Bangalore Mizos Issue Security Tips

Bangalore, Apr 16 : Bangalore Mizo Association today issued security tips to all those who are going to the India's silicon valley in search of higher studies or jobs.

The BMA's statement came in the wake of 21 Mizo girls found to be cheated at their work place in Bangalore.

"Information about the university, as where it is affiliated to, its address, what subjects it offers and whether or not it has hostel accommodations, etc, must be first obtained before getting admission.

If possible, the Bangalore Mizo Association should be consulted by logging into www.bangaloremizo.info or over phone," the BMA statement said.

In view of the increasing human trafficking through job offers, the job seekers, as well the general public, should be cautious, it said. "A number of youths have fallen prey to human traffickers who offered lucrative jobs.

It is a must to confirm the authenticity of the jobs offered and the would-be-employers. With extra care, human trafficking through fake jobs can be prevented," the statement said.

The BMA also voiced a serious concern over the increasing live-in relation among students from Mizoram." Such live-in partners have also tarnished the image of Mizo community as a whole," the statement said.

The 21 girls, who were brought to Bangalore in January this year to work at a jeans tailor under Shahi Exports Pvt Ltd, have left their workplace a few weeks back as the jobs and salaries turned out to be different from what had been promised.

PA Sangma for President: NCP

By D K Singh

With both the UPA and NDA short of requisite numbers, the Nationalist Congress Party has come up with Purno A Sangma’s name for the next president of India. An ally of the UPA, it has sent feelers to the NDA, including the BJP, on the former speaker’s name and is said to be getting a “positive” response.

“He is a Catholic and a tribal from the Northeast. We have never had an occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhawan with such descriptions,” a senior NCP leader told The Sunday Express. The presidential elections are to be held in July.

Among others, the names of Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar have been doing the rounds.

NCP sources claim support from a section of the BJP to Sangma’s name. However, this section reportedly wants somebody like BSP supremo Mayawati or Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav or Mamata — all from parties whose support is vital to the UPA government — to propose Sangma’s name.

NCP sources said it too would not propose Sangma’s candidature, preferring that some other party does the same. NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s equation with politicians across party lines could prove to be a big factor in Sangma’s favour. What may also rally other UPA constituents around the NCP is the fact that Pawar has, of late, been targeting the Congress over not following the coalition dharma.

Senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav had said at the Idea Exchange programme of The Indian Express recently that the party would propose a name to the Congress for president.

While the fact that Sangma had walked out of the Congress along with Pawar over Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin in 1999 could become an issue for Congressmen, the former Lok Sabha speaker has mended fences with the Congress president. In 2009, he had called on Sonia to apologise for what had happened a decade ago.

On Hamid Ansari, whose candidature the Congress is considering, the party hopes to get the Left support. It was the Left that had proposed his name for the vice-president’s post. However, the same factor could turn crucial ally Trinamool Congress against him given Mamata Banerjee’s opposition to anything remotely linked with the Left. However, Mamata may find it difficult to oppose the candidature of a minority community member, Congress strategists assess.

At the same time, a UPA leader quipped: “Going by our past experience, the Congress party’s first choice is not necessarily the final choice.”
Another name around which political consensus could be built is that of Pranab Mukherjee, However, the Congress high command has not been enthusiastic about his candidature.
While Meira Kumar is also said to be a contender, Congress managers are not sure whether a consensus could be arrived on her name.

The numbers
In an electoral college of 10,98,882, the UPA and those likely to support it make up 4,63,770 votes, as per a Congress calculation. These include Congress (3,31,131), Trinamool (48,044), NCP (24,060), DMK (21,783), RJD (8,934), JD-S (6,138), National Congress (5,556), RLD (5,204), JMM (4,757), IUML (3,040), Kerala Congress Mani (2,076), AIMIM (1,744) and LJP (1,303).

After the recent UP Assembly elections, the SP has 68,771 votes, the BSP 43,777. If Mamata were to oppose Hamid Ansari as president, the UPA could bank on the support of Left parties (CPI, CPM, RSP and Forward Bloc), which together have around 52,000 votes.

