Moreh checkpost

Manipur’s commerce, textiles and industries minister, Thongam Biswajit Singh last week inspected the Integrated Checkpost at Moreh, 110 kilometres from Imphal, in Tengnoupal district, says a report in Imphal Free Press. He told media persons that it will provide secure, seamless and efficient systems for cargo and passenger movement and the trade transaction costs will come down and promote regional trade and people-to-people contact. The ICP is one of the 13 being developed by the Centre.

Assembly uproar

Meghalaya chief minister, Mukul Sangma’s comments on the nexus between the National People’s Party and the BJP created uproar in the assembly before the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliancce moved the confidence motion last Monday, says a report in the Shillong Times. Sangma said that the NPP got the people’s mandate after it conveyed to voters that it had no understanding with the BJP, “but the fact is that the BJP is part and parcel of the government”. He wanted to know, which party is leading the government — the BJP or NPP — or is it the conglomeration of both and other parties. He also pointed out that during the swearing-in ceremony the saffron colour was seen all over.

Though home minister James Sangma and BJP member Sanbor Shullai stood up to clarify, Speaker Donkupar Roy adopted a cautious approach and prevented them from further discussing the issue.

Einstein remembered

Albert Einstein’s birthday was celebrated in the department of physics of Arya Vidyapeeth College in Guwahati, says a report in the Assam Tribune. In the beginning, one-minute silence was observed to pay respect to legendary British physicist Stephen Hawking, who died on March 14, the same date as Einstein’s birthday.

It was followed by an inter-departmental quiz competition among the major students of 13 groups on topics related to Einstein and his works. The quiz was conducted by Krishna Kingkar Pathak and Satyadeep Bhattacharya, faculty members of the department.

Prasad Basu, assistant professor of the department of physics, Cotton University, delivered a talk on “Einstein — the legend and his contributions to science”. Basu lucidly explained Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity is an experimentally confirmed theory that shows how space and time are intimately connected to each other. Next, he discussed the General Theory of Relativity, which is one of the towering achievements of 20th century physics.

Basu explained how light from a distant star/planet bends when it passes near a star as per Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. He illustrated how the universe, which is about 13.7 billion years old, has been continuously expanding since the Big Bang, first predicted by Russian mathematician Alexander Friedmann and confirmed experimentally by American astronomer Edwin Hubble.

There was an interactive session after the talk where questions on Dark Matter, Dark Energy and Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation were put to the speaker by the audience.

Earlier, Pradip Bhattacharjee, principal of the college, and Apurba Kumar Das, convener of the programme, gave the welcome address.