This is a series of write-ups, features and interviews on various burning issues of Assam that deserve attention. The topics cover economic, political, cultural, sports, ethnic and other relevant issues. 

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All news appearing here covers the state of Assam and 'city' refers to the city of Guwahati.

GREAT AAMSU - GREAT OUR POLITICIAN – National Register of Citizens (NRC) According to the official sources the update of the pilot project for the National Register of Citizens, 1951 has started from June 7 at Barpeta revenue circle in Barpeta district. The tri-partite discussion comprising Central government, State government and AASU was held in the year of 2009, April 22 regarding the NRC updates and in that discussion it was assured that the government would surely start the NRC updates in two revenue circles namely, the Chaygaon revenue circle in Kamrup district and Barpeta revenue circle in Barpeta district of Assam. According to the provisions of sub-rule (3) of rule 4A of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, the Register General of Citizens Registration hereby notifies [File no-9/5/2009-CRD (MNIC)] that the record in respect of the said two revenue circles of Barpeta and Chaygaon shall take place from the first day June, 2010 to 31st day of December, 2010. The official sources of Barpeta Deputy Commissioner's office informed that though the execution of the NRC updates notification had started from June 1/10; it is a matter of great regret that Barpeta district administration has received the notification on June 3/10. And after getting the notification, Barpeta district administration has conferred the charge of this act to Pradip Kr. Bhagawati, ADC, Barpeta as an observer.   The All Assam Minority Student (AAMSU) (We should come out from our wrong concept that AAMSU is a minority organization, actual meaning of AAMSU is All Assam Majority OF Student Union) came to impede the NRC. But the protesters went berserk and started pelting missiles at various shops and business establishments in the market, threw stones and bricks at the DC office complex, broke, the open gate and entered the office premises by sheer force of strength, and in the process also burnt down a number of motorcycles and four-wheelers parked there, besides burning valuable documents and files. It is reported that the AAMSU was given necessary permission by the district authorities/ State government to lead the procession two days before the date of occurrence; but strangely enough, no effective steps were initiated to maintain law and order. Scared of losing the Bangladeshi vote bank, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi lost no time in ordering suspension of the NRC update process. In stead of asking the police to nab and take legal action on the AAMSU leaders and all the culprits responsible for attacking the DC office, beating up innocent passers-by and vandalizing shops and establishments of the local people, Gogoi has punctually declared sops to the attackers — both dead and injured. Through such hurried and overzealous declarations, a frenzied Chief Minister has simply condoned the offences of rioting and damaging of public as well as private property and criminal assaults on local shopkeepers and other people by AAMSU goons. It is common knowledge that the AAMSU came into being in the wake of the Assam Agitation against foreigners, just as the AUDF had its birth immediately after the abrogation of the notorious IM(DT) Act, 1983 by the Supreme Court of India on July 12, 2005. It is also common knowledge that both these organizations work in tandem for safeguarding the interests of the illegal Bangladeshi migrants, though occasionally they indulge in a sort of lip service for taking action against the post-1971 illegal migrants. The AUDF has smelt a rat in the Barpeta violence and, without condemning AAMSU goons, has demanded payment of enhanced compensation to the dead and injured involved in the rioting due to police firing, thereby legitimizing the violent procession on the same line as Gogoi’s. For fear of losing the vote bank, several AUDF and Congress leaders made their presence felt at the janana of the deceased demonstrators, who the AAMSU has declared ‘martyrs’. None of these parties is questioning AAMSU’s violent attacks. The AAMSU called Assam bandh on July 22 in protest against the police firing at Barpeta. As expected, they again resorted to large-scale violence in areas dominated by immigrant Muslims, in districts where the Bangladeshi Muslims have become the majority population at the cost of the indigenous people. The AAMSU’s notoriety in resorting to violence is well-known if we go by the happenings when it called Assam bandh for three days in protest against the scrapping of the IM(DT) Act in 2005. Did the Assam government take action against their leaders and cadres? Their sister organization, MUSA (Muslim Students Association), attacked and killed some non-Muslims in Udalguri district for defying a bandh, and yet no action was taken against its leaders by the same government. Don’t you think that we are already under Bangladesi Muslims? GREAT ACHIEVEMENT OF THE GREAT NDFB,  AND A GREAT HUMAN BEING Mr. RANJAN DAIMARI IS NOT IT??       