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                    Vol.I, No.91 [*] February 21, 1997
                    ----------------------------------


o  ACCORD IMPLEMENTATION ONLY SOLUTION:  MAHANTA	[AT:19-FEB-97]
   --------------------------------------------
  
   Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar  Mahanta  said  implementation  of  the
   Assam  Accord  held the key to the solution of the perennial problems
   of the State including the vexed foreigners issue.
   
   The Chief  Minister,  who  participated  in  the  Steering  Committee
   meeting  of  the  United Front, briefing newsmen on February 18, held
   inaction towards implemention of the Assam Accord as the  root  cause
   of all  ills plaguing the State.  The Chief Minister who was reacting
   to his Government's stand on repeal of the IMDT Act,  concluded  that
   implementation  of the over 10-year-old Accord would take care of all
   such problems relating to the foreigners issue.
   

o  NE PARTIES' FRESH BID FOR JOINT FORUM		[AT:21-FEB-97]
   -------------------------------------
  
   'The North-eastern Regional Parties' Forum,' an apex body of ten main
   regional  parties  of the region decided to emerge as an united block
   in the national politics.  A crucial meeting was chaired by the Assam
   Chief Minister, Mr Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and attended by other heads
   of regional parties of the region on February 19, stressed  the  need
   for bringing all regional parties on a single platform.

o  AGP-ULFA LINKS - CENTER'S CHARGE BASELESS:  CM	[AT:21-FEB-97]
   ---------------------------------------------
  
   In  an  interesting  development, Assam Government and the Union Home
   Ministry seem to be  heading  for  another  showdown  with  the  Home
   Ministry  charging that several senior AGP Ministers have close links
   with the banned ULFA militants.
  
   The  AGP-led  Assam  Government  whose  relations with the Union Home
   Ministry is far from normal, has dashed off a  communication  to  the
   Ministry asking it to name the Ministers involved and no substantiate
   its  charges with definite proofs about the clandestine links between
   the Ministers and the outfit, highly placed sources said.
  
   The Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who was at New  Delhi  to
   attend the Steering Committee meeting of the United Front, when asked
   for  his reaction, told newsmen that the Union Home Minister's charge
   has no basis.  'From time to time such  baseless  charges  are  being
   made to malign the Government,' he hit back.

o  DHANIRAM, 2 OTHERS RELEASED ON BAIL		[S+AT:19-FEB-97]
   -----------------------------------
  
   Dr Dhaniram Barua, Dr Jonathan Kei-Shing Ho and Mr CJ James, who were
   embroiled in a controversy following the transplant of porcine  heart
   into a human recipient, were granted bail by a Division Branch of the
   Gauhati High  Court.   The passports of Dr Barua, Dr Ho and Mr James,
   were asked to be deposited in  the  court  of  the  CJM,  Kamrup,  to
   preempt any  move  by  either of them to leave the country.  The bail
   for each of them has been set at Rs.50,000 each with  one  surety  of
   the same  amount.   The court also asked the accused not to leave the
   jurisdiction of CJM, Kamrup without permission and directed  them  to
   report  at  the  Sonapur police station on Mondays and Thursdays till
   the filing of the charge sheet by the police.  They would be required
   to give an undertaking not to indulge in  any  organ  transplantation
   during  the  pendency  of  the  inquiry  and trial, without obtaining
   permission from the Indian Medical Council and the Indian Council  of
   Medical Research, New Delhi.
   
   Meanwhile,  while  talking  to  newsmen after being released from the
   Guwahati jail together with his close  associate  Dr  Ho  and  Dr  CJ
   James, Dr Barua said that his detention in jail for over one and half
   months 'did not matter' and he would go ahead with work.
   

o  MULTA ULTRAS HELD AT RUPAHIHAT			[S:20-FEB-97]
   ------------------------------
  
   Nagaon police arrested an ultra, one Abdul  Hasim  belonging  to  the
   Muslim  United  Liberation  Tigers of Assam (MULTA) from Rupahihat of
   Nagaon district on February 18 night.  Police sources  informed  that
   MULTA  ultras  were very active in the Nagaon and Morigaon districts'
   char areas and Moirabari was their stronghold.  An ultra of the  same
   outfit  arrested some times back provided information leading to this
   arrest.
   

o  SIB OFFICER SHOT AT, DRIVER DEAD			[S:18-FEB-97]
   --------------------------------
  
   The  Assistant Director of the SIB, Mr B.K.Modak, was injured and the
   driver of his car killed in an attack by suspected ULFA activists  in
   Tezpur on  February 17.  According to police sources, Mr Modak was on
   his way at around 6 pm when the attack occurred.  Mr Modak  has  been
   hospitalized and his condition was serious.

