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 Bijay Sankar Bora Aug 12, 2018  The publication of the final NRC draft in Assam has once again brought to fore how sensitive the Northeastern states of India are to the problem of illegal migration, and that they consider migration a grave threat to the identity and political rights of the ethnic groups residing in the region. The news of over 40 lakh applicants (out of the total 3.29 crore) being left out of the final draft of NRC spread like wildfire in the region. Contrary to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s high-decibel rhetoric that the NRC update was a ploy of the BJP government in Assam to drive the Bengalis out of the state, indigenous apolitical and political organisations in neighbouring Northeastern states of Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur which share boundaries with Assam, raised the alarm that those left out of the final NRC draft would flock to their states to avoid detection and deportation in Assam. People whose na...

Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty /11/AUG/2018 Manipur/Mizoram: International entry and exit checkpoints in two states bordering Myanmar opened The government of Myanmar officially opened its border in two northeastern states by installing international entry and exit checkpoints on August 8. This action of the neighbouring country has taken India government’s Act East Policy a step closer to reality. R.K. Shivchandra, convener of Act East Policy Committee, soon after the inauguration of the two land border points, reportedly said that they were the last to officially open in entire Southeast Asia, meaning ease of crossing land borders between various countries on that route. As per the new modalities, the special land entry permission, which visitors entering Myanmar via land routes in the Northeast had required to fetch till now, would be replaced by visas, making them official international entry and exit points. While one such entry/exit point was opened at Tamu, the Myanmar...

Dipankar Ghose, The Indian Express, February 12, 2018 In October 2016, representatives of the state government admitted that there are over 70,000 educated, unemployed youth listed in the ‘Life Register’ — as the employment register of the state Department of Labour and Employment is called. HIS IS one of the small black-and-yellow taxis that dot the hilly streets of Kohima. Hanging around the front mirror is a small banner. “Liverpool Football Club”, it reads. In school, he had dreamt of playing professionally abroad. On the top right of the windscreen, there is another sticker that says “Nagaland University”. A computer engineer, Richmond Ao had hoped to become a software programmer. But try as he might, the 27-year-old could not find a job. And thus, his source of income is now his slightly creaky Maruti Alto. But Richmond will vote. “Because I need to vote for the best, cleanest candidate there is, who will not be corrupt, and will find our young people work. My time h...