27 March 2013

Mumbai Police To Investigate Mizo Students Slur

Mumbai Police took note of the incident that was narrated by Kima in his story Dear Mumbai Police, can I buy you a cup of tea? on Firstpost.

Mumbai Police Joint Commissioner of Police Sadanand Date commented on the post that the force respects all Indians as equal and assured the author of a proper inquiry of the incident. The comment:

Mumbai Police personnel. AFP
Mumbai Police personnel. AFP
“Hello Kima,
I received your post through a friend and have ordered an enquiry. This enquiry will be conducted by DCP Zone 2 Mr Nisar Tamboli 09870605999. You are requested to join this enquiry. We will certainly act against defaulting officers and staff on conclusion of this enquiry. You are free to contact me as well. My cell number is 9821223344. I could be contacted through email ‘sadananddate@yahoo.com’ as well. I would like you to retain trust in our systems and our concerns for protecting Indian Citizens without any discrimination.

Regards,
Sadanand Date IPS
Jt CP Mumbai Police”

The incident took place a few days ago at Malabar Hill. According to Kima, a Police van stopped in front of some younger Mizos standing on the pavement (there were many other people on the pavement eating sev puri and aloo chaat from the roadside vendors), and the uniformed police van driver angrily shouted at them.

When Kima, who was talking with a friend when that happened, asked the Mizos who were standing close to the police van about what the cop said, a young Mizo girl, said, “I think he said hey Nepalis, go back to Kathmandu!” while another guy standing beside her said, “No I think the cop asked if we are going to Kathmandu?”

Tripura HC opens after 30-year wait


Agartala, Mar 27 :  Tripura High Court was opened by Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir here on Tuesday, ending a 30-year-old struggle for an independent high court in the state.

With this, the total number of high courts in the country increased from 21 to 24. Justice Kabir had inaugurated the Meghalaya High Court and the Manipur High Court on Monday.

“The over 30-year-old struggle of the people of Tripura has ended with the setting up of a separate high court,” Chief Minister Manik Sarkar told reporters.

Sarkar said: “We strongly believe that with the setting up of the new high court, democracy in Tripura would be stronger, consolidated and vibrant.”

Earlier Saturday, Justice Deepak Gupta, who is from Himachal Pradesh, took over as the first chief justice of the Tripura High Court while Justice Utpalendu Bikash Saha, Justice Swapan Chandra Das and Justice Subhashish Talapatra - all from Tripura - assumed office as judges.

They were earlier associated with the Gauhati High Court. “In Tripura alone, over 52,000 cases are pending in lower courts and 5,500 cases are awaiting disposal in the high court,” Tripura law department secretary Datamohan Jamatia said.

“Cases and litigations of the state were earlier dealt at Gauhati High Court or at the Agartala bench of the high court, resulting in slow trials. Now, they would be taken up at the Tripura High Court which will make the process of pending cases much faster,” Jamatia said.

The mandatory amendment to the North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) Act, 1971 - the North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012 - was passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in May 2012, paving the way for the creation of separate high courts in Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur.

The seven northeastern states -- Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh -- have been under the Gauhati High Court with benches in the respective state capitals. Sikkim has a separate high court.

Lok Sabha member from Tripura Khagen Das, who had moved a private member’s bill earlier for amending the necessary act to set up the high courts, said: “The 30-year-long struggle for a separate high court in Tripura has finally yielded expected results.” 
26 March 2013

Mizoram Not To Pay Ransom For Securing Release Of Kidnapped

Aizawl, Mar 26 : Mizoram Home minister R Lalzirliana today said the state government wants to secure the release of five people abducted on February 19 last without paying ransom as demanded by the abductors.

Stating this during question hour in the assembly, Lalzirliana said the government would not pay the ransom demanded by the Bru militants who abducted the five people from a poaching camp inside the Mizoram-Bangladesh-Tripura border Dampa Tiger Reserve.

"In the meeting recently convened by the government the church leaders, major NGOs and student bodies, we decided that ransom should not be paid to the Bru militants who refused to work but indulged in money-making through kidnappings," he said.

He said that the hostages were sick but the government could not provide medicine as it would mean succumbing to the militants.

"It was not that we do not feel pity for the captives, but we maintain that the hostages should be released all the more if they are sick," he said, adding, even terrorists who hijack aircraft release women, children and the sick.

The abductors have demanded Rs 100 lakh ransom for the release of the five persons.

While there were 23 abductions during the 10-year rule of the Mizo National Front (MNF), there were four kidnappings during the four-year Congress rule, he claimed.

NESO Seeks Special Constitutional Status For Northeast

Guwahati, Mar 26 : Members of the North East Students’ Organization (NESO) today staged demonstration in front of the Raj Bhawans of the seven States of the region and submitted memorandum to the Prime Minister through the Governors of the States demanding detection and deportation of foreign nationals from the region. The NESO also demanded that special constitutional status should be given to the North East with right over land and natural resources.

In Guwahati, members of the NESO staged a demonstration in front of the Raj Bhawan and sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister through Governor JB Patnaik.

Talking to The Assam Tribune after the demonstration, NESO adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said that the NESO would not allow the region to become breeding ground of the foreign nationals and elements of the fundamentalist groups. He said that the foreigners living in the region should be detected and deported immediately and the international border with Bangladesh should be sealed. The NESO is of the view that the Government of India should take steps to prepare National Register of Citizens (NRC) in all the States of the region.

The NESO is of the view that the Government of India was adopting discriminatory attitude towards the region and the border with Bangladesh was not given due importance as was done in case with the border with Pakistan. The infiltration of foreigners along with elements of fundamentalist forces not only posed a threat to the identity of the indigenous people of the region, but also to the sovereignty of the country, but unfortunately, the Centre failed to show seriousness in dealing with the problem, while the concerned State governments also failed to show sincerity in this regard. The NESO has also opposed the land swapping deal with Bangladesh and demanded that it should be scrapped immediately.

The NESO demanded that the States of the region should get special constitutional status with right over land and natural resources as the economic condition of the indigenous people of the region has not improved over the years despite the fact that the region has abundance of natural resources.

New CBI Created Post For Northeast

By Kalyan Barooah

New Delhi, Mar 26 :  Unabated leakage of development funds in the North-east has led the Centre to create a post of Joint Director in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) exclusively for the North-east, while the Central Vigilance Commission is toying with a proposal to set up a separate wing for the region.

The measures are part of the fresh Central initiatives for putting in place a monitoring mechanism to prevent misuse of Central funds.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has taken up the proposal for creation of post of Joint Director in CBI exclusively for north-eastern region and the Cabinet had considered the proposal and cleared it. The DoPT has intimated that a post of JD in the CBI has since been created and the posting of an officer is under way.

In its report to the Parliament, the Standing Committee attached to the Ministry of DoNER has said that it has noted with satisfaction that matter of creation of a separate wing of CVC for the North-east is under examination. The Parliamentary Panel has recommended that early action may be taken in this regard.

The Ministry of DoNER has reported in its Action Taken Report that the DoPT has intimated that the matter regarding creation of a separate wing of CVC exclusively for the North-east has again been referred to the Central Vigilance Commission for latest development.

