The Code Of A Warrior

By Tithiya Sharma

Tlawmngaihna is an untranslatable word; it is the Mizo code of ethics and dharma.

Tlawmngaihna binds the people of Mizoram to be hospitable, unselfish and helpful to others.

Tlawmngaihna to Mizos stands for a compelling moral force which finds expression in self-sacrifice and the service of others.

Vanlalruata lives by this code. He was born in the Khawhai, Champhai District in Mizoram in 1975. The son of marginal farmers, he grew up with a strong sense of community and service. Despite what little he had, Vanlalruata knew he was better off than most in his town.

But observing the way Mizoram had evolved after receiving statehood in 1987, he had grown increasingly dissatisfied with the way things were.

With the help of two friends, HL Liansawta, a retired medical assistant from the Army Medical Corps, and Lalrinzuala Chawngthu, publisher and editor of a monthly magazine Crime Reporter; Vanlalruata started ‘My Prism’ or The Peoples Right to Information and Development Implementing Society of Mizoram.

Prism is the most active anti-corruption organisation in the state. In the few short years since its establishment, Prism has gained the trust of the people through its dogged anti corruption campaigning and follow ups of various PILs, RTI inquiries and FIRs filed by them.

“The main challenge is the introduction of public monitoring systems through public motivation campaigns,” says Vanlalruata, who has never applied for funds from the government.

“This is what will keep us clean and help us conduct analysis of the work done by all government bodies and anti-corruption movement and resource mobilisation (tax generation).”

So far, their campaigns include probes into the unfair implementation of the NREG scheme in urban areas and a detailed report on the former chief minister of the state for possessing disproportionate wealth compared to his income sources. The report also revealed that he had acquired hardware from the agriculture department at 50% subsidy for his own private company.

Another remarkable initiative by Prism is their Election Watch campaign. They collected data relating to political leaders for the 2007-08 financial year. After a thorough analysis, they submitted a list of ‘incompetent MLA candidates’ before the 2008 general election, to the respective party presidents.

Apart from that, they have also filed and pursued over 30 FIRs with the State Anti Corruption Bureau in cases where evidence has gone missing from police possession.

They have also looked into the misuse of funds meant for the construction and management for a nursing college by the health department and the misappropriation of public money by the environment and forest department in construction of a new zoo named Aizawl Zoological Park.

They even filed one against the agriculture department holding them accountable for not implementing a Farmers Field school.

Vanlalruata reminds me of a Mizo folktale about ‘Taitesena’. A brave warrior who never let a call for help go unheeded and shunned any attempt to reward him for his efforts, and one who, legends say, never ate more than three handfuls of rice per meal. The timeless tale of a brave warrior fighting against all odds.

Source: Hindustan Times

9 People Die Due To Electrocution in Mizoram

Aizawl, Mar 27 : Nine people, including two couples and a father and his son, were killed due to electrocution after the bus they were travelling touched a live wire in Saiha district of Mizoram yesterday, reports reaching here today said.

The private bus with 32 passengers from Saiha town to Phura village carrying utensils on its roof touched the live electric wires between New Serkawr and New Latawh.

“The conductor was on the roof of the bus, trying to prevent the electric wires from coming into contact with the bus, but was forced to jump down after he failed, and the bus was electrocuted,” sources in Saiha said.

All the nine people who died tried to escape from the door of the bus and the rest who escaped from the bus windows escaped unhurt, the sources said.

Tripura Accuses Centre Of Refusing Assistance For Refugees

Fire burns down huts at Bru refugee camps in Gachhirampara, 185 km from the capital, Agartala. The devastating fire completely gutted Bru refugee camp where more than 2,500 huts were reduced to ashes. Kanchanpur, Agartala, Tripura, India. 19/03/2011

Agartala, Mar 27 : The Centre has refused to provide assistance to Bru (Reang) refugees fire victims, sheltered in six camps of North Tripura for past 14 years from Western Mizoram, alleged Tripura Revenue Minister Badal Chowdhury today.

He visited the camps yesterday along with top officials to review the relief operation in the camps where 18 people were charred to death and 30 others injured due to a devastating fire on March 19 last.

Mr Chowdhury said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Tripura government had separately declared rupees one lakh exgratia to the next of kin of the deceased and distributing relief and financial assistance for making makeshift huts.

''Unfortunately, the Mizoram government did not take any initiative to help the victims except sending some warm cloths in the summer days who had been suffering due to Lalthanhawala government,'' Mr Chowdhury added.

He said the state government had asked for rupees five crore special assistance following the fire incident and demanded the Centre’s intervention for their repatriation and adequate settlement in Mizoram but Central government had not yet responded.

London's Biggest Protest Since Iraq War in 2003

Demonstrators against the coalition government's spending cuts, gather in central London's Oxford Circus - AP

More than 250,000 people took to London's streets to protest the toughest spending cuts since World War II, one of the largest demonstrations since the Iraq war as riot police clashed with a small groups. More than 200 people were arrested.

