Northeast Leaders Are Apathetic

Only one MP participates in debate on ST amendment bill

By NISHIT DHOLABHAI

New Delhi, Dec 24 : A bill related to the Northeast was passed by the Rajya Sabha yesterday, with just one MP from the region participating in the debate that was not to be held by “agreement”.

The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2011, which was passed yesterday, amends Part 10 of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order of 1950, giving individual recognition to indigenous communities that were so far grouped. Thus Kabui, Inpui and Rongmei have emerged from Kabui; Kacha Naga, Liangmai and Zeme from Kacha Naga, and Koirao and Thangal from Koirao.

It also confers Scheduled Tribe status on the Mate community and amends Part 18 of the order by substituting the name Galo for Galong. These may seem simple changes but they have a far-reaching impact on the aspirations and the way tribal communities in the Northeast view themselves.

In 2008, the cabinet cleared the amendment to the 1950 order to satisfy the aspirations of the Nyishi community regarding removal of the term Dafla and insertion of Nyishi in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Arunachal Pradesh.

Dafla was perceived by the community as derogatory and thus, it was not a matter as simple as that of a mere spelling change. The Galo tribe’s demand for change of name is said to be for similar reasons, but there was no one to explain that in Parliament.

Just one of the 14 MPs from the eight northeastern states in the Rajya Sabha — Biren Baishya of AGP — participated in a debate on the bill. The performance of the Northeast MPs has left much to be desired, as few of the 39 MPs from the region in both Houses have displayed enthusiasm to bring the region into focus. During the session, there was not a single starred question posed to DoNER.

A starred question gets oral answers in addition to a written reply from the minister concerned, while an unstarred question only gets a written reply. Ironically, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam. There are three other ministers from the region — Vincent Pala (water resources) and Agatha Sangma (rural development) from Meghalaya and Paban Singh Ghatowar (DoNER) from Assam.

On the other hand, those like Pyarimohan Mohapatra (BJD) from Odisha and S.S. Ahluwalia (BJP) from Jharkhand participated to press for fulfilment of demands from their respective states. D. Bandopadhyay from Trinamul Congress and Tariq Anwar (Maharashtra) also addressed the House.

At the end of the debate, the sense of the House was to get a comprehensive bill with regard to communities, which have Scheduled Tribe or Scheduled Caste status in one state but do not enjoy in other states. In this important debate, however, there was little contribution from Northeast MPs.

Last week, the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha and there, too, there was an attempt to “stall” it, alleged Congress MP from Arunachal Pradesh, Takam Sanjoy.

The nonagenarian Congress MP from Manipur, Rishang Keishing, said he had been unwell and could not attend this session.

Mukut Mithi, the Congress MP from Arunachal Pradesh, who is also the convener of the North East MPs Forum, was probably not even on the list of Congress participants. Mithi could not be contacted for comments.

“Big parties like the Congress and the BJP give little space to MPs from the Northeast to participate,” said Assam MP in Rajya Sabha, Biswajit Daimary, of the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF).

But then, neither did tribal affairs minister V. Kishor Chandra Deo nor deputy chairman K. Rahman Khan insist on a discussion that could have unravelled the region’s diversity and identity complex.

At the outset, Khan even said there was an “agreement” that there will be no discussion on the bill, as there were “minor” changes.

Every ministry attracts several questions from MPs in both Houses, but DoNER is an exception. “Only three or four unstarred questions were asked in this entire session and no starred question was asked,” Ghatowar told The Telegraph. The tea tribe leader seemed to have played down the unenthusiastic performances. He should have added that among these three-odd questions to DoNER, two were from outside the Northeast, including one from a Jharkhand MP.

There are answers to this also, though.

Daimary argued that when DoNER was not even a full-fledged ministry what questions could one ask. In fact, DoNER does not have a standing committee to discuss bills affecting the northeastern states.

This does not augur well for the region, said Keishing. “The parties are not as strong as before (in the region) and there is deterioration among nationalistic forces. If anything happens, we will regret it,” he added, sounding a warning against neglecting the area. The Manipur MP and former Manipur chief minister called upon younger people to participate more.

