Miss Fresh Face of North East contest a major draw for youth

Guwahati, Sep.18 (ANI): With the growing number of fashion conscious youngsters present in the northeast region of the country, the fashion and beauty industry is gaining popularity here.

This was recently noticed when Miss Fresh Face of North East 2009 contest was held in Guwahati and it received an enthusiastic response from people of the region.

Dabur Gulabari organized the Miss Fresh Face of North East 2009 for which a model hunt was conducted across colleges and institutes in the region to discover fresh new faces from the northeast.

The organisers of the contest received an overwhelming response with over 700 entries of which 150 girls were short-listed for the auditions.

After extensive screening and audition, 18 participants were selected for the Grand Finale.

It was a unique way of spreading awareness among the beauty conscious women of the North East and provides them a platform to enter the world of mainstream modelling.

“Northeast is full of talent. We don’t get into big celebrities. We take fresh faces from the common public and make them a celebrity. We want to associate with fresh talents and bring them to the national platform so that they can grow,” said Dyas Anand, the organizer.

“It is gradually increasing and I believe that it will go on increasing and the reputation will also keep on going up as good upcoming models are also there. I feel it is very good,” said Bidisha Baruah, the winner.

Bidisha Baruah, a resident of Guwahati, was awarded one-year modelling contract with Dabur Gulabari and a cash prize of rupees 50,000.

The first and second runner-up, Wanda Mary of Shillong and Nabanita Sarma of Guwahati also received cash prize of rupees 30,000 and rupees 20,000 respectively. By Peter Alex Todd (ANI)

Biggest earthquake in nine years hit Northeast

New Delhi, Sep 4 (ANI): A moderate earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter Scale, the biggest in nine years, shook the North-East early on Friday, officials at the Central Seismological Observatory said.

The quake took place at 1:21 a.m. local time and was centered 96 km east-southeast of Imphal, the capital of Manipur.

There were no reports of damage or causalities. This is the fourth time earthquakes hit the northeast region of India within a month’s time.

People ran out of their houses as the quake rocked buildings and houses triggering panic. There was, however, no damage to property, police said.

Te quake lasted for around 20 seconds; its after-shocks were felt for over two minutes.

Two moderate intensity quakes, one measuring 5.6 on the Richter Scale and another measuring 4.9 had shook the region on 12th August and 19th August. Another measuring 5.3 was recorded on 31st August. (ANI)

‘Americans can’t understand Cheryl Cole’s Geordian accent’

London, July 10 (ANI): Cheryl Cole’s alleged plans to appear on US version of talent show X-Factor may suffer a setback due to her thick Geordian accent which Americans seem to fail to understand.

TV mogul Simon Cowell is reportedly keen on the singer to front the show but American TV bosses are worried about her strong accent.

In fact, NBC executives flew to Manchester to watch the Newcastle-born in action at the live auditions.

They were reportedly satisfied with everything except the harder edges of her North East tones.

“They were bowled over by Cheryl and thought she was sassy, smart, charismatic and beautiful. There was just one small problem – they couldn’t make head nor tail of her Geordie accent,” The Mirror quoted a source as saying.

The source said: “She was at her best at the weekend – witty, empathetic and really encouraging to some of the acts.

“But while her accent isn’t that thick, the Americans really seemed to struggle with it.”

There is also news that the Girls Aloud singer might take elocution lessons to solve the problem.

The source added: “Simon jokingly offered to pay for elocution lessons for her but, seriously, that may be the route she has to take if she is really considering breaking into television over there.”

TV chiefs have also taken copies of last year’s show back to America to test if audiences in US understand Cheryl talk. (ANI)

Scottish man sets new world by running 259 ft with body set on fire

London, July 06 (ANI): A Scottish man slammed the previous world record of running 227ft with body set on fire by sprinting 259 ft.

Keith Malcolm, from Aberdeen, succeeded in his second attempt to break the record after he fell 40ft short of the record in his previous attempt in May.

The amateur stuntman, who now lives in Widley near Portsmouth, Hants, wore eight layers of protective clothing, including four layers of fireproof undergarments, a Formula One fireproof jacket and three overalls to avoid any harm.
He protected his head with three fire hoods and a helmet apart from coating himself in special protective “stunt gel” to save himself from flames that approximately reached 1000 degree Celsius.

