An Assam MLA visits hospitals to express gratitude to the COVID-19 warriors:

Guwahati, May 4: Assam MLA visits hospitals to express gratitude. The COVID-19 warriors of the country are continuing their works in the fight against the novel Coronavirus without fearing for their own lives safety and it is the greatest patriotism of these warriors during the crisis time.

Expressing gratitude to the COVID-19 warriors, an Assam MLA has been visited many hospitals in the state and thanked to the warriors for their services to the nation, human beings.

Assam MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed who represents Chhaygaon assembly constituency in Kamrup (Rural) district, has visited several hospitals in recent times and expressed gratitude to the doctors, nurses, and other health workers.

On Monday, the Assam legislator had visited few hospitals in his constituency and met the doctors, nurses, other health workers.

The Assam MLA had also distributed fruits, snacks, masks, and other items among the doctors, nurses, and health workers.

Rekibuddin Ahmed said that – “They are working for us, for the nation during this crisis hours without fearing about their own lives. We must thank them and express gratitude.”

He also visited an old age home at Bamunigaon area in Kamrup (Rural) district and provided fruits, biscuits, juice, other food items, masks, hand sanitizers to the older women who are living at the old age home.

Rekibuddin Ahmed had also distributed food items among the children at a juvenile observation center.

Assam has 42 positive cases for COVID-19 so far.

One patient died in the Hailakndi district and 32 other patients were discharged from hospitals.

Around 2500 pigs died in Assam due to China origin African Swine Fever, Centre advises to go for culling:

Guwahati, May 4: Panic gripped among the people after nearly 2500 domestic pigs have been died in Assam due to the African Swine Fever (ASF).

As thousands of domestic pigs are dying due to the disease, the center has advised the Assam government to go for the culling of pigs affected by the disease.

Assam Animal Husbandry, Veterinary & Agriculture Minister Atul Bora said that, the center has advised the state government to go for culling the affected pigs.

“But it is a huge task for the department and the department has identified zone wise. We have also discussed with the department officials, veterinary doctors, and pigs farmers of the state over the issue,” Atul Bora said.

The Assam Minister also said that, Bhopal based National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) has confirmed after testing samples that, the pigs died due to the African Swine Fever (ASF).

Atul Bora further said that the disease originated from China has killed around 2500 pigs across 306 villages in the state.

“In February the disease was detected last. However, it started in April 2019 at a village of Xizang province of China bordering Arunachal Pradesh,” Atul Bora said.

Recently the officials of Assam Husbandry, Veterinary department had found 28 pig carcasses floating in the Brahmaputra river in eastern Assam and the department suspected that, the pig carcasses could have floated down from neighboring state Arunachal Pradesh.

“As per a 2019 census by the department, the pig population in Assam was around 21 lakh, but it has increased in recent times to around 30 lakh. We have discussed with the experts that how to save the pigs without culling. Samples will be collected within one km radius of the infected areas and will be sent for testing. We are now avoiding immediate culling. After testing, we will cull only those pigs which will be found infected,” Atul Bora said.

He also said that, Assam has now three laboratories for testing, but it is not sufficient and the department officials have asked to contact with state Health department also.

Assam has already banned the sale, consumption, and distribution of pork meat in the state.

Apart from Assam, other neighboring states Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur have also issued advisory orders in the states.

Assam government imposed a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am, makes relaxation in the green zone during the third phase of lockdown:

Guwahati, May 3: Assam government has imposed a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am during the third phase of COVID-19 lockdown on the entire state from Monday.

Assam Health Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said that the state government has decided to impose a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am every day on entire state during the third phase of nationwide lockdown and also given some relaxation in the green zone as per directive by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Assam Health minister said that, out of 33 districts of the state, 29 districts have been notified as green zone and four districts are in the orange zone.

“The movement of individuals is strictly prohibited between 6 pm and 6 am throughout the state across all zones, except for emergency services namely medical services, police, fire services and emergency response for restoring telecom and electricity. Private Medical Clinics and OPDs including veterinary OPDs shall be allowed to open. All standalone shops shall be allowed to operate till 5 pm. In areas where there are adjacent shops it shall be ensured that there are at least two closed shops in between two open shops except for pharmacies, grocery stores, and book shops. Deputy Commissioners shall, in consultation with market associations, identify the shops and allow them to operate only after this is finalized. Market complexes and shopping malls shall remain closed,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

He further said that – “Auto Rickshaws, cycle rickshaws and taxis shall operate with one driver and two passengers maintaining social distancing. Private four-wheelers are allowed with driver and two others. For two-wheelers, pillion riding is allowed either with One female or one child up to the age of 12 years. All constructions in urban areas Shall be allowed with a maximum of 50% workforce. City buses, intra-district, and inter-district buses shall operate with 50% capacity. Only 50% of the total number of buses shall be allowed to operate and only under the authority of ASTC. All vehicles which are allowed to ply are not permitted to stop in the Red and Orange Zones but can only pass through. Government and Private offices shall operate with employees.”

