GUWAHATI, April 16: The food and civil supplies department has incurred a huge revenue loss due to flow of 'C' priority salt into the state. But, the authorities are yet to take action against businessmen involved in this regard. During 1998, the state Food and Civil Supply department accepted 598 applications from valid license - holders and young entrepreneurs to import iodised salt from Gujarat to Assam by way of 'nominee system'. And later, the department vide notification No - FSA-244/96/75 published a 210-member list, of which 137 and 73 were experienced traders and young entrepreneurs respectively. But, a few days back, the department, at the behest of a senior officer published another list comprising 334 members (category-II) along with the first list. Being discussed at the attitude of the department, a section of salt traders filed a petition in the Gauhati High court challenging the list. But, in spite of the court case, the department vide notification No-FSA-244/96/210 dated December 24/98 published a separate list consisting 162 including 113 new entrepreneurs. What is more alarming is that a section of traders do not lift the entire quota allotted by Centre under public distribution system (PDS) but rather, prefer 'C' priority salt for their personal gain. As a result, the department is losing huge revenue. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 17, 2000)

AIZAWL, April 16: The recent comptroller and auditor-general of India (CAG) report has revealed that there was excess allotment of rice to the tune of 2,586 quintals under students' midday meal scheme during the period 1996-99 in Mizoram. The report tabled in the state Assembly on Thursday revealed that the given figure of enrolment of primary school students for allotment of foodgrains during the period was at variance with actual enrolment. "It indicated that allotment of food grains was sought fictitiously," the report said. Declining trend in enrolment indicated that the scheme failed to attract children in the age group of six to 11 years under the primary level of education, it added. The state food and civil supplies department distributed 75,235,82 quintals of rice against 95,215,68 quintals lifted from Food Corporation of India (FCI), the latest report of CAG said. This had left 1,07,569 primary students not covered by the scheme for full 10 months, it added. The head teacher of Saiphai Primary School in Kolasib district reportedly sold 3.55 quintals, meant for midday meal, in open market in 1997 depriving 118 children of midday meal for a month, the CAG report said. The state director of school education had not taken any action against the erring official, till date, it further added. The midday meal scheme was introduced by the Centre with the objective of giving boost to universalisation of primary education by increasing enrolment and attendance in schools and simultaneously to enable students get nutritious meals. The scheme envisaged providing free meals having calorie value of 100 grams of wheat or rice per day to all students in primary schools. Mizoram government, however, "mismanaged and misutilised" the scheme giving undue benefit to the food and civil supplies department and "some defaulting officials," the report said. It added that these malpractices occurred due to absence of monitoring and evaluation of the scheme by the state government. (PTI; The Indian Express; New Delhi; April 17, 2000)

GUWAHATI, April 17: The issue of development should not be left to the government alone, rather, there should be a joint effort by the people, the NGOs and the government to gear up the process of development, said Governor, SK Sinha here this evening. The Governor who was releasing the Assam Beyond 2000, the document prepared by the Asom Prakalpa, a conglomeration of experts in various faculties, as an action plan for the state in the new millennium, at a well-attended function at the Rabindra Bhawan here, also called for measures to bring about a change in the mindset of the people to develop the state as a leader for the country in all fields of activities. Commending the Asom Prakalpa document as a commendable step, and describing it as a document on belief beyond 2000, the Governor called upon the media also to focus it with the due importance, saying that there are many positive developments taking place in the state's society today which need much coverage by the media. Attributing the sliding of the development process in the state to unabated influx of people from neighbouring countries and continued violent activities, the Governor said that though Brahmaputra Valley once contributed rice and fish to the country, today its is lagging far behind the other states in matters of rice and fish production. However, the state government has made remarkable achievements in the agricultural sector of late and against all forebodings the shallow tubewell scheme has proved to be resounding success in the state, he said, adding, but, a lot of things are yet to be done usher in a green revolution. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 18, 2000)

