Except the Main Secretariat and Deputy Commissioner's office, most of the State Government offices in the city witnessed thin attendance. Banks and Central Government offices remained closed throughout the day. Similarly, skeletal attendance was reported in State Government offices located in Jowai, Nongstoin, Nongpoh, Sohra, Mawkyrwat and Mairang.

The picketing will continue till Wednesday. KSU, however, has warned of intensified agitations in the coming days, if the State Government did not scrap the "controversial" Cabinet decision on power projects. FKJGP also said on Monday that it would support future KSU agitations on the issue.

The State Government is yet to make its stand clear on whether to revoke the Cabinet decision on the power projects.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, who was said to be instrumental in the Cabinet decision, is expected to hold a press conference on Wednesday to clarify the government's stand on the matter.

The deceased was identified as Orningstar Lyngdoh Marshillong. The identity of the victim's friend, who suffered bullet injuries, was yet to be known.

On hearing some noise in a place near the pond, Orningstar and his friend came out of the their house along with a torch before being fired upon by some armed miscreants. Orningstar died on the spot while his friend sustained bullet injuries, police said.

The gunmen fled the scene after committing the crime. No arrest has been made in this connection.

With the Assembly elections drawing nearer, most political parties in the State appear to be relying considerably on businessmen to do better in the polls.

There are many faces from the trading community on the lists of poll nominees already declared by parties like Congress, UDP and NCP.

The Congress candidates' list has names of a good number of businessmen. The party has allotted ticket to a prominent contractor Sngiawbhalang Dhar to contest from Nangbah-Wahiajer constituency in Jaintia Hills. Mr Dhar has already made a fortune in the field of construction business, besides being owner of fleets of earthmoving equipment.

Among other businessmen-turned-politicians on the Congress list are one of the richest coal traders Nehlang Lyngdoh (Rymbai) and real estate dealer Charles Pyngrope. Both are ministers in the MDA Government.

Similarly, successful government contractor Irin Lyngdoh (Pariong), timber trader and dealer in earthmovers Stanley Wiss Rymbai (Umroi) and contractor-cum-timber merchant J Stormding Thongni (Nongstoin) are in the fray as Congress candidates.

The UDP is also no less different in terms of moneyed candidates. The recent decision of the party to give poll ticket to Metbah Lyngdoh to fight the elections from Mairang has created sensation among other contenders.

Mr Lyngdoh is proprietor of Rani Motors, the first agency that deals in Maruti cars in the State. Another party contender Don Massar (Nongshken) is a major coal exporter.

NCP has Conrad Sangma (Selsella) and James K Sangma (Rongchugre) as its poll contestants. Both of them are sons of NCP strongman Purno A Sangma. They run a call centre in the city, besides owning SS Netcom Private Limited, a premier Internet service provider in the State.

Another NCP candidate Khraw Kupar Jyrwa (Mawsynram) is one of the biggest coal exporters in Borsora.

Flawed fees structures in majority of the private educational institutions have helped commercialisation of the State education system, forcing parents in lower income groups to discontinue their children's education resulting in high school dropout rate in Meghalaya.

Frequent changes in school uniform and syllabus have also emerged two other areas of concern for the Government.

In view of education increasingly becoming a commercial commodity, the Education Department has decided to "rationalise" fees structure in private educational institutions in the State following a meeting with Civil Society Women's Organisation (CSWO) over the issue.

A CSWO delegation recently met Higher and Technical Education Minister RG Lyngdoh and expressed the organisation's concern over the faulty fees pattern followed by private academic institutions which, they said, needed immediate attention of the government to facilitate quality education in Meghalaya.

Mr Lyngdoh admitted that there was a definite need to rationalise the fee structure in private institutions and revealed that he had directed the Education Commissioner to take immediate steps in this connection.

"At the moment monthly fees in private institutions range between Rs 150 and Rs 500," Mr Lyngdoh said, adding majority of them hiked the fees annually.

