Sunday, January 31, 2010

'India needs to have an elected PM': Sangma

In the already strained relations between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, another salvo comes from senior NCP leader and former Speaker of the parliament, PA Sangma, aimed at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Sangma said that a parliamentary democracy like India needs an elected Prime Minister, a member of the Lok Sabha, unlike Manmohan Singh, who is a member of Rajya Sabha.

"I am a strong believer of parliamentary system of government but in the last 15 years, I am a very disappointed man, looking at the decline of the parliamentary system. In '96, parliament elected 542 members. Nobody could become PM of India. The Lok Sabha failed to produce a PM and we had to borrow a CM from Karnataka.", said the NCP leader.

"Next government could not find a Prime Minister in Lok Sabha, and had to look for him in Rajya Sabha in 2004 and 2009. Why I am saying this is because in a parliamentary system, a country must have an elected Prime Minister and he must belong to a lower house. UK can never think of having a PM from House of Lords. It is unthinkable. That is why I am saying things are declining.", he added.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

* Wills India Fashion week to start from March 24

New Delhi, Jan 30 (PTI) The Autumn-Winter edition of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion week 2010 will be held between March 24 and 28 this year.

The gala event, hosted by the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), has a new venue - the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Exhibition Complex here.

This season of WIFW will witness the largest-ever event space, spanning over 14,000 sq meters. The Spring-Summer 2010 edition was held at Pragati Maidan in October last year.

Special arrangements will be made by the FDCI to ensure that the new venue is 'tailor-made' for the event.

Exquisite lounges, plush salons, special on-site restaurants and exhibition cafe counters will be set up for the guests.

"WIFW has always been a much awaited fashion trade show of the country.

Dogra, CRPF adjudged best marching contingents for RD parade 2010

New Delhi, Jan 30 (ANI): The Dogra Regiment has won the best marching contingent award amongst the three Services for the 2010 Republic Day Parade while the CRPF has been adjudged the best amongst the paramilitary and other auxiliary marching contingents.

Among the five school children items that took part in the parade, the Dolukunitha dance form of Karnataka, performed by children from the South Zone cultural centre, Thanjavur, has been adjudged as the best.

The Ministry of Culture''s tableau put up by the Sangeet Natak Akademi has bagged the coveted first prize amongst the 21 tableaux on display at the Rajpath.

The Goa state tableau with the theme of International Film Festival of India and Chhattisgarh tableau depicting Kotumsar caves have won the second and third prize in the tableau category.

The floral tableau on global warming, mounted by the CPWD, has been chosen for a special prize.

Defence Minister AK Antony will give away the awards for the best tableaux at a function in New Delhi on Sunday, January 31. (ANI)

No bikini ban on Goa beaches, says state govt

Goa Tourism Department on Saturday rubbished media reports that Goa government will ban bikinis on the beaches in view of spate of crimes against women in the holiday destination.

"There are no moves to ban bikinis on the beaches. We have just moved to ensure that the government sponsored advertisements does not have women in bikinis on it," state Tourism Minister Fransisco Pacheco said.

The minister was reacting to the media reports which claimed, quoting a senior tourism ministry official, that bikinis would be banned on the state's beaches.

"How will people bath in the sea without swim wear? There is nothing vulgar in wearing beachwear on the beaches," he said.

Pacheco said that the tourism ministry is concerned over wrong portrayal of Goa's image as a sex tourism destination and that's why the directives were issued to delete bikini clad women from the advertisements.

"This is a family holiday destination. There are lakhs of families, many from neighbouring states, who holiday here," he said.

The minister said that the ban on bikinis cannot be imposed because foreigners come down here to take sunbath on the beaches.

Pacheco, a NCP legislator, had recently expressed his worries over spate of crimes against tourists in the state after two Russian women were reportedly raped during last two months.

The minister had demanded that the Congress high command re-allot the portfolios and move out "inefficient" ministers.

Honda to recall 8000 units of City 2007 model

Honda Siel Cars India on Saturday said it will recall over 8,000 units of sedan 'City' in the country due to defective power window switches as part of a global recall.

The vehicles, which have been recalled, were manufactured in 2007, a company official said.

On Friday, Honda had announced a global recall of 6.46 lakh units of City and Jazz models after reports of defective power window switches.

However, HSCI had said the recall will not impact the hatchback Jazz sold in India as the model belongs to later generation than the one which has been recalled in other markets of the world.

Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, (HSCI) is a joint venture between Honda Motor Co Ltd, Japan and Siel Limited, a Siddharth Shriram Group company.

DVDs That can Last 1,000 years

Would you like your valuable memories to be stored in a DVD that lasts as long as you live? Typically, a consumer grade DVD has a lifespan of two- to five-year. Well, we came across an immortal DVD that can last 10 times your lifetime. Developed by a start-up Cranberry LLC, this DVD could virtually last a millennium. Cranberry claims that their technology has been proved by researchers using the ECMA-379 temperature and humidity testing standards.

The DVD stores 4.7GB of data and uses the same standard DVDs to store data. Unlike the silver or gold reflective surface, the disc is transparent, with no reflective layer. The standard DVDs use a 650 nanometer wavelength laser diode to etch a small pit into a disc's media surface. However, the DiamonDisc uses a higher-intensity laser to etch data into the "diamond-like" surface of its synthetic stone disc.

According to Joe Beaulaurier, Cranberry's chief marketing officer

For the military, there's no heat, light, magnetic waves or environmental abuse that will have an impact on these discs,

Customers purchasing the DVD will have to send their upload photos, videos or other content directly to Cranberry's Web site or mail it to the company. Cranberry will data-write the DiamondDisc for their customers.

Coming to the price - a single DiamonDisc would costs $34.95. Two or more individual discs come for $29.95, and a pack of five discs is available at $149.75. The price of the burner is sky-high, priced at a freaking $4,995. Interestingly, the burner can be easily plugged into any standard USB port and is compatible with any standard DVD burning software.

Overtly, if you want you photos, videos or other valuable content to be archived imperishably for entire life and the future generations, DiamonDisc seems a definite pick.

A close look at Apple iPad

The moment has ultimately come. Apple disclosed their tablet, called as iPad. They call it stunning tablet device. iPad ushered an era in terms of browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more. I am trying to give you a look and feel of the device with the help of this article after going through reviews from Apple blog and different news magazine.
Specification:

1. The size of iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs only 1.5 pounds.
2. iPad comes with a 9.7-inch, LED-backlit with 178 degree viewing angle.
3. Battery life is upto 10 hours.
4. iPad is built on A4 processor
5. The device is released in two versions, one with Wi-Fi and the other with both Wi-Fi and 3G.
6. The price of ipad is $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for the 64GB model and it will be available in March worldwide .

Key Features:

* There is only one single button which is less distracting than multiple buttons.
* Like iPhone, there is a single sleep/wake button at the top.
* There is one Headphone jack.
* It is interesting to see how the device switches from landscape to portrait mode in four direction.
* The touch screen is ultra responsive and it is easy to browse the web.
* The browsing of Map application is very satisfying. The street view comes very prominent.
* The HD videos of youtube works in an outstanding way.
* iPhoto is a wonderful experience than you might have thought about.
* It is very easy and quick to shuffle through bunch of emails.
* The iTunes store and iTunes Video work very well on iPad.
* The device will work on Bluetooth keyboard, but not on Bluetooth mouse.
* iPad runs almost over 140,000 apps on the App Store, which includes apps already purchased for your iPhone or iPod touch.
* Apple also revealed the new iBooks app for iPad, which includes Apple’s new iBookstore. Using iBookstore, you can browse, buy and read books on a mobile device.

Windows 7 Sales Skyrockets Microsoft Profits

With a hyper-sale of Windows 7, Microsoft posted an overwhelming 60 percent jump in quarterly profit. The Redmond based-company announced their net profit for second quarter fiscal touched $6.7 billion ( 74 cents per share) for its fiscal second quarter. This is $ 2.5 billion more than last year. Moreover, the net profit also surpasses the expectations of analysts at Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S who expected it to be 59 cents per share. Microsoft's stock has run-up after the launch of Windows 7 operating system in October. All the rivals IBM corp., Google Inc and Apple Inc have overcome the average Wall Street estimates this quarter.

As Andy Miedler, analyst at Edward Jones, projects

Make no mistake, these were very good results out of Microsoft. Expectations were heightened ever the last few weeks, given Q4 PC shipments and good numbers from Intel,

However, there are some questions raised against the earnings numbers, as Microsoft is said to have included the effects of deferred revenue from pre-sales of Windows 7 to PC makers and retailers, and its free upgrade program. If the revenue was deducted the profit would have been 60 cents per share.

Apprehending the market volatility, Microsoft stopped making specific profit or revenue forecasts in January 2009.

As told by Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein to Reuters

We didn't see enterprise spending growth in our fiscal second quarter just ended,

Windows 7 was Microsoft's strongest-selling operating system till date, given the Visatster with Vista. Last quarter, PC sales grew by 15.2 percent.

MIcrosoft's revenue climbed 14 percent to $19.02 billion after including $1.71 billion of deferred revenue from the Windows 7 launch in October. Excluding that the revenue the sales would stand at $17.31 billion.

Most analyst speculate that the Microsoft corp. stock had its run. With PC sales going steady and a new applications coming up, the stocks can still outperform. All eyes are on the newMicrosoft Office scheduled for a launch in June.

Sukhoi T-50- Successful Maiden Test Flight

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (GaeaTimes.com)- Sukhoi T-50, on Friday made a successful maiden test flight attempt over the sky of Komsomolsk-on-Amur for a time-frame of 47 minutes. Sergei Bogdan, who was the pilot of this test flight shared his experience of flying and said, "it is easy and comfortable to pilot." The success of the test flight attempt of this fifth-generation fighter plane has been a significant achievement for Russia, which has made great efforts for modernizing their fighter planes and weapons and stop using the planes of Soviet era.

Prior to the successful maiden test flight of Sukhoi T-50, Russians had failed in several projects of introducing high-profile weapons. The success of this fifth-generation fighter plane, which is reportedly built in collaboration with Indian experts must have given some relief to the Russian camp. According to the reports, the Russian officials have devoted almost twenty years for building the fifth-generationfighter plane . It has been reported that the success of the test has given them the hope that they would be able to put the plane in service from 2015. They also expect that this plane will be capable to challenge thefighter plane, F-22 of the United States.

Though the Sukhoi T-50 maiden test flight attempt has been successful, Russian officials have not shared any specification of the new fighter plane. They have also maintained confidentiality on the designs of the fifth-generation fighter plane that has made the headlines today. Though the officials declin
ed to make any comment on the details of the plane, a source reported that it has a range of 5,500 kilometer.










11,000 MBA aspirants to take online CAT re-test

NEW DELHI - Nearly 11,000 MBA aspirants, who could not take the online Common Admission Test (CAT) due to technical glitches last year, will take the examination over Saturday and Sunday.

The second phase of the exam to select students for the country’s top B-schools, will be conducted in around 40 centres across the nation, including nine in Delhi.

Ulhas Vairagkar, of coaching institute TIME, said: There are 11,000 students, 2,000 in Delhi, who have been identified across the country for the CAT re-test. These students couldn’t take the exam because of technical problems earlier.”

However, we can not say for sure how many will actually take the re-test since a number of them must have already appeared for other MBA entrance tests, he added.

As a result of the technical problems and students being unable to take the test, the date for the results has also been postponed. Earlier, the result was to be declared Jan 22, but now it will be out Feb 15, Vairagkar told IANS.

Since the results will be delayed, the students will get less time to prepare for the group discussion and interview. But the admission process as such will remain unaffected, he added.

At least 241,000 Masters in Business Administration aspirants had registered to appear for the first online CAT examination spread over 11 days from Nov 28 last year. However, all students could not appear for the exam due to technical glitches.

Obama administration announces $6.4 billion arms sale package to Taiwan

WASHINGTON — The United States is planning to sell $6.4 billion in arms to Taiwan, a move that will infuriate China and test whether President Barack Obama’s efforts to improve trust with Beijing will carry the countries through a tense time.

The notification to Congress, posted Friday on a Pentagon Web site, includes Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, mine hunter ships and information technology. Congress has 30 days to comment before the plan goes forward; senior lawmakers traditionally have supported such sales.

Taiwan is the most sensitive matter in U.S.-China relations, with the potential to plunge into conflict two powers increasingly linked in security and economic issues. China claims the self-governing island as its own. The United States is Taiwan’s most important ally and its largest arms supplier.

The United States, which told China of the sale only hours before the announcement, acknowledged that Beijing may retaliate by cutting off military talks with Washington, which happened after the Bush administration announced a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan in 2008.

The U.S. is “obstinately making the wrong decision,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday after Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei warned Ambassador Jon Huntsman the sale would “cause consequences that both sides are unwilling to see.” The vice minister urged that the sale be immediately canceled, it said.

Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said Beijing will lodge a formal protest against the U.S. decision. Asked if China would halt military talks, he said, “Let’s wait and see.”

“We strongly request that the U.S. side correct the wrong action, so as to avoid further damaging Chinese-U.S. relations,” Wang said. “TheTaiwan question and the arms sale issue bear on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, so this is a very serious problem.”

Though Taiwan’s ties with China have warmed considerably since Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou took office 20 months ago, Beijing has threatened to invade if the island ever formalizes its de facto independence.

Ma told reporters Saturday that the deal should not anger the mainland because the weapons are defensive, not offensive.

Despite its size, the U.S. weapons package dodges a touchy issue: F-16 fighter jets that Taiwan covets are not included. Senior U.S. officials said they are aware of Taiwan’s desire for F-16s and are assessing Taiwan’s needs.

The arms package includes 114 PAC-3 missiles and other equipment, costing more than $2.8 billion; 60 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, costing $3.1 billion; information distribution systems and other equipment, at $340 million; two Osprey Class Mine Hunting Ships, at a cost of about $105 million; and other items.

The sale satisfies parts of an $11 billion arms package originally pledged to Taiwan by former President George W. Bush in 2001. That package has been provided in stages because of political and budgetary considerations in Taiwan and the United States.

U.S. officials say the Obama administration’s China policy is meant to improve trust between the countries, so that disagreements overTaiwan or Tibet do not reverse efforts to cooperate on nuclear standoffs in Iran and North Korea, and attempts to deal with economic and climate change issues.

