Dibrugarh, 22nd July: A car went down a brook in Assam Chief Minister Sarvanand Sonowal’s native Dibrugarh district due to poor road conditions while moving past a road which has undergone serious damage due to lack of supervision and the recent floods in the state.

Although the driver and its passenger had a narrow escape, locals have gathered in the area in a bid to recover the car.

As a local complained, “Today life is at a huge risk because of the terrible conditions of the roads in Assam. The car fell into the water due to the poor conditions of the road. The company which made the channel damaged our roads. They assured us they will fix the road, but they haven’t yet.”

While the driver of the car iterated, “Our car had gone almost about 200m into the water. We barely got out by breaking the glass and door of the car. After that the local people saved us. We were two people in the car.“

While the car was going through the road, the wheels skid due to the mud accumulated in the road and the vehicle fell into the water.

The driver broke the glass of the window and the door and rescued his master. Thereafter, locals pulled them out of the water with ropes.

People gathered in the area have tied the car with ropes so that the vehicle doesn’t flow away any further along the channel. However, authorities haven’t yet arrived at the spot to help the situation.

Guwahati, July 22: Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Guwahati researchers have shown how some specialised protein molecules found on the cell membranes of all biological cells carry carbohydrate molecules into cells from outside.

They have studied specific protein molecules called ABC transporters, present in bacterial cell membranes and have shown that these transporters are selective about the type of carbohydrates they transport into cells.

The work has been published in The FEBS Journal and the paper has been authored by Dr Shankar Prasad Kanaujia and his PhD students, Monika Chandravanshi and Prerana Gogoi.

Any living cell needs glucose for life-sustaining energy. Glucose, in turn, is obtained by the breakdown of carbohydrates – table sugar (sucrose), a simple carbohydrate, and starch, a complex carbohydrate, are some sources of glucose in the cell.

Such carbohydrates must be taken into the cell, and broken down inside the cell into glucose. These carbohydrates are large molecules that cannot penetrate the membranes that surround the cell by themselves and depend on some special helpers or transporting molecules to carry them across.

“One of the largest classes of transporting molecules is the ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) transporter, which is widespread in all forms of life,” Dr Kanaujia said.

These special form of proteins present in the cell membranes of almost all living cells, capture the carbohydrates from outside the cell and deliver them into the cells.

Table sugar and starch are only two of the numerous carbohydrates that are used by the cells, and they have to be preferentially taken into the cell.  While ABC transporters have been known for a long time, it remains unknown if these carbohydrate-ferries have preference for specific carbohydrates over others.

Many of the carbohydrates have similar structures and components, and differ in a specific type of bond or linkage, called glycosidic bonds.  There are two types of glycosidic bonds – alpha and beta.

“We did not know if the ABC transporters have a preference for any specific type of glycosidic bond,” the researcher said.

The IIT Guwahati team studied the ABC Transport system of a bacterium called Thermus thermophilus, that are present in hot springs.

To survive the extreme environment, the bacterium utilizes many kinds of carbohydrates for energy.

Is the ABC transport system in this bacterium inherently selective to specific carbohydrates or does it have no such preference?  This is the question they have answered in their research.

“Based on the preliminary analysis of the ABC transport systems of the bacteria we chose, we hypothesized that it would have different affinities for different carbohydrates,” Dr Kanaujia said.

To validate this hypothesis, the team used X-ray crystallography techniques to determine the three-dimensional crystal structure of the ABC transport system connected to various types of carbohydrates having different kinds of glycosidic bonds.

The team at IIT, Guwahati also found an interesting phenomenon – the transporters had a higher affinity for simple glucose than complex carbohydrates, which meant that any glucose in the extracellular space would be preferentially taken into the cells over higher carbohydrates.

These are interesting results in that they offer a better understanding of how carbohydrates are taken into cells. Defective transport of carbohydrates into cells is associated with a range of disorders, including cystic fibrosis, hypercholesterolaemia and diabetes. Understanding the mechanism of carbohydrate transfer by the ABC transporters would enable a better understanding of the causes and effects of many of these disorders.

Guwahati, July 22: A 4-year-old minor girl died and four others of a family were injured after the terrace of a building collapse in Guwahati on Wednesday morning.

The incident took place at Bhutnath area in the capital city of Assam at around 4 am on Wednesday.

The incident happened at that time when the victim and her other family members were sleeping.

According to the reports, Nur Islam Sheikh and his family were living in the building on rent basis.

The injured persons were rushed to Guwahati Medical College Hospital.

A resident said that, one minor girl died and four others of the family seriously injured in the incident.

11 rhinos and 105 other animals died in Kaziranga flood

Guwahati, July 21: The flood situation in Kaziranga National Park in Assam worsened again after the floodwaters inundated 90 per cent areas of the world heritage site.

According to the Kaziranga National Park authority, the water was receding recently but it rising again since Monday evening.

“90 per cent areas of the park are affected in the deluge and 73 anti-poaching camps out of 223 camps are currently underwater,” an official of the park said.

116 wild animals including 11 rhinos have died in Kaziranga National Park due to flood this year so far.

The park authority said that, 9 rhinos drowned in floodwaters while two others died naturally during the flood situation.

88 hog deer, 7 wild boar, four wild buffalo, two swamp deer, two porcupine, one samber also died in the park due to the deluge.

The park authority and Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) have rescued 143 animals including two rhino calves, 110 hog deer, four tigers, one wild buffalo, one wild boar, one swamp deer during the flood situation.

According to the Rhino Population Estimation report in 2018, the total number of rhinos in Kaziranga National Park counted 2,413 rhinos.

12 anti-poaching camps out of 24 camps of the wildlife sanctuary are now underwater.

Over 24 lakh people still affected in Assam floods, death toll mounts to 86

Guwahati, July 21: Assam floods situation is grim as over 24 lakh people of 24 districts are still affected and the death toll rising to 86.

The current spate of flood has claimed one more life on Tuesday taking the state death toll to 86.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management (ASDMA) authority, nearly 24.50 lakh people of 24 districts are still affected in the current wave of floods.

Nearly 4.60 lakh people are affected in Goalpara district alone followed by 3.37 lakh people in Barpeta, 3.34 lakh people in Morigaon, 2.53 lakh people in Dhubri, 1.92 lakh people in South Salmara, 1.14 lakh people in Kamrup (Metro) district.

The flood reports of ASDMA stated that, 1.09 lakh hectares of agricultural lands of 2325 villages under 73 revenue circles are still underwater.

48478 people are currently taking shelter at 280 relief camps.

On the other hand, following incessant rains in Assam and other neighbouring states in the last two days, the water levels of the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries are again rising.

The water level of Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger level at Dibrugarh, Neamatighat in Jorhat district, Tezpur in Sonitpur district, Goalpara and Dhubri district.

202 embankments, 167 bridges, culverts, 1621 roads across the state have been damaged by the floodwaters in 30 districts of the state.

80 anti-poaching camps out of 223 camps in Kaziranga National Park are still underwater and the park authority had shifted six camps due to flood and 90 wild animals including nine one-horned rhinos died in the deluge.