Land of Jewels (Sana Leibak)

Peace prayers, festivity mark celebrations: Guwahati, Dec 25: Thousands of Christians in India's northeast joined a midnight mass in churches across the region to pray for peace and well being of the human race. With church bells echoing across the hills and dales of the region, and throngs of people packing churches to join in festive prayer and song in celebration of Jesus' birth, the northeast was drowned in yuletide passion. "Christmas is the day when people tend to forgive and forget everything and simply rejoice. This is also the day when people pray for peace and prosperity of the state, the nation, and for the entire human race at large," Thomas Menamparampil, Archbishop of Guwahati said. Worshippers across the region lit candles, sang carols and organized festive feasts to celebrate Christmas. "We organised a small Christmas breakfast for the less fortunate, the homeless, distressed and lonely, for whom the festive season would otherwise be miserable,...

APCC president dies of illness: Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Omem Moyong Deori died of sudden illness at a hospital in New Delhi on Wednesday (December 19) . A Padmashree awardee, Deori, was undergoing treatment at a hospital for the last two weeks. She was 75 and is survived by two daughters and a son. The veteran leader was appointed as the APCC president on August 17 last year and was one of the few women leaders from Northeast, who made her way into the national politics. The APCC president was associated with the Congress since 1973 and was a party working committee member for more than 12 years during her illustrious political career. The mortal remains of Deori would be brought here tomorrow before being taken to her native place Mahadevpur in Lohit district for the last rites. Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and Home Minister Jarbom Gamlin have expressed deep sorrow over the sudden and untimely demise of the veteran leader. Describing her death a...

Crime against fairer sex on rise: Guwahati: The country's Northeast region, considered the safest for women, is fast losing its reputation with rising incidence of crime against women. A study by the Rashtriya Gramin Vikash Nidhi, a centrally backed development support organisation, shows that crime against women in the region on the rise. Insurgency in the region has only aggravated the situation with women bearing the brunt. While in the year 2001, the cases of rape, kidnap and sexual harassment were 758, 1070 and 850 respectively, the number of rape cases has gone up to 1000 in 2006. The cases of torture by husbands that stood at 1248 in 2001 too have gone up to 1944 last year. In 2002 the number of rape cases was 903, 2003 the figure is 1049 while the record number was in 2005 when the number rose to 1217, the study shows. Similarly cases of sexual harassment has gone up from 850 to nearly 900 in 2005 while there were as many as 99 dowry deaths in 2005 and 67 last year. The fi...

5.0 quake rocks NE: Guwahati, Dec 7: An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale shook India's northeast and parts of Myanmar Friday, triggering panic among residents here, officials said. A scientist at the Regional Seismological Centre in Shillong, capital of of Meghalaya, said the tremor took place at 12.36 p.m. and had its epicentre along Manipur's border with Myanmar. Full Story :