NEW DELHI, Dec 9 ? Continuing their round of courtesy calls, NSCN (IM) leaders today called on a host of leaders including former Prime Ministers, Atal Behari Vajpayee, VP Singh, even as NSCN(IM) general secretary, Th Muivah said that they are positive that something would come out.

Amidst escalating tension in Manipur with the rival Khaplang faction, the chairman and the general secretary of NSCN(IM), Isak Chisi Swu and Th Muivah talked peace. They reiterated that whatever the conflict, dispute or differences, it must be all solved through peaceful negotiations.

The visiting NSCN (IM)...

NEW DELHI, Dec 9 ? Euphoria of having a MP from North-east as Minister in-charge for the region is over, as MPs from the north-eastern States are seething with anger over alleged non-performance of Minister, Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), PR Kyndiah. Laid back attitude of the only Cabinet Minister from the North-east has left his colleagues fuming, even as they prepare to approach Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, to change the Minister DoNER.

The reason for the MPs? ire were the pile of schemes and projects they had submitted to the Minister, which were either rejected or kept...

GUWAHATI, Dec 9 ? The ULFA today rejected the offer of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to come for talks. In a statement e-mailed to the media here this evening, ULFA Commander-in-Chief Paresh Baruah said, ?The reply of the Prime Minister to Dr Mamoni Raisom Goswami will disappoint the peace loving people of Assam. It is not surprising that the Prime Minister?s reply was sent by the security adviser to PMO which shows that the Prime Minister did not think it worth to give a personal reply to the sincere effort of Dr Goswami.?

The ULFA leader stated that the PMO?s letter is contradictory and...

NEW DELHI, Dec 9 ? Asserting that his Ministry?s heart was with Assam on the gas cracker project, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG), Mani Shanker Aiyar struck a positive note claiming that the Project was back on track.

Participating in a Question Hour discussion in the Lok Sabha here this morning, Sri Aiyar said that his Ministry was actively pursuing the Project. The Minister said that delay in execution of the Project was owing to great differences in margin. The lenders need to get adequate return on investments to reach a comfort level.

The MoP&NG recently convened a...

SHILLONG, Dec 8 ? The Centre has accepted the recommendations of an 11-member committee, which was constituted to suggest measures for the revitalisation and to operationalise the revised mandate of the North Eastern Council (NEC), which was established in 1972.

Making a statement in the Rajya Sabha recently, Union Tribal Affairs and DoNER Minister PR Kyndiah said that the Centre has, by and large, accepted recommendations of the committee, an official statement issued here said.

The recommendations relate to the organisational and functional restructuring of the NEC secretariat, setting up...