P. Ramaswami,
FG had caught them red handed and booked a case against the offenders. This had angered the
Naxalites, who killed the late FG by tying and tightening B. racemosa fibres around his neck to
strangulate him to death on a spot near Gaddenpallicheruvu with the Latitude of 18.56413 N
and Longitude of 80.23733 E in Kanaknoor Beat of Azam Nagar Range. His son was then appointed
as FG on compassionate grounds.
12
meeting it was decided to address the Govt. to
provide ex-gratia and other benefits to the next
of kin of the martyr on par with similar rank
officers in the Police Department. Proposals
were submitted to the Govt. accordingly. And,
the Govt. was also quick to respond. Government
Order sanctioning (i) Ex-gratia on par with the
deceased Police Officers who had died in harness,
specially at the hands of Extremists, (ii) Payment
of last drawn salary to the widow till the age of
superannuation of Late K. Padma Rao till his
normal date of retirement or re-marriage of the
widow, (iii) family pension after attaining the age
of superannuation and (iv) Compassionate
appointment to the next of kin; was issued.
Collector, Karimnagar issued orders for financial
relief to the 2 slain villagers who accompanied
Late K. Padma Rao and 2.5 acres of land in village
Tadicherla. Ex-gratia amount was handed over
the widow of late K Padma Rao at village
Tadicherla in the 3
rd
week of October 1984 by
the then Forest Minister Sri Mahipal Reddy in
the presence of CF Warangal, Sri R. Chandra
Shekhar, IAS, Collector Karimnagar, Sri Ashok
Prasd, IPS, Superintendent of Police, Karimnagar,
Sri SBL Misra, IFS, DFO Karimnagar West and i/c
DFO Karimnagar East (since I was on earned leave
of 2 weeks from 13.10.1984 to 28.10.1984) and
host of other officers and villagers, in a solemn
function. Widow of late Sri Padma Rao was
appointed as an Attender on compassionate
grounds by DFO Karimnagar East.
I did not relax with these measures only. I
pursued the criminal case lodged by the Police
for the heinous crime of triple murder. The
Police could apprehend the culprits involved
in the murders. I assisted and gave instructions
to the Public Prosecutor, who appeared for the
State and conducted the prosecution after the
Investigating Officer filed the Charge Sheet in
the Court. The Public Prosecutor also took lot
of interest in the case and did not allow any
undue benefit to go to the accused persons. I
monitored each and every step of the case. With
the collective efforts, finally the accused
persons were convicted and sentenced to
undergo rigorous imprisonment for two yeas.
I once again salute to the courage of late K.
Padma Rao. May His Soul Rest in Peace !
PS: (I could not give details like names of the 2
slain villagers, the Public Prosecutor who was
instrumental in getting the culprits punished, the
C.C. Number of the court, date and details of the
Judgment etc., as the connected records of the
case are reported to have been destroyed in the
Division Office.)
Shaheedon ki chitaon par lagenge har baras
mele,
Watan par marne walon ka yahi baki Nishan
hoga!
13
The Honourable Prime Minister of India, Dr. Man
Mohan Singh, has on Thursday, the 2
nd
of August
2012, lifted the ban on transfer of government-
owned land relaxing the land transfer policy and
did away with the need for Cabinet approval
with immediate effect for certain categories of
projects including public-private partnership
(PPP). To go by the statement of the Prime
Ministers office (PMO), the policy on land transfer
has been relaxed so that infrastructure projects
are not held up because of procedural delays
and relaxation of ban for certain categories of
projects would speed up the award of PPP
projects. Barring transfer of land from one
department to another with Cabinet approval,
the land transfer was banned last year.
Justification given for relaxing the ban was that
it led to long delays in awarding concessions for
infrastructure projects that are executed
especially in PPP mode subject to the projects
being within specific valuations. Land transfer
to the concessionaire can now be done if the
project is cleared by the Public-Private
Partnership Approval Committee and the
Finance Minister and the ministries concerned.
This decision will benefit road, railways, ports,
civil aviation and metro projects. The GOI has
MISUSE OF GOVT. LAND:
A DISSERVICE TO NATION
By
J. V. Sharma
also allowed the Rail Land Development
Authority (RLDA) to use the land in accordance
with the provisions of the Railways Amendment
Act, 2005 and the rules framed there-under and
the guidelines of the Railway Ministry.
Well-meaning citizens of the society
particularly those conversant with matters of
the land resource and its management could
not digest the sudden relaxation of the ban on
land transfer imposed only last year. They
wondered as to why the ban was imposed in
the first place and what prompted the reversal
of the policy even before it is given a fair trial.
After all what was required was a Cabinet
approval and the Prime Minister is the Head of
the Cabinet and it should not be difficult for
him to see any genuine and justifiable proposal
go through the Cabinet. Is there any secrecy
involved wherein the entire Cabinet cannot be
taken into confidence and the matter has to be
confined and restricted to only the PM, Finance
Minister and the Ministers concerned? There
are bound to be doubts and there will be
questions which need answers. Significantly,
this major policy reversal is to promote the PPP
which is increasingly proving to be a sector of
shady deals.
14
Close on the heels of this development, the
Ministry of Economic Affairs came out with a
proposal to constitute the National Investment
Board (NIB) to process the investment proposals
on fast track. The proposed NIB will be an
empowered standing committee of the Cabinet
that will be chaired by the Prime Minister and
will include key functionaries like that of the
Finance Minister and the Law & Justice Minister
and it would hear appeals from companies
whose projects had been stalled on
environmental grounds. It is relevant to point
out here that there is an environmental law in
the country and also prescribed procedures for
according environmental clearances. Creation of
a Board in the nature of a Super-Cabinet to
circumvent the statutory provisions like the
reversal of land allotment policy should appear
odd in the land of rule of law. There may be more
than that meets the eye in the way such serious
matters are sought to be dealt.
It was at this stage, Ms.Jayanthi Natarajan,
Minister for Environment & Forests, shot up a
lengthy letter of five pages to the Prime Minister
raising serious objections over NIB. Points made
out by the Minister in her letter are:
1. While the proposal to set up the NIB gives
corporations with projects worth thousand
crore or more a route for fast-track appeal, it
does not contemplate giving a hearing to
citizens, stake-holders, or NGOs who may be
aggrieved by the impact of the project.
2. The NIBs powers will be used for the
benefit of only investors but not ordinary
people, local citizens and stake-holders
dedicated to preserving environmental
integrity.
3. There is conflict of interest between
investment promotion and Ministry of
Environment & Forests which exists to
protect the integrity of environment and to
ensure preservation of our forests and
wildlife and by extension, protection of
forest dwellers.
4. Often, hard decisions have to be taken to
balance the imperatives of the
development with the crucial need to
preserve the environment. It will be against
the very spirit of the Environment
Protection Act to allow an investment Board
or the Finance Ministry to overrule or decide
upon environmental concerns.
5. The NIB will not possess the domain
knowledge and expert level input of various
levels of Environment and Forest Ministry
officers and Committees cannot be
substituted.
6. When the Minister of a Ministry, acting upon
the expert advice of the officers takes a
decision, there is absolutely no justification
for the NIB to assume his/her authority nor
will the NIB have the competence to do so.
7. No entity anywhere in the world has the
right to set up a project or an industry
anywhere he wants just because of the
15
possibility of large investments. Project
location the world over is finalised, after and
not before, looking at key considerations like
environmental and forest aspects and even
national security.
8. Disputing the claims of the Ministry of
Economic Affairs that environmental
clearances are holding up key projects, the
letter said that environmental clearance was
granted to 181 coalmines with a total
capacity of 83 million tonnes per annum
during the 11
th
Plan Period up to August 2011
doubling Indias current capacity. In
addition, 113 coalmines had been granted
permission to divert 26,000 hectares of
forest land for industrial use.
9. The MoEF awarded clearances to projects far
beyond (what) has been targeted in the
current and future plans. The Ministry
granted environmental clearance to
2,10,000 MW of thermal power capacity.
Most of these projects have not been
commissioned.
10. Supreme Courts Order dated 6
th
July 2011
had laid down directions of far-reaching
importance on the statutory clearance
procedures to be followed by the
Environment Ministry, which it would be
illegal for the NIB to overrule.
11. The Note proposing creation of NIB by the
Ministry of Economic Affairs and the haste
with which response was sought from MoEF
is deeply disturbing. The issue was never
discussed at bureaucratic level by a
Committee of Secretaries and is a proposal
which is being brought directly to Cabinet.
12. The proposed changes would have far-
reaching consequences on the way the
Ministries are run, governance carried out
and responsibilities to the Legislature by
the Executive discharged.
13. The Minister reminds the Prime Minister of
his professed commitment to the most
disadvantaged sections of the society,
indigenous people, forest dwellers and the
aamadmi, whose interests and health are
often impacted by unregulated industrial
excess.
14. Pointing to serious issues of constitutional
importance and the functioning of the
Cabinet, the Minister (MoEF) rejected the
notion presented in the draft Cabinet Note
that in case of failure of the Competent
Authority/Minister to act, the matter will
stand transferred to the NIB. She
emphasised that this concept is
unacceptable. The NIB has no constitutional
or legal authority to decide upon the failure
of any Minister. She even questions the
Prime Minister If any decision of the
Minister for Environment is overruled by the
NIB, who will answer to this in Parliament?
15. Finally, the Minister warns that clearing
projects in the face of these legal mandates
could end up eroding investor confidence
by opening the way for litigation. Today,
16
many projects are being delayed after
clearance has been granted simply because
we are not able to justify that the statutory
procedure for clearance has been followed.
However the Minister, the Prime Minister and
their supporters may deny, the letter from
Ms.Jayanthi Natarajan to the PM is unusual for
more than one reason. Basically, Ms.Natarajan is
an establishment person who had supported
and defended government policies and actions
for a long time as spokesperson of the Congress
Party. She is not known to lose her cool under
pressure to concede space to her opponents
even in heated debates. She was known to be
calculative and methodical in choosing her word
as well as script, carefully avoiding any disputed
and controversial territory. The tone and tenor of
the missive now she sent to the PM is
significantly different from the track she is known
to choose. It smacks of strong positioning on
issues under discussion, tenacity to pursue a line
without compromise, defiance, aggression and
even challenge. Above all, she had faulted the
principles of governance in vogue of which the
PM is the custodian and captain. Even a cursory
reading of the points made by the Minister, MoEF,
will reveal that it is no less than the frontal
indictment of the policies and procedures. It is
really surprising that she survived the Cabinet
reshuffle of 28
th
October 2012 with her portfolio
intact.
