IMPHAL, March 28: The pedal operated rice mill, the brainchild of T Surendranath Singh, senior scientific officer in the Manipur Science and Technology Council, MASTEC, apart from winning a national invention award in 1999, has found a place in the Limca Book of Records. The innovative pedal operated rice mill is included in the agriculture section of the 2001 edition of the Limca Book Of Records. Speaking to IFP today at his office chambers, he said the pedal operated rice mill has been developed under the guidance and sponsorship of the science and society division of the Union ministry of...

DIMAPUR, October 3: The residence of the editor of a local daily has been ransacked and robbed by a gang of robbers who also tried to abduct her husband after the couple refused to pay Rs 5 lakh to them, police said today. Armed robbers, who claimed to be National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) activists, raided the house of Nagaland Page editor, Monalisa Changkija, at Duncan Basti area early yesterday and demanded the money. When Changkija and her husband, Bendang Longkumer, deputy general manager of the Nagaland Industrial Development Corporation (NIDC), refused to pay, the robbers...

GOLAGHAT, September 11: The wild animals in the Kaziranga National Park are facing starvation due to shortage of green grass, and are moving away for better shelter and pasture. Recently, it was reported that the land area of this world famous national park has shrunk to two-thirds of its original size due to erosion by the river Brahmaputra. Now the danger has emanated from the shortage of green grass because due to heavy rains throughout the session, the elephant grass could not be burnt properly. It is stated that perhaps due to want of good grass, a sizeable numbers of rhinos, deer and...

GUWAHATI, September 11: The "tithi" of Srimanta Sankardeva was today observed throughout Assam. Several programmes were organised throughout the state. The main functions were held at the Barpeta and Bordua satras to remember the contributions and ideals of the Vaishnavite saint. The state chief minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, inaugurated a scheme of the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra to hold cultural programmes at the complex on Saturday's and Sundays. Speaking to a sparse gathering, Mahanta hoped that such activities would help preserve and promote the cultural heritage of the state. He...

GUWAHATI, September 10: A bizarre tragedy today took five lives, including that of the superintendent of police (SP), Sibsagar and an Army officer when a landmine accidentally went off in the office chamber of the SP at Sinbsagar town. While SP PK Lohia, Lt Nazir, constable Dulal Neog and journalist Jiten Chutia died on the spot, photo journalist Al Farid Sajad died at a private nursing home. Police sources said that this afternoon, Lohia held a press conference in his office to explain the details of an encounter with a militant earlier in the day. After most of the journalists left the...