Arunachal: In peace & in war

Arunachal: In peace & in war: LONG ROAD TO DEMOCRACY

Assam's history, front to back

Assam's history, front to back: Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC)'s ambitious re-enactment of Lachit Borphukan's feat against Mughal siege during the Battle of Saraighat in 1761 by building a 35-foot bronze statue of the Ahom general has drawn flak for showing people the wrong side of the story and quite literally so.

'Refugee minors statement must have to do with 'bunch of migrants''

Zika transmission unlikely in colder north

Tit for Tat: Russia denies SU-34 violates Turkish airspace on Friday

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Hollywood Film Classics Helped Glamorize Smoking

Hollywood Film Classics Helped Glamorize Smoking

First container train links China to Middle East

As reported in 'People's Daily Online' The first regular container train linking China to the Middle East pulls out of the west railway station of Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, Jan. 28, 2016. The train will exit China through Alataw Pass in northwest China's Xinjiang and pass through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan before reaching its destination Tehran, capital of Iran, completing a 14-day and 10,399-kilometer journey. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

HANGZHOU, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- A container train linking China and Iran departed from Yiwu City in east China's Zhejiang Province loaded with Chinese small commodities on Thursday morning. According to the train's operator, Yiwu Tianmeng industry investment company, it is the first regular container train linking China to the Middle East. The train will exit China through Alataw Pass in Xinjiang, the westmost Chinese region, and pass through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan before reaching its destination Tehran. Company president Feng Xubin said it will take the train 14 days to complete the 10,399 kilometers journey. Catering to the Belt and Road Initiative, the train is expected to further promote China's cooperation with Middle Eastern countries. Yiwu is a famous production base for small commodities and it has been keeping close foreign trade ties with countries in the Middle East. There are currently about 4,000 Middle Eastern businessmen living in Yiwu and more than 180 companies set up by Middle Eastern investors. The city witnessed 58.3 billion yuan (8.8 billion U. S. dollars) of exports to the Middle East in 2015.

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Italian Embassy keen on cultural exchange

As reported in the local English daily 'The Assam Tribune' :

State Chief Secretary VK Pipersenia delivering his inaugural speech at the Kaziranga Literary Festival in Guwahati on Friday. – UB Photos GUWAHATI, Jan 29 - The Italian Embassy is keen on a cultural exchange with Assam which will contribute towards better understanding between the people of the two regions. This was stated by Gianluca Grandi, Deputy Head of Mission and Minister Counsellor, Italian Embassy, New Delhi, who was present in the Kaziranga Literary Festival that got under way here today. Organised by the Department of Tourism, Government of Assam, in association with the North East Writers’ Forum, with an aim to promote tourism as well as the rich literary tradition of the State, the three-day literary extravaganza will facilitate a cultural exchange and interaction among the writers of Italy and those of the region. A group of writers from Italy, including Sergio Scapagnini who is a well-known Italian film producer, are here to attend the festival. Speaking at the inaugural function of the literary festival, VK Pipersenia, Chief Secretary, Assam, said that culture, tourism and literature are complementary and a platform like the Kaziranga Literary Festival would go a long way in promoting good will and better understanding between the nations. He also stressed the need of bringing together writers from different locales as that will give them a better glimpse into the ethos and way of living of people across the globe. “Culture and literature of Assam have immense scope to attract tourists and we need to make the Kaziranga Literary Festival an annual affair,” Pipersenia added. The first day of the festival was marked by an interactive session on children’s literature in which Sergio Scapagnini’s book, Lala’s Story, was read and discussed. The moderator of the session was Arup Kumar Dutta. The writers who participated include Dr Vera Slepoi, Sergio Scapagnini, Federico Raimondi, Rashmi Narzary and others. Introducing his book, Sergio Scapagnini recalled the moment that inspired his first foray into writing. It may be mentioned that Lala’s Story highlights the life of a young Indian boy called Lala who leaves the warmth of home to help his poor parents tide over financial crisis. “This is a true story and I had met the protagonist of my book during one of my annual trips to India. I was moved by the tenacity of the boy who retained a sense of humour all through his ordeals in Mumbai,” said Scapagnini, admitting that whenever he remembers the encounter with the boy, he becomes emotional. The panel of writers agreed that children’s literature has a great role to play in the development of young people who are the future of the world.

