Imphal, December 28: Taking serious note of alarming rise in corruption cases in the State permanent body of Manipur Peoples' Liberation Front (MPLF) it is product of long existence under India's colonial rule. Corruption today has risen to such an alarming proportion that people consider it as an indispensable part of every day life, said the MPLF statement. Government employees who do not accept bribe is considered unacceptable in the present context of the society, mocked MPLF while attributing the menace to prolong domination of India and the root cause to systems adopted by it to subdue...

Guwahati, Dec. 28: The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) has appealed to the Manipur government to follow the footsteps of the Assam and Mizoram governments in facilitating the peace process between the Centre and the outfit.

The Manipur government has been maintaining that unlike Assam and Nagaland, it would not withdraw arrest warrants against the NSCN (I-M) leaders. Among other demands, the NSCN (I-M) wants cases against its “collective leadership” dropped before its chairman Isak Chishi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah visit India to hold talks with Prime...

Agartala, Dec. 28: Militants of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) have warned Jamatya tribals of serious consequences if they do not pay taxes this year. They have also threatened to attack non-tribal settlements located close to the Jamatya-inhabited areas.

The militants had failed to extort any “tax” from the Hindu Jamatyas over the past two years in the face of organised resistance by Jamatya Hoda, the supreme community council. The Jamatyas had launched a resistance programme against the NLFT militants and their conversion drive in early 2000 under the leadership of the then...

NEW DELHI, Dec 27—With the floods just a season away, the Centre has cleared several flood control and anti-crosion projects including a proposal to protect Dhubri and South Salamara areas. The projects sanctioned by the Planning Commission in the past few days are expected to be completed by March 2004. According to sources, the latest in a series of projects cleared by the commission included raising of Brahmaputra dyke from Biswanath to Panpur at an estimated cost of Rs 4.87 crore. Another project cleared the same day included anti-erosion measures on river Brahmaputra at Assam Bangiya...

GUWAHATI, Dec 27— Sparks did not fly in the post Khumtai central executive committee meeting of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee today as leaders of the party showed maturity in sharing the blame for the defeat at the hands of AGP in the December 12 by-election to Khumtai LAC while the Chief Minister was made to promise that illegal check-gates in the State will be abolished within March next year. The marathon central executive meeting of the APCC which lasted for over four hours at Rajiv Bhawan here, had detail discussion on party’s defeat at Khumtai by-election and agreed that it had...