Development / Nagaland

Kohima, June 17: A regional space centre would be set up in Nagaland, officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) have promised chief minister Neiphiu Rio. Top Isro scientists, including executive director Satyanarayan and director of its satellites communications programme, Bhaskaranarayanan, visited Kohima earlier this week.

“We hope to initiate quite a few projects here,” Satyanarayan told Rio. “If the space centre is established, several other projects, such as disaster management systems, can be designed,” said an assistant scientific officer here.

Isro scientists...

Kohima, May 23: A Naga tribal union has clarified the applicability of the inner-line permit. The Konyak Union has reaffirmed that children born to Konyak woman with non-tribal husbands would need to apply for an inner-line permit. Konyak Nagas are the dominant community in Mon district. A resolution had been adopted in the past but “a fresh need has arisen to keep tabs on immigrants”, mostly Bangladeshis, the union said.

“Often, we find that the name of a man may be Konyak but his father’s name indicates he is not a Konyak,” said a member of the union from Mon. “If a Konyak woman marries a...

Guwahati, March 10: Carrying huge and voluminous maps will be a thing of the past as it will now be available on CDs. The Assam-Nagaland Geospatial Data Centre under Survey of India here is preparing digital maps of Assam and Nagaland, which will also be available for the common people.

?Students or researchers will not have to pore over entire maps for specific information. Now, they will be able to get a CD pertaining to their area of interest,? a source said. The maps will be prepared digitally on the world geodetic system, in other words, based on land survey.

For example, if a student or...

Kohima, March 10: The Church and most organisations in Nagaland are divided on total prohibition. At a seminar held here recently, representatives of non-governmental organisations, the Church, the excise department, media and law-enforcing agencies debated on the success of prohibition in the state.

They all admitted that the policy had failed as liquor flows freely in the state. But while many government and non-governmental organisations softened their stand, others continued to take a hard line.

Organisations like the Naga Students Federation (NSF), the Nagaland Tourism Association and...

Kohima, March 5: The decks have been cleared for the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to begin oil exploration in Nagaland with the tribal organisation, opposed to the activity, finally giving a green light. The tribal Lotha Hoho, whose writ runs large in the oil-rich Wokha district, was opposed to the oil giant resuming operations in the area.

Chief minister Neiphiu Rio today said ONGC and other oil companies have been asked to start work without delay. ?I am happy that the landowners are also coming around,? he told a packed Banquet Hall at his residence on the first anniversary of the...

Touphema, Feb. 26: She came to buy jewellery all the way from Austria ? only to find the better bargain is back home. Brigitta Prokoff, a jewellery collector from Vienna, has always taken a special interest in the gem-studded ornaments of Nagaland.

However, only when she and her friends visited the state in the hope of finding exquisite and original Naga jewellery, they realised that the best of the genre is available back home.

?I found that the best and the original has been taken away by the dealers to either Delhi or Austria,? she said. Naga jewellery, a typical combination of gems and...

Kohima/Dimapur, Feb. 26: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is once again on the verge of skidding on an oil slick of controversy in Nagaland. A powerful tribal organisation has put its foot down on exploration plans by the oil and gas major, accusing it of deception.

The Lotha Hoho, representing the Lotha tribe that dominates Wokha district, said the company had not fulfilled its promises and so would not be allowed to set foot in the district, said to have substantial oil reserves. ONGC had earlier carried out exploration in Wokha.

?The ONGC did not live up to its word,? Hoho...

GUWAHATI, Feb 15 ? Imagine a person living without drinking water for the last 13 years. Believe it or not the feat has been claimed. It seems strange, but 80-year old Dr Robindra Mohan Dasgupta of Dimapur is said to have been going without water since 1990 to prove that ?nothing is impossible in the world.?

His food include all common veg and non-veg items that are prevalent in the region and within his clan, minus mutton. An LMP doctor from Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, Dr Dasgupta stopped practising in 1994. He is the owner of Medical Hall in Dimapur. His daily chores include reading...

Kohima, Feb. 12: A disconnection drive by the BSNL services in the last fortnight in Nagaland has distressed its consumers. ?How can I file a bill which is years old?? complained Atanu Phukan of the PTI. Avinash Koli, organising secretary of the BJP in Nagaland, complained that his telephone connection has not been restored despite payment of the bill. ?Now the elections are close and I have nowhere to go,? he said.

The new system of despatching bills through the postal department has created problems. General manager P.K. Sarkar said people should take the matter to the postal department...

Kohima, Feb. 3: The Prime Minister?s dream of launching mobile services in Nagaland has turned sour with customers fuming over BSNL?s poor connectivity and billing. Mobile phone services were launched in the region by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on October 27.

Moreover, the customer care node machines, which will link the capital and Dimapur with Shillong, are yet to arrive from the supply point, BSNL sources said. They were scheduled to be installed by December 27. The news that the installation may take a few more weeks has left the customers fuming.

?What is the use of all this...