ROAR OF THE TIGER

Many of you would probably feel what is this?But what I am going to write here is because it has shocked and horrified me and you may feel the same after reading this.We all read the newspaper, isn't it? We all turn to page3 quickly to see the celebrity photos, check the sensex, sports page.In all this we forget to notice a few things which we should have noticed.What inspired me to write this piece of **** I don't know but it had to be written.If not by me then by someone else.Malini Shankar in her article on wildlife writes that tiger census results may sharpen conservation debate.This was written when the formal count of the number of tigers in India's 28 tiger reserves was to be announced in 31st December 2007.The report could formulate policies of land use as well as accentuate the debate on rehabilitation of forest dwellers in favour of wildlife conservation.At the turn of the 19th century, one estimate of the tiger population in India placed the figure at 45,000. The first ever all-India tiger census was conducted in 1972 which revealed the existence of only 1827 tigers. A recent report published by the National Tiger Conservation Authority estimates only 1411 adult tigers in existence in India (plus uncensused tigers in the Sundarbans).In 1972 thus was launched PROJECT TIGER a wildlife conservation project initiated to protect the Bengal Tigers.The project aims at tiger conservation in specially constituted tiger reserves representative of various biogeographical regions throughout India.In 2007, there were more than 40 Project Tiger wildlife reserves covering an area of 37,761 km². Project Tiger helped increase the population of these tigers from 1,200 in the 1970s to 3,500 in 1990s. However, a 2008 census held by Government of India revealed that the tiger population had dropped to 1,411. Since then the government has pledged US$153 million to further fund the project, set-up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers, and fund the relocation of up to 200,000 villagers to minimize human-tiger interaction. The efforts started in July 2008, when Sariska Tiger Reserve, whose tiger population was completely wiped out in 2005, received the first two tigers via government-backed translocation scheme.This is the pace at which the Indian Government works.If there was an article written by Nandal Nilekani to Narayan murthy on the proceedings of the parliament and the thorough professionals they are, its time to think again.Our government still lacks on several fronts and is far from reach of the common people.However I won't discuss it now.. Coming back to the topic... The project was launched in 1973 in Corbett national park, and various tiger reserves were
created in the country based on a 'core-buffer' strategy. Management plans were drawn up
for each tiger reserve based on the principles outlined below: Elimination of all forms of human exploitation and biotic disturbance from the core area and rationalization of activities in the buffer zone. Restricting the habitat management only to repair the damages done to the eco-system by human and other interferences so as to facilitate recovery of the eco-system to its natural state. Monitoring the faunal and floral changes over time and carrying out research about wildlife. Global organizations, such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), contributed much funding to Project Tiger. Eventually, however, it was discovered that the project's field directors had been manipulating tiger census numbers in order to encourage more donations. In fact, the numbers were so exaggerated as to be biologically impossible in some cases.In addition, Project Tiger's efforts were damaged by poaching, as well as the Sariska debacle which were reported extensively in Indian media.Let me tell you about the infamous Sariska project.The Sariska slaughter of 22 tigers some years back brought to light the exaggeration of tiger numbers. Never before was there so much pressure on forest administration to give an accurate picture. The question in Sariska was, were there really 22 tigers that fell to the poachers' bullets? Or were there only 16 to 18 tigers as it was suggested by a field director of the reserve - Deepak Bhatnagar when he sought a recount in 2004.
Because tiger presence and tiger numbers quantify habitat conservation itself, over the years, the tiger census has come to manifest accountability of the forest officials. The tiger is at the head of the faunal pyramid in Protected Areas. If the numbers are healthy, they also reveal that their prey base too is in good numbers, proportionate to the health of the ecosystem.Counting tigers thus became the best way to hold forest officers accountable for its safety and protection. Forest department officials are indeed the custodians of Indian wildlife, bestowed with responsibility under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. But tiger numbers were invariably inflated because forest officials turned a blind eye to poaching in part because of the challenges of proving the alleged poachers' connivance in the courts.This is because The Wildlife Protection Act 1972 stipulates the recovery of material to prove the case in a court of law. "Collection of evidence is tedious because material decomposes after a while, scattering of evidence might not be easy to connect to poaching case in question; so providing the witness becomes very challenging.Forest officials were helpless in proving poaching because of the challenges associated with recovery of material. It was easier for them to inflate numbers instead of pursuing laborious investigations which would in any case prove fruitless in a court of
law. There are number of ways of tiger census.these are pugmark,DNA analysis,biometric data
analysis,block counting,radio collaring,digital pugmark prey base indicators,etc.The cheapest and most cost effective way is pugmark technique.Pugmark technique was effective in nature but the human element and the way of its interpretation was not.There was a need to revamp the methods of counting now.To address the shortfalls of the pugmark monitoring system, the Project Tiger Directorate (currently the National Tiger Conservation Authority) commenced a project in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India and the Forest Department of Madhya Pradesh in 2003 to evolve a monitoring program for tigers, co-predators, prey and their habitat in the Satpura-Maikal Landscape.Following the Sariska crisis, the Tiger Task Force recommended the implementation of this monitoring scheme for all tiger occupied landscapes. The long awaited India's tiger census , released in 2008 by the government of India ,shows the country more at risk of losing its national symbol to poaching and habitat loss.However I would still say the work of government is commendable and praise the Indian government for its scientific integrity, and for sharing with the world the harsh truth of the crisis facing the tiger.Tigers are threatened by a combination of poaching, habitat loss from development, the loss of corridors between areas and retaliatory killing of tigers for preying on cattle or attacking humans. The existence of international markets for illegal tiger parts in spite of the fact that the countries where majority of illegal trade in wildlife takes place are signatories to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is indeed a matter of grave concern.WWF is trying hard to reduce all possible causes that are causing tiger deaths.But if attention is not paid to their conservation we will lose them altogether.Project Tiger was a pet project of Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India. The main achievements of this project are excellent recovery of the habitat and consequent increase in the tiger population in the reserve areas, from a mere 268 in 9 reserves in 1972 to above one thousand in 28 reserves in 2006.

