HC notices on temple

Gauhati High Court today issued showcause notices to chief secretary Naba Kumar Das, the GMC and the GMDA regarding alleged construction of a temple at a public place on AT Road.

The court of Chief Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel issued the notices after it took suo moto cognisance of a letter written by Deenesh Sharma, a resident of Bharalumukh, recently and registered a suo moto public interest litigation (PIL).

In the letter which he had written on behalf of residents of Bharalumukh and Kumarpara and submitted to Chief Justice Goel on February 12, Sharma complained that construction and expansion of a Shani temple were causing inconveniences to people on the streets and had also affected flow of traffic.

Bomb defused near Guwahati Refinery

A low-intensity bomb was diffused by the bomb squad after it was spotted near the Guwahati Refinery in Noonmati area this morning.

The bomb was planted inside a container with 50 grams of ammonium nitrate and splinters, police said.

Police said the container was kept in a bag which was spotted by the people in an abandoned state and appears as the handiwork of a militant group, although it cannot be confirmed at this moment.

South Point enter final

South Point School marched into the final of the Munindra Chandra Paul Guwahati Sports Association inter-school cricket tournament, beating Little Flower School by six wickets in the first semi-final at Parade Ground in Dispur here today.

Little Flower won the toss and elected to bat. They posted a challenging total of 191 for seven in the stipulated 25 overs. The South Point boys chased the target successfully, scoring 193 for four in 23.4 overs.

Abhijit Mandal topscored for Little Flower with an unbeaten 63 and was ably supported by Sanjay Das, who remained not out on a quickfire 48.

Hirokjyoti Bharali of South Point captured three wickets for 20 runs and Himjyoti Sarma chipped in with two for 22.

Antariksh Barma (53) was the topscorer for South Point while Subham Dutta remained not out on 34. David Chhetri of Little Flower claimed a wicket for 28 runs.

Shrimanta Sankar Academy will play Presidency School in the second semi-final tomorrow.

Yoga way to kids’ health - Gogoi stresses promotion of physical activity in schools

The Assam government is taking steps to ensure that the only bug that will afflict schoolchildren in the state is the fitness bug.

Yoga will soon become a part of the school curriculum in the state, with chief minister Tarun Gogoi expressing concern over an increasing number of cases of diabetes and obesity among children, because of a sedentary lifestyle.

An official at the chief minister’s office told The Telegraph that Gogoi held a high-level meeting with education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to introduce yoga in all schools and help students to lead a healthy and disciplined lifestyle.

Schools reminded of fire safety norms

The state fire service department has said most of the city’s schools that had been earlier issued notices for not adhering to safety norms, are in the process of installing the facilities.

Officials of the department said schools which would fail to put in place required safety measures even after being given sufficient time, would be closed down.

The officials have been monitoring these schools for more than a year now.

Last year, the GMC was compelled to seal one school in the city after it was found that the school administration had grossly violated safety norms even after getting the notice.

KMSS vegetable shops draw huge crowd in Guwahati

In a bid to rid of middlemen, the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) today opened two ‘fair price’ stalls for vegetables at Chandmari and RG Baruah Road Tiniali after procuring the produce in bulk from farmers in Barpeta Road where they had been deprived of their due remuneration due to large-scale presence of middlemen and illegal syndicates in the trade.

Both the stalls run by the KMSS drew overwhelming response from the citizens who made a beeline to the stalls to get vegetables at half the price sold in the city markets.

“The response has been so great that we exhausted our supply meant for the proposed six stalls in the first two stalls itself. We are committed to sell vegetables at half the market price here, and will open eight more stalls in the city,” KMSS publicity secretary Kamal Kumar Medhi said.

Paresh Baruah switches off phones, logs into Skype

Hounded and tracked by snooping Indian intelligence agencies that has cost him dearly, anti-talks Ulfa leader Paresh Baruah has switched off all his mobile and satellite phones and shifted to Skype. This is the last bit of information intelligence agencies intercepted while eavesdropping on Baruah's conversations about a week ago.

Baruah reportedly also asked his men to shift to the much-safer video chatting using Skype for all communication through a jump server that allows users to maintain online anonymity and hides their locations as well.

