Politics / Assam

GUWAHATI, May 18? Lauding Tarun Gogoi government?s policy of ?development a must to restore peace?, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President Paban Singh Ghatowar today accused the BJP-led Central Government of ?not being sincere in holding talks with militants of Assam,? while the Chief Minister pledged to focus on women empowerment. Addressing a mammoth public rally organised by the APCC to mark completion of the first year in office by the Congress Government in the State, Sri Ghatowar demanded that the Centre follow the same policy to bring the proscribed ULFA to the negotiation...

NEW DELHI, May 17? The Union Human Resources Development Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi today declined to make any commitment to set up a Central University at Kokrajhar but assured that the Central Government would implement proposed agreement between the Centre and the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT). The Union Minister responding to a question by U. G. Brahma at the Rajya Sabha here today, urged members to exercise caution and have patience as talks between the Government of India and BLT was on and setting up of Central University besides several other Central institutions were part of the...

GUWAHATI, May 17 ? Almost all the 23,191 bigha, 4 katha and 6 lechas of settlement area of the Government land in Guwahati city is under encroachment. The city has in all 24,283 bighas of Government land which include khas, ceiling surplus and VGR land. The city has two revenue circles ? Guwahati and Dispur. All Government land under the Guwahati Circle, including 110 bighas of hilly land in Kharghuli area, are under encroachment, said official circles here today.

However, it is worthmentioning here that the official documents have treated 4,500 bighas of Government land in the city area...

GUWAHATI, May 17 ? Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said the Centre should apply the same principles to bring the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to the negotiating table as it had done in the case of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (I-M) in Nagaland. Speaking at a ?Meet the Press? programme at the Guwahati Press Club, the Chief Minister said he had all along been telling the Centre to tackle the ULFA problem on the lines of its policy on the NSCN (I-M).

He also inaugurated the Press Club website www.guwahatipressclub.com prior to his speech. While reiterating that he...

GUWAHATI, May 16 ? Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today stated that the ongoing eviction drive by the State Forest department would continue till all forest areas including wildlife sanctuaries and national parks were cleared of encroachers. Talking to this newspaper, Sri Gogoi said the State government was bound by the Supreme Court directive to purge forest areas of encroachers and could not stop the eviction drive despite the resistance from encroachers or the criticism from different quarters. When his attention was drawn to the incidents where a couple of ruling party MLAs tried to interfere...

GUWAHATI, May 16 ? Continuing with its crackdown on the encroachers in the city reserve forest areas, the district administration today demolished 355 houses in the Lechubagan area at Hengrabari. The eviction drive started in the morning and continued till the evening. Many of the encroachers had already left their homes apprehending eviction. Meanwhile, a delegation of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) led by its city committee president Ramendra Narayan Kalita today submitted a memorandum to the Chief Secretary, decrying the ?inhuman? eviction drive. While reiterating that the AGP was not...

GUWAHATI, May 16 ? Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi today informed that ceasefire agreement between Karbi militant outfit, United People?s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) and Government of India might materialise as the process was in an ?advanced stage.? Stating that the insurgency situation in the State had improved a lot during the last one year, the Chief Minister hoped that talks between the ULFA and the Centre would take place as the people of the State were yearning for peace and development. He claimed that of late people?s cooperation towards security forces fighting insurgents in the...

NEW DELHI, May 16 ? In keeping with the understanding arrived at the last round of tripartite talks on the Bodo issue, the Assam Government has submitted a draft agreement on the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) to the Centre, highly placed sources in the Home Ministry told this newspaper. But submission of the draft is unlikely to hasten the resolution of the vexed problem, as the State Government?s plan has skirted all the contentious issues dogging the negotiations with the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT).

According to sources, the submitted draft for instance has not spelled out...

GUWAHATI, May 16 ? The Congress Government in the State is determined to prevent any future encroachment of forest land, stated G C Langthasa, Minister of Forest, Social Forestry, Hill Areas Development Mines and Minerals. In an official release on the status of forest land in the State Langthasa said that the best way to tackle encroachment and check illegal felling of trees is to adopt a carrot-and-stick policy. The masses will have to be enlightened via various social education programmes on the positive as well as negative aspects of these issues. And to make the move practical, the...

KOKRAJHAR, May 15 ? In a significant move, the Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) today decided to reconsider participation in talks with the Centre if the Government fails to show a positive stand on solution of the Bodo problem. This decision was taken at the central executive committee of the BLT held in Kokrajhar today. Briefing newsmen after the meeting, the BLT chairman, Hagrama Basumatary said that the BLT representatives would desist from participating in talks with the Government without instruction from the ?BLT cabinet?. The BLT chairman said that the Assam Cabinet?s decision on the...