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Guwahati, Jul 30 : The NF railway has fortified 16 engines with bullet-proof glass and other such material to resume passenger trains in the NC Hills section from Lumding to Badarpur from July 31 while additional security personnel have been deployed for ensuring security to Railway staff on the stations and along the tracks.

It may be mentioned that train services in the Hills section was suspended following a series of attacks by the Black Widow group militants and though goods trains resumed earlier, passenger train services are yet to resume. However, railway sources said today that at the initial stage of resumption of passenger train services, only three trains would run in a day. The stations in the Hills section, which were closed following deterioration of the law-and-order situation, are being reopened in a phased manner.Sources revealed that the engines to be used in the Hill section have been fortified with bullet-proof glass and other bullet proofing materials to ensure safety of drivers as train running in the section was suspended after the death of a train driver in one of the attacks launched by the militants. Bullet-proof engines are already in use in the goods trains in that section. At present, the Railways are running 10 goods trains, including a security special train, in the section every day. However, night running of trains in the section still remains suspended in the area and even when passenger train services are resumed in the section it is unlikely that trains would run at night anytime soon.

Meanwhile, official sources said that all possible security arrangements have been made in the area to ensure safety of the trains and the Railway personnel. All the goods trains running in the area are accompanied by armed security personnel to thwart any possible attack by the militants.

Sources pointed out that the Railway employees were demanding adequate security arrangements in the stations to ensure their safety and keeping that in mind, five companies of RPSF personnel have been deployed in the area to be posted as static guards in 15 vulnerable stations. Sources said that security personnel including Government railway police men have been deployed in the other vulnerable stations. 25 sections of security personnel have been deployed to accompany the gang men deployed by the Railways for track patrolling, while, the telecom and signal staff are also being accompanied by armed security personnel. The Superintendent of Police of North Cachar Hills has been entrusted with the responsibility of deployment of forces available at his disposal according to requirement to ensure safety of the trains and railway personnel, sources added.

Agartala, Jul 30 : The first railway carriage with at least eight bogeys is likely to reach Agartala on August 6, having traversed a distance of 68 km from Ambassa, the headquarters of Dhalai district, said F.S. Mina, in-charge of railway construction in Tripura.

Mina said the chief of railway security, Balbir Singh, would reach Ambassa on August 5 and come by train to Agartala.“All work regarding the laying of tracks and construction of stations is now complete. What we are doing now is the beautification of the stations and tracks,” said Mina, adding that normal movement of the railway would commence after Singh’s nod.

Yesterday, PWD minister Badal Chowdhury, transport minister Manik Dey and PWD chief engineer Sunil Bhowmik visited the newly built Agartala railway station and met senior railway officials.

Official sources said the railway would be formally inaugurated on August 15, according to an informal decision taken by the state government in consultation with railway authorities. “However, all now depends on the trial run of the first carriage on August 6 and the certification from manager railway safety, Balbir Singh,” a source said.

The state government now faces another problem in the poor condition of the 1.85-km approach road from the Agartala station to the Siddhi Ashram area. The sources said: “By August 10, the road will be repaired so that normal traffic can move and after the inauguration of the railway, the state government will acquire land on both sides to widen the road up to 50 metres because of the inevitable rise in traffic movement.”

London, Jul 28 : Former England football great Gary Lineker’s girlfriend, Danielle Bux, has been signed by undie chain La Senza to model its “One Price Fits All” bra campaign.

The 28-year-old model, according to The Sun, is being viewed as “an absolute belter in the sexy scanties.”

Itanagar, Jul 28 : The high-profile kidnapping of Getem Apang, son of former Arunachal Chief Minister Gegong Apang, close on the heels of twin murders of sisters here last month has made the administration in this generally peaceful state sit up.

Crime has never been much of a problem in Arunachal Pradesh exemplified best by the fact that jails are coming up in the state only now.Crimes, if any, hardly found space in the media before, but the scenario suddenly changed after the kidnapping of Apang’s son and murder of two Monpa (local) girls at Kalaktang in West Kameng district last month.

To respond to the new reality, Deputy Commissioner Bidol Tayeng said, three additional police check points have been set up in vulnerable areas in Itanagar as the first measure. The areas are used by abductors to smuggle their catches to Assam through Bodo-dominated areas.

Executive orders have also been issued to regulate the timing of business in wine shops so that they do not remain open beyond the permissible hours.

Night patrolling has also started mostly by magistrates. It has already led to the arrest of 18 drunk youngsters and eight girls from the streets, restaurants and liquor joints.

Seven wine shops have been shut down and show cause notice issued to them for violating rules.

An official release said information leading to arrest of criminals involved in murder, kidnap and rape would fetch Rs 10,000. For crimes like burglary, theft and dacoity the informers would get Rs 3,000 for each case.

Besides having no jail, Arunachal is the only state where the judiciary has not yet been separated from the executive. The deputy commissioners play the dual role of heading district administration and district and session courts.

Interestingly construction of the first jail was completed here in 2005 but it was lying non-functional since then.

If one visits it one will find a plaque at the gate saying Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had inaugurated it on April 3, 2005. But the fact is Patil came all the way from Delhi to inaugurate it. However, owing to the demise of Pope John Paul II, he had to cancel the programme.

Patil later visited Itanagar to lay the foundation of the airport here but he did not go to the jail complex at Juli overlooking the Rajbhavan, to complete his unfinished job.

IG (prison) C Mishra said, by October next the central jail here with a capacity to accommodate 50 inmates would be ready and 52 prisoners from Arunachal, presently lodged in Lakhimpur jail in Assam, would be shifted.

Another jail in Tezu in Lohit district and five sub-jails in Longding (Tirap), Passiohat, Aalo, Yingkiong and Koloriang have been constructed. Construction of two more sub-jails at Khonsa (Tirap) and Changlang are to be completed.

Imphal, Jul 28 : The All Manipur United Clubs Organisation today extended financial assistance to the families of two persons who died in the uprising against the extension of National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) ceasefire to Manipur in 2001.

The organisation, which is also one of the leading groups of Manipur campaigning to safeguard the territorial integrity of the state, handed over a sum of Rs 5,000 each to the wives and children of Laitonjam Rajkumar and Kshetrimayum Romeo, both of Imphal West.Rajkumar and Romeo were among the 14 people who died during the firing by police and paramilitary forces to bring under control a violent mob that was on a rampage in Imphal city on June 18, 2001 after the NSCN (I-M) ceasefire boundary was extended without any territorial limit.

The mob set on fire the state Assembly building and various other government buildings, including the chief minister’s office-cum-residential complex. Altogether 18 people died during the monthlong agitation, which forced the Centre to limit the ceasefire only to Nagaland.

Rajkumar’s widow Falguni and son Gulshan, 11, and Romeo’s wife Shanti and daughter Goldie, 9, were present.

The secretary general of the organisation, N.C. Khuman, said they were paying special attention to the relatives of those who have died in the June 2001 uprising. He termed the relatives as living “martyrs” and said the help was in aid of the children’s education.

Earlier, this organisation also handed over a sum of Rs 10,000 to Sorokhaibam Sobita of Imphal East. One of Sobita’s legs was amputated after being hit by a police bullet during the same upheaval.

The organisation is preparing to observe the 11th anniversary of the August 4, 1997 mass rally for safeguarding the territorial integrity of Manipur, which was held in Imphal after the Centre-NSCN (I-M) ceasefire came into effect on August 1 that year.

Guwahati, Jul 28 : A jittery Ulfa today appealed to its members not to “betray” its cause in these “trying times”, fearing that more cadres may join the peace process initiated by leaders of the outfit’s 28 battalion.

To drive home the message of “commitment for the cause”, the Ulfa leadership chose the occasion of “martyrs’ day” of the outfit today to release a statement.Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa made an impassioned appeal to his “comrades” not to be “afraid” to face the “tough situation”.

He said if they falter now, the people of Assam would lose the faith reposed in Ulfa. “If they (people of Assam) are betrayed by their own children, then they will never repose faith in anyone in the future. It will be an irreparable damage to the people of Assam,” he said.

The statement from the Ulfa chief comes close on the heels of chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s announcement that more Ulfa cadres and leaders were keen to join the pro-talks group.

Rajkhowa also reminded the cadres of their pledge to adhere the Ulfa constitution and the directive of the leadership till the last breath. He said there was “no glory” in what the leadership of the 28 battalion had done.

“There is no justification for them to flee from the movement, blaming the Ulfa leadership,” Rajkhowa said about the pro-talks group.

Rejecting the stand taken by the pro-talks leaders that their move aimed at creating a conducive atmosphere for dialogues between the government and the Ulfa leadership, Rajkhowa said Ulfa has appointed the People’s Consultative Group to pave the way for talks and hence the outfit would not endorse a peace bid by a group which lacks credibility.

Earlier this month, the outfit expelled three pro-peace leaders for anti-organisational activities and initiating talks with “colonial India”.

Rajkhowa had said all the activities carried on by the pro-talks leaders in the name of Ulfa were “illegal and unconstitutional” and appealed to the existing members of the outfit and the people of Assam not to extend any co-operation to the group in its initiative.

“Ulfa’s stand is that the ceasefire should follow only after the commencement of the political parleys. It is the ploy of the occupational forces to force Ulfa to give up arms in the preliminary stage of the peace process,” Rajkhowa today said.

The Ulfa chairman also blamed the Centre for the stalemate in the peace process.

He accused the Centre of trying to create a rift in the rank and file of the outfit.

Saying that the government has no concrete plans for the peace, Rajkhowa said, “An appeal for peace without concrete plans signifies a deceptive plot.”

Reiterating the demand for a plebiscite on its demand for a “sovereign Assam”, Rajkhowa said the government was aware that any such plebiscite under UN supervision would go against India’s interests.

Aizawl, Jul 27 : A court ruling permitting non-domicile Indians to settle in three northeastern states without obtaining a permit has created a furore in the region, with the affected states saying they would appeal against this.

The Guwahati High Court, while ruling on a public suit against the Inner-Line Permit (ILP) system, had barred the Mizoram government from arresting or deporting any Indian nationals on the ground that they did not possess the document.
Now, the governments of Mizoram, as also of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh - the other two states where the ILP is in force - plan to move a division bench of the high court and even the Supreme Court to get the verdict overturned.

‘The three states have decided to move the high court division bench or the Supreme Court, besides appealing to the central government to ensure its continuation,’ Mizoram Law Minister H Rammawi told IANS.

He had led a delegation earlier this month to Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh to meet the chief ministers and law ministers of the two states to discuss the matter.

Nagaland Chief Minister Nephiu Rio, Home Minister Imkong Imchen and Arunachal Pradesh Law Minister Tako Dabi ‘told us that the three states should go any extent to continue the ILP,’ Rammawi said.

The ILP, or the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, has been in force in the region since 1873. The tribal-based Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) and the Khasi Students Union (KSU) of Meghalaya have also demanded that the ILP be promulgated in their states to protect the indigenous people.

‘The ILP does not affect tourists and other visitors, but the states must have some regulations for outsiders, particularly for suspected foreign migrants, to protect the ethnic and indigenous tribes of the northeast,’ said Arunachal Pradesh Law Minister Tako Dabi.

The high court’s June 12 order has triggered massive resentment in the three northeastern states.

Christian-majority Mizoram June 26 observed a dawn-to-dusk shutdown called by the Young Mizo Association (YMA) against the high court order.

Supported by various political parties, YMA, which is a powerful and non-political organization, also organised protest demonstrations across the mountainous state bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh. It also unfurled black flags over buildings throughout the state.

‘The state government has appealed to the people not to be panicky and has assured that no stone would be left unturned to fight the court’s order legally even up to the Supreme Court,’ Minister Rammawi added.

Protests by NGOs, students’ organisations and regional political parties have also been staged earlier this month at different places in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

The North Eastern Students Organisation (NESO) also vehemently condemned the high court order.

‘The court took a condemnable decision undermining the sentiments of the people in three (affected) states,’ NESO said in a statement.

Aizawl, Jul 27 : After feasting on paddy in the fields and inside granaries, armies of rodents in Mizoram have started targeting maize, devouring the crop by the tonne and leading to an acute food shortage, officials and aid agencies said. The paddy harvest in the state was 736,253 quintals in 2005. It came down to 196,535 quintals in 2006 and just about 85,000 quintals in 2007 due to rats devouring the crops,” Mizoram Agriculture Minister H. Rammawi told IANS Sunday.

The Manila-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has said Mizoram was facing a famine after rats destroyed most of the rice crop in the state.“Aid agencies have reported that many people have been forced onto a diet of wild roots, yam and sweet potatoes,” the institute stated in its quarterly journal Rice Today published last week.

IRRI said the rodent population increased manifold after the flowering of a native species of bamboo, an event that occurs once every 50 years.

Rats have played havoc with the maize harvest, devouring it during the night. This is sad news for the farmers hit by the rat menace, an official in the state agriculture department said.

Official statistics say nearly 150,000 agrarian families have been hit by the rat menace in Mizoram.

“There is scarcity of food and people are unable to get two meals a day. Rice being the staple food, Mizoram is facing a real danger of starvation deaths in the very near future,” said S. Sailo, a church leader.

Bamboo flowering and the subsequent invasion by rats on granaries and paddy fields in the region is a phenomenon that signals an impending catastrophe or a famine.

According to tribal legend, when bamboo flowers, famine, death and destruction follow. Behind the superstition lies some scientific truth, as blooming bamboo triggers an invasion of rats that eat away food supplies.

Rats multiply at a very rapid pace after eating the protein-rich seeds that appear soon after bamboo flowering, said James Lalsiamliana, an expert. When the seeds are exhausted, armies of rats chomp their way through rice and potato crops and granaries, causing a famine.

Bamboo grows wild in 6,000 sq km of Mizoram’s total geographical area of 21,000 sq km with the state, bordering Bangladesh and Myanmar, harvesting 40 percent of India’s 80-million-tonne annual bamboo crop.

In 1958-59, a famine in Mizoram resulted in the death of at least 100 people, besides heavy loss to human property and crops.

The famine, locally known as Mautam, broke out after the state witnessed the rare phenomenon of bamboo flowering and an increase in rodent population that started emptying granaries and destroying paddy fields.

Historical accounts say Mizoram recorded a famine in 1862 and again in 1911 after the state experienced similar bamboo flowerings.

Melbourne, Jul 25 : Hollywood stars Jennifer Aniston, Johnny Depp, David Beckham and Angelina Jolie are among the ”World’’s Sexiest People”, according to WHO magazine.

Australian models Megan Gale and Lara Bingle are also included in the list, reports News.com.au.

The mag’’s annual edition, this year expanded from 25 people to 100, also names Aussies Kristy Hinze, Melissa George and Tasma Walton in 2008′’s sexiest people list.Hinze, Bingle, George and Jodi Gordon posed in swimwear for the mag’’s cover. The list also features Olympians like Matthew Mitcham; basketball beauty Penny Taylor; towering volleyballer Tamsin Barnett and aqua man Eamon Sullivan.

WHO’s Red-hot casts include Home and Away and the Perfect Partners include rock-star newlyweds Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz and super-toned Eva Longoria and Tony.

Guwahati, Jul 25 : Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Thursday said that he was not aware of any assurance given by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) or the Congress high command to review its stand included in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) about maintaining the territorial integrity of northeast.

Mr. Gogoi, however, said that his government would oppose any move to alter the boundary of Assam and inclusion of any area of the State in greater Nagalim.He issued the clarification when reporters asked him about the Manipur (Outer) Lok Sabha MP Mani Charanamei’s claim that he had decided to support the confidence motion as the UPA assured him to review its stand included in the CMP that on the territorial integrity of the northeast and realigning boundaries of northeastern States.

The Opposition, Asom Gana Parishad, accused the UPA and the Congress party for “bartering” territories of Assam and Manipur for mere survival of the Manmohan Singh government.

Imphal, Jul 25 : Child soldiers of the militant outfit People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) were paraded in front of the media this week. PREPAK claims these little soldiers believe in their cause and that they come and go on their own, not under any kind of pressure.

Nineteen school children have gone missing in Manipur over the last three weeks and the families of the children find it hard to believe their children left them for the militants.Across Manipur, grieving families of the missing children present the same picture - school uniforms and text books lying unused in a corner. The parents are desperate to get back their little ones.

“My thirteen-year-old child has been is kidnapped. I will die if I don’t see my son, and all I say is please hand over my son,” a distraught woman can be heard shouting.

“The outfits claim the boys voluntarily joined. How can we believe that such immature and tender boys made such a judgement? They cannot do so,” says a resident of Imphal.

Earlier, people were scared to speak, but today sit-in-protests over missing children are a common sight in the state.

Manipur DGP, Yumnam Joykumar says, “This trend indicates that the underground outfits are getting desperate.”

The general picture of the distraught families is in stark contrast to PREPAK’s claim of voluntary recruitment.

Kohima, Jul 25 : The Nagaland Government has constituted a five-member committee to study the backwardness of nine tribes in the state as well as to give suggestions for their development and recommendations for job reservations.

Official sources said here today retired IAS officer K Kevichusa would head the Committee and the Joint Secretary of Personal and Administrative Reforms would be the member secretary.The other members of the committee are retired IAS officer Tali Longkumer, Reader in Nagaland University Dr Rajendra Singh and Lecturer in Nagaland University T Lorenthung Ezung.

The committee has been constitued to evolve criteria for identifying socio-economic backwardness of tribes in the state, study the socio-economic conditions and status of the nine tribes - Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Sangtam, Phom, Yimchunger, Chakhesang, Pochury and Zeliang - as well as those of the Sumis of Kiphire district.

The committee will also identify the tribes and recommend privileges, including job reservation, reservation in educational institutions, and suggest suitable organisational mechanisms at the government level to identify or review the backwardness of the tribes on a regular basis and monitor the implementation of various privileges extended to them.

The committee will submit its report to the state government within four months, the sources said.

New Delhi, Jul 25 : Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Mohd. Hamid Ansari today administered the oath of office to two newly elected Members of the House in his chamber.

The two members who made and subscribed to the oath were Mr Lalhmingliana, MP of Mizo National Front (MNF) from Mizoram and Mr Khekiho Zhimomi, MP of Naga Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan were also present on the occasion.Peoples Front(NPF) from Nagaland.

The JNU scholar accused of brutally killing a dog in his hostel rocsm may have to pay for it with his doctorate

Jawaharlal Nehru University is know for debates, political and intellectual. Once again, it’s in the middle of
another, and this one promises to be the most controversial. At the centre of it are a dog, a student from the Northeast and a doctoral thesis.
The dog was killed, allegedly by Yoronsu, who has been pursuing his PhD at the Centre of Political Science for the past seven years. Being debated is his punishment criminal action, suspension from the university or disqualification of his doctoral thesis.
The debate has spread to the virtual world with supporters of both Yoronsu and animal lovers trying to make their point.
On one hand, at great risk is the career of this student if authorities choose to show him the
door. On the other is the ire of animal lovers, who have been feeding stray dogs on the campus for long. Even though the student from the Northeast says he killed the dog in self-defence, others simply refuse to accept his reasoning.

It all began on the night of July 7. Yoronsu was in his Kaveri Hostel room. With him were two friends, who had reportedly not been signed in by him. Suadenly, the silence of the night was shattered by the sounds of a yelping dog. When other hostliers and security guards rushed to Yôronsu’s room, they found it bolted from inside with blood oozing from under the door.

The horrified student called in the police thinking that someone had been murdered. Later, it turned out that the dog had been killed.
Yoronsuu claims that he struck the dog in self defence as it had attacked him. However, it seems strange that someone would bolt the door with a strange dog inside and then claim that it attakéd them.

Now this dog is one of the many that campus bleeding heart Shubhalakshmi feeds regularly. Protests by her and other dog lovers on campus ensured that Yoronsu was fined Rs 2,000, asked to leave the hostel and a proctoral enquiry has been ordered into the incident. There are six different complaints with the police with students giving first hand accounts of what they saw that night.

This incident comes as the latest in several where campus dogs have gone missing. Accordi ig to Shubhalakshmi, the dogs are being specifically targeted, maybe for food. “The dog was called Kali. I had been feeding her for the past five years. I could not bear to listen to the entire brutal story What Yoronsu did was unpardonable. As far as Tam concerned, it Is as If be has killed a human being. There have been incidents In the past where sóme of my dogs went missing. I eat chicken but i don’t catch a hen and cut it myself. There is a proper way. You can’t kill a dog,” she said.

She and other students are demanding that Yoronsu’s doctoral thesis be cancelled. He is to submit it on Monday after seven long years of hard work, while there is a strong dog lobby. there is also an equally vocal group of supporters for Yoronsu. Though no decision has. been taken on the fate of Yoronsu’s thesis, the Proctor has refused to give him clearance.

This incident is not the first of its kind at JNU. Dogs have always been a cause of controversy here. “Two years ago, the hostel President Raja Narayan wanted to make the hostel a dog free zone and it was in his manifesto a well. He had also killed a dog,” said Akhil Alha, President, Kaverl Hostel. He had apparently thrown the dog from the balcony.

“It may happen in their community but they should respect the sentiments of others. We just want the police to register an FIR so that action is taken against these students,” said Sonya Ghosh of Citizens for the Welfare and Protection of Animals.
“If the value of the animal killed is above Rsl0, then the person can be imprisoned for two years but if the value is more than Rs50, the imprisonment can be for five years. In this case, the value is definitely more than 50 because the dog was sterilised and vaccinated,” said Ghosh.

Washington, Jul 23 : Eva Mendes will soon be making men’s hearts skip a beat, as she’s getting set to pose for a new Calvin Klein underwear campaign. The gorgeous actress will show off her perfect body wearing nothing but Klein’s classy lingerie in the label’s new Seductive Comfort line show.

