Noah's Ark FOUND? Evangelist Group Says It's In Turkey

Noah's Ark has been found atop a mountain in Turkey, a team of Turkish and Chinese evangelical explorers said Monday, April 26.

The 15-person team claims to have recovered fragments of wood and pieces of rope from a structure on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey that carbon dating has put at 4,800 years old, roughly coinciding with the time the biblical flood was said to have been occurred.

UPDATE: Scroll down for photos of the supposed ark, posted to the group's Web site, and you be the judge of the evidence.

The team is a joint effort between Hong Kong-based Media Evangelism, Noah's Ark Ministry International and the Turkish government.

Yeung Wing-Cheung, a member of the team, told AFP, "It's not 100 percent that it is Noah's Ark but we think it is 99.9 percent that this is it."

He said that the structure at the site featured wooden beams and several compartments that were believed to house animals.

Wing-Cheung added that local officials will ask the Turkish government to apply for UNESCO World Heritage status, to protect the site while further archaeological excavation is carried out.

However, the group has not revealed the location of the site beyond saying that it is 12,000 feet up the mountain. It has also failed to produce exterior photos of the structure.

Nicholas Purcell, a lecturer in Ancient History at Oxford University, called the claims "the usual nonsense," according to the Daily Mail.

"If floodwaters covered Eurasia 12,000 feet deep in 2,800 BC, how did the complex societies of Egypt and Mesopotamia, already many centuries old, keep right on regardless?" he said.

[ via Huffingtonpost]

SKorean is 1st Woman to Conquer 14 Highest Peaks

By Binaj Gurubacharya

Katmandu, Nepal : A South Korean mountaineer became the first woman to scale the world's 14 highest mountains, crawling on all fours Tuesday as she reached the last summit.

Oh Eun-sun, 44, arrived at the final, steep stretch of Annapurna in the Himalayas 13 hours after she left the last camp to beat a Spanish rival to the record. Her feat was broadcast live in South Korea by KBS television.

At the top, she pulled out a South Korean flag, waved, and then wept before throwing up her arms and shouting, "Victory!"

Annapurna was the last of the 14 peaks above 26,247 feet (8,000 meters) Oh needed to climb to set the mark. She reached the summit - 26,545 feet (8,091 meters) above sea level - 13 years after she scaled her first Himalayan mountain, Gasherbrum II, in 1997. She scaled Everest in 2004.

The whole team was in good health and was making its way down to the base camp, expedition coordinator Song Hea-kyong said in the Nepalese capital. They were expected back in Katmandu by the weekend, Song said.

Oh narrowly beat Edurne Pasaban of Spain to the record. After reaching Annapurna earlier this month, Pasaban, 26, has only the 26,330-foot-high (8,027-meter-high) Mount Shisha Pangma left on her list.

Oh also tried to summit Annapurna last year but turned away just hundreds of yards (meters) from the top because of bad weather. Snow and wind also stopped her from making the trek last weekend.

"I gave it up because of a sudden ominous feeling that something bad would happen to either me or my peers, including the sherpas, on my way back to base camp," she told The Korea Times newspaper last month.

She said this trip would be different, adding that she would be carrying a photograph of Ko Mi-young, a lifelong rival who fell to her death last year while descending from Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth-highest peak.

On Tuesday, KBS footage showed Oh breathing heavily after each step in minus-20 Fahrenheit (minus-29 Celsius) temperatures on snowy Annapurna.

"I'm so happy, and I would like to share this joy with the South Korean people," said an emotional Oh, murmuring, "Thank you, thank you."

President Lee Myung-bak sent a congratulatory message, saying South Koreans were "awakened to her great spirits of challenge," according to his office.

"She is really great and I'm proud of her," he said.

Oh's quest has met with some controversy, after some questioned whether she had in fact summited one of the peaks on the list: Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest. Photos taken of that trek did not clearly prove she had reached the summit. She dismissed the criticism.

"I can say that I have stood at the summit of Mount Kanchenjunga," she told reporters in Seoul late last year, according to Yonhap news agency. "It was bad weather. Three sherpas told me that I reached the top, and one of them took the picture."

Oh has described mountain climbing as an addiction.

"For a while after a successful climb, I seriously consider quitting," she told The Korea Times. But "I find my heart longing for the exhilaration I had on the top of a summit."

---

Associated Press writer Jean H. Lee contributed to this report from Seoul, South Korea.

The Associated Press

/ AP
In this Sunday, April 18, 2010 photo released by BLACKYAK, South Korean female climber Oh Eun-son moves towards a second camp on Mount Annapurna in Nepal. Oh plans to conquer the 8,000-meter peak of Annapurna. Oh has climbed 13 of the world’s highest mountains, with only Annapurna remaining on her list. (AP Photo/BLACKYAK)

- AP

FILE- In this Sunday, April 18, 2010 file photo released by BLACKYAK, South Korean female climber Oh Eun-son, right, looks on as she moves towards a second camp on Mount Annapurna in Nepal. The South Korean climber has become the first woman to scale 14 of the world's highest mountains. Seoul broadcaster KBS television showed live coverage Tuesday, April 27,2010, of Oh Eun-sun reaching the summit of Annapurna and affixing a South Korean flag to the peak. (AP Photo/BLACKYAK, FILE)

- AP

FILE-In this Sunday, April 18, 2010 file photo released by BLACKYAK, South Korean female climber Oh Eun-son, foreground, moves towards a second camp on Mount Annapurna in Nepal. Oh plans to conquer the 8,000-meter peak of Annapurna. The South Korean climber has become the first woman to scale 14 of the world's highest mountains. Seoul broadcaster KBS television showed live coverage Tuesday, April 27,2010, of Oh Eun-sun reaching the summit of Annapurna and affixing a South Korean flag to the peak. (AP Photo/BLACKYAK, FILE)

- AP

South Korean watch TV live broadcasting that South Korean climber Oh Eun-sun reached the summit of the Annapurna in Nepal, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 27, 2010. Oh made history in the Himalayas on Tuesday by becoming the first woman to scale the world's 14 highest mountains, beating a Spanish rival for the record.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

- AP

South Korean watch TV live broadcasting of South Korean climber Oh Eun-sun reaching the summit of the Annapurna in Nepal, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 27, 2010. Oh made history in the Himalayas on Tuesday by becoming the first woman to scale the world's 14 highest mountains, beating a Spanish rival for the record.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

- AP

In this Sunday, April 18, 2010 photo released by BLACKYAK, South Korean female climber Oh Eun-son, foreground, moves towards a second camp on Mount Annapurna in Nepal. Oh plans to conquer the 8,000-meter peak of Annapurna. Oh has climbed 13 of the world’s highest mountains, with only Annapurna remaining on her list. (AP Photo/BLACKYAK)

- AP

In this Sunday, April 18, 2010 photo released by BLACKYAK, South Korean female climber Oh Eun-son, right, looks on as she moves towards a second camp on Mount Annapurna in Nepal. Oh plans to conquer the 8,000-meter peak of Annapurna. Oh has climbed 13 of the world’s highest mountains, with only Annapurna remaining on her list. (AP Photo/BLACKYAK)

Travel Allowance To Northeast India Extended

New Delhi, Apr 28 : The scheme of relaxation of leave travel allowance (LTA) rules allowing central government employees to travel to the northeastern region by air has been extended by two years with effect from May 1.

The department of personal and training issued a notice pertaining to the extension on April 20. The scheme was the brainchild of former DoNER minister Mani Shankar Aiyar that the current minister has expanded.

In February, DoNER minister Bijoy Krishna Handique appealed to Union minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pension Prithviraj Chauhan to extend the scheme “in view of the tremendous enthusiasm generated among the central government employees”.

The relaxation had resulted in a large number of families visiting the region in the past year and a half.

Handique mentioned that the extension would give necessary fillip to the tourism potential and economy of the region.

According to the available data, the inflow of domestic tourists to the eight northeastern states recorded a growth of 21 per cent in the past two years. The year 2009 saw a growth of 11 per cent in the inflow of domestic tourists compared to the previous year.

“This growth is chiefly attributed to the huge increase in LTC tourists since introduction of the scheme initiated by the DoNER ministry in May, 2008. There was a total domestic inflow of 5.7 million tourists in the year 2009,” a DoNER release said today.

Handique appealed to all the state governments and the people of Northeast to avail this opportunity to give a boost to the tourism and create more employment avenues in the region.

Bogey of Indigenous Identity Fuels Assamese Militancy

By M. Burhanuddin Qasmi

The Census 2011 has begun nationwide on 1st April 2010. Though the Schedules for Census of India 2011 and National Population Register have no columns to enroll one's language or religion this time, yet it had fuelled past differences of Assamese and Bengalis in Assam. Following is an historic account of this language dispute in Assam, a north-eastern state of India.

