FireHouse To Rock Northeast India

FireHouse returns as part of Rock to Rescue tour, with venues in Manipur and Nagaland

By Alipta Jena

Calcutta, Mar 28 : In 2004, an American band set the house on fire in Shillong. Eight years later, FireHouse is returning to rock the region on April 7 and 10 with timeless numbers like Hold your Fire and When I look into your eyes, during the Rock to Rescue tour of Nagaland and Manipur.

This time, their drums and guitars will play for a cause at DDSC stadium in Kohima and Khuman Lampak stadium in Imphal.

Organised by 7 Sisters Entertainment, a Sky Group venture, the proceeds of the tour will be spent in aid of old age homes and special children in association with Queensberry Foundation in Nagaland.

It will also raise funds to help create awareness on HIV/AIDS in Manipur in association with the Manipur State Aids Control Society.

The hard rock band, which was formed at Charlotte in North Carolina in 1989, reached stardom in the early 1990s. At present, it comprises lead vocalist and founding member C.J. Snare, guitarist Bill Leverty, drummer Michael Foster and bass guitarist Allen McKenzie.

Snare promises that “everyone will leave the show with a smile on their face and a memory of FireHouse to last a lifetime”. He adds, “We truly love performing in India. The people are so friendly. They always welcome us with open arms and show a genuine appreciation for our music.”

In December 2004, FireHouse had played in Shillong, followed by Dimapur and Aizawl. Kirit Pradyot Deb Burman, also known as Pradyot Bikram Kishore Deb Burman, a scion of the Tripura royal family, had also invited them to perform in Agartala. The show set a record for the city with 40,000 tickets being sold.

A decade later, the band still manages to inspire music lovers all across the world. “FireHouse has a huge following in the Northeast. We are putting up shows in places where they have not performed and where there is a huge fan base,” Sunny Shimrah of 7 Sisters Entertainment says.

This time, the band has plenty of surprises up its sleeve. “We have added a lot to the show since our last performances in India. We will be performing all the hits. But the beauty of a live concert is that you never know what might happen,” says Snare.

In the meantime, he says, “FireHouse has tried many different approaches to a lot of the music that falls within the parameters of our genre.”

“We also recently released a new CD called Full Circle, which allowed us to get back in the studio in 2011 and re-record some of the band’s and the fan’s favourites over the last 21 years,” Snare added.

He also speaks of their future ventures. “Some of us have ventured outside the band with side projects. Bill has released solo instrumental CDs, His vocals have a more southern, blues rock feel. I have released Christmas singles as well as a modern hard rock project called Rubicon Cross. I will also release a solo CD, From Asia With Love, in 2013. The concert declaration has received a huge response, with many fans clamouring for tickets.

Probin Sharma, an entrepreneur from Guwahati, is excited about the event. “I don’t mind shelling out the money for the event. I have always loved their numbers. Watching the band performing live is another experience altogether. It’s just not the same on video sites,” he says.

Assam Police Worst Human Rights Violators

By Prabin Kalita

Guwahati, Mar 27 : Assam Police are the biggest violators of human rights in the state. According to a written reply by forest and environment minister Rockybul Hussain on behalf of home minister and chief minister Tarun Gogoi in the house on Monday, of the 94 cases in which the state human rights commission has issued orders, 46 are against the Assam Police.

The minister stated in his reply that 6,734 complaints of human rights violation have been settled so far and another 713 cases are pending. "To expedite the settlement of the remaining cases of rights violation, the commission is has been issuing summons from time to time," the minister stated.

The most gruesome of human rights violation committed by Assam Police is the blinding of one Anil Roy by a constable in Basistha police station in the city. The commission has issued an order to commissioner and secretary of home and political department to pay Rs 5 lakh to Roy. There is also recommendation to senior superintendent of police in the city to reprimand one sub-inspector Ajay Medhi for not registering an FIR.

According to the minister's reply, the commission has recommended action against 135 government officials so far. The minister's reply however had details of just 94 of these recommendations. The recommendations ordered by the commission against the Assam Police are disciplinary action against erring police officials and payment of compensation.

The highest compensation recommended by the commission is to health and family welfare department to pay Rs 10 lakh to one Souvik Shome and realization of the entire amount from the guilty professor of gynecology department Guwahati Medical College and Hospital. There are several recommendations by the commission to the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB), pollution control board, Of the 94 cases in which the state human rights commission has issued orders, 46 are against the Assam Police.

Forum Vows To Counter Tipaimukh

Push for micro projects

Silchar, Mar 27 : The North East Dialogue Forum, a joint forum of more than 50 civil society organisations in the Northeast, along with the Community for People and Environment said it would not yield an inch in its fight against the government’s decision to build Tipaimukh dam.

Addressing reporters here today, the forum’s convener, U. Nobokishore, said the Centre and the Manipur government were moving ahead with their mission to construct the controversial Tipaimukh dam and lower Subansiri dam in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, regardless of the greater interest and safety of the people downstream.

