Economy / Assam

Silchar, Dec. 18: The spectre of starvation is looming large over the 2,000-strong labour force of Hatticherra and Subong tea estates in south Assam?s Cachar district.

The Calcutta-based Hindusthan Tea Company, which owns both estates, declared a lockout on July 18 following a dispute with the labour union over wages.

The woes of the workers have been compounded by the lack of medical facilities.

Amar Mahali, secretary of the Hatticherra Subong Cha Bagan Sangram Samity, told newspersons here last night that at least 57 tea workers had died of various diseases since the lockout was declared.

H...

Silchar, Dec. 18: The Dima Halam Daoga (DHD) has served ?tax notices? on some tea gardens in Cachar district, raising doubts about the genuineness of the outfit?s promise to call a halt to violence and extortion.

A senior police official said the DHD recently contacted executives of tea estates in Lakhipur sub-division and Udarbond block over phone and then mailed typed letters specifying the amount of money they were expected to contribute to the outfit?s coffers.

Planters? unions admitted to being aware of the development, but declined to name the recipients of demand notices or the amount...

GUWAHATI, Dec 16 — Illegal loading and unloading of coal, cement, bamboo, etc, at the Jogighopa railway station yard is causing a staggering loss of revenue worth nearly Rs 30 crore a year to the cash-starved State Government. But the most astonishing part of it is that this has been going on despite the Chief Minister’s written instruction to the administration to regularise the whole operations to prevent any further loss of revenue. The lobby of unauthorised contractors is so strong that even written orders from Excise Minister Rameswar Dhanowar (then Labour Minister) and endorsed by the...

NEW DELHI, Dec 3 ? Assam is the lone State in the North-East to pay for deployment of Central Para-military Forces (CPMF). The State has an outstanding of over Rs 32.49 crore towards deployment of CPMF in Assam. As for the other North Eastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura, they do not have to share the burden as the Central Government has exempted them from paying for deployment of Central forces. This was revealed by Deputy Prime Minister, L K Advani in the Lok Sabha this morning during the Question Hour discussion. The Deputy Prime Minister added that...

NEW DELHI, Dec 2?Assam?s growth of the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) has touched an all-time low of 2.49 per cent, even as the projected growth rate for the State has been estimated at six per cent during the 10th Plan period. The findings are part of the Assam Development Report (ADR) prepared by Planning Commission, which was released by Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. The report has been prepared by Kirit Pareek a consultant. The function held at the Prime Minister?s residence was attended by Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, K C Pant, Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi besides top...

DIBRUGARH, Dec 1: Generally ?Vinegar? Joe Stilwell must be grinding his teeth wherever he is. For the urgency with which his forces built the road later named after him is today caught in the quagmire of international politics and policy differences. At the end of the two-day deliberations on the problems and prospects of re-opening the Stilwell Road here on Saturday the matter continues to be as complex as it was two days ago whether to expedite the process of re-opening the road at all and if yes how to go about it. A local tea planter, Manoj Jalan, who is involved in the matter, today said...

NEW DELHI, Dec 1: Mounting uncertainties arising from nonchalant attitude of the Central and State government, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and fresh logjam over additional subsidy obligation has put a question mark over implementation of the multi-crore gas cracker project. Opinion over the gravity of the latest crisis to hit the gas cracker project may differ, but everybody agrees that the project today stands at a critical juncture gasping for life. If the crisis that looms large over the project is again allowed to be mired into bureaucratic...

Dibrugarh, Nov. 30: Experts have once again mooted the idea of reopening the historic Stillwell Road ? albeit while sounding a note of caution ? during the inaugural session of the two-day national seminar on ?Reopening of the Stilwell Road ? problems and prospects? here today.

?Smuggling of narcotics and illicit arms into the country from Myanmar, irrespective of the country of origin, has been going on regardless of the presence or absence of the road. ... This must be eliminated,? said former diplomat A.K. Ray, delivering the keynote address at the seminar. It was organised by the...

GUWAHATI, July 11 ? State Industry Minister, Sri Bhubaneswar Kalita has assured the representatives of industry in State that the new industrial policy of the State will be designed to simplify the rules and regulations to avoid procedural delay. During an interaction with the industry representatives, which was organised by the Federation of Industry and Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER), the new Industry Minister of the State pledged to simplify sales tax rules in the new policy in response to requests from industrialists.

During the interaction which was also attended by Minister...

GUWAHATI, July 8 ? The Government of India?s decision to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in tea industry in the country has failed to raise hopes for the crisis-ridden tea industry in Assam. Sources in the tea industry in the State informed that for the tea sector in Assam which has been going through a bad patch of late, the Government of India?s decision allowing FDI has come a bit late. With the tea prices falling steeply, decline in export volume and shrinking of even the domestic tea market due to invasion by Cola giants and coffe brands, the overall environment is not...