Laon amount increases to Rs 30 lakh between 2003 and 2010

Laon amount increases to Rs 30 lakh between 2003 and 2010

Staff Correspondent

Dibrugarh: March 27: The Dibrugarh Development Authority (DDA) sealed 50 shops at its market complex at Chowkidinghi on charges of non payment of house rents to them since its construction in 2003. The market houses 70 business establishments, of which, only 30 shop owners have been regularly paying rent.

HUDCO, the financier of the market, served several notices to DDA on various occasions, warning them that they would acquire the entire market along with the buildings if the DDA failed to repay their loan of Rs 60 lakh along with the interest soon.

ONGC finds crude in Golaghat, Sivasagar

Jorhat, March 19: The Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC) has discovered oil fields in Golaghat and Sivasagar districts of Assam recently and is keen to resume operations in Nagaland, which has a vast reserve of oil and gas.

This was disclosed by A.K. Balyan, the director (human resources) of ONGC at a news conference held at the state-owned company’s Assam & Assam Arakan Basin headquarters at Cinnamara in Jorhat district today.

Balyan said production had already started at the recently discovered Kasomarigaon oil filed in Golaghat district while it would start very soon at the North Geleki area in Sivasagar district.

“Besides these two discoveries in Assam, a new gas pool has been discovered at Sundalbari in Tripura, which will contribute to the proposed Tripura power project of the ONGC,” he added.

The Assam & Assam Arakan Basin unit of ONGC looks after the company’s exploration activities in the seven states of the Northeast.

Its exploration activities in Nagaland, however, had to be stopped about 15 years ago because of “local problems” in the neighbouring state. “ONGC is keen to resume its activities in Nagaland but lack of a transparent system in that state has prevented us from doing so,” Balyan said.

The senior ONGC official, who is also in charge of the company’s business development in the region, said Nagaland had got a huge reserve of oil and gas and the company would be happy to resume its activities in that state for the greater interest of the nation.

ONGC had to pack off from Nagaland in 1994 because of threats from militant organisations, especially from the NSCN (Isak-Muivah). The company, official sources said, had invested more than Rs 100 crore in infrastructure and machineries in the state before pulling out.

Balyan said the company’s drilling performance in the Assam & Assam Arakan Basin had increased from 15 wells in 2008-09 to 24 wells by the end of February 2010 and was expected to complete 29-30 wells in the current fiscal.

“Five leads to presence of new wells have already been obtained from various fields in Assam and some more are waiting to be added following testing shortly,” he added.

He said the basin had fared well on all fronts in oil and natural gas exploration. “This year also, the basin is expecting to add up a significant quantity of hydrocarbon accumulation,” he added.

The official said the Navaratna public sector unit was supplying cooking gas to Assam towns through the Assam Gas Company Limited.

“At present, around 30,000 standard cubic metre of natural gas is being supplied per day from the fields of south Assam shelf and if the market of gas in towns like Jorhat, Uriamghat, Golaghat and Sarupathar expand, there is a potential of enhancing the rate of supply,” he said.

Regarding the ONGC’s corporate social commitments towards the region, Balyan said its Assam & Assam Arakan Basin unit had contributed extensively to the socio-economic development of the community in and around the oil field areas there. “In this fiscal alone, the A&AA Basin has contributed Rs 1.8 crore.”

Balyan said the ONGC had also drawn up a project to preserve the ancient monuments of Ahom kings.

soruce:http://www.telegraphindia.com/

Film Archive’s magic touch to restore banned Assamese film

Reels of the film to be sent to Pune for scientific restoration of print; film was banned soon after release in 1952, reason not known

Thanks to the efforts of the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) in Pune, the ninth Assamese feature film that had been banned 48 years ago might finally see the light of the day. Reels of the film Runumi, directed and produced by Sattriya dance exponent Suresh Chandra Goswami, have been found near Biswanath Chariali town in Assam and would soon be shipped to the National Film Archives of India (NFAI) in Pune for scientific restoration of the print.

