Manipur Seminar Initiates Discourse on “Peace Dividend”

Imphal, Apr 26 : For many decades, Manipur has been facing the brunt of militancy, the result - huge social and economic losses. To discuss the situation in the state, intellectuals came together on a common platform under the banner of `Peace Dividends’.

Almost everyday incidents of grenade attack, kidnapping and extortion by various militant groups are reported in Manipur.

Bringing peace and development to Manipur is an issue that concerns all.

The State Academy of Training recently organized a seminar called `Peace Dividends’, where intellectuals discussed ways to resolve conflicts.

“Basically, the discussion was peace in different angles like, how development can help, how governance can help, what role media can play etc. I think it touches very different issues in a very different manner and it approaches “Peace,” said Pradip Phanjoubam, Editor, Imphal Free Press.

Militancy-led-violence has disrupted normal life in Manipur.

In 2009, there were 420 deaths. This included 68 civilians, 19 members of the security forces and police and 333 members of various underground groups including those who died in internecine clashes.

The funds, which would have been spent on development projects in Manipur, are used to maintain law and order and curb militancy.

“Actually we are trying to define how the development should be there and the money we are spending to control law and order situation, that money, if you actually spend on the issues like healthcare, education, development of infrastructure it would be better for the society, said P.K. Jha, IAS, MACS Director.

“If peace will be there, then this expenditure which we are having here for controlling of the emergency situation that will be good for the society,” Jha added.

“It helps us to understand various aspects to bring peace in various parts of Manipur. Over a period, it has changed the way we think and mental blockage, which we face over a period of time,” said Nidhi Kesarvani, Deputy Commissioner, Senapati District

Peace and development go hand in hand.

If peace is there in the region, automatically development will take place.

The seminar formulated some strategies for a ‘Peaceful Manipur’ and it is hoped that this effort will bear fruit.

Bhutan Hopes SAARC Summit Would Boost Tourism

Thimpu, Apr 26 : Bhutan hopes the upcoming 16th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) here will help revive the country’s jaded tourism industry.

For the first time, this Himalayan kingdom will host a summit of the eight-member grouping April 28-29. The summit will mark the 25th year of the establishment of the regional body.

The tourism sector has been a nonstarter in Bhutan due to limited resources and lack of infrastructure, although the country is endowed with beautiful landscapes and rich wildlife.

Bhutan now hopes more foreign tourists would visit this landlocked country after it gets wide publicity during the summit.

The authorities in Thimpu have already gone into a rigorous drive to upgrade the infrastructure in view of the international conference.

Markets, restaurants and hotels were renovated to show the warm hospitality of the people of Bhutan when the dignitaries would come here for the summit, Kinley Dorji, secretary at Information and Communication Ministry, told Xinhua.

The infrastructure that has been upgraded would serve the tourism sector in the future, he said.

According to National Statistics Bureau of Bhutan, tourist arrival in the country is increasing every year. In 2009, more than 28,000 tourists visited the country, compared to 27,636 in 2008.

“Within three years, we are hoping to increase tourist arrival by three times to 100,000 annually,” said Dorji.

Since 1947, Bhutan has followed a “high value, low volume” tourism policy, he added.

Tourists’ arrival in the country has been within the capacity of its socio-cultural and natural environment to absorb visitors without negative impacts. Tourism is Bhutan’s largest commercial source of convertible currency earnings.

Census Work Begins in Tripura

Agartala, Apr 26 : The Housing Census and National Population Register (NPR) canvassing work in Tripura today began from Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's house.

Director of Census Operation (Tripura) Dilip Acharjee said the Government of India had started canvassing all personal information of the individual, along with the residence lists, which will be maintained by unique identification number as ready reference for any use for the first time in India.

Formally, NPR preparation work began with registering information of Mr Sarkar and his family members this morning. The Chief Minister urged the people to cooperate with enumerators for household survey and to collect data for NPR as part of Census-2010.

''The mammoth task of Census is being taken up with missionary zeal and dedication. We expect both enumerators and supervisors to do the job sincerely so far as data collection is concerned and they are also expected to motivate the people, which will ultimately reflect the national sprit of unity and diversity,'' Mr Sarkar pointed out.

Meanwhile, Census officials urged peoples' participation on large scale and said the Census would provide information on size, distribution and socio-economic, demographic and other characteristics of the population, which would be used for planning and policy-making, besides evaluation of management and need for development.

Paramilitary Forces Arrive For Tripura ADC Poll

Agartala, Apr 26 : The Centre has assured to send 20 companies of Central Paramilitary Force (CPMF) for election to Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) slated for May 3.

Tripura State Election Commissioner Y P Singh told the media here today that the Union Home Ministry had agreed to provide 20 companies of CPMF exclusively for the election in which about 6,36,169 voters would exercise their franchise in 1,006 polling booths spread over about two-third geographical area of Tripura.

Mr Singh, however, stated that the administration has started deployment of Central Para Military Forces (and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) personnel in sensitive locations, besides state police, well ahead of the (TTAADC) election. The state had asked for additional 30 companies of CPMF for the ADC poll, as out of 1006 polling stations, 91 were identified as ''hyper-sensitive'' and 347 in the category of ''sensitive'' polling stations so far.

