Army to restore peace and mutual trust

From our Correspondent
MANGALDAI, Aug 9: Mirzanur Rahman, general secretary and Saiful Islam, assistant general secretary of Darrang district committee of All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) were among thousands of panic gripped people to spend many a sleepless nights during the last group clash that took place in parts of Darrang and Udalguri districts rendering thousands of people of Bodo and Muslim communities homeless which had compelled them to lose faith on their Bodo brothers. So is the case with Ransai Boro, Games Secretary of Bhakatpara Anchalik Committee of All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) and thousands of people belonging to Bodo community. Though the administration has been taking some positive and effective steps to restore the normalcy and to bring back the peaceful environment of mutual belief and fraternity between both the effected communities, yet a feeling of misunderstanding and mistrust has still been gripping the minds of the peace loving common people of both the communities.
The troops of the Red Horns Division operating in the parts of Darrang and Udalguri districts who played a key role in containing the group clashes and to restore the normalcy in the effected areas with the co-operation from all circles, reiterating their commitment towards the society has again taken up a noble initiative to bring and unite the people of both the communities in one field under ‘Operation Sadbhavana’.  And accordingly Mirzanur, Saiful and Ransai Boro along with their colleagues on August 8 appeared in a battle field to spread the message of peace, amity and friendship and the volley ball ground of Pacchim Sherpur Primary School of trouble torn Bhakatpara area in Darrang district has been transformed into a battle ground which was witnessed by hundreds of enthusiastic villagers belonging to both the communities, leaders of both the students’ organizations and a number of mediapersons. All the players of Bhakatpara Anchalik Committee of ABSU and Darrang district committee of AAMSU took part in the friendly volley ball match with tremendous enthusiasm and zeal. Later, though the ABSU team won the match defeating the AAMSU by 4-1, yet all the players were not seemed to be concerned over the result of the match, but they were concerned in spreading the message of peace, amity, friendship and the feeling of mutual trust and confidence. Col Ajit Kr Bora and Udalguri Additional Deputy Commissioner Prashanta Kr Mahanta at the end of the match gave away the Champions trophy and the Runners up trophy to both the teams. All section of the society in Bhakatpara has lauded the initiative of the Army to bring back the normalcy at this hour of crisis.

Goan Panchayat Divas observed

From our Staff Correspondent
TINSUKIA, Aug 9: The district administration, Tinsukia observed the GP Divas on Thursday last at Duwarmara GP and Dighalipathar under Kakapathar Development Block in two very remote areas of the district. Hemanta Kr Das, Addl. Deputy Commissioner, Tinsukia and VN Phookan, ACS, Addl. Deputy Commissioner, Tinsukia, attended the GP Divas meetings respectively along with other heads of departments.
People participated in large numbers in both the meetings. Both the ADCs asked the departmental heads of the respective departments to let the public know about the schemes, which are being implemented in the GP. Accordingly, they apprised the public about the various schemes which are being implemented by the respective departments.
Dr Sadhana Dutta, Chief Medical & Health Officer, Tinsukia apprised the public about the programmes of Health Department. Specially, she apprised the people on two programmes namely– malaria and TB diseases and she requested the needy people to avail the required medical facilities free of cost under these programmes.
PP Boiragi, ACS, Circle Officer, Marhgerita Revenue Circle apprised the public on the procedures for getting Government land by the landless people, conversion of land, receipt of periodic patta, etc. matters. He informed the public that, they could feel free to approach him for any land related matters. He, however, requested the public to submit petition for any land related matters through the concerned Gaon Burah, so that he could take immediate action on the petitions. It may be mentioned here that, 26 nos. of mutation cases have been done at Dighalipathar in the venue of the meeting by the LR staff of Margherita Revenue Circle and 12 applications for conversion from AP to PP have also been received.
A medical camp was also organized in the office premises of Duwarmara GP office by Oil India Limited, Duliajan as per request of the people of the area. A large number of people availed the free medical services and free medicines distributed by the medical team of Oil India Limited, Duliajan. 73 blood tests are done through RDK (Rapid Detection Kits) at the venue of the meeting for detection of PF malaria and 366 nos. of bed nets were impregnated through Kotherine solution. Another medical camp was organized at Dighalipathar through the NRHM, Tinsukia, where more than 600 people availed the medical facilities with free medicines.
Bimal Borgohain, Backward Area Development Cell, DC office, Tinsukia, requested the public to extend help and co-operation to the Government officials for successful implementation of the various schemes in their areas.
People of both areas thanked the officials of different head of the departments, specially the officials from the district administration for attending the meetings and apprising the public on various schemes of the State Government.

