Mizoram Tighten Anti-Quake Measures

Aizawl, Sep 23 : Authorities in Mizoram, given the high vulnerability of India’s mountainous northeast to earthquakes, are becoming stricter in enforcing official guidelines on the construction of concrete houses and structures.

The Geological Survey of India had earlier notified that the northeastern region could experience a devastating earthquake as the region, according to seismologists, falls in Zone V, the sixth worst quake-prone belt in the world.

‘One building has been demolished recently and owners of 53 others have been asked to bring down theirs as they violated the Building Regulations Act,’ an official of the Aizawl Development Authority (ADA) told reporters.

‘The design of the every concrete structure and buildings must be quake resistant in Mizoram,’ the official stated. He added that the ADA has so far stayed the construction of 158 buildings in the capital and its outskirts.

The ADA has recently received 3,499 applications for construction of buildings, of which 3,257 had been accepted and the remaining either rejected or withdrawn for non-compliance of the guidelines on quake resistance.

‘Most buildings in Aizawl and various parts of Mizoram have been constructed without certain safety measures and the fact that entire Mizoram falls in the worst quake-prone zone, make the state vulnerable,’ former Mizoram chief engineer R.L. Ruala told IANS.

Officials said that chief ministers and chief secretaries of Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura held separate review meetings in their respective state capitals Monday and Tuesday and decided to improve the existing infrastructure.

The Mizo government also made it mandatory to follow earthquake related guidelines while constructing concrete structure and buildings, specially high-rise.

The AMC has ordered the bulldozing of many concrete structures and large buildings in the capital and its outskirts for not meeting stipulations.

The Tripura government has also undertaken an ambitious seismic retrofitting to protect the century-old heritage buildings and palaces, including erstwhile royal castle ‘Ujjayanta Palace’.

The two-storeyed Ujjayanta Palace, which until recently was the Tripura legislative assembly, was constructed by then Maharaja Radhakishore Manikya Bahadur in 1899-1901. The magnificent building was the command centre of the erstwhile princely rulers.

As the Tripura assembly in July finally got its permanent home on the outskirts of the city, it was decided that the Ujjayanta Palace would be turned into a state museum, according to the agreement signed with the ex-separatist outfit All Tripura Tribal Force (ATTF) in March 1993.

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake had rocked large parts of north, east and northeastern India and neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal last Sunday.

BJP Demands Dismissal of Manipur Ibobi Singh Govt

New Delhi, Sep 23 : With Assembly polls in Manipur due in February, BJP today attacked the Ibobi Singh government accusing it of acting in connivance with black marketers and underground outfits to jack up prices of essential commodities and demanded imposition of President's rule in the state.

The party charged that NH-39, 53 and 150, which connect Manipur with the rest of the country are under economic blockade, leading to scarcity of essential goods and an undue hike in prices of petrol, LPG cylinders and other items.

"For the last 50 days there has been no movement of goods and fuel thereby creating worst kind of scarcity in the state of Manipur. Prices of essential commodities have sky rocketed in black market," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar claimed.

He alleged that the cost of a gas cylinder in Manipur was Rs 1200 while petrol was selling for Rs 200 a litre.

Prices of food grains and other commodities have also gone up considerably. He said people have to queue for 24 hours to get even 5 litres of fuel.

"BJP demands dismissal of Ibobi Singh led government in the state and imposition of President's rule with neutral administration necessary for free and fair elections due in February 2012," Javadekar said.

The opposition also claimed that instead of taking effective action against 35 underground outfits active in the state, the Singh government was actually partnering and sharing the spoils with them.
"Development is the casualty. People are made to suffer.

Violence is on rise. The Ibobi Singh led government is involved neck deep in corruption.... The essential elements of the state are absent. Public order is completely non-existent," Javadekar alleged.

Breast Slapping! Thailand's Crazy New Health Craze

Bust a move: Breast-slapping new health craze in Thailand

In Thailand and Japan they're slapping women's breasts. But don't worry, it's all in the name of massage.

The slapping technique is said to increase bust size. Picture: Justin Lloyd

WANT bigger breasts but shy away from the idea of surgery? Thailand claims to have the answer.

Already famous for its medical tourism services - including cheap breast implants - Thailand is promoting a “body slapping” technique that it claims can boost breast size, according to a video by the Bangkok Post.

