ASSAM

The New Delhi-based Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) which has been carrying out the project has been instructed by the Dibrugarh District Administration to complete it in another four months time.

On January 10, 2018, Oil India Limited (OIL) which is funding theRs2.1-crore project under its corporate social responsibility initiative had signed an MoU with INTACH for the preservation, restoration, renovation of the abandoned and neglected heritage structure. The original deadline for completing the project was April 2019.

The flood situation in Assam remained grim with incessant rain across several parts of the state inundating new areas even as nearly 1.2 lakh people were hit due to the deluge in 10 districts, an official bulletin said. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an ‘orange alert’ and predicted ‘very heavy’ to ‘extremely heavy’ rainfall across several districts of Assam over the next few days.

According to a flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 1,19,800 people are affected by the deluge in Baksa, Barpeta, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, Sonitpur and Udalguri districts.

The Brahmaputra River’s tributary Beki is flowing above the danger mark at three places, the ASDMA report pointed

Eight captive-bred pygmy hogs, the worlds smallest and rarest wild pigs, were released in the Manas of Assam. This is the 2nd batch to have been reintroduced into the wild under the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP) in a year.

Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP):

The PHCP is a collaboration amongst Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust of UK, Assam Forest Department, Wild Pig Specialist Group of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate-change”>Climate Change.

It is presently being carried out through NGOs – Aaranyak and Ecosystems India. Conservation of pygmy hog was initiated with the aid of cited naturalist Gerald Durrell and his trust in 1971.

The pygmy hog was added again from near-extinction by the PARTNERSHIP effort, and now transferring closer to the establishment of a Population throughout the entire range.

Six hogs have been captured from the Bansbari range of the Manas National Park in 1996 for beginning the breeding programme.

The reintroduction programme started in the year 2008 with the Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary, Orang National Park and Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary, all of them are in Assam.

By 2025, the PHCP plans to launch 60 pygmy hogs in Manas.

The Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL) has accomplished the Herculean task of layingAsias longest river crossing oil pipeline of bigger size (24-inch diameter and above), which is also the second longest in the world, connecting river island Majuli with Jorhat in upperAssam.
The IGGL said the laying of the hydrocarbon pipeline beneath the mighty and aggressive Brahmaputra by horizontal directional drilling (HDD) method was completed.

With the completion of the Brahmaputra HDD, the IGGL has achieved more that 71% physical progress of the North East Gas Grid (NEGG) project and we will be able to complete the Guwahati-Numaligarh section of the NEGG by February 2024.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while speaking at the ongoing State Assembly, said that child marriage will be eradicated from Assam completely by the year 2026. The minister further informed that a new Act against Child Marriage will be brought and a notification has been issued to empanel all gram panchayat secretaries in Assam as the child marriage prevention officers who will ensure the of child marriages, the protection of the victims as well as prosecution of the offenders by lodging First Information Reports.

Assam government launched the Mission for Prevention of Child Marriage in the state with a budget allocation of Rs 200 crore. The decision of the Assam government comes in the wake of thousands of arrests over child marriages in the state.

The Assam government will provide ration cards to 40 lakh people in April, cabinet ministerRanjeet Dasssaid.

The minister also said people have already started applying for the ration cards. He said many who have a government job or come from well-off families have come forward to surrender their ration cards following the state governments appeal.

The Assam government in December last year announced that with the help of the ration cards, consumers will be able to receive cashless medical benefits up to Rs 5 lakh per family at government or private hospitals across the country.

Researchers have come up with the alarming find thatAssamhas lost around 269 thousand hectares (2,690 sqkm) of tree cover area in the last two decades (2001 to 2020), which is close to twice the size of Delhi having an area of 1,484 sqkm.

This has resulted in a significant rise in the minimum and maximum temperatures and human-animal conflict in the state.

According to a report of satellite data analysed by researchers at the University of Maryland,Karbi Anglongtops the list by losing over 97 thousand hectares followed byDima Hasaoover 63.2 thousand hectares, Sonitpur 17.4 thousand hectares, Tinsukia 13.2 thousand hectares and Kokrajhar 10.4 thousand hectares.

The state lost its highest tree cover in 2016 (25.4 thousand hectares) followed by nearly 23 thousand hectares in 2014 and 18.3 thousand hectares in 2020. The tree cover in Assam was 35% in 2000, which was 2.75 million hectares.

Guwahati lost 1.02 thousand hectares of tree cover from 2001 to 2020. Pointing to the felling of over 300 trees for the construction of flyovers and roads in the capital city and its adjacent Palashbari area, Das said “development at the cost of Environment is worthless”.

TheAssamgovernment is set to conferAssam Baibhav, the states highest civilian award to industrialist and philanthropist Ratan NavalTata, though he will not be present in the glittering ceremony to be held in Guwahati.

Though Ratan Tata wont be present at the event, he is deeply touched by the state governments decision. Thank you for understanding my inability to personally receive the award at the function to be held in Guwahati on January 24th and for your willingness to present it to me at a later date in Mumbai, Tata wrote to Assam chief minister Himanta BiswaSarma.

Assam Finance Minister Ajanta Neog today told the Assam Legislative Assembly that the change in the special category status to Assam is just a change of nomenclature and the State has not suffered financially due to this. While replying to Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi’s question on the second day of the winter session of Assam Assembly today, the Minister stated that the State has been getting more grants from the Centre compared to the past.

During the 11th , the State got a grant of Rs 22,646.62 crore and now under 14th finance commission we have got Rs 1,81,228 crore. This issue is raised again and again by Akhil Gogoi both in the House and outside. I believe that with this clear answer, we must put this issue to rest.