The second wave may not yet have reached Manipur, but given the fact that geography is not a barrier to the virus, there is no reason to believe that the State and her people can stay insulated from the havoc played played out across the rest of the count..

The silence of the Government is deafening. Or is this a case of selective silence    with nothing dignified about it ? In as much as the Government has maintained an aloof stand, the cry of the Justice for Sanaton has only been getting mor..

One bandh averted and possibly further course of agitation too. The BJP led Government at Imphal seems to know how to deal with crisis such as this but it should not be forgotten that the core of the issue has not been addressed as yet. Granted the State ..

From April 29, 2020 to March 31, 2021 and obviously nothing much has changed at the ground reality. The first incident refers to the allegations that an inmate of  a rehabilitation centre was beaten to death by staff of the rehab centre and the secon..

The figure is disturbing, extremely disturbing. The second wave is on, but it is the rapid spread of the virus that should worry everyone. Twenty four hours after India recorded 72,330 new cases on April 1, the spread shot up to 81,466 on April 2, making ..

Elections to be held. But the more important question is when it will be held. Not surprisingly the All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur (ATSUM) has seen red over the alleged failure of the State Government to announce when the election would be held..

Make no mistake about it. The second wave is on and the statistics should tell its own story. On March 19 India recorded nearly 40,000 new cases with 39,726. Two days later, that is on March 21, the number had climbed to 43,846 and on March 22 to 46,951. ..

March 21-International Day of Forests and 24 hours later, that is on March 22, World Water Day. Two days and surely the United Nations could not have chosen a better time than this month and observe two days which are intrinsically linked. So while Manipu..

The All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur (ATSUM) must be confused. So too the people, particularly the hill people. Definitely not an enviable position for the Government to find itself in. So even as the State Government has assured ATSUM that a Cab..

Avoid statements that may create panic. This was Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the Chief Ministers during the COVID-19 meet on March 17. This however should not be taken to mean that the respective Chief Ministers should shy away from sou..

From a high of 426 cases in 24 hours on October 17, 2020 to ‘no cases’ on March 15, 2021 and this is certainly good news. But this is not the time to break out in a jingle and dance in the rain ! The virus is still out there and no one can pos..

May not be related to the core issue, but nonetheless it would be interesting to ask what is the stand of the different political parties, particularly the Naga People’s Front, to the demand raised by the All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur th..

It was not unexpected of the Government to put a ban on Thabal Chongba and Shumang Lila ahead of the coming Yaoshang festival and in the same vein it was also not unexpected of the voices of derision that have come from some of the citizens of the land. H..

It is still some days away, less than 20 days to be more precise and this is perhaps where the collective discipline of the people will be put to test. It did not impact on the people’s behaviour last year for Yaoshang festival came before Manipur r..

It appears an unseen force is holding back the much delayed election to the six Autonomous District Councils of the State. The six ADCs were dissolved after their usual term of five years was extended by six months. After expiry of the extended six months..

The next Assembly election is still a year away and the interesting question is not so much which party will form the next Government at Imphal or even how effective the present BJP led Government has been, but how people will remember the unfolding serie..

Education Minister S Rajen Singh appears to be a man on a mission and so far at least 19 school teachers have been placed under suspension for absenteeism. To be sure the swift action taken by the Education Minister will have an immediate effect and schoo..

It is crucial that the exact cause of the death of the Anganwadi worker be established as soon as possible. It is also equally important that the whole process of working out the cause of her death be as transparent as possible, for that is the way to ear..

Not the first time and this most probably will not be the last time either, but what has made the latest case all that more diabolical is the point that even after 7 days of the incident, no group has claimed responsibility. For one full week Imphal based..

Constitutional protection. Chief Minister N Biren is obviously worried that there is no Constitutional protection for the Meitei community but yet at the same time the BJP led Government at Imphal is yet to send a recommendation to the Centre seeking the ..

Starting off on the wrong foot. And this does not paint Dhanamanjuri College in any good light. Classes started on January 27, and it is difficult to digest that the college authority has not been able to work out something as basic as fixing the fee stru..

First in Ukhrul district and this is perhaps the first time in the whole of Manipur too. Peh (Paoyi) village in Ukhrul district is right there alone at the top for becoming perhaps the first village in Manipur to come together and voluntarily  destro..

A classic case of touningba touba. This is all that more so when the Government is seen to be looking the other way even as the people are being torn apart by the fancy and whims of those who have come under the impression that they can get away with anyt..

Border disputes. These are as old as the understanding of the North East region of India. Mizoram, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh are all States which have experienced border disputes in one form or the other and this is besides the border di..

Fifty years as a full fledged State of the Indian Union and what has been the progress made by Manipur in this half a century ? More importantly what should the State look forward to or work towards to ? Important question no doubt, and this is where visi..

