Aliens before Natives

Just one Badruddin Ajmal of the AUDF getting elected to Parliament has exposed brilliantly the present vulnerability of the Congress that has always placed party and electoral victory above the country and its integrity and security. This is a legitimate charge that we have levelled against the Congress in this column for decades without the party ever venturing to rebut us on this issue. If anything, the knee-jerk reaction of the Congress to Badruddin Ajmal’s electoral victory and the hazards this spells for the Congress’ prospects in the ensuing Assembly bye-elections constitutes a pathetic commentary on the myopic and anti-national policies of the Congress merely to win elections and remain in power regardless of the consequences of such a course of action to national interests. In fact, one has to go back to 1996 to analyse some of the events that gave rise to disaffection for the Congress among the Bangladeshi voters.

One recalls how, just after the Assembly elections of 1996, there was serious ethnic conflict between the Bodos and the Adivasis living in the Bodo-dominated areas of the State as well as between the Bodos and Bangladeshi immigrants illegally squatting on government land and forest reserves. The AGP had come to power for the second time, and the defeated Congress government had left both the administration and the State exchequer in a shambles before quitting. Bodo militants had embarked on a spree of ethnic cleansing as well. Twenty-two refugee camps had had to be opened in the districts of Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar and Chirang. The clashes of 1996 and a few subsequent ones had led to 11,092 refugees taking shelter in these refugee camps and living in sub-human conditions. As a result of many of the Adivasi refugees having returned home, the majority of the remaining inmates of the refugee camps were Muslims — mainly from Bangladesh.

Badruddin Ajmal’s victory in the Lok Sabha election and the fear of an AUDF candidate also winning the forthcoming bye-election to the Asom Assembly have pushed the Congress to the typical knee-jerk reactions that are inevitable for a political party that cannot hope to win on performance and must look for other electoral equations to prevent the AUDF from taking over the Congress strongholds. What has made matters worse is Badruddin Ajmal’s visit to the refugee camps and his request to the State government that the inmates of the refugee camps be rehabilitated. So what does the State government do? It looks for government land on which it can settle the alien poachers masquerading as Indian minorities. And since it can find no more than just 185 bighas of it, it has even decided to give these alien poachers money to buy land in Bodo territory and hopefully go on voting for the Congress rather than the AUDF. So just because the AUDF has to be countered in the districts of Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar and Chirang, the State government is going to pretend that the Bangladeshis in the refugee camps are the true children of the soil, the true bhoomiputras who have been dispossessed by the Bodos, and they must now be rescued from the refugee camps and rehabilitated! What could be a greater travesty of the truth than to deny the Bodos their very heritage and their age-old status as one of the oldest inhabitants of the State? So just for a few votes against the AUDF, the Tarun Gogoi government is now about to treat the alien poacher as the real Indian and to paint the true dyed-in-the-wool Bodo, who rightly resists the encroachment of the tribal belts and the forest reserves by Bangladeshi intruders from another land, as an offender in the very land of his birth! This is electoral politics as its very worst, practised by the myopic and incompetent lot who failed to foresee the fallout of decades of illegal and anti-national political activity. THE SENTINEL

Statement on Education

One of the most welcome changes in the Union cabinet this time is the jettisoning of Arjun Singh as HRD minister after a very long and unproductive innings at the top. During his long stint as Union HRD minister he worked overtime to establish his own cardinal principle about education: there is nothing at all worthwhile in Indian pedagogic traditions, and therefore, if India were to make progress, the nation would do well to stick with Macaulay and to borrow everything from the West even if it meant making an unholy kedgeree of higher education. In about four decades of the stranglehold that he maintained on education, he took away much of the Indians’ legitimate pride in their academic heritage. Not content with that, he encouraged the distortion of Indian history in the textbooks for school children on the plea of making even history ‘secular’ according to the Congress definition of the word. Most people in the groves of Academe would probably be happy to see Kapil Sibal as the Union HRD minister, since he is keenly aware of the need for constant change in the education sector. However, one cannot help worrying about his statement of Friday that the education programmes initiated by Arjun Singh would not be scrapped. What adds poignancy to the overall fear is Kapil Sibal’s statement: “I respect my predecessor who is a respectable Congress leader.” Whatever Arjun Singh might have been as a Congress leader, as HRD minister he was an unmitigated disaster for the country. Whatever academic excellence there might have been at the level of higher education in India during the last four decades (and there has been so little) has not been because of Arjun Singh’s initiatives, but rather in spite of them. THE SENTINEL

Goutam Roy takes a dig at Sontosh Mohan Dev

SILCHAR, May 30: After a brief lull, the much-hyped ego clash between former Union Minister Sontosh Mohan Dev and state’s excise Minister Goutam Roy surfaced once again as the latter took a dig at the former for allegedly manipulating the inclusion of Karimganj MP Lalit Mohan Suklavaidya into the Manmohan Singh ministry.

Roy said, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi tried his best for getting a minister berths for Suklabaidya, a Bengali Hindu and Barpeta MP Ismail Hussain, a Bengali Muslim, but Dev allegedly posed hurdles for them. Roy said, Dev lot the election but he still wished to present himself as the face of the Bengali community in Delhi.

Roy made his intention of strengthening his seat in Silchar after Dev’s miserable defeat clear as he said, Dev had to clarify the facts about utilisation of funds he had reportedly brought from the Central Government of which he was a Cabinet Minister. Claiming that Muslims of Cachar had cast their votes in favour of Congress in the re-election, Roy said, he would try to send a representative from Barak valley to the Rajya Sabha. THE SENTINEL

31 labourers held by Mizo police

SILCHAR, May 30: Tension gripped the Asom-Mizoram border at Lailapur of Cachar as 31 labourers from this side of the border were locked up in Kolacib PS. Sources said, altogether 93 labourers went to Vairengte of Mizoram in search of work yesterday. They were eventually detained by Vairengte police as the labourers could not reportedly produce their Inner line permit or certificate from the local panchayats.

However, some of the labourers were later released as some Mizo people told the police that they had hired the labourers. Remaining 31 labourers were detained by Kolasib police. Dholai PS OC Aizur Rahman told The Sentinel today that till Saturday evening there had been no news from Kolasib about the release of the labourers.

Sources said, the new Congress government in Mizoram had made ILP mandatory even for the labourers who need to enter Vairengte in search of work.

Later, a district-level party between Cachar and Kolasib decided that these labourers would be allowed to enter into Mizoram if they could produce certificates from the local panchayat.

Dholai Panchayat GP authority has agreed to issue such certificates, but some labourers yesterday intruded into Vairengte without the certificates from the panchayat body.

On Friday night, Rahman and other police officers went to Kolasib for releasing the 31 labourers, but they were sent back by their Kolasib counter-part with the assurance that the labourers would be released on Saturday.

Rahman hoped the labourers would reach home today night. He further claimed that the situation was normal. THE SENTINEL

Famous footballer Prabhas Dev no more

From our Staff Reporter
SILCHAR, May 30: Prabhas Dev, a famous footballer of the yesteryears as well as eminent sports organizer, breathed his last on Thursday during the wee hours. Dev was 62. He left behind his wife. Mortal remains of Dev were brought to the Salindra Mohan stadium where hundreds of sports lovers paid last tribute to the departed soul.

It is to be noted that Dev was a famous footballer of the sixties. He was also an ace shuttler. Later he earned popularity as a sport organizer. He was also the assistant general secretary of Silchar District Sports Association for four years from 1990. THE SENTINEL

Assam HSLC and HSSLC results

The recently-declared results of the HSLC and HSSLC examinations have confirmed a welcome trend with an increasing number of students from small towns and villages making it to the top slots. A number of educational institutions from mofussil and interior areas have come up with commendable performances in both the examinations. That more and more such institutions are competing with their established counterparts on equal terms is something that augurs well for the State’s education sector. The success stories emanating from small towns and villages are bound to have a stimulating impact on scores of students with unfavourable backgrounds. Another conspicuous trend in recent years has been the rising pass percentage. At 61.55, this year’s HSLC pass percentage is the highest ever. In fact, the pass percentage has almost doubled in the last one decade. A noticeable increase in pass percentage is evident in the HSSLC examination also, especially in Arts and Commerce streams. Despite this excellence, it could still be debatable to attribute it solely to a better performance by the students, given that the marking system practised nowadays is a lot more liberal than earlier.

