News

GUWAHATI, Jan 5 – Though the security agencies are well aware of links between the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for the first time, the security forces have come to know about the links between the ISI and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) following the arrest of the outfit’s vice-chairman Dhiren Boro in Gangtok.

Highly placed security sources said that the security agencies always had doubts about links between the ISI and the NDFB, but the doubt was confirmed after the arrest of Dhiren Boro...

Imphal, January 05: Even though the splinter group of the MSCP led by M Hemanta is understood to have stated that the MSCP has not withdrawn from the SPF coalition, confusion still reigns over the status of the party vis-?-vis the SPF Government as the Steering Committee of the SPF had already agreed to the withdrawal of the party from the coalition. Mention may be made that the MSCP under Lok Sabha MP Th Chaoba had snapped ties with the SPF on November 12 last year and subsequently announced the merger of the party with the BJP on November 14. However a number of disgruntled MSCP members led...

Imphal, Jan. 4: The Manipur government today constituted the state finance commission with former bureaucrat S.S. Sharma as chairman. Sharma is a retired state secretary for youth affairs and a former secretary at the Centre. The other three members are economists M. Iboton Singh and O.P. Bohra and retired joint secretary (finance) S. Ibochouba Singh.

The commission would make recommendations to the state government on the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes, duties, tolls and fees among panchayats, district councils and municipalities. It would also determine their extent and the...

Agartala, Jan. 4: A major expansion and infrastructure upgradation drive has been taken up at the Agartala airport, the only one in the state. Located close to Bangladesh, the distance between the edge of the runway and the international border is 150 yards, the airport will be made equipped to handle international flights. Senior airport manager Prashanta Kar said the airport was built by the British during World War II but its importance grew after Independence as Tripura lost access to the heartland following the emergence of the then East Pakistan.

Kar said the last phase of modernisation...

Calcutta, Jan. 4: Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar today said the border areas of Tripura have become a terror hub because of the neglect of the northeastern state’s natural resources and the lack of development projects initiated by the Centre. Sarkar said the biggest worry has been the emergence of al Qaida in the Northeast with the support from the NSCN (Khaplang), the Ulfa and other militant groups. “They are using the Northeast as a base to work their way into the heart of the country, using local militant groups as pawns,” he said.

Sarkar asked Bangladesh to hand over “terrorists”...