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To The Manager , Visakhapatnam.

Dear Sir,

Sub: Pre-closure of Loan Account No______

This has reference to the above subject; I have decided to sell my property to Mr. ______whose loan is sanctioned from IDBI Bank, Siripuram, Visakhapatnam. I requested IDBI Bank to close my loan Account No.______.

Kiran Bedi (Hindi: िकरण बेदीीीीीीीीीीीीीीी ) (Punjabi:ਿਕਰਣ ਬੇਦੀ) (born 9 June 1949) is an Indian social activist and a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. She became the first woman to join the IPS in 1972, and most recently held the post of Director General, BPR&D (Bureau of Police Research and Development), Ministry of Home Affairs. She retired from the IPS in December, 2007, after taking voluntary retirement. She was the host and TV judge of the popular TV series "Aap Ki Kachehri" (English, "Your Court"), broadcast on the Indian TV channel, Star Plus. This program features Indian families approaching her TV court and explaining their problems to her. She then offers legal advice and monetary help to solve the problem. This program is classified as an EDUtainment program, as it attempts to simplify and explain legal procedures and Indian law to the viewers.

She has also founded two NGOs in India: Navjyoti for welfare and preventive policing in 1987[1] and the India Vision Foundation for prison reformation, drug abuse prevention and child welfare in 1994.[2]

In 2007, she was granted voluntary retirement from the IPS.[3]

Contents

[hide]

• 1 Early life

• 2 Career

• 3 Contributions

• 4 Personal life

• 5 Bibliography

• 6 Awards

• 7 Books on Kiran Bedi o 7.1 In Popular Media

• 8 References

• 9 External links

[edit]Early life

Kiran Bedi was born in Amritsar, Punjab, India. She is the second of the four daughters of Prakash Lal Peshawaria and Prem Lata Peshawaria.

She attended the Sacred Heart Convent School, Amritsar, where she joined the National Cadet Corps (NCC). She took up tennis, a passion she inherited from her father, a tennis player.[4] She won the Junior National Lawn Tennis Championship in 1966, the Asian Lawn Tennis Championship in 1972, and the All-India Interstate Women's Lawn Tennis Championship in 1976. [5] In addition, she also won the All-Asian Tennis Championship, and won the Asian Ladies Title at the age of 22. Later, she obtained her B.A. in English (Hons.) (1964–68) from the Government College for Women, Amritsar. She then earned a Master’s degree (1968–70) in Political Science from Punjab University, Chandigarh, graduating at the top of her class.[6]

[edit]Career

Even while in active service in the IPS, she pursued her educational goals, and obtained a Law degree (LLB) in 1988 from Delhi University, Delhi. In 1993, she obtained a Ph.D. in Social Sciencesfrom the Department of Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, [7] where the topic of her thesis was 'Drug Abuse and Domestic Violence'.[6]

She began her career as a Lecturer in Political Science (1970–72) at Khalsa College for Women, Amritsar. In July 1972, she joined the Indian Police Service. Bedi joined the police service "because of [her] urge to be outstanding".[8]

She served in a number of tough assignments ranging from New Delhi traffic postings, Deputy Inspector General of Police in insurgency prone Mizoram, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor ofChandigarh, Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau, to a United Nations delegation, where she became the Civilian Police Advisor in United Nations peacekeeping operations.[9] For her work in the UN, she was awarded a UN medal.[10]She is popularly referred to as Crane Bedi for towing the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's car for a parking violation,[11] during the PM's tour of United States at the time.[7]

Kiran Bedi influenced several decisions of the Indian Police Service, particularly in the areas of narcotics control, traffic management, and VIP security. During her stint as the Inspector General of Prisons, in Tihar Jail (Delhi) (1993–1995), she instituted a number of reforms in the management of the prison, and initiated a number of measures such as detoxification programs, yoga, vipassana meditation, redressing of complaints by prisoners and literacy programs.[12][13] For this she won the 1994 Ramon Magsaysay Award, and the 'Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship', to write about her work at Tihar Jail.[6]

She was last appointed as Director General of India's Bureau of Police Research and Development.

In May 2005, she was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Law in recognition of her “humanitarian approach to prison reforms and policing”.[14]

On 27 November 2007, she had expressed her wish to voluntarily retire from the police force to undertake new challenges in life. On 25 December 2007, the Government of India agreed to relieve Bedi of her duties as Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development. "Yes Madam, Sir", an award-winning, critically acclaimed film of Kiran Bedi's life, directed by Australian director, Megan Doneman, premiered as an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival. It has yet to be released.

After retirement, Kiran Bedi launched a new website, www.saferindia.com, on January 3, 2007. The motto of this website is to help people whose complaints are not accepted by the local police. This project is undertaken by the non-profit, voluntary and non-government organization she founded, the India Vision Foundation.[1]

Kiran Bedi now hosts the TV show Aap Ki Kachehri Kiran Ke Saath on Star Plus.

[edit]Contributions

Navjyoti (which literally means New Enlightenment), set up in 1987,[1] and India Vision Foundation, set up in 1994, are the two major voluntary organizations established by her with the objectives of improving the condition of drug addicts and poor people. Her efforts have won national and international recognition, and her organizations were awarded the "Serge Soitiroff Memorial Award" for drug abuse prevention by the United Nations.

For more information about Navjyoti, please visit www.navjyoti.org.in. Her autobiography, 'I Dare. It's Always Possible', was released in 1998.[15]

[edit]Personal life

Kiran Bedi married Brij Bedi in 1972,[13] the year she started her career in the Indian Police Service (IPS), and three years later, in 1975, they had daughter Saina. Among her other three siblings, Shashi is an artist settled in Canada, Reeta is a clinical psyhcologist and writer, and Anu is a lawyer.

[edit]Bibliography

. Its Always Possible: Kiran Bedi. Oct 1999, Indra Publishing. ISBN 0-9585805-3-7. . "What Went Wrong?", collection of The fortnightly column written by Kiran Bedi. . The Motivating Bedi by Kiran Bedi.[6]

[edit]Awards

. President’s Gallantry Award (1979) . Women of the Year Award (1980) . Asia Region Award for Drug Prevention and Control (1991) . Magsaysay Award (1994) for Government Service . Mahila Shiromani Award (1995) . Father Machismo Humanitarian Award (1995) . Lion of the Year (1995) . Joseph Beuys Award (1997) . Pride of India (1999) . Mother Teresa Memorial National Award for Social Justice (2005) . Star Parivar Award for Most Damdar Sadasya (2010)

[edit]Books on Kiran Bedi/

. Kiran Bedi — The Kindly Baton, by Dr Meenakshi Saksena, . "Government@net" by Sandeep Srivastava and Parminder Jeet Singh. . "I Dare!" – Kiran Bedi A Biography by Paramesh Dangwal

[edit]In Popular Media

A non fiction feature film on Dr Kiran Bedi's life, Yes Madam, Sir, has been produced by Australian film maker, Megan Doneman. This film is being screened in film festivals around the world. Its commentator is an Academy Award winner, Helen Mirren. Dr Kiran Bedi was present during its screenings in Toronto, Dubai and Adelaide, and to address the Q&A sessions at the end of each show. Every time it has been screened, it has received a standing ovation.