The elation over the results, however, should not make us oblivious to the darker shades of the picture. The grim reality confronting us is that well over one-third of the candidates have been unsuccessful, with many of them facing an uncertain future. The situation calls for according proper thrust on vocational education which can absorb a sizeable quantity of students, depending on their option and aptitude. The district-wise performance reveals that some districts have constantly been faring poorly. The lacunae behind their below-par performance need to be identified and addressed at the earliest. On the positive front, a backward and perennially flood-ravaged district like Dhemaji has been ranked second with a high pass percentage of 75.91. The good performance by Assamese-medium schools is another heartening development. A special mention has to be made of a relatively new private-run vernacular school like Axam Jatiya Vidyalaya, which has consistently been producing toppers for several years. Known for its methodical and disciplined approach to education, Jatiya Vidyalaya gives priority to both spoken and written English — a rarity in government-run vernacular schools. ASSAM TRIBUNE

Euphoria over exam results

D. N. Bezboruah

The present euphoria in Asom over the high percentage of success in the High School Leaving (HSLC) Examination of 2009 conducted by the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) is well justified for at least two reasons. In the first place, the newspapers and TV channels are so full of bad news these days that every bit of good news that touches one and all is cause enough for rejoicing. Secondly, the success rates of the HSLC examinations conducted by the SEBA have been so dismal in the past that a percentage of pass of anything above even 50 per cent is deemed to be excellent. And this year we have had a record, with the success rate at 61.55 per cent – the highest in the last ten years. However, the point that is being missed is that in most advanced countries a success rate of 61.55 per cent would be regarded as a rather low level of performance. But the euphoria was bound to be there in a State where we have had success rates as low as 26 per cent and 35 per cent for many years in the previous decade. I don’t have to tell anyone that such low rates of success in school final examinations are abnormal and indicative of very serious aberrations in the process of education. When only 26 per cent of all candidates appearing in the school final examination of any country or State ass in the examination the clear message that goes out is that 74 per cent or nearly three-quarters of the students taking the examination deserved to fail. I can assure my readers that there is no society anywhere on this planet where 74 per cent of the children deserve to fail at the school final examination. There is such a thing as the normal distribution curve in Statistics (often referred to as the bell-shaped curve) that tells us that a failure rate of 74 per cent is a very serious aberration. Something like this can happen only when there have been serious lapses in teaching or when students have been tested on what they haven’t been taught or when the scoring of answer scripts has been done in a very irresponsible manner. When the situation remains unchanged over several years and the percentage of pass remains abysmally low for years, there is a clear indication that the SEBA has not been alive to the grim significance of the examination results because it probably does not have anyone trained in educational evaluation or anyone with the guts to tell the bosses about the kind of aberrations that must exist in the teaching and/or testing procedures. My information about the examination wing of SEBA confirms my suspicion about the lack of trained personnel among the SEBA staff in charge of examinations.

When you have a situation like this, you can have all kinds of aberrations related to examinations that even affect the teaching-learning situation. The Board can remain insensitive to abnormally low success rates over many years. Likewise, when the powers that be are suitably embarrassed about the low percentage of success, officers can make examinations very easy, instruct examiners to be very lenient about their markings and increase the grace marks to even double the success rate within a year. This is no more than a badly-performed ritual which says nothing about the health of the education system in the State but pleases everyone in a society obsessed with examination results even when the examinations are often neither valid nor reliable. Most people would like to know the significance of what the words valid (or validity) and reliable (or reliability) in the context of examinations are. I shall make an attempt to put them in as simple and untechnical language as possible. But I know that my credentials to talk about examinations are bound to be questioned. And why not? So a little bit of personal background may be in order. At some point in my days related to education I went and did a certificate course in Educational Evaluation conducted by the NCERT. Later on, I was a resource person and consultant on Language Testing and Examination Reform for language to States like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Rajasthan, the Union Territory of Pondicherry and for the Central Board of Secondary Education and SEBA. I have lost count of the workshops and training courses on examination reform and language testing I have participated in. Any test or examination is a measuring device for some kind of achievement or performance. There can be tests for things like aptitude, just as there can be prognostic tests about how someone is likely to perform in a future test on the basis of past performance at other tests. Any measuring device has to be precise, reliable and valid, meaning that the device enables us to measure what we are trying to measure with considerable accuracy. So, in educational evaluation we are primarily concerned with validity and reliability. Validity has to do with the right choice of the measuring instrument for what we are trying to measure. One can look at it in two ways – one that is appropriate for any situation and another that is directly related to the examination scenario. When I am buying potatoes, the obvious measuring instrument is a pair of scales. No one would dream of using a measuring tape to buy potatoes just as no one would use anything except a measuring tape or rod to buy cloth. We must use valid measuring instruments for the job we have. And take the green grocer who uses a pair of scales quite deftly to weigh peas or potatoes. But take him into a chemistry lab and ask him to use the chemical balance. He may fail to do so, because he has not been trained to use a chemical balance. So we see that while routine measurements may not call for any training, any sophisticated measurements require training. In the examination situation, anyone who deducts marks for spelling mistakes in a Mathematics paper is making measurements that are not valid. The Mathematics test was not the valid instrument for measuring spelling ability.

Apart from being valid, a measuring instrument must also be reliable. In other words, it should be accurate. But look at some of our language tests. The paper may carry 100 marks. But are the zero and the 100 on that scale really working. How many examinees ever get a zero in a language test? How many ever got above 80? In other words, we have a scale that begins at around seven or eight and ends at around 80. This is an unreliable measuring instrument. And even a reliable measuring instrument could become unreliable when the examiner, too overloaded with answer scripts, gets some of them examined by the spouse.

There are other aspects of unreliability that often get overlooked. When we were students, the few objective type of tests for language that we had were confined to the grammar paper. The other language papers only had questions that called for long essay-type answers. This led to a great deal of subjectivity in assessment that made the measuring instrument unreliable to a point. This is best established by the fact that the same answer script would get different marks at the hands of different examiners. But while the increasing number of objective-type questions reduced the subjective element in evaluation, we have got ourselves into another kind of unreliability. In a language test, objective tests and short answer-type tests fail to measure the skill of composition and the ability of the examinee to produce at least a paragraph of correct connected writing. This is a rather unfortunate aspect of failure in a language test.

All said and done, the present obsession of parents and guardians with examinations and examination results is unfortunate, considering that we have long been dealing with undependable examination results. These examinations that are deemed to determine the fates of our students are neither always valid nor reliable. They give people undeserved advantages in those cases where the very tradition of the examining board is very liberal. It is certainly not true that the student from Bihar who has got a job because he got 90 per cent marks in his school final or B.A. examination is better than his counterpart in Asom who has got only 75 per cent in the comparable examination. Here the examiners are not quite so liberal. But the candidate from Bihar gets the job in preference to a better candidate merely because his marks read better.

That is precisely why it is so important for parents to get out of their present unhealthy obsession with examinations and examination results as far as their children’s education is concerned. This is perhaps the only country in the world where a few children commit suicide every year for not being able to get the kind of marks at school final examinations that their parents expected. What a terrible tragedy! What a terrible snuffing out of lives at adolescence for no rhyme or reason! It is high time parents got out of this examination obsession and got their children to read for enjoyment, to learn, to reason, to form opinions, evaluate experiences and acquire skills. That way, they would be far better rounded personalities and far better prepared for life than with the present single-minded obsession with scoring high marks at moth-eaten examinations that are often neither valid nor reliable. THE SENTINEL

Come clear on rise of over 24 lakh voters in Asom in just 5 years: BJP

GUWAHATI, May 30: The BJP has today demanded of the Centre and Asom Government to come clear on the abnormal rise of over 24 lakh voters in Asom during the last five-year period from 2004 to 2009 that has posed a serious threat to the demography of the State.

Talking to newsmen in Guwahati today, BJP’s Northeast observer Harendra Pratap said: “In the five-year period from 2004 to 2009, the number of voters has risen in Asom by 24,28,743. The rise in number of voters was 7,13,000 in the five-year period from 1999 to 2004. This abnormal rise in the number of voters in Asom by 24,28,743 in just five years has posed a serious threat to the demography of the State. We want the Centre and the State Government to come clear on the reasons behind this abnormal rise in the number of voters.”

On the results of the recent Lok Sabha polls, the BJP leader said: “Had the AGP-BJP seat-sharing been declared much before the polls, both the parties would have fared better in the elections. Due to lack of time, in some places BJP votes were not transferred to the AGP and vice versa. In 2011, the AGP-BJP combine will form the Government at Dispur.”

State BJP president Ramen Deka said: “The State unit of the party will review the party’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls on June 16, and presidents and general secretaries of Northeast BJP committees will meet on June 17 to decide the role to be taken by the party in the region. On that day, the four MPs and ten MLAs of the party in the State will meet the Governor and demand relief for flood-affected people. On June 23, the party will observe ‘sacrifice day’ of BJP founder Dr Shyamaprasad Mukherjee and raise the demand for compensation to the riot-affected people in the State.” THE Sentinel

Priyanuj Bhuyan and Jyotirmoy Rajbongshi 1st and 2nd

Priyanuj Bhuyan (in yellow shirt) of Chirst Jyoti School, Nagaon and Jyotirmoy Rajbongshi (in white shirt) of Axom Jatiya Vidyalaya, Guwahati, who stood first and second respectively in the HSLC Examination 2009, celebrating with family and friends. (Sentinel)

Private institutes dominate Cachar

Silchar not in merit list

Assam HSLC examination Results

SILCHAR, May 29: As expected, private institutes once more outshone government schools in the HSLC examination results producing rank holders every year. Although this is the first in recent times that Cachar did not figure in the merit list including 63 students in the first 20 position.

