Development / Northeast

GUWAHATI, July 19: Lt Gen Mahesh Vij took over the command of 4 Corps of the Army today from Lt Gen DB Shekathar. He will now be the GOC of 4 Corps as well as the operational head of the Unified Command structure, an Army release said. Lt Gen Mahesh Vij was born on February 3, 1944 at Trichinapally. He joined the National Defence Academy in June 1960 and was commissioned to 9th Battallion of the Rajputana Rifles in 1964. From 1981 to 1983 he commanded 7th Battallion of the Mechanise Infantry Regiment (I Dogra). In these 19 years of regimental service he attained vast experience of operating in...

AGARTALA, July 19: An ambitious Rs 220-crore project has been taken up by the Union Government to establish information technology network in all the 446 blocks in the seven north-eastern states and Sikkim, reports UNI. Stating this state's Information Technology, Industry and Commerce Minister Pabitra Kar told newsmen here today that in the first phase, 25 blocks of the seven Northeastern states would be covered during this year. Of the 25 blocks, 12 were in Assam, three in Tripura and two each in Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. Kar said the state government...

AGARTALA, July 19: Stage is all set for much awaited Agartala-Dhaka bus service. An India and Bangladesh joint team has already undertaken route survey for the proposed Agartala-Dhaka bus service on Wednesday. Sources said the members of both the countries will hold a high-level meeting on Thursday in Dhaka and decide as to which route will be better for Agartala-Dhaka bus service. The meeting will submit recommendations to Dhaka and Delhi on which a formal accord on the bus service will be signed by the both countries. It may be mentioned that both the countries have already agreed to sign...

GUWAHATI, July 17: The Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge Project (JMBP) in Bangladesh will ultimately lead to devastating flood and severe erosion in the Brahmaputra valley of Assam, warned noted geographer Manik Kar of Nowgong College. Jamuna is the name of the Bangladesh part of the Brahmaputra. A PhD in flood hazard, Kar said in his paper Flood Hazard Mitigation is an International Riddle : A Case Study of the Brahmaputra Valley (India), represented at an international conference on disaster management organised by CARE, UNDP and Dhaka University recently, that the around billion-dollar JMBP...

GUWAHATI, August 31: In a significant move, four countries - India, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh - have decided to boost the border trade and to improve the old existing roads linking the four countries. The decision was taken at an international conference on 'Regional economic cooperation and development involving India, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh' held at Kunming, China recently. The representatives of the four countries suggested setting up of trade points at Zemithang, Gelling and Kibithoo in the Northeast to facilitate trade with Myanmar and China. The three-day conference also laid...

DIBRUGARH, August 27: A part of the ancient Silk Route, the Stilwell Road, may be opened for civilians by 2005. That is the time when most trade of the globe would be opened up and liberalised, and the beneficiaries of the Stilwell Road are keen to have the roadblocks removed and pave the way for prosperity to unfurl in a hitherto landlocked hinterland. The four Governments in Beijing, New Delhi, Dhaka and Yangon appear enthusiastic from the outcome of an unofficial international conference that took place during the middle of this month at Kunming, the capital city of the south Chinese...

NEW DELHI, August 25: The threat of a massive power crisis looms large over the Northeast with the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) threatening to suspend its operations in the region owing to non-payment of outstanding dues to the tune of Rs 180 crore. The PGCIL, which has set up the North Eastern Regional Transmission System (NERTS) at the request of the Union government, has now approached the Centre to compensate for its losses in the region. Its request for a grant of Rs 800 crore to make good its losses in the Northeast is also pending approval by the government. Painting...

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...

AGARTALA, August 7: The Centre has earmarked Rs 200 crore to augment sub-transmission and the distribution network in the seven Northeast states. The North Eastern Regional Electricity Board (NEREB chairman and Tripura power minister Badal Chowdhury and other state power ministers today said they would jointly take up outstanding issues of power sector of the region with the Union power minister in November. The region's resources were yet to be properly utilised, though the region could generate 60,000 MW hydel power and meet with the northeastern, eastern and central India's power...

AGARTALA, August 7-The seven Northeast states have jointly urged the underground militant outfits of the region not to hinder developmental works. A resolution to this effect was passed at the 46th meeting of the North Eastern Regional Electricity Board (NEREB) here yesterday. Power ministers from Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and deputy chief minister of Mizoram, also holding the power portfolio, attended the meeting. The NEREB chairman and Tripura power minister Badal Chowdhury told newsmen here today that all the seven power ministers expressed concern over...