The six year long Assam Movement between 1979 and 1985 by All Assam Students Union (AASU) was initially against all 'outsiders'. Slogans like, “Assam is for the Assamese, “Drive out Indian dogs from Assam” were dominantly inscribed in public places in parts of upper and central Assam. The direction of the agitation was, later, diverted against linguistic and religious minorities - both Bengali Hindus and Muslims and then gradually poor Bengali Muslims become an only easy target.

On February 18th, 1983 Bengali-speaking Muslims alone had to pay the cost of 'saving democracy' during infamous Nellie massacre. Both the State and Central governments but miserably failed to protect around 2000 innocent Muslims from extremist butchers at Nellie in Nagoan district of Assam who dared to come out for vote against AASU's diktat. Even after 27 years a proper enquiry has not been constituted into the pogrom, let alone compensation to the victims or to bring the culprits to justice.

So-called Identity Crises of Indigenous People

The entire propaganda machinery for the Assam Agitation was based on two hypotheses - one majority Muslims are coming from across the open borders of Bangladesh and silently settling in Assam and two because of the unabated infiltration of huge number of Bengalese - both Hindu refugees and Muslims settlers from Bangladesh, the 'indigenous' Assamese were being linguistically reduced to a minority and losing their socio-cultural identity in their own land.

The two propositions are totally baseless and falsely propagated to fuel violent separatist and militant movements such as the - United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and instigate a political party - Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) by the AASU leadership 30 years ago. We should shortly analyze the second proposition only in this column that the Bengalis of Assam are not indigenous people of the state and their growing number is endangering Assamese language and culture.

The question of Assamese speaking - the so-called indigenous people becoming a minority in Assam does not arise in the first place because the Assamese speaking people, as a race were never a majority in Assam at any point of time in the history of Assam. As a matter of fact Assam, being a natural place of abode of different linguistic, ethnic, cultural and religious groups of people, has always been a composite state since its inception. Assam is very much like a miniature India, where different races of people lived together and maintained their own identities.

Genesis of Assamese Language

Going by the pre-colonial history, part of present Assam was under Mughal rule through nawabs of Bengal and by their instructions the peasantry from Bengal migrated from East to West Bengal to settle on both sides of the river Brahmaputra for fishing, cultivation and as a way of fighting regular floods that ravaged the area they were then inhabiting. The areas where immigrant Bengali Muslims live for centuries is now known as lower Assam.

The British annexed the remaining parts of Assam (then Ahom) - present upper and parts of central Assam in 1826 and brought it under the provincial administration of Bengal. They also brought English knowing educated Bengalese, skilled farmers and labourers particularly Muslim for assisting in administration, cultivation and construction of public infrastructure which again resulted in large scale migration from the densely populated East Bengal to Brahmaputra valley.

Bengali was the language of the courts and Government schools of Assam in 1837. As per pre-independent census in 1931 the Assamese speaking people constituted only 34 percent of the state population.

In 1951 their number shot up to 64 percent of state population and that is only because of recording of Assamese as the mother tongue in the census by the Bengali speaking Muslims of the Brahmaputra valley.

It is notable that during the period of 20 years from 1951 to 1971, the percentage of growth of Assamese speaking people rose to 80 percent of the state population. An obvious question arises, then where the Assamese had migrated from? The only logical answer is that the Bengalese, especially Muslims, who migrated from lower to upper valleys of the Brahmaputra River till 1971 have largely contributed to the Assamese language and culture and they recorded Assamese as their mother tongue in the census.

But factually the Assamese speaking people do not constitute a majority race in Assam even today. Thus, despite the fact that Assamese language is not a majority language in the state, there is preponderance of the Assamese language and culture with voluntary concurrence and cooperation of Bengali Muslims alone.

Assamese language is a newly evolved offshoot of rich Bangla itself with the minor changes in the script and pronunciation and keeping intact the original Bangla vocabulary.

Bengalese residing in the lower and central regions of Assam in districts like - Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup, Darrang, Udalguri, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Morigaon and Nagaon have converted their official mother tongue to Assamese, thus making the language spoken by the majority in one of the states of India after independence only.

Assamese language became an official language of the state through the Assam Official Language Act, in 1960 only. (Published in the Assam Gazette, Extraordinary, dated the 19th December, 1960)

Bangla Language Movement of Assam

The Bengalese of Barak Valley - both Hindus and Muslims set off a language movement (Second Bangla Bhasha Andolan) demanding due recognition of Assam's former official Bangla language and their mother tongue following the Assam Legislative Assembly's introduction of a bill to make Assamese the only official language of the state in early 1960.

The movement reached its climax in 1961 when the Assam Government, under the then chief minister Bimala Prasad Chaliha, issued a circular to make Assamese mandatory, in all parts of Assam to which Bengalese of Barak Valley strongly objected.

On 19th May, 1961, Assam Police opened fire on unarmed protesters at Silchar Railway Station in Cachar district where 11 youth were killed and many more wounded. Coming under intense pressure following the bloodbath in Silchar and ensuing popular revolt, the Government of Assam withdrew the circular. And later through a separate legislation Bengali was given an official status in the three districts - Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi of Barak Valley.

The issue of Bangla language came to the forefront once again when Gauhati University sought to introduce Assamese as the only medium of instruction at University level. This led to another mass movement at Barak Valley which saw similar repression and killing. Two youths in Karimganj were killed by police on 21 July 1986, many suffered jail confinement while many more were injured and rendered incapacitated.

An Eye-opener for the Cultural Chauvinist

Going by the present demographic condition in Assam, out of total 27 districts of the state only six districts of upper Assam - Golaghat, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia can be counted as culturally Assamese populous region with a special note, however, that the tea-tribe people who have their own Hindi or Bhojpuri language and culture live in these areas too.

In at least nine districts - Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Dhubri, Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Barpeta, Morigaon and Nagaon Bengalis form the majority. Four more - Karbi Anglong, N.C. Hills, Kokrajhar and Baksa have different tribal cultures and languages of their own. The remaining eight districts - Nalbari, Kamrup city, Kamrup rural, Darrang, Sonitpur, Dhemaji, Udalguri and Chirag have mixed population of Assamese, Bengalese, tribals and tea labourers.

With the aforementioned details, the obvious conclusion of this linguistic and cultural debate in Assam should be that the Bengalis in Assam are losing their age-old and rich linguistic and cultural grip in the state to newly evolved Assamese language and culture with the voluntary conversion of some Bengalis living in lower and central parts of the state, and not the visa versa at all.

Nonetheless, because of the undue stress on the 'identity crisis' of Assamese by some politically astray and chauvinistic youth, the voluntary and natural process of different tribals and Bengalese assimilation into Assamese language and culture in post-independence India has got a big jolt. It rather became counter productive.

Different linguistic, ethnic and cultural groups living in the state are fighting to save their own identities. This not only has disturbed the natural progress and growth of the state along with its language and culture but also endangered the state's own unity, sovereignty and multicultural fabric.

The north-eastern states of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram have fought and got separate statehood primarily on the issue of cultural identity. On 20 February 1987 Mizoram got the formal recognition as the last independent state that was broken away from Assam by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Thanks to the lingual and cultural chauvinism; in the name of saving the 'indigenous identity' it is helping the mushrooming of new independent state seekers. At least three more regions - Bodo Autonomous Council, North Cachar Autonomous Council and Karbi Anglong are now following militant ways for their independent statehood to break away from Assam.

I am afraid, if things continue like this, Bengalis of the Barak Valley may seek their separate state to save their culture and language. Then Bengalis living in the lower Assam may follow their democratic right of living by using their own language and culture rather than becoming unwanted members of an Assamese culture? And then present Assam will be reduced into Ahom once again!

**M. Burhanuddin Qasmi is editor of Eastern Crescent magazine and director of Mumbai based Markazul Ma'arif Education & Research Centre. He can be contacted at manager@markazulmaarif.org

AMSU Too in ‘Migrants Leave Manipur' Chorus

Imphal, Apr 28 : Following the expression of support by some proscribed underground organizations of Manipur to the public announcement by the Revolutionary People's Front that all migrant workers who had come to the State after 1949 should leave by May 31, the All Manipur Students' Union (AMSU) has joined the chorus saying it is for the preservation of the distinctive character of the indigenous people.

The union reminded the people that it had been demanding the deportation of the foreigners since 1980. Two students had been killed during the agitations. The AMSU said it launched the ‘migrants leave' campaign on April 17, 2007 and added that the drive shall continue.

Ibobi : No Eviction

In a delayed reaction to the orchestrated demand for the expulsion of the migrant workers, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, also in charge of Home, said that the government shall not remain a mute spectator if non-local workers were forcibly evicted from Manipur.

