Lizard species named after Indian scientist

Mumbai: A new species of a ground-dwelling lizard has been discovered in Goregaon’s Aarey Colony and Thane’s Badlapur forested belts, 130 years after the last such gecko was discovered, and has been named after a Bengaluru-based scientist Varad Giri. The species, of the genus Cyrtodactylus known in Southeast Asia, India and Sri Lanka, is a member of the subgenus Geckoella, which are small ground-dwelling geckos largely found in leaf litter in forests. — IANS

Rats gnaw Marathi actress’ bag on train

 Mumbai: Marathi actress Nivedita Saraf complained to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Twitter that her bag was gnawed by rats (pic, above-right) while she was travelling by a train. “22 Sept Latur Express A1 27 rat did this to my bag while I was sleeping. bag was near my head. horrible #indianrailway #sureshprabhu (sic),” she tweeted along with a picture of her rat-ravaged bag. — PTI