Unidentified militants shot dead a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Assam and a dealer of LP Gas, Munindra Singh Lahkar (62) at his residence at Rangiya on Thursday night.
As the state Wildlife and Forest Department's all 'efforts to gear up vigil in the habitats of endangered one-horned Asiatic rhinoceros' has come to a naught, the All Assam Students Union alleging nexus between rhino poachers and a section of people in power in the state has demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into incidents of rhino poaching in the state.
Central will face West Zone in the semi-final at the Alur grounds from July 5. In the second semifinal, North Zone will take on South Zone at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
'The Assam Rifles are supporting the Kuki-narco terrorists.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said efforts are on to remove AFSPA completely from the northeast region.
The AFSPA, often criticised as a draconian law, gives armed forces operating in disturbed areas sweeping powers to search, arrest and open fire if they deem it necessary.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
Two suspected United Liberation Front of Asom militants were killed in an encounter with the army in north Assam's Lakhimpur district while two other persons were injured in a blast that rocked a small western Assam town in two separate incidents violence in the state on Saturday. Security sources informed that two suspected ULFA militants were killed following a gunbattle with a team of personnel from the 2nd Bihar Regiment.
"Based on this consensus, the process of disengagement is almost complete. Our efforts will be to take the matter beyond disengagement; but for that, we will have to wait a little longer," he added.
Eight suspected members of terrorist outfit Ansar-al-Islam Bangladesh, who were recently arrested, had been planning to target the 'Chicken's Neck' connecting West Bengal's Siliguri with the northeastern states, a top police officer said. They wanted to create large-scale instability in the corridor by carrying out synchronised attacks and fomenting instability, he said.
Bodos, the largest tribe ethnic to Assam, on Saturday hold a massive rally at North Assam tea town Dekiajuli reviving their long-standing demand for a separate Bodoland state and warned that in case the United Progressive Alliance government gave consent to Telangana statehood, Bodoland must also be created.
A militant of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom was killed in an encounter with police under Dhekiajuli police station area in north Assam's Sonitpur district at around 8 pm on Friday night.
The militant group has a strong bastion in the forest areas along the border areas of Golaghat and Karbi Anglong district of Assam. It has recently spread its tentacles to the tea belt area of the Udalguri district of North Assam.
An Additional Superintendent of Police was killed and five other policemen were injured, three of them seriously, in an ambush by militants belonging to National Democratic Front of Bodoland-Sangbijit at Batachipur near Dhekiajuli town in Sonitpur district of north Assam at around 8.00 am on Tuesday morning.
India's long-distance swimmers Elvis Ali Hazarika of Assam and West Bengal's Rimo Saha created history by becoming the first relay team from the country as well as Asia to cross the North Channel in Europe.
The Assam government will file a criminal case over the shocking incident of several patients getting infected with the AIDS virus after receiving blood from the blood bank in a government civil hospital at Mangaldoi in North Assam.
The incident comes days after the two states signed an agreement to resolve the longstanding border disputes between them.
Known as 'Sentinels of the North East' and 'Friends of the Hill People', the officers, drawn from the Army, and jawans have been fighting a war of nerves since the ethnic clashes between majority Meitei and hill tribe Kukis erupted on May 3.
The Assam government released full-page advertisements in newspapers claiming Bhimashankar as one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in the state, Mahesh Pathak, president of All India Tirth Purohit Mahasabha, told reporters in Mathura.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
The BJP's victory in the Delhi Assembly elections has sparked speculation over who will lead the next government. Several prominent leaders, including Pravesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Pawan Sharma, Vijender Gupta, and Satish Upadhyay, are in the running for the chief minister's post. The party's national leadership is expected to make the final decision, leaving the contenders in a state of anticipation.
The strategically located Tezpur Air Force Station in North Assam is all set to host the Sukhoi-30 aircraft which will arrive in the second week of June. This will make Tezpur the third air force base to host Sukhoi-30 combat aircrafts in the country and the first one in the North East India.
