AIZAWL, May 30 – Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has offered to quit as facilitator of peace talks with Naga rebels following attacks by Congress and other political parties over his involvement in peace process. “It would would be a great relief without being involved in the peace processes if and when some people objected to it. I want peace and if some other person, can deliver it, I welcome it,” he said. He was reacting to statements made by Congress leaders including former State Chief Minister and PCC chief Lal Thanhawla who said that unconditional talks between the Centre and Naga...

GUWAHATI, May 30 – India has 130 million tonne of bamboo resources that has been exploited only partially. Covering an area of ten million hectare, bamboo has a huge commercial potential. It is to translate this potential into reality that the Centre had set up the National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA) under the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The Northeast produces two-thirds of the country’s total bamboo. Naturally, the NMBA has focused on this area. Since it was set up some two years ago, the Mission has initiated several steps to bridge the gap between the latest...

GUWAHATI, May 30: Keeping 2006 Assembly elections in view, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has started the process of rebuilding the party and a thorough review of the performance of the party in the last general elections will be held in a four-day meeting to be held from June 1. In the last general elections, the regional party under a new leadership managed to win two seats and the most notable achievement for the party is the victory of Sarbananda Sonowal from Dibrugarh constituency, known as the stronghold of the Congress. Sonowal managed to defeat the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee...

Imphal, May 29: Kaisa Rio, wife of Nagaland chief minister Nephiu Rio, led a cultural delegation from the state to Chandel district in Manipur for strengthening the Naga social bond. Inaugurating a two-day cultural exchange programme between Naga women of the two neighbouring states on Thursday, Kaisa appealed to Naga woman to work for the preservation of the community’s cultural heritage.

Gina Sangkham, president of Naga Women Union of Manipur and Khesheli, a top functionaries of the Naga Mothers Association, attended the programme.

Leaders of the United Naga Council, Naga Christian Forum...

Dibrugarh, May 29: Talks between the Consultative Committee of Planters’ Associations (CCPA) and the Asom Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) remained inconclusive today on the demand for hiking daily labour wages of the tea gardens located in the Brahmaputra Valley. ACMS general secretary Madhusudhan Khandait, who has already demanded a 40 per cent hike in the daily labour wages, said here today that the three-hour-long meeting could not yield significant results. The members representing the CCPA strongly opposed the hike in any form.

The last three-year bilateral agreement between the CCPA and...