The new bras will be available in stores later this year (08).Recently, the 30-year-old Mendes lavished praise for the media for not ‘trashing’ her rehab stint.

Mendes had entered Utah’s Cirque Lodge centre in February this year.

As for the reason why she entered rehab, it has been said that she had to ‘proactively’ attend to ’some personal issues’.

Guwahati, Jul 24 : The need to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was underlined by Dialogue Form, a civil society group that has closely monitored its implementation in Manipur and rest of the North East. The crux of their argument, voiced in a press conference today: the Act has resulted in serious human rights abuse, and it has been unable to check insurgency in the five decades since it was first introduced.

According to Dialogue Forum, the United Nations Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD) has observed that “AFSPA continues to sanction absolute impunity for serious human rights violations against the predominant indigenous population of Manipur and other Northeast states.”It further suggested that this law be replaced by a more humane one in accordance with the recommendations of the 2005 Jeevan Reddy Committee. It was pointed out that the Jeevan Reddy Committee’s report that has not yet been made public by India states that the AFSPA has become a “symbol of oppression…and an instrument of discrimination and high handedness.”

Similar conclusions were drawn by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, chaired by Congress leader Veerappa Moily, which suggested the repeal of the Act.

India till now has shown no interest in removing the law. Defence Minister AK Anthony rejected the Second Administrative Reforms Commission reasoning that there was a need for the Act to be in use.

U Nobokishore of Dialogue Forum asserted that India’s refusal to do away with the Act is tantamount to rejecting not only UNCERD’s recommendation but ignoring long-standing concerns of other UN Human Rights bodies. “The United Nations Commission on Human Rights also believes that AFSPA has essentially created an undeclared state of emergency spanning almost 50 years,” he added.

Interacting with the media, Nobokishore said that as a civil society group, Dialogue Forum condemned human rights abuses by both state and non-state actors, and demanded the AFSPA be repealed at the earliest as it had resulted in large number of atrocities on non-combatants including women and children.

He felt there was a need to motivate the MPs of the Northeast about the Act, and its consequences so that they could play a role towards its removal. As of now, the State Governments of the region were, however, playing a disappointing role.

Dialogue Forum was also advocating a 15-point programme that could be relied on in a post-AFSPA scenario. That agenda included demobilisation of forces, disarmament, and better functioning of civil society along with a clear-cut role for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Imphal, Jul 24 : Manipur bristled with anger today after its Naga MP’s admission in Lok Sabha yesterday that he had agreed to vote for the UPA only because he was assured that the clause in the common minimum programme, which promised not to compromise the territorial integrity of Manipur, would be re-examined.

Mani Charenamei, MP from Outer Manipur constituency, drew the ire of leading groups and political parties in the state today which vowed to oppose any move by the Centre to divide the state to please the NSCN (I-M).Charenamei is known for his open support to the demand for integration of all Naga-inhabited areas under one administrative unit, one of the main demands of the NSCN (I-M).

The CPI, a partner in the Congress-led Secular Progressive Front ministry headed by Okram Ibobi Singh, was the first to react strongly to the claim made by the MP.

A senior CPI leader from the state, B. Sharma, termed the MP’s statement very unfortunate and added that his party would not tolerate it.

“The UPA’s common minimum programme was framed by the then constituent partners of the UPA and the integrity provision was made in the larger interest of the country and the Northeast. The Left parties will fight inside and outside Parliament if the UPA tries to violate or change the common minimum programme,” Sharma said.

He said the CPI would seek a clarification from the Congress’s central leadership on the MP’s claim through the Manipur PCC.

Finding itself in the middle of a fresh storm over the boundary issue, the PCC is adopting a wait-and-watch policy. The party’s general secretary, Bidyapati Senjam, said the PCC was not aware of any change of stand by the AICC on safeguarding boundaries of the northeastern states. “The MP has only made a statement. It would be too early for the PCC to react. Let the UPA be reconstituted after the departure of the Left parties.”

The All Manipur United Clubs’ Organisation, campaigning for safeguarding territorial integrity of Manipur, condemned the reported assurance given by the UPA to the MP. “We will not remain silent if the UPA makes any step to change boundaries of Manipur in its effort to stay in power,” Y. Koireng, its president, said.

The United Committee, Manipur slammed Charenamei for working “against the interest” of the Manipuri people.

The latest news about the newer, bigger and better Eee PC from ASUS “1000H” is that the company has dropped its price by $100 bringing down the price to $549 from the orginal$649 in the US market, writes Engadget.

This price drop comes less than a week after its launch in Australia. So, no joy for the buyers in Australia. The Eee PC 1000H is an improved version of the original Eee PC with a bigger screen measuring 10-inches, 80GB worth of hard drive space and 1GB DDR2 RAM. It comes equipped with Intel Atom chipset.This version of Eee PC is an answer for those worried about the small screen and keyboard of the original Eee PC, whose small keys took some getting used to. The original keyboard was also uncomfortable to work on for long hours. The rationale for the small size was based on the fact that it was purely targeted at school children. The target audience and differentiation in looks sure caught the attention of users, and created a space for Eee PC 1000H in the market. Let’s see how Eee PC 1000H consolidates its market position in the wake of this price drop.

Wellington, Jul 21 : Jessica Simpson reportedly reeling from the news that a sex tape starring her and ex-hubby Nick Lachey has hit the internet.

In the alleged X-rated home video, the 25-year-old star is said to be seen engrossed in various sexual acts with Lachey.”Jessica is horrified her name and seShe’s always been a girl of high morals and principles,” Stuff.co.nz quoted a source, as telling Britain’s Daily Sport newspaper.

Reports suggest that the tape does exist and has now landed in the hands of people who were behind making the Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex video public.

It is also said that these miscreants are now threatening Jessica that they would leak the tape if she fails to pay an undisclosed sum of money to keep the tape a secret.

While Nick is now dating MTV presenter Vanessa Minnillo, Jessica is dating American football star Tony Romo.x tape are being mentioned in the same sentence.

Nagaon, Jul 21 : With discovery of silica in the hills of Jiajuri, the area has now become a focal point of business activities. Located nearly 30 km away from Nagaon town, Jiajuri is completely isolated from the mainland and people living in the area are economically backward. But after the geological survey carried out by the Minerals Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL), the people of Jiajuri are extremely happy.

“It was a near 10-month long study on the hills of Jiajuri and the silica content in the area is over 90 per cent which is conducive to ceramic and glass industries,” J Topno, who was a member of the exploration team, told this correspondent over telephone from Jharkhand today.Providing more information on the exploration, he informed that nearly 100 trenches were dug in the hills to know the texture of soil and rocks for setting up industries. “The entire belt is rich in minerals that are very useful for pottery and ceramic industries,” Topno, who is also a senior geologist observed. He said that the report along with the mapping in the hills were submitted to the Centre for taking further steps.

It may be recalled that the State Directorate of Geology and Mining had conducted a similar kind of study in 1976 and found quartzite rock structure. The department also made a detailed trenching maping, but unfortunately it did not get adequate attention from the authorities concerned.

The new activities have ushered in a ray of hope among the economically weak local residents. “At last our underdeveloped area will witness some kind of developmental activities,” K Borgohain, a senior citizen of Chapanala told this correspondent while sharing his views on the new discovery. Borgohain added that no government pays attention to the area for which Jiajuri has remained underdeveloped and cut off from the main land. “Unemployment is a major problem in the area. Hence, if an industry is set up in the locality, it will herald positive changes,” he added.

Striking a similar note, Manabjyoti Gogoi who is closely associated with social activities hailed the move by Centre in this connection, saying it would boost industrialisation in the district. “The people in Jiajuri have been encountering a plethora of problems for the past several decades, but proper steps are yet to be initiated. We want our place to be prosperous,” he added.

The Federation of Industries of North Eastern Region (FINER) which has been voicing need for industrialisation has welcomed the move. RS Joshi, chairman of FINER while talking to this correspondent said that the new discovery would give a fillip to industrialisation. “We have to harness local potential by using proper technology so that we can compete with international standards,” he observed.

Aizawl, Jul 21 : With reports of Myanmarese guerillas being more active in their hinterlands bordering Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Bangladesh, it is now being apprehended in intelligence circles that north east extremists are using the country not only as their bases, though not a new fact, but also as a corridor to ship arms and ammunitions.

The Caretaker Government in Bangladesh under pressure from India has been tightening its noose on North-east militant groups. This has been demonstrated by recent incidents of handing over of some extremists to BDR by BSF and the admission by Tripura based NLFT and ATTF surrenderees that they are facing a sort of crisis in food and support in Bangladesh.Another important factor now coming in the way of the free movement of extremists is the coming up of fencing along border with Bangladesh. It is also a fact that certain stretches of the international border, riverine, tough terrain still leave gaps for infiltration and exfiltration.

Intelligence inputs suggest with zero-fencing all along India’s border with Mynmar spreading from Arunachal Pradesh to Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, North-east militant groups find accessibility for movement easy. This is also facilitated by smaller groups of extremists operating in the area or close to the hinterlands.Way back in the nineties, NSCN (Khaplang), ULFA and UNLF formed Indo-Burma Revolutionary Front (IBRF) for liberation as their joint declaration stated that the people of the region (north east and the north western Burma) belong to the same racial and cultural group bound by a basic unity historically, culturally, socially and economically. The declaration signed by SS Khaplang, chairman of NSCN, Arabinda Rajkhowa, ULFA leader and Sana Yaima, general secretary of UNLF, called for united struggle for emancipation.

This came as a great fillip to the extremists groups to move to Mynmar for base, training and arms build up. Their access to the hills and port of Chittagong also became easier for shelter and to the extremists groups to move to Mynmar for base, training and arms build up. Their access to the hills and port of Chittagong also became easier for shelter and shipment of arms through Tripura and Mizoram. The strategic location of Zampui hills serves as a safe corridor between Mynmar and Chittagong.

Massive build up of bases by other extremist groups like PLA, Prepak, KCP, NLFT and ATTF necessitated joint air and ground strikes by Indian and Mynmarese security forces in the end part of 90’s, which resulted in huge loss to rebels, man and material. For more than a decade, this frontier theatre has been lying low. But, for quite some time, Mynmar is again in focus. Intelligence sources indicate how Arakanese, Chin, Karen and Shan rebels, who are in relentless fight against the military Junta of the country have become more than active.

North east extremists are once again being embraced by the Burmese rebels who have laid their hands on global arms and ammunition stocks which are smuggled through Laos and Thailand, besides the regular help from China, which dumps its arms in the troubled zone from Yunon. The recent interception of a Bolero at Verengtei check gate of Mizoram and seizure of seven AK 47 rifles from it is a part of the larger game plane of this revived Indo-Burma tie up. Mynmar as a corridor has to be brought under serious intelligence and security glare to frustrate subversive activities of the rebels.

Aizawl, Jul 21 : A widow in downtown Aizawl finds it tough to realise her years-old dream of having a home of her own, thanks to the newly introduced Aizawl Development Authority Building Regulations.

“I need to hire an architect that would cost me at least Rs 40,000 if I go by the new rules,” said the impoverished widow, who did not want to be named.“With a small amount of housing loan I obtained, I cant afford an architecturally planned building,” rued the widow, who has to support herself with a meagre income. Besides her, anyone who is about to build a house in Aizawl, is required to ensure that the building is an earthquake-proof. “As per the rules, I am required to use 20 iron rods per-a-foot square cement concrete beam, which again I can not afford”, she said adding, “What would be the use of my earthquake-proof building if a house next to mine, constructed before the building regulation, collapses on mine in an earthquake”. The building regulations, which came into force from May, require a design by competent engineer and other structural mechanism so that it could withstand big jolt in case of an earthquake as Mizoram falls under seismic zone.

Contravention of any of the regulations would be liable to imprisonment and fine, the regulations said. Among many others, the regulations restrict the height of the building to 12.85m (42.14 ft) from the ground level irrespective of the degree of the slope of the ground. Every building will have rainwater harvest system and garage as compulsory.

The regulations also demand that commercial buildings, apartment (flats), offices, hotels and theatre and auditorium will also have a minimum off-street parking space of 3m x 5m. Any existing building reported to be unsafe or damaged will be examined by a technical committee under the ADA. The authority willl give directions to the owner or occupier to complete repairs or to demolish the building within a specified time.

Imphal, Jul 20 : Extending help to the farmers as part of the Government efforts toward increasing foof production, State Agriculture Department has provided one Kabuta and seeds of various food crops to the farmers of Sumchinvum village in Churachandpur district today.

The seeds and the agricultural machinery were distributed during a function held at the the community hall of the village.he fucntion was organisedby the Department as part of its ‘Model Seed Village and Community Mobilisation Programme on Cereals and Pulses’.

Agriculture Minister L Loken , Director of Agriculture RK Nayansana Devi and Commissioner Letkhozin Haokip attended the function as chief guest, president and guest of honour respectively.

During the fucntion, Head of Department of Agronomy, Central Agricultural University Dr L Nabachandra and Associate Professor Dr Herojit of Department of Soil Sciences of the same University spoke as resource persons on the topic of ‘Packages and pratices of Soyabean and Black Gram’ and ‘Role of Integrated Nutrient Management to produce high yield in pulses’ respectively.

In his address as chief guest of the function, Agriculture Minister N Loken stressed on application of latest technology and methods in agricultural practices to increase production of food crops.

Agricultural activities being the main occupation of the people in the State, adoption of new technology and methods is essential for increasing production, he noted.

The Minister sought the co-operation of the people in the developmental works being taken up by the Government.

In his presidential address, Agriculture Director Nayansana Devi pointed out that out of the total rice requirement of 7.51 lakh matric tonne for consumption by its 25 lakhs people, the State has been able to produce only around 5 lakh matric tonne of rice.

So the remaining required rice has to be produced from outside Manipur, thus giving a serious impact on the economy of the State, she said.

In view of this, she sought the co-operation of the farmers as well as of the people in the steps being taken up by the Government to increase food production in the State.

Shillong, Jul 20 : Peace and development go hand-in-hand and its best example is Meghalaya. The State boasts of the first call centre or Business Processing Operation (BPO) in the North-East.

Operational since 2005, the first BPO in Shillong has grown in size over the years. What started as a small call centre with around hundred employees today houses more than five hundred people. It has widened its network to other States of the region like Nagaland.The successful functioning of the BPO has given hope not only to the job seekers but also to entrepreneurs who want turn North-East into a business hub.

“This kind of company is giving us a very good chance to be employed. We can attain international standards. It also prevents young people take to unlawful activities,” said Joseph Poi, an employee.

Neelam Kandoi, another employee said, “My experience in this company has been very good. What I feel that whoever comes out of this company they come out polished.

Wherever they go, they do much better than what they have done here because they learn a lot from this company and their level of knowledge goes high.”

S. Netcom, which started the first BPO in Shillong, is also known as Hero Mindmine Institute. It has diversified into software development, net designing, net working solutions. The institute has diversified into the education sector and collaborates with IT giants, like Wipro and Convergys.

“It is a complete North-East representation. You have Manipuris and Nagas from Arunachal, Assam, Mizoram. All communities are represented here,” said Deboprio Deb, CEO, Hero Mindmine, SS Netcom Company.

Shillong, a home to four universities, 15 colleges and over 100 schools, is chasing the dream of becoming North-East information technology and back-office destination.

The Department of Information Technology has also set up a software technology park, the equivalent of an industrial park for software and BPO service firms that provides high bandwidth connectivity and infrastructure.
No doubt Meghalya is enjoying the peace dividend that States, like Nagaland and Manipur have missed out because of the prevalence of militancy.

Shillong, Jul 20 : Is Guwahati the site where the ancient kingdom of Kamrupa existed or is it the Meghalaya?

This and many more questions, which are still mired in controversy, could be answered when archaeologists excavate the entire Bhaitbari-Tikrikilla area in West Garo Hills district in the state.“Further excavations are likely to reveal the remains of the habitation, besides unravelling the historical antiquity of the plains-belt of the state of which very little is known from recorded history,” says senior government archaeologist Julies Marak.

This area of about 20 sq km hit the spotlight in 1992 when archaeological excavations revealed the existence of a fortified city with places of worship with exquisitely designed masonry oil lamps, besides a ’stupa’.

According to ASI officials, nothing is definitely known at present about the history of the site.

But on the basis of the deities like Ganesh, Parvati, Kubera and Yaksha - depicted on terracotta tiles scholars somehow have arrived at the conclusion that it was part of an ancient fortified city which might be contemporaneous to the reign of Harsha Vardhana, in the first half of the 7th century AD.

Again from the existence of ancient tanks of various sizes, it suggested that it was an important temple township, they felt.

Marak said many scholars say it could be the ancient city of Kamrupa.

“The structures of the ancient Kamrupa described in ancient literature bear resemblance to some of those excavated in the site,” Marak said.

The Meghalaya government is contemplating to tie up with the Northeast Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India to carry out excavations of the remaining areas in the ASI’s Bhaitbari site.

In 1992, A K Sharma of ASI, Nagpur excavated the site and unearthed the temples with numerous Shiva lingas besides the Buddhist stupa.

The mud-cum-brick fortification of the city runs at least five kilometres in a north-south direction in a horse shoe fashion with both ends on the bank of the Jingjiram river.

The fortification is about 15 sq km in area and has been laid taking advantage of the contours of the natural hillock. A deep moat exists outside.

A beautifully planned burnt brick temple lying under a mound was also unearthed.

An octagonal temple with eight miniature octagons each having shiva lingas was also found.

During the excavations the stupa was unearthed with the outer face lined with burnt bricks. It was the first stupa to be found in Meghalaya.

The archaeological findings are yet to be adequately carbon-dated.

It is only after the excavation of the residential area that anything concrete be said about its history, archaeologist said.

Aizawl, Jul 19 : The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) today authorised party chief and Chief Minister Zoramthanga to make a final decision on which way the lone MP from Mizoram, Vanlalzawma, would vote during the July 22 trust vote in the Lok Sabha.

“Zoramthanga in consultation with Vanlalzawma will make a final decision by Monday,” state assembly speaker and member of Political Affairs Committee (PAC) Lalchamliana said after a meeting in the chief minister’s residence here.The MNF supported the Indo-US nuclear deal, but the PAC did not take any decision on supporting the Congress-led UPA government or voting against it along with erstwhile ally, the NDA, he said.

“Vanlalzawma, now in New Delhi, is closely watching the political developments at the Centre and the PAC authorised Zoramthanga to make the final decision after consulting with the MP,” he said.

He added that the option of abstention from the trial of strength next Tuesday was also raised during the meeting.

The four-hour MNF’s PAC meeting, chaired by Zoramthanga was attended by Home minister Tawnluia, Health minister Tlanghmingthanga, Rural Development minister H Vanlalauva and the PAC secretary R Vanlalruata.

Washington , Jul 19 : Teen sensation Miley Cyrus was taken aback when she saw the unexpected turnout of fans desperate to get a glimpse of her performing at a free concert in the Big Apple.

The Hannah Montana star thought that her Friday gig in New York would turn out to be a big flop, but what happened was quite contrary to what she had expected.Her performance at Bryant Park for breakfast show Good Morning America saw the crowd pouring in from all quarters.

The singer was surprised to see thousands of fans cheering for her, despite her not performing as her TV alter-ego Hannah Montana.

Cyrus was also worried that her recent photo controversies would keep people away from the morning show.

“I was extremely nervous until today, and now I”m like so excited. Everyone actually showed up, Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.

She added: “I was like, `OK, there are going to be two people, and they”re going to be paparazzi.”

Imphal, Jul 19 : Fearstricken villagers in Heirok, who only two months ago had cheered a government initiative to arm them against militants, today said they did not want deployment of special police officers.

Thousands of people marched through the village roads in Thoubal today and gathered at a playground to adopt a one-line resolution: “Heirok no longer wants SPOs.”The U-turn on the “empowerment” issue came after the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup and the United National Liberation Front imposed restrictions on the movement of villagers, including students, as a punishment for accepting the government’s proposal for deployment of SPOs.

Militant threats forced more than 300 students studying in schools and colleges in various parts of the state to return home and remain confined to the village.

The two rebel outfits, however, responded to an appeal by a women’s organisation and lifted the restrictions for 10 days with effect from July 11 to give people time to take a final stand on the issue.

The volte face, however, could not have been more badly timed. The 300 SPO recruits from Heirok are on the verge of completing their monthlong police training at the 2nd Manipur Rifles training centre in Imphal and joining their new jobs.

The government, however, appears adamant on deploying the force at Heirok.

“There is no change in the government policy of raising the SPO force for Heirok. We don’t want to make much comment on this issue,” a senior government official said tonight.

The rallyists, however, urged the government to recruit the SPOs in the state force, a demand the Okram Ibobi Singh government is unlikely to accept.

“Heirok accepted the SPOs without knowing its full implications. Now we are apprehensive that we will be caught between three guns (one from the militants, one from the government forces and another from the SPOs),” Khundongbam Kumudini, president of the women’s organisation, said.

Laishram Mandir, secretary of the action committee, maintained that Heirok had demanded weapons for each house for self-defence and not SPOs.

The village had demanded weapons after militants mowed down three youths during Holi festival in March.

“Taking advantage of the gullible nature of the villagers, the government went ahead with the SPO plan. Now we know what an SPO is and we don’t want a village force that would be used by the government in counter-insurgency operations,” he said.

While Heirok rallied to keep SPOs at bay, two citizens’ groups today vowed to put an end to the “disappearance” of minors by drumming up mass support against child-lifting and recruitment of minors by militant organisations.

