Guwahati, April 9: In a bid to evolve a concrete tourism policy for the Northeast, leading tour operators and consultants, potential investors and entrepreneurs and government officials will hold a two-day meet at the Northeast tourism summit in Shillong from tomorrow.

“We want to promote tourism as an economic activity, as a job creator and a tool to alleviate poverty,” said Jyoti Kapur, president, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India here today.

The main theme of the summit, organised by the Association of Tour Operators of Northeast India and North East Council is “Tourism in...

NEW DELHI, April 8 — The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been alarmed by the trans-national linkages between the militant outfits in the North-east and the ISI of Pakistan and has held illegal inflow of arms and influx of illegal migrants into the region as having aided growth and movement of militancy.

This was the conclusion drawn up by the Union Home Secretary in his submission before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, which tabled its report in the Lok Sabha here today.

The standing Committee’s report came even as the MHA said that it has directed the Assam...

GUWAHATI, April 8 – The Assam Legislative Assembly today passed the Assam Electricity Bill, 2003 to pave the way for power sector reforms and restructuring of the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) amidst strong protest and walk-out by the Opposition members. The members of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bodoland Demand Legislature Party (BDLP) demanded that the Bill should be sent to the select committee of the House for a thorough discussion on all the clauses and they staged a walk-out when the Government refused to accept their demand.

As soon as the...

GUWAHATI, April 8 — The Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today informed that the State Government was in touch with Mizoram and Manipur governments for initiating coordinated action to tackle the ethnic violence that has flared up along the inter-State boundary areas in the Cachar district of Assam. Talking to newsmen here, Sri Gogoi stated that as the Hmar People’s Convention (HPC) extremists involved in ethnic cleansing of Dimasas in Cachar areas were based in those two neighbouring States, the coordination with the two State governments was the need of the hour to control the ethnic violence in...

GUWAHATI, April 8 — Dimasa student leaders today demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident of gruesome murder of 23 Dimasa people by the extremist group Hmar People’s Convention (Democratic) in Cachar district on March 31 last. Addressing newspersons at Dispur Last Gate here All Dimasa Students’ Union (ADSU) president Sanmoni Kemprai, Dimasa Students’ Community, Guwahati (DSCG) president Smt Subarna Haflongbar and DSCG general secretary Rajdeep Kemprai also demanded that the inquiry should be conducted by a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India and the inquiry should also deal with...