Minister’s ‘murder threat’ to voters
The Opposition Congress in Assam moved the Election Commission demanding action against the state’s Transport and Industries Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary who had allegedly threatened the voters of panchayat elections with dire consequences if they did not vote in favour of the BJP. “The Minister said if people vote for the Congress, they will be murdered through hired killers following the declaration of election results. He threatened that state government employees will be transferred if they vote for the Congress. We urge the Commission to take action against him for his attempt to murder democratic values,” the Congress wrote in its complaint. The first phase of the panchayat elections was held last week. The second phase of the elections was held on Sunday. The votes will be counted on December 12.
Translocated hyena dies at zoo
A translocated hyena died after a brief illness caused by stress and infection at the Assam State Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden, widely known as Guwahati Zoo. The male hyena was among four animals — the others being a female hyena and two ostriches — which were brought to Guwahati Zoo from the Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park in Ranchi on November 26 under an exchange programme. Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Tejas Mariswamy said the hyena had slipped into coma soon after his arrival. Possibly, he might have contracted infections, the DFO said. “The four animals were brought in lieu of four leopards. The female hyena and the two ostriches are adapting to the new surroundings,” he added. The DFO further attributed the infection to a change of climate.
Scribes’ body demands fair probe
The Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) has urged the police to give a fair chance to Aniruddha Bhakat Chutia, a journalist with the Republic TV whom a Guwahati-based lady journalist had accused of kidnapping and physically assaulting her, to put forward his version. At the same time, it demanded justice for the lady scribe. “We hope that the law will take its own course and the victim gets justice. Anybody, who indulges in illegal activities, should be punished. However, we pursue that the accused should also be given the right of self-defense,” JFA said.
Jobs galore for IIT-Guwahati students
The first round of placements at the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati saw companies dole out roughly 200 jobs to candidates. Companies such as Microsoft, Goldman, SAP Labs, OLA, Barclays and Qualcomm offered attractive packages to students. The biggest offer so far was of J1.51 crore per annum, which came from Microsoft. Uber was not far behind. It offered J1.06 crore per annum to a candidate. Among the highest domestic offers, Tower Research stood out. It offered J44 lakh per annum to a candidate.
Prasanta mazumdar
Our correspondent in Guwahati
prasantamazumdar@newindianexpress.com