Gogoi Draws flak over official language circular for Barak Valley

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Guwahati, Sep 11 : Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has come under attack from the opposition AGP and BJP, as well as from other groups over the state government withdrawing a circular regarding use of Assamese as official language in the three districts that comprise Barak Valley in southern Assam.

The Assam government had on November 30, 2013 issued a circular asking the deputy commissioners of all districts of the state to ensure use of Assamese as official language and submit a half-yearly report to the government on its implementation.

This had generated a lot of protests in the three Barak Valley districts – Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi – where Section 5 of the Assam Official Language Act 1960 as amended in 1967 had specified Bengali as the official language there.

While protests in the Barak Valley prompted the state government to issue a fresh circular on September 9 saying that the official language (Bengali) of Barak Valley will continue to be used for all official works, the opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and BJP have come down heavily on the Congress government of Tarun Gogoi for apparently withdrawing Assamese from the Barak Valley.

“This is a totally anti-Assamese decision of the Congress government. Moreover, the circular comes just three days ahead of crucial by-election to three assembly constituencies, two of which are in the Barak Valley, clearly revealing that it is intended at catching votes,” said AGP general secretary Kamala Kalita here today.

The state BJP unit too has hit out at Gogoi, with its president Siddhartha Bhattacharyya described the circular as one that wouldlead to further division of Assam. “This circular is a weird decision of Tarun Gogoi that will have long-term impact and cause irreparable damage to the state,” Bhattacharyya said. The BJP leader also said that Gogoi’s intention behind such a circular on the eve of the by-elections was to get votes through what he described as typical Congress politics.

Noted litterateur and former Asam Sahitya Sabha president Nagen Saikia too criticized the state government and said this would create linguistic tension. “I may sound harsh, but I feel this circular will create a rift between two linguistic communities of the state,” Saikia said.
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No-Frills Airports To Take Flight

By Sandeep Dikshit

Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh; Kishangarh in Rajasthan; Jharsuguda in Odisha; and Hubli and Belgaum in Karnataka will soon get no-frills airports.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said here on Tuesday that these airports would have all the basic safety and security facilities, but no frills so as to keep capital cost and recurring expenses down.

The bells and whistles associated with metro airports — huge seating areas, food marts, phone-charging kiosks, shopping areas and so on — would be absent.The Minister, however, said they should not be called low-cost airports.

At a press conference to mark 100 days of the Modi government, he ruled out a bailout package for the airline industry, but said the Centre was actively engaged with the States to ensure lower operational costs in the form of reduced taxes.

“This is not a sector that is entitled to subsidies,” he said Mr. Raju said the Centre was in talks with the States to lower the tax on air turbine fuel.

Mr. Raju launched a “Know Your Rights” portal of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in case of inconvenience to passengers due to delayed flights, denial of boarding and lost or damaged baggage.

The DGCA has made special provisions for disabled passengers such as blocking two window seats for them till 24 hours before departure.

First Khasi And Mishmi Books For Children

By Kanika Sharma

Make most of two unique re-tellings of folktales from the North-East — the first children’s books in the languages of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya

Chennai-based children’s publishing house Tulika Books has introduced two picture books on International Literacy Day (September 8) — Race of the Rivers and Hambreelmai’s Loom. Khasi writer Esther Syiem has retold the folktale of Ka lew and Ka Ngot, two friends who love to play on the hilltops of Meghalaya. Syiem, an English literature lecturer and author is known for her study of folk literature.

Hambreelmai’s Loom, retold by Mamang Dai, pictures by Kalyani Ganpathy, Tulika Books, Rs 150. Available at leading bookstores. 

Hambreelmai’s Loom, on the other hand, has been narrated by Mamang Dai echoing the beautiful sounds of the Mishmi language from Arunachal Pradesh. The story’s protagonist is Hambreelmai who is the first weaver taught by the goddess Matai. Mamang Dai is a Padma Shri poet and novelist, who is currently a part of the Arunachal Pradesh Service Commission.


Race of the Rivers, retold by Esther Syiem, pictures by Benedict Hynniewta, Tulika Books, Rs 150. Available at leading bookstores. 

Both books have been meticulously illustrated by Benedict Hynniewta (for Race of the Rivers) and Kalyani Ganapathy (for Hambreelmai’s Loom).

