Northeast India Wants to Reset The Clock

By Shaikh Azizur Rahman

It is 6pm in Ahmedabad and the locals can nibble on snacks in broad daylight. The sun will not set here for another hour.

Leading figures from politics, science and the arts are calling for a separate time zone for northeastern India in a bid to save energy.

About 250 prominent members from seven states recently met and pledged to lobby the federal government to advance the region’s clock by at least 90 minutes.

The change, they said, would help them make the most of their daylight hours, cut energy consumption and make people more productive.

India is covered by one time zone, but at the convention of “Separate Time Zone for the Northeast” in Guwahati in January, participants argued that the sun usually rises and sets in northeastern India about an hour and a half earlier than it does in the west of the country.

6pm in Guwahati and the lights are on at the Pandu restaurant as evening has already set in.

“The time difference between the eastern-most and western-most borders of the country is almost two hours,” said Jahnu Barua, an acclaimed filmmaker and former Indian Space Research Organisation TV producer. “The north-east region gets daylight much before the rest of the country.

“As a first step we would be formally apprising the eight regional governments and also the 24 parliamentarians of the northeast to lobby for the separate time zone in parliament.”

Bhabesh Sharma, a geography teacher in Guwahati, said the time of sunrise in Imphal, the capital of the northeastern state of Manipur, was 5.36am while in the western city of Ahmedabad it was 7am. He added that the sunset times were 5.17pm and 6.43pm.

“We have every reason to demand a separate time zone for the northeast, considering the geo-location of the region,” said Mr Sharma, who attended the convention.

Supporters of the separate time zone said that in addition to saving electricity in a nation where power shortages routinely led to blackouts, it would make workers more comfortable and improve efficiency.

Mr Barua, one of the conveners of the convention, said when a country functions on a single standard time, the people in the west are always in an advantageous position, compared to those in the east, because they start their day earlier.

“All the prosperous and most productive states of the country, such as Maharashtra, Punjab and Gujarat, lie on the west of the Indian Standard Time longitude.

“Being situated in the far east, the northeast wastes two to three hours of daylight every day and ends up being the least productive, least progressive and least prosperous,” said Mr Barua, who has been pushing for a separate time zone for northeast India for more than two decades.

Sanatan Singh, a doctor in Manipur said that the “human body is most active in the morning hours” and by the time people in northeast India attend their schools and offices, most of their energetic time is over.

India’s single time zone stretches nearly 3,000km. In comparison, the United States is 5,200km wide and has four zones, and Canada, is 5,060km wide and has six time zones. However, China, which stretches for 5,000km, has one single time zone.

In 1884, India’s British rulers introduced two time zones set 39 minutes apart, then known as Bombay Time and Calcutta Time. But in 1906 Calcutta Time was adopted as the single Indian Standard Time.

Since then, there have been several demands for a separate time zone for the northeast. About a decade ago activists first raised the issue and appealed to the federal ministry seeking a solution.

In 2001, the federal government set up a committee of experts under the department of science and technology, to examine the issue and sought its advice. The department however rejected the appeal from the northeast.

In 2007, the demand resurfaced when the parliamentary standing committee on energy asked government experts to reconsider multiple time zones as an energy-saving measure.

The committee advised against multiple time zones as the benefits were not proportionate to the practical problems.

In a televised debate on the issue, Milind Agarwal, a Delhi University lecturer, said that, although separate time zones were a good idea for any large country, it would not suit India.

“In a country with so many illiterate people, many of whom don’t even have a proper concept of date, time or year, such conventions will add to confusion and create havoc,” said Mr Agarwal.

But according to some politicians, a separate time zone also carries an implication of separate identity.

“In the [northeast] region many anti-national movements are going on,” said Tathagata Roy, a leader of the Hindu nationalist BJP in Kolkata. “If they succeed to get a separate time zone, many could take it as a victory for their secessionist movements.”

Protesters in Eastern India Battle Against Mining Giant Arcelor Mittal

By Moushumi Basu

In the rural, tribal lands of Eastern India, protesters are going head-to-head with world steel giant Arcelor Mittal. "We may give away our lives, but we will not part with an inch of our ancestral land," the villagers cry. "The forest, rivers and land are ours. We don't want factories, steel or iron. Arcelor Mittal Go Back."