China aims more than 1,000 ballistic missiles at Taiwan; the U.S. government is bound by law to ensure the island is able to respond to Chinese threats.

Obama’s national security adviser, Jim Jones, said Friday that both Washington and Beijing do things “periodically that may not make everybody completely happy.”

But Jones told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank that the United States is “bent toward a new relationship with China as a rising power in the world.”

In European restaurants, over a third of milk contaminated

LONDON - One-third of samples of milk and dairy products analysed in various restaurants in Europe are contaminated, says a new study.

Researchers from the University of Valencia (UV) advised against keeping milk in jugs and suggest that these foodstuffs need to be better handled.

The team detected unsuitable practices, such as reheating milk over and over again, even in a microwave, and then pouring it back into the thermos, which increases the risk of microbial contamination.

The study shows that there is a greater contamination risk from milk kept in jugs.

“Out of all the dairy products we analysed, 35 percent of the samples exceeded the maximum contamination levels established by EU law for enterobacteriaceae, and 31 percent exceeded the limits set for mesophilic aerobic micro-organisms.”

“The latter grow at an optimum temperature of between 30 and 45 degrees Celsius,” said Isabel Sospedra, UV researcher in preventive medicine and public health and a study co-author, according to SINC.

Two percent of the samples of hot milk (kept in jugs or stainless teel thermos flasks) also tested positive for the bacteria E. coli.

The scientists examined 265 batches of milk and ready-to-use milk derivatives in a range of bars and restaurants in Valencia, and checked whether their microbial quality fell into line with European Union (EU) regulations.

The results show that one-third of the samples had some kind of microorganism contamination and were not fit for human consumption.

“Luckily none of the batches we analysed tested positive for Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes or Salmonella spp., which are pathogenic micro-organisms that cause both food poisoning and toxoinfections,” the study authors say.

The experts advise that when using milk in any way it is important to clean jugs, thermos flasks and the steamers of coffee machines thoroughly and frequently, using the right kind of hygienic sponges or cloths, which is not always the case, said a university release.

“Kitchen cloths are not suitable for disinfecting because of their microstructure, which means they transfer even greater levels of contamination,” the scientists explain.

These findings were published recently in the journal of Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.

Drunken woman driver kills two and injures four in Mumbai

MUMBAI - A woman driving allegedly under the influence of alcohol rammed her car into a police jeep and a bike, leaving an assistant sub-inspector and the biker dead and four policemen seriously injuredhere on Saturday.

The woman identified as Nuriya Yusuf Ahluwalia, (27) rammed her Honda SUV into stationery traffic police vehicle Qualis and two other vehicles - a motorcycle and a taxi.

Motorcycle rider Afzal Kanojia, (35) and Police sub-inspector Lala Shinde succumbed to injuries while four constables.

Police confirmed that Ahluwalia was driving very rash and smashed into several vehicles.

“She was drunk. My two brothers were there. One died and the other one who witnessed that accident and is injured now told me that she was drunk,” said Riyaz Qureshi an eyewitness.

Police said Ahluwalia has been apprehended and a case also been registered at L.T Marg police station.

There was no time to stop her. She was driving very rash and the moment she dashed into a vehicle, her car overturned and then landed on the footpath. In this accident sub-inspector Shinde and other constables have sustained injuries. A civilian named Afzal has died in the hospital,”Police said.

The injured police personnel are undergoing treatment at a private hospital and Ahluwalia has been arrested. Ahluwalia is believed to be a top executive with a firm.

Medical examinations are being conducted on her have confirmed alochol intake.

The accused reportedly have been booked under culpable homicide not amounting to murder, causing grievous hurt, and rash and negligent driving. (ANI)

Singer Zubeen Garg’s ponytail cut off by fan

GUWAHATI - Fans are known to do crazy things. But Assams singing sensation Zubeen Garg of “Ya Ali” fame was taken aback when he realised that a woman fan had stealthily chopped off his ponytail at a recording studio here.

The incident took place late Friday when Zubeen was busy dubbing an Assamese number at the DG Music Studio in Guwahati.

I suddenly found that my ponytail was missing and then found a woman fan of mine, who seems to be a little crazy, holding the lock of hair and shouting at me. What could I do? Zubeen told journalists.

Friends and acquaintances later shoved the woman out of the studio.

The woman had on earlier occasions attended some of my functions and even danced on stage, Zubeen said.

The singer is at his wit’s end, and so are some of his friends and well wishers, as Zubeen is currently shooting an Assamese TV serial “Anuradha” where he is supposed to sport theponytail.

There are some sequences left for shooting and for continuity we need the ponytail. Without Zubeens ponytail, the shooting would be incomplete. We have to find other ways to maintain the continuity in the serial, one of the make-up artists of the serial said.

The news of Zubeens ponytail cut by a woman fan has spread like wild fire as he is considered the heartthrob of the young generation in Assam.

I got the news late Friday and immediately rushed to the studio to find out what happened and how Zubeen looked without the ponytail, said Zublee, a female co-singer who accompanies Zubeen in most of the stage shows.

Fortunately for Zubeen, he managed to get the lock of hair back from the woman.

Look at this ponytail. Maybe some people dont like me to wear a ponytail, Zubeen said in a jovial manner.

Junk jhum to reduce landslides: Arunachal

cultivation is one of the primary causes of killer landslides in Arunachal Pradesh and elsewhere in the Northeast. This was underscored at a workshop on micro-zonation of landslide and earthquake in Itanagar on Friday.

According to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, the government was initiating proposals for fencing of slope farms and terrain-specific irrigation to help jhum cultivators switch to permanent cultivation in order to reduce landslides.

“We are awaiting the Centre’s approval for such innovative schemes toward greater ecological good,” he said.

Experts at the workshop said landslides, a common phenomenon in the Northeast, occur due to various human factors and can be minimized through awareness. Improper construction and unplanned towns on slopes are debilitating factors too..

Every year, monsoon-induced landslides kill at least 60 people in the Northeast, a majority of them in Arunachal Pradesh. In 2008, the Arunachal Pradesh government was forced to change building bylaw after a landslide in State capital Itanagar claimed 17 persons.

Agriculture experts, though, are divided over the ecological impact of jhum, something various hill tribes of the region have been practicing for centuries.

“There’s a misconception about jhum, which has traditionally been cyclic. A patch of hill slope forest burnt down once for cultivation would be allowed to grow back before using it again. The problem lies in places where due to land crunch and population pressure farmers return to the same patch sooner than was traditionally mandated,” said land resources specialist Amba Jamir from Nagaland.

53 beauty queens compete for Miss America crown during pageant in Las Vegas

53 beauty queens vie for Miss America crown

LAS VEGAS — A group of 53 beauty queens picked from around the country for their smiles, struts and interview savvy were set to woo a panel of judges in hopes of winning theMiss America 2010 crown.

The young women from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico will cap a week of preliminary competition with the scheduled crowning of a winner Saturday night inLas Vegas.

The winner, crowned by reigning Miss America Katie Stam, gets a $50,000 scholarship and embarks on a yearlong run with the title to represent the organization and raise awareness for her chosen platform.

The 89-year-old pageant to be televised live on cable network TLC is hosted by actor and “Extra” host Mario Lopez, with help from Clinton Kelly of TLC’s “What Not to Wear.”

The panel of judges include radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, actress Vivica Fox, musician Dave Koz, Miss America 2002 Katie Harman, gymnast Shawn Johnson and former “American Idol” finalist Brooke White. Comedian Paul Rodriguez was set to be a judge, but organizers said he pulled out because of a family emergency.

Scores based on a week of preliminary competitions will be added to Saturday’s swimsuit, talent, evening gown and interview competitions to determine a winner. Each judge will rank their five favorites in order, and their ballots will be used to pick the winner.

Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron, Miss California Kristy Cavinder and Miss Michigan Nicole Blaszczyk each won $2,000 this week for winning talent competitions among three split fields of contestants. Miss Oregon CC Barber, Miss New York Alyse Zwick and Miss Puerto Rico Mimi Pabon each won $1,000 in nightly swimsuit competitions.

Miss Oklahoma Taylor Treat won the $6,000 Quality of Life award, given to the contestant judged to excel most in volunteerism and community service.

In all, the Miss America Organization planned to award $340,000 in scholarships at the national level. The organization says its national, state and local chapters gave more than $45 million last year in cash and scholarships.

The pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino was preceded by a one-hour television special on TLC, “Miss America: Behind the Curtain.” The Kelly-hosted special will reveal 12 women — picked by the contestants themselves — who will be part of an online public vote for a spot among the 15 finalists.

Stam, a Seymour, Ind., native, was one of four finalists chosen by viewers last year. This year, the public will pick three finalists to move onto the swimsuit competition.

The crowning of a Miss America began in 1921 as a publicity stunt to persuade tourists on Atlantic City’s Boardwalk to stick around after Labor Day. The bathing revue blossomed in the age of television into an American pop icon before fading in later years and losing it place on network TV in 2004. It moved to theLas Vegas Strip in 2006 in an attempt to reinvent itself and has found a home on cable television.

On the Net:

Miss America: www.missamerica.org/

TLC Network: www.tlc.com/

Friday, January 29, 2010

Indo-Russian stealth fighter makes first flight

The prototype of a new stealth fighter being co-developed between Russia and India has made a successful first flight from a test airfield near the Siberian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia.

The Russian made Sukhoi T-50, which India refers to as the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), is the Russian equivalent of the US built F-22 stealth fighter. India is a full partner in the project and the Indian version of the jet will feature several homegrown technologies including the jet's mission computer.

The T-50 has super cruise capabilities, which means its normal cruise speed is beyond Mach 1, the speed of sound.

India is likely to pick up a 25 per cent stake in the 10 billion dollar project, but it's likely to be a decade before the fighter is fully developed and enters squadron service.

Chamling's awards genuine: Govt

With Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling facing Opposition flak for allegedly purchasing awards using public money, the state government said on Thursday that the two latest awards to him were genuine and given in recognition of his contributions.

The American Biographical Institute (ABI) has decided to invite Chamling to join the organisation as an outstanding individual as per the communication received from its president J M Evans, the Information and Public Relations Department (IPR) said in a release here today.

ABI had done due diligence of over 4,000 people of professional importance, including Chamling, to determine the names of those to be inducted to its Hall of Fame, the release said. The ABI in its 42 years' publication has published over 250 biographies of those it has honoured in it dwelt on their leadership skills and excellence in public life, it said. Similarly, the New Delhi-based Friendship Forum of India has chosen to give 'Best Personality Award' and a gold medal to Chamling in recognition of his outstanding performance and exceptional leadership, the release added. BJP and other opposition parties have been questioning the propriety of various awards being given to Chamling by various organisations since he assumed office in 1994 and alleged that the chief minister had paid from the public exchequer for purchasing the awards.

Assam villagers lynch soldier

In what is said to be a case of mistaken identity, people of an eastern Assam village bordering Nagaland lynched a soldier of the Gorkha Rifles and seriously injured a captain Monday evening. The soldiers were in civvies and had apparently been double-crossed by informers who led them to the village to catch militants.

According to police officials in Golaghat district, villagers of Kherbari had handed over five bruised soldiers to the 3rd Assam Police Battalion stationed nearby after dusk on Monday. One of the soldiers identified as Subedar Limbu had succumbed to his injuries inflicted by stone-pelting. One had escaped the wrath of the villagers, who claimed the men had come to target a stone quarry owner named Alauddin for extortion.

"Our men relied on a couple of informers who led them to the village saying some militants were hiding there. The soldiers should have stuck together and identified themselves since the area is always tense in view of the border dispute with Nagaland. In all probability, the soldiers must have been mistaken for NSCN militants because of their looks. One of our officers - Captain Vikram Singh - tried to intervene later but was also not spared. He has been sent to the base hospital at Jorhat nearby," said a spokesman from the Army's 3rd Corps at Rangapahar in Nagaland.

The NSCN, allegedly backing Nagaland government forces in its land-grabbing bids in Assam, is known to carry out frequent raids in villages this side of the inter-state border to extort money.

Police said the situation in the village was tense but under control. Army officials, on the other hand, said Kherbari was a hard lesson learnt on overdependence on informers.

125 kg explosives seized in Assam

LAKHIMPUR (Assam): Over 125 kg of Neogel-90 explosives, the one used in the 2008 Jaipur blasts, has been seized from a truck in Assam's Lakhimpur
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district on Thursday.

The explosives were seized by a patrolling team of the CRPF and Assam police personnel when the truck, enroute to Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh via Lakhimpur, was stopped at Khelmati outpost here, the police said.

The explosives were kept in four cartons and the police have detained the driver and seven people who were travelling in the truck.

The driver during interrogation claimed that a person had hired the truck, loaded the explosives and directed him to deliver it in Lakhimpur.

The police have launched a massive search operation to trace the people involved in the incident.

The explosives could have been brought by militant outfits NSCN (K), NDFB or ULFA as all three are active in the area, the police added.

Ajit Singh invites Amar to join RLD

Lucknow

Jan. 28: Rashtriya Lok Dal president, Choudhury Ajit Singh on Thursday said that former SP general secretary Amar Singh was welcome to join the Rashtriya Lok Dal. However, he added that Mr Singh’s inclusion into the party would only be on issues related to farmer welfare.

"If Amar Singh is a well-wisher of farmers, the RLD would be happy to get his company," the RLD president told reporters here. He added that the RLD needed the support of like-minded parties on issues like land acquisition and price hike.

Mr Ajit Singh further said that Mr Amar Singh, like RLD, was a true well-wisher of sugarcane farmers and the RLD would welcome him if he wanted to support our agitation on separate statehood and against land acquisition.

The RLD chief alleged that central government was scared of price hike issue and the Prime Minister was delaying to call a meeting of chief ministers on the issue.

The RLD is the first party to have extended an invitation to Mr Amar Singh after the Samajwadi Party accepted the latter’s resignation from all party posts on January 17.

Man arrested in Goa over Russian child 'rape'


A man has been arrested in connection with the alleged rape of a nine-year-old Russian girl in Goa, India, police officials say.

Two men have been named as suspects in connection with the alleged assault on Arambol beach on Tuesday.

Police identified the man they detained as Anil Raghuvanshi and said he was an "accomplice of the main accused," who is believed to have absconded.

