Staff Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 24: Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister, Prof. R. C. Laloo, on Tuesday inaugurated the 3 –Day Specialized Training Programme on “Seismic Safety Assessment of Building in Rapid Visual Screening and Retrofitting” for Engineers, Architects and Town Planners of various State Departments at Shillong Club, here.
The programme was organized by the Meghalaya State Disaster Management Authority (MSDMA) in collaboration with the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

Staff Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 24: A One Day Technical Workshop on Post Harvest Management and Marketing Linkage on Coffee was held at SMELC, Dakopgre, Tura on Tuesday.  The programme was jointly organised by Coffee Board, Government of India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Meghalaya Basin Development Authority and Soil and Water Conservation Department, Government of Meghalaya.
Speaking on the occasion as Chief Guest, Deputy Commissioner, West Garo Hills, Pravin Bakshi expressed his happiness seeing a good number of Coffee growers in the region. He mentioned that coffee which is referred to as ‘Brown Gold’ is not bound by economies of market and depends on the quality of coffee beans. He also spoke about the importance of grading, branding and packaging of Coffee which is being produced in the region and if branded well has the potential to bring attractive remunerative returns.

Bhubaneswar, Oct 22 (IANS): Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday said that the 1817 'Paika Bidroha' or rebellion would find a place in history books as the First War of Indian Independence.
"Odisha's Paika rebellion will find a place as the First War of Independence in the 2018 history books and include details of the rebellion against the then British rule. Because, the country should learn factual history," the Minister told a function held here to commemorate 200 years of the rebellion.
He said the Centre had allocated Rs 200 crore for the rebellion's commemoration across the country.

Imphal, Oct 22 (IANS): Most major rivers in Manipur were flowing above the danger level on Sunday following two days of heavy rain. Locals rued the lack of action by officials to redress the situation.
And with an overcast sky, there were apprehensions of more rain in Manipur and neighbouring states.
People were asked not to cross the Singjamei bridge since Sunday morning as the Imphal river was in spate near Singjamei town.