Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Hnahthial begins fresh protest for district status

Aizawl, Apr 30 : After completion of a long march, members of the Hnahthial District Demand Committee have resorted to a fast-unto-death here. This, they hope, would exert more pressure on their demand for the district status for the subdivisional town. Even as the demand committee is determined to “bring home” the district by hook or by crook, the state administration stands firm on its point that there is no general consensus among villages for conferring the status of district to the town.

Chief Minister Zoramthanga had not denied that he had promised a district status for Hnahthial, but on a “condition that all the claimed villages agree to fall under the proposed Hnahthial district”, an MNF party source has said and added that three or more villages have opposed to the demand. However, the demand committee claimed that the Chief Minister had promised them the district status only on condition that if the MNF candidate (F Lalthanzuala) was elected from the Hnahthial seat in the 2003 elections.

Meanwhile, the Congress party has offered full support to the demand for Hnahthial district, while strongly slamming the chief minister for “never keeping his words”. “If Zoramthanga had promised a district status, he should give them without any hesitation. But, if it is not possible due to administrative reasons, he should tell that to them straightforwardly,” a Congress statement said here today.

“If the fast still proves futile, the demand committee will further resort to road blockade on National Highway 54, the lifeline of the entire southern parts of Mizoram,” committee secretary J Lalliankima told UNI here. “We will not rest until we get the district status,” he added.

UNI

ZAV Air to operate in North East

New Delhi, Apr 30 : The Civil Aviation Ministry has confirmed that it has granted initial No Objection Certificate’ to ZAV Air to operate scheduled regional air services within the Eastern and North Eastern Region. The Centre has now introduced the concept of scheduled regional airlines, which will primarily operate in a designated region.

Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel said air services in North-east are operated under a memorandum of understanding between North Eastern Council (NEC) and Alliance Air and according to Route Dispersal Guidelines laid down by the Government of India.

Meanwhile, Airport of Authority of India (AAI) proposes to take up new airport projects in Itanagar, Pekyong and Chiethu Greenfield airports in North-east. Pre-feasibility of new Greenfield airport at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh has also been carried out, the Minister added.

PTI

Army launches Tipaimukh vigil

Hmar outfit claims blast responsibility

Imphal, Apr 30 : Troops of the 57 Mountain Division started patrolling the Tipaimukh hydel project site in Manipur’s Churachandpur district today after militants blew off a drilling rig and brought work to a standstill on Saturday.

“The army started patrolling the Tipaimukh project site and surrounding areas today. Troops moved into the area from Parbung, the nearest security post in the district,” a senior police official said.

Militants had blasted a drilling machine using an IED, forcing all engineers and workers to flee the project site, located on the Manipur-Mizoram border.

The Hmar Peoples Convention (Democratic) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Terming the project a “destructive intervention” by North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (Neepco) and the Manipur government, the outfit said the ongoing drilling works were against the interest of the Hmar people living in the area.

The incident took place on the Mizoram side of the project. The Neepco authorities have lodged a complaint with the sub-divisional police officer of Sakawrdai in Mizoram.

Neepco executive director T.C. Borgohain last evening submitted a report to Manipur principal secretary in charge of home and power, D.S. Poonia, a source said.

Stating that some rebels damaged a defective drilling machine that was lying idle for some days, Borgohain urged the state government to ascertain the safety of the officials and workers.

A Neepco official said the corporation was expecting “appropriate action” to provide security to the officials and workers. He added that work would resume within a week of the government providing “environmental and personal security coverage” to the officials.

Sources here said Neepco has also urged the Centre to provide nine companies of CRPF for the project site. The Manipur government will soon discuss deployment of security personnel at the project site. There is no police station or outpost in Tipaimukh.

The Okram Ibobi Singh government is likely to request the army to protect the project site until alternative arrangements can be made.

Officials of the power department are constantly in touch with those in Neepco.

The power company has also informed the Manipur government that they had to suspend a survey for a road diversion on National Highway 150 some weeks ago because of threats by unidentified persons. Various civil society organisations in Manipur are opposing the project, saying it would destroy the environment and the economy.

Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh convened a meeting of Neepco, state government and senior police officials in Imphal on May 2.

An official source said the meeting would discuss all security-related matters.

Chief secretary Jarnail Singh and director general of police Yumnam Joykumar Singh would attend the meeting.

Telegraph India

Bamboo, answer to Mizoram’s economic prosperity

Aizawl, Apr 29 : Even as Mizoram reeled under Mautam, famine due to excessive bamboo flowering, the bamboo entreprenuers have stated that bamboo cultivation could boost the State’s economy.

Participating in an international conference on improvement of bamboo productivity at New Delhi recently, Mizoram Bamboo Entrepreneurs’ Federation (MIBEF) president J Laltlanmawia said they wanted to make bamboo production economically viable for the State.

Altogether, ten bamboo entrepreneurs and seven State Government officials participated in the conference, attended by more than 500 delegates from across the globe. Rare bamboo products were also exhibited during the conference. “The State Government should take steps to setting up a separate department towards promoting bamboo industries in Mizoram. It will also help in eradicating unemployement,” Laltlanmawia said.

The MIBEF also urged the State Government to promote the Bamboo Development Agency, where several expensive bamboo processing machines were lying unutilised. “The Government should hand these machines over to the practical workers,” the MIBEF stated.

UNI

NSCN (IM) supplying arms to ultra groups

Guwahati, Apr 30 : Frequent violations of the ground rules by the members of the militant groups under cease-fire agreement with the Government is posing a serious law and order problem and it is alleged that apart from assisting several militant groups of Assam, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (I-M) is also involved in supply of weapons to different armed groups to boost its own coffers. The Assam Government has informed the Centre on several occasions on the problems created by the NSCN members as the outfit has been reportedly providing helping hand to the smaller groups like the Black Widow group and the Adivasi National Liberation Army (ANLA), which helped the outfits to increase their strengths considerably to emerge as potent forces. The NSCN hand is also suspected in the skirmishes along the Assam-Nagaland border.

Sources said that confusion about the area covered by the ground rules of the cease-fire agreement with the NSCN also created problems from time to time and as the agreement is only applicable in Nagaland, the Assam Government is free to take action against any member of the outfit found to be involved in any unlawful activity in Assam. Assam is not the only state to face problems because of the activities of the NSCN has posed serious threat to Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh.

Security sources said that reports of members of NSCN involving in gun running has added a new dimension to the problem. The NSCN has by now established strong ties with the clandestine arms dealers and the members of the outfit are now involved in gun running to boost the coffers of the outfit, sources said. Sources further said that majority of the militant groups of the North East barring the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) bought weapons from the NSCN at some point of time or other and the ULFA has its own channels for procuring weapons.

Sources revealed that some Maoist rebel groups also bought weapons from the NSCN and according to intelligence inputs, the dealings took place in West Bengal. There were reports of attempts of Khalistani groups to procure weapons from the NSCN but that could not be confirmed.

