Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Airtel provides employment to 1200 Naga families

B
harti Airtel, which is one of the leading mobile service provider in the country has been providing employment opportunities to around 1200 families in Nagaland.


Addressing a press conference at Hotel Japfu, Kohima today, Chief Operating Officer, Bharti Airtel for North East Region, Sudipto Chowdhury said the company launched mobile services three years and has been providing direct or indirectly employment opportunities to 1200 families in Nagaland.
He also claimed that with a market share of thirty per cent in Nagaland, Airtel has provided telecommunication network and accelerated the economic development of the region.


He said that Airtel is not only serving customers in Nagaland by providing a superior telecommunication network, but is closely associated with the Naga people in promoting their culture.


Airtel has been promoting local talent in the North Eastern Region and also supporting efforts to showcase the North East and its tourism potential through associating in events like the Hornbill Festival of Nagaland and Autumn Festival of Meghalaya, he said.


This time Airtel has sponsored the first prize of five lakh rupees for the winner of the Hornbill National Rock Contest with nine bands to perform in the final round tonight at local ground. He also maintained that the company has been promoting activities relating to arts, culture, literature, music and sports in the region in a big way ever since its entry in the North East in April 2005.

Further, he also assured that the Data Card providing Internet connection of the Airtel Company would launch before the New Year in Nagaland while it has an approximate 1,10,000 mobile subscribers in the State.

ZSF Calls CCpur Bandh Over Killing

Imphal, Dec 8 : Decrying shooting to dead of a man at the bank of Khuga river last night at around 11 pm, Zomi Students’s Federation has called district-wide general in Churachandpur from midnight tonight.

A man named Jamliyanpao Zou (28) son of Tujagou Zou hailing from New Lamka was shot dead by some miscreants last night at a spot located at the bank of the Khuga river some four kilometer away from the Churachandpur police station.

A reports received here said that a phone called from one identified himself to be KNO/ZDV had called out Jamliyanpao for a talk and kidnapped him at around 7 pm last night.

The kidnappers had also demanded Rs.50,000 as ransom for his safe released at around 8 pm, the report added.

But, he was shot dead at around 11 pm.

Police retrieved the dead body of Jamliyanpao from the spot this morning.

Strongly condemning the killing, ZSF has called a 24-hour general strike in Churachandpur district which would be effective from midnight tonight.

Hueiyen News Service

Victory Celebrations by Congress in Mizoram



Aizawl, Dec 8 : Victory celebrations by the Congress erupted in Mizoram on Monday, with the opposition party all set to form the next government and the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) literally routed as votes cast to elect the 40-member state legislature were counted.

According to the latest trends and results available, the Congress won 18 seats and was leading in four seats, while the MNF and the other major regional conglomeration United Democratic Alliance (UDA) failed to make an impact in the vote held on Tuesday.

The MNF was leading by a slender majority in just three seats when reports last came in. In a major upset, Chief Minister Zoramthanga and leader of the MNF lost the North Champai seat to his Congress rival.

“This is a verdict for change and a big snub to the 10-year-old misrule and corruption of the MNF government,” the Congress chief ministerial candidate Lalthanhawla told IANS.

“We are committed to providing a stable government with our focus on development and well being of the people,” he added.

Lalthanhawla, a former three-time chief minister, won both the seats he contested. He beat F Lalthanzuala of the MNF by 96 votes to bag the South Tipui seat and got the Serchhip assembly seat by 952 votes.

PC Lalthanliana of the Congress won the Lunglei North seat, defeating his nearest MNF rival by 705 votes, while Congress candidate RL Pianmawia won the Tuivawl seat. He defeated his MNF rival by 473 votes.

Congress candidate R Lalzirliana won the Tawi seat defeating his nearest MNF candidate by 1,211 votes. In the Turial seat, Hminhdailova Khiangte of the Congress party defeated his MNF rival by 1,022 votes.

Congress candidate H Liansailova won the Aizawl North seat, defeating his MNF rival by 266 votes. Nihar Kanti Chakma of the Congress party defeated his nearest MNF rival in the West Tuipui seat by 1,540 votes, while S Hiato of the same party won the Saiha seat, beating his MNF rival. Congress candidate L Ralte won the Hachhek seat, defeating his MNF rival.

The MNF has been in power in Mizoram for the last 10 years. In the last assembly elections held in 2003, it secured 21 seats, while the Congress bagged 12 and seven went to other smaller parties.


