NEW DELHI, July 26: The next round of peace talks between the Government of India and the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) will be held in Bangkok on July 28 and 29. The chief negotiator on behalf of the Government of India, K Padmanabhaih will lead a high-level team of Union government officials in the peace talks, while the NSCN delegation will be led by its chairman Isak Swu, Home Ministry sources said here today. Sources said that the extension of the ceasefire agreement, which expires on July 31, will be the main topic in the talks. Sources expressed...

NEW DELHI, July 26: The Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim will hold talks on extending the ceasefire on 28 and 29 July. The ceasefire ends on 31 July and there are indications that it will be extended by a year, notwithstanding both sides trading charges of violation. Official sources said talks would focus only on the extension of ceasefire and chances of acceding to the NSCN's demand to modify ground rules for ceasefire are remote. The talks are unlikely to focus on the broader details of a political settlement to the Naga problem. In the first positive move in nearly six...

AIZAWL, July 25: Former Speaker of Mizoram Assembly and veteran politician Vaivenga died of prolonged illness at his residence at Tuikhuahtlang locality here on Monday evening, family sources said. He was 66 and is survived by his wife and three daughters. Vaivenga entered politics in 1965 and joined Mizo Union, the first political party in the erstwhile Mizo district when Mizoram was one of the districts of Assam. He contested and won in the district council elections in 1971 and was appointed as executive member of the Mizo autonomous district council having education as his portfolio. He...

SHILLONG, July 25: At a time when the backward Northeastern states are crying out for more investments in order to accelerate the pace of development, commercial banks in Meghalaya siphoned out more than Rs 1421 crore from the state in one single year ending March last. The revelation was made in the meeting of the state Level Coordination Committee on Banking Affairs (SLCCBA) here today. Against the deposit of Rs 1729.25 crore mobilised by banking sector in Meghalaya during the year ending March 31 this year, only Rs 308 crore was re-invested in the state resulting in the siphoning of Rs 1421...

IMPHAL, July 25: The Union minister for surface transport HK Narayan Yadav told Rajya Sabha today that there is no proposal for extension of the super highway to Tamu, border town of Myanmar, even though the United Front Manipur government claimed that the super highway will be extended up to Myanmar. The Union minister made the statement in reply to an unstarred query from W Angou Singh in the Parliament today. The minister further informed the House that out of total stretch of 7300 km of north-south and east-west corridors, stretches of about 600 km of national highway are already four...