NOW THE BIG QUESTION:

Why do we need to save the tiger, one would ask.There are bigger issues like poverty, global food shortage, price rise. Why do we have to care about some wild tiger?To answer this question, one needs to understand that tiger is not just a charismatic species. It’s not just a wild animal living in some forest. The tiger is a unique animal which plays a pivotal role in the health and diversity of an ecosystem. It is a top predator and is at the apex of the food chain and keeps the population of wild ungulates in check, thereby maintaining the balance between prey herbivores and the vegetation upon which they feed. Therefore the presence of tigers in the forest is an indicator of the well being of the ecosystem. The extinction of this top predator is an indication that its ecosystem is not sufficiently protected, and neither would it exist for long thereafter. If the tigers go extinct, the entire system would collapse. For e.g. when the Dodos went extinct in Mauritius, one species of Acacia trees stopped regenerating completely. So when a species goes extinct, it leaves behind a scar, which affects the entire ecosystem. Another reason why we need to save the tiger is that our forests are water catchment areas. If the tiger goes today, the forests will go tomorrow and day after there will be no water in your homes. This is apart from the other natural disasters waiting to happen. And finally the tiger anthem that I have collected :

My son asked me the other day

Do we have tigers only in the zoos

My teacher tells me the forests are gone

The deers are gone, wild animals are gone

The king of the junge now kills our cattle Poachers on his trail

Now people live where once he lived His skin is up for sale.
I said son, your teacher's not fully right Tigers are in danger, but still they survive

You can still see them in the wild

Sure I will take you there someday The future of the tiger still hangs by a thread

But the battle is still not lost We don't wanna see tigers only in the zoos

We'll save them at any cost
And its now or never, for the future of the tiger

It is time to decide if we wanna see the tigers in the wild

And he looked you in the eye, When you shot him, before he died

It is time that we ensure we gave the tigers a safe home.
Well son, the tiger needs your support

