NF Railway to start service in Rangiya-Rangapara section
Guwahati: The Northeast Frontier Railway was scheduled to start passenger train services in the Rangiya Junction-Rangapara North Dekargaon section by January 15.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting convened on Monday by Sonitpur Deputy Commissioner Lalit Gogoi with senior railway officials and representatives of more than 50 organisations demanding the running of trains in this section, a NF railway release said here.
The railway administration has already started preparation for running trains in the section and a detailed notification on the timings and stoppages of the trains would be issued soon.
The 144.48 km stretch recently converted to broad gauge section will have 17 stations between Rangiya and Rangapara North, the release said. (PTI)
Boy dupes motorbike dealer
Itanagar: A young man posing himself as a buyer allegedly duped a motorbike dealership, M/s K A Motors and drove off with the bike on the pretext of test drive.
The boy, who came to motorcycle showroom, located in Naharlogun, about 15 km from here, in the early hours on Saturday last selected a motorbike. After choosing one motorcycle, he went out with it for a test drive along with an employee from the showroom.
After a brief test drive, the unnamed youth allegedly asked the pillion rider to get down on the pretext of having ‘another test drive on a kachha road’. While doing so, the ‘man in question’ never came back with the costly bike, price of about Rs. 78,000, sources informed today.
A complaint has been lodged with the local police, his whereabouts is still not known.
Meanwhile, the proprietor of M/s KA Motors has announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for giving any concrete information to locate the new Apache 180cc bike, That informer’s identity will be kept secret. sources added. (UNI)
Guv urges religious institutions to strengthen spirit of brotherhood
Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Governor Lt. Gen (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma urged upon the religious institutions of Capital Complex to further strengthen the spirit of brotherhood and remove social evils in the society.
The Governor met the ‘Dharma Gurus’ and their representatives on the occasion of a ‘Sarva Dharma’ meeting at Raj Bhawan, here today, attended by representatives from temples, mosques, Gompas, churches, gurudwaras and indigenous faiths asked them to have regular meetings amongst themselves for better understanding of each other in the greater interest of the people.
Stating that drug abuse is destroying the future generation, Governor called upon the religious heads to discourse against it as a social responsibility towards the future generation. Highlighting nature’s bounty of the state, Governor emphasised on promoting preservation of environment by them.
He appealed to the Dharma Gurus to maintain and promote the secular spirit of Arunachal Pradesh, which is a unique feature.
He said that as preached in every religion, the religious heads must continue to promote peace, respect each other, help the poor and underprivileged and stand against injustice. The Guru’s also shared the principal teachings in their respective religions.
First of its kind, the meeting provided an opportunity for representatives to interact with each other, official sources informed. (UNI)
Commercial ops of Palatana power plant likely to start in Jan
Agartala: The much-awaited commercial operations of the first phase of Palatana power plant in Tripura are likely to start by the first week of next month, official sources said.
The first unit of the plant today produced 315 MW, which is a positive sign for taking up commercial production.
Presently the power produced in the plant is being directed to the Northeast Power Grid, sources said. S K Dube, managing director of ONGC Tripura Power Corporation (OTPC), who has been supervising the operation of the Palatana power project since the past two days, said “The plant is operational for the past three days without any trouble.
“We had declared Commercial Date of Operation (COD) earlier, but could not start it due to various reasons. This time we are taking cautious steps.”
One of the biggest power projects in the Northeast region, the Palatana power plant has been struggling for sometime now and even after the formal inauguration by President Pranab Mukherjee on June 21 last, the project was shut down due to technical faults leading to suspension of operation for four months.
It was only due to the continuous work done by OTPC, BHEL and ONGC that the glitches were removed, sources said.
However, transmission of power from the plant might face more hurdles as the 400 KV transmission line has not been extended up to Bongaigoan (National Power Grid). (PTI)
Modi to campaign in Manipur
Imphal: BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is likely to visit Manipur and campaign for the party on February 8 next year.
Sources said the party is also expected to project candidates for both Parliamentary seats.
BJP has no member in the 60-member House but is expecting good results considering the recent successes. The sources said preparations have been started for the visit of Modi. However, the visit will be a short one limited to three to four hours.
BJP national general secretary Tapir Gao who is now in Imphal said if BJP comes to power at the Centre, a probe will be conducted into all scams and scandals done by the Okram Ibobi government in the state.
He also attacked the Central government for its inability to control prices of petroleum products and essential items. He reminded people of the conflict with China when land of Arunachal Pradesh was encroached.
When huge tracts of land have been handed over to Myanmar, the Centre has not acted, he charged.
Due to fencing done by Assam Rifles and BRTF under Union Home Ministry, huge tracts of land of Manipur has been lost. (UNI)