Concerned over frequent changes in school uniform and syllabus, the minister stressed the need to upgrade school curriculum only from time to time and asked the Education Department to do a re-thinking on the matter.

CSWO also alleged that the education system had become highly commercialised and private institutions were taking undue advantage of the situation, making it increasingly difficult for parents in lower income groups to send their children to schools.

The council comprises Ka Dorbar Ki Nongsynshar Ka Ri Hynniewtrep (Federation of 25 Khasi States), Ka Dorbar Ki Doloi and Council of Nokmas.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting of the council here on Tuesday, GDAC spokesperson John F Kharshiing said the council viewed with grave concern the manner in which the concerned Dorbar Shnongs or Dorbar Himas were overlooked by the State Government before handing over of the power projects.

He cautioned all concerned parties that land and water resources are specific conditions under the purview of the indigenous institutions laid down in the Instrument of Accession and the Annexed Agreement of Dec 15, 1947.

The council appealed to the people and the State Government not to allow uranium mining at any cost for the sake of the future generation while calling all the national and state political parties, who are yet to come out with their respective manifestoes on uranium mining, to specify in clear terms their stand on this serious matter.

Earlier, addressing the council, Rajya Sabha MP Robert Kharshiing called upon on the Syiems, Dolois, Lyngdohs, Sirdars, Nokmas, Sordar Shnongs, Rangbah Shnongs to inquire the political parties and their policies for the next five years.

He reiterated the call for setting up of a partyless upper house at the State-level that would play as a watchdog on the lower house, which is the State Assembly.

He also proposed for setting up of a 'state transparency commission' to deal with rampant corruption to be filled up with non-party and eminent persons of the highest integrity.

The function of the judiciary is not to stand itself against the policy and politics of majority rule. Courts are there to test the validity and constitutionality of the actions of the state.

Judicial activism in India is again in the net of criticism with the Supreme Court making observations on its overreach, with references to several orders passed in relation to the demolition of unauthorised constructions, nursery admissions, air pollution, motor vehicle fines and so on.

In the past, the Supreme Court has clarified that policy decisions are the prerogative of the executive. Yet courts routinely pronounce verdicts on policy matters that require no legal or constitutional interpretation.

Recently, the Delhi High Court issued a notice on a self-serving petition filed by some South Delhi Residents Associations, wanting the Delhi Metro to go underground, notwithstanding the heavy cost involved. Clearly, the evidence of judicial overreach is now too obvious and pronounced to be ignored; hence the observations of the Supreme Court need to be welcomed.

Often judicial intervention causes more havoc than the policy it seeks to correct. Take the example of the Monitoring Committee set up by the Supreme Court in the drive to seal unauthorised commercial establishments in the national capital. There cannot be any doubt that the committee's work as some sort of parallel executive body has only served to intensify the conflict between the judiciary and the executive.

Judicial interventions in policy related matters must be few and far between and must fall within the parameters and ambit of law. The judiciary is not an elected or representative body, in touch with the people, and judges have hardly any experience in matters relating to public health, education and poverty alleviation programmes. Policymaking is best left to the executive. That is why the judiciary must know its limits and must not try to run the government

This is not to say that courts must not intervene to enforce the rule of law. The timely intervention of the Supreme Court in the extra judicial execution of Sohrabuddin Shiekh and his wife Kauser Bi in Gujarat in November 2005 by three senior Gujarat police officials has brought increased spotlight on clandestine extra judicial executions and encounter deaths across the country. A contempt notice has even been issued against Narendra Modi for his recent utterances in an election rally in Gujarat justifying the Sohrabuddin encounter death.

It is the job of the judiciary to promote, safeguard and protect the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined in the constitution. In this context "social action litigation", like the one seeking rehabilitation of the widows of Vrindavan, as opposed to "public interest litigation", like the one seeking the court's intervention in the traffic chaos at Thane in Maharashtra, needs to be promoted, thus drawing the line between social issues and those that can be solved easily by the executive.

