A Correspondent
Kohima, September 6, 2010: Chief Secretary to the Government of Nagaland, Lalthara, IAS in a Notification informed that the Government of Nagaland has constituted a committee to look into the issues connected with the collection of Naga Commission. The committee consists of Additional Chief Secretary & Commissioner, Nagaland,

A Correspondent

Agartala, July 26 2010: Tripura government, sports council and the state Olympic association have made elaborate arrangements to accord a warm reception to the Queens's Baton for the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 slated to arrive in Agartala on July 30 next. The team carrying the baton would mark their presence in various engagements including visits to an orphanage and a blind school during two day stay in state.  

State's youth and sports affairs minister Tapan Chakraborty has informed that programmes also include a big rally escorted by sportsmen and women of various disciplines and youths attired in traditional fatigues to represent different ethnic groups of the state.  

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar would receive the baton at a function on evening of 31 July and he would also release a cover by the postal department to commemorate travel of the Queen's Baton for the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010, officials said.

The baton would exchange different hands during the journey and big crowds are expected to throng in every occasion. Queen's Baton's team would present memento to the dignitaries of the state.

By Ramandana Roy Acharjee
Agartala, July 15, 2010: 60 projects from the northeast regions have been approved under Export Development Fund for North East Region (EDF-NER) with the total assistance of Rs. 5793.78 lakh out of which Tripura has 7 projects with the total assistance of Rs. 713.19 crore.

A Correspondent
Agartala, July 2, 2010: 13 heavily militants of the outlawed All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) led by self style captain Jagadish Debbarma widely known as Jester Debbarma, a ferocious underground leader, laid down 15 sopishitcated weapons at the Assam Rifles sector headquarters in Agartala Friday.

Jester and his fellow returnee Lemon Debbarma were wanted in connection with serial blasts that rocked Agartala city on evening of 3 November 2008 and figured in charge sheet submitted in the court by Criminal Investigation Department (CID). However Inspector General of Police (Intelligence) Bishnu Debbarma who was present on the occasion said the government would initiate to withdraw the charges against them.

“When the matter (process of surrender of the militants) was brought to our attention by the Assam Rifles we agreed to take out the pending cases against them”, Debbarma told the Hindustan Times. About one hundred people were injured many of them critically in the blasts at five places of the city detonated by using cell phone as timers.

Tripura state Director General of Police K. Salim Ali who was the main guest informed that there has been a policy to withdraw charges against surrendered militants except that concerning crime against women. He said with day's surrender a total 108 militants from the ATTF and the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) joined mainstream of life this year.

Jester who was carrying rupees two lakh reward for information leading to his arrest, and his team deposited a huge cache of weapons including eleven AK-47 rifles, 3 self loading rifles and one 303 rifle, 350 rounds of ammunition, 25 magazines and 24 kg explosives. It was an occasion after many days where all the returnee militants deposited arms which are sophisticated in nature.

The border security force (BSF) facilitated entry of the rebels from their Satchari camp in Bangladesh in compliance with the initiative taken by the Assam Rifles. “We have arranged their arrival Thursday night”, BSF DIG A.K. Garg informed.

A Correspondent
Tura (Meghalaya), June 27, 2010:  In a landmark judgment in defamation case, the court has ordered NGOs in Meghalaya to pay a hefty compensation of 50 lakhs to senior state government official Santosh R Marak, after a sensational three-year legal battle that nearly stirred civil unrest in the Garo Hills.

In a recent judgment the district court of West Garo Hills has asked Garo Students' Union (southern zone), Youth Development Vigilance Committee, Mother Union (Garo Hills), and Southern Youth and Cultural Organisation  to pay a compensation of 50 lakhs as damages to SR Marak.

West Garo Hills additional deputy commissioner and district magistrate, R.S. Sangma, passed the order after its final hearing to the case (DM-S-1/2008) held on June 2 last. The court directive vindicated all corruption charges levelled against Marak and decreed against 10 defendants who were representatives of the NGOs.

“The plaintiff (SR Marak) is entitled to a decree for a sum of Rs. 50,00,000 as prayed for payable jointly and severally by all the 10 defendants (members of NGOs),” reads the order issued by the civil judge Sangma.   

In 2007, the NGOs falsely implicated Marak, who was then posted as former additional deputy commissioner and additional district magistrate at Baghmara, of misappropriating SSA Mid Day Meal Scheme and other development funds of South Garo Hills. In this wake the Garo Hills based organisations went on record alleging the senior official of embezzling public fund and planted series of false and malicious reports in local papers.

Further, the organisations launched a poster campaign purportedly to incite public sentiment in their favour against Marak. They also made demand to the state government to remove him from his post by calling indefinite bandh in South Garo Hills on July 24, 2008.

Marak, after his repeated demand to furnish proof against the charges failed to evoke any response from the NGOs, filed for damages in the civil court at Baghmara in 2008. The case was later trasferred to the district court at Tura.

In the mean time, the NGOs also made many attempts to derail the case by challenging the jurisdiction of the court and filed an appeal to try the suit at Gauhati High Court (Shillong Bench), which dismissed their appeal subsequently.      

Marak, a cadre of Meghalaya Civil Service, is currently posted as civil SDO of Resubalpara, East Garo Hills.