IMPHAL, May 30 ? Manipur Government has decided to extend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 for another year from June 1 in view of the deteriorating law-and-order situation, official sources said today, reports PTI. The State Cabinet which met yesterday decided to continue with the ?disturbed area? status of the State by extending the Act which had been first imposed in the State on September 8, 1980, the sources said. Since then, the Act had been extended from time to time to deal with armed insurgents operating in the State and the last two-year extension, made during the rule of...

NEW DELHI, May 31 ? As part of its plans to improve air connectivity in the North Eastern Region (NER), the Union Cabinet has approved continuation of helicopter services in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Sikkim, besides extending the service to Tripura. A significant decision that is likely to directly benefit the region was the formal clearance by the Cabinet to re-open the Indian consulate in Mandalay in Myanmar. An assurance to the effect was given by External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh last year following a request from the Government of Myanmar.

Another decision that could grant a...

NEW DELHI, May 31 ? Asserting that non-Bodos have no objections to Bodos being given autonomy sans a territorial council, Sanmilita Jana-Gosthiya Sangram Samity (SJGSS) has called for a round table conference to resolve the tangle. A delegation of SJGSS, a joint platform of 19 non-Bodo organisations today staged a demonstration at the Jantar Mantar here today opposing the move to create Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).

Peeved at not being taken into confidence by both the Centre and the State Government, deputy chief convenor of the SJGSS, Brajen Mahanta said that while they were not...

GUWAHATI, May 30 ? The Secretary of the Department of Development of North-Eastern Region (DONER), Dr P D Shenoy today made an appeal to financial institutions to improve the credit-deposit (CD) ratio in the North-east to the national level within three years to facilitate faster economic development of the region. Delivering the key-note address at the first ever seminar on ?investment opportunities in the North-eastern region? organised by the NEDFi here, Dr Shenoy pointed out that Union Finance Ministry had issued directives to the all India financial institutions to restructure their...

GUWAHATI, May 30 ? The Central Government is far from happy with the level of utilisation of Central fund by North Eastern States particularly Assam and Manipur. Talking to this newspaper on the sideline of the NEDFi seminar on Investment Opportunities in the NE, Dr PD Shenoy, the Secretary of Department of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) said, ?There is lots of scope for NE States particularly Assam and Manipur to improve their performance vis-a-vis utilisation of Central fund.? He said States like Assam and Manipur which are suffering from acute financial crisis, often tended to...