The United People’s Front and the Ethno Heritage Council have convened a meeting of professionals, including lawyers, citizen bodies, meira paibis and teachers, on July 21 to take a united stand on the abductions. Official sources put the figure of missing children to 13 since May 1 and admitted that there were several cases that went unreported.

“We want suggestions of people from all walks of life to end this trend of child-lifting or recruitment by armed groups. Hence this meeting on July 21,” L. Ratan, secretary of the council, said.

Shillong, Jul 19 : The monsoon magic at Cherrapunjee, the wettest place on earth, appears to be fading by the day, with locals seemingly coming to terms with a new sobriquet for their land - the world’s first wet desert.

Meteorological records show that this year during the monsoons, the hill town, now called Sohra, has received about 700 mm less rainfall till June 30. While the normal rainfall in the first 30 days of the monsoon is 2793.9 mm, Cherrapunjee received 2092.6 mm.Officials in the Regional Meteorology Centre in Guwahati hoped that the deficit would be supplemented in the next couple of months of the season.

The average annual rainfall at Cherrapunjee from 1973-2007 (35 years) is 11,952.2 mm.

Due to two consecutive years of below average rainfall in 2005 and 2006 the average has been pulled down to under 12,000 mm. 2007 received little more than the average rainfall at 12,646.8 mm.

The total rainfall at Cherrapunjee in 2005 was 9,758.0 mm and in 2006 8734.1 mm. In 2001, it was 8971.5 mm.

The decreasing rainfall statistics has prompted the authorities to rush experts to study the factors leading to the lessening rainfall.

A team of experts from the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment is expected to arrive shortly to also study the causes leading leading to massive deforestation.

Officials said the team would study and recommend measures to prevent the ecological balance from being disturbed.

Earlier, the state government had inked an agreement with the Centre for International Agricultural Development Cooperation (CIADC) of the Israeli Agriculture Ministry for technical collaboration in rainwater harvesting in Cherrapunjee.

The CIADC of the Israeli Agriculture Ministry would provide sustained education on rainwater harvesting and creation of structures for it besides funding pilot projects for regenerating forest cover.

Cherrapujee receives about 20,000 tourists annually and tourism here depends more on the fame of it being the world’s wettest place.

While tourism department officials were yet to come up with records of recent tourist flow to Cherrapunjee, they said the unrest in the Kashmir valley and Darjeeling have, to an extent, made more visitors opt for the hill station to beat the summer heat.

PTI

Kohima, Jul 19 : The Naga Students` Federation (NSF) and Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) or Mizo students union, have jointly resolved to fight against the move to scrap Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR), 1873, which is protecting the influx of outsiders into the tribal states of the north east region.

NSF president Imchatoba Imchen and MZP vice president S Lalrinawma in a joint statement issued late last night, while taking serious note of the recent Public Interest Litigations (PIL) filed against the Government of Mizoram, seeking to scrap the BEFR 1873 resolved to jointly fight it and termed the attempt as “tantamount to non-violent genocide of the ethnic and indigenous people.”“Without the BEFR, the influx of outsiders, coupled with the entry of foreigners from neighbouring countries, owing to our porous borders, would have reduced the Nagas, the Arunachalise and the Mizos as a minority in our own lands,” the joint statement said.

They also expressed that the people of the north eastern states, where BEFR is not currently extended, need to be protected by the said regulation and therefore urged upon the Union government to extend the same to all the eight states of the north east region.

Further, the two organizations also resolved that the three affected states would observe a protest demonstration on July 21 in the respective capitals by sitting in dharna in front of the Raj Bhawans to mark resentment against the move to scrap the BEFR, 1873. Follow up action would be determined progressively depending upon the situations, they added.

Imphal, Jul 19 : The Senior Citizens’ Forum, Heirok, has urged Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh to abolish Special Police Officers (SPOs) in their village. The 300 SPOs, who are undergoing firearms training, should be absorbed in the police or paramilitary forces, a memorandum said.

Early this year, the government said the SPOs would be recruited in areas where the police could not penetrate. But, as SPOs were not recruited in other villages, was Heirok being singled out to earn the wrath of militants, the memorandum wondered.The forum said government employees could not venture out and attend office, nor could farmers and daily wage earners go to work. The government arrangement to sell rice at Rs 11 a kg in fair price shops was meaningless as the villagers had stopped earning money.

The militants of the United National Liberation Front, the Kanglei Yawol Kunna Lup and the Kangleipak Communist Party had imposed a ban on the villagers for daring to recruit SPOs. Five activists who had mobilised the villagers for SPO recruitment were given death sentence in absentia.

The villagers demanded they be given firearms to protect themselves from the militants, who had killed two girls and a boy and injured some others during a folk dance festival on the night of March 24.

Guwahati, Jul 19 : State Forest and Environment Minister Rockybul Hussain today said in the State Assembly that nine militant outfits, with a total cadre strength of 2,275, are operating in Assam.

The Forest and Environment Minister was replying to a short-notice question in the State Assembly on behalf of the Chief Minister, who also holds the Home portfolio.
The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) is the most powerful militant outfit with 1,175 cadres, he said.
The other powerful groups include the United Liberation Front of Barak Valley (ULFBV) with a cadre strength of 250, Dima Halom Daogah (Jewel) (DHD-J) with 240 and Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF) with 225 cadres.

Of the other militant groups, the Muslim United Liberation Tiger of Asom (MULTA) has 160 cadres, All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA) with 90, Hmar People’s Convention (Democratic) (HPC-D) with 50, Harkat-ul-Mujahiddin (HUM) with 45 and Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) with 40 cadres.

Of the militants currently in jail, the ULFA has 249 cadres behind the bars, while the KLNLF and AANLA have 20 each and DHD has 17.

Meanwhile, in reply to separate questions, Hussain said 14 cadres of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), currently under ceasefire with the Government, have been killed either by miscreants or in encounters with security forces since the truce was declared.

The ceasefire agreement was signed on June 1, 2005, and several rounds of talks have been held since, with the group submitting its charter of demands on May 1 last, which the Government is examining, the Minister said.

Aizawl, Jul 18 : Out of more than 500 species of birds in Mizoram, four have been declared critically endangered, one endangered, five vulnerable, seven near threatened and nine restricted, noted ornithologist Dr Anuwaruddin Choudhury said.

Dr Choudhury has recorded 479 species of birds in his book ”A pocket guide to the Birds of Mizoram”, released by Mizoram Environment and Forest Minister Dr R Lalthangliana’n at Guwahati on Friday.
”Among the rare species of birds, Chinese Babax is found only in Mizoram within the Indian limits. Mrs Hume’s Pheasant is the state bird of Mizoram and among other worth-watching species are Blyth’s Tragopan, Khasi Hills or Dark Rumped Swift, Great Pied Hornbill and White-Winged Wood Duck,” Dr Choudhury said.blyths_tragopan

”There are past records of Great White-beillied Heron and Rufous-necked Hornbill. The status of rare green Peafowl is not known,” he added.

Environmentalists have held the jhum agriculture, logging and cultivation in the valleys, hunting and the proposed hydro-electric projects responsible for the large-scale habitat destruction.

gp_hornbillMizoram has two national parks - Murlen and Phawngpui or Blue Mountains - nine wildlife sanctuaries and six important bird areas.

”The aim of the book is to provide an up-to-date checklist on birds with brief description of a few threatened and notable species found in the state,” the author said.

”However, the ultimate aim is to generate awareness and interest on bird conservation in the state. I hope that this book would be of use and interest to broad section of readers, including birdwatchers, general tourists forest officials, students and researchers et al,” he said.

Mizoram falls under the ‘Indo-Burma global biodiversity hotspot’ and the ‘Eastern Himalaya Endemic Bird Area’.

The entire state is hilly and mountainous and is also at a higher altitude than many countries, including the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Los Angeles, Jul 17 : Paris Hilton is annoyed! In her latest MySpace blog posting titled “Clearing Up Rumors,” the socialite-singer-actress-businesswoman says she’s sick of gossip sites printing false rumors about her, so from now on she is going to address these head on.

She wastes no time in getting started on the latest rumor.“Page Six reported that I have moved into (boyfriend) Benji’s neighborhood, and that Nicole (Richie who lives with Benji’s twin brother Joel Madden) is upset by this…SO NOT TRUE! First of all, I don’t even live in Glendale. Secondly, I have my own home in a gated community in Beverly Hills — that’s where I live. I haven’t been to Glendale in months. Where do they come up with this?”

She continues: “I am thankful that I know who my true friends and colleagues are, and I encourage my fans to ignore worthless stories like this.”

The New York Post’s Page Six reported that Richie and Joel Madden, who have a six-month-old daughter, moved to Glendale to escape the publicity that was hounding them. But then Hilton and Benji Madden moved in next door, shattering their peace and angering Richie who starred in the TV show “The Simple Life” with Hilton and with whom she has had an on-off friendship.

Thinking of spreading a rumor about Paris? She’ll be after you.

“It’s not fair because these lies then spread like wildfire online … From now on I plan to address these when they come to my attention,” said Hilton.

Dibrugarh, Jul 17 : Ulfa peaceniks will face the “people’s court” tomorrow for the first time when leaders of the two pro-talks companies of the outfit’s 28 battalion will take questions from “the masses” during a rally in Tinsukia district.

Since they offered a ceasefire on June 24, the Ulfa leaders have been holding meetings of their own volition to put across their views to the people. Tomorrow’s meeting will be the first to be organised by a people’s organisation, which indicated today that there could be “some unpleasant questions” thrown to the rebel leaders.“We welcome their peace initiative. But how do they propose to go ahead with one section of the outfit staying away? What good will such a fractured peace move do to the state? There are many questions to which we would like to have answers,” said Monoj Bora, a social worker and a member of the organising group.

The 15-member platform of co-ordinators includes educationists, social workers, businessmen, advocates and journalists.

Bora said the idea to organise such a rally was to give an opportunity to the people to ask questions, if they have any, to the Ulfa leaders directly and without any hesitation.

Mrinal Hazarika and Jiten Dutta have agreed to attend the meeting and answer queries.

“The people have heard much about the Ulfa leaders’ intention to broker peace with the government. There are however, several questions, which we are sure will be raised during the meeting. We also hope that people would not let go of this opportunity and ask whatever questions they have. After all, the Ulfa has been saying that the outfit’s constitution clearly mentioned that the opinion of the people of Assam will be of topmost priority for the outfit to chart out its future course of action,” Bora said.

Some members of the platform feel the Ulfa leaders owe it to the people of Tinsukia.

“The declaration of ceasefire is encouraging since the people in Tinsukia has been facing the music for insurgency for almost three decades now. We have launched a door-to-door campaign during which we have also approached the common men, housewives, children and students to come forward and take part in the interactive session,” said Sushil Gogoi, another member of the organising committee.

“We have questions forthe Ulfa leaders, and we will ask them tomorrow,” Pranami Kakoty, a housewife, said.

Imphal, Jul 17 : With report of six more kids missing coming in today, the total number of children who have gone missing in the last one/two months has gone up to 19, though some have been handed back over to family members while two escaped.

Out of the six missing kids, reports have come in that one of them was kidnapped.
Of the six latest cas es of missing children, two are from Mayang Imphal while one child each has been reported missing from Thongju, Kyamgei, and Khongman.

A girl has been reportedly kidnapped from Khurai.

The two kids from Mayang Imphal, Wangkhei Leikai who have been missing since June 19 are identified as Kshetrimayum Suresh (11) son of Achou and Wangkheimayum Sahadeva (11) son of Noren.

Suresh is a Class V student while Sahadeva is a Class VI student.

Both of them studied at Modern High School, Mayang Imphal and both of them were taking Judo classes at club at Mayai Lambi.

With the family members and the local people launching a frantic search for the missing kids, it came to light that they are in the custody of the proscribed PREPAK.

The family members further said that they have come to know that the two kids left with a 14 year old child living next door to Suresh and identified as Akham Bobby.

Thereafter they came into contact with one Chongtham Jiban (22) of Laphupat but originally from Mayang Imphal, helped the two kids in reaching the PREPAK camp.

Thereafter family members along with meira paibis visited the camp of PREPAK on June 23, they said.

The family members were however not allowed to come to the camp and instead a team of meira paibis was allowed to proceed.

When the meira paibis urged them to hand over the two children, they were told that the children will surely come to meet their parents to bid farewell.

A Wakat Meepham was also staged at Mayang Imphal today.

Another kid from Kyamgei Awang Leikai identified as Pebam Biswajit (12) son of Rojit also went missing on June 22 .

Speaking to the media, Rojit today said that a member of the PREPAK (GS) conveyed that since Biswajit is among three brothers and three sisters, he can join the movement for the people.

Nothing was said about handing him back to the family members, he added.

Stating that they came to know that Bishwajit was in the custody of PREPAK after a hectic search, Rojit said that they have also come to know that his son along with one Sinam Somendro alias Bangar (18) of Thongju Part II and one youth from Kalikhong bought some clothes from Canchipur.

Bishwajit is a Class VII student of Ideal High School of Kyamgei.

Another child had also gone missing about 15 days before the disappearance of Bishwajit.

The kid is identified as Chirom Henry alias Khumit (12) son of Ranjit of Thongju Part II.

However no details about the kid are available at the moment.

On the other hand another 14 year old child from Khongman Zone V has also gone missing since 4 pm yesterday.

The child is identified as Keisham Kirankumar alias Nanao alias Dumdum son of Imo.

He left home yesterday after informing his parents that we off to Lilong to get some notes from a friend there.

The matter is yet to be reported to the police.

In another case report of the kidnapping of a 14 year old girl from Khurai Thoidingjam Leikai has come in.

In a statement, Easter Popular Club, Khurai identified the kidnapped girl as Moirangthem Romita (14) daughter of Raghumani.

A champion boxer, she has won many medals in the sub-junior category.

The grandson of the proprietor of Babu hotel and a non-Manipuri helper have been named behind the kidnapping and Babu himself had appended his signature on an agreement that the girl would be produced by July 17 .

A Wakat Meepham was held today at Thoubal Kiyam Siphai to urge for the release of Akoijam Bipinchandra (13) son and Akoijam Ajoy.

A similar sit-in was also staged at Uripok Achom Leikai to demand the release of two kids of the locality Nongthonbam Suresh (12) and Naosekpam Noren.

TSE

Hmarkhawlien, Jul 17 : In 1916, Welsh Presbyterian evangelist Rev. Watkin Roberts, who led a band of 15 Hmar families from Tripura to settle in the Hmarkhawlien area in Assam’s Cachar district, had taught the people to cultivate pineapples in this hilltop settlement.

In a few days, Hmarkhawlien will create a record of sorts when the farmers begin harvesting over one crore pineapples.Said to be the most succulent among pineapples in the whole world, the Hmar village’s produce is sold across the country. Ngursunthang, a Hmar tribal leader and former chairman of the Cachar Hill Tribal Welfare Board, said the pineapple farmers are now toying with the idea of “giving a brand name to their produce for better marketing and export to other countries”.

Hmarkhawlien is under Lakhipur subdivision of Cachar district.

The Hmarkhawlien pineapples are reckoned to be the sweetest among all pineapple varieties in India as during the monsoon period their sugar content varies between 16 and 28 per cent.Lalpansang Hmar, a pineapple orchard-owner in the village situated 30km east of the district headquarters town of Silchar, said the plant of this fruit is quite unique.

Three varieties of pineapple are generally grown in the farms of Hmarkhawlien. These are Queen, Queue and Giant. The Queue variety (locally known as Gaimpew) is grown in abundance.

However, without any proper marketing superstructure, the Hmars fail to command good prices for their produce. They are being constantly fleeced by the middlemen, alleged Ngursunthang.

Aizawl, Jul 17 : Nineteen people have died of malaria in Marpara village of western Mizoram in the last one month.

Medical sources today said 15 children, below the age of 16, and three adults had also died of the disease during June and July this year.A medical team, led by Dr Lalkailiana and SMEMO C Thangchhuana, has been rushed to the area. They said lack of medical facilities and awareness among the people was the main reason behind the epidemic, sources said.

The medical team also distributed anti-malaria medicines, mosquito nets and leaflets for awareness among the villagers, sources said.

UNI

Miss Venezuela Dayana Mendoza has won this year’s Miss Universe title. The 22-year-old beauty beats Miss Colombia, Miss Dominican Republic, Miss Russia and Miss Mexico to clinch the crown. Miss India couldn’t make into last 15 semi-finalists list.

Miss Venezuela Dayana Mendoza has clinched the Miss Universe 2008 crown. The 22-year-old Mendoza beats Taliana Vargas (Colombia - First runner up), Marianne Cruz Gonzalez (Dominican Republic - Second runner up), Vera Krasova (Russia - Third runner up) and Elisa Najera (Mexico - Fourth runner up) to win the beauty pageant. A delighted Mendoza received the crown from Miss Universe 2007, Riyo Mori of Japan. Talking with media persons, Mendoza revealed that she was once kidnapped in her homeland and her past experience taught her to remain poised under pressure.Miss India 2008, Simran Kaur Mundi could not make into last 15 semi-finalist list. For the eighth consecutive year, Indian beauty queens have returned empty handed from one of world’s largest glamorous extravaganza. Lara Dutta fetched the Miss Universe title for India in 2000. Since then Miss India Celina Jaitley (2001), Neha Dhupia (2002), Nikita Anand (2003), Tanushree Dutta (2004), Amrita Thapar (2005), Neha Kapur (2006), Puja Gupta (2007) and Simran Kaur (2008) failed to win the crown for India.

Organised in Nha Trang city of Vietnam, the beauty contest was participated by beauty queens of 80 countries. The venue was attended by thousands of people, while millions of people watched the world’s beautiful womens fight for the Miss Universe 2008 crown within the comforts of their home. For last couple of weeks in seaside city of Nha Trang, several rounds of competitions were organised among the contestants. First, the judges declared the 15 semi-finalist list who took part in three competition rounds namely swimsuit, evening gown, and interview during the broadcast. The 15 semifinalists donning yellow, green and orange bikinis, strutted across the stage during the swimsuit competition. Later top 10 contestants were announced and they walked across the stage in bikinis for the swimsuit competition.

The top ten finalists were Dayana Mendoza (Venezuela), Zana Krasniqi (Kosovo), Elisa Najera (Mexico), Laura Dundovic (Australia), Marianne Cruz Gonzalez (Dominican Republic), Claudia Ferraris (Italy), Taliana Vargas (Columbia), Vera Krasova (Russia), Crystle Stewart (America) and Claudia Moro (Spain). As the competition reduced to last 10, the excitement was very high among the contestants.

Following the evening gown competition, five contestants got eliminated and judges selected the winner from last five contestants. Finally, judges declared Miss Venezuela Mendoza as the winner of the contest. While Best National Costume Award, decided by online votes, went to Miss Thailand. However, during the evening gown competition, an unprecedented incident happened. For the second year in a row, Miss USA (Crystle Stewart) fell down as she made her entrance. Last year, Miss USA Rachel Smith also tumbled during the evening gown competition.

The show was hosted by talk show star Jerry Springer along with former Spice Girl Melanie Brown. Pop star Lady GaGa enthralled the audience with her power-packed performance and also succeeded to steal some limelight from the beauties walking down the ramp. The judges panel consisted of Donald Trump Jr, (executive vice president of the Trump Organisation), Roberto Cavalli (fashion designer and entrepreneur), Nadine Velazquez (international cover girl), Jennifer Hawkins (television presenter and Miss Universe 2004), Louis Licari (celebrity colorist and ’Today Show’ ambush makeover expert) and John Nguyen (vice chairman of Hoan Cau, LTD Investment and Construction).

Sadiya (Assam), Jul 14 : Pro-talk leaders of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) have started a massive campaign to drum up public opinion and force the outfit’s central leadership to hold unconditional negotiations with New Delhi. “As part of our mission, we are engaged in meeting representatives of various organisations and community leaders to elicit public opinion for peace so that our central leadership sees reason to come for peace talks,” expelled ULFA commander Jiten Dutta told IANS.

Dutta and two more senior rebel leaders were expelled by the ULFA last month after they engineered a revolt and helped the Alpha and Charlie companies of ULFA’s 28th battalion to declare a unilateral ceasefire.The 28th battalion was considered ULFA’s most potent striking unit and was blamed for the coordinated attacks on Hindi-speaking migrant workers in eastern Assam during the past few years in which about 150 people were killed.

“I am still the commander of the A and C companies of the 28th battalion with all the cadres with me. The ULFA cannot expel us without a central executive being held,” Dutta said.

The pro-talk leaders said they decided to announce a unilateral ceasefire June 24 after realising their central leadership had failed to address several burning issues facing Assam.

“Our central leadership simply ignored crucial issues confronting the state, including the problem of illegal influx of Bangladeshi nationals,” Dutta said.

The ceasefire group in the past week organised two massive peace rallies in eastern Assam to mobilise public opinion for holding talks between the ULFA leadership and the government.

“The overwhelming response of the people in both the rallies indicates that people in general want peace and an end to bloodshed. The ULFA central leadership should respect the sentiments of the people of Assam,” Dutta said.

The ULFA is fighting for an independent Assamese homeland since 1979 with the outfit reiterating their stand that they would come for direct peace talks only when New Delhi agrees to discuss their main plank for sovereignty or independence.

“If the ULFA says the government should discuss sovereignty, then New Delhi would counter by saying talks should be held within the ambit of the Indian constitution. In this war of words, the prospect for talks would die down. So we feel both sides should come for unconditional talks,” Dutta said.

The Assam government, meanwhile, had set up a designated camp for the cadres of the ceasefire group in Sadiya, the easternmost town of Assam, about 600 km from state capital Guwahati.