The Rat Hunters of Assam

Rat meat, regarded as a delicacy in some communities, is slowly finding larger acceptance in Assam and other areas of the North-east. Meeting the demand are Adivasi rat hunters like Ram Soren.

Ram Soren returns home with the night’s catch in Bori village, about 120 km from Guwahati.

Burnt rats on sale in Kumarikata weekly market in Baksa district of Assam.

Fetches a good price at the weekly market.

Ram Soren along with his wife Bitimoi Tudu and daughter Kurmila Soren prepares rats for a meal in his village Degholdong.

Getting the bamboo traps ready for the night ahead.

Collecting a trapped rat by the river.

Meghalaya Autos Seat 50, Cars Have 1,000-Yr Fitness

By Rahul Karmakar

Guwahati, Apr 15 : In Meghalaya, you can register a car 40 years before you buy it. You can also get a fitness certificate that makes it roadworthy for over 1,000 years. But, chances are, the car may share its engine and chassis numbers with 500 others.

There’s more. The car you have pre-registered can seat 11 persons. But, in contrast, a bus can seat only eight and an auto-rickshaw or a tempo, 50 people each.

If you think this is ridiculous, check out the latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Meghalaya’s transport department after the implementation of “Vahan” since April 1, 2002.

The database prepared with the software had riveting nuggets, found the CAG, which examined records upto March 31, 2011.

Section 56 of the Motor Vehicles Act does not deem a vehicle registered unless it carries a fitness certificate.

But here, 202 vehicles were found to be roadworthy for far longer than the universally accepted 15 years. “In seven cases, it was 91 to 1,016 years from the date of registration,” the report said. Others — 6,881 of the 77,761 vehicles registered — lacked fitness information.

Of the 41,901 transport vehicles, the fitness certificate of 23,379 had expired, the CAG said. There was no information on renewal.

Analysing data from seven district transport offices, the CAG said 1,277 vehicles shared the same engine number, and 1,218 vehicles shared 654 chassis numbers.

Mizoram: 12 Officials Suspended, 3 Dismissed in Graft Case

Aizawl, Apr 13 : As many as 12 officials were suspended and three others terminated following corruption cases in Mizoram since December 2008, an RTI document revealed.

According to information obtained by anti-corruption watchdog Prism (People's Right to Information & Development Implementing Society of Mizoram) under the RTI Act, three MCS officers, two department directors and a joint director were among the 12 government officials suspended.

Two officials, an MCS officer and a trade & commerce marketing officer, and a storekeeper under food, civil supplies & consumer affair department, were dismissed from services on corruption charges.

During this period, 24 officials were charge-sheeted in connection with misappropriation of public money amounting to crores of rupees.

Maruti Ertiga Launched; Expects Growth in Northeast India

Guwahati, Apr 13 : The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) is looking at a double-digit sales growth in the north eastern market in 2012-13.

"We expect the car market to grow by at least 10 per cent nationally this fiscal. Similarly, we are also expecting a similar jump in our sales including in the north eastern states," MSI Chief General Manager (Parts & Accessories) Amitava Roy said.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the company's multi-purpose vehicle 'Ertiga' here. The company had sold over 36,000 units of its various models in the north eastern states in 2011-12. Its compact car 'Alto' contributed to over 40 per cent of the total sales.

"We are also looking at ramping up our dealership network in the region along with rest of India," Roy said without quoting any figures. MSI currently has 19 retail outlets and 12 e-outlets in the North East.

Roy said MSI expected the Ertega to perform well in Assam and the north eastern region. MSI formally made its foray into the multi-purpose vehicle segment with the launch of Ertiga at an introductory price of up to Rs 8.81 lakh (ex-showroom Guwahati). The car would be available in both petrol and diesel variants.

"This is a family vehicle but for multiple purposes and we are tyring to create a new segment with the Ertiga," Roy said. The Ertiga will be in the same MPV segment as Toyota's 'Innova' and Mahindra & Mahindra's 'Xylo'.

Firms Keen To Partner ONGC For Tripura Fertilizer Plant

Agartala, Apr 13 : Six Indian firms have expressed their keenness to participate in the first gas-based fertilizer plant of the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in Tripura, a senior company official said here Thursday.