NDFB LEADER Ranjan Daimari say residents of the state who recall with horror the Oct 30, 2008 serials blasts he masterminded that killed nearly 100 people. The 2008 Assam bombings occurred on October 30, 2008, before noon in markets in Guwahati city and the surrounding area of western Assam. Reports indicated as many as eighteen bombs went off, causing at least 77 deaths and 470 injuries. The explosions in Guwahati ripped through Pan Bazar, Fancy Bazar and Ganeshguri, which were crowded with shoppers and office goers. Three blasts occurred in Kokrajhar, with another possible grenade explosion; two in Bongaigaon and one in Barpeta. Indian media outlets pointed out that the blasts took place just after the Diwali holidays making the blasts even more unexpected and adding to a toll count. In Guwahati, 41 people were killed; in Kokrajhar, 21; and in Barpeta, 15. On November 2, four more succumbed to their injuries here. Three died at Gauhati Medical College Hospital, while another died at the Basistha Army Hospital. Twentry others were also in a critical condition. The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) was formed on October 3, 1986. The outfit was originally established as the Bodo Security Force (BdSF) under the leadership of Ranjan Daimary. On November 25, 1994, the BdSF rechristened itself as the NDFB. The NDFB, on October 8, 2004, announced a six-month long unilateral ceasefire with effect from October 15.The move was not reciprocated by the Government and security force operations continued against the outfit, amidst threats of a pull out by the outfit. At the end of the cease-fire period, the outfit further extended the truce on April 15. Meanwhile, the Assam Government released Govinda Basumatary, the arrested general secretary, to open a channel of communication with the outfit's top leadership reportedly based in Bangladesh. Several parleys between the outfit's leadership and representatives of the Union Government and Government of Assam were held in different parts of the State and New Delhi. It resulted in the signing of a tripartite ceasefire agreement on May 25, 2005, at New Delhi. The ceasefire agreement, since, has been periodically extended, although formal peace talks are yet to begin. The anti-talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) is planning to trigger off explosions in different parts of the State to show its strength, while, the police and security forces are being kept on high alert to thwart such a move after receiving inputs in this regard. The anti-talk faction Bodo rebel group National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) on Friday claimed responsibility for the explosion on the Garib Rath Express train in western Assam that killed a minor boy and injured 13 other people. The outfit rebel group also threatened to attack more passenger trains and government operated buses in Assam. By sending a statement to media, the outlawed NDFB said, “More incidents will become the order of the day. In the statement, the outfit said the Thursday’s train attack was to protest against how the government 'treated' for their leader Ranjan Daimary. Daimari is now judicial custody. And they said that "The police and security forces could not do anything. They had got the information before the attack and also warned the media of Assam about the possibilities of the attack. But they totally failed to detect the locations. Security for the people is now only in words", the NDFB statement said. It is to be mentioned that, the state government were sounded a maximum high security alert across the state on Wednesday night, about the possibilities of serial explosions in railway tracks, bridges, oil pipelines by NDFB militants. A five-year-old boy was killed and 22 other passengers, the driver and the assistant driver of the Kolkata-bound 2518 Garib Rath were injured when the engine, along with a power car and five passenger coaches, derailed after a blast on the track between Chautara and Gosaigaon Hat station in lower Assam's Kokrajhar district in early hours of Thursday. The victim has been identified as Durlabh Chetia of Guwahati. His body was brought home later in the afternoon. The train left the Guwahati station at 9 p.m. on Wednesday and the blast occurred at 2.20 a.m. on Thursday. Another blast occurred on the track at Batasipur in Sonitpur district but there was no casualty. Security forces recovered a powerful bomb from a railway bridge at Pachnoi in the district. The National Democratic Front of Boroland (Ranjan Daimary faction) has claimed responsibility for the serial blasts on the track and warned of carrying out more such attacks. It asked the people of northeast not to undertake train journey. The blast occurred hours after the State government sounded a red alert on Wednesday following intelligence inputs that an NDFB (Ranjan Daimary faction) hit squad has entered the State in a bid to carry out sabotage activities, including serial blasts on railway track, targeting passenger trains. We should appreciate to Mr. Ranjan Daimari the leader of NDFB , he chose a right path to get their BODOLAND. If somebody can kill Ranjan Daimari’s sons and daughter then only Ranjan Daimari can feel the pain of a mother.	