New Delhi: With Tripura witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases for the past several weeks, the state administration has deployed ‘civil defence volunteers’ in the markets of capital Agartala to ensure people wear masks and maintain physical distancing.
Bijaya Sinha, a civil defence volunteer, explained that “The situation seems better now as almost all the people are following Covid-19 guidelines and vendors are dealing with people obeying them.”
The vendors, meanwhile, have been placing ‘No Masks, No Vegetables’ placards on their stalls in a bid to get people to follow the pandemic protocol.
Coronavirus cases and deaths have spiked since August in the state, with West Tripura district, of which Agartala is a part, witnessing 31 per cent of all new cases. According to a survey conducted by the district administration, around 2,400 people are under home isolation in West Tripura, of which 1,674 are from Agartala. In all, more than 19,187 people have tested positive for the virus across the state.
Assam man writes a 140-page book in one sentence, enters record books
Ramen Das from Guwahati has made it to the India Book of Records for writing a 140-page book in one sentence in the Assamese language.
Titled Guru Pranati, the book revolves around the life and works of Srimanta Sankardeva, a scholar and social reformer who shaped Assam’s cultural history. The one sentence in the book has a total of 29,619 words.
Das, a former Guwahati Municipal Corporation ward councillor of Dispur, said, “I wanted the younger generation to read and understand the ideologies of the great reformer. The book is written in one sentence to attract attention. I want to raise people’s curiosity as to how it’s possible to write a book in just one sentence and in the process read and understand the guru’s teachings.”
Mizoram churches offer halls as Covid care centres to tide over hospital shortage
Two Presbyterian churches — Tuikhuahtlang and Venghnuai — and the Young Mizo Association branch of Electric Veng have offered their halls as Covid care centres in Mizoram’s Aizawl.
Z.R. Thiamsanga, the vice chairman of Mizoram Health and Family Welfare Board, said, “The church leaders, community leaders and the people as a whole are very open-hearted to help the government. They set a good example in helping the government in time of need.”
He also said the state has only one dedicated Covid-19 hospital, the Zoram Medical College, where symptomatic patients and those with comorbidities are being treated. There are over 584 active Covid-19 patients in Mizoram.
This isn’t the first time that churches have come forward to help the government. Earlier, 194 churches had offered their halls to be used as quarantine facilities following the mass return of people from outside the state.
Manipur man wins hearts with bamboo tripod
Konsam Romesh Singh, a 26-year-old from Manipur’s Awang Jiri Maming Leikai, has crafted a one-of a-kind mobile tripod using bamboo. Weighing around 300 gm and expandable up to 4.5 feet, the tripod takes around one week to make and costs Rs 800.
Singh said, “I was trying to purchase a mobile phone tripod online since I needed it for taking videos for work. But due to continuous lockdown, I couldn’t place an order online, and there were no delivery services as well. So, I made my own.”
He has also made a tutorial for making the tripod on his YouTube channel.
Singh was recently awarded Manipur’s Merit Award to Outstanding Craftspersons for 2019-2020, which included a cash prize of Rs 50,000.
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