Popular News

KHONSA : A screening of ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance’ was held at the Conference Hall of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office, Khonsa, on Tuesday to commemorate the victims and remember the suffering caused by the Partition of India. The screening was attended by Tirap Deputy Commissioner Badonlum Tawsik, Khonsa ADC Namneet Singh, DACO Bomiyir Dirchi, DIO Mamta Kumari and officers and staff of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office and adjoining offices. Addressing the gathering, Tawsik highlighted the significance of Partition Horrors Remembrance Day and recalled the immense suffering, displacement and loss of lives during the Partition. He stressed the importance of remembering the tragic chapter of history while upholding the values of peace, communal harmony, unity and brotherhood. The officers and staff watched the screening with solemnity and paid tribute to the victims and all those who suffered during one of the most painful chapters in the nation’s history.    

ITANAGAR : Arunachal Pradesh minister Nyato Dukam on Monday said the draft proposal to scrap the existing 80:20 recruitment ratio in recruitment is ready and will likely be placed before the state Cabinet on August 13 for final approval. The present recruitment system in the state is on an 80:20 ratio, with 80 per cent of posts reserved for state tribal candidates and 20 per cent open, where even tribal candidates can compete. Dukam, who heads the High-Powered Committee (HPC) constituted by the government to review the recruitment policy, told reporters here that he had approved the draft after discussions with legal experts, the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) and other stakeholders. “The draft has been approved after today’s meeting with all the stakeholders. It will now be placed before the state Cabinet for discussion and final approval,” he said. The Skill Development and IPR minister said the proposed recruitment framework also considers making Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) and Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APST) certificates mandatory for candidates appearing in competitive examinations conducted for government jobs in the state. The committee has also discussed introducing a mandatory local dialect criterion in the recruitment process, Dukam said. The development comes amid mounting pressure from student and tribal organisations for scrapping the 80:20 ratio and strengthening safeguards for employment opportunities for indigenous Scheduled Tribe candidates in government recruitment. The HPC held a meeting on Monday to deliberate on the issue, with AAPSU participating as a special invitee. After the meeting, AAPSU reiterated its demand for abolition of the existing ratio and set August 15 as the deadline for the state government to act.   The apex students’ body of the state has warned that it would enforce a 12-hour statewide bandh on August 17 if the government fails to address its demand within the stipulated time.    

Staff Reporter ITANAGAR : The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) on Monday set August 15 as the deadline for the state government to place the contentious 80:20 job reservation issue before the State Cabinet, warning of a 12-hour statewide bandh on August 17 if the demand is not met. The announcement was made following a meeting of the High-Powered Committee (HPC) held at the Civil Secretariat here, which was attended by AAPSU as a special invitee. Speaking to reporters, AAPSU president Meje Taku said the union had reiterated its demand for scrapping the existing 80:20 reservation ratio in state government recruitment and made its position clear before the committee. “We have made our stand clear to the government. The issue must be taken up by the Cabinet by August 15, failing which AAPSU will enforce a 12-hour statewide bandh on August 17 as the first phase of our democratic agitation,” Taku said. The union has also demanded that Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) and Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APST) certificates be made mandatory for candidates appearing in competitive recruitment examinations in the state, along with a mandatory local language criterion. Taku further said AAPSU had already written to the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) and Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board (APSSB), urging them not to conduct any fresh recruitment examinations until the reservation issue is resolved. He warned that the union would shut down the offices of the two recruiting bodies if they proceeded with examinations before the issue was settled. The state government had constituted the HPC in July following demands raised by AAPSU in its memorandum submitted on June 2. The committee, headed by Industries, Skill Development and IPR Minister Nyato Dukam, comprises senior officials from the Home, Law, Personnel, Social Justice, Empowerment and Tribal Affairs, and Administrative Reforms and Training departments. The panel has been tasked with examining the constitutional and legal aspects of the proposed changes, studying reservation policies followed in neighbouring Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur, and reviewing the recommendations of an earlier high-level committee. It has been given two months to submit its report.    

