State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that state health department has already taken several steps to control population.

He said that the health department has accorded top priority to population control for 2009-10. There has already been a decline in the population growth rate of Assam, and the next survey will make this clear.

He added that that the Janani Suraksha Yojana, which provides financial incentive of Rs 1,400 to a mother in the event of a delivery in a government hospital, would now offer another Rs 1,000 if the family concerned opted for family planning.

Guwahati , Oct. 22 : The recent violence in Udalguri and Darrang districts of north Assam has left local residents of the region, devastated. The victims of the communal riot appeal all to restore peace and harmony to let the normal life resume.

Lamenting the ugly turn of the event, Bodos and Muslims, among whom the riot took place, doesn’t deny the hand of local militants behind the communal violence.

Guwahati, Oct 21 : President Pratibha Patil today said that there is an urgent need for augmenting medical institutions in the country.

Laying the foundation stone of the Tezpur Medical College in Sonitpur district of Assam, Patil said the country has at present 271 medical colleges out of which about 31,000 medical graduates pass out every year.

Guwahati, Oct 20 : President Pratibha Patil will give away the Nirmal Gram Awards here today. Gram panchayats comprising from 13 states of the Eastern and North Eastern part of the country will receive these awards formally.

President Patil, who arrived here yesterday, presented the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Award to noted film personality Shabana Azmi and Journalist Shekhar Gupta.

New Delhi- Three members of a family in India's north- eastern state of Assam were killed Saturday on suspicion of practicing witchcraft, a news report said Saturday.

The incident took place in the Balipara town in the Sonitpur district 230 kilometres north-east of the main city of Guwahati, the IANS news agency reported.

New Delhi, Oct 18 : President Pratibha Patil will begin her five-day tour to Assam and Meghalaya from tomorrow.

In Guwahati, the President will present the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Award to noted film personality Shabana Azmi and Journalist Shekhar Gupta on Sunday.

On Monday, she is scheduled to give away the Nirmal Gram Awards. Gram panchayats comprising from 13 states of the Eastern and North Eastern part of the country will receive these awards formally.