Chambal (region)

The Chambal is a geographical and cultural region in north-central India. It lies along the Chambal and Yamuna river valleys, in southeastern Rajasthan, southwestern Uttar Pradesh and northern Madhya Pradesh.

Geography

It covers the districts of Baran, Kota, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, and Dholpur districts of Rajasthan, parts of Agra, Firozabad, Etawah, Auriya and Jalaun districts of UP, and Gwalior, Bhind, Morena and Sheopur districts of Madhya Pradesh. The region is covered by an estimated 5 Lakh hectares of badlands. It drains the northwest of the Central Vindhya Plateau and the southeastern part of the Aravalli Range. Southeastern tributaries like the Kali Sindh and Parbati begin at the extreme south of the Vindhyas and flow north in deep valleys, forming a triangular alluvial plain at elevation of 240-270 m. Afterwards the Banas, a northwestern tributary of the Chambal draining the Aravalli Range, joins the Chambal after crossing the hills near Sawai Madhopur in southeastern Rajasthan. The valley of the Chambal is wider near the confluence of the Kali Sindh and the Parbati and narrower after the confluence of the Banas. The Chambal extends to the ravines of the Choti Parbati in Rajasthan and the Kwari river in northeastern Madhya Pradesh.[1] The Chambal badlands are part of the greater Vindhyan Basin.

Ravines of Chambal

The ravines of Chambal were infamously known in India as a region favored by the lawless. Many renowned dacoits, or bandits, such as Phoolan Devi maintained hideouts in the ravines of Chambal. The reasons for dacoit activity in the Chambal valley are disputed. It may be feudal exploitation of those in the region prompted some to take to arms. The area was underdeveloped and poor, so banditry posed significant economic incentives. Yet many gangs operating in the valley were composed of higher-caste and wealthy individuals, suggesting that feudalism is only a partial explanation (Bhaduri, 1972; Khan, 1981; Jatar, 1980; Katare, 1972). Furthermore, traditional honour codes and blood feuds would drive some into criminality.

In Chandia, organized crime controlled much of the countryside from the time of the British Raj up to the early 2000s, with the police offering high rewards for the most notorious bandit chiefs. The criminals regularly targeted local businesses, though they preferred to kidnap wealthy people, and demand ransom from their relatives - cutting off fingers, noses, and ears to pressure them into paying high sums. Many dacoity also posed as social bandits toward the local poor, paying medical bills and funding weddings. One ex-dacoit described his own criminal past by claiming that "I was a rebel. I fought injustice." Following intense anti-banditry campaigns by the Indian Police, highway robbery was almost completely eradicated in the early 2000s. Nevertheless, Chambal is still popularly believed to be unsafe and bandit-infested by many Indians. One police officer noted that the fading of the dacoity was also due to social changes, as few young people were any longer willing to endure the harsh life as a highway robber in the countryside. Instead, they prefer to join crime groups in the city, where life is easier.

Ruddy shelduck 

The ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea), known in India as the Brahminy duck, is a member of the family Anatidae. It is a distinctive waterfowl, 58 to 70 cm (23 to 28 in) in length with a wingspan of 110 to 135 cm (43 to 53 in). It has orange-brown body plumage with a paler head, while the tail and the flight feathers in the wings are black, contrasting with the white wing-coverts. It is a migratory bird, wintering in the Indian subcontinent and breeding in southeastern Europe and central Asia, though there are small resident populations in North Africa. It has a loud honking call.

The ruddy shelduck mostly inhabits inland water-bodies such as lakes, reservoirs and rivers. The male and female form a lasting pair bond and the nest may be well away from water, in a crevice or hole in a cliff, tree or similar site. A clutch of about eight eggs is laid and is incubated solely by the female for about four weeks. The young are cared for by both parents and fledge about eight weeks after hatching.

In central and eastern Asia, populations are steady or rising, but in Europe they are generally in decline. Altogether, the birds have a wide range and large total population, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed their conservation status as being of least concern.

चकवा (Ruddy shelduck), जिसे चक्रवाक और ब्राह्मणी बत्तख (Brahminy duck) भी कहा जाता है, बत्तख के टडोरना वंश की एक जाति है, जो गर्मियों में यूरोप और एशिया के उत्तरी भाग में प्रजनन करती है और फिर सर्दियों में प्रवास कर इन से दक्षिणी क्षेत्रों में जाती है, जिनमें भारतीय उपमहाद्वीप भी शामिल है। यह एक सुनहरे-नारंगी रंग का पक्षी है, जो भारतीय साहित्य में चिरपरिचित है। इसका उल्लेख कालिदास ने भी किया था और "चकवा-चकवी" के जोड़े के बारे में भारत में किंवदंतियाँ हैं।[2][3] इस पक्षी के बारे में कबीरदास ने कहा - सांझ पड़े, बीतबै, चकवी दीन्ही रोय। चल चकवा व देश को जहां रैन नहिं होय

विवरण

चक्रवाक का रंग गाढ़ा नारंगी या हलका कत्थई होता है, लेकिन इसकी गरदन ओर सिर बदामी होता है। गरदन के चारों ओर एक काला कंठा रहता हैं, लेकिन मादा इस कंठे से रहित होती है। डैने और पर के कुछ पंख काले और सफेद रहते हैं और डैने का चित्ता (Speculum) हरा होता है। चकवा से मिलती-जुलती एक अन्य जाति भी है, शाह चकवा, जो काले और सफेद रंग का बहुत ही सुंदर चितकबरा पक्षी है, जिसका कद और आदतें चक्रवाक जैसी ही होती हैं।

