coronavirus cases rise pm’s social media to 39 in india - the assam tribune … · 2020-03-09 ·...

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RN-1127/57 TECH/GH – 103/2018-2020, VOL. 82, NO. 66 GUWAHATI, MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020

82 years of service to the nation

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Coronavirus scare hits saleof Holi items in Guwahati

Night curfew lifted inMeghalaya capital

NOTICE

Today (Monday) being

a holiday in the offices of

The Assam Tribune on

the occasion of Dol Jatra,

there will be no issue of

this newspaper on

Tuesday.

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March 9, 2020

Cracking the CLATDoly Devi

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Please don’t smear me with

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JOCOSERIOUS

Centre yet to frame rulesfor implementing CAAR DUTTA CHOUDHURY

GUWAHATI, March 8: Though both theHouses of the Parliament passed the Citi-zenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 to make itan Act despite strong protests in Assam andother parts of the country, it is still notdecided when the Government will startimplementing the Act and the process offormulating the rules has also slowed down.

Highly placed sources in the Govern-ment of India told The Assam Tribune thatto implement the Act on the ground, theGovernment would have to frame the rulesand for that, the Centre has to take theviews of the stakeholders and the StateGovernments.

Sources revealed that the Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) started the processof consultation with the stakeholders inthe month of January, but the processslowed down after strong protests indifferent parts of the country. Sources saidthat in the consultation process, the Gov-ernment initially talked with the groupsand organizations representing the peo-ple who are likely to be benefitted by theCitizenship (Amendment) Act. In the nextphase, the Government would have to takethe opinion of the State Governments be-fore finalizing the rules for implementing

the CAA.

SEE PAGE 2

Yes BankNEW DELHI, March 8:

The CBI has registered anFIR against Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor,DHFL and DoIT UrbanVentures for allegedcriminal conspiracy,cheating and corruption,officials said today. Kapoor,62, is in ED custody. – PTI

Book fairGUWAHATI, March 8:

The 33rd Guwahati BookFair, scheduled fromMarch 14 to 25, has beencancelled over coronavirusfear following State healthdepartment’s advisory toavoid mass gathering, thePublication Board of Assamsaid. – City Correspondent

Bangla coronaDHAKA, March 8:

Bangladesh todayconfirmed its first threecases of coronavirus, ahealth official said. Theaffected include two menand one women, and two ofthem recently returnedfrom Italy. – PTI

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal felicitating women on the occasion of International Women’s Day at a programme inMajuli on Sunday. – UB Photos

Seven womenachievers share

their storiesPM’s social media

accountsNEW DELHI, March 8: In

a unique social media initia-

tive, Prime Minister Naren-

dra Modi on Sunday handed

over his accounts on various

platforms to seven women

achievers from different

fields to share their life jour-

neys and messages on the

International Women’s Day.

From a farmer to activists

working in the fields of sanita-

tion, disability rights, water

conservation and fighting hun-

ger to somebody dedicated to

reviving handicraft industry,

women used Modi’s accounts

– which enjoy a huge follow-

ing, to share their stories and

spread their messages.

Known for his imaginative

communication initiatives, the

Prime Minister handed over

his accounts on platforms like

Twitter and Facebook to

these women, saying they

have done great work in a

wide range of sectors and their

struggles and aspirations mo-

tivate millions.

SEE PAGE 2

Health conditionof Akhil Gogoi

stableSTAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 8:

The health condition of

KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi is

now stable and has been im-

proving steadily. But he still

remains very weak, said

KMSS joint secretary Mukut

Deka today.

Gogoi is currently lodged

in Guwahati Central Jail af-

ter he was arrested in De-

cember during the mass

movement against the Citi-

zenship (Amendment) Act.

Recently, he complained of

severe back pain and fever.

“He could not even meet

his visitors in jail for two days

as he was not in a condition

to get up from bed. Later in

GMCH the doctors detect-

ed a kidney stone and he was

also diagnosed with severe

gastric problem,” Deka told

The Assam Tribune.

The KMSS moved the

NIA Special Court here a

few days back with a petition

seeking medical treatment

for Gogoi.

SEE PAGE 2

Delimitationexercise will be

transparent: BJPSTAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 8: The delimitation exercise will

be totally transparent and political parties and other stake-

holders will be consulted while the process is being un-

dertaken, said BJP national general secretary Ram Mad-

hav here today.

“During the delimitation exercise the political parties

will be involved and a lot of other

stakeholders will also be consult-

ed. It is a very detailed and trans-

parent exercise,” Madhav said ad-

dressing a press conference.

The Centre recently ordered de-

limitation exercise in Assam, Aru-

nachal Pradesh, Manipur and Naga-

land citing improvement in the in-

ternal security situation. Delimita-

tion of Lok Sabha and Assembly con-

stituencies was conducted in other

states in 2008. Former Supreme

Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai will head the Delimi-

tation Commission that will redraw the Lok Sabha and

Legislative Assembly constituencies of the four states.

Asked about the report of the Clause 6 committee,

Madhav said, “The State (government) is in the process

of forwarding it to the Centre... As soon as it is received,

the Central government will study the report and then

take a decision on whether all suggestions can be imple-

mented or incorporated in the statutes.”

Ram Madhav

SEE PAGE 2

Coronavirus cases riseto 39 in India

Five more test positive in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/

NEW DELHI, March 8: The number

of coronavirus cases rose to 39 in India

on Sunday, after a couple and their son,

who had flown from Italy last month

and evaded airport screening, and their

two relatives tested positive in Kera-

la, prompting the state authorities to

warn of strict action, including

prosecution, against those

hiding travel history and

symptoms of the infection.

Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja

said the state has been put on high alert

in the wake of the new cases, report-

ed more than a fortnight after India’s

first three coronavirus patients -

medical students from Wuhan- were

discharged from hospitals in the state.

The minister said all the passengers

who travelled with the infected family in

the Venice-Doha Qatar airlines QR 126

flight on February 29 and Qatar Airlines

flight QR514 from Doha to Kochi that

arrived at 8.20 am on March 1 should

get in touch with health authorities.

The airlines, in a statement, said it

was working with Indian health author-

ities in this regard.

The state health department said

failure to inform authorities about

travel history and symptoms would be

considered a crime, while the state

police separately said it was “illegal

and punishable” if anyone hid such in-

formation.

“Strict action, including prosecution,

will be initiated against them.

Directives of various government

agencies should be followed in this

regard,” a police release said

The minister said the couple in their

fifties and their 24-year old son had taken

a flight from Italy to India on February

29 and evaded health screening at the

airport. The two others affected

are their relatives, Shailaja said,

adding they hail from Ranni in

Pathnamthitta district, she said.

“As of now their condition is stable.

But there is need to take extra care”,

the minister. Two nonagenerian mem-

bers of the family will be shifted to the

Kottayam Medical College hospital s

a precauation, she added.

SEE PAGE 2

COVID-19 positive US tourist came intocontact with over 400 persons in State

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 8: The

State health department has

tracked more than 400 peo-

ple with whom the US tour-

ist, who tested positive for

COVID-19 in Bhutan, had

come into contact during his

stay in Assam.

“The State health depart-

ment has traced more than

400 contacts in different plac-

es including MV Mahabahu

and resorts where he stayed.

Teams of doctors and micro-

biologists have been keeping

a close watch on these people

who have been quarantined,”

Health Minister Himanta

Biswa Sarma said today.

So far, 5 tests have been

done and all are negative.

Citing that even the part-

ner of the American tourist

is reported to be negative for

the virus, Sarma appealed to

all not to panic and observe

all protocols including per-

sonal hygiene.

Minister of State for

Health Pijush Hazarika ad-

vised people to avoid foreign

travel for some time.

Last evening, Chief Minis-

ter Sarbananda Sonowal re-

viewed the preparedness and

monitoring mechanism of

health department to deal

with coronavirus disease.

Sonowal directed the

health department to take

steps for sensitizing all gov-

ernment officials on corona-

virus. Underling the impor-

tance of awareness among

people, the Chief Minister

asked the department to

form dedicated teams at vil-

lage level by involving ASHA

and AWW who would visit all

households and inform peo-

ple about the preventive

measures.

SEE PAGE 2

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Late Satya Nanda Borah(Passed away on

28th February 2020)

Today on your Adya

Shraddha we remember you

Deuta, with greatest love and

pray for your eternal peace

and happiness.

Kumaril Bora (Son)

Kopil Bora (Son)

Nirada Das (Niece)

CD/Adya Shraddha/........../1

CD/InMemo/.........../1

Dr. Ananya Madhab07.05.1979 – 04.03.2007

Tomorrow, on your Punnya

Tithi, we all pray to the Amighty

for your eternal peace.

Family Members and

Members of Dr. Ananya

Madhab Charitable Trust

CD/InMemo/P/SP004820/1

Nikunjalata BoraDOB: 24.08.1944

DOD: 28.02.2020

Remembering you on Adya Shraddha, we

pray to Almighty for your eternal peace.

May your soul rest in peace. You will

always be in our hearts and prayers.

Mourned by –

Sri Pratim Kumar Bora (Son)

Smti Jina Bora (Daughter-in-Law)

Dr Bonti Bora Das (Daughter)

Dr. Utpal Das (Son-in-Law)

Smti Jyotirani Bora (Daughter)

Sri Deba Jyoti Bora (Son-in-Law)

Indrani, Swagata, Aditya Pratim,

Debarchana, Himjyoti

(Grand daughters and sons)

Srimantapur, Guwahati-32

CD/A-Shraddha/P/RP001848/1

In Loving Memory

Late Khagendra Lal

Baishya Soud

Demise : 07.03.2012

Late Damayanti

Baishya

Demise : 09.06.2011

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Tithi.

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(Dr.) Sri Anjay Kr. Baishya (Son)

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Late Iswar Prasad

ChangkakatiRemembering our beloved‘Deuta’ with our prayer on theoccasion of his Eleventh DeathAnniversary, Tomorrow.May his soul rest in eternalpeace.

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GUWAHATI, March 8:

Aalok-d-Light, a city-based

NGO working for women and

children, observed the Inter-

national Women’s Day with a

two-day programme in collab-

oration with Beltola College.

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‘Gender Discrimination

Women’s Day observedHampers Progress’ was held

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Cash prizes with citations

were given away to the win-

Zubeendischarged STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 8:

Singer Zubeen Garg was re-

leased from Nemcare Hospi-

tal today following improve-

ment in his health condition.

Managing Director of the

hospital Dr Hitesh Barua said

that Zubeen left the hospital at

around 3.30 pm after under-

going treatment for 10 days.

Zubeen was admitted to the

hospital on February 28 after

he suddenly collapsed during

a music event here. Doctors

said work overload and stress

were primarily responsible for

deterioration of his health.

“Now his condition is stable

and he is fit. But he will require

rest. To prevent recurrence of

any such problem, Zubeen has

to follow a healthy lifestyle,” Dr

Barua said. Zubeen today flew

to Mumbai to consult doctors

for further treatment.

CITY CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI, March 8:

Governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi

and Chief Minister Sarbanan-

da Sonowal have greeted the

people of the State on the oc-

casion of Holi and urged eve-

ryone to celebrate the festival

with adequate precautions in

view of coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement issued today,

Prof Mukhi said, “I extend my

warm greetings and good

wishes to the people of Assam

in particular and the country

in general on the auspicious oc-

casion of Holi – the festival of

colours. May this festival bring

peace, harmony, prosperity

and happiness in our lives.”

He also said the colours of

Holi reflect the State’s diversi-

ty and multi-cultural heritage.

“I hope the festival becomes a

harbinger of joy, happiness and

merriment for all cutting across

religions, castes, creeds and

ethnicities. I also hope that the

colours of Holi help everybody

to overcome seasonal ailments

and lead people to become

healthy and wealthy. I at the

same time request the people

to celebrate the festival care-

fully especially in the wake of

reported spread of corona vi-

rus,” the Governor added.

Chief Minister Sonowal, in

a statement, said that the cel-

ebration of Holi would

strengthen the bond of broth-

erhood, friendship and harmo-

ny. He also said that the festi-

val would enrich the cultural

and ethnic life of Assam besides

ushering in peace and prosper-

ity in our society.

CM, Guv greetpeople on Holi

OBITUARY

Dr PK DekaGUWAHATI, March 8: Dr

Prabin Ku-

mar Deka,

former Su-

perintendent

of the Gauha-

ti Medical

College and Hospital

(GMCH), passed away at the

age of 80 here today.

He was a resident of

Ashirwaad Apartment at Chan-

dmari. He leaves behind his

wife, Dr Anjali Deka, a retired

professor and former head of

the Pharmacology Department

of the GMCH, and two sons,

besides other relatives.

Dr Deka also served as the

head of the Radiology Depart-

ment of the GMCH. His funer-

al took place at the Navagraha

crematorium today.

Centre yet to frame ...(Contd from page 1)

Sources pointed out that first priority of the Government

would be to finalize what documents would be allowed to as-

certain the identity of the people applying for Indian citizen-

ship. The Government will have to finalize the documents,

which will be allowed to be submitted by the applicants to

prove that they came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan or

Afghanistan before December 31, 2014. The persons will also

have to prove their religion, sources pointed out.

Sources admitted that the situation would be more complicated

in case of Assam. It is assumed that most of the suspected foreigners,

who would be benefitted by the CAA, had applied for inclusion of

their names in the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Now the

same people will apply for citizenship claiming that they are reli-

gious minorities of Bangladesh, Pakistan or Afghanistan. “This will

mean, they either submitted forged documents while applying for

inclusion of names in the NRC or they would submit forged papers

to apply to become Indian citizens under the provisions of the CAA,”

sources pointed out. Another major issue is that no Government

agency has records of the number of foreigners who would be

benefitted from the CAA in Assam and West Bengal as majority of

the people came illegally by taking advantage of the porous border.

The Government will also have to issue detailed guidelines

to the officers who will be entrusted with the responsibility of

handling the applications and preparation of such guidelines

will also take some time, sources added.

Health condition of ...(Contd from page 1)

Acting on the petition, the court asked the jail authority to

arrange necessary medical treatment for him and provide cop-

ies of all medical reports to his family. Deka said the jail authority

would provide the copies of medical reports to Gogoi’s family by

Monday. “We will consult specialist doctors about Akhil Gogoi’s

treatment after receiving the medical reports,” he said.

Recently, two human rights activists – Babloo Loitongbam and

Henri Tiphagne – moved the National Human Rights Commission

on Gogoi’s deteriorating health condition and sought its immediate

intervention. Deka also stated that the International Federation

for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture

moved the United Nations over Gogoi’s health issues.

Seven women achievers ...(Contd from page 1)

“As I’d said a few days ago, I’m signing off. Through the day,

seven women achievers will share their life journeys and per-

haps interact with you through my social media accounts. Let

us keep celebrating the achievements of such women and learn-

ing from them,” he said in his tweets.

The seven women were drawn from different parts of the

country and came from varied backgrounds. They included Sne-

ha Mohandoss, who works to eradicate hunger, Malvika Iyer,

who survived a gruesome bomb blast that blew off her hands and

damaged her legs when she was 13 and is now a motivational

speaker, disability activist and model, and Arifa Jaan from Kash-

mir who promotes traditional crafts of Kashmir.

Others were Kalpana Ramesh, a water conservator, Vijaya

Pawar, who promotes handicrafts from the Banjara community

of rural Maharashtra, Kalavati Devi of Kanpur, who collects

money to build toilets, and Veena Devi, who is from Munger in

Bihar and made her name by growing mushrooms under her

bed due to lack of space. – PTI

Covid-19 positive US ...(Contd from page 1)

The Chief Minister also stressed on implementing extensive

awareness activities covering all panchayats, villages, towns and

tea gardens within a week’s time. He asked the ASTC to use its

mechanism to generate awareness among commuters on coro-

navirus disease. He also urged the Railways to collaborate with

the health department. Cent per cent screening of passengers of

international flights at the LGBI is being carried out along with

regular screening in other airports of the State.

Coronavirus cases ...(Contd from page 1)

The three, who had returned from Venice, at first refused to

cooperate with health officials, following which they were

forcibly admitted to the isolation ward of the Pathnamathitta

General Hospital. – PTI

Delimitation ...(Contd from page 1)

Madhav said the State unit

of the BJP would take a final

decision regarding the forth-

coming elections to the BTC.

“Our State unit will take a final

decision about how to proceed.

There is still time,” said the

senior saffron party leader.

To a question regarding the

March 26 elections to three

Rajya Sabha seats from Assam,

Madhav said the ruling alliance

has the numerical strength to

win two of the seats. “The can-

didates will be announced in

the next two-three days. We

have (certain) commitments

with our alliance partners.

Those commitments will be

honoured,” he added.

The BJP has earlier an-

nounced its decision to leave

one of the seats for its ally, BPF.

Regarding possibility of the

Congress and the AIUDF

fielding a joint candidate for the

third seat, Madhav said, “They

(Congress and AIUDF) are al-

ways together, whether pub-

licly or surreptitiously.”

He alleged that the Con-

gress and other forces tried to

spread misinformation regard-

ing the Citizenship (Amend-

ment) Act, 2019, but now the

BJP has started a massive pub-

lic outreach programme

across Assam to “remove the

misconceptions”.

“We recently held a big ral-

ly at Dibrugarh. The kind of

response our party has re-

ceived, shows that there is no

misconception in the minds of

the people regarding the CAA.

The Congress is trying to

spread misinformation not

only in Assam but across the

country,” he said.

ners of the debate competition

at the function. Jagya Pratim

Saikia of Cotton University

bagged the first prize, while

the second and third prizes

went to Tridib Bhagawati of

Cotton University and Shruti

Medhi of Handique Girls’ Col-

lege respectively.

The function was presided

over by retired IAS officer and

president of Aalok-d-Light

Paramesh Dutta.

Earlier, Bijaylaxmi Baruah,

secretary of Aalok-d-Light, gave

a brief description of the NGO.

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 3

Janasanyog/D/11258/19

Janasanyog/D

/11218/1

9

BHUBANESWAR, March

8: Under attack by opposition

parties over deposits of Rs 545

crore of Lord Jagannath in cap-

ital-starved Yes Bank, the Od-

isha government on Sunday

sought the Centre’s interven-

tion for release of the funds in

the interest of devotees.

Odisha’s Finance Minister

Niranjan Pujari urged the Cen-

tre to give necessary instruc-

tion to the Reserve Bank of

India (RBI) to allow release of

the amount deposited with the

crisis-hit lender.

NEW DELHI, March 8:

Amid uncertainties over the

leadership issue, senior Con-

gress leader and former Un-

ion minister Ajay Maken has

said it is high time Rahul Gan-

dhi comes back as party pres-

ident as he is the most accept-

able leader.

The former president of the

Congress’ Delhi unit, Maken,

in an interview to PTI, also bat-

ted for veterans to gradually

make way for younger leaders,

saying if parties do not change

their leadership with time, then

people change parties.

Vouching for Rahul Gandhi as

Congress chief, he said there is

no other face as acceptable as

Rahul who also has good intent

at heart, zero baggage and con-

sistently takes an aggressive

stand in fighting against the

might of the BJP and Prime

Minister Narendra Modi.

Maken also argued for a

long-term advisory role for

interim president Sonia Gan-

dhi saying her experience and

expertise in handling Con-

gress affairs would be much

needed by the new president.

The party constitution can be

amended to ensure that, he said.

Rahul most acceptable leader in Cong,high time he becomes chief: Maken

“I think it is high time Rahul

Gandhi came back. I am saying

this with very strong conviction

and strong reasons behind this.

Rahul Gandhi is universally ac-

ceptable in the Congress party.

There is no other face who is as

much acceptable as Rahul Gan-

dhi is, Maken said.

So, a person who is univer-

sally acceptable, no baggage,

good intent at heart and who

has been consistent and most

aggressive against the BJP and

Modi, and has been the voice

amplifier of farmers, Dalits and

minorities. I think, he single-

handedly deserves to be Con-

gress president, he said.

Asked about what would be

the right time for Rahul Gan-

dhi to return, Maken said, the

sooner, the better, because it

will end uncertainty.

Congress chief spokesperson

Randeep Surjewala also said

Prime Minister Modi and

Home Minister Amit Shah are

deeply wary of the unwavering

conviction and fearlessness with

which Rahul Gandhi has taken

on the BJP and the Rashtriya

Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

“Rahul Gandhi has adequate-

ly proved his mettle. Time has

come to rise above the parochi-

al issues of regional leadership

and work towards strengthen-

ing and rebuilding the Congress.

Needless to add that Rahul Gan-

dhi is the obvious and only choice

to lead the Congress,” he said.

Maken noted that the coun-

try needs a person with “good

intent at heart, not good con-

tent in speech”.

“We have seen the country

is paying the price to just fol-

low good content in speech

and the present situation

where our country is in, the

economy is in doldrums, there

is a social strife, the riots go-

ing on in the national capital

and the government not doing

anything, is just because the

people voted for good content

in speech of Narendra Modi.

They never saw the intent at

heart of the leader,” the Con-

gress leader said.

Commenting on the old ver-

sus young debate in the Con-

gress, Maken strongly argued

for gradual change of guard in

the party and said parties must

change their leadership in time.

“I am among the biggest sup-

porters for change, but it has to

be gradual. It can’t be in one big

sudden change. But it has to be

there. That change is required

because if the parties don’t

change their leadership in time,

then the people change the par-

ties,” he said, adding that the

electorate wants change.

On whether Congress vet-

erans will be given an adviso-

ry role, he said it should be

voluntary and not be imposed

on them, as has happened in

the case of party veterans in

the BJP. – PTI

In a letter to Union Finance

Minister Nirmala Sitharaman,

Pujari said various funds relat-

ed to Shree Jagannath Temple

in Puri are managed by a com-

mittee of the Shree Jagannath

Temple Administration (SJTA).

“Out of these funds, an

amount of Rs 545 crore has

been deposited with Yes Bank,

Puri in the form of TDRs,” he

said. These deposits are ma-

turing this month, the state

minister said.

The RBI has capped with-

drawals from Yes Bank at Rs

50,000 for the next one month

and imposed strict limits on op-

erations after the cash-starved

lender faced “regular outflow of

liquidity” following an effort to

raise new capital failed.

“It is pertinent to mention

here that SJTA is a statutory

authority working under pro-

visions of an Act of the state

government. This is an issue of

religious importance for devo-

tees of Lord Jagannath. In this

background, I request you to

kindly issue necessary instruc-

tion to RBI to allow release of

deposits relating to SJTA in Yes

Bank in the interest of millions

of devotees,” Pujari said.

The move has come after

opposition parties, including the

BJP and the Congress, came

down heavily on the state gov-

ernment over fixed deposits of

Rs 545 crore of Lord Jagannath

in the crisis-hit Yes Bank.

Slamming the state govern-

ment, BJP’s Odisha unit gen-

eral secretary Prithviraj

Harichandan alleged that de-

positing money in the cash-

starved lender smacked of a

conspiracy.

Quoting an official report of

2017, he claimed that it was

decided to park the funds of

Lord Jagannath in 25 banks and

Yes Bank was not in the list

that time.

However, in July 2019, Yes

Bank was included in the list

and the funds were deposited,

Harichandan claimed, adding,

that “it smells of a conspiracy

to embezzle the temple

funds.”

Demanding a ‘white paper’

on the issue, he said there

should be an impartial probe

into the whole episode and

those responsible must be

punished.

Odisha Pradesh Congress

Committee president Niran-

jan Patnaik asked who gave the

rights to the authorities con-

cerned to deposit the funds in

the Yes Bank while there are

strict guidelines to keep the

temple money in the national-

ised banks.

Patnaik further alleged that

the motive behind keeping the

funds in the private bank was

to earn commission.

State Finance Secretary

Ashok Kumar Meena, howev-

er, maintained that as the fund

belonging to Lord Jagannath

was safe as per RBI. – PTI

Kejriwal govtorders 87 retiredofficers to vacateflats, pay Rs 4 crNEW DELHI, March 8: The

Delhi government has or-

dered 87 retired officers and

those who have been occupy-

ing government properties in

an unauthorised manner to

vacate their flats immediately.

Not just that, the Kejriwal

government has also demand-

ed that they collectively pay

almost Rs 4 crore as dues.

The order copy accessed by

IANS reads: “The non-compli-

ance of the order would attract

action under the Public Premis-

es (Eviction of Unauthorised

Occupants) Act - 1971 and the

eviction proceedings will be

initiated and occupants will be

removed/evicted along with

their respective belongings.”

The order was issued on Feb-

ruary 25. The government in-

sists that this eviction order was

issued after warning to them did

not yield any results. The public

works department (PWD) had

launched a door-to-door survey

to find out illegal occupants of

government flats in Delhi. There

are total 27 unauthorised occu-

pants in Type 1 flats, 49 in Type-

2 flats and 11 in Type-3 flats.

This stern move by the Ke-

jriwal government comes in

the wake of the Delhi High

Court coming down hard on

the Housing Ministry for per-

mitting over 550 flats to be il-

legally occupied by retired of-

ficials. It also instructed the

Centre to vacate the proper-

ties within two weeks. – IANS

3 lakh peoplecontacted BJP tocomplain againstTMC ‘misdeeds’KOLKATA, March 8: BJP

West Bengal president Dilip

Ghosh on Sunday said over 3

lakh people have contacted the

party in just eight days to air

their grievances against the

ruling Trinamool Congress.

The saffron party also decid-

ed to meet 5 crore people in its

door-to-door campaign ahead of

the Assembly polls in 2021, he

said. “Three lakh people have

contacted the party in a toll-free

number which was launched on

March 1 during the visit of

Union Home Minister Amit

Shah. They charged the TMC

with corruption and reliance on

muscle power,” Ghosh told

reporters here.

In a door-to-door campaign,

BJP workers will meet 5

crore people and hand them

over the party’s “charge

sheet” against the “jungle-raj”

of the TMC, he said.

“The charge sheet will con-

tain details of incidents of at-

tacks on women, corrupt prac-

tices of TMC leaders in every

part of the state and murder of

political opponents,” the BJP

leader said adding that the par-

ty will contest the coming elec-

tions on the development plank.

Civic polls are likely to be held

in the state soon while the As-

sembly elections in the state are

due next year. Ghosh later said

that the party’s central leaders

attended a meeting to strategise

the BJP’s civic poll campaign.

At the meeting, state party

leaders were asked to coordinate

with the local leaders for know-

ing ward-wise ground situation

and winnability of candidates in

their respective areas, he said.

About allegations that abscond-

ing Gorkha Janmukti Morcha

(GJM) leaders Bimal Gurung and

Roshan Giri were present at the

marriage reception of the son of

BJP national president JP Nadda,

Ghosh claimed that the two lead-

ers of Darjeeling Hills were

framed. – PTI

NATIONAL

Odisha seeks Centre’s intervention to release Lord Jagannath’s funds in Yes Bank


A caricature of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte being set on fire as women’s groups hold a rally near theMalacanang presidential palace to mark International Women’s Day, on Sunday, in Manila. – AP/PTI

Saudi King mostprobably dead, or

on deathbed:Whistleblower

NEW DELHI, March 8:

Twitter activist and Saudi

whistleblower Mujtahid has

claimed that King Salman of

Saudi Arabia is most probably

dead or is currently on his

deathbed, an Iranian media

report said.

His comments came on Sat-

urday after news that Saudi

authorities had detained two

of the kingdom’s most promi-

nent figures for an alleged coup

attempt. In a Twitter post on

Saturday, Mujtahid, the Twit-

ter handle of a pseudonymous

activist, explained that tens of

people from the royal family

had been detained and not only

the King’s brother Prince

Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud,

and the monarch’s nephew

Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.

The court staff, the royal

palace personnel, and the roy-

al guard members have been

told that visiting the king is im-

possible due to his health con-

dition, Mujtahid added.

The whistleblower also not-

ed that Crown Prince Moham-

med bin Salman will issue a

statement on behalf of his fa-

ther to declare the King’s ab-

dication and declare MBS as

his successor.

Citing unnamed sources,

Wall Street Journal had re-

ported on Friday that Prince

Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud

and Prince Mohammed bin

Nayef were taken from their

homes early on Friday by roy-

al guards on treason charges.

The New York Times also

reported the detentions, add-

ing that Prince Nayef’s young-

er brother Prince Nawaf bin

Nayef had also been detained.

