PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM GUWAHATI & DIBRUGARH

RN-1127/57 TECH/GH – 103/2018-2020, VOL. 82, NO. 232 GUWAHATI, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020

82 years of service to the nation

www.assamtribune.com Pages 12 Price: 6.00

p3 p7College teachers’ concern overCOVID care centres

p5 Tripura COVID-19 tollsurges to 78

JOCOSERIOUS

Who says the project was

delayed? It takes time to

cover such a distance!

India, Vietnam agree to add‘new momentum’ to ties

India exporting PPE kitsR DUTTA CHOUDHURY

GUWAHATI, Aug 25: Till

March this year, India did not

produce a single personal

protective equipment (PPE)

kit and now the country is in

a position to provide it to

friendly countries to improve

diplomatic relations amidst

the COVID-19 pandemic.

Same is the case with N-95

masks as the country is pro-

ducing enough not only to

meet its own demand but

also to supply abroad.

Highly placed sources in the

Government of India told The

Assam Tribune that PPE kit

production is one of the big-

gest success stories of the At-

manirbhar Bharat project.

Sources revealed that till

March this year, India did not

produce any PPE kit and

around 50,000 such kits were

imported every year, mainly

from China to meet the de-

mand. But the demand for

PPE kits shot up abruptly

following the outbreak of

COVID-19 pandemic and the

Government of India formed

a committee of senior officers

to facilitate the process of pro-

duction of PPE kits by private

organizations. Now the

country is producing around

five lakh kits a day, which is

much more than the actual re-

quirement in the country.

Sources revealed that

around a thousand companies

in the country are now en-

gaged in production of PPE

kits and to ensure that the

price is maintained, the Gov-

ernment has put the item in

the list of essential commod-

ities. In the initial stage,

export of PPE kits was not

allowed, but from the month

of July onwards, the Director

General of Foreign Trades has

allowed export of 50 lakh PPE

kits in a month . In July, around

23 lakh PPE kits were

exported to different

countries and it is expected

that this month, 50 lakh kits

will be exported, bringing in

valuable foreign exchange.

Sources said that apart

from the exports, the Gov-

ernment of India has also

started supplying PPE kits

free of cost to friendly coun-

tries including Bhutan, which

would help in improving dip-

lomatic relations.

The Government, in a bid

to improve diplomatic ties

with Bangladesh, has allowed

the neighbouring country to

avail the PPE kit testing fa-

cilities in India. The PPE kits

should go through rigorous

tests before they are put into

use and till date, Bangladesh

does not have facilities to car-

ry out such tests.

SEE PAGE 6

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in a meeting with the representatives of various Koch Rajbongshi organisations atAssam Administrative Staff College in Guwahati on Tuesday. – UB Photos

Panel orderNEW DELHI, Aug 25:

The DelimitationCommission has ordered afreeze on creation of new‘administrative units’ inAssam, Arunachal Pradesh,Manipur, Nagaland andJammu and Kashmir tillthe exercise of redrawingconstituencies in thesestates and the UT iscompleted. – PTI

Bhushan caseNEW DELHI, Aug 25:

The Supreme Court todayreserved the verdict on thequantum of sentence to begiven to activist-lawyerPrashant Bhushan, who hasbeen convicted forcontempt of court for histweets against thejudiciary. – IANS

Military drillNEW DELHI, Aug 25:

India will send a tri-services contingent to takepart in a multilateral wargame in Russia nextmonth, in first suchparticipation in a megamilitary drill after theoutbreak of the coronaviruspandemic, sources said. –PTI

Greta viewLONDON, Aug 25:

Swedish teen climatechange campaigner GretaThunberg today threw herweight behind postponingNEET and JEE in India,saying it is “deeply unfair”that students are asked toappear in the tests duringthe pandemic. – PTI

Nirav wifeNEW DELHI, Aug 25:

An Interpol global arrestwarrant has been issuedagainst Ami Modi, wife ofNirav Modi, prime accusedin the over USD 2 billionPNB bank fraud case, oncharges of moneylaundering, officials said onTuesday. – PTI

ElectrocutedSILCHAR, Aug 25: Babli

Paul, an assistant professorat NC College, Badarpurdied of electrocution at herKabuganj residence inCachar district on Tuesday.A mason helper also losthis life while trying to savethe lady, sources said. –Staff Correspondent

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 25:Chief Minister Sarbanan-da Sonowal today said thatthe group of ministers(GoM) would soon meetleaders of different organ-isations to send its finalproposal to the Centre onthe matter of granting STstatus to six communitiesin the State.

Interacting with leaders of

Koch Rajbongshi organisa-

tions at Assam Administra-

tive Staff College here,

GoM meet soon tofinalise proposal on

ST status: CMSonowal said that both the

Centre and State govern-

ment are serious in meeting

the demands of various eth-

nic communities with re-

gards to their reservations

and autonomy. He said the

State government has been

sincerely working to meet all

their demands, including for-

mation of the Kamatapur Au-

tonomous Council.

Minister for Welfare of

Plain Tribes and Backward

Classes Chandan Brahma,

who was also present in the

meeting, apprised the lead-

ers of the organisations that

the State government has

been working to accord dif-

ferent privileges and bene-

fits to the ethnic communi-

ties of the State.

Sonowal said the GoM led

by Health Minister Himanta

Biswa Sarma already held sev-

eral rounds of talks with stake-

holders with regard to grant-

ing of ST status to six commu-

nities, but the coronavirus pan-

demic prevented further dis-

cussion in this regard.

SEE PAGE 6

PUNE, Aug 25: Doses of the po-

tential coronavirus vaccine devel-

oped by researchers at Oxford Uni-

versity arrived at the Bharti Vidyap-

eeth’s Medical College here on Tues-

day for phase-2 human trials, an offi-

cial said.

The trial may begin from Wednes-

day, said a top official of the institute,

one of the 17 sites selected for the

phase 2 human trials in the country

by Serum Institute of India (SII).

“To start with we have identified

five volunteers who will undergo

COVID-19 and antibodies test.

Those whose reports are negative

will be shortlisted for vaccination on

Wednesday,” said Dr Sanjay Lalwani,

Medical Director, Bharti Vidyap-

eeth’s Medical College and Hospital

and Research Centre.

He said the hospital has been giv-

en a target of enlisting 300 to 350

volunteers. Those chosen for receiv-

Phase 2 human trial of Oxford vaccine may start today

India in touch withRussia on Sputnik V

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: The Centre said on Tuesday that India and

Russia are in communication regarding the Sputnik V vaccine. While

some initial information has been shared, detailed information is being

awaited by India.

Sputnik V, an adenovirus vector-based vaccine, was developed by the

Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiol-

ogy along with Russian Direct Investment Fund, and was registered on

August 11. Talks are under way between India and Russia for collabora-

tion on the vaccine.

Addressing the media, Union Health Ministry Secretary Rajesh Bhush-

an said, “As far as Sputnik V vaccine is concerned, India and Russia are in

communication, some initial information has been shared and some de-

tailed information is awaited.”

The remarks hold importance as last week, the CEO of the Russian

Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, had said that Russia is looking

for a partnership with India to produce the COVID-19 vaccine. – IANS

ing a dose of vaccine will be in the

age group of 18 to 99 years, he said.

Dr Jeetendra Oswal, deputy med-

ical director of the hospital, said after

they are administered the vaccine, the

volunteers will be monitored as per

the standard trial protocol.

The other hospitals where trials

are to be conducted include BJ Med-

ical College Hospital in Pune, AIIMS

Delhi, Rajendra Memorial Research

Institute of Medical Sciences in

Patna, Post Graduate Institute of

Medical Education and Research in

Chandigarh, Nehru Hospital in Gora-

khpur and Andhra Medical College

in Visakhapatnam.

SII, the world’s largest vaccine

maker, has signed an agreement to

manufacture the potential vaccine

developed by the Jenner Institute of

Oxford University in collaboration

with British-Swedish pharma com-

pany AstraZeneca. – PTI

20 lakh COVIDtests conducted

in StateSTAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 25: Two

more legislators in the State

today tested positive for

COVID-19. Former minis-

ter and Congress MLA Ajan-

ta Neog and AGP MLA Ra-

mendra Narayan Kalita were

admitted at the GMCH here

after tests confirmed that

they were infected.

Both are, however, stable.

Kalita is also a diabetic.

Meanwhile, Assam today

reached the milestone of con-

ducting 20 lakh tests. The

first ten lakh tests in the

State were completed on Au-

gust 3, and the next ten lakh

were completed within a

short time of 22 days.

SEE PAGE 6

GUWAHATI, Aug 25:

Former Bodoland Territori-

al Council chief executive

member Hagrama Mohilary

claimed on Tuesday that the

Bodo Accord, signed early

this year, was not a good pact

and its implication might lead

to conflicts between different

communities living in Assam.

Mohilary, who himself

signed the accord as witness,

said if the agreement was im-

plemented, then it would

bring many problems to the

Bodo tribals.

“The Bodo Accord is not

good. It refers only to the

Bodo community and there

is no reference to the other

communities living in the

Bodoland Territorial Council

(BTC) area,” he told report-

ers in Guwahati.

Hagrama, who is the chair-

man of the Bodoland People’s

Front (BPF), claimed that if

the accord was implement-

ed, there would be conflicts

between Bodos and other

communities living in the

BTC areas.

“This is not a good accord.

It has no value,” said Hagra-

ma, whose party is a coali-

tion partner of the BJP-led

government in the State.

The Bodo Accord was

signed in January in the pres-

ence of Union Home

Minister Amit Shah and

Chief Minister Sarbananda

Sonowal among others.

The accord provides for

political rights, economic

package to the Bodos. The

government has also assured

the Bodo groups to safeguard

the Bodo language, culture

and related matters.

The agreement was signed

by the representatives of

Centre and State

governments, the All Bodo

Students Union and three fac-

tions of the insurgent group

National Democratic Front of

Bodoland. – PTI

Ex-BTC chief Hagramaslams Bodo Accord STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 25:

Ahead of the forthcoming as-

sembly elections, artistes to-

day flocked to join the two

major political outfits, the BJP

and Congress.

Many of the artistes were

those associated with the

anti-CAA protests in

December last.

Those who joined the saf-

fron brigade said they were

always attracted by the par-

ty’s ideology.

Around 27 artistes, includ-

ing Simanta Shekhar, who

had rendered the party’s

state theme song during the

Lok Sabha elections ‘akou

ebar Modi sarkar’ and flautist

Deepak Sharma joined the

BJP at a programme in pres-

ence of State unit president

Ranjeet Kumar Dass. The

others who joined the party

were Pranjana Dutta, Reba

Phukan, Pal Phukan and Pan-

kaj Ingty.

Welcoming the new en-

trants, Dass urged them not

to compromise on their re-

spective fields of art while

serving the party and the

people.

“More and more people are

being attracted to the ideals of

the BJP and so are coming to

the party fold,” he said.

Popular artistes Babu

Barua, Nekibul Hussain and

Ajoy Phukan along with 39

others joined the Congress

at a function organized in the

city in presence of State unit

chief Ripun Bora. The trio

expressed their keenness to

contest the forthcoming

polls. Babu will seek the

ticket from East Guwahati

constituency.

Other prominent names

who joined the Congress

were Chandan Kakoty and

Rishi Barua. During the

function, the artistes

performed an anti-CAA ren-

dition.

The artistes who joined

the Congress said their

stance against the CAA has

not changed.

Artistes flock to join BJP, Cong

Govt extends

AFSPA in State

for 6 monthsGUWAHATI, Aug 25: The

Assam government on Tues-

day said it has extended the

Armed Forces (Special Pow-

ers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in

the State for six more

months with effect from Au-

gust 28.

The State has been declared

a “disturbed area” on account

of recent insurgent attacks on

security forces in the North-

east and recovery of illegal

arms and ammunition from

different areas of Assam, an

official statement said.

Many civil society groups

and activists have been de-

manding the withdrawal of

the draconian law from the

State.

The AFSPA, which em-

powers security forces to

conduct operations, arrest

anyone anywhere without

prior notice, has been con-

tinuing in Assam since No-

vember 1990. It is renewed

every six months. – PTI

JeM chief Masood Azhar key conspirator

NIA files chargesheet inPulwama terror attack case

JAMMU, Aug 25: Wrap-

ping up the probe into a fatal

terror attack that left 40

CRPF personnel dead in Pul-

wama last year, the National

Investigation Agency (NIA)

on Tuesday filed a

chargesheet in a special court

here against 19 people includ-

ing Masood Azhar, the chief

of banned terror group Jaish-

e-Mohammed, for planning

the suicide operation.

Leading the investigation

into the “blind case”, as sev-

en accused wanted in it were

killed during different encoun-

ters in 2019, a team led by

joint director of the NIA Anil

Shukla gathered evidences

and statements of terrorists

and their sympathisers ar-

rested in different cases in

order to expose the conspir-

acy hatched for executing the

audacious attack on the para-

military convoy, officials said.

The 13,500-page

chargesheet names Masood

Azhar, his brothers – Abdul

Rauf and Ammar Alvi – and

his nephew Mohammed

Umer Farooq, who had infil-

trated into India in 2018 and

was subsequently killed in

one of the encounters in

South Kashmir.

According to security forc-

es, Farooq had entered India

in late 2018 using the natural

caves at the Sambha sector

in Jammu region along the

international border.

The chargesheet says sui-

cide bomber Adil Ahmed Dar

was driving the car laden

with 200 kgs of explosives

and had prepared his last vid-

eo at Shakir Bashir’s resi-

dence in Pulwama on a high-

tech phone brought by Bilal

Ahmed Kuchey.

While Dar is now dead,

both Bashir and Kuchey have

been arrested.

SEE PAGE 6

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: In-

dia and Bangladesh will hold

“important” Director Gen-

eral-level border talks in

Dhaka next month to discuss

a host of issues related to

crimes on the front and oth-

er security challenges, offi-

cials said on Tuesday.

The biannual talks will be

held between the Border Se-

curity Force (BSF) and their

counterpart Border Guard

Bangladesh (BGB) on Sep-

tember 13-18 at Pilkhana, the

headquarters of the Bangla-

deshi force in Dhaka.

Newly appointed BSF DG

Rakesh Asthana will lead a doz-

en officers strong Indian dele-

gation that will have repre-

sentatives from the Narcotics

Control Bureau (NCB), the

External Affairs Ministry and

other government agencies.

The Bangladeshi side will

be led by BGB DG Maj Gen

Md Shafeenul Islam.

“The last time the two

sides met was in December

in Delhi. The next round of

meeting in September is go-

ing to be important as a

number of bilateral issues

along the 4,096-km-long

front will be discussed and

new protocols will be firmed

up,” a senior officer said.

This is going to be the 50th

round of DG-level talks be-

tween the two border guard-

ing forces and a host of confi-

dence building measures to

enhance cooperation between

the two sides will be dis-

cussed and formalised after

the signing of a joint record of

discussion at the end of the

talks, the officer said.

The new paradigm of bor-

der management in the time

of COVID-19 pandemic will

also be charted during the

talks where it is also expect-

ed that the Indian side will

call on the top leadership of

the Bangladesh government,

he added. – PTI

Indo-Bangla bordertalks in Dhaka in Sept

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 20202 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI

Walk-In-Interview, Time - 10

AM onward, We are looking for

young, dynamic candidates for

a certified Real Estate company

based in Guwahati. The

candidate must be comfortable

with field work. No of post - 40

Position - Manager-(MBA with

experience), Executive (HS

onwards with two wheeler

mandatory) Front Office

Executive(10+2 & Above) ,

Interested candidate can mail

their CV to plancraftpvt.ltd@

gmail.com Phone No-

9101270955/7002136020.

SV/P/SCooo171/3

Required Retired Persons &

Entrepreneurs for MNC.

Earning- Rs. 45,000/-. Work

from home. Ph- 9706226337,

8826554146.

SV/P/AC000877/8

Required one Pharmacist,

medicine salesman, Qualified

Accountant experienced in their

field. Send on whatsapp to

6901260873.

SV/P/SC000184/1

J. B. COLLEGE(AUTONOMOUS), JORHAT

SITUATION VACANT

Applications in prescribedformat available in DHEwebsite along with allsupporting documents areinvited for the post ofAssistant Professors in thefollowing subjects as perlatest UGC norms. Applicationmust reach the undersignedwithin 15th September, 2020up to 4 p.m. and must beaccompanied by a DemandDraft of Rs.2000/- (twothousand) only drawn infavour of Principal, J.B.College, Jorhat, payable atJorhat. No application will beentertained after the last date.Details of the posts are shownin below.Subjects No. of Posts

English 1

Reserved For : UR

Roster Point No. : 01

Statistics 1

Reserved For : ST(P)

Roster Point No. : 05

Philosophy 1

Reserved For : UR

Roster Point No. : 07

Commerce 1

Reserved For : UR

Roster Point No. : 60

Economics 1

Reserved For : ST(H)

Roster Point No. : 90For details, please

visit college websitewww.jbcol lege.org. in .Shortlisted candidates will becommunicated through theire-mail for the interview.Date: 24-08-2020

Principal,J.B. College (Autonomous)

Jorhat, Assam

CD/SV/BL000251/1

ADVERTISEMENTIn pursuance of DHE’s Letter

No. DHE/CE/Misc/31i2020/12

Dated Kahilipara. the 26.06.2020

applications are invited with

complete Bio-data and all

supporting testimonials from HSLC

onwards from intending candidates

for filling up the Post of Principal,

Bongaigaon College, Bongaigaon

through proper channel having

qualification, experience, latest

norms etc. as prescribed by the

UGC (Regulations dated

18.07.2018) and the Govt. of

Assam guidelines given below:

1. A Master’s Degree with at least

55% marks or an equivalent

grade in a point scale wherever

grading system is followed. from

a recognised University).

2. A Ph. D. Degree in

conceme&,all ied/relevant

discipline(s) in the institutions

concerned with evidence of

published work.

3. Associate Professor/Professor

with a total experience of fifteen

years of teaching/research/

administration in Universities/

Colleges and other institutions

of Higher Education.

4. A minimum of 40 % score as

stipulated in the Academic

Performance Indicator (API)

based performance appraisal

in Appendix-III for direct

recruitment of Principals in

Colleges as per Govt. of Assam

Guidelines.

5. A minimum of 10 research

publications in peer reviewed

or UGC listed journals and a

minimum of 110 research score

as per Appendix-II at Table -2.

6. A relaxation of 5% marks may

be provided at the Graduate

and Master’s levels for the

Scheduled Caste/Scheduled

Tribe/Differently Abled

(Physically and Visually

differently abled) categories for

the purpose of eligibility. The

eligibility marks of 55% or an

equivalent grade in a point scale

wherever grading system is

followed and the relaxation of

5% to the categories mentioned

above are permissible based

on only the qualifying marks

without including any grace

mark procedures.

7. A relaxation of 5% marks may

be provided from 55% to 50%

of the marks to the Ph. D.

degree holders who have

obtained their Master’s degree

prior to 19th September, 1991.

8. Upper age limit of 55 years as

on 01-01-2020 as per Govt. of

Assam Notification No. AHE/I

7/2013/3. Dated 26.12.2013.

9. The term of Principal shall be 5

years as per Govt. guidelines.

Applications should be in the

prescribed proforma issued by the

DHE, Assam and to be submitted

to the President, Governing Body,

Bongaigaon College, Bongaigaon

within 15 (fifteen days) from the

date of publication of this

advertisement, along with a

Demand Draft of Rs. 4,000/-four

thousand only (Non-refundable)

drawn in favour of Principal,

Bongaigaon College, Bongaigaon,

payable al SBI, Bongaigaon

Branch. The advertisement is

uploaded in the College website

i.e. www.bongaigaoncollege.ac.in

N.B.: No TA/DA will be paid to the

candidates called for interview.

Incomplete/defective applications

will be rejected at the time of

scrutiny and no call letter will be

issued to such candidates.

Sd/- President, G.B

Bongaigaon College,

Bongaigaon

Assam, PIN-783380

CD/SV/BL000254/1

SITUATION VACANT

Applications are invited for the

following posts:

A) PGT Geography with B.Ed:

i) Qualification M.A

ii) Experience in CBSE schools

preferable.

iii) Salary: @25K to 35K per

month + accommodation.

B) Accountant (M.Com,

Experienced preferred)

Salary @ 20K to 25K per

month

Apply sharp within 10 days to

the undersigned or send your

detailed resume online to:

recruitment.hfsss@gmail.com

(Sd/-) Director,

Holy Flower Sr. Sec. School,

Teok, Jorhat, Assam.

(CBSE Affiliation No. 230123)

(M) 9957063365, 9435091662.

CD/SV/BL000252/2

Required for jobs (boys & girl)

Gaurd, Driver, Ground Staff,

Gunman, Computer Operator,

Supervisor, Manager (salary-

18000/- – 45000/-). Email:

airserviceltd99@gmail.com. Ph:

7042141894, 9311058293.

SV/RL000265/3

A leading Bank &

Finance company required

1. Relationship Officer-Graduate

with 1 year experience. 2. Loan

Officers- Graduate with

computer skills. 3. BDE-

Graduate, Fresher can apply.

4. Priority Banking- Graduate

with 50% aggregate. To apply

call- 6002701130.

SV/P/SC000180/1

Urgently required for LPG

Survey District Coordinator

salary 15,000+ TA and Survey

Executive salary 12,000/- with

attractive incentive. Location in

your own area. No consultancy.

Contact : 70996-38140, 94351-

42128, 91010-20433.

SV/P/NP000439/1

Kutchina - Urgently required for

Sales Executive, and Sr, Sales

Officer , (Salary + Comission+PF

+ESIC+Bonus Facilated)

(Experience/Freshers candidate

are preferable in Direct

Marketing ). Walk-in interview

with bio-data on 26.08.20 &

27.08.20 at 10 am to 5 pm, Add:

Bajoria Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.,

Goswami Service, Senapati

Complex, Guwahati and

Uparhali, Bijoy Nagar. For

Guwahari & Baihata Chariali,

Keshab Baruah -8638553133

Bijoy Nagar, Dipak Kalita

7002241160.

SV/BL000250/2

Urgently required three female

office assistant in a Guwahati

base printing press for its online

printshop. Candidate must know

Internet, Email, English

Speaking, mail your resume–

bajupress@gmail.com, Ph-

7002613945.

SV/P/SP000684/1

10+ years experienced Tutor

available for Mathematics/

Computer Science/Informatics

Practices (VIII-XII): 70994-

51442.

Tutor/P/SC00122/8

Highly experienced Home Tutor

for (XI-XII) Physics, Chemistry,

Mathematics, P.C.M. Point

#96789-90167.

Tuition/P/AC000730/29

‘Subham- Tutorial’ provides

experienced Male/Female

Home/Online Tutors for all

Classes (I-XII). Mo: 81358-

30113, 94010-27335.

Tuition/P/UP000224/30

Start business of brick/block

making, investment Rs. 9.90

lakh to 27 lakhs. Loan available.

Call : 91014-14171, 99585-

28904.

Business/P/NP000427/5

CD/Edu/BL000253/1

NANDESWAR BORA(Died on 14.09.2002

Sukla Astami Bhadra)

Husband of Late Nikunjalata Bora

You are always in our hearts.On your Eighteenth DeathAnniversary, we pray to theAlmighty with tears for eternalpeace of your soul.

Sri Pratim Kumar Bora (Son)Dr. (Mrs.) Bonti Bora Das (Daughter)

Smti Jyoti Rani Bora (Daughter)Smti Jina Bora (Daughter-in-law)

Dr. Utpal Das (Son-in-law)Sri Debajyoti Bora (Son-in-law)

Indrani, Swagata, Aditya Pratim,Debarchana and Himjyoti

(Grand daughters and sons)Srimantapur, Guwahati-32

CD/InMemo/P/SP000674/1

CD/In Memo/P/NP000431/1

In fondest memory of our dear

mummy, on her first death

anniversary.

Reba Nath13.8.1940 – 26.8.2019

In our heart you hold a place;no one could ever fill.

It broke our heart to lose you;but you didn’t go alone,

For part of us went with you;the day God took you home.

“Now we know why you alwaysasked us to be strong... becauseyou knew that one day, we wouldneed the strength to bear your loss.We love and miss you more everyday, Mummy.”

Lopita, Abhijit, Mallika,Pallavi and family

Jyotinagar West, Guwahati.

Direct admission from

recognised University BA, B.Sc.

B.Com, B.Ed. MA, M.Sc. also X

and XII. 100% result +91 69014-

57996.

Edu/P/SC000173/8

REGISTRATION. REGIS-

TRATION OPEN NOW

FROM UKG TO CLASS 8

FOR 2021-2022 SESSION. AT

NURTURE INTER-

NATIONAL SCHOOL,

DIBRUGARH CBSE

AFFILIATION NO. 230187

FOR MORE INFORMATION

YOU CAN CONTACT US @

8811086092 OR VISIT OUR

SCHOOL WEBSITE: http://

nurture internat ional . in /

Nisdibrugarh.

Edu/BL000245/3

Rooftop Single room full

furnished Ganeshguri. Rent

9000 Call 7002605261 for

single/couple only.

TL/P/SC000183/1

Rent for 3 BHK flat at Prafulla

Enclave, Namghar Path,

Panjabari, Guwahati. Contact No:

9508133336.

TL/RP000152/1

Available for rent House

near Xcelcare Hospital 4500/

per month. Contact- 60018-

25795.

TL/P/AC000949/9

For Office/Hostel/Education line

13,000 sq.ft. near Kahilipara

Post Office, Ph. No. 98640-

42560.

