Guwahati, March 12: Assam is becoming a costly place to live in, according to the economic survey for 2002-03. The survey, which was tabled in the Assembly today, showed an alarming rise in the prices of essential commodities, ranging up to 35 per cent. Probably keeping in mind the price rise and in an effort to raise their standard of living, the state government today announced a reservation of 30 per cent in official contracts and supply work for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes from this year.

The survey revealed that the monthly average of retail prices of a number of essential...

SADIYA, March 12 — For the Brahmaputra Board engineers, used to prepare master plans to save the region from the vagaries of floods and erosion in the region, actually executing a flood and erosion control scheme is a new challenge. The Centre has asked the Board to take up the proposed Rs 400 crore composite scheme to check erosion by the Brahmaputra upstream of Dibrugarh in August last year. The reason being that central grants to Assam are not properly utilized.

After officials of Brahmaputra Board placated the literally bruised Assam Flood Control department, work began in earnest to...

IMPHAL, March 12–No new taxes were imposed in the deficit Budget presented for the next financial year in the Manipur Assembly Tuesday, reports PTI. Presenting the Budget estimates of Rs 3663.49 crore, the Chief Minister, O Ibobi Singh, who also holds the charge of Finance department, said that fresh initiatives would be made to augment revenue from existing tax and non-tax resources to fill the budgetary gap.

Also hard measures would be introduced to prune government expenditure like downsizing of the bureacracy, ban on direct recruitment and abolition of death in harness scheme, the...

GUWAHATI, March 12 _ The Income Tax Department has announced the one-by six scheme to widen the tax base in the north-eastern region. This was revealed by Jagrup Singh, Commissioner of Income Tax, decrying a press meet here recently.

Addressing the media, Singh said that the collections of the Department under the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Guwahati, last year were Rs 258 crore, and this year the target has been fixed at Rs 371 crore. The number of assessees in this charge as on January 31, 2003 is 449810. According to one-by-six Scheme, any citizen fulfilling any one of the following...

NEW DELHI, March 12 – India is pushing for opening of a second border trading point through Champai-Rih sector, even as the Government is in the process of setting up a joint trade committee chaired by the respective Ministers of Commerce to promote bilateral trade between India and Myanmar. Minister of State for External Affairs Vinod Khanna informed this in the Lok Sabha today.

Expressing India’s keen interest to widen the list of items being traded between the two countries, the minister conceded that existence of only one border trading point is a constraint. Under the Boarder Trade...