Manipur CM Seeks Clarification On Supra Naga State

Imphal, Nov 16 : Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh has sought clarification from the Centre on media reports that the government is considering granting a 'supra state body' status to Nagas settled across the Northeast to enable them to preserve their culture, identity and customary laws under one body.

Official sources said that the chief minister wrote letters to the Prime Minister and the Union home minister after reports were published in a section of the local media that the Centre was considering keeping all Nagas in Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam under a 'supra state body' before Christmas.

According to the media reports, the Centre was weighing the option after having talks with the NSCN-IM which has been holding peace talks with the Centre for more than a decade.

Singh, according to the sources, clearly laid down the state government's position on the issue that the state government should be consulted before taking any final decision and asserted that the territorial integrity of Manipur would not be compromised at all costs.

The letter demanded assurance from the Centre that territorial integrity of the state be kept intact while negotiating with the NSCN-IM which has been demanding a greater Nagaland by interrelating Naga-settled areas of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh with the present Nagaland state.

Senior Manipur Opposition leader of the Manipur People's Party O Joy said any attempt to break up Manipur would bring very bad consequences.

Eighteen people had been killed in Manipur during mass uprising when a BJP-led government at the Centre, holding peace talks with the NSCN-IM, had stated that a ceasefire agreement with the NSCN-IM would be extended 'without territorial limit' in June, 2001. The statement was later retracted.

'Climate Change May Cause Extinction Of Rare Northeast Flora, Fauna'

By Nikhil Agarwal

Imphal, Nov 16 : A number of rare and endemic species of flora and fauna found in the Northeast may soon be extinct due to climate change unless conservation efforts are accelerated, warns a new report.

"Species with limited climatic ranges or restricted habitat requirements or small populations are typically the most vulnerable to extinction, such as Pygmy Hog found in grassland ecosystems of Manas National Park in Assam and biota restricted to islands or wetland areas," says a study by Assam's Chief Conservator of Forests SP Singh.

The threats to biodiversity arising from climate change are likely to be very acute in this region on account of ecological fragility, economic marginality, and richness of threatened and endemic species with restricted distributions, says the study.

The severity of the impact is also likely to be increased due to habitat fragmentations and heavy biotic pressure on natural resources.

The study submitted at a climate change workshop organised by the Manipur Biodiversity Board here will be taken into account by the Planning Commission while preparing the 12th Five Year Plan.

In the Regional and Sectoral Analysis for 2030 of the Indian Network of Climate Change Assessment (INCCA) assessment, the Ministry of Environment and Forest has claimed that the temperature of the north-east region is set to increase by 1.8 degree ?" 2.1 degrees during the next two decades.

In addition, the mean annual rainfall is also likely to increase by 1-6 mm per day while the number of rainy days in a year may decrease by few days.

"Biodiversity is intrinsically linked to weather pattern. Consequently with large scale change in weather, there are impacts on the habitats of species within ecosystem," points out Singh.

According to biodiversity records, north-east supports nearly 50 per cent of the total flowering plants recorded in India, out of which 31.58 per cent is endemic. This region is also a part of Vavilovian centre of biodiversity and rich in wild relatives of crop plants.

As a result of the ongoing pattern of climate change, wetlands, grasslands and tropical rain forests are highly vulnerable to face shrinkage of habitat, loss of endemic species and proliferation of invasive species, the report says.

The vulnerability of ecologically fragile species like lichens, orchids, insectivorous plants which occupy highly specific and narrow niches is very high. Similarly the riparian forests are also highly vulnerable to climate change due to over-exploitation caused by the habitation of human population.

"Changes in stream flow, floods, droughts, water temperature, and water quality due to climate change will make fresh water ecosystem highly vulnerable to loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services," the study predicts.

Singh suggests that that if rapid and irreversible change in biodiversity is to be avoided, conservation strategies need to focus more on supporting the species' natural capacity to adapt to change.

India Dirtiest And Filthiest: Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi, Nov 16 : Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today described India as the "dirtiest and filthiest" country in the world where people with mobile phones go out to answer the "call of nature".

The comment was the latest addition to the minister's repertoire of controversial statements on a gamut of subjects ranging from education and research to sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and sanitation.

Ramesh, who last month said open defecation was a "blot" and a "shame", returned to the topic as he highlighted what he called a "paradox".

"In one area in which India can claim success in the social sector is education. We can't say the same thing in health, we can't say the same thing in nutrition, we certainly can't say the same thing in sanitation because we do remain the dirtiest and filthiest country," he said.

