AGARTALA, April 1 (UNI): The backward most Northeastern states are lagging far behind in many aspects from the rest of the country, but the eight sister states are far ahead of their big brothers in literacy race. According to provisional report of census 2001, on an average 68.76 percent of the total of 3,90,35,582 people of the eight Northeastern states, including Sikkim are literate. The rate is 3.38 percent more than, the national literacy rate of 65.38 percent. The hill state of Mizoram, which remained in the second position of literacy race in the country after Kerala, is at the head...

GUWAHATI, April 1: It is as if scandals have become an inevitable fate for the State's Veterinary Department. Because of the misdeeds of some unscrupulous elements, who are an insignificant minority of point four to point five in size in the about 8,000-strong army of the Departments' staff, the Veterinary Department is again in the news. This time it is a scandal involving Rs 40 crore borrowed from the World Bank to bring about a white revolution in the State. No doubt, like the previous Rs 400-crore Veterinary LoC scam, this time also the honest officers and employees of the Department, who...

GUWAHATI, April 1: The much-awaited Gas Cracker Project still remains a distant dream and the State Industries Minister, Gunin Hazarika today blamed the Union government, ONGC and the Reliance Industries for the delay in implementing the project. However, as the date of the State Assembly polls has already been announced, it is sure that the project will not take off before a new Government assumes office in the State. The first hurdle in the way of setting up of the project was cleared after the signing of the has-supply agreement between the Oil India Limited and the Reliance Assam...

SHILLONG, April 1: The Meghalaya Cooperation Apex Bank (MCAB) launched the "Kishan Credit Card" scheme here yesterday. Distributing about 100 credit cards to the farmers of various service cooperatives under Shillong branch of the MCAB at a function, Meghalaya Cooperation Minister Roshan Warjri lauded the role played by the bank in assisting farmers of the State. Appreciating the KCC scheme as a new scheme for providing easy access to credit by the farmers, she called upon the bank to simplify the procedures to help the farming community to provide adequate and timely credit facilities. The...

IMPHAL, April 1: Manipur Chief Minister Radhabinod Koijam has urged Union Home Minister LK Advani to expedite the proposed institution of a highway protection force along the national highways to protect lives of the people. It is said that the proposal submitted to the Union Government by the State authority had already been approved and the matter is still under process in the Ministry of Home Affairs. According to information received here from the Manipur Information Centre, New Delhi, Koijam called on the Union Home Minister on Thursday and apprised the matter relating to the institution...