In the process of countering the NIB proposal,
she had unwittingly done great favour to
environment and forests. A statement of facts
coming from no less than the Minister
concerned has all the credibility it deserves.
These facts will bear the stamp of authority and
should be unquestionable.
Unfortunately, the most maligned forest
legislation is the Forest (Conservation) Act,
1980. It is a small piece of regulatory legislation
requiring permission of the Government of
India for diversion of forest land for non-forest
use. It does not prohibit diversion as such but
makes the prior permission or clearance from
Central Government mandatory. It should not
be difficult for any State to seek and obtain
clearance under the Act if only the cause is
reasonable and justified. In order to prevent the
massive unjustifiable diversions of forest land
for various indefensible purposes, Ms. Indira
Gandhi brought in this legislation. States which
enjoyed unfettered liberty to play with forest
land hitherto felt that their wings were clipped
and started a disinformation campaign (after Ms.
Indira Gandhis demise, of-course) that
developmental projects are held up or delayed
for want of Central clearance and the Act is an
impediment. There have been sustained efforts
to dilute the provisions ever-since. From the
time Dr. Man Mohan Singh took over the reigns
of power in UPA-I, the fortunes of forests had
been on decline and the process had only
accelerated in UPA-II. The Forest Rights Act
17
brought in by him had taken a heavy toll of
forests. Evidently, he did not know much about
environment nor had any sympathy for, and
much less the commitment, to conserve the
forests. He will be credited for the loss of 43.51
lakh acres of forest land under the FRA and surely
find a place in history for the dubious distinction.
The Minister, MoEF, Ms.Jayanthi Natarajan nailed
the lie that environmental clearances are
holding up key developmental projects reeling
out facts that environmental clearance was
granted to 181 coalmines with a capacity of 83
million tonnes per annum in the 11
th
Plan period
up to August 2011 and clearance was accorded
for another 113 coalmines and a diversion of
26,000 hectares of forest land for industrial use.
She revealed that environmental clearances
were granted for more projects than planned
and most of these projects have not been
commissioned. It would be in the fitness of the
things the PM will inform the Nation that
environmental clearances are no impediment
for delay in projects. He must also clarify that
Forest Conservation Act does not come in the
way of bonafide developmental activities to set
at rest the disinformation campaign against it.
By this he will not only atone to some extent for
the indiscretions crept in during his tenure in
the environmental field but will also truthfully
vouch for the vision and wisdom of Ms. Indira
Gandhi, his illustrious predecessor in office and
political ancestor.
Now coming back to the reversal of land
allotment policy by the PM, it should be noted
that the relaxation is intended for expediting
the projects in PPP mode. Land resource is a
fixed asset. The total geographical area of the
country including agricultural land, built-up
area, forests, waste land, mountains, rivers, water
bodies etc. is 32, 87, 26,300 hectares. Per capita
land resource is 0.271 ha. If the same land
resource is fragmented on utility matrix the
figure will be far less. The very basic fact that
needs to be appreciated by every citizen and
particularly the economists, planners and the
polity is that land cannot be an expendable
resource for ever and cannot be toyed with at
will. On the other hand, it needs to be
understood that it is a scarce resource and a
very precious asset which has to be protected
and preserved as an invaluable public trust
which can be made available only for
indispensable public use with utmost care and
caution and under no circumstances to be
frittered away in favour of vested interests for
commercial purposes under PPP.
Our Prime Minister is a well-known economist.
Dr.Montek Singh Ahluwalia is the Vice Chairman
of the Planning Commission with a high
reputation as an administrator. It is his job to
plan development and advice on mobilisation
of resources and implementation. Public-
Private Partnership mode is the route he finds
easier to muster finances necessary for the
projects. For, he need neither go round with a
18
begging bowl for funds nor worry about
implementation. All that the government need
doing is to part with precious land and extend
lucrative concessions to the concessionaire as
public share of investment. The present day
planners and economists appear not to bother
how hard the public is going to be fleeced in
future besides the loss of invaluable asset. With
blessings from the PM and Planning
Commission, the PPP mode had become very
popular giving rise to yet another class of
Shylocks to pry upon the citizens with a license
to loot for guaranteed and extendable lease
periods of 3/4/5 decades.
There was a time during the twilight period of
Independence when the population was a
quarter of the present level and there was plenty
of land at the disposal of the government. The
picture now is totally different. All the spare
government land had evaporated either by
assignments or allotments or encroachments or
sale in few cases. Wherever there is government
land, it had become a hot commodity to bargain
for quid pro quo deals. PPP route is handy for
these deals. Where such land is not available, the
governments in power go to acquire private land
at moderate prices and allot it to concessionaires
for large infrastructure projects. We have any
number of such cases in India where the
allegations of corruption and impropriety
galore. Persons in authority have fine-tuned and
perfected various models of shady land deals
which would serve as research material for any
student of higher learning in economics. We had
Dr Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy in AP who designed
and perfected his own models of economics
and development. A large contingent of CBI
officials is working overtime for over a year to
unravel the mysteries of his programmes but
only with limited success. Half a dozen ministers
of his cabinet and another half a dozen very
senior bureaucrats who overzealously served
the cause of their CM are living in virtual dread
of probable arrest and prosecution. What should
even be more surprising is Dr YSR was the most
liked Chief Minister lauded, praised and
encouraged by powers at Delhi for his
governing skills. Ironically, the people of Andhra
too appear to like the late CM for the sops of
populism he extended to them ignoring all the
damage done to healthy systems of governance.
The line dividing populism and governance has
deliberately been obliterated. AP is a part of
India and our Honble Prime minister could not
have been oblivious to the trend of events in
the State. Are we not to believe that the
economic and welfare models of Dr YSR have
the sanction and approval of our Learned
Economist Prime Minister and the Planning
Commission?
It is unfair to limit the unsavoury incidents of
mal-governance to AP alone. Though AP may
be leading with mega land scams like EMAAR
Properties, VANPIC etc. scams are in no dearth
in many other States too. Lokayukta of Karnataka
ordered probe against three former Chief
19
Ministers of the State in respect of objectionable
land allotments. Two former CMs of Maharashtra
were facing a probe in Aadarsh scam. So also in
Lavasa. The list would be very long if only
inventoried. Allegations of Land scams linking
Robert Vadra, Nitin Gadkari and even Sonia
Gandhi & Rahul Gandhi in National Heralds
prime land properties, are in public domain.
Natural resources particularly the land is at the
root of most of the scams we hear. Governments
of Centre and States have miserably failed to
evolve a sound land policy and protect the trust
under their control. Now that there is no land to
spare, the Governments are turning to
institutional land banks. Railways, defence
establishments and many such departments
have substantial extents of land under their
control. These properties are now under
imminent threat.
It is said that 70% of the government schools/
colleges do not have good buildings and more
than 95% of the educational institutions have
no play grounds. Most of the schools and
hospitals exist in abominable conditions. There
are no public toilets. There are no sufficient
number of burial grounds and cremation
grounds. The governments which cannot provide
land for these very primary needs have no moral
right to use land as bargaining chip for any
business deals, be it PPP or any other.
It has also become an acceptable practice to
sell government land to muster funds for
developmental activities. The governments in
power make it convenient to forget that they
are only trusties of the public property which
should be preserved and passed on to posterity.
The government that sells the assets to raise
funds for running the government is not worth
the name. Nor can this be a healthy economic
model. The Honble Prime Minister, being a
noted economist himself, should pay serious
attention to the issue and lay down policies on
land management strictly in the interests of the
country and coming generations so that the
Planning Commission could follow the same in
developmental programmes. The Prime
Minister being the Chairman of the Planning
Commission has the added responsibility. The
very basic simple truth the PM & Planning
Commission need to understand and accept is
that India with its 1.2 billion population
compressed in a mere 2.7% of worlds land area,
just does not have any land to squander and
cannot afford the luxury of liberal land policy. It
is high time he applies brakes on dangerous
fancy prescriptions of PPP in respect of land and
more particularly of environmental importance.
Let the Nation not feel that Dr Man Mohan Singh
had forgotten his economics too.
If you miss an opportunity, do not cloud your eyes with tears.
Keep your vision clear so that you will not miss the next one.
20
Biodiversity or Biological diversity refers to the
diversity of life forms. Often described as the
Web of life, Biodiversity is an indicator of how
healthy ecosystems are.
For a common man biodiversity and ecosystems
are technical subjects and for a forester it is
related to managing the natural forests and
rarely connected to cities. But then, conserving
and balancing biodiversity is emerging as one
of the toughest tasks of all local authorities
(municipalities) of rapidly urbanizing cities in
India. The variety and richness of living
organisms including genetic variation and
habitat diversity found in and on the edge of
human settlements will greatly affect the life of
people living in the cities.
India is experiencing a massive trend towards
urbanization. Currently, Indias urban population
is about 30%. Indian cities are expanding in
number, density and size. In A.P. a decade back
we had 5 Corporations and 60 Municipalities.
Today the number increased to 15 Corporations
and 120 Municipalities. It is projected that by
the year 2040, 50% of Indian population live in
cities. India already contains three of the worlds
ten biggest cities, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata as
well as three of the worlds ten fastest growing
cities, Ghaziabad, Surat and Faridabad.
Cities in India have typically smaller in area than
CITIES FOR LIFE
By
M. Padmanabha Reddy
cities in many other parts of the world. Growth
is often centered with newly urbanized land
usually spreading around older part of the city.
Accelerated urban growth presents several
difficult challenges for the natural environment.
