IMPHAL, March 3: Ex-minister and member of the state Assembly during the period 1972 to1980 from the Thongju constituency, Oinam Tomba died at his Nameirakpam Leikai residence under Thongju constituency. He was 61 and died as a bachelor. Known for his belief in a united Northeastern region under a unified state called 'Brachin', he pioneered in demanding more autonomy to the Northeastern region. Apart from being a political figure, Tomba was also known for his aptitude in sports and journalism. O Tomba was also closely associated with the Manipur Table Tennis Association and other sports...

GUWAHATI, March 3: In the wake of liberalisation of economic and industrial policies, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is now allowed to be used for commercial purpose. This has made LPG an extremely popular fuel in any industry for the purpose of heating and burning. The tea industry in the State has initiated process to use LPG in the process of tea making in place of conventional fuels like furnace oil, coal, high speed diesel (HSD) and LDO. The industry is going to bank on the Assam Oil Division (AOD) of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for the supply of bulk quantity of LPG to the tea garden...

JORHAT, March 3: Director-general of Tocklai experimental station A.N. Mukhopadhyay submitted his resignation yesterday. Mukhopadhyay joined as the director-general of the oldest and the largest tea research centre in the world eight months ago. He served as the vice-chancellor of Assam Agricultural University here before joining the Tocklai station. "It is not a resignation letter. I have put forward some conditions to the board of management to continue in my present post," Mukhopadhyay said. However, Tea Research Association chairman Aboni Borgohain said the director-general expressed his...

AGARTALA, March 3: Militants of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Twipra (NLFT), in its first major strike this year, gunned down 11 CRPF personnel and two civilian drivers this morning at Daluma in South Tripura district. The militants also decamped with nine sophisticated weapons from the slain jawans and three jawans have been admitted in Udaipur hospital in a serious condition. Police said the jawans from 4th battalion CRPF stationed at Bampur, near Amarpur, had a tip-off that a gang of NLFT militants was moving in the area. Acting on this information, the jawans set off on five...

AGARTALA, February 28: state government has received Rs 6.42 crore for police modernisation from 1995-96 to 1999-2000. Other than that the state government has also received ammunition and devices worth Rs 18.26 crore. Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar who is also in charge of the Home department, in a written answer said this to Congress MLA Ratan Lal Nath's question. In another answer to the question of TUJS, MLA, Ratimohan Jamatia, the Chief Minister said, from January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2000, police arrested 270 militants and 1051 collaborators. At the same time, 85 police personnel were...