SHILLONG, June 13 – The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has rapped the Meghalaya AIDS Control Society for the latter’s “failure” to utilise 79-80 per cent of funds available during 2001-03, affecting implementation of national AIDS control project in the state, reports PTI. In its report for year ended March 31, 2003, the CAG said the NACP was fully funded by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) of the Centre to combat the onslaught of HIV/AIDS epidemic and funds were released by NACO directly to the society in a phased manner.

The CAG said the society’s non-utilisation of...

KOHIMA, June 13 – The NSCN(K) has said that the Naga Hoho and other NGOs had been making efforts to foster peace between the two NSCNs since 1997, but without success, reports NEPS. Surprisingly, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio had reposed his trust on the Hoho and other NGOs and was using them as a “vehicle of peace”, a serious miscalculation that led to derailment of the ongoing peace process, Kughalu Mulatonu, kilonser (minister) of the NSCN(K) told NEPS over phone on Friday on his return from Delhi.

“Rio must understand that Indo-Naga political settlement cannot be brought about with...

GUWAHATI, June 13 – The State government will soon create a special department to look after the welfare of the tea tribes in Assam. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has agreed to the demand, raised by the Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA), for an exclusive department. “There will be a separate department for tea tribes,” Gogoi told reporters today at Rajiv Bhawan while referring to his meeting with ATTSA leaders yesterday. “We have agreed to it,” he said. The tea students have genuine grievances especially in the engineering and medical sectors, he said while emphasising his government...

Guwahati, June 12: The Assam Tea Tribes Students Association (Attsa) and the All Assam Students Union (AASU) have decided to bury the hatchet with the latter promising to fight for the rights of the tea community. The Attsa volte-face came a couple of weeks after it accused the AASU leadership of trying to destroy the composite fabric of the Assamese society by branding the tea community of the state as non-Assamese.

In a joint press conference here this morning, leaders of both the students’ organisations warned the political parties, including the Congress and the AGP, not to divide the...

Imphal, June 12: Denial by a top brass of Army of any plan towards launching a Bhutan-type militant flush out operations in neighboring Bangladesh and Myanmar has virtually put a full stop to speculations that Indian army was preparing for a joint strike against militants holed up in these neighboring countries. Chief of the Army' s Eastern Command Lt Gen JS Mukherjee who was in Nagaland on his two-day visit said that such operation depends on the policy of the Government as well as participation of the countries concerned. Bhutan type militant flush out operation depends on the mutual policy...