A top police official on Sunday said a good number of people, including coal traders, businessmen and Rangbah Shnongs, could be arrested for providing logistical and financial support to HNLC activists coming from Bangladesh to carry out extortion drive in Jaintia Hills.

Majority of those maintaining links with the rebel group hail from Khliehriat, Lad Rymbai and villages on Indo-Bangladesh border, police said.

Police unearthed the links between coal traders, others and HNLC following the arrest of six members of the Khasi outfit at Umkiang recently.

"We would not tolerate this kind of unlawful activity, and anyone found guilty will be strongly dealt with as per the law," the police official said.

Police apprehended six persons, including a Rangbah Shnong, from various parts of Jaintia Hills last week on suspicion of their association with the outlawed outfit. They were booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Jaintia Hills SP MK Singh had said HNLC activists Willender Diengdoh Marngar and Riskin Phawa, who were arrested from Umkiang, had collected money to the tune of Rs 50,000 from them.

Fearing further arrests, many coal traders and businessmen of the district have reportedly gone into hiding.

"We are trying our best to locate these people and a special team has been assigned with the task of nabbing the culprits," the police official added.

Talking to The Shillong Times on Sunday, Mr Lyngdoh clarified that the issue of police getting being given a free hand in fighting HNLC was "a creation of a section of the media to defame his image."

"No decision in the Police Department is being taken without my knowledge," Mr Lyngdoh said.

HNLC had earlier criticised Mr Lyngdoh for not looking into the way the Police Department was going about tackling the outfit.

HNLC publicity secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw, in a statement issued on Saturday, said the "free hand" given to police to deal with his organisation would indirectly affect the innocent people.

He pointed out that innocent people were being harassed by police in the name of arrest of HNLC sympathizers. "If this (police harassment) continues, the outfit would not hesitate to target workers of different political parties right  from the village level," Mr Nongtraw warned.

"The State Police are the most corrupt institute as they are the ones who are involved in activities that defame the identity of the local indigenous people," the HNLC publicity secretary said.

Shillong: Speaker Bindo M Lanong has said he would ask the ruling Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) to find an alternative site for construction of a permanent Assembly building.

Mr Lanong, who was elected unanimously as the Speaker of the 60-member House, decided to re-constitute a High Power Committee (HPC), which will locate the site of the new legislative building.

''I will write to the government to find out an alternative site for a permanent Assembly building in the heart of Shillong,'' Mr Lanong told UNI here on Sunday.

In 2006, the then JD Rymbai-led government had decided to construct the Assembly building at the Agriculture Research Station in Upper Shillong, which sparked off protest from NGOs and farming community.

The government had acquired 35.3 acres of land for the new Assembly complex.

''The decision of the previous government to construct a building on farmland needs to be looked into again,'' Mr Lanong said, pointing out that the Research Station at Upper Shillong was primarily set up to provide technical assistance and strengthen the production of upland crops.

Mr Lanong, however, felt that the Assembly building could be constructed at the original site, a part of which was being used as the Speaker's office.

''We can construct the Assembly building at its original site by swapping the nearby church with Shillong bench of Gauhati High Court if there is no opposition to it,'' he said.

Initially, before the Assembly elections, Mr Lanong had suggested of holding Assembly Sessions at the Raj Bhawan and accommodate the Governor at some other place in the city.

Presently, the Assembly Sessions are held at the Arts and Culture auditorium at Rilbong. (UNI)

SHILLONG: Mawlai constituency in the city, which voted Congress to victory for the first time in the recent Assembly elections since the inception of Meghalaya, is going to have its own "government" thanks to the initiative of MLA Founder S Cajee.

Creation of a local self-government in Mawlai was announced by Congress legislator from the constituency Founder S Cajee at a rally at the Mawlai Stadium on March 5.

"The decision to form our own local self-government in Mawlai is to specifically address the needs and aspirations of the people of the constituency and to ensure that no agents are involved in matters of public development," Mr Cajee told the rally.

The "government," named as Greater Mawlai Coordination Committee for Development (GMCCD), will be headed by Mr Cajee himself as chairman. Mr Cajee will take care of Home, Personnel and Planning portfolios, while various secretaries under him will function as ministers with their respective portfolios.

