News

Guwahati, March 12: Assam is becoming a costly place to live in, according to the economic survey for 2002-03. The survey, which was tabled in the Assembly today, showed an alarming rise in the prices of essential commodities, ranging up to 35 per cent. Probably keeping in mind the price rise and in an effort to raise their standard of living, the state government today announced a reservation of 30 per cent in official contracts and supply work for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes from this year.

The survey revealed that the monthly average of retail prices of a number of essential...

Kohima, March 12: The Democratic Alliance of Nagaland may have won the war, but the battles were pitted neck and neck. Twenty-seven of the 37 candidates fielded by the BJP forfeited their deposits while only three of the 60 Congressmen contributed to the government exchequer.

Seventy-eight of the 219 candidates whose results have been declared — the results of two seats are pending — have lost their security deposits of Rs 2,500, contributing Rs 1,95,000 to the exchequer.

The tally for forfeitures shows that 11 candidates of the Nagaland People’s Front, 10 of the Nationalist Democratic...

Guwahati, March 12: People for Animals (PFA), a leading animal rights organisation, has taken a serious note of the Assam government’s decision to “eliminate” two wild tuskers. Taking cognisance of a report published in The Telegraph northeast on March 11, chairperson of the organisation and former Union minister Maneka Gandhi said that she had learnt from “reliable sources” that the two tuskers ordered to be killed by the chief wildlife warden were in no way responsible for any human deaths.

The animal rights activist demanded that safe elephant corridors be created and the government...

UDALGURI, March 11 – The National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) should come for negotiations and should make public what it wants. If they want the welfare of the entire Bodo people, they should not delay in negotiations.” This was said by Hagrama Basumatary, chairman of Bodoland Liberation Tiger (BLT) at Udalguri courtfield Monday evening. He also questioned the validity of sovereign Boroland from Kokrajhar to Udalguri area only. Basumatary added that the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) would ensure peace and communal harmony and that development in the entire BTC area would be their...

Imphal, March 11: Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh today presented a Rs 452.47-crore deficit budget for 2003-04. Ibobi Singh, who holds the finance portfolio, did not make any proposal to introduce new taxes.

Presenting the Rs 3663.49- crore budget estimate, the chief minister promised to vigorously implement, supervise and monitor the progress of fiscal reforms initiated in 2001 to overcome the current financial crisis. The opening deficit was expected to be Rs 413.57 crore, he added.

Stating that continuing insurgency had impacted development, creating a sense of “uncertainty and...