NEW DELHI, April 18: Alarmed at the fund crunch faced by the power sector in the North-east, the Centre has decided to sanction an additional allocation of Rs 200 crore from the non-lapsable pool of central funds to gear up the transmission and distribution network in the region. The government's action came following remarks by the standing committee on energy that with the general fund constraints being faced by the power sector during the Ninth Plan period, the position may worsen unless remedial measures are taken up to overcome the deficiencies in the sub-transmission and distribution system in the region. The standing committee that is headed by Santosh Mohan Dev today submitted its report to the Parliament. The committee recommended that funds should be provided immediately for critical and ongoing projects so that they can be completed at the earliest. The report said that the committee was informed that for on-going and new schemes proposed by the various north-eastern states, for availing of funds from the non-lapsable pool, for development of the sub transmission and distribution network system, an expenditure of Rs 452.66 crore is proposed to be incurred. Additional fund requirement for these schemes has been assessed at Rs 239.92 crore, during the 1999-2000. Meanwhile, hurdles for establishment of the Unified Lead Despatch Centre for the Northeast has been cleared, with the Planning Commission indicating in principle acceptance of the project by agreeing to provide 90 per cent of the project cost of Rs 167 crore. Out of the total cost, Rs 50 crore has been provided for 2000-01, while award of contract for the project have been placed this month as targeted, the report said. The Northeast has a total installed capacity of 1714.42 MW, while its peak demand is 926 MW only resulting in a surplus. But various states resort to load shading mainly due to low plant load factor in thermal plants and inadequate distribution system, the report said. Meanwhile, implementation of the Tipaimukh project is likely to be further delayed as the investment approval for the project is yet to be processed, without which the Union government is unwilling to release funds. The project to be executed by NEEPCO was initiated by Brahmaputra Board was approved at an estimated cost of Rs 2,899 crore in July 1995. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 19, 2000)

NEW DELHI, April 19: The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs has recommended to the Union government to urgently strengthen the Central resources pool for the Northeast at the revised estimate stage, besides underscoring the need to revamp the Northeastern Council (NEC) to ensure that initiatives adopted at the national level for socio-economic development for the region are taken to its logical end. The 59th report of the standing committee headed by Pranab Mukherjee, presented before the Parliament here today, said that it felt that budgetary provisions earmarked for the region are not commensurate with the latest financial packages announced by the Prime Minister and the recommendations of the high-powered Shukla Commission. However, the committee's report held no new news for the region as the Union government maintained its same old stand on various issues plaguing the region. The Union government for instance reiterated before the committee its open invitation to various insurgent outfits to come for negotiations within the framework of the Constitution. In relation to the North-east, the committee's report stated, the Union home secretary said that an understanding had been reached with the Bodo Liberation Tigers and as a result of that there was mutual cessation of hostilities. Regarding Nagaland, he informed that there was a temporary impasse in the Naga peace process mainly on account of the incarceration of NSCN(IM) general secretary, T Muivah, with the outfit having sought a postponement of the talks. The Centre also intimated the committee that the reimbursement of the security related expenditures scheme has been extended to the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. The Union home secretary also informed the committee that modernisation of police force scheme has been temporarily suspended in Manipur on account of surrender of their arms by Manipur police to the militants. The Union government proposes to spend Rs 65 crore during 2000-2001 and Rs 86 crore during 2001-2002 to modernise the region's police forces. Under the scheme, the Union government supplies arms and ammunition, communication equipment, vehicles among other materials to the police forces. Significantly, the standing committee granted its approval to a proposal for large scale purchase of AK series of assault rifles for para-military forces to take on the insurgents, who are normally armed with sophisticated weapons. The committee is of the view that there is an urgent need to make the weapons of AK series available to the forces on a large scale so that they are able to give a befitting reply to their adversaries. The committee also urged upon the government to explore the feasibility of large scale import of such weapons along with the possibility of entering into an agreement with concerned manufacturers of these weapons for technology transfer to ordnance factory board to start indigenous mass production of this much sought after weapon system. The committee also recommended allocation of additional Rs 10 crore to Assam Rifles during the next financial year to enable it to complete its housing projects within a specified time limit. (Staff Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 20, 2000)

NEW DELHI, April 20: The Union petroleum and natural gas ministry is yet to take a decision on merger of the Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemical Limited (BRPL) with the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the minister of state for the ministry, E Ponnuswamy said. The minister further said that the project to crack naphtha produced by the refineries in the state was not found viable as the quantity of naphtha available from the state refineries was not adequate to set up an economic size plant capacity. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 21, 2000)

