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                     Vol.I, No.84 [*] January 21, 1997
                     ---------------------------------

o  UNIFIED COMMAND BECOMES OPERATIVE		[AT+S:21-JAN-97]
   ---------------------------------
   
   The three-tier unified command counter insurgency operation system in
   Assam  has  become  operative from January 20 with the holding of the
   first meeting of the strategic group in  Dispur  giving  the  unified
   headquarters  up  to  three months initially to gauge its efficacy in
   counter-insurgency operations. 
   
   Briefing newsmen, Mr C.P.Mishra, Principal Home Secretary, said  that
   the   major  decisions  taken  in  the  meeting  include  sharing  of
   intelligence between the security forces and the police agencies;  as
   a   matter   of  broader  strategy,  the  combined  forces  would  be
   accompanied -- in whichever areas they conducted operations --  by  a
   magistrate  or  a  police  official  or,  if  neither  of  these were
   available, by the president of the local gaon panchayat;  that  there
   would  be  no harassment of innocent persons during the course of the
   operations; care would be taken to ensure that the aged and womenfolk
   would not be unduly harassed in the course of the  joint  operations;
   the  Army  would  hand over to the nearest police station, within the
   prescribed time limit, apprehended insurgents along with an FIR and a
   seizure list enumerating the recoveries made from such detenus.
   
   The  operational   group   given   the   nomenclature   of   'unified
   headquarters'  would  be  headed  by  the  GOC of the 4 Corps, Lt Gen
   Sawhney, Mr Mishra said.

o  AASU CALL FOR ASSAM BANDH ON JAN 24		[AT:21-JAN-97]
   -----------------------------------
   
   The All Assam Students Union has given a call for 12-hour Assam bandh
   from 5 am of January 24 in protest against the  'imposition'  of  the
   Unified  Command  on  the people of the State. The students' body has
   called upon all the militant outfits to shun violence.
   
   The AASU in a press release on January 21 in Guwahati, said  that  it
   was compelled to take recourse to a bandh call as the Central as well
   as  the  State Governments were found to be keen on covertly imposing
   an Army rule on the people of the State in the guise of  the  Unified
   Command.

o  PM TO LAY BOGIBEEL BRIDGE BASE			[UNI:20-JAN-97]
   ------------------------------
   
   Prime Minister H.D.Deve Gowda is expected to lay the foundation stone
   of the Bogibeel bridge over the Brahmaputra near Dibrugarh on January
   22.  The  Prime  Minister  is  stated  to  lay  the foundation of the
   Lumding-Silchar gauge conversion project at Silchar the same day. The
   massive  4.3-km  Bogibeel  road-cum-rail  bridge  over   the   mighty
   Brahmaputra is one of the longest bridges ever built by the Railways.
   The preliminary works of the Rs.10 billion bridge have already begun,
   and  the  final  location  survey is scheduled to be completed during
   1997-98.
   

o  BAC BOUNDARY MEET ON JAN 29			[PTI:20-JAN-97]
   ---------------------------
   
   Discussions to settle the boundary dispute of the Bodoland Autonomous
   Council would be held in Guwahati on January 29. Talking to  newsmen,
   Chief  Minister  Mr  Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said that on that day all
   Bodo organizations have been invited for a discussion  to  solve  the
   issue.  He said that earlier the Government had decided to hold talks
   with the Bodo groups on January 22 but that was cancelled due to  the
   visit of the Prime Minister to the State on that day.
   

o  STATE WARNED OF ARMS-DROP POSSIBILITY		[UNI:20-JAN-97]
   -------------------------------------
   
   The  Assam  Government  was warned of a possible arms dropping in the
   north-eastern region by the Union Home Ministry, informed Assam Chief
   Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. Mr Mahanta told newsmen that similar
   reports had been sent to all the seven north-eastern  States  by  the
   Union Ministry.
   
   This  report  has  become a raging controversy as a section of senior
   officials of the State Government pointed out that the report was not
   given due seriousness by the State Chief  Secretary  T.K.Kamilla  and
   was routinely passed on to the subordinate officers without reporting
   back to the Home Ministry as well as informing the Chief Minister.
   

o  RS.60,000 LOOTED FROM UBI'S RAJMAI BRANCH	[PTI:20-JAN-97]
   -----------------------------------------
   
   Armed militants looted about Rs.60,000 from the Rajmai branch of  the
   United Bank of India at Demow in Sibsagar district on January 20. The
   militants escaped after the incident and police had launched a search
   to nab them, reports said.
   

