Quoting a tweet by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, the Prime Minister said, "Looks great! And, with the new airport and flights being added, more people will be able to visit Arunachal Pradesh with ease and experience the warm hospitality there."

Itanagar Nov 30 PTI Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has blamed the local residents of Tato in Shi Yomi district for lack of infrastructure development in the town despite being declared the district headquarters three years ago Khandu had inaugurated the new district with its headquarters at Tato on December 9 2018 along with the then Union MoS for Home Kiren Rijiju and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein However Tato is yet to witness any creation of infrastructure and the offices of the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police function from Mechuka 50 km further up Referring to complaints raised by several local leaders during a public meeting at Tato on Monday Khandu said the complaints should be directed towards your own people an official communique said here As per sources during the creation of the district local people of Tato had agreed to give sufficient land for creation of office infrastructure for free but when the authorities actually reached to survey and start the groundwork the donated land was far less than what was required and assured Every financial year since creation of the district we have been keeping funds for development of Tato as the district headquarters and every year the fund went unused Now tell me who is responsible Khandu asked He gave the example of three other districts Pakke Kessang Leparada and Kamle - created along with Shi-Yomi where infrastructural development has begun in good stead but even a single brick is yet to be laid at Tato Khandu however assured that the government will continue to support all round development of the district no matter what I believe the land issues have been finally resolved We will certainly reallocate sufficient funds for development of Tato in particular and the district as a whole he assured while urging the people to monitor the quality of work on the ground Khandu who travelled by road to Tato from Mechuka expressed concern over slow progress in construction works The 50 km stretch road from Tato to Mechuka is divided into three packages Work is progressing well in only two packages Progress on one package is not satisfactory I will take the issue up at the highest level when I get back to the state capital he said He also assured to discuss with the Chief Secretary and Commissioner PWD with respect to the Tato to Bene road widening and maintenance He said work is yet to start as notification on land acquisition has not been issued till date I assure that the notification will be issued as soon as possible but people along the road have to cooperate Please remember many road projects in the state have suffered due to issues related to land compensations Khandu said Earlier the Chief Minister inaugurated the newly established circle headquarters of Rapum and one Health and Wellness Centre each at Rapum and Yapik villages besides laying the foundations for the BRTF road to Tato and a veterinary aid centre at Padusa village the communique added PTI UPL RG RG

Itanagar Nov 24 PTI For Ruma Anushka Gueng Kala and Kalee each day starts with morning walks deep inside the jungle of Pakke Tiger Reserve PTR of Arunachal Pradesh They play and fight with each other and are encouraged to climb trees and feed on fruits and insects before returning homeThey are five motherless Asiatic bear cubs rescued by the Arunachal Pradesh forest department from different parts of the Northeastern state this year and rehabilitated at the Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation CBRC under Wildlife Trust of India WTI a conservation charity organisationExperienced forest department workers accompany them during their exercise which is part of a plan to release them in the wild when they are ready for itThe Walk the Bear programme helps the orphaned cubs to acclimatise themselves to the wilderness where the keepers help them learn various life skills to survive CBRC head Panjit Basumatary saidThe five young animals were shifted in two batches to a pre-selected site four kilometres away from Upper Dekorai camp of the PTR in September on vehicle foot and elephant backs he saidThe PTR is situated at Seijosa in Pakke Kessang district about 200 kilometers from state capital ItanagarDuring the ex-situ walks which are monitored by animal keepers accompanied by a biologist the young bears learned to forage and gradually developed their wild instincts Body morphometry and weight were recorded periodically Basumatary saidOnce the cubs become reluctant to follow their keepers back to the camp they would be ear-tagged micro-chipped and radio-collared for soft release in the wild Eventually if they do not return to their cages anymore they would be considered wildHowever they would still be monitored for six more months the CBRC chief saidThe cubs are currently being taken care of by their keepers Duluk Dagang Pitar Lagun Jemi Chawiriya Antony Ngorang and field biologist Asish Immanauel BaglaryThe role of the rehabilitators is limited to protection and guidance during the acclimatisation process Basumatary saidAnimals take time to adjust to a new environment and overcome the proximity to humans at the rehabilitation centre said Suraj Singh Divisional Forest Officer DFO of the tiger reserveThe nature of bear cubs differs from one another as they sometimes do not adapt to the new environment In such cases we send them to zoos for captive rearing However we are successful in majority of the cases he saidWhile 44 cubs were released in the wild only one was sent to Itanagar zooThe rehabilitation programme for Asiatic bears started several years agoThe Asiatic black bear is the most commonly found bear in Arunachal Pradesh Their population is on a decline due to anthropogenic pressures and poaching PTI UPL NN SOM SOM

Itanagar Arunachal Pradeshs COVID-19 tally rose to 51919 as 120 more people tested positive for the virus while one fresh fatality pushed the death toll to 255 a senior health department official said here on FridayArunachal Pradesh currently has 1564 active COVID-19 cases as 50100 people have recovered from the disease including 240 patients on Thursday Jampa saidThe Capital Complex Region comprising Itanagar Naharlagun Nirjuli and Banderdewa areas has the highest number of active cases at 388 followed by Papumpare 155 Lower Subansiri 150 Upper Siang 93 and West Kameng with 89 casesAltogether 1019409 samples have been tested for COVID-19 in the state so far including 3709 on Thursday Jampa saidMeanwhile State Immunisation Officer SSO Dr Dimong Padung said that a total of 922875 people have been administered COVID-19 vaccine doses so far in the state