In recent times, many of his plans have been foiled and some of his men have been caught after they gave away their locations to security forces that continuously keep their ears glued to cellular phone networks and satellite phone frequencies.

Tough talk on middlemen - Himanta vows action against GMCH touts as B. Borooah adds more facilities

Health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today told The Telegraph that the state government had taken serious cognisance of instances of patients being duped by middlemen or harassed by any medical staff for money at the GMCH.

“If we get any complaint against any medical staff of government hospitals demanding money from patients in lieu of treatment, we will take tough action against him or her and in extreme cases even file FIRs. If we take cognisance of any complaint, the middlemen too will come under scrutiny,” Sarma said.

Cases of patients being harassed by middlemen at the GMCH are not uncommon. Early this month, a doctor of the GMCH was reportedly caught demanding money from two patients to conduct a surgery. The state health department has suspended him.

Bihu enthusiasts of the world, unite at Latasil ground - Experts to conduct workshop on Assam’s most popular folk dance form for 11 days

Get ready to tap your feet to the tune of dhol, with training from expert bihuas.

At the historic Latasil playground, where Bihu came onstage from the village courtyards, experts like borbihuwa Prasanna Gogoi, bihu samragye Dreamly Gogoi and borbihuwa Ranjit Gogoi will give lessons on the state’s most popular folk dance form.

The organisers, Raamdhenu Foundation, an NGO, and Gandharba Kalakendra, a city-based dance school, are hopeful that the 11-day All-Assam Bihu Dance Workshop-2013 will be the largest congregation of Bihu enthusiasts this season. Pradip Das, the working president of the organising committee, said the popularity of Bihu has increased over the years, mostly among schoolchildren.

9 new B Barooah Cancer Institute deluxe cabins

The B. Borooah Cancer Institute here will open nine deluxe paying cabins in order to provide better facilities to cancer patients from across the Northeast.

These new paying cabins will not only be bigger in size than the existing ones but each cabin will also have better facilities like a small dining area, separate water purifier and a mini-kitchen attached. The cabins will cost Rs 1,200 per day.

The paying cabins will be formally inaugurated during a function on Saturday.

At present, the 200-bed cancer hospital has 30 paying cabins. While patients are charged Rs 250 daily for the non air-conditioned cabins, they have to pay Rs 500 for the air-conditioned ones.

Battalions to protect Kaziranga National Park

Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain today flagged off two battalions of Assam Forest Protection Force for protection and guarding of wildlife in Kaziranga National Park.

At a programme organised at the State Zoo cum Botancial Garden, Hussain said that of the 300 personnel, 200 would be deployed in South Band North bank.

From time to time, the status of the deployment would be reviewed.

The Forest department is waiting for the clearance from the Union Civil Aviation Ministry for deployment of the proposed unmanned aircraft.

Assam Govt adopts GoMs’ recommendations

The Government of Assam has adopted the recommendations of the Group of Ministers that was constituted in 2011 to study the issues of hydro-power projects in totality with an inter-disciplinary approach.

Briefing media persons here today about the recommendations of the Group of Ministers, Power Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said that all aspects had been considered right to protection of riparian rights to allay the apprehensions in the mind of the people regarding the Lower Subansiri Hydro Power Project (LSHPP) and all other proposed hydro-power projects on rivers flowing through Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

“We have suggested to the Government that it refer to the Dr CD Thatte Committee report in connection with the safety and stability of the Subansiri dam and a Pseudo Static and Dynamic Analysis also be carried out to remove the fears in the minds of the common people,” said Bordoloi, adding that the Group of Ministers has recommended that a minimum water flow (260 cumecs) at the downstream has to be maintained at all times including off-peak hours of winter season by the LSHPP.

Gauhati Medical College and Hospital surgeon suspended

A surgeon of the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), who was caught demanding money from a poor patient recently, was suspended from his duty on Wednesday.

The decision was taken by the government after the GMCH authority issued an inquiry into the matter and wrote to the government demanding immediate action against the concerned doctor.

The doctor, Girish Ujir, assistant professor of the department of surgery, demanded Rs 8,000 from a poor patient for a gall bladder operation. The matter was brought to the notice of the hospital authorities by attendants of the victim patient Momoti Kalita.