The film, based on an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play The Warriors at Helgeland, was banned by the state government soon after its release in 1952.

Utpal Borpujari, film critic and grandson of the film’s director-producer, is coordinating with the Archives for the film’s preservation. Thirteen reels of the film in their original cans were found at the residence of Lakshminath Borthakur, brother-in-law of Goswami.

“I have been told that the cans are rusted, however unless we have a look at the film it would be inappropriate to predict how much can be restored. If the film base is nitrate it can be a difficult task. We are hoping to receive the film in the next two weeks. I am in direct correspondence with Borpujari whom I had mailed immediately after getting to know about the discovery of the reels. In fact, NFAI is very keen on restoring the film, and we would be glad to retrieve it,” said Vijay Jadhav, director NFAI.

Source:http://www.indianexpress.com

Nagaland warned over encroachment

Guwahati, March 18: The All Assam Students’ Union today threatened to launch an economic blockade against Nagaland if the neighbouring state continued to encroach upon Assam’s land.

The Sivasagar district unit of the students’ union alleged that despite its repeated requests to the Naga people not to encroach upon Assam’s land in the Geleki area, the Nagas had not stopped construction.

“The Nagas should not take our silence as acceptance, we will forget our brotherly relations if they continue to grab our land,” the president of the Sivasagar district unit of AASU, Pranab Chetia, said today.

He said vast areas in Geleki bordering Nagaland in Sivasagar district were encroached upon by the villagers from the state. According to him, if the authorities concerned take no steps these areas will be lost forever.

The student body, he said, would not wait and watch any more and would soon launch an economic blockade against the neighbouring state.

He said besides the Sonari-Namtola Road that leads to Mon district of Nagaland, the blockade would also cover the Jorhat-Mariani Road, connecting Mokok-chung district of Nagaland and National Highway 39, which connects Dimapur town, the commercial hub of Nagaland.

Most of the essential commodities are ferried to Nagaland from the wholesale markets in Assam on these three roads.

The adviser to the Sivasagar district of AASU, Kushal Dutta, said it was a shame on part of the state government that no steps were being taken to stop villagers from Naga-land from grabbing Assam’s land.

He said besides Sivasagar district, the Nagas had encroached upon reserve forest lands in Jorhat district also.

“More than 80 per cent of the land in Desoi Valley, Desoi and Tiru Hills reserve forest under the Mariani forest range in Jorhat district are under the occupation of the Nagas,” he said.

Source:http://www.telegraphindia.com/

Ulfa asks fuel dealers of Assam to reduce their prices

GUWAHATI: The banned outfit ULFA today asked fuel dealers of Assam to reduce their prices by Rs 5 within the next three months.

ULFA's central publicity committee member, Anu Buragohain, threatened to launch a "mass protest" if the fuel prices are not reduced.

"The central government is hiking the fuel product available in the state which has affected the common people," a statement issued by him said.

The oil found in the state is refined outside and sold at a higher price in the state itself which is amounting to 'injustice', Buragohain said.

PTI

Majuli Suraksha Mancha to move High Court

Majuli Suraksha Mancha to move High Court

From our Correspondent

JORHAT, March 17: The Majuli Suraksha Samannya Mancha and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) along with a number of local people of the river island have decided to go to the High Court against the alleged anomalies in various protection projects of the Brahmaputra Board taken up in the river island. Talking to The Sentinel, Majuli Suraksha Samannya

AXX demands Assamese as State language

AXX demands Assamese as State language

From our Correspondent

JORHAT, March 13: The Axam Xahitya Xabha yesterday demanded the government to use Assamese as State language in all the government offices, financial establishments, schools, colleges and other non government institutions. They have also sent a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister to take immediate steps in this regard and warned the government that they will come to the streets with strong agitation failing to fulfil their demand.

