SHILLONG, June 1: The Shillong Press corps today strongly condemned the Khasi Students' Union (KSU) for banning The Shillong Times, an English daily, and physically obstructing circulation of the newspaper. An emergent meeting of the city-based journalists termed the KSU action as undemocratic, unlawful and an infringement on the freedom of the Press. Asking for an immediate withdrawal of the ban, the meeting observed with concern the increasingly intolerance to criticism by the student body. A committee formed in the meeting called on the KSU president later today to get the ban rescinded. The talks, however, failed as the KSU remained adamant on its stand till the Editor of The Shillong Times tendered a public apology for publishing a 'letter' which they alleged has damaged their reputation. (Special Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 2, 2000)

GUWAHATI, June 1 : Hundreds of villagers have been affected, many of them crippled for life, because of drinking of poisonous water containing fluoride in some parts of Karbi Anglong, a report said. The worst affected area was in the Tekelanguin where every fourth person has been affected by the hydro-fluorosia affecting a population of nearly one lakh, said additional chief engineer of the public health department AB Paul. Beside Karbi Anglong, some portion of Nagaon was also affected, he added. An intense tragedy is being unfolded in and around Karbi Anglong district, said Paul, the man who stumbled on this alarming slow poisoning by drinking ground water in the remote part of the state while the rest of the state and the region remain oblivious to this alarming development. The report said that many people have been suffering from severe anemia, stiff joint, painful and restricted movement, mottle teeth, loosen muscle, kidney failure, premature death and even crippled for life. This is because of drinking water containing excess fluoride. The disease is called hydrofluorosis depending on the body part affected. Fluorosis is a non-curable disease and fluoride is a deadly chemical next to poisonous arsenic. So far the scientists had been claiming that the north eastern region was safe from fluoride. "It was detected for the first time in the mid of last year in Tekelangiun area in Karbi Anglong district, where several cases of both dental and skeletal fluorosis were initially found. More than 600 people out of the 2300 surveyed found to have been affected; some are crippled for life," said Paul. Fluoride content in their household hand tube well water varies from 5 to 14 mg per litre. In some water supply scheme, it is even 23 mg per litre while the permissible limit is 1.2 mg per litre. With the installation of hand tube wells, the use of ground water increased and the problem aggravated without the notice of experts as revealed in the survey of water quality from various other sources and places. So far Karbi Anglong and a portion of Nagaon are affected. The All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Calcutta School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur, Calcutta and Public Analyst, Assam have also confirmed correlation between high fluoride in water and urine samples sent by the PHE department. In fact, the Central Ground Water Board conducted independent survey and confirmed the findings. The district Council authorities, alarmed over the development, has extended a water supply scheme to Tekelangiun area for supply of fluoride free water, besides massive awareness campaign. Moreover 85 hand tube wells with high fluoride content have been identified and painted red and notice boards placed cautioning people. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 3, 2000)

SHILLONG, June 2: The two-day old ban on The Shillong Times imposed by the Khasi Students' Union was lifted today. A joint statement issued by the KSU and the Shillong Press Club issued this evening said "it was resolved to iron out all irritants between the two emanating from a letter carried in The Shillong Times." It is understood that the KSU president, Paul Lyngdoh admitted that banning of a newspaper 'is not the best of options.' Earlier today, fifteen prominent citizens issued an appeal saying "interference with freedom of expression always adversely affects societies resulting very often in total break-down of normal social life. We feel that all social organisations and institutions should respect the principle of freedom of expression." The signatories of the appeal included NEHU vice-chancellor, Mrinal Miri, Father Stephen Mavely, principal, St Anthony's College, Padmashri Patricia Mukhim, Margaret Mawlong, Father J Cilia, director, Don Bosco Youth Centre, Apurba Baruah, NEHU, amongst others. (Special Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 3, 2000)

