Development / Assam

NEW DELHI, August 19: The wind of investments blowing all over the country may have finally touched the Northeast following the exemption of central excise duty in the region. Two cigarette giants have submitted four proposals envisaging investments worth of over Rs 400 crore, of which Rs 313 crore are proposed to be invested in Assam. Just when the gloomy investments scenario in the Northeast was about to look up, the Centre's move to exempt excise duties in the region has been challenged, with the Tobacco Institute of India, an apex body of all tobacco manufacturers, questioning the...

GUWAHATI, August 17: The total cost of the proposed Pagladiya dam project of the Brahmaputra Board has been updated to Rs 522 crore as per the price levels of 1998. The project, which envisages flood moderation and irrigation benefits with incidental power generation was earlier approved from techno-economic angle of the technical advisory committee of the Union ministry of water resources at an estimated cost of Rs 472 crore (1998 price level). The project, involving the construction of an earlier dam of about 26 metre high, had already been cleared from environmental angle by the Union...

GUWAHATI, August 9: Both structural and non-structural methods should go hand in hand in taming the Brahmaputra. For the purpose of taming the river, a method should be designed in a manner, which gives equal emphasis on bamboo plantation near the roads and embankments and cane/nal and katah plantations near the river courses, according to Manik Kar, Professor of the Centre for Disaster Management, Tezpur University. He also called for an all-out social move in a concerted manner to mitigate disasters like floods. Kar who developed a flood history of the state through arduous research work...

GUWAHATI, August 8: A pilot project to reduce the maternal and infant mortality and morbidity rate has been launched in four districts of Assam by the state branch of the Indian Council of Child Welfare (ICCW). The project, sponsored by United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), if found successful, will be expanded to more districts later. According to the National Family Health Survey 1992-93, the under-5 infant mortality rate in Assam is 142 per thousand, one of the highest in the country. The all-India figure is 109 per thousand. Similarly, the maternal mortality rate in Assam is 544 per...

GUWAHATI, August 8: The product of a protracted popular movement, the Brahmaputra Board, which once gave the people of the Northeast and particularly, Assam, solace that the perennial problems of flood and erosion would be taken care of in a conclusive and speedy manner, has now allegedly started betraying the hopes of the people of the region as a whole. According to allegations, the 17-year-old board has now started handing over the task of implementing major projects, arduously prepared by its technocrats over the years, to other organisations to fulfil the careerist aspirations of some of...

GUWAHATI, August 7: The Assam government, the Planning Commission and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the preparation of a state human development report (HDR) for Assam. The MoU was signed by the state Chief Secretary PK Bora, Planning Commission advisor Dr Rohini Nayar and senior Deputy Resident of UNDP in India, Richard Conroy, at a workshop on human development organised by the state government. The report will provide a realistic assessment of the current status of human development, highlight areas of progress and...

MORIGAON, August 5: Loy Ram Bora is a schoolteacher by profession. But today he is no less than a flood control expert and an anti-erosion specialist. On the banks of the river Brahmaputra in Morigaon and Nagaon districts, he is the most sought-after person for his innovative method to fight erosion, the biggest problem of the area. In the last two decades, 45 revenue villages of Bhuragaon revenue circle were washed away by the mighty Brahmaputra. The Bhuragaon market was 7 km from the bank of decade ago. Today it is just 100 metres away, counting its days. Loy Ram Bora has seen people losing...

GUWAHATI, August 4: The North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) has sanctioned projects amounting to Rs 554 lakh in Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and Assam. An official release said the statewise allocation was: Mizoram Rs 156.30 lakh, Manipur Rs 156 lakh; Tripura Rs 105 lakh and Assam Rs 137 lakh. NEDFi has sanctioned Rs 144 lakh as term loan to Greenwood Hospital Pvt Ltd for setting up a 59-bed hospital in Bawngkawn, Aizawl. It is an existing hospital with 30 beds on rented premises and is the only private healthcare unit providing tertiary healthcare facility in Mizoram...

GUWAHATI, July 29: The damages caused by floods in Assam so far this year has been estimated to be to the tune of Rs 100 cr, according to the state minister for revenue, Zoii Nath Sarma. He, however, said that it was only a rough preliminary estimate and the actual damages can be ascertained only when the floodwaters recede. The minister said the calamity relief fund for the state for the current financial year has been fixed at Rs 52 cr. The central government will bear Rs 40 cr, while the balance will have to be borne by the state government. He said the Centre has so far released only Rs 13...

GUWAHATI, July 27: The North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) has proposed to generate additional power to the capacity of 475 MW during the remaining period of the Ninth Five-Year Plan. These include 405 MW of Ranganadi hydro-electric project (ongoing) in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, 25 MW from Doyang hydro-electric project (ongoing) in Nagaland and another 25 MW from Kopili hydro-electric project Stage-II in Assam. The corporation has also taken up the 60 MW capacity Tuirial hydro-electric project in Mizoram with the financial assistance from Overseas...