Guwahati:

An infant died in Assam’s Hailakandi district due to swine flu after the relatives accompanying the patients refused treatment at a hospital in the state, officials said on Monday.

The infant has been identified as 15-month-old Farhana Khanam.

Dr Bhaskar Gupta, Principal of Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) told IANS: “The infant was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition. The doctors advised to put the patient on ventilator support but the relatives accompanying the patient refused the treatment and took away the child.”

The Joint Director of Health Services in the Hailakandi district, Dr Alakananda Nath said that Khanam was a resident of the Saidpur area in the Lala neighbourhood of the district.

Dr Alakananda Nath said that the patient was admitted at the civil hospital in Hailakandi; however, the doctors later advised to admit her at SMCH for advanced treatment.”

“When the relatives of the patient brought back the patient to the home without completing the treatment, the infant unfortunately died,” she added.

Dr Gupta said that they received a total of five cases of swine flu at SMCH and one patient has already recovered and sent home. He asserted that people with other comorbidities must take precautions.

“It is more or less like the common flu. But people having high diabetes, respiratory distress and immunosuppressant patients may face difficulties in combating swine flu,” he added.

The administrations in two districts have issued alerts for swine flu.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Guwahati:

As many as 19 traditional products and crafts of Assam, including ‘Bihu Dhol’, ‘Jaapi’ and several items of the Bodo community, have been accorded the geographical indication (GI) tag, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday.

Thirteen of these products are specifically linked to the Bodos, who form the largest tribal group in the state.

Terming it a big win for the state’s heritage, Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X: “Six prestigious GI Tags have been granted to traditional crafts with support from NABARD, RO Guwahati, and facilitated by Padma Shri Dr Rajani Kant, GI Expert”.

“This includes iconic items like Assam Bihu Dhol, Japi, Sarthebari Metal Craft, and more. These products, deeply rooted in history, support nearly one lakh people directly,” he said.

Assam Jaapi is a traditional bamboo hat and Bihu Dhol a traditional drum played during Bihu festival.

The applications for the GI tags for the six products were filed in the latter part of 2022 and the certifications were announced on Saturday.

Assam Asharikandi Terracotta Craft, Assam Pani Mateka Craft, Sarthebari Metal Craft and Assam Mising Handloom Products are the other products that received the GI tags.

In a separate post on X, Himanta Biswa Sarma said 13 products of the Bodo community have also obtained this unique certification.

“What a better day than Bodofa’s birth anniversary to receive the GI tags for 13 articles which embody the rich cultural heritage of our Bodo community. This recognition will greatly boost the promotion of the items and in taking forward the legacy of these cultural items,” he said.

Late Upendranath Brahma, a leader of the community, was honoured with the title of ‘Bodofa’ (guardian of the Bodos).

Himanta Biswa Sarma also shared a post by Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) chief Pramod Bodo, which makes mention of the GI tags.

“Today is a day of immense pride for all of Bodoland, as on the birth anniversary of Bodofa U N Brahma, 13 articles that embody Bodo identity have received the prestigious GI Tag from Geographical Indication Registry, Govt of India,” he said.

The 13 items that have received the GI tag include three agricultural products – Gongar Dunjia, Keradapini and Khardwi – and six musical instruments – Kham, Serja, Thorkha, Jotha, Gongona and Sifung.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Guwahati:

The superintendent of the Dibrugarh Central Jail was arrested Thursday night over a major prison breach last month, in which several electronic gadgets were seized from the inmates belonging to the separatist group ‘Waris Punjab De’.

Separatist Amritpal Singh and his nine associates have been lodged in this prison since last year.

A spy camera, a smartphone, a keypad phone, pen drives, Bluetooth headphones and speakers, a smartwatch, and several other things were recovered from the cell where they were kept last month.

Nipen Das, superintendent of the jail, has been arrested for breaching the jail manual. He has been charged with the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Assam Prisons Act, said Dibrugarh Superintendent of Police VV Rakesh Reddy.

“We found electronic devices in the cell of Amritpal Singh and his nine associates recently. During the investigation, we found enough evidence against the superintendent of Dibrugarh Central Jail Nipen Das. We have found prima facie evidence against him,” he said.

On April 23, 2023, Amritpal Singh was brought to the Dibrugarh Central Jail after the Punjab Police arrested him from the state’s Moga district after several weeks of manhunt.