GUWAHATI, June 3: The problem of migration of Reang refugees from Mizoram to Tripura still persists without any solution. At present over 40,000 Reangs are housed in refugee camps in Tripura. Central assistance amounting to Rs 17.25 crore was sanctioned to Tripura government towards reimbursement of expenditure incurred by that state for maintenance of Reang refugees from Mizoram. Meanwhile, the Centre has advised the Mizoram government to take appropriate steps for creating an atmosphere conducive for the return of Reangs from Tripura. The National Human Rights commission (NHRC) team had visited Reang refugees camps in Tripura in October, 1999, has observed that the Reangs living in refugee camps in Kanchanpur subdivision of Tripura are lawful inhabitants of Mizoram and therefore, the government of Mizoram is obliged to take them back in accordance with the agreement reached with the Union home ministry in November, 1997. The NHRC has also requested the Centre to play an active role on a priority basis to arrange repatriation of the Reangs to Mizoram in accordance with the decision taken in a meeting with the Union home minister in November, 1997 and to impart urgent and special attention to the safety and security of the Reangs returning to their villages in Mizoram. (The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 4, 2000)

GUWAHATI, June 3: Discovery of an archaeological site in the state is a very thrilling experience for the archaeologists of the state. Even a meagre finding deserves special care since the prehistory of Assam is not properly established. Recently, two lecturers of the Botany department, Kaliabor College viz, Ciranjeeb Bezbarua and Basistha Kalita went to Amsoi forest for orchid collection. There they came to know from a forester of Amsoi Forest Beat Office, Mahesh Patar that there are a good number of potsherds scattered here and there in a secluded area inside the forest. After coming back they informed Nripen Chandra Das, lecturer of history department of the same college about their findings. Accordingly Das of Kaliabor College and Sukanya Sharma, lecturer of Anthropology department of North Guwahati College visited the place. The site is situated at the Rangpigaon foothills, 2.5 km away from the Amsoi Forest Beat office towards south-west, in Morigaon district. After proper exploration with the help of Mahesh Patar and Mahendra Pathak, forester and forest guard respectively of Amsoi forest range surface collection was done by them. Apart from huge quantity of potsherds, some menhirs or memorial stones of megalithic tradition were also found. It is noteworthy that a valuable piece of Neolithic celt was recovered from the site. There are a lot of memorial stones (upright stone slabs) at Meragarh Than, a place of worship belonging to the people of nearby Karbi village which is 500 metres away from Rangpigaon foothills towards north-east. Potsherds are also found in large quantity at one more spot named Borhola, 3 km away from the Rangpigaon foot hills towards north. Borhola looks like a mound surrendered by two rivulets on two sides - north and south. Many memorial stone slabs are hidden here among the shrubs. A good number of potsherds are seen in section of ditches (made by the flow of rain water). All the potsherds of Amsoi are much eroded as they were not finely textured and fired. Mat impression is also seen on them and these were probably hand-made. After in-situ study as well as typological study Das and Sharma confirmed the site as a potential archaeological site. According to them, extensive exploration and excavation will bring to light much more materials of archaeological importance. At the present state of knowledge no date is assignable to the materials found as stratigraphic and other scientific methods of dating are not applied. Das and Sharma have taken keen interest in doing some research work on this site which may contribute in some way to the history and archaeology of Assam. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 4, 2000)

GUWAHATI, June 4: Caught in a cusp between the territories of ULFA and Bodo militants, Kakoijana Reserve Forest is gasping for survival. And none can perhaps feel the pinch more than the 60-odd highly endangered golden langurs clinging on to the few trees that escaped hacking during the peak of insurgency five years ago. Barely 15 km from Bongaigaon, an industrial destination with a major petrochemical complex, Kakoijana isn't like any other patch of forest in the relatively green Northeast. Spread over a 17.2 sq km area, this reserved forest is a hump-and-valley protrusion in a flatland between Manas river in the east and Sonkosh in the west flowing along the Assam-West Bengal border. What makes Kakoijana critical from the environment point of view is its status as one of the last sustainable habitats of the golden langur outside the considerably depleted Manas Tiger Reserve. Its crumbling face spawned the Kakoijana Bachao Andolan (KBA). Green groups are fighting to protect fragmented populations of the primate in nearby pockets like Chakrashila, Bamunpahar, Chaprakata and Chitkagaon. Says KM Barman, DFO of Aie valley division covering Kakoijana: "This reserve forest may not have glamorous animals like the tiger, but it is rich with lesser wildlife. Like barking deer, binturong, flying squirrel, monitor lizard, civets, porcupine, pangolin, jungle fowl and wild boar besides reptiles and birds like hornbill and adjutant stork. But the golden langur is its mascot, and the survival of the other animals is directly linked to that of the primate." Though the KBA, with Maneka Gandhi's support, had been fighting for elevation of Kakoijana to a wildlife sanctuary for over three years now, the state government inexplicably stopped short of making a declaration on several occasions. Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta did make an announcement to this effect a couple of days back, but the formal declaration is expected to take time. "Mere status elevation will not help bring back Kakoijana from the brink," says Parimal Kumar Das of the Appropriate Technology Mission, Assam (ATMA), a credible NGO behind KBA. "For better management, Kakoijana needs an additional 3 sq. km area that has been encroached upon, as a buffer zone." He, however, adds that the encroachers have been motivated into evacuating and doing their bit for the environment. Forest officials admit that Kakoijana had weathered encroachers and felling, "but things are fairly under control now". The new-found peace in the reserve forest is attributed to a ceasfire between the Army and the Bodo Liberation Tigers whose cadres would invariably use the forest cover to plan strikes. "The teak and sal trees in Kakoijana used to attract timber smugglers by the droves," Das says. (Rahul Karmakar; The Hindustan Times; New Delhi; June 4, 2000)