Last year too, just a single student from Suburban Udharband made it to the merit list. This year, Cachar, which once dominated the merit list in the state, has failed to produce a single rank holder.

Altogether 12,255 students appeared in the HSLC exam from Cachar district out of which 7,927 passed out. 788 students secured first division, 1,657 secured second and 5,482 students secured the third division. Percentage of pass students was 64.841.

Ankit Kumar Sethia of Silchar Muktasree School secured 100 marks in mathematics, the best in the state. Sandip Nath of Kalain Adarsh Vidyapeeth secured 90 as the highest marks in Bengali.
Like the previous years, private institutes in Silchar maintained supremacy in the result sheet while the Government Schools recorded a dismal performance. The oldest missionary school in the town Holy Cross School was on the top list with 84 first division holders this year, among 90 students. Remaining six students passed in the second division.

Silchar Collegiate School, another prominent private institute, recorded a cent per cent success as all the 133 students of this school passed out with flying colours. 109 students secured first division and a total of 329 letters came to this school.

The debutante Ramanuj Gupta memorial High School also started its sojourn with a remarkable success as out of 35 students, 24 passed in first division and nine in second division. Total number of letters were 78.

In comparison to this brighter story of private institutes, the government schools in Silchar were given a tough competition by the private ones. 110 students appeared from Adharchand School and 103 passed out but only 18 could secure first division, 31 in the second division and the remaining 54 secured the third division. Four students got star marks and just 30 letters came to the school.

Silchar Government Boys school, which once produced a number of meritorious students, had to be content with a single first division. Only 18 students appeared from here and all passed with 11 in the second division while five students got letter marks in Persian.

Government schools like Shyama Charan Dev Vidyapeeth and Manmohan Valika Vidyalaya could not produce a single first division. Same was the story with Tarapur Girls’ Higher Secondary school where nine out of 18 students passed, only two in second division and the remaining seven in third division.

In Hailakandi, all together 4,495 students appeared in the HSLC examination this year. Out of these, 2,008 students passed (44.67 per cent) with 210 in the first division, 482 in the second division and 1,316 in the third division.

In Karimganj, 2,619 students out of 5,674 appeared this year and made it to the HS level. Percentage of pass was 46.15 per cent with 325 securing the first division, 569 second and 1,725 students securing the third division.

However, Kishan Sen Laskar of Karimganj Rowland Memorial High School stood eighth in the merit list with a total of 559 marks. THE SENTINEL

Vigilance Cell raids Education employees’ houses

SILCHAR, May 28: Anti-corruption and vigilance cell of Assam Police raided the residence of three employees of the Education Department here in Silchar today in connection with the 1997 LTC scam in the department. The team led by DSP Dinesh K Bhagawati raided the Tarapur Shibari residence of Nirmal Das, Rongpur residence of Karunamoy Deb and Rajan Ahmed Majumdar’s house at Sonabarighat.

Among them, Deb an Upper Division assistant, had already retired from his service. The team was tight-lipped about the raids, though a source indicated that some important documents have been seized from their residence. It is to be noted that, Jalal Ahmed Majumdar, the district Elementary officer during whose tenure the Rs 1 crore scam occurred, had died a few years back. THE SENTINEL

Research under way on philosophy of Geetiswami vis-à-vis Bishnu Rabha

GUWAHATI, May 28: A UGC-sponsored research on the social philosophy of Gokulananda Geetiswami, a harbinger of social consciousness in the Bishnupriya Manipuri community, in relevance with that of Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha is under way. Prof Prabhat Sinha, Head of the Department of Political Science, Radhamadhab College, Silchar, is doing the research work. It is worth mentioning here that Prof Sinha got Ph.D from Assam University on “Evolution of Socio-Political Consciousness among the Bishnupriya Manipuris of Assam since 20th Century” under the guidance of Dr Tanmoy Bhattacharjee, a professor of Assam University, recently.Prof Sinha has already submitted the thesis of yet another UGC-sponsored research work on “Women Empowerment of Backward Communities: a Case Study of the Bishnupriya Manipuris in Barak Valley.” Prof Prabhat Sinha is the son of late Jitendra Kumar Sinha and Ramani Devi of village Nurkha under Patharkandi police station in Karimganj district. THE SENTINEL

AUDF not a ‘happy family’ in Barak

SILCHAR, May 27: The AUDF might have succeeded in establishing itself as a considerable political force in Barak Valley finishing second in both the Parliamentary constituencies in the valley. Party supremo Badrauddin Ajmal, though, could not win the prestigious Silchar seat, but it was indeed a matter of pride for the perfume boron to push the Congress heavy weight Sontosh Mohan Dev to the third position.

In Karimganj constituency also, AUDF’s Rajesh Mallah maintained a considerable lead right from the beginning of counting but in the last moment, Congress candidate Lalit Mohan Shuklabaidya reversed the table with blessings of his political mentor Gautam Roy.

AUDF narrowly lost the Karimganj seat but the Amal brigade had succeeded in proving that they were a powerful political force. AUDF had reasons to celebrate but in reality AUDF was a disturbed family, a family in turmoil.

Rajesh Mallah was accused of sacrificing the sureshot Karimganj seat following a last minute deal with Gautam Roy who had reportedly assured him a Congress ticket for Ratabari SC seat in 2011 Assembly election as well as a hefty amount of Rs 50 lakh.

Most surprisingly, AUDF candidate Anil Nath who gave Roy a run for his money in 2006 Assembly election in the latter’s strong fort in Katlicherra, openly expressed doubt over Mallah’s integrity.

Even, the party’s working president Hafiz Rashid Choudhury told The Sentinel that Mallah had erred in not raising a voice of protest when he found the counting was not done in a proper manner.

Talking to The Sentinel, Mallah who is now in Guwahati to discuss, the issue of the allegation of a last minute deal between Roy and Mallah with Mallah sacrificing the seat, with Ajmal said, Nath was entrusted with the job of a deputy counting agent in Hailakandi district and now he should take moral responsibility if his machinery failed to Roy’s sinister design.

In Cachar, the picture was almost the same, the only difference was that in Silchar, the candidate was none other than Ajmal himself. But in spite of that, a major gorup of the district unit had raised fingers against party MLA Ataur Rahman Majharbhuiya, general secretary Altaf Hussain Mazumdar and youth leader Saminul Haque Barbhuiya alleging that the trio had laundered a huge amount of money, Ajmal had given them for party works during the election.

On April 7, just a week before the election, Ajmal sent Ajmal Group chief accountant Abbasuddin who looked after the accounts of the groups business in at least seven countries to check the accounts in Silchar. Abbasuddin had reportedly found lots of irregularities. He found that payments were made against vouchers countersigned by either Majharbhuiya or Majumder or Barbhuiya.

They had completely ignored the district committee president Anup Choudhury, a Hindu advocate. Majharbhuiya had discouraged Choudhury’s suggestion of holiding a rally in Silchar on the grounds that AUDF did not want Hindu votes.

AUDF’s Baskhola unit had raised a sharp voice against the trio in a meeting at Arjan Ali memorial high school in Jatingamukh on Sunday. Nekbut Jaman Laskar, a youth leader of AUDF openly criticised the role of Saminul and Altaf alleging that they did not properly disburse the money among the party workers though Ajmal had supplied them with sufficient money.

Meanwhile, a source said Saminul was detained by Udharbond police on April 16. Saminul was allegedly carrying Rs 6.5 lakh with him.

Police confirmed the detention of Saminul admitting that he spent the night in police station but denied that he was carrying money with him. THE SENTINEL

Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam remembered

HAILAKANDI, May 27: Birth anniversary of Bidrohi Kavi Kazi Nazrul Islam was observed here at Rabindra Bhavan yesterday under the aegis of Barak Upatyaka Banga Sahitya -D- Sanskriti Sammelan, Hailakandi unit. Unit president Promod Chandra Nath presided over the function which included garlanding of the poet’s portrait followed by singing of Nazrul geeti, recitation of poems and panel discussion on the life and works of Nazrul Islam. BUBSS central president N Bhattacharjee, poet Ashutosh Das, Subrata Purkayastha, S Bhattacharjee, Kallol Choudhury and Ak Paul participated in the discussion and urged upon the people to follow the teachings of Kazi Nazrul in the present context. THE SENTINEL

Workshop on improving artisan livelihood held

SILCHAR, May 27: A three-day workshop on artisans using forest resources and devising strategies for conservation of the resources and enhancement of their livelihood was started in Silchar on Tuesday.

Inaugurating the workshop, Assam University Pro-VC Prof G D Sarmah said in India there were 2.16 millions artisans and 16 per cent revenue of the country is earned from export of the products made by these artisans.

Sarmah stressed on the need for marketing facilities for the local products of the artisans. He hoped the government would initiate some policies to ensure subsidy to the products of the local artisans so that they could face the international competition. He further said that proper training should be imparted to the local artisans.