"There will be an Assembly that would meet once a year to pass the Budget and approve other development projects for the constituency," Mr Cajee said, adding the House would have an Opposition group comprising Rangbah Shnongs, experts in various fields and other prominent leaders to point out the shortcomings of the "government" from time to time.

Another notable aspect of the Cajee-led "government" will be involvement of women in policy-making.

"We will induct four women into the 22-member Cabinet. Their portfolios would be announced shortly," Mr Cajee said.

Moreover, the "government" will have a powerful Advisory Committee consisting of experts, intellectuals and prominent residents who would give suggestions to the Cabinet on issues related to the functioning of the "government" at all levels.

"New policies will be introduced and transparency and accountability maintained by our government. We have also decided to computerised all departments to make the functioning of the government systematic," the legislator said.

According to Mr Cajee, the idea behind the decision to constitute the "government" is to ease his burden and ensure public participation in development activities in the constituency where the appointed secretaries will coordinate with the State Government departments according to their portfolios.

The MLA further expressed the hope that presence of such "a well-organised set-up" would also reduce corruption and misuse of public funds, while accelerating the wheels of development in a more democratic and people-oriented manner.

The local Dorbar Shnong convened a meeting of all the villagers on Saturday to discuss what they called unacceptable action of Mr Shylla.

Meanwhile, the journalists who sought to attend the meeting were chased away by some of the villagers. People of the village even threatened to assault and pelt stones on the mediapersons if they refused to leave the venue of the meeting.

On seeing that the villagers were getting violent, the Rangbah Shnong requested the scribes to leave the meeting and allow him to control the situation.

The meeting, however, was postponed till Tuesday as no consensus decision could be reached at the meeting held on Saturday.

In a complaint to the Deputy Commissioner, South Garo Hills, YDVC alleged that according to information sought under the RTI Act, Mr Dalcheng had received an amount of Rs 3,50,000 from the Chief Executive Officer of Baghmara Municipal Board on March 27 last year for purchase of a new vehicle.

It further claimed that Mr Dalcheng also received another fund of Rs 11,015 as additional amount for the same purpose.

However, Mr Sangma purchased an old and non-serviceable Gypsy, the YDVC alleged. The vehicle was seized by the Deputy Commissioner recently after receiving a complaint from the committee.

YDVC urged the DC to take action against the former municipal official at the earliest.

Shillong: The on-going ninth International Shillong Trade Fair has received appreciation from the Kenyans and Thais, the two major participating countries at the fair.

Praising tourism potentials of Meghalaya, Director of Mobrama Investments of Kenya Isabella Amasiza Mungasia said both India and Kenya could promote each other in several fields, especially in tourism sector.

The fair also witnessed a visit by Urban Affairs Minister Paul Lyngdoh where he met Thailand and Kenyan officials including Commercial Counselor of Thailand Embassy in India, Tharadol Thongruang and Senior Trade Officer of Development of Export Promotion (DEP), Royal Thai Government Kanjana Pongpanich, who requested the minister to visit their countries.

Mr Lyngdoh, while interacting with the delegates, assured that Meghalaya Government would take initiative to visit Kenya and Thailand to promote friendly ties between the countries for overall development.

He also stressed on exchange of cultural, social and economic development between the host state and the participating countries.

It may be mentioned that more than 19 companies from Thailand under the Department of Export Promotion (DEP), Ministry of Commerce had been taking part in the fair. The trade fair is being organised by the Industries and Trade Fair Association of Assam (ITFAA) in collaboration with the Meghalaya Government and National Small Scale Industries Corporation (NSIC).

The fair has been extended till April 8.

Shillong: KHADC Chief Executive Member Cleophas B Syiem has alleged that his predecessor, HS Shylla, had rendered the Council poorer by arbitrarily misusing KHADC fund.

According to the KHADC CEM, Mr Shylla has brought the Council under financial crisis by misappropriating huge amount of money for "unproductive affairs" while stating that the closing balance of the Council till January last was about Rs 2.43 crore only.

He, however, claimed that under his tenure as CEM that "the Council has recovered an outstanding due of Rs 10,48,63,833 (Rs 10.48) from the State Government in previous year, which belonged to the shares (dues) of the Council from minor minerals and vehicles among others".

