AFSPA removed from Meghalaya, restricted in Arunachal
New Delhi, April 23: The Union Home Ministry has removed Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from Meghalaya and reduced it to eight police stations in Arunachal Pradesh, an official said on Monday.
"AFSPA was totally withdrawn from all areas of Meghalaya from April 1. In Arunachal, it is down from 16 police stations to eight," the official said.
The Act has however been extended by another six months in three eastern districts of Arunachal Pradesh -- Tirap, Longding and Changlang -- which border Myanmar and specific areas under eight police stations of seven other districts bordering Assam. The three districts have been under the AFSPA since January 2016.
The Act was withdrawn from Tripura in 2015 and in past one year, fewer areas in northeast are under the Act, the official said, adding that the Act was only in place in Meghalaya for a a 20-km area along the Assam border) and not in operation in Mizoram.
AFSPA gives powers to the Army and central forces deployed in "disturbed areas" to kill anyone acting in contravention of law, arrest and search any premises without a warrant and provide cover to forces from prosecution and legal suits without the Central government's sanction.
It is effective in the whole of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur (excluding seven Assembly constituencies of Imphal). The state governments of Assam and Manipur now have the powers to keep or revoke the Act.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
India has agreed already to drop its tariffs to nothing: President Trump
New York/Washington, May 7 (PTI): US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said India has “agreed” to drop its high tariffs “to nothing”.
“I mean, India as an example, has one of the highest tariffs in the world. We’re not going to put up with that, and they’ve agreed already to drop it. They’ll drop it to nothing. They’ve already agreed. They would have never done that for anybody else but me,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump and visiting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke to reporters as they met in the Oval Office to discuss the US-Canada trade.
“So we’re going to put down some numbers and we’re going to say our country is open for business and they’re going to come in and they’re going to pay for the privilege of being able to shop in the United States of America. It’s very simple. It’s very simple,” he added.
In the past, Trump has called India “tariff king” and a “big abuser”.
Last month, Trump had said that negotiations with India over a bilateral trade deal are “coming along great” and he thinks “we’ll have a deal with India”.
