New Delhi: Multiple FIRs have been lodged against Assam’s Hojai MLA Shiladitya Dev for his alleged derogatory remarks against Syed Abdul Malik, a noted scholar and former president of the Assam Sahitya Sabha.
Dev had, last week, allegedly said that Malik was an “intellectual jihadi” after a visit to the Haragouri Devalaya, a renowned Hindu temple in the state.
Malik, who died in 2000, was a recipient of the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan.
On Sunday, the Assam Congress’ minority wing filed an FIR against Dev for fanning communal tensions. Separate FIRs were subsequently filed by the All Assam Goria-Moria-Deshi Jatiya Parishad, All Assam Goria Yuva-Chatra Parishad and Asom Songrami Yuva Manch.
The All Assam Students’ Union and the Assam Sahitya Sabha have also slammed the legislator for his comments.
Meanwhile, an assistant professor at the Assam University in Silchar, has been booked for an alleged derogatory Facebook post on Ram, the mythological deity in the epic Ramayan. The complaint against Anindya Sen was lodged by one Rohit Chanda, a student member of the ABVP.
In vocal for local push, Arunachal govt staff to wear traditional attire once a month
All state and central government employees posted in Arunachal Pradesh have been asked to wear their traditional attire to work on the 15th of every month. This order is not applicable to the state’s police personnel.
A circular issued recently by the office of the state’s chief secretary said the idea was to boost production of local tribal items and support artisans as well as entrepreneurs under the Narendra Modi government’s ‘vocal for local’ initiative.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu had on 11 June initiated the vocal for local campaign in the state, directing the department of textiles and handicrafts to finalise its modalities for procuring government office requirements from local NGOs, self-help groups and entrepreneurs.
Arunachal is home to 26 major tribes and over a 100 sub-tribes. Area-wise, it is the largest state in the Northeast and shares a border with Assam and Nagaland, besides international borders with Bhutan, Myanmar and China.
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Students to mark 74th Naga Independence Day on 14 August, hoist own flag
The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) will hoist the ‘Naga national flag’ on 14 August to mark the 74th Naga Independence Day.
The ceremony will be held at the NSF headquarters in Kohima and its smaller units. These units have been asked to send a compliance report to the headquarters, along with the pictorial proof, for documentation.
A statement released Tuesday by NSF Vice President Dievi Yano and its General Secretary Liremo R. Kikon said the body regretted its inability to commemorate the Naga I-Day with programmes because of the ongoing pandemic.
The decision to commemorate the Naga I-Day comes at a time when peace talks with the central government resumed early this week, during which demands of Naga rebel groups for a separate flag and Constitution are likely to be discussed.
Mizoram’s Lengpui airport, one among five in India with tabletop runways, is ‘safe’
Days after an Air India Express plane overshot a tabletop runway in Kerala’s Kozhikode, killing at least 18 people, airport authorities have said that Mizoram’s Lengpui airport is safe for landing Airbus 320 and cargo flights.
Lengpui airport is one among five airports in the country to have tabletop runways.
J. Lalhmingliana, principal consultant in the civil aviation wing of the General Administration department, has said that Lengpui airport’s runway, which is 2,500 m in length and 45 m in breadth, has enough space and is strong enough for a safe landing.
He also said that the airport has nearly all necessary safety features such as Instrument Landing System, runway lights and Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Range.
This two-decade-old airport, he added, is fit for landing of passenger aircraft like Airbus A320, which can carry 190 to 200 passengers, and cargo planes.
The only airport in Mizoram, Lengpui is located about 32 km northwest of its capital Aizawl. The three other airports that have tabletop runways, besides those in Kozhikode and Mizoram, are in Mangalore, Shimla and Pakyong. Among these, only Lengpui airport is operated by the state government, while the rest are manned by the Airports Authority of India.
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