IANS

Radio Misty Sikkim 95 FM To Be Soon On Air



Sikkim, Dec 8 : Radio Misty Sikkim 95 FM will be on air at Sikkim soon. This will be the first fm station to be heard in whole of Sikkim. A state of art studio is ready in the capital city of Sikkim, Gangtok. Radio Misty, which is aired in the 94.3 MHz in Siliguri, has been allotted change in frequency in Sikkim.

Says Radio Misty CEO Nishant Mittal, “Misty, due to its location, can be very well heard in Sikkim from Siliguri. With the same frequency in both cities, airwaves from both stations will be overlapping, making it difficult to catch the frequency of the station in Gangtok.” so we applied for change in frequency and it is granted.

Radio Misty 94.3 fm is first and number one radio station of North Bengal. Radio Misty Sikkim 95 FM had already started its campaign for its launch in Sikkim with outdoor hoardings and road campaigns.

Now with the new frequency in the Sikkim, Radio Misty Sikkim will launch a fresh campaign, which says, ‘No more point ka chakkar’. Its just music and music. Talking about the two different frequencies in the two cities, Mittal says, “People always relate to the brand name and not the frequency number.

For our future bids, we would always want to bid for the 94.3 frequency. With the change in the frequency, we do not intend to change our logo or tagline, the new hoardings will only change the frequency number in our hoardings with the same tagline “Gungunate Raho”

Sikkim listeners will be in a unique position - they will be able to tune in to two different Misty channels, one aired from Siliguri and the other from Gangtok. Training of the Radio Jockey and other team members is already competed. A new radio jingle is also made for Radio Misty Sikkim 95 FM.

The entire shows will have the blend of local music and culture. Mittal said that people in Sikkim are very fond of music. As we have BBC and Radio Netherlands Worldwide as our partner we will be able to play more international numbers and other international shows.

Agencies

Meghalaya Calls Security Meet Special Force for Meghalaya

Shillong, Dec 9 : A security meet convened by Meghalaya chief minister Donkupar Roy today decided to raise an exclusive commando battalion to be trained by the NSG, to tackle any emergency in the state.

Deputy chief minister in-charge of home H.S. Lyngdoh and senior police officials discussed the need to raise the commando battalion in the state and wanted to strengthen the current special operations team (SOT).

Lyngdoh said the meeting decided to raise a special commando force in view of the terror attacks in the country.

Initially, the government is planning to have 100 such commandos, to be increased at a later stage depending on funds and manpower.

The state, besides using its own resources, will also ask the Centre to provide funds.

The state government will seek the help of NSG commandos to give special training to the new recruits.

The food habits to be adopted by the commandos as well as the equipment to be used in operations will figure on the training agenda, a police official said.

Lyngdoh said the process to raise the battalion would start without any delay.

The meeting discussed the shortage of members in the special operations team (SOT), as most of the personnel who belong to the 3 IRB battalion were in Delhi on VIP duties.

Since the majority of the men are now deployed in Delhi, the meeting discussed the need to have more of the team among the armed police personnel to tackle any emergency in the state.

Lyngdoh said there was a rise in militant activities in West Khasi Hills and Garo Hills since there was a shortage of the special operations team personnel to take on these criminals.

An armed SOT man, identified as R.D. Sangma, was killed yesterday when Liberation of Achik Elite Force (LAEF) militants fired at a team of police personnel in Shallang in West Khasi Hills during a raid.

In this context, Lyngdoh said more trained police personnel would be inducted into the team to tackle terror attacks, which can come in any form.

The team, with 44 commandos, was formed in 2000 to fight militancy in the state.

The team could be successful in containing militancy, especially in its fight against the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) in the state.

The team had also received training from NSG instructors, besides undergoing special physical training at the North East Police Academy (Nepa) at Umiam here.

At 86, Former Brigadier Still Active in Mizo Politics



At 86, Brigadier Thengpunga Sailo is among the oldest active politicians in the mountainous northeastern state of Mizoram. Age is no bar for the stocky former army commander.

He had announced his retirement from politics a decade ago, but plunged in this year’s assembly elections. His reason: ‘I feel restless when I don’t see my agenda of fulfilling the basic needs of the people of Mizoram being implemented.’

In 1978, Sailo, then a dynamic retired army officer, filed his nomination as the chief ministerial candidate of a newly-formed Peoples Conference (PC) that swept the year’s Mizoram Union Territory Assembly elections.

Thirty years later, the Mizoram People’s Conference leader was pitched as the next Mizoram chief minister by the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), an electoral alliance he formed with another regional party Zoram Nationalist Party and civic organisation Zoram Kuthnathawktu Pawl.

