New Delhi: A rare snake species has been discovered in Mizoram — only the third species of the Stoliczkia genus in India.
It has been named Stoliczkia vanhnuailianai in honour of Vanhnuailiana, a Mizo warrior who was one of the most powerful chiefs of the Lushai Hills (now Mizoram) during the mid-1800s. The snake has also been given a common name ‘Lushai hills dragon snake’. The Mizo name for it is ‘Rulphusin’, which means a ‘snake with small scales’.
The species, believed to be one of the rarest in the world, is non-venomous and was discovered in the state’s Phulpui area by researchers from the Mizoram University.
They recorded the snake in March but the findings of their study were published in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa on 6 July.
The research team has been quoted as saying that it is one of the “most important discoveries of this century” because the last time Rulphusin’s sister species, called Stoliczkia khasiensis, was found was in 1904.
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Tripura man advocates ‘healthy’ bamboo salt that costs Rs 1,200/kg
Samir Jamatia, a ‘bamboo expert’ from Tripura, has been making bamboo salt, believed to have medicinal properties, for several months now and is advocating its use among people. The salt is known as ‘swom’ in Tripura’s Kokborok language.
Jamatia, who was trained as a bamboo technologist in China, had earlier worked with the National Bamboo Mission and the Bamboo Society of India.
Bamboo salt is made by placing sea salt into bamboo trunks, sealed with mineral-rich clay. This is then roasted for about 10 hours between 1,000 and 1,500 degrees Celsius in a furnace with wood or bamboo used as fuel.
Jamatia has been quoted as saying that bamboo salt helps reduce toothache, prevents hair loss, and sinusitis. However, the salt is priced as high as Rs 1,200/kilogram.
Manipur couple makes ‘affordable, quality’ slippers for poor
Mimin Vaiphei and his wife Zoukim Vaiphei from the T. Khawvaiphei village in Manipur’s Churachandpur district have been making quality, affordable slippers for the poor for the past year.
Mimin and Zoukim own a tiny shop inside a bamboo hut near their village where they also manufacture the slippers, priced at Rs 100 a pair.
The couple started their business in February last year with an initial investment of Rs 60,000 that included the price of machines and raw materials.
Mimin told the Imphal Free Press that they initially made 200 pairs “as a trial” in February 2020 and managed to sell all of them in a short span of time. They have sold nearly 1,000 pairs of slippers so far.
“Rich families could afford slippers with higher prices from famous brands and at present we are not in a position to compete with those brands. However, we believe that the slippers we produce could become at least home-wear slippers,” Zoukim was quoted as saying.
Nengpi, a resident of Churachandpur, said: “The slippers look good and are comfortable to wear. It is only Rs 100.”
2 spider species found in Assam — one is new, other recorded after 129 years
Researchers have discovered two spider species in Assam’s Chirang Reserve Forest, named Gravelyia boro and Dexippus kleini.
While Gravelyia boro is a new species and has been named after the Bodo community of Assam, Dexippus kleini has been recorded for the first time since it was first described, 129 years ago, by Swedish arachnologist Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell in Sumatra.
The two researchers who have made the discovery are Assistant Professor Dulur Brahma and research scholar Paris Basumatary from the Bodoland University in Assam.
Both species of spiders have been noted in the latest issue of Acta Arachnologica journal, published by the Arachnological Society of Japan.
(Edited by Rachel John)
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