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                          Vol.3, No.55 [*]  August 3, 1998
                          --------------------------------

                   He who sits on the bank of the river 
                        is always a great swimmer.
                            - Moorish proverb
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------

1  BODO GROUPS INVITED TO ATTEND UNWGIP MEET AT GENEVA	    [S:3-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------------------------------
   Bodo  groups  fighting for the cause of Bodoland have been invited to
   attend the current session of the United  Nations  Working  Group  on
   Indigenous  People  (UNWGIP)  at  Geneva which began from July 27, Mr
   Sunsuma Khungur Bwismuthiary, MP and a member of Bodo People's Action
   Committee (BPAC) told The Sentinel over telephone from New Delhi.
   
   Mr  Bwismuthiary, who was to represent the Bodo groups like BPAC, All
   Bodo Students Union (ABSU) and People's  Democratic  Front  (PDF)  at
   Geneva,  said,  `I have postponed and not called off my programme due
   to my pressing engagements here and the highly volatile situation  in
   Kokrajhar.'  He expressed his desire to be at the 1999 session of the
   UNWGIP. According to a reliable source, an  influential  Bodo  leader
   left for Geneva on July 29.
   
   He called upon the Vajpayee Government to spell  out  its  clear  cut
   policy on  the  Bodoland  issue.    `If the Government of India could
   create Uttranchal, Vananchal and Chhatisgarh, why should  it  take  a
   different stand  on  Bodoland,'  he  asked.    The BPAC leader sought
   immediate intervention of the Centre to take charge of  the  law  and
   order  in  Bodoland  area  in  view  of  the  failure  of the Mahanta
   Government to maintain it.  He minced no words to say that  `creation
   of  Bodoland  is  a  must and once it comes into being, all non-Bodos
   living within the new state will be fully protected'.   He  said  for
   the cause of Bodoland, 2,000 Bodos had laid down their lives.
   
2  HOUSE PANEL TABLES LOC REPORT, RS.4 BN SCAM DETECTED	    [S:2-AUG-98]
   ----------------------------------------------------
   Mr Prafulla Goswami, MLA and chairman of the House committee  on  the
   Letter  of  Credit  (LoC)  scam  for  inquiring  into  the matters of
   irregular and illegal drawal of money in the  Government  departments
   constituted  by  the  Assam  Legislative Assembly submitted its final
   report of the committee to the Speaker of the State House, Mr  Ganesh
   Kutum on  August  1.  
   
   The probe, is learnt to have detected a scandal of Rs.4 billion in 10
   Government departments.   It  is  recommended  that  the  departments
   concerned   should   further  investigate  the  matter  and  draw  up
   departmental proceedings against the erring officials.  A scandal  of
   Rs.720  million  has  been  detected  in the Health Department alone.
   According  to  a  reliable  source,  the  committee  had  found   the
   involvement  of political leaders in two department -- Veterinary and
   Animal Husbandry, and Printing and Stationery.
   
3  TOP MUSLIM TIGER FORCE MAN HELD IN DARRANG	           [AT:2-AUG-98]
   ------------------------------------------
   The Sonitpur District Police arrested State secretary of  the  Muslim
   Tiger  Force Akkabor from Dalgaon area in Darrang district on July 29
   on a tip-off provided by an arrested activist, Abdul  Kadir  (32)  of
   the  Muslim  extremist  outfit  from  Jinjia  in  Sonitpur  district.
   Interrogation of the arrested militant is expected  to  reveal  vital
   information of the outfit's activities in the State.
   
4  PARESH KILLED IN COLD BLOOD: FAMILY			    [S:2-AUG-98]
   -----------------------------------
   Family  members  of Paresh Barman, the student of Nalbari College who
   was arrested by the Army from his house in Paikarkuchi on July 22 and
   who was stated to have died in an accident at a pond  the  next  day,
   are  not  willing to buy the explanation of the Army that he died due
   to drowning accidently, and have alleged that the Army had killed him
   in cold blood in custody.  
   
   This was disclosed by Ms.Mira Barman, elder sister of Paresh  Barman,
   at  a  press  conference called by the MASS, a human rights group, in
   Guwahati on August 1.  She  demanded  a  high-level  probe  into  the
   incident.   Buddha  Das,  the  husband of Bina Das, who was allegedly
   raped and killed by two Border Security Force (BSF) jawans, was  also
   present in the press conference to reiterate the allegation.
   
5  CARS USED BY ULFA TO ATTACK MINISTER FOUND		    [S:3-AUG-98]
   ------------------------------------------
   Acting  on  a  tip-off, Nagaon police discovered a Maruti Gypsy and a
   Mahindra Jeep from the Balijuri and Jiyajuri tea  estates  in  Nagaon
   district.   The  vehicles were used by the mobile action group of the
   ULFA in their attack on the convoy of the Minister of State for Power
   Mr Hiranya Konwar near Puranigudam in Nagaon on July 21.   The  Gypsy
   belonged  to the superintending engineer, ASEB Samoguri, and the Jeep
   belonged to the assistant manager, Jiyajuri tea estate from whom  the
   outfit took  the  vehicles  two  days  ahead  of the attack.  A third
   vehicle used by the  group  belong  to  an  employee  of  the  Deputy
   Commissioner's office, Nagaon.
   
