BSF seizes drug worth Rs 450 crore
Silchar: Border Security Force personnel have seized drugs worth Rs 450 crore from several places along Assam-Mizoram border during the last ten months. Among the seized drugs, Seiudfriden tablet amounted to Rs 441 crore alone, BSF Cachar Mizoram Frontier Inspector General A C Thapliwal said here. Besides, the BSF jawans also seized Parvon capsules, Ketamine powder, cough syrup, brown sugar, heroin and ganja. Thapliwal said in 2010 the total amount was Rs 43 lakh but in the last three years it went up considerably. The rise can be attributed mainly to an international racket aiming to make Barak Valley a corridor for China and Myanmar, he added. (PTI)
Chalo-Loku festival celebrated
Itanagar: Echoes of log-drums and gun-shots reverberated in the air as Noctes of all ages donned traditional attires and celebrated Chalo-Loku at Deomali in Tirap district with much fanfare on Monday. “You are proud owners of a very rich culture. Your ancestors have preserved it jealously for you. Now it’s your turn to pass it on to the next generation,” Chief Minister Nabam Tuki said in his address to the people switching between Hindi and Assamese. Lauding the Noctes for embracing peace and development, he assured Arunachal Pradesh would witness a visible change in socio-economic development and tribes of the state in the next five years, official sources said. Informing the people of the successful job-mela conducted at Itanagar a couple of months ago, he assured similar programmes in the districts to reach out to the rural unemployed youth. The state was developing in all fronts and the state government was committed in ushering over-all development in key sectors like education, health, communication, sports and agri-horticulture, Tuki said. He specifically pushed for tea cultivation in a large scale as Deomali and its adjoining areas were tailor-made for it. (PTI)
Malaria, jaundice claim 20 lives in Arunachal in a week
Itanagar: Diseases like malaria and jaundice have claimed 20 lives since last week in Longding district of Arunachal Pradesh, an official report said on Monday. “This is not the first time when such an epidemic has broken out in Wancho area. In the past, too many such epidemics have been reported. The reason may be due to the unhygienic way of living and lack of proper health-care facilities,” the report said. “Though medicines have been rushed they are hardly adequate,” it said. When contacted, Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Public Relation Department, Thangwang Wangham, said that the situation is alarming as every day new cases are being reported. Wangham, who is the local MLA, said though health workers were in the field there was no tangible respite. The MLA, who is camping at Longding to monitor the situation, has appealed the state government to send relief and more medicines. (PTI)
Myanmarese national arrested for carrying cash during election
Aizawl: A Myanmarese businessman was on Monday arrested at the border village of Zokhawthar in Mizoram for carrying cash more than the permissible limit set by the Election Commission. The person was arrested as he was carrying Rs 18 lakh which is against the Election Commission directive, which prohibits carrying over Rs 50,000 in cash, District Magistrate and District Election Officer Lalthangpuia Sailo said. “The arrested person claimed that he did not keep the cash for campaigning but had collected it from the traders who took his commodities on credit,” Sailo said. (PTI)