– IANS

LONDON, March 8: The

UK’s Queen Elizabeth II is re-

portedly set to shun the ruler

of Dubai after a High Court

ruling found he kidnapped his

daughters and detained them

for almost two decades, ac-

cording to a media report.

On March 5, Britain’s most

senior judges found that Sheikh

Mohammed bin Rashid Al

Maktoum, the Vice President

and Prime Minister of the

United Arab Emirates (UAE),

had “ordered and orchestrat-

ed” the abduction of his daugh-

ters, Sheikha Shamsa and

Sheikha Latifa, and forced

them to return to Dubai.

Following the High Court

ruling against Sheikh Moham-

med, which accused him of ab-

ducting then 19-year-old Sham-

sa, in August 2000, and sister

Latifa twice in 2002 and 2018,

the Queen will now “refuse to

be photographed with him or

the princess in public”,

the Metro newspaper quoted

the report in the Times daily

as saying on Saturday.

The Sheikh is said to have

been on “respectful and friend-

ly terms” with the British

Royal Family for more than 20

years, the Times report

said.

If the monarch shuns him

completely, it could have great

consequences on the UK’s

relationship with the UAE,

which the government was

hoping to strengthen follow-

ing Brexit, it added.

The report comes as Cam-

bridgeshire Police is set to

launch a review of an investi-

gation over the disappearance

of Shamsa, now 38, who was

abducted from the streets of

Cambridge on August 19,

2000, and has never been seen

in public since.

The force probed the inci-

dent in 2001 but dropped the

case after finding “insufficient

evidence”.

“An investigation into the

alleged abduction of Shamsa

Mohammed Bin Rashid Al

Maktoum in 2000 was carried

out by Cambridgeshire Con-

stabulary in 2001. A review

took place in 2017 and it was

again concluded there was in-

sufficient evidence to take any

further action,” a Cambridge-

shire Police spokesperson was

quoted as saying.

“This is no longer an active

investigation and we are not

in contact with the victim...

However, in light of the re-

cent release of the judgement,

aspects of the case will now be

subject to review,” added the

police spokesperson.

The High Court ruling con-

firmed long-standing rumours

over the Dubai ruler’s daugh-

ters’ welfare, which emerged

following a child custody bat-

tle with his sixth wife, Prin-

cess Haya Bint Al Hussein, the

half-sister of King Abdullah II

of Jordan.

Princess Haya alleged her

former husband Sheikh Mo-

hammed launched a “campaign

of fear and intimidation”

against her, and testified that

she twice found a loaded gun

on her bed and was threatened

to be whisked away in a heli-

copter to a desert prison.

She became “terrified” of

her then husband and fled to

her home in west London

last year with their two chil-

dren. – IANS

UK Queen to distance herselffrom Dubai ruler: Report

INTERNATIONAL

1 in 4 men feels sexual jokes atworkplace acceptable

LONDON, March 8: More

than one in four men (28 per

cent) globally think it’s perfect

to crack jokes or recount sto-

ries of sexual nature at the

workplace in the presence of

female colleagues, according to

a new survey. But only 16 per

cent of women say such jokes

or stories are acceptable.

The survey of over 20,000

people in 27 countries by the

Global Institute for Women’s

Leadership at King’s College,

London, conducted in collabo-

ration with market research

firm Ipsos MORI revealed at-

titudes towards workplaces

that many would regard as tox-

ic or at the very least not fe-

male-friendly.

“While those who help fuel

toxic work environments are

in the minority, it’s nonethe-

less a significant and their

views can make people’s

working lives a misery,” said

Julia Gillard, former Prime

Minister of Australia and Chair

of the Global Institute for

Women’s Leadership.

When it comes to display-

ing sexual material at work,

more than one in eight men

(13 per cent) say it’s okay, al-

most double the proportion of

women (7 per cent) who think

the same.

While people in Sweden,

South Africa and Spain are

most likely to tell off a senior

colleague who makes a sex-

ist comment, those in Japan,

Poland and France are least

likely.

Globally, 52 per cent of men

and 41 per cent of women said

it was acceptable to ask a col-

league for a date.

While 26 per cent say re-

jecting a colleague who want-

ed a date or romantic relation-

ship is more likely to damage

the career of a woman, just 7

per cent say a man’s career is

likely to harm.

“Our data shows the peo-

ple feel women’s careers are

significantly more at risk then

men’s if they turn down a ro-

mantic advance, if they talk

about their family life or don’t

take part in social activities

with colleagues,” said Kelly

Beaver, managing director of

Ipsos MORI Public Affairs.

“Equality won’t happen

without both men and wom-

en making changes and in the

world of work, which is still

dominated by men,” said

Beaver.

According to the study, 71

per cent of Russians said they

would feel confident in con-

fronting a man who is har-

assing a woman in a public

place, while at the other end

of the spectrum, 29 per cent

of people in Japan and 31 per

cent in South Korea said the

same. – IANS

UNITED NATIONS,

March 8: The benefits of gen-

der equality are not just for

women and girls, but “for eve-

ryone whose lives will be

changed by a fairer world”, UN

women executive director

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

said in her message for Inter-

national Women’s Day, which

falls on Sunday.

In 2020, a massive year for

gender equality, “we’re mo-

bilising to realise women’s

rights, and to mark 25 years

of implementing the Beijing

Platform for Action” – the

historic and landmark gender

equality plan drawn up in the

Chinese capital, Xinhua news

agency quoted the UN Wom-

en chief as saying on Satur-

day.

“We don’t have an equal

world at the moment and

women are angry and con-

cerned about the future,” she

said, adding “they are radical-

ly impatient for change. It’s an

impatience that runs deep, and

it has been brewing for years.”

Mlambo-Ngcuka under-

scored that girls are disap-

pointed with “the steward-

ship of our planet, the una-

bated violence directed

against them and the slow

pace of change in fulcrum is-

sues like education”.

“My greatest impatience is

with unmoving economic ine-

quality,” she said, calling it “a

driver of repeating poverty”.

She said policies were need-

ed, which promote equality in

childcare responsibilities and

provide state support to fami-

lies and those who work in the

informal economy.

Though “radically impa-

tient,” Mlambo-Ngcuka said,

“We are not giving up.”

She cited the hopes: grow-

ing support in tackling gen-

der-bias barriers, a driving

will for change across gener-

ations and countries, and the

last 25 years showing what is

needed to accelerate action

for equality. – IANS

WASHINGTON, March 8:

California Senator Kamala

Harris on Sunday endorsed

current frontrunner and

former Vice President Joe

Biden as the Democratic par-

ty’s US presidential candi-

date, saying the country and

the people “need him now

more than ever”.

“@JoeBiden has served

our country with dignity and

we need him now more than

ever. I will do everything in

my power to help elect him

the next President of the

United States,” she said in a

tweet, along with a recorded

video message of support.

“We need a leader who

really does care about the

people, and can therefore

unify the people,” she added

in the message.

She also announced that

she would be campaigning

with Biden in Detroit on

Monday.

Biden later thanked her.

“Kamala – You’ve spent your

whole career fighting for

folks who’ve been written off

and left behind... from our

family: thank you,” he said in

a tweet.

Harris, who is of Indian and

Jamaican African descent,

had performed well in de-

bates but announced in De-

cember that she was pulling

out, even ad before the party

polls began.

Biden, 77, became the

Democratic front runner to

take on Donald Trump in

November, surging ahead in

the Super Tuesday Demo-

cratic primaries last week,

where he won 10 of the 14

states that voted. Senator

Bernie Sanders is the run-

ner-up. – IANS

Calls forimmediate trucein Yemen after

rebels seize citySANAA, March 8: The UN

has called for an immediate halt

to fighting in northern Yemen

where the Iran-aligned Houthi

rebels seized control of a stra-

tegic city on the border with

Saudi Arabia last week.

“I’m reiterating my call for

an immediate and uncondition-

al freeze and the start of a com-

prehensive, inclusive and ac-

countable de-escalation proc-

ess,” Efe news quoted UN

envoy to Yemen, Martin Grif-

fiths, as saying in a tweet on

Saturday.

He made the remarks dur-

ing a first visit to Marib city,

the capital of the oil-rich

Marib province, the bastion

of government military forc-

es backed by the Saudi-led

coalition.

Marib is located near al-

Hazm city, capital of the prov-

ince of Al Jauf and border with

Saudi Arabia, which was seized

last March 1 by Yemeni rebels

after weeks of fighting against

government forces.

“Yemen is at a critical junc-

ture; it will either silence the

guns and resume the political

process, or we will slip back

into large-scale conflict,” Grif-

fiths said following meetings

with government officials in

Marib city, around 195 km

northeast of the rebel-held

capital of Sanaa.

The seizure of the city dealt

a big blow to the internation-

ally-recognised government of

President Abd Rabbuh Man-

sour Hadi and the coalition, as

it brings the rebels closer to

Marib. – IANS

3 killed in Kabulshooting

KABUL, March 8: Three

people were killed and anoth-

er person was injured in a

shooting attack in the Afghan

capital of Kabul on Sunday, the

police said.

“Nasir Ghairat, a member

of Logar provincial council,

along with two of his security

guards were killed and his driv-

er was wounded following the

shooting in Sayid Noor Mo-

hammad Shah Mina neigh-

bourhood,” an official from the

Kabul Police told Xinhua news

agency.

The gunmen fled the scene

after the attack in Police Dis-

trict 8, southeastern side of

Kabul.

An investigation has been

launched into the incident.

Sunday’s shooting attack

comes after two gunmen on

Friday opened fire on a gath-

ering in Kabul from a nearby

building, killing 32 people and

injuring nearly 60 others be-

fore they were shot dead by

security forces six hours later,

reports Efe news.

The Islamic State terror

group claimed responsibility

for the attack.

On Saturday, local official and

civil-society activist Hamza

Ghafari was shot dead in Ghaz-

ni city.

Meanwhile, no one has

claimed responsibility for Sun-

day’s attack yet. – IANS

Gender equality benefits not onlywomen but all: UN Official

Joe Biden gets Kamala Harris’endorsement

The casket of Katherine Johnson being taken from the Hampton UniversityConvocation Center at the conclusion of a memorial service, on Saturday, at theConvocation Center in Hampton. Johnson, a mathematician who calculated rockettrajectories and earth orbits for NASA’s early space missions and was later portrayed inthe 2016 hit film Hidden Figures, died on February 24. She was 101. – AP/PTI

ISLAMABAD, March 8:

Incidents of stone pelting

were reported at the ‘Aurat

March’ organised in various

cities across Pakistan to mark

International Women’s Day

on Sunday which injured

some of the participants.

Women, children, men,

transgender people and oth-

ers participated in the

march organised by a di-

verse group of individuals

across class, sexuality and

ability. The march hopes to

collectively raise voices and

engage in political action for

issues affecting them and

their communities in a pub-

lic rally.

Incidents of stone pelting

were reported from Islama-

bad after the Jamia Hufsa stu-

dents ended their march. As

per the reports in Pakistani

media, the male participants

took down the tent and start-

ed throwing stones. Howev-

er, the situation was soon

brought under control by

police.

The incident was con-

demned by the organisers of

Islamabad's 'Aurat March',

who questioned the security

measures taken by authori-

ties for the event.

Taking up the incident to

social media, the organisers

tweeted: “Mullahs are ston-

ing the participants of #Au-

ratAzadiMarch a march that

was and is peaceful. Where

is the security that was

promised? Where was the

police that was promised?

Iss nizaam se chahtay hain

Azadi!” – IANS

Stones pelted at ‘Aurat March’in Pakistan

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 5CITY

Janasanyog/D/11282/19

CITY CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI, March 8: The wide-

spread coronavirus scare has taken a toll

on the Holi market in the city with the

sale of colours and other paraphernalia

taking a discernible dip this time.

Traders had been hoping that sales

would pick up a day before the festival,

but the footfall on Sunday failed to lift

their spirits.

A wholesale trader of Fancy Bazar said,

“Due to the fear of coronavirus, the mar-

ket is a bit slow this time. Not many peo-

ple are buying water guns and colours.

Only 40 per cent of the stocks have been

sold. Sales are very low.”

Shopkeepers, however, are not trad-

ing in Chinese products.

“Not a single product is being import-

ed from China this time because of the

coronavirus scare. We do not have any

Chinese items,” he added.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi

announced that he would not celebrate

Holi this year due to coronavirus out-

Coronavirus scare hitssale of holi items in city

break, the State Health Department too

advised people not to play Holi.

“We must avoid mass gatherings as a

precautionary measure to prevent spread

of coronavirus. We urge people not to

play Holi this year even though no coro-

navirus case has been detected in the

State so far,” Minister of State for Health

and Family Welfare Pijush Hazarika told

a press conference here on Saturday.

Apart from natural colours, some of

the shopkeepers were selling chemical

colours as well.

“These chemical colours are from old

stock. These are in demand among a sec-

tion of customers, particularly the youth,”

a shopkeeper said. The natural Holi col-

ours are being sold at Rs 100-120 per kg.

“We are selling colours made in India

only. We do not sell any chemical items.

People have a false notion that we are

selling colours made in China. We have

no Chinese item this year,” Manoj Saha,

another shopkeeper said.

Shri Shri Gopalananda Ashram Com-

mittee of Shantipur also urged people

not to play colours this year.

The Guwahati Municipal Corporation

(GMC) today conducted a drive and evict-

ed 20 street vendors selling Holi items at

Fancy Bazar. The GMC collected fines to

the tune of Rs 6000 from shopkeepers.

AT photo

GUWAHATI, March 8:

Seven women achievers

were felicitated by Medicity

Group of Clinics and Diag-

nostics on the occasion of In-

ternational Women’s Day at

Medicity Aditya Complex

here today.

According to a press re-

lease, member of Bhupen

Hazarika Trust and founder of

North East Record Company

Manjula Hazarika, artist Wah-

ida Ahmed, TV journalist and

anchor Tulika Devi, senior

physician Dr Bijoya Dutta

Parasar, senior gynaecologist

Dr Biva Rani Devi, psychia-

trist and counsellor Dr San-

geeta Dutta and education en-

Prominent personalitieshonoured on Women’s Day

trepreneur Puja Kakati were

feted at the function.

A few men were also hon-

oured for their contribution

towards empowerment of

women. Among them were

founder of women-centric

ethnic food industry Devan-

ga Pallab Saikia and eminent

surgeon Dr Walliul Islam.

On the occasion, a free gy-

naecological check-up camp

was also organised in which

50 women were given con-

sultation. Senior gynaecolo-

gists Dr BK Dutta and Dr

Manoj Kumar Majumdar,

who conducted this camp,

were also felicitated on the

occasion.

At the outset of the pro-

gramme, Director, Medicity,

Dr Khalil Siddique welcomed

the dignitaries and guests.

Ashiq Zaman, an Indian

Revenue Service officer and

author, gave a pre-launch re-

view of his book Unplugged

while Devanga Pallab Saikia

launched the video of his song

Roi ja boi thoka noi (an ode

to a river) at the event.

During a musical inter-

lude, Nurana Begum, Yaman

Kalyan Deka and Ajitesh Das

presented some beautiful

numbers. The event ended

with the felicitation of the

women employees of the

Medicity Group.

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 8: A

high-level team of Journalists

Association of Assam (JAA)

and National Union of Journal-

ist India (NUJI) met the Di-

rector General of Police (DGP),

Assam, Bhaskar Jyoti Mahan-

ta at his office on Saturday and

submitted a memorandum

seeking a comprehensive so-

lution to the problems faced

by the media fraternity.

The delegation, led by

Bhupen Goswami, vice pres-

ident of NUJI, and JAA work-

ing president Anup Biswas

discussed with the DGP the

professional hazards faced by

journalists and the role of the

police in redressing the prob-

lems of journalists as well that

of society.

The DGP appealed to the

journalists to do some concrete

work to solve some of the basic

problems of the poor and down-

trodden who face untold suffer-

ing in various spheres.

Earlier, the JAA in its meet-

ing requested the State gov-

ernment to enact a law to pro-

JAA delegationcalls on DGP

tect the journalists from anti-

social and unlawful elements

while discharging their duties

for the cause of the right to

information.

The meeting held on Sat-

urday, presided over jointly by

DN Chakravartty and Anup

Biswas, decided to organise a

national seminar on the sub-

ject ‘Rights and duties of jour-

nalists and their role in main-

tenance of law and order’.

The association requested

the government to raise the

quantum of journalist pension

from the present Rs 8,000 to Rs

15,000. It also urged the gov-

ernment to raise the number of

pensioners from 20 to 40.

Chakravartty, in his presiden-

tial remarks, stressed the need

for objectivity and correctness

in news in order to ensure sanc-

tity and credibility of the media.

Dalim Phukan, general sec-

retary of JAA, in his report said

that henceforth the organisation

would meet quarterly on sec-

ond Saturdays. Bhupen Gos-

wami, former secretary, JAA,

was congratulated on becom-

ing the vice president of NUJI.

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 8: Connections-

2020, the annual meeting of the Indian

Institute of Mass Communication Alum-

ni Association (IIMCAA), North East

Chapter, which was held here on Satur-

day evening, discussed at length vari-

ous issues about the contemporary me-

dia profession and called upon journal-

ists to focus more on the positive things

that have been taking place in the north-

eastern region for the benefit of read-

ers and viewers.

The meeting discussed the need for the

media to tell the positive developments

in the North East in the wake of gradual

waning of armed insurgency movements,

and asked the media fraternity to look at

various interesting, positive and inspiring

stories from the region.

Members of the IIMC Alumni Associ-

ation also underlined the need for inspir-

ing increasing number of brilliant stu-

Mass Comm alumni body’sNE chapter holds annual meet

dents from the North East to join the

Indian Institute of Mass Communication

and expand the network of professional-

ly qualified journalists within the region.

Members expressed their satisfaction

over the fact that more students from

different parts of the country are now

opting for joining the NE campus of the

IIMC in Aizawl, Mizoram.

The meeting expressed happiness

that the permanent Aizawl campus of

IIMC is nearing completion, and re-

quested the authorities concerned to

make it functional from the new academ-

ic session.

The meeting, presided over by veter-

an journalist Samudra Gupta Kashyap

was attended among others by senior

IIMC alumni and leading tourism entre-

preneur Jahnabi Phookan, AIR Guwahati

special correspondent Manas Pratim Sar-

ma, Arunachal Pradesh IFS officer Pee-

Lee Ete, Guwahati-based journalist

Manoj Khandelwal and a few others.

CITY CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI, March 8: SRF

Foundation in collaboration with the

State Education Department has

implemented its flagship Rural

Education Programme in Dimoria

block of Kamrup (M) district by

adopting 10 government schools.

Under the Rural Education Pro-

gramme, the SRF Foundation or-

ganised an event ‘Academic Mela

and Stakeholders Felicitation’ for

its 10 adopted government schools

at Pub Dimoria ME School ground

(Topatali) on March 6 with the par-

ticipation of over 400 children,

teachers, headmasters, parents,

community members and guests.

District Elementary Education

Officer (DEEO) of Kamrup (M),

Buli Gogoi Bhuyan was present as

the chief guest in the programme

along with the Director of Schools

of Humanities and Social Sciences

10 schools adopted underRural Education Prog

of Assam Don Bosco University, Dr

Riju Sharma; Head of the Depart-

ment of Social Work of Assam Don

Bosco University, Prof PJ Lukose;

and Assistant Prof of Assam Don

Bosco University, Victor Narzary.

Under the Rural Education Pro-

gramme, the Academic Mela and

Stakeholders Felicitation is to fur-

ther motivate and enhance on shar-

ing of innovative ideas, best practic-

es and ensuring sustainable teach-

ing-learning practices of the schools.

As many as 12 stalls were installed

at the Mela by the students of 10

government schools demonstrating

various creativity and innovations.

All the stakeholders were feted

in categories like Best Students,

Best School Management Commit-

tees, Best Schools, Best Parents,

Best Community Members, Best

Village Heads, Best Stalls, Best

Cultural Troops, Winners in com-

petitions, etc.

JanaushadhiDiwas

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 8:

Girijananda Chowdhury In-

stitute of Pharmaceutical

Science here observed

Janaushadhi Diwas on Satur-

day. The event was attended

by Union Minister Prahlad

Singh Patel and Regional Di-

rector, North East India

Tourism, SS Debbarman.

LOCAL FORECAST:

Generally cloudy skywith one or two spells ofrain or thundershowers.Maximum and minimumtemperatures are mostlikely to be 28°C & 15°Crespectively on Monday.

TEMPERATURE:Max 29.0° C

Min 15.6° C

WEATHER

GUWAHATI

Moot courtcontest heldGUWAHATI, March 8:

National Law University and

Judicial Academy, Assam, or-

ganised the second edition of

Vox Anatolis National Level

Moot Court Competition from

March 6 to 8 on its campus at

Amingaon here, stated a

press release.

Mooting is an exercise

wherein students of law

schools indulge in the simula-

tion of court, arbitration pro-

ceedings, etc.

This year’s moot proposi-

tion was based on the legali-

ties of the NRC and the rights

of foreigners in detention

camps. Twenty-one teams

from premier law schools from

across the country participat-

ed in the competition wherein

they advanced arguments on

the legalities of the process.

The competition was inau-

gurated by Gauhati High

Court’s senior advocate Nilay-

ananda Dutta. The prelims and

other rounds were adjudged

by advocates of the Gauhati

High Court. The finalists were

West Bengal National Univer-

sity of Juridical Sciences and

OP Jindal Global Law School,

Haryana, the release added.

6 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020

MESSAGE FOR TODAY

Rebellion without truth is like spring in a bleak,

arid desert.

– KHALIL GIBRAN

Covid-19: a global crisis, now in India

Illustrative exampleIt had been over a decade-and-a-half ago that Manmo-

han Singh’s Congress Government at the Centre had

first mooted the ‘Look East’ policy. From time to time

there had been regular pronouncements by Delhi that

land connectivity with ASEAN nations was being estab-

lished and soon the Northeast would reap the benefits

this would entail. With the coming to power of the NDA

Government at the Centre, the status quo has not much

changed and, apart from the ‘Look East’ transforming

itself to ‘Act East’, hardly any progress appears to have

been made, no matter that in the 14th ASEAN-India Sum-

mit held at Vientiane, Laos in 2016, Indian Prime Minis-

ter Narendra Modi had laid emphasis on “regional inte-

gration and cooperation”. He had then asserted that the

ASEAN was central to India’s Act East Policy, and one of

the beneficiaries will be the Northeast States. He had

also repeated Manmohan Singh’s earlier assertion that

the process of connectivity between the Northeast and

ASEAN nations was well under way, and the Trilateral

Highway Project to link the region to Myanmar and Thai-

land to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, was about to be

completed. The Northeast would then be transformed

into a corridor between markets in mainland India and

those in other countries, across which economic activi-

ties would flow from the Indian subcontinent to South

Asia and China and vice versa.

An illustrative example of how misleading such asser-

tions have been is the Kaladan Project currently being

undertaken to create yet another path of connectivity be-

tween ASEAN and India through the Northeast. The

project proposes to link Mizoram with the Haldia-Kolkata

ports on the west and the Kaldan river in Myanmar to the

east, thereby forging a multi-modal transport corridor for

shipment of cargo from the eastern ports of India and from

the Northeast through Mizoram to the ASEAN. However,

though the framework agreement for this project had been

signed between Indian and Myanmar in 2008 and the first

assignment for work was made in 2010, hardly any progress

had been made in both the waterway component of 158 km

on the Kaladan river and the 109-km road component from

the Mizoram-Myanmar border. The very fact that only Rs

640 crore of the estimated Rs 2,904-crore expenditure

for the project has been spent so far testifies to how little

progress has been achieved. Reportedly, the tardy

progress has earned the ire of the Parliamentary Commit-

tee monitoring the Act East Policy, which has recommend-

ed that the reasons for the inordinate delay in completing

the project must be addressed and it should be regularly

monitored. Of equal concern to the people of the North-

east, of course, has been the lack of progress in building up

the industrial infrastructure in this region required to reap

benefits from the Act East Policy.

Power tariffThe Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission has ef-

fected a reduction in energy charges by 15 to 40 paise per

unit across all categories, while increasing the fixed costs at

the same time. The increase in fixed charges is being sought

to be compensated by decreasing the energy charges, caus-

ing an overall decrease of 2% as compared to the existing

tariff. The past one decade has seen power tariff go up

substantially even as there has not been any noticeable

improvement in the overall power scenario. This in turn

fuelled growing public opposition to the frequent hikes in

power tariff. The growing dissatisfaction of the consumers

with power tariff hikes is not without justification because

they have been made to pay at high rates for availing an

essential service which has been erratic and inadequate to

say the least. This reflects an arbitrary and illogical approach

on the part of the power authorities for whom customer

satisfaction figures at the bottom of the priorities. Following

the World Bank-aided power reforms started in 2003, the

ASEB was dismantled into several companies for bringing

in professionalism and efficiency into its functioning. Unfor-

tunately, their functioning leaves none in any doubt that

they are more interested in passing off the burden arising

out of their inefficiency to the common consumers rather

than making any sincere effort towards providing quality

service to the people. Much of the losses the power author-

ities are suffering stems from their own inefficiency and

lapses, and seeking to realize the losses simply by overbur-

dening the consumers can never be acceptable.

Our power authorities would do well to emulate the

model of the Delhi Government where the entire chain

from generation, transmission and distribution has been

streamlined, reducing undue costs in the process and

passing on the benefits to the consumer. Unfortunately,

the State’s power scenario continues to be dark in the

literal sense of the term. The meagre power generation

apart, transmission and distribution continue to be plagued

by a plethora of ills resulting in heavy but avoidable loss-

es every year. The annual losses suffered by the ASEB

and its successor companies continue to be huge – stem-

ming more from unprofessional handling of a vital sector

like power than from low tariff. This has also encouraged

financial irregularities, including APDCL’s mounting but

unnecessary administrative expenses. The Electricity

Act 2003 envisaged quality and uninterrupted power for

the masses at affordable rate but this has turned out to be

a mirage. Power theft and unrealized bills from big de-

faulters including government departments also remain

another issue left unaddressed. While occasional revi-

sion of power tariff is necessary to meet the rising cost of

production, there is little to suggest that the power au-

thorities have made any committed attempt to plug the

loopholes in their functioning.

t is often thought that the ma-

jor threat to the human race in

present times is from global

terrorism or nuclear prolifer-

ation but another kind of much great-

er threat lurks behind the shadows

and emerges without the slightest

hint – a global pandemic.

The outbreak of the mysterious

virus, named coronavirus disease 19

or Covid-19, triggered a global

health emergency. The viral infec-

tion was initially reported to origi-

nate in a seafood market in the Chi-

nese city of Wuhan in December

2019. It was soon realized that the

viral infection was highly contagious,

and could spread rapidly. Despite a

prohibitory lockdown, an estimat-

ed 80,000 people were infected

within China with more than 90,000

confirmed cases across more than

70 countries. Sadly, more than 3,100

people have lost their lives since

the outbreak was reported in De-

cember, majority of the deaths oc-

curred in China.

Covid-19, a zoonotic virus, and

the seventh member in the corona-

virus family, has never been report-

ed before. Scientific studies have

shown that the coronavirus origi-

nating from Wuhan is structurally

related to the viral pathogens re-

sponsible for Severe Acute Respi-

ratory Syndrome (SARS) and Mid-

dle East Respiratory Syndrome

(MERS). Like previous instances of

coronavirus outbreaks, scientists

suspect that the Covid-19 virus

jumped to human from either bats

or animals. For example, the virus

associated with SARS was believed

to have jumped to humans from civ-

ets in 2002. In a recent report based

on genetic analyses, the Chinese sci-

entists have identified scaly, ant-eat-

ing pangolin as a potential link for

Covid-19. While detailed genome

studies involving three other pan-

golin coronaviruses are being con-

I

While the Chinese have been

able to contain the outbreak

substantially, the initial delay

was perhaps unfortunate.

Because of this lapse, many

people and tourists were

exposed to the viral infections

and unknowingly transmitted

the pathogen while traveling.

Lettersto the

EDITOR

Holi celebration and coronavirus

Sir, – With the coronavirus

Covid-19 becoming more and more

real for the Indians with each

passing day, the excitement that

generally accompanies Holi is

somewhat diminished in this year.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan has already

cancelled its celebration and Prime

Minister Narendra Modi has also

said that he would not hold or be

part of any Holi gathering this year.