He said around 65 per cent of rural houses had been provided with toilets but didn't use them. "Today, if you go to many parts of India, you have women with a mobile phone going out to answer the call of nature. I mean it is paradoxical," the minister, who also holds charge of sanitation, said at an event here.

"You have a mobile phone and you don't have a toilet. When you have a toilet, you don't use the toilet... (but) use it as a godown."

Last month he had said it was a "blot" on India and a "shame" on everyone that the country had the highest rate of open defecation in the world.

According to a WHO survey, Indians account for 58 per cent of the world's population practising open defecation. China is a distant second, accounting for about 7 per cent.

The minister, who has sought an increased allocation to address the problem of open defecation, said the biggest challenge was how to educate people about sanitation and cleanliness.

The Centre and states spend about Rs 2,400 crore a year on sanitation. While the Centre spends Rs 2,000 crore, the states contribute around Rs 400 crore.

The ministry has decided to set up community toilets, which villages will maintain.

As environment minister, Ramesh had said use of SUVs in a country like India was a crime. He said diesel was subsided primarily for farmers. Some of the costlier SUVs run on the poor man's fuel.

At a convocation programme, Ramesh had taken off his robe, saying the gowns were a sign of "colonial slavery". Earlier this year, he had said there was "hardly any worthwhile research" in the IITs and that teachers in the tech schools were not "world-class".

Facebook Attacked By porn, Inquiry On

Are pornographic images invading your Facebook news feed?

We have yet to see it, but ZDNET recently reported that “gory, violent pictures” and “hardcore pornography” are spreading across the social network.

Facebook says it is getting to the bottom of the problem, but hasn’t yet revealed a solution or how the fiasco started.

“Protecting the people who use Facebook from spam and malicious content is a top priority for us and we are always working to improve our systems to isolate and remove material that violates our terms,” Facebook spokesperson Andrew Noyes said.

“We have recently experienced an increase in reports and we are investigating and addressing the issue.” It is unclear who is behind the attack.

As The Washington Post points out, the flood could be a trick played by the now infamous hacker group Anonymous, in celebration of Guy Fawkes Day, which occurred on November 5th, but the group typically stakes its claim on major attacks.

The images, which are apparently spreading like a wild fire, could also be the result of unsuspecting users having been tricked into clicking malicious links. Updated with statement from Facebook.

Facebook’s official statement on the matter is as follows:

“Recently, we experienced a coordinated spam attack that exploited a browser vulnerability. Our efforts have drastically limited the damage caused by this attack, and we are now in the process of investigating to identify those responsible.

During this spam attack users were tricked into pasting and executing malicious JavaScript in their browser URL bar causing them to unknowingly share this offensive content.

Our engineers have been working diligently on this self-XSS vulnerability in the browser. We’ve built enforcement mechanisms to quickly shut down the malicious Pages and accounts that attempt to exploit it.

We have also been putting those affected through educational checkpoints so they know how to protect themselves. We’ve put in place backend measures to reduce the rate of these attacks and will continue to iterate on our defenses to find new ways to protect people.”

Read [ZDNET] Read [The Washington Post]

Mizoram Increases Wine Price

Aizawl, Nov 16 : Facing agitation by grape growers, Mizoram government today increased the price of a 750 ml bottle of the popular 'Zawlaidi' wine from Rs 110.52 to Rs 130.

The wine is made from grapes in the north eastern part of the state. An official statement said the increase in price of Zawlaidi was fixed at a meeting between the state Excise and Narcotics Minister J.H. Rothuama and Mizoram Grape Growers Society.

A bottle of Zawlaidi in Aizawl would now cost Rs 193, inclusive of VAT and excise duty, the statement said. Earlier, members of Grape Growers Society had threatened to launch an agitation as the price of Rs 110.52 fixed by the government for the wine would not leave them profits to repay bank loans availed by them to set up two wineries at Champhai and Hnahlan.

Did you know: The Cleanest Village in Asia, is in Meghalaya

By Bikash Jyoti Borah

When I first heard of Mawlynnong’s claim of being “The Cleanest Village in Asia”, I knew I had to plan a trip to see it. The village is at a distance of around 90 km from Shillong, and the road leading up to it has some of the most panoramic and breathtaking views in the country.

Till over a decade ago Mawlynnong was practically unknown to tourists until Discover India magazine accorded it the Cleanest Village status in 2005.

Nestled in the pristine East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya the residents of this picturesque village along the Indo-Bangla border have learnt to live at harmony with Mother Nature and might very well become an example that urban folk should emulate.

