No change of ONGC Assam asset headquarter
Dubbing it as baseless media roprt , Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has ruled out any plan to shift the
asset headquarter from Nazira. ONGC also dismissed the reports that the authorities were planing to hire 50 rigs and hand over the same to foreign companies. The ONGC authorities pointed out that the public sector giant was the biggest employer in the state and was spending Rs 1.5 crore annually on various corporate social responsibility initiatives. The royalty paid by the ONGC to the state government during 2003-04 stood at Rs 211.74 crore and sales tax at Rs 100 crore. Sources also referred to the various demands put forward by All Assam Students Union (AASU) before the ONGC authority.

Inquiry into fake appointment cases
Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi said the government will take action on fake appointment cases and fraudulent
withdrawal of money in the education department.'If necessary the help of the CBI will be requisitioned,'' the
chief minister said.He said huge sums of money were siphoned off with retrospective effect from 1963 in the name of retired head pandits.''A house committee of the Manipur legislative assembly has already begun a probe,'' he added.
On the issue of fake appointment cases unearthed by the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup, a proscribed outfit, Mr Singh said the government will verify all matters so that suitable action could be initiated.The government has already suspended the involved officials and police cases have been registered to arrest those who were working as fake teachers, Education Minister Francis Ngajokpa said.The chief minister said due process will be taken to recover the money taken out of the state exchequer and possibility of recovering land will also be considered.A full probe will be initiated so that all erring officials could be identified and none will be spared, he said.

ADB to provide funds for urban development
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide over Rs 900 crores for the infrastructure development of five capitals of North-Eastern states. ADB representative Jeffry Stubbs said that the project called 'North-Eastern Region Urban Development Project (NERUDP)' has been undertaken at a cost of Rs 900 crores for infrastructure development, poverty alleviation and institutional development in Agartala, Aizawl, Gangtok, Kohima and Shillong. Mr Stubbs said the ADB loan would be sanctioned next year and construction work would begin in 2007. The project is likely to be completed by 2011.Under this project various roads would either be improved or widened besides, constructing circular roads while drainage, water supply, sanitation, solid waste management and slum upgradation are the other components of this project.
The ADB project also included improvement of heritage sites and environment. The ADB loan will be given to Government of India which in turn would provide the money to the concerned state governments as grant and loan (90 per cent grant and 10 per cent loan). To prepare project reports and to coordinate various aspects of the project, the ADB has appointed LEA International limited, Mr Stubbs added.

NDFB brings out peace rally
The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) took out a peace rally in Kokrajhar district, demanding permanent solution to the Bodo problems. Around 300 NDFB cadres and supporters, accompanied by 100 motor bikes and colourful posters, took part in the rally which was led by B.Jamswa Basumatary, the self-styled commandant of Kokrajhar district of NDFB and R Basumatary, second battalion of NDFB. B J Basumatary expressed happiness over coming overground after a long time, responding positively to the ongoing peace process with the Centre. The Centre, NDFB and the state government had signed an agreement resulting in ceasefire with Bodoland which came into effect from today. The ceasefire would continue for one year and was expected to pave the way for a permanent solution to the Bodo problem.

Police unearths ULFA hideout
An accidental bomb blast helped the security forces to unearth a ULFA hideout. The hideout used to stock ammunition. Police arrested a brother-sister duo, Dilip (21) and Doly Deka in this connection. During the search operations following the blast, police recovered at least ten revolver bullets, some RDX as well as other implements used in bombmaking. Preliminary investigations found that the ULFA often operated from the hideout and used it as a transit base for striking in and around Guwahati city.The house belonged to Tapan Deka, an engineer with the Indian Railways.

Factional clashes in Mon
Lata Lampong village near Tizit town of Mon district remained tense following inter-factional clash between NSCN's two rival factions.Official sources here said the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) and the NSCN (Khaplang) factions were engaged in a gun battle for about an hour in the area.The NSCN(K) claimed that it had killed two of their rival cadres and injured another five.The district administration of Mon was keeping a strict vigil of the area to ensure that the situation did not deteriorate.

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