"ONGC has earlier sought 'expression of interest' from companies with relevant experience and track record to be a partner in the proposed project. Six companies, including a government-owned corporation have expressed their willingness to associate with the venture," K. Satyanarayana, group general manager, ONGC Tripura, told IANS.

ONGC has initiated the process to set up a Rs.5,000-crore, gas-based fertilizer plant in northern Tripura to meet the growing shortage of urea, the commonly used soil manure in the northeastern region.

The plant would be a joint venture between the ONGC, Tripura government and a fertilizer company.

"ONGC Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Sudhir Vasudeva, would visit Tripura April 23 to review the progress of the 726 MW capacity Palatana power project. During his two-day tour he will also outline the fertilizer plant," said Satyanarayana.

The eight, predominantly agrarian, northeastern states have been facing an acute shortage of urea for the past many years. Large quantities of the fertilizer supplied from other parts of India to meet the demand get smuggled out to Bangladesh.

ONGC owns significant natural gas reserves in Tripura. Since 1972, it has drilled 164 wells in Tripura, of which 76 wells are yielding gas.

The Maharatna company has found huge deposits of natural gas at its Khubal structure, 145 km northeast of Agartala along the Assam-Agartala national highway (NH-44). Gas from the wells there would be supplied to the proposed fertilizer plant.

The company official said Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar had earlier requested the union ministry of chemicals and fertilizers and ONGC to explore the possibilities of setting up of the fertilizer plant, using the untapped natural gas.

"Responding to the Tripura government's request, ONGC has internally assessed that the urea unit can be set up in Tripura with the natural gas the company has abundantly found in the state," said the official.

Vasudeva, accompanied by top company officials, had visited Tripura last year to personally study the feasibility of the proposed plant.

Vasudeva had then said that ONGC had asked government-owned Projects and Development India Limited to conduct a detailed study on setting up the fertilizer plant and to prepare a detail project report.

The proposed fertilizer plant will be the first such ONGC project in India.

ONGC is now commissioning its Rs.5,000 crore thermal power plant (726 MW) in southern Tripura's Palatana, 60 km south of Agartala. It is the company's first mega commercial project which would start generating power by June this year.

According to Satyanarayana, the company's Tripura asset has posted a net profit of Rs.47 crore during 2011-12 fiscal. It had first registered a profit of Rs.24 crore during the previous year (2010-11).

"Exceeding all its targets during 2011-12, including gas production and sales, drilling of wells, the ONGC's Tripura asset has produced a record 643.9 Million Metric Standard Cubic Meters (MMSCM) of gas," Satyanarayana said.

There are ONGC's 11 gas fields in Tripura. The gas exploration success ratio in Tripura is 2:1 (after drilling of two wells gas found in one well) against the world success ratio of 5:1.

Mizoram Excise Police Earns Rs 231 Lakh From Liquor

Aizawl, Apr 12 : The Excise and Narcotics Department earned a revenue of Rs 231,80,631 during 2011-12 from different sources, including confiscation of liquor, in Mizoram, which is officially a dry state since 1997.

During the past year, the department seized 54017.195 litres of country-made liquor, 99723.5 tins of fermented rice, 303.062 kg of yeast.

They also seized 78737 bottles (of 750 ml size), 251 bottles (of 375 ml size), 79 bottles (of 350 ml size) and 220 bottles (of 180 ml size) of Indian made foreign liquor, and a large quantity of foreign and Indian beers.

The excise police also seized 79 two-wheeler, 13 three-wheeler 199 medium and 10 heavy vehicles used for transportation of liquor and drugs.

The excise police also seized 1.36 kg of heroin, 2.9 kg of opium, 162.44 kg of ganja and huge quantity of pharmaceutical drugs like spasmo proxyvon (19148 capsules), parvon spas (388205 capsules) commonly abused in Mizoram.

During last year, the excise and narcotics police arrested 353 people under the NDPS Act 1984, 289 people under the NDPS Act 1985, 452 people under Assam Drugs (Control) Act 1950, 370 people under the AD(C) Act 1950, and 3149 under the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act/Mizoram Excise Act 1995. These included 84 foreigners, mainly Myanmarese nationals.