Anti-Dam Protests Choke Arunachal

By Rahul Karmakart

Guwahati, Dec 24 : Economic blockade of the Manipur kind has changed lane to now trouble Arunachal Pradesh, thanks to a marathon anti-dam protest.
Several Assam-based organizations had from December 16 enforced a blockade on NH52 to prevent turbines and construction material from being carried to a major

dam site straddling Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The blockade in Lakhimpur district of northeastern Assam, though dam-specific, spilled over to all vehicles to and from three districts in Arunachal Pradesh.

The dam on river Subansiri at Gerukamukh is for the 2010MW Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Project (LSHEP) under the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC). The project is scheduled to be completed by 2015, but has undergone cost escalation because of frequent protests.

“We extend our moral support to any democratic movement including this one against mega dams, but fact is East Siang, West Siang and Upper Siang districts of our state, dependent on NH52, have been facing acute shortage of fuel, medicine and other essentials since the blockage began,” All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (Aapsu) president Takam Tatung told HT from Itanagar.

Tatung said an Aapsu delegation met the anti-dam protestors on Friday requesting them not to harass the common people of Arunachal Pradesh. “They agreed after we told them that even vehicles carrying pregnant women for delivery have not been spared,” he added.

Because of its mountainous terrain and lack of proper healthcare facilities in the districts, people in Arunachal Pradesh have to use highways in Assam to reach state capital Itanagar.

The meeting between Aapsu and anti-dam protestors followed an appeal by a group of ministers constituted by Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi for calling off the blockade. “Our movement is not against the people of Arunachal Pradesh and so we have ensured their people don’t suffer. But mega dams such as LSHEP are against the greater good of the people and not desirable in a highly seismic zone,” Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti leader Akhil Gogoi said.

The anti-dam protestors also referred to a report by an expert committee comprising scientists from IIT Guwahati and universities in Assam. The report, submitted to the government a year ago, advised against mega dams in a tectonically unstable region.

Arunachal Pradesh has at least 140 hydroelectric projects, big and small, in various stages of construction. New Delhi is banking on these projects totaling more than 35000MW to take care of India’s power problems.

Is The Next Bhaichung Bhutia Just Round The Corner?

By Pulasta Dhar

Sunil Chhetri rightfully won the AIFF Player of the Year with his stellar performances for India in international tournaments, but while he was banging in the goals, there was another player who was stealthily making a mark in Indian football, forcing pundits to term him as the next Bhaichung Bhutia.

Jeje Lalpekhlua may not be a household name at the moment, but if he continues his prolific start, proving to be a lurking danger for every defender, then he might well be the person stepping up to fill the gap left behind by the ex-India captain.

When one mentions that the media is hailing him as the next football prodigy, Jeje laughs it off with candour followed by silence which says a lot about his respect for Bhutia and the amount of pressure that could already be playing on his mind.

It just gets confirmed when he says, “My favourite player in India is Bhaichung Bhutia.”

This will probably be the most common answer if you asked the same question to a million Indian football fans.

Jeje Lalpekhlua in action. Reuters

But Jeje knows he still has a long way to go before he could achieve that stature. “I still need to concentrate on my practice everyday. I need to improve my performance for both my club side and the national side.”

His current overall record is sensational considering he is just 20 years old. He led the Under-19 team to the South Asian games in Sri Lanka and scored a hat-trick in the last group-stage match of the tournament.

But all those achievements are put into the shade by his senior record of scoring four goals in his first three appearances for India.

But the player, who has scored eight goals in 16 appearances for India says that it all started in Mizoram when he was spotted in the region’s most famous championship. “I was 16 when I played in the Wai-Wai tournament in Mizoram and got picked for India Under-19.

“That was also the time when Pune FC spotted me and I signed for them immediately.”

Since then, Jeje has been a regular in the squad, but it took him an impressive run of scoring 14 goals in 16 caps on a loan spell at Indian Arrows to prove his mettle.

Since then, he has been touted as the brightest prospect in Indian football.

Jeje credits most of his success to a family culture of playing sport. “My father played for the club for which I made my debut and my brother also plays football. I have had no problems in convincing them to let me take up the game as a career.”

In a country where education and degrees often act as a hindrance, Jeje and his family set an example to let youngsters excel in their field of interest.

But even though he had the skill and the penchant of playing the Beautiful Game, his coach Benjamin (Ari Academy in Mizoram) says that he was very raw when he first came to him.

“We had to work a lot on his receiving and agility — two factors which are very important for a striker but he was hard-working, determined and very healthy and that gave me confidence that he could go on and make it to the national team.”

