NF Railway strengthens monsoon safety steps
In a significant step towards strengthening railway safety and disaster preparedness during monsoon, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) initiated installation of “automatic weather stations” at vulnerable locations. It aims to ensure accurate and real-time weather forecasting, enabling timely preventive measures during floods, landslides and adverse weather conditions. Altogether nine weather stations are being set up, including Lumding–Badarpur section in Assam, Katakhal–Sairang section connecting Mizoram and the Jiribam–Khongsang section in Manipur. Three stations have already been installed.
‘Beef eater’ jibe deepens, Kunki’s mom calls out CM
Sujata Gurung Chowdhury, mother of AJP’s Guwahati Central candidate Kunki Chowdhury, has threatened to file a defamation suit against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for the “beef eater” jibe during the poll campaign. In an open letter to Sarma, she identified herself as a “Hindu by birth and culture, and not by politics”. She stated in the letter, “Without knowing anything about me or my life, my food habits, my culture, my religion, my ideology or perhaps even me as a person, you called me a “beef eater”, a non-Sanatani, an anti-India Communist and the works! All because you had a narrative to build and an election to win.”
Gulf to receive first agarwood consignment
Assam has achieved a significant milestone in its agro-forest economy with the first legally approved export of agarwood chips to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. A consignment of 100 kg of agarwood chips for Saudi Arabia and 12 kg for the UAE was dispatched from the cargo terminal of Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati on Wednesday. The shipment was valued at Rs 2.35 crore, flagged off by MJI Group founder and chairman Dr Jehirul Islam, who described the event as a historic breakthrough for Assam’s indigenous agarwood sector. “This is the result of years of research, policy advocacy, farmer engagement,” he said.
Prasanta mazumdar
Our correspondent in Guwahati
prasantamazumdar@newindianexpress.com