Sources also revealed that the NSCN was not disposing off its old weapons to make money and “according to reports of the intelligence agencies, the outfit is bringing in weapons to sell it to other militant groups.”

AT

Assam to create over 10,000 jobs in Health Dept

Guwahati, Apr 30 : State Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmah today informed that more than 10,000 more jobs are coming up for recruitment in the Health department in the near future. The Minister further divulged that recruitment for as many as 300 Health department posts would be done within the next month, besides, an overall 1,000 number of State Government posts.

“The rest of the posts under the Health department would be filled in a phased manner,” he stated.

The Minister further informed that he had met Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi this morning stressing for the need of a special strategy for Barak Valley.

“I have seen that the pass percentage of the candidates applying for various posts is very low. In the recently held examination for the recruitment of surveillance workers too, the number of candidates who appeared for the examination and also the percentage of successful candidates is very low,” he divulged.

“We would try to tackle this problem in a different way. May be, printing the question papers in Bengali could be answer as most of the students in the Barak Valley are more verse with reading and writing in Bengali, especially in places like Hailakandi,” he pointed out.

Replying to a query, the Minister informed that the Health department is planning to adopt an unconventional strategy to tackle the outbreak of diarrhoea in districts like Jorhat and Golaghat.

Regarding the reported anomalies in the recruitment of youths for the posts of surveillance workers, the Minister said that all the successful candidates have been called for an interactive session, which has been scheduled for May 3 and anybody wanting to clarify any issue regarding the alleged anomalies can take part in the interaction programme.

AT

Man vs animal: A wild battle for existence in Assam

Guwahati, Apr 30 : A 22-year-old female elephant recently dislocated its hip joint after falling 30 feet into a swampy pit in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district. In agony for five days after being pulled out, it finally succumbed.

In another incident, an elephant was hit by a train when it tried to save its calf stuck between the railway tracks.

Not just elephants, a leopard was recently battered to death by residents of Sivasagar district in upper Assam. It had strayed into the town and attacked four people before being killed.

The conflict between man and animals is becoming commonplace in Assam as encroachment increases.

“We human beings don not treat the animals right. It’s only when we provoke them that they retaliate,” says wildlife expert, Parbati Baruah.

Baruah points out there’s a huge gap between concern for wildlife and actually translating those concerns into workable solutions.

“The people in wildlife committees should dedicatedly give time on the field. Or else we won’t get results. One cannot do Project Tiger sitting in Delhi or Guwahati,” she says.

Conservation of animals is becoming difficult for the forest department as poaching is on an increase in the Northeast.

Training programmes to spread awareness hold key to preventing incidents like these but the state’s flagship elephant project has just Rs 1.5 crore as funds to implement this.

CNN-IBN

Friday, April 25, 2008

Capacity building initiative in Nagaland

With the declaration of 2008-09 as the 'Year of Capacity Building', the Nagaland government has adopted a slew of measures encompassing all sections of society to contribute to growth and development in the state.

Immediately after announcement of the programme in the annual budget for 2008-09, the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government constituted a task force headed by the Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary Lalthara.

The task force has worked out strategies and action plans for implementing the Capacity Building initiatives in all sectors with special emphasis on improvement of the government delivery system and generation of self-employment.

All government departments have been directed to work out their individual departmental proposal for capacity building relevant to their respective field and submit it to the chairman of the task force by April 25, officials said.

As part of this initiative, a ten-member group from the Directorate of Information and Public Relation (DIPR) has been sent to the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi for a refresher course on media.


The state government has insisted on imparting training and skill to middle-level officers as they actually have to work in the field level.

With DAN coming to power for the second consecutive term, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio declared the year 2008-09 as the 'Year of Capacity Building' in his budget.

Officials pointed out that after declaring VDBs as non-banking financial institution, their roles had now been expanded to economic activities from its initial task of village infrastructure development.

The third and most important aspect of the programme was to build the capacity of the Naga youth so that they could find gainful employment outside the government. Many youth successfully ventured into self-employed activities and enterprises after the government declared the year 2006-07 as the 'Year of Youth Empowerment'.

The financial assistance through the CM Corpus Fund helped such enterprising youth to take up non-traditional business activities like professional music, micro credit operation, travel and tourism, event management and IT enabled services.
The government was committed to continue and expand this effort towards generation of self-employment and spending of quality time by the Naga youth, the chief minister recently told newsmen.

The government had already constituted a music task force to promote music as an industry in Nagaland keeping in mind the talent of the youth.

Bomb explosion near Manipur CM’s residence

Imphal, Apr 24 : A bomb went off in a VIP area, barely 100 metres from the Manipur chief minister’s residence and the police headquarters here today, injuring three persons, while another planted near the venue of a function to be attended by the Governor failed to explode. Official sources said a bomb rigged to a two wheeler exploded at around 10.15 a m in the VIP area, when a number of people were present there to meet ministers and MLAs.

Two vehicles were damaged by the blast, which also destroyed a portion of the fencing of the residence of Congress chief whip T Mangib Abu, who had left for Delhi earlier in the day. Manipur Tourism Minister T N Haokip’s house, barely 50 feet away from the spot where the blast occured, was unharmed.

Minutes after the blast, Imphal police closed all exit points in the area. The injured, who suffered splinter wounds, were rushed to the district hospital where they were stated to be out of danger. The unexploded bomb rigged to a cycle rickshaw was found at the southern gate of Imphal pologround, 50 metres from the seat of Governor S S Sidhu, about half an hour before he reached the venue.

The governor was scheduled to be present at the concluding function of Governor’s Cup Open Invitational Polo Tournament at 3 pm. Superintendent of Police, Imphal West district, Kailun said the powerful bomb had 17 gelatine sticks and could be exploded by using remote control. Experts defused the bomb and security measures were tightened at Imphal pologround area.

PTI

Mysterious disease claims lives of 30 Manipuri children

Imphal, Apr 24 : Manipur Health Minister Pheiroijam Parijat today expressed concern over the deaths of 30 children due to a mysterious disease, and said that he would send a medical team to examine the cause of the disease. All the deaths were reported from the Churachandpur District of the state. Health officials informed that most of the children who had died had complained of breathing problems prior to their deaths.

A medical team of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal has organised a camp at the Parbung Health Centre to monitor the health of the patients.

Headlines India

1 electrocuted in Dimapur

Dimapur, Apr 25 : A field worker (lineman) of the Power Department was electrocuted while working on a high tension power junction in NST Colony to restore electricity, Thursday around 11 a.m.

The victim, identified as Sulu Adivasi had climbed up the steep pole to rectify the faulty line when suddenly, the lines became charged. The lineman’s hands which had held the power cables carried the high voltage of electric current through his body and died soon after. The body was left hanging for over one hour till other field workers arrived to retrieve it.

As a rule and practice, prior to lineman working, switch boards are shut and fuses removed to prevent any accident. However, in this case, it is believed that “back charge” or power that could have been caused by other factors such as generators or lines cross connected, could have sent a high voltage to the line on which work was being undertaken. The body was later put inside a coffin that was brought to the site.