The documentary has made a clean sweep of the award categories---“Best Documentary” with a cash award of $100,000, the biggest prize for a documentary in any film festival in the US and the Social Justice Award with $2500 at Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Yes Madam, Sir got a unanimous vote from the jury.

In 2006, the Norwegian production company 'Mpower Media' released another documentary on Bedi called In Gandhi's footsteps.

In this regard I request you to kindly accept payment from IDBI Bank and handover the original Title Deeds to IDBI Bank on closure of my Housing Loan account.

Yours faithfully

Signature The Sundarbans (Bengali: {{{1}}} Shundorbôn) is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world.[1] The name Sundarban can be literally translated as "beautiful jungle" or "beautiful forest" in the Bengali language (Sundar, "beautiful" and ban, "forest" or "jungle"). The name may have been derived from the Sundari trees that are found in Sundarbans in large numbers. Alternatively, it has been proposed that the name is a corruption of Samudraban (Bengali: সমুদবন Shomudrobôn "Sea Forest") or Chandra-bandhe (name of a primitive tribe). But the generally accepted view is the one associated with Sundari trees.[1]

The forest lies in the vast delta on the Bay of Bengal formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers across southern Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. The seasonally-flooded Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests lie inland from the mangrove forests on the coastal fringe. The forest covers 10,000 km2 of which about 6,000 are in Bangladesh.[2] It became inscribed as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1997, but while the Bangladeshi and Indian portions constitute the same continuous ecotope, these are separately listed in the UNESCO world heritage list as the Sundarbans and Sundarbans National Park, respectively. The Sundarbans is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests. The area is known for the eponymous Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), as well as numerous fauna including species of birds, spotted deer, crocodiles andsnakes. The fertile soils of the delta have been subject to intensive human use for centuries, and the ecoregion has been mostly converted to intensive agriculture, with few enclaves of forest remaining. The remaining forests, together with the Sundarbans mangroves, are important habitat for the endangered tiger.

Additionally, the Sundarbans serves a crucial function as a protective barrier for the millions of inhabitants in and around Kolkata (Calcutta) against the floods that result from the cyclones that are a regular occurrence on this coast.

Contents

[hide]

• 1 History

• 2 Physiography o 2.1 Ecoregions o 2.2 Sanctuaries in Bangladesh o 2.3 Climate change impact

• 3 Flora

• 4 Fauna o 4.1 Predators . 4.1.1 Avifauna

. 4.1.2 Aqua fauna

. 4.1.3 Reptiles

. 4.1.4 Endangered and extinct species

• 5 Economy

• 6 In popular culture

• 7 See also

• 8 Footnotes and references

• 9 Sources

• 10 External links

[edit]History

Village in a clearing of Sunderbans, 1839

The history of the area can be traced back to 200–300 AD. A ruin of a city built by Chand Sadagar has been found in the Baghmara Forest Block. During the Mughal period, local kings leased the forests of the Sundarbans to residents. In this period, Raja Basanta Rai and his nephew took refuge in the Sundarbans from the advancing armies of Emperor Akbar.[3] Many of the buildings which were built by them later fell to hands of Portuguese pirates, salt smugglers and dacoits in the 17th century. Evidence of the fact can be traced from the ruins at Netidhopani and other places scattered all over Sundarbans.[4] The legal status of the forests underwent a series of changes, including the distinction of being the first mangrove forest in the world to be brought under scientific management. The area was mapped by the Surveyor General as early as 1764 following soon after proprietary rights were obtained from the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II by the East India Company in 1757. Systematic management of this forest tract started in the 1860s after the establishment of a Forest Department in the Province of Bengal, in India.[5] The first Forest Management Division to have jurisdiction over the Sundarbans was established in 1869. In 1875 a large portion of the mangrove forests was declared as reserved forests in 1875–76 under the Forest Act, 1865 (Act VIII of 1865). The remaining portions of forests was declared as reserve forest the following year and the forest, which was so far was administered by the civil administration district, was placed under the control of the Forest Department. A Forest Division, which is the basic forest management and administration unit, was created in 1879 with the headquarter in Khulna. The first management plan was written for the period 1893–98.[6][7]

In 1911, it was described as a tract of waste country which had never been surveyed, nor had the census been extended to it. It then stretched for about 165 miles (266 km) from the mouth of theHugli to the mouth of the Meghna and was bordered inland by the three settled districts of the 24 Parganas, Khulna and Backergunje. The total area (including water) was estimated at 6,526 square miles (16,902 km2). It was a water-logged jungle, in which tigers and other wild beasts abounded. Attempts at reclamation had not been very successful. The characteristic tree was the sundari (Heritiera littoralis), from which the name of the tract had probably been derived. It yields a hard wood, used for building, and for making boats, furniture, etc. The Sundarbans were everywhere intersected by river channels and creeks, some of which afforded water communication between Calcutta and the Brahmaputra Valley, both for steamers and for native boats.

[edit] Village in a clearing of Sunderbans, 1839

This satellite image shows the forest in the protected area. The Sundarbans appears deep green, surrounded to the north by a landscape of agricultural lands, which appear lighter green, towns, which appear tan, and streams, which are blue.

The mangrove-dominated Ganges Delta – the Sundarbans – is a complex ecosystem comprising one of the three largest single tract of mangrove forests of the world. Shared between two neighbouring countries, Bangladesh and India, the larger part (62%)is situated in the southwest corner of Bangladesh. To the south the forest meets the Bay of Bengal; to the east it is bordered by the Baleswar River and to the north there is a sharp interface with intensively cultivated land. The natural drainage in the upstream areas, other than the main river channels, is everywhere impeded by extensive embankments and polders. The Sundarbans was originally measured (about 200 years ago) to be of about 16,700 km². Now it has dwindled to about 1/3 of the original size. The total land area today is 4,143 km² (including exposed sandbars: 42 km²) and the remaining water area of 1,874 km² encompasses rivers, small streams and canals. Rivers in the Sundarbans are meeting places of salt water and freshwater. Thus, it is a region of transition between the freshwater of the rivers originating from the Ganges and the saline water of the Bay of Bengal (Wahid et al., 2002).