“We will not step back from our fight against the construction of the Tipaimukh dam. We have an alternative. If the government responds, we will be happy, if not, we will continue our movement,” said Nobokishore.

He added that if the Tipaimukh dam was constructed, 25,822.22 hectares of forest land in Manipur will be affected, which, in turn, will lead to the felling of as many as 7.8 million trees.

He went on to say the destruction will not be limited to only the woods, as it would also have a severe impact on livelihood and would also induce radical climate change.

He also spoke of the adverse impact of the proposed dam on the people of the Barak Valley, as there would be an obvious alteration of the river’s flow.

He said the department of earth science, Manipur University, carried out a survey investigating the possibility of over 130 micro hydel projects on the river Barak.

He also raised the demand that the Centre and the Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh governments must realise the dire consequences of these dams on the community livelihood and scrap these dams at the earliest. Rather, the government should try to construct micro-hydel projects.

Also, the Forum demanded that the Loktak Hydro Power project should be handed over to the government of Manipur within a year.

Pijush Kanti Das, the general secretary of the Community for People and Environment, who was also the co-host of the news conference, echoed Nobokishore saying a dam at an altitude of 181.8 metres will submerge 300 square km area in no time. Also, at a mere distance of 300 nautical miles, the dam would be an easy target for neighbouring nation China.

Moreover, expressing solidarity with Irom Sharmila in her battle against the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act from Manipur, both NEDF and COPE strongly demanded that the Centre must implement the recommendations of Jeevan Reddy Commission, the Second Administrative Reformed Commission of India and UN Committee on Racial Discrimination and repeal the act with immediate effect.

6 Abducted By Militants in Mizoram

Aizawl, Mar 27 : At least six people, including residents of Assam, Punjab, and Rajasthan, were abducted by unidentified tribal guerrillas in a Mizoram district bordering Bangladesh Monday, police said here.

"Heavily armed unidentified militants raided a workshed at Bunghmum under Lunglei district early Monday and abducted six people," a police spokesman told reporters here.

The captives -- a manager and five supervisors of a Guwahati-based private company -- were posted at Lunglei district in southwestern Mizoram, 200 km south of Aizawl, to supervise the on-going work of border fencing.

Senior police officials along with reinforcements have rushed to the area and launched a combing operation to locate the hostages and nab the guerrillas.

"We are not sure whether the hostages were taken to Bangladesh or not. The state government has asked the Border Security Force (BSF) to seal the border to prevent the rebels from taking the captives to Bangladesh," the police official said.

Mizoram has an international border of 404 km with Myanmar and 318 km with Bangladesh. The BSF has been guarding the Bangladesh border and troopers of the Assam Rifles were posted along the Myanmar border.

India is erecting a fence and putting up flood lighting all along the 4,095-km India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram to check trans-border movement of militants, prevent infiltration and check border crimes.

Dry Law Fails To Make Mizoram Dry

Aizawl, Mar 26 : The total prohibition on liquor, imposed in Mizoram since 1997, has failed to make the Christian-dominated state a dry land, a study has recently revealed.

The study group constituted by the state in its report submitted to the government a few days back found that the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act 1997 is a failure because of unceasing demand.

"The prohibition has only increased bootlegging and consumption of spurious liquor as there is an unceasing demand for drinks.

The poor quality of liquor and their exorbitant prices have in turn badly affected the drinkers' health and economy respectively," the study said.

The group involving members of psychology department of Mizoram University found that incidents of cirrhosis among drinkers in Mizoram was on the rise during the last 15 years and added there is still plenty of liquor despite the prohibition, only the prices are extraordinarily high.

Questionnaires were distributed to all major nongovernmental organisations and the churches with most of them saying the prohibition is a failure. However, majority of the organisations, including the adamant churches, recommended that the law remains, and more stringently enforced.

If the controversial law is to remain, it should undergo some modifications while the Excise & Narcotics Department be reinforced and NGOs, like the Young Mizo Association, which has been actively cooperating with the government in enforcing the law, should be motivated.

The department with strength of 542 employees is responsible for enforcing the prohibition and fighting the massive drug menace in this strategic north eastern state, sandwiched between Myanmar and Bangladesh and sharing a 722 km international border with the two countries.

If not for powerful NGO like the Young Mizo Association which has branches all over the state, the excise department would have done very little.

According to Excise & Narcotic Department records, four people, including a woman, died after consuming bad liquor in 1997, the first year of prohibition. Afterwards, there were no reports of spurious liquor-related deaths for two years.

Then in 2000, there were nine deaths, including two women, and the number rose to 14 in 2001, the records informed, adding there was no report of deaths in 2002 but from 2003, spurious liquor claimed lives each year, bringing the total number of deaths to 55 till December 2011.

According to head of Forensic Medicines & Toxicology Department of Aizawl Civil Hospital Dr Lalrozama, most of the deaths were caused by consumption of liquor mixed with methylated spirit. "Some illegal manufacturers of country liquor added methylated spirits or other chemicals to make the liquor stronger.

