GUWAHATI, Aug 16 ? The State Government has prepared a special package to provide succour to the flood-affected people of the State, and the deputy commissioners of all the districts have been directed to submit specific plans in this regard at the earliest. Announcing this at the Independence Day function at the Judges? Field yesterday, the Chief Minister said all the flood-affected farmers have been given one-year exemption from land revenue and would also be provided with mati mah seeds within September 1. Besides, various rabi seeds will also be distributed from November 1.

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GUWAHATI, Aug 16 ? The 58th Independence Day celebrations turned out to be a tragic incident for Assam as at least 14 persons, mostly women and schoolchildren were killed and about 40 others were injured in a bomb blast in the Dhemaji College playground where the Dhemaji district administration was celebrating the Independence Day. The State Government today observed State mourning to pay respect to the departed souls of those killed in the incident, while the Superintendent of Police and Additional Superintendent of Police of the district have been placed under suspension and the Deputy...

GUWAHATI, July 29 ? While the floods continue to wreak havoc in the State, claiming over 200 lives so far and destroying cropland, property and infrastructure worth thousands of crores of rupees, a long-term solution to this perennial problem continues to elude the Government and policy-makers. The predicament of the State is compounded by the fact that of its 4,400 km-long network of embankments, over 92 per cent have outlived their normal life span of 20 years, which is even less in a rain-fed State like Assam. Most of the embankments date back to the 50s and the 60s, and the constant wear...

GUWAHATI, July 29?Public Health Engineering (PHE) Minister Dinesh Prasad Gowala today told the State Assembly that fluoride contamination of ground water beyond permissible limit was detected in Karbi Anglong, Nagaon and Kamrup districts. Ground water in five blocks in each of Karbi Anglong and Nagaon districts and in three blocks of Kamrup district is found to be contaminated by such amounts of fluoride.

Very recently, he told the House, arsenic contamination of ground water was also detected in Karimganj and Dhemaji districts. In Karimganj district, 28 out of the 68 samples collected from...

GUWAHATI, July 29 ? Among the commodities the prices and availability of which have been affected by the recent floods, vegetables still have not returned to their pre-flood position. Despite being a part of the staple diet among the people, some vegetables are scarce in the market, while others are selling at high rates.

In the Machkhowa vegetable market ? popular among consumers for its reasonable rates ? potatoes and onions are among the few vegetables the prices of which have come down from a flood-time high. Today, potatoes were selling for Rs 10 per kg, while onions were priced at Rs 12...