“Our cadres would stay in the designated camps and avoid moving around with arms and not indulge in any kind of extortions,” the expelled ULFA commander said. “But we shall not lay down arms.”

IANS

Aizawl, Jul 14 : The nearly two-decade old Border Area Development Programme (BADP), aimed at developing certain areas to prevent influences from across the border, has developed a snag with the under par utilisation of Central funds by the border-states.

The fact that liberal funding by the Union government for BADP is not being actively used by these states is borne out by the fund utilisation figures for 2007-8 compiled by the home ministry. Out of the 17 beneficiary states, only seven have furnished utilisation certificatArunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttrakhand (all bordering China), Assam (bordering Bangladesh), Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (bordering Nepal), Punjab and Rajasthan (bordering Pakistan) are still to inform the Centre about the money spent by them during 2007-2008.

The rest of the states, including J&K, where the Centre has gone all out to develop border areas to prevent exploitation of the people by Pakistan, have given proof of having spent only Rs120 crore out of Rs295 crore disbursed by the Centre to them.

Intriguingly, despite Centre’s repeated stress on BADP, the insurgency-hit states such as J&K, Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram have spent only a fraction of the grant received by them in 2007-08. J&K, the biggest beneficiary of the scheme with a grant of nearly Rs106 crore, could use only Rs71 crore. The next in line, West Bengal with a grant of Rs101 crore, has used Rs11 crore only.

Better situation prevailed during 2006-07 when the border-states could spend Rs350 crore out of a total allocation of Rs520 crore. The states like J&K, Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya had fully utilised the sanctioned amount.

Unruffled by the states’ response, the Centre has further increased the fund allocation under BRDP to Rs635 crore, with a strict monitoring mechanism. This is an increase of Rs55 crore over the allocation for 2007-2008. The states benefited by this increase are Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan and UP.

Faced with the none-too-impressive performance of the states on this front, the Centre has issued a bunch of fresh guidelines to ensure better utilisation of funds. The scheme has also been extended to 362 border blocks situated on International Border in 96 districts of the 17 states.

In the face of the excuses offered by the states that the works could not be completed in time due to inhospitable terrain, the Centre has now permitted the states to involve security forces guarding the borders and NGOs for speedy completion of the projects.

DNAes, but that too for sums much less than what had been allocated to them.

Imphal, Jul 14 : In what is seen as a move to recruit kids into their ranks, militant outfits in Manipur have been kidnapping school going boys claiming that they had joined their outfits willingly, official sources said.

In the second such incident within a week, two schoolboys reported missing from Thoubal Kiyam Siphai area in Thoubal district, were kidnapped by a militant group on July 8. The boys — A K Ajoy and A K Bipin — both aged 13 were studying in Class VIII, sources said.
Parents of both the boys told local media last evening that a thorough search for the kids had not yielded results.

Medha, mother of Bipin, said she received a telephone call on July 9 night from a spokesman of the banned People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (Prepak), General Secretary group, informing her that the boys were in custody of Prepak.

She said the caller had told her that the boys had joined the outfit ‘willingly’ but said that her son had gone to a nearby canal for fishing.

Both the parents said they had received calls from Prepak General Secretary group telling them not to approach police or media but said they had informed the Thoubal police. They were also told that the boys would be ‘released’ soon.

They said due to threats from the outfit they did not contact the media immediately and appealed to the Prepak General Secretary group to free the boys without harm.

Last week, two other boys, Y.Naobi (13) and Lan Ngamba (11), were kidnapped from Iroisemba in Imphal West district. Later a spoksman of the militant outfit Prepak Cobra Task Force group told the parents that the boys had ‘willingly’ joined the Prepak Cobra Task Force group.

Following public protest, Naobi and Ngamba were handed over to Iroisemba Youth Development Club by the militants on July 12, sources said.
PTI

New Delhi, Jul 14 : Anti-narcotic agents are worried over the increasing use of Indian women, sex workers included, by Nigerian cartels to smuggle out drugs. Until recently, Nigerian gangs in India were sending out heroin sourced from Afghanistan via Pakistan to Europe through unsuspecting courier companies. The traffickers would mostly conceal the drugs inside photo frames. They paid heavy service charges - no questions asked.

The modus operandi came to light when one booking agent found white powder leaking from a sealed parcel booked by a Nigerian. He opened it — only to find drugs.The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Delhi Police cracked down immediately.

And then the Nigerian gangs changed tracks. “These days Nigerian drug syndicates have become extra smart. Now they do not book courier parcels themselves. They are exploiting girls from (northeastern) states,” NCB zonal director Sandeep Mittal told IANS.

“They first befriend those who are into prostitution. They lure them into drug trafficking by promising handsome sums of money. Some fall into their trap, unknowingly or knowingly,” Mittal added.

A study by Guwahati-based NGO Global Organisation for Life Development (GOLD) along with the police revealed that a shocking 20 percent involved in prostitution in the region were aged 11-17 years. Titled “Rise in Child Prostitution in Northeast”, the study lists poverty and displacement because of violence as prime reasons behind the increase in the number of young commercial sex workers in the region.

Asked how the Nigerian gangs touch base with Indian women, a top functionary of NCB said: “It is very simple. They meet them in bars and other happening places.

“They buy them drinks and exploit them. Before parting they request the women to do them a favour by booking a parcel with a courier company. At times they pay extra money to these women.

“Sometimes these women are aware what is in the parcel but mostly they are generally unaware.”

Places in the Indian capital where Nigerian gangs are said to be active include Satya Niketan, Munirka, Sadfarjung Enclave, Ber Sarai and Jiya Sarai in south Delhi and parts of north Delhi.

According to data with Delhi Police, around 2,500 Nigerians live in Delhi. NCB officials however put the figure at 8,000. Officials say most of them are living illegally without any genuine passport or with expired visa.

“The situation is slowly slipping out of our hands. We immediately need to take precautionary measures against Nigerian drug traffickers or they would spoil our young,” a Delhi Police officer said.

Presently more than 70 Nigerians are lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Central Jail. While 65 are on trial, 10 have been convicted.

IANS

Guwahati, Jul 13 : Recent announcement of unilateral ceasefire by the A and C companies of the 28 battalion of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) raised questions in the minds of the people on whether history will repeat itself as in the past also the charter of demands placed by the surrendered ULFA members before the Government remained in cold storage and the problem of militancy remained as before. Meanwhile, the ULFA members who are supporting the ceasefire, have started moving into the designated camp set up at Sadiya.

Police sources said that the leaders of A and C companies of the 28 battalion have submitted a list of 67 cadres who would move into the designated camp and they have started moving in from yesterday. Sources said that the maintenance of the camp would be looked into by the Government and the inmates of the camp would not be allowed to indulge in extortions or collect donations in the name of maintaining the camps. The security of those in ceasefire would be looked into by the police.Police said that according to the leaders of the 28 battalion, 52 other members of the A and C companies, including 40 new recruits, are in Myanmar and they are likely to come over whenever they get an opportunity.

Meanwhile, former ULFA publicity secretary Sunil Nath, who came over ground in 1992, expressed the view that it would be difficult to find permanent solution of the problem till the top leaders of the ULFA come forward for talks. He also pointed out that meaningful dialogue with those who came over ground in 1992 on the basis of the charter of demands would have weakened the leadership of the ULFA, but at that time, the Government did not take the opportunity.

A number of senior leaders of the ULFA came over ground in 1992 and the general secretary of the outfit Anup Chetia was arrested in Kolkata. A team of those surrendered leaders comprising Anup Chetia, Sunil Nath, Kalpajyoti Neog, Amarjyoti Handique and others also met the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and Home Minister SB Chavan and expressed their willingness to hold talks.

Recalling the events at that time, Nath said, “we also told the Prime Minister that we are ready for talks within the framework of the Constitution of India. We demanded that the Government should announce a cease-fire to create a congenial atmosphere for talks.” However, he admitted that at that time also, the ULFA commander in chief Paresh Baruah was not in favour of talks with the Government of India. After the meeting with the Prime Minister, Anup Chetia said that he would go to convince the other senior leaders for talks and was released. But he never came back.

In the meantime, the surrendered militants held a convention in Bokakhat in Golaghat district and submitted a charter of demands to the State Government. Nath said that one of the major demands placed by them before the Government was setting up of multipurpose projects for controlling floods and to generate power. The charter of demands also included demands for overall economic development of Assam. But the State Government held only two rounds of talks and then the charter of demands was put in cold storage.

Nath said that at that time, the ULFA was in total disarray but failure of the Government to hold meaningful dialogue on the charter of demands helped the ULFA to gain ground. He expressed the view that since then though a number of members of the ULFA came over ground, new people entered the outfit and it is unlikely that the problem would be solved till the top leaders come forward for talks.

Imphal, Jul 13 : In a startling disclosure, a separatist group in Manipur has claimed that two children who went missing July 6 have voluntary joined their outfit.

‘The two boys are bent on joining us but we shall not stop them from returning to their families if they want,’ Bobby Mangang, commander of the little-known group, the Prepak Cobra Task Force, told a group of journalists who visited the rebel base this week.Yengkhom Naobi (13) and Angom Langamba (11), missing since July 6, appeared before journalists in Bishenpur district, close to state capital Imphal, and declared they have joined the group on their own. The children are students of Class III and IV.

Rita and Ibeyaima, the mothers of the two children, have appealed to the rebel group to release them even as civil society groups here Saturday joined hands to urge the militants not to set a bad precedent by keeping children and free them at the earliest.

The children were paraded before the media soon after their mothers had told the media that they were in the custody of the Task Force.

The police have meanwhile arrested two people suspected to have been involved in the disappearance of the two boys.

Security analysts in the region have expressed surprise over this incident.

‘This looks like the case of a militant group recruiting child soldiers. This is a new dimension to insurgency in the region and has confirmed the presence of child soldiers in militant outfits in the area,’ said Wasbir Hussain, director of the Guwahati-based Centre for Development and Peace Studies.

The mothers are distressed with the rebel commander saying the boys would be sent to their undisclosed general headquarters for training if they do not want to return home.

‘Come back, my son,’ Ibeyaima wailed before journalists.

Bhiwadi (Rajasthan), Jul 13 : The dominant Naga separatist group has met senior government functionaries at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and is “inching towards accepting the Indian constitution”, according to a senior minister involved in the peace talks. “Top leaders of the NSCN-IM (National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah) recently met Home Minister Shivraj Patil and top officials of the PMO,” Labour and Employment Minister Oscar Fernandes, a key interlocutor with the Naga rebels, told IANS here.

“Yes, I have been meeting them regularly and have had several rounds of successful discussions. I can say with some degree of confidence (that) they are inching towards accepting the Indian cFernandes was in Bhiwadi, an industrial town about 80 km from New Delhi, to lay the foundation of an employees’ state insurance hospital.

Refusing to provide details of what transpired during his visit to Sweden in June to meet the Naga leadership, Fernandes said there was forward movement and discussions would take some time to achieve tangible results.

“They (NSCN-IM) have met important officials more recently. Lets give it some time.

“I must tell you that both the government and the Naga groups are discussing several technical issues, and the progress is quite satisfactory.”

In the last few rounds of talks, Indian government representatives have been trying to convince the NSCN-IM not to press for the unification of all Naga-inhabited areas in the northeast and their demand for sovereignty, considering the complexities and sensitivities.

Fernandes has been in the forefront of talks with NSCN-IM leaders Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah for years, having met them in several locations including Bangkok and Amsterdam.

The NSCN-IM and New Delhi entered into a ceasefire agreement in August 1997. The truce has been renewed regularly.

“We are negotiating and I don’t find any reason why the peace talks should not achieve success. Our government is serious about resolving the Naga issue,” Fernandes said.

The rebels and the government have held at least 60 rounds of peace talks in the past 11 years to end one of the longest running insurgencies in India. The campaign has claimed around 25,000 lives since 1947.

The NSCN (IM) has been demanding a ‘Greater Nagaland’ that would unite 1.2 million Nagas. But this is strongly opposed by neighbouring states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.onstitution,” Fernandes said.

Guwahati, July 12 : The Assam government will have a crack Special Task Force soon to carry out specific operations against insurgents as initiatives for the same has been started after getting approval from the state’s finance department.

The force is being launched in the style and format of the Greyhound Battalion in Andhra Pradesh and is expected to be made operational within two months.A state home department source informed that the STF against insurgents will be headed by the inspector general of Assam Police and will have aroud 130 select personnel pooled from different existing units of state police, besides new recruits.

The STF personnel will be sent for advanced training in counter-insurgency operations in different army training centres including the Jungle Warfare Training School at Vairengte in Mizoram.

The commando battalion of Assam police and the newly raised 23rd India Reserve Battalion will act as backup for the STF that will be entrusted to carry out specific operations against insurgents in different parts of that state, especially as a strike force.

Unlike personnel for other Assam police formations, the men from the STF will not be deputed to carry out normal law and order duties or engage in VIP security. It will be kept focused on the purpose for which it will be created — to fight insurgents.

The Assam police uregently needs a crack specialised force to fight insurgents, given that a large number of existing state police personnel and commandos are engaged in guarding vital installations, normal policing and law and order duties.

About 7,000 Assam police personnel are required to protect VIPs and other vulnerable persons, about 3,500 personnel are engaged as PSOs and equal numbers of men in uniform are required to man escort vehicles accompanying VIPs in the state.

Meanwhile, the Assam government has moved the Centre with a request for approval and financial grant to raise the 24th India Reserve Battalion that will add more teeth in continuing their fight against insurgents.

Imphal, Jul 12 : Sixty three-year-old Khumanlei unloaded a “burden” off her back today.

Four years after her young daughter Thangjam Manorama’s lifeless body was found in a wooded area — allegedly killed after being raped by Assam Rifles personnel — her mother today finally performed the “last rites” and hoped that her daughter’s soul would rest in peace.Till now, the family members of Manorama had refused to perform the last rites saying they would wait till the security personnel responsible for Manorama’s death were punished and the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was repealed.

The symbolic funeral pyre was lit by Manorama’s elder brother Th. Modon. A twig of the pangong tree represented Manorama’s body.

“We wanted to perform the last rites after the black law was repealed. But I cannot live with this burden any more. I feel relieved now,” the frail mother said as she sat in front of her daughter’s photograph.

Troops of the Assam Rifles picked up Manorama on the midnight of July 10, 2004. The bullet-riddled body was recovered not very far from her house in Imphal East the next morning.

The death triggered a violent campaign against the army act, forcing the Manmohan Singh government to constitute the Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy Commission, which recommended repeal of the act as did the Administrative Reforms Commission. But the government is yet to act on them.

Members of the People’s Action Committee formed by residents of Bamon Kampu locality after Manorama’s death and the Apunba Lup, spearheading the campaign against the army act, observed the fourth death anniversary by paying tribute to Manorama while the family members, neighbours and relatives performed the last rites near a riverbank close to their house.

The Okram Ibobi Singh government had cremated the body of Manorama as the family had refused to accept it.

Khumanlei said she might not live too long and could not “die without shouldering the responsibilities of a mother”.

“I often dream of Manorama and she tells me that she is very tired. I thought it is because we had not performed the last rites. Though my daughter will never be at peace until the culprits are punished and the act repealed, I feel that she will find a place in heaven now,” Khumanlei said.

Another reason for performing the last rites was to allow close relatives to get on with other religious activities and weddings. According to Meitei tradition, until the last rites and shradh of a dead person is performed, the family cannot hold either religious or auspicious functions.

The local action committee and Apunba Lup did not object to the family’s wishes, but did not take part in the rituals. “We will continue to struggle until the act is repealed,” K. Muhindro, a spokesman for the action committee, said.

A meeting addressed by leaders of Apunba Lup reaffirmed the demand for repeal of the act. “Guns cannot solve the problem. The solution should be political,” said Karam Sunil, a coordinator of Apunba Lup.

New Delhi Jul 12 : The authorities at the Jawaharlal Nehru University have expelled a student from the hostel and fined him Rs 2,000 for torturing and killing a female dog in his room on July 8.

Acting Dean of Students’ Welfare V K Jain said, “I have heard the dog was killed in the room by a student and two of his guests. The action taken against him is apThe wardens, meanwhile, have prepared a report on what they saw and heard in the early hours of Tuesday. Everybody in the Kaveri hostel was woken up by the animal’s wails around 2 am. The yelps continued and within an hour they saw blood seeping out of room 248, where the PhD student — 30-year-old Yoronso from Nagaland — stayed.

JNU expel Naga student from hostel for killing a dog Student Anand Saurabh said, “We demanded that Yoronso open the door. Inside, the animal was lying dead in a pool of blood. Yoronso and his two friends had beaten it with iron rods.” Another student said, “The dog’s head had been smashed and limbs dismembered.”

Senior warden of the hostel Andrew Lynn was not present that night, but he handed the eviction letter to Yoronso on Thursday and asked him to vacate the room by 5 pm. Professor Jain said Yoronso, in his letter of apology to the authorities, had put forth “self-defence” as the reason. When Newsline tried to speak to Yoronso in campus on Thursday, he scurried away, shouting back that he had to take permission from his lawyer to speak to the media.

The student from Nagaland is in the fifth year of PhD in Political Sciences and was classified as a 9B student — or one who is on extension of a year. He was supposed to vacate the room by Thursday in any case. Students have questioned whether Yoronso had not been let off lightly. Some also said the authorities had at first tried to hush up the matter — removing the carcass and even cleaning the blood. Meanwhile, animal rights practitioners have moved into campus with some calling JNU a “lawless slaughterhouse”.

Lawyer Anjali Sharma of the Citizens for Animals — an association of animal sympathisers — said, “What happened in JNU is an offence under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, and Sections 428 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code.” She added the police are also empowered to arrest such offenders without warrants.

NGO Citizens for Welfare and Protection of Animals had filed a complaint with the Vasant Vihar police station, but no FIR has been registered yet. Anjali Sharma said, “JNU is conducting an internal inquiry and once the result is out and a complaint lodged, the police cannot refuse an FIR.” On the other hand, Professor Jain has said the university is open to any legal scrutiny. Witnesses, activists shocked, varsity says this is a first “There have been rumours of all kinds, but we can’t do anything unless something comes to light. The student has been evicted and slapped with a fine of Rs 2,000. The police will take any action they think is appropriate. This is the first such case that has come to our knowledge.”propriate.”

Aizawl, Jul 11 : Petrol, diesel and LPG have become cheaper in Mizoram after the state government slashed rates of sales tax on the items.

Petrol became cheaper by around Rs 4 a liter while diesel price also came down by Rs 1.80 per liter and a cylinder of LPG is cheaper by Rs 17.50.Local cabs had increased the fares in Mizoram due to steep fuel price hike by the Centre. Prices of essential items too shot up due to hike in fuel price.

With the cut in sales tax on petrol and diesel, these items would be the cheapest in Mizoram among the north eastern states.

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Guwahati, Jul 10 : The All Assam Students Union (AASU) on Wednesday declared vigorous and continuous agitation across the State accusing the Central and the State Government of failing to deport illegal Bangladeshis even after the scrapping of the IM(DT) Act nearly three years back. In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court had scrapped the IM(DT) Act on July 12 in 2005 acting on the petition of former AASU president Sarbananda Sonowal.

Slamming the Congress, the AASU said that all the developments taking place in the State including the release of seven arrested ISI personnel who were in jail for want of proof, were enough to testify that the party was acting as the saviour of the Bangladeshis, ISI and the fundamentalist forces.Addressing media persons, the functionaries of the student body, adviser Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya, president Sankar Prasad Rai and general secretary Tapan Kumar Gogoi warned that the AASU would resist all attempts to provide safeguard to the illegal Bangladeshis. “The Congress Government has failed to honour the verdict of the Supreme Court which has compelled us to start our agitation again to save Assam from the Bangladeshis,” said Dr Bhattacharya regretting that the Congress Government has totally ignored the crucial issues like sealing the border, providing constitutional safeguards to the indigenous communities in the State, update of the NRC and implementation of the provisions of the Assam Accord.

Bhattacharya informed that the agitational programme of the student body would commence from July 12, the day of the Supreme Court ruling in connection to the IM(DT) Act.

The war of the AASU against the illegal Bangladeshis would be announced through the sound of traditional instruments and holding of protest meeting in every district on the occasion of three years completion of the scrapping of the IM(DT) Act.

From July 15 to 22, the AASU will hold organizational meetings on the issue of illegal Bangladeshis and its agitational programme.

The student body is also going to hold a series of public meetings from July 25 on the issue of illegal Bangladeshis and the first public meeting would be held at Sivasagar district.

“The main issue in State politics is the issue of Bangladeshis and unfortunately for the people of the State, the illegal Bangladeshis now have a decisive influence on State politics,” said the AASU.

AT

Aizawl, Jul 10 : The ruling Mizo National Front in Mizoram has authorised its Political Affairs Committee (PAC) to take a decision on whether it should support the UPA government or side with its former ally NDA in the event of a trust vote in Parliament.

Lalhmingliana, Rajya Sabha MP said on Thursday that the meeting of MNF office bearers briefly discussed the issue on Wednesday following Left’s withdrawal of support from the UPA government and decided that the PAC should take the final decision.Vanlalzawma, the lone Lok Sabha member from Mizoram, said he would abide by the party’s decision.

The MNF was one of the constituents of the NDA but snapped its ties with the latter in 2006 due to differences of opinion on religious matters with the BJP.

Imphal, Jul 10 : Close on the heels of the Churachandpur District Students’ Union (CDSU) threatening to snap ties with the Board of Secondary Education Manipur (BSEM) to protest non-apportionment of centre in the district for the HSLC 2008 compartmental examination, the Board today announced it would open one such centre.

