From Our Correspondent Assam Tribune
KARIMGANJ, Feb 1 – Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre under the management of the Cachar Cancer Hospital Society is poised to become one of the premier cancer treatment centres in the country.
Founded in 1992 at the initiative of a small group of social activists and a few doctors, the Cachar Cancer Society waged a relentless battle against the dreaded disease in the Barak Valley and adjoining areas. It was an uphill task but due indefatigable efforts and financial sustenance received from many quarters, the cancer society took roots and is currently aiming high to become one of the premier cancer treatment centres in the country dispensing treatment at an affordable, cost. Santosh Mohan Deb, Union Minister is particularly helpful in providing generous munificence from various sources for this fledgling society.
Recently, Dr Ravi Kannan, an eminent oncologist has taken over as the Director of this hospital. The society held a press meet at its premises recently where Dr Kannan was introduced to the media persons present. Dr Chinmay Chaudhury general secretary of the society provided a brief outline of the progress of the society from 1992 to the present. This was followed by Dr Kannan’s address to the media persons. Dr Kannan spoke highly of the achievements of the Cachar Cancer Hospital and also outlined his plan for the future. With few more facilities added the Cachar Cancer Hospital would be in a position to offer quality treatment at an affordable cost. He said that a surgery of the esophagus at any major centre of the country would cost atleast Rs 1.5 lakh whereas the same operation could be done her at a cost of only Rs 20,000.
|
7
killed as a bus going to Silchar from
Guwahati falls in gorge
Eleven killed
as bus falls in gorge
Shillong (PTI):
Eleven passengers were killed when a bus fell
into a 100 metres deep gorge in East Khasi
Hills district on Wednesday.
The bus
carrying 40 passengers skidded off the road
and fell into the gorge near Mawryngkneng,
about 40 km from Shillong. The bus was going
to Silchar from
Guwahati.
Some
of the injured passengers are undergoing
treatment at the Shillong Civil Hospital.
Among the dead are seven men and four
women.
Assam varsity
heaps honours
|
||
| OUR CORRESPONDENT TELEGRAPH INDIA | ||
Silchar, Jan. 29:
Assam University, Silchar, today awarded DLitt
and DSc degrees, including honoris causa,
to intellectual stalwarts.
The honours were conferred on
Jayanta Vishnu Narlikar, an international
scholar in cosmology and the frontier of
gravity, and Amaresh Dutta, a former head of the
department of English, Gauhati University, who
wrote his magnum opus —
Shakespeare’s Tragic Vision and Art,
in 1963.
Renowned educationist M.G.K.
Menon, famous Indologist Sukumari Bhattacharjee,
economist and deputy chairman of the Planning
Commission
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and Mukundadas
Bhattacharjee, a doyen of folk dances in Assam,
were also felicitated.
The conferment of the awards came
at the ninth convocation of the university.
Talking to this correspondent
last evening, an elated 89-year old Amaresh
Dutta said he continued to remain active in
literary pursuits even at this “ripe age.” He
said that he had penned a novel in Bengali,
Banaprastha, which was published by Anand
Publishers.
He regretted that the standard of
teaching as well as scholarship of students had
declined in the past two decades.
One reason, according to him, was
the propensity among the brilliant students to
chart out their career in technology. A
visionary with an interest in diverse fields,
Dutta has written at least eight books.
|
Signature campaign
to highlight woes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| OUR CORRESPONDENT TELEGRAPH INDIA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jan. 9:
Barak Samiti, an NGO working for the
socio-economic uplift of the rural population,
has launched a mass signature campaign in
Hailakandi district to highlight the problems
faced by villagers. The NGO has also compiled a
list of 16 demands.
Fanning out into the villages,
members of the organisation have so far
collected the signatures of over 1,000 residents
of Matijuri, Kalacherra, Samarikuna and Ratanpur.
They have also been visiting other villages to
collect signatures and mobilise public opinion
in support of their demands.
The organisation’s secretary,
Nazmul Hussain Mazumdar, said the Barak Samiti
was active in the entire Barak Valley and a
similar signature campaign would be initiated in
villages across Cachar and Karimganj districts.
Mazumdar said his organisation
had been working for the last two years in the
Valley for the welfare of the villagers. The
idea for the signature campaign struck him after
the devastating floods in the district in
September last year.
The villagers, who are mainly
cultivators, have been facing hardship since
floods damaged their paddy fields. Their
rehabilitation is among the 16 demands of the
organisation.
The other demands of the
organisation include free distribution of paddy
seeds, irrigation facilities to every
cultivating family, setting up tube wells in the
flood-affected villages of the district,
immediate construction of the damaged school
buildings and rural roads.
