Assam recorded as low as four coronavirus related deaths on Friday taking the death tally of the state to 900. Out of the four deaths, two were reported from Sonitpur while one each from Kamrup Metro and Morigaon.
A heated situated erupted in Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Friday after 42 fourth grade employees of the COVID-19 Hospital-2 were expelled after they protested and complained of not getting paid for two-three months. As per reports, the employees, who were inducted into the hospital when the pandemic was at peak, complained that they did not receive salaries since last two-three months and protested about the same, flaring up a heated situation in the hospital as they were being expelled without notice.
Union joint secretary (Northeast) to the ministry of home affairs (MHA), Satyendra Garg, said the Centre is committed to resolving the Assam-Mizoram border dispute and is hopeful to bring a permanent solution by March 2021. Garg, on his day-long visit to Mizoram, called on Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai, chief minister Zoramthanga, and held meetings with state chief secretary Lanunmawia Chuaungo and civil society organizations over the border issue on Thursday.
Former Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has alleged an unholy nexus between the state government and the coal mafia in the illegal coal mining and transportation. Sangma alleged this after visiting the site of the coal depot in East Garo Hills. Sangma was accompanied by MLA WD Sangma and former MLAs Sengnam Marak and Francis Pondit Sangma.
The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) will run two more festival special trains in addition to the 10 pairs of Festival Special Trains already announced. These two trains will be weekly service and will continue to run till November 28, said Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Subhanan Chanda. The Special trains are – 04083/04084 Katihar-Delhi Special and 01665/01666 Agartala- Habibganj Special.
The Gauhati High Court (GHC) ordered the Deputy Commissioners of all the districts and the Chief Executive members of all the Autonomous District Councils of Assam to explore possibilities for providing accommodation to the judicial officers. The court ordered while taking cognizance of the acute shortfall in official quarters for the judicial officers serving in Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram.
The Assam Government has fixed the fee structure of the private schools for the academic year 2021-22 which was a much-awaited decision for long. The government issued a notification under the Assam Non-Government Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2018 to regulate the fee structure passed by the Assam Legislative Assembly in 2018. The notification issued by the Principal Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education, B Kalyan Chakraborty mentioned the amount specifically of Rs 27 thousand for pre-primary and Class I to V per annum and Rs. 32 thousand for Class VI to X.
The Assam Government has modified the time of closing of the restaurants in Guwahati during Durga Puja. Earlier the government announced that the restaurants shall remain open till 9 pm during the festive season but now the restaurants can remain open till 10.30 PM. The revised time of the restaurants have been issued by a government notification on Thursday.
Air India is set to commence its first flight to Wuhan on October 30 after the pandemic broke out. The city, where coronavirus was initially detected, has been officially declared safe from the virus in June with all curbs lifted. According to the Indian Embassy in Beijing, A Vande Mataram Mission (VBN) flight will be operated on the Delhi-Wuhan sector on October 30.
US President Donald Trump, during the final presidential debate with Democrat Joe Biden, compared US with India, China and Russia on climate change and said the air quality in these countries is filthy unlike America. "Look at China. How filthy it is. Look at Russia. Look at India, it's filthy. The air is filthy," Trump said adding that the US has the best carbon emissions in 35 years. "We have the cleanest air, the cleanest water and the best carbon emissions."
A package of Rs 10,000 crores has been announced by the Maharashtra government on Friday for farmers in the rain-affected parts of the state. The decision was taken following a review meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
A Chinese soldier who was apprehended by the Indian Army on October 19 after he strayed into India's Ladakh sector was found to be carrying a military sleeping bag, a storage device and a mobile phone along with a charger. "The PLA soldier was apparently moving from one location to another on the Chinese side of the LAC when he lost his way. He was carrying a sleeping bag, a storage device, his military identity card and a mobile with a charger. He was released after a thorough interrogation and completion of the necessary formalities," government sources told ANI.
In an unfortunate turn of events, cricketing legend and former Indian skipper Kapil Dev was hospitalized on Friday after he suffered a heart attacked. He has been admitted at Fortis hospital in New Delhi. According to reports, he is currently in a stable condition after undergoing angioplasty and is out of danger.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Friday morning said that country's cumulative positive rate of coronavirus cases has dipped below eight per cent. However, several States and Union Territories are showing positivity rate higher than the national average. According to the Health Ministry, India's cumulative positivity rate stands at 7.81 per cent and the daily figure at 3.8 per cent. Several States/UTs are exhibiting positivity rate higher than the national average indicating a need for aggressive and widespread testing, the ministry said.
A major fire broke out at the City Centre mall in south Mumbai on Thursday night. According to a fire brigade official, the blaze at the mall erupted at around 8:53 pm yesterday even when almost 200-300 people were present inside the premises. At least 20 fire engines and seven jetties were engaged in the operation to douse the flames on the ground plus four-storey mall, the official said. According to reports, a fireman received burn injuries during the operation and was immediately rushed to Mumbai's JJ Hospital for medical treatment.