This is the second time in about three years that a lineman died while on duty in Dimapur. Power officials could not be contacted for further details at the time of filing this report.

NP

Italian envoy meets Mizoram Governor, CM

Aizawl, Apr 25 : Economic cooperation between Mizoram and Italy was on Thursday discussed between Italian Ambassador to India Antonio Armelini and Governor LT Gen (Retd) M M Lakhera.

The governor informed Armelini that Mizoram has rich forest resources which could be exploited for economic cooperation between Italy and the state, an official press release said.

Armelini also met Chief Minister Zoramthanga last night and said his government was interested in economic ties with Mizoram and to draw investments in the horticultural sector.

Bureau Report

Diarrhoea claims nine children

Guwahati/Silchar, Apr 24 : The Assam government today gave all tea garden managers the primary responsibly of checking the spread of diarrhoea, as the killer disease has claimed the lives of nine children over the past few days in Hailakandi district’s remote hilly habitats nestled along the Assam-Mizoram border.

Fifteen labourers died of the disease in various tea estates of Upper Assam over the past week.

Jorhat deputy commissioner L.S. Changsang today convened an emergency meeting of all tea garden managers and directed them to take necessary steps to control the spread of the disease.

“Government agencies will provide necessary help but you all have to take the primary steps,” Changsang said at the meeting.

At Lala township in Hailakandi district, five of the total nine children, who fell victim to the scourge of diarrhoea in the district, have been identified as Ranalakshi Tripura, 3, Ribanjoy Tripura, 4, Bandanarani Tripura, 4, Sontosh Reang, 3, and Liukorama Reang, 5.

Lala anchalik panchayat president Bandana Reang said most of these deaths were reported from Dhalcherra and Bilaipur panchayat areas, which are very remote locations in this backward district and have no healthcare facility worth mention.

She also confirmed that hundreds of people had been afflicted by these seasonal ailments in the district’s Lala and Katlicherra blocks, which fall under Katlicherra constituency of the Congress strongman and the state’s excise and border areas development minister, Goutam Roy.

Jayanta Das, the medical officer of the Lala primary health centre, said he has reports of the incidence of such water-borne diseases at the far-flung villages in the block.

Goutam Roy said a health camp would be organised at Dalcherra village, a tribal hub, on Friday, where doctors would treat the patients.

Hailakandi district deputy commissioner Tapan Chandra Goswami, however, said no official report of the confirmed deaths had been received by his office.

Telegraph India

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Aizawl to follow strict building laws

Aizawl, Apr 23 : Building regulations will strictly come in force in the Mizoram capital from May two next as part of the effort to streamline construction activities in the burgeoning city, Vice Chairman of the Aizawl Development Authority (ADA) Lalfakzuala said here today.

The Former Chief Secretary told reporters that with strict enforcing of the Building Regulations Act 2005, it would become mandatory for anyone intending to construct a new building or make an extension to obtain prior permission from the ADA.

As part of the plan, the entire Aizawl will be divided into four zones with a site office soon coming up manned by technical people.

To a question about how the ADA would function when the municipality was commissioned, he said even though the 74th constitution amendment called for a merger of the ADA with the civic board, in bigger cities it was the usual practice that development bodies functioned side by side municipalities.

PTI

Rat menace may hit Mizoram

Aizawl, Apr 22 : Village elders used to predict that, while the year 2007 would be ‘A seh zawh kum’ or peak of the ‘Mautam,’ a local term for gregarious bamboo flowering, 2008 would be the year of harvest boom, the prediction may prove to be wrong this time, says James Lalsiamliana, an expert on pest control.

Lalsiamliana’s worst fears are based on reports that ‘Dendrocalamus Hamiltoni,’ locally known as ‘Phulrua’ flowered in the last quarter of last year and the seeds are on the ground now even as ‘melocanna baccifera’ or ‘Mautak’ has completed flowering.

“As happened in the late 1950s the rodents that caused so much destruction to the cultivation area during 2007 were expected to die en masse due to liver disease as they would not find anything to eat during January to April,” he said, adding that now they found food in the form of the seeds of ‘Phulua’.

He said that even wild boars and jungle fowls devoured the seeds of Phulrua and many villagers reported increase of wild boar and jungle fowl population in their areas after Phulrua flowered.

“Phulrua flowered sporadically since 2000 but this year it is gregarious flowering,” Lalsiamliana said, adding that the species is found almost everywhere in the river valleys.

However, C Ramhluna, the state Principal Chief conservator of forests does not believe that the flowering of Phulua would lead to repetition of rat menace.

“No study has revealed that rats ate Dendrocalamus Hamiltoni and even if it is so, the population of this bamboo species is too small to re-trigger rodent menace,” he said.

But Lalsiamliana maintains that the rats eating the seeds of Phulrua can be seen even now in Seling area near Aizwal at dusk and he had documented the scene with his camera.

“I know that this kind of bamboo constituted only around five percent of the total bamboo population in the state, but the effects of its gregarious flowering can be disastrous, because it can mean the survival of the rats” he says.

He is worried that there have not been reports of rodents dying but there are reports rats still in the jungles, might be savouring the seeds of Phulrua.

Besides those killed with mass poisoning with rode rodenticides before and during paddy harvest last year, no reports have been received from any village that indicated mass death of rats as reported in earlier ‘Mautams,’ he said.

Mautam affected 1,41,825 agrarian families in Mizoram and as per the estimate of the state government destroyed Rs 67,201.98 lakh worth of crops during 2006-2008.

The state government spent Rs 29.65 lakh for purchasing rodent tails, which failed to effectively mitigate the destruction caused by the periodic ‘Mautam’ famine.

Mautam is a strange ecological phenomenon, which occurred in this tiny hilly northeastern state in a cycle of every 48 years causing immense hardship to the agrarian tribals.

Official estimates said that there are around 20 different bamboo species in the state which covered an area of around 6,446 sq km (about 31 percent of the state’s total area).

Mautak or melocanna baccifera, which began to flower in the state since 2006 and climaxed in 2007 comprised of around 95 percent of the total bamboo population in the state.

Mizo elders, speaking after experiencing earlier Mautam famine, named the year after the climax of Mautam as ‘A V R Kum’ or a year of boom in harvest, but it is yet to be seen whether the traditional prediction comes true this time.

Bureau Report

Most Mizo villages have access to drinking water

Aizawl, Apr 22 : Most of the villages in Mizoram now have access to pure drinking water owing to the collective efforts of officials in the PHE department, state Public Health Engineering (PHE) Minister Tawnluia said.

The Minister was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the UN’s International Year of Sanitation on Monday.

Mr Tawnluia said as many as 471 villages in Mizoram had been provided with pure drinking water, adding that efforts were on to cover another 219 villages this year.

”Besides, most of the water in Mizoram is spring water and therefore, high in mineral content,” officials said.

Following the UN’s declaration of the year 2008 as International Year of Sanitation, the state PHE department organised a meeting with the theme ”Sanitation Promoting Health and Hygiene for All.”

