Congress MLA quits Tripura assembly, to rejoin CPI-M Agartala, June 6 (IANS): In a dramatic turn of events, Congress legislator Jitendra Sarkar on Monday resigned from the Tripura assembly and decided to rejoin the ruling CPI-M. Assembly Speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath told IANS that Sarkar submitted his resignation to him and he had accepted it.Sarkar then told the CPI-M leadership that he would rejoin the Communist Party of India-Marxist. Amid the developments, security personnel were deployed on Sunday night outside the residence of Sarkar, who refused to talk to the media about his sudden resignation. The development came amid reported efforts by the Trinamool Congress to split the Congress legislators' group. A former leader of the CPI-M and a former two-term speaker of the Tripura assembly, Sarkar joined the Congress with his supporters in March 2010. Meanwhile, Tripura Congress president Birajit Sinha on Monday urged the Speaker to act under the anti-defection law against six Congress legislators: Sudip Roy Barman, Ashish Saha, Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl, Pranjit Singha Roy, Jitendra Sarkar and Biswabandhu Sen. The Speaker said he would inform the Election Commission on Tuesday about Sarkar's resignation and take necessary steps to fill up the vacant seat. Foundation for NE hostel laid Bengaluru, June 6 (IANS): Development of North Eastern Region Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday laid foundation stone of a hostel, exclusively for woman students from the northeast, in Bangalore University, an offiical statement said. The hostel, which is the first of its kind in the varsity, will have a capacity to accommodate 269 students and will be constructed at a cost of around Rs 14 crore. "There is great importance of hostels for northeastern people where they undergo studies, particularly in high numbers," he said, adding the the next hostel project will shortly be started in the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, where land has already been acquired by the North Eastern Council (NEC). "Since JNU has a larger number of students from the eight northeastern states compared to several other states, it was found appropriate to raise the facility there," he said. Arunachal CM seeks CBI probe into death Itanagar, June 6 (PTI): Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul met his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis and demanded a CBI probe into the death of Marnya Doye under mysterious circumstances on April 26 in Raigad. Pul had called on Mr Fadnavis in Mumbai on Saturday and requested him that the case be investigated by the CBI, to which the latter readily agreed, an official release said here on Sunday. “There is a fear and suspicion of foul play in her death (expressed) by her family and some facts have come to light that suggest Ms Doye may have been murdered,” Pul told Fadnavis. “At the same time, the incident has created a sense of insecurity among people from Arunachal as well as from other Northeast States. There are also apprehensions about the outcome of the investigations into the case and its neutrality,” Pul stressed. Cong, BJP win 5 seats each so far IMPHAL, June 6 (NNN): The INC and BJP have won five seats five seats each so far in Imphal Municipal Corporation (IMC) polls with a total of 13 councillor candidates officially declaring elected. Three Independent candidates defeated Congress rivals in Imphal East for which declaration of results for concillor candidates was completed while results for six candidates were declared so far in Imphal West. IMC has a total of 27 wards spread across Imphal East and Imphal West. INC won three seats in Imphal East and two in Imphal West while the BJP got four in Immphal West and only one in Imphal East. Counting for the remaining seats of councilor and Ward Development Committee (WDC) was still underway. Officials said the all the final results were expected to come out by 11 pm. A total of 86 councillor candidates and 126 WDC member candidates were in the fray. A total of 1,75,864 voters—male 84,045 and female 91,819—were eligible to cast their franchise to decide the fate of the candidates in the civic polls for which elaborate security arrangements were taken up. TPLA chief caught by Army Imphal, June 6 (PTI): The 'commander in chief' of insurgent outfit Thadaou People Liberation Army (TPLA) active in Manipur has been caught by the Army, defence sources said today. Based on specific inputs on the presence of a senior TPLA cadre at Bethel Veng village in Senapati district, an operation was launched by troops of Army's Jwalamukhi Battalion and the outfit leader was apprehended on June 3. He identified himself as 45-year-old Nekholen Lhouvum alias Helen and said he was the 'commander-in-chief' of the group, the sources said. A 9mm pistol, one 9mm magazine and 5 live rounds of 9mm have been seized from him. The sources said he was later handed over to Imphal West police station. Arunachal pays Rs 35 lakh to Meghalaya Govt for state guest Itanagar, June 6 (PTI): Arunachal Pradesh government has released an amount of Rs 35 lakh to Meghalaya government against an one time premium of land revenue cost for allotment of land for setting up a new state guest house near North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) at Shillong. The decision was taken after considering the importance for construction of a Arunachal Guest House at Shillong to cater to the needs of patients and students from the state, an official release said here today. Chief Minister Kalikho Pul felt that patients from the state prefer NEIGRIHMS at Shillong for their treatment due to presence of quality medical facilities at the institute and comparative cheaper cost of treatment. As a result, there is a rise in the number of patients at Shillong, besides students from the state for study. During his visit to Shillong on May 27 last, Pul along with deputy chief minister Kameng Dolo, had inspected the land for setting up the Arunachal Guest House, the release added
