GUWAHATI, March 26 ? Welfare of Plains Tribes & Backward Classes (WPT& BC) Minister Bharat Narah today ruled out possibility of bringing all the tribal councils in the State under the purview of the Sixth Schedule in the line of the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). In reply to a question of Congress MLA Rajib Lochan Pegu, the Minister informed the House that the villages to be included in Mising Autonomous Council (MAC) were yet to be identified. He said that the government will start discussing the issue of identifying Mising villages to be included in the autonomous council. In...

AIZAWL, March 27 ? Mizoram assembly Tuesday passed five amendment bills reducing the salaries and allowances of the ministers, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, deputy chief whip, opposition leader and members of the assembly, reports PTI. The bills were introduced and moved by F Malsawma, minister for Parliamentary Affairs and were passed by the legislature. The former Chief Minister Brig T Sailo and Col Lalchungnunga Sailo were not present during the voting. The two Sailos were present in the House as the amendment bill envisaged that a former legislator have to chose a single pension benefit even if...

Imphal, March 26: An all political party meeting held today has discussed the situation arising out of the abduction of Chandel DC Y Thamkishwor and agreed to appeal to the NSCN (IM) to release the officer unharmed at the earliest. Chief Minister O Ibobi told reporters later at the Chief Minister's Secretariat conference hall that as reports from the NSCN monitoring cell in Dimapur had indicated their (NSCN) disinclination to hold talks with the State Government, negotiations for the release of^ the DC is going on at the Home Minister's level. He said till date there has been no direct...

Imphal, March 26: The United Naga Council, in a press statement today called upon the government of India and the NSCN(IM) to thrash out their differences without further delay to facilitate the safe release of Y Thamkishore Singh, DC Chandel, on humanitarian grounds. The statement signed by the UNC president, KS Paul Leo, also appreciated the selfless efforts of various social organizations based in Chandel in particular and others, for securing the release of the captive government official. The release further expressed serious concern "with the incident of March 16, 2002 at Pallel Bazar...

GUWAHATI, March 25 ? Borsola Beel, a major water body of the city, which had all the potentials to make Guwahati an excellent modern city, has now been reduced to a sewage reservoir. It has now all the elements in it to turn it into a veritable portent for a vast area of the city. Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) sources here said that the beel water is now extremely contaminated with sewage. The beel is receiving pollutants through the municipal drains, municipal solid waste (MSW) from the wholesale fish market operating from inside the beel area and domestic wastes from the encroached...