Tripura146;s killing fields

Killings in Jammu and Kashmir may be grabbing front-page headlines but Tripura is not far behind in this bloody game. Chief minister Manik S...

Killings in Jammu and Kashmir may be grabbing front-page headlines but Tripura is not far behind in this bloody game. Chief minister Manik Sarkar, whose Left Front retained power in the April assembly elections, told the state assembly last week that 1150 people were killed by tribal militant groups in the state in the past five years. And unlike Jammu and Kashmir, these 1150 included 140 people who died in captivity.

Giving a break-up of the killings, Sarkar said while the Biswamohan faction of the National Liberation Front for Tripura was responsible for killing 700 people, the Nayanbashi faction accounted for 125, the All Tripura Tribal Force 500 and the NCT 80.

From hydel to heritage

THE state government has earmarked Rs 2.18 crore for the revival of the Sonapani mini hydro-electric power station in Meghalaya. Sonapani was the first hydel power station in the country set up over a hundred years ago. Meghalaya chief minister D D Lapang says his government also wants to preserve this hydel plant as a heritage site.

Topping the blacklist

VOLUNTARY services are yet to pick up in the northeast but it has the highest number of blacklisted NGOs.

Reports quoting the Union Home Ministry said about 824 NGOs in the region, except Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, have been blacklisted for suspected links with underground groups. Meghalaya tops the list with 323 followed by Manipur at 197. Assam comes third at 151.

Biography boom

TWO chief ministers of this region had their biographies released last week. One is a biography on Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling while the other is on former Mizoram chief minister Lalthanhawla.

While the first book is a tribute to Chamling the other deals with Lalthanhawla8217;s alleged corruption cases. It is appropriately called Mizoram eiruk thubuai lian ber or Mizoram8217;s biggest corruption case.

More space in textbooks

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THE All India Federation of University Teachers last week reminded deputy prime minister L K Advani of his announcement in 1998 that textbooks in the country should have lessons about various aspects of the northeast. The Federation8217;s national executive which met here last week said the northeast was greatly neglected in school and college syllabi in the country, adding that this indirectly helped create.