DIBRUGARH, Oct 16 ? Congress candidate Jibantara Ghatowar today had the last laugh when she defeated Paragjyoti Baruah of the AGP by a convincing 8577 vote margin in the Moran by-poll election result, in stark contrast to speculation in the State?s vernacular media that the AGP has the edge.

Ultimately, Assam Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ripun Bora proved to be prophetic when he told The Assam Tribune earlier this week that the Congress would win by eight to ten thousand votes.

Ghatowar polled 31916 votes, compared to Baruah?s 23339 votes. BJP?s Jadab Dehingia polled 3476 votes...

SHILLONG, Oct 15 ? Meghalaya Chief Minister DD Lapang today said people residing outside the North-east found it to be a gold mine, while bonafide residents here were afraid of being swamped by an influx. ?People (from other places) come here and see the Northeast as a gold mine because of its natural wealth, but we are afraid an influx will swallow our identity,? Lapang said while inaugurating a workshop here.

He said the north-eastern states by virtue of their ?special category? received a great deal of attention from the Centre in terms of funds and schemes. "But we should not become a...

TURA, Oct 15 ? Three days of incessant rains that lashed Garo Hills from October 5 causing massive landslides, floods, and loss to human lives has put damage to the tune of crores of rupees. Officials of the three districts of Garo Hills are presently surveying the damage caused to crops, roads and bridges, and homes. They will be putting forward their findings to PWD Minister Dr Mukul M Sangma, during a review meeting expected to take place on Saturday at Tura Circuit House.

A depression in the Bay of Bengal, which led to the continuous downpour, also caused the death of seven people in the...

GUWAHATI, Oct 15 - The public hearing panel in the city on the oil pipeline proposed by the Oil India Ltd (OIL) for evacuating the products of the Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) between Numaligarh and Siliguri yesterday said that it had no objection to allow M/s Oil India Ltd to lay the product pipeline.

However, it laid the condition that in doing so Oil India Ltd should abide by all the existing environmental measures as per provision of the laws and it should also pay due attention to restoring the total environmental quality of the stretch of 456 km in Assam.

Besides, it said that the Oil...

GUWAHATI, Oct 15 ? BSNL mobile (CellOne) customers, both in the city and elsewhere in the State, are having a harrowing time with severe congestion affecting the network for the past couple of months. BSNL authorities, however, have asserted that things would be put in order very soon and from next month onwards, the customers can expect a much improved service.

Things have, of late, deteriorated to such an extent that getting response from a BSNL mobile has become a rarity, with the invariable recorded reply of ?busy network? or ?out of range? greeting the caller. ?I had opted for BSNL...