Politics / Nagaland

KOHIMA, August 10: The Nagaland government has constituted a committee headed by the Chief Secretary RS Pandey in order to make the administration more effective, responsive and transparent as a follow-up action of the Chief Ministers' conference, reports PTI. According to official sources here on Wednesday, the committee recently made a detailed discussions on each recommendations of the Chief Ministers' conference and issued directives to certain departments. The committee felt that "citizens' charter" is important for grievance redressal and providing provisions for independent scrutiny of...

JORHAT, August 9: Development activities along the Assam-Nagaland border within Jorhat district have taken a backseat over the past few months as an amount of Rs 23 lakh sanctioned by the state government for welfare works in the area for the financial year March 2000-2001 is still awaiting release. A bone of contention between the two neighbouring states since the past few decades, frequent skirmisher along the border over allegations of land encroachment have been a constant pain in the neck especially for the Assam Government, which has all along claimed that land-hungry Naga folks have...

NEW DELHI, August 6: After the Central Government's permission to allow foreigners to visit Nagaland, the Union Home and Tourism Ministries have received demands for lifting restrictions on the foreign tourists in other Northeastern states as well. These states, including Manipur, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, have made a beeline for the two Ministries, and requested that foreigners should be allowed a free access in order to boost tourism. The government had last month lifted the ban on foreign tourists in certain districts of Nagaland. A decision on the demands of the other Northeast states...

IMPHAL, August 3: There is considerable concern among the people and Government of Manipur over the increasing number of Manipuris getting killed in many parts of Nagaland. There have also been scathing comments in some local newspapers and taking to task the Chief Minister and Home Minister W Nipamacha for their failure to ensure that the lives and properties of the people of Manipur, now residing in Nagaland, are protected. Following the recent killings of two Manipuris in Nagaland a number of organisations had pressurised Nipamacha to take some concrete steps. He had announced that he will...

NEW DELHI, July 29: The Naga People's Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) on Friday appealed to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to extend the ceasefire agreement with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM) and continue the political dialogue towards finding lasting peace in the state after securing the release of NSCN general secretary T Muivah, reports UNI. "The leadership of Muivah is very essential for continuation of ceasefire and peace talks since he has overwhelming support and credibility" among the Naga people, the NPMHR said in a memorandum to the Prime Minister. It said...

KOHIMA, July 28: Three former Prime Ministers have jointly appealed to the Centre to renew the ceasefire agreement with the NSCN(IM) and urged the Thai government to release T Muivah so as to revive the peace process, reports UNI. In a joint release issued recently, Chandra Shekhar, VP Singh and HD Deve Gowda expressed concern at the development "at home and in Bangkok" and said these were not helping to create a conducive environment to maintain the ceasefire meaningfully or continue dialogue to find a lasting solution to the 50-year-old Naga problem. "We are committed to promoting a dialogue...

NEW DELHI, July 26: The Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim will hold talks on extending the ceasefire on 28 and 29 July. The ceasefire ends on 31 July and there are indications that it will be extended by a year, notwithstanding both sides trading charges of violation. Official sources said talks would focus only on the extension of ceasefire and chances of acceding to the NSCN's demand to modify ground rules for ceasefire are remote. The talks are unlikely to focus on the broader details of a political settlement to the Naga problem. In the first positive move in nearly six...

NEW DELHI, July 26: The next round of peace talks between the Government of India and the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) will be held in Bangkok on July 28 and 29. The chief negotiator on behalf of the Government of India, K Padmanabhaih will lead a high-level team of Union government officials in the peace talks, while the NSCN delegation will be led by its chairman Isak Swu, Home Ministry sources said here today. Sources said that the extension of the ceasefire agreement, which expires on July 31, will be the main topic in the talks. Sources expressed...

GUWAHATI, July 25: The council of "kilonsers" (ministers) of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim has recommended extension of the ongoing ceasefire with the Centre. The ceasefire expires on 31 July. A Union Home Ministry official told The statesman over the telephone from Delhi this evening that the recommendation was made to the "Tatar Ho Ho" (NSCN parliament) following a meeting of the "kilonsers" at Dimapur yesterday. The government is willing to extend the ceasefire. "If the NSCN agrees, then it can be done," the official said. The government and the NSCN had entered into a ceasefire...

SHILLONG, July 25: In a major breakthrough, the Meghalaya Police arrested a hardcore National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM) ultra at Jingkieng Nongshiliang here on Monday, reports UNI. The arrested militant, identified as Momba Moa, claimed to be a sergeant major in the NSCN(IM) and the commander-in-charge of operations in Shillong, police said on Tuesday. A .32 Chinese-made pistol with two magazines, 7 live bullets, two Chinese-made hand-grenades and several incriminating documents were seized from his possession. According to police, Moa, who was wanted in connection with several...