Govt takes healthy steps forward 108 boat service starts

Assam health secretary and commissioner Prateek Hajela flags off the boat ambulance service on Friday.

The boat ambulance has made its debut in the city’s healthcare sector.

The National Rural Health Mission today introduced a boat ambulance between Guwahati and North Guwahati to ferry patients during an emergency.

The ambulance will reach the southern bank of Brahmaputra (Guwahati) in 10 to 15 minutes from the north. It will carry patients with a maximum of two attendants, and then 108 Mritunjoy ambulance would take them to the nearest hospital.

Lessons on how to tackle disasters

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) today began a sensitisation programme in the city to educate residents of apartment societies on techniques of disaster management.

About 200 apartment societies will be covered under the programme that will continue till February 20.

The sensitisation programme will also include mock drills by civil defence personnel who will show different techniques that people should adopt to escape from harm when a natural or manmade disaster strikes.

Officials from the Assam Fire Service Organisation, homeguards and local NGOs will also lend their support. Fire officials will inspect the apartment blocks for fire exits and other safety features to ensure that residents can escape safely if disaster strikes.

Six different teams, each comprising officials from the ASDMA, fire department, homeguards, civil defence and NGOs, will be visiting different apartment blocks to sensitise the residents on various aspects of disaster management every day. The people will also be given a chance to put forward their queries and seek solutions from the experts present on the spot.

“We will be carrying out the 20-day sensitisation programme to educate the residents on ways to manage a disaster. During the mock drills, civil defence personnel will exhibit the ways people should adopt to shield them from harm when a disaster of any kind or any magnitude occurs. This programme has been especially designed for the city as it falls on the seismic zone and is very prone to earthquakes. In the initial phase, we will be targeting 200 apartment societies and will be gradually expanding the programme to cover more such apartments in the Kamrup (metropolitan) district,” said an ASDMA official.

Gauhati University sets 2015 as syllabus deadline

Gauhati University plans to introduce its new curriculum for undergraduate courses by 2015.

The deferment comes in the wake of affiliated colleges opposing the alleged “hush-hush” manner in which the university was trying to implement the new syllabus from the next academic session.

Sources in GU said a meeting of the university’s academic council held yesterday had decided to constitute a high-powered committee to consider suggestions from stakeholders to bring about necessary changes in the existing system to effectively implement the proposed syllabus.

“There was no opposition or reservations against the changes or introduction of new subjects, because that is being done according to the changing global market scenario. College teachers were against the inadequacies of the existing system to cope with the revised curriculum,” a source said.

State govt dept wins award for e-governance

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India, has selected the Computerization of Registration (Panjeeyan) Project in Assam for the prestigious ‘Gold Icon’ in the National Awards for e-Governance for 2012-13 for Excellence in Government Process Re-engineering.

The Statewide Computerization of Registration (Panjeeyan) Project in Assam was implemented by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department with active support of the Finance Department, under the Assam Governance and Public Resource Management Project (AGPRMP) funded by the Asian Development Bank.

The Projects for Transformation of Mineral and Administration through e-Governance of the Government of Karnataka and Online Voting System (OVS) of the State Election Commission, Gujarat have been selected for the Silver and Bronze Icons respectively in the category of Excellence in Government Process Re-engineering, an official release said.

Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital now an extension of GMCH

The State Health Department has hooked up city’s Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital MMCH with the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) as an extended wing of the latter to save the Medical College Hospital from the surge of patients and to ensure better healthcare services to the patients.

Official sources here said that the arrangement has been made in view of the heavy rush of patients to the GMCH.

Besides, sources said, the 108 Mrityunjoy Boat Ambulance service has been started between North Guwahati and Guwahati from today.

The MMC has started functioning as the extended wing of the GMCH with effect from today with seven departments, including the department of surgery, that are equipped in a manner that matches with the departments of the Medical Colllege.

Sahitya Sabha session begins

Outgoing Asam Sahitya Sabha president Rong Bong Terang sharing the dais with other literary persons at the Sabha’s 72nd session at Biswaratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika Samannay Kshetra, Barpeta Road

Delegates and observers from across the State representating their own branch and district committees of Asam Sahitya Sabha arrived here this afternoon to participate in the 72nd session of the premier literary body.

A huge rush of people is expected on all the days at Biswaratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika Samannay Kshetra, the main venue of the Sabha session, as almost all the organs of the Sabha session, including the Bodofa Upendra Nath Brahma Banijya Mela, Sobha Brahma and Guru Prasad Das Memorial Shilpa Aru Bigyan Pradarshani and Mamoni Raisom Goswami Grantha Utsav attracted huge crowds on the first day itself.

The Handloom and Textile Fair, inaugurated a few days back, has been attracting large crowds since day one. The staue of Dr Bhupen Hazarika, the namghar and other exhibits have also attracted people.

Inaugurating the Mamoni Raisam Goswami Book Festival, Agriculture Minister Nilamani Sen Deka made an appeal to the Sabha to create an atmosphere for penning such books that would represent Assamese people and their language. He also urged the Sabha to prepare a comprehensive plan for forestalling a defenseless situation, in which the Assamese people and their language would have to face a serious threat. 

“Today, Assamese language, literature, culture and nationality have in fact been facing a serious threat. Something is wrong somewhere. The dearth of people to fill up the voids created by the demise of great people is also becoming apparent. The number of research activities is also sliding. In contrast, the situation in the neighbouring West Bengal is quite vibrant. The elites of the neighbouring State have been making possible even those things that are considered virtually impossible,” he said. 

Inaugurating the Radhanath Phukan-Bhabananda Dutta Memorial Philosophy Conference of the Sabha Session, Justice Dr Mukundakam Sarma spoke in detail about the emergence of the eo-Vaishnavite religion of Assam. He said that the ideals preached by Srimanta Sankaradeva and his disciples are still relevant for the State’s society.