Coming down heavily on the government, the biggest literary body of the State alleged that the government has been ignoring the matter since long in spite of repeated demands from various quarters in this regard. The organization questioned that if the Governments of Punjab and Tamil Nadu can make the use of the mother tongue as mandatory one and the violation of this rule can be regarded as an illegal one than as to why the Assam Government has failed to make it so. What prevents the government from doing such a remarkable step for the greater interest of the people living here? They questioned pointing out the implementation of State Language Act in 1960, the organization further alleged that the government has shamefully failed to implement Assamese as State language after passing more than five decades of the implementation of the said Act.

Irregularities by secretary alleged

Irregularities by secretary alleged

From our Staff Correspondent

DIBRUGARH, March 6: The office-bearers of Duliajan unit of Asom Natya Sanmmilan (ANS) have pointed out number of irregularities committed by their chief general secretary, Karun Jyoti Saikia. The Duliajan ANS members alleged that the Mancha Moitri Nat Samaroh (MMNS), which is being held at Duliajan since 2005 in joint sponsorship with Oil India Limited (OIL), was not held in 2008 and 2009 for mysterious reasons. They also stated that the general secretary of ANS without consulting any members of the Duliajan unit ANS had announced that next samaroh would be held in the first week of April this year.

An emergent meeting of ANS, Duliajan unit that was held at the Zaloni Middle English Primary School recently with Pradip Senapati in the chair had criticized the ANS secretary, Saikia for unilateral announcement of samaroh’s date.

“Without specific directives of the central ANS committee regarding holding of samaroh at Duliajan, we shall not take part in it,” the members stated.

The meeting observed that the ANS secretary Karun Jyoti Saikia failed to submit the account of rupees four lakh which was donated by OIL for holding MMNS in 2007.

The meeting further clarified that Duliajan unit of ANS would not take responsibility for holding samaroh until ANS secretary, Saikia submit the accounts of MMNS, 2007.

A number of resolutions were adopted at the meeting and it was decided to send all the resolutions to the central committee of ANS for necessary action. THE SENTINEL

Mizoram to introduce Right to Education Act next month

AIZAWL, March 5 – Mizoram Education Minister Lalsawta has said that the Right to Education Act will be implemented in the State in April.

“Like a baby feed upon mother’s milk for its growth, education is the only option for every human being to achieve one’s goal and success. Education is also the best way of investing money and knowing its importance, our leaders at the Centre has adopted this Act which will uplift and benefit every student in India,” said Lalsawta.

The Minister was speaking at a national-level seminar on ‘Economic and educational security with refrence to North East India’ held here on Wednesday. The seminar was organised by UGC in collaboration with Aizawl-based Govt J Thankima College and Mizoram Educational Foundation. Delegates from outside the state also participated in the seminar.

Lalsawta expressed that Northeastern States witnessed insurgency problems which disturb socio-economic life of the people but at the same time also stated that insurgency problem is gradually declining.

Revealing his department and State Government’s steps towards establishing more institutes and universities, Lalsawta informed the gathering that Mizoram will soon have an Institute of Technology and a National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

Ramhmangaiha Ralte, principal of J Thankima College, while delivering his speech dwelt on the importance of ‘human capital’ for growth and development. India’s progress is notable but the progress will not last long if India is poor in human capital, he said. Ralte urged the concerned authority to take steps and put in extra efforts to upgrade and improve higher education as this is the place for production of human capital. In view of this, the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Government is planning to set up additional 1,500 universitities during the 11th Five Year Plan, he added.

Source:http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=mar0610

CAT quashes Barua’s appointment as DGP

GUWAHATI, March 5 – In a crucial judgement, the Central Administrative Tribunal, (CAT), Guwahati today declared the appointment of Shankar Barua as the Director General of Assam Police as null and void. Shankar Barua was appointed Assam DGP on July 28 last year.

The CAT today also directed the State Government to constitute a fresh panel as per the requirement of Section 6(2) of the Assam Police Act, 2007 within a month considering all eligible officers fairly and justly.

“Till then Shankar Barua is allowed to remain in position,” the judgement stated.

Senior IPS officer and Director General (Home Guard) Sharda Prasad had challenged the appointment of Shankar Barua as Assam DGP on July 28 last year.