The CEM also said that he had procured the third instalment from the 12th Finance Commission besides other shares of the Council.

He further claimed to have improved the Council's coffer during a short tenure as CEM. "At present, the Council is in a sound financial position," he added.

Meanwhile, he said that he would try to recover the remaining shares of the Council to the tune of Rs 12 crore belonging to major minerals.

By ruthlessly crushing Tibetan protests, China has triggered reactions ranging from disquiet and distress to uproar and condemnation in many capitals. Even New Delhi, which views all separatist movements with suspicion because of its own problems in Kashmir and the Northeast, has expressed "distress" at the "unsettled situation and violence in Lhasa" leading to the "deaths of innocent people". It called upon "all those involved" to "work to improve the situation", and asked Beijing to "remove the causes of such trouble in Tibet".

Beijing says 20-odd people have died in the protests, but the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala claims the death-toll has crossed 130. Yet, the crackdown hasn’t deterred Tibetan exiles from continuing their protests, including an attempt to scale the walls of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, and marching through Punjab to the Tibetan border, although another march, through Himachal Pradesh, was stopped by the Indian government.

China has used intemperate language to condemn the protests. It accuses "the Dalai clique" of fomenting violence and trying to sabotage the Olympic Games due to be held in Beijing. But the Dalai Lama says he wants the Games to be held in China, and that he remains opposed to all violence.

India’s stand on the protests has been less than firm and consistent. After allowing US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to meet the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala and issue acerbic statements on China from its soil, India assured Beijing that its position that Tibet is part of China remains "clear and consistent". But India also cancelled a meeting between Vice President Hamid Ansari and the Tibetan leader after its ambassador in Beijing was "called in" at 2 a.m. on March 22 for an unusual briefing.

However, there are no signs that Beijing will abide by the assurance recently held out by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown that it would resume negotiations with the Dalai Lama if he really shuns "separatist activities" and accepts that Tibet is an integral part of China. Senior Chinese officials say that there’s a difference between "wanting to meet the nation's president, and holding a dialogue with the government in Beijing on an equal footing" as if the Dalai Lama headed a real government. The roots of the present unrest go back to October last, when the US Congressional Gold Medal of Honour was awarded to the Dalai Lama—an event widely broadcast by Voice of America and celebrated by Tibetan monks as a sign of US political support for Tibetan independence. Violent protests erupted on March 10, which marks the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising, and its crushing, which led to the Dalai Lama’s escape to India.

The immediate cause of the protests was the demand for the release of the monks arrested in October, coupled with resentment among Tibetans at the majority Han ethnic group, which comprises 92 per cent of China’s population. The Hans have overrun Lhasa and cornered a huge proportion of the fruits of Tibet’s recent economic growth, which has averaged 12 per cent over the past six years, faster than China’s 10 per cent.

There lies the rub. Despite the recent economic boom, incomes in rural Tibet are only about a third of their level in China. More than one million of Tibet’s 2.7 million people live below the official poverty line of $150. Their literacy rate is only 50 per cent, compared to 85 per cent for China. They are badly out-skilled by the Han Chinese, who with the Hui Muslims, largely monopolise the plum jobs in Tibetan cities.

Tibetans are excluded from effective representation in government and the army and face discrimination even in the burgeoning services sector. Thus, most state officials, executives and even taxi drivers in Lhasa are Han Chinese.

Although China calls Tibet an "autonomous region", Tibet in reality enjoys no political or cultural autonomy. The Tibetan language is only taught till the middle school level. The nominally Communist Chinese state professes atheism, but has inserted itself into Tibetan Buddhism by nominating the Panchen Lama and creating a loyal clerical faction. So rapid and extensive is the Han penetration of Tibetan society and culture that most young Tibetans can no longer speak their language, nor are aware of their customs. The new Qinghai-Tibet railway line will increase the Han influx into Tibet. Many Tibetans fear their traditional way of life will be wiped out. That’s what the Dalai Lama calls "cultural genocide".