It has even licensed one beauty shop in Bangkok to perform the non-surgical treatment, which involves kneading, massaging and hitting of the breasts, as well as buttock-slapping to firm the rear.

The traditional therapy has been practised by shop owner Khemmikka Na Songkhla – better known as Khunying Tobnom - for more than two decades. She claims the slapping shifts fat from one area to another, while kneading works excess fat towards the breasts.

She has approval from the Thai Government to carry out the technique after a study by the Thai Health Ministry reportedly found vigorous massage left volunteers’ breasts noticeably bigger. The Ministry went so far as to sponsor a program that urged women to learn how to slap their own breasts.

Clients can expect to gain about 5cm after the painful treatment, Tobnom said. However some are turned away as their breasts are too small.
The clinic charges $380 for six 10-minute slapping sessions.

Breast-slapping is far from the quirkiest beauty treatment you can find around the world. In Northern Israel snakes are used to massage clients – and of course there’s always the fish pedicure, where fish nibble away the dead skin on your feet.

Slap happy

Mizoram Sets Up Helpline For Non-Mizos Against Torment

Aizawl, Sep 22 : The Mizoram government has asked police to set up a four-digit helpline for non-Mizos, who are being “harassed” in the state allegedly by some Mizo NGOs.

The non-Mizos are subjected to the scrutiny of their inner line permits issued by the liaison offices of the Mizoram government in different cities in the country, for enabling them to visit the state as either tourists or on business.

Chief minister Lalthanhawla disclosed this to a delegation of the minority community leaders from the Barak valley districts in south Assam, which met him at his residence in New Delhi early this week.

Northeast Congress Co-ordination Committee general secretary Sharif-uj-Jaman, Citizens’ Rights Preservation Committee spokesman Hafiz Rashid Choudhury and former principal of Karimganj College Kamaluddin Ahmed were part of the delegation.

The chief minister made it clear to the delegation that from now on only the police would be solely entrusted with the job of checking the inner line permits and not the array of NGOs.

The organisations like Young Mizo Association (YMA) and Mizo Zirlai Pawl (Mizo Students’ Organisation) have been identified as the masterminds behind the campaign against non-Mizos, particularly labourers and workers.

YMA sources alleged that the majority of such workers are actually Bangladeshis, who have settled around Nilambazar and Suprakandi villages close to the border in south Assam’s Karimganj district.

The central intelligence sources in Aizawl said at present there was over 10,000 Bengali Muslims, mostly from Bangladesh masquerading as Indian citizens and living in Mizoram.

Their inner line permits are mostly issued by the Mizoram government liaison office at Sonai Road in Silchar under the East Bengal Frontier Regulation Act, enacted in 1873, to protect the indigenous population. The liaison office sources here today said on an average, 42,000 inner-line passes are issued every year.

A new group, Forum for the Protection of Non-Mizos, organised a rally in Silchar from the DSA stadium to the Mizoram government circuit house on Monday to protest against the alleged harassment of non-Mizos in Mizoram.

Floriculture Lifts Tripura Village Out Of Poverty

Laxmibil (Tripura), Sep 22 :  A poverty-stricken Tripura village has blossomed into an exporter of flowers after the villagers adopted floriculture with the assistance from Horticulture Department and Technology Mission.

Three years ago, Laxmibil village, in west Tripura district was like any other, wallowing in poverty and absence of gainful work till the the Horticulture Department and Technology Mission stepped in and motivated people to start floriculture.

As it stands, the village now not only supplies flowers to the home market, but also exports them abroad.

The story began when an unemployed youth Swapan Paul cultivated flower plants in his field on the suggestion of the Horticulture Department officials.

He was unemployed but now earns Rs 35,000 a month by selling flowers.

Soon other unemployed youth were inspired by Paul took up floriculture as a profession. Now their ranks have swelled to more than 250.

The favourable agro-climatic condition of the village has also helped script the success story.

Villagers are now cultivating different kinds of flowers and also experimenting with exotic varieties like Anthodium and orchids to earn good money.

Govt help

“In the beginning various government organisations came forward with technical assistance. Now the villagers are doing it with their own efforts,” an official of the Horticulture Department said.

Mr Paul said he had started with a financial assistance of Rs 3.5 lakh from the Technology Mission and constructed three high-tech greenhouses.

“I started with cultivation of Anthodium, Gerbera and Carnation flowers and also took up orchid cultivation on a 2.5 bigha land and started getting return within one and a half years. Now I also cultivate Chandramallika, Rose, Gladiolus, Rajanigandha and Lilia,” he said.