After the expiry of Srivastava’s term last year, the State Government had drawn up a panel of five officers, and the name of Sharda Prasad was at the top followed by Sankar Barua and three others including SP Ram, BP Rao and M Mohan Raj. All the other three have now retired from service.

The CAT in its judgement while maintaining that procedural fairness was not maintained while making the choice for appointment of Shankar Barua as the DGP by operating an extinct panel, also termed the appointment as a serious procedural infirmity.

“In the present scenario and in the light of latest developments in the field of administrative law, we find that there has been a shift from the older jurisprudential values of substantive rights to the present values of procedural regulatory,” the tribunal noted.

Senior counsel BC Das, with M Chanda and U Dutta represented the applicant (Sharda Prasad) with the respondents being the State of Assam through the Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam, the Principal Secretary to the Government of Assam, Home and Political department, the Director General of Assam Police, the Union of India, Shankar Barua, the Director General of Civil Defence and Commandant General of Home Guards and the State Security Commission.

It needs mention here that Sharda Prasad, a few days back, had moved the Gauhati High Court against the delay in the delivery of judgement by the CAT.

Source:http://www.assamtribune.com

Decision on separate time zone soon: Govt

GUWAHATI, March 5 – The State Cabinet will go for a decision within six months, on the proposal mooted by noted filmmaker Jahnu Barua for creating a separate time zone for the NE region based on a consensus opinion of the scientists of the State as well as the other States of the region. It will then, teaming up with the other States of the region, pursue the case ‘very seriously’ with the Central Government.

Science and Technology Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in the State Assembly today in response to a Zero Hour motion moved by Congress legislator Bhupen Bora on the issue.

The Minister said that the State Government would hold a seminar of the State’s scientists on the issue in the next month and it would also ask the other states of the region to go for similar exercises for the purpose.

He assured the House that the developments in this regard would be made known to its members after six months.

Lauding the effort made by Jahnu Barua as a great service, the Minister held that the differences in time in different areas of a country as per the respective occurrence of dawn and dusk are quite scientific.

The time of the NE region, despite its experiencing the dawn and dusk about 40 minutes ahead of Allahabad and other areas of the country, is determined as per the schedule of those places located in distant western locations.

But the differences experienced by the people of the region as far as their biological clock is concerned, make them lose the productive age and hence they are lagging far behind the people of those western parts of the country in matters of development. This is also the reason as to why the people of the region consume more power, said the Minister.

Earlier, raising the issue, Bhupen Bora drew the attention of the Government to the article of Jahnu Barua on the issue and said that by creating a separate time zone for the NE region, the people of the region could make big strides towards progress. As, he said, the region would be able to prepone its schedule by two hours with this arrangement based on the time of dawn and dusk experienced in the region.

Such an arrangement needs no investment and every electricity consuming family of the region could save around Rs 43,000 annually with this arrangement in place, Bora said

Ssoruce:http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=mar0610

Industrialist GP Birla dead

KOLKATA, March 6 (IANS): Noted industrialist GP Birla died late Friday night after a prolonged illness, a source close to the family said here Saturday. He was 86.

"He breathed his last at his Kolkata residence. He is survived by his wife Nirmala, son CK Birla and daughter Lekha Poddar," the source told IANS.

His last rites will be performed Saturday at the Keoratala crematorium.

GP Birla of the GP-CK Birla Group was the son of late Braj Mohan Birla.

The GP-CK Birla Group has diversified business activities across four continents in both manufacturing and service sectors. The group's manufacturing activities include automobiles and components, engineering products, building products, industrial chemicals and paper.

The group companies include Orient Paper & Industries Ltd, Hindustan Motors Ltd, Indian Smelting & Refining Co. Ltd, Hyderabad Industries Ltd, BM Birla Heart Research Centre, Calcutta Medical Research Institute, Nigeria Engineering Works Ltd, Nigeria, and Pan African Paper Mills (EA) Ltd, Kenya.

