Barpeta-Manas National Park road blocked in protest
Barpeta (Assam): The Barpeta Road – Manas National Park road in lower Assam was blocked on Thursday in protest against its “deplorable” condition. The road condition was affecting the movement of tourists to the UNESCO Natural World Heritage site. All Assam Minorities Students Union (AAMSU), All Bodo Minority Students Union (ABMSU), Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), Gariya Mariya Deshi Jatiya Parishad, Popular Front of India among others protested against “the indifference of PWD to repair the road”. The organisations also accused the local MLA of failing to develop the northern part of Barpeta and alleged that he did not stand by the side of the people suffering from erosion and flood. Manas National Park, 176 km from Guwahati, is a project tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve known for its rare and endangered endemic wildlife such as rhinos, pygmy hog, hispid hare, the Assam roofed turtle, golden langur and wild water buffalo. (PTI)
Assamese educationist dies in California
Guwahati: Eminent educationist Debojit Chaliha breathed his last at a hospital in California, US, on Tuesday. He was 86 years old. Chaliha, who was living in the US for the last 15 years, died of heart failure in the Stanford Hospital, California, his family members said here today.He was formerly, Director of Technical Education of Assam, Vice-Chancellor of Assam Agricultural University and Principal of Assam Engineering College. Eldest son of late Kuladhar Chaliha, prominent freedom fighter and the first president of the Congress in Assam, Chaliha had made pioneering contribution for the growth and development of technical education in the state. He was the founder vice-president of Indian Society for Technical Education and was a leading Assamese educationist involved in the UNDP and UNESCO programmes relating to India. Chaliha was one of the leading personalities in Assam in modeling and designing the curriculum for Engineering education in the state. He is survived by his wife Nilima Chaliha and three daughters. His last rites will be performed in California in the presence of his family members and the Indian diaspora in California. (UNI)
Three policemen injured in grenade attack in Assam
Haflong: Three policemen were injured, one of them critically, when unidentified persons hurled a grenade at them during patrol duty in Assam’s Dima Hasao district in the wee hours on Thursday, a police officer said. The grenade was hurled at the policemen at 2 am while they were on duty in Ram Nagar under Haflong police station here injuring three of them, the officer said, adding, the condition of one of them was said to be critical. The injured have been identified as Dharmendra Das, Tilak Nath and R K Rajesh Singh, whose condition, doctors said was critical. They have been admitted to Haflong Civil Hospital. Investigations are on and a search has been launched to nab the miscreants, the officer added. (PTI)
Nagaland Dimasa Kachari tribe celebrates Bishu festival
Kohima: The Dimasa Kachari tribe celebrated Bishu festival, a post harvest festival, with much pomp and gaiety at Horesh and Maoser Hakkaw (H&MH) Dhansiripir ground in Dimapur. At a programme as chief guest on Wednesday, Sub Divisional Officer (civil) Dhansiripar Mhalo Humtsoe termed the festival as colourful and appreciated the pioneers for celebrating the festival as Thanksgiving Day, for working hard the whole year. Urging the community to preserve their culture, identity and uniqueness, she said it was a blessing for the Dimasa community to be able to continue celebrating the festival thus preserving the culture and tradition that they have inherited. Humtsoe also asked the gathering to retrospect about what their community lack and to reconcile together, so that the meaning of the festival itself would create peace and unity amongst the community and its progress. (UNI)
New Mizoram govt policy ‘The Way Forward’ : ruling MPCC
Aizawl: The ruling Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) on Thursday said that the state government has formulated a new economic development programme called ‘the Way Forward’. Leaders of the MPCC Media Department said that the new programme would upgrade the subsistence (tribal) economy to market economy system. With the new economic policy in place, the agriculture and allied services would no longer be dependent on marginal farmers, scientific farming would be introduced and agri-business would be encouraged by reining in the educated youth in the agricultural sector. “There would be minimum intervention from the government which would only act as a facilitator and arrange market linkage for the surplus products of agriculture and allied services, they said. The Congress leaders claimed that the debt of the state government, which was 110.44 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2004-05 had went down to 46.91 per cent of the GSDP in 2014-15. The government money kept in civil deposits to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees has gone down to Rs 729.45 crore in December 2015, they said. (PTI)
Third Woman power Car Rally on January 31st
GUWAHATI: Darshana’s Automotive Training & Research Institute will organize a 3rd Woman power Car Rally on January 31 in Guwahati. The rally is being organized with a view to encourage more women into the field of motor sports and to make them aware of traffic laws and the various aspects of safe driving. The technicalities of the rally will be monitored by the officials of North Eastern Motor Sports Association (NEMA) which is under the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). This event will be based on TSD (Time Speed Distance) format. The awards in this event would be based on categories such as best decorated car, youngest and oldest driver and navigator and various other prizes among others.
