GUWAHATI, January 29: Centre has prepared a scheme of Rs 55 crore to control flood havoc in the Brahmaputra and Barak Valleys. Disclosing this at a Flood Control Ministers meet of the Northeast, organised by the State Flood Control Department here today, the Union Minister for Water Resources, Arjun Charan Sethi informed that the funds will be provided as 90 per cent Central grant and 10 per cent State share. Sethi further said that Centre has released so far Rs 390.90 crore loan to the State to combat the flood problem. "Keeping in view the intensity of flood, the Brahmaputra Board has drawn...

GUWAHATI, January 29: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with Central Silk Board (CSB) has launched a Rs 1654.15 lakh programme under country co-operation framework to support the promotion and development of muga and eri silk industry in Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland, for three years. Inaugurating a 15-day resource development programme here, Joint Director of CSB and sub-programme coordinator of UNDP, JV Krishna Rao said the non-mulberry silk development programme would focus on participation of rural masses especially women. The programme will also focus on...

GUWAHATI, January 28: The Gujarat earthquake tragedy has brought into sharp focus the danger facing the inhabitants of the Northeastern region, which is located in one of the high seismic zones of the country. However, ironically attempts to enlighten the people and the Government about the dangers of high-rise buildings not constructed as per norms to withstand a major earthquake are often seen as attempts to frustrate development. A series of reports carried by this paper about a year back, on the possibility of a major earthquake with the magnitude of over 8 on the Richter Scale, hitting...

GOLAGHAT, January 28: The people of Alichinga-Kochupukhuri village of Golaghat district recently stumbled across a brick house belonging to the Ahom period while they were clearing an area near Dhansiri river for cultivation. Big amounts of ancient ruins and other artifacts like statues of Sun god were recovered from the spot. When some mediapersons recently visited the places where the ruins and artifacts were found, the villages headmen of the concerned villages complained that as a group of encroachers were clearing the area for dwelling purposes, some valuable ancient ruins got damaged in...

AGARTALA, January 28: Allegations have been levelled against the Baptist Church in the state that it is forcibly trying to convert Hindu tribal students in schools run by it. The Baptist Church authorities in Khumlung have allegedly made it incumbent upon Hindu tribal students in a school near the headquarters of the autonomous district council to attend regular prayer sessions in a nearby church. With this allegation, the growing religious conflict between the National Liberation Front of Twipra and the Hindu resistance groups over the issue of forced conversion drive by militants has taken a...