Politics / Tripura

SHILLONG, June 25 ? Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura will be the first states in the north eastern region where Electoral Photo-Identity Cards (EPIC) have been made mandatory for the Assembly polls due in February next year. Making the announcement here this evening, Election Commissioner of India, BB Tandon told newsmen ?The Election Commission has taken a policy decision to make the EPIC mandatory for the coming polls to the state Assemblies in the three north eastern states along with Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.?

Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will also be used in all the 1569 polling...

AGARTALA, June 23? Tripura Police stumbled into startling revelations of some prominent political leaders? involvement in the financial network of banned militant organisations. The disclosure has been made when police arrested a ?self-styled prime minister? of the proscribed NLFT Nayanbashi faction on Saturday afternoon. Acting on a specific information, West Agartala police station officers arrested Haridhan Debbarma alias David Borok from near Circuit House in the heart of the city. A former ?public relations officer? of undivided NLFT, Haridhan had surrendered with 13 militants on March 11...

Imphal, June 17: The report in The Imphal Free Press about the selection of four tribes of Manipur in the new list of 43 tribes to be recognized as Scheduled Tribes under the Scheduled Tribe Order, 1950, has met with mixed response from different parties. An organization called the Kuki Tribes Recognition Demand Committee, while welcoming the inclusion of "Any Kuki Tribe" into the four selected for inclusion in the ST list, strongly objected to the list of tribes in the IFP which are reportedly annoyed with their non inclusion in the ST list as independent tribes. A memorandum by the...

AGARTALA, June 17 ? Ironical it may sound but Tripura has achieved the dubious distinction of being the only State in the country where junior engineers and non-civil service officers are being promoted to the IAS cadre and posted in senior positions, that too violating the prescribed rules and norms.

The first experience of its kind was in 1998 when a Superintending Engineer Aravinda Guha was promoted to the IAS cadre. This was followed by promotion of a non TCS officer L Darlong in 2000, then in 2001 promotion of an executive engineer Hiralal Chakrabarty. Now in this year 2002 again an...

AIZAWL, June 8 ? The Mizoram Home Minister Tawnluia said that disagreements on few issues had cropped up during the talks between the State Government and the underground Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) and the date for signing a peace accord could not be fixed, reports PTI. ?The pending issues would be discussed when the two sides resume their talks,? Tawnluia informed the State Assembly. In a written reply to a query by J Lalthangliana of the Mizoram People?s Conference (MPC), Tawnluia said that the date for resumption of talks could not be fixed yet though the two sides had held talks...

AIZAWL, May 25 ? The fifth round of talks between Mizoram Government and underground Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) held here Thursday were inconclusive with both the parties agreeing to resume the dialogue in late August, reports PTI. State Chief Secretary and leader of the government delegation HV Lalringa told PTI the talks, which began at 11 in the morning and continued up to 4.15 pm, were held in a ?cordial atmosphere?. Wide-ranging issues were discussed during the talks, Lalringa said. However, he refused to divulge the details ?till formal agreement is reached?. The four-member...

AGARTALA, May 17? Insurgents of banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) have shot dead a woman leader of ruling CPI-M after branding her as a witch at Ramchandragha village of West Tripura district, police said Friday, reports PTI. Police said a group of armed NLFT ultras raided the village last night and stormed the house of one Dewan Debbarma and dragged his wife Madhumala Debbarma out of the hut, police said. The ultras blamed that she was a witch and responsible for spread of diseases in the village and shot the woman dead before fleeing the spot, police said adding they...

AGARTALA, May 13 ? When all political parties are demanding more power to the Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council under Sixth Schedule Mizo Convention, Jampui Hills is all set to revive its old demand of ?Regional Council.? Reports reaching here from Jampui Hills said initiatives are being taken at various levels by the powerful Mizo Convention leaders for the ?Regional Council? within the ADC once again as new realignment of tribal politics in the state is taking place. Mizo Convention was formed just after communal disturbance in Tripura by powerful tribal leaders of the...

AGARTALA, May 12?The BJP is trying to find an electoral ally to oust the Left Front in the next Assembly elections. The process to find out an ally has already been put in the pipeline yesterday with a meeting among Trinamul Congress, Shiv Sena, Amara Bengali and Nagarik Mancha leaders in presence of two BJP top brass ? party?s national secretary, PB Acharya and newly-appointed central observer for Tripura V Satish. PB Acharya and V Satish, both arrived here on May 10 and held a meeting with the leaders of four non-left parties. The representatives attended the meeting were TMC chairman and...

AGARTALA, May 9 ? The mystery surrounding the abduction of Tripura Tribal Area Autonomuos District Council Executive Member Sridam Debbarma has taken a new turn as an eye witness said the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura leader had gone to meet the militants on his own. The eye-witness in a deposition before a first class magistrate, said that on May 3 Debbarma held one hour-long talks with three outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants-two among them armed with AK 47 and one overground collaborator at the residence of his relative Niranjan Debbarma, at...