ne Reporter

The trip to Tripura

2012-01-17T17:39:00.001-08:00

Barrister Harun ur Rashid

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's two-day visit to Tripura on January 11-12 was the first by any prime minister of Bangladesh. The visit assumes significance in many respects.

It underscores not only the broadening and deepening of relations with Tripura state but also the desirability of a closer integration of Bangladesh's economy with that of the northeastern states of India.

During the Indian prime minister's visit to Dhaka last September, the chief ministers of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram accompanied Dr. Singh and supported close engagement with Bangladesh.

Chief Minister of Tripura Manik Sarkar said: "The people of Tripura and the people of Bangladesh have always had close relations at socio-cultural level and these relations are being further strengthened."

We tend to forget that Bengali is also spoken in Tripura. Tripura's Finance Minister Badal Chowdhury (who had his primary education in erstwhile East Bengal, now Bangladesh), drove home this point by saying: "Though 60% of people of Tripura have direct or indirect roots in Bangladesh, the entire population of the state become emotional when they talk about Bangladesh."

Tripura shares an 874-km border with Bangladesh and support and cooperation from Tripura state is required in sharing of waters or fixing boundary on trans-boundary rivers -- Feni, Muhuri, Gumti, Khowai and Manu -- which flow from that state to Bangladesh.

The people of Tripura extended their helping hand during the Liberation War of 1971. According to historian and writer Bikash Chowdhury, Tripura had six to seven camps in four different sectors from where the 'muktijoddhas' (freedom fighters) fought the Pakistani forces in the liberation war.

Sheikh Hasina said: "I was further amazed when I came to know that before this university was set up, this place was a training camp of the Bangladesh liberation soldiers. How can we not remember with gratitude our friends in need in Tripura and India?"

The prime minister was awarded an honourary doctorate degree by the Central University in Tripura. India's Vice-President Hamid Ansari said: "We admire your courage, prime minister, in facing the threats of terrorism and extremism afflicting humanity, your advocacy of pluralism, moderation and tolerance, and the ambitious agenda of economic growth, welfare and social justice that you have planned for and implemented in Bangladesh."

Ansari further added that Bangladesh provided critical links to the economy, ecology and environment of the north-east region. He said India was committed to fashioning economic and trade arrangements, not only for ensuring closer integration of the region with the national economy, but also with the neighbouring economies.

During the visit, Sheikh Hasina urged India to be more generous and liberal in helping to resolve pending bilateral issues such as water management. She also appealed to India to import more from Bangladesh to remove the gap in trade. Indian investors too should make more investments.

She emphasised that connectivity between India and Bangladesh, particularly with the north-eastern states, including Tripura, would generate tremendous economic vibrancy, leading to people's empowerment and region's development.

She urged India, Nepal and Bhutan to make the best use of Chittagong and Mongla ports, which Bangladesh has already opened for these neighbouring countries, to access the sea route for their trade and commercial activities.

Later, at the civic reception accorded to her by the Agartala Municipal Corporation, Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh was keen to undertake a joint venture project for power generation through utilisation of the vast natural gas reserve in Tripura, and that once the project was realised her country would also buy power from them. She also said that four new border 'haats'[ (markets) would be set up by India and Bangladesh to facilitate trade.

It is noted that the growth of the economy of the region is half of the economic growth of mainland India. It seems that the purpose of such massive plan is to develop the region into a hub of trade and commerce, so as to eliminate deprivation of basic needs and facilities of people in the region, arguably the main root cause of insurgency.

Given the background, New Delhi reportedly allocated Rs.14 lakh crore (over $27 billion) under the Northeast Industrial and Promotion Policy 2007 for a period of 12 years. The amount is being spent for developing infrastructure and encouraging business communities to invest in the region. The growth of the region would rise to 9%, from the current 4%, with huge Indian public investments.

With the availability of connectivity, people-to-people contact is bound to increase and consequently commercial and trade opportunities will receive further boost between Bangladesh and northeastern states.

It is noted that India has put emphasis on the upgrading of border roads and maritime transport along the Kaladan River (from Mizoram) to boost trade between northeastern states and Myanmar. In this connection, India laid the foundation in December 2010 for the construction of port and waterway terminal of a Myanmar-India Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project in Sittway (Akyab) township of western Myanmar's Rakhine (Arakan) state, to be completed by 2013.

The visit to Tripura might have served another purpose. It gives a strong signal that Prime Minister Hasina has not been impressed with the strategy of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of Paschimbanga (West Bengal) on the issue of sharing of Teesta water. The prime minister was invited to receive a doctorate degree from Kolkata University in January but she did not go there.

The writer is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.

North-East stamps its rubber mark

2012-01-17T17:32:00.001-08:00

K. A. MARTIN

The comparatively long gestation period for investments and social and political instability have not prevented non-traditional areas identified for natural rubber (NR) cultivation from making their mark on India's efforts to increase its production.

Increasing awareness and interventions by the respective State governments ensure that thousands of hectares are added yearly to rubber acreage. In Tripura, where rubber cultivation began in early 1960s, about 4,000 hectares are added to cultivation every year.

In Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, rubber cultivation is spreading rapidly even with constraints that were seen as insurmountable nearly a decade ago, said an official of the Rubber Board. In each of these States, average productivity hovers around 1,200 kg a hectare, the national average being around 1,800 kg. A total of 4.5 lakh hectares have been identified as suitable for rubber cultivation in the Northeast.

While NR cultivation makes impressive gains in non-traditional areas, Kerala is expected to lead NR production over a long time. It is home to 80 per cent of the total cultivated area and 90 per cent of the NR production in India. In 2000-01, Kerala had an even higher share of NR cultivation and production at 84 per cent and 92 per cent respectively. India produced 8.31 lakh tonnes of NR from 6.86 lakh hectares during 2010-11.

Over a million hectares have been identified in non-traditional areas, including in States such as Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, as suitable for NR cultivation but less than two lakh hectares have been brought under cultivation, say Rubber Board figures.

Rubber Production Commissioner J. Thomas said that the relatively long gestation period for investments makes farmers shy away from rubber cultivation in some areas. The Board estimates that an investment of Rs. 1.85 lakh is needed for developing a hectare of rubber plantation in Tripura. It takes up to seven years for the rubber plants to be tapped.

With subsidy being offered only Rs.19,500 a hectare, no other agricultural crop has such a long gestation period for investments.

Lawmaker demands Arunachal nominee for Sino-Indian border talks

2012-01-17T17:31:00.001-08:00

Itanagar, Jan 18 : The relationship between India and China has never been cordial despite both civilizations having contacts dating back to several millennia, and it can again hit a bad phase following a demand to include a permanent representative from Arunachal Pradesh during the Sino-India border talks.

The demand was made even as the 15th Special Representatives is taking place in New Delhi and will conclude today.

The Indian and Chinese delegations, led by Shivshankar Menon and State Councillor Dai Bingguo, have discussed the Sino-India boundary question, besides talks on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

India has time and again conveyed to China that there should be no discrimination against visa applicants of Indian nationality on grounds of domicile and ethnicity, as Beijing decided to issue stapled visas to the people of Arunachal Pradesh.

Beijing uses this visa issue just to raise pith before any dialogue process.

China disputes the international boundary that it currently has with India in the eastern sector and has repeatedly staked a claim to approximately 90,000 square kilometres of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh.

Member of Parliament Takam Sanjoy, who is the only representative from the North East region in the Parliamentary Standing Committee of External Affairs, told ANI on Tuesday that he had made this demand for inclusion of an Arunachal representative in the talks vociferously, as the Arunachal issue had dominated the meeting held on January 13. The meeting was also attended top External Affairs Ministry officials, including Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai.

"The issues related to Arunachal Pradesh are lingering on due to a lack of coordination between the ministries of External Affairs, Defence and Home," he told the Standing Committee members.

"The Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister or his representative should also represent New Delhi during the Sino-India border talks, as we have been part of India and let China know that there would be no compromise on the issue of Arunachal," he said.

Sanjoy made it clear to members of committee that China had stalled the Asian Development Bank loan worth Rs.396 crore and a World Bank loan of Rs.1713 crore to build the state capital of Itanagar and Sikkim, as part of their political strategy to stall the economic progress of Arunachal Pradesh.

He also asked the Central Government to resolve the long pending issue of stapled visas, and added that the energy and potential of young people should be utilized in such manner that they are not misguided to join the extremist outfits of the North East.

"The stapled visa row is proving to be a bottleneck for Arunachalees who would like to go to neighbouring countries like China for sports, cultural and educational activities. And at the same time the security scenario in Arunachal Pradesh is grim, as the Maoists have started infiltrating in the jungles of state.

"The security scenario in North East and particularly Arunachal is going to be quiet worse if not managed properly, as this will also have affect on national security in future," he said.

Taking note of the grim scenario in Arunachal Pradesh, the Chaiman of the Standing Committee of External Affairs, Ananth Kumar, extended the deliberation for two days, which will be held on January 19 and 20, and will also be attended by representatives of the defence, home and trade and commerce ministries.

Five days on, no word about Tripura youth

2011-12-14T21:49:00.001-08:00

AGARTALA: It is a story that tugs at your heartstrings.

Five days after a raging blaze ravaged the AMRI Hospital in Kolkata, family members of 25-year-old Tripura resident Santosh Das, who was admitted in the hospital, are still looking for him.

While Santosh’s younger brother Paritosh is running from pillar to post in Kolkata to know about his brother’s whereabouts, their ill-fated parents have stopped taking their meals and are asking everyone to bring back their eldest son.

Santosh met with a road mishap in Tripura on Nov. 30 and fractured his left leg.

He was admitted to the GB Pant Medical College and Hospital here and was subsequently taken to Kolkata for advanced treatment.

Sitting in his thatched house near Agartala airport, 15 kilometres north of Agartala city, Santosh’s 65-year-old father Abinash is a picture of despair.

With tears rolling down his cheeks, he said: “Accumulating our life’s savings, we got Santosh admitted to the AMRI Hospital on Dec. 1 for better treatment. Doctors at the hospital operated on his leg on Dec. 5.” Abinash Das said that neighbours and local clubs helped his family with financial support of a few thousand rupees to meet the expenditure of Santosh’s treatment.

Paritosh Das said that he had met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, several officials and searched more than 21 hospitals and some morgues but did not found his brother.

“When the fire broke out early Friday, I tried to reach the second floor of the hospital where ‘dada’ (elder brother) was asleep after the surgery, but the security guards stopped me from entering.

“I could have saved my brother had I not been prevented by the guards from entering. How will I face my aged parents if I return home without my brother?” Paritosh said in a choked voice.

“Santosh’s family now has no means to support itself. They lost their life savings of Rs145,000 on his treatment,” said Sukumar Das, Santosh’s uncle.

Tripura Health Minister Tapan Chakraborty, who was in Kolkata after the devastating fire, said: “Kolkata’s Tripura Bhavan officials in association with Kolkata police have continued their frantic hunt to trace out Santosh.”

Six from Tripura, were among 93 killed in the fire on last Friday.

Tripura Govt keen to clear rail project hurdles

2011-12-14T21:29:00.001-08:00

AGARTALA, Dec 15 – If things go as per schedule, the land acquisition problem in West Tripura’s Bishalgarh subdivision for the Agartala-Udaipur rail extension project will be cleared by end of this month.

Residents of four revenue villages in the subdivision were vocal against the land acquisition initiative for the ambitious rail project virtually stalling the construction work for laying tracks.

The government could not hand over the land to the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) authority as per the target of October because of strong opposition from villagers.

However, the problem centering land acquisition measuring 5.50 km looks ‘almost’ solved with the State Government giving all-out efforts to convince the ‘unwilling’ villagers.

“We have already given land at southern part of Harishnagar Tea Estate to the NFR authorities and acquisition process is almost completed at Laxmibill area after releasing of money to the affected families”, said PK Das, Land Acquisition Collector (LAC), Bishalgarh said on Wednesday.

He said the process is on to acquire land at Nayapara and Brajapur and the government will be able to hand over the land to NFR by end of this month.

As per the schedule, the 44 km Agartala-Udaipur rail extension project is supposed to the completed by March 2012 provided the required land is handed over to the NFR within December.

Sources said, to meet the target the construction works are on in both ends – Udaipur and Agartala. “The work will get momentum once the problem related to land acquisition is solved at Bishalgarh subdivision”, said an official. If the land is not handed over to NFR by December, then the deadline will have to be rescheduled.

A high level meeting involving stakeholders is scheduled to be held at Civil Secretariat here on December 30 next to review the progress of the on-going rail project.

The rail link upto Sabroom is scheduled to the completed by March 2013 next as per the announcement made by NFR.

Inter-language translation project taken up

2011-12-13T23:28:00.001-08:00

GUWAHATI, Dec 14 – A massive inter-language translation exercise has brought to light an enviably rich treasure trove of children’s literature of the NE region that has remained obscured so far. The venture has been undertaken jointly by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and city-based voluntary organisation Anwesha.

It includes inter-language translation of children’s literatures of Assamese, Bodo, Garo, Khasi, Manipuri and Mizo languages. In all 180 books would be published under this project with each of these languages getting 30 books.

The entire process started in December last and a nodal committee is looking after the entire process. The nodal committee comprises Prof AC Bhagaboti, Head of the NE Regional Centre of IGNCA, noted author Arup Dutta, Paresh Malakar (coordinator) , Hare Krishna Deka (Assamese), Dr Bhupen Narzary (Bodo), Dr Fameline Marak (Garo), Prof Luangliana Khiangte (Mizo), DL Kharmawhlang (Khasi), T Bijoy Kumar Singh (Manipuri) and Dudulmoni Sarma of Anwesha.

Under the project, there are advisory committees for each of the languages too, Malakar said. He claimed that this is the first venture of its type undertaken in the country.

The books selected for translation were first translated into English to facilitate their translation into other languages. The translation part of the books is almost complete, and now the problems in the area of correct expression of the nuances of the original languages are to be dealt with, said Malakar.

It is decided to hold a three-day workshop from tomorrow on the Anwesha office premises here to eliminate the loss of quality and nuances of any language in the process of translation, said Prof AC Bhagaboti.

Malakar informed that the workshop would be inaugurated by noted scholar Dr Hiren Gohain at 11 am tomorrow. It will be attended by scholars and experts of the above languages, besides the translators.

Government to expand banking, insurance services in northeast

2011-12-10T21:41:00.001-08:00

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Saturday said the government will expand the banking and insurance networks in the eastern and northeastern states.

"Government is keen to expand the network of banks in eastern states, particularly in the northeastern states," said Mukherjee, addressing a meeting with chief ministers of the states and chief executives of public sector banks here.

According to Mukherjee, 27 out of 69 unbanked blocks in the northeastern region were added to the banking services on Nov 30.

"The remaining 42 unbanked blocks are in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. I would urge the banks to extend the banking services to these remaining blocks also by March 31, 2012."

Mukherjee said the government had taken several initiatives to increase banking penetration in the northeast like directing banks to open branches in an area with captive population of 5,000 and above, and ensuring that all districts have a currency reserve.

"Government is pursuing to ensure that all the districts of northeast region have at least one currency chest and clearing house," he said.

"However, the government will ensure that the currency requirements of all the districts in the notheast region are adequately met."

The finance minister said that apart from expansion of banking facilities, steps have also been taken to strengthen the presence of insurance companies in the region.

"I am instructing LIC and non-life insurance companies to ensure that all districts have at least one branch or a satellite office during the coming year," he said.

Mukherjee urged the chief ministers to expedite the approval procedure for large infrastructure projects in their states.

"In my recent review, it has come to my notice that implementation of a number of projects are held up due to regulatory approval," Mukherjee said.

Bangladesh paves way for constructing border fence

2011-11-21T22:26:00.001-08:00

By Manan Kumar
New Delhi: Continuing the spirit of comraderie started a year and a half ago since Sheikh Hasina became the prime minister, Bangladesh on Monday cleared 37 out of 46 jointly verified vulnerable patches that would enable India to keep infiltration, smuggling and trafficking at bay by constructing fence along the international border.

Movement of insurgents and smugglers from across the border remains a major cause of concern for India as they are using the unfenced vulnerable patches along West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya for smuggling arms and fake Indian currency notes and trafficking drugs and people.

Clerance of vulnerable patches by Bangladesh comes as a big relief for India as it will allow it to construct fence anywhere between 150 yards to zero point at the international border.

India, on its part, has agreed to train Bangladesh’s personnel in drug enforcement, investigation, cyber crime probe, checking custodial deaths and securing expertise in forensics and testing drugs.

Showcasing increasing trust in relationship between the two countries, Bangladesh home secretary Monzur Hossain said his country would not allow its territory to be used by forces inimical to India and assured handing over Ulfa fugitive Anup Chetia at the earliest.

The countries are also expected to sign the long-pending extradition treaty soon, possibly in January.

'No casualties' in north-east India earthquake

2011-11-21T00:36:00.001-08:00

A deadly quake hit India's north-east in September
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 has stuck India's north-east, but there are no reports of any casualties.
The tremor was felt at 0847 local time (0317GMT) in parts of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur states, reports said. It was also felt in Bangladesh.
The epicentre was recorded in Burma, about 130km (80 miles) east of Manipur, the US Geological Survey said.
Nearly 100 people were killed in a deadly quake that hit north-east India, Nepal and Tibet in September.
In Guwahati, capital of Assam state, buildings shook for a few seconds and people ran out into the streets, the AFP news agency reported.
There were no immediate reports of damage, barring minor cracks in some buildings, reports said.
A magnitude 6.9 quake struck the mountainous north-eastern state of Sikkim in September, leading to loss of lives and considerable damage.
Casualties and destruction of property were also reported from across the border in Tibet and Nepal.

ONGC's mega power project to ease electricity woes in North East

2011-11-21T00:35:00.001-08:00

AGARTALA: The electricity crisis in northeastern India is set to ease when the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) first mega power project -- the largest in the region -- starts generating power by April next year.

"State-owned ONGC's 726-MW generating capacity first major power project in India will start producing electricity from April next year," a Tripura power department official told IANS.

The gas-based thermal power project will resolve the power crisis of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura states. It is being commissioned at southern Tripura's Palatana, 60 km from here.

"State-run National Thermal Power Corporation ( NTPC) has been working to extend the power transmission line from Palatana to the national power grid at Bongaigaon in western Assam," the official said.

"From the national power grid at Bongaigaon, the electricity will be disseminated in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram," he said.

"Subsequently, the project will be able to generate 1,000 MW of power if additional machineries are integrated with the operational turbines," he added.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar Saturday reviewed the progress of the works for commissioning of the Rs.9,000-crore power plant, for which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone in 2005.

The meeting also assessed the progress of works for commissioning of another 104 MW capacity combined cycle power project, being installed by the public sector company North Eastern Electric Power Corp (NEEPCO).

NEEPCO's power plant is being set up in West Tripura's Monarchak, 65 km from Agartala. The Rs.625-crore project will start power generation from January 2013. The ONGC had agreed to provide natural gas for the project.

The oversized heavy turbines and other heavy machines for ONGC's Palatana project, carried on massive 132-wheeled trucks, had reached the site from Haldia port in West Bengal after being trans-shipped through Bangladesh.

An ONGC official said transporting the heavy equipment to Tripura over a few thousand kilometres of surface routes within India - through the mountainous northeastern states - was extremely difficult, and the Indian authorities were forced to carry the power plant's equipment through Bangladesh.

"Work on commissioning the power project is in full swing despite the transportation difficulties," the official said.

A consortium comprising US-based General Electric and India's state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has been contracted to supply the all-important gas turbines for the thermal power project, the official added.

ONGC owns significant quantities of natural gas reserves in Tripura. However, these reserves are not yet sufficiently commercially exploited due to the low industrial demand in the northeastern region.

The complexities of logistics and costs limit the economic viability of transporting gas to other deficit parts of the country.

It is to optimally utilise the gas available in Tripura that ONGC proposed developing the 726-MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) thermal power plant close to its gas fields in the state to supply power to deficit areas of northeastern India.

Chidambaram denies reports on Naga supra-state body

2011-11-20T04:55:00.001-08:00

GUWAHATI: Union home minister P Chidambaram on Saturday denied the report that the centre was planning to offer a supra-state body as a solution to the peace talks with NSCN (IM). Chidambaram informed Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh in a meeting at North Block in New Delhi on Saturday that home ministry had no such arrangement for forming the supra-state body for Nagas.

The home minister informed that his ministry had not issued any statement in the matter. He was surprised to see the news reports when Ibobi Singh showed the press clippings, and said it was mischievous and baseless report, according to a statement issued by Manipur government.

Ibobi Singh rushed Delhi on Friday to meet the Prime Minister, home minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. He met Sonia Gandhi before meeting the home minister. Sonia Gandhi was also surprised to see the news report, a senior Manipur government official said. The CM, however, could not meet the Prime Minister as Manmohan Singh was in Bali to attend the 9th India-ASEAN summit.

In a letter addressed to Chidambaram, the CM stated, "We have not been consulted in regards to any arrangement which is reportedly being worked out with the NSCN (IM). We are concerned that if the reports are true, it may lead to a sharp and widespread public agitation which may turn violent and have serious implications on the already complicated law and order situation of Manipur."

The CM reminded Chidambaram that the state government had repeatedly and consistently opposed any arrangement which would impact on the territorial integrity of Manipur. Ibobi Singh said the state government of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh had also opposed any understanding with NSCN (IM), which would impact the territorial integrity of the state. The CM urged the Centre to issue immediate clarification to dispel any misunderstanding on the matter.

The home minister was also informed that various civil society groups in Manipur were alarmed about the issue, leading to speculations and apprehensions among the people. Ibobi Singh requested the home minister to consult the state government before considering any understanding or arrangement which the Centre might have been contemplating to arrive at with the NSCN (IM). Ibobi Singh also conveyed to Chidambaram that Manipur's territorial integrity cannot be compromised under any circumstances.

India’s longest distance train flagged off

2011-11-19T20:40:00.001-08:00

DIBRUGARH, Nov 20 – Union Minister of State for DoNER Paban Singh Ghatowar today flagged off India’s longest distance travelling train, Dibrugarh-Kanniyakumari Vivek Express at Dibrugarh Railway Station here.

The weekly train (15905/15906) will travel a distance of 4,286 kilometres from Dibrugarh railway station to Kanniyakumari through the states of West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The train will reach its destination in about 82:30 hours.

Earlier, the longest distance travelling train was the Himsagar Express, which travels from Jammu Tawi to Kanniyakumari, covering a total distance of 3715 kilometres in about 71 hours. The train has been christened as Vivek Express in the name of the great saint Swami Vivekananda. There will be altogether 52 stoppages throughout the journey including commercial stoppages. The composition of the train includes one AC-2 tier, two AC-3 tier, sevel sleeper class, six general second class, a pantry car and two SLR coaches.

State’s Revenue Minister Prithibi Majhi, General Manager of NF Railways, Keshab Chandra and Divisional Railway Manager (Tinsukia) Dhiren Mohapatra were also present among others during the flag-off ceremony at the Dibrugarh Railway Station.

The train will be received at Thiruvanthapuram in Kerala by the Kerala Chief Minister or any of his representative.

16 NE districts vulnerable to climate change

2011-11-19T20:39:00.003-08:00

Sobhapati Samom

NEW DELHI, Nov 20 – Sixteen districts of eight Northeastern States were among the recently identified 100 most climate vulnerable districts of the country.

Of the 16, Assam has as many as four districts (Cachar, Dibrugarh, Dhubri and Sonitpur), followed by Arunachal Pradesh with three (Tirap, West Kameng and East Siang). Manipur (Imphal East and Senapati district) two, Nagaland (Dimapur, Phek and Mokokchung) three while Mizoram (Lunglei), Sikkim (Ranipool) , Meghalaya (West Garo Hills) and Tripura (Khowai) have one each.

The scientists across the country have identified the 100 vulnerable districts out of the country’s about 600 districts based on their past records on extreme climatic conditions such as drought, cold or heat wave, heavy rainfall, flood, frost, salinity, water stress, soil erosion or acidity, said Dr B Venkateswarlu, Director of the Central Research Institute for Dry Land Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad. The CRIDA Director was briefing journalists from India, Pakistan, Afghanishtan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives during Centre for Science and Environment sponsored workshop on climate change which concluded here yesterday.

CRIDA has taken steps to enhance resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change and climate vulnerability through strategic research and technology demonstration besides organising capacity building programme of the farmers under the National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture. A research on adaptation and mitigation covers crops, livestock, fisheries and natural resource management is also on. “So far we have launched strategic research on (Kharif) crops in the 62 districts”, Dr Venkateswarlu informed. “Similar activities for the Rabi crops will also be taken up in the remaining districts from next month.”

In short, one degree Celsius increase in temperature may reduce yields of major crops by 3-7 per cent. Greater loss expected in Rabi crops, he predicted.

