News

Imphal, June 12: Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh is reportedly in a precarious situation following intense lobbying by junior Ministers to retain them in the SPF Council of Minister when the down sizing policy comes into effect. The junior Ministers are informed to have exerted tremendous pressure upon the CM to offer them the opportunity of Ministerships by placing the senior ones as advisors even though sources revealed of the senior Cabinet Ministers expressing strong opposition to the junior's gesture. At the same time both the ruling and opposition MLAs have held meeting to demand for hike...

Imphal, June 12: Denial by a top brass of Army of any plan towards launching a Bhutan-type militant flush out operations in neighboring Bangladesh and Myanmar has virtually put a full stop to speculations that Indian army was preparing for a joint strike against militants holed up in these neighboring countries. Chief of the Army' s Eastern Command Lt Gen JS Mukherjee who was in Nagaland on his two-day visit said that such operation depends on the policy of the Government as well as participation of the countries concerned. Bhutan type militant flush out operation depends on the mutual policy...

Guwahati, June 12: The Assam Tea Tribes Students Association (Attsa) and the All Assam Students Union (AASU) have decided to bury the hatchet with the latter promising to fight for the rights of the tea community. The Attsa volte-face came a couple of weeks after it accused the AASU leadership of trying to destroy the composite fabric of the Assamese society by branding the tea community of the state as non-Assamese.

In a joint press conference here this morning, leaders of both the students’ organisations warned the political parties, including the Congress and the AGP, not to divide the...

NEW DELHI, June 12 – Seeking continuation of the Naga peace process, a high-level delegation of tribal leaders has demanded putting on hold for Nagaland the Central legislation on downsizing of state ministries and the process of constituency delimitation, reports PTI. Downsizing the Nagaland ministry, which represents all Naga tribes, would mean curtailing of their representation. Downsizing should not be made applicable to Nagaland,” M Vero, president of the Naga Hoho, the apex tribal umbrella body, told reporters on Friday after a 40-minute meeting with Home Minister Shivraj Patil here. He...

Kohima, June 11: The army has decided to implement a two-pronged strategy in Manipur, undoing the damage caused by allegations of fake encounters on one hand and tackling deteriorating law and order on the other. The army will initiate a damage-control exercise in the state to rebuild confidence among the people while coming down on militancy with an iron hand.

“We will progressively clear it up,” Lt Gen. J.R. Mukherjee, chief of staff, Eastern Command, told mediapersons here, referring to the spurt in militancy in Manipur.

He added that the whole problem in the region “is interrelated...