Agartala, Feb 21 (IANS) With thousands of people from either side of the border gathering at colourful functions to commemorate the "language martyrs", India and Bangladesh jointly organised the International Mother Language Day.

Agartala, Feb 21 (IANS) A two-day nationwide strike called by major trade unions crippled life in Left-ruled Tripura for a second day Thursday.

Agartala, Feb 20 (IANS) Hundreds of people Wednesday gathered at an India-Bangladesh checkpost in Tripura to show solidarity with protestors in Dhaka who are demanding death penalty for those convicted of war crimes.

Agartala, Feb 20 (IANS) Trade between Tripura and Bangladesh was hit Wednesday as central trade unions commenced their two-day country wide strike, an official here said.

Agartala, Feb 20 (IANS) A two-day nationwide strike called by 11 major trade unions demanding concrete measures for containing inflation, ensuring jobs and enforcement of labour laws crippled life in Left-ruled Tripura Wednesday.

Agartala, Feb 18 (IANS) As many as 94.24 percent of the 516 electorate turned out to vote in Kakraban assembly constituency in southern Tripura where a repoll was ordered at a polling station after snags in electronic voting machines (EVMs) were detected, an official said.

Agartala, Feb 18 (IANS) Political leaders in Tripura and traders' forums have hailed the pact between India and Bangladesh to start work on laying the Agartala-Akhaurah new rail link and setting up of border 'haats' (bazaars) in the northeastern states.

Agartala, Feb 17 (IANS) Re-polling will be held Monday in a voting centre in Tripura's Kakraban constituency where the electronic voting machines (EVMs) suffered a snag Feb 14.

Agartala, Feb 16 (IANS) India's northeastern state of Tripura made electoral history when a record 93.57 percent votes were cast in Thursday's election to the 60-seat assembly, officials said here Saturday.

Agartala, Feb 14 (IANS) Polling to elect a new assembly in the Left-ruled Tripura ended peacefully Thursday with more than 92 percent voters casting their ballots.

Agartala, Feb 14 (IANS) Polling to elect a new assembly in the Left-ruled Tripura ended peacefully Thursday with more than 85 percent voters casting their ballots.

Agartala, Feb 14 (IANS) Both the CPI-M led ruling Left Front as well as the Congress-led opposition alliance are optimistic of forming the next government in Tripura after Thursday's polling saw a large turnout.

Agartala, Feb 14 (IANS) Unlike in the past where the shadow of insurgency loomed large during any elections in the northeast, the run up to the polls in the three northeastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland have been peaceful - a heartening development considering that the region was always riddled by a myriad violent insurgencies.

Agartala, Feb 14 (IANS) Polling to elect a new assembly in the Left-ruled Tripura continued briskly Thursday with more than half the electorate having cast their votes till 1.30 p.m. No major incidents of violence were reported.

Agartala, Feb 14 (IANS) Elections in Tripura have hit the India-Bangladesh border trade as several trading points were shut by authorities for security reasons, officials said Thursday.

Agartala, Feb 14 (IANS) Voters queued up in large numbers outside polling booths in Tripura from early morning Thursday as the single-phased assembly elections proceeded peacefully and briskly, officials said.

Agartala, Feb 14 (IANS) Voting for the Tripura assembly elections began Thursday amidst tight security, an official said.

Agartala, Feb 13 (IANS) The country's lone Left-ruled state Tripura goes for assembly polls Thursday with the ruling CPI-M expected to face a challenge from the opposition Congress, which is out of power in the state for the last 20 years.

Agartala, Feb 12 (IANS) CPI-M leaders in Tripura Tuesday termed as falsehood Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's tirade against the Left government in the state.

Agartala, Feb 12 (IANS) The Congress has no tacit alliance with any Left parties and our main task is to end the rule of Communists in any state in the country, party vice president Rahul Gandhi said here Tuesday.

Agartala, Feb 12 (IANS) The Congress is determined to oust India's only Left regime in Tripura in elections Thursday, but the Marxists are equally confident of retaining power -- for the seventh time.

Elections to the state assembly in Tripura are slated for Feb 14. Ballots will be counted Feb 28. Some facts at a glance:

Agartala, Feb 12 (IANS) He washes his clothes every morning, has just over Rs.10,000 in his name and owns neither house, mobile nor car. Tripura's Manik Sarkar is probably India's poorest chief minister and that rare politician whose honesty is extolled by his staunchest political opponents.

Agartala, Feb 11 (IANS) The Communist government in Tripura will be voted out in the Feb 14 assembly election, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said Monday.

Agartala, Feb 11 (IANS) The Congress is in league with political forces who are a "mask of outlawed extremists" and was trying to oust the Left Front in the Feb 14 assembly polls but would not succeed, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said here Monday.

Agartala, Feb 10 (IANS) Patriotic folk and modern songs, street plays, rhymes, poems and colourful decorations using small trees were the highlights in the run-up to the Feb 14 assembly elections in Tripura.