“It was absolutely awesome. I managed it in 17 seconds and was running flat-out. I really did not want to hang around,” the Telegraph quoted Malcolm as saying.

“There wasn’t much left of the jacket at the end. To be honest, the heat I felt was what you would expect if you were wearing all those clothes and a helmet in hot weather and trying to run.

However, team of experts from Hampshire Fire and Rescue were at hand in case any accident had occurred.

The new world record was set at the Alton and North East Hampshire Agricultural Show, which aimed at raising money for Cancer Research. (ANI)

Railways plan outlay to be Rs.40745 crore

New Delhi, July 3 (ANI): Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has proposed an outlay of Rs.40,745 crore for 2009-2010, which is 2840 crore more than the allocation proposed in the interim budget.

“Rs. 15, 675 crore will be deployed through internal resources and Rs.9, 170 crore from market borrowings. The Ministry will also go for issue of tax free bonds for resource generation,” she said.

She proposed increase in the allocation for new lines from Rs.1100 crore in the interim budget to Rs.2921 crore.

“Similarly, provision for gauge conversion has been increased by 24 per cent over the interim budget by allocating Rs. 1750 crore,” she added.

The Minister also said passenger amenities will now have Rs. 1102 crore while the allocation in the interim budget was only Rs.502 cr. Thus, 119 per cent more money will be spent on passenger amenities.

Declaring staff welfare as a priority area, she proposed 49 per cent increase for the construction of staff quarters by allocating Rs. 335 crore and 79 per cent increase for staff amenities by allocating Rs.424 crore.

The Minister further said, “Additional funds to the tune of Rs.1949 crore have been sought from the Ministry of Finance for eleven railway projects spread over in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East.” (ANI)

Gangtok to have 3 G services

Gangtok, June 23 (ANI): Union Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology, Sachin Pilot has said that the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is to launch 3 G services in Gangtok by August 15.

Announcing the extension of 3 G services to other three districts within 100 days, the Minister said, BSNL would increase its broadband strength to 30 GB PPS to improve services in Sikkim. All the 26 blocks in the State would be covered by broadband services within 100 days.

After a review meeting with BSNL, Postal Department and State I and T in Gangtok, he said, traffic congestion in mobile services in twenty one sectors of the State would be removed by August 15 this year through improved quality of service by BSNL.

Underlying the importance of Sikkim, Pilot said that special measures have been taken to improve the quality of services in North East through communication and information technology, with specific emphasis on Sikkim.

“It is a difficult terrain and the ministry would support the efforts to improve information and technology in Sikkim, as it would increase opportunities for the talented youth,” he added. (ANI)

Political parties bank on Bollywood star ‘power’

Mumbai, Apr 29 (ANI): A host of Bollywood celebrities have hit the hot and sultry campaign trail to support political candidates in Mumbai.

Bollywood actress Mahima Chaudhary was a crowd puller at a road show for ationalist Congress Party (NCP) nominee Sanjay Patil in Mumbai’s North-East constituency.
“All my wishes for Sanjay Patil. I think he is young, energetic and has a family history of serving people. All the people around seem to love him,” said Chaudhary.

Chaudhary had been campaigning for a various political parties in the past few weeks in different parts of the country as well.

The state’s ruling NCP headed by Sharad Pawar has also roped in Govinda, another popular star, to garner support for its candidate Vasant Davkhare in Thane constituency on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Govinda said that he would campaign for his friends whenever they needed him.

“During a tough phase in my life, Vasant Davkhare stood beside me as a friend. I respect him and his family a lot. I had been to Pune to give support. I am here as well and will be in all the places hopefully,” said Govinda.

