Young Mizos Fall in Love With Hindi

Aizawl, Sep 15 : Till a decade ago Mizos were not keen to learn Hindi, but with changing time, the younger generation has become eager to learn the national language, realizing its importance in their day to day lives. Mizoram Governor Lt General (rtd) M M Lakhera today said he was glad to see that during the past few years people of Mizoram, especially the younger generation, have become interested in learning Hindi.

Speaking at the Hindi Diwas celebration function here, Lakhera said, ''People should not have the misconception that by learning Hindi, the cultural heritage and the customs of the people of Mizoram would be harmed.'' The function was organized by Town Official Language Implementation Committee (TOLIC) Aizawl.

Khadi & Village Industries Aizawl director R K Dhamija read out the message of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram during the function.

As a part of the Hindi Diwas celebration and also to popularize the use of Hindi in the Central Government Offices and Corporations, TOLIC will be observing 'Hindi Fortnight' during which competitions - essay, debates, among others would be organized.

People in Mizoram have gradually realized that knowing Hindi could be of great help in the future, including employment and cultural exchange.

''We are the citizens of India. For the integrity of the country, we should learn Hindi. As after crossing Mizoram, we cant even do shopping,'' said C Darlianthanga, the President of the Hindi Teachers Association in Mizoram.

''Till ten years ago, people didn't give importance to Hindi as compared to other subjects and languages. In fact, they regarded the language as irrelevant and of no value since they thought it did not have any prospects,'' Deputy Director of Hindu Education, Mizoram, J H Zoena said.

The government of Mizoram has included Hindi in the school curriculum till standard seven and plans to include it till tenth standard.

Mizoram, presently, has two Hindi training colleges that offer a Bachelor's degree in Education to take up jobs as Hindi teachers to students of standard eleven and twelve.

Tripura Trains Police For Commonwealth Games Security

Agartala, Sep 15 : Tripura is giving special training to its police personnel for Commonwealth Games security.

Personnel of the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) have been going through rigorous drills in commando training, hurdle crossing, high wall crossing, climbing and jumping and slithering.

Pranay Sahaya, the Director General of Tripura Police, said TSR troopers were apt for the job because of their training, skills and age profile.

"As far as duties in the Commonwealth (Games) are concerned, I think the level of training, skill, and I believe, general response of the people of this place in terms of my boys, and overall age profile, makes them a very good material for such sort of duties," Sahaya added.

He also informed that following a request from the Home Ministry a battalion(around 1,000 troopers would take up security-related responsibilities at Games venues.

"It is one of the six states from where the forces have been drafted and amongst the northeast, for six companies, it is only Tripura state," he said.

India is expecting about two million visitors in New Delhi for the Games, as well as about 10,000 athletes from 71 teams representing 54 Commonwealth member states, which will be held from October 3 to 14.

The 12-day sporting extravaganza will be India's biggest sporting event since the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi.

Mizoram Police to Get Latest Weapons

Aizawl, Sep 15 : The Mizoram state, which has been termed as “Island of peace” is gearing up to procure latest weapons and advanced technology in fighting against criminals and militants.

In this connection the Mizoram police department will soon get ‘bullet proof cars’ by November, a source from Mizoram police department informed Newmai News Network today.

It also said that inspection for the cars and other necessary measures have been taken so that Mizoram police get the bullet proof cars as soon as possible.

It is pertinent to note that Mitshubishi Pajero, Japanese bullet proof cars were brought from Japan and at present they are being maintained by the lone agent, Hindustan Motors at Chandigarh. The cars have been tested by the Defence Research Organisation last week.

It was also approved by the New Delhi to be used by the Indian police.

Meanwhile, the Mizoram Director General of Police informed NNN that once the Mizoram state procures a bullet proof Pajero, it will be used whenever the President of India, the Prime Minister and the Vice President who are categorised as Z+ visit Mizoram.

The expenditures to procure this vehicle will cost around 46.34 lakhs, he said. Besides, in order to equip the state police with modern technology and weapons, 2 companies of Commandos have also been established.

Meanwhile, the police department will also get some of the best weapons.

