Land of Jewels (Sana Leibak)

PM announces task force for hill states: New Delhi: Endorsing the concern expressed by northeastern chief ministers over lack of development in the region, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has announced setting up of a special task force to study the specific problems of hill states, including those in the North-East. Addressing the Chief Ministers Conference on Internal Security here on Thursday, Dr Singh said development and security were critically interdependent and announced setting up of a task force to study the specific problems of hill states, including those in the North-East. "Hopefully, this will lead to an improvement in economic and security situation in these states," he said. Chief Ministers from the North-East had earlier cited lack of development as the primary reason for internal insecurity in the region and demanded massive funds from the Centre to overcome the problem. The problems of northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir are unique as these states su...

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...