ARTIFICIAL FLOOD In Guwahati two or three heavy rainfalls in day wreck havoc in most of the areas of the city, creating water logging and traffic snarls. Common people however, have no other option but to vent their ire against the government and the authorities concerned, and are learning to live with the streets flooded for hours and spending considerable time in the traffic congestion. Commuters have a harrowing time in the artificial flood water in the Chandmari Colony area in Guwahati. Jawans of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescue children from the submerged houses, following the disaster in the Nabin Nagar area in Guwahati. Local people using rubber boats are seen helping in the rescue efforts. Several people get killed and injured in the devastating thunderstorm. Homes and agriculture are also the victims of the destructive process. The busy GNB Road at Chandmari is one of the most affected areas today, where traffic congestion start since early morning despite the fact that it is a holiday. The lanes and by-lanes in the surrounding areas are also waterlogged for several hours creating problem for the residents. “We started our day with the roads water-logged, which has become the most predictable situation after every rainfall. Water entered the campuses of many of our neighbouring houses, creating chaotic situation,” said Juri choudhry a resident of the Rajgarh area. GS Road, another arterial street of the city, was water-logged during the morning for several hours. Christian Basti and Bora Service areas were the worst hit due to artificial flood. With no effective solution in sight, people of Guwahati are now afraid of even the slightest of rainfall. The indifference of government authorities towards the biggest civic problem of the city is strongly condemnable,” a local of the Bora Service area mentioned. “This monsoon season has wrecked havoc some of the by-lanes of our locality, where constant water-logging is leading to health related problems. Foul smell due to flood water and strewn garbage is also giving a horrible time to the residents of the locality,”Chandrani Das, an office Assistant and a local of Tarun Nagar mentioned. “Lack of co-ordination between various government departments and agencies is another reason behind the failure of government authorities to find a permanent solution of this problem,” she added. Water-logging lasted till evening in Rajgarh by-lane 1, Gandhibasti, RG Baruah Road and many other parts of the city.  Panbazar, Athgaon, Shantipur, Ganeshguri, Bhutnath, Lakhra were also among the worst-hit areas. The main causes of artificial flood in Guwahati, are encroachment by certain people upon wetlands and hills in the city, dumping of garbage in drains, earth-cutting in the hillocks in and around the city and blocking of natural drains by people for building houses. The GDD Minister said drains on both sides of the main roads from Last Gate to Khanapara and from Chandmari to Noonmati were being constructed and added that the Hatigaon-Dispur drain and drains in other places were under construction. Sarma also said the Guwahati Water bodies (Preservation and Conservation) Act, 2008 was being implemented. Referring to the JNNURM, the GDD Minister said a survey of the drains in the city was being done and special schemes prepared. He said that the Centre had sanctioned Rs 90 crore for the State under the JNNURM. Earlier, Deka had sought to know the reasons behind artificial flood in Guwahati and the schemes, including the ones under the JNNURM, being taken by the State Government to solve the problem. The recurring phenomenon of artificial flood in the capital city is getting worse with the passage of time due to the lack of a proper scientific scheme to deal with the menace. In 1950, the natural drainage system along with the wet spaces were sufficient enough for carrying the surface run off the present catchments area of Guwahati to the outfall at Bharalumukh. As the low lying places are filled up and sewage added to run off, flood occurred. To decrease the quantity of surface run off, flowing to the natural drainage system, it is necessary to catch the run off and divert it on gravity flow. The level of Brahmaputra at Palasbari is 6 m below the level of Guwahati. The storm water coming down the hills of Meghalaya, enter Guwahati through the bridges on NH37 via Bahini and Basistha rivers near Khanapara and flowing via Bharalu river in the city exit Guwahati through the bridge on NH 37 near Jalukbari. A modern sewage treatment plant and solid disposal system is the immediate necessity of the city but let us ensure that: (i) there shall be no house in the city without a septic tank; (ii) no septic tank should be permitted without a covered soak pit; (iii) households disposing effluent from septictanks directly to roadside drains may be