New Delhi: In what could be a fresh headache for government, a petition challenging the constitutional validity of a pet UPA project, the Forest Rights Act aimed at giving land rights to traditional forest dwellers, has been filed by prominent wildlife groups in Supreme Court.

The number of tigers in India has plummeted to around 1,411, nearly half the previous estimate, according to a government survey. Here are some key facts about the tiger: - The largest of all cats, the tiger is one of the most fearsome predators in the world. It can weigh up to 450 kg (1,000 lb) and measure around 10 feet (three metres) from nose to the tip of the tail. - Tiger numbers in the wild are thought to have plunged from 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century to between 5,000 and 7,000 today.

on january 1, 2008, the government after much vacillation notified the rules of Scheduled Tribes and Other Tradi- tional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act. The day before, it had notified "critical tiger habitats' in 28 existing and eight proposed tiger reserves. It scored on both tiger conservation and protection of tribal rights.

The Union Cabinet on May 31 approved the constitution of a multidisciplinary wildlife crime control bureau that would detect and prosecute networks and individuals engaged in poaching tigers and

A forest officer "Untouchability has not been eradicated from the country. There still exist classes of people who have to perform chores for their lords with unquestioning servility. Any