Security has been beefed up in poll-bound areas and BSF strength in Indo-Bangladesh border was increased substantially while counter-insurgency operations were intensified besides enhancement of security in all vital locations, Mr Singh said. '

'As part of these strategies state police has already begun a counter-insurgency campaign to foil any possible militant bid during election,'' Home department officials said, adding the state election officials reviewed the security arrangement across the state.

According to the plans, all the sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling stations would be covered by the CPMF while TSR personnel would be deployed in the outer periphery of the polling stations. However, all the normal polling stations would also be covered by CPMF security. The results of 28 seats of ADC election would be declared on May 7 next.

‘Mariani’ Assam’s Potential Business Hub

By Peter Alex Todd

Guwahati, Apr 26 : Mariani, a town situated on Nagaland-Assam border, is gradually transforming into a business hub. With peace prevailing in the region, the youth here are increasingly taking up business related ventures.

Mariani is in Titabor District, and about 17 kilometers from Jorhat. Markets here bustle with activity. New trade complexes are coming up and this encouraging youth to take up business as a career.

“People from outside regions come and do business here and we are earning handsomely like 15-16k per month,” said Dilip Kumar Saha, a shopkeeper.
With peace gradually returning to Assam and Nagaland, traders have reason to be optimistic.

“Many people in Nagaland depend on Mariani for jobs. So in this town the government should lay emphasis on trade and commerce. If peace prevails, the region definitely has a lot of potential,” said Mintu Kolita, a businessman in Mariani.

Just five to six kilometers away from the Mariani is Dehingia village, a small hamlet with 85 households and a population of 1600. The village has a school and work is in progress to construct a road that will connect it to Mariani.

Funded by the Centre and state, the road that is being built by the Border Road Development Organization (BRDO) is a boon for people, when completed.

This is not all… Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme provides a source of livelihood to many people.
Villagers demand for the promotion of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).

“The NREGA is going on, and it is going on at a good speed. We should get 100 days of work so that expenses can be taken care of. It will be of great help to us,” said Pobitra Saikia, a villager. Pottery is the main source of income for the people in this region. They make clay pots and sell them in nearby markets.

“We make pots. We make our living from it and feed our children from it. Business is good, profits are good,” said Mahesh, a potter. Though there is some border conflict between Assam and Nagaland, but people on both sides live in harmony.

They are not bothered about such issues and are engaged in day-to-day business activities. “There is no conflict, people are peaceful and relate to each other and the dispute is on National Highway and it will be nice if state government of Assam and Nagaland give more efforts for development of the region. And it would be nice if state government solves this issue peacefully,” said Temsuyanger Aier, Mokokchung, Nagaland.

Giving a Voice to India's Villagers

In a remote corner of rural India, a new experiment using mobile phones is bringing people news made by local villagers. The BBC's Geeta Pandey travels to Rajnandgaon district in the central state of Chhattisgarh to see who is tuning in.

There is little access to independent news in remote rural areas

A group of villagers sit on a shaded platform on a hot afternoon in Mirche village.

The topic of discussion today is the Mongra barrage - a dam-like structure constructed on the nearby Shivnath river.

The conversation is animated. The villagers discuss the displacement the barrage has caused and the lack of compensation from the authorities.

"It's been four years since the dam was built. Where is our compensation," asks Lal Sahu? The anxiety lines his forehead.

"[The state Chief Minister] Raman [Singh] says there is no shortage of money, then what's the problem? We must get adequate compensation soon," he adds.

Citizen reporters

The list of grievances goes on.

"Some villagers have got compensation but many are not included in the list of the affected.

The government says it's working for the development of the poor, but it appears they are working for our destruction.

Budhan Meshram, folk singer

"There is also a lot of corruption. People who have not lost land are included for compensation, but many who have lost land are not on the list," says Anant Ram Nirmarkar.

Listening to their complaints and grievances are Bhan Sahu and Budhan Meshram, who are "reporters" or "citizen journalists" for CGnet Swara (Chhattisgarh Net Voice).

CGnet is an attempt to cater to people who are on the wrong side of the digital divide, says Shubhranshu Choudhary, a former BBC journalist-turned-activist and the brain behind CGnet Swara.

"We are providing a new platform which the villagers can use to talk to each other and the outside world about issues that are important to them," he says.

A few years ago, a Delhi-based media research agency, Charkha, did a survey and came up with the finding that only 2% of space in mainstream media was dedicated to covering the livelihood issues of India's largely poor and overlooked tribals.

Mobile connectivity

In this remote land, newspapers have not caught on as literacy rates are abysmal, there is no internet or private television and the only sources of news are the state-run TV channel Doordarshan and All India Radio.

"But we see that even in rural and tribal areas, mobile penetration is high and is continuously growing," Mr Choudhary says.

CGnet Swara is Shubhranshu Choudhary's idea

So he came up with the idea of news on mobile phones, to see if they could be used as a platform for information-sharing in poor and unconnected areas.

