Meghalaya

The Meghalaya High Court has directed the state government to initiate the acquisition of land for common burial grounds accessible to people of all faiths. The directive was issued on July 7 by a division bench comprising Chief Justice IP Mukerji and Justice W Diengdoh, while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) concerning the shortage of burial spaces in the state. The court observed that various communities, including the Khasis and Jaintias, are facing difficulties due to the lack of designated public cemeteries. The situation has been further complicated by inter-denominational disputes, with certain groups expressing reluctance to share privately-owned burial grounds with members of other denominations or faiths. However, the bench noted a common ground: most denominatio...

A video of a Forest Beat Officer in Kerala saving a huge king cobra has gone viral online, capturing a unique and breathtaking event on camera. The video, which was posted by X user Rajan Medhekar, shows a lady in uniform, identified as Forest Beat Officer G S Roshni from the Paruthipalli Range, bravely taming the massive snake in a shallow stream with a snake-catching stick. "Forest Beat Officer Roshni of Paruthipalli Range did not flinch even after seeing this 18-foot long #KingCobra!" was the description for the now-viral video. It was grabbed by her from the residential area of Anchumaruthumoot, Peppara, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, after folks bathing in the creek observed it today.”

The Meghalaya government on Monday sought the intervention of the National Human Rights Commission to push for the creation of a sub-zonal office of the Narcotics Control Bureau here and to extend the preventive detention period under the PITNDPS Act up to three years. The proposals were placed during a high-level meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister in-charge of Home (Police), Prestone Tynsong, in the presence of NHRC Special Monitor Rakesh Asthana, ex-BSF DG and former head of the NCB, who is on a three-day visit to assess the drug trafficking situation in the state. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Social Welfare Minister Paul Lyngdoh informed that the state has already submitted a proposal for setting up an NCB sub-zonal office here and urged the NHRC to help expedite t...

The Meghalaya High Court directed the state government to take immediate steps toward acquiring land for setting up common burial grounds for all faiths. The HC gave the directions on Monday while hearing a PIL on the shortage of burial spaces for various communities, including Khasis and Jaintias. The division bench, comprising Chief Justice IP Mukerji and Justice W Diengdoh, acknowledged the acute shortage of public burial spaces and noted the reluctance among certain denominations to share private cemeteries with others.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Saturday said 10 metric tonnes of organic black pepper from South Garo Hills region were shipped out to Mumbai, the second big export from the area after an 11 mt of outbound consignment in 2023. Mumbai-based Everest Spices has procured the organic black pepper from here, he said. Taking to X, Sangma said, "10 MT of organic black pepper facilitated by the Kerupara and Dingampara Integrated Village Cooperative Societies (IVCS) under Zikzak block, South West Garo Hills, shipped to Mumbai, the area's second big export after 2023's 11-tonne success."

Nongshken MDC Grace Mary Kharpuri has been chosen as the president of the women’s wing of the National People’s Party (NPP) . This decision was taken during a meeting held on Saturday at the NPP office here, which was attended by NPP state working president Hamletson Dohling, party spokesperson Himalaya M Shangpliang, senior party member Ransom Sutnga and women’s wing members.

Amid growing security concerns and fears of demographic imbalance, the Hynniewtrep Integrated Territorial Organization (HITO), a prominent pressure group in Meghalaya, has made a fresh appeal to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, demanding the urgent extension of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime to cover the entire state. In a strongly worded memorandum submitted to the Home Minister, HITO expressed alarm over the alleged spike in infiltration through the India-Bangladesh border, warning that unchecked movement of individuals poses a serious threat to Meghalaya’s internal stability and India’s national security. The group also raised concerns about the manipulation of welfare schemes through fake identification documents. “The need for ILP in Meghalaya is no longer just about preservi...

Despite obstacles, Meghalaya is still dedicated to electrifying all of its rural areas by the end of 2028, according to Meghalaya Power Minister AT Mondal on Friday. Mondal acknowledged that the state's power sector is "still in evolving position," saying, "In Meghalaya, we still have hundreds of villages which are not electrified or de-electrified, but we do have hope that by the end of 2028 all these villages will be connected, and here RDSS is helping us in a big way." While pointing out the financial limitations, Mondal underlined the significance of investigating future-ready alternatives like Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) during a speech on the fringes of the National Power Committee (NPC) meeting in Shillong. "It is nothing like that if we can create PSP. However, the Pumpe...