North East

Shillong, May 31: The Meghalaya government has extended the ongoing lockdown till June 6 continuing with the existing curbs, but will allow more shops selling non-essential items to reopen, officials said on Sunday. The fourth phase of the countrywide lockdown ends on Sunday midnight. The timing of night curfew was revised and it will remain imposed between 9 pm and 5 am, they said. It was 7 pm to 7 am earlier. More private and commercial establishments in East Khasi Hills district, where state capital Shillong is located, will be...

Imphal, May 31: Four more persons, including three women, tested positive for COVID-19 in Manipur, taking the total number of such cases in the state to 66, an official said on Sunday. All the new patients - two from Kangpokpi and one each from Imphal East and West districts- had recently returned to the state by a Shramik Special train and were in quarantine centres, he said. "They are stable," the official at the state's COVID- 19 common control room here said. Necessary containment measures and contact tracing were underway,...

New Delhi, May 31: Sahitya Akademi Award winning Manipuri writer Binodini's poignant novel set in the midst of the British Raj about the love story of a princess and an English official has now been translated into English by her son. In 1979, Binodini won the award for "Boro Saheb Ongbi Sanatombi", a work of historical fiction based on the life of her rebellious aunt, princess Sanatombi of Manipur. It narrates the love story of Sanatombi and Lt Col Henry St P Maxwell, the British representative in the subjugated Tibeto-Burman...

Aizawl, May 30: In view of the surge in coronavirus cases in neighbouring states and the return of stranded people, the Mizoram government will extend the ongoing lockdown for another two weeks to curtail the spread of the pandemic, state Health Minister R Lalthangliana said on Saturday. The government is however yet to issue the order and the guidelines for the new phase of lockdown, he told PTI. Mizoram as of now is COVID-19 free state after its lone patient, who tested positive on March 24, have recovered and was...

Guwahati, May 30: Brushing aside allegations of the existence of coal syndicates and illegal rat-hole coal mining, the Assam government on Saturday said that only Coal India Ltd (CIL) is allowed to carry out mining operations in the Northeastern state. Addressing a press conference, Assam Industry minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said, the trucks that are seized by the CID regularly for smuggling the mineral illegally are from the neighbouring states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya. "In Assam, coal mining is allowed only by the CIL, which is a PSU....

Aizawl, May 30: Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah and his Tripura counterpart Biplab Kumar Deb to cancel the proposal for settlement of displaced Brus in Mizo-dominated Jampui Hills and surrounding areas in North Tripura district. In separate letters written to Shah and Deb on May 29, Zoramthanga said the plan for rehabilitating the displaced Brus in Jampui Hills could "defeat" the very purpose and spirit of the agreement signed by the Centre, governments of Mizoram and Tripura, and representatives of Bru communities on January...

Guwahati, May 30: A non-government organisation has urged the Assam government to strictly implement the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003 to protect children and youth from tobacco products, the NGO said in a release on Saturday. The NGO, Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), made the appeal on the eve of the World No Tobacco Day. The COTPA regulates trade and commerce and prohibits the advertisement of tobacco products. Tobacco use is one of the major risk factors for non- communicable diseases, which is one of the...

Imphal, May 30: A 19-year-old woman who returned from Gujarat recently has tested positive for COVID-19 in Manipur, taking the total number of cases in the Northeastern state to 60, officials said on Saturday. The woman hails from the Kanglatongbi area in Imphal West district and is at present undergoing treatment at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), they said. "Necessary containment measures have been taken up," the state's COVID-19 Common Control Room said in a statement. With the detection of the fresh case, the number of active cases...

Guwahati, May 30: Assam's COVID-19 tally touched the 1,100-mark with 43 more people testing positive on Saturday, the state's Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The state at present has 968 active cases, he said. "Alert ~ 43 new cases of #COVID19+ 5 Dhubri, 5 Golaghat, 3 Barpeta, 1 Bongaigaon, 29 by various labs (dist to be confirmed)," Sarma said in a tweet. Four patients have so far died due to the contagion in the state, while 125 have been cured and discharged from hospitals, the minister...

Guwahati, May 29: Assam crossed the 900-mark in COVID-19 cases on Friday with 55 new patients, including six air travellers, and the tally of such cases stands at 935 in the state now, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. A dedicated treatment unit for COVID-19 patients at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) became functional from Friday, he said. A repatriation flight from Kuwait, carrying 155 passengers under the Vande Bharat Mission scheme, arrived at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in the evening, a spokesperson of the Airports Authority...