Special Rajdhani to run between Delhi-Kerala Via Karwar

To clear the extra rush of passengers between Delhi and Kerala during the summer season, Rajdhani special trains will be run between Nizamuddin and Kochuveli via Konkan Railway routes. 

The special Rajdhani No. 0432 will be run every Friday for three weeks on May 22, 29 and June 5. The train will leave Nizamuddin station at 11:00 hrs and reach Kochuveli at 05.45 hrs on the third day. The Special Rajdhani No. 0431 will be run every Sunday for three weeks on May 24, 31 and June 07. It will leave Kochuveli station at 19.15 hrs and reach Nizamuddin at 12.35 hrs on the third day. It will halt at Kota, Ratlam, Vadodara, Vasai  Road, Panvel, Ratnagiri, Sawantwadi Rd, Madgaon, Karwar, Ankola, Udupi, Mangalore Jn., Kannur, Kozhikkode, Shoranur, Thrissur,  Ernakulam and Alappuzha.

Source

Karwar Loksabha Elections

Cross-voting by leaders and their supporters belonging to the BJP and the Congress has complicated things in the coastal taluks of Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha Constituency.

Many of the BJP leaders, including office-bearers, who are unhappy with the candidature of Anant Kumar Hegde, were seen openly canvassing for Congress leader Margaret Alva. 

Contrary to this, many Congress leaders, including a public representative, was seen canvassing for the BJP. 

These scenes were common in Kumta, Honnavar and Bhatkal. 

The BJP leaders have a grouse against Mr. Anant Kumar Hegde because he allegedly “engineered” the defeat of former Minister Shivanand Naik at Bhatkal and Shashibhushan Hegde at Kumta during the last Assembly election. 

The dissident leaders accuse Mr. Anant Kumar Hegde of playing the Brahmin card at that time. Now, the other group is trying to return the favour by playing the backward class card in the coastal taluks.

For the last three days messages were sent on mobile phones asking a particular community not to vote for Mr. Anant Kumar Hegde accusing him of being anti-backward class. 

Pamphlets were circulated in the constituency raking up the murder of the BJP leader and former MLA late Chittaranjan. 

Photocopies of an interview by Chittaranjan's father published in a Kannada tabloid in which he reportedly held Mr. Anant Kumar Hegde responsible for the death of his son were widely circulated in the constituency. 

Mr. Anant Kumar Hegde had to clarify his stand by giving his version in the form of an advertisement in local newspapers. The same was the story in the Congress camp. Anti-Margaret Alva lobbies in the Congress worked overtime to defeat her by shifting the votes to the BJP. 

In places such as Karwar, where the Congress was expecting to take a lead over the BJP, the situation was changed overnight by BJP activists and Congress dissidents by playing the Hindutva card. 

A “whisper campaign” by the BJP, which was on the back foot in the face of the popularity of Ms. Alva, not to vote a Christian candidate, had worked on the minds of the voters, according to a Congress leader from Karwar. 

The BJP and the Congress dissidents successfully played the Hindutva card to change the voting pattern, he lamented.

Janata Dal(S) tables were seen only near three booths and the party workers were conspicuous by their absence. In Karwar city, it was the same story as in the other coastal taluks of the district.

Source - http://www.sahilonline.org/english/news.php?catID=coastalnews&nid=5173&viewed=0

Karwar Wild Life Endangered

The death of a leopard near Amdalli village in Karwar taluk, which was noticed on Saturday by the forest officials, clearly indicates that wildlife is threatened in Uttara Kannada district.

In fact, continued human interference in the forest has made life miserable for wild animals in their natural habitat.

Cases of wild animals sneaking into the human habitat in search of food are on the rise. These animals are either killed by people before being noticed by the forest officials or die of starvation or disease.

The forest region of Uttara Kannada district is no longer safe for wildlife. The rich vegetation of the district is under heavy pressure today than ever before. For instance the once beautiful wooded hills between Karwar and Honnavar have been mercilessly mutilated.

According to the Uttara Kannada Gazetteer, the rate of denudation of forest is four times the rate of replanting in the district.

Large forest areas had been destroyed in the past three decades in the district licitly and illicitly. The statistics provided by the forest department indicate that around 10.5 lakh hectares of forest area had been lost for various reasons.

This included nearly 20,000 hectares of area lost under the Kali hydel project, 50,000 hectares released foragriculture and 26,713 hectares for iron ore mining. These lost regions provided a safe shelter for elephants, bison, tigers, king cobras, leopards, black panthers and spotted deer to name a few. These statistics exclude the forest encroachment, which is about 26,000 hectares and also illicit felling by poachers. In fact at least once in a week the local papers carry reports on forest smuggling. Added to these, indiscriminate poaching of animals has proved disastrous for the survival of these animals.The forest officials complain there are not enough staff. One guard has to manage around 10 sq km of forest region. Moreover, the staff are not provided modern weapons to match those of smugglers.

People allege that many forest officials are hand in glove with the smugglers and funds provided for forestation are misused.

The forest development programme launched under the assistance of Overseas Development Agency of UK, which envisaged the joint management of the forest by the forest department and the villagers, proved a failure.

The village forest panchayats formed under the programme have become defunct today, thanks to the apathy of the forest officials, who did not want others to participate in the management of the forest.