A S S A M   *  A L M A N A C
                          (100% Pure Local News)
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                       Vol.1, No.0, August 18, 1998
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1  LOCAL CANDIDATES DEPRIVED, OUTSIDERS FILL POSTS	 [S:17-Aug-98]
   -----------------------------------------------
   JORHAT:  There  has  been widespread concern and criticism over the
   manner by which the Forest Research Institute  at  Jorhat  deprived
   the  local  candidates of their legitimate scope of appointment. An
   interview  was  held  to  fill  up  eight  vacant  post  of  office
   assistants  recently.  Four  of  the  vacancies were filled up from
   among the selected  candidates  while  the  other  four  were  kept
   reserved for candidates from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
   
   Ultimately, the balance four vacancies were filled up by appointing
   four   candidates   from  Chennai  region  on  the  plea  that  the
   authority's communication with the Staff Selection  Board  for  the
   Northeast  region  in  Guwahati  was  not  responded.  The district
   students union and other organizations are preparing to fight tooth
   and nail against the move, it is learnt.
   
2  THE POSTMAN'S WAY 				         [S:15-Aug-98]
   -----------------
   BARPETA:  A group of youths detected how badly  Monoranjan  Sarmah,
   postman,  beat  No.2,  Barpeta  Post  Office discharged his duties.
   Some of the youth saw  Sharma  throwing  a  bunch  of  letters  for
   delivery  on  Wednesday  at  11  am,  in  a  drain  adjacent to the
   Harshbazar.  The curious youths picked up the bundle from the drain
   and  informed  the  higher  authorities  in  the  Post  Office  and
   identified the  culprit.    About  fifty  letters were there in the
   bundle and the postman resorted to this weird  method  to  complete
   his day's work.
   
3  NO TELEGRAM SERVICE AT RANGIYA			[AT:17-Aug-98]
   ------------------------------
   RANGIYA:  There is no provision  of  telegram  service  at  Rangiya
   Sub-post Office, causing a lot of inconvenience to the people.  The
   telegrams, booked  at  Rangiya  are  sent  by ordinary post.  Worse
   still, the telegram counter remains open from 10:30 am to 3 pm  and
   that too  only  on working days.  The computerised telegram machine
   is out of order since last two years or so.
   
4  SDO SEALS OFFICE ON PUBLIC COMPLAINT		         [S:15-Aug-98]
   ------------------------------------
   NAZIRA:  The Subdivisional Officer (SDO) here has sealed the office
   of  the  Joktoli  Cooperative Society with the help of a magistrate
   and seized all official documents of the society  in  regard  to  a
   serious   public   complaint   against   it,   for   hoarding   and
   black-marketing  of  the   essential   items   meant   for   public
   distribution  and  hence depriving the ration-card-holders of their
   rightful dues.
   
5  PUBLIC, POLICE, TEACHER AND COUNTRY BREW	         [S:15-Aug-98]
   ----------------------------------------
   MARIANI:   The  Officer-in-charge  (OC) of the local police station
   caught four persons from a country liquor shop in  the  suburbs  of
   the town  on  Tuesday.    While  three  were  civilians,  one was a
   Sub-Inspector of police on duty.  The three civilians  including  a
   teacher  were  made  to  march  along  the  main  roads of the town
   half-naked and were seen at the police station,  the  next  morning
   too, handcuffed and exhibited to the curious public.  They were set
   free later.    The  police  officer caught in the den was, however,
   exempted from punishment.
   
   Outraged by the incident, a public meeting was held which condemned
   the teacher for his improper  conduct  and  criticized  the  police
   officer-in-charge for  his  high handed behaviour.  The meeting was
   attended by teachers, government employees and  representatives  of
   different organizations.   A four point memorandum was submitted to
   the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police  demanding
   an inquiry into the matter.
   
6  HEALTH EDUCATION FOR HOTEL OWNERS AT JORHAT	        [AT:17-Aug-98]
   -------------------------------------------
   JORHAT:   Health  Education  and Rehabilitation (HERS), a voluntary
   organization, has launched  a  yearlong  programme  of  survey  and
   health  education  in  the  hotels  and restaurants of Jorhat town.
   Formally inaugurating the programme `Safe drinking waster:  a basic
   requirement for prevention of waterborne diseases',  Jorhat  Deputy
   Commissioner Balendra Kumar Basumatary appealed to the hotel owners
   to  provide  clean  and  safe  water  to the thousands of customers
   coming from the rural areas to the town.
   
