Suspected militants from anti-talks faction of Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel Garlosa) or Black Widows gunned down four workers of a cement plant owned by Vinay Cement at Umranghsu in North Cachar Hill district of Assam on Tuesday.
Senior journalists and writers have called upon the people of Assam and the North East to defy the diktat of militant outfits and celebrate India's 58th Republic Day. Four militant outfits of North East, including the Liberation Front of Asom, have slapped a ban on Republic Day celebrations and called for a general strike on that day to protest the 'colonial Indian occupation of the region'.
The Assam government has arranged for a free ride in a special train from Guwahati to Chennai and Bengaluru on September 20 to woo those from the state -- who had fled southern states in August after threats of ethnic violence -- to return to their place of work and study.
Assam Director General of Police J N Chaudhury has said that the law and order situation in the riot-hit north-east state was under control and that he expected people residing in relief camps to return to their homes post Eid.
The arrests were made on a tip-off that some anti-social elements used these exchanges to divert calls originating from Dubai, Pakistan, UAE, Bangladesh and several other foreign countries to destinations in rest of the country.
'We cried our hearts out as we saw our huts going underwater. It was hard to believe that I was fast asleep at the same spot just 15-20 minutes ago'
In a world without politics, time zones would change by an hour for a shift of 15 degrees of longitude. But, of course, political considerations apply, explains Devangshu Datta.
'Now Modi ji is saying it is his guarantee that every corrupt person will be made a minister'
Continuing attacks on Hindi-speaking people in Assam, United Liberation Front of Asom and Karbi Longri National Liberation Front militants on Sunday shot dead four persons in Karbi-Anglong district.
According to an official source, suspected Dimasa tribe militants from Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel Garlosa) or Black Widow outfit swooped down on Borchenam basti inhabited by the Zeme Naga tribe and fired indiscriminately before torching the entire village.
The passenger train service through the hill district has already remained suspended since last month following a series attacks on trains by the ultras. The Northeast Frontier Railway now has decided to suspend all goods train services in Lumding-Badarpur route passing through the insurgency ravaged hill district following Friday's attack on a goods train by militants that left 12 persons including security personnel injured.
About the deaths of so many civilians in a goods train mishap, a railway spokesman said that due to poor roads, tribal people of the North Cachar Hill usually jump on to goods trains to reach the south.
The party leadership also thanked the people of Assam and credited the victory there and increased vote share in other states to party workers, state leaders and PM Narendra Modi.
A Central Reserve Police Force personnel was killed and 17 passengers injured, two of them critically, when suspected Black Widow or Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel Garlosa) militants opened fire at a passenger train at North Cachar Hill district of Assam on Friday afternoon.A senior Northeast Frontier Railway official informed that the Badarpur-Lumding Up Barak Valley Passenger was attacked by militants at Wagrendisa, before reaching the Maibong railway station.
Several Assamese-origin students studying in American universities met with Indian embassy officials to deliver a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee on the killing of over 32 Muslims in Assam as a result of election-related violence there. Aziz Haniffa reports
Uneasy calm in Assam's North Cachar hill district was disrupted on Monday when three persons including a policeman were killed and two others injured when suspected Naga rebels ambushed a police vehicle between Purana Leikul and Hindu Impoi, about 15 kilometers away from Mahun under Mahur police station, at about 1.30 pm.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said miscreants, who are spreading rumours that have led to the exodus of people belonging to north-east from Bangalore, Pune and other parts of the country, should be brought to book. Making a statement after Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari suspended Question Hour to take up a discussion on the issue, Dr Singh said communal harmony, unity and integrity of the nation was at stake.
Audi enters North East India, eyes 200 units in first year.
The successive arrests of its two top leaders within a week of each other have served a major blow to the insurgent group Black Widow. The group has been terrorising Assam's North Cachar Hill district. The Police arrested the outfit's No. 2 Joy Kishore Tharasen alias Daku Singh two days ago. The Black Widow's No. 3 leader Action Dimasa, along with seven militants, was arrested earlier this week. A huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered in both cases.