Tripura on fresh bird flu alert, bans poultry imports

2011-11-19T20:39:00.001-08:00

Agartala, Nov 20 Sounding a fresh bird flu alert, the Tripura government has imposed a ban on import of poultry birds, ducks and other poultry products from West Bengal and Assam, an official said Saturday.

"The ban on import of poultry and bird flu alert was sounded earlier this week following the outbreak of the avian influenza in neighbouring Assam and West Bengal," the animal resource development department official told reporters.

"Bird flu was officially detected and confirmed recently in certain parts of Nadia district in West Bengal and Dhubri district in western Assam," he added.

The official said said the Tripura government has set up check gates at the border and entry points in the state's northern part adjoining Assam, and asked security forces to maintain a strict vigil along the India-Bangladesh borders to prevent the import of poultry and poultry products.

However, the state would allow import of poultry products and birds from Andhra Pradesh (from where the maximum amount of poultry birds and poultry products were being supplied to northeastern states) and other states excluding Assam and West Bengal.

Meanwhile, the Tripura government has urged the central government to bear the entire cost of compensation to the northeastern states.

"As India's northeastern states bordering Bangladesh have become vulnerable to bird flu with the contiguous disease outbreak intermittently across the border and as well as the smuggling of poultry products into India, the centre should bear the full costs of compensation," Agriculture and Animal Resource Development Minister Aghore Debbarma said.

"With the sporadic outbreak of bird flu, thousands of poor poultry cultivators have been affected in Tripura and other northeastern states.

The contiguous disease has also been affecting the fragile economy of the northeastern region," the minister said here at a meeting.

Four states - Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam, which shares 1,880-km border with Bangladesh - were occasionally affected by avian influenza forcing the authorities to cull lakhs of poultry birds and ducks besides destroying huge quantities of poultry products.

The department official said that as regards of compensation for loss of poultry on account of culling and destruction of birds, the rate of compensation - 50:50 between central government and state government - has been indicated to the state governments by the central government.

Undertrial with cancer cries neglect

2011-11-14T20:38:00.001-08:00

Central Jail, Guwahati

Guwahati, Oct 15 : An undertrial prisoner suffering from blood cancer told the court today that he was being denied appropriate medical care on the ground that there was a scarcity of policemen to escort him to the hospital.
Oinam Moniton Singh, who has been lodged at Central Jail, Guwahati, since he was arrested from Nayanpur in the city on July 1 last year for his alleged links with the Manipur-based United National Liberation Front, told the special NIA court here that he required regular medical treatment and periodical check-ups as he was suffering from blood cancer.
In a petition filed before the court, Singh said he was denied proper medical treatment on the ground that there were not enough policemen to escort him to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital. He is required to visit the GMCH once a week since his health needs regular monitoring.
“There is a hospital inside the prison but the doctors have told me that it is not possible for them to treat prisoners suffering from serious illnesses and to carry out certain medical tests,” he told The Telegraph on the court premises.
Singh, who is in his mid-thirties and hails from Silchar, was diagnosed with blood cancer after a bone marrow test a couple of months ago and needs to undergo medical tests at the GMCH periodically.
Singh has represented Assam at several national-level sepak takraw tournaments.
He is also a referee and a member of the technical board of Sepak Takraw Federation of India. He has also served as the president of the Northeast Manipuri Students Organisation.
“There are several prisoners like me in Guwahati Central Jail who are suffering from serious illnesses but are being denied proper medical treatment on the plea that adequate staff is not available for escorting them to the hospital,” he alleged.
An official of Guwahati Central Jail said the responsibility of taking prisoners to hospital or court lay with the city police, not with the jail authorities.
“For sending prisoners to hospital or court, we send a prior requisition to the city police for escort. But many times, policemen are not available for escort duty because of their preoccupation with law and order duty and VVIP duty,” the jail official said.
The court asked the jail authorities to provide adequate medical care to Singh.
UNLF chairman Raj Kumar Meghen was also produced in court today.
Asked about the attachment of a fruit processing plant in Manipur by the National Investigation Agency for allegedly having been set up with funds funnelled by the UNLF, he told this correspondent, “Even if the UNLF funded the plant, what’s wrong in it? It was set up by a registered society and was utilising locally available fruits for generating income and giving employment to a few persons. They were not making bombs in that plant. Then why seal it?”
He added, “The UNLF has helped quite a lot of people by giving them money and helping people is not terrorism.”
Meghen said the NSCN (I-M) leadership had made a “big mistake” by deciding not to unite with other rebel outfits of the region. “I believe in the unity of the region and whatever differences we may have, we should try to resolve it among ourselves. Otherwise, outside forces will exploit it and weaken our movement.”
He rubbished allegations of the UNLF having links with China as “enemy propaganda” to defame the outfit.
“The UNLF is an independent outfit and our cadres are self-trained, not trained by any other country,” he added.
Meghen, who took over as UNLF chairman in 1998, claimed that his arrest would not affect the outfit. “The UNLF is run by a collective leadership and not by any individual. We have democratic organisation with a set goal,” he said.

No intelligence wing for CRPF in North East

2011-11-13T21:19:00.001-08:00

NEW DELHI, Nov 14 – The government has slashed the creation of an exclusive intelligence wing in the CRPF for its troops deployed in operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East, reports PTI.

However, a similar snooping set-up has been approved for aiding the forces’ operations in the Naxal affected states of the country but the force is yet to operationalise the wing more than two years after a formal sanction was granted to it.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has deployed close to 60,000 troops for anti-Naxal operations and has been wanting an exclusive intelligence wing for undertaking quality operations which result in eliminating the enemy without suffering casualties.

The force has lost about 120 personnel in ambushes, IED explosions and gunfights in the last year and the intelligence wing is expected to give a ‘fine edge’ to CRPF in averting such incidents.

‘Student’ in Rs 1-cr UCO Bank fraud case

2011-11-11T21:06:00.001-08:00

Guwahati, Nov. 12 : The UCO Bank has incurred a loss of more than Rs 1 crore by extending loan to a private company of Arunachal Pradesh, which is “owned by a school student” on paper.

A CBI investigation into the bank fraud has revealed that the owner of the private firm — M/s S.K. Enterprise — to which the bank had extended a loan of Rs 1.35 crore, is a school student.

An official source today said after preliminary probe, the CBI found that the name of the proprietor of S.K. Enterprise on paper was that of a school student.

“The masterminds of the fraud had registered the firm in the name of a school student (whose name has not been disclosed as he is believed to be innocent) through forgery. They then availed the loan on October 9, 2007, allegedly in collusion with the then chief manager of the UCO Bank branch in Papum Pare district in Arunachal Pradesh, P.K. Ghoshal,” the source said.

He said the CBI registered a case — number 12 (A)/2011 — through its anti-corruption branch in Guwahati in August this year against Ghoshal and some others after the fraud was detected. The CBI is expected to get further details soon.

The source said investigations so far point the needle of suspicion towards involvement of Ghoshal in the fraud.

“Though no one has been arrested yet, we have received some important clues and a few arrests could be made in the next few days,” the source said.

According to him, the allegation was that Ghoshal, when he was the chief manager of the UCO Bank branch in Papum Pare, had sanctioned cash credit facility to the tune of Rs 1.35 crore against primary security of stocks, which included construction materials, TMT bars and so on.

“The advance was also secured by collateral security of one fixed deposit of Rs 34 lakh,” the source said.

When the firm defaulted in repayment, the bank decided to carry out physical inspection of the office and godown of the firm.

“During inspection by bank officials, the godown and the office of the firm were found to be closed and only signboards were mounted on the closed premises. Later inquiries revealed that the premises were empty and had been locked for a long time,” he added.

The CBI sleuths also found that the money in the fixed deposit was also diverted.

“The motive was clear. The fixed deposit money was diverted and the security materials had been disposed of without the bank’s consent in order to defraud and cheat the bank,” the source said.

The CBI also learnt that the prime accused in the case had fraudulently registered the firm in the name of a school student and then taken the power of attorney of the firm in his own name.

The source, however, refused to disclose the name of the prime accused, who originally hails from Rajasthan, in the interest of the investigation.

“By taking the power of attorney, he cheated the bank. However, we strongly suspect and also have certain clues which suggest that the fraud could not have been possible without the help of bank insiders, particularly the chief manager,” the source said.

Neramac to open outlets in Delhi

2011-11-10T19:48:00.001-08:00

The North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (Neramac) is making its first foray into the lucrative Delhi market by introducing its products in six of the capital’s malls through a comprehensive campaign.

The corporation will be organising weeklong launch events, The Great North East Sunshine Festivals, at six Delhi malls — Shipra Mall, Centre Stage, DLF Place, Ansal Plaza, Ambience and Sahara. The events, which are being sponsored by North Eastern Council (NEC) and organised with the help of National Skills Foundation of India, will start this month and continue till February 2012.

The first event got under way at the Ghaziabad-based Shipra Mall on Thursday.

It will also set up retail outlets in select malls in the capital to sell select produce of the region.

Neramac managing director S. Bhattacharjee told The Telegraph, “This initiative is aimed at showcasing produce of the Northeast in the cou-ntry’s prime market.”

He said such mall festivals would surely increase visibility of the products and attract customers to the naturally grown organic produce of the region. The Neramac outlets in several malls of the capital would then cater to the anticipated growth in demand throughout the year. “I hope products like kiwis and pineapples will be big hits,” he added.

“People come to malls to buy select products, and this is a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase our products,” he added.

The events and the retail outlets will also showcase North Eastern Handicrafts and Handloom Development Corporation products.

Set up in 1982, Neramac was meant to enable farmers/producers of the Northeast get remunerative prices for their produce and bridge the gap between the farmers and the market.

It intervenes in sourcing, procuring and marketing of different agro-horticultural commodities like pineapples, ginger, banana, chillies, black pepper, cashew nuts and minor forest produces like hill grass.

It also supports farmers with agricultural inputs like seeds and fertilizers, among others and assists farmers producing planting materials under Horticulture Mission schemes by marketing their produces.

It currently has five retail outlets in the region — two in Guwahati and three in Agartala.

Neramac, which notched up a sales turnover of Rs 101.65 crore in 2010-2011 and currently has three food processing plants at different locations, will be starting a four-tonne-per-day cashew-processing unit by next year.

Hasina, India PM hold talks on Teesta river

2011-11-10T19:02:00.001-08:00

By Mizan Rahman/Dhaka

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh, Bhutanese prime minster Jigme Y Thinley, Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed, Nepal prime minister Baburam Bhattarai, Pakistan’s prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse posing for photographers at the inaugural session of the 17th Saarc Summit, on Addu atoll, Maldives yesterday
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh yesterday discussed in details the sharing of the Teesta River water and transit facilities for India.The two prime ministers held the discussion at Dr Ali’s Restaurant of Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort at 11:45am, hours before the formal opening of the 17th Saarc summit in Addu City in the Maldives.
PM’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad said, the two leaders had positive discussion on the Teesta water sharing and transit issues.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed the hope that the completion of the strip maps of the remaining parts of the common border would be signed soon, a report reaching Dhaka said.
She also hoped that the ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement and the Protocol would take place soonest to put at rest the issues of exchange of enclaves and adverse possession of lands.
Hasina said Bangladesh expects that the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for movement of Bhutanese and Indian trucks up to 200 yards across the zero line at Burimari-Chengrabanda and Benapole-Petrapole to be operational soon.
Bangladesh is seriously considering an Indian request for opening markets on Bangladesh-Mizoram-Tripura border, she said, adding that the Kurigram border market is doing well.
Hasina thanked the Indian Prime Minister for granting Rohanpur-Singabad rail route for Nepalese transit cargo through Bangladesh. “All three countries will benefit from this connectivity,” she said.
Referring to the three trial runs for the multi-modal transport from Ashuganj to Agartala, she said Bangladesh is waiting for feedback to move forward.
Purchase of electricity from India also came up for discussion in the meeting.
Hasina underscored the importance of signing an agreement in this regard soon. “I hope we will be able to buy power from Palatana Power Plant in Tripura and from other power projects in the northeast India, Bhutan and Nepal,” she said.
The Prime Minister also hoped that the projects financed by Indian grants, on Feni Bridge, Akhaura-Agartala rail link, upgradation of road from Ashuganj to Akhaura will start soon.
The Indian Prime Minister expressed his positive attitude towards different issues and said Bangladesh and India enjoy very good relationship and this will be strengthened in the future.
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Ambassador at large M Ziauddin, Principal Secretary Sheikh Waheed uz Zaman, Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes and PM’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad were present.
Bangladesh’s main opposition party yesterday said it supports China’s bid to join the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).
The show of support came as a Chinese Communist Party delegation and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leadership met in Dhaka.
“The party expressed full support for China becoming a member of the regional platform,” said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
The move coincides with the opening yesterday of the 17th Saarc meeting in the Maldives aimed at boosting economic integration and trade liberalisation in South Asia, which is home to more than a fifth of the world’s population.
China maintains observer status in Saarc, a group founded in 1985 to foster regional cooperation.
Saarc groups India, Pakistan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

Arunachal PWD engineer held with 43 live cartridges at airport

2011-11-06T21:42:00.001-08:00

NAGPUR: Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel nabbed a 46-year-old assistant engineer with the public works department ( PWD) of Arunachal Pradesh while he was trying to board an early morning flight to New Delhi with 43 live cartridges at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport on Sunday morning.

Kardo Riba was later handed over to the Sonegaon police station where he was booked under the Arms Act. He was carrying 26 cartridges of .22 bore, eight of .32 calibre and another nine of 12 bore. An empty .22 bore magazine was also seized from him.

Riba was on his way back to Assam after dropping his daughter, who is a first year student at the Government Engineering College, Chandrapur. The airport security detained him while scanning his luggage in the X-ray machine. The batteries of a calculator first attracted the attention of CISF personnel, who started checking his luggage and came across the pouch with the cartridges.

Apart from police, other security agencies are also likely to quiz the government official travelling from strife-torn north east to Chandrapur, which is considered the urban hub of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), popularly known as Naxals, in eastern Vidarbha.

Riba claimed that security personnel at Dibrugarh airport and also at Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport did not raise any objections. He was able to board the connecting domestic flights to reach the city from Assam.

He said that the cartridges had been kept in the back by mistake, and were procured through bona fide means. Police said Riba's arms license was valid till 2008 and had not been renewed. One of Riba's close kin is also a senior police officer, who spoke to Sonegaon police station officials to vouch for him.

Riba claims to have boarded a flight from Dibrugarh in Assam to reach Kolkata On November 4, from where he reached the city at 8pm by flight with his daughter, who was returning to college after the Diwali vacation. He travelled to Chandrapur in a hired a car. The following day, Riba reached Nagpur in the evening and checked into a hotel at Dhantoli.

"My wife had packed the cartridges by mistake and there was nothing malicious about it. I had been recently transferred, so a lot of luggage was misplaced. The cartridges were in the clothes," Riba told TOI.

"I too did not have any idea that the cartridges were with me. Twice I was checked by airport officials but no one objected till now," he said. Riba said he has been using the Smith & Wesson pistol since the early 90s and the 12 bore rifle from around the same time.

Senior police inspector Arun Rautewar said Riba claimed that it was standard practice to pay late fee and renew the licenses. "It was a mistake," he said.

Tiger census at Arunachal reserves to start this month

2011-11-04T04:06:00.001-07:00

A tiger at Bandipur. National Tiger Conservation Authority will start the exercise in the two tiger reserves of Arunachal Pradesh along with 37 others in the country this month. File photo
In keeping with the new policy to conduct tiger census annually instead of every four years, the National Tiger Conservation Authority will start the exercise in the two tiger reserves of Arunachal Pradesh along with 37 others in the country this month.
The number of tigers in the two reserves in Arunachal Pradesh, Namdapha and Pakke, would be determined using scientific methods and reputed NGOs would be involved in the process, Arunachal Pradesh Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (wildlife & biodiversity) J.L. Singh said.
The NTCA would provide all the necessary equipment, including sophisticated cameras, while experts of the Wildlife Institute of India would provide the technical training to the field staff of the project.
Mr. Singh said, “The World Wildlife Fund for Nature-India (WWFI) will be involved in the survey in Pakke while services of the Assam-based Aaranyak will be availed in Namdapha for authenticating the data collected.”
The NTCA decided to hold an annual census considering serious doubts cast on the accuracy of the methodologies adopted in the exercise, Mr. Singh said.
The Namdapha Tiger Reserve in Changlang district is the only national park in India where all four big cats -- tiger (Panthera Tigris), leopard (Panthera Pardus), snow leopard (Panthera Uncia) and clouded leopard (Neofelis Nebulosa) have been found.
The country’s tiger population is estimated to be 3,500, the figure having been arrived at through using the big cat’s pug marks, but the method is considered not very reliable.
According to the 2001-2002 census, there were 11 wild cats in the Namdapha park, but the 2006 census had shown them only four.
The state forest department, however, has claimed that the 2006 census by the WII was incorrect as it was done in selected areas of the tiger reserve.
Besides the decline in tiger population, the reserve experienced large-scale encroachment since the mid-eighties by Lisus, a tribe originating in China, who are good tiger hunters.
“The reported decline in tiger population is mainly due to encroachment of the park’s buffer zone by 84 families of the Lisus tribe from across the border,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) B.S. Sajwan had claimed recently.
In fact, to ascertain the presence of tigers, a survey as per an NTCA directive was conducted on an expedition mode in four zones of the Namdapha Tiger Reserve during November, 2008 to February, 2009 in which evidence of four tigers at different locations was found.
The forest officials, along with volunteers from ’Nature’s Beckon’, an NGO from Assam, had participated in the survey.
The data sheets and scat samples were submitted to Aaranyak for analysis and compilation and the DNA test of scats encouragingly confirmed existence of tigers in the Park.
Mr. Singh said the details of the camera trap method would be submitted to the NTCA for sanction of funds for conducting a survey.
Giving details of the method, he said the cameras are placed at a distance of about 1 km for 35 to 60 days at a single location to trap the images of tigers.
He said the data would be very encouraging as proper survey in the dense forests of this state having 82 per cent coverage is yet to be conducted.
The tiger population in Pakke is estimated to be nine.
India, home to half the world’s wild tigers, surprised global conservationists with its announcement last March that its tiger population had increased to 1,706 from 1,411 according to a tiger census conducted in 2007.
The area-wise tiger population shown were: Shivalik-Gangetic plains -- 353; Central and Eastern Ghats -- 601; Western Ghats -- 534; Brahmaputra flood plains & North-East hills -- 148; and Sunderbans -- 70, totalling 1,706, according to data released by All India Tiger Estimation in March 2011.
Numbering more than 100,000 at the turn of the last century, tigers have lost more than 97 per cent of their population and 94 per cent of their home range in just 100 years.

Metallica's Delhi concert cancelled, tickets to be refunded

2011-10-29T00:08:00.001-07:00

Gurgaon: The first Indian concert of the gods of rock, Metallica, which was earlier postponed to Saturday due to a technical fault, has been cancelled following the organisers' inability to secure a permit. Refunds will be announced within the next 24 hours.

Fans of American band Metallica vandalise the stage after the concert was postponed, in Gurgaon.

The four-member American heavy metal band was excited about playing for the Indian fans and is said to be "deeply disappointed" with the cancellation.
"Metallica arrived in Delhi on Friday very excited and ready to play their first show ever in India at the F1 Rocks concert," Lars Ulrich, one of the founding members of the band, said in a press statement.
"However, immediately at the end of the press conference at a hotel near the venue the band was notified that there was a serious question as to whether the show could proceed with regard to safety of the concert audience. Metallica's first and foremost concern is always for the safety of their concert fans," he added.
The show was initially scheduled to take place at the Leisure Valley Ground here Friday evening. Over 25,000 fans had gathered at the venue to witness the high voltage performance, that the band is known for. Most fans wore black Metallica t-shirts to show their love -- but returned in anger after the show was postponed.
"As soon as the organisers announced that the show has been postponed, the crowd went berserk... people started pushing each other, broke barricades, started shouting and throwing water bottles," Pankaj Kaushik, who waited for three hours for the show to begin, told IANS.
The venue was vandalised by upset fans, some of whom even ran around the ground shirt-less as a mark of rebellion. They threw bottles at the security personnel, who formed a human chain on the stage.
Technical equipment was destroyed as angry fans threw chairs at the LED wall.
"People have come from across various countries - Malaysia, China, Nepal, Indonesia, Singapore... but everybody is feeling robbed," said Anurag Sharma, another disappointed fan.
Due to the chaos caused, four people, including a top official of the company organising the concert, were arrested early Saturday on charges of cheating and breach of trust, as the event was postponed at the last moment.
They were arrested under section 406 (breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, Gurgaon's Sector 29 Station House Officer Jagdish Prasad told IANS.
The Metallica concert was the opener for the 'F1 Rocks' series of performances for the Formula 1 event.
Here's what went wrong: "Once the promoters of the show, DNA Networks, and Metallica determined that there was a failure of a security barricade in front of the stage that could not be adequately repaired, they reluctantly announced the postponement of the show until Saturday.
"Unfortunately, on such short notice the promoters were unable to secure a permit for a show on Saturday, therefore DNA announced that Metallica would not be able to play in Delhi."
As for the ticket refunds, "within the next 24 hours a notification will be issued by DNA Networks regarding the process for full refunds."
The entry to the show was priced between Rs.1,650 and Rs.2,750, and had drawn in fans from several cities like Kerala, Mumbai, Manipur, Kolkata, Jaipur and countries like Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Indonesia and Singapore.
Metallica is due to perform in Bangalore on Sunday.

Mountaineering institute to be set up in Arunachal

2011-10-26T21:37:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI, Oct 27 – The Union Cabinet has sanctioned setting up of a National Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (NIMAS) at Dirang in Arunachal Pradesh as an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Defence at an estimated cost of Rs 81 crore.

The required land at Dirang for the Institute has been provided by the State Government. It will directly provide employment to 89 people, mostly in the middle and lower level. Besides, it will generate further indirect employment in the region and will also boost the economy of the common people who would be providing day to day various services required to the Institute, said Union Information of Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni.

It would be a training institution for multifarious adventure activities relating to land, air and aqua to attract adventure enthusiasts. The systematical training in the activities will increase the number of visitors from all parts of the country to the remote areas of this border State and their interaction with locals will result in development of the region, Soni said.

This Institute would be the first National Institute of its kind where theoretical and practical training for activities relating to mountaineering, aero adventure and aqua adventure would be conducted. Trainees for the courses at the Institute shall be from all parts of India and abroad. These would include personnel from Defence forces, para military forces, NCC cadets, civilians and students sponsored by State Governments, she said.

18 models for NE Supermodel Contest 2011

2011-10-25T21:16:00.001-07:00

Dimapur, Oct 26 : The curtain raiser for NE Agri Expo ground, 4th Mile Dimapur on October 28 will be the 2nd North East Super Model Contest 2011 where 18 of the best models of the northeastern states including Sikkim would vie for the coveted title which is being supported by Department of Planning and Co-ordination, Government of Nagaland and co-sponsored by North Eastern Council (NEC).
The event has been organized to showcase the talent of beauty through competitions, diversified culture and unique clothing of the region, the contest is also powered with a view to give a purpose to the evening as the substance of the theme “Culture & Couture-Synchronizing Faces, Fashion and Feminism” itself depicts the harmony of indigenous and Mongolian features; combined with traditional and modern attires of the northeastern region while uniting for women empowerment.
The ladies will be groomed by resource persons on dinning etiquettes, beauty tips and outings which are also included in their itinerary during the following days before the d-day, it added.
The second NE Supermodel contest in Dimapur is being represented by three contestants each from Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, two representatives each from Mizoram and Assam and one representative each from Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.
The contest which is being organized by Ethnic Group of Nagaland (EGoN) ensures a show that surpasses the normal beauty pageants. Opening act and the Formal round will be performed by Nise Meruno (Zowe Madrigal). Other celebrated artistes would include Mami Varte and Faith in Action Team. EGoN will also be introducing Opangtongdang (Mr. India Earth 2011-12) and Alino Sumi (Miss Dimapur 2011 runners-up). The overall show will be choreographed by Esther Jamir, Supermodel and show directed by Toshizen Lkr. Official designer for the event will be Kahuli Sumi.
Also, Miss Nagaland 2011, Miss Dimapur 2011 and 2009 would also make special appearances. Esteemed judges for the contest would be Ajay Bisht (Delhi), International Choreographer and Stylist), Lucy Sailo (Mizoram), Pioneer fashion designer of the Northeast, aAldous Mawlong (Meghalaya), MCS, director cum chairman of Shillong Fashion Society (SFS), Nishikanta Khoishnam (Manipur), convenor, Four Hopes (Miss Manipur) and Choreographer, and Rachael Among, Miss Nagaland 1992 and Miss East India 1995. This has been informed in a press note received here today.

India, Myanmar open up borders

2011-10-24T08:10:00.001-07:00

AIZAWL: In a reciprocal gesture, Myanmar has decided to allow Indians living in border areas of four northeastern states to travel upto 16 km inside its territory without a passport or visa, a Mizoram government official said Monday.

