In an attempt to make Covid-19 treatment affordable for the common man across non-government healthcare providing facilities, Assam government on Friday issued an upper ceiling on per day rates to be charged by private hospitals. Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the rates for both super-specialty hospitals and general private hospitals. The upper limit for super specialty hospitals on per day basis includes — General Ward at ₹5000, Shared Cabin at ₹6,500 ICU without a ventilator at ₹10,000, and ICU with a ventilator at ₹15,000. While, for other private medical facilities, the maximum rates to be charged on per day basis are — General Ward at ₹4000, Shared Cabin at ₹50,00 ICU without a ventilator at ₹9000, and ICU with a ventilator at ₹12,000. As per reports, the cost fixed include registration charges, bed and boarding charges, nursing, consultant charges, blood transfusion, oxygen charges, medicine and drugs as a treatment protocol, pathology and radiology test charges, medical procedures, diagnostic tests, bio-medical waste disposal and sanitisation, PPE kits , N-95 masks among others.
As the onset of monsoons begins in the state, the water levels of the River Brahmaputra and its tributaries are gradually increasing, which triggers a deluge at Kaziranga National Park. On Friday, officials noted that the inundation of several parts of the Park has begun, however, no damages have been reported so far. Due to the submerge of different areas, wild animals were seen crossing National Highway 37 for moving towards highlands. The Kaliabor sub-division administration under Nagaon district issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 (1) of CrPC in the area from Amguri to Bagori, including the highway stretch running through it. The decision was made to minimise the risk of animals getting killed or hit by vehicles on the highway.
On the occasion of World Environment Day, Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma planted eleven saplings at Gandhi Mandap in Guwahati on Saturday. Planting eleven saplings of Rudrakash plant in the premises of the prominent landmark, the Chief Minister said that, "Planting of saplings is a firm step towards ecosystem restoration". Dr. Sarma also urged the youth to plant more trees and should volunteer to work towards protecting the environment by carrying out sustainable practices following ideals of the father of the nation. "I urge youth to plant more trees and work towards protecting environment by embracing sustainable practices following ideals of Mahatma Gandhi," Dr. Sarma said.
Assam's noted artist Neel Pawan Baruah has tested positive for the deadly contagion – coronavirus. As per initial reports, the 85 year old painter and illustrator tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday night. The founder artist of the Assam Fine Arts & Craft Society has been admitted to the GMCH's Super Specialty Hospital in the wee hours of Saturday morning. According to the authorities of Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, Baruah's health condition is stable.
Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday took stock of the health condition of Dr. Seuj Senapati who was brutally assaulted by a group of persons at Udali COVID Care Center at Lanka in Hojai district on June 1. Visiting GMCH, CM Sarma said that Dr. Seuj Senapati's health is now stable and he will be discharged from the hospital within 2-3 days. "Dr. Senapati will be able to serve in any hospital and the culprits who attacked the doctors will be punished according to law," added CM Sarma. The Chief Minister also took stock of the COVID-19 situation in the hospital. Briefing the media about the present COVID scenario, GMCH Principal Dr. Achyut Baishya said that a COVID patient falls in danger because of the family. Once they test negative, the family members want them to take back to home and due to their negligence, they had to suffer.
Keeping in view the prevailing situation of the Covid-19 pandemic and maintaining the necessary protocols and guidelines issued by the Centre and State governments, Assam has been observing World Environment Day on Saturday. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma planted 11 Rudraksh saplings at Gandhi Mandap Guwahati on the occasion today. He shared a video on his Twitter handle and wrote, "Coronavirus pandemic has taught us to be responsible towards our environment". On this special occasion, Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar celebrated the day by planting saplings at CIT complex, Balajan Tiniali. The sapling planting was done in the presence of the Registrar of the Institution, Dr Chaitali Brahma and other faculty members and staffs of CIT. Hundreds of sapling were planted today marking the World Environment Day in the campus. Naharkatiya also celebrated World Environment Day with much enthusiasm today. Five members of the Naharkatiya Cycling Club planted saplings today in the Balighat area of the town maintaining the Covid protocols. The Jaipur Forest Department plants more than two hundred trees on the premises of Chachni Jamunamukh High School and Merbil Sri Ram Primary School today.
Assam gets its 6th National Park after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma declared Raimona as National Park on World Environment Day on Saturday. Assam now has six national parks. The Chief Minister said that the preliminary work has started for the recognition of Dihing Patkai Sanctuary as a national park. Forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya had on last year unveiled the map of the new park at Manas National Park. "Another feather of success will be added to the biodiversity cap of Assam soon as we have initiated the process for approving the proposal for the 6th National Park of Assam, the Raimona National Park. Today we unveiled the map of this upcoming park," Suklabaidya tweeted. According to the forest department, the proposal has been submitted to the governor of Assam for upgrading an area of 422 sq km of notified Ripu reserve forest under Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve as the proposed Raimona National Park.