Presiding over the inaugural function, South Assam ranger Forest conservator Dr Y Suryanarayanan said artisans could produce much better with the help of modern technology. Cachar DFO S N Singh also spoke on the occasion.

The workshop was being organized by the Forest Development Agency under the sponsorship from Regional centre, National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board, Shillong. THE SENTINEL

Labourers resume work in Narsingpur TE
HAILAKANDI, May 27: Work in Narsingpur Tea Garden was restored today following the request of Deputy Commissioner TC Goswami after which the labourers joined their work. The tripartite talks will be held again tomorrow at Silchar between the Indian Tea Association, Cachar Cha Sharamik Union and Hailakandi district administration to resolve the issue of dispute between Tea garden management and the aggrieved Labourers.
The Deputy Commissioner also requested both the parties to maintain peace in the area during the meeting held yesterday at the DC’s conference room. ITA secretary DC Guhathakurata expressed hope that the matter would be resolved amicably in tomorrow’s sitting. The representatives of the labourers requested the Deputy Commissioner to take steps for improvement of their living condition as well as health, sanitation and other problems. Labourers in general of the tea garden and observers are waiting for the outcome of tomorrow’s sitting. THE SENTINEL

Ajmal quits as S Salmara MLA
DHUBRI, May 27: South Salmara legislator Badruddin Azmal resigned from his post of legislature yesterday. He submitted his resignation letter to the Assam Assembly speaker.
Official sources here said that it is manditory to resign from the legislature seat within 14 days from the date of election as Member of Parliament. Badruddin Azmal was elected as a Member of Parliament from Dhubri.
As per constitution, the election for the South Salmara seat will be held within six months from today. THE SENTINEL

Power crisis hits Silchar

CORRESPONDENT
SILCHAR, May 27 – Loadshedding has become a regular phenomenon. It is not only hampering the daily life but also hurting the students appearing for examinations.

Sources said that power crisis has occurred due to insufficient rain in this period. As rains have become insufficient, the water in the river has naturally come down. Due to paucity of water, the electricity is not being generated to the full capacity.

Sources said that to meet the crisis, the Central Assam Electricity Distribution Company Limited is getting power from various areas. The company is getting power partly from Lakhowa, Namrup and Kathalguri. But Barak Valley’s main distribution plant, Karbi Lampi has become ineffective due to insufficient water level. The company is not even able to run even one machine in that plant.

Sources said that Silchar town, during peak time requires 85 to 90 mega watt power and in normal time the town needs 60 to 65 mega watt. But at present the company is getting 60 mega watt during peak time and getting 35 to 40 mega watts during normal time. The residents of Silchar town are presently facing 50% shortage of power.

Briefing newsmen, Sudhir Das Gupta, Deputy General Manager said that in this crisis the organisation needs cooperation from the consumers. He said that if they are not able to provide power, the loss is in theirs. As the organisation is running a business, it does not make sense to store power. He further urged the people not to get waked up and destroy the valuable property as it is the people’s property. As the rains come, the crisis will be automatically solved, he said. ASSAM TRIBUNE

John Deka with students of Handique Jr College

8th position holder of Arts stream John Deka with students of Krishna Kanta Handique Jr College of Pathsala under Barpeta district on Tuesday. (Sentinel)

Barak students shine in HS exams

SILCHAR, May 26: “I want to be a true communist” Ramyani Chakraborty bravely and confidently announced after she was declared sixth position in the merit list in the H S Science stream. The journalists who asked her the question were not surprised. Rather they knew it was expected from the daughter of a communist.

Ramyani, who stood third in her HSLC examination in 2007, had much earlier announced her decision to choose the path her father Debashish Chkraborty, a teacher in G C College, had traded all his career. Ramyani, a student of Ramanay Gupta College said, she wanted to study Physics. She made it clear that in order to make it to the merit list in H S level a student has to slog for two long years. Ramyani had got 445 marks.Chandrima Paul, who topped the list in Barak Valley in her fourth place in Science stream, has however, a completely different outlook. Daughter of a businessman Jayanta Paul, Chandrima looked just like the girl next door with her interest in tinsel town and utter disinterest in politics. Chandrima who stood ninth in the HSLC exam from South Point School had already found her name in the extended list of IIT. Chandrima said, she wanted to make a career in electronic engineering. Chandima has secured 448, the highest marks in Barak Valley.Chandrima’s college-mate Shaoli Chaudhary stood fifth in the Science stream securing 446 marks. Daughter of Shyamal Choudhaury a bank officer and Snigdha Choudhury, a teacher in Adharchand school, Shaoli nurtured her interest in music. She has a Bisharad degree in classical music and love singing Rabindra sangeet. Shaoli had already made it to the extended merit list of IIT. She however decided that if she could not make it to the final list, she would prefer to study in the Presidency College of Kolkata. Shaoli said she used to sit in her study table for at least three to four hours, but whatever she read, she did it with utmost sincerity.

Pramit Chakraborty of Ramanoj College stood ninth in the Science stream securing 440 marks. Pramit wanted to be a doctor like his father Paritosh Chakraborty. In the back drop of success of private colleges, Pramit focused on the bottom line saying that without private tuition nobody could make it to the top 10. THE SENTINEL

Private colleges outshine government institutes

SILCHAR, May 26: Private junior colleges in Silchar outshine government colleges as was seen in today’s HS results. Even a premiere institution like GC College lagged behind in the result competition from private junior colleges like Hemangini Dey Memorial Junior College which was only established in 2001. On the other hand, Ramanuj Gupta Memorial Junior college maintained its success story this year also recording 95 per cent pass in Science stream, while GC college percentage of pass in science was just 73 per cent.

Altogether 133 students appeared from GC College in the Science stream. Out of them, 98 came out with flying colours. But it was a pathetic note that the premiere institute could produce just six first division holders while 75 students passed in the second division and 17 passed out in the third division. No students could get star marks. The picture was gloomier in Arts and Commerce stream. From GC College, 309 students had appeared in the Arts streams out of which only 199 could make it.

Percentage of pass was 64.4 per cent and only 12 students got first division whereas 52 students passed in the second division. The rest 135 have passed in third division. Only eight letters were recorded against GC College while Smuggle Arts students got star marks. In the commerce stream, 200 students appeared and only 105 could topple the hurdle and managed a percentage of successful 62.5 per cent. Only four students got the first division with five letters but no star marks.

The picture was just the opposite in case of the private junior colleges. Ramanuj college with its unique team of expert retired teachers from GC college and a group of young teachers, established itself as an institution with a difference since its inception in the late 90s. This year, Ramanuj College had 222 students in science stream and 211 passed. Out of them 132 students got first division, 78 in second division and just one passed in the third division. Altogether 42 students got star marks and the number of letters were 214. In the Arts stream, 115 students appeared and 106 passed out. 48 passed in the first division, 46 in second division and 12 students passed out in the third division. Seven students got star marks and the number of letters were 62.

Hemangini college, established in 2001, virtually tasted success this year in HS examination recording a 97 per cent success rate in Science and 100 per cent success rate in Commerce. Amrita Dutta of this college missed the merit list for just two marks in the Commerce stream. From Hemangini college, 106 appeared in the Science stream and 103 came out successful. 38 students passed in the first division, 57 in second division and eight passed in the third division. Number of letters achieved were 34 and seven students got star marks.

In the Commerce stream, all the 61 candidates came out successful with 16 in first division, 30 in second division and 15 students in the third division. Two students got star marks. THE SENTINEL

DC holds conducive meet to solve Narsingpur Tea Garden tangle

HAILAKANDI, May 26: A meeting between the management and the labourers of the trouble torn Narsingpur Tea Garden under Lala PS was held today under the initiative of the deputy commissioner Tapan Chandra Goswami in the DC’s Conference room to restore normalcy on the strained relation between the management and the workers.

The situation went out of control yesterday as the labourers boycotted works and gheraoed the manager’s office and indiscriminately pelted stones damaging the office and the factory.

Police rushed to the spot and lathi charged and fired on the air to bring the situation under control. Altogether seven persons including one police personnel were injured in the incident.

Although no solution was found in the meeting however the deputy commissioner urged upon both the parties to arrive on an amiable settlement and adjourned the meeting till May 28. THE SENTINEL

Kamad Purkayastha is Kabindra's representative

Is it not dynastic rule ?

SILCHAR, May 25: In his tirade against arch-rival Sontosh Mohan Dev in the recently-held general election, BJP candidate Kabindra Purkayastha brought up the issue of dynastic rule against Dev. Purkayastha eventually won the election, and did exactly the same thing he had criticized Dev for.

Purkayastha made his son Kamad Purkayastha as his representative. In a letter to the Deputy Commissioner, Purkayastha stated that schemes under MP LAD fund would be looked after by his son during his absence in the Constituency. Meanwhile, Purkayastha’s decision had irked a faction of the party who abhorred the presence of Kamad and his companion Basudev Sarmah in the functioning of party works. THE SENTINEL

Naga militants’ presence felt in Cachar

SILCHAR, May 25: Cachar police has intensified patrolling along the Asom-Manipur border area following a report that a team of Khaplang faction of NSCN had intruded into Cachar. Local residents informed the police that at least 80 Naga militants had taken shelter in Rani Colony, Chamtilal area of Lakshmicherra GP under Jirighat PS bordering Manipur.