Arcelor Mittal calls itself "the world's number one steel company," and had 2006 revenues of $88.6 billion. Operating in more than 60 countries, it "led the consolidation of the world steel industry and today ranks as the only truly global steelmaker," according to its website.

It is here in the mineral rich states of Jharkhand and Orissa that Arcelor Mittal is proposing to invest $201 billion to establish its "Indian presence" with two plants capable of producing 12 million tons/year each. But first, the family-based company needs to acquire land that has been the ancestral legacy of thousands of poor Indians.

A vociferous tribal activist, Dayamani Barla, is spearheading the Jharkhand movement under the banner of Adivasi Moolvaasi Asthitva Raksha Manch (AMARM, Forum for the Protection of Existence of Tribal and Native Population). She has pled her people's cause from the villages of rural India to the centers of European power. (See sidebar.)

Barla argues that the Indian Constitution protects Scheduled Tribes / adivasi (tribal) people in the affected areas by barring non-tribals and private parties from transfer or purchase of tribal lands and natural resources.

The two affected Jharkhand districts, Gumla and Khunti have a preponderance of Munda tribes, while Keonjhar in Orissa is dominated by Gond, Munda, Dehuri, and Saunti tribes.

“For any tribal community, land is not an asset to be sold, but it is their heritage,” says firebrand Barla. "They are neither masters nor its owners, but its protectors for future generations. The natural resources to us are not merely means of livelihood, but a symbol of our identity, dignity, autonomy and culture, for generations."

The stiff resistance the company has faced in the last five years from AMARM activists in Jharkhand may have produced results. The steel giant recently decided to settle for a new site in the Petarwar and Kasmar blocks of the Bokaro district in the state: “The new site is in the vicinity of the Bokaro Steel plant under the Steel Authority of India Limited, and we have had the first dialogue with the local villagers there and got positive vibes” said Vijay Bhatnagar, CEO, Arcelor Mittal, India and China.

The Firebrand

Dayamani Barla's journey is they stuff of legend. She began as a domestic worker in Ranchi washing used utensils. As a student, she spent nights in the local railway station, taking advantage of the platform lights to study for a master's degree in commerce. She became a tribal journalist chronicling her people's oppression and struggle and received the P Sainath, Counter Media Award for Rural Journalism in 2000.

Now, the portly 47-year-old woman is challenging a world steel giant and spearheading a movement that stretches from the rural backyards of India's Gumla district to Berlin and the European Social Forum.

This October Barla addressed a conference hosted by the Adivasi-Koordination in Germany (AKD), a lobby and human rights organization associated with the issues of indigenous Indians.

At a five-day workshop at the European Social Forum (ESF) in Malmo last September, she spoke on "Rights to Indigenous Life and Worldview" and "Indigenous Peoples and Planetarian Environmental Justice."

In 2004, she won the National Foundation for India Fellowship, and in 2008 she received the 2008 Chingaari (flame) Award for women against corporate crime in India for her leadership of the anti-Mittal struggle.

In addition to awards, her work has also inspired death threats and demands that she suspend her activism. But as convener of Adivasi Moolvaasi Asthitva Raksha Manch (AMARM) Barla remains resolute: “We will not part with an inch of our land, for the project," she says. "The precedent set for the tribals in the name of development, in the state, is very disheartening. Former land owners have been reduced to pilferers in their own land or being compelled to migrate. How long can they continue to be deceived and deprived repeatedly?" she asks.

Still in touch with her people and her roots, Barla earns her livelihood by running a tea shop, where she sits on the wooden bench, sipping tea with her comrades and discussing the latest strategies.

The activists see the move as spurred by a series of demonstrations and actions.In October, Mittal Pratirodh Mamch (MPM, Mittal Opposition Forum) staged a massive demonstration, replete with anti-Mittal banners and placards, in the Orissa district of Keonjhar. Activists asserted that apart from massive population displacement, Arcelor Mittal's proposed project would destroy forests, water sources, and ecosystems, thereby imperiling the environment and the subsistence economy of a tribal society that is rooted in agriculture and forest produce.

"For instance, the place of our worship or, Sarna Sthal, consists of groves of trees that we consider sacred, sasandari, and the site in our village that bears stones erected in memory of the ancestors of our clan," says Barla. "Is it possible to rehabilitate or compensate for such land?"

