Collembola, commonly called “springtails” are wingless soft-bodied hexapods that are usually between 1 and 3 millimetres in length and occur in varying habits such as, soil surface and litter, under rocks or the bark of trees. The great majority develop in soil, feeding on fungi, bacteria, algae and decaying plant matter, and along with other soil fauna constitute the decomposer community. The present study examines the diversity, density, and seasonal variation patterns of collembolan fauna under different intensities of disturbance, as evidenced in a forest and an agroecosystem. Results indicate that both densities and diversity of collembola was higher in the forest than in the agroecosystem. Seasonal fluctuation exhibited an increase from spring to summer and autumn and a decrease during winter. The coorelation patterns with different chemo-edaphic factors did not show any specific trend.Indices of diversity and significant correlation values are discussed in light of landuse

Gregarious flowering of bamboo Melocanna baccifera, followed by famine, is locally known as 'Mautam' and appears to occur in an established cycle in Mizoram, North East India. This cycle has been reported to have occurred in 1815, 1863, 1911 and 1959, a regular interval of 48 years. Thus, it is predicted that the next cycle will occur in 2007. The gregarious bamboo flowering in the hilly areas of the state, expected for 2007, has caused panic among the tribal people who fear a possible food crisis and epidemic due to rodent outbreak during bamboo flowering. It has been suggested that famine following bamboo flowering is a result of a combination of two factors. First, it has been reported that the seeds of M. baccifera are eaten by the rodents which enhances the rodents' reproductive ability. Second, the outbreak of rodent populations causes severe losses to paddy crops. Famine is an extreme outcome and there is a need to conduct systematic investigation to determine if these factors are indeed contributing to the famine. The natural ecological phenomenon of flowering has significant ecological and economical impacts on the affected areas.

IntroductionKautilya's Arthasastra (Kautilya's economics) was written in sutra (prose poem) style. The work claims to date from the period 321-296BC and its archaic style is well in agreement with the claim (Fleet, 1914). Indian epigraphical researches also prove that Kautilya wrote Arthasastra, somewhere between 321 and 300BC (Fleet, 1914). Nitisara was written by Kamadaka around AD 800 and the author of the book acknowledged his indebtedness to Chanakya (Kautilya) (Sharma, 1968). Professor Bhatnagar opined "Kautilya was well known to all sorts and conditions of literates from 200BC down to the fifteenth century AD" (Bhandarkar, 1925 p. 205). Chanakya examined views of his predecessor and set forth his valuable opinion on economic management in ancient India. Indeed, he founded a school, which was paid due homage by Indian scholars, administrators and planners for a long time. During Mughal and a large part of the British rule the importance of this treatise gradually diminished. Scholars of the present century could know the worth of the

Taxus baccata L., an endangered medicinal tree is highly valued for anti-cancer drug ‘Paclitaxel’ which is extracted from its leaves and barks. Reckless exploitation and habitat destruction have greatly reduced its natural population. Its regeneration through seed is also poor, so focus has been paid on vegetative propagation by stem cuttings to augment its natural regeneration. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of different rooting media on rooting behavior of Taxus baccata cuttings under poly house conditions. Effect of ten rooting media was studied on rooting of juvenile and mature stem cuttings of Taxus baccata. Six substrates i.e. field soil, forest soil, river sand, FYM, peat and vermi-compost were used for preparation of rooting media. The experiments were laid out in a randomized completely block design. The different rooting parameters were evaluated after six months of planting. The results revealed that the highest value of per cent survived, per cent callused, per cent rooted, mean number of root and mean root length was obtained in both juvenile and mature cuttings planted in Forest soil+ Peat+ FYM (1:1:1) compared to the other rooting media. Not a single cutting survived which was planted in river sand. Mature cuttings planted in Forest soil + River sand + VC (1:1:1) also failed to survive. The media containing peat as substrate significantly improved the rooting of cuttings but due to optimum physico-chemical properties, Forest soil+ Peat+ FYM (1:1:1) proved ideal rooting media for stem propagation of Taxus baccata.

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