14 Naga Prostitutes Caught in Chennai By Students Union

Sinlung Says: This is a recurring problem not just in Chennai but all over Indian cities. But Is sending the girls back to Nagaland or their home town a solution? NO. This has been done by Mizo Students, Manipur students, Arunachal and Khasi Students as well. But has it helped?

Kohima, Jun 29 : The Naga Students’ Union of Chennai (NSUC) has caught 14 Naga girls, allegedly involved in prostitution, during the first and second week of May from Sripirumberatur in the outskirts of Chennai. The girls were allegedly involved in the flesh trade.

The union has sent them back to their native places. The girls were promised ‘good jobs’ as waitresses with free accommodation and lucrative salaries in a Korean hotel, only to land in flesh trade, it was informed.

Vice president of NSUC Surili Junger informed in a press release today that after serious discussions with Naga elders in Chennai, a decision was made not to reveal the identities of the girls. However, they were warned with dire consequences in future. The union admitted that the whole problem points to the ugly truth of unemployment and negligence of the educated unemployed by the government.

The NCSU informed all citizens to be aware ‘such kinds of happening’ not only in Chennai but also in other places within and outside Chennai. The NSUC also appealed to parents to first enquire about organizations and companies and the jobs they offer before sending their children to unknown places.

Talking to The Morung Express, the union’s general secretary said one of the 14 girls had informed the union. It is tacit that they had quarreled among themselves and had made the girl to contact the union fearing danger, he said. The girls were mostly matriculates. Incurring the travelling expenses, the union sent the girls back to their respective homes.

Source: Morung Express

Divers Recover Body of Missing British Tourist Christina Reed in Meghalaya

Divers have recovered the body of missing British tourist Christina Reed, swept to her death as she swam in a fast flowing river.

Happier times: Christina Reed and Anthony Biddlecombe on their travels (Picture: SWNS)

Shillong, Jun 29 : The 25-year-old had not been seen since she was caught in a strong current while swimming in the swollen Umkynsan River, in north east India on Saturday.

Miss Reed’s body was identified by her boyfriend Anthony Biddlecombe and the owner of the lodge where they were staying.

‘We have also matched the remains with her photo on the passport,’ said Sunil Kumar Kataria, the policeman in charge of the operation.

The English language teacher and Mr Biddlecombe were believed to have been visiting Sohra, officially the wettest place on earth during India’s monsoon season, before going for a swim on Saturday.

Miss Reed jumped into the river after her 28-year-old lifeguard boyfriend and was dragged away by the current.

‘We tried our best to rescue her but we failed as she was swept away by the high current downstream,’ he said.

The demanding terrain and high waters had prevented divers from entering the river until yesterday. Police office Sunil Kumar Kataria said: ‘It is a hilly and very dangerous area. Water levels in the rivers have risen alarmingly due to heavy and torrential rains during last couple of days.

‘The boys attempted to pull her out but failed.’

Miss Reed, from Torquay, Devon, and Mr Biddlecombe, from Sandown on the Isle of Wight, had travelled extensively together throughout Thailand.

They had been in India for a two weeks after leaving Chiang Mai, where she had taught locals and businesses.

In a blog post, she described her philosophy in life as: ‘Never try, never know.’

The couple were travelling with friends in Meghalaya, known as the Scotland of the East owing to its craggy hills, cool temperatures and heavy rainfall. The Umkynsan River flows below the village of Laitkynsew and is about 40 miles from state capital Shillong.

Concert To Feature Nagaland Choir

Guwahati, Jun 29 : In order to showcase the talent of gifted but lesser-known musicians, the Naga Christian Fellowship Guwahati (NCFG) has formed a choir group and will hold a musical concert where the choir will perform at the ITA Centre, Machhkhowa on June 29.

The NCFG's aim in building the choir, named Nagaland Singing Ambassadors (NCA), is to create a platform for upcoming, talented musicians to congregate, share ideas, develop their potential and render performances in front of the northeast community, churches and beyond. The fellowship also plans to provide scholarships to promising musicians.

The NCA choir comprises trained musicians drawn from various choirs in Nagaland.

Started under the leadership of Lipokmar Tzudir in March this year, the choir has already performed at numerous prestigious festivals in the country and has also received invitations to perform abroad. The membership to the group is by invitation and is exclusively reserved for singers with experience and commitment to choir music.

The choir has a wide repertoire ranging from Western classical, folk, Naga choir and even Broadway show tunes to popular and spiritual music.