The district of Keonjhar is rich in deposits of iron ore and manganese, and holds 75 percent of the Orissa's iron ore deposits. “Nearly 10,000 people would be displaced and chunks of prime agricultural land taken away. …Why can’t the company instead go for waste lands without forest and agriculture which are available in the district?" asks Prafulla Samantra, an activist with MPM.

A company official had a ready answer: “These states are very well endowed with mineral reserves and thus industrialization is essential to usher growth and development here," he said on condition of anonymity. "In sharp contrast, the potential for agriculture is rather low here. The areas that were selected in both the states for the project were on the basis of technical considerations as soil texture, availability of water, possibilities of better road and rail connectivity, favorable for the plant."

The official said that villagers’ needs were being taken into account. "We cannot go ahead without making the local population partners to the company in terms of generation of opportunities for livelihood and growth, through direct and indirect employments." He said that the company was eager to educate and train youths through “tying up with various technical institutes in the state," and incorporating women in various financial activities, "through self help groups." Even the section of illiterate population involved in agricultural work can be given training in various unskilled work. The idea is to give a boost to the general economy of the region.”

Staking out the Territory

Arcelor Mittal chairman and CEO LN Mittal have had long-standing plans to expand steel production the country of his birth. In October 2005 Mittal Steel Company N.V. and the Jharkhand government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for setting up a 12 million tons/year steel plant, for an estimated $9.3 billion investment. In August 2006, Mittal Steel was acquired by its key rival Arcelor, and the new entity signed a similar MoU with Orissa a year later.

The two proposed steel projects would be set up in two phases capable of producing 6 million tons each, along with a captive power plant. The first phase is expected to be completed within 48 months from the date of agreement on the detailed project report, and the second phase 54 months after completion of the first phase.

The Jharkhand mega steel project will require 8,856 acres of land in the districts of Gumla and Khunti and encompass up to 16 villages, according to State Industry Department figures.

However, Barla along with the local villagers, assert that the above figures "may be regarded conservative just to make a beginning. But if the plant is actually set up the requirement of land would obviously go up manifolds, by way of growing infrastructure, township etc., in the process of which about 30 to 40 villages are likely to be displaced," and the land despoiled, "thereby imperiling the environment and the very source of sustenance of the local aborigines."

Arcelor Mittal's Orissa deal projects 7,800 acres, spanning more than 15 villages in the Patna block of Keonjhar District. It includes facilities for coke smelting and steel making, as well as rolling mills and a captive 750 megawatt power plant. In addition, the company will explore the feasibility of setting up a 2,500 megawatt capacity power plant in Jharkhand and set up townships and water supply infrastructure.

The central government has approved Arcelor Mittal's request to lease 202 hectares of Karampada Iron ore Mines, with reserves of 65 million tons, located in the reserve forest in the West Singbhum district of Jharkhand. The deposits are mineralized and of very good quality.

So far, the refusal by significant numbers of farmers and other villagers in Jharkand and Orissa to sell their lands essential to the projects has resulted in delays that are “unacceptable,” LN Mittal told the Financial Times (London) in October. People have to be “educated” into supporting gradual industrialization including the need to build new steel plants on agricultural land, said Mittal's CEO. “If we cannot make progress in these two sites we will have to abandon the idea of starting the projects there and look for other places in India for our expansion.”

But within a day of this threat the steel magnate issued a softer statement from his New Delhi office: "ArcelorMittal has no plans to quit India. India is an important country for steel demand growth and is an important part of Arcelor Mittal's long-term strategic plans. The company continues to work on its two Greenfield projects in Jharkhand and Orissa. However, in the event that land acquisition continues to prove difficult, we will start to search for alternate sites in India."

Legal standing
Popular opposition to Arcelor Mittal's plans is grounded in the Fifth Schedule, article 244 of the Indian Constitution. Taking effect in 1950, it guaranteed indigenous people the right to administer and control their lands in nine states: Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Orissa, and Rajasthan.

Indigenous rights were further strengthened by the passage of the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act in 1996. It gave traditional tribal communities control over their local natural resources; acknowledged customary law, social, religious practices and traditional management practices of community resources; and granted wide-ranging powers to village assemblies (Gaon Sabhas).

