PM IAS DECEMBER 08 NEWS ANALYSIS

Global status of Black Soils

In News

Recently,  the Food Agricultural Organisation (FAO) released the Global status of black soils Report on the occasion of World Soil Day.

Key Points

• About World Soil Day: 
  • World Soil Day is celebrated on December 5, 2022.
• Threat to Black Soil and food security: 
  • Black soils feed the global population and are under threat.
  • Most are losing at least half of their soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. 
• Goodness of black Soil:
  • The inherent fertility of the soils make them the food basket for many countries and are considered essential to the global food supply. 
• Reason for the changes: 
  • Land-use change, 
  • unsustainable management practices 
  • Excessive use of agrochemicals.

Black Soil

• Characteristics: 
  • These soils are characterised by a thick, dark-coloured soil horizon rich in organic matter. 
  • Most of the black soils suffered from moderate to severe erosion processes, as well as nutrient imbalances, acidification and biodiversity loss.  
  • Black soils are extremely fertile and can produce high agricultural yields thanks to their elevated moisture storage capacity. 
• India: 
  • Among the in situ soils of India, the black soils found in the lava-covered areas are the most conspicuous. 
  • Those soils are often referred to as regur but are popularly known as “black cotton soils,” since cotton has been the most common traditional crop in areas where they are found. 
  • Black soils are derivatives of trap lava and are spread mostly across interior Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh on the Deccan lava plateau and the Malwa Plateau, where there is both moderate rainfall and underlying basaltic rock. 
  • Because of their high clay content, black soils develop wide cracks during the dry season, but their iron-rich granular structure makes them resistant to wind and water erosion. 
  • They are poor in humus yet highly moisture-retentive, thus responding well to irrigation. 
  • Those soils are also found on many peripheral tracts where the underlying basalt has been shifted from its original location by fluvial processes. 
• Global coverage: 
  • They constitute 5.6 percent of global soils and contain 8.2 percent of the world’s SOC stocks. 
  • Despite representing a small portion of the world’s soils, black soils were key for food security and the global economy. 
  • Globally in 2010, 66 percent of sunflower seeds, 51 percent of small millet, 42 percent of sugar beet, 30 percent of wheat and 26 percent of potatoes were harvested from black soils. 
• Most significant trait: 
  • Its SOC Stocks which is approximately 56 billion tonnes of carbon.
  • This signifies their importance for climate change mitigation and adaptation. 
  • The ability of the soils to remove carbon from the atmosphere and lock it up in soil organic matter (called carbon sequestration) has been proposed as an important solution to mitigate human-induced climate change. 
  • Black soils have the potential to provide 10 percent of the total SOC sequestration globally if they receive proper attention. 
  • Europe and Eurasia have the highest potential at over 65 percent and Latin America and the Caribbean at around 10 percent. 
• Reason of concern: 
  • They are quickly losing their SOC stocks. They have lost 20 to 50 percent of their original SOC stock, with the carbon being released into the atmosphere mostly as carbon dioxide, exacerbating global warming.
• Cropland distribution: 
  • The distribution of black soil areas used as croplands varied in each region. 
  • Europe and Eurasia accounted for 70 percent of the soil in the total cropland, while North America, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia had 10 percent each. 

Suggestions

• Preserving natural vegetation on black soils such as grasslands, forests and wetlands 
• Adopting sustainable soil management approaches on cropped black soils.
• To reduce the impact of tillage and seeding systems on soil health, the frequency (number of passes across the field that results in a soil disturbance) and intensity (mass of soil disturbed in a single pass) must be reduced.
• Cover crops can be a good practice for sustainable black soil management and needs to be adapted to the farming system, black soil types and climate. 
• Double cropping, the production of a second crop after the first crop has been harvested, provides an opportunity to utilize lateseason moisture and heat resources after the harvest of the cash crop.
  • Early maturing crops, including annual forages or winter cereals can provide a window of opportunity for double cropping with cover crops 
• Maintaining a low quantity but high frequency of mulch might efficiently boost soil health without compromising crop yields and as well optimize the use of stover.

Crimes against Tourists

In News

Crimes against tourists and other foreign nationals appear to be on the rise in India.

