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A medic takes samples from an employee at Sonitpur Deputy Commisioner’s Office for COVID-19 swab tests in Tezpur on Monday. (PTI) Guwahati/ IMPHA L,

Jun 15 (PTI ): With 40 more people testing positive for coronavirus on Monday, Assam’s COVID19 count reached 4,158, state Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The fresh cases were reported from six districts. “Aler t ~ 40 new #COVID19+ cases reported. 31 Jorhat, 3 Dhemaji, 2 Biswanath, 2 Dhubri, 1 Lakhimpur, 1 Dibrugarh,” the minister said in a tweet. The state now has 2,187 active coronavirus cases. So far, eight patients have died due to the disease in Assam, while 1,960 have been cured and discharged from hospitals, Sarma said.

Besides, three more patients have migrated to other states.

In a separate tweet, Sarma said Assam is conducting around 10,000 COVID-19 tests daily and has so far tested 2,17,088 samples in 11 laboratories and some outsourced centres.

“Pleased to share that pursuing our policy of proactive & aggressive testing for #COVID19, Assam Govt has completed 2.17 lakh tests. We’ve been carrying out approx 10,000 tests per day after having ramped up our capacities. My compliments to our doctors & staff,” he said.

After inter-state movement through road, rail and air was allowed, Assam saw a huge spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.

To screen all the people coming from outside the state, the government has imposed a mandatory institutional quarantine policy for everyone, barring some exceptions. COVID-19 cases near 500 mark in Manipur

Manipur on Monday recorded the highest number of recovery from COVID-19 as 60 patients were discharged after recovering from the deadly disease.

However, with 32 more returnees testing positive in the last 24 hours, the COVID-19 case has increased to 490 on Monday.

Of these 490 cases, 339 were active.

The official figure showed that 22 patients were discharged from Covid care facility of RIMS hospital while 38 patients were discharged from Covid care facility of JNIMs hospital.

Meanwhile, out of 1232 samples tested for the virus in the two state level VRDLs at RIMS and JNIMS, 32 were found positive for the virus, taking the total of COVID-19 infections in the state to 490. Meanwhile 776 stranded people who arrived in Imphal on Monday were lodged in an institutional quarantine centre in Imphal.

(Correspondent)

Meghalaya to allow marriages in churches

Correspondent

Shill ong , Jun 15: The Meghalaya government on Monday decided to allow marriage ceremonies in places of worship under strict safety protocols.

“During a review meeting chaired by chief minister Conrad Sangma, we discussed this issue and decided that marriages would be allowed to be solemnised in places of worship,” said deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong.

“Those parties wanting to get permission should submit their application to the concerned deputy commissioner to acquire permission in this regard. But strict protocols should be followed,” he added.

Tynsong said the government has received several petitions from various religious organisations to allow marriages to be solemnised in religious places. The government, which had initially decided to re-open places of worship from June 14, later kept it on hold in the wake of rise in COVID cases.

Correspondent

DIPHU , JUN 15: Sand Mahaldar & Supplier’s Association (SMSA) Karbi Anglong has opposed the Karbi Anglong Sand Supplier Association (KASSA) imposing indefinite ban on the supply of sand to Dimapur since Saturday last.

In a press release, SMSA president Kangjang Terang said that the KASSA does not usually do business/buy sand from the government allotted sand mahals under Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council.

SMSA, therefore, asserted that it did not support the indefinite bandh on sand supply, adding that it had nothing to do with Karbi Anglong Sand Supplier Association.

The association said it was improper to give bandh call, adding that strict legal actions against the Karbi Anglong Sand Supplier Association and its members should be initiated by the district administration and the government of Nagaland.

NPFLF appeal to H&FW, NEAN to end deadlock

(From p-1)

NPF acknowledged that present COVID-19 pandemic situation in the state demanded for an urgent need for trained medical personnel, and therefore, the need for contractual and contingency doctors.

NPF said it should been the extension of contracts till such time the government needed their services. The opposition party said that another “unpleasant” fall-out of cabinet “arbitrary” decision would be the burden on the state exchequer.

It said that salary/emoluments of those contractual workers recruited due to COVID-19 pandemic could have been borne out of COVID-19 fund. However, NPF said their regularisation would place an additional burden over a few crore rupees every year on the state budget, which the government was “struggling” even to meet the salaries of the existing state government employees.

The opposition party demanded that the cabinet decision be put on hold regarding regularisation of the contractual and contingency medical staff.

It alleged that the “authoritarian attitude” of the PDA government would set a very dangerous precedent for the post-pandemic governments and the future Naga generations. State govt to set up SSB within a month

(From p-1)

He said the chief minister informed them that a committee on employment and sustainability had been set up and its focus was on agriculture and allied sector, skill development, tourism, youth resources and sports. Considering the fact that thousands of migrant workers who were engaged in businesses in Nagaland had left, the NSF president appealed to unemployed Naga youth to take advantage of these job opportunities and strive towards creating a self-reliant Naga society.

He said NSF had urged the government to be transparent on financial management, especially on funds received and expenditure incurred, to which Rio assured of making everything available in public domain and maintaining transparency.