In 1997, the historic Samata judgment of the Supreme Court upheld the cause of tribal ownership of native lands. Samata, an NGO working in the scheduled areas of Andhra Pradesh had filed a case against the state government for leasing tribal lands to private mining companies in the scheduled areas. The SLP (Special Leave Petition) filed in the Supreme court led to a landmark judgment in July 1997 declaring that government is also a "person" and that all lands leased to private mining companies in the scheduled areas are null and void.

These guarantees are extensions of the Chhotnagpur Tenancy Act 1908 (CNTA), enacted by the British in Jharkhand where Munda tribals are predominant. The act, which acknowledges traditional rights over land, forest, and water bodies provides special status and tenancy right to villages. Section 46 of CNT Act clearly states that land bearing natural resources, common village land are community-owned, and can not be touched without the consent of the Gaon Sabhas. According to this act, no non-tribal or outsider can purchase land belonging to tribals in these regions.

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik described Mittal's warning as unexpected. "I have no such information from the company," he told an Indian news agency. "I believe that land acquisition for that company's project is on. We have been trying our best to facilitate the project [and] want to get over the land acquisition problem in a peaceful manner and to mutual satisfaction, with the villagers."

Secretary to the government of Orissa, Dr. AMR Dalwai, said that while no land has so far been allotted to the company, the process is underway. The company has been meeting with Gaon Sabhas (Village Assemblies) in eight villages, and the remaining seven villages would also be covered soon. These assemblies are legally tasked with safeguarding and preserving the traditions and customs of the people, their cultural identity, community resources, and the customary mode of dispute resolution.

Jharkhand officials reacted differently. Governor K. Sankaranarayanan advocated dialogue between the company and the villagers "who own the land, first have to agree to part with it," he stressed. "If the company decides to shift [to another location], how can I help it? The state will not lose; others are ready to step in."

However, in a recent development, CEO Vijay Bhatnagar, along with group management board member Sudhir Maheshwari and Vice President MP Singh, met the new government of Jharkhand, led by the Chief-Minister Shibu Soren. “We came to reaffirm our commitment, that we are determined to carry out the project in the state for which support of the state government is required. The chief minister has pledged all support to the project," said Bhatnagar.

Meanwhile activists with AMARM in Jharkhand are fighting the project tooth and nail. In October, undeterred by a heavy downpour, thousands of men and women assembled at district headquarters in the proposed site in Gumla. They were armed with the traditional bow and arrow and carried brooms, sickles, grain threshers and tangi (machetes). The placards and banners they held aloft read “Mittal Go Back.”

The villagers were protesting the sale of 1,025 acres of alleged “government” land for which the company paid the district administration 80 percent of cost (Rs.12.39 crores or $2.8 million). The villagers called for the immediate abrogation of the deeds, arguing that the land included community-owned natural resources such as rivers, streams, forests, and hills covering 10 villages in the district.

Despite the odds, the locals are holding out hope of retaining their ancestral lands. “Keeping in mind the protests of the villagers," said head of Gumla administration Rahul Sharma, "the issue is pending with the divisional commissioner [and] no land has so far been given to the company."

via CorpWatch

Manipur Farmers on a Mission

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap 

Guwahati, Mar 3 : Worried over shrinking of agricultural land, farmers in Manipur have taken upon themselves the task of preserving farmland by launching a “mission” of their own so that their land is not used for any non-agriculture purpose.

The initiative called Agricultural Land Preservation Mission has been launched by the Heingang Kendra Loumi Lup, a farmers’ body in the Heingang Assembly constituency, with its members urging fellow farmers not to sell or transfer agriculture land for non-agriculture purpose at any cost.

Volunteers of Heingang Kendra Loumi Lup put up notices prohibiting purchase or conversion of paddy-growing land for non-agricultural activities, including construction of dwelling houses and industrial complexes without prior information and consent of the Lup. The organisation warned of stringent action against the defaulters. The Heingang Kendra Loumi Lup warned that failure to implement preventive measures to protect cultivation areas would not only result in drastic reduction of food crops but also become a threat to survival of families whose main source of economic sustenance was dependent on seasonal works in the paddy field.

Heingang Kendra Loumi Lup president N Samer said Manipur had been experiencing serious reduction in agricultural land in the last few decades and strongly advocated preservation of cultivation sites in order to ensure employment through agricultural activities for the future generation as well as food security for the people of the state.

