Itanagar, Nov 4 : Candidates of the ruling Congress, Wanglin Lowangdong and Tapang Taloh were Wednesday elected unopposed as the speaker and deputy speaker respectively of the Arunachal Pradesh assembly.

Lowangdong and Taloh, who were elected to the assembly for the second time, were declared elected unopposed to their new posts by the pro-tem Speaker Chow Tewa Mein in the absence of any other candidates for the two posts.

The first session of the fifth assembly, which began Tuesday will continue till Nov 6.

Itanagar, Nov 2 : In Arunachal Pradesh, 11 ministers of the newly elected Congress led Government will be sworn in a ceremony today.

Earlier on October 25, Dorjee Khandu was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state.

Governor General (Retd) JJ Singh will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers in a ceremony at Raj Bhawan today.

Elaborate arrangements have been made at the Raj Bhawan for this ceremony.

Some new faces are expected in the new government.

Meanwhile, the first session of the fifth Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly will begin from Tuesday.

Mumbai/Haryana/Itanagar, Oct 25 : The Congress Party has decided to retain Ashok Chavan and Bhupinder Singh Hooda as the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Haryana respectively.

A decision was taken by Congress President Sonia Gandhi after she held several rounds of consultations with senior party leaders.

Defence Minister A K Antony, who is one of the observers for Maharashtra, said Chavan has been chosen as the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the state.

Itanagar, Oct 24 - Dorjee Khandu is all set to become the chief minister of the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh for the second straight term with the newly elected Congress legislators Saturday unanimously electing him the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP).

Khandu was the unanimous choice at the CLP meeting held in Itanagar. "All the 42 newly elected Congress legislators were present," a senior Congress leader said.

The CLP meeting was also attended by All India Congress Committee (AICC) observers Luizinho Faleiro and V. Narayansamy.

Mumbai/Haryana/Itanagar, Oct 22 -: Counting of votes for the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh began this morning.

In Maharashtra, the counting of votes is being held at 288 counting centers for as many seats in 267 locations across the state.

The counting will decide the fate of 3,536 candidates, including 1,820 independents.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the fate of 154 candidates in 57 assembly constituencies will be decided.

About 60 to 72 per cent voting was witnessed.

Itanagar, Oct 22 - Counting of votes to pick a new 60-member legislature in Arunachal Pradesh began Thursday morning amid heavy security, officials said.

The exercise started at 8 a. m. in 57 of the 60 constituencies. Three candidates have been declared elected unopposed. Among them is Congress Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu.

Of the 750,000 voters, 72 percent voted Oct 13. A total of 154 candidates were in the fray. The Congress fielded contestants in all 60 seats.

Itanagar, Oct 13 : Indian lawmakers Tuesday slammed Beijing for criticizing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the latest hiccup between the Asian neighbours after reports of Chinese incursions and Indian troop build up along the borders.

"It is simply blasphemous on the part of China to oppose or express dissatisfaction over the visit of our prime minister to Arunachal Pradesh," Takam Sanjay, a ruling Congress MP in the Lok Sabha from Arunachal Pradesh, told IANS.

Itanagar, Oct 13 - Voting for 57 of the 60 assembly seats in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh opened Tuesday morning amid tight security, officials said.

An election official said voting began at 7 a. m. in the 57 seats with three candidates already declared elected unopposed.

Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and two more ruling Congress members - sitting legislator Tsewang Dhondup from Tawang constituency and debutant Jambey Tashi from the Lumla seat - were declared elected unopposed.

Itanagar, Oct 12 - The stage is set for Tuesday's vote to elect a 60-member legislature in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh with the ruling Congress party emerging as the frontrunner.

"Everything is in place for a free and fair poll," an election official said.

Polling personnel have already reached their respective destinations to conduct the elections, he added.

Voting would be for just 57 seats with three candidates already declared elected unopposed.

Itanagar, Oct 10 - The ruling Congress party has emerged as the frontrunner in the coming assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, with the fractured opposition unlikely to spring any surprises.

Elections to the 60-member legislature is scheduled for Oct 13 but voting would take place for just 57 seats. Three candidates have been declared elected unopposed.