The separatist was charged under the stringent National Security Act or NSA. His nine associates have also been charged under the NSA.

The Dibrugarh prison, built in 1859-60, is one of the oldest and most high-security jails in the Northeast.

Bongaigaon/Guwahati:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the state police will issue a summons to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over violence during Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Guwahati.

He said Mr Gandhi will have to be physically present before the police, which will send the notice after the Lok Sabha polls.

“When someone breaks the law, summons will obviously be issued. Summons will go to Rahul Gandhi and he will have to stand here after Lok Sabha elections,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an official function.

Mr Sarma said that summonses issued to Congress MLA Jakir Hussain Sikdar and Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah were just the “beginning” of the process.

The Chief Minister was referring to a case filed by Guwahati Police over Congress workers breaking barricades in an attempt to pass through the main roads inside the city during the yatra in January.

Initially, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam Police issued notices to Mr Sikdar and Congress Guwahati city general secretary Ramen Kumar Sarma, and both of them have already been questioned by the police.

It later dashed off summonses to the leader of opposition in the state assembly, Debabrata Saikia and Mr Borah too, but neither of them appeared on the scheduled date.

“We have issued notices to both of them for the second time. Saikia has been asked to appear before us on March 6, while Borah has been asked to come on March 7,” a senior police official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

Reacting to the fresh summons, Mr Borah said he will not be able to appear on Thursday as his father’s death anniversary falls on that day, and besides, he also has a party meeting on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“In Guwahati, 2,745 cases were lodged in a single year. But the police cannot look at those and solve them as the biggest criminal for them is Bhupen Borah.

“Earlier, other Congress leaders were also issued notices for their alleged role in violence in the yatra, but everything went silent after they joined the BJP. However, I am not going to join the BJP,” he said in an apparent reference to former Assam Congress working president Rana Goswami, who has recently joined the ruling party.

On January 23, Congress workers in the presence of Gandhi and other leaders broke police barricades, which were put up after the Chief Ministrr threatened to file an FIR if the yatra attempted to enter the main Guwahati city.

The party workers clashed with the police, who used mild lathi-charge to control the situation but failed to protect the barricades. Several police personnel and party workers were injured in the clash.

After dismantling the barriers, the Congress workers, however, did not proceed further with Gandhi stating that they “can break barricades, but will not break the law” and moved through its permitted route along NH-27 in Guwahati.

Following this episode, the Chief Minister called the action “Naxalite-style” and instructed the police to register a case. The Guwahati Police lodged a suo motu FIR against Gandhi and other leaders for “wanton acts of violence”.

Mr Sarma even announced that the “instigators”, including Mr Gandhi, would be arrested after the Lok Sabha polls as he did not want to “politicise” the issue before the general elections.

Along with Gandhi, several other senior Congress leaders, including KC Venugopal, Jitendra Singh, Jairam Ramesh, Srinivas BV, Kanhaiyya Kumar, Gaurav Gogoi, Bhupen Kumar Borah and Debabrata Saikia, have also been named in the FIR.

The Chief Minister, who also holds the Home Department in the state, later announced that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) will be formed to probe the case and accordingly, it was handed over to the CID.

The case was initially filed at the Basistha Police Station under 10 different sections, including non-bailable ones, such as 120B (criminal conspiracy), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 188 (disobedience of order), 283 (causing danger, obstruction or injury) and 332 (causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) of the IPC.

Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984 for alleged mischief causing damage to public property has also been slapped in the FIR.

Similarly, another FIR was registered against ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ organisers including KB Byju, Assam Congress Chief Bhupen Kumar Borah and others for allegedly deviating from its permitted route inside Jorhat town, leading to a “chaotic situation” in the area.

The Jorhat Police issued notices to the accused persons and several of them have already been interrogated.

Referring to the police cases against him and other Congress leaders in Assam, Mr Gandhi had dared the BJP-ruled state to file “as many cases as it can”, asserting that he would not be intimidated.

The yatra, led by the Congress MP, commenced from Manipur on January 14 and will culminate on March 20 in Mumbai.

The Assam leg of the march, which started on January 18 and concluded on January 25, travelled 833 km in 17 districts. The yatra plans to cover 6,713 km in 67 days while passing through 110 districts in 15 states.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)