New office bearers of Assam Association Chennai

All of a sudden, people across the started buyins salt on Thursday. A section of businessmen picked up the first buck and started selling the essential commodity @ 200 per kg. Some others stocked salts to claim more rate. Within a few hours salt vanished from the shops and markets in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar and Jorhat. The panic buying started acting on a rumour that Gujrat has stopped supplying salts to Assam. A television news channel aired the story of how salts are available for Rs 200 per kg. But the story was withdrawn later. The government called it a rumour and asked the people not be panic further.

In yet another incident that touches off seismic waves of protest and anger across the state, the temporary statue of Laxminath Bezbarua was romoved on Thursday. The statue, installed as a mark of respect for the doyen of Assamese literature was suddenly removed just before chief minister Tarun Gogoi arrived the book fair to attend a function in the evening. The statue was reinstalled following sharp reaction and protest. Later the chief minister said that the statue should not have been removed for security reasons. The organizers said that they did it only at the instance of the chief minister's security officials.

Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) has greeted all the media person of the State ahead of National Press Day scheduled for November 16. However the Assam based scribes body argues that most of the working journalist and other media employees of the region are still performing their duties with pitiable salaries and other due benefits under the national labour law.Amidst this depressing environment, the recent declaration of Assam government to include working journalists under the pension schemes came as pleasant news, said a JFA statement signed by president Rupam Barua and secretary Nava Thakuria. The JFA also expresses its solidarity to the Assam IPR minister Basanta Das regarding his recent...

In yet another landmark judgment, Gauhati High Court on Tuesday ordered lifer for five tea garden officials in Jorhat district in connection with a rape and murder case. A division bench of the court on Tuesday rejected the Jorhat session court where the alleged perpetrators were acquitted citing lack of evidence. The court asked the authorities to send the accused to the jail immediately. The incident took place in 1992 at Gotonga tea garden where three officials along with two other officials from a nearby tea estate repeatedly raped an 18-year old girl before cutting her body into pieces. Local residents told Assamtimes that they are satisfied with the...