Development / Assam

TEZPUR, Feb 15 ? The Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), popularly known as the ?Assam Accord Refinery?, which was included in the Accord signed on August 15, 1985, as a part of the Centre?s economic package for speedy development of Assam, is now trying to export its products, to geographically contiguous countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar, according to BK Das, Managing Director, NRL.

Talking exclusively to this correspondent at Tezpur University complex, Das said being logistically easy to access through road, rail and river routes, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar are a natural...

GUWAHATI, Feb 11 ? After a series of discussions and negotiations during the last one month, noted construction company Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has agreed to take the responsibility of construction works of the stadiums for the forthcoming National Games to be organised by the State in November 2005.

L&T has taken up the works at a cost of Rs 139, 45, 66, 938, which is over Rs one crore lower than their lone opponent Nagarjuna. The agreement was made last evening and the Chief Minister also approved it. As per the agreement, the organisers of the National Games have to pay 15 pc of the total...

Feb. 8: Railway minister Nitish Kumar today guided the National Democratic Alliance?s pre-poll gravy train into Assam, setting the pace for a whirlwind BJP campaign that includes plans for eight star-spangled rallies in the state and 15 throughout the Northeast in just 10 days.

Accompanied by defence minister George Fernandes and food and consumer affairs minister Sharad Yadav, Kumar flagged off work on two rail projects ? restoration and gauge conversion from Haibargaon to Moirabari and Senchowa to Silghat, both in Nagaon district.

The inauguration of the twin projects, estimated to cost Rs...

CHAPAR, Feb 7 ? The river Manas is creating havoc in North Salmara subdivision of Bongaigaon district for the last few years. It has eroded villages, educational and religious institutions, cultivating land and fisheries in Mererchar, Dubachuri, Sikatari and Madhufal areas.

The river which flows through a densely populated area here, has been changing its meandering course every year, and in the process swallowing up hundreds of bighas of land every year. In Dubachuri, it has eroded the villages, the paddy and horticultural fields fisheries out of which the masses earn their daily bread...

New Delhi, Feb. 5: The ministry of water resources, which is looking for a long-term solution to erosion at Majuli, has asked the Brahmaputra Board to conduct model studies. The ministry has also decided to ask the Assam government for clarification on the proposal submitted by the latter to protect the Hatimura dyke in Nagaon.

Sources in the ministry said the Brahmaputra Board had submitted a project report on erosion three months ago, which was examined by the Central Water Commission.

?The model studies advised by the ministry are based on this project report. The idea is to ensure that the...

DIBRUGARH, Feb 1 ?Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today laid the foundation stone of the highly ambitious Project HOPE (Hospital of People?s Expectations) at the Assam Medical College here this afternoon. The Centrally funded project has the potential to change the infrastructure scenario at the Assam Medical College. New Delhi has already committed Rs 20 crore to get the project going.

In his brief address on the occasion, the Chief Minister said he would like to see the Assam Medical College see its glorious days once again, and called for time-bound completion of the project?s work. The work...

NEW DELHI, Feb 1 ? Faced with unflattering strictures, Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) has laid the blame for delay in execution of the multi-purpose Pagladiya Dam Project at Assam Government?s doorstep, even as it was directed to work out a time-schedule and ensure strict monitoring of the project implementation.

The long-pending project initially estimated to cost Rs 542.90 crore was cleared in 2001 hit a major roadblock in the form of problems over land acquisition and relief and rehabilitation of displaced people. The MoWR has held that delay in handing over the land and security...

GUWAHATI, Jan 31 ? National Hydro-electric Power Corporation Ltd has finalized contract agreement for major civil works for the 2000 MW Subansiri Lower HE Project, located in Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh and Dhemaji district of Assam.

The Corporation has signed the agreements with M/s Boguchangesstroy (BGS) (Russia) ? Soyuzgidrospetsstroy (SGS) (Russia) ? Soma JV for construction of concrete gravity dams works at a contract price of Rs 1098 crore and with M/s Larsen & Toubro Ltd. for the construction of power house and water conductor system works at a contract price of Rs...

Jorhat, Jan. 29: The ethos of conservation and the commercial considerations of tourism will find a meeting ground during the second edition of the Assam Elephant Festival, which gets under way at Kaziranga National Park tomorrow.

The issue that is expected to dominate the seminars organised as part of the festival is the man-elephant conflict in the vicinity of wildlife habitats. UK-based elephant conservationist Mark Chan, whose surname might attract more attention than his pioneering work, has been invited to the three-day festival as a state guest. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi will...

New Delhi, Jan. 28: The Centre has decided not to divest its stake in the Bokajan factory of the Cement Corporation of India (CCI) because it has been consistently posting profits, unlike most other plants of the public sector unit.

This is the second instance of Delhi retaining its share in an Assam-based PSU after hinting at a selloff. The divestment axe was expected to fall on the Brahmaputra Valley Fertilisers Corporation Ltd in Namrup, too, but the government changed its mind and decided to pump in over Rs 600 crore to revamp it.

Between 1998 and 2003, the CCI unit in Bokajan recorded a...