No Show: Northeast women's Tryst With Politics

By Ninglun Hanghal The seven states of northeast India present a truly contrasting picture when it comes to its women. On the one hand the region is home to all-powerful women's groups like the Meira Paibis of Manipur, the Naga Mothers Association and the Mizo Women's Federation, which have effectively tackled issues like alcoholism, gender rights and conflict. Moreover, women's participation...

A Triangular Battle For A Lone Mizoram Seat

By Himanshu KapoorWith a lone Lok Sabha seat, the General Elections in Mizoram would be a triangular one. After the withdrawal of candidature by Independent candidate Vanlalngaia, only three candidates are in the fray. The ruling Indian National Congress has fielded sitting MP CL Ruala and United Democratic Front, an alliance of eight opposition parties, has fielded Robert Romawia Royte, while the...

Meghalaya takes to the skies to create poll awareness

Election commission ropes in famous singers and sportspersons By Archisman Dinda Image Credit: Archisman Dinda/Gulf News The Election Commission has organised kite flying to encourage voters to cast their franchise. Guwahati: The election department of Meghalaya is banking on music and kites — the two favourite pastimes of the people of the region — to create awareness among...

Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee says Money envelopes ‘unknowingly’ given to journalists

APCC clarifies that envelopes containing money were meant to be distributed to committee staffItanagar, Mar 31 : After a section of Arunachal Pradesh’s media accused Congress of trying to bribe media, the APCC on Sunday said envelopes containing money were “unknowingly” handed over to few journalists.Arunachal Press Club (APC) and Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalist (APUWJ) lodged a complaint...

A pledge to be the ‘different’ One

By ZODIN SANGA Robert Romawia Royte Aizawl, Mar 27 : Government employee-turned-successful entrepreneur Robert Romawia Royte, Independent candidate for Mizoram’s lone Lok Sabha seat, has promised that if he ever gets elected to Parliament, he would be a “different” MP. Accusing the previous MPs from Mizoram of not doing enough to draw funds from the Centre, Royte said he would do “more...

Non-development of northeast forcing people to migrate to other cities in India

By Bolla AlekhyaYet another attack on people from north-east in the Capital, where a couple from northeast state of Manipur were beaten up allegedly by their landlord's son and his associates. This is not the only incident of violence against northeast people, if we just look at this year's record, there are already three other incidents where they were thrashed. The incidents were Nido Taniam murder...

Can't promise on Naga settlement: Rahul Gandhi

By Xavier RutsaKOHIMA: Speaking on the Indo-Naga peace process at a rally in Kohima on Thursday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said, unlike Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio, he did not want to promise something that he could not fulfill."I am not like your chief minister. I do not like to make promises in the air," he added.Rahul came to Kohima to campaign for K V Pusa, Congress's candidate...

Field of Menhirs Promises To Shed New Light on History of Mizos

By Adam HallidayAizawl, Mar 27 : Mizoram has made an entry into India’s archaeological map. In a first, the Ministry of Culture has declared a 9,000 sq m area dotted with several caves, and more than a hundred menhirs embossed with figures of humans, animals and weapons as an ancient site of national importance.Some 170 menhirs, each at least as tall as a man, stand at the site at Champhai district’s...

NE couple thrashed for defying Munirka curfew

By Jayashree NandiNew Delhi, Mar 27 : A couple was beaten up allegedly by their landlord's son and some goons in Munirka on Tuesday for trying to step out of their rented house at 9.30pm. The landlord, who likes to lock the main gate of the house early, was reportedly angry with the couple from Manipur when they asked for the keys. He allegedly called in youths from the neighbourhood to intimidate...

UDF's Royte richest candidate in Mizoram

AIZAWL: With assets worth Rs 31.53 crore, Robert Romawia Royte, United Democratic Front (UDF)'s nominee for the Mizoram's lone Lok Sabha seat is the richest among the three candidates in the fray. The state will go to polls on April 9.Royte and his wife, according to an affidavit submitted to the returning officer and deputy commission of Aizawl district, Juhi Mukherjee, have Rs 5 lakh and Rs 4 lakh...

India's Brahmaputra river: 'The flood waters are eating away at our land'

Flooding on the Brahmaputra has brought death, displacement and disease to what has become one of India's poorest regions Kieran Cooke in Laupani, India Flood of misery … the overflowing waters of the Brahmaputra river have encroached on the land of locals, heaping sand on...

