Tsunami figures laid in House

New Delhi (PTI): The December tsunami claimed 10,273 lives while 5,823 people have been reported missing, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands tops the missing list with 5,764 people.

A total of 23,9024 dwelling units were affected, 35,605 cattle lost, 22,750 hectares of cropped area and 83,788 boats damaged in the calamity, minister of state for home S. Regupathy said in a written reply.

He said 529 children have become orphans and the state governments, the Union territory administration and the community have decided to take care of them. It is likely that no adoption outside the country will take place, he added.

Minister of state for home Sriprakash Jaiswal said 1,158 civilians, 335 security personnel and 993 militants were killed in terrorist-related violence in Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast and Naxalite-affected areas from May 1, 2004 to January 31, 2005.

A total of 6,208 dowry deaths were reported in 2003, the other minister of state for home, Manikrao Hodlya Gavit said, adding that there were 5,303 and 32,716 reported dacoity and murder cases respectively.

Census in tiger reserves

Jaipur (PTI): The empowered committee on forest and wildlife management, instituted by the Supreme Court, will supervise tiger census operations to be held in May at the Sariska and Ranthambhore reserves in Rajasthan.

The help of voluntary bodies and wildlife experts will also be taken in the census to be coordinated by Indian Wildlife Institute, Dehra Dun, official sources said.

The census is important as there were reports of all the tigers vanishing in Sariska and the falling population in Ranthambhore. Wildlife activists claim that the cats had fallen prey to poachers.

The counting will be held in the Ranthambhore tiger project area from May 1 to 16 followed by Sariska from May 16 to 31. The census will be conducted using pug mark, camera trap and transact methods.

On May 22 and 23 wild animals will be counted by the water hole monitoring method for 24 hours on a full-moon night in both the reserves, which will be closed to tourists during the census operations, the sources said.

HC raps top officials

Nagpur (PTI): Bombay High Court has directed the chief secretary and two other government officials to pay Rs 5,000 each within a week for their failure to file replies in a PIL challenging the government?s decision to sanction new sandalwood oil extraction units.

The chief secretary, the principal chief conservator of forests and principal secretary, forests and revenue, had failed to react to earlier court notices.

Salman breather

Mumbai (PTI): A court has exempted actor Salman Khan from personal appearance in a hit-and-run case in which he is charged of killing one person and injuring four. His lawyer had pleaded that the actor was busy with an outdoor film shoot. The trial has been deferred to March 30.

Cops suspended

Manipal (PTI): A circle inspector and a sub-inspector have been suspended and four persons held in connection with the alleged assault and stripping of a father-son duo on Monday by a crowd in Karnataka. The crowd had suspected the two of transporting cattle to a slaughter house.

Drought exodus

Raipur (PTI): Over 65,000 people in 87 tehsils of Chhattisgarh have migrated to other states due to drought. The state government has asked the Centre for Rs 604.96 crore and 7.2 lakh tonnes of foodgrains to begin relief work, official sources said.

TN compensation

Chennai (PTI): Chief minister Jayalalithaa announced a compensation of Rs1 lakh for the family of Deepalakshmi, who was killed when police fired ?buckshots? during a mock drill at a college in Salem recently. She also told the Assembly that Rs 25,000 each will be paid to two students who were injured.

Notice to police

Madurai (PTI): The Madurai bench of Madras High Court has sought explanation from police about the alleged detention of an autorickshaw driver for three days, following a petition by the driver?s wife.

Footnote: After the army and the navy, it is the turn of the air force to conquer the highest peak. Twenty IAF personnel will go on an expedition to Mount Everest on Tuesday.