Documentary on centenarian wins award
“A light that refuses to fade out”, a documentary on the life of the late Aruna Mukherjee, won the Best Educational Film award at the 23rd UGC-CEC Educational Video Competition. Assam Congress leader Bobbeeta Sharma is the producer-director of the documentary. “She was aged 99 when I met her and it was unbelievable at first for me to learn that she lived only on black tea and thin arrowroot biscuits since 1947. I had decided to record her birth centenary and make a documentary on her amazing life.
Elephant deaths from humans a cause of concern
Elephant deaths continue to remain a cause of concern for the Assam forest officials. In the newest incident, an elephant calf was killed after being hit by a train in Jorhat district. Human-elephant conflicts in the state as a result of shrinkage of forest cover and habitat are also common during winter when the animal strays out of forests in search of food. According to forest officials, 71 elephants died due to various causes so far this year. Food poisoning killed three of them, three more were killed in electrocution incidents and four were run over by trains and later succumbed to injuries. A total of 42 have died due to natural causes while 17 died due to unknown reasons. Sixty-one people also killed in elephant attacks so far this year.
US Consulate chips in to fight human trafficking
The US Consulate, Kolkata, in collaboration with Shakti Vahini, kicked off a conclave in Guwahati to fight human trafficking in eastern and north-eastern India. The aim of the consultations is to bring together all state-level stakeholders to ensure convergence in response mechanisms and strengthen interstate collaboration. The US Consulate General, Kolkata has been working with civil society partners and state governments for the last ten years to create constituencies, build coalitions and forge partnerships in the fight against trafficking.
Ex-Assam cricket official held on graft charges
A former secretary of Assam Cricket Association (ACA) was arrested by the police on corruption charges. Pradip Buragohain had allegedly “misused” the funds of the ACA to the tune of crores of rupees. The arrest was made based on a complaint lodged by the cricketing body. The police booked him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. Earlier, the ACA had constituted a panel to find out the alleged misuse of funds by the former committee of the cricket association. The ACA suspected misuse of funds in booking hotel rooms, flight tickets, food during matches, etc. Buragohain earlier explained his position but the ACA was not amused.
Prasanta mazumdar
Our correspondent in Guwahati prasantamazumdar@newindianexpress.com