o  CENTRE ACCEPTS STATE'S DEMAND			[S:18-JAN-97]
   -----------------------------
   
   The Union Ministry of Petroleum,  has  agreed  to  transfer  the  gas
   linkage  in  favor  of NTPC as demanded by Assam and to formulate and
   implement an action plan for the next three to five years to  augment
   the  supply  of  natural  gas  up  to  the committee level of various
   projects including the Amguri  power  project,  stated  a  Janasonjog
   press release  at  Guwahati  on  January 18.  The decision followed a
   meeting between the State Chief Minister, Mr Prafulla  Kumar  Mahanta
   and the  Prime Minister.  During the meeting, the Chief Minister also
   highlighted the need for associating  the  State  Government  in  the
   process of revision of oil royalty, the release added.
   

o  MP BEZBARUA JOINS AS SECRETARY GOVT OF INDIA	[AT:17-JAN-97]
   --------------------------------------------
   
   Mr Madan Prasad Bezbarua IAS, 1964 batch, has joined as Secretary  in
   the  Ministry of Tourism, Government of India on January 16 after his
   elevation  from  the  position  of  Principal   Adviser,   Plan   and
   Coordination,  in  the Planning Commission. Mr Bezbarua is the second
   Assamese officer to occupy the prestigious position of a full-fledged
   Secretary in the Central Government.
   
   Mr  Madan  Prasad Bezbarua had a brilliant academic career in as much
   as he stood first among the  successful  candidates  in  Intermediate
   Arts  and  was also topper in BA (Economics) from Gauhati University.
   Mr Bezbarua also obtained first class in MA (Economics) and  obtained
   the Master Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University of
   USA.   He  also held a prestigious position as Minister (Economic) in
   the High Commission of India in London from 1990 to 1994.

o  DISPENSARY-ON-BOAT FOR MAJULI SOON		[AT:21-JAN-97]
   ----------------------------------
   
   Inaugurating a medical camp in Garamur recently, Mr Karuna Dutta, MLA
   said that a moving dispensary on a boat would be opened very soon  to
   help mitigate the sufferings of the people in Majuli.
   

o  RAMDAN TIMINGS FOR MUSLIM EMPLOYEES		[AT:21-JAN-97]
   -----------------------------------
  
   The  Government  of  Assam has allowed the State Government Employees
   belonging to the Muslim community to leave office one hour earlier of
   the scheduled time during the 'Ramdan Month' subject to the condition
   that they attend office one hour earlier that is at 9:00 am.
   

o  ASSAMESE GIRL IN MISS INDIA FINALS		[AT:18-JAN-97]
   ----------------------------------
   
   Tora Khasgir, an Assamese girl has entered into the  final  round  of
   the Femina Miss India contest held at Mumbai on January 18. It is the
   first  time  ever  that  an  Assamese  girl  has found a place in the
   coveted finals. Tora is a popular model and is a student of  Handique
   Girls' College, Guwahati.
   

o  CONFERENCE ON WIT, HUMOUR ON FEB 9		[S:21-JAN-97]
   ----------------------------------
   
   All  Assam  Humour-Wit Conference will be organized by the Balichanda
   Club of Sukreswar, Guwahati on February 9, states  a  press  release.
   The conference will be a unique get together to be held for the first
   time  in  Assam. It will organize competition on humour, wit, parody,
   limerick, jokes and cartoons. The main  conference  will  be  replete
   with   humour-oriented  lectures,  discussions,  dialogues  etc.  The
   musical bonanza slated for the evening will have fun-filled  cultural
   items of performing arts.
   

o  ROHAN TO REPRESENT INDIA			[S:21-JAN-97]
   ------------------------
  
   Assam's  promising young tennis player Rohan Saikia has been included
   in the Indian team to represent the country in the under-16 years NEC
   World Youth Cup to be held in Hiroshima, Japan, from  May  5  to  11.
   
o  MAYURI WINS DOUBLE CROWN			[AT:17-JAN-97]
   ------------------------
  
   Mayuri  Mahanta of Golaghat clinched the girls' title under 18 and 14
   titles  in  the  Nurul  Amin  Memorial  All   Assam   Junior   Tennis
   Championship concluded at Nagaon Tennis Complex on January 12. Mayuri
   defeated  Pinki  Matak  6-0,  6-1  in the under 18 final while in the
   under 14 title clash she got the better of Dipsikha Bhuyan 6-2, 6-2.
   

o  ASSAM WINS BASKETBALL TITLE			[AT:18-JAN-97]
   ---------------------------
   
   Assam won the subjunior national basketball title defeating Punjab in
   the final  played  at  Pondichery on January 17.  It is for the first
   time that Assam boys have  won  a  national  title  in  the  game  of
   basketball,  informs Mukut Medhi, secretary Basketball Association of
   Assam.

______________________________[Mozz-BG]_________________________________

Compiled from newspaper and agency reports for private circulation only.
      [S=Sentinel, AT=Assam Tribune, Agencies = UNI, PTI, PIB]
              http://www.cyberspace.org/~mozz/aol.html  
  http://piglet.uccs.edu/~kalita/assam/news/news-from-assam-index.html
________________________________________________________________________