ONGC Faces 1000 Cr Claim in a PIL by Naga Villagers

A leaking drilling point of an oil pipe of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is pictured in Changpang village, some 120 kms away from Wokha district of India's north eastern state of Nagaland on September 9, 2011. Large amount of crude oil leaking from an improperly capped oil well has affected the surrounding environment,as well as villagers' lives. The ONGC shut down its drilling of the crude oil due to social unrest in 1994. An estimated geological reserve of 110 million barrels of oil with a recoverable reserve of approximately 1,600 barrels per day is reportedly available in the Changpang village oil fields.

Guwahati, Sep 13 : Public sector oil giant ONGC’s decision to stopped extraction of oil about 16 years back under threat from rebels, has turned out to be costly for villagers of Champang and Tisso in Wokha district of Nagaland. This in effect is the contention in a PIL filed at the Gauhati High Court against the company.

The oil that has been spilling from those capped rigs for years have taken a heavy toll on the quality of land on these villages causing damage to the agrarian economy.  Taking serious note of the grave situation, Dice Foundation, a Kohima-based NGO, has filed a PIL at Gauhati high court. "We have sought compensation of Rs 1,000 crore. We hope justice is done," said Mmhonlumo Kikon, heading the NGO.

Asking for Rs. 1, 000 Crore compensation for villagers, criminal proceedings against ONGC, government officials, the PIL primarily argued that ONGC authorities and the Nagaland state government was responsible for the wide-ranging damage the oil company has inflicted on the economic lives of villagers in and around the site.

In the PIL representing Champang village and Tssori village – Nagaland’s only two areas rich in crude petroleum – the petitioners have sought the consolidated compensation to the villagers for the damage caused due to about 16 years of unabated oil spillage in the two areas.

The petitioner  has  also sought payment for the loss of oil from the oil spill and  a directive to  the ONGC and the state government of Nagaland to clean up the waste.

The PIL names ONGC, the Basin Manager of ONGC, Cinnamara in Jorhat, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, the State of Nagaland, the Nagaland Geology and Mining Department, Nagaland Forest Department, the Nagaland State Pollution Control Board and the Union of India represented by the Ministry of Petroleum and another, the Natural Gas and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

The oil spill began after the ONGC halted extraction operation in May 1994 following opposition to oil production by Naga organizations. The ONGC had struck oil in the area in 1981 and started extraction of crude oil from 11 wells. But local bodies and militants opposed the ONGC operation on the ground that consent of local bodies was not taken for the purpose though the ONGC had signed an agreement with Nagaland government.

The petitioners accused the respondents for failing to take action and prevent and protect the environment and ecological system in the two villages. The petitioners have appealed to the court to protect the legal and fundamental rights of the people of Champang and Tssori by declaring the actions/inaction of the respondents as illegal and unconstitutional.

The petitioners appealed to the court for about Rs. 1, 000 crore as consolidated compensation to the villagers for damage to their health, economy, agricultural land and activities due to the oil spill. Citing media reports the PIL informs the court that though the ONGC has paid a royalty of Rs 33.83 crore to the Nagaland government, only Rs 67 lakh ‘reached the villages.’

RTI Throws Light on Mizoram Board Errors

Aizawl, Sep 13 : As per a recent Supreme Court verdict, the Mizoram Board of School Education (MBSE) has finally disclosed answer sheets of the last Mizoram technical entrance examinations and as suspected, there were errors that could have changed the merit list.

According to the state s apex students body, Mizo Zirlai Pawl had sought copies of answer sheets under the RTI Act on behalf of 20 students who complained about their marks.

Four of these students had their marks wrongly reduced.

These four students, who were supposed to get zero marks for some questions they did give answers to, got negative mark of .25 for each question.

A student in biology group, who ranked 103rd in the merit list, would have ranked 100th had his marks not been wrongly reduced by .75 points, an MZP press release said today.

Another student in engineer group could have scored 155.25 instead of 154, if not for the MBSE’s alleged wrong evaluation.

The revelation came after the MBSE agreed to conduct a joint inspection with the MZP, as instructed earlier by the Mizoram chief information commission.

The MBSE had stonewalled the students requests until the Supreme Court ruled that answer sheets of any examination conducted by any agency in the country should be disclosed under the Right to Information Act.

The MBSE finally agreed to conduct a joint inspection on August 17, the MZP handout said. Moreover, it had also been found that the MBSE committed errors in eleven questions in chemistry group A and two questions in physics A .

The MBSE either gave totally wrong answers, two correct answers in four options or did not give correct option to these questions, according to information obtained by the MZP. Due to these mistakes, a student could have lost 13 marks, the release said.

