The Centre has identified 22 river stretches in the northeastern States which could be developed for cargo transportation.

“The identified river stretches have been shared with the concerned State governments and they have been requested to send proposals for assistance. So far only three proposals have been received, one of which have been sanctioned,” said a top official in the Shipping Ministry.

Much to the delight of the zoologists across the country, a new species of moderate sized Labeonine fish, locally known as ‘Ngop’, was discovered in Arunachal Pradesh by an amateur naturalist.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Rs. 22,507-crore National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) that seeks to address healthcare challenges in towns and cities with focus on urban poor.

The scheme will now be introduced as a sub-mission under the National Health Mission (NHM). The mission will be implemented in 779 cities and towns, each with a population of more than 50,000, and cover over 7.75 crore people.

Eight years ago, when an opposition member in the Assam assembly wanted to know how many districts had reported arsenic contamination in groundwater, public health minister Dinesh Prasad Goala's re

Economic Survey 2013: Agriculture reforms must, says report. With agriculture growth rate falling short of the 4 per cent target in last five years, the sector needs urgent reforms to boost crop yields and private investment in infrastructure so as to motivate farmers and feed the growing population.

The farm sector achieved 3.6 per cent growth during the 11th Five year Plan (2007-12), falling short of the 4 per cent growth target, although it was much higher than growth of 2.5 and 2.4 per cent during 9th and 10th Plans, it added.

GUWAHATI: The Group of Ministers (GoM) on hydropower projects in the Brahmaputra basin, in its recommendations, has stressed the need for special financial assistance packages for the areas to be affected by the impact of hydro–electric or multi–purpose projects. The GoM has also recommended free electricity connections to the affected people within a defined radius of the Lower Subansiri Hydropower Project (LSHP) and other hydropower projects being conceived.

The recommendations of the GoM were made public on Thursday by Assam Power Minister Pradyut Bordoloi who is also the chairperson of the GoM.

The Cabinet will take up the proposal for a National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) on Thursday. It will cater to the 37.7 crore urban population and will be a sub-mission of an overarching National Health Mission (NHM) for urban and rural areas.

In a potentially contentious proposal and a shift from NRHM, where public health facilities are the sole service providers, NUHM is proposed to have provisions for public-private partnerships to fill infrastructure gaps.

To avoid accidents on upcoming Sevoke-Rangpo line

To get started a project that has been hanging for four years now for want of environment and forest clearance, the Railways have decided to install sensors to track the pachyderms present on or near rail tracks. The Railway Ministry has sought a detailed report on the feasibility of the project in order to get approval for the construction of the first rail link to Sikkim which is estimated to cost Rs.1,340 crore.

GUWAHATI: Advocating their support to the Lower Subansiri Hydro–electric Power Project (LSHEP) and the big dam issue, the North East Power News on the sidelines of their press meet on the Global Energy Conference, 2013 on “Development of Power with Peace” said that Northeast would suffer if there is obstruction of big dams in the region, considering the economic and development boon it brings.

Although the press meet was initially aimed at addressing the forthcoming global energy conference to be held on February 1, the organizers strayed from their main topic and went on to lambast the various organization in the State which opposed the big dams and the LSHEP project.

With hills and mountains dotting the landscape of North Eastern region, the Centre plans to promote the region as an ‘adventure tourism’ destination to increase the flow of tourists, particularly foreign tourists, said Union minister of state for tourism K Chiranjeevi.

“We know not all the roads are in good condition in the region. But not all tourists complain this as many like adventure tourism. The region can be a great destination for adventure tourism. If we can promote the region as an adventure tourism destination before the world, we can surely attract foreign tourists in the region,” said Chiranjeevi at the three day ‘International Tourism Mart’ which concluded here on Sunday.