north east online - north east india news: Oct 5, 2008

Sunday, October 5, 2008

49% in Meghalaya below poverty line

Shillong, Oct 5 : Meghalaya Chief Minister Donkupar Roy rued that around 49 per cent of the state’s population is below poverty line and about an equal percentage of educated youth are unemployed.

Inaugurating on Friday the first meeting of the reconstituted Meghalaya State Planning Board (MSPB) headed by former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A Sangma, Roy said: “The figure of poverty and unemployment in the state is disheartening.” He attributed the dismal state of economy and scenario of unemployment to “resource and infrastructure constraints.”

Roy said to overcome the present situation, the state must accelerate investment in infrastructure. The first meeting of the MSPB attended by experts and politicians brainstormed to find ways to rescue the state’s sagging economy.
Brainstorming for achieving economic improvement has become important as the state has envisaged a growth rate of 7.2 per cent during the eleventh plan. Roy said to achieve this target the state’s plan size has been fixed at Rs 9,185 crore.

What is worrying Roy and MSPB is the reducing growth rate from 7.8 per cent in the ninth plan to 6.33 per cent during subsequent plan. MSBP Chairman Purno A Sangma said for the first time Meghalaya would have its Human Development Report in assistance with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

He said: “This will help the Government to get a clearer image of the state of affairs in Meghalaya.” Sangma underlined the role of MSPB as significant in augmenting the state’s economy. He said the reconstituted MSPB would have nine working groups, each headed by an expert.

Mizoram Christians CRY ‘Peace for all’

In what appeared to be the largest congregation in recent times, tens of thousands of Mizo Christians took to the streets in Aizawl today condemning the increasing violence against Christians in Orissa and other parts of the country. As the Mizoram government declared a state holiday, the Peace Rally, spearheaded by the Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute (church leaders) Committee (MKHC), witnessed a grand success.Chief Minister Zoramthanga, a few ministers and MLAs, Chief Secretary Haukhum Hauzel and a number of high government officials were seen participating at the rally. Notably, hundreds from Muslim community and Mizo Jews also took part in the rally. The rallyist coming from southern and northern points of Aizawl converged at the Assam Rifles where they prayed for their fellow persecuted Christians and asked for God’s forgiveness for those who attacked them. Aizawl streets wore a deserted look when the processionists gathered at the AR Ground for a mass prayer.In his speech at the AR Ground, Chief Minister Zoramthanga said that inhumane attacks on Christians in India have tarnished the image of India as the largest and secular country. He said he had personally talked to the Union Home Minister and the Prime Minister to take immediate measures to protect the minority Christians all over the country and safeguard the secularism of the country. MKHC Chairman and Mizoram Presbyterian Church Moderator Rev. Dr. H. Vanlalauva, who also spoke at the rally, said we must forgive and pray for the salvation of those who are

persecuting the Christians.The MHKC will submit memorandum to the State Governors, the President and the Prime Minister of India in a follow-up to today’s rally. “We strongly condemn the death of Swami Lakhsmananda Saraswati, and we equally condemn the consequent attacks on the innocent Christians who had nothing to do with the Swami’s death,” Rev K Lalrinsanga, General Secretary of the MKHC said today. The Peace Rally, which was also organised in other district capitals of Mizoram ended at around 2:30pm without any untoward incidents.

It is good to see diffrent faiths coming togather, not for mutual benefit, but for plain old standing up for what is right. Sometimes, the “them” and “us” mentality that is drilled into us from young makes us hesitate to come to another’s aid. I don’t mean the kind where you see a car accident and you go and help, but more that you hear there is another religion/race specific rally, and you(assuming you are not “them) stop and wonder, if you were to join them, are you turning your back on your faith or people? Like those whites who stood up againts black slavery, they went didn’t so much as turn their back on their own race, but instead stood up for humanity, stood up for what is right, stood up for Jesus.

God says, we are all equal. If you would forgive the language, to take a quote from Full Metal Jacket: There is no racial bigotry here. I do not look down on niggers, kikes, wops or greasers. Here you are all equally worthless. All of us are sinners, we are equally undeserving, which is why the world needs more Mercy, Grace and Love, instead of Segregration, Intolerance and All-That-Divides.

I would like to write more, but I really got to go to sleep. Some additional notes below:

A quick google search which I *think* is a daily newspaper or something.
Its rather late, and I’m in need of sleep, not to mention having THREE posts i want to do before Monday rolls by but Real Life is getting in the way. Haih.