His flowers are sold in Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore.

“A Delhi-based company is now marketing a part of our production in return for 10 per cent commission which fetches a good amount,” Mr Paul said.

He took part in the international floral exhibition in Delhi and Gangtok in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Mr Rabi Das, another cultivator of the village said, “There is no person in our village who cannot earn a decent living now.”

Trouble At The Margins in Assam

By Veronica Khangchian

The ‘United Democratic Liberation Army’ and its splinter groups have been indulging in violence in Assam and its adjoining areas over the past two years. But their free run may soon come to an end with security forces launching counter-insurgency operations that have secured significant success. Unless, of course, politics comes into play!

On August 19, security forces killed seven United Democratic Liberation Army militants at Gutguti Pathargenai forest under Ratabari Police Station in the Karimganj District of Assam, bringing this little known group into sharp focus. An Army soldier was also injured during the gunfight, while one UDLA cadre was arrested.

Earlier on May 16, 2011, security forces had arrested UDLA the ‘commander-in-chief’, identified as Nandaram Reang, and his bodyguard, Gajiram Reang, from the forest area of Kundanala in the Katlicherra Block of Hailakandi District. Further, on April 29, 2011, security forces  had arrested an UDLA militant from Channighat in Assam’s Cachar District.

On September 24, 2009, Police in the neighbouring Mizoram State had arrested the UDLA chairman, Dhainaram Reang, from Kolasib District in Mizoram, and handed him over to the Hailakandi District Police. He, however, managed to secure bail and later escaped into the Mizoram forests. The UDLA was led by Shishumoni Reang, brother of Dhainaram Reang, while he was in Police custody.

Formed sometime in 2008 by Dhainaram Reang, the UDLA has an estimated 50 to 60 cadres, drawn from both the Bru and Bengali Muslim community. The outfit primarily operates in Assam’s Southern Districts of Karimganj and Hailakandi — bordering Mizoram, Tripura and Bangladesh.

UDLA was formed when the United Liberation Front of Barak Valley came overground with the formal surrender of 305 of its cadres at the Indian Tea Association Cultural Complex in Guwahati on September 30, 2008. The ULFBV president Panchram Apeto led the surrendering cadres, mostly of them from the Reang tribe of Hailakandi and Karimganj Districts, ending an eight-year-old armed insurrection. Panchram had then claimed that Dhainaram had a hidden nexus with some Muslim militants. Denying this, an UDLA commander, Rajesh Reang, declared, on September 24, 2010, that his group has close links with Naga militants. He claimed that UDLA’s headquarters were in Bangladesh and that the outfit had been collecting money from various tea gardens in the Karimganj and Hailakandi Districts.

Later, on an unspecified date, a section of UDLA split and formed the United Democratic Liberation Front (Barak), led by one Danya Ram Reang, along with Lamboo Reang. As in the case of UDLA, UDLF(B) has also been brought under tremendous pressure by the security forces.

On April 29, 2011, security forces arrested an area commander of UDLF(B), Thaiboi Reang, from Kundanala village in Hailakandi District. Thaiboi Reang was involved in cases of abduction and extortion since the inception of the group. On July 28, 2011, security forces arrested a UDLF(B) militant from Katlicherra in Hailakandi District. On April 28, 2010, two cadres of the UDLF(B) were arrested from Alagapur in Hailakandi District, when they were trying to extort money in the Algapur market.

The UDLA split again when Atabur Rahman, once an accomplice of Dhainaram, formed his own outfit, the United Democratic Liberation Tigers, on December 3, 2009. The rift occurred reportedly because of soured relations between the Bru and the Muslim communities following incidents of UDLA cadres abducting a number of Muslims from Hailakandi District in 2009. Atabur, who vowed to protect the Muslims from Bru militants, was, however, killed on January 11, 2011, in Mizoram, either by rivals or the security forces, along with his cousin and accomplice, Eklasuddin. The UDLT, though, has been described as a group of dacoits and abductors.

