New Delhi [India], October 14 (ANI): National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL), a central public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Patna for cooperation in innovative solutions for highways construction.

Guwahati (Assam) [India], October 8 (ANI): While addressing a regional meeting on drug trafficking and national security with DGPs and other officers, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday stressed on making India drug free and called for cooperation among the northeastern states for solving the drug problem.

New Delhi Apr 26 PTI The National Cricket Academy is organising a camp in Bengaluru to help players from the north eastern states and those in the plate group upgrade their skill-sets under the tutelage of renowned coaches including Ashes winning bowling coach Troy Cooley Close to 150 cricketers from the region are taking part in the camp and they will also get to interact with NCA head and India great VVS Laxman The BCCI wants to ensure that players from Mizoram Manipur Meghalaya Arunachal Pradesh Sikkim get the best coaching and infrastructural facilities to be on par with the best domestic teams This initiative by BCCI will give young and budding talents equal opportunity to hone their skills and represent India across formats NE has enormous potential in sports and the board will keep no stone unturned to ensure that we are able to tap the best talent for the country BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted The fast bowlers are being trained by one of the worlds acclaimed pace bowling coach Cooley while batters are working under the guidance of U-19 World Cup winning coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar The spinners are under former India leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule While BCCI hasnt provided any details about the duration of the camp it is understood that the NCA has lined up a number of coaching programmes including U-19 Zonal Cricket Academy camps which will be held across various cities including Surat Vijaywada to name a few Based on performances till Cooch Behar Trophy U-19 quarter-finals 150 players 25 from each of the six zones including NE and new areas have been selected for the camp It includes nine pacers from each of the six zones and there will be an aim to increase the pool of fast bowlers After the initial camp it will be further pruned and those who will be the next batch of India U-19s will be selected PTI KHS KHS BS BS

Agartala Mar 20 PTI Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has helped develop unity among the CMs of the northeastern states who now jointly strive for the growth of the regionDeb was speaking at an event to welcome tribal rights activist and Tripura Peoples Front TPF chief Patal Kanya Jamatia who joined the BJP on Sunday It is Narendra Modi who pays equal respect to chief ministers of smaller states Our strength has now increased as the CMs strive for development together which was not seen earlier Deb saidHe also said the Centre has sanctioned Rs 1300 crore for the development of indigenous people of the stateHailing Patal Kayna for choosing the right party to work for the states progress Deb asked Tripura BJP leaders to accommodate members of the TPF in all the existing committees - state and booth levelThe TPF was floated in 2014 as an NGO by Patal Kanya who said after joining the BJP I am not endorsing Tipraland or Greater Tipraland but certainly want to work for development safety and security of the indigenous people All the leaders and workers of TPF will actively work for the BJP even as it will continue to function as an NGO she added PTI PS RBT RBT

Guwahati Feb 28 PTI Union minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday urged the state governments of the North-Eastern region to emphasise on quantity quality and sustainability while implementing the Jal Jeevan Mission in their respective statesThe central government is committed to the development of the Northeast and the impact of its various policies are visible in the lives of the people of the region Shekhawat saidThe Union minister was addressing a conference of state ministers of the region on Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen hereAppreciating the efforts of the North-Eastern states in implementing the Jal Jeevan Mission in their respective states the minister said that Manipur Meghalaya and Sikkim aim to achieve HarGhar Jal by 2022The deadline set by Arunachal Pradesh Mizoram Tripura and Nagaland is 2023 while Assam aims to meet the goal by 2024 he saidThe idea under the Jal Jeevan Mission is not just to install a tap in every rural household but to ensure the service delivery and its long-term sustainability It is the duty of the authorities to continuously monitor and ensure it Shekhawat saidThe ministry is working towards ensuring that every rural household in every village of the country receives clean tap water supply by the end of 2024Since the announcement of Jal Jeevan Mission on August 15 2019 significant progress has been made across the country and as of date more than nine crore rural households have been provided with tap water connections PTI DG MM MM