Till over a decade ago this village was practically unknown to tourists until Discover India magazine accorded it the Cleanest Village status in 2005. As one walks around the narrow zig-zagging paths of the village one is astounded by the clean well maintained black tarmac and the spotless front-yards and sidewalks of the bamboo stilt houses. There are stylish bamboo dustbins everywhere and separate compost pits in various pockets of the village for organic and inorganic wastes. Polythene use is completely banned and so is smoking.

A Bamboo Stilt House in Mawlynnong

There are public toilets which the villagers themselves maintain and everyone takes part in the ritual weeding, sweeping and cleaning of the gardens and roads which happens every evening. Even the children are taught from an early age to keep their surroundings clean and they don’t hesitate to pick up the odd piece of garbage on the road and put it in the bin. The village is well supplied with an efficient localized water supply and sanitation system.

Everyone shoulders the responsibility of keeping the village clean

Just outside the village on the passing river is situated the amazing living roots bridge which speaks out for the ingenuity of the people. It is over 200 years old and was constructed by tying the roots of two banyan trees and maneuvering them to get entangled in such a way as to create a passage over the stream. The Sky-view tower on the eastern side of the village is a tall structure built on the support of a tree with bamboos and gives a wonderful view of the Bangladesh plains.

For the discerning traveler there are many unmapped trails that one can explore around the village full of little waterfalls and sacred forests abounding in flora and fauna. The guest houses in the village are basic tree houses built on top of stilts that almost jut out into the adjacent forest. Staying in them is an experience in itself.

Village women cleaning the area

There is a lot urban society could learn from Mawlynnong and its environmentally conscious citizens. The self sustaining models though rudimentary have very strong foundations and have more to do with behavior and customs that the peoples have adhered to and upheld. With the increasing influx of tourists the challenge for Mawlynnong is to maintain its culture and also educate outsiders with their ways. Do you think modern cities in India can replicate what the citizens of Mawlynnong have done? With better technology and infrastructural support Indian cities can certainly take Mawlynnong’s concepts forward and create self sustaining environment systems with minimal damage to the eco-systems. All we need are more responsible and conscientious citizens who will take up the cause of the environment.

Mawlynnong can be reached by road and it is roughly a three hour drive from Meghalaya’s capital, Shillong. The nearest airport is Guwahati, in Assam, which is around three hours from Shillong and is well connected with major metros.

Bikash Jyoti Borah is an explorer, traveler & photographer. You can reach him at bikashjb [at] gmail.com. This article was originally published at EkTitli.org.

SBI Awarded Northeast's Most Preferred Bank

Guwahati, Nov 16 : The State Bank of India (SBI) was adjudged as the most preferred bank of North East at the second Northeast Consumer Awards, presented here on Saturday.

Constituted by regional Hindi daily Dainik Purvoday, the awards were based on a survey covering 3,000 households by research agency MaRs across 5 cities of the region.

The category list this year had increased from last year’s 30 to 37 to include airlines, watches, apparels, shoes and even digital cameras.

Besides SBI winning the ‘most preferred bank’ award, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) won the most preferred life insurance company award.

While Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was adjudged the best company of the year award.

The other winners of the Northeast Consumer Awards were Maruti Suzuki, Hero Honda, Tata Motors, Airtel etc.

The awards were awarded by JB Patnaik, Governor of Assam and Bhubaneshar Kalita, Rajya Sabha MP.

Many Mizo Orphanage Kids Have Parents: Study

Aizawl, Nov 15 : A high percentage of inmates, lodged in orphanages and children homes in Mizoram, actually have both parents revealed a study recently.

Aizawl-based NGO, Human Rights and Law Network, which conducted the study on problems of children in 27 orphanages and children homes found that 47.2 per cent of the inmates were having both the parents.

"While 42.6 per cent of the inmates of such homes had lost either their father or mother, only 10.1 per cent lost both the parents," said social workers who conducted the study.

The social worker added that many parents refused to look after their children dumped them in the orphanages, depriving them of the right to be raised as normal children in families.

She added that the figures show that many children whose fathers and mothers were still alive decided to tuck their children away in orphanages and other homes rather than raising them in their own homes.

The NGO also had conducted a study on child abuse and found that a very high number of children were raped or sexually abused by their near relatives and that many of such cases were hushed up.

The state child welfare committee (CWC) report also revealed that there were 127 reports of sexual abuse of children between September 2005 to October 2009, out of which 107 children had been sexually abused by adults. According to the findings, around 80-90 per cent of the victims were abused by their relatives.

Child labour was also rampant in Mizoram, according to the Child Right Index, 2011, released by an NGO called HAQ: Centre for Child Rights. The CRI revealed that child labour was highest in Mizoram as per population in the country.