Speaking to newspersons at the Babupara office of the Board this afternoon, BSEM Secretary L Rajmohan said after discussion with the Board’s Examination Committee members it has been decided that an exam centre would be established at Churachandpur.Reminding that the Board had been providing exam centres for the Old course matriculation examination in Churachandpur district, Rajmohan said as candidates appearing in the compartmental examination are few in number it was initially decided that exam centres would be opened at Imphal areas at a single location/venue.

However, considering the fact that the then Education Minister L nandakumar and representatives of CDSU had signed a memorandum in 2006 for provision of matriculation exam centre in Churachandpur the agreement would be respected and the candidates facilitated to appear in the compartmental exam in the district.

The examination would commence from July 14 .

It is pertinent to mention here that the CDSU had set July 12 as the deadline for the Board to decide on whether to provide examination centre in Churachandpur district or not.

In pursuit of its demand for providing an examination centre CDSU volunteers had seized files from the office of Zonal Education Officer, Churachandpur in addition to directing heads of educational institutions in the district against seeking enrolment or registration with the Board and COHSEM from class I to XII.

The Board also described as unjustifiable and uncalled for the indefinite bandh being called by candidates who had been barred from appearing in the Old course matriculation examination on technical ground.

According to the Board’s Examination Controller M Matum candidature of certain students had been rejected as they did not fulfilled prescribed eligibility criteria.

Explaining on the said criteria, the Board official said candidates should have passed class IX examination under the BSEM before the 2007 session, should have appeared (but unsuccessful) in both the old and new course HSLC examinations of the Board or had appeared in similar exams under a recognised board of other States.

Moreover, candidacy would be considered for the examination only after the candidates submit documents in support of their case during form fill-up procedures, Matum maintained.

Justifying the Board’s decision for rejection of those candidates who had formed a JAC and sponsored the indefinite bandh since July 8 midnight, the official pointed out that during verification of submitted documents these rejected students were found to have passed/appeared class IX examination from Guwahati based schools particularly Sonaram Government High School and Railways High School.

Highlighting that these students had not adhered to the Board’s rules and regulations for appearance in class IX exam under the BSEM thereby resulting in rejection of the candidacy, the Examination Controller further informed that number of students rejected is 350.He also appealed to the rejected candidates to reconsider and revoke their agitation programme.

Shillong, Jul 10 : Union minister of state for railways R. Velu today said construction work for two railway projects in Meghalaya would start soon.

Speaking at a news conference, the Union minister said as Meghalaya did not have a single railway line, the proposed link from Dudnoi in Assam to Mendipather connecting East Garo Hills of Meghalaya and another from Azra in Assam to Byrnihat in Ri Bhoi district would be of great help to the people of the state.He said construction work for the Dudnoi-Mendipathar railway line would start in November at the cost of Rs 86 crore. “The estimate for the project has also been sanctioned,” the Union minister said, adding that the total length of the project would be 20km — 12km in Assam and 8km in Meghalaya.

The Dudnoi-Mendipathar project would be completed in four years. Another project, Azra to Byrnihat sanctioned by the Centre would be 25km long, 12km in Meghalaya and 13km in Assam. Velu said the project estimated at the cost of Rs 200 crore would take some time as there was land acquisition problems in Assam. “We have cleared the land acquisition process in Meghalaya,” the minister said.

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By Wilson John
Sleeper cells of the ISI are thriving all over India using Bangladeshi infiltrators as local contact points. Result: The signature of HuJi on most bomb blasts in recent times.
The two unstable Islamic countries flanking India have emerged as the Al Qaeda’s staging posts. While Pakistan has been the epicentre of terrorism since the early 1980s, the emergence of Bangladesh as an extension of a global terror network pose serious challenges to the world, particularly India.
Though the terrorist groups targeting India (there is a hardly any difference between such groups and others with a global agenda) continue to be inspired by terrorist leaders based in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Bangladesh is where they meet, learn techniques of bomb making and collaborate for terrorist actions in India.
While the world is focussed on Pakistan’s tribal areas and North-West Frontier Province as an Al Qaeda-Taliban Emirate, the Bangladesh terror network’s emergence and growing power remains largely unnoticed.
This impression needs to be corrected without delay. Before September 11, 2001, no one really took seriously India’s struggles to cope with an externally-aided and abetted terrorism. Pakistan, despite a huge evidence of its complicity in promoting terrorism, remained on the blind side of the Western nations, particularly the US, which, till recently, considered it as a ‘strategic ally’ in the war on terrorism.
Today, it is widely acknowledged that Pakistan has become global headquarters of terrorism. Similarly, Bangladesh is fast becoming a major centre of outsource for this grand coalition of terror groups which are facing intense heat in West Asia and Afghanistan.
Bangladesh has become host to various terrorist groups anxious to recruit and train young students coming out of these madarsas. One of the more prominent ones is Harkat-ul-jihad al-Islami (HuJI), widely regarded as the Al Qaeda’s operating arm in South Asia. HuJI has been consolidating its position in Bangladesh where it boasts a membership of more than 15,000 activists, of whom at least 2,000 are “hardcore”.
Led by Shawkat Osman (alias Sheikh Farid) in Chittagong, the group has at least six training camps in Bangladesh. According to one report, about 3,500 Bangladeshis had gone to Pakistan and Afghanistan to take part in jihad. Barring 34 who died, a large number of them returned home; of these, about 500 form the backbone of HuJI.
What should be of immediate concern to regional nations and the West (in particular the US) is, irrespective of the absence of sustained links between Islamic groups like HT, JeI and terrorist organisations, they essentially share the same ideology and anti-Western agenda. In Pakistan, the Al-Qaeda has been quite successful in co-opting various religious and sectarian groups to work for the larger “cause” of global terror. In Bangladesh such networking could be easier, making this small, impoverished country a potential sanctuary for Al Qaeda clones like HuJI.
For India, HuJI presents a clear and immediate danger. But even Indian authorities ignored the emerging evidence of HuJI’s footprints. The group’s activities in India were first noticed in August 1999 when four HuJI activists were detained in Guwahati — two of them were from Pakistan, one from Kashmir and another from Muzzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. Their interrogations revealed a cache of explosives — 34 Kg of RDX — hidden in a Bangladesh mosque and the recruitment of young immigrant Muslims in Assam. But it was the attack on the American Centre in Kolkata on January 22, 2002 that uncovered the growing linkages of HuJI-B within India.
Investigators found HuJI-B’s links with a local group called Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF) formed by illegal Bangladeshi migrants living in Assam and West Bengal with the help of HuJI-B and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists.
Another clear evidence of HuJI’s strength and alliances was revealed when a suicide bomber walked into Hyderabad’s Special Task Force office on October 12, 2005, and detonated a pressure-activated bomb carried in a backpack. Investigations pointed to a joint operation by cadres of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, HuJI and LeT. Two months later, Delhi Police detained three HuJI-B militants involved in the Hyderabad attack who said they were trained at ISI-run camp in Balochistan and were sent to India to target Bangalore and Hyderabad.
The series of terrorist attacks, beginning with Varanasi (March 7, 2006), besides numerous arrests of terrorists, their supporters and seizure of weapons and explosives, exposed the contours of a grand merger of various extremist and terrorist groups and organisations within India. Of the two terrorists shot down within hours of the Varanasi explosions, one was a LeT commander in Lucknow, while the second a HuJI activist from Bangladesh living in Delhi.
This alliance could not have operated across the country without extensive local support provided often by SIMI and other small, less-known outfits. The terrorist coalition utilises the support base to plan and execute terrorist operations, besides planning a safe exit. This support base in many areas like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar rely on modules set up by ISI for gathering intelligence on Indian strategic assets.
Madarsas have also been used in providing the logistics in the past and continue to do so but more covertly than in the past. The groups seek out rooms to rent out in outlying colonies or in crowded areas where they could remain anonymous; in many cases they have set up small businesses to merge into the crowd. The objective of this coalition of terror is to create political upheaval in India. The fast emerging linkages between LeT, SIMI and HuJI (and Jamaitul Mujahideen Bangladesh) depict the contours of a pan-Islamist network in Asia, linking groups operating in Iraq and Afghanistan to Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and several south Asian countries like Indonesia.—(ADNI)

By Pr Graceson Kamei
Religion is a system of Faith and Worship. It is also a belief in a personal God. These faith and Belief bind him or her to/stay in tune with God whereby human being can establish a perfect state of God-realisation.
In every religion of the world, good act, love, good thoughts and forgiveness etc are the prime axioms. Any sort of evil act (sin) or evil thoughts is abhorrent to all religions. No matter to whatever religion one may belong, it is not wrong to accept the good precepts of any religion. For example, The Gita says, “A student (human) should have the only aim of study or God-realisation because ‘determinate intellect is one pointed’. Gita 2/41 (Quoted from the Book, Be Good authored by Swami Ramsukhdas). The Quran says, ‘Except those who are (Real1y) weak and oppressed - Men, women and children who have no means, in their power, nor can they find a way (to escape) (Koran: Surat An-Nisaa 4:98).
The Bible says, ‘Love your neighbour as thyself Mt.19:19). The Common belief is found in every religion such are the good precepts to be practised and encouraged, perhaps, it is indeed unbearable to concur with the belief or faith which contradicts one’s belief. For instance, Christians are strictly not allowed to worship any carved image or idol. The Bible says, “you shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them...(Exo.25:4,5). But Idol or image worship is an important part in Hinduism. Here the question arises, can the majority group force the minority to follow their belief? Should the minority group (Christians) propagate their belief to non-Christians for conversion through inducement or by giving alms? Neither imposition nor inducement should be the means for propagation of religious belief. Freedom of religion does not mean doing anything that violates freedom of conscience. Yes, freedom of religion allows to propagate different belief and faith. In as much as the propagation is concerned, it should be carried out through persuasion and dialogue between the groups. Because no imposition is employed in this method. But rather this opens the wide door or every religion and every person to choose after having convicted decision of what to follow between.
No doubt, for Christianity propagation, in another word preaching is an inevitable commission, because this commission is given by Christ himself. And this had been followed from the Ist century down to this present century. No face on earth can ban this commission. But for this reason, many were tortured, burnt alive and imprisoned.
The emergence of Islam was in progress during the Medieval period of Indian history. This was done either by propagation and imposition under the imperial power. Lakh of Hindus were forced to adopt Islam. Their temples and Idols had been destroyed. This religious intolerance act took place mostly during the reign of Feroze Tughlak. Mention can be made of Budhism which spread across India and many people of Asian countries accepted it willingly. So also with the case of Manipuris, when the then Maharaja accepted Hinduism from the preaching of Santidas, many Manipuris abandoned Sanamahi.
History gives an example of religious tolerant and religious intolerant. It was in the Medieval period of India, a harmonious fraternity, unity and love flourished albeit there were different sects of religion. When there was hostile attitude between the Muslim and the Hindus, the Bhakti movement calmed down the feeling of enmity.
God has given freedom of thinking as the best gift. Liberty of conscience — the greatest right is to be respected. It must not be threatened.’ Let every human enjoy the freedom conscience (religion).
There was a period of time in the bygone days when the liberty of conscience was forcefully banned. During the French Revolution, Christian whose belief was based up, on the Holy Bible were forced to burn the Holy Bibles. Christians were persecuted severely. It was only French in the world that her legislative assembly pronounced that there was no God. The French declared that their goddess (God) was only the “Reason”. The world for the first time heard an Assembly of learned men uplift their united voice to renounce unanimously the belief and worship of Deity. (Sir Walter Scott, Life of Nepoleon, Vol., Cha jter 17; Blackwood’s magazine’ November, 1870)
God never force human because He is love. He allows us to love and worship Him in freedom of conscience (religion). Religion is the only path that human being can come to God and live a new life of detachment. Mankind long to have supreme truth, peace,” and happiness and eternity. And thus such is the final goal of human life.
The Bible also recorded of a forced religion when Nebuchadnezzar was a king of Babylon (The modern Iraq). He enacted a law for all the peoples in his kingdom that was to worship his image. It was a part of ancient world religion to worship Emperor images and other idols. Idolatrous practices were a spiritual lifestyle particularly in Babylon. When this was imposed certain Jews who dwelled in Babylon refused to adopt their religion and worship the image of the king. So the king made a decree against the three Jews (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) to cast them into burning fiery furnace. When they were cast off into the furnace, God was with them amidst the flame of the furnace. They were unharmed.
Forced religion is of man, not of God. When the Son of God, Jesus Christ was in this world, he never imposed a religion to follow him or his religion and doctrines. Christ gives free and pure conscience for human being so as to exercise the liberty to worship, believe and “practice. Because in Christ’s Government no restraint was ever used. For instance, Jesus said, “If you love me keep my commandment” (John 14: 15).
Those who love him ought to keep his law, the commandments which was written by His own finger and was given to Moses on Mt Sinai. He never force unwilling public to keep his 10 commandments. It is entirely upto every person to keep the law or to condemn it. Because all human beings are moral being, who are accountable for their action. For all human being have the moral since it is written on their hearts (Roms. 2:14,15) and are exhorted to obedience (3.nd warned of the penalties of disobedience. But they are never forced.
Imposition. Yes, there is a gravest historical example which took place in Europe. Inquisition in Europe was indeed very savagery in its nature. This was set up by the Roman Catholic Church in the 13th century to combat heresy. By Pope Innocent IV’s Bull Ad of 1252, torture was permitted in addition to trial, impenitent heretics were punished by excommunication or imprisoned, or confiscation of goods, or were handed over to the State to be burned alive. Inquisition is against the two unique gifts of God — Conscience (to discern between alternatives) and Freedom (to choose between them).
The service human can give to fellow human i,e to respect the conscience and his freedom. The church, union, organisation or the institution must not violate the clear conscience of a minor group of people or even of the individual. But rather they should enlightened the deceiving conscience and ‘strengthen the weak conscience if need arises to do so; But there must be no bullying conscience.
Any church policy must not base on autocracy because it crushes conscience. Religion cannot be made/established through legislation or by majority group of people. Religion is through revelation of God and this belief or faith comes from the holy man of course some religion is founded through enlightenment.
From the worldview of General to specific, that is in Christendom, there are few churches (denominations) which venerate Saturday (Sabbath) solely basing on Holy Bible. Perhaps, the majority or Christian denomination keeps Sunday — the first day of the week. Majority of this denomination should not take advantage over the minority denomination. There is the tendency of the inclination to impose belief and doctrines upon the minor group of churches.
There will be a time in the near future to imposed universal dogmas upon a minor group’ of Christian churches by the majority of world denomination. When this phenomenon is apparently seen, the God-fearing Christian shall be enlightened and discerned to take a hold of the absolute truth of the Bible. Any imposition of religious belief/tradition that is instituted by man is against the Biblical faith and belief.

“The truth which makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear”.

— Herbert Agar - 1897.

Aizawl, Jul 9 : Hundreds of newly-converted tribal Jews in India’s northeastern state of Mizoram feel devastated after New Delhi refused them permission to migrate to Israel following protests by Christian groups, community leaders said Wednesday. “We are all shattered with the Indian government rejecting our applications for migrating to Israel,” Jeremia Hnamte, administrator of the Mizoram chapter of the Shavei Israel Organisation (SIO), told IANS.

SIO, a group headquartered in Jerusalem, is dedicated to searching for the lost tribes of Israel and helps them return to their Promised Land. Rabbinical leaders announced in 2006 that some 6,000 members of the Bnei Menashe tribe in India’s northeast were descendants of ancient IsraeThe recognition from Israel came after tribe members sent scores of applications seeking to migrate to Israel, or the “Promised Land”, saying it was their right to do so. According to Israeli law, every Jew enjoys the “right of return” - or the right of abode in the country.

“We understand that a group of Christians lodged a formal protest with the Indian external affairs ministry and home ministry saying they should not allow Mizo Jews to migrate to Israel and stop conversions,” Hnamte said.

“We are fighting for our right to migrate and hope to get a positive response from the Indian government soon.”

“There was tremendous pressure from the church and the Mizoram government on New Delhi to force Israel to ban the conversions,” a community elder of the Bnei Menashe tribe said requesting anonymity. Meanwhile, a group of about 200 Mizos was awaiting clearance from the government after they were officially recognized as Jews.

After the recognition, a group of rabbis visited Mizoram last year and converted the batch of nearly 200 Mizo tribal people to Judaism after they took a holy dip at a mikvah or a ritual bath.

“The new converts are practising the religion perfectly. Once they are allowed to migrate to Israel, they will undergo a year-long course there to learn other aspects of Judaism at government expense,” Itzkhak Colney, a Jewish clergy, told IANS. Colney was a convert and migrated to Israel in 1997 and is now in Mizoram to help the locals here to preach Judaism and the Hebrew language among the Mizo Jews.

Some 1,000 people from Mizoram and neighbouring Manipur state have migrated to Israel since 1994 when a private body, the Amishav Association, took up their case. The last batch of 218 Mizos left the northeast for Jerusalem in 2006.

Mizoram is a predominantly Christian state, while most Manipuris follow Hinduism. Most Jews in the two states were Christian by birth.

Apart from names, the converts share many practices in common with traditional Jews -such as keeping mezuzahs or parchment inscribed with verses of the Torah at the entrance to their homes. The men wear a kippah or headgear during prayers.

“I have no regrets at all to leave my birth place because Israel is our Promised Land. We are dying to leave,” Peer Tlau, a practicing Jew in Mizoram, said.

“A vast majority of the people do not know Hebrew although many of them are now learning the language and following the religion like the one practiced in Israel,” Zaitthangchungi, a local researcher and author of a book ‘Israel Mizo Identity’, said.lites or one of the Biblical 10 lost tribes.

Shillong, Jul 9 : In commemoration of 60 years of broadcasting in the North East Region, All India Radio, Shillong began its Diamond Jubilee celebration with a musical evening “Reliving Nostalgic Melodies” recently at U Soso Tham auditorium with live broadcast by the Station which was also relayed by AIR, Tura and Jowai, a PIB press release said.

The function was attended by eminent artists of the Station who recalled the past glorious days of broadcasting.The function was graced by V. Sekhose, Dy. Director General, Doordarshan (NER) and C Lalrosanga, Dy. Director General, All India Radio (NER). In her speech, Sekhose appreciated the efforts made by AIR Shillong in organizing the concert. She also said that AIR is to play a crucial role in promoting and preserving the cultural heritage of the people of this region.

Lalrosanga mentioned the contributions made by AIR Shillong in the field of music and culture within the North East Region. He said that at present there are 34 AIR stations throughout the North East including Sikkim. 100 watt FM transmitters are to be set up in the North East in the coming days which will increase the present AIR coverage to 96 per cent of the population in this region.

Guwahati, Jul 9 : Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday urged Chief Ministers of the northeast to wage a war against tobacco and cancer in the region.Dr. Ramadoss told reporters here that the incidence of cancer was high in the northeast. It was a matter of great concern that use of tobacco was very high in the region. He was here to address the first convention of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) of Assam.The Minister said that allocation for cancer treatment and prevention had risen from Rs 280 crore during the tenth five year plan to Rs 2900 crore in the 11th. Northeast would get a substantial amount of this allocation — about 10 per cent. The solution, however, did not lie in treatment of the disease, but in its prevention, Dr Ramadoss said.

To a question about improving health care facilities for tea garden workers in Assam, Dr Ramadoss said that under a public-private partnership initiative of the Ministry, the tea companies had been asked to hire doctors whose salaries would be paid by the Centre.

Earlier addressing the convention, Dr Ramadoss said that Assam was one of the best performing States in implementation of the National Rural Health Mission programme. Immunisation cover in the State had gone up from 17 per cent to 58 per cent and institutional delivery from 80000 to 3.3 lakh within three years. Assam was the first state to have riverine clinic and the third to give mobile phones to Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife (ANM).

Dr Ramadoss, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and State Health Minister Himanta Biswas Sharma handed over mobile handsets to three ANMs. The State government would provide mobile handsets to 7650 ANMs, announced Dr Sharma.

There are 26235 ASHAs in the State, of whom about 12000 took part in the convention.

The Assam government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hyderabad-based Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) for providing a comprehensive free emergency medical, police and fire response services using a single toll free number 108 in the presence of Dr. Ramadosss and Mr. Gogoi.

Under the MoU, the State will receive a fleet of 280 state-of-the art ambulances equipped with GIS and GPS systems and emergency equipments to handle almost any emergency situation.

About upgrading the trauma care facilities along the country’s national highways of the Golden Quadrilateral and East-West, North-South Corridor, the Minister said there would be a toll free telephone booth every 5 km, ambulance service every 50 km, a trauma care centre every 100 km, a specialty trauma care centre every 300 km and a super specialty trauma care centre every 500 km.

Karbi Anglong, Jul 9 : Karbi Anglong district is spading its way to become a herbal paradise and cash in on the global obsession with alternative medicine.

Black pepper for indigestion, bay leaf for cold and aloe vera for infection.

Call it word-of-mouth remedies, folk medication or what you will, but the “hedge-grow medicine” has survived contemptuous barbs of allopathic practitioners for ages.With glitzy spas promising exotic herbal messages and treatments making good money in some back-of-the-beyond locales, Karbi Anglong, with its sprawling forests, has decided to transform itself into a herbal tourism hotspot.

The district administration has taken up a mega project for scientific study, analysis and preservation of the natural medicinal resources, which the local tribes popularly use.

The project includes building herbal gardens, setting up a laboratory and institutions for study and research on herbs and shrubs.

A source in the district administration said the project was likely to get financial and technical approval from Dispur soon and preliminary work will begin by the end of this year.

The forests of the hill district are one of the richest sources of medicinal plants in the entire Northeast.

