Mizo Students Union Wants Mobiles, Tattoos Banned in Schools

Aizawl, Mar 10 : A students body in Mizoram on Tuesday urged the State government to impose a ban on use of cell phones in school and prohibit tattoos.

The Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) said cell phones are not only a source of disturbance and indiscipline but also used for circulating porn images and videos.

In a statement, MZP said tattoos cause health hazards and mental problems.

Earlier, the student’s body had appealed to the government to issue a dress code in schools to put a ban on extremely short and revealing skirts for girls.

The MZP also asked the government to formulate uniform admission and tuition fees for government as well as private institutions.

The Best and Worst Selling Magazine Covers of 2009

In a world of dying print media, cover subjects can make or break a magazine’s future. Each month, magazine editors gamble on covers that can either flounder miserably or rule the glossies rack. The Huffington Post highlights the most and least successful covers of 2009 in terms of sales for several popular magazines.

The Worst:

The Best:

Full gallery of the best and worst at Huffington Post.

In Quest of Peace

By C.Doungel

The appeal by Senior citizens for Society Manipur to the Government of India to initiate unconditional talk with Valley insurgents is a welcome move as it appears to be an expression of actual concern about the turmoil in the state. Further efforts however will have to be made if mere appeal does not bring any progress. A first step may be to confidentially find out one or more persons trusted by them to contact and try to convince them that talk proposed is purely in the interest of the people of the state.

There is no need to have a committee which will not only be redundant but may only prove to be an added burden. Unconditional talk means that the agenda for discussion can include anything such as sovereignty, plebiscites etc. as the entire historical reality of the past and present would be taken into account.

In fact, a clarification made by RPF in response to the call a few days later is an indication that they are listening and applying their mind to the call.

It may not be wise to enter into any polemics about the causes of insurgency as the intention is to find a solution. Civil society can at best act as facilitator.

Whatever issues they desire to raise has to be discussed by them with the Government of India if and when the stage is reached. As matters will have to be thrashed out at the final stage as mutually agreed upon by the negotiating parties, Government of India should not have undue reservations or misgivings. Unconditional talk possibly was suggested to maintain some parity with NSCN(IM) whom Government of India had placed on such a high pedestal and to show that equal treatment is called for.

Fortunately Kuki Groups in Manipur and some other groups in Assam have accepted surrender or deposit of arms under joint custody with Government as precondition. Reposing faith in the Government of India is no doubt to be considered as a good gesture. However, their cases, at the same time having been reduced to captive negotiation, the talks have to be confined within the parameters drawn. All we can feel happy about is that “all is well that ends well”.

In clarifying their stand, the RPF has commented about the absence of a responsible Government in Manipur and their corruption ridden functioning. This undoubtedly provides some food for thought and should be taken as a wake-up call for doing some introspection.

For, corruption may be as old as creation but its open practice and acceptance vitiates every action, thereby not only damaging the image of the Government but also reducing its credibility. That those in authority should uphold justice is defeated. It may be recalled that for reaching Mizo accord, Lalthanhawla voluntarily resigned from Chief Ministership and likewise Laldenga was able to carry all Mizo people along.

Lalthanhawla has now come back. Do we have leaders of such stature in Manipur or Nagaland willing to sacrifice even less or are our leaders even afraid that the ultra leaders will pose serious challenge to them in coming elections if settlement is reached. We have to rise beyond a certain level if we desire the well being of our society and state. Claims of success by Security Forces in Counter-insurgency operations are yet to incapacitate Valley insurgents. That there are no more open camps in Manipur now does not mean that their backbone is completely broken. Rather, there is urgency for negotiation and settlement because belligerency of China is neutralizing and winning over Burma which is now very much dominated economically by it.

Burma always assures India that it will take action to flush out Indian insurgents but are unable to carry out what is agreed upon for this reason. Further, Kachin Independent Army which is sheltering many insurgent groups in areas where the Juntas’ control hardly exist have spread their tentacles as far as Yunnan province of China where there is also a sizable Kachin population. It is thus easy to revive links with China.

Indeed some are said to have already started. Up-gradation of India’s Air bases in Northeast with missiles striking capacity is said to be still below that of China. Being aware of India’s limitations, China feels that she has room for taking more calculated risks in their design to create more satellites and foment trouble. Burma is also taking the chance to play India with China.

As for revolutionaries, bold statements about their stand is all right to drive home some points but it should be remembered that it equally takes courage to sit down and thrash out problems through talks. It is pertinent to recall in this connection, the argument used by Chinese Ambassador to Chingez Khan who said to him “Are you afraid of spoken words?”.