Earlier, actor-turned-politician Sanjay Dutt , who is now a top functionary of the Samajwadi Party, and senior leader Amar Singh campaigned for Ramchandra R. Patil in Bhiwandi constituency near Mumbai. (ANI)

Average Brit would see only 2pct of country

p
London, Apr 27 (ANI): When it comes to travelling their own country, an average Brit would see just 28 of the UK’s towns and cities in their lifetime-which equates to only 2 percent of the country, revealed a survey./pp
However, the survey for carmakers Vauxhall found that the figure differed according to where people were questioned./pp
Cambridge residents were the most adventurous travellers, visiting 40 other cities./pp
On the other hand, people in Birmingham visited the least number of other cities-23./pp
In fact, the survey also suggested there could be more than a million so-called One Town Wonders – adults who have never left their hometown or city, even for a holiday.esides, the survey indicated that one in five people living in Edinburgh had never visited the city’s famous castle./pp
Over a third of North East residents were revealed to have never seen the Angel of the North./pp
According to the survey, only one in five Londoners said they had found more culture and history travelling around the UK than abroad./pp
The research was part of a campaign by Vauxhall to encourage Britons to visit more areas of their country./pp
Britain is a fantastic country steeped in history, culture and weird and wonderful things waiting to be discovered, Sky News quoted Simon Ewart of Vauxhall as saying. (ANI)/p

Mild earthquake hits parts of North-East

Guwahati, Apr 26 (ANI): An earthquake measuring four on the Richter scale shook Guwahati, Shillong and other parts of North Eastern India on Sunday morning.

There were no reports of any loss to life and property.

According to the Meteorological department, the quake was felt in several parts of the region at 7: 59 a.m. and the epicentre of the quake was located near Kamurp of Assam at 26.4 North latitude and 91.7 East longitude. (ANI)

PM refutes Lalu’s charge on Babri mosque demolition

Guwahati, Apr 19 (PTI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today refuted RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s charge that Congress was also to be blamed for the demolition of the Babri mosque, saying the party’s only fault was to believe the assurance given by then UP chief minister Kalyan Singh to the Supreme Court on protecting the structure. “Kalyan Singh (then UP Chief Minister) gave a solemn assurance to the Supreme Court (about protecting the mosque).

The Congress party certainly can be blamed because it believed that (Kalyan) Singh will honour his assurance given to the Supreme Court. But he did not honour it.

“That’s the only fault of the Congress in the demolition of the Babri mosque,” Singh told reporters here. Replying to questions, Singh maintained that communalism is a “great danger” to the unity of the country and the Congress party had espoused secular values.

On the issues of naxalism and terrorism, Singh said both constitute a “great threat” to the unity and integrity of India. The Prime Minister also vowed to make “more determined efforts” to contain these problems in future.

Singh expressed confidence that the Congress and its allies will be able to form “a credible government” at the Centre after the polls. Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, stressed on the “need to renew efforts to control insurgency” in North East and Assam in particular.

PTI.

Nominations close in Mumbai, Thane for the last phase

Mumbai, April 9 (IANS) Nominations for the last 10 of Maharashtra’s 48 Lok Sabha constituencies – six in Mumbai and four in neighbouring Thane that go to the polls April 30 in the third phase of elections – ended here Thursday.

Top political heavyweights who have filed nominations in the past few days include Ram Naik, Gurudas Kamat, Abu Asim Azmi and young leaders like Milind Deora, Sanjay Nirupam and Priya Dutt, besides several newcomers from different parties.

The 10 constituencies are: Mumbai North, Mumbai North-East, Mumbai North-West, Mumbai North-Central, Mumbai South-Central and Mumbai South; Thane, Bhiwandi, Kalyan and Palghar.

The main contest in the region will be between the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena alliance.

However, this time, other parties like Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have also put up candidates in many constituencies, spelling trouble for the main contenders.

Among the 10 constituencies, the Congress will clash against Shiv Sena in Mumbai South, Mumbai South-Central and Mumbai North-West and against the BJP in Mumbai North and Mumbai North-Central, Bhiwandi and Palghar.

This time, the NCP will be pitted against the BJP in Mumbai North-East, and the Sena in Thane and Kalyan.

The contestants include seven sitting MPs, four legislators and members of legislative council.

In a rare occurrence, two sitting MPs will be in direct contest in Mumbai South, thanks to the delimitation exercise which has changed the face of most constituencies. The Congress’s Deora will fight Sena’s Mohan Rawale.

The MNS’s Bala Nandgaonkar will contest from Mumbai South, giving a tough time to Rawale, while two Muslim candidates – BSP’s Mohammed Ali Shaikh and Samajwadi Party’s cleric-turned-politician Maulana Syed Athar Ali, indicate rough days for Deora.

