This year on the auspicious occasion of dipawali, with a motive to brighten the lives of daily wage earners, Helping Hands, a frontline NGO of Assam, decided to visit Adabari area of Guwahati city to distribute tea light candles and sweets to around 100 of them.

“India’s festival of lights, Diwali, is an important celebration that is often considered the highlight of India’s festive season. For the daily wage earners, festive season has never been a matter of excitement. The earnings of a daily wage earner are mainly based on the actual working days. They work harder in the festive days to take back some sweets and clothes for their families,” a spokesperson of the NGO told our correspondent.

“We believe happiness increases by sharing and hence reached out to some less fortunate people to spread joy, happiness and hope which would motivate them to look forward to a better year,” the spokesperson who along with other members of his NGO were seen distributing sweets and tea light candles added.

The CBI on Sunday arrested Ashok Saikia, son of former Assam Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia, in connection with a 25-year-old alleged loan default case of around Rs 9 lakh, officials said. The action came after a non-bailable warrant was issued against him for non-appearance in court despite summons, they said.

Ashok Saikia, who was questioned by the Guwahati team of the CBI, was put under arrest and will be produced in court on Monday, the officials said.

When contacted, his elder brother and Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia told PTI that Ashok Saikia was taken away by a team of CBI officials in the evening.

“I do not know whether he has been arrested or detained. In fact, I do not know where he has been taken. This is a very old case and was duly settled. The bank did not inform the court and it was the bank’s fault,” the senior Congress leader added.

Coinciding with the auspicious Hindu festival of Navratri, Helping Hands a NGO entirely dedicated to the cause of the underprivileged population visited Kamakhya Mandir and served the beautiful kids there in and around the world renowned Mandir.

Helping Hands distributed pencils, copies, erasers, sharpers to the kids for their educational purposes, edible items such as chocolates and mango juices, and also masks for their safety.

The Assam Government has approved an expenditure of 700 crore rupees to solve the woes of the employees of the two paper mills located at Jagiroad and Panchgram. The decision was taken in the State Cabinet meeting held at Dhemaji yesterday.

Talking to news persons after the meeting, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the assets of the two paper mills will be acquired by the Assam Government.

He informed that 570 crore rupees will go as a relief package to pay the salary of the employees, while the remaining will be used to pay other bills including electricity charges.

The Chief Minister said that the Cabinet also approved one thousand 800 crore rupees to waive micro-finance loans availed by women. He said that the government would start disbursing the amount from 1st of December.

Assam Police personnel strictly implementing COVID-19 norms in various parts of Guwahati city by restraining un-authorised people from travelling at night during curfew hours. Only people with valid passes allowed by govt. directives can move around. Photos and video by Deepak Bora.

A group of conscientious citizens from Kahilipara area of Guwahati are seen feeding the poor and starving people under the Ulubari over-bridge. Here’s the video:

Heeding the warning shot from the medical fraternity, including the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) chief that the third wave of the COVID-19 is going to affect children the most, the Assam Health Department is ready to face any eventuality.

Talking to the media here on Sunday, Assam Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said, “We’re ready for the third wave of the COVID-19. Since the third wave is likely to affect children the worst, we’ve equipped each of our hospitals with ICU beds for children.

“We’ve been preparing for the third wave of the COVID-19 since May. The massive vaccination drive that is going to start from Monday is part of that preparation. We are oxygen surplus now. We have an adequate number of ICU beds as well. New ICU beds are being installed in every district hospital. “Barring a few districts, the second wave of the pandemic has been brought well under control. If the situation doesn’t improve in a few districts like Nagaon, Sonitpur etc, we’ve no way out but to enforce total lockdown there.”

One more case of mucormycosis or black fungus was detected in Assam, taking the total number of such cases in the state to five, an official said.

The latest case was reported on Saturday night from Dibrugarh and it is the first such case in Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH). AMCH Principal Dr Sanjiv Kakati said that a mucormycosis case has been detected on a patient from Lakhimpur district, who was admitted to the hospital with post-COVID complaints.

“The case was diagnosed by a joint effort of the Department of Medicine, ENT, Microbiology and Ophthalmology,” he said. The patient, a 47-year-old male, is undergoing treatment at medical unit 1 of the hospital, Kakati added.

He was admitted at the AMCH on June 15 and is currently in a stable condition, the principal said. Health Services Director Dr Rathin Bhuyan said four cases of mucormycosis or black fungus have been reported in the state prior to the Dibrugarh patient.

The Assam government declared mucormycosis as a notifiable disease on May 26, making it mandatory for all health facilities to report such cases to the Health Department.