Passage 1
India’s leopard numbers rose by 8% from 12,852 in 2018 to 13,874 in 2022, according to a report made public by the Environment Ministry.
The survey covered 20 States of India, and focussed on about 70% of the animals’ expected habitat, which are India’s tiger reserves and protected forest areas. Unlike tigers, which are largely confined to forest reserves, leopards are far more adaptable and tend to be found in significant numbers, in villages and, sometimes, even in cities. They are also known to prey on cattle and thus be involved in conflict, resulting in higher mortality.
“About a third of the leopards are within protected areas. When we conserve tiger reserves, we also conserve leopard habitat,” said Qamar Qureshi of the Wildlife Institute of India and one of the authors of the report.
Source – https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/
Passage 2
Thailand has replaced its Ambassador to WTO from here following a strong protest lodged by India on her contentious comment on New Delhi’s procurement programme, a top government official said on Friday.
The official said that ambassador has been asked to report back to Thailand after the 13th ministerial conference (MC), which has entered the fifth day of talks. She has been learnt to have replaced the Thai foreign secretary.
India has expressed strong disappointment over her remarks during a consultation meeting on Tuesday accusing New Delhi that India’s procurement programme at Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the public distribution system is not for people but for capturing the export market, the official said.
“The Thai Ambassador has been replaced. She has ridiculed India’s PSH (Public Stockholding) programme” the official said, adding that the language and behavior of the Thai ambassador were not in good taste.
Source- https://indianexpress.com/article/world/