A molecular and morphological study of Otocryptis Wagler, 1830 (Squamata: Agamidae) reveals a new genus from the far south of the Western Ghats, Peninsular India

In recent years, several studies have revealed significant unknown and cryptic diversity of agamids in peninsular India, particularly in the Western Ghats. Here, we examine the morphology, anatomy and genetics of the sole Indian representative of the otherwise Sri Lankan agamid genus Otocryptis from the Western Ghats. Our analyses reveal significant distinctions in O. beddomii Boulenger, 1885 with respect to the Sri Lankan members, the type species, O. wiegmanni Wagler, 1830, and O. nigristigma Bahir & de Silva, 2005, warranting a new generic placement. To accommodate the divergent and allopatric O. beddomii from the Western Ghats, we erect a new genus Agasthyagama gen. nov. We re-characterise Agasthyagama beddomii (Boulenger, 1885) comb. nov. based on a syntype (ZSI 15733) and recently collected material. In effect, we restrict the genus Otocryptis, represented by two species, O. wiegmanni and O. nigristigma, to Sri Lanka. We also provide a re-appraisal of the genus Otocryptis sensu stricto, based on data from its type species O. wiegmanni. Our finding adds another endemic agamid genus to the Western Ghats, following Salea Gray, 1845, and the recently described Monilesaurus Pal, Vijayakumar, Shanker, Jayarajan & Deepak, 2018, and Microauris Pal, Vijayakumar, Shanker, Jayarajan & Deepak, 2018. In turn, this complements Sri Lankan agamid endemism with Otocryptis, in addition to the accepted endemic radiations of Lyriocephalus Merrem, 1820, Ceratophora Gray, 1835 and Cophotis Peters, 1861. From a systematic perspective, our erection of Agasthyagama gen. nov. likely completes the description of known genus-level diversity in the clade containing Otocryptis Wagler 1830, Sitana Cuvier, 1829 and the recently described Sarada Deepak, Karanth & Giri, 2016.

Phosphate sorption parameters in relation to soil properties in some major agricultural soils of India

Phosphorus sorption characteristics of some Indian representative agricultural soils belonging to four soil orders namely Vertisol, Inceptisol, Alfisol and Ultisol were investigated for adsorption behaviour of P and sorption data were fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich equations. The Langmuir constant i.e. adsorption maxima was highest for Vertisol (716.85 ?g g-1), followed by Ultisol (633.3 ?g g-1), Alfisol (501.46 ?g g-1) and Inceptisol (522.93 ?g g-1) respectively. The Freundlich ‘k’ value for Vertisol, Inceptisol, Alfisol and Ultisol were 159.12, 59.41, 110.57 and 181.36 ?g g-1 respectively, whereas the ‘n’ values were 2.05, 1.92, 2.49 and 3.07 g ml-1 respectively. The phosphate adsorption isotherm gave good fit adopting Langmuir (r2 = 0.96 to 0.99) and Freundlich (r2= 0.95 to 0.99) for the four soils. Phosphorus sorption maxima was significantly correlated with clay (r2=0.70), Al (r2= 0.73) and Fe (r2=0.81) forms, MPBC (r2=0.67) and Freundlich constants (r2=0.82). Among the various soil properties which correlated with P sorption maxima of significance was clay content (r2=0.97) was significantly correlated. The study illustrated that P sorption isotherm in relation to soil properties can be used as a tool of P management in sustainable crop production.SAARC J. Agri., 14(1): 1-9 (2016)

The Politics of Naming: Derozio in Two Formative Moments of Literary and Political Discourse, Calcutta, 1825–31

Henry Derozio, India's first modern poet, used the pseudonym ‘An East Indian’ for several poems he published in his lifetime, and he may have used it again in a heated controversy that played itself out in the correspondence columns of the India Gazette, Calcutta's leading newspaper, from May 26 to June 5, 1825. The occasion was an editorial comment upon a community of office-goers in the city—called, at the time, ‘sircars’—who had set up a literary association. This editorial was widely perceived to be reactionary, and civil society responded vigorously in protest at the injustice. The sequence of editorials and letters published on this issue, which seem to have been written by Englishmen, East Indians and Indians alike, demonstrate a remarkable liberalism of spirit and a free-thinking attitude to ethnicity that was soon to disappear in the stiffening boundaries of a racially divided society. 1825 was also the year that Derozio began to publish prolifically in the poetry columns of newspapers and periodicals in the city; by the time he died, in 1831, he had published two books of poems in 1827 and 1828 and had created a revolution of sorts among the radicalised youth of the Hindu College, from which he had been dismissed for his role in their alienation from tradition. In 1831, a few months before his death, Derozio addressed a mammoth meeting called to commemorate the return of John Ricketts, the East Indian representative, from his mission to the English houses of Parliament for a redressal of the community's grievances. Using these two lost occasions—the public correspondence and the meeting—both concerned with the politics of naming, this paper will attempt to present the early radical interventions of the mixed-race community in initiating a discourse of civic rights and human dignity which led, ultimately, to organised attempts at constitutional change and political reform in India, whose estimation is underrated in present-day contexts.

Parastenocarididae (Crustacea, Copepoda, Harpacticoida) of India: description of Parastenocaris mahanadi n. sp., and redescription of P. curvispinus Enckell, 1970 from hyporheic habitats

Only four species of the genus Parastenocaris Kessler, 1913, were previously known from India: P. curvispinus Enckell, 1970, P. gayatri Ranga Reddy, 2001, P. savita Ranga Reddy, 2001, and P. sandhya Ranga Reddy, 2001. A fifth species, Parastenocaris mahanadi n. sp., is here described from the hyporheic habitat of the River Mahanadi near Raipur city in the State of Chhatisgarh, central India. This is the first Indian representative of the minuta species-group. It can be distinguished from the other members of this group by a unique combination of morphological characters, especially of the male: fifth antennular segment bearing an extraordinarily long aesthetasc and seventh segment without apophysis; caudal rami as long as anal somite and over four times as long as their maximum width; lateral setae inserted at about distal third of rami; anal operculum smooth; leg 4 bearing two chitinized, claw-like spines at distal inner corner of basis; endopodite small, 0.4 as long as first exopodite segment and ornamented with two groups of long spinules; leg 5 produced into smooth, slender, acute, spinous process at distal inner corner, and with only three setae. Parastenocaris curvispinus, which was originally incompletely described from Sri Lanka by Enckell (1970), is redescribed from several hyporheic habitats. This highly variable species, which was found co-occurring, inter alia, with P. mahanadi n. sp., is the dominant and most wide-spread parastenocaridid in the hyporheic habitats of peninsular India. Following the recent resurrection of the genus Remaneicaris Jakobi, 1972, the taxonomic position of this species is reviewed. Furthermore, the distribution of the Indian parastenocaridids is briefly discussed.

Security Council

The Security Council met once again on March 17, 1964, to consider the India-Pakistan question which had initially been brought to the attention of the Council in letters addressed to the President of the Security Council from Pakistan's Minister of External Affairs and India's permanent representative. The Council considered the question during its 1104th and 1105th meetings, held on March 17 and 20, 1964, and again during its 1112th–1117th meetings, May 5–18, 1964. At the invitation of the President, the representative of India, Mr. Chakravarty, and Pakistan's Minister of External Affairs, Mr. Bhutto, took places at the Security Council table. The President indicated that the present meeting had been convened upon the request of the Pakistani representative, although the Indian representative had expressed his objection to the request for an early meeting.