[Assam] Two fasts, two responses
Two fasts, two responses THE 72-year-old Gandhian Anna Hazare fasted for barely four days demanding that an anti-corruption law be introduced and he touched a raw nerve throughout the country. Voices of solidarity literally flooded in like a tidal wave from every part of the subcontinent, although he, too, had to face some serious controversies, especially on the question of his reluctance to take on the chief minister of his state, Narendra Modi. By contrast, another hunger-striker, Irom Sharmila, who has been on a fast for more than 10 years now to demand repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, has not attracted even a small fraction of the same attention in India. http://thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=367212&catid=52 ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
[Assam] Rs 40 lakh to pro-talk ULFA for daily expenses ( The Assam Tribune , 25.04.2011)
Rs 40 lakh to pro-talk ULFA for daily expenses NEW DELHI, April 24 – Believed to have led lavish lives in their heydays, pro-talks ULFA leaders have now been given Rs 40 lakh by the Centre for daily expenses and to run their families.The Home Ministry released the first instalment of financial assistance to the ULFA leaders, including ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa, ‘vice-president’ Pradip Gogoi and others besides its cadres – totalling approximately 400.“We have disbursed the money to the ULFA through the Assam government. The money has been given to take care of the daily expenses of ULFA members and other family requirements,” a Home Ministry official said. The Centre may release more funds to the banned group in the coming days.The ULFA was accused of extorting several hundred crores of rupess in Assam to buy arms, ammunition and for training its cadres. The group was also accused of running many businesses in neighbouring Bangladesh.The ULFA leaders, led by Rajkhowa, had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram in January for the first time after their arrest along the India-Bangladesh border in 2009, starting the peace negotiations with the government.The next peace dialogue between the government representatives and the ULFA leaders is likely to be held in June. The process has been delayed as the group is yet to fulfill the Centre’s condition to deposit their weapons before a substantial dialogue.The weapons are believed to be in the possession of two senior leaders of the ULFA but they are undecided on whether the outfit wants to double-lock the arms, that is keep it in joint custody with one set of keys remaining with the government and the other with the militant group.Double-locking is a standard practice of the government with surrendered militant groups during negotiation — an exception being the NSCN-IM.The firearms of the Naga National Council are under lock and key at Chidema peace camp near Kohima since 1964. More recently, the pro-talks NDFB double-locked its weapons. The government put the same argument before ULFA as a pre-requisite for a formal dialogue.Meanwhile, the Centre and the Assam government have agreed to allocate land to the group in Nalbari district to set up a designated camp for the ULFA cadres. Officials said it is here that the weapons may be deposited. ( The Assam Tribune , 25.04.2011) ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
Re: [Assam] St. Louis storm
Enjoy your trip C'da... send us some photos On Sun, Apr 24, 2011 at 7:48 AM, Chan Mahanta wrote: > We are fine Ram. Thanks for checking. We were right in the middle of the > storm's projected trajectory, but it > spared us. We were affected however. We were due to fly out Sat.day AM for > a short vacation. We were > re-scheduled to fly via Peoria, Illinois three hours of driving away. It > was a long, long day yesterday. But we > are at our destination, relaxing in the lovely warmth of sunrise on the Bay > of Mexico. > > We still don't know about returning on WEdnesday, whether it will be to > St.L or to Peoria. > > c-da > > > > > > > On Apr 23, 2011, at 10:07 AM, Ram Dhar wrote: > > >> Chandanda, >> Hope all is well with you guys . Just watched it in CNN that they have >> closed the Int'l airport indefinitely after a major storm hit St. >> Louis. >> >> thanks >> RD >> >> >> ___ >> assam mailing list >> assam@assamnet.org >> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org >> > > > ___ > assam mailing list > assam@assamnet.org > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
Re: [Assam] St. Louis storm
Chandana, Good to hear from you. Looks like there is one more severe weather developing in pacific which will revisit the heartland this week again. It has been a very long winter in east coast as well, sick of the prolonged cold spell. However, it looks like spring is finally here and its a glorious day here in garden state. Enjoy your vacation in the bay of Mexico . Take care RD > From: cmaha...@gmail.com > To: assam@assamnet.org > Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2011 07:48:29 -0500 > Subject: Re: [Assam] St. Louis storm > > We are fine Ram. Thanks for checking. We were right in the middle of > the storm's projected trajectory, but it > spared us. We were affected however. We were due to fly out Sat.day AM > for a short vacation. We were > re-scheduled to fly via Peoria, Illinois three hours of driving away. > It was a long, long day yesterday. But we > are at our destination, relaxing in the lovely warmth of sunrise on > the Bay of Mexico. > > We still don't know about returning on WEdnesday, whether it will be > to St.L or to Peoria. > > c-da > > > > > > On Apr 23, 2011, at 10:07 AM, Ram Dhar wrote: > > > > > Chandanda, > > Hope all is well with you guys . Just watched it in CNN that they > > have closed the Int'l airport indefinitely after a major storm > > hit St. Louis. > > > > thanks > > RD > > > > > > ___ > > assam mailing list > > assam@assamnet.org > > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > ___ > assam mailing list > assam@assamnet.org > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
