Politics / Nagaland

KOHIMA, July 28: The government of Nagaland has segregated the judiciary from the executive in the state through a notification, placing all judicial officers under the administrative control of the Gauhati High Court. Declaring this at a function here on Tuesday Chief Justice Brajesh Kumar asserted that the rule of law, which was the essence of democracy, could be maintained only when the judiciary was independent. Independent functioning of judiciary was necessary as it was the institute to give safeguard to the Constitution and to dispose of justice to the citizens.

MUMBAI, July 27: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP on Tuesday lambasted Swaraj Kaushal, the former central government interlocutor in the Naga peace talks. The party has accused him of exceeding his brief. PB Acharya, BJP national secretary in charge of the Northeast states, lashed out at Kaushal saying that Kaushal was an interlocutor of the government in the Naga peace talks and "not the government itself". Taking exception to the article written by Kaushal wherein he had said that the Prime Minister had not respected him for his words, Acharya said that the decision of Kaushal to extend the...

The moment Swaraj Kaushal's resignation drama came out in the open, political circles have been full of rumours about how much it would harm the ongoing peace talks between the Indian government and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN). After all, Kaushal had been in constant touch with the NSCN leaders Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah over the past one year and more. Just because no political breakthrough has yet been achieved does not necessarily mean Kaushal had made no headway. If not anything, he was trying to gain the confidence of the Naga leadership. Though a parallel...

NEW DELHI, July 27: India has decided to extend the ceasefire with the Nagaland militants for another year. This, in effect, is the upshot of the visit by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's special emissary K Padmanabhaiah and Intelligence Bureau (IB) director Shyamal Dutta to Amsterdam where they recently held prolonged discussions with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah). Represented by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, it is the only warring group fighting for '"free Naga" cause that India acknowledges. Padmanabhaiah, who recently replaced Swaraj Kaushal for the...

KOHIMA, July 25: The Nationalist Democratic Movement (NDM), a regional party of Nagaland, has decided to have an electoral alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), for the forthcoming general elections, party sources said.

KOHIMA, July 22- The Nagaland unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was formally constituted on Wednesday with former Assembly Speaker KV Keditsu as president and former Congress leader K Zhimomi as general secretary. The state executive committee of the NCP was formed after the first meeting, Zhimomi, who is spokesman of the state unit, said. The meeting resolved to field candidates in the region in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

NEW DELHI, July 21: In a new twist to the ongoing stalemate over the Naga peace talks, the Union government on Wednesday sacked the Centre's chief interlocutor, Swaraj Kaushal, and appointed former Union home secretary, Padmanabhaiah, in his place. The former Union home secretary who is also the officer on special duty in-charge for Nagaland joined his new assignment on Wednesday itself, highly placed official sources confirmed. Contrary to belief, Swaraj Kaushal was not given the marching orders for the manner in which he handled the peace talks but he is believed to have fallen victim to...

Kohima, July 15: Comptroller and auditor-general (CAG) of India has unearthed major financial irregularities in Nagaland revealing that less than one per cent of the total turnover of over Rs 38,000 crore was received by the state government from conduct of lotteries during 1993-1997. The latest CAG report, which was tabled on Thursday in the House, noted that ticket money of Rs 38,297.32 crore from the directorate of state lotteries had not been credited to the government account. The report revealed that only 0.101 per cent of total turnover of Rs 38,297.32 crore was received by the state...

Kohima, July 13: A senior Cabinet minister of Nagaland resigned from the council of ministers on Tuesday bowing to pressure from various quarters following the killing of a youth by his securitymen near Dimapur on May 29. Making a suo motu statement on the opening day of the Assembly session, roads and bridges minister I Imkong offered his resignation from the council of ministers, saying he had taken the decision "in the interest of public peace and harmony" in the state. Various organisations have been demanding resignation of Imkong owning responsibility of the incident in which one youth...