The drive amounted to disintegration of the country, he said. Meanwhile some representatives of the migrant workers submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention.

Manipur Sugar Diverted to Assam

FCI diverts Manipur State's sugar

Imphal, Apr 28 : Despite the fact that Nagaland police have been providing security escort to all goods laden trucks bound for Imphal till Mao Gate with the State police taking over form there, the Food Corporation of India, Dimapur, under the pretext of the ongoing economic blockade on NH-39 has diverted 22,000 quintals of sugar to Tinsukia, Assam.

Disclosing this to The Sangai Express an official source from the Consumers Affair, Food and Public Distribution said that the State's share of 22,000 quintal of sugar stocked at the FCI godown in Dimapur was diverted to Tinsukia on April 20.It takes about 220 trucks to ferry 22,000 quintals of sugar.
The IG (Armed Police and Operations) of Manipur had earlier intimated to the FCI Department that security escorts are provided three days in a week to goods laden trucks.

Nagaland police escort the vehicles from Khatkhatti till Mao Gate every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with the State police taking over the security aspects from there, said the source further.

The report of diverting the State's share of sugar to Tinsukia was conveyed to the State Government by the General Manager of FCI (Nagaland and Manipur), MK Gogoi.

The General Manager contended that no official report was sent to his office that the Government of Manipur would provide adequate security to escort the goods laden vehicles and hence it was diverted to Tinsukia.

Taking a serious view of the matter, the FCS Minister of Manipur, Y Erabot has written to the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Sharad Pawar about the diversion of the State's share of sugar to Tinsukia, said the source.

Pointing out that Manipur perennially facers shortage of sugar due to the inaction of the FCI, Erabot informed Pawar that it is the duty of the FCI to transport all PDS items to the FCS godown of the State at Sangaiprou.

Commissioner of the State Consumers Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, P Vaiphei has also written to the General Manager of the FCI, Dimapur, yesterday.

In the message, Vaiphei made it clear that the State's share belongs to Manipur and it should not be diverted to any other place, said the source.
The Commissioner also made it clear that the State Government has taken a serious view of the matter while urging the FCI authority to faithfully deliver the State's quota to the FCS godown here.

[ via The Sangai Express ]

CBI Yet to Start Probe Into NC Hills Scam

Sinlung Says:
This are the angles of allegation which CBI should pursue, how much money was paid off for the renaming of NC Hills district using the scammed monies? Which Cachar Minister was involved in the payoff in the renaming of the district? Which bureaucrat and officials in the Central government were involved in kick-offs?
Our RTI will follow next….

By R Dutta Choudhury

Guwahati, Apr 28 : Though Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi announced the Government’s decision to hand over the case of misappropriation of huge amount of funds in the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after a hue and cry was raised in the State on the issue, investigation by the Central agency is yet to start. Interestingly, most of the organizations which launched movements demanding a CBI probe into the scam in NC Hills are also keeping quiet over the issue.

Official sources told The Assam Tribune that the case is yet to be formally handed over to the Central investigating agency and till date no one is sure as to when the probe by the CBI would start to ensure action against those involved in the financial irregularities. Sources pointed out that normally the State Governments approach the Centre seeking probes by the CBI, but in this particular case the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) wrote to the State Government advising it to go for a CBI probe, following which the State wrote to the Centre. But instead of directly asking for a CBI probe, the buck was virtually passed to the Centre.

In fact the Chief Minister , at one point of time was on record saying that there was no need for a CBI probe even after the National Investigating Agency (NIA), which probed into a case relating to politician-militant nexus in NC Hills, recommended a probe under the Prevention of Corruption Act into the misappropriation of funds by public servants in NC Hills. But the MHA wrote to the State Government on February 22 advising it to recommend a CBI probe. The MHA letter clearly stated that the letter was written with the approval of the Home Minister.

After receiving the letter and following a meeting with the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Gogoi announced in New Delhi that the State Government would go for a CBI probe into the scam and the State Government wrote a letter to the Centre in this regard on March 2.

In the letter the State Government said that during the investigation by the NIA it came to light that public servants in NC Hills were involved in misappropriation of funds, while the MHA also advised it to go for a CBI probe. “In view of the above and careful consideration of the matter, the State Government has decided to refer the matter to the Government of India for investigation of the matter of misappropriation of government funds by public servants of NC Hills and to take action as per law,” the letter said. However, official sources pointed out that instead of directly asking for a CBI probe, the State Government virtually passed the buck to the Centre.

Meanwhile, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), which launched a movement demanding a CBI probe into the scam, said that it would be forced to resume the movement if the case is not handed over to the Central agency immediately.

AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said, “the Chief Minister, after a discussion with the Union Home Minister assured that the case would be handed over to the CBI. Now he should make public whether the CBI has started investigation into the case. If the CBI has not taken over the case as yet, the Chief Minister should make clear the reasons for the delay.” He said that huge amounts of public funds were siphoned off in NC Hills and the State and Central Governments must institute a thorough probe into the same to take action against those responsible. He warned that the AASU would be forced to launch a fresh movement if immediate action is not taken against those responsible.

The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) also met the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister demanding a CBI probe and party spokesman Atul Bora said that the delay in launching of a probe raised doubts on whether the Government has something to hide. He said that the issue would be discussed in the party forum soon to chalk out a future course of action.

[ News via Assam Tribune ]

ADB Funded Aizawl Project Will Take Off Soon

Aizawl, Apr 27 : The Asia Development Bank-funded infrastructure development in Aizawl will take off soon as ADB inception mission team arrived here today.

The team, comprising Shigehiko Muramoto, PAU head, ADB's South Asian urban development division and Febe Valencia Bebedel, ADB's assistant project analyst, will meet the state finance commissioner, UD&PA secretary, planning advisor and project director of State Investment Programme Management and Implementation Unit (SIPMIU).

A tripartite loan agreement in this regard had been signed between Mizoram government, the Union government and the ADB in New Delhi on August four, 2009 to enable sanctioning of ADB loan under the North Eastern Region Capital Cities Development Investment Programme (NERCCDIP) to the state.

Officials here said the first tranche of the project had been readied for execution with M/s Gherzi Eastern India, New Delhi having been awarded the contract.

About Rs 330 crore has been allocated for Aizawl, of which Rs 26 crore is expected in the first tranche to address water supply infrastructure.

''Supply and installation of chlorinator supply is expected to complete at the cost of Rs 40 lakh in August this year. Meanwhile, the tender for supply and installation of water metre is being evaluated,'' an official source said.

The first tranche of the project includes renovation of all PS tanks in the city and construction of two chowkidar quarters and a site office.

Currently, SIPMIU is carrying out a survey for second tranche of the project that includes renovation of water distribution line, sewerage system and waste disposal system.

The ADB has provided upto 200 million dollar to improve infrastructure in five state capital cities of Northeast, the first time it has extended large scale assistance for urban sector development in one of the country's most underdeveloped regions.

The North Eastern Region Capital Cities Development Investment Program will upgrade basic infrastructure, such as water supply and sanitation in the state capitals of Shillong (Meghalaya), Aizawl (Mizoram), Kohima (Nagaland), Gangtok (Sikkim) and Agartala (Tripura), benefiting an estimated 1.2 million people.

The loan facility from ADB's ordinary capital resources will be made available in three or more tranches over the duration of the program implementation from 2009 to 2015.

The Government of India and state governments will provide an additional 85.7 million dollar equivalent for a total estimated program cost of 285.7 million dollar, sources said.

Indian Govt. Releases Rs. 22.50 crore For Anti-terrorism Schools

New Delhi, Apr 27 : The Union Government has released 22.50 crore rupees for establishment of Counter Insurgency and Anti-terrorism Schools (CIAT) Schools in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, said: "During the 11th Plan period a scheme was approved for setting up of 20 Counter Insurgency and Anti-terrorism Schools (CIAT) four each in the States of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa,

So far, the Govt. of India has released Rs. 4.5 crore to each of these States for establishment of three CIAT Schools in each of the State."

The minister informed that the funds released in the last three years are as: 2007-08 (Nil), 2008-09 (Rs. 12 Crore), 2009-10 (Rs. 10.50 Crore).

"In total Rs. 22.50 crore has been released for establishment of 15 CIAT Schools," Mr. Maken said.

"So far, 226 police personnel have been trained and 224 personnel are undergoing training in one CIAT school at Chandka, Orissa," he further stated in his written reply.

Veterans Remember Comrades Who Fell in Epic WW2 Battle

Veterans of one of the most vital and hard-fought battles of the Second World War remembered their comrades who never returned today.

The battle of Kohima effectively ended the Japanese plan to invade India and was describe by Earl Mountbatten as "probably one of the greatest battles in history".