The announcements came in line

with expert advice for people to

reduce mass events to check the

Covid-19 spread. As the global

mortality rate of Covid-19 is 3.4%

and the virus has human-to-human

transmission, would it even be a

good idea to play Holi this year?

Studies have shown that the

incubation period of Covid-19 is 2 to

14 days and an asymptomatic

person can also spread the infection

which is why social distancing and

personal hygiene are important.

Holi is an auspicious occasion. It is a

social festival. Holi celebration

Articles (within 1000-1100 words) and

Letters to the Editor for publication in

the editorial page may be sent to the

email ID: [email protected].

ducted, the actual source of the vi-

ral outbreak remains elusive. As

such, scientists, researchers and

public health officials are desperate-

ly trying to identify the origin of the

virus in the Chinese city of Wuhan

in order to prevent new outbreaks.

On February 29, the World Health

Organization (WHO) raised the glo-

bal alert for Covid-19 to the highest

possible level, though refraining

from terming it a ‘pandemic’. Ac-

cording to the epidemiologists at the

WHO, the transmission

risk of coronavirus seems

much stronger than what

was earlier estimated.

Also, the researchers at

Umea University in Swe-

den have reported that

based on previous studies,

the Covid-19 emerging

from Wuhan appears as

transmissible as the SARS

virus, and that the situa-

tion was alarming.

While the Covid-19 in-

fection has been spreading

rapidly, scientists estimat-

ed the fatality rate be-

tween 1 and 2. The data collected

by the Chinese scientists indicated

that about 80% of infections were

mild to moderate, 13.8% revealed

severe symptoms, and while 6.1%

had critical episodes of respiratory

failure, septic shock or organ fail-

ure. It was learnt that the fatality

rate was 21.9% for elderly people

(over 60 years of age), and individu-

als who were diagnosed with heart

disease, diabetes or hypertension

were particularly vulnerable.

The WHO has estimated the

transmissibility of the coronavirus

between 1.4 and 2.5. Transmissibil-

ity, expressed as a reproduction

number, is a measurement of ‘how

many people were infected by a vi-

rus-contaminated person in a pre-

viously healthy population’. The

higher the number, the more trans-

ferable or contagious the viral in-

fection is and the higher the risk for

rapid spread. When the reproduc-

tion number falls below 1.0, the ep-

idemic is likely to die out.

Based on the available evidence,

it seems that Covid-19 can be trans-

mitted by people who have mild

symptoms or are even pre-sympto-

matic. In fact, Covid-19 can be trans-

mitted via droplets and fomites dur-

ing close unprotected contact be-

tween the infected person and a

healthy person. This means Covid-

19 is transmitted quite efficiently, and

an average infected person can spread

the disease to several others before

it can be detected. Under such con-

ditions, there is an increased risk of

infection spreading to elderly people

and those with existing health prob-

lems. Due to this reason, Covid-19

has been much harder to contain than

the MERS or SARS, and has already

shown 10 times as many infected cas-

es as SARS in a quarter of the time

period.

As the world joins the race to find

treatments and vaccines for Covid-

19, we could learn from the Chi-

nese experience of the outbreak.

When the viral infection was initial-

ly detected in Wuhan municipality,

the Chinese authorities seemed

unable to comprehend the serious-

ness of the situation. In fact, Li Wen-

liang, an ophthalmologist who first

alerted the public of the viral dis-

ease, was warned by the local au-

thorities (Li subsequently died of

the viral disease). Later, Zhong N-

anshan, the doctor who was part of

China’s fight against the 2003 out-

break of SARS, alerted the public of

the new virus that seemed capable

of human-to-human transmission.

The response of the Chinese au-

thorities was aggressive and un-

precedented; three new hospitals

were built along with nine tempo-

rary hospitals in just more

than a week. The author-

ities promptly ordered

complete lockdown of

Wuhan and its neigh-

bouring cities in the

Hubei province – with a

population of about 58.5

million people. Across

China, as many as 700

million people were

asked to stay confined to

their homes with travel

restrictions. At the same

time, the Chinese author-

ities organized more than

200 medical teams from

around the country, including from

the military, to contain the spread of

the disease. Along with this, the

Chinese authorities also extended

the Lunar New Year holiday to cov-

er the incubation period of the vi-

rus. People diagnosed with symp-

toms of Covid-19 were kept in iso-

lation, and quarantined in stadiums

and conference centres. People

were asked to maintain personal hy-

giene, while those who developed

symptoms received medical treat-

ment. Such massive response of the

Chinese authorities including the

home-based quarantine of sympto-

matic people at the epicentre was

instrumental in containing the virus

to some extent.

Several lessons can be learnt from

the pandemic situation arising out of

the viral outbreak. Firstly, it seems

the closure of public institutions and

non-essential workplaces reduce

transmission risks to a large extent.

At the same time, information and

education campaigns undertaken dur-

ing the outbreak control efforts effec-

tively highlighted personal hygiene

and preventive measures, while peo-

ple with asymptomatic infections

were provided medical treatment.

Secondly, quarantine and isolation of

the infected cases became effective

strategies while dealing with such con-

tagious diseases. This was made pos-

sible by trained health workers who

could monitor disease patterns as part

of the early response systems and de-

liver diagnosis and treatment. While

the Chinese have been able to contain

the outbreak substantially, the initial

delay was perhaps unfortunate. Be-

cause of this lapse, many people and

tourists were exposed to the viral in-

fections and unknowingly transmitted

the pathogen while travelling. As of

now, countries like South Korea, Sin-

gapore, Japan, Iran and Italy have re-

ported hundreds of confirmed cases

of Covid-19 infections.

From the Indian perspective, the

Covid-19 outbreak is a serious con-

cern, with several new viral infect-

ed cases being already identified.

The challenges posed by such

emerging and re-emerging infec-

tious pathogens require constant

surveillance and prompt diagnosis.

In addition, we ought to update our-

selves on Covid-19, its symptoms

(i.e., fever and dry cough), and edu-

cate ourselves about the preventive

measures, viz., frequent hand wash-

ing, using alcohol-based sanitizers and

covering our mouth and nose when

sneezing or coughing. In the long

run, our government ought to facil-

itate rigorous scientific research to

understand the biology of new path-

ogens, their effects on our popula-

tions, and help develop effective

medicines/vaccines for dealing with

unprecedented emergencies.

Sankaradeva and Holi festival in Assamn the spring season, the Holi

festival is celebrated almost in

all parts of northern India. Be-

fore the appearance of Sriman-

ta Sankaradeva, it is not clearly

known whether the spring festival,

known as Doul Yatra or Holi, was

celebrated in ancient Assam. It

seems that Sankaradeva was the

person who for the first time in-

troduced this festival after return-

ing from his first pilgrimage in or-

der to propagate the Bhakti culture

of Assam.

It has been emphatically ex-

pressed in the Bhakti treatises, es-

pecially in the Bhagavat Purana, that

the Leelas (divine activities of Lord

Krishna) play the most important

role to rouse the Krishna conscious-

ness in the heart of his devotees. In

the 11th canto of the Bhagavata, it

has been specially devised that the

people who desire to have firm de-

votion to Krishna should worship

his image and display his Leelas in

congregation with pomp and gran-

deur. Sankaradeva elaborately de-

picted this portion of the Bhagavata

in his Kirtan and in his Niminavasid-

ha Sambada, and also in his crea-

tions about Lord Krishna. Srimanta

n Prafulla Pran Mahanta

Sankaradeva described the details

of the Holi played by Lord Krishna

also in other creations about Bhakti

cult of his Vaishnavite literature.

Almost all the biographers of

Sankaradeva said that he spent sev-

eral years in Jagannath Puri, Odis-

ha. He witnessed all the festivals of

at Puri several times and was ex-

tremely impressed by the perform-

ances of thousands of people. The

Jagannath temple was of pivotal im-

portance and a host of shrines and

temples were created around the

vast tract of land for several hun-

dred years. Srimanta Sankaradeva

wrote a chapter in his monumental

work, the Kirtan Gosha, on several

shines surrounding the Jagannath

temple. He elaborately described in

injunctions of the scriptures how the

ceremony of Rath Yatra was per-

formed in that time which is being

celebrated even today.

He wrote a ghosa, ‘Range faku

khele chaitanya Banamali duhate

fakure gura sinchanta Murari’. This

means the incarnation of that ever-

conscious reality in the form of Sri

Krishna Jagannath, playing with faku

or coloured powder with both hands

with his beloved devotees.

Here in Assam, the Doul Yatra is

celebrated in the month of Fagun.

Sankaradeva has described explic-

itly all the formalities in this con-

text. Sankaradeva has given an im-

pressive picture of the whole cere-

mony. Moreover, his chief disciple

Mahapurush Madhavdeva composed

a Borgeet suitable for singing in the

Holi festival. From all this, we can

say that the Daulotsav or Phalguts-

av or Holi in popular parlance has

been celebrated in the satras and

namghars in Assam since the time

of Srimanta Sankaradeva.

Many other satras of Assam also

follow this tradition as it has been

described in the Kirtana and the

Bhagavata. Some biographers of

Sankaradeva and Madhavdeva have

expressed that for the first time Ma-

hapurush Sankaradeva celebrated

the Doulotsav or Holi festival at

Batadrawa following the advice of

his family priest, Ram Ram Guru.

Sankaradeva ordered his disciple

Korole Barhoi, an expert carpen-

ters of his time, to make a wooden

image or idol of Lord Jagannath

(Lord Krishna). Ram Ram Guru

duly placed the idol in the namghar.

He also performed the religious cer-

emony, that is, Doul festival.

It may be mentioned that in that

holy place, Srimanta Sankaradeva

also exhibited the Chinha Yatra B-

haona in collaboration with Ram

Ram Guru and one of his devotees

and local followers. It is said that

Chinha Yatra Bhaona remained the

centre of inspiration for the per-

formance of Doulotsav in the later

years. Even in later times the Ahom

kings also celebrated Doulotsav or

the Holi festival.

The Doul Yatra or the Holi festi-

val of Assam was given a new shape

and devotion by Mahapurush

Srimanta Sankaradeva. His prime

objective was to involve the people

of Assam with the neo-Vaishnavite

movement without any discrimina-

tion. In the eyes of Sankaradeva, all

people in the world are equal and

hence he tried to propagate the Ek

Saran Naam Dharma among all sec-

tions of Assamese people irrespec-

tive of their caste and creed. Only

to propagate one Krishna Darsan

among the people, he gathered all

sections of the people through this

colourful Holi festival.

Srimanta Sankaradeva had dis-

ciples from the local tribal people

and also from the Muslim commu-

nity. He used khol, taal (cymbal) and

others musical instruments pro-

duced by the local indigenous peo-

ple of Assam. There was no dis-

tinction of caste, creed and religion

in practising Bhakti; everybody was

equal in his eyes. He chose the Holi

festival amongst other festivals to

unite all sections of people of As-

sam. Through the Chinha Yatra

Bhaona and Borgeets, he made the

festival more enjoyable. Even the

illiterate villagers could understand

the highly philosophical and spirit-

ual ideals by witnessing the bhao-

na and listening to the melodious

Borgeets.

After Srimanta Sankaradeva,

his chief disciple Mahapurush

Madhavdeva and others follow-

ing their guru’s footsteps spread

the Bhakti cult through the satra

and namghar institutions in As-

sam. It may be mentioned here

that the King Narnarayana and

his brother Chilarai were attract-

ed by his personality and schol-

arship and requested him to build

a satra and namghars in their

Koch kingdom.

It may be mentioned that the

prominent satras like Barpeta, Bat-

adrawa, Sundaridiya, Auniati, Dak-

shinpat, Garmur, Samaguri and Ku-

ruwabahi and also other satras are

observing the Holi festival as per

their own traditional ways.

I

means a huge gathering and it goes

from house to house. As such,

hugging and applying colours cannot

be avoided. The Covid-19 infection

can be transmitted in gatherings

even by single infected person. No

one can track all those one comes

across in such a huge gathering. In

such a situation, one may increase

the odds of getting an infection. The

only thing one can do is to lower the

odds of getting infected and, hence,

non-essential attendance in

crowded places is discouraged. It is

always better to take precautions. I

think celebrating Holi this year is

unsafe. It is better to stay at home

and share our wishes instead of

organizing get-togethers. Unneces-

sary trips to malls, markets,

conferences or any public places

that are crowded should be avoided.

However, one need not be panicky

over the Covid-19 situation in the

country. Yours etc., Dr DHAR-

MAKANTA KUMBHAKAR,

Tezpur Medical College.

School teacher transferSir, – The Assam Government

has rightly felt the need for

streamlining the school teacher

transfer system in the State (‘State

Govt to bring law on teacher

transfer’, AT, March 4, 2020).

There are a section of teachers in

Assam who are never satisfied with

their postings and are completely

preoccupied with their places of

postings. The primary duty of a

teacher is to teach the students

properly. If a teacher is preoccupied

with other thoughts, he or she can

never become motivated to teach

the students sincerely in the

classroom. In fact, a teacher should

feel satisfied with his or her place of

posting. The proposed policy of the

Assam Government, that a teacher

must render service in the same

place after joining his/her post for a

period of 10 years, is correct.

However, the Government of

Assam should consider the cases of

transfer of teachers on serious

health ground. Further, the

Government must ensure the

security of the lady teachers who

work in the remote places of the

State. Yours etc., MAHESWAR

DEKA, Rangiya.

NPA for vety doctorsSir, – Through your esteemed

daily, I want to draw the atten-

tion of the Assam Government

regarding the non-practising

allowance (NPA) for the veteri-

nary doctors in the government

services. When the State

Government is going to provide

the similar amount of salary to

the doctors of GMCH as that of

the AIIMS, at the same time the

veterinary doctors in the State

have not got even their NPA.

NPA is a special kind of allow-

ance payable to doctors occupy-

ing the posts of medical and

veterinary services. Until the

implementation of the 7th Pay

Commission, NPA was paid at

the rate of 25% of the basic pay.

But the 7th Pay Commission had

reduced it to 20% of the basic

pay. It is unfortunate that the

veterinary doctors are deprived

since long from getting the NPA

even after providing their

valuable services. Yours etc., Dr

BIRAJ KUMAR SARMA,

Lakhimpur.

Ragging in hostelsSir, – There are anti-ragging cells

in almost all the educational

institutions in the present time.

These cells are working sincerely so

that ragging stops and students can

live peacefully and carry on with their

studies. But there are hostels where

the wardens lack sincerity, taking

advantage of which some students

beat others mercilessly in the name

of ragging. The victims also do not

register any complaints fearing

further torture. This is a serious

issue. Through your esteemed daily,

I would like to request the anti-

ragging cells in the educational

institutions of the State to be more

alert and to keep a close eye

especially on the hostels, so that such

unwanted incidents do not happen.

Ragging is a crime, so anyone found

committing such a crime should be

given exemplary punishment. Yours

etc., KABIR CHAKRABORTY,

Cotton University.

n Nilakshi Rupam Sarma

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 7MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020NATIONAL

HYDERABAD, March 8: Vice-President M

Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday emphasised on

educational and economic empowerment for

women and said no country could progress if

they were denied equal opportunities.

Delivering his address at the inaugural of

iWIN (International Women Network) on the

occasion of Women’s Day here, he said, “It

was the duty of each one of us to see that no

girl was left out of school.”

An educated woman would possess skills,

self-confidence and could become a better

parent, an official press release quoted Naidu

as saying.

She would also provide better nutrition and

hence ensure that her children are healthy, he

said.

In this aspect, the Vice-President expressed

happiness over the tremendous impact of Beti

Bachao, Beti Padao on increasing the gross

enrolment ratio of girls across all levels.

Calling for a change in mindset, the Vice-

President said there was an urgent need to

make boys respect girls from a young age.

He said women were always given a re-

spectable place in Indian culture and traditions

and we need to go back to our roots.

Noting that life always needs women,

Naidu, in his trademark style, said- First, it is

Vidya (education), then Lakshmi (wealth) and

finally it is Shakti and Shanti (peace).

Describing spiritual symbols, the Vice-Pres-

ident said, “Whether we chant the Gayatri

(mantra) or read the Gita (epic), or we do

Vandana, Puja or Aarti with Shraddha towards

God to pray, we are still with women.

Maintaining that the greatest human values

are feminine, Naidu said, When we grow old-

SRINAGAR, March 8: Former PDP

leader Altaf Bukhari on Sunday

launched the Jammu and Kashmir Apni

Party (JKAP) here as he vowed to

work towards restoring J&K’s state-

hood and ensure domicile rights of

people in jobs and education, while

saying demoting the state to a Union

Territory was “unpleasant and bitter”.

The 60-year-old, who is a graduate in

agriculture science, announced the for-

mation of the JKAP at his residence and

was flanked by former MLAs and sen-

ior leaders of political parties like the

National Conference (NC), the PDP, the

Congress and the BJP, besides some

former Independent legislators.

He was elected president of the

JKAP unanimously.

Bukhari said the new party was an

outfit “of the commoners, by the com-

moners and for the commoners”.

It is a bare fact that the Union Ter-

ritory of Jammu and Kashmir has been

passing through tough times since

1990, leading to an unprecedented

scenario of death and destruction in

the region, he said.

“However, the developments

which took place on August 5, 2019,

brought some new questions and re-

alities to the fore,” Bukhari said, add-

ing that in “an unknown and unimag-

SNIPPETS

Debt-ridden farmercommits suicide

SAHARANPUR, March 8: A debt-riddenfarmer hanged himself to death in front ofa bank in Sharanpur's Chhutmalpur,police said on Sunday.

SP (Rural) Vidya Sagar Mishra said theincident took place on Saturday eveningand the farmer has been identified as 50-year-old Vedpal. He hanged himself froma tree, triggering panic in the area.

Police said he was immediately rushedto a hospital, where doctors declared himdead. The SP said a suicide note wasrecovered, in which the victim blamedbank officials and a middleman for theextreme step. – PTI

Army rescues nine peoplestranded in snow in J&K

JAMMU, March 8: The army onSunday rescued nine people, includingfive women, who were stranded in snowin the higher reaches of Jammu andKashmir's Rajouri district, a defencespokesperson said.

"Army troops of the Romeo Forcebraved harsh weather and incessantsnow and rain near Dera Ki Gali torescue the passengers travellingbetween Thanamandi and Bafliaz," hesaid. The spokesperson said their SUVgot stuck on the road due to heavysnowfall, which kept increasing.

On information about the same, he saidthe troops and the local police stationedat Dera Ki Gali swung into action andreached the site immediately andrescued the people. – PTI

CRPF constable kills selfwith service weapon

HYDERABAD, March 8: A CRPFconstable, hailing from Nagpur inMaharashtra, on sentry duty hereallegedly committed suicide by shootinghimself with his service weapon in theearly hours of Sunday, police said.

According to police, Baban Vithal RaoManwar, aged about 40, who was onsentry duty at the CRPF public schoolhere, allegedly shot himself under the chinwith his service weapon, an SLR. – PTI

Driver accused ofraping woman in car

HYDERABAD, March 8: A 23-year-oldmarried woman was allegedly raped bya man in his car near here after givingher a lift, police said on Sunday.

The 33-year-old accused offered thewoman a lift in his car on late Friday whileshe was waiting on the roadside to go toChandanvelly village, they said. Instead oftaking her to the destination, he drove to anisolated place and allegedly raped her, thepolice said. The woman lodged a complainton Saturday, based on which a case hasbeen registered and the accused taken intocustody, they added. – PTI

Karnataka putson hold weddingaid scheme for

minority womenBENGALURU, March 8: A

question mark has arisen over

the continuation of a marriage

assistance scheme for minori-

ty women in Karnataka, start-

ed during the Congress rule, in

view of non-allocation of funds

for it in the budget presented

by the BJP government.

Reacting to it, the opposition

Congress in the state hit out at

the BJP and said it has proved

that the party “is anti-minori-

ties.” In a notice issued on Sat-

urday, the director of minori-

ties had asked the secretary of

minority welfare, Haj and Wakf,

deputy commissioners of all

districts not to accept any ap-

plication under the Bidaai

scheme with immediate effect.

“It is hereby informed not

to accept any application under

the Bidaai scheme because the

finance department has not re-

served funds under the Bidaai

scheme in the budget 2020-21.

Hence, receiving applications

under the scheme must be

stopped with immediate effect

and the pending applications

shall be mandatorily sent to the

directorate by March 9, 2020,”

said the notice. – PTI

T H I R U V A N A N -

THAPURAM, March 8: The

Kerala government on Sun-

day decided to go ahead with

“Attukal Pongala,” one of the

largest all-women religious

congregations to be held on

Monday, but issued fresh

guidelines in the backdrop of

five fresh positive coronavi-

rus cases being reported in

the state.

Since months of prepara-

tions have gone in for the fa-

mous festival, it has been

decided to go ahead with it,

Health Minister K K Shaila-

ja told reporters here.

The health authorities

have issued strict instructions

that those having cold, fever

or showing any symptoms of

the virus, should offer ‘pon-

gala’ only in front of their

homes and avoid crowded

places.

The minister also visited

the Attukal temple complex

to supervise the prepara-

tions.

Many foreigners participate

in the pongala ritual and ar-

rangements have been made

er we want Karuna (compassion) or Mamta

(love). From those who are angry with us we

want Kshama (forgiveness). It is a womans

world, he said.

Observing that even after seven decades of

Independence, there were still reports of gen-

der discrimination, atrocities and violence

against women, the Vice-President stressed

that there should be zero tolerance towards

such social evils.

He called for meting out swift punishment

to those who commit crimes against women

and said that political will was required to curb

crimes against women rather than merely

bringing a new bill.

On the need for a special emphasis on edu-

cation and empowerment of rural women, the

Vice-President said promoting literacy among

rural women and nurturing the spirit of en-

trepreneurship among them would pave the

way for their economic empowerment.

He also called for giving equal rights to

women in ancestral property, including that of

the agriculture land and said that there was an

urgent need to bring in uniformity in laws

across the country in this regard.

Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundarara-

jan was among the dignitaries who were

present.

Earlier in the day, the Vice-President at-

tended the Women’s Day celebrations organ-

ised by Durgabai Deshmukh Mahila Sabha

(Andhra Mahila Sabha) here.

Addressing the gathering at the event, he

called upon the youth to draw inspiration from

the life of visionary leaders such as Durgabai

Deshmukh who dedicated her life in the serv-

ice of nation at a tender age of 12. – PTI

‘Economic empowerment,education vital for women’

ined situation in the 70-year-long his-

tory of free India, a full-fledged state,

enjoying an enviable position among

its sister states, was demoted to a

Union Territory”.

On August 5 last year, the Centre

withdrew special status of the erst-

while state of Jammu and Kashmir,

and bifurcated it into union territories

Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

The union territories came into

existence on October 31 last year.

“Though unpleasant and bitter, it is

an undeniable reality that the develop-

ments which took place in August 2019,

particularly the deprivation of statehood,

has badly affected the self-esteem, pride

and confidence of the people across Jam-

mu and Kashmir,” Bukhari said.

Bukhari, who was a minister in the

PDP-BJP government, said the devel-

opments have resulted not only in the

complete breakdown of political insti-

tutions but has also stalled the result

oriented and purposeful developmen-

tal activities.

“Hence, a sense of aggressive dis-

contentment on one side, and an atti-

tude of complete indifference prevails

across Jammu and Kashmir on the

other, which at any cost, cannot be left

unattended and unaddressed,” the

businessman-turned-politician said.

The people have every reason and

right to conceive and envision every

shade and aspect of a fully developed

and civilized democratic society, a so-

ciety where they can live in harmony

and peace, free from discrimination,

exploitation and prejudices of any kind

or manner under a democratic sys-

tem, Bukhari said.

“Our people have had huge sacrific-

es to their credit for nurturing the dem-

ocratic spirit and an ever evolving polit-

ical process in the region. Unfortunate-

ly, we never witnessed the desired re-

sults of our toil and efforts and instead,

we were failed time and again by a par-

ticular vested interest class,” he said.

“The result is that we are in a situ-

ation where we should have not been,”

the former Jammu and Kashmir fi-

nance minister said.

The present circumstances war-

ranted the formation of a new political

party comprising those who all along

had identified and related themselves

to the social needs of multiple factions

of society, Bukhari said.

He said that the situation demanded

“a party that could respond to rational

aspirations of the people without prom-

ising them the moon or stars”.

“We are not here to sell dreams or

fantasies to our people, instead shall

always be pragmatic, honest and fair

in our approach,” Bukhari asserted at

a press conference.

On abrogation of Article 370,

Bukhari said the special status had

been eroded and was reduced to a

frame only in the last 50 years. “The

matter is before the Supreme Court

and hence, we have to wait for the

verdict,” he said.

“However, restoration of state-

hood, domicile rights in land and jobs,

beside a holistic and an equitable de-

velopment of all regions and sub-re-

gions of Jammu and Kashmir forms

the core agenda of the party (JKAP),”

Bukhari said. The JKAP will seek to

ensure that the destiny of Jammu and

Kashmir is driven by the people while

preserving its identity, secure the res-

toration of statehood and protect dom-

icile rights, especially with respect to

disposition of land and employment in

government services, he said.

Bukhari said that the party will also

seek dignified return of Kashmiri Pan-

dits, empowerment of youths and

women, and achieving sustained and

regionally balanced economic growth.

The JKAP will also articulate other

popular demands of the people that

have a bearing on their wellbeing, he

said. – PTI

Ex-PDP leader Altaf Bukhari floats new politicaloutfit, vows to work to restore J&K’s statehood

NEW DELHI, March 8: The

Delhi government has ordered

DTC and cluster buses, metro and

hospitals to be disinfected on a reg-

ular basis as a precautionary meas-

ure to deal with the novel corona-

virus, Chief Minister Arvind Ke-

jriwal said on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference,

Kejriwal said that three cases of

coronavirus have been reported in

Delhi so far and one case is still

under investigation.

The chief minister said that 168

isolation beds have been set up at

25 hospitals for coronavirus pa-

tients.

He appealed to the people in Del-

hi that if anybody from their neigh-

bourhood had returned from foreign

countries in the past 14 days, they

should inform the government.

The chief minister, who chaired a

state task force on Sunday, said the

government was fully prepared to

deal with the novel coronavirus, add-

ing that people do not need to panic.

“An order has been issued to disin-

fect DTC, cluster buses, Delhi Metro

Coronavirus: Buses, metro in Delhito be disinfected on regular basis

and hospitals every day,” he said.

“Three cases of coronavirus

have been reported in Delhi so far.

One case is still under under in-

vestigation. I want to tell this to

everyone that the Delhi govern-

ment is worried about it but we

are fully prepared to tackle it.

There is no need to panic and

we need everyone’s cooperation,”

he said.

After examining the three cas-

es, it was learnt that the first in-

fected person came in contact with

105 people, second came in con-

tact with 168 in the last 14 days

while the third person came in con-

tact with 64 people, he said.

“All those who came in contact with

them are being isolated and their

samples are being collected and

checked for symptoms,” he added.

Healthy people need not wear

mask and there is no need to stock up

masks at your homes either, he said.

He also urged people to wash

their hands frequently with soap

and water.

All passengers at the airport are

being screened. Forty doctors of Del-

hi Government hospitals are de-

ployed at the airports for the purpose.

All those passengers who under-

go thermal screenings at the air-

port once they go home, especially

those from Delhi, are being kept

under watch for 14 days to check

for symptoms.

“1,40,603 passengers have been

screened at the airports so far and

have been put on surveillance,” he

said.

Kejriwal also appealed to em-

ployers to give paid leave to those

quarantined so that their livelihood

is not affected.

The chief minister said that now

25 hospitals have the facilities

where one can submit the samples.

Out of the 25 hospitals, six are

private hospitals while others are

those of the Delhi Government.

“We are making separate facili-

ties for collection of samples and

treatment in these hospitals so that

if any patient arrives there, they

don’t come in contact with others,”

he said. – PTI

for them to make the offering

in their hotel itself, Thiru-

vananthapuram district Col-

lector K Gopalakrishnan said.

The Pongala festival cannot

be avoided. Those who have

come from the virus affected

nations should offer pongala

at their homes, instead of jo-

ing people in the ritual at tem-

ples, the collector said.

Twenty-three teams will

be kept ready at various plac-

es during the pongala with 12

ambulances.

