NEW DELHI, June 18 — The major hydroelectric projects in the north-eastern region have been held up because of the delay in environment and forest clearances, and threat from militants. The ambitious plan of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) to generate bulk of the promised 50,000 MW of additional hydel power from the North-East is under threat of getting derailed in the face of the hue and cry raised by various NGOs.

Work on the 2000 MW Subansiri (Lower) Hydroelectric Project in Arunachal Pradesh was about to start when an objection over the environment clearance stalled it...

GUWAHATI, June 18 – In a major boost to the State’s agrarian economy, the World Bank (WB) has decided to sanction a loan worth Rs 901 crore to Assam for undertaking various projects under the Assam Agricultural Competitive Project (ACCP) 2004-09. The ACCP Task Manager Robert Epworth conveyed the good news to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi when he led a team to meet the latter at the Janata Bhawan here today.

The total loan component, together with the state’s contribution, would come to around Rs 966.82 crore. Of this, 47 percent would be spent on rural roads, 26 percent on agriculture and farm...

GUWAHATI, June 18 – The State Government is yet to establish any direct contact with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) for negotiation. However, the banned outfit has expressed its desire for a negotiated settlement of the issues it has raised, said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi here today. On the preconditions slapped by the militant outfit for talks, the Chief Minister, who was addressing the mediapersons at the Janata Bhawan auditorium this noon, said, “Let us establish the contacts first. We will then think of the conditions slapped by the ULFA”.

When he was confronted with the...

GUWAHATI, June 18 – The clouds of uncertainty over the much-anticipated Assam Gas Cracker Project seem to have somewhat disappeared with the energy major Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) evincing keen interest to set up the mega project subject to fulfilment of certain conditions. Conveying its decision to go ahead with the project, Proshanto Banerjee, Managing Director, GAIL, today revealed before the Chief Minister during a high-level meeting at the Janata Bhavan that it was ready to establish the project provided certain conditions were met. The conditions that the GAIL has set include...

Imphal, June 17: Call it the drama of survival. When not staging or rehearsing plays, one of Manipur’s acclaimed theatre groups makes sanitaryware to augment its meagre earnings. Imphal Banyan Repertory Theatre’s sanitaryware production unit is the brainchild of its director M.C. Thoiba, who was an engineer with the public health engineering department before theatre beckoned.

Everyday, after drama rehearsals are over, members of the theatre group shift focus to an entirely different creative process: making low-cost sanitaryware for the rural market.

It is an alternative source of income...