Re: [Assam] St. Louis storm
We are fine Ram. Thanks for checking. We were right in the middle of the storm's projected trajectory, but it spared us. We were affected however. We were due to fly out Sat.day AM for a short vacation. We were re-scheduled to fly via Peoria, Illinois three hours of driving away. It was a long, long day yesterday. But we are at our destination, relaxing in the lovely warmth of sunrise on the Bay of Mexico. We still don't know about returning on WEdnesday, whether it will be to St.L or to Peoria. c-da On Apr 23, 2011, at 10:07 AM, Ram Dhar wrote: Chandanda, Hope all is well with you guys . Just watched it in CNN that they have closed the Int'l airport indefinitely after a major storm hit St. Louis. thanks RD ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
[Assam] Gujarat tea buyers team visits State ( The Assam Tribune , 24.04.2011).
Gujarat tea buyers team visits State Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, April 23 – A 34-member team of tea buyers from Gujarat, led by the Ahmedabad Tea Merchants’ Association, has arrived in the State on a seven-day visit since April 20. The team will visit the tea plantation, tea factories and interact with the stakeholders to know the process of tea production. This team will try to understand the tea industry and the process of making quality tea from the buyers’ point of view.During the visit, the team members comprising packeteers, retailers, semi-wholesalers, wholesalers, auction buyers and commission agents, will visit some of the tea estates of Dibrugarh, Sivasagar and the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC). They have already visited some of the tea estates of Jorhat district, Tocklai Experimental Station and a tea estate in Karbi Anglong district and a bought leaf factory in Golaghat district.The visit has been described by the tea industry sources here as an important event in the history of the State’s tea industry. For Gujarat is known for the quality tea it procures. Gujarat has been procuring, on an average, 60 per cent of the good quality tea sold in the GTAC. It procures around 50 million kilograms (kgs) of Assam tea in a year and this constitutes around 12 per cent of the total tea produced in the Brahmaputra Valley of the State in a year. This western State has emerged as the third highest tea consuming State of the country and it has recorded a per capita consumption of 1.4 kgs, against the national average of 750 grams, said the sources.According to tea industry sources, the Gujarat traders took part in an interactive meeting with the 60 tea producers and sellers belonging to Karbi Anglong, Golaghat, Jorhat and Sivasagar districts yesterday at the Golaghat office of the North Eastern Tea Association (NETA). It needs mention here that the tea produced in Golaghat district is considered to be the best in the world. The district, along with its adjacent Jorhat and Karbi Anglong districts, is endowed with a good climatic and soil condition. There is a saying that one can’t make bad tea in the Golaghat belt.Actively taking part in the interactive meet, president of the Ahmedabad Tea Merchants’ Association HP Agarwal, its secretary Tejal Shah, advisor Ashok Relia and other members said that they were amazed to see tea plantations in a difficult terrain of Karbi Anglong and the amount of hard work put by the tea planters to manufacture quality tea.The seller members of the NETA tried to impress upon the Gujarat buyers that the bought leaf factories also produce equally good tea at par with the estate factories and there should not be any misgiving that the bought leaf factories produce bad tea. The buyers should not be guided by a pre-conceived idea about the quality of the tea at the time of making the buying bids, the NETA seller members said.NETA chairman Bidyananda Barkakoty, who presided over the Golaghat interactive session, described the day as a red letter day for tea trade in Assam and the State’s tea industry as a whole. HP Agarwal told this newspaper that the members of the team, which has been visiting the State, have found Golaghat and Karbi Anglong tea very interesting. For, the tea planters here have been putting on a lot of hard work to produce quality tea despite their plantations and factories being located at interior places. The visitors from Gujarat will also visit tea brokers firm J Thomas located in Guwahati and will take part in an interaction with the stakeholders of the GTAC. They will also visit the tea warehouses located in the city, said the sources. ( The Assam Tribune , 24.04.2011) ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
[Assam] Sathya Sai Baba
Spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba passes away http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Baba-said-he-would-return-stronger-claims-book/articleshow/8069074.cms ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