The tribal population living in villages on the fringes on the forest relies on these herbs for treating common ailments.

The local autonomous council, in fact, recently declared Karbi Anglong a “herbal district”.

The three components of the “herbal district” project comprised building gardens, medicinal interpretation centres with support from local NGOs and ensuring scientific recognition of the traditional medicinal practices of the tribes.

Deputy commissioner M. Angamuthu said initially there would be a detailed exploration of medicinal plants available in the hill district, followed by a systematic analysis on their use.

“After categorisation and documentation of the plants, identification of right plants for the right disease would be done. Promotion and production of identified plants will follow. Intellectual property rights issues will then be sorted out,” Angamuthu said.

“Endangered species, which are about to become extinct from the jungles of Karbi Anglong, will be grown in the gardens,” he said.

Initiatives to preserve the medicinal resources of Karbi Anglong began two years ago after the district autonomous council approved the setting up of the first medicinal garden with financial and technical assistance from the National Medicinal Plants Board.

In 2007, divisional forest officer (working plan) Jatindra Sarma compiled a book listing the herbal medicinal resources of Karbi Anglong.

“Our first garden on an 18-hectare land is just 5km from the district headquarters in Diphu, built with Rs 30 lakh. Recently, we moved New Delhi for two more gardens — one in Diphu and the other in Hamren,” said DFO (silviculture) Nilamoni Maral.

A team of National Medicinal Plants Board will visit the hill district soon to assess the feasibility of the two proposed gardens.

Imphal, Jul 9 : The number of persons who have collected the Damdawi plant potion prepared at Chawlein Medicine Research Agency, Saikot village in Churachandpur district has crossed 3.2 lakhs despite the state government`s intention to prevent mass consumption of the potion.

A state high level meeting which was held on June 21 jointly presided by three Cabinet ministers and attended by a number of experts, scientists from various institutions and doctors from the state has already discussed the issue of restricting the prevailing mass distribution of the Damdawi potion because of the possibile health hazards and side effects of the unbranded medicine.There is yet no scientific proof of the authencity of the Damdawi potion and due to the failure of the state government to take a proper decision over the usage of the potion during the last meeting, there has been no change in the distribution of the potion at Saikot village. Numerous patients, mainly suffering from cancer, even from the neighbouring states have been turning up to collect the potion.

The state government has been unable to take any initiative for proper scientific analysis of the plant which was officially confirmed as a species of Croton Caudatus Geiseler, a variety of Euphordiaceae plant. On the other hand, the serious efforts of a team of researchers of Manipur University life sciences department headed by Prof. Potsangbam Kumar Singh, ethno botany and plant physiology laboratory of MU, resulted in the Botanical Survey of India, Shillong listing the plant under ACC No. 96367 of the BSI Shillong on June 10.

In the meantime, according to L Hamhoite Hmar, secretary of the Chawlein Medicine Research Agency at Saikot, though there has been official announcement made during the high level meeting that there could be possible side effects of the potion, so far as per record maintained by the agency more than 70 percent of sick persons, including cancer patients, have reportedly acknowledged they were healed from their sickness after consumption of the potion as per the dose prescribed by the founder Chawlein Damdwi.

The secretary further disclosed that the agency always welcomed any approach made by research institutions for the scientific study of the Damdawi plant, but as far as his agency was concerned, it would go along with the life sciences department of Manipur University as the agency had signed an agreement with the department during May for the scientific analysis of the plant which would take upto three months.

The secretary further said it was not their responsibility for any complaints of side effects after consuming the Damdawi potion which they bought from the market, as the agency never sold Damdawi potion to anyone before February this year.

“Yea, she has a degree in English.”

RAJENDRA K. PACHAURI, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is getting nightmares because of the Nano, Tata’s soon-to-be-launched Rs one-lakh car. Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) says that it isn’t the Nano by itself but cars overall that give her nightmares. The villains in my nightmares are neither the Nano nor cars overall, but stupid government policies that subsidize and encourage pollution, adulteration and congestion.
Sanctimonious greens call the Nano disastrous because of its affordability— millions more will now clog roads and consume more fossil fuel. This is

elitism parading as virtue. Elite greens own cars, but cannot stand the poorer masses becoming mobile, since the consequent congestion will eat into the time of the elite!
More logical would be a protest against big cars that use more space and fuel, or highly polluting old cars. Instead, green hypocrites aim at a new car with the lowest cost, best mileage and least emissions.
The Nano will not burden us with too many cars. India has very few cars per person by world
standards. London and New York have ultra-high car densities, yet have clearer air than Delhi. Our problem is too many bad policies, not too many cars.
We subsidize vehicles on a gargantuan scale invisible to lay folk. Roads and flyovers cost crores to build and maintain, yet road use is free (save on a few toll roads). Traffic police and lights are costly, yet are provided free. These invisible subsidies starve cities of funds to expand roads and public transport.
Land in cities now costs laths per square metre. Yet parking is free in the suburbs, and often costs just RslO per day in city centres. A single parking space of 23 square metres occupies land worth Rs40 lakh. A car occupies more space than an office desk, yet the desk space pays full commercial rent while parking space costs just about RslO per day.
Daily parking charges range from $15 (Rs630) in Washington to $30 (Rs1260) in New York. CSE launched a sensible campaign to raise parking fees in Delhi to Rs120 per day, but was foiled. So, parking space now exceeds green space, a scathing comment on priorities.
The world price of crude oil has risen 13-fold since 1998 to over $130 per barrel, but Indian petrol prices have barely doubled. Left Front politicians, who once wanted to soak the rich, now want to subsidin them. Under-recoveries of oil companies’ total may be Rs200,000 crore, even after a recent price hike This is far more than the cost of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan [education for all] and the Employment Guarantee Scheme put together. We sanctimoniously lecture rich countries to reduce their greenhouse emissions,
subsidize our own.
Diesel is subsidized to be cheaper than petrol. So, Indian makers produce the highest proportion of diesel cars in the world. Diesel fumes contain suspended particles that are highly toxic, this subsidy kills.
So does kerosene provided at throwaway prices, ostensibly to benefit poor villagers. One-third
all kerosene is used to adulterate petrol and diesel. That causes horrendous pollution even in the greenest of cars.
What’s the way forward? We must abolish subsidies and raise taxes on vehicles and fuels to refle their full social cost. The biggest least visible subsidy is for parking, and we should start there.
Many car owners in the West take public transport to work since parking space downtown is costly and scarce. We should levy parking fees on an hourly, not daily, basis.

A breakaway faction of NSCN (I-M) has said it will work for the territorial integrity and peaceful co-existence of hill and valley people in Manipur.
The president of the newly-formed United Naga People's Council (UNPC), S S Max, told the local media at a place in interior Senapati district of Manipur that UNPC was formed on April 30 last by former NSCN (I-M) members who left their camps at Hebron off Dimapur. He claimed that the UNPC had a strength of about 70 members, including some former senior members of the NSCN (I-M).
All of them were reportedly from Manipur hill districts, an UNPC source said.
Max said UNPC would have no enmity with NSCN (I-M), NSCN (K) and Naga National Council (NNC) -- all based in Nagaland. But they were against NSCN (I-M) members from Manipur if the latter continued to work for disintegration of Manipur, he said.
UNPC general secretary Lansha said the Council had wanted to establish a unique body of Naga revolutionary groups in Manipur considering the existing hatred between Nagas and those living in the valley.
Lansha said the UNPC is led by two officials in the rank of “colonels”, one “major”, two “captains”, two full junior full “lieutenants” and three “second lieutenants”.
He warned that UNPC would be compelled to eliminate NSCN (I-M) from Manipur if it continued to make attempts for the disintegration of Manipur. In this connection, Lansha cautioned that UNPC would award capital punishment to those from UNC and ANSAM if they were found acting as the mouthpiece of NSCN (I-M) and talked about disintegration of Manipur.In the light of reports of formation of a new outfit - United Naga People's Council (UNPC) - by former NSCN (I-M) activists, the NSCN (I-M) has said as far as the trend in Manipur was concerned, it was not surprising that a new, "self-styled band of hooligans called UNPC" had emerged from nowhere.

"No wonder, there are dozens of such headless organizations in the valley alone. UNPC is but an organization without ideology and it does not, in any way represent the Naga people," said a press release issued by Col. Levi Zimik, public relation officer, GPRN/NSCN (I-M).

On the other hand, the NSCN (I-M) also warned that the Naga army would leave no stone unturned to eradicate such unwarranted development as it had become a matter of serious concern for all to be on guard against such move aimed at demeaning the cause of the Nagas and, in the long run, to derail the Indo-Naga peace process.

Stating that it was the expressed desire of the Nagas to live together as one people under one nation since the dawn of revolution in "Nagalim", the NSCN (I-M) also said this "genuine aspiration" of the Naga people was the driving force behind the NSCN's policy to integrate all the Naga areas.

The NSCN (I-M) said it was therefore bound to protect the interest of the citizens and the press towards attaining the inherent right to the Nagas.

The NSCN (I-M) also reiterated that it was not at enmity with any neighbour or organization, in as much as the NSCN (I-M) believed in peaceful co-existence.

While accepting the shortcomings on the part of the Naga Army to discipline the errant cadres, the NSCN (I-M) however said the "malicious hand of the adversaries is not ruled out who are preying upon the vulnerable lots to create more confusion."

Even as the situation in Nagaland is highly charged following the increasing cases of factional clashes among the Naga underground groups, NSCN-IM chairman Isak Chisi Swu hinted the breaking down of ceasefire while accusing the Government of India of supporting the rival groups. Isak Chisi Swu also predicted that “we are heading for explosive situation” while adding, “Our people are apprehensive of a large scale human rights violation in Nagalim in the event of breaking down of cease fire. We are heading towards exlosive situation. In such critical junction UNPO must not remain a silent apectator”.

The NSCN-IM chairman said this while delivering a speech at the IX General Assembly of the Unrepresented Nations People's Organisation (UNPO) held at Brussels in Belgium from May 16 to May 18.

The speech of Isak Chisi Swu which was dispatched to Newmai News Network last night appealed the UNPO not to remain a silent spectator at this juncture.

“Even if we are deeply committed to negotiated settlement we cannot see any tangible result from eleven years negotiation with the Government of India mainly on account of lack of political will on the part of the latter. It is also because while officially talking with NSCN the Government of India is covertly or overtly lending its support to the illegal and unmandated arms groups who are standing in the way to peace process and solution. I hope and trust that our UNPO authorities are closely observing situation in Nagalim,” alleged the NSCN-IM chairman.

Before touching the serious note in his speech, Isak Chisi Swu greeted the leaders of UNPO by saying he would like to convey Naga people's high appreciation and admiration for the positive role of the UNPO vis-a-vis the case of its member nations.

“Naga people have big trust in it and hope that it will give more effort to strive and plead for the cause of the justice denied peoples and nation in the days to come too,” said the NSCN-IM leader while adding, “UNPO being the apex political organiisation of the member nation,it should be political.Every member nation should also give more attention to strengthening and consolidating the position of UNPO. It requires of us to work out political and economic strategy for course of action so that the dying organisation is rescued from being succumbed to the policy of the adversaries”.

Mr Swu then suggested that the authorities of the UNPO should take more pain in advocating for the cases of the member nations in the UN, EU,and USA as resolved in the last assembly. “The case of Nagas has become a matter of great concern that requires of utmost attention,” added the worried leader.

“To enable UNPO serve more effectively and meaningfully it is being suggested that it is expedient to set up branch offices one in Asia and another in Africa. Naga people will stand solidly behind UNPO in all weathers till to the last. All dominated peoples and nations unite for a higher cause,” concluded the histotic speech of Isak Chisi Swu at the Belgium meet.

To ensure transparency in implementation of rural development projects in north-eastern States, the Centre has asked the concerned State Governments to regularly submit reports to the Union Rural Development Ministry.
Official sources said here today that the NE State governments were asked to develop mechanisms for ensuring timely verification of the work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and report it to the Ministry at frequent intervals.
The latest communiqué of the Rural Development Ministry stated that at least two per cent of the allocated work should be verified at the state level while 10 per cent is to be verified at district level and 100 per cent at the block level and subsequently, the report should be forwarded to the ministry before releasing more funds to the executing authority.
The ministry also warned that besides stopping the funds to the particular project, initiated under NREGA, strict action would be taken against defaulters while the states had also been asked to effectively operationalise Gram Sabha for selection of the work and social audit, it stated.
Officials said recently Union Minister for Rural Development Dr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had reviewed the NREGA programme and reiterated that five-pronged strategies of awareness generation, people’s participation, transparency, accountability and strict vigilance and monitoring must be followed by all the stakeholders.
He also advised the States to ensure the optimal use of durable assets created in the process and said the water conservation work under the NREGA should get top priority so that the country could meet the challenge of water scarcity.
He cautioned the States to take measures to protect the interest of farmers by identifying the lean season and also to have reasonable minimum wage rates.
He also asked all States to ensure that in 2008-09, every willing rural household should get 100 days of guaranteed work and it should be ensured that there was no migration of labour in distress.
However, the officials underlined that the Ministry had made it clear that the states had to compulsorily operationalize the Management Information System (MIS), which would register the flow of funds from mid-current year.
The ministry also decided to promote IT applications for NREGA solutions while calling upon the States to ensure an environment of “zero tolerance towards corruption” in the implementation of NREGA, the officials added.

The picturesque Mizoram has the highest occurrence of four types of cancer in the world and the cause is extensive consumption of tobacco, experts said. “Mizoram led the world in the number of cases of Hypopharynx cancer (Male), Tongue cancer (Male), Stomach cancer (male & female) and Esophageal cancer (male),” Dr Eric Zomawia, head of the pathology department in the Civil hospital here said.
“Aizwal has the highest number of cancer patients in the state followed by other districts like Serchhip, Champhai, Lunglei and Mamit,” said Zomawia. About 40 per cent of the cancer can be prevented by changing lifestyle of the Mizos, opined the doctor. Extensive consumption of tobacco by both the genders coupled with consumption of smoked meat, leads to high incidence of cancer, he said.
Dr Jane R. Ralte, officer-on-special duty and head of the Tobacco Cessation Clinic in the Aizawl Civil Hospital, also confirmed the fact that excessive tobacco chewing and smoking, highly prevalent among Mizos is one of the cause of high rate of cancer in the state. “About 1,85,557 members of the church consume tobacco, which accounts to 77 per cent of the total members of the church. Out of this, 47 per cent are women,” Ralte said quoting a study done by Mizoram Presbyterian Church Women Ministry in 2004.
“As much as 22.1 per cent of the women in the state indulge in smoking as contrast to the national figure at 2.5 per cent. Besides, 60 per cent of the Mizo women use various forms of tobacco, other than smoking,” Ralte said. “According to the National Family Health Survey conducted in 1998-99, Mizoram tops the list of tobacco consumption,” she said during a seminar on Cancer Prevention, organised by the Rotary Club of Aizawl recently.
Stressing the need for a tobacco-free environment in Mizoram, Ralte said, “second hand smoke inhalation increased the risk of heart disease and lung cancer by 25 per cent, endangering the lives of children and other non-smokers.” “Mizos, both male and female, has the highest incidence of stomach cancer followed by cancer of the lungs and the esophagus,” Zomawia said.
Apart from smoking, consumption of fermented pork, smoked meat and vegetable and poisoned wild animal meat, including fish and crabs also attributed to the high incidence of cancer in the state, he said. To combat this killer disease, the state has well equipped Aizawl Civil Hospital, which has been declared as the Regional Cancer Centre by the centre recently, Zomawia said adding, a Population Based Cancer Registry is also established in Aizawl to keep track of the cancer cases.

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has said the people in the state are keen on having a separate judiciary.
In a meeting with Gauhati High Court Chief Justice J Chamaleshwar here yesterday, Zoramthanga told him that the people have been eagerly looking forward to the separation of judiciary from the executive.
Justice Chamaleswar also stressed on the need to ensure sufficient staff in the judiciary and assured the chief minister all possible help in this regard.
State Law Minister H Rammawi also presented eight point charter of demands, including induction order for the judicial officers (Mizoram Judicial Service) based on the recommendation of the High Court and the constitution of civil courts, during the meeting.
Moreover, the meeting discussed matters pertaining to draft notification of constitution of various criminal courts, notification -constitution of Mizoram civil courts, proposal for filling up of 13 posts of judicial officers, posting of district and sessions judges along with those for Aizawl and Lunglei districts, amendment of Mizoram Judicial Service Rules 2006 and Draft Mizoram Family Court Rules, 2008.
The meeting also resolved to bring officers of Mizoram Judicial Service under the subject of High Court disciplinary control with effect from June 16, 2005.
It also decided to increase the number of judicial services cadre to enable setting up of chief judicial magistrate and senior civil judges’ court in each district.
Moreover, the meeting resolved to fill up those 13 civil judge cadre vacant posts through the MPSC.

China has emerged as the main supplier of old and new small-arm weapons to terrorist outfits like the Tamil Tigers, the Taliban and some of the north-eastern insurgent groups, claims Jane’s Intelligence Review.

What was till now in the realm of unconfirmed intelligence has come out in the open. The May edition of the Jane’s Intelligence Review has stated that China has replaced Thailand and Cambodia as the traditional sources of small-arm weapons.

Till recently, the Asian black market of weapons was dominated by Thailand and Cambodia, but China has captured the market now, the leading magazine of intelligence has claimed.

The latest edition has pointed out that the Chinese weapons and ammunition have played a decisive role in the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka. LTTE websites display photographs of a range of new Chinese weaponry, including the modern 5.56 mm QBZ-95 bull pup-design assault rifles that the Tamil Tigers cannot claim to have captured from the Sri Lankan Armed forces.

The review says that the LTTE has not only purchased small arms from the Chinese but also ammunition for heavier weapons like mortars and artillery.

But what is most disturbing is the fact that China has also been the major supplier of heavy and small weaponry to the Sri Lankan Armed forces. Norinco and Poly Technologies, Chinese state-owned arms corporations, have all along been selling defence related weapons to Sri Lanka.

So much so, Sri Lankan President Rajapakse had to travel to China to plead with the Chinese to release more than 225 containers of arm equipment and ammunition for his armed forces that had been held back for non-payment of earlier supplies.

China eventually released the supplies after Rajapakse’s intervention.

It is interesting to note that while the Sri Lankan government has payment problems, the LTTE has none because it uses black market channels to make payments to the Chinese suppliers.

Experts differ on the intent and objective of the Chinese establishment. While some say that the Chinese arms reaching insurgent groups is a black market activity, others see China as pursuing a more nuanced policy of arms sale that allows for covert activities in cases where the sale does not conform with the avowed and declared foreign policy goals.

On the other side, Taliban forces in Afghanistan have also been gaining access to Chinese arms, the Jane’s Review points out and goes on to add that the appearance of Chinese HN-5 MANPADS in Taliban’s inventory is a source of concern.

The review quotes a report of seizure of Chinese arms consignment in 2004 by a Bangladeshi Police sergent while being diverted to India’s northeast insurgent groups. The arms consignment was believed to have been loaded in Hong Kong.
There are even disturbing reports of Chinese arms supplies to conflict zones in Africa like Zimbawe and Sudan, the Jane has stressed.

Fighting against terror is not an easy job. It requires patience, skill, good intelligence network, equipments and above all cooperation for all. But it’s a pity that some nations are just providing lip services rather than showing enough sincerity to combat the greatest danger the mankind is facing today. Nations surrounding India are the worst offenders. Pakistan is only acting under pressure from United States of America. Despite being the breeding ground of terror, Pakistan is playing a double game to say the least. Same is the case with Bangladesh. For years, India is urging them to destroy the camps of the militant outfits active in the North-Eastern region, from is soil. But the country in response to India’s demand has always tried to put India on the dock. Bangladesh has taken no step worthwhile to help India in bringing back peace the North-Eastern region. Myanmar is another country where the militants active in the North-East have bases. Notwithstanding the support provided by India to that country, the military junta of Myanmar has o far restrained themselves from taking any action. Even India’s request of prior information before any operations against the militants went unheeded. Elaborating on the military junta’s recent assurance to the delegation of India’s Home Ministry to Myanmar of which he was a part, the DGAR stated, “We are optimistic of seeing a virtual crackdown by Myanmar since the Myanmar officials said that it is not their policy to encourage Indian insurgents to operate from its soil” “They have assured us of taking all steps to curb the activities of the insurgent groups operating against Indian interest,” added the DGAR. It may be remembered that the NSCN (IM), the ULFA and the Manipur-based underground outfits have been using the Kachin hill tracts and the Naga-inhabited areas in Myanmar as training camps for their cadres. But assurances are not enough to fight terrorism. No sooner the nations surrounding India will realize the fact India’s fight against terror will become easier.

The failure of the local administration either to demarcate the boundary of the archaeological sites or to free the sites from encroachment have made things complicated for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the NE region. Morever, some of the sites and items of the region notified earlier and supposed to be protected by the agency, are now traceless. Disclosing this, sources in the ASI told this newspaper that the Lohit River has also obliterated the remains of a copper temple in Lohit District of Arunachal Pradesh. The location of the copper temple was close to Sadiya in Assam. The British rulers protected the remains of this temple through a notification in 1910 AD.

A similar problem is faced by the ASI in the case of the gun (canon) of Sher Shah that was notified by the British rulers as a protected archaeological item in Tinsukia District of Assam in 1925. But the gun is yet to be located, said the sources.

Citing the example of the failure of the authorities to demarcate the boundaries of the archaeological sites and the problems arising out of that, sources said that in the Suryapahar archaeological site this has kept the boundary dispute of the ASI with a local committee on. The local committee is organising religious functions at the site.

