When 67-year old Maulana Abu Syed Munshi, the Imam of Natun Majid at Thakuranbari village woke up on Wednesday, he was shell-shocked to find himself all alone in the village. The other villagers were nowhere to be seen. The 112 odd houses wore a deserted look, with not even a dog or a chicken in sight in the village that stretches for 1.5 kilometre.

India has lodged strong protest with Bangladesh against aggressive acts in that country's borders with Meghalaya and Assam and asking Dhaka to desist from such inimical activities. In the wake of the series of such incidents-first at Pyrduwah village where BDR personnel encircled the BSF post, killed one BSF jawan and took some of the injured personnel captive, drove out the villagers and settled Bangladeshi civilians on indisputably Indian territory and then shot down a BSF patrol party inside Indian territory at Boraibari also in Meghalaya.

To soothe the body and mind seared by soaring temperatures, a host of chilling options have hit the town. And, of course, without cutting deep into your pocket.

The mouth-watering tarbooz (water melon) is seducing the passerby at every road junction in the city. These round characters have come from outside the state-all the way from places as far as Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, Siliguri, etc.,-and have been strategically placed at busy crossings and market places in the city.

The overnight program was attended by more than 80 from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman and Oman. It was for the first time that the Assamese Community of United Arab Emirates celebrated the advent of the Assamese New Year in a big way together with their counterparts from Oman.