And the technology, developed by Microsoft Research India and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is simple.

"Reporters" call a Bangalore number to upload a news item and a text message goes out to all the phone numbers in the contact list and anyone who wants to hear the report calls in to the same number and the message is played out.

In Mirche village, Budhan Meshram, Bhan Shah and other villagers crowd around a mobile phone as one of them dials in for the latest news.

Annoyed

"All Chhattisgarh legislators have gone to Haridwar to take part in the Kumbh festival at the government expense," informs the day's top report.

The report has touched a chord and the audience is clearly annoyed.

"The government says it's working for the development of the poor, but it appears they are working for our destruction," says Budhan Meshram.

Budhan, a low-caste Dalit illiterate folk singer, has been using CGnet Swara to upload songs on contemporary social issues. Today she is singing about her favourite topic - displacement.

Why should we leave?
This land, this forest, this river is ours
Capitalists - leave
The government may be yours, the law may be yours, the police may be yours, but we will not keep quiet, we will keep fighting
We looked after this land
We cared for this forest
We worshipped these rivers
Why should we leave?

She sings this to much applause.

CGnet was launched in February and Mr Choudhary says the response has been overwhelming.

Bhan Sahu (right) is a 'citizen journalist' for CGnet

"Initially we were wondering why would a person call Bangalore to upload or hear news? But we were surprised by the response.

"One of our contributors said she spent 20 rupees to upload a message. She lives in a remote area where the phone connectivity is not great. She has to try three to four times to be able to record her message. But she records messages regularly," he said.

Budhan Meshram says this is an area where few people turn to television or radio for news.

"Many people here have television sets, but they mostly watch soaps and films on them. What passes for news in mainstream media is anyway just government propaganda."

Bhan Sahu argues that the issues that concern the poor are never covered.

"No-one has given any information about the Mongra dam and the displacement it has caused in 14 villages. I want the voice of the poor to reach the people through my report."

With CGnet, these villagers have found a new voice - their own voice.

And they are tuning in to hear their own take on events in large numbers.

Normal Life Affected in Assam's NC Hills District

Haflong (Assam), Apr 26 : Normal life was partially affected in Assam's North Cachar Hills district following a 24-hour bandh called by the NC Hills Indigenous Women Forum (NCIWF).

Official sources said there was no untoward incident from any part of the district so far but security has been tightened and a strict vigil was being maintained.

The bandh has been called by the NCIWF to protest against police firing on bandh supporters here on April 9 in which five supporters, including a woman, were injured.

The April 9 bandh was called to demand bifurcation of NC Hills district into two autonomous districts following its renaming as Dima Hasao district.
All schools, colleges, educational institutions remained closed and vehicular traffic was thin, sources added.

Tempers Rise Over Clogged Manipur Highways

Imphal, Apr 26 : Manipur transporters, operating buses between Imphal and other cities in the Northeast, today slammed the Okram Ibobi Singh government for failing to clear the two national highways.

They also accused the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur, of being partial in blocking vehicles during the ongoing economic blockade.

The students have not been allowing buses between Imphal and other towns, including Kohima, Dimapur, Guwahati and Shillong, to ply along Imphal-Kohima and Imphal-Jiribam highways after the inter-state bus services was brought under the purview of the blockade.

The union imposed the blockade against the Ibobi Singh government’s plan to hold elections to six autonomous district councils next month.

Naga student bodies are opposing the election maintaining that the ADCs constituted under the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act (Third Amendment) Act 2008 would not have much power to safeguard the rights of the indigenous people.

They began the blockade along Imphal-Kohima and Imphal-Jiribam highways from April 11 midnight for six days and then extended it for seven more days from April 17 midnight. This time the association has covered buses to and from Manipur under the purview of the blockade.

After the Ibobi Singh cabinet reaffirmed on April 23 the government’s decision to hold the election in May, the Naga students group extended the blockade indefinitely from April 24 midnight to put pressure on the state government.

The government sent escorts to bring back stranded supply trucks from Mao in Senapati district to Imphal from time to time.

“The government did not provide enough security for the vehicles and buses. So the bus services could not resume. We appeal to the government to clear the blockade and allow free movement of vehicles,” Athokpam Budha Luwang, president of the All Manipur Inter-State Bus Association, told the media today.

The association alleged that even though the students’ body blocked the inter-state buses, it is allowing buses to ply between Imphal and Senapati district headquarters and Imphal-Mao.

“We are private operators and not a government agency. Why should our buses be included in the economic blockade? This is partiality on the part of the student body,” Luwang said.

He also expressed resentment at the blockade supporters for allowing taxi services between Imphal and Dimapur.

“Imphal to Dimapur bus fare is Rs 350. The taxis are charging Rs 600 per head. The travelers are suffering because of this. The blocking of the buses is also causing inconvenience to students coming home and travelling out of Manipur to their place of study,” the president of the transporters’ association said.

However, the students’ body is unlikely to lift the blockade.

With reports that the Ibobi Singh government is planning to issue the election notification in the next few days, the association is reported to be chalking out strategies to intensify its agitation.