Days after announcing recovery from COVID-19, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President JP Nadda will visit Assam on January 11-12 ahead of the assembly polls. The BJP President will chair a organizational meeting with the party members in Guwahati. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also scheduled to visit Assam after JP Nadda on January 24. The party has also drawn a 120-day programme under which Nadda will be required to tour across the country in preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Six ULFA (I) cadres have been arrested from Darrang. The cadres identified as Khaninda Kalita, Hiren Kalita, Dharmendra Deka, Bolen Deka, Dhrubajyoti Baishya, and Ashim Adhikary have been arrested while they were joining the rebel group. Police also arrested pro-talk ULFA faction member Prasanna Saikia in connection to the incident. Police said that Saikia was associated with the joining of the ULFA cadres.
The second COVID-19 vaccination dry run has been conducted in 33 districts across the state of Assam along with other states and Union Territories excluding Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. According to reports, 25 beneficiaries will be included in the health centre in each district. The simulation of the actual execution of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out is being conducted to ensure efficient planning and management of the immunisation process.
The Assam Government has declared a restricted holiday on Uruka, the feasting day of the Magh Bihu. The Makar Sankranti / Magh Bihu or Maghar Domahi festivity span over two days and is dedicated to the Fire God. The first day is known as Uruka, and the main day is referred to as Magh Bihu. This festival marks the end of the harvesting season. It is celebrated by having a feast (known as Uruka). Many people hailing from different tribes and communities also gather to collectively celebrate this festival.
The Income Tax department has conducted a raid at Arya Group since Friday morning. a team of 150 officials of the IT department has conducted the raid at 20 different business establishments of Arya Group. The raid has been conducted at Arya Eco Camp at Pobitora along with 20 other places including Arya Hospital in Paltan Bazaar. The raid has been conducted under the leadership of Dr. Bijoy Goswami, Anil Sarma and Ram Krishna Pradhan of Arya group for financial anomalies.
Asomiya Pratidin digital desk's collection of 'Bixekh Lekha' (compilation of exclusive stories) " Samoyor Gaadya Aru Anyanya" has been released today at Guwahati book fair. The book has been released by senior journalists Pranoy Bordoloi, Paragmoni Aditya and Managing director of Pratidin Time Smitakshi Baruah Goswami. Releasing the book, Paragmoni Aditya said that digital media surfaces all over the Assam. The digital media focuses on a particular topic in a depth which electronic media doesn't.
In a tragic incident, a police constable lost his life in a road accident that took place in Guwahati on Friday. As per reports, a speeding jeep bearing registration number 'AS01-DW-1009' hit the policeman when he was on his way from the commissioner's office to Dispur police station. The deceased police constable identified as Rajib Singha, was a postmaster of the Police Commissioner Office.
In a shocking incident, a man brutally murdered his own mother at Bahupathar in Lakhimpur on Friday. According to sources, the son, one Nitu Gogoi (21), beat his own mother, one Kunja Gogoi (50), to death over a fight when she called him for dinner. The mother was rushed to the North Lakhimpur Civil Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia has been appointed as the next Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, the Central Government notified on Friday. "In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, Judge of the Uttarakhand High Court, to be the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office," the notification read. Chief Justice Dhulia takes over from Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, who was appointed the Acting Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court, following the retirement of the then Chief Justice Ajai Lamba in September last year.
In a recent development, Assam cabinet minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while talking to reporters on Friday, said that Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi was jailed for his Maoist links and not for his anti-CAA movement. "Akhil Gogoi was arrested not for CAA movement. National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested him for Maoist links. Akhil Gogoi was arrested for inviting Maoist or terrorist forces to Assam. His arrest has no connection with anti-CAA movement," said Sarma after Akhil Gogoi's bail plea was rejected by Gauhati High Court on Thursday.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday informed that that the state government is committed to Rs 1,868 Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy for every quintal to the farmers of Assam as the government itself has been procuring the paddy from the farmers with the same MSP. This was stated in a press release issued by the CM's office. CM Sonowal chaired a meeting today and discussed the modalities to strengthen supply chain of paddy procurement of Assam. He asked Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs Department and Agriculture Department to review the existing system, remove bottlenecks in the system, and give shape to a simpler procedure for the farmers to sell their produce to the government agencies.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah's two-day proposed visit to Mizoram beginning January 9 has been cancelled, various media outlets reported on Friday. No reason has been cited for the cancellation. Shah was scheduled to arrive at Mizoram's Lengpui Airport on January 9 (Saturday). He was expected to be received by Chief Minister Zoramthanga. Shah was to inspect land customs at Zokhawthar village in Champhai district along the India-Myanmar border during his visit. He was supposed to return to Delhi on January 10.
Assam recorded 50 new coronavirus related cases on Friday. The new cases were detected out of 18,522 tests conducted with the positivity rate at 0.27%. Meanwhile, 54 cured patients were discharged today, pushing the recovery rate to 98.1%, National Health Mission (NHM) Assam reported. So far, the total caseload of the state has touched 2,16,531.
The Centre is all set to resume flights between the United Kingdom (UK) and India which were closed since last week of December amid concerns over the 'highly infectious' new mutated strain of COVID-19 detected first in the UK. As per the health ministry guidelines, passengers travelling from the UK to India from January 8 to 31 will now be subjected to mandatory self-paid RT-PCR test at the airport. The cost of RT-PCR test for passengers arriving from the UK will be Rs 3,400 per person. On Wednesday (January 6), the first Air India flight for the UK left Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport with 252 passengers. Another flight from Mumbai left for London on Wednesday evening. Around 491 passengers have flown out of the country in these two flights, reported Times Now.
The Union ministry of health and family welfare has stated that the total number of cases infected with the new COVID-19 strain from UK has climbed to 82 in the country. The results are based on the genome sequencing of Covid-19 positive samples released by the Indian Sars-Cov-2 Genomics Consortium (Insacog) labs. The Central government created a network of 10 advanced labs across the country last month to step up disease surveillance in the wake of mutations detected in the Sars-Cov-2 virus that cause Covid-19. They are – NIBMG Kolkata, ILS Bhubaneswar, NIV Pune, CCS Pune, CCMB Hyderabad, CDFD Hyderabad, InSTEM Bengaluru, NIMHANS Bengaluru, IGIB Delhi and NCDC Delhi.
