NEW DELHI: Biopic on environmental activist
Several documentaries have been made on Assam environmental activist Jadav Payeng, who shot to fame for singlehandedly transforming a 550-hectare barren sandbar right in the middle of the Brahmaputra into a sprawling forest. Now, a feature film will be made on his life. Nimananda Das, who is making his debut into filmmaking with the biopic, said he wants to take the Payeng’s story to the world stage.
“I thought the world should know of his incredible journey,” Das said. Payeng’s relentless efforts earned him the title of ‘Forest Man of India’ and a Padma Shri. Located in Assam’s Jorhat district, the forest, created by Payeng over more than 35 years, has over one lakh trees and is home to wild animals, birds and snakes. Payeng is also the recipient of the 128th Commonwealth Points of Light Award.
City braces for dull Bihu
Cultural programmes will not figure in the month-long Rongali Bihu celebrations in Guwahati this year. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bihu committees in the city decided not to organise any cultural programmes. Rongali Bihu without the cultural programmes is, otherwise, unthinkable. “We had a meeting, which was attended by the members of 26 Bihu committees of Guwahati. Given the outbreak, it was unanimously decided to cancel the Bihu cultural programmes,” Kailash Sarma, advisor to Greater Guwahati Bihu Coordination Committee, said.
Beating traffic snarls at trade hub
Traffic snarls at Guwahati’s busy Fancy Bazaar area has been a perennial problem. Now, the civic authorities and the police are responding to the situation. The police, along with civic authorities, evicted hundreds of vendors who were doing business on pavements. The drive was supervised by none other than the state’s Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta. He warned that the guilty would face legal consequences. Recently, the Gauhati High Court issued an order on traffic management in the city. Fancy Bazaar is a commercial hub in the Northeast. The area always remains crowded due to illegal parking of vehicles and opening of shops on roads and footpaths.
Teaching students via WhatsApp
After shutting down all educational institutes in the state to ensure social distancing vis-à-vis COVID-19 pandemic, the Assam government has instructed teachers to teach children through WhatsApp. Official sources said the step was taken to meet the learning gaps of children and reduce the probability of dropout. The education department asked teachers to provide necessary learning support through phone-based materials. The students will do their homework and the teachers will check the answers on WhatsApp. They will share short videos on academic areas on WhatsApp and visit the houses of children who need special attention.