TL/P/SP000649/2

3 BHK, 1500 sq.ft. 24 hrs. water

2nd floor for immediate

occupancy near main road,

Beltola Bazaar. Central Govt./

Company Executives family

preferred. Contact : 88765-

20089.

TL/RP000167/1

Two roomed cottage attached

bath, kitchen, Nabin Nagar,

Guwahati. Preferably Male

students 98640-30393.

TL/RP000159/1

2200 sq.ft. 1st floor roadside,

office fully furnished with

Training facilities, AC, DG

backup, security available for

immediate occupancy for MNCs

near Lokhra Hockey Stadium

Road. Contact : 88765-20089.

TL/RP000166/1

Chandmari, two parthouses

running water, employees/

students/families 10,000/-,

12,000/- (Fixed) 88225-68185.

TL/RP000163/1

Available for rent 2BHK House

(Ground Floor), at PNGB Path,

Santipur Hill Side Contact ::

7005818284.

TL/P/BC000005/8

1000 sq.ft. 2nd floor RCC for

Office/Institute at Zoo Road

Tiniali, Ph. +91 99571-94716.

TL/RP000133/2

I, Shri Bichitra Sarmah who has

been one of partner of the

partnership firm “Assam

Logistic Support Services”

executed on 07.04.2016, am no

way involved in that firm since

its execution and as such, I was,

am or shall not be liable for any

transaction by or with the said

firm.

PN/RL000267/1

I, Sri Jintu Das, hereby declare

that Jintu Rabha and Jintu Das

are the name of one and same

person, i.e., myself and have

declared the same before the

Notary Kamrup (M) at Guwahati

on 25.8.20.

PN/P/NP000443/1

Before the Notary Kamrup Metro

at Guwahati date: 25th Aug.

2020, I have changed my name

from Dipanka Mundu S/o Mun

Bora into Dipankar Bora. In the

future I am to the known by my

new name Dipankar Bora

resident of Setali Village,

Morigaon.

PN/P/SP000683/1

Before the Notary Kamrup Metro

at Guwahati, date 24th Aug/2020

according to my marriage is

solemnized with Hiraj Saikia, I

have changed my surname from

Moni Begum to Moni Saikia.

From that day I am to be known

as Moni Saikia, W/o Hiraj Saikia,

H.No. 106, Krishnakanta

Handique Nagar, Kahilipara,

Guwahati-781019.

PN/P/NP000440/1

I, Sri Tarun Kumar Borgohain

inherited a plot of land

measuring 2 Katha, 3.62

Lecha (5.84 Are), Covered by

Patta No.-677(N), 158(O) and

Dag No.-154(N), 21(O),

situated at Revenue Village

No.-1 Maidamgaon, Mouza

Beltola, Revenue Circle

Dispur, in the District of

Kamrup(M), Assam owned

by my brother Late Gunin

Borgohain, who purchased

the said plot of land vide

Registered Sale Deed

bearing Deed No-4269/81,

dtd. 10/05/81. from Sri Alaka

Phukan. I have lost the said

Sale Deed No-4269/81, dtd.

10/05/81 from my

possession and could not

trace out even after best

efforts.

A FIR was lodged to the

Officer-In-Charge, Hatigaon

Police Station regarding the

loss of the said Sale Deed

between Bhetapara to

Ganeshguri and a case has

been registered bearing

Hatigaon P S GDE No.-751,

dated-20/08/2020.

I have not deposited the

said Sale Deed bearing Deed

No-4269/81, dtd. 10/05/81. to

any financial institutions,

Banks or any other

institutions for taking financial

assistance by mortgaging the

said property. Now, I have

appointed M/s. URBAN

CONSTRUCTION &

DEVELOPER as my true and

lawful attorney and

authorized it to construct

building over the said plot of

land measuring 2 Katha, 3.62

Lecha (5.84 Are), Covered by

Patta No.-677(N), 158(O) and

Dag No.-154(N), 21(O),

situated at Revenue Village

No.-1 Maidamgaon, Mouza

Beltola, Revenue Circle

Dispur, in the District of

Kamrup(M), Assam and the

said property is under the tie

up arrangement with SBI,

Guwahati. It is also mentioned

herein that the fact of lost of

the said Sale Deed has been

published in “The Assam

Tribune” and “Asomiya

Pratidin” dtd. 25.07.2019.

If anyone found the above

mentioned Sale Deed, Please

send the same to Sri Tarun

Kumar Borgohain, S/o- Late

Kannath Borgohain, Survey,

Ajanta Path, Bye Lane-02,

H/N-76, Jyoti Path,

Guwahati-781028, Phone

No.-99543-87004.

CD/Lost/RP000160/1

PUBLIC NOTICE

All Saints’ Diocesan School

Tezpur

Email:dneicni14@gmail.com

Ph.No.03712-232005The correct Email of All Saints’

Diocesan School,Tezpur is

asdst2015@gmail.com for the

Advertisement which was given on

13th August 2020. The last date

of submission is extended to 31st

August 2020.

CD/PN/BL000249/1

THE GAUHATI CO-

OPERATIVE URBAN

BANK LIMITED

BAIJNATH BHAWAN,

K.C.ROAD, CHATRIBARI,

GHY-1

This is to inform all Share

holders that the 51st Annual

General Meeting of the Bank

shall be held on 11th

September, 2020 (Friday) at

11.00 a.m at Sanatan

Dharma Sabha (Hari Sabha)

S.C Goswami Road,

Panbazar. All Share holders

are requested to be present.

In the event of the meeting

not being held due to any

reason the same will take

place at the same venue &

time on 18th September

(Friday),2020.

Agenda for the Meeting

1) Election of the New Board

of Directors as per Assam

Co-operative Societies

Act-2007.

2) To confirm the

proceedings of the 50th

AGM held on 21.09.2019.

3) To consider & adopt the

Annual Report, Balance

sheet and P & L for the

period 01.04.2019 to

31.03.2020.

4) To consider and adopt the

estimated budget for the

year 2020-21.

5) To fix the maximum

borrowing limit for the

current year until the next

AGM.

6) To appoint internal auditor

for the year 2020-21 and

fix remuneration.

7) To discuss & adopt any

other matter regarding the

Bank with permission of

the Chair.

8) To conclude the meeting.

By Order

(Bhola Nath Sharma)

Managing Director

NB: Wearing Mask is

compulsory.

CD/PN/SL000039/1

I, Kanaklata Bordoloi Das, wife

of Amit Kumar Das, Army No.

4373206-P, 3 Assam Regt. Vill:

Bangthai Gaon, PO : Jagibhakat

Gaon, PS: Jagiroad, Dist.

Morigaon PIN-782411 do

declare by affidavit that my

correct name is Kanaklata

Bordoloi Das as recorded in all

my documents. But in the service

record of my husband Shri Amit

Kumar Das my name has been

wrongly recorded as Kanaklata

Das. This affidavit shall be used

as a evidence in correcting my

name in my husband’s service

record. The affidavit done

before the Notary Public,

Morigaon, Assam on 24 Aug.

2020.

PN/P/NP000433/1

I have changed my name and

DOB from Kumari Joynab

Khatun to Joynab Begum and

15.01.75 to 03.09.80 vide

affidavit before District

Magistrate, Dhubri.

PN/P/SP000678/1

I, Najiya Ahmed hereby

declared that Syeda Najiya

Ahmed are the name of one and

same person vide affidavit in

hon’ble Gauhati High Court dtd.

24.8.2020. I will be known as

Najiya Ahmed for all purposes.

PN/P/NP000430/1

Before the Notary Kamrup(M)

at Guwahati date 02 Nov. 2011,

I have changed my name from

Begum Nasrin Helim, D/o

Inamol Haque into Babli Das. In

future I am to ne known by my

new name Babli Das, resident

No. 128, Kharghuli, Malibagan,

Guwahati-781004, Assam.

PN/RP000162/1

For Booking

Classified

Advertisementsfrom your

Doorstep/

Online Booking.

+91 7002510428

+91 9864265843WhatsApp

Office : 0361-2668804

Email:

advt@assamtribune.com

Ph: 97060-43680

70860-44611

1/2/3 BHK DELUXE FLATS

WITH SWIMMING POOL

AND ALL MODERN

AMENITIES AVAILABLE

FOR SALE AT SOS ROAD

NEAR GUWAHATI AIRPORT:

PLEASE CONTACT: TULIKA-

8617606774, DHIRAJ-

9706002971, BARUAH

CONSTRUCTION. VISIT

W E B S I T E :

www.baruahconstruction.com.

H&F/P/NP000384/7

2/3 BHK DELUXE FLATS

WITH SWIMMING POOL

AND ALL MODERN

AMENITIES ARE AVAILABLE

FOR SALE AT AZARA NEAR

DONBOSCO COLLEGE.

PLEASE CALL DEBAJIT

BARUA 9706044971,

G A U T A M - 9 7 0 6 0 5 6 9 7 1 ,

BARUAH CONSTRUCTION.

VISIT WEBSITE:

www.baruahconstruction.com.

H&F/P/NP000385/7

80% work completed 3 BHK flat

at Chandan Nagar (Niribili Path)

Rukminigaon. Contact

9864010641.

H&F/P/NP000442/3

One BHK flat 5th floor 651 sqft

with covered Terrace RNB

Apartment near GNRC, car-

parking, Ph. 9771444799,

9470834202, 8811099339.

H&F/P/SC000181/1

Land with Building for sale at

Krishna Nagar (near Hotel Raj

Mahal) Ph. 9864010641.

L&P/P/NP000441/3

Land 2 kathas with buildings at

Pub Jyotinagar, Guwahati-20.

Owner : 60002-90897.

L&P/P/NP000438/2

Jalukbari to Airport Area,

Residential & Commercial,

starting Rate 30 Lac. Ph:

6001825795.

L&P/P/AC000952/14

Mrs. Kingkini Das Saikia hasbeen awarded the degree ofDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)in Economics by GauhatiUniversity for her thesisentitled “A Study ofConsumption Pattern in theRural and Urban householdsof Assam”. She carried outher research work under thesupervision of Dr.Chandrama Goswami,Associate Professor,Department of Economics,Mangaldoi College. She is theeldest daughter of Mr.Pulendra Nath Das (Retd.Teacher) and Mrs. JogomayaDas of Bhabanipur, Nahati,Barpeta Dist. and daughter-in-law of Late Mohendra NathSaikia and Mrs. Upoma Saikia.She is the wife of Mr. SouvikSaikia of Sundarpur RGBRoad, Surojmukhi Path,Guwahati-781005, Assam.

CD/Achiv/P/NP000437/1

Home Tutor for Keyboard,

Guitar, Piano, Vocal & Modern

Songs, Ph. 99541-26769.

Music/P/NP000435/4

It is notified for the information

that my original certificate of

class X Exam year- 2014-15 Roll

No- 31171 and XII Exam Year-

2016-17 Roll No- 3632156 pass

out from CBSE Delhi has been

actually lost. Full Address Name:

Sucharita Bose Roy, F/Name:

Sanat Bose Roy, School- K.V.

Lumding.

Lost/RP000169/1

It is notified for the information

that my original certificate of

Class-X Exam, year-2008 Roll

No. 4176295 pass out from

CBSE Pune has been actually

lost. Chirantana Das C/o Mr. K.R.

Das, H-9, Adarshapur-1,

Kahilipara Road, Ghy-19.

Lost/P/NP000436/1

Angel’s Home – girls/working

women sell-cooking P.G. with

modern facilities Ph-

9101015013.

PG/P/AP000137/1

Self Cooking for Girl’s/working

at Silpukhuri/Zoo Road (M).

9707458284, 9864058738.

PG/P/AP000141/3

Experts in expansion joint works

and water proofing works are

requested to contact North East

Mega Food Park Ltd. for

necessary repairing works in the

CPC at Tihu, Nalbari, Assam.

Contact No. 9435111675 or mail

at info@nefoodpark.com within

August 29, 2020.

Consultancy/SL000040/1

GROUND FLOOR ROAD

FACING 500 SQ.FT.

COMMERCIAL SPACE

RENT FOR SHOWROOM,

SHOP, CHRISTIANBASTI,

GS ROAD, NEXT TO HOTEL

PRAGATI MANNOR,

GUWAHATI. #9101879412.

CS/P/SC000182/1

3 floor independent building

10000 sq.ft near Ganeshguri call

9854199108.

CS/P/SC000092/3

For rent 3201 sq.ft. Royal

Arcade 1st floor, near Ulubari

Chariali. 2 carparking D.G. set

space. Ph. 9706127963,

9205095275.

CS/P/AC000879/8

1000 sq. ft Commercial Space

for rent/lease Bhangagarh, G.S.

Road, next to Bata Showroom

for Office/Bank with security.

8399898305.

CS/P/NC000051/8

Space for commercial use. Add:

R.G. Complex, Basistha Road,

Beltola, Guwahati-28, Assam.

For further details contact :

86380-80922.

CS/P/SP000682/3

1200 sq.ft. space for rent at Zoo

Road, near Commerce College,

Guwahati. Contact : 97060-

01784.

CS/RP000161/1

Twinkle Health Care complete

Sanitization home and work

place. Call/Whatsapp : 76648-

11518.

Sanitizer/P/SC000172/8

2500 to 98,000 sq.ft. Industrial

Shed/Warehouse, Godown at

Khanapara, Beltola, Lokhra,

Amingaon, Changsari, Mirza.

94354-03986.

Godown/P/AC000775/30

Rhino Packers, Sixmile M:

98644-69464, Local shifting M:

94018-22253 (All India),

Packers & Transportation

household goods.

P&M/P/AC000948/30

Ref. RUSA2.0/PMU/Tender/Add/

2020/03/02 dated: 25/08/2020

DHSK COMMERCE COLLEGE:

DIBRUGARH

ADDENDUM No. 1 to theTENDER DOCUMENTS forthe project “Supply andInstallation of Computers”,NITNo. DHSKCC/RUSA/Comp./2020, Publication Ref:RUSA2.0/PMU/Tender/2020/03/01 dated 20/08/2020

The following provision ofthe Tender Document ishereby replaced as indicated:

Annexure 2: Details ofEquipments for ComputerLab: Computers, Sl. No. 3 onPage 12: “APC 650VA UPS”will be replaced by: “APC orother 650VA UPS”

Sd/-Dr. K.M. Bhagawati,

PrincipalDHSK Commerce College,

DibrugarhEmail id:

dhskcomcol@gmail.com

CD/TN/......./1

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 3NATIONAL

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: The Un-

ion health ministry on Tuesday said

though testing for COVID-19 has

been increased exponentially, there

has been a steady decline in the pos-

itivity rate and highlighted that the

number of active cases of the infec-

tion reduced by 6,423 for the first

time within a span of 24 hours.

The testing for the disease has

been increased from 363 tests per

‘Decline in COVID-19 positivity rate despite increasing tests exponentially’million per day on August 1 to more

than 600 tests per million per day

at present, the ministry said.

Addressing a press briefing, Un-

ion Health Secretary Rajesh

Bhushan said on the basis of 7-day

rolling average the positivity rate

of COVID-19 which was 11 per cent

during the first week of August has

come down to 8 per cent now.

“While the tests for detection of

COVID-19 have increased expo-

nentially, there has been a steady

decline in the positivity rate. For

the first time, active cases of COV-

ID-19 have reduced by 6,423 in a

span of 24 hours,” he said.

Bhushan also said 2.70 pc of the

active cases of coronavirus infec-

tion are on oxygen support while

1.92 per cent are in ICU and 0.29

per cent are on ventilators. He

also said the recovered COVID-

19 cases are 3.4 times the number

of active cases.

Presenting a mortality analysis

on the basis of age and gender,

Bhushan said 69 per cent of COV-

ID deaths have been reported in

men and 31 per cent in women.

He said, “36 per cent of the

deaths reported in people with age

group between 45-60 years and 51

per cent deaths in people aged 60

and above. 11 per cent deaths

were reported in the age group of

26-44 years and 1 per cent each

among people aged 18-25 and

those below 17.”

Responding to a question,

Bhushan said as far as the COV-

ID-19 vaccine Sputnik V devel-

oped by Russia is concerned, both

countries (India and Russia) are in

communication. “Some initial in-

formation has been shared while

some detailed information is await-

ed,” he said.

On augmentation of the testing

capacity, Indian Council of Medical

Research (ICMR) DG Balram

Bhargava said gradually the test-

ing capacity was increased and on

August 21 it finally reached the

landmark of testing one million

COVID samples in a day.

“COVID-19 testing capacity has

increased significantly – from 10

tests per day on January 30 to

touching 1 million tests per day

on August 21,” he said.

“We have 1,524 COVID test-

ing laboratories in India and as on

25th August 2020, 3,68,27,520

tests have been done,” Bhargava

said. – PTI

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: In-

dia and Vietnam on Tuesday

agreed to add new momentum

to their economic and defence

engagement besides resolving

to explore closer cooperation

in sectors like civil nuclear

energy and space.

The decisions were taken at

a virtual meeting of the India-

Vietnam Joint Commission on

Trade, Economic, Scientific

and Technological Cooperation

which was co-chaired by Ex-

ternal Affairs Minister S Jais-

hankar and his Vietnamese

counterpart Pham Binh Minh.

“Both sides reviewed the

recent developments in India-

Vietnam Comprehensive Stra-

tegic Partnership and dis-

cussed the future trajectory of

their wide-ranging engage-

ment,” the Ministry of Exter-

nal Affairs (MEA) said.

HYDERABAD, Aug 25: City-based 20-

year-old math prodigy Neelakantha Bhanu

Prakash Jonnalagadda, holding the fastest

human calculator in the world record, has

done the nation proud, winning the gold

medal at the Mind

Sports Olympiad

(MSO) in London.

As the country cel-

ebrated its 74th Inde-

pendence Day, Jon-

nalagadda, pursuing

Mathematics at St

Stephens College in

New Delhi, beat 29

competitors, up to 57

years of age, from 13

countries, to emerge

the winner in the

Mental Calculation

World Championship

20 in London on Au-

gust 15.

The MSO is the most prestigious inter-

national competition for games of mental

skill and mind sports held annually and

equivalent to any other Olympic event in

the realm of physical sports and he was the

first Indian to bag the gold medal in the

event, Jonnalagadda told PTI on Tuesday.

According to the MSO website, it is an

Hyderabad youth bagsgold medal at Mind Sports

Olympiad in Londoninternational event with over 60 different

board game competitions ranging from

classics like chess, scrabble and unique

events including over a dozen world cham-

pionships such as memory, mental calcu-

lations and creative

thinking.

Known as Bhanu,

the maths prodigy

said he holds four

records for being the

“fastest human cal-

culator in the world”,

having eclipsed

records which were

once held by highly

acclaimed mathema-

ticians.

According to him,

the judges, who

were fascinated by

his speed, asked him

to perform more cal-

culations to confirm his accuracy, which he

proved with elan.

On his future plans, the youth, whose

parents own a small-scale food manufac-

turing enterprise, said he wanted to erad-

icate maths phobia prevalent among stu-

dents, mainly in the rural and underprivi-

leged communities. – PTI

India,India,India,India,India, VVVVVietnam aietnam aietnam aietnam aietnam agggggrrrrree to adee to adee to adee to adee to adddddd‘new momentum’ to ties‘new momentum’ to ties‘new momentum’ to ties‘new momentum’ to ties‘new momentum’ to ties

“They agreed to add new

momentum to the economic

and defence engagement be-

tween the two countries and

to explore closer cooperation

in emerging areas such as civil

nuclear energy, space, marine

sciences and new technolo-

gies,” it said in a statement.

It is learnt that the overall

situation in South China Sea

also figured in the talks. How-

ever, there is no official confir-

mation to it.

China claims sovereignty

over all of South China Sea, a

huge source of hydrocarbons.

However, several ASEAN

(Association of Southeast

Asian Nations) member coun-

tries, including Vietnam, Phil-

ippines and Brunei, have coun-

ter claims.

Last week, Vietnamese am-

bassador Pham Sanh Chau

briefed Foreign Secretary

Harsh Vardhan Shringla about

the escalating tension in the

South China sea after China

significantly ramped up its mil-

itary presence in the region.

Both sides agreed to coor-

dinate closely at multilateral

forums, including at the UN

Security Council based on

their strong convergence of

views on many global and re-

gional issues, the MEA said

adding they also agreed to step

up cooperation and coordina-

tion at important regional fo-

rums under the ASEAN

framework.

“Concluded the 17th India-

Vietnam Joint Commission

Meeting. Thank Deputy PM

and FM @FMPhamBinhMinh

for co-chairing. Our Compre-

hensive Strategic Partnership

keeps growing. Ensures

peace, security and prosperi-

ty in the Indo-Pacific,” Jais-

hankar said in a tweet.

The MEA said Jaishankar

expressed India’s full support

to Vietnam’s chairmanship of

ASEAN this year and appreci-

ated the positive leadership

provided by Vietnam to the

bloc in a year when the world

is faced with the COVID-19

pandemic.

“India and Vietnam also

agreed to enhance the bilater-

al cooperation in line with In-

dia’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initi-

ative (IPOI) and the ASEAN’s

Outlook on Indo-Pacific to

achieve shared security, pros-

perity and growth for all in the

region,” the MEA said.

“India invited Vietnam to

collaborate on one of the

seven pillars of the IPOI,” it

added.

An agreement for coopera-

tion between Sushma Swaraj

Institute of Foreign Service

(SSIFS) and Diplomatic Acad-

emy of Vietnam was sealed on

the margins of the Joint Com-

mission Meeting.

A separate MoU was final-

ised between National Mari-

time Foundation, New Delhi

and Scientific Research Insti-

tute of Sea and Islands, Hanoi.

In the meeting, Jaishankar

underlined Prime Minister

Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘At-

manirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant

India) for enhancing resilience

and human-centric globalisa-

tion as the basis for India’s eco-

nomic revival, the MEA said.

He also reaffirmed India’s

development and capacity

building assistance to Vietnam

through initiatives such as

Quick Impact Projects. – PTI

MUMBAI, Aug 25: A four-

year-old boy was on Tuesday

pulled out from the rubble of

a five-storeyed building that

collapsed in Raigad district of

Maharashtra, police said.

The joy was shortlived as

the lifeless body of his 30-

year-old mother Naushin

Nadim Bangi was recovered

from the same spot less than

half an hour later.

The bodies of the boy’s sis-

ters – Ayesha (7) and Rukaiya

(2) – were also recovered soon

afterwards, an official said.

The boy, Mohammed

Nadim Bangi, looking bewil-

dered after his 19-hour ordeal

amid the rubble, was taken by

NDRF personnel to a waiting

ambulance.

NDRF Director General

SN Pradhan termed the res-

cued boy as god’s child. “Mir-

acle child rescued alive – Gods

Child. @NDRFHQ teams find

4 year old Boy. Ops will con-

tinue, canines used. Lets all

pray for more miracles,” Prad-

han tweeted.

A police official said the

death toll after Monday’s

Tarek Garden building col-

lapse in Mahad, around 170

km from Mumbai, has

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: The

India Meteorological Depart-

ment (IMD) on Tuesday pre-

dicted very heavy rainfall over

east, north and central India

during the next five days and

issued a red alert for Odisha

for August 26 and for Chhat-

tisgarh, a day later.

It said a low pressure area

(cyclonic circulation) over

north Bay of Bengal and its

neighbourhood is very likely to

move west-northwestwards

during the next four-five days.

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: De-

fence Minister Rajnath Singh

on Tuesday launched a life in-

surance scheme that will pro-

vide a cover of Rs 5 lakh each

to more than 10,000 employ-

ees working in cantonment ar-

eas across India.

‘Chhavni COVID: Yodha San-

rakshan Yojana’, a group life in-

surance scheme through the

Life Insurance Corporation

(LIC), was launched by Singh

during a webinar attended by

presidents, vice-presidents and

chief executive officers of all 62

cantonment boards, a statement

by the Ministry of Defence said.

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: A day after

being dissed at a stormy Congress

Working Committee meeting over

their letter seeking urgent organisa-

tional reforms, several members of the

‘Group of 23’ said on Tuesday they are

“not dissenters” but “proponents of

revival”. Many of them also backed So-

nia Gandhi remaining at the helm.

The letter was not a challenge to

the leadership but a parchment of ac-

tion to strengthen the party, Congress

MP Vivek Tankha said. Former Union

minister Mukul Wasnik said those who

saw the letter as an “offence” will also

soon realise that the issues raised are

worth consideration.

Senior Congress leader M Veerap-

pa Moily said it is an “admitted fact”

Intense rainfall activity expectedduring next 4-5 days: IMD

Under the influence of this

system, widespread rainfall with

isolated heavy to very heavy falls

are very likely over Odisha,

Gangetic West Bengal,

Jharkhand till August 28 and

over Chhattisgarh, Madhya

Pradesh and west Rajasthan

during August 26-28, the IMD

added. “The north, central and

east India will experience wide-

spread rainfall activity and it can

also experience an intense rain-

fall activity over the next five

days,” the IMD said.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall

are also likely in Himachal Pra-

desh, Uttarakhand, Chhattis-

garh and Jharkhand and heavy

rainfall at isolated places in Jam-

mu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-

Baltistan, Muzaffarabad, Punjab,

Haryana, Chandigarh and Del-

hi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan,

Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha,

Bihar, Bengal, Sikkim, Assam,

Meghalaya, Telangana and

Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and

Karaikal on August 26, the

IMD said. – PTI

Mahad miracle

4-year-old boy rescuedfrom building rubble

reached 12.