As is Tulika Books’ norm, the two picture books have been published in nine languages. However, given the special status of these two books, they are also being published in their local languages making them the first Khasi book for children and first Mishmi book ever. Explore the incredulity of the North-East exposing your child to enigmatic tales for life by grabbing these books now.

Chinese Woman Publishes First-Ever Travelogue On India

Chinese travel writer Hong Mei at the India-Pakistan border at Wagah with her American husband Tom Carter.

The author Hong Mei called it a transformative journey about India's rich and diverse culture

A brush with Bollwood stars, encounters with Maoists besides exposure to election campaigning enlivens the narrative of a rare backpack Chinese woman's transformative journey to the nooks and corners of India. Hong Mei, 34, who travelled India for several months in 2009 along with her American husband, Tom Carter released her travelogue book in Chinese language titled "The further I walk, the closer I get to me", stated to be the first such account by a contemporary Chinese about India.

In many ways it is a transformative journey about India's rich and diverse culture, she told PTI

During the visit, she participated in festivals and events like Kumbh Mela, Pushkar Camel Fair, Holi besides the general elections campaigning in 2009.

Pushed by Tom, who had done a pictorial book along with her on all the 33 provinces of China highlighting its diversity, Hong had relatively comfortable travel in India as she was mostly mistaken as someone from India's North-East provinces or from Japan.

Travelling with a budget of about USD 20 a day, the twohad a good exposure to Indian way of life in the North, South and Western regions.

Tom was chosen as 10th batsman in a cricket match scene in the Bollywood movie Dil Bole Hadippa.

While in Mumbai, Hong had an insightful exposure to 2009 elections as the candidates canvassed in a festive spirit.

For someone hailing from country with a One-Party-rule (Communist Party), it was a spectacle of political harmony.

Both had an enduring experience feeling the heat travelling in areas where Maoists are active in Orissa.

Significantly Hongs accounts of elections as well as her Maoist encounters were edited out of book as authorities in China were cagey about such narratives influencing the Chinese.

Hong Mei poses with a tribal child in Odisha.

The two had close calls travelling to India’s border areas with Pakistan in the Kutch region of Gujarat as well as the Wagah border point on the Indian side of Punjab.

Her best moments in India were taking part in the cultural festivals like Holi and the worst part was she missed her regular intake of food due to excess exposure to vegetarian food in India while Tom fell sick grappling with poor immune system.

Hong said her ground breaking backpacking journey to India illustrates a growing trend among new Chinese middle classes to quit their jobs to hit the roads abroad.

Indian travels in a way impacted her as she says the religious fervour in India had left a mark of influence as she turned spiritual.

She is also thinks that despite trying conditions, Indians appeared happier compared to their Chinese counterparts despite their material success.

Manipuri Woman Stabbed in Dwarka By A Driver; Accused Held

 New Delhi, Sep 10 : A Manipuri woman paid the price for being upright and exposing wrong deeds of an employee of her company. The man was sacked and he decided to take revenge.

 

Since he was aware of her residence, he stabbed her in the market. A 31-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing a Manipuri woman Monday evening near her house in Dwarka Sector 22 in southwest Delhi.

 

The accused identified as Rohit Francis had attacked the girl with an associate.

He was a driver in the construction company in Gurgaon where the victim Silvia Vaiphei (30) used to work.

"Vaiphei worked in the accounts department of the company and she had caught Francis submitting false bills to the office. On her complaint, he was sacked. The man held a grudge against her for this and attacked her last night to take revenge," said a police official.

Francis knew her residence as he had dropped her there several times. Vaiphei had also quit the job sometime later.

Vaiphei, who lives with her sister and brother-in-law in Dwarka Sector 22, had gone to the market around 6 pm when the two men stabbed her and fled the spot.

Francis has been booked for attempt to murder and efforts are on to nab his associate, police said.

India Set to Import 100,000 Tonnes of Rice From Burma

Burma will supply 100,000 tonnes of rice to India, to meet the need for the commodity in the states of Mizoram and Manipur (PHOTO:wikicommons).

By BINNY MARY PAUL

India, the largest rice exporter in the world, is set to import around 100,000 tonnes of rice from Burma, which was once the largest exporter of the commodity.

The move is a result of logistical bottlenecks that will hinder the transportation of rice to the northeastern states of India. The rice import is a preventive measure to avoid a supply crisis in the states of Manipur and Mizoram, where a railway construction project is underway.

