Exploiting the killings to ratchet up the tension in the region and harden negotiating positions with the central government serves nobody, least of all the people of Nagaland. The peace process must not be stalled because of this incident or distracted by calls to repeal the AFSPA, argues Vivek Gumaste.
The intelligence wing will have 650 field and staff agents to gather actionable information.
Right To Information activist and Team Anna member Akhil Gogoi was attacked and critically injured by suspected youth Congress activists in Assam's Nalbari district on Friday.
The officials said the scattered remains of the bus, reduced to blackened bare frames after the blast, does not reflect that an improvised explosive device (IED) was used to target it.
Punjab bowlers produced a disciplined performance with pacer Siddharth Kaul leading the way with a four-wicket haul as they restricted Assam to 233 for eight at stumps on the first day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-finals, in Valsad, on Wednesday.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill would possibly be the first piece of legislation that is perniciously discriminatory on the basis of religion/faith, says Mohammad Sajjad.
'There's also a possibility of the cyclonic system changing its course, thus avoiding a landfall in Odisha'
Polling for three parliamentary seats and 29 assembly constituencies were held on October 30, an exercise being seen as a barometer of the political mood in the country ahead of assembly elections in politically critical Uttar Pradesh as well as other states.
The restoration of the Chilahati-Haldibari railway link and signing of the pacts, providing for cooperation in areas of hydrocarbons, agriculture and textiles among others, came at a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.
This classification of districts is to be followed by states and union terrotories till a week post May 3, when the second phase of lockdown will end, for containment operations.
Hazarika and Deshmukh were given the Bharat Ratna posthumously.
As the industrial era wanes, the network era looms, notes Ajit Balakrishnan.
The seizure of liquor has been a matter of concern for the EC since it apprehends that the liquor might be used to influence the voters.
The BJP chief also sought to know whether the Congress wanted to protect the "illegal Bangldeshis".
Interacting with a group of Assamese students studying in the national capital, ULFA 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa said the existing political setup poses a threat to Assam and its people that led to the formation of the group and its 31 years of insurgency movement.
The Centre's decision to extend the enforcement of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, to 12 districts of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Assam and Nagaland, has sparked sharp reactions.
An alert has been sounded across Assam as cyclone 'Mahasen' is likely to hit the northeastern states on Thursday night, officials have said. All boats and ferry services on Brahmaputra have been closed for the next three days and fishermen have been directed not to venture out to the river.
Let us see the problem for what it actually is: Illegal Immigration plain and simple, confined to the northeast with a definite communal slant that poses a national security risk and one that needs to be dealt with firmly and promptly by stringent identification (and deportation), says Vivek Gumaste.
With the BJP continuing to be the constant combatant, centrifugal pressures will rise. Fractured relations between the Centre and the states as between BJP and non-BJP ruled states is a sizeable risk owing ahead, warns Shekhar Gupta.
The defence minister said "last year in Galwan Valley, our soldiers displayed exemplary courage and valour in line of duty. I salute all brave soldiers who laid down their lives fighting for the nation."
According to officials, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam and Telangana wanted the lockdown to be continued, some of them wanted the powers to decide the zoning of districts -- green, orange and red -- as per the COVID-19 situation.
It is largely due to his vision and efforts that we have almost quadrupled our per capita milk availability in the last 40 years, points out Shailesh Dobhal.
Empowerment of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) with extra territorial jurisdiction and declaration of Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Dawood Ibrahim as terrorists after legislative amendment were counted among its achievements by the MHA, headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
BJP CMs promote a lawless culture, one where groups backed by the State are encouraged to attack fellow citizens, where being trigger-happy is the official police policy, notes Jyoti Punwani.
'The CAA should be kept in abeyance, without making it a prestige issue.'
'Laying down a clear policy on the future of illegal migrants will dispel anxieties and help in implementing the CAA, NPR and also the NCR,' suggests former Union home secretary Dr Madhav Godbole.
Official celebrations in most states were restricted to unfurling of the national flag and chief ministers and governors addressing the people, with fewer guests in attendance.
The Trinamool Congress sought complete withdrawal of the NRC, alleging that Indian citizens have also been left out of the final draft.
Assam police have arrested a local TV channel reporter for allegedly having links with the banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Sangbijit faction) group. Jaikhnong Brahma, a Kokrajhar-based reporter for Guwahati-based satellite TV channel, News Live was arrested on Tuesday evening from his residence.
'The people of India have not only challenged the ruling dispensation with the constitution, they have also opened the eyes of the leadership that sits in the Opposition.'
At least seven insurgents belonging to Naga rebel group, Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang, including one woman cadre, were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces that took place at Pangsha in Tuensang district of Nagaland close to Indo-Myanmar border.
The Padma Vibhushan for this year has been awarded to a total of seven prominent personalities, while 16 have been given the Padma Bhushan, 118 have been given the Padma Shri on the 71st Republic Day this year, they said.
Massive crowds thronged liquor stores, more vehicles plied on roads and cab-hailing platforms resumed services as India entered the third phase of the lockdown on Monday with further easing of curbs except in containment zones in the shadow of the highest rate of recovery yet from coronavirus.
The event brings to fruition the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'mandir' movement that defined its politics for three decades and took it to the heights of power.
A magnificent display of India's cultural diversity through colourful parades across the length and breadth of the country marked the 71st Republic Day celebrations on Sunday which passed off peacefully, barring in Upper Assam, which was rocked by four explosions within a span of 10 minutes.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that the Centre would soon take pragmatic steps to effectively manage the country's borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh to check the movement of militants and arms.
The situation along the Indo-Bangla border in Assam's Cachar district remained tense but under control.
The inter-faith ceremony, where there was a traditional Hindu-style 'hawan' and chants of Sikh 'kirtan', saw participants also reading out the Preamble of the Constitution and taking oath to preserve its "socialist, secular" values.
'After the NRC in Assam, things have changed for Muslims in India.'
Journalists' Forum Assam has appealed to the people of northeast India to defy the militants' diktat and celebrate the forthcoming 63rd Republic Day (of India) in a befitting manner. Reacting to the boycott call by more than ten separatist armed groups, the journalist organisation urged the people to remember the sacrifice of the martyrs of India's Freedom Movement.
The 48-year-old trooper prepares ration packets, using his savings, for the poor in his village.