Militants were reportedly roaming around areas like Namdailiong and Rongmeijai in plain dresses. Apprehending attacks by Nagas, in retaliation to what had been going on in NC Hills, the Dimasa families had already deserted the places. Cachar additional SP Pradip Ranjan Kar told The Sentinel on Monday that the presence of Naga militants was not yet confirmed, though he admitted that police patrolling has been intensified to instill confidence among the local people.Meanwhile, a peace committee has been formed to quell tension among various ethnic tribes. Village defence parties have also been intensified of its vigil. A local source, confirming the intrusion of Naga militants, said, NSCN (K) militants had been chased away from NC Hills following the ethnic violence there. Militants were facing acute shortage of food and they had resorted to snatching food from the poor villagers at gunpoint. THE SENTINEL

Teenager dies in accident

SILCHAR, May 25: Abhishek Das (18), died in a road accident today morning at Rongpur when a CRPF mini truck hit the motorcycle he was riding. Abhishek was a student of HS Commerce whose final examination result would be declared tomorrow. He was rushed to the Silchar Medical College and Hospital but was declared brought dead. Eyewitnesses said that Abhishek along with two of his friends were on the vehicle when the incident occurred but both the boys fled the scene immediately after the accident. Abhishek sustained injuries on his head and died before reaching the SMCH. Abhishek is the son of Paritosh Das, a police employee with Arunachal Pradesh currently posted in Guwahati. Abhisekh was staying in Silchar along with his mother and sister. THE SENTINEL

ACTA concerned over declining student intake in government and government-aided colleges

SILCHAR, May 25: With private colleges mushrooming in every corner, Government and government-aided Colleges are facing tough competition from them with an impression of better educational facilities that the latter seriously lacks and parents giving more preference to private institutes than government and government aided colleges.

An impression has been built that private institutions are more advanced in teaching process than the government ones.

Moreover, with numerous career options to choose, vocational training being imparted in private institutions, the scope in government colleges is less. This observation, or to be precise, apprehension, was clearly heard in the fifth Annual Zonal Conference of the Assam College Teachers’ Association (ACTA) held at Cachar College.

Assam University vice principal Prof Tapodhir Bhattacharjee in his chief guest lecture, lamented that college teachers occasionally refuse to respond to the invitation made by AUS authority to take special classes for the University students. Bhattacharjee, whose tenure as VC is engulfed with numerous controversies ranging of nepotism to corruption and said that the University was passing through a phase of turmoil and it would take some time to bring it in order.

Meanwhile, various speakers in the occasion expressed concern over the gradual decline of student in-take in Government Colleges.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) had already made it clear that it would curtail funds for Colleges by 1 lakh if the number of intake in the arts stream was less by one student and in case of science, one student less meant reduction of Rs 6 lakh from the college annual fund.

The Annual Zonal Conference of ACTA held on Sunday was presided over by its zonal president Santosh Chakrabarty, ACTA central committee president Dr Apurba Kumar Das and Gojen Basumatary of the central committee were present in the meeting. THE SENTINEL

Cachar district Congress in turmoil over Dev’s defeat

SILCHAR, May 24: The Cachar District Congress Committee is undergoing a phase of turmoil following the debacle in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections where party candidate as well as veteran leader Sontosh Mohan Dev was pushed to third position. A source in the district congress hinted that in spite of AUDF wave, which snatched away traditional Muslim votes from Dev’s account, sabotage by leaders and workers of Congress sealed the fate for the veteran leader.

Dev, just few days before the April 16 election, openly told The Sentinel that he was worried about some ‘black sheeps’ in the party. A source, close to Dev, indicate that State’s Urban Development Minister Dinesh Prasad Goala was instrumental in bringing in massive erosion of Congress’ traditional garden votes.

Goala defended his position with the argument that Laxmi Organ, The ‘Beltola tragic heroine’, had left a major impact on the garden votes with her emotional speech in Lakhipur, the constituency Goala had been representing in the Assembly for almost 25 years.

His arguments, however, get a few buyers, as Laxmi addressed a few street corner meeting in a compel of gardens, which were touted as ‘super flop’ by the local media. Moreover, the question that dogged the local Congress camp was that, how could Goala, with his immense influence on the gardens, fail to counter a non-entity like Laxmi?

It is to be noted that in 2004, Dev overpowered the BJP by securing a lead of at-least 15,000 votes in Lkhipur. This year, Dev managed to get a lead of less than 700 votes, a clear indication of massive erosion in garden votes. Interestingly AUDF candidate Badrauddin Ajmal topped in three out of seven Assembly segments. It too indicated a sabotage by a section of Congress, the party which had in its grip the power of maximum Panchayats.

A source said, along with the Muslim and tea-tribe Congress workers, even Panchayat representatives had voted for Ajmal. Karendu Bhattacharjee, Congress district president for the last 22 years, declared that a thought probe would be held to identify the traitors. But an insider hinted that Bhattacharjee himself should owe moral responsibility for the poll debacle, steps were a foot to revamp the entire district committee pumping new blood into the organizations.
A strong lobby of Dev-baiters was waiting for long time to usher in a change of leadership in the district congress. Sensing this, Bhattacharjee, in a meeting last week at party office, openly declared that Dev was still their leader. THE SENTINEL

District magistrate orders probe into anomalies in school schemes

KARIMGANJ, May 24: Karimganj district magistrate Dr M Angamuthu has directed the Karimganj district circle inspector of schools to visit at least five higher secondary schools a week. In the same order, he has also instructed the district Elementary Education officer to direct the Deputy Inspector of schools, Block Elementary Education officer and sub-inspector of schools to visit at least five LP, ME schools a week.

Besides, the district Magistrate also directed the ADCs/SDO (Sadar) settlement officer, circle officers/assistant settlement officers to visit schools and inspect the attendance, Mid-day Meal Programme and submit reports to him as and when they visit schools each a week.

In the recent order, the district magistrate said, it has been reported some vested interests have been actively mismanaging resources meant for the mid-day meal, SSA scheme and as such those teachers were warned not to carry such type of activities. Further, the DM Dr Angamuthu warned those teachers who are involved in proxy teaching not to carry such type of activities. He received reports from various corners that quite a large number of teachers are involved in proxy teaching.

It may be mentioned here that not only a large number of teachers, but also some head teachers of LP, ME schools/madrasas have been doing politics or business without attending schools for years together.

They engage unemployed youths by paying a meagre amount like Rs 1,000 or 2,000 per month for taking classes and themselves enjoy lucrative salaries.

These sort of proxy teaching having been going on in the district of Karimganj for a long period and with the knowledge of Sts/BEEOS/Dis/DEEOs making the teaching profession a profitable job.

As such the order of the district magistrate of Karimganj has created a sensation.
Moreover, those teachers who used to attend schools irregularly have been finding it difficult to reach the schools at the scheduled time. THE SENTINEL

Cachar Cancer Hospital gets aid from LICI

Correspondent
SILCHAR, May 24– Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre got a cheque of Rs 5 lakh for its blood bank from Life Insurance Corporation of India, Silchar Division recently. K C Khora ,senior divisional manager handed over the cheque to the director Dr Ravi Kanan recently. Moreover, the LICI Golden Jubilee Foundation sanctioned a total grant of Rs 17,000 to the blood bank for its name plate.

Jyotindra Chandra Dutta, chairman and Dr Chinmoy Choudhury general secretary of the hospital society thanked LICI authorities for their help and assured that the grant will be meaningfully utilised in the interest of the people. Governing body of the society member prof Dilip Kumar Dey recalled their earlier contribution

Khora said that LICI Silchar division very recently addressed the meeting and said that LICI was the biggest financial institution devoted to the services of society. Dr Ravi Kanan, a famous cancer specialist and director of the hospital, expressed his indebtness to LICI for coming forward to meet a genuine need of poor and suffering patients.

BK Gupta(P& IR) manager, the man behind the co-ordinator between Cachar Cancer Hospital Society and the LICI Golden Jubilee Foundation, spoke on the various social schemes of LICI Golden Jubilee Foundation and various social scheme that LICI had launched in the region. It had encouraged meritorious students through some its programmes, he revealed.

The creation of LICI blood bank unit will cater to the needs of large number of people coming for treatment from different parts of Northeast India and others and will certainly reinforce LIC’s cordial relationship with public.

Further, LICI and its employees’ association had been very kind to the cancer hospital project all through. The LICI Golden Jubilee Foundation’s financial assistance will be a landmark in the history of development of the Cancer Hospital and Research Centre.

