NEC should think big: Sinha
Think big for the socio-economic development of the North-Eastern States’, North Eastern Council chairman Lt. Gen. (Retd.) S. K. Sinha urged senior Council Officers. Lt. Gen. Sinha, who is also the Governor of Assam, made the plea to the officers in the light of fund constraints faced by the council. In a meeting with senior officials, the Council Chairman had thorough discussion as to how the projects and schemes could be implemented on time. Among the sectors discussed were transport & communication, science & technology including I T and North Eastern Space Application Centre, power, health, agriculture, horticulture and forest and environment.

Seema Biswas shocked
Seema Biswas, who enacted the role of Phoolan Devi in Shekhar Kapur’s acclaimed movie Bandit Queen expressed shock over the death of the former dacoit and Samajwadi party MP. "I met Phoolan Devi after the shooting of Bandit Queen. I vividly recall her face. She was sitting in a hotel and Kapur introduced me to her’, Ms. Biswas said. Ms. Biswas first thought that Kapur was introducing her to a film star but it turned out to be Phoolan with a child in her lap. "I was so surprised to meet Phoolan Devi that I told her that I must give you a hug. I also mentioned about my anxiousness to meet her", Ms. Biswas said. Ms. Biswas remembers Phoolan telling her "I have undergone a lot of trauma in real life but I am amazed at the way you portrayed me. I feel that it’s me".

ULFA calls for referendum in Assam
United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa called for a referendum in the State to decide the issue of sovereignty for which the outfit is fighting. The latest issue of the outfit’s mouthpiece, Freedom published Rajkhowa’s speech on the occasion of the outfit’s Martyrs Day celebrations on July 27, in which he said, ‘If a referendum is needed to take a decision on the issue of sovereignty, so be it. Urgently and boldly, fill the air with our slogan-we want independence.’ He also added that his organisation wants a ‘political solution’ to what he called the ‘Indo-Assam conflict’, but accused the Union Government of not taking any ‘meaningful step’ in that direction.

11 ultras lay down arms in Tripura
 Eleven insurgents, including six from NLFT, have surrendered to the Border Security Force (BSF) in Agartala and deposited arms and ammunition to BSF officials. Of the 11 surrendered ultras, six belonged to the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and five to the Borok National Council of Tripura (BNCT). The ultras deposited several firearms and a huge quantity of ammunition used in sophisticated rifles, during surrender.

Doctors leave gauze inside patient’s body
Nurses at the Civil Hospital here extracted a 14-inch gauze from the body of a 52-year old patient which had been left behind during an operation. The patient, Pawlliana, was operated on June 20 where the surgeons extracted a 400-gram stone from his bladder.  He could not recover properly and did nor respond to antibiotic treatment before the gauze was extracted. His family members said that they were planning to approach court of law to seek justice alleging criminal negligence on the part of the doctors and nurses who operated on him.

Female sex ratio up in Meghalaya
The number of females per 1000 males in matrilineal Meghalaya has jumped to 975 during the 2001 Census as against only 955 in 1991. This has been revealed in Paper- 2 of 2001 Census for Meghalaya. The sex ratio in Meghalaya, is in fact, second only to Manipur (978) in the entire North-Eastern region. Arunachal Pradesh with a sex   ratio of 901 is at the bottom in the region. The sex ratio for Assam is 932, Tripura 950, Mizoram 938 and Nagaland 909. The Paper-2 has given the distribution of population in urban and rural areas sex-wise. Other information like literacy rates and child population are also shown for urban and rural separately. The urban areas show a better sex ratio of 986 than rural areas (972). Among the districts, West Garo Hills has the highest sex ratio of 988 followed by East Khasi Hills with 983.

PLP welcomes Centre’s decision
The Purbanchaliya Loka Parishad (PLP) has welcomed the revoking of truce extension by the Central Government excluding the areas of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. Prof Bisweswar Deka, secretary general of the party said that the withdrawal of the extension of areas beyond Nagaland will bring peace in the region. Mr. Deka expressed his strong opinion that to achieve lasting peace in the region and permanent solution to the insurgency problem the Central Government should initiate meaningful dialogue with all the underground militant organizations of the region immediately. He further appeals to all to maintain peace and harmony at all cost.