Increasing pollution of water and air degrade
ecosystems. Continuous encroachment and
transformation of woodlands, grasslands,
wetlands and water bodies into urban concrete
jungles further degrades them. Remaining
green spaces in the cities have been
transformed from their original state and
species compositions to human designed,
landscaped and pesticide intensive parks. The
high population density in many Indian cities
and towns creates particular challenges. Main
difficulties will be scarcity of potable water,
drainage, transportation and problems from
slum areas. The measures taken to overcome
the problem include efficient public
transportation, solid waste management, rain
water harvesting and recycling the used water.
These measures need to be amplified and
intensified.
Ecosystem restoration also requires to be made
a major focus. Urban forests have a potential to
reduce air pollution and decrease urban heat
while urban wetlands and lakes can reduce
flooding, increasing ground water recharge and
21
stabilizing soil. In cities like Hyderabad slums
have significantly fever trees and plants
compared to wealthier residential
neighborhood. A study of tree density in the
slums of Bangalore reported that there were 11
trees per ha, in slums whereas wealthier
residential neighborhood had 28 trees per ha.
Trees in the slums were hubs of activities. People
spent time in the shadow talking gossiping,
cooking, washing and playing. The canopies of
trees acted as large umbrellas and sustained
many professions: flower and fruit vending,
broom making, running of a mechanic and pan
shop, tea stall, boot polish and telephone booths
and many other activities.
Cross-sectorial governance, the example of Pune
Tree Watch, Surat Tree Watch and Bangalores
Hasiru Usiru.
Many Indian cities have developed strong civic
programs to monitor and protect urban
biodiversity. Pune Tree Watch, active since 2005,
is a forum to unite people who are concerned
about the citys dwindling tree cover. They
provide information and generate awareness
about the ecological benefits of the urban
ecosystems.
Surat Tree Watch, initiated in 2009, derives its
inspiration from the success of the Pune Tree
Watch program. It has been successful in saving
several hundreds of tree, including some 500
year old heritage trees in the city, from felling.
In Bangalore, the civic action group Hasiru Usiru
(loosely translated as Greenery is life) has been
very active since 2005. They are instrumental
in bringing attention to issues of lake
encroachment, tree felling and the
insufficiencies of public transport in the city.
All three groups have worked with a wide
variety of cross-sectorial groups, including the
government, judiciary, press local communities,
educational institutions, and other NGOs.
Biodiversity in Hyderabad City:
Hyderabad city established in the year 1589
was ruled by Qutub Shahi dynasty and Asif Jahi
dynasty till 1948 when it joined Indian Union.
Hyderabad city has full of parks (bagh) water
bodies, open grass lands. The names of localities
like Basheer Bagh, Musaram Bagh, Bagh
Amberpet, Bagh Lingampally, to name a few,
indicate the existence of wooded areas in the
heart of the city. The water bodies like Hussain
Sagar (Tankbund) and about 400 large and small
tanks formed by existing topography or
construction of bunds have contributed much
to biodiversity. The open grass lands, (Kanchas)
maintained for Shikar (hunting) by erstwhile
ruling family has helped in maintaining high
biodiversity of Hyderabad. In the recent past
due to rapid urbanization the tanks, the Baghs,
grass lands have disappeared and in their place
human habitation mostly slums appeared.
However, the GHMC is in the process of
retrieving the old glory. Development of
biodiversity parks and tanks are planned in
Hyderabad.
City Municipalities - Surat
22
The city of Surat in Gujarat is the fourth fastest
growing city in the world, having recorded
massive rates of over 80% increase in population
for the past three decades. Despite being one
of the most densely populated Indian cities,
Surat has transformed itself over the past couple
of decades into one of the cleanest cities in India,
with an excellent public transportation, well
planned water distribution and well-functioning
waste management and treatment plants. A key
factor was the implementation of a well-
designed municipal management, brought
about by streamlining of functional,
administrative, financial and technological
bodies within the municipality, in collaboration
with NGOs, local community groups and the
public. Surat thus provides an example showing
that local municipalities have great capacities
to face the challenges of rapid urbanization.
Eagar to improve greenery the urban forestry
wings in many municipal corporations of A.P.
are planting, flowering, short duration and small
crowned trees. There is a need for species
selection which, apart from flowering, has wide
crown, thick foliage and long span of life.
Biodiversity is not just confined to forests and
wooded areas, Rich biodiversity can exit in cities
also. Biodiversity and ecosystems are critical
natural capital, through proper protection and
maintenance urban ecosystem can significantly
enhance human health and wellbeing.
(In the recently held convention on biological
diversity, lot of interesting discussions took
place on the biodiversity in cities which
prompted me to write this article)
INVITATION
The Association of Retired Forest Officers, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad congratulates the following
Forest Officers, who are retiring from service on attaining the age of superannuation on the dates
mentioned against their names and cordially invite them to join the Association of Retired Forest
Officers to keep in touch with their old colleagues and to keep themselves occupied.
Name of SFS Officer Date of Retirement
1.SriG.Krishna Murthy 31/12/2012
For further details they may contact the following
Sri. K. Santokh Singh, Secretary Mobile Number. 9848808101
Sri. P. Upender Reddy, Jt.Secretary Mobile Number. 9848754778
Crossed Cheque for Rs.2000/= drawn in favor of The Association of Retired Forest Officers may be
sent to the undersigned towards Life Membership of Association
P.UPENDER REDDY, Jt.Secretary cum Treasurer, Quarter No.2/B , P.S.Nagar , Vijay Nagar Colony,
HYDERABAD- 500 057
23
Bio-diversity is nowadays heard in hush hush
voices, although very little is known about its
importance and its relevance in day to day life.
Though bio-diversity is the life line for the
sustenance of life on this planet, scant respect is
paid for its conservation and protection. Bio-
diversity is a global concern, irrespective of the
region where it exists. Bio-diversity should be
understood in terms of universal brotherhood,
as this affects one and all. Bio-diversity is a very
complex and intricate mechanism, with
numerous plant species and wildlife (flora and
fauna) co-existing for centuries, without conflict
of interest. Actually the cohesive co- existence
with inter dependence is the secret of sustained
bio-diversity. Bio-diversity in all its forms should
be conserved and protected. For instance Forest
bio-diversity, Agricultural bio-diversity, Fresh
water bodies (lakes, ponds, rivers) bio-diversity,
Marine bio-diversity, Domestic animals diversity
etc. are all important but here we are mainly
concerned with Forest, Fresh water and Marine
bio-diversity.
Forest bio-diversity is very important to
mankind as it has a direct bearing on the living
conditions. The seasons and the climate have a
direct bearing with forest bio-diversity. Forests
with rich bio-diversity, is a boon to the region. A
rich bio-diversity forest encompasses large
number of species scattered over a large area
BIO-DIVERSITY AND GLOBAL
AWARENESS
bespeaks of a large variety of fauna also. This is
possible because of the availability of different
types of food, which can sustain the forest
denizens for all the seasons. The inter
dependence of flora and fauna enhances the
bio-diversity of the forests.
Bio-diversity can be reckoned as natures
treasure house bountiful of varied values
subscribing to help in a better living of mankind
by providing multitudes of medicinal plants,
food, fodder, fuel and economically viable minor
forest produce, small timber and a host of other
things.
Bio-diversity creates many an ecosystem within
its domain. The ecosystem being part of the
larger bio-diversity domain is a very fragile
interrelated mechanism within which lives an
entirely different stakeholders working
together to continuously upkeep the fragile
fabric of the eco-system.
The eco-system with its bio-diversity, within its
fold led many a habitat, with varied fauna
surviving on the availability of food. The
number of species mammals, birds,
amphibians, insects and many other
microorganisms found in the area are clear
examples of rich diversity.
Bio-diversity in the context of to-days global
awareness is in peril. The awareness is at its
By
S. Noor Ahmed
24
lowest ebb. To destroy bio-diversity with all the
mechanical means at the disposal, it may not
take longer time, but to create and build bio-
diversity it may take hundreds of years of un-
interrupted wait. Bio-diversity is a life giver
mechanism with sustenance to produce enough
material for sustenance of humanity for
perpetuity. It is our bounden duty to bestow
attention and redefine our priorities in a way that
least damage is caused. The biggest asset of bio-
diversity is that it has gifted to the humanity
without any investment unlike any other
industry.
Bio-diversity, is such a natural phenomenon that
it has many a wonderful aspects hidden in its
ambit that it goes beyond the imagination of
normal human beings. One such incredible
aspect is endemism, bio-diversity environment
conducive for the growth of an endemic species.
The endemic species are a prized possession of
any region to be elated. Endemism in a biome is
a rare occurrence which shall be protected. For
instance, Cycasbeddomii, Golden gecko at
Seshachalam hills, Red sanders in Cuddapah
( YSR.district), the Jerdons cursor in
Lankamalleswaram, are a few examples of rare
species known, but there may be umpteen
species which are yet to be identified, may be
lying underneath the canopy. Unless these rare
specimens are not protected we may go the
Dodo way.
Needless to say, the exploitation of natural
resources both underground and over ground
by us for commercial purposes particularly for
the last 5 to 6 decades has manipulated the
miseries endemism. Endemism is one such
marvels of nature that it gives the place, the
region, a special status as the species found is
exclusive to the concerned region. The
endemism seen in a particular region is the
combined effect of biological, ecological and
edaphic characters gone in creation of a
nascent atmosphere and experienced by way
of climatic disasters around the globe. Because
of the damage caused to the bio-diversity of
forests, to the marine bio-diversity, and to the
fresh water bodies diversity, today we are
witnessing glacialdrifting and melting at a faster
pace, the untimely snow blizzards, hurricanes,
storms, earthquakes, cyclones and untimely
rains which are causing untold hardships and
sufferings to the human beings. Bio-diversity
built over a period of millions of years is eroded
at a pace which may not resurrect as fast as it
dwindles.
The bio-diversity concerns were recently
addressed by the global participation of about
200 countries under the aegis of U.N. as COP 11
went under way to discuss the issues at
Hyderabad from 1-19th Oct.2012. The general
deliberations were conducted from1-16th and
the more serious issues of formulating
strategies, statements, and pledges were
discussed from 17th-19th. Let us hope the
efforts gone in formulating these issues after
burning the midnight oil for three consecutive
days does not remain on paper and percept,
instead of being implemented on the ground.