Anyone who can update me on whats happening, who this Swami Lakhsmananda Saraswati is, and general related info, do post in the comments. Havn’t been keeping up with the news lately.

NESO protest at Guwahati calls for justice in Monika case

Imphal, Oct 5 : Leaders of the students’ union of the North East Students’ Organization (NESO) launched a sit in protest at Latasil ground, Guwahati, yesterday calling for punishment to those people who were involved in exclusion of Laishram Monica from the Beijing Olympics and for the contempt which was shown towards north east people.The protest was attended by various retired and presently playing national and international players and was organized by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) under the aegis of NESO.

President of the All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU), Khamba Laishram, Olympian Thoiba, Tiken and Mr Manipur Kh Pradip were also present in the protest.

Presidents and secretaries of various students’ unions of the entire north eastern states gathered for the protest along with numerous sports persons.

Chairman of the NESO, Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya, Gumjum Haider, general secretary, NESO, Punte VC, NESO, I Jamesbond Marang, assistant secretary, NESO, Samuel Jyrwa, publicity secretary NESO, Sangam, finance secretary, NESO also attended the sit-in protest.

The union leaders and the players who came to take part in the protest from other states also decided to highlight the undermining of the people of north east by the Indian government.

The incident involving Monika gives shame to the entire north easterners, not only the people of Manipur. It also called for people in the region to face the problem together as one, the All Manipur Students’ Union said in a release.

TN Haokip urges for foreign exchange facilities in Manipur

N
ew Delhi, Oct 5 : One-day Special Summit on Banking, Industries and Credit Issues in the North Eastern Region with an emphasis on financial inclusion was held today at Vigyan Bhawan here under the aegis of the Union Ministry for the Development of North Eastern Region.

In the inaugural session, Ms. Usha Thorat, Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India spoke on ‘Financial Sector Plan for the NE region’, O.P.Bhatt, Chairman of State Bank of India on ‘Overview of the banking and credit issues in the NE Region’ and Abhijit Sharma of Indian Institute of Bank Management, Guwahati on ‘Issues of Financial Inclusion of the NE Region’. Thereafter, the Chief Ministers or Finance Ministers or its representatives of North Eastern States delivered the issues concerning to banking, industries and credit in their respective states.T.N.Haokip, Manipur Minister of Public Health Engineering/ Information/ Tourism who represented the Manipur Chief Minister emphasized the need for providing foreign exchange facilities in Manipur for catering to the trans-border trade at Moreh.

He reminded that the State Government had already proposed to the Reserve Bank of India for setting up the facilities at the State Bank of India (SBI), Imphal Branch and two other selected branches of other banks at Imphal, a SBI or United Bank of India (UBI) branch located at each District HQ and the UBI, Moreh Branch.

The Manipur Minister stressed the urgent need for establishment of more currency chests at strategic locations in Manipur. He said that two district Head Quarters in the State namely Imphal East and Bishnupur were without RBI currency chests. The branches of SBI at Bishnupur and the proposed branch of SBI at Imphal East might be provided with the currency chests so that RBI Currency Chests were established at all the District HQs.

Moreover, local banks like Manipur Rural Bank (MRB), Keishampat Branch and Manipur State Cooperative Bank, Imphal Branch might also be permitted to install currency chests, he added.He mentioned that Moreh had been emerged as a trans-border trade centre between India and Myanmar. There would be bus services from Moreh to Mandalay in Myanmar. He said, “The main facility extended by the UBI branch at Moreh presently is to receive deposits for money transfers to Imphal and elsewhere. As such, the chest capacity remains fully utilized for most of the time particularly due to inconvenience of remitting the surplus cash to Imphal on surface transport. Therefore, there is a need to upgrade the chest capacity suitably as also to resolve the problem of remittance of cash from the branch regularly”.

He said that the Manipur had 94 bank branches, out of these 9 branches of Manipur Rural Bank (MRB) were not functioning. Only 85 bank branches were operational. Manipur had the highest Average Population per Branch Office (APPBO) amongst all NE States. In 2005, the APPBO of Manipur was 29791, which was alarmingly high in comparison to the National Average (14949) and NER Average (19885).

He also pointed out that out of 41 blocks in Manipur, 20 blocks were without bank. Low branch network had affected the per capita deposits and opening of the Deposits and Credit accounts in the State. With the inadequate banking services in Manipur, the State could hardly cope up with the increasing demands of banking and credit facilities. The state had already presented the case to the Reserve Bank of India and the approvals had not yet come out.

