Northeast India Sees Spike in Foreign Tourist Visits

By Yuthika Bhargava A view of the Sela Lake surrounded by snow-clad hills in Arunachal Pradesh. Sela Lake attracts large number of tourists. File photo: Ritu Raj Konwar In positive news for tourism sector in the north-eastern states of the country, foreign tourist visits in the region grew by 27.9 per cent in 2013 over the previous year. The number of foreign tourist visits (FTVs)...

DD Bharati to Telecast Shows on Northeast India

New Delhi, Aug 5 : Doordarshan will telecast some exclusive programmes aimed at familiarising people with the art and culture of the north eastern states. The programmes on DD Bharati will capture culture, history and introduce viewers to the ‘Seven Sisters’. The scheduled programmes have been picked up to bring out the essence of these states which have an enigmatic attraction during the...

Tripura Shows Way To Regulate E-rickshaws

By Biswendu Bhattacharjee Agartala, Aug 5 : While the Delhi high court on Monday agreed to review its decision to ban e-rickshaws in the capital, Tripura has long brought these vehicles within the ambit of legislation and is probably the first state to do so. Replicating the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the state framed the 'Tripura Battery Operated Rickshaws Rules 2014' to regulate...

Strategizing Political Demands of the Kukis in Northeastern India

By Nehginpao Kipgen         The leaders of the two Kuki armed groups — the United Peoples' Front (UPF) and the Kuki National Organization (KNO) — are again heading to New Delhi with the hope of materializing a political dialogue with representatives of the central government. A meeting with officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is likely to take place within...

A Conversation and ‘Burma’

By Tungshang Ningreichon My friend Seth Shatsang is a dynamic young man in his early 30’s but looks older and pretends to belong to the ‘wise’ age generation. He is a student activist, an aggressive campaigner and sometimes comes across as a country bumpkin and a shrewd politician. He has an accent that he seems to have acquired while his scholarly time spent down the South of India so for “we”...

Time To Say Cheers?

After 17 years of being a dry state, Mizoram is relaxing its curbs on alcohol. Ratnadip Choudhury explains how the booze ban was a bane in the Christian-dominated state By Ratnadip Choudhury Risky gamble Mizoram CM Lal Thanhawla (centre) is counting on the new liquor law to help him gain popularity in the state, Photo: UB Photos James Pachuau, 23, takes out his Royal Enfield motorcycle every late...

People's Party of Arunachal demands increase in retirement age

Itanagar, Aug 4 : The People's Party of Arunachal (PPA) has urged the state government to increase retirement age of state government employees from 58 years to 60 effective from this financial year. "Majority of the states follow the Central government norm of 60 years as the retirement age. The Seventh Pay Commission has proposed to increase the retirement age to 62 years. It is unfortunate...

Wildlife Trust of India team to search origin of star tortoises seized in Nagaland

By Pullock Dutta Star tortoises at Nagaland Zoological Park. Jorhat, Aug 4 : The Wildlife Trust of India has the daunting task of finding the home of 62 star tortoises that were seized at Dimapur railway station last month. A team from the WTI will collect blood and tissue samples of...