Lajong FC Plans to Bring in Young Players

By Andrew W. Lyngdoh

Shillong, Oct 23 : Shillong Lajong FC will look to invest in its young guns for long-term gains in the soccer circuit and strive to salvage its place in the prestigious I-League.

Scotland-born Lajong coach, Pradhyum Reddy, today said that Lajong would embark on building a set-up for long-term gains in soccer through intensive training of players of the under-15 and under-19 teams.

“The pool of talent that we have should be systematically synchronised to ensure that we have a strong team in the near future,” Reddy said.

He returned to India last year after a decade of coaching experience in the US, the UK and Brazil. He was also part of a select group of coaches chosen to work alongside the academy coaches of Liverpool, Chelsea and Celtic.

Reddy was invited to work with the club’s youth team in April where he had a brief stint working with the under-15 and under-19 boys, helping them prepare for the Manchester United Premier Cup and Under-19 I-League. Now, he is involved in training the senior players for different tournaments like the upcoming 32nd Governor’s Gold Cup in Sikkim and working towards salvaging Lajong’s place in the I-League circuit.

“You need to have a strong foundation in order to sustain. If you don’t have a proper foundation, the team becomes unstable,” Reddy said when asked about his views on Lajong’s short spell in the I-League.

Reddy said Lajong has been using its under-19 players for the ongoing Shillong Premiere League, who would then be inducted into the senior team.

Under-19 lads like Henry Marboh, Jenga Rongmei and Gaiham Rongmei have been included in the senior team for the Sikkim tournament.

Fascinated by the huge soccer fan following in the Northeast and Meghalaya in particular, Reddy said the region was richly endowed with soccer talent thatneeds to be suitably harnessed.

China’s Google Earth Rival Claims Arunachal

By Reshma Patil

Beijing, Oct 23 : China’s government-run online mapping service launched on Thursday shows Arunachal Pradesh in northeast India as a slice of Chinese territory. The Chinese language service, Map World, is designed to compete with Google Earth in a market of over 400 million Internet users. It names all northeast Indian states except Arunachal, which China controversially claims as its own.

On the map, the Sino-Indian border is shifted south to northern Assam and Arunachal Pradesh is part of China’s southern Tibet region. In Kashmir, the disputed region of Aksai Chin is not named and shown as a part of northwest China.

“All the mapping information has been permitted by the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM) and related national security departments,’’ Min Yiren, deputy director of the SBSM, was quoted as saying in the China Daily.

Uncertified maps are firewalled in China.

“This is just another move by China to assert its claim over Arunachal Pradesh,’’ said Professor Mohan Malik at the Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Honolulu.

This latest move continues Beijing’s pattern of asserting in official Xinhua maps and the electronic media that Arunachal is wholly Chinese. Arunachal officials had recently protested Apple’s latest iPhone4 maps that show the state inside China. The Chinese media said Google had not yet applied for a mapping license in China. The global version of Google maps shows Arunachal Pradesh as disputed territory.

“Map World will provide comprehensive geological data,” Xu Deming, SBSM director, was quoted as saying at the launch. The blue homepage of Map World, accessible at tianditu.cn or chinaonmap.cn, opens with an image of continents of clouds floating over the Great Wall.

Xu said the service would become a “famous and reliable Chinese brand” and would let users “fly over mountains and plains around the world and search restaurants and traffic information across the country, free”.

The Chinese media said the mapping service was in the making for the last two years, using satellite images from 2006 onwards. The China Daily quoted an official as saying that the service will update geological data twice a year, compared to  Google  Earth satellite updates made nearly every two minutes.

According to rules introduced in May, companies in China must apply for approval to provide online mapping services.

About 31 companies — including Nokia, Baidu and Alibaba — have received  licenses. The rules require companies to maintain servers on the Chinese mainland to store map data.

Source : Hindustan Times

10 Celebrity Facebook 'Boycotters'

Facebook is the world's No. 1 social network, boasting of over 500-mn active users.

The site also has a large number of celebrity users including US President Barrack Obama and tech billionaire Bill Gates.

However, there are also several celebs who have deliberately shunned the social network.

Reasons vary from privacy concerns to lack of interest to not-so tech savvy attitude. An American news website The Daily Beast recently listed 10 celebrity Facebook "boycotters".