“All tea shops, restaurants, ice-cream parlors, cooked food outlets are allowed to operate on take away or home delivery basis only. Barbershops, saloons, and parlors shall continue to remain closed, however, home visits of barber would be allowed after following hygiene and sanitization norms. No livestock carrying trucks shall be allowed to enter the State. However, if there is any truck already loaded with livestock and headed for any State outside Assam those may be allowed to move to their destination without stopping in the State Of Assam. E-Commerce for all Commodities is allowed,” the Assam Health minister said.

The state government has allowed for operating private offices with 50 percent workforce.

“Maintaining social distancing and arrangement for thermal scanning, hand sanitization shall be the responsibility of the Head of the Organization both public and private. Female employees, both private and public, with children below 5 years of age are not to attend office till 17th May, 2020 when this will be reviewed. Haats and bazars including weekly markets shall remain closed throughout the state. Movement of persons beyond the age of 65 years and below the age of 10 years shall be restricted in public spaces except for medical purposes,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

He further said that, the inter-district and intra-district bus services under the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) have been allowed to operate.

The Assam Health minister also said that, all cinema halls, shopping malls, gymnasiums, sports complexes, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly of halls, and similar places are to remain prohibited across the state.

Assam government’s focuses to strengthen rural economy: CM Sarbananda Sonowal

Guwahati, May 3: Assam CM Sonowal focuses to strengthen the economy. While the state has faced huge losses due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown that imposed to curb the spread of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday said that the state government’s main focus to strengthen the rural economy.

“Our main focus to strengthen the rural economy based on agricultural products. The state government has already constituted an economic advisory committee as a measure to revive the economy of the state. We will do whatever the committee will suggest,” Sarbananda Sonowal said.

The Assam Chief Minister also said that, the committee will put forward their recommendations to the state government after consultation with the economists of the state.

Addressing a press conference held in Guwahati, Sonowal appealed to the people of the state to make the third phase of lockdown successful like the first two phases.

“Though state government would implement relaxation for certain sectors from Monday following the guideline issued by the Central government to restart economic activities, people must not be complacent as the threat of COVID-19 was not over,” Sonowal said.

The Assam Chief Minister underlined the importance of maintaining social distancing norms, wearing face masks, frequent hand washing, and observing cleanliness as absolute musts during the lockdown period and beyond to overcome the challenge posed by Coronavirus and break the chain of spread.

He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking timely action to contain an outbreak of the pandemic in the country and said that because of Prime Minister’s decisive steps India was performing well in the fight against COVID-19.

The Assam Chief Minister urged the people to support and motivate all those working at the frontline in this fight against COVID-19 as their dedicated service would be required in this long battle.

“Emergency and essential service providers are the real warriors and they must be appreciated for their services,” Sonowal said.

The Chief Minister thanked the Central government departments like Railways, Petroleum, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, etc for their unstinted support during the first two phases of lockdown and said that all the union ministers have assured of help to Assam in future as well.

Miscreants attempt to rape two nurses in Assam, Biswanath district.

Guwahati, May 3: Miscreants attempt to rape two nurses in Assam. Attack, assaulting incidents on COVID-19 warriors have risen in the country. Another such incident has happened in Assam, Biswanath district.

In the incident, miscreants attempted to rape two nurses. The nurses were on the way to the hospital to pick up their colleagues.

The incident took place near a petrol pump at Biswanath Chariali on Saturday night.

According to the reports, when two nurses working at a private hospital at Biswanath Chariali were on their way to the hospital to pick-up their colleague, a miscreant group tried to rape them.

The two nurses had managed to escape from the miscreants clutch. They ran towards the hospital and informed the staff members of the hospital about the incident.

Later, the hospital staff and locals had managed to catch a miscreant and handed him over to the police.

An official of the hospital said that, the miscreants tried to assault the nurses earlier also. They didn’t disclose it, because they might have been scared.

“The incident happened at the time when they were on the way to the hospital to pick up one of their colleagues. The incident happened just in front of the petrol pump. We have managed to catch a culprit and others fled from the area,” the official of the hospital said.

Meanwhile, Biswanath district police have registered a case (no -119/2020) at Biswanath Chariali police station under section 341/342/354-A/34 of IPC. They detained four persons for their alleged involvement in the incident.

Assam government allows to open liquor shops in green zones:

Guwahati, May 2: Liquor shops to open in green zones in Assam. Just a day after the center extended the nationwide lockdown for another two weeks, the Assam government on Saturday has allowed for opening liquor shops in the green zones across the state.

The state Excise department on Saturday issued an order and directed all districts Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to allow the opening of wholesale vends of IMFL, Country Spirit, and IMFL ‘OFF’, Country Spirit ‘OFF’ in green zones.

“The wholesale vends of foreign liquor and country spirit across the state are allowed to operate with immediate effect. Further all IMFL ‘Off’ and country spirit Off shops located in districts under Green Zone are also allowed to open with immediate effect. Transportation of liquor consignments is also allowed as per the provisions of Assam Excise Rules, 2016. However, all concerned licensee shall comply with social distancing norms and other guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India vide No 40-3/2020-DM-1(A) dated 1^st May, 2020,” the state Excise department order copy stated.

