M'luru: Endangered Wolves arrive at Pilikula Park from AP as part of Animal Exchange Program
Mangaluru: Pilikula Biological Park, renowned for its conservation initiatives, welcomed a pair of endangered wolves from a zoo in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. This move, executed under the animal exchange program, aims to safeguard the near-extinct species.
HJ Bhandary, the Director of Pilikula Biological Park, elaborated on the recent additions in a press release, stating, "The park has successfully introduced various species through the animal exchange program. Marmoset and tamarin monkeys from Central and South America, blue-gold macaque monkeys from Mexico, galah cockatoos from Australia, and turaco monkeys from Southern Africa have found a home here."
The park, which already hosts 1,200 diverse species of animals, birds, and reptiles, intends to expand its biodiversity further. Bhandary revealed plans to introduce more fauna to Pilikula, enhancing the park's conservation efforts.
Addressing the welfare of the newly arrived animals, Bhandary highlighted, "The Reliance Foundation has generously donated Rs 1 crore to construct a suitable enclosure for the recently acquired animals. Our priority is to create an environment resembling their natural habitat, ensuring their comfort. Additionally, the park now features a feeding center and breeding box, provided free of charge by the Life Science Education Trust, Bengaluru."
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2019 mud attack on engineer: Maharashtra court sentences BJP minister Nitesh Rane to one-month jail
Mumbai (PTI): A court in Sindhudurg on Monday convicted Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane in a 2019 case of pouring mud on an NHAI engineer when he was in opposition, and sentenced him to one-month imprisonment, noting that lawmakers are not supposed to take the law into their hands.
Later, the court suspended Rane's sentence, allowing him time to appeal before a higher court, while acquitting 29 other accused in the case.
"Even though Rane's intention was to raise a voice against the poor quality of work and inconvenience faced by the people, he was not supposed to humiliate or insult a public servant in public," additional sessions court judge V S Deshmukh stated.
"If such incidents continue to occur, public servants would not be able to discharge their duties with dignity," the judge noted.
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Calling the act "abuse of power", the court held that "it is the demand of time to curb such tendency".
Rane, a son of former Union minister Narayan Rane, was among 30 people charged under various offences, including rioting, assault to deter a public servant, and criminal conspiracy. He was in Congress when the incident occurred.
All the accused, including Nitesh Rane, were acquitted of these offences, as the court found insufficient evidence to support most of these claims.
However, the court found Nitesh Rane guilty of an offence under section 504 (intentional insult meant to provoke a breach of public peace) and sentenced him to one month's jail.
Rane, then a Congress MLA, had called the Sub-Divisional Engineer of the National Highway Authority, Prakash Shedekar, to a bridge over the Gad river in Kankavli on July 4, 2019, for inspecting the work to widen the Mumbai-Goa Highway.
According to the prosecution, Nitesh Rane and his followers, frustrated by the poor quality of the roadwork and waterlogging, confronted the engineer. They poured muddy water on Shedekar and forced him to walk through slush in public.
The court, after perusing the evidence on record, noted that the informant (victim) was holding a high post in the National Highway Authority.
"Despite that, he was made to walk through the muddy water in public. It would have certainly humiliated and insulted him," the court remarked.
The judge held that Rane compelling Shedekar to walk through the muddy water "was nothing but an intentional insult to the informant," and provocation which will cause him to break the public peace.