The brain storming sessions inter-alia
discussions, among the intellects, scientists,
environmentalists, politicians, NGOs, and the
privileged few as invites should prove fruitful
the next 2 Years till 2014
25
It was on 9
th
August 2012 that I proceeded from
Hidden valley to Russian river near Santa Rosa in
the state of California in United States of
America, by the car of Dr. Richards a
septuagenarian and a retired principal. Dr. Wills
a retired educational officer from the state of
California was accompanying us.
We were transporting two kayaks (a light, slender
boat) mounted on top of the car. During two and
a half hour drive to the place where the river
was located, we went on talking on different
issues which included traditional values and
cultural differences between the two great
democratic countries of the world India and
U.S.A. DrWills a retired educational officer who
Worked in two counties in the state of California
lamented on the plight and attitude of the youth
of U.S.A in general and those of adolescents in
particular in the context of their intimate
relationship with the opposite sex .He was all
praise for the cultural values and the family
system respected by Indians at large from times
immemorial. Live in relationship between a
man and a woman which is finding a place now
a days even in India has been quite common
and widely prevalent in U.S.A said Dr.
Willswithout going into the debate on the merits
MY GLIMPSES OF A GIANT NATION
By
V.V.HARIPRASAD
and demerits of such an arrangement between
a man and a woman he said , Our country is
witnessing a number of children with single
parent by and large among women and the
Federal government have been burdened to
take care of them.
When I said that I was taken aback in finding a
sizable number of conceived women over
there resorting to smoking , Dr. Wills told that
by virtue of cultural and individual freedom
prevailing among women there , the probable
adverse effect on the fetus of a pregnant
woman would not come in the way of
exercising their right or they must be under the
wrong impression that smoking was innocuous.
I opted for cutting short the discussion at that
point of time in view of immense respect I
have towards that great country in view of
political and cultural freedom enjoyed in
abundance by the citizens and also the Indian
immigrants there.
After reaching the Russian river I also hired a
kayak by paying twenty dollars. I along with my
American friends spent a lot of time on the river
enjoying swimming and boating along with
hundreds of men and women who thronged
there clad in their swim suits.
26
ARMSTRONG WOODS: Armstrong red wood
tree (Sequoia sempervireos) reportedly
1400yearoldin age, 300 feet in height and 30 feet
in girth, in the redwood forests of ARMSTRONG
WOODS about 10miles away from the Russian
river was a feast to our eyes .It was visited by us
en route our returnjourney to Hidden Valley,
where the pristine glory of redwood forest has
been well preserved. The South Indian lemon
rice carried along with and served by me while
we were seated on a wooden bench amidst the
gigantic redwood trees satiated our appetite
My American friends were inquisitive in knowing
about the ingredients of which the recipe was
made of. Finally the trip to the Russian river came
to an end gleefully.
It was during my sojourn in United States of
America that my perception about that country
got widened. I used to personally interact with
my American friends at Hidden valley a small
township near Santa Rosa in the state of
California. I had an opportunity of playing lawn
tennis with them 3 days in a week. Most of the
tennis players are above 60 years old and from
different fields of service and walks of life in U.S.A.
To name a few Mr All is an ex CIA agent,
Dr.Richards a retired principal, Never a settler
from Zambia , Fred a retired military officer,
Dr.Ruben a doctor , Wills a retired hardware
engineer from NASA and Randi a private
surveyor who is an expert in surveying with the
help of infrared rays.
After playing lawn tennis in the Hidden valley
which is part of Lake County all of us used to sit
and chat in the nearby cafeteria while sipping
a big glass of cold coffee or tea discussing
various topics about corruption in India. I was
wonder struck at the narration of minute details
given by Mr. All in the context of alleged
massacre of Sikhs reportedly perpetrated on
the sikh community after the assassination of
Smt. Indira Gandhi the then Prime minister of
India in early eighties.
In the process of discussions and inter action I
had with them and in the context of my
observations during my trips to different states
in U.S.A namely Ohio, Pennsylvania , California
and New York to the limited extent of my
perception, the socio economic conditions and
the cultural environment prevailing there can
be narrated in a nutshell as follows
) About 15% of the Americans are reportedly
poor and by and large those whose income
levels are less than 1000 dollars a month
are considered so.
) We can find persons pedaling rickshaws, and
street beggars even in crowded areas of
cities like San Francisco. The placard by a
classical beggar displaying Why lying? I
need a beer, please give me money. and
another placard displaying If you do not give
27
me money I will vote to Romney drew my
attention in San Francisco which is a strong
hold for Democrats.
) Etiquette and niceties play an important role
in the day to day lives of American citizens. I
found it initially to be peculiar when totally a
stranger during my evening walk on the road
of Hidden valley wishing me with a smiling
face and saying HELLO to me. Later on I
began to follow them and I could not come
across any boorish American there. The ethos
maintained by the Americans is worth
emulating.
) Health care is abnormally costly in U.S.A I
was surprised to know that Mr.Allan had to
pay $50000(about Rs.26 lakhs) to be
operated upon for hernia and Mr.All ,
$500000(about Rs 2.6 crores) for a cardiac
surgery carried out upon him. However for
all those health insurance policy holders
substantial amount is paid by the Health
insurance companies But it is mandatory on
the part of the hospital managements to
attend on the patients requiring emergency
treatment without bothering for the details
whether the patient can afford to pay the
cost of the treatment or other wise
) In the exigency of any accident, when an
emergency situation crops up patients are
air lifted to the hospitals by helicopter if
need be. I have noticed patients getting air
lifted to St.Helena hospital in the state of
California.
) The Health insurance companies and the
attorneys in U.S.A have their axes to grind
and are the main beneficiaries along with
other stakeholders in the health care system
adopted in that country.
) A qualified pharmacist one of the highest
paid employees in the country play a vital
role in the pharmacies looking into the
particulars of the patient such as the case
history, whether the prescription is by a
competent doctor or not , the details of the
ingredients of the medicines prescribed ,
insurance coverage of the disease and
corresponding medicines prescribed etc.
No medicine unless specified otherwise will
be sold over the counter. Robots perform
important duties in filling medicines
prescribed and the technicians deliver
them to the patients.
) The social security number a unique one is
allotted to every citizen and other eligible
residents of the country .All those who work
for not less than 10 years in a job are entitled
for Medicare facilities to be provided by the
Federal government after the age of 65 years.
) There is no age limit for retirement and in
states like California we can find persons
28
working even beyond 65 years of age
provided their physical and mental
capabilities permit them to continue to do
so. Associations of employees play a decisive
role on issues like retirement of employees,
in number of states in U.S.A.
) The trash cans green, blue and brown in color
are kept in front of each house for dumping
green waste recyclables, non-green waste
recyclables and for slr/uvdrespectively and
the display boards warning all those with a
fine of $1000 for littering speak volumes of
their concern for hygiene and management
of recyclable wastes. The dumped waste in
the trash cans is taken away on a regular basis
either for recycling or further processing.
) Corruption in U.S.A ,one of the most
developed countries in the world is not as
rampant as it is In India though it is said to be
prevalent in the banking sector, political
circles and higher
Echelonsof the society despite the fact that there
are adequate checks and balances
imposedby the State and Federal governments
in this regard.
) Unemployment among American youth is
one of the major problems being faced by
the nation as such and Barrack Obama
garnered a higher vote share than Romney
from among the young American voters by
contesting on the plank of creating millions
of jobs aimed at removing un employment
in that country.
) When I was frequenting the WALMARTS ,
and BESTBUYS in California and Ohio for
purchase of goods and other essentials the
season being summer over there I used to
find a large number of persons belonging
to the fair sex clad in dresses , similarly worn
only by the damsels in the item songs of
BOLLYWOOD movies in India, may be to suit
the prevailing climatic conditions there
GUN CULTURE: A great democratic country of
the world which witnessed theassassination of
one of the eminent, graceful, and popular world
leaders John .F.Kennedy in sixties the assassin
using a telescopic gun, is still very much under
the grip of gun culture. The following incidents
substantiate this state of affairs still prevailing
in the country.
20
th
July 2012: Massacre took place in the
premiere of The Dark knight rises at Aurora
Century theatre in Colorado allegedly by a
stranger namely James Holmes 24 seemed to
have prepared for executing the job
meticulously. The gunman shot down 12
innocents and injured 58 others. The accused
was a Ph.D. student in neuro sciences in Kansas
State
5
th
August 2012: Firing in Gurudwara in
29
Wisconsin left six people dead and many injured.
The killed gunman was identified as an ex US
army man with tattoo marks. The 9/11 attack had
unleashed a wave of hatred in U.S.A against the
perpetrators belonging to a particular
community and in the process the sikh
community has been increasingly targeted due
to mistaken identity.
24
th
August 2012: Outside the EMPIRE state
buildingin NewYorka person opened fire .Two
including a gun man died and 10 injured. A
retrenched employee from an apparel company
shot his former boss Purchasing a weapon
likerevolver for the sake of self-defense is much
easier in U.S.A than in India where unlicensed
weapons are largely used by the criminals and
anti-social elements whereas obtaining license
for a weapon involves a cumbersome procedure
in our country.
I have visited some of the following prominent
places in U.S.A which deserve to be described
at length .
NIAGARA FALLS: Niagara Falls, NY, in U.S.A is a
destination that cannot be missed. One can ride
the world famous Maid of the Mist with in feet of
the mighty falls. From the breath taking sights
and sounds of the world famous NiagaraFalls to
the iconic attractions such as the Maid of the Mist
and cave of the winds the falls region is filled
with exciting activities for any member of an
entire family.
The water flow of the falls is a spectacle to be
seen and not to be missed. 3160 tons ofwater, is
flowing over the falls every second. That
accounts for 75 ,750 gallons of waters per
second over the American and Bridal veil falls
and 6,81,750 gallons over the horse shoe falls
.It is believed that the mist from Niagara falls
creates negative ions that increase the levels
of the mood ,chemical serotonin ,helping to
alleviate depression, relieve stress, and boost
our day time energy.
50% of the water flowing through the Niagara
River is diverted to produce hydroelectric
power. Niagara Falls is home for the worlds first
commercial hydroelectric plant in the United
States.