Little has been done to discipline trigger-happy judicial officers manning the subordinate judiciary. Non-bailable warrants of arrest are routinely issued in frivolous prosecutions initiated by persons of questionable credentials. This brings us to examine an issue of great significance to the Indian judiciary - the issue of "Lesser Men" occupying judicial posts.

Recently the Delhi High Court had occasion to reprimand a junior judicial officer for insubordination and failure to follow the law. The judge was asked to undergo a refresher course at the Delhi Judicial Academy. What remains to be seen is how this judge's performance is monitored in future and whether he benefits from the public reprimand he received.

Transparency International India, a forum registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860, Delhi, in its report on the judicial system recommended the need to monitor the quality of judges and their judgments and the need to screen judicial appointments, making them more transparent and merit based. At present, the high courts are constituted of judges appointed from the bar and promoted from the higher subordinate judiciary.

Inevitably, promotee judges are appointed on the basis of their seniority in the cadre, which as a policy needs to be urgently reviewed. It is imperative that all judicial appointments are based on experience and performance and a solely seniority based collegium is not a good innovation. Regrettably, the selection and appointment of judges is not based on socially sensitive, honest and democratic considerations. Authority without virtue is dangerous and this makes the question of transparency in the appointment process real and urgent.

Earlier this year a parliamentary standing committee, chaired by E. M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, stated that "to meet the ends of social justice and equity," the quota for the Scheduled Cates, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) should be extended to the higher judiciary. While reservation has become an extremely contentious and divisive issue today, it is nonetheless important to deliberate on this suggestion.

Significantly the South African interim constitution mandated the creation of a Judicial Services Commission (JSC) for purposes of selecting and recommending persons to the higher judiciary. Section 174(2) of the South African Constitution states: 'The need for the judiciary to reflect broadly the racial and gender composition of South Africa must be considered when judicial officers are appointed'.

One important factor that guides the JSC is diversity, which is a quality without which a court is unlikely to do justice to all citizens of the country. Diversity is not treated as an independent requirement, superimposed upon the constitutional requirement of competence, but rather as a 'component of competence'.

While in India the present mode of selection of Judges to the higher judiciary ensures the independence of the institution, it does not address the issue of diversity. Instead of following the thorny route of reservation it would be beneficial to consider the creation of a Judicial Commission that would play a role in the appointment process and also ensure that diverse groups including gender, region, caste, religion, disability etc. find representation in the higher judiciary. This can only strengthen the faith and confidence of the people in the judicial process.

The judiciary also needs to introspect and self-regulate. There is a considerable body of opinion that subscribes to the view that when concerns are raised about the conduct of a high judicial functionary, it is within the public domain to seek an impartial inquiry into the correctness or otherwise of the allegations.

Corruption in the judiciary corrodes the rule of law. Allegations of corruption against a judge should be rigorously investigated and judges should receive limited immunity for actions relating to judicial duties. The biggest setback received by Indian democracy in the year 2007 was the unwillingness of the judiciary to initiate a fair and impartial inquiry into the concerns raised about a former chief justice's conduct.

Such an inquiry would have done much to alleviate the public's confidence in the Judiciary and would have even given an opportunity to the Judge to put to rest any concerns that the public had with regard to his alleged conduct. Instead, the Judiciary reacted petulantly and sentenced four Journalists of 'Midday' for contempt of court. No attempt was made to inquire into the truth of the charges. The Delhi High Court took suo motu cognizance of the new reports published in 'Midday' accusing the former chief justice of India of nepotism and ruled that the publication of the reports scandalized the judiciary and was nothing short of contempt.

In a democracy, it is inevitable that institutions should evolve with the passage of time and part of that process of evolution is questioning the manner in which institutions function. The year 2007 has seen more of those questions being asked than any real evolution.

There is disturbing news emanating from the US intelligence sources that China has made Tibet the dumping yard of its nuclear wastes and research facilities. With the passage of time the nuclear waste material will get mixed up with the glaciers which are the major sources of Indian and Pakistani rivers. In due course of time, waters of the Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Sindh and many other rivers will become a source of health hazards for millions of people in India and Pakistan.

