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                          Vol.3, No.58 [*] August 10, 1998
                          --------------------------------

             Inferiors revolt in order that they may be equal,
                    and equals that they may be superior. 
            Such is the state of mind which creates revolutions.
                               - Aristotle
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------

1  CENTRE HAS GIVEN VEHICLES, BOMBS TO ASSAM:  ADVANI	    [S:9-AUG-98]
   --------------------------------------------------
   The  Centre  has provided 197 Maruti Gypsy King vehicles, 70 Tata 407
   trucks, 45 Tata 709 trucks, 1,020 SLRs, 1,270 carbines, 500  pistols,
   25,509  bombs and grenades, and 911,720 rounds of ammunition to Assam
   during 1997-98 as part of the Centre's scheme  for  modernization  of
   the  police  forces  in  the northeastern states, Union Home Minister
   L.K.Advani told the Rajya Sabha in reply to a question from Assam  MP
   Dr.Arun Kumar  Sharma  recently.    Of  the  above  vehicles, 40 were
   bulletproof.  Mr Advani revealed that under  the  general  scheme  of
   modernization  of  police  forces,  Rs.4.77  million  had  also  been
   released to Assam during 1997-98.
   
2  BORO UNVEILS 10-YEAR PLAN TO REVAMP EDUCATION 	    [S:9-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------------------------
   Education Minister Thaneswar Boro announced a 10-year  `Master  Plan'
   for  streamlining the education department in the State, envisaging a
   ban on opening of new schools and colleges in the State in  the  next
   five  years  and  introduction of two-year pre-primary classes in the
   existing lower primary and junior basic schools etc.    
   
   Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on August 8, Mr Boro  said,
   the  ban  on  opening  new  schools  will  not  apply  in the case of
   English-medium schools.  The Master Plan includes  development  of  a
   model   rural   junior  college  with  Arts,  Science,  Commerce  and
   Vocational studies in each legislative assembly constituency (LAC) in
   a plot of 100 `bigha' land.  (There are 126 LACs in Assam.  -Mozz).
   
3  KIDNAPPED MANAGER OF IIT CONSTRUCTION WORKS RESCUED	    [S:8-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------------------------------
   Rangiya police, along with Assam Police commando  personnel,  rescued
   Mr  Aswini  Kumar  Tatia,  project manager of Tatia Construction, the
   firm engaged in the construction work of IIT Guwahati  at  its  North
   Guwahati  site,  from Hasong Gaon under Baihata police station safely
   in the wee hours of August 7.  Mr Aswini Kumar was kidnapped by  four
   motorcycle-borne ULFA members from North Guwahati on July 21.
   
   In the encounter that ensued during the rescue operation,  an  action
   group commander of the ULFA Dharani Das was killed on the spot, while
   his accomplices  managed  to  escape the police dragnet.  One stengun
   and some ammunition were recovered  from  the  spot.    The  Director
   General of Police rewarded a sum of Rs.125,000 on the spot to all the
   police personnel who took part in the successful rescue operation.
   
4  NIPON GOSWAMI CLARIFIES ON ULFA THREAT		   [AT:8-AUG-98]
   --------------------------------------
   Veteran  film artist of Assam Mr Nipon Goswami told The Assam Tribune
   on August 7 that the ULFA had  not  threatened  him  or  his  artiste
   colleagues  over  their  participation  in the `Sur Bahini' which was
   launched on August 6 under the sponsorship of the Assam Government to
   collect donations from the public to help the flood-affected people.
   
   The  cine star clarified that the ULFA on August 5 had asked him over
   phone as to why he and his artist colleagues were going to take  part
   in  the  `Sur Bahini' sponsored by the AGP government which, the ULFA
   said, was trying to capitalise on the artiste to get  closer  to  the
   masses.
   
   Mr  Goswami  said,  `I  could  make  the  ULFA  caller  see reason by
   convincing him that the artists are not party to any  design  of  the
   Government.  The only reason for their participation is that the `Sur
   Bahini' is launched for noble mission to help out the flood victims.'
   On  hearing  his  explanation,  the  ULFA caller requested him not to
   consider the `inquiry' as a threat to the artists, Mr Goswami said.
   