MONTEREY BAY AQARIUM : It was opened on
20th of October 1984.The aquarium stands on
the site of the Hoyden cannery, and adjoining
canneries and ware houses in the state of
California. Monterey bay ranks among the
worlds most diverse and spectacular marine
regions.
Each of the aquariums more than 200 exhibits
holds a living world a window into one of earths
richest marine regions nearly three million
gallons of sea water flow through the exhibits
every day and back into the bay to fill more than
30
40000 bath tubs. In the Oceans edge galleries
fresh sea wateris continuously pumped from the
bay. At night unfiltered sea water flows through
the exhibits carrying the plankton,spores and
larvae that sustain animals that filter food from
the water. Spores and plankton that are not eaten
settle and grow in the exhibits.
MUIR WOODS : Muir woods national monument
is a unit of the national park service on the pacific
coast of south western marine county,California
12 miles north of San Francisco and part of the
Golden gate national recreation area. It protects
224.ha out of which 97 ha are old growth coast
redwood (Sequoia semper vireos) forests one of
a few such stands remaining in San Francisco
area.This cool damp redwood forest and the
waters of redwood creek shelter a well-adapted
spectrum of plant and animal life. Muir woods
are reminiscent of an ancient and more peaceful
world.
These woods are named after JOHN MUIR an
environmentalist and the letter written by
him to WILLIAM KENT in 1909 reproduced here
is worth going through.
Any fool can destroy forests. They cannot run
away and if they could,theywould still be
destroyed chased and hunted down as long as
fun or a dollar could be got out of their bare hides,
branching horns, or magnificent bole back bones.
Few that fell trees plant them, nor would planting
avail much toward getting back anything like the
novel primeval forests. It took more than 3000
years to make some of the trees in these western
woods-trees that are still standing in perfect
strength and beauty waving and singing
Through all the wonderful ,eventful centuries
since Christs time-and long before that God
has cared for these trees ,saved them from
drought, disease, avalanches ,tempests and
floods, but He cannot save them from fools-only
Uncle Sam can do that.
While concluding I am bound to add the
following few lines:
I was eagerly waiting for the birth of my
grandchild which caused my travel to
thelargest democratic country in the world.
There I was blessed with a grand
daughterwhose birth made me feel immensely
happy .My awareness of that great country got
widened though to a limited extent because of
my visits to a number of places in U.S.A and
my constant interaction with my friends and
co-players of tennis who are sons of the soil ,
the Americans . I am afraid that I have penned
this article at the cost of receiving not only
bouquets but also brickbats from the readers
depending upontheir perspective as the case
may be and I owe my respects to both the
points of view.
(Please see last coverpage for photograph)
31
Mr Kalayanasundaram worked as a Librarian for
30 years. Every month in his 30 year experience
(service), he donated his entire salary to help the
needy. He worked as a server in a hotel to meet
his needs. He donated even his pension amount
of about ten lakh rupees to the needy.
He is the first person in the world to spend the
entire earnings for a social cause. In recognition
to his service, the American government
honoured him with the Man of the Millennium
award. He received a sum of Rs 30 crores as part
of this award which he distributed entirely for
the needy as usual.
Moved by his passion to help others, Super Star
Rajinikanth adopted him as his father. He still
stays as a bachelor and dedicated his entire life
MAN OF THE MILLENNIUM.....
for serving the society.
All our Politicians, Film stars, Business
magnets, cricketers Press and we all Indians
should be PROUD and also should be ashamed
of ourselves. American Government
has honoured him but we Indians even dont
know that such a personality exist amongst us.
Please pass this on and on till the whole world
comes to know about this Great
Good Samaritan.
Hats off Kalayanasundaram. We Indians are
extremely proud of you and proudly say THIS
HAPPENS ONLY IN INDIA (Contributed by
Sri P. Upender Reddy, with thanks)
A book named FOREST MARTYRS compiled by Sri K. Buchi Ram Reddy is published by the
Forest Department in collaboration with the Association of the Retired Forest Officers of Andhra
Pradesh. The book was released by the Special Chief Secretary to Government of A.P. Sri Samuel
at the Forest Martyrs Memorial at the Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad on the Forest Martyrs
Commemoration Day i.e. November 10, 2012.
It is proposed to distribute the books to all the Forest Officers upto the level of Range Officers.
We request the Conservators of Forests and the Divisional Forest Officers to arrange to take
delivery of the required number of copies of the book for themselves and their staff from VANA
PREMI Office in Room No. 514, ARANYA BHAVAN on any working day.
Editor,
VanaPremi.
AN APPEAL TO FOREST OFFICERS OF
THE STATE OF A.P
32
A CASE DEALT UNDER SECTION 44 (2-A) OF AP
FOREST ACT 1967
By
V.S.S. Babu
In continuation of my article A Case Dealt Under Section 44 (2-A) of AP Forest Act 1967 published
in November issue of VanaPremi, I would like to share with the readers that while writing the
judgment in this case I had to refer the relevant books and also consulted Sri. K. Buchiram Reddy, IFS
(Retd), recognized as an authority on Forest Laws in our state who gave me his valuable suggestions
in drafting the orders and I sincerely express my thanks to him.
I had also prepared a Case Diary citing all the events of the case which is reproduced below for the
information of our young working officers of the Department.
GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH FOREST DEPARTMENT IN THE COURT OF AUTHORIZED OFFICER CUM -
DIVISIONAL FOREST OFFICER, FLYING SQUAD DISION, TIRUPATI CASE DIARY (PROCEEDINGS SHEET)
1. Alleged
Offence with
particulars of
Property
seized :
Illicit transport of Red Sanders Logs by TATA SUMO bearing Regn. No. AP02-
U-5569 liable under Rule 3 of A.P. Sandal Wood and Red Sanders Wood Transit
Rules, 1969 r/w Section 29 & 68 of A.P. Forest Act, 1967 and punishable U/s
29 (4) (a)( i ) of A.P.Forest Act 1967.Theft of Govt. Property liable U/s 378 IPC
and punishable U/s 379 IPC.
39 Redsanders Logs weighing 861 Kgs. Valued Rs.38,000/-
TATA SUMO bearing Regn. No. AP-02-U- 5569.
2. Name,
Parentage
& Residence
of Accused
1) ThammisettyAnkaiah, S/o Venkatapathy, Aged 32 years, Caste Vadde, R/o
Vaddepalli, Dakkili Mandal, Nellore District and
2) Polathoti Krishnaiah, S/o Gangaiah, Aged 23 years, Caste Harijana, Driver,
R/o Polathotivaripalli Harijanawada, Chakrampeta, Penagalur Mandal,
Kadapa District.
3. Date of Commission of Offence 17-08-2004.
4. Name of Detecting Officer Sri. V.S. DhanaSekhar, Forest Range Officer, Flying
Squad Division, Tirupati.
5. Date & Hour of Detection 17-08-2004 at about 9.00 AM
6. No. & Hour of submission of POR No. 14/1 on 17-08-2004 at about 2.00 PM
Preliminary Offence Report
7. Date & Hour of receipt of On 17-08-2004 at about 2.00 PM
Preliminary Offence Report.
33
DATE GIST OF THE PROCEEDINGS
17-08-2004 Seizures i.e; 39 Redsanders Logs and the Vehicle TATA SUMO bearing Regn. No. AP
02 U 5569 were produced before the Authorized Officer and they were
inspected by the Authorized Officer.
18-08-2004 Orders passed by the Authorized Officer refusing to compound the offence vide
his orders in OR No: 114/2004-05 of FSP TPT, dt: 18.08.2004. The RTO Anantapur
was addressed by the Authorized Officer for furnishing the ownership particulars
of the TATA SUMO AP 02 U 5569
30-08-2004 Reply from the RTO, Anantapur received informing that Sri. A. Harinatha Reddy R/
o Tadipatri, Anantapur District is the owner of the Vehicle TATA SUMO AP 02 U
5569
07-09-2004 Application filed by one Shakh Abdul Nabi of Rajampet through his Advocate for
Interim release of the Vehicle.
17-09-2004 Application along with certain documents filed by Shaikh Abdul Nabi claiming
the ownership of the Vehicle TATA SUMO AP 02 U 5569 and requesting for
Interim release of the Vehicle.
30-09-2004 Orders passed by the Authorized Officer dismissing the petition filed by Shaikh
Abdul Nabi for the Interim release of the Vehiclevide orders in OR No:114/2004-
2005 Dated :30-09-2004 of F.S.P., Tirupati.
04-11-2004 Show cause Notice issued by the Authorized Officer for proposed Confiscation of
Redsanders Logs together with the Vehicle TATA SUMO AP 02 U 5569.
18-11-2004 Reply to the Show cause Notice received from Shaikh Abdul Nabi of Rajampet.
30-11-2004 Reply to the Show cause Notice received from A. Harinatha Reddy R/o Tadipatri,
Anantapur District.
06-12-2004 Notice issued fixing the date of enquiry on 13-12-2004.
13-12-2004 Shaikh Abdul Nabi of Rajampet attended for the enquiry along with his Advocates.
Copies of material papers supplied. Case adjourned to18-12-2004 for appearance
of witnesses. Summons issued to PWs 1,2,7,8&9.
18-12-2004 PWs 1,7,8& 9 present. Shaikh Abdul Nabi along with his Advocates present. PW-
1 & PW-7 examined in Chief and Cross examination completed. Shaikh Abdul
Nabi, owner of the Vehicle TATA SUMO AP 02 U 5569 was examined and was
given an opportunity of being heard in person. No further defence evidence.
Case posted to 27-12-2004 for Arguments.
27-12-2004 The owner of the car appeared along with his Advocate. The Defense Counsel
filed written Arguments in this case. The promulgation of orders (judgment) was
reserved.
07-03-2005 Orders were passed confiscating the 39 Red Sanders Logs, weighing 861 Kgs
along with the vehicle TATA SUMO bearing No. AP-02-U-5569 to the State of Andhra
Pradesh vide orders in O.R. No:114/2004-05, Dated: 07.03.2005 of FSP, Tirupati.
34
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked
wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong
to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family
in the biological order Ciconiiformes, which was
once much larger and held a number of families.
