News

June 2: In a significant departure from the annual and biennial talks between the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) the parleys will now be held ?almost monthly?. The next round of parleys is scheduled for Bangkok in the last week of June.

Confirming that the talks will be held more often from now on, deputy kilonser V. Horam said the issue of integration of contiguous Naga areas will figure prominently in the next rounds of talks.

On his return to New Delhi, the Centre?s interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah also said the Naga leaders in Bangkok had expressed their...

Guwahati, June 2: After seeing the dialogue between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) stutter because of minimal political involvement in the process, the Dima Halam Daoga (DHD) today demanded negotiations with Delhi ?at the highest political level? instead of talks with a bureaucrat interlocutor.

In an exclusive interview to The Telegraph, DHD commander-in-chief Pranab Nunisa said his group wanted either the Prime Minister or his deputy to participate in the proposed peace talks instead of leaving the job to bureaucrats.

?The demand we have raised is a political one and it should be discussed at...

SHILLONG, June 2? Women of a major constituent of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) have demanded empowerment and asked for their share in the party?s hierarchy and constitution, reports PTI. ?Empower US? was the focal theme of most of the speakers, mainly from villages, at the meeting M R Mawlong, one of the convenors of the women?s wing of United Democratic Party (UDP), told reports at the end of the party conclave here on Saturday. UDP with nine members is the second largest constituent in the Congress-led MDA government in the state.

Elaborating their concept of empowerment...

GUWAHATI, June 2? Ever heard of a film whose script had to be changed on location because a character?s wife did not want her husband to play dead? It has happened in the case of the Mising VCD film Miro that was canned recently. Though it is virtually impossible in mainline cinema, Mising VCD films, that have seen a spurt in recent years, are known for their adaptability. After all they cater to an audience who are very sensitive in nature and for whom such films have become the rage. Hollywood and Bollywood may be going through a lean phase but local Mising films are a roaring success.

VCD...

GUWAHATI, June 2 ? The snail?s pace that the way things are moving the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is unlikely to reorganise the party units at all levels before the next general election in the State. Sources in the party informed that although the president Brindaban Goswami, who had earlier set six-month deadline in September, 2001 to reorganise the party from the grassroot level, recently assigned all the six general secretaries of the party to expedite the process if reorganisation, the things are not moving at the desired pace.

A highly-placed party source on condition of anonimity...