ITANAGAR : Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday called upon universities in the Northeast to move beyond conventional degree-based education and become “problem-solving institutions” capable of addressing the region’s developmental, social, environmental and strategic challenges. Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day Roundtable of Vice-Chancellors of North-East Universities at the Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) campus at Pasighat, in East Siang district, Khandu said the first-ever such roundtable in the region should lead to concrete partnerships, actionable ideas and measurable outcomes rather than remain limited to discussions. Khandu said higher education has a particularly important role in a young and aspirational state like Arunachal Pradesh, where universities must prepare students not only for employment but also for entrepreneurship, innovation, research and public service, an official statement said here. “Our universities must prepare our young people not only for employment, but also for entrepreneurship, innovation, research and public service, while nurturing them as responsible citizens,” he said. The chief minister said universities in Arunachal Pradesh should respond to issues including border-area development, tribal communities, biodiversity, climate change, cultural preservation, rural livelihoods, tourism, connectivity and national security. “Universities should become laboratories where local challenges are converted into research questions and research outcomes are converted into practical solutions,” Khandu said. He called for stronger partnerships between universities, government departments, industries, defence and security establishments, local communities and civil society. Areas such as sustainable agriculture, bamboo and cane, handloom and handicrafts, disaster management, eco-tourism, renewable energy, indigenous knowledge and public health, he said, should receive greater research attention. The chief minister also stressed the need for universities to become early adopters of artificial intelligence and digital technologies. He proposed AI-enabled academic systems for personalised learning, student assessment, research assistance, language technologies and administrative efficiency. In Arunachal Pradesh, he said, AI could be used for remote education, multilingual learning, disaster prediction, biodiversity monitoring and healthcare delivery. Khandu also called for joint digital repositories of indigenous knowledge, languages, oral traditions, traditional medicine, crafts and ecological practices, with community ownership and proper safeguards. Universities, he said, should share laboratories, datasets, digital infrastructure and expertise. The chief minister urged institutions to expand international academic partnerships, particularly in climate science, biodiversity, Himalayan and tribal studies, disaster management, border studies and sustainable development. He suggested greater collaboration with institutions in South and Southeast Asia under the Act East policy. Calling for stronger entrepreneurship ecosystems, Khandu said universities should become incubators of ideas rather than merely prepare students for government jobs. He suggested linking innovation and incubation with mentorship, seed funding, intellectual property and market access, particularly in tourism, agri-business, food processing, bamboo, handicrafts, clean energy and digital services. Referring to the RRU campus at Pasighat, he said it offered a strategic opportunity to develop a major regional centre for national security education and research. Areas of cooperation could include border management, cyber security, drone technology, disaster response, forensic science, community policing and strategic studies. Khandu also proposed a Northeast Higher Education Consortium for joint research, faculty exchange, student mobility, shared laboratories and common digital resources. He urged vice-chancellors to prepare time-bound transformation roadmaps with measurable indicators for teaching, research, innovation, employability, international collaboration and community engagement. Khandu further suggested that every technical session identify one major challenge, three practical interventions, one lead institution and a clear implementation timeline. He proposed making the Vice-Chancellors’ Roundtable an annual exercise to ensure follow-up and continuity. He reiterated the state government’s commitment to working with RRU, AIU and universities across the Northeast to strengthen education, research, capacity building and community development. The roundtable, themed “Transforming Higher Education: Innovations, Collaborations and Strategies for a Future-Ready India”, has brought together vice-chancellors, academicians, experts and representatives of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and RRU. (Source: PTI)  