His international career looks set to continue as India step up their efforts to make a mark in Asian football and if he keeps banging in the goals, then a bigger club may come calling very soon.

“He is at the right place right now and should not move to Kolkata before he is 23-24 years of age because it is a big city and there is a lot of pressure there,” said Benjamin.

Talking about big cities, Jeje is said to be particularly shy about his surroundings and his coach remembers how he was surprised when he first visited Aizwal.

“He was from a small town and had no knowledge about city life. But he did his best to cope up with it!”

Knowing big places may not be his forte, but Jeje’s excellence took him to one of the most famous football cities — Glasgow.

Along with Sunil Chhetri, he went for a trial at Scottish club Rangers FC and was awestruck with the facilities there. “They have eight pitches for practice! Eight pitches! And we find it hard to get even one ground here to practice.”

Surely Scotland made a great impression on him and they have apparently promised the Indian that they will keep track of his record.

But can Indians really play in Europe? “There is not much difference in the skill and technique, but they play very fast football and they are physically very strong. I still think it will take time for someone to adjust to those rigours.”

He is also of the view that Indian players need better agents to make inroads into international leagues like those in Qatar, China and Japan. “The problem also comes down to whether you have a well connected agent. We don’t have that here and it restricts our opportunities to go abroad,” he said.

How To Set Up Your Facebook Timeline

Facebook Timeline: Tips For Setting Up Your New Profile

By ANICK JESDANUN

NEW YORK -- I've often joked that if something's not on Facebook, it didn't happen. Facebook's new Timeline feature makes that adage even more apparent.

Timeline is Facebook's new way of presenting you to the world. It replaces your traditional profile page – the one with your headshot and a smorgasbord of personal musings, photos and other items to share with friends. Instead of just a snapshot of you today, Timeline is supposed to be a scrapbook of your whole life.

But these highlights are culled from what Facebook sees as important – the stuff you and your friends have chosen to write or post photos about over the years. So it's crucial to spend time curating it, so your life doesn't come across as vain. If you're not careful, you also might reveal skeletons from your past to more recent friends.

Once you're ready for Timeline, you have a week to airbrush your life before it replaces your current profile. That's not a lot of time when you have (cough, cough) years of your life to go through. I suggest focusing on the years since you joined Facebook. You can always add photos from childhood later.

MAKING A SPLASH

Start by choosing a cover photo, the image that will splash across the top. You can choose a sunset, your dog, a hobby, anything that reflects who you are. Keep in mind the dimensions are more like a movie screen than a traditional photo. A close-up portrait of your face won't work well, but one of you lying horizontally will.

Your old profile photo will still be there, but it'll be smaller.

If you haven't done so already, you can add where you've worked, lived and went to school. If you specify years – such as when you started a job – those items will be added to Timeline's stream of life events, even if they took place before Facebook's founding in 2004.

You can also add other life events to the stream, such as when you broke your arm and whom you were with then, or when you spoke your first word or got a tattoo. By adding them to Facebook, you signal that those things really did happen.

MORE ON THE STREAM

The timeline stream is your life on Facebook in reverse chronological order.

At the top are your recent status updates, comments from family and friends, photos you're in and events you've attended. As you scroll down, you'll get highlights from last month, then earlier in the year. Scroll down even further for last year, the year before that and so on. Click one of the "Show" links to get all posts from a particular month or year.

Posts will be more sporadic the further you go back. You'll see when you joined Facebook and the first post you ever made – mine was "Anick Jesdanun is wasting a lot of time on facebook."

Beyond that, you may see details about high school or college. A colleague even saw the birth of her younger brother listed, after having told Facebook which of her friends were her siblings.

The bottom simply says "Born" with your birth date and birthplace, if you've chosen to share that.

This may come across as a big privacy breach, but keep in mind that people could have seen many of those posts before by continually hitting "Older Posts." The difference is most people wouldn't bother. With Timeline, you can jump more quickly to older posts.

Another thing to consider: Although your privacy settings remain the same, your list of friends has likely grown over the years, and your definition of friends has probably broadened to include parents, bosses and random flings at weddings. Someone you didn't know in 2008 would suddenly have easier access to something you posted then.