The Sundarbans along the Bay of Bengal has evolved over the millennia through natural deposition of upstream sediments accompanied by intertidal segregation. The physiography is dominated by deltaic formations that include innumerable drainage lines associated with surface and subaqueous levees, splays and tidal flats. There are also marginal marshes above mean tide level, tidal sandbars and islands with their networks of tidal channels, subaqueous distal bars and proto-delta clays and silt sediments. The Sundarbans' floor varies from 0.9 m to 2.11 m above sea level.[8]

Biotic factors here play a significant role in physical coastal evolution and for wildlife a variety of habitats have developed including beaches, estuaries, permanent and semi-permanent swamps, tidal flats, tidal creeks, coastal dunes, back dunes and levees. The mangrove vegetation itself assists in the formation of new landmass and the intertidal vegetation plays an important role in swamp morphology. The activities of mangrove fauna in the intertidal mudflats develop micromorphological features that trap and hold sediments to create a substratum for mangrove seeds. The morphology and evolution of the eolian dunes is controlled by an abundance of xerophyticand halophytic plants. Creepers and grasses and sedges stabilizes sand dunes and uncompacted sediments. The Sunderbans mudflats (Banerjee, 1998) are found at the estuary and on the deltaic islands where low velocity of river and tidal current occurs. The flats are exposed in low tides and submerged in high tides, thus being changed morphologically even in one tidal cycle. The interiorparts of the mudflats are magnificent home of luxuriant mangroves.

[edit]Ecoregions

Sundarbans features two ecoregions — "Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests" (IM0162) and "Sundarbans mangroves" (IM1406).[9]

The Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of India and Bangladesh. It represents the brackish swamp forests that lie behind the Sundarbans Mangroves where the salinity is more pronounced. The freshwater ecoregion is an area where the water is only slightly brackish and becomes quite fresh during the rainy season, when the freshwater plumes from the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers push the intruding salt water out and also bring a deposit of silt. It covers an area of 14,600 square kilometers (5,600 square miles) of the vast Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, extending from India's West Bengal state into western Bangladesh. The Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests lie between the upland Lower Gangetic plains moist deciduous forests and the brackish- water Sundarbans mangroves bordering the Bay of Bengal.[10]

This ecoregion is nearly extinct, the victim of large-scale clearing and settlement to support one of the densest human populations in Asia. Hundreds of years of habitation and exploitation by one of the world's densest human populations have exacted a heavy toll of this ecoregion's habitat and biodiversity. There are two protected areas — Narendrapur (110 km2) and Ata Danga Baor (20 km2) that cover a mere 130 km2 of the ecoregion. Habitat loss in this ecoregion is so extensive, and the remaining habitat is so fragmented, that it is difficult to ascertain the composition of the original vegetation of this ecoregion. According to Champion and Seth (1968), the freshwater swamp forests are characterized by Heritiera minor,Xylocarpus molluccensis, Bruguiera conjugata, Sonneratia apetala, Avicennia officinalis, and Sonneratia caseolaris, with Pandanus tectorius, Hibiscus tiliaceus, and Nipa fruticans along the fringing banks.[10]

The Sundarbans Mangroves ecoregion on the coast forms the seaward fringe of the delta and is the world's largest mangrove ecosystem, with 20,400 square kilometers (7,900 square miles) of area covered. The dominant mangrove speciesHeritiera fomes, locally known as sundri or sundari, is the tree for which the Sundarbans are thought to be named. Mangrove forests are not home to a great variety of plants. They have a thick canopy and the undergrowth is mostly seedlings of the mangrove trees. As well as the sundari other species that make up the forest include Avicennia spp., Xylocarpus mekongensis, Xylocarpus granatum, Sonneratia apetala, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Cereops decandra, Aegiceras corniculatum, Rhizophora mucronata, and Nypa fruticans palms.[11]

The Sundarbans area is one of the most densely populated in the world and the population is increasing, as a result half of this ecoregion's mangrove forests have been cut down to supply fuelwood and other natural resources. Despite the intense and large-scale exploitation, this still is one of the largest contiguous areas of mangroves in the world. Another threat comes from deforestation and water diversion from the rivers inland which causes far more silt to be brought to the estuary, clogging up the waterways. Protected areas cover 15% of the Sundarbans mangroves including Sundarbans National Park and Sajnakhali Wildlife Sanctuary, Halliday Island and Lothian Island Wildlife Sanctuary in West Bengal andSundarbans East, Char Kukri- Mukri, Sundarbans South and Sundarbans West Wildlife Sanctuaries in Bangladesh.[11]

[edit]Sanctuaries in Bangladesh

A Panaroma atop an observation post at Hiron Point Wild Life Sanctuary, Khulna Range, Bangladesh

The Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans is estimated to be about 4,110 km², of which about 1,700 km² is occupied by waterbodies in the forms of river, canals and creeks of width varying from a few meters to several kilometers. The interconnected network of waterways makes almost every corner of the forest accessible by boat. The forest lies under two forest divisions, and four administrative ranges viz Chandpai, Sarankhola, Khulna, and Burigoalini,Satkhira and has sixteen forest stations. It is further divided into fifty-five compartments and nine blocks.[1]

A new Khulna Forest Circle to preserve the forest was created in 1993 and a Conservator of Forests has been posted. The direct administrative head of the Division is the Divisional Forest Officer who is also based at Khulna. The Divisional Forest Officer has a number of professional, subprofessional and support staff and logistic supports for the implementation of necessary management and administrative activities. The basic unit of management is the compartment. There are 55 compartments in four Forest Ranges and these are clearly demarcated mainly by natural features such as rives, canals and creeks.