China is believed to have nuclear manufacturing centres at Dhashu, which is in the "Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture" and Tongkhor in Amdo. The primary weapon research and design facility in Dhashu, constructed in the early sixties, is based near Lake Kokonor and is known as the Northwest Nuclear Weapons Research and Design Academy, or the "Ninth Academy" (because it was under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Bureau) which secretly designed all of China's early nuclear weapons, and remains today a serving research centre for detonation development and radiochemistry. This massive complex, which does not appear on any Chinese maps, served as China's "Los Almos".

The Ninth Academy is believed to have dumped an unknown quantity of radioactive waste on the Tibetan plateau. According to the International Campaign for Tibet, waste disposal methods were reported to be casual in the extreme. Initially, waste was put in shallow, unified landfills. The nature and quantity of radioactive waste generated by the Ninth Academy is still unknown. During the 1960s and 1970s, nuclear waste from the facility was disposed of in a roughshod and haphazard manner. Nuclear waste from the Academy took a variety of forms-liquid slurry, as well as solid and gaseous waste. Liquid or solid waste would have been in adjacent land or water sites.

Official Chinese pronouncements have confirmed the existence in Tibet of the biggest uranium reserves in the world, although their actual value will not be known for years to prove the future reserve bank of Tibet. Reports confirm that uranium is processed in Tibet itself and that many Tibetans died in 1992, after drinking contaminated water near a uranium mine in Ngapa, Amdo.

According to a recent study, Nuclear Tibet, the first nuclear weapon was brought onto the Tibetan plateau in 1971 and stationed in the Tsaidam basin, in northern Amdo. China currently has approximately 300-400 nuclear warheads, of which several dozens are believed to be in Tibet. As China's ground-based nuclear missiles can be transported and fired from trailers, it is difficult to locate and count missiles in certain areas.

To the west of Dhanshu, China established a nuclear missile deployment and launch site for DF-4 missiles in the Tsaidam basin in the early 1970s.

Another nuclear missile site in Tibet is located at Delingha, about 200 kms southwest of Larger Tsaidam, which houses DF-4s and is the missile regimental headquarters for Amdo containing four associated launch sites. A new nuclear division has also been established in Amdo. Four CSS-4 missiles are based there, which have a range of 8,000 miles, capable of striking the US, Europe and all of Asia. In June 1996, China carried out in Tibet chemical defence manoeuvres in the high altitude zone to test newly-developed equipment. According to a CIA report, "China has been conducting nuclear tests in several areas of Tibet in order to determine the radiation levels among the people living in those parts."

China's nuclear missiles and facilities on the Tibet plateau not only undermine the area's traditional role as a buffer zone for the region but also exhibit two tendencies which typify China's policy on the disposal of toxic and nuclear waste in Tibet. The first is to deny in public charges that Tibet is used as a dumping ground for such wastes. This is usually accompanied by assertions that China intends to develop Tibet as a centre for tourism and protect its pristine natural beauty. The second tendency is typified by the repeated attempts of Chinese government agencies since 1984 to negotiate the disposal of hazardous waste in Tibet.

In 1994, the China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation (CNEIC) offered Western countries nuclear waste disposal facilities at $1,500 a kg. Simultaneously, CNEIC appointed three German companies as its agents for this purpose. These developments were widely reported in the Western press, and raised considerable controversy about the use of Third World countries for storage of the West's nuclear waste. It is mentioned that around 4,000 tons of such waste was expected to be sent to China for a consideration of $5.45 billion by the end of 2010.

Following the controversy the Chinese government remained silent about the actual execution of the plan. Many sources believe that the waste was ultimately disposed of partly in Tibet, since Tibet and Eastern Turkistan offered the only places under Chinese control where such disposal would not threaten its own populated areas. The area of Eastern Turkistan used by China for nuclear research and disposal is Lop Nor, immediately north of the Tibetan border. Dumping in either area would threaten the fragile, unpolluted ecology of the Tibetan plateau.