Storks occur in many regions of the world and
tend to live in drier habitats than the related
herons, spoonbills and ibises; they also lack the
powder down that those groups use to clean off
fish slime. Storks have no siring and are mute,
giving no call; (It is the name for the vocal organ
of birds. Located at the base of a bird's trachea, it
produces sounds without the vocal cords of
mammals) bill-clattering is an important mode
of stork communication at the nest. Many
species are migratory. Most storks eat frogs, fish,
insects, earthworms, small birds and small
mammals. There are 19 living species of storks
in six genera.
Their nests are often very large and may be used
for many years. Some nests have been known to
STORKS
grow to over 2 m (6 ft) in diameter and about 3
m (10 ft) in depth.
Genus Mycteria : Milky Stork, Mycteria cinerea,
Yellow-billed Stork, Mycteriaibis, Painted Stork,
Mycteria leucocephala, Wood Stork, Mycteria
americana.
Genus Anastomus : Asian Open bill, Anastomus
oscitans, African Open bill, Anastomus
lamelligerus.
Genus Ciconia :Abdim's Stork, Ciconia abdimii,
Woolly-necked Stork, Ciconia episcopus,
Storm's Stork, Ciconia stormi, Maguari Stork,
Ciconia maguari, Oriental Stork, Ciconia
boyciana (formerly in C. ciconia), White Stork,
Ciconia ciconia, Black Stork, Ciconia nigra
Genus Ephippiorhynchus :Black-necked Stork,
Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus, Saddle-billed
Stork, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis
Genus Jabiru :Jabiru, Jabiru mycteria Genus
Leptoptilos: Lesser Adjutant, Leptoptilos
javanicus, Greater Adjutant, Leptoptilos dubius
, Marabou Stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus
66
th
General Body Meeting of Retired Forest Officers Association will
be held on 16
th
DECEMBER, 2012 (SUNDAY) at 11-30 a.m. in A.P. Forest
Academy, Dulapalli. All the members are requested to attend the
meeting with their spouses. Transport facility will be available from
ARANYA BHAVAN. Academy Bus will leave AranyaBhavan by 10-30 AM
sharply. Members desiring transport facility are requested to reach the
venue by 10-25 a.m.
NOTICE
35
A Somalian arrives in Australia as a new
immigrant.
He stops the first person he sees walking down
the street and says........
Thank you Mr Australian for letting me in this
country, giving me housing, money for food, free
medical care, free education and no taxes!
The passer by says,
You are mistaken, I am Afghani!
The man goes on and encounters another passer-
by.
Thank you for having such beautiful country here
in Australia!
WORKAHOLICS
The person says, I not Australian, I Iraqi!
The new arrival walks further and the next
person he sees he stops, shakes his hand and
says,
Thank you for the wonderful Australia!
That person puts up his hand and says,
I am from Pakistan, I am not from Australia!
He finally sees a nice lady and asks,
Are you an Australian?
She says, No, I am from India!
Puzzled, he asks her,
Where are all the Australians?
The Indian lady checks her watch and says ...
probably at work.
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36
We wish the following born on the dates mentioned
A very Happy Birth Day
Birthday Greetings
S.No. Name of the member D.O.B.
Sarva Sri
1. Satish Chandra 06-12-1939
2. B.Bhooma Rajam 07-12-1926
3. K.Rama Krishna Reddy 08-12-1926
4. Ch.Iylaiah 08-12-1949
5. P.Satyanarayana 10-12-1953
6. A.V.Govinda Rajulu 11-12-1945
7. S.D.Mukherji 14/12/1940
8. T.Shankaraiah 16/12/1931
9. S.K.Das 17/12/1947
10. P.Ravinder Reddy 19/12/1946
11. V.Santhasheela Babu 21/12/1947
12. K.PrakashRao 29/12/1943
13. B.Raman Goud 01-01-1949
14. B.Janardhan 02-01-1950
15. C.Sudhakar Rao 04-01-1947
16. T.Prabhakar Rao 05-01-1942
S.No. Name of the I.F.S. Oficer D.O.B.
Sarva Sri
1. Satish Kumar Kaushik 06-12-1958
2. Sidhanand Kukreti 19/12/1961
3. P.V.Raja Rao 20/12/1962
4. Soumykanta Chottray 24/12/1957
5. Vipin Choudhary 01-01-1960
6. Binod Kumar Singh 02-01-1964
S.No. Name of the S.F.S. Oficer D.O.B.
Sarva Sri
1. G.Nageshwara Rao 10-12-1960
2. V.Damoder 12-12-1960
3. M.Nagabhushanam 14/12/1964
4. Dr.B.Prabhakar 16/12/1966
5. M.S.S.Murthy Raju 18-12-1957
6. G.Krishna Murthy 25-12-1954
7. C.V.Satyanarayana 28/12/1955
8. G.Ravinder 30-12-1958
9. G.Vijay Kumar 01-01-1956
10. K.Venkata Swamy 01-01-1958
11. V.Venkateshwara Rao 01-01-1966
12. A.Ravisimha Murthy 02-01-1957
13. K.Sailendra Moses 02-01-1959
14. Mrs.V.V.L.Subhadra Devi 03-01-1982
15. G.Ramalingam 05-01-1966
Secretary
37
By
N. Shiva Kumar
While the hunting
cheetah has now
become extinct in
India, is it time for
the blackbuck to
disappear as well?
Its only black and
white, yet beautiful;
obviously the
animal has
attracted numerous hunters in the 18th, 19th and
first half of 20th century. The remarkable blackbuck
was reckoned as the most hunted wild beast all
over India. Even until Independence, many princely
states sought the Indian Antelope by deploying
the fast-footed cheetahs. While the hunting
cheetah has now become extinct in India, is it time
for the blackbuck to disappear as well?
A lady in her 20s from Bangalore has moved nearly
2000 km from the comforts of the city life to study
blackbucks. She has taken up the challenging task
of evaluating the essence of the mating rituals of
this endangered animal for her PhD research. In a
freewheeling interview environmentalist
R. Jayabharathy says she prefers to be in the
grassland for hours at end in the heat and dust of
the desert. With an eagle-eye, she watches the
blackbucks activities in the enchanting landscape
of Tal Chappar. Situated in Churu district, Tal
Chappar is an
unknown sanctuary
in Rajasthan that
holds an untamed
congregation of
black bucks.
Is the blackbuck
p o p u l a t i o n
dwindling in India?
Yes, the blackbuck
antelope is an endangered species in India,
protected under the Schedule I of the Wildlife
(Protection) Act, 1972; the International Union
for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) also lists
blackbuck as near-threatened. It definitely
needs strict protection.
In how many protected areas are blackbucks
found today?
Blackbuck is endemic to the Indian sub-
continent and occurs in a wide variety of
habitats ranging from grasslands to open
woodlands and coastal salt marshes. However,
they are found in highest densities in semi-arid
grasslands, which are considered to be their
preferred habitat. Historically, blackbuck had a
pan-India distribution. In the pre-
Independence era, these animals reportedly
numbered in tens of thousands. For instance,
Tal Chhapar used to be a hunting reserve under
BRING BACK THE BUCKS
38
the Rajput rulers. But over the years, loss of
habitat and hunting has significantly brought
down their numbers. Viable populations of
blackbuck thrive within protected areas and
outside as well. Some of the secure sanctuaries
today are Tal Chappar in Rajasthan, Velavadar in
Gujarat, Nannaj&Rehekuri in Maharashtra,
Vanasthali and Rollapadu in Andhra Pradesh and
Point Cali mere and Vallanadu Blackbuck
Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu.
What is the breeding season for black bucks?
Blackbucks breed throughout the year; however,
there are two peak reproductive activities that
transpire in March-April and September-
October. The reproductive method of blackbuck
also involves a unique method called lek. It is a
specialized mating methodology where the
males gather, akin to a bachelor party, and defend
the specific spot to attract females. Aggregating
males on traditional mating grounds, largely
devoid of feeding resources, attract prospective
females. In fact, the evolution of lekking throws
light on a species with a flexible mating system.
This specialty in sexual scheduling at designated
territory is only noticed in blackbucks and does
not occur in any of the 410 mammal species
found in India.
Why leks are called traditional mating grounds?
Because it has a fascinating history of evolution
in ecology specific to blackbucks and the same
patch of earth has been used probably for
decades. This knowledge possibly has been
passed from generations to generations and it
is vital that scientists study this wonderful ritual
at the mating hotspots. A lek contains a
dynamic number of males ranging from 25 to
50 healthy individuals.
How long is your field study and do you use
photo evidence in your study?
I have a permission from the Rajasthan Forest
Department to conduct my research at Tal
Chappar. My work involves identification of
specific males showing dominating
characteristics that varies from season to
season. Photographic evidence, coupled with
physicals features like horn morphology of
males, will illustrate the behavior on leks. I plan
to use photo options to pinpoint individuals and
identify a subset of males that are seen to hold
territories on leks.
Why have you chosen Tal Chappar over other
sanctuaries?
My research is concerned with male mating
strategies on leks. Only the blackbuck
populations in Velavadar National Park and Tal
Chappar Wildlife Sanctuary are known to follow
lekking. While both Velavadar and Tal Chappar
have comparable sizes of lek, in terms of the
number of males, site suitability is better in Tal
Chappar as it encompasses a smaller area. It is
conducive to get closer to animals on foot or
even closer in vehicle here. These factors make
my study logistically and scientifically more
feasible.
39
1. The Buddhist Town of Nepal: -Patan Durbar
Square is situated in Alipur near Khatmandu. It is
probably the Buddhist temples in Nepal that are
built in the shikhara style. A five-minute walk
north of RudravarnaMahavihar is the
Mahaboudha Temple. The temples outer walls,
which are made from terracotta, are covered in
images of the Buddha. It is because of this feature
that the temple is also referred to as the temple
of 9000 Buddhas. The temples unique style was
inspired by the temples of Bodh Gaya in India. It
is said that Abhayaraj, the builder of the temple,
conceived the idea of Mahadboudha Temple
while on pilgrimage in India.
