GUWAHATI, January 17: The Centre is ready to hold talks with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) on any issue without any preconditions, according to Gopal Krishna Pillai, Joint Secretary in charge of the Northeast in the Union Home Ministry. Pillai, who is on a tour of the region, said the Centre had sent feelers to the ULFA leadership on several occasions to come forward for talks, but it had not received any positive response so far. ULFAs Commander-in-ChiefParesh Baruas recent offer for holding scientific talkswas only a statement made to a section of the press and the...

IMPHAL, January 17: The president of the All Manipur Students Union, AMSU, Khoirom Gourashyam, 31, of Phubala, was shot and wounded by some unidentified gunmen at the AMSU office at the DM College campus this afternoon. Gourashyam, who was hit in the left chest, is reported to be out of danger. He is now under treatment at the JN Hospital. The AMSU has called a 24-hour general strike in the state from midnight tonight in protest against the assassination attempt. According to AMSU sources, some five unidentified youths came to the AMSU headquarters at around 12.50 this afternoon, and while two...

GUWAHATI, January 17(UNI): The ceasefire with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) is likely to be extended to all Naga areas of the Northeastern region. A crucial meeting of the Chief Ministers of Northeastern region, besides that of Nagaland was being convened shortly to take the final decision, said the Joint Secretary of the Union Home ministry, GK Pillai. The July 1997 ceasefire with the rebels had been extended till July 31 with revised ground rules debarring the NSCN cadres to carry arms to all populated areas, besides there would be no safe havens. This was decided after...

GUWAHATI, January 17: 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 last evening said that 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...

GUWAHATI, January 17: The All-Bodo Students Union (Absu) and the Bodo People's Action Committee today criticised the banned National Democratic Front of Boroland's threat to eliminate select Bodo leaders for allegedly indulging in "nefarious activities" against the militant outfit. In a press statement, Absu president Urkhao Gwra Brahma described the NDFB threat as "words of insane mentality who might have lost their mental balance". The NDFB, in a statement issued to a section of the Press yesterday, threatened that "selective elimination and shoot-at-sight orders" shall be issued against the...