Key Findings

• Reported and unreported crimes:
  • There have been various reported (and unreported) incidents of foreigners falling victim to crimes in our country. 
  • For every crime committed against foreigners, there would be several others that go unreported for multifarious reasons, with one of them being the fear instilled in them by the threats of these criminals.
• Main victim: 
  • Women are more prone to sexual attacks by criminals on the prowl in tourist destinations. 
• States: 
  • Delhi recorded 27 cases of crime against foreigners last year, a drastic decline from 62 cases reported in 2020 and 123 in 2019. 
  • Rajasthan has shown a sharp reduction in registration of crimes from 16 in 2019 to just 4 in 2020 and two cases last year, which could be attributed to the sharp decline in tourist arrivals due to COVID-19.  

• Crimes: 
  • Murder: As many as 29 foreigners were murdered in the last three years. 
  • Raoe: While 14 foreigners fell victim to rape last year, 16 were raped in 2020 and 12 in 2019. 
  • Assault: As many as 15 cases of assault to outraging modesty of foreign women were registered last year across the country, apart from 14 complaints of cheating. 
  • Theft: While 142 cases of theft were lodged by foreigners in 2019, it declined to 52 in 2020 and further dipped to 23 in 2021.

Tourism in India

• Tourism happens to be one of the biggest foreign exchange earners for India and constant effort needs to be made to raise earnings. 
• While India’s earnings through tourism was $30.06 billion in 2019, it declined to $6.958 billion in 2020 due to COVID-19 and the resultant restrictions in foreign tourists entering the country. 
• A marginal increase of $8.797 billion was recorded last year.

Impact

• Global image: Crime against foreigners dents our image globally.
• Tourist inflow: It could also adversely affect the inflow of foreign tourists, which is a vital source of income for our country. 

Tourist Police Scheme

• Origin: Though the concept of ‘tourist police’ has been in vogue for the past few years, it has not been given the kind of attention it deserves. 
• States having: The States that have tourist police are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Rajasthan and Kerala. 
• Scheme by:  The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) has brought out a booklet on the tourist police scheme detailing the mode of setting up of tourist police stations and control rooms, outposts, uniforms, recruitment, qualifications, training and logistics requirements for tourist police stations. 
• Tourist spots identified: As many as 25 popular tourist spots have been identified in the country where the tourist police necessarily need to be deployed to help foreigners. 
• Incentive: As an incentive, a 30% deputation allowance has been recommended for the police personnel who join the tourist police on deputation.

Way Ahead

• With optimistic predictions of about 13.34 million foreign tourists arriving by 2024, there is a pressing need to upgrade our security systems specially to provide a flawless security blanket cover to foreign tourists. 
• Sensitise the specific requirements of the tourists for effective implementation of Uniform Tourist Police Scheme at pan-India level.
• Much needs to be done to instil a sense of security in tourists even before they leave their countries for India. 
• With theft being the most common crime committed against foreigners, all criminals in and around tourist spots need to be identified and kept under constant surveillance.
• Since foreigners come for short durations, the cases cannot be allowed to linger on in courts for long. Fast track courts should be set up immediately to try cases of crime against foreigners and the culprits punished speedily.

Best PracticeIt may be recalled that a rape convict, Bitihotra Mohanty, was tried for raping a German national in Alwar (Rajasthan) on March 21, 2006 and he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment on April 12, that is, within 22 days.Such speedy disposal of cases of crime against foreigners can be replicated if we have the will.

Introduction of Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022

In News

• The Central Government recently introduced the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in Lok Sabha.

More about the news

• About:
  • The Bill proposes to amend the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002 in light of the 97th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2011 which inserted Part IXB in the Constitution.