GUWAHATI, June 5: With Christian Missionaries making inroads into the ethnic populace of Majuli - world's largest fresh water river island, this nerve-centre of Assamese neo-Vaishanavite culture, is poised for a major social change. In past several years, Christian Evangelists, who have spread their wings over the river island, succeeded in their mission of influencing a sizeable section of the Mishing population. This targeted population forms almost half of the island population. So far the activities of the Christian missionaries are mostly concentrated among the Mishings living in upper Majuli area where they have established a church and a convent school in a bid to convince the local people to take to Christianity. Far from being "the back of beyond", as even some Assamese seem to think, it actually has very rich religious and cultural traditions as a centre of Vaishnavaite movement. It was Sankardev who propagated the theory of salvation through faith and prayer which he called the ek-sarana-Bhagabati-dharma instead of bloody sacrifices and other meaningless rituals. The doctrine of the social reformer was simpler and more accessible than the ritualistic Hinduism of the time. His approach was rooted in faith and prayer, and stressed on the cultural aspects of life and living. To nurture and propagate his philosophy and practice of life Sankardeva also established several satras (the community place of the honest) or Vaishnavite monasteries in Majuli. The path of devotion was open to all castes in his time and he is said to have given initiation to all people baring caste and creed. The fellow initiates were united by bonds of ritual kinship which often cross-out caste membership. That is why a large section of Mishing community had taken initiation in the ek sarana religion propagated by Sankardeva despite having their distinctive ritual identity. The Mishings with its distinctive cultural identity believe in the form of animism and worship different deities in different occasions like most of the tribal societies of Northeastern region. But under the strong influence of Vaishnavite culture of Majuli, the Mishing community living in the island has become somewhat 'Sanskritised' and adopted Vaishnavaite beliefs. But followers of Sankardeva failed to keep the ideology of equality and unity among all sections of the society and treated them as the untouchables. However, of late, a sizable section of them have got attracted to Christianity. Expressing concern over the growth of Christianity of the river island, Narayan Chandra Goswami, Satradhikar of Natun Kamalabari Satra said: "It was the failure of the satras to keep the Mishing people under its fold as taught by Mahapurush Sankardeva which has given scope to Christian evangelists to woo the ethnic populace of Majuli'. (Northeast Online; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 6, 2000)

AGARTALA, June 6: The long-awaited repatriation of about 40,000 Mizoram Reang tribal refugees remains uncertain even as a high-level Union home ministry delegation on Monday visited the six refugee camps in North Tripura to finalise their return to their homeland, report agencies. Official sources said here on Tuesday that a high-level Central team, led by Union Hme Minitry's Deputy secretary Ajoy Srivastava, visited the camps and held a series of meeting with the officials and refugee leaders on Monday. Senior officials of Tripura and Mizoram governments accepted the Centreal team. The sources said the refugee leaders have submitted a memorandum containing a 22-point charter of demands to the Central delegation. The demands include setting up of an autonomous district council for the Reang tribes in Mizoram, reservation of seats in the Mizoram Assembly for the Reang refugees and socio-economic development of the Reang tribes in that state. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 7, 2000)