Liquor shops have been allowed open from 11 am to 5 pm on permitted days.

Many people queued up in front of wine shops to purchase liquor bottles after the Assam government allowed for opening liquor shops in green zones.

Earlier, the state government had allowed open liquor shops in the state on April 13 and the order was canceled the next day after many social distancing violation incidents were reported in the state.

Assam develops a strategy to facilitate the movement of stranded people: Sarbananda Sonowal

Guwahati, May 2:  Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday said that the state government has developed a strategy to facilitate the movement of people of the state stranded at different places across the country.

There are as many 20 lakh people from the state stranded at different places of the country.

The Assam Chief Minister said that, the state government has already constituted a Task Force with all senior officers, and ADGP (Law & Order) GP Singh is the in-charge of this Task Force.

“The Task Force will make a road map for it, a better plan of action has been choked out. It is the question of their desire who want to come back to Assam. There are many categories of people from the state stranded outside, someone pilgrims, tourists, students, migrant laborers, patients. Now let them express their willingness. If someone is interested to come back to Assam then we welcome them. We will address their matter,” Sonowal said.

On Saturday, the Assam government has decided to provide sustenance to migrant workers of the state stuck across the country for the next three months.

The state government will transfer Rs 2000 to their accounts on the 15^th of every month.

The Assam Chief Minister on Saturday held an interactive session with the editors and senior journalists of media houses of the state at Assam Administrative Staff College in Guwahati and sought their views and suggestion regarding the overall situation of the state during the COVID-19 lockdown period and the way forward in case of relaxations and exemptions during the nationwide extension of lockdown period by two more weeks. Calling on the media outlets to exercise utmost retrain while reporting news about administrative machinery engaged in the COVID-19 fight at the frontline without verification, the Assam Chief Minister said that unauthenticated and unverified news could de-motivate and discourage all those who were dedicatedly providing their services to contain the outbreak of the global pandemic in the state.

Terming the media as the conscience keepers and opinion molders of the society, Sonowal said that that media’s conscientious decisions would determine in which direction the society would move.

He also appreciated the role played by media during the lockdown period by disseminating the right information to the people, generating awareness, and also by acting as a bridge between the people and the government.

Saying that he traveled to the districts to encourage and motivate the district administration officials led by DCs and SPs, Sonowal stated that constant reviewing of preparedness measures helped in ironing out administrative issues faced by different districts and to take a unified approach.

“Due to the high work ethic and planned activities Assam was performing considerably well in containing COVID-19 and the roles played by health, F&CS, police, PHED, power departments in this time of crisis must be appreciated,” Sonowal said.

The Chief Minister also referred to the slew of austerity measures taken by the State Government to cut down expenditures in the time of economic slowdown and said that guarded approach has been taken to relax certain economic activities to bring the state’s economy back on track post-COVID-19.

Pointing out mask-making activities by 15 lakh members of SHGs, mostly women, as a positive aspect during a time of gloom in the state, Sonowal said that tea sector workers and farmers have resumed work following exemptions given to them.

He also said that repairing works of embankments, which were stopped due to the lockdown, have also started in the state.

Assam Health Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Agriculture Minister Atul Bora, Food and Civil Supplies Department Minister Phani Bhushan Choudhury, PHED Minister Rihan Daimary, Guwahati Development Department Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Water Resource Minister Keshab Mahanta, Media Adviser to the Chief Minister Hrishikesh Goswami, Legal Adviser to the Chief Minister Shantanu Bharali, Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna, DG of Assam Police Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta,  Principal Secretary of Finance Department Samir Kumar Sinha were also present in the meeting among others.

12 people injured in group clashes in Assam Nagaon district amid COVID-19 lockdown

Guwahati, May 3: Group clashes in Assam Nagaon district. At least 12 people including women were injured in a clash between two groups in Assam, Nagaon district, amid the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

The incident took place at 1 no Kandhulimari Bazar area under Dhing police station on Saturday evening.

According to the reports, a local group had reopened markets in the area by violating lockdown orders, rules, and social distancing norms.

When some other locals including the secretary of Village Defence Party (VDP) had opposed the act and informed local police, the opposite group had attacked them.

During the clash between two groups, at least 12 people including few women were injured.

The injured persons were rushed to nearby hospital.

The secretary of the Village Defence Party (VDP) of the Kandhulimari area was also injured.

The VDP secretary said that, some local people had reopened markets in the area by violating lockdown rules and he immediately informed local police.

“Later, police had shut down the market. But the people who opened the market had attacked us when we visited the area,” the VDP secretary said.

Meanwhile, four among the injured persons have been referred to Nagaon civil hospital.

Assam has reported 42 positive cases for COVID-19 so far and one among them died.

29 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals and the state has now 9 active COVID-19 positive cases.