The Assam cabinet gave its go-ahead to the Police to continue the crackdown on child marriages, but decided to form a cabinet sub-committee for exploring ways to rehabilitate the victim girls.
The committee will submit a report, based on which the will take steps on rehabilitation of such victims.
The sub-committee comprises Health minister Keshab Mahanta, Education minister Ranoj Pegu and finance minister Ajanta Neog.
The Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport inAssam‘s Guwahati, the biggest airport in the northeast, has won The Voice of the Customer award from the Council International(ACI).
The airport was awarded for demonstrating relentless efforts in gathering passenger feedback on customer needs in 2021 and providing the best-in-class travel experience.
“This initiative recognizes airports that continued to prioritize their customers and remained committed to ensuring that their voice was heard during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in 2021,” said Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general of ACI World in a letter toRajeev Kumar Jain, CEO Airports,Adani.
The maintenance of the LGBI Airport is being done by Adani Airport Holding Limited (AAHL) since last year.
The outbreak of Bohag marked the beginning of Rongali . Rongali Bihu is one of the three most important festivals in Assam. Kati Bihu and Kongali Bihu are the two other festivals.
During Rongali Bihu, many migratory birds who visited Assam and its surrounding areas in winter began to fly Home.
The main findings of the 2020 State of Birds Report:
In India, 50% of the 867 bird species have decreased in Population. Since 2000, the number of birds in the Western Ghats has fallen by 75%.
There are approximately 101 bird species in India that fall into the category of “high attention”, of which 442 are in the category of “low attention” and 319 are in the category of “moderate attention.”
The population of sparrows is stable. However, in major cities, their population is decreasing. The sparrow has been declared the “National Bird of Delhi”.
The number of sparrows in cities is declining, mainly due to the decline in the number of insects.
Mixed races in India are facing a severe population decline. The big Indian Bus, Macqueens Bustard and Bengal Florican are all suffering from population decline.
A solution to the hawkers issue in the city seems to be shrouded in uncertainty as urban affairs minister Ashok Singhal said there is no land to create specific vending zones inside the densely populated city.
He said vending zones can be created on the outskirts of the city. Will the street vendors go there? Definitely not. The matter is under consideration. We have to find a middle path to solve the issue, he added.
Creation of vending zones for hawkers and a survey of such traders in the city have been a long-pending demand of the All Assam Street Vendors Association (AASVA).
To support and strengthen the financing ecosystem/mechanisms in the agricultural domain of the State APART has established the first of its kind initiative, the Assam AgriFin “Xamahar”. Xamahar is a competitive funding mechanism for supporting innovative approaches to deliver financial Services, at a scale in the agribusiness sector in the state of Assam. This fund has been conceptualised by the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART), a -financed project of the Assam Government under ARIAS Society.
Through this initiative, the project intends to partner with select 8 to 12 sub-projects from the financial services sector directly benefiting 125,000 beneficiaries of which 30% will be Women.
Assam Chief MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarmaon Sunday asserted that the Rs 1,000 crore-Assam Skill University will upskill youths of Northeast. Performing ‘bhumi pujan’ for the institute at Darrang district headquarters Mangaldai, around 70 km from Guwahati, Sarma said that the institute will harness the demographic dividend of Assam, which has a very young Population.
“The Rs 1,000-crore institute will have multiple schools and centres of excellence that will play a huge role in upskilling the youths in Northeast. The university will have various campuses across Assam,” he said.
Sarma said a target has been set to complete the construction of the entire campus by August 2025 but an interim complex is expected to start functioning from 2024 itself.
The skill university, first-of-its-kind in Assam and third such institute in the country, will impart Education for Skill development in different sectors such as and innovation, life skills and languages, and design and creativity, through its various schools and courses.
It is being partially funded by the Asian Development Bank.
Faced with an uncertain future in view of the prevailing Covid-19 in the state, 30 out of 35 mobiletheatregroups have decided not to stage plays for another year despite the Health departments nod to begin rehearsals.
Four theatre groups registered under the association Abahan, Itihax, Bhagyadebi and Nayantora, and one theatre group outside the association Udayan have decided to take a chance, Banking on the government allowing fully vaccinated people to attend the shows.
Usually, the pre-production work of mobile theatre groups begin in May and June. Rehearsals of the plays start in July and the groups finally go for shows from September and the journey ends in April next year.
The budget of a mobile theatre group for a year ranges from Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 3 crore.
The Assam cabinet took several key decisions, including approval to sell liquor through online platform inGuwahati (GMC) areas amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The cabinet also decided to merge the Guwahati development department and urban development department to constitute the housing and urban affairs department on the lines of the Union ministry with similar nomenclature. This, Mahanta said, will help in smooth flow of funds from the Centre for urban development.
“Rukni Part-IV has been found with nochild marriagecases in the past two years. It’s a good job by the Cachar District Administration, Police department and social welfare department for making it possible by creating awareness among the people of the locality. I also thank the villagers for their sense of consciousness and response to the government initiative,” said Assam minister for excise, and transport Parimal Suklabaidya.
Assamchief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarmaannounced that the Raimona reserve forest in Kokrajhar under the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), bordering Bhutan, has been upgraded as the sixth of the state.
Announcing this on the occasion ofWorld Environment Dayhere, the chief minister said that with the new addition, the state now has sixnational parks.
The process to convert Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary into a national park is also under progress, he said.
The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 says whenever it appears to the State Government that an area, whether within a sanctuary or not, is, by reason of its ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological or zoological association or importance,needed to be constituted as a national park for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wild life therein or its environment.
The other five national parks in Assam are- Kaziranga, Manas, Nameri, Orang and Dibru-Saikhowa.
The Raimona national park falls under BTR’s Kokrajhar district and is a part of contiguous forest patch with an area of 422 square km covering the northern part of the notified Ripu Reserve Forest which forms the westernmost buffer to Manas Tiger Reserve in the foothills of Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity Hotspot.
The new national park Shares contiguous forest patches of Phipsoo Wildlife Sanctuary and Jigme Singye Wangchuk National Park in Bhutan (total area of 1,9 creating a transboundary conservation landscape of more than 2,400 square km.