Kohima is a hill town in Nagaland, 5,000 ft above sea level in the middle of the Naga Hills, and between April 4 and June 22, 1944, Allied forces brought the Japanese hordes to a halt.

Despite being hampered by monsoon rain and treacherous terrain, they succeeded in taking Kohima during hand-to-hand fighting that famously culminated on the District Commissioner's tennis court.

But victory came at a horrifying cost in men's lives - more than 4,000 British and Indian soldiers died together with nearly twice as many Japanese troops.

Today remaining survivors that could make the journey, many in their 90s, held their annual memorial service and wreath-laying at York Minster and at the Kohima Memorial in the Minster Gardens.

Those that fell in the battle 66 years ago were remembered by a minute's silence and a bugler from the Heavy Cavalry and Cambrai Band sounded the Last Post and Reveille.

The service was conducted by the Reverend Peter Eagles, the Assistant Chaplain General of the 2 Division. Readings were given by the commanding officer of 2 Signal Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Knott and Regimental Sergeant Major Alastair Combe.

[ via thenorthernecho ]

Arunachal Demands Hike in Budgetary Allocation for Sports&Youth Affairs

Itanagar, Apr 27 : The Arunachal Olympic Association (AOA) today urged the state government to give more stress on development of sports in Arunachal Pradesh and demanded that annual budgetary allocation for Sports and Youth Affairs department be hiked.

Claiming that the state government was not showing 'enough interest' to the sports and youth sector, the association pleaded the government to take a lesson from the governments of other Northeast states-- Mizoram and Nagaland-- saying their annual budgetary allocation in the sector was not below Rs 15-16 crore.

In a press statement issued here, the AOA claimed that the annual fund allocation for the department amounting to not even Rs 2 crore was very dismal, citing that its annual requirement to meet salaries and other demands are between Rs 6-12 crore.

The demands included the costs incurred on staging of state-level tournaments in different disciplines, besides hosting the regional and national level competitions, preparation of state teams for their participation in various national championships and providing incentives to meritorious sportspersons.

While sending congratulatory notes to the winners of the state in the recently concluded Northeast games in Shillong, AOA secretary general G Doke informed that the Arunachalee participants for the 34th National Games will be felicitated soon to encourage them for bringing laurels to the state.

Bringing Back Millet to Cope With Climate Change, Empower Women

A farmer works in his millet farm in Kanati village, near Ahmedabad, on September 16, 2009. Indian social organizations are trying to restore millet as an important crop in northeast India, to help improve both women's status and food security in the face of climate change. REUTERS/Amit Dave

By Teresa Rehman

Chizami, India : Seno Tsuhah, a primary school teacher in this picturesque village near the Myanmar border, wants to help local women cope with changing climate conditions in Nagaland by promoting an old practice: the cultivation of traditional varieties of millet.

Sowing seeds is mostly the domain of women in the area, explains Tsuhah, the moving spirit of a local resource centre of the North East Network, an NGO that works on women's empowerment and human rights.

In each home, a woman "usually keeps the seeds and the different crop selection is mainly done by her. We are trying to sensitise women farmers to promote crop diversity and revive the traditional indigenous seeds which are suitable for the local soil," she says.

Millet, an upland crop, has long been cultivated in the hills of northeast India, and millet-based 'apong,' a country liquor, is a common brew. But the traditional grain is seen primarily as food for the poor and for animals, and millet cultivation is diminishing, along with the traditional 'jhum' system of integrating multiple crops in a field.

"The earlier jhum systems were very complex, but nowadays it has been extremely simplified and the focus has shifted to mono-cropping," said Subbiah Arunachalam, of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in Meghalaya state.

Increasingly unusual weather, including more erratic rainfall and prolonged dry spells, however, are driving Tsuhah and others to try to revive the crop, which can grow in harsh conditions and needs little in the way of fertilizer or other inputs.

Her centre is in the process of setting up a seed bank of traditional millet varieties and has so far collected about 15. It is also collecting traditional millet recipes and organizing food festivals and exhibitions to pass on the information.

"We are trying to ensure that the seeds are preserved and accorded due importance. If some seeds are lost, there is always a scope of sharing the seeds," she said.

Climate change is leading to increasingly temperatures in places like northeast India, and wheat harvests are expected to suffer as a result. Cultivation of rice, another staple, releases too much methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from paddies, environmentalists say.

MILLET SEEN AS A RESILIENT CHOICE

Millet is seen as a more resilient choice, not least because it requires much less water than rice or wheat.

Millet, cultivated in traditional mixed 'jhum' fields, is usually sown on rocky sloping ground with minimal soil. Planted in April, it is harvested in July, and a millet feast usually follows in August.

"Jhum is the indigenous way of maintaining the ecology and rejuvenating life. It is difficult to understand why millet is called a poor man's food," Tsuhah said.

Millet, while a traditional food and widely used for brewing, is today largely used as animal fodder. But it has also won a spot on the shelves of health food shops frequented by India's elite.

The Millet Network of India, in a nationwide campaign, is now promoting the grain as a climate change-compliant crop and a traditional Indian choice.

Srinivas Vatturi, of the millet network, emphasizes that multi-cropping of grains like millet are part of women-led traditional farming, while mono-cropping is largely controlled by men. Men may control money produced by selling mono-crops, he said, but women control food produced at home for the house.

Millet also improves not only food security but health, ecological, livelihood and fodder security, he said.

OUTSIDE INDIA'S DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

One problem in expanding the cultivation of millet is that it is not included in India's national distribution system for subsidized grain, said P.V. Satheesh of the Deccan Development Society, an Indian NGO that promotes development among India's poorest.

That exclusion - which has resulted in more Indians eating distributed grains like rice and wheat - has hurt millet production in the country and curbed the diversity of Indian diets, he said. Many young people are no longer aware of traditional crop varieties.

With hunger still widespread in India and a state focus on distributing rice and wheat doing little to curb that, growing nutritionally rich millet at a household level could improve diets, he said. It could be a particularly good choice in remote hilly areas where people are now dependent on food transported all the way from the neighbouring plain areas.

"The farming landscape of the country needs to be redesigned and new food policies shaped, as crops of larger powerful states like Punjab and Haryana are designing the food policies of our country now. Most millet growers are from poorer areas and communities," Satheesh said.

Ketaki Bardalai, executive director of the Foundation for Social Transformation, a northeast Indian NGO, said promoting traditional cultivation systems, mapping millet cultivation pockets and discovering the reasons for its decline are all key, particularly in Northeast India, one of the country's most economically backward and conflict-troubled zones.

"Sadly, the growing and consuming of millet is slowly fading. The treasure trove of traditional systems disappearing is also very high," she said.

Teresa Rehman is a journalist based in Northeast India. She can be reached at www.teresarehman.net

Bandh Fails to Evoke Response in Mizoram

Aizawl, Apr 27 : The 12-hour nation-wide bandh called by non-NDA and non-UPA parties today to protest against price rise failed to evoke any response in Congress-ruled Mizoram.

Educational institutions, offices, markets, banks and other commercial establishments were open and attendance in government offices was normal. Vehicular movement was also as usual.

However, flights coming from Kolkata and Guwahati could not reach Aizawl as they could not take off from the source destination, airport officials said.

'Separate Time Zone For Northeast Not Feasible'

New Delhi, Apr 27 : India's legal timekeeper Tuesday rejected the idea of a separate time zone for the northeast, saying it was not feasible to advance the clock as it could inconvenience the illiterate people. It, however, recommended the Daylight Saving Time scheme for the country.

'I cannot support two time zones in a vast country like India where a large percentage of people is still illiterate and there could be many problems in the bordering states,' said P. Banerjee, senior scientist with National Physical Laboratory.

Banerjee was speaking here on the possibility of a separate time zone for the northeast at a seminar organised by the Assam Science Technology and Environment Council, an Assam government department.

'There are other logistical problems like keeping pace with national railway and airlines timing schedules as well in the event of two time zones in the country,' Banerjee said.

The National Physical Laboratory is India's legal timekeeping institution.

The seminar was organized against the backdrop of a massive public opinion exercise by civil society leaders in recent months to drum up support for a separate time zone for the northeast by advancing the clock by at least 90 minutes.

The opinion makers had earlier justified seeking a separate time zone, on the ground that the day breaks early in the northeast with the sun normally rising at least an hour to 90 minutes ahead of other places in India.

'Instead of a separate time zone, one could contemplate advancing the office timings convenient to the states and I would recommend a Daylight Saving Time (DST) scheme for the country,' Banerjee said.

Daylight Saving Time is practiced in many countries, exploiting daylight by advancing clocks so that evenings have more natural light and mornings have less.

