NEW DELHI, April 4 – Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has opposed granting of any local administrative powers to Reang tribals, many of whom have migrated to the state from neighbouring Tripura, reports PTI.

“We are trying to find an amicable solution to the problem .... but are opposed to their demand for administrative powers,” Zoramthanga told PTI after a 20-minute meeting with Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani here, on Thursday. The Reangs shifted out from Tripura about two years ago alleging harassment by other tribes.

Zoramthanga said the Centre also did not approve of granting any...

April 4: A day after Ulfa militants attempted to blow up an LPG bottling plant near Guwahati, security forces intercepted coded wireless messages about the banned outfit’s plans to carry out a series of strikes in the run-up to its “raising day” on April 7.

Army units operating in Upper Assam, especially the contiguous districts of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia, were placed on maximum alert immediately after the messages were intercepted. One of the messages was “Let’s go for the Bihu dance”, probably alluding to an order to strike at an unspecified target.

The Ulfa was formed on April 7, 1979, in...

New Delhi, April 3: Ecological changes in the eastern Himalayas could have a bearing on an unlikely aspect of life — monastic rituals at the 400-year-old Tawang monastery of Arunachal Pradesh.

The exotic rhododendron flower has long been used in the religious rituals at the historical Tawang monastery, but the species is now on the brink of extinction because of continuous environmental damage. Of the 65 species of rhododendrons found in the country, as many as 43 have been classified as “rare and threatened”. Rhododendrons, called sheng by the local residents of Tawang, grow at altitudes...

GUWAHATI, April 3: In one of the most gruesome incidents of terrorist violence in the State, the bodies of 22 persons kidnapped by Hmar People’s Convention (HPC) in Cachar district were recovered this evening from the dense jungles at Nastul Pahar, five kilometres from Sonai PS in Cachar district. It may be mentioned that 28 persons from the Dimasa community of three villages of Cachar district were kidnapped by the Hmar ultra outfit. Police said that the victims of the massacre were shot from a very close range and were killed the very next day after their abduction. Most of the bodies were...

NALBARI, April 3 – When the Central and State governments have been trying to make the ongoing Sarba Siksha Mission Abhijan a grand success in each district of the State, the primary education system of insurgency-infested Nalbari district continues to be in deplorable condition. In the district, at least 13 primary school are running without own building and the building of other 50 schools are in a very deplorable state having no atmosphere for imparting lessons to primary level students. Similarly, 188 primary schools are running with single teacher making the students a disadvantaged lot.

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