The Minister stated, “It needs to be stressed that in underdeveloped areas of North East Region, banking has to be seen not only as a commercial activity but as a social service too for a certain gestation period. It is, therefore, a mandate for the banks, too, to bear some cost in achieving the objectives of equitable national development. The State Government is of the view that the cost of security should not be a hindrance for banks to come forward in opening new branches”.

He further stated that considering the importance of the Regional Rural Banks(RRB) for developing the rural economy as well as to ensure adequate flow of institutional credit to the rural and agricultural sector, the Government of India in 2007-08 decided to recapitalize 29 RRBs located in 16 States having a total negative net worth of cover their losses. Manipur Rural Bank, the lone RRB in the State was among them. A revival plan had been put in place with infusion of fresh capital and of its share the State Government had released a sum of Rs.120 lakhs and the balance amount (Rs.75.25 lakhs) would be released shortly.

Manipur Rural Bank had been opening with a network of 27 branches spread over in all the 9 districts of the State. Out of 27 branches, 9 rural branches were not functioning for a long time. It needed to be revived on priority and the state government was committed to provide necessary assistance for furthering the business for the MRB, he added.

In his address, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister of DoNER said that North Eastern States had huge potential for its economic development. Existing non-formal banking system of the region should be fully utilized. The Centre earmarked Rupees 14 lakh crore for NER vision 2020 and the banking sector should play a major role in translating the vision into the reality.

In his address, P.Chidambaram, Union Finance Minster stated that intermediary agencies should be developed for effective operation of the non-formal banks. The banks should play both pioneering role and facilitator role in the NE Region for economic growth. He expressed the willingness for opening more currency chests in NE States if the state governments had provided security.

India looks at more currency chests in NE

The government on Saturday said it would facilitate faster establishment of currency chests in the north eastern (NE) region of the country, but asked the NE states to ensure their security.

“We are willing to open more currency chests, which the ministry of home affairs is required to clear. We now promise that the clearance will be given within 3 months and if it does not happen, the currency chest would be deemed cleared. Therefore, more currency chests can be opened now, provided the states ensure the security,” finance minister P Chidambaram said at a meeting on financial inclusion.Chidambaram’s comment came after representatives of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura asked for more currency chests and foreign exchange outlets.

At the end of 2007-08, there were a total of 4,271 currency chests in the country, some of which were based in the NE region. State Bank Group had the largest share at 71.8% of currency chests, followed by other nationalised banks put together (25%). Currency chests are used to perform core-banking functions of note issue and currency management by the

Reserve Bank.

The Central bank has also facilitated the setting up of more chests by forming a special task force earlier this year with RBI deputy governor, Usha Thorat, as its chairperson. The task force was to obtain a list of centres for opening new currency chests and extension of foreign exchange facilities from state governments in the NE region. It would also work out a mechanism of cost sharing among banks, state governments and the RBI for setting up more facilities.

“We have identified Meghalaya for setting up currency chests and foreign exchange outlets and have had two meetings with the state government on this,” Thorat said at the meeting.Chidambram also asked NE states to facilitate the disbursement of more credit by identifying intermediaries between the borrowers and the lenders. “Banks are only facilitators of credit and cannot go to the far flung areas. You (NE states) should identify intermediation agencies like microfinance institutions, self help groups and civil societies for disbursement of higher credit,” he said in reply to the demand of increasing the credit-deposit ration in the NE region. State Bank of India, the country’s biggest bank, had a CD ratio of 45% in the north-east at the end of fiscal 2008.

Seeking to address the issue of non-payment of loans, he said fresh loans could be given only on the repayment of earlier credit. “Banks could not go on lending money. They could lend a limited amount, as per norms, and so borrowers have to repay the loan before banks could again lend. There is a limit to credit growth. In the western world today, the banking activities are totally frozen, despite the central banks pumping in billions of dollars, no one is lending to anyone.”

“Sometimes, the loans cannot be repaid due to legacy issues or natural calamities. Such issues could be addressed through measures such as farm debt waiver package, but such unconventional means could not be extended every rabi season or every kharif season,” Chidambaram said.

During the meeting, SBI chairman O P Bhatt said the bank will open 41 new branches in NE region this fiscal, taking the total in the region to 544. It is also recruiting 25,000 people, most of which will be placed in the NE states. “We have 42,000 smart card-based accounts in the region, this will be scaled up to 2 lakh this year,” Bhatt said.