The Minister urged the gathering, students and department officials concerned to render all possible service to achieve sanitation and health.

”Whereas villages have maintained proper sanitation, the city dwellers are living in unhygienic conditions due to improper planning,” the officilas said.

Official reports highlighted that the PHE department had launched total sanitation campaigns, distributed toilet materials free to 47,593 BPL families and constructed 727 anganwadi toilets and 123 units of community sanitary complexes to promote hygeinic living conditions in rural areas.

PTI

Mizoram to host NE CommonWealth parliamentarians meet

Aizawl, Apr 22 : Mizoram will host the 11th North Eastern Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association during May for the second time.

A preview meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Zoramthanga, according to an official source. Mizoram Assembly Speaker Lalchamliana said the NERCPA had been established in tune with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association formed by former colonies of the British Empire.

Speakers, deputy speakers and three MLAs each, besides concerned officials from the northeast states, are expected to attend the four-day conference beginning May 27. Five MLAs are expected from Asom, which is the largest state in the region. The source said Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Rajya Sabha Secretary General V K Agnihotri have confirmed their participation.

UNI

Northeast overtakes Kashmir in terror deaths

Guwahati, Apr 23 : Terrorist attacks are claiming more civilian lives in India’s northeast than in Jammu and Kashmir. The region is also witnessing more insurgency-linked violence.

According to latest central home ministry figures, there were 1,489 incidents of violent incidents in the northeast in 2007 compared to about 1,000 in Jammu and Kashmir.

‘Civilian casualties in the northeast during the same period stood at 498 as against 158 civilian in Jammu and Kashmir,’ said the home ministry report titled ‘Status Paper on Naxal Activities’ released Tuesday.

Of the 498 civilian casualties in the northeast, 287 cases were reported from Assam alone.

‘This is a really dangerous trend with Assam now witnessing a new form of terrorism where militants or terrorists are striking innocuous civilian targets to get maximum mileage without really confronting the Indian security forces,’ Nani Gopal Mahanta, coordinator of the Peace and Conflict Studies department at Gauhati University said.

Assam witnessed more than 100 explosions last year, most of them in crowded marketplaces, besides organised attacks against non-Assamese people, particularly Hindi-speaking migrants.

Police blame the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland since 1979, for the continuing violence the state.

The home ministry report on the internal security was confined to the insurgency-hit states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Tripura.

The impact of terror on the region’s already beleaguered economy has doubled, with investors shying away from setting up businesses in the states coupled with flight of capital.

‘Security is the single most important issue for investors, besides poor infrastructure facilities in the northeast,’ Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh told journalists here recently.

‘Any investor would like to have a safe security environment and should not be bothered about bomb blasts and other such things,’ he said.

‘This is the general perception that many investors have about the northeast, although not all the states are affected by insurgency. This mindset needs to be addressed,’ the minister said.

There are about 30-odd militant groups active in the northeast with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy.

Another disturbing fact is that Assam has ranked fourth among Indian states with the highest number of custodial deaths last year with 14 people dying while in police custody.

Out of 188 custodial deaths in 2007, Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 32 deaths, followed by Maharasthra (25) and Gujarat (16), according to the report.

Bureau Report

Guwahati: flourishing arms bazaar for northeast rebels

Assam’s main city of Guwahati is turning out to be a flourishing bazaar for trading arms and explosives with frontline separatist groups from the northeast offering a ready market to scores of gunrunners, officials said.

Police and intelligence officials say weapons syndicates have of late stepped up their activities by using Guwahati to smuggle arms and explosives to at least 30-odd rebel armies operating in the region.

The reports got credence when police Sunday seized 10 Programmable Time Explosive Devices (PTED) from a cargo counter of a private transport operator in the heart of Guwahati city.

‘The PTEDs were meant for the ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) and was headed to Kakopathar in eastern Assam through the Network Travels cargo,’ said city police spokesman Debojit Deuri.

The explosive devices were stacked in a packet and booked through the Network Travels cargo section under the guise of sending a parcel containing consumables.

A police official investigating the case said gunrunners brought in the explosive devices from Bangladesh via Meghalaya to Guwahati en route to eastern Assam.

‘In recent months we had seized a large cache of weapons and other explosives in and around Guwahati. While some of the seized weapons were for the ULFA, there are possibilities that some of the consignments could be for other militant outfits active in the northeast,’ an intelligence official said requesting anonymity.

The porous international borders, thick with forests, along the northeastern states of Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura have been used by the illegal weapons syndicate to smuggle small and medium arms and ammunition, besides explosives, to northeastern militant groups.

‘Gunrunners are very much active and busy along the border areas with militant groups from the northeastern region being the main buyers,’ an army commander engaged in counter-insurgency operations in the northeast told IANS requesting anonymity.

India and Bangladesh share a 4,095-km-long border, of which the northeastern states account for more than half. Over 70 percent of the border is unfenced with concrete pillars separating the two countries.

India shares a 1,600-km unfenced border with Myanmar.

‘We are now working for greater synergy between the police forces in the northeastern states to curb such activities of the gunrunners,’ a senior Assam police official said.

The region’s separatist groups have long purchased arms from the port town of Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh police in 2006 seized a huge cache of weapons from the Chittagong Hill Tracts with both Indian and Bangladeshi authorities suspecting the consignment was meant for at least four separatist groups in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland.

Bangladeshi authorities said the seizures were estimated between $4.5 million and $7 million and included around 20,000 automatic and semi automatic rifles, among them Kalashnikov assault rifles, rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, hand grenades and other small arms.

‘Almost all the underground groups in the northeast purchase weapons at a very cheap price from gunrunners in the border areas, especially Bangladesh. You can buy everything including missiles,’ Kughalo Mulatonu, a senior rebel leader of the S.S. Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), told IANS by telephone from somewhere in Nagaland.

‘Some of the big underground groups often act as brokers between smaller outfits and the gunrunners for finalising arms’ deals.’

Most of the weapons, including AK-47 and AK-56 assault rifles, mortars, 40mm rocket launchers, pistols, revolvers and grenades come via the Arakans - a mountainous area in Myanmar - from parts of Thailand and Cambodia.

The arms consignments are often routed by sea through the Bay of Bengal to its destination in the Arakan forest in Myanmar, which is across Mizoram, before making their way to a myriad of rebel armies active in the northeast.

The area is controlled by Arakan insurgent groups opposed to the military junta in Yangon. Intelligence officials in the region have confirmed the presence of sophisticated range of weapons with militant groups in the northeast, including surface-to-air missile.

IANS

Naga clashes rock Dimapur

Kohima, Apr 23 : Dimapur erupted in internecine violence once again today as gun-toting Naga militants fought pitched battles in the commercial hub of Nagaland.

Four militants died — shot dead, burnt alive and executed in gory fratricidal killings — as any remnants of truce between the warring groups were thrown to the winds.

Three of them died in clashes between the Isak-Muivah and Unification groups of the NSCN at three different places under Diphupar police station this afternoon. The dead have been identified as Atovi Chishi and Hukheto Yepto of Unification and N. Thokcham of the Isak-Muivah group.

