Army evacuates stranded tourists
Gangtok: Around 2,000 tourists stranded at Thegu in East Sikkim due to sudden snowfall were rescued and evacuated by the Army personnel of Black Cat Division, Army said on Monday. 250 tourist vehicles with around 2,000 tourists were stranded at Thegu, below Nathu La, due to unexpected and sudden snowfall on Saturday, an Army press release said. Troops stationed nearby, quickly rose to the occasion and helped to push the tourist vehicles across the steep slopes and rescued the tourists. The weather deteriorated further in the evening and despite heavy snowfall and hailstorm, the troops cleared all the tourist vehicles by 7 PM on Saturday, the release said, adding all the tourists safely returned to Gangtok by nightfall. (PTI)
Tuki meets Shinde on separate All India Services for Arunachal
Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki on Monday pleaded the Centre for creating a separate cadre for the state of All India Services like the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) by separating it from the existing joint cadre of AGMUT. Tuki, who is currently in New Delhi, called on Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and urged him to expedite the process of creating separate cadre for the state, official sources said. In his argument in favour of the ‘separation’ Tuki pointed that Arunachal Pradesh has been sharing officers of AGMUT cadre for all the three All India Services since it was a Union Territory. (PTI)
Lockout in Assam tea garden
Udalguri: A private tea garden under the Khairabari police station in Udalguri district of Assam has declared lockout following which its manager fled after workers allegedly tried to attack him in this connection. With no green leaf to pluck due to a drought-like situation in the area, Krisnasusaibeni Tea Estate was unable to provide work to its labourers forcing the lockout, garden’s management sources on Monday. There are about 150 permanent labourers and 15 staff members working in the garden, they said. Due to no production of tea, the management was unable to fulfil the demands of both the permanent and temporary labourers by providing them electricity and pure drinking water to their quarters, besides appointment of a doctor for them. The management of the garden and ACMS had held discussions yesterday in the presence of ACMS secretary Dayal Kujur of Mangaldai Circle but failed to arrive at any conclusive decision, they said. (PTI)
Arunachal mountaineer calls off Everest expedition
Itanagar: Ace mountaineer from Arunachal Pradesh Anshu Jamsenpa has called off her Everest expedition because of perilous conditions resulting from the avalanche which killed 16 sherpas recently. “I am leaving the Everest Base Camp. I have explored every option and can find no way to safely continue the expedition, hence postponing the world record attempt till next season,” Anshu said after calling off the expedition on Sunday. She said that she would climb a couple of other peaks in the Nepal Himalayas before returning to India. Anshu, a mother of two children, had scaled the world’s highest peak twice in a gap of ten days earlier. This was her second attempt for another double ascent. (PTI)
Former Arunachal minister in coma after suffering cardiac arrest
Itanagar: Former social welfare, woman and child development minister Newlai Tingkhatra has been admitted in Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon (Delhi) after he suffered a stroke on Thursday last, family sources said. Tingkhatra’s condition was stated to be critical and was kept on life-support system in the ICU ward of the hospital, they said adding, he was reportedly in a coma after a massive heart attack causing brain hemorrhage. Tingkhatra, who had contested the April 9 Assembly elections from Kanubari constituency in Longding district on a Congress ticket, was previously admitted at Aditya Hospital in Dibrugarh (Assam) for treatment, but was referred to Medanta Hospital, the sources added. (PTI)
Two suspected NDFB(S) cadres held in Assam
Rangia: Two suspected NDFB (Songbijit) cadres were detained by army at the Rangia railway station in Assam’s Kamrup district along with a vehicle, official sources said. The duo, identified as Ramesh Boro and Raju Deka of Bamunjhar village in Darrang district, was nabbed by 9 Punjab Regiment men when they were on way to Mumbai and handed over to the police, they said. Incidentally, Boro was earlier arrested in connection with a bomb blast case at Goreswar, they added. (PTI)