The sites at Natyang near Shillong in Meghalaya, a similar dispute with a local group is there. The site is archaeologically important for its containing a group of megaliths. But the local group is organising weekly haats (fairs) within the limits of protected area.

In Tripura’s Agartala, encroachment in the areas around the monuments, which are regulated and prohibited ones, has also been creating problems for the ASI in matters related to the beautification of the sites. The situation is such that a Shiva temple has been built within the boundary of a protected site, said the sources.

In Nagaland, there are problems in executing the conservation and preservation works due to the lack of support from the local people. The ASI has four nationally protected sites and monuments, including the Dimapur remains of a fort, said the sources.

Distance and poor surface communication facilities is also posing problems for the ASI in preserving the sites. In Arunachal Pradesh, the Central Government agency is facing problems from such factors in respect of two nationally important archaeological sites – Bhismaknagar in Dibang Valley District and Bhalukpung in West Kameng District, the sources said.

Sikkim: Nature's own garden

Nestled in the lap of the mighty Himalayas is Sik-kim, a land blessed by mount Khangchendzonga, the third highest mountain peak in the world (8,595 m). Sikkim is a biodiversity hotspot exhibiting diverse forms of flora and fauna having approximately 4,500 species of flowering plants. The fascinating number of orchids approx., with over 450 species, 36 rhododendrons and more than 360 ferns and allies in addition to large number of other species is a testimony to Sikkim's floral wealth.

The present floriculture area is about 118 ha with total cut flower production of about 6 million and 3.5 million numbers planting materials. Gladiolus is a highly popular flower being under cultivation for more than six decades. The most important flower of this state is cymbidium orchid. The present cut flower figures of cymbidium is just half a million but is predicted to shoot up within a year or two as more and more areas are coming under cymbidium production. Another important flower is lillium which is grown for cut flowers and bulb production. Because of comparatively lesser investment required, this flower is being popularized amongst small and marginal farmers. The current lillium cut flower figures hinges at 1.5 million. In addition to these, the popularity of others like Anthurium, Alosremeria, Zant edeschia, tropical orchids, flowering pot plants and foliage ornamentals is ever soaring. Sikkim is declared as the Agri Export Zone for flowers which has immensely boosted the development of floriculture making it stand on the threshold of export market.

Sikkim is marching towards organic farming. The state envisages becoming an organic state and to achieve this, a number of initiatives have been launched. Prohibiting the use of chemical fertilizers and other chemicals while concurrently promoting usage ofbio-pesticides, adopting of biovillags as pilot areas and organic certification protocols are some of the note worthy initiatives.

Organic alternatives like vermicompost, rural compost, compostr, rock phosphate, dolomite, neem cake, bone meal etc have started to gain popularity. The practice of green manuring, biodynamics system and other traditional practices that were slowly forgotten have begun to resurge with more stress on sustainable alternatives.

Sikkim is indeed a very peaceful state in the country. The hallmark of the state is the harmonious co-existence of multilingual communities. The state hosted the International Flori show from 14 to 16 March'2008. We the M. Sc students of Horticulture, SASRD visited under the guidance of our course incharge, Rokolhou, as part of our course curriculum. It is indeed wonderful and encouraging experience and that even such a small hilly state too could emerge as an important Floriculture hub in the country, then I surely believe that our state too can become one of the most important Floriculture hub for exporting flowers at national and international level. A state gifted naturally with diverse agroclimatic and varied topographic conditions, which cannot deny that our state produces best quality Anthurium and Rose flower in the country.

In a major decision to boost tourism in the scenic north eastern region, the Centre has relaxed Leave Travel Concession (LTC) Rules for its employees permitting them to travel by air.

The new rules will apply to employees irrespective of their grade or post and the order will be in operation for two years, sources in the Ministry of Personnel today said.

Under the revised rules, Group A and B Central Government employees will be entitled to travel by air from their place of posting or nearest airport to a city in the north eastern region.

Employees belonging to other categories will be entitled to travel by air to a city in the north eastern region from Guwahati or Kolkata.

All Central Government servants would be allowed conversion of one block of Home Town LTC into LTC for destinations in the north eastern region, the order said.

The Ministry said that data regarding the number of employees availing LTC to the north eastern region would be maintained.

The decision will enable government servants in the junior grades to visit the northeastern region, which used to remain a distant dream for them because of high air travel costs and absence of official entitlement.

The north eastern region comprises Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, and also Sikkim -- all having rich tourism potential.

Infrastructure hits Tawang’s tourism

At first sight the snow-covered place could be mistaken to somewhere in the Kashmir Valley.
The Sella Pass, perched at 18,000 ft above sea level, in the Himalayan ranges is as majestic as any tourist destination. The pass, however, has not been able to attract tourists thanks to lack of infrastructure.
The pass is about eight hours drive from Asom’s town of Tezpur and falls on way to Tawang, where the second oldest Buddhist monastery after Lhasa, is situated.
Politically Tawang has become sensitive of late with the Chinese claim on territory, which has been vehemently contested by the Arunachal Pradesh people.
Admitting that lack of infrastructure had robbed the government of valuable revenue, Arunachal Tourism Secretary Bandana Deuri says roadside amenities have to be improved to attract tourists to even the lesser known areas of the State.
The road to Tawang and Sella is maintained by the Border Roads Task Force and a tourist has to depend on amenities provided basically by the army which is guarding the sector.
“This year there was seven feet snow in the Sella pass and our family and friends had fun,” says the wife of a army colonel who is posted in the area.
“Thrilling” has been the overwhelming word of praise for the few tourists who came this year as a part of a conducted tour to Tawang and Sella. “It is absolutely majestic with thick snow cover and the Sella lake frozen...It is sad there is no infrastructure for the tourists to stay and have the most out it”, said Sweta Mehta who was a part of the tourist team. Deuri said the Government was seized of the matter and has moved the centre to extend the tourist sector to the entire state to fully explore its potential.
Admitting that Protected Area Permit (PAP) and the Inner Line Permit (ILP) was proving a major hindrance to tourist inflow, the official said a plea has been made to the union home ministry to relax it.
The request is to allow even single entry instead of the current four tourists in case of foreigners and increase their minimum days to stay from the present ten to one month, she said. The Government has a plan to attract high ended tourists and will build near Tawang a convention centre of international standards having a 16-hall golf course.
Apart from that a ‘Wellness Park’ in West Kameng district with public-private participation is on the anvil and the proposals have been sent to the Union Home Ministry for necessary clearance.
Tawang attracted international attention after a 16-member Thai business delegation visited the place in January who have assured to send an expert delegation very soon to collect tourist information about the State. Deuri said the government was infact contemplating to promote the Bhalukpung (Assam)-Bomdilla-Sella-Tawang sector as a tourist route in the near future.
At present only a handful of tourists come with their own means of transport and depending on local villagers and army managed road side amenities, but with the route well established, the inflow (of tourists) will increase, she said. Tourists can also take heart of the fact that a daily chopper service is planned from Guwahati to Tawang which presently runs twice weekly.
It will take only one hour from Guwahati to Tawang and tourists can avail a three-hour drive down to Sella pass and come back to Tawang the same day, she said.
Locals rue over the fact that even Rajesh Roshan’s block buster Koyla which was shot entirely in the Tawang valley had failed to attract tourists.
“How many people know Madhuri Dixit and Sharukh Khan shot at various water falls and lakes which has then be renamed as Madhuri lake and Madhuri falls”, says Tamshing Lama of Tawang.
Former AP tourist minister and local Lumla constituency MLA T G Rimpoche feels that a lot has to be done to improve infrastructure and attract tourists which was the only to ushe in development in the area.

Manas in UNESCO’s ‘Site in Danger’ list

Confirming that UNESCO has put Manas and Keoladeo National Parks in ‘Heritage Site in Danger’, the Centre has said it has been providing financial and technical assistance to the two State Governments for better management. The Union Government has been continuously in touch with the State Governments of Assam and Rajasthan. The Ministry of Environment and Forests has been providing financial and technical assistance to the State Governments for the better management of these sites, said Minister of State for Environment and Forests, S. Regupathy, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Further, a UNESCO funded project was launched in 2007, for better management at the four natural world heritage sites in India including Manas and Keoladeo, said Reghupathy.

Out of the five natural heritage sites in India, Manas National Park is already in the category of ‘Heritage Site in Danger’ since 1992. It was placed in this category due to large-scale disturbances and agitation during that period causing serious damage to the Park.

The World Heritage Committee had also expressed serious concern over the situation resulting from inadequate availability of water to maintain the wetland ecosystem in Keoladeo National Park, which is also a World Heritage Site.

The Union Tourism Ministry has been according top priority to development of tourism in the area, since tourism has great potential for employment generation and economic growth. This was stated by the Union Tourism Secretary Sh. S. Banerjee recently while reviewing the progress of projects sanctioned to the State Governments for development and promotion of tourism in the North-Eastern Region. He said during the 10th plan period a total amount of Rs.319 crore was released to the North Eastern states including Sikkim, as against the mandatory provision of 10% amounting to Rs.269 crore. Similarly in the first year of the 11th plan i.e. 2007-08, against the target of Rs.95.3 crore (10% allocation of the budget) the actual expenditure on the North East including HRD & publicity amounted to Rs.170 crore.

S. Banerjee said, the Ministry has continuously been promoting the North Eastern Region through its publicity campaigns in the print, online and electronic media. In 2006, 4.45 million foreign tourists arrived in the country, 0.038 million foreign tourists visited the North East region and the number of domestic tourists who visited the North East was 3.9 million. The Union Tourism Secretary said however in order to tap the immense tourism potential of the region it is required that a concerted effort be made for upgrading infrastructure and ensuring better connectivity of important tourist destinations and circuits.

The Union Ministry highlighted the status of implementation of projects sanctioned in the first three years of the 10th Plan during the meeting. It was emphasized by the Senior Union Tourism Ministry officials that all projects must be completed and commissioned by December this year. It was also impressed upon the states that actual implementation of the sanctioned projects will be closely monitored by the Union Government. Secretary Tourism Sh. S. Banerjee directed that maintenance of assets is a must and in the absence of a proper institutional mechanism for solid waste management and civic amenities at sites, projects would not be considered for sanction.

Sh. Banerjee stated that as sustainable tourism is the way forward, due emphasis to eco tourism and rural tourism must be given. In particular, rural tourism has the potential of showcasing the craft, cuisine and culture of a village in a very attractive manner, so while the Central Govt. with the cooperation of the State and District authorities is developing rural tourism sites, it is up the travel trade to effectively market them and bring tourists to these villages, for truly enjoying their authentic flavour and ambience.

The representatives of State Governments from the North East briefed the meeting about their tourism strategy and the status of implementation of projects. They welcomed the recent decision regarding LTC for Govt. officials which will boost tourism to the region. They emphasized that guidance from Ministry of Tourism on creatives & publicity is greatly required for better marketing of their tourism products.. The States also stressed that relaxation of permits is essential for facilitating travel. Secretary, Arunachal Pradesh mentioned that the Ministry of Home Affairs has just relaxed the RAP regulations by opening up 4 more circuits, increasing the length of stay and allowing a minimum of two persons to travel rather than the earlier minimum number of four persons.

Apart from the tourism Review Meeting at Guwahati, there was a meeting with the Travel Trade in the North-East on 12th May, 08. The Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum made a presentation about its activities and strategy for future development. The leading members of the travel trade such as tour operators and hoteliers spoke about the boost that tourism has received in recent years because of the domestic media campaign and reiterated that continuous promotion and marketing efforts, together with relaxation of permits would ensure greater inflow of tourists to the region. They emphasized the need for better connectivity of all States It was decided that the calendar of events of all the States would be finalized and communicated to the Ministry of Tourism for publicity through the website and collaterals. The tour operators were also informed that the Marketing Development Assistance guidelines have been amended to enable tour operators from the North Eastern region to participate in the International Marts. At all these Marts, space is provided free of cost for the participants of the North East States hence they were urged to avail of this opportunity.

Call it honouring the code of tourism or walking that extra mile to satisfy the latent wants of tourists, Blue Sky Tours and Travels brought the magic of Tibet alive for a group of foreign tourists last night at Gangtok, who had cut short their Tibet itinerary.
A group of tourists from Germany and Switzerland had descended to the Himalayan state from Nepal after Tibet was closed for tourists in the wake of recent developments.
Once in Gangtok, their host Paljor Lachungpa, Blue Sky Tours and Travels steamed up a memorable itinerary of fusion of Tibetan and Sikkimese culture grandeur for the tourists which started with an enchanting presentation by Gangjong Doeghar, a Tibetan Performing Arts from Kalimpong yesterday night at Hotel Himalayan Heights.
With worldwide performances under its belt, Gangjong Doeghar dished out a regal presentation of Tibetan culture of songs, dances and music including an Opera that fetched loud applauses from the foreign tourists.
“They (tourist group) had booked a trip to Tibet but could not go as Tibet is presently banned for foreigners. So they came here as Sikkim has become an alternative destination for scenic beauty and unique culture,” said Lachungpa.
“I would have loved to go to Tibet but I am very happy to see Tibetan culture here in Sikkim,” said a German tourist.
While the tourists would have been contended just being in Sikkim, Lachungpa made his own arrangements to present the Tibetan cultural evening so that tourists should not have any room for complaints.
Apart from the Tibetan culture presentation, Lachungpa had planned to showcase the Sikkimese culture to the group. One group would be going to North Sikkim and other to West Sikkim and I had made preparations for having Sikkim culture presentations, he said.
“Quality tourism is there provided that we provide quality service.” This was not the first group that had detoured to Sikkim after the clampdown in Tibet. This was the sixth group, said Lachungpa.
Lachungpa said the present tourism season had been good and it was a good opportunity for the local stakeholders to spread the tourists to every nook and cranny of the state so that the benefits percolate down to the masses.
“The season has been good and on top of that arrival of such groups is a good opportunity to divert them to all parts of the State,” he said.

Yoko Matsugane (松金 洋子, Matsugane Yōko?, born May 26, 1982) is a Japanese gravure (or bikini) idol from Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. She is famous for her voluptuous figure.

She has released several DVDs and photobooks and has appeared on several TV shows in Japan. As of January 2006, Yoko left her modeling agency, but is still active in producing DVDs and photo sets. At the times of the release of her latest DVD she usually attends promotional events where her fans get to meet their idol and take a picture with her. These events are most often held in department stores in the Akihabara district of Tokyo.

Aizawl, Jul 7 : The Mizoram government has asked its police to conduct a “vigorous check of Inner Line Permits (ILP)” to identify foreigners, particularly those from Bangladesh.

Under the provisions of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, it is necessary for the non-tribals in the plains of this country to obtain a pass, known as the ILP, for them to enter Mizoram either for work or as tourists.Aizawl district superintendent of police L. T. Hrangchal today confirmed receiving such an instruction to start a process to identify non-Mizos illegally “overstaying” in Mizoram after the lapse of their ILP pass or simply infiltrating into the state.

Other police officials in Aizawl said police and the home department officials were now drawing up a campaign to identify those still remaining in Mizoram in an illegal manner with or without the pass.

Official sources in Aizawl said at present there are over 12,000 non-Mizo residents in the state, and alleged that of them majority are the suspected Bangladeshi Muslims.

A senior official of the Mizoram government liaison office in Silchar said the ILPs are issued for a period of only 15 days, but it can be extended by another fortnight by the district administrations in Mizoram.

Sources in Aizawl said many non-Mizos had, of late, crafted some devious methods of extending their stay in the state, thus triggering an impending fear among the locals of a possible adverse tilt in the population balance.

The ILP recently became the focal point of a controversy after Gauhati High Court issued an interim order on June 13 directing the Mizoram government not to arrest or deport any Indian national on the ground of not possessing a permit. However, the high court then made a modification allowing the state government in Mizoram “to verify the credentials of those persons whom the authorities in the state suspect to be not Indian citizens”.

The high court has made it clear that the verification of all records should be screened by the police and the home department officials under the leadership of an official not below the rank of a deputy superintendent of police.

On an average, 300 non-Mizos obtain passes every month under the ILP system from the Mizoram House in Silchar with a fee of Rs 120 for each permit.

Morigaon, Jul 6 : It’s a desperate emergency for the villagers in Assam’s Morigaon. The Brahmaputra washes away hundreds of hectares of land there everyday gradually washing away entire villages.

Buragaon is one such village where every five minutes a chunk of earth falls into the river. Since 1988, 130 villages have gone under water.Jamuna is one such villager who has been rendered homeless by the river.

It’s barely a month into the monsoon and 300 people have already lost their home and occupation in the area.

”Bighas of land disappear everyday. Where will the people live and what will they eat,” said Jamuna.

Morigaon is the worst hit area in the state where the Brahmaputra has been eating into the land continously.

” This panchayat has only one village left, but money has been coming in the name of the panchayat…wheres all that fund going to? In the last few years atleast 150 crores have come here , do you see signs of any work?” said Kamal Hasan Choudhury a resident.

No embankments have been built or reinforced in Morigaon in the last twelve years. Government departments in charge of the area were not available for comments.

Desperate residents are now planning a prayer meeting for some divine intervention.

Imphal, Jul 6 : Grasshoppers swarming the state need not cause panic as they are of the harmless long-horn variety, according to scientists.

These are not marauding “locusts” but “grasshoppers” which cause less harm to standing crops, assistant professor Kh Ibohal Singh of the department of entomology, Central Agricultural University told IFP today.
He said the sudden rise in the number of grasshoppers is a consequence of untimely rainfall witnessed in the month of January this year and bamboo flowering that occurred in some parts of hill districts of the state.

“There is no need for alarm as these insects which have descended in unusual swarms on Manipur and neighboring state of Nagaland are not the harmful species,” he said.

This family of grasshoppers in fact belong to a beneficial strain and are delicacies in some parts of the world.

However, a team of experts from the state agriculture department has been sent to Tamenglong district where there are reports of swarming grasshoppers.

The team will investigate into the kind of the grasshoppers present there and whether they are the harmful variety, according to the director of the department, RK Noyansana.

The entomology department of the Central Agricultural University while taking note of the swarming insects not only in other parts of the state but also in some places in Imphal area has confirmed the strain of the insects.

Referring to the report of the department, assistant professor, Kh Ibohal said that even though some among the swarming grasshoppers are of a harmful variety to standing crops, 90 percent of them are the long-horn grasshoppers which do not damage crops.

It`s not the “group feeding locusts” which can swarm in groups like bees and destroy standing crops like the occurrence in Pakistan and some parts of India bordering that country some 20 years back, although around 10 percent of the currently swarming insects are of harmful kind like the short-horn grasshopper (acirididae/locustidae).

The currently available insect is not of group feeder type like that of migratory and gregarioud locusts.

Long-horn grasshoppers are individual feeders, i.e. they do not feed on plants in groups unlike the locusts which feed in groups.

Locusts are dangerous as they feed in groups and hundreds of them together eat up a plant which damages the plant totally.

“There is no need to worry for damage to standing crops as the farmers can easily take up measures to control such type of grasshoppers.

However, the apprehension over its effect on flight operations at the airport could prove to be genuine as birds are among the common predators of the insects. Apart from birds, lizards, mantids, spiders, and rodents eat grasshoppers.

Regarding the sudden rise in the number of the grasshoppers in region, he said that it was caused due to the untimely heavy rainfall that was witnessed in the month of January this year in the region which created a large scale hatching of the eggs of the insects in the forests and other barren areas in the region.

Another factor was the damage of the bamboo grooves by the mass scale bamboo flowering in the hill areas of the state.

Mention may be made that mass bamboo flowering was also reported in Churachandpur and Tamenglong districts where the invasion by the grasshoppers has been reported.

Rooting of the bamboo roots where commonly egg pods of the insect are found and exposure in the atmosphere and then rainfall created favourable conditions for hatching of the eggs.

With regard to mating behavior of the insects, he said the female digs a hole and lays the eggs there. They keep the eggs in a pod which is naturally made resistant to air and water for a long time. The egg can remain active inside the “egg pod” for more than 10 years.

The eggs remain unhatched for a long period of time until it is disturbed by sudden change of climatic conditions like heavy rainfall in the winter season, he observed.

As such swarming of this insect is usually witnessed at an interval of around 10 to 12 years in the state as well as in the north eastern states.

He said study into the current swarming of these insects revealed that maximum variety are of long-horn family grasshopper even though very few harmful short-horn grasshopper are found mixed with them.

Elaborating on the control of this insect, he recommended insecticides like chlorpyriphos of 20 EC or cypermethesis of 10 EC.

Chlorpyriphos can be applied to the fields with 25 ml of it mixed with 10 litres of water while cypermethesis can be used by mixing 10 ml of the same in 10 litres of water, he said.

He also said that the most effective insecticide is the Satisfy (content chlorpyriphos and cypermethesis together) having 55 EC.

Another most effective and health hazard free means to control the insects is keeping tubs with water under a light (below a electric bulb). The light will attract the insects which will later fall into the water tub and die in the water, he said.

The kind of grasshoppers found here are also edible ones and is a favourite food item in some parts of the region, he said.

Peren, Jul 6 :Hordes of rats and grasshoppers are ‘feasting’ on rice and vegetable fields in most areas of Peren district in Nagaland, which is deepening public fears of a famine among the local populace.

A village elder of Lamhai-dungki village under Peren district returning after killing a slew of rodents as part of the ‘Rodent Killing Week.’ The phase is being observed by the Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency (NBDA) from June 30 to July 5, to stop rampaging rodents that is increasing abnormally due to bamboo flowering in the district. (Morung Photos/Zakir Hussain)Harvests including rice, maize and vegetables are being ‘cleaned up’ by rodents following an abnormal increase of their population, fed by the bamboo flowers. However, the Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency (NBDA) which had carried out the Herculean task of creating awareness among the farmers on the bamboo flowering in the district in the recent past, is now advocating and observing ‘Rodent Killing Week’ from June 30 to July 5. During this week, each farmer will be rewarded with Re. 1 for each killed rodent.

