SBI to hire 10,000 officers, employees in current fiscal

Mumbai: State Bank of India plans to hire 10,000 officers and employees in the current fiscal to spruce up its operations.

"We will be hiring 10,000 people this year, including 1,500 probationary officers, the process for which started in April. Around 7,500 will be retiring this fiscal," SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told PTI.

"We have upgraded our branches, all have become air-conditioned. We have adequately staffed our branches. In the last quarter, we recruited 20,000 assistant grade employees at front office," he said.

The bank plans to open about 1,200 branches in the country and another eight branch offices overseas, including China and the UK, in the current fiscal.

Public sector banks hired around 63,000 persons in the last financial year.

The country's largest bank SBI alone recruited 20,000 clerical staff and 1,200 officer level employees.
Besides, other public sector banks hired 22,000 officers and 20,000 clerical staff in the last fiscal.

There were 84,489 vacancies at various levels in the state-owned banks at the end of 2010-11.
Most of the state-owned banks have undertaken recruitment drives in recent years.


The public sector banks had a sanctioned strength of about 8 lakh employees as on March 31, 2012. PTI

Snake in your backyard? Dial a toll-free helpline

VADODARA: Spotted a reptile or crocodile in your area? Now you won't have to go looking for numbers of forest officials or animal activists. The forest department is all set to launch a helpline number for catering to animal rescue calls in the city. The toll-free number will be launched by next week and it will cater to calls for rescuing animals or reptiles that are spotted in residential and commercial areas during monsoons.

A special team has also been formed to cater to the calls that are expected to increase in next few days. "We have decided to launch an exclusive toll-free helpline number as we get lot of calls during monsoons. Reptiles, especially snakes of different species, wander into residential areas and are found all over in the city," said G A Brahmbhatt, assistant conservator of forests (ACF).

He said that the forest department has a regular team that attends to rescue calls but now some officials will be on job round the clock. Three officials staying in different areas have been putting in charge of the calls they get from their areas. Instead of traveling all the way from their office in Kamatibaug, these employees will directly attend to the calls in their respective areas. "It will help us in attending to the calls swiftly," Brahmbhatt told TOI.

The forest department has been getting about 20 to 30 calls daily from different areas of the city over last few days. The forest officials and animal activists have rescued hundreds of snakes and some crocodiles in last few days. The department is also planning to make a zone-wise map of areas where reptiles are found in more numbers during monsoons. In last few days, most reptiles have been spotted in Gotri, Vasna Road and Atladara areas.

Most of the snakes spotted in residential areas or gardens are non-poisonous and they come out in open as water enters their boroughs during monsoons. On Wednesday, animal activist Vishal Thakur rescued a crocodile in Harni area.

Mumbai fights for Bijlee, age 58, weight five tonnes

Agence France-Presse

Mumbai: An overworked and overweight Indian elephant called Bijlee is fighting for her life in Mumbai after collapsing in the street, sparking anguish among animal activists and Bollywood stars.

Bijlee, aged 58 and weighing five tonnes, was found lying in pain in a northeastern suburb last week after decades of alleged overwork and neglect.

Local reports said she was used by her owners to beg on the streets and entertain at weddings without a break for more than 50 years.

On Tuesday, elephant specialist K.K. Sharma was flown in to Mumbai to treat Bijlee, and who now has helpers caring for her around the clock and a crane to help her stand up.

"Everybody shows their concerns but unfortunately the prospects are very bad," Sharma told AFP. He said Bijlee is 1.5 tonnes overweight and suffering degenerative joint disease, but even a strict diet many not help much.

Vets say Bijlee's owners have been feeding her junk food for years, such as "vada pav". Indian elephants' usually live off grass and tree bark.

"The damage has been done already. We're trying to control the pain and supplement the vitamin deficiency, give fluid and strengthen her nerves and muscles."

On Tuesday, #savebijlee began trending on Twitter and she appeared on the the front page of Wednesday's Mumbai Mirror.

Bollywood's superstar Amitabh Bachchan is among those moved by her plight, posting pictures and appealing for help on his blog.

"A compassionate appeal to all animal lovers," he wrote on Twitter, asking them to support the "Animals Matter To Me" charity that is caring for Bijlee.

Elephants are a common sight on the streets of many Indian cities although their movements are officially restricted in Mumbai

Indian wildlife biologist wins Whitley Award

New Delhi: An Indian wildlife biologist was presented with the prestigious Whitley Award on Thursday in recognition of her efforts to protect the endangered hornbill in India’s north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Dr Aparajita Datta was one of the eight conservationists from around the world to win the green Oscar. The ceremony was held in London at The Royal Geographical Society and the awards were presented by Whitley Fund for Nature patron, Princess Anne.

Hornbills hold a special place in many of the north-eastern tribes’ culture, making them vulnerable, as they are hunted for their beaks and feathers. The loss of habitat due to deforestation has also greatly threatened their existence.

According to WFN, “Focussing on hornbills as a conservation flagship species, Dr Datta is seeking to improve the status of the bird’s populations outside protected areas by establishing models of community-based conservation. She is spreading knowledge of the needs of hornbills and their importance, as seed dispersers, in the maintenance of healthy forest ecosystems.

“Key to Dr Datta’s approach is raising awareness of the threats to the bird’s survival, and creating a wider rural and urban constituency for conservation through a participatory community outreach programme that gets people involved”, said WFN.