Three persons killed in IED blast set-off by suspected ULFA cadres in Assam
Two security force (SF) personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a driver of the vehicle they were travelling in were killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion caused by suspected terrorists of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) at Bhalukjuli in Goalpara district. Five more SF personnel were injured in the explosion. The blast occurred when the SF personnel were returning after conducting a search operation to nab some ULFA terrorists.

Child washed away in flood
The flash floods in Umkhrah river caused by incessant rains washed away a child and destroyed four houses injuring six persons. The flash floods also inundated a vast area of the capital city. Police were conducting search operations to retrieve the body of the child, while the district administration has geared up relief operations for flood victims. The floods have submerged the polo ground market, CRPF camp, polo football ground affecting more than two hundred families. 

Decision on truce welcomed
The Asam Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) and three Manipuri organisations welcomed the Centre’s decision to restrict the ceasefire with the NSCN (I-M) to Nagaland. Representatives of the AJYCP, the United Committee of Manipur, the Manipuri Students Federation and the Manipuri Joint Committee of Shillong said that they were satisfied with the Centre’s decision not to extend the ceasefire to other North-Eastern states.

Jawan killed in NDFB ambush
One CRPF jawans was killed and two others injured in an ambush by National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants in Dhubri district recently. The jawans after patrol duty were returning to their camp in Gouripur when they were fired on by NDFB militants from the nearby jungles near Kazigaon, police said.

CM’s stress on environment awareness
Meghalaya Chief Minister E. K. Mawlong while speaking at a function to observe the Vanamahotsava 2001 at Kyrdem, Ri-Bhoi district, stressed on the need to create awareness about the importance of the protection of the environment. Mr. Mawlong said that men and environment are interdependent on one another and emphasized that forest and water resources are needed to be preserved and protected and urged the people to help the government in protecting and preserving forest cover in the State.

Bangla intruder killed
A Bangladeshi infiltrator was shot dead by BSF jawans when he was trying to cross the border in the Kedar sector of Dhubri district. A group of four Bangladeshis were trying to infiltrate into the country when the BSF jawans patrolling the border asked them to stop, but as they refused to stop, the BSF men fired killing one on the spot.

Jawan held for rape
An Army jawan, Ramesh Chand (35) of the Army Medical Corps at Changsari was arrested by Gitanagar police for alleged rape of a teenaged girl from Changsari inside Assam State Zoo. Sources informed that the jawan (No 13988910/K) brought the victim to the Zoo from Changsari and as he attempted to rape her, zoo employees and public caught him and handed him over to Gitanagar police. Another jawan, K. Subramaniam (No 13960123/M), who accompanied the accused, has been detained in this connection

Sister Germaine passes away
Rev Sister M Germaine Kongrimai, former Principal, St Mary’s College passed away recently at St Mary’s Convent. She was 70. She was the Principal of the College from 1986 to 1996. Born in the village of Mustoh near Shella in East Khasi hills district on February 15, 1931, she completed her novitiate at Chittagong in present-day Bangladesh.

Communication to Lohit hit, Teju cut off
Surface communication in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lohit district has been severely disrupted and Teju, the district headquarters, cut off from the rest of the country following incessant rains. Road links to and from Teju have been disrupted as rivers Lohit and Digaru are in spate and also due to landslides in several places. Sources said on an average 95 mm of rainfall has been recorded daily at Teju and nearby places. However, there was no crisis of essential commodities as the district administration had made adequate arrangement anticipating such problems.

One killed, jawan hurt in encounter
One person was killed and a BSF jawan injured in an  encounter between unknown armed militants and BSF patrol party at Moirang Bazar in Manipur’s Bishenpur district. Sources said that some armed militants attacked a BSF patrolling party at Moirang Bazar under Moirang police station. The jawans returned the fire and in the encounter one person was killed by a stray builet and a jawan was injured. The militants escaped after the attack. Meanwhile, one jawan of the army engineering regiment attached with 16th Assam Rifle posted at Mayang Imphal in Imphal West district was killed in an accidental firing by an Assam Rifles jawan.

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