Society / Assam

GUWAHATI, July 2 ? Former Finance Minister of the State Jiba Kanta Gogoi, who was till date an MLA representing Khumtai Legislative Assembly Constituency (LAC) in the State Assembly, died at the International Hospital here around 11.45 this morning following a protracted illness. He was 62.

Sri Gogoi, the fifth of the six sons of Late Gandharam Gogoi and Late Jaya Gogoi of Khumtai, also served as the Speaker of the State Assembly for about one and half year, since July 29, 1991. He was elected from Khumtai in 1983, 1991 and 2001. In 1983, he was made a Minister of State for Industries by Late...

DHING, June 27 ? Vaishnavate saints of medieval Assam were uniquely gifted with artistic sensibility and love of nature. This characteristic of the Vaishnava saints headed by Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva was largely reflected in their contemporary art and culture. Srimanta Sankardeva started kuhila udyog, a new handicraft industry at Bardowa which combined the classical Hindu and unique Vaishnavite style. Unfortunately, this traditional craft developed in medieval Assam is facing tough times these days due to lacking in patronisation from the government. Besides Assam These traditional...

GUWAHATI, June 23 ? The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), an autonomous institution udner UGC, has conferred accreditation to the three Universities of Dibrugarh,, Arunchal Pradesh and Tripura including 29 other institutions of higher learning in the country. The performance of these 32 institutions have been evaluated and assessed during the last three months. With this, NAAC has completed the assessment and accreditation of 261 institutions. The accreditation process involves preparation of a self-study report, its validation by the peer team by expert technical analysis...

GUWAHATI, June 23 ? The ancient Umananda temple lying in the midst of the mighty Brahmaputra, which is one of the very few pilgrimage centres in a river island, presents a unique sight. But strangely, this temple has always been in a state of neglect although with a little planning, it could have been developed as a major tourist attraction.

However, things might change for the better as, of late, the Government seems to be waking up to this reality and the district administration is undertaking an elaborate project to turn it into a major tourist destination. The project aims to give a...

GUWAHATI, June 23 ? Veteran freedom fighter, politician, writer and a leading jurist of the State Gaurishankar Bhattacharyya, who for his oratory skill and political acumen could command respect even from his political rivals during his heydays as a legislator, is no more. According to family sources, the end came at 6-15 pm today at the Guwahati Neurological Research Centre (GNRC) here. He was 87. Sri Bhattacharyya had an accidental fall at his Ulubari GS Road residence here on June 4. This resulted in a fracture in his left hip joint and subsequently he was shifted to the GNRC where on June...

GUWAHATI, June 21? The All Guwahati Students? Union (AGSU) today warned the Hindi film lobby to desist from any conspiracy against the Assamese film industry and asked the producers, artists and other technicians of the Assamese film industry to put up a united fight against such evil moves. Decrying the withdrawal of the Assamese film Gun Gun Gane Gane which had been drawing a full house at Udeshna hall, all of a sudden and without any notice from 8 p.m. last night. It has been replaced by a Hindi film reflecting the latest instance of the ill treatment and victimisation of the Assamese film...

GUWAHATI, June 21? For those who are sceptic about the talents and commitment of the people of the NE region for doing something remarkable, here is a 56-year-old man from Assam to make them banish all their scepticism. He is Dr Sarbeswar Sahariah, who hails from Tengabari Road, Mangaldai. Dr Sahariah has made an enviable record of performing about 2,500 kidney transplant operations at various centres in the country. This is probably the largest number of kidney transplantation done by a single surgeon in the country. Dr Sahariah, after doing his MBBS from the Guwahati Medical College (GMC) in...

GUWAHATI, June 19 ? The young artistes from United Artist, Tezpur, have once again done their country proud by winning accolades with their stellar performance at the 18th International Amateur Theatre Festival held at Denizli, Turkey from May 20 to 25. The play they staged there was School Bag, written and directed by Aiswaryya Kakoty, the founder director of the group. Critics and viewers alive were unstinting in showering praise on the six young performers ? Priyam Sarma, Rukmini Kakoty, Rashmi Rekha Baruah, Barnali Saikia, Snehangsu Kakoti and Ratul Deka ? for their matured and natural...

GUWAHAT, June 17 ? The whole of the State today woke up to the tunes of the melodious, meaningful and aesthetic songs of Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwalla, the doyen of modern Assamese culture, to pour its heart out in the endeavour of start his birth centenary celebrations as that of a national hero. Various organisations have chalked out different programmes to celebrate the occasion throughout the year. In the city, a human chain was formed at the Guwahati Club point, at 7-43 am, the time the Rupkonwar was born at a century back, under the auspices of the All Assam Jyotiprasad Agarwalla Birth...

GUWAHATI, June 17 ? With the launch of air services in the North-East region the need of the hour is to train up more and more youths of the region in aviation training purposes to meet the increasing demand for commercial pilots, said Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi on the occasion of revival of the Assam Flying Club Ltd (AFCL) at LGB International Airport today.

Expressing happiness over the revival of the AFCL after a long gap of nearly a decade, Gogoi said it would go a long way in providing regular flying training courses for the youth of the region which was a long felt requirement of this...