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.

Man in hospital after 'sexual abuse' by jailor

A 28-year-old man, an inmate of Karimganj jail, has been admitted to the local civil hospital for treatment allegedly after sexual abuse by the assistant jailor. Following the incident, at least three more inmates, all male, made similar allegations of sexual abuse on the assistant jailor, Dulal Das, before a district magistrate probing the incident.

The matter came to light after the hospitalized inmate was found bleeding profusely on last Monday. The inmates' doctor gave him first aid and suggested to the jail authorities that he should he admitted to hospital but the latter refused to do so. When the health condition of the inmate turned critical, the other inmates on Tuesday started an indefinite hunger strike seeking his immediate admission to hospital and action against Das.

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.