__
               /  \    _____ _____ ____      _    _      
              /    \  (  __/(  __/(_   \    / \  / \
             /  __  \  \  \  \  \  / __ O N L I N E \
            (__/  \__)/____)/____)(______)(__/    \__) 
                     Vol.2, No.40 [*] August 21, 1997
                     --------------------------------

        There will be no issue of AOL till August 31, 1997. - Mozz
   --------------------------------------------------------------------- 

1  CENSURE MOTION AGAINST MAHANTA DEFEATED		[AT:21-AUG-97]
   ---------------------------------------
   
   The State Assembly on August 20 defeated by a voice  vote  a  censure
   motion  against  Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta who also holds
   the Home portfolio on the Law and Order situation  sponsored  by  the
   Congress-I,  even  as  the  House appealed to the insurgent groups to
   come forward for talks.
   

2  LT GEN SINHA APPOINTED NEW STATE GOVERNOR	[PTI:20-AUG-97]
   -----------------------------------------
   
   Former Vic-chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen (Retd) S.K.Sinha was appointed
   the Governor of Assam on August 20.  He succeeds Mr Lok  Nath  Mishra
   who has  been in office since 1991.  Sinha's appointment takes effect
   from the date he assumes office.  He was India's Ambassador in  Nepal
   and has written several books on defence.
   

3  JAFA TAKES OVER AS CHIEF SECRETARY		[S:21-AUG-97]
   ----------------------------------
   
   The  erstwhile  Chairman  of  the  Meghalaya  State Electricity Board
   (MSEB) Mr Virendra Singh Jafa took  over  the  State  bureaucracy  as
   Chief Secretary  on  August 19.  Mr Jafa replaces Mr T.K.Kamilla, who
   although  a  non-controversial  figure   gave   a   very   lackluster
   performance  at  a  time  when  the  State  was experiencing alarming
   upheavals.  Mr Kamilla takes charge over as  Chairman  of  the  Assam
   Legislative Administrative Tribunal.
   

4  GILL MAY BE SECURITY ADVISER TO ASSAM GOVT	[AT:21-AUG-97]
   ------------------------------------------
   
   In  a  major development, the Union Home Ministry is in favour of the
   idea of appointing former  Director  General  of  Punjab  police,  Mr
   K.P.S.Gill as  Security  Adviser to Assam Government.  Meanwhile, the
   State's Director General of Police, Mr K.Hrishikesan  is  also  being
   changed.   Mr  R.Ram  Mohan,  currently in deputation with the Border
   Security Force is being considered to be appointed as the new DGP  of
   Assam Police.

5  ULFA TRYING TO INFILTRATE MEDIA: CM		[S:21-AUG-97]
   -----------------------------------
   
   The  Chief  Minister,  Mr  Prafulla  Kumar  Mahanta  said there was a
   concerted effort by the ULFA to infiltrate the media in the State and
   a secret message had already been circulated to its cadre  to  launch
   an  anti-government  tirade  designed at maligning the establishment.
   Disclosing this on the floor of the House on August 20, the  CM  said
   the  Government  had  managed  to  intercept  the  message ostensibly
   emanating from  the  ULFA  high-command  asking  editors  of  certain
   newspapers to undermine the State government.
   

6  ANOTHER BLAST SNAPS RAIL LINK			[S:20-AUG-97]
   -----------------------------
   
   Suspected   Bodo   Liberation   Tigers  (BLT)  triggered  a  powerful
   remote-controlled explosion at  11:20  on  the  night  of  August  19
   causing  major damage to a pier and two spans of the Kaldengi railway
   bridge and the locomotive of an up broad-gauge  goods  train  between
   Salakati and Basugaon railway station in Kokrajhar district.


7  TELECOM SERVICE IN GOLAGHAT RESTORED		
   ------------------------------------
   
   The telecommunication services in Golaghat, which remained  disrupted
   due  to  a  fault  in  the  local electronic telephone exchange since
   August 18 was restored on August 21.

______________________________[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
________________________________________________________________________