CURATING YOUR LIFE

You can change who has access to which posts. Perhaps you'd want to narrow an embarrassing photo from Thanksgiving to family members who were there. You might want to delete other posts completely or hide them so that only you can see them.

You can change the date on a post. For example, if you had waited a week to tell the Facebook world that you broke up with someone, you can change the date to reflect when all the screaming and crying took place. You can also add where you were, retroactively using a location feature that Facebook hadn't offered until recently.

For major events in your life, you can click on a star to feature them more prominently.

You'll likely feel overwhelmed when you see your Timeline for the first time. Years-old posts made by people you're no longer friends with are still there. Musings on a trip or a long-forgotten event suddenly lack context. Your life may also come across as duplicative, such as when multiple friends post similar photos from the same party.

Here are a few tips:

_ Start with your older posts. You were probably experimenting with Facebook then, and most of those could go into hiding. Plus, those are the ones you'd need to be most careful about because you had reason to believe only a few friends would see them.

_ Find the button for Activity Log. Click that to see all of your posts at a glance and make changes to them one by one. Open Facebook in a new browser tab first, though. Every time you switch between the log and the timeline stream, Facebook resets to a default view rather than let you return to where you were. So have one tab for the log and the other for the stream.

_ Think carefully about what you want to highlight when people scroll through your past. Facebook has a secret formula for determining which items are included in your highlights, using such factors as how many friends commented on a post. That may not necessarily be what you want to showcase.

Unfortunately, getting the stream to look right is difficult.

There's no easy way to highlight something Facebook's formula didn't pick, without starring it such that it gets splashed across the page. I also couldn't find a good way to remove something from the highlights without hiding or deleting it completely. There are events I wouldn't consider major, but would want people to see if they took the time to browse through my past.

There also ought to be a way to star or hide posts in batches.

And oddly, Facebook includes stuff posted by others, but it doesn't include items you've posted on other profiles. Older posts come across as one-sided without the back and forth for context.

MOVING FORWARD

Overall, I like the concept behind Timeline. I got a nice stroll down memory lane, and I enjoyed stalking my friends and uncovering their pasts, too.

I just wish it were easier to customize, and I don't appreciate being rushed. Facebook spent months developing Timeline and rolling it out to its 800 million users. Why give us just seven days?

If you're not ready to start Timeline, you can still view Timelines your friends have already activated. Just keep in mind that Facebook eventually will force you to switch, so you might as well do it now if you have the time.

You might also want to take this as an opportunity to clean up your presence on Facebook. Review your privacy settings and get rid of friends who don't need to be there. That will be the topic of next week's column.

___

Anick Jesdanun, deputy technology editor for The Associated Press, can be reached at njesdanun(at)ap.org.

Mizoram Rejects World Bank Roads Report

We did better: Mizo PWD

Aizawl, Dec 23 : Mizoram has rejected the World Bank’s assessment of the state roads project being “moderately satisfactory”, saying it was “highly satisfactory”.

The bank, which had funded the project, in its recent report on the project’s implementation completion and results, termed its outcome as “moderately satisfactory”. The total amount disbursed for the project on June 1, 2011, was $103.15 million.

The report appreciated the government’s high level of commitment towards project design, preparation and implementation but said the state did not provide adequate resources recommended in the masterplan for maintenance of road network, including the project roads. This has put a question mark on medium to long-term sustainability of the project assets.

The bank stated that Mizoram, being the end beneficiary, could have taken more advantage of the project. But it did not and this resulted in some key institutional strengthening activities not reaching fruition. In particular, it pointed to the state’s failure to create a fund for maintenance of roads.

Reacting to the bank’s report, the Mizoram PWD said this was the state’s first World Bank project and the largest implemented by it and that it had no prior experience in this line.

“Our performance, lessons learnt and the benefits for the organisation in the fields of procurement, financial management, institution development and road safety are much better than it was expected,” the PWD observed.

It said only 40 days were left before project closure when the second additional financing of $13 million was approved. It said the department had fully utilised the fund for successful completion of the project in record time, which showed that it had become more experienced to manage the project towards the end.

This gave it “confidence to skilfully manage the second World Bank project,” it added.

Mizoram said the problems faced during construction in remote areas were skillfully managed and solved by a small team constituted for implementation of the project and that its work was worthy of being considered “highly satisfactory”.

The government’s views have been appended in the bank’s report.

