Staff reporter GUWAHATI, Jan 3 – The State Veterinary Department has issued sanitisation certificates against eleven epicentres of the dreaded bird flu to the Government of India. In the rest seven epicentres, culling and consecutive operations are expected to be over within a day or two. Official sources here said that the Government of India has asked the State Government to go for the post-operative surveillance programme (POSP) in the areas where culling and subsequent cleaning operations are over. The Deputy Commissioners of the district have been asked to conduct the POSPs in accordance with the World Organisation of Animal Health. POSPs are expected to start in the bird flu-hit areas at the earliest, said the sources.Culling operations are expected to be over in the 3 km radius areas around Chalchali Gaonburhachawk village in Nagaon district. Rangamati, Urput Maniari Tiniali and Manahkuchi in Kamrup district by tomorrow or day after tomorrow. However, due to resistance from the people, administration has to requisition the services of the police in Bardulipara area in Baksa district to launch culling operations, said the sources.In Nilibari area, culling operations are over and mopping operations are expected to be over there within a day or two.Meanwhile, cleaning and dis-infection operations are over in the Doloigaon Uzanpara areas in Bogaigaon district, said the sources.Government of India observers Dr D Biswas, Dr Sukumar Banerjee, Dr P P Pant, Dr S Manna, Dr K Ali and Dr Kalyan Roy are overseeing the operations in the bird flu-hit areas as Central Observers, said the sources.Till January 2 evening, the State Government has paid an amount of Rs 1,62,45,109 to the affected farmers as compensation. Till last evening, 4,83,883 poultry were culled and 1,62,724 eggs and 12,761 kgs of poultry feed were destroyed in the bird flu-hit areas, said the sources. source: assam tribune
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Culling in 7 centres to be over soon
Students to talk live with Mike aboard ISS
Staff reporter GUWAHATI, Jan 3 – The Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS) is organising a live talk, through videoconference, between the students of the city-based Axam Jatiya Vidyalaya and astronaut Edward Michel Finke, popularly known as Mike Finke, the son-in-law of the State, who is now stationed at the International Space Station (ISS), 350 miles above the Earth’s surface. This is for the first time in the country that school students will talk live with an astronaut in space, said the FASS.According to FASS, Finke, NASA astronaut and commander of the expedition 18 mission of the ISS, will talk to the students of the city school live at 1.24 pm on January 7. Mike is in outer space for the last three months, said Bidyananda Barkakoty, secretary general of the FASS India.The FASS international headquarters located in the USA is co-ordinating the event with NASA and FASS India headquarters located in the city is coordinating the event with the Axam Jatiya Vidyalaya. The FASS has already organised such space talks at Dibrugarh University and Shillong St Anthony’s College, said Barkakoty.Chairman and Managing Director of the international committee of the FASS Rajen Barua has said that from the space talk events, students would learn about life on board the International Space Station and become aware of the substantial benefits of human space flight and the exploration and discoveries that occur on space flight missions.Mike Finke, who is married to Renita Saikia, daughter of Rupesh and Probha Saikia, is now learning Assamese on board the ISS using the set of Assamese flash cards he has carried along with him to space. He has also carried a silk gamocha given to him by the FASS on the eve of his flight to the space station. He will carry back the gamocha with the autographs of his co-astronauts and himself on it.Rajen Barua, who is now based in Houston, is the chief co-ordinator of the space talks programme, Barkakoty said. source: assam tribune
AGP, BJP finalise poll pact on 4 LS seats
Staff reporter GUWAHATI, Jan 3 – The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today arrived at sharing of four of 14 seats for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls and further discussions on electoral understanding will resume only after the Magh Bihu festival. The office bearers of both the parties met in the State Assembly premises to discuss seat sharing for the Parliamentary elections and decided that the existing seats of both the parties would be retained. The AGP has its Members of Parliament in Lakhimpur and Dibrugarh constituencies, while, the BJP has Nagaon and Mangaldoi seats. AGP spokesman Apurba Bhattacharya said that the AGP would field its existing MPs-Sarbananda Sonowal in Dibrugarh and Dr Arun Sarma in Lakhimpur. It is up to the leadership of the BJP to decide the candidates of the party.Bhattacharya said that the discussions would resume only after the Magh Bihu and a final shape to the seat sharing arrangement is likely to be given by the end of this month. He said that both the parties today decided to hold meetings with the district committees to ensure smooth coordination between the grass root level workers of the parties in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls. The parties also decided to hold talks with the Assembly constituency level committees to improve coordination between the workers of the AGP and BJP to ensure that the anti-Congress votes are not divided, he added. source: assam tribune
Hasina should act against NE ultras: PM
CORRESPONDENT SHILLONG, Jan 3 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said terrorists using Bangladesh to carry out attacks against India was a cause of worry and hoped Sheikh Hasinas new government would take appropriate measures in this regard. Singh who was here to inaugurate the 96th Indian Science Congress said that he hoped that the new government in Bangladesh would take appropriate measures and not allow terrorism to grow from its soil.Admitting that northeast based insurgents groups were sheltering in the neighboring country, the Prime Minister said that matter was brought to the notice of successive Bangladesh governments in the past without any much success.However, Indias hope was rekindled with Shiekh Hasina and her party, the Awami League and its allies wining a landslide victory in the general elections. Hasina has already said that Bangladesh was willing to cooperate with India to fight terrorism jointly. We hope that the new government in Bangladesh would ensure that its soil wont be allowed for acts of terror against India, especially the northeast, Singh said adding, India was committed to root out the growing menace of terrorism and Naxalism, despite initial setbacks.Ruling out talks with insurgent groups before they laid down arms, Singh asserted that the government would not compromise with those who have taken up guns to find solution. On the Mumbai terror attacks, Singh said war was no solution but reiterated that Pakistan must act against the perpetrators of the attack and hand over those involved behind the horrible terrorists to India.We have been pressing on Pakistan to hand over the terrorists responsible for the Mumbai attacks without success. We hope better sense will prevail on the Pakistani leadership and it will recognise that tackling terrorism is an area that needed mutual cooperation, Meanwhile, Singh also expressed concern over Bangladeshi infiltration into India and said the fencing work along the Indo-Bangla border needs to be expedited. The government is worried about infiltration and fencing work needs to expedited, Singh said. source: assam tribune
