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                     Vol.2, No.28  [*] July 8, 1997
                     ------------------------------
              He that humbles himself shall be prserved entire.
                    He that bends shall be made straight.
                    He that is worn out shall be renewed.
                      He who has little shall succeed. 
                      He who has much shall go astray. 
                               - Lao-Tze
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------
      
1  AVARD-NE SECRETARY ABDUCTED BY ULFA IN MAJULI	[S:06+08-JUL-97]
   ---------------------------------------------
   
   Two  cycle-borne  suspected  ULFA cadres have kidnapped Sanjay Ghosh,
   general secretary of AVARD-NE, an NGO active in  Majuli  on  July  4,
   while he  was  moving  in  a  car between Bangaon and Rawanapar.  One
   Chandan Doley, abducted along with  him  managed  to  flee  from  the
   clutches of the abductors on the night of July 5.
   
   It  may be mentioned that the AVARD was threatened and asked to leave
   by the ULFA in May on the charges of being a  cover  organisation  of
   the Research  and  Analysis Wing (RAW).  However, in an unprecedented
   spontaneous gesture, the villages of  the  island  through  a  public
   meeting  rejected  the  ULFA's charge and urged the AVARD to continue
   their charitable works.  Besides anti-erosion measures  to  save  the
   world's biggest island, the AVARD has been involved with bamboo craft
   workshops, health camps and setting up of 20 village libraries.
   
   Meanwhile,  several  social  organisations  of  Majuli expressed deep
   shock at the kidnapping and have urged the abductors not to harm  him
   and release him on humanitarian grounds.  Several other organisations
   of  Manipur,  Nagaland,  Tripura  and other States have condemned the
   incident.  The AVARD officials in Jorhat said that they were ready to
   wind up their charitable works in  the  island,  obeying  the  ULFA's
   order in  lieu  of their secretary Sanjay's safe release.  Ms Sumitra
   Ghosh, wife of Mr Sanjay Ghosh, and several women's organisation will
   be observing an indefinite hunger strike for  speedy  release  of  Mr
   Ghosh.

2  JAMIR TO TALK TO NSCN FACTIONS IN ATLANTA ON JULY 28   [S:07-JUL-97]
   ----------------------------------------------------
   
   The Chief Minister of Nagaland, Mr S.C.Jamir is slated  to  meet  the
   leaders  of  the two warring Naga outlawed factions at Atlanta in the
   USA on July 28 in a bid to bring  back  peace  to  the  troubled  and
   underdeveloped  hill  state  of  North-east  India. 'My mission is to
   ensure at least that brothers do not kill brothers', he said.
   

3  NECOHR TEAM LEAVES FOR GENEVA		 	 [AT:08-JUL-97]
   -----------------------------
   
   A three-member team of the North-east Coordination Committee on Human
   Rights (NECOHR) has  left  for  Geneva  to  attend  an  international
   conference  at  the  invitation  of  International  Service for Human
   Rights and Amnesty International. The team which left Delhi on July 5
   includes Mr C.C Surjit (Manipur), Mr Babul  Singh  (Manipur)  and  Mr
   Lachit Bordoloi (Assam).
   

4  JORHAT ENGINEERING COLLEGE MAY BE DERECOGNIZED	  [S:08-JUL-97]
   ----------------------------------------------
   
   Jorhat Engineering College is in danger of being derecognized because
   the  State  Government  is yet to act upon the recommendations of the
   All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).    An  AICTE  team,
   after   touring   the   institution,   called   for   improving   the
   infrastructural facilities like the  staff  position  and  laboratory
   equipment within  two  years.    Things have come to such a pass that
   students themselves have  to  bear  expenses  for  the  repairing  of
   computers.
   

5  TAX TEA FOR EDUCATION: AASU			          [S:07-JUL-97]
   ---------------------------
   
   A delegation of AASU called on the Governor Lok  Nath  Misra  at  Raj
   Bhawan  in  Guwahati  on  July  6 and urged that a tax of 50 paise be
   levied on tea produced in the state for the development of  education
   in Assam.    The  AASU  which  has since long been demanding that the
   academic environment in the state be made more vibrant, feels that if
   an additional tax of 50 paise per kilogram of tea were to be  slapped
   on  the industry, the amount generated from the 400 million tonnes of
   the green leaf produced in the state annually would yield  sufficient
   funds  to  pull  the  educational  institutions out of their moribund
   condition at present.
   

6  INTERNATIONAL ORCHID FESTIVAL IN ITANAGAR	        [UNI:06-JUL-97]
   -----------------------------------------
   
   The Orchid Society, Arunachal (OSA) has decided to hold a  first-ever
   international   orchid   festival   in  Itanagar  in  February  next,
   coinciding with the week-long festival of Arunachal Pradesh Statehood
   Day celebrations.    Society  secretary,  S.N.Hegde  said  that   the
   festival  would  highlight  the  potentials  of  orchid  growing as a
   commercial activity and  help  local  farmers  and  entrepreneurs  to
   interact with the national and international agencies which deal with
   orchid, cut  flowers  and  related  business activities. 
   
   The  OSA  has  decided  to invite participants from various countries
   like Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia,  Singapore,  Thailand,  Japan,
   Sri  Lanka,  Bangladesh,  Belgium,  the United Kingdom and the United
   States of America.
   

7  FATE OF CHEQUES:  MAHANTA STYLE!		         [AT:03-JUL-97]
   -------------------------------
   
   All the cheques amounting to Rs.5,000 each distributed  to  the  poor
   villagers  by  Mr  Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Chief Minister in a public
   function held at Rangiya College on May 16  were  dishnoured  by  the
   State   Bank   of  India.  The  poor  beneficiaries  expressed  great
   resentment over the policy of the State Government of issuing cheques
   without having balance in the account.
   
   The beneficiaries opened account in the bank  depositing  their  hard
   earned  money  for  collecting  the  crossed  cheques issued in their
   names, but failed to do so.  The bank, on the other hand deducted the
   collection charges as per rules from the accounts of the  depositors.
   All the cheques were returned to the depositors by post.
   

8  TABLE TENNIS TEAM LEAVES FOR USA		       [UNI:02-JUL-97]
   --------------------------------
   
   A  three-member team has left Guwahati recently on an invitation from
   USA Table Tennis Association to participate in the 1997 US Open table
   tennis championship which  was  to  be  held  from  July  2  at  Ford
   Lauderdate, Florida.   The players are Ms Jupi Barthakur, Ms Madumita
   Gogoi and Tridib Duvarah.
   

9  DIBRUGARH CRICKTER TO PLAY IN ENGLAND		[AT:04-JUL-97]
   -------------------------------------
   
   Mr  Kamakhya  Saikia,  a  promising all-rounder of Dibrugarh has been
   selected to represent Calcutta Blues Cricket Club to play the  summer
   cricket matches in England.

______________________________[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
________________________________________________________________________