SHILLONG, January 24: Armed to the teeth and wearing bullet-proof vests and headgear, two companies of Border Security Force personnel filed into this capital town today to "assist" the police in maintaining law and order in the run-up to Republic Day. BSF personnel are involved in counter-insurgency operations in Assam, Manipur and Tripura, but it is the first time they have been requisitioned for law and order duty here. BSF deputy inspector-general (Meghalaya) Ashok Kumar said the frontier guards had been deployed at the state administration's request. The police requested both the BSF and...

IMPHAL, January 23: The chief minister W Nipamacha Singh, has no inclination to have the adjourned winter session of the State Assembly reconvened, MPP leader O Joy Singh observed today while speaking to media persons at his office chamber at the state Assembly. The MPP MLA said the failure of those Ruling MLAs who had been invited to a meeting by the Speaker on January 20 last to discuss the reconvening of the Assembly session to turn up made it obvious and the CM and the ruling MLAs were not interested in reconvening the Assembly. O Joy further said the negligence of the chief minister, who...

GUWAHATI, January 23: The Centre has withdrawn the excise duty exemption facility earlier extended to the tobacco units set up in Assam under the new Northeast industrial policy. With this the future of 14 tobacco units that had come up in the state had become uncertain, at the same time putting at stake jobs of over 600 persons who had found employment in them. About 2000 others had found indirect employment too. The order to this effect was issued by the union finance ministry vide a notification on Monday. The tobacco manufacturing units had come up in Assam following the announcement of...

IMPHAL, January 24: The people of the state may no longer have to face the problem of shortage of coins and currency notes of small denominations, if a directive issued today by the Guwahati High Court, Imphal bench has any effect. A division bench comprising justices BB Deb, and AH Saikia, passing the final judgment on a public interest litigation filed in connection with the Reserve Bank of India, RBI to immediately remit coins and currency notes whenever requisitioned by the United Bank of India, UBI and State Bank of India, SBI for the state. The division bench further directed the UBI and...

GUWAHATI, January 23: With the Election Commission announcing that polls to the Assam Assembly would be held in the later part of April, the Congress party fearful that the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the BJP would join hands to prevent it from returning to power, has begun preparations in right earnest. To nip any such alliance in the bud, the party has plastered pre-election graffiti all over and started spewing venom against the possible alliance. Pradesh Congress Committee president Tarun Gogoi has already accused the AGP and BJP of entering into a tacit understanding in this respect. So...