GUWAHATI, Dec 25 – Union Minister for Department of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) Arun Shourie today stated that the Central government was not averse to provide a ‘special package’ to the region in case the NE states show capability for prompt and honest execution of the projects. He also put restoration of peace and end to all sorts of extortion in the region as another precondition for the Centre to grant a ‘special package’ to the region.

Addressing a function held on the occasion of launching of the first 50-seater aircrafts by Alliance Air for the region, Shourie said the...

DIBRUGARH, Dec 25 — Assam Medical College, a name that was once looked upon in awe, was once-upon-a-time one of the five best medical institutions in Asia. Today, all that is history. And the Assam Medical College (AMC) epitomizes sheer neglect and despondency. Talking to The Assam Tribune here, office bearers of the AMC unit of the Federation of Junior Doctors, Assam spoke in detail of the decrepit condition of the institution. They stressed that the sole blame for the state of affairs here falls on the Assam Government, which has lost interest in the medical college after the demise of the...

GUWAHATI, Dec 25 – “North East with its enchanting destinations can become the Switzerland of India with improved air connectivity within the region,” said the Union Minister for Civil Aviation Shahzawaz Hussain at the inauguration of first 50-seater ATR-42 aircraft launched by the Alliance Air at LGBI Airport here this morning. Addressing the function held on the occasion, the Civil Aviation Minister informed that the Alliance Air with fund from the North Eastern Council (NEC) would soon introduce four 50-seater aircraft exclusively for the NE region to improve air connectivity within region...

Guwahati, Dec. 25: The Orang National Park authorities have successfully tackled the poaching menace with not a single rhino falling prey to poachers over the past one-and-a-half years.

Officials said the park, which had lost about 50 per cent of its rhino population between 1994 and 1999, has been more successful in guarding its inmates than its famed counterpart in Kaziranga.

The rhino population in the park had gone down to 50 from nearly 100 between 1994 and 1999, triggering alarm among the forest officials. The 1999 census had put the rhino population of Orang at 46.

Chief wildlife...

Guwahati, Dec. 25: The diplomatic mission to convince Bhutan and Bangladesh to flush out militants of the Northeast from their territories has made substantial progress, according to the Union minister in charge of the department for development of the northeastern region, Arun Shourie.

He made the statement during an informal interaction with members of the media on the runway of Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here. “Diplomatic initiatives are on at the appropriate level and the results will be known soon,” he said.

Shourie said he had spoken to leaders of Bangladesh —...