5  ULFA DECRIES `SURRENDER DRAMA'			  [AT:10-AUG-98]
   -----------------------------
   The ULFA claimed that  the  Indian  state  is  organizing  `surrender
   drama'  with  those  ULFA cadre expelled by the outfit as degenerated
   scum, who are rather threats to the civilized society.  The ULFA,  in
   a  press  release  on  August  9 in Guwahati, also alleged the Indian
   state as going to stage another such drama shortly.    Revealing  the
   names  of  thirty-five  ex-ULFA cadres amongst others, the ULFA said,
   these activists of the outfit were either relieved or  expelled  from
   the  organization  on  various  grounds, besides some others who were
   rendered injured by the forces of the Indian state.   Moreover,  many
   of  the  would  be surrenderers are in fact in no way linked with the
   ULFA, the release said.
   
6  FEAR PSYCHOSIS GRIP PEOPLE AT JAPARKUCHI	           [AT:9-AUG-98]
   ----------------------------------------
   Majority of the people of the villages near Nalbari town  left  their
   homes  following  a  house-to-house  combing  operation  by  the Army
   personnel after the blast in Japarkuchi, which killed  three  Armymen
   on August  6.    Some  of  the people, who have fled to Guwahati told
   newsmen that immediately after the blast, the people of the  villages
   fled  their villages fearing Army actrocities and on the next morning
   the people of nearby villages also followed suit.
   
   They said some people even took shelter in the Nalbari police station
   as   the   District   Administration   reportedly   expressed   their
   helplessness  in  protecting the common people from the harassment of
   the Army personnel.  Only the old or those who have nowhere to go are
   still staying in the villages.
   
   Meanwhile, the police and the Army picked  up  15  persons  from  the
   Japarkuchi village   for  interrogation.    The  Army  recovered  six
   kilogramme of explosives from under the culvert of  the  blast  site.
   Seven  cartridges  of  .38  revolver  were  also recovered, which the
   police say is a protected bore used only by State police personnel.
   
7  ARMY JCO PUNISHED FOR SHOWING POOR CONTROL		    [S:8-AUG-98]
   ------------------------------------------
   An Army court martial has sentenced the Junior  Commissioned  Officer
   (JCO),  in-charge  of  the  two  jawans  who  had  raped  a  woman at
   Paikarkuchi in Nalbari recently, to loss of seniority by  four  years
   and pension  charges  for  displaying poor control over his men.  The
   two jawans  who  were  found  guilty  of  committing  the  rape  were
   sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.
   
8  CRPF JAWAN KILLED BY ULTRAS			          [PTI:9-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------
   Two persons, including a CRPF jawan, has been killed by militants  in
   North Cachar  Hill  and Nalbari districts on August 8.  The jawan was
   killed when two militants opened fire on  a  joint  police  and  CRPF
   party on  a routine check in North Cachar Hill district.  Another man
   was shot dead by suspected ULFA militants in Nalbari  district.    In
   another  incident,  two  women were arrested for their links with the
   BLT and recovered Rs.60,000 from them by the police at Paneri area in
   Darrang district during a routine check.   However,  the  Bodo  ultra
   accomplice managed to escape from the vehicle during the check.

   In  Guwahati,  a team of BSF jawans escaped a bid on their life, when
   suspected ULFA militants coming in a car fired on them at point blank
   range near Hatigarh Chariali in Guwahati city at around 12:15  pm  on
   August 7.    The  jawans  were  returning to their camp at Geetanagar
   after withdrawing Rs.11,000 from a bank, when  they  came  under  the
   attack.   The  jawans  did  not return the fire and instead rushed to
   their camp.  No casualty was reported.
   