Disease free Independence Day

From our Staff Correspondent
TINSUKIA, Aug 9: The region of upper Asom has been suffering the torments of terrorism for a long time. This has resulted in poor infrastructure development in the region leading to poor medical facilities in the hinter land. In order to reach out to the people in hinter land and to provide them basic medical facilities, 18 JAT under the aegis of DAH Division is conducting a series of medical camps at Dibrugarh district as part of ‘Operation Juga Jug’.
The medical camps were conducted at Madhopur Nepali Gaon and Tinisukhia Gaon on August 8 and 9. More than 450 patients attended the camps held by Regimental Medical Officer who extended the medical services to the people of the village at their doorsteps.

GRIEF & U distributes grant amongst beneficiaries

GUWAHATI, Aug 9: Guwahati Refinery’ians Initiative to Empower Forlorn & Underprivileged, GRIEF & U, in short, in it’s annual grant distribution meeting held on August 8, at the Training centre of Guwahati Refinery, distributed financial grants among the poor but meritorious students from the vicinity. Grief & U has been giving coaching to eight students from class VIII standard up to matriculation from four schools, besides giving lump sum grant to eleven students whom the organization had been supporting even after HSLC completion. Besides financial grants, orphanage students from Sishu Mangal Kendra were given sports materials and musical instruments to Kalayan Jyoti Kala Kendra. Moloy Baruah, working president had given the welcome address while Dr BP Sarma, president, narrated the activities of the organization in the recent past. Grant cheques were distributed by AC Mishra, DGM (T) and SK Patra, DGM (Project) and Dr BP Sarma, DGM (Medical) of the Refinery. Dr Jita K Kotoky and Krishna Mukherjee also distributed some items to the students while sports items were handed over by M Baruah, working president. Jagadish Sarma, one of the founder and adviser to the organization shared his thoughts and narrated how the idea sprang to constitute such a benevolent organization. It is worth mentioning here that, Guwahati Refinery’ians contribute a considerable amount to the GRIEF & U fund every month which is disseminated to the downtrodden members of the society from time to time. Binita Brahma, vice-president of Education Cell had conducted the proceedings and Padmashri Sarma offered the vote of thanks. This was stated in a press release.