If continued fighting and violence is not affecting people and bringing peace do not concern the people of Manipur, none will take the risk of getting involved. In fact, even negotiation has to be evolved in such a way as to represent the pluralistic inhabitants of the state as also understanding the ethos of composite culture.

It should also be borne in mind that we are at a crossroad since the present generation is questioning old traditions and concepts and trying to break away from the morass. This is causing an added social unrest. But howsoever elusive pursuit of peace be as its connotation varies according to the person seeking it or accepting it or settling it, that cannot be an excuse to deter good citizens from doing what is right in the interest of the people of Manipur.

New Frontier

A visit to Mizoram must be especially gratifying for Sonia Gandhi — both personally and politically. Her first visit to the state coincided with the peace accord that her husband and former prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, signed with the Mizo rebel leader, Laldenga, in 1986.

And except for a brief period soon after the Mizo peace agreement, the Congress has ruled the state.

Ms Gandhi has good reasons to be happy about the party’s progress in a troubled periphery of India. More important, Mizoram remains the most peaceful state in the Northeast, completely free from ethnic insurgencies that plague all other states in the region.

Yet, it is not so much the Congress’s electoral successes in Mizoram as the triumph of peace that makes the state’s recent political history particularly significant. For two decades, the Mizo insurgency seemed intractable and its social and economic damage almost irreversible.

Two generations of Mizo youths lived and died in dense jungles fighting for an “independent” Mizoram. Peace and democracy have scripted a different story for the state since 1986. Mizoram today has the highest literacy rate among the states in the region. Its economic progress and social stability stand out in a region known for ethnic violence and volatile politics.

It is not as if the people of Mizoram do not have grievances against their government. Corruption, in particular, has been a major cause of public discontent. The chief minister, Lalthanhawla, has been synonymous with the Congress in the state for more than two decades.

He may legitimately take credit for the party’s successes. But he cannot also absolve himself of the charges that are routinely leveled against his party and government. For Ms Gandhi and the Centre, though, peace in Mizoram can serve a far more important purpose.

It can act as a guide to peace initiatives in Nagaland, Assam and Manipur. The insurgency in each of these states has its distinct local context. But the big message from Mizoram is that peace and democracy can help the people in ways that armed conflicts never can.

Democracy has enough room for dissent and gives the people the freedom to change a non-performing government.

Armed rebellions, on the other hand, offer no such hopes. Worse, gun-wielding militants steal all freedoms and rule by blood and terror.

Via Editorial of The Telegraph India

Jesus picture Row: Red Corner Notice Against Publisher Soon

By Tilak Rai

Shillong, Mar 9 : Meghalaya police will soon issue a red corner notice across the country for Skyline publisher Indra Mohan Jha, who went into hiding after his firm published a picture of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette and a beer can.

After the Shillong Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court issued a warrant against Jha, a Meghalaya Police team had gone to Delhi, from where he supposedly operates his publishing house, to arrest him. The police team, however, failed to trace him as he had gone underground, East Khasi Hills SP A R Mawthoh said.

“A red corner notice will be issued against Jha either today or tomorrow,” Mawthoh said. Publication of the “objectionable” picture of Jesus in a cursive writing text book had angered Christians, who are 80 percent of Meghalaya’s population

Bhutan May Withdraw Travel Advisory on Assam

Guwahati, Mar 9 : The Bhutan government is likely to withdraw its advisory issued in 2003 barring its citizens from travel to Assam. Revealing this on Monday, Dasho Tsering Wangda, Bhutanese Consul General based in Kolkata, said Bhutan was considering withdrawal of ban on its people visiting Assam “because the situation has improved drastically in the past few months”.

“We cannot stop our people from coming to Assam any longer. While Guwahati is the nearest economic and educational hub for people of Eastern Bhutan, we want our students to come to Assam to pursue higher studies as early as possible,” he said.

Wangda said while Bhutan had banned its citizens from travelling to Assam in the wake of army operations against the ULFA, NDFB and KLO militants, who had set up bases inside its territory in 2003, over 200 Bhutanese students had been prevented from pursuing higher education in Guwahati.

“Things are much better now. Our students cannot afford to not come to Guwahati. Moreover a large number of patients who would have normally travelled to Guwahati for specialized medical treatment have been compelled to travel to Kolkata. We want to remove the restrictions as soon as possible,” Wangda said.

