Debojit Saha is voting for Amit Paul

It’s time to flash that SMS power
- Singer pleads to the people of the region to vote for Idol aspirant Amit Paul
 

IDOL CHAT  Visit http://www.amitpaul.org  and vote for him

Voice of India Debojit Saha has found a new idol in Amit Paul...
Guess what I am doing these days? Well, like most of you, I am busy sending SMSes for our new hero and music idol — Amit Paul of Shillong! As one among the last three in the musical reality show Indian Idol-III, Amit Paul is the new musical hope of the Northeast, one who will surpass, I am sure, this Debojit Saha.
Watching the hugely talented Amit, a resident of Shillong, competing for the Indian Idol crown reminds me of my days at the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contest last year. I can relate to all that he is going through at the moment — the tension, the hard work, the adulation.
I see Amit as my alter ego. For a start, we are both from the Northeast, a region hardly known to the outside world. And yes, both of us are passionate about singing and have crossed all hurdles to reach our desired destinations.
I strongly feel that Amit should win the contest. I say this not because he is from the Northeast but because he is hugely talented. His singing is very mature and he has a voice of his own. Besides, he can sing in several languages, including Telugu, Khasi, English, Assamese, Hindi and Bengali.
With every performance, Amit has proved that he has all that a winner needs. Even in his last performance, when he sang Dil Kya Kare... from the seventies’ hit Julie, Amit left everybody mesmerised, especially the girls.
Amit simply rocks and a “rock star” like him deserves nothing less than the crown.
And what’s more, he is a product of Shillong — the musical capital of the Northeast. Amit took up music seriously right from his childhood and has always dreamt of making it big in Bollywood.
Now my fans must be thinking how come I know so much about Amit. I am yet to meet him personally. But like all his fans, I collect every piece of information on him.
Amit is an inspiration for all of us. He now needs our support. We need to whole-heartedly support him by voting for him. His win will put the Northeast on the map of Indian music industry once again.
Amit has put tremendous hard work to make it big at the contest. I still remember the time when he was struggling as a wild card entrant. But once he came back, his performance improved by leaps and bounds.
Now it is our turn to vote for Amit Paul. You did it for me. Now I hope you will do it for Amit.All the best Amit, go ahead and make our day.

Visit http://www.amitpaul.org  and vote for him

Barak crosses danger mark
From Our Correspondent Assam Tribune
SILCHAR, Sept 3 — The Barak river has crossed its danger level today. Sources said that in Silchar Annapurna ghat the water level was at 20.41 meter. Meanwhile, flood waters of Rukkini river, damaged 11 houses under Dholai police station. People living in the surrounding area of this river have left for safer places.

The town area is also water logged. The school and colleges are now functioning as relief camps for the flood-hit people.

Silchar Airport is among the fastest-growing in the country

SpiceJet to focus on South, East, with eye on international flights

29 August 2007
SpiceJet will focus on the southern and eastern sectors of the countries, which it feels will ultimately help its international ambitions. The low-cost carrier's reasons that the two sectors generate the maximum traffic on the lucrative Gulf and Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) routes.
The airline recently announced a decision to start a flight from Kolkata to Port Blair. It has filed for schedules on the route. But SpiceJet is not looking at investing in any more aircraft for its prospective overseas services, and will operate with its existing fleet. The airline is set to get delivery of its 15th aircraft soon and, by the end of next fiscal, 10 more will be added.
Airports in the east - especially Kolkata, Bhubaneswar Silchar and Guwahati - are the fastest-growing in the country. Apart from re-launching its Delhi-Kolkata flights by end-October, SpiceJet will start a Bangalore-Kolkata flight around the same time.
In the south, its key base is Hyderabad, but SpiceJet wants to add Bangalore, where a new airport raises hopes of improved parking conditions. The Kochi-Delhi route has recently been started. Overall, the carrier is looking at increasing its present 89 flights to about 170 in the next phase of expansion.
Civil aviation minister Praful Patel's recent indications that the government may do away with the five-year domestic operation norm for carriers keen to fly overseas - and allow them to fly overseas on a case-to-case basis - seems to have prodded the carrier to move faster on its plans.


Silchar - Lakhipur stretch to get national waterway status
From Our Spl Correspondent Telegraph India
NEW DELHI, Aug 29 – The Centre has introduced the National Waterway (Lakhipur-Bhanga Stretch of the Barak River) Bill 2007, paving way for formal declaration of the stretch as national waterway to facilitate shipping and navigation. The national waterway is scheduled to be operational by 2011-2012. The introduction of the Bill in the Lok Sabha follows clearance by the Union Cabinet early this year. The Centre decided to declare the Lakhipur-Bhanga stretch of the Barak River as national waterway because the infrastructure facilities currently available on the waterway was not adequate for safe, convenient and sustained shipping and navigation by large mechanised crafts.