The book was all but lost to the world

From our Staff Reporter
DIBRUGARH, Aug 9: The book was all but lost to the world. It was only during their search for Asomiya books across the world that the Jatiya Siksha Samannay Parishad (JSSP) stumbled upon the fact that an extant copy of the first Anglo-Assamese dictionary compiled by a student of Cotton College and published way back in 1910 was in the British Library. It was after another search that they found another copy of it in Dibrugarh.
Few know that it was Makhan Lal Chaliha of Chiring Chapori, who put together the first Anglo-Assamese dictionary almost a century back. The fact would have remained relegated to the pages of history but for the project of compiling a comprehensive Assamese National Dictionary by the Parishad. The State came to know only then about the stupendous feat of a college student who went on to become a lawyer.  
The Parishad’s plan to download the pages of Anglo-Assamese dictionary of Makhan Lal Chaliha had to be abandoned after the British Library quoted an astronomical sum for it. The Chief Editor of the present project, Dr Debabrata Sharma, then turned his attention to tracing out the family members of Chaliha and sought out his second son, Bani Prasad Chaliha, the former Director of Regional Research Laboratory in Jorhat. However, he did not have any copy of the dictionary but made the suggestion of engaging the help of Minati Chaliha, the wife of his deceased younger brother, Kamakhya Prasad Chaliha. Finally, a copy of the dictionary was found in her possession, kept safely in her worship place.
In the process, the achievement of the son of Durga Dutta Chaliha finally gained the recognition it deserved. The keen learner of English was spurred to take up the project after he felt a great need for it. The young student had to rely on an Anglo-Bengali dictionary to understand the meanings of words. After completing his schooling in Dibrugarh and while studying in Cotton College, he expressed his wish to his Principal, Prof FW Sudmerson, who encouraged him. After his intermediate examination, Chaliha returned to Dibrugarh and took up the task in earnest. Scarcity of books came as a stumbling block but he managed to collect some English and Anglo-Bengali dictionaries. He even put his plans to pursue higher studies after passing his intermediate in the backburner to devote his attention to the self appointed task. Under the guidance of Prof Sudmerson, the former student of the then Dibrugarh Government High School and now Government Higher Secondary School managed to complete the task in 1909 after putting in two years of effort. Chaliha ran into the problem of finding a publisher for it.  Nandeswar Chakraborty, the owner of ‘The Agency Company’, a publishing firm, stepped forward to fulfil that role. He decided to print the dictionary in his printing press, ‘Sadasiva Press’. When it hit the market, it won the praises of people like NL Halward, the Director of Public Instructor for Eastern Bengal and Asom, and A Majid, the District and Session Judge and fellow of Calcutta University. The lexicographer saw the scope of improving upon the dictionary later and his brother, Mukta Lal Kath Barua, the Superintendent of Normal School in Jorhat, who revised and enlarged it later. Several editions of the dictionary came out till 1948. The first compiler of the Anglo-Assamese dictionary died at the age of 75 in 1962.
A treasure of the Asomiya community remained preserved for the foresight shown by Minati Chaliha, a resident of Milannagar. She ensured that the book remained safe and made her son Bhargav and daughter Meghna realize its value as children. The daughter-in-law of the lexicographer revealed that her husband had handed her the dictionary and two other books written by Makhan Lal Chaliha after their marriage in 1970 and asked her to keep them safe. “I knew that the dictionary was precious and handled it with the same care that we do with religious books”, she added. Minati Chaliha said that, she had tried but never found the platform to bring the dictionary to focus. A few months back, Dr Bedabrata Sharma came inquiring about the book and she was finally able to reveal to the world the book’s existence.

Delay of sanitation programme
From our Correspondent
JORHAT, Aug 9: At a time when the State Government as well as the Centre emphasized on the development of all sides in the State with their much touted claims like ‘Sanitation for all by 2012’, ‘Health for all by 2012’, ‘Education for all by 2010’, but in reality it turns to a mockery of truth in many such development schemes particularly in the sanitation programme in Jorhat district. According to the information, in the Chief Minister’s home district Jorhat, the total sanitation programme is keeping in progress only in name, as to why more than 1,547 schools and 54,509 households are still out of total sanitation programme in the district so far. The district administration of Jorhat has called an urgent meeting on August 6, regarding the delayed progress of the said project where all the officials, MLAs, GP presidents, AP members, SDOs and other members participated. It may be mentioned here that, the district administration of Jorhat has taken up the total sanitation programme in 2002 in 110 Gaon Panchayat (GP) areas comprising eight development blocks in the district. A number of village-level water and sanitation committees were also formed in the villages with concerned Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) as member secretary, GP president as president and a Junior Engineer (JE) as technical member. But surprisingly, after completion of seven years of the project launched in the district, the people have yet to witness any notable progress till date. According to the information received from Public Health and Engineering Department, Jorhat district, only 25 schools out of 585 in Majuli Development Block, 99 schools out of 278 schools in Central Jorhat Development Block, 51 schools out of 292 in Titabor Development Block, 84 schools out of 251 in North West Development Block, 49 schools out of 278 in East Jorhat Development Block and 145 schools out of 323 in Jorhat Development Block have completed the sanitation programme so far. However, sources also said that, the works of another 793 schools are going on. Meanwhile, the tale is the same in case of individual household latrines where more than one third Below Poverty Line (BPL) families of the district are still far from this project. Although 65,070 household were proposed for this project but only 10,561 households are benefited till date. Therefore, it turns to a serious cause for concern about the delayed progress of the project and people expressed their strong resentment over the matter. “Though we have heard that, the Government will provide total sanitation for the BPL families like us, but it is too far from us due to some unknown reason”, a villager of Jhanjimukh GP under Kaliapani Development Block said. Meanwhile, when contacted S Boruah, Executive Engineer, PHE Jorhat division said that, there are many problems to carry on the project. He also blamed it to the erroneous BPL list and the changes of Government policies in this regard. On the other hand, another source pointed out the delay of providing utilization certificate to the Government as the main cause for the interruption of the project. Therefore, the people of the district vehemently criticized the indifferent attitudes of the PHC officials and the district administration for the failure of this project and urged them to take effective measures for the immediate fulfilment of the project.