Season’s first snowfall in Arunachal

As reported in the local English daily 'The Assam Tribune' :

ITANAGAR, Jan 29 - With mercury level plummeting to sub-zero in several districts of Arunachal Pradesh, various areas in the State have witnessed the season’s first snowfall. The outskirts of the State capital witnessed the season’s first snowfall yesterday after over 15 years with the snow capped peak of the Dariya Hill being visible in the morning, Met office officials said. The snowfall has brought happiness to the denizens of the State capital and delighted school-going children and their parents. It was also a new experience for many people. The Bomdila-Tawang road was covered with more than one feet of snow in the last three days, Tawang district bordering China, witnessed heavy snowfall starting Sunday, ADC, Jang, DK Chutia said. – PTI

Top athletes to feature in SAG

As reported in local English daily 'The Assam Tribune' :

GUWAHATI, Jan 29 - All the leading sportspersons of the eight participating nations will be seen in action during the 12th South Asian Games (SAG) to be held in Guwahati and Shillong from February 5 to 16. Addressing in a press conference here today, Injeti Srinivas, CEO of the SAG Organising Committee said that the countries have already sent the names of their contingents which include all the leading sportspersons of their respective countries. Host India will have the largest squad with 276 male and 245 female athletes. Sri Lanka will send 251 male and 226 female sports persons while Bangladesh contingent will have 223 male and 147 female athletes. Pakistan also confirmed to send a 246-member team with 141 female members. Pakistan’s hockey team will definitely be the main attraction of the championship. However, Afghanistan, which will send a 148-member squad, including 49 female, did not put their name in football event which could have been another prime attraction of the games. Altogether 1374 male and 1105 female athletes will compete in 23 events during the 12th SAG. Informing about the Indian contingent, Srinivas said, the home team will be studded with stars like boxers Mary Kom, Shiva Thapa, shuttlers Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, K Srikanth, squash stars Dipika Pallikal, shooters Gagan Narang, Samresh Jung among others. Srinivas, however was not sure whether the football pitch at the Nehru Stadium will be ready in time or not. The preliminary league matches were scheduled to be played at this venue but unfortunately despite having spend a huge amount the ground is far from completion. The size of the ground will also not meet the perfect FIFA regulation as it was wrongly developed. Meanwhile the Maldives volleyball team has arrived here for practice prior to the SAG. Most of the teams will be arriving on February 3, informed Srinivas.

Rewati Chetri crowned World Miss Asia University

As reported in local English daily 'The Assam Tribune' :

GUWAHATI, Jan 29 - Rewati Chetri of Assam has been crowned Miss Asia (Best in Asia Continent) at the World Miss University 2016 pageant, which was held in Beijing, China. Rewati made it to top Super Six finalists through online voting. The 22-year-old Rewati is a student of a law college here. Kelin Rivera Kroll from Peru was crowned with the title of Miss World University 2016 in Beijing by outgoing titleholder Karina Stephania Martin Jiménez from Mexico after beating about 70 other contenders. The World Miss University pageant is held annually since 1986, with an average of about 70 contestants joining the competition every year. The event is specifically designed to select World Miss University Peace Corp Representatives. The organising committee dispatches peace missions to conflict regions, like Kosovo and Rwanda. The event was organised by the World Miss University Organising Committee, which has its headquarters in Manhattan, New York, USA.

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Risk of Zika spread at Rio Olympics

Risk of Zika spread at Rio Olympics: With about 500,000 people expected to visit Brazil for the Olympics here this year, researchers are scrambling to figure how much of a risk the games might pose in spreading the Zika virus around the world.

Report: Migrant kids placed with traffickers

Report: Migrant kids placed with traffickers: The department of health and human services placed more than a dozen immigrant children in the custody of human traffickers after it failed to conduct background checks of caregivers, according to a Senate report released yesterday.

Up up and away

Up up and away: Singer Zubeen Garg enjoys that floating feeling as he parasails with a friend on the inaugural day of a festival on the bank of the Brahmaputra in Guwahati on Friday. Picture by UB Photos

Maldives players arrive

Maldives players arrive: The first contingent of volleyball players from Maldives landed here today, igniting excitement for the 12th South Asian Games to be held in Shillong and here from February 5 to 16.

