The Manipur government has miserably failed in containing the widespread practice of starting wildfire for hunting and clearing the mountain slopes for cultivation. The tribals have found that the ashes from the burnt trees and other vegetations are natural manure. The raging wildfire also drives away the terrified wild animals to a particular direction, where the armed hunters wait for the killings.

The water supply division of the Public health Engineering has notified the people that since the water sources had dried up the water reservoirs and supply plants located in some parts of Imphal can no longer supply water to the people. Meanwhile, government and private hospitals are depending on raw water supplied by the commercial water tankers. There are reports and photographs in the local newspapers showing these water tankers collecting water from dirty and polluted moats and ditches for supplying to the people as tap water.

Gangtok: The poverty level in Sikkim has gone down with 80,000 people now living below poverty line, according to the new official estimates for 2009-2010 released by the Planning Commission.

While in 2004-2005, poverty level in Sikkim stood at 30.9 per cent with 1,70,000 people living under BPL, in the wake of the intense poverty alleviation programme initiated by the government, it has been significantly reduced in both urban and rural areas, official sources said.

The Manipur government is working on a plan to allow only those who have garage space to buy four-wheelers and two-wheelers in a bid to ease traffic congestion in the city and other towns of the st

IMPHAL: Hepatitis B positive has taken the scale of an epidemic in the tribal villages of Tamenglong district. At least one teenaged girl has died and 17 others have been shifted to the hospital.

The disease was reported from Marangching and some other villages around Noney. The prevalence of the disease was noticed by a team of 10 doctors who had conducted a medical check up. The official reports said that a 18-year old girl, Abisha Gangmei, daughter of Phamnamsom Gangmei of Marangching village had died of this disease on March 18.

Despite all tall talks of development, level of poverty in Northeastern states including Meghalaya has increased even though the same has declined in the rest of the country. More alarmingly, poverty level among the rural tribals, who mostly inhabit in North-East, is as high as 47.4 per cent.

This was revealed in the Planning Commission report — Poverty Estimate, released on Monday.

New Delhi:Data released by the Planning Commission on Monday showed that poverty had significantly declined between 2004-05 and 2009-10.

The Planning Commission on Monday released the latest poverty estimates for the country showing a decline in the incidence of poverty by 7.3 per cent over the past five years and stating that anyone with a daily consumption expenditure of Rs. 28.35 and Rs. 22.42 in urban and rural areas respectively is above the poverty line.

The new poverty estimates for 2011-12 will only add to the furore triggered by the Commission's affidavit in the Supreme Court in October in which the BPL cap was pegged at an expenditure of Rs. 32 and Rs. 26 by an individual in the urban and rural areas respectively at the going rate of inflation in 2010-11.

NEW DELHI, March 14 – It’s official.

Agartala: While Forest Survey of India (FSI) Report 2009 showed a steady increase of forest cover in the North-East states, the latest report of FSI revealed that the region has lost about 549 sqkm green cover over the years.

FSI Report 2011 stated that Tripura alone had degraded about 96 sqkm of forest cover. The report, however, blamed shifting cultivation (Jhuming), slash and burn method of production in hilly parts of the region for degradation of natural forest and stated,