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                         Vol.4, No.19 [*] March 22, 1999
                         -------------------------------

                   When I was in Assam, I was an Assamese; 
             when in Calcutta, I became an Eastern Indian, and
                 when I came to Benaras, I became an Indian.
                            - Dr Bhupen Hazarika
   ------------------------------------------------------------------

1  IRATE CROWD CHASE AWAY ULFA ULTRAS, TRADER RESCUED    [S:21-MAR-99]
   --------------------------------------------------
   MOIRABARI:   Hundreds  of irate people, armed with sticks went on a
   hot pursuit of a group  of  armed  ULFA  militants,  foiling  their
   attempt  to  extort  Rs.400,000  from  a shopkeeper at Moirabari on
   March 19 at 7 pm, as the militants took to their  heels  on  seeing
   the irate  mob.   The police on the other hand, rescued an abducted
   businessman of the locality from the clutches of the ULFA from  its
   hideout at Boribazar, 30 km from Moirabari.
   
   According  to  reports,  the  two  persons  -- Satwar Kundaliya and
   Ramzan Ali were kidnapped on March 3 for ransom of Rs.400,000 each.
   Ali's family firmly refused to pay any money.  Enraged over this, a
   group of ULFA militants came to his  shop  in  an  Ambassador  car.
   Finding the  shop closed, they fired several shots at the shop.  At
   that time, a large group  had  gathered  at  a  mosque  nearby  and
   hearing  gun  shots,  they rushed to the spot with sticks and other
   weapons.  Seeing them, the militants rushed to their car and fled.
   
2  AASU TEAM MEETS RAILWAY BOARD MEMBER                  [S:22-MAR-99]
   ------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  A team of All Assam Students Union  (AASU)  led  by  its
   president  Prabin  Boro,  met  member  of  the  Railway  Board,  Mr
   V.K.Agnihotri and raised various demands for uplift of the  railway
   network in Assam.
   
   The major demands included:   immediate  construction  of  Bogibeel
   railway   bridge,   construction   of  Rangiya  rail  division  and
   demarcation of the administrative boundary of the division covering
   Assam, superfast service between Assam and Central India.
   
   They  also demanded the modernization of the workshop at Dibrugarh,
   expansion of broad gauge line from  Rangapara  to  Mokokcheleng  of
   Dhemaji   district,  employment  opportunities  to  local  educated
   youths,  construction  of  flyovers  at   Changsari,   Thekeraguri,
   Dhemaji, Silapathar and Nakari.

3  TOP NALBARI ULFA LEADER KILLED BY ARMY                [S:21-MAR-99]
   --------------------------------------
   NALBARI:   A  top  ULFA leader of Nalbari district, Someswar Konwar
   alias Amal Deka, was shot dead by an Army patrol  party  at  Khudra
   Senikuchi village,  four km from Nalbari at 10 pm on March 19.  Two
   of his associates, however, made good their escape.
   
   The Army have identified him to be a `communications expert' of the
   outfit in the district.  Army have recovered a Chinese-made pistol,
   one  carbine  and  some ammunition and incriminating documents from
   him.  Police sources claimed  that  the  carbine  belonged  to  the
   security  guard  of  the  Nalbari  DRDA  project  director,  Subash
   Buragohain, who has been kidnapped by the outfit recently.
   
4  SURRENDERED NDFB ULTRAS TO FORM NEW BODY              [S:21-MAR-99]
   ----------------------------------------
   TEZPUR:  The disgruntled surrendered National Democratic  Front  of
   Bodoland  (NDFB) activists has decided to form its own organization
   in the line of SULFA, following the killing of Thanga Boro, who was
   arrested twice as an NDFB activist in 1997 by police.

   Thanga  Boro  of  Sessabil  Gormora  village under Missamari police
   station of Sonitpur district was shot dead by NDFB  militants  when
   he,  accompanied  by  his  two  sons,  were  returning from Belsiri
   reserved forest collecting illegal timber on bicycles.

   A section of the surrendered NDFB activists has decided to assemble
   all their former associates to form a new organization, Surrendered
   NDFB,  and  will approach the Government to make firearms available
   and to provide facilities like those provided to the SULFA  by  the
   Government.
   
