Development

Nagaon, July 6: The United People?s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) today warned members of its breakaway faction, the Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF), to ?return to its fold or face its military strength.? The KLNLF has entered into a ceasefire with the Centre against the wishes of the UPDS.

In a press release, UPDS joint secretary W. Musrang said his group would launch a fight against the KLNLF members unless they rejoined the parent organisation.

Claiming that the chief of the KLNLF, Horsingh Timung, had already fled the hilly region to escape the operation, Musrang urged the...

Kohima, July 6: Former Nagaland chief minister S.C. Jamir gave ?one last tip? on how to go about ending the Naga impasse before leaving the state for his new assignment as Governor of Goa. Continuing his refrain about the futility of demanding sovereignty, the Congress leader told The Telegraph that pragmatism, not idealism, was the most essential ingredient in his recipe for success.

?Today, people are afraid of speaking out the truth because they fear the gun. But they know that the solution they desire has to be acceptable to the government of India, too,? he said.

On integration of...

Imphal, July 6: A new armed outfit has surfaced in Manipur, announcing that it has taken a senior government official hostage. The new outfit ? named Human Rights and Protection Guild ? has accused Kaphunchung L. Kamei, the deputy director of the Manipur commerce and industry department, of corruption. It has been holding him captive for the past five days.

The official went missing from his Imphal residence on Thursday. The group?s spokesman said the official was not taken hostage for ransom but for his alleged involvement in malpractices.

The abduction came to light only after the group...

July 6: The chief ministers of the four northeastern states of Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh completed the process of downsizing their governments in the nick of time, eschewing major surprises and retaining their trusted aides.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi and his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga completed the task of trimming their ministries a day before the expiry of the deadline.

Tripura was the first state of the region to reduce the size of the government in accordance with a constitutional amendment last year.

In Manipur, Okram Ibobi Singh retained nine of his...

Guwahati, July 6: The Congress high command today offered the post of Assam PCC president to former industry minister Bhubaneswar Kalita as the revolt within the party gained momentum. Supporters of senior leaders hit the streets to protest their exclusion from the ministry.

Supporters of Sarat Barkotoky disrupted normal life in his Sonari constituency, protesting the exclusion of the veteran leader from the downsized ministry, while Ardhendu Kumar Dey?s loyalists called a 12-hour bandh in Hojai tomorrow.

Terming Dey?s exclusion from the ministry a ?raw deal? for the Bengali Hindu community...

IMPHAL, July 6 ? The downsizing exercise in the two-year-old Ibobi ministry in Manipur has hit the high-ranking officials in the state secretariat hard as several Ministers are pressurising these officers to expedite pending assignments. Sources here said that the Ministers facing uncertainty of their place in the new Council of Ministers have been pressurising the Commissioner and Secretary level officers to execute pending tasks and this has created chaos and anxiety at the hub of State administration.

Unable to bear the enormous pressure exerted by respective Ministers and a work load...

MOKOKCHUNG, July 6: The grand old man of Naga politics and Governor-designate of Goa SC Jamir said that with his new assignment he would be in a position to observe the developments of the ongoing Naga political process in an unbiased and neutral perspective. Jamir would leave for New Delhi tomorrow to meet the Prime Minister and other central leaders. He has called the Chief Secretary of Goa to New Delhi to dicuss on the finalization of the day of his swearing-in as the Governor of Goa.

Yesterday, he was felicitated in Kohima for his being appointed as the Goa Governor by the President of...

DIBRUGARH, July 6 ?The Dibrugarh Town Mishing Kebang has called upon all sections of society to maintain communal peace and amity and not be misled by emotions on the issue of the proposed Sixth Schedule status to the Mishing Autonomous Council.

In a statement issued here on Monday, leading members of the Kebang said that the territorial jurisdiction of the proposed Council under the Sixth Schedule is yet to be finalised and that this would only be done after consulting all sections of the society.

?Therefore there is no need to be agitated over the issue.... rather it is necessary that the...

GUWAHATI, July 6 ? There is a large-scale increase in the smuggling of drugs and other psychotropic substances across the North East. While the region is the major transit route of drugs destined for the metropolitan cities like Delhi and Mumbai from Myanmar and Thailand, it is also serving as a major route to supply cheaper alternatives like Phensedyl cough syrup to countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar. A huge consignment of Phensedyl bound for Bangladesh was seized by the BSF in Tripura recently.

Officials involved in the monitoring of the drug trade in the region said here that the North...

NEW DELHI, July 6 ? It?s official. The highest number of foreigners is staying in Assam but hold your breath its only 26,490 of them. That?s the official figure of number of foreigners living in Assam. Gone is the estimate that most of 1.20 crore illegal migrants were living in Assam. That was NDA?s estimate. According to the Minister of State for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal there are about 46,818 foreigners reportedly living illegally in India as on December 2002. The highest number of foreigners staying illegally is in Assam followed by 11,122 in West Bengal and 2,405 living in Rajasthan...