Staff Reporter
SHILLONG, Sept 08: Meghalaya government Monday said it is making all efforts to deal with the ‘threat’ issued by the notorious terrorist outfit, Al-Qaeda who announced the formation of its wing in the Indian Sub Continent including neighbouring Assam.
Taking note of this, a high level security meeting was on Monday convened by the State Chief Secretary PBO Warjri to discuss on the all round security arrangements in the state after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) circulated a communication to the state government on the matter.
The meeting which was held based on the direction of the Home Minister Roshan Warjri was attended by the State Director General of Police (DGP) PJP Hanaman besides senior officials from the home department.

Staff Reporter
Shillong, Sept 08: World Literacy Day on the theme, “Making Education A Reality” was observed Monday at St. Paul Higher Secondary School, Marbisu, Shillong, wherein Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Dr. R. C. Laloo was the Chief Guest and P. K. Srivastava, Principal Secretary of Education, Meghalaya as Guest of Honour. The State Level function which was organized by the Office of the State Education Mission Authority of Meghalaya (SEMAM).
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Laloo said that the main objective of the programme is to mobilize ‘out of schools children’ to attend schools and to alsso make parents and the community conscious of the importance of education. “Unless out of schools children are brought back to school, we will not be able to give a literacy mandate”, he said. In 2011, the literacy rate in Meghalaya was 74.43%, so it will not be impossible to achieve 100% literacy rate by 2014. Stating that education is a continuous process and that the sole responsibility of education lies with the teacher, he stressed upon the need of trained teachers to make teaching more effective.  He also informed that 3 Blocks Institute of Teachers in Education will be opened up soon where teachers will be given Rs. 5000 per month as stipend.

Staff Reporter

Tura, Sept 07: A 19 year old who was caught by suspicious villages near the India - Bangladesh border near Jaksongram in South Garo Hills (SGH) Saturday night and handed over to the police hanged himself in the police lock up early morning on Sunday. The teenager was a suspected bike thief and was present in the lockup with another cell mate when the incident happened, though the person was unable to do anything as he was asleep.

The 19 year old has been identified as Senomen S Marak and he was resident of Rongdok under the Shallang Police Station in the West Khasi Hills district. The place of incident is about a 100 kms from the town of Tura and about 20 kms from the district head quarter, Baghmara.

Staff Reporter
SHILLONG, Sept 08: Meghalaya government Monday said it was asked by the Centre not to hold any talks with the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) as the outfit is still carrying out violence and illegal activities in Garo Hills region.
“The Centre has advised the State Government not to hold talk with them (GNLA) as they are still very much active in carrying out vio;=lence and illegal activities in Garo Hills,” the Under Secretary to Government of Meghalaya in - charge political B Khongwir said in a statement issued here on Monday.

JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Sept 07 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday reviewed the flood situation in Jammu and Kashmir and announced a special assistance of Rs.1,000 crore. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah asked people not to panic, asserting that help will reach them soon.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) began a massive aerial relief and rescue operation in flood-affected regions of the state. The floods have claimed over 100 lives so far.

The Rs.1,000 crore package announced for the flood-hit state was besides a Rs.2 lakh compensation from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund for the kin of each dead and Rs.50,000 each for the seriously injured.

Staff Reporter

Tura, Sept 07: The North Garo Hills (NGH) police made a major breakthrough in the Gokol firing incident case by arresting another 2 cadres of LAEF, with one area commander of the outfit also in the net of the police. In July, seven members of the Liberation of A'chik Elite Force (LAEF) had attacked the Gokol market and extorted money from the shops after firing 8 rounds in the air. 5 of the seven are now in police custody with the rest of the group on the run.