Awomi said NSF further appealed to the government to review its decision of regularising doctors and also requisitioning the new post created under health & family welfare department to Nagaland Public Service Commission since it was gazetted post.

SMSA has informed sand stockiest and truck driver association of Dimapur to send trucks without any fear. SMSA said business activities would operate as usual.

On the issue, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council executive member has said that the strike call given by KASSA was hampering the interest of local people. The members cautioned that the council would not hesitate to seek legal help if needed to end the strike.

It may be mentioned that KASSA adviser Sukursing Krom, addressing a press conference at Manja on Friday, said that the association was compelled to call for an indefinite strike as they get very little profit from supplying sand. He said that forest department and road transport authority were “playing a role” and it has become difficult for them to maintain market price of the sand and their profit was sinking.

Two WWII mortar shells disposed in Manipur

Imp hal , Jun 15 (IAN S):

Two mortar shells of the World War II period were disposed of through controlled detonation in Manipur’s Churachandpur district, police said on Monday.

C h u r a c h a n d p u r ’s Superintendent of Police Amrita Sinha said that the unexploded shells were disposed of on Sunday at an isolated location. Tollen villagers had found one of the 50mm shells while digging a grave and another during cleaning a nearby riverbank around three months ago. The villagers did not inform police or other authorities and instead kept the shells in a residential compound, the police officer said. After a social activist tipped off police about the two shells, police took along a bomb disposal unit and seized them.

Arms, ammo recovered from Chirang forest

KO KRAJHA R, Jun

15 (Ag encies ): The Chirang-based Army unit in a joint operation with Assam Police, 210 Cobra Battalion, and 6 Bn SSB unearthed a huge cache of arms, ammunition, and explosives in Chirang district.

The arms, ammunition, and explosives were recovered from inside Chirang Reserve Forest.

On a tip-off regarding the presence of illegal arms and ammunition in the forest area of Lal Pathar in Chirang, a joint operation was carried out.

A massive search with metal detectors continued for 12 days in the forest and a suspected spot was located.

After digging by the Army and police personnel, a hidden cache of arms and ammunition was found.

The cache includes a huge amount of firearms, ammunition, grenades, and RPGs.

The police, after the recovery, stated that efforts are on to maintain peace and tranquility in the region.

It is suspected that the arms, ammunition, and explosives cache could be used to create unrest and tensions in the Bodoland region of Assam, where peace has returned as all the NDFB factions have come overground and dissolved their outfits.

This is the second major success of the Army and police in unearthing huge amounts of arms and ammunition in the Chirang district.

“The success of the operation will go a long way in preventing any major anti-national activity by militant organisations. This will ensure promoting peace and maintaining

Security forces personnel display arms and ammunition recovered from the Chirang Reserve Forest on Monday. (PTI)

Guwahati, Jun 15

Assam gas well fire: tremors continue to jolt nearby areas

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal met scientists of Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati (IIT-G) and CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST) and asked them to conduct the study on emergency basis and submit a report so that the government can take appropriate steps.

During a visit to the site along with union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday, Sonowal had promised that a study would be done to probe the reasons for the tremors.

Since June 9 when the well caught fire, residents of Baghjan and Natun Rongagora villages which are close to the site, have been complaining of repeated tremors. Some houses have also developed cracks due to the tremors.

“We started experiencing tremors from Wednesday, a day after the well caught fire. That night the tremors lasted for nearly 10- 12 hours and walls of several houses got cracked,” said Hiren Senapati, president of eco-development committee of Natun Rongagora.

“The tremors have been happening intermittently now. Nearly 80% of our villagers are staying in relief camps, the rest who were in their homes are scared to live there because of the tremors, which could be around 5 on the Richter scale,” he added.

(Ag encies ): Assam government on Monday asked a group of scientists to conduct a study on the tremors being felt at Baghjan in Tinsukia district, where a natural gas well of Oil India Limited (OIL) caught fire on June 9, two weeks after it started releasing gas and oil condensate following a blow-out.

“Five broadband seismographs will be deployed by CSIR-NESIT at five sites for data to be recorded for 7-10 days. Locations have been identified and preliminary civil work for deployment of the instruments is in progress,” said a release issued by OIL on Monday.

Authorities at OIL have also asked CSIRNESIT to carry out a study of the induced seismicity (tremors and quakes caused by human activity including oil and gas operations) in Baghjan and neighbouring areas because of the blow out.

“It is possible that some tremors had happened in the area close to the well, which witnessed a blow out and subsequently caught fire. From a scientific point of view, we are very keen to look at what are these tremors and analyse its impact,” said G Narahari Sastry, director, NEIST.

Meanwhile, work continued at the well site to control the fire and plug the blow out. OIL had earlier said that the process could take about 4 weeks.

law & order in the BTR,” police said.

This is a part of the drive to free the Bodoland region from illegal weapons.