'We are disappointed by the decision and still feel we need to exploit the daylight time,' Jahnu Baruah, a noted filmmaker and one of the main campaigner for a separate time zone for the northeast, said after the seminar.

The recommendations at the seminar for advancing office timings to save daylight time would be forwarded to the Assam and the central government for consideration.

Weavers Seek Handloom Cluster at Tihu in Assam

Guwahati, Apr 27 : An NGO, ‘Asomi Rural Development Society’ has been devising various schemes for the overall development of rural traditional weavers dwelling in clusters including villages such as Makhibaha, Jalkhana and Kathalmura near Tihu in Assam.

People of this cluster area were producing sky, charka, bamboo reed, bobbin, etc., and selling them in the local markets, but these traditional weavers didn’t receive support from the government or any of the semi-government organizations.

However, in the year 2004-2005, ‘Asomi Rural Development Society’ took steps to help the weavers by forming ‘self-help groups’ (SHGs). It has also been taking various other significant measures to encourage these weavers.

In 2007, the NGO had formed ‘Gamosa SHG Federation’ of over 60 handloom SHGs on a cluster basis, and opened a marketing outlet at Tihu with the support of NABARD.

The marketing outlet has been providing services since past three years with encouraging sale proceeds. This outlet witnessed business of Rs.698,000 in 2007-08 and in 2009-10 sales of this outlet went up to Rs 1.17 million.

The steps taken by the NGO for these people made them happy who urged NABARD to set up a ‘handloom cluster’ facilitated with all kinds of infrastructural amenities.

[ via Fibre2fashion ]

Magdalene Release Self Titled Second Album

Aizawl, Apr 27 : Mizoram based Gospel rock band Magdalene has released its self titled second album.

The album consists of 10 tracks of different genre’s, ranging from 1970’s to Techno. Magdalene is Victor on guitars, Steward on Vocals, Pate-a on Drums and P. B. Liansangzuala on Bass.

The band began in 2005 and got their name ‘Magdalene‘ from the Bible – ‘Mary Magdalene’, LUKE chapter 8:1-3.

Track list:
1. Place of an Angel
2. I don’t wanna Fall
3. Kan Fak
4. Sweet Surrender
5. Worthy of Praise
6. Sunday Pump
7.dEATH AWAITS
8. Phastan law’ng che
9. He’s Waiting
10. Fallen (Middle of Nowhere)

Kachari Council to Oppose Naga Name For Dimapur

Kohima, Apr 27 : The state government’s decision to rename Dimapur could have wider political ramifications as any such move is likely to evoke strong protests particularly from the Dimasa community (Kacharis) who are settled in Nagaland, Assam and Tripura.

Nagaland Speaker Kiyanilie Peseyie said a move to rename Dimapur city in a Naga language was on the cards and a series of discussions was on between the 60 Naga legislators though a consensus was yet to be reached.

The Kacharis are also recognised as one of the non-Naga indigenous tribes of Nagaland.

Peseyie said the name “Dimapur” did not originate from any Naga language and it needed a Naga name.

The Kachari Tribal Council has warned the state government that it would oppose such a move tooth and nail, stating that the Kacharis have been kept in dark about the proposed renaming of Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland.

The council said it would not remain silent if the state government did not change its stand.

Dimapur has a historical significance, it said adding any attempt to change that would invite strong criticisms and opposition from the Kacharis across the Northeast. It said the Bodos, the Dimasas, Mechs, Rabhas and the Boroks are all communities of Kachari origin spread across the region.

Dimapur, once the capital city of the Dimasa kingdom up to the 13th century, has reminiscences of the Dimasa kingdom scattered around it. The Kachari Tribal Council said renaming of Dimapur would tantamount to erasing the history of the Kacharis. The council said they would resort to democratic way of protests to safeguard their history.

Among the Naga tribes, the Angamis still claim Dimapur as theirs, though mostly the Sumi Nagas inhabit in and around Dimapur.

The Dimasa outfits which are operating from Assam also claim Dimapur as theirs and that any solution with the federal government would include Dimapur.

The Nagaland government has also started renaming colonies, wards and villages in and around Dimapur which have non-Naga names.

The Naga Hoho has, however, supported the state government’s move. Its president Kevilietuo Angami said they would support the government’s move to rename Dimapur city. “That is a good move,” he added.

Everything changes, he said, and therefore there should not be a rift or disunity among the Nagas and the non-Nagas like the Kacharis.

“I do not think this will create disunity,” he said.

Angami said the state government was trying to coin a new name for Dimapur in consultation with the Naga tribes.

Sources in the Minority Forum, comprising indigenous people, said the move would have wider ramification.

[ via Telegraph India ]

Northeast Welcomes Right to Education Policy

By Peter Alex Todd

Guwahati, Apr 27 : The Union Government's decision to make education a basic right for each child has been widely welcomed by people in the northeast.

Padumai Paishya (60) of Assam's Jugashree Nagar village who has three children said she was happy that her grandchildren would be able to go to school, thanks to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

"We are happy about the implementation of the New Act (Right To Education). We are poor people, how can we afford education for our children? There are financial constraints. Somehow, we manage to buy rice. How can we even think about education? So I am very happy about it," Paishya said. n India, about crore children under the age group of 6-14 do not go to school.

The Centre and States will to share the fiscal load in the ratio of 55:45 and the Finance Commission has provided Rs. 25,000 crore to the States.
For the Year 2010-11, the Centre has given an outlay of Rs. 15,000 crore.

The people in rural and tribal areas will get the maximum benefit.

"Due to poverty we could not study or send children to schools earlier, but now they go to schools and get free meals there.

However, for sometime the quality of the food has not been good or it has not been available," said Dipan Saha, a parent, Tripura "Still what the government has decided is a great help for poor parents like us as under the Act our children are getting free education, text books and food," he added.

"We are poor people but we have been encouraged to send our children to school as the centre has made many things free for student's education," said Pratima Biswas, a Parent, Tripura.

In the northeast, the average literacy rate is between 60-70 per cent and, with the introduction of the Act, this will go up, especially in the rural areas.

"This is a very bright new chapter. Definitely, we are very much hopeful. Children of every family will get free education. We are happy with this. It's like an eye opener to the country to improve the quality of education," said Asa Khate, a teacher, Nagaland.

Militancy has badly affected development and education in the northeast region in the past and with gradual decline, the thrust is on development of the region and providing employment to the youth, besides educating them.

Assam in Darkness Due To Cyclone

ASEB network takes a beating

By Anupam Bordoloi

Guwahati, Apr 27 : The Assam State Electricity Board’s transmission and distribution network has taken a heavy pounding from the cyclonic storms over the past one month, resulting in losses to the tune to nearly Rs 35 crore, according to initial estimates.

“The figure could go up once we are done with making a full estimate of the extent of damage to our network. The initial estimate is based on a preliminary study,” power minister Pradyut Bordoloi told The Telegraph here today.

Other states of the Northeast, too, have faced nature’s fury with Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh’s power infrastructure taking a severe beating.

Assam, in particular, has witnessed an unusually stormy April this year, with powerful Nor’westers whipping up storms frequently over the past few weeks, resulting in heavy loss of life and property. The most devastating cyclonic storm occurred on Saturday evening across several places in lower Assam, including the capital where the wind speed crossed the 100km/hour barrier. Six were killed in the state on Saturday, two in Guwahati.

A senior ASEB official based in Guwahati said the storms have uprooted transmission towers, snapped cables with trees falling over them and damaged transformers. “Though we have restored power in almost all the affected areas, these are only on a temporary basis. We will need around two-three months to complete permanent restoration,” the official added.

While innumerable posts carrying 33KV lines have been uprooted across the state, big transmission towers of 120KV and 240KV, too, have been uprooted in places like Tinsukia and Goalpara.

In fact, the power minister’s home constituency, Margherita, is one of the worst affected areas. Arpan Saikia, deputy general manager of the Tinsukia electrical circle, revealed that nearly 150 poles have been uprooted in the Margherita division while in Digboi and Doomdooma, 100 and 150 poles have been uprooted.

In Karimganj district, too, cyclonic storms raging since April 19 have wreaked havoc, damaging the power supply system. District executive engineer of ASEB Dipankar Nath today said over telephone that a large network of transmission lines have been damaged in Patherkandi block in the Nor’westers during the past week.

The situation took another grim turn last night when another cyclone ravaged the Badarpur block on the Indo-Bangladesh border.

He added that though power supply to Karimganj town had been restored, many rural areas are still without power.

Goalpara deputy commissioner Prafulla Kumar Goswami said extensive damage had been caused to electricity posts and cables, disrupting power in the entire district since last night. “It will take another 48 hours to restore normal power supply,” he added.