The disclosure has clearly revealed that the students have been deprived of their rights and suffered from mental torture, alleged the MZP. The presence of mistakes was clearly the reason behind the MBSE’s attempt to hide the truths on the pretext of upholding the board’s honour, it said.

As the damage has been already done, there is no question of re-conducting the entrance examinations or re-evaluating the marks, but efforts should be made to prevent reoccurrence of such mistakes in future exams, the MZP said, adding, The government should in future maintain transparency and should never defy the RTI Act again.

In view of frequent mistakes in the conduct of state technical entrance exams, the MZP urged the authority to hand over the task of conducting the exams for engineering students to All India Entrance Exam (AIEEE) for which Mizoram is one of the centres.

And the government should take steps to establish All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) centre in Mizoram to conduct entrance test for biology students.

Mistakes in the technical entrance exams last year had prompted the state school education minister to tender his resignation which, however, was not accepted by the chief minister.

Mizoram Judicial Officials Trained On Wildlife Conservation

Aizawl, Sep 13 : The judiciary is expected to bring justice to not only to human beings, but also to the wildlife.

A two-day orientation programme concluded here today, organised jointly by TRAFFIC India and WWF India, in partnership with The Gauhati High Court, for judicial officers of Mizoram, primarily aimed to sensitize the judiciary about issues related to wildlife conservation.

Mizoram principal secretary, environment and forests and PCCF Dr Garbyal, in his inaugural speech, said that while the Supreme Court and High Courts are very proactive on conservation issues, the judiciary of north east needs to be enlightened on the various environmental aspects.

State like Mizoram having such rich biodiversity demands greater association of its people and specially judiciary towards environmental protection and conservation, he said and urged the judicial officer to play a catalytic role in wildlife conservation.

Dr Garbyal thanked TRAFFIC India and WWF for having organised such an important programme. Expressing his concern about building awareness on environment and wildlife related laws among the judiciary members in Mizoram, the PCCF said, Implementation of wildlife laws will depend on the perception of the judicial officers and judges.

When environment and wildlife related cases come to court, the understanding of the judges towards such issues is necessary for undertaking the right decisions. Therefore, without proper orientation and training towards these laws, the Judiciary will not be able to do justice to our environment.

Mizoram, being sandwiched between Myanmar and Bangladesh, provides a lucrative bed for illegal wildlife traders to smuggle their goods.

This makes Mizoram vulnerable to illicit wildlife trade. This is also a major route for pangolin scales smuggling, live birds, Red Sanders and medicinal plants, officials said.

Director, Centre for Environmental Law, WWF India Moulika Arabhi providing the background of the programme, stated, We want to work in co-ordination with the judiciary to protect the rich biodiversity of Mizoram.

TRAFFIC India s coordinator (research & training) Khalid Pasha also voiced concern over the emergence of organised trans-national wildlife crime and stressed the need for co-operation, collaboration and awareness to meet this challenge.

This is the fifth in a series of TRAFFIC India and the Centre for Environmental Law-WWF India training programmes to be conducted for the judiciary across north eastern states.

It was attended by 30 judges and judicial officers of Mizoram Bench of Gauhati High Court.

Burma Builds Dam, Mizos To Suffer?

Burma: Government challenges the nation on continuation of huge dam on Irrawaddy

By Zin Linn

Myitsone Dam Project in Manipur-Mizoram-Kachin Rainforest Area

Burma’s Electric Power Minister Zaw Min said on Saturday in a meeting with media, the government will continue construction of the Myitsone Dam on the Irrawaddy River in the face of grave criticism and ecological and societal risks, the Eleven News Journal highlighted.

Zaw Min also challenged the people that the government will not pull back the project due to any objection, the journal and other media reported.

At a press conference in Naypyidaw on Saturday, Zaw Min said the government is building the dam in order to generate enough electricity for the national interest. It is Burma’s domestic issue and the government intends to complete its construction neglecting whoever objects, he said.

“Within eight years, we have to complete this hydropower project. There is one question of the environmental groups whether the project may be stopped, and the answer is clearly no,”said Zaw Min.

According to Zaw Min, the previous junta hired Biodiversity And Nature Conservation Association (BANCA), a third party for the impact assessment paying US $1.25 million for this survey. As it has done well with the impact assessment, the project will not be stopped before implementation. In addition, Zaw Min said that after carrying out the construction the country will receive 10 percent of the electricity it generates.

Dam construction at Myitsone began December 21, 2009, led by China’s state owned China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) in cooperation with Burma’s Asia World Company (AWC) and the Burmese junta’s No. 1 Ministry of Electric Power. Remarkably, AWC owner is former drug lord Lo Hsing Han.