There are three wildlife sanctuaries established in 1977 under the Bangladesh Wildlife (Preservation) Order, 1973 (P.O. 23 of 1973). These are:

1. Sundarbans East Wildlife Sanctuary: Extends over an area of 31,227 ha. Freshwater and Sundri (Heritiera fomes) dominate interspersed with Gewa (Excoecaria agallocha) and Passur (Xylocarpus mekongensis) with Kankra (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza) occurring in areas subject to more frequent flooding. There is an understory of Shingra (Cynometra ramiflora) where, soils are drier and Amur (Amoora cucullata) in wetter areas and Goran (Ceriops decandra) in more saline places. Nypa palm (Nypa fruticans) widespread along drainage lines. 2. Sundarbans South Wildlife Sanctuary: Extends over an area of 36,970 ha. There is evidently the greatest seasonal variation in salinity levels and possibly represents an area of relatively longer duration of moderate salinity where Gewa is the dominant woody species. It is often mixed with Sundri, which is able to displace in circumstances such as artificially opened canopies where Sundri does not regenerate as effectively. It is also frequently associated with a dense understory of Goran and sometimes Passur. 3. Sundarbans West Wildlife Sanctuary: Extends over an area of 71,502 ha. Includes areas which support sparse Gewa and dense stands of Goran and discontinuous patches of Hantal palm (Phoenix paludosa) on drier ground and river banks and levees. [edit]Climate change impact

Mudflats in Sundarbans

The physical development processes along the coast are influenced by a multitude of factors, comprising wave motions, micro and macro-tidal cycles and long shore currents typical to the coastal tract. The shore currents vary greatly along with the monsoon. These are also affected by cyclonic action. Erosion and accretion through these forces maintains varying levels, as yet not properly measured, of physiographic change whilst the mangrove vegetation itself provides a remarkable stability to the entire system. During each monsoon season almost all the Bengal Delta is submerged, much of it for half a year. The sediment of the lower delta plain is primarily advected inland by monsoonal coastal setup and cyclonic events. One of the greatest challenges people living on theGanges Delta may face in coming years is the threat of rising sea levels caused mostly by subsidence in the region and partly by climate change.

In many of the Indian mangrove wetlands, freshwater reaching the mangroves was considerably reduced from the late 19th century due to diversion of freshwater in the upstream area. Also, the Bengal Basin is slowly tilting towards the east due to neo-tectonic movement, forcing greater freshwater input to the Bangladesh Sundarbans. As a result, the salinity of the Bangladesh Sundarbans is much lower than that of the Indian Sundarbans. A 1990 study noted that there "is no evidence that environmental degradation in the Himalayas or a 'greenhouse' induced rise in sea level have aggravated floods in Bangladesh"; however, a 2007 report by UNESCO, "Case Studies on Climate Change and World Heritage" has stated that an anthropogenic 45-cm rise in sea level (likely by the end of the 21st century, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), combined with other forms of anthropogenic stress on the Sundarbans, could lead to the destruction of 75% of the Sundarbans mangroves.[12] Already, Lohachara Island and New Moore Island/South Talpatti Island have disappeared under the sea, and Ghoramara Island is half submerged.[13]

[edit]Flora

Sundari tree

The Sundarbans flora is characterized by the abundance of Heritiera fomes, Excoecaria agallocha, Ceriops decandra and Sonneratia apetala. A total 245 genera and 334 plant species were recorded by David Prain in 1903.[14] Since Prain’s report there have been considerable changes in the status of various mangrove species and taxonomic revision of the man-grove flora.[15] However, very little exploration of the botanical nature of the Sundarbans has been made to keep up with these changes. Whilst most of the mangroves in other parts of the world are characterized by members of the Rhizophoraceae, Avicenneaceae or Laganculariaceae, the mangroves of Bangladesh are dominated by the Sterculiaceae and Euphorbiaceae.[6]

The Bangladesh mangrove vegetation of the Sundarbans differs greatly from other non-deltaic coastal mangrove forest and upland forests associations. Unlike the former, the Rhizophoraceae are of minor importance. Differences in vegetation have been explained in terms of freshwater and low salinity influences in the Northeast and variations in drainage and siltation. The Sundarbans has been classified as a moist tropical forest demonstrating a whole mosaic of seres, comprising primary colonization on new accretions to more mature beach forests, often conspicuously dominated by Keora (Sonneratia apetala) and tidal forests. Historically three principal vegetation types have been recognized in broad correlation with varying degrees of water salinity, freshwater flushing and physiography and which are represented in the wildlife sanctuaries:

Sundari and Gewa occur prominently throughout the area with discontinuous distribution of Dhundul (Xylocarpus granatum) and Kankra. Among grasses and Palms, Poresia coaractata, Myriostachya wightiana, Imperata cylindrica, Phragmites karka, Nypa fruticans are well distributed. Keora is an indicator species for newly accreted mudbanks and is an important species for wildlife, especially spotted deer (Axis axis). Besides the forest, there are extensive areas of brackish and freshwater marshes, intertidal mudflats, sandflats, sand dunes with typical dune vegetation, open grassland on sandy soils and raised areas supporting a variety of terrestrial shrubs and trees.

Succession is generally defined as the successive occupation of a site by different plant communities. [16] In an accreting mudflats the outer community along the sequence represents the pioneer community which is gradually replaced by the next community representing the seral stages and finally by a climax community typical of the climatic zone.[17] Troup suggested that succession began in the newly accreted land created by fresh deposits of eroded soil.[18]

The pioneer vegetation on these newly accreted site is Sonneratia, followed by Avicennia and Nypa. As the ground is elevated as a result of soil deposition, other trees make their appearance. The most prevalent, though one of the late species to appear, is Excoecaria. As the level of land rises through accretion and the land is only occasionally flooded by tides, Heritiera fomes begins to appear.

[edit]Fauna

A Royal Bengal tiger

The Sundarbans provide a unique ecosystem and a rich wildlife habitat. The Sundarbans were home to approximately 312 Bengal tigers in 2009 [19], one of the largest single populations of tigers. Tiger attacks are frequent in the Sundarbans. Between 100 and 250 people are killed per year. However, owing to various measures taken for safety, there have been no reports of deaths since 2004 in the Indian portion of the Sundarbans[citation needed].

Chital deers are widely seen

There is much more wildlife here than just the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris). Most importantly mangroves are a transition from the marine to freshwater and terrestrial systems and provide critical habitat for numerous species of small fish, crabs, hermit crabs, shrimps and other crustaceans that are adapted to feed, shelter and reproduce among the tangled mass of roots, known as pneumatophores, that grow upward from the anaerobic mud to get the trees' supply of oxygen. Fishing Cats, Macaques, Wild Boar, Common Grey Mongoose, Fox, Jungle Cat, Flying Fox, Pangolin, and Chital are also found in abundance in the Sundarbans.

