Assam

Will file defamation case against Rahul over 'Adani' tweet: Assam CM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said he will file a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over a tweet that linked him to the Adani group. Addressing a press conference here, Sarma said the defamation case will be filed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Guwahati on April 14. "Whatever Rahul Gandhi tweeted, it's defamatory. We will respond after the PM leaves the state," he said. "Definitely, a defamation case will be filed in Guwahati," he added. Gandhi on Saturday took a swipe at some leaders who have quit the Congress in recent years and some of whom have joined the BJP as he kept up his offensive against the government over the Adani issue. "They hide the truth, that's why they mislead everyday! The question remains the same - whose Rs 20,000 crore benami money is in Adani's companies?" Gandhi asked in a tweet in Hindi, sharing an image with 'Adani' written as an acronym of sorts with letters of the names of the leaders. He cited t

PM Modi to inaugurate AIIMS Guwahati, participate in Bihu on April 14

Along with AIIMS Guwahati, he will inaugurate three more medical colleges in Assam -- Nalbari, Kokrajhar and Nagaon. Each medical college will be 500 bedded and 100 MBBS seats

Trouble brews for Cong in Assam with MLAs threatening to quit party posts

The MLAs also tried to evade the questions over leaders quitting party posts on Sunday. However, a party source informed that the legislators have been preparing to take the whole issue to the party

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma attends Mega Bihu programme at Tezpur

Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday attended the Mega Bihu programme at Tezpur organized by the Sonitpur district administration

"Absolutely breathtaking": Assam CM on Prez flying fighter aircraft

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that it was absolutely breathtaking to see President Draupadi Murmu undertake a sortie on the Sukhoi-30 MKI at Tezpur

Assam government's 2021-22 budget unrealistic, overestimated, says CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on Thursday termed the Assam government's budget for 2021-22 as unrealistic and overestimated, and asked it to formulate expenses based on reliable assumptions. The CAG also pointed to the increasing growth rate of the state's public debt and recommended that it reduces revenue expenditure. In the State Finances Audit Report for the year ended March 31, 2022' tabled in the state assembly, the CAG said the actual receipts for the year were Rs 99,548.83 crore against the estimation of Rs 1,19,423.05 crore by the state government. This restricted the expenditure to Rs 1,07,814.62 crore against estimated spending of Rs 1,36,554.69 crore. Dubbing the budgetary assumptions as unrealistic and overestimated, the auditor said the state government should formulate a realistic budget based on reliable assumptions of likely resource mobilisation, the needs of the departments and their capacity to utilise the allocated resources so as to avoid

No tourist left under snow in Sikkim avalanche site: Govt official

A Sikkim government official Wednesday said it is now "almost certain" that no one is left strapped under the snow at 15th Mile, the site of the devastating avalanche and search operations by the Army and the Border Road teams have been called off. But helpline numbers will remain active for the time being to help tourists get information about their kin, Gangtok district collector Tushar Nikhare told reporters here. "We are almost certain that no more tourists are trapped under the snow near 15th Mile," Nikhare said. The Army, NDRF, ITBP, GREF, Sikkim Police and two personnel from Tiranga Mountain Rescue Team equipped with radars searched all possible areas near 15th Mile to find out any tourist lodged under the snow. But nobody was found there during the rescue and search operations that were carried out from 8AM to 3PM before being halted, the Gangtok DC said. The rescue teams used digging and trenching machines and other modern equipment to find people trapped under the debri

Over 450,000 cases pending before courts in Assam: State Law Minister

He claimed that the decision will help the courts to focus on serious offences and other matters

Assam to form commission to improve delivery of public services: CM Sarma

The Assam cabinet on Sunday approved a proposal to set up a commission for improving the delivery of public services, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. It also fixed May 6 to declare results of examinations to recruit over 50,000 people to the government sector as part of his party BJP's pre-poll promise to provide one lakh jobs, he said. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, he said, Today, the cabinet approved Assam Right to Public Service (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023" The commission will be an independent quasi-judicial three-member body with a chief commissioner. The function of the panel will be to recommend disciplinary action against designated public servants for persistently failing to provide notified services within a stipulated time, Sarma said. This will make Assam a model state in terms of public service delivery, he said. Sarma also said the cabinet fixed May 6 to declare the results of examinations to recruit people for 51,397 government posts. A

Security of Assam CM tightened after threat call from pro-Khalistanis

The security of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been tightened after a voice message issuing threat to him was received by a number of Assamese journalists based in Delhi and Assam on Sunday from a person identifying himself as Gurpatwant Singh Pannu from the banned Sikhs for Justice. Officials in the know claimed that the voice in the message was that of Pannu, who has been designated as a terrorist under the stringent anti-terror law -- Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act -- by the Union Home Ministry. He is at present in the United States. The caller claimed that Sikhs were being "tortured" in Assam jail and asked Sarma to desist from it. After the March 18 crackdown on pro-Khalistan radical preacher Amritpal Singh, the Punjab government had shifted seven of his close aides to Assam's Dibrugarh jail after slapping them with the National Security Act. The voice message, which was received twice by some of the journalists in the afternoon, came from masked Indian pho

Free electricity, jobs for unemployed if AAP forms govt in Assam: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday promised free electricity and jobs for all youths in Assam if his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is voted to power in the Northeastern state. He also claimed the AAP government changed the face of Delhi in seven years, and that nothing but dirty politics took place in Assam, even though BJP has been in power in the state for the same duration. AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab are giving free electricity to their states, and it will be the same in Assam, too, if the party forms government, Kejriwal said at a rally here. He promised jobs for all unemployed youths of Assam if AAP is voted to power, adding that the party has given employment to 12 lakh people in Delhi in seven years, and 28,000 people in one year in Punjab. Kejriwal also assured of providing piped water to all households of Guwahati within a year of the AAP government in the state. "AAP came to power in Delhi in 2015 and the BJP here in 2016. Today, we have changed the face of

