Kalapani Issue between India and Nepal:
The Kalapani territory is an area disputed between India and Nepal, but under Indian administration as part of the Pithoragarh district in the Uttarakhand state.
- After the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh, the Kalapani territory became the bone of contention between India and Nepal.
- In the latest political map of India, India reiterated its claims on the region that Nepal considers its own territory in Darchula district.
- According to India, the historic Kalapani region forms part of the state of Uttarakhand.
- Kalapani is a valley that is administered by India as a part of the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand – It is situated on the Kailash Mansarovar route.
- The Kali River in the Kalapani region demarcates the border between India and Nepal.
- The Treaty of Sugauli signed by the Kingdom of Nepal and British India (after Anglo-Nepalese War) in 1816 located the Kali River as Nepal’s western boundary with India.
Brackish Water Turtle (Batagur Baska):
- A brackish water species, the Northern River Terrapin (Batagur Baska) is one of the largest turtles to be found in Southeast Asia.
- It is one of the world’s most endangered turtles classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List.
- Up until the 1960s, they were very common in fact, they were possibly one of the most common turtle species, according to the literature available from the British era in the Zoological Survey of India.
- Earlier, B baska used to be found in the river mouths of Odisha and the Sunderbans.
- As of now, it is considered extinct in much of its former range.
Military Engineering Service:
Military Engineer Services is one of the oldest and largest government defense infrastructure development agency in India. The Military Engineer Services (MES) is the premier construction agency and one of the pillars of Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army which provides rear line engineering support to the Armed Forces.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal for the abolition of 9,304 posts in the Military Engineering Service (MES)
- MES is an Inter-Service Organization but has both Army and Civilian component of officers and other subordinate staff.
- While the execution of all construction works is through contracts, execution of all maintenance services are both through contracts as well as departmentally employed labour (DEL).
- Military Engineer Services is one of the oldest and largest government defense infrastructure development agency in India.
- It is mainly employed in the engineering and construction for the Indian Armed Forces including the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, Indian Ordnance Factories, DRDO and the Indian Coast Guard.