1991 studies revealed that the Bangladesh Sundarbans support diverse biological resources including at least 120 species of commercially important fishes, 270 species of birds, 42 species of mammals, 35 reptiles and eight amphibian species. This represents a significant proportion of the species present in Bangladesh (i.e. about 30% of the reptiles, 37% the birds and 34% of the mammals) and includes a large number of species which are now extinct elsewhere in the country.[20] Two amphibians, 14 reptiles, 25 aves and five mammals are presently endangered.[21] The Sundarbans is an important wintering area for migrant water birds[22] and is an area suitable for watching and studying avifauna.[23]

The management of wildlife is presently restricted to the protection of fauna from poaching and designation of some areas as wildlife sanctuaries where no extraction of forest produce is allowed and the wildlife face few disturbances. Although the fauna of Bangladesh have diminished in recent times[6] and the Sundarbans has not been spared from this decline, the mangrove forest retains several good wildlife habitats and their associated fauna. Of these the tiger and dolphin are target species for planning wildlife management and tourism development. There are high profile and vulnerable mammals living in two contrasting environments and their statuses and management are strong indicators of the general condition of wildlife and its management. Some of the species are protected by legislation, notably by the Bangladesh Wildlife (Preservation) Order, 1973 (P.O. 23 of 1973).

[edit]Predators See also: Tiger attacks in the Sundarbans

The fertile soils of the delta have been subject to intensive human use for centuries, and the ecoregion has been mostly converted to intensive agriculture, with few enclaves of forest remaining. The remaining forests, together with the Sundarbans mangroves, are important habitat for the endangered Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris). Sunderbans also contains the leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) and several smaller predators such as the jungle cat (Felis chaus), fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), and leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis).[10]

Several predators dwell in the labyrinth of channels, branches and roots that poke up into the air. This is the only mangrove ecoregion that harbors the Indo-Pacific region's largest predator, the Bengal Tiger. Unlike in other habitats, here tigers live and swim among the mangrove islands, where they hunt scarce prey such as the Chital deer (axis axis), Indian Muntjac(Muntiacus muntjak), Wild boar (Sus scrofa), and even Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta). It is estimated that there are now 500[19] Bengal tigers and about 30,000 spotted deer in the area. The tigers do also regularly attack and kill humans who venture into the forest with estimates of human deaths ranging from 30-100 people per year [24].

Some of the reptiles are predators too, including two species of crocodile, the Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) and Mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris), as well as the Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) and the Water monitor lizard (Varanus salvator) all of which hunt on both land and water, while Sharks and the Gangetic freshwater dolphins (Platanista gangetica) roam the waterways.

[edit]Avifauna

Blue-eared Kingfisher sighted in the Sundarbans

The forests are rich in bird life too with 170 species including the endemic Brown-winged Kingfisher (Pelargopsis amauroptera) and the globally threatened Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus) and Masked Finfoot (Heliopais personata) and birds of prey such as the osprey (Pandion haliaetus), White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) and Grey-headed Fish- eagle (Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus). The Sundarbans were designated a Ramsar site on May 21, 1992. [25] Some of the more popular birds found in this region are Open Billed Storks, White Ibis, Water Hens, Coots, Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, Pariah Kites,Brahminy Kite, Marsh Harriers, Swamp Partridges, Red Junglefowls, Spotted Doves, Common Mynahs, Jungle Crows, Jungle Babblers, Cotton Teals, Herring Gulls, Caspian Terns, Gray Herons, Brahminy Ducks, Spot-billed Pelicans, Large Egrets, Night Herons, Common Snipes, Wood Sandpipers, Green Pigeons, Rose Ringed Parakeets, Paradise Flycatchers, Cormorants, Fishing Eagles, White-bellied Sea Eagles, Seagulls, Common Kingfishers, Peregrine falcons, Woodpeckers, Whimprels, Black-tailed Godwits, Little Stints, Eastern Knots, Curlews, Golden Plovers, Pintails, White Eyed Pochards and Whistling Teals.

[edit]Aqua fauna

Gangetic Dolphin, drawing from 1894

Some of the fish and amphibians found in the park are Sawfish, Butter Fish, Electric rays, Silver carp, Barb (fish), River Eels, Star Fish, Common Carp, King Crabs,Prawn, Shrimps, Gangetic Dolphins, Skipping Frogs, Common Toads and Tree Frogs. One particularly interesting fish is the mudskipper, a gobioid that climbs out of the water into mudflats and even climbs trees.

[edit]Reptiles

A crocodile at Sundarbans

The Sundarbans National Park houses an excellent number of reptiles as well. Some of the common ones are Olive Ridley turtles, sea snakes, Dog Faced Water Snakes, Green Turtles, Estuarine Crocodiles, Chameleons, King Cobras, Salvator Lizards, Hard Shelled Batgun Terrapins, Russels Vipers, Mouse Ghekos, Monitor Lizards, Curviers, Hawks Bill Turtles, Pythons, Common Kraits, Chequered Killbacks and rat Snakes. The river terrapin (Batagur baska), Indian flap-shelled turtle (Lissemys punctata), peacock soft-shelled turtle (Trionyx hurum), yellow monitor (Varanus flavescens), water monitor (Varanus salvator), and Indian python (Python molurus) are some of the resident species.

[edit]Endangered and extinct species

Extinct rhino of Sunderbans

The endangered species that lives within the Sundarbans are Royal Bengal Tiger, Estuarian Crocodile, River Terrapin (Batagur baska), Olive Ridley Turtle,Gangetic dolphin, Ground Turtle, Hawks Bill Turtle and King Crabs (Horse shoe). Some species such as hog deer (Axis porcinus), water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), swamp deer (Cervus duvauceli), Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), single horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) and the mugger crocodile or marsh crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) have become extinct in the Sundarbans at the beginning of the last century.[21] There are several other threatened mammal species, such as the capped langur (Semnopithecus pileatus), smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata), Oriental small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinerea), and great Indian civet (Viverra zibetha).

[edit]Economy

Fishing boat in the Sundarbans

Logging boat in the Sundarbans

Ferry boat in the Sundarbans

The Sundarbans has a population of over 4 million[26] but much of it is mostly free of permanent human habitation.

The Sundarbans play an important role in the economy of the southwestern region of Bangladesh as well as in the national economy. It is the single largest source of forest produce in the country. The forest provides raw material for wood based industries. In addition to traditional forest produce like timber, fuelwood, pulpwood etc., large scale harvest of non wood forest products such as thatching materials, honey, bees-wax, fish, crustacean and mollusk resources of the forest takes place regularly. The vegetated tidal lands of the Sundarbans also function as an essential habitat, nutrient producer, water purifier, nutrient and sediment trap, storm barrier, shore stabilizer, energy storage unit and aesthetic attraction.

The forest also has immense protective and productive functions. Constituting 51% of the total reserved forest estate of Bangladesh it contributes about 41% of total forest revenue and accounts for about 45% of all timber and fuel wood output of the country (FAO 1995). A number of industries (e.g. newsprint mill, match factory, hardboard, boat building, furniture making) are based on the raw material obtained from the Sundarbans ecosystem. Various non-timber forest products and plantations help generate considerable employment and income generation opportunities for at least half a million poor coastal population. Besides production functions of the forest, it provides natural protection to life and properties of the coastal population in cyclone prone Bangladesh.