The regulation and development of the proposed national waterway would be under the control of the Inland Waterway Authority of India.

The statement of object and reasons said that in the absence of a suitable organisation and paucity of resources with State Government development of inland water transport has not made much headway. There are certain advantages in this mode of transport, such as its low cost of transport, energy efficiency, generation of employment among weaker section of the society and eco-friendly nature.

The Bill proposes that the eastern limit of the waterway would be drawn across the Barak River at Lakhipur ferry Ghat and the western limit at a distance of 200 metres of its bifurcation point at Bhanga.

According to estimates that the inland water transport traffic to the tune of Rs 10.53 lakh tonne is expected to be carried on the proposed national waterway. The traffic is proposed to be handled at four terminals at Silchar, Lakhipur, Badarpur and Bhanga.

The project includes development of the waterway for navigation, channel marking, construction of terminals, transit sheds, installation of handling equipment. The project is estimated to cost Rs 50 crore.

The Sadiya-Dhubri stretch of Brahmaputra River was declared as national waterway in 1988 when the Parliament passed the National Waterway (Sadiya-Dhubri stretch of Brahmaputra River) Act.

BJP gearing up for panchayat polls
Our Correspondent
SILCHAR, Aug 31: After addressing party workers’ meets at Silchar, Hailakandi, Patharkandi and Karimganj, central observer for Asom, Harendra Pratap, and State BJP president, Ramen Deka, told mediapersons here recently that the party “is being geared up for panchayat polls which are expected to be held in November next”.
Ramen Deka said they evinced keen interest among the leaders and workers in similar district level conclaves at Guwahati, Tinsukia and Nalbari to take on the opposition in the panchayat polls in order to bring about qualitative and administrative changes for reaching the benefits of various schemes and projects for the welfare of common people.
He added to say in Barak Valley, where the BJP has a strong base and support, “the party has to be activated and galvanized from the grass root level”.

Probe
Silchar: The Assam PWD department will conduct a probe into the alleged corrupt practices by a section of contractors and officials in the Rs 18-crore renovation of the road network in Silchar last year.
Arrested
Silchar: Cachar police arrested a shop owner, Sakil Ahmed Barbhuyan, on Saturday for demanding Rs 5 lakh from the manager of an UCO Bank branch.

Technical approval for 110 water supply schemes in Cachar dist
From Our Correspondent
KARIMGANJ, Aug 29 – The Tarun Gogoi-led State government is very keen to provide drinking water in all the villages with a view to implement the policy of the Assam government. PHE deptt is undertaking the execution work of the construction of rural water supply schemes. The PHE deptt has already renovated nearly 100 damaged water supply schemes. While inaugurating five water supply schemes in Cachar under Silchar PHE division-2, PHE minister Rihon Daimary disclosed the above. Rihon Daimary expressed satisfaction at the service rendered by the Silchar PHE division-2 towards the rural people.

Landslides on NH-44 cut off Barak Valley
From Partha Sarkar
SILCHAR, Aug 27 – Two days of continuous rainfall in the Jaintia Hills resulted in landslides in Sonapur area which is under National Highway-44 at 3.30 pm yesterday evening. Barak Valley, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura have been cut off from the rest of the State. About 300 meter length of the road on the Cachar side slid down in the Lubah river thereby completely severing the road link between Barak Valley and rest of the country. Sources said that it might take one month to clear the landslides area.
 

Daily flights between Silchar and other location of North East

Private airline for North-east soon

Anirban Chowdhury / New Delhi August 27, 2007

The North-East is finally set to have its own exclusive private airline with daily flights to Guwahati, Agartala, Lilabari, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Aizawl and Silchar among others.

Guwahati-based Surya Airlines, promoted by Universal Empire Group, which has been waiting in the wings for long after getting licence for scheduled operations, are going to start operations in October this year.

“We are planning to service the NE region exclusively and will have one daily flight to all these destinations,” said promoter K Balachandran Nair.

“We had got the licence for scheduled operations in October last year. But certain procedures took time which is why there was a one year delay,” added airline vice president Arun Pillai.

The carrier plans to operate with 19 seater Beechcraft aircraft on these routes. They will be deploying three aircraft in the beginning, adding another two in the next six months. “We will add another two depending on the traffic demands.

The airline sees a huge traffic potential in spite of the infrastructural difficulties in the region.

