Development / Assam

Guwahati, March 10: Carrying huge and voluminous maps will be a thing of the past as it will now be available on CDs. The Assam-Nagaland Geospatial Data Centre under Survey of India here is preparing digital maps of Assam and Nagaland, which will also be available for the common people.

?Students or researchers will not have to pore over entire maps for specific information. Now, they will be able to get a CD pertaining to their area of interest,? a source said. The maps will be prepared digitally on the world geodetic system, in other words, based on land survey.

For example, if a student or...

Kokrajhar, March 10: The Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD) executive member Bishiram Narzary has taken up an extensive programme for saving the forests within the Bodoland administrative set-up. Narzary, who holds the forest portfolio in the BTAD, has conducted a series of surprise raids, resulting in the seizure of illegal timber worth Rs 1 crore.

The BTAD is blessed with the largest forest cover in the state with a national park at Manas and three wildlife sanctuaries at Orang, Bornodi and Chakrasila besides several other reserved forests. However, militants and timber...

Guwahati, March 7: The Assam government will soon set up trade offices of the neighbouring countries here. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi said this during an interaction with the foreign participants today ? the concluding day of the 11th International Guwahati Trade Fair at the Judges Field.

?We want to develop trade ties with the South East Asian countries. This will help promote trade and commerce and develop contacts with the traders of these countries,? Gogoi said.

After a t?te-?-t?te with them, the chief minister, accompanied by his wife, went on a whirlwind tour of all the foreign stalls...

New Delhi, March 3: There is finally hope for Majuli. The Jorhat-based Rain Forest Research Institute has decided to implement an anti-erosion project, based on unconventional methods, to stop the riverine island from being gobbled up by the Brahmaputra.

The scheme, jointly sponsored by the National Mission for Bamboo Applications and the Jorhat Zilla Parishad, envisages planting of different species of bamboo and grass in the affected zones of the island, as they are known to have properties that help check erosion.

The project not only promises to be effective, but is also likely to open up...

Dibrugarh, March 3: The ambitious Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge project is likely to be delayed by two years beyond the earlier schedule.

Only 30 per cent of the work has been completed on the Rs 1,762-crore project till date. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while inaugurating work on the project at the Chowkidingee playground here on April 21, 2001, had appealed to the Railways to complete the construction work by 2006. The then Railway Board Chairman I.I.M.S. Rana had publicly assured that the bridge would be completed in six years.

Talking to a group of reporters at the project site...

Guwahati, Feb. 29: Pre-paid mobile phone service is set to make a comeback in Assam and the other northeastern states after communication minister Arun Shourie promised to take up the matter with the Union home ministry.

The Centre?s assurance came after cellphone users, including those running the governments of Assam and Meghalaya, protested against the withdrawal of the pre-paid facility by Reliance Telecom Ltd, the only service provider in Guwahati and Shillong.

Speaking at the launch of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd?s (BSNL) CellOne mobile service here today, chief general manager of...

Guwahati, Feb. 28: BSNL?s CellOne will be launched here tomorrow following Delhi?s strict directive to start the cellular phone service in Assam within February. The BSNL will be the second cellular service provider in the city after Reliance Telecom, which is at present locked in a stand-off with the National Students Union of India (NSUI).

A senior BSNL official on condition of anonymity said the CellOne launch had to be advanced following a strict directive from Delhi.

?We received instructions from Delhi last evening that the service has to be launched within February. Tomorrow being the...

Feb. 26: Life expectancy at birth in Assam is below the national average and is one of the lowest among major Indian states. This is only a fragment of the dismal picture that was brought out in the first-ever human development report of Assam, which was released today.

The report also says a high proportion of persons over 60 years continues to participate in the workforce. Two out of every three men over the age of 60 years have to work. ?This reflects society?s inability to allow people, specially the poor, to retire. Low incomes and no savings for many people mean that they have to...

UPORKHUTI, Feb 17 ? Several villages viz Betagaon, Jabarangpara, Suwagpur, Kauli, Bholajhar, Bongalipara, Upor-khuti, Bogamati etc mainly located in the foothills of the Bhutan border falling under the jurisdiction of Nalbari and Kamrup districts, 25 km away from Goreswar have remain underdeveloped since indepen-dence. Numerous problems plague the area inhabited by people of various communities like SCs, STs, OBC, Adivasis, Bengalis, Nepalis and others.

On many occasions, applications and memorandums have been submitted to the concerned authorities and the local MLAs of Tamulpur and Rangia...

AZARA, Feb 15? Brick industries located at different parts of south Kamrup area have been creating environmental pollution during the winter season every year. It may be noted here that about 50 brick industries are located at Dharapur, Khanamukh, Azara, Garal, Palasbari, Nahira etc in south Kamrup.

The pollution level of the brick kilns is increasing so much so that it has affected most of the agricultural lands in entire south Kamrup. Over 20,000 acres of prime agricultural lands are being annually lost to accommodate these industries. Unfortunately, the black smoke emanating from a jet...