In 2010, the Centre had informed the Parliament that the CVC had detected irregularities in three of the five cases of alleged corruption. According to the CVC, they have dealt with five cases of alleged corruption, pertaining to the Ministry of DoNER during 2007-2009.

With huge sums of Central funds being pumped into the North-east, the Centre has trained its focus on monitoring and curbing leakages of funds. The unearthing of the Rs 1,000-crore scam in Dima Hasao district, which was probed by the NIA and CBI separately and reports of development funds reaching the hands of the underground outfits, particularly in the insurgency-affected States of the region, have alarmed Centre.

The Ministry DoNER has said that monitoring mechanism in place in the North Eastern Council (NEC) would be instrumental in achieving the financial and physical targets without any procrastination.
25 March 2013

'True democracy in Myanmar must for strong ties with NE'

Guwahati, Mar 25 : Pro-democracy Myanmar politicians feel that a full-fledged democracy in their country is essential to promote economic and cultural ties with the northeast.

During a consultation programme on 'Peace and Human Rights in Burma' at Lamka in Manipur's Churachandpur district on Saturday, Myanmar's former National League for Democracy (NLD) parliamentarian, Tint Swe, said that ethnic groups in the northeast should actively come forward to help establish proper democracy in the neighbouring country. The programme was organized by the Burma Centre Delhi (BCD) and hosted by the Zomi Human Rights Foundation (ZHRF).

BCD coordinator Alana Golmei said that many ethnic groups common to Myanmar and the northeast are divided by the political boundary between the two countries. Golmei said that full-fledged democracy in Myanmar is a necessity for promoting closer relations between these groups.

"There are many ethnic groups that reside on both sides of the border. A full-fledged democracy in Burma is essential so that the divided groups can revive their connection. We are trying to promote consultations between ethnic groups on both sides of the border to help democracy in the neighbouring country," Golmei said.

In the consultation programme at Lamka, Zomi people from both sides of the border took part. Last year, there were similar consultations between the Nagas and other ethnic groups.

Swe emphasized the necessity of physical and mental connectivity between India's northeast and Myanmar for better cooperation between the two sides, adding that the connectivity is still in a nascent stage.

Myanmar's Naga National League for Democracy chairman U Saw Sa said that even though there have been political improvements, people there were still skeptical about the military-headed government. He added that the military-backed constitution still exists and that for a real democratic change, it should be drafted according to the people's mandate.

NE-based Indigenous People's Human Rights Defender (IPHRD)'s Suanmoi Guite highlighted the plight of ethnic minorities living in Myanmar, especially in the Chin state. Guite said that health, education and other basic facilities are a far cry for these people. He added that for these ethnic minorities, like the Zo people, it is easier to have access to healthcare facilities in Manipur's Churachandpur rather than traveling long distance to Rangoon.

Palm Sunday celebrated in Mizoram

Aizawl, Mar 25 : Palm Sunday, the day to commemorate the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem city as a king was celebrated in the Christian-dominated state of Mizoram on Sunday.

Children, mainly students of schools belonging to almost all the church denominations, and also adults took to the streets in the morning waving palm leaves singing hymns quoting the verses of the Bible.

The main words chanted during the Palm Sunday processions was "Hosanna," as was done on the last Sabbath before Christ's crucifixion.

According to the Bible Christ entered Jerusalem as a king a few days before he was crucified and was riding on a donkey while people glorify him by placing clothes and palm leaves on the way.
22 March 2013

Chief Justice of New Manipur HC To Be Sworn in Tomorrow

Imphal, Mar 22 : Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre will be sworn in as the Chief Justice of the new Manipur High Court tomorrow by Governor Gurbachan Jagat.

Justice Sapre, a former judge of Chhattisgarh High Court, was appointed on March 19 by President Pranab Mukherjee, official sources said today.

Manipur High Court will have three judges including Chief Justice Sapre, the sources said.

Judge of the Guwahati High Court N Koteswar Singh has been appointed as one of the judges of the high court.

The third judge will be appointed soon, the sources said.

The new Manipur High Court will be inaugurated by Union Law and Justice Minister Ashwani Kumar on March 25.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh will be present at the inauguration ceremony, the sources added.

Mizoram Ministers Fail To Answer Tea Plantation Query

Aizawl, Mar 22 : The ministers of the LalThanhawla government were at a loss of words when Lalduhoma, a member of the Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP), asked a question regarding tea plantation and the number of tea cultivators in the state.

State minister for soil and water conservation department JH Rothuama on Thursday failed to reply to Lalduhoma's query regarding the tea plantation in the state. Rothuama said that his department had not looked after tea plantation for a long time.

When some of the members said that horticulture minister H Liansailova was the right person to reply to the ZNP member's query, Liansailova said he was not prepared to answer the question as tea plantation and processing used to be taken up by the industries department earlier.

Industries minister S Hiato remained seated and did not offer any clarifications.

"According to the Mizoram Government Transaction of Business Rules, 1987, which was amended in 2007, tea plantation was allocated to the soil and water conservation department," speaker R Romawia said.

He added that questions like the number of tea cultivators, area of tea plantation and quantity of annual production were never answered in the state legislature.
13 March 2013

Mizo National Front Walks Out During Governor Address

Aizawl, Mar 13 : Opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) and its ally the Mara Democratic Front legislators on Tuesday staged a walkout during the address of the Mizoram governor Vakkom Purushothaman.

About 10 minutes after the governor began his customary address and was talking about the success of the New Land Use Policy, the flagship programme of the ruling Congress, R Lalthangliana, leader of the opposition group and other party legislators stood up and objected.

Lalthangliana said while the state government claimed that the NLUP fund allocation was from the Prime Minister's Special Package, in reality it was made from the state plan fund.

He said the 'diversion' of the plan fund was detrimental to a number of developmental projects in the state.

15,000 more families to be brought under NLUP

Aizawl, Mar 13 : Mizoram Governor Vakkom Purushothaman today said that the state government has submitted a proposal to include additional 15,000 families as beneficiaries under the government’s flagship New Land Use Policy (NLUP) during 2013-14 after covering 1.2 lakh families.

In his customary gubernatorial address to the state assembly on the first day of the budget session, Purushothaman said that the implementation of the NLUP made “good progress”.

“Out of the target of 1.2 lakh families, 96,139 families were given financial assistance during 2010-11 and 2011-12 and was scheduled to cover 1.2 lakh families during 2012-13″, he said.

“In view of the increase in the number of eligible families after the household survey of 2009, a proposal has also been submitted to the Planning Commission for additional 15,000 beneficiaries in addition to the original target of 1.2 lakh families,” he said.

In order to strengthen sustainability of the various projects under NLUP, an initiative was also taken to explore technical and supplementary funding support from the UN’s FAO and its global partner, the University of Minnesota, he said.

Planning Commission has so far released Rs 838.82 crore exclusively for the NLUP in addition to the fund flow of Rs 246.38 crore from CSS under the Convergence Plan, he said.

Due to the enhanced allocation of fund under NLUP, allocation under RKVY (Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana) has also gone up from 30.36 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 200.91 crore during 2012-13, he said.

The governor congratulated the people for maintaining peace in the state, adding that maintaining peace and tranquility, securing the safety of the citizens and affecting progress and development in all fields was one of the top priorities of the government.

The budget session of the Mizoram legislature would continue till April three.