Sikkim to reopen educational institutes in August

Gang tok , Jun 15

(Ag encies ): The Sikkim government has deferred reopening of educational institutes by a month due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The government has decided to resume classes in schools, colleges and universities in the first week of August this year, officials said.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting of the State Task Force presided over by chief minister Prem Singh Tamang, said an official. “There is a need for abundant precaution to resume educational activities in Sikkim in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases,” the official said.

New fish species discovered in Arunachal

ITANA GAR, Jun 15

(Ag encies ): A new species of fish has been discovered in the Northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The new species was discovered by Dr. Keshav Kumar Jha, who has named it as Schizothorax sikusirumensis, after the rivers - Siku and Sirum in East Siang District at the junction, from where it was found.

Jha also serves as an associate professor and current head of the Department of Zoology at Jawaharlal Nehru College in Pasighat.

It may be reminded that last year, Fisheries and Aquatic ecology research team led by prof. DN Das

Schizothorax sikusirumensis

NDB sanctions Rs 3000 crore for potable water project in Manipur

Talking to reporters after inaugurating three developmental projects for Imphal city, he said that all the necessary processes including tenders, issue of work order etc have been completed for the projects to be implemented.

Singh while thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the initiative informed that the foundation stone laying ceremony will be held shortly.

Earlier, the chief minister inaugurated Imphal Sewerage Project Phase-I along with two integrated water supply projects for the capital city through video conferencing from the chief minister’s secretariat.

The chief minister stated that 3000 households have been connected by the Imphal Sewerage project so far and will benefit around 12,000 households. He said that major water supply schemes in Tamenglong, Senapati and Churachandpur districts will be inaugurated soon.

State PHE minister Losii Dikho said that with the inauguration of such a long awaited project, the Imphal Sewerage scheme will benefit thousands of people in Imphal. It may be mentioned that Imphal sewage treatment plant located at Lamphelpat, Imphal West is the only sewage treatment plant in the whole North East India. The Imphal Sewerage Project Phase-I with a capacity of 27 MLD was constructed with a project cost of Rs 345.43 crore.

IMPHA L, Jun 15: The New Development Bank (NDB) has sanctioned Rs 3000 crore to provide potable water to every household of the state, said Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh on Monday.

Correspondent

Manipur HSLC exam results declared

Even though the top position was secured by girls, boys outperformed girls with a pass percentage of 70.88.

A total of 70 students secured the top 25 positions.

Reshmi Nandeibam of Pitambara English School, Imphal who scored 579 marks out of total 600 marks (96.5%) clinched the top position.

Huidrom Rohid Singh of St John’s English School, Nambol (Bishnupur district) with 578 marks (96.33) secured the second position.

IMPHA L, Jun 15: Board of Secondary Education Manipur (BOSEM) on Monday announced the Class 10 exam results with pass percentage of 65.34%.

Out of 38,390 students (18,860 male and 19,530 female), 25,084 students cleared the exam.

Thoubal and Kakching districts were the best performing districts with a pass percentage of 77.50 per cent followed by Bishnupur 69.08, Chandel and Tengnoupal 65.39.

The pass percentage of Imphal West district was 62.39 per cent while that of Imphal East was 57.70 per cent.

The pass percentage of private school students was 74.38 per cent while that of government schools was 40.65 per cent and that of government-aided schools was 51.56 per cent.

from Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) discovered five species of fish from the state.

These species include the Mystus prabini (discovered in Sinkin and the Dibang rivers in Lower Dibang Valley district); the Exostoma kottelati (discovered in the Ranga river in Lower Subansiri district); the Creteuchiloglanis tawangensis (discovered in the Tawangchu river in Tawang district); the Garra ranganensis (discovered in the Ranga river); and the Physoschistura harkishorei (discovered in the Dibang and the Lohit rivers in Lower Dibang Valley district).

The examination was conducted at 140 examination centres across the state from February 7 and ended in March before the lockdown started.

State education minister, Th Radheshyam officially declared the result at the BOSEM conference hall in the presence of department officials.

According to official data, a total of 102 students were expelled for impersonation and for use of unfair means this year.

Meanwhile, the minister has congratulated the successful students. He also encouraged the unsuccessful to work hard. The result declaration was also attended by commissioner of education (S) T Ranjit Singh, chairman of BOSEM Th Kirankumar, its secretary Dr Chithung Mary Thomas among others.

BEFORE THE MARRIAGE OFFICER DIMAPUR : NAGALAND Marriage Regd. No........../20 Dated Dimapur, the 15 June/2020

NOTICE OF REGISTRATION OF MARRIAGE

I, Marriage Officer, Dimapur, Nagaland hereby give notice Under Section 15 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, that a petition for registration of marriage has been filed by Mr. Won Jik Seo, resident of 75-18 Gail Gil Amnyan Myeon, Gyeongsan City, Republic of Korea, aged about 68 years, S/o Shri Kap Chul Seo, resident of H/No. 67 Naga United Village AND Miss I. Merensangla Jamir, aged about ___ years, D/o Shri Imsennokdang, resident of H/No. 67, Naga United Vill. before me on 15 th day of June 2020 and whereas 16/7/2020 has been fixed for registering their Marriage. Objections, if any are to be furnished on or before the aforementioned fixed date.