NEW DELHI, Jan 18— The storm over the controversial IMDT Act is likely to be set at rest soon, with the Supreme Court today fixing the schedule for final disposal of the case. A separate petition challenging the grant of citizenship to descendents of foreigners has also been clubbed and heard together. Resuming hearing on the Writ Petition challenging the IMDT Act, a three-member Bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justice G B Patnaik, Justice R.S. Sethi and Justice Arijit Pasayat today fixed third week of April for final hearing of the petition filed by Sarbananda Sonowal opposing the IMDT...

GUWAHATI, Jan 18— Over the years the outstanding debt of the State Government has grown enormously and the problem of indebtedness has taken a menacing shape. The total debt stock of the State Government, which was Rs 733.34 crore in 1980-81, increased to Rs 10,013.12 crore by 2000-01. The share of total debt stock in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), which was 29 per cent, reached the peak of 41 per cent in 1990-91 and thereafter declined to 24 per cent in 1995-96, but rose to 33 per cent in 2000-01, said the Committee On Fiscal Reforms (COFR) in its report. State Government’s loans from...

GUWAHATI, Jan 18 — Disappointed with District Rural Development Agency’s (DRDA) failure in utilising the Central funds, the Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Sri Anna Saheb MK Patil has asked the Assam Government to utilise the funds by February next to get further instalments from the Centre. Addressing a press conference at Kahikuchi after ending a two-day visit to the State, Sri Patil said that the Centre has been providing funds regularly in order to accelerate the ongoing schemes, but most of the funds have remained unutilised affecting the schemes for the rural people...

ITANAGAR, Jan 15— Kidnapping of Arunachal’s businessmen and Arunachali’s by various militant organizations of Northeast region, especially by both the factions of the Bodo militants seems to be a regular phenomenon in the recent past. Within a span of nine months, Bodo Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF) and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) had carried out three kidnappings inside the territory of this tribal dominated Himalayan State. On May 3, 2001 Sri Tadap Nabam, a businessman from Seijosa in East Kameng district was kidnapped by NDFB militants and was released on May 6 night...

GUWAHATI, Jan 17 — The rising trend of revenue expenditure vis-a-vis falling trend of capital expenditure and the rising trend of revenue expenditure out of a total plan expenditure, as revealed by the time series since 1990-91, point to the fact that investment in capital formation have been falling over the years in the State. As a direct consequence of this, economic growth in the State has been stunted and neither wealth nor income nor employment have increased at the required or the expected rates. This is unfortunate, said the Committee on fiscal Reforms (COFR) in its December 7, 2001...