In Dhubri, two major transformers and a 33KV tower have been damaged in the Gouripur police station area.

In Arunachal Pradesh, two 750KV and 500KV power cables snapped when the towers were uprooted in Dibang Valley on Saturday during a severe cyclonic storm. A power department official said supply to the district headquarters town of Roing has been severely affected and it would take a couple of days to restore power. Saturday’s storm also lashed parts of Lower Dibang Valley and Lohit, snapping power cables and posts.

In Meghalaya, the areas bordering Bangladesh have been affected badly by the series of storms raging through the state. “It will take a few days to restore power to the interior areas,” E.B. Kharmujai, a spokesperson for the Meghalaya State Electricity Board, said.

In Manipur, a 12-year-old boy was injured when he touched a live wire, which snapped after a severe storm on April 20 at Kumbi in Bishnupur.

Storm devastates Cachar and Hmarkhawlien kills three

SANTANU GHOSH

Silchar, Apr 27: A severe storm swept through Sonai and Dholai blocks of Cachar district in south Assam at a wind speed of 100km per hour last night, killing three persons and leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. Two more persons died in adjacent Hailakandi district when lighting struck them.

Another storm raged through the lower Assam districts of Goalpara and Dhubri last night, leaving imprints of destruction everywhere.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi today announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh to the next of kin of storm victims. Taking stock of the situation with high-ranking officials, he directed the departments to speed up relief and rehabilitation and asked the power and PHE departments to restore electricity and water in the affected areas.

In Sonai and Dholai, on the southeastern flank of Cachar along Assam’s border with Mizoram, hundreds of dwellings, trees, power posts and telephone poles collapsed in the storm that started around 7.45pm and pummelled the “granaries of the district” for half-an-hour.

Putul Rani Das, 34, her eight-month-old son, Mona, and Harendra Nath Roy, 42, a resident of Shuktala village, of Dholai died as their houses, made of wood, bamboo and corrugated tin roofs, were razed. Over 60 people were injured in the two blocks.

Sarabala Nath, 45, of Shuktala village could not stop crying as she surveyed her razed three-room dwelling, a district official, who visited the storm-affected areas this morning, said while narrating the distressing scenes he found everywhere. Official reports reaching here said a vast network of rural roads is also in a shambles with rubble of houses, trees and power poles blocking them.

In neighbouring Hailakandi district, Tajel Shah, 38, and his daughter, Rabia Begum, 14, were struck by lightning at Uttar Narayanpur village under Algapur block while scanning the cloud-covered sky from the verandah of their house last night.

With these, storm-related deaths in Barak Valley since April 19 have mounted to six. Harish Chandra Das, 22, of Katlicherra block in Hailakandi died when his house collapsed during a Nor’wester on April 22.

Storms, accompanied by heavy rain, also caused extensive damages in Karimganj district on April 19, razing about 700 houses and injuring about 50 people. At least three big landslides, triggered by rain, have blocked National Highway 44, which links south Assam districts, Mizoram and Tripura with the rest of the country via Meghalaya, and the rail link in these areas as many times since April 21. The metre gauge track in the hill section of the NF Railway, blocked since Saturday’s landslide, is likely to be reopened by tomorrow.

The season’s first wave of floods inundated Dullavcherra in the district on April 22, washing away at least 50 houses following a breach of an embankment of the Longai.

The lower Assam districts of Goalpara and Dhubri also bore the brunt of storms last night. Goalpara deputy commissioner Prafulla Kumar Goswami said extensive damages were caused to electricity posts and the main power line, plunging the entire district in darkness since last night. Forest guards and ASEB staff are working round-the-clock to restore power supply. “It will take another 48 hours from now to restore normal power supply in the district,” he said.

Goswami said the monetary damage had not been worked out yet as all the ASEB officials and staff were in the field to restore power supply. An ASEB official, however, said the estimated damages so far amounted to Rs 2 crore. It might increase after a detailed ground survey.

Dhubri deputy commissioner Jatindra Lahakar said there was little hope of restoring power supply within a couple of days. Two major transformers and a 33kv tower have been damaged at Dumordoh and Laokhowa Beel in Madhusoulmari area under Gouripur police station and extensive damages have been caused to electric posts and the power line in Bilasipara and Dhubri sub-divisions, he added.

He alleged that poor quality of work executed by ASEB in many places had caused such extensive damage to the power line. He has urged senior ASEB officials to take stock of the damages in the district and issue spot instructions to restore the power line at the earliest. A hurried estimate prepared by the Gouripur ASEB division pegs the damages to around Rs 4 crore. The figure might shoot up after ground survey, sources said. Restoration of power supply is being done on a war-footing.

The director of the Regional Meteorological Centre at Borjhar, Hara Govinda Pathak, said the occurrence of thunderstorms in the state in this season was normal, but it was unprecedented this time.

“The RMC has undertaken a study to find out the exact causes of intensive thunderstorm activities by compiling and comparing data of rain and storm during March and April in the last 10 years. Such abnormal activities might be a side effect of global warming. The intensity of atmospheric instability and moisture in the air is also more this time, resulting in bursting of cumulonimbus cloud and heavy downpour with high speed storm,” he said.

Cops Haid Home of Gizmodo.com Editor Jason Chin After he Posts Inside Info on Next-Gen iPhone

By Bill Hutchinson

Apple officials said last week a super-secret iPhone was lost in March by one of its researchers.

Don't take a bite out of Apple.

California cops raided the home of a prominent tech Web site editor after he posted inside info about a next-generation iPhone left in a bar.

Gizmodo.com editor Jason Chin came home Friday to find cops in his house, looking for evidence of a felony linked to an online expose about the new iPhone.

"They then made me place my hands behind my head and searched me to make sure I had no weapons or sharp objects on me," Chin wrote on his Web site Monday night.

Chin said a detective told him it search stemmed from "a misunderstanding that could be cleared up if I answered some questions." He refused to be grilled.

A search warrant signed by a San Mateo County Superior Court Judge indicated detectives were searching for evidence connected to lost Apple device.

The warrant allowed sheriff's detectives to seize all records, "including digital photographs and/or video of the Apple prototype 4G iPhone."

Apple officials said last week the super-secret iPhone was lost in March by one of its researchers.

Chin said someone found the iPhone in a bar and contacted Gizmodo, which paid $5,000 for the opportunity to take the device apart and photograph  it.

Detectives seized four of Chins computers, his digital camera and several external hard drives.

Gaby Darbyshire, chief operating officer of Gizmodo's parent company, Gawker Media, said the raid was a blatant violation of Chin's First Amendment rights as a journalist.

[ via Nydailynews ]

New Delhi Becomes Unsafe For Burmese Refugees

By Nava Thakuria

New Delhi, Apr 27 : The Indian capital city has increasingly become an unsafe place for the Burmese refugees. In the recent past, three incidences of attack on Burmese were reported. As the victims are identified as Chin, a major community of Burma, the Chin Refugee Committee has taken the pain to lodge FIR in the local police station.

The last attack by miscreants on Chin people took place on April 23, when Fung Ling was targeted on his way to residence at around 6.30 in the evening at Uttam Nagar of Delhi. Mr Ling, 37, is a recognized refugee (UNHCR No.08IND01388) in India and he was challenged by two youths on motorbike.

Mr Ling replied that he could not follow Hindi language. Meanwhile, a fellow Chin (Burmese) refugee, Than Sang approached and tied to intervene that Ling did not understand Hindi. But Than Sang (UNHCR No.08IND01410) received a slap from one of the two bikers.

The situation turned worse, as the youths started beating both the refuges. Ling was hit by a brick on his head and he got fainted. Then arrived another refugee Van Lal Lian (UNHCR No.08C00279) and more other people at the location and it was finally over.

“We have lodged an FIR (MLC. 7715) at Bindapur police station, Uttam Nagar regarding the assault to Fung Ling and other,” informed Ro Mawi, president of Chin Refugee Committee, India. Speaking to this writer from New Delhi, he however expressed dissatisfaction that the doctors examining the victims had reported only simple injuries to them.

Mentionable that Fung Ling and his family (wife and five minor children) arrived in New Delhi in 1998. They are now working as daily wage earner to earn at the most Rs. 2,000 per month.

Similarly, Than Sang and Van Lal Lian with their families also arrived in New Delhi in the same year.

Earlier another assault case was reported from Sitapuri in the same locality where another Chin refugee, Zo Ram Thang (BU-491) was targeted by the unidentified miscreants on April 21. Zo Ram Thang and his family arrived in New Delhi in 1999 and they are surviving with a very few amount of money earned as private factory workers.

[ via Narinjara ]

National Minority Panel on Recce

By Daulat Rahman

Guwahati, Apr 27 : A high-powered team of the National Commission for Minorities, headed by its vice-chairman H.T. Sangliana, will arrive here tomorrow to review the status of various welfare schemes for the minorities in the state.