Residents’ association

members have also been in-

cluded in the teams at vari-

ous places.

This will help in tracing

those with fever and cold and

those who have come from

affected countries, he said

adding awareness camps

would be held at Railway sta-

tions, bus stands and temples.

Video clippings of those

participating in the festival

would also be taken.

This would make things

easier to get in touch with

persons in case of any issues,

Shailaja said. – PTI

‘Attukal Pongala’ to beheld on Monday, fresh

guidelines issued

Kalavati Devi receives ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar 2019’ on International Women’s Day from President Ram Nath Kovind as First Lady Savita Kovind, Union Ministers

Smriti Irani and Nirmala Sitharaman look on, at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Center in New Delhi on Sunday. Devi, a lady mason, has been a driving force towards

reducing open defecation in the district of Kanpur. She is responsible for building more than 4000 toilets in villages. – PTI

People wear protective masks during a campaign by Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee to distributemasks in the wake of novel coronavirus scare in New Delhi, on Sunday. – PTI

Over 700 cases filed, nearly 2,400held for northeast Delhi violence

NEW DELHI, March 8: The Delhi Police on Sunday said it has filed over 700 cases and

nabbed nearly 2,400 people in connection with the recent communal violence in northeast

Delhi.

In total, 2,387 people have been either detained or arrested in relation to the violence that

broke out last month in northeast Delhi, they said.

According to police, out of the 702 cases filed, 49 have been registered under the Arms Act.

They also said 283 meetings have been held with the Aman Committees in violence-hit

areas of northeast Delhi. – PTI

8 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020STATE

Youth tests negative for coronavirus

BONGAIGAON, March 8: A youth of Bongaigaonsuspected of having coronavirus has tested negative. DrRatna Basumatary, Joint Director of the District HealthServices said, “The youth does not have coronavirus andthat has been confirmed after conducting medical tests.”

The youth had arrived here on March 3 from Dubaiafter winding up his business tour. He was having mildfever and cough after reaching home. The DistrictHealth Department as per protocol collected his bloodsamples. – Correspondent

Int’l Women’s Day observedMORIGAON, March 8: International Women’s Day

was observed here today. Under the auspices of AsomMahila Sangha, the day was observed at its Morigaondistrict office amidst a huge gathering.

The programme started with the flag hoisting byGanga Devi Khatoniar, president, Morigaon district unitof Asom Mahila Sangha. This was followed by smrititarpan offered by several senior members of the AsomMahila Sangha. Addressing the open meeting held on theoccasion, Anu Baruah, general secretary, Morigaon ZilaMahila Sangha appealed to the women organisations tofight unitedly against all injustices committed against thefair sex. She said that in a male-dominated society, equalrights for women is a mere slogan, when crimes againstthem are on the rise. The BJP Mahila Morcha, Morigaondistrict unit also observed the day with a series of

programmes. – Correspondent

Teachers trainingDIPHU, March 8: Around 5839 teachers of both East

and West Karbi Anglong districts were imparted trainingunder the National Initiative For School Heads’ andTeachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) pro-gramme. The training programme, which was conductedat Howraghat English Medium High School, concludedhere on Saturday.

The programme was formally inaugurated by Son SingTokbi, Block Mission Coordinator (BMC).

Around 5839 head and assistant teachers from primary,upper primary and secondary level teachers were providedtraining under the programme. Altogether, nine resourcepersons and 45 key resource persons were engaged for the

training in the two hill districts. – Correspondent

Holiday declaredBONGAIGAON, March 8: Bongaigaon and Chirang

district administrations have declared local holiday onMarch 10 on the occasion of ‘Doul Jatra’. An officialnotice has been issued in this connection.– Corre-

spondent

Blood donation camp heldTEZPUR, March 8: The Indian Red Cross Society,

Sonitpur chapter in association with the TezpurSalonbari-based Regional Training Centre and CompositeHospital organised a blood donation and awareness campat the Salonibari SSB camp here yesterday. Theprogramme was formally inaugurated by the DIG, SSB,Salonibari, Dr Akhil Karmakar.

Participating in the function, the head of the Sonitpurdistrict chapter of Indian Red Cross society, Dr AtulKumar Kalita gave a brief sketch on the activities of RedCross Society. Altogether 58 persons donated blood inthe programme. Besides, other dignitaries, Red CrossTreatment sub-committee president, Dr AparajitaBaruah, vice-president of Youth Red Cross society, ProfManash Patgiri, Dr P Joshi, Dr DK Das, senior physicianand social worker, Dr Hemendra Kumar Bora, DrBasanta Hazarika, Dr Jitumoni Bezbaruah attended theprogramme. In the programme, the doctors also spoke on

HIV cases. – Correspondent

Dharna stagedUDALGURI, March 8: Along with other district

headquarters of the State, the anganwadi workers ofUdalguri district also staged a three-hour dharna here atUdalguri town recently and decried the State govern-ment’s apathy towards anganwadis, ASHA workers andcooks.

Later, a procession with banners and placards marchedtowards the Deputy Commissioner’s office and submitteda copy of the memorandum to the Chief Minister of Assamwhere the organisation under the banner of ShramajeeviMahila Samanvayrakhi Samiti placed a six-point charter ofdemands for the welfare of the working women andchildren in the working places. – Correspondent

Section 144 CrPC in HailakandiHAILAKANDI, March 8: Smearing of coloured water,

cow dung, mud and toxic substances during Doul Jatra(Holi) on unwilling persons and security personnel onduty has been prohibited in the entire Hailakandi district.An order under Section 144 CrPC was issued by DistrictMagistrate Keerthi Jalli on Saturday. The order wasissued for maintenance of peace and public order duringthe ensuing Doul festival, which will be celebrated fromtomorrow. – Correspondent

Removal demandedDIGBOI, March 8: Demanding the immediate removal of

Sandeep S John, the incumbent Executive Director of AODDigboi, disgruntled contractors affiliated to the IOC-AODContractor Association staged a sit-in here in front of theadministrative complex main gate recently demanding hisremoval for being biased against the bonafide sentiments ofthe Assamese people here.

According to Phunu Borgohain, the president of theassociation, the ED concerned and GM (HR) HitharthaBhattarchjee have always been biased against the cause of thecontractors and have never bothered to coordinate with thecontractor association in the corporate dealings. Allegationshave also been made that John spends funds in developingchurches using AODs funds while local Assamese religiousinstitutions like naamghars have beeen neglected.” The localBJP MLA Suren Phukan and MP Rameswar Teli have alsosupported our cause and has assured of joining the nextagitation in case the end is not realised immediately,”informed Phunu Borgohain.– ANN Service

Vultures atop a Simalu tree at Sivasagar, on Sunday. –UB Photos

There are some people

who lead a simple life, but

leave an indelible mark on

others. Prasanna Kumar

Baruah was such a person.

Born at Jorhat in the year

1939 – he breathed his last

on February 28, 2020 leaving

behind his wife Ilu Devi

Baruah, herself a short story

writer of repute and two

sons.

Despite his busy schedule

as a responsible officer of SBI

he could find time to dabble

at writing, mostly dramas and

proved his mettle in the field

of drama. It is a well-known

fact that publication of drama

is well-nigh impossible in As-

sam. But he had the credit of

publishing a collection of

some of his dramas, both one

act and full length, titled

Prasanna Kumar Baruah’s

Kaikhonman Mancha Safal

Nat. He was the livewire be-

hind establishment of Jyoti

Theatres, a leading cultural

organisation of Jorhat under

the banner of which several

Prasanna Kumar Baruah: a tribute

dramas penned by Baruah,

were staged in different plac-

es of the State and won many

laurels. Had there been a

proper evaluation of his dra-

mas he would have been

placed in a higher echelon in

the sphere of Assamese dra-

ma. He had also tried his hand

in direction and during the

sixties, a number of plays

were staged successfully un-

der his able direction.

In the year 1976, Jyoti The-

atres produced an Assamese

film Dharmakai under the

banner of Jyoti Chitra Sama-

bai, another of Baruah’s

brainchild. The story, screen-

play and dialogues of the film

were penned by Baruah. It

may be mentioned that Dhar-

makai was a trendsetter in

Assamese film industry.

Baruah also contributed quite

a number of stories articles,

satirical pieces etc., to vari-

ous journals and periodicals

including Asom Bani, Dainik

Asam, Amar Asom, Agradoot

and Janambhumi.

A silent worker, he never

hankered after publicity. He

was always happy and con-

tented as the Assamese

meaning of his first name

suggests. His inherent insou-

ciance got reflected on his

perosona. He will always be

remembered for his qualities

of head and heart by admir-

ers. His demise is an irrepa-

rable loss to Assamese cul-

ture and literature.

On the auspicious occasion

of his adyashraddha today, I

pray to the Almighty for eter-

nal peace of the departed soul.

– Partha Pratim Baruah

Our birth is a testament to

our death– even after know-

ing this fact, we find it so

harsh to accept the reality. I

felt a similar kind of pain at

the unforeseen loss of my

dear grandmother, Nikunjala-

ta Bora, as she breathed her

last at the Nemcare Hospital

on February 28, 2020.

My grandma was born into

a humble family at Na-Bhe-

ta, Golaghat. Daughter of a

school headmaster, she was

the second child among four

daughters and three sons.

She had done her schooling

from Betioni High School. At

the age of twenty, she tied the

knot with my grandfather,

Late Nandeswar Bora and

thence, became the beloved,

Nikunjalata Bora

eldest daughter-in-law of the

then gaonburha of Rajabahar

Gaon, Dergaon.

Thereafter, they shifted to

Guwahati in 1964 and had

since then, watched the city

develop from lowlands to

high rise buildings. At first,

they had settled in the ASTC

quarters in Paltanbazar and

later made a home of their

own in Srimantapur, Bhanga-

garh, where she became an

eminent part of the Sriman-

tapur Namghar.

Amidst much economic

struggle, she tried hard to

provide the best of the oppor-

tunities to her son and two

daughters. She was a bold

lady full of positivity and was

a source of inspiration for all

of us. She was the axis

around which our homes re-

volved and was a loving

grandmother to her five

grandchildren.

Today, on the occasion of

her adyashraddha, I mourn

her death and pray for her

departed soul.

– Indrani Das Bora

Lawyers seek MP’s interventionDELAY IN NH-15 BYPASS PROJECT

CORRESPONDENT

MANGALDAI, March 8: Irked over

the slow progress of the NH-15 bypass

construction on the outskirts of Man-

galdai town, a group of five lawyers of

the Mangaldai Bar, led by senior lawyer

Jayanta Deka have once again urged

Mangaldai MP Dilip Saikia to take nec-

essary steps for the completion of the

survey work by April 15 next.

Bringing the matter to the notice of

Saikia on the basis of the relevant infor-

mation collected under the RTI Act, the

group of lawyers in their petition, ex-

pressed doubts over the completion of

the project in the next seven or eight

years. This was stated by the lawyers’

group in a letter to the media recently.

Justifying their apprehension, they

stated that according to the information

provided by the concerned government

authority PWD, NH, Rangiya Division

on February 12 last, only the inception

report including Quality Assessment

Plan (QAP) and Draft Feasibility Study

(FS) report have been submitted to the

Chief Engineer, PWD, NH (Works).

However, the approval of the draft fea-

sibility report for alignment is still await-

ed. The submission of Preliminary

Project Report (PPR) and Detail Project

Report (DPR) are to follow before the

sanctioning of the proposed bypass from

the Ministry of Road Transport & High-

ways (MORT&H), Government of In-

dia. In such a situation, it is apprehend-

ed that it will take another four years

for completion of the survey and there

is hardly any indication that the pro-

posed bypass project could be complete

by 2028.

It may be mentioned here that Chief

Engineer, PWD (NH) Works issued the

work order to Allianz Engineers of

Chandmari, Guwahati on June 10, 2016

for survey of the proposed project in

between village Boina-oja under Man-

galdai Police Station on the west and

Khatania-para under Dhula Police Sta-

tion on the east.

The petitioners which included four

other lawyers – Nirod Deka, Jatin Nath,

Kalpana Deka and Nayanmani Deka

pointed out how the nearly 12-km

stretch of NH 15 passing through the

busy Mangaldai town has been causing

traffic congestion, and inconvenience to

the pedestrians particularly school chil-

dren, women and senior citizens and

early construction of the bypass on the

outskirts of Mangaldai has been a long-

time demand of the people of Mangaldai.

It has been also urged in the petition

that in the event of failure on the part of

Alliance Engineers and Consultants to

submit the complete survey report with-

in the said time line, appropriate coer-

cive action should be initiated against

it. Separate copies of the petition were

also submitted to the Chief Engineer,

PWD, NH and Commissioner Secretary,

Department of Public Grievances, Govt

of Assam.

Talking to this correspondent, senior

advocate Jayanta Deka said that after

three months they will follow the mat-

ter up with another RTI petition and in

case there is no satisfactory progress,

the matter will be brought before the

high power Petition Committee of the

State Assembly. Meanwhile, a source in

the PWD, NH Department informed

this correspondent on Friday that works

of detail survey and land acquisition

have gained momentum in the last few

days and joint teams of staff from Man-

galdai and Dalgaon revenue circle offic-

es and the consultancy firm have been

formed for its quick functioning.

CORRESPONDENT

DIPHU, March 8: The

Chief Executive Member

(CEM) of Karbi Anglong Au-

tonomous Council (KAAC)

Tuliram Ronghang presented

Rs 38.97-crore deficit budget

for the year 2020-21 for the

council. The budget also pro-

posed an estimated expendi-

ture of Rs 225 crore for the

fiscal to carry out develop-

mental activities.

During his budget speech,

he touched upon various

schemes for the welfare of

the Karbi people by way of

utilising its own resources.

“The Council’s main sources

of revenue are derived

mostly from forest products,

entry tax, professional tax,

trade callings, land revenue,

share of motor vehicle tax,

sale proceeds from weekly

markets, ghats, fisheries and

cattle pounds,” Ronghang

said in his budget speech. In

order to increase the revenue

kitty, the CEM also proposed

new fee hike on trading li-

cense, transfer of land and

other trades. He also in-

formed the house that the

KAAC is likely to receive an

amount of Rs 50 crore of ad-

ministrative charges and

share of motor vehicle tax

from the state government.

“Similarly, the KAAC would

receive excise and export

revenues from 2021,” he said,

adding that the MAC devel-

opment fund has been in-

creased to Rs 30 lakh from Rs

15 lakh. Further, he also in-

formed that the state govern-

ment has assured that the

excise and export revenues

will be handed over to the

KAAC fully and the amount

may touch Rs 100 crore from

April next year.

KAAC chiefpresents deficit

budget

CORRESPONDENT

GOALPARA, March 8: The Deputy Com-

missioner of Goalpara district, Varnali Deka

took part in the deliberations of a one-day

conference on ‘Implementation of Corporate

Social Responsiblity (CSR) by CPSEs in

aspirational districts’ organised by the De-

partment of Public Enterprises on March 3,

2020 in New Delhi and also shared her expe-

riences during a panel discussion in a sepa-

rate conference on ‘Enhancing Women’s Eco-

nomic Empowerment through financial inclu-

sion’ organised by NITI Aayog in collabora-

tion with Microsave Consulting (MSC) on

March 4 there.

Deka said that the objective of the first

conference was to share best practices on im-

plementation of theme-based CSR projects

adopted during 2018-19 and 2019-20 in school

education and the issues faced by the CPSEs,

district administration and implementing

agencies. She informed that she took part in

the technical session on ‘Scalable Best Prac-

tices: School Education’ where deliberation

was made on the improving learning out-

comes in the aspirational district which were

successfully achieved with the help of all key

stakeholders and the CPSE.

She also took part in the event on ‘En-

hancing Women’s Economic Empowerment

through financial inclusion’ on March 4 and

shared her experiences as the head of the

aspirational district of Goalpara in a panel dis-

cussion on ‘Women’s financial health for

impactful women’s economic empowerment

– what it will take? Since the district has been

doing consistently well in the financial inclu-

sion thematic area, amongst the other 112

aspirational districts in the country, Deputy

Commissioner Varnali Deka said that the

focus was on realising the potential of the

digital financial services to link women to the

market in order to facilitate greater control

of their earnings and savings, raised income

and reduction of poverty– all crucial ele-

ments. She also informed that an e-commerce

portal, ‘Goalmart’ was launched recently in

the district to promote and sell online local

products of Goalpara district in the global

market which can have many amazing ben-

efits like boosting demand of different prod-

ucts, women selling their wares at intelligent

pricing directly without the help of middle-

men, increase in entrepreneurial activities,

attracting investment and increasing eco-

nomic activities in the district.

Moreover, Deka also said that this was a

wonderful opportunity and personally re-

warding experience for her as deliberations

and presentations covered a wide range of

topics.

Meet on CSR implementationin aspirational dists

NEWS IN BRIEF

CORRESPONDENT

DHUBRI, March 8: In

view of outbreak of corona-

virus (COVID-19), the Dhu-

bri Civil Hospital has taken a

slew of initiatives to combat

the situation.

Speaking to the media, the

Superintendent of Civil Hos-

pital, BK Das informed that

a rapid response team for

screening of coronavirus sus-

pected cases at Dhubri Civil

Hospital and various river

ghats in the district has al-

Steps taken to prevent outbreakof coronavirus in Dhubri

ready been put in place. The

six-member rapid response

team led by Dr Rafiqul Islam

is eqipped with pathologist,

microbiologist, lab technician

and two infection control

nurses. The team has been

instructed to remain alert all

the time for future action.

The civil hospital authori-

ties also informed that they

have kept ready an isolation

room, where two doctors and

two nurses have been en-

gaged.

It was informed that the

Civil Hospital authorities

have already provided pro-

tective gears and masks to

the doctors and nurses of the

hospitals and they have been

instructed if symptoms of the

coronavirus infected person

is found, that person will be

immediately shifted to the

isolation room.

“By adopting a few simple

hygiene and cleanliness hab-

its, the infection can be avoid-

ed”, said Das. He also ap-

pealed to the people to wash

their hands regularly.

Devotees performing naam prasanga to save their residences from massive erosion of river Brahmaputra at Salmara inMajuli district, on Sunday. – UB Photos

DC interactswith studentsTIHU, March 8: Deputy

Commissioner of Nalbari dis-

trict, Bharat Bhusan Dev

Choudhury organised an in-

teraction programme with

the students of class X under

Sankalpa yesterday at Tihu

High School. The pro-

gramme saw participation of

around 300 students from

Tihu Girls’ High School, Ba-

santi High School, Namati

Vidyapith, Namati Balika Vi-

dyalay, Bali High School,

Bharati High School, and

Jatiya Vidyalay Tihu. During

the interaction, Deputy Com-

missioner gave tips about

exam preparation.

The two-hour long interac-

tion immensely benefitted

the pupils of the schools. The

DC was accompanied by

Krishna Kanta Mahanta, sec-

retary, Adhividya Parishad.

The programme was attend-

ed by Manju Talukdar, head-

master of the school, Laban-

ya Deka, headmistress of

Tihu Girls’ High School, and

many others. – ANN Service

OBITUARY

Sumanta DasCORRESPONDENT

TEZPUR, March 8: Suman-

ta Das, AP member (council-

lor) of Bandarmari Gaon Pan-

chayat, and an inhabitant of

Khelmati area, passed away on

Friday night at around 9.30 pm.

He was under treatment at

Mission Hospital here. As his

condition worsened, he was

shifted to Guwahati for further

treatment. However, he

breathed his last on the way.

He was 32.

A young, dynamic and social-

ly active person, late Das got

involved in politics joining the

the BJP in 2016. In the last pan-

chayat election, he was elected

as AP member of Bandarmari

Gaon Panchayat under Bihaguri

Development Block in Sonit-

pur district. He was also an ac-

tive member of the All Assam

Tea Tribe Students’ Association

(AATTSA). His untimely death

cast a pall of gloom in the local-

ity. He leaves behind his wife,

two daughters besides a host

of relatives.

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 9MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020

STATE

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CINEMA PROGRAMME

CORRESPONDENT

DHUBRI, March 8: With

various organisations conducting

events to celebrate and honour

womanhood, International

Women’s Day was also celebrated

here with fervour and enthusiasm.

Under the aegis of Dhubri

District Women Congress

Committee (DDWCC), the day

was observed at Rajiv Bhawan

here with a day-long programme

where prominent women from

various walks of life were

felicitated.

The programme was presided

over by Baby Begum, president of

DDWCC in the presence of Jasmin

Sarkar, secretary of Assam

Pradesh Women Congress and

Mohua Das, district chairman of

Women Congress Legal Cell.

An NGO named Vivek Kalam

also observed the day at Jhagrar-

par Gram Panchayat office. The

proceedings were attended by

Parvin Sultana, Assistant Professor

Int’l Women’s Day celebrated in Dhubri, Dhemaji

of PB College and Juhi Das, Head

of the Assamese Department at

Dhubri Girls’ College, as chief

guests.

IN DHEMAJI: The Rural

Volunteers Centre (RVC), which is

a leading Dhemaji–based NGO in

association of Gramya Unnayan

Manch and Murkongselek Block

State Rural Livelihood Mission

celebrated International Women’s

Day at Jonai Town Club today, our

Correspondent adds.

Attending the celebrations, Jonai

Assistant Commissioner Pritam

Kumar Das urged the womenfolk

to be aware of their rights and

legal protections. Stating that the

government was putting topmost

priority on women’s welfare, he

urged the womenfolk to be aware

of their rights and legal opportuni-

ties.

RVC Director Luhit Goswami

explained about women and

children’s rights and appealed to

the womenfolk to fight against

social evils.

President of Jonai Kalyankami

Mohila Somity Juvati Doley

appealed to the women to come

forward in order to eradicate

social evils and reform the society.

Women SHGs having a good

track record were awarded with

memento, citation and certificates.

Earlier, the women took out a

procession through the roads of

Jonai town and shouted slogans in

support of their rights and

sensitised the common people

about women’s rights.

The day was also celebrated by

different schools and colleges at

Dhemaji, Gogamukh, Silapathar

and Jonai areas within the district.

130-year-old

Royal Doul Utsav

under way at CoochbeharCORRESPONDENT

GAURIPUR, March 8: The 130-year-old Doul Utsav of

Coochbehar Royal Estate got under way today at the historic

Madan Mohan Temple situated in the heart of Coochbehar

town and established by Maharaja Nripendra Narayan in 1889

and inaugurated by Rajmata Nishimayee Devi in 1890.

The idol of Lord Krishna, popularly known as Madan Mo-

han, will be carried from the temple in a dola in a colourful

procession to the Mela Maidan at Silver Jubilee Road. After

performing religious rituals, the Bhelaghar will be ceremoni-

ally burnt.

On March 9, puja of the deity will be performed and bhog

prasad will be distributed among the devotees. On the follow-

ing day, dolas from the adjoining areas will assemble at the

temple premises and subsequently proceed to the Mela Maidan

with the brightly decorated dola of Lord Krishna.

The devotees chant Madan Mohan Ki Jai and sprinkle gulal

on each other and return to the temple at night. Thousands of

devotees usually participate in this annual event.

Commemorating International Women’s Day, sanitary napkins and clothes being distributed among poor women inMariani, on Monday. – UB Photos

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

JORHAT, March 8: In view of the

global corona virus scare and the US

tourist who visited Jorhat and also

Majuli briefly last month and tested

positive for COVID 19 in Bhutan on

Friday, the district administration of

the Brahmaputra river island here

has urged all foreign tourists visting

the island to get health check-up done.

Majuli Deputy Commissioner

Bikram Kairi told The Assam Trib-

une that the US tourist with the sur-

name Hewitt had disembarked at Ma-

juli on February 25 and had watched

a private Bhaona function for two

hours before leaving.

The Deputy Commissioner said

that there was no record of Hewitt’s

contact with any person during the

brief stay.

Kairi said that the district admin-

istration as part of precautionary

measures undertaken to prevent

spread of coronavirus in the island,

all foreign tourists visting Majuli have

been urged to visit the hospital and

health centres in order to avail med-

ical screening facilities.

He said the administration has di-

rected all hotels, lodges and home-

stay facilities to inform the foreign

tourists to get their health check-up

done at the island’s hospitals and

health centres in order to get

screened and prevent any possible

spread of the COVID 19 virus.

The Deputy Commissioner said

that all necessary steps were taken

by the health department to treat any

person found to be affected by coro-

navirus. Further, awareness drives

too were initiated about maintaing

hygiene and sanitation by the people

across the Brahmaputra island to pre-

vent getting affected by the virus.

He said a control room has been

opened by the district administration

to keep a watch on the situation.

Meanwhile on Saturday, the Jorhat

district administration quarantined

for seven days, i.e., from Saturday,

the crew and passengers of luxury

CORRESPONDENT

HAILAKANDI, March 8: On the

eve of Holi, the Festival of Colours,

the district administration here held

a review meeting with the Health

Department officials with an objec-

tive to chalk out a strategy to coun-

ter the coronavirus threat.

Reviewing the preparedness and

monitoring mechanism of the Health

Department to combat the spread

of coronavirus at a meeting held at

her Conference Hall here on Sun-

day, Deputy Commissioner Keerthi

Jalli asked the Health Department

to initiate steps for sensitising all

government officials from the dis-

trict headquarter to the panchayat

level as well as health workers on

the coronavirus threat and the ur-

gent need for adopting precaution-

ary measures.

The Deputy Commissioner di-

rected the Health Department offi-

cials to carry out awareness activi-

ties among the people by engaging

field-level functionaries of the de-

partment.

“A detailed meeting with health

officials concerned and doctors from

Silchar Medical College and Hospital

was held on Sunday to chalk out a

strategy,” Jalli said, adding “the health

authorities have been instructed to

make adequate arrangements to

counter the spread of the disease.”

In the meantime, the health offi-

cials advised people to avoid close

contact with people who are sick,

avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth

with unwashed hands, to frequently

wash hands with water and soap and

to visit the civil hospital or nearest

primary health centre if they devel-

op any symptoms, or in case they

want to report any suspected case of

coronavirus.

A health official informed that as an

outcome of today’s meeting, a place

has been identified at the SK Roy

Civil Hospital for setting up an isola-

tion ward for treating person(s) af-

flicted by the coronavirus disease.

Majuli district admin urges foreigntourists to get health check-up done

cruise ship MV Mahabahu which was

anchored at Nimatighat on Friday

night. Five employees of the resort

where the US tourist had spent a

night before leaving Jorhat on the

cruise ship, were isolated.

The district administration has

curbed the tourists and crew mem-

bers of the vessel from disembark-

ing during the said period of stay.

The action comes in the wake of

the American tourist testing positive

for COVID 19 in Bhutan on Friday

after he halted a night on February

22 here and travelled through Jorhat

to Guwahati on MV Mahabahu on

February 23.

Jorhat Deputy Commissioner Ro-

shni A Korati while addressing me-

diapersons here on Saturday evening

said that all the 56 persons (22 for-

eign tourists and 34 crew members)

on board have been kept isolated on

the ship.

She said that a medical team from

JMCH comprising eight microbiol-

ogists, one epidemiologist, one WHO

doctor from Dibrugarh and para-

medical staff were taken on a boat on

Saturday to the ship which has been

docked at a sapori (sandbar) in the

Brahmaputra near Nimatighat.

Korati said that the team after car-

rying out thermo-scanning and oth-

er necessary tests found no sign of

coronavirus infection.

However, the DC said that the

team collected a throat swab of a

crew member after he volunteered

the information that he had suffered

from slight fever last night.

An elderly foreign tourist suffer-

ing from heart ailment was shifted to

the Jorhat Medical College and Hos-

pital’s Isolation Ward along with her

daughter-in-law and a paramedic of

the ship for better care and neces-

sary treatment. Korati informed that

since Friday night the district admin-

istration after identifying the five staff

who came in contact with Hewitt

were kept isolated at the Thengal

Manor resort near Titabor. Fortu-

nately, tests on them too proved neg-

ative.

“Now, as the 14-day incubation pe-

riod of the virus has passed and all

were found to be asymptomatic, no

one else were swabbed, but are un-

der watch. Replying to a query, the

DC said that efforts were on to trace

the taxi drivers who had brought

Hewitt to the Thengal Manor from

the airport and again dropped him at

Nimatighat the following day.

