Amit Shah’s son’s company grew by 16,000 times in one year

Mangaluru: Pilikula Biological Park has welcomed several exotic species, including a six-year-old Asiatic lion, a wolf, two gharial crocodiles, and four rare birds (two silver pheasants and two yellow-golden pheasants), as part of an animal exchange programme with Nandankanan Zoological Park, Odisha. The exchange was approved by the Central Zoo Authority, marking a major addition to Pilikula Zoo's growing collection.

Animal Exchange Details

Park Director H Jayaprakash Bhandary provided insights into the exchange programme. In return for the new arrivals, Pilikula Zoo will send four dholes (wild dogs), four rare reticulated pythons, two Brahminy kites, three Asian palm civets, and two large egrets to Nandankanan Zoo. Notably, all animals sent from Pilikula were born in the zoo, showcasing the zoo's success in breeding rare species.

Purpose of the Exchange

The animal exchange programme serves multiple purposes, including providing companions for solitary animals and preserving pure bloodlines. Pilikula Zoo already houses three lions, and the new male Asiatic lion was introduced as a companion. Since the number of Asiatic male lions in Indian zoos is relatively low, the zoo sourced this lion from the distant Nandankanan Zoological Park.

Care During Transport

To ensure the animals' safety and well-being during the 2,000-kilometre journey — the longest distance covered in Pilikula’s animal exchange history — two veterinary officers and eight caretakers from Nandankanan accompanied the animals. Both zoos will share equal responsibility for the care of the exchanged animals.

Future Animal Additions and Revenue Boost

Pilikula Biological Park, home to approximately 1,200 animals, birds, and reptiles, is one of India’s 18 large zoos. Discussions are ongoing for future exchanges with other prominent zoos, including Chhatbir Zoo in Punjab, Byculla Zoo in Mumbai, and the Madras Crocodile Bank. The zoo also plans to introduce rare species like the Anaconda and the Humboldt penguin, for which special enclosures will be built, thanks to donor contributions.

The addition of these rare animals and birds is expected to boost the zoo’s revenue, helping it become self-sustaining, Bhandary said.

Quarantine and Public Display

Before being introduced to the public, the new arrivals will spend around 15 days in a quarantine ward to adapt to the local environment. They will receive necessary vaccinations and treatments during this period, after which they will be displayed to visitors.

Record-breaking Exchange

This animal exchange marks a significant achievement for Pilikula Zoo, with the animals being transported over approximately 2,000 kilometres from Nandankanan Zoological Park. This sets a new record, surpassing the previous longest exchange with Udaipur Zoo in Rajasthan, which was around 1,700 kilometres.

Beirut: The Israeli army on Tuesday continued to launch attacks against civilians in Lebanon, targeting them in several areas without prior evacuation warnings.

However, 13 airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the space of only three hours were preceded by evacuation warnings.

The attacks caused no injuries but resulted in widespread destruction of residential buildings and commercial, medical and educational centers.

The airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Bekaa region, reaching Akkar in Lebanon’s far north, erased any hope of a near-term ceasefire settlement.

The strikes were accompanied by an announcement on Israel’s Channel 14 that “the Israeli army has expanded its operations in southern Lebanon to areas it had not reached since the beginning of the ground operation.”

About 50 days have passed since Israel intensified its hostile operations in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. The death toll from these confrontations and attacks has passed 3,200, with more than 14,000 wounded.

For the first time, an airstrike targeted a mountainous area between Baalchmay and Aabadiyeh on the road leading to Aley, destroying a building housing displaced people.

The mayor of Baalchmay, Adham Al-Danaf, confirmed that “the airstrike targeted a residential building in the Dhour Aabadiyeh area.”

The initial toll from the Ministry of Health showed “five people killed and two injured.”

The raids that targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time in the morning, unlike nightly raids before, caused huge destruction. Those who evacuated their homes after Israeli warnings, used their phones to record the collapse of empty buildings in Sfeir, Haret Hreik, Bir Al-Abed, Mrayjeh, Laylaki and Hadath.

Israeli warplanes also targeted Tyre, where a strike on a building killed three people and injured many others, while a raid on Tefahta killed a man identified as Kifah Khalil and his family.

Attacks were widespread, with Yater and Zebqine subject to artillery shelling, a civilian being killed in Hermel, and further attacks on Bouday and an area between the towns of Srifa and Arsoun.

A raid on the town of Siddiqin killed two people and injured several others, while an attack on the Mechref farm led to one fatality and multiple injuries.

The search for those missing after an Israeli raid on the town of Ain Yaacoub in Akkar, in the northernmost part of Lebanon, continued until dawn.

During the operation, 14 bodies were retrieved, identified as those of residents displaced from the town of Arabsalim in the Iqlim Al-Tuffah area of the south, along with members of a Syrian family, a mother and three of her children. Additionally, there were 10 people in critical condition.

The targeted residence belongs to a Lebanese citizen, Hussein Hashim, who is reported to be a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.

An airstrike on the town of Saksakiyeh in the Sidon region on Monday night resulted in yet another tragedy.

It appeared that the intended target was the Shoumer family, who just days before lost Hussein Amin Shoumer and his two sisters in a drone strike near Al-Awali River.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued additional evacuation warnings for towns in the southern region along the Litani River, which, according to estimates from the mayors, are currently 90 percent uninhabited.

In the meantime, Hezbollah announced its continued efforts to “combat the intrusions of Israeli forces and to strike military installations and towns in the north.”

Hezbollah said in a statement that it confronted “an Israeli Hermes 450 drone in the airspace of Nabatieh and forced it to leave Lebanese airspace.”

The party also announced that it targeted “Kfar Blum settlement with a rocket salvo.”

On the Israeli side, air raid sirens sounded in areas of Upper and Western Galilee and in the town of Kiryat Shmona and its surroundings.

The Israeli army confirmed that “a drone exploded in Nesher, east of Haifa, without activating the air raid sirens,” and that “a drone launched from Lebanon crashed into a school in Gesher HaZiv, north of Nahariya.”

Israel’s Channel 13 reported the Israeli military’s assessment regarding Hezbollah’s military strength, claiming that the group currently possesses approximately 100 precision missiles, thousands of artillery shells, and hundreds of rockets. Additionally, it was highlighted that “there are around 200 Lebanese towns that remain unvisited.”

Bengaluru: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi led union government has requested the Karnataka High Court to direct the Mandya district administration and the state government to clear a madrasa operating within the premises of the historic Jama Masjid in Srirangapatna.

The Waqf Board, opposing this move, has claimed the mosque as its property and defended the right to conduct madrasa activities there.

The matter was brought before a division bench headed by Chief Justice N V Anjaria following a public interest litigation filed by a person named Abhishek Gowda from Kabbalu village in Kanakapura taluk. The petition alleged “unauthorised madrasa activities” within the mosque.

Representing the Central government, Additional Solicitor General of India for High Court of Karnataka, K Arvind Kamath argued that the Jama Masjid was designated as a protected monument in 1951, yet unauthorised madrasa operations continue there.

He noted that concerns over potential law and order issues have so far prevented any intervention. Kamath urged the court to direct the Mandya district administration to take action and vacate the madrasa from the mosque.

In defence, lawyers for the state government and the Waqf Board contested this request, stating that the Waqf Board had been recognised as the owner of the property since 1963 and, thus, conducting madrasa activities there is lawful.

After hearing both sides, the bench adjourned the case for further arguments, scheduling the next hearing for November 20.