News

NEW DELHI, Feb 20 – The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has completed the exercise of identifying weak links on the National Highways in the North-east zeroing in on 243 bridges and 355 culverts out of which 58 bridges and 98 culverts are in Assam. The Union Minister for MoRTH, Major General (Retd) B C Khanduri disclosed in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha that these bridges and culverts so identified are planned to be taken up for reconstruction during the 10th Five Year Plan period subject to availability of funds. Meanwhile, the Minister of Department for Development of...

GUWAHATI, Feb 20 — Dilly-dally by the State Forest Department in allotting the required 285 hectare shallow water sandbank (riverbed shoal) to the National Hydro-Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) to facilitate commencement of construction of 2000-MW Subansiri Lower Basin Hydroelectric Power Project has raised many a eye-brows in authorities concerned.

Peeved at the delay on part of the State Forest Department to allot the riverbed shoal, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has set March 15, 2003 deadline for issuing clearance for allotment of the riverbed portion to NHPC which...

NEW DELHI, Feb 20 – At least 23 towns and cities in Assam besides other towns in the North Eastern Region (NER) are planned to be brought under the mobile telephone network (Cellular Mobile Telephone Service) from August, this was disclosed by Minister of State for Communication, Sumitra Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha today.

With this the monopoly enjoyed by the Reliance Telecom (P) Limited is also expected to end as other players including the State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Hexacom India Limited have been granted licenses to operate in the Region. While Reliance Telecom is...

Jorhat, Feb. 19: A surrendered militant was among 15 people rounded up by the CBI from the river island of Majuli to testify in the Sanjoy Ghose case. Police sources here said the former militant had surrendered soon after Ghose’s abduction made newspaper headlines.

The Ulfa had abducted Ghose, a social worker involved in an anti-erosion project in Majuli, in 1997. It is presumed that he was killed the same day and his body thrown into the Brahmaputra.

The case is being heard in the court of the additional ad hoc sessions judge, Kamrup.

The CBI had previously brought five witnesses, including...

Feb. 19: The All-Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam today asked all ministers, MPs and MLAs of the community to resign from their political parties in protest against the new Bodo accord, which has paved the way for the creation of a Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).

Leaders of the state’s Adivasi community include Speaker Prithibi Majhi, PCC president Paban Singh Ghatowar, revenue minister Methias Tudu, labour minister Rupam Kurmi and minister of state for PWD Etuwa Munda.

The students’ association is an influential organisation and its appeal is likely to be backed by the entire...