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GUWAHATI, June 20 – Exasperated at what it said was the dilly-dallying tactics of the State Government, the All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) today served an ultimatum to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to grant Schedule Tribes (ST) status to all the Adivasi communities living in the State, failing which the Adivasis would boycott the Congress party. “Assam is the only State in the country where the Adivasis do not enjoy scheduled status. This has been a gross discrimination that needs to be rectified at the earliest,” AASAA president Justin Lakra told mediapersons today.

Lakra...

GUWAHATI, June 20 – The annual floods witnessed in Assam have been one of the primary factors behind its economic backwardness. It has resulted in losses worth hundreds of crores of rupees not to speak of the loss of human lives. In 2002 alone, the loss suffered by the State due to floods has been calculated at almost Rs 187 crore. On top of that 65 lives were lost due to the deluge. Figures supplied by the State Water Resources Department (WRD) say that during the Ninth Five Year Plan period, from 1997 to 2001, the State suffered losses worth Rs 789 crore. Almost 200 people lost their lives...

SHILLONG, June 20 – A deposited rocket launcher or a snifer rifle would make a surrendered militant in Meghalaya richer by Rs 25,000, while laying down an AK-assault rifle would fetch him Rs 15,000, as fixed in a rehabilitation package by state government, reports PTI. The scheme for surrender-cum-rehabilitation of militants in the state, tabled in the Assembly here Friday by Chief Minister D D Lapang, announced incentives for the laid down weapons and ammunition.

As per the scheme, a surrendered activist would get Rs 10,000 for a carbine/SLR, Rs 5,000 for a stengun and long-range wireless...

New Delhi, June 20: Mizoram’s historical Aizawl Club will soon give way to a prototype of Delhi’s glitzy India Habitat Centre, which is the hub of socio-cultural activities in the capital. The building, estimated to cost Rs 12.37 crore, is being constructed by the state-owned National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd (NBCCL) with finance from the Union urban development ministry. It is one of the many projects the PSU has undertaken in the Northeast with a combined budget of Rs 900 crore.

“The centre will be the first of its kind in the region. Like the one in Delhi, it will be the...

ITANAGAR, June 19 – Tawang and West Kameng districts of Arunachal Pradesh would be declared as ‘peace zone’ by the state tourism department so that tourists can enjoy the peaceful environment and get acquainted with the indigenous culture, tradition and customs of the people, reports PTI.

Addressing a press conference here, state Tourism Minister T G Rimpoche said the two districts bordering Bhutan and Tibet with a total population of 1.10 lakh, was known as an ‘ever peaceful zone.’ The tourism department has conceptualised a project to attract tourists to this area projecting this unique...