Utpal is a Senior Assistant Editor based in Guwahati. He covers seven states of North-East India and heads the editorial team for the region. He was previously based in Kathmandu, Dehradun and Delhi with Hindustan Times.
Articles by Utpal Parashar
Cash-for-job case: Gauhati HC grants bail to main accused
The present case is related to alleged acceptance of ₹50,000 by Rakesh Paul from one Bedanta Bikash Das in lieu of getting appointed as an agriculture development officer
Published on Mar 24, 2023 06:35 PM IST
Assam: Former BJP IT cell chief Prodyut Bora merges his party with Congress
Prodyut Bora, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party, said the move was necessary to take a united stand against the BJP ahead of the 2024 general elections
Updated on Mar 21, 2023 03:38 PM IST
Will end child marriages in Assam by 2026: CM Sarma
On Monday, replying to a question raised by Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, Sarma said special drives against the menace would continue every few months till it gets eliminated
Published on Mar 20, 2023 03:43 PM IST
13,000 cattle being smuggled to Bangladesh seized in Assam last year: CM Sarma
In 2022, 1,181 cases related to cross border crimes on the Indo-Bangladesh border along Assam were registered
Published on Mar 20, 2023 01:26 PM IST
‘No govt role in EC’s delimitation, don’t fall prey to rumours’: Assam CM
On reports in various local news outlets on how some constituencies will be reshaped once delimitation is over, Sarma refuted and said that EC has not validated such speculations and urged opposition legislators not to fall prey to speculations on various media outlets
Published on Mar 20, 2023 01:22 PM IST
Assam govt announces ₹100 cr prize for cleanest district
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma made the announcement while disclosing names of winners of a cleanliness drive carried out last month among 172 villages and tea gardens in Khumtai constituency in Golaghat district
Published on Mar 18, 2023 10:37 AM IST
Plan to close all madrasas in Assam: Himanta
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that his government has so far shut down 600 madrasas and he intends to close all such institutions in the state.
Updated on Mar 18, 2023 12:22 AM IST
Utpal Parashar, Guwahati
In Assam, 600 madrasas closed, will shut down remaining: Himanta in Karnataka
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Assam passed legislation in January 2021 which paved the way to convert all government-run madrasas in the state to regular schools
Updated on Mar 17, 2023 08:10 PM IST
Assam exam paper leak: 27 persons, including teachers & students arrested
The question papers of two subjects of the ongoing exams conducted by the Secondary Education Board of Assam (SEBA) were leaked that led to widespread condemnation of the state government
Published on Mar 17, 2023 05:20 PM IST
Assam court acquits student booked under UAPA last year after sharing poem on Facebook
The 19-year-old student was arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in May last year
Published on Mar 17, 2023 09:48 AM IST
Sarma calls exam paper leak his govt’s failure
Student organisations have been protesting across Assam demanding the resignation of education minister Ranoj Pegu and exam board chairman RC Jain
Published on Mar 16, 2023 03:42 PM IST
2 Army officers killed in Arunachal chopper crash; court of inquiry ordered
Two Indian Army officers, a pilot and a co-pilot, were killed after an army helicopter crashed in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday, army officials said
Updated on Mar 16, 2023 06:46 PM IST
Assam Budget: FM Neog announces financial assistance to 2 lakh youths
Neog stated that the aggregate receipts for 2022-23 were ₹321,742 crore, while the aggregate expenditure is estimated at ₹321,081 crore– resulting in a surplus of nearly ₹661 crore for the financial year 2023-24
Published on Mar 16, 2023 02:35 PM IST
Raise your hands to avoid encounters: Assam CM Sarma’s advice to criminals
Sarma reiterated his government’s stand of retaliation by police if criminals tried to escape from custody or attacked policemen
Published on Mar 16, 2023 11:31 AM IST
Considering stringent legislation against child marriages: Sarma
The Gauhati high court last month said the state’s use of power in its campaign against child marriages can play “havoc with personal lives” of people
Published on Mar 16, 2023 10:30 AM IST
One case of H3N2 detected in Assam; health department on alert
The state health department has started creating awareness on hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette while monitoring the situation on a “real time basis”
Published on Mar 16, 2023 08:49 AM IST
14 cadres of Naga rebel outfit and their chief surrender in Arunachal Pradesh
Army officials said the surrender ceremony marked an end to the era of the Nagar rebel outfit, Eastern Naga National Government (ENNG)’s insurgency in South Arunachal Pradesh
Updated on Mar 12, 2023 06:44 PM IST
29 yrs on, Gauhati HC orders compensation for 5 Assam men killed in army op
The Gauhati high court ordered the authorities to pay the compensation for the death of the five men in 1994 within two months.
