NEW DELHI, May 14 ? In a classic case of too many cooks spoiling the broth, engagement of 150 road contractors by the State PWD to renovate 100 km stretch of roadwork of the historic Dhodar Ali road has thrown the project behind schedule by over a decade. The State PWD?s practice of distributing works among contractors has raised quite a few eyebrows in the government circle, as even after engaging 150 contractors to renovate 100 km stretch of the road, it has taken the department over a decade to execute only 80 per cent of the work. The road improvement of the Dhodar Ali was sanctioned in...

Imphal, May 14: Due to unchecked encroachment and alleged issue of land allotment orders to encroachers by the Settlement and Land Records Department, the original area of the Langol Reserved Forest has been reduced by 50 percent. said a source in the State Forest Department. A large portion of the 7.45 sq kms area of the reserved forest which serves as the "green lungs" of Imphal valley has been occupied by new settlers and the 'forest area' has shrunk to a mere 350 hectares. Besides large scale deforestation of the Langol Hills has been going on, he said. Contending that encroaching and...

Imphal, May 14: The Home Ministry has given the green signal for the establishment of 20 new IRBs in the NE region. According to an official statement, two will be in Arunachal Pradesh, two in Mizoram, five in Assam, three in Manipur, two in Meghalaya, two in Nagaland and four in Tripura. It mentioned that under the scheme, the State Government may claim for grant-in-aid instead of loans as advance for procuring the land and constructing the complex. The expenditure made for establishing the battalion will be reimbursed by the Centre under the Security Related Expenditure scheme. Meanwhile...

NEW DELHI, May 13 ? An ultimatum by the Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) today prompted the Union Home Ministry to agree a tripartite talk later this month on resolving the Karbi and NC Hills problem. The Centre?s attention to the problems in Karbi and NC Hills was drawn by a delegation of ASDC and Karbi Students Association and Karbi Nimso Chingthur Asong (KNCA), which called on Union Home Minister, L K Advani here today. The delegation included ASDC president, Holiram Terang, president KSA, Roland Killing, president of KNCA, Seema Ronghangpi, besides Dharam Singh Teron, MLA.

The...

NEW DELHI, May 13? Senior parliamentarian Rishang Keishing was the cynosure of all eyes in the Rajya Sabha today on the occasion of completion of 50 years of Parliament, reports PTI. Keishing, belonging to Congress, is the lone member in the House who has represented Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency in the first Lok Sabha in 1952. Referring to his long Parliamentary career, chairman Krishan Kant said, ?members will be particularly gratified to know that Rishang Keishing, a member of this House, was a member of the first parliament, being elected to the first Lok Sabha. He is the lone link...