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                     Vol.2, No.3  [*]  April 8, 1997
                     -------------------------------

1  NATIONAL GOVT POSSIBLE:  SANGMA			[S:8-APR-97]
   -------------------------------
   
   The  Speaker  of  the  Lok  Sabha,  Purno  A.Sangma has said that the
   formation of a National Party Government at the Centre was  still  an
   extremely  plausible  possibility to defuse the political crises, but
   it was the prerogative of the President, Shankar Dayal Sharma to take
   such an option.
   
   Briefly  speaking  to  newsmen  shortly  before  his  departure  from
   Guwahati  where  he had come to lay the foundation stone of the North
   Eastern Regional Institute for Parliamentary  Studies,  Training  and
   Research  (NERISTAR)  at  Dispur,  Mr  Sangma said he had offered his
   services to help defuse the situation and break the stalemate between
   the United Front partners and the Congress.

2  FIFTEEN KILLED IN ROAD MISHAP NEAR BOKAKHAT	[S+AT:8-APR-97]
   -------------------------------------------
   
   Thirteen  people,  including  five  women  and driver of a truck were
   killed, ten of them on the spot and 30 others were seriously  injured
   when  a  truck  hit  a  Guwahati-bound  bus  coming from Manipur near
   Bokakhat tea estate at around 11 pm on April 6.  Reports from  Jorhat
   said  the  death  toll rose to 15 with the death of a woman in Jorhat
   Civil Hospital.  Agency reports, however, put the death toll  at  16.
   The injured have been shifted to Jorhat and Golaghat civil hospitals.
   The  Deputy  Commissioner, Golaghat and other senior civil and police
   officials rushed to the accident  site  and  coordinated  the  rescue
   operations.
   

3  ULFA OBSERVES FOUNDATION DAY			[AT+S:8-APR-97]
   ----------------------------
   
   Despite the elaborate  and  tight  security  measures  taken  by  the
   Government,  the  banned  United  Liberation Front of Asom managed to
   hoist their flag in several places all over the State including three
   places in Guwahati to mark  its  18th  foundation  day  on  April  7.
   Barring  a couple of incidents of exchange of fire between the ultras
   and the security  forces  in  two  places  in  Sibsagar  and  Nalbari
   districts the  situation remained peaceful.  All the flags hoisted by
   the banned outfit were later  removed  by  the  police  and  security
   forces.  Meanwhile, the Army staged flag march in Guwahati on April 6
   and 7 to establish its presence felt in the State.

4  TRANSPORT STRIKE IN ASSAM SUSPENDED		[UNI:5-APR-97]
   -----------------------------------
   
   The   All  Assam  Motor  Transport  Association  (AAMTA)  temporarily
   suspended the five-day old strike on April 5 following  an  assurance
   given  by the Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta to take up their
   demands with the Central Government.
   

5  DELAY COSTS GAUHATI UNIVERSITY UGC-SPONSORED POSTS	[S:6-APR-97]
   --------------------------------------------------
   
   An  inordinate  delay  in giving concurrence to three posts of reader
   and six post of lecturer, granted by the University Grants Commission
   (UGC) to Gauhati University (GU), by the State Government which  took
   six years and 13 letters, has lapsed the posts on March 31, 1997.
   

6  STATE MINISTER A FOREIGNER?			[UNI:6-APR-97]
   ---------------------------
   
   The Progressive Youth Forum of Assam (PYFA)  has  expressed  surprise
   over  a report published in a section of the Press that Mr Hazi Abdul
   Rouf, a minister in the Prafulla Kumar Mahanta Ministry, is a foreign
   national and he is having a permanent residence in Bangladesh  and  a
   voter of that country.
   
   Mr Khan quoting the news paper report said that Mr Rouf is a  citizen
   of  Gangul  village  under  Borlekha  police station in Moulavi Bazar
   district of Bangladesh.    In  a  statement  PYFA  assistant  general
   secretary  Z.H.Khan  demanded  that the allegation against Mr Rouf be
   verified immediately in the national interest and if  the  allegation
   was proved then the Chief Minister should resign forth with owing all
   responsibilities of giving shelter to a foreign national.
   

7  ARMY ARRESTS MEDICO, ACCOMPLICE			[S:7-APR-97]
   -------------------------------
   
   The  Army  engaged in anti-insurgency operation, during routine check
   arrested one medical internee of Assam Medical  College,  Dr  Prakash
   Gogoi  and  another  youth, Rana Gogoi and recovered one .38 revolver
   and four round of live cartriges from their possession, on April 6 in
   Dibrugarh.  Dr Gogoi was under surveillance from some  time  for  his
   involvement with  antisocials.   Rana Gogoi has a criminal record and
   was involved in various antisocial activities  including  lifting  of
   two-wheelers.
   

8  ACTION PLAN FOR POST AND TELEGRAPH DEPT		[PTI:5-APR-97]
   ---------------------------------------
   
   A new action plan has  been  put  into  operation  by  the  Post  and
   Telegraph  Department  to  strengthen  and  monitor  the rural postal
   services encompassing delivery, money order and counter  services  in
   the  country  with  special  emphasis  on  the  north-eastern States.
   Stating  that  the  Centre   is   also   giving   top   priority   to
   computerization  of counter postal services, official sources said in
   Guwahati on April 5, that at present over 2,600  postal  counters  in
   800  post  offices  in the country were already working with computer
   based counter machines.
   

9  NORTHEAST FOODGRAIN OUTPUT UP BY 45 PER CENT	[UNI:6-APR-97]
   --------------------------------------------
   
   Foodgrain  production  in  Northeastern  hill region comprising seven
   States besides Sikkim, has risen by 45  per  cent  following  use  of
   hybrid  seeds  and  new techniques developed by the Indian Council of
   Agricultural  Research  (ICAR),  according  to   official   documents
   provided by the ICAR research complex for Northeastern hill region.
   

10 TIWAS GET ROMAN SCRIPT				[S:6-APR-97]
   ----------------------
  
   In a landmark agreement, an  accord  was  signed  between  the  State
   Government  and five Tiwa organisations that decided to recognize the
   Tiwa language in Roman alphabets on April 5 at the Janata  Bhawan  in
   Guwahati. The accord provided for introduction of Tiwa language in 30
   primary  level  schools  in  the  areas  where  the  Tiwa  population
   comprises more than 50 per cent of the general population.  Similarly
   30  posts  of  teachers  for  the  purpose will be also provided for.
   Earlier the Bodo language was accorded approval for the use of  Roman
   alphabets.
   

11 YASMEEN ARIF AWARDED DOCTORAL GRANTS BY SEPHIS		[S:7-APR-97]
   ----------------------------------------------
   
   Ms Yasmeen Arif, a Ph.D student at the Delhi School of Economics, has
   been  awarded  doctoral  grants  by the SEPHIS Committee based at the
   Erasmus University, the Netherlands and also by the  Jawahalal  Nehru
   Trust Fund.      Her   research   will  be  in  reference  to  social
   reconstruction of post-war societies and will include field  work  in
   Beirut, Lebanon.  Her work will be the first of its kind by an Indian
   sociologist in  another  cultural  zone/country.    Ms  Arif  is  the
   daughter of late Mr Arif Ali, former Chairman  of  the  Assam  Public
   Service Commission and Ms Buloo Arif of Rajgarh, Guwahati.

______________________________[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
________________________________________________________________________