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Tezpur, Dec 21: A rally was taken out by the Tezpur Regional Students? Union, a unit of the All-Assam Students? Union, to protest against an alleged exhibition of nudity at a fashion show held as part of the recently concluded Tezpur Festival.

The members of the Tezpur unit of AASU also submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner of Sonitpur here today.

The memorandum, signed by Apurba Bose, president, and Manoj Das and Jyoti Prasad Keot, joint secretaries of the AASU unit, demanded punishment for the persons connected with the fashion show. A procession was also taken out.

The festival...

Kohima, Dec. 21: In a veiled attack on the ruling Congress for defying its directive in the last Assembly elections, the apex tribal body of Nagaland ? the Naga Hoho ? has asked the electorate not to vote for those who would be ?a stumbling block? in the ongoing peace process between New Delhi and Naga militants.

?Typically examine those who had defied the will of the Naga people in 1998 and elect responsible people who will support the peace process and not be a stumbling block,? was the message of the Naga Hoho to the electorate in Nagaland, which goes to the hustings in February.

At its...

Agartala, Dec. 21: The Congress election committee for Tripura last night finalised the nomination of 12 of the 13 sitting legislators for the coming Assembly elections in the state.

The clamour for tickets has led to utter confusion. Aspirants are trying out all means to run one another down, with the high command deciding that the only way to control the bickering was to nominate members through voting within the committee.

Sources said ?several names have already been cleared? by consensus. Last night?s meeting in New Delhi, led by AICC general secretary Mani Shankar Aiyar, decided to...

Guwahati, Dec. 21: The Royal Bhutan government has warned militant outfits from Assam and West Bengal that it would be left with no option but to use military force if Indian insurgents did not leave their camps in the Himalayan Kingdom peacefully.

King Jigme Singe Wangchuk, addressing the nation, said his government would soon hold talks with the militant outfits, asking them to leave the country.

?Our objective during the talks will be to ensure that the militants remove their main camp, which serves as their headquarters, from Bhutanese territory. If our efforts to resolve this problem...

AGARTALA, Dec 17 — The hands which were once used to fire automatic Kalashnikovs, will now drive sleek cars, or curve out furniture from timbers. People who once feared the gun-totting militants, will now find them of great help. The first batch of the 74 surrendered militants who had left their underground organisations and joined one year vocational training at the Love Story Bazar Rehabilitation Centre in South Tripura district, completed their training on December 16 last. The vocations they have been trained in included electronics, tailoring, carpentry, electrical wiring, driving, motor...