o  NON-BAILABLE WARRANT AGAINST CONG MLA		[S:18-FEB-97]
   -------------------------------------
  
   The  Additional  Chief  Judicial  Magistrate,  Guwahati  has issued a
   warrant of arrest against the Congress MLA from the Dhing Legislative
   Assembly constituency of the  State,  Mustafa  Sahidul  Islam,  under
   section 447/427/506/34 of the Indian Penal Code.  The order which was
   issued  by  the  Additional  CJM  on February 14 in which the accused
   person was alleged to have forcibly occupied a plot of  land  in  the
   heart  of  the  city  after  ousting its rightful owner on January 5,
   1995.

o  RDX RECOVERED NEAR DULIAJAN				[S:21-FEB-97]
   ---------------------------
  
   Acting on a tipoff, the Army searched  the  Telpani  Forest  Reserved
   area, on the north bank of Buridihing river about 50 km from Duliajan
   on February 19 night and recovered about six kg of Research Developed
   Explosives hidden underground in an abundoned hut. This was the first
   haul  of RDX in the entire North-eastern region by the Army since the
   inception of operations under Unified Command structure.
   

o  MORE AK-47 AMMU SEIZED				[S:18-FEB-97]
   ----------------------
  
   Working in tandem under the Unified Command structure, Army and State
   police personnel recovered 1,000 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition late
   at night on  February  15  from  an  unclaimed  suitcase  at  Merbeel
   Pabhajan   Tiniali  near  Duliajan,  official  sources  disclosed  at
   Guwahati on February 17.

o  TOP OFFICIALS VISIT BORDER				[S:21-FEB-97]
   --------------------------
  
   The  Upper  Assam  Commissioner,  Mr   Bhaskar   Musahary   and   the
   Commissioner  of  Kohima area of Nagaland on February 20 paid a joint
   visit to the police station allegedly constructed on Assam's land  by
   Nagaland police and took stock of the situation. The situation on the
   Assam-Nagaland border areas in the Golaghat district was discussed in
   details. The meeting was  attended  by  the  Deputy  Commissioner  of
   Golaghat  and  Jorhat  respectively,  SP Jorhat, DIG )Eastern Range),
   besides other officials.
   

o  4 BOOKS RELEASED BY AXX				[AT:19-FEB-97]
   -----------------------
  
   The Axom Xahitya Xabha in cooperation with Digboi Sahitya Sewa Samiti
   organized a function  for  releasing  four  books,  under  the  'Book
   Voyage' scheme,  at  Digboi  on  February  13.    The four books were
   'Digboi Telor Boiche Noi' by  Mr  Joykanta  Gondhia,  'Seuji  Dharani
   Dhunia'  by  Keshada Mahanta, 'Protijoibik' by Dr Mihir Kumar Goswami
   and 'Bidyutor Bichitra Kahini' by Mr Abhijit Sarma,  published  under
   the  scheme  with  the  financial  assistance  from  the  Indian  Oil
   Corporation Limited, Digboi.
   

o  NARAYANAN TO BE CHIEF GUEST OF XABHA SESSION		[AT:20-FEB-97]
   --------------------------------------------
  
   Vice President RK Narayanan will be the chief  guest  at  the  second
   open  session  on  March  9  of  the Axom Xahitya Xabha at 'Narayanan
   Kshetra' Bilasipara in Dhubri district from March 5 next.
   
   The  five-day  63rd  session  of  AXX  will be presided over by noted
   literateur Dr Nagen Dutta, while  poet  Mr  Narendranath  Chakrabarty
   will inaugurate the first open session on March 8.  State Governor LN
   Misra  and Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta have been invited as
   guests of honour on the occasion.

o  ASSAM ONLINE NEWS COMPLETES ONE YEAR OF SERVICE
   -----------------------------------------------
   
   The Assam Online News, the pioneer electronic newsletter  from  Assam
   completes one  year  of  voluntary  service on 18 Feb 1997.  The news
   service was started  to  provide  news  from  and  around  Assam  and
   partially  fulfill the news-starved Assamese community and friends of
   Assam residing outside Assam; both in India and abroad.  The news  is
   compiled  from  local  newspaper  reports  and uploaded directly from
   Assam every few days.  The  enthusiastic  support  and  contributions
   from the readers themselves have helped complete one year of service.
   The  news  is delivered directly through e-mail and is also available
   on the World Wide Web.

______________________________[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
________________________________________________________________________