The NDRF, police, locals,

and dog squads are working

relentlessly to rescue people

trapped under the debris, he

said, adding 13 heavy duty ex-

cavators and other vehicles

were engaged in removing it.

As the operation was under

way, the rescue team spotted

the boy under the debris, af-

ter which it started clearing

the structure with help of gas

cutter and other machines.

Local residents, who were

watching the operation with

baited breath, cheered with

joy after the boy was res-

cued.

As the Ganesh festival is on,

the locals chanted “Ganpati

Bappa Morya” after the child

was lifted onto a stretcher. The

boy has some minor injuries

on his body, the official said.

The dead – five men and

five women – include two teen-

agers, police said.

So far eight persons have

been rescued, while 8 more

are still missing after the

Tareq Garden building in Ma-

had town, around 170 km

from Mumbai, collapsed on

Monday evening, an official

said. – PTI

Life insurance scheme for over10,000 workers in cantonments

According to the statement,

Singh also said there should be

no gaps in implementation of

Centrally-sponsored schemes

(CSS) like Ayushman Bharat and

Pradhana Mantri Awas Yojana in

the cantonment areas.

The new scheme will benefit

“over 10,000 employees in all

62 cantonment boards in the

event of any unfortunate fatal

calamity with an insurance cov-

er of Rs 5 lakh each,” it noted.

The scheme will benefit per-

manent and contractual employ-

ees, including doctors, paramed-

ics and sanitation staff, the state-

ment said.

In his speech, Singh said the

webinar was an important

step towards seamless deliv-

ery of benefits of various CSS

and in improving the overall

wellbeing of approximately

21 lakh residents in the can-

tonment areas.

“Citing welfare schemes like

Ayushman Bharat, Pradhana

Mantri Awas Yojana, Smart Cit-

ies Mission, midday meal

scheme for school children, etc.,

Shri Rajnath Singh said there

should be no gaps in implemen-

tation of these welfare schemes

in cantonment areas,” the state-

ment said. – PTI

We are not dissenters, did not challengeleadership: Cong’s ‘Group of 23’

that the organisation is not in a posi-

tion to take forward “the Congress

philosophy and protect democracy”.

He also asserted that Sonia Gandhi’s

leadership is always required.

The former Union minister further

said the intention of the letter was to

keep the party ready for the 2024 Lok

Sabha polls as also for Assembly and

local bodies elections in the country.

Senior leader Kapil Sibal, another sig-

natory to the letter, posted a cryptic

tweet, saying: “It’s not about a post. It’s

about my country which matters most.”

Tankha took to Twitter to address

the controversy surrounding their let-

ter which led to a high drama at the

CWC meet where many leaders, in-

cluding former party chief Rahul Gan-

dhi, lashed out at the letter writers.

The CWC unanimously urged Sonia

Gandhi to continue as its interim chief

till an AICC session can be convened to

start the process of electing a full-time

president and authorised her to effect

necessary organisational changes to deal

with the challenges facing the party.

Sonia Gandhi was made interim chief

a year ago after Rahul Gandhi resigned

from the position taking moral respon-

sibility for the party’s disastrous per-

formance in the Lok Sabha elections.

“Friends, we are not dissenters but

proponents of revival. The letter was

not a challenge to leadership but a

parchment of action to strengthen the

party. Universally, truth is best defence

whether it be court or public affairs.

History acknowledges the brave & not

the timid,” Tankha said in a tweet.

Senior party leader Anand Sharma

tagged Tankha’s tweet and said, “The

letter was written with the best inter-

est of the party in our hearts and con-

veying shared concerns over the

present environment in the country

and sustained assault on the founda-

tional values of the constitution.”

Another Congress leader, belong-

ing to the group which wrote the let-

ter, said, “We have never expressed

any doubts on the leadership of Sonia

Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and what-

ever decisions Sonia ji will take, will

be acceptable to us. We are working

to strengthen the party, not working

against anyone.” – PTI

4 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020

MESSAGE FOR TODAY

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we

take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

– MAYA ANGELOU

Stop gap stepThat Sonia Gandhi, the Italian who has always been a self-

confessed ‘reluctant leader’, is now the longest-serving

Congress president in the grand old party’s hoary history,

tells us a great deal about the dire straits it currently finds

itself in. This party has inherited the Nehru-Indira Gandhi

tradition whereby there had been excessive reliance on the

‘dynasty’ to steer its political course and even when non-

dynasty leaders had been elevated to high posts, it had

been at the express behest of the family members. It is

indeed astonishing as to the extent to which some Con-

gress underlings would go to maintain that dependence; for

instance, when some years ago Sonia’s position as the party

president was challenged by Sharad Pawar, Tarique Anwar

and PA Sangma on the grounds that as a person of foreign

origin, she wasn’t fit to become a Prime Ministerial candi-

date, it had been the Congress Working Committee (CWC)

which expelled her challengers and invested her with the

presidency. After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, she

had played her cards astutely, keeping the space at the top

open for her son Rahul by, for example, giving the Prime

Minister’s post to Manmohan Singh and herself continuing

to remain the party president. Unfortunately, Rahul had not

been quite up to measuring to the script, revealing himself

to be a quitter despite the exigencies of the moment!

Given such a history, it was no wonder that the Congress

Working Committee at its recent meeting, confronted with a

rudderless ship and an ailing Sonia, rather than advocate a

democratic overhaul of the party, had opted for a stop gap

step once again, and decided that the lady, despite her ill

health, will continue as the interim president of Congress

until a fresh All India Congress Committee (AICC) election

is held and a new party chief gets selected. A large number

of senior leaders, in a letter to Sonia Gandhi, have expressed

their dissatisfaction at the interim nature of this arrange-

ment, and supported an election to choose a new leader, as

well as a much-needed democratic overhaul of the party.

Moreover, Sonia herself has made it clear that she will def-

initely resign and hand over the mantle to the CWC to de-

cide who her successor in the party president’s position will

be. But, given the many pulls and pressures the party is

normally subjected to, and the internal squabbles which are

its bane, it is moot when elections would be held and the

party would be, if ever, overhauled. This is unfortunate, for

a large segment of Indian society is beginning to appreciate

the adverse outcomes which befall the nation when there is

no effective Opposition, and wants political empowerment

of the Congress, at least to act as a buffer to restrain the BJP

from exhibiting authoritarian tendencies.

Tackling unemploymentUnemployment across the country has hit an unprece-

dented high in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic

and the subsequent lockdowns. Many spheres including

trade and industry besides the private job sector witnessed

massive retrenchments, plunging mass livelihoods into a

deep crisis. It also triggered a huge wave of reverse mi-

gration, causing the country’s overall unemployment rate

to shoot up to as high as 27.11% during May. Things have

eased a bit since but despite government interventions,

the stiff unemployment rate remains a big concern across

States. Even prior to the pandemic, the country’s unem-

ployment rate for 2017-2018 fiscal year was pegged at

6.1%, the highest in 45 years. The large-scale layoffs and

furloughs recorded since March have exposed the finan-

cial vulnerabilities of India’s heterogenous MSMEs that

form the backbone of the country’s economy. The Centre

did well to respond to the situation with a stimulus package

and the renewed emphasis on the MGNREGA scheme is

expected to ease the situation to some extent. According

to reports, as many as 125 million households had applied

for work under the scheme between April and July, com-

pared to 90 million households during the same period last

year, signifying a rise of nearly 40%.

Assam has also been severely hit by the pandemic situa-

tion and the reverse migration of workers from other States

has added to the problem. Facilitating resumption of all trade

and industry-related activities aside, the State Government

will have to intervene in the agri and allied sector too, which

accounts for a very large workforce. While the situation will

indubitably require some quick and short-term stimulus, this

should also be the ideal time for the State Government to

plan long-term interventions for easing the region’s bur-

geoning unemployment. Many of the returned migrant work-

ers will require short-term employment opportunities, as

they are expected to regain their employment when the

economy starts to recover. Addressing the concerns of the

rural economy which will see a huge concentration of the

unemployment is going to be another challenge for the Gov-

ernment. The general situation vis-a-vis unemployment

warrants the Government to put topmost thrust on skill de-

velopment and creation of self-entrepreneurship. The State

has many areas of traditional manufacturing practices that

are in urgent need of skill augmentation, value addition and

market linkage. This ought to be a special and long-term

area of focus for the Government. The panel for revival of

the State’s economy post-Covid has recommended a number

of specific measures for tiding over the situation and the

Government would do well to heed expert advice. The slug-

gish industrialization process, scarce self-employment ave-

nues and persisting with an age-old curriculum leaving out

professional and vocational courses have been among the

factors sustaining unemployment in the region. The Gov-

ernment has done precious little to harness the huge poten-

tial of tourism, handloom and handicrafts, horticulture, etc.,

that are waiting to be tapped. The authorities need to pro-

ceed with a vision to realize all this.

he election battle lines

have been drawn in As-

sam and from the looks

of it, cultural issues,

more than economic issues, are

going to dominate the scenario. All

the political parties will try to act as

the saviours of their support

groups, while some will grope for

support groups till the end. Assam’s

population as it now stands has the

immigrant Muslims as possibly the

largest single group, followed by the

Assamese speakers, the tea tribes,

the Bengali Hindus, the plains

tribes, the hills tribes, the Gorkhas

and finally the Hindi speakers. The

political interest of the immigrant

Muslims will primarily be repre-

sented by the AIUDF, with the Con-

gress trying to regain its lost space

in this group. To prevent division of

the Muslim vote, a seat-sharing ar-

rangement will happen. The Con-

gress will also try to regain its hold

in the tea tribes and Ahom commu-

nity, but is unlikely to succeed as it

has no impactful young face to

project and is regarded as a geriat-

ric party by the youth, whose best

days are over. The current Con-

gress leadership does not project a

picture of hope. They are regarded

as a bunch of complaining chatter-

boxes, who are more interested in

regaining their fiefdoms, than do-

ing anything good for the people of

the State. Past administrative per-

formance of the current Congress

leadership has no glorious records.

The Congress to make any impact

has to go for a complete makeover.

This geriatric image has also cost

the Congress party in the hills, as

T

Lettersto the

EDITOR

Scope of Geology as a subject

Sir, – Under Dibrugarh Universi-

ty, there are more than 100 colleges

but in comparison to other science

subjects like Physics, Chemistry,

Mathematics, Biology, etc., Geology

as a subject is available only in five

to six colleges. Geology is of much

importance from both educational

and economic point of view but our

educational system has always been

ignorant towards incorporating

Geology as a separate subject in the

schools or colleges.

Geology helps the students in

understanding the events that took

place in the past both beneath the

earth and in space. It gives us

perspectives about the processes

happening on our Planet Earth.

Geology includes many branches of

its own and together encompasses

subjects such as Chemistry, Physics,

Geography, etc. Structural geology,

sedimentology, palaeontology, ocean

circulation, hydrogeology, climatolo-

gy and seismology are the branches

that a geologist can study. It makes

the students aware of the causes of

disasters like earthquakes, floods,

landslides, volcanoes and more.

Geology develops a sense of

economic importance of different

geological deposits and resources

along with their exploration. Assam

the social leadership has been re-

placed by a younger leadership tak-

ing over from the family fiefdoms

created by the Congress leadership

in the Hills.

The Assamese speakers are in a

political fix as they don’t have a po-

litical party exclusively represent-

ing their interests. The Assamese

mind wants Assam of 1826, where

the tribes and the Assamese were

the only residents of the Brahmapu-

tra Valley. But the various migra-

tions have upset the num-

bers game. To translate

into Assamese hegemo-

ny over the entire State,

the Assamese have to get

60 seats on their own and

the support of another 25

tribal seats. Capturing 60

seats by a single Assamese

party is not possible as it

does not have the num-

bers. To get 60 seats, it

must have the support of

the tea community, which

will demand its pound of

flesh, thus negating the

very pattern of the MLAs

the Assamese want.

The AASU and its as-

sociates do not have the

clout to get 60 MLAs elected from

a single party representing only the

Assamese speakers. To make this

happen, the AASU and its associ-

ates have to come out and say clear-

ly that they represent the Assa-

mese-speaking community only and

not a subscriber to the politically

convenient ‘Bor Axom’ thoughts.

After the loss of the AGP as being a

truly rightist Assamese party, the

new regional party to be formed is

not taking off due to clash of egos

and if it finally happens will be a hur-

riedly cobbled up conglomerate,

without a ‘reasonable chance’ of

winning the battle.

The process of integration into

an Assamese identity has not hap-

pened fast enough in the State. Mi-

grants, even after residing in the

State for three to five generations,

have not been able to merge their

identity with the locals, even after

being rejected by the people of their

State of origin. In the USA it hap-

pens in the first generation. The

Bengalis of Assam are considered

as cultural outcasts in Kolkata, their

cultural capital. The Bengalis in As-

sam are mostly Sylhetis, a province

disowned by the mainland Bengal

when it was merged with Assam in

1874, then tagged with East Bengal

in the partition of Bengal in 1905,

retained with Assam when the par-

tition of Bengal was annulled in

1911. No one shed a tear to lose

Sylhet from Bengal except the Syl-

hetis themselves. Cachar and

Hailakandi were never a part of

Bengal, rather it was a part of the

Dimasa kingdom. Only Karimganj

was a part of Sylhet district. The

Bengalis from Assam made failed

attempts at becoming an integral

part of the Bengali culture. It would

have been better for them to think

differently and shed the tag of being

‘undesirables’ in Assam since 1836,

when Assamese was replaced by

Bangla in schools till 1876. The

Dhakaias of Dhakaipot-

ties of Assam’s towns

who created this divide

have long left Assam for

greener pastures. Simi-

larly the Marwaris who

had fled Assam in the

wake of the ULFA trou-

bles returned within a

year after not finding ac-

ceptance in the States of

their origin like Rajas-

than, Haryana and Uttar

Pradesh. The Assamese

Gorkhas are treated at

par with the Madheshis

in Nepal. The tea tribes

have lost their home-

lands and the earlier

they shed their separate

tea tribe identity, it’s better for

them in the social and political con-

text and be accepted as another As-

samese community. The same ap-

plies for the other migrants also as

they have lost their place in their

original homelands. The Kayasthas

and Brahmins of Kanauj were wise

enough to accept the Assamese

identity fast although migrating

much after the Ahoms. The later

migrants must realize that just a

person or two from the communi-

ty making to a ministership does

not bring overall good for the com-

munity. Electoral representation

since 1935 has shown that amply.

Sensing the wind, the BJP in As-

sam has transformed its image to

that of a regional party, by continu-

ing to promote its tag as a party

committed to the protection of the

Jati, Mati, Bheti of the indigenous.

The Chief Minister has always

bound the Barak, Brahmaputra, the

Hills and the Valleys in his speech-

es, thereby checkmating the Barak

Valley residents who have forever

been wailing neglect. It has check-

mated the AASU and associates in

being more firm against the Mus-

lim migrants, the common beta

noire, by evictions of government

lands, imposing checks on buying

land by migrants. It has promoted

Assamese language in all schools,

promoted the Sattras, taken care of

the Assamese artists by increasing

pensions and grants. On the eco-

nomic front, the launching of the

Orunodoi scheme has made the gov-

ernment policy very clear that it will

aim at providing food, nutrition,

housing, healthcare, education,

drinking water, electricity free to all

BPL people. From the people’s

side, they have not been able to get

rid of the sloth and improve their

own lot. Rather, increasing assist-

ance has made the people more ap-

athetic to physical labour, paving the

way for the hard-working Muslim

migrants to fill the space even in

areas of upper Assam, where they

had no presence till a few years ago.

That has brought the anti-foreigner

attempts to a full circle of failure.

The ‘smell of malice’ and how it breaks Indian a course on journalism that

this writer taught years ago,

one exercise that was often

asked was for the class to roam

around Mumbai’s famous Moham-

med Ali Road during the holy

month of Ramadan and pick up

sights, sounds, stories as the fast is

broken and the feasting begins at

sunset. One of the students that

year was a local area police officer

who had in the past been asked to

investigate how and why lodges and

rooms for rent filled up with Mus-

lims from across the country ex-

actly at the time the police wanted

to ensure that the festival passes off

peacefully. That was a massive in-

vestigation one particular year with

entries from lodges, background

checks, local intelligence, etc., amid

suspicion that something was amiss.

Wearing the hat of a student-jour-

nalist, this policeman came back sur-

prised at what he found when he

roamed free with an eye not for the

criminal but for the story. Thou-

sands of people, he discovered,

came to throng that road for small

and tiny businesses – selling henna

to trinkets to some other local de-

signs and delights of Lucknow and

n Jagdish Rattanani

from the further interiors of India.

This was the month they made

enough to last and lived on it back in

their town for the rest of the year.

This was a religious festival but it

brought booming business and at-

tracted thousands, most of them

Muslims, year after year to Mum-

bai during the month. As the roles

changed, the stories changed and

new facts came to light for this po-

lice officer. Call it prejudice, worry

or abundant caution at a time of

stress for the police – what is clear

is that who you are determines what

you see, and what you see will be

the colour of the lens you wear.

It is one thing for police to do

their duty with careful checking,

particularly in times when Ram-

adan coincides with other festivals

as it does some years. It is a more

serious matter when large parts

of officialdom led by the political

establishment of the day are so col-

oured with prejudice that we find

actions that are wholly untenable

and in fact bring down the stature

of this great nation for citizens, vis-

itors and in the eyes of the world.

This is precisely what the Bom-

bay High Court has found in the case

of the Tablighi Jamaat – loud and na-

ked abuse of power to target a mi-

nority community and paint its

members as a set of people who were

on a mission not of faith but allegedly

to spread Covid-19 in India.

Here is a landmark judgment

that goes well beyond the immedi-

ate case to set out red flags on the

way in which malicious propagan-

da is spread, scapegoats are found

and the law applied selectively on

religious grounds. The judgment

is unrelated to but comes coinci-

dentally at a time there is a rising

tide of support for the lawyer

Prashant Bhushan as he stands up

to a case of contempt in the Su-

preme Court for questioning the

integrity of judges. Amid that fear

and worry on the state of the judi-

ciary, here is a case and a judge-

ment that can allow all Indians to

keep faith and look up to the judici-

ary as a beacon of hope and the pro-

tector of the rights of ordinary peo-

ple. In fact, the Bombay High Court

comes out shining as it grants cov-

er in this case not to Indians but to

minority community visitors com-

ing in from other countries, who

do not normally enjoy the protec-

tions accorded to citizens under

Article 19 of the Constitution, and

brings alive the very Indian state-

ment, Atitihi devo bhava.

How have we really treated vis-

itors who were in India on valid

visas doing what many have done

years before them as they partici-

pated in the activities of the Tablighi

Jamaat?

To quote Justices TV Nalawade

and MG Sewlikar, who delivered

the 58-page order dismissing the

police case against nine foreign na-

tionals and two Indians for all man-

ners of allegations, including stay-

ing in a Masjid (when was this a

crime?) and preaching (which they

were not) their faith: “In our cul-

ture, there is a saying…that our

guest is our god. The circumstanc-

es of the present matter create a

question as to whether we are re-

ally acting as per our great tradi-

tion and culture.”

The judges have demolished

every single case sought to be made

out against the members of the

Jamaat and in fact made three im-

portant points: a) There was no in-

tention of the police to go against

the foreigners, but Maharashtra

filed the FIR after getting direc-

tions from the Central Government

to do so; b) The exercise was done

by the Central Government with

the presumption that the visitors

were already infected when that

contention cannot be substantiated;

c) The propaganda against the so-

called religious activity was unwar-

ranted and it is now high time for

the concerned to repent and to take

some positive steps to repair the

damage done by such action.

They find ‘a smell of malice’

against foreigners and Muslims as

they send out a message that needs

to be told and heard again and again:

“Social and religious tolerance is a

practical necessity for unity and in-

tegrity in India….”

Away from the judgment, com-

mon sense would dictate that India

should act differently. Would India

have the Tableeghi Jamaat, an Indi-

an movement with over 90 years

of standing, meet in India or would

it rather have it meet in Afghani-

stan or Pakistan? Why should we

cede the ground we proudly hold

and why should India not welcome

and offer space to people of all faiths

from across the world to see and

live the idea of tolerance? Except

that tolerance is now history in our

land and an Indian version of the

Taliban is sought to be drafted by

those in power.

(The Billion Press)

I

Articles (within 1000-1100 words) and

Letters to the Editor for publication in

the editorial page may be sent to the

email ID: editor@assamtribune.com.

Assam Assembly polls: Battle lines drawn

being a State rich in such deposits

and resources, the subject Geology

needs much attention. It also

provides very good career

prospects leading to a wide range of

job opportunities. Thus, Geology

deserves due recognition at least at

the college level in Assam. Yours

etc., KASHYAP BORGOHAIN,

Dibrugarh University.

Covid testingSir, – A recent government

order mentioned that all theteachers of schools, colleges anduniversities of the State are toundergo Covid-19 RT-PCR testbetween August 21 and August 30as a safety measure beforeattending their respective institu-tions. But the thing is that if all theteachers of a school test positive,then what will happen to thestudents of that school if the schoolsopens on September 1 next asenvisaged by the State Govern-ment? Moreover, the StateGovernment should take steps totest the students for Covid-19 also.Yours etc., AUROBINDA DEY,

Demow, Sivasagar.

Common issuesSir, – Being a growing and

concerned citizen, I would like to

focus on a very important issue of

these days. Most of the prominent

national news channels and senior

journalists are busy with only one

issue at present – ‘justice’ to

Sushant Singh Rajput who was

found hanging in his Mumbai

apartments several weeks ago.

Their response to the other

pressing situations is really

annoying. It is obvious that people

like me also want justice for

Rajput but is it the only one

matter that needs so much

attention? There are a lot of other

problems the common people are

confronting and these also need

focus. The news channels should

to be more responsible towards

the common people’s issues.

Yours etc., MAMINA AKHTAR,

Dhamdhama.

DCO JagiroadSir, – Through your esteemed

daily, I would like to address the

organizations which have demand-

ed that the District Cultural Office

(DCO) of Jagiroad should be

shifted to Morigaon town in

relation to the State Government’s

aid worth Rs 6000 each for the

economically weak artists.

Altogether 10 Morigaon town-

based cultural organizations have

strongly demanded that the DCO

located at Jagiroad town should be

shifted to Morigaon town so that

the artists will get the benefit

easily. The distance between

Morigaon and Jagiroad is only 22

kms and it takes only 25 minutes

to reach Jagiroad from Morigaon

town. Besides, the office has beenworking for the benefit of the localartists since long and has evenhelped the poor artists in gettingthe government aid. It is not clearwhy the organizations are nowdemanding that the DCO should beshifted from Jagiroad to Morigaontown. Yours etc., PRANJAL

KUMAR SHARMA, Morigaon.

HS TET recruitmentSir, – Through your esteemed

daily, I would like to thank Educa-

tion Minister Dr Himanta Biswa

Sarma for his announcement on

August 15, 2020 regarding the

upcoming appointment of high

school TET-qualified candidates in

different government and provin-

cialized schools of Assam. The

advertisement for holding the said

TET exam was published in 2017

and the results were declared in

March 2020. As many of TET-

qualified candidates have crossed

the prescribed age limit, hence it

will be praiseworthy if the authority

concerned start the appointment

process without much delay. Yours

etc., SHIDANANDA BORAH,

Nagaon.

School reopeningSir, – The Union Health Ministry

is very hopeful of getting a Covid-19

vaccine in India by December next.

Since the WHO has not withdrawn

the epidemic status from Covid-19

and the disease is not subsiding yet,

parents are worried a lot thinking

about the safety and security of their

wards from the disease in the event

of reopening of schools and colleges

from September 1. Though five

months have already been lost

from the academic calendar, still

the State Government should

reconsider its decision to reopen

the educational institutes and

postpone the same till the vaccine

arrives in December. Yours etc.,

SOME CONCERNED PARENTS,

Barpeta.

Young scientistSir, – It is good news that Aprita

Dalai, a research scholar in the

Department of Ecology and

Environment Sciences, Assam

University has been selected for

the 5th BRICS Young Scientists’

Conclave 2020 scheduled to be

held in Russia in September. She

is among the 19 young research-

ers and one among five ecologists

of the country making to the

conclave. I appeal to the young

generation to take inspiration from

this young talent. Yours etc.,

PUTUL SARMA, Biswanath

Chariali.

The tea tribes have lost their

homelands and the earlier they

shed their separate tea tribe

identity, it’s better for them in

the social and political context

and be accepted as another

Assamese community. The

same applies for the other

migrants also as they have lost

their place in their original

homelands.

n Gyan Prakash

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 5CITY

PABINDRA NATH SARMA

AND KUNJABALA DEVI

MEMORIAL AWARDSEntries are invited for the following journalism

awards for reports published during the year 2019.

(a) Pabindra Nath Sarma Memorial Award:For investigative journalism on Human Rights

(b) Kunjabala Devi Memorial Award:For investigative journalism on Women’s Issue

The awards instituted in memory of late PabindraNath Sarma, freedom fighter and lawyer, and his wifeKunjabala Devi, carry a cash prize of Rs. 30,000(Rupees thirty thousand only) and a citation each.

The entries should reach the undersigned by 20thSeptember, 2020.

The terms and conditions are as follows:1. The competition is open to all journalists working

full time or part time, for registered daily, twice-a-week and weekly newspapers published from theNorth East region in Assamese, English, Bengali orHindi.

2. Investigative reports on human rights issues willinclude violations of human rights in any form, workrendered by individuals, organisations or NGOs forcreating awareness and strengthening the systemto preserve human rights and such other issues.Unknown facts brought to light by investigativereporting will be more appreciated.