Railway section officer kidnapped
From our Correspondent
ROWTA CHARIALI, Aug 9: Senior Section Engineer (P way) officer of Rangapara North (RPAN), NF Railway under Rangiya Division Sanjay Lama, was kidnapped by three unidentified bike borne gun men in broad day light around 11.30 am yesterday from Dhekiajuli road in Sonitpur district under Dhekiajuli, the reliable sources said. The sources added that RPF group was present at DKJR Station just around 300 metre at the time of being kidnapped. A combing operation is launched to nab the culprits. The kidnapping took place where a repairing construction was going on at BR. No. 255, recently flood water breaching the bridge. Due to this breached bridge, the rail communication from Rangiya to Rangapara was cut off for the last four days. But for passenger communication facilities, Train No. 759 up and 760 DN Passenger were running from Rangiya to Rowta Bagan and Rowta to Rangiya respectively. The sources said that, NF Railway GM, Ausotosh Swami visited the breached site along with top railway officer yesterday. The GM reached the site just after 40 minutes of the kidnapping of the SSE officer.


Water supply scheme inaugurated
From our Correspondent
JHANJI, Aug 9: Public Health and Engineering Minister Rihon Daimary inaugurated a Rs 38 lakh water supply scheme at Dhanekhuwa near Gaurisagar under Sivasagar division yesterday. Inaugurating the water supply scheme, Dairmary emphasized the lack of preservation for which these schemes easily fails. He appealed the public to regard the Government properties as their own property for its longevity. The minister also pointed out that, more than 550 such schemes has been non-functioning in Asom. The meeting was also addressed by former Transport Minister Anjan Dutta and Sivasagar Deputy Commissioner NM Hussain. The function was chaired by Hemo Gogoi, chairman, Sivasagar Zilla Parishad. The scheme will benefit more than 3,000 people in the area.

OBITUARY

Arun Kumar Dey
Noted trade union leader, social activist and sportsman of Tezpur Arun Kumar Dey (72), died at Kolkata on August 6, due to prolonged illness, informed family sources here. According to delayed news, late Dey died on August 6 at about 6 pm in a Government hospital, Kolkata, were he was undergoing treatment for bone related problem.
He is survived by his wife and two sons. His death was widely condoled by different trade unions including Tezpur unit of Bank Staff Association.

