Mild tremor hits Indo-Myanmar border, no damage reported
Imphal: A 2.9-magnitude earthquake hit the India-Myanmar border region in Manipur late Saturday night. There was no report of any damage or casualty, official said on Sunday. “The quake hit Ukhrul district of eastern Manipur and nearby Myanmar bordering region at 10.56 pm on late Saturday night,” an official of India Meteorological Department said. “There is no report of any damage in Manipur and adjoining areas,” said the official adding that the tremor lasted 12-15 seconds and was measured at 58 km depth. He said that on Friday afternoon at 5.47 pm, another quake with 3.6-magnitude hit Arunachal Pradesh’s Papum Pare district (northeastern part of the state) along Assam. The northeast has seen some of the biggest quakes in history. In 1897, a Shillong-epicentred quake measured 8.2 on the Richter scale, while in 1950, an earthquake in Assam measuring 8.7 on the Richter Scale forced the mighty Brahmaputra river to change its course. In September 2011, Sikkim suffered heavy damage after a quake hit the Himalayan state. (IANS)
NRL set to hike manpower strength by over 60 per cent
Guwahati: As part of the Rs 22,594 crore mega expansion project, North East India’s largest refiner, Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL), will ramp up its headcount by over 62 per cent in the next four years, its Managing Director S K Barua said. In an interview to PTI, Barua said apart from direct employment to 550 people, over 12,000 indirect jobs will be created during the construction of the new units. “We will require about 550 more people to fully operationalise the refinery post commissioning,” he said. At present, the total headcount at the NRL stands at 874, including management and non-management staff. Barua said of the 550 people required, 150 are immediately needed during the execution stage. (PTI)
Unidentified gunmen kill one in Nagaland
Kohima: The body of a non-Naga person was recpvered in Zubza area under Kohima district on Saturday. Official sources said that the deceased, aged around 25 years, whose identity was yet to be ascertained, was found shot in the head with hands tied to a post. Bullet wounds on the left temple were visible at the time of recovery of the body. Kohima police recovered the body from a place known locally as Dzuva Khrietsie waiting shed along National Highway 29. Sources said a post-mortem was conducted and the body had been kept at the morgue for identification. A case has been registered at Sechu Zubza Police Station and investigation was going on. It may be recalled that unidentified masked gunmen shot dead a senior NSCN (I-M) functionary, ‘major’ Toishe Yeptho at point-blank range inside his residence at Purana Bazaar-B unit colony in Dimapur, on Friday. The Kohima Police recovered the body at Zubza on Saturday barely 12 hours after the previous incident. (UNI)
Party drugs worth Rs 75 lakh seized in Mizoram
Aizawl: Mizoram Excise and Narcotics department have seized huge quantity of party drugs worth Rs 75 lakh from Champhai district, an officer said on Sunday. The Excise and Narcotics department officials seized 50,500 tablets of Methamphetamine tablets popularly known as party drugs from the possession of a man in Zokhawthar village on Saturday, the officer said, adding that the man was arrested. The tablets were worth Rs 75 lakh and were smuggled from Myanmar, he added. (PTI)
Five new fish species discovered in Arunachal
Itanagar: Researchers of the Rajiv Gandhi University here have recently discovered five new fish species in various districts of the state. The scientific names of the newly-discovered fish species are Mystus prabini, found in Sinkin and Dibang rivers in Lower Dibang Valley district and Exostoma kottelati, found in Ranga river in Lower Subansiri district, a release by the university said. Other discovered species are Creteuchiloglanis tawangensis, found in the Tawangchu river in Tawang district, Garra ranganensis, found in Ranga river and Physoschistura harkishorei, found in Dibang and Lohit rivers in Lower Dibang Valley district, it said. The team was led by Prof D N Das of the fisheries and aquatic ecology research wing of the Zoology department of the university. Das said his research team is optimistic that meticulous exploration may result in more discoveries of new fish species from the state in the future. (PTI)