Mothers get a surprise visitor
Caught in the COVID lockdown, the inmates of Mothers Old Age Home and State Home for Women had a pleasant surprise when Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal visited them. During his interactions, he enquired about their health and availability of food and medicines. The CM also distributed nutritious food items and sanitisers to them. As elderly people fall within the vulnerable category, he said, there is a need to ensure regular health checkup for them apart from providing nutritious food to boost immunity.
Separating oil from water and vice-versa
Researchers of Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati have developed graphene-based superhydrophobic materials that can separate oil and water from both oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions, respectively. Their work was recently published in the prestigious Royal Society’s journal, Chemical Science. “Oil-water separation techniques have a number of industrial and environmental applications. Various porous and bulk substrates such as sponge that are made superhydrophobic have been used to absorb oil from oil-water emulsions. The IIT-Guwahati team has shown efficacy of hierarchically structured graphene oxide nanosheets in removing oil or aqueous contaminates from respective emulsions, thereby effecting separation of oil and water,” an official statement fromm IIT-Guwahati said.
African swine fever kills over 2,000 pigs
After suspected African swine fever killed over 2,000 pigs in Assam, the government has banned the sale of pork. The deaths were reported from Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat and Biswanath districts. Sivasagar accounted for the highest number of deaths. Vets visited the affected districts and collected samples. The samples were sent for laboratory tests. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Minister Atul Bora said the government would take all measures to contain the disease. He said after vaccination, some pigs recovered. As a precautionary measure, Meghalaya has stopped taking pigs from outside the state.
COVID-19: Journalists get life insurance cover
Journalists in Assam, reporting COVID-19 pandemic, have been covered under an insurance scheme. The life insurance cover of `50 lakh was announced by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. He said the scribes were not only engaged in coverage of the pandemic, they were also creating awareness among the people on the government’s guidelines. Assam so far recorded 37 cases, including one death. Twenty-seven people have recovered in the meanwhile. Dhubri, Goalpara, Nalbari, Morigaon and Golaghat districts were earlier declared as Red Zones. The government has already allowed the reopening of “standalone” shops in rural areas that are not in Red Zones.
prasanta mazumdar
Our correspondent in Guwahati
prasantamazumdar@newindianexpress.com