Four NDFB(S) ultras arrested
Tezpur: Four militants of the anti-talk National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit) were arrested from a bus on the Bhumoraguri bridge over the river Brahmaputra in Sonitpur district, police said on Saturday. Acting on specific information, police conducted search operation and the four militants were arrested when they were coming from Nagaland to Sonitpur in a long distance bus from the bridge, connecting Nagaon and Sonitpur districts, yesterday, Sonitpur Superintendent of Police Sanjukta Parasar said. The militants, all hailing from Sonitpur district, were coming to guide a batch of 20 new NDFB(S) cadres who were recruited from various places of Sonitpur and its nearby districts. The recruits, taking shelter in a bordering area of Nagaland, were to enter Assam with the help of the ultras, police said. The ultras confessed before the police that they had completed their arms training in Myanmar six months ago. (PTI)
Watermelon festival to be held in Manipur
Imphal: Manipur will celebrate the third State Level Watermelon festival at Iboyaima Shumang Leela Shanglen from June 12 till June 17 to promtoe watermelon farming in the state. Aimed at promoting watermelon farming in the state, the Festival will witness watermelons grown in about 250 acres in the four valley districts to be put up on display. The festival will conduct competitions in various categories like painting, cultural and entertainment programmes. According to the organisers Nahakpam Foundation for Development, such festival help to promote local products. Farmers are encouraged to produce good quality fruits. The state depends heavily on food, fruits imported from Myanmar as the fruits from other parts of our country are expensive considering heavy expenditure in transport, they said. (UNI)
Mizoram RS election on June 19
Aizawl: Election to the lone Mizoram Rajya Sabha seat would be held on June 19, state assembly secretariat officials on Saturday said. The tenure of the sitting Rajya Sabha member Lalhming Liana of opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) ends on July 18. Liana was first elected in 2002 and was re-elected in 2008 during the successive MNF governments. Notification issued by the Election Commission said the last date of filing nominations is June nine, scrutiny would be conducted on June 10 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is June 12. The Commission appointed Assembly Secretary Ngurthanzuala and additional secretary S R Zokhuma as returning officer and assistant returning officer respectively for the election. (PTI)
Historians facing shortage of environmental text of NE
Agartala: Insufficient reading materials on past events of environment in Northeast India has prevented historians of the region to extend the ambit of the study of environmental history in post graduate level as specialisation in the universities, rued History professor Satyadeo Poddar on Saturday. In the deliberation of a national seminar in Tripura University on exploring environmental history of Northeast India : Trend and possibilities, Prof Poddar urged the scholars and researchers of the region to go for histographic exploration of environmental occurrences of Northeast. ‘The impending threat of environment related crisis is getting importance every now and then but most of the studies on environment highlighted the immediate affect and predicted the future predicaments of the human civilization,’ Prof Poddar pointed out. He attributed that the seminar was targeted to influence the scholars and researchers to study and publish the findings of the historical background of the contemporary environmental crisis, which has now become a serious threat to mankind. ‘We have got around 30 scholarly articles and research papers on environmental events of NE states in the seminar and we are expecting another 10 more articles on state specific environmental issues, which will be published in a book form at the end of the year,’ Prof Poddar stated. (UNI)