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                         Vol.4, No.53 [*] August 17, 1999
                         --------------------------------

                   Knowledge and timber should not be used
                           until they are seasoned.
                               - O.W. Holmes
   -------------------------------------------------------------------

1  PM FOR ALL ROUND DEVELOPMENT OF NORTHEAST           [PIB:17-AUG-99]
   -----------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  The Prime Minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpayee in his
   Independence  Day  address to the nation, expressed his deep regret
   at the unbalanced  progress  of  several  regions  of  the  country
   including that of the northeastern states.
   
   While calling for building a new India  with  balanced  development
   that benefits all regions in the country. Mr Vajpayee said that the
   nation  had  a  pressing  obligation  to  bring  the  people of the
   Northeast into the mainstream of all-round development.
   
   He  also  called  for building a new nation where Dalits, Adivasis,
   backward classes and minority communities could not only enjoy  the
   fruits  of  social  justice  but  also  were  freed  from  economic
   disparities.
   
   `We must build such a nation where  our  women  folk  are  able  to
   realize  its potential for shaping the future of their families and
   the future of the country.', he said.
  
2  AASU, GOVT JOINT TEAM TO VISIT ASSAM-BANGLA BORDER    [S:17-AUG-99]
   --------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  A joint team consisting of  All  Assam  Students'  Union
   (AASU)  leaders,  State and Central Government officials will visit
   the Assam-Bangladesh border in the Barak Valley on  August  18  and
   review the  situation.  Following the last tripartite talks between
   the AASU, State and Central governments,  the  Centre  had  granted
   Rs.1.7  billion to construct barbed fencing at the Assam-Bangladesh
   border.

3  WATCHMAN KILLED, CRPF JAWANS INJURED IN BOMB BLAST    [S:17-AUG-99]
   --------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:   The  National  Democratic  Front  of  Bodoland   (NDFB)
   triggered  a  powerful  bomb  explosion at Bapuji High School under
   Rangia police station on August 15, killing the  watchman,  Majibur
   Rahman  on  the  spot besides injuring another person, Samsul Haque
   seriously.
   
   The incident occurred when Majibur  tried  to  down  a  black  flag
   hoisted  by  the banned outfit as a mark of protest on Independence
   Day.  Eight persons were picked up by the police in this connection
   on August 16 for interrogation.
   
   In another incident, at least  two  Central  Reserve  Police  Force
   (CRPF)  jawans  sustained  splinter  injuries  when  suspected NDFB
   militants triggered a bomb  explosion  under  a  wooden  bridge  at
   Nayangaon in Kokrajhar district on August 15.
   
4  TOP ULFA LEADER HAD TIPPED OFF JORHAT POLICE          [S:15-AUG-99]
   --------------------------------------------
   JORHAT:  The  daring action by police on a six-member heavily armed
   ULFA `action group' at Panch Chamua village  under  Mariani  police
   station  on  August  13,  came on the basis of a tip-off from a top
   ULFA leader, Jorhat Superintendent of Police (SP) Mr G.P.Singh told
   newsmen on August 14. Three militants of  the  banned  outfit  were
   killed  in  the  action,  and large quantity of arms and ammunition
   were recovered from the slain ultras.
   
   Giving details of the operation, the SP said that the police  party
   surrounded the entire village before closing in on the house of one
   Kamal Gogoi  where the militants were holed up.  A power failure at
   the time in the area was taken advantage of by the police, and  the
   firing  took  place in the kitchen garden of Gogoi's house at short
   range of 15 to 20 metre.  As a result the bodies and faces  of  the
   slain militants were rendered unrecognizable, he said.
   
   Police said that the `action  group'  militants  had  sneaked  into
   Jorhat about  a  week  ago.  They did not belong to Jorhat district
   and which may be the reason why the local  leader  tipped  off  the
   police.   A  cash  memo  for purchase of books from a book stall in
   Nalbari was recovered from the  possession  of  one  of  the  slain
   militants, police  said.    The identity of the militants was still
   being ascertained, Mr Singh said.
   
5  LIC DEPRIVES NORTHEAST OF INVESTMENTS                 [S:15-AUG-99]
   -------------------------------------
   KARIMGANJ:  The  East  Zone comprising the northeastern states as a
   whole received only 15 per cent of the total investment of the Life
   Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) though the population of  the
   zone  is  25 per cent of that of the country. Bihar received almost
   double and Orissa slightly more than that of the Northeast  of  the
   total 15 per cent investment in the East Zone. This was revealed by
   Professor M.L.Saha, a member of the zonal advisory board of LICI.
   
6  GOVT MOVE TO EVICT MUGA SEED FARM DECRIED             [S:15-AUG-99]
   -----------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:   The  Assam  Science  Society expressed concern over the
   reported move by the Assam Government to evict the Government  Muga
   Seed  Farm  at Khanapara in Guwahati in the name of construction of
   the permanent capital complex there.  Stating  that  the  farm  has
   been  contributing a lot towards the development of the traditional
   muga industry in the State, the Society demanded an immediate  halt
   to the Government's plan to evict the farm.

7  REVISED PAY FOR ASTC WORKERS                          [S:17-AUG-99]
   ----------------------------
   GUWAHATI:   The  employees of the Assam State Transport Corporation
   (ASTC) will now get increased pay scale including ROP at a  revised
   rate taking  January 1, 1996 as the base year.  This was decided at
   a meeting  held  recently  between  the  State  Transport  Workers'
   Association and  the Managing Director of the ASTC.  A three-member
   committee has also been formed to do the needful in this regard and
   submit a report within August 25.

8  HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION'S ASSIGNMENT TO DR MEDHI      [S:17-AUG-99]
   ------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  Dr  S.B.Medhi,  former  secretary,  Assam  Human  Rights
   Commission   has  been  requested  by  the  National  Human  Rights
   Commission (NHRC) to act as a special representative  for  visiting
   police lockups, jails and juvenile homes and any other institutions
   under the control of the State Government where prisoners have been
   detained  or  lodged  for  the purpose of reformation, treatment or
   protection.

9  GUWAHATI LECTURER GETS PATENT FOR U-DRAINER           [S:14-AUG-99]
   -------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  A lecturer in the department of physics, Handique  Girls
   College  in  Guwahati,  Mr  Basanta  Deka  has  been  successful in
   inventing a `urine drainer' which is designed to tap urine of  male
   patients suffering from various urological disorders.
   
   Mr Deka's device, which has been awarded a certificate of patent by
   the Patent Office, Government of India, has an edge  over  existing
   devices like  pot  and the catheter.  The device patented under the
   brand `U-Drainer', can easily drain out the urine and collect it on
   its own, and in an infection-free state.  Unlike existing  devices,
   the assistance of an attendant is not required.

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