ITANAGAR, Dec 30 — Scheduled Tribe Commission chairman Dileep Singh Bhuria today said that no constitutional body should ever try to snatch away the basic rights of the tribals, which they have been enjoying since the time immemorial, over ‘jaal’ (water), jungle (forest) and ‘zamin’ (land), and described the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, as an irritant to them, reports PTI. Addressing a press conference here, Bhuria, who is on a five-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh to assess the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes, expressed his concern over large-scale eviction of the tribals in various parts of...

AIZAWL, Dec 30 — In a welcome break from the past, Mizoram was largely free from militancy throughout 2002 but collapse of peace talks with Bru militants and frequent agitations by state government employees demanding pay hike from a cash-strapped administration remained areas of concern during the year, reports PTI. Stray militancy-related incidents hit some of the state’s areas bordering Manipur but no civilian or security personnel lost lives due to militant activities, in sharp contrast to previous years. However, more than 70 associations of state government employees frequently launched...

NALBARI, Dec 30 — Two major militant outfits — the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) — have losing ground as in the current year 2002, they have lost altogether 590 cadres — 83 of them killed in encounters, while the rest of them either surrendered or were arrested by the security personnel. The security were also successful in preventing all new recruitments. Police and other security personnel engaged for counter insurgency in Nalbari district which is considered a hotbed of insurgency made a significant development in combating...

GUWAHATI, Dec 30 —The recent decision of the Central Government to offer special benefits to investors setting up industrial units in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal and Kutch region is likely to prove detrimental to North East Industrial Policy, (NEIP), 1997. The NEIP which has so far failed to take off in terms of luring heavy and permanent investment to the region barring a handful of packaging units, will cease to hold any attraction to the outside investors in the wake of similar sops being offered by the Government of India for setting up new industries in J&K, Uttaranchal and Kutch...

NEW DELHI, Dec 30 — Flood control works in Assam is likely to hit as funds were curtailed by Planning Commission because of a delay by the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) in submitting schemes for approval by competent authority. The MoWR did not submit flood control schemes among other critical proposals for approval leading to a drastic cut in budgetary allocation. As against a proposal for allocation of Rs 1,063.82 crore, all that the Ministry get was Rs 550 crore, which is almost half of what was sought. The reason the Planning Commission said was the apprehension that a higher...