Another architectural masterpiece of Patan is
the Golden Temple. The temple is full of artwork
of all kinds from its pagoda roofs to its numerous
metal sculptures. The temples and monasteries
of Patan, most of which lie concealed behind
houses, seem to preserve in them fragments of
the past. The environment around them seems
to have changed very little. In Patan, it seems,
the houses havent crowded these historical and
cultural monuments, but that they have given
them refuge by enclosing them.
As you pass through the narrow, sun-deprived
streets of Patan, you can hear, in between the
roar of the vehicles zooming past, the
monotonous melody of hammers coming down
NEWS AND NOTES
on metal. The artists of Patan are at work. Walking
in Patan is like taking a tour of an artists studio;
everywhere theres an artist engrossed in
making something or the other. And all around
there are works that every artist wishes to
match.
2. Married for 87 years: -Karam, 107, and Katari,
100, have been married for 87 years. They have
8 children and 28 grandchildren together. The
marriage is almost 5 years longer than current
Guinness record holders Couple say that
laughter and looking after each other is key to
marriage
In an age where few marriages endure the test
of time, 107-year-old Karam and his wife Katari
Chand, 100, are proof that happy ever after does
exist. The couple, who have eight children and
twenty eight grandchildren together, have lived
in wedded bliss for 87 years making them the
worlds longest married couple.
The pair says that the key to success is looking
after each other in every way possible: My trick
is to make Katari laugh. I like to tell jokes and
make her smile. Being funny is my way of being
romantic. says Karam.
Karam and Katari Chand have been married for
87 years and are in the process of
being confirmed as Guinness World Record
40
holders for the worlds longest marriage.
I have been told laughing makes you live longer...
my wife is still alive so it must have worked! I
love her so much and I want to spend another 80
years by her side, said Karam. From romantic
meals to sharing jokes, the couple, who hail from
Punjab, India and now live in Bradford, ensure
that they do little things for each other to keep
the romance alive. Katari told romantic
networking site Zoosk.co.uk When I was young I
used to make him a nice fresh meal every night.
We are vegetarian so I brought lots of fresh
vegetables and made sure he was eating healthy
food. Health is very important and I wanted to
look after him so we could grow old together.
Some would say it has worked!
The couple, who are both over 100, have eight
children and twenty eight grandchildren
together. Oh and how can I forget, I always save a
bit of my chapatti for him. Just a little gesture
that he appreciated a lot and it kept me a bit
slimmer. Karam, who likes to do a word search
every day to keep his mind alive, believes that
spending plenty of time together has helped
their marriage last.We have not spent any long
span apart in over 50 years. We go everywhere
together up until a few years ago we went to
India every year with the family and for all family
weddings we make sure we get to stay together,
he said.
They maintain that the key to standing the test
of time in marriage is looking after each other
in every way possible. Their marriage has lasted
nearly five years longer than that of the current
Guinness World Record holders and the couple
are in the process of getting confirmation from
the company that they will be named as the
new record holders. Many modern day
romances fail to stand the test of time but
longevity and experience makes Karam the
best man to go to for relationship advice. In the
past people used to listen. Now I dont think
people take the time to listen to each other
properly. People seem too busy today with
work, TV and other stuff going on around them.
Relationships about understand one another
and listening to concerns and problems, so my
advice to men and women is to listen to their
partners, show interest in what they are saying
and help them overcome any worries or
problems they are going through, he said.
The couple love to make each other laugh and
will have a joint birthday celebration in
November. And their son Satpaul, who is
extremely proud of his parents relationship,
added his own words of wisdom. He said: One
piece of advice that I cant stress enough is to
keep your parents very close. We live with them
in Bradford and look after them because we
want to help them live as long as they can
together. I dont want to see their love story end.
41
I truly believe that by helping them over the
last few years we have enabled them to enjoy
their time together with no stress and being
looked after. Also, you have to value them while
they are here because you never know how long
they are going to be around for. The still loved-
up couple, who met through an arranged
marriage, are having a big party in November to
celebrate Karams 107th and Kataris 100th
birthday. The Mayor of Bradford as well as lots of
community members will be joining in the
festivities. (Please see last coverpage for
photograph)
3. Most nutritious food the Honey: -Honey is
considered to be an elixir of life. This lustrous
brown liquid works wonders for your health in
more than one ways.
1. Immunity booster; The antioxidants and anti-
bacterial properties that honey contains, aids the
improvement of the digestive system.
Consuming this liquid can help boost your
immune system and keep you healthy and fit in
life.
2. Skin Care; Variety of beauty products available
in the market contains honey as their prime
ingredient. Honey not only helps to smoothen
your skin but also keeps acne at bay. The anti-
bacterial properties of this liquid can give your
skin a nourishing look and feel.
3. Aids Weight Loss; Experts recommend eating
honey mixed with warm water every morning.
This unique combination helps you digest the
fat in your body and aid the weight loss process.
4. Cancer preventive properties; Honey
contains a number of antioxidants and
flavonoids that help diminish the risk of a few
types of cancer. These antioxidants kill the
collagen in the body.
5. Vitamins and Minerals;Honey is rich in a
number of vitamins and minerals too. Vitamin
C, Calcium and Iron are primarily derived from
this golden ingredient.
6. Relaxes the throat;A commonly known
benefit of eating honey is the soothing effect it
provides to the throat. You must consume it or
gargle with a honey and water mixture when
you have a sore throat. It is known to kill the
infection causing bacteria, reliving you of the
irritation.
7. Healing Properties;Honey is considered to
be a natural healer when applied to wounds. It
cures the wound by killing the bacteria and
cleans the infection too. The antibacterial
property it contains does this magic to any kind
of injury.
8. Induces Sleep;Enjoying a sound sleep is a
problem for many especially amongst the older
people. Drinking a glass of warm milk mixed
with honey can solve your problem. This mixture
is known to soothe you and induces sleep too.
Consuming a spoonful of honey on a daily basis
can help you extract a number of golden
42
benefits from this thick liquid. Making this tad
bit effort can shower your body with miraculous
benefits and promise a healthy life too.
4. Health Benefits of Spinach:-Spinach is very
good for health. The following are the benefits of
spinach;
1. HIGH NUTRITIONAL VALUE; Spinach has a
high nutritional value and is extremely rich in
antioxidants. It is a rich source of vitamin A (and
especially high in lutein), vitamin C, vitamin E,
vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, foliate,
butane, iron, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium,
vitamin B6, folic acid, copper, protein,
phosphorus, zinc, niacin, selenium and omega-3
fatty acids.
2. PROTECTS AGAINST CANCER; Spinach
contains a strong antioxidant called kaempferol,
which helps prevent the formation of cancerous
cells in the body.
3. BRAIN FOOD; These leafy greens will help
slow the effects of ageing on the brain due to its
folic acid content, a B vitamin which also assists
the body in maintaining a healthy heart.
4. LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE; Just a single
portion of spinach will help lower high blood
pressure within hours due to the mineral
magnesium, which helps prevent cardiovascular
disease.
5. ALLEVIATES FATIGUE; Spinach holds high
levels of iron, which carries blood and oxygen
throughout the body and is responsible for
lessening fatigue and giving you that added
energy boost.
5. Khan Shatyrthe Worlds Tallest Tent in
Kazakhstan: -Khan Shatyr Entertainment
Centre in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan,
is an architectural project that is billed as the
worlds largest tent. The tent is made of a
transparent material and suspended on a
network of cables strung from acentralspire 150
metershigh. The structure has a 200 meter
elliptical base enclosing an area of 140,000
square metres. Underneath the tent, an area
larger than 10 football stadiums is an urban-
scale internal park, shopping and
entertainment venue with squares and cobbled
streets, a boating river, shopping centre, mini
golf and indoor beach resort.
The transparent material allows sunlight
through which, in conjunction with air heating
and cooling systems, maintains a comfortable
internal temperature between 1530 C while
outside the temperature varies between -35
and 35 C across the year.
6. City rankings-climate change impact: -
Kolkata ranks 7th in global climate change risk
list Bangladeshi capital Dhaka has topped a
global list of cities facing the highest climate
change risks in the coming decades, while
Indian metropolis Kolkata is ranked seventh,
43
Mumbai eighth and Delhi at 20th.
Manila, the capital city of The Philippines, was
ranked second in the British risk consultancy
Maple crofts fifth annual Climate Change and
Environmental Risk Atlas 2013, while Bangkok,
Yangon, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City came third,
fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
Chicago, London, St Petersburg, Paris and Madrid
are the only five cities classified as low risk.
Dhaka came top in the ranking of 50 cities by
Maple croft, specialising in risk analysis, as the
changing temperatures and weather systems
are forecast to take hold in the country in the
coming decades.
Maple crofts Climate Change Vulnerability Index
(CCVI) classifies seven cities as extreme risk,
out of a list of 50 that were chosen for their
current and future importance in global
business, Daily Star newspaper reported today.
The CCVI looks at exposure to extreme weather
events such as drought, cyclones, wildfires and
storm surges, which translate into water stress,
loss of crops and land lost to the sea.
With a strong economic growth of above 5 per
cent forecast for countries such as the
Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and India in the
next few years, the relevance of climate change
to populations and business in the major
commercial centres should not be underplayed,
according to Maplecroft.
The firm said extreme risk cities may see an
increase in frequency and severity of key
hydrological and meteorological events.
Other cities classed as high risk in the CCVI
are Lagos, Nigeria (10); Johannesburg, South
Africa (13); Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (21); and Hong
Kong (14), Guangzhou (18), Shenzhen (19),
Wuhan (23) and Shanghai (24), China.
New York, which took the full brunt of
Superstorm Sandy, is ranked 41 of the 50 cities.
Maplecroft is a global risk and strategy
consulting firm based in Bath, the UK.
7. Real facts about some parts of the world:
1.Countries Driving on the Left :Although
people in the majority of countries of the world
drive on the right side of roads, there are some
fifty nations in which people drive on the left.
These include England and many former English
colonies such as Australia, New Zealand,
India...etc... but not the U.S. or Canada. There are
several non-English countries where people
also drive on the left including Japan.