In you his future lies If the tigers live, the forests live And we need it for us to survive

I take the vow not to buy anything

That has tiger part And I will try my best to gain all support

For the tiger with all my heart
And its now or never....
Lyrics: Banjoy

The fact cannot be denied that the tigers in India are under tremendous threat for survival
and the general public needs to support the cause of tiger conservation in a large way.
With this objective in mind WWF-India kick started a signature campaign called "Roar of the
Tiger" on July 19, 2007 at a function organized at the Secretariat.This is the roar of the tiger which is roaring loud,loud enough that the whole world should
come to its rescue.please help save tigers.

CLICK THE LINK TO SUPPORT THE CAUSE :

http://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/tiger_wildlife/tigermosaic/message1/

END-ULKAR: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is the name I am talking about(as if no one knows).At the age of 16 when his classmates were slogging hard to fair in the board exams , he was busy making inroads into international cricket.Year 1989 , Sachin was playing his first test match against Pakistan at Karachi.He scored a meagre 15 runs but his innings was noteworthy because of the fact that he took numerous blows on his body.He was hit with a bouncer at Sialkot on his nose but refused to take medical assistance as he had different plans to execute.In an exhibition match he went on to score 53 runs of just 18 balls, which was a test of his character where he hit 28 runs of an Abdul Qadir over.After that there was no turning back for Tendulkar.Sachin's rise continued and he deilvered year after year scoring centuries and making records.Wisden once quoted"He looked the embodiment of India's famous opener, Gavaskar, and indeed was wearing a pair of his pads. While he displayed a full repertoire of strokes in compiling his maiden Test hundred, most remarkable were his off-side shots from the back foot. Though only 5ft 5in tall, he was still able to control without difficulty short deliveries from the English paceman." after Sachin scored century in 1990 against England at Old Trafford when he became the second youngest player to score a Test century as he made 119* at Old Trafford.Harsha Bhogle in his speech at IIM was talking about excellence when he said that its hard to see such dedicated persons these days like Sachin.Sachin has a passion for his game and more importantly for his fans , to live up to the expectation of the Fans or Fanatics alike.Sachin once played for over 52 days continually.He stands tall like the steeple , most of the years at the peak ,year after year, series after series ,living upto the expectations of a billion cricket crazy folks.I went to see kanchendzonga recently and I can certainly compare Sachin with the peak.His towering performances are such, that even at peak almost the every performance seems like a mountain range and sometimes seems flat.
But I am not here to discuss his success .For that matter everyone can write a book on Sachin if he tries sincerely.Its always not so easy to deliver. I take a few stats from Santhanam and Subramaniam's book and tell you what exactly is the DARK SIDE OF THE MOON.Sachin has been described as the "Most wholesome batsman of his time" by CRICINFO columnist sambit Bal. As described by Santhanam : They are not superstitious .But they believe in the science of probabalities and being an engineer I also believe in probabilty.And the study of the careers of many of the best batsmen cricket has produced over the last forty years has led us to conclude that sometime between the age of thirty-two and thirty-four , a batsman ,however great ,loses his bearings.They call this phenomenon 'the 33 effect'.
This period usually witnesses a sharp decline in batting power.Only a few recover whereas others don't.Interestingly this phase is preceded by a marked dominance where the player is usually comapared with the best in industry.perhaps it is some physiological process,either kicking in or failing to.I am not trying to poke your mind with any wrong information.