Agartala, Feb 9 (IANS) In a blow to the campaign of opposition Congress for the Feb 14 assembly polls in Tripura, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi Saturday cancelled their trips to the Left-ruled state, a party leader said.

Agartala, Feb 8 (IANS) The Tripura government Friday slapped charges under the National Security Act (NSA) against top militant leader Ranjit Debbarma, 17 days after he was arrested when pushed into the Indian territory by Bangladesh authorities, officials here said.

Agartala, Feb 8 (IANS) Use of mobile phones in and around the polling stations in the three elections bound northeastern states - Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland - has been banned, an official said here Friday.

Agartala, Feb 7 (IANS) Saying that Communism has not lost its relevance, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has asserted that the Left Front is supremely confident of returning to power for a seventh time.

Agartala, Feb 7 (IANS) Manik Sarkar, who has been the Tripura chief minister for 15 years and is leading the CPI-M in upcoming elections, is perhaps India's poorest chief minister.

Agartala, Feb 7 (IANS) Despite the 'paribartan' (change) slogan turning a disaster in Bengal, the Congress has been trying to impose it in vain in Tripura, said CPI-M politburo member Surya Kanta Mishra here Thursday.

Agartala, Feb 7 (IANS) Over 1,100 illegal mobile SIM cards were seized and three people were arrested in northern Tripura ahead of next week's assembly polls, police said here Thursday.

Agartala, Feb 6 (IANS) Some professors and assistant professors of colleges and universities have refused to be micro-observers in the Feb 14 assembly polls in Tripura, citing the 'protocol' hiccup that they are being equated with lower category employees.

Agartala, Feb 6 (IANS) The Election Commission has cautioned Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar over the misuse of official machinery for political reasons and violating the model code of conduct ahead of the Feb 14 polls, officials said here Wednesday.

Agartala, Feb 4 (IANS) Any of eight leaders in the BJP, including Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, could be the prime ministerial candidate, party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Monday.

Agartala, Feb 4 (IANS) The number of candidates contesting the Feb 14 polls who have criminal charges filed against them has increased to eight percent, from three percent in the last assembly elections in the state in 2008, a report published Monday said.

Agartala, Feb 3 (IANS) Two 26-year-olds are the youngest contenders in the Feb 14 Tripura assembly polls, while an 85-year-old veteran CPI-M leader is the oldest among the 249 candidates vying for a place in the 60-member house, an official said Sunday.

Agartala, Feb 3 (IANS) The international and national borders of three northeastern states which will see elections will be sealed to check the smuggling of arms, officials said Sunday.

Agartala, Feb 2 (IANS) The BJP, which has so far failed to win a single Lok Sabha or assembly seat in Left-ruled Tripura, hopes to play a significant role in the Feb 14 assembly elections and enter the 60-member house for the first time, a party leader said Saturday.

Agartala, Feb 2 (IANS) The budget for the Feb 14 assembly elections in Tripura has more than doubled compared to the last polls in 2008, an official said here Saturday.

Agartala, Feb 1 (IANS) Media organisations in the election-bound northeastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland have been asked not to accept any kind of inducement, financial or otherwise to project a candidate or a party, poll panel officials said here Friday.

Agartala, Feb 1 (IANS) A total of 251 candidates will be in the fray in the Feb 14 elections to pick a new 60-member Tripura assembly, officials said Friday.

Agartala, Feb 1 (IANS) A total of 251 candidates, including representatives of 16 political parties and independents, will contest the Feb 14 elections for the 60-member Tripura assembly, officials said here Friday.

Agartala, Jan 31 (IANS) The Congress Thursday said it has reached an understanding with the Trinamool Congress to fight the Feb 14 Tripura assembly polls so as not to divide the anti-Left Front votes, a claim which was rejected by the party led by Mamata Banerjee.

Agartala, Jan 29 (IANS) A trooper of the elite Tripura State Rifles (TSR) gunned down two colleagues and shot at three others before fleeing away with his service rifle, police here said Tuesday.

Agartala, Jan 28 (IANS) Ahead of the Feb 14 assembly polls in Tripura, state Congress president's elder brother Sandip Roy Barman was arrested Monday night with arms, ammunition, Bangladeshi currency and incriminating documents of militants, police said.

Agartala, Jan 28 (IANS) The ruling CPI-M in Tripura Monday termed the Congress's poll promises to the people as "chit funds" which are "lucrative offers", ahead of the Feb 14 elections to the state assembly.

Agartala, Jan 27 (IANS) The Congress will provide seven kg rice free of cost to the extremely poor people, 35 kg of rice at the rate of Re.1 to the poor people, and allowances to the jobless youths and farmers in Tripura if voted to the power in the Feb 14 assembly polls.

Agartala, Jan 27 (IANS) The Supreme Court collegium has recommended three chief justices for the proposed high courts in the northeastern states of Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya, officials said here Sunday.