Mizoram Teachers Get Christmas Gift On Time

Aizawl, Dec 23 : As promised by state Finance Minister H Liansailova, over 4,835 government teachers in Mizoram received their pending salaries right on time as Christmas shopping spree reached its peak in this Christian-dominated state of Mizoram.

The government teachers from 541 state-run schools, who drew their salaries under plan fund, had not been paid since October as the required allocation, about Rs 63.11 crore, was not sanctioned in the plan fund. Now I have received my salaries due from October in full.

I am truly happy that I will able to buy new Christmas clothes for my children, said Vanlalhriati, a middle-school teacher. People from all walks of life are thronging the city s markets as Christmas draws nearer.

The city streets already congested with vehicles and pedestrians has literally turned into a sea of shoppers.

To ease the problems of the shoppers, the state government is declaring a two-kilometre stretch of the city s main road that runs through the main market a no vehicle zone for two days, December 23 and 24, with the exception of ambulances and emergency services.

The city police have set up three temporary beat posts within the main market vicinity to curb increasing crimes in this time of year like pick-pocketing, robbery, burglary, bootlegging and drug-peddling.

Manipur Assembly Passes Lok Ayukta Bill

Imphal, Dec 23 : The Manipur Legislative Assembly today passed the Lokayukta Bill 2011.

Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh moved the Manipur Lokayukta Bill 2011.

Opposition Leader Radhabinod Koijam and opposition members O Joy, R K Anand, Dr Ibohalbi appealed to the House to consider full discussions on the matter, however, Mr Singh pressed for quick decision on the matter.

Mr O Joy said,"the Lokayukta can not initiate investigation against the Chief Minister without approval of the Assembly. For this two third majority is required and such pre-requisite will be hard to be achieved." Other Opposition members said the decision was a welcome step but it will be like a toothless tiger.

The Chief Minister has to take the decision regarding probe against a minister.

In spite of the opposition, the matter was taken up and passed by the House passed.

Regarding the issue of functioning of Naga People’s Front (NPF) in Manipur, the Chief Minister said the Election Commission was discussing the matter.

A branch of NPF was opened in Manipur and Manipur government informed the EC that as per constitution of the NPF, it shall be constituted by the state of Nagaland with 60 Assembly constituencies.

Mr Singh said the opening of NPF in Manipur appears to be 'violation of the Constitution of the NPF.'

Mizoram May Lift Liquor Ban in 2012

Aizawl, Dec 22 : The state which has been dry for the last 13 years may soon be wet again.

After the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act passed in the year 1997, the govt had prohibited sale, possession and consumption of any kind of wine/whiskey in the state.

However, as there have been various incidents of breaching the law, the state govt had formed the Mizoram Study Group of MLTP Act to study the failures and success of the Act.

The State Prohibition Council will study the reports of the Study Group and Sub-Group on MLTP Act, 1995 in January next year. The study group had asked various organisations on their opinion in connection with the implementation of MLTP Act.

Meanwhile, the State Prohibition Council held a meeting in Aizawl under the chairmanship the Excise Minister, JH Rothuama. The meeting discussed the report prepared by Presbyterian Synod which collected opinions from 1,008 persons.

The Prohibition Council also welcomed efforts made by the YMA and other voluntary organisations for creation of conducive and peaceful atmosphere during celebration of Christmas and New Year. Their representatives will also visit persons on duty in various localities on the 23rd evening.

Now the big question is whether the Mizoram govt will lift the Act legalising selling and consumption of wine/whiskey or any International brand in the market.

Meanwhile, since the passing of MLTP Act in 1997, though an interested person can still find liquor in various places but open sale and consumption was totally banned. It was in the year 2007, MLTP Act was amended which legalised manufacture of wine from guavas and grapes but with strict rules.

In this amendment, manufacturer should follow govt rules on percentage of alcohol to be included in the wine and the quantity of wine to be possessed by any individual. The amendment also forbids transport and export of local manufactured wine outside the state.

During the year 2010, the state after 13 years of prohibiting grape cultivators from producing wine have brought out Zawlaidi, love potion, a locally manufactured grape wine, thanks to the amendment of MLTP Act 1997 in 2007.

The enthusiasm of the grape farmers has been fuelled by the amendment of the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition (MLTP) Act. The Act had earlier prevented them from large-scale commercialisation of their products and wine-making from grapes.

Newmai News Network