GUWAHATI, May 18 ? Environmentalists here have decried the attempts made by some circles at politicising the issue of eviction conducted by the State Forest Department presently, at the directive of the Supreme Court of India, to free the forest areas of the State, particularly the city, from encroachers. ?An encroacher is an encroacher. There should not be any attempt at distinguishing the encroachers on the basis of their castes, creeds and languages. Politicians should refrain from deriving any political mileage by using the encroachers as tools for attaining their political goals,? the...

SHILLONG, April 16 ? Meghalaya Chief Minister, Dr F A Khonglam has effected a minor reshuffle of portfolios of some of his Ministers on Friday, reports PTI. Chief Minister himself retained Cabinet Affairs, Political Personnel, Excise and other departments not alloted to any other Ministers. A H Scott Lyngdoh has retained Finance and Reorganisation and stripped his Law department.Law department has been given to O N Chyrmang besides his Elections, Stamps and Registration. H B Dan has been given additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs besides his PWD (Buildings). J D Rymbai who was looking...

GUWAHATI, April 16 ? Renowned historian and former president of the Indian History Congress Dr Heramba Kanta Barpujari is no more. The renowned historian who was honoured by the Asam Sahitya Sabha in 1997 with the title ?Itihas Acharjya?, passed away at his Rajgarh Road residence here at 7.05 pm today due to old-age ailments. He was 89. Born on August 31, 1912, Dr Barpujari dedicated his life to historical research and academic activities. It was his single handed effort which brought recognition to the North East region, and particularly Assam from the historians of other parts of the world.

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NEW DELHI, April 16 ? Even as railway projects in the North-east continue to suffer for want of funds, Railways have failed to utilise even the sanctioned funds. While the Railways are celebrating 150 years of its existence in the country with much fanfare, in the North-east it is yet to bring all the States into the railway map of the country. And making a scathing attack on the Railways is none other then the Parliamentary Standing Committee for neglecting this sector. ?The Committee expresses displeasure over the fact that even after 54 years of independence, all the capitals have not yet...

NEW DELHI, April 16 ? In an attempt at cost-cutting, the Bogibeel road-cum-rail bridge project has been converted into a single rail track bridge. According to revised estimates, the Bogibeel bridge is now estimated to cost Rs 1,767 crore. Initially the project was estimated to cost Rs 1,000 crore. The Railways Ministry promptly solved the problem by deciding to convert the bridge into a single-track one. The result was at least 20 to 25 per cent cost reduction. According to estimates, it would cost about Rs 782 crore less. The final location survey of Bogibeel bridge has already been...