Tuesday, December 26, 2006

JOKES

Que: - What is the height of stupidity?
Ans: - 2 sardarjis sitting on a motorcycle & fighting for a window seat

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once a sardar calls another sardar on the phone and
says "Hi, Main Bol Raha Hoon".
The other sardar replies "Kamaal Hain,
Ithe bhi Main Bol Raha Hoon!"

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A Sardar had called an Englishman for lunch. There was
curd on the table. The guest asked what is this? The
Sardar didn't know proper English, he said "Milk
sleeping in night, morning becomes tight"


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Sardar1: -
Marte Waqt Aadmi Ko Kya Dena Chahiye?
Sardar2: -
Birla cement
Sardar1: -
Kyun?
Sardar2: -
Kyunki Is Cement Mein Jaan Hain

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Did you hear about the sardarji who is so rich he has
two swimming pools, one of which is always empty?
It is for people who can't swim!


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Santa Singh
: Will this bus take me to Jalandhar?
Driver:
Which part?
Santa Singh:
All of me, of course!

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Sardarji calls Air India. 'How long does it take to
fly to Amritsar?'
'Just a sec,' says the customer service assistant.
'Thank you.' says the Sardarji and hangs up.


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Santa Singh goes to a TV shop and asks, 'Aap ke paas
color TV hai kya?' 'Haan' replies shop owner. Santa
Singh says, 'Ek hara vala dena!'


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Once Santa Singh was riding a cycle and he suddenly
hit a girl!
So girl shouted, 'Sala Break nahi maar sakta tha!!!'
And sardarji replied, 'Poori cycle to maar di ab
break kya alag se maroon??????????????????? รข€˜


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Banta Singh happened to be in a queue at a railway
station ticket counter with two men ahead of him. 'Ek
Punjab Mail dena.' demanded the man in front. He was
given a ticket. 'Ek Punjab Mail dena.' the second man
asked and was handed a ticket. Then came the turn of
Banta Singh, 'Ek Punjab female dena!' 'What do u mean
by Punjab female?' asked the clerk. 'It is for my
wife' replied Banta Singh
.

Monday, December 25, 2006

My Trip to Pench National Park

About Pench


Pench Tiger Reserve comprises the Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park, the Mowgli Pench Sanctuary and a buffer. The Park nestles in the Southern slopes of the Satpura ranges of Central India. The river Pench, which splits the National Park into two, forms the lifeline of the Park.

The area of the present tiger reserve has a glorious history. A description of its natural wealth and richness occurs in Ain-i-Akbari. Several natural history books like R. A. Strendale's 'Seonee - Camp life in Satpura Hills,' Forsyth's 'Highlands of Central India' and Dunbar Brander's 'Wild Animals of Central India' explicitly present the detailed panorama of nature's abundance in this tract. Strendale's semi-autobiographical 'Seonee' was the inspiration behind Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.

Land of the 'The Jungle Book'
The Pench Tiger Reserve and its neighbourhood is the original setting of Rudyard Kipling's most famous work, The Jungle Book. Kipling borrowed heavily from Robert Armitage Strendale's books 'Seonee', 'Mammalia of India and Ceylon' and 'Denizens of the Jungle' for the topography, wildlife, and its ways. Mowgli was inspired by Sir William Henry Sleeman's pamphlet, 'An Account of Wolves Nurturing Children in Their Dens' which describes a wolf-boy captured in Seoni district near the village of Sant Baori in 1831. Many of The Jungle Book's locations are actual locations in Seoni District, like the Waingunga river with its gorge where Sherkhan was killed, Kanhiwara villlage and the 'Seeonee hills'.

Topography
The terrain of the park is undulating with mainly gentle slopes criss-crossed by streams and nullahs. Most of these water courses are seasonal. Many of the hills are flat-topped and allow fine vistas of the forests around. The best known of these is 'Kalapahar' with an altitude of 650 mts. The Pench river flowing through the centre of the Reserve is dry by April but a number of water pools locally known as 'dohs' are found, which serve as waterholes for wild animals. A few perennial springs also exist. Recently a number of earthen ponds and shallow wells have been developed leading to well distributed sources of water all around the reserve.

Conservation History
In the year 1977 an area of 449.39 sq km was declared Pench Sanctuary. Out of this, an area of 292.85 sq km was declared Pench National Park in the year 1983 and 118.31 sq km remained as Pench Sanctuary. In 1992 Government of India declared 757.89 sq km area including the National Park and the sanctuary as the 19th Tiger Reserve of the country. The name of Pench National Park was changed to "Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park" in November 2002 Similarly the name of Pench Sanctuary has been changed to "Mowgli Pench Sanctuary".

The Pench hydroelectric dam straddles the Maharashtra - Madhya Pradesh boundary. The dam, constructed between 1973 and 1988 has resulted in the submergence of about 74 sq km area out of which 54 km is in the Park, the rest being in Maharashtra.

