NGO seeks info on missing woman with 'Ulfa links'

Women in Governance (WING), an NGO, on Wednesday demanded that police immediately disclose information about Majoni Das, a 30-year-old woman, who went missing under mysterious circumstances from Sivasagar.

Majoni, a hostel warden, went missing from Sivasagar on February 10. According to the NGO, Majoni was a victim of enforced disappearance as police had suspected that she had links with Ulfa. WING has also asked the Ulfa to clarify whether or not she really joined the outfit.

According to her family members, police used to harass them at regular intervals as Diganta Das, Majoni's younger brother, who was also an alleged Ulfa sympathizer, went missing a decade ago.

Saint bridges Great Wall - NGOs request translation of book on Sankardev

It is one step forward to taking Assam’s Vaishnavite saint Srimanta Sankardev across the Great Wall.

A university in China is translating a book on Sankardev into Chinese language. It is expected to be released this year.

Kunming University in Yunan province of China is translating Srimanta Sankardev: Vaisnava Saint of Assam written by Bimal Phukan. The university is the only “comprehensive professional university” in the province and was set up with approval of the ministry of education of the People’s Republic of China.

The initiative came after a team, formed by two NGOs, Byatikram MASDO from Assam and Saraswati Online from West Bengal, visited the university in December last year to participate in the Sino-Indian Cultural Exchange Programme. The team requested the university to bridge the cultures of the two countries through translation of the book.

Forum to boycott hearing on tariff

The Consumer Legal Protection Forum, a city-based NGO, today decided to skip the public hearing of Assam Electricity Regulatory Authority on Tuesday, regarding an increase in power tariff in the state.

Chief convener of the NGO, Ajoy Hazarika, said they decided to skip the hearing, as the regulatory authority had failed to look into their complaints raised during similar hearings in the past.

“As the AERC is authorised by the Assam State Electricity Board to regulate the power tariff, we had demanded before it that the board should do away with the annual collection of power tariff from the government departments. Instead, the board should collect monthly tariff from government departments against every connection, as they collect tariff from general consumers. Instead of looking into our demands and other consumer grievances, it is again going to increase the power tariff,” Hazarika, also a lawyer of Gauhati High Court, said.

NGO seeks probe into fake financial institutions in state

In a letter to chief minister Tarun Gogoi, the North Eastern Economical Development Society (Needs) on Wednesday demanded the state government to conduct a thorough investigation into the workings of all NGOs and financial organizations in the state by December 31.

Amardeep Paul, founder of Needs, said several fake NGOs and financial institutions have come into existence in the city and are committing fraud. "In the name of special schemes, innocent people are being cheated of their herd-earned money. We want the government to look into the workings of all NGOs in the state and find out their authenticity," he said.

Tanya Bhattacharya, a Needs activist, said, "We are a genuine organization, yet people are apprehensive in trusting us because they feel most of the NGOs are fake. Our purpose is to bring about transparency in the workings of the various organizations."