In 1995, negotiations took place to store spent fuel from Germany in Tibet in return for German assistance in China's nuclear programme. The Chinese policy of disposing toxic wastes in Tibet received further confirmation 1996 when Greenpeace obtained documents revealing a plan to ship one and a half million tons of sewage sludge from the city of Baltimore, Maryland to Tibet for use as "fertilizer". A payment of $1.44 million was offered with the first shipment of 20,000 tons. The brokers for the shipment were a San Francisco based firm, California Enterprises, and the Hainan Sunlitt Group, a Chinese government agency.

Greenpeace noted that import documents described the shipment as "heni", the Chinese word for river silt, and commented: "Urban sewage sludge is not river silt, nor is it useful "fertilizer" when it is contaminated by household and industrial wastes. In the US, sludge from urban sewage treatment plants is chronically laced with toxic pollutants". In Chicago, the use of such wastes as garden fertilizer was withdrawn after heavy metals were found to be accumulating in the soil.

Given the vast size of the Tibetan plateau and the fact China goes to great lengths to keep all information about waste dumps a close secret, conclusive evidence about the location of dump sites is hard to obtain. Therefore the action agenda calls for the immediate appointment of an International Monitoring Commission to investigate the disposal of nuclear wastes in Tibet. Secondly, all industries producing major pollutants, including nuclear facilities, should be closed down with immediate effect. And thirdly, governments and agencies negotiating the disposal of nuclear and toxic waste with China should make information related to such plans public. It is only then that a possible check on the clandestine Chinese nuclear activities could be exercised on the Roof of the World. Meanwhile, India and Pakistan should jointly file a case before the International Court of Justice at The Hague against China for turning Tibet into a nuclear waste ground, which will cripple the river system in both the countries, and slowly kill millions of people. INAV

Sir,

It has come to my notice that MTDC is in the process of doing unnecessary manpower planning/recruitment for the selfish motive of certain groups of employees in the Corporation. It has also been found that over the years MTDC has never bothered to follow the rules and regulations and appointments have also been made based on criteria other then merit, qualification and experience.

Once again the same game is being played to please a section of the political establishment and this time it is to confirm a contractual assignment to the post of an Assistant Manager -- without publication of any advertisement ignoring other contractual staff working in the Corporation.

In the light of the events it will be prudent to file a public interest litigation (PIL) to call for an explanation from the Corporation on such gross violation of norms and to stop all such out-of-turn appointments violating democratic norms and government rules and also to ensure that the deserving local qualified professionals are not deprived of their rights.

Yours etc.,
Herson Pariat,
Mawlai

Sir

I would like to invite the attention of the concerned authorities in the North Eastern Council (NEC) through the column of your esteemed daily to the fact that the scholarship of Student of North Eastern States are deposited with the respective State Government of the region for disbursal to the students.

In the case of Meghalaya it is not clear why the students are deprived of the same for the financial year 2006-07 and 2007-08 or Government of Meghalaya has diverted the fund for other purpose. If it is diverted, the government of Meghalaya should remember that it is Centrally sponsored scheme and Meghalaya Government has no authority to divert or misuse the money.

Will NEC come out with a statement for the benefit of the student community?

Yours etc.,
S. Chakravarty
Laitumkhrah

The 12-hour dawn-to-dusk blockade called along two arterial National Highways -- No 39 and No 61 -- that run through the hill state on Tuesday passed off peacefully even as vehicular traffic on both the highways came to a grinding halt. The National Highway 39 connects Nagaland's commercial hub Dimapur to Moreh along the India-Myanmar border in Manipur.

The blockade was called by the youth wings of three non-Congress political parties including Nagaland People’s Front (NPF), Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in protest against imposition of President rule in the State.

The party of deposed Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who was leading the BJP-backed Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) Government, has chalked out a series of agitations to mobilise public opinion against imposition of Centre rule when Assembly elections in Nagaland were due in February next.

NPF spokesman Abu Metha informed that the party has announced a series of agitation against the imposition of Central rule, which smacks of 'mala fide intention', 21 days after the Rio Government had won a trust vote motion in the Assembly.