Such fears aren’t imaginary. China is loath to allow cultural autonomy to its 56 ethnic minorities. Rather, it seeks to assimilate them into a Han identity, as it has successfully done with the Mongols and Manchus over 2,000 years. China’s relationship with Tibet has changed. Under the Qing dynasty, which led China’s huge Westward territorial expansion in the 18th century, Tibet was a buffer state, or a tribute-paying, indirectly governed part of the empire.

But the Qing dynasty collapsed in the early 20th century, and China suffered what it describes as "a century of humiliation" under imperialism as its territories were parcelled out—Hong Kong to the British, Manchuria and Shandong to the Japanese, Taiwan to the US-backed Kuomintang. Within the nationalist project of reunification of the motherland, shared all the way from Sun Yat-sen to Mao Zedong, Tibet became a central component of the identity of a proudly independent, resurgent China.

The Tibetans and Uighurs are ethnically very different from the Han Chinese, as are their languages and religions. Because they were incorporated into China relatively recently, and because they enjoyed four decades of de facto independence until 1951, the Tibetans in particular maintain a strong, distinctive sense of identity and want autonomy, and religious and cultural freedom.

However, Beijing remains obsessed with government centralisation and homogeneity. It has consciously used migration to spread Han culture and economic power into its Western provinces, in particular, Tibet and Xinjiang (55 per cent of whose population is still non-Han, primarily Uighurs and Kazakhs). Under Chinese policy, several Tibetan-majority areas have been transferred to Han-majority provinces like Qinghai, Sichuan and Gansu.

Ironically, precisely because the cause of Tibet's freedom has attracted support in the West—not least because of the Dalai Lama’s personal charisma and friendship with American celebrities—it has become a bete noire for China’s rulers. They regard any expression of solidarity with the Tibetan people as "interference" in Chinese affairs and bristle at the slightest sign of support for autonomy for Tibet.

This reaction isn’t entirely paranoid. After all, the West does selectively use human rights, and religious and cultural freedom as sticks to beat its adversaries with. China also has memories of the Khampa rebellion of the 1950s, sponsored in Tibet’s southern Kham province by the CIA, and armed via Nepal. China also sees various recent US moves, including its Ballistic Missile Defence programme, support for Taiwan, and the growing US-India "strategic partnership" as threats.

Regrettably, the West’s—and the BJP’s—brave talk notwithstanding, the world cannot do very much to help the Tibetans. Very few means are available to dissuade China from resorting to repression against protests, or to induce it to negotiate genuine autonomy.

China is far too powerful to be pressured or sanctioned into changing its behaviour by other states or the United Nations. But it’s also too xenophobic and paranoid to concede autonomy and greater freedom to the Tibetans—unless it can be persuaded to value diversity and respect difference. A big country like China can accommodate and live with differences—and thrive.

Both state-level actors and civil society groups like the International Campaign for Tibet and Free Tibet Campaign (FTC) have failed to deliver that message or help Tibetans in a substantive way. Yet, such groups continue to pursue a bankrupt policy, according to Patrick French, FTC’s former director and author of Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land. Realistically, an independent Tibet is just not on the agenda. The Dalai Lama realises this and advocates "the middle way", or autonomy for Tibet within a union with China. But the spiritual leader is no great strategist. He has never managed, unlike Mahatma Gandhi, to convert non-violence or his moral-religious authority into mass mobilisation or effective non-violent resistance. Nor has he developed alternative forms of political action. Worse, he’s increasingly unable to carry radicalised exiles like the Tibetan Youth Congress with himself.

There’s a danger that lack of creative strategising on the part of the exiled Tibetan leadership will help Beijing’s hardliners. They can use any autonomy talks they hold primarily to deflect international criticism—without conceding anything substantive. Unless the 72 year-old Dalai Lama names his successor soon, Beijing will probably wait for him to die and be "reincarnated" as a child through a rigged selection process—as it did with the Panchen Lama. One can only hope the Dalai Lama will act fast—and wisely.

In an interview that will evoke predictable mirth—as much as send a shiver down the Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav, has admitted he wants to become the Prime Minister. It is not as if this has not been known; why, after all, should a grassroots politician like Mr Yadav be in the power game if it is not to go for, at some stage or the other, the biggest catch of them all, the PMO? Mr Yadav believes he has plenty going for him, even if there are a handful of unresolved court cases of corruption against his name.

