NORTH EAST NEWS BULLETIN 

DATE: 02:01:2013 

HEADLINES

•••        With assembly elections in Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland due 

before March, full Election Commission to visit the three states to assess 

poll preparedness.  

•••         Key member of banned Manipuri outfit, Kangleipak Communist 

Party-Military Council (Lamjanba Khuman) arrested in New Delhi.  

•••        Assam government decides to observe 2013 as year of women and 

child protection.  

•••        Arunachal Pradesh Governor J J Singh meets Defence Minister A K 

Antony and Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi to 

discuss security and health issues related to state.  

•••         Aiming to make Agartala an environmentally safe city, Tripura 

government preparing report to make use of solar energy mandatory by 

building owners.  

•••         Road safety week focusing on pitfalls of drunken driving begins 

across country from New Year’s Day. 

NEWS IN ORDER

EC-POLLS 

With assembly elections in Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland due before March, 

the full Election Commission will visit the three states to assess poll preparedness. 

Headed by Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath and Election 

Commissioners H S Brahma and Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi, the Commission will 

review arrangements before announcing the poll dates. The Commission would 

interact with representatives of political parties  and discuss security situation 

with district and state officials. The Commission will first hold consultations with 

Nagaland state government in Dimapur on January 3rd and Tripura 

government officials at Agartala on January 4th and 5th. The Commission will 

also hold consultations with Meghalaya officials in Shillong on January 7

th

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ARRESTS 

A key member of the banned Manipuri outfit, Kangleipak Communist PartyMilitary Council (Lamjanba Khuman), was arrested in New Delhi. 

Khwairakpam Khogendro Singh, who resorted to extortion to generate resources 

for the outfit, was apprehended from near Jawaharlal Nehru University. 

Following this an operation in Manipur led to the arrest of seven others of the 

outfit, including a woman. Singh is allegedly involved in a number of abduction 

and extortion cases in Manipur. Recently, the Manipur-based cadres of the outfit 

allegedly set off a bomb blast at the gate of government hospital at Moirang 

Lamkhai.           

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WOMEN 

In view of rise in crime against women all over the country, the Assam 

government has decided to observe 2013 as the year  of women and child 

protection. Making this announcement on New Year’s Day, chief minister Tarun 

Gogoi said there should be change of attitude and people should be aware of 

growing crime in society.    He condemned recent incidents of crime against 

women both in New Delhi and Assam. The chief minister, however, expressed 

satisfaction that there is a new awakening and people are more conscious.       On the other hand, stating that economy in Assam is oriented to rural areas, he saidthe other hand, stating that economy in Assam is oriented to rural areas, he said 

this year priority would be on village development. Mr Gogoi also said the 

presence of Maoists in the state was a "big problem" and promised measures to 

tackle it. He said the matter had been taken up with the Centre which was 

convinced of the seriousness of the threat. On last year's clash between illegal 

immigrants and Bodos in lower Assam, the chief minister admitted there were 

"certain problems". Those have to be sorted out to maintain peace in the area, 

he said.  

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MEETING:     

Arunachal Pradesh Governor J J Singh met Defence Minister A K Antony in 

New Delhi and held discussion on various issues related to the state. These 

included road communication and early setting up of the National Institute of 

Mountaineering and Allied Sports at Dirang in West  Kameng district. The 

Governor, on an official tour to New Delhi, also called on Union Minister of 

Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad. At the request of the Governor, 

the union minister assured to send teams to check problems like oral cancer, 

diabetes, breast cancer amongst women and other health problems.  

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SOLAR:  

Aiming to make Agartala an environmentally safe city, the Tripura government 

is preparing a report to make use of solar energy mandatory by building owners. 

The present building rules would be changed to make use of solar energy 

compulsory in buildings to reduce dependence on conventional energy. Tripura 

Science, Technology and Environment Minister Joy Gobinda Debroy said the 

rules would be applicable to private, government and commercial buildings. He 

said the Centre has suggested that Northeastern state capitals should be included 

among 60 cities in the country to be turned into solar energy hotspots. The state 

government has started preparing a detailed project report, he said, adding that 

a survey would be undertaken in Agartala soon.  

Meanwhile, the Tripura Natural Gas Company Limited has announced a plan to 

run all vehicles in the city with CNG by 2013. CNG will also be available to those 

now using electricity, petrol and diesel to run machinery in factories.  

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ROAD SAFETY: 

Road safety week focusing on pitfalls of drunken driving began across the 

country yesterday. The theme of campaign is ‘Stay Alive, Don’t Drink and 

Drive’. Road and Highways minister, CP Joshi has appealed to all stakeholders 

to join hands with the government in its efforts to make roads safer. He called 

for development of a sustainable road transport system in the country. The 

objective of the week is to give everyone an opportunity to promote road safety 

in their community, schools, work places and on roads in general.  

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