3. Investigative reports on women’s issues will includecrimes against women, injustice meted out to women,women’s welfare work rendered by individuals ororganisations, work done by NGOs for women’swelfare, oppression of women and such other issues.Unknown facts brought to light by investigativereporting will be more appreciated.

4. The incidents/happenings covered by such reportsmust have the North East as locale.

5. News items/news stories appearing in thejournalists’ bylines are preferred. But if such reportsare published without byline, the candidates/competitor must provide proof that the writingconcerned is actually his/hers. All such entriespublished in newspapers must be authenticated bythe Editor concerned.

6 . Entries sent by the journalist himself/herself or sentby other sponsors will be examined by a panel ofjudges to be appointed for the purpose and thepanel’s decision will be final.

7. The entries should be photo copies of the articles/news items published during the calendar year 2019that is, between January and December, 31, 2019.The dates of publication of the items must bementioned.

Convenor

Pabindra Nath Sarma

& Kunjabala Devi

Memorial Award Committee

Tribune Buildings, Guwahati-781003

WEATHER

GUWAHATILOCAL FORECAST :Generally cloudy sky with

one or two spells of rain or

thundershower. Maximum

and minimum temperatures

are most likely to be 36°C

and 26°C respectively on

Wednesday.

TEMPERATURE:Max 36.8°CMin 26.2°C

ABINASH KALITA

GUWAHATI, Aug 25: Dumping

of household garbage including plas-

tic and flowers used in rituals con-

tinues unabated at Lachit Ghat on the

bank of the Brahmaputra here.

“People, including street vendors,

bring polythene bags full of flowers

used in rituals and plastics for dispos-

al on the river (bank). As there are no

garbage bins in the entire area, peo-

ple prefer to dump the waste on the

riverbank,” Mukund Singh, a resident

of Fancy Bazar area said.

“People have a tendency to

throw flowers used in rituals, be-

sides plastic materials, into the riv-

er,” he added.

The Guwahati Municipal Corpo-

ration (GMC) that is concerned

with solid waste management in the

city, has special squads to look af-

Guwahati city: proud to be among dirtiest!

ter the matter.

“The officials have to be more vig-

ilant to prevent such activities. The

menace cannot be curbed without

stringent action. Garbage bins are

required in the area,” another resi-

dent of the area Kumud Biswas said.

“There is also a need for more

public urinals, especially for differ-

ently-abled people and women, in

the city. Lack of adequate public uri-

nals proves to be a serious bane so

far as cleanliness is concerned as

people relieve themselves any-

where they can,” Biswas added.

There are altogether 130 garbage

disposal bins in the city. The GMC has

removed several bins from the streets

to make them garbage bin-free. It has

also taken several measures to make

the city clean, from introducing auto

tippers to deploying flying squads to

dispose waste. However, the exercis-

es have proved futile.

Altogether 500 tonnes of waste

are generated in the city daily. At

present, there are more than 60

garbage-collecting vehicles of GMC

with 90 NGOs engaged in door-to-

door collection of garbage. Still, the

city is far from being clean and

smart-looking.

In the recently announced Swachh

Survekshan Survey 2020, Guwahati

city ranked 356 out of 382. No won-

der then, why Guwahati is one of

the dirtiest cities in the country!

CITY CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI, Aug 25:

Chief Minister Sarbananda

Sonowal today held a meet-

ing with the representatives

of All Santhal Students’ Un-

ion, Santhal Sahitya Sabha

and Santhal Language Teach-

ers’ Association at the As-

sam Administrative Staff

College here. He also re-

ceived memorandums con-

taining various demands

from them.

Sonowal said the present

state government has been

moving forward positively in

the matter of granting ST sta-

tus to six communities, tak-

ing the views of all stakehold-

ers and the group of minis-

ters would hold meetings with

different organisations during

the forthcoming Assembly

CM holds meetingwith Santhal bodies

session to send final report to

the Central government on

the issue.

The Chief Minister as-

sured that the state govern-

ment would provide funds for

construction of a hostel and a

guest house for the Santhal

community in Guwahati and

steps would also be taken for

developing Santhal language

and literature under Bhasha

Gaurab Achoni.

Minister of Welfare of

Plain Tribes and Backward

Classes department Chan-

dan Brahma, Media Advis-

er to the Chief Minister

Hrishikesh Goswami, Legal

Adviser to the Chief Minis-

ter Santanu Bharali, WPT-

BC Commissioner and Sec-

retary Dr M Angamutthu

were also present in the

meeting.

CITY CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI, Aug 25: The National

Union of Journalists-India (NUJI) and

the Journalists Association of Assam

will felicitate officials, philanthropists

and journalists in the State, who have

done remarkable work during the

COVID-19 pandemic, at a function to

be held here on Thursday.

The NUJI, affiliated to the Interna-

tional Federation of Journalists (IFJ),

formed a committee under the

chairmanship of senior journalist Alok

Mehta to honour those who have done

excellent works during the pandemic.

Philanthropists, scribes to be felicitatedKamrup (Metro) Deputy Commis-

sioner Biswajit Pegu, Kamrup

(Metro) Information and Public

Relations Officer Ratan Saud, Dhubri

Superintendent of Police Anand

Mishra, Gauhati Press Club general

secretary Sanjay Ray, Asomiya

Pratidin’s senior journalist Dhruba

Jyoti Pathak, Dainik Asom’s senior

journalist Jitendra Kumar Chaudhury,

News Live journalist Gaurav Jyoti

Neog, few other senior journalists

and office bearers of various socio-

cultural organisations will be hon-

oured during the programme.

NUJI national vice president

Bhupen Goswami, Journalist

Association of Assam (JAA) presi-

dent Dhirendra Nath Chakraborty

and general secretary Dalim Phukan,

in a statement, said media persons,

police officials, doctors, other health

workers and employees have done a

remarkable work during the COV-

ID-19 period.

“A large number of journalists

have tested positive for COVID-19.

Central and state governments

should provide financial assistance to

media persons, declaring them

corona warriors,” the statement

added.

Donation ofsmartphones

GUWAHATI, Aug 25: The Rotary Club of Guwahati Luit

and the Rotary Guwahati Luit Trust donated 16 new smart-

phones to the Noonmati High School at Jyotinagar here on

Monday, under a mobile phone library project, stated a press

release issued today.

The donated smartphones were given to deserving stu-

dents of class ten of the school, who were unable to attend

online classes during the last five months.

The students will have to return the mobiles for students in

the next session.

Noonmati High School headmaster Narayan Ch Sharma

thanked the Club for this unique project. The event was at-

tended by parents, students and members of the Club and the

Trust, added the release.

Photojournalist Pitamber Newar donating plasma under the banner of the Guwahati Press Club, at the GMCH inGuwahati on Tuesday. – UB Photos

CORRESPONDENT

JORABAT, Aug 25: A lime-

stone syndicate, believed to

be one of the biggest of its kind

after coal, is allegedly running

on the outskirts of Guwahati

city, thanks to a nexus be-

tween a section of govern-

ment officials and mafia, caus-

ing huge losses to the govern-

ment exchequer.

This afternoon, based on a

tip-off, a local organisation

named Greater Dimoria

Youth Welfare Association

(GDYWA), stopped two

trucks and as per the weigh-

in slip with the driver of one

of the trucks, the vehicle was

Limestone syndicate underthe nose of authorities

transporting 46 MT of lime-

stone, whereas the challan

showed 15 MT as the permis-

sible load. As per the drivers,

the trucks (ML 10B 7229 and

ML 10B 7230) were heading

towards a cement plant in

14th Mile area.

GDYWA carried out the

drive after several com-

plaints came from the locals

over the deteriorating con-

dition of the village road by

the limestone-laden trucks.

The trucks were later hand-

ed over to Sonapur police.

According to sources, at

present 50 to 80 limestone-

laden trucks from Meghalaya,

carrying the stuff far above

the permitted weight, are

entering Assam through

Byrnihat every day to meet

the demands of cement fac-

tories flourishing in and

around Jorabat.

The permissible quantity

of limestones as per the chal-

lans issued by the Meghalaya

forest department, is 15

metric tonnes (MT) per

truck, but the trucks carry-

ing limestones from Megha-

laya to Assam reportedly

carry 40 to 45 MT each. And

they are able to do so by

‘managing’ corrupt officials,

it is alleged.

Sources informed that the

cement plants stock up lime-

stone in huge quantities for

future use.

It may be mentioned that

the department liable for

checking the legality of the

limestone and its transporta-

tion in Assam is the Directo-

rate of Geology & Mining,

while the transport depart-

ment checks whether the

weight of the transported stuff

is within the permissible lim-

it or not.

However, the big dispari-

ty between the officially per-

mitted weight of the lime-

stone for each truck and the

quantity actually transported

by the truck points to a flour-

ishing syndicate.

Lyricist-singerManmath

Baishya no moreSTAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 25:

Veteran lyricist, musician

and singer Manmath

Baishya breathed his last

on Tuesday at a private

hospital here. He was 73

and is survived by wife and

two sons.

Chief Minister Sarba-

nanda Sonowal mourned

Baishya’s death and said

that his untimely demise is

a great loss for the

Assamese society. In a

condolence message,

Sonowal also recalled the

contributions of Baishya

towards the cultural sector

of Assam.

Industries and Com-

merce Minister Chandra

Mohan Patowary also

condoled the demise of

Baishya.

In a condolence state-

ment, the Minister said

that Manmath Baishya was

a well-known lyricist,

singer and an exponent of

Assamese folk music. His

works are appreciated by

music lovers and cultural

critics. His demise is an

irreparable loss for the

cultural milieu of the

State, Patowary added.

Beltola Puberun Sangha

and Beltola Bohagi Utsav

Udjyapan Samity offered

their last respects to the

departed soul.

Notification ontransgender

council opposedSTAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 25:

Opposing the recent

notification issued by the

Ministry of Social Justice

and Empowerment

regarding formation of the

National Council for

Transgender Persons, the

All Assam Transgender

Association today said the

impugned notification is

completely illegal and

arbitrary.

The Association alleged

that the notification is a

violation of Article 14 of the

Constitution as it does not

include representatives

from the transgender

community and experts

from NGOs working on

transgender rights.

Four drugpeddlers held

CITY CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI, Aug 25:

Jalukbari police today

arrested four drug peddlers

from Santipur and Garigaon

areas. They have been

identified as Shahrukh Islam,

Mofijul Hoque, Toufiq Ali

and Latif Ali.

Police seized 19 grams of

brown sugar from their

possession.

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 25: At a

time when the Education de-

partment is preparing to

resume the academic activi-

ties in colleges of Assam, the

health department continues

to run COVID care and test-

ing centres at several colleg-

es across the State.

In such a situation, the col-

lege teachers in the State are

now in a confused state of

mind and remain clueless on

how to resume the academ-

ic activities in their respec-

tive institutions.

Tulsi Das, a teacher of his-

tory at Moran College and the

Assam College Teachers’ As-

sociation’s former general

secretary and present advis-

er, informed that around 200

college buildings across the

State are being used as COV-

ID care or testing centres by

the health department.

“Though the government is

planning to resume the aca-

demic activities in colleges, no

steps have been taken regard-

ing the safety of the teachers

College teachers’concern over COVID

care centresand other staff. So in such a

situation, it has become a com-

plex issue for us,” Das said.

Meanwhile, Das also

pointed out that amid the

lockdown, most of the stu-

dents in rural areas have

failed to attend online class-

es due to various issues, in-

cluding poor mobile network

and financial hardships.

Reacting to the issue, a sen-

ior official of the Education de-

partment informed that the

state government is planning

to shift all COVID care or test-

ing centres from the colleges

of Assam.

To get the COVID care cen-

tre removed from a college,

the officials further stated that

the college authority should

write to the Higher Education

department about it and then

the department would take

further steps regarding the

specific institution.

Moreover, teachers having

health issues, including preg-

nant teachers, would get re-

laxation as per earlier rules of

the government, informed

the officials.

Ban ontelecast of serial

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 25: In

connection with a writ peti-

tion, the Commissioner of

Police Guwahati today in-

formed the Gauhati High

Court that he has prohibited

telecast of an Assamese seri-

al titled Begum Jaan for a pe-

riod of 60 days under the Ca-

ble Television Networks

(Regulation) Act.

The Police Commissioner

also served a showcause notice

to the channel where the serial

was telecast, with the direction

to explain why the prohibitory

order may not be made to have

permanent effect.

The writ petition was filed

by United Trust of India. Ear-

lier, the organisation had also

lodged a complaint with the

Commissioner of Police alleg-

ing that the content of the se-

rial affected the secular ethos

of the Constitution of India.

As the police did not take

immediate action, the organi-

sation later filed the writ pe-

tition in the court. Senior ad-

vocate Bijon Kumar Mahajan

represented the organisation

in the court.

Online essaywriting

competitionCITY CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI, Aug 25: Be-

cause of the COVID-19 pan-

demic, the Parag Kumar Das

Memorial Trust has decided

to organise an online essay

writing competition this year

instead of the annual Parag

Kumar Das Memorial Inter-

College Debate Competition.

The theme of the essay

competition is ‘challenges and

opportunities for sustainable

economic development in

post-COVID Assam’.

The competition is open to

students pursuing undergrad-

uate and postgraduate cours-

es in colleges and universities

in Assam. One can write the

essay in Assamese or English.

The essay drafted in word

or PDF format should be

mailed to

pkdmemorial@gmail.com on

or before September 20 with

details of the participant, in-

cluding name of the college

and university, course of

study, etc. The word limit for

the essay is 1,500 words.

Cash prizes of Rs 7,000,

Rs 5,000 and Rs 3,000 will

be given to the 1st, 2nd and

3rd winners respectively.

Winners of the competition

will be announced in Octo-

ber next.

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 25: Assam

Science and Technology Univer-

sity (ASTU) recently signed an

MoU on cooperation and com-

mitment with RUDN Universi-

ty (Peoples’ Friendship Univer-

sity of Russia), Moscow.

The MoU acknowledges the

importance of partnership based

on the principles of voluntary

participation, equality, common

good and reciprocity and creates

a partnership agreement be-

tween the two universities in-

tending to strengthen coopera-

tion in the field of science, tech-

nology and education, a press

release said.

The major thrusts of the MoU

are on short-term exchange pro-

Snag in GMC pipeto hit water supply

CITY CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI, Aug 25: Water supply to nearly 2,500

households in the Sarania, Ulubari, Lachit Nagar, Re-

habari and surrounding areas will remain suspended from

Wednesday due to a breakdown in a Guwahati Municipal

Corporation (GMC) pipe at Panbazar.

A GMC official stated, “One of the water pipes of the

GMC near the BSNL office at Panbazar developed a

snag on Tuesday. The damage is mainly because the pipe

has been in use for many years. Our workers have been

engaged to fix it and restore water supply at the earliest.

Repairing work is going on full swing.”

The breakdown is likely to hit more than 10,000 peo-

ple of the areas mentioned.

“Water will be supplied to the affected areas through

mobile water tankers. However, it will not be possible

for us to cover all the areas with the tankers, but we will

try to cover the maximum number of residents,” the

official added.

The GMC has appealed for patience and urged the

people to use water judiciously.

ASTU signs MoU withRussian university

grammes for scientists, re-

searchers, technical experts and

lecturers, specialised education-

al programmes to promote hu-

man capital in the fields of sci-

ence, technology and education,

joint scientific guidance for MSc

and PhD students, exchange of

information, development and

implementation of joint educa-

tional programmes, etc.

The final signing ceremony

took place through an online cloud

meeting hosted by RUDN Uni-

versity, led by ASTU Vice Chan-

cellor Prof Dhiraj Bora at ASTU

campus at Jalukbari, Guwahati

and RUDN team led by its Vice

Rector Larisa I Efremovaat and

witnessed by VV Dementiev,

Director for Russian Centre for

Science and Culture in Kolkata.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 20206 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER

INLAND WATER TRANSPORT DIVISIONCHANDMARI, T.V. STATION ROAD, TARAPUR, SILCHAR - 788003

Website : http://iwtdirectorate.assam.gov.in, Telephone No. : 03842-262454, E-mail : iwtdivisionsilchar@gmail.com

EXTENTION NOTICENo. - 112,

In view of the COVID-19 restrictions imposed in the districts of Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj from 27.8.2020

to 4.9.2020, dates of receiving and opening of tenders in respect of NIT No.170 vide Memo No. SWT/Misc.39/

Pt-XIV/2019-2021/2842-84, Dated 10.08.2020, for settlement of ferry services under Inland Water Transport

Division, Silchar are extended as given below.

Sl. Ferry Service Date of opening Sl. Ferry Service Date of opening

No. No.

1 Lathimara 12 Berenga

2 Bhanga-Tukergram 13 Badri

3 Rajartilla 15/09/2020 14 Gandhighat 17/09/2020

4 Narayanpur 15 Chotto-Dudhpatil

5 Lalacherra 16 Boro-Dudhpatil

6 Annapurna 17 Fulertol

7 Jatinga 18 Silghat

8 Buribail 16/09/2020 19 Bagpur 18/09/2020

9 Rajnagar 20 Sonaban

10 Dhaleswan 21 Gangapur

11 Siddheswari

Other terms and conditions of the NIT will remain same.

Sd/- Executive Engineer

Inland Water Transport Division

Janasanyog/C/3584/20 Silchar

NO. SIDC/CD/FPP/BID/1835/2014-15/5021

NOTICE INVITING BIDAssam Small Industries Development Corporation Limited (ASIDC) invites bids. duly filled in

and completed in the Bid Document as “Bid for allotment of Industrial Shed/Open Space at H.O.

Complex. Bamunimaidam" addressed to the undersigned for allotment of industrial shed/open

space at H.O. Complex, MRD Road. Bamunimaidam in Kamrup (M) from prospective

entrepreneurs desiring to Set up micro and small industries in Industrial Area.

A. H.O Complex, MRD Road, Bamunimaidam.

1. Shed : 2450 sq.fi. (approx) 5 years lease term

2. Shed : 2376 sq.ft (approx) subject to

3. Shed : 3762 sq.ft. (approx) approval by the

4. Shed : 2376 sq. ft.(approx) Board

5. Shed : 4000 sq. ft. (approx)

• Cost of Bid Document : Rs. 1000 (Rupees one thousand).

• Earnest Money : 10% of the Bid value in the form of Demand Draft/ Banker’s Cheque

payable at Guwahati and drawn in favour of ASIDC Ltd.

• Issue of Bid Document: From 28.08.2020 on all working days till 14:00 HRS on 08.09.2020.

• Receipt of Bid : From 28.08.2020 on all working days till 14.00 HRS on 08.09.2020.

• Opening of Bid : At 15.00 HRS on 08.09.2020. (Bidders or their authorized representative

may attend).

Bid received without Earnest Money shall be summarily rejected. ASIDC Ltd. reserves the right

to reject any or all the bids without assigning any reason thereof’.

Sd/- Managing Director.

Janasanyog/CF/1548/20 ASIDC Ltd.

Phones: 03712 - 268107/268077 Dolabari

Fax: +91 (03712) 268007 P.O. Kaliabhomora

Website: neriwalm.gov.in Tezpur - 784 027,

Assam (India)

NORTH EASTERN REGIONAL INSTITUTE OF

WATER AND LAND MANAGEMENT (NERIWALM)An Institute under the Ministry of Jai Shakti, Department of Water Resources,

River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Govt. of India

(Registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860)

No. NRWM/CONST/274/WOMEN HOSTEL/2020-21/

EXPRESSION OF INTERESTThe Director, NERIWALM, Dolabari, Tezpur-784027(Assam) invites Expression of Interest from Public Sector

Undertaking set up by the Central or State Government to carry out civil or electrical works, any other Central/

State Government Organisation /PSU which may be notified by the Ministry of Urban Department (MoUD)

having experience in construction sector in two envelopes (Technical & Financial).

The tender paper may be viewed and down loaded from NERIWALM’s website www.neriwalm.gov.in.

SI. Name of the work Estimated Completion Last date of Date of

No. value period receipt of tender opening the

(Technical & Bids

Financial)

01 Providing Project Management Rs. 80,00,000.00 01(one) 28.09.2020 29.09.2020

Consultancy (PMC) Services (Rupees Eighty Year (5.00PM) (11.00AM)

for Construction of Assam Type Lacs) only

Women Hostel at NERIWALM

Campus, Tezpur, Assam”.

Sd/- Deputy Director (Admin)

Janasanyog/CF/1547/20 NERIWALM

No. ASHB/Tech/1191/2020/35/8484

RE-TENDER NOTICEThe Commissioner, Assam State Housing Board re-invites online bid from the empanelled Class-I contractor of

ASHB for the following works :

Sl. Name of works Value (Rs.) EMD Bid Processing Completion

fee (Each) Period

(Rs.)

1 Construction of 19000000.00 2% for General 10000.00 24

Multistoried RCC G+3 Category & 1% (twenty four)

Building (16 Units) for SC/ ST/ OBC/ months

under RHS for Gr-III MOBC Category/

Govt. Employee for the Graduate Engineer

year 2020-21 under

SOPD-G at Nalbari in

Nalbari District

2 Construction of 15368497.00

Multistoried RCC G+3

Building (16 Units)

under RHS for Gr-IV

Govt. employee for the

year 2020-21 under

SOPD-G at Nalbari

in Nalbari District

Details may be seen at website http://assamtenders.gov.in

Sd/- Commissioner

Assam State Housing Board

Janasanyog/CF/1556/20 R.G. Baruah Road, Guwahati- 05

No. CE/CW/08/2020-21/ 1

PRESS NOTICE INVITING TENDERThe Chief Engineer, P.W.D (Roads), Assam on behalf of the Governor

of Assam invites bid from approved and eligible contractors registered

with Assam PWD (Roads) for 1(one) work under SOPD (G) for the year

2020-21 in Kamrup (Metropolitan) district of Assam.

Scheme is not yet sanctioned by the competent authority. In the

event of non- sanction of the schemes, the bids may be cancelled and

no claim what so ever on this account shall be entertained from the

bidders

Details may be seen at website- assamtenders.gov.in and also at

the office of the undersigned in the “City Works Cell”, from 28.08.2020

during office hours.

Sd/- Chief Engineer, PWD (Roads), Assam,

Janasanyog/CF/1545/20 Chandmari, Guwahati-3

No. BOCWWB/SDT/01/14/PT2/ASSESSMENTAGENCY/

Request for Proposal (RFP) for ‘Selection of

Assessment Agency for Skill Development

Training under ABOCWWB’.1. Member Secretary, ABOCWWB invites technical and financial

proposals from legal entities for assessment and certification of

trainees of construction sectors trained/proposed to be trained by

the intender.

2. Agencies may propose in the Form of Consortiums, Joint Ventures

etc. with a maximum of two agencies.

3. Eligibility Criteria

i. The bidder must be a registered entity under the Law of India.

The bidder must be a company or society, proprietorship or

individuals; limited liability partnerships (LLPs).

ii. The Bidder must have experience in Assessment field and

should be well versed with the Skill ecosystem.

iii. The bidder or its lead partner (in case of a JV/consortium) must

be a recognized agency under Construction Skll: Development

Council of India (CSDCI).

iv. The Bidder must have valid GST, PAN/TAN and IT return filed

for at least last three financial years i.e., F.Y-2016-17, 2017-18

and 2018-19.

4. The bidder should not have been blacklisted or barred by the

Central/ State Government in India, or any entity controlled by

them, from participating in any project at current date.

5. Interested bidders may download the complete

Request for Proposal (RFP) document, from

labourcommissioner.assam.gov.in

6. Interested Consultancy Firms / Agencies may submit their proposals

along with a non-refundable Processing fee of Rs. 1500/- (Rupees

One Thousand Five Hundred ) towards the cost of RFP document in

form of Demand Draft/Banker’s Cheque in favour of “Assam Building

& Other Construction Workers’ Welfare board”. No liability will be

accepted for downloading the incomplete document.

7. Interested Consultancy Firms / Agencies shall submit their proposals

along with Bid Security/ Earnest Money amounting to Rs. 50,000/-

[Rupees Fifty Thousand] refundable in form and validity as per Data

sheet

Proposal submission deadline 16.09.2020 at 2.00 P.M.

8. Pre Bid Meeting will be held on 04.09.2020 at 12:00 noon at the

address— Office of the Labour Commissioner, Assam, Gopinath

Nagar, Guwahati- 781016.

9. Member Secretary, ABOCWWB reserves the right to accept or

reject any or all proposals without incurring any obligation to inform

the affected applicants of the grounds, The proposals will be

evaluated based on the information provided by the applicants and

the evaluation criteria detailed in RFP document.

Janasanyog/CF/1544/20 Sd/- Member Secretary, ABOCWWB

RE-ETENDER NOTICEThe Chief Executive Officer, Assam State Disaster

Management Authority invites e-tenders from Original

Equipment manufacturers (OEM) or Authorized dealers for

supply of Life buoys with onsite warranty of 02 years for

providing to flood prone districts & revenue circles of Assam.

Complete tender documents are available on

e-Procurement portal: https://assamtenders.gov.in

Bid reference Date & Time

Date of Commencement 26.08.2020 (10.00 am)

of issue of bid documents

Last date & time for 26.09.2020 (05.00 p.m.)

downloading of tender

Last date & time for 26.09.2020 (05.00 p.m.)

uploading of tender

Sd/- Chief Executive Officer

Assam State Disaster Management AuthorityJanasanyog/CF/1541/20

TENDER NOTICENo. Agri/Engg/4858/Combine Harvester/2020-21/127

The Director of Agriculture, Assam is hereby invites bids in

two bid system for procurement of combine harvesters under

‘CMSGUY’ from the manufacturers of combine harvesters

enlisted in the list circulated vide the GOI, Ministry of Agriculture

and Farmer Welfare letter no. 13- 10/99-M&T (I&P) Vol. V

Dated 18-02-2019 and / or amended and uploaded at http://

farmmech.gov.in/LOE.htm, through e-Procurement Portal

of Govt. of Assam: https://assamtenders.gov.in.

