Land of Jewels (Sana Leibak)

Nuke eye on Meghalaya: Guwahati, May 3: With its rich reserves of uranium, Meghalaya could well be the next venue for a nuclear power plant in the country. Union minister of state for power Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said the department of atomic energy would set up a study group to examine the techno-economic feasibility of setting up a nuclear power plant in the Northeast. The minister’s announcement came following his meeting with Meghalaya chief minister Donkupar Roy, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar (who joined in via a teleconference) and other officials in Shillong on Friday evening. “Meghalaya has proven reserves of uranium. Most of our nuclear power plants are running at 50 per cent capacity and the setting up of a nuclear power plant here could well solve the shortage problem,” Ramesh told reporters today. He said uranium mining in Meghalaya was important for the country’s nuclear programme. The department of atomic energy will prepare a detailed white paper ...

1000-hr AKRSU bandh from January 1: Guwahati: The All Koch Rajbongshi Students’ Union (AKRSU) on Wednesday called a 1000-hour bandh in Assam and North Bengal beginning from January 1 next year and threatened to intensify their stir over their demand for a separate Kamtapur State. AKRSU president Biswajit Roy, while addressing a press conference here condemned the act of ‘highhandedness’ against its activists on Wednesday, who were on fast-unto-death agitation in the city demanding Kamtapur state and ST status. The student body further alleged that the district administration officials ‘forcefully’ evacuated the members of the Chilarai Sena, Kochraj Bonshi Mahila Samity and the AKRSU and admitted them in the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital. Infuriated by the alleged highhandedness on the part of the district authorities, Roy said the student union would take up agitational programmmes like procession, bandh in the entire state particularly in the lower Assam districts to protest the S...