fined and sealed; (iv) usage of imported porous soil for the soak pit for proper soaking maybe made statutory; (v) disposal of silage (water from bathrooms, kitchens and laundry) to roadside drains maybe immediately banned. Owners must arrange soak pits for silage soaking within their own compounds; (vi) bulky household waste and solid waste must also be incinerated inside compounds only. Throwing of such wastes to roads, rivers, drains, should be severely punished by law; (vii) every citizen must keep his compound and the road and the roadside drain in front of his house clean: otherwise he should be fined in thousands of rupees daily; (viii) all hotels in Paltan Bazaar area and other places dispose the sullage into roadside drains. Hotels, apartments, commercial places disposing sullage into roadside drains should be immediately sealed; (ix) roadside drains, streams, rivers in the city should carry storm water only; (x) implementation of the above civic rules will have added benefit of mosquito control with empowered existing organizational structure of the authorities. A cleaner city will draw out its surface water:  We should keep removable big plastic buckets; garbage bins with polythene carry bags inside, in large numbers in all public places, commercial place, markets, roadsides etc. like in Singapore and keep one watchman for regular removal and replacing of the carry bags and arrange for their immediate disposal. Unemployed youths can take up this business and collect fees from the shops and residents.   The State Government has entrusted the water resources, PHE and PWD departments with the task of cleaning the Bharalu, Bahini and Morabharalu rivers and the drains in Guwahati in order to check artificial flood in the city. Rs 370 lakhs have been allotted for cleaning the drains and three rivers.     RANJAN DAIMARI is Assam's Kasab Friday night, 30th April, 2010 was a red letter day for Assam and Assamese people because the offender of serial bomb blast in the 2008 in the state ,Ranjan Daimary alias D R Nabla and  chief of the anti-talks faction of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) was handed over to Border Security Forces (BSF) by Bangladesh Border Rifles (BDR).  He was produced before a Kamrup court in Assam which remanded him to 12-day police custody. He was brought to the court in a five-vehicle convoy amidst tight security. Kamrup Chief Judicial Magistrate Robin Phukan gave the order after a short hearing. Daimary and two other NDFB militants have since been interrogated at the Assam Police Special Branch headquarters in Guwahati after they were brought by a special team of police and intelligence officials from Dawki in Meghalaya.  According to Assam Police sources, the NDFB leader was arrested on April 17 in the town of Jinaighati in Sherpur district of Bangladesh and was kept in their custody before being handed over to Indian authorities. NDFB was originally formed under Daimary's leadership as Bodo Security Force on October 3, 1986 and on November 25, 1994; the outfit changed its name to NDFB. It had entered into a ceasefire agreement with the government on May 25, 2005, but mostly flouted the ground rules of a ceasefire. The group then split into two factions - one supporting the ceasefire, led by B Sungthagra alias Dhirn Boro - and the other hard-line faction, led by Daimary, which called itself the real NDFB and sought to establish Bodoland. The split came after the October 30, 2008 serial blasts in Assam in which Daimary was named as a mastermind by the investigating agencies. Daimary was not represented by any lawyer in the court, as the Lawyers Association of Assam has decided not to defend him due to his alleged involvement in the October 30, 2008 serial bomb blasts which claimed 92 lives including several advocates. “My conscience does not allow me to take up Daimary's case as I saw many of my colleagues killed in the blast at the Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court on Oct 30 2008," said well known lawyer Nekibur Zaman. Compare this with the lone Pakistani terrorist captured after the Mumbai terror attack better known as 26/11, people in Assam probably want Daimary hanged or publicly flogged. We can compare with Kasab because we do not expect more than it from a Pakistani. But Ranjan Daimari who masterminded the October 30, 2008 serial blasts in his own state, killed his own innocent people, busted hundred families and didn’t feel imperceptibly to plot a vicious plan for his own people. Do Ranjan Daimari and his associates truly think or believe in attainment of sovereignty this way? An extortion act never forms part of a sovereignty movement and is now nothing but a cool mafia business proposition. He should be hanged," said Anirudda Das, a vegetable vendor at the Ganeshguri vegetable market in Assam's main city of Guwahati, in a tone attack with anger and remorse. “He does not have right to live, he should be shot or be hanged in an open field. The terrorist for whom we do not feel secured should better understand the pain of untoward and untimely death” as viewed by a 10th standard student.
