GUWAHATI, Oct 17 ? Participants at a conference organised by the Centre for Development and Peace Studies (CDPS) have called upon the Assam Government to offer unilateral cease-fire to the outlawed ULFA to create a congenial atmosphere for talks. They also called upon the Centre to appoint an interlocutor to facilitate talks.

The round table conference was chaired by CDPS president TL Baruah, IAS (retd) and moderated by its director, Wasbir Hussain, a senior journalist. The speakers and participants included APCC president Bhubaneswar Kalita, AGP general secretary and MLA Hitendra Nath...

DIBRUGARH, Oct 17 ? With Jibantara Ghatowar of the Congress finally wresting Moran from the AGP, the regional party has drawn up a massive revamp plan within the party to prepare for the Assembly polls in the State, scheduled for April 2006. AGP leaders believe the 2006 polls could be advanced by the Congress, to catch the other parties unawares.

The only AGP leader with a mass base in upper Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal, on Saturday put up a brave face, saying the scheduled 2006 elections would not be impacted by the Moran by-election result. This is the same person who said a week ago that the...

NEW DELHI, Oct 17 ? Probe into the rape of Manorama Devi, which sparked off angry protests in Manipur, is believed to have reached a deadlock with State police alleging that Assam Rifles was not co-operating in the investigations and that no DNA sample had been taken by the State authorities, reports PTI. This has been conveyed to senior officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Prime Ministers? Office by the State government following inquiries whether the probe had found that Manorama Devi was not raped.

The State authorities have claimed that the probe in the case had reached a deadlock...

GUWAHATI, Oct 17 ? ?North East India should insist on measures that would expand the green cover over the Himalayan ranges. This is essential because the origin of floods in the region lie in those hills and mountains where forests have dwindled due to human intervention. We can call it a Himalayan Forest Policy,? said Sunderlal Bahuguna while interacting with the media in the city today.

He revealed that he had already talked with the Assam Chief Minister in this regard, and was hopeful that the people of Assam would adopt afforestation in a big way. ?There is no other alternative to...

GUWAHATI, Oct 17 ? The situation in the north eastern region may worsen if the Bangladesh Government cannot be persuaded to take action against the anti-India forces including the militant outfits of the region staying in the neighbouring country, said the Director General of Tripura Police, GM Srivastava.

Talking to The Assam Tribune here today, Srivastava, who was here to attend the conference of the DGs of the north eastern States, expressed the view that the bases of the NE militants in Bangladesh may prove to be more dangerous than the bases which were evicted from Bhutan, because the...