Tiger kills, eats tigress in Madhya Pradesh
Bhopal, Jan 21 : In a rare case of cannibalism, a tiger is suspected to have killed and eaten a tigress in the famous Kanha Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh, a forest official said Monday.
Some ground duty officials found a feline's skull and four limbs, one of which was partially eaten, at Mundi-Dadar in the reserve's core area in Mandla district during patrolling on Saturday, Kanha Tiger Reserve's field director K Krishnamurthy told PTI.
"A tiger was noticed in the area, suggesting that it may have killed the big cat, which appears to be female.
Circumstantial evidence suggests that the tiger, during a territorial fight, dragged the tigress for about 700 metres," he said.
Asked about the possibility of the tiger seen around the carcass having eaten it, Krishnamurthy said cannibalism was "not uncommon" among tigers.
He, however, said scavengers also might have eaten the feline after it was killed.
The official ruled out the possibility of poaching of the striped animal in the reserve's core area.
In December 2006, an attempt was made to poach a tiger in Kanha, but it was foiled by tourists.
Madhya Pradesh has six major reserves for the national animal and is often called as the 'tiger state'. Prominent among them are Bandhavgarh, Pench and Kanha tiger reserves.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Women BJP MLAs protest against opposition in UP assembly premises
Lucknow (PTI): Women BJP MLAs held a protest in the Vidhan Bhawan complex before the one-day special session of Uttar Pradesh assembly, slamming the opposition for defeating the passage of a bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Law, in the Lok Sabha.
This followed another demonstration by Samajwadi Party MLAs, who alleged that the BJP was misleading public in the name of women's reservation.
The women BJP legislators assembled in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the assembly premises, holding banners inscribed with the slogan "Insult to Matrushakti (women's power), India will not tolerate it". The protesting members entered the main hall of Vidhan Bhawan carrying the banners.
Participating in the protest, the state Minister for Women Welfare and Child Development, Baby Rani Maurya, told reporters that all opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had opposed the women's reservation, a stance for which they would have to pay a heavy political price.
"On this issue, all of us women stand united. We will ensure that we secure our reservation," she said.
BJP MLA Ketki Singh remarked that their protest represents the collective outrage of millions of women across the state.
Singh asserted that the opposition has betrayed women by creating hurdles in the path of women's reservation. The current demonstration is merely the beginning, and very soon, women from every street, intersection and household will join the protest movement, she said.
Minister Vijaylakshmi Gautam said, "We strongly condemn the despicable act committed by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in an attempt to hold back 'half the population' (women). Their action was directed against the very bill that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced to empower and strengthen Nari Shakti (women's power), and which he strived to pass expeditiously."
Uttar Pradesh assembly is holding a one-day special session on Thursday. During the session, the government is set to move a censure motion against the opposition parties over their failure to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, in the Lok Sabha.
