ASSAM

In a major push under the Act East Policy, Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) signed an agreement with Hooghly Cochin Shipyard Ltd to build the first slipway or ship repairing facility on the banks of Brahmaputra river, thenationalwaterway-2, at Pandu here. The agreement was inked in presence of Union minister for ports, shipping and waterwaysSarbananda Sonowaland Asam chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarma.

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With technical support from the IIT-Madras, the facility will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 75 crore over 3.67 acres of land provided by the Assam government at Pandu and is expected to be completed by August 2023.

Sharing nearly 4,500 kilometres of International Border with neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, China and Myanmar, the region is strategically and economically crucial for being the gateway to the southeast Asian countries. Also, the regions connectivity with the other parts of the country by means of protracted modes of transport has become a thrust area for the government.

To include most of the hinterlands of the NE region, 20 waterways have been declared as national waterways, to provide access to Kolkata and Haldia .

The Centre has cleared the decks for a strategic tunnel under theBrahmaputrato transport soldiers to the LAC with China and bring about rapid development of the area with minimal disturbance to the environment.

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Assam chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said technical bids for preparation of the detailed project report for the proposed 35kmlong corridor between Gohpur and Numaligarh will be opened on July 4.

It will require Rs 6,000 crore for both road and train Communication through separate tunnels. PMNarendra Modihas already given his approval. God willing, we can start the construction work during my tenure as chief minister, Sarma said. The present distance from Numaligarh to Gohpur is about 220km and takes about six hours. The tunnel will reduce that to 33km and the time to half an hour.

The project, once completed, will provide relief to the existing traffic on NH37, located south of Kaziranga and Tiger Reserve. It will enhance national security by allowing DEFENCE personnel to be transported through the tunnel to Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China, and efficient transfer of bulk goods.

IIT Guwahati uses drones to deliver food, medicines to flood victims

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The Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-G), has used drones to reach out to the people trapped in the floodwaters in lowerAssam, with relief. Rainwater rolling down from the Bhutan Hills has caused untold damage to this region this monsoon and left thousands of marooned villagers without food and shelter.

The whole operation is being carried out by the Drones Tech Lab, a start-up atIITGuwahati, and students of the aeromodelling club of the institute with the help of the Kamrup District Administration since Friday. They have started the delivery of medicines and relief materials in Kamrup through drones as numerous villages in lower Assam, where IIT-G is located, have been cut off from the rest of the state for over a week now. Hundreds of people are still struggling for emergency needs.

Over the last one week, IIT-G conducted surveys and mapping of flood-affected areas surrounding Balisatra Chariali, near Kendukona village, one of the worst flood-hit locations. IIT-G said their drone technology will help in identifying stranded citizens during floods or other natural disasters such as Earthquakes and landslides in a very short time and provide real time information to disaster response authorities.

Assamneeds to move from making static master plans to strategic master plans for cities considering the rivers or water bodies as focal points in the planning process, director ofthe NationalInstitute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) HiteshVaidyasaid.

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Speaking at a training programme for urban planners on making river-sensitive master plans, Vaidya said non-strategic master plans have turned the five rivulets in Guwahati into sewage channels. Therefore, there is a need for action-oriented and strategic master plans for the cities so that the rivers can be covered.

It must be mentioned that Guwahati has five important rivulets and all of them are dying due to rapid encroachments and indiscriminate waste disposal. As many as 54 out of the 104 in the state have master plans but all are in the draft stage. Vaidya said, The plans implemented to date remained ineffective for some reasons. The demography as well as Geography have changed over the decades. Encroachment and lack of scientifically separate sewage channels have been stumbling blocks.

An institution thats given Assam 7 of its 15 CMs

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WhenHimanta Biswa Sarmais sworn-in asAssams 15th CM, he will be the seventh ex-student of northeasts premier Education institute, University(formerlyCotton College) to occupy the post of chief minister of the state.

Assams first premier in pre-Independence period, Saiyid Muhammad Saadulla, also studied at Cotton College, which was set up in 1901 by Sir Henry John Stedman Cotton, then chief commissioner of Assam. The college was upgraded to a university in 2017 by then education minister, who happens to be Himanta Biswa Sarma himself.

Like many other political figures of the state, erstwhile Cotton College was the nursery of the best political minds in the state and Sarma studied here from 1985 till his postgraduation in 1992.

Assam govt for removal of AFSPA from five districts: Himanta Biswa Sarma

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TheAssamgovernment was working to remove theArmed Forces Special Powers Actfrom five more districts as the law and order situation in the state had improved considerably during the last two years, Assam chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarmasaid.

The removal of theAFSPAfrom 60 percent of the state and signing of peace accords with several armed groups of the state has led to an of peace, the chief minister said while addressing a press conference to mark the completion of two years of his government.

The centre had removed AFSPA from April 1,2022 from the entire state of Assam barring nine districts and a sub-division of Cachar district and later it was removed from the Lakhipur sub-division and West Karbi Anglong district.
The state was declared a ‘disturbed area’ under AFSPA during the intervening night of November 27-28, 1990 and this was extended every six months since then.

Regular earthquakes in northern Assam’s Sonitpur region are caused by four causes, one of which is an unfamiliar lineament.

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Lineament is the linear feature in the landscape, determined by basic geological structures such as faults.

According to the Geological Survey of India (GSI), the Sonitpur area is located in a complex triangular area defined by the east-west Atherkhet fault, the northwest-southeast Kopili fault, and the north-south boundary.

Regular Earthquakes have been triggered by the two faults and the lineament, as well as the convergence of the Indian plate.

After the 6.4 earthquake on April 28 that destroyed many houses, bridges, and a river embankment, the National Centre of Seismology reported 29 earthquakes in Sonitpur with magnitudes ranging from 2.6 to 4.7.

Assam Baibhav award for Ratan Tata

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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 BiswaSarmain a letter.

Himanta urges ‘Assamese Muslims’ to find ways to control population, uplift community

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Calling the states indigenous Muslims as Assamese Muslims, chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarmaon Sunday asked members of the minority community to devise ways to rein in Population and prepare a roadmap to expedite welfare measures, including financial well-being and overall development of the community.

The meeting emphasized the need to protect and preserve the uniqueness of indigenous Assamese Muslims. However, in the broader landscape, it has been agreed that population explosion in some parts ofAssamhas been posing a real threat to the states development, more particularly in the economic front.

In order to achieve that goal, Sarma said it has been insisted upon that eight sub-groups be constituted to work on a range of issues Health, Education, population control, cultural identity, , Women Empowerment and Skill development.

Assam: Experts unhappy with Charaideo dossier for UNESCO tag

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TheAssamArchaeology Department has expedited the process of finalizing the dossier for theCharaideosite, the first capital of the Ahom Royals, to be sent to the Unesco for a world heritage tag.

Of the 31 king maidams or graves scattered in the Charaideo capital complex, only a dozen are being proposed for the heritage tag. The pyramid-style ancient graveyards have drawn researchers from all over the world to Assam. Conservation activists rued that the maidam of the founder of the dynasty, Chaolung Siu Ka Pha, has not been included in the dossier.

In 2021, the director of land records and survey, Assam, had completed the survey of a vast area, covering around 4,756 bighas, to be included in the dossier. It was planned to be sent for Unesco’s approval within a year.