Development

GUWAHATI, July 29?Public Health Engineering (PHE) Minister Dinesh Prasad Gowala today told the State Assembly that fluoride contamination of ground water beyond permissible limit was detected in Karbi Anglong, Nagaon and Kamrup districts. Ground water in five blocks in each of Karbi Anglong and Nagaon districts and in three blocks of Kamrup district is found to be contaminated by such amounts of fluoride.

Very recently, he told the House, arsenic contamination of ground water was also detected in Karimganj and Dhemaji districts. In Karimganj district, 28 out of the 68 samples collected from...

GUWAHATI, July 29 ? Among the commodities the prices and availability of which have been affected by the recent floods, vegetables still have not returned to their pre-flood position. Despite being a part of the staple diet among the people, some vegetables are scarce in the market, while others are selling at high rates.

In the Machkhowa vegetable market ? popular among consumers for its reasonable rates ? potatoes and onions are among the few vegetables the prices of which have come down from a flood-time high. Today, potatoes were selling for Rs 10 per kg, while onions were priced at Rs 12...

GUWAHATI, July 29 ? Devastating floods seriously affected agriculture and according to preliminary estimates, more than 60 percent of the standing crop was damaged in the current wave of floods. This was disclosed by the Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Dr Nazrul Islam, who was replying to the debate on the cut motions on the demand for grant for the Agriculture Department for the current financial year in the State Assembly today. Dr Islam informed the House that more than 12 lakh farm families were affected in floods this year and standing crop in more than eleven lakh hectares of land were...

GUWAHATI, July 29: Transport Minister Anjan Dutta today announced his decision to resign from the post of Minister and also from membership of the Assembly till the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the crude oil theft scam is completed following a heated debate in the Assembly. The Assembly today witnessed noisy scenes and heated exchange of words between the ruling and opposition party members over the issue after AGP member Zoii Nath Sarma moved a motion of breach of privilege against the Transport Minister.

Moving the Motion, Sarma alleged that the Transport Minister had...

IMPHAL, July 28 ? The Court of Inquiry instituted by Assam Rifles for investigating into the custodial death of 30-year-old Th. Manorama Devi has found ?some lapses? by the personnel of the paramilitary force in implementation of instructions issued to them by the Army authorities.

A defence release said today the Court of Inquiry unearthed some lapses on the part of the Assam Rifles personnel regarding the implementation of instructions issued to them by the authorities.

The Court of Inquiry has completed its findings after inquiring into the circumstances that led to the killing of Manorama...

HAFLONG, July 28 ? Incessant rain followed by heavy landslides and erosion throughout the entire district of NC Hills has created havoc. Till the filing of this report, 44 villages were directly affected due to erosion and landslides,five villages were evacuated due to flood and three relief camps were opened at Diyungmukh area. A total of 793 houses were damaged leaving more than 7120 people homeless. A total of 300 cattle died and other properties worth more than four crore of rupees were lost. Crops areas measuring 205.20 hectare were damaged.

Major roads like the Dehangi-Diyungmukh...

SHILLONG, July 28 ? The Meghalaya Government has roped in the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) to help promote and develop tourism and tourism-related activities so as to effectively tackle the growing problem of educated unemployment in the state. Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang told newspersons at the Secretariat Conference Hall here today, ?We are aware that lack of employment is behind the rise of insurgency in the state. It is also evident that tourism holds the key in generating a lot of employment potential in the state.?

It is in this context that an Memorandum of...

GUWAHATI, July 28 ? The State Government has initiated steps for revival of the mill of the Assam Polyester Cooperative Society Limited (APOL) within the current financial year. This was disclosed by the Minister of State for Cooperation, Misbaul Islam Laskar in reply to a question by Pabindra Deka (Ind) in the State Assembly today.

The Minister told the House that mismanagement and financial constraint were two major reasons for the closure of the mill. He said that the State Government formed a three-member committee on July 4, 2002 to find out the reasons for the closure of the mill and to...

GUWAHATI, July 28 ? The overall flood situation is gradually improving in the State. Some relief camp inmates are now leaving for their homes. But, according to the official flood bulletin here this evening the situation is under watch in Morigaon, Karimganj, Nagaon, Goalpara etc, which are the worst affected districts.

Road communication in many districts is still disrupted. The NH 37 has been opened for vehicular traffic and is now witness to a heavy traffic jam because of the heavy rush of the upper Assam-bound trucks, said our Jagiroad Correspondent. On the other hand, though the NH 52 has...

GUWAHATI, July 28 ? The Assam Government today sought financial assistance to the tune of Rs 6881.61 crore from the Central Government for relief, rehabilitation and restoration of infrastructure damaged by the devastating floods. The State Government placed the demand before the inter-ministerial Central team, visiting the State for assessing the damage caused by the floods.

An official release said that the Central team today discussed the flood scenario in a meeting with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and senior State Government officials. The Chief Minister called upon the team members, headed...