Justin Timberlake

The American pop musician and actor Justin Timberlake tops the list of so-called Facebook "boycotters". The actor who plays the role of former Facebook president Sean Parker in the film 'The Social Network' reportedly said, "I'm sort of admittedly ridiculously stupid with computers."

Jesse Eisenberg

The 27-year-old-actor who also plays the role of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the film 'The Social Network' also hates to be on the most popular social networking site.
According to the report, Eisenber reason for not been on Facebook is, "I have to talk about myself all the time, and I’m disgusted with myself, and don’t want to go home and write about the breakfast I tried to eat."
However, the actor confessed that he joined Facebook under a fake name for a brief period of time.

Aaron Sorkin

The screenwriter of the blockbuster film 'The Social Network' too is not on Facebook. Sorkin reasoned, "I don’t have that much to share, and when I do, I’ll call somebody and say I had a good cupcake today."
Sorkin also thinks people use the site mostly to talk about what they’ve eaten.

Drew Barrymore

American actress Drew Barrymore too is not a great fan of Facebook, having snubbed it publicly. The actress reportedly said that she just doesn’t like this compulsive, instantaneous, over-information, lack-of-privacy, weirdo aspect of the world.

George Clooney

George Clooney too is said to be among Facebook 'haters'. Clooney reportedly once remarked that he would rather have a prostate exam on live television by a guy with very cold hands than have a Facebook page.

Kristen Stewart

The Twilight Saga actress Kristen Stewart too hates being on Facebook. The actress feels that the social network lacks adequate privacy controls.

Robert Pattinson

The famous model and producer Robert Pattinson too claims that to have no presence on the social networking site.
In 2009, Pattinson's official spokesperson issued a statement cautioning fans that Rob has neither an official nor personal page on MySpace, Facebook, or any other networking site. His fans should not be fooled by anyone representing themselves as Rob or claiming that they have a sanctioned Robert Pattinson site. These are all false.

Jennifer Aniston

Popular Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston too has gone public saying that Facebook is not for her. The actress once remarked, “Facebook is not for me. I'd be opening myself up too much. I don't want to sound like a complete innocent, I've looked at things, of course. But it's such spewing. If I look at it, I'll be affected. It's like dancing with the devil."

Miley Cyrus

Teenage icon Miley Cyrus of Hannah Montana fame reportedly termed her the Facebook experience as "dangerous" and "kind of lame."
She lamented that when she hangs out with her friends, she often feels that they are so busy taking pictures of what they’re doing and putting them on Facebook that really don't enjoy what they’re doing.

Keira Knightley

British actress Keira Knightley claims to hate Internet. The 25-year-old star reportedly finds it dehumanising to constantly check emails or social sites.

Assam Demands Set Up Of Technical Team For Mega Dams

Guwahati, Oct 22 : Amid protests against the construction of mega dams in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has dashed off a letter to the Prime Minister demanding him to set up a NHPC technical team and a steering committee to examine the safety aspects.

The letter called upon the National Hydro-electric Power Corporation, executing the 2000-mw Lower Subansiri hydro electric project at Gerukamukh on the Assam-Arunachal border, to set up the team consisting seismologists and experts on the subject.

The team would examine the technical parameters for the safety and stability of the project, the letter stated.

Gogoi told reporters he also put forward suggestion to consider setting up a steering group to advise the NHPC on flood and erosion control measures in downstream areas.

On silence of Assam government's over the construction of dam and its adverse effects on the state, Gogoi said, "I will definitely not accept any such project. But if they benefit Assam after remedial measures I will accept them. I will form an expert commission for studying the impact of the projects."

Seeking the PM''s personal intervention, Gogoi said the Central Water Commission should immediately start a comprehensive river basin study in the Northeast region to determine cumulative impact on bio-diversity and the eco-system of the area due to the proposed hydel projects.

"I am not against dams. If the experts say dams are not required on the Brahmaputra to control floods and erosion then I will go with their opinion. If Subansiri damages Assam, then definitely I will not accept...", Gogoi pointed out.

"I have told the NHPC chairman to explain the effects of the project and if it will cause flash floods in Assam. We will not spare anyone...we will definitely look into the adverse effects of the project. We are more concerned than the others", the chief minister asserted.

Greece Hopes For a Marathon Tourism Boost

A record 12,500 runners are set to take part in the Athens Classic Marathon on Oct. 31, which will mark 2,500 years since the Battle of Marathon.

