Demand for ban on drugs, gutkha and dendrite

DIBRUGARH, May 29: The Sanmmilita Jatiya Mancha, Asom, has announced a series of programme in support of their demand for a total ban on drugs, gutkha and dendrite. They stated these easily available substances not only wreck the lives of the young generation but also destroy the social fabric.

In a statement issued to the press, president of the Mancha, Lakhinath Gogoi and its secretary, Chandan Phukan, stated that a motorcycle rally would be taken out from Dibrugarh on June 5 and will culminate at Doomdooma in Tinsukia district.

The organization’s regional units of Chabua, Tinsukia, Barekuri, Kardoiguri and Doomdooma will participate in the rally.

The illegal trade of drugs has been growing in the district with school and college going students becoming addicts.

Cattle smugglers active

KOKRAJHAR, May 27: The illegal supply of cattle to Bangladesh from Asom becomes a daily routine in Dhubri, which is the main transporting point. Now, the cattle businessmen and smugglers are very active in every nook and corner even in Kokrajhar district.

The businessmen and petty traders of cattle are seen almost in all “Cattle Haats” of Kokrajhar and Gossaigaon sub-division where cows and oxen are bought and directly taken to South via Bilasipara in large numbers. The local buyers of cattle in all the “Cattle Haats” is much less but a section of community who are involved in smuggling to other countries are rising abnormally.

The petty traders of cattle belonging to Minority community are seen active in remote Bodo and other tribal villages and buy cattle at much lower rate. Besides, these traders also escape the tax to be paid to the bidders of “Cattle Haat” and thus losing huge amount of tax. There are financiers, petty traders and collectors or suppliers of cattle in this business but nobody is there to check such an illegal business where it has brought economic impact.

Two bombs recovered from bus in Assam

TEZPUR: Two powerful improvised explosive devises (IEDs) were recovered from a bus at Dhekiajuli in lower Assam's Sonitpur district on Wednesday, official sources said.

On receiving information, personnel of the 44 Assam Rifles recovered the bombs from a private bus coming from Orang, the sources said.

The two explosives were defused by the jawans, the sources said.

On Monday, a major disaster was averted when a powerful bomb kept by suspected ULFA was recovered from a long distance bus in Borkura area.

Source;TOI

Meghalaya gets 21st government in 37 years

SHILLONG: When D D Lapang took the Chief Minister's oath of office and secrecy in the presence of Governor R S Mooshahary on Wednesday, he became the head of the 21st government Meghalaya has witnessed in 37 years of statehood.

In last 37 years, the state's chief ministership has rotated between ten political leaders, with only two of them, late Captain W A Sangma and Congress leader S C Marak, being able to complete the full five year term.

Never in the history of Meghalaya, except during the first Assembly elections, has any political party obtained clear majority.

With frequent toppling of governments marking the state's political history, the previous 20 governments saw a musical chair of ten chief ministers some serving the state for as short as 10 days.

Lapang, who has been sworn in for the fifth time on Wednesday, did so from March 10, 2008 to March 19, 2008.

Interestingly, the state has never witnessed a mid-term poll despite the frequent change of governments.

While the toppling game was a hallmark till the early 1990s when the Anti-Defection Law did not exist, the highly fragile political situation in the state could be gauged with the state having witnessed nine governments with varied combinations of political parties during the last decade.

After the March 2008 Assembly elections, Lapang was sworn-in as chief minister of a Congress-led coalition government, but resigned 10 days later, just before a trust vote, after failing to muster a majority.

Subsequently, the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) government, comprising five political parties including NCP, headed by United Democratic Party (UDP) president Donkupar Roy assumed charge.

The Congress has not been an untouchable to the varied smaller parties in the state as almost all of them, many of which are defunct now, had a stint in the government along with the Congress.

Now, with the Congress tying up with the UDP after failure of negotiations with the NCP, to form the government, it remains to be seen how long the new alliance remains intact.

Source:TOI

Government schemes come under review

DIBRUGARH, May 5: The progress in development work under various government schemes came under review during a meeting held at the office of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) here today.

The DC of Dibrugarh, Gyanendra Dev Tripathi, chaired the meeting of the District Development Committee. An appraisal of the implementation of the midday meal scheme, District Agricultural Planning and RKVY was made on the occasion. The issue of digging deep tube wells for stone quarry workers at Dillighat was also discussed. The DC instructed the school inspector to take steps for the distribution of fifty bicycles among girl students by May 17.

Leopard menace at Kachogoral

JORHAT, May 3: With an increase of the leopard population in the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, the frequency of leopards attacking humans or vice-versa has commensurately increased near the sanctuary. Last night one Kamal Hazarika was attacked by a leopard at Kachogoral, Sonarigaon and on March 6, a leopard was killed after it attacked and injured four persons at Duliagaon and had killed a calf. Both the villages are situated near the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary. This year, further incidents of the man-animal conflict was reported from near the sanctuary on February 11, when a person was bitten by a leopard and another incident, when a leopard was killed near Sonari by workers of a tea garden a few days ago.