Goa is one of India's most popular tourist destinations.

Hundreds of thousands of people visit Goa every year. But it was the focus of intense media coverage in 2008 over the rape and murder of a British teenager holidaying there.

Two men were held in connection with the case, and were later released on bail. Police say that investigations are still ongoing.

'Abhorrent crime'

Senior police official Bosco George said that Anil Raghuvanshi is an employee at a pharmacy in the area.

They named the main suspect in the assault as Aman Bharadwaj.

Police believe that Mr Raghuvanshi diverted the attention of the girl's mother while the sexual assault was taking place.

Russia's ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, has demanded urgent action against the people responsible for the alleged rape.

"This perverted criminal must be caught and punished severely...We expect the Indian side to catch the culprits involved in the abhorrent crime," Mr Kadakin was quoted as telling reporters by India's The Hindu newspaper.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

10 more Indians attacked in Australia

Three cab drivers and a pizza delivery boy have been attacked in Brisbane in separate incidents, according to Australia's Sky News. One of the cab drivers was allegedly punched and dragged out of his taxi, says the channel. The pizza delivery boy was allegedly beaten with a cricket bat and robbed at the home of somebody who ordered a pizza.

Australia media is also reporting that six Indian students were attacked in their own home in Melbourne on Tuesday, which was India's Republic Day. A group of Australians allegedly stormed into the house. One Indian student was allegedly hit by a baseball bat, another's hand was cut with a knife. In the brawl that followed, the Indian students damaged their attackers' car. When the Indians went to the police to file a complaint, they ended up with a case against them for damaging the Australians' car.

News of these attacks comes a day after India's Foreign Minister, S M Krishna, met his Australian counterpart in London.

Speaking to NDTV, Krishna explained that he had told Australia to contain the "unprovoked attacks" that have targeted Indians recently. Last year, more than a 100 Indians were allegedly assaulted in Australia. This year, the attacks have continued.

Krishna says that a dossier given to him by the Australian government on the attacks does not discuss whether they are racist in nature.

Under pressure from India, Australia has also set up a special committee to investigate the attacks. It will meet for the first time at the end of this week.

42 undertrials freed in Delhi

New Delhi Jan. 27: To put the criminal justice system on the fast track and expedite the cases involving petty offences, a Delhi court on Wednesday released 42 undertrial prisoners languishing in jails for various petty offences. The court’s order, the first of its kind, came following the Union government’s move to decongest overcrowded jails by July. The plan is to reduce the number of undertrial prisoners by two-third in the next six months. The process is an initiative of law and justice minister M. Veerappa Moily, who was present at the Patiala House court complex along with Justice Madan B. Lokur of the Delhi high court to witness the first such release on Wednesday. The order of the court comes in the wake of the overcrowding in jails, the huge pendency of cases and protracted trials in the justice delivery system. “It’s a reformative process and should be encouraged,” Dr Moily said on the occasion. Those prisoners who were released or granted bail today are lodged in various jails involving petty offences like theft, pick-pocketing, snatching and robberies. Dr Moily said, “The need of the hour is to release prisoners who are lodged in jails for years together and are involved in petty offences so that they don’t become hard core criminals when they come out.” “We are planning to release 1.7 lakh prisoners till July 31 around India. To begin this, we have informed all the courts and the various legal services authorities to prepare the list of prisoners who can be released,” Dr Moily said. The minister said chief justices of state high courts have been asked to prepare a report “as fast as possible” about the people in jails, their offences, the nature of cases, and the maximum punishment they can invite so that these trials can be completed by July 31.

Send girls to school, or pay fine

Jaipur Jan. 27: Though girls are often asked to stay home instead of enrolling in school, a village called Dungero Ki Tala in the border district of Barmer has shown the way for other villages. The village slaps a fine if someone does not send their daughter to school. There is not a single house in the village, with 200 families, which has not sent its girls to study in schools. “Twenty years back, not a single girl was literate. Now the number of boy students is 180 while the girls’ number has jumped to 225,” says Kesar, a villager. Located only 25 km from the district headquarters of Barmer, the village does not has a senior-level secondary school. The girls used to walk 6 km to reach the nearest school at Sanavda village. According to the villagers, the year 1995 was a turning point for them when the elders decided to impose a fine if someone did not send their daughter to school. This also set an example for the neighbouring villages like Ramderia and Hathitala. The villagers there got inspiration from Dungero Ki Tala. The girls from Dungero Ki Tala also made their presence felt in khokho sport as students like Maya, Nemi, Veero, Priya and Pepi were selected for the national team. The same group of girls found a place in the state team. The border district of Barmer made a spectacular journey in education while achieving literacy of 59 per cent. But female literacy is still 44 per cent while male literacy is 73 per cent. According to sources, there are 13 schools in the district which do not have a single girl student while 17 such schools have only one or two girl student. *** SC notice on shelter to all S.S. NEGI New Delhi Jan. 27: After forcing the Delhi government to provide shelter to every street dweller in the national capital, the Supreme Court on Wednesday sought to expand the ambit of its direction to all the states to save urban homeless from the vagaries of the nature and issued notice to all the states and Union Territories for urgent responses. The Supreme Court acted on the reports of two panels appointed by it under two former bureaucrats to assess the implementation of Centrally-sponsored schemes on free shelters to the street dwellers and distribution of food items to the people living below the poverty line. The reports were submitted to a bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and K.S. Radhakrishnan by the court-appointed commissioners — N.C. Saxena and Harsh Mander — in a PIL by People’s Union of Civil Liberties relating to the plight of the poorest of the poor. The court commissioners said the street dwellers in urban areas are exposed to the vagaries of nature more as they are living in the open as compared to poor in rural areas who at least have a sort of roof on their heads. To ensure quick response, the bench directed that the notices to them be served through their standing counsel in the top court within a week. , while further hearing in the matter was deferred to March 9. “Living in the open is denial of the right to live with dignity, therefore similar direction is needed to be passed for entire country as was issued in case of the Delhi government on January 20,” said the two court commissioners in their reports. The two panels have recommended that the government should build at least one night shelter with the basic amenities to a population of one lakh in urban areas. Instead of providing them ration under the Antyodya Ann Yojna as demanded by PUCL, they recommended providing cooked food with a provision of a community kitchen for 20,000 street dwellers. After the Delhi government acted promptly on the top court direction, the bench appreciated its efforts to provide shelter to every street dweller within 24 hours by working on war footing to save them form the biting cold.

Ex-Kerala top cop to be tried

New Delhi Jan. 27: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the petition by 85-year-old former Kerala DGP P. Vijyan in an alleged “fake encounter” of Naxalite leader Varghese three decades ago and allowed the trial judge to proceed with the case against him and two other cops. However, a bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and H.L. Dattu allowed Vijayan to file a fresh application for discharge before the special CBI judge in Ernakulam. An FIR was registered by the CBI against Vijyan, a highly decorated police officer only on March 3, 1999 while the encounter had taken place in February 1970. Vijayan had fought a long-drawn legal battle for quashing of the FIR right from the sessions court to state high court and the top court. “Thought the trial judge has not assigned detailed reasons for dismissing the application for discharge filed by Vijayan, it is clear from the trial court order that after consideration of the relevant materials charge had been framed for offence under Section 302 (murder) read with Section 34 (common intention to do unlawful act) of the IPC,” the top court said. Since the trial had not progressed, the former DGP could not claim at this stage there was “no sufficient ground” for proceeding against him. “Whether the trial will end in conviction or acquittal is also immaterial,” the top court said. As per the police version, Varghese was killed when he had tried to escape from custody while being taken to Mananthavadi station in a jeep on February 18, 1970. Besides Vijayan, the CBI had chargesheeted constable Ramachandran Nair and another cop Lakshmana for the alleged fake encounter. *** T-leader moves top court Age Correspondent New Delhi Jan. 27: In an attempt to give a new dimension to the Telangana issue, a leader of the movement and former MP on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court for declaring the seats of 139 pro-Telangana MLAs, cutting across party lines, vacant in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, claiming that under the law their resignations are “deemed” to be accepted by the Speaker the moment he had received them. Listing 13 grounds under the Constitution, parliamentary rules, Assembly rules and procedures and precedents for treating the resignations of the 139 MLAs, submitted to Speaker N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on December 10, 2009 for action by the top court, former MP M. Narayan Reddy from Nizamabad described Speaker’s non-action on the resignations as violation of the legislators’ right to freedom of speech and expression. While seeking a direction to the Speaker to declare these seats vacant, Narayan Reddy’s counsel Subodh Markandey made a mention of the writ petition before a bench, headed by the CJI for urgent hearing.

Bihar landless see ray of hope

Chautarwa (West Champaran) Jan. 27: A landless peasants’ movement in north Bihar against a few super-wealthy landlords illegally owning hundreds of acres of land and an indifferent state government had several reasons for frustration when its tricolour-led effort to help some landless families reclaim their land failed on Republic Day. But thousands of landless people in the region felt a small but significant success in their decades-old movement when two landlords who masterminded attacks on activists the previous night spent hours in police lock-up and were later sent to jail. This was the first such arrest of an influential West Champaran zamindar over the land issue in recent years. A large crowd of landless people gathered for a public meeting under the tricolour at Lagunaha village was awash with the subtle message — that the illegal zamindari system has been brought to its knees by sustained, peaceful movement waged by three organisations with support from Bihar’s leading social activists. The villagers, including many women, sang songs excoriating the landlords. “While the landless villagers here are free under the open sky on Republic Day, two perpetrators of injustice are locked behind the bars. Last night’s attacks and the administration’s requests forced us to postpone our plans to restore some of the illegally occupied land to their rightful owners today,” said Pankaj, leader of the apolitical Bhoomi Satyagraha movement. Goodluck Rao and Nitish Rao, who reportedly own hundreds of acres of land illegally, were arrested by Bagaha police from their house, fearfully known in the area as Ratwal Durbar, for leading attacks on activists of the Parchadhari Sangharsh Vahini and two other democratic outfits on Monday midnight. “The zamindar’s men also groped many women saying we hid bombs under our saris and abused us in filthy language,” said Phuljhari Devi, a landless woman among about a hundred like her at the meeting. The attacks were condemned by senior social activists like C.A. Priyadarshi, Ranjeev Kumar and Rupesh, who had come from Patna to help in the tricolour-led land reclamation movement.

Non-UPA floor coordination likely

New Delhi Jan. 27: The Budget Session of Parliament beginning next month may see floor coordination between the non-UPA members. While the supporting parties like the Samajwadi Party and the RJD are going back to the basics, the BSP and the Left cannot afford to go ahead with their old line in the changing political situation. This will also be a first session of BJP’s Sushma Swaraj as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Her performance and the skill to consolidate non-UPA parties will also be under watch. Earlier, the Opposition parties and the SP, RJD found it difficult to work together with Mr L.K. Advani on the floor because of his hardline image. But Ms Swaraj could be acceptable to the non-NDA parties wanting to sharpen their attack on the government before the Assembly elections in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The appointment of former MP, Mohan Singh as SP’s general secretary and spokesman in place of Mr Amar Singh is seen as a significant development. SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has sent out a clear message to his political consitutency through this appointment. This means that his priority is not to keep the “corporate world” and the Bollywood in good humour and strengthen the party through TV debates. AICC sources viewed that the SP without Mr Amar Singh would be more foucssed, aggressive at the ground level. The party did not expand outside Uttar Pradesh when Mr Amar Singh was its general secretary, they pointed out. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, who had once described himself as the freelancer of the Congress, has realised that latter is not keen to really with it before the Bihar polls. The Congress party wants to regin lost ground among the upper castes, dalits and minorities under the leadership AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi in the coming Bihar Assembly polls. Therefore, the RJD cannot afford to play a second fiddle to the UPA during the Budget Session. Ms Swaraj had good equations with the two Yadavs. It will be interesting to see how the BSP will play a role on the floor in two Houses of Parliament during the session. Congress insiders’ attempt to hold the agriculture minister Sharad Pawar responsible for the price rise have come as warning to the UPA constituents — DMK, Trinamul Congress and the NCP — that their ministers are under watch.

Leaders cross party lines to honour Basu

New Delhi Jan. 27: The condolence gathering organised in memory of veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu by major Left party, witnessed leaders cutting across party lines, including the Congress, SP, AIADMK, DMK, JD(U), BJD, National Conference, Akali Dal, coming together and hailing Basu as a leader who would have impacted a turn in political events if he had become Prime Minister of the ruling United Front government in 1996. “Had Basu become the Prime Minister, the turn in political events would have been different today” — such was the refrain of speeches by several leaders, including SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akali Dal leader and former Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker S.S. Atwal and Union minister and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said the departed Marxist leader had shown the way as to how to run a coalition government way back in late 1960s. “In a coalition, the leader of a minority party can lead a government. It is not necessary that only the majority party can lead.” “A coalition government has to be run in accordance with the consensus emerging out of the political parties which are part of the coalition. These were issues which Basu raised as early as in 1969 when he was the deputy CM in West Bengal’s United Front government,” Mr Mukherjee said. *** SP website still has Amar name AGE correspondent Lucknow Jan. 27: Old relationships and habits die hard and the Samajwadi Party website is an example of this. The party website has not yet deleted Mr Amar Singh’s name and profile and the Thakur leader continues to be named as party general secretary and spokesman. However, it is evident that the party website has been updated after Mr Singh’s fallout with the party leadership because in the news section, the scroll clearly states that Mr Singh has resigned from party posts. Similarly, the Samajwadi Party website continues to mention Mr Janeshwar Misra as the party vice-president though the scroll displays news of his demise and cremation. The two Samajwadi Party MPs Jaya Bachchan and Jaya Prada also continue to find a place of prominence in the Samajwadi website. However, actor Sanjay Dutt, who also resigned as general secretary after Mr Amar Singh put in his papers earlier this month, finds no mention in the party website making it amply clear that no one in the party ever took his position seriously. Meanwhile, when questioned, a party functionary said that the party was waiting for things to consolidate before making changes in the website. “We do not want to rush into certain decisions. It will take some time before the necessary changes are made,” he explained.

