<p>Order of the Gauhati High Court in the matter of Hasibur Rahman Vs State of Assam & Others dated 19/04/2024.</p> <p>The state of Assam vide Notification, January 20, 2024 has published a Standard
Allegations are rife that the Block Development Officer (BDO) Madhu Sudhan Nath of Ruposi development block under Barpeta district has misappropriated a huge amount of Government fund meant for variou
The Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) has denied having received any report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) experts on the flood and erosion problems of Assam.
The present study offers essential base-line data on forest ecosystem dynamics following disturbance, which might help in the redevelopment or reconstruction of degraded forests.
Not just the famed one-horned rhino, but the dense forests sheltering it are also in danger in Asom, as poaching and deforestation continues unabated.
Asom Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today gave away appointment letters to as many as 3,548 unemployed youths of the State against technical and non-technical posts under the National Rural Health Mission
Assam hopes to revive the tea industry's flagging fortunes using the Internet. TERESA REHMAN reports from Guwahati
KOKRAJHAR
Urging the people from the cross-sections of the society not to ponder much over what the Northeast region got and what it did not from the recently announced General Budget, Prof Dr Madhurjya Bezbaruah of Gauhati University instead said that the focal point should now be to keep a close eye on the implementation aspect, which would eventually determine the growth of the country as a whole and the Northeast in particular. Calling the General Budget as an election Budget, Dr Bezbaruah stressed on the need for an inclusive growth by bridging the gap between the haves and the have-nots, which is one of the biggest challenges before the 11th Five Year Plan. Dr Bezbaruah was speaking during a discussion on the recently announced General and Railway Budgets, which was organised under the aegis of the All Assam Students' Union and the Asom Unnati Sabha. The Northeast, especially Assam, in recent times, has witnessed a phase where a series of development schemes has been initiated, but when it comes to the implementation of the schemes, there has always been a question mark. "A proper implementation monitoring system is what we need at this moment,' he pointed out. He also rued over the fact that unlike some of the other educational institutes of the country, some of the oldest and premier educational institutes of the State like the Cotton College and the Gauhati University had failed to draw the attention of the Union Finance Minister, which is a matter of concern. Dr Bezbaruah also took an exception to the Union Finance Minister's decision to waive off loans of the farmers, stating that it might well destroy the rural loan market. "The Government can help the cause of farmers by encouraging bank and institutional loan system,' he pointed out. RS Joshi, director, FINER, while echoing the concerns of Bezbaruah, further said that political aspirations have overtaken the recently announced General Budget. He, while mentioning that the allocation for the North East in the Budget has remained more and less stagnant, further called for giving stress on the service sector which contributes heavily to the country's economy. "Though the country's overall GDP growth is 8.7 per cent, the north-eastern States' growth rate is however lagging behind,' Joshi stated, adding, "The North East has to be in the scheme of things of the Union Government if the regional imbalances in the country are to be bridged.' S Borborah of Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, while stressing the need for expediting infrastructure development, said, "More than allocation, evaluation and monitoring of various projects is what can produce greater dividends.'
The implementation of the Supplementary Nutritional Programme (SNP) in Assam is "tardy and failure.' It is handicapped by long spells of non-feeding days, inequality in and manipulation of the allotment for nutrition, diversion of the allotment without compensatory replacement and incurring of excess expenditure,' according to a report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG). The report, tabled in the Assembly on Monday, showed that the Assam government did not provide funds for the SNP during the financial years between 2002-03 and 2004-05. The additional Central assistance of Rs. 135.86 crore for nutrition meant exclusively for children below three years was diverted for providing nutrition to all groups of beneficiaries.
The Assam government on Thursday banned clinical trials on humans of a genetically engineered vaccine developed by Dhaniram Baruah, a cardiac surgeon from the State. He claimed that the vaccine corrected genetic defects causing heart diseases and diabetes and even prevented cancer. Dr. Baruah was jailed by the State government in 1997 following the death of patient on whom he had carried out a transplantation of a pig's heart. The operation took place at his institute, the Dr. Baurah Heart City located at Sonapur, 20 km from here. He was released the same year. State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma told the Assam Assembly that the State government would ask Dr. Baruah not to carry out further clinical trials of the vaccine without first obtaining a licence for it. The Minister said the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Drug and Magic Remedies Act, 1955 stipulated that after the successful clinical trial of any new drug on animals, one had to take the permission of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization for carrying out clinical trials on two humans after obtaining their consent. If the test on the two was successful then fresh permission had to be taken for conducting further trials on 10 more persons to establish its medical success. The Health Minister informed the House that Dr. Baruah had not obtained any permission from the drugs control authorities. Replying to a zero hour notice raised by Communist Party of India (Marxist) Ananta Deka, the Minister said the State government would also urge Dr. Baruah to hand over the materials in support of his claim for onward submission to the drugs control authorities. Mr. Deka drew the attention of the Minister to newspaper reports about Dr. Baruah's claim and demanded a high level probe.
