Page 58 - Assam

Mamata Banerjee voices anguish over violence on Meghalaya-Assam border

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed anguish over the violence at a disputed Assam-Meghalaya border location that killed six people a day before and prayed for peace there. Six people, including a forest guard, were killed in the violence in the early hours of Tuesday after a truck allegedly laden with illegally felled timber was intercepted by forest personnel from Assam. "I am gravely anguished by the tragic instance of firing at Mukroh, Meghalaya, that claimed lives of 6 people. I express my heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in this conflict. I earnestly pray that peace and calm prevails for the greater good," Banerjee said on Twitter. Notably, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that the incident showed the 'ineptitude' of the Meghalaya government. Expressing shock over the incident, the TMC MP tweeted, "I am shocked and deeply saddened by the extremely unfortunate firing .

Border firing: Assam disagrees with Meghalaya CM Sangma on jurisdiction

Rebutting Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma's claim, the Assam government has said that the firing incident at Mukhrow village that killed six people falls within the territory of the state

Six killed in violence in Assam-Meghalaya border; police on alert

Four persons, including a forest guard, were killed in violence at the Assam-Meghalaya border in West Karbi Anglong district in the early hours of Tuesday after a truck transporting illegal timber was intercepted, officials said. Following the incident, the Assam police sounded an alert in all the districts bordering Meghalaya to thwart any possible law and order situation, another official said. The Assam forest department team intercepted and stopped the truck at Mukru area carrying the illegal timber towards West Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya around 3 am, West Karbi Anglong superintendent of police Imdad Ali told PTI. As the truck tried to flee, the forest guards fired at it and deflated a tyre. The vehicle's driver and handyman and another person were then apprehended, though others managed to escape, he said. Police reinforcements were rushed to the spot when the forest guards contacted Zirikending police station. After the police reached the spot, a large number of peo

Overwhelming majority of Assam youngsters suffer cyberbullying: Survey

A survey of 9,500 volunteers from 24 universities and educational institutions in Assam showed that 95 per cent of them have suffered cyberbullying and corporal punishment leading to mental health issues. Close to 60 per cent of the young people who were surveyed pointed out that it impacted their social relationships, for 24 per cent it led to stress, anxiety and fear, and 17 per cent reported physical injury. The survey was conducted by UNICEF and National Service Scheme (NSS). As many as 9,500 NSS volunteers participated in the poll on cyberbullying and corporal punishment and its report was released on Sunday. The U-Report poll, launched in July this year, was developed to support the Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights' (ASCPCR) campaign called Suraksha, aiming to raise public awareness on the forms of violence against children and redressal mechanisms. U-Report is a social platform created by UNICEF, available via SMS, Facebook and Twitter, where young peop

Explained: Why did the victorious Chinese army withdraw in 1962?

The PLA faced the unappealing prospect of fighting US-equipped Indian forces without a route of withdrawal across the Himalayas

Assam govt launches new policy to boost responsible tourism in state

The Assam government launched a new tourism policy here on Monday to encourage responsible tourism and support the private sector in the state. The mission of the policy is "to create a policy framework and strategic roadmap in collaboration with central ministries, various state government departments, local communities and tourism stakeholders to improve the tourism sector in Assam, to support the private sector engaged in tourism in the state, and to strengthen tourism support segments and its sub-sectors", a statement said. The policy, prepared after extensive consultations with the World Bank, incorporated the views of stakeholders and industry experts. "The new Assam Tourism Policy 2022 has been laid out at an opportune time when the state stands at the threshold of new beginnings. The policy aims to guarantee and safeguard the effective standardisation of processes and practices, to foster uniformity, which can result in sustainability and an overall improvement in the qualit

As number of tigers rises in Assam, risk of human-tiger conflicts grows

India is home to over 65% of the global tiger population (4,500) with 2,967 tigers as per the four-yearly tiger census conducted last in 2018.

Assam govt launches initiative 'Assam Millet Mission' to boost agri sector

The Assam government on Wednesday launched a special programme aimed at increasing agriculture productivity and doubling farmers' income. A special initiative, Assam Millet Mission, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for this purpose. Launched Assam Millet Mission, targeted to raise nutrition quotient & doubling farmers' income. To increase productivity, it will also contribute in crop diversification, Sarma tweeted. Distributed power tillers, pump sets, mini trucks, harvesters, crop seeds, financial aids among beneficiaries, he added. The chief minister also inaugurated six soil testing and quality control labs, and two knowledge centres, which will help the state become self-sufficient in agriculture.