For one, as the Railway Minister, Mr Yadav has made sure that the image of the rustic Bihari that he assiduously created is super-imposed with suitable dashes of urbaneness. He has been a largely "successful" Railway Minister through clever media management and also because he has known better than to interfere with the Railway’s day-to-day functioning. He has left the nuts and bolts in the hands of the top officers of the IRTS—one of who serves as his OSD and who virtually runs the show for the Bihar strongman from Rail Bhawan.

This is a far cry from the Lalu Yadav we have all known. As the Chief Minister of Bihar, and later when he ruled the State by conjugal proxy, he was a meddlesome man—there wasn’t sphere of life in Patna that escaped his notice or attention. Even cricket wasn’t spared. He was running Bihar by being seen to be running it; he wanted to prove that there was no politician of comparable stature around him. Such sophistry is imperative to the power game, and he succeeded greatly in assuming larger-than-life image through his craftiness and antics.

Mr. Yadav, in that sense, is self-made to the same extent as he is a creation of the media. Everything he did made not just news—it made the ultimate cocktail, punched as it was with nonsensical entertainment. This was an indigenous marketing genius at work. Wittingly or unwittingly, Mr. Yadav became this inescapable reminder of what we in the boondocks are, what we look like in our rural hinterland. While the charitable believed they were laughing at their own selves, those not so kindly disposed thought they were laughing at the other: The embarrassing country bumpkin.

What has happened in the interregnum is Mr. Yadav has reinvented himself and gate-crashed into, in a manner of speaking, page three parties in Delhi. He understands the need to ‘modernise’ and the Railway Ministry gives him more than adequate opportunity to do so. He has risen to the next level of his incompetence from where he thinks he can take a shot at what in political terms will amount to the ultimate sweepstakes.

Therefore, the assiduous self-projection: "I want to become the Prime Minister for sure. But, I will not quarrel for it. No matter which corner of the country I go, people always greet me, ‘Oh Lalu, aye Lalu.’ It’s the greatest of blessings, people love me." Mr. Yadav is now pretending to be the messiah of not just the dispossessed of Bihar, whose lot worsened under his totally apathetic dispensation of grabbers and looters of public money. He is now trying to sell same the dream in India’s drawing rooms.

He has no agenda to reach where he wants to; just some occasional tailwind. "Kaun jaanta hai," he says, "kaun kab kya ban jaayega" (Who knows who can become what in the future). The rise of Mr. Yadav tells us a lot about ourselves: The most important being empowerment has come to mean power without vision. It can prove calamitous.It would be unreasonable to expect Mr. Yadav to deny himself the opportunities that come his way.

He is quite right in believing he can realise his ambition given the electoral system such as we have. After all, if Mr. H.D. Deve Gowda and Mr. I.K. Gujral could become Prime Minister, Mr. Yadav is entitled to claim he, too, can. The question at this stage, therefore, is rather unpretty and different. It is whether India can afford to have someone like Mr. Yadav in one of the most powerful political offices in the world.

This is because it’s not any vision of the nation or its building that propels Mr. Yadav; it is its complete absence, which corresponds nicely with the lack of imagination—or the opportunities to imagine—of his own votaries. His understanding of empowerment is horrendously skewed since power to him means only patronage. He has no agenda to reach where he wants to; just some occasional tailwind. "Kaun jaanta hai," he says, "kaun kab kya ban jaayega" (Who knows who can become what in the future). The rise of Mr. Yadav tells us a lot about ourselves: The most important being empowerment has come to mean power without vision. It can prove calamitous.

It would be unreasonable to expect Mr. Yadav to deny himself the opportunities that come his way. If chance knocks on his door, he will be the last person to complain of noise. If the arithmetic in the future of any Lok Sabha permits his entry into the last chance station, let’s be sure he will hop across into the engine. And let’s be equally sure that we as a nation can, in that event, forget about our destination, for some more time. In the hands of a driver who lays an equal claim to being both stupid and courageous, it will be up to us whether to remain boarded or disembark from the train. That last choice might be the smallest of mercies, but it will be mercy nonetheless. INAV