State Finance minister H Liansailova would present the state annual budget for 2013-14 on Friday.

Appeal To Release Mizo Hostages Unconditionally

Aizawl, Mar 13 : With kidnappers threatening to kill five hostages kidnapped from Dampa Tiger Reserve on the Mizoram-Bangladesh-Tripura border last month, a meeting chaired by Mizoram Home minister R Lalzirliana has urged that they be released unconditionally.

Leaders of the Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee, a conglomerate of leaders of 13 major churches, the central committee of the Young Mizo Association, Mizo Zirlai Pawl, the Mizo apex student body and Mizo Students Union, at the meeting yesterday, urged that the five muster roll employees be released without condition, an official statement said today.

The meeting expressed fear that the kidnap might trigger communal tension in the state as the abductors belonged to a Bru militant group functioning under the NLFT.

Police sources said that the abductors were hiding inside Bangladesh near Thangnang and Zopui area and the captives were alive.

The police suspected that the abductors belonged to the National Liberation Front of Tripura and Borok National Council of Tripura combine.

The kidnappers often threatened the families of the hostages over phones that they would be killed if ransom of Rs 50 lakh was not paid.

The hostages, kidnapped on 19 February were Lalsangmawia from West Phaileng, Liansanga from Teirei, Vanlalfaka from Damparengpui, and Nelson and Lalrinmawia both from Aizawl.

Schools Live in Fear of Violent Disturbances in Northeast India

Imphal, Mar 13 : The principal of a local school, Sanjeebam Memcha Chanu, said they were living under constant threat from militant groups in Manipur.

"Living under such a situation will have a negative impact on students who come here to attain knowledge," she added.

Blasts, blockades, shutdowns and strikes force schools to remain closed for days, affecting students both in the short and long term.

Recently, students and teachers of the Pari Imom Shindamshang staged a protest, demanding the release of one of their students who was taken away by armed miscreants as a part of their child recruitment drive.

Meanwhile, a student, said,' There is a problem of kidnapping students for ransom. We feel scared to go to school without our parents or somebody to drop us.'

People want militants to shun violence so that development can take place and their children can look forward to a better future.

Meghalaya Scripts History

Home portfolio for woman minister, budget session from tomorrow

By Andrew W. Lyngdoh


















Shillong, March 12:
Meghalaya has scripted history yet again as the state will, for the first time, have a woman minister to head the crucial home (police) department.
Meghalaya chief minister Mukul M. Sangma has allotted the crucial department to Roshan Warjri, Congress legislator representing North Shillong constituency.
Warjri is also perhaps the first woman in Northeast and eastern India to hold the vital department.
Andhra Pradesh, which is also ruled by the Congress, has a woman home minister in P. Sabitha Indra Reddy.
Moreover, apart from the home (police) department, the veteran politician from North Shillong will also take charge of home (jails) and the Public Works Department (buildings) departments.
In the earlier Meghalaya United Alliance (MUA) ministry, veteran Congress leader H.D.R. Lyngdoh was the in charge of the home (police) department.
However, in the new ministry, Lyngdoh has lost both the home (police) and the PWD (roads) departments.
The PWD (roads) department has been allotted to the youngest member of the cabinet and new entrant, Sniawbhalang Dhar, a two-time Congress legislator representing Nartiang constituency.
Lyngdoh will now handle the transport, general administration department, district council affairs and cooperation.
Awards announced
Gary Jarman Lamare, who conquered Mount Everest last year, will be awarded the U Kiang Nangbah award for sports by the Meghalaya government.
To 30-year-old Shillongite, a photographer with Discovery channel, became the first individual from Meghalaya to summit Mount Everest on May 25, 2012.
Accompanying nine members of the Army Adventure Wing, Gary, a resident of Lower Lachaumiere in Shillong, scaled the peak in the early hours.
U Kiang Nangbah award for sports is one of the three Meghalaya Day awards conferred by the state government on achievers.
For the U Tirot Sing award for arts and literature, the state government has chosen Streamlet Dkhar, Khasi poet and author. Meghalaya Parents’ Association for the Disabled (MEPAD) general secretary Belbora Wankhar, and Col (retd) Tauro Ignatius Donald will share the Pa Togan Sangma award for social service.
The awards carry a citation along with cash of Rs 1 lakh each.
The decisions were taken this evening in the first meeting of the Meghalaya United Alliance (MUA) cabinet under the chairmanship of chief minister Mukul Sangma.
Budget session: The maiden budget session of the ninth Meghalaya Assembly will be held from Thursday and continue till March 22. After a brief recess, the session will resume from April 8 and will continue till April 18.
The cabinet today approved the text of the Governor’s address, which will be delivered by Governor R.S. Mooshahary on the opening day of the budget session.

Hmar Inpui Tells Gas Explorers To Pack Up

Imphal, Mar 13 : Pointing out that the on-going oil and gas exploration activities undertaken by Asian Oils Private Limited under Jubilant Oil and Gas Private Limited in Hmarram of Churachandpur districts of Manipur has not benefited the indigenous land owners and settlers in anyway and will not do so in the future, the Hmar Inpui (Hmar Supreme House) General headquarters has decided to ban all activities taken up by the companies.

This was decided during the first executive meeting of Hmar Inpui, General Headquarters (2013-2015) held at its Head Office in Rengkai, Churachandpur on March 2 last, said a statement issued by the Hmar Inpui today.

Further, the Hmar Inpui urged the concerned companies to cease all activities, pack their bags and leave the land without any further delay.

The indigenous Hmar peoples will try its level best to see that the machines of the companies are safe in their lands and will see that it is with the owners as soon as possible, the Hmar Inpui statement issued by general secretary, David Buhril and President Dr John Pulamte said.

The Hmar Inpui in particular and the Hmar peoples in general will not have any say or responsibility on the life and security of shirker of this decision and appeal, it added.
12 March 2013

Have More Kids, Mizo Church Tells Couples

Aizawl, Mar 12 : The 45th general conference of the Presbyterian Church Women Wing being held at the Republic Veng locality in Aizawl passed a resolution that an awareness campaign advocating women to conceive more children should be launched.

The delegates of the general conference on Saturday decided that the matter should be taken up by the central committee of the Kohhran Hmeichhia or the Women Wing and prepare the detailed programme.

The agenda was initiated by Bungkawn and Bawngkawn Pastoral women wings and they said all Mizo couples should be encouraged to have more children and added that poor couples who have more children should be provided some assistance.

Earlier, the Presbyterian Church leaders have issued statements encouraging Mizo couples to bear more children and the womenfolk seemed to have taken the cue by adopting the resolution.

Though it might be in contravention to the national family planning policy, church leaders have always propounded the concept of multiplying in accordance with the teachings of the Bible in the Old Testament.

They claimed that physical increase in population would lessen the risk of being assimilated by larger communities surrounding the small Christian-dominated state and that economically it would be more advantageous as more Mizo workforce would be produced.

The delegates of the conference also adopted an agenda that decent dress should be formulated for the bride and the bridesmaid during church wedding and the matter was handed over to the central committee.
11 March 2013

Mizo Miscreants Blow Up Assam School

Silchar, Mar 11 : In a fallout of the boundary dispute between Assam and Mizoram, suspected Mizo miscreants on Saturday night blew up an Assam government-run lower primary school at remote Kachurthal village near the interstate border under Katlicherra block of Hailakandi district.

