NAMRUP, March 26 — Forget the Assam Accord. Forget the fact that a Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of the project. Mandarins at New Delhi’s Planning Commission and the Finance Ministry have of late concluded that the subsidy bill of Rs 6,000 crore over a 15 year period is an amount that has made the Assam Gas Cracker project unviable. This was the impression spelt out this afternoon by the project’s nodal Minister, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who is also the Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers.

“Personally, I am for the project and its early implementation,” he told reporters...

IMPHAL, March 26— Suspected Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) militants have kidnapped a German national from Maphou Dam area in Thoubal district, about 20 km east of here and demanded a huge ransom, official sources said today, reports PTI. The militants abducted Heinrich Wolfgang from Maphou area on March 23 when he was on a visit along with a German woman identified as Edda Kirlies to inspect activities of an NGO, the sources said. The two Germans and the NGO officials were stopped by armed militants when they were approaching Maphou Dam area. Wolfgang was whisked away to an unknown destination...

IMPHAL, March 20 – Amidst the ongoing fiasco, pro-27 letter Meitei script activists are all set to launch teaching campaign of the indigenous Manipuri script to all parts of the State including the hill areas after the five-day Yaoshang festival. The Yaoshang festival which began from Tuesday will conclude on March 22. The teaching campaign of the script across the State will be taken up by the Apunba Meetei Mayek Sandokpa Amasung Hinghanba Lup (AMMSAHL), a pro-27 letter Meitei Mayek script body. The decision to launch the campaign despite the ongoing fiasco was announced on Monday. Since the...

AIZAWL, March 26 — Mizoram Assembly on March 25 unanimously adopted a resolution that the State Assembly polls in 2003 will be held in accordance with the boundaries of the existing constituencies, reports PTI. The official resolution moved by the state Parliamentary Affairs Minister F Malsawma said “This House resolves that the general election of Mizoram legislative assembly in 2003 be held in accordance with the boundaries of the existing constituencies.”

Cutting across party lines, the legislators, during discussion on the resolution said that the proposals of the delimitation...

NEW DELHI, March 26 — Tired of having inferior quality tea? The Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) has decided to come to the rescue by ensuring that the cup really cheers you, as a move has been initiated to get the tea industry under the product certification scheme for improving the quality of tea being manufactured in the north eastern region.

Lack of quality control on tea manufactured in the region often being held as one of the factors responsible for the present plight of the industry is likely to be a thing of the past if the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public...