GUWAHATI, June 6: Ku'Bidik, a Garo-English-Assamese dictionary, compiled by Harendra W Marak, and published by Assam Academy in association with the department of arts and culture, government of Meghalaya, was released at Birinchi Kumar Barua Sanskriti Kshetra in Academy's library room on Sunday last. Releasing the dictionary, eminent journalist and editor of The Sentinel, DN Bezbarua, said that the dictionary would be a source of inspiration for any learner of these languages. Speaking on the occasion, S Sablog, commissioner, arts and culture, government. of Meghalaya and its director EP Kharbhih expressed their hopes and aspiration for a better co-ordination in such culture activities. The dictionary would carry such messages to the people in general, they added. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 7, 2000)

GUWAHATI, June 7: Two rhinos including a calf were killed by poachers inside Pobitara Wildlife Sanctuary in Marigaon district on June 3 last, according to a delayed report received here from an NGO. It is learnt that a group of poachers first shot dead a female rhino which was with its calf. After killing the mother rhino the poachers tried to cut its horn, the calf tried to resist and was subsequently killed by the poachers, sources informed. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 8, 2000)

JORHAT, June 8: Census of tigers in the forests of Upper Assam have been completed, with the big cats registering an increase in their numbers compared to that in previous years, according to Upper Assam Conservator of forests D Haraprasad. A total of 12 Royal Bengal tigers were recorded in the area under review, while pug marks of 70 leopards were detected. Similarly in Jorhat district, 5 Royal Bengal tigers have been recorded, while pug marks of 21 leopards have been detected. (Staff Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 9, 2000)

TEZPUR, June 8: The Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary popularly known as the Orang Sanctuary established in 1915 in Sonitpur and Darrang districts and home of the famous one horned Asiatic rhino after the Kaziranga National Park is today in dire straits due to unabated influx by foreign nationals, who have occupied large area of the sanctuary during the last few years, under the very nose of the state government and the forest department. Talking to this correspondent, sources said the sanctuary which is famous for the rhinos with an area of 80 sq km today hardly has 50 rhinos. Of the 80 sq km, the encroachers have illegally occupied more than 28 sq km in the sanctuary, the sources said adding that certain political leaders are allegedly giving protection to these foreign nationals. Poaching is one of the main threat to the sanctuary. Nothing is spared be it a deer, rhino or migratory birds which are later sold in nearby villages openly or transported to the nearby towns like Dhekiajuli, Borchola, Rowta and Dalgaon. Besides that valuable and beautiful flora and fauna of the sanctuary are rapidly decreasing while the concerned government officials are allegedly sitting idle, the sources add. The official said poaching here is easier than the other sanctuaries as there is no buffer zone or core zone between the Orang sanctuary and the nearby villages. Moreover there is no proper demarcation of the forest following which there has been a heavy encroachment on the forest land by the encroachers since 1983. The most commonly used method of killing the animals inside the sanctuary is either by shooting or by digging ditches, the sources said adding that the broken roads in and around the sanctuary are also helping the poachers. The forest staff responsible for manning the sanctuary have to work round the clock at the risk of their lives as the government has failed to provide the required facilities including adequate arms and ammunition to them which they badly need. The sources said that the scenario in winter is more pathetic as the guards have to move around barefooted. Besides there is no telephone facility, no electricity, no walkie-talkies which are necessary for proper maintenance. The two vehicles used to inspect the sanctuary are lying idle as they are out of order while the arms which the forest guards possessed were taken away by the extremists two years back. The sanctuary which is also famous for the deer forest and which was declared sanctuary in 1985 and named after Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 by the then Chief Minister late Hiteswar Saikia so far has lost more then 160 one horned rhinos, 16 wild elephants, 10 leopards about 1000 deer and many valuable migratory birds including pelican which come to the sanctuary during the winter season. Sources further said according to the census carried out in 1991, in the Orang Sanctuary there were 100 rhinos while in the 1994-95 census the forest department found only 52 rhinos indicating a downward graph in the population of rhinos in the Rajiv Gandhi Sanctuary. When asked about the number of the animals in the sanctuary, the sources refused to divulge anything but added that immediate measures must be taken to protect the wildlife in the sanctuary and to attract tourists. Meanwhile NGO's and local environment conscious bodies are concerned at the rapid deterioration of the situation and have threatened to launch an agitation if proper care is not taken immediately by the government. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 9, 2000)

