NEW DELHI, Jan 1 - In yet another move towards building trust and confidence with Pakistan, India today said it is interested in making the existing open-ended ceasefire 'permanent' even as it urged SAARC countries to emulate Bhutan in flushing out insurgents from their soil, reports PTI. The ceasefire now in place was open-ended and not bound by any timeframe of one month, six weeks or two months, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters at Delhi Airport before emplaning a special IAF Boeing-737 aircraft for Islamabad for the SAARC summit.

"Therefore, India is interested in...

GUWAHATI, Dec 31 ? Finding women entrepreneurs are more sincere in repaying loans, the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi) has launched a special scheme to promote women enterprises in the New Year. The Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of the NEDFi, J P Saikia told this newspaper that soft loans as well as term loans upto maximum amount of Rs 4.25 lakh would be provided to women entrepreneurs under the scheme with repayment period ranging from three years to five years.

?The NEDFi is trying to help sincere women entrepreneurs who have been running from pillar to...

Imphal, Dec. 31: A secessionist outfit of Manipur today welcomed the ambitious 1,360-km-long trilateral highway project connecting the country with Myanmar and Thailand. The banned Revolutionary People?s Front (RPF) in a statement said the proposed project would benefit Manipur.

Foreign ministers of the three countries, in a meeting in New Delhi on December 23, agreed to take up the $700 million project linking Moreh of Manipur and Maesot of Thailand through Bagan of Myanmar. The foreign ministers decided to launch the first phase of the project, which would cost $252 million, from early next...

Imphal, Dec. 31: Nine more ministers today joined chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh?s camp to prevent ?disloyal? ruling members from crossing over to the Opposition alliance. After spending more than a week in a Calcutta hotel, the nine ministers arrived here today and were immediately whisked away to the chief minister?s official residence where he had set up camp.

Speaker T.N. Haokip, who was also away for the same period, came back to Imphal by the same flight from Calcutta along with the ministers. The chief minister had not only sent a team to pick up his flock, but also made sure that...

GUWAHATI, Dec 31 ? Though the process of handing over of the militants arrested by the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) to India is still on, security agencies are of the view that several senior militants are still in the captivity of the RBA. Highly placed security sources said that the RBA has informed the Government of India about the arrest of several other top leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) but they are yet to be handed over to India. According to information available with the security agencies, top leaders of the ULFA and...