   The busy hotels and restaurants of the town located near the  court
   building,  public  bus  stand, state transport bus station, Gar-Ali
   where rural customers can afford  to  eat,  they  are  served  with
   untreated drinking  water  from  unhygienic  ponds.  HERS, with its
   team of volunteers from Homeopathic College and NCC cadets  visited
   these  hotels  and  restaurants  to  collect  information  on water
   sources, reservoir system and health and cleanliness of  the  hotel
   boys.
   
7  MUNICIPALITY ENCROACH TEMPLE SITE:  BJP BANDH	 [S:15-Aug-98]
   ---------------------------------------------
   BARPETA ROAD:    The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
   observed a bandh at Barpeta Road on August 13  in  protest  against
   the  local municipality's alleged move to encroach a temple site in
   the town in the name of development.  A statement released  by  the
   Municipality  Chairman  said  that  all  shops  were open while BJP
   workers  resorted  to  intimidation  of  the  shopkeepers   besides
   attempting an  attack on them.  The statement condemned the BJP for
   fanning communalism and fanaticism in the town.  It appealed to the
   sensible local residents to maintain law and order at any cost.
   
8  GOLAGHAT MUNICIPALITY CHAIRMAN RESIGNS		 [S:14-Aug-98]
   --------------------------------------
   Mr Madan Lal Khetan, Chairman of the  Golaghat  Municipality  Board
   tendered his  resignation  on  August  10  on  health  grounds.  Mr
   Khetan, an Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) ward commissioner from  Ward-7,
   was unanimously elected chairman of the board on September 9, 1997.
   His  deputy,  the  vice-chairman, Mr Rajen Bora has taken charge as
   the chairman of the municipality.
   
9  TWO KILLED IN LANDSLIDE AT BONGAIGAON		 [S:14-Aug-98]
   -------------------------------------
   BONGAIGAON:  Two boys, Samar Seel (10) and Indrajit Das (16),  were
   killed  in  a landslide at the Bageswari hill adjacent to the town.
   The boys were cutting soil, when a block  of  soil  overhead  slide
   down and  buried them.  Police recovered their bodies with the help
   of the local people.  Several environmental groups and  individuals
   have  expressed their concern at the destruction of the hill, which
   adds to the beauty of the town, and demanded  an  official  ban  on
   cutting of soil from the hill.
   
10 PWD ENGINEER BEATEN UP BY CONTRACTORS		[AT:15-Aug-98]
   -------------------------------------
   DIBRUGARH: Pranabendra Bora, Executive Engineer and Adit Rajkonwar,
   Accountant  of  the  Dibrugarh  Roads  Division  of  the  PWD  were
   physically  assaulted  by  irate  contractors  at  the  PWD  office
   accusing the two of misappropriating  huge  amounts  of  government
   funds.  An amount of Rs.1.7 million was brought to Dibrugarh by one
   contractor from Guwahati, and of this amount Rs.1.3 million was  to
   be spent on repairs and Rs.400,000 on improvement repair.
   
   However,  the  engineer and the accountant, in collaboration with a
   few favoured contractors were caught sharing a major portion of the
   amount at a roadside hotel near Sepon, in  the  Sibsagar  district,
   resulting  in  the  furore.  The  furious contractors relented only
   after the engineer wrote to the Dibrugarh Treasury  and  the  State
   Bank of India to stop payment of the cheques issued at Sepon.
   
11 CONTRACTORS RANSACK PWD OFFICE AT BARPETA	         [S:14-Aug-98]
   -----------------------------------------
   Annoyed and enraged by the Executive  Engineer's  habitual  absence
   from  his office, and in protest against his arbitrary distribution
   of funds neglecting the actual development  of  the  roads  in  the
   district,  a  group  of  contractors  ransacked  the  Office of the
   Executive Engineer, Public Works Department (Roads), Barpeta.   The
   contractors  also  tried to physically assault the engineer, but he
   somehow managed to escape from the attackers and lodged a complaint
   at the local police station.    The  engineer  was  transferred  on
   public  complaint earlier, but a minister stayed his transfer order
   at the behest of the interested political circles around him.
   
12 AASU LOCKS UP PWD OFFICE AT NAKACHARI		 [S:17-Aug-98]
   -------------------------------------
   NAKACHARI:   The  Nakachari  unit  of  the All Assam Students Union
   (AASU) has locked up the PWD office at Nakachari  with  information
   to  the  Deputy  Commissioner, Jorhat at the end of a sit-in-strike
   before the office from 11 am to 2 pm on August 13.  Members of  the
   AASU  failed to inspire the authorities to take up the repairing of
   the portion between Mariani and Amguri of the Dhodar Ali.  The AASU
   has threatened to close the road  from  August  18  onwards  if  no
   positive action is taken in the meantime.

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