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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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