The wait is finally over. After a gap of 11 years, the Assam State Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden, popularly known as Guwahati Zoo, recorded the birth of a rhino calf. “Assam State Zoo welcomes a new guest! In another positive news in our animal conservation efforts, a rhino calf was recently born in @assamzoo taking the total rhinos on the premises to 14,” the zoo posted on X, seeking a name for the baby rhino. With this, the rhino population at the zoo went up to eight. The last time it had witnessed a rhino birth was in 2013. Spread across 432 acres, the Guwahati Zoo is the largest of its kind in the Northeast.
IIT study on removing ammonium from waste
A research team from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-Guwahati), led by Prof Kannan Pakshirajan, has developed a method to remove ammonium from wastewater by using a combination of microalgae and bacteria. The institute said this approach drastically cuts down on energy consumption compared to traditional wastewater treatment methods.“ Traditional ammonium removal methods involve oxygenation, which accounts for up to 90% of a treatment plant’s energy consumption,” it added. The research has been published in the prestigious Chemical Engineering Journal.
Coordinated crackdown on outlawed ULFA
A coordinated crackdown by the security forces and intelligence agencies has led to the arrest of at least 20 members of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I) and its overground workers and linkmen in the eastern part of Assam over the past few days. The offensive, dubbed ‘Operation Crackdown’, followed a series of intelligence-gathering efforts from October 25 to November 11 and is in line with the National Investigation Agency’s exercise to analyse the forward and backward linkages to identify the supporters and overground workers of the outfit.
Prasanta mazumdar
Our correspondent in Guwahati
prasantamazumdar@newindianexpress.com