"The reciprocal arrangements for the visit of both Indians and Mynmarese were discussed in detail at a deputy commissioner-level meeting held at Falam in Myanmar's Chin state last week," a Mizoram home department official here told IANS.

India had already made a similar announcement earlier this year, allowing unrestricted entry of Myanmarese up to 16 km territory inside Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

"Besides residents of Mizoram, inhabitants of Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh would be allowed to visit the other side of the Myanmar border," the official said.

Citizens of both countries can stay on the other side of the border for a maximum period of one week.

Mizoram's Champhai district Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Kumar Bidhuri led the Indian delegation at the meeting held Saturday.

Official of both countries have also agreed to work together in curbing trafficking of rare orchids, animal organs and skins, drugs and sandalwood.

The tribal-dominated population on both sides of the border share common lifestyles and traditions.

Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram share a 1,640 km-long border with Myanmar, manned by the Assam Rifles on the Indian side. The dense forests make the border porous and vulnerable.

Chamling suggests declaration of NE as organic belt

2011-10-24T07:20:00.001-07:00

Gangtok: Chief Minister Pawan Chamlinghas suggested to the Centre to declare north east, known forits flora and fauna, as an organic belt, official sources saidon Monday.

Chamling made the suggestion to the Union Minister forDONER, Paban Singh Ghatowar, in New Delhi yesterday when healso discussed the possibility of declaring as an eco-friendlyzone.

During the meeting, he also emphasised the urgent needfor an alternative highway from Gangtok to Siliguri.

Ghatowar assured the chief minister to put it on thepriority list of projects, the sources added.

State looking forward to Internet connectivity from Cox Bazar

2011-10-24T07:19:00.001-07:00

GUWAHATI: Chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Sunday said international internet connection from Bangladesh's Cox Bazar to Guwahati would significantly improve Net services in the state.

At present, internet links to the state are from Mumbai and Chennai international gateways. Assam is linked to the gateways through the narrow Siliguri corridor in West Bengal, leading to frequent disruption of connectivity.

"Currently, internet links to the state are from Mumbai and Chennai international gateways, which are linked to Assam through the narrow Siliguri corridor. This leads to frequent disruptions in IT connectivity in Assam and other northeastern states. This has also deterred IT companies from investing in the state," added the chief minister.

During the 56th National Development Council meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Saturday, Gogoi said international internet connectivity from Cox Bazar should be extended up to Guwahati as the distance between the two places is only 480 km. Gogoi said Internet connectivity from Cox's Bazar and Guwahati could be easily linked through the Se-ME-WE-4 undersea cable station.

The chief minister also proposed to set up an international internet gateway in Guwahati for international internet connectivity from Cox Bazar. Gogoi suggested that a hub of the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) should be set up in Guwahati to strengthen internet service.

"All districts, subdivisions, blocks and panchayats should be connected with high speed (100/1000 Mbps and above) links for faster connectivity within the state so that the general public benefit from internet connectivity," said the chief minister.

"During the 12th Plan, the approach of the government would be to create capacities in terms of skill building in IT and IT-enabled services up to the block level by taking connectivity to villages using a mix of various technologies, creating the right internet communication technology infrastructure for providing services to the citizens and also attracting investment to the state," he added.

Sex racket and murder: Heat on ONGC officials

2011-10-22T21:34:00.001-07:00

AGARTALA: After the gruesome murder of a housewife, Ashalata Das alias Soma, in Kanchanpalli on the outskirts of Agartala recently, names of some ONGC officials have come up for investigation for their alleged involvement with her.

This is the first time that allegations are being made at this corporate body, which has been functioning here since 1970.

Ashalata's body was found in a field on October 17 and police arrested her husband Sanjib, a tailor, her sister-in-law Jhuma, mother-in-law Chanubala and father-in-law Premananda Das for their alleged involvement in the crime. Hundreds of angry neighbours attempted to set their house on fire but police intervention at the right moment saved them.

It was alleged that Jhuma, who worked as a helping hand in the quarters of some of the ONGC officials, had illicit relationships with them. Some of the officials would visit her house at night regularly and spend time with her. It is believed they offered her large sums of money among other things. Neighbours identified at least three ONGC officials as "regular visitors" to the house though their names were not formally given to the police. Neighbours suspect that Jhuma perhaps tried to get Ashalata to entertain the ONGC officials who visited here and when she refused, she was murdered. It is not clear if Ashalata was forced to join the racket, but neighbours confirmed that she was subjected to regular torture by her in-laws.

A three-member delegation of the visiting Tripura Women's Commission, led by chairperson Tapati Chakraborty, is also probing the murder. The team was here on October 18.

"Many of the ONGC officials were reported to visit Jhuma's house at night," said Siuli Debbarma, vice-chairperson, adding, "neighbours claimed that on the night of the murder they had seen some of the vehicles ONGC officials used to travel in, parked outside Jhuma's house."

The commission delegation also met the DGP in-charge, Kishore Jha, and sought a thorough investigation into the case and stringent action against the culprits. DIG range Puneet Rastogi visited the spot and reviewed the investigation.

When asked if Ashalata was raped before she was murdered as reported, Debaprasad Roy, officer-in-charge of Amtali Police station, said, "The rape is not yet confirmed as the medical report has not reached us."

However, a doctor involved in the post-mortem, speaking on condition of anonymity said Ashalata had not been raped.

Parts of northeast cut-off, train services disrupted

2011-10-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

Silchar (Assam)/Agartala, Oct 23 : Train services in parts of northeast were disrupted for the second day Saturday as locals blocked the railway line in southern Assam to protest the abduction of two railway employees.

"Several trains between Agartala, Lumding, Manipur, Mizoram and southern Assam and the rest of India did not run due to the railway line blockade," a Northeast Frontier Railway spokesman told reporters in Silchar.

Trains were stopped in Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and southern Assam Friday after a railway driver was kidnapped along with his co-driver by unidentified militants at Ramnathpur in Assam's Hailakandi district late Thursday.

Driver Tarun Kumar Bhattacharjee, 50, and co-driver Sudhir Kumar Sarmah, 47, were abducted when their train from Lala Bazar station of southern Assam was approaching Bairabi station in northern Mizoram, police Chief Hemanta Kumar Bhattacharjee told reporters.

The militants released Sarmah Friday night.

Railway and police officials were negotiating with the protesters, he said.

Many passengers were stranded in Agartala, Jiribam (Manipur), Bhairabi (Mizoram) and southern Assam's Badarpur, Silchar and Lumding stations.

NHRC mulls looking into AFSPA repeal

2011-10-17T20:20:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI, Oct 18 – The National Human Rights Commission will consider looking into the issue of repealing the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and the time it needs to continue.

This was announced by NHRC Chairperson Justice K G Balakrishnan while addressing the National Consultation for Universal Periodic Review 2012 here.

“The Commission would consider looking into this (repealing of AFSPA) and also how much more time this needs to continue, he said.

He said welfare measures taken up by government agencies should be monitored as to how these are reaching the people.

“A growth rate of 8-9 per cent will be meaningful in projecting shining India in real sense only when the benefits of wealth generated out of it reach to the people at grassroot level,” he said.

He also stressed the need to classify the offences which could be considered as violation of human rights so that it becomes easy for the people to file complaints in the human rights courts which should be set up by all the states as per the Protection of Human Rights Act. He said that the states need to set up and strengthen the State Human Rights Commission.

Car, motorbike thefts rampant in Mizoram, Tripura

2011-10-15T22:24:00.001-07:00

Aizawl/Agartala, Oct 16 : Vehicle thefts are rampant in two northeastern states of Mizoram and Tripura, bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh, though some of the stolen cars and two-wheelers have been recovered, police reports said Saturday.

In Mizoram, at least 60 small cars were stolen by thieves or organised gangs so far this year.

“Police have so far recovered 21 of the 60 stolen vehicles from different parts of Mizoram but many of them were believed to have been taken to neighbouring states and countries,” a Mizoram Police report said.

According to the police report, the total number of small cars stolen during the last four years has gone up to 255. Of these, about half were recovered and returned to the owners.

“As many as 76 vehicles were stolen during 2009 while 52 vehicles were stolen in 2008 and 67 last year,” the report stated.

A senior Mizoram Police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IANS: “An inter-state gang is active in the northeast. We have intensified our efforts to nab the gang with the help of security forces of other states.”

Motorcycle thefts are common in Tripura, bordering Bangladesh.

“Every month at least 10 to 12 two-wheelers were being stolen in different parts of Tripura and many of them are smuggled out to Bangladesh where the bike engine is used in motorised boats,” a Tripura Police official said.

He said that the state police authorities have asked the Border Security Force (BSF) to tighten their vigil along the India-Bangladesh border to check the smuggling and other border crimes.

Four northeastern states -- Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam -- share a 1,880-km border with Bangladesh, while India and Bhutan share a 643-km unfenced border. Mizoram also has international border of 404-km with Myanmar.

Hungry India hugs Myanmar Resources and security count

2011-10-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

ARCHIS MOHAN

New Delhi, Oct. 15 : Appetite for scarce resources, Northeast security concerns and strategic calculations have prompted India to scale up its engagement with Myanmar, branded a pariah by the West but courted assiduously by energy-hungry China.
India and Myanmar today unveiled a series of measures to step up economic and security co-operation (see chart), suggesting that New Delhi has shrugged off its initial unease in engaging with the controversial military junta and decided to focus on protecting its interests in the region.
The measures, announced today during the visit of Myanmar President U Thein Sein, and the joint statement reflected a deepening relationship that has often been overshadowed by other bilateral ties.
A key component of the thrust is an Indian role in Myanmar’s infrastructure development. New Delhi will provide a $500-million (Rs 2,450 crore) line of credit to Naypyidaw (Myanmar’s new capital).
A line of credit is effectively a bank account that can readily be tapped in tranches at the borrower’s discretion. Most of the money is expected to be used in projects, including irrigation schemes, that Indian companies are likely to implement. The new line comes in addition to the $300-million (Rs 1,470 crore) scheme Delhi had earlier committed.
New border points will also be opened, which are expected to increase economic activity in the northeastern states. Four Indian states — Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland — share a boundary with Myanmar.
On insurgency, too, the two sides appeared to have taken purposeful strides. They have agreed to enhance co-operation and co-ordination between their security forces to tackle “the deadly menace of insurgency and terrorism, strengthen institutional mechanisms for sharing of intelligence to combat the menace of insurgency, arms smuggling and drug trafficking, further strengthening of border management mechanisms”.
Both sides assured the other to not “allow their respective territory to be used for training, sanctuary and other operations by terrorist and insurgent organisations and their operatives”. Nearly 18 common ethnic groups live on either side of their land boundary, which is extremely porous and prone to insurgent activity.
Other than the internal security factor, economic attractions such as Myanmar’s vast undeveloped gas reserves have prompted India to skirt the human rights concerns of the West. Myanmar straddles the busy Bay of Bengal shipping lanes, making it strategically important for energy-hungry economies like India and China.
Improved ties have already given India access to Myanmar’s substantial gas reserves (the 10th largest in the world), gas, copper and zinc.
Another raw material that Myanmar has and which will find a resonance in power-starved states like Bengal is coal, which is on China’s radar. China has put all its land border countries on the watch list to acquire natural resources after many of its acquisitions in Canada and Australia were thwarted.
However, India’s efforts have only been partially successful — which explains the compulsions behind the new thrust. Planned roads and ports are behind schedule and although India part-owns two natural gas projects off Myanmar’s coast, the gas is sold to China.
The red-carpet welcome for President Sein today reflects India’s eagerness to scale down Myanmar’s reliance on Beijing. China had stood by Myanmar’s military leaders when West-sponsored economic sanctions kicked in and crippled its economy.
But now Myanmar’s rulers are seeking to widen their circle of friends. The junta has responded to nudges from South Block to carry out political and economic reforms and hopes that, with Indian help, it can convince western countries to lift economic sanctions.
Sein’s government, which took over in March, has initiated what New Delhi terms as “significant” reforms, though the West is yet to be convinced. Myanmar released 200 political prisoners earlier this week but activists say 2,000 more, including several key figures, are still incarcerated. About 100,000 refugees and migrants from Myanmar live in India.
However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement today suggests that India feels the stirrings of political reform vindicate its policy of engagement.
Singh “welcomed the ongoing efforts at political, economic and social reform in Myanmar” and congratulated Sein “on the transition towards democratic government”. The Prime Minister also offered “all necessary assistance in further strengthening this democratic transition in an inclusive and broad-based manner”.

India, Myanmar pact on intelligence sharing

2011-10-14T21:03:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI, Oct 15 – India and Myanmar on Friday agreed to strengthen the intelligence sharing mechanism to combat insurgency, smuggling and drug trafficking.

A joint statement issued after the formal bilateral talks between President U Thein Sein and Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh reaffirmed their unequivocal and uncompromising position against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

India and Myanmar agreed on enhancing effective cooperation and coordination between the security forces of the two countries in tackling the deadly menace of insurgency and terrorism, which has caused countless loss of innocent lives. “Both sides also underscored the need to strengthen institutional mechanisms for sharing of intelligence to combat the menace of insurgency, arms smuggling and drug trafficking,” the statement.

In this context, the two sides decided to further strengthen the border management mechanisms. The two leaders reiterated the assurance that the territory of either would not be allowed for activities inimical to the other and resolved not to allow their respective territory to be used for training, sanctuary and other operations by terrorist and insurgent organizations and their operatives.

Myanmar and India welcoming scheduling of meeting of the heads of Survey Department of India and Myanmar in November, directed the heads to jointly work out and implement a schedule for inspection and maintenance of boundary pillars in the open season in 2011-12 in a time bound manner.

U Thien Sein, who is here at the invitation of President, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, is leading a 67-member delegation including 13 senior ministers and top military officials.

This morning, President U Thein Sein held a meeting with the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, which was followed by delegation level talks. The meeting was joined by Home Minister P. Chidambaram, External Affairs Minister, S.M. Krishna, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Jaipal Reddy, Minister of Power, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma, Minister for Science and Technology Vilasrao Deshmukh, besides National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon.

Agreeing to carry forward the momentum of bilateral exchanges, the two sides agreed that a meeting of the Foreign Minister of the two countries would be held in New Delhi in early 2012 and the next round of Foreign Office Consultations would be held in India next year.

Myanmar keen to reopen Stilwell Road

2011-10-14T20:59:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI, Oct 15 – The long-pending proposal to reopen the Stilwell Road is back on tracks, with Myanmar evincing keen interest to reopen the historic road albeit on a new alignment.

The idea was broached by the visiting Minister of Border Affairs of Myanmar, Lt General Thien Htay, when he called on Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Paban Singh Ghatowar here this afternoon.

Myanmar has suggested construction of a 130 Km road linking Pancha and Khamti connecting the historic road. Myanmar has suggested a number of roads to India and have advocated a new alignment for the Stilwell Road, Ghatowar told newsmen, after an hour long meeting.

“We have told them that Government of India would consider the proposal after it is formally submitted,” the Minister DoNER said.

Despite pressure from North Eastern States of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to re-open the road dating back to the World War- II days, the Centre has been dragging its feet, as Myanmar was reluctant to reopen it citing security concerns.

The meeting touched on a number of issues of interest concerning both Myanmar and North-east. The two Ministers reviewed the progress of the Kaladan Multi-modal Project. The project is scheduled to be commissioned in 2014.

The joint statement issued at the end of the bilateral talks on Friday said President of Myanmar, U Thein Sein and Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh expressed satisfaction at the implementation of the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Project, especially the port development and Inland waterways.

Meanwhile, a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the second Myanmar road connecting Rhi and Tiddim is ready, Ghatowar said.

India and Myanmar reiterated their commitment for an early implementation of the Rhi-Tiddim Road Development Project with grant assistance from India.

Ghatowar said they have stressed on enhancing people to people contact, development of border areas and trade. “We have also suggested that sports activities between the Region and Myanmar should be increased,” he said.

Myanmar 'won't allow' terror on its soil

2011-10-13T21:19:00.001-07:00

New Delhi, Oct 14 : Myanmar has assured India that its territory would not be used to fuel insurgent activities in the North East that shares a 1,600-km border with the strategically important neighbour.

“India received assurances that Myanmar territory will not be allowed to be used for insurgent activities against India,” ministry of external officials said as the Myanmar President H E Thein Sein began his third India tour in seven years.

Sein who assumed office on March 30 after general elections arrived at Gaya on Wednesday and undertook a pilgrimage of the holy sites of Gaya, Kushinagar and Sarnath. He landed in Delhi on Thursday and will meet the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday for bilateral talks.

Bridge to South Asia
While both sides are expected to sign a number of agreements to further bilateral cooperation, officials said Kaladan multi-mode transport corridor which would connect the north-east to Sittwe sea port in Myanmar would be ready by June, 2013 creating a bridge between India and South Asia.

Sein first visited India in 2004 during the state visit of Senior General Than Shwe as Secretary-1 as he was called then.

He next visited in November 2008 as the Prime Minister of Myanmar to participate in the BIMSTEC Summit in New Delhi.

While India shares a strategic relation with Myanmar and often supplies military equipment to Yangon, efforts are currently on to broaden the relations in other areas like energy, health and education and infrastructure development so as to counter growing Chinese influence in Myanmar.

At the request of Myanmar, noted agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan visited the country to ascertain the requirements for setting up an Advanced Centre for Agricultural Research and Education at Yezin.

A Detailed Project Report for setting up the centre for which India will supply tractor and farm implements is under preparation.

Sein would also visit Aakshardham temple in east Delhi and Indian Agricultural Research Institute before leaving for Myamnar on Saturday.

Mangan students, teachers heroes of the moment

2011-09-23T20:48:00.001-07:00

MANGAN (NORTH SIKKIM), Sept 24 – Four days after the devastating 6.8 earthquake that struck Sikkim, the ground realities at Mangan, headquarters of the North District is a picture of chaos and unmitigated sorrow. A little outside Mangan the stench of death and decomposing bodies is quite noticeable.

Despite the presence of the Army and other agencies, the people of the North district have had to fend for themselves. What little news that comes in of the many scattered and remote villages, such as Bay, Pegong, Saffu, Shipgyer is either from the many labourers on their way down to the plains or desperate villagers coming to seek help from the headquarters, after walking many kilometres.

Lack of communication and a severe lack of coordination, has left many rescue and relief teams stranded at the Mangan helipad with food and supplies stacked and undelivered for over three days.

It is disheartening that the local authorities have not been able to spearhead any cohesive search, rescue or relief operations even as many villagers stay cut off and helpless. A team of Sankalp India Foundation, which arrived within 48 hours from Bangalore has been unable to do any work due to lack of coordination from local authorities.

Though there are volunteer NGO teams, a team of the National Disaster Relief Force, the Indian Army, the Indo-Tibetan Police Force, Jalpaiguri based Disaster Management team, the heroes of the moment are the teachers and NSS students of the Mangan Senior Secondary School who have organised themselves into ten-man teams to take on the task of search, rescue and delivery of relief food and aid packets.

Headed by their teachers, Rabden Pintso Lepcha, Devilall Chettri and Kunzang Bhutia, the students have been carrying foodstuff and aid to villagers. They have also started collecting decomposing bodies and with help of locals cremating them.

The local population too has chipped in with whatever stores they have, to feed the many labourers who are fleeing their places of work, providing with some money, food and finding transport out of Mangan.

Local doctors, some junior government officials, on their initiative are making attempts to organise themselves into a functional assistance group as most of the senior officials are busy attending to VVIP duties. The local officials and doctors say that they may face a health hazard due to the decomposing bodies trapped under debris and inside collapsed buildings.

The army has been helping out by setting up langars to feed the hundreds of labourers from the plains and elsewhere. But their priority, along with the BRO, has been to get the roads open again and attending to the many injured and dead Defence personnel that are being ferried by helicopter from Mangan and other places in the North to Sukna and Bengdubi.

Reports from places further North, reaching Mangan are stark and tragic. With the roads being inoperable and dangerous many have walked all the way, risking life and limb. The road from Chungthang to Mangan is dotted with mangled vehicles, some with decomposing corpses in them, and corpses of people hit by falling boulders or buried under landslide debris.

Kuldip Singh, Ranjit Singh and Avtar Singh from Gurdaspur in Amritsar, who worked as labourers at Teesta Urja hydel project, left for Siliguri broken-hearted, vowing never to come back to Sikkim again. They say they carried out nine corpses from a tunnel and that there were four or five more inside when they decided to leave. They said they have not been paid for over three months, and claimed that there were many more casualties at Teesta Urja.

Other labourers coming from different places from north have equally harrowing stories to tell. The labourers claim that three other project sites of NEC, SEW Infrastructures Limited, and Abir Construction, affiliated to Teesta Urja have many casualties. There is no news at all of officers, staff and labourers of MG construction, involved in constructing a road for the army at Domang in Lachung. Anywhere from 1600 to 2000 labourers are being sheltered in the many Gurdwaras of the Sikh Regiment and being fed by the local people and the army.

Reports coming in from Chungthang are equally bleak. With no communication available, and even the army having faced problems, the Yarlam Resort, which is equipped with VSAT communication was the only means of communication for people around Chungthang with Gangtok.

Bandh disrupts life in Itanagar

2011-09-23T20:47:00.001-07:00

ITANAGAR, Sep 24 – Life came to a halt in the State capital today following a dawn to dusk bandh called by the Arunachal Volunteer Youth Federation (AVYF).

All business establishments, educational institutions remained closed while thin attendance was recorded in all government offices during the bandh called in the capital city area, official reports said.

The district administration made elaborate security arrangements along the NH 52A for the Ministers and MLAs to attend the Assembly session which began today.

The organisation called the bandh in the capital in protest against the State Government’s failure to meet its ultimatum for dropping Water Resource Development and Tourism Minister Pema Khandu from the Cabinet and initiating investigation into allegation of fund misappropriation against him.

A knock on general Stilwell’s door

2011-08-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

Beijing, August 26, 2011
I rattled the door of General Joseph W Stilwell until a sleepy Chinese woman let me inside the old ivy-covered villa edged into a hillside with a monorail slicing its top. I was the only visitor standing in Stilwell’s military meeting room, peering at a large brown map on the wall of a

jungle trail winding through the India-China border in 1944.
It was a few days before the Pentagon report, released this week, reported deep mistrust persisting between Asia’s largest nations and said China has deployed advanced nuclear capable missiles along its disputed border with India.
In this lane in Chongqing, it is hard to imagine another slice of shared history from not long ago.
Two desolate museums in Chongqing, China’s wartime capital during the Sino-Japanese war, are some of the last places in China to record the forgotten history of a border from where India once came to her neighbour’s rescue.
They also extol the ‘friendship’ between the Americans and Chinese, the world’s greatest rivals today.
The World War II jungle trail from Ledo in Assam ends in Kunming in China.
It was renamed after Stilwell, the American general who lived in this Chongqing villa, and commanded the allied forces in the China-Burma-India theatre.
I was the only visitor in Stilwell’s bedroom where he slept on a hard bed covered with a coarse green blanket.
A plank covered part of the open rotting floor.
The windows opened to an urban forest of cranes, towers and dozens of bridges in the world’s largest municipality where the locals no longer talk about India’s role in China’s nationalist history. Stilwell’s bedroom connects to his spartan office with a rusting typewriter and telephone.
I crossed the lane and climbed the stairs of the Flying Tigers museum. Every 75 seconds, a plane took off from India or China on a busy day,’’ said the captions under photographs of shark-faced planes flying the Hump route, the only Himalayan air route to buttress China’s resistance against the Japanese.
There were pictures of labourers in Assam building dirt tracks and carrying wounded soldiers.
I was not alone in the little museum.
The Chinese museum attendants lay sound asleep on chairs joined together in front of faded photographs hailing the heroes from the US and India.

Six-point strategy for development of NE

2011-08-24T21:56:00.001-07:00

Agartala, Aug 25: The Ministry of Development of Northeastern Region (DoNER) has been working on a six-pronged strategy for comprehensive development of the region as suggested in NE Vision document 2020, Tripura Rural Development Minister Jitendra Chowdhury said here today.

Referring to the latest report of DoNER, Mr Chowdhury said people empowerment programme had been launched by maximising self-governance and participatory development through grass-roots planning to promote inclusive development.

Besides exploring development opportunities for rural areas through enhancing productivity in agriculture and allied activities, including animal husbandry, horticulture, floriculture, fisheries and generation of livelihood options through rural non-farm employment, the Centre developed sectors for comparative advantage like agro processing and hydro power generation.

He, however, pointed out that for enhancing the skills and competence of the people and building capacities for institutions within the government and outside, NE state governments were asked to create a hospitable investment climate to encourage investment by private sector, particularly for infrastructure.

Mr Chowdhury underlined that the document had emphasised on improvement of standard of living of the people of North-East, structural transformation by effecting significant changes in development strategies to achieve growth rates of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) equal to National Averages, harnessing available local resources for development and expansion of trade and commerce in NE.