GUWAHATI, April 20: The North East India Databank, a joint venture between the NEDFi and National Informatics Centre (Assam unit), was launched on the Internet by the Governor, SK Sinha, today at a function held in Rabindra Bhawan here. With the launching of the databank in the Internet, easy availability of information regarding north-eastern states has been facilitated from today. From now on anyone who wants information about the region, will just have to log into the website: http://nerdatabank.nic.in and comprehensive information will be flashed on the computer screen before him/her. Inaugurating the databank, the Governor hoped it would be kept updated with latest information. He said the databank may turn out to be a catalyst for economic development of the region and also hoped that it would go a long way in increasing the efficiency of administration in NE states because of availability of information at the press of a computer key. The chairman of NEDFi, Jayanta Madhab said in today's world easy availability of reliable information held key to economic development. He said the Northeast despite being potent with a vast spectrum of possibilities, could not keep pace with the economic and industrial development taking place in other parts of the country. Besides, infrastructure and communication problems, lack of relevant information had been a major deterrent for new business initiative in the region, he said. In this grim scenario, NEDFi and the NIC (Assam unit) felt the need for joining hands to undertake a venture to set up a comprehensive database for the Northeastern Region. The North Eastern Council also came forward to contribute towards implementation of the project by funding a part of the project cost. The NEDFi is responsible for collection of data for the databank while the NIC is entrusted with the responsibility of providing technical support. Madhab today informed that it was a Rs 35 lakh project. The NEC provided Rs 10 lakh while the NIC gave Rs 18.62 lakh for its implementation. According to Madhab, the objectives of setting up the databank are to attract fresh investment and entrepreneurial initiative by providing upto date data on the resource and infrastructure of the Northeast, to make data available at a single source and also on the Internet, to encourage research interests of the Northeast, the classify and organise data uniformity in the Northeast and to cut down costs for the region as a whole in terms of time and money spend on data collection and tabulation by avoiding duplication of efforts. Precisely, the Northeastern India Databank contains comprehensive information of resource availability, infrastructure, agriculture sector, tourism, industry, policies and incentives, viable technologies for the Northeast and sectors of potential investment. It also contains general information about the region like geographical location, population, administrative set-up, economic profile of the Northeast states. Only secondary data have been made available in the bank as of today. The NEDFi plans to provide primary information in future. For most of the sectors district-wise data area available. There are total eight pages in the Northeast Databank launched onto Internet. For each Northeast states there is one page of information in website while a page contains information about the Northeast as a whole. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 21, 2000)

IMPHAL, April 20: In view of suspension of all forms of cash transactions in seven nationalised banks operating in this trouble-torn state, some of the frustrated customers have reportedly threatened the bank managers to file cases against them in the consumer courts, a reliable source said on Thursday. Talking to The Assam Tribune, one bank manager, on condition of anonymity, said that the customers had repeatedly asked the bank authority to arrange cash payments. However, the bank authority failed to do the same in view of inadequate security in these banks. It is reliably learnt that every day many customers lodge their complaints with the respective bank managers to fulfil their demands. In this crucial juncture, the Bankers Club Imphal has once again appealed the state government to provide security guards to all the nationalised banks excluding SBI and UBI in order to fulfil the demands of their clients as well as to maintain smooth functioning of the banking service. One spokesperson of the Bankers' Club Imphal, T Rakesh, told this correspondent that operation of bank-related works particularly cash deposit and transactions has remained standstill since March 23 last till today due to non-availability of security guards at these seven nationalised banks. Other members of the club also asserted that apart from all kinds of cash transactions, clearance and internal works of these seven banks were severely affected. The jeopardised nationalised banks are : Bank of Baroda, UCO, Vijaya, Punjab and Sind, Overseas, Punjab & National and Allahabad. In order to cope with them prevailing situation, the Bankers' Club Imphal apprised the state Governor Ved Marwah and the Chief Minister W Nipamacha Singh of the matter during separate meetings. At the same, the club had also met the chief secretary H Jelshyam, DGP, Manipur and other officers concerned many times to request for adequate security guards for these banks. However, no positive development has evolved as yet. Pointing out some of the main factors from the Bankers' side, acting general secretary of the club, NC Dey, stated that the head offices of these banks are not ready to accept state government's proposal of 10 armed home guards. "For every bank, we need only five armed Manipur Rifles personnel," Dey said. Apart from the financial angle, efficiency of the home guards is also not satisfying considering the prevailing law-and-order situation of the state, they added. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 21, 2000)

