Shillong: The Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) in Meghalaya on Monday amended its rules to mandate Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificates for contesting council elections, following recent unrest, deaths and curfew over the participation of non-tribal candidates. The decision, taken during a special session, aims to ensure tribal representation and will now be sent for state and gubernatorial approval under the Sixth Schedule.. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma welcomed the decision. (PTI). The move comes weeks after violence in the Garo Hills triggered by ambiguity in the Assam and Meghalaya Autonomous District Council Rules, 1951, regarding eligibility of non-tribal candidates. The amendment restricts candidature to recognised Scheduled Tribes, a long-standing demand of several tribal organisations. Officials said the proposal will be forwarded to the state government and then to the Governor for assent.. Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma welcomed the decision, calling it a “historic” and long-awaited reform that strengthens the intent of the Sixth Schedule.. “History has been made today with the landmark decision of the GHADC to amend its rules, now mandating ST certification to contest council elections,” Sangma said. “The Garo Hills District Council, established in 1952, has taken 74 long years to arrive at this historic moment,” he said. “This decision will strengthen true representation of our Garo people, ensuring leadership by those who understand the aspirations, traditions and future of our community,” he added.. Soon after the decision, cabinet ministers and MLAs of the National People’s Party (NPP) gathered at the party office in Tura, along with Sangma.. “Joined our people in celebrating this proud and defining milestone,” Sangma posted on X.. The issue had earlier faced legal hurdles, with the Meghalaya high court quashing a similar executive notification and stressing that any such change must follow due legislative procedure. With the council now formally adopting the amendment through its legislative process, the decision is likely to shape the next phase of political and legal discourse in the Garo Hills. 

 March 23 – Governments worldwide are trying to shield consumers from soaring energy costs resulting from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.. Factbox-Governments worldwide shield households from rising energy costs. Here’s how different countries are responding:. INDIA. ** India will review its fuel exports if needed to ensure availability in the local markets, a government official said.. ** India is assessing fuel-supply requests from its neighbours and will approve exports only if it has surplus volumes, the foreign ministry said.. ** The country has barred consumers with piped natural gas from retaining, obtaining or refilling domestic liquefied petroleum gas cylinders.. ** It has invoked emergency powers and directed refiners to maximise production of LPG, widely used for cooking. It cut sales to industry to avoid a shortage for 333 million homes with LPG connections.. SOUTH KOREA. ** South Korea is easing limits on coal-fired power generation capacity and raising nuclear power plant utilisation to as high as 80%.. ** It is considering additional energy vouchers to support vulnerable households.. CHINA. ** China has banned refined fuel exports to pre-empt a potential domestic fuel shortage, four sources said.. ** It is also releasing fertiliser supplies from national commercial reserves ahead of spring planting.. AUSTRALIA. ** Australia is releasing petrol/gasoline and diesel from domestic reserves to ease shortages affecting rural supply chains as well as mining and agriculture.. JAN. ** Japan has asked Australia, its biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas, to boost output.. EUROPEAN UNION. ** European Union leaders called for temporary measures to mitigate the impact of a surge in energy prices, with electricity tax cuts, lower grid fees and state support put forward as possible short-term fixes.. BANGLADESH. ** Bangladesh is seeking billions in external financing to secure fuel and liquefied natural gas imports.. SERBIA. ** Serbia will cut excise duties on crude oil by a cumulative 60% to calm the local market.. ** It has also extended a ban on crude oil and fuel product exports to safeguard its market from shortages and price spikes.. ITALY. ** Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said Italy is considering cutting excise duties to soften fuel prices and is ready to raise taxes on firms responsible for unduly capitalising on the energy crisis.. CAMBODIA. ** Cambodia is importing more fuel from suppliers in Singapore and Malaysia to make up for supply shortfalls from Vietnam and China.. MALAYSIA. ** Malaysia will raise spending on petrol subsidies to 2 billion ringgit from 700 million ringgit to maintain the fixed price of the fuel.. THAILAND. ** Thailand has discussed with the Russian government the possibility of purchasing crude oil, a deputy prime minister said.. ** The minister also said the government would try to cap domestic diesel prices at 33 baht per litre.. ** The Thai Planning Agency said the government will freeze prices 

 The last senior Maoist commander in Bastar region, Paparao, is likely to surrender on Tuesday amid heavy pressure from authorities, people familiar with the matter said, adding that he has reached out to a local journalist to facilitate the process. Security agencies have intensified intelligence-based operations across south Bastar over the past week, restricting Paparao’s movement and weakening his support network.. Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sunderraj P has previously said that the Maoist presence in Bastar has been reduced to a few scattered groups, with remaining leaders under constant pressure. (HT Archive). Paparao, also known as Sunam Chandraya, Mangu Dada and Chandranna, carries a reward of ₹25 lakh and serves as a State Zonal Committee Member (SZCM) and in-charge of the West Bastar division. According to police and intelligence sources, the Maoist leader, who is around 52 to 55 yeas old, recently established contact with a local journalist and sought assistance in initiating surrender negotiations with authorities.. “Initial communication has been made through an intermediary. He appears willing to explore surrender options as the pressure on him has mounted significantly,” a person familiar with the development said.. Paparao is currently believed to be operating in the Indravati National Park area along the Chhattisgarh–Maharashtra border, a core Maoist zone known for its dense forest cover. Once commanding around 30–35 armed cadres, Paparao is now said to be moving with a much smaller group of at least five cadres.. People familiar with the matter said that recent encounters have further isolated Paparao. Over the weekend, six Maoists were killed in operations in Bijapur district, including senior cadre Dilip Bedja, considered close to Paparao and involved in logistics and coordination. “His squad has fragmented and local support systems have weakened due to continuous operations, arrests and surrenders. This has created conditions conducive for a possible surrender,” another official said.. Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sunderraj P has previously said that the Maoist presence in Bastar has been reduced to a few scattered groups, with remaining leaders under constant pressure.. Officials said security forces have further stepped up combing and area domination operations across the Indravati–Abujhmad belt as part of a final push to dismantle the residual Maoist leadership in the region. 