6  HUDCO TO SLASH INTEREST RATE IN NE STATES		    [S:3-AUG-98]
   -----------------------------------------
   The  Housing  and  Urban  Development  Corporation Ltd (Hudco), would
   lower the rates of interest on Hudco loans in respect  of  Assam  and
   other  northeastern  States  by  about  two  per  cent and would also
   provide loan assistance to the  tune  of  Rs.1.5  to  2  billion  for
   housing and water supply schemes in the current financial year.
   
   This was stated by the chairman and managing director  of  Hudco,  Mr
   V.Suresh, in  a  press  conference  in Guwahati on Sunday.  Mr Suresh
   said that the Corporation  also  agreed  to  offer  a  rehabilitation
   package  for  the  benefit  of  the  State Government departments and
   agencies like Housefed, Assam State Housing Board and others who  had
   failed to  repay  the  earlier loans of the Hudco.  `The package will
   enable them to repay the outstanding loans and interests in an easier
   way,' he said.
   
7  HIGH COURT QUASHES BAN ON POLYTHENE			    [S:2-AUG-98]
   -----------------------------------
   The   Gauhati  High  Court  has  quashed  the  order  of  the  Deputy
   Commissioner, Kamrup  banning  the  use  of  ploythene  bags  in  the
   district in  a judgement on July 31.  Justice D.Biswas while quashing
   the ban, said that the ban could not be imposed under Section 144  of
   the  Criminal  Penal Code as the ploythene bags are in use throughout
   the country since a long time and it cannot be  construed  as  posing
   imminent danger  to  the health and hygiene of the people.  The judge
   said, the remedy lies in the authorities  to  regulate  the  use  and
   disposal of ploythene bags and not in imposing a total ban.
   
8  RARE `SANCHI' BOOKS RETRIEVED FROM SIBSAGAR		    [S:3-AUG-98]
   -------------------------------------------
   As  many  as  eight  rare books of antiquity, known as `sanchi puthi'
   have  been  retrieved  from  the  custody  of  Mr  Golap  Sharma   of
   Jatakiagaon,  Sibsagar,  at the initiative of Dr.Dilip Kumar Goswami,
   Director of Historical and Antiquarian Studies.  The  titles  of  the
   books are:    Shankhachud  Badh,  Chakra  Koroti,  Brahmajap  Mantra,
   Sankhini Avichar Mantra,  Namdharmar  Hitopdesh,  Gouradhwaj  Mantra,
   Ekadista  Bidhi,  and Kirtan, published in 1872 and containing Hazari
   Ghoxa.  The books are now preserved  in  Historical  and  Antiquarian
   Studies Department.
   
   Another  rare  book  on  Ayurveda science titled, Charak Sanghita has
   been discovered from Mr.Kishore Mohan Bhattacharya of North Guwahati,
   at the initiative of  Mr.Bhirguram  Bharali,  Director-in-charge  and
   Preservation  Officer,  jointly  with  Mr.Krishnamurti Barua of North
   Guwahati.  All these books are deemed to be of immense value.
   
9  ONE KILLED IN BIZARRE ACCIDENT			    [S:2-AUG-98]
   ------------------------------
   One person was killed and two others were  injured  in  two  separate
   incidents at  Halem  under Gohpur police station recently.  According
   to reports, at about 12 noon  on  July  25,  all  the  telephones  of
   Ghahigaon  exchange  started ringing and the first man to pick up the
   telephone was Mr.Joyprakash Agarwala (25).  As soon as he  picked  up
   the  handset he received severe electrical shocks and was immediately
   engulfed in a fire that started with a big banging noise.    He  died
   instantaneously.
   
   In  another  incident,  one  Mr.Mahendra  Agarwala  (45),  owner of a
   highway (line) hotel, who was sleeping outside  because  of  the  hot
   weather  was  injured  when an 11-KV electrical overhead transmission
   line snapped and fell on his stomach.    When  his  26  year-old  son
   rushed  in to rescue him, he also got struck due to electrical shock.
   One handyman, removed the wire with  a  stick  and  saved  them  from
   certain death.    It  is  suspected that the snapped 11-KV electrical
   wire got entangled with some telephone lines due to which the  tragic
   incident happened.     The  Ghahigaon  telephone  exchange  was  also
   damaged.
   
10 PERE DAVID'S MACAQUE SPOTTED IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH      [PTI:3-AUG-98]
   -------------------------------------------------
   Pere  David's  macaque,  a large monkey till now found only in China,
   has  been  spotted  in  Arunachal   Pradesh,   according   to   noted
   environmentalist Dr.Anwaruddin Choudhury.  Choudhury told PTI that he
   came  across  a  group  of  less  than  20  of  these  macaques while
   conducting a field survey in West Kameng district of the state.
   
11 SETTING UP OF STATE SPORTS PROPOSED		           [AT:2-AUG-98]
   -----------------------------------
   The  State  Government  plans  to convert the State Sports Council of
   Assam (SSCA) to Sports Authority of Assam (SAA).  The  draft  of  the
   State  Sports Policy, points to this plan to convert the council into
   an autonomous body.  The SSCA which has been acting  as  an  advisory
   body,  will be an autonomous authority with its own finance under the
   name of Sports Authority of Assam.
   
   The Authority to be headed by the Chief Minister with representatives
   of  concerned departments of the State Government, representatives of
   trade and industries,  sports  organizers,  eminent  sports  persons,
   sports journalists,  sports medicine specialists as members.  It will
   be the apex body in the State  which  will  have  its  objectives  of
   achieving excellence in sports.

______________________________[Mozz-BG]_________________________________
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