70 pc turnout in Bru relief camps for Mizo Assembly polls
Aizawl: At least 70 per cent poll turnout was reported from the six Bru relief camps in North Tripura district during the three-day polling for the coming elections to the 40-member Mizoram assembly, state Joint Chief Electoral Officer H Lalengmawia on Thursday said. Polling began on Tuesday last and concluded on Thursday in the relief camps of Naisingpara, Asapara, Hazacherra, Khakchangpara, Kaskau and Hamsapara, Lalengmawia told PTI. The EC had instructed the state election department to conduct the polling in relief camps on November 19 and 20. However, the polling, which was conducted through postal ballots, could not be completed on Wednesday due to slow process of the exercise and the Commission granted permission to continue polling on Thursday, Lalengmawia said. The 11,612-strong Bru electorate in the relief camps were exercising franchise through postal ballots in the camps for the Mizoram polls to be held on November 25. (PTI)
President to inaugurate Nagaland Hornbill Festival
Kohima: President Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the Nagaland Hornbill Festival which coincides with the golden jubilee celebration of Nagaland Statehood Day on December 1. Nagaland will celebrate its 50th year of statehood on December 1 which will coincide with the ten-day long Nagaland Hornbill Festival. All the 17 recognised tribes of Nagaland will display their tradition, culture, indigenous games and other daily activities during the festival. They will exhibit their respective Morungs at the central ground of the exhibition at the Naga Heritage Village at Kisama, about 12 KM east of Kohima. There will also be several other competitions like World War II Memorial Rally, Hornbill Motor Rally, Hornbill International Rock Festival, Hornbill Music Festival, Kids Carnival, Hornbill Night Carnival and Naga Chilly Eating Competition. The President is likely to enjoy the Festival for two days, sources said. (UNI)
Direct train from Tripura to
all cities in two years
Agartala: Direct train service from Agartala to all metropolitan cities of the country via Guwahati would be introduced by 2015, N F Railway sources said on Thursday. “Gauge conversion is continuing in full swing from Lumding in Assam to Kumarghat in Tripura via Badarpur and would be completed by March 2015. Tracks from Kumarghat to Agartala is presently at narrow gauge, but lines were laid in broad gauge format and it would take very little time to convert in broad gauge,” DRM of N F Railway, Rakesh Kumar Goel said. He said, the train will reach up to Udaipur, the headquarters of Gomati district by the same time. State government officials said acquisition of land up to Udaipur, about 55 KM from here, has been completed and the process for land acquisition up to Sabroom, a border town in south Tripura district, has been started. N F Railway sources said, extension of rail line up to Sabroom would be completed by 2016. (PTI)
Heavy vehicles to trekking for Mizoram poll officials
Aizwal: From heavy vehicles to two wheelers, small boats and trekking on foot, all modes are being used to ferry over 4,000 polling officials over topographically diverse Mizoram, where Assembly elections will be held on November 25. “For transport of polling officials we are using heavy motor vehicles, light motor vehicles, medium motor vehicles, two wheelers, dinghies (small boats)and in inaccessible places election officials have to walk on foot,” the state’s Chief Electoral Officer Ashwini Kumar said here. Over 1,800 vehicles, including 229 buses, 12 dinghies will be used as transport, while two-wheelers and trekking will be the norm at 27 places. “There are places which are accessible only by river and you don’t have bridges, so in those places dinghies will be used,” Kumar said. The remotest parts of the state are the districts of Lawngtlai and Saiha, where boats will be used. The state, spread over 21,000 sq km, is known as the land of valleys, lakes, rivers and rolling hills, with around 21 major hill ranges or peaks. The Election Commission is also deploying 5,806 security personnel across eight districts of the state. (PTI)