Stupidity written in bold in all the reckless sense of ‘bravado’ and exhibited by the people with each passing day at the major shopping areas of Imphal. No doubt, Ningol Chakkouba is one of the biggest festivals of the people of Manipur..

It is more than a by election and for reasons which are politically crucial. The results of the by elections to the four Assembly Constituencies can go a long way in determining how Chief Minister N Biren stands within the BJP..

Negating the oft repeated line, ‘Voteta second taba kannabro’ (No point in coming second best in an election and often used as an example to deride a half baked idea, but somehow when translated into English, the punch is lost)..

The Democratic Students’ Alliance of Manipur (DESAM), Apunba Irepakki Maheirol Singpanglup (AIMS) and All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM) are bang on target. The High Court of Manipur has already spoken..

Imphal-Jiribam Highway or National Highway-37 sounds more like a misnomer. National Highway Bailey Bridges would sound more apt. The difficult terrain is understandable but it is highly amusing that the 200 km stretch between Imphal and Jiribam is adorned..

Delhi speaks, Imphal listens. Good this is, for listening to sane advice and suggestion is always welcome and much better than to strike a ‘know it all’ posture and bungle in everything possible. And so it is that after the suggestion ..

Test touba hek leppadi covid, novid naba amatta thengnaroi. A tongue in the cheek exchange between friends, to express their helplessness over the never ending increase in the number of positive cases ever since the virus landed..

This is not the time for ‘file pushing,’ not the time for ‘red tapism’ and certainly not the time to let the ‘excess adipose’ lull the Government machinery to an ‘afternoon siesta’. It was on October 22 that..

Looking beyond lockdowns. This is clear from the decision of the high level meeting convened at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat on October 22 and this should not come as a surprise for lockdown is something which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on..

The reality somewhat sums it up. Galloping number of positive cases, on an average running into more than 300 cases per day, Chief Minister N Biren himself declaring that there are signs of community transmission in the State..

Not exactly weird but strange bedfellows. No love lost and it is the maths of keeping the Congress out of the frame of any Government formation that the BJP and the NPP are still there together in the coalition Government. And making things more worse wou..

The situation is grim. Hundred and four deaths, as on October 15 and this is without adding the 53 year old woman who was rushed to the hospital not for anything related to COVID-19 but due to a severe abdominal pain..

Positive cases likely to touch the 25,000 figure by mid-November and this should be taken as something more than a mere conjecture. A figure of 200 plus positive cases is the daily increase that Manipur has been witnessing for many..

Pandemic or not, some things remain the same and again amongst the ‘some things,’ there are some which have broken the trend and seen a sharp upswing much in contrast to the economy of the land. Shocked, surprised, astounded and to some ‘..

The death toll is climbing and at the last count as on October 8, 2020, the total number of people who have died due to COVID-19 in Manipur was 83. Corresponding to the death tally of 83 is the number of infected which stood at 12,679. ..

A global pandemic which has already claimed 78 lives so far and infected 12,240 individuals and amid this comes the stand off over the National Sports University site at Haraothel and the blockade imposed on National Highway 2..

Self appointed leikai heroes and heroines. Only that in this case the term leikai may sound a bit odd and Tang (As in Rayotang, Awungtang etc) will be more apt here. Manipur saw the emergence of numerous leikai heroes and heroines when the first COVID-19 ..

Now that more relaxations have been announced for Manipur, in line with the Nationwide Unlock 5.0 effective from October 1, the State Government will need to tighten its belt, given the rising number of positive cases as well..

As expected the Election Commission of India has blown the whistle and first off the block are Lilong and Wangjing Tentha Assembly Constituencies. At the moment, Manipur has 13 Assembly Constituencies without an MLA..

For three days on the trot, Manipur has been registering a growth rate of over 200 positive cases and this is worrying. Making it more worrying is the growing number of people with no known travel history getting infected. The figure should speak for them..

Perhaps this is the first time that such an uproar has been raised against the decision to drop someone from the Council of Ministers and Kangpokpi Assembly Constituency has certainly notched up a probable first. ..

It is getting more and more interesting. Tough to say which one is more interesting, the proposed reshuffling of the Council of Ministers or the ‘inability’ to effect the reshuffle even 24 hours after news of the imminent rejig hit the ..

This will not cast the BJP led Government at Imphal in any good light. The spirit behind Article 164-1 (A) of the Constitution of India should be understood and appreciated but in appointing 12 MLAs as Parliamentary Secretaries, the very decision of Parli..

Greater Lim or Nagalim. This was/is one of the major demands of the NSCN (IM), under Thuingaleng Muivah. Not hard to understand why such a demand was raised and why Manipur burned for days after the words ‘without territorial limits’..