Soruce:http://www.assamtribune.com

Speaker forced to act after Himanta threat to Mahanta

Speaker forced to act after Himanta threat to Mahanta

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, March 5: In an unprecedented incident in the history of the Assam Legislative Assembly, the entire Opposition of the House today gheraoed the Speaker in his chamber for an hour and raised serious questions on his impartiality. The Opposition compelled the Speaker to adjourn the House and invite the Opposition leaders for a detailed discussion on their grievances. The Opposition withdrew their gherao programme and came to the Assembly only after the Speaker assured them of ensuring security in the Assembly. All of this was in the aftermath of the threat to former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta by Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma yesterday. The Speaker also assured the Opposition of adherence to the rules and procedures of the House by all of its members and non-interference by other members when a member would deliver his speech.

Sikkim team to Switzerland on exposure visit

GANGTOK, March 3 – A 20-member delegation led by Sikkim Minister CB Karki has left for Switzerland on a study-cum-exposure trip.

The team, currently on a six day trip will visit University of Fribourg to make an indepth study of fiscal decentralisation and strengthening of instituitional and financial mechanisms for local self governance , i.e. Panchayati Raj Institutions. Switzerland is well known for its federal political system with financial devolution and administrative decentralisation for different tiers of the government.

The delegation attended lectures at University of Fribourg, organized by Professor Bernard Dafflon, Professor of Economics on Fiscal Federalism, Revenue Generation from user charges for Panchayats and Distribution of Drinking Water.

On March 3, the delegation will visit Le Mouret Municipal Council (Commune) for a first hand exposure to local industrial activities, institutional mechanism, municipal administration, land zoning and planning. On March 4, the delegation will visit Charmey Commune to study the tourism sector and its impacts on the economy and the social welfare policy for elderly dependent people.

On the same day, a visit to a Mini Thermal Plant will also be undertaken. The delegation would make a site visit to get a first hand exposure on treatment of household garbage, solid waste management and school mid-day meal scheme.

The tour is a part of the ongoing Indo-Swiss Project Sikkim (ISPS) to strengthen the decentralisation and devolution of power to Panchayats through capacity building, and is a step towards realising the vision of the Chief Minister to develop the villages in Sikkim along the line of rural areas of Switzerland.

Soruce:http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=mar0410

Dibrugarh boys in Limca Book of Records

DIBRUGARH, March 3 – A team of young boys from the city, who flew a bunch of kites on the banks of Brahmaputra on the Republic Day last year, have won the Limca Book of Records certificate for the feat. The record, categorised as the national record 2010, was a display of altogether 50 kites on a single line with electric lights attached on them. The small electrical lights on the kites were lit with power from the ground.

The team members include Shivaji Bora, Zaheer Abbas Kayum, Washif Alam Abbas, Toshif Abbas, Rupam Das and Sabir Abbas. The boys who have now chosen to be known as Flying High Club received the recognition on February 25 recently.

It is to be mentioned that these boys had flown 315 kites on a single string at night and then 715 kites during the day in 2002. In 2003, the kite flying enthusiasts tried two testing kites of about 7 feet with lights attached. In 2008, Zaheer won the kite flying competition held on Joggers Park, on the bank of Brahmaputra. The boys had received financial aid from Oil India Limited (OIL) in 2000 to continue with their quest for record. The motivated youths now look to achieve The Guinness Book of World Records, according to a press release.

Soruce:http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=mar0410/state06

NC Hills scam rocks Assembly

GUWAHATI, March 3 – The Assam Legislative Assembly today witnessed noisy scenes and heated war of words between the ruling and opposition members for a couple of hours over an Adjournment Motion moved by the opposition members on the issue of financial irregularities in the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council. The opposition members later staged a walkout when the Speaker kept his ruling on the motion reserved.

The Adjournment Motion was moved by the members of the AGP, BJP, AUDF, CPI, CPM and Independent member Bhuban Pegu but the House started witnessing heated exchange of words right from the time the Leader of the Opposition, Chandra Mohan Patowary, started speaking on the admissibility of the Motion. There have been instances when the ruling and opposition members even resorted to launching personal attacks against each other.