To participate, interested manufacturers possessing a valid

Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) have to register in the

e-Procurement portal: https://assamtenders.gov.in. The

BID document is made available on the said Portal from 10:00

AM on 26.08.2020 up to 1:00 PM on 16.09.2020. The online

Submission of Bids through e-Procurement Portal will open

from 10:oo AM on 07.09.2020 and will close at 1:00 PM on

16.09.2020. The authority will not be liable for any delay/failure

in submission of Bids and system errors (if any).

Sd/- Director of Agriculture, Assam

Janasanyog/C/3574/20 Khanapara, Guwahati-22

NO CEWR (G) 16 / 2020 / 2

SHORT TENDER NOTICESealed quotation are invited in plain paper affixing court fee stamp

affixing court fee of Rs 8.25 (Rupees eight and five paisa) only from

interested registered contractors of Water Resources Department for the

following items of work. the quotation shall be received upto 3.00 pm on

4th Sept 2020 at the office of the Chief Engineer Water Resources

Department, Chandmari, Guwahati-3 and shall be opened on the same

day and time in presence of intended quotationers. The rates shall be

quoted in both figure and words and should be inclusive of all taxes the

undersigned reserves the right to accept and reject any quotation.

Item of works :–

1. Engagement of Cleaner/ Sweeper for cleaning and maintenance

related works in the office of the Chief Engineer, Water Resources

Department, Chandmari, Guwahati-3.

2. Engagement of Plumber for maintenance works related to plumbing

etc pertaining to the office of the Chief Engineer, Water Resources

Department, Chandmari, Guwahati-3.

The term and conditions for the quotation may be collected from the

office between 11.00 am and 3.00 pm on or before the last date of

submission of the quotation.

Sd/- Asst. Chief Engineer

Water Resources Department

Janasanyog/C/3580/20 Chandmari, Guwahati-03

Request for ProposalNature Learning Centre, Assam invites “Request for

Proposal for empanelment of agencies for conducting

Awareness Generation and Capacity Building

programmes under NMHS Him-Nature Learning Centre,

Assam”. The details of the proposal may be accessed at

www.asbb.gov.in under What’s new section.

The last date for submission of proposal is 3rd

September, 2020 by 12.00 p.m.

Project-In-Charge, NLC, Assam

i/c. Spl. PCCF (B & CC)

Janasanyog/C/3610/20 Member Secretary- ASBB

INTERNATIONAL

UNITED NATIONS, Aug

25 : A top UN official has called

for attention to new challeng-

es brought by the global coro-

navirus pandemic to counter-

terrorism efforts.

“This pandemic environ-

ment raises several strategic

and practical challenges for

counter-terrorism,” Under-

secretary-General for UN

Counter-Terrorism Office,

Vladimir Voronkov told the

Security Council.

The Islamic State (IS) and

other terrorist groups seek to

exploit the far-reaching disrup-

tion and negative socio-econom-

ic and political impacts of the

pandemic, Xinhua news agen-

cy quoted Voronkov as saying.

Strengthening collective ac-

tion and international counter-

terrorism cooperation must

remain a priority during and

COVID-19 brings new challengesto counter-terrorism efforts: UN

after the pandemic, he added.

Since the start of the year,

there have seen contrasting

regional disparities in the

threat trajectory. In conflict

zones, the threat has increased,

as evidenced by the IS re-

grouping and increasing activ-

ity in Iraq and Syria.

In non-conflict zones, the

threat appears to have de-

creased in the short term. Meas-

ures to minimize the spread of

COVID-19, such as lockdowns

and restrictions on movement,

seem to have reduced the risk

of terrorist attacks in many

countries, said Voronkov.

Yet, there is a continued trend

of attacks by individuals inspired

online and acting alone or in

small groups, which could be

fueled by the IS opportunistic

propaganda efforts during the

COVID-19 crisis, he warned.

The pandemic’s impact on

recruitment and fundraising

activities remains unclear, as

its socio-economic fallout

could exacerbate conditions

conducive to terrorism and

increase the medium- to long-

term threat, both within and

outside conflict zones, he said.

Voronkov also briefed the

council on some developments

in different regions concern-

ing the IS.

In the Middle East, he said,

the IS core has continued to

consolidate its position in some

areas previously under its con-

trol, operating increasingly

confidently and openly. More

than 10,000 IS fighters are es-

timated to remain active in Iraq

and Syria. There has been a

significant increase in IS attacks

in both countries in 2020 com-

pared to 2019, he said. – IANS

WASHINGTON, Aug 25:

Unrest continued in the US

state of Wisconsin after an Af-

rican-American man was shot

by the police in Kenosha city.

On Monday, protesting

crowds tried to cram into the

city’s Public Safety Building

for a news conference,

knocking a door off its hing-

es, reports Xinhua news

agency. Riot police tried to

disperse the crowds with

tear gas and pepper spray.

Kenosha Mayor John Antar-

amian confirmed more than

100 Wisconsin National

Guard members had been

deployed in the city by late

Monday due to the violence.

Unrest in US state after policeshooting of black man

A video posted on social

media shows 29-year-old Jacob

Blake walked to a grey van fol-

lowed by two police officers

with weapons drawn. As Blake

opened the door to get in, an

officer grabbed Blake’s shirt to

hold him still, and shot him at

close range in the back at least

seven times. Protests erupted

immediately after the shooting

on Sunday evening. At least

three garbage trucks were

burned out and windows were

shattered at several business.

A police officer was injured

by a brick, said the mayor at the

news conference on Monday.

In a statement released on

Monday, Democratic presi-

dential candidate Joe Biden said

the shots “pierce the soul of

our nation”. “Equal justice

has not been real for Black

Americans and so many oth-

ers. We are at an inflection

point. We must dismantle sys-

temic racism,” he added. The

Division of Criminal Investi-

gation under the Wisconsin

Department of Justice is in-

vestigating the case.

“We understand that there is

a need for this investigation to

move swiftly,” Wisconsin Attor-

ney General Josh Kaul said at

the news conference. The divi-

sion aims to provide a report on

the incident to the prosecutor

within 30 days. – IANS

SEOUL, Aug 25: South Ko-

rean Defence Minister Jeong

Kyeong-doo on Tuesday said

that North Korean leader Kim

Jong-un’s younger sister, Kim

Yo-jong, seems to be in control

of a key unit of Pyongyang’s

ruling Workers’ Party.

Asked by a lawmaker dur-

ing a National Assembly ses-

sion if Kim Yo-jong has a sub-

stantial grip on the party’s

Organization and Guidance

Department, the Minister said

that he did thought so, reports

Yonhap News Agency.

‘Kim Jong-un’s sister in controlof key Workers’ Party unit’

But Kim Jong-un is believed

to maintain his sole control of

the party, the regime and the

military, while he has delegated

some “roles and responsibili-

ties” to his aides, Jeong said.

On a view that Kim Yo-jong

oversees Pyongyang’s strategy

on Seoul and Washington, the

Minister said: “It appears to be

true, as she expressed so.”

Kim Yo-jong is the younger

sister of Kim Jong-un and the

only one of his siblings consid-

ered a close and powerful ally,

the BBC reported.

She first gained internation-

al attention in 2018, when she

was the first member of the

Kim dynasty to visit South

Korea.

She was part of the delega-

tion to the Winter Olympics,

where North and South com-

peted as a joint team. Kim Yo-

jong also worked alongside her

brother at international sum-

mits, including his meetings

with South Korean President

Moon Jae-in, China’s Xi Jinping

and US President Donald

Trump. – IANS

5 dead, 32 injured inAfghan car bomb blast

KABUL, Aug 25: Five people were killed and 32 others

injured after a suicide car bombing took place outside a special

forces’ camp in Afghanistan’s Balkh province on Tuesday, an

army source said.

The incident occurred in Balkh district, and the victims were

shifted to military and civilian hospitals by ambulances and

army vehicles, Hanif Rezai, spokesman of army Corps 209

Shaheen based in the region, told Xinhua news agency. The

victims comprised two soldiers and three civilian, while the

injured included six military personnel, he said. More details

were awaited as an investigation is underway into the incident,

Rezai added. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack

yet. – IANS

TikTok fileslawsuit

LOS ANGELES, Aug 25:

Video-sharing social networking

company TikTok filed a lawsuit

against the Trump administration

over an executive order banning

any US transactions with its par-

ent company ByteDance.

In the 39-page indictment,

US President Donald Trump,

Secretary of Commerce

Wilbur Ross and US Depart-

ment of Commerce were list-

ed as defendants, Xinhua news

agency reported.

According to the document,

TikTok accused the US author-

ities of stripping the rights of

the company without any evi-

dence to justify the extreme

action, and issuing the order

without any due process as

guaranteed by the Fifth Amend-

ment while banning the com-

pany with no notice or oppor-

tunity to be heard. – IANS

NIA files ...(Contd from page 1)

The explosive laden car, which was driven by Bashir initially

before he handed it over to Dar, was rammed into a bus carry-

ing CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar at Lethpora in

Pulwama district of South Kashmir on February 14, 2019.

From virtually a case that reached a “dead end” as the five

people known to the agency earlier this year either as conspir-

ators or executors of the attack were eliminated in various

encounters, the case threw unique challenges for the NIA as

there was no solid information about the perpetrators or the

mastermind behind the attack.

“It was a blind case for us. There were a lot of murmurs but

everything needs to be established beyond doubt in the court

of law,” a senior official, who is part of the probe, said here.]

The first challenge was to establish the ownership of the

car used by Dar, the suicide bomber. There was nothing

available from the vehicle which carried a cocktail of explo-

sives like Ammonium Nitrate, Nitro Glycerine and RDX,

the official said.

But with the help of forensic methods and painstaking inves-

tigations, the serial number of the car that was blown into

pieces beyond recognition was extracted and within no time

the ownership of the vehicle was established – from the first

to the last owner. However, the last owner of the car, Sajjad

Bhat (named in the chargesheet) of Bijbehara in Anantnag dis-

trict, had disappeared hours before the February 14 attack and

joined Jaish-e-Mohammed. He was subsequently killed in an

encounter in June last year.

“While it was clear that the suicide attacker was Adil Ahmed

Dar but the same had to be established with evidence. After

picking up human remains from various spots, they were sent

for DNA profiling,” the official, who requested anonymity, said.

“The suicide attacker was identified and confirmed by match-

ing the DNA extracted from the meagre car fragments with

that of the DNA of his father,” he said.

The role of other conspirators which included Mudasir

Ahmed Khan, Qari Mufti Yasser and Kamran came to light

but all of them were killed in different encounters with secu-

rity forces. – PTI

GoM meet ...(Contd from page 1)

He said the GoM would soon sit for another round of discus-

sion with all the organisations so that a final call can be taken.

The Chief Minister said that the formation of Kamatapur Au-

tonomous Council would get constitutional status very soon as

his government would introduce a bill in the State Assembly.

India ...(Contd from page 1)

That is why, the kits used in

Bangladesh are tested in the

laboratories in India. Howev-

er, the Government has not

yet allowed export of the fab-

ric used to make PPE kits.

Similarly, the production of N-

95 masks has also increased

and the country is now self suf-

ficient.

Sources said that there

were initial hiccups when some

companies were encouraged

to manufacture PPE kits as at

that time the country was in

total lockdown and even trans-

portation of material to the fac-

tories was a problem. But the

high level committee formed

to facilitate the process worked

hard to coordinate between the

concerned agencies and police

to make sure that the raw

materials, fabric and other

materials reach the factories

on time and the finished prod-

ucts could be transported to

the final destinations.

20 lakh ...(Contd from page 1)

Tests conducted per million

population in the State now

stands at 58,356.

At a positivity rate of 6.55

per cent, altogether 1,879 new

coronavirus cases were de-

tected on Monday, taking the

State’s tally to 92,619. The

number of discharged patients

stands at 73,090. The positivi-

ty rate in the State continued

to be high during the last three

days. On Sunday, it was 6.89

per cent and on Saturday, it

was 6.77 per cent.

The State’s death toll in the

pandemic is 252.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 7NORTH EAST

CORRESPONDENT

AGARTALA, Aug 25: Six more COV-

ID-19 patients, including a seven-year-

child, died and 293 people tested posi-

tive in Tripura during the past 24 hours.

The State’s virus death toll has surged

to 78, while the total caseload has

reached 9,195. The number of active

cases currently stands at 2,700. In all

the three critical segments – deaths, in-

fections and active cases – Tripura is the

second worst-hit State in the North East

after Assam.

While the fatality rate has increased

from 0.84 per cent to 0.88 per cent with-

in 24 hours, the recovery has come

down from 72.87 per cent to 72.05. The

positivity rate stays at 3.65 per cent.

Tripura COVID-19 toll surges to 78Medical experts today admitted that

the situation in Tripura is really alarm-

ing. “If the current situation continues,

community transmission will be inevi-

table which may be the worst thing for

the State. We are working on a war foot-

ing to contain the infections as much as

possible,” said Dr Tapan Majumder, who

is the head of the Microbiology Depart-

ment of the Agartala Government Med-

ical College.

“We thought that antigen tests

would be able to contain the spread of

novel coronavirus in the State, but they

have not yielded the expected results.

Now the Government plans to check

the antibody level of individuals. This

will likely start from September 15,”

he said.

Dr Majumder urged the people to

follow the COVID-19 guidelines strictly

to break the chain of transmission. “It

is for sure that the vaccine will be avail-

able next year. Therefore, precaution

is the key to preventing COVID-19.

Even a small mistake could prove fa-

tal,” he said.

Not only common people, even doc-

tors, nurses and other medical staff have

also been exposed to the highly infec-

tious virus. “In Tripura, 70 doctors have

already been inflicted by COVID-19 and

26 nurses have also tested positive so

far,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Biplab Ku-

mar Deb held a meeting with medical

experts to review the current COVID-

19 situation in the State.

Arunachal casesmount to 3,312

CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR, Aug 25: Arunachal Pradesh recorded 49

new cases of COVID-19 and the release of 130 recovered

patients on Monday. With the detection of the fresh cases,

the COVID-19 tally has surged to 3,312. However, the State’s

active cases stand at 880 as 2,427 people have recuperated

from the disease so far. Besides, five persons have already

died due to the viral infection, a bulletin issued by the State

Directorate of Health Services here stated.

The recovery rate among the COVID-19 patients rose

to 73.27 per cent, whereas the active cases comprised

26.57 per cent of the total caseload, as per the bulletin.

Of the 49 cases detected in 14 districts, West Kameng

accounted for 12 infections, followed by Tawang with nine

and Itanagar Capital Complex with eight.

East Siang, Papum Pare and Lower Siang registered

three cases each, and East Kameng, Changlang and Tirap

found two cases each. Pakke-Kessang, Lohit, Leparada,

Upper Siang and Shi-Yomi recorded one case each.

As per the bulletin, 44 cases were reported to be asymp-

tomatic and five symptomatic. Of the 130 discharged cases

registered in 12 districts, Namsai topped with 61 recover-

ies, followed by West Kameng with 22 and Papum Pare

with 12. Changlang recorded 11 recoveries.

The Itanagar Capital Complex saw off eight recovered

patients and East Kameng four. Lower Dibang Valley and

Leparada recorded three cured cases each, while Upper

Siang and East Siang discharged two each. Tirap and Up-

per Subansiri registered one cured case each.

Meanwhile, a 28-day-old baby hailing from Lower Siang

district has become the youngest patient to recover from

COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, an official release stated.

“The youngest among the COVID-19 positive recover-

ies is a 28-day-old baby from Lower Siang district,” in-

charge DIPRO of Siang district, Gijum Tali, said.

The mother and her baby boy, who had tested positive

for COVID-19, were isolated in their home and released

on Saturday last after they tested negative for the second

time, he said. Lower Siang DC AK Singh and EAC Ejum

Angu, who were present to release the mother-son duo,

lauded the efforts of the doctors and frontline health work-

ers who took the utmost care to save the life of the baby.

Mizoramreports 29 locallytransmitted cases

CORRESPONDENT

AIZAWL, Aug 25: Mizoram

today reported 29 locally trans-

mitted cases of COVID-19,

which is the highest number

of local transmission cases re-

ported so far in the State. A

total of 35 fresh cases were

reported during the last 24

hours, of which only six have

travel history.

“The remaining 29 persons

contracted the virus from

positive persons,” an official

source said, adding that they

were detected through con-

tact tracing. Among 503 sam-

ples tested at the Zoram Med-

ical College laboratory here,

30 positive cases were detect-

ed. Five cases were confirmed

at the TrueNat laboratory of

the Lunglei Civil Hospital af-

ter testing 20 samples, the

source said.

Fourteen cases were de-

tected at Melriat village,

about 10 km south of Aizawl.

They were believed to have

contracted the virus from a

local task force member who

had tested positive a few days

back. The new infected pa-

tients are aged between sev-

en to 78, the source said, add-

ing that except for a nine-

year-old child who showed

symptoms, all of them are

asymptomatic and were un-

der home quarantine.

With the 35 fresh cases,

Mizoram’s COVID-19 tally

today rose to 953 of which

492 are active. So far, 461

people have recovered from

the disease.

Forecast for NE: Rain/thunder-

shower is very likely to occur at

many places over Assam,

Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur,

Mizoram and Tripura and at a

few places over Arunachal

Pradesh.

Warning: Thunderstorm with

lightning is very likely to occur

at isolated places over Assam,

Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur,

Mizoram and Tripura. Heavy rain

is very likely to occur at isolated

places over Assam, Meghalaya,

Mizoram and Tripura.

Temperatures:

Max (°C) Min (°C)

Dibrugarh 37.9 26.2

Tezpur 35.7 26.8

Silchar 37.3 25.5

Dhubri 34.0 28.2

Jorhat 35.4 26.7

N Lakhimpur 37.4 24.6

Shillong 24.8 19.0

Cherrapunjee 28.2 18.9

Aizawl 27.8 17.9

Kohima 28.0 18.2

Pasighat 35.4 25.3

Itanagar 37.2 25.8

Imphal 29.6 22.0

Agartala 33.5 25.3

WEATHER

NORTHEAST

Meghalaya tallyreaches 2,036

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG, Aug 25: The

State’s total positive cases

today crossed the 2,000 mark

after 42 new positive cases

were reported across the

State in the past 24 hours.

The total COVID-19 cases

reported in the State so far

stand at 2,036.

Meanwhile, 43 patients

also recovered from the dis-

ease, taking the total recov-

eries to 832 in the State. The

active cases have come down

to 1,178.

The first COVID-19 case

was reported on April 13. It

took nearly four months for

the State to cross the 1,000

mark on August 7. Howev-

er, the next 1,000 cases have

been reported in just 18 days.

Arunachal to moveCentre to include

State under 6th ScheduleCORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR, Aug 25: The

Arunachal Pradesh Govern-

ment has decided to bring a

resolution in the ensuing

State Assembly session for

bringing the frontier State

under the ambit of the Sixth

Schedule of the Constitution.

The decision was taken by

the State Cabinet in a meet-

ing chaired by Chief Minis-

ter Pema Khandu here on

Monday, government

spokesperson and Home

Minister Bamang Felix told

reporters here today.

The Cabinet deliberated

on the report of the consult-

ative meeting on the ‘Con-

stitutional Safeguard to the

Indigenous people of Aru-

nachal Pradesh’ held here on

August 19, which was sub-

mitted by the committee

headed by Deputy Chief

Minister Chowna Mein. He

said after detailed delibera-

tions, the Cabinet decided to

move the resolution in the

House session commencing

from August 27.

Felix said the government

resolution would be like this:

“This Legislative Assembly

resolves that the State of

Arunachal Pradesh be includ-

ed in the 6th Schedule of the

Constitution of India to pro-

tect the tribal rights of the

indigenous people of Aru-

nachal Pradesh.”

This is a historic step be-

ing initiated by Chief Minis-

ter Pema Khandu, Felix said,

adding that the proposed res-

olution would be discussed

threadbare in the Assembly

before moving the Centre to

include Arunachal Pradesh

under the Sixth Schedule.

“We have come to know

from legal experts, including

Additional Advocate Gener-

al Kardak Ete and his team,

that Arunachal Pradesh is not

under the Sixth Schedule and

even Article 371(H), which

is provided to the State, does

not ensure its protection.

Though Arunachal is a hun-

dred per cent tribal State and

we have our own land, air and

water, we do not have the

ownership. In the consulta-

tive meeting, all the partici-

pating CBOs insisted that the

State Government should

move the Centre and request

for bringing our state under

the ambit of 6th Schedule,”

the Home Minister said.

CORRESPONDENT

IMPHAL, Aug 25: Ma-

nipur Social Welfare Minis-

ter Nemcha Kipgen, the lone

woman minister in the State,

has tested positive for COV-

ID 19.

In a tweet, Kipgen said,

“After getting symptoms of

Coronavirus, I got myself

tested and the report came

back positive. I sincerely re-

quest all of you who have

come in contact with me in

the past few days to kindly

isolate yourselves and get

yourselves tested at the ear-

liest”. She also holds the

Cooperation portfolio.

Kipgen, who is also the

minister in-charge of Kang-

pokpi and Senapati districts,

had chaired a review meet-

ing to combat the COVID-

19 pandemic in the presence

of district-level officials at

Senapati on August 20.

Sources said the minister

has self-isolated herself and

is waiting for the results of

the second test.

On August 10, Congress

MLA Md Fazur Rahim, who

represents the Wabagai con-

stituency in Kakching dis-

trict, had tested positive for

COVID-19 after returning

from New Delhi, becoming

the first legislator to contract

the virus.

Meanwhile, two women

aged 73 years and 41 years

died at the RIMS due to

COVID-19 and other co-

morbid health conditions in

the last 24 hours, according

to a press release issued by

the COVID 19 common

control room today. The cu-

mulative number of deaths

in Manipur is now 24.

The State reported 82

new COVID-19 positive cas-

es, including 74 persons from

the general population and

eight Central Armed Police

Force personnel, taking the

virus tally to 5,444. With 99

newly recovered cases, the

recovery rate in Manipur

reached 70.02 per cent on

Tuesday.

The cumulative number of

recovered cases is 3,812,

while the number of active

cases is 1, 608, the press re-

lease added.

Manipur Social WelfareMinister tests positive

Manipur COVIDrecovery rate70 per cent

CORRESPONDENT

IMPHAL, Aug 25: The re-

covery rate of COVID-19

cases in Manipur is around

70 per cent, which is higher

than the national average. The

fatality rate of the State

stands at 0.4 per cent, while

the national average is 1.9

per cent.

Manipur Chief Minister N

Biren Singh disclosed this at

a press conference held here

today. Stating that out of the

1,608 active cases, he point-

ed out that around 800 cases

are of paramilitary personnel

and 800 cases are from the

general population.

Biren Singh appealed to

the people of the State to stop

discriminating against health-

care workers who are risk-

ing their lives to save others

from the pandemic. The pri-

ority of the Government is

to save human lives from the

dreaded disease.

“We must learn to live

with the virus till a vaccine is

developed,” the Chief Min-

ister said and urged the peo-

ple to obey the guidelines and

Standard Operating Proce-

dures (SOPs) issued by the

Government. He sought the

support of civil society organ-

isatios, police, Health work-

ers and public in combating

the virus in the State.

Biren Singh said a meeting

has been convened tomorrow

with high-ranking officials of

Central Armed Police Forces

to review the measures be-

ing taken by their units to

combat the spread of the dis-

ease among their personnel.