Amar must quit RS: New SP spokesman

New Delhi Jan. 27: Close on the heels of the Samajwadi Party accepting the resignation of Amar Singh from all party posts, the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led party on Wednesday accepted the resignations of film actor Sanjay Dutt and Obaidullah Azmi as party general secretaries. Also, in a further setback to Amar Singh, the newly-appointed party’s national spokesperson Mohan Singh, who has also been made a general secretary, demanded Amar Singh’s resignation from the Rajya Sabha too. “Since he has detached himself from the party by resigning from the posts of general secretary, member of parliamentary board and spokesperson, he should re-sign from Rajya Sabha on moral grounds. Rajya Sabha membership is given by the party and, therefore, he sh-ould resign from the Upper House of Parliament.” He further said, “Amar Singh is now part of history. Parties which understand the common man’s issues continue to prosper. It will take sometime for the party to regain its socialist image.” People felt that the SP has become a party of corporates, he said, adding that now party workers will change that perception. Mr Mohan Singh has been appointed as national spoke-sperson and general secretary of the party. Amar Singh had recently quit all party posts over diff-erences with relatives of the SP chief. Party announced the appointment of three new general secretaries in place of Amar Singh, Oba-idullah Azmi and Sanjay Dutt. Besides Mohan Singh, the two other general secretaries are Vishambhar Pras-ad Nishad and Ramasare Kushwaha. Reacting to this, Amar Singh, said, “Mulayam Singh Yadav has kept his word of moving ahead by appointing Mohan Singh as new party Spokesman and leaving an ‘ill’ person like me behind for the sake of power.” He further said the party chief had taken the decision on a day which was incidentally also his (Amar Singh’s) birthday. “I am grateful to Mulayamji for not forgetting an ordinary party worker as he telephoned me in the morning and wished me on my birthday,” said Amar Singh. He further said he did not care much about the new appointments made by Mr Yadav in the party as he was “detached” from all such developments. When asked about his future plans, he said: “I don’t know why the media is so curious about the future of an irrelevant party worker of a regional party, which is neither relevant in UP nor at the Centre.” He, however, said that nobody could predict what would happen in future. “I am relaxing now and not playing politics at all,” said Amar Singh.

Bhubaneswar hosts tribal festival

BHUBANESWAR - Orissa capital Bhubaneswar is playing host to a week-long State-level Adivasi Mela.

A 25 Integrated Tribal Development Agencies, scores of self-help groups and NGOS’ are participating in the fair.

From food to handicrafts, song and dance, the festival is showcasing Orissa’s centuries old tribal culture.

” We don’t get a chance to see their culture here, things like their food. We can’t see what their food is like because we don’t get it here. So that’s why we have this festival,” said Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha, Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe Welfare Minister.

Over the years, the event has become popular. This year, the Adivasi Mela will run for two weeks as opposed to five days.

“It’s very nice, it’s just what we expected, to see a lot of people from the tribes here,” said Loder, a European tourist.
The Adivasi Mela ends on February 6. (ANI)

Bengal’s HIV orphans get help from Italy

BARUIPUR - Eleven-year-old Pathik brims with confidence as he sits in his adopted home Anandaghar. The days when the HIV-positive child and his mother — seriously ill with AIDS — were forced to live in a cow shed are a distant nightmare now.

The boy who was HIV infected from birth and his mother had been ostracised by other relatives and neighbours in their home in West Bengal’s Bankura district. Now his mother is dead but Pathik (name changed) has a new life with 38 other youngsters in Anandaghar (Happy Home), all of whom had once faced similar hostility.

Located in this headquarters of South 24 Parganas district, Anandaghar houses orphans who got the HIV infection from their parents and were ostracised by society. The children here have been brought from nine districts of West Bengal.

Two of them are seriously ill with full-blown AIDS.

“I brought Pathik and his mother from their village in 2006. Her mother died in a hospital 17 months later,” says Organisation for Friends Energies and Resources (OFFER) secretary Kallol Ghosh, who runs Anandaghar.

“I am very happy here. I play with my friends,” says Pathik, busy savouring a chocolate.

Wednesday was a very special day for these children, as the municipality of Naples in Italy gifted Anandaghar with an ambulance.

“Apart from the two already affected with AIDS, the others will also contract AIDS, tomorrow, day after or years later. So, they have to be given regular medical treatment as risks of opportunistic infection is very high in HIV positive patients due to low immunity levels. The ambulance will be of great help,” said Ghosh.

OFFER now wants to increase the number of inmates to 100 by the end of 2010-11. “We know in our state there are 117 such orphans who are infected with HIV from birth from their mother. So our target is to cover as many of them as we can,” Ghosh said.

Italian Consul General Silvio Pentrella was present when the ambulance was handed over.

“It’s not a question of boundaries, of countries, of colour. It’s a solidarity and we are happy at the work being done at OFFER and hope that together with Ame Sampre and other organisations they will continue the good work,” he said on the occasion.

“When we started the organisation 13 years ago it was in a small room. I am still very emotional about the first day. And as we see now 13 years down the line we have 39AIDS children at Anandaghar,” said famous Italian filmmaker Sergio Scapeginni who is also official spokesperson of Italian NGO Ame Sampre, which is associated with the project since its inception.

Out of the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS the world over, 2.2 million are children under 15. According to a Unicef report, India has an estimated 220,000 children below 15 who are HIV positive.

HIV-infected mothers run the risk of transmitting the virus to their infants during pregnancy, labour, delivery or breast-feeding. Mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT) causes more than 90 percent of HIV infections worldwide in infants and children.

Imran Khan received Rs 40 mn from Musharraf: PPP leader

Lahore, Jan 28 (PTI) A leader of the ruling Pakistan People's Party has alleged that cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan received Rs 40 million from former military ruler Pervez Musharraf during the 2002 referendum that validated the general's regime, a charge denied by his party.

"Khan charged Rs 40 million from Gen Musharraf as he was at the forefront of moves to establish the dictator's rule," said Raja Riaz, a top PPP leader and Senior Minister in the coalition government in Pakistan's Punjab province.

Riaz said Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf party, had got his relatives employed in the Pakistan Cricket Board during Musharraf's regime.

"Musharraf obliged Khan for his support," he said.

Khan always talks about democracy but was in fact conspiring against it, Riaz alleged.

Khan's party denied Riaz's allegations and said it would take him to court over the issue.

Now even Shirdi temple to charge for 'VIP darshan'

Mumbai, Jan 28 (PTI) The Shirdi Saibaba temple authorities have decided to bar devotees with VIP passes during weekdays and charge them for performing various prayers at the shrine over the weekends and during festivals.

"A meeting of the Shirdi Sansthan trustees was held here yesterday in which it was decided to implement the scheme on a trial basis for three months," a trustee told PTI.

The decision would only affect those visiting on VIP passes, he said.

Around 50,000 devotees visit the temple daily. The number doubles during the weekend.

The meeting, attended by state Law and Judiciary Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Sansthan chief Jayant Sasane, proposed Rs 500 for 'kakad arti' and Rs 250 for 'dhoop arti,' the trustee said.

Russian rape: Cops conducting raids to nab culprit

Panaji, Jan 28 (PTI) Goa Police is conducting searches to track down the accused involved in the rape of a nine-year-old Russian girl.

"We are raiding guest houses (in and around Arambol) to locate the person and his accomplice based on the details provided by the the victim's mother," Superintendent of Police (North) Bosco George told PTI.

The girl was raped on Arambol beach on January 26.

He said efforts are on to draw a precise sketch of the main accused with the help of the girl's mother. "There is a language difficulty, and also sketches drawn earlier and the details provided by the mother about the accused looks are not matching."

Pernem police station, which has registered a case under Indian Penal Code and also the Goa Children's Act, is working on the clues provided by the victim's mother, another officer said.

Russian rape case: Goa govt sends its report to Centre

Panaji, Jan 28 (PTI) Goa government has sent a detailed report to the Centre in connection with the rape of a nine-year-old Russian girl at Arambol beach here.

"I had received a call from Union Tourism minister Kumari Selja who asked for a detailed report. The Chief Secretary, who was directed to compile it, has sent the report yesterday," Chief minister Digamber Kamat told PTI today.

Condemning the rape Selja had called it as "extremely sad and shameful" and demanded immediate action, noting the incident was contrary to the 'Atithi Devo Bhava' (Guest is God) campaign and gives a bad name to the country.

The minor was allegedly raped on January 26 by an unidentified person on the beach in North Goa. Police sources said the medical examination of the girl had confirmed rape.

Central Government calls for meeting on talks with ULFA

New Delhi, Jan 28 (ANI): The Central Government has called for a high-level meeting next month to discuss strategy for possible talks with the rebel United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

Home Ministry officials said Union Home Minister P Chidambaram would chair the meeting. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and other top officials of the administration will also attend the meeting.

This step by the Centre is significant, as the entire top ULFA leadership apart from its military wing chief Paresh Barua is currently in jail.

The Centre has made it clear that it would hold talks with the ULFA only if they abjure violence and give up the demand for a separate State.

Jailed ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa has however, made it clear that there can be no talks with ''handcuffs on''.

Rajkhowa said, "We have to be free. We want peace, but not in this way."

Barua said:"We are ready for a dialogue provided sovereignty for Assam is discussed."

The Centre had earlier in 2005 held three rounds of discussions with an ULFA-appointed peace panel, the People''s Consultative Group (PCG) with people drawn from the civil society to thrash out ways for talks to be resumed between ULFA and the government.

The ULFA-appointed PCG had also discussed the issue with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

But the efforts of the PCG had failed after the Centre refuted its certain demands that included talks on the issue of sovereignty. (ANI)

Sania calls off her engagement to Sohrab

Hyderabad, Jan 28 (ANI): Ace tennis star Sania Mirza has reportedly called off her engagement to Sohrab Mirza with whom she was engaged in July 2009 amidst fanfare and media attention.

Sania said that despite she and Sohrab being friends for a long time, she found him incompatible during the engagement period.

Sania said, "We were friends for half a decade, but found ourselves incompatible during our engagement period. I wish Sohrab the best in life."

Questions were earlier raised about whether Sohrab would be able to cope as Sania''s life partner.

Sania is set to participate in the Fed Cup Asia Oceanic Group two-competition beginning from February 2. (ANI)

Apple launches tablet-style iPad

San Francisco, Jan 28: Apple on Wednesday, Jan 27, launched the much awaited tablet-style computer, the iPad.

Speaking at the launch here, Apple's CEO Steve Job said, "It's so much more intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a smart phone."


Jobs demonstrated how the iPad is used for surfing the Web with Apple's Safari browser.

He further said, "The iPad will also be better for reading books, playing games and watching video than either a laptop or a smart phone."

Jobs typed an e-mail using an on-screen keyboard and flipped through photo albums by flicking his finger across the screen.

No price or information on availability was immediately announced.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Haldiram owner found guilty of attempt to murder

The owner of popular confectionery chain Haldiram, Prabhu Shankar Agarwal, and four others were on Wednesday convicted by a city court in an attempt-to-murder case.

Agarwal, who has an outlet at Burrabazar, and four others, including Gopal Tiwari, the hired killer, Raja Sonkar, Monoj Thakur and Arun Khandelwal were charged with attempt to murder of a tea stall owner which was in front of the outlet.

On March 30, 2005, Gopal Tiwari entered the house of Pramod Sharma, the tea stall owner, and shot him from a close range. Luckily he was hit in the leg and managed to escape.

"I am happy with the decision, hope they are punished soon," said Pramod Sharma Thakur, victim's relative and owner of a teashop.

On the basis of a complaint filed by Sharma, the police arrested Agarwal. Subsequently, it was revealed from the interrogation of Agarwal that there were four others involved in the crime.

The judge of the fourth fast track court, Tapan Sen, held the five guilty and the quantum of their punishment would be declared on Friday.

Tiwari was lodged in a correctional home while Agarwal and the four others, who had secured bail, appeared before the court. They were taken into custody today, the police said.

DG-rank officer to head NREGA

New Delhi

Jan. 26: In a major move to unshackle UPA’s ambitious schemes under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) from huge regional variations in the level of implementation and also the resource crunch because of restriction on allocation beyond 11th Plan (2007-11) target, the government is actively considering putting the entire programme on a "mission mode" with an officer in the rank of director general heading it.

Aware of the political implication of the MGNREGA and at the same time afraid of objections from ministries dealing with other sectors, if funding is further increased to go beyond the 11th Plan target, the Planning Commission, at a recent review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has suggested that the flagship programme should be placed on mission mode. The move is intended to ensure committed funding to the schemes under MGNREGA irrespective of all other developments.

With the finance ministry understood to have agreed to a meagre 15 per cent increase in the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) to fund the Plan expenditure in the Budget for 2010-11, the Plan panel is concerned on how to ensure adequate funds for the politically sensitive rural development programmes like MGNREGA.

Sources in the commission pointed out that the MGNREGA is unlikely to get any increase in the budgetary support. The "pro poor" programme was allocated Rs 39,100 crores in the last Budget. "We have sought the Prime Minister’s approval for setting up the ‘Mission MGNREGA’, which would act as a regulatory mechanism for effective implementation of the act," the sources said.

At the meeting the Plan panel gave a presentation to the Prime Minister, a copy of which is with this newspaper.

In the presentation, the Plan pane, apart from achievements, also highlighted major quality and process related hindrances.

Emergency drive to fill shortfall in IPS

New Delhi

Jan. 26: The UPA government is planning an emergency recruitment drive to meet the shortfall of Indian Police Service Officers, the first such emergency exercise in post-Independence India.

The Union home ministry is finalising a proposal to hold special examinations for direct recruitment of officers from the Central Police Organisations (CPOs) and Central Paramilitary Forces (CPFs) to induct them into the elite IPS.

Union home minister P. Chidambaram had last year said the acute shortage of IPS officers was a result of neglect between 1999 to 2004, the period when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government was in power.

The UPA government’s plan is to recruit 70 IPS officers per year for 10 years as part of the competitive examinations to be conducted by the Union Public Service Commission.

The ministry is likely to finalise its proposal in a fortnight.

"Once we take a view, we shall approach the UPSC, the constitutional body tasked with the recruitment to All-India Services, for consultations," a top government official said.

According to the proposal being drafted by the home ministry, the competitive examinations would be open to assistant commandants with at least five years experience in the five major CPOs and CPFs — the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB and CISF. Keen on bringing in young blood from the CPOs and CPFs, the age limit set for such examinations is expected to be less than 35 years.

