ASSAM LOGS RECORD 26 COVID DEATHS IN A DAY

GUWAHATI: Assam recorded 26 Covid-19 deaths on Friday, the highest in a single day so far, taking the toll to 1,281, while 3,197 new cases pushed the tally to 2,53,123, a bulletin issued by the state National Health Mission (NHM) here said.

Of the 26 deaths, eight were reported from Kamrup Metro, four from Kamrup Rural, two each from Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Nagaon and Hojai, and one each from Cachar, Darrang, Golaghat, Nalbari and Udalguri, the bulletin said.

The fatality rate in the state stands at 0.52 per cent, and the positivity rate at 4.53 per cent.

At least 1,347 COVID-19 patients have died in the state due to other reasons.

Kamrup Metro also recorded the maximum number of new cases at 1,184, followed by Dibrugarh at 245, Nalbari at 143, Kamrup Rural at 133.

Accordingly, the number of active cases in the state rose to 23,826.

Altogether 2,449 people recuperated from the disease during the day, taking the total number of recoveries to 2,26,643. The recovery rate clocked 89.54 per cent.

In the last ten days, Kamrup (M) recorded the maximum number of new cases at 9,728 followed by Dibrugarh at 1,877, Kamrup Rural at 1,742, Nagaon at 1,064 and Barpeta at 843.

As many as 86,04,935 sample tests have been conducted in the state so far.

According to the bulletin, 24,66,321 people have been administered Covid-19 vaccines in the northeastern state.

My mind goes back to our golden days at the Government Law College, Mumbai some 70 years ago. Soli was one year junior to me. I remember, in the moot Parliament organised in our college, I was the Defence Minister and Soli was the Leader of the Opposition. Anil Divan was the Prime Minister, Fali Nariman the Speaker, and Ashok Desai a member. Our moot Parliament held two sessions and passed the Anti-black Marketing Bill, which shows the vision and rectitude of the students of our college. And what a great coincidence! We found ourselves on opposite side in Court many a times, but would always end the day with a drink at the bar together.

There is a strange coincidence in our lives: five of us – Soli, Anil, Fali, Ashok, and I – moved to Delhi more or less at the same time and we stayed here for nearly half a century. We all remained the best of friends. Our friendship survived more than 71 years and we share the common cause of justice.

Soli was a champion of free speech and I remember his powerful and convincing argument in the Public Interest Litigation filed by my granddaughter Shreya in the Supreme Court, challenging the validity of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which punished a person for posting on the internet. He