 Guwahati: Several political heavyweights including ministers and party presidents submitted their papers on Monday, the last day of filing nominations for next month’s Assam assembly.. Assam Congress state unit president, Gaurav Gogoi, filed nomination papers for the Jorhat seat. (ANI). Voting for the single-phased election will take place on April 9.. Prominent among those who filed nominations on Monday were BJP ministers, Ranoj Pegu (Dhemaji), Jayanta Malla Baruah (Nalbari), Chandra Mohan Patowary (Tihu) and Bimal Borah (Tingkhong).. Senior cabinet minister and president of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Atul Bora, and party colleague and minister Keshab Mahanta filed nominations for the Bokakhat and Kaliabor seats respectively. AGP, is a partner in the BJP-led coalition government in Assam.. Former Congress state president, Bhupen Kumar Borah, who joined BJP last month, filed nomination from the Bihpuria seat.. Congress state unit president, Gaurav Gogoi, filed nomination papers for the Jorhat seat. The 43-year-old who is also the Lok Sabha MP from the same constituency (Jorhat) will be facing former assembly speaker and sitting BJP MLA, Hitendra Nath Goswami.. “People of Assam are hoping for a New Assam…We want to bring about a change in that,” Gogoi said ahead of submitting papers.. Focus was also on rebels who switched sides or filed nominations as independent candidates after being denied party tickets. Prominent among those were Nandita Garlosa, a BJP minister in the present government who resigned from the party on Sunday after being denied a ticket. She filed nomination on Monday as the Congress candidate for the Halflong seat, which she had won in 2021.. Garlosa was the only minister from the BJP in the coalition who was denied a ticket. This time, the party had fielded Rupali Langthasa for the seat reserved for scheduled tribe (ST) candidates—the move apparently miffed Garlosa, who was handling the mines, minerals and tribal faith portfolios in the cabinet.. In Sibsagar, BJP sprang a surprise by fielding Kushol Dowari on Monday after he had threatened to contest as an Independent. The party had earlier left the seat to ally AGP who had fielded Pradip Hazarika against sitting MLA, Akhil Gogoi, the president of Raijor Dal, a constituent of the Congress-led six-party opposition alliance. Now there could be a ‘friendly contest’ between BJP and AGP for the seat unless Hazarika withdraws nomination.. In the prestigious Dispur seat in Guwahati, Jayanta Das, who resigned from BJP after being denied a ticket in favour of new entrant from Congress Pradyut Bordoloi, filed nomination as an independent. “Other may have muscle power, but I am going to win as I have the strength of the public with me,” said Das ahead of submitting his papers.. There were speculations that sitting BJP candidate from Dispur, Atul Bora, who was upset at being denied a ticket, and West Guwahati (now Central Guwahati after delimitation) MLA from AGP, Ramendra Narayan Kal 

 NEW DELHIThe Enforcement Directorate (ED) has restituted assets worth approximately $5.6 billion (Rs. ED director Rahul Navin made the remarks at the three-day steering committee meeting of the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network) (ED). 52,329 crore) to victims of money laundering, agency chief Rahul Navin said on Monday at the GlobE Network steering committee meeting in Delhi.. Navin said a significant portion of these recoveries were made in the last two years, according to an ED statement.. The top ED official made the remarks at the three-day steering committee meeting of the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE Network) – a global platform of specialised anti-corruption law enforcement authorities established under the Riyadh Initiative during Saudi Arabia’s G20 Presidency.. The platform enables direct, practitioner-level cooperation among member agencies for the investigation, prosecution, and recovery of proceeds of corruption. The meeting is being held in Delhi from March 23 to 25.. According to the statement, Navin highlighted the complementary roles of India’s two member agencies: the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) as India’s primary anti-corruption investigation and prosecution agency, and the ED as the agency mandated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to trace, restrain, confiscate, and restitute proceeds of crime.. He underscored that asset recovery was not an afterthought but the truest measure of enforcement success under the modern anti-corruption framework enshrined in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.. Section 8(8) of the PMLA empowers the special court to direct the government to restore confiscated property to a claimant with a legitimate interest in the property who may have suffered a loss due to the accused’s money laundering.. Some of the cases in which ED has restored the proceeds of crime to the banks or investors include those against fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya, diamantaires Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi ( ₹15,000 crore restituted to banks in these three cases), probes against several builders and ponzi schemes.. Between 2014 and 2025, ED has registered 6,508 cases under PMLA and arrested 1,135 individuals. It has also attached assets worth around 1.85 lakh crore.. Navin acknowledged the practical value of GlobE tools to Indian investigators, specifically citing Spain’s assistance in a case where information shared through the network “led directly to the restraining of assets through formal channels”.. In his address, CBI director Praveen Sood underlined that corruption today was “transnational, sophisticated, and increasingly enabled by technology, making international cooperation not a matter of choice but an absolute necessity”.. Sood called upon all member agencies to actively engage with CBI, share actionable intelligence, and make full use of available c