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                          Vol.3, No.31  [*]  May 18, 1998
                          -------------------------------

                   We make war that we may live in peace.
                                - Aristotle
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------

1  MAJOR RESHUFFLE IN MAHANTA MINISTRY: BORA RESIGNS       [S:17-MAY-98]
   -------------------------------------------------
  
   As the AGP-led alliance Government completed two  years  on  May  15,
   Chief  Minister  P.K.Mahanta  on  May  16 relocated portfolios of six
   Cabinet ministers. The PWD Minister, Atul Bora was shifted to  Forest
   Department, while the Forest Minister, Nagen Sarma was given the PWD.
   Similarly  Higher  Education Minister Thaneswar Boro was given charge
   of Elementary and Secondary Education in place of Jatin Mali who  has
   been  shifted  as  the Higher Education Minister, Veterinary Minister
   Surendra Nath Medhi has been given the additional charge of  the  Law
   Department while Food and Civil Supplies Minister Digen Bora has been
   given the addition charge of Social Forestry.
   
   Portfolios of some Ministers of State were also relocated.   Ramendra
   Narayan  Kalita  was  given  the additional charge of sericulture and
   Weaving, besides Handloom and Textiles.    He  was  relieved  of  the
   Revenue portfolio.  Hiranya Konawar, Minister of State for Veterinary
   was  given  additional  charge  of  Power (Rural and Electrification)
   while Akon Rabha, Minister of State for Soil Conservation  was  given
   additional charge   of   Relief  and  rehabilitation.    An  official
   statement said that an expansion of the Ministry is expected soon.
   
   Meanwhile, Atul Bora  resigned from the Mahanta Ministry on May 18 in 
   protest against alloting him the Forest Department.

2  SIX BLT, NDFB ULTRAS, ONE JAWAN KILLED		   [S:17-MAY-98]
   --------------------------------------
   
   At least six BLT and NDFB militants were killed in  a  fight  between
   them  and  in  an  encounter  with  the Army at Simaluguri in Darrang
   district on May 15.  According to official sources, a  group  of  BLT
   ultras equipped with modern weapons arrived at the village where NDFB
   ultras were  taking  shelter.    Immediately  the NDFB ultras started
   firing on them.  Six extremists died on the spot and  others  managed
   to escape.    On  receipt  of  information  about the encounter, Army
   personnel rushed to the spot and  one  of  them  was  killed  in  the
   cross-fire.   Army  recovered  three  AK-47s,  three .303 rifles, two
   Chinese grenades, large quantities  of  assorted  ammunition,  combat
   dresses and incriminating documents for the spot.

3  COP HELP IN SATHEBARI PS-LOOT CASE			   [S:16-MAY-98]
   ----------------------------------
   
   In  a  sensational  development,  police  arrested a constable of the
   Sathebari police station, Binod Boro, in connection with  the  attack
   by  suspected  Bodo  ultras  in the same police station on May 9 when
   some arms and ammunition had been looted.   The  constable  confessed
   during  interrogation  that  he connived in the attack and maintained
   relationship with the NDFB.  A letter of the BLT was  also  recovered
   from the constable.  Meanwhile, as many as 22 people including school
   students,  college  students,  teachers,  a farmer, and a 13-year-old
   boy, Tilla Boro, have been arrested by the police from villages  near
   Sathebari in connection with the incident on May 16.
   

4  MEDIA FAILS TO GRASP ISSUES OF NORTHEAST	          [AT:17-MAY-98]
   ----------------------------------------
   
   Despite  all  its  problems,  the  situation  in the Northeast can be
   salvaged and the key lies in development of the local self-government
   and not in the right to  self-determination,  according  to  a  broad
   consensus  arrived at a meeting of top journalists, intellectuals and
   policy-framers in New Delhi on May 16.  The one-day  seminar-workshop
   was  organised  jointly  by  the  Northeast  Media  Forum  and  Delhi
   Journalist Association on the problems of the Northeast and the  role
   of the media.
   
   Several of the speakers including  journalists  and  policy  analyst,
   Sanjoy  Hazarika  and  political  editor of The Deccan Herald, Nitish
   Chakravarty, expressed that none of the major English dailies  has  a
   sizeable  presence in the region and the national media has played no
   role to understand the problems of the Northeast and failed to  build
   up a common bond between the different States of the region.
   
   Delivering his keynote address, Sanjoy Hazarika  expressed  the  view
   that  the future of Assam and the Northeast did not lie in industrial
   development but in agricultural development including development  of
   horticulture and food processing.
   
   Asserting  that  migration was an international phenomenon which even
   the Western countries had failed  to  prevent,  Hazarika  opined  the
   migrants  could  become  assets  if  they  could  be  converted  into
   organised workforce.  Measures like issue of work permits  specifying
   the  area  and  period,  besides  identity  cards could be adopted to
   tackle the migrants, he suggested.
   

5  RANI NARAH'S EFFIGY BURNT AT NAOBOISA		   [S:18-MAY-98]
   -------------------------------------
   
   A large number of angry  Congress(I)  workers  of  Naoboisa  Assembly
   constituency burnt the effigy of the Member of Parliament, Rani Narah
   in  protest  against  the  selection  of  the party candidate for the
   ensuing by-election to the constituency.  It  was  alleged  that  one
   Sultan  Sadiq  Ahmed  who  contested  on URMCA ticket in the last Lok
   Sabha polls was given the Congress ticket.  The irate workers  wanted
   Hemdhar Gogoi to be the candidate.
   
