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                     Vol.2, No.14  [*] May 16, 1997
                     ------------------------------

1  PRIME MINISTER'S ITINERARY FOR NE VISIT		[S:16-MAY-97]
   ---------------------------------------
  
   The Prime Minister Mr Inder Kumar Gujral will visit the  northeastern
   States  from  May  19  to 23, during which he will inaugurate the new
   Dibrugarh-Silchar broad gauge line and lay the foundation stones  for
   the  Regional  Meteorological  Centre  (RMC)  at  Guwahati and a Home
   Science College  at  Tura,  besides  taking  part  in  various  other
   programmes, a government press release said in Guwahati on May 15.
   

2  PASSENGERS OF SILCHAR-CALCUTTA FLIGHT ESCAPE UNHURT  [S:16-MAY-97]
   ---------------------------------------------------
  
   All  the  passengers  of Boeing flight CD-254 of Alliance Airlines on
   Silchar-Calcutta route bound for  Calcutta  escaped  unhurt  from  an
   imminent mishap.   Within 15 minutes of its take-off from Kumbhirgram
   airport at 8:55 am on May 15, one of its engines developed a  serious
   technical snag.    The pilot of the Boeing which was then flying at a
   height of 20,000 feet decided to fly  back  to  Kumbhirgram  airport.
   While landing, the left rear tyres burst and deflated.
   

3  CBI PROBE INTO TEACHERS' SELECTION ORDERED		[S:15-MAY-97]
   ------------------------------------------
  
   Following a petition by  84  candidates  for  posts  of  teachers  in
   Karimganj  district,  who alleged that large-scale irregularities had
   taken place in appointments of teachers in the  district  during  the
   rule  of  the  previous  Congress  Government, the Gauhati High Court
   ordered the CBI on May 14 to start an investigation into  appointment
   of teachers in the district since 1992 till date.
   

4  EXTRA GAS FOR ASSAM GAS CRACKER PROJECT		[S:16-MAY-97]
   ---------------------------------------
  
   In  response  to  repeated  reminders  by  the  State to expedite the
   implementation of the Assam  Gas  Cracker  project,  the  Centre  has
   decided  that  additional  gas  would be allocated for the project on
   first priority in keeping with an assurance made by the  Ministry  of
   Petroleum and Natural Gas.
   

5  COMMON LANGUAGE FOR NORTH EAST MOOTED		[UNI:15-MAY-97]
   -------------------------------------
  
   Speakers  of  all seven sister States in the northeastern region have
   viewed  that  the  entire  region  should  have  a  common  language,
   preferably  English,  for  its  all  round development, the Arunachal
   Pradesh Assembly Speaker, Tako Dabi told newsmen in Itanagar  on  May
   15.   The  issue  was  discussed in the recently concluded first ever
   Northeast Regional Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference at Kohima in
   Nagaland.  The matter would figure again in the coming meeting of the
   forum at Shillong in June where a final decision might  come  up,  he
   said.
   

6  TOWNSHIP IN MIZORAM BORDERING MYANMAR COMING UP   [AT:14-MAY-97]
   -----------------------------------------------
  
   In an encouraging development  the  Centre  is  actively  considering
   establishment  of  a  new township at Zokhawthar in Mizoram bordering
   Myanmar exclusively for promotion of bilateral trade.  A green signal
   from the Union Commerce Ministry which is awaiting clearance from the
   Union Ministry of Home Affairs and Defence would lead to  opening  up
   of second  international border route with neighbouring Myanmar.  The
   Moreh-Tamu sector in Manipur was thrown open recently  for  bilateral
   trade.
   

7  NORTH EAST HAS 2503 ROUTE KM OF RAIL LINES	       [PIB:14-MAY-97]
   ------------------------------------------
   
   The  Railways have taken up 432 km long new lines in the Northeastern
   region.  These comprise  15.5  km  long  Dudhnoi-Depa,  142  km  long
   Kumarghat-Agartala,  33  km  long  Harmuti-Itanagar  and  123 km long
   Diphu-Karong.  Besides, 46 km long bridge  at  Bogibeel,  the  fourth
   bridge  on  the  river  Brahmaputra,  with  tracks  on  both sides to
   existing railway lines.
   
