Vajpayee greets Bhutan King 
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee spoke to Bhutanese King Jigme Singhye Wangchuk over phone and congratulated him on the Royal Bhutanese Army’s success in the ongoing operations to dislodge North-Eastern insurgents from its soil. He also conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families of the soldiers who lost their lives in the operations.

Nagaland civic polls in early 2004
Elections to Municipal and Town Councils in Nagaland will be held soon and the State Government has already started the process. The elections will be held to constitute three municipal councils and sixteen town councils, and accordingly the State Government has already nominated  respective Additional Deputy Commissioners and Sub-Divisional Officers as Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).

Dave calls for peace, harmony 
Manipur Governor Arvind Dave and Chief Minister Ibobi Singh called upon the people in the State to work for peace, harmony and prosperity. In separate messages on the occasion of Christmas, Dave and Singh said Christ’s message of love, mercy, forgiveness, and sacrifice had become increasingly important at the present juncture in the state where the atmosphere was polluted with enmity and hatred. Dave said let the principles enunciated by the message preached by Jesus Christ guide mankind to build a more prosperous society and a more peaceful world. On this sacred and joyous occasion of Christmas, Singh said he conveyed sincere wishes to alll people of Manipur for a peaceful, prosperous future.

SUCI condemns RBA offensive 
Expressing deep concern over the Royal Bhutan Army operations in south Bhutan since December 15 last, the Assam unit of the SUCI in a statement strongly urged the Bhutan Government and the Government of India to suspend the military operations and earnestly seek a negotiated settlement of the problem. AGP demands for 100% job quota for locals Protesting against the recent spurt of violence in the State, Margherita unit of Asom Gana Parishad recently staged a demonstration in front of the SDO (C) office. Later, the demonstrators were arrested by the police and were taken into police custody. A memorandum to the Governor of Assam Lt Gen (retd) Ajai Singh was submitted by the demonstrators through the SDO (C) demanding 100 per cent local employment in Central Government undertakings, end of police atrocities on the innocent people, protection to the people who were affected by the ethnic clashes in Karbi Anglong, etc.

Army organises medical camp 
The General Hospital, Territorial Army, Guwahati organised a medical camp for ex-servicemen, civilians at SOS children’s village, Mirzapur. The team of GH (TA) doctors, led by Lt Col A. K. Adhikari, Commanding   Officer, GH (TA), Guwahati and specialist doctors in the  field of medicine, paediatrics, general surgery, orthopaedics, urology, gynaecology,   radiology and a number of general practitioners examined the patients. In addition,   routine laboratory investigations and distribution of medicines were arranged free of cost. Eminent specialists delivered health awareness lectures on oral, dental hygiene, child  health care and prevention  of water born diseases. Approximately 2,600 patients including women and children were treated in the medical camp. Brig S. C. Uppal, Cdr 51 Sub Area, inaugurated the medical camp.

Drupad supports ULFA ‘ideology’     
When the Centre has rejected the Paresh Baruah’s offer for conditional talks to solve the insurgency problem, the veteran CPI leader and member of  Rajya Sabha Drupad Borgohain has come out in open support of the ULFA ‘ideology’, saying, it is in the interest of Assam and its people. Expressing serious concern over the offensive launched by the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) to flush out the ULFA, NDFB and the KLO,  Mr. Borgohain stressed on the need for a political solution to solve the militancy problem of the State. “Even though the militant organisation has adopted some wrong policies in recent times, Government should come forward to hold dialogue with the ULFA”, he added.

BJP’s NE unit condoles  Thakre’s death’     
The North-East unit of the BJP has condoled the tragic demise of former BJP national president Kushabhau Thakre. Thakre was suffering from cancer. Kushabhau Thakre was an RSS Pracharak (full time organiser) since 1942 and worked for Bharatiya Jana Sangh since 1951 and then worked for the growth of the party in different areas of the country and in different capacities. Thakre was instrumental in bringing late Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia closer to BJS and BJP. Kushabhau Thakre was a source of inspiration for thousands of party workers throughout the country and was their family members as well, the BJP said. Thakre had worked in the  North-Eastern region and extremely toured in all the  seven States. His hard work    has made party possible to   grow made BJP popular in the region.

Aakashitoraar Kathare for  Dhaka Festival   
Award winning Assamese film director Manju Borah’s latest venture Aakashitoraar Kathare… (A tale told a thousand times) has been invited for the 8th Dhaka International Film Festival. On behalf of the festival organising committee, Mustaba Jamal in a letter to the producer of the film, Sangeeta Tamuli has confirmed its invitation to the prestigious festival, which will witness the screening of around hundred feature films representing different nations. Produced under the banner of Chitraa Communications, Aakashitoraar Kathare… is based on a short story of the director herself, which deals with the women issue that sparks the debate on gender equity and social justice for the women. The two-hour long Assamese film has cinematography by Raju Mishra (Orissa) and music by up coming Assamese singer Tarali Sarma, where as the editing is done by A. Srikar Prasad. 