A senior police officer said two RCC buildings of Muliala LP School were completely damaged in the blast, triggered by suspected Mizoram-based miscreants. However, there was no report of any loss of life as the blast took place about 11.30pm. The miscreants used explosive materials meant for blasting rocks to carry out the blast, said the officer.

The school, located near the Mizoram border, was hit by a similar blast triggered by miscreants last year, causing damage to the building. The state government later reconstructed the school under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Soon after the blast, police and CRPF men from the nearby Ramnathpur police station rushed to the spot and launched an operation to nab the culprits. Cops and locals helped douse the fire caused by the blast.

However, no arrests were made till Sunday evening. Deputy commissioner (Hailakandi) J Balaji and SP Brojenjit Sinha visited the blast spot, 140km from here, on Sunday noon to take stock of the situation. Investigation is on to nab those responsible.

Sources said boundary dispute between the neighbouring states has been a contentious issue for the past many years. In 2007, Mizos formally claimed that Kachurthal village, an area 7km inside Hailakandi under the Assam forest department, is within the boundary of Mizoram. They were opposed to construction of the LP school in question by Assam government.

Assam Police and CRPF intensified vigil along the Mizoram border following Saturday night's incident. Assam and Mizoram share a 119-km interstate border—Hailakandi district shares 80 km and Cachar district 39 km.

According to the state minister for border area development, Siddeq Ahmed, Mizoram has grabbed 1,000 hectare of Assam land over the years. Assamese villagers living in the area said Mizo miscreants collect 'taxes' from the villagers living in the Assam area, and if they fail to pay, the Mizo miscreants take away their belongings.

In 2006, Mizo miscreants dismantled an autorickshaw stand belonging Assamese owners which was well inside Assam territory near Virengti. In April 2005, an armed mob from Mizoram had torched at least 18 houses at Kanglei Punjee and Twipra Punjee villages in Cachar. In December of the same year, Mizo miscreants torched two Assam forest department's watch towers at Kachurthal. After it was reconstructed, they once again blew up a forest department watchtower at Kachurthal in 2009. Earlier in 2004, the Mizoram government demolished an Assam Police camp in Gollacherra forest, which they said was on the wrong side of the border.

The border dispute is a result of a disagreement on the notifications issued under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873, and the clarification of Inner-line Reserved Forests on the border areas between the two states.

Arunachal Keeps Hunting



By Nandini Velho


The nature of tribal hunting has changed over the years in Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier it was done for cultural reasons, meat, recreation and retaliation. Nandini Velho now finds the market deciding the fate of wild animals in the State

While Wangta Sagrisow (name changed) talked wistfully about how he had missed a tiger, he had a whole repertoire of stories about the forests and their animals that kept me gripped. So we continued to chat, although my questionnaire interview that aimed to understand the hunting patterns of different tribes in Arunachal Pradesh was long done. Now, as a 68-year-old man, he spends a substantial amount of time looking out of the balcony and into the happenings of his town.

Wangta was once a hunter, who only stopped hunting because of the vagaries of age. We lost no time as he excitedly flipped through my field guides and animal photographs, rehashing memories and contexts about hunting. His gripping narrative was complemented by quick dashes into the kitchen, from where he emerged with a new artefact or two to illustrate his stories in the flesh. He showed me a piece of porcupine stomach which is believed to cure stomach ailments. On another such dash he couldn’t find a piece of bear gall bladder, believed to treat dysentery and tuberculosis. In this case it was given away to a sick family member — usually it would have made its way to the market for the wildlife trade.

Wangta and older hunters grew up to a different kind of relationship with animals, especially with respect to trade. He doesn’t remember such a rampant bear gall bladder trade as exists today, but he once traded a sambar stag horn for a piece of prized Assam silk. However, another middle-aged hunter described in detail his observations of the rarely seen but highly traded scaly anteater, also known as the pangolin. Based on his detailed descriptions, the forests around Pakke Tiger Reserve are likely to be home to the Chinese pangolin as well as the Indian pangolin. Although the Indian pangolin would be a new mammal species recorded in the list of the tiger reserve, we know as little about its life as the threats it faces. After he found out that the trader from Assam sold each pangolin scale for Rs20 (on an average an adult pangolin has 900-1,000 scales), he ruefully told me that he sold the entire skin for just Rs400.

It seemed spending time doing interviews was far too trivial compared with the prospect of indulging in wildlife trade. Hunters and people in the village would often approach us with business propositions related to medicinal plant trade or placing orders for the most wanted species. After being interviewed, or even halfway through a few interviews, a few left mildly annoyed and disappointed.

Some things have remained constant — in part. Across time and space, there has been a marked dietary preference for barking deer meat. Then, they were killed and shared with relatives, but are now sold in the market for a modest amount of Rs150 per kg. While Wangta had killed only 25 barking deer in his lifetime, data from my study shows that other hunters were far more prolific. For example, the barking deer toll per hunter went up to as much as 100.

When the war with China broke out in 1962, Wangta was only 18 years old. He remembers that then one kg of potatoes was just Rs1.30. The potatoes he grew were supplied to all government officers around. This helped him raise money for a shop he planned to open — the first in the village. Today, government officers stationed in these areas are one of the major consumers of the wild meat from ever-dwindling forests, while potatoes and other groceries come from many places.

From these same forests, some species such as marbled cats, clouded leopards and leopard cats were not hunted before. They were considered to be closely related to the revered tiger, as tigers and humans are believed to have shared ancestry in the folklore of Wangta’s tribe. The religious ceremony to atone for killing a tiger is elaborate — hunters who have killed a tiger have to live on the roof of their house till the shaman allows them to re-enter. In death, this is still remembered. The approach to a tomb-stone has more steps built if a person has murdered a human being or killed a tiger, to make it difficult for the victims’ spirits to climb to the tomb when they seek retribution. Although Wangta had missed killing a tiger, others were willing to endure these rituals, especially if the animal had targeted their livestock. He had killed six marbled cats, some of which came for his chickens, but others just for sport — he had not consumed the meat.

The subtlety of hunting for cultural reasons, meat, recreation, retaliation and not hunting is less apparent now. As one hunter observed: “You kill and eat whatever you get unless there is a market for it.” But the future stills holds many uncertainties.

Before leaving, I decided to spend some time and look out from the balcony with Wangta. He pointed to a man working in the field — his son was the only child who had survived from three marriages and 14 kids. In retrospect, he believed that he lost so many children as retribution for hunting too much. His son, he explained, was now a Christian and did not know much about taboos or hunting. He will probably not be able to hunt a tiger in his lifetime as well; but for more than one reason — there might be none left.

The writer is a PhD student from James Cook University, Australia and a research associate with National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore. She thanks Bikram Aditya Roy and Vineeta Rao for assistance in the field

Mizoram Facing Acute Power Shortage

Aizawl, Mar 11 :  Mizoram has been reeling under acute shortage of electricity and the state today could draw between 25 to 40 megawatt of power even as the energy demand was at least 80 megawatt.

Officials at the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) said that the power shortage was due to less electricity being produced by the hydro electric projects in the north east as the dry spell continued.

