Development / Northeast

SHILLONG, February 1: Northeastern Council (NEC) will release Rs 90.08 crore for implementation of various NEC schemes in different states in the region, sources in the Council said. The various NEC schemes which have been accorded approval and sanctions by NEC secretary HWT Syiem include construction of RCC bridges, approach roads, sub-ways and double lane bridges, they said. Besides, NEC has also sanctioned Rs 43,066 for quarterly publication of the news journal, sanctioned payment for the general secretary, composers, accompanist-singers, social and cultural organisation of Norngrim hills...

SHILLONG, January 31: A Rs 160-crore project, jointly conceived by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Centre, has been aimed at improving the livelihood of vulnerable groups in the Northeast through management of resources that contribute to preservation and restoration of the environment, reports UNI. The ambitious "Northeast Region Community Resource Management Project" was founded with the aim to secure participation of village communities in planning and management of all development interventions by reinforcing the strength of community-based organisation. Project...

GUWAHATI, January 28: The Gujarat earthquake tragedy has brought into sharp focus the danger facing the inhabitants of the Northeastern region, which is located in one of the high seismic zones of the country. However, ironically attempts to enlighten the people and the Government about the dangers of high-rise buildings not constructed as per norms to withstand a major earthquake are often seen as attempts to frustrate development. A series of reports carried by this paper about a year back, on the possibility of a major earthquake with the magnitude of over 8 on the Richter Scale, hitting...

DIMAPUR, January 21: Union Communication Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today said towns in the entire Northeast will get cell phone services by August-September as his ministry has been persuading ministries of Defence and Home Affairs to give clearance to open up the facility in the region, reports PTI. "The region should not be deprived of the facility on the pretext of security reasons and I hope the Defence and Home Ministries will give their nod soon and we can expect the services by August-September next," Paswan said while inaugurating the office of the Chief General Manager, NE Telecom...

TURA, August 10: The Tura campus of the Northeastern Hill University (NEHU), even after years of its establishment, continues to function from the hostel of the Government Boys High School. A site selection committee for looking into the acquisition of land for the permanent campus has already selected a large area outside Tura on the National Highway. But now there is concern among the people of Garo Hills that even this selection will only be on paper as the state government is yet to pay up. The Garo Graduates' Union (GGU), an influential and intellectual group, has expressed concern over...

JORHAT, August 9: Development activities along the Assam-Nagaland border within Jorhat district have taken a backseat over the past few months as an amount of Rs 23 lakh sanctioned by the state government for welfare works in the area for the financial year March 2000-2001 is still awaiting release. A bone of contention between the two neighbouring states since the past few decades, frequent skirmisher along the border over allegations of land encroachment have been a constant pain in the neck especially for the Assam Government, which has all along claimed that land-hungry Naga folks have...

DHUBRI, August 7: The proposed new broad gauge railway line from New Mainaguri (West Bengal) to Jogighopa (Assam) via Boxirhat is soon going to be shelved, according to a feasibility report proposed on the line. It is known from a letter written by AS Choudhury, DGM(G), Alipurduar to the Railway Users Advisory Committee that the proposal for the construction of the new BG line from New Mainaguri to Jogighopa at an estimated cost of nearly Rs 700 crore is now going to be shelved for two reasons - (i) unproductive nature of the line and (ii) constraints of resources. It may be recalled that the...

GUWAHATI, August 7: The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), in a bid to encourage export of pineapples from the Northeast is experimenting with the cultivation of organic pineapple in the region for which there is a good market, especially in Europe. Almost 19 per cent of the total land under horticultural crops in the region is devoted to pineapple cultivation and Assam, along with Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur, are among the major pineapple producing states in the country. However, it is only now that an attempt is being made to grow the fruit...

NEW DELHI, August 6: After the Central Government's permission to allow foreigners to visit Nagaland, the Union Home and Tourism Ministries have received demands for lifting restrictions on the foreign tourists in other Northeastern states as well. These states, including Manipur, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, have made a beeline for the two Ministries, and requested that foreigners should be allowed a free access in order to boost tourism. The government had last month lifted the ban on foreign tourists in certain districts of Nagaland. A decision on the demands of the other Northeast states...

NEW DELHI, August 6: The Centre would give a special thrust to set up food parks in the Northeastern states to facilitate new food processing units that could value-add to the region's vast horticultural resources, Minister of State for Food Processisng Chaoba Singh said on Saturday, reports UNI. Inaugurating a seminar here on development of the Northeast, he pointed out that the food park scheme would provide a total technology and infrastructure package to important horticultural produce collection centres. Facilities for the food park would include cold storage, cold chain, warehousing...