Tug-of-war debuts at Jorhat races

Tug-of-war debuts at Jorhat races: Mising community villagers residing along the Brahmaputra will not only ride their horses at the Jorhat races this year but also engage in a game of tug-of-war between the tribesmen residing on the upstream and downstream of the red river.

What Kenyan thugs did then, SFI does now

What Kenyan thugs did then, SFI does now: As India's ambassador, T.P. Sreenivasan has survived a beating with rods, gunfire and a coup overseas. He would not have known it then but the Indian Foreign Service was preparing him for his toughest assignment yet: retired life in Kerala, the picturesque state that is also home to an endangered brand of revolutionaries.

Rhodes not to fall

Rhodes not to fall: The governing body of Oriel College, Oxford, has announced it will keep a statue of Cecil Rhodes as well as a plaque to the 19th century British imperialist.

The Meaning of Jerusalem

The Meaning of Jerusalem

Women Fight Against Gender Bias | Protest At Haji Ali Dargah

Defence Minister Orders Probe Against Two Major Generals

Man held with guns at Paris Disneyland

Man held with guns at Paris Disneyland: French police arrested a man carrying two handguns at the Disneyland Paris amusement park outside Paris today, an interior ministry official said.

Prophet Muhammad Sells New Religion To Join Scientology

Prophet Muhammad Sells New Religion To Join Scientology

Iran warns US ship during exercises

Iran warns US ship during exercises: Iran's navy warned a US warship today to leave waters near the Strait of Hormuz where the Iranians were testing submarines, destroyers and missile launchers, news agencies reported.

1 dead in Oregon militia standoff

1 dead in Oregon militia standoff: One protester was shot dead and eight others were arrested yesterday after authorities confronted members of an armed group that has staged a month-long occupation of a federal wildlife reserve in Oregon.

Indo-Bhutan friendship fair kicks off

Indo-Bhutan friendship fair kicks off: The sixth Indo-Bhutan friendship mela-cum-64th Subankhata Magh mela began at Subankhata in Baksa district of Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) today with a variety of programmes.

NE scientists spot rare tree

NE scientists spot rare tree: Scientists at North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, have spotted a rare species of tree - Magnolia lanuginosa - in West Khasi Hills after nearly a century.

Mixed feelings in Arunachal

Mixed feelings in Arunachal: Besides the heavy presence of security personnel on the streets here, there wasn't much to suggest that Arunachal Pradesh had been brought under President's rule yesterday.

Sahitya Sabha rejects BSS policy

Sahitya Sabha rejects BSS policy: Asam Sahitya Sabha today rejected Bodo Sahitya Sabha's language policy that proposed Assamese as the third language in the BTAD.

TIMES NOW visits Riyaz Bhatkal's father

Security Researcher Finds Fatal Flaws in Antivirus Software

Security Researcher Finds Fatal Flaws in Antivirus Software

Prophet Predicts '25 Years of Poverty' For Blacks in America

Prophet Predicts '25 Years of Poverty' For Blacks in America

French Army's Contingent March at Rajpath | 67th Republic Day

PM Narendra Modi Pays Tribute at Amar Jawan Jyoti | 67th Republic Day

PM Narendra Modi Welcomes Pranab Mukherjee and Francois Hollande at Rajp...

Human Rights in Iran Under Rouhani Administration and US Policy Towards Iran

Human Rights in Iran Under Rouhani Administration and US Policy Towards Iran

PM Narendra Modi Welcomes French President Francois Hollande

9 killed as storm hits US

9 killed as storm hits US: A winter storm today whipped up record-setting tides higher than during Superstorm Sandy, causing major flooding in New Jersey and Delaware after dumping nearly 60cm of snow on the suburbs of Washington, DC.

4 killed in Canada school shooting

4 killed in Canada school shooting: The gunman suspected of killing four people and injuring several others in Canada's worst school violence in a decade first shot his two brothers at home before opening fire at the remote community high school, a family friend and the town's acting mayor said yesterday.

Rail gadi jhumur reaches out to wide horizons

Rail gadi jhumur reaches out to wide horizons: The Sirish Tea Tribe Festival started by Amalgamated Plantations Private Ltd (APPL) last year, which was restricted to a few gardens, has now been extended throughout the state and north Bengal.

