AGARTALA, May 7 — Tripura Finance Minister Badal Chowdhury today presented in the Assembly a deficit budget of Rs 2991.84 crore that imposes no new taxes, for the 2003-2004 year, reports PTI. He said overall budgetary provision for expenditure for the year would be Rs 2991.84 crore while the receipts would be Rs 2923.49 crore leaving a deficit of Rs 68.35 crore. Chowdhury later told reporters that the deficit would be covered by economy of expenditure without imposing any taxes.

In the budget speech, Chowdhury said the central government’s policy of liberalisation was increasing the gap...

SIMNA, Tripura, May 7 — Banned All Tripure Tiger Force, which had been keeping a low profile for the last four years, staged a bloody come back last night shooting down 19 villagers including six women and nine children in West district. Six were injured in the attack and four among them are reported to be in critical condition.

The incident took place at around 1 a m last midnight in the village at Satcherri-Simna Colony located at Sidhal police station area and 34 kms from Agartala city. Tripura State Rifles and BSF launched a massive combing operation in the area to hunt down the militants...

GUWAHATI, May 7 — The tea giant multi-national Williamson and Magor which owns about 30 big tea estates in Assam, recently paid Rs 10 lakh to the proscribed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) to buy peace. This was admitted by NDFB ultras Sunil Brahma and his associate Indra Mohan Basumatary before a large group of newsmen here this afternoon.

The NDFB ultras who were apprehended by Kolkata police recently, were brought to the State today by sleuths of Special Operation Unit (SOU) of Assam police. The duo were produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate here immediately...

SHILLONG, May 7 — The North East Study Group (NESG) has identified militancy as a symptom and not the disease affecting the North Eastern region. “The disease is alienation from which the region is suffering”, it has observed. The Study Group headed by veteran administrator S K Agnihotri was constituted in 2001 by the Union Home Ministry to go into the problems of the region and suggest remedies thereto.

For the last fifty years, the North East has been deprived of attention and development by the Union government. “This has happened because the region is not on the radar of Delhi, J&K is”...

Guwahati, May 7: The All-Assam Students’ Union and several other organisations today hailed the Centre’s decision to repeal the contentious Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act as a “bold move”, but the Congress and minority groups said it was a “dangerous gameplan” by the BJP to foment communal tension.

The All-Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) warned of a Nellie-like massacre in the wake of the legislation being repealed and called a 12-hour statewide bandh from 5 am of May 10.

Terming the Centre’s decision a “Hitlerian one”, it accused the BJP of “turning its attention to...