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                     Vol.2, No.36  [*] August 4, 1997
                     --------------------------------

                Money and success don't change people;
              they merely amplify what is already there. 
                          - Will Smith
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------

1  BHRIGU LAUNCHES MOVEMENT AGAINST ASSAM GOVT	          [AT:4-AUG-97]
   -------------------------------------------
   
   Former Home Minister Bhrigu Kumar Phukan, along with  his  supporters
   observed a token hunger strike on August 3 at the Judges field from 9
   am to 4 pm demanding implementation of the Assam Accord, scrapping of
   the  IMDT  Act, withdrawal of the Army and black laws from the State.
   The supporters of Mr Phukan also registered their protest against the
   suspension of the former Home Minister from the party.
   
   Earlier, Mr Phukan asserted that the foreigners  who  came  to  Assam
   after  1971 must leave the State along with their sons and daughters.
   He pointed out that to include them in the voters list, the  Election
   Commission has taken refuge to a revision of the Citizenship Act.  He
   demanded  that the Union Home Ministry must clarify before the people
   of the State as to when the Act  was  amended  to  nullify  the  main
   clause of  the  Assam  Accord.    He  added that the Assam Accord was
   signed between three parties and the people  of  the  State  must  be
   taken into confidence before amending the citizenship Act.
   

2  ATLANTA TALKS ON RIGHT TRACK			         [PTI:3-AUG-97]
   ----------------------------
   
   The eight-day long Atlanta peace convention now being held in the USA
   to  thrash  out a solution to the 50-year-old Naga insurgency problem
   was marked by very successful round of  discussions  with  two  major
   insurgent  groups,  according  to the leader of the Nagaland Assembly
   and the former Chief Minister, Mr Vamuzo.  The convention which began
   on July 28 is due to conclude on August 4.
   

3  AGP MLA's KIN ABDUCTED				   [S:4-AUG-97]
   ----------------------
   
   Suspected  ULFA  activists  abducted  Nilu Sharma, brother of AGP MLA
   Atul Sharma from his Teliagaon  residence  in  Nagaon  on  August  2.
   Sources  said  that  a  person  known  to  the  family  asked Nilu to
   accompany him.  Nilu reportedly travelled along with  the  person  on
   his  own  scooter.  The  police  recovered  the  abandoned scooter at
   Panigaon.
   

4  ANTI-TERRORIST LAW: AG REFUTES ALLEGATIONS	           [S:3-AUG-97]
   ------------------------------------------
  
   The Advocate General of Assam, Mr Pachu  Gopal  Baruah  on  August  2
   stoutly refuted reports in a section of the press in Calcutta on July
   31,  which  were  straightway  lifted  by  a  section of the press in
   Guwahati on August 1 and 2 that he had  sought  help  from  his  West
   Bengal  counterpart,  Mr  Nara  Narayan  Gooptu  in formulating a new
   anti-terrorist legislation to curb freedom of the press in Assam.  Mr
   Baruah said he had gone to Calcutta on a private, and  not  official,
   visit  and  made a courtesy call on the West Bengal Advocate General,
   Mr Gooptu as a senior advocate and also  the  president  of  the  All
   India Advocates General Conference.

5  UNDP TO FUND PRIMARY EDUCATION			   [S:2-AUG-97]
   ------------------------------
   
   Assam  is among the seven States across the country to benefit from a
   $20 million community-based primary education programme by the United
   Nations Development Programme (UNDP), according to  the  UN  Resident
   Coordinator, Mr  Hans  C Von Sponeck.  Mr Sponeck came to Guwahati to
   participate in  a  workshop  on  the  recently  released  UNDP  Human
   Development  Programme Report, 1997 at the Assam Administrative Staff
   College at Jawaharnagar on August 1.
   
   In  a  guarded  statement,  Mr  Sponeck  said  that  he regretted the
   abduction of the AVARD-NE General Secretary, Sanjoy Ghose and gave  a
   clean  chit  to  the  NGO  which  closed  shop  on July 30 on Majuli.
   Replying to supplementaries on his statement that the UNDP was hoping
   to involve  the  village  panchayats  and  NGOs  in  the  development
   process,  Mr  Sponeck  said  he  had  been closely associated and had
   worked with AVARD and believed it was 'a very honest  organisation...
   among the best.'
   

6  POLICE MEDALS ANNOUNCED				[UNI:2-AUG-97]
   -----------------------
   
   Nine people, seven of them who  laid  down  their  lives,  have  been
   decorated with  the  President's  police  medal  for  gallantry.  The
   awardees include three from Assam.   The  bar  to  police  medal  for
   gallantry  has been awarded to R.S.H.S.Sahota, commandant of the CRPF
   at Nagaon.  J.C.Barman and N.C.Borah have also earned police medals.
   

7  RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP FOR DHURBAJYOTI KALITA	         [AT:31-JUL-97]
   ------------------------------------------
   
   Dhurbajyoti  Kalita  has  topped the list of successful candidates in
   the ME examination of Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani
   held in 1997.  He  has  also  obtained  a  research  fellowship  from
   University  of  Michigan,  Ann  Arbor, USA for his Ph.D in Electrical
   Engineering System.
   

8  RANJAN GOSWAMI AWARDED PRIZE IN POETRY		  [AT:4-AUG-97]
   --------------------------------------
   
   Ranjan Goswami of St Clairsville, Ohio, USA, was  awarded  the  first
   prize  in  the poetry composition at the annual Assam Convention held
   recently in New Jersey.  His poetry was selected as the best  by  the
   Asam Sahitya Sabha (USA branch) in the age group of 14-21.
   

9  ALL ASSAM TENNIS: DOUBLE CROWN FOR RUNA DOLEY	  [AT:3-AUG-97]
   ---------------------------------------------
   
   Runa  Doley with a scintillating display clinched double crown in the
   All Assam Clay Court Tennis Championship which concluded at the Nehru
   Stadium at Guwahati on August 3. Runa defeated Mitali  Das  in  three
   sets  in  the  under-16  finals.  Earlier  she won the under-14 title
   defeating Trishna  Agarwala.  In  the  boys  under-14  finals  Gunjan
   Thakuria  lost to Rahul Rajkhewa. Top seed Ranjit Dutta beat 2nd seed
   Priyanuj Lahkar in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in the under-18 event.

______________________________[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
________________________________________________________________________