The officials said that most of the villages in the state were without power most of the time and they were forced to undertake perpetual load-shedding in the urban areas due to the huge power scarcity.

The load-shedding period ranged from one hour to two hours and even longer in some places when the power received from outside was extremely low.

The only hydro power in the state to produce power was the 12-megawatt Serlui ‘B’ Hydel Project which produced between two to seven megawatts due to the fact that one turbine was not functioning and there were less water in the dam.

Mizoram Seized Arms Came From Myanmar

Guwahati, Mar 11 : Two days after a huge consignment of arms and ammunition were seized by the Assam Rifles on the outskirts of Aizawl following a tip-off from the Tripura Police, sleuths have confirmed that it had originated in Myanmar and was heading for Bangladesh for use by a breakaway faction of the Shanti Bahini there.

"Interrogations have revealed that the consignment had come from Myanmar through the international boundary in Champhai district in eastern Mizoram, and would have been smuggled out to Bangladesh through Tripura had we not been able to intercept it on time," Mizoram SP, CID (Crime) Joseph Lalchhuana told The Indian Express from Aizawl.

While the police first recovered 23 AK rifles, one Combat Browning Automatic Rifle (CBAR), one 5.56 Automatic Light Machine Gun, 86 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 67 rounds of CBAR ammunition, 24 rounds of 5.56 automatic weapon ammunition and 30 magazines on Friday, a second operation led to eight AK 47, three magazines and 632 rounds of CBAR on Saturday. Both the recoveries were made from a private farmhouse near Lengpui airport in Aizawl.

This is the first time in recent years that such a huge consignment of illegal arms and ammunition has been seized in Mizoram. In March last year Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla had expressed concern over the state's "porous" international borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh remaining prone to a host of illegal activities, including smuggling of weapons.

"Mizoram shares 722-km long porous international borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar and free movement regime is allowed along this 404-km Indo-Myanmar border. This 404-km Indo-Myanmar unfenced border is characterised by inhospitable terrain covered with dense canopy," Lal Thanhawla had said at the Internal Security Conference of chief ministers in New Delhi last year.

Lalchhuana said four persons have been arrested. Three of them are Bangladeshi nationals who had sneaked into India through south Tripura. "While the three had come to Mizoram and had already made payment for the arms, we are still working on identifying the group that had brought the consignment from Myanmar to Aizawl," the SP said.

The three Bangladeshi nationals — Rabi Chakma, Sabuj Chakma and Mani Tripura — arrested in Aizawl confessed they were members of a breakaway faction of the Shanti Bahini, the armed wing of the Parbattya Chattogram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS), a Chakma tribal group based in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh.

AAI To Handle Mizoram’s Lengpui Airport

Aizawl, Mar 11 :  Mizoram’s lone Lengpui Airport, the only state-owned airport in the country, would soon be in the hands of the Airport Authority of India (AAI), state civil aviation officials said today.

Saidenga, the Assistant Director of the civil aviation told PTI that the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has, in principle, agreed to take over the Lengpui Airport from the Mizoram government.

“However, many things are yet to be accomplished before the final hand over which is expected after a few months,” Saidenga said adding that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) would also be signed by the state government with the AAI.

He said that the airport, inaugurated in December 1998 by the then Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, has become old and required huge expenses for repair and renovation and the state government would benefit from the changing of hands which would include maintenance, upkeep, functioning and security of the airport.

He expressed hope that the airport would function better under the AAI as many glitches were there due to communication gap and red-tappism between the state and AAI.

Gutka, Pan Masala Containing Tobacco And Nicotine Banned in Assam

Guwahati, Mar 11 : Assam has banned manufacture and distribution of gutka and pan masala containing tobacco and nicotine.

The ban is for a period of one year.

According to a state government notification these goods are banned under the provisions of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

The government has announced that it will soon table a legislation banning these products. Assam has couple of big pan masala manufacturers prominent among them is Dharampal Satyapal (DS) Group.

Assam earns close to Rs 7.98 Crore as tax from sale of tobacco products in the state.

According to the state government according to survey, 3.20 lakh packets of tobacco products, including cigarettes and gutka, are sold every day in the state.
08 March 2013

Women Rule in Shillong's Khasi Tribe!


Members of Syngkhong Rympei Thymmai, a men's rights organisation, meet in Shillong.

Members of Syngkhong Rympei Thymmai, a men's rights organisation, meet in Shillong.
Shillong, Meghalaya: India's remote northeast is home to an ancient tribe whose high regard for women makes it a striking anomaly in a male-dominated country.

But as the world marks International Women's Day this Friday, the region has become a staging ground for an unlikely battle in which men are trying to end a matrilineal tradition practised by more than a million people.

The Khasi tribe in the picturesque state of Meghalaya places women at the centre of its society from the cradle to the grave.

"Go to any hospital and stand outside the maternity wards and listen," says Keith Pariat, a men's rights activist.

"If families have a boy, you will hear things like: 'oh okay, he'll do'. But if it's a girl then there is joy and applause."

Keith Pariat, chairman of Syngkhong Rympei Thymmai, a men's rights organisation

Pariat is the chairman of Syngkhong Rympei Thymmai (SRT), an organisation fighting to eradicate a tradition with tremendous staying power.

According to Khasi tradition, the youngest daughter inherits all ancestral property, men are expected to move into their wives' homes after marriage and children must take their mother's family name.
And, in a ruling which helps explain the grand welcome for female babies, all parents with ancestral property but no daughters are required to adopt a girl before they die, since they cannot leave the inheritance to their sons.

The matrilineal system has endured for thousands of years here, but now activists like Pariat are determined to overthrow it.

"When a man has to live in his mother-in-law's house, it tends to make him a little quiet," Pariat says.
"You are just a breeding bull. No one is interested in hearing your views about anything, you have no say in any decision whatsoever."

The 60-year-old businessman believes that the matrilineal system has been "totally detrimental" to Khasi men.

"It puts no responsibility on their shoulders so they tend to take life easy and they go into drugs and alcohol and that cuts their life short," he told AFP in the state capital Shillong.

It also makes them unappealing to Khasi women, who exercise their right to marry outside the community instead.

A female member of a men's rights organisation distributes reading material in Shillong.
Teibor Langkhongjee, a 41-year-old entrepreneur and SRT member, says the choice is easy to understand.

"Khasi men don't have any security, they don't own land, they don't run the family business and, at the same time, they are almost good for nothing," he said.

A men's rights movement did emerge in the early 1960s, but petered out after hundreds of Khasi women turned up at one of their meetings, armed with knives.

SRT, founded in 1990, faces an uphill battle to overturn Khasi tradition, since India's constitution guarantees the tribal councils' right to set their own customary laws.

The clash between clan rules and Indian law is a familiar one, with the judiciary often expected to step in when gender rights are at stake.

In the past however, such conflicts have focused on expanding women's rights whether in matters of inheritance, dowry or alimony in the case of Hindu and Muslim families.

Men's rights have never been the subject of debate.

In Shillong, most women dismiss the suggestion that their society is biased.

Although Khasi women are empowered to make their own decisions over marriage, money and other matters, political participation remains low, with women accounting for only four out of 60 state legislators.