Madam,

Today it is very easy to become a politician, a CM, a CEM, an MLA, an MDC etc. Borrow some crores of rupees from some rich businessmen and industrialists who have their vested interests, and spend it a month or a week before the real day of the election. How to spend it? Spend the borrowed money on liquor for the ignorant populace, bribe the bureaucracy to blind their minds and shut their mouths, and thus the electorate can easily be bought. Spend few lakhs on the media, preferably a local newspaper which would be your mouth-piece. They will just obey your money-power, to make black look white and white appear black. Think also of a TV channel which can broadcast all your cosmetic developments of the area and your lip-service to the starving constituency. It is not necessary to join any particular party: national or regional. All that you need to do is to shout some slogans: "We the race! We the tribe! Wake up fellow countrymen!" Appeal to their emotions as much as possible and less to their brains. You have already won the day. This indeed is the easiest and the fastest way to become rich in our state. Thus learn the tricks of the trade of politics.

It is much easier for the sitting CM, MLAs and MDCs to become richer and to continue the exploitation of the electorate of their constituencies. Like a man-eater tiger, which once it has tasted blood would keep looking for the human kill, an MLA who has tasted easy money would contest again and again for his/her belly's sake. The sitting MLA from the first day of his victory until the end of the five years, amasses all the wealth through the centrally and locally sponsored schemes, spends a quarter of them for the public, and deposits the rest (two third) into different accounts, in different names (preferably in some kith and kin's name), in different banks preferably abroad and outside the constituency. The idea is to spend a pittance for the constituency, a month and a week before the election. Make sure that you have your agents in key positions to do the job for you; keep them amused and happy. May I suggest to you, whom to use? Use the syiems (chieftains), rangbah shnong (village head), secretary of the village, or different associations, sordars, head teachers, school teachers, professors, pastors and religious heads who wield much power and influence in a particular locality. Some of them are a terror and use muscle power to reach their goal.

You will be cleverer if you can purchase some plots of land in the cities of Shillong and Tura and build mansions in someone else's name (preferably wife's and in-laws) and declare your assets as zero. Remember the eleventh commandment: "You can steal, but don't get caught!" Do not forget the amount: a sitting MLA gets a crore per year, and if the MLA becomes a minister, the amount is double and if he becomes the CM, it is ten times more. Your future is so secure and safe. Why? You get escorted by pilot cars wherever you go. The police are at your beck and call; you have thousands of people to serve you and garlands wherever you go. You will be addressed as "Honourable MLA/MDC/CM." Even if your wife and mother-in-law do not honor and respect you, you have the populace to welcome you for a public function (inauguration of a Toilet, a Community hall; a football or cricket match etc.). What you are deprived at home, is easily and readily available in the public: money, liquor, pleasure, fame and name. The zero at home becomes the hero of the constituency! Your name will be inscribed on every nook and comer of the state. Besides all these, you can roam the whole world with the money of the state/constituency. Wake up comrades! Cast your vote now! We shall meet you again in the 1st week of March 2013. I wish you prosperity and progress!!! Goodbye!

Yours etc.,
M. Marwein

Addressing soldiers, he said infrastructure development in North East would not only contribute to the security of the country but also accelerate the growth process of this strategic region.

China has rapidly extended its railway and highway connections in Tibet, which faces Arunachal borders. This rapid build up give Chinese armed forces easy access in deploying forces right up to the border passes.

The Defence Minister, who was accompanied by Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, spoke to the troops after visiting a number of Indian border posts.

The area has been the scene of a number of Chinese incursions in the past and the Government has attributed this to "differing perceptions" of the 'Mcmahon Line' between the two countries.

Antony said that the Government was committed to modernisation of the country's armed forces and this includes upgrading weapons, communication and surveillance systems of the Army's specialised mountain division.

Antony said "Our overall objective is to provide you with the latest equipment so that our armed forces continue to be one of the best in the world. Our endeavour will be to ensure the all-round welfare of the personnel and their families."

On infrastructure development, he said, "In the past, the required attention was not given to this region. Three is no point in finding fault with anybody. It is our top most priority now to develop infrastructure in the North East."

He said he was confident that the forces will be able to bring back complete normalcy to the region.

"This region and its people are really beautiful. But insurgency has often undone other achievements. Dealing with insurgents requires high levels of patience, maturity and restraint. You must ensure at all times that the common man is not victmised in any way," he added.

