Meghalaya politicians have nexus with militants

Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer Prashant Naik today said nexus between politicians of the State and militants is “100 per cent true and a known fact,” but in the absence of evidence little can be done.

“It is 100 per cent true that there is a nexus between politicians and militants...it is a known fact, but where is the evidence,” he asked journalists when prodded on the issue.

The BJP has been constantly alleging that the Congress party has been using militants to further its poll objectives in Garo Hills. Other political parties have also made similar allegations.

In Garo Hills, especially the Garo National Liberation Army, the Achik National Volunteers’ Council and its breakaway faction has been active during this election and have been creating trouble in the area.

Meet for power supply to Bongaigaon grid

With successful generation of power from northeast's biggest gas-based thermal project of Palatana in south Tripura, officials from the Union power ministry met NE power department officials on Friday to make immediate arrangements to transmit power to Bongaigoan national grid.

The non-availability of power evacuation line beyond Silchar has created an obstacle in the commercial run of the first unit (363-MW capacity) of the project.

Officials of ONGC-Tripura Power Company Limited (OTPC) here said Palatana had produced 42 MW of power on October 22, and in two days, its power generation capacity reached to about 72 MW during test run. Very soon, the first unit of the project would be able to generate about 363 MW of power.

"Due to non-availability of power evacuation system up to Bongaigoan, the Palatana project can't produce power as per its capacity. After 120 MW, we have to put a cap on production, as the northeast load dispatch centre is yet to get the transmission nod," a top OTPC official said.