Another Isak-Muivah cadre sustained bullet injuries in one of the clashes.

The fourth militant who died belonged to the Isak-Muivah group and was executed by Unification cadres. He had been held captive with another member of his group for the past two weeks.

“We have executed a Tangkhul cadre,” Unification spokesperson Hokato Sumi said from the group’s Vihokhu camp, 20km from Dimapur, adding that another NSCN (I-M) cadre had escaped from their custody this afternoon. He did not disclose the identities of the cadres.

Sumi said their main target were the Tangkhuls, who were opposed to unification of the Naga groups.

Police quoted eyewitnesses as saying that one of the two Unification militants killed in the clashes was burnt alive when the vehicle he was travelling in was set on fire by the rival faction near Sovima.

The clashes started at Purana Bazaar in Dimapur in the afternoon and spread to 7th Mile, Sovima and Diphupar. Police said there was sporadic exchange of fire at 5th Mile till late in the evening.

The Naga groups have renewed their feud in recent times, notwithstanding the unprecedented security in and around Dimapur and despite the truce signed between them in December last year.

The ceasefire had been declared in Kohima on December 7 during a joint meeting sponsored by goanburas and dubashis (chiefs of Naga customary laws).

There have been several killings since, with the Isak-Muivah, Unification and Khaplang groups accusing each other of violating the truce.

The Isak-Muivah and Unification factions had clashed not even a week ago with the former gunning down two activists of the latter in Dimapur on the afternoon of April 17.

The attack by Isak-Muivah was suspected to be a revenge killing as the Unification group had attacked two of its activists that morning. The clashes had taken place just a day after NSCN (I-M) discussed its rival with Delhi during a round of peace talks.

Following the latest incidents, the Khaplang group has called an emergency meeting at Mon on Thursday. It will be attended by all the top functionaries of the outfit.

Several Naga organisations, Church leaders and state government have appealed to the factions to restrain themselves in the larger interest of the Naga people.

Telegraph India

NE CMs to oppose abolition of DoNER

Shillong, Apr 22 : The Chief Ministers of the North Eastern states would make a concerted effort to thwart the Centre’s move to abolish the DoNER ministry during the North Eastern Council (NEC) meeting in Agartala on May 12.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Donkupar Roy told the State Assembly that the State government would oppose the move to abolish the ministry and would in fact urge the Centre to strengthen it.

The Chief Ministers of the North East would take up the issue on their agenda to thwart the Centre’s decision to abolish the ministry.

Roy said, “the next conclave of North East Chief Ministers will jointly pass a resolution to show our protest”.

The second Administrative Reforms Commission while submitting its report to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recommended the closing down of the ministry and responsibility restored to the Home Ministry.

The report also recommended that all funds from the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) be routed through the NEC from henceforth and not DoNER.

Roy said the ministry is of immense help towards development of the region and its closing down would adversely affect the economy of the North East.

“The Centre should think in terms of strengthening the ministry instead of closing it down,” the Chief Minister told reporters.

AT

Grassroots governance to be back in hill districts

Imphal, Apr 23 : The feeling of alienation of the hill people for nearly two decades in the absence of grassroots governance will be finally over with the Cabinet decision of promulgation of an ordinance on Autonomous District Councils to replace the Manipur (Hill Area) District Council Act, 1971.

Imphal, Apr 23 : The objective of the state government is otherwise only to prevent violation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, an act of the Centre which is also extended in the state for implementation of the National Rural Employment Scheme.

Under the NREGs guidelines it is required to include non-official members representing Panchayati Raj Institutions or its equivalent grassroots governance in the various stages of implementation of the scheme.

But even though in Manipur the scheme was implemented in Tamenglong district after inclusion of the same district among the most backward districts of the state, it has been implemented without the elected representatives of the people as there was no election of the ADC, the local self government in the hill areas.

If the state government was not compelled to do so, the question of promulgation of the ordinance may not arise as the amendment of the ADC Act remains pending.

The long delay in holding elections in the district councils in the hill districts was due to the demand for the extension of Sixth Schedule status to the hill areas and it has made the people of the hill areas feel a sense of alienation even as district councils effectively reverted to direct administration under the deputy commissioners.

The feeling of alienation has been further heightened with the departments which hitherto worked through their district offices increasingly becoming centralized with almost all development schemes being formulated and implemented from Imphal, the capital of Manipur. Though the panchayati raj system is apparently present in the valley districts, it has limited resources and manpower at its command.

But the long hold up in elections in the district council has resulted in discontinuation and breakdown of the traditional system and the absence of participative grassroots democracy in the hill areas.

To recall, the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) in the hills area were introduced in the state in 1973 under the Manipur (Hill Area) District Council Act, 1971 with an objective of participation of the people belonging to the tribal and backward classes in the hill areas in development. Six ADCs were set up, one each in Tamenglong, Senapati, Ukhrul, Chandel, Churachandpur and Sadar Hill (Kangpokpi).

Even as in normal circumstances the election of members to the ADCs are to be held before or after the expiry of their term, election in five ADCs of Sadar Hills, Tamenglong, Churachandpur, Chandel and Ukhrul could not be held in time due to the revision of electoral rolls all over the state following the amendments in the voting age of electors.

The terms for the said five ADCs expired on February 28, 1989. In 1990 the Hill Areas Committee of the Manipur legislative Assembly adopted a resolution not to hold election to the ADCs until the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution is extended to the present district councils.

The Hills Areas Committee reviewed the 1990 resolution and adopted a resolution urging the state government to take initiative for the election of the ADCs observing that the present Act and rules relating to the district councils needed to be reviewed and amended before the elections were held.

At the same time, the committee retained its previous recommendation for extension of the Sixth Schedule to the hill districts. Afterwards, the Manipur Legislative Assembly passed the Manipur Hill Areas Autonomous District Council Act, 2000.

The act gives the ADCs legislation, executive and judicial powers on the lines of what is contained in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. Under the same act, the ADCs will also have the power to set up village and town committees, which addressed the point made by the Chief Minister`s Social policy Advisory Committee that the Manipur (Hill Area) District Council Act, 1971 did not provide for structural or functional linkages between the district councils and village-level bodies.

However, a challenge in the court on a provision in the act which stated that only persons who have been schedule tribe residents of a district for at least five years can qualify to be chosen as members of the district council came up from the Nepali residents of Sadar Hills under Senapati district.

The rules under the provisions of the Manipur Hill Areas Autonomous District Councils Act 2000 have been framed and are being vetted by the law department.On the other hand, the demand of the tribal people for the extension of the Sixth Schedule to the hill areas could not be subdued by the enactment of the Manipur Hill Areas Autonomous District Council Act, 2000.

The Sixth Schedule Demand Committee, Manipur has been pressurizing for the implementation of the state Cabinet decision on the recommendation to the Centre on the extension of the Sixth Schedule.

While the proposal came up from the state government the Union government has been seeking clarification of the term “with certain local adjustments and amendments” included in the Cabinet decision.

