NORTH EAST NEWS BULLETIN
DATE: 05/01/2013
HEADLINES
• North Eastern Council sets April as deadline to have new dedicated
airline operator in Tezpur, Lilabari and Shillong airports.
• Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki announces government’s
visions for 2013 including plans to create women police force.
• Supreme Court is likely to take final decision this week on separate High
Court for Tripura.
• Election Commission reviews poll preparedness in Nagaland.
• National Investigation Agency files chargesheet before special court
against two top leaders of two factions of banned Kangleipak Communist
Party in Manipur.
• Mizoram Excise and Narcotics department officials seize 52 lakh tablets
of pseudo-ephedrine worth 2.63 crore rupees from Rangvamual village
near Aizawl.
• Arunachal Pradesh selected for Krishi Karman Award  for best
performance in increasing of foodgrain production during 2010-11.
NEWS IN ORDER
AIRLINE-NE:
A new airline operator dedicated to the North-East is set to take off by April 1.
North Eastern Council secretary, UK Sangma told reporters in Shillong
yesterday that the bidding process has already begun and the closing date for the
bidding process is January 24. Five private airline operators yesterday turned up
at the pre-bid consultation at the NEC secretariat and they had sought extension
of deadline for the submission of tender by at least three more weeks. The stateowned 'Alliance Air' decided to stop flying in three airports – Shillong, Tezpur
and Lilabari after their contract ended in December 2011. The NEC did not
renew the contract with Alliance Air as the operator used to run flights in an
"inefficient manner" for the past ten years, Sangma said. Alliance Air which had
been flying taking advantage of the subsidised flights since 2003 has received
350 crore rupees as subsidy for operating its flights in the region. But the
services were unsatisfactory, according to NEC members comprising of chief
ministers and governors of NE states, he added.
WOMEN POLICE:
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki yesterday said his government
was planning to create a women police force, modernise the PDS, upgrade
school and college infrastructure and provide one job to each household.
Unveiling the vision of his government for 2013, Tuki said a special women
police force of 200 personnel and an all-women police station in the Capital
Complex region would be opened during the year. The government was also planning to bring a flagship scheme where direct cash benefit would be
provided to pregnant and lactating mothers and also to families having children
less than three years to counter the problem of malnutrition. Under the Chief
Minister Agriculture Mechanisation program, the state government would
provide financial benefit to 1,700 small farmers in the form of subsidies for
power tillers, pump-sets and tractors. Digitisation of ration card database and
records of monthly delivery of PDS items would be launched in eight more
districts.
HIGHCOURT:
Tripura may get a separate High Court in January as the Supreme Court is likely
to take the final decision on the issue this week. Tripura, like most other northeastern states, does not have a separate high court and has a bench under the
Gauhati High Court. The Union Law ministry had earlier asked for the opinion
of the state government on opening the high court with three judges, when Chief
Minister Manik Sarkar, who holds the law portfolio, stated that it should be
opened with at least five judges so that a division bench could not be set up. The
lawyers in Manipur had turned down the Centre's proposal of giving five judges
to open the high court in Imphal and are currently on strike for seven judges.
Population-wise, Tripura is larger than Manipur and about 52,000 cases are
pending in various courts, including 6,000 in the Agartala bench of Gauhati
high court. The figure is on the rise due to shortage of judges, sources said.
POLL-NAGALANDP:
The Election Commission reviewed the poll preparedness in Nagaland where
Assembly election is due in March. The EC team which came on a two-day visit
to Nagaland held discussions with political parties of the state at Chumukedima
police complex near Dimapur. All three members and  other officials of the
Commission, headed by Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath, arrived in
Dimapur to asses the preparations of Assembly election in the state. The EC
team told the political parties that the 2013 Assembly elections for all the three
North Eastern states of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura would be held as
scheduled. As per the schedule, the election in Nagaland should be held within
March and the Commission would announce the date after returning to New
Delhi. The tenure of the present Nagaland Assembly expires on March 18.
NIA:
The National Investigation Agency has filed chargesheet before a special court
against two top leaders and an accomplice of two factions of the banned
Kangleipak Communist Party in Manipur. The three were charged under
various sections of the IPC and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967
and with entering into a criminal conspiracy of waging war against the country
by recruiting cadres and organising training camps. They were charged with
involvement in various terrorist acts such as explosion, extortion, kidnapping, murder and grenade throwing in different parts of Manipur through their
respective organisations.
EXCISE-MIZORAM:
Mizoram Excise and Narcotics Department officials have seized more than 52
lakh tablets of pseudo-ephedrine worth around 2.63  crore rupees from
Rangvamual village near Aizawl. One person from Lalpani village in Assam's
Cachar district was arrested in this connection and booked under relevant
sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. The
drug, legally manufactured in the country, has been smuggled to neighbouring
Myanmar and a large quantity of the drug had been seized in the state during the
past two years. The drug has been used as a precursor to the manufacturing of
speed pills like Amphetamine and Metamphetamine in Myanmar, state Excise
and Narcotics department officials said.
AWARD:
Arunachal Pradesh has been selected for the Krishi Karman Award for its best
performance in the increase in foodgrain production during 2010-11. Union
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar conveyed the information to the state's
Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandary and Dairy Development Minister
Setong Sena. The commendation award would be presented by the President on
January 15 in New Delhi.
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