Development

GUWAHATI, Aug 19?The Gauhati High Court today temporarily dispensed with appearance of Col Jagmohan Singh, the Commandant of 17th Assam Rifles, from appearing before the Commission of Inquiry appointed by Manipur Government on July 12, 2004 to inquire into the killing of Manorama Devi. Justice B K Sarma posted the case on August 27 next on prayer made by Mr Jalaluddin. Advocate appearing for Manipur Government. The High Court however permitted the Commission to record evidence in camera in terms of the Commission?s order dated August 7. The Commission headed by C Upendra Singh. Retired Session...

GUWAHATI, Aug 19 ? Bamboo, which is fast emerging as the most viable wood alternative the world over, can be effectively used to revive the closed down plywood units of the State and the North-East. ?It is possible to use bamboo for majority of applications of wood, particularly in larger volumes like paper, plywood, construction and furniture, and it really holds a lot of promise for restarting the 70-odd plywood industries of the North-East,? Kamesh Salam, Director, Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC), Guwahati, told The Assam Tribune today.

?It should be a very rewarding venture from...

NEW DELHI, Aug 19 ? Amidst growing nervousness over Manipur, Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil dangled the bait of economic package for the State, reiterating the Centre?s offer for dialogue to end the impasse. Manipur is fast turning out to be a painful thorn in the flesh for the Union Home Minister as he continues to be under fire of his colleagues and UPA allies. If Congressmen are unhappy with him and refuses to share his views on the State, CPI one of the UPA allies blasted him for failing to deliver.

Sources in the Left said that at the meeting of the UPA here yesterday, the CPI leaders...

GUWAHATI, Aug 19 ? The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has turned into a group of mercenaries carrying out heinous crimes at the behest of foreign agencies inimical to India, said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. However, Gogoi refrained from naming the foreign agency at whose behest the ULFA was allegedly working. Addressing a Press Conference at the Janata Bhawan here today, the Chief Minister strongly criticised the ULFA for the dastardly killing of women and children in Dhemaji on the Independence Day and said that such actions thoroughly exposed the insurgent outfit. Astonishingly, the...

NEW DELHI, Aug 18 ? Stating that it had agreed to vacate the contentious Kangla Fort in the heart of Imphal 12 years ago, the Centre today said the new location for Assam Rifles was almost ready but the Manipur Government was yet to provide basic facilities there. Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal informed Rajya Sabha that a major portion of the Kangla Fort is likely to be vacated by December this year if the State Government provided basic facilities like roads, electricity and water supply to enable the Assam Rifles to shift there.

Vacation of the Kangla Fort, where the Assam...

KOHORA, Aug 18 ? With centenary celebrations of Kaziranga National Park just round the corner, the park authority requires atleast Rs 6 crore to restore flood-ravaged infrastructure in the swampy abode of the world-famed one-horned rhinoceros. Talking to this newspaper, park director NK Vasu said, ?even on a cursory glance, the devastation caused to the infrastructural facilities by this year?s deluge is considerable?. Adding, he mentioned, ?though we are yet to ascertain the extent of damage deep inside the core area due to inaccessibility, it has been estimated that Rs 6 crore would be...

NEW DELHI, Aug 18 ? The Centre has confirmed that illegal infiltrators from the neighbouring countries have managed to obtain ration cards and voters identity cards. This was Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Sriprakash Jaiswal?s first remarks in the Rajya Sabha on the issue of illegal infiltration after the fiasco over the estimate of 1.20 crore illegal Bangladeshis staying in India.

Obviously suffering from the syndrome of once bitten twice shy, the Minister, who was forced to retract his earlier statement, however, did not name any country this time. The Foreigners Act 1946 under...

GUWAHATI, Aug 18 ? The people of Assam today spontaneously registered their protest against the brutal killing of 14 women and children in Dhemaji on the Independence Day by observing a 12-hour Assam bandh. Apart from a few stray incidents of pelting of stones, the bandh was by and large peaceful. The call for the bandh was given by the All Assam Students? Union (AASU) in protest against the killing of innocent women and children in Dhemaji and demanding resignation of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for the failure of the Government to protect the lives of innocent people. The AASU is also...

DIMAPUR, Aug 16 ? NSCN-IM observed ?Independence Day? at its Council headquarters at Camp Hebron in Intangki Reserved Forest near here on August 14. Chairman of the outfit Isak Chishi Swu, who is the president of the ?Government of the People?s Republic of Nagalim? (GPRN) in exile, greeted the people on the occasion of the 57th Independence Day. The presidential address was read out by Rh. Raising, Kilo kilonser (Home Minister) of the group who was the chief guest at the function.

A gathering of nearly 5,000 people witnessed the promotion of lieutenants, colonels, captains and majors of the...

IMPHAL, Aug 17 ? Student leader Pebam Chittaranjan who died of burns on Monday after setting himself ablaze in protest against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, alleged in a letter puportedly written by him that the people of Manipur were living under ?colonial rule?.

In the letter, written on Friday and released to the local press by some of his friends on Monday, he claimed that neither the state government nor the Centre was bothered to protect human rights in Manipur. Chittaranjan alleged that the people of the state had been suffering for years due to ?torture, excesses and...