"We will make the Congress answerable for imposition of PR. Naga people had biter experiences of President rules in the past and will give a fitting reply to it in the forthcoming election" he said.

"We are definitely going to court to seek redressal against imposition of PR in the State as our party's legal cell has found it a fit case to move the Supreme Court against Congress-led UPA Government's decision to promulgate Article 356 in the State. However, most important in democracy is to go to the highest court, the people's court."

Nagaland Governor K Shankaranarayanan has also directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to issue instructions to all senior police officials and district Superintendents of Police (SPs) to remain alert to defeat designs of vested quarters to create trouble during the Central rule.

Meanwhile, the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has accused the rival NPF of trying to disrupt normal lives of people by resorting to agitation against the President's Rule.

It said the NPF should air its grievances against the Central rule in New Delhi not in Nagaland as it was a 'justified' decision of the Centre given that the voting pattern in December 13 no-trust motion did not reflect Rio Government's claim to enjoy supports of majority MLAs in the 60-member House.

Agartala:Targeting January 10 as the final date for publishing the photo electoral roll, the Tripura Election Department has made hectic preparations for printing the final rolls.

This time, altogether 203, 0915 voters find place in the list. Among them 10.34 lakh are males while woman electorate comprise 9.96 lakh, according to sources.

The draft electoral roll was published here on October 26 last but on the basis of ‘claims’ and ‘objections’ during revision, 63.66 thousand names got enlisted as fresh applicants while 28.347 names have been deleted from the list.

On the other hand, discussion between authority concerned and political parties in this context has already been held, said the Chief Electoral Officer GSG Ayyangar on Tuesday.

He informed that voters would have to produce photo identity cards while exercising their political rights in the elections.

Guwahati: Independent legislator Mohibul Haque and another person was critically injured in pre-panchayat poll violence in Assam's Dhubri district late on Monday night.

Official sources here on Tuesday informed Mr Haque and his supporters were having dinner at a house in Nadirgaon, near Gauripur police station, after the poll campaign, when they were attacked by political rivals at about 2330 hours.

The MLA was attacked with sharp weapons and sustained serious injuries. Three vehicles and motorbikes were also damaged by the attackers.

Mr Haque's security personnel Moon Ali fired in the air to disperse the mob and one Sahidul Ali was hit by a bullet in the mayhem. Both the injured to rushed to the Dhubri civil hospital and were later referred to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital.

No arrests had so far been made and the police have intensified vigil to ensure that there are no flare ups.

Mr Haque, representing Gauripur constituency in the state Assembly, is an associate member of the ruling Congress party.

The third phase of panchayat polls will be held in the area tomorrow. The first and second phases were completed on December 31 and January four respectively. (UNI)

NEW DELHI: Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) on Tuesday announced that it would call a tender for building a one billion dollar mega transmission project in the North East next month.

PGCIL sources said it was in talks with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to raise US$ 1.2 billion in debt. Negotiations with the World Bank for US $ 600 million debt were likely to conclude in February, the public sector electricity distributor said.

The project would evacuate power from NE region to other parts of the country. In coming years with huge power potential, specially in hydel sector, the NE might turn out from power deficit to power surplus region.

The company hoped to spend Rs 85 billion in 2008-09 to expand its transmission network, PGCIL said. The company plans to raise US$ 2 billion without government guarantee and another Rs 100 billion in overseas loans.

As of January 1, PGCIL owns and operates a power transmission network of 64,700 ckt kms, 110 sub-stations and 66,650 MVA transformation capacity. It has established a national grid with an inter-regional power transfer capacity of about 17,000 MW.

Four major power regions of the country - North Eastern, Eastern, Western and Northern are now operating under synchronous mode (same frequency). The southern region grid has been connected to this synchronous grid through HVDC link. PGCIL carries about 45 per cent of the country's total electricity.

