File photo of Himanta Biswa Sarma | ThePrint
Himanta Biswa Sarma | ThePrint File Photo
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New Delhi: Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted Sunday that 55,862 Covid-19 tests have been carried out in the state so far.

This number, he said, was higher than the number of test conducted in Kerala (52,771), a state known for its success in tackling the pandemic.

Assam has seven testing facilities and the state can accommodate up to 5,000 patients in its dedicated Covid-19 hospitals, said Sarma. The number of positive patients in the state as of Tuesday was 616.

Meanwhile, Sikkim and Nagaland, which were the only Covid-free states, have reported their first cases of the infection.

Assamese bride turns face mask into chic accessory

A photograph of an Assamese bride with a fashionably-designed face mask has been garnering praise on social media. The embellished silk handloom cover matched her bridal trousseau, turning the face mask into a chic accessory.

Photos and videos of the bride, Nirmala Upadhyaya, who is an advocate at the Gauhati High Court, have since been widely shared on social media. Her wedding ceremony took place in Guwahati on 22 May.

Delhi-based economist Geetima Das Krishna was one of the first to share the photograph on Twitter on 23 May, which soon went viral. It has now been retweeted over 300 times and liked by more than 2,000 people.   

Krishna told ThePrint, “The photo was already viral in various WhatsApp groups when I decided to post it on Twitter. Amid all the news of gloom and doom, it was full of positive vibes and hope. It also showed the new normal. We have to learn to live with the virus.”

She explained how the mask has been made of Assam Paat silk, with woven zari motif. “It has been aesthetically embellished to give a middle-eastern twist.”

Nandini Borkakati, who had designed the reusable mask, has been quoted as saying, “The idea was to leave the surgical approved protective masks for the medical staff, and encourage the population to wear more fabric-made masks with unique and creative designs.”

A TikTok video of the bride, posted by makeup artist Himadri Gogoi, has also gone viral. “We did not expect it to go viral. After we got the bride ready, I posted a video on TikTok and it got 1.3 million views within 20 hours,” she said.

Vegetable vendor beaten to death after his bicycle accidentally grazes a vehicle

A vegetable vendor, identified as Sanatan Das, was allegedly beaten to death by five men Sunday after his bicycle grazed their car in Assam’s Hajo, about 35 km northwest of Guwahati.

According to reports, when Das’ bicycle hit the car, accused Faizul Ali and his friend Lajlil Ali began arguing with him. They were joined by three other men, and together, the five of them started beating him.

Das was rushed to a nearby hospital by locals where he was declared brought dead.

The victim, from Tetelia village, had taken to selling vegetables after losing his job at a factory due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Two accused — Faizul and Eyusuf Uddin Ahmed — have been arrested.

2 lakh people, 1,000 hectares of crop land affected in Assam floods 

Assam is impacted by floods every year but the challenge this time seems especially daunting as the state tackles a surge in Covid-19 cases. Nearly two lakh people in 229 villages of seven districts in the state have been affected by the floods in the state. Goalpara district is one of the worst hit, with 1.7 lakh people being impacted there alone.

The state has 35 relief camps and relief distribution centres, where 8,971 people have been put up so far. 

New guidelines are in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the relief camps. People are being evacuated according to the capacity of each camp unlike earlier when entire villages were mass shifted. While 3.5 square metres was earmarked earlier for every person in a camp, the new guidelines state that this space will double to 7 square metres. Camps have also been made no-spitting, no-tobacco zones.

Around 1,007 hectares of crop land in the state is also under flood waters, and the Brahmaputra continues to remain above the danger level in Jorhat and the Jia Bharali in Sonitpur.

Train to Northeastern states ‘mobbed by migrants’ in Bihar

A special train carrying over 1,300 people from Gurugram in Haryana to Dimapur in Nagaland was mobbed at the Danapur railway station in Bihar earlier this week. Videos of the incident, which have gone viral on social media, show a mob attacking the train’s window panes with stones.

The incident took place Sunday when migrants in Bihar wanted to travel in the same train that was meant to ferry stranded people from the Northeastern states.

The train had allegedly stopped at various stations, despite directions to halt at particular places in the Northeastern states only. It was to reach Dimapur at 5.45 am Sunday but was delayed by over 16 hours after the incident.

Mizoram becomes first state to give industry status to sports

The Mizoram cabinet has recently granted ‘industry’ status to sports, the first state in India to do so. The move is aimed at generating employment, professionalising sports and attracting investment.

“This is a historic decision since I have not heard any other state to do this,” the state’s Sports Minister Robert Romawia Royte was quoted as saying.

Mizoram’s love for sports, especially football, is well known. The state has its own premier league and at least 150 Mizo players are part of the Indian Super League, one of the top premier football leagues in India.

Royte also said, “We aim to attract private companies to invest in sports here so that it will benefit us in terms of subsidy, loans and concessions,” and added that tourism was recognised as an industry in the state in 2019 for the same reason.