ABHAYAPURI, June 7: "The Kakoijana reserve forest will be declared a sanctuary immediately," said Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta at a public meeting held at Gandhi Maidan here recently. It may be mentioned that various NGOs as well as local public have been demanding for long declaration of the Kakoijana forest as a sanctuary. The reserve forest which is about 15 km from Bongaigaon is home to golden langur and many endangered and superb creatures like pangolin, porcupine, crab eating mongoose, mongoose, civet, jungle cat, flying squirrel, python, monitor ligard, barking dear, hornbill, lesser adjutant stork, osprey, kestrel and pied harrier, etc. It may be mentioned that golden langurs are generally found in a very small patch between Sankosh in the west, Manas in the east, Brahmaputra in the south and upto a 2200 metre altitude of Bhutan-Himalayas in the north and in the Kakoijana reserve forest. According to conservation experts, golden langurs in the Kakoijana reserve forest are presently in a very bad condition. Nature's Foster, a nature activist and conservationist group and several other NGOs have revealed that the habitat is under the threat of total destruction due to increased human habitation nearby, inconsistent and inadequate protection and lack of conservation measures by the concerned authorities. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 9, 2000)

MORIGAON, June 9: The extension of Pobitora wildlife sanctuary, one of the 10 wildlife sanctuaries in Assam with 74 world famous one-horned rhinos at present, has been opposed by the people of Mayong and its adjoining areas. A memorandum was submitted to the Governor Lt Gen (Retd) SK Sinha, who visited Mayong recently. The people of Mayong mouzas especially Kamarpar, Dhankhunda, Gorani Kanjuli and Aangmari will fall under the present sanctuary if extended. The government of Assam by an order FRS 19/87/152 has extended the area of the existing Pabitora from 16 square miles to 39 sq. miles as extension is highly needed for sheltering the one-horned world famous rhinos. Earlier, Pabitora was a grazing reserve. At the time of its declaration as a reserve forest also there were protests from the local people. On November 18, 1971, Pabitora was declared a reserve forest by the government with 1584. 76 hectres of land when there were only 10 rhinos in the beginning. In 1994 the forest department issued extension order for the second time. The people of Mayong areas submitted a memorandum to the then chief minister late Hiteswar Saikia, requesting him not to enforce extension order as they would lose cultivable land. Now the people living in Raja Mayong, Hatimuria, No 1 Murkata and No 2 Munkata will have to be evicted without any rehabilitation scheme being undertaken by the government. It is learnt that late Nagen Sarma, who was minister for forest in the present state government, had issued orders for extension. At a public meeting, a committee, Mayong Mouza Krishibhumi-Sanraykhyan Aru Unnayan Samiti was formed with Gopal Nath as president and P Bhuyan as secretary. The main demands mentioned in the memo are land pattas to cultivators who paid touzi revenue, development of roads connecting Dispur, Mayong and Morigaon, all around development of the people of greater Mayong areas in the field of economic, cultural and socio-development etc. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 10, 2000)

NEW DELHI, June 10: The World Wildlife Fund for Nature-India (WWF-India) has presented Rs 22.17 lakh contribution cheque to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Mukut Mithi for tightening the anti-poaching facilities at the state's Namdapha Tiger Reserve. WWF-India secretary general Samar Singh, who handed over the cheque to Mithi at a small function here on Friday evening pointed out that the state government would utilise this contribution for buying a jeep, fleet of motor cycles, installing seven wireless sets and setting up anti-poaching monitoring camps at the Namdapha sanctuary. The Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister acknowledged that the latest gesture from the WWF would reinforce the state government's efforts in conserving and protecting the rich forest and wildlife wealth of the state which had been declared as one of the 18 biodiversity hotspots in the world for rich biological variety. Mithi recalled that it was WWF's initiative that helped the state to launch a systematic conservation programme. WWF has currently undertaking several programmes in Arunachal Pradesh to preserve the rich forest and wildlife wealth. The state had 82 per cent of its geographical area under pristine forests, of which 13.5 per cent was under bio-diversity sanctuary protection. He added that the government wanted to raise the area under sanctuary protection to 20 per cent. (Agencies; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 11, 2000)