Highlights of the Bill

• Cooperative election authority:
  • The Bill also seeks to establish a “cooperative election authority” to bring “electoral reforms” in the cooperative sector. 
  • As per the proposed amendment, the authority will consist of a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and a maximum of three members to be appointed by the Centre.
• Establishment of a Fund & concurrent audit:
  • The Bill seeks to insert a new Section related to the “establishment of the Cooperative Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Development Fund” for revival of “sick multi-state cooperative societies”. 
  • It also proposes to insert Section relating to “concurrent audit” for such multi-state societies with an annual turnover or deposit of more than the amount as determined by the Centre.
• Complaints redress:
  • The government has proposed to insert a Chapter relating to “complaints redress”. 
  • This proposes to appoint one or more “cooperative ombudsman” with a territorial jurisdiction to inquire into members’ complaints. 
  • Role of the ombudsman:
    • The ombudsman will complete the process of inquiry and adjudicate within a period of three months from the date of receiving the complaint and may issue necessary directions to the society during the course of inquiry. 
• Monetary penalties & imprisonment: 
  • The government has also proposed to amend the existing Act to increase monetary penalties on multi-state co-op societies for violating provisions of the law to a maximum Rs 1 lakh. 
  • The imprisonment term has also been proposed from a maximum six months at present to up to one year in the proposed amendments.
• Cooperative information officer:
  • The Centre has also proposed to make provisions for the “appointment of cooperative information officer” to provide information on affairs and management of the multi-state co-op society concerned to members of such society.
• Contentious clause of the Bill:
  • Merger of cooperative society:
    • The Bill proposes merger of “any cooperative society” into an existing multi-state cooperative society.
  • Original statute:
    • As per the present law, enacted 20 years ago, only multi-state cooperative societies can amalgamate themselves and form a new multi-state cooperative society.
  • Amendment:
    • But now, “any cooperative society may, by a resolution passed by majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting at a general meeting of such society, decide to merge into an existing multi-state co-operative society: Provided that such resolution shall be subject to provisions of the respective State Cooperative Societies Act for the time being in force, under which such cooperative society is registered.

The objective of the introduction of the Bill:

• The bill is introduced with an objective to enhance transparency and accountability and improve the ease of doing business by reducing the period of registration.

Criticisms:

• No provision in the Constitution:
  • According to the critics, the Constitution distinguishes between Cooperative Societies of State and Multi-State Cooperative Societies which are governed by the Union of India. 
  • No provision of the Constitution makes way for merging a cooperative society which is incorporated under State law with a Multi-State Cooperative Society. 
• Centre’s encroachment:
  • Through the introduction of the Clause concerning the merger through the Bill, the Centre is indirectly encroaching on the rights of State Co-operative Societies according to critics.
  • It is being argued that such actions “impinges” on the rights of the States and is against India’s federal structure.
• Beyond legislative competence:
  • It is also being claimed that this is beyond the legislative competence of the Union as State cooperative societies are within the exclusive jurisdiction of States.

Conclusion 

• Developments over the years also necessitated changes in the existing Act so as to strengthen the cooperative movement in multi-state cooperative societies.
  • Therefore, the government proposed to amend the Act.”

More about the Cooperative SocietiesAbout:A co-operative society is a voluntary association of individuals having common needs who join hands for the achievement of common economic interest. Its aim is to serve the interest of the poorer sections of society through the principle of self-help and mutual help. 97th Constitutional Amendment Act 2011:It established the right to form cooperative societies as a fundamental right (Article 19).It included a new Directive Principle of State Policy on the Promotion of Cooperative Societies (Article 43-B).It added a new Part IX-B to the Constitution titled “The Co-operative Societies” (Articles 243-ZH to 243-ZT). It authorizes the Parliament to establish relevant laws in the case of multi-state cooperative societies (MSCS) and state legislatures in the case of other cooperative societies.Ministry of CooperationThe Union Ministry of Cooperation was formed in 2021, its mandate was looked after by the Ministry of Agriculture before.

Price cap on Russian crude oil

In News

• European Union and Australian proposal imposing a price cap on Russian seaborne oil recently came into effect.

More about the news

• About
  • the European Union said it would implement a plan originally floated way back in May, with the G7 and Australia also signing up on the plan to impose the price cap on Russian crude oil shipments.
    • The price cap is pegged at $60 to a barrel for now.
• Significance of the price cap
  • When the EU first proposed the ban, the inference was that this would deal a major blow to Russia’s oil cash flows. 
  • It was also noted that the European shipping liners and insurers have long had a stranglehold on global energy markets.
• Need for a price cap:
  • If Russian oil does not make its way into the global oil market, then crude prices could potentially spike, impacting consumers in the EU and the US, alongside those in the rest of the world. 
  • The concern of an inflationary spike is very real. So, the floor price formula was decided on.
• How will it work?
  • The price cap is essentially aimed at preventing firms in signatory nations from extending shipping, insurance, brokering and other services to Russian crude oil shipments that are sold at any value above the designated per-barrel price, i.e. $60 for now. 
  • Since it came into effect on December 5, the cap will only apply to shipments that are “loaded” onto vessels after the date and not apply to shipments in transit.
• The price cap seeks to balance two contrasting objectives:
  • How to cut Russia’s oil and gas earnings, without simultaneously crimping the global supply of oil, which could stoke runaway inflation further.

