'Women & Girls' Religious Pamphlet Claims 'Ungodly' Dressed Women Provoke Rape

A particularly disturbing religious pamphlet titled 'Women & Girls' has surfaced in Bristol, Virginia. 'Women & Girls,' -- signed "anonymous" -- makes the argument that female victims of rape are responsible for the crime perpetrated on them because of the way they dress. "Even though nothing is showing, you're being ungodly," one recipient of the pamphlet was told. "You make men want to be sinful."

The pamphlet goes on to describe in detail the ways that rape victims are responsible for rape:

"You may have been given this leaflet because of the way you are dressed," it begins. "Have you thought about standing before the true and living God to be judged?"

"Scripture tells us that when a man looks on a woman to lust for her he has already committed adultery in his heart. If you are dressed in a way that tempts a men to do this secret (or not so secret) sin, you are a participant in the sin," the leaflet states. "By the way, some rape victims would not have been raped if they had dressed properly. So can we really say they were innocent victims?"

This is not the first time this argument has been made -- a recent study found that more than half of the women surveyed believed that some rape victims should take responsibility for what happened -- but it is an exceptionally extreme example.

The sexual assault program director in Bristol said that confronting arguments like these are a regular part of her work:

"This idea that men don't have enough self control - and evidently they shouldn't have to - plays into all the old myths that we've tried for years to overcome: Rape happens to 2-year-olds and 92-year-olds, not just attractive young women. How about we hold the person doing the action accountable, whoever it is going against the will and consent of somebody else?.. Blaming victims is the way we who have not been victimized feel safer. If it's their fault then I'm safer because I wouldn't do that."

 

New Flood-Resistant Rice Putting Farmers Back in Business in Northeast India

A labourer spreads rice for drying in a rice mill complex at Moharcherra village near the northeastern Indian city of Agartala on February 18, 2010.

By Amarjyoti Borah

Guwahati, Mar 3 : Hundreds of farmers in the Indian state of Assam who had given up farming after repeatedly losing their crops to flooding are now returning to their fields. The draw back to planting? Two new flood-resistant varieties of rice, developed in Assam.

"I was on the verge of leaving to the nearby cities for a job and had thought that I would need to give up farming forever," said Bijoy Nath, a farmer in Namti village in the Sibsagar district of Assam.

But "things started to change after I started to use these two new varieties of rice," he said.

Last year, his three-acre family farm, produced 6 tonnes of rice after planting the new varieties. In the five previous years, production had been less than one tonne.

Other families have been able to put back into production land abandoned to flooding, thanks to the development of Jalashree and Jalkunwari, the two new varieties of rice.

Kameleshwar Handique, a farmer from Amguri-hat village in the Jorhat district of Assam, managed to reclaim two hectares, boosting his production by 2.5 tonnes of rice a year, he said.

FLOOD RESISTANCE AND HIGHER YIELDS

The new varieties are the culmination of 14 years of research by Kishore Sharma, an agricultural scientist at the Assam Krishi Vigyan Kendra, a government research centre in Assam. Developed by crossing and refining local rice strains, they have undergone five years of testing and are aimed at boosting yields and ensuring harvests despite worsening flood problems in the region.

"These varieties have been bred for flash flood affected areas where the rice crop gets submerged for 7 to 15 days," Sharma said. "In such cases most rice varieties are not able to survive."

An added benefit is that yields are generally higher than traditional varieties and "these varieties will produce grain even if it doesn't flood," Sharma said.

Assam now has over a million hectares of land chronically affected by floods, Sharma said, and the new varieties were developed to help ensure farmers in those areas do not lose their crops and livelihoods.

"In such areas farmers do not get true yield due to unpredictable flooding at any time. The popular varieties do not tolerate submergence and hence farmers cannot harvest," Sharma said.

COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION YET TO START

According to estimates by the Assam agriculture department, over 5,000 farmers are now using the new varieties, even though commercial-scale production of the seed has not yet started, pending final bureaucratic approvals.

"Farmers who are aware of these two varieties are collecting from the agriculture research centre as it is not available in the market as yet," said Durgheshwar Thakuria, an officer with the Assam agriculture department.

Farmers say they are delighted with the results.

"Since the last two years the production in my field has gone up by almost three times after I started using Jalashree and Jalkunwari rice," said Bhubon Borah, a farmer in Lakhimpur district. "In 2009 the yield was 40 quintals (4 tonnes) per hectare of land compared to less then 15 quintals (1.5 tonnes) per hectare when I had used the traditional variety earlier," he said.

