Tributes paid to Pankaj Sharma

As usual, the journalists and citizens of Guwahati have celebrated country’s Independence Day at Guwahati Press Club. Defying the diktat of militants, who called for a 15 hour general strike staring from the early hours of August 15, the group of patriotic people assembled at the press club premises for the occasion. The National flag was hoisted by the renowned journalist-writer Nirupama Borgohain at 11 am. In her brief speech, she insisted on observing both I-day and Republic Day (of India) to pay tribute to the martyrs of freedom movement. The Sahitya Academy awardee also condemned the secessionist militants for using diktats to the people not to observe the Days under any...

Here is the full text of 9th Kamala Saikia Memorial lecture delivered by eminent development journalist of India, Usha Rai today (August 9, 2010) in Guwahati. The program was organized by Journalist Kamala Saikia Memorial Trust in association with Guwahati Press Club at Vivekananda Kendra in the city. Dear fellow journalists and friends I am not a public speaker and hesitate when I am asked to come for such orations or lectures. But I could not refuse Dilip Chandan when he called me for I get extremely disturbed when I hear of physical attacks on journalists by people trying to brow-beat or silence them. I believe 18 journalists have been killed in Assam by Ulfa and others and...

The Journalists’ Forum, Assam has organized a citizen’s meet at Guwahati Press Club today. Various environmental organizations and individuals participated in the meeting. The meeting unanimously resolved three decisions for greater interest of wildlife protection initiatives in Assam. In its first resolution, the meeting demanded that the authority must ensure a transparent forensic test of the ‘to be burn’ over 1500 endengered rhino horns by the forest department of Assam. Mentionable that Assam forest department has already made a decision (also make it public) to dispose off all the rhino horns in its possession. The department has also formed a committee under...

The Burma Centre Delhi and the Journalists’ Forum, Assam have jointly organized a consultation meeting on the proposed general election in Burma (Myanmar) with a focus on its probable implication in Northeast India. The meeting to be held in Guwahati Press Club on January 30 (Saturday) will start at 10:30 am. Mentionable that, the military rulers of Burma have recently reaffirmed a general election this year by October. The last election held in Burma during 1990 was won by the National League for Democracy (392 out of 492 parliament seats), but the regime ignored the results and refused to handover the power till today. Instead, more repressive methods were practiced to crack down...