Assam 14 July 2023

1.

 The micro-tunnelling for GAIL-executed Barauni-Guwahati gas pipeline project has come to an end with the completion of a vital line under the confluence of three rivers in Chirang district of Assam

Tunnelling was concluded under the confluence of Kanamakra, Aie and Manas rivers of the Gas Pipeline, which is a part of Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project

Ace Energy has completed construction of a tunnel of diameter 1600 mm across 1200m at a depth of 11-12 meters under the river bed. The river is flowing up to its brim for the past three months owing to the flooding in its upper reaches in Bhutan

The construction crew are expected to install the 24-inch carbon steel pipeline to transport natural gas in this tunnel in the next few weeks. On completion it will serve as a final link to complete a 1600-km network of gas pipelines from Barauni to Guwahati, and further from Guwahati to Numaligarh after crossing major rivers like Subansiri and Brahmaputra.

The Bihar portion of the gas pipeline was completed in April this year, connecting six districts of the eastern state to the national gas grid

The gas pipeline is a part of extension of Urja Ganga Project which will bring natural gas connectivity from Guwahati to Numaligarh and all towns and cities of the North East.

Ranchi-based MECON Limited spearheaded the engineering efforts for the project. It was appointed as the project management consultant to GAIL.

2.

Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu on Friday directed all the educational institutions of the state to build their own digital forum in the coming days.

In a meeting held at the International Auditorium of Shrimanta Kalakshetra on Friday, the minister asked all the institutions to create accounts on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter in order to bridge the gaps between students and educational institutions.

From now on, the institutions will receive important notices and guidance via e-mail or social media

the education department is trying to enhance the gross enrolment ratio of the colleges of the state as per the guidelines of National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. The NEP directs every higher educational institution to enroll at least 3000 students to increase the gross enrolment ratio.

3.

National Health Mission, (NHM) Assam organized Digital Health Conclave, a State level review cum orientation workshop on Online Health Portals on July 12, 2023 at Assam Administrative Staff College, Guwahati.

The one day review cum orientation workshop was held with the concerned participants from all the districts on various health portals. The primary agenda of the conclave was to review each portal to find out the gaps hindering the performance and to formulate strategies for smooth flow of data and to improve data quality.

Meeting proceeded with highlighting the agenda points and the significance of Health Portals in improving performances in health care services in the State. Following that demonstration and orientation on 47 online health portals by concerned NHM State Officials and developmental partners were done.

Further a district wise review on the health portals of each district followed by thorough interaction session with the district health teams for optimum operation of the health portals with special focus on portal wise gaps identification was done and in accordance with that improvement plan were presented and discussed in detail.

In the conclave, the best performers from the district were also felicitated by M S Lakshmi Priya, Mission Director – NHM, Assam, for their hard work and dedication towards improving the health system in their respective districts.

4.

Ambarish Barman from Assam’s Dibrugarh picked up the Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) and assumed the command of Controller of Defence Accounts (CDA), at Guwahati.

The organization of CDA Guwahati is responsible for Financial Oversight/Expenditure Management viz disbursements, audit, accounting, and financial advice of Armed Forces in North East Region.

About Ambarish Barman

Ambarish Barman joined the 2005 batch of Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS). He is an alumnus of Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi and Delhi School of Economics. He has attended training Programms at National Law University Delhi, Indian School of Business (ISB) Mohali and National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) Faridabad. Barman has also distinguished himself in training exposures at Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley (Mid-Career Training) and Program on Public Fiscal Management for Financial Advisors at Duke Centre for International Development, Duke University, North Carolina.

In a career spanning over 17 years he has had wide exposure in various commands, staff and instructional appointments, as a member of Emergency Empowered Committees and Empowered Procurement Committees in Service HQrs, Member Secretary of Task Forces & High Level Committees in Ministry of Defence, Central Election Observer, Central Nodal Officer under Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Member(Govt Representative) of the Pension Advisory Committee of Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA), amongst others. He has received the Commendation of The Chief of Naval Staff in 2016 for displaying ‘utmost dedication, commitment and professional competence of a very high order.’

Before assuming command of CDA Guwahati he was on Central Deputation as Director to Government of India (GoI) in Ministry of Defence.

5.

Bidyasagar Talukdar from Nalbari made Assam proud by bagging second position in the Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) Indian Information Service (IIS) examination.

Talukdar, who is a resident of Piplibari village in Tihu secured the position in the Assamese language.

Anumita Das, also from Assam, has achieved the 14th rank, highlighting her commendable accomplishment.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) announced the Indian Information Service (IIS) Result on Thursday.

Candidates who appeared for the IIS examination can now check and download the result from the official website – upsc.gov.in.

The selected 29 candidates represent diverse linguistic backgrounds.