Updated on Mar 10, 2023 06:24 PM IST
Assam creates world record for 4.3 mn essays on Ahom general Lachit Barphukan
The essays were written by students, government officials and other individuals from within Assam and outside in Assamese, English, Bengali, Bodo and other languages
Published on Mar 10, 2023 08:26 AM IST
Conrad, Neiphiu sworn in, begin fresh innings as CM
Conrad Sangma and Neiphiu Rio took oath on Tuesday as chief ministers of Meghalaya and Nagaland respectively in ceremonies that were attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah
Published on Mar 07, 2023 11:35 PM IST
Utpal Parashar and Alice Yhoshü, Guwahati/kohima
Nagaland gets 1st-ever woman minister; Rio, Sangma sworn as CMs
Salhoutuono Kruse and Hekani Jakhalu created history last week when they became the first women to be elected to the state assembly since Nagaland’s creation in 1963
Published on Mar 07, 2023 03:41 PM IST
Alice Yhoshü and Utpal Parashar
Conrad Sangma sworn in as Meghalaya chief minister
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) contested the assembly elections separately but later got into a post-poll alliance to form the new government
Updated on Mar 07, 2023 12:31 PM IST
Utpal Parashar and Saptarshi Das
Meghalaya: MDA decides cabinet berths, NPP gets most
The National People’s Party (NPP)-led coalition in Meghalaya on Monday agreed that cabinet berths will be shared among various alliance partners in the northeastern state, which gave a fractured verdict in the recently concluded assembly elections.
Published on Mar 07, 2023 01:14 AM IST
Utpal Parashar, Guwahati
Meghalaya: Two more parties offer support to NPP as coalition tally touches 45
UDP, which is the second largest party with 11 seats and the PDF, which has two MLAs, also extended their support to Conrad taking the coalition’s tally to 45 legislators in the 60-member assembly
Published on Mar 06, 2023 09:36 AM IST
Governor invites Conrad Sangma to form govt; PM Modi likely to attend oath ceremony on March 7
Meghalaya governor Phagu Chauhan invited the NPP-led coalition headed by Conrad Sangma to form the next government in the northeastern state
Updated on Mar 05, 2023 12:02 AM IST
Twist in Meghalaya govt formation; HSPDP MLAs support Sangma, party withdraws
Meghalaya assembly election 2023: On Friday, Conrad Sangma had submitted a letter of support signed by 32 legislators—one more than the required 31- and staked a claim to form the next government.
Updated on Mar 04, 2023 09:24 AM IST
Utpal Parashar, Guwahati
Conrad stakes claim for second CM term
“We have an absolute majority. The BJP has already extended its support. Some others have also given their support,” National People’s Party (NPP) chief Conrad Sangma said in a press conference.
Updated on Mar 04, 2023 01:46 AM IST
‘Just wait and watch’: NPP’s Conrad Sangma stakes claim to form Meghalaya govt
Meghalaya: The NPP, founded by Conrad Sangma’s father and former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma in 2013, won 26 seats on its own.
Updated on Mar 03, 2023 02:00 PM IST
Conrad to return as CM, set to get backing from BJP, others
The NPP and the BJP fought a bitter political campaign after deciding to contest the polls independently, despite being coalition partners in the previous government, with “corruption” and “high-handedness” the buzzwords from the two camps.
Published on Mar 03, 2023 12:15 AM IST
BJP, allies retain power after tough battle in N-E states
The three incumbent governments in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya returned to power in results that bode well for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prospects in the region in next year’s national elections, ask questions of the Congress’s ability to be the core of an anti-BJP alliance, and point to the limitations of the Trinamool Congress in extending its sway beyond West Bengal
Published on Mar 03, 2023 12:14 AM IST
Utpal Parashar and Smriti Kak Ramachandran, Guwahati/new Delhi
