Page 4 - Assam

Finding Nellie's smoking gun

How a policeman's wireless message that could have saved 3,000 lives, but was ignored and covered up, was uncovered

Massive fire breaks out at market in Assam's Jorhat, 150 shops gutted

A massive fire broke out at a market in Assam's Jorhat district late on Thursday, gutting at least 150 shops, police said. Twenty-five fire tenders were fighting the blaze at Chowk Bazaar in the heart of Jorhat town and it was yet to be brought under control, they said. The fire, suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit at a shop, spread fast in the congested market, they added. There was no report of any casualty as all shops were closed with owners and staff having left for their homes, police said. Those gutted were mostly cloth and grocery shops, they said. Additional fire tenders were brought in to fight the devastating blaze from the nearby towns of Titabor and Mariani, and the Golaghat district, officials said. The fire tenders were finding it difficult to reach the spot due to narrow roads, locals said. The losses, expected to run into crores of rupees, can be ascertained only after the fire was extinguished, police said. This is the second incident

Assam officials start drive to make Burachapori Sanctuary encroachment free

The district administration of Nagaon and Sonitpur has on Tuesday started a drive to free the Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary from illegal encroachments

Earthquake of 3.2 magnitude hits central Assam's Nagaon district

An earthquake of 3.2 magnitude hit central Assam on Monday, an official bulletin said. The quake was recorded at 11.57 am, epicentred at Hojai in Nagaon district on southern bank of Brahmaputra, at a depth of 10 km, the National Center for Seismology said. On Sunday afternoon, an earthquake of 4 magnitude struck the same area in Nagaon district. The precise epicentre of Monday's earthquake is around 180 km east from Guwahati, near Hojai town. People in the neighbouring West Karbi Anglong, Karbi Anglong, Golaghat, Dima Hasao and Morigaon districts also felt the jolt. Sonitpur on the northern bank of Brahmaputra too felt the tremor. The earthquake could be felt in some areas in south-western part of Nagaland. There was no immediate report of any injury to anyone or damage to any property. The northeastern region is in the high seismic zone, making earthquakes frequently hit the region.

Prez appoints 6 new governors; former SC judge S Nazeer named for Andhra

Four BJP leaders and former Supreme Court judge S Adbul Nazeer, who was part of the Constitution bench that upheld the archaeological report on Ayodhya, were among six new faces appointed as governors on Sunday. According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique, the resignations of Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh R K Mathur have been accepted. BJP leaders Lakshman Prasad Acharya, C P Radhakrishnan, Shiv Pratap Shukla and Gulab Chand Kataria, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan, were nominated as governors in Sikkim, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Assam respectively. Koshyari was replaced by Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais, while Mathur's place was given to Governor of Arunachal Pradesh Brig B D Mishra (retd). Retired Supreme Court judge Nazeer was appointed governor of Andhra Pradesh and Lt Gen K T Parnaik (retd) governor of Arunachal Pradesh.

Earthquake of 4.0 magnitude strikes Assam's Nagaon, no casualties reported

An earthquake of magnitude 4.0 struck Assam's Nagaon on Sunday evening, the National Center for Seismology (NCS) informed.The earthquake occurred at 4.18 pm today, the NCS said."Earthquake of Magnitude:4.0, Occurred on February 12, 2023, 16:18:17 IST, Lat: 26.10 & Long: 92.72, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Nagaon, Assam, India," it said in a tweet.Further details are awaited.Earlier this month, an earthquake of 4.0 magnitude hit Manipur's Ukhrul, the National Center for Seismology (NCS) informed.The earthquake occurred at 6.14 am on February 4, the NCS said.

Bloodstained road to Nellie

In that awful fortnight, when Indira Gandhi decided to force an election nobody wanted in Assam, you didn't have to go looking for trouble to write about

2,789 people held so far as crackdown on child marriage continues: Assam CM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that 2,789 people have been arrested so far during the ongoing crackdown on child marriage, which completed a week on Friday. The government has also initiated a process to take measures for the rehabilitation of "victims" of child marriage. Now, total arrest 2789. Crackdown continues, Sarma wrote on Twitter. Though protests at various places by families of those arrested have been reported in the last few days, Assam Police spokesperson Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan had on Thursday said that no such incident took place anywhere in the state during the last 24 hours. The Assam Police had launched the crackdown on child marriage on February 3, with over 2,000 people, including Hindu and Muslim priests who officiated these weddings, arrested within the first two days. The arrests are being carried out on the basis of 4,135 FIRs registered across the state. The state government has formed a cabinet sub-committee on the rehabilitation of "victim

Assam govt must help child marriage victims: Kailash Satyarthi's foundation

Assam government's decision to eliminate child marriage by penalising the perpetrators was a welcome step but the state must provide financial assistance, legal support and rehabilitation to the victims, the Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation said on Wednesday. The government should immediately provide Rs 2,000 per month from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund as financial assistance to every girl whose husband has been arrested and until he gets bail, said the organisation founded by the social reformer who received the Nobel Peace prize in 2014. The state and district legal service authority should be directed to grant interim compensation within a week to all girls where the police have invoked sections under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) along with sections of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006, it added. Assistance should also be given to children born out of child marriages, the foundation's Managing Director Rahul Kumar .