"The reason the property is left to the youngest daughter is because she has the responsibility to look after the parents until they die," said Patricia Mukhim, editor of The Shillong Times.

"Parents feel like they can always depend on their girls."

In a country where mothers often face huge pressure to give birth to sons, leading to a surge in selective abortions, Meghalaya has consistently boasted a healthy sex ratio.

The state's sex ratio currently stands at about 1,035 females for every 1,050 men, higher than the global norm of 1,000 women for every 1,050 men.

Misogyny remains widespread in many parts of India, where sex assaults are often dismissed as "eve-teasing" and victims can be blamed for attacks.

The gang-rape of a female student in December on a bus in New Delhi fuelled angry nationwide demonstrations.

Men take leaflets from Carelynda Lihgdon as she distributes reading material promoting men's rights.
Pesundra Reslinkhoy, a 25-year-old nursery school teacher in Shillong, said she appreciated the matrilineal system all the more after the Delhi gang-rape.

"I think it is a good tradition for Khasi, that all the power will stay with women because it will avoid us from many evil things," she said.

The SRT has no plans to mount a legal challenge to the tribal customs, hoping instead that an informal campaign of brochure distribution and public meetings will convince more Khasis of the need for change.

But there are few signs of the group's influence in the state's tradition-bound villages, suggesting that the balance of power is unlikely to shift anytime soon.

"In most of Meghalaya, people only know the old ways and they like the old ways just fine," Mukhim said.

Standing Her Ground in Patriarchal Naga Society

By Prasanta Mazumdar

Guwahati, Mar 8 : Rosemary Dzuvichu stands out among the few women in Nagaland who have launched a crusade against corruption, violation of human rights, killings, gender bias etc. Her endeavour, so far, has raised many eyebrows in the male-dominated Naga society but she is going about with her job fearlessly, hoping to see a Nagaland immune to the social evils.

A human rights activist and a gender consultant who is also trained in conflict resolution, Rosemary is associated with a number of organisations both within and outside Nagaland. She is a senior faculty in Nagaland University in the department of English and has represented India and Asia as a panelist to several world conferences.

The activist observes that the customary laws and practices have been the biggest stumbling block for women’s empowerment, both politically and socially, in Nagaland.

“Women in Nagaland do not enjoy equal social and political status with men. They do not enjoy land, property or inheritance rights as per the customary laws. In sharp contrast with the Hindu Succession Act and the Muslim Personal Law, the Naga customary laws do not recognise inheritance or property rights even if you are the only child or daughter. So, when a man, who doesn’t have a son, dies, the property and land will be inherited by a male relative who may be five or six cousins away in family line,” Rosemary says.

She points out that discrimination against the girl child is evident from the high rate of school drop outs. She attributes the phenomenon to the family’s compulsions to continue educating the boys, poverty, early forced marriage, early employment for girls to look after brothers and siblings etc.

“Women are kept out of bounds of the traditional decision-making bodies such as the village councils in most villages where women are not even allowed to attend or listen to council deliberations. Nagaland has 1110 villages implementing one fourth reservation of seats for women in village development boards. However, in most villages, it is only on paper as there is a mindset opposing change and government has no political will to ask for accountability in implementation”.

Rosemary says the men always use the customary laws and practices as an excuse to exclude women in all spheres thereby violating their rights. The biggest tragedy of women in Nagaland is that there has not been the slightest change in their position in the society over the years.

Rosemary says battered by years of discrimination, the women in Nagaland have now launched a movement to assert their rights. In 2011, the Joint Action Committee on Women Reservation, of which Rosemary is the co-convenor, had moved the court challenging the government to implement the Nagaland Municipal First Amendment Act 2006 and 33 per cent reservation for women besides demanding holding of municipal elections. Subsequently, the court gave judgement in their favour but it was opposed by tribal bodies and even the state government that culminated in the government’s passing a “shocking resolution” in the legislative assembly to exempt Nagaland from part 1X A of the Constitution which gives reservation to women. Rosemary says the government’s position forced them to move the apex court. The case will be heard on March 11.

The activist asserts that women groups such as the Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA) and several others have vowed to continue their fight for women’s right to peace and security.

A single mother with two sons and a daughter, Rosemary cited gender-bias as a major problem facing the Naga women.

“Nagaland again has failed to elect a woman legislator this time but we are positive that time will come when we have to send serious contenders into the electoral process. But I still see reservation as the best option in lower level of village and towns and municipals”.

The activist has written on gender, socio political issues, development and peace with special emphasis and focus on the north-east and Nagas and their experiences over the years. She says patriarchy and its strong mindset dictates lives of most Naga women but she has been lucky to have lived and been treated like a son by her father. Being a Catholic church-leader, he is deeply gender sensitised and lives according to Christian principles of equality for all, she sums up.

Ulfa, Centre Eye Settlement

By Nishit Dholabhai

New Delhi, Mar 8
: Ulfa and the Centre today hinted they are nudging towards a settlement rooted in "Assam's identity" for which the government might amend the Constitution.

A seven-member Ulfa delegation led by Arabinda Rajkhowa today met home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde after an hourlong meeting with Union home secretary R.K. Singh and interlocutor P.C Haldar.

Singh said a lot of "core concerns" were discussed in the meeting.

However, no one from the Assam government participated in the "tripartite" talks.

"Whatever will be worked out will come out of the core issue of identity…It is about preserving the identity of Assam," said senior Ulfa leader Sashadhar Choudhury.

Choudhury said the government appeared to be "in the mood and position" that a settlement would be worked out soon.

Besides Rajkhowa and Choudhury, Raju Barua, Pradip Gogoi, Mithinga Daimary, Pranati Deka and Chitrabon Hazarika attended the meeting.

The talks were held at North Block, where chief minister Tarun Gogoi is tackling dissidence within his government, chiefly from young Turk Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The talks were termed positive and a lot of ground was covered, Singh added later.

His sentiment was echoed by the Ulfa leaders who sent out positive signals.

On Ulfa leader Paresh Barua's reported comment that the current lot of Ulfa is "ex-Ulfa", Rajkhowa shot back: "Those are his personal views".

The home secretary also did not deny that the government is ready to amend the Constitution to grant safeguards for the "identity" of people in Assam.

Ulfa has been pressing for Scheduled Tribe status for some tribes like the Morans and Muttocks of Upper Assam, to which both Paresh Barua and Anup Chetia belong.

The negotiation also includes issues that could lead to safeguarding of "indigenous" communities.

The question of expansion of the Ulfa team, with the inclusion of Chetia, also came up during the discussions.

Chetia is currently lodged in a Bangladesh jail and his petition ' seeking asylum in that country ' is pending in court.

Choudhury, however, said Chetia has to be extradited as the "situation in Bangladesh is not good". Bangladesh is headed for elections by December this year.

Ulfa hopes and the government wants to extradite Chetia before that.

The Awami League-led government has been a consistent facilitator in resolving India's militancy problem in the Northeast.

Steps in Delhi to improve Security of NE people


Itanagar, Mar 8
: In a bid to curb incidents of crime against women and people from the Northeastern States residing in the national capital, Delhi police has imparted special training to 32 representatives from the region to ensure their security.

With the aim of creating awareness and help people from North East who are subjected to harassment, the Delhi police led by Joint Commissioner (Training) Robin Hibu has ensured that measures are taken to protect them.

