Nagaland Hornbill Festival venue to be banned for visitors
Kohima:The landowners of the Naga Heritage Village at Kisama, the venue of the annual Hornbill Festival, will be banned to visitors from Thursday following differences with the Tourism Department. According to a release issued by the Landowner Union Naga Heritage Village (LONHV) chairman Neikehetuo Sahu and secretary Seyievilhou Yokha the Kisama Heritage Village Land Owners from Kigwema and Phesama villages, they have some differences on the agreement on Kisama Heritage Village with the Tourism Department, which is preparing the venue for the week-long festival. The festival begins on December 1, coinciding with the Nagaland Statehood Day. The release said owing to ‘certain controversies’ between the Department of Tourism and the land owners of Kigwema and Phesama villages, the LONHV has ‘complete ban’ on entry to Naga Heritage village. The ban would be effective from October 16 and remain in force till the matter was resolved amicably between the two parties. (UNI)
Zoramthanga said ready to broker peace if any group wants to
Aizawl:Former Mizoram chief minister and opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) chief Zoramthanga on Wednesday said that he was ready to broker peace with any government and insurgent group, if they wanted so. Addressing a press conference here, former underground leader Zoramthanga said that he had recently held discussion in Delhi with former UK Premier Tony Blair’s ‘Intermediate group’ engaged in brokering peace deals across the globe. He said that members of the Intermediate group, headed by Blair’s right-hand man Jonathan Powell was interested in the time-tested and most successful historic Mizo Peace Accord signed between the Indian government and the erstwhile underground MNF on June 30, 1986. Zoramthanga had been involved in the Naga peace talks and also in the peace deal with the Garo insurgent group ANVC which recently signed an accord with the Centre in Delhi. Muivah and also ANVC top leaders including Washington. He alleged that the Thanhawla administration has miserably failed in financial management resulting in severe financial problems.(PTI)
NF Railway to eliminate all unmanned crossings by 2016-17
Guwahati:The North East Frontier Railway has planned to eliminate all Unmanned Level Crossings by 2016 -17 by either manning these or by construction of low height Sub-ways or Road Under Bridges. At the same time, action was also being taken for preventing/closing un-authorized track crossings, NF Railway Chief Safety Officer Ravinder Gupta said at a meeting on Safety of Train Operations held here on Wednesday. The NF Railway has also introduced site mock drills for assessing the development of Accident Relief Train Personnel and Equipment as this is critical for ensuring speedy rescue and restoration work at the accident site. High Capacity Fire Extinguishers and trolley were being provided at selected stations, he said. The meeting was attended by Commissioner of Railway Safety (SouthEastern and NF Circles) S Nayak and NF Railway General Manager R S Virdi along with other senior officials. (PTI)
Three arrested for beating up northeast students
Bangalore:Three students from the northeast region were allegedly beaten up by locals for not speaking in Kannada at a locality here, a top police official on Wednesday said. The incident took place last night when the students from Manipur had been to a restaurant and were having their food, DCP (North-East) Vikas Kumar, told PTI, adding, as they were talking a bit loudly at the dinner table, the locals asked them to tone down their voice. “As the northeast students replied to them in English, the locals who did not understand the language asked them to talk in Kannada,” Kumar said. Michael, one of the victims who received injuries on his forehead and hands, said he and the other two were discussing about an event they were planning to hold, when three locals came up to them. “They said you are eating Karnataka food. You are living in Karnataka. You have to speak in Kannada. Why don’t you speak in Kannada. Or else, get lost from this state. They later attacked and I had to defend and thus I received injuries,” Michael said. All the three culprits were arrested last night itself and a case has been filed against them for assault, Kumar said. Bangalore is home to a large number of people from the northeast. (PTI)
Mizoram NSS observes Global Hand Washing Day
Aizawl:Mizoram NSS on Wednesday observed Global Hand Washing Day under Swachha Bharat Sapta in Aizawl when more than a thousand NSS volunteers and 85 programme officers from 30 educational institutions participated. The NSS volunteers, after reciting pledges for a clean India in general and their respective areas in particular, and divided into two groups swept Aizawl streets from the north and south. Garbage collected were loaded in two trucks and dumped in the dumping ground near the city An official statement said that as the Clean India Campaign is a national programme, the state NSS volunteers would continue the cleanliness programme at the institutional level at different orphanages, institutional campuses and their respective adopted villages. (PTI)
Fast track court for doctor’s murder case
Guwahati:A fast-track court will take up the murder case of Dr Sarita Tasniwal, who was found dead in the doctor’s cabin of ICU in Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh in May.An official source said here that the government is also going to set up a fast track court for bringing the case to its logical conclusion.Further, Commissioner & Secretary, Political, Prateek Hajela will conduct an inquiry into the alleged lapses in investigating and filing of the charge-sheet in the murder case.Dr Tasniwal was murdered while she was sleeping at the rest room adjacent to the ICU of the hospital on May 9.A colleague-doctor and a ward boy were arrested in the case. But the victim’s family later alleged slow progress in police investigation, prompting the government’s latest directives. (UNI)