   Altogether 21 candidates have filed their nominations for the June  3
   by-election   to   Naoboisa  (Lakhimpur)  and  Margherita  (Tinsukia)
   Assembly seats.    For  the  Margherita  seat,  the  Congress(I)  has
   nominated  APCC  spokesman Pradyut Bordoloi, while AGP has put up its
   central  committee  organising  secretary  Diganta  Saikia,  and  Kul
   Bahadur Chetri  is  the  BJP  candidate  for  the  seat.  In Naoboisa
   constituency, the Congress(I) has nominated Sultan Sadiq Ahmed, while
   AGP fielded Maniram Pathori.
   
   Meanwhile,  AASU said its executive committee, which will meet on May
   21 at Gauhati University campus, will decide on the course of  action
   to  be taken to stop the by-elections which will be held on a `faulty
   voters list containing the names of foreigners.' The AASU  said  that
   it  will  not  allow  the  by-elections  to be held on the basis of a
   faulty voters list.
   

6  SIX HUNDRED ALIEN FAMILIES EVICTED IN SONITPUR	   [S:17-MAY-98]
   ----------------------------------------------
  
   Sonitpur  district  administration  has  evicted  600   families   of
   Bangladeshi nationals from the riverine islands in the Brahmaputra in
   Lanka Tapu and Dhakai Tapu in Burasapori under Tezpur police station.
   The  eviction  operation  was carried out with the help of police and
   the CRPF.  About 400 families were evicted from Lanka Tapu while  200
   families were evicted from Dhakai Tapu.
   
   District  officials  told  newsmen  that the `char' areas in Sonitpur
   district had now been cleared of illegal  migrants  from  Bangladesh.
   In this connection, 40 persons were rounded up.  The illegal settlers
   informed  the  authorities  that  they had been settled by a group of
   people of Tezpur who regularly took protection money from them.  They
   also had their names entered in the voters list.
   

7  HOUSE JAILS `AJIR BATORI' EDITOR, OTHERS FOR A DAY	   [S:17-MAY-98]
   --------------------------------------------------
   
   In an unprecedented development in the legislative history of  Assam,
   the  Speaker  of  the Assam Assembly Ganesh Kutum on May 16 sentenced
   the editor of `Ajir Batori', an Assamese  daily  published  from  the
   city, Dhirendra Nath Chakravarty; the executive editor, Atanu Bhuyan;
   the  owner  Rajendra Prasad Bora and the printer and publisher Pranab
   Kumar Talukdar to one day's simple imprisonment and a fine of  Rs.100
   each  for  having  breached  the  privilege  of  the  House through a
   write-up under the caption `Mahanta Dangoria, Xexat Apuni Smritixakio
   Heruale je!' on March 21.  The police took them all to jail.

8  RRL, JORHAT INVENTS NEW ANTI-MALARIA DRUG		   [S:18-MAY-98]
   -----------------------------------------
   
   The Regional Research Laboratory, Jorhat, has invented an  innovative
   process  `Artithar'  for  preparation  of  anti-malaria  drug  which,
   according   to   a   RRL   press    release,    can    destroy    the
   Chloroquine-resistive malaria  parasite.    The research for the drug
   was conducted on the basis of an agreement of 1996 signed between the
   RRL and FCC Limited, Mumbai.  The company has been given the  formula
   to produce the drug, the release added.
   

9  MASS POISIONING OF COWS				   [S:18-MAY-98]
   -----------------------
   
   The  recovery of about 30 dead cows near Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Miao
   in Arunachal Pradesh recently has become  a  major  concern  for  the
   wildlife officials.  While the local Chakma settlers claimed that the
   cattle  died  due  to  thunderbolt  on  May 4, the civil and wildlife
   officials suspect a case of mass poisoning.
   
   An  investigation  carried  out jointly by a team of civil officials,
   park authority and veterinary experts revealed that  poison  was  the
   cause  of  the  deaths,  which may have been administered either with
   salt or food-materials while the  cows  were  grazing.    Though  the
   motive  behind  the  alleged  poisoning is yet to be ascertained, the
   Miao  police  took  four  persons  into  custody   suspecting   their
   involvement in the act.
   

10 `DRISTIPAT' - DOCUMENTARY ON XATRA PROPERTIES	  [AT:16-MAY-98]
   ---------------------------------------------
   
   Producer and director Bhobani Prasad Borthakur has recently completed
   a documentary film `Dristipat' (A Glance) on  the  varied  properties
   and human resources of the Xatras (Vaishnavite monasteries) of Assam.
   The  film,  sponsored  by  the  Guwahati  Doordarshan  focuses on the
   properties and human resources, introduced and generated in Xatras in
   the 550 years long evolution of the neo-Vashnavite movement initiated
   and propagated by Srimanta Sankardeva. 
   
   The  film  highlights several obscured, poorly preserved but valuable
   properties  of  Xatras   including   paintings,   sculptural   works,
   manuscripts, musical instruments, literary works, most of these still
   remaining unexposed to the outside world.
   

______________________________[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://www.assam.org/assam/news/index.html
________________________________________________________________________