News

Guwahati, May 22: After failing to either revive or sell off the loss-making gardens of the Assam Tea Corporation Ltd (ATCL), the Tarun Gogoi government has decided to lease out these properties for 25 years.

The chief minister had personally requested four tea majors to bail out the ATCL, but none of these wanted to buy the sick gardens.

A committee was constituted recently to ascertain the lease value and liabilities of all the gardens owned by the corporation.

Sources said the cumulative value of these 15 gardens was estimated at Rs 750 crore, while the liabilities had been pegged at Rs...

Agartala, May 22: Chief executive member of Tripura?s Autonomous District Council Kripamohan Reang yesterday tendered his resignation in a letter to the council chairman Hirendra Tripura to pave the way for Debabrata Koloi to take over the reins of power.

However, incumbent chairman Hirendra Tripura, who was also expected to resign in compliance with the decision taken by the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) working committee, refused to step down.

The number of executive members of the council has been raised to nine from the current six.

Guwahati, May 22: Set to replace the army in counter-insurgency operations by 2005, CRPF personnel are undergoing ?specialised training? and acquiring sophisticated weapons to take on the heavily-armed militants in the Northeast.

At present, the CRPF is engaged in counter-insurgency operations along with the army and police under the three-tier Unified Command structure in Assam. The jawans are also deployed in the disputed areas along the inter-state boundaries as a ?neutral force?.

CRPF inspector-general (Northeast sector) Rajdeep Singh today told reporters that going by the Centre?s...

SHILLONG, May 22 ?After over a decade, investigation and drilling of uranium deposits by the Uranium Corporation of India (UCI) have resumed in Meghalaya, reports PTI. The UCI has conducted geo-physical survey in Domiasiat area of West Khasi hills and was now negotiating with the individuals. The State government was not involved in the process, Chief Secretary J Tayeng told reporters here Saturday.

Process of excavation of the precious mineral had begun in Meghalaya in 1992 as Rs 450 crore were earmarked for the pilot project but it was reportedly abandoned due to protests from local people...

GUWAHATI, May 22? For the forest guards of Assam, armed with outdated weapons, it is becoming impossible to deal with heavily armed militants, who frequent the reserve forests as well as poachers who have also started using sophisticated weapons like AK Series rifles. The Minister of State for Forest Pradyut Bordoloi admitted that the forest guards are hopelessly under-equipped to check felling of trees and movement of militants. For example, most of the forest guards in Kaziranga National Park are armed with only .315 rifles, while, in a recent incident of poaching, the poachers used AK-47...