Asom Xahitya Xabha president felicitated

From a Correspondent
HOWRAGHAT, Aug 9: Asom Xahitya Xabha president Rongbong Terang was felicitated by local vernacular newspaper Dainik Karbi and 37 other social organizations at Bakalia Karbi Club recently.
The felicitation function was organized by the Dainik Karbi group and was presided over by Managing Director Sum Ronghang. Noted writer, critic and novelist Homen Borgohain also attended the function as a chief guest.
Addressing the occasion, Terang said, ‘‘The people of Asom had always trusted the State’s largest literary body. Leading such a prestigious organization had been a challenge for me’’. Terang also expressed his enthusiasm over reassembling the eight states of North East into a single literary platform to safeguard the culture and literature of every community. Chief Guest Homen Borgohain lauded the activities undertaken by the Asom Xahitya Xabha. He also praised the Managing Director of Dainik Karbi, Sum Ronghang for playing such a pro-active role in the district. 

Silchar team wins all India chorus competition

From Our Staff Reporter
SILCHAR, Aug 9: Silchar once again proves its talent in the field of music with Wisdom Academy winning the first prizes in the Bengali and Asomiya categories of All India Chorus Competition held in Delhi recently. The competition was organized by New Delhi-Bengal Association in assistance with the Ministry of Human Resources Department to commemorate the forthcoming Independence Day celebrations. Wisdom Academy won in the Bengali and Asomiya categories.
SMILE, a cultural organization which had sponsored the Wisdom Academy, felicitated the winning team. Deputy Commissioner of Silchar Gautam Ganguly was also present in the felicitation function. Altogether, 31 teams from states like West Bengal, Tripura, Jharkand etc participated in the competition.

Youth drowns in Baluchori river

From our Staff Reporter
SILCHAR, Aug 9: A dead body was recovered by the police from the Baluchori river in Cachar district recently. The victim was identified as Ramprasad Koramadi (30) of Nayabil, under Dholai Police Station.
According to sources, the victim drowned while attempting to cross the river in order to reach home. People generally cross the river on foot as the water level is knee-deep. But due to incessant rainfall in the area in the last few days, the water level drastically came up. The strong river current swept Ramprasad and eventually led to his death. The body has been sent for post mortem
Meanwhile, the residents have complained that even after repeated appeals to the District administration and political authorities of Cachar district, no step has been taken so far to construct a bridge over the Baluchori river. Following the incident, the residents of the area have demanded the district authorities to immediately build a foot bridge, sources said.

Move to demolish 145-year- old treasury building opposed

From our Correspondent
MANGALDAI, Aug 9: Citizens and various organizations strongly condemned and opposed the State Government’s proposal to demolish the 145-year-old Treasury building at Mangaldai in Darrang district. The treasury building at Mangaldai was constructed in 1852, during the early days of the British rule. The building also finds a mention in the report ‘Province of Assam’ prepared by AJ Moftatt Mills.
Meanwhile, 12 practising advocates of the Mangaldai Bar Association (MBA) led by Advocate Jayanta Deka, have submitted a petition to the Deputy Commissioner of Darrang opposing the State Government’s move to demolish the building on the grounds that the treasury building is the oldest in the district and such buildings are the albums of past architecture. They also referred to Article 51(A) (f) of the Indian Constitution which states that it is the duty of every citizen to preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture. They said the old treasury building is an indispensable part of our heritage and hence it should be preserved at any cost.
The signatories of the petition also referred to the provision for protecting such old buildings under Section 3 of the Assam Ancient Monument and Records Act, 1959, and demanded that efforts should made to tag the building as an ancient monument.
The protesting lawyers have also sent copies of the petition to the Chairperson of Committee on Petition of Assam Legislative Assembly, the Chairperson of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, New Delhi and the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, seeking their interference on the matter.
Meanwhile, various other organizations like Mangaldai Nagarik Sanstha, Darrang district unit of AASU and AJYCP, Media Circle and a good number of citizens of Mangaldai have also extended their support to the cause.

