Guwahati: Celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the independence of Bharat, Assam Governor professor Jagdish Mukhi on Saturday flagged off a cycle rally of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel at Raj Bhavan.
The participating 17 SSB personnel are scheduled to cross various States to cover approximately 2000 kilometer to reach Rajghat of New Delhi in 36 days spreading the message of healthy living mixed with the spirit of love for the nation.
“On the occasion of flagging off the cycle rally, I urge upon everybody to appreciate the objective behind the rally, which is to promote healthy life style among the youth and encourage them to stay fit,” said Governor Mukhi. He also added that cycling is one of the best ways to stay healthy and it is a clean mode of transportation.
Thanking the SSB for taking the initiative for the cycle rally the Governor commented that the spirit of SSB’s love for the nation and its people unputdownable. He hailed the SSB for its intimate association with the people of Assam while guarding the international boundary with Bhutan with a sense of responsibility and security to the people.
Professor Mukhi also said that SSB is playing a crucial role in inculcating the spirit of nationalism and humanitarianism among the border population using village level coordination meeting, civic action programs, vocational skill development programs, study tours for students and distribution of farming equipment among the people living along the border.
APFEJ’s welcome message: Welcoming the decision of Assam forest department to dispose the rhino horns with an aim to spread the message that it does not carry any aphrodisiac quality, for which the rhinos are poached, Asia Pacific Forum of Environmental Journalists puts a request that the horns should be scientifically confirmed as real ones.
“There are ample scopes for apprehension that with the opportunity many fake rhino horns would be disposed and those might be smuggles into international market. Need not to mention that the rhino horns, because of the superstition (linked to Viagra), can fetch a million dollar in the illegal markets spread across east Asia,” said a statement of the forum.
The forest department has already started a process to verify over 2,500 rhino horns seized from poachers, smugglers or extracted from dead animals over the last four decades. The verification process of rhino horns in the districts of Kamrup, Barpeta and Morigaon were already completed. It prefers to dispose of most of the rhino horns on coming 22 September.