Moving the Motion, Patowary said that the large-scale financial scam in the NC Hills Autonomous Council is a matter of serious concern and the lapses by the Government came out openly. He said that allegations were levelled even against Ministers in regard to the irregularities.

Patowary was interrupted by Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who said that news magazine The Week had also reported that Patowary had given money to the ULFA. This resulted in a heated war of words between ruling and opposition members, who rushed to the well of the House and started accusing each other. Patowary referred to the cases against the Health Minister, who, in turn levelled allegations against AGP.

The angry war of words continued for some time and the Speaker, Tanka Bahadur Rai had a tough time in controlling the situation. The House also witnessed angry exchanges between Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta over the issue of secret killings and Gogoi even said that the CBI sought to chargesheet Mahanta but could not do so because of the refusal of sanction to do so by the former Governor Lt Gen SK Sinha. Mahanta retorted by saying that the courts already cleared him of the charges. He also asked the Chief Minister whether he was “sleeping” when large–scale irregularities were going on in NC Hills.

Dr Aditya Langthasa (AUDF) supporting the Adjournment Motion, said that the financial irregularities should be discussed in detail by the State Assembly as tribal people were deprived of their dues and a portion of the funds also went to the militants. He described the financial scam in NC Hills a “bigger scam than the Bofors scam”.

Mission Ranjan Das (BJP) said even the Government of India is concerned about the scam and advised the State Government to go for a CBI probe.

Bhuban Pegu (Ind) said that misappropriation of funds in NC Hills is now a well established fact and the fact that substantial portion of funds went to the militants is a matter of serious concern as it concerns the security of the State. He said that the issue should be discussed in detail as there is apprehension that the political leaders allegedly involved in the scam can be shielded.

Drupad Borgohain (CPI) said that the funds are sent to the autonomous council through the State Government and now the government cannot escape from its responsibilities for the misappropriation of funds. He said that the misuse of funds also exposed the politician-militant nexus, which is a matter of serious concern.

Ananta Deka (CPM) said that the Centre is also concerned about the irregularities in NC Hills and virtually imposed the CBI probe. He said that tribal people were deprived of their dues because of the irregularities, which also posed a security threat because a portion of the funds has gone to the militants.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bharat Chandra Narah said that the Government has already written to the Centre for a CBI probe and one portion of the investigation has been completed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He also opposed the Adjournment Motion.

The Speaker later kept his ruling on the Motion reserved, leading to a walkout by the opposition members.

Source:http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=mar0410

GU teachers stage stir over pay package

GUWAHATI, March 3 – The Gauhati University Teacher’s Association (GUTA) on Wednesday boycotted classes and resorted to blockade of the VC’s office demanding full implementation of the UGC revised pay package.

The association has informed that blockade of the VC’s office will continue for three days and it also warned that more agitational programmes would be taken up if the government fails to concede to its demand.

The association on an earlier occasion had also boycotted classes to press its demand.

The association in a statement said that given the apathy of both the university authorities and the government towards a legitimate and long over due demand, it has been left with no other option other than taking the path of agitation.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=mar0410

1951 to be base year for NRC update

Spl Correspondent

NEW DELHI, March 3 – Despite pressure from Assam Government, the Centre has clarified that applications would be invited to establish citizenship status based on the National Register of Citizens 1951.

The Centre’s clarification comes in the backdrop of repeated pleas made by the Assam Government to further amend its notification by including the electoral rolls of 1971 following a hue and cry among the minority community in the State.

The Ministry of Home confirmed having amended the Citizenship (Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rule, 2003 vide its notification on November 9, 2009, providing special provisions as to the manner of preparation of National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) in Assam based in relevant records.

In Lok Sabha replying to a question by Badruddin Ajmal, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs M Ramachandran said that these rules have been framed keeping in view the Citizenship Act, to enable the preparation of NRC in Assam.