8 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020STATE

NEWS IN BRIEF

AASHRAY body formedDERGAON, Aug 25: A new managing committee of

leading nature organisation AASHRAY was formed at ameeting held at its office premises on August 22. Afterthreadbare discussion on the activities and future plan ofaction of the organisation, a 12-member managementcommittee was formed. The committee is headed by SochiKumar Gohain as president, Prasenjit Khound and SanjoyKumar Hazarika as vice-president and secretary respec-tively. With two joint secretaries and four organisingsecretaries, the committee also includes one legal adviser.– Correspondent

International webinarKALAIGAON, Aug 25: An international-level webinar

was held on August 24 on the topic, ‘Remote Sensing andits Application in Disaster Management’. The webinar wasorganised jointly by the Department of Geography ofKhoirabari College and Department of Economics of MazbatCollege in association with the Internal Quality AssuranceCell of Khoirabari College and Mazbat Colleges. It wassupported by the Department of Education of KhoirabariCollege. Dr Debabrata Sen, Principal incharge of KhoirabariCollege offered the welcome speech while Prof. BMAdekunle from the College of Education, Nigeria formallyinaugurated the webinar. Dr Aparesh Patra, SeniorManager, Association of Geo-spatial Industries (AGI), NewDelhi delivered his speech as resource person. Dr Patra inhis interaction with the participants elaborated on theapplication of remote sensing, geo-spatial technology, GPSetc., in disaster management. The webinar was attendedby more than 2,000 participants across the globe. –Correspondent

Science streamDHEMAJI, Aug 25: Silapathar College, a premier

institution of higher education in Dhemaji district has gotthe Science stream now. Introduction of Science Stream inthe college was a long- pending public demand. –Correspondent

Flood protection projectsDHEMAJI, Aug 25: Lakhimpur Lok Sabha MP Pradan

Baruah along with Jonai MLA Bhuban Pegu and engineersof the Water Resource department inaugurated two floodprotection schemes – one at Gainadi and the other atBerachapori (Bahir-Jonai) on Saturday. Baruah inauguratedan anti- erosion project worth Rs 2 crore (RCC-porcupineproject) at Berachapori. He earlier inaugurated a floodprotection project worth Rs 1.5 crore at Gainadi at Bheveliportion on the left bank. Both the projects are fundedunder the State Disaster Response Fund-2019-20. –Correspondent

PHC not issuing certificatesNAGAON, Aug 25: Strong resentment prevails among

the people under Baropujia Public Health Centre (PHC)over acute shortage of registration of death and birthcertificates copies for over five months. People of the areahave urged the authority to issue the registration of deathand birth certificates copies to the PHC as soon as possible.– A Correspondent

Student body stages protestNAGAON, Aug 25: Opposing the government's recent

decision to provide scooties to the girl students who secured75% and above in HS Final Examination 2020, hundreds ofstudents from various educational institutions of Nagaontown staged a strong protest near Nowgong College andsternly criticised the government’s initiative. The protest-ers shouted various slogans and also asked the governmentto reconsider the decision. The agitators however demandedproviding the same to those girl students who also securedthe same performance respectively in 2018 and 2019sessions. – A Correspondent

‘Kobitar Ek Sandhya’GUWAHATI, Aug 25: To promote Assamese literature, a

poetry session, ‘Kobitar Ek Sandhya’, an online programmewas held on August 22 which saw the participation of 23poets and their original poetry. The participants were fromdifferent towns across Assam, as well as from Baroda, NewDelhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, a press releasestated. The convenor was Ms Hiran Bhuyan and anchorwas Ms Rimjhim Mahanta, both from Mumbai's chapter ofAsam Sahitya Sabha. Renowned poetess and critic fromNamrup, Gauri Subedar Bora, systematically and meaning-fully reviewed every poem after they were recited. AsamSahitya Sabha Mumbai chapter's president Ms. SuraiyaJahan welcomed the guests, and general secretaryDeepankar Borgohain coordinated the whole programme.

130 join BPFGOSSAIGAON, Aug 25: The BPF is campaigning hard to

retain the Parbatjhora MCLA seat this time. This timeMoonmoon Brahma will be contesting from this seat on theBPF’s ticket. A meeting presided over by senior BPFleader, Bibson Brahma, was held recently at Parbatjhoramarket auditorium where 130 members of various NDFBfactions formally joined the BPF. – ANN Service

Two die of COVID at DhemajiDHEMAJI, Aug 25: Two persons of Dhemaji died of

COVID-19 at Assam Medical College & Hospital on August24, official sources said. Debajit Borgohain (38), a residentof Geluwa of Silapathar and Lashmi Bhawal (72), aninhabitant of Jyotinagar of Dhemaji died of COVID-19. DrKrishna Kemprai, Joint Director of Health Services,Dhemaji district said that a total of 36,948 COVID-19 testshave been done till today out of which 1384 were detectedpositive and 1037 were discharged. She also informed thateight persons had died in Dhemaji district due to COVID-19.– ANN Service

Govt pensioners meet heldGOSSAIGAON, Aug 25: An emergent executive meeting

of the Assam Government Pensioners Association, GossaigaonSubdivision branch was held at its Railway Station RoadMaharajpur Office, under the presidentship of ChahendraNath Brahma. Khanindra Nath Das, secretary, explained thepurpose of the meeting. The formation of the next executivebody for the term 2021-2023 has been extended for anothersix months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Four members ofthe Association namely– Birendra Dev Barman, SourindraMohon Das, Rajani Kachari Brahma and Ramoni Mohon Rayexpired during the last six months and the meeting condoledtheir deaths. – ANN Service

CEC asks Chief Wildlife Wardento submit report without delay

AJIT PATOWARY

The Central Empowered Committee

(CEC) constituted by the Supreme

Court has asked the Chief Wildlife War-

den of Assam to submit its report on

the allegation of illegal construction on

the Kanchanjuri Animal Corridor of Ka-

ziranga National Park (KNP) ‘without

further delay.’

The CEC, it may be mentioned, was

constituted by the apex court vide writ

petitions No. 202/95 and 171/96.

RTI-cum-environment activist Rohit

Choudhury has alleged that a socially in-

fluential person has been raising a struc-

ture on the Kanchanjuri Animal Corridor

of the KNP and the authorities concerned

have been turning a blind eye to it, allow-

ing the construction of the said structure

to proceed without any hindrance.

Choudhury said that the Supreme

Court has already banned all sorts of new

construction activities on the animal cor-

ridors of Kaziranga National Park through

its order passed on April 12, 2019.

The apex court said in its above order,

“No new construction shall be permit-

ted on private lands which form part of

the nine identified animal corridors of

Kaziranga National Park, Assam.”

When his efforts at mobilising support

from the local authorities, including the

Forest Department officials, to stop con-

struction of that structure failed, Choud-

hury moved the CEC on June 30 last with

a complaint, alleging construction of a ‘huge

building’ on the Kanchanjuri Animal Cor-

ridor of Kaziranga National Park in blatant

violation of the apex court’s order.

He pleaded for initiation of contempt

proceedings against the contemnors, in-

cluding the Government officials and the

‘powerful person’ involved in this ‘illegal’

act and steps to demolish this structure.

The nine corridors referred to in the

apex court’s order are the lifeline for

the wildlife of Kaziranga National Park,

particularly the long-ranging species

like elephants and tigers, among other

forms of wildlife, Choudhury said in his

complaint.

Choudhury also alleged that con-

struction of this structure is very much

visible from the busy National High-

way-37 and hence there cannot be any

doubt that this violation is taking place

in connivance with officials of the civil

administration of Nagaon district, par-

ticularly those of Kaliabor Civil and

Revenue authority, Kaziranga National

Park and Tiger Reserve, Eastern As-

sam Wildlife Division, Nagaon (Terri-

torial) Division of the Forest Depart-

ment and the Police Department.

This act of violation of the apex court

order was brought to the notice of the

Chief Secretary of Assam, but to no avail,

Choudhury alleged.

Following this complaint of the RTI-

cum-environment activist, the CEC in

turn sought a ‘factual report’ from the

State’s Chief Wildlife Warden on Choud-

hury’s complaint. However, the Chief

Wildlife Warden of the State is yet to send

the report sought for by the CEC.

Following this, the CEC in its August

24 letter (F. No. 3-1/CEC/SC/2018) to

the Chief Wildlife Warden of the State

stated, “Your report on the same is not

yet received by the CEC. The allegation,

if found correct, amounts to contempt of

the Supreme Court order. You are there-

fore once again requested to submit the

report without further delay.”

Illegal construction

on Kanchanjuri

animal corridor of KNP

Hiranya Kumar Barman: a tribute

With tears in my eyes and

a heavy heart, I remember

my younger brother Rabind-

ra Doley, known as Akku to

all his friends and well-wish-

ers. He was a resident of

Kacharibasti, Dispur and died

in the early hours of August

15 last due to kidney-related

ailments at the GMCH.

He was two years younger

to me and we grew up togeth-

er. Our childhood was spent

in Shillong, the then capital of

Assam in a vast ministerial

bungalow at Stoneyland as my

father was a minister in the

BP Chaliha government in the

year 1962. He was my grand-

mother’s favourite and got

Rabindra Kumar Doley

away with all the mischiefs as

my mother never wanted to

confront my granny.

I remember Akku being a

very good cricketer in our

school days at Don Bosco Di-

brugarh. He completed his

graduation from AAU Jorhat

As I sit down mourning my

father’s death, I remember

him calling out for me to

bring his things or help him

with some daily courses.

Born on November

17,1962 my father, Hiranya

Kumar Barman died of chron-

ic kidney disease on August

14 night. He was born at Bar-

peta, studied at Arya Vidyap-

eeth School and College. Fur-

ther, he continued to pursue

his dream as a designer and

studied BFA in Applied Arts,

Mumbai. After completing his

degree he joined a publishing

house named Lintas but didn’t

continue. He went to Delhi

and joined New Delhi Televi-

sion Ltd (NDTV).

He was one of the co-

founders of NDTV and its

first graphics designer. He

gave his service to them for

25 years and voluntarily re-

tired as the HoD of the

Graphic department. He

and his production team

won CBA ( Commonwealth

Broadcasting Award) in

2002 for its show ‘Hunger’

in London. His famous

shows were ‘Good Morn-

ing India’ (1998)

(NDTV24X7) and ‘Cook-

ing Isn’t Rocket Science’

(2010) (NDTV Good-

times). Other than these

two shows, he contributed

his designs to the channel

and worked hard to make

them totally unique. In his

college days, he contrib-

uted his illustrations in

Bishmoi and Xopura (As-

samese magazine).

He was a great foodie and

always talked about his food

ventures in Mumbai. He also

liked to travel and photograph

scenic views. He travelled ex-

tensively in Himachal and Ut-

tarakhand. His life was like a

story in a novel, so was his end-

ing. May his soul rest in peace.

– Anoushka Barman

and joined the Agriculture de-

partment in 1980 as an exten-

sion officer. After his stints in

various capacities, he retired as

the Joint Director of Agricul-

ture in 2017.

Akku is no more but I can

vouch that he never erred

from the paths and ideals of

our family. Today, on day of

his adyashraddha, I on behalf

of our family pray to the Al-

mighty to grant eternal

peace to his departed soul and

would also like to express our

deep gratitude to all our

friends and well wishers who

stood by us during our time

of distress.

– Beni Madhab Doley

Anu rani Gogoi, my

mother, passed away re-

cently. Born on February 6,

1946, she hailed from Bet-

ioni, Golaghat.

My mother

was a teacher

by profession

before her

marriage. Be-

sides being a

very popular

teacher, she

was equally

good in singing

and dramatics.

People remember her for

her role as ‘Meera bai’

among her friends. Being an

expert in knitting, sewing

and embroidery work she

also imparted training on the

same. After her marriage she

settled in Shillong till the time

Assam shifted its capital to

Dispur during 1973. She was

also acting as ex-Director of

Prasanti Real Estate Pvt. Ltd.

With hospitality in her veins,

Anu Rani Gogoishe raised and educated

many of her nephews at our

home to become well estab-

lished individuals of the soci-

ety today.

Known for her

knee- length

lustrous tress-

es, my mother

was humble

and kind na-

tured. She has

been an in-

credible per-

son lighting up

everyone’s life

with happiness and joy. With

a never ending smile and a

soft spoken nature, she was

a fighter and had an outlook

on life that was so inspiring.

She left behind her two

daughters, son-in-law and

three grandchildren.

Today on the day of her

adyashraddha, I pray to the

Almighty to grant eternal

peace to her departed soul.

– Priyalakshmi Gogoi

OBITUARY

DharmakantaGogoi

CORRESPONDENT

DOOMDOOMA, Aug 25:

Dharmakan-

ta Gogoi, a

r e t i r e d

teacher of

H o o n l a l

Higher Sec-

o n d a r y

School, Doomdooma and a

social activist passed away late

on Monday at a private nurs-

ing home at Dibrugarh. He

was 84 and was suffering from

old age ailments.

Born at Salaguri Pahi Gaon

of Sivasagar, Gogoi came to

Doomdooma in the late 50s

of the last century and joined

Hoonlal HS School as a teach-

er on August 20, 1957. He

retired in 1994. He was also

the NCC (formerly known as

ACC) teacher of the school.

He was also associated

with several organisations of

Doomdooma town including

Doomdooma Sakha Sahitya

Sabha, Doomdooma Nam-

ghar Samity, Doomdooma

Sports Association etc. He

was the former president of

Doomdooma Namghar Sam-

ity and the secretary of

Doomdooma Sakha Sahitya

Sabha. His death cast a pall of

gloom in the tea town.

Before cremation at

Doomdooma Public Crema-

tion Ground this afternoon,

various individuals, organisa-

tions and institutions paid

their last tributes to his mor-

tal remains at his residence

at Bezbaruah Sarani.

He leaves behind his wife,

a son and a daughter.

Members of Manipuri Youth Front Assam (MYFA) staging a demonstration demanding inclusion

of Manipuri as an associate official language of Assam at Silchar, on Tuesday. – UB Photos

P&RD fundsswindled, allegesKrishak Sangha

CORRESPONDENT

MANGALDAI, Aug 25:

Though the BJP-led State

government had promised a

“zero tolerance policy against

corruption” just after captur-

ing the hot seat at Dispur, but

in reality it has miserably

failed in checking graft while

implementing different gov-

ernment schemes, especial-

ly in the Panchayat and Rural

Development Department.

In one specific allegation lev-

elled by the Darrang district

committee of the Krishak

Sangha, an active farmers’ body,

it was evident how several la-

khs of rupees of scarce public

money was siphoned off by a

corrupt nexus of officials and

staff of the department, besides

elected panchayat members by

adopting fraudulent means.

Not surprisingly rather,

higher authority at the helm

of affairs remained totally

unmoved by the charges.

According to a petition filed

by the said farmers’ body with

the Deputy Commissioner of

Darrang in June last, the con-

cerned government agency

adopted fraudulent means while

implementing an MGNREGA

scheme, i.e., ‘field development

and boundary wall at No. 3

Thekerabari LP School for the

year 2017-18 under Balabari

Gaon Panchayat of Pub Man-

galdai Development Block.’

It has been alleged that the

dishonest nexus of govern-

ment officials and elected pan-

chayat representatives si-

phoned off the entire sanc-

tioned amount of Rs 5.36 lakh

since there does not exist any

No. 3 Thekerabari LP School.

Talking to this newspaper,

Mojafar Hussain, president of

the district Krishak Sangha on

Tuesday said, “ There is a vil-

lage named No. 3 Thekerabari,

but no school by that name ex-

ists. The name of the school

where the information notice

board of the said scheme was

installed is Niz Thekerabari LP

School.” But the Headmaster

and the school management

committee of Niz Thekerabari

LP School denied implemen-

tation of any such scheme with-

in their campus.

In this connection, the Sang-

ha on December 23, 2019

moved the BDO of Pub Man-

galdai Development Block and

demanded an inquiry. But as the

BDO remained inert for more

than six months, intervention

of the Deputy Commissioner

was sought through a similar

petition on June 24, 2020.

However, even after two

months having elapsed, no

visible action has been taken

by the supreme authority of

the district.

The farmers’ body there-

fore urged the Commission-

er of P&RD for necessary

intervention and exemplary

punishment to the erring

departmental officials, or else

they resolved to move the

PMO in this regard.

It is worth mentioning here

that in order to check misap-

propriation of public funds un-

der the directive of the Min-

istry of P&RD, the Govt of

India’s Block-level vigilance

and monitoring committee

was formed with the con-

cerned MLA and the BDO as

chairman and member secre-

tary respectively.

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR, Aug 25: The

Union Territory Demand

Committee (UTDC) has vehe-

mently condemned the deci-

sion of the State Government

to clamp lockdown across the

three districts of Barak Valley

from August 27 to September

4 as a step to contain the spread

of COVID-19 pandemic.

In a press conference organ-

ised by UTDC Central Com-

mittee at the Silchar Press

Club on Monday, Shankar Dey,

spokesperson of the organisa-

tion pointed out that when

Central Government policy of

unlock process is under way,

then what prompted the Gov-

ernment to impose lockdown

only for Barak Valley which

would hit the common people

seriously.

The UTDC leaders includ-

ing Sanjit Debnath, the pres-

ident of the committee, na-

tional coordinators Mrinmoy

Demands to withdraw 9-daylockdown raised in Cachar

Nath, Biswadeep Gupta and

others demanded immediate

withdrawal of lockdown.

On the other hand, main-

taining social distancing, mem-

bers of Forum for Social Har-

mony, Chorus and other asso-

ciations staged a protest with

placards in hands near the ped-

estal of Khudiram Bose against

the clamping of nine-day lock-

down by the Government.

Biswajit Das, a frontline mem-

ber of Chorus said, “instead of

clamping lockdown all over

again, the Government should

focus on strengthening health

infrastructure at the Silchar

Medical College and Hospital

for better treatment of the

COVID-19 patients and oth-

ers with non-COVID ail-

ments. If the Government

doesn’t respond to the demand

to withdraw the decision for

lockdown, we shall take out a

silent rally on the evening of

August 26 to add momentum

to our demand.”

Onlinepoets’ meet

PATACHARKUCHI, Aug

25: As a part of a series of pro-

grammes undertaken to keep

the creativity of students in-

tact at a time when education-

al institutions are closed, BHB

College, Sarupeta organised

an online poets’ meet on Au-

gust 24. Anchored by Preeti

Rekha Dutta, Assistant Pro-

fessor in the Department of

Assamese, the meet opened

with a brief speech on ‘Na-

ture and Development of the

Present-day Poetry’ by Dr

Birinchi Kumar Das, Princi-

pal of the college.

In the meet, invited poets

Kashyap Choudhury, Manojn-

apran Bordoloi, Mitali Bhatta-

charyya and Junuma Das re-

cited their poems. Teachers

and students of the college, re-

cited their poems. Principal Dr

Birinchi Kumar Das recited his

own translation of a Bengali

poem of Nirmalendu Goon, a

renowned poet from Bangla-

desh. – ANN Service

CORRESPONDENT

SIVASAGAR, Aug 25: Jish-

nu Baruah, Commissioner,

Home , Government of As-

sam, visited the Asssam-Na-

galand border area under

Geleki PS on August 23 and

took stock of the development

works along the border in the

wake of the increasing bor-

der tussles between the two

neighbouring States at a

time when talks between the

Centre and NSCN( IM) are

dragging on.

Baruah during his visit, stud-

ied the plight of the small tea

growers in the region regu-

larly vandalised by Naga in-

truders, endemic problems of

the border villages, the BOP,

stationed at Singibeel and the

horrible road condition in the

area. He directed the Sivasa-

gar Deputy Commissioner

Lakhinandan Gogoi to evict

all illegal settlers in Assam

land and do a proper review of

the encroachment problem.

The Home Commissioner

was accompanied by SP

Sivasagar, Amitabh Sinha,

Nazira SDO Sampreety Gos-

wami, SDPO, Nazira Dipjyoti

Talukdar and Border Magis-

trate Rajiv Sonowal. They

were received by Thunuk

Gogoi, vice president, All

Assam Small Tea Growers

Association, Biman Hazarika,

Biswajit Gogoi and other tea

growers of the region and

urged them to take appropri-

ate steps to contain the Naga

encroachers.

It may be noted that Naga

groups backed by Naga ex-

tremists, Church and even

Nagaland government, have

been violating the terms of

the accord between the two

neighbouring States on April

2, 1972, especially the clause

5 which refers to mutual com-

mitment not to disturb the

ecosystem of Doiyang, Des-

oi, Abhoyapur and Geleki

Reserve Forests and evict all

encroachers there. But the

incidents of rampant en-

croachments by the Nagas on

these forest lands from Kan-

ubari to Amguri along the

border continue to be report-

ed in the media from time to

time. Repeated protests from

the government of Assam

have had absolutely no effect

on the encroachers so far.

Home Commissioner visitsAssam-Nagaland border

Villagers crossing the dilapidated Deodubi-Charaijan road

at Demow in Sivasagar district, on Tuesday. – UB Photos

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 9WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020 STATE

ASSAM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY(A State University of Government of Assam constituted by

“Assam Science and Technology University Act. 2009)

Tetelia Road, Jalukbari, Guwahati-781013 www.astu.ac.in

Notice inviting quotation-Rent of vehicle

Assam Science and Technology University (ASTU)

invites quotations for rent of vehicles. For details please

visit the university website www.astu.ac.in.

Janasanyog/CF/1555/20 Sd/- Registrar

ADVERTISEMENTApplications are invited in prescribed format for the post of

“Revenue Sheristadar’ in the amalgamated establishment of

the Deputy Commissioner, Goalpara in the pay Band- Rs.

22000-97000, Grade Pay - Rs. 11,500/- per month plus other

allowances as admissible as per the provisions of the Assam

Services (R.O.P.) Rules, 2017 and amendments thereof and

under “The Assam Ministerial District Establishment Service

Rules, 1967" as amended.

The candidate must have served at least 15 (fifteen) years

in any of the Deputy Commissioner’s establishment in Assam

and must have experience in different branches in General

and Revenue Branch in particular.

Applications stating age, educational qualification, present

and permanent address and experience in different branches

supported by attested copies of certificate, a copy of recent

passport size photograph along with Annual Confidential

Reports of last 5 (five) consecutive years should reach the

office of the undersigned on or before 19.09.2020.

Applications should be submitted through proper channel

with service particulars to the Deputy Commissioner, Goalpara.

Selection will be done by Government in General Administration

Department as per the Assam Ministerial District Establishment

Service Rules, 1967 and the Assam Ministerial District

Establishment Service (Amendment) Rules, 1999.

Sd/- Deputy Commissioner,

Janasanyog/D/3147/20 Goalpara

ADVERTISEMENTApplications are invited for the post of Secretary, Assam Real

Estate Regulatory Authority from the retired officers belonging

to Assam Civil Service of the rank of Joint Secretary to the

Government of Assam or above. The Candidates should fulfill

the following while applying for the post:

1. The candidates must possess atleast 15 years of

experience in the State Civil Service and must be in the

rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of Assam or

above.

2. The candidates should of maximum 62 years of age as

on 1st September, 2020.

3. The candidates should not have any financial or other

interest with any real estate promoters. The candidate

must furnish a certificate to this effect while applying for

the post.

4. The pay package will be based on his last pay drawn

minus basic pay on the date of his retirement.

5. Candidates should have basic knowledge of Computers.

Applications should be submitted with their bio data mentioning

their age, qualifications, experience etc .addressed to the

Secretary , Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Assam,

Institute of Town Planners, near Bodoland House,

Jawaharnagar, Khanapara, Guwahati-781022 on or before

15th September, 2020.

Sd/- Secretary

Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Assam

Janasanyog/DF/525/20 Ph. 7575930922

NIT FOR ASSAM TABLEAUX AT REPUBLIC

DAY FUNCTION 2021 AT NEW DELHI

With reference to the advertisement Published in

the Local Dailies (Assamese/English) under

reference Janasanyog/C/3 020/20, the last date for

submission of NIT for Assam Tableaux at Republic

Day, 2021 at New Delhi is extended to 3rd

September, 2020 by 2.00 P.M.

Sd/- Director of Cultural Affairs,

Janasanyog/C/3570/20 Assam, Guwahati- 1

NIT NO. 25 (PMKSY-HKKP) 2020-21

SHORT NOTICE INVITING TENDERChief Engineer, Minor Irrigation, Assam on behalf of Governor

of Assam invites online bids for the works of 'Installation ofSolar /Electrical powered Tube Well Schemes under PMKSY-HKKP Access to Ground water (Ph-II) for the year 2020-21' inKarbianglong district amounting to Rs. 2310.64 Lakh (Approx)in 2 (Two) packages under Diphu Mechanical Division of IrrigationDepartment of Govt. of Assam. Details may be seen at websitehttp://assamtenders.gov.in and also in the office of theundersigned during office hours from 25.08.2020 to 18.09.2020up to 2 PM.

Sd/- Chief Engineer,Minor Irrigation, Assam,

Janasanyog/C/3612/20 Chandmari, Guwahati-3

NIT NO. 24 (PMKSY-HKKP) 2020-21

SHORT NOTICE INVITING TENDER

Chief Engineer, Minor Irrigation, Assam on behalf of Governor

of Assam invites online bids for the works of ‘Installation of

Solar /Electrical powered Tube Well Schemes under PMKSY-

HKKP Access to Ground water (Ph-II) for the year 2020-21’ in

Dhemaji district amounting to Rs. 1540.42 Lakh (Approx) under

Dhemaji Division of Irrigation Department of Govt. of Assam.

Details may be seen at website http://assamtenders.gov.in

and also in the office of the undersigned during office hours

from 25.08.2020 to 17.09.2020 up to 2PM.

Sd/- Chief Engineer,

Minor Irrigation, Assam,

Janasanyog/C/3593/20 Chandmari, Guwahati-3

NIT NO. 22 (PMKSY-HKKP) 2020-21

SHORT NOTICE INVITING TENDER

Chief Engineer, Minor Irrigation, Assam on behalf of Governor

of Assam invites online bids for the works of 'Installation of

Solar /Electrical powered Tube Well Schemes under PMKSY-

HKKP Access to Ground water (Ph-II) for the year 2020-21' in

Baksa district amounting to Rs. 770393 Lakh (Approx) in 2(Two)

packages under Borolia Division of Irrigation Department of Govt.

of Assam. Details may be seen at website http://

assamtenders.gov.in and also in the office of the undersigned

during office hours from 25.08.2020 to 16.09.2020 up to 2PM.

Sd/- Chief Engineer,

Minor Irrigation, Assam,

Janasanyog/C/3597/20 Chandmari, Guwahati-3

NIT NO. 23 (PMKSY-HKKP) 2020-21

SHORT NOTICE INVITING TENDER

Chief Engineer, Minor Irrigation , Assam on behalf of Governor

of Assam invites online bids for the works of 'Installation of

Solar /Electrical powered Tube Well Schemes under PMKSY-

HKKP Access to Ground water (Ph-II) for the year 2020-21' in

Morigaon district amounting to Rs. 2002.591 Lakh (Approx) in 2

(Two) packages under Morigaon Division of Irrigation Department

of Govt. of Assam. Details may be seen at website http://

assamtenders.gov.in and also in the office of the undersigned

during office hours from 25.08.2020 to 17.09.2020 up to 2PM.

