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KOKRAJHAR, Jan 2 – Dwellers along the Sankoch river in Assam have urged the authorities concerned to check the unabated encroachment by migrants from West Bengal especially in the forest lands on the Assam side along the West Bengal boundary. The public here have asked the State Government to take up the issue with the West Bengal authorities.

According to the information available here, a large portion of forest land under Ripu Mauza No. 1 lat around 113 No. pillar (khuti) of Gossaigaon sub-division of about 1000 Bighas of forest land has been under encroachment of the neighbouring State...

AIZAWL, Jan 2— Drug abuse killed at least 95 people including seven women in Mizoram during 2002, top state Excise department officials said here today, reports PTI.

The officials, quoting departmental records, told PTI that while 90 people died due to abuse of Spasmo Proxyvon, a prominent painkiller, four people including son of the former state Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla were killed by heroin and one died due to abuse of other psychotropic drugs.

The officials, however, admitted that the toll in the drug-related deaths might be much higher as there was a strong possibility of many...

Imphal, Jan. 1: The Centre’s eagerness to make the NSCN (I-M) leadership feel at home on their return to India has been counterbalanced by the belligerence of Manipur, which today declared that it would not hesitate to arrest the outfit’s general secretary, Thuingaleng Muivah, if he visited the state. Both Nagaland and Assam have withdrawn the arrest warrants against Muivah and NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chisi Swu to facilitate their return to the country for the next round of peace talks with the Centre.

Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh has, however, refused to make any such concession...

Agartala, Jan. 1: If Bombay can become Mumbai and Madras renamed Chennai, why can’t Tripura be called “Twipra?” A million-rupee question, but being raised in the state by several organisations, led by the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT). Their argument: The renaming of Tripura to “Twipra” is a must for conformity with the tribal Kokborok language and its phonetics.

The issue is set to be the INPT’s main poll plank in the tribal-dominated areas for the forthcoming Assembly elections.

The demand was first raised, in passing, by INPT president Bijay Kumar Hrangkahwal at a public...

New Delhi, Jan. 1: Two government projects in the Northeast, one in Assam and the other in Tripura, have been declared “success stories”, having achieved their “intended goals”. Making it to the Planning Commission’s list of top 20 “success stories” are the rubber plantations of Tripura and a landmark irrigation project of the Assam government.

Originally launched to wean tribals from jhum cultivation, the rubber plantations have now earned Tripura the sobriquet of “India’s second rubber capital”. Kerala leads the sector in terms of production.

Successful Governance Initiatives and Best...