“During the training 32 persons from NE were selected as representatives of their respective States whom people from the region will contact in case of any emergency to coordinate with the police in case of any problem in Delhi,” Hibu, an IPS officer from Arunachal Pradesh told PTI from New Delhi.

The Delhi Police has initiated several measures for providing security to working women including, directions under section 144 to BPOs and Call Centers to drop the female employees at their homes, dedicated phone lines, PCR to drop stranded women to their homes after sunset, lady police help desk at all police stations, among some, besides fast tracking of rape cases, Hibu said.

“We are also planning to issue separate standing order procedure based on Zero tolerance policy for the safety and security of NE students and others residing in Delhi besides appointment of Joint Commissioner and Inspector General of Police level officers as chief coordinators for security of NE citizens in Delhi,” he said.

“We are also contemplating to introduce 155 emergency response vehicles (ERVs) patrol for assistance in crime prone areas and special training to the beat staff of North and South districts where maximum NE citizens are residing,” Hibu added.

Hibu said, seven nodal officers in the rank of Additional Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Police would be appointed for seven districts to monitor works related to security for people from the NE.

During the day-long training it was resolved to work in partnership with student leaders, regional media for safety of NE citizens with Delhi Police.

Other resolutions include, training Northeastern police officers with Delhi Police, analysis of the crimes against citizens from NE in Delhi and its follow up, mapping of the area where these people are concentrated thereby deploying constables from the region, increasing patrolling by PCR vehicles and monthly meeting with Joint Commissioner of Police/ Chief Coordinator with the representatives of the eight Northeastern states.

Seven Public Prosecutors from Delhi Police Training College have volunteered to give legal advice during crisis for NE citizens in the capital, Hibu added.
07 March 2013

Mizoram Highest in Road Accidents

Aizawl, Mar 7  : A report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Research Wing of the Union Government said.

In the annual report, the ministry had also observed that Mizoram has the highest accident severity after Mizoram as the number of deaths in accidents witnessed an upward trend since 2008 when the number of road accidents was 62.7 per cent.


Vehicular accidents are said to on the rise during the past two years with 345 deaths during 21 months.

According to Aizawl SP (crime) records, the period from April 2011 to December 2012 witnessed 509 road mishaps in which 345 people were killed and 991 others were injured.

The past two years saw disturbing rise in auto accidents compared to the previous years.

In 2008-2009, there were 106 motor accidents in which 56 people died.

The number of road accidents and that of human casualties rose to 116 and 78 respectively in 2009-2010.

It further increased to 100 accidents and 88 deaths in 2010-2011, the records highlighted.

Fifth Left Govt Takes Oath in Tripura

Agartala, Mar 7 : Mr Manik Sarkar was today sworn in by Governor D Y Patil for a fourth straight term as Chief Minister to head the fifth consecutive Left Front government in Tripura along with 11 ministers.

The other ministers who took the oath of office and secrecy at the Raj Bhavan were Aghore Debbarma, Badal Chowdhury, Tapan Chakraborty, Manik De, Jitendra Chowdhury, Khagendra Jamatiya, Manindra Reang, Bijita Nath, Shahid Chowdhury, Bhanu Lal Saha and Ratan Bhowmick. Saha, who was the deputy speaker and Bhowmick, were the two new faces in the ministry.

Information and Higher Education minister in the earlier government, Anil Sarkar, who was elected uninterruptedly since Tripura was declared a full fledged state in 1972, was dropped this time because he will be made the vice-president of the planning department of the state.

CPI-M Politburo members Sitaram Yechury and Surjya Kanta Mishra, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal were present at the swearing-in ceremony. The chief minister told reporters later that the portfolios will be distributed after a meeting of the council of ministers tonight.

Congratulating the people for the victory of the Left Front, Sarkar said, “There will be no wall between the people and the government. “The Left Front government will be a people's government,” he said, adding he expected cooperation from the Opposition.

Panel For Dlution Of Army Act

By Nishit Dholabhai

New Delhi, Mar 7 : The worldwide attention attracted by Manipur activist Irom Sharmila and the failure of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, to resolve militancy has prompted a high-level panel to recommend dilution of the legislation.

The Naresh Chandra committee has recommended disallowing of "continuous promulgation" of the army act in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.

Dilution of the act has been recommended in separate chapters on Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast in the report that was submitted to the government in July last year after a year of work. The report may be made public this year "after editing", the sources added.

The recommendations are vital in the light of India pushing for a bigger role in the United Nations.

Besides its composition, its mandate too lends credence to the committee. It was mandated in 2011 to make recommendations for reform of all security aspects of the country, including nuclear security. The committee includes the likes of Air Chief Marshal (retd) S. Krishnaswamy, General (retd) V.R. Raghavan and former department of atomic energy chief Anil Kakodkar.

However, despite a rising demand for the army act's repeal ' the Justice Jeevan Reddy committee had recommended its repeal in its 2005 report ' there is stiff opposition from the army to any such move.

Leading the band of anti-act proponants in the Northeast is activist Sharmila who has been fasting for the past 12 years demanding repeal of the act. Her non-violent protest has mobilised the support of human rights activists throughout the world.

Sharmila began her fast in November 2000 after the "Malom massacre" in which 10 civilians waiting at a bus stop in Imphal West were allegedly mowed down by Assam Rifles jawans in retaliation to a rebel attack on a convoy of the paramilitary force.

"A government must be in control of its army," Sharmila had said on Monday after being produced in a court here. She lashed out at any "administration of a government who uses violence as a means of governance".

Sources said the committee, too, had used a similar argument to recommend amendment to the draconian act. The committee is understood to have argued that India, as a democratic state, could not grant right to its security forces to kill.

Section 4(a) of the army act grants security forces the liberty to "fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death" at anyone they feel is violating the law. Section 6 of the act then grants immunity to the army personnel who may have caused death of a citizen.

To remove arbitrariness in army action, the committee has suggested that the words "causing of death" should be removed from the act. Section 6 may also be amended if the committee's recommendations are accepted.

In the Northeast, the act has been imposed for years now in Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, 22 police station areas of Tripura, in Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh in a 20-km belt along their borders with Assam and in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts of Arunachal Pradesh.

The committee has, therefore, recommended that the act should not be "continuously promulgated", sources said.

From 1980 onwards, it has not been lifted from Manipur, except for seven Assembly constituencies of greater Imphal area, since 2004.

Chandra and his team have felt that after decades of unresolved militancy, the act's continuous promulgation could not be justified either in Jammu and Kashmir or in the Northeast.

If the committee's suggestions are accepted, the act may not be extended beyond two years if the situation is said to have improved. "If there is no improvement, then the law is ineffective," argued a senior official.

The committee's argument, therefore, cuts both ways.

On January 23, Justice J.S Verma committee had recommended whittling down of the act. It said uniformed personnel, if accused of sexual assault, should be tried under ordinary law.

Korean Model Kim Ha Yul: Sexy Photoshoot

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Crackdown for non compliance with Central excise on Coal miners in Northeast India

Central excise has launched massive crackdown on coal miners from Meghalaya for allegedly evading payment of central excise duties. Central excise has launched massive crackdown on coal miners from Meghalaya for allegedly evading payment of central excise duties.

