Development

Agartala, July 15: A tribal youth, suspected to be a collaborator of the National Liberation Front of Tripura, was shot dead by militants of a rival outfit today. Two hardcore militants of the All Tripura Tiger Force gunned down 27-year-old Biswarai Debbarma this morning in Mandai village under Jirania police station of Tripura?s Sadar (East) subdivision.

Police sources said two armed motorcycle-borne Tiger Force militants arrived near a tea-stall in the Old Mandai market at 10 am and asked for Debbarma. When the youth came out, the rebels seated on the bike shot him dead from point blank...

Agartala, July 15: The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) has stepped up its efforts to recapture the autonomous district council (ADC). Despite the formal resignation of chief executive member Hirendra Kumar Tripura, the ADC is still on the boil. It is currently controlled by the National Socialist Party of Tripura (NSPT), which is supported by the CPM. The Opposition INPT has stepped in to take advantage of the crisis.

An INPT delegation, led by party president Bijay Kumar Hrangkhawal, yesterday met Tripura governor Dinesh Nandan Sahay and submitted a memorandum demanding his...

Silchar, July 15: In a bid to break the impasse between the tea workers and the garden managements, the Intuc-affiliated Cachar Cha Sramik Union (CCSU) yesterday signed an agreement with the Consultative Committee of the Plantations? Association (CCPA) to fix the daily wages of the workers.

According to the agreement, the daily wages of the workers would be raised from the present Rs 38 to Rs 44.

The agreement will be implemented with retrospective effect from June 1.

The planters? association promised to hike the daily wages to Rs 46.25 after a few months.

The CCPA also agreed to pay the...

SHILLONG, July 15 ? Despite being prone to multi-hazards like floods, landslides and earthquakes, most of the north-eastern States are yet to fully implement a disaster risk management programme. The Union Home Ministry last year instructed all the 17 States in the country to implement the programme, a project of the Centre and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), entailing, inter alia, enactment of a relevant law with some institutional changes and involving other departments besides the relief and rehabilitation in tackling disasters.

But this was in ?different stages of...

DIMAPUR, July 15 ? Being snubbed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and his colleagues in the downsizing exercise, the JD-U Nagaland has come out strongly against former Congressmen including the Chief Minister and K Therie for dumping the JD-U unceremoniously. The JD-U charged Rio and his ?clique? in the DAN of deliberately ignoring significant contributions made by JD-U in formation of the alliance as well as in the victory of the DAN in the 2003 Assembly polls. The blunt response from the JD-U leadership came following K Therie heavily criticizing former agriculture minister and leader of JD (U)...

NEW DELHI, July 15 ? A number of monuments and sites of historical importance in Assam may be decaying, crying for major conservation works but Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) could spare only Rs 93.88 lakh last financial year the Union Minister of State disclosed this for Information and Broadcasting and Culture, S.Jaipal Reddy. In Assam the Ministry of Culture is currently working on conservation projects in 21 sites including Karenghar (Talatalghar), Sivadol, Joysagar in Sivasagar district, ruins and excavated remains at Sri Suryapahar in Goalpara, Bamuni hills near Tezpur, Rangamati...

Imphal, July 14: Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh is yet to re-allocate portfolios even 10 days after the ministry downsizing because of squabbling over plum posts. All the 30 ministers resigned on the advice of the chief minister on July 4, a day after he returned from New Delhi after AICC president Sonia Gandhi approved the list of 11 ministers to be retained.

Ibobi Singh accepted the resignation of 19 of them and the list was forwarded to governor Arvind Dave the next day with his recommendations. The governor did not lose any time in accepting the recommendations.

The chief...

Aizawl, July 14: The Mizoram Assembly has amended the MLA?s allowances act to increase the pension and salaries of the legislators. According to the amendment, the MLAs? pension has been raised to Rs 5,000 from Rs 4,000, while their family pension has been hiked to Rs 2,500 from Rs 2,000.

The pension of legislators, who have served more than one tenure, will be raised by another Rs 1,500.

The amendment, however, scrapped the MLAs? vehicle maintenance allowance of Rs 52,000 but retained the provision to employ drivers for the legislators. The amendment also retained the provision to allow...

Shillong, July 14: Under pressure from his own MLAs, chief minister D.D. Lapang has decided to convene a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on July 24 to explain his stand on the downsizing of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government. Lapang, who was forced to prune his ministry from 41 to 12 members to comply with the latest amendment to the Constitution, has been attacked by senior Congress MLAs for including several first-timers in place of seasoned and experienced hands.

Regional partners like the United Democratic Party (UDP), too, have protested against the chief...

Agartala, July 14: The crisis in the Autonomous District Council (ADC) deepened further yesterday with several organisations criticising the ruling CPM for supporting the National Socialist Party of Tripura (NSPT)-led council. The Gana Mukti Parishad (GMP), the tribal front of the CPM, the Tribal Students? Union and Tribal Youth Federation expressed reservations over the CPM?s support to the council, which they claimed had failed on all fronts.

Sources in the CPM, however, indicated that there would be no change in policy and the party?s support to the NSPT-controlled council would continue....