BJP has already crossed 310-mark, Congress struggling to get 40: Amit Shah
Siddharthnagar (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday claimed that in the first five rounds of polling, "BJP has crossed 310" and that Congress Party is "not even getting 40 seats" this time.
"INDI alliance has been wiped out in the first five phases. I am telling you, this time Congress is not even getting 40 seats and Akhilesh Yadav will not even get four seats," said Shah addressing a poll meeting in Siddharthnagar in support of Domariyaganj BJP candidate Jagdambika Pal.
He said that the PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) is a part of INDIA and the BJP will take it back.
"Leaders of Pakistan say that PoK is theirs. Congress leaders also say that they (Pakistan) have an atom bomb. BJP people are not scared of atom bombs. PoK is and will remain part of India and we will take it back," he said.
Shah said the opposition was attempting to end reservation for SC/ST and OBC.
"Rahul Baba and Akhilesh Yadav you have been blinded by vote banks politics. We will finish reservation on the basis of religion and give it back to the ST/ST and OBCs," he said.
He also pointed out that the INDIA bloc did not have any Prime Minister face and claimed the alliance, if it comes to power, will have five PMs. "Can the country run like this?"
Shah alleged that Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav have booked tickets for a vacation abroad after the results of Lok Sabha polls are announced.
"On the one hand, there is Rahul Gandhi who leaves for Italy, Thailand and Bangkok and on the other hand, there is Narendra Modi who has not taken any leave for 23 years and even spends his Diwali with soldiers on the border," he said.
Shah said the BJP ensured OROP (One Rank-One Pension) scheme for the retired army personnel and asserted that India will become the third largest economy in the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Polling in Domariaganj will be held in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
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ZSI scientists discover a new species of snake eel in Odisha
Berhampur (PTI): Scientists of the Zoological Survey of India's (ZSI) regional centre at Gopalpur in Odisha's Ganjam district have discovered a new species of snake eel from different estuarine ecosystems in the state, an official said.
The new species is named 'Ophichthus Suryai' to honour Surya Kumar Mohanty, former joint director of state fishery department, the official said.
At least six specimens have been collected from the Subarnarekha river at Talasara in Balasore district, Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district and Bahuda river near Sunapur in Ganjam district at different times last year.
"After conducting deep studies and various tests, including DNA at the ZSI's laboratory, we confirm that it was a new species," said Anil Mohapatra, senior scientist, Estuarine Biology Regional Centre (EBRC) of ZSI, Gopalpur.
The new species can be distinguished from its closely allied congeners Ophichthus alleni, Ophichthus zophistius, and Ophichthus altipennis, and other members in this genus by having the dorsal fin origin (DFO) just above or slightly anterior to the gill opening, its unique vertebral count and teeth patterns consisting of multiple rows on both maxilla and mandible, said Mohapatra, who led the discovery.
He said on initial examination, they were found to belong to the genus Ophichthus. Examination of morphological, meristic, and molecular characters confirmed the specimens are unique and described as a new species, he added.
The detailed characteristics of this new species of Ophichthus Suryai were published in the Bulletin of Marine Science, an international journal on its latest edition of June 13 this year.
Mohapatra was one of the co-authors in the research paper published in the journal. The other authors of the research paper are Rajesh Kumar Behera, Subhendu Kumar Mishra and Smrutirekha Acharya.