The ghost of the seven new districts continues to haunt the State Government. December 8, 2016. That was the day when the then Congress Government announced the creation of seven new districts-Jiribam, Kamjong, Kangpokpi, Pherzawl, Noney, Kakching and Ten..

Will 2021 be any different ? Will the line ‘solution expected anytime soon’ continue to hog the limelight as it did in 2020 and to a certain extent in 2019, or will 2021 finally see the final deal being inked between the NSCN (IM) and the Gove..

The report was straight and simple. The type which any student of journalism would understand and which are usually taught to cub reporters. That is mention the four Ws of when, where, what and why and the lone H, that is how. At least this is what The Sa..

The vaccine has arrived today (January 13). The infection count has been low in the last couple of days, coming down from as high as 200 plus to below the 50 mark count and no deaths in the last three days. Not that the number of positive cases detected o..

Turning the verbal assurances to solid, substantive RCC bridges and a few months hence, this may just about become a reality if reports coming in that construction work of Makru and Barak bridges may be completed by April this year is anything to go by. M..

Large scale poppy cultivation in the hill areas of Manipur is no longer a secret but it has become a serious socio-economic and political challenge. The Government, apparently perturbed by the ever exacerbating drug menace..

Skill development, innovation and entrepreneurship have been generally accepted as the key foundations for economic development of any society or nation. Even though these three elements are of paramount importance, they are not enough to bring economic d..

There was nothing new nor any element of surprise when the State Government decided to extend the Disturbed Area status tagged to the State with the exception of Imphal Municipal area for one more year with effect from December 1, 2020, but of course it c..

Decisive for the BJP. That is perhaps how the saffron party will look back at 2020 when the world steps into 2021 in 24 hours from now. Despite the global pandemic and the increasing number of deaths and positive cases, despite the huge economic losses an..

United Naga Council (UNC) backing the demand for a separate flag and Constitution and integration of all contiguous Naga areas to take the negotiations between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India to a logical conclusion. The Kuki Inpi, Manipur (KIM)..

Let it be very clear. The virus is still out there. The number of positive cases may have seen a downward trend in the last couple of days, but the latest report of 20 people out of 41 testing positive from a single locality should more than..

Apart from the COVID-19 global pandemic, if at all 2020 will be remembered for years to come it will obviously be for the infamous Lhukhosei Zou, who today stands acquitted of the drug smuggling charges levelled against him by the Government of Manipur. It also stands that any reference to Lhukhosei Zou will come with the addendum of former Additional SP of Narcotics and Affairs of Border, Th Brinda, who incidentally has returned the gallantry award bestowed on her by the State Government under its ..

Read between the lines. Not the time to take everything at face value. The circumstances demand it, the politics at play demands it. Study all possibilities. It can be more than a rant and this is how Manipur should take the outburst of the NSCN (IM)..

Four out of five is not bad at all and Chief Minister N Biren has reasons to be pleased with the by elections, results of which have been declared on November 10. And in as much as the Chief Minister has every reason to grin from ear ..

Time for the Government to now turn their undivided attention to COVID-19 and concentrate all its resources to the fight against the virus which has claimed close to 200 lives and is seemingly spreading at will...

If at all there is something that can and should be learnt from the global pandemic then it should be the sense of responsibility. And this sense of responsibility should go beyond the understanding of I to We. ..

How well is Manipur coping with the pandemic ? This question is important and may be viewed against the climbing number of deaths and infection. Ever since Manipur threw open its doors and organised special trains and buses..

In transitional phase, prepared to give time to fulfil it, but it is the right of the Nagas to be integrated or to come under one administrative unit. This was Thuingaleng Muivah while speaking to Karan Thapar for The Wire on October 17. ..

Wonder how this would have been noted by the State Government. This question may be better understood in the backdrop of the fact that a student organisation has ‘banned’ six private schools ostensibly for charging fees from ..

Let it be very clear. The All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur (ATSUM) has not called off the proposed 48 hours bandh, but merely deferred it by ten days. Unstated but clear in the decision of the student body to defer the proposed ..

Whether the talk between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM) breaks down or not is a different matter, but it is significant to note that the outfit is still very much wedded to the idea of a Greater Lim, Naga Integration..

The politics of peace talk. Dicey and not exactly clear which way the politics of push and pull will take the peace talks between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM) on the one hand and the NNPGs on the other. ..

Chief Minister N Biren must have weighed his words carefully before announcing that there are indeed signs of community transmission in the State. The Chief Minister did not exactly go to the extent of proclaiming that there..

Will never join Indian Union nor accept India’s Constitution. Tough talk and not surprising that it should come from Thuingaleng Muivah, the general secretary of the NSCN (IM) during an exclusive chat with The Wire on October 16...

It is interesting and something to be noted. Consultative meeting convened by the Government of Nagaland to discuss the ongoing peace dialogue and the political issues that go along with the talks but the two principal parties, that is the ..