The dam site is to be found within the Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rainforest area, which is known as one of the world’s top biodiversity hot spots and is a global conservation priority. Environmental activists and researchers say the project will force Kachin villagers to abandon their homes and could face inundation of an area, the size of Singapore. All the damages caused by the Burmese government’s eagerness to satisfy China as it needs more power for its growing industrial zones.

As a result, the KIO warned CPI employees not to enter its area in the dam construction sites north of the Mali-N’mai Rivers. The reason was that KIO has stopped cooperating with the Burmese government when the government discontinued the 1994 truce on September 1, 2010.

Burma’s Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi released a letter on 11 August calling on promoters of the Myitsone dam project to reassess the plan, pointing out concerns that dams on the Irrawaddy River damage the environment, decrease rice production, dislodge ethnic peoples. Besides, it would hurt livelihoods of local communities and there is a risk of possible destructive earthquakes.

“We believe that, taking into account the interests of both countries, both governments would hope to avoid consequences which might jeopardize lives and homes,” Suu Kyi emphasized. “To safeguard the Irrawaddy is to save from harm our economy and our environment, as well as to protect our cultural heritage,” she added.

In reaction to the minister Zaw Min’s remarks, Aung San Suu Kyi on 12 September repeats her appeal to Burma and China to re-examine the plan, calling the Irrawaddy “the most significant geographical feature of our country.”

Several complaint letters concerning construction of the Myitsone dam have been sent to the Burmese and Chinese governments by local people, the Kachin National Consultative Assembly (KNCA) and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). However, no action has been taken to tackle the worries expressed by the Kachin community.

KIO have waged revolutionary warfare for self-determination, including having more power over the natural resources in their state. Since 9 June, skirmishing spread out between the KIA and the government’s troops. The warfare was interrelated to the outsized developmental projects being built by China.

The Chairman of the KIO, Lanyaw Zawng Hra sent an official letter to Hu Jintao, the President of the People’s Republic of China on May 16 urging China to stop the controversial Myitsone dam construction on Irrawaddy River in Kachin State. In the open letter the KIO warned Myitsone and six other hydroelectric power plant projects could lead to civil war between the KIA and the Burmese military because Burmese troops will be deployed to the KIO control areas to provide security for the dam construction.

Although Rangoon, Mandalay and other big cities suffers power shortages, Burmese government is still cheerful to export energy to neighboring China and Thailand. Zaw Min said that country is currently using 1,500 megawatts of electricity. If the dam produced 6,000 megawatts, the country needn’t use all power and surplus energy will be sold out to neighbors. The minister has no idea of supplying enough electricity to domestic industries competing in the ASEAN market.

Foreign Direct Investments, mainly in oil, natural gas and hydro power dams, are designed providing finances for the function of the strong military power to oppress the citizens rather than doing anything to get better social standard of the people.

As a result, number of local social groups, as well as exile watchdog groups, are now campaigning to prevent the Myitsone hydropower dam venture. On the contrary to government daydream, the dam projects are generating widespread political criticism countrywide for the significant national vigilance.

Source: asiancorrespondent.com

And The New Miss Universe 2011 is...!

The Miss Universe 2011 beauty pageant drew to a close in Sao Paolo last night with the crowning of a new winner -- Miss Angola.

The 60th edition of one of the most prestigious beauty pageants in the world saw a record 89 beauties from as many countries across the world compete for the crown.

The grand finale took place at Credicard Hall in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The judges panel comprised a number of recognised faces including Isabeli Fontana, Vivica A. Fox and Connie Chung.

The top 15 contestants participated in swimsuit, evening gown and interview segments, post which the ten finalists were chosen. And the title went to Miss Angola Leila Lopes.

Lopes, 25, is a business management student currently studying in Great Britain and is the first-ever representative of her country to bag the Miss Universe crown.

Olesya Stefanko (Miss Ukraine) and Priscila Machado (Miss Brazil) bagged the first and second runner-up positions respectively.
Unfortunately for India, our Vasuki Sunkavalli failed to make the cut when it came to the top 10 selection.

Image: Miss Angola Leila Lopes is crowned by Miss Universe 2010 Ximena Navarrete of Mexico, after being named Miss Universe 2011 during the Miss Universe pageant in Sao Paulo September 12, 2011

Photograph: Paulo Whitaker/Reuters

Economic Blockade May Lead To 'Civil War' in Manipur: International Manipuri Mothers' Association

Imphal, Sep 13 : A major women's association in Manipur today appealed to the organizers of economic blockades on two national highways in the state to lift it immediately as it could lead to a 'civil war'.