Indo-Bangla trade resumes through Akhaura

2011-08-24T21:14:00.001-07:00

AGARTALA, Aug 24 – Export and import between India and Bangladesh have resumed through Akhaura land port after a two-day halt following a strike by Agartala Export-Import Workers Association, official sources said.“The workers resumed their work since Monday after the officials of the Industries and Commerce department had persuaded the workers association and assured that the department would take positive steps to fulfill their demands”, Pratap Datta, General Manager of Industries and Commerce department told reporters.The workers of ‘Agartala Export-Import Workers Association’ called an indefinite strike on Saturday last, demanding more space for loading and unloading of goods from trucks, immediate repair of the roads, highways and adequate storage facilities for the imported goods and extension of time for loading-unloading.A large number of trucks were stranded on both sides of the check post for the last two days due to the workers’ strike.Highway blockade: Around 250 surrendered militants blocked the Agartala-Sabroom national highway at Birchandranagar in South Tripura in support of their 10-point charter of demands.

Slump in study of Kokborok language

2011-08-23T23:48:00.001-07:00

Agartala, Aug. 24 : Resentment over stagnation in the study of indigenous Kokborok language and lack of opportunities for the study of the subject beyond primary school level, is growing among the indigenous communities.On June 28, 2009, the Tripura Central University had decided at a meeting of its academic council to introduce the study of Kokborok at the college level and informed the higher education department of the state government about the decision, but the state government has failed to create necessary infrastructure for introducing the course.This was communicated to the president of the Indigenous Women’s Federation (IWF), a frontal organisation of the regional Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), by the vice-chancellor of Tripura Central University, Arunoday Saha.“A delegation of IWF headed by their president Patalkanya Debbarma met me yesterday. They raised the issue of Kokborok study at the college level and I informed them that on June 28, 2009, the university academic council had decided to introduce Kokborok study at college level as an elective subject.The assistant registrar of the university, M.K. Bhattacharya, had also informed the authorities of all the 17 degree colleges in the state and the higher education department of the decision including rules, regulations, syllabus and course structure but no follow-up action has so far been taken,” Saha said the university was keen to see study of Kokborok as an optional subject at the undergraduate level also.The alleged apathy of the state government in promoting the study of Kokborok language has created serious resentment among indigenous people.“We have taken up the issue again because of lack of progress on the issue and unless corrective measures are taken soon we will have to hit the streets with our demand,” said Debbarma, the president of IWF said. She said that there is only one school in Tripura — Ratanpur Higher Secondary School in Khowai subdivision where the medium of instruction is Kokborok from classes I to XII but in all other schools in areas dominated by indigenous people Kokborok is studied only up to Class V.“Since students have to compulsorily switch over to Bengali or English as medium of instruction from Class VI, many guardians do not want their wards to study Kokborok at school level at all because switch-over at a late stage creates lot of problems,” said Debbarma , adding that at the college-level Kokborok is not studied at all.“The Tripura Central University has introduced certificate course in Kokborok and we have requested the vice chancellor to upgrade the course as well as to increase the intake of students from 50 a year to 100,” said Patalkanya , adding that the VC has agreed to the demand.

Delhi plays host to northeast folk musicians

2011-08-23T06:44:00.001-07:00

The auditorium at India Habitat Centre came alive as hundreds of Delhites swayed to Naga folk tunes recently.

Rewben Mashangva, the Tanghkul Naga folk singer, gave an enthralling performance at the two-day event titled 'Sounds of the Forest'.

The event was organized to promote awareness about the rich folk music of northeast India, and it attracted a large number of visitors.

Apart from Rewben other bands from different parts of the country also performed at the event.

"I have given my whole life to promote the folk music for the new generation because all the old culture is going day by day due to the arriving of the new life style so I want to bring it back again," said Rewben Mashangva, who hails from Nagaland.

Rewben is known as the King of Naga folk music, having reinvented a four-hole traditional Tangkhul Naga flute Yangkahui.

Rewben uses his own invented flute during his performances along with guitar and mouth organ. He has also modified another folk instrument "Tingteila" to suit the western tonal scale.

He believes that the Naga culture is extremely rich and a filmmaker from the northeast has made a documentary on his journey to success and how he works to promote the Naga culture.

The film "Songs of Mashangva" was conferred with the National Award at the recently held 58th National Film Awards.

Kiran Mehra, Director, said: The main purpose is to bring the life of the indigenous people because there culture, traditions are being lost. They have a very good cultural heritage using which they are making all kinds of music, handicraft but it is not being taken care of intelligently. So we are trying to give them the platform in public and give them a better deal."

Such events help people understand different cultures and traditions in other parts of the country. They also help the youth connect with their culture and traditions.

Surgical care poor in developing nations: WHO

2011-08-22T20:27:00.001-07:00

SHILLONG, Aug 22 – With an annual 1.2 million deaths on world’s roads and surgical intervention available to just 5 per cent of the population in developing countries, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is laying emphasis on its Global Initiative for Emergency and Essential Surgical Care (GIEESC) Programme in India.During the just concluded three-day international meeting on disaster management here, WHO has laid emphasis on better surgical intervention to minimise death rates from injuries, especially in developing nations like India.Dr Meena Nathan Cherian from WHO, said today, Meghalaya has shown keen interest in taking WHO’s technical expertise in training its medical staff on surgical care under the GIEESC programme.A recent World Health Organisation (WHO) study found that more than 90 per cent of deaths from injuries occur in low and middle-income countries. In the poorest of nations, just 3.5 per cent of the population receives surgical care.“Many hospitals in these countries do not have a reliable supply of clean water, oxygen, electricity and anaesthetics, making it extremely challenging to perform even the most basic surgical operations,” the report said.Another WHO report, specifically on road accidents, states that an estimated 1.2 million people die each year on world’s roads. In India such road traffic death rate is estimated at 16.7 per cent per 100,000 population.Dr Cherian said, WHO is trying to impress upon different State Governments, with the help of the Union Health Ministry, to train doctors and technicians so that surgical interventions are available to the people in the rural places. “We are trying to reach to the district and sub-district levels of the country so that essential surgical care can be provided in the remote places of India,” she said.Under the GIEESC programme, there are 38 member countries, including India.In North East’s context, such programmes on surgical care have become all the more important as the region lies in a highly seismic zone and also prone to other natural calamities such as flood and landslide, which necessitates urgent surgical intervention, experts said.

Assam floods spark off scarcity in Arunachal Pradesh

2011-08-21T22:43:00.001-07:00

Itanagar, Aug 21 (PTI) With flash floods in Assam disrupting surface transport the Siang districts in landlocked Arunachal Pradesh are facing acute shortage of essential commodities and petroleum products for the seventh day today. Official sources today said East, West and Upper Siang districts have been cut off from the rest of Arunachal Pradesh for the last one week after flash floods breached a large portion of the NH-52 at Gainadi in Dhemaji district of Assam. The flood waters have also eroded a long portion of the NF Railway metre-gauge track at the same area, the sources said. This has affected supply of essential commodities like petrol and diesel and has caused spurt in prices of food stuff. Petroleum Depot owners in the three districts have failed to replenish stocks even after five days as the road via Daporijo in Upper Subansiri district is not viable for fuel transportation. The sources said about 130 km stretch of the NH-52 from Gogamukh to Ruskin Gate in Dhemaji district is in bad condition for about a decade and every monsoon road communication through it is snapped at several places. Border Road Organization entrusted to maintain the highway has not yet completed repairing it, they said. The highway is the lifeline for the people of the three Siang districts. Essential commodities are transported to Likabali, Aalo, Ruksin, Pasighat and Yinkiong via the road.

Financial crisis: Tripura sends SOS to Centre

2011-08-20T23:37:00.003-07:00

AGARTALA, Aug 21 – Tripura Government has sought financial assistance of Rs 14,600 crore from the Centre to tide over the unprecedented fiscal crisis triggered after announcement of 13th Finance Commission’s award.However, the State Government wants financial assistance as interest free loan and reimbursement to minimise the shortfall in the State’s committed liabilities during the tenure of 13th Finance Commission. The State Government on Tuesday published a white paper highlighting the ‘deprivation’.According to the white paper, the State had sought Rs 26,848.76 crore from the 13th FC to meet the non-plan expenditure for five years. “But the FC had awarded only Rs 16,349.13 crore resulting in a major shortfall in the State’s committed expenditures – salaries, pensions and interest on loan”, said State’s Finance Minister Badal Chowdhury at a press conference here on Wednesday.Chowdhury said, the FC conventionally fixes State’s non-plan expenditure on the basis of State’s last financial year’s liabilities but the 13th FC did not maintain it leading to sharp shortfall in the outlay. “In case of Tripura, the 13th FC had fixed the outlay on the basis of 2005-06 financial year (FY) in stead of 2009-10 FY”, he pointed out.Lamenting over the apathy to the State’s appeal for financial assistance, Chowdhury said, “We had met Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and tried to make him aware about the deprivation by the 13th FC but to no avail”, he said.Now, the State Government wants the Centre to lend a helping hand so that the problem could be tackled, Chowdhury said adding that it would have adverse impact on the State’s economy if the Centre doesn’t come forward with holistic approach.Chowdhury also criticised the Centre for putting cap on the State for borrowings to tide over the situation. “It is an attempt to put pressure on the State Governments which have not yet accepted the Centre’s Pension Rules and other anti-people decisions”, he said.

NE MPs meet Azad over DU medical seats

2011-08-20T23:37:00.001-07:00

GUWAHATI, Aug 21 – A delegation of MPs of the North-east met Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Gulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi yesterday, demanding his intervention into admission of State Government nominees of MBBS/BDS seats of the north-eastern States.The delegation was led by Mukut Mithi, chairman, NEMPs’ Forum and Union Minister of State Vincent H Pala along with CM Chang, CL Ruala, Ninong Ering and Takam Sanjoy.In a statement, Sanjoy said that Azad had directed the Secretary, Health, Government of India, Chandra Mouly for an appropriate decision to be conveyed to Delhi University authorities to allow the students of 12 States including the north-eastern States against Central Pool MBBS/BDS seats.Sanjoy along with Raula and Chang met the Union Health Secretary and apprised him of the ‘lackadaisical approach’ of Delhi University, Medical Council of India and the Ministry of Health in neglecting the court case WP (C) No. 4292 seeking for doing away with the Central Pool MBBS/BDS quota allotted to some special category States including Arunachal Pradesh and other north-eastern States.

Tripura hosts bamboo cultivation conference

2011-08-19T23:23:00.000-07:00

Agartala, Aug 20 : In an endeavor to promote growth of the bamboo sector, a three days National Conference on Bamboo Cultivation and Value Addition was recently held in Tripura.Organised by the Tripura Bamboo Mission, the conference aimed to promote growth of the bamboo sector with efforts focused on augmenting economic opportunity, income and employment.During the conference artisans were provided information about new technologies and new industrial initiatives.“China is not only the biggest country with bamboo resources, but also has art-of-the-state technology, sustainable management, and rich experience in bamboo resources utilization and thus producing bamboo products, which has better finishing than India. We need to compete with them,” said R N Barathi, a Bamboo scientist.Bamboo is widely produced in Tripura. Nineteen species are found in the state.

Computer learning facility to be expanded in 282 Tripura schools

2011-08-19T23:22:00.001-07:00

Agartala, Aug 20 : The Tripura Government has decided to expand computer learning and satellite-based education network in rural schools under information and communication technology expansion programme of the Ministry of Human Resources Development.Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty said here today that computer learning facilities would be expanded in at least 282 rural schools besides existing 350 schools in remote locations.''We have 50 schools in satellite-based education network in the state but the expansion has been stopped because of absence of high speed internet connectivity but now the expansion drive has been initiated following proliferation of internet facilities,'' Chakraborty said.He, however, pointed out that five various consultancy groups had been engaged in providing computer education among the school children under the programme since 2007, and last year, the Centre had enhanced it substantially and had opened up more opportunities for the states till the 11th five year plan.The state government had sincerely been trying to increase computer literacy at school level for enhancing the knowledge base of the students, Chakraborty said, adding that Tripura was the first among the NE states to have satellite-based educational facilities, launched in 2007.According to plan, a maximum of 500 Satellite Interactive Terminals (SITs) would be set up in different schools to be linked to the hub and what would be taught in the studio could be seen and heard in the classrooms through SITs on large screens or big television sets with cameras and audio equipment available at both ends for communication.

Separated 40 years ago, united on live TV

2011-08-19T22:53:00.001-07:00

Guwahati, Aug 20 : Abandoned when he was four in Assam, reduced to begging on the streets of Nepal's capital Kathmandu and now a computer engineer in the US who reunited with his sister and mother after four decades on live TV. Life for Indian American Kisan Upadhyay has turned full circle."I am emotional, excited, overwhelmed by this reunion and that too on a live TV programme where I talked and saw my mother and elder sister after maybe 40 or 42 years," Kisan said Thursday night during a prime time live show on News Live, a satellite television channel in Assam's main city Guwahati.Kisan joined the 90-minute show live from Durham, US, while his mother Umoti Devi spoke from Kathmandu and sister Maya Devi from Tinsukia in eastern Assam.The story of the trio that started 40 years ago in Guwahati and ended Thursday night rivals even the most dramatic celluloid thriller."Now, will you come and take me? I am old and have lost my eyesight, but happy I found you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life," Umoti Devi, in her mid-70s, told her son on the show with tears rolling down her cheeks."I didn't abandon my two children, I was forced to do so as my husband had two other wives and ill treated me," Umoti said, wiping the tears.Kisan, an IT specialist at Duke University, said he had hunted for his mother and sister for four decades but found no luck until the channel contacted him Aug 12.The story that would change his life began with an Assam police official informing News Live's Riniki Bhuyan Sarma about a Kisan who was searching for his mother over the social networking site Facebook.Kisan's story was moving - he and his sister (he didn't remember her name) were abandoned by her mother somewhere in Guwahati. The only thing he remembered was that his father was in the police department and his name was either Indra Lal Upadhaya or Indra Prasad Upadhaya and that his mother's name was probably Moti Devi.The memories were faint. After being abandoned, a paternal aunt took him and his sister (older to him by about four-five years) to Kathmandu."I was put in a tea stall by my aunt where I washed utensils and also begged on the streets of Kathmandu. I fell sick, maybe in a week's time, down with pneumonia and someone admitted me to a hospital," Kisan said in an emotive flashback to his childhood years.After three months in hospital, Kisan again found himself on the streets of Kathmandu, when someone took him to an orphanage."I knew my sister was married off to a stranger in Nepal; the last time I remember meeting her when I was in hospital and she said she was going back to Assam. I remember asking her to take me along but doctors probably refused permission to let me go," Kisan recalled.Kisan was talented and studied at the orphanage in Kathmandu. He completed his postgraduation from the Tribhuvan University in Nepal before an American missionary took him to the US."I was lucky and then completed by Computer Engineering degree in the US and then got into the Duke University working as an IT specialist," Kisan said.He got married to an American, Pam. But the search for his mother and sister continued, without any success.The first story on television led to two relatives approaching the channel - the beginning of an end to a 40-year separation.On Aug 14 (Sunday), Kisan moved a step further in his quest when Jayanti Devi and Boloram Sharma, both related to Kisan's mother, spoke to him through the channel."Her name is not Moti Devi but Umoti Devi and Kisan's sister's name is Maya Devi. Kisan's mother is in Nepal and I can get her details in a day or two," Boloram and Jayanti told Kisan during the live show.Two days later, the jigsaw puzzle had almost been solved - sister Maya had been traced to the Bahadur tea garden in Tinsukia, a mother of three and married to a cook. And efforts were made to reach Kathmandu to locate the mother.Umoti Devi was finally located in a remote village, six hours from Kathmandu, old and frail, but managing a small shop by herself.Umoti was convinced to come to Kathmandu for the grand reunion on live television.Kisan, meanwhile, was excited and frequently called the channel to ask if he could see her face on webcam or by way of a photograph emailed to him.But the suspense continued until 9.30 p.m. Thursday.There were tears of joy as the reunion ended with a firm assurance from Kisan that he would be in Assam very soon and that Umoti would also be brought from Kathmandu.

All ears for Hazare, deaf to Sharmila’s crusade

2011-08-18T21:03:00.001-07:00

Imphal, Aug. 19 : Manipur’s lone human rights crusader Irom Sharmila is being compared to Anna Hazare, champion of the anti-corruption movement, but rights activists in Manipur expressed “anguish” over the different responses given to the two iconic campaigners.“When Anna Hazare went on hunger strike for a couple of days the whole country came out in support and even Parliament was rocked. Sharmila is fasting for more than 10 years seeking the right to life and still Parliament remains silent and the mainland keeps mum. This is because Sharmila belongs to the Northeast,” Babloo Loitongbam, director of Human Rights Alert, Manipur, said.Loitongbam’s sentiment echoes the “feelings” and “anguish” of the rights activists who gathered at Manipur Press Club today to renew their support for Sharmila’s fight for repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. The gathering organised by Just Peace Foundation, Imphal, was to mark completion of the 54th year of enforcement of the act in the Northeast.Sharmila began her hunger strike in November 2000 demanding repeal of the army act in the wake of killing of 10 civilians, including women, by troops of the Assam Rifles at Malom in Imphal West in retaliation to a militant attack.Parliament passed the act granting the armed forces extraordinary power, including use of force on suspicion to the extent of causing death, on this day in 1958 to fight Naga militants in the then Naga hills.The Manipur government on September 9, 1980, promulgated the act, following step-ped up militant activities. The act was gradually extended to other parts of the Northeast.“All justice-loving people of Manipur are extending their full support to Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign. Our only hope is that all citizens of the country, who want civil rights and right to live restored, will also come forward and join hands with the people of the Northeast against this draconian act,” Loitongbam said. Irom Shinghajit, elder brother of Sharmila and managing trustee of Just Peace Foundation, also slammed what he termed “racial discrimination” towards the people of the region by the Centre.“Neither the Indian government nor any other citizen of the country consider people from the region as citizens of the country. So Sharmila’s struggle could not make an impact on them (mainland Indians),” Sinhajit said.Former Manipur Human Rights Commission member Yambem Laba and the convener of Committee for Organisation, Research and Education, Bobby Roy, released a report — The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 in Manipur and other states of the Northeast of India: Sanctioning repression in violation of India’s human rights obligations.The 38-page report, jointly prepared by Human Rights Alert, Manipur, London-based rights group Redress and Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission, urged the Centre to repeal the act immediately and investigate and prosecute rights violators. The report also appealed to the UN Human Rights Commission to seek a report from the Union government on the human rights situation in the country.

DBT to provide assistance to UG colleges in North East to make them 'Star Colleges'

2011-08-18T21:01:00.001-07:00

Under its 'Star College Scheme' for improving knowledge and skills of teachers in basic life sciences and specialized techniques in the undergraduate (UG) level colleges, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) will soon provide financial assistance to the UG colleges in north eastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.Under the programme, the DBT will provide support to the UG colleges for improving knowledge and skills of teachers in basic life sciences and specialized technique, access to specialized infrastructure to students, assurance of consumables, reagents and chemicals for students, improved curriculum that enhances creativity in asking original questions and substantial hands-on experience in designing and conducting practicals by students, access to summer school for exposure to platform biotechnologies and critical thinking and access to knowledge banks with strong support of books and journals including e-journal facilities.Committed to the values of pursuit of excellence, academic and intellectual freedom, creativity and innovation, the DBT launched the 'Star College Scheme' for improving critical thinking and 'hands on' experimental work in the cutting edge-technologies needed for modern biological studies at undergraduate (college) level in life sciences.Major objectives of the scheme are to strengthen the academic and physical infrastructure for achieving excellence in teaching and training; to enhance the quality of the learning and teaching process to stimulate original thinking through ‘hands–on’ exposure to experimental work and participation in summer schools; to promote networking and strengthen ties with neighbouring institutions and other laboratories; to conduct specialized training programmes for faculty improvement for optimizing technical capabilities; to increase capabilities of core instrumentation resources by procuring new equipment and upgrading of existing facilities; to provide access and exposure to students to research laboratories and industries in the country; to help in devising standard curricula and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s)/kits for practicals; and to provide better library facility to students and teachers.The colleges that successfully implement the strategy will be considered as life science 'Star Colleges'.Under the scheme, DBT will provide one time non recurring grant up to a maximum of Rs.10 lakhs for each science department (botany, zoology, microbiology, biochemistry, physics, chemistry) and recurring grant of Rs.2 lakhs per year for consumables, Rs.1 lakh per year for contingency to cover expenses on visiting faculty, guest lectures, seminars etc. for each department will be provided initially for a period of 2 years. continuation of support for another 3 years will be based on evaluation of performance.

Another feather added to BSF chief's crown

2011-08-18T21:00:00.001-07:00

SILCHAR: An excellent writer and outstanding poet Manohar Lal Batham, BSF deputy inspector general, serving in Mizoram and Cachar Frontier, has been awarded by the President with the "President Police Medal for Distinguished Service" on the occasion of Independence Day for his outstanding service in his 35-years career with the BSF.In BSF, only five officers have been awarded with this prestigious medal (PPMDS), out of which only one has been awarded from the northeast.Last month, the BSF DIG was award by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for his book titled "Astitva Ka Sankat Aur Manvadhikar" (Crisis of Survival and Human Rights). The committee constituted by NHRC, for selecting outstanding books to give biennial awards for original writing in Hindi on human rights had selected Batham's book for the prize, which also consisted a cash award of Rs 40,000.An expert on human rights, border management and anti militancy operations issues, Batham has also been awarded with Govindvallabh Pant, Indira Gandhi Raj Bhasha and many other awards for his write-ups.In the year 2005, his famous book 'Sarhad Se' was published and praised by all in the world of Hindi literature. This book has been translated and published in more than a dozen national languages.

'Northeast not geared up for tourism'

2011-08-17T20:40:00.001-07:00

New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) Most of the mortheastern states are 'not geared up for tourism' even as the region does not have a single five-star hotel, a parliamentary panel said Wednesday, lamenting that a central scheme aimed at ramping up infrastructure had achieved little in three years.'Most of the states are not geared up for conventional tourism in respect to accommodation, affordable hotels and guest houses. There is no five star hotel in the region till date,' said the report of the parliamentary standing committee on the development of tourism in northeastern region. Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India-Marxist heads the panel.The committee observed in the report: 'The government launched a scheme for capital subsidy of 30 percent on hotels in April 2008 for a period of five years. The scheme has not been successful in achieving the desired results.'The report, tabled in both houses of parliament Wednesday, recommended the tourism ministry offer new initiatives on accommodation in the region.'The ministry should impress upon state governments to offer new initiatives for the creation of quality accommodation for visiting tourists. Central assistance may be extended for achieving this goal,' the report said.While many projects were taken up to upgrade tourism facilities, many of them are yet to be completed.'A number of projects have been taken up for developing tourist circuits and other such projects. However, the committee finds that some of the projects were taken up long back and are yet to be completed.'The northeast region comprises the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.

Rains kill 19 more in North, East India

2011-08-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

Incessant rains continued its killing spree in north and eastern India claiming 19 more lives on Tuesday, even as flood threat looms large over the national capital with the rising water level in Yamuna.
Six people died in Uttar Pradesh, five in Meghalaya and four each in West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh.
Rains claimed 23 people so far this season in UP where major rivers Ganga, Sharda, Ghagra, Rapti, Rohini and Gandak are on the rise and have flooded many villages in the state.
Ganga is flowing over danger level in Ghazipur and Ballia, Ghagra is above the red mark at Barabanki and Ayodhya, while Sharda is above the danger mark in Lakhimpur.
While Kalagarh in Bijnore recorded 340.8 mm rainfall, followed by Baghpat at 125 mm and Moradabad 87.4 mm.
Incessant rains in parts of West Bengal claimed four more lives, even as major rivers continued to flow above the red mark, affecting a population of 26 lakh in 14 districts.
Two deaths each were reported from West Midnapore and Burdwan districts, taking the toll to 27 so far in the state.
Breaches were reported in embankments of Chandia, New Cossy, Keleghai and Rupnarayan rivers in East Midnapore district.
At least five people were killed as heavy rainfall wrecked havoc in the northeastern state of Meghalaya, triggering landslides, uprooting trees and electricity polls and inundating several areas in the Garo hills district.
The five were buried alive as their houses collapsed due to landslides.
In a similar incident in Himachal Pradesh, four persons were buried alive in a house collapse at Shillai area, even as incessant downpours continued to lash the hill state.
Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur was wettest in the state with 162 mm rains, followed by Arki (160 mm) and Renuka (94 mm).

