DIMAPUR, May 1 —The Consultative Committee for Peace, set up by the ruling Democratic Alliance government in Nagaland, headed by the state Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio in its first meeting held at Kohima on Tuesday has decided not to recommend extension of ‘Disturbed Area’ notification under Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in 20 km belt bordering Assam beyond May 4 next.

The committee also decided to convey the state Government’s view to the Central Government for further necessary action. The Committee after thorough deliberations also expressed its happiness and welcomed the extension...

Guwahati, April 30: Hotly contesting claims by the army that a section of its activists had violated the ceasefire with the Centre and instigated the recent Dimasa-Hmar clashes, the Dima Halam Daoga (DHD) today demanded the release of the 15 rebels who were arrested yesterday in Cachar district.

A senior official told The Telegraph here that the DHD leadership took up the twin issues directly with the state government. He said the outfit clarified that its activists had not set up any camp other than the designated ones and that the 15 members arrested yesterday were actually in transit.

The...

MOREH(Manipur-Myanmar border) April 30 —The bilateral relations with Myanmar has significantly improved due to certain initiatives taken by the Ministry of External affairs. “We are pleased to note this achievement”, Manipur Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh said. The initiatives should, however, be carried forward to enable the North Eastern States to draw benefits from the trade with the South East Asian countries through, Moreh, international trade centre in Manipur bordering Myanmar.

What the Chief Minister said during his address in the 50th meeting of the National Development Council...

NEW DELHI, April 30 —Amidst fervent pleas by the Members belonging to the North-East, Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh today assured to review the proposal to withdraw the excise duty exemption on certain products but stopped short of making any firm commitment. A demand for withdrawal of cess on tea was also turned down. But the Minister tried to dispel the impression of being left out by reiterating the commitment of the Government to implement the special packages given to the region. “My love affair with North-East goes back to 1958”, he said.

“Since that period and during the 1962 war, I...

NEW DELHI, April 30 — In an adverse comment on the functioning of the north-eastern State Governments, a study group in North-east appointed by the Central Government has confirmed that huge development funds continued to be siphoned off in the region. Alarmed by the reports pouring from the State about misuse of developmental funds and to put a check on siphoning of the funds, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) appointed a study group. It has since submitted its first set of recommendations, revealed the Minister of State for Home Affairs, LD Swami in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

...