Shillong, Dec. 16: The winter session of the Meghalaya Assembly, beginning tomorrow, could be the stormiest of the year as the Opposition is spoiling for a fight with the coalition government on the issue of cracking the militant-politician nexus.

The three-day session will be the last one before elections, which means the Opposition has just one opportunity to pressure the government into revealing the names of the four politicians who allegedly have links with militants.

Chief minister F.A. Khonglam had announced recently that all four were MLAs from the Garo Hills and continued to maintain...

Guwahati, Dec. 16: With jingle bells ringing in the background, the NSCN (I-M) is indulging in a bit of ?greeting card diplomacy?.

The ceasefire monitoring cell of the outfit has begun distributing Christmas and New Year cards bearing the message of ?peace, prosperity and freedom? among members of the Church, NGOs, the army and the media.

The cards are rectangular in shape and display the outfit?s sky-blue flag with horizontal red, yellow and green stripes in the middle and a white star on the top left corner. At the centre of each card is the picture of an angel blowing a trumpet, while the...

Guwahati, Dec. 16: The creation of the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) will be delayed further as a crucial all-party meeting, convened by the government here this morning, failed to break the deadlock over rights of non-Bodos and the contentious villages.

Only five days are left for the ceasefire between the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) and the Centre to expire.

The meeting, chaired by chief minister Tarun Gogoi, however, decided to appeal to the Bodo militant outfit to extend the ceasefire.

Minister for welfare of plains tribes and a member of the Cabinet sub-committee on BTC...

New Delhi, Dec. 16: The Supreme Court today rejected an application by the Election Commission seeking additional polling booths for the 2003 Nagaland Assembly elections in areas disputed by Assam.

A division bench, comprising Chief Justice G.B. Pattanaik and Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, directed that polling stations put up in areas for the 1991 Assembly elections should only be re-established for the coming polls.

Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have longstanding boundary disputes. The three states have filed original suits in this regard in the apex court. In today?s hearing, the three...

New Delhi, Dec. 16: The Assam Development Report (ADR), jointly sponsored by the Planning Commission and the state government, has recommended a detailed study of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries for harnessing their economic, military and communication potential.

Such a study, said the report, should be accorded top priority as part of the ?government?s efforts to reach out to the region? and ?give it a sense of inclusion in the task of ending disparities?. It also suggests that the task should be entrusted to the department for Development of the North Eastern Region (DONER), the nodal...