Joint secretary of the society Kalyan Chakraborty, Bijoy Kr Das, Mihir Kar Purkayastha, Dr Gopal Dutta, Dr Rajendra Kr Baruah, Seetha Lakshnmi Kannan, Dr Moloy Chakraborty, GB members, many specialists, and doctors, were present in the meeting. ASSAM TRIBUNE

Massive 'embezzlement of funds' in Karimganj

GUWAHATI, May 23: Asom Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has asked Chief Secretary PC Sarma to thoroughly inquire into the allegations of massive embezzlement of funds that were released by both the Centre and the State Government under various schemes in Karimganj district. According to the allegations, the Deputy Commissioner and officials of various departmaents were involved in the massive siphoning of funds. There is also an allegation that without the involvement of a political boss, no official will dare to go for such a massive fund embezzlement. A PIL (No. 34/09) has also been filed in the Gauhati High Court in this connection.

According to sources, the Centre and the State Government sanctioned about Rs 80 crore to various departments like Revenue (flood relief), Agriculture, Panchayat and Rural Development, Industry, PHE, Social Welfare, and Food and Civil Supplies under various schemes in Karimganj district during the fiscal 2007-08, but most of the funds failed to percolate to the target beneficiaries.

According to allegations received by the Chief Minister from a State Government agency, Latu Dashgram Cooperative Society, Rs 7 crore released by the government to the Revenue Department for flood relief did not reach the flood-affected people, Rs 3.65 crore that was released for rehabilitation of flood-affected people was misappr-opriated by the gaon panchayats, 90 per cent of the Rs 12.5 crore released for various schemes under the gaon panchayats were misappropriated by the panchayat secretaries, and Rs 20 crore released for compensation of taluk holders failed to reach the genuine taluk holders while some fake taluk holders got the benefit. It has been further alleged that Rs 4.6 crore was also released for construction of the boundary wall of the Sutarkandi Trade Centre but the tender was given at a rate much higher than the market rate and substandard soil was used in the construction, while the Irrigation Department released Rs 26 crore for development of cultivators but 50 per cent of the amount was released against only five per cent of work done. There are also allegations that rice, flour and kerosene meant for people below the poverty line also do not reach the target groups.

The cooperative society demanded of the Chief Minister to conduct a high-level inquiry into the allegation so that those involved can be exposed.

Allegations

* Rs 7 crore released for flood relief did not reach the flood-affected people.

* Rs 3.65 crore released for rehabilitation of flood-affected people was misappropriated by the gaon panchayats.

* 90 per cent of the Rs 12.5 crore released for various schemes under the gaon panchayats were misappropriated by the panchayat secretaries.

* Rs 20 crore released for compensation of taluk holders failed to reach the genuine taluk holders, while some fake taluk holders got the benefit.

* Rs 4.6 crore was also released for construction of the boundary wall of the Sutarkandi Trade Centre, but the tender was given at a rate much higher than the market rate and substandard soil was used in the construction.

* Rs 26 crore released for development of cultivators, but 50 per cent of the amount was released against only five per cent of work done.

* BPL rice, flour and kerosene also do not reach the target groups.

source: THE SENTINEL

Assam University deploys CISCO and HCL comnet for campus wide-network

GUWAHATI, May 23: With an aim to provide a campus-wide network that would enable students and faculty to access the internet and internet based resources, Assam University, Silchar has selected CISCO and HCL Comnet for widening the network to offer uninterrupted connectivity to its academic community. This will include a campus LAN, a two-tier architecture having C4507R at the core with redundant supervisor, redundant power supply and other measures.Assam University, School of Technology Dean Prof Asoke K Sen said: "Cisco’s network has been supporting and today we believe we have the capability to offer our faculty and students uninterrupted connectivity that can enrich their learning and teaching experience."

Though the university has deployed CISCO’s campus wide network earlier, now Cisco is carrying on a campus upgrade process with the latest Cisco equipments at the University.

Assam University, a teaching cum affiliating University, established in 1994, has nine different schools (including major disciplines such as Social Sciences, Humanities, Languages and others) with 29 departments.

The five districts under the jurisdiction of the University have as many as 51 undergraduate colleges. ASSAM TRIBUNE

Mobile handset blows up

SILCHAR, May 23: In a strange incident, a Sony Ericsson cell phone blew off today creating much panic for its owner. One, Manoj Das, a businessman from Itkhola area, felt that his J-200I model Sony Ericsson cell phone, kept in the pocket of his shirt has become excessively hot. When he took it out in his hand, the phone reportedly blew off damaging a chair in his shop. Jaideep Dutta, the local franchisee of Sony Ericsson, reportedly argued that the cell phone might have been over charged but Das said he had not put his phone on charge today. THE SENTINEL

Labourers resume work in Aroonabund TE

SILCHAR, May 23: After three months of stalemate, Aroonabund Tea Estate was today vibrant as the labourers returned to their normal work following the management’s decision to lift the lock-out, clamped on February 26. A garden source informed that half of the labourers joined today as casual labourers got themselves engaged in some other works during the lock-out period.

The source however said that from Monday onwards the situation would return to normalcy as the management had already started paying the due wages.

An ITA source said, situation in the Aroonabund TE was quite normal today as no untoward incident had happened. It is to be noted that after the tripartite meeting convened by Gautam Ganguly yesterday stalemate started to wane. Labourers had assured the district administration in writing that they would resume their duties from Saturday.

All the parties had expressed their gratitude to Ganguly for his intervention in solving the deadlock.

It is to be noted that Aroonabund Tea Estate was in news for quite some time as the management reportedly wanted to build up a township in the garden area. Labourers had opposed the move and that followed several episodes of clashes between the management and the labourers.

R N Pandey, manager of the garden was reportedly manhandled on February and that forced the management to declare lock-out. THE SENTINEL

ERDF to open RIST in Meghalaya

SILCHAR, May 23: Education Research and Development Foundation (ERDF), a premiere educational institute, is expanding its domain in the field of technical education as it has now completed its arrangements for starting its state-of-the-art engineering college named as the Regional Institute of Science & Technology (RIST).

The Institute has been already inspected by the expert teams from All India Council for Technology Education (AICTE), New Delhi and North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong and is expected to function from the coming academic session (2009-2010). ERDF chairman Mohbubul Haque stated this in a press meet here today. Haque said that unnecessary red-tapism of Dispur has forced him to knock the doors of Meghalaya government which has eventually extended all sort of co-operation and assistance to his project.

Situated on a picturesque hill in Ninth Mile (opposite CRPF Group centre), in Baridua area of Ri Bhoi District, Meghalaya, RIST is well connected to the National Highway – the Guwahati-Shillong road.

It is only six km from Dispur (Guwahati), the capital of Asom and 85 km from Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. The serene atmosphere of the location is ideal for academic pursuits.While RIST has been designed and built in compliance with the highest global standard, its teaching and learning facilities will comprise of the advanced element of contemporary academic support system.

RIST will offer BTech course in Computer Science and Engineering, Information Technology, Electronics and Communication Engineering and Electronics Engineering.It is to be noted that one of ERDF’s flagship institution is Central IT, Guwahati affiliated to Sikkim Manipal University, having over 3,500 students on its rolls pursuing various professional courses.This College has maintained its position among the three best Centres of the University at the national level for four consecutive years now.

Further, the other flagship institute of the Foundation is the Regional College of Higher Education (RCHE), Guwahati affiliated to the North Eastern Hill University, Shillong . It offers seven professional courses giving the student wide choices of subject for higher studies.

Hague said, ERDF wanted to ensure that education at the grass root level also gets its attention. Accordingly, the Central Public School, CPS-1, affiliated to CBSE was set up at Patharkandi in Karimganj district in 2008. Encouraged by its success and conceding to popular demand, ERDF will lay the foundation of CPS-2 at Badarpur tomorrow. This school is expected to become operational from the academic year 2010-2011.

Today’s press meet was also addressed by Assam University pro-vice chancellor Prof G D Sharma, M I Laskar, Dr B U Barbhuiya, Assam University deputy registrar Bibhas Dev. THE SENTINEL

Thieves strike in Assam University, laptop stolen

SILCHAR, May 22: Mysterious thieves struck again in Assam University as a laptop computer has been found missing from the Research laboratory of the Computer Centre, while some important documents and a bunch of keys had been stolen from the department of Life Science.

The Computer Centre director Anshuman Sen had lodged a complaint with the Assam University police outpost on Monday stating that the laboratory assistant of the centre had locked the room in the evening of Friday, last. All the seven laptop computers were intact at that time. On Monday they found one of the laptop computers missing. Sen further mentioned that a women sweeper had reportedly entered into the laboratory on Sunday after taking the key from the security guard.

Meanwhile, in a separate FIR, Life Sciences department HOD Manabendra Dutta Chowdhury stated that a bunch of keys as well as some important documents were found missing from the office of the department since May 8.

Interestingly, Dutta Chowdhury filed the FIR on May 20. It is to be noted that few months back, some valuable parts of computer networking were stolen from the boys hostel. Police had till now failed to detect the culprits.

