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                        Vol.3, No.69 [*] September 21, 1998
                        -----------------------------------

             They take the paper and they read the headlines,
     So they've  heard of unemployment and they've heard of breadlines,
               And they philanthropicacally cure them all
                 By getting up a costume charity ball.
                               - Ogen Nash

   ---------------------------------------------------------------------

1  HIGH COURT NOTICES TO CM, CBI ON PIL ON LOC SCAM        [S:20-SEP-98]
   ------------------------------------------------
   The Gauhati High Court issued notices to the Chief Minister  Prafulla
   Kumar  Mahanta  and  the  Central  Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a
   public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by one Nabin  Chandra
   Kalita  challenging the refusal of the Governor of Assam in according
   sanction to prosecute Mr Mahanta in the LoC scam, and fixed  November
   3  as the date for deciding the question of admissibility of the PIL.
   Mr L.N.Rao  of  the  Supreme  Court,  appearing  for  the  petitioner
   submitted that the order of refusal of sanction by the Assam Governor
   on February 5 in the LoC scam in the ICDP, Demow under the Veterinary
   Department  was  wrong  and  questioned  the  legal  validity  of the
   Governor's order.

2  UNWFP'S RELIEF TO FLOOD VICTIMS RELEASED                [S:19-SEP-98]
   ----------------------------------------
   In response to the request of the Government of  Assam  Ms  Christine
   Van  Nieuwenhuyse, World Food Programme (WFP) representative to India
   released 635 metric tonnes  of  corn  soya  blend  food  worth  Rs.13
   million  for  flood-affected  children  and women in the districts of
   Goalpara, Dhubri, Nalbari, Kamrup and Dhemaji.  This  assistance  has
   been  provided  after  a joint assessment by World Food Programme and
   UNICEF  and  after  approval  by  the  Women  and  Child  Department,
   Government of India.
   
3  DISMISSAL OF MAHANTA MINISTRY DEMANDED                [PTI:21-SEP-98]
   --------------------------------------
   Sangsuma  Khungur  Bwismutiay,  MP demanded the dismissal of Prafulla
   Mahanta-led AGP ministry for its alleged failure in  maintaining  law
   and order in Kokrajhar district.  `There is an urgent need to dismiss
   the government as it has totally failed to ensure safety and security
   of  the  Bodos  and  the Adivasis in Kokrajhar that witnessed violent
   incidents  recently,'  Bwismutiary  told  newsmen  at   Guwahati   on
   September 20.
   
4  TEN MUSLIM ULTRAS SURRENDER IN DARRANG                 [AT:21-SEP-98]
   --------------------------------------
   Ten   militants   belonging   to  the  Muslim  Security  Force  (MSF)
   surrendered before the Darrang Superintendent  of  Police  Mr  Pallab
   Bhattachary on  September  20.    The militants also deposited two 12
   bore guns, six  pistols  and  45  rounds  of  ammunition.    All  the
   militants hailed from Dalgaon area of the district.  The MSF began to
   establish  its  roots in the district in 1994 with the main objective
   of protecting the Muslim population from the Bodo militants.

5  SURRENDERED ULFA MILITANTS FLEE ARMY CAMP               [S:19-SEP-98]
   -----------------------------------------
   Even  though  official  sources  have admitted that a large number of
   ULFA militants, who  had  surrendered  before  the  Army  authorities
   recently, have fled the Army camp at Dinjan, the Army denied that any
   surrendered militants had escaped.  The Army have, however, explained
   that the surrendered militants, occasionally visit their families and
   come back.
   
   According to official sources, some of these youths, unable  to  bear
   the  misbehaviour  of  the  Army  personnel  and  the  failure of the
   Government to provide jobs to them, fled from the Dinjan camp.   Some
   of  them  have  approached  high  officials  at  Dispur  to  keep the
   government promise for jobs to them.  In  frustration,  one  of  them
   even attempted  to  commit  suicide.    He is undergoing treatment in
   hospital under Army custody, sources said.
   
