Rijiju assures Arunachal of help for developing roads
Itanagar: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju has assured Arunachal Pradesh of all possible help from the Centre for developing roads in the land-locked state. Rijiju’s assurance came when Arunachal Pradesh PWD Minister Gojen Gadi called on him in New Delhi on Sunday, Gadi told PTI today over telephone. While lauding the Centre’s decision to allocate Rs 5,000 crore to settle local citizens along the border areas who, have of late been migrating to rural areas, Gadi pleaded with him to include all non-border but very remote and far-flung areas of the state under such development initiative. He made a special request for expediting the eight national highway packages pending with union ministry of road, transport and highways as road communication held the key to state’s development. (PTI)
12-hour Dimapur bandh affects life
Kohima: Barring some minor incidents of violence, normal life came to a standstill in Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland, following a 12-hour bandh called by the Nagaland Foothill Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) on Monday. Some minor scuffle and stone pelting between volunteers of NFHRCC and some anti-bandh groups occurred at Chumukedima and 5th Mile and some other areas in the town during the initial hour of the bandh which began at 6 AM, Dimapur Additional Superintendent of Police, Wati Ao said. Police had to fire tear gas at 5th Mile and Chumukedima areas to disperse two clashing groups, Ao said. “The situation was brought under control by afternoon,” he said. All business establishments, educational institutions and privates offices remained closed, while attendance in government offices was also poor because of the bandh, official source said. The bandh has been called by the NFHRCC as its meeting with the Cabinet Sub-Committee (CSC) on Foothill Road Construction of the state government failed to arrive at a workable solution during a meeting held in Kohima on Saturday. (PTI)
Gogoi flays Bijoya Chakravarty on visa-free entry remark
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Sunday criticised BJP national vice-president and Guwahati MP Bijoya Chakravarty for her remark that he was “misleading” people on the “visa-free” entry for Bangladesh nationals. The chief minister in a statement here said, “The proposal to allow visa-free entry of Bangladesh nationals of certain age groups by the BJP-led NDA Government came up during an inter-ministerial meeting on June 11 last in New Delhi and a copy of the summary record of discussion was with the Government of Assam.” “If Bijoya Chakravarty feigns ignorance of the proposal that came up during the meeting, I have nothing to say. Our government has placed on record a proposal of very sensitive nature before the people as they have every right to know about it. The question of misleading the people does not arise at all,” Gogoi argued. Meanwhile, Gogoi has welcomed Chakravarty’s statement that the central government would solve the water-logging problem in Guwahati in one and a half years’ time. He also assured of extending full cooperation to the Centre’s initiative. (PTI)
Resume peace talks with KNO: Lal Thanhawla to Rajnath
Aizawl: Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla has appealed to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to resume peace talks with Manipur’s Kuki National Organisation (KNO) leadership soon, an official statement on Sunday said. The statement said Lal Thanhawla met Singh in Delhi yesterday and informed the latter that the KNO was not fighting for secession from the Indian Union but struggled for rights of the Kukis. The Chief Minister said the KNO had signed a Suspension of Operation (SoO) with the Union Home Ministry and that resumption of talks to find a permanent solution to the Kuki problem would be welcomed. He also apprised Singh about the repatriation of Bru tribals from the relief camps in Tripura saying 6,511 Brus belonging to 1,237 families have been repatriated till date despite opposition and obstruction from the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF), the statement added. (PTI)