**Amarjyoti Borah is a freelance writer based in northeast India.

via Reuters Alertnet

Seth Enslow Sets World Record For Longest Harley-Davidson Jump

Seth Enslow, an American stunt motorcycle driver, set a new world record for longest jump in a Harley-Davidson. With an 183.7-foot jump, Enslow shattered the existing mark -- set ten years ago in Las Vegas -- by 18 feet.

What's more, news.com.au reports that Enslow had to put on his record-setting performance twice because much of the media missed the first run:

The star was scheduled to make his record jump at 9.30am (AEDT) but he took the jump at 8.45am with only a third of the press there. He broke the record with that jump but was forced to take it again when he realised the press had missed it.

While impressive, the mammoth jump is still nearly 100 feet shorter than the world record rally car jump, which was set in Long Beach on New Year's Eve. Scroll down for video of Enslow's record-breaking performance.

Naga Hoho Lauds Centre, NSCN(I-M) For Resumption of Peace Talks

Kohima, Mar 2  : With the Centre-NSCN(I-M) peace talks to begin from Tuesdayin Delhi with new government pointsman R S Pandey, the apex tribal council Naga Hoho said the resumption of dialogue had given 'momentum' to the Naga people.

Naga Hoho president Keviletuo Kiewhuo and general secretary P Chuba Ozukum in a joint statement in Kohima said the Naga people strongly felt that it was time for the Centre to have 'strong zeal and commitment' for the talks which had
carried on for over 10 years and might be the longest dialogue in the history of conflict resolution.

The statement said that the talks had given 'momentum' to the Naga people and hoped the government of India would be 'more sincere this time in resolving the conflict'.

The outfit's general secretary Th. Muivah, the chief negotiator for NSCN(I-M), had arrived in New Delhi on February 27 to resume the stalled peace talks at the invitation of the government.

Meanwhile, Naga organisations in four hill districts of Manipur on Monday held rallies in support of the talks demanding early settlement of the vexed problem.

NSCN(I-M)'s key demand for bringing Naga inhabited areas of the region into a single administrative setup has been strongly opposed by Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Nagaland Pays 24 Crores Annually to Imaginary Teachers

Kohima, Mar 2 : Over Rs 24 crore is drained out annually from the Nagaland exchequer for paying salaries to 'bogus and physically unavailable' teachers, an investigation by the state vigilance commission has revealed.

Reports of the special investigation team (SIT) under the vigilance commission submitted to the government on February 26 has unearthed as many as 1,156 bogus teachers and 1,096 cases of appointments made under "doubtful circumstances".

Moreover, as many as 1,084 teachers were physically unavailable for verification, chief secretary Lalthara disclosed today quoting those reports.

Conservative estimates showed that the government has to pay over Rs 2 crore monthly to the combined strength of 1,156 bogus teachers and 1,084 physically unavailable teachers at the average rate of Rs 9,000 per month to each one of them, he said.

"So, the annual wastage was over Rs 24 crore." However, the SIT was unable to submit final and conclusive reports of its investigations in certain areas of the state, particularly those under the jurisdictions of the deputy inspectors of school (DIS) of Dimapur, Niuland and Longleng, due to the lack of adequate cooperation from the government employees working under these establishments (DIS), the chief secretary said.

Blaming undue interference from "outside elements" as one of the reasons for the inconclusive report, the Chief Secretary said investigations in these areas as well as other areas would continue to be operative till satisfactory results are obtained.

The SIT, constituted in March 2009, probed into alleged irregularities in teacher appointments in the Education Department during the period from 2002 to 2009.

The irregularities were detected in January last year when the budget allocation to the department, particularly on salary heads, was spent within January leaving nothing to pay for the remaining months of that year.

During the course of investigation, it was reported that the SIT members and some senior officials of the education department were intimidated by some underground activists and goons to discontinue the probe.

The government would soon set up a committee of senior officials under the chairmanship of Mhathung Kithan, Commissioner and Secretary (school education), to look into the reports, official sources said.

Sikkim Club Determined to Emulate Lajong FC

Gangtok, Mar 2 : In a milestone for the resurgent football scenario in the hills, a Sikkim club has secured a berth in the second division of the ONGC I-League, slated this summer, where 23 clubs, including Mohammedan Sporting and Vasco SC, would be battling it out in Delhi, Bangalore and Tripura for entry into the I-League first division.