Besides repairing the breaches in
the rivers, releasing money for reconstructing
the damaged houses also feature among the
organisation’s demands.
Mazumdar said the Barak Samiti
would send a memorandum to the government along
with the signatures of villagers.
|
|
Renovated
Suprakandi railway station goes off track
|
||
| OUR CORRESPONDENT TELEGRAPH INDIA | ||
Dec. 28: If you happen to be on a
train that passes by Suprakandi railway station,
do not be surprised to see a wedding party in
full swing right on the platform or a group of
drunken gamblers enjoying a boisterous night
out.
Lalu Prasad’s resurgent Indian
Railways renovated the railway station all
right, but seemed to forget that it must be made
operational. Suprakandi station has been in this
state since 2003, when it was closed down for
want of “paying passengers”.
Residents of the township, 9km
from Karimganj town and part of the route
linking south Assam to Dharmanagar in Tripura,
have long been demanding that the station be
reopened.
A campaign by the local
population did force Northeast Frontier Railway
to renovate the station, but it has remained
diffident about posting staff there and
reopening the ticket counter and other services.
A team of railway officials from
the Lumding division told residents recently
that the only reason for not reopening the
station was economic unfeasibility.
“The station incurred losses when
it was open because passengers would board the
train without buying tickets,” the general
manager of NF Railway’s Lumding division said.
The closest that NF Railway came
to reopening the station was in June, when
applicants for jobs at
the station were asked to report at the
Lumding divisional office. The interviews were,
however, postponed at the last minute.
For residents looking for free
recreation space, the renovated station has
become the ideal place to hold wedding parties,
gamble or drink.
“We do not have the faintest idea
why the railway authorities have left a
renovated station to rot like this. Passengers
board trains that stop at this station and would
gladly buy tickets if the counter is open. NF
Railway can earn some revenue if they reopen the
station, and that will also prevent goons from
turning it into their den,” a resident said. An
official source said NF Railway had given at
least two persons official contracts to sell
tickets, but the move flopped.
“I remember that a person named
Badal Bhattacharjee was given the contract, but
he did not do the job properly. The Lumding
railway division then engaged another person to
sell tickets. He turned out to be just as
inefficient.”
|
Barak Valley cement plant's biomass power unit
ready
Wednesday, 09 January , 2008, 16:46 Sify.com
New Delhi: Assam-based private cement manufacturer
Barak Valley Cements Ltd (BVCL) is all set to go green
with its 6-MW captive biomass power plant ready for
commercial operation.
BVCL manufactures cement at a 460-tonne per day
manufacturing unit in the Karimganj district of Assam.
"The power generated by this plant will meet the
entire energy requirement of the cement production
facility and contribute towards conservation of fossil
fuels. This multi-fuel, environment- friendly power
plant will be the first of its kind in the
North-East," BVCL said.
The 6-MW biomass plant, developed by BVCL's
wholly-owned subsidiary Badarpur Energy Pvt Ltd, has
been commissioned, the cement manufacturer informed
the Bombay Stock Exchange Wednesday in a statement.
"The average cost of power from the plant - which will
use husk, a major byproduct of rice industry, as a
fuel - is estimated to be about Rs 2.20 per unit
electricity, " the statement said. visit:
www.marketmantra. in
AK Tewari transferred to DGP headquarters
By our Staff Reporter Sentinel Assam
GUWAHATI, Jan 11: Holding Hailakandi Superintendent of Police AK Tewari responsible for poll violence in the district during the third phase of panchayat polls held on January 9, the State Election Commission (SEC) (vide letter U.O. No. SEC.03/2008/ 2 dated Dispur the 11th January 2008) today asked Asom Chief Secretary PC Sarma to initiate disciplinary action against Tewari. The SEC has also decided to conduct repolling in 309 polling stations in the district, but is yet to take a decision as to when repolling in the district will take place.
Addressing mediapersons here today, State Election Commissioner CK Sarma said it had alerted the district administration and the police force to remain on their toes apprehending the possibility of poll violence in the district during the polls.
AUDF blames Goutam Roy, Rahul Roy for violence in Hailakandi
By
our Staff Reporter Sentinel Assam
GUWAHATI, Jan 10: The main Opposition party in the
State, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), today expressed its
unhappiness over the manner in which the three phases of
the four-phase panchayat elections were conducted on
December 31, January 4 and January 9 respectively.
Addressing mediapersons at the party headquarters in the
city today, AGP president Brindabon Goswami also held
the Congress party responsible for the large-scale
violence witnessed during the three phases, particularly
the second and the third phases, and demanded that
re-polling be held in Hailakandi district which
witnessed a number of poll-related violence.