Other winners include John Kahekwa-Democratic Republic of Congo, Zafer Kizilkaya-Turkey, Daniel Letoiye-Kenya, Zahirul Islam-Bangladesh, Ekwoge Abwe-Cameroon and Eugene Simonov-China, Mongolia, Russia.

Source : ZeeNews

Birth of Rhino calf brings joy in Kanpur zoo

KANPUR: The Kanpur Zoo staff celebrated birth of rhino offspring on Tuesday. The veterinary doctors described the infant as underweight but said that it was doing fine and drinking milk. The mother, Manu, too was fine. The calf was active and was seen walking in the enclosure.

zoo veterinarian Dr RK Singh said that the calf born to Manu and Rohit was fit. He said that the calf weighed around 30 kgs and would add more weight in days to come. Stating that the calf was born after 16-months of pregnancy, he said that it was doing fine as was its mother. He further said that the newborn and its mother have been separated from Rohit.

Stating that the calf was born around 4.40am on Tuesday, Dr Singh said that Manu was quite restless through out Monday evening.

He added that proper care of mother Rhino was being taken so that it can take care of its calf. "We are giving multi-vitamins and necessary medicines to Manu-the mother Rhino - so that its post delivery complications end soon", said the zoo veterinarian further.

When questioned about the survival rate of the calves of Rhinos, the zoo veterinarian said that the survival rate was high but to prevent infections it would be kept away from public glare for at least three months.

This means there is still a couple of month's time left for the visitors to see the baby Rhino.

The birth of the baby Rhino has left the zoo staff brimming with enthusiasm. Everybody wanted to see the young one but nobody was allowed to go close to the Rhino enclosure.

As soon as the visitors to the zoo came to know about the development they became eager to see the baby Rhino but none was allowed to go there.

Old Video.. humans saving dolphins...Just spreading the goodness..

Filmed by Gerd Traue, Copyright Gerd Traue

About 30 Dolphins stranded and saved by local people at Arraial do Cabo (Brazil) in the morning at 8:00 AM on March 5th 2012.

Delhi Zoo installs coolers for animals in summers

New Delhi,  The Delhi Zoo has installed desert coolers and exhaust fans in all its enclosures to keep the animals cool during summers.

"We have installed around 70 desert coolers in almost all the enclosures, including those of tigers, lions, elephants and rhinos, with most of them having two coolers installed in each enclosure to keep the animals cool," Riyaz Ahmed Khan, Curator of the National Zoological Park, said.

(PTI)

Fisherman rescues whale shark pup

AHMEDABAD: Mohan Solanki was out fishing 20 nautical miles away from Sutrapada coast. Suddenly his boat swung alarmingly as his net strained with something heavy under water.

Solanki managed to bring his net up a little and was taken aback to see a whale shark pup squirming for freedom. Without any delay, he decided to cut net and free the pup. This is the first of its kind of rescue where a pup, about 60 cm in length, was entangled in fishing net.

"This is the first reported incident where an alone pup had got entangled in the nets. Earlier there have been sightings of the whale sharks with the young ones which was an indication that the sharks use to come here in the Indian water to breed," said Bharat Pathak, the director of Gujarat Ecological and Education Research Foundation (Geer). The foundation has taken up studies on dugong and whale sharks.

Solanki reported the entire incident with photographs to the Whale Shark Conservation Project team, a joint venture of the Gujarat forest department, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and corporate from Saurshtra. The team has been carrying out research on the mighty fish along Gujarat coast since 2008.

"We have been trying to understand ecology, behaviour and migration of the whale sharks, after the successful whale shark campaign that convinced fishermen to release whale sharks caught in their nets," said B C Choudhury, senior advisor, WTI.

"Now these fishermen are actually helping the project in a number of ways. The fishermen reporting such rescues, gives some valuable insights through circumstantial evidence. A pup being found could mean that the whale shark reproduces or gives birth here," he said, adding that further research would provide scientific evidence.

According to WTI, Dr Rachel Graham, renowned whale shark expert and a member of the scientific advisory committee of the project, said, "The sighting or capture of a sub-meter whale sharks is very rare. This particular pup looks like it was most likely born this year and this capture off the coast of Gujarat, further suggests that whale sharks are pupping in the area."

Insecticides ban is positive news for bees

The two-year, EU-wide ban on the use of three neonicotinoids – insecticides which have been strongly linked to declining bee numbers – is a victory for bees and for independent science.

The European Commission and many European governments have reacted responsibly to the British and European scientific evidence showing clearly that a suspension is justified, despite the UK government opposing the ban.

There is a huge weight of peer-reviewed, scientific evidence that links the impact of neonicotinoid pesticides to bees.

Scientists have found that even a really low dosage of these chemicals can disrupt bee behaviour in a way that is likely to contribute not only to bee decline, but to the decline in other pollinators from the honey bee to the butterfly.

This research used far below the level of neonicotinoids that European governments consider a “safe” level of toxic chemical.

In Italy, the government banned three neonicotinoid pesticides and, as a result, the winter deaths of honey bees fell by more than 50 per cent in three years, suggesting that a neonicotinoid ban will be effective in helping to save our bees.

Bee health is a complicated issue which is also affected by with weather and diseases.

But restricting insecticides known to impact bee survival is the very least we can do for the bees, on which we depend for pollination of up to one third of our food. So this precautionary approach is extremely sensible.

We know we can farm successfully without neonicotinoids.

Organic farming shows us that systemic insecticides are unnecessary for producing food.