Saturday, November 8, 2008

At last, Mautam Relief Released




Imphal, Nov 8 : Extending relief to the people of Churachandpur, Tamenglong and Chandel district who have been affected by Bamboo flowering (Mautam) and the consequent destruction caused to food crops by rodent population, Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh today handed over the cheque amount of the relief to the respective Deputy Commissioners of the three affected districts at a simple function in his office chamber.

The relief amount has been provided from the Relief Fund of the State Government’s Relief and Disaster Management Department.

According to an official source, the total estimated number of households that have been affected by the calamity in the three districts is 33,248 and the total monetary value of the relief to be provided is Rs 16,67,00,120 .

In Churachandpur district, a total of 13920.609 hectare and 14,307 households are estimated to have been affected and the amount of the relief to be provided is Rs 7,22,83,574 .

In Tamenglong, 13,504.165 hectare of land and 13,879 households have been reportedly affected for which an amount of Rs 6,76,88,570 would be provided as relief.

For Chandel district, where an estimated 4925.226 hectare of land and 5062 households have been affected, a total of Rs 2,67,27,972 would be provided as relief.

The cheques of the relief amount were handed over to the Deputy Commissioners concerned in the presence of Chief Secretary Rakesh, Relief Commission and Commission (Co-operation).

Miss Kut shows benevolent face



Imphal, Nov 8 : Showing her humanitarian side, Miss Kut 2008 Moirangthem Minerva visited the Mahila Kalyan Samiti, the oldest orphanage at Dewlahland today where she distributed sweetmeats and snack items to the inmates.

Incidentally, boxer Ng Dingko who won gold in Bangkok Asian Games grew up here.

Eighteen year old and standing 5′6″, Minerva is not only a beauty but an athlete too.

Before taking up modelling, she was a talented fencer.

She won gold in the Sub-Junior National Fencing Championship held at Patiala in 2003 .

Destined as she was to become a model and an actor, Minerva had to give up sports as her doctor advised not to practice fencing for six months following a problem in her right wrist.
Minerva belonging to Khurai Soibam Leikai is currently doing her pre-university course.

Days after winning the coveted Miss Kut title, Minerva is now flooded with offers for acting in Manipuri feature films.

Talking about the sudden inflow of film offers, Minerva said that she had signed all the contracts so that she could earn enough money to help orphan and destitute children.

“I would love to see them utilise the money I donated for their welfare”, said Minerva adding that she shall donate 50 percent of all her earnings to orphanages.

She is not new to film acting.

Minerva had already acted in some feature films and she would be going to Myanmar next month for shooting a Manipuri film there.

Th fact that Minerva is not a beauty without brain was testified by her witty answer in the final round of the Miss Kut contest.

To a question regarding her preference between her boyfriend and parents, Minerva said, “I prefer my boyfriend for I would live with him for my whole life while my life with my parents would be much shorter”.

Four bids for Northeast regional airline

Shillong Nov 7 : Even as the Indian aviation industry is experiencing rough weather with defaults on payment of jet fuel charges and layoffs, as many as four airlines, including state-run Alliance Air, have bid for operating a regional air carrier for the Northeast.

The bids came following a third tender floated by the North East Council (NEC), which closed on October 30, officials of the regional planning body said.

The council is now in the process of examining the tenders before deciding on which company to rope in for the proposed dedicated service for the region.

Officials said the process is likely to be completed by the end of November. This is the third time that NEC has floated the tender.The earlier two had failed as the companies did not comply with the norms.

Three companies had made bids in the second tender, but all were rejected on grounds that they did not meet the technical criteria as stated in the bid documents.

The NEC plans to run a dedicated airline in the Northeast linking all important cities and towns in the region. About 12 new airports have been planned in addition to the existing 11.

Concerns over economic viability have kept companies away from the project even as the NEC announced that the selected airline would get subsidy from the Council.