At the other end of the city, Mumbai North, former central minister Ram Naik will lock horns with former Sena MP and former journalist, Congress candidate Sanjay Nirupam. The MNS has also put up Shirish Parker, a close confidant of Raj Thackeray.

In the neighbouring Mumbai North-West seat, the Congress’ strongman Gurudas Kamat is pitted against Sena heavyweight Gajanand Kirtikar and Samajwadi Party state chief Abu Asim Azmi and the MNS’s Shalini Thackeray, the first-ever Thackeray ‘bahu’ (daughter-in-law) to contest an election.

Priya Dutt will be in a direct contest against the BJP’s Mahesh Jethmalani, ace criminal lawyer and son of former minister Ram Jethmalani. However, the Samajwadi Party has not put up a candidate here though the BSP’s Haji Ibrahim Shaikh is in the fray.

Mumbai South-Central will see the Congress’s Eknath Gaikwad lock horns with Sena MLA Suresh Gambhir, while Mumbai North-East will witness a contest between the BJP’s Kirit Somaiya and the NCP’s Sanjay Patil.

In the neighbouring district of Thane, state Excise Minister Ganesh Naik’s son Sajeev Naik will contest against Vijay Chougule of the Sena, deputy chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council (the sole MLC in the fray), and the NCP’s Vasant Davkhare will fight against the Sena’s Anand Paranjpe in Kalyan.

Bhiwandi will see a contest between the Congress’ Suresh Taware and the BJP’s Jagannath Patil, and in Palghar the Congress’s Damu Shingda will fight against the BJP’s Chintaman Wanga.

Besides these seasoned politicians, non-politicians are also in the fray for the first time. They include a banker, ABN-Amro’s country chief Meera Sanyal (Mumbai South), Professionals Party of India (PPI)’s Mona Shah (Mumbai South) and Rajendra Thacker of PPI in Mumbai North.

Tytler apologizes for ‘shameful’ 1984 riots

New Delhi, Apr. 10 (ANI): Congress leader Jagdish Tytler has vowed to apologize “a thousand times” for the “shameful” anti-Sikh riots in 1984.

“I will apologize because it happened in our time. I would apologize a thousand times for what happened to the whole Sikh community. I would say whatever happened was shameful,” a TV news channel quoted him as, saying.

On Thursday, a troubled Congress cancelled the names of leaders Tytler and Sajjan Kumar from the electoral fray as the ghost of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots returned to haunt the party.

Tytler, who was the Congress candidate in North East Delhi, now holds the then government responsible for the 1984′s blood-shed.

“I would say the people, the administration and the governor, who should have controlled (the situation), did not control at that time,” Tytler said.

The Congress decision comes amid the enraged Sikh community protesting against the CBI decision to give a clean chit to Tytler in 1984 riots.

An incident of shoe-throwing by a Sikh journalist at Home Minister P Chidambaram at AICC press conference further aggravated the situation. (ANI)

Indian court puts off verdict on politician in anti-Sikh riot case

New Delhi – An Indian court Thursday postponed until April 28 its verdict on the alleged involvement of a Congress Party politician in anti-Sikh riots of 1984 amid protests by the Sikh community.

Congress Party leader Jagdish Tytler is accused of inciting mobs to attack Sikhs in Delhi after the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

At least 2,000 Sikhs were killed in the Indian capital during the riots.

Tytler claims he is innocent and India’s federal investigative agency the Criminal Bureau of Investigation recently submitted a report to the court which, according to local media, said they had found no evidence against Tytler in the case.

The CBI’s so-called “clean chit” has led to emotional protests by the Sikh community in Delhi and in the north-western state of Punjab, where more than half the population follow the Sikh religion.

A journalist Jarnail Singh made headlines Tuesday when he threw his shoe at federal Home Minister P Chidambaram, a senior Congress Party leader, during a press briefing.

Singh later said he was angered by the minister’s reply to his question on Tytler’s nomination as a Congress Party candidate despite his association with the 1984 riots.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Sikhs in Punjab blocked traffic and disrupted rail services in the state on Wednesday.

Scattered protests led by Punjab’s ruling Akali Dal party and Sikh religious organizations continued across the state and in Delhi on Thursday.