Reportedly, the entire area had turned tense with the death of 17-year-old Dhananjay Debbarma, who was shot by Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawans on Monday morning, following which a group of irate mob went berserk the area and set aflame at least six huts of the CPM supporters.

The villagers had also staged demonstration in front of Kalyanpur police station demanding compensation to the victim family as well as the punishment of the accused jawans who killed Dhananjay.

Dhananjay, a school student succumbed to his injuries at Agartala Govt Medical College, as police claimed he might have been injured in the cross fire when the extremists had also traded fire with the jawans.

Superintendent of Police (Operation) Nepal Das told UNI that a contingent of 11th battalion TSR was carrying out an operation in the interior locations of Kalyanpur when 'the jawans came under fire from the unidentified militants' and during the 'encounter' a local villager was hit by bullet.

Meanwhile, local MLA Kajal Das alleged that TSR might have mistaken a group of wood cutters as militants and shot at them. (UNI)

Guwahati: Karbi militant outfit United People's Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) on Tuesday joined the bandwagon of growing number of outfits in ceasefire in Assam that are getting frustrated with the stalemate in peace talks.

''Though more than two years have elapsed since signing the ceasefire, no progress has been made in talks,'' UPDS 'joint secretary' T Nongloda and 'finance secretary' B Rongpi told reporters here.

They pointed out that the outfit had signed the ceasefire agreement with the government in July 2006, and six rounds of talks had been held since January 2003, but no concrete result had been arrived at yet.

''Our cadres are getting frustrated but we do not want to return to armed struggle as we have a responsibility for the people also,'' they said.

A decision on further course of action would be taken at the next executive body meeting of the outfit in the third week of the current month, they added.

Stating that the UPDS shared a 'good' relation with the ULFA, the outfit's leaders added that ''our cadres trained under NSCN(IM) facilities''.

The outfit, formed in 1999, had been demanding a separate state for the Karbi tribe. Its anti-talk faction was later rechristened the Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front, which has been pursuing an armed struggle.

Though the ULFA, the largest and most potent militant outfit in the state, is yet to sit at the talks table, a number of outfits had come forward for dialogue. However, the stalemate reached in case of each outfit has prompted many to threaten to go back to the jungles.

The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and Dima Halom Daogah (DHD) (Garlosa faction) are two other influential outfits, currently in ceasefire, who have threatened to withdraw if no concrete results come out of the talks. (UNI)

Guwahati: The Directorate of Census, in a recently released data of state-wise language figure, has said that more than half of Assam's inhabitants do not speak Assamese.

The report stated that only 49.44 per cent of people speak Assamese while 27.91 per cent speak Bengali followed by 5.97 per cent Hindi and 4.93 per cent Bodo.

Asom Sahitya Sabha (ASS) president Kanak Sen Deka alleged that despite Assamese being the official language, the State Government had neither promoted it nor used it in official communication.

The literary body took out a protest procession here on Monday, led by some renowned faces of Assamese literature, to promote the language.

''Even the Bengali they speak here is a complex dialect which has its origin in Bangladesh,'' said Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya, adviser of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU), alleging that Bangladeshis had changed the demographic pattern of Assam with their typical Mymensingh dialect.

''The time is not far off when we will be losing our political rights to the Bangladeshis and become a minority in our own State,'' Dr Bhattacharya underlined.

The fact that the Assamese speaking people were steadily declining over the past three decades have caused concern among the State's intellectuals.

The ASS had also decided to examine the matter seriously and seek a curb on the entry of illegal immigrants to the State.

The literary body had also decided to unitedly fight out the infiltrators to protect the ethnicity and culture of the State.

Meanwhile, State BJP spokesman Charan Deka lambasted the Congress Government for 'failing' to solve such a sensitive issue.

''The sole reason is that the immigrant community has identified itself as Bengali speaking people,'' he said.

However, Assam United Democratic Front leader HRA Choudhury defended the immigrants saying they were bonafide Indian citizens who migrated from Bangladesh.

But the figures have opened up a Pandora's Box in volatile Assam which has been witnessing series of violent agitations over reservation on ethnic lines. (UNI)