In the absence of feasible transport routes to connect Mizoram and Manipur with the rest of India during this phase, the Food Corporation of India will import rice from Burma, which is well connected by road to these northeastern Indian states, according to a report in the Indian daily, The Economic Times.

Though what seems like a temporary arrangement, the move seems to further calibrate India’s “Look East” policy, in which bilateral relations with Burma have always been prioritized to combat Chinese monopoly in the region.

All efforts to increase India’s bilateral trade with Burma are viewed as an essential and natural strategy to increase Indian influence within a country that it shares much with, including a colonial history and a 1,009-mile border.

The decision to import rice from Burma, even despite surplus production at home, fosters a mutually inclusive economic understanding between the two countries, which are both competitors in South Asia for rice export.

The rice import also provides an opportunity for India to explore and identify the potential capacity of the northeastern states, volatile with secessionist and insurgent groups, but also shares an extensively vast percentage of its borderlines with regional neighbours. According to a report published by Gateway House, an Indian think tank, the exchange of commodities between India and Burma via its northeastern terrain will aid India in tapping into the hitherto neglected role that northeast can play in further strengthening the trade possibilities between the two countries.

At present, it is unclear whether the trade route will be via the Chittagong port or via land routes, although The Economic Times suggests the latter. Interestingly if the trade is to be via road, it will be carried out across the commonly disputed borderlines of Burma and India. The landscape of northeast India, which merges relatively seamlessly into Burmese territory, has been a belt of narcotic activity and arms trading, and is also infested with insurgent rebel groups on either side of the border.
Former Indian military commander, Rahul Bhonsle, who spearheads Security-Risks.com/South Asia, explained to DVB about the need to buckle up security at either ends of the trade routes. “In the case of the land route being used, adequate checks [must be implemented] to ensure that the [rice] transportation is not used by the criminal and militant nexus operating across the borders to their advantage,” said Bhonsle.

The increasing importance of transport routes via India and Burma as a priority was emphasised at the fifth annual Indo-US strategic dialogue. The strategic importance of building transport trade routes via Burma serves a twofold purpose for India: increasing trade connectivity; and serving as a strategic entry portal into Southeast Asia.

For Burma, the export deal with India comes at a time when the rice industry faces stiff competition from its neighbours; the Myanmar Rice Federation demanded tangible rice policies earlier this year to match the level of surplus production of other rice-exporting countries.

The latest five-year national export strategy, unveiled by the Burmese government on 5 September, has accredited rice exports to be of “highest importance” in 2014-15, reported Oryza, a leading rice industry publication..

“The [Burmese] government is planning to explore newer markets for its rice exports,” it said, part of a strategy to revive Burma’s once famed rice export legacy.

With this deal underway, India will be importing rice after almost three decades.

Passport Seva Kendras For All Northeast Indian States

Agartala, Sep 10 : To overcome the growing backlog of passport- seekers, all the North-Eastern Indian states will get their own Passport Seva Kendras by Mar 31, a top Indian minister has said.

All the state appreciated the move which will help in further improving the relation between the people of this part of India with its neighouring like Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.

"Before the next financial year, that is March 31, we will open Passport Seva Kendras in all the North-East states," announced Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during a press conference in Indian capital.

At present there is only one regional passport office at Guwahati of Assam in the region that caters to the 96 districts of six North-Eastern, while Tripura comes under the Kolkata office.

Earlier, there was provision of a special permit which later took the shape of India-Bangladesh Passport issued by the political department of Tripura.

This was for people who were keen to travel to only Bangladesh for family or business reasons but not to elsewhere in the world.

However, recently due to security related issues, this system has been stopped leading to a major problem in getting passport for those who often goes to Bangladesh for various reasons.

Swaraj also announced that the Centre has agreed to double the production of number of passport booklets published per year keeping in mind the recent demand of passports.

"Around ten million booklets used to produced annually, which led to a great shortage of passports. When I was made the External Affairs Minister, I found that the shortage of passport booklets to be more than six lakhs. Thus now, we have decided that the number of booklets produced shall be increased to two crores annually," she said.

The India External Affairs Minister further said that there was a plan to start passport camps, where the people would be able to get their passports made.