A file photo showing athletes compete in the Marathon for United Europe as they run behind a double face marble statue known as Hermai, in Panathenian stadium of Athens, Greece. Organisers of the Athens Classic Marathon say a record 12,500 runners are set to take part in the Oct. 31, 2010 race, which will mark 2,500 years since the Battle of Marathon.

The promotion and prize money for the $2.1 million event has been limited by Greece's serious financial crisis, organisers said Tuesday. Only about 20 elite runners are expected to compete in the race, whose hilly course virtually rules out the possibility of a world record.

The Greek race traces the run of the messenger Pheidippides in 490 B.C. from the plain of Marathon to Athens, where legend says he collapsed and died after announcing the victory of the Greeks over Persian invaders.

The battle is seen as a turning point in the history of ancient Greece.

The marathon was first run as a competitive race when the Olympics were revived as modern games in 1896 in Athens. The annual race in Athens still ends at the marble Panathenian stadium where those games were held, but it has only been upgraded to a major sporting event in the past decade.

The Acropolis of Athens.

"Millions of people know what the marathon race is, but many of them do not know what the origin of that race is," said Nicolas Kanellopoulos, head of the Greek National Tourism Organization, an event sponsor.

"Not every marathon runner dreams of running the classic course ... That is something we're working to change."

A series of events arranged by organisers and private sponsors will be held in late October to highlight this year's race, including an outdoor concert and a conference by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races.

Vassilis Sevastis, head of Greece's Amateur Athletic Association, said the number of participants -- more than double the previous record in 2008 -- had "reached its physical limit" this year, because of lack of space at the starting point of the race in Marathon and narrow sections of the race route itself.

The ruins of the Temple of Apollo.

"We are trying to have more elite runners every year ... but a finishing time of 2 hours and 10 minutes on the Athens course, would mean 2:06 on a (flatter) course," he said. "And of course luring elite athletes requires a lot of money -- and that's difficult in the current circumstances."

Greece was rescued from the brink of bankruptcy this year with international loans from European countries and the International Monetary Fund worth $152 billion over three years.

African runners have made up the bulk of elite runners in Athens in recent years, and again lead the rankings in the 2010 race -- with Kenyans Jonathan Kosgei Kipkorir, Jackson Koech and Jacob Kiplagat Yator for the men, and Ashu Kasim of Ethiopia and Russia's Irina Permitina and Kenyan Mary Ptikani for the women.

Source: AP

Dipu Moni to Visit Tripura to Boost India-Bangla Trade

Agartala, Oct 22 : Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni will visit Tripura November 10-11 to boost cross-border trade and business with India's eight northeastern states.

'During Dipu Moni's two-day visit, strategies to further improve trade between Bangladesh and northeast India and development of trade-related infrastructure along the border would be discussed,' a senior Tripura government official told reporters.

'A team of senior Bangladesh government officials and a business delegation are expected to accompany Dipu Moni. It will be her first visit to northeast India,' he said.

Industrialists and traders in the region would also meet her and discuss further development of trade and investment in both sides.

The two countries last March signed a crucial agreement to allow Indian goods to be transshipped to Tripura and other northeastern states through Bangladesh.

As per the landmark agreement signed during Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi early this year, India will construct a bridge over Feni river in southern Tripura to get access to the Chittagong port for carrying goods and heavy machineries for the land-locked northeastern region.

The Bangladesh government has agreed to allow India to use the Chittagong port, about 75-km from Tripura's southern border town Sabroom.

'The proposed bridge, to be build at a cost of little over Rs.13 crore, would be the trading lifeline for not only for the whole of northeast India, but also southeast Asian countries,' said A.K. Mangotra, additional secretary in the union commerce ministry.

The Bangladesh government has already agreed to allow India to use Mongla and Ashuganj ports to ferry heavy machineries and other goods in between rest of India and northeastern states through Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Commerce Minister Col.(retd.) Faruk Khan has said his country will facilitate setting up of markets along the border with India soon, media reports said.

During her visit, Dipu Moni will inaugurate a commemorative edifice being built in southern Tripura in memory of Indian soldiers and Bangladeshi freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives during 1971 Bangladesh liberation war.

Protest Against Mega Dams Intensifies in Northeast India

Guwahati, Oct 22 : The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK) will jointly hold an interactive meet of the members of the expert group that studied the Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Power Project (LSHEP) and the common people on the mega dam issue at Gerukamukh on October 24. The expert group had submitted its report on June 28 last to the State Government and the NHPC authorities.