Till Sunday evening, floods in Assam had claimed 29 lives while in Bihar the flood toll stood at 26.
Two CRPF personnel were killed on the spot in the attack, while the SP had a close shave. Four other CRPF men and a commando of Assam Police were also injured in the incident.
Meghna Rai Medhi tells Tista Sengupta/Rediff.com how she battled her way out to protect the age-old tradition of weaving in Assam, and brought a modern twist to their traditional attire.
Rumour-mongering has largely affected the process to calm down the situation and bring peace in troubled Manipur.
The Northeast Frontier Railway has suspended night running of train services in Lumding-Badarpur section in Assam that traverses through the insurgency ravaged North Cachar Hills where Black Widow militants have triggered fresh violence. The attacks have sparked sharp protests from Railway staff and labourers working in Lumding-Badarpur section. The workers have threatened to stop operation of trains unless they are provided adequate security cover by the state government.
Assam has taken up with the Central and Nagaland governments the issue of safety of the people of Assam residing in Nagaland
'I always say you really cannot own a recipe.' 'In India, where, we have been cooking for thousands of years, how can you put a finger and say, 'This is mine'?'
Four officials of an oil exploration company, who were abducted by suspected tribal militants on Thursday afternoon at Langting in North Cachar Hill district of Assam, remain untraced though the police and the army have launched a search operation for them from Friday morning.The police suspect that militants of the Dima Halam Daogah group or the Black Widow might be responsible for the abductions.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-Asom Gana Parishad alliance swept the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) polls on Sunday, bagging 58 out of the total 60 wards, while the main opposition party Congress drew a blank.
A Congress legislator in Assam on Friday filed a police complaint against party MLA Rumi Nath alleging that she along with her second husband had illegally entered his residence and beat up visitors suspecting them to be involved in the attack on the couple last week.
The Journalists Forum Assam on Tuesday appealed to the people of the northeast region to defy the call given by militant outfits prohibiting them from celebrating Independence Day on August 15.
Exporters on Thursday demanded fiscal incentives, tweaking in customs duties on certain products and credit at affordable rates in the forthcoming Budget to boost exports and create jobs. In a pre-budget virtual meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar is affecting exports' competitiveness and the sector requires more support. "Creation of employment is the biggest challenge faced by the country...We would urge the government to provide fiscal support to units which provide additional employment in the export sector," the exporter's body said.
Since Tibet's occupation, China has disrupted the natural flow of rivers by pursuing a series of ill-conceived environmental and developmental policies such as the Great Leap Forward, the South-North Water Diversion Project, etc, the report said, adding that, this has led to a dam-building spree on the Tibetan plateau with disastrous impacts on Asia's major rivers.
Three Northeast Frontier Railway employees were killed when suspected militants belonging to the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel Garlosa) group, also known as the Black Widow, hurled grenades at Harangajao railway station in the North Cachar Hills district of Assam late on Monday night. Senior army officials and police officials rushed to the spot after the strike and a combing operation has been launched in the area.
The Congress, which won assembly elections with a thumping majority to retain power in Assam, would not have even got a simple majority had the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bharatiya Janata Party cobbled up a pre-poll alliance. As per the election statistics, the Congress would have been defeated in at least 20 seats had the AGP and the BJP joined hands in fighting the polls in the north-eastern state.
Suryakumar Yadav and Aditya Tare hit unbeaten half-centuries to put Mumbai in a commanding position against Madhya Pradesh on day three of the Ranji Trophy semi-final in Cuttack, on Monday.
According to two separate notifications, the decisions have been taken after review of the law-and-order situation in both the states.
The Dima Halam Daogah, also known as 'Black Widow', on Monday declared a unilateral ceasefire for a more than a month in Assam's North Cachar Hills and asked the railways to resume its suspended train services and construction work.
Close to 2,000 passengers are stranded at the premises of the airport, the terminal building of which can handle only 750 passengers -- 250 for arrival and 500 for departure -- at a time.
Seven Central Reserve Police Force jawans were killed on Friday in an encounter with suspected tribal militants in the North Cachar Hills district of Assam.