"We want to start passport camps, where people can come and get their passports made for those who find it difficult to travel to Passport Seva Kendras. We want to open a passport camp in every district in the country," she said.

As of December 31, 2013, the number of valid passport s in the country was 5,19, 29,132.

Ukhrul Ambush: Commando Killed

By Khelen Thokchom
Imphal, Sept. 9: The Manipur government’s move to offer an olive branch to sponsors of the indefinite bandh in Naga-inhabited areas by withdrawing additional security forces from Ukhrul town took a hit this morning when suspected NSCN (Isak-Muivah) militants sprung twin ambushes in Ukhrul district, leaving one police commando dead and two injured.

The deceased was identified as Haoreiyo. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to Imphal while the other two personnel, Khumukcham Amuthoi, 33, and Naminthang Namsong, 27, were admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences here. Amuthoi’s condition is said to be serious. All the three are constables.

The security personnel were returning from Ukhrul town, 65km northeast of Imphal, following orders issued last evening by the state government on the suggestion of Union home minister Rajnath Singh to create a conducive situation that could lead to lifting of the six-day-old bandh called by the United Naga Council (UNC).

Though no militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, police suspect the hand of the NSCN (I-M) because the sites of the ambushes are stronghold of the group, which is in ceasefire and talks with the government. The truce is not applicable to Manipur, but both the central and state forces avoid action against the outfit in view of the ongoing peace talks between the group and Centre.

Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and deputy chief minister Gaikhangam, who is also the home minister, briefed governor V.K. Duggal on the law and order situation in the wake of today’s ambush. Before meeting the governor, Gaikhangam reviewed the situation in Ukhrul with Congress legislators elected from the district.

Police said militants, lying in wait on hilltops ambushed the two convoys almost simultaneously at 9.30am at Mahadeva, 20km from Imphal, and Hundung, 40km from Imhal, on the Imphal-Ukhrul road. The first convoy to come under attack at Mahadeva was a team of police commandos sent from Imphal to Ukhrul as road-opening patrol for the convoy returning from Ukhrul. The commandos returned fire and the exchange lasted for about 10 minutes.

As the exchange of fire was on, another group of militants sprung an ambush on a combined team of police commandos and India Reserve Battalion (IRB) personnel returning from Ukhrul at Hundung, about 20km east of Mahadeva. Haoreiyo was injured in the second ambush.

The combined team of commandos and IRB numbering about 500 was being led by deputy inspector-general (Range-1) Bilchandra Sharma and was on its way to Imphal.

These forces had been deployed after the killing of Ukhrul Autonomous District Council member Ngalangzar Malue, 65, by suspected NSCN (I-M) cadres in Ukhrul on July 12. The UNC, apex body of the Nagas, called an indefinite bandh in the Naga areas from Thursday demanding withdrawal of the state forces and prohibitory orders.

The bandh has affected supplies of essential commodities to Manipur as the two key highways connecting the state to the outside world pass through the Naga-inhabited areas.

Though both security forces and the prohibitory orders were withdrawn, the UNC was yet to take a decision on calling off its bandh.

The government has not decided whether to do a rethink on the pullout after today’s twin ambushes. The chief minister is expected to review the situation with security agencies before taking any decision.

Official sources said the government was prepared to take up the issue of NSCN (I-M)’s activities in Manipur with the Centre for possible flush-out operations.

Intelligence sources said cadres of the outfit were operating in the district in the absence of any ceasefire.

Sources said though the army, Assam Rifles and state forces carried out operations from time to time against other militant groups numbering more than 30, they were avoiding action against the NSCN (I-M) lest the talks are jeopardised.

Manipur govt had pulled out forces after centre’s nudge

April 9, 2014: Suspected NSCN-IM cadres ambush Deputy Speaker M.K. Presho Shimray in Ukhrul on voting day for Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency. Shimray escapes unhurt

July 12, 2014: Suspected NSCN-IM militants ambush Ukhrul Autonomous District Council member Ngalangzar Malue, killing him on the spot

Nov. 13, 2011: Suspected NSCN-IM cadres ambush education minister D.D. Thaisii in Senapati district. He escapes unhurt

April. 15, 2011: Suspected NSCN-IM rebels ambush Independent MLA Wungnaoshang Keishing in Ukhrul. Six Manipur Rifles personnel escorting the MLA and a driver killed on
the spot