KOHIMA, April 21: The Centre has relaxed the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) in four districts of Nagaland for the foreign tourists to boost tourism in the state. Nagaland tourism secretary L Hlthangi Menen said foreign tourists would be allowed in Kohima, Dimapur, Wokha and Mokokchung districts to visit specified destinations for a maximum period of ten days in groups of four and above, including married couples. The state government would work out the details of monitoring foreign tourists and frame guidelines for all concerned departments and other tourism-related agencies, she said. The Union home ministry, all Indian missions abroad, foreigners regional registration office in Delhi, Calcutta and Mumbai, the chief immigration officer, Chennai, the state home commissioner and state resident commissioner, New Delhi, will be the competent authorities to issue the permit, she added. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 22, 2000)

SHILLONG, April 21: Meghalaya has been surviving only on borrowings for the last five years and worse, the state government's ability to meet its debt obligations during the period has also gone down, says the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in a recent report. Commenting on the dismal financial performance of the state government, the CAG report said that the liability of the state increased by a whopping 93 per cent from over Rs. 471 crore in 1994-95 to more than Rs 911 crore in 1998-99. But most of the increased borrowings went on repayment obligation leaving very little for investment. Of the little over Rs 343 crore received during 1998-99, only Rs. 144.52 crore or barely 42 per cent, was available for investment after meeting debt obligations. The report warned that as outstanding debt increase year after year, the fund available for investment would get further reduced. During 1998-99, while the liabilities of the state government grew by 30 per cent, its assets grew by only 15 per cent! Bringing out the state's overdependence on largesse from the Centre for its survival, the report said 83 per cent of the state's total revenue receipts of Rs 832.68 crore came from state's share of Union taxes and duties and Central grants. The share of non-plan expenditure during 1998-99 was a staggering 77 per cent against 23 per cent only under plan side. The state is facing a fund crunch but at the end of 1998-99, Rs 6.45 crore was blocked on 64 incomplete projects. (Special Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 22, 2000)

GUWAHATI, April 21: The Assam government is to bring about five lakh tea labour families of the state under the Public Distribution System (PDS) as resident tea garden labourers having annual income of less then Rs 15,000 are entitled to be included under Targeted PDS for distribution of subsidised rice as being given for below poverty line (BPL) families, an official release from New Delhi said. Chief Minister Prafulla Kr Mahanta has requested the Union food and civil supplies minister, Shanta Kumar on Thursday to allot additional quota of rice for the purpose and also to allow the state government to declare tea labour families as BPL (below poverty line) families. In course of discussion, the Union government was also requested to reintroduce subsidy for foodgrains meant for BPL families or to allow the state to declare all rural families as BPL and to provide subsidised rice at the rate of 20 kgs per family per month. The Union government was also requested to enhance the stock of sugar in the state. The problem faced by Kampur Sugar Mill in selling of their products was pointed out and it was requested to allow the mill to sell its product in the state. Chief Minister and Keshab Mahanta, ex-MP and chairman of HOUSEFED, who accompanied the Chief Minister, invited the Union food and civil supplies minister to lay the foundation stone of a laboratory under Legal Metrology department at Guwahati during the frist fortnight of May next. The Union government has already decided to set up a major laboratory here under the Legal Metrology department. The required land for the purpose has already been handed over to the CPWD. Shanta Kumar accepted the invitation and agreed to visit Guwahati in May next. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 22, 2000)

TURA, April 21: The Meghalaya Chief Minister, EK Mawlong, has expressed his government's desire to make the three district headquarters of Garo Hills complete planned cities. The master plan would include widening of roads, flyovers, better infrastructure et al. Mawlong was addressing heads of government departments posted in Garo Hills. The Chief Minister has given three months for the master plan to be prepared. He has also suggested more powers to the block development officers (BDOs) so as to enable them to work more closely with the gramsevak personnel in collecting data for the people living below poverty line (BPL) and those living above it. Mawlong was unhappy with the present census taken on these people and cited the example of his own constituency where people owning buses and trucks had their names in the list for BPL. Mawlong would be meeting the state MPs at Delhi soon to demand from the Centre ten per cent of all government projects from each department for the state. The deputy commissioners of the three Garo Hills districts later briefed the Chief Minister on the problems faced by the different departments. Mawlong was apprised of the proposal to complete three hanging bridges, one each at Rongrikimgre in South Garo Hills, at Doldigre in West Garo Hills and across the river Simsang in the east. The estimates for these projects were to the tune of Rs 50 lakh. He was also apprised of the stagnation of work of the mini stadium at Dakopgre, Tura which was initially taken up by the Coal India Limited (CIL) but later abandoned. A total of 47 schemes out of the allotted 51 from the MP's quota had been completed during the last few years. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 23, 2000)