Bangla bonhomie

2011-08-12T00:30:00.001-07:00

Vivek Sengupta

If high-level visits are an indicator, Delhi has gone into overdrive to engage with Dhaka. In July alone, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna and home minister P. Chidambaram journeyed to Bangladesh. Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma went a longer way — to Meghalaya to join his Bangladeshi counterpart in inaugurating a haat for trans-border rural trade.
Mrs Gandhi went down memory lane in her acceptance speech as she received the highest state award of Bangladesh on behalf of her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi. Dhaka honoured Indira Gandhi for her signal role in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. In doing so, Dhaka has not only done itself proud but has pulled the rug from under the feet of critics in India who love to complain that Bangladesh has “forgotten” India’s contribution to its freedom struggle.
In fact, going by the tepid coverage of the award ceremony in our mainstream press, it would seem that it is Indians who have forgotten Mrs Gandhi’s golden hour.
Dhaka’s graciousness in honouring Indira was of a piece with the maturity it displayed a few weeks ago when it elected to make light of the PMO’s faux pas in failing to expunge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s off-the-record statement on the extent of anti-Indian sentiment in Bangladesh. Dhaka refused to make an issue of the thoughtless remarks. The upshot: It was business as usual when Mr Krishna arrived in Bangladesh shortly thereafter.
Another augury for improved bilateral ties was the recent Supreme Court decision to lift its 17-month stay on limestone mining by French multinational Lafarge in Meghalaya. The Indo-Bangladesh operations of Lafarge are a symbol of economic interdependence between the two countries. Lafarge, the global leader in cement, has set up a unique two-nation industrial project across the two sides of the Indo-Bangladesh border in the Meghalaya-Sylhet region. The $255 million cement plant is located in Bangladesh. Raw material for the plant, comprising limestone and shale, comes from quarries in Meghalaya via a 17-km-long belt conveyor.
Certain quarters opposed to the Meghalaya mining project had raised the bogey of environmental damage. In February 2010, the Supreme Court had placed a restraint on mining operations by Lafarge.
In its deposition before the apex court, the Centre made a strong plea for the lifting of the ban, citing bilateral relations with Bangladesh. The viability of the cement plant in Bangladesh would be threatened, it said. The “green” signal from the Supreme Court is widely seen as giving a boost to ties with Dhaka.
The flurry of activity gives the impression that the two neighbours are doing their best to optimise bilateral cooperation. The bonhomie should peak when Dr Singh travels to Bangladesh in September. Several agreements are expected to be signed at the time.
What is remarkable about the current state of Indo-Bangladesh relations is not what has been achieved, but really what has not been accomplished. The blame for the under-realisation of potential lies more with New Delhi than with Dhaka.
A stable Bangladesh that is willing to exploit the fullest potential of neighbourly interdependence can do wonders for India, especially for our Northeast. India is looking for transit through Bangladesh. Dhaka is not unwilling to grant that. Bangladesh is an investment destination whose depths have yet to be plumbed by Indian business. Companies that have ventured there have done very well. Take Marico, the leading Indian FMCG company. It has gone global in a major way in recent years. It has made acquisitions and set up manufacturing units in many countries across continents. But the bulk of the revenues of its international operations comes from Bangladesh. Marico is the fastest growing FMCG company in Bangladesh. Its Parachute is the biggest FMCG brand and Saffola Gold the only brand in its category in that country.
The one area India can and should do a lot more is bilateral trade. India should take measures that would help mitigate the huge trade imbalance between the two countries. It should, for instance, do a lot more to increase market access. It is difficult for Dhaka to fathom why, when Delhi enjoys such a huge trade surplus, it should have a negative list of 480 items for import.
Dhaka feels India is obsessed with Pakistan at the cost of its eastern neighbour, with which it shares a longer border. Ambassador Farooq Sobhan, the doyen among Bangladeshi diplomats, pointed out not long ago: “India is so ‘obsessed’ with Pakistan that Bangladesh gets totally marginalised in the process… The relationship has been relegated, in football terms, to the third division.”
While granting that Delhi has begun to look east, two thoughts continue to rankle. Where Dhaka is concerned, Delhi may have ceased to behave like the proverbial big brother, but it still finds it difficult to bring itself to behaving like the magnanimous older brother that it must in order to win over all shades of opinion there.
Influential sections of India’s decision-making apparatus must shed their distrust of Dhaka. Until that happens, policymaking will suffer. Equally important is the need to drive Indian bureaucracy to move expeditiously on outstanding issues. If mandarins fail to shed old habits it is because they sense that the leadership is not really committed to pushing ahead.
But there is cause for hope. If Sheikh Hasina’s ascension to power has given a fillip to Indo-Bangla ties, a similar push can possibly be provided by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s coming to power in Kolkata. It has been reported that Ms Banerjee may accompany Dr Singh when he visits Dhaka next month. That is how it should be. To use a metaphor from the railways, Ms Banerjee has been moving with the speed of a mail train to usher in change in her own state. She could perhaps now help provide speed and direction to the making and implementation of India’s policy towards Bangladesh.
Vivek Sengupta, public affairs analyst, is founder and chief executive of the consulting firm Moving Finger Communications

BJP demands White Paper on Arunachal dams

2011-08-12T00:29:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI, Aug 12 – The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today demanded a ‘White Paper’ on ongoing power projects in Arunachal Pradesh and impact of the dams downstream in Assam.Raising the issue of construction of dams upstream and China’s bid to divert the Brahmaputra river, in the Lok Sabha though a notice under Rule 377, Ramen Deka pointed out that Assam is geologically and seismologically sensitive area. He said the people were anxious to know about the effect of the dams constructed in Arunachal Pradesh on the State.“People have no idea as to how many power projects are constructed in the region. The dams constructed upstream of Brahmaputra would definitely bear impact on the lower stream of the river. China is also trying to divert the water at the Great Bend, the upstream of Brahmaputra,” he said.He urged Government to come with a White Paper on ongoing power projects in Arunachal Pradesh and steps taken to safeguard Assam. The Government should take up the matter with China on priority.Meanwhile, in a Rajya Sabha reply, Minister of State for External Affairs, E Ahmed said that Government of India is aware of the construction activity at Zangmu, on the main Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra river) in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China.The Chinese Premier said that the country’s development of upstream areas would be on the basis of scientific planning and study and would never harm downstream interests. The Government has ascertained that this is a run-of-the-river hydropower project, which does not store water and would not adversely impact the downstream areas in India, the Minister said.A large proportion of the catchment of the Brahmaputra is within Indian Territory. It is important that Arunachal Pradesh and Assam harness and utilize the water of the river, Ahmed suggested.

24 ST medical seats to be reserved in Agartala

2011-08-11T00:32:00.000-07:00

Agartala: The impasse over admission to 24 ST reserved medical seats in Agartala Govt Medical College (AGMC) continued today with Tripura government yet to receive any directive from the Centre about reducing the cut-off mark while the opposition was insisting on relaxing that.Chief Minister Manik Sarkar called up Union Health Minister Ghulam Navi Azad last evening to be apprised of the Centre's stand on the cut-off marks for admission in MBBS course, state Health and Family Welfare Minister Tapan Chakraborty said.Out of 27 ST reserved MBBS seats in the AGMC, only three students were found eligible as per the MCI approved cut-off mark - 40 per cent, a state official said.Chakraborty told reporters at the secretariat that “the union minister had told the chief minister that he would call back later but that call is yet to come.”The matter was discussed threadbare in yesterday's state cabinet meeting but there was no headway.“We can't fill up the vacant MBBS seats ignoring the cut-off marks laid down by the MCI,” Chakraborty said.Opposition leader Ratan Lal Nath urged the Centre to offer relaxation in the cut-off marks considering the ground reality.Another opposition party - Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) - has also been insisting for admission in 24 ST reserved seats without considering the cut-off marks.

GREF officials looted in Dibang Valley

2011-08-11T00:28:00.001-07:00

ITANAGAR: Armed unidentified men looted Rs 35 lakh from General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) personnel in Arunachal Pradesh's Lower Dibang Valley district on Tuesday.A delayed official report reaching here said the GREF officials were going to Hunli with salaries for the personnel when the attack took place. When officials reached the area with the cash, they found the road blocked by boulders. As the driver got off the vehicle and started clearing the boulders, about 15 men, armed with AK-47 rifles, attacked the driver and the officials.The robbers tied them up and made away in the GREF vehicle with a mobile phone, two rifles, wallets, a laptop and the cash. Two guards were injuries in the attack and were taken to a district hospital. However, they were released after first aid.A massive combing operation has been launched to nab the culprits. The stolen vehicle was found by police from the remote Rukmo village along the Assam-Arunachal boundary.Police suspect involvement of militant outfit in the robbery.

Historic Indo-Bangla land pact next month

2011-08-09T21:17:00.001-07:00

Jyoti Malhotra / New Delhi August 10, 2011, 0:47 ISTManmohan, Mamata visit to mark what could be a model for resolution of disputes with other neighbours.India and Bangladesh are set to make history when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travels to Dhaka on September 5 and signs a land boundary agreement with Bangladeshi counterpart Hasina that finally fulfills the vision laid down by the Indira-Mujib accord of 1974.Accompanied by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Manmohan Singh, also formally a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, is expected to find the visit particularly satisfying as it finally resolves issues that have plagued India’s relations with its key neighbour for decades.Both sides have also reached agreement on the thorny sharing of the Teesta waters, to also be announced during the PM’s visit. Meanwhile, a trade deal is also under consideration by the Indian authorities.But it is clearly the agreement relating to the 4,096-km border between the two countries (262 km with Assam, 443 km with Meghalaya, 318 km with Mizoram and 856 km with Tripura), that will be the centre-piece of the Manmohan Singh visit to Bangladesh.The agreement resolves three key issues. First, it demarcates the remaining 2.4 km of the 4,096-km boundary, pending since 1974. Second, it resolves the issue of control of all adverse possessions, of land used by Indians and Bangladeshis which is actually situated in the other country, amounting to about 7,000 acres. Third, it resolves the question of sovereignty of enclaves, which are small pieces of land encircled by the other country on which small populations live; these amount to about 10,000 acres.The reason the Manmohan-Hasina agreement is so important is because for the first time since 1947 – not counting the ceding of the uninhabited island of Kachhateevu to Sri Lanka in 1974, amounting to only 285 acres, or the so-called “return” of the Haji Pir pass to Pakistan after the 1965 war – India has agreed to give up some of its territory to another country.Meaning, the map of India, as a result of the Manmohan-Hasina accord will change. A majority of the enclaves, it has been agreed, will be handed over to Bangladesh. Much of the adverse possessions, about 4,000 acres, will come to India.The matter of the high-profile Angarpota-Dahagram enclave which Bangladesh claims and which lies inside Indian territory — it is connected by a corridor called the Teen Bigha corridor (literally, three bighas of land, about the size of a football field) — has been resolved using a bit of South Asian genius: The road connecting the enclave will now be open 24 hours a day (earlier it was open only from 6 am to 6 pm, or sunrise to sunset), and will be equipped by an automatic signalling system. Bangladeshis will be able to use the road to exit India and enter their country at will. In fact, Hasina has decided to travel there after the accord is signed with Manmohan Singh, to launch a bus service.BACKGROUND WORKGovernment officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said both governments agreed to streamline the boundary when Hasina visited India in January 2010. She also promised the Indian leadership that Dhaka would not allow its territory to be used by anti-Indian insurgents, a path-breaking promise on which she began to promptly deliver.United Liberation Front of Asom insurgents like Arabinda Rajkhowa were soon captured in the suburbs of Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh and handed back to India. In fact, with the visit of an Ulfa team to Delhi this week for talks with the home minister, the final chapters of the Assam insurgency look like they are being written, thanks to Hasina.As Hasina kept her word on the insurgents, Delhi began an exercise that kept its side of the bargain. Over the past eight months, surveyors, district officials and officials from the Election Commission have quietly criss-crossed each adverse possession and each enclave inside the states neighbouring Bangladesh, primarily West Bengal and Meghalaya, doing a headcount and asking each family whether they wanted to stay with India or become citizens of Bangladesh.They reported their findings to their state chief secretaries, who in turn reported to recently retired home secretary G K Pillai in Delhi. Pillai coordinated the exercise with the ministry of external affairs, the Border Security Force and the surveyor-general.The survey of adverse possessions threw up some ticklish situations. For example in Meghalaya, there was a football field, locally used, a ditch and some more land beyond, all of which constituted an adverse possession. The survey concluded the football field and ditch would stay with India, while the piece of land beyond would go to Bangladesh.As for the people who lived on the enclaves, about 50,000 in all, each was given the option of staying on as citizens of the country in which their enclave was located. Initial trends are that the people have chosen to stay where they’ve always lived. But the option of moving back to India, being duly compensated with land and money, also exists for those people whose enclaves are located inside Bangladesh.Officials point out that the resolution of the land boundary will pave the way for a resolution of the maritime dispute that arose some years earlier, when Dhaka took India to international arbitration.DIVIDENDSMost important, it will strengthen Hasina’s hands and allow her to take further action against her political opponents who accuse her of “selling out” to India all the time. Further, a sharing of the Teesta waters, on the lines of the Ganga water accord – signed when she was last in power in 1996 – will also consolidate her hold on power. It will allow Dhaka, which has already allowed the informal transit of Indian goods through Bangladesh, to make the matter more public.Clearly, the most significant outcome of the Manmohan-Hasina accord is that it will serve as a role model for the resolution of other boundary disputes that India continues to have with its neighbours. China and India have been in boundary talks since 2003 and if the agreed principles are followed, the map of India will change much more significantly. Boundary disputes with Nepal and Myanmar also continue to simmer.The presence of Mamata Banerjee on Manmohan Singh’s delegation to Dhaka, government sources concede, is significant. They say the earlier Left Front government substantively held up resolution of a boundary agreement since they came to power in 1977, because they thought cheap labour from Bangladesh would impact on Bengal industry.But with new winds blowing in Bengal, changes are imminent in the Delhi-Dhaka relationship.

No decision on withdrawal of AFSPA, says Centre

2011-08-09T21:16:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI, Aug 10 – Clarifying that a final decision is yet to be taken, the Centre has finally admitted that Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee has recommended repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.In a Lok Sabha report, Minister of State Home Affairs, Mullappally Ramachandran said that Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee in its report submitted on June 6, 2005 recommended repeal of the Act and suggested amending the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 by inserting a new chapter VI-A in respect of North Eastern States to provide for provisions contained in AFSPA.“No final decision has been taken on these recommendations,” the Minister said.The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is in force in the North-Eastern region of the country. The Act is enforced in the States of Assam and Nagaland, Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh, besides 20 km wide belt bordering Assam in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya and the entire State of Manipur excluding Imphal Municipal Area; and parts of Tripura, as notified by the State Government.The Union Government has received representations from various social organisations and public representatives to withdraw the Act.

Tripura to set up bison reserve

2011-08-08T22:40:00.001-07:00

Agartala: A bison reserve will soon come up in the Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary to preserve and protect the endangered species.A reserve area of 12.93 square kilometers has been earmarked in the sanctuary and the authorities are waiting for the legal procedures to complete, Trishna Wild Life Warden Pritam Bhattacharjee said."The endangered animal, locally known as Gaba or Gau, needs to be protected," Bhattacharya said. The reserve falls in the Jagannath Dighi Reserve Forest area which includes - Siddhinagar, Uttar Srirampur, Bhairabnagar and Kamalpur - where the Forest Department has started initial work."We are cultivating grass in major habitats of bison in the Trishna core area as well as the proposed site for the reserve. We have started plantation of one species of bamboo, Oxtenanthera Nigrocilliate locally known as Kaillai, which is a favorite food of bison," the wildlife warden said.The Forest Department has undertaken a number of initiatives in the core area which include setting up of a grazing land, installation of six watch towers and five lightning conductors.Officials said the bison population has registered a rise in the last couple of years after the Indo-Bangla border, adjoining the sanctuary, was ringed with barbed wire fencing.

Fruit processing units coming up in Tripura

2011-08-08T22:39:00.001-07:00

Agartala, Aug 9 : The agro-climatic conditions are favorable for the growth of various fruits and horticultural crops in Tripura. This offers great opportunities for fruit processing industries in the region. ecently, a Kolkata based company established a fruit-processing unit in Agartala. The unit collects pineapples from farmers in villages and pays them good money for their produce.The raw pineapple is canned in the form of slices and concentrate from which juice, jam and jelly is produced. The final product is not only sold in the domestic market but is also exported."This factory has been setup to overcome the problem wastage of pineapple in Tripura. We are using pineapples to make products like jam, jelly, squash, and slices which are sold throughout India," said Dipak Chakraborthy, In Charge, Fruit Processing UnitThe factory employs many women from nearby villages who are involved in packaging and production of pineapple products."Earlier we were financially dependent on our husbands but now we are employed and earn money. We work hard so that the factory prospers along with us. We make different products from pineapple. We really enjoy working here," said Sulekha Khatu, a worker"I work here to supplement my husband's income and for a better life of my children. I could not meet the demand of my children with my husband's income, so I am working here," said Papia Banik, another worker.North East Region Agricultural Marketing Corporation, Central Agricultural Unit and Tripura Small Industries Corporation have also set up small fruit processing units in the state.Tripura produces a variety of pineapples, oranges, litchis and cashew. Most crops are perishable and every year a fairly large part goes waste due to lack of good processing and canning facilities.

DoNER Ministry focuses on tourism, hydel power as growth drivers

2011-08-08T22:32:00.001-07:00

Imphal, Aug 9 : The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region is ramping up its developmental efforts to boost employment in the region by focusing especially on hydel power generation and the growth of the tourism sector in the region.The eight northeastern states offer a blend of picturesque landscapes, age-old cultures, exotic food and vast tracts of few world-renowned wildlife and bird sanctuaries to their visitors.Their remoteness has meant that not much is known about them to the outside world. his offers vast opportunities for investment in tourism and allied sectors to open up the region."Tourism is another sector, which is fast growing and has the potential of creating vast avenues for self-employment," Pawan Singh Ghatowar, Union Minister, DoNER"Northeast is the powerhouse of the country and the region has the maximum avenues of for harnessing hydropower, which is eco-friendly and economical. We have to harness the opportunity given by nature in the region. It is a perennial source of power," he added.It has been said that the Northeast has the potential to "light up half of India".ome of the hydel power projects in the region include-Khandong (50 MW) and Kopili I and II (225 MW) in Assam, Ranganadi (405 MW) in Arunachal Pradesh, Doyang (75 MW) in Nagaland and Loktak (105 MW) of Manipur, Ranjeet (60 MW), Teesta Stage V and Teesta Stage IV of 510 MW and 520 MW each and three power plants in Mizoram, generating a total of 1,526 MW.It is expected that the Northeast will generate 70,000-mw, once all the projects take off.North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd. (NEEPCO) and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation are working in coordination to promote the region as a powerhouse of the country.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

2011-08-05T21:40:00.001-07:00

A challenge to understand and address
Sunanda K. Datta-Ray

Our dear friend Karuna — Maharajkumari Karuna Devi Mahtab of Burdwan — never forgave me for calling her, only half in jest, a Punjabi. “Five hundred years in Bengal and we’re still Punjabis!” she exploded. “And not even a word of Punjabi!” her brother added. The protest seemed logical save that, barring exceptional love matches, all Mahtab spouses came from Punjab in those 500 years. A similar conversation with Ralph Ellison, the Black American author of Invisible Man, was more definitive. Ellison nursed no memory, individual or folk, of his African forebears. His consciousness had been shaped in the crucible of the American Dream.
Both conditions were reflected in the forgotten Subash Ghising’s perspicacious reference to “the ‘identity problem’ of the nine million Gorkhas in the country”. His admission also suggested less dogmatism than the angry and emotional response of some Nepalese readers to my Gorkhaland article (“Genie out of the bottle”, July 23). How long does one have to live in a terrain to be regarded as indigenous, one asked. The answer can’t be measured in years or even generations. As the Rastafarian movement and the Black girl flirting with Nigerian names and attire in that magnificent film, A Raisin in the Sun, demonstrated, belonging is a state of mind even more than physical fact. I have seen German-origin Soviet families squatting for days on airport floors with their boxes and bedding like refugees at Sealdah station waiting for flights to “return” to a Germany some had never seen. I also know ethnic Germans who despite Germanic names and appearance, regard themselves and are regarded by others as entirely Russian.
With passports of convenience readily available, legal citizenship is only a small part of identity. Nor is identity constricted by politics which is why many Nagas seek union with their fellow tribesmen in Myanmar. People who knew Dorjee Khandu, the late chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, say he was loyally Indian to the core but completely Tibetan in lifestyle. A Malaysian bumiputera (son of the soil) is usually born Malay and Muslim, but Malayali settlers in dhoti and angavastram have also been accorded bumiputera status. Karuna Mahtab proved that choice takes precedence over history and ethnicity.
The Nepalese fanned out along the Himalayan foothills, all over India and into Sikkim and Bhutan, long before the world’s only Hindu kingdom surrendered to revolutionary turmoil. Readers who deny that the British introduced Nepalese labour are right only to the extent that migration existed before Sikkim ceded Darjeeling to the East India Company in 1835. But it’s fanciful to claim (as one reader did) that the Nepalese came as long ago as the 1600s. Darjeeling had only 1,900 people in 1850 (2,200 in 1869) and many of them must still have been Lepchas and Bhutiyas. British rule gave migration an impetus. Leo Rose, Lopita Nath and other scholars regard the treaty of Sugauli and establishment of recruitment centres at Ghoom and Gorakhpur as the start. The 1950 India-Nepal treaty was another major landmark. Did the Nepalese share of Darjeeling’s population rise from 54 per cent in 1901 to 58.4 per cent in 1971 only because of natural growth or did already settled families invite their kin to join them, as migrants do worldwide? Rajiv Gandhi’s refusal in 1986 to countenance citizenship for post-1950 immigrants seems explicable in view of the reported growth of over 700 per cent between 1951 and 2001 in Darjeeling’s Nepalese population.
This eastward push by a vigorous and hardworking community was bound to have consequences on the ground. Indigenous Lepchas and Bhutiyas were reduced to minorities in their own homeland. Ethnic strife erupted periodically in Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and — most of all — Meghalaya. Darjeeling suffered grievously. The diaspora’s most dramatic impact was in Sikkim which had only 2,500 Lepchas, 1,500 Bhutiyas and 1,000 Tsongs in 1873. When the troubles began a century later, the Nepalese were about three-quarters of the population and played a decisive part in changing the status of a Tibetan-Buddhist kingdom with which they could not relate. Typically, the Janata Congress president, Krishna Chandra Pradhan, demanded a Nepalese Hindu king to balance the Bhutiya Buddhist Chogyal! It’s no secret that Bhutan began to be wary of its non-Drukpa population after the Sikkim agitation in which many Darjeeling Nepalese participated. Allegations of Darjeeling Nepalese agitators in Bhutan, too, revived the “greater Nepal” spectre.
Bhutan’s actual Nepalese population may exceed the official 20 per cent. The government began recruiting Nepalese contractual labour (tangyas) in 1900 to work in the tropical forests, allowing them to stay on as tenant farmers with Bhutanese nationality after the 1958 Nationality Law was enacted. Setting a precedent for Ghising, indigenous Drukpa officials avoided calling them Nepalese. They felt absorption would be easier if the Nepalese were called Southern Bhutanese or Lhotshampas. Benign accommodation changed when waves of illegal migrants started taking advantage of Bhutan’s planned growth, empty land and porous borders. The evictions from Bhutan, refugee camps in eastern Nepal, militant organizations, terrorist activity and assisted migration to North America and Europe are another story.
Believing that Gorkhaland would “solve” the “identity problem” he discerned, Ghising made another contribution to the solution by calling his people Gorkha (replacing the “u” of the Indian army’s seven regiments and Britain’s Brigade of Gurkhas with “o”) because Nepalese recalled Nepal and invited comments such as Morarji Desai’s. Prem Poddar claims in Gorkhas Imagined that “the word ‘Gorkha’ (or the neologism ‘Gorkhaness’) as a self-descriptive term... has gained currency as a marker of difference for Nepalis living in India… While this counters the irredentism of a Greater Nepal thesis, it cannot completely exorcize the spectres or temptations of an ethnic absolutism for diasporic subjects.” Despite his acumen, Ghising may have aggravated those fears by sending the Gorkha National Liberation Front’s memorandum to King Birendra of Nepal, Prince Gyanendra and Queen Elizabeth, and by making periodic unpublicized trips to Nepal. The Karuna Mahtab and Ralph Ellison assimilation analogies seemed even less applicable when it was recalled that the All India Gurkha (no “o” then) League referred to Nepal as the “motherland” in its founding constitution.
Several readers have retorted that Bengalis are equally foreign because they are really Bangladeshis. True, many of those who live in Calcutta and West Bengal have ancestral roots in East Bengal (there was no Bangladesh then) just as many Tamils in Chennai may come from villages in Tanjore and other districts. The metropole always attracts aspiring manpower, and internal migration in undivided Bengal followed this universal pattern. The movement since 1947 falls into two categories. The first is a staggered and long-delayed (because of a number of political reasons, not least the 1950 Nehru-Liaquat Ali pact) counterpart of the exchange of population that happened all at once in Punjab. The second is the influx of Muslims from East Pakistan and later Bangladesh which is often abetted by elements in West Bengal. There can be no question that these illegal migrants should be tracked down and deported. But neither category can be compared to the millions of Nepalese who have over the decades crossed the open 500-mile border into a foreign country and made it their home. I doubt if there is a global parallel.
Gorkhaland will be India’s second Nepalese-majority state. It will be bounded by Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and China. The Nepalese are delighted, witness pictures of a triumphantly dancing Bimal Gurung. But Darjeeling’s sitting member of parliament, Jaswant Singh, tempers pleasure with circumspection. “I am, of course, glad that this ‘Genie’ is finally free and roaming, it was long overdue,” he wrote. “The challenge is to understand: ‘what hereafter’ and to address that.” Since Mamata Banerjee denies that the tripartite agreement, whose signing Jaswant Singh attended, will lead to statehood, she may not even realize there is a challenge to understand and address

Arunachal to reintroduce chopper service

2011-08-05T20:59:00.001-07:00

ITANAGAR, Aug 6 – Arunachal Pradesh is all set to float global tender for re-introducing chopper service in this land-locked State, Chief Minister Jarbom Gamlin said here yesterday. “We will invite tenders at the earliest from all airline authorities within the country and abroad for re-introducing chopper service which was suspended from May this year,” Gamlin told reporters.