Industry Barons to Chart Out Assam Growth Path

By Supratim Dey

Guwahati, Mar 9 : Something that never probably had happened in any other Indian state, will happen in Assam tomorrow. Top honchos of Indian industry will sit together tomorrow in Guwahati to chart out vision and strategy for Assam’s economic and industrial growth at the first-ever meeting of the Assam Investment Advisory Board.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s two-month long effort to rope in the industry captains as well as other notable persons to be members of the Advisory Board to advise and suggest him how to make Assam a promising investment destination has finally fructified.

“For the last two months, our chief minister has been writing to the top industrialists of the country to help Assam chart out a course of economic development by becoming members of the Assam Investment Advisory Board. And, I am happy to say that all of them have responded positively to our CM’s request and tomorrow most of them would be here to take part at the first meeting of the Board,” said Pradyut Bordoloi, Assam’s industry minister.

Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra and Mahindra, Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Group, VN Dhoot, chairman of Videocon Goup, Swati Piramal, chairman of Piramal Healthcare and also president of Associated Chamber of Commerce (ASSOCHAM), BM Khaitan, chairman of Eveready Industries, Jamshyd Godrej, chairman of Godrej and Boyce Group, MS Banga, president of Unilever Group, MS Swaminathan, chairman of Swaminathan Research Foundation, Naina Lal Kidwai, country head of HSBC, OP Bhatt, chairman of State Bank of India, are some of the top industrialists and notable personalities to whom Gogoi had written to and they have agreed to be members of the Board.

All of them will be accorded the status of State Guest and the meeting will take place at the chief minister’s secretariat.

Bordoloi, however, said that Mukesh Ambani, Anand Manindra, Sunil Bharti Mittal and MS Swaminathan might not be able to attend tomorrow’s meeting due to their pre-engagements, though they would send their representatives.

Bordoloi said, “We want to take our economic growth to a new level. Never ever had so many top ranking industrialists gathered together to chart out the course of economic development of any Indian state. It’s first time happening in our state.”

Ratan Tata will also lay the foundation stone of the first Taj Hotel in Guwahati and Naina Lal Kidwai will formally inaugurate the first branch of HSBC in the city.

National Language Meet Calls For Linguistic Survey

Vadodara, Mar 9 : Eminent linguist and the founder director of the Central Institute of Indian Languages D.P. Pattanayak Monday urged the central government to conduct the long overdue linguistic survey in the country.

'This is the only way to know all our languages,' Pattanayak said.

The octogenarian was speaking at the inauguration of the two-day Bharat Bhasha Confluence, organised by the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre, which began here Monday.

Among those present were speakers of 320 Indian languages representing all states and union territories along with a host of luminaries, including writer-activist Mahasveta Devi and noted Gandhian Narayanbhai Desai.

Pattanayak pointed out that all Indian languages are threatened. And it is not only the small, tribal languages, but even major languages like Hindi.

'We are witnessing a situation where English is at the top while 35 Indian languages are at the bottom. The smaller languages are facing a double threat from English and the major Indian languages,' he added.

The issue of the linguistic survey was taken up by Kamalini Sengupta, director of INTACH Intangible Cultural Heritage, with Rajesh Sachdeva, who is current director of the Mysore-based Central Institute of Indian Languages. He conceded that accurate information on the number of languages, especially smaller languages, was a need of the hour.

On the linguistic survey, he said the government 'has developed cold feet.'

'I am sorry about the linguistic survey,' Pattanayak said later during his speech. 'We do not care about the tribals. There is nothing about them in our history, geography and social sciences,' he said.

Earlier, the first-of-its-kind gathering of Indian Bhasha speakers was opened with invocations in various Indian languages, including Uttarakhandi, Bangla, Kannada, Sanketi, Tulu, Konkani, Malayalam, and Gujarati.

Renowned sociologist Shiv Vishwanathan said: 'This is not a confluence of dead languages. We are here to celebrate languages.'

He said that modern democracy cannot be built on English, as a true democracy has to be multi-lingual.

In his opening remarks, Ganesh Devy expressed concern that 'while our cities have become 'Bhasha Bharat' (drawn from Mahabharat) with migrations of speakers of different languages, we did not prepare them for this situation, leading to many social problems.'

Among those who spoke on the occasion was noted linguist Anvita Abbi from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, who shared her experience of having a close association with Boa Sr, an 85-year-old Andamanese woman. Boa Sr was the last surviving speaker of the Bo language and passed away on January 26 this year.

'With her a language of 65,000 years has died. Most foreign publications covered the news, but very few in the Indian media wrote about Boa Sr,' Abbi regretted.

Later in the evening, all the 600-odd participants walked in a procession carrying placards displaying the names of the 320 languages they represented.