Development

IMPHAL, Aug 17 ? Organisations spearheading the stir for removal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Manipur have demanded resignation of all the MLAs within five days from today failing which they would ?face the wrath of the people.? A spokesman of the 32 organisations told PTI that since the MLAs had failed to protect the interests of the people, they should be held responsible for the deaths of student leader Pebam Chittaranjan and Kangjam Memita during the ongoing agitation.

Chittaranjan, advisor to the Manipur Students Federation, who received 90 percent burns while attempting to...

NEW DELHI, Aug 17 ? Under pressure to act fast, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil today extended an unconditional offer for talks with the agitators in Manipur, even as the threat of the Centre clamping President?s Rule in the State loomed large. The Union Government would like to give the elected Government in Manipur an opportunity, but if it fails to do its duty then the nation would do its duty, Patil said, throwing enough hints that the Centre would not hesitate to act in the larger national interest if the situation so demanded. The Union Home Minister?s offer for talks came after the...

NEW DELHI, Aug 17 ? Shocked at the killing of women and children in Assam, the Union Government was asked to prevail upon Bangladesh to end the free run enjoyed by the outlawed ULFA in the country. The Members in both the Houses of the Parliament expressed deep distress at the series of bomb blasts that rocked the State on Independence Day in Assam, even as the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, today issued a veiled warning to Bangladesh saying that supporting terrorism was a doubled edged sword which could hurt it as well. The Home Minister tabled a statement in both the Houses of...

SHILLONG, Aug 16 ? The proscribed A?chik National Volunteers Council (ANVC), which recently signed a tripartite ceasefire agreement with the Centre and the State, is all set to usher in a fresh chapter in the violence-ridden history of the Garo Hills by giving up guns and working for development. Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh told reporters on the eve of Independence Day that the ANVC leadership would concentrate in the development of Garo Hills. ?As of now there is no demand from the ANVC for the Greater Garoland and what they want now is the improvement of Garo Hills,? Lyngdoh said adding the...

KOHIMA, Aug 16 ? Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has said his government would continue to work for withdrawal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from his state, claiming that peace prevailed in the state. His government would continue to pursue withdrawal of AFSPA from Nagaland, following extension of ceasefire agreement between the Centre and NSCN-IM, Rio said while addressing a gathering here on the occasion of Independence Day yesterday. The DAN government urged the Centre after a unanimous resolution by the state cabinet that the Disturbed Areas act should not be extended to...

GUWAHATI, Aug 16 ? The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) today admitted in an oblique manner, that the Dhemaji blast was its handiwork. In an e-mail statement issued by the self-styled chairman of the banned outfit, Arabinda Rajkhowa, today said that the schoolchildren of Dhemaji were used as shield by the Indian occupation force and its agents to defy the boycott call ?of a struggling organisation which has been engaging itself to uphold the popular interest despite military repression.? This act of the occupation force and its agents led to the tragic loss of so many students, said the...

GUWAHATI, Aug 16 ? Several organistations of the State including political parties as well as the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, have vehemently condemned the blast at Dhemaji by the proscribed ULFA on Independence Day that took the lives of 14 innocent people including women and children. The organisations include the APCC, CPI, BJP, TMPK and SFI, among others. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today described the Dhemaji incident as a dastardly act. While addressing a condolence meeting at the Janata Bhawan auditorium here, he said that the perpetrators of the act were, in fact, not for restoration...

GUWAHATI, Aug 16 ? The State Government has prepared a special package to provide succour to the flood-affected people of the State, and the deputy commissioners of all the districts have been directed to submit specific plans in this regard at the earliest. Announcing this at the Independence Day function at the Judges? Field yesterday, the Chief Minister said all the flood-affected farmers have been given one-year exemption from land revenue and would also be provided with mati mah seeds within September 1. Besides, various rabi seeds will also be distributed from November 1.

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GUWAHATI, Aug 16 ? The 58th Independence Day celebrations turned out to be a tragic incident for Assam as at least 14 persons, mostly women and schoolchildren were killed and about 40 others were injured in a bomb blast in the Dhemaji College playground where the Dhemaji district administration was celebrating the Independence Day. The State Government today observed State mourning to pay respect to the departed souls of those killed in the incident, while the Superintendent of Police and Additional Superintendent of Police of the district have been placed under suspension and the Deputy...

GUWAHATI, July 29 ? While the floods continue to wreak havoc in the State, claiming over 200 lives so far and destroying cropland, property and infrastructure worth thousands of crores of rupees, a long-term solution to this perennial problem continues to elude the Government and policy-makers. The predicament of the State is compounded by the fact that of its 4,400 km-long network of embankments, over 92 per cent have outlived their normal life span of 20 years, which is even less in a rain-fed State like Assam. Most of the embankments date back to the 50s and the 60s, and the constant wear...