AGARTALA, June 11: The controversy over the selection of a proper script for the tribal language - Kokborok - has resurfaced after the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), a tribal-based party, won the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections recently. Kokborok is the second official language of the state. It is the mother tongue of 90 per cent of about one million tribal people of the state which has a total population of around three million. The age-old controversy, which reached a flash point on the use of Bengali or the Roman script for the language, continued with the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Front favouring the use of Bengali script, while the IPFT, the Tripura Upajati Juba Samity (TUJS), the Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) and all other tribal-based political parties, preferring the Roman script. The newly constituted TTAADC under the IPFT, in its first Council meeting recently decided to introduce the Roman script instead of Bengali, which was introduced in 1995. Senior IPFT leader and chief executive member of the TTAADC Debabrata Koloi has said measures had been taken to amend TTAADC's primary school (language amendment) regulations, 1996 for introduction of the Roman script. The TUJS-Congress alliance enacted a regulation in 1992 to teach the tribal students the Kokborok language with the Roman script. New books in Kokborok with the Roman script will have to be printed now to replace the existing books in Kokborok with the Bengali script, and teachers would be imparted training in this regard, the TTAADC chief said. The regulation, which was amended by the CPI(M), said the tribal children of the district council areas after completing their primary education would have to go to other educational institutions in different parts of the state for higher studies where the medium of instruction was Bengali. Hence, if the students were well acquainted with Bengali, it would be easier for them to pursue further studies. A selection of tribal intellectuals said a group of extremists having strong anti-Bengali feelings and indoctrinated by some outside forces had threatened that they would not allow tribal students in any school to learn Kokborok written in the Bengali script. If this was done, it would kick off widespread chaos hampering the progress of Kokborok language and literature, they said, adding that in the days of princely rule (former princely state, Tripura, merged with the Indian Union on October 15, 1949) neither jhum cultivation (shifting cultivation) nor Kokborok language had any place of honour. They said the 'Lokayat' culture of the people was neglected during the princely rule. But the scenario changed after 1978, when Kokborok was given due recognition by the then Left Front government, led by former chief minister Nripen Chakraborty, as the second official language. They said recently the Kokborok literature in the Bengali script had flourished to a great extent. Former Tripura chief minister Dasaratha Deb, regarded as the godfather of the Tripura tribals and a father figure of the Communist movement in the state, wrote many books justifying the need for the Bengali script in the Kokborok language. Deb had played a pioneering role in spreading literacy among the tribals. The then district council, controlled by the TUJS-Congress alliance, had also constituted an eight-member committee under the chairmanship of senior tribal leader Rabindra Kishore Debbarma for composing school textbooks in the Roman script for standard-two students. The controversy continued forcing the erstwhile Congress-TUJS coalition government to appoint a five-member script selection committee, headed by veteran tribal leader and educationist Shyamacharan Tripura. The committee after holding a series of meetings, seminars and discussions submitted a report to the government recommending the Roman script for the tribal Kokborok language. Research scholar on tribal language Kumud Kundu Chowdhury and renowned poet Ratul Debbarman said the tribal students were in a disadvantageous position because they were forced to learn Kokborok, Bengali and English. However, other tribal leaders said adoption of the Roman script would free the tribal students from the trilingual burden and help in the growth of English education as in neighboring states of Mizoram and Nagaland. He said some tribal leaders, backed by church, had been periodically raising demand for Roman script since 1967. Tripura education minister Anil Sarkar said some political parties were instigating communal and ethnic tension. Quoting renowned educationist Suniti Chatterjee, Sarkar said the Tripura tribals had been learning in Bengali scripts for several hundred years. Chowdhury, now teaching Kokborok in Tripura University, said the language would suffer because of the controversy. At present tribal students studied Kokborok at the primary level as their first language, but has to switch over to Bengali from standard-six. This is also responsible for the large-scale dropouts, he added. (UNI; The Northeast Daily; Guwahati; June 12, 2000)