However, a source in the police indicated that a group inside the University campus was involved in all these cases of burglary. The source further hinted that police was seriously probing into the missing documents from the Life Science department as an ordinary thief would have nothing to do with these documents. THE SENTINEL

Aroonabund TE lock-out to be lifted
SILCHAR, May 22: Three months of stalemate over Aroonabund Tea Estate seemed to have come to an end as the district administration intervened today convening a meeting between the representatives of the labourers as well as the management.
Arronabund TE manager RN Pandey had agreed to pay the pending wages to labourers, who, on the contrary demanded wages and ration for the period of lock-out as well, which was rejected by the management.

In this juncture of stalemate, Cachar Deputy Commissioner Gautam Ganguly had urged upon the labourers to join their duties from tomorrow as the management had agreed to lift the lock-out, clamped on February 26. But garden Panchayat had sought time to discuss the matter and assured Ganguly that they would inform their decision by today night itself.

Ganguly had made it clear to the representatives of Cachar Cha Sramik Union, BMS and Bagan Panchayat that the management would not sell the land of the garden without prior discussion with the labourers.

Pandey, who was reportedly man-handled by labourers that led to the closure of the garden, said, the management was bound to follow the no-work-no-wage rules.
He however said that the management was ready to pay the wages due for a week before the lock-out.

Ganguly, on the other hand said, he would make a plea to the management to settle the matter of wages during the lock-out period, but the workers had to resume their duties from tomorrow.
Gaurango Tanti, representative of the Panchayat said they had to discuss the proposal among themselves before conceding to the conditions laid by the management.
Today’s meeting was attended by Barak Valley chapter of the ITA secretary Sumanta Guha Thakuria. THE SENTINEL

Gautom Roy lobbying for Suklabaidya

HAILAKANDI, May 22: Asom minister Gautom Roy left for Delhi to impress upon the Congress high Command for inclusion of Lalit Mohan Suklabaidya in the Council of Ministers. Some other MLAs of Barak Valley are also supporting the inclusion besides various organizations. District Congress Committee of Hailakandi and Karimganj are directly demanding but most of the NGOs and organizations are connected with the Congress. DCC president of Hailakandi district A Duttagupta told that they would be happy if LM Suklabaidya gets a berth in the Union Council of Ministers from Barak Valley in absence of Santosh Mohan Dev but officially they are not yet demanded inclusion. He added that the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi already told that representation from both valleys should be given in the Council THE SENTINEL

Hunger strike by Bishnupriya Manipuri teachers on June 5

SILCHAR, May 22: In a desperate bid to attract the notice of the Government, 149 Bishnupriya Manipuri teachers would sit in an indefinite hunger strike on June 5 in front of the Silchar DC office. Bishnupriya Manipuri Language Teachers Association had, in a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, intimated their decision of launching an agitation as the government had failed in regularizing their services in the LP schools.

Similar memorandums were handed over to the Deputy Commissioners of Karimganj and Hailakandi by respective district units of the Association. It is to be noted that altogether 149 Bishnupriya Manipuri Language teachers were appointed in LP schools in three districts of Barak Valley in 2001. But till now the teachers had not received any remuneration as their services had not seen regularized. Meanwhile, all Bishnupriya Manipuri Students Association and Bishnupriya Manipuri Gana Sangram Parishad had extended support to the association’s decision of fast unto death agitation. THE SENTINEL

Assam University inks MoU with Wildlife Trust

SILCHAR, May 22: With the motive to enhance wildlife preservation in the state, Assam University signed in the Memorendum of Understanding (MoU) with the Wildlife Trust of New Delhi. Henceforth, Assam University will co-operate with Wildlife Trust of India in preservation of wildlife and plants.
Gauhati University professor Parimal Bhattacharjee in a conference held in the Assam University, focused on the preservation of wildlife and plants. Vice chancellor Prof Tapodhir Bhattacharjee, Pro-VC Prof GD Sharma, Alok Sen and other dignitaries graced the function. A committee was formed to safeguard the abode of the wild animals and the environment.
The committee included Vivek Menon on behalf of Wildlife Trust of India, Topodhir Bhattacharjee, Biman Kumar Dutta, Prof Gouri Dutta Sharma, Parthankar Choudhury, Pronob Behari Mazumdar and Debojyoti Bhattacharjee. THE SENTINEL

Villagers block GP office for non completion of schemes
From our Correspondent
HAILAKANDI, May 22: After the completion of the Lok Sabha Polls, agitation has again resurfaced in the village areas with people of Bowerghat GP blocking the GP office and locking it. Kairul Islam Laskar, Abdur Rezak Choudhury, Abdul Karim Laskar and others said that various NREGA, IAY, NADP and other schemes were not completed in these areas and instead they were being exploited and looted. Therefore, in order to fight against the negligency of the administration, the villagers have opted for the agitation path. THE SENTINEL

Dhwani function from today
From our Staff Reporter
SILCHAR, May 22: Dhwani Sahitya Chakra is organizing its fifth annual function from tomorrow. The three-day function to be held at the auditorium of the Silchar Women’s College will be attended by literary personalities of the Northeast. A delegation from the neighbouring country Bangladesh will also participate in the three-day function. THE SENTINEL

New Barak militant outfit demands separate state

SILCHAR, May 21: With an aim of creating a separate Barak Valley state, a new militant outfit had come up recently. Sources said a newly formed outfit called Barak Valley Bengali Tiger Force had reportedly sent some notes to merchants demanding hefty amount of money to be used to create a separate state. The source further said the outfit had sent such demand notes to at least three businessmen of Badarpur area. A letter pad of the outfit bearing the name of M Ali as president and Raja Chakraborty as general secretary had claimed that they had been compelled to create a new state for the interest of the Bengali people of the Barak Valley who had long been deprived of their justified dues.

They further threatened to take up arms for fulfilling of their demands. Meanwhile, a person claiming himself a member of the outfit had informed that they had a preliminary arms training. At present the outfit has 120 cadres. Interestingly the outfit, which had its headquarter in a jungle in Tripura, came into being in 1996, the source informed, claiming that for the last 13 years they had prepared themselves for the final battle.
Meanwhile, police said it might be a handiwork of some anti-socials. THE SENTINEL

Soaring heat and incessant power-cut adds to woes of Barak people

SILCHAR, May 21: The temperature is soaring and keeping abreast with this is the Central Assam Electricity Distribution Company Limited with its daily increasing quota of load-shedding. Soaring temperature and incessant power cut combine to make the lives of the commoners in Barak Valley pathetic. Silchar recorded a steep rise of temperature in the last three days as on Monday it was 27.5 degree Celsius, on the following day it shot up to 31.7 degree and on Wednesday it recorded 34.8 degree Celsius.

The situation was worse as the ASEB failed to supply constant power. The power picture was so grave that the Deputy Commissioner Gautam Ganguly was compelled today to convene an urgent meeting with the ASEB officials to discuss the matter as reports of people anger pouring in from various corners of the district. Ganguly was told by the ASEB officials that supply of electricity had deteriorated for the last couple of weeks. Ganguly later took up the matter with the chief engineer of Distribution Company of the ASEB.

The chief engineer had reportedly assured the Deputy Commissioner that he would personally look after the matter so that quota of power supply could be enhanced for Barak Valley. However, the chief engineer had further said that generating capacity of various hydro-electric projects have been experiencing a low ebb as there was dearth of showering. It is to be noted that Cachar district, in general requires 50 mega watt in peak hours, but for the last couple of weeks, the supply had come down to 20-25 mega watt. THE SENTINEL

Vote bank of Katigorah is safe for AUDF

SILCHAR, May 21: The leaders of AUDF were very happy with the result of the recent Parliamentary election. In the last Assembly election, Maulana Ataur Rahman Mazarbhuiya became victorious securing more than 35,000 votes. But afterwards the lone MLA from Cachar turned out to be unsuccessful in materializing his promises, it was heard from the supporters of the same party.

The supporters of AUDF were in discomfort with their MLA it was guessed on the eve of the Parliamentary election. It was assumed that AUDF would have to experience an erosion in their vote bank. But the result of the just concluded general election proved the assumption wrong as there was an increase in the votes by more than 3,000 in favour of AUDF. The party secured the first position polling with more than 38,000 votes in Katigorah. However, there was an increase of votes in favour of BJP, the Congress have been degraded to the bottom. In the 2006 Assembly election, Congress got about 22,000 votes in the multi party composition, but this time it could poll less than 19,000. It is also a matter of discussion why the larger part of the Muslim Community declined to cast their votes in favor of Congress.Sontosh Mohan Dev secured more than 41,000 votes in 2004 getting support from the larger section of Muslim votes. But the rise of AUDF in 2006 gave a blow to the Congress in securing votes.Once Katigorah was the best strong hold of BJP, but now it was occupied by AUDF. THE SENTINEL

Footpath of the main road in Silchar

Vendors blocking the footpath of the main road in Silchar much to the disturbance of the pedestrians in Silchar though the authorities have turned a blind eye to this daily problem. (Sentinel)

All for love of language

M. GANGULY

Ranchi, May 19: Moder gaurab, moder asha / amori Bangla bhasha (Bengali language is our pride and our hope).

