Land of Jewels (Sana Leibak)

Cabinet Secy to visit state to review security: New Delhi, Apr 22: Lawlessness and tardy development in Manipur will come under the Centre’s scanner when Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar visits the state for a comprehensive review of the troubled state later this week. He will be accompanied by Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and top officials from ministries handling development in the region. Coming close on the heels of a high-level meeting in New Delhi, the visit, slated for April 25, would involve a comprehensive review of the current security and development scenario in the state, official sources said here on Tuesday. As reported by The Indian Express, the Cabinet Secretary held a security review meeting on April 1 where senior state government officials including the chief secretary had briefed him about the situation. Naga and Meitei militant groups have unleashed a reign of terror in the border state, virtually running a parallel government where extortion thrives and k...

Dr Meinya petitions Patil on state affairs: New Delhi, April 22: Member of Parliament from Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency Dr Thokchom Meinya, drew the attention of the Union Home Minister for taking up some specific measures for bringing normalcy in Manipur. Participating at the discussion on the Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Home Affairs for 2008-09 in the Lok Sabha yesterday, Dr Meinya referred to the Status Report on the Internal Security situation in India which pointed out that the main challenges to internal security and law and order situation in the country centred around terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir, North East and Naxal affected areas and communal violence. He observed that while the situation in Jammu and Kashmir continued to show definite improvement, the overall situation in Assam and Manipur in the North Eastern Region remained an area of concern. Even though the counter insurgency operations had been stepped up in the region, killings of civi...

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...