IIT-Guwahati shines
The IIT-Guwahati has featured in “Top 50 young universities in Chemistry” in 2019, according to Nature Index. The institute was ranked 20th in the subject. It is the only IIT to be featured in this list which also includes a total of eight Institutes from India.
“I am very pleased by this recognition bestowed upon IIT-Guwahati by the prestigious Nature publication group. Research and development are an integral part of the activities of the Institute which conducts world-class research along with its regular academic programmes under all departments and academic centres,” IIT-Guwahati director Prof. T. G. Sitharam said.
Cricket fans win hearts
Some 35,000 fans of the first abandoned India-Sri Lank T-20 cricket match in Guwahati on January 5 won many hearts by singing “Vande Mataram” in unison. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had tweeted a video, and captioned it “Guwahati, you beauty #INDvSL”. The video received numerous views retweeted by thousands. Just when the match was about to begin, there was a heavy downpour. It stopped after a while but there was another spell of rain yet again. However, that could not dampen the spirit of the fans who had reached for the highly anticipated cricket match. Though the fans were disappointed when the match was officially declared abandoned at 10 pm without a bowl being bowled, they remained disciplined and left without creating a mess.
Police glare on tenants
The Assam police will conduct a survey of residents of rented houses in Guwahati. The police will begin the verification drive in four localities, Assam Police chief Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said this during an interaction with a committee of citizens. The basic aim is to check the credentials of residents. On several occasions, the police found the involvement of outsiders, who were found staying as tenants, in crimes. Criminals are both from Assam as well as outside. Last year, the police had arrested two people for the grenade blast that had injured 12 people. Pistol and ammunition were seized from the house which they had taken up as tenants.
Ajmal’s backhanded compliment to Himanta
AIUDF chief Maulana Badruddin Ajmal said he got the maximum publicity from Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. “Over the past ten years or so, no one has talked as much about me as Sarma,” the Dhubri MP told journalists. His AIUDF has a solid support base among Bengali-speaking Muslims, particularly in Lower Assam districts of Barpeta, Goalpara and Dhubri. As the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act intensified in Assam, Sarma tried to scare people into believing that the CAA was needed or else Ajmal would become Assam’s CM someday.
Prasanta Mazumdar
Our correspondent in Guwahati
prasantamazumdar@newindianexpress.com