"There would be further relaxations in norms for the reserved category," a top MHA official said. The ministry is yet to take a final view on allowing state police forces to participate in the proposed special examinations for recruitment to the IPS.

The home ministry has completed a cadre review of 12 states raising the number of posts at each level within the state police forces. "Almost 95 per cent of the demands of states have been met. The review has been done by assessing the requirement of IPS officers, demands by each state and the availability of officers," the official said.

There was a shortage of 557 officers in the Indian Police Service in 2009.

The MHA had constituted a one-man committee on "Recruitment Plan (2009-2020) for the Indian Police Service", headed by retired IPS officer Kamal Kumar, last year to address the acute shortage. The report had recommended setting the age limit for the examinations at 45 years, but the ministry is keen on bringing it down further to avoid the problem of recruits reaching the retirement age soon.

JD-U wary of ex-MP’s revolt

New Delhi

Jan. 26: The banner of revolt raised by former Janata Dal(U) MP Prabhunath Singh against the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is giving sleepless nights to the senior party leaders as they feel that it may damage party’s electoral prospect in the coming state Assembly polls.

Jolted with the party’s drubbing in the recently concluded Assembly bypolls in Bihar, majority of the JD(U) leaders say that repeated attack on the CM by Prabhunath Singh is sending wrong message among the electorates. It is reliably learnt that party president Sharad Yadav has also taken the matter seriously.

Talking to this newspaper, a senior party leader said: "Party must take disciplinary action against Prabhunath Singh for criticising the policies of Nitish Kumar. Senior party leaders including Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar must seek explanation from Mr Singh for his involvement in anti-party activities. If he does not give satisfactory reply, action should be taken against him."

Recently, Prabhunath Singh organised Maharana Pratap anniversary in Patna as a show of strength. Instead of talking about the values of Maharana Pratap, Prabhunath Singh chose the occasion to launch a rebellion of upper caste Rajputs against the Nitish Kumar government. He reportedly said chief minister Nitish Kumar’s slogan of developing the state with social justice was a farce. He also alleged that Nitish Kumar has done more damages to the upper castes by reserving almost 80 per cent of the seats in gram panchayats, said the leader, adding that Mr Singh is now trying to bring anti-Nitish leaders on a common platform. "A section of party leaders have requested Nitish Kumar to take action agai-nst Mr Sin-gh to prevent further damage. The party has failed to perform in Jharkhand Assembly polls also. Therefore, this is not the time to take anti-party activities lightly," said the leader.

BJP gears up for UP agitation

Lucknow

Jan. 26: Encouraged by the overwhelming public response to the Samajwadi agitation on price rise, the Bharatiya Janata Party has also decided to launch a statewide agitation against price rise.

The party will be organising a state-level rally in Lucknow on February 25 and on January 31 and February 1. The BJP will form human chains in all districts in the state to protest against spiralling prices.

"To muster support for the state-level rally and to create public awareness on the issue, the party will hold 15 meetings in every Assembly segment from February 1 to 25. We plan to hold a total of about 5,000 meetings in the state. This is being done to mobilise party cadres and prepare them for the party’s agitational posture," said a senior party functionary.

BJP state vice-president Hriday Narain Dixit, meanwhile, said that the Centre and state governments were equally responsible for the unprecedented increase in prices of essential commodities. "While the Centre is responsible for pursuing wrong economic policies, the state government is responsible for allowing hoarding and black-marketing of essential commodities," he said.

The BJP is finally trying to shed off it complacency and get into the active mode in UP with this agitation. The proposed rally in Lucknow on February 25 is being held after a long gap and the party wants it to be a grand show.

"We want to give a message that the party may have been down but it is not yet out. We want to bounce back with renewed vigour and energise our cadres. We hope to get the BJP president Nitin Gadkari in Lucknow for this rally and some other senior party leaders too," said the party functionary.

Cong asks AP leaders to cancel Delhi visit

New Delhi

Jan. 26: Expecting a forward movement on the Telangana issue shortly, the Congress asked its Andhra Pradesh leaders not to rush to Delhi to press for their resignations.

Sources said law minister and AICC general secretary incharge of Andhra Pradesh affairs, M. Veerappa Moily clearly told the state leaders, who were planning to reach the national capital on Tuesday, to stay put and let the party and the government work on the issue.

Sources indicated the forward movement could be an announcement of some kind of a committee to look into the vexed issue. The government is examining the scope and role of this panel and who may head it.

Though there is a preference for a retired judge, coupled with some experts on the subject, the option of a former bureaucrat heading the panel is also on the table, said sources. Congress sources said it is important to desist the state leaders go ahead with their resignations and it would only complicate the statehood issue further. Sources said dissolution of the state assembly would be the only option if the legislators were allowed to resigned en masse. The state leaders were pressing for the resignations as the Telangana joint action committee’s deadline of January 28 draws near.

This said sources would deflect the attention and the energies of the central leadership from the real issue at hand. The Congress is concerned about maintaining law and order in the state first and bringing about a consensus on the issue.

Toyota halts US sales of Camry, 7 other models

TOKYO -Toyota's decision to suspend U.S. sales of eight of its most popular models — including the Camry, America's best-selling car — to fix faulty gas pedals is a stunning blow to the automaker's reputation and endangers its fledgling earnings recovery.

The move, unprecedented in scale for an automaker, is also a symbol of the dramatic failings of the aggressive growth strategy Toyota Motor Corp. pursued under former President Katsuaki Watanabe, a cost-cutting expert, who led the Japanese automaker to the No. 1 spot in global vehicle sales, dethroning General Motors Co. in 2008, analysts say.

The sales suspension to fix gas pedals that could stick and cause acceleration without warning was announced in the U.S. late Tuesday. Last week, Toyota recalled the same eight models, involving 2.3 million vehicles.

Toyota is also halting production at six North American car-assembly plants, beginning the week of Feb. 1, and gave no date on when production could restart.

Although Toyota's Japan plants are not affected, the problem could spread to Europe, where a similar accelerator part is being used, and could affect millions more vehicles.

The problem part comes from one U.S. supplier and does not affect models that use parts from different suppliers, said a Toyota official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The automaker's shares fell 4.3 percent in Tokyo trade Wednesday.

Analysts said the production stoppage signaled a more serious crisis for Toyota than recalls, which are fairly routine for automakers.

"It's an abnormal situation, and there is no way to compare it with anything else," said Yasuaki Iwamoto, auto analyst with Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo.

He said the problem should serve as a wake-up call for Toyota to be more careful with maintaining quality. There is no quick fix to a tarnished brand image, Iwamoto said.

Despite the recent recalls, Toyota has still done well on quality surveys, and leads the world in hybrids, which show off top-grade green technology.

But the latest U.S. problems mirror the spate of quality problems that plagued Toyota several years ago in Japan, its home market.

In 2006, Watanabe acknowledged lapses in quality control in Japan. One sparked a criminal investigation by the Japanese government into accidents suspected of being linked to vehicle problems. No one was charged.

At that time, Watanabe appeared at a news conference in Tokyo, bowing deeply to express remorse to consumers and dealers. Later, he acknowledged overzealous growth was behind the quality problems.

"Under Watanabe's growth strategy, it was difficult to maintain a balance between speed and quality," Iwamoto said. "The problems came about because of the strains that came from his expansion efforts."

Watanabe, who took office in 2005, was replaced last year by Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota's founder. Toyoda, seen as a charismatic figure that can bring together not only employee ranks in Japan but suppliers and dealers, has repeatedly said his company is in a crisis that could peril its survival.

He has also avoided the past fanfare involved in announcing sales targets.

Toyota quietly gave global sales targets Tuesday that showed it was optimistic about getting on track to recovery since the financial crisis in late 2008 sent demand crashing, especially in the key North American market.

Toyota said it expected to sell 2.19 million vehicles in North America in 2010, up 11 percent from 2009. Globally, Toyota said it was planning sales of 8.27 million vehicles this year, up 6 percent from 2009.

But those numbers may not be achieved because of latest developments, said another Toyota official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Also at risk are Toyota's earnings.

Last year, Toyota reduced its loss forecast for the fiscal year through March 2010 to 200 billion yen ($2.2 billion) from its initial projection for a 450 billion yen ($5 billion) loss, citing a gradual recovery in global demand.

Toyota announces earnings Feb. 4.

Mamoru Katou, analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research, said he could not calculate the exact damage to Toyota's results because the duration of the sales suspension was still undecided. But he said it was certain to be significant, especially if the suspension continues for a month or two.

He said Toyota was likely reorganizing production plans, such as switching suppliers, and shipping in parts from Japan. "The problem is extremely serious," said Katou. "The models are precisely those Toyota had been preparing to sell in big numbers."

The Japanese automaker said the U.S. sales suspension includes the following models: the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia.

Toyota sold more than 34,000 Camrys in December, making the midsize sedan America's best-selling car. It commands 3.4 percent of the U.S. market and sales rose 38 percent from a year earlier. Sales of the Corolla and Matrix, a small sedan and a hatchback, totaled 34,220 last month, with 3.3 percent of the market and sales up nearly 55 percent from December of 2008.

The auto company said the sales suspension wouldn't affect Lexus or Scion vehicles. Toyota said the Prius, Tacoma, Sienna, Venza, Solara, Yaris, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser and select Camry models, including all Camry hybrids, would remain for sale.

The announcement follows a larger U.S. recall months earlier of 4.2 million vehicles because of problems with gas pedals becoming trapped under floor mats, causing sudden acceleration. That problem was the cause of several crashes, including some fatalities.

Nine-year-old Russian raped in Goa

A nine-year-old Russian girl has been raped on a Goa beach.

The child was with her mother on Arambol Beach in North Goa on Tuesday evening when two Indian men approached them.

While one person began chatting with the mother, another ventured in the water where the victim was playing and raped her," police inspector Uttam Raut Desai told PTI.

The child reappeared later, and complained to her mother of bruises in her private parts.

"The medical examination has confirmed rape," Desai said.

In a statement given to the police, the girl's mother has claimed that one of the persons, who was chatting with her identified himself as 'Aman' and was a domestic tourist.

In December, another Russian citizen alleged that she was raped by a local politician, John Fernandes. That case turned into a major controversy, with the police mishandling the investigation. As policemen insisted they couldn't find Fernandes, he appeared on NDTV for a lengthy interview. (Read: Russian rape victim offered money for silence) He later surrendered to the police. The CBI is investigating this case. The Goa government was embarrassed by the police's investigation. The state's Tourism Minister said Goa had turned into the country's "rape capital". (Read: Goa may become India's rape capital) Russian diplomats in India also wrote to the Goa government, accusing Fernandes of indirectly threatening the victim to drop the case against him.
The CBI is now investigating this case.

Tripura rubber wood industry providing business opportunities and jobs

Tripura, the second largest rubber-growing State after Kerala, is fast becoming an industrial hub in the Northeast. A rubber wood factory plant was recently set up in Tripura’s Anandanagar area, which is the first in the Northeast and the second largest factory in the country.
Tripura Forest Development and Plantation Corporation (TFDPC), a State Government owned PSU, has commissioned the factory at a cost of more than Rs 6 crore and has created direct employment for over 300 employees besides another 1,500 more who are indirectly involved with it.
“The main objective of setting up of this plant is to utilize rubber logs which are otherwise not good to use as fire wood. After 32 years of giving latex the producing capacity decreases and becomes non economical, so rubber trees being a plantation crop it has to be felled after 32 years and replanted. So theses logs are treated and utilized here,” said Alak Paul, Manager of TFDPC. With an aim to utilize the by-products of rubber plantations, the factory is emphasizing on using waste rubber logs for construction purposes, which has a huge demand in the country.
“More than 300 workers work here and though this plant started more than seven-eight years ago but solid rubber wood board production started recently. This board is entirely made from the wood of rubber trees, which are cut down after the phase of latex production is completed,” said Dulal Das, a worker.
“Today there is huge demand of rubber boards in the domestic as well as in foreign markets like Japan, China and Indonesia. This is the biggest unit in the Northeast and it is totally automatic,” he added.
Around 41,000 hectares of land in the State are used entirely for rubber cultivation and produce 23,000 tones of rubber latex annually. Seeing the success of the TFDPC, several investors have shown interest in investing in Tripura.

Sikkim becomes pioneer in Education Reform Renewal Mission 2010

With the launching of the Education Reform Renewal Mission 2010 in a programme held here at Chintan Bhavan, Sikkim has become the first State in India to start reformations in the education sector.

This, the department officials said, was taken up in view of the objective of the State Government in ushering in high quality education delivery system at every level.

On the occasion, workshop on education reformation was also organized by the State Human Resources and Development Department, which were attended by MP, Lok Sabha PD Rai as the chief guest. Also present were the HRDD Minister, NK Pradhan, Secretary, R Telang, Principals, teachers, retired teachers and representatives from NGOs from all over Sikkim.

“The mission aims in drafting a new education policy with high quality education deliverance that can be visible in the government schools of Sikkim changing the old bygone perception that existed in the sector and making such changes which can be felt by the students and guardians alike followed by the society in general,” the HRDD minister said in his inaugural address.

“The workshop will formulate the government’s new policy on education and will be completely with indigenous effort and collective ideas as to reformation and renewal of education of the State so as to improve and bring about reform in education as well,” Pradhan said.

Stating that the teaching profession in Sikkim has always been looked down by the people and does not want to join in this profession, the Minister said that the increase of the salary by the government have made good brains think twice to join in the profession. “We hope that best teachers will now available in the State,” he said adding that the teachers seeking transfers on deputation to any other department will be not entertained.

The workshop will also have participants discuss upon the methods of transforming the existing delivery by holding consultation at various levels of teachers, principals, parents and other stake holders, the Minister further said.

R Telang, the Secretary of the department said the workshop will discuss over the things that blocked the free process of education system of the state and bring about the changes along with new fresh ideas into consideration so as to bring quality in education in the State.

He said that the reform will be brought from administrative aspects to academic reform in the State with collective effort including from parents. To look into issues faced by the children, Telang said discussion will be conducted at the district levels and subdivision levels by way of forming committees.