Chidambaram’s visitIt
Chidambaram’s visit It is a positive sign that soon after taking over as the Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram visited Assam and attended a meeting of the Unified Command to assess the situation on the ground as it is a fact that Assam and other parts of North East require more attention from the Central Government for the solution of the burning problems. Of course, a day long visit is not adequate to understand the gravity of the problems, but at least, the new Union Home Minister has made a good beginning and he should continue regular interactions not only with the Chief Minister but also with the security forces engaged in the counter-insurgency operations for a better understanding of the situation. The Centre has already decided to establish four hubs of the National Security Guards (NSG) to deal with terrorist attacks like the one in Mumbai, and so far the request of the Assam Government to establish such a hub in the State has not been acceded to. But on the positive side, Chidambaram must have realised the gravity of the situation after the meeting with the Unified Command as he announced immediately after the meeting that such hubs would be established in other states also in phased manner. If the Government of India indeed decides to establish NSG hubs, Assam should get first priority as the possibility of terror strikes like the one in Mumbai in the North East cannot be ruled out because of the fact that forces inimical to India managed to establish their roots in Bangladesh. The issue of the cease-fire agreement with the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) was one of the key issues discussed in the Unified Command meeting in presence of the Union Home Minister as the term of the agreement expired on December 31 and Chidambaram told the media before leaving for New Delhi that the final decision on whether to extend the agreement would be taken shortly. The Government must take a decision soon as keeping the problems hanging will only complicate them and at the same time, the new Union Home Minister must take personal initiative to expedite the peace talks with the militant groups, which have already signed cease-fire agreements with the Government. source: assam tribune
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Assam CM admits security lapses
Asked whether the blasts were the result of intelligence failure, he told reporters: "I do not say failure but lapses are there."
"No country can provide 100 per cent security and we don't have the best intelligence," Gogoi said.
"We need to improve and strengthen our police force apart from ensuring its modernisation," he said.
The chief minister said the needle of suspicion for the blasts pointed towards ULFA.
Gogoi also briefed Union home minister P Chidambaram on the law and order situation in the state at a meeting at the Raj Bhawan.
The chief minister, who visited the blast sites, said he was shocked at the inhuman and cowardly act of militants on the New Year day.
"We have hoped to usher in peace in the New Year, but the blasts have forced us to intensify operations against the militants. I urge people to come forward and fight against these forces unitedly," he said.
Gogoi directed health authorities to provide all possible help to the injured undergoing treatment at various hospitals in the city.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Assam_CM_admits_security_lapses_/articleshow/3923161.cms
Terror on Day 1: 5 killed, 67 injured in Guwahati
The explosions took place a few hours before P Chidambaram flew in for his maiden visit as home minister to review the law and order situation. He was escorted to the Raj Bhawan from the airport under heavy security, past one of the blast sites.
Terrorists appeared to mock a heavy security bandobast put in place for the New Year in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai carnage and for the home minister's visit. Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi admitted as much.
``There were security lapses. Our police force needs to be modernized and trained to deal with such terror attacks,'' he said, echoing something that's become obvious since the Mumbai attack.
Ironically, Chidambaram's visit was to review security to prevent terror bombings like the one in Guwahati, Kokrajhar, Barpeta Road and Bongaigaon on October 30, 2008, in which 89 people were killed. He was also scheduled to discuss with Gogoi cross-border terrorism in the state which shares a porous boundary with Bangladesh.
Police said the first blast took place near Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi TB Hospital at Birubari at 2.35pm, injuring five people, including a 10-year-old child.
This was followed by another explosion at the busy Bhootnath market near the famed Kamakhya Temple. Two persons died and about 25 others were injured. Police said the militants had planted an IED on a bicycle.
The third blast, which was more devastating, was carried out at Bhangaghar, one of the poshest areas in Guwahati, at 5.45pm. Dotted with shopping malls, the spot is located about 200m from the The Times of India office. Three of the 34 people injured in the blast died in hospital. Police suspect the bomb was kept inside a pan shop, whose owner suffered injuries.
``We suspect Ulfa's hand. Investigation is on. Forensic experts have rushed to the spot,'' senior superintendent of police P C Saloi said.
In its mouthpiece, Freedom, Ulfa said on Thursday, ``India wanted to dominate South Asia, ignoring the sovereignty of other countries in the region.'' It accused the Centre of ``equally suppressing'' the demand of sovereignty by the people of Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh and Kamtapur.
On the other hand, pro-talks Ulfa leaders led by Mrinal Hazarika and Jiten Gogoi announced that they had dropped the sovereignty demand in favour of more autonomy on the lines of Jammu and Kashmir.
A senior army officer had warned that Bangladesh-based fundamentalist groups could sneak into Assam and other north-eastern states fearing pressure from the newly-elected Sheikh Hasina Wajed government.
``We cannot completely rule out the involvement of such elements in Thursday's blasts. It's high time that state intelligence agencies became proactive,'' the officer said.
Earlier, Assam accused ``external elements'' of carrying out the October 30 blasts in collaboration with Ulfa and National Democratic Front of Bodoland.
Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Assam_CM_admits_security_lapses_/articleshow/3923161.cms
