Imphal, June 25: Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh’s downsizing worries were today eased by his ministers, who indicated they would follow the example of their Meghalaya counterparts and resign rather than be dropped from the government. Lok Sabha member Thokchom Meinya Singh confirmed the development over phone from New Delhi. “As in Meghalaya, all ministers in the Secular Progressive Front (SPF) government are likely to resign en masse. But the resignations will be accepted only after the downsizing details are finalised in New Delhi and the chief minister returns to Imphal,” he said...

Kohima, June 25: Akrutz?, a Chakhesang woman, is learning Ao. E.T. Ngullie’s wife speaks fluent Lotha, but she comes from a different tribe. Blame it on inter-tribe marriages. The Nagas, especially the youth, fumble for words when it comes to displaying their command over their mothertongue. The vocal chords are now more tuned to English and the ubiquitous Nagamese, a corrupt non-script version of Assamese that is serving as the lingua franca of this tiny hilly state for centuries.

The State Council of Educational Research and Training has discovered after a survey on the changing pattern of...

Nagaon, June 25: The Jayanta Rongpi-led group of the Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) proposed to move its mother organisation with the proposal of reunion after a gap of four years. The last three elections, including the district council’s election, has taught them that reunion between the two is the only way to regain legitimacy in the politics of the two hill districts of Assam.

In a press release, the Rongpi-led Progressive faction, in conjunction with its students’ and women’s wings and the CPI(M-L), offered to work together with the mother unit of ASDC “to keep the anti...

AGARTALA, June 25 – The flood situation in Tripura took a turn for the worse with the death toll rising to three even as many villages were inundated, rendering thousands of people homeless, official sources said. The Assam-Agartala national highway, considered to be the lifeline of Tripura, was cut-off from rest of the country due to landslides and waterlogging at Ranirbazar in West Tripura district while Sai Radhanagar, Subhashnagar, Katakhal and Orient Chowmuhani areas remained waterlogged.

The Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) of Sadar, Sambhu Nama said 1,500 people of 300 families were...

KOHIMA, June 25 – Proposing to widen the tax base to garner more revenue, Nagaland Finance Minister K Therie on Thursday presented a deficit budget for the financial year 2004-05 in the State Assembly but he did not make any fresh tax proposal. The budget envisages the revenue expenditure for the current fiscal at Rs 2386 crore and estimated expenditure at Rs 2412 crore.

Therie proposed to bring more items under the tax net to garner Rs.148 crore from internal sources by further rationalizing the rates and improving tax compliance. He announced that VAT would be introduced in the state from...