Korati said that the Government

was also tracking all the co-passengers

of Hewitt who had travelled with him

on the ship back to Guwahati and those

who had travelled by the same plane.

Urging people not to panic, she said

the district administration had taken

all precautionary measures, includ-

ing holding of awareness pro-

grammes and cancellation of Holi

congregations.

A team from Jorhat Medical College and Hospital screening people forcoronavirus infection on board MV Mahabahu tourist ship off Nimatighatin Jorhat district, on Saturday.

Hailakandi reviewscoronavirus situation

A Rapid Response Team under the

Health Department is being consti-

tuted together with a control room

to tackle any situation.

“The Deputy Commissioner asked

everyone to brace up for any eventu-

ality even if there is no risk in

Hailakandi district so far," said Moni-

ka Das, District Media Expert.

“People have been advised to un-

dergo medical test, if they develop

Severe Acute Respiratory Illness

(SARI) and Influenza Like Illness

(ILIs), including COVID-19,” said

Das.

She added that Surveillance Work-

ers, ANMs and ASHAs at the field

level will closely monitor for any kind

of symptoms associated with coro-

navirus, including travel history of a

person.

SP, ADCs, COs, Joint Director of

Health Services, Superintendent of

SK Roy Civil Hospital, incharge of

PHCs, DPMUs, IDSP and BPMs

were present in the meeting. Dr Ar-

ijit Dey, Community Medicine, Sil-

char Medical College and Hospital

sensitized the gathering about coro-

navirus through power point pres-

entation.

Following instructions from Dispur

and advisory from Delhi to avoid pub-

lic gatherings in order to contain the

spread of COVID-19, the district ad-

ministration has decided to cancel all

public meetings. The elected repre-

sentatives as well as other organis-

ers have been advised accordingly in

view of this public health emergency.

Programmes associated with Inter-

national Women’s Day today were

therefore cancelled by the Social

Welfare Department.

COVID-19, first identified in Wu-

han province of China has so far af-

fected 80 countries, including India.

A high alert has been sounded across

Assam after a person tested positive

for coronavirus in Bhutan, after trav-

elling from Assam.

As many as 127 people who had

come in contact with the US tourist

are being quarantined.

Assam bandhcalled onMarch 12

CORRESPONDENT

MORIGAON, March 8: The All

Tiwa Students’ Union (ATSU) has

vehemently criticised the State gov-

ernment for not exempting the Tiwa

tribal-populated areas falling under the

Tiwa Autonomous Council in Kamrup

and Morigaon districts.

In a press meet held yesterday,

leaders of ATSU, Tiwa Yuva Chatra

Parishad and Tiwa Sahitya Sabha said

that the State Capital Extension Act–

2017 included areas under the Tiwa

Autonomous Council and Rabha Au-

tonomous Council.

Only after a long-drawn agitation by

the Tiwa and Rabha people did the state

government opine that all such areas

will be exempted from the Act. But dur-

ing the ongoing Budget session of the

Assam Assembly, Finance Minister Dr

Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that

areas of Rabha Autonomous Council will

be exempted from the Act. At the same

time, Tiwa areas were not exempted

from the Capital Extension Act-2017,

the Tiwa leaders added.

In order to register protest against

the Capital Extension Act– 2017,

the ATSU and other Tiwa organisa-

tions have called a 24-hour central

Assam bandh on March 12.

Kevin Pietersen inbetween wicketsat Diffloo Pathar!

SANJOY KUMAR HAZARIKA

DERGAON, March 8: South African-born former

British cricketer Kevin Pietersen was seen in between

the wickets not in England, but in Assam’s Diffloo Pathar

High School on Saturday.

The world-famed

cricketer and nature

lover arrived at the

Kaziranga National

Park on Wednesday

and was subsequent-

ly busy shooting for a

documentary on the

wild denizens of KNP,

with special emphasis

on rhinos.

On Saturday, he

played cricket at Dif-

floo Pathar High

School with the stu-

dents. In a tweet, the

nature activist and

right-handed bats-

man said he played

only in the legs.

In a tweet on Insta-

gram, he said, “Boundary 4. I just keep scoring runs

through the leg side...!” The zapped students, without

doubt, were delighted beyond measure.

Kevin was busy at Agaratali Range of KNP today,

shooting for his documentary.

Mahouts, safari driver in KNPexamined for coronavirus

KAZIRANGA, March 8: A

medical team from Golaghat

district opened a special isola-

tion ward for any coronavirus-

affected patient at Kohora

Model Hospital today.

It may be mentioned that an

American tourist, who was lat-

er found to be infected with

coronavirus in Bhutan, had tak-

en jungle safari in Kaziranga

National Park as a result of

which some elephant mahouts

along with a Gypsy driver who

came in contact with the par-

ticular American tourist were

examined by a team of medi-

cal experts today.

SDO (Civil) of Bokakhat,

Vivek Syam informed that all

possible measures to control

the spread of coronavirus had

been taken and foreign tour-

ists staying in Kaziranga were

monitored and examined by

the medical team.

Meanwhile, fearing con-

tamination, there was appre-

hension among a section of

socially conscious citizens

here over the constant

visit of foreign tourists to

Kaziranga. – Correspondent

NORTH EAST10 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020

Forecast for North Eastern

States : Rain/thundershower is

very likely to occur at many

places over Arunachal Pradesh

and at a few places over Assam,

Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur,

Mizoram and Tripura.

Warning: Thunderstorm with

lightning is very likely to occur

at isolated places over

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam

and Meghalaya.

Temperatures :

Max (°C) Min (°C)

Dibrugarh 20.5 15.6

Tezpur 28.3 17.5

Silchar 29.2 17.6

Dhubri 28.0 18.8

Jorhat 25.0 15.4

N Lakhimpur 23.0 16.4

Shillong 20.1 5.2

Cherrapunjee 18.5 10.1

Aizawl 22.1 10.7

Kohima 18.2 9.5

Pasighat 18.8 16.4

Itanagar 23.5 16.3

Imphal 23.9 10.5

Agartala 31.4 17.2

WEATHER

NORTHEAST

ITANAGAR, March 8: A

society where there is respect

for women, there is peace and

progress, Arunachal Pradesh

Governor Brig (Dr) BD

Mishra (retd) said on Sunday

on the occasion of Internation-

al Women’s Day.

Participating in the celebra-

tions at Raj Bhavan in Itana-

gar, the Governor urged the

people to take men and wom-

en as equal in the growth and

advancement of the society,

stated a press release issued

by Raj Bhavan. The women

employees of Raj Bhavan led

by first lady Neelam Misra or-

ganised the programme.

Quoting the oldest Indian

legal treatise by ancient juris-

prudence luminary Manu, the

Governor said that providing

rightful positions to women in

society is the national objec-

tive and the present govern-

ment is sincerely doing it.

He said the flagship pro-

gramme of ‘Beti Bachao Beti

Padhao’, provision of toilets in

each house, cooking gas, aboli-

tion of triple talaq and death sen-

tence for rape of minor girls are

a few examples of the efforts of

the government led by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi.

The Governor called upon the

women of Arunachal Pradesh to

‘Respect for women leads to peace and progress’

fight against drug abuse, which

he said, was a challenge for eve-

ry Arunachali citizen. He exhort-

ed the women to motivate and

encourage their daughters to join

the Indian armed forces and air

hospitality sectors.

On the occasion, the Gover-

nor felicitated women achiev-

ers of the state, including Taba

Yall Nabam (music), Joya Tasung

Moyong (social service), Licha

Ampi (entrepreneur), Nachat

Munham (music), Dr Jamuna

Bini (literature) and Onilu Tega

(sports).

Niharika Rai, Secretary

(Women and Child Develop-

ment), highlighted the govern-

ment projects and schemes for

empowerment of women.

A short documentary Bunai

Ke Rangin Duniya, conceptual-

ized by the first lady was also

screened, while a play, Ek Par-

ampara, Ek Pechan, showcas-

ing the indigenous textiles of

Arunachal Pradesh was present-

ed by the members of the Oju

Welfare Association, Naharla-

gun. Ake Deekshitha present-

ed a Kuchipudi classical dance,

while Manami Moyir Gamlin

presented a Kathakali dance.

Our Imphal Correspond-

ent adds: International Wom-

en’s Day was celebrated in a

befitting manner in Manipur

on Sunday.

In Imphal, the Manipur Bap-

tist Convention (MBC) women’s

department in collaboration with

the MBC Centre Church ob-

served the day under the theme

‘Each for equal’. The All Manipur

Working Journalists’ Union ob-

served the day by honouring

women journalists of the state.

In the Bishnupur district

headquarters, 30 km south of

Imphal, the administration cel-

ebrated the day under the ae-

gis of the Integrated Child De-

velopment Scheme (ICDS)

Cell as part of the Beti Bach-

ao, Beti Padhao scheme.

Bishnupur Deputy Commis-

sioner Neeta Arambam admin-

istered the Poshan Pakhwada

Pledge in presence of Superin-

tendent of Police Priyadarshini

Laishram and District Pro-

gramme Officer Th Shantibala

Devi of the ICDS Cell. The

programme was attended by

officers, students, and Angan-

wadi workers. Various cultural

items, dance, skit play and oth-

er entertainment items were

presented during the function.

In the Tamenglong district

headquarters, 150 km west of

Imphal, Deputy Commission-

er Armstrong Pamei also ad-

ministered the Poshan Pakhwa-

da Pledge. The event was or-

ganised by the district admin-

istration with the United Wom-

en Organisation, Tamenglong.

Tamenglong Autonomous

District Council members in-

cluding G Apoukhui and Ramn-

ing Pame attended as special

guests, while Dr KC Grace

Darling, associate professor at

Banaras Hindu University,

spoke as the resource person.

The Thoubal Battalion of the

9 Sector Assam Rifles organ-

ised awareness programmes

for women to commemorate

International Women’s Day at

Salampatong village in Kang-

pokpi district.

Talks on preparation of nu-

tritional dishes and nutritional

gardens introducing the bio-

fortified seed varieties marked

the International Women’s Day

celebration at the Indian Coun-

cil of Agricultural Research

(ICAR) complex in Imphal.

The event was organised by

the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, was

attended by Imphal West Ad-

hyaksha RK Taruni Devi as the

chief guest and ICAR North

East Hill Region, Manipur Cen-

tre, Joint Director Dr Naren-

dra Prakash. The speakers

highlighted the role of women

in shaping the society and also

lamented that the problems

faced by women in Manipur

were not being addressed.

Somishon Keishing, assist-

ant professor at GP Women’s

College, gave a presentation

on ‘Nutri-Thali’, highlighting

the importance of maintaining

a healthy lifestyle by choosing

low-cost and locally available

vegetables, fruits and cereals.

Assistant Chief Technical Of-

ficer K Lily Rangnamei of Kri-

shi Vigyan Kendra, Imphal

West, spoke on how to set up

a ‘nutri-garden’.

(Left) Women achievers during the felicitation ceremony held at Raj Bhavan in Itanagar on the occasion of International Women’s Day on Sunday, and (right)

officials celebrating the day at the ICAR Manipur Centre. – Photos: Raj Bhavan, Itanagar, and Imphal Correspondent

CORRESPONDENT

DIMAPUR, March 8: The Nagaland gov-

ernment has directed government offices

and schools to provide hand sanitisers in

view of the spread of coronavirus.

In a circular, Chief Secretary Temjen

Toy asked all government offices and

schools, including private educational in-

stitutions, to provide hand sanitisers in

all biometric device stations for hand san-

itisation before and after use of the de-

vices, with immediate effect.

On Friday, the Chief Secretary held a

video conference with the Deputy Com-

missioners and Commissioner of Naga-

land at his office in Kohima to ensure

that the state is prepared to tackle the

spread of COVID-19.

He emphasised on the importance of

precautionary measures through pre-

ventive action and the preparedness of

the state in the event of detection of

COVID-19.

Toy also directed the departments to

AIZAWL, March 8: The Mizoram

Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC)

on Sunday asked the state government

to seal the Indo-Myanmar border to pre-

vent the spread of coronavirus.

Mizoram shares a 510-km internation-

al border with Myanmar.

A statement issued by the media cell

of the Congress said that the Indo-My-

anmar border in Champhai district should

be immediately sealed to prevent the

spread of coronavirus. The statement al-

leged that many commuters and traders

from China and other southeast ASEAN

countries enter Mizoram through My-

anmar without undergoing screening,

which can be a big danger for the state in

view of the coronavirus outbreak.

While lauding the state government

for sealing the Indo-Myanmar border in

Man bookedfor posting

misleading infoon Facebook

ITANAGAR, March 8: A

man was booked in Arunachal

Pradesh’s East Siang district

for posting misleading infor-

mation on social media re-

garding coronavirus, officials

said on Sunday.

A case was lodged against

Subu Kena Tsering based on a

complaint filed by district

medical officer Kaling Dai on

Friday at Pasighat Police Sta-

tion, they said.

Tsering posted in a Facebook

group that coronavirus has

reached Pasighat and two pa-

tients have been referred to

Dibrugarh in Assam, officials

said. He is yet to be arrested,

they said.

The virus that first

emerged in China in Decem-

ber last year has spread to 97

countries and has infected

102,180 people, according to

the Johns Hopkins Coronavi-

rus tracker. More than 3,500

people have been killed due to

the virus so far. – PTI

Media tour toMyanmarcancelled

CORRESPONDENT

IMPHAL, March 8: A pro-

posed tour of media persons,

organised by the Information

and Public Relations (IPR) de-

partment, Government of

Manipur, to Mandalay and Ba-

gan in Myanmar, has been can-

celled due to present threat of

coronavirus (COVID-19), an

official said on Sunday.

IPR Director H Balkrishna,

in an official communication

note to media houses, asked

all the applicants to collect

their passports and documents

submitted to the office.

ensure availability of personal protective

equipment like N-95 masks and thermal

scanners.

The school education department

asked all schools to sensitise students and

teachers on precaution and preparedness.

Schools and colleges have been asked to

display information and communication

material in their institutions on the do’s

and don’ts.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Toy said

people in Nagaland lack basic civic sense,

especially in the remote areas.

He made the comment while inspect-

ing the newly installed hydraulic bailing

press machine and material recovery fa-

cility unit at Chumukedima on Saturday.

“There is an urgent need for the people

to learn civic sense,” he said, adding that it

is not just the job of the government to

achieve a green and clean Nagaland.

Noting that solid waste management

has not been given much attention in the

state, Toy said treatment of sewage has

become a big issue today. “Time has come

to be more responsible, for which the

urban and municipal departments will

initiate a number of actions,” he said.

Toy lauded the Chumukedima Town

Council for taking the leadership in waste

management and asked it to continue its

efforts.

Toy also assured of addressing the

problems faced by sanitation workers.

He appreciated the role of the sanitation

workers for working with dedication de-

spite health hazards and assured the peo-

ple that the authorities will look into their

welfare in the form of insurance, health

and housing.

Principal Secretary (urban develop-

ment and municipal affairs) Himati Zhim-

omi, who accompanied Toy, called for re-

cycling of biomedical waste on an urgent

basis. “Recycling of biomedical waste must

be accorded top priority,” he asserted.

“No matter what we do, unless civic sense

comes in and people participate in this ven-

ture, we will not achieve green and clean

Nagaland,” he added.

International Women’s Day celebrated

Govt offices, schools in Nagalandtold to provide hand sanitisers

Mizoram Congress asks govtto seal Indo-Myanmar border

south Mizoram’s Siaha district, the Con-

gress said the main Indo-Myanmar bor-

der in Champhai and other districts

should also be sealed immediately.

The Congress also expressed concern

about the absence of laboratory and coro-

navirus detecting machine in the state.

“We ask the state government to imme-

diately install machine and laboratory for

sample testing and early detection of sus-

pected coronavirus patients,” the state-

ment issued by Congress media cell sec-

retary C Lalhriatpuia said.

Meanwhile, health department officials

said that the state government is making

massive efforts to prevent the spread of

novel coronavirus in the state. Till date,

no suspected case of coronavirus has been

detected in the state, they said.

The government has set up more than

seven screening counters along the na-

tional and international borders, includ-

ing Lengpui airport. So far, more than

14,600 people have been screened and

at least 41 people are being put under

home isolation to prevent the spread of

the deadly disease, officials said.

The government has also set up a 32-

bed isolation ward at the state’s premier

medical college – Zoram Medical Col-

lege (ZMC) and 5-bed wards in each dis-

trict hospital to treat any suspected pa-

tients.

Besides, the state government has also

set up laboratory sample collection cen-

tres at Aizawl Civil Hospital, ZMC and

Lengpui community health centre. – PTI

Coronavirus scare

Arunachal Pradesh Governor Brig (Dr) BD Mishra (retd) conducting a high-level meeting in Itanagar on Sunday with senior officials of the armed forces,

police and district administration to discuss the menace of extortion by insurgent groups in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts. The Governor said

extortion activities will not be tolerated in the state and it was the responsibility of all the officials to ensure a unified response in rooting out the menace. He

advised the officials to increase the frequency of their interaction with the local population, spend more time in the field and connect with the masses in

order to instill a sense of confidence among the people. – Photo: Raj Bhavan, Itanagar

Opium fieldsdestroyed inArunachal’sLohit district

CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR, March 8:

Launching a major crackdown

on illicit opium cultivation, a joint

team of the Lohit district admin-

istration and the Central Bureau

of Narcotics, Gwalior, recently

destroyed more than 2,500 hec-

tares of illegally cultivated opi-

um fields in the district.

During the five-day opera-

tion, more than 1,500 hectares

of opium fields were de-

stroyed in Khado area, Tezu

station Reserve Forest and

Denning Reserve Forest un-

der Tezu circle, and around

1,000 hectares in Turung Re-

serve Forest under Wakro cir-

cle of the district.

During the drive, many opi-

um cultivators fled the area

except a few at Turung Re-

serve Forest, according to an

official press note issued here.

It said two cases were filed

against the growers who ob-

structed the operation on

March 5.

The joint operation in

Khado area was launched by

the Lohit and Namsai district

administrations. “Reports of

more illegal opium cultivation

have been received in the dis-

trict, which will be destroyed

soon,” Lohit Deputy Commis-

sioner Prince Dhawan said.

The Deputy Commissioner

appreciated the authorities for

initiating the opium destruc-

tion drive in Tezu in February.

It may be mentioned here that

the state government has

been suggesting alternative

crops for opium cultivators

since the last few years.

2 held for drugpeddling

CORRESPONDENT

TURA, March 8: Police in

Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills

have arrested two persons in

two separate cases of drug ped-

dling and recovered narcotics

from them. The duo has been

booked under the NDPS Act.

In the first case, police arrest-

ed Chanbelrak T Sangma (27)

from Goanang at Araimile here

and seized 2.4 grams of heroin.

In the second case, Aniruddha

Koch (36) of Diringgagre, Da-

kopgre, was arrested along with

4.16 grams of drugs. Efforts are

on to nab the kingpins, West

Garo Hills Superintendent of

Police Dr MGR Kumar said.

Isolation wardset up in Tura

hospitalCORRESPONDENT

TURA, March 8: The West

Garo Hills district administra-

tion has set up an isolation ward

at the Tura Civil Hospital with

dedicated staff to handle patients

with history of travel to corona-

virus-affected countries and

symptoms like high fever and

breathlessness. West Garo Hills

DC Ram Singh stated that pa-

tients with travel history or

symptoms should call 108 or

contact the primary health cen-

tres so that required testing can

be done at their doorsteps.

Our leaders don’t believein climate change: 8-yr-old

Manipuri activistIMPHAL, March 8: Eight-year-

old climate activist Licypriya Kan-

gujam, who turned down Prime

Minister Narendra Modi’s honour

of joining the #SheInspiresUs

campaign, said that she rejected

the offer because nobody paid heed

to any of her demands over the

years.

Speaking to PTI, Kangujam said

that initially she was both happy and sad to learn about the

honour, but eventually decided to turn it down since politi-

cians never take the issue of climate change seriously.

“Over the years, they haven’t listened to any of my de-

mands despite protesting continuously in front of the Parlia-

ment and many other places across the country with thou-

sands of children and youths,” she lamented.

She recalled that in June 2019, seven MPs of the Rajya

Sabha, after her protest in front of the Parliament House,

moved a Calling Attention Motion on the issue, but Minister

for Environment and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar said

that India would not bow down to international pressure on

climate change. The minister’s response was not up to her

expectations, she said.

Kangujam is known as Indian ‘Greta’, after being com-

pared to award-winning Swedish teenage environment ac-

tivist Greta Thunberg, for her passion towards the fight

against climate change. Ever since her foray into climate

activism, Kangujam, who was conferred the Rising Star by

Washington DC-based Earth Day Network last year, made

her demands clear – that the government should enact a

climate law to regulate carbon emissions and other green-

house gases. Such a law will bring in transparency, she said.

She also demanded that climate change should be made a

compulsory subject in schools because she believes that it

will help in the fight against climate change from the grass-

roots level. “It will also help in educating our leaders as they

would learn about the issue from their children and grand-

children,” she said, adding that the leaders just cannot be-

lieve that science and climate change is real.

Planting of at least three trees by a student to pass their

exam will lead to the plantation of at least 3.5 billion trees a

year as “we have 350 million students”, asserted Licypriya

who believed it will make the country green in five years.

She is certain that the policies would “help fight climate

change and also to change the system of the world”.

The #SheInspiresUs is a social media campaign dedicated

to women “whose life and work will help ignite motivation

in millions”. – PTI

Night curfew liftedin Shillong

SHILLONG, March 8: Night curfew, which was in force in

Meghalaya capital Shillong for more than a week, has been

withdrawn following improvement in the law and order sit-

uation, officials said on Sunday.

Night curfew was imposed in Shillong and nearby areas

after violence erupted in East Khasi Hills district on Febru-

ary 28 following the death of a Khasi Students’ Union (KSU)

member during an anti-CAA rally at Ichamati that also de-

manded the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP).

“Night curfew has been totally lifted in the whole of Shillong

and its adjoining areas with effect from Sunday,” Assistant In-

spector General of Police (AIGP) Gabriel Iangrai said in a state-

ment here. Not a single incident of violence has been reported

from anywhere in the state and the situation has become nor-

mal, the AIGP said. However, night curfew imposed in Shella,

Sohra and Ichamati under Sohra subdivision will remain in force.

At least two persons have died in separate incidents at

Iew Duh market in Shillong and Shella when unidentified

miscreants attacked them following the death of a KSU mem-

ber Lurshari Hynniewta on February 28 during an anti-CAA

rally at Ichamati. Eight persons were arrested in the case

and mobile internet was shut for seven days in six Khasi and

Jaintia Hills district since the night of February 28.

Police has transferred all violence-related cases to the

Criminal Investigation Department for a thorough investi-

gation and a magisterial inquiry has been initiated to probe

the violence at Ichamati. – PTI

Licypriya Kangujam

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 11BUSINESS & ECONOMY

AS per the latest auction sale (No10) of Guwahati Tea Auction Centre(GTAC) held on March 3, the totaltea offerings were 8,921 packages,out of which 78 per cent was sold.There was good demand for mostlyreprinted teas on offer which wereabsorbed at generally easier rates asper quality. The plainer sorts of end-season teas witnessed sluggish de-mand with some withdrawals. Major

blenders were selective with support from upcountrybuyers. The auction average price for this week stood atRs 139.58, lower by Rs 9.12 from last year.

Secretary, Guwahati Tea Auction

Buyers Association (GTABA)

Top garden prices

BOP Price BOPSM/BP Price OF/PF Price

HANDIQUE 201 HALMARI 311 GHILLIDARY 191

BHERGAON 201 DUKLINGIA 211 HANDIQUE 188

HAROOCHARAI 183 HANDIQUE 201 OATING 171

DUKLINGIA 180 HAROOCHARAI 189 DOYAPORE 171

BANAMALIE 176 BHERGAON 186 NEW PURUPBARI 162

Dinesh Bihani

NEW DELHI, March 8: The NITIAayog today conferred awards on 15women from different areas for theirground-breaking endeavours anddisplaying role as change-makers.

These women from different walks oflife were felicitated by Defence MinisterRajnath Singh here on the occasion ofthe International Women’s Day.

Since 2018, the awards have beenhosted under the aegis of NITI Aayog’sWomen Entrepreneurship Platform(WEP) with special focus on entrepre-neurship.

The Defence Minister emphasisedthe role of women in the workforce incontributing to economic growth of thenation, the Aayog said in a release.

“Today’s awardees have overcome

NITI Aayog confers awards on women change-makersInternational Women’s Day

NEW DELHI, March 8: Large en-ergy consumers, including India and

China, may head for an oil bonanza

with the world’s largest oil producerSaudi Arabia looking to ramp up pro-

duction to well above 10 million bar-

rels from next month in a clear decla-ration of war against the collapse of

OPEC plus that includes major oil

producers such as Russia.Oil cartel OPEC along with other

large oil producers were looking at

extending and expanding the ongo-ing production cuts beyond March

to counter low oil prices and slug-

gish demand conditions in an over-supplied market.

The Saudis who account for almost

a fifth of India’s oil imports on Satur-day started an all-out price war by

slashing prices for its crude by the

most in more than 30 years. State

energy giant Saudi Aramco is offer-ing heavy discounts on crude in mar-

kets such as Asia, Europe and the US

to entice refiners to use Saudi crude.For India, these discounts mean

unprecedented gains as the country

imports nearly 83 per cent of its oilrequirements. Each fall in dollar in

price of crude reduces the import

bill by almost Rs 3,000 crore. A dis-count of about 10 per cent on crude

price of just about $45 a barrel now

would help the country save morethan $2 billion.

In a tweet Kotak Mahindra Bank

Managing Director and CEO UdayKotak said: “Amidst turbulence and

the virus, some good news: oil at $45/

barrel. Recent $20 drop saves India$30 billion per annum. Also global in-

terest rates have collapsed making

money cheap. Let’s leverage these

for policy to boost growth.”This would, however, depend on

current prices holding up for the rest

of the year. Analysts said that oil mayremain under pressure for a long time

and may range between $50-60 a bar-

rel in FY21.A cut by the Saudis is expected to

be followed by other oil producers

looking to protect their market. Ana-lysts said this could trigger a price

war much to the gain for India.

For oil producers already facingdemand squeeze in the wake of coro-

navirus spread, the Saudi price cut

could only add to their woes puttingthe entire oil market into chaos. Sau-

di Arabia has already indicated it could

raise production much higher if need-ed, even going to a record 12 million

barrels a day.

Aramco’s unprecedented pricing

move came just hours after the talksbetween the Organisation of Petro-

leum Exporting Countries and its al-

lies ended in dramatic failure. Thebreak-up of the alliance effectively

ends the cooperation between Saudi

Arabia and Russia that has under-pinned oil prices since 2016.

This also resulted in a crash of stock

markets across the Gulf. Saudi Ara-bia’s stock exchange, the Tadawul, was

down 7.7 per cent in afternoon trad-

ing. The Abu Dhabi index fell 5.8 percent, Dubai’s Financial Market Gen-

eral Index was down 7.47 per cent.

Shares of Saudi state oil giant Ara-mco traded below their original IPO

price for the first time today, at 30.90

riyals ($8.24) in Riyadh compared tothe listing price of 32 riyals in De-

cember. That’s down 6.36 per cent

on the day. – IANS

Oil war triggered by Saudi price cuts tobenefit India immensely

Union Minister for Defence Rajnath Singh presenting the Women Transforming India

Awards 2019, at a function organised by NITI Aayog, in New Delhi on Sunday. – PIB

financial and societal challenges not justto redefine the word entrepreneurshipbut also refine it. I congratulate theNITI Aayog and WEP for providingwomen entrepreneurs with a platformto share their dreams, failures andvictories with each other and growfrom them,” Singh said.

The awardees included PriyankaMokshmar, Co-Founder of Vaayu HomeAppliances that provides affordable andenvironmentally feasible alternatives totraditional AC units across India.

It also includes Ramya Venkatara-man’s Centre for Teacher Accreditation(CENTA), which creates a certificationframework for assessment of teachers’skills and competency; Shilpi Kapoorfor BarrierBreak, a company focused on

the accessibility of technology for thosewith disabilities; Rinka Banerjee’sThinking Forks for a consultingorganisation, with expertise in the foodand nutrition industry.

