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           _ m m m  (Guaranteed 100% Pure Local News from Assam) 
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                       Vol.2, No.3 * February 4, 1999
   -------------------------------------------------------------------

1  VILLAGE HEADMAN AS FAKE ULFA                           [S:4-FEB-99]
   ----------------------------
   NAGAON:   A  complaint lodged at Itabali police station on February
   1, alleged the involvement of the `Gaonburah' (village headman)  of
   Marangial   village  in  Nagaon  district  in  demanding  cash  and
   torturing the villagers in the name of ULFA.
   
   According  to  the  complaint, on the night of January 29 four fake
   ULFA activists, having their faces  masked  with  black  bandannas,
   demanded cash and physically assaulted one Baneswar Baruah, a green
   grocer of the village.
   
   But  accidently  the  bandanna  of  one of the man got unmasked and
   Baneswar recognized him as the `Gaonburah' of  the  village.    The
   complaint  was  lodged after holding a public meeting on the matter
   on February 1.  The `Gaonburah' has since been absconding.

2  POLICE LATHICHARGE ON VENDORS FOR NOT PAYING `TAX'    [S:29-JAN-99]
   -------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  Two persons were injured while utter chaos  and  tension
   prevailed at the Bhangagarh bazaar following the police, along with
   CRPF  jawans,  resorting  to lathicharge on the roadside vendors on
   the evening of January 29.  Sources, alleged that the vendors  were
   lathicharged  for  not  conceding  to  the police demand for paying
   illegal `tax' to them.  All the shops  in  the  area  downed  their
   shutters in protest against the police action.

3  TRAFFIC THROWN OUT OF GEAR, SIX INJURED                [S:2-FEB-99]
   ---------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI: Traffic in Guwahati city came to standstill for more than
   an hour on the afternoon of February 1 when the Vice President,  Mr
   Krishan  Kant, after arriving from Nagaon laid the foundation stone
   of Sarbamangalam Bhawan at Ganeshguri.
   
   All  the  routes  through  which  the Vice President and his convoy
   passed, were closed for traffic.  People and school-going  children
   were seen waiting at different bus stops till evening.  Neither the
   district  administration  nor the police had announced diversion of
   routes, putting the public into a difficult situation.
   
   TEZPUR:   At least six persons were injured, four of them seriously
   when a pilot car escorting  Ganesh  Kutum,  Speaker  of  the  Assam
   Legislative  Assembly and Hitendra Goswami, Power Minister collided
   head on with a truck on Jiabhoroli bridge in Sonitpur  district  on
   January 31.    A  convoy of nine vehicles with police security were
   accompanying the VIPs.
                                                       
4  NO PAY FOR 1,020 HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS SINCE OCTOBER   [S:29-JAN-99]
   ---------------------------------------------------
   JORHAT:   About  1,020  high  school  teachers  of Jorhat district,
   comprising 720 under Plan and 300 under non-Plan category, have not
   received their salaries since October, 1998.  It may  be  mentioned
   that funds for the teachers under Plan comes from the Centre.
   
   On the  other hand, 28 Middle English (ME) school teachers who were
   appointed in 1994 under the then Congress government in the  State,
   have not  received their salaries for more than 60 months.  Sources
   said that the files related to the appointment of the  28  teachers
   have  been misplaced in the office of the Directorate of Elementary
   Education, Guwahati.

5  IM(DT) COURT EMPLOYEES FACE UNCERTAIN FUTURE          [S:29-FEB-99]
   --------------------------------------------
   JORHAT:   The  employees of the Foreigners Tribunal and the Illegal
   Migrant (Detection by Tribunal) Courts  have  been confronted  with
   uncertainty in respect of their services anticipating repeal of the
   IM(DT) Act of 1993 and eventual abolition of such courts.
   
   The  All  Assam  Tribunal  Employees Association has been demanding
   service benefits for the Tribunal employees at par  with  those  of
   the State Government. In the event of abolition of such courts, the
   Government  will  be  responsible  for  service  security  and  the
   seniority of such employees.
   
