Contractor shot dead
Imphal: A government contractor was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Lilong Chajing in Thoubal district of Manipur, police said on Wednesday. Hawaibam Meghachandra (50) was called out by the assailants while he was celebrating Diwali and shot dead from point blank range Tuesday evening. (PTI)
National award winning music director passes away
Guwahati: National-award-winning music director Sher Choudhury died at the B Barooah Cancer Hospital here on Wednesday after prolonged illness. Choudhury (71), suffering from cancer since last year, was a bachelor. Choudhury received national award for best music director for the Gautam Bora directed film ‘Wosobipo’. His first film as music director was ‘Prothom Ragini’, directed by late Dhiru Bhuyan, for which he received an award from EIMPA. He was also chief assistant director and art director of that film. Choudhury had also composed music for Sanjib Hazarika’s national-award winning film ‘Halodhar’. He gave music for award-winning films like ‘Mimangsha’, ‘I Killed Him Sir’, ‘Raag Birag’, ‘Adajyo’, ‘Rongbin’, ‘Chakrabehu’, ‘Nissihido Nodi’, ‘Ahir-Bhairav’ and ‘Dwaar-The Voyage Out’. Choudhury won best music director award for ‘Raag Birag’, Adajyo’ and ‘Nishiddho Nodi’ in Assam. He composed music for several documentary films and directed the documentary ‘Sound of the dying Colours’ which won the best promotional national film award. An excellent mandolin player, Choudhury was closely associated with Bhupen Hazarika. (PTI)
Rhino attacks forest worker
Golaghat: A rhinoceros attacked and seriously injured a worker in the Kaziranga National Park in upper Assam on Wednesday morning. Park sources said the worker, identified as Sim Singla, was badly bitten in the leg by the rhino near Natun Donga of KNP’s Burapahar Range. Singla, engaged by the Forest Department, was first taken to a local hospital from where he was referred to the Nagaon Civil Hospital, the sources said. (PTI)
SUMA demands roll back of NEEPCO getting Kurung dam job
Itanagar: The Student Union Movement of Arunachal (SUMA) on Wednesday demanded that the state government roll back its decision to assign the work of developing the proposed 330 mw Kurung dam to the North East Electrical Power Corporation (NEEPCO). The SUMA in a statement claimed that the affected people of both upstream and downstream of the proposed project were not taken into confidence prior to making the decision. It said the people of the area welcome the proposed dam but are opposed to the agreement between the state government and the NEEPCO, which it said “was signed within closed doors”. If the state government failed to address the grievance of the people in the matter, they would be compelled to move court against the NEEPCO and the state government, the statement said. (PTI)
Left to fight superstitions
Agartala: Tripura’s ruling CPI-M will launch a campaign against superstitions among tribals that often lead to killings, a senior minister said Wednesday. The Tripura Rajya Upajati Ganamukti Parishad, the tribal wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), will finalise the campaign at a meeting beginning Nov 9, Industries Minister Jitendra Chowdhury said. Many people, mostly women, are killed every year in Tripura and some other north-eastern states after being accused of indulging in sorcery and witchcraft. This happens mostly in tribal dominated areas. According to the census, tribals constitute 31.8 percent of Tripura’s 37 lakh people. (IANS)