Pls chk this :

THE 33 EFFECT

player-Gordon greenidge((born 1951) career average-44.72 the '33 effect' around - 1984


test averages by season
1982-83 :78.60
1984 :81.74
1984-85:36.76
1985-86 :36.16
1986-87 :47.60

Garfield Sobers(born 1936) career average-57.78 the '33 effect' around -1969

test averages by season
1966-67:114.00
1967-68 :90.83
1968-69 :37.80
1969 :30.00
1970-71 :74.62

Viv Richards(born1971) career average-50.23 the '33 effect' around -1985

test averages by season
1985-86 : 66.20
1986-87 :28.00
1987-88 :63.66

Sunil Gavaskar(born 1949) career average-51.12 the '33 effect' around -1982


test averages by season

1981-82 :62.50
1982 :24.66
1982-83 :46.27


Greg Chappell(born 1948) career average -53.86 the '33 effect' around -1981

test averages by season

1979-80 : 64.53
1980: 53.00
1981: 40.85
1982-83 :50.55


What happened to the above greats also happened to Tendulkar .

Sachin Tendulkar (born 1973) career average -55.31 the '33 effect' around -2006


test averages by season

2003-04:54.91
2004-05:55.33
2005-06:27.91
2006-07:33.16
2007:60.25
2007-08:63.20

sachin the "master" Tendulkar had all reasons to be cheerful and confident in 2003 scoring runs and topped the world cup run charts, but in 2004 there were warning signs.This is the time when manjrekar,ian chappell,imran khan all of them being hell bent to prove Sachin's innings less fruitful, less prolific and yup more or less for records. (If you remember 2007 world cup and the "MIRROR ,MIRROR" article of Ian Chapell.It was said that Sachin is playing for statistics and to accumulate records.Every player has his share of miseries and Sachin was no exception.But all the criticism was justified at that point of time.But Alas! he is sachin after all.He blazed again , came roaring .His records against the Proteas had always been weak but he smiled and accepted all the criticism.Next up was the ODI series against SA and did he roared or what? Yes indeed.India moved on to win the away series and Sachin proved his mettle yet again being the man of the series with two nineties.Then followed his scores and success with Australia in the boxing day test in 2007 and then the Sydney test ofcourse was relishing with sachin's unbeaten 154.He silenced his critics in the CB traingular series with his 63 while chasing against srilanka.This was the 33 effect which didn't even spare Sachin.But he knew he is still playing for the country and for his people and would continue to do so.With this it marked the end of the eclipse of his career as I guess.

BAPU KI JAY!

2nd October ! What a great day it is.We get a day off from our hectic work schedule.How many of us actually brood on the fact that we should actually be praying for "THE FATHER OF OUR NATION". In not just one way, but so many times and in so many wonderful and innovative ways he has shown us how individualism and rather individuality matters.

Last Friday it was yet another Government holiday and people were planinng to see WAKE UP SID or go to a restaurant. Good movie! I must say , but there isn't a slightest hesitation in anyone's mind about what they are doing.I was reading an article of Chetan Bhagat the other day where he wrote how GEN X ,Y .. today is feeding MNC's and Cola giants to achieve their targets.Even after imposing a ban on smoking cigarettes at public places ,the state governments are yet to wake up from their sleep.One can find people smoking in pubs,restaurants,discos,bus stands etc. Government has started penalising people with Rs200 for doing this rather anti-social act but failed to make a mark in almost every city barring a few.This is really a pity on India's educated JUNTA. Is this what UPA says is BHARAT NIRMAN?Well, I doubt ! This is something really scary and now is the time, people start realising what they are doing.

We have major roads named after BAPU in almost each city in India, Parks named after him.Recently a survey by TOI revealed that only 18% people actually follow the Gandhian way.They are still on the path of Ahimsa and Satyagraha.However I just can't digest the fact how people have changed over the years towards making it a bad India. Current day politicians still wear the very famous KHADI that Gandhiji used to wear ,but how many of them are actually leading by example and how many such leaders have been produced post independence.Dirty vote bank politics and blame game has become more popular in India than cricket and tennis.

2nd October is a very special day and for that matter any national holiday is special, because they are all associated with some great cause, due to which we are leading a better life in this hitech world.It may help India do better and actually help in BHARAT NIRMAN if only we wish to serve India better.As they say "THEY DON'T MAKE SUCH MEN ANYMORE". So please start respecting them and reignite the spark within you.