Land of Jewels (Sana Leibak)

Imphal auto drivers protest against militants demands: Imphal, Apr 25: Joining the anti-militant chorus in Manipur, auto rickshaw drivers protested against underground groups for extortion demands. The All Manipur Auto Rickshaw Owners and Drivers Association staged a sit-in protest in Imphal demanding a free atmosphere and an assurance of security from the government. Carrying placards with slogans "Do not harass us before the repayment of loans to the banks", "Do not harass the daily bread earners", " Are you a revolutionary or mafia", hundreds of auto owners and drivers were participated in the protest. "Various underground groups demand money from us when we don't even earn much. We would like to plead them to look at us differently and not demand extortions from us," said K. Biteshwor Sharma, General Secretary, Manipur Auto Rickshaws Owners and Drivers Association. Most of the auto owners and drivers are educated who took to the profess...

PM pulls up NE leadership: New Delhi, Dec 20: Raising an alarm over unabated extortions in the North-East, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh exhorted the region’s political leadership to buck up and curb militancy to ensure that the people feel safe. In his hard-hitting speech on militancy in the North-East, Dr Singh minced no words when he said, “We need much better leadership at all levels so that militancy is curbed and people feel secure.” “Extortion seems to be a frequent occurrence (in North-East). We need to put an end to this. We need to enforce the rule of law and create a respect for the state apparatus. National considerations and requirements should take overriding priority,” the Prime Minister said, addressing a meeting of the Chief Ministers on Internal Security, convened by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The meeting attended by Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, top officials of the Ministry, intelligence agencies among others was held under unprecedented tight security a...