GNRC is all set to promote Medical Tourism in Guwahati, Assam

The GNRC (Guwahati Neurological Research Centre) has decided to promote medical tourism in the the North-East region to attract foreign tourists from the Asian neighbouring countries. “Since the private hospitals across the country are taking initiative to promote the medical tourism, we have decided to take the lead here. We will soon discuss with other top private hospitals offering latest medical facilities and other related agencies to chalk out a plan to promote Guwahati as a hub of medical tourism,” GNRC official Manoj Kumar Deka said here at press conference. We will soon devise a coordinated strategy after consultation with other top hospitals, travels agents, hotels as well as government agencies to attract tourists not only for tourism purposes but also to avail the latest but low-cost medical treatment facilities here.

“The hospitals here offer all the latest medical facilities like joint replacement surgery, heart surgery, cosmetic and obesity surgery, angioplasty and others. What we require is extensive publicity and co-ordination among hospitals, hotels, travel agents and government agencies.” Deka said. He also said though it is located near the South East Asian countries and have a huge tourism potential, the region is still way behind in attracting tourists for medical purposes due to lack of well organized publicity and co-ordination among the concerned agencies.

The GNRC will try to provide all hotels with information regarding medical facilities available; update tourism websites with medical tourism information and others. Patients from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh have already visiting Guwahati for medical tourism purposes and there is enough potential to attract more tourists, Mr. Deka said.

AASU to launch agitation against illegal influx in Assam

The All Assam Students Union (AASU) on Wednesday has decided and declared a vigorous and continuous agitation across the State against the Central and the State Government for failing to deport illegal Bangladeshi migrants even after the scrapping of the IM(DT) Act nearly three years back. The IM(DT) Act was scrapped on July 12 in 2005 by Supreme Court of India acting on the petition of former AASU president Sarbananda Sonowal.

Addressing media persons, the functionaries of the student body, adviser Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya, president Sankar Prasad Rai and general secretary Tapan Kumar Gogoi warned that the AASU would resist all attempts to provide safeguard to the illegal Bangladeshis. “The Congress Government has failed to honour the verdict of the Supreme Court which has compelled us to start our agitation again to save Assam from the Bangladeshis,” said Dr Bhattacharya regretting that the Congress Government has totally ignored the crucial issues like sealing the border, providing constitutional safeguards to the indigenous communities in the State, update of the NRC and implementation of the provisions of the Assam Accord.

Bhattacharya informed that from July 12 the agitational programme of the student body would commence, the day of the Supreme Court ruling in connection to the IM(DT) Act.

Majuli on the verge to miss place in Heritage List

India’s proposal to include endangered Majuli Island in World Heritage Site List remains inconclusive when the 32nd session of the World Heritage Committee, winding up inscription of new sites yesterday. 19 cultural sites and 8 natural sites were added this year in the list. This year India has submitted only two proposals, one is Majuli and another is The 96 km long Kalka-Shimla Railway. UNESCO’s World Heritage List have a total of 878 sites, 679 cultural and 174 natural sites and 25 mixed in 145 countries.

Concerned officials did not get confirmation about the fate of the proposal on Majuli Island, as they yet to hear from the offcials who are in Canada and their meeting is scheduled to continue till 10 July.

Sources said that the technical Committee of the Heritage Committee had opined that the due to global warming, the Island might face submersion in the future. It had recommended that the proposal be deferred for now.

Ambubachi Mela in Guwahati

The Ambubachi Mela is celebrated in the Kamakhya Temple located in the capital city of Guwahati, in the northeastern state of Assam in India. The Ambubachi Mela is the most important festival of the Kamakhya Temple. The Ambubachi is a ritual of asceses observed with “Tantrik means”. It is believed that the goddess of the temple, Maa Kamakhya, the Mother Shakti (Power), goes through her annual cycle of menstruation during this time period.

During the Ambubachi Mela in Guwahati, the doors of the Kamakhya Temple remain closed for three days. According to tradition, Goddess Kamakhya is impure during these three days as she is believed to be menstruating and is not worshipped. Besides, it is also believed that Mother Earth is also like a fertile woman, cultivable for crops and as such embodies the very essence of motherhood which manifests in the observance of Ambubachi indicating its importance in ancient agricultural concept. Daily worships and other religious performances are also stopped during the Ambubachi Mela of Guwahati in Assam. After the completion of three days, the doors of the Kamakhya Temple are reopened. But the doors of the temple are reopened only after Devi Kamakhya is bathed and the other rituals are executed. It is then believed that the Mother Earth has retrieved her purity. This is purely a ritual of the Tantrik cult.

The Ambubachi Mela in Guwahati is held at the Kamakhya Temple, after being closed for the mentioned three days. On the fourth day, the devotees of the Goddess are allowed to enter the temple for worshipping Devi Kamakhya. More than lakh of pilgrims and sadhus from all over the country and even abroad have flocked to the temple to mark the annual festival. The winding road to the temple atop the Nilachal hills has been turned into makeshift camps with hutments constructed by various organisations to house the devotees. The Kamakhya Ambubachi Mela Parichalana Samiti made arrangements for the devotees in association with the Guwahati Municipal Corporation, district administration, Public Works Department, Assam State Electricty Board, Health Department and several NGOs.

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Guwahati : A Concrete Jungle

Guwahati, the capital city of Assam and the nerve centre of the North East region is fast becoming a concrete jungle. Apartments, Shopping Malls, Residential buildings are coming up all over Guwahati without proper planning and drainage system. The rain-caused flash flood thrice in last week making a mockery of all the tall claims of the planners and policy makers concerning the city. The intensity of this deluge was much more compared to the previous ones.