Social Networking Sites a Hit With Meghalaya Politicians

By Rituraj Borthakur Shillong, Sep 1 : Popular social networking sites have become a hit with Meghalaya's frontline politicians who swear by their usefulness to stay connected to the masses. Hailing from both sides of the political divide, the leaders, including Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and Opposition Leader Conrad Sangma, are regular users of the sites. An avid user of Facebook,...

SC Directs Security Forces To Vacate Educational Institutes

New Delhi, Sep 1 : The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to ensure that all schools and hostels of educational institutions occupied by the Army and paramilitary forces are vacated within two months. An order to this effect was passed by a bench comprising Justices B Sudarshan Reddy and S S Nijjar during the hearing of the issue relating to the trafficking of 76 children from Manipur...

Manipur Farmers Taking up Pineapple Farming

Imphal, Sep 1 : For farmers like J Hechuon, 62, of Bunglon village pineapple cultivation in his two hectare plot on the slopes of Khousabung hill range in Manipur’s Churachandpur district is his main occupation since the last five decades. In the eighties, he used to get a profit of about Rs 20,000 annually from pineapple cultivation but now it has increased to Rs 50,000. “This year, I am expecting...

Tips From Heartland, South For Craftsmen

Visitors admire jewellery at the Cluster Conclave in Guwahati on Monday. Guwahati, Sep 1 : Woodcarvers of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh and goldsmiths of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh have helped the carpenters of Baktawng in Mizoram and jewellery makers of Manipur to add quality to their products for better market and value. The products were displayed at the Cluster Conclave organised by the...

India: Economic Growth Contrasts With Political Unrest in a Forgotten Enclave

Long sheltered by its remote location, the capital of Mizoram state must learn to manage the maelstrom of modern India By Paul Grogan Aizawl, capital of Mizoram state, at dusk. Photograph: STR/EPA I am sitting on a balcony looking out on one of the more extraordinary places on earth. Teenage girls and boys "hang out" beside the headstones in the graveyard below me. Pigs squeal and...

Science Village Coming in Tripura

Agartala, Aug 31 : A Vigyan Gram, or a science village, is to come up on the outskirts of Tripura's capital, complete with a museum, library, planetarium, botanical garden, bird sanctuary and other attractions to popularise science among the masses. The Vigyan Gram, to be modelled on the lines of science cities in various cities in India, would be set up at a cost of Rs.35 crore in western Tripura's...

Northeast Bar Girl Alleges Molestation by Boss in Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 31 : An employee of a restrobar, hailing from northeast India, has alleged that her boss tried to molest her after he found her watching television during duty hours inside the bar located in L-block of Connaught Place. The accused is the manager of the bar. New Delhi district police has registered a case of molestation. The victim, a resident of Manipur, has alleged...

Livelihoods And Environment: The Pnar Conflict

By Sonata G Dkhar What mining has done to ‘these hills which we call home’ is unimaginable. The prodigious alterations caused by the extraction of coal and limestone have changed the very environmental, social and cultural precincts of the place. It has engulfed the land and slowly and stealthily whelmed in the people of Jaintia hills, a mineral rich district in the North Eastern state of Meghalaya....