IMPHAL, March 28: The state Cabinet, in a meeting held today, has approved implementation of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India in the hill areas of Manipur, subject to local adjustments. In another important decision taken today, the Cabinet has endorsed the recommendation of the all party meeting held yesterday for extension of the government's unilateral ceasefire by one more month, that is, till the end of April. According to insider sources, the Cabinet, which met at 5 pm today at the Chief Minister's bungalow, agreed in principle to the implementation of the Sixth Schedule...

IMPHAL, March 28: The Imphal bench of the Gauhati High Court has quashed Speaker Sapam Dhananjoy's February 13 order declaring W. Nipamacha Singh, a former Chief Minister, and seven other MLAs as "unattached members". In his ruling yesterday, Justice J.N. Sharma directed that the eight MLAs should have been treated as belonging to the Manipur State Congress Party (MSCP). The Speaker had declared the eight MSCP legislators "unattached members" in the House following their expulsion by an MSCP faction led by Union minister of state for food processing Thounaojam Chaoba Singh. The Speaker's order...

KOLKATA, March 29: Indian anti-insurgency forces eliminated two key financiers of the United Liberation Force of Asom and seriously injured another person handling ULFA funds in Bangladesh in three different encounters in the capital city of Dhaka in last Friday. Four gunmen shot Mohammed Reza Jahangir, a businessman dealing in prawn and shrimps and a close-aide of ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, in the posh Shyamali Ring Road area in Dhaka at around 3.30 pm on Friday afternoon. Later in the day, another of Baruah's financier's and owner of a garment factory, Saleem, suffered 60 per...

IMPHAL, March 27: A meeting of all political parties here today decided to extend the ongoing unilateral ceasefire with all militant outfits by another month. The meeting was convened by Manipur Chief Minister Radhabinod Koijam. The meeting authorised the Chief Minister to constitute a committee to frame a strategy for approaching the insurgent outfits to start talks. The committee is expected to work out all the details with regard to the peace process initiated by the People's Front government. The state Cabinet is likely to take a decision on the extension tomorrow. After being sworn in as...

DIBRUGARH, March 14: The Namdapha National Park, located in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, is unique in the world because of its wide altitudinal variation, ranging from 200 metres to 4500 metres above sea level. This 1985 square kilometre park is also home to four species of big cats: tiger, leopard, clouded leopard and snow leopard. Such variety is nowhere to be found in the country, in natural conditions. Namdapha's sprawling valley of dense evergreen rainforests lie in the misty blue hills along the turbulent Noa Dehing river. This river criss-crosses the park and is fed by...