May 2007

Dr Nilakshi Khataniar, the president of Asom Sangha, along with the Joint Secretaries Rajib Barman and Mandir Panchanan greeted everyone with a ‘Bihubobia’ welcome. At the outset, the president acknowledged the loss of two individuals of the community: well known Assamese singer, late Anima Bhattacharyya Chakravartty of Peterborough; and late Dr Bijit Bora, son of Lolita and late Kumud Bora of Ottawa, who was working with the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

The event was successfully hosted by Ms Jaya Goswami and her family. An idyllic city by the gulf of Mexico, Corpus Christi is surrounded by panoramic islands and beaches. Although the inclement weather disrupted the schedule, the spirited Texas Asomiyas ensured a grand celebration.
Asomiyas from all over Texas, including Austin, Dallas, Huston and Edinburgh, participated with lots of enthusiasm. The Bihu celebration started at the Malaquite beach of Padre island. Because of rain, most of the activities were confined to indoors.

The problem is serious in Assam so far as technical education is concerned. In comparison to other States of the country, the number of engineering colleges in Assam is surprisingly small. Assam has only three engineering colleges where as Tamil Nadu has 25, Andhra Pradesh 223, Karnataka 112 and Maharashtra 151. Roughly Rs 180 crore go out of the State every year. We are glad to know that the Assam Government decided to establish a new engineering college. Dhemaji may be selected as the site as it is economically backward and geographically disadvantaged.

In the Assam High Madrassa Examination-2007, Samina Aktar of TND Girls’ Madrassa HS School, Aditpur, Barpeta, secured the first position with an aggregate of 469 marks. She was followed by Mizbahur Rahman (2nd) of Paschim Mangaldoi High Madrassa with an aggregate of 450, and Saddam Hussain of Haguripara High Madrassa, Goalpara, and Asraful Islam of Santipur High Madrassa, Bongaigaon (both third with 435 marks).

According to the university registrar, KK Deka, most of the fresh courses are post graduate diplomas. MSc in bio-informatics is the new post graduate programme that will open up for students.