On the sidelines, he told reporters there are no inducements for the RBI to raise rates in its forthcoming monetary policy review on October 24. “Inflation has come down (11.99% for the week ended September 20) and is not expected to go higher by a substantial margin, liquidity is tight. In this scenario, it is difficult for me to imagine that interest rates would go up in the monetary policy,” Bhatt said.

Probe to verify students’ figure

I
mphal, Oct 5 : Owing to apprehension over the possibility of fudging the actual figure of the students in the age group of 6 to 14 enrolled in different educational institutions under the Education Department of the State with an eye on siphoning off extended benefits, the State Government has decided to conduct an extensive household survey to detect ambiguity on the stated figure.Disclosing this to The Sangai Express, a reliable source said the Government has been suffering loss financially in the implementation of welfare schemes for the students as the actual number of students in the age group of 6 to 14 and studying in the schools has not been quoted in the right perspective. According to the reports submitted to the Department by the Zonal Education Officers (ZEOs), the number of students in the age group of 6 to 14 enrolled in different schools is around 60,000 with the number of school dropouts hovering in the range of 58,000 .

As there is strong apprehension over the possibility of fudging the actual figure in the reports submitted by the respective ZEOs, the Government would rope in the service of an NGO to conduct a household survey for verification and authenticating the actual number of students enrolled in these schools.

Along with that steps would also be taken up for proper mapping of the actual locations of the schools, the source disclosed. There is various pitfalls in taking up developmental and other welfare programmes based on inadequate or over-inflated datas, the source added.

It may be noted here that upto 2005, the total number of schools in the State was 3257.Out of these, 604 were aided schools.The source further informed that in connection with the confusion over the number of students in the said age group, a joint meeting of the Education Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners to be chaired by the Chief Secretary would be held on October 10 to discuss the matter.

It is said that the Centre has stopped releasing fund for implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in the State for the current year as the ZEOs concerned have not submitted the utilisation certificates of the fund used earlier.

But the implementation of the scheme is still being carried out with expenses from State share and some remaining fund of the scheme.

According to another source, introduction of e-education of the NEC would be started in 20 selected schools under the Education Department very soon.

Under this system of education, students would be imparted with practical knowledge of science subjects and internet facilities would be provided to these educational institutions.

Kingpin in Manipur trafficking case held

IImphal, Oct 5 : The Manipur police have claimed a major breakthrough in cracking girl trafficking scandals reported in the past few months with the arrest and detention of a tribal woman alleged to be the kingpin.
Apam Khamrang, 30, who was arrested on Tuesday by the police at Sekmai while she was escorting 18 girls to Chennai, has been sent to police custody by a court till October 8.

The tribal girls, aged between 11 and 23 years, were being taken to Chennai on the false promise of giving them employment.

All the girls have been handed over to their parents.Suspicion
Police personnel became suspicious on seeing 18 girls being taken in a bus since there had been reports of trafficking in the recent past.

Though the arrested woman told police that they were being taken for employment in Chennai, the girls themselves did not know anything about the company’s name and what kind of jobs they would be given.
Further probe on

A top-ranking police officer said, “The tribal woman is suspected of procuring the girls, disposing them or using them for illegal purposes by deceiving their parents. Her act amounts to organised child trafficking and we are making further investigation.” She was produced in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal West District.

Bound for abroad?
Some weeks ago, the Nagaland police had rounded up many girls while they were being taken to Chennai. It is learnt that after taking them there, the girls are sent to foreign countries for flesh trade and the like. Four girls from Tamenglong district of Manipur had also been sold to a night club in Malaysia. As they were sexually exploited, they fled the club and took shelter in the house of a pastor.

The Central government had ordered a high-level inquiry into this incident.

Three apprehended in girls trafficking case

Imphal, Oct 5 : Three local agents reportedly involved in selling off five girls from Manipur and Assam to a night club in Malaysia have been arrested by police.

Moreover it has also been established that the trafficking network involved some individuals based at Guwahati and Kolkata.
bung Pamei were produced before CJM Tamenglong yesterday and remanded to police custody till October 9, Aguina was also produced before Court today which remanded him to police custody till October 8.The apprehended agents are being interrogated.

Earlier, police have already arrested one Philip Gangmei of Sibilong in connection with the same case.

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