All women’s bank to open three branches in northeast India

Agartala, Mar 23 : The Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) — India’s first all-women bank — will open three more branches in three capital cities of the northeastern states this week, officials said here Sunday.“Three branches of the BMB will be set up in Agartala (Tripura), Shillong (Meghalaya) and Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) in this week,” a senior official of the Reserve Bank of India told IANS.The...

Online retailing on the rise in Northeast India

India's North East is quietly becoming one of the fastest-growing markets for online retailers with an increasing number of youngsters from the region logging on to buy mobiles, accessories and much more.Portals such as Myntra, Jabong and Snapdeal are finding good traction for orders from the region as the number of customers looking to buy the best brands at affordable prices is on the rise."Youngsters...

Myanmar Weavers To Train inmates of Mizoram Home

Aizawl, Mar 21 : A number of orphans and drug addicts, all inmates of a home run by Thutak Nunpuitu Team (TNT) at Zuangtui near Aizawl, will be trained at the Handloom Weaving Centre by two Myanmarese weavers.The Handloom Weaving Centre, jointly established by TNT and the Amway Opportunity Foundation (AOF), was inaugurated on Tuesday by G Malsawmdawngliana, joint director of industries (handloom...

Pre-monsoon Rains in Mizoram, Houses Damaged

Aizawl, Mar 21: Pre-monsoon rainfall accompanied by strong squall hit many places in Mizoram on Wednesday evening leaving trails of destruction in a number of places, disaster management and rehabilitation department sources said.Southernmost Lawngtlai district was the hardest hit with around 50 houses damaged in Lawngtlai town and surrounding villages, the officials said. While 12 houses were damaged...

Megadams: Battle on the Brahmaputra

China and India have their eye on the energy potential of the vast Brahmaputra river. Will a new wave of "megadams" bring power to the people - or put millions at risk? Navin Singh Khadka reports from Assam, India. On the banks of the Brahmaputra it is hard to get a sense of where the river starts and ends. It begins far away as a Tibetan...

Football: ‘Work needed at grassroot level’

India’s north-east has long been touted as the nursery of its football. With two clubs from Shillong representing the region in the I-League and Mizoram winning their maiden Santosh Trophy in Siliguri earlier his month, defender Gouramangi Singh feels this is the best phase of the sport in the region. Gouramangi speaks about the transition of football in the region...

Mizo ATM Attackers caught Through WhatsApp in Bangalore

By Arun DevBANGALORE: A series of forwards on WhatsApp gave police a crucial tipoff, leading to the arrest of two men who had on Tuesday morning attacked a security guard inside an ATM kiosk in Kammanahalli.Using Smartphone technology to their advantage, city police stitched up the case with the arrest of Thangya Su, 20, and Ausang Thang, 19, natives of Aizawl district of Mizoram, within 24 hours.The...

Mawi Keivom - Rani Punk

Mawi Keivom on how her tribal heritage has given her an edge as an international accessories designer By Rachana Nakra inShare 0inShare Designer Mawi Keivom A decade after launching her label at the London Fashion Week, Manipur-born accessories designer...

The Mizoram master plan that Indian football needs

By Pulasta Dhar"The best way for Mizoram to make a name for themselves in a country as big as India is football." That is Mizoram Football Association secretary Mr. Lalnghinglova Hmar's primary motivation to develop football in his state. Over the last three years, he has made it his mission to make Mizoram a football superpower — and his crowning glory came when they won the Santosh Cup this month....

A Village Brings Down Its Hills as Lure of Mining Grows

By MAX BEARAK Himanshu Khagta Alldrina Nonglamin’s mine is one of hundreds of brand new pits near Meghalaya’s border with Bangladesh. NONGTALANG, India — “Bomb, bomb, bomb!” shouted the miner, and his warning echoed off the walls of the decapitated hillock. Seconds later, an explosion sliced off yet another chunk of limestone, which crumbled into a pile somewhere near where the center...

Mizos oppose votes by Bru refugees

State election department officials said that there were 11,390 Bru voters in the relief campsAizawl, Mar 14 : Several social organisations and student bodies in Mizoram have opposed any move of the Election Commission to enable Bru refugees lodged in six relief camps of Tripura to exercise their franchise through postal ballots in the coming Lok Sabha polls.Six major social organisations and several...