Residents of the Da-Dhora farming area in Dergaon will take out a protest rally tomorrow against the move to set up a calcinated coke industry, work of which has begun about a month ago.

The Rain Forest Research Institute (RFRI) here has launched a concerted effort to tackle the menace of jhum cultivation in the region.

For the first time the Forest Department here implanted a microchip into a leopard so that it could be easily identified later.

With the North-east teeming with 63 species of bamboo, which account for nearly 50 per cent of the total species of woody monocots found in India, the Deovan-based Rain Forest Research Institute here is gearing up to emerge as a

Top representatives of the Forest departments of the North-east, NGOs and other agencies are attending a two-day regional workshop on "Bamboo flowering: Status and management strategies' which got under way at the Deovan-based Rain Forest Research Institute here today. Several State Forest departments, NGOs, paper corporations and consultants, both national and international, had participated in a similar national-level meet at the same venue in April, 2002. The Planning Commission incorporated the recommendations made at that meet in its document on "National mission on bamboo technology and trade development.' These recommendations have served as guidance for management of bamboo flowering in the north-eastern States in particular and the country as a whole. The present workshop is a sequel to the previous consultation meet and will highlight those issues which did not figure in the last workshop, RFRI research officer Dr TC Bhuyan said. Suggestions and opinions for the development of RFRI as a centre of excellence for bamboo research will also be entertained at the workshop, he added. Recommendations and strategies for future course of action will comprise the agenda for the concluding session of the workshop, slated for tomorrow.

The Jorhat Forest Division has begun an elephant count in the district from today. Assistant Conservator of Forests Gunin Saikia said that the exercise would continue for five days and would cover three forest reserves

A group of scientists of the North-East Institute of Science and Technology (NEISC), formerly known as Regional Research Laboratory (RRL), Jorhat, has prepared a safe mosquito repellent in the form of Agarbatti or incense sticks from a harmless bio-product. Most of mosquito repellents currently used for domestic purpose are mainly synthetic products with high mammalian toxicity. They are mostly synthetic pyrethroids. Though they are less harmful then general insecticides, but still are not totally safe for prolonged use, sources said.

I n two separate raids against Rhino poachers conducted jointly by Forest officials and police personnel recently total 14 Rhino poachers including four Rhino horn, elephant smuggler and poachers were arrested.

The forest guards who had accompanied the 110-strong herd of jumbos, which had left a trail of death and destruction in three districts, up to the Kaziranga National Park (KNP), had breathed a sigh of relief too soon. Hardly had one week elapsed when the herd split and 70 per cent of the mammoths are wending their way back wreaking havoc in their wake. Yesterday night, 14 huts were destroyed at Dainigaon near Nimatighat.