New Delhi: Mizoram MLA Z.R. Thiamsanga, a qualified doctor, had left regular medical practice after being elected to the state assembly in 2018. But he is known to often attend to medical emergencies every now and then.
Last week, he headed towards the remote Tiau river on the India-Myanmar border to help an ailing security personnel of the Indian Reserve Battalion.
Thiamsanga went there along with his daughter M.S. Dawngzuali, also a physician, to help the soldier who was suffering from acute stomach ache. The jawan is part of a team deputed there to prevent cross-border movement to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
“We were informed that a security personnel was having severe abdominal pain and needed immediate treatment. We rushed to the duty post but we had to walk on foot for several kilometres as our vehicle could not cross a stream. We examined the patient and luckily he has no perforation in the stomach,” Thiamsanga has been quoted as saying.
The 62-year-old MLA from Champhai North, who is also the chairman of the state government’s Covid-19 medical operational team, had in April rushed to the remote Sangau village in Lawngtlai district to treat a pregnant woman.
Also read: Mizoram, Manipur are using this traditional practice to keep coronavirus in check
Bus conductor-turned filmmaker’s documentary wins award
A 52-minute documentary called Highways of Life by Manipuri filmmaker Amar Maibam was recently awarded the Best Film at the international competition section of the 8th Liberation DocFest Bangladesh 2020.
The film, which premiered on 18 June, follows a group of truckers as they manoeuvre through highways ferrying essential commodities for people in Manipur.
Maibam, who worked as a bus conductor for 10 years on the Imphal-Moreh highway, started his career in filmmaking as an assistant to his late filmmaker father M.A. Singh, a pioneer in Manipuri cinema.
The documentary was the only Indian film to be selected among 1,800 entries from 124 nations.
“Highways of Life was inspired by the challenges and inconveniences confronting the drivers and handymen, from collection of illegal taxes to atrocities of security personnel, along the highways. I witnessed it all from 1994 to 2005 and I tell the story through the film,” Maibam said in an interview to the Imphal Free Press.
Assam literary body collaborates with AIR for story sessions
All India Radio Guwahati, in collaboration with the Asom Sahitya Sabha, will broadcast stories from old classics from 1 July, including Assamese folktales from the famous collection Burhi Aair Sadhu or ‘Grandma’s Tales’, for children locked inside their homes due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
President of the Asom Sahitya Sabha, Kuladhar Saikia, made the announcement on Twitter earlier this week.
Story telling helps reaching out to the wonderful mindscape of children in enhancement of language skill, ideas & values.
In a collaborative effort Asam Sahitya Sabha and AIR Guwahati is brodcasting tales from old classics like Buhri Aier Sadhu and others from 1 July, 2020.
— Kula Saikia, IPS (@saikia_kula) June 21, 2020
Saikia, a former director general of the Assam Police, has been quoted as saying that besides Assamese, stories in other languages from different ethnic groups will also be broadcast.
“The stories will be translated into Assamese and vice versa and will be told. Apart from that, we are also trying to form storytelling groups which will travel to different areas…to conduct storytelling sessions,” he added.
Plans are also under way to have similar initiatives among Assamese communities living abroad, with some sessions already taking place in the US and Canada.
Also read: Mizoram minister Robert Romawia Royte carries boulders to help rebuild neighbour’s house
Kitchen run by women in Nagaland marks one month of service
A community kitchen run by a group of women in Nagaland’s Longleng district has completed 35 days of service, providing food to returnees under quarantine and to frontline Covid-19 health workers.
The women department of the Phom Baptist Christian Association (PBCA) had converted its kitchen to an official cooking area for the service of those under quarantine due to Covid-19 and healthcare workers. It has been catering food for hundreds of people since 18 May, with volunteers working tirelessly to supply organic food items and other local delicacies.
The kitchen has been sustaining itself with cash, rice, food stuff, firewood, fresh fruits, organic vegetables and other items provided by various contributors, said P. Angbhen Phom, secretary of PBCA women.
The Longleng Town Students union (LTSU), under the Phom Students Conference (PSC), has been delivering the food items to the quarantine centres since day one.