AIZAWL, Jan 5 — Mizoram Presbyterian Church Synod has sent a condolence message to the relatives of Ms Gwen Reef Roberts, 86, the last Christian missionary to leave Mizoram, who died at Bala in Wales on Thursday. Synod sources here said that the condolence message was also sent to the Presbyterian Church of Wales where Roberts, fondly known by the Mizos as “Pi Teii”, was a church elder. Born in Wales on March 2, 1916, she came to Mizoram as a Christian missionary in December 1944. She quickly learnt Mizo dialect and became the first headmistress of the Presbyterian Church Girls School when it...

AGARTALA, Jan 5— One hardcore ULFA militant John Barua of Guwahati surrendered to the 13 BN Border Security Force in West Tripura on Tuesday, after crossing over to Sidhai, near Agartala from Bangladesh. BSF and other intelligence services interrogated him for the last two days and according to sources, the trained militant who fled from the joint camp of All Tripura Tiger Force and ULFA at Satcherri, Bangladesh, revealed highly sensitive information. He became disillusioned and left the camp, said officer in charge of Sidhai Police Station Samarendra Deb. Sources said, “ULFA and its allies...

GUWAHATI, Jan 5 — The future of the ongoing peace talks between the Government and militant outfit Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) will depend on the outcome of the tripartite meeting to be held at New Delhi on January 9 and 10. However, the BLT leaders are optimistic that something positive would come out in the scheduled meeting. Talking to The Assam Tribune here today, BLT vice chairman Kamal Mushahary and publicity secretary Mainao Daimary said that they received favourable signals from both the State and the Central Governments and ‘we hope that some positive results will come out of the next...

Imphal, January 05: The Special Court (PC Act) Manipur today rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by former chief minister RK Ranbir in connection with the 1991-1992 rice scandal that rocked the State. RK Ranbir was the then chief minister when the scandal surfaced. Rejecting the anticipatory bail plea, Justice Binoykumar observed that Special PP of the CBI, Bipinchandra Sharma has submitted that investigation of the case is almost complete and a charge sheet is going to be filed against the present petitioner (RK Ranbir) and others after completion of necessary formalities. The judge...

KOHIMA, Jan 4 — The insecure life, unhealthy conditions, bleak future and continuing factional fighting in underground setups prompted 52 militants to lead a normal life through the centrally funded rehabilitation package. They formally laid down their arms and ammunition before the Nagaland Governor Om Prakash Sharma and accepted the cash incentives from Nagaland Commissioner P Talitemjen Ao for surrendering their arms at a rehabilitation ceremony at Kigwema village, 10 km south of Kohima. The ceremony was organised by the State government under the Centre’s rehabilitation package with...