Challenges & ineffectiveness of the ban:

• Only marginally below the current market price:
  • Essentially, the embargo and price cap scheme has little bite, given that it is just marginally below the current market price for Russian crude. 
  • Russian oil is already trading at a discount of about $68 per barrel as compared to $85 for Brent crude.
• Existing oil profits:
  • It took nearly 6 months for the grouping to come up with a price cap of $60, and this figure barely makes a dent in Russia’s oil profits that it is using to sustain the war with Ukraine.
• Availability of diversion routes:
  • The price cap also does not fully address blends that include Russian crudes, suggesting that there may be additional opportunities to divert Russian barrels “through refined or partially refined products.
  • The main concern for the EU and the US would be the routing of Russian oil, outside of the price cap remit, through non-European shipping channels to countries such as China, Turkey, Indonesia and India. 

India’s position

• India’s doubled trade with Russia:
  • Despite the United States-led sanctions on Russia post its invasion of Ukraine, India has decided to not just continue with, but also double its trade with Moscow in the “near foreseeable future”. 
  • Discounted price:
    • The increase in trade volumes between the two countries have mainly come on the back of sharply higher import of discounted Russian crude by India. 
  • Data on India’s oil imports:
    • India, which imported less than 1 percent of its total crude from Russia before the Russia-Ukraine war, now imports over 20 per cent of its total requirement from it. 
    • Crude imports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which were the top two suppliers of crude to India, constitute around 21 and 16 per cent, respectively, of India’s total import.
• Sustaining India’s need:
  • As stated by India’s External Affairs Minister, as the world’s third-largest consumer of oil and gas, as a consumer where the levels of income are not very high, it is our fundamental obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access on the most advantageous terms to international markets. 
  • And in that respect the India-Russia relationship has worked in India’s advantage. 
• Non-committal to Price caps:
  • So, India’s stand, for now, has been to remain non-committal on any such pricing cap arrangement.

Way ahead

• India’s decision on purchasing oil from Russia will continue to be guided by its energy security requirements.
• In practice, the price cap will work only if the service providers ask their clients for proof that they have bought Russia-linked crude at a cap-compliant price.

India’s Stand on Russia’s War with UkraineIndia’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been distinctive among the major democracies and among U.S. strategic partners. Despite its discomfort with Moscow’s war, New Delhi has adopted studied public neutrality toward Russia. It has abstained from successive votes in the UN Security Council, General Assembly, and Human Rights Council that condemned Russian aggression in Ukraine and thus far has refused to openly call out Russia as the instigator of the crisis. India has been under immense indirect pressure from Western nations that have openly condemned Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. India has been pressing for the resolution of the crisis through diplomacy and dialogue.

RBI’s monetary policy review Highlights

In News

• Recently the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) unveiled its latest review of the monetary policy. 

Major Highlights 

• In the reviewed policy the RBI has
  • Increase the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 35 basis points to 6.25 percent with immediate effect.
  • Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stands adjusted to 6.00 percent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.50 percent.
  • Remain focused on the withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth.
  • Cut India’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth forecast for the current financial year,
    • Scaled down GDP growth hopes for the year to 6.8% from 7%
  • Retained its inflation projection for 2022-23 at 6.7%
• Expected Outcomes:
  • Lending rates of banks are expected to go up as the cost of funds is expected to rise further.
    • EMIs on the vehicle, home, and personal loans will also rise. 
  • The external benchmark linked lending rate (EBLR) of banks will rise by 35 bps.
    • One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point— as such loans are linked to the Repo rate. 
  • Marginal cost of funds-based lending rates (MCLR), which accounts for 49.2 percent of the loans portfolio of banks, are also expected to move up.
    • The hike will help in moderating inflation in the country.
  • Deposit rates are also expected to rise in the near future. 
• Significance:
  • The RBI has hiked the policy rate in a bid to bring down inflation from the current level.
  • Capital flows to India will improve and external financing conditions will ease.