Before his visit to Tawang and other border posts in Arunachal Pradesh, the minister who is on a two day visit to the North-East chaired a high level meeting at Tezpur where he was briefed about the ongoing operations against ULFA and other insurgent groups in the region.

Antony earlier paid homage to the soldiers who had lost their lives during the Indo-China war at the Tawang War Memorial.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu received the minister at the Tawang Helipad.

Khandu said the visit of the minister will help raise the morale of the troops who are serving in adverse cold conditions along the Indo-China border. (PTI)

AGARTALA: Alarmed by the mysterious death of more than one thousand chicks in Kamalpur sub-division, Tripura Government has alerted people living in the border sub-division in Dhalai district.

The Animal Resource Development Department (ARDD) has imposed a ban on selling of chicks and eggs in the two villages - Mohanpur and Malaya - though there is no concrete report yet of avian flu in these hamlets, ARD Minister Aghore Debbarma said here on Sunday.

"The villages have been cordoned off to prevent movement of poultry products to other areas," he said adding that blood sample of death chicks have been sent to Bhopal based High Security Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory for testing.

"We have not yet received the final report from the laboratory," he said, adding the report would be available by Monday.

The State Government has asked Health and Family Welfare Department to set up isolation wards in all State level and district level hospitals.

However, the ARDD is leaving no stone unturned to take up preventive measures. On Sunday, a high-level meeting of officials from concerned departments including ARDD and Health and Family Welfare was held at Kamalpur where the overall situation was reviewed. The meeting was presided over by Principal Secretary of ARDD U Ventakeswarlu.

As part of full proof preventive measures, the State Government has intensified vigil along the border with Bangladesh and Assam to prevent importing chicks and eggs from outside the State.

It may be recalled that the Central Government had banned import of poultry products from neighbouring Bangladesh following outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal in February.

Imphal: The night curfew in Manipur entered its 21st day after it was imposed in the valley districts from March 17 following killing of 15 Hindi-speaking labours. The curfew has been imposed in Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal and Bishenpur districts. However, life has become normal in the state with no untoward incident since then. The curfew starts from 2100 hrs to 0500 hors daily. (UNI)

Agartala: The Congress in Tripura has accused the ruling Left Front of backing anti-Indian forces — Pakistan-based ISI, al-Qaeda and Bangladesh-based HUJI.

Demanding a judicial inquiry into the terrorist—politician nexus, Opposition Congress leader Ratan Lal Nath expressed concern over the arrest of a HUJI activist here by West Bengal CID officials last week.

He alleged that a member of the Assembly had helped the person hire a room in the city and recommended the Sub-Divisional Magistrate for issuing a Permanent Resident Certificate to him.

Referring to the arrest of a Bangladeshi youth, suspected to have links with HUJI, from the city by the CID, Mr Nath said, ''the State Government should inquire how he took shelter and who helped him to get permanent residential certificate.''

He also said that anti-Indian forces were very much active in the State and had been using the bordering Bangladesh as a safe corridor for the International terrorists as well as arms smugglers.

The West Bengal police also nabbed two other Bangladeshi nationals on January 15 last and recovered several incriminating documents pertaining to maps and details of Army camps in North Bengal areas. (UNI)

Guwahati: Shaken up by deaths of 18 persons including children so far in the State due to consumption of 'wild poisonous' mushroom, Assam Government has ordered inquiry by concerned district authorities to find out the root cause that had driven the victims to consume wild mushroom in a number of villages in Golaghat, Jorhat and Sivasagar districts.

Over 45 persons, who had taken ill after consuming wild and poisonous mushroom, are now being treated in different hospitals in the State even as the authorities have sounded alarm against consuming unidentified varieties of mushroom by the people.

Assam Health Minister Dr Himanta Bishwa Sharma on Sunday informed that detailed report from the district administrations had been sought to find out the actual cause of deaths.

He said, "it is apparently not a case of people suffering from poverty and hunger were compelled by the circumstances to eat wild mushroom. Firstly, at this time of the year, people of Assam do not face hunger and secondly the vegetables are sold at cheaper prices in the market at this time of the year."