GUWAHATI, June 11: Massive riverine erosion in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts threatens to consign large tracts of agricultural land, forest land and prime tea garden land into a watery grave even as thousands of hectares have already been lost since 1992. This has been caused by the Brahmaputra river waters joining and consequently enlarging a man made channel called Ananta nullah, a phenomenon experts call avulsion. The Ananta nullah merges with the Dangri and Dibru rivers and the combined flow of all three waterways have caused severe erosion in the 60 km stretch from Dholla-Hathigooli to Dibrugarh town. Lok Sabha MP Pawan Singh Ghatowar on May16, 2000 wrote to the prime minister saying that 14 villages and 10 tea gardens are expected to be eroded unless a check dam is constructed at Dholla-Hatighooli-Saikhowa to close the wayward offshoot channel of the Brahmaputra.The Dibrugarh district Banpani and Gorakhohania Pratirodh Samity in a memorandum to the prime minister expressed fears that the Assam Medical College, Dinjan defence areas, Dibrugarh airport at Mohanbari, Dibrugarh Polytechnic, etc. will be washed away. The Assam Company Limited which has suffered a yearly erosion of around 38 hectares of tea garden land, has written to the union ministry of water resources. According to a December 4, 1999 report by the additional chief engineer of the flood control department, upper Assam zone, so far 49 villages with a population of 45,000 people have been "eroded away" and "a good number of tea gardens of the Assam Tea Company and others are very badly affected by the active erosion." The additional engineer's report said that the department is awaiting the release of a morphological study by the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) based in Pune, without which it cannot propose any measures. Like Nero fiddling away when Rome burnt, all this while the state government has been waffling over these calamitous developments. Sources told The Northeast Daily that although the CWPRS study was commissioned in 1998, Dispur made the payment for the study only October 1999. Sources added that it is only after this that the agency begin work on the study, which is expected to be out in June-July 2000. The proposal will then be processed, evaluated, modified, approved and forwarded by one government authority to another, the sources pointed out. Nature does not patiently wait for these lengthy and cumbersome procedures of officialdom often taking 3-4 years to be completed, said sources. In this context reference may be made to the Rs 3.453 crore scheme to reinforce the Saikhowa protection bund phase-iii, that was mooted in 1998 but has remained on paper. The expert committee on Rohmoria and Ananta nullah offtake set up by the flood control department on January 8, 2000 suggested modifications in the scheme clearly indicating that the scheme had become redundant. (Sanjeev Tamooley; The Northeast Daily; Guwahati; June 12, 2000)

GUWAHATI, June 11: Rhino population has increased in the wildlife sanctuaries of Assam as per a report of the state forest department, an official release said. As per census report during the year 1997-98, the total number of rhino was 1334 and this has increased to 1672 in the year 1998-99. Simultaneously, the tiger population has also been increased to 458 as per census report of 1997 against 430 in the year 1997. The forest department has also started tiger census in the wild life sanctuaries during the year 2000 and its result is still awaited. The report said that due to sincere efforts taken by the department, the poaching of rhinoceros has declined. During the year 1999, only nineteen poaching cases were detected against 42 cases in the year 1995 and several poachers have been arrested. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 12, 2000)

GUWAHATI, June 13: The chief executive officer (CEO) of the Prasar Bharati Corporation of India, Ravi Ranjan Shah, has turned down the Assam government's plea for allotting it 30 minutes slot in the prime time of DD-I for disseminating information to the public for countering the anti-national campaigns by militant organisations and highlighting the policies, programmes and achievements of both the central and the state governments. Speaking to The Northeast Daily here on Tuesday, he said allotting time for such a programme is out of question since "prime time programmes go by revenue consideration alone. Its emphasis is solely on entertainment," he said. On the other hand, union minister of state for information and broadcasting Arun Jaitley said that the state government's proposal is being considered, but added that the final decision will be taken by the Doordarshan. He also said that the content of the programmes for Northeast would be strengthened. Meanwhile, the CEO informed that a 24-hour Northeast channel would start functioning from October 2, which would cater to the needs of the region, he felt. The channel would be put on a better transponder to enable the cable operators receive it properly, he said. The Doordarshan has also drawn up a three-point plan for Northeast, which includes expanding its network in the region, increased local participation and a healthy projection of the region to the entire nation, he added. Giving details of various projects on the anvil, he said all the north-eastern state capitals would be soon provided with uplinking facilities. This will equip the states with a better network and enable them to meet the requirements of the region terrestrially, he pointed out. Doordarshan is also looking out for stringers from the region to have positive stories on it, he informed. Disagreeing with the contention that Doordarshan is deviating from its social obligations by focusing on entertainment, he said national interest is still paramount with the TV network. And as an instance, he cited the coverage of the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar which was telecast by interrupting the entertainment programmes. He, however, conceded that viewership is paramount to Doordarshan as to any other channels. "It's a market reality taking into account the cut-throat competition," he said. Despite this, the prime TV network has still not forgotten its commitment to the country, he added. And to buttress his point, the CEO referred to the DD News and Gyan channels. (Anirban Choudhury; The Northeast Daily; Guwahati; June 14, 2000)