Sources told The Telegraph that the commission’s visit has assumed significance as it would investigate the causes of failure of various welfare projects and draw a futuristic plan for overall development of the minority communities before the Assembly election in the state in 2011.

Allen Brooks, the acting chairperson of the Assam State Commission for Minorities, said the commission would discuss with the parent body various issues, including setting up of quality educational institutions in minority-dominated areas.

“The NCM is deeply concerned over the fact that the state has failed to execute majority of the minority welfare projects sponsored by the NCM. Of the 38 projects approved by the NCM for various projects in the last five years, Assam could execute hardly 8 projects till this date. The important projects like free IAS coaching for minority students, setting up of technical and professional institutes in minority-dominated areas to enhance employability of minority youths were not even taken up by the state government for execution,” the source said.

An Assam government official associated with minority development said the Assam Minority Welfare Board and Assam Minority Development and Financial Corporation Ltd have conver-ted into political bodies where the ruling party rehabilitates its disgruntled leaders.

He said the National Minority Development and Financial Corporation Ltd recently wrote to the Assam government saying the corporation’s interest-free loans were given to relatives of politicians instead of deserving beneficiaries from the minority communities by the AMDFCL.

“All these issues will be taken into account during the three-day visit of Sangliana. He will meet chief minister Tarun Gogoi, his council of ministers and representatives of various minority groups, including Muslim religious and church leaders during his stay in Guwahati,” the source said.

Sangliana, a former police commissioner of Bangalore, will also hold a separate meeting with the state chief secretary Naba Kumar Das, DGP Shankar Baruah and various minority groups on the issue of atrocities on religious, linguistic and ethnic minority communities in the state.

He will focus on welfare of minority ethnic groups in Assam’s twin hills districts — Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao.

Apart from investigating the causes of failure of minority welfare projects, the NCM team would also draw a futuristic plan for development of the minority communities.

A source in the minority cell in the Assam PCC said the party would bank on an attractive project to win the loyalty of the Muslim community, which plays a big role in deciding who sits in Dispur.

 

[ via Telegraph India ]

The Dangers of Digging Up the Truth in India

By Daniel Pepper

The Supreme Court Building in New Delhi, India

Last autumn, when New Delhi resident Ajay Kumar saw that private buildings were encroaching on government land under the aegis of a local politician, he asked the city authority to look into the matter. He was just being a law-abiding citizen. He couldn't imagine his query would put him in the hospital.

Using India's 2005 Right to Information (RTI) Act, which empowers any citizen to ask for information from any level of government, from village leaders to the Prime Minister's office, Kumar asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) why homes and shops were built on land not zoned for private construction. The MCD's public information officer stonewalled. But Kumar persisted. He appealed to a higher-level public information officer and then to the federal Central Information Commission, which ordered the MCD and the police to inspect the property. But when Kumar arrived on the site in early January, he was attacked by a mob of two dozen that allegedly backed the politician.

"Neither the police nor the people helped me," says Kumar, who was struck in the head with an iron rod, blood covering his face and shirt. And yet despite the attack, Kumar still believes that "RTI is the only tool that can bring an end to a corruption in India." His optimism belies a frightening trend: physical attacks on 'information activists' who seek to root out corruption by making government documents public. In the recent months, two respected activists have been killed, and many others have been threatened, bullied, and intimidated.

The RTI Act presents a cultural sea change in India, where for more than 60 years state bureaucrats have acted more like colonial masters than servants of the people. The Act is among the most robust such laws in the world. In rural areas, the act is often utilized to uncover scams involving politicians, bureaucrats and contractors who siphon off funds from employment programs, housing, food and other services to the poor. The way it works is "you ask for a list of beneficiaries," says prominent New Delhi-based RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal. "Then you check that list and find out that many people are dead and the list is bogus."

According to a study published last July by the National Campaign for People's Right to Information, and funded in part by the Google Foundation, in the first two and a half years since RTI went into effect approximately 400,000 RTI applications were filed from rural areas and 1.6 million from urban areas. While much of the information RTI applicants request ought to be public in the first place, like the size of a budget for a school or road, government bureaucrats in India habitually keep such matters under lock and key.

The law's strength is becoming clear in the backlash against people who are using it. "What has happened with the RTI Act is that it is threatening people in power," says Colin Gonzalves, a Supreme Court lawyer and director of the New Delhi-based Human Rights Law Network. "RTI empowers people to say that the administration is the servant of the people that you are answerable to us. The physical attacks on the people I think are going to increase."

On Feb. 14 in the north Indian state of Bihar, a well-known RTI activist was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on motorcycles at the entrance to his home. He had been working to expose corruption in local welfare schemes. A month before in Pune, a western Indian city about 77 miles (125 km) from Mumbai, another activist, Satish Shetty, was killed while out for his morning stroll. Shetty had a record of exposing land scams in his area and had received threats on his life. He had requested police protection, though none was provided.

What does the violence mean to Shailesh Gandhi, a commissioner with the Central Information Commission, the country's highest authority on RTI applications? "It tells me that the rule of law is almost absent. The truth is that powerful people feel there is no law." Gandhi and his interns, whom he pays out of his own pocket, went through almost 6,000 files last year. In the past 14 months, he has penalized 120 public information offices for not providing information in a timely fashion, or at all.

Despite the attacks, Kheema Ram, a member of India's Dalit or "untouchable" communities, is undeterred. He has filed over 400 RTI applications. "I am a Dalit, I have been discriminated against," says the 35-year-old father of three, who lives in rural Rajasthan. "I want to use the law to fight this discrimination." Using RTI, Kheema has outed the manager of a cooperative bank who embezzled funds and fought for equal pay of male and female manual laborers. But it hasn't been without risk. Kheema Ram has been attacked over two dozen times. "Filing an RTI is like walking on the edge of a sword," says Ram. "There is always some sort of violence."

[ via Time ]

First Pill To Stop Premature Ejaculation Goes On Sale In U.K

Priligy, First Pill To Stop Male Premature Ejaculation

The UK is bracing itself for the release of the first pill designed to end premature ejaculation.

Medical trials have shown that just one tablet of the drug Priligy can make men last up to three times as long during sexual intercourse.

Priligy contains the active ingredient dapoxetine, which regulates serotonin levels in the brain. With the use of the drug, men can have more an active role over when they climax.

Up to 30% of men have reported problems with premature ejaculation. The pills are already on sale in some European countries.

Nitin Makadia, head of male sexual health at British pharmacy chain Lloyds, said, "Priligy has the potential to do as much for men's sexual health as Viagra."

The pill is not without side effects however, with warnings of dizziness, headaches and feeling restless.

Also, unfortunately for booze hounds, the pill is not supposed to be taken with alcohol - which makes sense, at $118 for 3 pills, you probably can't afford to drink anyway.

BlackBerry Bold 9650, BlackBerry Pearl 3G PHOTOS: New BlackBerry Models Unveiled

Research in Motion unveiled two new BlackBerry models, the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and BlackBerry Pearl 3G.

The phones are not radically different from earlier versions, but do offer several new features.

According to The Street, the BlackBerry Bold 9650 is "a candy bar smartphone with a 3.2-megapixel camera, a 'large, high-resolution screen, GPS and Wi-Fi (802.11b/g). It's made to work as either a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS or dual-band CDMA/EV-DO (Rev A) phone.'"

The BlackBerry Pearl 3G is reportedly the smallest BlackBerry yet.

Gizmodo says of the Pearl 3G;

The itty-bitty gadget will offer UMTS/HSDPA and Wi-Fi (b/g/n) support along with GPS, a 3.2MP camera, an optical trackpad, a microSD/SDHD memory card slot, and all the goodies BlackBerry users are addicted to such as BlackBerry Messenger and BlackBerry App World.

The Pearl 3G will actually be offered in two different models: The 9100 which will have a 20-key condensed QWERTY keyboard (aka RIM's SureType) and the 9105, which oddly for a BlackBerry, has a 14-key T9 phone keyboard.

The two phones will be available beginning in May. The Pearl 3G will be on the Bell, Telus, and Rogers networks in Canada, while the BlackBerry Bold 9650 is heading to Sprint May 23 for $200 with contract.

See pictures of the phones below, then tell us what you think! Read the full text of RIM's BlackBerry Bold 9650 and BlackBerry Pearl 3G press releases.

BlackBerry Bold 9650

BlackBerry Pearl 3G

[ via Gizmodo ]

Kristen Stewart to Star in Bollywood

Hollywood actress Kristen Stewart will be playing the lead opposite Hrithik Roshan in Shekhar Kapoor’s Paani.

