Rhino killed by poachers in Kaziranga National Park
Guwahati: A rhino was shot dead by poachers in Kaziranga National Park in Assam but its horn was left intact, park sources said on Friday. On hearing gun shots near their camp at Phuloguri in Burapahar Range of KNP, forest guards after midnight yesterday encountered a three-member group of poachers and exchanged fire with them but the assailants managed to escape after killing the rhino, the sources said. The poachers fled without the horn which they had sawed after killing the rhino by the side of National Highway 37, they said. The rhino was suspected to have been gunned down with AK-47 assault rifles as two empty cartridges were found near the carcass. A magazine with 26 bullets was also recovered nearby. This is the 35th rhino killing by poachers this year at the 430-sq km World Heritage Site in Assam which has the highest population of the great One-horn Rhinoceros. (PTI)
Assam students call on President
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee Friday told girl students from Assam who visited him at Rashtrapati Bhavan that despite differences in language and food habits, the people of the country share a feeling of belonging to a great nation.
The students are from the militancy-affected Batasipur in Sonitpur district of Assam.
Addressing the students, the president appreciated the efforts of the Indian Army in organising the Sadbhavana tour for students.
“Though, in India, there may be differences in languages, food habits and way of life, all the people share the common bond of belonging to a great country, India,” the president said.
“He said that such tours strengthen the bonds of the students, in their formative years, with the diverse culture of India. The Sadbhavana Tour would enable these students to understand India’s rich history and also India’s progress and development,” an official statement said.
The students are in Delhi as part of a national integration-cum-education and motivational tour to Delhi, Agra and Amritsar under Operation Sadbhavana, organised by the 2 Dogra regiment of the Indian Army. (IANS)