In this regard, some of the weapons to be delivered to the Mizoram police includes, 90 pieces of Colt M4 carbine manufacture at M/S Colt Defence LCC, 547 New Park Avenue, West Hartfort, Connecticut, USA; 30 numbers of Colt M4 CQB; 116 Berreta 90 two pistol made by M/S Bretta Frebrica d’ Armi, Italy and four Sako TRG 22 (sniper rifle). In fact, Colt M4 is handy and more convenient to carry than a full-length rifle.

Get Rid of illegal Shrines: SC to States

By Bhadra Sinha

New Delhi, Sep 15 : Taking exception to states’ dilly-dallying on the removal of illegal religious structures, the Supreme Court threatened to summon the respective chief secretaries if they failed to comply with directions to remove or relocate places of worship built on public land.

On Tuesday, a bench gave two weeks to the states to file their response, the third instance the SC is giving time to states to comply with its directions.

According to affidavits filed by various states, Tamil Nadu has the highest number of unauthorized places of worship (77,450). Delhi has the least, 52.

The bench lauded Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland and Mizoram for being “civilized” as there are no unauthorized structures there.

The court is hearing the Centre’s appeal against a 2006 Gujarat HC order for removal of unauthorized structures.

On September 27, 2009, the SC had ordered there should be no unauthorized religious structures on roads, pavements or other public places, as they were inconvenience to people.

In its order, the apex court had put the onus on chief secretaries’ to ensure no further construction took place. The court said the states should deal with existing structures on individual basis after hearing the parties concerned.

From the affidavits, it transpired none of the States have taken effective methods to abide by the Supreme Court order.

Huge numbers

77,450 - Tamil Nadu
58,253 - Rajasthan
51,624 - Madhya Pradesh
45,000 - Uttar Pradesh
17,385 - Maharashtra
15,000 - Gujarat
52 -        Delhi

Municipal Polls: Half of Meghalaya Shutdown

Shillong, Sep 15 : Half of Meghalaya today observed a shutdown following a non-cooperation call by a group of organisations protesting the proposed first ever municipal elections, even as 205 candidates filed nominations in the four municipal boards where elections are slated for September 29.

Educational institutions, business units and government offices were closed and vehicular movement was thin in all the three districts of Garo Hills, officials said adding adequate security personnel were deployed at sensitive places to prevent any untoward incident.

While no picketing activities were observed, West Garo Hills deputy commissioner Sanjay Goyal said the administration has decided salary cut for government officials who did not report for duty.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) had announced a two-day non-cooperation movement in the three districts from today against holding of the elections in the four municipalities of Garo Hills.

The JAC is demanding demarcation of the municipal areas before conducting elections.
Altogether 96 candidates, including 27 women, have filed nominations in the 13 wards of Tura municipality in West Garo Hills district.

55 candidates have filed nominations for the Resubelpara and Williamnagar municipalities and 54 for the Baghmara seat. The last date for filing nominations ended yesterday.

Urban Affairs Principal Secretary Prashant Naik ruled out postponing the municipal elections.
"We don''t understand why they are opposing the elections. They should wait for the court verdict instead of announcing any agitation," he said.

The proscribed Khasi militant outfit Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) had warned people of dire consequences if they participated in the elections.

Earlier, the Gauhati High Court had issued a notice to the government on a petition by the Garo Students Union which challenged the municipal polls.

Since the Supreme Court notification in 2000, there have been at least two attempts to hold the civic body election in the state but both the times the government could not go ahead due to opposition from certain quarters on the ground that such an attempt will dilute the credibility of traditional institutions in the state.

There nominated administrator of the state government governs the municipality boards.

Meghalaya CM Meets PM For Bangladesh Trade

Shillong, Sep 15 : Meghalaya Chief minister Mukul Sangma on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to facilitate trade with Bangladesh.

"This would be beneficial for both the countries and would help to reduce illegal activities along the international border," Sangma told over phone from New Delhi.

"I told the prime minister that trading activities should be promoted and infrastructure should be improved in the border ares," he said.

Sangma requested the prime minister to take up on a priority basis the proposed railway connectivity between Jogighopa via Tikrikilla, Ampati, Dalu, Baghmara, Dawki and Badarpur through the southern slope of Meghalaya, which would in turn connect the LCSs to Barak Valley and other North Eastern States including Mizoram, Tripura and Manipur in view of huge economic benefit and expected growth of trade and commerce with Bangladesh.