The blockades on Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati (NH39) and Imphal-Jiribam-Silchar (NH53) should be immediately lifted as it might lead to a civil war and division among different communities in the state, chief of International Manipuri Mothers' Association ( IMMA) R K Khumanleima told reporters here.

It appeared that attempts were being made to divide communities in the state, she said, adding that fulfillment of the demands might not be in the hands of the state government and the Centre should be approached.

The state has been witnessing an indefinite economic blockade on the two national highways since August 1 after Sadar Hills District Demand Committee (SHDDC) has launched the blockade to demand conversion of Kuki-majority Sadar Hills area in Naga-majority Senapati district into a full-fledged district.

Opposing SHDDC's demand, the United Naga Council launched economic blockades on the both highways from mid-August.

Meghen May Be Shifted To Tihar Jail

Guwahati, Sep 13 : If the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has its way, United National Liberation Front (UNLF) chairman Rajkhumar Meghen may soon be shifted to Tihar Jail where high profile politicians such as Amar Singh, A Raja and Kanimozhi are lodged at present.

Stressing the need for "immediate shifting" of Meghen to the jail in New Delhi "for security reasons", NIA has told the Union home ministry that the UNLF leader's stay in Guwahati central jail might allow him to keep his contacts alive with other Manipur-based militants. The NIA, in its plea, also said Meghen's stay in Guwahati would also help his aides to influence the witnesses.

On Monday, the special NIA court took up the matter after the Guwahati central jail moved the Centre's instruction. The court will hear the plea on Tuesday after it adjourned the hearing on Monday.

"The government pressed jail authorities to uphold the NIA prayer of shifting Meghen to Tihar on security grounds. The NIA has pleaded that Meghen's presence here may influence the witnesses. The prayer also said that it's easy for him to contact Manipur-based outfits by staying in Assam," said the militant leader's counsel, Asim Talukdar.

The counsel said he would raise his arguments against the plea in court on Tuesday. "If Meghen can contact militants and influence the witnesses by staying in the city's jail, then it is a total failure of the security system. Moreover, the witnesses are said to be protected by the authorities earlier," Talukdar added.

The sixty-five-year-old militant leader was 'captured' in Dhaka on September 29 last year by Bangladesh intelligence agencies though he had claimed that "he was kidnapped". Meghen was then kept in 'secret detention' for two-months and finally shown as 'arrested' by a special team of NIA at Motihari in Bihar on November 30 .

The UNLF had earlier claimed that its chairman was arrested by a combined team of Indian intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and its Bangladeshi counterparts, from Dhaka and then handed over to India.

A member of the Manipur royal family, Meghen has been fighting for nearly 35 years since he left his home in Imphal to lead an armed fight for a sovereign Manipur.

UNLF is one of the most oldest and dreaded Meitei insurgent outfits. Formed in 1964 to fight for Manipur's liberation from India, the group is estimated to have 5,000 armed fighters. It is the only group that has managed to retain territory in some areas of Manipur's borders with Myanmar, despite repeated military offensives by the Indian army.

Youth Suicide On Rise in Mizoram

Aizawl, Sep 12 : Suicide has emerged as the biggest killer in Mizoram with 45 people, most of them youths, having committed suicide since January till date.

In a statement today, ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day, Aizawl-based suicide prevention organization NeLICs (New Life Charity Society) said suicide claimed more lives than malaria, AIDS and drug overdose had done in Mizoram.

The organization had also recorded that suicide among teenage girls increased alarmingly this year.

The statement added majority of those who committed suicide were between the age of 20 to 30.

The increase in the incidences of suicide in Mizoram, especially in Aizawl district and the capital Aizawl city was described by the law enforcement officials, social workers and psychiatrists as disturbing and alarming .

Police sources said an average of more than two cases of suicide occurred every week in Aizawl district, having a population of barely four lakh (2011 census).

A majority of those who commit suicide are from Aizawl city, having a population of around 2.5 lakh only, said a police official.

During the last three-and-a-half-year, NeLICs had interviewed 1,400 people with suicidal tendency, from which it found that in 31 cases mental depression was the major cause.

Love affairs and sex problems was the second biggest reason among the youths, with 23 per cent of the interviewed subscribing to the view.

Failed marriage (17%), drugs and family problem (16%) and joblessness (13%) were the other problems contributing to the tendency.

Fifty-five percent of the interviewed were aged between 10-30, while 35 per cent were aged between 31-50 and 10 per cent of them aged between 51-70, NeLICs statement said.