The Siang is a dramatic river that flows through a beautiful land. Rafting on it is a rare pleasure the state offers tourists, says Ajai Shukla.
The first wave of floods in Assam has claimed one life, affected nearly 68,000 people, submerged rhino habitats at Kaziranga and Pobitora and overrun vast tracks of human habitation and farm land.
Sarma, after being elected unanimously as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance legislature party, said in his address that he was grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda, Sonowal and all other party leaders for giving him an opportunity to serve the people of the state, and pledged to carry out his duties with "dedication and honesty".
Arunachal Pradesh and Assam have drawn the attention of the Centre for steps to neutralise the impact of three dams proposed to be built by China on river Tsangpho, known as Siang in Arunachal and Brahmaputra in Assam.
The Chinese authorities have been rapidly building defence infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control, indicating that they are preparing for a long period of tension with India, points out Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
Sonowal, a law graduate, is considered to be a rarity -- an honest politician who also worked to unite different communities with his oft-repeated lines 'Barak-Brahmaputra-plains-hills'.
An alert has been sounded across Assam as cyclone 'Mahasen' is likely to hit the northeastern states on Thursday night, officials have said. All boats and ferry services on Brahmaputra have been closed for the next three days and fishermen have been directed not to venture out to the river.
Over one lakh people have been reeling under the impact of the third wave of floods in six districts of Assam as the rising water of the Brahmaputra river inundated vast areas of human habitation and cropland.
The water level of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries maintained a rising trend on Sunday with five districts of Assam reeling under the third wave of floods.
According to an official flood bulletin, fresh rainfall across the state, particularly in the catchment areas of Brahmaputra, has resulted in alarming rise in water level.
The flood situation in Assam deteriorated further on Monday as more than 1,000 villages were affected after an embankment of river Brahmaputra in worst affected Dhemaji district was breached in the early hours.
The deluge, which had affected 2.5 lakh people in 11 districts on Wednesday, spread to six more districts on Thursday affecting 4.23 lakh people, it said.
Bodies of three children were fished out of the Brahmaputra River, taking the toll in the ferry disaster to 106, even as search operations continued on Wednesday to trace over 100 missing people.
The water level of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries were showing receding trend following cessation of rainfall in most of the 27 affected districts but it is still above the danger mark, officials said in Guwahati on Saturday.
Police also seized the country boat that has been used by the ULFA to ferry explosives and arms to Guwahati from Western Assam areas by dodging strict vigil by the police and the army on all land routes leading to the state's capital city.
The flood situation affected nearly 26.5 lakh people across 28 districts.
China on Friday operationalised its first fully electrified bullet train in the remote Himalayan region of Tibet, connecting the provincial capital Lhasa and Nyingchi, a strategically located Tibetan border town close to Arunachal Pradesh.
The music legend was cremated on the banks of Brahmaputra on the morning of Wednesday, November 9.
The music legend was cremated on the banks of Brahmaputra on the morning of Wednesday, November 9.
A 76-year-old American tourist tested positive for COVID-19 in Bhutan, the first such case in the country, after travelling through Assam recently.
More than 100 BrahMos missiles are planned to be built in the next three years.
Forced to cross the Nanoi, a channel of the Brahmaputra, over 7,000 people uprooted from their homes and farms in Darrang district of Assam now use the stream's muddy water to drink and cook and defecate in the open as `Swachh Bharat' toilets built in their villages are now guarded by policemen who do not allow them to re-enter any part of the lands they have been thrown out of.
Currently, the Brahmaputra at Guwahati, Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns, while the Barak at AP Ghat in Cachar and Badarpurghat in Karimganj are flowing above the danger mark.
At least 13 people, including the prime accused, have been arrested so far for allegedly lynching an All Assam Students' Union leader in Jorhat city, while the outfit on Tuesday vowed not to keep quiet until the culprits were given 'exemplary punishment.'
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In the Northeast, while three people died in Assam, two each lost their lives in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram in rain-related incidents.
The water had almost touched the roads and had eroded a portion of the footpath along the Fancy Bazaar, city's business centre, official sources said.
Rediff.com takes a look at the watery devastation that has beset the state of Assam.
Dressed in his Assam Rifles uniform, 76-year-old Das, said that he escorted the Dalai Lama as his armed guard in 1959.
Park officials said the striped cat, possibly a female, was spotted at 8.30 am near the national highway along the southern edge of the national park.
Wang Junzheng, Tibet's new Communist party boss, is on a number of sanctions lists by the US, Britain, the EU and Canada, for his tough role in Xinjiang, aimed at China's Uyghur ethnic minority, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and distinguished China expert.
At least 33 people have been killed in flash floods in Bihar till Tuesday evening and 25.71 lakh people are affected in 16 districts of the state.
1 person died in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia district each taking the toll in current phase of floods to 31.
The flood situation remained critical in Assam, affecting over 7.35 lakh people from 1,597 villages have been inundated by the surging waters.
Modi along with Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also walked a few metres on the bridge.
The rains have unleashed in Assam affecting close to two lakh people
Originally scheduled to be inaugurated in 2009, Bogibeel Bridge, the country's longest rail-cum-road bridge, is facing numerous challenges which have made the progress of work slow.
The flood situation remained critical in Assam, affecting 7.35 lakh people in 18 districts where one lakh hectares of cropland have been inundated by the surging waters of the swollen Bahmaputra and its tributaries.
The flood situation in Assam continued to remain critical with nearly 250 villages under water, affecting over 75,000 people across nine districts.