Protest over Arunachal hydel units

Protest over Arunachal hydel units: Thousands of protesters today gathered at Tawang town opposing mega hydropower projects likely to be constructed in the Tawang river basin in Arunachal Pradesh.

Ash-and-cash saga in Netaji files

Ash-and-cash saga in Netaji files: Japan and priests of the Renkoji Temple repeatedly prodded India to take back the purported ashes of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose but successive governments in Delhi used diplomacy and token donations to persuade Tokyo to keep the remains, files declassified today have revealed.

Madaya: the Syrian town with an Internet connection but no food

Special view from the top at Rongali festival

Special view from the top at Rongali festival: Para gliders and remote-controlled planes will hover in the sky here from Friday, during the second edition of Rongali - a three-day festival at Sonaram Field and the sand beaches of the Brahmaputra here.

Homage to leader in hills

Homage to leader in hills: The 119th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was observed here today with fond remembrances of his visit to Shillong although the number of visits he had made here are yet to be firmly established.

More People Are Dying in Syria, Due To Starvation

More People Are Dying in Syria, Due To Starvation

A Paperclip, a Butterfly and C.H.I.P

A Paperclip, a Butterfly and C.H.I.P

Suicide Bomb Killing Of 65 Police Recruits in Libya Continues The Instability

Suicide Bomb Killing Of 65 Police Recruits in Libya Continues The Instability

Pak lifts hunting ban on rare bird

Pak lifts hunting ban on rare bird: Pakistan's Supreme Court lifted a ban on hunting a rare bird today, after the government argued it hurt relations with Gulf states whose wealthy hunters traditionally travel to Pakistan to pursue the endangered species with falcons.

Arunachal paves way for cine treat

Arunachal paves way for cine treat: Arunachal Pradesh is all set to host a Northeast film festival next month where 67 films from the region will be screened and the best in different categories feted with cash awards, a first-of-its-kind initiative by the frontier state.

Manipuri dance goes to China

Manipuri dance goes to China: Dance diplomacy

ISIS Suspects Worked On Syrian Handler's Directions

PM Narendra Modi To Release Netaji Files

US and Saudi Arabia Collaborate to Resolve The Syrian Crisis

US and Saudi Arabia Collaborate to Resolve The Syrian Crisis

Three Ways to Ditch the Wood for a Greener Home in 2016

Three Ways to Ditch the Wood for a Greener Home in 2016

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RAW: Russian warships sail off Syrian Mediterranean coast

Taliban raid renews Pak fears

Taliban raid renews Pak fears: Attacks on education have long been a signature atrocity of the Pakistani Taliban, whose militants have set schools on fire, banished girls from classrooms and gunned down students at their desks in a quest to impose an extremist ideology on Pakistani society.

Artists spread peace message

Artists spread peace message: Artists from Myanmar who are taking part in an exhibition here, said they wished to spread the message of peace through art in their country, where militants from the Northeast have found refuge for over three-and-a-half decades now.

Guwahati girl as Android game-changer

Guwahati girl as Android game-changer: Motherhood brings out a lot in a woman, including an idea to develop a game.

Protest on green tribunal order

Protest on green tribunal order: The National Green Tribunal order on Tuesday for the demolition of eateries along the stretch of National Highway 37, which passes through Kaziranga National Park, will be challenged on the ground of its 'adverse impact' on the local economy.

ISIS Recruiter Mudbbir Shaikh Arrested From Mumbra

America’s Nuclear Waste – No Solution in Sight

Arab Gulf Countries Isolate Iran As U.S. Lifts Sanctions

Arab Gulf Countries Isolate Iran As U.S. Lifts Sanctions

Suicide Bomber That Killed 10 German Tourists in Istanbul Was Syrian

Suicide Bomber That Killed 10 German Tourists in Istanbul Was Syrian

Free of trucks, Tawang greets winter guests

Free of trucks, Tawang greets winter guests: The ban on sand mining at Zemithang valley in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh has helped in the return of the majestic black-necked crane, enthralling wildlife lovers.

3 Men Tried to Cross Pathankot Border Arrested

Militants kill 19 in attack on Pakistan university named after Frontier Gandhi

Militants kill 19 in attack on Pakistan university named after Frontier Gandhi: A group of militants stormed a university in volatile northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least 19 people and wounding dozens as the army hunted for any gunmen still holed up on the campus, officials said.