GUWAHATI, April 23: The Central Bureau of Investigation has unearthed a racket of genuine-looking duplicate notes in circulation through the Reserve Bank of India. The scam was unearthed by the CBI during an investigation into the sensational K. Ganesh case. Ganesh, chief general manager of telecom (task force) in the Northeast region, was arrested by the Assam police with unaccounted money to the tune of Rs 25.31 lakhs at the Guwahati airport on September 6, 1997. The police handed over the case to the local branch of the CBI for investigation and the cash recovered from Ganesh was deposited with the treasury in a sealed trunk. During the investigation, several trusts and individuals claimed the money recovered from the telecom official. The CBI, suspecting connivance of the claimants with Ganesh, opened the sealed trunk to check the flaps on the bundles of the notes to trace the origin of the banks and accounts from where the money had been withdrawn. Examination of the seized notes revealed that they were drawn from as many as 50 different branches of various banks from diverse places, including Calcutta and Mumbai. In one bundle of Rs 100 denomination, the notes were found to be in series. This encouraged the investigating officer to write to the RBI's Guwahati branch to ask for details about this bundle of notes. The RBI in its written reply to the CBI, under Ref. No. Gwa. ID.3722/01.83.00/99-2000 dated February 26,2000, stated that currency notes bearing No. 6AT 258201 to 258300 were remitted to the Diphu branch of the state Bank of India on November 4, 1997. However, this put the CBI officer in a fix as the Assam police had seized the notes with the same serial numbers on September 6, 1997. Suspecting that the notes in the possession of the CBI could be fake, the bureau re-opened the trunk in front of a judicial magistrate but the RBI officials, after examining the notes, found that they were genuine and were part of a set that was remitted by the RBI under the 6AT series bearing No. 200000 to 300000. The investigating officer, wanted to lodge a case against the RBI to probe the entire episode as he suspected that the officials of the Security Press, which prints the currency notes, could be behind this racket. In a surprising development, the investigating officer, inspector S.P. Singh Yadav, was placed under suspension. As the case implicates several big contractors, including politicians from Arunachal Pradesh, the sources said that the top CBI officials wanted to wind up the case by just implicating the telecom official in a "simple disproportionate assets case." However, Yadav in his zeal to probe the RBI angle had reportedly even managed to gather evidence to substantiate his charges that Rs 25.31 lakhs had been given to Ganesh in bribe. This, according to sources, would have opened a can of worms as many top officials and politicians would have been implicated in the case. (Manoj Anand; The Asian Age; New Delhi; April 24, 2000)

GUWAHATI, April 23: Traditional endi and muga industry of the state is heading for a face-lift as Centre has granted Rs 9 crore for two special projects for development of silk rearing and weaving. The projects are also aimed at providing appropriate technology to sericulture farmers and improvement of their products so that they can compete in international level. Although altogether 1,96,417 families are engaged in sericulture activities yet due to lack of appropriate technology, they are yet to get desired results. And, the projects will provide scientific rearing and weaving to the people involved in the famous industry. Meanwhile, centre has granted Rs 2.56 crore to start work in four districts - Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Goalpara and Kamrup. Talking to this reporter, the joint director panchayat and rural development department, Moloy Bora informed that the department had submitted several projects to the Centre with an eye to develop endi and muga industry of the state of which it granted two projects which will be completed within three years. Bora further said the department is also trying to improve endi and muga industry by using appropriate technology keeping in view of the international market but due to lack of modern methods among the farmers on seed cocoon production and preservation, the industry is yet to flourish as compared to China and other countries. When asked as to why the industry was facing rough weather, he expressed the view that artisans do not get adequate price for their products due to poor market which has forced many of them to give up their long tradition for ever. "We have identified the districts where hundreds of people are still involved in the endi and muga culture for their livelihood and we will guide them with methods of scientific production," he said, adding outdated technology in reeling, spinning and weaving should be replaced to achieve desired results. Giving more details about the problems faced by the artisans of the state Bora said there is still absence of a strong marketing network for which people involved in the industry do not get proper price and another important fact is inadequate supply of raw materials. "To overcome the problem, the department is planning to set up cocoon and yarn centres in the four districts so that artisans can take full advantage of it," he stated. When asked about unabated smuggled of Tassar yarn into the state from China, Bora informed that the department has already decided to set up silk yarn bank at Sualkuchi in Kamrup district for the artisans to check the smuggling. He, however, said to compete in the international market, the quality of fabrics and products should be improved. (Surajit Khaund; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 24, 2000)