Guwahati Nov 19 PTI Union Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises MSME Narayan Tatu Rane on Friday urged entrepreneurs in the northeast to work towards boosting production for which the ministry would extend all support to them An increase in production and marketing of MSME products will help in augmenting exports and so entrepreneurs must work hard the minister said Launching the Special Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme SCLCSS for the services sector here he said no stone will be left unturned by the MSME Ministry to help entrepreneurs in their journey to become successful The minister emphasised that entrepreneurs of the northeast region must work towards fulfilling the vision of making the country Atma Nirbhar People must become self-reliant through entrepreneurship which will further help in reducing unemployment in the region Rane said The minister also felicitated the SCST entrepreneurs of the North-eastern region and awarded distinction certificates to the successful trainees of the NSIC Training Centre Guwahati Rane later laid the foundation stone of the Flatted Factory complex at Patgaon in Kamrup Metro district The Union minister was on a two-day visit to the state and had addressed stakeholders at the North East MSME Conclave on Thursday PTI DG MM MM

Guwahati Oct 22 PTI Newly launched airline flybig has entered into an agreement with IRCTC to facilitate travellers to book tickets for any of its northeast destinations through the latters Air platform an official said on FridayThe pact will allow the passengers to book their travel tickets to any NE flybig destination through the IRCTC portal which will help in boosting tourism in the region he saidThe partnership is launched in line with Dekho Apna Desh to promote NE sectors flora fauna and culture It also boosts Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav promoting connectivity and economic growth of the region flybig will always remain in endeavour to add more routes for facilitation of the travellers and promotion of tourism a release issued by the airline saidflybigs operations to Guwahati kicked off in May this year connecting the city to Tezu Pasighat Rupsi Agartala Dibrugarh and KolkataLilabari in Assams Lakimpur district is our new sector to be launched on October 31 the official said PTI SSG RBT RBT

Kolkata Sep 28 PTI Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday said the Centre has almost doubled the budgetary allocation for development of the northeastern states in the last seven years with around Rs 68000 crore having been allotted in the current fiscalReddy the minister for development of north eastern region DoNER said the Centre is giving a push for development of agriculture in the region to attract investments in the sector and the NE states will play a crucial role to increase the output of edible oilsThe budgetary allocation for development of northeastern states is around Rs 68000 crore in the 2021-22 fiscal compared to about Rs 60000 crore in FY21 The Centre has nearly doubled the allocation in the last seven years to the region as Rs 36000 crore was given in 2014-15 he said addressing a virtual programme- East India Summit - organised by CIIReddy said the NE states will play a crucial role to increase the output of edible oil It will contribute 50 per cent of the targeted additional area of 65 lakh hectares for oil palm cultivation under a centrally sponsored scheme to boost domestic production of edible oilsUnder the National Mission on Edible Oils Oil Palm NMEO-OP it has been proposed to cover an additional area of 65 lakh hectare for oil palm till 2025-26 and thereby reach the target of 10 lakh hectaresThe contribution of the northeastern states will be 50 per cent in the mission as the area under oil palm cultivation will go up to 34 lakh hectare in the region from the existing 40000 hectare Reddy saidAs a result of bringing in more area under cultivation the production of crude palm oil is expected to go up to 1120 lakh tonnes by 2025-26 and up to 28 lakh tonnes by 2029-30 he saidThe Centre has been focusing on infrastructure development of the region including improvement of rail road and air connectivity the DoNER minister saidNITI Aayog chief executive officer Amitabh Kant said the east and the northeast region covers one fifth of the countrys geographical area but its contribution has been far less than one-fifth of the countrys GDPThe primary reason for the constrained growth of the east and NE region despite its strategic advantages in terms of location and natural resources can largely be attributed to insufficient infrastructure he saidIt is encouraging that in 2019-20 when the entire country had witnessed a slowdown Mizoram achieved a 13 per cent growth rate followed by Tripura at 9 per cent the official of the policy think tank saidWest Bengal Bihar Tripura Sikkim were among a few states which had recorded a positive growth rate in 2020-21 the year hit by the COVID-19 pandemicKant however said the average growth rate of the east and the north-east region during the 2015-20 period had been above that of the countryTo unlock the potential of the entire region the foremost requirement is to address the concerns of inadequate infrastructure lack of connectivity and institutional support to improve competitiveness he added PTI BDC KK NN NN