Forests and Wildlife
The undulating topography supports a mosaic of vegetation ranging from moist, sheltered valleys to open, dry deciduous forest. Over 1200 species of plants have been recorded from the area including several rare and endangered plants as well as plants of ethno-botanical importance.

The area has always been rich in wildlife. It is dominated by fairly open canopy, mixed forests with considerable shrub cover and open grassy patches. The high habitat heterogeneity favours high population of Chital and Sambar. Pench tiger reserve has highest density of herbivores in India (90.3 animals per sq km).

The area is especially famous for large herds of Gaur (Indian Bison), Cheetal, Sambar, Nilgai, Wild Dog and Wild Pig. The key predator is the Tiger followed by Leopard, Wild Dog and Wolf. Other animals include Sloth Bear, Chousingha, Chinkara, Barking Deer, Jackal, Fox, Palm Civet, Small Indian Civet, Jungle Cat, Hyena, Porcupine etc.

There are over 285 species of resident and migratory birds including the Malabar Pied Hornbill, Indian Pitta, Osprey, Grey-headed Fishing Eagle, White-eyed Buzzard, etc. In winter thousands of migratory waterfowl including Brahmini Duck, Pochards, Barheaded Geese, Coots, etc visit the tanks and the Pench reservoir within the Park.

Pench Tiger Reserve is also among the best areas for bird watching. Four species of the now endangered vultures white-rumped, longbilled, white scavenger and king vulture can be seen in good numbers in the Reserve. The other fauna present include 50 species of fishes, 10 amphibians, 30 reptiles, 45 butterflies, 54 moths and numerous other insects.





Fact

Remember Mowgli, the pint-sized 'Man-Child' or Bagheera, the Black Panther? And who can forget the inimitable Sher Khan, the villain of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. Kipling was inspired to write his memorable book by the luxuriant forest cover of Pench teeming with an astonishing variety of wildlife.



Pench National Park

Pench National Park
93 kms. from Nagpur, Pench National park is situated along the border of MAHARASTRA. The park has got same name in Maharashtra also. The park has got tropical Moist deciduous forest and was recently declared as Tiger Reserve under Project Tiger. It is 19th Tiger Reserve in the country and takes pride in its tigers and other wildlife. The total area under the Pench Tiger Reserve comes to about 758 sq. kms., out of which a core area of 299 sq. kms.

The main wildlife of the park is TIGER, LEOPARD, Gaur, Cheetal, Sambar, Nilgai, Wild Pig, Muntjac, Four Horned Antelope, Crocodiles and Fresh Water Turtles.

The National park is named after the "Pench" river which flows through park and provides a playground for water birds. Apart from this, Pench provides a good oppurtunity to see some 125 species of birds like Barbets, Bulbuls, Minivets, Orioles, Wagtails, Munias, Mynas, Waterfowls and Blue Kingfishers.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Cave Organisms

Cave Organisms
Organisms within caves may occur on the ground, within debris, on the roof and walls, or on any cave formation. Cave organisms are typically divided into troglobites, troglophiles, and trogloxenes (Gunn, 2004).



Tadarida brasiliensis mexicanus – Mexican free-tailed bat. Photo from Pollak (2004).

Troglobites live permanently and exclusively in caves. Troglobites generally show morphological and physiological adaptations for life in caves. Such adaptations include the reduction (or loss) of eyes, pigmentation, egg volume, body size, swim bladder, circadian rhythms, scales, and aggression; some troglobites also exhibit increased lifespan (Gunn, 2004). There are nearly 1000 described species of troglobites within the 48 contiguous states of the US, and most of these species are known only from a single county (Culver et al., 2000). The caves in the region of the Edwards Aquifer in central Texas contain 108 species of troglobites (Culver et al., 2003).

Troglophiles are species that can live completely underground, but also occur in surface ecosystems. These species typically do not have the modifications seen in troglobites.

Trogloxenes are animals that use caves occasionally, but belong to surface ecosystems. This includes bats that sleep and hibernate in caves and carnivores that den in caves.


Aquatic Organisms
Animal species that live exclusively in subterranean waters are called stygobites. Only about 8% of named species of aquatic animals are known to live within groundwater. This number is so limited because of the limited accessibility of habitats, the homogeneity of the environment, and low amounts of food resources (Sket, 1999). The Edwards Aquifer of central Texas contains a total of 55 stygobite species (Culver et al., 2003)


Eurycea sosorum – the Barton Springs salamander. Photo from Mahler (2004); taken by Lisa O’Donnell.

About Me

I don't know where to start with but let me tell you one thing, i love to make friends and i am a simple living and high thinking kind of person. i love my country a lot , my dream is to make my country "the super power" and about my Family i love them a lot they are my world and i cant live without them, my friends are few but they are like my life line they help me anyhow, they always reside my side in good and bad times.
the most important thing i should thank GOD for giving me this lovely life which is very precious for me and due to his grace i have never been in trouble.