Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted the people of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram on their statehood days lauding their culture and traditions. Both states were formed in 1987 on February 20. "Greetings to the wonderful people of Arunachal Pradesh on the special occasion of their Statehood Day. The people of this state are known for their culture, courage and strong commitment to India"s development. May Arunachal Pradesh keep scaling new heights of progress," Modi tweeted. "Best wishes to my sisters and brothers of Mizoram on their Statehood Day. The entire nation is proud of the great Mizo culture. The people of Mizoram are known for their kindness and commitment towards living in harmony with nature. Praying for the state"s continuous growth," he said in another tweet.
In a latest development in the Baghjan blowout and fire case, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in a hearing on Friday stated that the issue of compensation to the victims has "sorted out substantially" and claims for higher compensation would require "adjudication based on evidence of loss". Well number 5 at Baghjan in Tinsukia district, had been spewing gas uncontrollably since May 27 and caught fire on June 9 last year, killing two of OIL's firefighters. NGT stated in the report that in spite of claims put forward, a large part of the compensation issue stands resolved in tri-partite arrangement between the victims, the OIL and the Deputy Commissioner of Tinsukia.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will address the MLAs of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly during his two-day visit to the state scheduled on February 25. The Speaker has been invited by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to visit the state. During his visit, Birla will also inspect the construction of the new Meghalaya Assembly building at New Shillong which is being built at a cost of Rs 127 crores and will be completed by February 2022.
Former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta's health condition is now stable, informed Mahanta's wife Dr. Jayashree Mahanta on Saturday. The former CM was admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Thursday and is undergoing treatment under the supervision of specialist doctor. He was taken to AIIMS in an air ambulance. The minister has been ill for a long time. 67-year-old Mahanta was admitted to a private hospital late in January from where he was shifted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of another hospital due to ailments related to blood pressure.
Dr. Hiren Gohain terms the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) decision to execute the kidnapped OIL employees on Monday as meaningless, horrible and shameful incident. Addressing a press conference Gohain said, " The abducted employees are common people, they are not responsible for anything." Gohain called all the Assamese people to protest against this incident. Gohain raised question to ULFA(I) chief Paresh Baruah as what will they get or how will be the people of Assam benefitted by killing the employees who doesn't have any fault. It may be mentioned that yesterday (February 19) through an official statement the ULFA (I) has mailed a statement regarding two kidnapped oil employees that they will be punished on Monday as the last deadline given by the militant group has expired.
All the primary teachers on Saturday from different states have staged protest against the creation of the headmaster post in the primary school and the demand for return of Rs. 8,700 grade pay to the graduate teachers in their respective education office. The agitating teachers have been protesting against the government's decision of depriving from getting their grade pay. However, the government has not taken any initiative to address the problem. As a result, the teachers staged sit in demonstration. It may be mentioned that the government hasn't created headmaster post in primary schools since 1982. Protesting teachers also demanded to release of mortgage bans of contract based teachers. Similar protests were also reported in Barpeta, Bokakhat, Nagaon, Marigaon, Goalghat and many other regions.
A 48-year-old Anganwadi worker in Manipur has allegedly died a week after receiving her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, PTI reported. "W Sundari Devi of Kumbi Terakha area in Bishunpur district had received her first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine on February 12 at Kumbhi primary health centre (PHC)", officials said to PTI. After complaining of respiratory issues, Devi was taken to Moriang community health centre on February 18 and died on Friday. Meanwhile, the officials of health department informed a special team will conduct the post-mortem to investigate the cause of death.The Deputy Commissioner of Bishnupur, Neeta Arambam was quoted saying in the PTI report that the family members of the deceased claimed that at the time of vaccination, Sundari had told the "vaccination team that she has allergy problem. However, the vaccination went ahead."
