News

Imphal, April 11: Nearly 200 Hmars, displaced by the ethnic conflict in Assam’s Cachar and North Cachar Hills districts, reached here this afternoon.

They were later transported to Churachandpur district, where they will put up in a relief camp.

Of the 196 tribals who reached here in three buses, 61 are children and 44 women. After fleeing their homes in the Hmartlangmawi and Tlangmawi villages on April 3, they spent five days at the Lumding railway station before travelling to Dimapur by train.

Leaders of Hmar student and youth organisations received the refugees at New Lambulane here. The...

Shillong, April 11: The two-day Northeast tourism summit here, titled “Gateway to prosperity”, drew up a “roadmap” for developing tourism in the Northeast.

The roadmap, according to North Eastern Council advisor (banking) and in-charge (industries) F.R. Ingty, would examine the possibility of setting up rural tourism to develop villages as tourist centres.

The two-day summit was jointly organised by the NEC and the Association of Tour Operators of Northeast India at Hotel Polo Towers. The summit ended today, with participants from the Northeast and from some South Asian countries trying to...

Shillong, April 11: Former Meghalaya forest minister and NCP member Adolph Hitler Marak today claimed that the two suspected ANVC activists, arrested from a state pool car, which belonged to him, had surrendered last year before erstwhile home minister Lotsing A. Sangma.

Last week, police had seized a car belonging to Hitler Marak and had arrested two suspected ANVC members, identified as Ashabel D. Shira and Farooq R. Marak along with a resident of Mizoram, Rongsangzuala, from Weiloi in Balat under East Khasi Hills district.

Hitler Marak, who was a minister in the F.A. Khonglam government...

Guwahati/Silchar, April 11: A day after leaders of the warring Hmar and Dimasa tribes agreed to rebuild bridges of friendship, 80 more houses were set ablaze at Khepre near Maibong in North Cachar Hills district of Assam.

Inspector-general of police (law and order) S.B.Kakoti said in Guwahati that suspected Hmar tribesmen set fire to a row of houses belonging to Dimasas and hurled grenades at the villagers. However, nobody was injured.

The incident took place even as curfew was relaxed for three hours in Haflong, giving people an opportunity to replenish stocks of essential commodities...

MIRZA, April 10 — The blacksmiths of Palashbari constituency whose smithies (workshops) — which are a legacy of their ancestors spanning more than one hundred years are a frustrated lot nowadays. The trade which earns them two spartan meals a day is a laborious one and no longer a paying one. Cutlers predominate the Amranga Medhipara area of Boridhat. Their ironworks include knives, cleavers, ploughs and tools of carpentry except saw. Selling them in the market sometimes for a song they get a paltry amount by which they can hardly maintain their families.

“Time was when a bagful of essential...