To examine the matter, a Cabinet sub-committee was constituted and the state government is still waiting for the recommendation of the sub-committee. In the light of this, devolution of powers to the district council has been held in abeyance.

It is also pertinent to mention that the traditional village councils still exist in Manipur, though they have been legally replaced by the Manipur (Village Authorities in Hill Areas) Act, 1956.

The act merely imposes a modern structure on the traditional system.

Under this act the village authority is responsible for maintaining law and order and two village members function as village court. Every village with 20 or more tax paying houses must have a village authority, with the number of members depending on the number of tax paying houses, with a three-year term. By and large, village authorities are elected bodies.

However, these bodies are not truly representative of the people, though there is a semblance of democracy.

Since the SPF government came to power in 2002 for the first time under the leadership of chief minister O Ibobi, at many instances, the amendment to the Manipur Hill Areas Autonomous District Council Act was discussed but no conscious agreement came till the final introduction of the amendment bill in the recently concluded Assembly session.

Despite hectic efforts of the state government to pass the amendment bill, it could not be passed and hence the bill was withdrawn from the House.

AFP

Central team to visit epidemic hit Manipur

Churachandpur, Apr 23 : The Central Emergency Medical Relief team is to tour epidemic-hit Manipur’s Hmarram area (Parbung-sub division) of Churachandpur district, during this week.

This was informed by Delhi Hmar Welfare Association’s secretary Mr Darsuothang after the Famine Relief Committee (FRC) several representations to the Union Health and Family Ministry in New Delhi on Tuesday.

“In response to the numerous representations submitted by the FRC to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry asking the Central’s Emergency Medical Relief to tour epidemic-hit Hmarram area of Manipur, the Chief Medical Officer of the Directorate General of Health Services has assured us that a central team, which includes epidemiologist, pediatrician, micro-biologist and host of other doctors will be visiting Manipur during this week if everything goes as planned,” Mr Darsuothang said over phone from New Delhi.

So far 29 children have died in Hmarram area of Parbung sub-division. Official sources believed that the disease could be some kind of respiratory disease realted to pneumonia. However, it is yet to be ascertained, said state health officials who are camping in the area.

“We met the CMO several times during the last two weeks. Today (Tuesday), he personally stated that the Centre was concerned about the recent deaths and was also keeping track of the measures taken by the state government,” Mr Darsuothang claimed.

In a big embarrassment to the Manipur government, Mr Darsuothang said, the CMO told them that Manipur was not doing enough to check the spread of the disease as compared to Mizoram government which he said was way ahead in providing relief works to epidemic and Mautam victims.

“He also told us that the World Health Organization was informed about the developments in Manipur,” the Hmar leader claimed.

Meanwhile, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences director Dr. L Fimate has directed a team of 8 doctors to treat the sick. On Tuesday the team which includes pediatric, gynaecologist, ENT specialist, physicians and micro-biologist reached Parbung, the sub-divisional headquarters of the affected area. The team is equipped with a laboratory, set up in three Sumos, for on the spot study of the deadly virus. The medical team is expected to tour almost all villages in Hmarram area in the coming weeks.

48-hr bandh against killing

Imphal, Apr 22 : A 48-hour bandh began along Imphal-Churachandpur Road today in protest against the government’s failure to investigate the killing of a youth by Assam Rifles in January.

The bandh was called by the joint action committee of Moirang in Bishnupur district.

Troops of the Assam Rifles gunned down Sandham Raju from Moirang at Salem Veng in Churachandpur district on January 21. The troops said the man was killed in an encounter and a pistol was recovered from him.

Claiming that Raju was innocent, residents of Moirang formed a joint action committee and submitted a memorandum to chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, who promised to look into the incident and take “necessary action”.

Transport services were disrupted because of the bandh. Business in Moirang market was also hit.

Five persons were killed either by the Assam Rifles or unidentified gunmen in separate incidents since January.

Today’s bandh comes at a time when the Islamic Students Council threatened to impose an indefinite blockade along Imphal-Moreh Road in protest against the killing of two Muslim youths by the Assam Rifles a few days back.

Assam Rifles personnel gunned down Md Mustafa and Md Aziz, both in their twenties and both from Yairipok in Thoubal district, on April 18. The troops claimed to have found a carbine and a pistol on them.

Residents of Bamon Leikai, claiming that the two youths were innocent and missing since April 15 after they left together on a motorcycle, submitted a memorandum to chief minister in-charge Th. Devendra Singh the same day and demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.

The Islamic Students Council said it would impose a blockade along the Imphal-Moreh road from April 25 if the government failed to concede to the demands of the joint action committee.

Another student body, the Kuki Students Organisation, is preparing for an agitation over the killing of Paokholel Guite, 24, and Paominthang Guite, 19, both from Churachandpur, by unidentified persons near Keibi in Imphal East on April 19.

The relatives of the victims are yet to take home the bodies, which are lying at the mortuary of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences.

Telegraph India

NE tourism infrastructure adequate

Guwahati, Apr 23 : The myth that the North East region of India has not been able to attract foreign tourists to the desired extent despite having abundance of potential because of lack of proper infrastructure has been exploded when the Ambassador of Czech Republic to India Dr Hynek Kmonicek made it clear that the facilities available here should be adequate to attract foreign tourists. During a recent visit to the region, Dr Kmonicek told The Assam Tribune that the North East has abundance of potential to attract adventure tourists, particularly between the age group of 20 to 35 years and suggested that proper marketing is necessary to attract tourists. He pointed out that the Czech Republic with a population of only 10 million people could attract around six million tourists a year because of aggressive marketing.

The Czech Republic Ambassador said that on an average, around 20,000 tourists from his country visit India every year, but at the same time, he admitted that very few of them visit the North East. He expressed the view that the tour operators of the North East should get in touch with the Association of Czech Travel Agencies to attract tourists from that country to this region. Replying to a question on whether the Czech Embassy in India would be able to help the North East in bringing in tourists from that country, Dr Kmonicek replied “ it is the duty of Indian Embassies in other countries to market the tourism potential in India. Of course, we can only extend our help whenever necessary.”

The Czech Ambassador, who visited the North East twice within the last one year, expressed the view that the region has abundance of potential to attract tourists from European countries. He said that the young tourists, particularly those from the Czech Republic are “adventurous travellers” and they do not look for five star hotels. The Czech youths like to travel outdoors and they like wildlife, hills, rafting etc, which the North East has in abundance. He said that the cultural

heritage of the ethnic groups of the North East can also attract tourists from abroad, but the information about those should be marketed properly.

When pointed out that lack of Five Star hotels and other facilities is said to be one of the major hurdles in the way of attracting foreign tourists to the North East, the Czech Ambassador expressed the view that the infrastructure available should be adequate to cater to the requirements of majority of the tourists. He pointed out that only a small section of foreign tourists coming to India could be termed as “luxury tourists” and majority of the tourists do not look for Five Star comforts and they want to see places by spending reasonable amounts.