The awardees also included, amongothers, Nidhi Pant for combating issuesaround waste and farmer livingstandards, through her Science forSociety’s innovative idea of sellingdehydrated vegetable snacks; AnupriyaBalikai’s Spookfish Innovations forstandards of products and qualitycontrol assurance for food packaging.

Praveen Nair was given the specialjury award for Salaam Baalak Trust thathas successfully worked in rehabilitat-ing over 81,000 destitute and homelesschildren. – PTI

MUMBAI, March 8: Allaying con-cerns raised by many after Yes Bank fi-asco, the Reserve Bank today reiterat-ed that depositors’ money is safe and itis closely monitoring all banks.

The RBI further said that concernsabout the safety of deposits in banks arebased on a flawed analysis.

“Concern has been raised in certainsections of media about safety of depos-its of certain banks. This concern is basedon analysis which is flawed. Solvency ofbanks is internationally based on Capitalto Risk Weighted Assets (CRAR) andnot on market cap,” the central bank

Depositors’ money safe in banks: RBIsaid in a tweet.

“RBI closely monitors all the banks andhereby assures all depositors that there isno such concern of safety of their depositsin any bank,” its second tweet said.

Earlier, echoing similar sentiments,Chief Economic Adviser KrishnamurthySubramanian said Indian banks are wellcapitalised and there is no reason toworry, adding that it is a wrong methodto assess a lender’s health based on theratio of deposit to m-cap (market capi-talisation).

“What I want to emphatically statethat the m-cap ratio is a totally incorrect

metric for assessing the safety of thebanks. No banking sector expert or bank-ing regulator uses this measure,” Sub-ramanian said.

A day after imposing a 30-day mora-torium on Yes Bank and capping with-drawal limit at Rs 50,000, the RBI onFriday evening had issued a draft recon-struction scheme for the private sectorlender.

As per the RBI’s draft reconstructionscheme, State Bank of India will pick up49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden YesBank under a government-approved bail-out plan. – PTI

Yes Bank debitcards can beused at otherbank ATMs also

NEW DELHI, March 8:Yes Bank announced lateSaturday that its debit cardscan be used for withdraw-ing cash at other bankATMs also.

The move comes afterlong queues were seen atYes Bank ATMs andbranches and numerouscomplaints by customersthat they were not beingable to withdraw anymoney.

Earlier, the governmenthad announced a moratori-um that only up to Rs50,000 can be withdrawn.

“You can now makewithdrawals using your YesBank debit card both at YesBank and other bankATMs. Thanks for yourpatience,” the bank said onTwitter.

The recent crisis on YesBank has revived thememories of demonetisa-tion which brought thewhole nation into queuesoutside the banks andATMs.

People were seen standingin queues outside the ATMsto take out their hard earnedmoney which has got lockedup with the bank followingthe crisis. – IANS

Special, differentialtreatment for developing

countries on agendaNEW DELHI, March 8: Special and differential treatment

for developing countries like India will figure prominently inthe World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) 12th MinisterialConference in June in Kazakhstan, an official said.

The Ministerial Conference is the highest decision-mak-ing body of the 164-member WTO.

Trade ministers of all the member countries participate inthe deliberations. The 12th Ministerial Conference will takeplace on June 8-11 this year at Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan.

“This time, besides fishery subsidies, special and differ-ential treatment and investment facilitation will figure in themeeting,” the official said.

As part of reforms at theWTO, the US wants the formu-lation of some guidelines thatcountries with high economicgrowth are prevented from tak-ing benefits of special and dif-ferential treatment (S&DT), which is meant for developingand poor nations.

The S&DT allows developing countries to enjoy certainbenefits, including taking longer time periods for implement-ing agreements and binding commitments, and measures toincrease trading opportunities for them.

Currently, any WTO member can designate itself as adeveloping country and avail these benefits.

The US had submitted its suggestions to the WTO thatstates that self-declaration puts the WTO on a path to failednegotiations and it is also a path to institutional irrelevance.

India is of the view that the matter needs to be negotiatedcomprehensively in the WTO and a consensus-based deci-sion needs to be taken on S&DT.

Further, on fishery subsidies, India wants an equitable andbalanced outcome in the negotiations as the country pro-vides support to its small and marginal fishermen who de-pend on the sector for sustenance. – PTI

WTO Ministerial

Conference in

Kazakhstan

NEW DELHI, March 8: State-ownedBSNL and MTNL have told the sectorregulator TRAI that tariff fixation shouldbe applicable only on telcos with morethan 15 per cent subscriber base in aservice area, while those with loweror negligible user base should be ex-empt from the purview of minimumfloor price.

It is pertinent to mention here thatBharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL),which operates telecom services acrossIndia except Delhi and Mumbai circles,has about 10.3 per cent market share inall India mobile subscriber base. Ma-hanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL),present in Delhi and Mumbai, has 0.29per cent mobile market share, as perthe latest TRAI data.

Exempt telcos with under 15%market share: BSNL-MTNL to TRAI

Reliance Jio leads the India mobilesubscriber market with a share of 32.1per cent, while Bharti Airtel and Voda-fone Idea have 28.43 per cent and 28.89per cent share respectively on an allIndia basis.

In their suggestions to TRAI, the twopublic sector operators have acknowl-edged that the telecom industry is fac-ing heat due to the sudden and unex-pected entry of “capital-rich telecomservice providers” offering free andultra-low tariffs, leading to closure ofmany players and that the situation hasgot compounded by companies beingrequired to make huge adjusted gross

revenue (AGR) payouts after the Su-preme Court order.

“...the telecom industry needs a help-ing hand – at least in the immediate shortterm – from the Authority to survive ,”the two companies have told TRAI innearly identical submissions.

The two have batted for fixing of floorprices by Telecom Regulatory Authori-ty of India (TRAI) but with a rider.

“...the fixing of floor price should belimited and applicable to telecom serviceproviders (TSPs) having a minimum sub-scriber base of 15 per cent in that LSA(licensed service area) otherwise floorprice may wipe out the prospective newTSP/TSPs having small customer basefrom the telecom business altogether,”BSNL and MTNL have said. – PTI

Floor price norms

Honda plans localproduction of premiumbikes from next fiscal

NEW DELHI, March 8: Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India(HMSI) plans to locally produce some of its imported premiumbikes from the next fiscal to make such products more affordableand thereby garner volumes, according to a top company official.

The company, which sells only CB300R bike in the mid-dle-weight category right now, plans to bring in more mod-els in the up to 500 cc segment as part of plans to scale up itspremium bike business in the country.

The two-wheeler major is also looking to have a separatesales network for the premium bikes as it looks to establishthe business as a sustainable standalone vertical going ahead.

“If we want to have sustainable expansion of this business,it is very important that we need to have a good range ofproducts, not only from the branding point of view but therehave to be certain key models which are going to bring involumes in the future,” HMSI Senior Vice-President (Salesand Marketing) Yadvinder Singh Guleria told PTI.

The company has identified the middle-weight categorybike segment (up to 500 cc engines) to do well in the coun-try going ahead, he added. “So this is one area where we arelooking at for expansion of the product range,” he added.

The company currently has only one premium model be-low the 500 cc mark – the 350 cc CB 300 R, which waslaunched last year and has done well in terms of sales. – PTI

VW expects SUVsto account for 60%

sales by 2024MUMBAI, March 8: European auto major Volkswagen

expects at least 60 per cent of its sales in India to comefrom the SUV segment by 2024 amid the market globallymoving away from sedans.

Volkswagen, which launched the 7-seater premium SUVTiguan Allspace on Friday as part of its India Project 2.0, isplanning to roll out three more such vehicles in the next12-18 months.

The world’s largest car-maker is trying to revive itsfortunes in the domestic automobile space, in which it hasa meagre around 1 per cent market share with Skoda-ledIndia 2.0 plan.

“I think we will be (selling) around 60 per cent SUVsgoing forward. Globally, we have today about 42 per cent ofall our cars in SUVs.

“I would assume, in India, it could go even up to 70 percent by 2024,” Volkswagen Passenger Cars India DirectorSteffen Knapp told PTI.

Knapp said this would also depend on what is happeningin the market, adding, “I believe that all around the world,we are going into 70-75 per cent... So, there will be anoth-er category coming, the SUV and CUV (cross utility vehi-cle), as higher seating position is the future. Because it(market) is moving away from sedans.”

Volkswagen sells hatchback Polo, sedan Vento andTiguan SUV in the domestic market along with TiguanAllspace now. – PTI

Women memberpresence on cos’

boards

India ranks

12th globally,

says studyMUMBAI, March 8: With

more and more organisationsin the country realising the im-portance of gender parity, a re-cent study has revealed that In-dia ranks 12th globally in wom-en member presence on board.

According to a recent studyon ‘Women on Board 2020’ byglobal recruitment tenderingplatform MyHiringClub.comand Sarkari-Naukri.info, Indiaranked 12th worldwide in wom-en member presence on board.

This study was done on-line amongst 7,824 listedcompanies across 36 coun-tries, including India.

In India, 628 listed employ-ers participated in this study.

The study revealed thatamong these 628 listed com-panies, 55 per cent have wom-en directors, which is 14 percent higher than last year.

Overall, it found that wom-en’s director on board per-centage is 14.87 per cent,more than double comparedto the last two years.

Among them, 29 per centof the boards have two wom-en directors, 63 per cent ofthese boards have only onewoman director each, it said.

The average board life ofmale directors in India isthree years, more than theirwomen counterpart whileglobally it is only about twoyears, it pointed out.

Further, it said that the gapbetween the maximumboard tenure of men andwomen directors is veryhuge, with 46 per cent mem-bers of fairer sex being a di-rector for less than one year.

Around 54 per cent of em-ployees in Asia and 39 per centin India are women, but only afraction of that number makesit to middle and senior man-agement level, it added.– PTI

Mumuso toexpand footprint

in NE marketBUSINESS REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 8:Keeping in view the grow-ing market trends, globalfashion and lifestyle brandMumuso has announced plansto expand its footprint in theEast and North-east regionsof the country by openingover 15 stores by this year.

As part of this strategy, thebrand expanded its presencein the North-east with thelaunch of its second store inGuwahati recently.

The new store at RadhaBhawan, RG Baruah Road,houses accessories, station-ery, small electronic goods,lifestyle items, cosmetics,beauty tools, home essen-tials, children’s products,footwear, jewellery, etc.

Addressing the media atthe launch event, AbhinavAgarwal, Marketing Manag-er, Mumuso India, said, “Weare very excited to launch oursecond store in Assam. Therehas been a high demand forthe trendy and affordableproducts as far as lifestyle isconcerned. Mumuso brand al-ways adheres to the principleof selling high-quality prod-ucts at affordable prices...”

In his speech, Amit KrSharma, Retail Sales Head,Mumuso India, said, “Whenit comes to lifestyle products,India has seen a sharp rise inthe demand in recent years.Our expansion strategy is toset up outlets all over Indiaalong with entering the e-commerce market...”

Researchers have 3D-printed a complex brain

tumour to closely model what happens inside

the fast-growing tissue, an advance that may lead to

better ways of testing and developing drugs against

the malignant disease.

The scientists, including those from Northeast-

ern University in the US, explained that glioblasto-

mas are complex, fast-growing ma-

lignant brain tumours which are

made up of various types of cells.

They said even with aggres-

sive treatment, which often in-

cludes surgery, radiation, and

chemotherapy, glioblastomas

are difficult to treat, leading

to an average survival of 11-

15 months.

The study, published in

Science Advances, de-

scribes a methodology that

combines the 3D printing and

imaging of glioblastoma cells

in a cost-effective way to more

closely model what happens in-

side the human body.

“There is a need to understand the biology and

the complexity of the glioblastoma,” said study

co-author Xavier Intes from Rensselaer Polytech-

nic Institute in the US.

“What’s known is that glioblastomas are very

complex in terms of their makeup, and this can

differ from patient to patient,” Intes said.

In the study, the researchers made bio-inks out of

patient-derived tumour cells, and printed them

along with blood vessels. They said the blood ves-

sel network in these cells allowed the printed tis-

Cyber-criminals are spreading malicious ac-

tivities through several spam campaigns per-

taining to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus

and virus-themed domains are emerging as 50

per cent more malicious, says a new report by

cybersecurity firm Check Point Research.

According to Check Point Research’s ‘Global

Threat Index’ for January 2020, cyber-criminals

are exploiting the interest in the global epidemic

to spread malicious activities with several spam

campaigns relating to the outbreak of the virus.

As the virus spreads across the globe, people

are searching online for the latest information

and updates on how it might affect them and what

they can do to protect themselves and their fam-

ilies, and cyber-criminals are quick to take advan-

tage of these concerns for their own gain.

“Since January 2020, over 4,000 coronavirus-

related domains have been registered globally. Out

of these websites, 3 per cent were found to be

Musk rapped for playingdown corona panic

Mathematician Nassim Nicholas Taleb took to the Twitter to re-

spond to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s tweet about what he called a

panic over the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Elon made a controversial tweet recently regarding the coronavirus

scare. According to him, the panic over coronavirus is ‘dumb’.

Responding to Musk, the mathematician tweeted, “Saying the coronavi-

rus panic as dumb is what’s dumb.”

Taleb is the author of the Incerto, a five volume

philosophical essay on uncertainty published be-

tween 2001 and 2018 of which the most known

books are The Black Swan and Antifragile.

Meanwhile, there was a range of comments with

people reacting to Musk’s tweet. A user wrote:

“I’m totally amazed that somebody who owns

a company where employees can’t work

from home would call taking steps to

protect workplaces from a highly-in-

fectious disease dumb.”

Another said: “Elon should take his

wife to Italy this weekend and go walk-

ing around the cities.”

The post has been retweeted more

than 3,12,000 times, and liked 1.5 mil-

lion times. Another post read: “Billion-

aires should not exist. And this kind of

senseless disregard for the wellbeing

of vulnerable members of our society

helps prove why.” – IANS

Amazon working oncommon cold cure

After disrupting the retail business, Amazon is set to find a cure for

common cold that can cause a runny nose, cough, sore throat, sneez-

ing and low-grade fevers, among other symptoms.

The Jeff Bezos-led company has engaged more than 100 people in a

top secret effort called ‘Project Gesundheit’ for finding a treatment for

common cold, says a CNBC report.

The team which includes scientists and technologists exists under a

research and development group called Grand Challenge within Ama-

zon’s Cloud division, Amazon Web Services (AWS).

While the focus of the team is on developing a vaccine, it is also

exploring several other approaches to the problem of common cold,

said the report, adding that the group is run by Babak Parviz, who was

earlier associated with Google’s parent company Alphabet’s research

and development effort.

Amazon is yet to publicly acknowledge the Grand Challenge group

which is tasked with finding solution to big problems which can have a

major impact on humanity, according to CNBC.

But healthcare is not the sole focus of the group, which has some-

times been known by its code-name ‘1492’, said the report. – IANS

Women-led ‘Ideathon’ todrive tech innovation

Makers Lab, the research and development arm of IT major Tech Ma-

hindra on Sunday launched a women-led ‘Ideathon’ aimed at solving

real world challenges through technology, especially in the defence space.

Announced on International Women’s Day, the Ideathon will run for

four weeks and will end on April 7.

“The mission of Tech Mahindra’s research and development arm,

Makers Lab, is to promote technology innovation and provide a com-

mon platform where academia and industry can come together to cre-

ate disruptive solutions to solve real world problems,” Nikhil Mal-

hotra, Global Head of Makers Lab, Tech Mahindra, said in a statement.

“This women-led Ideathon is a first among a series of Ideathons and

hackathons which are planned across the year in Tech Mahindra, to

encourage women professionals especially to innovate and leverage

technology towards betterment of society and world at large,” Mal-

hotra said. – IANS


BEYOND FRONTIERS

With the help of an improved sight-correcting

system, self-driving cars could learn just by

observing human operators complete the same task,

researchers have found.

The team implemented imitation learning, also

called learning from demonstration.

In this, a human operator drives a vehicle outfitted

with three cameras, observing the environment from

the front and each side of the car.

The data is then processed through a neural net-

work – a computer system based on how the brain’s

neurons interact to process information – that allows

the vehicles to make decisions based on what it learned

from watching the human make similar decisions.

“Having a reliable and robust vision is a mandato-

ry requirement in autonomous vehicles, and convo-

lutional neural networks are one of the most suc-

cessful deep neural networks for image processing

applications,” explained Saeid Nahavandi, Chair of

Researchers have identified the brain network

which emerges in infants around four years of

age and enables them to predict what others think,

an advance that may lead to better understanding of

developmental disorders like autism.

According to the scientists, including those from

the University College London in the UK, infants

use two different nerve networks in their brains,

which mature at different rates, to predict others’

behaviour by taking on their perspective.

The study, published in the journal PNAS, referred

to these brain structures as regions for implicit and

explicit ‘Theory of Mind’, which mature at different

ages to fulfil their function.

According to the scientists, a region called the su-

pramarginal gyrus that supports non-verbal action

Cardiac rehabilitation is not a

“men’s club” anymore and

modern women living with heart

disease need flexible options for

lifestyle programmes that fit their

busy schedules, find researchers.

Enjoyable physical activity such

as Zumba, group walking, tai chi,

qigong, technology-based balance

exercises (Wii Fit), dancing and

Nordic walking are some of the

modern lifestyle methods that can

keep the heart in good shape for

women.

“Women tend to prioritise oth-

ers before themselves,” said sen-

ior study author Dr Jennifer Reed

of the University of Ottawa Heart

Institute, Canada.

“The realities of modern life

require women to address multi-

ple family, community, social and

work-related demands. As a re-

sult, many feel they do not have

time for cardiac rehabilitation,”

Reed added.

Cardiovascular disease is the

leading cause of death in women

worldwide; in 2015, it accounted

for one-third of all female deaths.

However, approximately 10-20

per cent fewer women than men

participate in cardiac rehabilitation,

and women are more likely to

drop out (35 per cent of women

quit versus 29 per cent of men).

In contrast, women are high us-

ers of local exercise classes: many

women attend at least 70 per cent

of the sessions on offer.

“We are experiencing a shift in

family responsibilities towards

more equality, but today’s women

with heart disease are still more

likely to be a caregiver than men,”

said Sol Vidal-Almela of the Uni-

versity of Ottawa Heart Institute.

Multiple class options through-

out the day may particularly ben-

efit younger women who report

lack of time, family and work com-

mitments as barriers to attend-

ing cardiac rehabilitation, said the

study published in the European

Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

To reach this conclusion, the au-

thors reviewed a decade of litera-

ture to identify what stops women

with heart disease from attending

cardiac rehabilitation. – IANS

Consumer watchdog ‘Which?’

has claimed that more than

one billion Android phones and

tablets are vulnerable to hackers

as they are no longer supported

by security updates.

According to the research re-

port, the most at-risk phones are

any that run Android 4 or older,

and those smartphones running

Android 7.0, which cannot be up-

dated, are also at risk.

Based on data from Google an-

alysed by Which?, two in five an-

droid device users around the

world are no longer receiving the

important updates. Currently,

those devices are unlikely to have

issues, but the lack of security

leaves them open to attack.

“It is very concerning that ex-

pensive Android devices have

such a short shelf life before they

lose security support, leaving mil-

lions of users at risk of serious

consequences if they fall victim to

hackers,” Kate Bevan editor

Which? said in a statement.

“Google and phone manufactur-

ers need to be upfront about secu-

rity updates with clear information

about how long they will last and

what customers should do when

they run out,” Kate added. – IANS

At a time when India is battling

air pollution, especially in the

national capital and adjoining Ghaz-

iabad, which have been designat-

ed as one of the most polluted cit-

ies across the globe as studies

suggest, Prakriti E-Mobility Pri-

vate Limited is soon to launch an

app-based Electric Vehicle (EV)

cab services called ‘Evera’ in Del-

hi-NCR. Focussed on offering af-

fordable, clean and comfortable

rides to consumers, Evera offers

one-of its kind, 100 per cent elec-

tric cab service in Delhi.

The cab service provider

Prakriti has entered a partnership

with Tata Motors to soon deploy

500 Tigor Electric Vehicles in

Coronavirus-themed domainsmore likely to be malicious

Scientists 3D-printcomplex brain tumour,test drug effectiveness

Cardiac rehabilitation not a ‘men’s club’

Various unwanted behaviour

traits in dogs like fearfulness

and aggressive behaviour often

occur simultaneously, depending

on the breed, according to a study

which may lead to early interven-

tions for comorbid conditions in

the canines.

Researchers, including Hannes

Lohi from the University of Hel-

sinki in Finland, used an owner-

reported survey to examine sev-

en anxiety-like traits and prob-

lematic behaviours in 13,700 Finn-

ish pet dogs.

Their findings, published in the

journal Scientific Reports, suggest-

ed that noise sensitivity is the most

common anxiety trait, followed by

fear. “We discovered an interest-

ing connection between impulsivi-

ty, compulsive behaviour and sepa-

ration anxiety. In humans, obses-

sive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

often occurs together with atten-

tion deficit and hyperactivity disor-

der (ADHD), but this is the first

time the same has been seen in

dogs,” said Milla Salonen, study co-

author from the University of Hel-

sinki. The scientists found that 72.5

per cent of the dogs showed prob-

lematic behaviours such as aggres-

sion and fearfulness.

Noise sensitivity was the most

common anxiety with 32 per cent

of dogs found to be fearful of at least

one noise, and 26 per cent of the

canines being afraid of fireworks,

specifically.

The researchers added that fear

was the second-most common

anxiety, found in 29 per cent of dogs,

including fear of other dogs (17 per

cent), fear of strangers (15 per

cent), and fear of new situations

(11 per cent). They said noise sen-

sitivity – especially fear of thunder

– increased with age, along with

fear of heights and surfaces, such

as walking on metal grids or shiny

floors. According to the study,

younger dogs more often damaged

or urinated on items when left

alone, and were also more often

inattentive, hyperactive, or impul-

sive and chased their tails more

than older dogs.

Male dogs, the study said, were

more often aggressive and hyperac-

tive or impulsive than female dogs,

which were more often fearful. The

scientists also reported differences

between breeds. “Problems appear

to be quite breed-specific. For ex-

ample, in Border Collies we ob-

served more compulsive staring and

light or shadow chasing – behaviours

that occurred more rarely in all oth-

er breeds,” Lohi said. – PTI

Unwanted behaviour common, varied in dogs

Brain network that helps infantspredict others’ behaviour found

prediction matures earlier.

They said this region is also involved in visual and

emotional perspective taking.

“This enables younger children to predict how

people will act,” said study co-author Charlotte

Grosse Wiesmann from the Max Planck Institute for

Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany.

“The temporoparietal junction and precuneus

through which we understand what others think –

and not just what they feel and see or how they will

act – only develops to fulfil this function at the age of

four years,” Wiesmann added.

The study said there’s already another mecha-

nism for a basic form of perspective taking by

which very young children simply adopt the oth-

er’s view. – PTI

Self-driving cars can easilymimic human drivers

engineering and director for the Institute for Intelli-

gent Systems Research and Innovation at Deakin

University. The processing system is specifically a

convolutional neural network, which is mirrored on

the brain’s visual cortex.

By reducing the visual information, the network

can quickly process changes in the environment: a

shift of dots appearing ahead could indicate an obsta-

cle in the road. – IANS

Electric cabs to helpDelhi breathe better

Delhi-NCR. The company in as-

sociation with Tata Power is set-

ting up 30 slow chargers and five

fast chargers in Delhi-NCR, the

largest charging infrastructure in

India currently, that will enable the

taxi drivers to charge the batter-

ies of the car at 35 charging points

across the city at places like Great-

er Kailash, Khan Market, Moti

Bagh, Connaught Place, Chanakya

Puri and Jor Bagh.

These electric cabs, which emit

zero carbon dioxide during their

lifespan, will help curb air pollu-

tion and Delhiites will eventually

be able to breathe easy without

worrying about toxic fumes from

the exhaust pipes. – IANS

Over a billion Androiddevices vulnerable

Lettuce grown in space as nutritious as ones on Earth

malicious and an additional 5 per cent suspicious.

Coronavirus-related domains are 50 per cent more

likely to be malicious than other domains regis-

tered during the same period, and also higher than

recent seasonal themes such as Valentine’s Day,”

the cybersecurity firm said in a statement.

Many of these domains will probably be used

for phishing attempts.

As of now, Check Point Research has already

spotted and protects online users

from many websites known to be re-

lated to malicious activities that lure

the victims to their websites with dis-

cussions around the virus, as well as

from scam websites that claim to sell

face masks, vaccines and home tests

that can detect the virus.

In addition, a widespread targeted

coronavirus-themed phishing cam-

paign was recently spotted targeting

Italian organisations, hitting over 10 per cent of

all organisations in Italy with the aim of exploit-

ing concerns over the growing cluster of infec-

tions in the country.

While clicking on ‘enable editing’ and ‘ena-

ble content’ on emails infected with such mali-

cious files, users would be led to the download

of ‘Ostap Trojan-Downloader’, which is known

to be a Trickbot downloader. – IANS

sue to live and mature, enabling researchers to study

it over a matter of months.

The bio-printed blood vessels also provided chan-

nels for therapeutics to travel through – in this case,

the cancer drug Temozolomide.

According to the study, drug delivery to glioblas-

toma cells in the body is especially complicated be-

cause of the blood-brain barrier – a

wall of cells that blocks most sub-

stances from reaching the brain.

Due to this hurdle, the re-

searchers believe that their

new method may provide a

more accurate evaluation of a

drug’s effectiveness than di-

rectly injecting the therapy

into the cells.

“That’s the unique part of

the bio-printing that has been

very powerful. It’s closer to

what would happen in vivo,”

Intes said. To see if the drug

was making it to the glioblast-

oma cells and working, Intes and

his team developed a special technique to quickly

take images of the bio-printed tissue at the cel-

lular level using as little light as possible, so as

to not damage the cells.

“We developed a new technology that al-

lows us to go deeper than florescence micro-

scopy. It allows us to see, first, if the cells are

growing, and then, if they respond to the

drug,” Intes said. According to the scientists,

the novel technique may allow researchers to

evaluate the effectiveness of multiple drugs

at the same time. – PTI

Researchers have found that the

salad crop, red romaine lettuce, grown

on board the International Space Station

(ISS), is as nutritious as counterparts grown

on the Earth, an advance that may help as-

tronauts grow safe, fresh food during space

missions.

According to the study, published in the

journal Frontiers in Plant Science, the

space-grown lettuce is free of disease-caus-

ing microbes and safe to eat, and is at least

as nutritious as the Earth-grown plants.

The researchers, including Christina

Khodadad from NASA’s Kennedy Space

Center in the US, said that the lettuce is

nutritious despite being grown under low-

er gravity and more intense radiation than

on Earth.

Traditionally, astronauts in space live on

processed, pre-packaged space rations such

as fruits, nuts, chocolate, shrimp cocktails,

peanut butter, chicken, and beef to name a

few, they said.

Apart from a welcome diet change, the

researchers said, the fresh produce may pro-

vide astronauts with additional potassium as

well as vitamins K, B1, and C –nutrients that

are less abundant in pre-packaged rations,

and degrade during long-term storage.

Khodadad and her team believe that

growing crops onboard may

be especially useful on long-

distance space missions

such as the upcoming Ar-

temis-III missions, sched-

uled to land humans on the

lunar South pole by 2024,

and NASA’s first crewed

mission to Mars, planned for

the late 2020s. “The ability

to grow food in a sustaina-

ble system that is safe for

crew consumption will be-

come critical as NASA moves toward long-

er missions. Salad-type, leafy greens can

be grown and consumed fresh with few

resources,” Khodadad said. – PTI

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 13

LEISURE & LIFESTYLE

14:00 Biyolir Headline

16:00 Abelir Khabar

16:30 Superfast Prime Time100

17:00 City18

18:00 Prime Time18

19:00 Dintur Shironam

20:00 Porjyobekhyon

21:30 Aparadh Nama

22:00 North East Scan

22:30 Noixo Xironam

15:00 Chah Gachar Maje Maje

15.30 Yuba Darpan

16:00 Abelir Batori

16:05 Tezaswini (Epi-65)

16.30 Geetmala

17:00 Nimishote Batori

17:02 Rong Birong

17:30 Rupali Dhou

18:00 Dharabahik

18:30 Batori

18:45 NE News

12:00 Oggy And The Cock...

15:00 Roll No. 21


19:00 Roll No. 21


21:00 Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

22:00 Courage The Cowardly...