चक्रवाक दो फुट लंबा पक्षी है, जिसके नर ओर मादा करीब करीब एक जैसे ही होते हैं। मादा नर से कुछ छोटी होती है और उसका रंग भी नर से कुछ हलका रहता है। चक्रवाक सारे दक्षिणी पूर्वी यूरोप, मध्यएशिया और उत्तरी अफ्रीका के प्रदेशों में फैले हुए हैं, जहाँ यह झीलों, बड़ी नदियों तथा समुद्री किनारों पर अपना अधिक समय बिताते हैं। यह बहुत ढीठ पक्षी हैं। इनकी कर्कश बोली आबादी के निकटवर्ती जलाशयों में सुनाई पड़ती रहती है। हमारे कवियों ने इसी कारण शायद इनके बारे में यह कल्पना की है कि रात में नर पक्षी मादा से विलग हो जाता है और उसका मिलन सूर्योदय के पूर्व नहीं होता, लेकिन केवल साहित्यिक मान्यता के अतिरिक्त इसमें कोई तथ्य नहीं है।

चक्रवाक जोड़े में रहते हैं, लेकिन कभी कभी सैकड़ों का झुंड बना लेते हैं। ये अंडा देने के लिये घोंसला नहीं बनाते। इनकी मादा पहाड़ के सूराखों में अथवा जमीन पर ही थोड़ा घास फूस रखकर अपने अंडे देती है। इनका मुख्य भोजन घास पात, सेवर तथा अन्न के दाने आदि हैं, लेकिन छोटी छोटी मछलियाँ और घोंघे, कटुए आदि भी ये खा लेते हैं। इनका मांस साधारण तथा बिसैधा होता है।

Crocodile 

Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia, which includes the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae), the gharial and false gharial (family Gavialidae) among other extinct taxa.

Although they appear similar, crocodiles, alligators and the gharial belong to separate biological families. The gharial, with its narrow snout, is easier to distinguish, while morphological differences are more difficult to spot in crocodiles and alligators. The most obvious external differences are visible in the head, with crocodiles having narrower and longer heads, with a more V-shaped than a U-shaped snout compared to alligators and caimans. Another obvious trait is that the upper and lower jaws of the crocodiles are the same width, and the teeth in the lower jaw fall along the edge or outside the upper jaw when the mouth is closed; therefore, all teeth are visible, unlike an alligator, which possesses in the upper jaw small depressions into which the lower teeth fit. Also, when the crocodile's mouth is closed, the large fourth tooth in the lower jaw fits into a constriction in the upper jaw. For hard-to-distinguish specimens, the protruding tooth is the most reliable feature to define the species' family. Crocodiles have more webbing on the toes of the hind feet and can better tolerate saltwater due to specialized salt glands for filtering out salt, which are present, but non-functioning, in alligators. Another trait that separates crocodiles from other crocodilians is their much higher levels of aggression.

Crocodile size, morphology, behaviour and ecology differ somewhat among species. However, they have many similarities in these areas as well. All crocodiles are semiaquatic and tend to congregate in freshwater habitats such as rivers, lakes, wetlands and sometimes in brackish water and saltwater. They are carnivorous animals, feeding mostly on vertebrates such as fish, reptiles, birds and mammals, and sometimes on invertebrates such as molluscs and crustaceans, depending on species and age. All crocodiles are tropical species that, unlike alligators, are very sensitive to cold. They separated from other crocodilians during the Eocene epoch, about 55 million years ago.Many species are at the risk of extinction, some being classified as critically endangered.

भारतीय स्किमर को हिन्दी में पनचीरा या पंछीडा भी कहा जाता है. इसका वैज्ञानिक नाम रिनचॉप्स अल्बिकोलिस है. यह एक जलीय पक्षी है और दक्षिणी एशिया में पाया जाता है. भारत में, इसे मध्य भारत में चंबल नदी के पास, ओडिशा के कुछ हिस्सों और आंध्र प्रदेश में देखा जा सकता है. 

भारतीय स्किमर के बारे में कुछ और बातें:

1. यह पक्षी काले, सफ़ेद, और नारंगी रंग का होता है. 

2. इसकी लंबाई 40-43 सेंटीमीटर होती है. 

3. इसके ऊपरी हिस्से का रंग काला होता है और माथा, कॉलर, और निचला हिस्सा सफ़ेद होता है. 

4. इसकी चोंच लंबी, मोटी, और गहरे नारंगी रंग की होती है, जिसका सिरा पीला होता है. 

5. यह सतह पर रहने वाली मछलियों, छोटे क्रस्टेशियंस, और कीट लार्वा को खाता है. 

6. यह रेतीले टीलों वाली धीमी गति से बहने वाली नदियों को पसंद करता है. 

7. यह लंबे कोणीय पंखों पर तेज़ी से उड़ता है. 

8. यह उड़ान भरते समय और परेशान होने पर नाक से कैप या किप की आवाज़ निकालता है. 

9. यह IUCN रेड लिस्ट में लुप्तप्राय के रूप में सूचीबद्ध