Internationally acclaimed actor from Assam Adil Hussain has been awarded the Honorary Ph.D. (Honouris Causa) degree by the Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (KKHSOU). The 57-year-old actor has been conferred with the recognition at the 4th Convocation of the varsity on Sundaay. Hussain taking it to Twitter, said, "Deeply Humbled by this recognition by my own State University! This would have made my father very happy as well. Thank you @KKHSOU1". Besides, Adil Hussain, the conferment of D.Litt (Honoris Causa) has been given on Professor Ranjit Kumar Dev Goswami, and Ph.D. (Honoris Causa) on Dipok Kumar Barthakur, and Surath Nazary. Moreover, Ph.D. and M.Phil. Scholars of the varsity will be awarded their degrees.
Guwahati: BJP and Congress are going in for the kill to get the crucial tea garden voters of Assam, which may swing the fortune of 40 seats, enough to influence formation of the new government, even as Tea Industry as a whole looks at despair fearing complete collapse of the industry if any of the promises on wage revision going to materialize actually. But at the moment, no one is bothered to up to the future of the industry, all they want the tea garden votes and hence from Priyanka to Narendra Modi to Rahul Gandhi, all are at the forecourt of tea garden labourers. For past 60 years the tea community remain the most exploited class of Assam and has not moved beyond the photo ops of the politicians despite throwing horded of tall leaders to all major political parties.
Guwahati: Tomorrow tea garden bandh called by the Assam Tea Tribes Students Asociation has been withdrawn. The bandh call was given demanding higher tea wages. However the AATSA which is toeing BJP line, has been persuaded by the BJP to withdraw the bandh. In a statement, the AASTA informed that they had withdrawn the bandh, following the stay order by the Gauhati High court in the age revision matter. On the other hand All Assam Adivasi Student Association(AAASA), a rival organization amongst the tea tribes, has continued their bandh call. The AAASA is toeing the Congress line.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that "double engine" NDA government will be voted to power again in the upcoming Assam Assembly elections and the public should vote out 'loot ka engine' Congress-led Mahajut alliance. Addressing a public meeting and campaign for State cabinet minister Atul Bora in Bokakhat, the Prime Minister said Assam will get double engine ki sarkar, doosri baar, BJP sarkar. Slamming the Congress, PM Modi said, the party is all about 'Bomb, Bandook, and Blockade', it is a confused party, filled with corruption, scams, violence, separatism, and false manifesto. While he claimed NDA has a double engine government, Congress has 'loot ka engine' government.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party alleging that it has not fulfilled the promises of providing employment to people of Assam, implementation of Assam accord (clause six) and increase in wages of tea plantation workers. While addressing a public rally in Assam's Jorhat, the Congress leader said, "BJP did not fulfil its promise to give twenty-five lakh jobs, they didn't implement Assam accord clause 6 to protect the culture of Assam." She claimed that BJP backtracked on its promise that the Citizenship Amendment Act will not be implemented in the state.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President JP Nadda is scheduled to unveil the party's manifesto for the upcoming Legislative Assembly elections in Assam on March 23 (Tuesday). Elections for the 126-seat Assam assembly are scheduled to take place in three phases from March 27 to April 6. The results will be announced on May 2. Speaking at a public rally in Golaghat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that 'doosri baar, BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) sarkar' has been decided in Assam. "The double engine sarkar of NDA has made available several facilities such as toilets, LPG gas, electricity and free medical treatment. Now we are working towards the availability of water with full force," the Prime Minister said.
Congress candidate from Jorhat's Thowra constituency Susanta Borgohain was reportedly attacked by unknown men on Sunday. As per sources, Borgohain was in Thowra for campaigning when he was attacked. The incident happened in front of Rajmai tea estate today afternoon. Borgohain has alleged that supporters of BJP candidate Kushal Dowari are behind the unprecedented attack.
An earthquake of magnitude 4.1 jolted Assam on Sunday evening at 5:52 PM. According to National Center for Seismology, the epicentre of the earthquake is Nagaon. Tremors were felt in Arunachal Pradesh as well.
BJP candidate Ajanta Neog, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, has informed that she has tested negative for the virus after undergoing RT-PCR Test today (Sunday). Neog had gotten herself tested on March 19 ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Chabua, the result of which came positive. She was under home isolation. Neog will be contesting in the Assam Assembly elections from Golaghat constituency.
All Assam Students' Union (AASU) chief advisor Dr. Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya, who has announced that he would retire from the student body, will remain with the student body as their chief adviser. The decision was taken in an AASU executive committee meeting held at Gauhati University. Besides Bhattacharya, the executive committee of the AASU appointed Uddipta Jyoti Gogoi and Prakash Chandra Das as its two other advisers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be launching the 'Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain' campaign on World Water Day, which is celebrated on March 22. The Prime Minister will be launching the campaign at 12:30 PM tomorrow through video conferencing. According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's office, The Campaign will be undertaken across the country, in both rural and urban areas, with the theme "catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls". "The campaign will be implemented from March 22 to November 30 November – the pre-monsoon and monsoon period in the country. It will be launched as a Jan Andolan to take water conservation at the grass-root level through people's participation. It is intended to nudge all stakeholders to create rainwater harvesting structures suitable to the climatic conditions and subsoil strata, to ensure proper storage of rainwater," the statement said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday released the BJP manifesto for West Bengal elections which includes implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) during the first Cabinet meeting itself among other promises. "Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be implemented in the first Cabinet and refugees who have been staying here for 70 years will be given citizenship. Each refugee family will get ₹10,000 per year for 5 years," Shah said. Calling the manifesto a 'Sankalp Patra', the minister said the core idea is to build a Sonar Bangla."The core idea of this manifesto is building a Sonar Bangla. For centuries, Bengal led the country on several fronts – spiritually, science, politics, social reforms, education or art. Bengal used to be ahead in every sector," Shah said.
India once again reported highest single day spike in COVID-19 cases on Sunday (March 21) with 43,846 fresh cases registered in last 24 hours. The total toll now stands at 1,15,99,130. Currently, the active caseload is now at 3,09,087 which comprises 2.66 percent of the total infections. The recovery rate has further dropped to 96.96 percent, the Union Health Ministry data stated. Notably, this is highest daily rise in infections this year. The death toll has surged to 1,59,755 with 197 daily new deaths, the highest in 97 days.
Lok Sabha speaker and MP Om Birla has tested positive for coronavirus and has been admitted to All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) COVID centre in New Delhi. According to an official statement, he is currently stable and all his parameters are normal. "Shree Om Birla, Member of Parliament and Speaker of the Lok Sabha tested positive for Covid on March 19. He was admitted to AIIMS Covid Centre for observation on March 20. He is stable and all his parameters are normal," an official statement read.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has claimed that the mysterious death case of businessman Mansukh Hiren has been solved. "The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) have solved Mansukh Hiran's death case," Maharashtra ATS DIG Shivdeep Lande told ANI. Earlier today, two associates of Sachin Waze were arrested by the ATS namely Naresh Dhare, a cricket bookie, and suspended police constable Vinayak Shinde, in connection to the case. According to ATS, accused Dhare had provided five fake sim cards to Waze and Shinde. Shinde is a convict and was sentenced to life imprisonement. He was released on parole last year and was in contact with Waze and helped him in his work.
