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AIZAWL, May 23 ? India urged Myanmar to rein in the North-east insurgents who have taken shelter in that country and make efforts to stop arms smuggling by the rebel groups, reports PTI.

Rajeev Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, who led the 17-member Indian delegation in the two-day sectoral level Indo-Myanmar talks here, sought the cooperation of Myanmar government in curtailing the operations of the insurgent groups from across the border.

Agarwal said that North-east insurgent groups like the NSCN(K), PLA, UNLF and ULFA have camps in Myanmar from where they create...

GUWAHATI, May 23?Poachers last night killed two rhinos ? a mother and her calf at Pobitora wildlife sanctuary, home to the second largest population of the endangered great Indian one-horned rhinoceros after Kaziranga National Park, and decamped with the horn. The two rhinos were killed by electrocution near the Kamarpur camp, adjacent to the roadside, the Pobitora ranger said. This is the second time in the last two-and-a-half-years that poachers electrocuted a rhino, but failed to take away the horn. Mentionably, Pobitora, situated at a distance of just 52 km from the city, shelters nearby...

GUWAHATI, May 23 ? A study conducted by the Soil Conservation Department recently, reveals that the degradation status of the city hills is ?almost directly related? to encroachments upon them. The study also reveals that the city?s 18 hills are covered by 75 villages, consisting of 26,985 households with a total population of 1,23,979. Ironically, this was the total population of the city in 1971, said the study.

The hills like Sunsali, Kalapahar, Khanapara, Nabagraha, Gandhibasti are subjected to ruthless devastation by the encroachers, while Basistha, Sonaighuli, Kamakhya etc, hills have...

GUWAHATI, May 23? About 300 employees of the Assam State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank Ltd (ASCARD) have been going without regular salaries for the past 22 months. The headquarters of the bank in a highrise building at Ulubari is in a state of utter despair. A sense of gloom prevails everywhere. For years, the bank has done little. For years, the bank has been unable to recover crores of rupees due to it from its creditors. Among the defaulters are some of the ?respectable? persons of the state. According to office bearers of the ASCARD bank employees union, over Rs 6.81...

SHILLONG, May 23?The Power Ministers of the North-eastern States have demanded that no power generated in the region should be exported outside without first meeting the full requirements of the States of the region.

This was clearly spelt out in a resolution adopted by the Power Ministers of the northeastern States, the excess power should be sold at a rate not lower than the rate applicable for the States of the region,? the resolution further asserted.

The Power Ministers also urged the Ministry of Power and the Government of India to expedite the execution of all identified but pending...