Development / Northeast

GUWAHATI, April 4 ? Finally the long wait for the people of north eastern region was over. Guwahati was today put on the international aviation map with the maiden Air India flight taking off to Thailand capital Bangkok with capacity 200 passengers on board. A few minutes past 3 o?clock this afternoon, the 200-seater Airbus 310 took off from the tarmac of Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport with the blessings of nonagenarian Surabala Bardoloi, wife of the Lokapriya.

An enthusiastic Union Civil Aviation Minister, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain informed that it was for the first time in...

NEW DELHI, April 2 ? All the railway projects in the North-east are likely to suffer indefinite delay on account of marginal allocation of funds, AGP MP and Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railway Ministry, Dr Arun Kumar Sarma said here today. The focus of the parliamentary standing committee that met today, was on the railway activities in the North-east and according to Dr Sarma the future of railway projects in the region is gloom. The other MP, Ranee Narah, who is a member of the parliamentary committee, did not show up. The meeting, attended by representatives of the...

GUWAHATI, April 1? The Government has set up a National Commission for Youth, headed by Balbir Punj, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha). The Commission had its first meeting here recently where the members reiterated their commitment to the terms of reference of the commission which has been set up to enable the Government to overcome the problems confronting the youth and among other things bring fresh perspectives to the issues involved.

This would be achieved by reorienting and reorganizing the ongoing youth programmes to increase their effectiveness, outreach and take fresh initiatives...

NEW DELHI, March 22 ? The Commerce Ministry has ruled out the possibility of reopening the Stillwell Road even as two additional points for border trade with Myanmar in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh have been identified for opening. The disclosure was made by the Minister of State for Commerce, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, at the Lok Sabha, here this morning, in response to a question by Paban Singh Ghatowar. The MP seeking an assurance from the Minister, underlined the importance of the Stillwell Road for the economy of the North East. He pointed out to the Minister that importance of the road lay in...

AGARTALA, March 22 ? After a span of about eight months, India and Bangladesh will again sit to discuss the much-awaited Agartala-Dhaka bus service which was put in the back-burner following change of guards in Dhaka. The issue of transit route through Bangladesh from Tripura to other parts of India is also to be discussed in the meeting to be held in Dhaka from April 7 to April 10 next. Tripura Industries Minister Pabitra Kar said, a delegation of high-level officials from both India and Bangladesh will participate in the four-day meeting at Dhaka to boost the Indo-Bangladesh trade ties with...

NEW DELHI, March 16 ? Dawn of a new information technology era in the North East is likely to be hit by fund crunch even in the face of the Ministry of Information Technology?s assertion that the Community Information Centre (CIC) project was on tracks and all of proposed 487 centres in the region were scheduled to be set up by August 15. Implementation of the ambitious CICs Project may be more then just a mouse click away, if the doubts expressed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee attached to IT Ministry, has any substance. The Committee headed by Somnath Chatterjee has pointed out that...

NEW DELHI, March 18 ? The Indian Airlines and Alliance Air have revised air fares in the Northeast sectors ranging between 10 to 15 per cent with effect from February 15, Civil Aviation Minister, Shahnawaz Hussain said this here today. The hike in air fare in the region came close on the heels of the Union Finance Ministry formally issuing a notification (No 2/2002) waiving off Inland Air Travel Tax in all routes to and from and within the Northeastern States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The Minister, however, refused to estimate the loss...

NEW DELHI, March 14 ? A proposal is under consideration to declare the North-east as a free trade zone, highly-placed official sources disclosed today. The sources further said that the move has been initiated in order to give a boost to the industrial sector and to encourage the young entrepreneurs to set up industries in the region. Despite immense potential for industries, no pragmatic steps has yet been initiated and hence several organisations have been demanding declaration of the region as a free trade zone, they added. In this context, the sources expressed the view that if the...

GUWAHATI, March 14?Three premier organisations connected with Buddhist and tribal people of North East India have moved the Centre to ?name and designate? the international flights of Air India on the Guwahati-Bangkok via Kolkata sector as ?Moung Dun Sun Kham? international flights, stated a release. Lauding the Centre for operation of the flights between Guwahati and Bangkok from April this year, the organisations stated that such step would give due importance to medieval relationship between Assam, Myanmar and Siam Thailand. Referring to the Centre?s ?Look Eastward? policy and the flight...

GUWAHATI, March 15 ? Tourism in Assam in particular and the North-East in general is set to get a fresh lease of life following the operation of Air India flights to Bangkok beginning from April 4. This is the view shared by tour operators, travel agents, government departments and other agencies connected with tourism in the State. The mood in the tour operators? circle in the city is upbeat and they are working overtime to cash in on the business prospects that the new development is offering.

Jungle Travels India Pvt Ltd, a leading tour operator of the North-East which is also a member...