Guwahati, Feb. 7: The Assam government has finally agreed to the creation of forest development agencies (FDA) in every forest division of the state. This is expected to increase people?s participation in the conservation and protection of the state?s forest resources and to improve their livelihood. State forest minister Pradyut Bordoloi said here today that the creation of FDAs would also help the forest department to get funds directly from organisations without having to go through the normal channels. The department often gets funds after a long delay as the money has to come through the...

In the diffused light of the candle-lit room, the tears in the eyes of 17-year-old Inavi Yeptho glisten like dewdrops in sunshine. The young but battle-hardened NSCN (K) activist weeps in solitude whenever he remembers his younger sister. She was a toddler when he left home two years ago and he has not seen her since.

The likes of Inavi, who have made the jungle their home and war their mission, have had to pay a big price for the sake of the cause they profess to uphold ? long periods of separation from their near and dear ones. Some like Pangmei, barely out of his twenties, have tragic...

Dimapur, Feb. 6: Naga non-governmental organisations are conspicuous by their silence in the run-up to the February 26 polls, unlike the 1998 election when leading tribal NGOs had tried to convince Opposition parties in the state to ?abstain? from elections after the Centre rejected their plea to defer the polls till a definite outcome of the talks with the NSCN (Isak-Muivah).

However, secretary of the leading Naga human rights body, Naga People?s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), Neingulo Krome, denied that the NGOs were staying away from the electoral process.

?We are not going to give a...

Shillong, Feb. 6: Denied a ticket by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Meghalaya chief minister F.A. Khonglam today filed his nomination from the Hill State Peoples? Democratic Party (HSPDP).

Khonglam had first won the Assembly elections on an HSPDP ticket in 1983 from Sohra constituency.

The chief minister, who turned 58 today, did not regret being denied a ticket by the NCP. Instead, he warned the NCP that its dreams of making a forceful debut ?would be shattered?.

Soon after filing his nomination papers, Khonglam told reporters that he would ?gradually expose the way most legislators...

GUWAHATI, Feb 6 ? The Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has sought detailed reports from the Commissioner of Excise, Assam and the Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup on the sale of gutkha in the city.

A Division Bench of the Commission today passed the order after perusing the petition of Boloram Sarkar, Secretary of the Greater Guwahati Pan Shop Business Association. Sarkar had pleaded that due to the sale of gutkha in the market, the health of the people, especially the children, is at risk. It may be mentioned here that the Pan Shop business Association has, sometime ago, appealed to its...