Despite human habitations and economic exploitation of the forest, Sundarbans retained a forest closure of about 70% according to the Overseas Development Administration (ODA) of the United Kingdom in 1985. Forest inventories reveal a decline in standing volume of the two main commercial mangrove species — sundari (Heritiera spp.) and gewa (Excoecaria agallocha) — by 40% and 45% respectively between 1959 and 1983 (Forestal 1960 and ODA 1985). Also, despite a total ban on all killing or capture of wildlife other than fish and some invertebrates, there appears to be a pattern of depleted biodiversity or loss of species (notably at least six mammals and one important reptile this century), and that the "ecological quality of the original mangrove forest is declining" (IUCN 1994).

[edit]In popular culture

Idol of Bonbibi

The Sunderbans are celebrated through numerous Bengali folk songs and dances, often centered around the folk heroes, gods and goddesses specific to the Sunderbans (like Bonbibi and Dakshin Rai) and to the Lower Gangetic Delta (like Manasa and Chand Sadagar). The Bengali folk epic Manasamangal mentions Netidhopani and has some passages set in the Sunderbans during the heroine Behula's quest to bring her husband Lakhindar back to life.

The area provides the setting for several novels by Emilio Salgari, (e.g. The Mystery of the Black Jungle). Padma Nadir Majhi was also made into a movie by Goutam Ghose. Sundarbaney Arjan Sardar, a novel by Shibshankar Mitra, and Padma Nadir Majhi, a novel by Manik Bandopadhyay, are based on the rigors of lives of villagers and fishermen in the Sunderbans region, and are woven into the Bengali psyche to an extent. Part of the plot of Salman Rushdie's Booker Prize winning novel, Midnight's Children is also set in the Sundarbans. Kunal Basu's short story "The Japanese Wife" and the subsequent film adaptation also take place here. Most of the plot of prize-winning anthropologist Amitav Ghosh's 2004 novel, The Hungry Tide, is set in the Sundarbans. The book mentions two accounts of the Banbibi story of "Dukhey's Redemption."[27]

The Sunderbans has been the subject of numerous non-fiction books, including The Man-Eating Tigers of Sundarbans by Sy Montegomery for a young audience, which was shortlisted for the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award. In Up The Country, Emily Eden discusses her travels through the Sunderbans.[28] Numerous documentary movies have been made about the Sunderbans, including the 2003 IMAX production Shining Bright about the Bengal Tiger. The acclaimed BBC TV series Ganges documents the lives of villagers, especially honey collectors, in the Sundarbans.

[edit]See also

. Sundarbans National Park

. Sundarbans tiger project . Tiger attacks in the Sundarbans

. Mukti (organization)

. Vivada Inland Waterways Limited

[edit]Footnotes and references

1. ^ a b c Pasha, Mostafa Kamal; Siddiqui, Neaz Ahmad (2003). "Sundarbans". In Islam,

Sirajul. Banglapedia: national encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Dhaka: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 9843205766 2. ^ Sundarbans Tiger Project 3. ^ "Sunderban Mangroves". Geological Survey of India. Retrieved 2010-01-21. 4. ^ "Sunderbans" (PDF). Protected areas and World Heritage sites. United Nations

Environmental Programme. Retrieved 2010-01-21. 5. ^ Laskar Muqsudur, Rahman. "The Sundarbans: A Unique Wilderness of the

World" (PDF). Wilderness.net. Retrieved 2010-01-21. 6. ^ a b c Hussain, Z. and G. Acharya, 1994. (Eds.) Mangroves of the Sundarbans. Volume

two : Bangladesh. IUCN, Bangkok, Thailand. 257 p. 7. ^ UNDP, 1998. Integrated resource development of the Sundarbans Reserved

Forests, Bangladesh. Volume I Project BGD/84/056, United Nations Development Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,Dhaka, The People's Republic of Bangladesh. 323 p. 8. ^ Katebi, M.N.A. and M.G. Habib, 1987. Sundarbans and Forestry in Coastal Area

Resource Development and Management Part II, BRAC Printers, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 107 p. 9. ^ Ecoregions: Indo-Malayan, World Wildlife Fund 10. ^ a b c Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests (IM0162), World Wildlife Fund 11. ^ a b Sundarbans Mangroves (IM1406), World Wildlife Fund 12. ^ Case Studies of Climate Change, UNESCO, 2007 13. ^ George, Nirmala (24 March 2010) "Disputed isle in Bay of Bengal disappears into

sea" Associated Press, via Yahoo News, accessed 24 March 2010 14. ^ Prain, D. 1903. The flora of Sundarbans. Records of the Botanical Survey of India. 114:

231–272. 15. ^ Khatun, B.M.R. and syed hafiz, 1987. Taxonomic studies in the genus Avicennia L. from

Bangladesh. Bangladesh J. Bot. 16(1): 39–44. 16. ^ Weaver, J.E. and F.E. Clements, 1938. Plant Ecology. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.

New York. 601 p. 17. ^ Watson, J.G. 1928. Mangrove swamps of the Malayan peninsula. Malayan Forest

Records 6:1–275. 18. ^ Troup, R.S. 1921. The Silviculture of Indian Trees. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1195 p. 19. ^ a b www.bforest.gov.bd/highlights.php 20. ^ Scott, D.A. 1991. Asia and the Middle East Wetlands. M. Finlayson and M. Moser (eds.).

Oxford: 151–178. 21. ^ a b Sarker, S.U. 1993. Ecology of Wildlife UNDP/FAO/BGD/85/011. Field Document N.

50 Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences. Chittagong, Bangladesh. 251 p. 22. ^ Zöckler, C., Balachandran, S., Bunting, G.C., Fanck, M., Kashiwagi, M., Lappo, E.G.,

Maheswaran, G., Sharma, A., Syroechkovski, E.E. & Webb, K. 2005. The Indian Sunderbans: an important wintering site for Siberian waders. Wader Study Group Bull. 108: 42–46. PDF 23. ^ Habib, M.G. 1999. Message In: Nuruzzaman, M., I.U. Ahmed and H. Banik (eds.). The

Sundarbans world heritage site: an introduction, Forest Department, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. 12 p. 24. ^ http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/15955/0 25. ^ Sundarbans mangroves (IM1406), World Wildlife Fund 26. ^ Subir Bhaumik, Fears rise for sinking Sundarbans, BBC News, 2003-09-15 27. ^ Ghosh, Amitav. The Hungry Tide: A Novel., Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005: pp. 84-88,

292-97. 28. ^ Up The Country at Google Books

[edit]Sources

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.