The Akali Dal is an ally of the Congress Party’s main rival, the Hindu right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Congress Party, which is under pressure to withdraw Tytler’s candidature, said it would wait for the court’s verdict.

“We will make a statement when it is the right time,” Congress Party leader Oscar Fernandes said.

Delhi Chief Minister and Congress Party leader Sheila Dikshit accused the Akali Dal and the BJP of politicizing the issue.

General elections are scheduled to be held in five phases in India beginning April 16.

Tytler is the Congress Party candidate for the North-East Delhi constituency.

He has been a Congress Party lawmaker in the Lok Sabha, or lower house of Parliament, since 1984 and has won three consecutive elections as the party’s nominee.(dpa)

I will react only after court’s judgement: Tytler

New Delhi, Apr 9 (ANI): Former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler, who will appear in the Kakardooma Court today in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, said that he will give his reaction on the issue after the court takes notice of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report.

Tytler, who had recently been given a clean chit by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), said on Thursday, “I will react only after the court’s judgement.”

However, he failed to give any comment on the possibility of participating in the election from North-East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, where he has been named as a candidate.

Meanwhile, the Congress party sources clarified that no decision has been taken on his candidature so far.

The court may decide on accepting the CBI closure report against Tytler and ordering the quashing of charges against him or order fresh investigation into the case.

On April 7, the Congress indicated a possibility of reviewing its decision to contest Tytler following a shoe-throwing incident in All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarter in Delhi.

A Sikh journalist of the Dainik Jagran newspaper threw a shoe at Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram during a press conference at the Congress headquarters to protest against “clean chit” to Tytler.

The CBI, on April 2, had recommended quashing of FIR against Tytler as it did not have sufficient evidence to proceed on the matter. On March 28, the CBI filed the report in a sealed envelope before Metropolitan Magistrate Ram Lal Meena.

Tytler was among the three prominent leaders named in the reports on anti-Sikh riots. Two other leaders named were Sajjan Kumar and the late HKL Bhagat.

The 1984 anti-Sikh riots, which claimed the lives of almost 3000 Sikhs, were triggered by the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards. (ANI)

Protests continue against Tytler, Sajjan

NEW DELHI: The protests against the candidature of Congress party’s Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler for the Lok Sabha polls in view of the 1984
riots case are now becoming an everyday affair. The Delhi state unit of the Akali Dal on Saturday stepped up its agitation by burning effigies of the two candidates, who are also sitting MPs. The demonstrations were staged in Najafgarh and Maharana Pratap Bagh.

Protests against the two candidates have been mounting over the last few days and the Akali Dal state unit is very clear that it will continue to protest against the Congress party’s stand on selecting Kumar and Tytler. While Kumar, sitting MP from outer Delhi, is the party choice from South Delhi, Jagdish Tytler, who is the MP from Sadar Bazar, has been fielded from North East Delhi. Post-delimitation, the contours of their present constituencies have changed and stand merged with the new constituencies.

Delhi Akali Dal, along with other Sikh organizations, had earlier protested against the Congress party’s choice as far as Tytler and Kumar go outside UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s residence at 10 Janpath. They had also protested outside the Karkardooma courts on the date of hearing of the riot’s case recently.

On Saturday, Akali Dal organized a demonstration in Najafgarh that comes under South Delhi, from where Kumar is contesting, and near the Nanak Piau Gurudwara in Maharana Pratap Bagh in North East Delhi, which is Tytler’s battleground.

Akali Dal state president Manjeet Singh GK said they had burnt effigies of the two candidates to register their protest against the Congress’ decision and asserted that more protests would follow in the coming days.

UK to have world’s fastest train service by 2021

London, Mar.23 (ANI): Britain will have the fastest and most frequent train service in the world by the year 2021.

According to The Times, the train is expected to run between London and Birmingham.

The double-decker trains will travel at a speed of 225 mph (360km/h) and carry up to 800 passengers. They would depart every four minutes, cutting the journey time from London to Birmingham to 30 minutes and from London to Manchester to just over an hour.

The paper quoted Sir David Rowlands, the chairman of High Speed Two, as saying that the preferred option was for four tracks to double the capacity of the route.

No high-speed line anywhere in the world has more than two tracks but Sir David said that Britain needed to plan ahead for continuing rail growth over several decades.

