GUWAHATI, April 28: The weapons handed over by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) to BSF on verification have been found to be that of the 16 BSF men killed by BDR on April 18 in Mankachar sub-division of Assam, even as questioning of the two returned injured BSF jawans had begun, BSF sources said today. The sources from Shillong told PTI here the weapons - 11 SLR, four carbines, one pistol, two grenades, two wireless transmitter sets and a large cache of ammunition - had been examined and verified at Tura in Meghalaya. The Bangladesh Rifles had handed over the weapons on Thursday at the Mankachar...

GUWAHATI, April 28: The All-Assam Students' Union today threatened to go for a statewide bandh on May 2 if the Centre did not deploy Army personnel along the Assam-Bangladesh border immediately to prevent infiltration. AASU general secretary Amiyo Kumar Bhuyan said here this morning that the Army personnel should also help in "pushing back" infiltrators who are already living in the state. Bhuyan said a memorandum had been sent today to President K.R. Narayanan with copies to the Prime Minister, the home minister and the defence minister. Terming the "goof-up" in the Mancachar sector as a...

SHILLONG, April 28: The Additional District Magistrate, Mairang Civil Subdivision, has promulgated an order under Section 144 CrPC prohibiting any person from intentionally kindling or setting fire to a forest within Mairang Civil subdivision in such a manner so as to endanger such a forest, an MIPR release said. The order has been passed based on various complaints from the Sordars, Headmen and Secretaries of various villages under the jurisdiction of the subdivision and also for the protection and conservation of environment, added the Additional District Magistrate. The order takes effect...

SHILLONG, April 28: Despite the immense tourist potential of the Northeast States, the flow of incoming tourists, both domestic and foreign has remained minimal. For instance only few thousand of the 2.6 million foreign tourists to the country in 2000 visited the NE. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has identified the reason for the aversion of the tourists to visit the region. "The facilities for stay, food, shopping and entertainment are either non-existent or mostly primitive in nature", the Ministry said in its annual report for 2000-2001 released in New Delhi recently. It...

ITANAGAR, April 26: There appears to be a new ray of hope for the re-introduction of Panchayati Raj institutions in this frontier state within a year following the assent to the Arunahcal Pradesh Panchayati Raj Bill 1997 by the President of India recently. Informing this to mediapersons here on Wednesday, state Panchayati Raj Minister Talo Mugli said that now the Centre has facilitated the state government to hold the three-tier Panchayati Raj elections within a year. "Action has already been initiated in this regard, apart from the machineries being geared up to take up the challenge to...