New Delhi, January 23: K Padmanabhaiah, Representative of Government of India and Th. Muivah, General Secretary, NSCN have issued the following Joint Communiqu?, here today according to a press hand out from the Ministry of Home Affairs: "The representatives of the Government of India and the NSCN are pleased with the progress that has been made in the course of the visit of the NSCN leaders to New Delhi, during which they met the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Finance Minister, and in the formal talks held on 21-23 January. A wide range of substantive issues put...

Guwahati, Jan. 22: The department for Development of North Eastern Region (Doner) has expressed its unhappiness over the drawing of funds by Central departments from the non-lapsable central pool of resources for funding several projects in the Northeast.

?This could have been acceptable if the resource pool had funds to play around with. But since we have limited funds, the logic and rationale of the department funding activities of other ministries/departments of government of India is not very clear and to our mind not desirable,? said a report prepared by Doner joint secretary J.P...

Dimapur/ Kohima, Jan 22: If the Centre were to make peace with Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, it would have dealt a body blow to insurgency in the region. Because the NSCN (I-M) is today the pivotal force behind insurgent groups operating in Assam, Manipur, Tripura and even those creeping into Meghalaya.

Officials engaged in counter-insurgency operations have reason to believe that the NSCN (I-M) has ‘‘contributed in good measure’’ to the activities of outfits in states across the N-E, training and arming them and drawing from an extortion pool to fill its coffers.

‘‘Other ethnic...

New Delhi, Jan. 22: The NSCN (I-M) today appeared peeved at Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh?s claim that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had assured him of not altering the state?s boundary, seeking a clarification from New Delhi on the issue.

However, the talks, which were extended by a day, remained unaffected.

The fact that the negotiations did not fall through was a breather for both sides, indicating that they were committed to a negotiated settlement. The NSCN (I-M) leaders, however, were not at all charitable to Ibobi Singh?s claim on the Prime Minister?s assurance.

Real...

Imphal, January 22: To remove the phumdis which have got a strangle hold on Loktak lake; plans are afoot to divert the phumdis to Manipur river through a canal to be constructed at Tera Khunou Khong Ahanbi in Mayang Imphal Assembly constituency. Earlier the phumdis were diverted towards Khordak river when the major rivers of the State are in spate and when the water level of Loktak rises appreciably. But since this has not worked satisfactorily, the State Government has decided to construct the canal at Tera Khunou Khong Ahanbi and divert the phumdis to Manipur River. To get a first hand...