SHOULD PLASTIC BE TOTALLY BANNED?  Plastics are synthetic substances produced by chemical reactions. Almost all plastics are made from petroleum, except a few experimental resins derived from corn and other organic substances. Plastic has many properties which have made it a raw material of choice for manufacturing of plastic bags and packing materials. Cost of production, light weight, strength, easy process of manufacture, and availability are some of the properties. There is nothing wrong with plastic as a material. Man has simply not put the plastic to the right use/ or using it without taking proper care of other related norms of usage. Now a days plastic is our favorite shopping basket, for example, the packaging of milk delivered to our doorsteps everyday, the edible oil, salt atta in our daily life, mineral water, which is our travel component. Plastics have changed life styles & conveniences in home cutting across every strata of society - from refrigerators to mixers; from washing machines to water filters; from the ubiquitous bucket to thermo ware and have made life easier, better & happier for the housewife. But the hazards plastics pose are numerous. The land gets littered by plastic bag garbage presenting an ugly and unhygienic seen. The "throw away culture" results in these bags finding their way in to the city drainage system, the resulting blockage causes inconvenience and difficulties in maintaining the drainage which has increased its cost and creates unhygienic environment resulting in health hazard and spreading of water borne diseases. This littering also reduces rate of rain water percolating, resulting in lowering of already low water levels in our cities. The soil fertility deteriorates as the plastic bags form part of manure remains in the soil for years. It has been observed that the animals eating the bags sometimes die. Plastic goes into the ocean which is already a plastic infested body of water. Fish and other marine species in the water ways, misunderstanding plastic garbage as food items swallow them and die.                       "Should plastic carry bags and bottles be banned in totality?" - is a heated issue today. Average Indian uses one kilogram (kg) of plastic every year, the world annual average is a alarming 18 kg. "Plastic is an eco-friendly material. The real problem is littering", some claim. But there is hardly anybody who agrees with such viewpoint. Thinking rationally, the whole idea of educating people about plastic bags, is as difficult as banning smoking The conventional older and tested alternatives offers an easy, if not fully equitable and practical solution. More than a 100 million tonnes of plastic is produced world-wide each year. Though plastics have opened the way for a plethora of new inventions and devices it has also ended up clogging the drains and becoming a health hazard. Many countries, including India, are trying to increase the amount of plastic that is recycled. India imported 7,841.8 metric tonnes of plastic waste from the US in the first half of 1994. India is the fourth highest Asian importer of plastic waste behind Hong Kong, Philippines, Indonesia. Environmental pollution caused by routinely used polythene packaging materials; it would be prudent, for the present, to use eco-friendly paper packaging. A ban on plastic bags (below 20 microns) has already been imposed by various states and also in a few towns and districts in India. It is going to extend this to other parts of the country also. People on picnics, visiting historical places, hill stations etc., carry eatables in plastic containers, plastic bags, mineral water bottles (plastic), plastic plates and plastic cups and generally leave open in air after consuming the contents. In recent times, due to widespread awareness drive by the NGOs , the government and to a lesser extent by educational institutions has resulted in increasing the consciousness among few shopkeepers who have shifted back to the old system of wrapping up goods in paper bags or newspapers. Some people are slowly getting habituated to going to the market with cloth bags. Besides a few NGOs, even school students have come forward to take up a promotion campaign for the use of paper or cloth bags. It has also been suggested "Rather than spending money on anti-plastic campaign, the authorities should gear up its machinery for effective waste management and disposal of plastic".	RESULT OF DEFORESTATION IN ASSAM Assam is very rich in vegetation, forests and wildlife. Lumber was once a lucrative business, until it was declared illegal by the Supreme Court of India. The region also has a number of reserved forests, and one of them, Kaziranga, is the home of the rare Indian Rhinoceros. Forests in Assam are decreasing and the main reasons attributed to the gradual depletion of forests in Assam. The hills and plateau of the two districts Karbi Along and N.C. Hills are populated by hill tribes having their own cultural life style intertwined with forests, wildlife and jhum (Shifting) cultivation. This particular process involves 'slash' and 'burn' of forest area and natural vegetation. Original jhum cultivation had a long jhum cycle of about 20-25 years, which was allowed to elapse before the same plot of land was cultivated. In this process, the forest cover remained intact. But the increase in population demanded more cultivable land, thus shortening the period to about 4-5 years. This greatly effected the vegetation of the area, as well as the total environment. In other parts of Assam also, setting up of saw mills, veneer mills and plywood factories has caused rapid depletion of large forest areas, particularly during the last three decades. The growth of tea industry has caused depletion of a large forest