Guwahati, March 5: An unsavoury tug-of-war between the North Eastern Council and the civil aviation ministry has threatened to ground the ambitious Avions Transport Regionale (ATR) service, launched last year exclusively for increasing air connectivity in the region.

Despite tall promises, the ATR services have not been extended beyond Dimapur, Agartala and Lilabari due to the shortage of aircraft as the funding agency, the NEC, has not released the requisite money.

Alliance Air had launched the 50-seater ATR-42 flights on December 25, touted as a “gift” to the Northeast from the Prime...

Shillong, March 5: Cracks have already begun to surface in the day-old Meghalaya Democratic Alliance led by Congress chief minister D.D. Lapang. Sources today said friction between the Congress and the United Democratic Party (UDP), the two major partners, over portfolios has come to the fore.

They said Lapang was still undecided on the size of the ministry, despite having already inducted 38 ministers. The chief minister parried questions on seeming differences within the coalition but hinted at a “common minimum programme” for governance, which was being worked out to check dissension.

The...

Imphal, March 5: Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh today held talks with agitating members of organisations advocating the 27-character Meitei script.

The protesters had yesterday destroyed the foundation stone of a flyover laid by the chief minister after the government reportedly failed to meet their deadline for changing the inscription on the stone.

The organisations have claimed that the alphabets on the stone were “incorrect”.

Ibobi Singh laid the foundation stone for the Bir Tikendrajit flyover in the heart of the state capital on February 14.

The first ever flyover in the...

Jatinga village (N.C. Hills), March 4: The view of sunrise from the Hempeopet peak, they say, is better than the morning spectacle from Tiger Hill in Darjeeling.

Situated at an altitude of 6,000 feet above sea level, the peak will now form the backdrop of an exotic trail for adventure lovers as the North Cachar Hills district administration is planning to throw open a path for trekking in the Borail range. The picturesque Jatinga hamlet, which lies at a distance of 10 km from Haflong, is internationally famous as the home of the kamikaze birds. It is now poised to be a tourist destination...

NEW DELHI, March 5 — The creation of the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) is likely to be delayed, with the Ministry of Home Affairs today declining to fix a time-frame to introduce the amendments to the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha here today, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, ID Sami said that there was no firm time-frame fixed in the memorandum of settlement (MoS) to introduce the Bills in the Parliament. Some of the provisions of the MoS require amendments to the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and the Constitution...