Economy / Northeast

GUWAHATI, Feb 22 – An amount of Rs 32 crore is due as penalty from defaulting establishments in the North-east to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) during 2002-03, while the corresponding figure for the entire country is Rs 600 crore. Revealing this, the North-east Regional PF Commissioner (FAEP) Pankaj today said the process of recovering the penalty was under way.

The EPFO in the North-east covers 3,863 establishments catering to 2,22,000 subscribers up to March 31, 2002. Of them, 646 establishments are defaulters while 2,800 have been irregular in contributing their...

ITANAGAR, Feb 20 — Arunachal Pradesh government has taken up with the Defence Ministry to strengthening road communication along McMahon line in view of the ongoing massive infrastructural development across the border in China, reports PTI. “Security of the country should be the utmost consideration,” said Takam Sanjoy, government spokesman and education minister of Arunachal Pradesh, which has about 1500 km international border with China.

Development of the state’s border area could not be ignored in view of its “strategically sensitive” nature and Arunachal Pradesh government had drawn...

GUWAHATI, Feb 18 – Being aware of the tremendous potential for development of inter-regional trade between Bangladesh and North East India, the South Asian Enterprise Development Pacility (SEDF), funded by IFC, has taken up the task to facilitate formal Indo-Bangla trade in the region in a greater scale.

To achieve the goal of formalisation of the huge volume of informal/illegal trade going on across the Indo-Bangla border in the region, the SEDF is trying to facilitate frequent meaningful interaction amongst the businessmen and industry on both side of the border. The SEDF believes...

Guwahati, Feb. 16: The business fraternity in Bangladesh, especially those keen on trade with India, feels that it is imperative to make a fresh beginning to boost trade relations with the Northeast.

A high-powered trade delegation from the neighbouring country met prominent chambers of commerce and industry in the Northeast on Saturday to push trade relations.

The meeting was organised by the Northeast Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Talking to The Telegraph, director of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce Sayeeful Islam said frequent interactions between trade bodies of both the countries had led...

Imphal, Febuary 11: There is great imbalance in the export and import ratio of the trade being carrying out between India and Myanmar under the Indo-Myanmar Border Trade Agreement, an official of the State Commerce and Industries Department disclosed. The border trade between the two neighboring countries was established under an agreement signed some five years ago. Altogether 22 items can be imported from Myanmar but the items that can be exported are many and because of this imbalance the ongoing trade is not successful, the official said. The State Government had already submitted a...

LONGWA (Indo-Myanmar border), Feb 9 ? ?Nga trade chira India me... (we want trade with India for which both India and ?Burma? should work together for boosting trade), this was observed by a group of Myanmarese people living along the international border near Longwa. Longwa, a small village of Mon district of Nagaland has become a major trade point between India and Myanmar. The people of both the countries exchange their goods through barter system on every Friday, keeping aside their border dispute. The Indians generally exchange salt, potatoes, cattle and clothes while the Myanmarese...

Guwahati, Feb. 8: The state governments of the Northeast have failed to spend Rs 23 crore allocated over the past year under various schemes by the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment.

However, many schemes require matching contributions from the state governments, who are not in a position to disburse funds due to financial stringency.

Joint secretary in the ministry Rajwant Sandhu disclosed here today that of the allotted Rs 63 crore for the Northeast, the governments have utilised only Rs 40 crore. She said utilisation of funds in the current year is not very healthy either.

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Guwahati, Feb. 4: The North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi) has called for laying emphasis on industries which can use local resources and have a local market.

Speaking at business meetings organised by the NEDFi at Silchar and Aizawl recently, its chairman and managing director J.P. Saikia said as big investments and outside investors were not forthcoming, the priority should be to develop local material.

The business meets were organised to woo local entrepreneurs of Barak Valley in Assam and Mizoram and to attract investors from outside to these regions.

Saikia...

NEW DELHI, Feb 4 ? Unimpressed by the progress in implementation of projects in the North-east, Prime Minister?s Office has constituted a special committee headed by Union Cabinet Secretary to monitor the progress of three selected projects. The projects which were part of the Prime Minister?s 28-point economic package has been making tardy progress forcing the PMO to intervene. The projects included the Rs 6,608 crore lower Subansiri Hydel project, North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (NEIGRIMS) and the border fencing project.

All the three projects have run out of...

Guwahati, Jan. 30: The North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (Neepco) has once again threatened to regulate power supply to state governments of the region for failing to clear their outstanding dues.

A Neepco communiqu? issued by L.A. Kharmawphlang, assistant manager (public relations), said the situation has come to such a pass that the corporation is finding it difficult to run its power stations and continue uninterrupted supply of power. ?We will be compelled to regulate power supply to the defaulting states,? the corporation said.

The total outstanding dues of the...