GUWAHATI, April 24: The Central Silk Board has decided to launch two schemes in Assam as part of an integrated project for muga and eri to augment production as well as generate employment. The project, which is to be launched soon, will be implemented by the DRDAs as part of the Centrally sponsored Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana. It is to be spread over a three-year period with stress on overall development of silk in the state. Sources said the project aims to produce 8 MT of eri spun yarn and 11.3 lakh metre of fabric with at total project output value of Rs 4573 lakh and employment generation for 26,400 people. The target set for muga, under the project is 33.72 MT of raw silk and 24.48 MT of spun yarn. The total project output value will be Rs 1459 lakh with employment generation for 58,200 people, the sources informed. The total base cost of the project is Rs 578.48 lakh for eri and for muga it is Rs 1295.12 lakh, the sources informed. They said 20 per cent of the total allocation under the project will be used for infrastructure and 10 per cent of it for HRD training. Between 30 to 35 per cent of the allocation will be used as subsidy to the farmers, the sources said. The Silk Board will assist and extend consultancy services in the implementation of the project, the sources further informed. The Central Silk Board is also helping in implementing another United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to enhance eri and muga production in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and West Bengal. The total outlay for the three-year programme (1999-2002) is Rs 32 crore, the sources said. The UNDP is contributing Rs 8 crore and the beneficiaries Rs 20 crore, while the Centre is contributing the rest. The aim, the sources said, is to increase eri production from 814 to 1250 MT and muga production from 62 to 120 MT. The total programme will generate 3,51,000 man years of employment, the sources informed. The programme, which took off last September has so far covered 73 beneficiaries, the sources informed. The programme is a catalytic one targetted at already established farmers with the objective of attaining maximum utilisation of local resources and to generate employment. It encourages self-help groups. There is a heavy demand for the scheme which is being implemented by the NGOs, the sources said. Meanwhile, the catalytic development programme for raising systematic muga in the Northeast and West Bengal during the 9th Plan period has achieved good results. Assam is nearing its target of 3000 acres with over 1400 acres already having been covered by the end of the last financial year. Another 1200 acres will be covered this year, the sources said. The programme aims to provide muga seedlings to farmers along with liberal subsidies and other assistance to encourage muga production. Sources said the programme has helped in reducing gestation period from the earlier 5 years to 1.5 to 2 years now. It has helped reduce crop loss due to pests and predators through systematic plantation coupled with cultural practices adopted under the scheme. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 25, 2000)

NEW DELHI, April 24 - While the Union government is willing to provide incentives and develop the infrastructure to attract investments in the Northeastern Region, there is no proposal to set up any more public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the region, the Union minister of state in the ministry of Commerce and Industry, Raman Singh declared this here today. The Minister's reaction came following a plea by Onward L Nongtdu of Meghalaya who urged that the Union government keeping in view the insurgency situation and the acute unemployment situation in the region should set up PSUs. Singh in reply ruling out setting up of PSUs in the region, said in keeping with the special industrial policy announced in 1997, the Centre on the basis of industrial projects submitted by the states sanctions them. Accordingly, 11 new industrial centres have been set up in the region. An amount of Rs 15 crore has been sanctioned by the Centre for the project, he added. The Industrial Growth Centres in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur are doing well, though seven to eight years are required to develop the infrastructure of the area. Similarly Integrated Infrastructure Development Scheme (IIDs) have been taken up in the ratio 4:1, in the region. The minister also added that 16 are in the operation in the region, out of which 14 is employment generating ones. Among the incentives, Transport and Capital subsidy schemes are in the operation in the region that would continue till 2007. As on March 31, Rs 235 crore has been released by way of transport subsidy, he revealed. That the government of India's incentives have failed to cut much ice with investors was evident from another reply to a question tabled by Prakanata Warisa. The entire region during the last financial year has not attracted any Foreign Direct Investment while in 1998. Meghalaya was the only, which saw FDI of Rs 44.46 crore. In 1997, Nagaland Meghalaya and Manipur had FDIs worth Rs 3.68 crore, Rs 6 crore and Rs 3.19 crore respectively. (Staff Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 25, 2000)

