Assam Government keen to have a Bangla consulate in the State; National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) to hold talks with different bodies in Assam; Silchar-Lumding Railway line to be completed by 2013; Assam Government to publish White Paper on i
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    • According to reports, Assam Government is keen to have a consulate or trade office of Bangladesh in Guwahati to further relations between the north eastern states and Dhaka. An official statement issued on September 18 said the issue was raised during a meeting between Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pankaj Saran and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. Issues related to trade, transportation and communication between the North Eastern states and Bangladesh were also discussed at the meeting. During the meeting, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi briefed the Indian High Commissioner about problems related to detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants residing in Assam and asked him to take up the issue with the neighbouring country’s government at the diplomatic level. 1

    In another development, according to reports, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) authorities will hold a discussion with the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and the twenty six ethnic organisations which have been allying with it on the issue of the issue of Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Project (LSHEP). The discussion will take place on September 20. The AASU and its ally organisations have been keeping a strict vigil on the movement of the construction materials of the LSHEP. 2

    Meanwhile, according to General Manager of Northeast Frontier Railway Ranjit Singh Virdi, the Silchar-Badarpur-Lumding broad gauge railway line will be completed by December 2013 and the Badarpur Railway Station will be declared as full-fledged railway subdivision with all modern facilities. 3
    Reports noted that the Assam Government will publish a White Paper on the steps taken to deal with the problem of illegal migration of foreigners on October 7. This was disclosed by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in a meeting of Ministers and office-bearers of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on September 20. The meeting also decided to bring out peace rallies in Guwahati and all the district headquarters of the State on October 2 coinciding with the Gandhi Jayanti. The meeting also further decided that an all-party meet would be held soon on the situation in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) areas. 4
    According to reports, a banned insurgent group on September 21 issued a diktat saying that people who entered Manipur after the 1951 census for work, small time business and other matters, and illegal migrants should leave the State by December 31. In a statement released in Imphal, Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) said a drive would be launched from January 1 next year against outsiders and illegal migrants. The KCP statement followed the warning of the coordinating committee of seven major insurgent groups (CORCOM) on the same lines. KCP and CORCOM said Central Government employees, students and those who came for academic related work were exempted. 5
    In other developments, reports noted that a court at Imphal has sentenced 22 Bangladeshi nationals who entered Manipur illegally, to two years imprisonment in addition to slapping them a fine of Rs 10,000 each. The Bangladeshi nationals were charge sheeted under provisions of Foreigners Act 1946, sources said. 6

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