Paromita Editor

Senior IPS officer from Assam, Sanjukta Parashar, has been appointed Inspector General (IG) of the CRPF’s elite jungle warfare unit, CoBRA.With this, she has become the first woman to head the 10-battalion formation.A 2006-batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Parashar will succeed 1996-batch IPS officer Danesh Rana. The CRPF headquarters issued the appointment order recently.Parashar has previously served with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and held several posts in Assam.The Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) was raised in 2008-09 for jungle warfare, counter-insurgency and operations against Left Wing Extremism. Two units were recently deployed in Manipur amid heightened…

The two-day District Commissioners’ Conference in Jorhat, chaired by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, concluded on Monday midnight with over 27 hours of rigorous deliberations with Ministers, DCs and senior officers, covering 15 departments. Taking to social media, the Chief Minister gave a clear message to the DCs by asking them to shed the vestiges of a colonial administrative mindset and bring the discipline, efficiency and professionalism of the private sector to public service. "Technology and AI must become integral to everyday governance. Each DC will now convene meetings with line departments to ensure every directive reaches field officers…

Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) on Sunday launched ‘Zubeen Week’ to commemorate Zubeen Garg and recognise his contribution to Assam’s cultural and public life.The first day of the week-long programme was observed as ‘Nahor Day’, with AJP district, constituency and panchayat committees across the state planting Nahor saplings. The organisation has set a target of planting one lakh Nahor saplings across Assam.The central programme in Guwahati was attended by AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi, General Secretary Jagadish Bhuyan, and leaders and workers of the Kamrup Metropolitan district committee. The programme began at Zubeen Garg’s residence in Kharghuli, where party leaders and workers…

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President and Jorhat Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi has taken a special initiative to preserve the glorious history of Jorhat’s contribution to India’s freedom struggle and pass it on to future generations.The MP has announced a grant of Rs 8 lakh from his Local Area Development Fund (MPLAD) for the infrastructural upgradation of the Freedom Fighters’ Bhawan of the Jorhat District Freedom Fighters’ Association.Announcing the decision through social media, Gogoi described Jorhat as a witness to an important chapter in India’s freedom struggle. Recalling Jorhat’s inseparable contribution to Assam’s resistance against British rule, Gogoi said…

Assam’s sustained conservation efforts have emerged as a major factor behind the remarkable global recovery of the greater one-horned rhinoceros, with the species’ estimated population now reaching 4,075 worldwide. The latest figure marks a dramatic recovery from the early 20th century, when fewer than 100 greater one-horned rhinos were believed to survive in the wild. India accounts for the largest share of the global population, with an estimated 3,323 rhinos, while Nepal is home to around 752. Assam remains the principal stronghold of the species, harbouring nearly 80 per cent of the world’s greater one-horned rhino population. Kaziranga National Park…

Even a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Assam Bioethanol Plant, the bamboo-based facility has not yet been able to commence commercial production. Stabilisation work is currently underway at the plant, said Ranjit Rath, Chairman of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and CMD of Oil India Limited. Speaking to reporters after NRL’s 33rd Annual General Meeting in Guwahati on Friday, Rath said that following commissioning of the plant, a stabilisation process needs to be completed before commercial production can begin. The process is currently underway. “After commissioning the plant, a stabilisation process is required before commercial production. We are…

The 33rd Annual General Meeting of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) was held at the NRL Centre in Guwahati under the chairmanship of Ranjit Rath, Chairman (NRL) and CMD (OIL). NRL managing director Bhaskar Jyoti Phukan, directors of the NRL Board, shareholders and senior officials of the company attended the meeting. In his address, Rath congratulated the company on its continued growth and highlighted its recent elevation from Miniratna category-I to the prestigious Navratna status, which was conferred on December 3, 2025. Highlighting the company’s robust performance, Rath stated that the standalone net worth of the Company for the Financial Year…

The central election committee of the BJP on Friday approved Devasish Sharma as its candidate for the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election. The bypoll is scheduled on October 6, 2026. A former IAS officer who had taken voluntary retirement while serving as the Nagaon DC earlier this month, Sharma had joined the BJP on September 8 and was subsequently given a party ticket to contest the by-poll. The announcement comes amid parties in the state gearing up for the by-poll, the results of which will be declared on October 9, 2026. The by-election to Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency was necessitated in…

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Guwahati, achieved a historic milestone with the successful initiation of its Cardiac Surgery Programme.For the first time, the institute successfully performed two open-heart surgeries in a single day, on a seven-year-old child and a 47-year-old woman from Assam, both suffering from congenital heart defects involving a hole in the heart.The surgeries were successfully conducted on Tuesday under the leadership of Professor Colonel Dr. Ashok Puranik, Executive Director, AIIMS Guwahati.“The landmark initiative was made possible through the collective efforts of the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery under the leadership of Prof Vineet…

An elephant calf, estimated to be 4-6 weeks old, was found trapped in a muddy trench at Seconee Tea Estate near Kaziranga, Assam, on Wednesday morning. The herd had reportedly attempted to help the calf, but their efforts were unsuccessful. After discovering the calf in distress, compassionate tea garden workers and villagers immediately alerted the Kaziranga National Park authorities. A team from the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), led by Dr. Bhaskar Choudhury, CWRC Centre Manager and lead veterinarian at WTI, also arrived at the site to assist with the rescue operation. The calf was carefully lifted out…