Till April this year, Arunachal Pradesh had chopper service operated by Pawan Hans Service which was suspended after the death of former Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu in a chopper crash near Tawang on April 30.

Gamlin said that the black box was not found, but other available materials from the crash site had been sent to France for investigation.

NTPC to invest Rs 1 lakh cr in Arunachal

2011-08-05T20:58:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI, Aug 6 – State-owned NTPC, which is yet to commission its first hydro power project, has chalked out ambitious plans of investing about Rs 1,00,000 crore over a decade for the execution of a 9,750-MW hydro-electric power project in Arunachal Pradesh, reports PTI.

“We are talking to the Arunachal Pradesh government for setting up the 9,750 MW Upper Siang project in the State,” NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Arup Roy Choudhury told reporters during a media interaction.

NTPC was asked to prepare a pre-feasibility report on the 9,750-MW project by the power sector planning body Central Electricity Authority and the company has completed that report. It is currently in the process of preparing a detailed project report for the same.

“We are preparing the detailed project report (DPR) of this project ...There are some issues with the State Government but I cannot disclose those issues right now, we are talking to them,” Choudhury said.

The Rs 1,00,000 crore investment for the project would be spread across a period of 10 years or the construction time of the project. Around Rs 10 crore is incurred for producing 1 MW of hydro power.

Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had in the past written to the Arunachal Pradesh government for allowing NTPC to execute this project in the State, sources said.

Mega tourism project approved for Agartala

2011-08-05T20:51:00.001-07:00

AGARTALA, Aug 6 – Agartala, the capital city of Tripura will have a splendid golf course to attract more tourist flow in the State. As of now, the State has two golf courses – one at BSF campus, Salbagan and another at Gandhigram army cantonment area. But the proposed golf course at Assam Rifles compound will be a unique one.

The Ministry of Tourism has already approved Agartala Mega Destination Project for overall development of tourism related infrastructures or facilities to promote tourism in a big way.

The Mega Destination Project includes establishment of a modern golf course, introduction of light & sound at Ujjanyata Palace, creation of tourism related facilities at Akhaura Check Post, development of twin lakes at Ujjayanta Palace.

After Ministry’s approval, the State Government has also given the green signal to go ahead with the ambitious plan, said KR Chakma, Managing Director Tripura Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) here on Friday.

He said the Chandigarh College of Architecture, a premiere institute in structure design has been asked to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to execute the Mega Destination Project at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore.

“A team from the College had already conducted survey and one more expert team is expected to arrive here next week to carry forward the planning work”, he said adding that the DPR would be ready by end of this year.

Besides, the Tourism Ministry has also okayed another Mega Destination Project for Udaipur and Tripureswari Temple. “All the lakes at Uadaipur town and Matabari will be developed by way of expanding tourism related facilities”, he said. The facility includes sitting arrangement, setting up jetty and boating facility.

The TTDC has earned some revenue last financial year. Officials of TTDC expect to earn more revenue with tourist inflow showing upward trend in the State. To ensure hassle free visit, the TTDC has already introduced a helpline (0381-230-0332) to cater to the needs of the tourists from outside the State as well as abroad.

India plans three strategic rail links near China border

2011-08-05T20:47:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: India plans to build three strategic rail links close to its disputed border with China, according to a government report that highlights the huge challenges of improving infrastructure in the region.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence report said the three rail lines will link the northeastern state of Assam with neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh state, which China claims in its entirety.

"China is creating a (border) rail network and so should we," committee chairman Satpal Maharaj said.

One of the proposed lines will terminate in Tawang, a heavily-militarised area of Arunachal that borders Bhtuan and Tibet.

The disputed borders between India and China have been the subject of 14 rounds of fruitless talks since 1962, when the two nations fought a brief but brutal war over the issue.

Chinese infrastructure build-up along the frontier has become a major source of concern for India, which increasingly sees China as a longer-term threat to its security than traditional rival Pakistan.

The committee report said India would construct "operationally-critical infrastructure" - including permanent military posts - along the 4,057-kilometre (2,515-mile) Line of Actual Control which demarcates Indian and Chinese territories.

A series of strategic roads are also being built, but the report quoted a senior Defence Ministry official who highlighted the problems faced by Indian engineers working in a remote area which requires helicopters to bring in supplies and heavy equipment.
"As you are aware, China has been building its infrastructure," the official said.

"They have the advantage of the topography because they have the Tibetan plateau whereas, from our side, the terrain and the geography are far more difficult," he said.

"Not only the men, but also the equipment has to be lifted by helicopters," he added.

The border has remained largely peaceful in the past decade, despite the odd diplomatic wrangle.

In 2009, China protested against an election campaign visit to Arunachal by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and, in the same year, over the approval by the Asian Development Bank of a $2.9 billion funding plan for the state.

Study to curb swine fever

2011-08-05T20:41:00.001-07:00

Nairobi-based institute will finalise action plan on disease

ROOPAK GOSWAMI

Guwahati, Aug. 6 : The Nairobi-headquartered International Livestock Research Institute is undertaking a comprehensive study on the mortality of pigs in the Northeast because of classical swine fever and will suggest effective mechanisms for its prevention and control.

The study will focus on Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram, which are known for their swine population in the region.

The mortality rate in pigs because of classical swine fever varies from 60-80 per cent. About 80 per cent of the population in the Northeast are indigenous people and pig-keeping is an integral part of their life.

Swine fever, also known as hog cholera, is a highly contagious viral disease and is said to be the most serious threat to the pig population in the Northeast. When the disease strikes, it destabilises the local rural economy.

The total pig population in Northeast is 3.8 million. “Death of pigs is not always recorded in the veterinary hospitals mainly because of lack of facilities.If we can control swine fever, we can solve most of the problems affecting the swine population,” said Rameshwar Deka, scientific officer at the Northeast office of the institute in Guwahati.

The results will be declared next month.

The study will look into the incidence and impact of classical swine fever on pig production and livelihood. It will also review the current status of the manufacture, availability and efficacy of swine fever vaccine and its import policy.

The study is being done at two levels — at the field level where participatory epidemiological study is being done to assess the incidence of the disease and its impact on the livelihood of poor pig keepers.

Discussions are being held with officials on the policy issues. Besides, the study will look at the effectiveness of vaccine delivery, including availability of cold chain facilities, veterinary services. Deka said the study would look into the gaps and limitations to control the disease, including import policy of live pigs, quarantine measures, surveillance and disease reporting mechanisms.

The study will finalise a collective action plan to address the technical, institutional and policy issues that constrain effective control of the disease in the Northeast with roles and responsibilities of the relevant organisations and define monitoring mechanisms.

“Though swine fever vaccine is produced in the country, it is not available in sufficient quantities and is not easy to import it either. There are also reports of vaccination failure but the reasons are not clear. Vaccine delivery mechanism is also reported to be very weak. All these issues will be looked into,” Deka said.

Sorting out a jigsaw puzzle called North-east India

2011-08-02T20:42:00.001-07:00

A new tool designed especially for the North-east allows broadcasters, advertisers and media agencies to check the availability and discern the accurate reach of a particular channel across each of the seven north-eastern states, along with Sikkim.

North-east India has always remained a mystery for television broadcasters, advertisers, as well as media planning agencies when it comes to mapping the reach of television channels across the entire region beyond Guwahati. A new tool called Chrome NE, by Chrome Data Analytics & Media, unravels the mystery by tracking the cable and satellite households across the region, making it a profitable destination for all three stakeholders.

Elaborating on the tool, Pankaj Krishna, founder and chief executive officer, Chrome Data Analytics & Media, says, "The North-east region was a major blind spot for every broadcaster and advertiser. The new tool facilitates media vehicles to get valuable insights into the millions of C&S households in these eight states."

The entire North-east region has approximately 4.15 million cable and satellite (C&S) homes (analog). Currently, there are about 626 channels on air in India, of which approximately 312 are news channels, and 314 are non-news channels. The government has granted up-linking permission to about 75 channels and has received application for 29 new channels between July 2010 and January 2011. Over all, there are only 107 bands available in the analog platform, which allows carrying of only 100 channels.

In terms of quality of reception, Prime and Colour bands are best followed by S-Band, Hyper band and UHF band. Therefore, carriage fee is decided based on the band the broadcaster wants its channel to be carried on.

As part of the process to collect the data for census, the media research company has identified panel homes, wherein a set-top box (main head-end) is installed that transposes any of the available channels from a cable television service to an analog RF signal on a single channel, which is then used to identify the frequency of the channel. In each area, that panel home is further connected to three parallel homes within a radius of 3 kms. The parallel home technique is used to monitor the transmission quality of individual channels across panel homes. The set-top boxes thus record the availability of each channel.

"Currently, most advertisers, media planners and buyers look at data pertaining to Guwahati alone and are forced to assume that the same is true for all other states across the North-east. This is not at all the case, since many channels are available either only in Guwahati or in Assam and not in the rest of the states and vice-versa. Chrome NE will actually show the weighted connectivity of channels, along with individual details of bands and frequencies across head-ends, cities and states," adds Jeffrey Crasto, executive director, Chrome Data Analytics & Media.

The Findings

The result of the census conducted last week shows that in case of general entertainment channels (GECs), when Guwahati is taken as the sample, the reach of all GECs such as Star Plus, Colors, Zee TV, Sony, SAB, Imagine and STAR Utsav is 100 per cent. However, the census shows that Star Plus has the highest reach across the North-east as it is accessible in 67 per cent of the total C&S households, followed by Colors and Zee TV, which have a reach of 65 per cent.

Next in line is Sony, with 60 per cent reach, followed by SAB with 47 per cent, and Imagine with 37 per cent reach. At the end is STAR Utsav, with 36 per cent availability.

In case of music and youth channels, once again, the reach of all channels is 100 per cent when Guwahati is taken as the benchmark. However, the reality shows that MTV is being made available to 61 per cent households of the total C&S households in the region. Trailing behind is Channel [V] with 42 per cent reach, followed by 9XM with 41 per cent reach.

UTV Bindass is available to 35 per cent C&S households. At the end is VH1; the channel is accessible to 21 per cent C&S households.

Meanwhile, in case of news channels, when Guwahati is taken as the sample to represent the North-east region, the data shows that while STAR News is available to all the households with 100 per cent reach, followed by the rest of the news channels (namely Zee News, Aaj Tak, DD News and IBN7) with 12 per cent reach. The data from Chrome NE shows that STAR News has 55 per cent reach, followed by Zee News with 54 per cent reach. While Aaj Tak is available to 43 per cent C&S households, DD News has 42 per cent reach. Lastly, the data shows that IBN7 has 23 per cent reach.

Therefore, in this case, channels such as News Live 24x7 and Frontier TV, which actually have 55 per cent and 44 per cent reach, respectively, across the region, lose out in the race as the channels have zero reach when Guwahati is taken as the sample.

The census, released every Monday, provides an insight into the total number of channels that viewers had access to, apart from other details such as at what band the channel was being made available on across eight states including Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

One in four persons lives in Sikkim towns

2011-08-02T19:25:00.001-07:00

GANGTOK, Aug 2 – One in every four persons of Sikkim now live in urban areas, according to provisional Census report.

“A total of 1,51,726 people out of Sikkim’s total population of 6,07,688 live in nine towns of the Himalayan State. This is 24.97 per cent of the State’s total population,” data released here yesterday by Directorate of Census Operations said.

A total of 79,539 men and 72,187 women live in the towns of the State, the data said.

East district of Sikkim with four major towns has the largest number of urban population which is 79.59 per cent of total urban population.

The percentage of decadal growth stands at 12.36 per cent. While the rural population has fallen by 5.2 per cent, the urban population of Sikkim has shot up by 153.43 per cent, the officials said.

The population of North district of Sikkim has fallen by 2.7 per cent in rural area in the past 10 years while the urban population has grown by 272.44 per cent.

The maximum urbanisation has taken place in South district of the State with 434.44 per cent and the minimum in East district with 128.47 per cent.

The growth of population in the two other districts of North and West are 272.44 per cent and 187.23 per cent respectively.

A total of 4.55 lakh of Sikkim’s population reside in rural areas.

Tribal family evicted for practicing witchcraft

2011-08-02T01:56:00.001-07:00

Agartala, Aug 2: A backward tribal family in Gandacherra sub-division under Dhalai district of North has been ousted from the village allegedly for practicing witchcraft.

The victim's family had lodged a ccomplaint against five of their neighbours but no arrests were made. The family is still not allowed to return.

According to a report, the villagers had issued a notice to one Fagunti Reang’s family in remote Santajoypara hamlet allegedly for practicing witchcraft that resulted in several sudden deaths in the village in a week, police said.

Fagunti’s family had initially lodged a complaint with the community chief Rupjoy Reang over the harassment and after two phases of community hearing under customary practices, the family was acquitted from the blame.

However, with another death in last week the angry villagers attacked Fagunti’s house and had threatened the family to leave the place, alleged Fagunti’s husband Muktaram Reang.

Finally, Fagunti left home and hearth along with her husband two daughters and took shelter near Ganganagar police station.

''We do not have the provision of a square male here and have been leading a miserable life,'' Muktaram rued.

This is the fifth incident of witchcraft haunting in Tripura in past seven months.

Three minors among 4 rescued by cops, NGO

2011-08-02T01:48:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: Along with an NGO, Shakti Vahini, the police have rescued four girls - three of them minors - while they were being sold at the redlight area in central Delhi. The girls were lured by traffickers with false promises and forced into prostitution or bonded labour. A placement agency, illegally operating in Govindpuri, was raided.

The police had earlier received a tip-off that a girl had been trafficked from West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district and the she was being held captive at the placement agency. After the raid, owners of the firm told the police that the girl had been kept in Jaipur. Later, a 16-year-old from Nagaon district of Assam was rescued by the Kamla Market Police from the G B Road redlight area. The girls were produced at the Child Welfare Committee, Lajpat Nagar on Monday.

Tripura witnesses sharp decline in malaria cases

2011-07-31T23:48:00.003-07:00

AGARTALA, July 31 – Tripura, one of the high endemic malaria zones in the country, has witnessed a sharp decline in the incidence of the ‘fatal’ disease.

Incidence of malaria in the State has been reduced by 23 per cent when compared to 2009 while the dead toll stood at only four during 2011, according to figures available with Family Welfare and Preventive Medicine department.

Altogether, 1.43 lakh blood samples were tested during 2010, out of which 10,377 tested positive, said Dr RK Dhar, Director, Family Welfare and Preventive Medicine here on Sunday.

This year, as many as 1.26 lakh blood samples were collected while only 7,948 cases tested positive. In Tripura, 90 per cent of the cases are Plasmodium Falsiparum which is more fatal than Plasmodium vivax (10 per cent).

The entire Dhalai district and Kanchanpur subdivision of North Tripura district have been identified as high endemic zone for malaria. Rupaicheeri, Santir Bazar of South Tripura district and parts of Bishalgarh subdivision of West Tripura district have also been rated as potential pockets for malaria.

“We are focusing on preventive steps as well curative measures to reduce the outbreak of malaria”, said Dr Dhar. As part of the preventive steps, around three lakh medicated mosquito nets have been distributed among the villagers living in malaria prone zones last year. This year, the State Government had already sought 1.5 lakh medicated nets from the Centre under the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), one of the flagship programmes of Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

According to him, adoption of Village Health and Nutrition Day proved handy for awareness generation even in rural areas. As per the guideline, the Day is being organised twice in a month for each Gaon Panchayat and Village Committee (tribal area). “This enables the doctors, health staff, officials of Social Welfare and Drinking Water & Sanitation departments to closely monitor the health condition of villagers”, he said.

Besides, over 7,000 ASHA workers are also engaged in different areas to take care of pregnant mothers, mother and child living in far flung areas. It may be noted that entire Tripura had already been declared as malaria drug resistant State by the Ministry. “There is no dearth of drugs and equipments to conduct Rapid Diagnosis Test even in far flung areas”, he said.

“The situation will improve further when the State Government plan to set up at least one health institution at each Gram Panchayat and Village Committee by 2012 is implemented”, he added.

India bid to win Myanmar support through funds

2011-07-31T23:48:00.001-07:00

R Dutta Choudhury

GUWAHATI, July 31 – The Government of India has decided to provide funds to Myanmar for implementation of several infrastructure projects in a bid to persuading the Government of that country to take action to evict the militants using the territory of that country as a safe haven.

Highly placed official sources in New Delhi told The Assam Tribune that for years, China has been able to make its mark in Myanmar by financing several infrastructure projects and only recently, the Government of India has realized the importance of coming closer to Myanmar. Sources said that time and again, the Government of Myanmar assured to take action against the militants using the territory of that country as safe haven, but so far, no concerted effort has been made in this regard.

Recently, the Government of Myanmar told India that the poor road condition affected movement of the troops to the area where the militants are taking shelter and after consultation with the Myanmar authorities, India has approved a series of road projects in that country. Sources said that the Government of India has approved several road projects on principle and the technical estimates are now being prepared and in addition to financing the projects, India would also provide technical support if necessary.

Interestingly, the Government of India has not yet been able to improve infrastructure on Indian side of the international border with Myanmar, which seriously affected the performance of the Assam Rifles personnel deployed to guard the international border. In some places, the Assam Rifles was forced to set up the camps well inside the Indian territory instead of setting it up on the international border because of the poor infrastructure and there is urgent need for improving the road condition in the area, sources added.

Meanwhile, sources revealed that according to an estimate of the security forces, at least seven thousand militants belonging to different North East based groups are taking shelter in Myanmar. Though the militants are not receiving any help from the authorities of Myanmar, no major operation has yet been launched by the Government of that country as yet to evict the militants.

Sources said that according to inputs available, the Manipur based groups have come under a united front recently for operational purpose and if all the militants taking shelter in Myanmar join hands in the days to come, it would become a potent force. The unification move is believed to have started with a view to receiving assistance from China as according to intelligence inputs, some Chinese officials recently made it clear to the leaders of the militant outfits that they could expect help only if they join hands and no Chinese agency would be willing to help the militant groups individually.

The making of a global changemaker

2011-07-31T23:43:00.001-07:00

BANGALORE: “We are fighting against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which gives the army the power to shoot on suspicion or arrest without warrant. This act has led to the violation of a number of human rights by the army”, says Monika Khangembam, a final year student at Commits Institute of Journalism and Mass Communication, Bangalore, who participated in the British Council Global Changemakers 2011 — Asia Youth Summit, in New Delhi between July 17 and 23.

Monika, originally from Manipur, spent her childhood years in the states of Manipur and Sikkim. She did her under-graduation from Chennai and is currently pursuing Public Relations and wants to use her education to fight for human rights in her home state. “I interned with an NGO called Human Rights Alert, Manipur, which organises protests and creates awareness in cities like New Delhi and Bangalore about the conditions in the North-Eastern states. It was they who informed me about the Youth Summit,” said Monika.

She was one among the 60 ‘global changemakers’ selected from 1,500 student applicants worldwide. “I had to submit an application and go through a screening process. The applicants had to submit a two-minute video showing the kind of work they do and we were interviewed via Skype,” added Monika. Sixty young people from 27 countries, came together to discuss issues close to their hearts, and share their experiences, from climate change to social entrepreneurship and human rights. The selection also comes with substantial financial assistance to these students to carry out their work.

“I spoke about the atrocities committed by the army which is a result of powers given to them by the Act. The enforcement of the AFSPA has resulted in innumerable incidents of arbitrary detention, torture, rape, and looting by security personnel. Instead of being our protectors they are the ones who are torturing the people. The participants from other countries were taken aback as they did not have any idea about the existence of such rules in a democracy,” said Monika while recounting her experiences of the summit.

As a young activist, Monika gave a presentation of the work she did in association with the NGO, which include arranging legal aid and rehabilitation of widows. One of the participants in the programme from UK, Steven Dominique Cheung, a British-Chinese braoadcaster, has promised that he would be making all attempts to raise the human rights violation issue with the European Parliament, and adopt a resolution that would turn the spotlight on Manipur and the struggle against human rights. “It was an eye-opener for me. Interacting with young activists, entrepreneurs, event managers, I learnt about various issues all over the world”, she pointed out.

During the course of the Summit,� Monika met former UN Undersecretary General and former minister of state for external affairs, Shashi Tharoor, who promised his support to any activity she undertook in her fight against human rights violations.

“In India, association with celebrities becomes important if you want to get the attention of the media and the general public. I hope we are able to work towards a permanent solution to the problem,” said Monika.

India-Bangla pact on border management

2011-07-30T23:33:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI, July 31 – Amidst a growing sense of bonhomie, Bangladesh and India signed the Border Management Plan to enhance border control and uphold peace and tranquillity in Dhaka this afternoon.

The pact was signed by the Director General of Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard of Bangladesh on Saturday morning.

Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram’s visit said that a considerable progress had been made in implementation of the joint statement declared during the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Delhi last year.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in Jan 2010 has given a new direction to the course of our relationship,” he said.

The two Prime Ministers had a common vision for the future of cooperation between the two countries, he added.

“The joint communiqué adopted during the visit outlines various decisions and initiatives and it implementation would transform the bilateral relationship,” the Union Home Minister said.

Chidambaram reaffirmed New Delhi’s continued support to Bangladesh, in the back drop of the fiasco over the Prime Minister’s off-the-record comments to a group of editors, last month that led to hue-and-cry in Bangladesh.

“Let me reaffirm that India attaches the highest importance to its relations with Bangladesh and seeks a deeper and stronger partnership. We are guided by the fundamental premise that a stable, prosperous, democratic and peaceful Bangladesh is in our mutual interest. We are committed to pursuing cooperation with Bangladesh that brings prosperity to our peoples and development to the two countries,” Chidambaram said.

In his opening remarks at a joint press conference in Dhaka, Chidambaram said the relationship between India and Bangladesh is passing through a very promising phase in recent times with both sides embarking on a number of forward looking, pragmatic and mutually beneficial initiatives.

Both countries recognise the importance of cooperation in the field of security and are determined to jointly combat the menace of insurgency, militancy and terrorism. We are glad that our leadership had agreed that the territory of either would not be allowed for activities inimical to the other and resolved not to allow their respective territory to be used for training, sanctuary and other operations by domestic or foreign militants and insurgent organisations and their operatives.

He also pointed to the recent high level visits. “The regular high-level exchanges between our two countries in recent time have further cemented the bilateral relations,” he said.

Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Indian National Congress, had been here earlier this week as the chief guest at the autism conference and to receive Bangladesh Freedom Honour conferred on Indira Gandhi.

The Vice-president of India also visited Dhaka in May marking the inauguration of joint celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian minister said.

“These events testify the shared struggle and sacrifice by the people of our two countries.”

Later, hailing the Border Management Plan, Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram said India believed that this would help them manage the border better. “We share a long land border and ensuring its sanctity is the joint responsibility. India has taken several measures to enhance border controls and uphold peace and tranquillity. We are committed to cooperating with Bangladesh in protecting our borders from illegal activities,” he said.

“India has taken several measures to enhance border control and we are committed to cooperating with Bangladesh in protecting our borders from illegal activities,” he said.

Home Minister of Bangladesh Shahara Khatun remarked that the coordinated efforts of BGB and BSF would strengthen the border security by stopping smuggling and trafficking of human, drug and arms.

“We are working on several projects to improve trade infrastructure and connectivity. Government of India has now undertaken to set up seven Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) and a foundation stone of the ICP at Agartala was laid in May. A new LCS was opened at Fulbari-Banglabandha in January and a Border Haat was inaugurated on Meghalaya-Bangladesh border earlier this month,” Chidambaram said.

