The Congress expelled one of its leaders soon after a photo of him with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma went viral on social media. Without citing any reason, Congress state chief Bhupen Kumar Borah said Dadu Taye had been expelled from the party with immediate effect. It was not known why Taye had gone to meet the CM. Recently, Sarma criticised the Congress for allegedly not allowing its MLAs and leaders to attend government events and meet ministers. He had asked how the constituencies of the Congress MLAs would develop if they were not in a position to highlight the problems.
Training to promote man-elephant coexistence
With an aim to capacitate villagers affected by human-elephant conflict and supplement their income, biodiversity conservation organisation Aaranyak and British Asian Trust conducted training on Assam lemon cultivation and prevention of crop infestation in Dibrugarh district. Thirty-eight villagers underwent the training which focussed mainly on Assam lemon. The villagers received hands-on demonstration on the plantation process. Lemon plants act as a good bio fence when cultivated in a particular pattern.
Prayer is a universal practice: Christian forum
The Assam cabinet’s resolution endorsing a bill to ban magical healing practices has met with the Opposition. The Assam Christian Forum said that prayer is a universal practice and labelling it as magical healing oversimplifies the profound spiritual dimensions of faith and life. According to the forum, Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees the right to practice one’s chosen religion. Reacting to CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s alleged statement that the “bill is being introduced with the explicit goal of curbing evangelism associated with such practices”, the forum said it implicates Christians specifically, but it affects practitioners of all faiths.
Prasanta Mazumdar
Our correspondent in Guwahati
prasantamazumdar@newindianexpress.com