area. The present spate of growth of small tea gardens, many forest covers have to give way to tea plantation, thus causing further shrinkage in the total forest area. Forests and grasslands have had to be shrunk by the expansion on settled agricultural practice. The link between human poverty and environmental degradation is also one of the important factors behind deforestation. Another poverty environment link is seen in the destruction of forest for collection of firewood. Even large trees are cut deep inside the forest, split into small pieces and supplied as firewood. Much destruction of forest occurs also due to building of roads, opening up new industrial towns, construction of communication towers and electrical lines. Further, the reserved forests along Assam's border with Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh were the worst victims of encroachment and about 12% of reserved forests are under border encroachment. This takes place because, with the developmental activities in the plains people who used to live in hilly areas came downhill to set up habitation .in the reserved forests in these areas to enjoy the benefits of development. The shrinkage of forest cover has affected the climate of Assam adversely. The rainfall has become erratic, the temperatures have risen and in many places, the sign of desertification has set in. The process of deforestation in various geographical regions is destroying this unique environment. Consequently, many animals and plants that live in the rainforests face the specter of extinction. There are people that see the forest as sources of money. These people exploit of the forest. They cut down trees for rare, exotic timber that sell at high prices. Their primary concern is profits. In the short term, they can make huge profits selling exotic timber. If this is continued for some time, eventually, there will be no more trees to cut down. People who make their living cutting and selling trees will go bankrupt. This rapid destruction of rainforest has various effects on forest dwellers and animals. When an area of rainforest is either cut down or destroyed, there are various climate changes that happen as a result. The following is a list of the various climate changes : Desiccation of previously moist forest soil. Increasing in temperature extremes. Moist humid region changes to desert. Soil erosion There many rewards such as clean air and clean water, perhaps the two most important, that forests provide. Rainforests also provide many aesthetic, recreational and cultural rewards. If the rainforests are destroyed, these rewards disappear. This has major social repercussions for the entire world. The flood is caused due to heavy deforestation of the Doyang forests. The net result is severe drought, affecting as many as 7000 bighas of paddy field. There have been widespread reports of herds of wild elephants coming inside human habitation in search of food, and damaging paddy fields and properties, trampling huts and even killing people. Lack of food in their natural habitat must have driven the pachyderms to human locality. Unless the depletion of forest area is checked, this problem will grow in future, and ultimately it will cause extinction of this great wild specie The needs of forest dwellers and the wants of big business people, be reconciled with? Is it possible to preserve enough of a rainforest while allowing parts of it to be used for commercials purposes? Is the need of the animals living in the forest a factor in this debate? Is it possible that any successful policy of action regarding the management of rainforest must address these questions?
The migration from Bangladesh - an alarming exercise Migration is now a days a blazing issue for Assam. Not only is there exodus from Bangladesh, people enter from Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar as well. It raises a crucial threat both to the identity of the Assamese people and to our national security. According to Indian democratic constitution, all citizens have the right to live any where in India, however in 1947 the Muslim population in Assam was a mere 12% whereas according to the 2001 population census the same stands at 28% and may be even cross 35% according to the recent trends. The post 2025 era might see it surpassing 50% with politico-physical power with them. Can our constitution save Assam from Bangladeshi migration? A range of intelligent agencies have set out warning messages and of grave price if immediate responsiveness is not met. Regrettably, these illegal migrants have been given legal protection with resident certificates, pattas, etc for constricted political mileage. As a result, the real Assamese people have been reduced to a minority in most of the border districts and they are now unvoiced. The recent migration of Bangladeshi suspects from upper Assam following threats through SMS in mobile phones and leaflets by some unidentified people is evident of the fact that there is a mammoth presence of illegal Bangladeshis. Whether the statement of Assam Governor on the infiltration on illegal Bangladeshis infiltration into Assam is exaggerated or not, the Chief Minister has also admitted that there is silent penetration of illegal Bangladeshis into the State all along. This infiltration into Assam and elsewhere in the region has changed its demography and has now become a severe intimidation to the issue of survival of the natives and also to the security of the country. To identify the illegal Bangladeshis will not be very difficult once the citizens are properly educated about their natures. Assam has larger role to solve the illegal immigrant issues and the actions taken there will have maximum impact in other parts of the region. If