. Laskar Muqsudur Rahman, The Sundarbans: A Unique Wilderness of the World; at USDA Forest Reserve; McCool, Stephen F.; Cole, David N.; Borrie, William T.; O’Loughlin, Jennifer, comps. 2000. Wilderness science in a time of change conference, Volume 2: Wilderness within the context of larger systems; 1999 May 23–27; Missoula, MT. Proceedings RMRS-P-15-VOL-2. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.

. Terminal Report, Integrated Resource Development of the Sundarbans Reserved Forest: Project Findings and Recommendations, Food and Agriculture Organization (acting as executing agency for

the United Nations Development Programme),United Nations, Rome, 1998 (prepared for the Government of Bangladesh) . Blasco, F. (1975). The Mangroves of India. Institut Francis de Pondichery, Travaux de las Section Scientifique et Technique, Tome XIV, Facicule 1. Pondichery, India.

. FAO (1995). Integrated Resource Management Plan of the Sundarbans Reserved Forest – Final Report. FAO Project BGD/84/056. FAO, Rome, Italy.

. Forestal (1960). Forest Inventory 1958–59 Sundarbans Forests. Oregon: Forestal Forestry and Engineering International Ltd, Canada.

. IUCN (1994). Mangroves of the Sundarbans. Volume 2: Bangladesh. The IUCN Wetlands Programme. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

. ODA (1985). A forest inventory of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh. Main Report. Land Resources Development Centre, Surbiton, England.

. Wahid, S.M., Alam, M.J. and Rahman, A. (2002). "Mathematical river modelling to support ecological monitoring of the largest mangrove forest of the world – the Sundarbans". Proceedings of First Asia-Pacific DHI software conference, 17–18 June 2002.

. Montgomery, Sy (1995). Spell of the Tiger: The Man-Eaters of Sundarbans. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York.

. Rivers of Life: Living with Floods in Bangladesh. M. Q. Zaman. Asian Survey, Vol. 33, No. 10 (Oct., 1993), pp. 985–996

. Modern sediment supply to the lower delta plain of the Ganges-Brahmaputra River in Bangladesh. September, 2001. Geo-Marine Letters, Volume 21, Number 2. doi:10.1007/s003670100069

. Sundarbans on United Nations Environment Programme

. Floods in Bangladesh: II. Flood Mitigation and Environmental Aspects. H. Brammer. The Geographical Journal, Vol. 156, No. 2 (Jul., 1990), pp. 158–165. doi:10.2307/635323

. Environmental classification of mangrove wetlands of India. V. Selvam. Current Science, Vol. 84, No. 6, 25 March 2003.

[edit]External links

. Wikimedia Commons has media related to: SundarbansSundarbans travel guide from Wikitravel

. Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests (World Wildlife Fund)

. Tiger Research Project on Sundarbans Tigers

. Official Citation at World Heritage website

. Another Sundarban factfile

. Sundarban in Banglapedia

. The Sundarban of Bangladesh: A Rich Biodiversity of the World’s Largest Mangrove Ecosystem . The NewYorker Tigerland: A journey through the mangrove forest of Bengal

. Video on Sundarbans

. [1] Research on agricultural water management in the Sunderbans

. Sundarbans in Bangladesh Video including wildlife, fishermen, Egg Island and Hiron Point

[show] v • d • e Geography of South Asia

[show] v • d • e World Heritage Sites in Bangladesh

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МонголThe Sundarban Tiger project is a Bangladesh Forest Department initiative that effectively started its field activities in February 2005. The idea for creating such a project was first developed during a field survey in 2001 conducted by Md. Osman Gani, Ishtiaq U. Ahmad, James L. D. Smith and K. Ullas Karanth. They realized that the Sundarbans mangrove forest at the mouth of the Ganges River contained probably one of the largest populations of wild tigers left in the world. As such, there was an urgent need to start measures that would ensure the protection of this precious area.

The Save the Tiger Fund and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service generously donated funds to support the initial phase of research that aims to collect data on tiger ecology using telemetry, and study the tiger’s environment by assessing its habitat and prey.

But management of a wilderness area needs more than just information on the species to be protected. Personnel with skills and resources to implement conservation strategies, and the general support of the country are also required. So from the research base, the project is evolving rapidly to also encompass capacity building and conservation awareness activities. It has been able to do so through the forward thinking approach to management taken by the Forest Department, and the incredible support of the Bangladeshi people.

The project is administered by the Forest Department and it utilizes wildlife consultants from the University of Minnesota to advise on research strategies and train staff. At the field level, there is a team of 8, made up of Forest Department personnel and one wildlife consultant.

[edit]External links

• • Nederlands • 日本語 • Norsk (bokmål) • Norsk (nynorsk) • Polski • Português • Русский • Српски / Srpski • Svenska • தமிழ் • తలుగు • Türkçe • Українська • This page was last modified on 28 October 2010 at 23:51. • Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. • Contact us

The Sundarban Tiger project is a Bangladesh Forest Department initiative that effectively started its field activities in February 2005. The idea for creating such a project was first developed during a field survey in 2001 conducted by Md. Osman Gani, Ishtiaq U. Ahmad, James L. D. Smith and K. Ullas Karanth. They realized that the Sundarbans mangrove forest at the mouth of the Ganges River contained probably one of the largest populations of wild tigers left in the world. As such, there was an urgent need to start measures that would ensure the protection of this precious area.