NORTH LAKHIMPUR : At least 12 people from Assam were injured in alleged firing by miscreants from Arunachal Pradesh along the interstate border in Dhemaji district on Monday over encroachment of land, police said. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he has deputed one cabinet minister to hold talks with the Arunachal Pradesh government to hammer out the differences, and the DGP and chief secretary are already in touch with their respective counterparts. According to a senior official, the incident took place in the morning at Mingmang Basti along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in Gogamukh revenue circle of Gerukamukh police station. The clash erupted following a dispute in connection with alleged encroachment by people from Arunachal Pradesh over land in Assam, police said. As per preliminary information, the miscreants from across the border allegedly opened indiscriminate fire targeting residents of Assam, the official said. The injured have been identified as Durgheswar Patir, Rohit Dole, Nagaraj Dole, Biggeshwar Patir, Pame Pegu, Sanjay Tayung, Utpal Dole and Jan Dole, while the identities of four persons are yet to be ascertained, he said. All the injured were initially admitted to Gogamukh Rural Hospital. Seven of them were later referred to Dhemaji Civil Hospital in a critical condition, officials said. Out of them, four critically injured were shifted to the Assam Medical College and Hospital for advanced treatment, they said. “Security has been stepped up in the border area and further details are awaited,” the senior official said. Meanwhile, Sarma speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official function at Sonapur near Guwahati, said that a “localised incident” was reported in Dhemaji along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary. “There is nothing to do at the state level as such. The situation has been promptly brought under control and the tension has been defused,” he said. Sarma said Education Minister Ranoj Pegu has been deputed to solve the matter and he is in touch with his counterpart from the neighbouring state. “Our DGP is also in touch with his counterpart, and the CS is communicating with the Arunachal Pradesh government,” he said. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh share a 804.1-km border. There are 1,200 points of dispute along the border between the two states. The Assam government had on July 29 told the state asssembly that Arunachal Pradesh has encroached upon 16,144.01 hectares of land. Out of these, Arunachal Pradesh claims 858.91 sq km. Both the states have constituted 12 regional committees for resolving the border dispute, and are taking steps to resolve these issues based on recommendations of the panels, the officials said. A Namsai Declaration was signed by the chief ministers of the two states on July 15, 2022, setting in motion measures to resolve differences in 123 villages of Assam claimed by Arunachal Pradesh. A MoU in this regard was later signed by the two CMs in New Delhi on April 20, 2023. Out of the 123 villages claimed by Arunachal Pradesh, the differences in 71 villages have been resolved, and the process is on to address the issues in the remaining 52 villages, they said. Arunachal Pradesh was a centrally-administered region initially after Independence and became a Union Territory later, before attaining full statehood in 1987. After Arunachal Pradesh achieved statehood, a tripartite committee was appointed which recommended that certain territories be transferred from Assam to Arunachal Pradesh. Assam contested this and the matter is in the Supreme Court. (Source: PTI)    

ITANAGAR : The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Monday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Pema Khandu on moral grounds, alleging that the state government was not cooperating with a Supreme Court-directed CBI preliminary inquiry. In a statement, APCC working president Tanga Byaling alleged that the state administration was reluctant to assist the central agency in probing public works contracts worth around Rs 1,270 crore, reportedly awarded to firms linked to Khandu’s relatives. Byaling said the matter had entered the domain of judicial scrutiny and alleged that the Supreme Court had summoned the state’s Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary (Home) after the CBI submitted reports flagging non-cooperation. The party questioned why the top court had to intervene when the chief minister had publicly welcomed the probe on April 6, and assured full cooperation. The opposition party claimed that the ruling BJP’s slogan of ‘Zero Tolerance Against Corruption’ stands exposed, adding that Khandu’s resignation is essential to ensure a free, fair, and impartial investigation without any conflict of interest The APCC also raised concerns over recent administrative reshuffles and transfers of officials in departments whose records fall under the scope of the CBI inquiry, urging the government to ensure that no tender files, work orders, or digital records are altered, delayed, or destroyed. Demanding complete transparency, the Congress called on the state government to hand over all requested documents to investigators, publish a status report detailing its cooperation, and ensure protection for officials and whistleblowers facilitating the probe. (Source: PTI)

