Mizoram’s ‘illegal village’ Must Exist, Says Court

Aizawl, Apr 29 : The Gauhati High Court has ruled against the Mizoram government’s order to demolish Saikhumphai Bawk, an alleged illegal settlement near the Indo-Myanmar border, and told the latter to give appropriate compensation to the residents who were forcefully evicted and whose houses were dismantled. The verdict issued by station judge of Aizawl bench of Gauhati HC Ujan Bhuyan on Friday...

A Missing Girl, A Known Militant Story in Manipur

By Esha Roy 14-year-old Alice (right) with a cousin. File photo Alice Kamei had been missing for two days when Sundari got the call. What the voice on the other end said about her 14-year-old daughter has turned the world of this family living in Chingphu Kabui village in Manipur's Bishnupur district upside down. "It was a call from the RPF (Revolutionary People's Front). They said that Alice...

An Indian Road Trip: From Calcutta to Sikkim

By Minty Clinch In the second of our series on road trips, Minty Clinch braves tumultuous traffic to explore the hill stations of West Bengal and Sikkim ©Richard Dunwoody A train makes its way through the traffic in Darjeeling The streets of Darjeeling reverberated to the sound of honking as the traffic surged, spluttered and stopped. The pedestrians flowed more freely than the vehicles,...

Over 500 Pigs Die of Swine Fever in Mizoram

Aizawl, Apr 29 : Over 500 pigs have died in Mizoram due to swine fever in the last two months.According to report from Animal Husbandary and Veterinary department officials, the number of pigs died due to the endemic "Classical Swine Fever" has crossed 500 mark since the month of March.Officials said, the endemic swine fever caused the death of as many as 465 pigs in Aizawl district alone, while...

How Many Rhinos Must Die…

PATRICIA MUKHIM ‘For those who have never seen the rhino in its natural habitat, the first sight of this pachyderm is ecstatically uplifting’ The one-horned rhino that has put Assam on the world map is gasping for life in the Kaziranga National Park (KNP). A recent lead article in a news magazine from the Northeast titled, “Poaching is my business, business is good,” is a horrible indictment...

Airports Authority of India Developing Northeast's Defunct Airports

Guwahati, Apr 29 : The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is developing three non-operational airports at Daparizo in Arunachal Pradesh, Tura in Meghalaya and Kamalpur in Tripura for operating ATR 42 and ATR 72 aircraft to connect the remote hill areas of the NE region. An official said the AAI is also developing civil enclaves at Along, Passighat and Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh and Rupsi in Dhubri...

Young Mizo Association Closes Down Bridge on Border of Mizoram & Tripura

Aizawl, Apr 26 : The Langkaih Group of the Young Mizo Association (YMA) in Mamit district has decided to close down the bridge over the Langkaih river on the Mizoram-Tripura border from 5 pm on Monday.The decision was taken at a meeting held on Wednesday after the Bru community in Tripura organized a bandh in protest against the mysterious death of Sibaram Reang and accused the Mizoram government...

Mumbai International Film Fest Comes to Aizawl

Aizawl, Apr 26 : Mumbai International Film Festival gets underway here in Aizawl from today as the Parliamentary Secretary to Chief Minister Lal Thanzara inaugurated the event at I&PR Auditorium today.Film Division, government of India and Directorate of Information & Public Relations, government of Mizoram are organizing the three-day non-competitive Documentary, Short and Animation Film...