Kolkata Sep 28 PTI Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday said the Centre has almost doubled the budgetary allocation for development of the northeastern states in the last seven years with around Rs 68000 crore having being allotted in the current fiscal Reddy the minister for development of north eastern region DoNER said the Centre is giving a push for development of agriculture in the region to attract investments in the sector and the NE states will play a crucial role to increase the output of edible oils The budgetary allocation for development of northeastern states is around Rs 68000 crore in the 2021-22 fiscal compared to about Rs 60000 crore in FY21 The Centre has nearly doubled the allocation in the last seven years to the region as Rs 36000 crore was given in 2014-15 he said addressing a virtual programme- East India Summit - organised by CII Reddy said the NE states will play a crucial role to increase the output of edible oil It will contribute 50 per cent of the targeted additional area of 65 lakh hectares for oil palm cultivation under a centrally sponsored scheme to boost domestic production of edible oils Under the National Mission on Edible Oils Oil Palm NMEO-OP it has been proposed to cover an additional area of 65 lakh hectare for oil palm till 2025-26 and thereby reach the target of 10 lakh hectares The contribution of the northeastern states will be 50 per cent in the mission as the area under oil palm cultivation will go up to 34 lakh hectare in the region from the existing 40000 hectare Reddy said As a result of bringing in more area under cultivation the production of crude palm oil is expected to go up to 1120 lakh tonnes by 2025-26 and up to 28 lakh tonnes by 2029-30 he said The Centre has been focusing on infrastructure development of the region including improvement of rail road and air connectivity the DoNER minister said NITI Aayog chief executive officer Amitabh Kant said the east and the northeast region covers one fifth of the countrys geographical area but its contribution has been far less than one-fifth of the countrys GDP The primary reason for the constrained growth of the east and NE region despite its strategic advantages in terms of location and natural resources can largely be attributed to insufficient infrastructure he said To unlock the potential of the entire region the foremost requirement is to address the concerns of inadequate infrastructure lack of connectivity and institutional support to improve competitiveness he said It is encouraging that in 2019-20 when the entire country witnessed a slowdown due to COVID-19 Mizoram achieved a 13 per cent growth rate followed by Tripura at 9 per cent the official of the policy think tank said PTI BDC KK KK KK

Kohima Sep 25 PTI Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Saturday said the Centre has allocated Rs 67000 crore for development of the north-eastern states in the current financial year and wants to improve connectivity and tourism infrastructure in the region Reddy the minister for culture tourism and development of north eastern region DoNER said the Union government wants the NE states to attain a 100 per cent literacy rate and is focusing on prioritising local languages even in professional institutes During the day he laid the foundation stone of Nagalands first teachers training cum examination centre for those who are in service at Pherima in Dimapur district The institute will have a residential facility and will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 20 crore The DoNER ministry has allocated Rs 155 crore for setting up of the centre The authorities of the institute will ensure that teachers can use appropriate methods and techniques in imparting quality education he said adding that the state governments in the region have to take it as a challenge to achieve a 100 per cent literacy rate Nagaland and other states of the region have a rich culture and tribal tradition which needs to be protected Reddy said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Union ministers to go to the North East region talk to people plan projects and encourage tourism to create employment opportunities he said The minister also stressed on the need to explore available natural resources of the region for employment generation and progress State Planning and Land Revenue Minister Neiba Kronu conveyed gratitude to Reddy for sanctioning the project for teachers training in the state Reddy also inaugurated a road project from Sovima village gate to Thahekhu in Dimapur district PTI NBS BDC BDC