“Applications would be invited from all the residents, for collection of specified particulars relating to each family and individuals, residing in a local area in the State including the citizenship status based on the National Register of Citizens 1951 and relevant records,” the Minister said.

On February 7, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, making an intervention at the Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security, had urged the Centre to adopt 1971 rolls as the base year for preparation of the National Register of Citizens.

Drawing the attention of the Centre, he underlined the need to include 1971 as the base year. Earlier, the State Government had written to the Home Ministry calling for review of its notification.

The amended notification issued by the Home Ministry, proposing 1966 electoral rolls as the cut-off period for update of the NRC, has left Assam Government to face the wrath of the community.

Following the issue of gazette notification by the Centre, the State Government has sent a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking a clarification on the mention of the clause “electoral rolls prior to the year 1971.

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Tripura assembly passes resolution on reservation

AGARTALA, Mar 3 (PTI) Tripura Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on reservation for OBC and minority community in the state today.

Treasury bench member Samir Deb Sarkar moved a private member resolution for implementation of Ranganathan Mishra report and urged the House to pass it to enable OBC and religious minority community to get reservation by amending the Constitution.

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said the state government was for providing reservation to OBC and religious minority community but the Supreme Court?s verdict came in the way of its implementation.

He urged the Centre to pay heed to the spirit of the House and bring necessary amendment in the Constitution.

Lending full support to the resolution, officiating leader of the opposition Gopal Roy (Cong) highlighted the socio-economic condition of the religious minority community and said they lagged behind in terms of education, healthcare and government jobs.

Soruce;http://www.assamtribune.com

Pranab briefs party MPs on fuel price hike

Pranab briefs party MPs on fuel price hike

NEW DELHI, March 3: Ahead of the stormy session in both houses of parliament, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday briefed Congress MPs on the reasons behind the fuel price hike.He explained that a roll back on the hike, as being demanded by various political parties, would put the government in difficulty, party insiders said. The minister also said the government would discuss the matter with its allies. An MP who attended the meeting said no MP asked for the hike to be rolled back. The decision, he added, would come up for discussion in the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meeting on Thursday. Congress president Sonia Gandhi will address the CPP.(IANS)

Why ONGC and UCIL mum on ‘uranium reserve’ at Borhola?

Why ONGC and UCIL mum on ‘uranium reserve’ at Borhola?

From our Correspondent

JORHAT, March 1: What prevents Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) from making a formal announcement about the reported discovery of a uranium reserve at Borhola along the Assam-Nagaland border in November 2009? Speculations from various quarters are diverse, but the move on the part of the Centre to separate the Assam Assets from ONGC has made the matter more mysterious. Many quarters in the State want to say that ONGC and UCIL have been maintaining a silence on the “discovery” of uranium in Assam just to get the Assam Assets separated from ONGC without any hassle. This speculation holds much water as one of the reasons for the government’s move to bifurcate Assam Assets from ONGC is loss, and it may turned out to be a much dividend-paying entity if the report of discovery of uranium becomes a real one. If this speculation is true, it is an anti-Assam conspiracy.

Indications of presence of a uranium pit at Borhola, one of ONGC’s oldest oil fields in the North-east, was found in a survey conducted jointly by ONGC and UCIL in November last year. ONGC had once said that there was a high probability of uranium in the oil field following the detection of radio active properties in the contents of the oil well.

ONGC officials have been maintaining a mysterious silence on the issue. When contacted, Basin Manager of Assam-Arrakan Basin Satyajit Choudhury said: “I know nothing about the reported discovery of uranium at Borhola.”

ONGC has invested Rs 500 crore for research and development of renewable and alternative energy, including uranium mining.

It may be mentioned here that the Centre and the UCIL have been facing tough times in Meghalaya over uranium-mining, in the face of stiff resistance by several organizations. The Government, once bitten in Meghalaya, seems to be twice shy in Assam, which also explains why ONGC and UCIL are maintaining an eerie silence over the alleged uranium find in Assam.