6  HEARING OF CONSUMER CASES STOPPED DUE TO FUND CRUNCH   [S:1-FEB-99]
   ----------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI: The  District  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal  Forum, by a
   notice, has informed all  the  parties  concerned  who  have  filed
   consumer  disputes cases before the Kamrup District Forum, that due
   to lack of fund, issuance of registered  notices  to  the  opposite
   parties  in respect of newly filed cases and hearing of all pending
   cases are temporarily stopped with effect from January 30.
   
   Notices  will  be resumed as and when fund is made available by the
   Food and Civil Supplies Department, Government  of  Assam  for  the
   purpose, the  notice  said.    The Forum has at present 226 pending
   cases and registered a total of 307 cases in 1998.  The  Forum  has
   to spend around Rs.3,000 per month only on serving notices by post.
   
   Funds allotted till now is Rs.10,000, which is  far  short  of  the
   requirements  to  meet  the expenses on office stationery, postage,
   telephone and electricity bills.    Disconnection  notices  by  the
   electricity  board  and the telephones department have already been
   served to the Forum.
   
   Some  complainants  come  forward  to  bear the postal expenses for
   serving notices, but even if accepted, would  go  to  meet  only  a
   fraction  of the related costs and the process, thereby defeats the
   very purpose of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
   
7  DEVELOPMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN AEC AND JEC         [AT:28-JAN-99]
   --------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  Two ambitious plans for developing  the  infrastructural
   facilities  of  the  Assam  Engineering  College  (AEC)  and Jorhat
   Engineering  College  (JEC)  have  been  submitted  to  the   Union
   Government and  they are under consideration at present.  Each plan
   has an estimate of Rs.1.5 billion.
   
   This  was disclosed by Dr M.M.Das, Director of Technical Education,
   Assam while speaking on the occasion of the 44th foundation day  of
   the Assam  Engineering  College in Guwahati on January 25.  He also
   stressed the need of resource-generation schemes  like  consultancy
   services as done by the civil engineering department of AEC.

   At  the  function,  principal  of  the  college Mr Prafulla Chandra
   Mahanta, introduced Mr Kamal Chandra  Barthakur  who  has  recently
   achieved   the   distinction  of  being  the  first  ever  Ph.D  in
   engineering faculty of AEC under the Gauhati University.

8  PATHSALA SCRIBE CONDEMNED FOR WRONG REPORT             [S:1-FEB-99]
   ------------------------------------------
   PATHSALA:  An  emergent  meeting  of  the  reception  committee  of
   Pathsala  Book  Fair  condemned  the  Pathsala  correspondent of an
   English daily for his misleading report about the  commencement  of
   the book fair.  The meeting clarified that the book fair will begin
   from  February  5  and  not  from  February  11  as reported by the
   correspondent.
   
   JORHAT:   In  Jorhat,  police arrested the owner of a book stall on
   January 30 for selling pornographic books.  Sixty such  books  were
   seized from  his  book  stall.    Following  the  incident,  police
   launched  a  massive  operation  against   unauthorized   sale   of
   pornographic books in Jorhat town and its suburbs.
   
9  VAJPAYEE LIKELY TO VISIT MAJULI: XATRADHIKAR           [S:4-FEB-99]
   --------------------------------------------
   JORHAT:   The  Xatradhikar  of  the  Aaoniati  Xatra  of Majuli, Mr
   Pitambar Dev Goswami, in his recent visit to New Delhi,  called  on
   the  Prime  Minister,  Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and requested him to
   visit Majuli.  The Prime Minister assured the Xatradhikar of paying
   a visit to the river island. Other than late  Jawaharlal  Nehru  no
   Premier of the country ever visited Majuli.
   
10 MONKEY MENACE NEAR JAMUGURIHAT                        [AT:3-FEB-99]
   ------------------------------
   JAMUGURIHAT:   The inhabitants of Dhakeriagaon and Dubakata village
   under Jamugurihat police station have been passing  their  days  in
   panic due  to  a  monkey  menace since a long time.  About 40 to 50
   monkeys are monkeying around in different  localities  of  the  two
   villages  daily  eating  and  damaging sugarcane, bananas, papayas,
   paddy, bamboo shoots, pineapples and vegetables.  The monkeys  also
   enter the kitchens and take away utensils along with cooked rice.

______________________________[Mozz-RG]_________________________________
Compiled from newspaper and agency reports for private circulation only.
      [S=Sentinel, AT=Assam Tribune, Agencies = UNI, PTI, PIB]
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