ICWE initiates entrepreneurs development programme

From our Correspondent
UDALGURI, Aug 9: The Integrated Congress of Women Entrepreneurs (ICWE) has stepped up its activities in BTAD area. ICWE will open an office at Udalguri and a fashion designing training centre at Golmagaon Chowk.
Addressing the media in Udalguri, National president of ICWE, Sushma Joiya said, ‘‘Entrepreneurship development programme is essential for the Industrial development. There are no industries in the entire BTAD region and the unemployment is at large. Due to insurgency, the region lacks in industrial development. The people here get no opportunity to earn and if their daily needs are not fulfilled, they are compelled to indulge in destructive activities. Therefore if the people are ready to extend their support, we will try to help them by training them in different skills’’.
 There is a necessity of an industrial development authority in Bodoland region to enhance entrepreneurship development in the region, she said.

‘Nagaon will soon be a tourist destination’

From our Correspondent
NAGAON, Aug 9: Nagaon is all set to become a tourist destination. This has been stated by State Minister of Tourism Rockybul Hussain recently. Speaking to The Sentinel, the Minister said a number of projects are underway to transform the district to a popular tourist destination.
The Minister said, ‘‘Apart from developing the vaisnavite pilgrimage – Batadrava, the birth place of Mahapurush Sankardeva and the Patekibori Than will also be converted to tourist spots in order to attract huge number of foreign tourists visiting the State’’. The public, at large, has lauded this move by the Tourism Ministry.

More than 300 students fall ill

From our Correspondent
MANGALDAI, Aug 9: In a tragic incident, more than 300 students of Barampur Higher Secondary School seriously fell ill after consuming contaminated grams on the ocassion of Freshmen Social in their school on August 8 in Darrang district .
Grams were distributed among all the students and teachers on the ocassion. Most of the students even took it home. All the students, teachers and their family members fell ill this morning, with complaints of high fever, vomiting and acute pain in the stomach. Following this news, panic gripped the entire area of Barampur.
More than 100 students including minor girls have been admitted to the Mangaldai Civil Hospital. Other effected students and guardians have been admitted in the First Referral Unit (FRU) in Sipajhar.
It has been suspected that the grams purchased from a shop at Deomornoi were adulterated. However, no casualty has been reported so far. The doctors in the Mangaldai Civil Hospital have rendered prompt medical treatment to the effected students.
All the guardians and the conscious citizens of the district have demanded for a high level enquiry into the incident as well as punishment to the erring shopkeepers for selling adulterated grams.
Meanwhile, a paramedical team led by Captain Dipak Shukla of 65 Field Regiment visited the Mangaldai Civil Hospital and extended medical help to the affected students.

Death anniversary of Kamala Saikia observed

From our Correspondent
SIVASAGAR, Aug 9: The 18th death anniversary of Journalist Kamala Saikia was observed today at Muktinath Chariali in Sivasagar. The death anniversary was organized under the aegis of Sivasagar District Journalists’ Association, Kamala Saikia Memorial Trust and Aikya, a Sivasagar based NGO. Journalist Kamala Saikia was brutally killed by suspected ULFA militants on August 9, 1991.
Various individuals and representatives of different organizations were present on the occasion. They paid their tributes to the late journalist and appealed to the government to arrest the culprits involved in his murder.  Wife of Kamala Saikia, Kamala Kumari Saikia, said people would lose faith in the government if it does not punish the guilty.
A blood donation camp was organized on the occasion. More than 50 donors donated their blood on the occasion. The Journalists’ Association, Kamala Saikia Memorial Trust and Aikya handed over a memorandum, addressed to the President of India, to the Sivasagar Deputy Commissioner. The organizations termed the murder of Kamala Saikia as one of the gravest terrorist attacks on the fourth estate across the globe.
“The State Police made an inquiry into the murder case several times but failed to bring the culprits to book and thereby denied justice to the family members as well as the people of Asom”, the memorandum stated. The organizations have demanded a CBI inquiry into the Kamala Saikia’s murder case and have appealed to the President to take action.