Demand to include MAC in 6th Schedule    
Various Mising organisations demanded the inclusion the Mising Autonomous Council under the 6th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. In a recent meeting, held under the aegis of the Mising Bane Kebang at the district library in Lakhimpur, various Mising organisations, political leaders and workers discussed the problems faced by the Mising community at large in Assam. Mising Bane Kebang said that to work out a political solution of various problems faced by the community, an all-party meeting would be organized under the aegis of Mising Bane Kebang.

Withdraw ‘war’ against Kukis, UPDS urged  
The Kuki Innipi of Assam, the apex organisation of the Kukis, appealed to the anti-talk faction of the UPDS to withdraw its ‘war’ against the Kukis living in the Singhason Hills of Karbi Anglong for restoring peace and communal harmony between the two tribal communities. Khuphan Lhouvum, general secretary of Kuki Innipi of Assam said that the recent quit notice issued by the anti-talk faction of the UPDS demanding the Kukis, living in the Singhason Hills, is a hard instance of the long-term policy of ethnic cleansing by the militant organisations. Lhouvum had also alleged that even though the existence of the Kukis in Karbi Anglong can be traced back to the pre-Independence period, yet continuous pressure to make the Kukis leave the hilly region has been going on since long.

NRL honoured with gold medal 
Greentech Foundation of New Delhi has awarded gold medal to NRL for the year 2002-03. The NRL authority received the honour from Greentech recently in a function held at Khajorahoo, Madhya Pradesh. The NRL was awarded for its environmental activities and pollution protection measures, it is reported.

Funds for Silchar Medical College 
Assam Minister of State for Panchayat and Rural Development Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the State Government has donated a sum of Rs 1 crore to uplift the infrastructure of the Silchar Medical College. NEC will also provide an amount of Rs 1 crore.

Success in anti-insurgency drive in Manipur
A State where militancy is the order of the day and abductions and extortions are rampant, State administration has claimed majorsuccess in counter-insurgency operations. The combined force of the state police and other security forces have killed 22 insurgents and arrested 110 in Manipur during October and November during counter-insurgency operations. The counter-insurgency operations were conducted by the state police with the help of the Army, Assam Rifles and CRPF both in the hills and valley . Naerly 21 different types of weapons along with a huge cache of assorted ammunition, ten hand grenades, five wireless transmitter sets have also been recovered from the insurgents.

CPI demands full autonomy to Assam  
The CPI State committee has demanded the Centre to give full autonomy to Assam under Article 370 and 371 of the Constitution. Addressing the gathering at a dharna programme, staged under the aegis of Sivasagar district committee of CPI in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office, CPI leader Promod Gogoi said that due to the Central Government’s negligence and anti-people policies, various militant organisations were formed in the North-East. It is totally a political problem and no military operation can solve the decade-old problem in the region, he said. The former minister also said that fruitful discussion is the only way to solve the burning insurgency problem in the State. Criticizing the Central Government’s refusal to hold any talks with the ULFA, he said that the Centre wants to keep the problem alive. Demanding that the RBA operation against the ULFA, KLO and NDFB militants in Bhutan be stopped, Mr Gogoi wondered if the Centre could hold talks with Laldenga in Eng land and Germany, with Naga ultras in Sweden, Paris and Japan, could form BTC after negotiating with the BLT, then why could it not hold discussion with the ULFA. 

AK-56, SLR recovered in Tinsukia    
Troops of 2 Mountain Division, operating in Tinsukia district, recovered an AK-56 rifle and an SLR from some suspected ULFA militants. Army men chased the militant.The militants, however, managed to flee leaving their weapons behind.

Possible Centre-NSCN (IM) talks in Delhi next month 
NSCN (I-M) Chairman Isak Chishi Swu and its General Secretary Th.Muivah are likely to visit India next month for another round of peace parleys with the Centrem to resolve the five-decade old insurgency in Nagaland. The next round of Centre-NSCN (IM) peace talks is likely to be held in New Delhi for which the top leadership of the outfit, will come to Delhi from Amsterdam for the second time after a gap of one year.  Last January, when both the top leaders visited India they had formal interactions with various Indian political leaders. Besides, they also held parleys with various Naga leaders from the Northeast. Since then five rounds of talks were held on foreign locations. The last round of talks were held in Bangkok last month. Mr Swu and Mr Muivah might visit Nagaland depending on the outcome of the peace talks.

Nagaland to modernise mini cement plant   
The Nagaland Government has approved a project for modernisation and expansion of the existing Wazeho Mini cement plant at Tuensang district of the State to boost its production. The plant’s present annual production was insufficient to meet the demands and hence the state government had decided to upgrade the factory so that it could meet the local requirements. Although the plant was presently not viable in all respects, the government would undertake all measures to make it more productive. The plant produced 4083.07 tonnes of cement during 2002-03, 4143.55 tonnes during the year 2001-02.

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