Assam has more than 580,000 landless families: Minister Jogen Mohan

Assam has more than 5.80 lakh landless families, and the present government has allotted pattas to over 1.35 lakh families, the state assembly was informed on Friday. Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Jogen Mohan said that the government was in the process of clearing encroached land and also making allocations to landless families according to various laws and regulations. Replying to questions by Independent legislator Akhil Gogoi, Mohan said there are 5,80,709 landless families in the state and they are allotted land in a phased manner as per the state's Land Policy of 2019. He said eviction drives to clear encroached land are carried out according to the Assam Land and Revenue Regulations, 1886. The minister dismissed an allegation that people belonging to a particular religion are taken into consideration while conducting these operations. Altogether 1,36,140 families have been provided with land pattas since April 1, 2021, under the current regime in the state, he ...

Awaiting Centre nod to new action plan on climate change: Assam minister

The Assam government is awaiting the Centre's approval for its action plan for 2021-30 to tackle climate change, state minister Keshab Mahanta said in the assembly on Friday. The plan had been drafted after due consultation with various government departments and other stakeholders, he said. Responding to a query by CPI(M) legislator Manoranjan Talukdar, Mahanta said the Assam State Action Plan on Climate Change 2021-30 had been approved by the state cabinet in July last year. It has then been forwarded to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for its approval, he said, adding that the plan will be issued as soon as the Centre gives its nod. Mahanta, the minister for science, technology and climate change, said the draft was prepared after holding consultations with various government departments and incorporating their suggestions. Other stakeholders and organisations were also called for discussion during the process, he said. The minister said steps to .

Assam government to negotiate over erection of boundary wall by IAF

With the Indian Air Force purportedly erecting a boundary wall around the memorial of noted litterateur Chandradhar Barua in Jorhat district, the Assam government on Friday said it will initiate negotiations with the stakeholders concerned. State Revenue Minister Jogen Mohan gave the assurance in the state Assembly after the matter was raised by BJP legislator Hitendra Nath Goswami during the Question Hour. We will ask the Jorhat DC to call for a meeting with the IAF and other stakeholders at the earliest and negotiate the matter, Mohan said. Barua (1874-1961) was a writer, poet, dramatist and lyricist and the second president of the Assam Sahitya Sabha. Goswami pointed out that Barua's family had donated land to the IAF in the Rowriah area of Jorhat to set up its base. An area was earmarked in the name of Rowriah Tea Garden Pvt Ltd on which Barua's memorial was erected by the family in the 1960s, the minister said. However, the portion has now been included within the IAF premi

Assam tea gardens get Rs 63 crore govt assistance to tackle pandemic losses

The Assam government disbursed Rs 63.05 crore as a financial incentive to 370 tea gardens in the state to help them mitigate the adverse impact of the pandemic. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the tea industry was the backbone of the state's economy, making up nearly 90 per cent of its gross export value, besides providing direct and indirect employment to over a million people. "It is due to the tea industry's huge impact on the economy of Assam that the state government formulated the Assam Tea Industry Special Incentive Scheme, 2020 to help the sector absorb some of the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic," he said at the disbursement programme on Thursday. Apart from providing interest subvention of 3 per cent on working capital loans, the financial grant was aimed at promoting orthodox tea over crush-tear-curl (CTC) tea, he said. Under this scheme, a subsidy of Rs 10 per kg of orthodox and other special varieties of tea have been given, Sarma said. To mark the 200th ..

Assam-Arunachal border row: Chief Ministers' level meeting held in Guwahati

The Assam Government has formed regional committees for talks with Arunachal Pradesh over the inter-state boundary issues with the neighbouring state

AFSPA to be extended in 8 Assam districts for another 6 months from April 1

The Assam government will extend the 'disturbed area' tag under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) for another six months in eight districts of the state from April 1. It will be extended for Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao, according to a notification issued by the state home and political department. The tag, however, would be lifted from Lakhipur sub-division of Cachar district from April 1, following a review of the law and order scenario in the state. The Centre had earlier announced removal of AFSPA from April 1, 2022 from the entire state of Assam barring nine districts and a sub-division of Cachar district. The state was declared a 'disturbed area' under AFSPA during the intervening night of November 27-28, 1990, and this has been extended every six months since then.

Assam govt extends AFSPA in eight districts for another 6 months

The Assam government has extended the 'disturbed area' notification under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) for another six months in eight districts of the state from April one next. The disturbed area tag has been extended for Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao, according to a notification, issued by the state home and political department, released to the media on Wednesday. The 'disturbed area' tag will, however, be lifted from Lakhipur sub-division of Cachar district from April 1, following a review of the law and order and security scenario in the state. The centre had earlier announced removal AFSPA from April 1, 2022 from the entire state of Assam barring nine districts and a sub-division of Cachar district. The state was declared a 'disturbed area' under AFSPA during the intervening night of November 27-28, 1990 and this has been extended every six months since then. It was last extended for six months on

Ruckus in Assam Assembly on Rahul Gandhi disqualification, 3 MLAs suspended

There was commotion in the Assam Assembly on Wednesday as a the Congress sough to introduce an adjournment motion to discuss party leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha

Meghalaya-Assam official talks on border row to begin soon: Conrad Sangma

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Tuesday said that the official talks with Assam on the remaining six areas of border disputes will begin soon this year