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                        Vol.3, No.89 [*] December 7, 1998
                        ---------------------------------

                  History, although sometimes made up of
           the few acts of the great, is more often shaped by
                       the many acts of the small.
                             - Mark Yost
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------


1  NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION AGAINST MAHANTA DEFEATED            [S:6-DEC-98]
   ---------------------------------------------
   
   The  no-confidence  motion  moved  by  the Congress(I) and the United
   Minorities Front (UMF) against the two-and-a-half-year-old Asom  Gana
   Parishad (AGP)-led four-party alliance Government was defeated in the
   Assam Assembly on December 5.
   
   While 34 legislators voted for the motion, 64 voted against it in the
   126 member assembly.  Two votes each of the treasury  and  Opposition
   benches were rejected.  The BJP, PDF, BSMC and ASDC members abstained
   from the voting.

2  SIX ULTRAS KILLED IN SEPARATE INCIDENTS                 [AT:7-DEC-98]
   ---------------------------------------
   
   Six militant were  killed  in  encounters  with  security  forces  in
   different  parts  of  Assam.  The  Karbi  Anglong  police, along with
   Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) busted a camp of militant  outfit
   Karbi  Peoples  Front  (KPF)  on  Sunday night and killed two ultras,
   while in two other incidents two Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) and  two
   ULFA militants were killed in Nalbari and Kamrup district.

3  BARAK VALLEY BLOCKADE CLEARED BY CRPF, ASSAM POLICE      [S:6-DEC-98]
   ---------------------------------------------------
   
   The  1001-hour rail and road blockade in Barak Valley, called jointly
   by the Nikhil Bishnupuria Manipuri Students  Union  (NBMSU)  and  the
   Nikhil  Bisnupuria  Manipuri  Gana  Sangram  Parishad  (NBMGSP)  from
   December 1 was cleared by CRPF and Assam  Police  in  a  half-an-hour
   operation on the evening of December 4.
   
   About  300  volunteers  who  had been squatting on rail track and the
   national highway at Kalain, 35 km from Silchar, were chased  away  by
   the security  forces.  Forty-five volunteers of the two organizations
   have been detained.
   
   The NBMSU and NBMGSP  are  demanding  implementation  of  Bishnupuria
   Manipuri  language  as  medium  of  instruction  in  primary stage of
   education in the districts of the valley.
   

4  MOVE TO LEASE OUT BTPS TO OGDEN OPPOSED BY MLAs         [AT:6-DEC-98]
   -----------------------------------------------
   
   Several members in the Assam Legislative Assembly  expressed  serious
   concern  at the Government's move to lease out the Bongaigaon Thermal
   Power Station (BTPS) to a private party and said that the  Government
   should try to renovate the plant on its own.
   
   Mr Debakanta Ramchiary, (PDF),  Mr  Hemen  Das  (CPM),  Mr  Debananda
   Konwar  (Congress)  and  Ms  Pramilla  Rani  Brahma (BSMC) raised the
   matter in the Assembly and expressed that leasing out the  BTPS  will
   not  serve the interests of the local people, and that the move was a
   political conspiracy.
   

5  POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD'S DIRECTIVE TO PAPER MILL       [AT:7-DEC-98]
   -------------------------------------------------
   
   The Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA), has  directed  the  Nagaon
   Paper Mill of the Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC), to fully restore
   the  Elenga Beel system in Morigaon district and to reclaim the paddy
   fields located near the `beel'  (water  body)  within  three  months'
   time.
   
   The  pollution  control  authorities  in  a  letter to the paper mill
   recently, regretted that if the functioning  of  the  mill  continues
   unabated  in  the  present  manner,  it  will  not  only  degrade the
   environment but also lead to a disaster to the mill itself.
   
   The paper mill was inspected by the Board officials along  with  some
   All  Assam  Students  Union  (AASU) leaders and public on October 31,
   1998.

6  ASSAM PROHIBITION OF RAGGING BILL PASSED                [AT:6-DEC-98]
   ----------------------------------------
   
   The Assam  Legislative  Assembly  on  December  5  passed  the  Assam
   Prohibition   of  Ragging  Bill,  1998  to  prevent  ragging  in  the
   educational institutions of the State.  The Bill was  passed  without
   any  opposition and even Opposition Congress member Dr Ardhendu Kumar
   Dey thanked the Education Minister for bringing such a bill.
   
   The Bill said whoever  commits,  participates,  abets  or  propagates
   ragging  in  any  educational  institution  shall  be  punished  with
   imprisonment for up to six months or with fine for up to Rs.10,000 or
   both.  The student involved will be expelled for not  less  than  one
   academic  year  and  shall  not  be admitted in any other educational
   institution during that period.

7  ARMY DENIES FORCIBLE OCCUPATION OF DHARMSHALA            [S:7-DEC-98]
   ---------------------------------------------
   
   The Army denied allegations  that  they  forcibly  occupied  civilian
   buildings in  Sibsagar  and  Golaghat  districts.  Referring to press
   reports in this respect, an Army press release said civil authorities
   provide administrative facilities to the  Army  so  that  they  could
   provide effective assistance.
   
   The Army had  never  occupied  any  accommodation  belonging  to  the
   civilian people without the consent of the civil administration.  The
   Army  contingent  at  Dergaon  in  Golaghat district had occupied the
   Dharmshala (charity lodge)  building  only  on  the  consent  of  the
   Marwari Panchayat who was the in-charge of the Dharmshala.
   

8  FIRST LIMBOO TELEFILM IN SIKKIM                        [PTI:6-DEC-98]
   -------------------------------
   
   Release of the first telefilm in Limboo language and inauguration  of
   traditional  temple  in  West  district marked the celebration of the
   295th birth anniversary of Teyongsi Sirijunga Singhthebe, a legendary
   king of the (Limboo) ethnic group, in Sikkim.
   
   The main function was organized by the Sikkim Limboo Literary Society
   in Martam village where the king was stated to  become  a  martyr  in
   1741  by sacrificing his life for reviving and propagating the Limboo
   script, literature and culture.
   
   Sikkim  Chief  Minister  Pawan  Chamling  attended  the  function and
   inaugurated the `Maangheem'  (a  traditional  temple)  built  in  the
   memory of the leader in the village, about 130 km from Gangtok.

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