Shrinking of agricultural land has been a matter of concern in the hill state for several years now, with the issue being debated in the state Assembly too. Members cutting across party lines have been proposing a legislation to debar sale of transfer of such land for non-agricultural purpose.

While the state agriculture department’s record puts Manipur’s agricultural land at 1,950 sq km, the recent data released by Manipur Remote Sensing Application Centre has put the same at 1,674 sq km, clearly indicating a loss of 274 sq km.

Last year, farmers in Imphal East district had even threatened to boycott Lok Sabha elections while opposing a move by the state government to set up an industrial growth centre in agricultural land.

Chargesheeted, Black Widow Chief ‘Untraced’

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Guwahati, Mar 3 : Niranjan Hojai, the self-styled Commander-in-Chief of the outlawed Dima Halam Daoga (DHD-J) or Black Widow, who was charge sheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last year, has been missing since he surrendered last October.

Indicating this here on Tuesday, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said he was yet to ascertain whether the DHD-J leader was still in a designated camp or was “untraced”. “I don’t know whether he was staying in the designated truce-time camps or not after the surrender ceremony. I will have to find out details about the case,” Gogoi said.

On October 2, 2009, Hojai, who together with DHD-J chairman Jewel Garlosa let loose a reign of terror in Assam’s North Cachar Hills district for several years, led a huge surrender of his followers in the presence of Gogoi at Haflong. His surrender, along with 393 members of the outfit, came months after Garlosa was arrested from Bangalore in last June. Hojai was sent to a designated camp at Haflong after the ceremony.

But by the time the NIA, probing into the first-ever case assigned to it — siphoning off huge sums of development funds by militant groups in Assam’s NC Hills district — came out with its chargesheet on November 17, Hojai was missing. The 14 persons named in the chargesheet on diversion of funds of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council to the Dima Halam Daogah (J) included Gorlosa and Hojai.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said Hojai had secretly slipped out of the state and moved to Nepal immediately after the NIA submitted its chargesheet.

Meghalaya Approves Salary Hike For College Teachers

Ampareen Lyngdoh, D.D. Lapang

Shillong, Mar 3 : The Meghalaya cabinet today approved the implementation of the revised UGC payscale and DA to college teachers with retrospective effect from January 1, 2006.

Chief minister D.D. Lapang said after the cabinet meeting that considering the demand of the college teachers, they had decided to implement the new UGC payscale.

State education minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said the financial implications for the arrears alone would be Rs 70 crore.

The additional annual expenditure for the Meghalaya government after the implementation of the UGC scale for teachers would be Rs 16 crore.

The state would account for 20 per cent of the expenditure and the remaining 80 per cent will be borne by the Union ministry of human resource development.

The last revision of pay for the college teachers was in 1996.

Lyngdoh said the government was working on the ways and means to increase pay and allowances to other categories of teachers as well.

The cabinet also decided to change the guidelines of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme for its smooth implementation to help the poor in the rural areas.

The state community and rural development minister Martin Danggo said the cabinet has decided to do away with the Area Employment Councils so that wages can be disbursed to the Village Employment Councils at the block levels.

At present, the blocks distribute the wages to the Area Employment Councils.

The employment councils in turn disburse them to the Village Employment Councils.

The purpose of changing guidelines is to speed up the effective implementation of the rural employment scheme.

The cabinet also decided to reduce VAT on the sale of cashew nuts from the current 12 per cent to 4 per cent to help cashew growers.

Taxation minister A.T. Mondal said at present 65,000 quintals of cashew nuts are produced in Garo hills every year, but the cashew growers are the worst affected because of the high rate of VAT.

NSCN (IM) Submits 30 Demands at First Round

New Delhi, Mar 3 : In a fresh bid to solve the vexed Naga issue, the northeast insurgent group NSCN (IM) on Tuesday held the first round of talks with the government's newly appointed interlocutor, R S Pandey, during which it submitted a list of 30 demands that include sovereignty for Nagaland and unification of all Naga-dominated areas of neighboring states.

Sources said the meeting, held at an undisclosed location, on first day witnessed more of an informal discussion over various issues than the actual position of both the sides on the ground. Though the delegation submitted its demands, a serious round of discussion would take place on Wednesday, they added.