AT

Drive to stamp out militants

Silchar, Apr 23 : Security forces have turned the heat on militants in North Cachar Hills and Hailakandi districts of Lower Assam.

A senior police official said Dispur, after consulting Delhi, had asked the security forces and police to step up their drive against United Liberation Front of Barak Valley (ULFBV) and the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) — the two major groups operating in south Assam.

He said the impact of the fresh operations was evident in the recent spate of killings and arrests made by security forces in the area, considered to be the most backward in the state. Two top DHD (Jewel) commanders Daniel Gorlosa and Frankie Dimasa were arrested in Guwahati last month on the basis of correct intelligence inputs. Two commanders of the outfit were killed in a raid at Umrangshu in North Cachar Hills on April 10.

In Hailakandi district, contingents drawn from the police, the CRPF and the India Reserve Battalion organised raids on ULFBV hideouts in Katlicherra block on the Assam-Mizoram border this month. They also swooped down on the house of Pauchau Ram Reang, the chairman of the five-year-old outfit.

At least 21 activists of this Reang tribal outfit were trapped and two of its cadres killed in encounters recently. The security forces also rescued at least four persons from the outfit’s hideouts on Hailakandi’s border with Mizoram last month.

Telegraph India

India declares Assam disturbed area

New Delhi, Apr 23 : India has declared insurgency-hit Assam state a disturbed area to check militancy, junior Interior Minister V. Radhika Selvi said Tuesday.

She told Parliament that concerted and sustained counterinsurgency operations in Assam have been increased to flush out insurgent groups active in the state, including the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam.

She said the entire state has been declared a disturbed area under federal legislation.

The minister said in a written statement that additional central paramilitary forces have been provided to the state government to assist the state police in counterinsurgency offensives.

“Deployment of security forces and army formations for conduct of counterinsurgency operations in the state has been done on the operational requirements of establishing a grid in various sectors,” she said.

UPI

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Mizo women donate for famine victims

Aizawl, Apr 12 : The members of Mizoram Women Federation recently handed over Rs 1 lakh and 55 bags of rice to the State Home Minister and chairman of the Mizoram Famine Emergency Committee.

The members of federation, known as Mizoram Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl said the relief fund and materials were collected by the Aizawl city branches of the organisation. District headquarters of the MHIP were also collecting donations to be handed over to the district authorities.

PTI

Naga teachers call off strike

Kohima, Apr 14 : The teachers of Nagaland University have decided to resume classes from tomorrow following an assurance from the Centre to constitute a fact-finding committee to probe the alleged anomalies and irregularities in the institution.

All the three campuses of Nagaland University, Lumami, Kohima and Medziphema, have remained closed since April 7, after the teachers decided to go on a ceasework to protest financial irregularities in the university.

They charged vice-chancellor K. Kannan with siphoning of crores of rupees and demanded that he be removed immediately.

The Nagaland University Teachers’ Association (NUTA) president, Rosemary Dzuvichu, today said they have accepted the assurance of the ministry of human resource development officials and decided to resume classes from tomorrow.

Dzuvichu said the ministry of human resource development officials would request the chief rector of the university, who is also the Governor of Nagaland, K. Shankaranarayanan, to arrange a visit for the fact-finding committee.

The committee will be constituted within a month’s time.

Kannan, on the other hand, today warned the agitating teachers of penalty if they continued with the indefinite strike on the university campuses.

Resorting to strikes by ignoring the “legitimate processes” would be regarded as illegal and the teachers would be penalised under civil and criminal consequences, he said.

“The Nagaland University cannot and must not be made subservient to anybody,” the vice-chancellor said.

If the impasse continued, the university authorities would have no other option but to invoke the appropriate provision of law in the interest of the students, he said.


Telegraph India

Manipur civil bodies impose curfew

Imphal, Apr 14 : Several Zeliangrong civil organisations have imposed a night curfew in the headquarters town of Manipur’s Tamenglong district since Friday following escalation of clashes between the two NSCN factions.

An official source in the district headquarters said the “public curfew”, effective from 6.30pm to 5am, had been enforced jointly by the various civil society organisations.

Four militants have been killed in as many days as the NSCN factions stepped up their offensive in the Naga-dominated district.

Members of the NSCN (Khaplang) attacked a camp of the rival faction at Bunning in Tamei subdivision on Thursday. A rebel of the NSCN (Isak-Muivah), Shimreishang Tangkhul, was killed in the offensive.

The outfit retaliated the next day, killing three rebels — Keithannang Panmei, Zachiah Rongmei and Gianthanlung — of the rival faction near Duigailung village, 3km from Tamenglong police station.

The army has asked both the factions to rein in their members.

Tamenglong is under the operational control of the 57th Mountain Division.

Telegraph India

Assam reverberates with Bihu drumbeats

Guwahati, Apr 14 : Sounds of drumbeats and cymbals were echoing in the hills and dales of Assam on Monday with the state heralding the Assamese New Year or Rongali Bihu with tremendous enthusiasm.

People in their hundreds were thronging Bihu pandals across the state with dancers in their traditional fineries performing gyrating Bihu dances to the accompaniment of dhols or the traditional drums and flutes made of buffalo horns.

“The mood is festive and we hope Rongali Bihu ushers in a new dawn of hope and peace to the state,” Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said.

And enjoying the festivities are the many foreign tourists currently scattered across the state.

“The dancers are simply mind-boggling and the music is too sensuous…the experience is just unbelievable,” said Mark Cook, a tourist from Australia.

Singers and musicians are working extra hard trying to keep their dates in various community cultural shows organised across Assam on Bihu.

“It is great fun performing live before thousands of people… I have composed some new numbers for the people of Assam on the occasion of Bihu,” said Zubeen Garg, well known singer of “Ya Ali” fame.

“This is the time of the year when people tend to forget all worries. What matters now is how best to enjoy the spirit of fun and bonhomie,” said Arun Pratap Sharma, a young doctor.

For the moment, it’s not the burst of staccato gunfire, but the pulsating beats of drums and cymbals that are reverberating in Assam.

IANS

Mass immunisation to check Meningitis in Meghalaya

Shillong, Apr 12 : The Meghalaya government has ordered a mass immunisation programme to check the spread of meningitis which is wrecking havoc at various places across the state, official sources said.

In the first phase, the health department would carry out the immunisation in Jaintia Hills district where some 70 people are suspected to have been affected by the deadly disease, sources said.

Director of Health Services K H Lakiang said so far 21 people were suspected to have died of the disease and over 180 others have been affected.

However, unofficial sources peg the toll much higher.

Lakiang said around one lakh chemo-prophylaxis tablets have been air-dashed to the state.

Experts from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases are also camping in the state to give training to doctors and other health officials.

The situation has aggravated following reports of cerebral malaria affecting different places of the Garo Hills region.

PTI

Caterpillar outbreak in Mizoram

Aizawl, Apr 12 : There has been an outbreak of caterpillar at Tawipui village in south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district, the village council president C Manchianga said, reports PTI

Manchianga said that the outbreak was first experienced on March 29 and continued unabated in some localities of the village like Minpui Veng where eight families were forced to moved out of their respective homes.

