Shillong, June 13: All members of the D.D. Lapang government in Meghalaya have decided to resign by the end of this month to enable the chief minister to reconstitute the ministry instead of dropping ministers to reduce its size. The Congress-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) last night gave Lapang “full authority” to downsize the ministry in the manner he chooses to.

The Lapang ministry has 41 members, but has to be pruned down to 12 before July 6 because of a constitutional amendment.

Though the prospect of losing their ministerial portfolios has caused anxiety and confusion in the...

Nagaon/Guwahati, June 13: Jolted by reports suggesting that the abductors of minister G.C. Langthasa’s youngest son could do something drastic under pressure, Dispur has asked security forces to be “restrained” while conducting operations to rescue hostages. A source said the government’s directive was issued in the wake of an intelligence warning that the Ulfa, which abducted Nirmalendu Langthasa, was under “tremendous pressure” because of sustained operations by security forces and could react violently if pushed to the wall.

“It is a very delicate situation for the government. It cannot...

GUWAHATI, June 13 (UNI): Policies and tax concessions, meant to aid the entrepreneurs in the north-eastern region, are instead helping investors from mainland India rake in a cool profit before calling it a day, foreign trade Joint Director General MK Mero said.

The North-east centric policies, conceived and implemented to gain a foothold in the national and the international markets, are instead helping investors from outside the region than the target group, Mero said.

Under the North-East Industrial Policy (NEIP), investors in the region enjoy an income tax holiday for ten years and a...

GUWAHATI, June 13: New-age construction methods, structural stability and earthquake-resistance are lifting up the image of bamboo from just a cheap building material to a viable one. Now, teaming up with steel and concrete and glass, bamboo will be seen in modern constructions across the city and the rest of the region.

"Bamboo has been used by the people here for ages, but had acquired the image of a `poor man’s timber’, unfit for large stable and modern houses," remarked Kamesh Salam, project co-ordinator of the Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre, which has put up these structures for...

DHARMANAGAR (North Tripura), June 13 – The leaders of the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) are keen to hold peace talks with the Government of Tripura if the latter sends out positive signals in this direction. The extremist group is also willing to drop some of its demands if the government shows a favourable attitude in this regard. The news of the outfit’s talks offer were published in Chaba, a journal of the Tripura People’s Democratic Front which is closely associated with the ATTF.

It may be mentioned that the leaders of ATTF had recently prepared a 20-point charter of demands and handed...