ULFA(I) claims responsibility for attack on army's convoy in Assam

Banned militant group United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-I) claimed responsibility for the attack on an army convoy in Assam's Tinsukia district on Monday night

Assam CM urges youth to become part of country's 'start-up revolution'

Assam CM Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma during a day-long visit to Kokrajhar district attended the closing ceremony of the golden jubilee celebration of Gossaigaon College as the Chief Guest

Assam reports 70 new dengue cases, tally 796; Karbi Anglong worst-hit

Seventy new dengue cases were detected in Assam, taking the tally to 796, according to data issued on Saturday. Karbi Anglong continued to be the worst- hit as the district reported 55 new cases, said the National Health Mission, Assam. Eight new cases were reported in Kamrup Metropolitan, while Bongaigaon and Jorhat accounted for two each. Cachar, Dima Hasao and Tinsukia reported one case each. The state has been witnessing a surge in dengue cases since November 1.

Third round of Mizoram-Assam border talks to be held in Guwahati on Nov 17

Mizoram and Assam will on November 17 hold the third round of talks to resolve the long-standing interstate border dispute, a senior home department official said on Friday. The talks were originally scheduled to be held on November 4, but were postponed owing to the visit of President Droupadi Murmu to Mizoram. Mizoram additional home secretary Lalhriatpuia told PTI that the border talks would be held in Guwahati on November 17, as proposed by the Assam government. A five-member Mizoram delegation, led by ministers Lalchamliana and Lalruatkim, will be visiting the neighbouring state for the talks, he said. Another home department official said that the Mizoram delegation will leave for Guwahati on November 16, and preparatory meetings will be held among officials on that day. The actual border talks would take place on the next day, he said. Mizoram and Assam share a 164.6-km-long border. Skirmishes and clashes between border residents of the two states were reported on severa

India to launch the world's longest river cruise from Varanasi to Dibrugarh

The cruise will start its journey on January 10 and reach Dibrugarh in Assam on March 1, after staying in Bangladesh for 15 days

Nitin Gadkari calls on Assam Governor, discusses infrastructure projects

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday met Assam Governor Prof. Jagdish Mukhi at Raj Bhavan in Guwahati and discussed the infrastructure projects being undertaken

Second round of Assam-Meghalaya border talks likely by November-end: Sangma

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said the second round of discussions with Assam for resolving the border dispute is likely to start by the end of this month. Assam and Meghalaya identified 12 disputed areas at the inter-state border. In the first round, the two Northeastern states resolved differences in six areas and signed an agreement in March. "Within November we should be able to have the official talks (for the six remaining areas)," Sangma told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The background work has already started for the remaining six areas, and different committees formed on the issue are coordinating, he said. "We should be able to have the first round of meeting with all the regional committees, and hopefully we will be able to initiate the talks of the second phase this month," he said. Noting that he recently spoke to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on the issue, Sangma said the two states will be able to hold the talks once the Nort

Assam govt to raise minimum support price for rice: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Government has built a 5,000 metric-tonne-capacity cold-storage facility at Chaygaon and a fruit-processing centre at the food-processing park at Satabari under Kamrup district

Assam to abolish 8,000 vacant school teacher posts; opposition fumes

The Assam government on Tuesday said it will abolish 8,000 vacant posts of permanent school teachers as a larger number of contractual faculty members are already working through the Sarba Siksha Abhiyan (SSA). Opposition parties and student organisations slammed the government claiming that the step is against the interests of vernacular medium schools. Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said that the state government in 2020 had offered a regular pay scale and other benefits such as service tenure up to 60 years of age to 11,206 contractual teachers working under the SSA in Lower Primary and Upper Primary schools. "In order to maintain rationality against this near-regularisation, the Govt. decided to keep 8000 sanctioned posts of regular teachers vacant to avoid duplicity and financial neutrality," he said in a Facebook post. The education minister said that as these vacant posts have been kept frozen and shall be vacant for a long period till the retirement of the contractual teache

Schools, colleges in Assam's Diphu to remain closed due to dengue outbreak

KAAC on Sunday announced that all schools and colleges falling within the Diphu Municipal Board and the Greater Diphu Town area in Karbi Anglong district of Assam will remain closed

Schools, colleges in Assam's Diphu shut for a week due to dengue outbreak

All schools and colleges in Diphu in Assam's Karbi Anglong district were asked to remain shut next week due to dengue outbreak in the city, an order said on Sunday. In the last five days, 270 cases of dengue were detected in the Karbi Anglong district, it said. Preventive measures have been initiated against the "impending epidemic", the order said, announcing the closure of all educational institutions in Diphu Municipal Board and Greater Diphu Town areas from Monday to Saturday. A National Health Mission (NHM) statement said that of the 285 dengue cases detected in the state between November 1 and 5, 271 were from the Karbi Anglong district. Kamrup Metropolitan reported eight cases, Nalbari two and one each were detected in Charaideo, Kamrup (Rural), Nagaon and Hojai districts. NHM-Assam Mission Director MS Lakshmi Priya visited the affected areas in Karbi Anglong on Sunday to take stock of the situation and provide the necessary support to the district team to control the ...

Assam, Meghalaya to work jointly to transform Umiam lake: CM Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that Assam and Meghalaya will work with the Indian Army to transform the Umiam lake into a world-class venue for aquatic sports