Challenges

• Inflation with low economic output:
  • Indian policymakers are facing an odd quandary. Over the past couple of years, India has had to deal with a scenario where inflation has been high even as economic output struggles to grow.
  • This has happened for a variety of reasons.
    • COVID related disruptions:
      • In particular, India was already experiencing a severe growth slowdown before the Covid pandemic. 
      • This was made worse by the lockdowns during Covid.
    • Global issues:
      • Inflation has also shot up on account of supply disruptions, first due to the pandemic and then due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
• Prioritising Economic recovery:
  • For a while, the RBI has prioritised economic recovery but that has meant high inflation, which hurts the poor the most. 
  • In fact, since the start of 2022, inflation has been above the 6% mark. 
• The biggest risks to the outlook continue to be the headwinds emanating from protracted geopolitical tensions, global slowdown and tightening of global financial condition
• RBI’s hawkish stance:
  • Most observers saw the latest policy statement as “hawkish”.
    • The term “hawks” refers to central banks that have a very low threshold for tolerating variation from the targeted inflation level.
  • What makes the RBI’s current stance more “hawkish” is the RBI’s reference to “core inflation”.
    • The trouble is if core inflation is high, it takes a while to come down, because it implies that inflation has become broad-based (i.e., higher prices have seeped through all parts of the economy).
    • RBI traditionally targets the headline rate, which is moderating. 
    • Core inflation, on the other hand, is going up and thus, it may push the RBI to take a more hawkish stance from here on.

Way Ahead 

• The rupee, which has been resilient and stable, should be allowed to find its level and the central bank is only striving to rein in excessive volatility in the exchange rate.
• We must deal with the current global hurricane with confidence and endurance

More about the Inflation & Monetary toolsResponsibility & objective:In India, the RBI is entrusted with the responsibility of devising monetary policy with the primary objective of maintaining price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth.About Inflation:Maintaining the inflation level:The central bank is supposed to target a 4% retail inflation level, although the RBI has the leeway of inflation going up to 6% or falling to 2% in any particular month. Some degree of inflation is desirable as it promotes economic activity.Relation of growth & inflation:Typically when an economy experiences fast economic growth — that is, there is a lot of demand in the economy — prices rise.Drivers of Inflation:Demand-pull Inflation: Increases in prices due to the gap between the demand (higher) and supply (lower).Cost-push Inflation: Higher prices of goods and services due to increased cost of production.Exchange Rates: Exposure to foreign markets is based on the dollar value. Fluctuations in the exchange rate have an impact on the rate of inflation.Demand-supply gap: High demand and low production or supply of multiple commodities create a demand-supply gap, which leads to a hike in prices.RBI’s Monetary tool to tackle inflation:When inflation runs high, RBI raises the repo rate — the interest rate it charges banks when it lends them money. Doing this incentivizes savings and disincentives expenditure, thus curtailing overall demand and GDP. That, in turn, reduces the inflation rate.In times of weak economic activity, RBI cuts the repo rate and by the reverse logic, boosts demand and economic output.All these critical decisions about the repo rate are taken by the MPC, which meets once every two months to assess inflation and growth outlook.Headline, core & retail inflation:Headline inflation:Headline inflation refers to the change in the value of all goods in the basket.Headline inflation is more relevant for developing economies than developed economies.Core inflation:Core inflation is arrived at by removing the inflation in food and fuel from headline inflation. By removing food and fuel inflation (since these prices fluctuate more wildly), core inflation provides a more robust measure of inflation in the economy.Core inflation is less volatile than headline inflation.Retail inflation:Retail inflation is the inflation (or rise in the general price level) that everyday consumers face.