It is learnt that Pandey conveyed to the Naga leaders that there was no possibility of sovereignty for Nagaland and the talks could be held around "grant of more autonomy".

Among other issues in the charter of demands, NSCN (IM) pointed out certain taxation matters and preservation of cultural heritage.

Before the first round of discussions with Pandey, the Naga delegation paid courtesy calls on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union home minister P Chidambaram.

"We had a comprehensive discussion and the NSCN (IM) will continue the negotiation with the government of India," Muivah told reporters after the meeting with Chidambaram.

"If the Centre is serious then we will talk," he said. Besides Chidambaram, others present at the hour-long meeting were home secretary G K Pillai and special secretary (internal security) U K Bansal.

Muivah had last visited India in December 2006 and held talks with government leaders. A ceasefire was agreed upon with NSCN (IM) in August 1997.

Akoo Jeans Billboard Deemed Sexually Suggestive, Pulled Out

Like the pair of jeans it depicts, a billboard poster in downtown Newark is coming down.

The ad for Akoo jeans shows a woman kneeling in front of a man and facing the camera. The man's jeans are unbuckled, and the woman appears to be pulling them off.

The billboard, which hovers over a busy intersection, sparked criticism after a local columnist questioned its taste.

On Monday, a spokeswoman for CBS Outdoor, the company that owns the billboard, said the ad will be taken down, though she did not specify a date. In a statement, the company acknowledged it had responded to feedback from Newark residents.

An e-mailed request for comment from Akoo Clothing was not answered Monday.

Some decried the billboard's use of an image of a black woman in a sexually suggestive pose in a city that is predominantly black.

Mayor Cory A. Booker downplayed the racial angle and instead framed it as part of a general decline in standards.

"It's an issue of what are community standards and why are we consistently condoning language, images and other things that erode those standards," he said. "This billboard is not the only thing that we should be concerned with. It's a symptom of a deeper problem that we have to confront within our communities."

Billboards have caused controversy in Newark before.

In early 2007, after a year in which 106 homicides were committed in the city, the Newark Teachers Union paid for several billboards that screamed:

"HELP WANTED: Stop the killings in Newark now!"

The group was criticized for furthering negative perceptions of the city, and a rival organization put up billboards charging the union with "protecting bad teachers" and "failing our kids."

The billboards were taken down two years ago when the homicide rate declined more than 40 percent. Yet Newark still struggles with its image, not to mention an unemployment rate that topped 13 percent last summer.

"We need nothing that isn't going to reinforce positive images for the young ladies of the community," City Councilman Oscar S. James II said Monday. "We don't need that type of imagery for any women, of any color."

Your request is being processed... Google, Kansas: Topeka Mayor Renames City In Bid To Win Google Broadband

Hoping to improve the city's chances of being the test site for Google's ultra-fast broadband experiment, the Mayor of Topeka, Kansas has issued a proclamation that his city be known as 'Google, Kansas--the capital city of fiber optics' for the month of March.

As Topeka's name cannot legally be temporarily changed to 'Google,' the proclamation instead calls on residents to refer to the city as 'Google' for the duration of March.

Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten credits a local news personality Jim Ogle with the idea of a temporary name change. The CJOnline writes,

Ogle told the council Monday about how Mayor Joan Wagnon in August 1998 issued a proclamation temporarily changing Topeka's name to "ToPikachu" in recognition of the nationwide kickoff here of the "Pokemon" media franchise, which features a fictional species of creatures named "Pikachu."

Ogle said that if Topeka could change its name "for a small doll that sounds like I sneezed," it could certainly do the same for Google.

The hope is that the 'Google, Kansas' proclamation will help distinguish Topeka from other cities vying to be chosen by Google to try out the ultra-fast broadband network the company will be testing.

The Associated Press reports:
A campaign to make Topeka a test site for a new, ultrafast Internet service is gathering speed.

Google Inc. announced plans Feb. 10 to build and test new high-speed broadband networks in one or more places around the country. The company says the system of fiber-optic cables would deliver Internet connections 100 times faster than most systems now available.

Over the past week, Topeka city officials have announced they're completing Google's request for information from potential trial communities. The City Council has indicated that it's behind the effort.

And a group called "Think Big Topeka" is campaigning to build community and government support.

Google has given communities a March 26 deadline to submit the completed requests for information.