“Soon after the meetings with the stake holders in every district, probably by the end of the year, there would be over a final policy drafting which is hopefully expected to be implemented from February 2010,” the secretary said.
Later, addressing a press conference, the State HRDD Minister said, issues such as drop out, enrollment, and capacity building of the teachers would be few of the areas to be addressed upon. On his part, MP Lok Sabha said the mission has been robustly designed keeping the local need in mind in which the views and the opinions of almost 3,000 stake holders from all across the State would be taken up. “This method would enhance the education system to run as how the people want,” he added.

North East India: Crisis of Perception & Credible Action

Dialogue: (Quarterly) Vol.1. No.2 Oct-Dec.1999.A Journal of Astha Bharati, New Delhi.

The country suffers due to crisis of perception and lack of credible action. This applies more to the North-Eastern region. The Britishers talked about the multi stage isolation of the region from the country and that of the hills and the plains within the region. Our own academicians talked about the 'splendid isolation'. They misinterpreted the society and culture; gave colonial bias to our history. We uncritically accepted their ideas; followed in their footsteps; promoted all round social, cultural, ethnic and religious divide. They introduced the racist thinking in our society; we made assertion of separate identity and social distancing' profitable and most alluring. Ethnocentrism occupied the central stage. Certain sections developed vested interest in generating sense of alienation among the people.

Creation of Nagaland opened up the possibility of the formation of the small states irrespective of valid parameters. It unsettled the Sixth Schedule experiment. Gradually, more and more ethnic states were demanded. Genuineness and reason became the first casualty. The Naga National Council wanted Naga Hills to be constitutionally included in an autonomous Assam in free India in 1945. The First Naga People's Convention, the most representative and biggest in the history of the Nagas till that date where more than one percent of their population attended, wanted Centrally Administered Territory status. It was granted and Naga Hills Tuensang Area came into existence. The demand was further updated in 1960 by two more Naga People's Conventions. They got full-fledged state in 1963. Mr. Kevichusa, a very senior Naga leader, addressing a highly attended public meeting convened to welcome the Peace Mission members, at Kohima in April 1964, made a strong plea to start all over again'. He wanted dissolution of newly elected Assembly and doing away with the ministry. There was Shillong Accord with NNC in 1975 and within five years a splinter group revived the old demands. This 'Over and over again syndrome' is not without significance and its adverse impact on the Nagas and their neighbours. The demands were updated in quick succession and met. A section of the Nagas wanted Sikkim status in 1965. For many, like B.K. Nehru, grant of statehood to the Nagas was a blunder. Many Nagas believe and express their opinion that the Statehood was granted too early.

The creation of Nagaland had destabilising effect in many ways. The quick succession of the updating of the demands, which were met immediately, affected the Naga psyche. They wanted more and more. The situation was aggravated by the myths, such as 'Delhi fears', 'the money shall stop flowing, or at least the flow shall be retarded if there is peace in the state'. It has harmed the state and the country.

The present situation is created by the permutation and combination of many factors. The most important factors are the systems' failure and the failures of the academic community. The academic community has failed to give lead in the post independence era. However, its negative role has done more harm. They ignored the significance of the democratic process operating in the states of the region. They not only could not free themselves from the colonial biases, but strengthened them. We shall discuss this point in detail in this paper.

Demographic invasion from across our borders was a matter of serious concern in this part of the country. There was no serious attempt on the part of the Central and the State Governments to solve the problem. The North-Eastern states get most favoured treatment from the Central Government in the matter of allotment of funds and yet deliberate propaganda is carried out that the Central Government neglects the region. The people of the region are thus allowed to be misinformed and misled resulting in anger and alienation.

The North-East is the most densely administered region of the country. The emergence of new states generated hope; there were tremendous job opportunities and the explosion of expectations. It was necessary to have the man power planning and to control the state expenditure to allow the percolation of resources to the lowest level of the society. There was also the urgent need of reform in the existing system of education. The same was not done in spite of loud pronouncements. The education generated hope when there was enough scope for employment of the white collar jobs seekers. Today, the saturation point has been reached in many states. The number of employment seekers is swelling; the education has ceased to generate hope. Apart from this factor, other factors, such as drab syllabus, is responsible for heavy and ever-increasing number of drop-outs from the schools. The 'education' was a state subject upped early seventies. Now, it is included in the concurrent list. The state governments can not blame the Central Government for the serious lapses in this case. The academicians and the universities also, should join hands in overhauling the present system of education.

The underground Nagas used to apply force for recruiting persons during the early fifties. The recruitment used to be done mostly from the small unprotected villages. The villagers were often fined for sending their children to schools. Ironically, the top underground leaders were sending their own children to the schools and colleges for the best education. The ever-increasing number of drop-outs have made the task of insurgent outfits easy. A large section of drop-outs are shirkers and form floating population in the towns. They want easy money and to be feared. The arms given by the insurgent outfits give them both and the former gets their recruits. Extortion has become a cottage industry due to system's failure and the failure to bring change in the system of education.

The development work, mostly lopsided, has halted in many states. Mobilization of local resources was never tried sincerely in some of them. Uncontrolled unproductive employment resulted into the situation in which the state government remains busy in bringing fund from Delhi and distributing the same among its employees. The state machinery has become all-consuming. Situation is not better in many other states such as in Bihar. Of course, that state gets far too less Central funds and fails to utilize even that; but that does not lead to the sense of alienation. The causes of this vital difference need to be robed. We should peep into our colonial past and the policies followed by our colonial masters for searching the root cause. The colonial myths and lies created crisis of perception and blurred our vision. The colonial bias continues to dominate our social and historical studies in the post-independence era also. It further deepens the crisis of perception and tends to confuse us. The studies with colonial bias accelerate the process of social distancing. Such studies, mostly highlight the racial, linguistic, religious and social differences, lack objectivity and strengthen the sense of alienation of the people. This paper discusses the colonial roots of the North-Eastern syndrome and its post-independence after effects and developments.

Paradoxically, insurgency, secessionist demands with a lone exception, and upsurge of ethnocentrism is post-independence phenomena, in the North-East India. The Mizos, under the leader- ship of the Mizo Union, the most influential political party of the district, favoured autonomous political structure for the Mizos, within India. They turned down the plan of the creation of the "Crown Colony of Eastern Agency", independent of India and Burma, consisting of the Hills Districts and areas of Assam and Burma'. The Naga National Council in its meeting on 19th June 1945 drafted a memorandum about the future of Nagas to be submitted to His Majesty's Government. They wanted Naga Hills to be included in, an autonomous Assam in a free India', according to one of the resolutions in the same meeting'. The other people were also happy within Assam State in free India. The people of the princely states of Manipur and Tripura wanted merger with India. The British rhetoric about the tribals of the region being non-Indians had no impact on them. The above mentioned NNC resolution does not show the impact of the Memorandum submitted to the Simon Commission in 1928. The reason is obvious. The two memoranda submitted to the Commission were prepared by the British officials themselves. The memorandum submitted at Kohima was signed by 20 persons, most of whom were employees of the Deputy Commissioner's office.

The NNC took an about-turn posture and demanded secession just before independence. The intense propaganda, that followed, was highly believed and people were afraid that they would be forced to become Hindus, their land would be occupied by the plainsmen, and they might be prevented from eating beef and pork. The British propaganda that Indians were aliens also helped Phizo and the NNC. Naturally, the Nagas became apprehensive and supported them. The people of Arunachal Pradesh did not come under the effective contact of the Britishers, and therefore, remained free from the virus of the isolationist and racist colonial ideas. There was gradual and smooth evolution and they got their state in most peaceful way in course of time. The Mizos were not allowed to have any High School due to isolationist policy of the Britishers and therefore went outside in large numbers for education and later on for service. They came in contact and knew the people of other parts of the country, like Khakis, Jaintias, Garos, Mikirs and Kacharis, and therefore did not develop similar apprehensions as the Nagas did. The Nagas of Tuensang welcomed and asked for more and more administrative centres in the early fifties due to obvious reason.

The Britishers aimed at unprecedented social, cultural, religious, linguistic and racial divide in India, especially after 1857. India was depicted as heterogeneous and confused conglomeration of different races, castes, tribes, dialects, regions, religions and sects. They successfully projected empire as the liberator, the deliverer of good, unifier of India, and the best guarantee for safeguarding the interests of the fringe areas, the tribals and the untouchables. The aim was twofold: to weaken India and to strengthen the empire. In the North-East, the racial misinterpretation of the society and culture gave birth to social, cultural and religious distancing. The Government of Assam undertook the publication of monographs on different tribes in pursuance of the Lyallist Theory. The history of the region emphasises the isolation of the region from the rest of India and that of the hills from the plains within the region. There was overwhelming colonial bias in the history of Assam written by Gait. He continues to be the role-model of the historians of the North-East India even today. The works of Alexander Mackenzie, R.B. Pemberton, J.M. Butler, Needham, Woodthrope and Robert Reid have the same colonial bias. Their works held tribals responsible for the British conquest. The tribals' views were always ignored. The histories written in the broad frame-work of imperialist/ colonial historiography justified colonisation.

The unfortunate part of the whole story is that Indian ethnographers, ethnologists, anthropologists and historians in particular, and other social scientists in general were unable to free them- selves from the strong clutches of the imperialist/colonial disciplines. Their failure to do so is certainly one of the most potent factor contributing to the present state of affairs in the country and the region. Our scholars continue to use official/non-official colonial sources; use racist, Euro-centric/Middle East centric, isolationist and borrowed frame work; and rarely question the colonialism. They emphasise and enlarge the differences within; describe colonial conquests and how colonialism developed.

The Indian historians have many failures to their credit. They failed to incorporate regional histories in the broader frame-work of Indian history. They are so ignorant that a paper on North-East was categorised as 'non-Indian' in a volume of the Indian History Congress.' The struggle of the Khasis, Jaintias, Nagas, Mizos, Manipuris, etc. against the British should have found legitimate place in the history of the freedom struggle of the country. The Indian historians have failed to do so. The nation was weakened by this lapse. One important reason for the spread of insurgency in the region was also the isolation of the people. The national freedom movement could not penetrate in certain areas due to the same. It was claimed that the Inner Line Regulation was devised to ensure the identity of the tribals. The tribal identity, ironically, is not discussed therein. There were ample proofs of the interference by the British in the internal affairs of the tribals within the inner line. They also monopolised the trade of their products. This shows the hollowness of their claims.

Edward Thompson and G.T. Garratt have opined, 'it would be absurd to imagine that the British connection will not leave a permanent mark on Indian life. Yes, it has affected our lives and thinking. We accept most of their opinions and have ceased to question the colonial myths and lies. There is ample proof that Surma Valley was once ruled by Bhaskara Barmana, but K.L. Barua does not agree that Surma (Barak) Valley was included in Karnarupa. The reason given by him is strange. He gives the main argument that the two valleys (Barak and Brahmaputra) are so separated by the hill range that any kind of relationship between the two in early period was impossible. The Indians could cross the Himalayas and the Indian Ocean hundreds of years earlier than that period, but not the Meghalayan plateau in their own country. H.K. Barpujari borrows the expression from the European history and says that Assam had maintained its 'splendid isolation'. Suhas Chatterjee also uses the expression in the context of Mizoram. They never explain the splendidness of isolation. They never care to examine that the so called isolation is a lie. The students of history of the region are taught that the North-East India was an independent political unit in the pre-colonial period. The secessionists say that the Naga Hills, Manipur or even Assam was never a part of India till their conquest by the Britishers, and justify their movement. The colonial trick works and our historians unwittingly help such patently false beliefs.

The colonial control of Indian mind is superb. Contrary to the reality, and as stated earlier, scholars of Indian origin also believe and propagate the isolation of the North-East region from the rest of the country and that of the plains of the region from the surrounding hills. The mind-set which refuses updating creates problems throughout the country, but more acutely in this region. As if that is not enough, attempts are made consciously or unconsciously to divide the people on racial, ethnic and religious grounds. The worst sufferer of the whole game has been the Assamese society. It suffers from unprecedented division and fragmentation.

It may not be out of place here to write about the colonial bias in the history written by some of our historians of the North-East. H.K. Barpujari's 'Assam in the days of the Company' (Guwahati, 1963) tells the story of colonisation and the British rule in Assam. He heavily relies on colonial sources for writing the history and follows the pattern of British historians of India who wrote how India was colonised (Ramsay Muir and others) and administered (Dowell and others). J.B. Bhattacharjee (Cachar under British Rule, New Delhi, 1977) and Sruti Deva Goshwami (Aspects of Revenue Administration in Assam: 1826-1874; Delhi 1987) follow the same line. The relationships of the British with the tribal communities was studied by S.K Bhuyan, H.K. Barpujari, S.K. Barpujari, J.B. Bhattacharjee (The Garos and t 'he English; New Delhi, 1978), Helen ' Giri (Khasis under British Rule; Shillong 1992), Hamlet Bareh (History and Culture of the Khasi People; Calcutta, 1967), Milton Sangma (History and Culture of the Garos; New Delhi, 1981) and others. These writers also mostly followed the tradition of Gait, Mackenzie, Shakespeare, etc., relied on colonial sources, followed their technique and carried their bias and outlook. The Britishers' views were uncritically accepted in these works.

The uncritical acceptance of the British views in the Indian historical writings becomes painful when we find the Britishers blaming others for everything and never failing to give themselves credit everywhere. As already pointed out, our historians failed to incorporate regional histories in the broad framework of the Indian history. On the other hand, the historians writing about the North- East have failed to view the region's history in pan-Indian context. This two way insularity is responsible for much of our perceptional haziness.

The ancient Assam was never cut off from the rest of the country. It was occasionally ruled from outside the valley and valley's rulers also ruled over the other parts of the country. The hills were also not always cut off from the plains of the Brahmaputra Valley. Gait quotes Vishnu Purana and Jogini Tantra and writes that Kamarupa included the parts of Himalayas and the Meghalayan plateu and the whole of the Eastern Bengaig. The Sapta Khanda Kamarupa included seven hills, including Tripura, Kaikika, Jaintia (Jayanti), and Kachar Hills (Kacehadi), according to Kamakhya Tantral". The North-East region was linked up with all the parts of the country through land routes in ancient days.