Kristen, who is known for her role as Isabella Swan in the Twilight franchise, will be making her Bollywood debut with Paani. The film will be in English though.

Sources claim that the filmmaker approached Hrithik to play the role of the lower-class Mumbai rebel, who lives in Mumbai’s seedier parts and sometime in the future, stealthily visits the more socially upward sections of the city. Apparently that’s where his character falls in love with a rich, beautiful girl and they end up becoming star-crossed lovers. Shekhar required a fair, tall and delicate-looking girl to play the role and Kristen fit the bill perfectly.

Shekhar asked Kristen directly and she agreed to do the film, as long as all the terms and conditions are met. Kristen is apparently a fan of Shekhar’s work and she would make an interesting couple with Hrithik, who will be romancing a foreign beauty for the second time, after Barbara Mori in Kites.

Shekhar did not reveal much about the subject and stated that he would talk about the cast only when everything was settled for sure. What’s strange though is that Shekhar met Hrithik in order to sign him for Paani only after reports of them working together emerged. He has now finalized the actor for the film.

Mizoram Education Minister Held Responsible For Dismal Entrance Results

Mizoram Education Minister Pu Lalsawta

Aizawl, Apr 26 : Mizo Zirlai Pawl, Mizoram’s apex students body, today held Higher and Technical Education Minister Lalsawta for dismal entrance test results for technical education conducted by Mizoram state council for technical education. ''The minister must own moral responsibility and step down as the minister for higher & technical education,'' the students organization said in a press statement today.

The MZPs reproach came even as the council, having admitted the 'slight errors', rectified them today.

''While some students in biology group got results in engineering group, some students from the engineering group had their names listed out in the results for biology group,'' the statement said.

Alleging that blunders had been a common occurrence in the entrance test results in the previous years, the MZP had made a request to the concerned minister on April 14 to ensure blunder-free results this year, a copy of which was sent to the director of higher & technical education.

The blunders projected the officials negligence for the welfare of the students, the MZP rued.

The students organization also felt that the director of H&TE and key officials of the technical wing be removed to end the blunders which have occurred in each entrance test results since the past many years.

The entrance examinations for Mizoram quotas in various technical colleges in the country was conducted at Govt Hrangbana College and Govt Aizawl College on April 22. Higher & Technical Education Minister Lalsawta had instructed the department to announce the results on the next day in order to avoid complaint against delayed results in the previous years.

The results were declared on Friday midnight, after the anxious students created a ruckus at the gate of the technical wing, as the results could not be declared during the daytime.

Among the 1,500 students, 215 students each were short-listed for medical and engineering wings. From these, around 120 and 130 students will be selected for medical and engineering respectively.

What India Must Do in Myanmar And How

By Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd)

The best course of action for India remains to work within the space it has created in Myanmar and not make the junta too apprehensive, while still trying to nudge for greater political reforms, writes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd)

Come October, the Myanmarese people have a date with a supposedly profound event in their lives. The ruling military junta has promised to hold elections for a parliament where it has already reserved 25 percent of the seats for itself. Notwithstanding such a glaring departure from democratic norms, this is the first election (promised) after 1990, when the incarcerated Aung San Suu Kyi's party National League for Democracy won a majority that the ruling junta then, did not honor.

Myanmar is strategically situated to generate ample interest in the two Asian giants that share its borders, India and China. It provides the land bridge between south, southeast Asia and China. Its southern shores, jutting into the Andaman Sea, provide the western province of Yunnan, China a much required outlet to the seas. China also gains direct access to Bay of Bengal, bypassing the narrow Strait of Malacca.

For India, Myanmar provides an outlet to the sea for the seven land-locked northeastern states. Trade and commerce with Myanmar provides a market to this region, just as it holds out a similar option for Yunnan. Besides, some of our northeast insurgency movements have found safe sanctuaries in Myanmar, in the past.

The Myanmarese military junta initiated the march to democracy with a referendum to have its draft constitution approved in 2008. The referendum had coincided with Cyclone Nargis that left a trail of devastation and loss of life in its wake. However, the military junta carried on with the referendum in spite of calls for postponement by a lot of countries. The results of the referendum were as surprising as the elusive logic for its conduct under the circumstances; 92 percent voters, presumably, voted for the new constitution.

Obviously, the exercise in fudging was undertaken without any concern for international opinion or domestic concerns.

Indian response to events in Myanmar over the decades, have graduated from idealistic to hardnosed pragmatic. While we were fairly strident in our condemnation when General Ne Win usurped power in a military coup in 1968, have called for the release of opposition leader and NLD chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi's release, periodically, conferred the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding on her in 1995, the current approach is more a hands off attitude best expressed by our foreign minister during his visit in 2007, "... we would like democracy to flourish everywhere. But this is for every country to decide for itself."

The pragmatism apparent in the Indian policy has been spurred by the fact of our losing ground in Yangon to China over the years. The relationship between the Chinese and Myanmarese has improved steadily since 1988, after General Ne Win's days. They have invested heavily enough in Myanmar to have replaced Thailand as that country's major trading partner. The pipeline project currently being pursued will provide gas to China's western provinces by 2015; not only making cheaper energy available, but also providing the Myanmar junta much needed cash flows, having been denied any World Bank aid since 1990, post sanctions imposed on it by certain western countries.

The new roads, rails, bridges have also led to massive influx of Chinese into Myanmar. Of strategic significance are roads along the Irrawaddy river that lead south to the coast. Also, of strategic dimensions is the increase of Chinese settlers in Myanmar.

Chinese involvement in Myanmar's military buildup and ports is also of concern. The famous String of Pearls that China is creating to limit India's sea power in the Indian Ocean, includes the Sittwe Port in Myanmar. This string's pearls include China's southernmost province Hainan Islands; Sittwe, Coco Islands and certain other port facilities in Myanmar; Chittagong in Bangladesh, Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Gwadhar in Pakistan, and Nepal.

The ban imposed by western nations and a rather idealistic stance of our foreign policy, were the primers that the Chinese used to entrench their interests in Myanmar. Sittwe would be able to reduce Chinese Navy's voyage to Indian Ocean by 3,000 km by not passing through the Strait of Malacca to reach the Bay of Bengal

Indian investments in Myanmar include the 160 km Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo road in Myanmar, originating from Manipur border. The trilateral highway project to connect Moreh in Manipur to Bagan in Myanmar and further to Mae Sot, Thailand, has received Indian assistance. The Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project would ease connectivity of north-eastern states from the Mizoram border to Sittwe Port in Myanmar.

Amongst the hurdles that the junta has to cope with are Myanmar's history of ethnic insurgencies and warlords fighting to retain control of poppy cultivation. However, currently none of the insurgencies are strong enough to destabilize the junta.

In the absence of any greater effort from outside to usher political changes, as also the low combat capabilities of the insurgencies, there are two key domestic constituencies that could create difficult conditions for the military junta. These are, first, the Buddhist monks. The military's repeated heavy handed approach to protests by the monks, has alienated the largely Buddhist population. They have the capability to engineer nationwide protests, albeit non-violent. A popular mass movement could find elements in the armed forces sympathetic to it. However, without outside support and faced with a military that is 4 lakh strong, such an eventuality is remote. There have been mass movements in Myanmar in 1988 and 2007. Such movements are not new in Southeast Asia, the latest being in Thailand

The next lot is the NLD party of Suu Kyi. The party has decided not to participate in the elections. In any case the rules governing the elections would not allow Su Kyi to contest. The election laws also require all parties to register. The pro-junta political parties including the National Unity Party and the Union Solidarity Development Association are ready to register. However, NLD and a host of ethnic parties have decided not to do so. If these parties are derecognized, their workers may go underground and initiate a more cohesive armed resistance.

The best course of action for India remains to work within the space it has created in Myanmar and not make the junta too apprehensive, while still trying to nudge for greater political reforms.

Myanmar has traditionally been a neutral state, a stance that we need to strengthen, and avoid possibilities of the Chinese navy garnering huge strategic advantages. It is also important to keep Myanmar out of a possible Chinese economic trap. In fact, the inclusion of Myanmar in ASEAN in 1997, primarily steered by Thailand, is both in our and southeast Asia's interests. Myanmar is pivotal to our 'Look East' policy.

Myanmar and our northeast states must benefit from liberalised economic policies. The Kaladan project provides a great opportunity and gives us access right up to Sittwe Port, including its development. As Myanmar progresses economically, political changes would be required to sustain its growth, and it may be possible to switch to more democratic governance as a win-win model for all stake holders in Myanmar, at that stage.

The immediate challenge remains the conduct of free elections and amendment to the election laws. The best forum to pursue these missions is the UN and the 14 member 'Friends of Myanmar' group that includes China and India.