Development / Northeast

NEW DELHI, March 4: An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale jolted Northeastern India including Assam and neighbouring Myanmar early today causing panic among the people though there were no reports of any casualty or damage to property. The quake occurred at 4.26 am and had its epicentre on Indo-Myanmar border, Meteorological Department said here. A moderate quake, lasting a few seconds, was experienced in Mizoram, H Lallenmawia, superintending geologist of the Geology and Mining Department, said in Aizawl. An earthquake, the second in the past six days, shook Meghalaya capital...

IMPHAL, March 2: External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh today informed the Rajya Sabha that the Centre has already sanctioned an amount of Rs 19.68 crore for the construction of a national highway connecting Tamu with the country. He was replying to a question raised by Rajya Sabha MP, W Angou Singh. The minister further informed the House that the project was taken up to foster cross border trade, tourism and to improve the economic condition of the Border States. To another question raised by W Angou, Union minister of State for Road Transport and Highway, BS Khundu said that construction...

SHILLONG, Mach 2: The North Eastern Council (NEC) has accorded administrative approval to schemes worth Rs 31.34 crore besides releasing Rs 25.16 crore during February this year. Council sources said the schemes cleared included the expansion programme of the Regional Dental College at Guwahati at an estimated cost Rs 4 crore. A grant of Rs 1 crore has been sanctioned to the Government of Assam to implement the scheme. The Assam Government has been given another grant of Rs 54 lakh for development of an integrated muga project and muga silk industry. The scheme has a loan component of another...

GUWAHATI, March 1: In a major setback to the state government's efforts to promote Assam as a major tourist destination for footloose Europeans, three countries have warned their citizens not to tour the militancy-ravaged state. Though the state government insists that the law and order situation has returned to normal, not everyone is convinced. Governments of United Kingdom, France and Switzerland have advised tourists against visiting Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland. The "warning" has been posted in the official websites of the departments handling foreign affairs of the three European...

ITANAGAR, March 1: Centre has given special attention for the development and promotion of tourism in Northeastern region to solve the unemployment problems, according to Director General of Tourism, Atul Sinha, reports UNI. Talking to newspersons at Roing, in Dibang valley district of Arunachal Pradesh recently, Sinha said "Brahmaputra Darshan festival" was organised for this purpose. "Tourism sector will not only generate employment opportunities to the educated youths of the region, it will also boost the economy of the region," he commented. Sinha said infrastructure was the real...

SHILLONG, March 1: North Eastern Council (NEC) Secretary HWT Syiem today approved Rs 31,34,319 and sanctioned Rs 25,16,520 for implementation of 35 schemes for the Northeastern States, according to NEC sources here. Road and building construction, development of industries, promotion of health services, setting up of handloom units, upgradation of orthopaedic and rehabilitation centres and establishment of diabetes research centres were some of the important schemes, the sources added.

SILCHAR, February 27: The Centre is often accused of neglecting the Northeast and even of being discriminatory in releasing of funds for development projects. But, according to a document of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Northeast States are themselves to blame for creating logjam on utilization of huge Central funds due mainly to their slipshod approach, non-submission of proposals and non-adherence to financial norms. During 1999-2000, Assam was granted Rs 3606.83 lakh for rural development schemes including three special muga, eri silk and mushroom projects. Assam could utilise a meagre 10...

NEW DELHI, February 26: For the second year in a row, the Railway Budget held out nothing new for the Northeast, provoking sharp reaction among the members from the region. Members belonging to the Assam Congress besides S K Bwismuthiary stormed to the Well of the House to lodge their protest. While no new trains were introduced in the region, the Railway Budget also did not have any provision to increase frequency of the existing trains from the region. The prominent among the demands for increasing the frequencies were the Rajdhani Express and the Guwahati-Dadar Express. The frequencies of...

GUWAHATI, February 22: Captains of the industry have underlined the need for the removal of ground-level obstacles and impediments in the Northeast before expecting huge investment in the region. Speaking at the international conference on "Business opportunities in Northeast India-Guwahati Initiative," president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Chirayu R. Amin said a number of ground-level realities like land use policies, labour mobility and lack of market integration have to be addressed in the region before expecting huge investment. The two-day...

GUWAHATI, February 22: Former Lok Sabha Speaker, PA Sangma today said the Central Government and the people from the industry should realise that development was the pre-condition for restoration of peace in insurgency-ravaged Northeast region. Speaking as a special guest at the inauguration on two-day 'Guwahati Initiative' - an international conference on business opportunities in the Northeastern region organised jointly by the FINER and the FICCI with support from the NEC and the State Government - here this afternoon, Sangma said large-scale unemployment in this under developed region had...