Denzong Boys' Club has been selected for the second division of the I-League, announced the club manager Zigme Lachungpa in a press conference here today.

This is the first time in the history of Sikkim football that a club from the state would be playing the I-League which is the top tier league in the Indian football system. It was started by the AIFF in 2007-08. The Dezong Boys' Club, which has been performing well in local and regional level, will be participating in the Agartala leg of the I-League starting from March 26 later this month. The Sikkim club is in group C.

Twenty-one teams will take part in the qualifying round and they have been divided into three groups. The top two teams from each group will meet in the final round along with Mohammedan Sporting and Vasco SC.

Denzong Boys' Club president Phruba Sherpa said the club would hold a camp at Paljor Stadium here from March five where talented players from Sikkim and neighboring Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills would participate. The final team would be selected from the camp, he said adding the team would not be limited to Sikkim only but would also be offering opportunities from talented players from the Darjeeling region also.

The club is also in touch with its Nigerian player Taurus Manneuh for the I-League.

''We have achieved the target of reaching the second division of I-League and we have now the objective of reaching the first division like Lajong FC of Shillong,'' Mr Sherpa said.

Meghalaya to Seek Scientific Opinion on Uranium Mining

Shillong, Mar 2 : A government-constituted committee in Meghalaya Tuesday decided to seek scientific opinion on the overall effects of uranium mining.
The decision was taken at the first sitting of the Joint Committee on Uranium Mining in Meghalaya (JCUMM) headed by Deputy Chief Minister Bindo M. Lanong, who is in charge of state mining and geology.

However, two anti-uranium mining groups — Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) and Coordination Committee of Social Organisations (CCSO) — boycotted the meeting to protest the inclusion of the Association of Meghalaya for Development Advancement (AMDA), a forum of pro-uranium group, in the JCUMM.

Lanong told reporters that the committee decided to write to an independent institute associated with nuclear physics for “definite and objective presentation from independent sources on the overall effects of uranium mining and suggest precautionary measures.”

He said the committee also wanted to involve more experts who can advise and give opinion on the subject, and added that the next meeting of the JCUMM would be held by April end or early May.

The committee would also visit Mawthabah, the uranium-rich area in West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, after the budget session of the state assembly.

“The members of the committee would meet people of the area and hear their views on the proposed uranium mining in the area,” he added.

When asked about the KSU and CCSO boycott, the deputy chief minister said the matter would be taken up after talks with the groups. “The committee will look into the matter. It would try to involve everyone concerned with regards to uranium mining in the state.”

Chief Minister D.D. Lapang set up the JCUMM November last year after protests against the Rs.209-crore first phase Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) development project in the mineral-rich area of West Khasi Hills district.

AMDA, a conglomerate of various non-governmental organizations from the district, supports the state government’s initiative.

A government official said the UCIL would invest Rs.209 crore to undertake pre-developmental project activities to build schools, hospitals, roads and other infrastructure.

The union ministry of environment and forests has given clearance to the UCIL to start mining in the state, triggering strong protests from local parties and non-government organizations.

The UCIL plans to produce 375,000 tonnes of uranium ore a year and process 1,500 tonnes of the mineral a day.

It has also proposed to set up a Rs.1,046-crore open-cast uranium mining and processing plant in Meghalaya, which has an estimated 9.22 million tonnes of uranium ore deposits.

Mizoram Chakmas Condemn Bangladesh Massacre

Aizawl, Mar 2 : The Chakma community in Mizoram today condemned the killing of Chakma tribals in the Chittagong Hill Tracts by the Bangladesh Army on February 19 and 20.

A joint meeting of all political parties in Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC), spearheaded by the Central Young Chakma Association at CADC capital Kalamanagar today passed a resolution condemning the killing of indigenous people by the Bangladesh army for grabbing the tribals land.

According to a statement, the Bangladesh Army personnel killed at least six Chakma tribals, injured 25 while many others have been reported missing. The Army also allegedly burnt down 200-300 houses, including seven shops, a church, a Buddhist temple and a United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) run village centre in three villages in Rangamati district of Chittagong Hill Tracts.

''About 1500 indigenous people have been displaced, no rehabilitation provided to the affected people and majority of them are taking shelter in the jungles without proper food to eat,'' the statement added.

The joint meeting also resolved to stage a peace procession in Mizoram on March 4 to express solidarity with their brethren and submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Dr Mamohan Singh to urge him to talk to his Bangladesh counterpart to immediately solve the issue.