The Shillong Times - Established 1945

SHILLONG, May 25: No minister is ready to take responsibility for the series of slipshod works execution of infrastructure that has rocked the state. On Tuesday Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma himself declined to own moral responsibility over the dome fiasco and step down from his post while on Wednesday the PWD (Buildings) Minister followed suit. While the CM had categorically asserted that he would leave it to his partners in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance to take a call on his fate, Dasakhiatbha Lamare gave a…

SHILLONG, May 25: The Justice (retd) RN Mishra-headed committee, which probed alleged irregularities in the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) and the Power department, did not come across anything wrong as regards procurement in the corporation. Breaking his silence on the report, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said the committee did not find anything wrong in terms of procurement. He said the panel observed that the procurement policies of the MeECL are old and obsolete. According to the…

SHILLONG, May 25: Various organisations and political parties are going for his jugular after the collapse of the central dome of the under-construction Meghalaya Legislative Assembly building but PWD (Buildings) and Transport Minister, Dasakhiatbha Lamare on Wednesday said he will not step down. “I will not quit as quitting is not a solution. Damages will occur when they are supposed to occur, regardless of who the minister is,” Lamare told reporters. Stating that he does not believe in the principle of quitting, he said…

SHILLONG, May 25: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said the state government has directed the police to investigate the Malang-Salbari incident although his Assam counterpart, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has assured action. The latter also said there will not be any repetition of the incident. “We have asked our police to investigate this issue. Last evening, I had a discussion with the chief minister of Assam and he has assured me such incidents will not happen again,” Sangma said while replying to a…

TURA, May 25: The Meghalaya High Court has once again come into matters of illegal coal and its transport in the state ordering stoppage of all transport of coal through the Gasuapara land custom station through use of e-way bills issued by Guwahati-based Jai Maa Enterprise. The court orders come in the wake of a petition was filed by an exporter, Maikel T Sangma over the legality of the transport of coal that is being exported into Bangladesh through the Gasuapara land custom station. The HC order comes following inaction…

SHILLONG, May 25: In a setback for tipplers, prices of liquor in Meghalaya will go up by 8-9% depending on the brand with the state cabinet on Wednesday deciding to reclassify the IMFL brands for additional revenue. “The government has decided that there will be re-classification of categories of brands for Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) through amendments of ad valorem, MVAT on liquor and Rule 44 (10) of the Meghalaya Bonded Warehouse Rules,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told reporters after the cabinet meeting.…

SHILLONG, May 25: The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) on Wednesday moved Governor Satya Pal Malik to impress upon the Centre to include Khasi Indigenous Faith (Niamtre/Niam Tynrai) as a Minority Community under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Informing that the Government of India till date has notified six religious communities — Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Christians and Jains — as religious minorities in India under Section 2(c) of the Act, the HYC said, “There are people from…