2. Sudan Has More Pyramids Than Egypt: Sudan
has more pyramids than any other country on
Earth - even more than Egypt. There are at least
223 pyramids in the Sudanese cities of Al Kurru,
Nuri, Gebel Barkal and Mero. They are generally
20 to 30 metres (65 -100 ft) high and steep sided.
44
3. Country With More Horses Than People
The Mongolian horse is the native horse breed
of Mongolia. The breed is purported to be largely
unchanged since the time of Genghis Khan.
Nomads living in the traditional Mongol fashion
still hold more than 3 million animals, which
outnumber the countrys human population
(2,75 million). Despite their small size, they are
horses, not ponies.
4. The Most Linguistically Diverse Country
Papua New Guinea is the country that is home
to the most languages, over 750 in all! The most
commonly spoken languages in Papua New
Guinea, however, are Motu and pidgin English.
5. Alaska Has a Sand Dunes The Great Kobuk Sand
Dunes lie 40 miles above the Arctic Circle, yet
summer temperatures there can soar to 100
degress Fahrenheit! One of Alaskas true oddities,
in some places, the sand stands 100 feet high.
The three clusters of dunes within the park the
Great Kobuk, the Little Kobuk, and the Hunt River
Sand Dunes cover 25 square miles and constitute
the largest active sand dunes within arctic
latitudes.
6. Strange Windmills in Ireland
All windmills in Ireland turn in a clockwise
direction, while the rest of the windmills in the
world turn counter-clockwise
7. London Bridge Over Lake Havasu
The original London Bridge was shipped stone-
by-stone and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City.
When the bridge, built in the 1830s began to
sink into the Thames River in the 1960s, it was
replaced by a more modern concrete bridge.
Then, England put the stones up for sale in 1967.
A man named Robert P. Mc Culloch Sr.,
purchased the bridge on April 17, 1968, at a cost
of $2,460,000. The 10,246 blocks were shipped
to Arizona and reassembled over a lagoon at
the edge Lake Havasu at a cost of $3 Million.
The Bridge opened in 1971.
8. The Most Isolated City in the World
Perth, Australia, is the most isolated city on the
planet. 200 miles impenetrable desert, from the
next city of any size.
9. Power of Amazon River The Amazon River
pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean
that, more than one hundred miles at sea off
the mouth of the river; one can dip fresh water
out of the ocean.
10. The Worlds Longest Train Journey
The Trans-Siberian Railway offers the worlds
longest train journey. It takes about 7 days to
travel the 5,580 miles or 9,000 km between
Moscow and Vladivostok.
11. Deforestation About 22% of the earths
original forest coverage remains. Western
Europe has lost 98% or so of its primary forests;
Asia 94%; Africa 92%; Oceania 78%; North
America 66%, and South America 54%.
45
Approximately 45% of the worlds tropical
forests, originally covering 1.4 billion hectares,
have disappeared in the last few decades.
12. Shortest Intercontinental Commercial Flight
Shortest Intercontinental Commercial Flight in
the world is from Gibraltar (Europe) to Tangier
(Africa.) Distance is 34 miles, flight time 20
minutes.
13. Worlds Widest Bridge According to the
Guinness World Records, Sydney Harbour Bridge
is the worlds widest long-span bridge - 16 lanes
of car traffic - 8 lanes in the upper floor, 8 in the
lower floor (double-decker bridge). The 49 metre
(161ft) wide deck makes Sydney Harbour Bridge
the widest long-span bridge in the world. It is
also the fifth longest spanning-arch bridge in the
world, and it is the tallest steel arch bridge,
measuring 134 metres (440 ft) from top to water
level.
14. Worlds Largest Palace Complex
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial
palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the
Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing,
China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For
almost 500 years, it served as the home of
emperors and their households, as well as the
ceremonial and political center of Chinese
government. Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex
consists of 980 buildings with 8,707 bays of
rooms and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sqft).
8. Canary Islands: -The population in Canary
Islands is about 2 million. Since the Canary
Islands is a very popular holiday destination for
European tourists, all the islands have well -
developed communication systems, airports,
and ports. As it is known Tenerife is the largest
of the Canary Islands and probably one of the
most popular holiday destinations in the UK. In
the centre of the Island is a volcanic mountain
Pico Del Teide or in English mount Teide. The
Capital of Tenerife is Santa Cruz de Tenerife
which is also the Capital of all the Canary Islands
together with Las Palmas de Gran
Canaria.Canary Islands greatest attraction is the
weather and its ideal year-round holiday
destination. The whole year Canaries can offer a
pleasant climate whether it is a summer holiday
or a winter holiday, its always lots of sun and
comfortably warm temperatures. So it makes
Canary Islands amazingly popular as a holiday
destination for many European countries. With
its different landscapes and personalities the
Islands are attractive holiday destination for any
traveller.
9. 113 YEARS OLD DWARF: -An Indian woman
claims to be the worlds most elderly dwarf - at
113 years-old. Zeenat Bi, a resident of Bhopal,
India, has government pension records stating
she is 101 - but the feisty pensioner claims she
is twelve years older. The current record holder,
according to Guinness World Records, is Lowell
46
Deforest Mason, who was 74 years-old as of
February this year.
Ms Bi, who stands just three feet tall, has
revealed a wish list of things she wants to do
before she dies - including meeting Bollywood
star Salman Khan and taking part in the annual
Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. The tiny woman
said she remembers life in India under British
rule and when Nawabs (Indian Princes) still held
a major influence over daily life. If her age is
correct, she would have been born during the
reign of Queen Victoria, who held the
title Empress of India.She said: I am so old that
I have seen this city grow up with me. I
remember during the British times, this
entire city was almost a jungle. There were trees
as far as the eye could see.
I even remember when the British introduced
English bread in the city for the first time. It was
such a sensation; it was nothing like people had
eaten before. Ms Bi has survived all of her family
and never married. Despite suffering from
cataracts and a calcium deficiency, she manages
to survive on her only source of income, a
government pension of 275 rupees per month
(3.19).She said: I have been living alone for
almost 50 years now. I never married and never
had kids.All I have got is a small bed that was
gifted to me by the former Chief Minister of the
state, Uma Bharti. She used to send me 2500
rupees (30) every month. But no one
remembers me now.Her guardian, Abrar
Muhammad Khan, said: No one in the
Government even cares for her. All people use
her for exhibition purposes, but no one really
cares for her.
Even though her hair is still black, Ms Bi has
undergone a cataract operation for her eyes and
suffers from severe calcium deficiency.I only
have three teeth left now in my mouth. Once I
used to have a beautiful set.She has been living
rent-free with Mr Khan and his family for 20
years.She is like my mother and a part of my
family, he said, we dont let her do any work
around the house, he says.Ms Bi says her one
love in life is eating paan, a preparation of Betel
leaf with Areca nut and tobacco. I can live
without food, but not without my paan, she
said.
One of her ambitions is to meet Indian movie
star and philanthropist, Salman Khan. She said:
I am [a] huge fan of his. I have seen all his
films. It would be nice if I can meet him
because he is a nice [man] and helps people
who are in need. But her greatest wish is to take
part in the Haj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage
to Mecca before she dies.She said: I want to visit
Mecca for [the] Haj, but its too expensive for
me. It costs too much money and I have no one
who can accompany me and take care of me.
47
This is a ruling of the Supreme Court of India on
the application of Forest Conservation Act. The
contention of the Forest Officer that granting
mining lease in a forest land without prior
permission of the Government of India is illegal
and the lease granted is liable to be set aside.
The State of A.P approached the Supreme court
with Special Leave Petition No. 13104 of 1996 in
Civil Appeal No. 11902 of 1996 against order of
Division Bench of the High Court dated July 7,
1995 in Writ Appeal No. 98 / 1994.
The respondent Nagaratnamma had a mining
lease granted by the Director of Mines on
September 18, 1979 in a forest area for five years
i.e. upto September 12, 1984. The Forest
Conservation Act came into force on October
25, 1980. Therefore the authorities are divested
of the power to grant lease by way of renewal of
the lease. Lease is a right to extract minerals
and the renewal should be in accordance with
the Law in operation as on the date of renewal.
Renewal of lease is not a vested right; the
application must be disposed off according to
law prevailing as on that date. On expiry of lease
period on September 13, 1989, an application
came to be made for renewal thereof. It would
be obvious that the renewal was in violation of
section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act since
admittedly, prior approval of the Central
Government was not obtained.
In a joint inspection it was found that the leased
area was in the forest and therefore the lease
was cancelled as the grant of lease was in
LEGAL NOTES
Divisional Forest Officer and Orsvs S. Nagaratnamma
violation of the Forest Conservation Act. The
lessee filed a writ petition questioning the
validity of the cancellation of lease. The High
Court permitted the lessee to extract the
stacked material subject to the condition that
the Forest Department obtains the necessary
approval from the competent authorities. It is
against this order of the Division Bench of the
High Court in Writ Appeal No. 98/1994 dated
July 7, 1995; an appeal was filed in the Supreme
Court seeking special leave of the Supreme
Court for filing the appeal.
It was argued on behalf of the lessee/
respondent that the relief sought by the
respondent was only of removing already
mined material without fresh extraction. It was
submitted that the order of the High Court was
correct in law. Their Lordships of the Supreme
Court Justice K. Ramaswamy and Justice G.B.
Pattanaik did not agree with this argument. It
was held that so long as the lease is not validly
granted, the lessee does not get any right on
the material. It is total prohibition unless the
state Government grants mining lease with the
prior concurrence of the Central Government.
In this case the fact is that renewal was made in
a routine way. Under these circumstances, it was
held the direction issued by the Division Bench
of the High Court was clearly illegal. The appeal
of the D.F.O, was thus allowed on August 23, 1996.
PCCFs Office File No. 34532/95/F2
K.B.R
48
49
Registered with RNI R.No. Apeng/2002.2185
Postal Regn. No.LII/RNP/HDC/1154/2012-14
BOOK POST
To
If Undelivered, Please return to : Editor : VANA PREMI
Office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Aranya Bhavan,
5th Floor, Room No. 514, Saifabad, Hyderabad - 500 004, A.P.
For details please see page no.45
Please see page no. 25

DECEMBER - 2012: Vol .13 No.12

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