The three are Chief minister Dorjee Khandu and Congress members (incumbent) Tsewang Dhondup from Tawang constituency and debutant Jambey Tashi from Lumla.

Itanagar, Oct 8 : More than 40 percent of the 157 candidates for next week's assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh are millionaires, with the richest being a debutant school dropout worth more than Rs. 2 billion (Rs. 200 crore).

According to figures compiled by the National Election Watch (NEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) from affidavits filed by the contesting candidates, 63 candidates are millionaires.

Congress party candidate for the Palin assembly constituency, Takam Tagar, is the richest with declared assets worth Rs. 2.09 billion.

Itanagar, Sep. 22 : A physically disabled candidate has joined the Assembly election bandwagon in Arunachal Pradesh.

Tami Taniang, 47, who got a National Award for his service to the physically disabled, is contesting elections as a candidate of the Janata Dal.

“The handicapped, widows, orphans and the weaker sections of society are unable to fight for their rights. When elections approach, candidates buy votes from them.

Itanagar, Sep 14 : The Congress Party on Monday denied tickets to nine of its sitting MLAs, including a minister for the next month’s Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh.

The party has announced the names of 56 candidates for the 60 member state assembly.

The state’s Land Management and Sports Minister Atum Welly, former ministers T G Rimpoche and Tani Loffa not listed.

The elctions in Arunachal Pradesh will take palce on October 13 along with polls in Maharashtra and Haryana.

Itanagar, Aug 18 : A full team of the Election Commission will begin three-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh from today.

The visit assumes significance as elections for the 60-member Arunachal Assembly is due in October this year.

During their visit, the team led by Chief Election Commissioner Naveen B. Chawla will review election arrangements and law and order situation in the State.

Ziro (Itanagar), Aug. 4 (ANI): Dree, a harvest festival meant to pray for a bumper yield of crop, was recently celebrated by the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh.

Thousands of Apatani tribals, dressed in traditional attires, recently assembled at Ziro, about 200 kilometres from State capital Itanagar, to celebrate this festival with full gaiety and enthusiasm.

It is a seasonal festival of joy and merriment celebrated with a series of agricultural rituals.

Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), June 10: Wreckage of the Indian Air Force AN-32 aircraft, which went missing in Arunachal Pradesh with 14 people on board, has been found.

The IAF had began an aerial survey to trace the transport aircraft that went missing over the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday.

According to sources, IAF AN-32 aircraft with eight IAF personnel and six civilians took off from Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh and went missing shortly after.

Itanagar, Apr 20 : Repolling is taking place amidst tight security in 13 booths in the Arunachal West Parliamentary constituency on Monday.

Polling here was affected during the first phase on April 16 due to incidents of booth capturing and breaking of Electronic Voting Machines.

While eight of these polling stations are located in the state capital, one is in Doimukh near Itanagar and two each in upper and lower Subansiri Districts respectively.

Itanagar, Apr 3 : President Pratibha Patil will visit Kibito, a forward army base along the Chinese border, today.

On Thursday, President Patil visited Tawang, the district headquarters located at 9000 feet above sea level near Sino-India border.

She also visited the 450-year-old Tawang monastery, the second largest in Asia, and 1962 war memorial.

Before returning to New Delhi, President Patil will attend the closing session of the diamond jubilee of the Gauhati High Court at Guwahati on Saturday. (ANI)

Itanagar, Apr 1 : President Pratibha Patil will arrive here today on a three-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

During her visit, the President will attend the silver jubilee function and convocation of the North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST) in Itanagar.

The foundation stone of the institute was laid by then President Giani Zail Singh in 1984.

The President will also visit Tawang, during which she will go to the Monastery there as also the War Memorial.

Itanagar, Mar 26 : Senior Bharatiya Janata Party''s (BJP) leader L K Advani is on a visit to Arunachal Pradesh today to boost his party''s election prospects in the state.

Advani will address a rally at Sepa in East Kameng District and meet with state party leaders and members of the parliamentary constituency.

Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party leader P A Sangma has said he would campaign for the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh.

Sangma is demanding a revocation of Central rule in neighbouring Meghalaya.