5  CRPF CLARIFICATION ON ALLOTMENT OF LAND IN GUWAHATI   [S:22-MAR-99]
   ----------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:   In a letter to the letters to the editor section of The
   Sentinel, the Estate Officer of the Central  Reserve  Police  Force
   (CRPF)  confirmed  that the CRPF had requested the N.F.Railways for
   allotment of the railway  land  in  the  Uzanbazar-Ambari  area  of
   Guwahati to the CRPF for construction of a CRPF camp.
   
   Once  the camp comes up in the area, it will give a facelift to the
   area, and there will be no disturbance to the civilians.   It  will
   also  put  an  end to the activities of the antisocial elements and
   give a boost to the economy of the  nearby  shopping  centres,  the
   letter said.
   
   The CRPF also assured in the letter, that it will construct a  road
   on  the  present  abandoned  railway  track,  and this road will be
   opened for public use.  The existing water pipelines  will  not  be
   removed  and  shall  be  allowed to continue with the water supply.
   The letter was in response to a news item published in The Sentinel
   on March 17.  (See also AOL dated March 19.  - Mozz)

6  SPEAKER DENIES NEWS REPORT ON BHUPEN HAZARIKA         [S:22-MAR-99]
   ---------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI; Reacting to a news item in a section of the press that Dr
   Bhupen Hazarika  had  rejected  the  Assam  Legislative  Assembly's
   request  to felicitate him in the function to be held on April 7 on
   the occasion of the Foundation Day of the State  House,  the  Assam
   assembly  Speaker,  Mr  Ganesh  Kutum  clarified  that Dr Hazarika,
   having been preoccupied with his  new  assignment  in  the  Sangeet
   Natak Akademi, informed his inability to attend the function.
   
7  QUEEN OF HILLS RAIL LINK FOR WORLD HERITAGE SITE    [UNI:21-MAR-99]
   ------------------------------------------------
   NEW DELHI:  The narrow gauge rail link connecting Siliguri and  the
   Queen  of  Hills  amid  the  picturesque valleys under the historic
   Darjeeling-Himalayan Railways  will  have  the  rare  privilege  of
   becoming  the  second railway project in the world after Austria to
   get the status of the World Heritage Site.  The Government of India
   has already recommended to the UNESCO to declare the  railway  link
   as a heritage site.  UNESCO representative Robert Lee has come over
   to study the proposal.
   
8  MYCOLOGY SOCIETY MEET AT AAU, JORHAT                  [S:21-MAR-99]
   ------------------------------------
   JORHAT:   The  21st  national  conference  of the Indian Society of
   Mycology and Plant Pathology will be held at the Assam Agricultural
   University, Jorhat on March 26  and  27.    Over  200  agricultural
   scientists  of  the country will join the conference to be held for
   the first time in the Northeast region.    The  society  president,
   Prof  Bhusanlal  Jalali,  Research Director of Haryana Agricultural
   University will preside over the conference.
   
9  NIC OFFICER KILLED IN TRAGIC ROAD ACCIDENT IN GUWAHATI
   ------------------------------------------------------
   GOLAGHAT:  An officer of the  National  Informatics  Centre,  Assam
   State  Unit,  Guwahati,  Mr  Ganashyam Goswami (34) was killed in a
   road accident at  Guwahati  on  March  20.    The  tragic  incident
   occurred  when  Mr  Goswami, riding a Kinetic Honda scooter was hit
   from behind by a Maruti car, and as he fell down  on  the  road,  a
   second car speeding from the opposite direction dragged him several
   metres.  He died on the spot.
   
   The accident took place near the Nehru stadium guest house  in  the
   B.Barooah Road  at  around  3:45 pm.  Mr Goswami was returning from
   Panbazar after buying a few books for an official  project  he  was
   working on.
   
   The  funeral  was  performed  at  his  ancestral  home,  15 km from
   Golaghat town on March 21, which was attended  by  a  large  number
   grieving relatives,   friends,   neighbours   and  colleagues.    A
   bachelor, he was a hard working, sincere  and  responsible  officer
   and a  kind  hearted  person.  The untimely and sudden demise of Mr
   Goswami is a great loss for his family, friends, the office and all
   concerned.
   

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