Assam govt orders probe into police excesses in LIC office

GUWAHATI: In the wake of widespread public outcry over alleged police highhandedness at Life Insurance Corporation of India’s divisional office in Jorhat, the Assam government has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

The government has asked Upper Assam commissioner LN Tamuly to probe into the incident and submit the report to the government. Several organisations, including LIC employees, have organised a series of protests after the police allegedly lathicharged the LIC employees on May 13.

The incident took place after the death of an employee. An angry mob set ablaze the truck which had hit the employee. About 25 employees suffered serious injuries.

Nylon bag replaces bamboo basket in tea gardens

JORHAT, Jan 26 : The one enduring image which unfolds in the mind’s eye when one thinks of a tea garden is of a woman carrying a basket on her back with leave-picking hands.

This image is slowly but surely being replaced by the image of women now carrying nylon mesh bags or cloth bags.

The tea planters in the State today prefer the cheaper and long-lasting nylon mesh bags to bamboo baskets.
“Bamboos are costly and the baskets of specific size are not always available when required. Moreover, bamboos too have become a scarce commodity,” said a planter in the district.

“A nylon bag usually lasts a season and sometimes two, whereas the bamboo baskets usually get damaged before that and the bamboos sometimes dry and shrink,” the planter further said.
A source said that the scarcity of bamboo baskets first arose after people of the Hindi-speaking community fled the State in large numbers after being targeted and killed by militants.
“These migrant labourers were mostly engaged in weaving the baskets and after they left we have not been able to keep the supply line going”, the source stated.
He also confirmed that the baskets were costlier by three to four times than that of the nylon bags.
“A nylon bag costs anything between Rs 25 to  Rs 35, but a bamboo basket ranges between Rs 150 to Rs 300, he further said.
Whatever the reason, nylon has won over the eco-friendly bamboo and the image of the tea garden worker carrying her basket will soon be relegated to the realms of memory and history.

OIL produced 2,076.54 million cubic metres from Assam fields

Guwahati , Jan 8 : Oil exploration major Oil India Ltd (OIL) had produced 2,076.54 million cubic metres from its Assam fields during 2007-08, state Mines and Mineral minister Kher Sing Engti said today.

During the year, 4881773 standard cubic metre (scm) was supplied to Assam Gas Company Ltd, 28037360 scm to AGCL Tea and Jorhat, Golaghat, 259652687 to Assam State Electricity Board, 38243736 scm to Assam Petro Chemicals Ltd, Engti told Rameswar Dhanowar (Cong) in the assembly.

As per agreements already signed he said, OIL was committed to provide natural gas to Brahmaputra Cracker, and Polyman Limited and Numaligarh Refinery (NRL).

Meanwhile, Assam&aposs natural resources include, 146.50 million metric tonne (mmt) crude oil, 89533 mmt natural gas, 652 mmt lime stones, 373 mmt coal, 10 mmt iron ore, 1 mmt cement, 346.50 mmt granite, 10 mmt glass stand and 80 mmt silimenite, Engti said.