The two-day North Eastern Council (NEC) plenary has approved the Vision 2020 to restore the NE region to a position of national economic eminence by the next eight to ten years. After hectic discussion among member States of the NEC in the two-day plenary that commenced here on Monday, DoNER Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer, all Governors and Chief Ministers of the region states signed the Vision-2020 document on Tuesday.

Bamboo, that is used so extensively in northeast India for various purposes like building houses, bridges, in medicines, and more, spells doom in the form of famine the moment it starts flowering. But is it true, finds out Robert L Sungte If you think all flowers are beautiful and are meant to bring smiles on everyone's face, think once again. There is this flower which does just the opposite. That flower belongs to the bamboo.

President of Hailakandi District Tribal Sangha, Rajendra Reang has alleged that although Gastroenteritis, locally called antric disease has become an epidemic in the Mizoram border area of Hailakandi district, the district administration has taken no effective steps to contain the situation. Reang alleged that already more than 17 persons including women and children have lost their lives due to antric.

President of Hailakandi District Tribal Sangha, Rajendra Reang, has alleged that although gastroenteritis has taken an epidemic form along the Mizoram border area of Hailakandi district, the district administration has taken no effective steps to contain the situation. Reang alleged that already more than 17 persons, including women and children, have lost their lives. Though the State Health Department of Hailakandi has shown some initiative in this aspect, the Joint Director of the department Dr Samir Kumar Das told that he was only aware of the death of four persons due to the disease.

In reply to a question in Lok Sabha on April 21, 2008, the Food and Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar admitted that while a total of 102.8 million ration cards against BPL (below poverty line) people were issued, there were actually in the country only 65.2 million BPL families. It means that 37 million below poverty line-card holders or as much as 35 per cent of India's total number of beneficiaries under public distribution system do not exist in actuality.

Famine relief operations are underway in Mizoram as the remote state is hit by acute food shortage after an army of rats devoured rice crops. According to the State's Food and Supplies department, this year, the food shortage has affected about 630,000 people, nearly 70 per cent of the 900,000esidents of Mizoram. However, no starvation deaths have been reported so far. The people of Mizoram fear bamboo flowering, the harbinger of famine.

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has sanctioned Rs 42.6 crores to Mizoram for construction of houses for as many as 908 poor families living in urban area. The Ministry, under the IHSDP (Integrated Housing & Slum Development Programme), sanctioned Rs 8.27 crores for project I to construct 500 houses. It also sanctioned under the BSUP (Basic Services to the Urban Poor) Rs. 34.33 Crores for construction of 408 houses (project II), an official source said today.

Alarmed over the spurt in child mortality cases in Mizoram over the past one year, the State Government has initiated steps to provide better healthcare facilities to the people in remote areas of the State. At least 608 children died during 2007-08 as compared to 258 during the previous year posing serious concern to the authorities, Director of State Health and Family Welfare Department Dr N Pallai said. Pallai told PTI that the department was yet to fathom the cause of rise in child deaths and there was no report of any epidemic-like situation anywhere in the State.

As parts of efforts to improve air connectivity in the Northeast, the government is upgrading 10 airports in the region at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore, reports PTI. The North Eastern Council has entered into an MoU with the Airports Authority of India for funding of 10 airports in the ratio of 60:40, the government said in a report tabled in Parliament. Works on seven airports has since been completed and is continuing in three other airports. An amount of Rs 50 crore has been earmarked for ongoing upgradation works of airports in the region in the annual plan during 2007-08.