The World : India Approves New State

Parliament’s upper house voted to make the isolated Himalayan region of Arunachal Pradesh India’s 24th state, although the area--roughly the size of Maine--is the object of a festering border dispute with China. The action will end federal control of the area and allow for the creation of a legislature in the capital of Itanagar, about 1,000 miles east of New Delhi. During British rule, Arunachal Pradesh was known as the North Eastern Frontier Agency and was part of Assam state.