Bru militancy started with the formation of the Bru National Liberation Front in 1996, following violent clashes between ethnic Mizos and Bru tribesmen in the Mamit District in Mizoram. The immediate cause of the conflict was the demand for an Autonomous District Council in the Bru-dominated areas of western Mizoram by the Bru National Union, a political organisation of Bru tribesmen that was formed in 1994. The Reang/Bru Democratic Convention Party, another Bru organisation, passed a resolution in this regard, subsequently provoking Mizo organisations like the Mizo Zirlai Pawl and Young Mizo Association to organise violent attacks in October 1997 on Bru settlements. The Mizo groups apprehended the geographical division of Mizoram. Following the ethnic-violence of 1997, some 35,000 Bru refugees fled Mizoram and took shelter in six relief camps at Kanchanpur in North Tripura, while a significant number fled to Assam. Bru militants have, thereafter, changed their demands to include the formation of a separate homeland in Karimganj and Hailakandi Districts of Assam.

The ULFBV, formed in 2002, was specifically created with the objective of creating a separate Bru homeland in the Karimganj and Hailakandi Districts of Assam. However, on April 26, 2011, the UDLA chairman stated that the group was contemplating surrender if the Government was ready to constitute a separate Autonomous Council for the Bru community.

Meanwhile, the repatriation of Bru refugees to Mizoram has emerged as a major concern. Repatriation started in May 2010, for the first time, and a total of 231 displaced Bru families consisting of 1,115 persons, returned to Mizoram. The second phase of repatriation occurred in November 2010, in which another 53 Bru families returned to Mizoram. The third phase began in April 2011 and continued till May, with more than 600 families restored to Mizoram. The fourth phase, which was to begin from June 7, 2011, failed to take off. The stalled repatriation process was reported likely to be resumed from September 15, 2011, but has not yet commenced.

Despite significant losses, UDLA and its splinter groups continue to operate and, over the past two years, UDLA alone has been involved in the killing of at least three civilians in separate incidents.

But the way the security forces have intensified operations and secured significant successes against most of the militant groups operating elsewhere in the State as well, as is evident by the decreasing fatalities, with both UDLA and UDLF-B under sustained fire, it is unlikely that these groups will retain their capacities for disruption and violence for long.

(The writer is a Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management.)

MNF Apologizes to Mizo People, Seeks Forgiveness of God

Aizawl, Sep 21 : Zoramthanga, president of the Mizo National Front (MNF), main opposition party in Mizoram legislative assembly has apologised to the people for 'the mistakes' it had committed during the MNF tenure in Mizoram.

Addressing the Aizawl City Joint Block Workers Meet in Vanapa Hall today, Zoramthanga who is also the former chief minister of the state said the party leaders have asked forgiveness of God and the public for the shortcomings and mistakes committed during the MNF rule.

Referring to the corrective measures to be taken up by the MNF in the event of coming back to power Zoramthanga said 'national core committee' has been constituted to look into the entire affairs. The meeting was also addressed by the new party adviser Mr. Liansuama.

Bru Refugees' Identification Begins

Aizawl, Sep 21 : The identification process of Bru refugees resettled in Mamit district was kicked off on Tuesday. The process is being carried out by three representatives each of the central committee of the Young Mizo Association (YMA) and the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), the apex students' bodies, and two leaders each from four political parties in the state - the Congress, the Mizo National Front, the Zoram Nationalist Party and the BJP.

The identification of the repatriated Brus was undertaken after a meeting of civil society groups and political parties held on September 8 decided to conduct a survey to ensure that only those who were residents of the state would be permanently resettled in Mizoram.

"We will submit a report of our findings to the Mizoram government if we find that any of the Bru refugees who were repatriated do not belong to Mizoram," one MZP leader said, adding that they would demand deportation of those who're found to be unable to confirm that they are bona fide residents of the state.

Between November 2010 and May this year, around 3,341 Brus, including 914 children below the age of 12 years, belonging to 648 families, have been repatriated, while around 200 families returned on their own will.

All the repatriated Bru refugees were resettled in different villages of Mamit district along the Mizoram-Tripura border and each family was given Rs 80,000under the resettlement and rehabilitation package.

Thousands of Brus fled Mizoram during the last part of 1997 following communal tension triggered by the murder of Lalzawmliana, a game watcher working at Dampa Tiger Reserve near Persang village, by Bru militants.

They have been lodged in six relief camps in North Tripura district by the Tripura government since then.

The attempt to repatriate the Bru refugees from November 16, 2009 was not only scuffled by the murder of Zarzokima, another Mizo boy, by Bru militants at Bunghmun village three days before the commencement of the repatriation, but also triggered another exodus.