Youths detained for setting15-year-old friend on fire

A 15-year-old boy died on Wednesday after being set ablaze by three friends in a remote area at Dhekiajuli in Assam's Sonitpur district, police said.

Rajesh Kurmi (15) of Bherveri village was dragged out from his house on Tuesday night and set on fire, they said.

The boy in his dying declaration named three children, who he alleged set him on fire, they said. The boy died on Wednesday morning at the Kanaklata Civil Hospital in Tezpur, they said.

Police said Rajesh Kurmi was dragged out from his house on Tuesday night and set on fire.

3 Idiots singer to perform at AEC fest

His Give me some sunshine number from 3 Idiots had people humming back in 2009. But most people did not know who Suraj Jagan was.

Come February 24, Guwahatians will get to know the Bollywood singer better and see him perform on the concluding day of Pyrokinesis, the cultural event of Assam Engineering College (AEC).

“This is the 10th edition of Pyrokinesis, which is a three-day cultural festival of our institution. The event starts on Friday. The main attraction this year will be Suraj Jagan of 3 Idiots fame, who is scheduled to perform on the night (from 10pm) of February 24,” Kamanasish Chowdhury, publicity co-ordinator of Pyrokinesis, 2013, told The Telegraph today.

‘Meters mandatory for autos’ - Kamrup (metro) DC vows to enforce the law

It is the familiar tale of One Thousand and One Nights where bride Scheherazade would narrate a tale to king Shahryar every night to get her execution postponed.

In the city, auto drivers have adopted a similar stalling strategy each time the district administration gears up to install fare meters in the vehicles — for months and years and decades.

Ashutosh Agnihotri, chairman of the regional transport authority (RTA) and deputy commissioner of Kamrup, is at the helm of affairs now.

Here are his replies to some queries from our reporter Rajiv Konwar through email. TT: For years autos in Guwahati have been charging excessive fares from residents. There have been demands from residents to install fare meters in autos. But nothing has happened so far. When will people see fare meters in autos?

398 villages to get road connectivity

Altogether 398 villages in Assam, each with a population of more than 500, will be provided road connectivity under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

PWD minister Ajanta Neog today said the Centre has sanctioned Rs 820 crore to construct 689km roads and 347 bridges, connecting 398 villages.

She said the length of these bridges would be between 25 metres and 75 metres.

Neog said in the first phase, 426km road and 90 bridges would be constructed at a cost of Rs 310 crore.

“The technical evaluation of the first phase is currently under way and we hope to start work by the end of this financial year,” she said.

Lid off vendor role in rhino poaching

Rhino horn traders are camping at Lahorijan along the Assam-Nagaland border near Dimapur in the guise of vegetable vendors and buying horns from poachers near national parks.

This came to light following the arrest of two persons — Azijur Rahman and Abdul Rashid — at Sootea in Sonitpur district last night. The duo admitted to buying one horn from Behali in the district last month and selling it to buyers at Dimapur.

Sootea police said four persons had come from Lahorijan to buy another rhino horn in a Maruti Alto last night but lost their way and was caught by local people. While two managed to escape, locals managed to apprehend the duo and hand them over to the police.

Trade union strike hits normal life in different parts of the state

The two-day nationwide strike called by different trade unions against the Centre’s economic and labour policies hit normal life in the State. Our correspondents add:

Nagaon: The trade union strike paralysed normal life in Nagaon. Post office, banks, LIC office, BSNL offices remained closed. Medicine wholesale dealers closed their shutters.

Most of the business establishment also remained closed. Vehicles remained off the roads exept private cars. Non-availability of buses caused problems for examinees of the ongoing HS and HSLC examinations.

Govt to dredge Bharalu river

PWD Minister Ajanta Neog today said that the Government was going to dredge the Bharalu and free it from encroachment in order to find a lasting solution to the perennial problem of artificial flood and waterlogging in the city.

“The Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Metro) has been asked to clear the Bharalu and its banks from encroachment. Next we plan to dredge the river and fence its banks for preventing encroachment,” Neog said at a press conference.

To a query on the raising of the city’s road level every time a road is repaired, Neog said that the Government had recently fixed a road level for the city’s roads and henceforth that would be maintained.