It may be mentioned here that polling in Hailakandi and
the rest of the Barak Valley was held during the third
phase on Wednesday. More than 55 people were injured in
poll-related violence in Hailakandi and Karimganj
districts while 200 polling personnel had complained of
inadequate security measures, some even going to the
extent of dumping poll materials before the district
election office at Hailakandi and subsequently setting
them afire.
“The Congress seems to have no respect for democracy.
They are resorting to violence fearing a thrashing in
the polls,” Goswami said.
Apprehending that the Congress may try to manipulate the
results of the elections, the regional party demanded of
the State Election Commission (SEC) to declare results
of the three phases of elections by January 20.
“There are no EVMs here and with a weak State Election
Commission, the Congress party may use muscle power
during counting of votes. Election observers were there
only in name as they were not given any responsibility,”
he said.
Speaking on the imposition of Presidents’s Rule in
Nagaland, Goswami said the Congress had brought Nagaland
under Central rule only to wrest power in the State.
“It is not Nagaland but Asom where President’s Rule
should have been imposed. The situation in Nagaland is
more or less stable. On the other hand, it is Asom where
there is no law and order in place,” the AGP president
further added.
Meanwhile, the AUDF today demanded that repolling be
held in all 621 booths in Hailakandi district. The party
also blamed Minister Goutam Roy and his son, Algapur MLA
Rahul Roy, for yesterday’s violence. AUDF working
president Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury told reporters
that the Congress had tried to rig the polls with the
help of the police and the district administrations of
the three Barak districts. The party also demanded that
repolling be held in 52 centres in Karimganj, seven in
Hailakandi, two in Nagaon Sadar and one at Batadraba.
“Congress workers openly rigged the polls in Hailakandi,
Karimganj and other places in Cachar,” he said.
He said that the situation at Nilambazar in Karimganj
district where AUDF workers were allegedly beaten up by
the police and then put behind bars was still very
tense. The Congress, along with the BJP, is trying to
give a communal hue to the situation, he said, adding
that an AUDF delegation has left for Barak Valley to
take stock of the situation.
At Samaguri, Forest Minister Rockibul Hussain’s home
constituency, Congress workers rigged the polls in
several polling booths, AUDF publicity secretary Dadu
Tai alleged.
The AUDF also came down heavily on State Election
Commissioner CK Sarma terming him an agent of the
Congress. “We had written several letters to the State
Election Commissioner requesting him to make adequate
security arrangements. But our appeals were ignored,”
Choudhury said.
The executive committee of the party is likely to meet
in a couple of days to chalk out its next course of
action in this regard. We may also move the court, he
said.
The party also expressed doubts over the security
arrangements at the strong rooms, and demanded security
bandobast at the strong rooms be handed over to
paramilitary forces till counting of votes begin.
Hailakanda bandh passes off peacefully
From
our Correspondent Sentinel Assam
SILCHAR, Jan 13: The bandh in Hailakandi called by
various political parties in protest against the alleged
rigging by the Congress in the panchayat polls passed of
peacefully and was near total except for Lala and
Kathicherra areas.
Parties such as the AUDF, AGP, BJP, CPI and others are
up in arms against the Congress whom they say resorted
to massive rigging and ballot paper snatching in the
recently concluded panchayat polls. AUDF MLA of
Hailakandi, Salim Uddin Barbhuiya has alleged that on
the behest of Congress leader Gautom Roy, IGP (law ad
order) PC Tayal was stationed for poll duty in Halakandi
and with the help of the police officer, Congress
workers resorted to rigging.
Identical allegations have also been made by BJP leader
Gobinda Lal Chaterjee and CPM leader Adhir Nath.
Though the Election Commission has ordered repollingin
307 booths, opposition parties here have demanded
repolling in 621 booths. Date for repolling however has
not been announced by the Election Commission.
Reacting to opposition allegations, Gautom Roy termed
them as baseless and said, “I stayed indoors during
polling, then how could i be held responsible for
rigging. The IGP was here to supervize law and order.
There is no question of any nexus.” He hit back at the
opposition parties and accused them of creating a
post-poll mess.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties have upped the ante
and have demanded a total shake-up of the district
administration and the removal of the Deputy
Commissioner and Superintendent of Police.
Deputy Commissioner of Karimganj, Anurag Goel said that
repolling would be held in 74 booths and hinted that the
possible dates may be January 23 or 24.
From Our Correspondent Sentinel Assam
HAILAKANDI, Jan 13 – The Deputy Commissioner of Hailakandi has ordered an inquiry into the burning of ballot boxes and other poll material by polling officials at SS College premises in the town on the day of Panchayat poll on January 9. The presiding and