Sd/- Chief Engineer,

Minor Irrigation, Assam,

Janasanyog/C/3588/20 Chandmari, Guwahati-3

No. SEC. 62/2020/7

Advertisement for Legal Resource Person on

Panchayati Raj InstitutionsApplications in prescribed proforma (may be downloaded from

www.secassam.in) are invited from eligible individual

candidate for contractual engagement of one Legal Resource

Person on Panchayati Raj Institutions in the office of the Assam

State Election Commission. Details about the prescribed

proforma, job profile, qualification, remuneration etc. may be

seen in the website www.secassam.in.

Sd/- Secretary

Assam State Election Commission

Janasanyog/DF/527/20 Dispur, Guwahati-6

NOTIFICATIONAs a preventive measure and with the primary objective of

keeping the spread of pandemic COVID-19 in check in the

state, the process of renewal of Employment Exchange

Registration Certificate in the state of Assam is hereby stopped

temporarily until further order. The date of renewal of the

Employment Exchange Registration card falling in the months

of February, 2020 and onwards will be treated as valid till

December 2020. The Employment Exchange Registration Card

which were lapsed prior to February 2020, needs to re-register

as per procedure in the concerned Employment Exchanges

accordingly.

Other process of Employment Exchange Registration

activities will remain unchanged.

This has the approval of Govt.

Sd/- Director

Employment & Craftsmen Training, Assam

Janasanyog/D/3142/20 Rehabari, Guwahati- 8

CORRIGENDUMIn continuation of Quotation/ Expression of Interest

published on 20.08.2020, the words 'and AMC' is added

now after the word accessories under Group- B.

Sd/- Principal Secretary

Janasanyog/C/3564/20 Assam Legislative Assembly

Truck driver’s killersnabbed in Chhattisgarh

CORRESPONDENT

BONGAIGAON, Aug 25: A team of Bongaigaon

police has nabbed two accused from Raipur, the capi-

tal of Chhattisgarh, and recovered the truck which

was sold after they killed its driver Devendra Kumar

in Assam’s Bongaigaon district in July last.

The accused have been identified as Manprit Singh

(29) and Arvind Singh (51), both are the residents of

Punjab and were engaged as truck drivers in Assam.

Driver Devendra Kumar had reached Tinsukia car-

rying goods in his truck bearing registration number

HP 72B4402 from Himachal Pradesh before the Cov-

id-induced nationwide lockdown was enforced.

Devendra got acquainted with Manprit and Arvind

and with their help he got transport work within As-

sam during the lockdown period. But from July 8,

Devendra’s wife found his husband’s mobile phone

switched off despite repeated efforts. Soon after she

filed an online missing report of her husband with the

Bongaigaon Police Station.

After proper inquiry, the Bongaigaon police could

trace the location of the accused Manprit and Arvind.

A police team had left for Chhattisgarh on August 21

and nabbed the duo with the help of Chhattisgarh coun-

terparts and also recovered the truck from Raipur.

The police team had returned to Bongaigaon yester-

day along with the accused.

Petrol traderarrested

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

DIBRUGARH, Aug 25: Af-

ter police busted a major die-

sel adulteration racket recent-

ly, police today arrested anoth-

er accused – Vikash Jain, son

of late Vimal Jain of Kartikpara,

in connection with the racket

pertaining to Chabua PS case

(no. 139/20, U/S 379/411 IPC

R/W Sec 23 (1) (a) of Petrole-

um Act and R/W Sec 7 EC Act.

It is necessary to mention

that Vikash Jain owns a few fuel

depots in the district here. The

case traces back to July 23

when police raided one RD

Dhaba in Lahoal where the

major fuel adulteration racket

was unearthed. Police had ar-

rested six persons thereafter

in connection with the racket

from several areas of Dibru-

garh, Tinsukia and Sivasagar

districts.

Demand toreconsiderdecision onlockdown

CORRESPONDENT

HAILAKANDI, Aug 25:

Merchants Association of

Hailakandi has urged the Dep-

uty Commissioner to recon-

sider the decision of further

lockdown in the district along

with the other two districts of

Barak Valley.

In a memorandum to the

Deputy Commissioner of

Hailakandi, Meghnidhi Da-

hal, the president of the as-

sociation, Bhagwandas Sarda

said that the poor and small

traders of the district will be

extremely affected by the

lockdown. In the memo,

Sarda lamented that the

traders of the district are al-

ready facing heavy loss due

to previous lockdown and an-

other nine-day lockdown

will further deteriorate the

situation.

Advocate Arup Borbora along with eminent film director Jahnu Barua at the Purnanga Sangathanik Sabha organised byAncholikotabad Suraksha Mancha, Asom, at Baan Theatre in Tezpur on Tuesday. – UB Photos

CORRESPONDENT

BARPETA, Aug 25: The

Deka Satriya of Barpeta Sat-

ra, an ardent devotee of Satri-

ya tradition and culture, Naba-

jit Das Pathak left for his heav-

enly abode in the wee hours

today at his residence here fol-

lowing a protracted illness. He

was 60.

Born to an expert artiste of

naam prasanga late Deben-

dra Nath Pathak, Nabajit Das

was initiated into the art of

naam prasanga since his child-

hood, which became an indis-

pensable part of his life.

His voice, during the per-

formance of Thiyanaam and

Palnaam, mesmerised the au-

diences. Besides, he was an ex-

pert artiste of Bhaona and

Ankiya Naat. Late Das was an

accredited artiste of naam of

All India Radio, Guwahati. He

was entrusted with the re-

sponsibility of training Sanka-

ri Satriya culture by the Gov-

ernment of India at Andaman

and Nicobar Island for one-

and-a-half month way back in

1987.

Das gave Satriya perform-

ances in several places of the

country like Kolkata, Bengalu-

ru, Chennai, Kochi through

Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, Bar-

peta, Sankaradeva Samaj, Bar-

peta and Sankari Sanskriti

Sewa Sangh.

He dedicated his life to-

wards the expansion and de-

velopment of Satriya culture

after he assumed charge as

Deka Satriya of Barpeta Satra

in 2009. He was very much

active in all the rituals of the

Satra. But suddenly he fell ill

during April this year and had

to undergo open heart surgery

in June last. After staying in

bed for about three months,

he breathed his last around

2.30 am today.

His mortal remains were

brought from his residence at

Majarhati with a procession

accompanied by Gayan Bay-

an and Kirtaniya and was tak-

en to Sankaradeva Kalakshet-

ra, Rakhal Than, Chin Para

Bhiti Than, Barpeta Barbazat

Jubak Sangha and Barbari

Than. Later on, his mortal re-

mains were taken to historical

Barpeta Satra. The chief Deu-

ri of Barpeta Satra offered

mala nirmali in front of the

main entrance and then the

body was moved three times

around the Satra and was cre-

mated behind the main Satra.

Entire Barpeta town was

grief-stricken at the untimely

death of the Deka Satriya and

thousands of people attended

the cremation. The Burha

Satriya of Barpeta Satra, Bash-

ishtha Dev Sarma, Burha Satri-

ya of Sundaridiya Satra Jagan-

nath Dev Adhikari, president

of Assam State Committee of

BJP Ranjit Kumar Dass, Dep-

uty Commissioner of Barpeta

Munindra Sarma and several

other persons and organisa-

tions have condoled the death

of Nabajit Das Pathak.

Deka Satriya of Barpeta SatraNabajit Das Pathak passes away

Blockade staged for revival of APOL mill

CORRESPONDENT

RANGIYA, Aug 25:

Members of Baidyagarh

unit AASU and joint forum

of APOL Mill Workers’

Association staged a strong

protest and blocked the

Rangiya-Bhutan road at

Tulsibari here in demand of

revival of the APOL mill.

Protesters shouted slogans

and flayed the government

for not initiating early

action for revival of the

mill, which has remained

inoperational since 2016

following financial crisis and

heavy debts.

AASU central committee

office secretary

Dharmeswar Das, Kamrup

dist secretary Hemanta

Das, other AASU leaders

besides worker association

leaders and members

participated in the protest.

Vehicular communication

came to a standstill and

heavy traffic on the road

was witnessed following

the blockade.

Earlier, protesters

displayed placards and

obstructed the movement

of vehicles.

Members of Baidyagarh unit AASU and joint forum of APOL Mill Workers’ Association staging a blockade on the Rangiya-Bhutan road at Tulsibari in demand of revival of APOL mill, on Tuesday. – Photo: Anjanjyoti Patowary

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

JORHAT, Aug 25: Seven-

ty-eight people were found

COVID-19 positive in Jorhat

district on Tuesday thereby

increasing the total number

of positive cases in the dis-

trict to 4531.

A district administration of-

ficial informed on Tuesday

evening that all 78 positive

cases were without travel his-

tory and 18 among them were

from Jorhat town.

The total number of ac-

tive cases in the district on

Tuesday was 1605, the offi-

cial added.

Excise dept drive: Ex-

cise department personnel on

Tuesday carried out a drive

against illicit liquor at Malow-

pathar, Bogoriguri and Ter-

imeri areas on the north-

western outskirts here.

Over 450 litres of raw ma-

terials, 10 litres of illicit liq-

uor were destroyed in the

drive and two apparatus used

to produce illicit liquor were

seized by the Excise team,

the district administration of-

ficial stated.

Stolen vehicles found:

Meanwhile, a police team of

Lahdoigarh Police Outpost on

the eastern outskirts of Jorhat

recovered two stolen two-

wheelers (a motorcycle and a

scooty) from Moubandha and

Chenijan Pohugarh areas on

the western and eastern out-

skirts of Jorhat respectively.

A police source disclosed

that five persons have been

arrested in connection with

the case.

78 new cases detectedin Jorhat district

Baghjan blowout victimscontinue protest

CORRESPONDENT

DOOMDOOMA, Aug 25:

The victims of the Baghjan gas

well blowout incident, who re-

sorted to a sit-in protest in

front of the Deputy Commis-

sioner’s Office, Tinsukia under

the aegis of Baghjan Gaon Mi-

lanjyoti Yuva Sangha on Mon-

day has continued their stir for

the second day today.

On Monday evening, the

Deputy Commissioner of Tin-

sukia tried to convince the ag-

itating people, but in vain. The

people refused to budge until

their demands were fulfilled.

They also told the head of the

district administration that

they lived in a place full of ex-

treme environment and sound

pollution for three long months

and now they could not live

there any more. They also

made it clear that until the fire

was doused, they would not

leave the place.

The agitating people have

constructed a temporary

pandal in front of the DC’s

office, Tinsukia and made the

arrangements of their food

and other necessities at the

office of the All Moran Stu-

dents’ Union situated near

the DC’s office. Meanwhile,

the district administration

has beefed up security near

Tinsukia DC’s office.

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

DIBRUGARH, Aug 25: The

Zoological Society of Assam

(ZSA), DHS Kanoi College’s

Internal Quality Assurance

Cell (IQAC) and ZSA unit in

collaboration with Aswini Cha-

ran Chaudhary Central Li-

brary, DHS Kanoi College or-

ganized an international webi-

nar on ‘man-monkey conflict’.

Dr Sian Waters, Executive

Director and Founder of Bar-

bary Macaque Awareness and

Conservation (BMAC) and a

well-known environmentalist

from United Kingdom gave

an in-depth presentation on

the topic titled, ‘Why study-

ing is key to understand hu-

man-primate interactions.’

The other speakers for the

webinar included Priyabrata

Lahkar, president, ZSA and

Dr Jogen C Kalita, secretary,

Zoological Society of Assam.

The webinar focused on un-

derstanding man-animal con-

flicts and on conservation

strategies of wild animals.

It was primarily aimed at

creating awareness among the

stakeholders to follow the con-

servational measures, espe-

cially in a State like Assam,

which is considered one of the

hotspots of biodiversity, Prof

Sultana Hazarika, the coordi-

nator of the webinar stated.

Prof Sultana also moderated

the interactive session. The

webinar was inaugurated by

Dr Sashikanta Saikia, Princi-

pal, DHS Kanoi College, Di-

brugarh, Assam. Dr Pallavi

Gogoi, anchored the proceed-

ings of the webinar while Dr

Mridul Sarma, the IQAC Co-

ordinator offered the vote of

thanks.

International webinar on‘man-monkey conflict’

12:30 Captain America: The

First Avenger

14:40 Pokemon Detective

Pikachu

16:20 Speed Racer

18:50 Crawl

20:30 Transformers

23:10 The Shawshank

Redemption

10:40 Chinatown

12:45 Nick of Time

14:15 Blade

16:00 Deep Impact

17:50 Naked Gun 33 1/3: The

Final Insult

19:15 Mars Attacks!

21:00 Project Almanac

22:45 Footloose

14:00 Biyolir Headline

16:00 Abelir Khabar

16:30 Superfast Prime Time100

17:00 City18

18:00 Prime Time18

19:00 Dintur Shironam

20:00 Porjyobekhyon

21:30 Aparadh Nama

22:00 North East Scan

22:30 Noixo Xironam

15:00 Chah Gachar Maje Maje

15.30 Yuba Darpan

16:00 Abelir Batori

16:05 Tezaswini (Epi-65)

16.30 Geetmala

17:00 Nimishote Batori

17:02 Rong Birong

17:30 Rupali Dhou

18:00 Dharabahik

18:30 Batori

18:45 NE News

12:00 Bandbudh Aur Budbak

13:30 Oggy Special

15:00 Oggy And The Cock...

15:30 Oggy Special

17:00 Oggy And The Cock...

19:30 Bandbudh Aur Budbak

20:30 Oggy And The Cock...

13:00 Chhota Bheem

14:30 Chhota Bheem the...

15:30 Chhota Bheem

16:00 Grizzy and the...

18:00 Chhota Bheem

19:00 Titoo

19:30 Chhota Bheem

20:00 Mighty Raju

21:30 Grizzy And The Lemm...

LOCKHORNS

THE PHANTOM ® By Lee Falk

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

BLONDIE

Know your DAYBy JACQUELINE BIGAR

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020:

Self-contained and brilliant, you give quietly to the world. If not, you feel

frustrated and unproductive. The latter half of your year is a triumph. You are top in

your field, so this is well-deserved. If single, you may decide to change your life this

year and leave many suitors behind. If attached, you’ve created a beautiful life

together and make great parents. CAPRICORN gives the best advice.

The Stars Show the Kind of Day You’ll Have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive; 3-

Average; 2-So-so; 1-Difficult.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)HHHHH Friendships with foreign-born people or those of a different

generation will be enjoyed today. Travel plans for the future — which

have been put off for what seems like forever – are finally finalized. Opportunities

and good fortune increase; growth is the keynote. Tonight: Collapse in relief.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)HHHHH Today is a time to focus on self-understanding. Consider the

axiom from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: “Know thyself.” Adapt to

changes. Use care regarding promises or signing documents. The terms might

be difficult to fulfill, especially if a legal matter is involved. Tonight: Saved.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)HH A close partner assumes new responsibilities and/or faces an

obstacle. Be supportive, but remember that sometimes there is just so

much that can be done. Back away from anyone who becomes overly demand-

ing. Tonight: Take some quiet time out for yourself.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)HH Maintaining health and fitness should be at the forefront – your

personal health and that of a loved one or cherished animal compan-

ion. Stay vigilant and well informed. Address any health concerns immediately

and all is well. Tonight: Plan to stay up late.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)HHHHH Honor the deepest stirrings of your heart by expressing true

love. Today brings a sense of ease and accomplishment. Pressure

lessens. A goal is reached. Take a vacation and appreciate summer sports – as

they are. Tonight: Are you blitzed out yet?

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)HHHHH Today brings a surprise regarding your family. A relative

might announce a move. A peek at your genealogy offers intriguing

perspectives concerning ancestors. Repeating patterns. Tonight: It’s like you

write the love story of your family. It’s a completely different view.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)HHHHH Others will be persuaded by your eloquence. You’ll greatly

enjoy discussing new ideas. Adopt a live-and-let-live attitude toward

those who don’t agree. You experience a breakthrough regarding goals. Past

efforts are rewarded and appreciated. Tonight: You celebrate with travel plans

and a ticket.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)HHHH Today begins with an emphasis on finances. Budgeting for a

special purchase will be a consideration. The pace can get rather

hyper. You’re burning the candle at both ends. Time to regroup. Tonight: Get a

good night’s rest and sleep. You really need it.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)HHHHH Independent and outspoken, you learn best from experi-

ence. You seldom appreciate or heed advice. Today your energy level

skyrockets and the accelerated inner fire continues all day. You get a lot of

attention. Tonight: Answer all the invites. RVSP that you will attend.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)HHH Today is a quiet day. Extra hours of sleep or meditation can be

very healing. Express tolerance regarding a relative who has been

difficult. Seek to make your residence more comfortable and functional. To-

night: Take a long, soothing herbal bath.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)HHHHH News arrives concerning one who’s been a part of your past.

An awareness of how everything that happens is connected to the

sacrifice of something else is a recurring theme in your spiritual path now.

Tonight: Talk about this and you’ll make a fortune.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)HHHHH You’ll sense undercurrents and competition regarding profes-

sional aspirations and status. Stay flexible and adapt to changes. Re-

search new developments in your field, especially regarding science and tech-

nology. Tonight: You’ll feel like you’re living a mystery detective book, and its life.

H H H

Thought for the day

Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is in ourown power.

– BENJAMIN DISRAELI

If God had really intended men to fly, he’d

make it easier to __ _ __ ___. – George

Winters (3,2,3,7)

Words: Eater, drool, tomtit, plight.Answer: If God had really intended men tofly, he’d make it easier to get to the airport.– George Winters

Given below are four jumbled words. Solvethe jumbles to make proper words and movethem to the respective squares below. Selectthe letters in the shaded squares and jumblethem to get the answer for the given quip.

JUMBLED WORDSHEALTH CAPSULES®

by Bron Smith

Health Capsules is not intendedto be of a diagnostic nature.

CROSSWORD - 6982

Across: 3 Abuse, 8 Beret, 10 Exact, 11 Dog, 12 Slave, 13

Kuwaiti, 15 Erato, 18 Sly, 19 Entity, 21 Auklets, 22 Oafs, 23 Peer,

24 Usurers, 26 Seraph, 29 Nee, 31 Twerp, 32 Halcyon, 34 Rival, 35

Een, 36 Ergot, 37 Apnea, 38 Wyatt.

Down: 1 Fed up, 2 Pegasus, 4 Bali, 5 Sevens, 6 Exert, 7 Scott,

9 Row, 12 Stylish, 14 Ilk, 16 Aides, 17 Oyers, 19 Eternal, 20 Joust,

21 Afore, 23 Precept, 24 Uppity, 25 Eel, 27 Ewers, 28 Arrow, 30

Toned, 32 Hart, 33 Yen.

SOLUTION

12:00 Animal Planet Exclusive

12:55 Animals Unleashed

13:15 Expedition Mungo

14:00 Little Giants

14:20 Coyote Peterson: Brave...

14:45 How Do Animals Do That?

15:10 Wild Frank

15:55 Pride in Battle

16:50 Fierce 5

17:50 Wildlife Icons

18:55 AP Exclusives

19:55 Little Giants

20:25 Animals Unleashed

20:50 Wild Africa: Rivers of Life

21:55 Wild Frank

22:50 Monkeys Revealed

12:00 Monster Croc Wrangler

12:30 Snakes In The City

13:30 Running Wild With Bear...

14:30 Snakes in the City

15:30 Primal Survivor

16:30 Bear Grylls: Mission Survive

17:30 Do or Die

18:00 Science Of Stupid

19:00 Snakes In The City

20:00 Monster Croc Wrangler

20:30 Snakes in the City

21:30 Primal Survivor

22:30 Monster Croc Wrangler

11:00 Assamese news

11:30 Assamese news

12:00 Mid Day Live

13:00 Assamese Feautre film

16:30 Discussion Show (R)

17:30 Guwahati Bisesh

18:00 Guwahati Live

18:30 Breaking @ 6:30

19:00 Assamesse Prime Time

20:00 Discussion Show (R)

21:00 Kotha Barta

21:30 Talk Time

22:00 Live at 10

22:30 Noixo Guwahati

23:00 Noixo Batori

16:00 Upasona

17:00 Devotional Slot

1730 B2B Music

18:00 North East Diva GF

20:00 Rang Blockbuster

23:00 B2B Music

10:30 Vivo IPL HLs

11:00 12 Years of Virat Kohli

18:30 CPL HLs

19:00 Caribbean PL Live

23:00 Ind vs WI ODI HLs

23:30 Hero ISL HLs

10:30 Vivo IPL HLs

11:00 12 Years of Virat Kohli

18:30 CPL HLs

19:00 Caribbean PL Live

23:00 Ind vs WI ODI HLs

23:30 Football United Special

12:30 WWE BlockBusters

14:00 WWE Raw

18:30 WWE Specials

19:30 WWE BlockBusters

20:00 WWE Nxt

23:00 Champions League

12:00 UFC Fight Night

13:00 UCL HLs

13:30 FA Cup HLs

14:00 DCL Magazines

15:00 The Emirates FA Cup

17:00 Serie A Review

18:00 UCL

19:00 UFC Bad Blood

20:00 FA Cup HLs

20:30 UEL HLs

21:30 Impact Wrestling

22:30 ATP Masters

12:00 India’s Finest

13:00 BBL Rewind

13:30 Ashes Rewind

14:30 UFC 252

15:30 Master of Oz

16:00 WWE Raw

18:00 WWE Specials

19:30 India’s Finest

20:00 WWE Nxt

23:00 Masters of Oz

12:10 Gharwali Baharwali

14:30 Krishna

17:10 Chori Chori Chupke

Chupke

19:50 Kabali

23:10 RX 100

11:00 Karan Arjun14:35 Don Aur Doctor17:35 Dayaalu20:45 Dhamaal23:45 Daringbaaz 3

10:45 John Wick: Chapter 3 –

Parabellum

12:45 Zootopia

14:30 Aladdin

16:30 The Incredibles

18:30 The Chronicles of

Narnia: The Lion, The

Witch and the Wardrobe

21:00 Pretty Woman

23:00 Captain America: The

Winter Soldier

STAR GOLD

14:45 Hero No. 1

WB

22:45 Footloose

HBO

20:30 Transformers

WB

21:00 Pretty Woman

12:00 Juaari

15:00 Main Tera Dushman

18:00 Kshatriya

21:00 Aao Pyar Karen

11:30 Golmaal Again

14:45 Hero No. 1

17:05 Aladdin

19:50 MS Dhoni: The Untold

Story

12:00 Mann Ki Awaaz...Pratigya

12:30 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai

15:00 Saath Nibhaana Saathiya

19:30 Shaadi Mubarak

20:00 Kasautii Zindagii Kay

20:30 Yehh Jadu Hai Jinn Ka!

21:00 Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar...

21:30 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata...

22:00 Anupamaa

22:30 Yeh Hai Chahatein

23:00 Saath Nibhaana Saathiya

12:00 Guddan Tumse Na Ho...12:30 Kumkum Bhagya13:00 Kundali Bhagya13:30 Guddan Tumse Na Ho...14:00 Tujhse Hai Raabta14:30 Kumkum Bhagya15:00 Pavitra Rishta17:00 Banoo Main Teri Dulhann18:00 Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli19:00 Punar Vivah20:00 Guddan Tumse Na Ho...20:30 Tujhse Hai Raabta21:00 Kumkum Bhagya21:30 Kundali Bhagya22:00 Qurbaan Hua22:30 Ishq Subhan Allah

23:00 Happu Ki Ultan Paltan

23:30 Kumkum Bhagya

12:00 Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hain!

15:00 Laal Ishq

19:00 Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hain!

19:30 Happu Ki Ultan Paltan

20:00 Gudiya Hamari Sabhi Pe...

20:30 Ek Mahanayak Dr. B. R. ...

21:00 Santoshi Maa Sunaye...

21:30 Kahat Hanuman Jai Shree...

22:00 Happu Ki Ultan Paltan

22:30 Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hain!

12:00 Khatra Khatra Khatra

14:00 Kitchen Champion

15:00 Naagin

17:00 Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan

18:00 Swaragini

18:30 Laagi Tujhse Lagan

19:00 Tere Naal Ishq

20:00 Naagin

22:00 Bepannaah

23:00 Naagin

12:00 Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka

14:15 Madhubala – Ek Ish Ek....