The person behind this musical extravaganza, Tzudir, is a recipient of the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi's Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in the creative arts category for excellence in choir music. He is also considered as one of the finest choir conductors of India by the country's music critics.

Mizo Road Link Makes Progress

Aizawl, Jun 29 : The civil construction in the first phase of the 161km two-lane inter-country highway to link Lawngtlai town of south Mizoram with Kaletwa in the Chin hills division of Myanmar is progressing at a modest pace, despite inconveniences because of heavy monsoon showers and hassles regarding land acquisition.

The 12-metre highway aims at linking Mizoram with Sittwe port in Myanmar on the Bay of Bengal in order to provide the state with access to a sea-lane.

Mizoram’s PWD chief engineer (highways) Lianchhungnunga said the road link, after the completion of the second phase, would lead to Sittwe port from Kaletwa.

He said the road was part of the Kaladan multi-modal transport project which was cleared by the Centre last year. It is expected to be complete in three years, he added.

Lianchhungnunga said in Aizawl today that the Lanwgtlai-Kaletwa road had been split up into three sections, each of which was being built by a reputed New Delhi-based civil engineering firm.

DRS Projects Ltd will build the 38km stretch of the highway from Lawngtlai at a cost of Rs 292 crore while the two other stretches will be constructed by DRS and Atlanta-Arss Ltd at a cost of Rs 356 crore. Lianchhungnunga said the road from the Indo-Myanmar border to Kaletwa, a distance of 62km, will be built by the neighbouring country, ruled by a military junta.

The Union ministry of external affairs will give Rs 354 crore to construct 99km of this vital road from Lawngtlai to Kaletwa.

The rest of the 62km, running through the rugged hills in the border areas of Myanmar, will be built by the junta administration, which is all set to boost trade between the two countries.

A 7km stretch of the highway has been completed so far.

The sea-lane to Sittwe along this highway will help the Mizoram government to transport goods to the other parts of the country.

Need For Stronger Drug Laws in Mizoram

Sinlung Says: Is it the drug laws or the liquor prohibition? As humans, we need something to relieve us of, youths especially. Why is that when Mizo's leave Mizoram for Indian cities, mostly everyone drinks. Now, where is the problem. If prohibition was lifted, would drug use come down? This is a question which many skeptics doubt.

But look at Amsterdam.

Is it the laws that govern us? Or is the the people or groups or NGO’s that take law into their hands? Something needs to be done in Mizoram quickly.

Aizawl, Jun 28 : Concerned over the unceasing drug menace in Mizoram, Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla today reiterated the need for stronger laws to effectively deal with the social evil.

Inaugurating a two-day ‘training on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition (MLTP) Act, and Assam Drug Control (ADC) Act’ here, Lal Thanhawla said, ''The fact that drug dealers, arrested by police, went out of jail very quickly may dishearten the police and other NGOs who are combating drug abuse in the state.'' It was with this view that this training has been organised to find loopholes in the existing drug laws and work out necessary amendments to the laws to make them more stringent, he stated.

The training was meant for NGOs, judicial magistrates, police and excise and narcotics personnel, the chief minister added.

''This training is being organised to see that if there are provisions to award more punishment to drug dealers and longer jail terms,'' he said.

Lal Thanhawla went on saying that he had personally contemplated on the use of mob rule against drug smugglers if the laws failed to give them longer imprisonment.

''They (drug smugglers) are public enemy and they don’t deserve sympathy,'' he remarked.

Mizoram's state level apex coordination committee on drugs had last year proposed that a stringent 'Mizoram Drugs Control Act' be legislated to effectively combat the drug menace in the state.

35 % of Mizoram Meat Consumption Imported

Aizawl, Jun 28 : About 35 per cent of the total meat consumed in Mizoram is imported from other states, including Myanmar, according to the 18th quinquennial livestock census 2007, volumes one and two were released here today.

According to the survey, the per capita consumption of milk, egg and meat was 33 grams, 44 numbers, and 11.52 kilograms respectively.

Besides the availability, there are demands for 87133 grams of milk, 1638 lakh of eggs and 1818 tonnes of meat to meet the ICMR’s recommendations.

Since 35 per cent of the meat consumed is imported, the actual demand gap in meat is 5400 tonnes, the survey said.

According to the survey, there are 34,897 cattles, 5,832 buffaloes, 1,939 mithuns, 974 sheeps, 15,710 goats, 1,357 horses, 2,66,909 pigs, 35,302 dogs, 879 rabbits, 12,31,504 chickens, 6544 geese and others in Mizoram.