Guwahati, Mar 7 : Central excise has launched massive crackdown on coal miners from Meghalaya for allegedly evading payment of central excise duties.

Coal is leviable to central excise duty since March 2011. According to a statement from the department coal miners, traders and dealers particularly from Meghalaya continue to evade the central excise duties by way of clandestine removal, without payment of the leviable duty from the mines and depots leading to a huge revenue loss to the government.

The statement added that extensive persuasive efforts by the central excise authorities to bring about compliance have met with resistance and evasion continues with impunity.

"In view of reluctance of the coal miners in Jaintia and West Khasi Hills in Meghalaya, the department launched anti evasion drive and has a result 82 trucks containing around 1188.97 MT of coal valued around Rs 5.69 Crore was seized. Similarly nine trucks containing 81 MT were detained near Badar pur in Assam," the statement added.

A senior official said that investigation is on to identify the evaders and bring them to book.

APJ Abdul Kalam to teach students of IIM-Shillong

Shillong, Mar 7 : Former president APJ Abdul Kalam will teach students of the Indian Institute of Management-Shillong a course titled "Societal transformation bio-technology and its application".
"I am a teacher. As a professor, wherever knowledge takes me, I go. I like meeting young people and I would like to contribute to their knowledge," Kalam told reporters here.

The "Missile Man", as Kalam is called for his background in aerospace engineering, was in Shillong, the state capital of Meghalaya, and inaugurated the third international conference "SUSCON" organised by IIM-Shillong on Wednesday.

Kalam will start his lectures to a class of around 110 students from July.

APJ Abdul Kalam to teach students of IIM-Shillong

Kalam will start his lectures to a class of around 110 students from July, IIM-Shillong Director Kaya Sengupta told reporters.

"The students and faculty of IIM-Shillong are elated that Kalam has consented to our invitation to teach in the institute. I am sure his lectures would benefit not only our students, but even faculty members," Sengupta said. Kalam will guide the students individually as well as in groups. He had earlier taught at IIM-Ahmedabad.

After the initial lectures, students will be required to submit project proposals for creating scenarios based on multiple options for specific policy and institutional changes.

The faculty would comment on these proposals and project teams would be enabled to consult subject matter specialists through invited lectures and interactions - the students could even visit the experts.
IIM-Shillong follows a unique concept of winter internships, in which students undertake work in the months of January and February.

Not many outside India's northeast probably know that there is an IIM in the Meghalaya capital named after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. This IIM started in 2008 from a makeshift campus and still functions out of an interim facility.

Surrounded by pine trees and lush green lawns with mountains in the backdrop, the institute functions from the Mayurbhanj Complex - the erstwhile summer palace of the kings of Mayurbhanj, Orissa. The Meghalaya government has allotted a 120-acre plot on which work is under way for a state-of-the-art academic-cum-residential campus.

"Our goal at IIM-Shillong is to constantly nurture and develop the personality of the young and dynamic leaders who could shape the future business landscape and achieve excellence by synergising complementary competencies within the team," Sengupta said.
05 March 2013

Facebook Helps ‘Midwife’ Deliver Baby in Mizoram

Church worker manages feat following tips by expert over social networking site

By Linda Chhakchhuak

 
Harsing Teron and his wife Romoni Engtipi with the baby boy in her lap. Telegraph picture


Aizawl, Mar 5 : Aamir Khan and the other two “idiots” had Kareena Kapoor online through video-conferencing to help them with midwifery efforts in the film 3 Idiots.
Caught in a similar situation, Hmahruaii Chhakchhuak, a Christian mission worker in Japong, a remote village in Karbi Anglong district of Assam, had to fall back on Facebook when summoned to help deliver a baby.
It was around 4pm on February 26 when the family of 40-year-old Romoni Engtipi, wife of Harsing Teron, called Hmahruaii as Romoni had gone into labour.
Caught off-guard, as she had no knowledge whatsoever about midwifery, the mission worker tried calling a colleague living in a distant village for instructions but the call wouldn’t go through. She tried calling several other people but could not connect with them either. “The phone network is always bad around here,” she said.
“Then I remembered that there are some nurses and doctors in my Facebook group and sent out an urgent appeal for help, asking for their mobile phone numbers so that I could call them up,” she told The Telegraph, again over Facebook, as she could not be reached on her mobile phone.
She immediately got a call from a group member, Joicy Ralte, a nurse who had settled in Calcutta with her husband Rev. P.C. Lalropuia. But the line disconnected after a few seconds.
At a loss, with a kerosene lamp to light up the room, as the power, too, was playing truant, Hmahruaii was beginning to panic.
“But when I glanced at my phone that was logged on to the Facebook group, I noticed that Joicy was sending instructions on the group site. I was so relieved, as Romoni was in severe pain and getting exhausted,” she said.
She somehow remembered that a sugar solution with water works as an energiser for the very weak. She got some sugar and fed the solution to Romoni.
In the meantime, another Facebook group member, R.K. Hnamte started removing all other comments from other group members under that topic so that Hmahruaii at ground zero could see only the instructions from Joicy.
“I followed Joicy’s directions diligently right from helping the mother push the baby out and then getting a fresh blade to cut the umbilical cord. I followed them to find the correct way of holding the baby and clearing its mouth,” she said.
She had helped deliver a healthy baby boy.
“Thank God that at least Facebook was working and that the Internet network was available, or else we would all have been in deep trouble, especially me, as the people there had placed their entire faith in me,” Hmahruaii said.
Their Facebook group is aptly called Chhangchheness, an anglo-Mizo retronym that refers to an emotional state in life equivalent to the bothered status of the parents of an energetic brood of children.

Rio Begins Third Stint as Nagaland CM

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio. File photo
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio. File photo
Neiphiu Rio will be sworn in as the hief minister of Nagaland for the third consecutive term, on March 5 at the Raj Bhavan in Kohima, official sources said on Sunday.
Governor Nikhil Kumar will administer oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Rio, who was earlier elected as leader of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) legislature party.
The list of 11 Cabinet Ministers is likely to be submitted to the Governor by Monday, the sources said.
The Naga People’s Front (NPF)-led DAN having 40 elected members along with the support of seven Independents had staked claim to form the government on Saturday.
Mr. Rio is the only leader to have led the regional party to victory in the Assembly elections for the third time in the 50-year history of Nagaland.
Bypoll on March 23
Polls to the Tuensang Sadar-I Assembly constituency in Tuensang district of Nagaland will be held on March 23.
Election to the seat had to be countermanded due to the death of Congress candidate P. Chuba Chang a day before the state went to polls on February 23.
Filing of nominations will end on March 6, election office sources said, adding, the date of scrutiny of nomination of the INC sponsored candidate will be on March 7 and the last date of withdrawal on March 9.
Tuensang Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Returning Officer, T. Mhabemo Yanthan, in an official notification has reminded political parties that the Model Code of Conduct will continue to be in force within the jurisdiction of Tuensang Sadar-I Assembly seat till the process of election is completed.
Mr. Yanthan said the date of re-poll, if any, will be taken up on March 25 and counting of votes will be on March 26.
Other two candidates already in the fray are NPF’s L. Elam Chang and Poyang Changkong Chang (Independent).