Northeast Platform

By Rajinder Puri Journalists called Prakash Karat India’s most powerful man. More powerful than the PM, that is. They called him India’s second most powerful politician. Second to Sonia Gandhi, that is. Karat’s fame grew with his handling of the N-deal issue. How did he handle it? When the UPA government decided to execute the NDA government’s initiative for an Indo-US N-deal, Karat opposed it. He said national security and India’s independent foreign policy were compromised. The Left would withdraw support. The government went ahead and negotiated the 123 Agreement for the deal. Karat sought the agreement text. The government showed him the text. The agreement did not refer to nuclear tests. But the US government passed a domestic law, the Hyde Act, which forbade help to any nation conducting nuclear tests. Karat said that the Hyde Act deprived India of its independence and jeopardised its national security. The government said that the US President was bound by the Hyde Act, not the...

Dimapur, July 4 (MExN): The Center has allocated Nagaland state Rs. 21.26 Crore under the Bharat Nirman rural drinking water supply programme. The Center today released a total of Rs. 3, 292. 65 Crore to all the 28 states with Rajasthan state receiving the biggest amount, Rs. 503 Crore. The programme allocation worth a total of Rs. 3, 300 Crore is for 2008-2009 and activated under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. To maintain the tempo, the ministry said, and ensure that implementation of water supply work does not suffer for want of funds during 2008-09, allocation for rural drinking water has been enhanced to Rs. 7,300 crore and about Rs. 3,300 has been released in the first quarter of the financial year. Now, none of the states are short of funds for implementing the rural water supply programme. The ministry has been very proactive and part of the 1st installment in 2008-09 under Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme was released in the first week of Apri...

One child was killed while several children were injured when a Mini Bus in which they were traveling rolled down some 30 to 40 feet below the National Highway 61 near the directorate of Fishery department in Kohima today. Police said the bus bearing Registration No NL-01B -2641 carrying around 71 children was heading towards the Highland Park near IG stadium when it met with the accident at around 11.45 am after failing to negotiate a turn. The bus was reportedly traveling at a high speed.Out of the 71 children, one died in a hospital while 62 children were discharged after administering first aid and eight children were still in hospital but reported to be out of danger. The deceased child Vikheshe (12) son of Vikhase, Police personnel, DEF Kohima of Ighanumi village, a class VII student of Holy Family School AG succumbed to injuries at the Naga Hospital Kohima. According to Police sources, the children were a part of the Vacation Bible School (VBS) conducted by Cross Wonder Churc...

State Department of Agriculture has set at rest speculations of imminent famine and other dark forebodings due to current invasion of the long-horned grasshoppers (Tettigonidae family) in Nagaland. The department has, on the other hand, suggested consuming the edible winged creatures by the population at large as a first towards biological pest management and getting rid of the grasshopper.“Many insects are consumed as delicacy in different parts of the world. They have rich nutrient value such as protein, fats minerals and vitamins,” stated a press release issued by Director of Agriculture. The department said the commonly edible insects include grasshoppers, crickets, grubs, caterpillar beetles, winged termites, wasps and bee larvae, ants, cicadas, stink bugs and aquatic insects. The nighttime hunting of hoppers by the local populace is not new either.“Similar incidences are reported in East Africa where with the introduction of street lights into towns has revolutionized the tettigo...

Accusing the Congress of indulging in "trade-off" with Samajwadi Party for Government's survival, BJP today asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately seek a vote of confidence in Parliament. "Government has been reduced to a charade...It has lost moral legitimacy (to govern)...For survival, Government seems ready to trade off anything," BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani told a crowded press conference in New Delhi. "For all practical purposes, Manmohan Singh government has lost majority in Lok Sabha...Government should immediately convene a session of Parliament and seek a vote of confidence," he said. "Credibility of the Congress and Samajwadi Party lies in shambles," the senior BJP leader said, a day after Congress clinched a deal for getting the support of SP, which has 39 members in Lok Sabha, in the event of a confidence vote. Congress wooed the SP after it became clear that Left parties having 59 members in the L...