Friday, October 29, 2010

Bru body insists on MoU before repatriation

 

AGARTALA/AIZAWL, Oct 18 – Repatriation of the 37,000 Bru refugees from neighbouring Mizoram sheltered in six camps in North Tripura district has run into rough weather with an ethnic organisation stating that they would not return home unless a MoU was signed.
“Unless a MoU is signed by the Mizoram Government with representatives of the displaced Brus, they will not return to Mizoram,” a Bru Displaced Welfare Organisation (BDWO) statement said in Agartala.
“Our sincere request to the Government of Mizoram is that it reassure the rights and dignity of the Bru people, restore peace and harmony and start the process of dialogue that would lead to a permanent solution,” BDWO General Secretary John Lalnuntluanga and President, Azawmdarai said in the statement.
The statement alleged that the Mizoram Government was preparing to repatriate the Bru refugees to Mamit, Kolasib, and Lunglei districts, but the BDWO wanted that they be repatriated to Mamit district only.
The organisation said that they would launch an indefinite hunger-strike and sit-in at Aizawl and Delhi. However, they did not fix any date for it.
Meanwhile, the Repatriation Implementation Committee (RIC), a Bru organisation recently formed in the Naisngpara relief camp in North Tripura’s Kanchanpur subdivision, said that the refugees supported the proposal of the Central, Tripura and Mizoram Governments to repatriate all refugees from Tripura.
In a press statement e-mailed to PTI in Aizawl, RIC president Lallawma and secretary C Nunsiama said that they had full faith in the leadership of Elvis Chorkhy, president of the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF).
Reacting to the BDWO’s recent press statement, the RIC claimed that some elements in the community were trying to create problems for the refugees by spreading lies.
The RIC statement appealed to all refugees to await the decisions of the government and the Bru leaders coordinating with the Mizoram Government.
“We, the people, must not be influenced by some misguided elements who are out to create trouble and derail the repatriation process,” the statement said.
The Brus are sheltered in the camps in Tripura since 1997 following ethnic clashes with Mizos in their home State. – PTI

PMGSY roads changing lifestyle in Manipur

 

IMPHAL, Oct 28 – Construction of new roads and upgradation of certain inter-village routes in Manipur under the Centrally sponsored schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) has started to change the lifestyles of several villagers.
“The recent construction of a road in between Sugunu and Sekmaijin villages has helped the villagers to change their lifestyles upto a certain level”, a senior official of Manipur State Rural Road Development Agency (MSRRDA) said while interacting with The Assam Tribune here.
The 40.5 km road between Sugunu in Thoubal district and Sekmaijin village in Imphal West district which was upgraded under PMGSY since the last four years now connects at least a dozen villages of the two districts.
Thus the villagers of Laphupat, Tera, Warukok, Phoubakchao, Sekmaijin and those remote villages under Sugunu Assembly constituency now could have a joyride with those mini-bus and jeep plying along the newly developed route, the official of MSRRDA added.
MSRRDA is the implementing agency of the Centrally sponsored PMGSY schemes in Manipur. PMGSY is a 100 per cent Centrally-sponsored scheme to provide road connectivity in rural areas.
So far the agency has managed to connect 190 villages in Manipur by constructing new roads besides upgrading the existing roads under the scheme. But it targets to connect not less than 500 villages of the State by constructing new roads covering a total distance of 3,160.86 km till the end of its seventh phase.
Till end of September this year, the construction firms under the State’s implementing agency has completed 664 work packages out of allotted 1,023 with an expenditure of around Rs 42,732 lakh, according to an achievement report of MSRRDA.
In Manipur, as per the national guideline – a work package under PMGSY means construction works worth Rs 5 crore only..“As a result we took up the Sugunu-Sekmaijin road under four sections (four work packages)”, the official further informed.
The works were taken up as per the recommendation from the government including the State MLAs and MPs. But the officials here in Manipur are facing various forms of difficulties while implementing the schemes mostly in the valley districts compared to hill districts as the community participation in the valley is low so far, local sources said.
Though villages with population of 500 and above were covered in the initial phases, but it was later extended to villages with a population of 250 in the following phases, the sources added.
The Government India targets to construct 3.68 lakh km new roads besides 370,000 km of upgradation and renewal to provide connectivity to unconnected rural habitations as part of a poverty reduction strategy at a cost of about 26 billion US dollars.

Most Expensive House with 27 Floors, Just Have a Look

 

MUMBAI, INDIA  — The richest man in India, Mukesh Ambani is soon to welcome his relatives and friends to have a look to his lavish new house that is marked as the most expensive house built ever in history. The chairman of India’s largest private sector, Reliance Industries Mr. Ambani’s new building is located in Mumbai and it took almost seven years to complete such a luxurious building that will accommodate only six people. The house estimated to cost around $1 billion.
 
 
Ambani, the world’s fourth richest person is a successful business tycoon with $29 billion net worth. His income mainly comes from petroleum and petrochemical giant Reliance Industries. His new home is built on 400,000 square feet and flaunts a a 168-space lot, three helipads, a swimming pool, yoga studio, mini-theater, three balconies with terrace gardens, a health club and spectacular views of the Arabian Sea.
Really the most expensive house of Mr. Ambani can be called as the most spacious house compared to the number of people who are going to reside there. No wonder the house comprises of 27 floors.

At Rs 16cr, costliest car of the world drives into India

 

NEW DELHI: It is the ultimate in exclusivity and holds an aspirational value, even for the growing list of billionaires in India. Bugatti Veyron, the fastest and perhaps the most expensive car in the world, debuted with a jaw-dropping ex-showroom price tag of Rs 16 crore, making India the only market globally to sell the world's cheapest (Nano) and the most expensive car. 
 
Bugatti drove in the Veyron's 'Grand Sport' model that boasts of a top speed of 407 kmph (bettered only by Veyron's other variant Super Sport that has clocked 431 kmph) and can race from 0-100 kmph in only 2.7 seconds. 
 
The model joins the list of crore-plus car brands to hit India as companies make a beeline to tap the rapidly expanding list of millionaires and billionaires. Others like Bentley, Maybach and Rolls Royce are already present in India, though the Bugatti's Rs 16 crore price tag dwarfs their range. "Bugatti is not a car, it is a piece of art. And to maintain the exclusivity and the enigma around our cars, we produce only limited numbers of a model," said Guy Caquelin, Bugatti's marketing manager for the Middle East, Europe and India.bugatti veyron
bugatti veyron