23:00 Ben 10

23:30 Teleshopping

12:00 Chhota Bheem

12:30 Grizzy And The Lemm...

13:30 Chhota Bheem


15:30 Chhota Bheem

16:00 Chhota Bheem Chatpat


17:30 Chhota Bheem

18:00 Chhota Bheem Chatpat

18:30 Chhota Bheem And The...

20:00 Super Bheem


22:00 Mr. Bean: The Animated...

23:00 M.A.D.

23:30 Teleshopping

LOCKHORNS

THE PHANTOM ® By Lee Falk

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

BLONDIE

Know your DAYBy JACQUELINE BIGAR

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Monday, March 9, 2020:

This year, you could be versatile and capable of doing the unexpected. You

can see both sides of an issue more clearly than in the recent past. Others

see this multifaceted perspective as you become wiser. If you are single, you

could meet several intriguing people. You also could witness others transform

in front of your eyes. If attached, your ability to see multiple perspectives

helps you avoid conflicts and find solutions. Your sweetie could be taken

aback by this behavior. Help them open up to new perspectives. VIRGO could

irritate you easily but also might be interesting to work with.

The Stars Show the Kind of Day You’ll Have: 5-Dynamic; 4-Positive; 3-

Average; 2-So-so; 1-Difficult

ARIES (March 21-April 19)HHH Much energy and thought bubbles below the surface.You might want to talk through some of the ideas that keep

popping up. You might feel pushed in the opposite direction. Do noth-ing if possible. Tonight: Opt for an early bedtime.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)HHHHH Without awareness, you could be pushed in twoseparate directions. Do not fight the inevitable, yet be willing

to walk down a new path. Aim for what you want without beingintimidated. Tonight: Add more spunk to the moment.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)HHH You could feel as if you are stuck in a certain direction.You might not see a choice immediately, but there is one. Play

it low-key for now. Information will be forthcoming, especially aroundyour personal life. Tonight: Relax; follow your instincts.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)HHHH Your feelings run high no matter what type of situa-tion, conversation or idea you run into. Clear out a misun-

derstanding if need be. You might be surprised at how much youand others take for granted. Tonight: Express your thoughts.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)HHHH Be careful when dealing with finances — yours andothers. If you are involved with another par ty financially,

use caution. You cannot afford to take this person or agreementsyou make with him or her for granted. Tonight: Pay bills first.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)HHHH You might be unusually strong-willed about whatyou want. You could be hard to stop once you decide on a

certain path. Remain responsive to others, but don’t make unnec-essary adjustments. Tonight: Open and share with a key person.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)HHH You might be swallowing some anger or frustrationcurrently. Flow with the moment, and be more aware of the

different aspects of a discussion. Know that you do not need toparticipate and can head in another direction. Tonight: Draw yourfriends together.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)HHHH Do not hesitate to zero in on what you want. A keyperson does not share a lot or might even refuse to reveal his

or her thoughts or needs. Your creativity emerges when dealing with aloved one or child. Tonight: You can have what you want.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)HHH Your fiery personality emerges. You have a lot to sharebut the timing could be off, no matter how much you eye a

certain issue. Step back and remain sure of yourself. Tonight: Bringfriends together.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)HHHH Return calls, and catch up on news as well. Youmight want to evaluate what you are hearing. Brainstorm

with a fr iend who seems to know more about this topic. You willgain another perspective. Tonight: A conversation could be moresignificant than you realize.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)HHHH Attempt to break through a partner’s resistance. If youdo, you will gain significant understanding about the possibili-

ties that surround you. A far-fetched idea could help you break past ahassle. Tonight: Use caution with spending.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)HHHHH You might feel unusually sure of yourself. Others mightapproach you with their thoughts, but they are not as dynamic

as you expected. Be open to other viewpoints. Be open to explainingyour thoughts in different ways. Tonight: As you like.

H H H

Thought for the day

People who are in high and responsible positions, if they go againstrighteousness, righteousness itself will get transformed into a destroyer.

– APJ ABDUL KALAM

___ law, ____ injustice – Latin proverb

(7,.,7) (same word twice)

Words:Melee, fifer, mystic, exiled.Answer: Extreme law, extreme injustice– Latin proverb

Given below are four jumbled words. Solvethe jumbles to make proper words and movethem to the respective squares below. Selectthe letters in the shaded squares and jumblethem to get the answer for the given quip.

JUMBLED WORDSHEALTH CAPSULES®

by Bron Smith

Health Capsules is not intendedto be of a diagnostic nature.

CROSSWORD - 6839

Across: 3 Ad-lib, 8 Idiom, 10 Nears, 11 Hop, 12 Lupus, 13

Non-user, 15 Romeo, 18 Lip, 19 Retina, 21 Carried, 22 Purr,

23 Inch, 24 Assuage, 26 Levity, 29 Kin, 31 Leech, 32 Re-

moved, 34 Hewed, 35 Rim, 36 Nixon, 37 Beams, 38 Raids.

Down: 1 Ad hoc, 2 Popular, 4 Dour, 5 Inured, 6 Besot, 7

Preen, 9 Ion, 12 Leprosy, 14 Sir, 16 Milne, 17 Oaths, 19

Rebuked, 20 Spill, 21 Crave, 23 Ignores, 24 Athena, 25 Aim,

27 Eerie, 28 Ichor, 30 Jemmy, 32 Read, 33 Via.

SOLUTION

12:00 Savage Kingdom

13:00 Wild Families

14:00 The Hidden Kingdoms Of...

15:00 Survival Of The Fittest

16:00 Hostile Planet

17:00 Secrets Of Wild India

18:00 World’s Deadliest Killers

19:00 Wild Pals

20:00 Survival Of The Fittest

21:00 Deadly Game

22:00 Out There With Jack...

23:00 Dangerous Encounters

12:45 Shipping Wars

13:15 Pawn Stars

13:45 Storage Wars

14:15 Food Tech

15:10 OMG! Yeh Mera India

16:05 Forged In Fire

17:00 Storage Wars

17:30 Shipping Wars

18:00 Modern Marvels

19:00 Car Jackers

11:00 Assamese news

11:30 Assamese news

12:00 Mid Day Live

13:00 Assamese Feautre film

16:30 Discussion Show (R)

17:30 Guwahati Bisesh

18:00 Guwahati Live

18:30 Breaking @ 6:30

19:00 Assamesse Prime Time

20:00 Discussion Show (R)

21:00 Kotha Barta

21:30 Talk Time

22:00 Live at 10

22:30 Noixo Guwahati

23:00 Noixo Batori

16:00 Upasona

17:00 Devotional Slot

1730 B2B Music

18:00 North East Diva GF

20:00 Rang Blockbuster

23:00 B2B Music

12:00 UFC 248

16:00 NBA Weekly

16:30 UEL 2019/20

17:00 UCL 2019/20 HLs

18:00 NBA 2019/20 HLs

18:30 Serie A 2019/20 HLs

19:00 UFC 2020

20:00 Kick-Off!

20:30 Serie A HLs

21:30 The Emirates FA Cup...

22:00 Serie A 2019/20 HLs

22:30 Kick-Off!

23:00 Serie A 2019/20 Live

12:00 SA vs Eng 2019 Test HLs

13:00 Aus vs India 2019 ODI HLs

14:00 BBL Rewind

14:30 SA vs Aus 2020 T20I HLs

15:00 Colour Me Blue

15:30 BBL Rewind

16:00 Eng vs India 2018 T20 HLs

17:00 Olympic On The Record


18:00 BBL Rewind

18:30 Unforgettable Moments

19:00 Can’t Stay Down

19:30 SL vs WI 2020 ODI HLs


20:30 SA vs Eng 2020 ODI HLs


21:30 BBL Rewind

22:00 SA vs Aus 2020 ODI HLs

22:30 Can’t Stay Down

23:00 Aus vs NZ 2019 Test HLs

16:30 T20 Decoded @ Select...

17:00 VIVO IPL Close Encounters...

17:30 Colors Of Vivo IPL 2019

18:00 Hero Indian Super League...

18:30 Follow The Blues

19:00 ICC Women’s World...

19:30 Hero ISL Countdown 2019/20

14:10 Saajan Chale Sasural

17:10 Makkhi

19:55 Waah! Tera Kya Kehna

22:55 Rajaji

12:00 Percy Jackson: Sea OfMonsters

14:20 Dragon Blade17:05 Resident Evil: The Final

Chapter19:05 Underworld: Rise Of The

Lycans20:55 Moana23:10 The Hunger Games

12:00 Shooter

14:10 Shazam!

16:30 Mission: Impossible -

Fallout

19:15 The Hangover Part III

21:00 Into The Wild

23:45 Shaolin Soccer12:30 Batman Forever

14:35 Pain & Gain

16:35 Winter’s Tale

18:35 A.I. Artificial Intelligence

21:00 Superman III

23:05 Red Dawn

13:05 Titanic

16:25 Night At The Museum

18:15 Black Panther

20:50 Iron Man 2

23:10 Fantastic Four: Rise Of

The Silver Surfer

STAR GOLD

19:55 Bajrangi Bhaijaan

ZEE CINEMA

14:55 Dilwale

UTV MOVIES

14:10 Saajan Chale Sasural

STAR MOVIES

18:15 Black Panther

12:45 Samba

15:30 Bindas Rani

18:05 Hitler Raja

20:00 Roadside Rowdy

22:35 Shiva The Super Hero

13:55 Kick17:05 The Great Veera19:55 Bajrangi Bhaijaan23:25 Lion The King

12:00 Barrister Babu

12:30 Naati Pinky Ki Lambi Love...

13:00 Choti Sarrdaarni


14:30 Fear Factor Khatron Ke...



17:35 Pavitra Bhagya


18:30 Shubharamabh

19:00 Vidya


20:00 Shakti Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki


21:00 Shubharamabh


22:00 Pavitra Bhagya

22:30 Mujhse Shaadi Karoge

12:00 Kick-Ass

14:00 Love Island UK

15:00 The King Of Queens


18:00 Penny Dreadful

19:00 Everybody Hates Chris


21:00 World Of Dance

22:00 Penny Dreadful


13:00 Kundali Bhagya

13:30 Qurbaan Hua

14:00 Rang Malang

15:00 Choti Bahu

16:00 Pavitra Rishta

17:00 Kumkum Bhagya


18:00 Tujhse Hai Raabta

18:30 Qurbaan Hua

19:00 Manmohini

19:30 Dil Ye Ziddi Hai

20:00 Guddan Tumse Na Ho Payega

20:30 Tujhse Hai Raabta

21:00 Kumkum Bhagya


22:00 Qurbaan Hua

22:30 Ishq Subhan Allah

23:00 Kumkum Bhagya

23:30 Qurbaan Hua

13:00 Best Of Crime Patrol

19:00 Mere Sai - Shraddha Aur...

19:30 Vighnaharta Ganesh

20:00 Isharon Isharon Mein

20:30 Patiala Babes

21:00 Beyhadh 2

21:30 Mil Jate Hain Jo Bane Ek...

22:00 Mere Dad Ki Dulhan

SOLUTION TO TRIBUNE CROSSWORD – 6839

14:55 Dilwale17:55 Chennai Vs China21:00 Geeta Govinda

12:45 A..Aa...2

15:30 Hichki

18:00 Jersey

20:55 The Digital Thief

Across

3 Improvise a per-formance or aspeech, etc. (2-3)

8 Form of speech(5)

10 Approaches (5)11 Leap on one foot

(3)12 A bacterial dis-

ease of the skin(5)

13 He fails to exer-cise a right (3-4)

15 Tragic Montague(5)

18 Facial feature(3)

19 Eye part (6)21 Conveyed or

bore (7)22 Cat’s noise (4)

23 Move slowly (4)24 Relieve (7)26 Frivolousness (6)29 Family (3)31 Blood-sucker (5)32 Took away (7)34 Cut, chopped (5)35 Outer edge (3)36 Former US presi-

dent (5)37 Smiles broadly or

sunnily (5)38 Rapid surprise at-

tacks (5)Down

1 For a special pur-pose (2,3)

2 Widely liked (7)4 Austere (4)5 Hardened (6)6 Stupefy with drink

(5)7 Primp (5)9 Charged atom (3)

12 Hansen’s disease

(7)

14 Knight’s title (3)

16 Winnie the Pooh

creator (5)

17 Vows (5)

19 Scolded, admon-

ished or berated

(7)

20 Tumble or splash

(5)

21 Long for (5)

23 Disregards (7)

24 Greek counterpart

of Minerva (6)

25 My ___ in life : my

purpose or inten-

tion in life... ? (3)

27 Very strange (5)

28 Watery humour (5)

30 Burglar’s tool (5)

32 Pore over (4)

33 By way of (3)

19:30 Pawn Stars

20:00 OMG! Yeh Mera India


22:00 Pawn Stars

22:30 Storage Wars


12:40 Just Animals

13:25 Animals Unleashed

13:45 How Do Animals Do That?

14:10 Deadly Bites

14:55 Fierce Fighters

15:55 Zambia Untamed

16:55 Expedition Mungo

18:00 World Of The Wild

18:30 Super Senses

19:00 Animal Planet Exclusives

20:00 Wildest Survival

21:00 The Lion Kingdom

21:30 Jewels Of The Natural World

22:00 Wild Frank

23:00 Killer Instincts

23:30 The Cute Ones

13:00 Adventure: Primal Survivor

14:00 Snakes in The City

15:00 Science: Science of Stupid

15:30 Wildlife: Animal Fight Club

16:00 Running Wild With Bear...

17:00 Airport Security: Colombia


19:00 Science: The Big Picture...

19:30 Science: Science of Stupid

20:00 Earth Day: 50 Days 50...

21:00 Adventure: Primal Survivor


23:00 Seconds From Disaster

Director Anubhav Sinha is satisfied with the

box office showing of his critically ac-

claimed latest release, Thappad. While

Thappad is yet to be declared a hit despite start-

ing an important conversation, other women-

led movies this year – like Deepika Padukone’s

much publicised Chhapaak and Kangana Ranaut-

starrer Panga – are far from successful.

The grim Chhapaak, managing a paltry Rs

32.48-crore haul since its January 10 release,

has been declared a losing proposition, accord-

ing to the trade website koimoi.com. Panga

failed to cash in on Republic Day zest, earning

only Rs 25.64 over the past weeks since its Jan-

uary 24 release.

The bright side is that the slow show of these

films is not dampening the enthusiasm of filmmak-

ers as well as Bollywood buffs. The next few months

overflow with interesting projects that cast spot-

light firmly on the female protagonist, and cele-

brate Indian womanhood across societal strata.

Among the most talked-about female-centric

projects this year is Shakuntala Devi, a biopic of

mathematics wizard Shakuntala Devi that casts

Vidya Balan in the title role. “I am greedy. I

think it’s very interesting time in Hindi cinema.

I really look forward to this decade. As a female

actor at the age of 41, I am amazed at the variety

of roles and kinds of films I am being offered,”

the Kahaani actress had said earlier this year.

The Janhvi Kapoor-starrer Gunjan Saxena:

The Kargil Girl will show that sky is the limit for

women. It is a biopic of Indian Air Force combat

pilot Gunjan Saxena, who entered the war zone

during the 1999 Kargil War.

Psychological suspense will be the mood for

Parineeti Chopra, when she returns to the Bol-

lywood screen, with her starring role in The

Girl On the Train. The film, also featuring Aditi

Rao Hydari and Kirti Kulhari, is a remake of the

2016 Hollywood thriller of the same name, which

in turn was adapted from Paula Hawkins’s 2015

novel of the same name.

After featuring in one of the biggest block-

busters of 2019, Kabir Singh, actress Kiara Ad-

vani will lead the cast of Indoo Ki Jawani. It will

definitely have more scenes and dialogues than

what was given to her in Kabir Singh, which

was slammed for its “toxic masculinity”.

Kangana, who never wanted to be a hero’s

sidekick, will be seen as late former Tamil Nadu

chief minister J Jayalalithaa in the latter’s biopic

Thalaivi. The actress also has Dhaakad which

Kangana had defined as a “one of a kind female-

led action film”.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawa-

di will have Alia Bhatt as its protagonist. Ac-

cording to reports, the film revolves around a

brothel owner and matriarch.

The year 2020 surely looks like it will belong

to the heroine in Bollywood.

(Source: IANS)

Year of the heroine2020 will see several women-centric films from Bollywood

22:30 Crime Patrol Satark

23:30 Best Of Crime Patrol

13:00 Yehh Jadu Hai Jinn Ka!

13:30 Kasautii Zindagii Kay

14:00 Nazar

14:30 Dil Jaise Dhadke...

15:00 Diya Aur Baati Hum

16:00 Saath Nibhaana Saathiya

17:00 Mann Ki Awaaz...Pratigya

18:00 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai

18:30 Sanjivani

19:00 Dil Jaise Dhadke...

19:30 Dadi Amma.. Dadi Amma...

20:00 Kasautii Zindagii Kay


21:00 Kahaan Hum Kahaan Tum

21:30 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai

22:00 Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke

22:30 Yeh Hai Chahatein

23:00 Nazar


20:00 VIVO IPL Countdown

20:30 Colors Of Vivo IPL 2019

21:00 Vivo IPL Rivalries 2019

21:30 Football United 2019/20

22:00 Cricket Countdown 2020

22:30 ICC Women’s World...

23:00 VIVO IPL - Themed 2019 HLs

12:00 WWE Special Elimination...


17:00 WWE SmackDown

19:00 WWE Special Elimination...

23:00 Kick-Off!

23:30 Formula E 2020 Street...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10

11 12

13 14 15 16 17

18 19

20 21

22 23

24 25

26 27 28 29 30

31 32 33

34 35

36 37

38

14 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020INTERNATIONAL

Medical workers wearing protective gears moving a patient infected with the coronavirus from an ambulance to ahospital in Seoul, South Korea, on Sunday. – AP/PTI

Participants taking part in the women’s ‘Beauty Run’ in Minsk, Belarus, on Sunday.About 5,000 participants took part in the event in connection with InternationalWomen's Day, which is an official holiday in Belarus. – AP/PTI

Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, alongside the Massed Bands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marinesattending the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall in London, on Saturday. – AP/PTI

Greek refugeecentre ablaze as

tensions escalateATHENS, March 8: A fire

ripped through a refugee cen-

tre on the Greek island of Les-

bos as tensions over a surge in

migrants from Turkey have

continued to escalate.

Flames engulfed the One

Happy Family centre, near

the island’s capital Mitilini, on

Saturday, the BBC said in a

report, adding that it was not

immediately clear how the

blaze started.

No causalities have been

reported.

Hundreds of migrants have

attempted to reach the island

since Turkish President Re-

cep Tayyip Erdogan an-

nounced last week that he

was “opening the doors” for

refugees to enter Europe.

But on Saturday, Erdogan

partially reversed his posi-

tion and ordered the Turkish

coastguard to stop migrants

from crossing the Aegean Sea

to Greece because it was

unsafe to do so, the BBC re-

port said.

Amid the escalating tense

situation, clashes have also

erupted at the land border

between Greece and Turkey.

While Turkey’s Interior

Ministry said 149,000 had left

the country for Greece, Ath-

ens said only 252 had made it

across and all were detained

and returned, reports Efe

news. – IANS

‘Govt to givePakistani cinemastatus of industry’

ISLAMABAD, March 8:

The Imran Khan government

has announced that Pakistani

cinema will be given the full-

fledged status of an industry, a

top official said.

“To positively highlight Pa-

kistan’s image in the interna-

tional arena, it has become of

the utmost urgency to revive

its cinema,” The News Inter-

national quoted Special Assist-

ant to the Prime Minister on

Information and Broadcasting

Firdous Ashiq Awan as saying

on Saturday.

Awan said the decision was

taken as it has become a prior-

ity to highlight Pakistan’s cul-

ture, values, and traditions with

the aid of the film industry.

She assured the media that

no policy will be formulated

without the input of all stake-

holders.

Awan called on film produc-

ers to play their role in the

economic progress of the coun-

try and pledged the govern-

ment’s role in making every

effort for the revival of Paki-

stani cinema.

Pakistan is home to several

film studios centres, primari-

ly located in Karachi and La-

hore. – IANS

NEW YORK, March 8:

New York Governor Andrew

Cuomo has declared a state

of emergency as the number

of confirmed coronavirus cas-

es in the northeastern state

rose to 76.

At a press conference on

Saturday, Cuomo said New

York City, the most populous

metropolis in the country, has

11 cases, and Westchester

county now has 57, an increase

of 23 overnight, reports Xin-

hua news agency.

Long Island’s Nassau coun-

ty has four cases, while Rock-

land and Saratoga counties

have reported two each.

All cases in Westchester

were related to the state’s

second confirmed case, which

involves an attorney who

worked in Manhattan.

“Westchester is an obvious

problem for us,” the Gover-

nor said. “They talk about the

contagion in clusters and the

clusters tend to infect more

and more people,” added the

Governor.

However, Cuomo repeat-

edly urged the public to stay

calm, noting that about 80 per

cent of the COVID-19 patients

will self-resolve.

As to the 20 per cent who

have to be hospitalized, Cuo-

mo said most of them are sen-

ior citizens and those with un-

derlying health issues.

“If you are a senior citizen

or immune-compromised, I

would think seriously about

attending a large gathering,”

he said, adding: “Now I’ve

said that to my mother.”

Meanwhile, the state has

started aggressively testing

residents, especially among

suspected populations.

“The more tests, the bet-

ter. The more positive you

find, the better. Because then

you can isolate them and you

slow the spread,” said Cuo-

mo. The state of emergency

declaration will speed up the

purchasing of supplies and the

hiring of workers who could

assist local health depart-

ments, especially in monitor-

ing those who are self-quar-

antined, according to the gov-

ernor.

Thousands in the state are

currently under self-quaran-

tine, including over 2,700

people in New York City.

Many of them have just re-

turned from a country or a

region where there is a COV-

ID-19 outbreak.

Cuomo urged those who

are under voluntary quaran-

tine to comply with specific

rules, saying violating those

rules is disrespectful to mem-

bers of the community and

maybe putting people in dan-

ger. The governor also

warned businesses that price-

gouging at a situation of emer-

gency is not allowed.

“It is not worth it to the

store owner. You can lose

your license. And we are

very serious about this,” he

added. As of Saturday night,

more than 420 cases of

COVID-19 were reported in

the US with 17 deaths, ac-

cording to the Center for

Systems Science and Engi-

neering at Johns Hopkins

University. – IANS

State of emergency in NYover COVID-19 outbreak

AndrewCuomo

DUBAI, March 8: Hindu

temples in Dubai have can-

celled the upcoming Holi cel-

ebrations and advised against

playing with colours to pre-

vent the spread of the novel

coronavirus, it was reported.

This is in addition to other

preventive measures such as

a reduction in prayer times

and providing sanitisers as

part of preventive measures

to protect the devotees and

the larger community, the

management of both Shiva and

Krishna temples told Gulf

News on Saturday.

“The Holi celebrations

have been cancelled. We are

taking precautionary steps in

line with DHA (Dubai Health

Authority) instructions,” said

Gopal Kokani, general man-

ager of the Guru Darbar Sin-

dhi Temple (Shiva temple).

“We usually have the cele-

bration of burning cow dung

cakes on the first day of Holi

on March 9 (Monday). We

have already put up a notice

informing the cancellation to

all devotees,” he said, adding

that the daily opening hours

of the temple have also been

reduced.

Lalit Karani, chairman of

the Sreenathji (Krishna)

Temple run by the Mercan-

tile Hindu Community of

Thatta, told Gulf News that

the Holi celebrations sched-

uled for Monday and Tuesday

have been cancelled in the in-

terest of public health safety.

“The Holi Utsav and Dhol

Utsav will not be celebrated

for public,” the temple man-

agement said in a notice to

devotees which is being cir-

culated on social media as well.

“We request all to avoid

unnecessary gatherings in or-

der to limit the spread of in-

fection. Avoid throwing col-

ours (wet/dry) in the temple

premises and compound

area,” added the temple man-

agement.

Karani said the bonfire on

Monday and the splashing of

colours on Tuesday will be

held only as offerings for Lord

Krishna.

Other Holi events in Dubai

had also been cancelled earli-

er. – IANS

Holi celebrations cancelled in Dubaidue to COVID-19

6 killed in Chinaquarantine

building collapseBEIJING, March 8: At

least six people were killed in

China after a multistorey ho-

tel used as a quarantine centre

for coronavirus victims col-

lapsed, the media reported on

Sunday.

Authorities had reported

that 71 people were trapped

under the rubble of the build-

ing after it collapsed on Satur-

day evening in Quanzhou city,

Fujian province, Efe news

quoted the media reports as

saying.

On Sunday, Xinhua news

agency said 42 people had been

pulled out by 10.30 am. More

than 20 were still feared

trapped under the rubble.

Rescue teams consisting of

around 1,000 personnel contin-

ue to look for victims at the site.

Video footage aired by local

broadcasters showed the

building destroyed on one side

with a large dust cloud engulf-

ing the area.

The structure has been

identified as Hotel Xinjia,

which along with other large-

scale hospitality and sports

facilities in the country had

been turned into an observa-

tion centre for monitoring

suspected COVID-19 pa-

tients from nearby areas.

The reasons for the hotel’s

collapse were not immedi-

ately clear, while the police

have summoned its owner

for questioning, according to

the official Global Times

newspaper.

China has enforced a se-

ries of stringent measures

to check the spread of the

coronavirus epidemic, which

has killed at least 3,097 peo-

ple and infected 80,695 in

the country. – IANS

JERUSALEM, March

8: The Israeli political

deadlock has continued days

after a third general

election ended in similar

results to the previous two

polls, with incumbent

Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu and his rival

Blue and White leader

Benny Gantz each ruling

out the other.

Speaking to supporters

on Saturday night, Netanya-

hu, the country’s longest-

serving Prime Minister,

said he was “not going

anywhere”, reports Xinhua

news agency

He also dismissed a bill

being proposed by the Blue

and White party aimed at

disqualifying him from

forming a government

saying the opposition was

“trying to steal the

elections through deceit

and anti-democratic

legislation”.

Netanyahu is scheduled

to appear in court in less

than two weeks as a

defendant on charges of

bribery, fraud and breach of

trust.

According to the current

Israeli law, an indicted

Prime Minister is allowed

to remain in office until a

final ruling by the supreme

court is handed down.

But the Blue and White

was looking to change that.

Gantz vowed not to sit in

the same government with

an indicted leader.

In a separate press

conference held immediate-

ly after Netanyahu’s, Gantz

said he would not disclose

the details of his sensitive

negotiations but he intends

to form a government in

the immediate future.

“The Netanyahu era is

over,” he told reporters.

Netanyahu leads the

right-wing bloc which has

58 seats of the 120 seats in

the Israeli Parliament, the

Knesset.

The bloc opposing

Netanyahu has 62 mem-

bers, but is incohesive and

it is difficult to see how

Gantz will be able to form a

stable coalition. His

potential partners are

staunch rivals hawkish

Avigdor Lieberman who

heads the Yisrael Beiteinu

party and the Joint List of

Arab parties.

Chances of cooperation

between these two parties

are slim.

However, the fact that

they hold a majority of

Parliament increases their

ability to pass legislation

that would end Netanyahu’s

reign. – IANS

Israeli politicaldeadlock continues

BEIJING, March 8: Chinese

health authorities said on Sun-

day that the number of new

coronavirus cases in the main-

land had dropped to less than

50, which marked a new low

since the outbreak was first

reported last December.

The National Health Com-

mission said 44 new cases had

been reported by the end of

Saturday – all from the capital

of Hubei province Wuhan, the

epicentre of the outbreak, ex-

cept for three imported cases,

of which two were in Beijing

and one in Gansu in the north-

west, reports the South Chi-

na Morning Post newspaper.

No new infections were re-

ported in the rest of Hubei

province outside Wuhan.

The Commission said were

27 new fatalities, all in Hubei,

taking the overall death toll in

the mainland to 3,097 with a

total of 80,695 cases.

On Saturday, Italy, which has

registered the most deaths

from COVID-19 outside of

China, began locking down of

much of its northern Lom-

bardy region due to the rapid

spread of the coronavirus that

has caused 233 deaths and in-

fected 5,883 others in the

worst-hit European country,

Efe news reported.

