'It has been doing yeoman service for the people of the North East.'
A couple days after Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi pledged to focus on ensuring security and welfare of women and girl child in Assam in the wake of ghastly Delhi-bus rape of a student and her subsequent death, a senior leader of his party (Congress) was Thursday arrested by Assam police on charges of rape.
Bandh supporters burnt tyres and pelted stones at vehicles in different parts of the state following which the police took nearly 500 of them into preventive custody in Guwahati, Golokgunj and Agomoni in Dhubri, official sources said.
A heavy downpour in the hills of Arunachal Pradesh and catchment areas of the Brahmaputra has led to flooding in large areas in Upper Assam.
Assam remained cut off from the rest of the country by rail as train services remained suspended all over the state, with hundreds of Assam-bound passengers being stranded in Coochbehar in West Bengal on the border with Assam and other places
Amid continuing violence in parts of Assam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will undertake a visit to the state on Saturday to take stock of the situation and the steps being taken to control it.
Scattered violence continued for the sixth day on Thursday in riot-torn lower Assam districts where one person was killed in police firing while four persons were injured in an attack by a group of persons in Baksa district.
Over one lakh people have been reeling under the impact of the third wave of floods in six districts of Assam as the rising water of the Brahmaputra river inundated vast areas of human habitation and cropland.
Rediff.com takes a look at life inside a relief camp in Kokrajhar, which was the epicenter of the recent ethnic violence, which claimed 77 lives.
A 14-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by three persons in Assam's Nagaon district, triggering massive protests by people on the streets.
A judicial inquiry will be held to probe the violence in lower Assam even as the Central Bureau of Investigation has taken up seven cases related to the clashes that have claimed 77 lives so far. "We have decided on a judicial inquiry. This will be done at a much larger scale and cover the entire gamut of issues, including lapses by administration and recommendations for preventing such incidents in the future," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.
India has expressed concerns over China's plan to build a mega dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, stating that it will continue to monitor and take necessary measures to protect its interests. New Delhi has urged Beijing to ensure that the interests of downstream states are not harmed by activities in upstream areas. The dam, estimated to cost USD 137 billion, has raised apprehensions about its impact on the ecological balance of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, through which the Brahmaputra flows. India has repeatedly expressed its concerns to China through diplomatic channels, highlighting the need for transparency and consultation with downstream countries.
A dwindling population of swarm buffalo has hit the dairy industry in Assam's Sorbhog and Bokakhat areas, famous for curd and milk products.
'China could intentionally release excess water.' 'The North East is already flood-prone during the monsoon, and even a controlled release from Chinese dams (during the monsoon) could worsen flooding.'
A major train tragedy was averted on Thuraday when a bomb planted on railway tracks by suspected tribal militants in lower Assam's Udalguri district exploded minutes after Arunachal Express passed the area, official sources said.
The violence in lower Assam has once again brought to the fore the problem of illegal migration and its impact on the socio-economic situation in the state, which had witnessed prolonged unrest on the explosive issue back in the 80s.
The suspected militants fled the scene after hurling the grenade.
Unidentified persons on Monday night fired indiscriminately, exploded grenades and burnt some houses in a village in the strife-torn Kokrajhar district of lower Assam, the police said.
AAKRSU supporters claimed the violence was triggered by a conspiracy hatched by people opposed to a separate Kamtapur state.
Following Monday night's bus tragedy that claimed lives of at least 28 persons of a marriage party at Charabori on Hajo- Guwahati Road in Kamrup District in Assam, the government has a appointed a one-man inquiry commission headed by Hemanga Kumar Sharma, commissioner of Lower Assam Division.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Thursday appealed to students and people from Assam and other parts of the north-east to refrain from rushing back to their home states in panic. The chief minister made the comment in the wake of reports of mass exodus of people, particularly students, who are afraid of a backlash following the widespread violence in lower Assam.