Consumption of such liquor is extremely poisonous," Dr Lalrozama said. The state Excise & Narcotics Department had arrested more than 40,000 people for bootlegging since the dry law came into effect, official sources said, adding of these, about 30,000 people were convicted.

Meanwhile, police had attributed the increasing crime rates in Mizoram to offenses under the prohibition act.

Manipur MLAs To Watch Porn To Grab Attention (False News)

Rahul Roushan

Some MLAs in Manipur, cutting across party lines, are planning to watch porn in the assembly to get the attention of Indian public and the media, especially the television news channels. These MLAs have already contacted local correspondents of such TV channels and asked them to record their porn-viewing adventure and turn it into breaking news.

“We finally hope that the people will notice us,” said an MLA who didn’t mind being quoted, but whose name our Delhi-based reporter couldn’t understand.

Manipur had gone to polls earlier this year and election results were announced earlier this month. However, states like Uttarakhand and Goa got more media attention than Manipur, which has more assembly seats than Goa and is comparable to Uttarakhand.
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“Nobody even cared why we re-elected the same government despite being under an economic blockade for months,” said the MLA. “Maybe this is how we can finally be the centre of attraction.”
Earlier, MLAs had thought about other means to get in news, like throwing mikes at each other or inviting Rakhi Sawant to visit the assembly, but experts advised them to watch porn.

“Nothing excites the nation more than naked ladies,” a porn-viewing expert who was consulted by the Manipur MLAs told Faking News. “People don’t need proof; you just have to give them a chance to imagine nudity.”

“Like Poonam Pandey did,” he added. “She never actually stripped, but people kept on imagining her without clothes.”

“Similarly, you don’t even need to watch any actual porn clip. Just show the screen of your mobile phone or iPad blurred on television screens, and rest of the details will be filled in by the public,” the porn-viewing expert is reported to have told the Manipur MLAs.

The porn-viewing expert is even reported to have convinced the Manipur MLAs that their counterparts from Goa and Uttarakhand could be getting more attention than them because of women in bikinis and ND Tiwari respectively.

Convinced with the arguments of the expert, MLAs have decided to give the idea of viewing porn in the assembly a go. However, with no BJP MLA in Manipur, MLAs are currently wondering which party MLA should be caught watching porn for maximum media and public attention.

The obvious choice was a Congress MLA, what with the Congress being a national party, and also the higher chance it had of the BJP helping to make it a national issue. But some MLAs believe the Trinamool Congress, with seven MLAs in Manipur, could also be a good choice.

“The Trinamool MLA could be asked to resign by Mamata Di for his wicked behavior and it could add even more masala for the media,” hoped the MLA.

Latest reports say that the whole plan is getting delayed as television news channels are insisting on “exclusive” recording of the porn-viewing exercise.

First Train Chugs Into Manipur's Interiors

Silchar, Mar 26 : Sixty four years after India's Independence, many villagers in Manipur saw a locomotive for the first time on Friday as it traversed 12km from Jiribam to Dholakhal station.

The small patch is a part of the 84-km Jiribam-Tupul broad gauge project, the foundation of which was laid by the PM in 2004. So far, Manipur had only 1.5km rail tracks up to Jiribam station near the Assam border.

Villagers lined up along the newly-constructed railway line, which runs through hills, and expressed their happiness by waving at the engine.

The Manipur government is set to treat the route as the lifeline of the state given the uncertain road links due to frequent economic blockades.

The Railways completed the task in spite of severe law and order problems in the area, said deputy chief engineer (construction), Jiribam, S P Deshmukh.

Solar Lanterns Bring Light For Manipur Villages

Chandel, Mar 26 : Hundreds of people thronged a daylong camp set up by the Assam Rifles at their headquarters in Manipur's Chandel District, where the paramilitary force distributed 200 solar lanterns to 27 villages which face an erratic supply of electricity.

"We already decided to distribute solar lanterns in the villages of hill areas in the beginning of this financial year. We procured it through the organization headed by Dr Pachouri and today we are distributing it to different village chiefs so that it will help the villagers in their daily lives," said U K Gurung, Inspector General, Assam Rifles (South).

The lanterns were distributed in order to help the village children study at night and women to do their household chores. Assam Rifles officers assured that more such initiatives would be taken to improve the infrastructure in the area.

The camp was organized in joint collaboration with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi that works to provide alternative energy solutions in the country.

"We do not get regular supply electricity in our village, so I am happy and grateful to Assam Rifles for giving us these solar lanterns," said M Simon, village chief, Yongkhul Village, Chandel District.

"There is no regular supply of electricity in our villages in the hill area so we asked the Assam Rifles to help us by providing solar lanterns. Today they have given us these lanterns and I am grateful to them and the people in my village will be very happy," said D S Mopham, secretary, Chingjaroi Village, Chandel District.

Assam Rifles has been operating in the region for a long time and plays an important role in maintaining law and order.

They work towards curbing militancy and bringing the mislead youth back to the mainstream, other than helping the people of the region.