Armed miscreants loot Rs 30 lakh from bank in Itanagar
Itanagar: In a broad day-light robbery, motorcycle-borne armed miscreants on saturday looted about Rs 30 lakh from a branch of a nationalised bank and injured a cashier at Doimukh near here, police said. Three miscreants armed with weapons entered the Vijaya Bank branch inside Rajiv Gandhi University at around 12 noon and fired two rounds, IGP Indrajit Shukla informed. The cashier, who sustained bullet injury in his left thigh, was admitted at Arunachal State Hospital, Naharlagun. The robbers fled away with the cash (suspected to be around 30 lakh) towards the jungle after abandoning both the bikes some 600 meters away from the bank, police said. Police seized the motorcycles and launched investigation to nab the miscreants, Home Minister Tanga Byaling said in a statement. This is the second incident of bank robbery in a span of one month in the state. On July 14 last, a group of three armed masked miscreants entered into the Yachuli branch of Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank in Lower Subansiri district and looted Rs 10 lakh at gun point. However, police made a breakthrough in the incident within eight hours by arresting two robbers and recovered majority of cash looted. On December 20, 2013 armed miscreants robbed Rs 66 lakh from a SBI ATM at Nirjuli near here after three armed local youths looted Rs 28 lakh from the Ganga branch of Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank here on December 5 in the same year. (PTI)
Nagaland Assembly Speaker summons 3 NCP MLAs
Kohima: Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) Speaker Chotisuh Sazo has informed that personal hearing on the claim of merger with BJP by three NCP legislators would be held on August 6. A release by NLA Secretary A E Lotha said all the three MLAs, the former NCP President Imtilemba Sangtam, Dr T M Zeliang and MLA Mmhonlumo Kikon, are to either appear in person or through their counsels during the hearing, who had resigned from the NCP and joined BJP. The NCP had four elected members in the 60-Member Nagaland Assembly, out of which defected to BJP. Earlier, the Speaker had asked the Party headquarters about their status while NCP informed that they had been expelled from the party but the BJP informs that they had been appointed as BJP members and with this the BJP MLAs have rose to four in the Nagaland Assembly. BJP party is the pre-poll alliance in the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland. (UNI)
Gogoi asks for modalities for Smart City project
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday asked the state’s Urban Development Department to prepare the modalities of ‘Smart City’ as Guwahati has found a place in the list of 100 such cities envisioned by the Centre. A ‘Smart’ city’s urban competitiveness was enhanced by advanced technologies including Information and Communication Technology and other means, sources in the Chief Minister’s office (CMO) said. “Guwahati with its well-established rail and road connectivity has the potential to become a Smart City and what is needed is sustainability,” the sources quoted Gogoi as saying. The chief minister also asked the urban development department to study the features of satellite towns that include mobility and traffic conditions, street-lighting, water supply, sewage networks, security-related aspects, amenities and other physical and social infrastructure. Gogoi asked the department to also prepare similar modalities for Tinsukia, Udalguri, Tangla and Goalpara which also figure in the list, the Office said. (PTI)
Demands for increase in retirement age in Arunachal
Itanagar: The People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) on Saturday urged the state government to increase retirement age of state government employees from 58 years to 60 effective from this financial year. “Majority of the states follow the central government norm of 60 years as the retirement age. The 7th Pay Commission has proposed to increase the retirement age to 62 years. It is unfortunate and surprising that Arunachal Pradesh is still at the stage of discussion on the matter,” PPA General Secretary T Naksang said in a statement here. He said the two years’ increase in retirement age would enable the government to reap the benefits of rich experience as well as the productivity of the employees. The argument that increase in retirement age would lead to cut in employment opportunities and create a burden on state exchequer was also not fully true, Naksang said. Due to increase of retirement age, he said, huge pension money payable to the employees would be saved for two years in a huge benefit to the state exchequer. Moreover, the government also had the option to increase the employable upper age limit from the existing 33 years to 42 years, as prevalent in many states which would enhance job opportunities to the youths, he added. (PTI)