6  BURNING OF NEWSPAPERS CONDEMNED                         [S:20-SEP-98]
   -------------------------------
   The  recent  incidents of burning of bundles of copies of an Assamese
   daily  `Agaradoot',  by  some  miscreants  in  Chaygaon,  Nagaon  and
   Guwahati,  have  taken  a nasty turn with the newspaper alleging that
   the Assam Chief Minister was behind the  burning  of  the  newspapers
   while  the AGP leaders have alleged that the editor of the newspaper,
   Mr Kanaksen Deka, had sought Rs.1 million from the Chief Minister but
   that he refused, because of which  the  newspaper  had  been  writing
   against the  Chief  Minister.    Mr  Deka  has  challenged  the Chief
   Minister to prove his charge or  else  resign  his  post.    He  also
   offered to quit if Mr Mahanta could prove the charge.
   
7  GOVT TO BAN PLYING OF 15-YEAL-OLD VEHICLES              [S:20-SEP-98]
   ------------------------------------------
   In order to solve the problems afflicting the traffic in Guwahati, as
   also  the pollution menace, the Assam Government decided to take some
   important measures which include among others to ban  vehicles  older
   than 15  years  to  ply  in  the  city.  The owners will be given six
   months to one-years time to remove their vehicles from the street  or
   take appropriate  action.   In case, the owners refuse to comply with
   the orders such vehicles will be destroyed.
   
   State  Transport  Minister  Pradip  Hazarika said that the owners had
   been given adequate time since in case of immediate implementation of
   the order, 80 per cent of the city buses and other vehicles would  be
   off the  roads  causing  inconvenience  to  the  public.    In Kamrup
   district   there   are   160,000   registered   vehicles    including
   three-wheelers  and two-wheelers and another 40,000 vehicles of other
   districts that ply in the city roads. The ban would  decrease  plying
   of  20  per  cent  of  private  vehicles and 30 to 35 per cent in the
   movement of commercial vehicles.
   
   The Assam Motor Vehicles Rules that is  in  vogue  in  the  State  to
   regulate  traffic  was  framed way back in 1940, although the Central
   Motor Vehicle Act was amended in 1988 there has been no amendment  to
   the Assam  Motor  Vehicles  Rules based on the Central amendment.  In
   this context, Mr Hazarika said that the process for the amendment  of
   the Assam Motor Vehicles rules is on.
   
8  EXCAVATION AT AMBARI ARCHAEOLOGY SITE SOON             [AT:21-SEP-98]
   ------------------------------------------
   The Directorate  of  Archaeology  of  the  State  decided  to  resume
   excavation at the Ambari archaeological site in Guwahati shortly. The
   excavation  is  expected  to  be  completed by the end of the current
   financial year. The excavation at Ambari  generated  much  enthusiasm
   among  archaeologists and historians of the country in the seventies.
   It was expected to open new vista for oriental studies.
   
9  GENETIC PROBE TO CATCH RHINO POACHERS                 [PTI:18-SEP-98]
   -------------------------------------
   Scientists  at  the  National  Institute of Immunology (NII) in Delhi
   have developed a genetic probe that can detect rhino horn even if  it
   is  crushed  into  powder  or  mixed  with  something  else  to evade
   recognition by wild life inspectors.  `The probe is  so  powerful  it
   can  not  only find out whether the specimen contained rhino horn but
   also tell whether it came from rhinoceros in Assam or  West  Bengal,'
   said Sher Ali, head of the NII's molecular genetic laboratory.
   
   Ali  and  his colleagues who analyzed the genetic material of India's
   one-horned rhinoceros say they discovered a `repetitive DNA sequence'
   -- a genetic fingerprint which is unique to this species.  It was not
   present in  any  other  animal  not  even  in  the  two-horned  black
   rhinoceros of Africa.  The NII probe will be a valuable weapon in the
   hands  of conservationists wanting to track down the sources of rhino
   horn in the illegal market.

10 `MATIR CHAKA' FOR INTERNATIONAL DRAMA FEST             [AT:20-SEP-98]
   ------------------------------------------
   The artists of the Asom Natya Parishad (ANP) will stage `Matir Chaka'
   written by Mr Shubheswar Das and  directed  by  Mr  Bichitra  Narayan
   Kalita  at  the  international  dram  festival  at Cuttack in Orissa.
   Drama teams from Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka etc will also take  part  in
   the festival.    A  16-member  team  of artists of ANP will leave for
   Cuttack on September 27.
   
______________________________[Mozz-BG]_________________________________
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