Won’t allow govt to cancel published NRC: Assam Congress
Guwahati: The Congress on Sunday condemned Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that the National Register of Citizens will be carried out across the country and asserted that it will not allow the government to cancel the published NRC for Assam. At a meeting of the working committee of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), a resolution was adopted condemning the statement by Shah in Parliament that NRC would be carried out across the country, including Assam. A press release from the Congress asserted that the party will not allow the government to reject the NRC, which was updated recently, and vowed to oppose any move to restart the process in any form in the state. It termed Shah’s move to make a country-wide NRC “unconstitutional” as the process was carried out in Assam under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court. “To make the base year as 1951 in Assam, it will require Constitutional amendment. So his statement is not realistic,” the APCC said, adding it supports the cut-off date of March 24, 1971 as per the Assam Accord. The Congress claimed that most of the over 19 lakh people, who were excluded from the final NRC, are genuine Indian citizens and demanded the government to start the appeal process for them immediately. “The government should also dispose of the cases of all the people in detention camps as they unnecessarily suffering. The pending cases of D-voters (doubtful voters) should also be cleared immediately,” the statement said. The final NRC was published on August 31 this year by excluding 19,06,657 persons. A total of 3,11,21,004 names were included out of 3,30,27,661 applicants. (PTI)
Drugs worth Rs 6 cr seized in Mizoram
Aizawl: The Mizoram Excise and Narcotics department officials have seized huge quantity of Methamphetamine tablets, a recreational drug, worth over Rs 6 crore from two places near here in the last three days, an official said on Sunday. The contraband suspected to be smuggled from Myanmar, was worth over Rs 6.06 crore in the local market, the official said. The first haul was on Thursday night at Selesih village near Aizawl when the officials of the department seized 1.01 lakh tablets of Methamphetamine and arrested F. Lalsangkhuma (31) of Rih village in Myanmar and Vanlalthuama (36) of Serkhan village for alleged possession of the contraband. The officials again seized 2.02 lakh tablets of Methamphetamine from two accused at Aizawl on Saturday night. The accused were booked under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and produced before the court of the special judge (ND and PS Act) who remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days. (PTI)
Arms smugglers held in Manipur
Imphal: Two men were arrested by a combined team of Manipur Police and Assam Rifles on Sunday for allegedly smuggling arms, police said. Imphal East Superintendent of Police H Jogeshwar said, acting on specific input about movement of the arms smugglers, the security forces intercepted a vehicle, carrying the two persons, at Khabam Chumreithong, near here. The Dimapur-bound vehicle was coming from Churachandpur district in Manipur. During the operations, the security forces recovered an AK-56 rifle along with 3 magazines and 80 live rounds of ammunition from the possession of the duo. The two persons, who hailed from Churachandpur, were identified as 35-year-old Songthianlam Paite and 24-year-old Khupngaihsuan Paite. Preliminary investigation revealed that the arms were to be delivered to another man in Dimapur, the officer said. The development comes at a time when heavy security arrangements have been made in view of the ongoing annual Sangai Tourism festival. (PTI)
Nagaland pushes for organic farming
Dimapur: The Nagaland government is according top priority to organic cultivation, a senior official said. Advisor to horticulture department, Mathung Yanthan, while inaugurating a ‘pineapple festival’ at Molvom village in Nagaland’s Dimapur district on Saturday, said a draft state policy for organic cultivation is being prepared. “Nagaland joins the rest of the world in promoting and developing organic agriculture for sustainability,” he said. Yanthan, also a legislator, said over 800 hectares in the state have been brought under the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region, a central scheme for increasing certified organic production. He said Molvom, where the pineapple festival is being organised for the first time, and its neighbouring villages produce an average of 20,000 metric tonnes of organic pineapples every year. The official said the establishment of Farmer Producer Companies (FPC) will help cultivators better market their produce. Yanthan urged farmers to blend modern technologies with traditional agricultural practices as complete technological shift might not be feasible in the hilly terrain of the state. Zhou Zejiang, Asia president of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements inaugurated a large replica of pineapple in Molvom. (PTI)