Chairman of Rajya Sabha

In News

Recently, Rajya Sabha welcomed its new Chairman, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Chairman of Rajya Sabha

• Vice-President of India is ex-officio Chairman of the Council of States i.e., Rajya Sabha.
• Powers and Functions:
  • As Presiding Officer of the House
  • Powers and Duties of the Chairman, as laid down by the Constitution of India
  • As the Principal Spokesman of the House
  • Powers Conferred on the Chairman under the Rules of Procedure of the Rajya Sabha
  • Right of the Chairman to interpret the Constitution and Rules
  • Role in the Deliberations of the House
  • Casting of Vote by the Chairman
• Salaries and allowances:
  • Fixed by the Parliament by law.
  • Specified in the Second Schedule. 

About Rajya Sabha 

• Rajya Sabha is a permanent House and is not subject to dissolution.
• To ensure continuity, one-third of its members retire after every second year.
• The House also elects a Deputy Chairman from among its members. 
• Besides, there is also a panel of “Vice Chairmen” in the Rajya Sabha. 
• The Fourth Schedule to the Constitution provides for allocation of Rajya Sabha seats to the states and Union Territories, on the basis of the population of each state. 
• Of 245 members, 12 are nominated by the President and 233 are representatives of the States and Union territories of Delhi and Puducherry.

Kangaroo Courts

In Context

• In a Dalit hamlet in Krishnagiri, a ‘kangaroo court’ undermines individuals’ right to love

More about the Kangaroo Courts

• What is the kangaroo court?
  • Oxford Dictionary defines it as “an unofficial court held by a group of people in order to try someone regarded, especially without good evidence, as guilty of a crime or misdemeanour”.
  • In a less literal sense, it is used to refer to proceedings or activities where a judgement is made in a manner that is unfair, biased, and lacks legitimacy.
• Issues:
  • The system does not work on the standards of law or justice. 
  • In Kangaroo Court, the procedure is only conducted as a formality.
  • Kangaroo Courts are known for working against the phrase ”innocent until proven guilty”. 
  • The court does not allow to appeal against its judgement.
• When did the usage begin, and why ‘kangaroo’?
  • The origin of the phrase is not clearly known, but it is believed to have been used from the 19th Century onwards. Why the word ‘kangaroo’ is used is also not clear, but there are several theories.
  • It could be to evoke a sense that “justice progresses by leaps and bounds” in case of kangaroo court verdicts.
  • The Kangaroo Courts were common during the Stalin era in the Soviet Union, famous as the ”Moscow Trails” of the Soviet Great Purge.
• Media as a Kangaroo Court:
  • Ill-informed, biased and agenda-driven debates in the media on issues pending in courts are affecting justice delivery.
  • Lack of accountability of media:
    • Print media still has a certain degree of accountability. 
    • Whereas, electronic media has zero accountability as to what it shows vanishes in thin air. 
    • Still worse is social media.

Karthigai festival

In News 

As part of the Karthigai festival, devotees light Lakshadeepam (lighting of one lakh lamps) at Sri Soundararaja Perumal Temple in Tamil Nadu. 

About  Karthigai festival

• Tamil Nadu celebrates Karthigai Deepam as the traditional festival. 
• It is also celebrated in neighboring states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. 
• It is very old and people for a long back have been associated with this auspicious occasion. 
• The actual history may not be clearly stated in the scriptures but some citations have been found in the ancient writings.
  • One can find a reference to this festival of lights in the age-old literature of Tamils known as Ahananuru, a collection of poems. 
    • It is one of the great books of Sangam literature that talks about the happenings between 200 BC and 300 AD. 
  • Avaiyyar, a renowned woman of Sangam age also mentions karthigai Deepam in her poems.

Koundinya wildlife sanctuary

In News

An 18-member herd of all female elephants from the forests of Gudiyattam and Pernambattu of Tamil Nadu are currently on the prowl in the Koundinya wildlife sanctuary zone in Chittoor district, apparently “in search of mates”

About Koundinya wildlife sanctuary

• It is located in Palamner – Kuppam forest ranges of Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, on the Andhra Pradesh – Chittoor road. 
• This Sanctuary comes under Project elephant – a Countrywide Elephant Conservation Project taken up by the Government of India. 
• Uniqueness: The only home for Asiatic elephants in the State of Andhra Pradesh.
• Forest Type: Southern tropical dry deciduous forest, with patches of thorn, scrub, and grassy plains.