Flood-ravaged Dhemaji district where surface communication is in shambles, is infested with ULFA militants taking advantage of interior locations.
'If the Citizenship Bill passes, then the very principle of Indian citizenship, which is called jus soli (right of birthplace) will convert to principle of jus sanguinis (right of blood) on the basis of religion.' 'Citizenship is being given on the basis of religion and it is against the Constitution.'
Retired army personnel will be appointed as additional superintendents of police to impart training to the police force in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in Dergaon on Monday.
Police informed that the grenade went off amid a 500-strong crowd that was celebrating the spring festival of the Mising tribe inside the premises of a local cultural centre. In a statement issued on Sunday, ULFA denied its hands behind the blast and stated that it was the handiwork of 'forces' that were out to defame the image of the ULFA and trigger conflicts between different groups of people in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday stated that the situation in riot-affected districts of Darrang and Udalguri in north Assam was still tense and warranted imposition of President's Rule in view of the 'failure' of the state government to tackle the station in the right way to instill confidence among the affected populace.
The Assam government has submitted written requests to the prime minister and the Union home minister for setting up of a hub of National Security Guard in Guwahati dedicated to the entire north eastern region affected by insurgency. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has submitted separate requests to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram in view of the state's and the region's vulnerability against terror, an official source said.
The Bodoland Territorial Region in Assam is slowly picking up the pieces and finally finding peace after being subjected to decades of insurgencies and violence.
The 57-year-old has become the centre of attraction in Maha Kumbh Mela due to his height, which is a little more than three feet.
'I will never ever forget Paatal Lok 2 because I left for the shoot the night I got married!'
'When I am working on a series, be it Paatal Lok on Amazon Prime or Kohrra on Netflix, I never take it for granted that we will be back with another season.' 'It's only at the end of the season that I ask myself if I still have it in me to take the story further and if I would like to meet the characters again.' 'If the answer is yes, then I find ways to make the journey exciting for myself, like taking Inspector Haathiram Chaudhary to Nagaland.'
Holi was celebrated with pomp and splendor across India on Friday, with people soaking in the festivities by smearing 'gulaal' on each other and exchanging greetings and sweets. Homes and streets wore a colourful look as the revellers splashed colours and feasted on traditional delicacies. Public transport did not ply in the morning in most major cities while metro services started functioning from noon. As Holi coincided with the second Friday prayers during the holy Islamic month of Ramzan, security -- including increased patrolling and picketing -- was beefed up in several states. In Delhi, more than 25,000 security personnel were deployed. Police closely monitored about 300 sensitive areas with CCTV cameras and drones.
Among the fatalities recorded on Friday, the maximum 17 were from Uttar Pradesh, 14 from Bihar, five from Odisha and four from Jharkhand, where officials said more than 1,300 people are hospitalised with heatstroke conditions.
Sarma, 53, has been enjoying a Z category cover provided by the Central Reserve Police Force VIP security unit for his travel in the north eastern states till now.
It will be interesting to see what shifts have been recorded in the last decade-and-a-half -- from the effects of demonetisation and Covid's second wave to the drop in fertility and increase in farm workers -- but we will only know this if and when the Census is conducted, points out Aakar Patel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually laid the foundation stone for a Rs 27,000-crore semiconductor assembly and test facility in Assam's Morigaon district on Wednesday. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was present at the event organised at the site of the facility in Jagiroad, said today is a landmark day for Assam and the North East. "Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji is laying the foundation stone for the Rs 27,000 crore Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test facility at Jagiroad," the chief minister posted on 'X'.
A group of armed militants from the proscribed National Democratic Front of Bodoland went on a rampage at Bhimajuli in Sonitopur district of North Assam kiling at least six persons and injuring many others on Sunday evening, initial reports said.
Each of Assam's border disputes has its own legacy of claims and counter-claims:
The Indian Army on Monday staged a flag march at violence-affected Bishwanath Chariali area in north Assam, where the death toll after the Sunday night's attack on villagers at Bhimajuli by the banned tribal militants of National Democratic Front Bodoland went up to 12.