The expert group was constituted with the experts from Gauhati University, Dibrugarh University and IIT Guwahati, following a decision at a tripartite meeting held by the State Government with the representatives of the NHPC and the AASU on December 8, 2006.

In its final report, the group suggested that the construction activities of the LSHEP should be brought to an end. It has also forbidden construction of any mega dam in the seismically sensitive foothill areas of the Himalayas.

The Dhemaji district units of the AASU and the TMPK have been authorized to organize the October 24 interactive meet, which is the first of its kind the members of the expert group will take part in, said the AASU in a statement.

AGP: The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today threatened a vigorous agitation on the mega dam issue if Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi fails to announce shortly his withdrawal of support to the mega dam lobby and unwavering support to the recommendations made by the expert group and the Assam Assembly House Committee on the issue.

From the statement made by the Chief Minister at a press conference in New Delhi on the mega dam issue one is bound to believe that he has been heavily bribed by the mega dam lobby and the Congress High Command has also mounted tremendous pressure on him to lend support to the mega dam lobby, said AGP chief spokesman Atul Bora.

Bora also refuted the charge of the Chief Minister that the AGP had supported mega dams while it was in power during the 1980s as a misleading statement. For, the Brahmaputra Board had during that period proposed multipurpose dams on the rivers of the NE region.

But now, the Brahmaputra Board has been sidelined and power companies have been entrusted with the job to set up mega dam hydel power projects to generate around 60,000 MW of power from the NE rivers for the benefit of the other regions of the country.

This is nothing but the product of the colonial approach of the Central Government towards the NE region and in this design Tarun Gogoi is playing the role of a subedar of the Central Government. This is very unfortunate, Bora said.

He reminded the State Government of the deluge created by the Ranganadi in June 2008. The river, after getting its system upset with the mega dam installed on it, inundated around 348 villages in a single night.

Faced with similar situations, people’s movements in many countries like the United

States of America, compelled the authorities to decommission many dams. Not willing to learn any lesson from the Ranganadi disaster, the Governments in the State and at the Centre are now trying to install a mega dam on the Subansiri river, which is a much bigger river.

If this river is dammed, it may get upset and cause havoc for the people both the districts of Dhemaji and Lakhimpur. Apprehensions are also there that the famous river island Majuli may also face the adverse impacts of the Subansiri dam, Bora said.

BJP: The State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also warned agitational programmes to resist mega dams in the NE region.

World Bank Funds $13 mn For Mizoram Roads

Washington, Oct 22 : The World Bank has approved a credit worth $13 million in additional financing for the Mizoram State Roads Project to continue revitalizing and modernising the state's highway system.

The project will help improve the management and carrying capacity of the core state road network in order to lower transportation bottlenecks and costs, and stimulate economic activity in the northeast Indian state, the Bank said announcing the loan Wednesday.

The project will help widen and improve 180 km of state highways, and rehabilitate and maintain another 300 km. It will also finance improvements in equipment and training for the state Public Works Department.

The project has already, over the last eight years, helped reduce travel time by over 40 percent on 472 km of completed roads in the state, the Bank said.

'Improvements in basic infrastructure including highways are critical to stimulate economic development,' said Roberto Zagha, World Bank Country Director for India.

'With growth there has been an increase in demand for better infrastructure. Continued investments in improving Mizoram's road infrastructure will support the region's growth and service delivery goals.'

The Mizoram State Roads Project was initially approved in 2002 and has demonstrated transformative results. The road improvements under the project have reduced the cost of passenger travel between different towns.

For example, new roads built under the Bank-financed Project have reduced the distance between the state capital Aizawl and the second largest town, Lunglei, by about 70 km.

Not only has this brought down travel time by about three hours, but taxi fares between the two towns have fallen from Rs.300 (US$6.72) to Rs.270 (US$6.05) despite significant increase in fuel costs.

These costs are expected to further decrease once all the sections of the road are complete, the Bank said.

'The project has also demonstrated many economic benefits to local residents through increased land values, agricultural incomes, growth in the local handicraft market, and new businesses opening up along roads,' said Ashok Kumar, World Bank project team leader.

The credits from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessionary arm, have 35 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period; they carry a service charge of 0.75 percent.

source : IANS