   At present,  the  Northeast  has  2503  route  km  of  railway  lines
   including  2441  km  in  Assam,  1  km  in Arunachal Pradesh, 1 km in
   Manipur, 2 km in Mizoram, 13 km in Nagaland and  45  km  in  Tripura.
   Meghalaya has no railway lines.
   

8  BROAD GAUGE LINE REACHES TINSUKIA		        [AT:15-MAY-97]
   ---------------------------------
   
   The broad gauge line connecting Tinsukia in Upper Assam  and  Lumding
   finally  became  operational  with  the  placement  of  wagons at the
   terminal of the Indian Oil Corporation (OIC) at Tinsukia.   This  has
   been   the   first   commercial   movement   of  BG  traffic  in  the
   Dimapur-Tinsukia sector.

9  ASSAMESE LITERARY WORKS TO BE TRANSLATED	        [AT:15-MAY-97]
   ----------------------------------------
  
   The  Magor  Educational  Trust  in  collaboration  with  the  Sahitya
   Academy, New  Delhi  has  taken  up  a  project  to  publish  English
   translation  of  several  Assamese literary works of eminent Assamese
   writers.  Homen Borgohain's novel 'Astorag' has been translated  into
   English by  Dr Ashok Bhagabati and has been published as Sunset.  The
   book was formally released by  Ms  Janey  Cole,  Director  of  United
   States  Information  Service,  Calcutta, at a function presided by Dr
   Nagen Sharma, President of Axom Xahitya Xabha at Guwahati on May 5.
  
 
10 COTTON COLLEGE LIBRARY NEEDS ATTENTION		[AT:12-MAY-97]
   --------------------------------------
   
   Once  it  was  regarded  as  one of the best College libraries in the
   country, but negligence of the concerned  authorities  for  the  last
   several  years  has  robbed  off its earlier glitter and made it look
   like a godown of books than a college library.  It is  not  even  the
   shadow of  its  former  self.   Recently, a concerned student, with a
   grime expression  on  his  face,  contacted  a  newspaper  office  in
   Guwahati  to  tell  the  present  condition  in  which the Library is
   compelled to manage itself.
   
   The  Cotton  College Library which was located in a large hall at the
   time of inception of the College in 1901, has been facing the problem
   of congestion since 1942.  Since then, numerous  attempts  have  been
   made  by  the  College  authorities to convince the Government of the
   need for a spacious Library building.  In 1992, when the college  was
   declared  as  a  Centre  of  Excellence by the President of India, Dr
   Shankar Dayal Sharma, the foundation stone of a new library  building
   was also laid.  But even after 5 years there is no library building.
   
   The  library  is  solely  depending on the annual book grant from the
   University Grants Commission (UGC), which is  only  a  meagre  amount
   considering the requirement of the library.  In the reading room only
   three or four local newspapers are available.  The Government has not
   cleared  outstanding  bills  worth  Rs.45,000  against  the books and
   journals procured by the library,  let  alone  provide  it  with  the
   building grant and the annual grant.  The library has a collection of
   over 100,000 books with more than 10,000 rare books at present.
   

11 DAE AWARD FOR IIT GUWAHATI PROFESSOR		         [S:15-MAY-97]
   ------------------------------------
  
   Dr  A.Srinivasan,  assistant professor of Physics at IIT Guwahati has
   been awarded the prestigious  'DAE  Young  Scientist  Research  Award
   1996'.   The  award  carries  a  research  grant of Rs.500,000 over a
   period of three years and is given by the Department of Atomic Energy
   (DAE), every year to selected young scientists below 35 years of age.
   Dr Srinivasan will use the grant to pursue structural  investigations
   on amorphous semiconductors.
  
 
12 CM'S AID TO KAMINI KUMAR NARZARY		        [AT:14-MAY-97]
   --------------------------------
   
   Financial  assistance  of  Rs.30,000  was  sanctioned  from the Chief
   Minister's relief Fund to Mr Kamini Kumar Narzary,  70,  a  prominent
   Bodo folk artist and recipient of Sangeet Natak Academy award, who is
   now seriously  ill.   The cheque was handed over to the ailing artist
   at his residence at Pakhirguri village in Kokrajhar district.


______________________________[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
________________________________________________________________________