Encephalitis cases rising in Sivasagar

From our correspondent
SIVASAGAR, Aug 9: The State Government will soon set up an encephalitis detection centre in Sivasagar in view of the alarming rise of encephalitis cases in the district. The district, along with Dibrugarh, is the epicentre of encephalitis due to the peculiar susceptible conditions.
The decision to set up the encephalitis detection centre was declared by Joint Director of the National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme (NVBDCP), VK Raina, who was in Sivasagar recently to take stock of the prevailing encephalitis situation in the district. The death percentage of encephalitis infected people have increased in the district due to late detection. Due to the lack of a detection centre in the districts, the patients are referred to Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh and the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Chabua.
Speaking to The Sentinel, Raina said, ‘‘Peculiar susceptible conditions have made the district vulnerable to encephalitis and early detection of encephalitis syndrome can cure patients infected with the disease. Proper surveillance of the infected areas is a must for early detection of encephalitis cases and the detected cases must be immediately sent for treatment’’.
“We have directed the health department to familiarize the ASHA’s with the encephalitis syndrome and to place them into service to detect persons infected with the disease”, he said.
During his three-day visit to the district, Raina visited the hospitals and primary health centre’s (PHC) of the district. “The district health department has taken adequate preventive steps including fogging, awareness meetings, distribution of medicated bed-nets and impregnation of bed-nets besides, providing drugs to the patients”, Raina said.
He also stressed on improvement of pig-rearing areas in the district and said that proper hygienic conditions must be maintained by using nets at the pig farms to prevent the disease from spreading. “The veterinary department must be pressed into service to conduct surveillance of pigs and to maintain hygienic conditions at the pig-rearing areas”, he said.
Raina also said the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) drive was undertaken in the district in 2006, among children in the age group 0-15 years, as there is low prevalence of encephalitis among adults in the rest of the country. “Normally, people get immune to encephalitis as they grow up. But more adults are infected with the disease in the two districts of Sivasagar and Dibrugarh. We have decided to conduct a study on the high percentage of adult infection in the two districts,” he added.
Meanwhile, the number of encephalitis death has increased to 36. Altogether, 108 people have been reported infected in the district.

BRIEFS

One arrested for duping youths
From a Correspondent
DHUBRI, Aug 9: One Sukumar Panda, director of a private limited company, was recently arrested by Dhubri police for allegedly duping unemployed educated youths of Dhubri district in the name of providing jobs. Office-in-charge of Dhubri police station Manik Kalita said Sukumar Panda had duped several youths in the name of providing jobs. A number of cases were also pending against him in the Dhubri Court. Following his arrest, Panda was sent to Dhubri jail.

Unmanned railway gates to be manned
From a Correspondent
DHUBRI, Aug 9: In an attempt to improve security and prevent mishaps, Railway officials announced that the three unmanned railway gates would be manned from now on. The annoucement was made in New Bongaigoan recently. The officials further said the unmanned railway crossing at Mahabirstan, which is the most accident prone, and two others ––Jogighopa and Bongaigaon railway line – would be constructed. People of Bongaigon and New Bongaigaon have been demanding manned gates at these railway crossings for quite a long time, sources said.

One arrested
From a Correspondent
DHUBRI, Aug 9: One Ijjar Ali of Meser village under Gouripur police station of Dhubri district was recently arrested by the Bogribari police under Parbotjhara subdivision. Fake currency notes amounting to Rs 30,000 was recovered from him.

Seminar on yoga and meditation
From our Correspondent
NAGAON, Aug 9: A seminar on “Yoga and Meditation” was recently organized at the Nagaon Balya Bhawan in Nagaon district. The seminar was organized by the Gangotree Mahila Samity, a pioneer women organization, in Nagaon. Addressing the seminar, Nilima Borkakoti advised the people, particularly women and young girls, to practice yoga and meditation for a healthy mind and body. She said, ‘‘Yoga and meditation can perform miracles in life’’. Explaining the need of yoga and meditation in day-to-day life, she said, ‘‘Yoga and meditation makes our body and mind strong enough to control all the physical and mental disorders. Yoga also helps in removing stress’’. She gave a clarion call to women to come forward and regularly practice yoga and meditation for a healthy body and soul. The seminar was presided by Renu Mahanta.