Actor Rinku Singh Nikumbh from Assam, succumbed to COVID-19. Rinku is known for her appearance in Ayushmann Khurrana's "Dream Girl" who died at a hospital in Assam. Her cousin sister Chanda revealed the news on Friday. Rinku Singh Nikumbh was just 35 years old. On May 25, Nikumbh was diagnosed with the deadly COVID-19 and initially, she was under home quarantine. With her health taking a serious turn, Rinku was later admitted to Tezpur Medical College. Her cousin Chanda said to media sources, "After she tested positive she preferred home isolation. From May 25 to May 28, she had a high fever. We immediately decided to admit her to the hospital. She was shifted to the ICU the next day. She told us she felt a lot of weakness. Besides, she had asthma and so she had breathing issues too. Her oxygen level dropped. She died on June 2 at 5 am in the morning."
Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu on Saturday said that the HSLC and HS exam will be held after the COVID situation improves in the state. While addressing the media over HSLC and HS examination confusion, the minister told that if COVID-19 cases reduce by 1%, the examination will be conducted. Education Minister Pegu said, "The government is taking all the necessary measures but the situation has not come under control yet." He further adds, "Canceling examination will not solve the ongoing issue. Rather it will be conducted keeping a view to the future of the student." Ranoj Pegu also said that the government is in favor of conducting HSLC and HS exams and discussions regarding the concerned matter is underway on how the exam will be conducted. "CBSE has cancelled the examination, we will not cancel. HSLC and HS examinations are important for student's future.", adds the Education Minister.
In a major haul, illicit drugs worth Rs 3.5 crore were recovered by Kamrup police on Saturday. The recovered drugs include 96,350 Yaba tablets and 2kgs brown sugar. The market value of the drugs is estimated to be Rs 3.5 crore in the international market. Additionally, unaccounted cash of Rs 3.70 lakh were also recovered. As per sources, two women were in possession of the said drugs and cash. They were arrested from near Assam-Meghalaya border today. However, their identities have not revealed for the sake of investigation, police said. Assam police has been ramping up its fight against drugs in the state with major seizures being made along with a number of arrests in the last few days.
The state of Assam on Saturday logged 3,781 new cases of coronavirus, taking the active caseload to 51,403. The state positivity rate is at 3.26 per cent. 44 Covid related deaths were reported, while, 3,099 cured patients were discharged today. Of the new cases, Cachar reported the highest infections with 322 cases, followed by Kamrup Metro with 276 cases, Dibrugarh with 273 and Tinsukia with 267 cases. The new cases were detected out of 1,15,968 tests conducted today. The total recoveries have touched 3,76,3443 cases with 86.97 per cent recovery rate.
Twitter on Saturday removed and later restored the verified blue tick on the personal account of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu. Officials of the Vice President Secretariat said the personal Twitter handle of Naidu @MVenkaiahNaidu was inactive for a long time and the Twitter algorithm removed the blue badge. Twitter was in the process of restoring the verification badge. The last tweet posted from the personal handle was on July 23 last year, PTI reported. The officials said Twitter was contacted after they noticed this morning that the blue tick was removed. Before 10.30 am, the blue tick badge was restored, Twitter stated.
The Himachal Pradesh government Saturday cancelled the class 12 board examinations for the year 2020-21 and also extended the ongoing "Corona curfew" till June 14, Education Minister Govind Singh Thakur said. He said the decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur here. He said the ongoing "Corona curfew", which was to end on June 7, has now been extended till 6 am on June 14. On cancelling the 10+2 board exams, he said the HP Board of School Education would devise a formula for calculating the awards for students keeping in view the formula being devised by the CBSE. Also in case some students are not satisfied with the results arrived at this way, they would be allowed to appear in a special examination to be conducted once the situation is conducive for conducting the examination, he added.
Amid an escalating deadlock, the Indian government has issued a final notice to social media giant Twitter to appoint Indian officers after new IT rules were implemented for social media companies, failing which will result in "consequences". "Twitter Inc. is hereby given one last notice to immediately comply with the Rules, failing which the exemption from liability available under Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000 shall stand withdrawn and Twitter shall be liable for consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws of India," the government said in an official notification. Notably, this comes after the removal of 'blue tick' from Vice President Venkaiah Naidu's personal Twitter handle due to inactivity. It was however restored later. The move has further deteriorated ties between the Indian government and Twitter who have been in a standoff over a range of issues including new IT rules laid down by the government and actions taken on certain BJP leader's tweets. The government's threat about revoking Twitter's indemnity under Section 79 of the IT Act means that the platform could be held responsible for content posted by users. Currently, Twitter and other social media platforms, as intermediaries, enjoy the protection that holds users responsible for posts deemed illegal.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has warned that the state could see as many as 37,000 COVID-19 cases per day when the third wave hits. He added that the state government is making adequate arrangements including a separate paediatric task force for children as experts say they could be affected in the upcoming wave. Additionally, oxygen capacity and buffer stocks of medicines are being augmented, he said. In order to identify variants of the virus, Kejriwal stated that two genome sequencing labs will be set up at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital and the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences. On Friday, Kejriwal chaired a six-hour meeting with officials and experts to prepare a comprehensive plan for a third wave of the coronavirus. "At the peak of the second wave, 28,000 cases were reported on one day. On the basis of our consultation with experts, we are assuming that during the peak of the third wave, there might be 37,000 cases. Keeping this number in mind, we will ramp up our beds, oxygen capacity and medicines," he said.