As already stated, the North-East region was not an isolated region in the past and the region was linked up to the rest of the country and to Tibet and Myanmar through various land routes. A land route from Peshawar to Parvatipur via Vazirabad, Lahore, Jalandhar, Saharanpur, Lucknow, Tirhut and Katihar", extended to Assam" keeping Ganges mostly to the South. The southern route from Lahore to Bhagaipur, viz Raivind, Firozepur, Bhatinda, Delhi, Allahabad, Varanasi and Patna, extended to Kajangal in Rajmahal and then to Gangasagar (Calcutta). A route branched off from the same at Kajangal. It crossed Ganges there, Bhaskar Varman, the king of Kamarupa and the Chinese traveler, Yuan Chuang met the emperor Harsha Vardhana at Kjangaill and they might have used the same route. Both Harsha and Bhaskar Varman traveled from Kajangal to Kanauj with their respective armies following the southern and northern routes respectively'.'. The route upto Kamarupa extended further upto Yunnan province of China'6. Brahmaputra Valley had land routes to Myanmar via Manipur is also but one or two routes linking the Brahmaputra Valley to Manipur were comparatively more difficulty.

There were two land routes linking Upper Assam to Cachar. One route passed through Dhansiri Valley and other through Kapili Valley"'. The route from Brahmaputra Valley to Tripura and Manipur passed through Cacharlg. A route linked up Brahmaputra valley with Jayantiyapur also". Assam was linked up through many trade- routes and passes with tibet. Gait has mentioned that there used to be hectic trade between Assam and Bengal in one hand and between Assam and Tibet on the other

Like Assam, Manipur was also not an isolated and closed area. It was linked up with the rest of the country and with Myanmar through the land routes. Johnstone writes: "in the days when the Indian branch of the Aryan race was still in its progressive and colonising stage, the district (Manipur) was reportedly passed over by one wave after another of invaders intent', on penetrating into the remotest part of Burma."

Sir A. Phayre has mentioned that the 'route by which Ksahatriya princes arrived (in Burma) is indicated in the traditions as being through Manipur . Capt. Dun has written that "There can be no reasonable doubt that a great Aryan wave of very pure blood passed through Manipur into Burma in prehistoric times. There were at least three routes connecting Surma Valley with the Manipur Valley and two connecting Manipur with Kabaw Valley in the Chindwin river valley. A road connected lower Burma and India via banks of lrrawady, bank of Chindwin and Manipur, ac- cording to D.G.E. HaII. Yet there was another route to China through these hills, according to K.M. Panikar. Many important articles manufactured in the region were marketed outside. Mahabharat , Harsh Charit' etc. mentioned about the products of Kamarupa. Many items, such as the Chinese clothes were imported through Yunnan and Assam". Chinnamon was imported from China, Burma and Tibet to Assam and then was exported to other parts of the country and outside.

Thus, North-East did not form an isolated corner of India in the past. Geographically, culturally and politically, the region remained a part of India from the very beginnings. We had some of the longest ruling dynasties in the North-East India. The Ahoms ruled Assam almost for six centuries. The ruling dynasty of Manipur ruled almost uninterrupted for over 19 centuries. Mention may also be made of the Naraka dynasty (C 2200 BC to 1389 BC), the Varman dynasty (C 350 AD to 654 AD), the Miechchha dynasty (C 655 to 985 AD), the Pala dynasty (985 - 1130 AD), the Varahi Pala dynasty (1200-1400 AD), the Deva dynasty (1130-1500), the Sotia dynasty (1 194-1523), the Varahi dynasty (1190-1 390) and the Koeh dynasty (1513-1772) and their long rules. The Kachari kings ruled uninterrupted from 1385 AD to 1831 AD. The rule of the Jaintia kings (the new dynasty rule from 1500-1835 AD) and that of the Syihet kings (including Pator dynasty, 550 to 1304) was very long. The long dynastic rule in the North-East is not without significance.

The early history of the British rule is a well documented one. There were raids by the hill-men (Nagas, Mizos and others) on the plains areas of the Brahmaputra and Surma Valleys during the early days of British rule. The raids stopped after (a) the Britishers became stronger, and (b) they established effective control over the surrounding hills. The existence of long dynasties in Brahmaputra, Surma and lmphal valleys presuppose the existence of strong empire in these valleys with effective control over the hills. Long lasting Cachari and Jaintia dynasties had the plains areas in Surma valley also under their control.

Delhi Sultans and Mughals could not conquer the North-East, except for small areas for brief periods. The region got partially isolated during the period. This, however, did not prevent the pilgrims and the traders from travelling across the region.

The North-East region of the country has maximum linguistic/ dialectical plurality. There are over four dozen dialects spoken in the Naga inhabited areas alone. A close examination of the lexeme reveals that linguistic plurality is not the result of lexical plurality. The permutation and combination of limited sets of lexemes have given birth to vast linguistic differences. Living together, and not isolation, is essential for the same. Living together necessitated bilingualism, pidginization and random drop-out of a set of lexemes (delexification). Such process is repeated and the repeated change should be perceived in considerable time depth.

The advent of the British in the North-East followed the Burmese invasion of Assam and Manipur and that of Bhutan on Cooch Bihar. They entered the region in 1826 and consolidated their hold in the beginning of the last decade of the Nineteenth Century.

North-East region of the 'country was one of the last to come under the British rule. The annexation was gradual and slow. The Brahmaputra Valley was annexed in 1826, Cachar plains in 1832, Khasi Hills in 1833, Jaintia plains in 1835, Karbi Anglong in 1838, North Cachar in 1854, Naga Hills in 1866-1904, Garo Hills in 1873- 73 and Lushai Hills in 1890-96. Upper Assam, except Sadiya and Muttuck country was allowed to be ruled by Raja Purandar Singh till its annexation in 1838. Sadiya and Muttuck countries were also annexed soon after-34. The region was the part of the Lt. Governor- ship of Bengal upto early part of 1874. The Chief Commissionership of Assam was formed on 6th February, 1874. It was merged with East Bengal in 1905 and again separated in 1912. Assam became a Governors Province in 1921.Manipur and Tripura remained princely states under British paramountcy.

Inner Line Regulation was passed in 1873. It drew artificial line between Ahe hills and plains of Assam. It was decided to remove the remote backward tract of British India from the operation of General Acts and Regulations under Scheduled District Act, 1874. The Chief Commissioner of Assam was empowered to remove any part of Assam from the operation of enactment in force there as per the Assam Frontier Tracts Regulation, 1880. As per Section 52A of Government of India Act, 191 5, as amended by Government of India Act, 1 91 9, as per the recommendations of the Montague Chelmsford Report, 1918, the Governor-General in Council was empowered to declare any territory to be a backward tract and deny application of any legislative Act in such areas. Accordingly, the Garo Hills District, the Khasi and Jaintia Hills district (except Shillong Municipality and Cantonment Area), the Mikir Hills (in Nowgong and Sibsagar districts), the North Cachar Hills (in Cachar district), the Naga Hills district, the Lushai Hills district, and the Sadiya, Salipara and Lakhirnpur Frontier Tracts were declared as backward tracts. The Indian Statutory Commission, 1930 (Simon Commission) examined the administrative position of the backward tracts and made certain recommendations which were included in the Government of India Act, 1935. The backward tracts were regrouped under excluded and partially excluded areas as per the government of India (Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas) Order, 1936:19. The Excluded Areas included (a) North East Frontier (Sadiya, Balipara and Lakhimpur) Tract, (b) the Naga Hills District, (c) the Lushai Hills District and (d) the North Cachar Hills sub-division of the Cachar District. The partially excluded areas included (a) the Garo Hills District, (b) the Mikir Hills in the Nowgong and Sibsagar districts, and (c) the British portion of the Khasi and Jaintiya Hills District. The Excluded Areas were to be administered by the Governor of Assam himself and Partially Excluded Areas were to be his special responsibility and the powers of the provincial legislature were not to extend to these areas. The Indian (Provincial Constitutional) Order, 1947, by and large, retained the provisions contained in the Government of India Act, 1935 about these areas. However, the discretionary powers of the Governor with regard to administration of the Excluded Areas was withdrawn. Special provisions were made in the Constitution of India in the Sixth Schedule for the district level autonomy by the Constituent Assembly on the recommendations of the Bordoloi Committee. Autonomous District Councils were formed in the tribal districts of Assam, except in the Naga Hills District, as per the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. There was further extension of the provision in the newly formed districts of Mizoram and in the Tribal areas of Tripura later on. In due course, separate Autonomous District Councils were formed in the Jowai and North Cachar Hills Districts. People, by and large, were happy with the arrangement till Small States Syndrome started showing up in the North-Eastern scene.

The North-East did not form uniform administrative unit at the time of India's independence. Three distinct systems operated at that time in the region, which were:

i. the Brahmaputra and Surma Valley districts under the control of Assam Government:
ii. the Excluded and Partially Excluded areas; and
iii. Princely States of Manipur and Tripura and Khasi Syiemships.

The colonial policy in the North-East was aimed at the social, cultural, religious, administrative and political segregation of the hills and the plains. The Inner Line Regulations and the administrative segregation by declaring the hills as the backward areas and then the Excluded and Partially Excluded areas resulted into the alienation of the people. This was done keeping in view the interest of the empire. The Britishers were successful in restricting the freedom of movement within the boundary of the inner line.

A section of Britishers wanted to separate the hills of North- East region from India on the eve of Independence. Prominent among such British colonial functionaries was Robert Neil Reid, the Governor of Assam, Andrew Clow, Hutton and Mills. Sir (Prof.) Reginald Coupland wanted the creation of a Crown Colony consisting of the hills of India and Burma"'. This nefarious plan could not succeed as the independence of India came too early and the war ravaged Britain was not prepared to shoulder the financial burden of the Crown Colony. The signatories of the Simon Commission Memorandum from Naga Hills were mostly the employees of the Deputy Commissioner's office. Out of the twenty signatories, one was a Head Interpreter and two were clerks. Others included one Peshkar, three Masters, one Doctor, one Treasurer, one Potdar, one Sub-Overseer, eight Interpreters and one Chaprasill. It is alleged that the Deputy Commissioner, Kohima played active role in drafting and getting the memorandum submitted to the Simon Commission. The Naga Club was replaced with Naga Hills District Tribal Council by C.L. Pawsey, the then Deputy Commissioner of Naga Hills District in 1945. The Council converted itself into Naga National Council in 1946. It quickly received official patronage". The organisation spearheaded the secessionist movement in Nagaland soon after.

The British journalists - Donald Wise and Gavin Young - managed to slip into Naga Hills and met the underground Naga leaders in 1959-60 with the help of the British planters. They publicised the underground cause in the British Press. British and Europe based organisations provide moral support and platform to the secessionist insurgent groups. Such organisations act as the extended arms of the neo-colonialism. Many Europe based Human Rights Organisations lend their platform to lndian outfits to enable their members to attend the conferences organized by even the UN bodies. Organizations, such as the Assam Watch, UK and the Netherlands Centre for lndegenous Peoples arrange talks on the rights of self-determination and related theme.

The Britishers colonized and left the country within 90 years of the conquest of Delhi. Unfortunately, the colonization of Indian mind initiated by them continues with the same vigour. The race was a foreign concept for Indians. The Britishers imposed the myth, invented Aryan aggression theory, misinterpreted Indian history and tradition and engineered unprecedented social divide. The racist interpretation of Indian society, Euro-centrism, uncritical acceptance of the colonial theories, etc. were harmful for our country. Paradoxically, such tendencies increased after independence. These, however, are more pronounced in the North-Eastern region of the country.

As stated earlier, Britishers segregated the hills and plains of the then Assam. The administrative segregation was reinforced by the isolationist theory and the racist interpretation of the society, culture and the history. Aryan-Mongolian divide, core-fringe divide, hills-plains divide ad all other sorts of divides dominate the writings of the European and Indian colonial writers. This brings crisis of perception. New myths are added to the already existing colonial myths. The myths and lies add to the complexities of the problem.

The British colonial functionaries believed in the use of religion for colonial, rather than the spiritual purpose. J. Johnstone's following statement makes the point clear:

"The late General Dalton, C.S. I., when Commissioner of Chota Nagpur, did his utmost to aid Christian Mission among the wild Kols; his argument being like mine, that they wanted a religion and that were they Christian, they would be a valuable counterpoise in time of trouble to the vast non-Christian population of Behar. In the same way it can not be doubted that a large population of Christian hill- men between Assam and Burma, would be a valuable prop to the state44.

Johnstone did not hide his worry that the Nagas' would sooner or later become debased Hindus or Mussulman Hutton was equally worried to observe the Hindu influence on the Nagas. David Scott, the most important colonial functionary of the empire in the North-East, wanted to win over the Garos through religion and agitation. In his letter to Bailey, Secretary to the Government, he wrote "if we do not interfere on behalf of the poor Garos, they will soon become Hindus or half Hindus, retaining and acquiring many of the bad parts of both their present and improved creeds.would greatly prefer two or more Moravian missionaries of the old school who alongwith religion will teach the useful arts',"

It is clear that the British administrators wanted to facilitate the spread of Christianity and to weaken the influence of Hinduism. Many Hindu castes and tribes of the North-East were declared animists and the theory of Hindisation and Aryanisation was prominently propagated. The racist interpretation of history and society was aimed at the social divide keeping in view the policy of 'divide and rule' of the Britishers. The colonial thinking continues to influence our people in post-independence period also.

One can not forget the commendable role played by the Baptist Church of Nagaland and the Churches of Mizoram in bringing peace to the strife-torn states. However, there were many Church leaders elsewhere in the North East whose perception differed. Eruption of TNV movement in Tripura made Rev. Dr. Rieweh Cunville happy. It was a "nationalist uprising" according to him and he hoped that this political upheaval would make the tribals more receptive to the Gospel. Cunville, an American Church leader and a director of the Bible Society of India, hailed tribal assertion for right and freedom like those of Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya and observed that if large numbers are to come to Christ via these peoples movement, the Tripura Baptist Christian Union (TBCU) would require aid from other Churches and Missions. The Union continues to describe Hinduism as a threat to the tribal identity49 . Hokishe Sema has written about his serious reservations about the role of Rev. Scott as a member of the Nagaland Peace Missions".