He said that the caterpillars were around two inches long and invaded a number of houses in the villages.

PTI

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Manipuri New Year with no ‘Kombirei’

Imphal, Apr 7 : The New Year day of the Manipuris, “Cheiraoba,” will be celebrated across the state tomorrow but without “Kombirei” the flower which signaled the arrival of the new season.

Cheiraoba being celebrated on the first day of the month of Manipuri calendar Sajibu usually falls in March and April is a sacred and socio-religious festival of the people of Manipur and it culminates with the arrival of a new season, which marks rekindling of the spirit of life.

It is an occasion for introspection and also for searching and evolving new resolutions for the coming year. The two flowers kombirei and kusumlei have special significance on this occasion. But even though kusumlei is still available in plenty in market but there is no kombirei.

Unable to find kombirei in the market when this correspondent asked a women vegetable vendor in Ema (mother) market, she said as the significance of the kombirei has dipped into the jaw of time not a single kombirei could be available for sale she added observing that it may be due to the shrinking of wetlands in the state. This kind of flowers usually grows in the wetlands and lakes.

Known by the Manipuri name kombirei, Iris flowers have a special significance in the Manipuri New Year, or the festival of Cheiraoba. On this day, Iris flowers are given as offering to god. Flowers of this kind are usually light to deep blue and in bloom during spring season.

There are many stories that build up with the flowers mostly based on the love story of youngsters.

Stories and songs indicated that this very flower grows in Yaralpat which is located in Imphal east district and now no more like a lake. In the story of Mainu-pemcha it is said that Pemba brought the flower from Yaralpat as gift from her lover Borajaoba and planted at Lamphelpatmnow in Imphal west. Since the kombirei started blooming at Lamphelpat.

Whatever may be Cheiraoba will be celebrated tomorrow in the state, on this occasion married women would gift their parents and brothers gifts on this occasion and every Meitei family will have a feast. The youths will seek the blessings of the elders. The Khwairamb and Keithel at Imphal are usually packed on this occasion with thousands coming to buy gifts and food items.

After Cheiraoba a new Cheithaba is selected. The Cheithaba is the one who records the major events in the Cheitharol Kumbaba. The uninterrupted line of Cheithaba since the reign of the 15th century king Kyamba could be found recorded in the Cheitharol Kumbaba. The major events since 33 AD are recorded in the Cheitharol Kumbaba under royal patronage. But it seems that kombirei will have no more place on this occasion.

NP

KSO condemns UGs for threatening RIMS officials

Imphal, Apr 7 : The Kuki Students` Organization, KSO Imphal branch while stating that the charges leveled by KCP(MC) against the RIMS director Dr. L Fimate were unfounded has said that it was for want of money.

The students body while strongly condemning the constant threat to the RIMS director, said in a statement that working under such conditions are unbearable for the director.

“Accusing the director on unfounded grounds just for the sake of getting their hands on some easy money is very shameful and a matter of great concern for the general public,” the statement of the KSO said.

It also added that the body would not remain a mute spectator to the multiple attempts on the life of Dr. Fimate by certain “money minded underground elements”.

Reacting to the allegation of KCP(MC) of Fimate engaging in communal based appointment in RIMS, the KSO said that it was an attempt to rake up communal feelings by a section of people. It is unfortunate, KSO said stating that it does not happen in RIMS but the rampant violation of recruitment norms against the tribal community is there in the Manipur University.

“Dr. Fimate is a man of integrity who has genuine love for RIMS and strives for development of healthcare in the state,” it said adding that the charges were only to tarnish the image of the director “just for want of money.”

Its a shameful thing on the part of revolutionary groups such as the KCP(MC) to engage in such activities, it said.

While urging all concerned to allow the RIMS director and staffs to work peacefully by restoring normalcy in its functioning and administration, the students body cautioned that the RIMS could be shifted elsewhere if such threats persisted and the losers would be the people of the state only.

The statement also called upon the people of Manipur to fight tooth and nail against injustices constantly committed by each and every of the so-called revolutionary groups in the state.

IFP

Doctors camping at Parbung

Imphal, Apr 7 : Following the death of 11 children due to infections by an unknown disease in Tipaimukh sub-division of Churachandpur district, a medical team is currently camping at Parbung to identify the disease and to control the same.

According to information received from district administrations, the 11 children who died of the unknown disease at Lungthulien, Parbung, Leisen and Potnimon villages showed symptoms of chest infection, viral fever and gastroenteritis.

After medical teams have been sent to the sub-division to ascertain the exact nature of the disease and its origin three times earlier, the district administration sent a fourth medical team there and the doctors are currently camping at Parbung.

Even as Chief Medical Officer, Churachandpur has approached the Health Department to provide medicines needed to control the disease twice, no medicine has been provided to the CMO till date, disclosed sources.

TSE

Anti-extortion chorus gets louder in Manipur

Imphal, Apr 8 : More transporters in Manipur joined the chorus against extortion by militant outfits with bus operators deciding to suspend operations along the Imphal-Churachandpur Road from tomorrow.

“Passenger buses affiliated to the Tiddim Road Motor Owners Cooperative Society will stop plying buses from tomorrow as militants’ demand for money has ‘become unbearable,’” a spokesman for the society said today.

The transporters’ decision came after vehicles stopped plying between Imphal and the border town of Moreh in neighbouring Chandel district yesterday.

Tata Sumo and jeep owners, who were on strike from April 4, were joined by bus and van operators.

This led to the closure of border trade through Moreh since yesterday.

The transporters said more than 20 militant groups were demanding money from them.

The militants allegedly threatened the transporters that they would burn the vehicles if their demands were not met.

A spokesman for the joint action committee of transport operators plying on the Imphal-Moreh Road said they would not resume services until the militant groups withdrew their demands.

The Imphal-Churachandpur Road is part of National Highway 150 linking Imphal with Aizawl via Churachandpur.

Though this national highway does not serve as a supply route for the state, it is a major link for people living in Manipur with Aizawl.

The Tiddim Road transporters’ body also appealed to all the other transport providers along the road to suspend operation to show solidarity with the society.

The transporters said though they were paying the militants regularly, the situation has spun out of control.

The transporters said the Okram Ibobi Singh government had not been able to check extortion by militant groups along the national and state highways.

The government, however, blamed the transporters.

“We are protecting the highways with central and state forces. But the transporters are paying the militants on the sly,” said a senior official in the home department.

He said two transporters were arrested recently on charges of paying militants. The transporters countered that the situation in Manipur had reached such a stage that they did not feel safe even staying at home.

“Can the government prevent militants from targeting us?” a transporter asked.

In 2004, the joint action committee of transporters in Manipur braved a government threat of punitive action in form of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (Esma) and decided to go ahead with their indefinite strike. The truckers were protesting against the killing of one of their colleagues by criminals on the night of June 27.

Telegraph India