[edit]External links • Congress gets tough, shows door to Chavan, Kalmadi o Mr Chavan, who became the chief minister of Maharashtra soon after the 26/11 Mumbai terror assault, was ousted from his post an o hour after US President Barack Obama left the country’s shores after a three-day visit, and an hour before the commencement of the winter session of Parliament. o In another delayed action, the Congress leadership attempted to remove some of the corruption stain off its sleeve by removing Suresh Kalmadi from the post of Congress Parliamentary Party secretary. o The Pune MP, who is the chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, had earned widespread opprobrium for himself, and his party, for the large-scale irregularities in awarding various contracts relating to the sporting event. As charges started swirling around him, Mr Kalmadi tried to brazen it out by assuming a defiant stance. • Telecom Minister Raja in trouble o The country’s chief auditor (CAG) has formally indicted communications minister A Raja for causing a loss of up to 177,000 crore to the government by selling airwaves, a scarce national resource, at a fraction of their original value, disregarding the advice of several government departments, a development that provides fresh ammunition to Opposition parties who have been baying for his blood since 2008. o The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), in its report submitted to the government on Wednesday after an 18-month probe, added that the telecom minister had caused losses between 90,000 crore and 140,000 crore by awarding scarce airwaves to new entrants in 2008 using a faulty and outdated policy. o Pan-India licences and airwaves were sold to nine companies, including Swan (now Etisalat), Datacom (Videocon), Unitech, Sistema-Shyam and Loop, for a mere 1,651 crore each, a price fixed in 2001, when the mobile subscriber base was 45 million and industry valuations were poor. Along with these nine companies, Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices were also given dual licences at the 2001 price, enabling them to offer services on both GSM and CDMA technology platforms. o The report also points out that licences given to five companies—Essar Groupowned Loop Telecom, realty firm Unitech, which in turn ceded majority control to Norway’s Telenor, Datacom (Videocon), Swan (Etisalat DB) and S Tel—were illegal as these companies did not fulfil the eligibility criteria for obtaining telecom licences while adding that the communications ministry failed to reject their applications, further embarrassing the government, which has been battling allegations of a cover-up in investigating the allocation of mobile permits awarded in 2008. o The CAG report adds that Mr Raja’s ministry doled out extra airwaves to existing telcos such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, BSNL among others, beyond what they were entitled to, causing an additional loss of nearly Rs 37,000 crore to the exchequer. • Prithviraj Chavan is the new CM of Maharashtra o This is a very well written report about the news. Worth a read. He seems to be having all the requisite qualifications to handle the portfolio. Let’s wish him all the best. • Will Justice Sen be the first judge to be impeached? o Look at this news report. He is accused of having misappropriated funds while discharging his duties as a court appointed receiver and misrepresenting facts before the court.

Finance & Economy

• Government considers reducing litigation o The government said that its tax authorities will not take legal recourse in cases where the disputed amount is below a certain threshold, as it looks to reduce unproductive litigation. The new rules are in sync with a national litigation policy that seeks to make the government an efficient and responsible litigant. o The purpose of the policy is to ensure that valuable time of the courts is not spent in resolving pending cases and to bring down the average pendency time in the courts. o The Central Board Of Excise and Customs (CBEC), the apex indirect taxes body, has directed its officials that an appeal will not be filed in the appellate tribunal if the amount involved, including fine and penalty, is 1 lakh and less. Similarly, appeals will not be filed in high courts if the disputed amount is 2 lakh and less. o An amount of over 47,000 crore, more than the government’s disinvestment target for the current fiscal, is locked up in indirect taxes arrears. o In the case of direct taxes, more than 75,000 crore—an amount close to a fifth of the government’s annual collections—is blocked in courts. o At the end of March 2009 there were 14,707 excise cases pending adjudication and another 37,368 of confirmed demands pending recovery. o Arrears of 15,897 crore were locked up in various courts and tribunals at the end of December 2009. Another 13,573 crore was blocked in BIFR and debt recovery tribunals. o The new policy also lays down that no appeal shall be filed where the assessee has acted in accordance with the long-standing practice. However, adverse judgements would have to be contested irrespective of the amount involved in cases where the constitutional validity of the provisions of an Act or rule is under challenge or where a notification/instruction/order/circular has been held illegal. o Tax authorities will also file appeals in cases where the department has accepted an audit objection in a case. • Tatas offer to fit safety add-ons for Nano o The maker of the world’s cheapest car announced a number of steps to enhance its safety after a series of fire incidents while insisting that the move did not amount to a recall. Tata Motors said it would upgrade the exhaust and electrical systems for all the 70,000 Nanos, currently on road. o The initiative comes amid reports about fire incidents involving Nano cars from across the country. o Asserting that these checks do not constitute a ‘recall’, Tata Motors on Wednesday insisted that the modifications were intended to make the small car more robust. The statement from Tata Motors, while insisting that the car was safe, said Nano owners could get them upgraded, if they so desired. o RECALLS of locally-manufactured vehicles are almost unheard of in India. Unlike the developed markets of Europe and the US where engineering defects often lead to mass recalls, no legal protection is provided for Indian customers in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules. o Despite the sterling performance of its other businesses, adverse perceptions about the car’s safety has hit the company’s production plans. According to a number of officials at vendors supplying components for the Nano, Tata Motors had planned to raise production to over 500 cars per day from the second-half of the current fiscal. But lack of demand and high inventories at dealerships restricted the production to a mere 100 cars per day. • On gold standard as a solution for the current global mess o This is an excellent ET in the Classroom column that discusses the issue. A MUST read. • SCOPE o It stands for the “standing conference of public sector enterprises”. It is the apex body of central public sector enterprises. • On granting the navaratna status o The government gives autonomy to PSUs upon meeting certain conditions, which were laid out in 1997. The department of public enterprises, the nodal agency for all PSUs, is responsible for granting the coveted status. o As of now there are over 15 companies in the navratna category and over 49 companies in the miniratna -I category. Only four companies have got the highest maharatna status, which allows them to make large investments and even acquire assets overseas. o Under the current rules a PSU is eligible for miniratna status if it has made profits in three preceding years and, has posted a pre-tax profit of . 30 crore or more in at least one of the three years. Such a company can graduate to the navratna status if awarded excellent or very good rating in the memorandum with the department. The . 30 crore threshold was substantial in 1997, but may be disproportionately low in context of the freedom available to them. o A navratna company enjoys the power to make an equity investment in a project, a joint venture or wholly owned subsidiary, involving an outlay of 15% of its net worth subject to a maximum of Rs 1,000 crore in a single project. The overall ceiling on such investment in all projects put together is 30% of the networth of the company. • An excellent article on the fallacies about MFIs o This is an excellent op-ed from one of our favourite authors -- TT Rammohan. So far we have been fed on the virtues of MFIs. That they promote financial inclusion in a big way and that they undercut the moneylender for good. But take a look at this incisive article and we will realize that all is not well with the MFIs’ way of doing things.

International

• Five-point agenda set for G20 meet o In the formal agenda of the Seoul G20 are five issues: the framework of balanced and sustainable growth, reform of the international financial institutions and financial regulatory reform. The Koreans have taken the initiative to add two more items to the agenda, development and trade and a financial safety net for developing countries. Together, the theme of the conference would be ‘sustainable growth beyond the crisis.’ o An interesting expansion of the G20: o Korea, which is hosting such a major international gathering for the first time, has sought to broadbase the conference further, by inviting Ethiopia, Vietnam and Spain in addition to the official members of the G20, to additionally represent their geographies at the meet.

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