“There is very less service in the region. And there is huge air traffic potential because the other forms of transport like roadways and railways are minimal. We are exploring routes like Dimapur-Imphal, Agartala-Silchar and Imphal-Aizawl which have very few flights and scope for many more,” said a company official.

Agrees Amrit Pandurangi of PricewaterhouseCoop ers. “If you look at the road service from Agartala, it id in such a dismal condition that there is huge scope for air travel,” said Pandurangi.

AAI upgrading 28 unprofitable airports

Press Trust of India

Thursday, August 23, 2007 (New Delhi):

The government said that the Airports Authority of India is upgrading 28 unprofitable airports in various states by constructing new terminal buildings and strengthening the runways among other things.

The airports where such works were in progress include Chandigarh, Amritsar, Dehradun, Lucknow, Varanasi, Tirupati, Guwahati, Silchar, Surat, Vadodara, Mangalore, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Shillong, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur and Udaipur.

The scope of work include construction of new terminals, resurfacing and strengthening of runways, drainage and rain water harvesting system and allied works, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said during Question Hour.

To another query, he said government was not considering any proposal to frame guidelines for airlines to make them accountable in cases of long delays, sudden cancellations of flights.

"However, government is continuously studying and monitoring the punctuality of airline operations," Patel said. Replying to another question, he said Air India Express, the budget carrier of Air India, planned to begin domestic operations from October this year.
Silchar PHE worker abducted

Abducted PHE worker shifted
Silchar: An employee of the Assam PHE department, Sajal Dhar (40), abducted by suspected Reang militants, on Thursday from his house at North Dariagram in Hailakandi district, has been shifted to Mizoram, police said on Sunday. No ransom demand has been made till now to Dhar’s family for his release. Personnel of Jamira police outpost are searching for the abducted employee.


Smuggler held
Silchar: The central customs staff and police in a joint operation caught an inter-state cannabis smuggler on Saturday. The smuggler was identified as Dipak Gupta, a resident of Nadia district in West Bengal.

Awami League leader under glare
OUR CORRESPONDENT TELEGRAPH INDIA

Silchar, Aug. 25: A prominent Awami League leader’s opposition to the Tipaimukh hydel project has prompted Delhi to seek a detailed report from Dispur on his four-day visit to Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts.
Abdul Mal Abdul Muhit, a former minister for planning and finance in the Sheikh Hasina government, who reached south Assam on Tuesday, has called for scrapping of the project. He left for Bangladesh today.
Muhit claimed that the power project and the dam in Tipaimukh village on Manipur’s boundary with Assam’s Cachar district would have an adverse impact on Bangladesh’s environment and affect the course of rivers in that country. New Delhi has cleared the dam after studying its environmental and ecological impact on the two neighbouring countries. However, Dhaka fears that after the project’s completion it will get less water for three of its rivers — Meghna, Surma and Kushiara.
Activists of the Youth Congress and the National Students’ Union of India jointly organised a rally and burnt Muhit’s effigy for his stand on Tipaimukh, a project vital to the economy of south Assam and Manipur. The All Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi Students’ Association also condemned his remarks.
An official source said the home ministry had asked for a full report on Muhit’s visit.

Debojit Saha’s playback debut in Assamese cinema.

Digital debut for Assamese cinema
- Joonda Emaan Goonda expected to be technology trailblazer
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT TELEGRAPH INDIA

A still from Joonda Emaan Goonda

Guwahati, Aug. 24: When the film Joonda Emaan Goonda hits the screen on September 7, it will mark the introduction of a concept that is expected to change the fortunes of the Assamese film industry.
For the first time, Assamese filmdom is embracing digital technology that will enable distributors to release films in 18 halls across the state without having to send conventional prints.
A few cinema halls are already using digital technology to screen Hindi films, but Joonda Emaan Goonda will be the first Assamese film to be released in this manner.
A Mumbai-based company, UFO Moviez, has introduced the technology across India. The company converts films into digital format and sends it to theatres through satellite. The film is downloaded via a V-Sat device and screened with a digital projector.
The digital format produces better picture quality and sound than conventional prints.
“This new technology not only gives viewers more value for money but also helps us cut costs. The release of Joonda Emaan Goonda could be the beginning of the end for conventional cinema technology,” the producer of the film, Pranjal Kumar Bharali, said.
UFO Moviez invests around Rs 15 lakh on equipment for each theatre that chooses to go digital. The theatre owner is required to deposit Rs 2 lakh with the company and pay a nominal amount to the company for every show.
Since each conventional print costs a minimum of Rs 60,000, producers save that amount when they adopt UFO Moviez’s digital technology. “Making even 10 prints is a huge burden on the producer. The new system is, therefore, a big money-saver. The only investment that theatres have to make is on a receiver station.
According to industry estimates, all theatres that have gone digital will start breaking even in around two years’ time.
Assam’s film industry — from producers and directors to theatre owners — has long been in a financial muddle. Several theatres have shut down after incurring huge losses. Industry watchers believe Joonda Emaan Goonda, to be released simultaneously in four halls in Guwahati and most towns of the state, will be the turning point.
Directed by Chandra Mudoi, whose Suren Churor Putek was a blockbuster, Joonda Emaan Goonda has veteran Abdul Majid, Angoorlata and Vikram Rajkhowa in the main roles.
The film is also “Voice of India” Debojit Saha’s playback debut in Assamese cinema.

