Delhi Comes Out in Full Support For Assam

New Delhi, Oct 22 : Delhi stood firmly behind the Music Fraternity yesterday and lent its earnest support for the concert titled #FORASSAM. A packed Blue Frog witnessed the biggest names of the music industry as all the stars performed live to an enthralled audience. Spearheaded by Papon and Vishal Dadlani, the concert at Blue Frog in Delhi was held to help generate funds for the people who...

Longest Railway Tunnel in Northeast Scooped Out

Haflong, Oct 22 : The longest railway tunnel in the north east on the newly constructed Lumding-Silchar broad gauge line in Assam has been scooped out, said Northeast Frontier Railway officials.The tunnel is situated near New Haflong station building and passes below Haflong town and the underground excavation work from both ends met each other on Sunday in Dima Hasao district, said NF Railway senior...

Gogoi Draws flak over official language circular for Barak Valley

By Samudra Gupta KashyapGuwahati, Sep 11 : Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has come under attack from the opposition AGP and BJP, as well as from other groups over the state government withdrawing a circular regarding use of Assamese as official language in the three districts that comprise Barak Valley in southern Assam.The Assam government had on November 30, 2013 issued a circular asking the...

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Heckled by Mob, Rescued by Security Forces

By Deepshikha Ghosh New Delhi, Aug 19 :  Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was harassed and abused by an angry mob and had to be rescued by paramilitary personnel. Mr Gogoi, who was visiting a relief camp in Uriamghat for people affected by violence along the border with Nagaland, had to leave within 10 minutes. Personnel of the Central Reserve...

AASU Begins Hunger Strike Over Assam Accord ‘Failure’

Guwahati, Aug 15 : All Assam Students' Union (AASU) activists on Thursday began a hunger strike, demanding that the state government fulfill the promises made by it in the historic Assam Accord 29 years ago. The activists will continue their hunger strike till the tricolour is hoisted on Friday.Addressing a news conference on the banks of the Dighalipukhuri, Aasu activists said they want a time-bound...

Assam State Bird 'Deo Hans' On Verge of Extinction

By Suresh NandiGuwahati, Aug 7 : The Assam state bird — white-winged wood duck, also known as ‘deo hans’, is facing an extinction threat due to human activities, habitat loss, hunting and sheer neglect by the government.Ironically, the Assam Forest Department has not yet conducted any specific survey to get an estimate of the population of the endangered duck despite it being in the 2010 IUCN Red...

Now Assam Asks ONGC, Oil India for Higher Royalties

By Siddhartha P Saikia ONGC and the Gujarat government are embroiled in a legal battle following the latter’s demand for additional royalty. SummaryState-run hydrocarbon explorers ONGC and Oil India face the grim prospect of having to pay additional royalties to states. State-run hydrocarbon explorers ONGC and Oil India face the grim prospect of having to pay additional royalties to...

I’m ready to Kermit to this relationship: Desperate villagers in Indian region hit by droughts hold wedding ceremony for frogs in bid to appease rain gods

The ritual took place in Dibrugarh in the north eastern Indian state of Assam Villagers perform the ceremony to try and bring rainfall during dry spells Ritual began by catching a male and a female frog from two different villages The two frogs were dressed up and adorned with traditional colour After ceremony the frogs were taken to a small pond nearby and let go By Tara Brady Desperate villagers...

450% Rise in Assam Cyber Crime

By Pankaj Sarma Guwahati, Jul 3 : There has been a phenomenal rise in the number of cyber crime cases registered in Assam, according to the latest figures released by the National Crime Records Bureau. The NCRB report, titled Crime in India, 2013, which was released on Monday, shows that the number of cyber crime cases in Assam registered under the provisions of Information and Technology...

Assam opposes visa-free entry to Bangladeshis

Gogoi says state is opposed to proposal irrespective of ageGuwahati, Jun 23 : The Assam government in far-east India has rejected a revised proposal by the Centre for relaxation of visa norms giving free entry to Bangladeshi citizens below 10 years and above 70 years into India.The earlier proposal sent to the state was whether visa-free entry should be given to Bangladeshi nationals below 18 years...

AASU Demands White Paper on Bhutan Hydel Project

Guwahati, Jun 17 : The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) today demanded a White Paper from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union Government on the Bhutanese hydel project for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone.In a statement here, the student body said that though it is for good neighbourly relations with Bhutan, it has to raise the demand for a White Paper on the...

Four Cops Suspended for Allegedly Abandoning Assam Top Cop During Encounter

By Zoya Anna Thomas Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju today joined a host of senior government officials and police officers in Assam to pay last respects...

Winning Northeast Candidates Promise To Work For Development

Guwahati, May 26 : Guwahati was in a celebratory mood after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to win seven of the fourteen parliamentary seats in Assam that were up for grabs in the recently held general elections. The Congress and the All India United Democratic Front managed to win three seats each, while an independent won one seat. A local going by the name of Biswojit said: "Food,...

Congress split wide open in Assam; Tarun Gogoi likely to resign today

By Prasanta MazumdarGuwahati, May 22 : The impact of the drubbing that it received in the 2014 general election is showing on the Congress in Assam, which is heading towards a crisis. More than half of the party's MLAs in the state are seeking a change of leadership.The party, which has been ruling Assam since 2001, won just three of the 14 Parliamentary seats in the state, largely because of rebel...

Dissidents Want Gogoi to Resign as Chief Minister of Assam

By Manoj AnandGuwahati, May 20 : The problem of Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi may not be over merely by offering his resignation to the Congress president as the dissident camp, led by Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, wants him to vacate the chair for a new chief minister in Assam.Though, dissident leaders who claim to have the strength of nearly 50 out of 78 Congress legislators are...

Assam Court Denies Bail To Accused in 1000-cr NC Hills Funds Scam

By Pranjal BaruahGuwahati, May 16 : Accused of swindling a thousand crore from the NC Hills Autonomous Council, R H Khan and Mohit Hojai, along with four associates, will have to spend some more time in prison with a special court here rejecting their bail petitions on Thursday. They have been in jail since 2009.Khan, then deputy director of the social welfare department, Hojai, then chief executive...

After ward boy confesses, Assam medical student is held for ‘killing’ woman doctor

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap Dipmoni Saikia has been sent to police custody for 7 days. ( source: PTI ) Summary According to Dibrugarh SP Rana Bhuyan, ward boy claimed that Saikia had also sexually abused the victim. Guwahati, May 15 : Five days after a first-year post-graduate student of the Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh was found murdered in the duty room of the gynaecology department,...

Megadams: Battle on the Brahmaputra

China and India have their eye on the energy potential of the vast Brahmaputra river. Will a new wave of "megadams" bring power to the people - or put millions at risk? Navin Singh Khadka reports from Assam, India. On the banks of the Brahmaputra it is hard to get a sense of where the river starts and ends. It begins far away as a Tibetan...

Meet Silchar's first family – one that has held office since 1952

By Prasanta MazumdarElections are a mere formality for the Dev family in Assam's second largest town, Silchar.Barring five years in between, a member of the family has held an elected office — be it a municipal seat, an assembly or a Parliamentary seat — since 1952.The family's political journey started with Satindra Mohan Dev, a freedom fighter in India's independence struggle, who later served...

Protests Against Arrest of Peasant Leader

Guwahati, Mar 4 : Protests were staged in various parts of Assam today against the arrest of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) president Akhil Gogoi here in the wee hours yesterday.KMSS workers and supporters staged protests in different parts since yesterday against the arrest, blocking roads in some parts, mainly in eastern Assam and outskirts of Guwahati.They have also demanded unconditional...