Assam Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Ajay Singh’s statement that about 6000 illegal Bangladeshis are entering Assam daily is acceptable, then the fate of the north-east people are terribly at risk. This means there will be 1, 80,000 Bangladeshis in a month and 21.6 lakhs annually. The State will have 21.6 million illegal Bangladeshis by 2015, outnumbering the entire population of the region excluding Assam and the whole North East will be reduced to a minority in 20 years time. Unfortunately, instead of solving the problem, both the central and state governments have misled the people. In 1985 the government and the students union signed an act called the IMDT only to see most of the districts of lower Assam outnumbered by the immigrants. Assam shares a 272 kms porous border with Bangladesh, a vast stretch of which is unfenced. Over two years ago, the government estimated that there could be up to 20 million illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India, and labeled some of them a security risk. Illegal immigration has become farmhands for river fishermen in villages. In towns they are often construction workers or rickshaw pullers, and the women are maids.  After the last operation against the Bangladeshis, rickshaw pullers suddenly went off the roads, maids stopped coming to work places and the market witnessed shortage of eggs and chickens. Brick kilns faced a closure as there was shortage of laborers. Peace loving Assamese would quietly rest judging that the government would perform its folio, but the great Indian vote bank politics has a hand to that. Let’s pray for the poor sons of the soil to wake up to the cause.	MOBILE PHONES : A MENACE Almost every adult has a mobile phone, and so do many children. The explosion of mobile phone uses in the last few decades has been astounding: In 1988 there were approximately 500,000 mobile phone subscribers in the US; by 1993 this had grown to 13,000,000. By 2006 there were 223 million mobile phone users. Mobile phones transmit and receive Radio Frequency (RF) signals in order to communicate. The RF signals from mobile phones fall within the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum. This radiation is also referred to as microwave radiation or electromagnetic radiation. In short: Mobile phones use microwave radiation to communicate. Consequently, our landscapes and cities are covered by ‘base stations’ that relay the microwave signals used for communication. Both the base stations and the mobile phones emit microwave radiation. The health effects of mobile phone radiation on children are very worrisome. All government reports and many scientific studies that are referred to in this article emphasize that these children are more vulnerable than adults. Microwaves can be harmful to humans; the most obvious harmful effect is heating: warming up your food in the microwave is an everyday example of heating through microwaves. Children that grow up in our new mobile phone world are exposed to microwave radiation from the moment they are in the womb. However, the effects of microwave radiation on infants are unknown to most parents. A one year old could absorb around double [the radio frequency (RF) radiation], and a five year old around 60%, more than an adult. A German study published in 2004 titled ‘The Influence of Being Physically Near to a Cell Phone Transmission Mast on the Incidence of Cancer’, showed a 3 times higher risk of developing cancer for people who lived within 400 meters of a cell phone tower for a period of five years. A similar Spanish study found that people living in the close vicinity of a cell phone tower had the following health problems: Depression increased by up to 64-fold. Fatigue increased by up to 37-fold. Appetite Loss increased by up to 25-fold.         Those health effects apply to adults; children can be expected to have even more severe health issues due to the increased absorption of the same radiation levels. Health effect has linked mouth cancer in adults to mobile phone, RF radiation is a proven health risk, and especially children should have minimal exposure. A parent can take the following to minimize their children’s exposure to RF radiation: Do not allow your children to use a cell phone, unless there is an emergency Limit the use of mobile phones around children to a minimum Ensure there is no cell phone mast in the vicinity of your home and your child’s school Send this article and similar information to adults that spend time with your children, especially teachers and other parents. Mobile phone addiction is a big social problem. Psychiatrists believe that mobile phone addiction is becoming one of the biggest non-drug addictions in the 21st century. Along with the age drop of the mobile phone users and the ease of prepaid method provide by the system operators, most teenagers now own mobile phone and network service. Teenagers are engaged on their mobile phones all the time, no matter on phone cells, using SMS text messages, personalizing the mobile phone with ring tones and pictures etc. New models of mobile phones are released almost everyday. In order to get up-to-date, people tend to change their mobile phone once in a while. These became habits among the mobile phone users causing them to spend unnecessary cost on mobile bills and costs. Cyber harassment is also another issue among the disadvantage of mobile phones. Cyber harassment is a bullying Act using offensive words and behavior via online chatting, emails or SMS text messages. It was showed that the psychological effects of cyber harassment are much severe than face to face bullying. The problem now is among teenagers especially the secondary students. Do you think that mobile phones be banned in colleges and schools?