Bonhomie at NEDA conclave
There was sheer bonhomie when non-Congress political parties of the Northeast shared the dais at the third conclave of North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) in Guwahati. Attended by BJP president Amit Shah and six Chief Ministers of the region, the political parties discussed at length as to how the conglomerate could put up a good show in 2019 Parliamentary election. The constituents of NEDA, where BJP is a main player, are in power in seven of the region’s eight states including Sikkim. Only Congress-ruled Mizoram is yet to be conquered. Shah proclaimed that eight CMs would attend the next NEDA conclave, indicating the Congress in Mizoram will be ousted in the next polls, expected by the end of this year.
Old vehicles to go off road
The Transport Department said it would soon issue an order banning the movement of vehicles older than 15 years. The move is aimed at checking pollution. The department has also made it mandatory for vehicle owners to change the number plates of their vehicles to high-security registration plates (HSRP). Of Guwahati’s close to 10 lakh vehicles, over 4.56 lakh have switched over to HSRP. Meanwhile, the department has constituted a committee to conduct a survey on vehicular traffic across localities. Based on its report, strategies on traffic management will be formulated. The basic aim is to give relief to denizens. Traffic snarl is a serious problem in Guwahati, called the Gateway to the Northeast.
Representation of children in media
A ‘closed-group discussion’ on the representation of children in the media was conducted by the Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights in the city. Chaired by the Commission’s chairperson, Dr Sunita Changkakati, the discussion mainly focused on the representation of children in the media and the action that needs to be taken or the norms one should adhere to while reporting matters involving children. Renowned psychiatrist Dr Dipesh Bhagawati threw light on the psycho-social effect of news on the victim, the family and relatives of the victim, the accused and the society at large. The programme was attended by several senior Guwahati-based journalists.
‘Baba’ arrested for harassing woman
A ‘baba’ from a temple has been arrested in Guwahati for allegedly harassing a woman by sending lewd and obscene messages through his mobile phone. The 40-year-old accused, Rajendra Das, who is the caretaker of Thakur Bari temple near Fancy Bazaar area of the city, hails from eastern Assam’s Sivasagar district.
The police said Das had been mentally torturing the 30-year-old woman for the past few months. The victim, who is a divorcee living with her son at a house close to the temple, said, “He (Rajendra Das) would sometimes call me late at night to trouble me. As he kept harassing me with his lewd gestures for a long time, I was compelled to lodge a complaint against him with the police.”