The visiting Union Home Minister later called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni and advisers to Prime Minister Prof. Gowher Rizvi and Dr. Mashiur Rahman.

On the contentious issue, Chidambaram said issues relating to enclaves, adversely possessed land (APL) and undemarcated border will be resolved during the visit of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

The headcounts completed last week found that some 51,000 people live in the enclaves.

“The APL issue is almost resolved and there’re one or two cases which need to be taken care of, while 6.5 kilometres of un-demarcated boundary will be resolved before the visit of the Prime Minister.”

On Saturday, the two sides reviewed the last week’s joint headcounts in 162 adversely-held enclaves on both sides of the two nations. Of this, 111 are Indian territories inside Bangladesh.

Bangladesh and India share over 4,000 kilometres of boundary and there are 111 enclaves in Bangladesh, while 51 in India.

The Home Minister of Bangladesh remarked that they had a fruitful discussion on enclave exchange and hoped that they would be able to resolve all the disputes, including the border problems, very soon.

The round-the-clock access of Bangladeshis living in Dahagram and Angurpota also came up at the meeting for discussion at the meeting, she added.

BSF boss bags NHRC literary award

2011-07-30T22:19:00.001-07:00

SILCHAR: For this top BSF official, the pen is truly mightier than the sword. After winning many literary awards, Manohar Lal Batham, DIG of the Border Security Force, has now bagged the prestigious National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) award for his book Astitva Ka Sankat Aur Manvadhikar" (Crisis of Survival and Human Rights).

A committee constituted by the NHRC for awarding outstanding books on human rights written in Hindi, selected Batham's book for the prize which carries a cash award of Rs. 40,000. Batham will receive the award at a function to be organized by the NHRC in New Delhi soon.

Batham, who is now posted at the Mizoram-Cachar frontier at Mashimpur near Silchar, has already received the Pt Govindvallabh Pant Award and the Indira Gandhi Official Language International award for his first book Atankwad Chunoti Aur Sangarsh. Sammonopadhi, another work by Batham, won him the Rashtrabhasha Aacharya award.

Batham, who is also a President Police Medal awardee, has also written books of poetry. One of them, Sarhad Se, has been translated into English, Urdu, Kachhi (Gujarati), Punjabi, Malayali, Bengali and other languages. It is based on the day to day life of an army man.

Born in Bhopal, Batham has been interested in writing right from his childhood. And even after so many years of grueling hard work as a BSF boss, his passion for literature has not dwindled.

"The scenic beauty of the areas near international borders and problems faced by villagers living near the borders are issues that inspire me to write", he said.

The NHRC-awarded book Astitva Ka Sankat Aur Manavadhikar was published in 2008 by Megha Books, New Delhi.

Dignitaries of the literary world and officials of various fields have congratulated Batham on his achievement. The writer has dedicated the award to his friends and colleagues, without whom, he feels, writing the book would not have been possible.

Regional connectivity ‘can help achieve faster economic growth’

2011-07-28T21:05:00.001-07:00

Regional connectivity, particularly in the eastern part of South Asia, can help achieve faster economic growth in the region, speakers at a seminar said Thursday in the capital.

They stated that the private sector could play a significant role in promoting regional cooperation, including trade and commerce, through establishing roads, waterways and railways connectivity between and among Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and India, particularly the latter's northeast seven states.

Their observations came at the seminar titled, "Prosperity and Growth: Through Regional Co-operation", organsied jointly by Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at the Pan- Pacific Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka.

The President of the MCCI, Major Gen (retd) Amjad Khan Chowdhury delivered the address of welcome at the seminar.

Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni was present as the chief guest on the occasion.

Terming the government and the businesses as partners, the foreign minister said: "The present government has put a befitting emphasis on strengthening and deepening relations with our neighbours so that we may exploit the synergies for mutual benefit".

"We, in Bangladesh, must think about our excellent geographic location and utilise this for the benefit of the peoples around us in addition to that of our people," she said, adding "connectivity should not, however, be limited to physical connectivity only. It should be cultural and ideas, too".

She has said Bangladesh sees opportunities in South- South cooperation, that is, countries with similar level of socio-economic development and their immediate neighbours.

"The government is currently undertaking an exercise to put in place a comprehensive framework for providing access to Nepal, Bhutan and India through Bangladesh. This access may be made by using the ports of Mongla and Chittagong for export/import from the third countries and it may also provide the access to the remote states of northeastern India," the foreign minister mentioned.

"The access may be extended through Myanmar and Thailand to other countries of Southeast Asia and beyond. We are also working on strengthening shipping linkages with Sri Lanka and the Maldives," Dr Dipu Moni said.

She said that intra-regional trade in South Asia is mostly hampered by poor infrastructure and lack of facilities at the land ports and land customs stations which increase the cost of products.

She stressed the need for the development of facilities at the land customs stations that will play a vital role in gearing up regional trade.

The MCCI President Maj Gen (retd) Amjad Khan said South Asia, particularly its north east sub-region, is one of the least connected as well as the poorest regions of the world. This region includes Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, parts of India, Myanmar and parts of China. This vast region is inhabited by over one quarter of the world's population.

He has said the efforts from the highest authorities of these countries are now focused on establishing regional multi-modal connectivity through transborder roadways, railways and waterways, while looking forward to setting up mechanisms and infrastructures for common use of land ports and sea ports.

"The political partition of the subcontinent in 1947 did not need to turn into an economic partition. This distancing over a period of more than half a century between what was previously one integrated region has caused incalculable loss of economic vitality. Bangladesh lost a huge market and source of investment and mobility of goods and people," said the MCCI president.

He noted being small and landlocked economies like Nepal and Bhutan did not receive due importance until very recently. But things are now changing, he added.

"Economic integration and cooperation among South Asian countries should be conceived within the framework of regional economic integration, where all natural and environmental resources, facilities and opportunities should be utilised for the benefit of all countries in the region," he mentioned.

"Political commitment and policy continuity are imperative for establishing effective regional transport connectivity/ transit. Building up of public opinions is important to ensure policy continuity. Consultation with all stakeholders, including private sector, civil society organisations and media is also important," he mentioned.

Taking part in the discussions at the seminar, former adviser to the immediate past caretaker government, Dr ABM Mirza Azizul Islam said there are formidable hurdles to regional cooperation and "we must take realistic steps".

He said private sector can play an important role in enhancing regional trade.

Executive Director of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Prof Mostafizur Rahman said the connectivity in the region should be a win-win situation for all the countries concerned.

He said the transit fees should be in line with the international rules and regulations.

The Director General, South Asia Department of ADB, Sultan Hafeez Rahman presented the keynote paper on "ADB's Regional Cooperation Programmes in South East Asia, Central Asia and South Asia" at the seminar.

Senior ADB officials of South Asia Department, Sona Shrestha and Cuong Minh Nguyen presented the keynote paper on "Trade facilitation: Broad Concepts and the Case of South Asia".

Sultan Hafeez Rahman said Bangladesh government and ADB documents estimate a total project cost of US $ 6.45 billion to finance 22 projects including 2,000 kilometres of land transport network and eight rail links under sub-regional transport framework.

The MCCCI committee member Kamran T Rahman also presented the keynote paper on "Role of Bangladesh Private Sector in Enhancing Regional Cooperation in South Asia".

He said, "Bangladesh should undertake pro-active steps to transform herself into a regional transit hub by utilising its strategic geographic location, developing the required infrastructure and facilities and pursuing regional framework agreement, based on authentic cost-benefit analysis".

Florian A Alburo of Centre for the Advancement of Trade Integration and Facilitation 249 School of Economics University, Diliman, Quezan city of the Philippines presented the keynote paper on "Cross Border Trade Experiences and Best Practices".

Senior energy specialist of South Asia Department of ADB Priyantha DC Wijayatunga presented the keynote paper titled "South Asia Regional Cooperation: Energy" at the seminar.

Director of South Asia Department of ADB Mr Sekhar Bonu made concluding observations.

The Secretary of the MCCI, Farooq Ahmed offered vote of thanks at the function.

FBCCI adviser Manjur Ahmed and former banker Mamun Rashid, among others, took part in discussions.

North - East kids get taste of Pune education

2011-07-28T07:04:00.001-07:00

By Kiran Dahitule

Pune: About 47 school students from Assam and Nagaland arrived in the city on July 23 for a week-long visit on an invitation from the city-based Jnana Prabodhini School. They are accompanied by 16 teachers of those schools.

The students of these north-eastern states would get an opportunity to gain first-hand experience about the educational activities in Pune, known internationally as an educational hub.

Rajkumar Tiwari, a science teacher from Umrangshu, in Assam, said all Kendriya Vidyalayas (Vivekananda board) organise regular trips to different cities of India.

“Pune is one of the favourite destinations as students get to learn the most in this city,” he added.

Debalina Bannerjee, a standard X student from Assam said, “This trip is a great learning experience as we have seen and heard things we had never even imagined. This trip has helped me clear my aim about my future. We learnt a lot about science and I am happy that I got the opportunity to be a part of this trip.”

After interacting with experts on topics like applied biology, intricacies of electronics and chemistry, students visited Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) on Wednesday.

They would also visit the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and Kelkar museum during their stay.

A science teacher, Trisha Rajguru from Bokuloni, Assam said, “After this visit, we would make these students talk about their experience and also teach other students about what they have learnt in Pune.”

Manoranjan Sutradhar, a standard IX student from Nagaland opined, “This has been a very enriching trip and I am happy that I will be able to share all that I have learnt with my friends. This trip has given me in-depth knowledge of science and now I am sure in near future I will be able to choose science for further education.”

RTI activists call Itanagar bandh

2011-07-27T22:27:00.001-07:00

ITANAGAR, July 28 – The Arunachal RTI Activists Forum (ARTIAF) has called a 24-hour Itanagar bandh on July 29 demanding resignation of Health Minister Atum Welly and Chief Information Commissioner Y D Thongchi.

The Health Minister recently landed in a controversy after his son and daughter allegedly submitted fake educational certificates for government jobs while his three aides were arrested on the charge of plotting to murder an RTI activist who brought the matter to light.

The forum had called a 12-hour bandh on July 14 demanding resignation of Welly and Thongchi.

His son Akung and daughter Anung allegedly produced fake documents to secure the posts of Inspector (Tax and Excise) and Social and Cultural Organiser respectively in the State Government.

The duo had submitted certificates that they had passed from colleges under Gauhati University. But Payi Gyadi of the NGO, Sango Lamte Foundation, filed an RTI with the Gauhati University which said they did not pass out from those colleges.

On June 6, the police arrested three supporters of Welly for planting a bomb in Gyadi’s car.

Meanwhile, Itanagar SP Chuku Apa, who probed the bomb planting case, was shifted to Delhi. Apa, however, said his transfer was routine.

The ARTIAF also demanded resignation of Chief Minister Jarbom Gamlin on moral grounds charging him of shielding Welly and Thongchi, who were relatives. Besides, it has also demanded that Welly’s son and daughter be arrested.

Mountain radars for Northeast

2011-07-27T22:26:00.001-07:00

E.M. JOSE

Nohwar in Shillong on Wednesday
Shillong, July 27: Sophisticated mountain radars that can detect aircraft 450km away would soon replace conventional radars in high-altitude areas of the Northeast, a top Eastern Air Command officer said today as the air force geared to tackle threats of cross-border intrusions.
Air Marshal K.K. Nohwar said the Eastern Air Command was also in the process of upgrading six Advanced Landing Grounds in Arunachal Pradesh for improving communication.
Nohwar — who is set to take over as vice-chief of air staff at air headquarters, New Delhi, from August 1 — didn’t name China but said the air force was prepared to defend Arunachal at all cost when quizzed on the threat from the neighbour at a media conference.
Nohwar said installing sophisticated mountain radars in hilly, rugged areas of the region would help improve surveillance with their higher coverage.
Placed at a higher altitude and with a range of 450km, they can detect aircraft, helicopters and spy drones earlier than the low-level conventional radars that have limited reception.
Sources said the air force would conduct a recce to set up new stations in vulnerable border areas where the new radars would be installed. The sources, however, wouldn’t say how many mountain radars the air force planned to set up in the eastern sector because of security reasons.
Nohwar said the process of upgrading Advanced Landing Grounds like Tuting, Menchuka Along, Passighat, Vijaynagar and Ziro in Arunachal was on to ensure better connectivity. Besides the recently inducted Sukhoi squadrons in Assam’s Chabua and Tezpur, two more squadrons will be inducted in Chabua by 2014 as part of upgrading the fleet, the air marshal added.
The air marshal, however, said the upgrade was primarily aimed at improving air connectivity in land-locked Arunachal to ease the problem of transporting people and goods and not so much for strategic reasons.
“There is hardly any good road communication network in several parts of Arunachal Pradesh and people have to trek long distances. The upgrade of the ALGs will solve the connectivity problem of the people of the Northeast,” Nohwar said.
The officer also said the surface of the ALGs now was not conducive for landing of civilian aircraft and, with the upgrade, “aerial lifeline will be available to civilians”.
But the upgrade assumes significance in the context of Chinese claims on the state. Moreover, military aircraft will also land in these ALGs for operational purposes.

IAF to upgrade NE airfields

2011-07-27T02:04:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI, July 27 – In a bid to match China’s growing air power, the Indian Air Force plans to upgrade at least eight Advanced Landing Grounds (ALG) and strategic airfields in the North Eastern Region.

This was disclosed by the outgoing Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marhsal P.V. Naik on Tuesday. “We are in the process of upgrading eight ALGs and contract for it would be signed next month and the work should be complete in three years,’’ said Air Chief Marshal Naik, who retires on July 31.

The move is part of IAF’s strategy to upgrade air defence along the Sino-Indian border. The ALGs at Pasighat, Along, Menchuka and airfields at Chabua, Mohanbari, Jorhat, Hashimara, Tezpur, amongst others are planned to be modernised.

The strategy is to ensure faster movement of men and machines to these distant areas closer to the Sino-Indian border, he said.

Meanwhile, the IAF chief said India follows a ‘no-first-use’ nuclear policy but warned its response would be “very heavy” in the event of any nuclear attack on the country.

“Our nuclear policy is of no first use. It also talks about a very heavy response in case of a nuclear attack. It talks about a retaliatory and hard response, our policy talks about that,” Naik said.

“Tactical or strategic, it is a nuclear weapon. So, obviously our response would be absolutely violent as per our existing policy. I don’t think it is a game-changer,” he added.

Asked if there was any need to be concerned about the assessment in some quarters that Pakistan had an edge over India in terms of the nuclear warheads, he said, “There is no need to be worried on this.”

Meanwhile, responding to a query on the role of HAL, Naik said that the aerospace PSU had provided great support to the IAF in the last 50-60 years. He said already some steps were being initiated by the Government to streamline the procedures in the company for improving the quality.

Ghatowar favours projects

2011-07-27T01:59:00.001-07:00

SHILLONG, July 27 – DoNER Minister, Paban Singh Ghatowar today stated power was the “basic requirement” of the people and as a concerned citizen he is “for hydel projects.”

Ghatowar said: “as a concerned citizen I am for hydel power projects as these are perennial source of power generation. Moreover, hydel projects are eco-friendly and also economical.”

The Union Minister added, experts were on their job and it was after due consideration, concerning environment and people’s requirement, hydel project were being constructed.

“Power is the basic requirement of the nation and we have to harness nature’s resource. We need dams...,” Ghatowar, who was here to inaugurate an IIM-Shillong certificate course, said.

Ghatowar’s observation is significant as there has been protest in Assam and other parts of the region against construction of mega dams.

On the Gas Cracker Project, Ghatowar said, as DoNER Minister and also an MP from Assam, he is paying special attention and coordinating with the Prime Minister’s Office for completion of the project within the specified time frame.

Overall, Ghatowar said, his Ministry would lay stress on developing connectivity in the region as it is one of the major bottleneck towards development of the region. “Adequate infrastructures are being developed, but owing to climatic condition and remoteness of the region some of the projects have been delayed,” he said.

Moreover, the DoNER Ministry’s focus is also on developing the agriculture sector and recently Assam and Tripura has proved that the North East can improve its food grain production, he said.

Another key sector is tourism, and Ghatowar said, discussions were on with state governments to develop a tourism circuit for the region for faster growth of this crucial sector.

Peace and Development in NE India

2011-07-27T01:57:00.001-07:00

By Dr. R.B. Thohe Pou

Many people talk about peace and development, but how many of us sincerely want peace and development in North East India? Arms Force Special Power Act (AFSPA) was introduced in NE regions in 1957 and re-imposed in Manipur and Nagaland in 1985. Nagaland State has again been declared as a disturbed area in July 2011. The draconic law of AFSPA has mentally and physically affected the people in the region, and it will have a great impact even in the future. Some people may allege that there is peace in the region, but controlling the people by a gun barrel cannot be called as PEACE. If you are really talking about peace, let there be peace and development in the region in letter and in spirit.

The government wants to bring peace and development in the region, but it cannot do so while denying the rights of the people. If rights and justice of the people are denied, there cannot be peace and development in NE India; this is true not only in NE India but anywhere in the world. With mutual understanding and knowing the facts of the history, no problem is so abstruse as to be unsolvable.

The BJP government took the initiative in the Indo-Naga peace talks with the senior leaders like Atal Vajpee Bihari. However, the younger generation have different views on the Naga political problem; some are even ignorant about the essential Naga historical facts. There is medicine to kill pain, and we can prescript medicine to reduce it, but a doctor needs to diagnose the root cause and problem, and give the complete dose to heal a patient. Repressing the rising voice of the people through military might is only like a doctor prescribing only the pain killer to be relieved ephemerally.

Mizoram state is becoming one of the fastest developing states in NE and has achieved the second highest literacy rate in India after the insurgent problem was solved. The State has recently celebrated the 25Years of Peace in the State on 30th June 2011. It has become one of the model states in terms of developments and peace in NE. Only those who have genuinely studied the issues and problems can only understand the real cause of the problem and issue of NE India. Recently, Rahul Gandhi – one of the promising future Indian Prime Ministers, says, “Army is not the solution to Kashmir and NE.” Many other Indian Army officers having previously served in NE region also gave a similar report.

When the NE burns, it affects all of India; when the Naxalites affected regions burn, it affects the entirety of India. Unfortunately, only some logical and visionary leaders see this aspect. According to the govt. of India – Home Ministry Affairs (HMA) 1967, NNC was listed as a banned terror group in NE India. On 17th May 2010 the govt. of India released another list of terror groups in India in which more than 100 terror groups are banned like – Maoists, ULFA, NBDF, SIMI, etc., but the NSCNs factions are not included. However, some people alleged the NSCN – the Naga National Workers as terrorist, criminal, extortionist, etc. If the NSCN are terrorist and criminal then the whole Naga civil leaders and Naga people also can be booked under TADA and criminal cases for supporting them to bring peace in the region as an accomplice also can be punished under IPC.

India will become a peaceful Nation and develop more progressively once some of the threats and problems are solved. Today the three biggest problems being encountered by the GOI are –

i). The Jammu and Kashmir issue and problems
ii). NE insurgent Issue and problems (especially the NSCN and ULFA)
iii). Maoist problems (Naxalites) issue and problems

India has been investing a huge sum of money for counter-insurgency. Such expenditures would be reduced significantly if the above three problems were solved, yielding not only peace, but also greater economic prosperity. Those three problems have different issues and problems, and it needs to consider patiently in each case separately. It is high time that the GOI gives serious thought to these burning issues in India. Corruption is another mania in India, but the above three issues are more important than other issues in India. If the GOI wants the Naga political to be solved and to restore peace in the region, it needs to acknowledge and accept the genuine cause of the Naga political problem and prescribe the complete dose to heal the region completely.

The people of NE India yearn for peace and development, but more than 60% of the Indian population does not understand the root causes for the lack of peace and development in NE. One should not think that the problem in NE region is just a law and order problem. While considering the size of the region and demographic aspects, some people may want the Seven Sisters to become one nation, but there is no historical basis for such a union. Why has the giant India had a ceasefire with the small Naga army since 1997? The size does not matter but the historical fact counts.

It is well-known that NSCN is considered as the mother of insurgents in Northeast India, and everyone who loves peace and development in the region needs to extend support to resolve the Naga political and ULFA problems. Then someday the beautiful greenery of the NE States of India can become one the best tourists’ destinations, and also become one of the commercial hubs of India. The people around the world want peace and development in the region and in a recent Annual Gathering in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the World Baptist Alliance (WBA) which consists of 120 Nations support Naga Reconciliation. NE people have suffered enough for more than 50 years under AFSPA and the insurgency problem, and it is time now for everyone to think more positively and to have the desire to the most pressing issues and problems in the region.

The Naga Political problem is not problematic only to the Naga indigenous people; it affects the whole NE region and India. Directly or indirectly, development in the northeastern region is depending upon solving the Naga Political and ULFA problems. Once the Naga Political and ULFA problems are solved, we can see the dawning of development and peace in northeastern region of India. It is alleged (reported) that the Naxalites have a link with the ULFA, and the network may continue to enlarge as times passes. It is also alleged that the NSCN is giving shelter to the ULFA cadres some where in the border of India and Myanmar. So in one way or another, all three groups are closely linked, which shows the insurgent epidemic in the future in India.

Solving the NSCN and ULFA problems in NE will bring solace to India and in particular to northeastern region. The GOI and the people of northeast need to understand not only the factual issues, but also to acknowledge and accept the genuine cause of the Naga Political problems. In previous Central-NSCN-IM Peace-talks, the Chairman of NSCN-IM said that the Peace-talks are coming to most crucial stage, and in more recent talks (18 July 2011), NSCN Special Emissary V.S. Atem told the Telegraph, India, “The talks were positive and we now enter the most crucial phase of the negotiation.” Moreover, it is also reported that the Naga political problem will be solved in “shortest possible time” and the solution will be based on “the uniqueness of Naga history and situation which was recognized by the government in 2002”. After more than 60 rounds of Peace-talks held in different countries and in Delhi, now it is showing a positive result in their Peace-talks. Consequently, the people of Naga-land and NE India should be in euphoria and extend their support to the ongoing Peace-talks to bring a long-lasting peaceful solution in the region.

Weaving her real dreams: Ritika Mittal

2011-07-25T03:24:00.001-07:00

Ritika Mittal
"Imagine a Chai, spiced with a handful of Ahomiya jungle mist, the tickling laughter of Kutchi women, the spicy wet earth of Kerala and the booming railroad whirring of Punjab's song and dance. That is Mora for you." This sentence on Mora's website captures the spirit of Ritika Mittal's textile brand and draws a whimsical word picture of the saris, dupattas and skirts that she designs and retails through it. She talks to Chandana Banerjee about why she left the reality shows to find the real India and why she doesn't regret it one bit
Weaving more than just textile
Ritika personally designs each piece, drawing inspiration from whatever catches her fancy, while her mother, Madhu Mittal, gets them crafted by a team of tailors in Jalalabad, Punjab. Mora products are created with handloom cotton and silk, and are a heady mix of traditional textile techniques, with patch-work borders and pallus. Take one look at the beauties and you'll want one for your wardrobe, to hold and enjoy, to flaunt and relish.
"We use a multitude of methods like block prints, Mizo and Naga weaves, Kutch and Kantha work, Sanganeri prints and so on," says the effervescent Ritika, who spends months travelling to the interiors of India, discussing and exchanging ideas with handloom weavers. It's while travelling on rickety buses, living with the villagers in their huts, tucking into simple meals of rice and ginger, and swapping tales with the locals across crackling bonfires that this feisty young entrepreneur manages to weave such interesting tales on textile. Probably this is why, she is able to imprint her saris and 137-pleat skirts with the true flavour of India.
Breathing life into the dead
Ritika loves finding weaves that craftsmen aren't working on anymore and then convincing them to create a roll of it for her.
Presently on a sojourn to the North Eastern states in search of rare weaves, she says, "When I started Mora sometime in 2009, I started with the easier-to-approach places like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kutch, West Bengal and Lucknow to source textiles for our saris. But now, we're focussing on the North East, which have beautiful techniques and weaves that are dying. It's more difficult accessing remote villages there and understanding the language, but it's an amazing experience because unlike a bustling big city, in villages people have the time to bond, to form real relationships."
She reveals, "In the North East, I am planning to revive the bamboo silk and Stinging Nettle weave."
The switch from reality TV to real India
But this wasn't the life Ritika had designed for herself, who was a Supervising Producer with a television channel in her earlier avatar. "There are only so many reality shows that you can put together," she says.
She designed her first sari for her own wedding, when she decided that she didn't want to wear one with bling and sequins. "It was a mulmul sari with borders from some fabrics that I liked," remembers Ritika, who, spurred on by the response she got from people, designed nine more. "I sent the designs to my mother, who got them stitched in Punjab. When I received the parcel and saw the saris, I cried. I never thought I'd be able to do this." The entire batch was bought by someone from Vizag. Incidentally, the earthy name - MORA- was born in an auto rickshaw, when Ritika and her husband wanted to label the saris. And it's an apt name since each design is as unique as DNA and a treat for the buyer.
After the first sale, Ritika handed in her resignation and headed to Ladakh to think things through. "I called my mom from there and asked her if she was ready to do this and that's how we took the plunge," says Ritika, who feels that it's because of this special mother and daughter bond and the way they are able to read each other's thoughts that the pretty saris are what they are.
Growing up
In the short span of a year-and-a-half, Mora has expanded from being a design label to a textile brand. "We retail only through my website and do not plan to retail at stores or turn to mass production," emphasises Ritika, who believes in keeping things simple and pouring her heart and soul into her work. Amen!
Visit http://www.mora.co.in/ to know more about Mora

Patil’s visit to boost Look East Policy

2011-07-24T23:49:00.001-07:00

SEOUL, July 24 – President Pratibha Devisingh Patil’s visit to the Republic of Korea and Mongolia beginning today is expected to greatly enhance existing ties between India and those countries with which it shares ancient cultural ties, and some significant strategic concerns.

