PC Merges With MNF in Mizoram

Aizawl, Nov 9 : People's Conference (PC) party led by former deputy chief minister Lalhmingthanga on Thursday merged with Mizo National Front (MNF), the main opposition party in Mizoram.

MNF is led by former chief minister Zoramthanga.

The merger was officially announced in a crowded public meeting held here which was addressed by Zoramthanga, Lalhmingthanga and other leaders from both the parties.

The merger was seen as an important development in view of the coming state Assembly polls next year.

PC party was the break-away group of Mizoram People's Conference (MPC) led by Lalhmangaiha Sailo, a retired Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer and son of the former chief minister Brig T Sailo.

Anna Appeals To Assam To Wake Up To Corruption

Guwahati, Nov 9 : Anti-corruption leader Anna Hazare Thursday appealed to the people of Assam to wake up to corruption and get ready for a second freedom struggle to secure their rights.

The veteran activist was in Guwahati to address a national conclave organised on the problems of foreigners' infiltration, land rights for the indigenous people, floods and erosion, and the proposed mega dams in the northeastern region.

Hazare said it took 90 years for the freedom fighters of the country to chase away the British from India, but the subsequent governments of the country are again inviting foreign companies to India and selling land, water, forests and other resources.

"The government should have made policies to help the people of the country and their economic development. Instead of that, the government is making policies to help these foreign companies," he said.

"I feel we have not received real freedom. So, we have to get ready for the second round of the freedom struggle," he said while addressing a large gathering at the Assam Engineering Institute (AEI) playground in the city Thursday.

The activist also said that he would be touring the whole country from January next year as part of a massive awakening movement to make the people aware about corruption and other issues plaguing the country.

He said his countrywide tour would continue for about one and half years, and hoped that during the tour he would again address a few meetings in Assam.

He encouraged the people to press the government for establishing Gram Sabhas, which are sovereign institutions. He said these could be more powerful than the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

Assam's farmers' leader Akhil Gogoi and his organisation Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) organised the conclave, in which many activists and other civil society groups from various states of the country also participated.

Akhil Gogoi, who also spoke on the occasion, set a deadline of December 31 next year for the government to complete the process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which could help identify foreigners living in the state and deport them.

As Winter Begins, 20,000 Migratory Birds Sighted in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam

Morigaon, Nov 9 : Over 20,000 migratory birds have been sighted in the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam's Morigaon district with the advent of winter.

Among the 214 species of avian fauna found at the sanctuary, 14 are threatened species and 46 are resident birds, officials said.

The Lesser Whistling Teal and the Greater Whistling Teal have also been sighted here, they said.

Birds of prey Osprey or the fish eating eagle, hawks and falcons of different species as well as endangered storks are attracted to Pobitora's aquatic environment, rich in fish and other aquatic fauna.

Pobitora's authority has appealed the tourists and picnickers not to create sound pollution in the sanctuary which would harm the environment.

Mizoram Hydel Projects Ignore Environment Impact

By Linda Chhakchhuak
Aizawl, Nov 8 : The construction of two hydroelectric projects in Mizoram is under way without following the safeguards specified under the Environment Impact Assessment notification.

The 12MW Serlui B hydro electric project in Aizawl district, which is already “complete” and the 60MW Tuirial hydro electric project at Bilkhawtlir developed by North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (Neepco), which was fast-tracked recently.

The Serlui B project has the dubious distinction of creating the state’s first “dam refugees” who are still fighting for proper rehabilitation and in case of Tuirial project, the people and experts are questioning its legality as no public hearing was ever held.

Experts said the affected villagers of Tuirial could move court. Though the project proponents had earlier got the village council presidents to sign an NoC, this would not be enough.

In August, a tripartite multi-disciplinary committee for Tuirial project was notified to “oversee effective implementation of suggested safeguards measures,” on ecology, forestry, and wildlife. But nothing is mentioned about safeguards for people against the impact of the dam.

The project received environment clearance in 1995 and experts questioned if it was still valid.

Construction began in 1998 but it was halted in 2004 because of “unfavourable geological conditions at the dam site, technical reasons, high compensation for crops and law and order situation”.

In 2011, the project cost was revised to Rs 913.23 crore, almost triple its original estimate of Rs 369.

Environment Support Group, a premier lawyers’ group on environmental law in India, told The Telegraph that the validity of an environment clearance expires in five years if the project does not continue.

Moreover, the CBI chargesheeted nine persons, including relatives of former chief minister Zoramthanga and officials recently for their role in a compensation scam. The scam was unearthed after a PIL was filed by anti-corruption watchdog SOSA (Society for Social Action). Gauhati High Court in April 2010 ordered a probe into the scam.

The CBI investigation revealed that compensation was paid to fictitious landowners.

“We will fight this dam. We agree that our state needs electricity, but we cannot give up our ancestral lands when they do not recognise our rights at all,” Vanlalvena, the village council president of Zohmun, said.

He said they were trying to form a joint platform of village councils to take up the people’s issues, but were unable to organise anything yet.

Nearly 5,100 villagers of Ratu, Mawchar, Saipum, Palsang, N. Khawdungsei, Serzawl, Lungmuat, Bukpui, Saiphai, Hlimen, Darlawn, Khawruhlian, N Chaltlang, Nisapui and Thingtherh will be affected by the dam.

