Society / Assam

GUWAHATI, April 16 — Rongalee Bihu, the biggest festival of the State, is being celebrated all over with much fanfare and traditional gaiety with the sounds of dhol, pepa and gogona reverberating through the air. Rongalee Bihu, also called Bohag Bihu, heralds the Assamese New Year along with the season of spring. For the people of Assam, it is not just a festival but something that is embedded deep into the people’s psyche. It is the harbinger of hope, merriment, creation and bliss. The Bihu celebrations that began on Monday will continue till tomorrow, and in some places even beyond. The...

MIRZA, April 10 — The blacksmiths of Palashbari constituency whose smithies (workshops) — which are a legacy of their ancestors spanning more than one hundred years are a frustrated lot nowadays. The trade which earns them two spartan meals a day is a laborious one and no longer a paying one. Cutlers predominate the Amranga Medhipara area of Boridhat. Their ironworks include knives, cleavers, ploughs and tools of carpentry except saw. Selling them in the market sometimes for a song they get a paltry amount by which they can hardly maintain their families.

“Time was when a bagful of essential...

Guwahati, April 7: Patients from the Northeast will no longer have to rush to the metros in search of blood components — red blood cells, platelets, fresh frozen plasma, platelet-rich plasma and cryo-precipitate.

With Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today inaugurating the region’s first state-of-the-art model blood bank at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), one of the biggest problems faced by patients needing blood is expected to be solved. The blood bank will also function as a regional transfusion centre.

Guwahati, which has a population of 15 lakh, requires 300 units of blood...

GUWAHATI, April 7 — The maidams of Charaideo in Sivasagar District are unique monuments. The practice of burying the dead ones, as has been found in the maidams, is to be found nowhere in the rest of India. The structure of the one excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is also huge and unique. It resembles only the Egyptian pyramids, said Dr Syed Jamal Hasan, Superintending Archaeologist of the ASI’s Guwahati Circle.

Dr Hasan, who was the director of the excavation works of the Maidam No. 2 of the four maidams, declared as centrally protected sites by the Government of India...

GUWAHATI, April 4 — Dilip Sharma and Sudakshina Sharma, the seasoned singing couple of the State who have carved a niche for themselves in the field of Jyoti Sangeet, have been honoured with the prestigious Sangeet-Natak Akademi award of the year 2002. The award has been bestowed on the two veteran singers in recognition to their relentless drive spacing over several decades for the cause and spread of Jyoti Sangeet. Airing his feelings after receiving the award, Dilip Sharma told The Assam Tribune that “even though it came somewhat late, it is definitely an occasion to feel upbeat about as it...

GUWAHATI, April 4 — Hit hard by severe fund crunch and sheer apathy of the State Government, the Jyoti Chitraban Film and Televsion Institute, the only AICTE — approved institute in the North-East providing theoretical and practical training in all aspects of film and televsion programmes production, is today gasping for breath. Set up in 1999 by the Jyoti Chitraban Film Studio Society, the institute has been rendering yeoman’s service for all those aspiring youths who want to make a career in film and video programme production, besides meeting to a great extent the perennial shortage of...

NALBARI, April 3 – When the Central and State governments have been trying to make the ongoing Sarba Siksha Mission Abhijan a grand success in each district of the State, the primary education system of insurgency-infested Nalbari district continues to be in deplorable condition. In the district, at least 13 primary school are running without own building and the building of other 50 schools are in a very deplorable state having no atmosphere for imparting lessons to primary level students. Similarly, 188 primary schools are running with single teacher making the students a disadvantaged lot.

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GUWAHATI, April 2 — The Assam Legislative Assembly today passed the Assam State Commission for Minorities Bill, 2003 to pave the way for setting up of a State Commission for Minorities. The Commission will consist of a chairperson and two members — one from the religious and one from linguistic minority groups — to be nominated by the State government. Retired judges of the High Court will be appointed as chairpersons and members and their term will be for a period of three years. The State government will provide the Commission with a secretary and such other officers and employees as may be...

GUWAHATI, April 1 –The Assam Legislative Assembly today passed a unanimous resolution to declare Majuli river island a culturally protected area. The resolution, moved by Rajiv Lochan Pegu of the Congress was supported by legistators of all the parties and groups. Moving the resolution, Sri Pegu stressed the need for protecting the rich Satriya cultural heritage of Majuli. He said that though Satriya dance has been recognised as a classical dance form of the country, it may lose its originality if steps are not taken to protect the Satriya cultural heritage. He pointed out that the UNESCO...

GUWAHATI, March 27 – With Government of India showing increasing interest in development of tourism in the State and the region, it is time for the State Government to entrust management of this sector to professionals with proven track record and having capability to involve the masses and private entrepreneurs in developing tourism facilities. There is no denying the fact that vested nexus of politicians, contractors and bureaucrats has been the bane for the tourism sector in the State taking advantage of the inconsistent efforts of the State Government in respect of this potent sector.

How...