GUWAHATI, January 18: The underground National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) has declared as "banned" five other Bodo groups including the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU), Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS) and All Bodo Women's Welfare Federation (ABWWF) for their alleged "nefarious" activities and threatened selective elimination of their leaders. A statement by the NDFB's publicity secretary B Erakdao on Wednesday evening said the ABSU, BSS, ABWWF, Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) and the Bodo People's Action Committee (BPAC) had joined hands to "crush" the NDFB's "revolution" for a sovereign Bodo...

IMPHAL, January 17: The combined front of the Opposition parties, the Manipur Democratic Front (MDF) has decided to elect its leader "openly" and also democratically. This was stated by the convenor of the MDF and Samata Party MLA, Nimaichand Luwong during a press conference held at the Speaker's bungalow last night. The decision to elect the leader of the Opposition in an open manner and also democratically, was taken in a meeting of the MDF in which all the 23 MLAs barring the Smata Party MLA Wangkhem Basantakumar took part. Nimaichand Luwang also told the reporters that the decision to...

IMPHAL, January 17: Speaker S Dhananjoy today said he had convened a meeting of legislature party leaders of the ruling and Opposition groups on January 20 for the second time, after Governor Ved Marwah wrote to him asking him to summon the House immediately. The meeting is scheduled to start at 2 pm. The Speaker said he had called a meeting of the leaders of the Ruling United Legislature Front and the Opposition Manipur Democratic Front on January 15, but none from the Ruling side turned up. The Speaker served meeting notices to 13 Ruling and Opposition members in attempt to defuse the...

GUWAHATI, January 17: Gone are the days when zoos were merely centres of fun and entertainment where the animals were the entertainers. Today, zoos are regarded as important scientific centres. The emphasis is more on the scientific upkeep of animals besides, in some cases, sheltering members of endangered species and facilitating captive breeding. Keeping with the trend worldwide, the Assam State Zoo here has also undertaken several measures to provide a better environment to the inmates trying to bring them as close to their natural environs as possible. In their efforts to ensure minimum...

GUWAHATI, January 17: Rich tributes were paid to cultural patriarch Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwalla on the occasion of Silip Divas, his 53rd death anniversary, today. The central function was observed at Tezpur under the aegis of directorate of cultural affairs in collaboration with the Northeast Cultural Centre, Calcutta. Speaking at a meeting held at the District Library auditorium there, state industries minister Gunin Hazarika and agriculture minister Chandra Mohan Patowary recalled Rupkonwar's contribution towards the formation of the greater Assamese society and ethos. As a part of the...