9  PRIEST DETAINED AT CALCUTTA, USD 17,000 SEIZED         [PTI:9-AUG-98]
   ----------------------------------------------
   An  amount  of  US $17,000 equivalent to Rs.750,000 was seized from a
   Singapore-bound priest of Roman Catholic Church in  Nagaland  by  the
   air  intelligence  unit  of  Customs  at  the  NSC Bose International
   Airport in Calcutta on Sunday. Airport sources said that the  priest,
   an Indian national, was about to board a Royal Brunei Airlines flight
   when he was apprehended. The booty was concealed in a bag. The priest
   was detained for further investigation.
   
10 EIGHT NEW VSATs IN NORTHEAST FOR POSTAL DEPARTMENT     [PTI:8-AUG-98]
   --------------------------------------------------
   The  Postal Department has installed eight VSATs (very small aperture
   terminals) in the Northeast, and 14 more post offices in  Assam  have
   been  connected  for  transmission  of  money orders, hybrid mail and
   corporate money orders through satellite network.   Official  sources
   said  in  Guwahati  on  August  8, that the VSATs have been set up at
   Guwahati, Tezpur, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Agartala,  Aizwal,  Kohima  and
   Itanagar.   Four  more  post  offices -- Imphal, Laitumkhra, Tura and
   Dimapur -- have been connected to the VSAT network, sources added.
   
11 COLLECTION OF ASSAMESE PROSE LITERATURE		   [S:10-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------------------
   The  Silpi  Ghar,  a cultural organization of Duliajan, is all set to
   publish a comprehensive collection of hundred years of Assamese prose
   literature on the occasion of ushering in the 21st century.  The work
   will include a catalogue  of  Assamese  prose  writers  in  the  20th
   century   with  their  bio-data  and  critical  assessment  of  their
   contribution, along with other  notable  information  about  Assamese
   literature.   This  was  disclosed  by  the  editor  of  the work, Mr
   Phanindra Kumar Dev Choudhury.
   
   Meanwhile, an all  India  poetry  competition  in  English  is  being
   jointly  sponsored  by  The  British  Council  and The Poetry Society
   (India).  The competition is open to resident and nonresident  Indian
   poets and  translators.    The  first  prize  will be an excursion to
   Britain, besides several other cash prizes, and one special prize  of
   Rs.5,000 for  the  best poem in translation.  Interested participants
   may contact the Secretary, Northeast Writers' Forum,  Bhuyan  Howely,
   F.C.Road, Uzanbazar,  Guwahati-781001,  or  phone:    517805, 564381,
   562299 for details.  The last date for entries is October 31, 1998.
   
12 ROUNDWORM EXTRACTED FROM EYE AT JORHAT		    [S:9-AUG-98]
   --------------------------------------
   In a rare surgery of the eye, noted eye surgeon  Dr.Narayan  Bordoloi
   of  Jorhat,  extracted  a  16  cm-long  roundworm  from  the eye of a
   50-year-old woman at Cataract and  IOL  Hospital  on  August  8.  The
   patient  had  been  complaining of pain in the eye since long and had
   consulted several opthalmologists without result. The worm  has  been
   sent to experts for study.
   
13 IMAGES OF LORD SHIVA IN MUD FLOOR		           [AT:9-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------------
   Thousands  of  visitors  are rushing with bunches of flowers, incense
   sticks and milk to offer prayers to an  unnatural  phenomenon  taking
   place in  the  mud  floor  of a kitchen in Harisingia.  The images of
   Lord Shiva, Nandi, the Trishul, and goddess Parvati and a vivid  sign
   of  Rudrapad  began  to  appear  at  the  house  of Mr Kishori Das at
   Mantikiri village under Harisinga police  outpost.    The  phenomenon
   took  place  a few weeks ago, and when Mr Das informed his neighbours
   about its occurrence, people in the locality began offering  prayers.
   (In 1995, a supernatural phenomenon occurred when idols of Hindu gods
   consumed milk.    It  created a great sensation throughout the world,
   and the phenomenon still remains a mystery.  -Mozz).
   
______________________________[Mozz-BG]_________________________________
Compiled from newspaper and agency reports for private circulation only.
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