Thousands paid tributes to Assam's longest serving ex-CM Gogoi
Guwahati, Nov 25 (IANS) A large number of leaders cutting across party lines and thousands of men, women and children paid their last respect to the veteran Congress leader and Assam's longest serving Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who died at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Monday at the age of 86.
Earlier on Tuesday, from GMCH, Gogoi's body was taken to his official residence, the state civil secretariat Janata Bhawan, and the Assam Congress headquarters Rajiv Bhawan before mortal remains kept at the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra for the people's last respect.
Assam Pradesh Congress chief Ripun Bora said that Gogoi's last rites are likely to be held at Manabendra Sarma Complex in Dispur on Thursday with full state honours.
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and few other central leaders are likely to arrive in Guwahati on Wednesday.
The departed leader glass coffin, wrapped in wreaths and flowers, was shouldered by octogenarian leader's Parliamentarian son Gaurav Gogoi, Ripun Bora, opposition leader Debabrata Saikia and other senior leaders like Pradyut Bordoloi and Rakibul Hussain.
During the procession with the body of the former Assam Chief Minister, thousands of passersby and waiting men and women offered their floral tributes to their beloved leader with many of them were seen weeping.
In Janata Bhawan, the state secretariat, Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua, police chief Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta and many senior officials offered floral tributes.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday announced a three-day state mourning in honour of Gogoi, who served Assam as Chief Minister for 15 years -- 2001-2016.
A six-time member of parliament from Assam in between 1971 to 2001, former Gogoi was sitting MLA from Titabar Assembly constituency in Jorhat district at the time of his death.
Gogoi was discharged from the GMCH on October 25 after he recovered from Covid-19 and other post-recovery complications after more than 60 days.
However, the post-Covid-19 complications forced the veteran politician to admit again in the GMCH on November 2 and his condition deteriorated gradually since Friday.
Doctors at GMCH were in constant touch with experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi. Due to his critical condition, Gogoi could not be shifted outside the state for treatment.
--IANS
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Child Covid-19 cases in US approach 1.2 million
Washington, Nov 25 (IANS) Nearly 1.2 million children in the US have been diagnosed with Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest data of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.
A total of 1,44,145 new child Covid-19 cases were reported the past week from November 12 to 19, a 28 per cent increase in child Covid-19 cases in the country, according to the AAP.
The number of new child Covid-19 cases is by far the highest weekly increase since the pandemic began, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Children now account for more than 11 per cent of all confirmed coronavirus cases in the US.
The overall rate was 1,573 cases per 1,00,000 children in the population, according to the AAP report.
Children accounted for 1.2 per cent to 3.1 per cent of total reported hospitalisations, and 0 to 0.23 per cent of all Covid-19 deaths, said the report.
"At this time, it appears that severe illness due to Covid-19 is rare among children. However, there is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects," the AAP said in the report.
--IANS
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SWR flags off first export NMG rake to B'desh from B'luru
Bengaluru, Nov 25 (IANS) South Western Railway's (SWR) Divisional Railway Manager, Ashok Kumar Verma, on Tuesday flagged off the first export-bound New Modified Goods (NMG) rake from the Hosur railway station to neighbouring Bangladesh.
This is the first NMG rake dispatched by the South Western Railway to Bangladesh.
Speaking to reporters, Verma said the rake consisting of 25 wagons loaded with 100 light commercial vehicles (LCVs) is called "Dost" and has been manufactured by Ashok Leyland. It left for Benapole railway station in Bangladesh.
He said that transportation of automobiles by train is safer and faster compared to transportation by road. "Nont only it is safe and cheaper, but it is also easy to monitor the movement of the consignment in trains with real-time check in practice," he said.
The SWR in a statement claimed that earlier, the Bengaluru division had dispatched two export-bound NMG rakes to Nautanwa (Nepal) from the Penukonda railway station. "Overall, the division has loaded 128 NMG rakes during the current financial year," the statement added.
Verma said the Bengaluru division, which was mainly transporting raw materials and essential commodities, took to loading of automobiles for the first time when it transported 175 tractors from the Doddaballapur railway station to Phuleria in Rajasthan on April 29 this year.
Upbeat about change in the recent policies such as two points unloading of NMG rakes and exemption of terminal charges for automobiles, Verma said that these policy changes have certainly boosted the loading of automobiles by India in Railways.
"In 2020-21, five NMG rakes have been loaded from Hosur. Apart from the rake that left for Bangladesh today, 5,528 two-wheelers have been sent in four rakes to Mandideep in Madhya Pradesh," the Verma said.
The SWR statement added that during the current year, 65 rakes of automobiles manufactured by TAFE, mainly tractors, have been transported by train from the Doddaballapur railway station near Bengaluru.
Till date, a total of 5,600 cars have been transported to Farukh Nagar in Haryana and Nautanwa in Uttar Pradesh from Penukonda in 55 rakes.
--IANS
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