After the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent ULFA (I)'s official statement to kill the two kidnapped oil employees on Monday (February 22) both the family members have begged to save their lives. One of the kidnapped OIL employee Pranab Kumar Gogoi's wife pleaded ULFA (I) chief Paresh Baruah to make her husband safe return. Addressing media, Gogoi's wife said, "We will sold all ours properties, and give all the money to Paresh baruah. It doesn't matter if we became beggars, all I want is to safe return of my husband." On the other hand the other kidnapped OIL employees, Ram Kumar's father-in- law also has sent a video clip to ULFA (I) chief Paresh Baruah requesting for his son-in-law's safe return home.
A group of Government Railway Police (GRP) on Saturday recovered FICN (Fake Indian Currency Notes) worth 7. 50 lakhs and arrested an accused in this connection from Guwahati's Kamakhya railway station. The police have recovered the fake currency notes from a man identified as Manish Marya from No. 2 platform of the station. The accused has been caught by the police when he was on his way from Nagaon to Mumbai. A case has been registered regarding the incident. Further investigation is being conducted.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday unveiled a life-size bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda at Barpeta Road, marking the 125th anniversary of the saints' return to India after delivering the historic speech at Chicago religious congregation in 1893. Speaking on the occasion, CM Sonowal said Vivekananda gave this world the essence of the Indian social system and ethos of Hindu culture. "Swami Vivekananda appreciated the spirit of Indian philosophy and showed humanity the right path to progress. Inspired by this great soul, we need to go forward to forge a society based on service of mankind," he said. CM Sonowal added that Vivekananda was a great saint who helped in building a society based on the tenets of humanity.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday appealed to ULFA-(I) Commander in Chief Paresh Baruah to release both the captive OIL employees who were kidnapped last year in December. "We have appealed to the ULFA (I) to release the employees of Quippo on humanitarian ground," CM Sonowal told reporters. "Our doors are always open for talks. Therefore, we have appealed to ULFA (I) C-in-C Paresh Baruah to shun the path of violence and come to dialogue because only through dialogue and peaceful talks, problems can be solved," he said. "Many insurgency groups have shunned violence path and come to peace talks. Recently, many rebel groups have surrendered and ready for dialogue," he added.
Assam reported 16 new coronavirus related cases on Saturday, while 18 have been discharged. Out of the 16 cases, six of them were reported in Kamrup (M), three each in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh. The new cases were detected out of 14,239 tests conducted. Today's positivity rate of the state stood at 0.11 per cent with an active caseload of 269. 2,14,676 recoveries have been recorded till today with a recovery rate of 98.75 per cent. Meanwhile, no death was reported today. The death rate is at 0.50 per cent with 1,091 fatalities so far. The total caseload in the state has now reached 2,17,383.
A businessman was abducted by unknown men from Kamrup Rural's Mirza late Saturday night. As per sources, the businessman, identified as one Munindra Talukdar, was intimidated with blank fire before being abducted. He was on his way home after closing his shop in Mirza. An empty magazine was also found at the crime scene. Police have reached the spot and investigation is currently underway.
In a first, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan inaugurated the country's first Digital University at Technocity in Mangalapuram on Saturday named – Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology (KUDSIT). Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Governor unveiled the plaque through videoconferencing and addressed the inaugural event with the latter saying that the university would provide a driving force to Kerala's dream of becoming the digital powerhouse of India as well as a global hub of digital activity. Khan further expressed optimism that the university would play a significant role in adopting technology to enable the State to keep pace with the fourth Industrial Revolution that had witnessed technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Data Analytics, Robotics and Bio-computing, transforming lives and disrupting conventional models of work and business.
Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were arrested by security forces on Friday and recovered incriminating materials including live grenades from their possession at Bandipora district in Jammu and Kashmir. According to PTI, security forces established a checkpoint near the Papachan-Bandipora bridge after receiving specific intelligence inputs and nabbed the two terrorists. They were identified as Abid Waza and Bashir Ahmed Gojer – both residents of Kashmir. As per reports, both the individuals were involved in providing shelter, logistics and other support to terrorists of the proscribed terror group. They were reportedly tasked to carry out a grenade attack on security forces in the area. Police said investigation is underway.