The numbers are expected to have increased during the last three years after the survey.

According to an annual report on integrated sample survey of milk, eggs and meat production of Mizoram in 50 towns and villages, also released today, the total production of milk, eggs and meat in Mizoram are 10633 tonnes, 371 lakh and 10235 tonnes respectively.

Nagaland Tops Drugs Abuse in India

A drug addict receives doses of addnok tablets from a counsellor at a drop in centre of Kripa Rehabilitation Centre in Kohima, Nagaland, India. With few options, many Naga youth turn to drugs or alcohol. Addiction rates here are among the highest in India. So too is the rate of AIDS. Oral drug substitution therapy means substituting the mode of a person's illegal drug use to a legal drug use and in the process prevent him/her from encountering certain complications relating to illicit drug...(Copyright Sanjit Das)

Dimapur, Jun 28 : At least 50 per cent drug addicts in Nagaland are injecting drugs users (IDU) and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS transmission, the latest report compiled by an NGO has revealed.
Nagaland, which has an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 drug users, has the highest number of them in India.

According to the report, which is based on studies conducted by government agencies including NACO and NGOs in 2009, out of 35,000 to 40,000 drug users, 18,000 to 20,000 are injecting drug users and exchange of needles among them is one of the major routes of HIV/AIDS transmission.

These findings presented at 'Convergence Workshop on Drug Abuse Prevention' at Dimapur yesterday called for a coordinated and concerted effort from all stakeholders to tackle the problem of drug abuse in Nagaland.

The workshop sponsored by National Institute of Social Defence, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in collaboration with Regional Resource and Training Center, North East-II was attended by various NGOs, field based organisations and educational institutions.

Punjab ranks second in drug abuse

 

Health Minister Satpal Gosain being shown the exhibition against drug abuse

More than 70 per cent of boys and girls in Punjab abuse drugs, says survey

Ludhiana: After Nagaland, Punjab ranks second in the country for drug abuse. As per a survey, more than 70 per cent of boys and girls in Punjab, abuse drugs. According to a survey conducted by psychologist Dr Shiv Sood, 62 percent of the boys and girls in the age group of 19-24 years are exposed to drugs. These findings came to light in the state-level function on International Day Against Drug Abuse at Government college for boys.

Health Minister Satpal Gosain was the chief guest on the occasion. Gosain expressed concern over the increasing drug addiction in the state. He asked all those gathered to take a pledge that they will fight against drug abuse. A though provoking play was also shown by students on the occasion.

Explaining the achievements of the health department, secretary of health, Satish Chander said: “In the past four years we have seized drugs worth Rs 11 crores from various parts of the state and to be more vigilant, 34 new drug inspectors will be recruited. At the moment 19 inspectors are fighting this menace.”

Sources in the health department however revealed that the drugs which were seized have not yet been destroyed because the court cases are still going on.

The seized medicines are lying at secret places in various districts.

The management and storage of these seized drugs are a headache for the drug inspectors, confirmed the sources.

Director of health services, Dr Ashok Nayyar admitted that youngsters are involved in drug abuse because of easy availability of drugs, he added: “The fake de-addiction centres are another nuisance where youngsters are detained illegally. We have raided such centres in Faridkot and Hoshairpur and have closed down these centres as well. Our teams are on constant vigil against such centres.”

Drugs or Aids awareness?

Although the programme was about the fight against drug abuse, a majority of the posters on display were regarding AIDS. In addition to this, the literature was in short supply

and nothing could be distributed for awareness purposes. Social activist Satpal Bansal met the health minister and

complained about the lack of preparation. Bansal said: “I could not find a single poster talking about drug abuse and everything was on AIDS. Mere talks will not serve the purpose.”

PA Slams Israel's Decision To Bring Jews From India

Jerusalem, Jun 28  : The Palestinian Authority on Monday slammed Israel's decision to bring Jews from northeast India to Israel.

According to Monday’s issue of Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the ministerial committee convened under Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and decided to bring 7,300 Jews from India to Israel.

The report highlighted that up until 2007, 1,700 Indian Jews were brought to Israel, and immigration stopped since then.

PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib said the decision came in line with Israel’s policy to bring non-Israeli Jews to Israel at the expense of the Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, he added, Israel prevents the Palestinians from returning to their homeland to live there.

"This is something we condemn, and since we don't have enough information, we need to contact the Indian government for an explanation," he told Ma’an.