The Assam government has decided to increase the excise duty on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) by 25 per cent, state Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said after a Cabinet meeting on Friday. This will generate an additional income of Rs 1,000 crore for the state to meet the unexpected financial burden and expenditure arising out of the COVID-19 crisis, he said. Many states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi have already hiked liquor prices to give boost to their fledging revenue income. The Cabinet also decided that the tea industry will start operation in full strength maintaining social distancing norms as against the 50 per cent work force deployed since April 13. At meeting the Cabinet also decided to give nod to the Assam Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020, and repeal the Assam Agricultural Produce Marketing Act 1972. It further decided that the government will release fund for salary of Assam ...

A student of the Regional Dental College in Guwahati tested positive for COVID-19, taking the total number of positive cases in Assam to 59, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday. The student's test report came in on Friday night, following which the number of cases detected in Guwahati since Thursday rose to five. Only one person, a resident of a high- end apartment, was found to be COVID-19 positive in the city prior to that. "These are difficult times. My duty is to give finest attention to all. Following social distancing guidelines of the government, met the girl who tested positive at Regional Dental College and assured her best care," Sarma said. He urged other students of the college not to panic and ensure social distance. The girl was tested after she came in contact with a post-graduate student of the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) who had tested positive on Thursday, an official said. A 16-year old girl was found COVID-19 positive .

On 15 November, the Assam State Zoo opened its doors to three pygmy hogs, becoming the only zoo in the world to house this critically endangered species. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports on an ongoing project that’s trying to save the animal and its habitats in the face of all odds.

Dr Indira Goswami, Assamese writer and Bharatiya Jnanpith Award-winner, has recently taken up a new role - that of a peacemaker in Assam. Nava Thakuria reports that the initiative has been welcomed by students, politicians, and cultural figures in the state.

The Assam government has claimed credit for the rise in pass percentages in high schools in recent years. But, reports Ratna Bharali Talukdar, a closer look at the numbers shows there is still much room for improvement in state-funded education in high schools and colleges.

Conflict-ridden and marked as 'backward', Karbi Anglong is the first district in the North-East and the fourth in the country to have implemented a quality management system in compliance with the ISO 9001:2000 standard. Ratna Bharali Talukdar has more.

Farmers in Assam have had to move out of agriculture during the past two years because sand dunes created over their fertile lands. Comprehensive bungling of river flood control and other ill-thought out projects are the cause, finds Surekha Sule.

With training from the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurs, a new generation of jewellery traders is making its mark in Assam, focusing on traditional designs. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

The recent nod to Telangana has led to unrest and violence anew in Assam, where several groups have been struggling for their respective states for decades. Ratna Bharali Talukdar looks at the current situation in the context of the long and checkered movements for statehood in the region.

Eco-friendly disposable plates and bowls made from sheaths of the abundant areca nut plant in rural Assam hold great promise for a lucrative industry with global reach. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports on the enterprise.

The ruling government has seen limited success in some areas, but the state's lingering needs seem to have been forgotten in the war of personalities ahead of the looming parliamentary elections. Ratna Bharali Talukdar has more.

Should foreign immigrants in Assam enjoy Indian citizenship as outlined by the Assam Accord and endorsed by Section 6A of the Citizenship Act? Tanvi Bhatikar reports on a recent court ruling that focuses on these questions.

The heavy rains of the south-west monsoon are a few weeks away and malaria usually follows, in Assam. The state has 20 per cent of malaria deaths in India, but this time, doctors say they have taken substantive measures. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

Sanitary conditions in most of the slum areas in Assam are abysmal. Ignorance about cleanliness, lack of water supply and proper working toilets, absence of covered drainage and sewage, and no action from the local and state government are to be blamed for the mess, reports Nilotpal Bhattacharjee.

The first Covid-19 patient of Assam, Jamal Uddin has been cured and released from Silchar Medical College Hospital on Wednesday afternoon. He was released after three consecutive negative tests, said Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in his Tweets.

A Rajasthan-registered bus, which carried 43 pilgrims from Ajmer Sharif that falls in the red zone, to Silchar on Wednesday, has now become cause of worry for Assam after five of its passengers have tested positive in the past 24 hours, which has pushed the state’s total positive cases to 49 on Friday.

