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                         Vol.4, No.39 [*] July 2, 1999
                         -----------------------------
 
                  We must all hang together, or assuredly 
                       we shall all hang separately.
                           - Benjamin Franklin
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      AOL greets all guests and participants at Houston convention. 
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1  LARGEST GATHERING OF ASSAMESE PEOPLE IN HOUSTON BEGINS TODAY
   ------------------------------------------------------------
   GOLAGHAT:  The largest gathering of people from Assam in the United
   States begins in a few hours from now at Houston in preparation for
   the  Assam  Day  celebrations and the Assam Convention in America's
   Independence Day weekend.
   
   Over 500 participants including children from  different  parts  of
   America  and other countries, and guests from Assam are expected to
   join the convention at the Woodlands Resort and  Conference  Centre
   from July 2 to July 4.  It is for the first time that all the major
   organizations  of  the  Assamese  people  in North America had come
   together to host the 20th Assam Convention and the 26th  Assam  Day
   at the same venue.
   
   The gathering, jointly sponsored by the Assam Association of  North
   America  (AANA),  the Assam Foundation of North America (AFNA), the
   Assam Sahitya Sabha, North America Chapter (ASSNA)  and  the  Assam
   Society  of  America  (ASA) assumes significance since it will pave
   the  way   for   greater   interactions   between   the   different
   organizations  in  the next millennium, thereby urshering a new era
   of  goodwill  and  cooperation  from  everyone  of  the  community.
   
2  NDBF LEADER HELD IN ASSAM POLICE OFFICIAL'S HOUSE      [S:1-JUL-99]
   -------------------------------------------------
   JORHAT:  A top-ranking National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)
   leader,  Ajib  Kumar  Brahma  was  arrested  by  Jorhat police from
   Lichubari area of Jorhat.  The fact of his arrest from the  private
   residence  of  Mr  Guneswar Deori came to light only when the ultra
   leader was being brought to court on June 29.    Mr  Deori  is  the
   commandant  of  Assam  Police  battalion at Saraikhola in Kokrajhar
   district.

   A graduate from Delhi university, Ajib Brahma alias  Simen  Brahma,
   the self-styled sergeant major of the banned outfit, is reported to
   be  involved  in  at  least  20  cases  of sabotage and killings at
   Kokrajhar.  Police are yet  to  ascertain  the  reason  behind  the
   leader's visit to Jorhat.
   
   The  presence  of militants in the house of Mr Deori was discovered
   by the police when they noticed groups  of  Bodo  youths  regularly
   visiting the  house.    A  police inquiry has started into possible
   links of Mr Deori with the banned  outfit.    Director  General  of
   Police  P.V.Sumant told The Sentinel on July 1 that action would be
   taken only if links were proved.
   
3  DON'T MISCONSTRUE OUR PRAGMATISM AS DOMINANCE: ELLIOT  [S:2-JUL-99]
   -----------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:   With the globalization of world academics, and with the
   gradual  redundancy  of  compartmental   regionalism,   India-based
   American  studies,  specific  to  Indian  economic and intellectual
   needs, can go a long way in helping India adopt a  modern  approach
   to  internationalism, said Ms Carolyn Elliot, executive director of
   Indo-American Centre for International Studies, Hyderabad.
   
   She was delivering the  keynote  address  in  the  first  Northeast
   regional  seminar on `International Studies' at Guwahati on July 1.
   The seminar was cosponsored by the Regional Institute of Journalism
   and Mass Communication, Guwahati.  Ms Elliot, choosing to delineate
   more from the American viewpoint than  from  broader  international
   perspective, pointed out that the average approach of India towards
   America needs a change.
   
   `What is important is understanding the American  mindset  and  not
   just  America's  foreign  policy,'  Ms Elliot said adding that what
   often  perceived  to  be  US  dominance  was   actually   America's
   pragmatism.   She said that there was a considerable debate on what
   India needed to learn from the West and what it had to offer to the
   world.  She emphasized the need to understand  the  functioning  US
   federalism.
   
4  DISTRICT EDUCATION OFFICER, FIVE OTHERS PICKED UP     [S:30-JUN-99]
   -------------------------------------------------
   MANGALDOI:   Darrang police picked up six officials of the District
   Elementary Education Office, including R.S.Borgoyari, Inspector  of
   Schools and in-charge District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO).
   The  action  came  following a complaint to the police by one Kumud
   Ranjan Deka, stating that in spite of a  ban  on  appointment,  the
   DEEO appointed as many as 83 school teachers in the district.
   
   Mr  R.S.Borgoyari  clarified  that  of  the  83 candidates, one was
   appointed as per Supreme Court order and four were appointed as per
   order of the Gauhati High Court.  While 15 others were appointed in
   the Bodoland Autonomous Council area where the ban is not in force,
   the rest of the candidates, who had been already in  service  since
   1993, have been regularized.
   
   The  appointments of all, except the five who had been appointed as
   per court orders, had been cancelled by an order by Mr Borgoyari in
   the presence of an executive magistrate.

5  PRIVATE MEDICAL, ENGINEERING COLLEGES LIKELY           [S:1-JUL-99]
   --------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  Assam Government is actively considering the question of
   permitting establishment of private sector medical and  engineering
   colleges in  the  State.    Laying  the  foundation  stone of a new
   project building in the Abdul  Mazid  Memorial  Hospital  at  Hojai
   Chief  Minister  P.K.Mahanta said that the large exodus of students
   from the State to other states for medical and engineering  studies
   paying exorbitant capitation fees was known to the Government and a
   decision in the matter would be taken soon.

6  POSTAGE STAMP ON MIZORAM ACCORD                      [PIB:1-JUL-99]
   -------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  The Department of Posts has issued a  postage  stamp  to
   commemorate the  Mizoram  Accord.  The stamp is in the denomination
   of Rs.3.  The design of the  stamp  emphasizes  the  lasting  peace
   brought  on  by  the  accord  with  the two hands clasped in a firm
   handshake symbolizing the accord.
   
   The  richly embroidered Mizo cloth `puanchal' worn by Mizo women on
   occasions of merriment, gaiety and festivity symbolizes  peace  and
   harmony  in  the  State  and the lush green hills in the background
   represent the natural scenic beauty of the State.

7  BLOOD GROUP O-NEGATIVE REQUIRED TO SAVE A LIFE IN MUMBAI
   --------------------------------------------------------
   GOLAGHAT:   An  urgent  appeal  from  Dr.K.Pathak  in  Assamnet has
   requested residents of Mumbai having  O-Negative  blood  group  and
   willing  to save the life of his father-in-law, to donate it to the
   KEM hospital blood bank.  Contact address was given as:  at  Mumbai
   9820174342 (Mobile) or at Rubaya Lodge (Room #10, Tel:  4114840) or
   directly to the  KEM  blood  bank (Tel:  4136051 (Ext:  2507 or 220
   (surgical intensive care unit))).
   
______________________________[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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