European writers ignored the fact that the terms, such as the 'Arya','Asura','Danav', and'Dasyu' had behavioural connotations. 'Miechchha' denoted linguistic category and'Das' was a functional one. European scholars gave them racial meaning. These terms were taken from the Indian tradition and therefore the meanings given should have conformed to the same. Vritra was an Asura and yet a vedic rishi. lndra murdered him and suffered the sin of killing a Brahmin. Ravana was a Rakshasa and he was also a Brahmin. Rama performed Ashswamedh Yajna to get rid of the sin of killing Brahmin (Brahma-Hatya) as he killed Ravana and other Rakshasas. Ravana graduated in the vedic studies, and he used to perform Agnihotra daily (a vedic fire worship)'. There were Brahmans born in rakshasa families. Brahmanas of theYajurveda School, born among the Rakshasas, performed the cremation rights of Ravana according to the vedic rights. Bali and Kartavirya Arjunas" were made his ritual brothers by Ravana in front of the fire (a vedic ritual). lndra killed his own sinful kinsfol (Danavas). Devas and Danavas were brothers but they had eternal enmity. Danavas used to perform vedic rituals','. A Brahmin or a king used to become Rakshas, or Chandal' due to his sinful acts.

It seems that 'monkey' was the totem of the Kings and subjects of Kishkindha. Bali, the king of Kishkindha used to recite Vedic mantras, and perform'Sandhya'. The racist scholars forget that lndra not only killed Asuras, but also the Brahmanas well-versed in Vedic lore (88 thousand Shalavlik Brahmanas) when they sided with the Asuras in their conflict with the Devas

The term 'Arya' meant,' a senior person of noble and righteous conduct', and not a person belonging to any specific race or that of a particular language group. A person of questionable conduct was invariably called 'Anarya'. Ulupi was addressed as 'Arya Ulupi', whereas Jayadratha", as well as Duryodhana and his party' as lanarya'. The learned and the informed ones were often called Aryas. Thus, the term does not have racial connotation.

The epic Mahabharat mentions about the Brahrnanas of diverse nature, customs and rites". It also mentions about the large gathering of Kshatriyas expert in the use of arms and ammunitions, with diverse dresses and ornaments and different physical appearances

Kiratas and Shakas were considered to be Kshatriyas of good birth, according to Mahabharat . These communities were included among the Kshatriyas killed by Parashurama." Thus,. the claim of Kshatriya status of the Kiratas (indo-Mongoloid) is con- firmed by the Indian tradition. The Parashurama legend mentioned above is current among the Rajbanshis and Poliyas. Like many other communities of the eastern India, these two communities also claim to be Kshatriyas.

Like race, colour of the skin is another European obsession. They have invariably misinterpreted Indian tradition due to the obsession of colour. The Aryan Gods and early Rishis should have been white ecomplexioned and Shiva, the so called Dravidian God, black according to European colonial myth. On the contrary, the colour of so called Aryan God lndra was not white but greenish brown.:" The colour of Vishnu was dark or dark blue, and that of Rama was dark. The colour of Krishna was compared to that of linseed flowering and with the colour of the dark Tarnal tree." The color of Angiras Rishis of the Rigveda was black, and they were described as being born of coal."' Kanva Rishi was black. Rishi Vyasa was black and very ugly. Both Krishna Rishi' and Krishnasura of the Rigveda were black. Drona, Arjuna , Kunti' and King Nalallg, all of Mahabharata fame, were black complexioned. Rigveda describes the birth of a brown coloured 'pious hero'.' The colour of the person (Yajna-purusha) appearing from the sacrificial fires of Dakshagl and Dasaratha was black. There is a prescription in an Upanishada for the births of' white complexioned son who will study only one Veda', 'tawny or reddish-brown son who will study two Vedas' and 'black/dark coloured son with reddish eyes who will study three Vedas' The colour of Shiva (Rudra), contrary to the European theory is described in the Rigveda to be white.' Thus, the European obsession of colour is not supported by the Indian tradition.

The term' mlechchha' is derived from Sanskrit root 'mlich'(to speak indistinctly). The person speaking meaninglessly / indistinctly was labeled as Mlechchha. People of Sindhu region, for the same reason, were called Melchchha although they spoke a language derived from the, Sanskrit. Manu debars one from reading Vedas indistinctly and without proper pronunciation of vowels and consonants. Indistinct pronunciation was considered to be a sin. The residents of Madra, Sindhu, auvira Aratta and Saurashtra,eg. covering the area from Gujarat to Satluj in Punjab and Kabul, and that of many other areas were declared Mlechchhas on linguistic ground. Bhaskar Verman was a Brahman according to Yuan Chwang and a Mlechchha Brahman according to Vasu."

The European scholars have suggested that 'Dasyu' and 'Dasa', both words are derived from the root 'damsh', 'to shine'. Denasalization, as well as derivation of both words from the same root seems improbable. Dasyu is a word with continuity of meaning from the remote past. Dasyus arrived at the scene when ever there was anarchy. They were robbers and not liked for their deviant behavious. They were variously described as cruel-hearted, path-preventers and robbers,"" greedy,"" and inflictors of pain on living beings." lndra defeated them several times. It was the duty of a king to control and punish dasyus. Dasyus did not belong to any particular race.

The colonials have also given wrong meaning to the term 'Dasa' and used it for the misinterpretation of the history and tradition of the Indian people. The term denoted paid employees, servants and slaves'06 and did not indicate racial differences.

As stated earlier the Britishers built up edifice of colonial history on many pillars and one of them was race. Narakasurs dynasty ruled Pragjyotish for generations. Narkasur' and his descendants, Bhagadatta and Vajradattall will find copious mention in the Puranas, Mahabharat and Tantras. Subahu, born in the 18th generation of the dynasty became an ascetic and went to the Himalayas. Thus he followed the ancient tradition of the Indian kings. According to Gait, the dynasty belonged to non-Aryans race, because Naraka, the founder of the dynasty used the appellation 'Asura' Elsewhere, similar inferences are drawn on the basis of the appellation of' Danav"" and' Mlechchha'. Obviously Gait has drawn wrong conclusions as the terms' Aryans', 'Asura', 'Danava' and 'Mlechchha' do not have racial connotations.

The colonial scholars often mixed up race and religion to create further confusion. Aryanization and Hinduization were al- most the synonymous terms. Melchchha and non-Hindus ware also synonyms terms."' The Hindu dynasties of North-East India- Cachari, Koeh and Manipur dynasties - were declared dynasties of aboriginal origin, and therefore converts to the Hinduism. The basic fact that aborigine could also be Hindus and Kshatriyas, as mentioned earlier, was ignored by the colonial scholars. Cachari King, Vikramadityapha ruled in Dhansiri valley during 141 0 to 1469. He established a city called Lakshmindrapur (now the town of Dimapur in Nagaland) after installing the stone image of Vishnu (Lakshmindra; the lord of lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth).' Bhubaneshwar Vachaspati prepared a manuscript of Naradi Puran during the reign of Cachari king Suradarpa Narayan (1707-1732) on the command of the mother of the king, Chandra Prabha, the widow of the king Tamaradhwaj Narayan. A conch shell with ten awataras of Vishnu (Shri Krishna) carved on it with the inscription that the same was carved during the reign of Bir Darpa in 1671, was discovered, according to Gait."' A silver coin discovered in the neighbourhood of Maibong in the North Cachar Hills district of Assam "bears a date equivalent to 1583 AD and was issued by Yaso Narayan Deva, a worshipper of Hara Gauri Shiva and Durga .........Krishna Chandra (1780-1813) and Govinda Chandra (1813-1832) were the last kings of the dynasty. Their forefathers already claimed origin from Bhima and took the title of 'Lord/King of Hidimba"" and the Kacharis of Darrang used to call them- selves Bhim-ni-fsa or children of Bhim." Obviously, the fore fathers of Krishna Chandra and Govinda Chandra were Hindus and the question of their conversion into Hinduism is a colonial lie. The two brothers entered into the body of the copper effigy of a cow and then came out of the same. It was a misfortune aversion devise. It may be mentioned that no Hindu scripture pre- scribes this ritual of conversion.

Garib Newaj favoured Ramanandi Vaishnavism (worship of Rama) under the influence of Shantidas as against already existing Chaitanya's school of Vaishnavism. Khyamba (1467-1507), born 12 generations before Garib Newaj (1709-1748') built the temple of Vishnu-which still exists at Bishnupur. Khongtekeha (765-784) was the devotee of Shiva and Devi, and regarded Hari (Vishnu) as the Supreme God. Even the father of Garib Newaj was a Vaishnava. Two Kali temples were built during his reign. Thus Hinduism not only existed during the reign of his predecessors, but was also free from Vaishnava-Shaiva-Shakta divide. It worked under over-all framework of continuum. It is obvious that the colonial assertion of the conversion of the said king into Hinduism is baseless. The colonials were conscious of their weakness, and, therefore, used such phrases initially, as "the formal act of conversion and the "public profession of Brahminism It is pertinent to mention here that colonial writers often used 'Hinduism' and 'Brahminism' as synonymous terms by ignoring the fact that more than 50% of Vedic Rishis were not Brahmans. Again, such acts of formalisation and public profession is unknown in the history and tradition of India and the two Kachari Kings could never be exceptions.

Contrary to the factual evidence, the colonial writers widely applied Hinduisation theory. 'Degraded Brahmins' were held responsible for Hinduisation and inventing genealogy and awarding Kshatriya status to the Manipuris' ' Koch, Rajbanshi" Kacharis and others; forgetting the fact that Hindu scriptures and epic Mahabharat mention that Kiratas were Kshatriyas of good birth. The attitude and actions of the Britishers towards average Indians was deplorable, and the same was condemned even by per- sons like Max Muller. However, they never missed any opportunity to condemn the Brahmins. Duboi has used choicest abuses for them. The reasons for the Britishers dislike for the Brahmanas is not difficult to identify. The so called 'Brahminic prejudice' was held to be the invincible barrier in the way of conversion in India. The Brahmins, along with the Rajputs were the main participants of 1857 mutiny and a committee set up to enquire into the causes of the rebellion also revealed the fact and as a result of the post- mutiny steps taken by the British government the Brahmans' number in the army was highly reduced. Many leaders of the mutiny such as Mangal Pandey, Tantia Tope and Nana Saheb, were Brahmans. Brahmans were the main players of the early terrorist game in Maharashtra.

Yuan Chuang found hundreds of Deva temples in Assam, when he visited that part of the country. Different communities of Assam worship the same pan-Indian Gods and Goddesses"' and form part of the continuum. The colonial writers have tried to project multi-level break of religious, cultural and political continuum.

I have discussed about the colonial bias in the historiography of the North-Eastern region. The strong impact of isolationist ideas on the region's history have already been discussed. There is a strong tendency towards overlooking the ancient history and the pan-Indian links. Euro/Middle-East-centrism is so pronounced that the reference of 'Asura' tempts the writers to remember Assyria. Any deliberation on divine kingship brings a reference to Mesopotamia. It is safely forgotten that sources nearer home, the Hindu scriptures are full of the references of the divinity of the kings. The king is also considered to be Lord Vishnu. The famous and grand temple of Angakor Wat is also dedicated to the king. Racist interpretation of the history and society continues to be a dominant theme in the North-East. Aryanisation and Hinduisation theories continue to be widely applied. The views of the Colonial racists and the Marxists converge. Loose expression like 'The greatest victims of this type of Aryan invasion were the Koehes go unquestioned.

The obsession of the North-Eastern writers with race, Hinduisation, Aryanisation, and isolation; and loose and massive application of the same, in their writings was also responsible for generating a sense of alienation. The very people who were instrumental in the development of their tradition and religion were told that they were the converted people. The trend got boost up when the expressions of separate identity was made a paying venture after the creation of Nagaland. It took many forms. A kind of revivalism was attempted at certain places. Some claimed that the Tai Ahoms are neither Hindu nor Assamese. A militant Revivalist Nativism was attempted in Manipur. There were not many takers and in Manipur anti-Hindu revivalist acts met resistance from the local people. It may not be out of place to mention here that Shans, who were Hindus, migrated from Burma to Manipur in the 14th century, and the image of Vishnu, installed in the Vishnu temple by king Khyamba was given by their king (the king of Pong in Burma).TheThai kings took the epithet of Ravna and named their capital Ayodhya' after coming to present location of Thailand from Southern China. Their entire religious activities controlled by a few thousand Brahmin families, as mentioned in Encyclopaedia Britannica, indicates towards Hindu-Buddhism continuum among the Thais. The Shans and Thais are the cousins of Ahoms, and the above facts indicates towards the need of change of the perception among the revivalists.

Apart from the factors mentioned above, some assumed notions are also at work in North-East India. The people also have assumed as well as real grievances. The view of N. Bishweswar, the Meitei insurgent leader, quoted below indicates the same :

"The Meitei, who joined the Indian Union on their own initiative, as they are devoted Hindus, has become a victim of India. The Meiteis are proud that they are more real Hindus and theirs is one of the more sacred origin of Hindu or Hinduism. If there suffering is the price of that, how can Hinduism survive in Manipur? In the eye of India, the Meiteis are a people from an undiscovered part of India untouchable politically and economically. If this is the price of the Meiteis joining India and of their excessive loyalty to the Indian leaders, how long will they remain within the Indian Union? Even in their own homeland-Manipur, the Meiteis have already been reduced to second class citizens. How can a Meitei in such circumstances join the national mainstream of India? How far the Meiteis are legitimate Indians in the context of equality, freedom and liberty? Why the Meiteis be treated as colonial people? Why the Meiteis be called people of flat noses and half open eyes who have no claim to survive? ... If Meiteis were not converted into Hinduism, instead adopted Christianity, just as the Naga, Mizo, or preferred to remain with their ancient past following and preserving rich heritage of their ancestors without any foreign religion and caste, certainly they would not have remained like a defeated people on the verge of extinction. Today the Meiteis are facing a threat to their very existence. They have no motherland-neither Manipur nor India. Perhaps they have no other alternative but to build up a new home outside India's control. Should the Meiteis bid farewell to India and its Hinduism or should Indian leaders review and correct their mistakes."'

Such opinions are in wide circulation in Manipur. and else- where and need answers and remedial actions if based on real grievances. There is also the need of academic activism to clear much of the doubts and haziness created in the region.

The statement quoted above shows the misplaced anger, much of which is the result of the misgivings and misperceptions. A large number of our people have such misgivings and misperceptions and they are sulking. This helps in aggravating the sense of alienation. and in many cases the outward expression of the sense of alienation is the violence in the society. Steps should be taken to resolve the crisis of perception. Genuine grievances of the people need immediate remedial action.