Pawan Hans services launched in 4 sectors in Assam, aims to boost tourism

Central PSU Pawan Hans Ltd on Wednesday launched its helicopter services for several sectors connecting four major cities in Assam, with an aim at boosting tourism in the northeastern state, a senior official said. The service will be available on the Dibrugarh-Jorhat-Tezpur-Guwahati-Tezpur-Jorhat-Dibrugarh routes for three days a week, he said. The chopper service provider has entered into an agreement with the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) to operate in these sectors. "Pleased to sign MoU with Pawan Hans Ltd on behalf of ATDC for its chopper services started from today connecting 4 sectors in Assam under RCS UDAN. Initiative will certainly going to boost tourism sector," ATDC Managing Director Padmapani Borah wrote on Twitter. Pawan Hans has been awarded 86 routes under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) in six states. "Today's launch is part of the first phase of the programme, another official said. Subsequently, the services will be expanded to neighbouring ..

Pawan Hans to launch helicopter services on 6 routes in Assam this week

Pawan Hans will launch helicopter services on six routes in Assam on February 8. These routes will be launched under the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN. Pawan Hans has been awarded 86 routes under the scheme in six states. According to an official release on Monday, the company will provide connectivity on "Dibrugarh-Jorhat-Tezpur-Guwahati-Tezpur-Jorhat-Dibrugarh" network in the first phase. "Subsequently, the services will be operationalised in the state of Arunanchal Pradesh," it said.

Assam: Families point to faulty data in ID cards for child marriage arrests

As more and more young men find themselves behind bars with the Assam government continuing its crackdown on child marriage, their wives are running from pillar to post to find documents to prove they were not underage at the time of wedlock. Many affected families also claimed that identity documents with erroneous birth dates of women were cited by police for registering cases. A total of 2,241 arrests have been made so far in the state, based on 4,074 FIRs, as part of the crackdown launched four days ago. An elderly resident of Bhuragaon in Morigaon district claimed that most of the child marriage cases were registered on the basis of data collected from local health workers, who keep track of pregnant women, lactating mothers and families with small children to ensure coverage of government schemes. These health workers use Aadhaar card information, as this is the latest document in possession of the villagers. However, errors related to birth dates have been spotted in the ...

Crackdown on child marriage continues in Assam, total arrests 2,441

Amid opposition criticism and protests, the Assam Police continued its crackdown on child marriage in the state, with the number of arrests totaling 2,441 over a span of three days, officials said. Chief Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma had on Saturday asserted that the drive to end the social menace would go on till the next assembly polls, drawing flak of opposition camps, which called the move a "hurriedly carried out publicity stunt". The arrests have been made based on 4,074 FIRs filed across the state, the officials said. At least 139 people were apprehended in Biswanath district, followed by 130 in Barpeta and 126 in Dhubri, a police statement said. Other districts where over 100 arrests have been made are Baksa (123) and Bongaigaon and Hojai (117 each), it said. Dhubri registered the highest number of FIRs against child marriages at 374 cases, followed by Hojai (255) and Morigaon (224). Protests have been held at different places in the Barak Valley against the ...

Assam to host first Youth20 Inception Meeting from Feb 6-8, in Guwahati

Guwahati is all set to host the first Youth20 (Y20) Inception Meeting 2023 from February 6 to 8, under G20

'Over 120 kms of waterways in Assam to be dredged for weather fairway'

The agreement will affect dredging, banding, channel markings, and river training works in order to ensure the safe navigation of vessels

Assam govt's motive malicious: Owaisi on crackdown on child marriages

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday questioned the Assam government's motive behind its crackdown on child marriages in the state and said the exercise reflects a "failure of governance" by the BJP dispensation. "There is a malicious motive behind all the action that is being taken," the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader told PTI in a telephonic interview, when asked about the hundreds of arrests made in the northeast state. More than 2,250 people have been arrested in Assam till Saturday in the crackdown on child marriage, according to an official statement by the state government. Owaisi, who was in Lucknow to attend the executive committee meeting of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), said, "As you know the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act was passed in 2006, and it is the BJP's government which is in power in Assam for the last six years. Now, why did the government not stop all these in the last six years? This really shows the failure of

Assam police arrest 2,278 in 3 days in state's child marriage crackdown

The Assam Police continued with its crackdown on child marriage in the state for the third day in a row, with the number of arrests touching 2,278 on Sunday. A police statement said the arrests were made based on 4,074 FIRs across the state. At least 139 people have been apprehended in Biswanath, followed by 130 in Barpeta and 126 in Dhubri, the statement said. Other districts where over 100 arrests have been made are Baksa (123) and Bongaigaon and Hojai (117 each), it maintained. Dhubri registered the highest number of FIRs against child marriages at 374 cases, followed by Hojai at 255 and Morigaon at 224. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on Saturday asserted that the drive against child marriage will continue till the next assembly elections in 2026. He had said parents involved in underage marriages are currently being let off with a notice. The CM added that men marrying girls below 14 years of age will be facing non-bailable charges, while those marrying girls between

Crackdown against child marriages continues in Assam; over 2,000 held

Barpeta district has the second highest number of arrests, which stands at 128 against the total number of 81 cases lodged

Assam Police arrests 1,800 people in a crackdown against child marriage

The Assam Police have arrested over 1,800 people so far on Friday in a massive crackdown on child marriage, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The crackdown began early in the morning across the state and it will continue over the next three to four days, Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of a programme here. The police had registered 4,004 cases of child marriage in less than a fortnight since the state cabinet decided on January 23 to take action, with the arrest of offenders and a simultaneous launch of an extensive awareness campaign. The chief minister said the crackdown was continuing and a clear picture will emerge by evening on the number of arrests and the districts from where those were made. The highest number of 136 arrests so far has been made in Dhubri where 370 cases have been registered, followed by 110 in Barpeta and 100 in Nagaon. Those having married girls below 14 years of age will be booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO

4,004 child marriage cases registered in Assam: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said that a total of 4,004 child marriage cases have been registered across the state, adding that "more police action is likely in days ahead"