Kokrajhar, March 1: Nature conservation as the subject of a small regional film is considered a poor commercial bet. But it did not stop the fledgling Kokborok film industry?s hottest director from choosing his theme.

Hiralal Debbarma, who has such successful films as Aichkni Bwkhwrui (2002) and Serek (2003) under his belt, chose to deal with environment preservation in his latest movie, Suari (The Earth Defender). The film, which was released recently, tells the tale of three city-bred students who venture into the forest and return metamorphosed into green activists.

The film?s title...

Miao, March 1: After the NSCN, Arunachal Pradesh police are gearing up to tackle the growing menace of the Ulfa in the state. Sources said a 40-member group of the Ulfa has begun serving extortion notes to businessmen, schoolteachers and government employees, particularly in the Bordumsa sub-division of Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh.

?Extortion notes demanding upto Rs 5 lakh have been served on the people and the copies we received were all on the Ulfa letterhead,? said a senior police official of the district. Till date, however, nobody has paid up, the officer added.

The Ulfa uses...

Guwahati, Feb. 29: Pre-paid mobile phone service is set to make a comeback in Assam and the other northeastern states after communication minister Arun Shourie promised to take up the matter with the Union home ministry.

The Centre?s assurance came after cellphone users, including those running the governments of Assam and Meghalaya, protested against the withdrawal of the pre-paid facility by Reliance Telecom Ltd, the only service provider in Guwahati and Shillong.

Speaking at the launch of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd?s (BSNL) CellOne mobile service here today, chief general manager of...

New Delhi, Feb. 29: The lonely bull, the raging rogue or the caring matriarch and her family of giants will soon have to hand over their privacy, in a way for their own good, to a little human ingenuity.

The elephants in 10 reserves in the country, including four in the Northeast, will be watched from outer space under a new conservation programme ? Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants ? launched by Project Elephant. The sophisticated global positioning system (GPS) will be used for effective management of reserves and prevention of poaching.

The programme encompasses Chirang Ripu, Garo...

Kohima, Feb. 29: Ceasefire monitoring group chairman Lt Gen. R.V. Kulkarni will take stock of the tension between the two NSCN factions ?on the spot?. The Konyak Union, the apex body of the Konyak Nagas dominating Mon district, had given an ?ultimatum? to the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) last month. They alleged the group was harassing civilians in Tizit area.

Kulkarni said the area is tense also due to the spate of defections from the Khaplang group to the NSCN (I-M). ?That is one of the reasons for greater rivalry,? he said.

The area has been a flashpoint between the...