TAWANG : The Directorate of Census Operations, Arunachal Pradesh, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, organised a one-day district-level training programme on the District Census Handbook (DCHB) 2027 at the Conference Hall of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office here on Monday. The training was conducted as part of preparations for Census 2027, with Deputy Director of Census Phiralin Passah and Junior Consultant Daniel Jones imparting training to field functionaries on various aspects of preparing the DCHB. The resource persons explained the procedures, responsibilities and requirements involved in systematic compilation of district-level information and stressed the need for accuracy and consistency throughout the exercise. Earlier, Assistant Commissioner-cum-Assistant Director of Economics & Statistics Tenzin Jambey welcomed the resource persons and participants. He urged the field functionaries to remain attentive and make full use of the training to clarify their queries. Highlighting the sensitive and important nature of Census work, Jambey called upon the functionaries to discharge their responsibilities with sincerity, accuracy and commitment. He said reliable Census data was essential for effective planning, informed policymaking and implementation of development programmes. The training provided a platform to strengthen the preparedness and capacity of field functionaries for the systematic compilation of demographic and socio-economic information for the District Census Handbook. The programme marked an important step towards ensuring accurate and reliable district-level data as part of the preparations for a comprehensive Census 2027 exercise in Tawang. (DIPR)

SAGALEE : A day-long Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccination drive was conducted at Deb village under Sagalee Circle in Papum Pare district in collaboration with the K.T. Foundation, with around 50 Mithuns vaccinated. The initiative aimed to strengthen livestock health and prevent the spread of FMD among Mithuns in the area. Papum Pare District Veterinary Officer Dr Takio Taram Tarh appreciated the K.T. Foundation for the initiative and assured its chairman R.K. Taj of the department’s full cooperation, particularly in the supply of medicines and vaccines. The DVO also urged Mithun owners to cooperate with the Veterinary Department during vaccination drives and ensure that their animals are duly vaccinated. He stressed that active participation of livestock owners was essential to achieving the goal of making the region FMD-free by 2030. The programme was part of ongoing efforts to strengthen animal disease prevention and promote healthier livestock practices in the district.

ITANAGAR : Two suspected drug peddlers were arrested with 163 gm heroin from Chimpu area of Arunachal Pradesh, officials said on Monday. The action followed an operation conducted on Sunday night regarding narcotics movement, according to a release issued by the police. During the operation, security personnel recovered eight soap cases, five tobacco containers, and 18 plastic vials filled with suspected heroin worth around Rs 20 lakh. A case has been registered at Chimpu Police Station under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, the release said. Further investigation is underway to trace the source, supply chain, and network of distributors involved in the racket, it added. (PTI)

PALIN : Kra-Daadi District Police has busted an inter-state stolen vehicle racket and recovered 15 stolen SUVs during an investigation into two cases registered at Palin Police Station. The recovered vehicles include two Toyota Fortuners, two Mahindra Thars, one Mahindra Scorpio, six Hyundai Cretas, two Kia Seltos, one Hyundai Alcazar and one Hyundai Venue. Two cases were registered in connection with the racket—Palin PS Case No. 02/2026 under Sections 317(2), 340(2) and 111(6) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and Palin PS Case No. 09/2026 under Sections 318(4) and 316(3) BNS. A total of 11 accused persons were arrested during the investigation and subsequently charge-sheeted. For an effective probe, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted under the leadership of DySP Headquarters Mape Zirdo, with Palin Police Station Officer-in-Charge SI Nong Jongkey and Investigating Officer SI Nalotong Jamoh as members. The SIT conducted raids at multiple locations and hideouts across Itanagar Capital Region, Papum Pare, Kra-Daadi, Kurung Kumey and neighbouring Assam. After several attempts, the team arrested the alleged kingpin of the inter-state racket, Jahangir Alam, from Barpeta in Assam on August 6. He had reportedly been evading arrest since January. The district police appealed to people to remain vigilant and verify vehicle documents thoroughly before purchasing or entering into any vehicle deal. It cautioned the public against falling prey to fraudulent vehicle transactions and unscrupulous elements. “Alertness and right information is the best way to be safe,” the police said in a statement.