SHILLONG, April 23: The Brahmaputra waterway would soon be navigable even at night. This has been made possible with the Union Surface Transport ministry sanctioning a sum of Rs 4.63 crore for a scheme to provide 24-hour navigational aid in the Dhubri-Guwahati stretch on the Brahmaputra which has been declared as National Waterway No.2. Under the scheme, construction of 210 lights and 210 buoys is already in progress. The first batches of lights and buoys have been delivered at Guwahati, official sources said. Schemes for procurement of one hydraulic surface dredger and one survey vessel have also been approved by the ministry. The construction works on the two vessels are in progress through a Calcutta-based company at a cost of Rs 5.23 crore and Rs 1.34 crore respectively. Other schemes for acquisition of more survey vessels, dredgers and 24-hour navigational aid in upper reaches of the waterway in phases are in had, the sources disclosed. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 26, 2000)

CHOKABAHA (Boko), April 27: Assam minister for sericulture and textiles, Ramendra Narayan Kalita today acknowledged that a great threat is being posed to the famed muga industry in the state due to the activities of persons who pass of dyed tassar as muga. The muga capital of the world Sualkuchi, is the place where the practice is rampant, the minister said while mentioning that a law will soon be framed to stop the menace. "I have seen it myself," the minister told a meeting here this afternoon on the occasion of the inauguration of a community hall of the Chokabaha Gramdani Mahila Samity which was built with the active support from Guwahati-based Mitali Sangha, a pioneering women's organisation. Kalita said a law will be put in place which will require all muga producers to obtain a 'genuine muga' trademark from the authorities before they are allowed to market it. "Violators of the trademark will be penalised," the minister said. He said the law will be put into motion soon through the state Legislature. Kalita said his government has been doing a lot for the development of silk in the state especially for muga. Silk has become ingrained into the Assamese culture, he said. The minister announced that a muga research and training centre, set up near Jorhat at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore will be inaugurated by July or August next. He said ten muga seed farms in the state are being provided with storage facilities to ensure that there are enough disease free seeds for the farmers when needed. The minister also announced that the state government will soon ensure a minimum support price for silk in the state to prevent the people from suffering losses or selling their products cheap. He said that ten markets will be set up with help from the Central Silk Board (CSB) where the producers can sell their silk at a fixed price. "If the silk is not bought by other at that rate, the department will buy it," the minister promised. Spelling out some of the development schemes for silk in the state, Kalita said the Northeastern Council (NEC) is spending Rs 3.61 crore for silk development in Assam during the Ninth Plan period. "Some of that money has already been received," the minister said. Another Rs 45 crore is being spent during the same Plan period for muga and eri development through the DRDAs, he said. Kalita also said schemes are being launched to improve productivity in the silk industry of the state with improved looms, etc. He said UNDP aid is also being utilised to set up modern weaving complexes. He urged the silk weavers to incorporate latest designs to cater to the taste of the consumers. 'But that does not mean we should give up our traditional patterns altogether," the minister clarified. The government will shortly enforce a ban on powerloon-made Mekhala Chaddar to protect the interests of the traditional silk weavers, Kalita said. This follows his recently announced order prohibiting sale of powerloom gamocha. 'That effort was a success," he said, adding that he would otherwise had given up charge of his department. (Anujata Talukdar; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 28, 2000)

GUWAHATI, April 27: Three projects each in Dihang and Subansiri river basins have been identified by Brahmaputra Board for development as multipurpose projects in Arunachal Pradesh. The Board has also agreed to transfer the upper and middle sites of the three identified sites in each basin to National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). Accordingly, the request of NHPC for sanctioning funds, during the current financial year to facilitate starting of preliminary works such as approach and access roads to work sites, residential and non-residential facilities, procurement of modern exploration equipment and acquisition of remote sensing imageries, aerial photographs and sophisticated software etc, is being examined by the Union Power ministry in consultation with the Planning Commission. Meanwhile, for taking up the works, NHPC has mobilised the resources. Offices-cum-Transit Camps have been establish at Itanagar, Pasighat and Ziro/Hapoli. Reconnaissance survey has already been taken up at various sites. Creation of site facilities, accommodation, offices etc are in progress. The transfer of site from Brahmaputra Board to NHPC along-with relevant records is under process. (Press Information Bureau; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 28, 2000)