Sailo was twice chief minister of Mizoram - a brief stint in his first tenure June 2-Nov 10, 1978, followed by a full term from 1979 to 1984. Mizoram was then a Union Territory. This time Sailo contested from the prestigious Aizawl West-II constituency.

Considered as the patriarch of Mizo politics, Brig. T Sailo commanded the prestigious 190 (Korea) Brigade in the army and after retirement launched his own political party, the People’s Conference, in the late 1970s.

In the May 1978 elections, his People’s Conference won 23 of 30 seats. But in November the same year, the party faced nine defections, allegedly engineered by legendary guerrilla leader Laldenga. Subsequently, President’s Rule was imposed on the state.

Known to be quite hostile to the Mizo National Front (MNF) that led a 20-year-old bush war, Sailo became the main stumbling block during the peace talks between the rebels and the Indian government. On a number of occasions, Sailo’s adamant posturing led to the break-down of the peace talks with Laldenga and the centre.

In the 1984 assembly elections, Sailo’s party lost the polls to the Congress. In the mid-seventies when Laldenga’s MNF-led insurgency in Mizoram was at its peak, Sailo came to Mizoram as a veritable saviour of the helpless Mizos.

The people were literally torn between the hammer and the anvil — the MNF guerrillas and the trigger-happy Indian Army. The frightened Mizos found a guardian in Sailo and elected him their chief minister in 1978, which he held continuously, except for a few months of President’s Rule, till 1984.

Among other things, the Sailo ministry had initiated the Aizawl city extension project, Bairabi hydel project and the Greater Aizawl Water Supply Scheme (GAWSS) Phase-I, which he alleged were never pursued by the successive governments of the Congress and the MNF.

‘The primary needs of the people are power, rice cultivation and agricultural self-sufficiency. But successive governments failed to take up these needs,’ Sailo says with a hint of anger, scarcely concealing his wish to become the chief minister once again.

Mizoram - More Women Voters but No Women Legislators



Aizawl, Dec 9 : Mizoram is the only Indian state where women voters outnumber men, but all the women who stood for election to the 40-member assembly lost the race to their male rivals.

Mizoram has a total electorate of 611,124. While 308,884 are women, 302,240 are men. However, very few women enter the political fray and even those who do are rarely elected to power.

Of the 206 politicians who contested the Dec 2 polls, only nine were women and none of them were elected to the state legislature. The seven women who contested the last assembly elections in 2003 had also lost.

Mizoram became a union territory in 1972 and a full-fledged state in 1986. Since 1972, there have been only three women legislators - Thanmawii (1978), K. Thansiami (1979) and Lalhlimpui (1987).

Lalhlimpui was the only woman minister in 1987. The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) had again nominated Lalhlimpui in the Hrangturzo constituency this time, while the main opposition Congress had fielded its women wing supremo Zothankimi in Aizawl West.

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA), a conglomeration of various regional parties, fielded H. Lalhmingthangi in the Champhai South constituency against MNF chief and Chief Minister Zoramthanga.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded two women candidates, while other smaller and unrecognised parties too nominated two women candidates.

‘Mizo society in pre-modern times was strictly patriarchal. The women were largely relegated to the home and denied a public role in social and religious life. This mindset is yet to change,’ said Sekhar Paul, a sociologist.

The Women Welfare Front (WWF), constituted by women members of the village councils across the state, and the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP), the state’s biggest women body, have been actively spearheading the campaign for women candidates in the state assembly polls.

‘Due to our constant pressure, a record number of nine women candidates contested this election. Unfortunately, none of the female nominees were successful,’ said WWF secretary Darhmingthangi.

‘Both the women contestants and female electorates in the mountainous state were equally enthusiastic as their male counterparts during the electioneering,’ she added.

Mizoram has achieved a literacy rate of 88.49 percent (in 2001 census), second only to Kerala’s 90.92 percent. Of a total of 431,275 women in the state, 86.13 percent are literate.

An important feature in the Mizoram polls is that 33 of the 40 newly elected legislators are aged between 45 and 74 years, and 126 of the 206 candidates who contested the polls are in the same age group.

All together, 78 candidates aged between 25 to 44 years fought the polls and only six of those in this age group were successful.

Among the three chief ministerial candidates, UDA’s 86-year-old T. Sailo was the oldest candidate. MNF supremo Zoramthanga is 64 and the Congress’ Lalthanhawla is 68.

‘I think we need younger people with younger attitude so that we can keep up with the rest of the world,’ said Sailothanga Sailo, a university teacher.

Among the 40 elected law makers, 60 percent are new faces and first timers.