SOLUTION TO TRIBUNE CROSSWORD – 6982

13:35 Jurm

16:45 Khoon Ka Rishta

19:45 Police Aur Mujrim

22:50 Diler – The Daring 2

12:00 Mard The Khiladi

15:05 Rise of the Apes Vinaash

Ka Aarambh

17:15 Sharkansas Women’s

Prison Massacre

19:10 Big Legend

21:00 The Chronicles of Narnia:

The Lion, The Witch and

the Wardrobe

Across3 Maltreat (5)8 Flat hat (5)10 Precise or

correct (5)11 A domesticated

carnivorousmammal (3)

12 A person madeto work foranother (5)

13 Middle-Easterner (7)

15 Muse of poetry(5)

18 Cunning (3)19 A being (6)21 Small Pacific

birds (7)22 Idiotic persons

(4)23 Equal (4)24 Loan sharks (7)26 Angel (6)29 Maiden-name

(3)31 Stupid person (5)32 Serene; carefree

(7)34 Antagonist (5)35 Velvet finish (3)36 Grain bane (5)37 Suspension of

breathing (5)38 Lawman Earp (5)Down1 Sick and tired

(3,2)2 Winged horse (7)4 Indonesian island

(4)5 At sixes and

____ : inconfusion ordisagreement ?(6)

6 Bring into play (5)7 Sir Walter ___ :

poet of ‘TheLady of the Lake’

? (5)9 An angry dispute

(3)12 Smart (7)14 Class or kind (3)16 Assistants or

helpers (5)17 Some court

hearings (5)19 Endless (7)20 Mounted combat

(5)21 Ere (5)23 Maxim (7)24 Inclined to be

snobbish (6)25 Long fish (3)27 Jugs or pitchers

(5)28 Archer’s missile

(5)30 Moderated or

tempered ? (5)32 Male deer (4)33 Itch or desire (3)

LEISURE & LIFESTYLE10 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020

23:30 UFC Fight Night

13:00 The Blue Revolution14:00 Great Centuries14:30 England vs Aus ODI HLs15:30 Great Centuries16:00 Aus vs Eng ODI HLs17:00 England vs Pak Test HLs18:00 Whacked Out Sports18:30 Men in Blue Victorious19:30 Cricket’s Greatest20:00 England vs Pak Test HLs21:00 Nail-Biting Finishes22:00 Best of the Tests22:30 Whacked Out Sports23:00 England vs Pak Test HLs

23:00 To Catch A Smuggler

12:00 Animal Fight Club

13:00 Cobra Mafia

14:00 Africa’s Deadly Kingdom

15:00 Savage Kingdom

16:00 Safari Brothers

17:00 Snakes In The City

18:00 Hooked

19:00 Wild India

20:00 Bite Sting Kill

21:00 Africa’s Deadliest

22:00 Gangs of Wild

23:00 Animal Fight Club

11:45 Forged in Fire

12:35 Ancient Aliens

13:25 Pawn Stars

13:45 Storage Wars

14:15 Food Tech

15:05 OMG! Yeh Mera India

15:55 Forged in Fire

16:45 Counting Cars

17:10 Storage Wars

17:35 Shipping Wars

18:00 Dynamo Beyond Belief

19:00 Counting Cars

19:30 Kings of Restoration

20:00 OMG! Yeh Mera India

21:00 Forged in Fire

21:50 Pawn Stars

22:15 Storage Wars

22:40 Shipping Wars

23:10 Forged in Fire

Women who are pregnant or trying to con-

ceive should be advised to avoid caffeine

because evidence suggests that maternal caffeine

consumption is linked to negative pregnancy out-

comes, say researchers.

The study, published in the journal BMJ Evi-

dence Based Medicine, undertook a review of cur-

rent evidence on caffeine-related pregnancy out-

comes, to determine whether the recommended

safe level of consumption for pregnant women is

soundly based. Pregnant women have been ad-

vised that consuming a small amount of caffeine

daily will not harm their baby.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

set this level at 200 mg caffeine, which approxi-

mates to roughly two cups of moderate-strength

coffee per day.

Through database searches, the research team

from Reykjavik University in Iceland identified

1,261 English language peer-reviewed articles link-

ing caffeine and caffeinated beverages to pregnan-

cy outcomes. These were whittled down to 48

original observational studies and meta-analyses

published in the past two decades reporting re-

sults for one or more of six major negative preg-

nancy outcomes.

The outcomes were miscarriage, stillbirth, low

birth weight and/or small for gestational age, pre-

term birth, childhood acute leukaemia, and child-

hood overweight and obesity.

Cut all caffeine

Caffeine consumption not safe for pregnant women: Study

A total of 42 separate findings were reported in

37 observational studies; of these 32 found that

caffeine significantly increased risk of adverse preg-

nancy outcomes and 10 found no or inconclusive

associations.

The caffeine-related risk was reported with

moderate to high levels of consistency for all preg-

nancy outcomes except preterm birth.

Eleven studies reported on the findings of 17

meta-analyses, and in 14 of this maternal caffeine

consumption was associated with increased risk

for four adverse outcomes: miscarriage, stillbirth,

low birth weight and/or small for gestational age,

and childhood acute leukaemia. The three remain-

ing meta-analyses did not find an association be-

tween maternal caffeine consumption and preterm

birth. The author pointed out that the results could

be impacted by other confounding factors, such as

the recall of caffeine consumption, maternal ciga-

rette smoking and most importantly pregnancy

symptoms.

Pregnancy symptoms such as nausea and vom-

iting in early pregnancy are predictive of a healthy

pregnancy and women who experience them are

likely to reduce their caffeine intake.

“The cumulative scientific evidence supports

pregnant women and women contemplating preg-

nancy being advised to avoid caffeine,” the study

authors wrote.

(Source: IANS)

15:15 Sasural Simar Ka

16:35 Balika Vadhu

19:00 Ishq Mein Marjawan 2

19:30 Choti Sarrdaarni

20:00 Shakti Astitva Ke Ehsaas...

20:30 Barrister Babu

21:00 Pinjara Khubsurati Ka

21:30 Shubharamabh

22:00 Naati Pinky Ki Lambi Love...

22:30 Pavitra Bhagya

23:00 Ishq Mein Marjawan 2

23:30 Choti Sarrdaarni

12:00 Best Of Crime Patrol

19:00 Mere Sai

19:35 Vighnaharta Ganesh

20:30 Indian Idol

22:00 Mere Dad Ki Dulhan

22:30 Mil Jate Hain Jo Bane Ek...

23:00 Crime Patrol Satark

12:00 The Ugly Truth

14:00 Battle Bots

15:00 Step Up 2: The Streets

17:00 Seinfeld

19:00 The Big Bang Theory

21:00 Battle Bots

22:00 Supergirl

23:00 The Big Bang Theory

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 11BUSINESS & ECONOMY

GOVERNMENT OF INDIAMinistry of Education

(Department of School Education & Literacy)

ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE POST OF DIRECTOR, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING (NCERT)

Applications/Nominations are invited in prescribed proforma from eligible candidates for the post of

Director, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), having Pay Scale of Rs. 2,10,000

(fixed) + Rs. 5000/- as Special Allowance. The appointment shall be made by transfer on deputation or

short-term contract on tenure basis for a period upto five years or upto the age of 65 years of the candidate

or till the age of his/her superannuation in his/her parent organization or until further orders, whichever is

earlier. For Eligibility and other details refer to our advertisement in the Employment News dated 05.09.2020

and/or visit the website of NCERT viz www.ncert.nic.in

Applications/Nominations, duly prepared in the prescribed proforma and printed on A4 size paper, should

reach Shri T.S. Rautela, Deputy Secretary to Govt. of India, Ministry of Education, Department of School

Education and Literacy, Room No. 503-D, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi – 110001, through proper channel, within

30 days from the date of publication of the advertisement in the Employment news.

davp 21104/11/0003/2021

Expenditure Secysays govt may look at2nd stimulus package

MUMBAI, Aug 25: The government may look at in-

troducing a second set of fiscal stimulus measures once

the COVID-19 infections abate and the psychological

fears in people’s minds ebb, a top Finance Ministry offi-

cial said today.

The government has also observed that 40 per cent of

the cash transfers directly into the beneficiaries’ accounts

recently have been saved and not spent, leading to a feel-

ing that there are limitations of the stimulus measures and

hence, making timing the most important factor, Union

Expenditure Secretary TV Somanathan said.

It can be noted that the government’s first round of fiscal

stimulus was announced in late March, and included meas-

ures like extra spend of nearly 2 percentage points of GDP.

The RBI delivered two deep rate cuts before surprising all

with a pause this month, leading some analysts to opine

that the government will have to do the heavy lifting now.

Speaking at an event hosted by Dun and Bradstreet In-

dia, Somanathan said normal economic activity is in “abey-

ance” right now and it has nothing to do with what the

government has done or not done, but attributed the same

to fears among the people.

“Right now, the evidence is that the problem is not sus-

ceptible of stimulation by fiscal or government measures.

It’s not as if people are waiting for something to be done by

the government and then they are ready to go out and

resume normal economic activity,” he noted. – PTI

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: Finance Min-

ister Nirmala Sitharaman today said the

government is open to further tweak-

ing the Rs 3-lakh-crore credit guaran-

tee scheme for providing collateral-free

loans to small businesses.

According to industry association

CII, with which the minister had a

closed-door meeting, she also said

that domestic revenue generation is

a concern as sectors like tourism, real

estate, hospitality, and airlines have

been affected “disproportionately” by

the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a meeting with the members of

CII, Sitharaman said structural reform

is a key priority for the government

and it will move fast on the Cabinet-

cleared disinvestment proposals, in-

cluding that of banks.

“The (Rs) 3-lakh-crore scheme is

open for professionals now and gov-

ernment is open to more tweaking,

changes if required,” CII tweeted

Sitharaman as saying.

Earlier this month, the government

Govt open to more tweaks incredit guarantee scheme: FM

had widened the scope of the Rs 3-lakh-

crore credit guarantee scheme by dou-

bling the upper ceiling of loans out-

standing to Rs 50 crore and including

certain individual loans given to profes-

sionals like doctors, lawyers and char-

tered accountants for business purpos-

es under its ambit, apart from MSMEs.

Till August 20, banks have dis-

bursed more than Rs 1-lakh-crore

loans under the Rs 3-lakh-crore

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee

Scheme (ECLGS), which was an-

nounced as part of the Aatmanirbhar

Bharat package.

The minister further said that eve-

ry announcement has had a structur-

al reform component with it, and the

government is reaching out to indus-

try to understand their concerns.

“Structural reforms (are) key pri-

ority for the government, reflected

in government announcements to ad-

dress COVID-19 challenges,” Sith-

araman said.

On the private investment cycle,

she said that in September 2019, the

government had reduced corporate

tax rate but investments could not

happen due to COVID-19.

With post-COVID reset happening,

data-driven manufacturing models

and newer investments can happen

in fintech, she said.

“Some sectors such as tourism,

real estate, hospitality, airlines have

been affected disproportionately. Do-

mestic revenue generation is a con-

cern,” Sitharaman said, adding, the

government is working with the Re-

serve Bank of India to ensure ade-

quate support to banks. – PTI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and MoS Finance Anurag Thakur

interact with Deputy Secretaries of the Department of Financial Services,

Ministry of Finance, in New Delhi. – PTI

Govt amends CSR norms to help boost fundingNEW DELHI, Aug 25:

The government has amend-

ed the corporate social re-

sponsibility rules under the

companies law that is likely

to help boost funding for de-

veloping new vaccines, drugs

and medical devices related

to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the latest amend-

ments, companies engaged in

research and development

(R&D) activity of new vaccine,

drugs and medical devices in

their normal course of busi-

ness have been allowed to

undertake R&D activity of

new vaccine, drugs and med-

ical devices related to COV-

ID-19 under the CSR ambit.

This would be applicable for

three financial years – 2020-

21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 –

subject to certain conditions.

This means that money

spent on such activities would

be considered as corporate

social responsibility (CSR)

spending under the Compa-

nies Act, 2013.

The Corporate Affairs

Ministry, which is imple-

menting the Act, issued two

notifications related to CSR

on August 24.

Changes have been made

to Schedule VII of the Act that

pertains to CSR activities.

Now, contributions to in-

cubators or R&D projects in

the field of science, technol-

ogy, engineering and medi-

cine, funded by the Central

or State governments or

public sector undertaking or

any agency of the Central or

State government would be

considered as CSR.

Contributions to public-

funded universities, Indian

Institutes of Technology

(IITs), national laboratories

and autonomous bodies es-

tablished under the Depart-

ment of Atomic Energy

(DAE), Department of Bio-

technology (DBT), Depart-

ment of Science and Tech-

nology (DST) and Depart-

ment of Pharmaceuticals

would also come under the

CSR ambit, according to a

notification.

Further, the relaxation

would be applicable for na-

tional laboratories and au-

tonomous bodies under the

Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga

and Naturopathy, Unani,

Siddha and Homoeopathy

(AYUSH) and Ministry of

Electronics and Information

Technology.

As per the notification,

contributions to other bod-

ies, namely Defence Re-

search and Development

Organisation (DRDO), Indi-

an Council of Agricultural

Research (ICAR), Indian

Council of Medical Research

(ICMR) and Council of Sci-

entific and Industrial Re-

search (CSIR), engaged in

conducting research in sci-

ence, technology, engineer-

ing and medicine aimed at

promoting Sustainable De-

velopment Goals (SDGs)

would also come under the

CSR ambit. – PTI

Development of COVID-19 vaccines, drugs

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: Procter &

Gamble Hygiene and Health Care

(P&G) today reported a 13.85 per cent

rise in its net profit at Rs 69.21 crore for

the quarter ended June.

The company had posted a net prof-

it of Rs 60.79 crore in the year-ago

quarter.

Total income for the quarter under

review stood at Rs 644.08 crore, down

0.50 per cent from Rs 647.33 crore in

the same quarter last year, P&G said in

a regulatory filing.

The company attributed the increase

in profit to “lower tax rates and a one-

time hurt in the corresponding quarter

of the previous year”.

“We delivered resilient results dur-

ing this unprecedented crisis behind our

strategy to focus on superiority and pro-

ductivity, enabled by the commitment

and agility of our organisation to serve

our consumers and communities,” Mad-

husudan Gopalan, Managing Director,

Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health

Care Ltd, said.

While the unprecedented market chal-

lenges and uncertainties remain in the

near-term, the company will continue

to stay focused to drive superiority and

improve productivity and aim to drive

balanced growth, he said.

The directors have recommended a

dividend of Rs 105 per equity share

for the financial year ended June 30,

2020. – PTI

P&G Q4 net profit up 14%

MUMBAI, Aug 25: The gov-

ernment should have a clear exit

strategy and credible milestones

for fiscal consolidation in the com-

ing years, the Reserve Bank said

today in its annual report amid

meeting the fiscal targets becom-

ing more challenging due to

the coronavirus pandemic.

Based on information from

25 States, the general gov-

ernment fiscal deficit in-

creased from 5.4 per cent of

GDP in 2018-19 to 6.5 per

cent in 2019-20 (revised es-

timate). Further, outstanding

liabilities rose to 70.4 per cent

of GDP in 2019-20 (revised

estimate) from 67.5 per cent

in 2018-19, according to the

annual report.

In 2020-21, fiscal deficit and

outstanding liabilities are budg-

eted at 5.8 per cent and 70.5 per

cent of the GDP, respectively.

However, based on provision-

al accounts information, the gen-

eral government fiscal deficit,

including all States, is expected

Clear exit strategy,milestones needed: RBI

Fiscal consolidation

to deteriorate further to about

7.5 per cent in 2019-20.

“Thus, the fiscal gains achieved

in the previous two years were re-

versed in 2019-20,” the report said.

It noted that meeting the fiscal

targets budgeted in 2020-21 has

become even more challenging

due to COVID-19, in view of con-

tainment measures and fiscal in-

terventions for providing health

infrastructure, helping vulnera-

ble sections of the society and

sector-specific relief measures.

“In this scenario, it is desira-

ble to have a clear exit strategy

with credible consolidation mile-

stones and timelines in rework-

ing the path towards fiscal recti-

tude in the coming years,” the

report said.

Observing that most of the

estimates for 2020-21 were

worked out before the nation-

wide lockdown, the report

said, “Given the shortfall in

revenues a direct fallout of

subdued economic activity

and increased expenditure

requirement to fight the pan-

demic the general govern-

ment fiscal deficit and debt

are likely to be materially

higher than budgeted.”

About 2019-20, the report

said the deterioration in ma-

jor deficit indicators may be at-

tributed to tax revenue shortfall,

both cyclical and structural. At the

same time, a significant curtail-

ment in expenditure was justifi-

ably avoided in view of the eco-

nomic slowdown, which got ac-

centuated from the second half

of 2018-19. – PTI

Vistaralaunches

seat upgradescheme

NEW DELHI, Aug 25:

Vistara said today that it

had collaborated with a

Canada-based firm to launch

a new scheme that allows

passengers to put in bids to

upgrade their seats to

superior classes in flights.

The new scheme is a way

“to offset revenue losses

experienced in 2020” and

“leverage the higher capacity

in superior cabins”, the

airline said in a statement.

Once a passenger has

purchased an economy or a

premium economy class

ticket, all he or she has to do

is make an offer for a seat in

the higher cabin class seven

days prior to the flight’s

departure, Vistara told its

passengers through an e-

mail on Monday.

“If your offer is accepted,

you will be informed before

your departure,” it stated.

“With support from

Plusgrade, more passen-

gers will have access to the

personal space, comfort,

privacy and high-end

service that come with a

premium experience,”

Vistara Chief Commercial

Officer Vinod Kannan said.

Plusgrade provides fresh

revenue generating

solutions to the global

travel industry.

Vistara has 43 aircraft in

its fleet. Majority of them

are in a three class configu-

ration – economy, premium

economy and business.

The aviation sector has

been significantly impacted

due to the travel restric-

tions imposed in India and

other countries in view of

the coronavirus pandemic.

All airlines in India have

taken cost-cutting meas-

ures, such as pay cuts, leave

without pay and firings of

employees in order to

conserve cash. – PTI

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: Weekend curfews and

partial lockdowns continue to hurt retail business

and dampen consumer sentiment as many States

still impose “irrational weekend lockdowns”, the

Retailers Association of India (RAI) said today.

For retailers, over 45 per cent of the week’s

entire business happens over the weekends, Sat-

urday and Sunday, RAI said in a statement. It added

that after facing losses for over four months due to

lockdown, retailers are depending on the weekend

business to help recover from the financial stress

they have been facing.

“However, local authorities in some States con-

tinue to impose strict lockdowns on weekends,

which are becoming a huge setback in their path to

recovery,” it added.

RAI said the Indian retail industry continues to strug-

gle to get back to its feet with constant roadblocks

being faced at the State and local levels with weekend

curfews and partial lockdowns, which continue to hurt

retail business and dampen consumer sentiment.

“Over 10 States continue to impose irrational

weekend lockdowns. These include Punjab, Hary-

ana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jam-

mu & Kashmir, and Nagaland, among others,” the

retailers’ body said. – PTI

Weekend lockdowns hurtingbusiness: Retailers’ body

12 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATISPORTS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020

Printed and published by Ganesh Ch. Das on behalf of Assam Tribune Pvt. Ltd. at the Tribune Press, Tribune Buildings, P.O.- Assam Tribune, M.R.D. Road, Chandmari, Guwahati-781003. Tel. 0361-2660102 (EPABX), 0361-2661360, 0361-2668807 (News Desk), FAX 0361-2666396. E-mail: advt@assamtribune.com; news@assamtribune.com; atribunenews@gmail.com. Editor: Prafulla Govinda Baruah

Originating from Japan,

‘su do ku’ is a mind game

and a puzzle that can be

solved with proper

reasoning and logic. Fill

the grid with digits in such

a manner that every row,

every column and every

3 x3 box accommodates

the digits 1 to 9 without

repeating any.

Solution of last problem

SU DO KU

F1 adds 4 more racesLONDON, Aug 25: Formula One added four more races to

this year’s calendar on Tuesday and said a limited number offans will be able to attend some of the remaining events inthe pandemic-disrupted season.

Races in Turkey, Abu Dhabi and two in Bahrain will takeplace in November and December, completing the heavilyreshaped calendar.

It takes the number of races in the season to 17.After the Turkish Grand Prix on November 15, Bahrain

will stage back-to-back races on November 29 and Decem-ber 6. The season will finish with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prixon December 13. The Chinese Grand Prix, which had beenpostponed, will not take place in 2020.

We can confirm that a number of races in the revised 2020season will be open to a limited number of fans, includinghospitality, Formula One said in a statement, and we areworking with each promoter to finalise the details. It did notspecify which races would be open to spectators. – AP

Rain plays spoilsport againSOUTHAMPTON, Aug 25: Pakistan’s chances of holding

out for a draw in the third and final Test against Englandwere boosted when rain washed out the morning session onDay 5 at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday.

An inspection was planned for 1:40 pm local time (1240GMT), with lots of standing water on the ground after early-morning rain.

Pakistan were 100-2 in its second innings, trailing Eng-land overall by 210 runs. England leads 1-0 and is on thebrink of clinching a first series win over Pakistan in 10 years.

The latest delay in this weather-affected Test meant Eng-land paceman Jimmy Anderson will have to wait to reach 600career wickets in the format. He is on 599, with only retiredspinners Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Shane Warne (708)and Anil Kumble (619) above Anderson on the all-time list ofwicket-takers in Test cricket. – AP

DC appoint Ryan Harris asnew bowling coach

DUBAI, Aug 25: IPL fran-chise Delhi Capitals on Tues-day named former Australianpacer Ryan Harris as theirbowling coach ahead of theupcoming edition startingSeptember 19 in the UAE.

The 40-year-old comes inplace of compatriot JamesHopes, who served as theCapitals’ bowling coach in thelast two seasons but will beunable to travel with theteam this year owing to per-sonal reasons.

“I am delighted to be backin the IPL. This is a huge opportunity for me to contribute tothe franchise’s ambitions of lifting the coveted IPL trophy,”Harris was quoted as saying in a media release.

“The Delhi Capitals side has an impressive bowling line up,and I can’t wait to start working with them all,” he added.

A late entrant in international cricket, Harris has 113 Testwickets, 44 ODI wickets, and four T20I wickets to his name.

In 2009, he won the IPL with the Deccan Chargers.Injuries forced him to announce his retirement in 2015.

Since then, Harris has undertaken coaching assignmentswith the Australian team and Big Bash League side BrisbaneHeat. – PTI

DUBAI, Aug 25: India off-spinner Ravichandran Ash-win says he has spoken to hisIPL coach Ricky Ponting onthe contentious issue of run-ning out batsmen who backup too far at the non-strik-er’s end but will reveal thecontents of the telephonicconversation only next week.

The issue became a talk-ing point when Ponting, headcoach of Ashwin’s team Del-hi Capitals, said he wouldhave a discussion with Ash-win on the controversialmanner of getting a batsmanout ahead of the IPL startingSeptember 19 in the UAE.

Ashwin ran out Englandbatsman Jos Buttler at thenon-striker’s end last seasonwhen he backed up too far,drawing criticism for his actas many called it against the‘spirit of the game.’ WhileAshwin has reached Dubai,Ponting is set to arrive next

week and the two will talk inperson before the Indian re-veals what transpired be-tween them.

“Ricky Ponting hasn’t yetreached (Dubai). After hecomes, we will sit for a chatwith him. He said he wantsto have a conversation. Wehave already talked over thephone. It was a very inter-esting chat,” Ashwin said onhis YouTube channel.

Ashwin said it’s better tohave a face-to-face conversa-tion since the message of theheavily-accented Australianscan get lost in translation.

“What happens some-times is Australians’ messag-es in English get lost in trans-lation and reach us with a dif-ferent meaning. Even someof their jokes become news.That’s what it is and nextweek I will reveal a bit moreabout my conversation withRicky.” – PTI

I had interesting chatwith Ponting: Ashwin

NEW YORK, Aug 25: Both-ered by a bad neck that a train-er massaged twice, NovakDjokovic double-faulted seventimes and trailed by a break ineach set before avoiding therash of upsets at the Western& Southern Open by taking thelast four games for a 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over Ricardas Be-rankis.

The No. 1-ranked Djokovicwas playing his first ATPmatch in six months becauseof the coronavirus pandemic;he pulled out of the doublesevent on Sunday because of hisneck.

“I’m trying to deal with iton a daily basis,” he said.

“It’s been like that for thepast three or four days.”

Still, Djokovic improved to19-0 in 2020 as he prepares toseek a sixth title from the past

eight Grand Slam tourna-ments when the US Open be-gins in a week. That majorchampionship’s site in Flush-ing Meadows is hosting theOhio-based Western & South-

ern Open, too, as part of anunusual doubleheader with nospectators.

Djokovic got by, eventhough he was wincing andstretching his neck between

points, then wound up layingon his back – a medical maskand protective glasses on hisface – while having his neckmanipulated after the firstset. – AP

Djokovic wins post-hiatusdebut; Keys out

A trainer works on the neck of Novak Djokovic of Serbia during his match with Ricardas Berankisof Lithuania during the second round at the Western & Southern Open in New York. – AP/PTI

ASUNCION (Paraguay),Aug 25: Retired Braziliansoccer star Ronaldinho wasreleased from house arrestafter spending five monthsdetained in Paraguay for en-tering the country with a falsepassport.

Paraguayan judge GustavoAmarilla handed down a sus-pended sentence of twoyears in prison for Ronaldin-ho and his brother Robertode Assis Moreira, and grant-ed their release. The broth-ers will also have to pay a fineof $200,000 between the twoof them.

Both were arrested lastMarch for possession and useof false Paraguayan passportswith which they entered thecountry to conduct businessactivities.

The retired soccer starwas earlier released from a

high-security jail in Paraguaybut ordered to serve housearrest at a luxury hotel while

he was investigated.Ronaldinho will be able to

return to Brazil immediate-

Ronaldinho released in Paraguayly. Defence attorneys TarekTuma and Alcides Caceressaid their clients will estab-lish residence in Rio de Ja-neiro.

Ronaldinho, a world cham-pion with Brazil in 2002 anda former star of Barcelona,Milan and Paris Saint-Ger-main, among other clubs,turned 40 years old in Para-guay. He came to the coun-try invited by a local founda-tion, supposedly to presenthis autobiography, support aschool for poor children andinaugurate a casino.

Prosecutor Marcelo Peccisaid Ronaldinho and hisbrother received a short-ened legal process becausethey admitted having had of-ficial Paraguayan legal docu-ments but of false content andbecause they litigated in goodfaith. – AP

Ronaldinho is seen arriving at the Supreme Court of Justice inAsuncion, Paraguay.