He said that the initial high-speed trunk line from London to the West Midlands would open soon after 2020 and later be extended with branches to the North East and North West, eventually running to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Britain would copy the French strategy of building a high-speed network gradually.

A site near Wormwood Scrubs in West London is being considered as a giant rail hub where passengers would switch from the high-speed line to Crossrail, the mainline railway being built under Central London to link tracks to the East and West.

The hub, at Old Oak Common rail depot, would also connect with the Heathrow Express and the Great Western Main Line.

Sir David, a former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport, said that the line would allow tens of thousands of homes for long-distance commuters to be built between London and Birmingham. Commuters would travel to work on the existing West Coast Main Line.

Most of the 225mph trains would run non-stop to Birmingham, Manchester or Leeds, but some could stop at a new parkway station 50 miles north of London. (ANI)

RSS chief K S Sudarshan announces retirement

Nagpur, Mar 21 (ANI): Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RRS) chief K S Sudarshan today announced his retirement from the post of party chief, paving way for Mohan Bhagwat’s elevation to the top post.

Sudarshan’s decision came as a three-day conclave of the RSS has begun here to chalk out the strategy for the upcoming general elections.

Kuppahalli Sitaramayya Sudarshan was nine when he first attended an RSS shakha. He was appointed as a pracharak in 1954.

Only full-time members of RSS can become pracharaks. His first posting as a pracharak was in Raigarh district. In 1964, he was made the prant pracharak of Madhya Bharat at a fairly young age.

In 1969, he was appointed convener of the heads of All-India Organisations’. This was followed by a stint in the North-East (1977) and he took over as the chief of the Boudhik Cell (the RSS think-tank) two years later.

Since 1990, Sudarshan has been a joint general secretary of the organisation. He has the rare distinction of having held both posts of sharirik (physical exercises) and baudhik (intellectual) pramukh (chief) on different occasions. (ANI)

Arun Jaitley meets Rajnath Singh

New Delhi, Mar 19 (ANI): After skipping two key party meetings to express his displeasure over the appointment of Sudhanshu Mittal as party co-convenor for the North East, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley on Thursday met party President Rajnath Singh.

According to reports, Jaitley went to the Singh’s residence here and stayed there for about an hour.

The BJP General Secretary is the party’s in-charge for Bihar and Delhi and the name of candidates for these two states could not be finalised as he had skipped the Central Election Committee meeting twice.

Jaitley has maintained that he would not attend the CEC meetings till Mittal’s removed.

The BJP President, however, has ruled out revoking his decision to appoint Mittal.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had also intervened to make sure that the Rajnath-Jaitley stalemate does not hurt the party before the Lok Sabha polls. (ANI)

NCP-led Meghalaya outfit to face trust vote on March 17

Shillong, Mar 15 (ANI): The NCP led Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) government has to prove its strength on March 17, after three members of the alliance withdrew their support one by one.

Congress North East General Secretary In Charge Luizinho Faleiro submitted a memorandum to the Meghalaya Governor urging the dismissal of the MPA government as it has already lost its legal right to be heading the government.

The 12-month-old five-party ruling coalition of MPA now has 30 MLAs — NCP 15, UDP 10, Hill State Peoples Democratic Party 2, BJP 1 and two Independents.

The opposition led by Congress has support of 26 own members and two independents and one regional party member.

The party was reduced to a minority after a lone MLA from Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) withdrew his support on March 11.

On March 9, two other independents, one of whom joined the alliance two weeks back, had also withdrawn support to the MPA.

The two independents are now in the Congress. (ANI)

A group of school students from Sikkim call on Chidambaram

New Delhi, Mar 3 (ANI): A group of school students from Sikkim met Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram today.

In his interaction, Chidambaram exhorted the students to work hard, study well and enter the various disciplines of public life and be an instrument in elevating Sikkim and the country to higher level of development.

The students shared their experiences with the Home Minister and sought his esteemed advice.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) had arranged an excursion of these students under the civic action and border area development programme.

DG ITBP, Vikram Srivastava, who introduced these boys with Home Minister, said, “Today’s interaction will definitely have a permanent inspiring effect on these boys. I hope this will help in shaping the destiny of these fortunate boys.”

Srivastava informed that such tour of students would continue from remote villages of border area of North-East Region. (ANI)