Besides, the most affected villages like Old Jalukie, Lamhai-dungki and Gaili were also provided with mechanised red-traps, glues (‘No Rat’) and bamboo charcoal production kilns to kill rodents. The officials of the NBDA confirmed that it is the ‘Bambussa Tulta Variety,’ which is flowering in the district.

Today, the nine district in-charges of NBDA along with their subordinates visited the three most-affected villages to take stock of the situation and to encourage the farmers to eliminate more rodents to save granaries and paddy fields. The villagers are rewarded with cash for killing the rodents.

In-charge of NBDA for Kiphire, Er. LY Thangstar said this exercise has been carried out to ascertain the level of disaster that has been caused by the rodents. Terming the bamboo flowering and subsequent rampage of rats as a ‘threat,’ he said some measures should be taken to solve the problem or it may become a disaster or famine like-situation. He also admitted that the district might face a Mizoram-like situation. Mizoram is today facing shortage of food.Thangstar urged for a joint effort from the agri and allied and food supply departments to control this threat. He cautioned that once the food supply of the district is over, the rodents will migrate to other districts in search of food which will further aggravate the situation.

“There will be a joint meeting with the Agriculture Production Commissioner and the meeting will decide what will be implemented as the next step” he said. He assured that NBDA will continue to monitor the situation and will explore new strategies to face this rodent menace.

Rodent Killing Week:
Rs. 1 per Rat
Officials of the NBDA also pointed out that, rodents multiply at a very rapid pace after eating the protein-rich seeds that appear soon after bamboo-flowering. Rodents can give birth within a span of 19 days.
Shakiba Yimchunger, the Tuensang district in-charge of NBDA, said bamboo production will be affected. Bamboo takes about 7 years to attain maturity, he said.

Er. P Lungalang, Peren district in-charge of NBDA, said the threat would cut down the economy of bamboo rich areas. He also informed that 34 bamboo charcoal production kilns have been set in the district.

Old Jalukie Village
Chairman Hainkieng said bamboo flowering is happening twice in the village. While thanking the NBDA for its tireless support, he however said it is impossible to cut down all the bamboo in the village since the area ‘is fully covered with bamboo.’ He also said that the rodent population has been increasing very rapidly has become impossible to kill them all at once. He said that the rats are of 3 to 4 different sizes, and the same as well in the case of grasshoppers and other insects.

Hegiebaube, an elder of the village, said the flowering is occurring after a gap of 50 years. He however, said there are no reports of deaths due to famine as other villagers are helping the affected village with food grains. The village killed altogether 1045 rats on July 4, and is still waiting for other villagers to turn up from their fields.

Dunkgilamhai Village
Farmers of the village said they kill the rodents during nights using torch lights since it is difficult doing so during day time. The rodents can even climb up maize. The villagers here have killed more than 2, 000 rats with groups of villagers divided into 20 to 30. Dunkgilamhai villagers are worried about the bamboo flowering trend.

Gaili Village
The Gaili villagers have also confirmed the increase of rodent population in the village resulting into paddy fields including maize being ‘cleaned up’ by rodents.

The 9 district In-charges of the NBDA who toured the three affected villages are Er. P Lungalang of Peren, Vila of Kohima, Imsu of Mon, Dr. Vikato of Dimapur, Er. Kumzuk Jamir of Mokokchung, Er. LY Thangstar of Kiphire, Kenye of Phek, Er. Kughato of Zunheboto and Shakiba Yimchunger of Tuensang.

Cachar, Jul 3 :When Violet Barua, Cachar’s first woman superintendent of police, assumed charge about two months ago, she was greeted with a dismal crime graph.

Teamed with an insurgency combat expert, additional superintendent of police Pradip Ranjan Kar (who joined around the same time), Barua chalked out a detailed plan to rein in the district’s flourishing smuggling rackets.The intelligence wing was alerted and late last month the police busted a well-networked rice smuggling racket at the Silchar regional office of Food Corporation of India.

Huge contingents of rice were regularly siphoned off from the high-security FCI godown at Ramnagar on the outskirts of Silchar.

Porters were busy stacking away sacks that were meant to be smuggled, when around 10pm on June 26, a police team, led by Barua and Kar, surrounded the godown.

Caught unawares, the porters and a number of FCI personnel made a feeble attempt to get away but were soon overpowered.

Fifty-nine sacks of rice were seized from the godown.
After a brief interrogation, the police discovered how the racket managed to smuggle out the rice despite FCI’s strict auditing procedures.

The food corporation allows a “two per cent wastage” of rice stored in sacks, which weigh one quintal each.

Once the “waste amount” was calculated, a group of FCI personnel contacted the smugglers.

The operations were always conducted by night, when the smugglers arrived in trucks and the FCI personnel kept an eye so that the “unaware” officials did not visit the godown at that time.

Some sacks were also siphoned off from trucks on their way to Mizoram. But that is a larger network involving the truckers as well.

Twelve FCI employees and homeguards have been arrested for links with the smuggling racket. The vigilance wing of the FCI has begun an investigation, said area manager Tarun Deshmukhya.

Soon after the FCI raid, the police team tasted success again when it seized a large contingent of heroin during a raid at Rannagar Tuko, a village near Silchar.

Next on Barua and Kar’s crackdown list are the timber smugglers.

The police have begun an operation in Sonai and impounded timber worth Rs 2 lakh from the house of one Noor Mohammad, who has been taken into custody.

Agartala, Jul 4 : A Reang tribal girl kidnapped by the National Liberation Front of Tripura and subjected to repeated sexual abuse at the outfit’s camp for the past six months, escaped with five hardcore NLFT rebels on Friday.

The five militants surrendered to police yesterday.The rebel and the tribal girl, aged 18, fled the outfit’s headquarters at Tangalkandi in the Sajek range of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh.

The five rebels surrendered around 6.30pm in the remote Aananda Bazar area under Kanchanpur subdivision of North Tripura in the presence of subdivisional police officer, Kanchanpur (SDPO), Kishore Debbarma, circle inspector Ajay Debbarma and the officer-in-charge of Kanchanpur police station, Samir Roy. Kishore Debbarma made necessary arrange-ments to send the girl home.

Police said self-styled corporal Nirmal Debbarma, Adhir Charan Debbarma, Jitendra Debbarma, Sukumar Debbarma, Ranjit Kumar Reang — all in their twenties — and the girl, trekked through the hilly terrain and reached Kanchanpur subdivision on Monday.

The girl was kidnapped from her residence at Raimoni para under the subdivision and taken to the NLFT headquarters on January 23, a month before the Assembly elections. She was sexually abused at the Tangalkandi camp.

On Monday, Kishore Debbarma had received information from a source that a group of five hardcore NLFT rebels, led by self-styled corporal Nirmal Debbarma, could surrender in a day or two.

The person extracted an assurance from the police that they would not be arrested and it would be a genuine surrender to enable the militants get rehabilitation benefits.

He contacted the police yesterday morning to inform that the five rebels and a tribal girl would surrender in the evening at Aananda Bazar.

The police officers reached Aananda Bazar with a large contingent of police and Tripura State Rifles jawans.

Police sources described the surrender of militants as a “major success”.

Sources said the surrendered militants had deposited ammunition and a grenade.

“I realised within three years that we were heading nowhere. We received neither salary nor food and ultimately had to scour for inedibles or opt for shifting cultivation,” Kishore Debbarma quoted Nirmal as saying.

Nirmal told the police that all the inmates in the Tangalkandi camp of the NLFT in the Sajek range were keen to return home but could not do so because of strict vigilance.

Nirmal had reportedly said that NLFT chief Biswamohan Debbarma who lives in a flat of his own in Dhaka, had stopped visiting the camps of the outfit dotting the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Silchar, Jul 3 : The tremor-prone Barak Valley will get a hi-tech earthquake research centre, to be built on the campus of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Silicoorie near Silchar.

The Union ministry of science and technology has cleared a proposal for the centre, which will be the first such institute in the Northeast to be exclusively devoted to the study of earthquakes.

NIT Silchar has been asked to prepare a feasibility report on this proposed Seismic Activities Research Centre. Delhi will provide Rs 25 crore for it.

Sources said the Centre was keen on building the institute in Cachar since it was the focal point of the tremor-prone Northeast.

Three geological faults which trigger earthquakes are all located near Cachar.

The Dawki fault in Meghalaya lies on the district’s northwest, Sitakunda-Tecknaf fault stretches from Bangladesh and another fault in Myanmar reaches out on its eastern flank.

T. Oldham, a geologist, said a major earthquake ripped through Cachar and its adjacent areas in 1869, leaving behind a trail of devastation.

Another major tremor hit this region on December 31, 1984, in which at least 20 people died in Sonai block near Silchar and cracked several buildings, including a mosque.

Three major tremors jolted the district in November 1996, May 1997 and February 2001.

At the bandshell Tuesday in Edgewater Park, four girls of the India Children’s Choir dance to the click clack of sticks held by four boys of the choir. The choir sang songs about the conversion of the Hmar tribe of headhunters to Christianity in the early 20th century and of the pursuit of the remote tribe’s children for education. The India Children’s Choir returns to Albert Lea to perform at about 8:15 p.m. July 3, roughly 15 minutes after the Third of July Parade, at Fountain Lake Park.

In the middle of a 10-month tour of the United States, the 22-member children’s group India Children’s Choir will stop in Albert Lea Thursday to be in the Third of July Parade and perform a free concert afterward at the Fountain Lake Park Gazebo.

They will perform the same musical drama that they did June 24 at Edgewater Park called “Headhunters to Hearthunters,” where they told the story of their people’s transformation from being fierce headhunters just two generations ago to now being ambassadors for Christ.

The event will begin at roughly 15 minutes after the parade at the Fountain Lake Park Gazebo on the north end of Broadway. That should be about 8:15 p.m.

At the performance, there will be a table set up with homemade goods and other items from India, along with CDs of the children’s music for sale. This event is sponsored by Youth for Christ’s Prairie River Camp in Bricelyn.

“We wanted to bring the children as a gift to the community,” said Renee Groskreutz, assistant director of Prairie River Camp.

The choir’s tour is organized by Bibles for the World, an organization that was founded in 1972 with the dream to give the Bible to every family on earth.

From the hills of Manipur in northeast India, the children perform in churches, chapel services for ministries, schools, retirement homes and civic events all over the world.

The choir and the Bibles for the World organization came about after the transformation of their tribe’s people in the early1900s when a Gospel of John was given to the tribal leaders.

In 1955, Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision, along with evangelist Billy Graham brought a man named Rochunga Pudaite, a second generation Christian from the tribe, to Wheaton College in Illinois to translate the entire Bible into their language. Rochunga later developed the Bibles for the World organization.

Now, about 98 percent of the people in Manipur are Christians.

The children in the choir, who range in age from 8 to 12, are direct descendants of those former headhunters.

They have previously performed in evangelical mega-churches such as Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral, Chuck Swindoll’s former church in Fullerton, Calif., and Charles Stanley’s First Baptist Church of Atlanta. They have also appeared on numerous television programs, as well as in other churches, schools, retirement homes and other venues.

The performance is free, though a donation will be accepted after the event. Proceeds go to the Bibles for the World organization. People are asked lawn chairs or blankets.

New Delhi, Jul 3 : Up to three airlines are bidding for the right to operate a dedicated regional airline for India’s north-eastern states, the Press Trust of India reports.

One of the bidding airlines is state-run Alliance Air (now renamed Air India Regional after its merger into Air India), the other two are Universal Empire and Ace Airlines .

“Three airlines have participated in the tender for the regional airline,” Minister for Development for North-Eastern Region Mani Shankar Aiyer told the PTI.

The government wants the airline to use Guwahati as its hub and serve 11 regional airports currently operational in the region, including Dibrugarh, Tezpur, Jorhat, Silchar, Dimapur, Imphal, Agartala, Aizawal and Bagdogra.
In return, the winning airline will be eligible to receive government subsidies from the North Eastern Council, which wants a regional air service operational by the end of this year.

The PTI reports that 25 new airports will be built under a five year plan and a projected 400 monthly flights operational by the end of next year.

Aizawl, Jul 3 : The ‘Band of Brothers’ from Nagaland landed on the soil of famine-hit Mizoram with a mission to fight mautam (bamboo flowering) by means of a ‘Fraternity Concert’ Greeting the local denizens at Lengpui Aiport, team’s project director G Sema said yesterday the people and government of Nagaland could not sit still unless their Mizo brothers recover from mautam famine.

Mr Sema hoped that the Fraternity Concert, to be staged at Vanapa Hall here on Friday, would bolster the bond of brotherhood between the Mizos and Nagas.

A Nagaland Music Task Force had been set up under the state’s youth resources and sports department, which comprises Nagaland’s top band ‘Ecstacy’ as well as topper and finalists of the ‘Nagaland Idol’ reality show.

Two top Mizo officials in the Nagaland government–Chief Secretary Lalhuma and Additional Chief Secretary Lalthara–are also involved in the project. Mr Lalthara told newspersons that donations of Rs 20 lakh had already been obtained for mautam relief.

Guwahati, Jul 2 : Egged on by the Assam State Commission for Women, four government departments — social welfare, education, health and police — are joining hands for a war on witch-hunting in Assam.

The plan is set for a launch with a meeting at Biswanath Chariali in Sonitpur, one of the worst affected districts, on July 7.It has, however, not come a day too soon as over 200 lives have been lost in the past seven years in Sonitpur, Goalpara and the Bodoland Territorial Area districts of Kokrajhar, Udalguri and Baksa.

Sources said the burying alive of four persons of a family on June 10 by fellow villagers at a place under Biswanath Chariali police station on charges of witch-hunting prompted the commission to target remote pockets dominated by Santhal, Oraon, Munda and Bodo tribes where the menace is more pronounced.

The choice of the July 7 venue is not without significance. The June 10 incident was the second since March 18, 2006 when five members of a family were beheaded by fellow villagers at Sadharu tea estate in the heart of Biswanath Chariali. The mob then marched to the local police station with the heads, chanting slogans denouncing witchcraft and black magic.

Sources in the chief minister’s office said besides the usual awareness meetings involving local people, NGOs, government officials, the police and commission members, the new strategy will launch critical development programmes like the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan.

These programmes will held in a sustained manner to weed out poverty, illiteracy and superstition, found to be the root causes of this menace, which according sources, claim at least 12 lives on an average in very remote BTAD areas for want of proper schooling and medical facilities.

As part of the plan, pointsmen like educationists and professionals will be appointed who can be in constant touch with the SDOs and BDOs and the villagers for effective implementation of the programmes.

Mridula Saharia, chairperson of the Commission, said: “It is time we did something as women are one of the worst-affected in witch-hunting. Entire families are being wiped out for nothing. We broached this topic before the chief minister last week and he assured us that he would help. Yesterday, I met social welfare minister Ajanta Neog, who, too,was very keen to help. Officials of the other departments are also eager. In the July 7 meeting, we will tone up the strategies because without a joint initiative it will be difficult to contain the menace. We are in the process of firming up the strategies. We will have more such meetings in the affected pockets. If we can take education and health facilities to these areas things will improve.”

Imphal, Jul 2 : Students in Manipur attend classes for hardly 90 days as the educational institutions here remained closed, on an average, for 275 days in a year in view of the frequent bandhs, blockades, holidays and militancy.

State’s number of annual general holidays is 27 which is comparatively higher, Democratic Students’ Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) said in a statement here.

According to the statement, the number of working days in educational institutes in the year 2005 and 2006 were 90 and 120 days.

“The situation is alarming when compared with the statistics of other States including NE States”, L C Santosh, a functionary of the students’ body felt.

Educational institutions in states like Karnataka and Kerala opens 245 to 250 days a year. Even in the NE States, Assam and Meghalaya managed to have not less than 200 days of classes.

The time has come for every one to wake up and do something to change the system in the State, another functionary of DESAM said while demanding a policy in this regard.

The disturbances come in many forms. Today, it is not uncommon to see students and teachers taking to the streets to protest the monetary demands served on their institute by armed groups.

Bandhs and blockades are the main trouble makers in the education atmoshphere. In 2006-07, there were around 42 bandhs and 77 blockades in Manipur. This year (till May), the State had already witnessed 24 bandhs.

Acknowledging the situation and spending a huge amount annually, thousands of guardians in the State were compelled to send their children outside the State for further studies once they passed matric or 10+2 examinations.

In a move to appeal to everyone to make education a Free Zone, hectic preparations are on to hold a mass public rally in the State on July 5 under the aegis of DESAM.

New Delhi, Jul 2 :Holding that infrastructure deficiency in north-east is a “major concern”, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced linking of all state capitals there by rail to ensure better connectivity and earmarking of Rs 31,000 crores to improve roads.

Releasing ‘Vision Document 2020 for the North-Eastern Region’ in New Delhi on Wednesday, he said besides developing rail and air connectivity, the Government is also committed to improve road facilities in the Eleventh Plan.”Infrastructure deficiency is a major concern in the region. We will link all the state capitals in the region by rail network and Rs 31,000 crore will be invested on roads during the 11th plan,” Singh said.Describing the north-eastern region as the land of rising sun for India, he said time has come “for the sun to shine brightly on it. Vision document defines the path to that bright future.”

For improving air connectivity, he announced that a green-field airport will come up at Itanagar to connect the region with the rest of the country.

He said all villages on the Arunachal Pradesh border will soon be electrified at a cost of Rs 550 crore.

The Vision Document, approved by the North-east council, also lays stress on promoting education in the region.

“We are committed for inclusive and equitable growth. We will set up a NTFT and IIT at Shillong,” Singh said.

Focussing on the farm sector in the North-East, the Prime Minister said, a second ‘Green Revolution’ specific to the region was needed.

The document envisages an ambitious strategy for the region to eradicate poverty and rope in investors.

It deals with challenges to ensure peace and progress, empowerment of people by maximising self governance, rural development with a focus on improving agricultural productivity, augmenting infrastructure besides others.

The document emphasises that the ‘Look East Policy’ should give focus on the region and take a view that the Southeast Asia begins from the northeast and through opening up of trade routes, there could be accelerated growth and expansion of economic opportunities.

On the key issue of peace, the document says people of the region wanted to live in peace and harmony and free from insurgency.

“Without peace, progress is not possible. Insurgency has taken a heavy toll on economic progress and people’s happiness in the region. The people of the northeast would like peace to return to their lives, leakages to cease and development to take precedence,” it says.

The vision document says the region requires a participatory development strategy which calls for maximisation of self-governance.

There is a need for a complete shift in the development strategy and the planning process towards designing and implementing people-centric programmes based on harnessing resources of the region.

Only such a strategy can ensure inclusive development, help alleviate poverty and ensure a reasonable standard of living for every family in the region, the document says.

Three airlines bid for NE region air carrier

As many as three airlines, including state-run Alliance Air, have bid for operating a dedicated regional air carrier for the north-eastern states.

“Three airlines have participated in the tender for the regional airline,” Minister for Development for North-Eastern Region Mani Shankar Aiyer said in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Apart from Alliance Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian Airlines, two other companies — Universal Empire and Ace Airlines — have submitted offers to run the new airline.

The winning bidder will be eligible for subsidies from the North Eastern Council. The new dedicated regional airline is expected to start operations by the end of this year.

Guwahati will be the hub of the regional airline.

At present, there are 11 operational airports in the region, including Dibrugarh, Tezpur, Jorhat, Silchar, Dimapur, Imphal, Agartala, Aizawal and Bagdogra.

At least 12 new airports are expected to be operationalised in the region by the end of 2008 and 25 new airports would come up over the period of the 11th five year plan.

The Ministry of DoNER is aiming for as many as 400 flights every month internally connecting the region by the end of 2009.

In August last year, the Civil Aviation Ministry had announced a number of subsidies for airlines interested in operating in the regional space under a separate regional air carrier permit.

Guwahati, Jul 2 : A legal battle on the Inner Line Permit (ILP) issue is on the cards as the Government of Mizoram moved the Gauhati High Court yesterday challenging the court’s earlier order that asked the Mizoram Government not to arrest or harass the genuine citizens on the issue of ILP. On the other hand, the Plain People Traders’ and Youth Federation (PPTYF), an umbrella organization of the non-Mizos, has vowed to continue the legal battle to protect the interest of the non-Mizos living in that State since long.

In response to the fresh petition filed by the Government of Mizoram yesterday, the case came up before the division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Jasti Chelameswar and Justice BP Katakey today. The Government of Mizoram, through an “affidavit in opposition” filed in the court, has urged the HC to vacate its earlier order issued on June 13, sources said.In an another appeal, the Mizoram Government has opposed the public interest litigation (PIL No. 1179) filed by the PPTYF seeking for quashing the Bengal Frontier Regulation, 1873. According to the non-Mizo body, on the basis of the Act the non-Mizo traders have been harassed and tortured during the time of renewal of ILP and trade registration.

It may be mentioned here that the Mizoram Government moved the judiciary on the basis of a decision made in an all-party meeting involving various political parties and apolitical organizations held recently in Aizawl, despite the PPYTF’s appeal for negotiation. The PPYTF, in a memorandum submitted to the Mizoram Governor and the Chief Minister on Mizoram on June 28, expressed its willingness to sit together to settle the matter.

However, sources said since ILP is going to be a major poll issue in the forthcoming Assembly election in Mizoram slated to be held in 2009, most of the political parties want to keep the issue alive.