Assam Government has already rushed a team of agricultural scientists to Golaghat district where 15 persons have died so far. At least 45 persons have fallen seriously ill after taking mushroom meal in three Upper Assam districts.

Doctors say that poisonous wild mushroom if consumed attacked the liver of the person and can cause death in no time in most cases depriving the victim of medical treatment.

Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Sunday, Director of Centre for Tribal Studies Lakhi Nath Pangiang said the has communicated the problems that may arise if more communities are to be include in the list of SCs and STs.

"A total of 142 communities were included in the list of the SCs and STs after considering five criterion — premitive way of living, distinctive language and culture, habitational remoteness, backwardness and etc.," Pangiang said while wondering how can a Government include those communities who were not considered backward 60 years back.

The director also slammed the All Assam Tribal Sangha for demanding that the Sarania Kacharis should be strike off from the list of ST. He said the Sarania Kachari community has been enjoying ST status since special rights were granted by the Centre for tribals.

"It is not under the jurisdiction of the All Assam Tribal Sangha to take a decision as to which community should be strike off," Pangiang said.

The centre recently held a seminar on the subject of orientation of the Sarania Kacharis of Assam and their status.

The experts, who deliberated during the two-day long seminar, agreed that the Sarania Kacharis had been rightly granted the status by the Government. (NNN)

Police said the mastermind of the dacoity on Friday was among the seven apprehended from Doimukh Road area and rs 4.6 lakh recovered from their possession. Motorcycle-borne youth looted Rs 23 lakh from the employee of a rural bank when the bank employee was on way to his workplace after withdrawing the cash from a branch of State bank on Friday. (PTI)

The most potent symbol of the glorious 600-year rule of the Tai-Ahom kings hailing from Thailand, the monument constructed in 1746, has been in the news after a report about cracks appearing on its facade.

The report prompted the Assam government to constitute a seven-member expert committee to examine the damages on the walls of the heritage site.

The damages to the protected monument have prompted the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) which maintains it, to threaten legal action against the public sector Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC)

The ASI move comes after eight-10 metre cracks have appeared on the Rang Ghar walls following blastings in the seismic survey work at nearby Rupohipathar, an open oil field.

The damages have created a public outcry with a local students body, All Assam Tai Ahom Students Union (AATASU), calling an 'indefinite ONGC bandh' from March 5 and the proscribed ULFA issuing a warning to the ONGC to stop all seismic work or face dire consequences.

The Rang Ghar, stated to be the oldest outdoor stadium in Asia, bears mute testimony to Assam's history.

The medieval Tai-Ahom kingdom (1228-1826) was founded by Sukapha in the 13th century establishing its suzerainity over the Brahmaputra valley and putting resistance to Mughal expansionism in the North-East 17 times sucessfully.

The monument also saw the annexation of Assam by the British Empire through the historic Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826 paving the way for the advent of the Britishers into the state and the end of the 600 year old Ahom rule.

The monument at Gargaon was the crucible of the proscribed ULFA movement with its leaders congregating under Rang Ghar's portals on April 7 nearly 30 years ago to script one of the most violent chapters in the annals of the state in its fight for an independent homeland.

The original ampitheatre was constructed with wood and bamboo by King Rudrasingha, also known as Siukapha who ruled between 1696-1714, but was rebuilt into a permanent structure by King Pramatasinha (1744-1751).

With no knowledge of modern day cement, the Ahoms used a paste of rice and eggs as mortar and special thin bricks for construction of the Rang Ghar, that has withstood decades of neglect till Independence.

As its name suggests, 'Rang Ghar' was a `merriment house or a place of joy'. It was in this sports pavilion that elephant, buffalo, bullock and hawk fights, wrestling, besides Bihu (Assamese cultural festival), etc., were held.

The Mongolian style oval-shaped two-storyed pavilion is 10 metres high, 11 metres across and 27 metres long with a steep flight of steps leading to the higher elevation from where the royal patrons and nobles are presumed to have watched the contests on the Rupohi Pathar (field) below surrounded by a huge meadow meant for the royal subjects.

The monument's base has a series of archways with vestiges of sculptural adornments, and its roof is designed like a royal long boat with a pair of carved stone crocodiles on either ends. The ampitheatre is located north east to the royal palace `Kareng Ghar' in Sivasagar town. (PTI)