GUWAHATI, Dec 15 ? The State Assembly today passed the Appropriation Bills relating to the fiscal years between 1995 and 2000. The Bills were meant for legalising an amount of Rs 13135,65,46,854 from the Consolidated Fund against the excess expenditure made by the State administration during the said period.

Replying to the concerns expressed by the members on the issue of excess drawal of public money by some people, Minister of State for Finance Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Government had approached the State?s Vigilance Commissioner for categorical observations on the matter. There...

NEW DELHI, Dec 15 ? Renewed violence by outlawed ULFA notwithstanding, the Prime Minister is unlikely to send a signed letter inviting the outfit for talks, as suggested by Dr Mamoni Raisom Goswami, highly placed sources said. Though the Prime Minister?s Office is yet to reply to the Jnanpith Awardee?s second letter, the Centre has made up its mind not to despatch any letter signed by the Prime Minister to ULFA.

At least two senior Ministers in the UPA Government have ruled out the possibility of Dr Manmohan Singh writing directly to ULFA chief. Dr Goswami in her second letter to the Prime...

NEW DELHI, Dec 15 ? Months after the goof-up on figures of the illegal migrants in the State, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has claimed that 26,669 foreigners are staying illegally in Assam. In a Rajya Sabha reply, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Sriprakash Jaiswal said that according to available information 46,587 foreigners were staying illegally in India as on December 31,last year.

According to the figures submitted by the Minister, Assam is home to highest number of foreigners staying illegally in the country and even more than that of West Bengal where 14,131 such...

WASHINGTON, Dec 15 ? The World Bank has approved a USD 154 million International Development Association credit to assist the Assam Government in improving productivity of its agricultural sector, reports PTI. The credit is designed to stimulate the growth of Assam's agricultural economy, through predominantly pro-poor activities, directed primarily at small and marginal landholders, poor fishing communities, and the landless. Rural communities in all districts of the state will be impacted directly by various aspects of this project.

In Assam, the Bank notes, more than 85 per cent of the poor...

GUWAHATI, Dec 15 ? The proscribed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has denied the involvement of its cadres in yesterday?s Nagaon and Morigaon blasts and termed those as the handiwork of ?secret killers? working at the behest of the state intelligence.

In an e-mailed statement today, ULFA commander-in-chief, ?colonel? Paresh Barua said that the blasts were carried out by the state intelligence to give credence to their publicity blitzkrieg since the last few days that the ULFA would be triggering blasts at public places between December 13 and 15. The outfit has also extended its...