The beautiful rendition of this song by a group of ladies at Union Club and Library this morning, stirred up the feeling of patriotism and love for Bengali language among the audience. The song was the perfect start to Bhasha Shaheed Divas (Language Martyrs Day), the day dedicated to those who lost their lives fighting for their mother tongue, Bengali, in Silchar.

From inspiring and patriotic songs such as Jadi tor dak shune keu na ase, tobe ekla cholo re to poetry by Ratna Bannerjee and Rathin Chatterjee and talks on Bengali language by Subir Lahiri, the hour-long programme had it all.

Arunangshu Bannerjee, a local literary figure, described language as the basis of culture and lifestyle of a community. Commercialisation of language had begun during the British rule, he opined and added that consumerism will also set in at a later stage. This type of commercialisation or even politicising of language may have helped the growth of market or some vested interests but not the human society, Bannerjee said.

On May 19, 1961, Bengalis in Silchar organised Bhasha Andolan to protest the status of the language there. What began as a silent protest snowballed into a bloodbath, killing 11 protesters. From that day, May 19 is celebrated as Bhasha Shaheed Divas by Bengalis around the country. THE TELEGRAPH

AUDF to move SC

NEW DELHI, May 20: AUDF president Badruddin Ajmal today said Congress’ Karimganj candidate LM Shuklabaidya made it to the 15th Lok Sabha only because of “rigging master” Gautam Roy. He said the AUDF will move the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of India against the massive rigging in Karaimganj district during the recent Lok Sabha polls. Talking to this correspondent, Ajmal said the AUDF has extended its support to the UPA as it wants a stable government at the Centre. Meanwhile, Asom Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told the party high command that he had no objection to the AUDF’s support to the UPA from outside. THE SENTINEL

Edufare begins in Silchar

SILCHAR, May 20: To provide guidance and tips on career courses for the college pass-outs, a two-day Edufare, an educational fare, started today amid much enthusiasm among the budding students and their eager parents. This type for fare, organized by Career Planner of Calcutta and sponsored by Children Educational Fund, was the first of its kind in Silchar. The fare is being held at the Rastra Bhasha Vidyapeeth premises in Shillongpatty of Silchar town and was formally inaugurated by Silchar Administration of National Institute of Technology Dean A K Roy. At least 25 IT institutes from various parts of the country are participating in the fare. THE SENTINEL

Martyrs’ Day observed
HAILAKANDI, May 20: Martyrs’ Day was observed here yesterday to pay homage to 11 Bhasha Swahids for their supreme sacrifice for the cause of the Bengali language on May 19, 1961 under the aegis of Barak Upyaka Banga Sahitya-O-Sanskriti Sanmilan at Bhasha Swahid Memorial hall.
A cultural procession was taken out alongwith the portrait of the martyrs followed by the garlanding of the martyrs statue. Distinguished personalities of the locality took part in the garlending as a mark of respect. A discussion was held under the presidentship of BUBSS central committee president N Bhattachajee while among others, Ashok Dutta Gupta, Ranjit Kumar Saha, deputy commissioner TC Goswami and noted poet Brojendra Kr Sinha addressed this meeting.
Most of the speakers stressed on the need of a mother language on the present context and all should unite for the purpose. A cultural programme along with a poetry session was also held on the occasion. THE SENTINEL

Asom labourers harassed in Mizoram
SILCHAR, May 20: The Sodou Assam Nirman Sramik Union, Channighat unit observed with grave concern over the excess by Mizo police against the daily labourers of Asom who went to Mizoram for work. In a memorandum to the Cachar Deputy Commissioner, the Union urged upon the administration to ensure security for the labourers. The Union further said that construction workers permanently residing in villages like Lailapur, Hawalthang, Frenchanagar and Chennighat at Asom-Mizoram border have been regularly going to nearest Vairengtee of Mizoram in the morning for work and return to their villages in the evening after completion of the work.
Sometimes, they are harassed by the Mizoram people and police on the issue of Inner line permit. Previously, ILP was not compulsory for these workers. But recently, the Mizoram Government has issued an order not to allow the construction workers and daily wage labourers to enter into Vairangtee without ILP for which the said workers and daily wage labourers are facing financial and other problems.
These workers are very poor and have no other alternative source of income and are therefore facing starvation.
The Union further said that boundary dispute between Asom and Mizoram has been prevailing since a long time and untoward incidents occur regularly. Recently, Mizo people with the help of Mizoram police had constructed a thatched house within the Asom area near GREF camp and gradually they were entering and occupying land belonging to Asom.
They have also occupied a vast area of Asom by making plantation, constructing homesteads and various other methods. The Union said that if the administration does not take immediate steps, the situation might go beyond control. THE SENTINEL

Vijay utsav in Badarpur over Suklabaidya’s win

CORRESPONDENT
BADARPUR, May 20 – To celebrate the victory of L M Suklabaidya for the second time from Karimganj (SC) constituency, a Vijay utsav was held at Barak Valley Railway Head Quarter town Badarpur, on Sunday.

On the occasion, a long colourful victory procession, organised by Indian National Congress of Badarpur unit, moved through the thoroughfares of Badarpur town and greater Railway colonies of Badarpur. A large numbers of Congress supporters, party workers and also the party-leaders took part in the procession. The procession moved around playing patriotic and party songs. All the participants shouted slogans in support of Lalit Mohan Suklabaidya and minister Gautam Roy. Throwing coloured powder on the attending people, they also greeted the people for giving massive support to the Congress candidate L M Suklabaidya. Sweets were also distributed among the people.

The vijay-utsav as well as the victory procession was led by, eminent Congress leaders– Paritosh Chandra Ghosh, Ramesh Ghosh, Parimal Dhar, Santu Bhattacharyya, Ramen Ghosh, Chandal Lal Sen, Mithu Dutta, Abhijit Dutta among others. ASSAM TRIBUNE

Technical team invited to investigate RCC drain construction

KARIMGANJ, May 19: A technical team from Guwahati headed by an Executive engineer will visit Karimganj on May 22 to enquire on the construction of RCC drains at Karimganj. North Karimganj MLA Mission Ranjan Das confirmed this adding that he had lodged a complaint to the Urban Development Department commissioner and secretary highlighting the poor quality of work being done by the Karimganj Municipal Board under the storm water drainage project of Karimganj town at a cost of Rs 11.50 crore.

It may be mentioned that in his letter dated April 2, Das had also pointed out about the reduced size of the drains being constructed, both in width and height. Talking to this correspondent of The Sentinel, he said as a result of reduction of the width of the drains in comparison to the existing width of the Kutcha drains, scope for encroachment of government Khas land by private owners of the nearby land has increased.

The five streams carrying rain and dirty water to the smaller drains are about 16 feet in width on an average and the new RCC construction of the drains are being progressed by taking approximately one-fourth of the width of the existing kutcha drains. So, how a four feet wide drain can carry the volume of water used to be drained out by a 16-feet wide kutcha drain, questioned Joydeb Dey of ward No 5.

North Karimganj MLA Mission Ranjan Das also raised the question whether the undergoing drainage works would be a durable asset.

It may be mentioned that CPI(M) had also mobilised leading citizens of Karimganj and formed a citizens forum which too is demanding immediate halt of the work. THE SENTINEL

Silchar remembers language martyrs

SILCHAR, May 19: People of Silchar today paid homage to the 11 martyrs of the language movement who sacrificed their lives on the fateful day of May 19, 1961 in police firing at the Silchar railway station. The day began with paying floral tributes at ‘Sahid bedi’ at the railway station, which had now been in writing for government approval for changing its name to ‘Ekadash Bhasa Sahid Station.’

At 8 am, people gathered at the Silchar Samshan Ghat, the crematorium to salute the sacrifice of the martyrs, whose bullet-ridden bodies were put to rite here. Hundreds of people, including just-elected MP Kabindra Purkaystha, marched to the crematorium chanting songs written on the glory of mother language. The scene then shifted to Gandhi Bag, where the permanent Sahid Bedi is situated. At 2.35 pm, the exact time the martyrs were killed in police firing on May 19, 1961.

People raised slogans in memory of the martyrs. Various cultural organizations performed street plays, recited poems written on the glories martyrdom of those brave people who sacrificed their lives for the sake of their mother-tongue.The whole day saw a number of programmes including a cultural show and seminar felicitation of the eminent personalities. In Assam University, the day was observed with due respect. A number of magazines were brought out on the occasion.
Sammilito Samskritik Mancha, a platform of various cultural organization of Silchar, performed street plays in various points of the town. The demand for renaming the Station as ‘Bhasa Shahid Station’ was the prime theme of the mancha. On the other hand, All Barak Youth-Student Association (ABYSA) launched a signature campaign demanding government recognition for the martyr. A Barak Art and Craft society paid their homage with paint and brush on a mammoth canvass. Innumerable ‘Shahid Bedi’s in every nook and corner of the town were adorned with flowers. THE SENTINEL