Today the President was accorded a 21-gun salute when she arrived at Seoul Air Base by a special Air India aircraft from New Delhi. The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Min Dong-Seok received her at the base after the Boeing 747-400 aircraft named Agra touched down under a cloudy sky.

Speaking to a select group of media persons on the aircraft carrying the Indian delegation to the Republic of Korea, the President described the two countries as ‘key pillars to our Look East policy, as well as of our growing integration with the Asia-Pacific region’.

She mentioned the spread of Buddhism from India to the countries, which created strong cultural bonds, and their democratic credentials reflected a respect for individual freedoms.

Economics is likely to be the top priority for India and the Republic of Korea, while with Mongolia the agenda will include closer economic co-operation and India’s support in capacity building and human resource development.

The Indian President’s visit reciprocates the official visits of the Heads of States of Republic of Korea and Mongolia in recent times and furthers the process of high level engagements with the countries which maintain friendly relations with India. This year is celebrated as Year of India in Korea, and the Year of Korea in India, which will feature a number of cultural events among others.

The President’s visit starts at Seoul, where she will meet President of the Republic of Korea, Lee Myung-Bak, who was the Chief Guest in the Republic Day celebrations in January 2010, and during whose visit bilateral ties between the two countries got elevated to the level of ‘Strategic Partnership’. Patil said, ‘My objective will be to accelerate the momentum of our relations’.

A range of discussions will take place between the two Presidents in restricted as well as delegation-level formats with focus on bilateral interests, regional and global issues. A substantial part of the high level engagements will concentrate on expanding the economic partnership between India and Republic of Korea. Two-way trade between the Asian democracies is projected to climb to 21 billion USD this year, and has registered a remarkable growth in recent times.

The President expressed her hope of receiving more investment from the Republic of Korea in India, and referred to Korean conglomerates using the country as a manufacturing base for exports to foreign markets. Several industrial giants such as Hyundai, Samsung, and LG have also been very successful in the Indian domestic market.

Her visit to Mongolia, which begins on July 27, will be marked by meetings with President of Mongolia, Tsakhia Elbegdorj and Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold apart from interactions with Parliamentarians of the State Great Hural.

The Indian President underlined the country’s involvement in developing the human resource of Mongolia through strategic interventions like vocational training and skill building. ‘India is committed to assist Mongolia in capacity building and human resource development,’ the President remarked.

Significantly, a high level Indian business delegation will be in Seoul and Ulaanbaatar during the President’s visit, which will make a strong pitch for more robust economic ties between India and her Asian neighbours.

Although officials are tightlipped, it is expected that India and South Korea will explore new areas of common interest in Space and Defence, and India and Mongolia may do the ground work for expanding exploration of select mineral resources in Mongolia which has considerable deposits of coal, copper, iron ores, crude oil, zinc and molybdenum, among others.

Bangladesh to give India access to Chittagong port

2011-07-24T23:40:00.001-07:00

Samudra Gupta Kashyap

India's long-pending request to Bangladesh to provide access to Chittagong port has finally become a reality. While an announcement to this effect was made by Bangladesh Commerce Minister Md Faruk Khan at Kalaichar in Meghalaya on the Indo-Bangla border on Saturday, Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has welcomed it, saying this would give a major fillip to trade in the Northeast.

“India can use not only Chittagong but several other ports that we have developed in the recent years. Other neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar can also use our ports for trade and commerce in future,” Khan said, while inaugurating a border haat between the two countries at Kalaichar on Saturday.

“We welcome the offer of Bangladesh to use Chittagong and other ports. This will, no doubt, provide tremendous benefit for trade and development of Bangladesh as well as the Northeast. India has already finalised and shared the draft modalities with Bangladesh in this regard,” Sharma said.

India has been pressing Bangladesh for access to Chittagong port for more than a decade. But it is only after the change of guards in that country that a positive move has been made in this regard. A formal agreement between the two countries for access to Chittagong port is expected to be signed when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Dhaka in September.

N-E India a potential economic corridor for BD, say experts

2011-07-24T00:10:00.001-07:00

Experts consider the north-east India a potential economic corridor for trade and commerce for Bangladesh and stressed the need for investment in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

In separate keynote papers during a working session of stakeholders' consultation at BRAC Inn Centre Saturday, Masudur Rahman of Micro-credit Regulatory Authority of Bangladesh and Saikat Dutta of Engineering Export Promotion Council of India highlighted the points suggesting removal of barriers to get benefit of the corridor.

South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) and Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) in collaboration with Asian Development Bank (ADB) organised the day-long consultation aiming at fostering regional cooperation in South Asia.

The working session on 'economic corridors in South Asia: Business potentials and investment opportunities," was chaired by Chairman of Policy Research Institute Dr Zaidi Sattar.

The keynote paper presenters said Bangladesh with its geographical location has become a natural trading partner for the north eastern states of India, connecting Nepal and Bhutan through a narrow 16-kilometre wide land corridor.

Having over 4000 kilometers (km) border, they said Bangladesh and India would build the economic corridors to boost regional integration and improve trade particularly for pro- poor economic development through promoting SMEs.

Dr Masudur Rahman said the trade gap of about US dollar 304.63 million with India can be reduced through focusing on non- traditional export items to the north eastern states of India and suggested removal of tariff and non tariff barriers mostly imposed by India.

He said India has imposed high tariff on some Bangladeshi goods which have good prospects for export to northeastern region of India and changed harmonised system of code in the case of fruit juice increasing a 20 per cent higher duty from the earlier HS code.

Saikat Dutta said economic corridors connecting north eastern states of India with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh would attract enormous private investment leading to save travel time, travel costs and generate employment opportunities.

He said both the countries can share the economic benefit of labour incentive and economic growth sector of SMEs by removing various barriers. These include use of obsolete technology, access to credit, low value addition and limits to capacity expansion and high infrastructural and transaction costs.

Both the speakers highlighted improvement of physical infrastructures including efficient cargo handling through road, rail, air and inland water, digitilisation of land ports and simplifying banking system.

SANEM and RIS have identified nine economic corridors in East Asia to foster regional cooperation and is now conducting different studies to strengthen cross-border infrastructure, enhance investments in infrastructure, bring efficiency in border corridors, promote multimodal transportation and opening of south Asia regional transit through adopting SA common transport policy.

Myanmarese in India displeased with Delhi supplying arms to Burmese military

2011-07-23T00:52:00.001-07:00

New Delhi, July 23 : Myanmarese residing in New Delhi staged a demonstration on Friday to express their displeasure over India's decision to supply arms to defence forces of Myanmar.

The protestors complained that the government has recently supplied trucks loaded with various arms and ammunition to Burmese military, which they said would be used against the ethnic minority communities.

"We came to know that the Indian government supplied more than 50 trucks of low mode arms and ammunition's through Moray border to Burma. So, I think this that is not right for the Indian government to supply arms to the notorious region in the Moray. The military government is right now is not true civilian and democratic government, except of the same military General who took off the military uniform and he put on civilian clothes to show the world that they (sic) are truly constitutional civilian government," said Thingthinaung, Board Member of Women's League of Burma.

Some of the protestors apprehended that arming the Myanmar regime could lead to grave consequences in their homeland.

"The situation in Burma is not very good. It is already 100 days now, after Thein Sein has taken over, like a military civilian type of government and then they said that they have installed. But so far we have not heard any good news from Burma and especially in the eastern border. Now many thousands and thousands of people start (have started) fleeing the country. They are now fleeing to their neighbouring countries and then nothing is working out. We are now expecting even a civil war between the military and ethnic groups there," said Alana Golmei, coordinator in Burma Centre, Delhi.

India has received nearly 7,000 Myanmarese after they fled from their homes, alleging that the military junta had tormented them.

India used to support Myanmar's pro-democracy movement before it initiated its 'Look East Policy' in the 1990s in an attempt to solve its insurgency problem in the states of Manipur and Nagaland that border Myanmar.

Recently, the policy has also been seen as an attempt to stem China's growing influence in Myanmar and secure more energy supplies.

Upgrade loan for N-E roads

2011-07-23T00:14:00.001-07:00

ADB sanctions $200m for six states
ROOPAK GOSWAMI

Relief route: A bus mired in a muddy road in Tinsukia. File picture
Guwahati, July 23 : The Asian Development Bank today sanctioned a $200 million loan for upgrade of roads in six states of the Northeast.
The bank’s board of directors cleared the loan — the biggest external assistance package till date for the region’s road sector — in Manila today.
The funds, which will be released in two tranches, will help in the upgrade of 430 km of roads in six states — Ass-am, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura.
The biggest loan till date was of $60 million by World Bank to Mizoram in 2002 with additional financing of $13 million provided last year.
An ADB communiqué issued today said the improvement work would include wid-ening sections of existing ro-ads, strengthening of paveme-nts, raising embankments and construction of permanent structures at river crossings.
Christened the North Eastern States Roads Investment Programme, it will target the secondary roads network and aims to improve the performance of the state roads sector in the region through project implementation and dedicated capacity building measures.
The bank, in its communiqué quoting Hideaki Iwasaki, a portfolio management specialist in ADB’s South Asia department, said more than 30 per cent of the population in these states lived below the poverty line and upgrade of these roads would help improve mobility and accessibility for many communities.
“Better roads in the region will also significantly improve the investment climate for the private sector, both domestic and foreign,” Iwasaki said.
The total cost of the investment programme is $298.2 million of which the bank will provide $ 200 million, with the Centre providing the rest.
The programme will help in improving the growth rate of traffic on the roads covered by the project and reduce travel time on the roads by 20 to 40 per cent.
The programme will also include capacity building measures for state public works departments to carry out effective planning and asset management along with introduction of modern road management practices.
The ministry of Development of North-eastern Region (DoNER), along with the state governments, will implement the programme, which is due for completion by the end of December 2016.
The first tranche of nearly $75 million will be used to fund upgrade over 200 km of roads in Assam, Meghalaya and Sikkim.
Once completed the roads will have to be maintained by state public works departments.
The Northeast has a 145,000km road network, comprising 35,000km of surfaced roads — mostly national highways, state highways, and district roads — and 110,000km of unpaved roads.
“With the limited exception of the highest class roads (mostly national highways, maintained by central organisations), the road network in the region is in extremely poor condition. Insufficient coverage, weak and rough pavement conditions, poor geometrics because of the hilly terrain, narrow pavements, submersible stretches, poor riding quality, weak, distressed and semi-permanent timber bridges characterise the state road network” the bank said in a report on the region’s roads.

Fake degrees: Cong defends Arunachal minister Atum Welly

2011-07-22T05:28:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jarbom Gamlin is trying to protect a senior minister in his government, Atum Welly who has been exposed by CNN-IBN for getting a fake degree for his daughter. Speaking exclusively to CNN-IBN, the Arunachal Chief Minister claimed that Welly was not involved in any wrong doing.
"No, these are allegations. The enquiry is on and the police department has been given the responsibility to submit the report. As far I know, his daughter joined the service with a class 12th certificate and the required qualification was of class 10th. She has said that she has never submitted any documents; someone else might have planted it also, which needs to be enquired," claimed Gamlin.
Welly's son and daughter have reportedly submitted fake degrees and documents to secure plush government jobs. The forgery was revealed by a RTI filed by local activists who now allege they are being threatened and intimidated.
In 2007, Atum's son Akung Welly was appointed as Inspector, Taxes and Excise and marksheets and certificates from Pragjyotish College of Guwahati were submitted. Later a RTI reply revealed that the documents were forged and Welly had not graduated from the college.
Atum's daughter Anung Welly too was appointed as a cultural officer in 2010 during the time when her father was the cultural minister. Anung submitted a graduate degree from Beltola College in Guwahti - an institute where she had never enrolled.
Both forgeries were confirmed by the Itananagar Superintendent of Police in his court affidavit, which stated," sufficient documentary evidence of forgery exist against Anung Welly and Akung Welly and they will be arrested sooner."
Atum Welly's abuse of power is also being investigated. The Superintendent of Police has been transferred after he gave the report.
RTI activist Payi Gyadi, who exposed the forgeries, alleges the minister tried to buy him out and now he is being harassed. On June 5 this year, a pistol and two hand grenades were planted in his car.
Welly's hand was exposed when police arrested three suspects. One of them was Sanjeev Tana, Atum Welly's former election agent. Gyadi now wants the case to be probed by the CBI.
"I would like to request Sonia Gandhi to take action since the state government is not doing anything," said Gyadi.
The police registered an FIR against Welly's son and daughter in January 2011 but no action has been taken so far. Welly who is a Congress minister has spread a sense of fear and continues to be in power and what also continues is the abuse of power.

Central ‘carrot’ gathers dust

2011-07-22T01:28:00.001-07:00

H. CHISHI

Kohima, July 22 : The first special economic zone of the Northeast is yet to become a reality even after four years, indicating that attracting investments is still a difficult proposition despite various initiatives by the authorities.
The Centre had approved the setting up of a multi-product special economic zone in Nagaland in 2007 at a cost of Rs 3,400 crore. The total area allocated was 450 hectares at Ganeshnagar near Dimapur. The Centre has released Rs 5 crore for the project till date.
Special economic zones were set up in the country to overcome the problems faced by various business units on account of multiplicity of controls and clearances and absence of world-class infrastructure, along with a view to attract larger foreign investments. The Special Economic Zones Act was passed in May 2005.
Expressing unhappiness with the tardy progress of work at the zone site, parliamentary secretary for industries and commerce K.C. Nihoshe told The Telegraph: “I am not satisfied with the progress of the work. Though some work is on, it is progressing at a slow place.”
The Centre had given two approvals for special economic zones in Nagaland — one to H.N. Company for a multi-product special economic zone (400 hectares) and the other to Nagaland Industrial Development Corporation Limited for an agro and food processing special economic zone (50 hectares).
Nihoshe, while attributing the slow progress of work to the monsoon, said, “We are hoping that works would be completed by this year.”
He said though the state government was in touch with several reputed companies from within and outside the country, no one had come forward to invest in the Ganeshnagar zone.
To attract investors, seminars were held on several occasions where representatives from several comp- anies had attended but still there were no investors, he said.
The existing Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPPI) at Ganeshnagar will be also converted into a special economic zone.
In 2008, Cona International Ltd, a South Korea-based company, had signed two memorandums of agreement with the Nagaland government for investment in industries and commerce and agro and food processing sectors.
The first agreement was signed with the department of industries and commerce and the second with Nagaland Industrial Development Corporation Limited for investment in the agro and food-processing sector.
Asked whether works by Cona International Ltd was satisfactory, he said they were not progressing at all. “We are not satisfied with their work,” he said, adding that the company had not made much progress.
He, however, expressed optimism that once the infrastructure was created, companies would flock to the zone for investment in the agro and food-processing sector.
Once a special economic zone is approved and the Centre notifies the area of the zone, companies are allowed to set up units there. All proposals for setting up units in the zone are approved at the zonal level by the approval committee comprising the development commissioner, customs authorities and representatives of the state government.
Rules say that any individual, co-operative society, company or partnership firm can file an application for setting up an unit in the zone, which comes under the ministry of commerce.
The state government had to pay more than Rs 40 lakh as compensation to the affected farmers at Ganeshnagar.
Some products being considered for the agro and food processing zone are based on pineapples, passion fruit, ba-mboo shoot, medicinal plants and aromatic herbs, including lemon grass and aloe vera.
The SEZ website, however, mentions the zone as “still not operational”.
The 2000 Industrial Policy of Nagaland aims to facilitate rapid and sustained industrial development to enable entrepreneurs to generate substantial income and employment in the state.

Arunachal minister gets jobs for his kin by fraud, Congress begins probe

2011-07-20T07:23:00.001-07:00

GUWAHATI: The AICC has started an enquiry into an allegation of kin of a minister in Arunachal Pradesh government getting government jobs on the basis of fake education certificates.

AICC in-charge of Arunachal Pradesh, Sanjay Bapna said that enquiry is based on a complaint from Arunachal Pradesh., "The matter is in our knowledge. I don't remember the name of the complainant but he is not a Congressman. We are getting information and the matter is being looked into."

Earlier Arunachal Pradesh RTI activists, who levelled the allegation against the health and family welfare minister Atum Welly based on information gathered under RTI, had written a letter to Sonia Gandhi and sought her interference in the issue.

The complainant has alleged before AICC that the health minister's son Akung Welly and daughter Anung Welly have allegedly produced fake degree certificates of Gauhati University while applying for Arunachal Pradesh government jobs.

The minister was unavailable for his comments. His office in Itanagar said that he is out of station. The Arunchal Pradesh Congress Committee president Nabam Tuki was also unavailable as he too was out of station. Office secretary of the state PCC, Rahul Dutta, however said that the PCC has no knowledge of any enquiry being conducted by AICC against Welly.

8 tribals kidnapped from Tripura

2011-07-20T01:22:00.000-07:00

Agartala, Jul 21 : A massive combing operation has been launched to trace out the poor tribals, including two CPI(M) leaders, who were kidnapped by the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants yesterday from the remote Debendra Karbaripara in Dhalai district of North Tripura.

Police said here today that the TSR along with the Assam Rifles personnel had launched a manhunt in the area to rescue the kidnapped people. The BSF jawans were also put on a high alert in the porous eastern border with Bangladesh.

According to a report, the heavily-armed NLFT militants raided the village in the late hours of July 18 and kidnapped four tribal villagers, including local CPI(M) leaders--Arun Chakma (35) and Ganja Chakma (45)--along with two other innocent tribals Sudhyajoy Chakma (35) and Ratanjoy Chakma (27) at gunpoint.

On their way back, they had detained four others identified as Baisakh Chakma (30), Sumanta Chakma (30), Kahindra Tripura (35) and Fallenjoy Tripura (25) who were returning home after work.

This was the third kidnapping incident of the state this year.

Body of abducted trader found

2011-07-20T00:31:00.001-07:00

Nagaon July 20 : Dima Hasao district police today recovered the decomposed body of a businessman who was kidnapped and killed by the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah three years ago.

The body of the Bengali businessman, Subrata Dey, 25, was recovered by a special police team from Bisakisong village.

Dey was kidnapped by a team of DHD (Jewel) militants in May 2008 from Bisakisong, 10km from the Maibong sub-division headquarters.

According to Dima Hasao district police, altogether 50 such missing cases were registered in different parts of the district since 2006, of which Haflong police station registered 12.

“Most of these are suspected to be kidnapped by militant outfits for extortion or other reasons,” a high-level police source in Dima Hasao said.

Four persons, including a “sergeant major” of DHD (Jewel), Handsome Dimasa, and a resident of Bisakising village, Biswajit Dimasa, were arrested in connection with the kidnapping three days back.

The police recovered the vehicle registration certificate and driving licence along with Dey’s body at a site, which was traced out with the help of the arrested cadres.

“Our operation is on to get clues of the missing persons,” a police source said.

Meet reviews NE security

2011-07-20T00:30:00.000-07:00

Silchar: A meeting between intelligence agencies and security forces deployed in the Barak Valley and Mizoram was held at Mashimpur, the headquarters of BSF's Mizoram and Cachar Frontier.

At Monday's meeting, BSF inspector-general JC Pandey welcomed all delegates to review the security scenario in the Barak Valley and Mizoram besides the impact of underground activities from the rest of Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya.

The BSF IG said the country was facing both internal and external threats. "The security scenario in our neighborhood is not good. The threats to our borders vary from military to intelligence. We have to be ready to face any emergency," added Pandey.

Under such circumstances, the responsibility of the intelligence has increased manifold and co-ordination among ntelligence agencies and security forces was required, said the IG.

Chamling for Sikkim as eco-city State

2011-07-18T21:57:00.001-07:00

TUMIN (SIKKIM), July 19 – Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling has started a village-to-village tour of East district from Tumin-Lingee constituency recently.

At his first stop at Makha Secondary School, the Chief Minister met the people and had one to one interaction with the public.

Later, addressing the gathering the Chief Minister stressed on the dream of making Sikkim an Eco- City State by providing urban like facilities and opportunities in the rural areas.

The Chief Minister while talking about the policies and programmes of the government on the upliftment of the rural areas vis-a- vis the development of cooperative movement in the State announced to allot works up to the value of Rs 2 crore to cooperative societies of the State.

At Lower Tumin, the Chief Minister while talking about the health policy of the State Government announced to introduce Cervical Cancer vaccination to girl child.

At Tumin Barang the Chief Minister while declaring government’s intention to construct a Ramayana Village at Tumin Barang said that this project will be first of its kind in the world.

For this purpose, 15 acres of land has been identified in the village which will be purchased by the government and the work will be started within this year, he said.

The Ramayana Village so constructed will be having the statues of the characters of Ramayana telling the story of the epic. The government has plans to convert the constituency into a pilgrimage tourism centre, Chamling said.

In future the place will be a major tourist hub and will be visited by people from across the globe. “In this way we are preparing a strategy for sustainable development of the State”, he added.

Centre to give administrative freedom to Gorkhaland

2011-07-18T01:22:00.001-07:00

New Delhi: The Central Government has given its go-ahead for creation of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration - an autonomous body that will have greater administrative powers than the existing Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.
The decision has been taken after the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) meeting and Home Minister P Chidambaram has been directed to go to Kolkata to sign the agreement with the concerned parties.
The members of the West Bengal government, the Centre and the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJM) are expected to sign the agreement on Monday.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with GJM president Bimal Gurung and other top party leaders on Sunday in this regard.
The Left has decided to stay away from the event saying the deal will spark violence and pave the way for the formation of the separate state of Gorkhaland.
Prakash Karat said the deal will spark violence and pave the way for the formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland.
"We are not in agreement of the nature of the settlement or terms of the agreement," said Prakash Karat.
Meanwhile, a CPM-backed group has called a bandh in North Bengal in protest.
Shops in Sukna on Monday remained closed and roads were empty.
The bandh is expected to bring life to standstill in Jalpaiguri, Malda, North and South Dinajpur as well.
The people of the Terai and Dooars region are worried the pact will be detrimental to their interest.

Prime Minister calls off northeast visit

2011-07-18T00:33:00.001-07:00

AGARTALA: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has cancelled his scheduled visit beginning July 22 to two northeastern states - Assam and Tripura - citing a hectic schedule in the national capital, an official said here Sunday.

The postponement of the prime minister's visit to Left-ruled Tripura evoked political controversy, though the Congress officially termed it as "apolitical".

Tripura Congress spokesman Tapas Dey told reporters: "There are no political reasons behind the cancellation of the prime minister's trip to Tripura."

"Manmohan Singh Saturday talk to Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar by phone from New Delhi and expressed his inability to come to the state in view of the busy schedule in New Delhi," an official statement clarified.

Media reports Sunday said that in view of the prevailing tense situation in Tripura arising out of the recent clashes between Congress workers and police, the "worried prime minister cancelled his tour to Tripura".

A 21-year-old youth was killed and 111 people, including 28 policemen and 11 journalists, injured in Agartala on July 10 and 11 in a series of clashes between the police and Congress workers, who allege that the state adopted prejudiced policies towards the state's medical students.

A three-member All India Congress Committee (AICC) team led by union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik visited the state Wednesday to assess the situation. They also met the governor and apprised him of the situation.

"We would submit a detail report of the Tripura situation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to take appropriate measures," Wasnik had told reporters here.

AICC in a statement and senior Congress leaders led by Tripura unit chief Surajit Datta met the governor and demanded dismissal of the Left Front government and promulgation of president's rule in Tripura.

The Tripura government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into these clashes.

The prime minister was scheduled to lay a foundation stone for a campus of Kolkata-based Indian Statistical Institute at the Texpur University in Assam on July 23 and attend a function in Guwahati the same day.

In Tripura, the prime minister was to inaugurate the newly-built Tripura assembly and lay the foundation stone for a new Raj Bhavan complex here July 22.

If the prime minister visits Tripura, this would be his first visit to a Left-ruled state after the April-May poll debacle of the Left parties.