GUWAHATI, May 24 – The North Eastern Development Finance Corporation (NEDFi) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have joined hands to set up a marketing centre for handloom and handicraft products of the North East at Guwahati to channelise corporate spendings on craft products.

A memorandum of undertaking was signed recently between NEDFi and CII to improve handloom and handicraft products of the region. Under this initiative, artisans, institutions and organisations who are directly involved with artisans would be benefited to a great extent and would facilitate improvement of...

GUWAHATI, May 24 – Nine voluntary organisations of the NE region have embarked on a venture to make the country’s policy towards the tribals a realistic one by giving it the required down-to-earth touch. For the purpose, these organisations have proposed a three-day convention at Akajan Gate in Dhemaji district from June 2 next.

The organisations initiating the move include—Centre for Organisation Research & Education (CORE), Rural Volunteers Centre, Indigenous Women’s Resource Centre, Indian Confederation of Indigenous & Tribal Peoples—North Eastern Zone (ICITP-NEZ), Arunachal Pradesh Women...

NEW DELHI, May 24 – Resolution of the problem of militancy in the North Eastern Region (NER) is likely to be one of the key focus areas, with Union Ministers from the region advocating meaningful dialogue with the underground outfits. If Union Minister for Tribal Affairs and Department of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) PR Kyndiah set the tone by advocating the need for a sustained dialogue with the underground outfits, his colleagues from the region also underlined the need for early resolution of the problem.

Earlier, it was Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil who soon after...

Nagaon, May 23: The Bodo Liberation Tigers has been disbanded and its leaders have long traded their guns for pens, but the erstwhile militant group’s violent yet successful campaign for an autonomous administrative council for the Bodo heartland has become the model for a tribal uprising elsewhere. Security forces deployed in central Assam are bracing for trouble with a fledgling militant organisation that claims to represent the Tiwa tribe announcing another movement for “self rule”. The Tiwa Liberation Tiger Force is only eight months old, though the pace at which the group has been...

Shillong, May 23: The power equation in Meghalaya is set to change with the Congress sealing an alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Delhi. Chief Minister D.D. Lapang, who heads the Congress-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government, has been advised by the party high command to explore the option of joining hands with the NCP even if it means antagonising a couple of his original allies. He is in New Delhi at present.

A source said the AICC had officially given the chief minister a free hand in choosing his coalition partners, but made it clear the high command would...