Tiger Count Reaches 2,967, Loudest Roar From MP and Karnataka, Reveals Census Report

  • Between 2014 and 2018, a total of 2,461 photos of individual tigers were captured from across India, bringing the estimated tiger population to 2,967, an increase of eight per cent, found a 2018 report by Status of Tigers in India.
  • While tiger occupancy has increased in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, losses were found in the north east, which the report said was due to “poor sampling”. Continued losses in Chhattisgarh and Odisha were flagged as a “matter of concern”. MP and Karnataka have the highest tiger population, the report said. 
  • The status report is based on a survey that covered 381,400 km of forested habitats in 20 tiger occupied states, with camera traps at 26,838 locations that led to 76,651 photographs of tigers and 51,777 of leopards.

Data shows below-normal water storage in India’s 72 of 100 major reservoirs

  • With the four-month rainy season nearly halfway through, 72 of the 100 major water reservoirs in the country have reported water storage which is 80 per cent or below of normal, the Central Water Commission data shows. 
  • According to the data, until July 25, the basin storage position is deficient in major rivers like the Ganga, Krishna and Mahanadi.The scenario is particularly worrying in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
  • The basin storage in Tapi, Sabarmati and rivers of the Kutch and Godavari are “highly deficient”, the data revealed.

Vishaka guidelines must be applicable to judiciary, says Justice A.P. Shah

  • Former chief justice of Delhi High Court, Justice A.P. Shah, said there is a need to engage in how the Vishaka guidelines, which deal with sexual harassment in the workplace, should be made applicable to the judiciary.
  • Justice Shah’s comments came while delivering the 27th Rosalind Wilson Memorial Lecture on Sunday on the subject ‘Judging the Judges, Need for transparency and accountability’.

3 killed, 12 injured in shooting at California garlic festival

  • Police and ambulances raced to a shooting at a food festival in California on Sunday, with three people reported dead and several injured, and video posted on social media showing people at the event running for cover as shots rang out.
  • A local city councilman, Dion Bracco, told The New York Times three people were killed and 12 injured in the shooting on the last day of the Gilroy Garlic Festival, an annual three-day event south of San Jose. He did not know if the 12 injured included the three fatalities, the newspaper said.

More than 60 killed in extremist attack on Nigeria villagers

  • Suspected Boko Haram extremists killed more than 60 people in an attack on villagers leaving a funeral in northeastern Nigeria, a local official said Sunday. It was the deadliest extremist attack against civilians in the region this year.
  • Muhammad Bulama, council chairman of the Nganzai local government area, told reporters that 11 other people were wounded during the attack at midday on Saturday.