More Bnei Menashe Return to Israel

Aizawl, Nov 8 : Altogether 275 Bnei Menashe people will be flown out to Israel by Shavei Israel, a Jewish organisation for facilitating the return of people of Jewish origin to that country, within a few weeks.

This follows a recently passed resolution in the Knesset, the unicameral legislature of Israel, allowing resumption of migration to Israel of people who are officially accepted as one of the “Ten Lost Tribes of Israel”, a biblical legend.

The term Bnei Menashe was coined by Rabbi Avichail, the founder of Amishav (Hebrew for “My People Return”), an organisation dedicated to locating the lost tribes of Israel. Its support in the 1990s had resulted in the congregation of Kuki-Mizo people in Manipur and Mizoram, claiming Jewish Lost Tribe ancestry, after getting the Israeli government’s recognition in 2005.

Bnei Menashe sources here said a co-ordinator of Shavei Israel would visit these two states next week. No rabbis are included in this team, as the organisation does not want to offend Indian sentiments. Shavei, which runs Hebrew centres in Aizawl and Manipur, will cover the entire cost of migration and initial local settlement.

As about 7,000 Bnei Menashe members are currently lined up to “go home” to “their” country, this team is expected to conduct interviews to choose the first batch. They are likely to visit Manipur first where a large membership lives. Most of the first batch may be from there. Ultimately, they plan to take them all “home” in batches, the sources said.

This time no conversion rituals will be held in India but will be completed in Israel where the batch is to be housed in “absorption” camps to familiarise them with their new country, according to a report in Jerusalem Post, a popular daily there.

Sources said conversions would not be held here so as not to hurt the sentiments of the local people. Besides, there is an issue of anti-conversion laws in India.

Over the years, about 1,700 Bnei Menashe have returned to Israel. The last migration was in 2005, right after Israel’s Sephardi chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar, issued a formal recognition of the Bnei Menashe as “descendants of the Jewish people”.

Members of the Rabbinic court flew to Mizoram in September that year and completed the conversion process for 218 people of the Kuki-Mizo tribe before flying them to Jerusalem for settlement. The conversion took place in Aizawl to enable them to enter Israel as full nationals of that country.

Sources said some local churches had written to the Israeli Embassy then against such conversions.

The migration process, according to Jerusalem Post, was, however, frozen in 2007 by the then government, headed by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, after members of the cabinet, in particular the then interior minister, M.K. Meir Sheetrit, opposed it on political grounds.

Assam Readies For ASEAN-India Car Rally

Guwahati, Nov 8 : The Assam government has sanctioned Rs.3.94 crore for the ASEAN-India Car Rally 2012, a section of which will be flagged off from here Dec 17.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi chaired a meeting of the apex committee for the rally, said a statement.

Gogoi will flag off the rally's final dash to New Delhi from a stadium here Dec 17.

The rally starts in Indonesia Nov 25 and after traversing nine countries and covering a distance of around 8,000 km will culminate in New Delhi Dec 20.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma will attend the flag off in Guwahati.

Cultural programmes and shows by daredevils and paratroopers will be held during the flag-off ceremony.

Gogoi also discussed the visit of ASEAN ambassadors and officials to Guwahati Nov 15 for the rally and possible investments in Assam.

Northeast Youth Festival Inaugurated

Itanagar Nov 8 : Over 1500 participants from 24 states, including 18 National Service Scheme units, are participating in the third edition of the three-day North East Youth Festival which was inaugurated today.

"The people of North East serve as sentinels in guarding the easternmost part of the country and feel proud to be Indians. The people of mainland India should treat our people equally without racial discriminations," Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Ninong Ering who declared the festival open, said.

Referring to M C Mary Kom's Olympic success, Ering said that youths of the region should take inspiration from her.

"North East has many talents like Mary and state governments should make efforts for their proper exposure," he said.

"The festival is conceptualized to promote the rich cultural heritage of various tribes and people of North Eastern states, foster national integrity and to know each other better through exchange of culture," he said.

One act plays, folk songs, folk dances, instrumental guitar and rock band competitions besides cultural displays by troupes from participating states are the major highlights of the cultural extravaganza.

India, Bangla Near Historic Agreement On Teesta Water

By Zia Haq

New Delhi, Nov 8 : India and Bangladesh could soon break a politically significant logjam to sign an interim Teesta water-sharing pact following talks between water resources minister Harish Rawat and visiting Bangladesh agriculture minister Begum Matia Chowdhury. An earlier attempt to resolve a deadlock
over how to share the waters of Teesta, which flow from India’s West Bengal into Bangladesh, had been opposed by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Rawat told the Bangladesh minister that India would sign a provisional treaty till a permanent settlement is found, sources said. Bangladesh wants greater access to Teesta waters, citing a fair-use policy but that may require India to use less.

The Tipaimukh Hydro-Electric Project in the Northeast has long fuelled concerns of the neighbouring country that it could impact on Bangladeshi agriculture because it would control water flow from India’s Barak river. India sought to allay fears of Dhaka, holding that there’s no evidence that the dam would hurt farming there.

India is ready to offer commercial power or related benefits from the project, which could be a deal-maker, sources said. In a sign of progress, Dhaka sought Indian help in building a slew of irrigation infrastructure projects. “Indian irrigation experts will visit Bangladesh after the request is formally put in motion,” an official said.