ASSAM

The BJP-ledAssamgovernment has decided to set up an expert committe to examine whether polygamy can be banned in the state by a legislation to provide a major push for empowering Women as it steps into its third year.

Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on theeveof completion of second year in office, on Tuesday said the prevalence of the practice of polygamy, both formal and informal, was found to be high during the crackdown on child marriages since January last.

Polygamy is generally prohibited in all religious communities in India, except the Muslim community. Practising polygamy is an offence punishable under Section 494 and 495 of the IPC, except for the Muslim community, where Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 governs the law pertaining to marriage which allows it.

Assamese short film Xogun (Vulture), adapted from the much-acclaimed short story bearing the same name by noted writer-journalist Manoj Kumar Goswami and scripted and directed by national award winner Utpal Borpujari, has been selected for the 21stNew YorkIndian Film Festival (NYIFF).

Produced by IFT India, the film is among 58 feature films, documentaries and short films in 15 languages from across India to be selected for NYIFF, one of the most prestigious Indian film festivals globally, which will be held during June 4-15 virtually because of the pandemic.
Xogun had earlier won the Best Film award in the short film competition of the 13th Guwahati International Film Festival organised by the Gauhati Cine Club and was screened at the 14th Signs Festival in Thiruvanathapuram, considered among the most prestigious short film and documentary festivals in India.

In view of the impact of the floods in the state last year that left a tale huge loss in crops, property, animal and as well as human lives, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority has geared up its preparation with other departments to deal with the deluge as the pre-monsoon period has already begun in the state.
According to the ASDMA data, a total of 838 people died in the floods in the state during 2013-2022, of whom 181 died last year, which is the highest human death toll in floods in a year. A total of 160 human deaths were reported in 2017 while 122 in the Covid pandemic-hit 2020 and 102 in 2019.

Justifying the crackdown on child marriages in Assam, chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarma said not a single such incident has taken place in the state in the last one month.

The Assam government on February 3 started an intensedrive against child marriagesacross the state, registering over 4,000 cases. Till Tuesday, 3,145 people have been apprehended.

Observing that making a large number of arrests in thecrackdown on child marriagecreated “havoc in the private lives of people”, the Gauhati on February 14 said there was no need for custodial interrogation of the accused in such cases.

Assam capital Guwahati, the gateway to the northeast, might have crossed the peak of the third wave on January 18 and 19 when the overall daily positivity rate had surged beyond 20% inKamrup(Metro) that alone logged nearly 2,000 cases or one-fourth of the states total cases.

Health experts said the rate of infection has shown a continuous declining trend in the last five days here, indicating that the peak may be over. Even after uniform testing during mid-January, the highest 1,996 and 1,929 cases were detected in Kamrup (Metro) on January 18 and 19 respectively. The last 15 days have been most alarming so far as the third wave in the city is concerned. The positivity rate touched 10.12% on January 10, more than double of the states positivity rate of 4.49% on the same day, which set alarm bells in thestate health department. At an uneven trend, the positivity rate continued to hit worrying figures for the next one week and shot up to 20.62% on January 18, followed by 20.17% on January 19.

The Kamatapur Liberation Organization (KLO), which was active in western part ofAssamandNorth Bengaland once an ally of Ulfa in Bhutan and Myanmar, has expressed interest in peace talks with the government.

CM Himanta Biswa Sarmain tweet said, ” In continuation with Govt of India’s efforts to bring lasting peace in the region, I welcome the desire of KLO Leadership to join mainstream at an early date to resolve all issues through political dialogues. Govt of Assam would fully reciprocate this goodwill measure.”

The KLO was born in 1995 for an armed struggle for a separate Kamtapur carved out of adjoining parts of Assam and West Bengal. Singha, who is believed to be in Myanmar, was booked by West Bengal Police last April under UAPA for allegedly terming chief ministerMamata Banerjeean “outsider.”

Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari announced on Twitter that a new rail-cum-road bridge across the Brahmaputra, near the existing Saraighat bridge in Guwahati, has been approved at a cost of over Rs 900 crore under PM Gati Shakti national master plan for multi-modal connectivity.

This new bridge will be constructed on the upstream of the historic Saraighat bridge, the first bridge built over the Brahmaputra.

As hazy skies are back to haunt the state capital, the city’s air quality dipped to the “moderate” category, which causes breathing discomfort to people with lungs, asthma and heart diseases, with a steady reduction in ambient temperature and lack of rain.

After a few months of blue skies and clean air quality index (AQI), PM 2.5 pollutants stood at 144, which was 88 barely one week ago, the national air quality index of the Central Pollution Control Board stated.

The prominent pollutant is PM2.5 and the peak level of PM2.5, tiny particulate matter of diameter 2.5 microns or less than 2.5 microns – that can enter deep into the lungs – was 271 on Wednesday morning(10 am) contrary to the Average 144 during the day.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered “good”, 51-100 “satisfactory”, 101-200 “moderate”, 201-300 “poor”, 301-400 “very poor”, and 401-500 “severe”. Above 500 AQI is “severe-plus emergency” category.

The variation in AQI values is primarily due to variation in PM 2.5 values, which are seasonal weather characteristics.

The air quality may further deteriorate in the coming days due to the bursting of crackers as every year,Diwalinight pushes the city’s ambient air to dangerous levels which lead to winter pollution.

Last year, Guwahati’s air quality index had dipped to “severe” category with bursting of firecrackers on Diwali and a day after, despite a “complete ban” by the authorities. The average air quality index in Guwahati was 454 – the worst in the last season.

TheAssam governmentmay regulate all theprivate madrassasin the state under an existing Act,Education Minister Ranoj Pegusaid. The proposal is making rounds in the wake of the arrests of severalmadrassa teachersfor their alleged links with terror outfits.

The government is gradually taking steps to bring all the non-governmental educational institutions under this existing Act for their regulation and monitoring, the minister said.