Assam reported its 45th Covid-19 case on Thursday, and along with it the fortuitous capture of a "most wanted" car thief who had been playing cat-and-mouse with police in the state and neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh for more than a year.

Forty-three returning pilgrims in a single bus from Ajmer Sharif, which falls in the red zone, has become the latest worry for the Assam government after five of them tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.

Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday addressed panchayat presidents and secretaries of the state through a telephone conference and urged them to ensure resumption of work under MGNREGA.

Assam education department on Thursday notified that the entire month of May will be treated as summer vacation and all educational institutes in the state will be allowed to re-open only from June 1 even if the third phase of the Covid-19 lockdown comes to an end on May 17 and is not extended further.

Nearly 1000 returnees, including 140 students of Assam studying in different universities and institutions of Gujarat, arrived in Guwahati on Thursday, even as nearly three lakh people, who had earlier registered for coming to the state, have re-applied cancelling their requests for permits.

The Assam health department on Thursday launched a drive in every village to check if people were suffering from viral infections like Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and Influenza-Like Illness (ILI). Health teams moved from house to house to conduct tests on villagers.

A total of 26 Bangladeshis, who were in Assam on tourist visas and had been held in Dhubri for violating their visa conitions, have been sent to judicial custody.

Assam University Teachers' Association (AUTA) is unhappy with the Centre's decision to freeze hike of Dearness Allowance (DA) of its employees and Dearness Relief (DR) of pensioners at current rates till July 2021.

Assam has been allotted 1.25 lakh MT of rice per month under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) scheme for three months from April to June for free distribution among 2.49 crores beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in the state.

The one-minute- forty-seven-second long footage showed the team of police officers holding placards reading, 'I am Your Son' and 'I am Your Daughter'.

Guwahati, May 09: The Assam government has decided to increase the excise duty on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) by 25 per cent, state Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said after a Cabinet meeting. This will generate an additional income of

Assam Cracker project

Assam-Arakan

Assam gas cracker project

Assam Accord

State Innovation & Transformation Aayog (SITA), Assam, is working on a Strategy Paper for the state government by engaging Ernst & Young (EY) on tea industry. Tea industry has suffered immensely during the lockdown .

Many leaders and workers of Forward Bloc joined the TMC in Jalpaiguri, a stronghold of the prominent constituent of the Left Front.

Even as the world spins into a global food crisis, here''s some good news from Assam. Scientists in the Assam Agricultural...

The first round of floods that hit Lakhimpur district in eastern Assam last week has already wreaked havoc on the farmers of that district...

Two waves of floods and an estimated damage of Rs 330 crore have not deterred the state from setting an ambitious agricultural production target for this season

The total area under rice cultivation in Assam, which registered a bumper record production of 40.7 lakh metric tonnes of rice...

Assam is counting on boro rice to achieve the target of 46.7 lakh-metric tonnes that it has set for the crop this year.

In early April this year, when boro (summer) paddy covering a record 3.25 lakh hectares was just beginning to flower....

Assam has drawn up an ambitious plan to step up its production of spices in the current financial year.

Even as monsoon is late by a month and less than normal, the state is hopeful of a record yield of Sali variety.

As the Coconut Development Board shifts its focus from Kerala to Assam, the state aspires to lead the country in commercial cultivation of coconuts.

The inspiration comes from Tripura, which is second only to Kerala in rubber production in the country.

Farmers in Assam, who have traditionally remained content with a single crop per year, now have reasons to go for two or more crops beginning the current rabi season

Fighting odds of floods, small landholdings and depleting agricultural land, state plans to introduce high-yielding, submergence-tolerant paddy varieties, double-cropping

30 bighas to be identified in each of the 126 Assembly constituencies; Rs 20 cr earmarked

Organic by default, rich in nutrients, bao-dhaan gets bulk order from California

Multinational companies looking to move out of China should consider Assam, with its abundant natural resources, strategic location and robust industrial infrastructure, as their destination for setting up production facilities in India, state Industries Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said on Wednesday.