The measure to fight a “na-

tional emergency”, announced

by Prime Minister Giuseppe

Conte, puts in isolation some

16 million people of the quar-

antined red zone that includes

Milan and Venice.

On Sunday, South Korean

authorities reported 367 new

cases of the virus, bringing the

number of infected people to

7,134 in the second worst-hit

country after China. The death

toll has increased to 50 in the

country.

According to figures re-

leased by the South China

Morning Post on Sunday, the

countries which have regis-

tered coronavirus cases be-

sides China are South Korea

(7,134), Italy (5,883), Iran

(5,823), Japan (1,159, includ-

ing 696 from Diamond Prin-

cess), France (949), Germany

(639), the US (over 420, in-

cluding 21 in Grand Princess),

Spain (374), the UK (209),

Netherlands (188), Switzer-

land (181), Singapore (138),

Belgium (109), Hong Kong

(108), Sweden (101), Malay-

sia (93), Norway (86), Austral-

ia (74), Greece (66), Kuwait

(58), Bahrain (56), Austria (55),

Canada (51), Egypt (48), Thai-

land (47), Taiwan (45), the UAE

(45), India (39), Iraq (26), Ice-

land (26), San Marino (23), Vi-

etnam (21), Denmark (18), Al-

geria (17), Oman (16), Leba-

non (16), Israel (15), Ecuador

(14), Ireland (13), Brazil (13),

Finland (12), Czech Republic

(12), Macau (10), Croatia (10),

Portugal (nine), Georgia

(nine), Qatar (eight), Palestine

(seven), Chile (seven), Roma-

nia (six), Slovenia (six), Bela-

rus (six), Pakistan (six), Peru

(six), Philippines (six), Mexi-

co (five), New Zealand (five),

Russia (four), Indonesia (four),

Senegal (four), Azerbaijan

(three), Hungary (three), Es-

tonia (three), Malta (three),

Dominican Republic (two)

among others. – IANS

China’s new coronaviruscases continue to drop

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATI 15SPORTS

Originating from Japan,

‘su do ku’ is a mind game

and a puzzle that can be

solved with proper

reasoning and logic. Fill

the grid with digits in such

a manner that every row,

every column and every

4 x 3 box accommodates

the digits 1 to 9 without

repeating any.

Solution of last problem

SU DO KU

LONDON, March 8: Liv-

erpool moved to within nine

points of claiming the Pre-

mier League title by coming

from behind to beat Bourne-

mouth 2-1 as Tottenham and

Wolves missed the chance to

put pressure on Chelsea for

a top-four finish.

Sheffield United were the

big winners in the race for a

place in the Champions

League next season with a 1-

0 win over Norwich to move

up to sixth, while Arsenal

moved to within five points

of the top four by beating

West Ham 1-0.

Liverpool had suffered

three defeats in four games

in all competitions, including

their first in the Premier

League for 45 matches at

Watford last weekend.

Callum Wilson’s controver-

sial early opener threatened

another major upset. But all of

Liverpool’s setbacks of late

have come away from Anfield

and they set an English top-

flight record for 22 consecu-

Liverpool bounce back, Arsenal close gap on top fourtive home league wins as two

quickfire goals from Moham-

ed Salah and Sadio Mane

turned the game around.

The runaway league lead-

ers still needed a miraculous

goal-line clearance from

James Milner to deny Ryan

Fraser an equaliser, but de-

feat keeps Bournemouth ma-

rooned in the bottom three.

“There’s nothing good in

losing football games but it

makes you aware of how

special it is to win football

games. That’s what we had

in the last 10 days or two

weeks when we lost games,”

said Liverpool manager Jur-

gen Klopp.

“I was absolutely happy

about the result, the three

points and the performance

because I knew it would be

tricky for different reasons.”

The spread of the corona-

virus could have a big impact

on the Reds’ title celebrations

in the weeks to come with the

possibility of games being

played behind closed doors.

But the abandonment of

the normal pre-match ritu-

al of handshakes was the

only disruption to the Pre-

mier League calendar this

weekend.

Despite the coronavirus

risk there was no halt to play-

ers celebrating wildly with

each other and Arsenal play-

ers piled on top of Alexandre

Lacazette after a long VAR

review of the Frenchman’s

winner at the Emirates.

Mesut Ozil was originally

flagged offside as he latched

onto Pierre-Emerick Au-

bameyang’s deflected shot

and headed down for Laca-

zette to sweep home.

But the goal was finally

given after a delay of sever-

al minutes to move Arsenal

to within five points of the

top four.

“They deserved more be-

cause of the chances they cre-

ated. This is football, some-

times you don’t get what you

deserve,” said Lacazette.

Spurs halted a run of four

straight defeats in all compe-

titions with a 1-1 draw at

Burnley to stay a point ahead

of their north London rivals

despite Jose Mourinho fol-

lowing through on his threat

to rest players ahead of Tues-

day’s trip to Leipzig in the

Champions League.

Tottenham got off to the

worst possible start at Turf

Moor when Chris Wood bun-

dled home after Hugo Lloris

spilled Jay Rodriguez’s shot.

However, Mourinho intro-

duced Giovani lo Celso and

Lucas Moura at the break

with club record Tanguy

Ndombele hooked.

The visitors got an imme-

diate reward when Dele Alli

stroked home from the pen-

alty spot after Ben Mee

chopped down Erik Lamela

and Mourinho was scathing

of Ndombele’s contribution.

“He is a player with a great

talent and he has to know that

he has to do much better,”

said Mourinho.

“I cannot keep giving him

opportunities to play.”

Wolves missed the chance to

move into the top four as a

disappointing 0-0 draw at

home to Brighton left them

still two points adrift of Chel-

sea in fifth.

Sheffield United moved

above Manchester United

and Tottenham to further

their dreams of Champions

League football next season

thanks to captain Billy Sharp’s

winner to beat bottom-of-

the-table Norwich 1-0.

“The wheels haven’t fall-

en off again today,” said

Blades boss Chris Wilder.

“They show no signs of

(doing so) at the moment.”

Roy Hodgson celebrated his

new contract as Crystal Pal-

ace boss with a 1-0 win over

Watford as the Eagles moved

into the top half of the table.

Newcastle also secured

the win that should guaran-

tee their survival courtesy of

Allan Saint-Maximin’s strike

to beat 10-man Southampton

1-0. – AFP

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (L) vies with Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser during the Premier

League match at the Anfield in Liverpool.

BARCELONA, March 8:

Quique Setien insisted Bar-

celona have not lost their

confidence, despite needing

a dubious late penalty, con-

verted by Lionel Messi, to

scrape past Real Sociedad 1-

0 on Saturday inside a frus-

trated Camp Nou.

Messi’s 24th goal of the sea-

son, and fifth in four games, was

enough to save Barca, despite

a drab display that threatened

to bring more disappointment

following last weekend’s loss

against Real Madrid.

As tension grew inside

Camp Nou, some of the home

fans whistled to express their

dissatisfaction, which Jordi

Alba then seemed to con-

front when celebrating a late

goal, ruled out for offside, by

putting his fingers in his ears.

“We have not lost confi-

dence in what we are doing,”

Barcelona confidence unaffected by fan frustration, says SetienMadrid drop to second in

the table but can restore

their one-point advantage at

the top by winning away at

struggling Real Betis on Sun-

day night.

Their Clasico victory at the

Santiago Bernabeu put the

pressure back on Barcelona,

whose response was hardly

resounding, with Setien’s

side ultimately reliant on

VAR to spot a handball in the

81st minute from Robin Le

Normand.

The lack of appeal and the

chunk of play that passed be-

fore VAR intervened made

the decision all the more sur-

prising and la Real’s players

were still shaking their heads

at the final whistle.

Yet the win was all-impor-

tant for the Catalans at the

end of another week domi-

nated by headlines surround-

ing problems off the pitch.

Setien said he had apolo-

gised to the squad after his as-

sistant Eder Sarabia was re-

corded launching into a

number of foul-mouthed rants

against his own players during

the game against Madrid, even

if there were chants in sup-

port of Sarabia before kick-off.

“When the club is in a mo-

ment of weakness, these

kinds of things come out,”

said Gerard Pique.

“It’s normal for an assist-

ant coach, with the adrena-

line high, to express himself.

We see it as normal.”

Barcelona created a hand-

ful of openings during the first

half and Martin Braithwaite,

making his first start, was at

the heart of most of them,

with his willingness to run in

behind offering a good alter-

native in attack. – AFP

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi in action during the La Liga match against Real Sociedad in Barcelona.

said Setien.

“The fans sometimes don’t

expect the opposition to re-

strict you but you have to

take into account that Real

Sociedad are a great team.”

On his own reaction, Alba

said: “I respect the fans but

the fans have to respect me.

Nobody likes to be whistled,

and even less after 15 min-

utes at 0-0.”

BERLIN, March 8: An in-

spired performance by Thor-

gan Hazard against his

former club helped Borussia

Dortmund claim a crucial

three points in the title race

with a 2-1 win away at Borus-

sia Monchengladbach on Sat-

urday.

The match was tense

throughout and featured a

Bundesliga season-high 10

yellow cards, with players

from both teams needing to

be pulled away from each

other by Dortmund coach

Lucien Favre at full-time.

“It was a difficult game.

Gladbach are efficient and our

first half wasn’t great,” said

Favre.

“But after it was 1-1, we

played well – and that was

good, very good.”

Dortmund took the lead

inside 10 minutes when ex-

Gladbach midfielder Hazard

took a pass from Erling Braut

Haaland and shrugged off

three defenders to curl a

floating shot into the top left-

hand corner of the net.

Gladbach equalised in the

50th minute when Lars Stin-

dl tapped in a shot from Alas-

sane Plea to score his fifth goal

from his past four games.

The turning point for Dort-

mund came in the 66th

minute when Jadon Sancho –

who started on the bench

ahead of Dortmund’s crucial

trip to Paris Saint-Germain

in midweek – was intro-

duced.

Sancho’s assist, his 15th of

the season, put Achraf Haki-

mi in acres of space on the

right wing, with the Real

Madrid loanee beating Yann

Sommer through his legs.

The win saw Dortmund

leapfrog Leipzig into second

place, trailing leaders Bayern

Munich by a point.

After the match, Hazard

praised Haaland’s efforts in

letting other Dortmund play-

ers get on the scoresheet.

Ankita shines with twowins as India creates

Fed Cup historyDUBAI, March 8: The Indian Fed cup team created his-

tory by progressing to the play-offs for the first time ever

with Ankita Raina leading the side to a 2-1 win over Indo-

nesia, here.

Ankita on Saturday night pulled off a crucial singles win

against talented Aldila Sutjiadi to lock the tie 1-1 after

Rutuja Bhosale suffered a crushing defeat against an un-

ranked Priska Madelyn Nugroho.

Up against the 16-year-old Indonesian, who is ranked

15th on the ITF junior circuit, Rutuja lost 3-6, 6-0, 3-6 in

one hour and 43 minutes in the opening singles. Ankita,

who lost her previous two singles, demolished the chal-

lenge of Sutjiadi 6-3, 6-3 in the second rubber.

She then combined with seasoned Sania Mirza to beat

Sutziyadi and Nugroho 7-6 (4), 6-0 to seal India’s place in

the play-offs where they will take on either Latvia or the

Netherlands in April.

They overcame a sluggish start as they were trailing 1-

4 but regrouped to dominate the decisive set.

India finished second in the six-team Group with four

wins in a row after losing the opening tie to China, who

remained unbeaten in the tournament.

Since earning their place back in Asia/Oceania Group I in

2016, India has remained in the regional group.

With the rise of Ankita, things began to improve.

Rutuja also played a key role as she provided winning

starts in a few ties, sharing the burden with Ankita.

Sania’s return to Fed Cup after four years also helped as

her inspirational presence and guidance helped the side

immensely. India’s non-playing captain Vishal Uppal is de-

lighted with the result.

“It’s a historic moment and to be part of it feels surreal.

I am proud of each and every member of our team – the

players, physio, coach, manager. We all came together and

worked towards a common goal,” Uppal told PTI.

Hazard inspires Dortmund towin over former side Gladbach

Thorgan Hazard of Borussia Dortmund celebrates after

scoring against Borussia Monchengladbach during the

Bundesliga match in Monchengladbach, Germany.

“I think he needs to give

more assists, because he scores

too much. I gave him one last

time and now he’s given me

one – we’re 1-1 – but next time

it’s my turn to give him an as-

sist again,” said Hazard.

Dortmund captain Mats

Hummels said the recent

additions of Haaland and

Emre Can had helped them

find the right balance.

“Right now we’ve got the

perfect mix between artists

and workers – or folks that

can do both,” said Hummels.

RB Leipzig dropped points

for the second weekend run-

ning after labouring to a 0-0

draw at Wolfsburg.

Leipzig missed the goal

threat of Timo Werner, who

started the game on the

bench after overcoming a

muscular problem during

the week.

Despite being subbed on

in the 60th minute, Werner

– who has 21 goals in the

Bundesliga this season – failed

to make an impact in a dour

encounter with few chances

for either side, marking just

the third time this season

that Leipzig have failed to get

on the scoresheet.

Leipzig manager Julian

Nagelsmann said the per-

formance did not bode well

ahead of Tottenham’s visit to

Germany on Tuesday.

“A draw was the right re-

sult as we weren’t good

enough to win. We were la-

boured and slow in our build-

up,” he said. – AFP

MELBOURNE, March 8:

India skipper Harmanpreet

Kaur on Sunday said she has

full faith in her team to do

well in future even after Aus-

tralia outclassed her side by

85 runs in the summit clash

of the ICC Women’s T20

World Cup here.

Unbeaten throughout the

tournament, India were out-

played in all departments of

the game by the defending

champions Australia who

clinched their fifth title.

“The way we played in the

league games was outstand-

ing. I still have a lot of faith in

my team,” Harmanpreet

said after the match.

“It’s part of the game,

sometimes you win and

sometimes you lose. You

have to keep learning. But I

trust this team,” she added.

Kaur, however, rued the

dropped chances of Australia

openers Beth Mooney (78

not out) and Alyssa Healy

(75), who set up their team’s

victory. She said that the team

needs to work in the fielding

department and learn from

the mistakes.

“Today, it was unfortunate

that we dropped those catch-

es. The upcoming one-and-

MANCHESTER, March 8:

Pep Guardiola admitted he

never imagined that he

would be quite so dominant

over Manchester United as

Manchester City manager

ahead of his side’s trip to Old

Trafford on Sunday.

Since Guardiola came to

England in 2016, City have fin-

ished above United every sea-

son with a combined points

difference of 60 over that time.

Even though City are 25

points behind Premier

League champions-elect Liv-

erpool, they still hold a 15-

point advantage over their

I have full faith in my team:Harmanpreet Kaur

a-half years is very impor-

tant. We need to focus, espe-

cially in fielding,” she said.

Playing in their maiden fi-

nal, India wilted under pres-

sure as they were bowled out

for 99 in 19.1 overs while

chasing 185 for a win, and

Kaur reckoned her side need

to learn how to win high-

stakes clashes.

“If we talk about the last

T20 World Cup, we got to

the semis, and this time to

the final. I think we’re on the

right path. Every year we are

improving. We just need to

think of how we play with

focus in the main games.

Sometimes we don’t manage

that,” the skipper said.

She spoke highly of the

domestic IPL style Women’s

Challenger tournament, say-

ing that the event has helped

spot talented players for the

national team.

“This year we are hoping

for some more games in the

Women’s Challenger, that

tournament is very important

for us because it is high quali-

ty. From there we already got

two good players, and hope-

fully in the upcoming tourna-

ments we can get more.”

Australia captain Meg Lan-

ning was delighted by her

team’s performance through-

out the tournament.

“I’m just really proud of this

group of players and staff.

We’ve had everything thrown

at us, ups and downs. It was

tough, definitely, especially af-

ter we lost that first game.

There was a lot of expectation

on us, inside and out. Definitely

some tough times in there but

we stuck with each other, had

each other’s backs,” she said.

Australia were dealt with

major blows when star all-

rounder Ellyse Perry and

pacer Tayla Vlaeminck were

ruled out of the tournament

and Lanning said the ab-

sence of the duo affected the

team’s plans. – PTI

Guardiola surprised by City’s dominance over Man Utdcity rivals.

And last Sunday’s League

Cup success was a sixth ma-

jor honour for Guardiola in

England, compared to two for

United in the same period.

“I never expected when I

arrived in England to have

this distance over United in

these three or four years,”

said Guardiola.

“There are no doubts

about United’s quality and I

appreciate a lot the manager,

and he represents the club in

an exceptional way.

“When you analyse their

players in an individual and

collective way, they are so

good. That’s why I did not

expect this gap.”

City are looking for a

fourth consecutive win at Old

Trafford, but United are en-

joying their best moment of

another turbulent season on

a nine-game unbeaten run.

“What United expect is to

get closer to the teams above

them,” added Guardiola.

“But at the same time as

United are working to im-

prove, Manchester City won’t

sit still and at the end of the

season, the distance is what it

is and reflects the quality.

“So if we are also 22 points

behind Liverpool, it’s because

they have been much better

than us.” However, the

former Barcelona and Bayern

Munich boss recognises the

work Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

is doing at United. – AFP

I neverexpected

when I arrivedin England to

have thisdistance over

United inthese three or

four years.– Pep Guardiola

“

16 THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, GUWAHATISPORTS

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020

Printed and published by Ganesh Ch. Das on behalf of Assam Tribune Pvt. Ltd. at the Tribune Press, Tribune Buildings, P.O.- Assam Tribune, M.R.D. Road, Chandmari, Guwahati-781003. Tel. 0361-2660102 (EPABX), 0361-2661360, 0361-2668807 (News Desk), FAX 0361-2666396. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]. Editor: Prafulla Govinda Baruah

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CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI, March 8: Del-

hi Blaster and 22 Yards Glory

won their respective matches

in the 2nd T20 Challenge Tro-

phy in memory of Jagat Chan-

dra Das at the Mangaldai DSA

Stadium on Sunday.

In the first match, Delhi

Blaster thrashed City Crick-

et Club (B) by 93 runs while

in the second match of the

day, 22 Yards Glory outplayed

Delhi Blaster, 22 YardsGlory register win

BNC Cricket Academy by

six wickets.Brief scores: Delhi Blaster 168

for 7 in 20 overs (Sachin Singh 66,Mayank Rawat 28, Saini Saini 22n.o.; Sanjib Barman 2/11, PrattoyrajDas 2/39). City Cricket Club (B) 75all out in 18.5 overs (Sanjib Bar-man 21; Roshan Kumar Madhav 5/15, Akash Maurya 3/12).

BNC CA 94 for 9 in 20 overs(Adhik Sarkar 27; Jyoti Medhi 2/5,Bhaskar Kalita 2/14, Tauhid Ali Taluk-dar 2/17). 22 Yards Glory 95/ 4 in13.3 overs (Apurba Das 28, KaushikOja 25, Rajiv Kalita 21 n.o.; NoorAmin 1/12, Foridul Islam 1/14, Har-ish Prasad 1/14).

SPORTS REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 8:

Assam State Electricity

Board Sports Club (ASEB

SC) and Royals Club regis-

tered victories in their re-

spective matches of the Ser-

vo 27th Guwahati Challenge

Trophy at the Latasil play-

ground here today.

Due to overnight rainfall

the match had to be curtailed

into a 12 overs a side affair.

In the first match, ASEB

ASEB, Royals Club winSC got the better of Phoenix

XI by 55 runs while in the

second match of the day, Roy-

als Club thrashed Legal Ea-

gles by eight wickets.Brief scores: ASEB SC 176 for

no loss in 12 overs (Paral Thaku-ria 101 n.o., Dipjyoti Borah 51 n.o.).Phoenix XI 121 for 7 in 12 overs(Debashish Kashyap 44, PrasantaBaruah 43; Samit Saha 2/6).

Legal Eagles 48 all out in 11.4overs (Harshbardhan Basumatary19; Kishan Singh 3/8, AbirChakraborty 2/8, Akash Sengupta2/10). Royals Club 49 for 2 in 6.1overs (Sandip Pal 27; Hiranya Das1/5, Ranjit Saloi 1/12).

GUWAHATI, March 8:

The Grappling Association of

Assam announced the play-

ers and officials for the All

India University Grappling

Tournament (AIU) which will

be held at Jammu Universi-

ty, Gujarbasti, Jammu from

March 13 to March 16.AIU technical official: Nur Alom

Sarkar. Players from Cotton Uni-

versity: Rituraj Bora, Kailash Do-

Grappling team namedley, Samujjal Patir, Jem Hrankhol,

Dhanjyoti Rajbangshi, Pritamraj

Mili, Hrishikesh Kalita, Biswajit Mili;

(Coach) Nur Alom Sarkar, (Manag-

er) Trinayan Boruah. Players from

Gauhati University: Jayraj Shyam,

Mukut Das, Ranmoyjyoti Sharma,

Hirakjyoti Rabha, Karan Patar, Gau-

rav Kr Gupta; (Coach) Bhaben

Baishya, (Manager) Dipjyoti Bora.

Players from University of Sci-

ence and Technology Meghalaya:

Dibakar Nath; (Coach) Mukut Das,

(Manager) Bishal Talukdar.

SPORTS REPORTER

GUWAHATI, March 8:

Assam registered their first

victory in the Women’s Un-

der 19 One Day Trophy

against Haryana by seven

wickets at the Judges Field

here today.

Put in to bat, Haryana bats-

Assam beat Haryanawomen could only manage

137 for the loss of two wickets

in 43 overs. In reply, Assam

put up 138 runs for the loss of

three wickets in 37 overs.Brief scores: Haryana 137/2 in

43 overs (Versha Bhatiwal 47, So-

nia Mendhiya 28 n.o., Nitika 25

n.o.; Karabi Bhakta 1/24). Assam

138 for 3 in 37 overs (Pori 66 n.o.,

Anamika Bori 31 n.o.).

Assam teambag 11 medalsBAIHATA CHARIALI,

March 8: The Assam team of

State forest department put

up a good show by clinching

11 medals in the 25th All In-

dia Forest Sports Meet (AIF-

SM) held at Bhubaneswar

from March 3 to 7.

Rabin Baishya won two gold

and one bronze medal in sen-

ior veteran, veteran and open

category of weightlifting re-

spectively. Diganta Bora won

one gold in shot put in the sen-

ior veteran category while Bi-

jay Chetia Patra won a gold in

shot put in the veteran sec-

tion. He also won one silver in

discus throw and a bronze in

hammer throw. Nayan Moni

Saikia and Shankar Bora won

a silver each in weightlifting.

Ajijul Hoque and Dambaru

Adhikari won a bronze medal

each in the 100m and 1500m

race respectively.

With a total of 11 medals in

the meet, Assam occupied the

16th position. – ANN Service

MELBOURNE, March 8:

India saved their worst for the

last as a brutal Australian side

outclassed them by 85 runs

for an unprecedented fifth

T20 World Cup triumph in a

final that promised much but

delivered very little here on

Sunday.

Batting first after the coin

landed in Meg Lanning’s fa-

vour, Australia came out in

scintillating fashion with their

openers Alyssa Healy (75 off

39 balls) and Beth Mooney

(78 off 54 balls) laying the foun-

dation with a 115-run partner-

ship in double quick time.

Stirred up by the grand

occasion, their onslaught

fired Australia to a formida-

ble 184 for four in the stipu-

lated 20 overs.

Overwhelmed by the occa-

sion, India crumbled to 99 all

out in front of a turnout of

86174 at the iconic Melbourne

Australia outclass India in T20 WC final

Cricket Ground, a record in

women’s cricket history.

What worked in the home

team’s favour was that their

openers easily neutralised

the threat posed by the in-

form spinner Poonam Yadav

(1/30 in 4 overs) with per-

centage game while taking

the likes of medium-pacer

Shikha Pandey and Deepti

Sharma to the cleaners.

On the day, Pandey was

smashed for 52 runs in her

four overs. Half the battle

was won there for the formi-

dable Australians, who, in

stark contrast to India, saved

their best for the last.

The manner and magnitude

of the defeat, including a few

sub plots, were reminiscent

of the 2003 men’s World Cup

final when Ricky Ponting’s

Australia thrashed Sourav

Ganguly’s India in an anti-cli-

mactic title clash. – PTI

AHMEDABAD, March 8:

Bruised and battered in New

Zealand, India’s ODI squad

on Sunday got a major boost

as a fit-again Hardik Pandya

returned for the three-match

series against South Africa,

having successfully recuper-

ated from a back surgery.

Along with Pandya, open-

er Shikhar Dhawan and seam-

er Bhuvneshwar Kumar will

also add depth to the 15-

member squad, selected un-

der the chairmanship of Su-

nil Joshi.

However, it could be cur-

tains for veteran Kedar Jad-

hav as Shubman Gill’s return

in the white-ball fold is a good

enough indicator.

Vice-captain Rohit Shar-

ma is yet to fully recuperate

from his calf muscle injury

and is expected to return to

action during the Indian Pre-

mier League later this

month. Thus, Prithvi Shaw

retained his place in the ODI

squad, while Mayank Agar-

wal, after a dismal New Zea-

Fit-again Hardik, Dhawan,Bhuvneshwar back

land tour, had to make way

for Dhawan.

The Mumbai duo of Shar-

dul Thakur and Shivam Dube

paid for their shoddy show-

ing in New Zealand as Pan-

dya and Bhuvneshwar right-

fully got their places back.

Dhawan had dislocated his

shoulder during the final

ODI against Australia at

home and missed the New

Zealand series.

Bhuvneshwar, on the oth-

er hand, had a sports hernia

surgery but has successful-

ly completed his rehabilita-

tion at the National Cricket

Academy.

But the biggest news was

Hardik’s comeback, which,

though, was on predictable

lines.

Pandya’s last ODI was

against New Zealand in the

World Cup semifinal in Man-

chester and the last interna-

tional game was a T20 against

the Proteas in Bengaluru in

September.

His absence affected the

balance of the ODI side as

Dube’s underwhelming

show in the 14 chances he got

showed that he is still not cut

out for international cricket.

Pandya’s performances at

the DY Patil Corporate Cup

was not about the 150 odd

he scored or the wickets he

took but was about how fit

he looked out there in the

middle.

At the same time, the

soon-to-be-35 Jadhav, who

has literally stopped bowling

in ODIs and is also not doing

well batting at the No. 6 slot,

has been finally dropped

from the side.

With the next 50-over

World Cup in 2023 when Jad-

hav will be 38, it is highly

unlikely that he will add to

his 73 ODIs.India’s ODI squad: Shikhar

Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli(C), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey,Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant,Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja,Bhuvneshwar Kumar, YuzvendraChahal, Jasprit Bumrah, NavdeepSaini, Kuldeep Yadav, ShubmanGill. – PTI

SCORECARD

AUSTRALIAHealy c Krishnamurthy b Radha 75Mooney not out 78Lanning c S Pandey b D Sharma 16Gardner st T Bhatia b D Sharma 2Haynes b P Yadav 4Carey not out 5Extras: (B-1,W-2, NB-1) 4Total: (For 4 wkts in 20 overs) 184Fall of Wickets: 115-1, 154-2, 156-3, 176-4.Bowling: D Sharma 4-0-38-2, S Pan-dey 4-0-52-0, Gayakwad 4-0-29-0,Poonam 4-0-30-1, Radha 4-0-34-1.

INDIAShafali c Healy b Schutt 2Smriti c Carey b Molineux 11Taniya retd hurt 2Jemimah c Carey b Jonassen 0Harmanpreet c Gardner b Jonassen 4Deepti c Mooney b Carey 33Veda c Jonassen b Kimmince 19Richa c Carey b Schutt 18Shikha c Mooney b Schutt 1Radha c Mooney b Jonassen 1Poonam c Gardner b Schutt 1Rajeshwari not out 1Extras: (LB-1 W-5) 6Total: (All out in 19.1 overs) 99Fall of Wickets: 1-2, 2-8, 3-18, 4-30, 5-58, 6-88, 7-92, 8-96, 9-97.Bowling: Schutt 3.1-0-18-4, Jonas-sen 4-0-20-3, Molineux 4-0-21-1, Kim-mince 4-0-17-1, Carey 4-0-22-1.

Australian players celebrate after winning the ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup final against

India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, on Sunday.

coronavirus cases rise pm’s social media to 39 in india - the assam tribune … · 2020-03-09 ·...

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