Rare species of Smooth-coated otter has been sighted at the Uppalapadu Bird Sanctuary,Guntur. Known by its binomial name Lutrogale perspicillate, the mammal is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List since the year 1996. 
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Upplapadu Bird Sanctuary
The Upplapadu Bird Sanctuary, located at about 20 km from Guntur, has evolved over the years and is often touted as a shining example of human coexistence with the migratory birds

The task force on Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) has agreed and approved the preparation of final detailed project report (DPR) on the proposed Mahandi -Godavari link by ensuring utilisation of the allocated Godavari waters by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, en route the link canal of the project.

• The interlinking of rivers involving the two Telugu States, has been taken at the 13th meeting of the task force on Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) held in New Delhi on 25 Feb 2021.
• The draft detailed project report (DPR) on Godavari-Cauvery link was prepared by the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) and was circulated among all the Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery Basin States in March 2019.

 
About Godavari River
​The Godavari is India's second longest river after the Ganga. Its source is in Triambakeshwar, Maharashtra. Godavari river rises near Nasik in Maharashtra and flows for a length of about 1465 km before outfalling in to the Bay of Bengal. The principal tributaries of the river are the Pravara, the Purna, the Manjra, the Penganga, the Wardha,the Wainganga the Pranhita (combined flow of Wainganga, Penganga, Wardha), the Indravati, the Maner and the Sabri.
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About Mahanadi River
Mahanadi River, river in central India, rising in the hills of southeastern Chhattisgarh state and submerge in Bay of Bengal . The river flows through the states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

AP Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on 23 Feb 2021 gave its nod to a new welfare scheme – EBC Nestham – that will benefit poor women belonging to forward castes. The new Economically Backward Caste (EBC) scheme – EBC Nestam – will be implemented from the coming financial year. Under it, the government will provide financial assistance of Rs. 45,000 to each woman beneficiary aged between 45–60 years at the rate of Rs. 15,000 per annum for three years. The government has allotted Rs. 670 crore per annum for the scheme, totalling to Rs. 2,010 crore for three years.

The Motupalli Heritage Society and A.P Tourism Department is envisaging plans for integrated tourism development at Motupalli, the ancient port town in Chinaganjam mandal in Prakasam district. 
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About Motupalli Port
Motupalli is one of the ancient port towns in India and witness to the great history and heritage of the Telugu rulers. An important port of with a flourishing export-import trade during the times of the Cholas and continued during the Kakatiya, Vijayanagara, and Qutub Shahi periods. Italian traveller Marco Polo who had visited the port in 1287 AD, had also given a vivid account on the flourishing trade activities at the Motupalli port during the reign of Kakatiya queen Rudrama Devi.

More than 270 species of birds were recorded from the State this year during the four-day annual event of The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) and Campus Bird Count (CBC) held during this week. Organised every year in February for four days, the GBBC and CBC India is coordinated by the Bird Count India Collective. this year Visakhapatnam district reported more than 130 species of birds, taking the district to the third position on species diversity next to Chittoor and East Godavari. Five species were recorded for the first time from the Vizag district. These are ruff, pin-tailed snipe, pied harrier, Palla’s gull and lesser black-backed gull. 
 
About Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) India
Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) India is the Indian implementation of the global Great Backyard Bird Count. Birders in India have participated in the GBBC since the event went worldwide in 2013. The data is collated at eBird, a global online platform, for documenting and maintaining observations of birds. It is housed in Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology.

• These annual snapshots of bird populations provide crucial information on a variety of important questions, including “how birds are distributed across the country, how they are affected by changes in habitat and weather, and whether populations and distributions might be changing from year to year.”

About Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)
Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) was the first online citizen-science project (also referred to as community science) to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real time. Birds Canada joined the project in 2009 to provide an expanded capacity to support participation in Canada. In 2013 became a global project when we began entering data into eBird, the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science (community science) project. The Great Backyard Bird Count is a community science project in ornithology. It is conducted annually in mid February. The event is supported by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society.

About Campus Bird Count 
The Campus Bird Count is a sub-event of the larger Great Backyard Bird Count. It is a coordinated effort to document the birdlife in multiple campuses across India. By “campus”, we include campuses of educational and training institutions, government institutions, research stations, corporate campuses, etc. Broadly speaking, any moderate to large sized area where people study, work or live.