"The alternative railway line is also a shorter option which had taken up with the railway ministry in 2007," Sangma said.Sangma took up issues relating to various pending projects of the Centre including the expansion of airports in Umroi and Baljek on a priority basis to facilitate landing of bigger aircraft.

"I submitted a proposal to Union finance ministry for State Resource Management Programme to be funded by ADB to support health and education in the state," Sangma said.

Northeast Activists Appeal China and India to Stop Constructing Dams

Itanagar, Sep 14 : Various organizations in the Northeast have appealed to both China and India to stop all existing and proposed dam construction activities on Siang River, which is known as Yarlung and Tsangpo in China and Brahmaputra in Assam.

In a joint letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, at least 50 organizations, including the Arunachal Citizens' Right (ACR), have expressed fear that the communities surviving on the river's ecosystem might get destroyed by the politics of water and energy.

China is not only building a series of dams but also diverting water in the upper reaches of the Siang river in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), they claimed.

It would result in massive reduction of water flow that would have irreparable and devastating impact on the ecosystems and the way of life in Tibet, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and in the lower reaches of Bangladesh, they said.

"We also fear that India's effort to build many dams, including the ones in Lohit and Subansiri rivers, is a way to preempt any Chinese dam upstream using the highly illogical view of stopping dams in upstream by building dams in the lower portion of the river," they said.

The activists have urged both the countries to refrain from building any dams on the river.

"This will help build peace and trust between the two countries. Building dams on Siang or in Yarlung and Tsangpo will therefore be considered as seeking conflict," the organisations added.

Some Martyrs From Northeast Ignored by History Books: Handique

New Delhi, Sep 14 : Some martyrs from the northeast who had participated in the freedom struggle against the the British had not found their rightful place in history books and historical writings and this should be corrected, a central minister from the region said Tuesday.
There was considerable resentment against this in the northeast,

Minister for Development of the North East Region (DoNER) Bijoy Krishna Handique said while delivering the keynote address on “History as a window - Understanding North East,” at the Jamia Millia Islamia.

“There should be some recognition of these unsung heroes…The ways of history cannot be corrected but the inadequacy of historical writing can be corrected,” Handique said.

He said the northeast was a “complex region” and made “more complex by lack of understanding of issues”.

The minister said there was need to understand the psyche of the people and respect their sentiments of giving recognition to freedom fighters from the region.

He said the challenge of multi-cultuarlism was not unique to the northeast but it should be studied to understand issues concerning the region and devise a strategy for the future.

Mizoram Chief Minister Pu Lalthanhawla said that the successful Mizo accord can serve as a model peace process for other parts of the country.

The accord was signed in 1986 between the central government and Mizo Nataional Front (MNF). Lalthanhawla had quit as chief minister following the accord to pave way for an interim government headed by MNF leader Laldenga. He had been in and out of office since then and again became the chief minister since Dec 2008.

Lalthanhawla said a spirit of give and take, a willing bureaucracy and total involvement of civil society can make peace accords succeed.

He said the peace process in Mizoram was simpler as there were no multiple ethnic groups in the state.

“Peace, development and governance are closely related. Imbalance in one disturbs the other,” he said, adding that if the mindset of people can be changed, half the battle for peace was won.

Lalthanhawla said the northeast was “least visited and most misunderstood area” of the country, adding there was “a huge communication gap between mainland India and the region” more due to a mental block than geographical factors.

Pointing out that the northeast had a vibrant tradition of local self-government, Lalthanhawla said the region needed more schemes like the national rural employment guarantee scheme to empower the rural masses.

DoNER secretary Jayati Chandra said that bright minds from the northeast who had honed their skills outside the region should also look at the option of returning.

She said that while the government’s per head contribution in the northeast was greater than in any other part of the country, there was virtually no private investment.

She also said that more students from the region should opt for technical courses.

Jamia Millia Islamia vice chanellor Najeeb Jung said that the northeast should be better understood in the rest of the country.

“That is a concern for Jamia. That’s why a centre for northeast studies has been started to focus on the region,” he said.

The vice chancellor said the university was keen that more students from the northeast avail of its courses.

Sanjoy Hazarika of the university’s centre for northeast studies said that development in the region had shown unique flexibility. He said India’s Look East policy should be routed through the northeastern states.