BJP versus Congress. This is the main draw that will attract the attention of the people when by polls are held to the vacant Assembly seats. What however will add that extra dash of taste to the by election is the question of how the BJP squares off..

Tough posture from both sides. Flag, Constitution and now renewing the demand for Naga integration or rather bringing all Naga inhabited areas under one administrative unit. This is the NSCN (IM). On the other hand is the vocal..

Twenty one years back, that is on September 10, 1999, no one would have thought that The Sangai Express would be braving all odds to make sure that not a single day is missed due to a global pandemic that has got a stranglehold..

The interesting question is how voters in the 13 vacant seats of the State Assembly will vote when by elections are held. A certain sense of urgency has been given to the by elections as the Election Commission of India has already..

The death toll is now 38. The number of infected or positive cases, as on September 5 is 6883. These are the statistics, the number of deaths and the number of infection, but what is worrying is the growing number of those with no travel ..

It is getting more and more interesting and what was once thought unthinkable seems to be staring everyone in the face today. This of course does not mean the last word has been said. Just a few days after the Government ..

For long, party-hopping and political horse trading has been one ubiquitous character of electoral politics in Manipur. This disgusting culture is so entrenched in the electoral politics of the State that the Anti-Defection Law ..

It has been quite some time since the demand for a separate autonomous territorial council for the Kuki and Zo communities of Manipur is articulated through different platforms and media...

Good to see that the Manipur Public Service Commission has spoken out and encouraging to note that it has taken cognizance of ‘the misunderstanding’ that the scrapped MCSCC (Main) examination of 2016 is embroiled in...

It is a terrible mess. Thanks to the infamous Manipur Public Service Commission (MPSC), the mains examination of the Manipur Civil Services Combined Competitive Exam (MCSCCE) 2016 is going to be re-conducted after a gap of four long years. Following a lon..

The number of positives is climbing and so is the number of deaths. Till late into the evening of August 20, the number of positive cases stood at 4996, just four short of reaching the milestone of 5000 and even as this commentary is being penned down the..

It is the company that has made the trip to New Delhi more and more interesting. Perhaps this is the first time in recent memory that the Chief Minister of Manipur has deemed it necessary to take six former MLAs, all who have resigned from the Congress as..

Heartening that the Chief Minister’s Police Medal for Gallantry has been withdrawn, but there are still many questions that need answers. How did the name of the police official make it to the list of names who were to be awarded on Independence Day..

More than a panic reaction Plight of healthcare workers..

Not yet clear how the State Government would respond, but it is significant and worrying at the same time that the State Technical Expert Committee on COVID-19 has deemed it fit to propose to the Governmen..

Indeed the figures do tell a very sordid and sorry state of affairs as far as the COVID-19 situation goes in the State of Manipur. A total of 3853 positive cases (as on August 10) which is inclusive of 886 cases of local transmission give a succinct pictu..

The sense of foreboding has turned out to be tragically true. Barely 24 hours after nine major student organisations of Manipur, AMSU, ATSUM, ANSAM, KSO Ghq, MSF, DESAM, KSA, SUK and AIMS issued a statement..

The art of running a coalition Government and perhaps no one will understand the need to fine tune this art to ensure that nothing rocks the coalition boat. As the captain of the coalition Government, Chief Minister N Biren ..

It is interesting. First time MP but already included amongst three personalities who may make their way into the Council of Ministers in the next expansion of the Narendra Modi Government and certainly titular King of Manipur, Leishemba Sanajaoba has com..

Not a case of the virus getting more lethal but the fact that five people have died due COVID-19, all in a span of less than 72 hours, should perhaps tell the Government that it needs to think out of the box. ..

Not at all unexpected, but then again when it did come, it managed to send Manipur into a pall of gloom and a sort of a panic. After the first COVID-19 positive case was detected back on March 24, making her the first in the North East ..

Seeking to set its house in order and this is something expected from the oldest political party, especially after the drubbing it received at the hands of the BJP and its allies in the recently held election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat. Politics can cer..

It is getting interesting, yet at the same time one wonders whether this is the right time or not. Must have been brewing for some time and from the barely a whisper here and there today one sees this hush-hush move blooming ..

The mentality sucks. It makes no sense but the people exhibiting this mentality are perfect ladies and gentlemen-the well heeled men and women who would rather be caught dead than to let anyone see them wear shoes that do not match their socks!..

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Union Health Ministry have a different take on the matter but to the Indian Medical Association (IMA), community spread is here in India. To stress this, it has pointed to the huge spike in the number ..

Certain things just do not add up. Just two days after majority of the BJP MLAs decided to stay away from a meeting convened by the State BJP president on the ground that holding the meeting at the official residence of the Chief..