ASSAM

According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21) published earlier this year, 25% of Women aged 18-29 marry before reaching the legal minimum age of marriage, while the Percentage of women marrying before the legal minimum age is 32% in Assam. The prevalence of anaemia among women is 60% or more in eight Indian states and Assam, along with Tripura, comes under this category.

The Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) is collaborating with the Australia India Water Centre and the Western Sydney University to support water management reforms in India.

With the aim to provide a structured platform for capacity building with strategic and long-term to support water management reforms in India, the ‘India Young Water Professional Programme’ has been launched.

The objective of the programme will be to equip water professionals with necessary skills, knowledge, behaviours and networks that will better enable them to contribute to the development and management of Resources“>Water Resources in India and address the competency needs and priorities of the water sector.

Mizoram and Nagaland have the two lowest infant mortality rates (IMR) in the country with three and four deaths per 1,000 live births of babies under the age of one year respectively, while progressive reduction has pushed the rate in Assam for the first time below the 40-point mark to 36, a decline of whopping 11 points in five years since 2015.

According to Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2020 released on Thursday, the maximum IMR has been observed inMadhya Pradesh(43).

The Percentage of neo-natal deaths to total infant deaths is 71.9% at the national level and among the bigger states, Odisha (77.7%) registered the highest percentage of neo-natal deaths to infant deaths and Assam the lowest (53.0%).

Among the other northeastern states, the IMR in Manipur is six, same as that ofKerala, according to the survey. The IMR of Meghalaya is 29 followed by 21 in Arunachal Pradesh and 18 in Tripura.

The IMR for the country has come down to 28 in 2020 from 37 in 2015, a decline of nine points during the period and an annual Average decline of about 1.8 points. Over 2019, the IMR in 2020 has registered a two-point decline.

The percent change in average IMR in Assam between 2008-10 and 2018-20 is more than 50% in the states urban areas, the report said. The sex ratio at birth for the country has gone up by three points to 907 in 2018-20 from 904 in 2017-19, with Kerala reporting the highest (974) and Uttarakhand the lowest (844).

With an overall score of 529.84 points out of 1000, Assam University Silchar has improved its rank and secured 12th position among the top 25 central universities in the country in the Outlook-ICARE India university rankings 2021. In the rankings issued by Outlook in 2020, Assam University Silchar was placed 15th among the top 25 central universities with an overall score of 500.13 points.

Vice-chancellor Prof Dilip Chandra Nath said, “Despite manifold hindrances including geographical and financial we are improving every day. This year, we have scored 225.78 points in the Academic and Research Excellence and 115.91 points in Interface and Placement and 71.93 points in Infrastructure and facilities. In Governance and Extension, our score is 78.54 points. But our area of concern remains in the diversity and outreach parameter in which we could score merely 37.68 points on which we are looking to address.

The areas where the cases are being reported from have been earmarked, he said, except in Guwahati. In Guwahati there is a constant movement of people at airport and RAILWAY stations where people have been testing positive. But in rural districts, the focused areas are well marked and put under containment. Infections are being tested mostly in the containment zones, Choudhury added.

During the second wave, 7,900 locations were turned into micro-containment zones in the state, but the number of active micro-containment zones has drastically reduced. At least 50% of these micro-containment zones are in the five districts which are under curfew, he said.

Cachar district ofAssamhas bagged the award for excellence in various fields of Health Services among 33 communities of the state in theSwasthya Seva Utsav, which was held recently as per the guidelines ofGunotsavof the Education department.

Cachar has the highest number of grade ‘A’ hospitals. Twenty-two government hospitals in the district have been adjudged grade A .
Nalbaridistrict holds the second position on the list. Twenty-two hospitals in Nalbari have also secured seats of excellence. However, their position is much lower than that of the Cachar district hospitals, reports BB Goswami.

Assam government recently decided to upgrade its 34 state polytechnics and 43 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) into Centres of Excellence (CoEs). This will help in imparting the advanced skills to students and build a support system to make the state a hub for technology and industrial Growth.

Polytechnics and ITIs in other states are following the trend, to offer diploma courses that will help them find a job in Industry 4.0.

The up-gradation will bring upscaling of technical competencies, says Hanif Noorani, additional chief secretary at Skill, EMPLOYMENT and Entrepreneurship Department of Assam Skill development Mission (ASDM).

For skill development among students at a large scale, polytechnics, and ITIs play a crucial role as more than 90% of Learning happens through practical training. Mohanty says, Training in a specialized skill is the fulcrum of vocational Education and acquisition of such skills requires industrial exposure offered through industrial labs run at polytechnics and ITIs. We need to leave aside outdated technologies and stay updated with industry trends and align training to students through industry collaborations

The officer in-charges of Police stations acrossAssamhave been directed to adopt a “zero Tolerance” policy while dealing withcrimes against Women.

Chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarma, while addressing the first-ever conference with the officers in-charge (OCs) of all police stations on “redefining policing standards in Assam”, directed the OCs to file chargesheets in all rape, molestation, assault, murder, arms and drugs smuggling cases at the earliest for speedy trial.

He also directed the OCs to collect post mortem reports expeditiously while saying that range DIGs would ensure post mortem report collection as soon as possible. “Steps have to be taken to send samples for testing at forensic labs outside the state for minimising delay as the only forensic lab in Guwahati is not sufficient,” he said.

The countrys biggest “detention centre”, now renamed “transit camp” for a human touch at Matia in lowerAssamsGoalparadistrict, has become operational with the first batch of inmates being shifted to the newly built facility from another transit camp at the Goalpara district jail on Friday. The transit camp was built at a cost of around Rs 64 crore.

Official sources in the prison department said that altogether there are around 219 “declared foreigners” lodged in all the transit camps in Assam, including the standalone transit camp in Matia.

AsAssamcontinued to feel aftershocks after last weeksearthquake,IIT-Guwahatihas said seismic microzonation of urban areas should be carried out and the earthquake-resistant design must be strictly enforced in the state as it comes under zone 5, the seismic risk in the present day situation is very high, and the degree of damage due to both primary and secondary effects with multiple hazards taking place simultaneously, would be very high.
Seismic microzoning provides detailed information on earthquake hazards on a much larger scale.

On being informed about Japans success in developing an early warning system for Earthquakes, Sonowal directed for exploring opportunities to tie-up with Japan in bringing such technologies to the state.