Silchar divisional post office had been downgraded

No takers for snail mail anymore
OUR CORRESPONDENT TELEGRAPH INDIA
Cachar

Fit for a museum?

Aug. 23: Googled and Yahooed almost out of existence, the snail mail has lost its patrons not only among letter writers but also in the government. Or so it seems.
Put out of business by the email and SMS generation, the postal directorate is resorting to all sorts of cost-cutting measures, including downgradation of post offices.
The latest victim of the postal directorate’s stringency is the Silchar divisional post office.
On August 9, the Silchar office of the Assam chief postmaster general received a terse message from the directorate of posts and telegraph, stating that the Silchar divisional post office had been downgraded to the level of an office of the superintendent of post offices.
This operatively means the top official of Silchar divisional set-up will now be relegated to the status of superintendent of post offices from the earlier position of senior superintendent.
The Silchar divisional office controls the post offices of Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi and the North Cachar Hills.

Brother of BJP leader kidnapped

Rivalry whiff in kidnap
OUR CORRESPONDENT TELEGRAPH INDIA
Silchar Aug. 23: The abduction of Rabindra Sinha, a cousin of Assam BJP legislator Kartiksena Sinha, from his farmhouse in Karimganj district yesterday may have been the outcome of political rivalry.
Police today said an AGP leader from Patherkandi block was a suspect, but stopped short of naming him. A senior official said the AGP leader, who had been pitted against Sinha in at least two Assembly elections, was suspected to have been in touch with the five persons who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the abduction.

Prick of the unsafe needle
OUR CORRESPONDENT TELEGRAPH INDIA
Cachar

Sting operation

Aug. 21: Roughly 300 crore injections are administered to patients around the country in a single year and at least 180 crore of these are unsafe.
If this piece of statistic was not alarming enough for the gathering of doctors and health workers at a national seminar at Silchar Medical College and Hospital last Sunday, there were plenty of other shockers.
Medical practitioners in Cachar, for instance, have a penchant for the needle, claimed Arati Deka, a senior teacher at Silchar hospital.
With no incinerators to burn the used needles, this “penchant” is an invitation to diseases that spread through infected syringes, said doctors.
 

Hospital gets OT after 20 years
OUR CORRESPONDENT TELEGRAPH INDIA
Hailakandi
 

An operation theatre

Aug. 20: Saleha Begum Laskar’s husband was getting ready to take his pregnant wife to Silchar when his friend intervened.
“Don’t you know she can be operated upon at the local civil hospital?” the friend asked.
Saleha’s husband at first thought the man was joking. “I don’t want to take a chance,” he muttered.
But one look at Saleha in the throes of labour and he agreed. A team led by Dr Pranay Nath of Silchar Medical College Hospital conducted a Caesarean operation on the 25-year-old housewife from Algapur a couple of hours later. That was on Wednesday.
 

SMC Principal and his ‘corrected’ date of birth
By our Staff Reporter Sentinel Assam
GUWAHATI, Aug 20: In a bizarre instance of getting Government favour, concealing his actual age and misusing his official position while putting the entire Government machinery in dark, Dr Sandip Swapan Dhar, Principal of Silchar Medical College, initially got a three-month extension of his service followed by a three-year extension.
Government documents reveal that Dr Dhar has illegally continued as the Principal of the medical college for a month till December 31, 2006, despite the fact that he was supposed to have retired from service on November 30 that year. It has been alleged that for long Dr Dhar concealed his actual date of birth as recorded in the Health Department’s documents.

Inter-state trafficking racket busted
- Police rescue 16-year-old
OUR BUREAU TELEGRAPH INDIA
Silchar/Guwahati, July 19: The rescue of a 16-year-old city girl has busted a well-organised inter-state trafficking racket in Assam.
Acting on a tip-off from a source based in Guwahati, a Silchar team from Sadar police station rescued a girl from the residence of a Dulu Paul in theSarat Pally area in southern Silchar yesterday. The girl had been missing since July 12.