KAZIRANGA, June 13 : Forest rangers in the world famous wildlife sanctuary here have been put on an alert with flood waters threatening to submerge the park, official sources said on Tuesday. The mighty Brahmaputra, which flows along the 430 sq km Kaziranga National Park, has been rising "menacingly" over the last few days, the sources said. Flood waters have already entered the park. At least 20 people have died in the first wave of floods in parts of Assam and neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh while more than 5,000 people were affected over the last three days, officials said. "We have stationed motor boats at vantage points for immediate evacuation of forest guards deployed deep inside the park, besides taking other measures to protect the wildlife from being marooned," Parthasarathi Das, the park warden, told India Abroad News Service. "Flood waters may inundate Kaziranga any moment as the Brahmaputra is rising alarmingly. Some of the marshy land inside the park has already been submerged," he said. Wildlife authorities have put up barricades to restrict the speed of all vehicles using a highway passing along the park to a maximum of 40 kilometres per hour. "We have been regulating the speed of all vehicles as animals might try and cross the highway to escape the floods," Bidyut Barthakur, a park ranger, said. "Arrangements have been made to rescue marooned animals inside the park with guards being put on round-the-clock patrols." To combat poaching during floods, park authorities have started taking help of local villagers to ward off gangs of poachers. "We are getting help and cooperation from villagers living on the periphery of the park after we launched an awareness campaign about wildlife conservation," Barthakur said. "We shall be trying our best with our limited resources to do whatever is possible to save the wildlife." (Syed Zarir Hussain, India Abroad News Service; The Northeast Daily; Guwahati; June 14, 2000)

GUWAHATI, June 14: Though the state has registered a remarkable 15 per cent growth in literacy rate, the condition of higher education is in a complete mess in Assam with the University Grants Commission stopping their financial support to the deficit colleges and five universities in the state. Interestingly, the bureaucrats at the helm of affairs admit that the standard of education in the state has deteriorated to a level that not a single research paper from the state could get a place in any international journal in the last 10 years. Top officials of the state government and university, on condition of anonymity, laid the blame on the political leaders of the state and said they were squarely responsible for such a deplorable condition of the colleges and universities. The government has so far failed to frame service rules for college teachers in the state, they added. Pointing out the anomalies that forced the UGC to stop grants to the state, sources said that there was no coordination between the universities and the state government. The universities are working at their whim without looking into their performance reports. The sources, while justifying the initiative of the UGC to ban the grant, said that most of the universities have failed to follow the guidelines of the commission aimed at improving the quality of education. They cite the example of the Guwahati University where in many departments the teachers have been promoted to the rank of professor but the UGC norm of a minimum of 180 days' classes in a year were never followed. The retirement age for the teachers differ from university to university in the state. A professor retires at the age of 60 in the Dibrugarh University and at the same time in the Guwahati University he retires at the age of 62. (Manoj Anand; The Asian Age; New Delhi; June 15, 2000)

GUWAHATI, June 15: The Press Council of India yesterday directed the Dainik Agradoot to publish an apology to the advocate-general of Assam within seven days from today, as a box news item. The Press Council verdict came following a complaint lodged by Pachu Gopal Baruah, advocate-general of Assam, in connection with a news item published by the city-based language newspaper on November 25, 1998. According to the complaint of Baruah, the news item Jogan Mantric Sil Kora Godam Mukali alleged that the advocate-general had shown leniency at the direction of the Chief Minister when the owner of the sealed godown Ashok Kumar Dhanuka, proprietor of M/S Dhanuka Enterprise, MG Road, Guwahati, moved the Gauhati High Court with a prayer to set aside the seizure and for releasing the seized essential commodities. But infact, Baruah vehemently opposed the interim prayer of the godown owner in the court saying that if the proceeding/action of the government was stayed, if would amount to decide the case on merit at that stage. He also referred to two decisions of the Supreme Court of India to drive home his point, Baruah's complaint said. The newspaper authorities were irresponsive to the two notices issued by the advocate-general which stated that the news item was factually incorrect and not based on facts. This made the advocate-general to approach the Press Council. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; June 16, 2000)