Land of Jewels (Sana Leibak)

NEC mulls on development projects: Imphal: Manipur government representatives who attended the 56th North Eastern Council meeting which concluded on Tuesday at Agartala drew the attention of the council and the Central government to the need for looking into the Look East Policy of the country. They urged all concerned to give a major thrust to the development of the Imphal airport, National Highways-39, 53, 150, Trans Asian Highway, border trading point at Moreh and Jiribam to Tupul railway line, an official source said. In the meeting, Manipur urged for upgradation of the Imphal airport into an international airport with cold storage facilities stating that the airport would soon have night landing facilities. They also urged for improvement of the three national highways which run across the state into four-lane roads for easy flow of heavy vehicular traffic. The state highways and border roads also need to be strengthened and improved to meet trade and commercial requirements, they...

Team leaves for Myanmar: Imphal, Apr 24: A delegation consisting of officials of the Manipur government, Mizoram government, scholars and functionaries of the NIPCO will leave Imphal tomorrow for Myanmar for a series of discussions on the future prospects of India`s "Look East Policy" and its 1400 km tans Asian highway. President of NIPCO, Y Nabachandra said the delegation to Myanmar aims at explore the future impact of the trans Asian highway on the people of the state as well as in other parts of Asia where the highway is to pass through. It is a must for the people living in South East Asia to discuss and know the future impact on the living conditions of the people by the coming up of the highway which is to reach upto Thailand border, he said. The programme was sponsored by the department of commerce and industries, Manipur. Professors from Munipur University, traders, senior citizens, entrepreneurs, functionaries of NIPCO and well known scholars in different trades alo...

Marriage bill sent to House Committee for scrutiny: The Manipur Compulsory Registration of Marriages Bill, 2008, has been referred to a select committee of the state Legislative Assembly for further examination after a threadbare discussion in the House on Tuesday. The Bill was moved for consideration and passage in the House on Tuesday afternoon by social welfare minister N Loken Singh The minister, in his address highlighted the main objectives of the Bill, stating that enacting of this act would prevent child marriage and ensure adherence to a minimum age of marriage, prevent marriages without consent of both parties, relieve many of the difficulties faced by women left after marriage by their husbands, and give widows the right to inherit the properties of her husband and also check illegal practice of polygamy. Opposition leader Radhabinod Koijam and senior opposition member O Joy noted that the there were no penal provision in the Bill, and the whole structure of the Bill appears...

NESO submits memo to PM: Shillong: The North East Students’ Organization (NESO) has submitted its eight-point charter of demands to the Centre seeking its intervention for the welfare of the people of the north-eastern States in Shillong on Thursday. NESO information and publicity secretary and Khasi Students’ Union President Samuel Jyrwa submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh through Meghalaya Governor Dr SS Sidhu demanding steps to develop education in the region. Urging the Centre of assessing the state of education in the region, the NESO has impressed upon setting up of a Special Education Commission to look into the areas pertaining to civil service courses and human resource development. The memo also highlights the serious demographic change attributed to influx of illegal migrants from neighbouring countries which they fear would lead to militancy and fundamentalist activity in the region. In this context, they have pointed out that the Supreme Court verdic...

New Delhi, Dec 19: States of the North-east on Wednesday urged the central government to allocate sufficient funds for infrastructure development in the region. Addressing the National Development Council (NDC) meeting here, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said new thrust should be given to promote border trade with South East Asian countries for sustained economic development of the North-eastern region. “A new thrust needs to be given to the promotion of border trade under the Look East Policy,” he said. Rio said opening up of trade with South East Asian countries would not only boost the economy, but also remove the sense of isolation among the people. He said an expressway should be built along the strategic Indo-Myanmar border which will open up the area for trade and economic activities. "The Highway will not only open up the area for trade and economic development, but will also serve as the highway for patrolling the international border, and for checking of illegal tr...

Look East Policy has not befitted NE: Aiyar New Delhi, Dec 18: Unhappy with the Government's 'Look East' policy, Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Mani Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday said the region has virtually received no dividend from the initiative. "The North-East has received virtually no benefit from the 'Look East' policy so we requested the Ministry of External Affairs to convene a meeting of the eight chief ministers of the region's states," he said on the conclusion of the two-day 55th North East Regional Council meeting here. Six out of the eight chief ministers of the north-eastern states turned up in the meeting and a decision was taken that there has to be a full North-East component in the Look East policy. "We hope this will mean meaningful involvement of the north eastern states in the 'Look East' policy," he added. He also urged the Central Government for merger of two different funds allocated to ...