Khasi Hills

East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Abhilash Baranwal has brushed aside the possibility of Bangladeshi nationals misusing Khasi surnames to get enrolled in the electoral roll during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise.Addressing the media on Thursday, Baranwal said the SIR is only meant to verify existing voters and not to enrol new electors.He informed that nearly 95 percent of the enumeration forms have been distributed, while around 45 percent have already been digitised.The administration is confident of completing the entire exercise before the July 29 deadline.The Deputy Commissioner said there is no possibility of non-Indian citizens taking advantage of the SIR process, as only those already enrolled in the electoral roll are being verified.He said that every elector m...

A rare, leafless orchid species last recorded in the Khasi Hills during the British colonial period has been rediscovered in Meghalaya after a gap of 175 years, exciting botanists while raising urgent concerns over its survival in the region’s fragile ecosystem. The orchid, Chamaegastrodia vaginata—commonly known as the “ghost orchid”—was rediscovered by scientists from the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong. The finding represents the oldest documented plant rediscovery in Meghalaya. The species was located during botanical field surveys conducted under the project Parasitic Angiosperms of Meghalaya by researchers Yalatoor Mahesh, Rikertre Lytan and Ramalingam Kottaimuthu. Their findings have been published in the peer-reviewed journal Vegetos. The ...