Indian Army seeks Guinness entry through Assam forest plantation drive

September 24th, 2009 GANGTOK - The Indian Army has launched an afforestation drive in the high altitude area of East Sikkim on Wednesday. A total of 6000 saplings have been planted in the area which includes various species like Sikkim fir, maple juniper, chinguapin, English lac, rhododendron, purple Iris, Jatamansi, Strawberry and fenugreek.

September 9th, 2009 GUWAHATI - The Assam Government on Wednesday said that it would set up five anti-poaching camps in the Orang National Park in order to prevent the poaching of the endangered one-horned rhinos. The decision came in the wake of a stark increase in the number of poaching incidents that were reported from the park.

August 30th, 2009 GUWAHATI - A half-marathon christened 'Green Run' was held at Guwahati on Sunday to spread mass awareness on the benefits of tree plantation. Organised by a premiere engineering institute, the event saw participation of around 400 people of all ages.

July 13th, 2009 GUWAHATI - Two army soldiers, including a colonel, were killed in a powerful landmine explosion in Assam Monday, officials said. A defence spokesperson said the army vehicle hit the landmine near the Balipara reserve forest area in Sonitpur district, about 210 km north of Assam's main city of Guwahati.

May 13th, 2009 NILAMBUR - Two teak trees, believed to be the oldest in the world, are dying. The trees are located at the plantation, about 40 kilometres from Malappuram town in Kerala's Malappuram district.

April 20th, 2009 LUDHIANA - A teacher in Ludhiana is trying to create a world record by playing tabla, a traditional percussion instrument, continuously for 301 hours. Paramjot Singh has been practising tabla at Gurdwara Sri Dukh Niwaran Sahib for the last 14 days to boost his chances.

April 20th, 2009 DIBRUGARH - At least nine tea plantation workers were killed and two fell ill after consuming spurious rice beer in Assam, police said Monday. The incident took place late Sunday near Tingkhong in eastern Assam, about 490 km from the state's main city of Guwahati.

March 22nd, 2009 SRINAGAR - Three Army personnel, a Major and four militants have been killed in an encounter at Hafrada forest in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir.ccording to sources, the gunbattle, which is continuing since Friday, has also injured a soldier. On receiving information of the militant infiltration in the forest area, the Army, assisted by the local police acted promptly and launched a gunbattle in which Major Mehak and three other jawans were killed, while Havildar Rakesh Kumar was injured, sources said.

March 20th, 2009 AIZWAL - In a bid to resolve the border dispute between Mizoram's Kolasib district and Assam's Hailakandi district, talks would be held in the border village of Phaisen on Friday. The Additional Superintendent of Police of Kolasib Lalthafamkima, said that a joint verification of the disputed site would be done by the Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil) of Vairengte and his Hailakandi counterpart.

March 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Two Assam legislative assembly members armed with automatic rifles threatened the staff at Kaziranga National Park in Assam when they tried to stop the legislators from entering the prohibited area, officials said Wednesday. The incident took place Tuesday afternoon when Jiten Gogoi, legislator from Bokakhat constituency and Kushal Duori, legislator from Thowra constituency, forcefully entered the park through the Mihimukh forest gate allegedly for fishing.

February 10th, 2009 RAIPUR - About 100 million Jatropha saplings, a bio-fuel source, have been planted during the past three years in Chhattisgarh, the state assembly was told Wednesday. 'The forest department had planted about 100 million jatropha saplings in about 40,000 hectares of land in various districts to help the state emerge as a leading bio-fuel states of the country,' Forest Minister Vikram Usendi told the house.

February 9th, 2009 GUWAHATI - A mid-air collision was averted Tuesday when an Indian Airlines flight from Dibrugarh in Assam to Kolkata and an Indian Air Force (IAF) transport aircraft came close to each other, officials said. The Indian Airlines flight IC 206 with 45 passengers on board was flying over the town of Jorhat in eastern Assam when the IAF's giant IL-76 Gajraj aircraft came on the same route.

January 27th, 2009 SHIMLA - Himachal Pradesh is going in for massive plantation of indigenous species, especially medicinal plants, to not just boost its depleting green cover but also transform the hill state into a herbal one. The state authorities planted more than 1.5 million saplings on a single day Aug 3 last year.

January 24th, 2009 AGRA - It will be a plantation drive with a difference. On Republic Day Monday, thousands of tulsi (basil) saplings will be planted in Agra city, especially around the Taj Mahal, which forest officials say would 'insulate' the area from atmospheric pollution and also protect heritage monuments.

January 13th, 2009 KOLKATA - In order to combat growing terrorist activities and insurgency problems, the armies of India and Bangladesh will jointly conduct a counter terrorism exercise in the northeastern state of Assam this year, officials said here Wednesday. The training would be held from Feb 22 to Mar 7 at Jorhat in Assam.