A team of Central Bureau of Investigation officials will visit violence-hit areas of Assam on Thursday after Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi decided to recommend a probe by the Central agency into the clashes.
Nearly 86 lakh people in the state's 32 districts have been affected by heavy rain and subsequent floods this year, bringing life to a screeching halt in many parts.
Blaming large-scale immigration from Bangladesh for the clashes in lower Assam, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Tuesday said the government's "inaction" in dealing with the problem of infiltrators has resulted in indigenous communities feeling threatened.
The stage is all set for the second and final phase of polls in 64 Assembly constituencies in 14 districts of Central and Lower Assam amidst tight security on Monday.
'Assam is not a dumping ground for Bangladeshi Hindu refugees,' says Assamese actor Ravi Sharma who joined the BJP in August and quit the party on December 10 in protest against the Citizenship Act.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday accused the Tarun Gogoi-led Assam government of not taking timely steps to contain the conflict in violence-hit districts of lower Assam.
Four more bodies were recovered on Wednesday in lower Assam, which witnessed fresh incidents of violence, taking the toll to 77, police said.
At least three more persons were killed while two others injured as fresh violence erupted in strife-torn Kokrajhar district, taking the death toll in the to 64.
Five militants were killed in an encounter with army in lower Assam's Sonitpur district in the wee hours on Monday. Troops of the Red Horns division exchanged fire with the insurgents belonging to National Democratic Front of Bodoland and the Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam late on Sunday night at Akabasti, 8 km southeast of Lokra, army sources said.
Passengers of the Kamakhya-Puri Express had a close shave after a powerful bomb was found from the train in lower Assam's Goalpara district, where another powerful bomb was also recovered from a house on Friday, official sources said.
Gross GST collections rose by 9.1 per cent to about Rs 1.84 lakh crore in February, boosted by domestic consumption and indicating potential economic revival. As per the official data released on Saturday, on a gross basis, mop up from Central GST stood at Rs 35,204 crore, State GST at Rs 43,704 crore, Integrated GST at Rs 90,870 crore and compensation cess of Rs 13,868 crore.
In one of the worst ever floods in the state, 25 of the 27 districts remained inundated.
Two persons died in Assam's Dhemaji district on Monday after alleged firing along the inter-state border.
The Sixteenth Finance Commission Chairman, Arvind Panagariya, has highlighted the challenges faced by southern states due to falling fertility rates and the subsequent increase in dependency ratios and ageing populations. He noted that Andhra Pradesh, Assam, and Tamil Nadu have raised concerns about these demographic trends. The Commission is currently touring the states to gather feedback and is expected to submit its recommendations after completing nationwide consultations.
Violence escalated in trouble-torn Kokrajhar district of Assam on Sunday with a senior DIG rank police official and three others injured in mob attack prompting police to fire in self-defence, while the death toll in the last two days' clash between Bodos and immigrants rose to 12.
While Himanta Biswa Sarma scotched rumours that he would be the king this time, political sources in Guwahati maintained that he, and not Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, had a bigger say in choosing candidates, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Four persons were injured on Tuesday night, two of them seriously, in a powerful improvised explosive device blast at a 'Raas-leela' pandal in lower Assam's Udalgiri district, police said.
At least 23 people were killed, including women and children, and 44 others injured when a speeding bus collided with a truck in lower Assam's Dhubri district in the early hours on Tuesday.
The BJP on Saturday accused the Congress of repeatedly supplying "oxygen" to Pakistan, and slammed the opposition party for its leader Charanjit Singh Channi's remarks questioning the veracity of Balakot air strikes after the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the Congress is full of pro-Pakistan leaders who make statements against India's interests, and mocked the party for its letter that had advised its functionaries to toe the official line on the issue. Patra also criticized other Congress leaders for their comments on the Pulwama and Pahalgam terror attacks, accusing them of lowering the morale of the armed forces. He further slammed the Congress for claiming credit for the government's announcement of the caste census and said the party never carried out the exercise during its over 60-year stint in power.