SHILLONG, April 28: The Meghalaya minister of state for border area development, RL Tariang, inaugurated the Rs 25 lakh ropeway at Mawkaphan, about 100 km from here on Tuesday. Speaking on the occasion, Tariang said that the ropeway with carrying capacity of 50 kg will serve the needs of the area and urged the people to utilise and maintain it in a proper manner. He lauded the border area development department in taking great initiative in promoting the economy of the people in border areas. (The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 29, 2000)

NEW DELHI, April 28: The Northeast MPs' forum, a body of the Members of the Parliament of the region, has demanded that vital Central ministries connected with development activities in the region hold special meetings with the members representing the region for effective evaluation of the development scenario. The forum, at a meeting held here on Tuesday evening, took serious exception to the neglect of the Central ministries to discuss with the MPs about development activities concerning the region, a convention that was practised till last year. According to set procedures, vital ministries like the civil aviation, railways, information and broadcasting, surface transport, rural development, among others, used to hold meetings with members from the region. But the NDA government has since discontinued the process and barring the ministry of information and broadcasting, none of the central ministries invited the members for discussion, said Arun Kumar Sarma, general secretary of the forum. The forum has also not taken kindly to the budgetary provisions earmarked for the region, terming it as too vague. The actual allocation for the region from the non-lapsable pool of fund is unclear, felt the MPs. (Staff Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 29, 2000)

IMPHAL, April 29: Already struggling to deal with the crisis arising out of non-payment of salaries and pensions to the state's employees and pensioners for a couple of months, the problems seems to have compounded for the Manipur government as it has now failed to disburse the ration money to the Manipur Rifles personnel. According to a reliable source, the worst affected by the financial crunch seem to be the mess commanders who are at their wit's end as to how to provide meals to the Manipur Rifles personnel at a time when the state government has failed to give them the money for the rations. It is also learnt that in their bid to meet the present crisis, some of the mess commanders have gone neck-deep in credit taken from various grocery shops in and around the Imphal city. The source further revealed that a Manipur Rifles battalion has at least a thousand personnel including the officers. Seven mess commanders look after the details of meals to be provided to them. The weekly menu of the mess includes fish curry on Mondays and Wednesdays, meat on Fridays and egg curry on Sundays. During the remaining days, they make do with the Manipuri-style curry 'iromba' and other vegetable items including dal fry. In the wake of non-payment of two months' salary as well the Rs 528 monthly ration amount per personnel, some of these mess commanders have reportedly even resorted to pawning the gold ornaments of their wives and children, the sources added. Meanwhile, there are no signs that the present Nipamacha Singh ministry in the state which is neck-deep in the financial overdraft can distribute the monthly salaries of more than 80,000 men and women who are employees under various government departments. Unless the Union government comes to its rescue the Nipamacha Singh ministry will only continue to sink deeper into the crisis. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; April 30, 2000)

SHILLONG, April 29: The North Eastern Council (NEC) has accorded administrative approval of Rs 713.75 lakh and sanctioned Rs 8.78 lakh towards implementation of various schemes during April, 2000, according to official sources on Thursday. The approvals were towards establishment of rabbit farm at Radha Kishore Nagar (Tripura) at an estimated cost of Rs 64.20 lakh, establishment of a base pig breeding farm at Loilang (Arunachal Pradesh) at a cost of Rs 136.10 lakh, strengthening of the Regional Poultry Breeding Farm at Kyrdemkulai (Meghalaya - Rs 121 lakh), establishment of a model fish-hatchery project at the Bosco Rural Resource and Training Centre at Umran (Meghalaya - Rs 20 lakh), strengthening of the state Central Duck Breeding Farm-cum-Research Base Pig Breeding Farm at Wokha (Nagaland - Rs 95 lakh) and establishment of a base pig breeding farm at Khatia-Aizawl by Mizoram Pig Producers Cooperative Federation (Rs 127 lakh), sources said. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 1, 2000)