Although most of Saturday's demonstration was peaceful, clashes continued into the night as dozens of protesters pelted officers with bottles and amonia-filled lightbulbs. Groups set several fires and smashed shop windows near tourist landmarks such as Trafalgar Square.

Teachers, nurses, firefighters, public sector workers, students, pensioners and campaign groups all took part in Saturday's mass demonstration.

"They shouldn't be taking money from public services. What have we done to deserve this?" said Alison Foster, a 53-year-old school teacher. "Yes, they are making vicious cuts. That's why I'm marching, to let them know this is wrong."

Britain is facing 80 billion pounds ($130 billion) of public spending cuts from Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition government as it struggles to slash the country's deficit. The government has already raised sales tax, but Britons are bracing for big cuts to public spending that are expected next month.

Treasury chief George Osborne has staked the government's future on tough economic remedies after Britain spent billions bailing out banks. Some half a million public sector jobs will likely be lost, about 18 billion ($28.5 billion) axed from welfare payments and the pension age raised to 66 by 2020.

Commander Bob Broadhurst of the Metropolitan Police confirmed more than 250,000 people had marched peacefully, but said around 500 caused trouble.

Hundreds were arrested and police expected that number to rise. Dozens were injured, and several were admitted to hospitals for a range of problems, including shortness of breath and broken bones. Five police officers were also injured.

The demonstration began in the afternoon. Police said one small group of protesters broke away from the main march, scuffling with police officers and attempting to smash windows on two of London's main shopping streets. Others threw objects at the posh Ritz Hotel in nearby Piccadilly.

The protesters, shouting ‘Welfare not Warfare!’ outnumbered the police. Some attacked police officers with large pieces of wood. A handful of bank branches were damaged when groups threw paint and flares at buildings.

Still, the day's protest otherwise had a carnival feel with music, big screen TVs and performers in Hyde Park, one of London's biggest public gardens.

The TUC, the main umbrella body for British unions, says it believes the cuts will threaten the country's economic recovery, and has urged the government to create new taxes for banks and to close loopholes that allow some companies to pay less tax.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said he regretted the sporadic violence.

"I don't think the activities of a few hundred people should take the focus away from the hundreds of thousands of people who have sent a powerful message to the government on Sunday," he said. "Ministers should now seriously reconsider their whole strategy after Sunday's demonstration. This has been Middle Britain speaking."

Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition Labour Party, likened the march to the suffragette movement in Britain and the civil rights movement in America. "Our causes may be different but we come together to realize our voice."

How To Hack Your Way Out

By Ankit Fadia

Opinion: Just one of many protesting Internet curbs.

The Internet was built on the principles of freedom of access, knowledge and information.

Unfortunately, firms and colleges in India now have this bad habit of blocking access to interesting ('ahem') websites. Are you working or studying in one of them? Even governments have started blocks these days.

During the social revolutions in the Arab world, governments had blocked access to social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. In today’s article we are going to learn various ways in which victims of corporate, college or government Internet policies can bypass these restrictions and start to access all their favorite websites on the Internet.

The easier solution to this common problem is to start your browser and first connect to a proxy server instead of directly connecting to the website that you actually want to access.

My personal favorite proxy servers include www.anonymizer.com, www.cooltunnel.com, www.bypassthat.com and www.anonymizer.ru.

Your system administrator will think that you are connecting to seemingly innocent websites, but little does he know that once you have connected you can then use them to secretly connect to some other blocked website that you actually want to connect to!

Unfortunately, companies and colleges are getting smart and have started blocking even some of the most popular proxy servers available on the Internet. The good news is that there are various websites on the Internet that maintain a list of thousands of proxy servers that you can quickly search through to find a proxy that has not yet been blocked by your company or college.

I personally recommend using www.samair.ru/proxy or Codeen, either of which at any given point of time list at least a few hundred proxy servers.

Another fantastic technique to trick your system administrator is to use a technique known as HTTP tunneling, which allows you to disguise your browser activity as something different than what it really is.

Ultrasurf is a free software that you can download from the Internet that allows you to perform HTTP tunneling and access your favorite blocked websites easily and efficiently.

For the geeks reading this article, it is also possible to bypass the local firewall restrictions and access blocked websites by typing the IP address of the website that you wish to access instead of typing the usual domain name!

These techniques should give you access to your favorite websites for at least a few more months. After that, email me and I will do a sequel to this article and give you some newer techniques of accessing blocked websites!

-- The writer is a 25-year-old Ethical Hacking Expert, a TV show host and the author of 14 best selling books. He can be contacted at ankit@deccanmail.com.

App To Translate Teens’ Slang

Can't understand the kids? A new mobile phone application may help.

Over-50s group Saga is set to launch a mobile phone application to translate teenagers’ slang.

It has been developed to help parents and grandparents stay in touch with youngsters and will be free to download to any smartphone, such as the iPhone, or similar hand-held device.

The ‘Woteva’ app will translate 100 words or phrases.

Among the translations are peeps, or people; fam, or family; endz, or neighbourhood; and sick, or good.

“To some parents and grandparents, it can feel that the next generation has a language of its own,” the Daily Mail quoted Dr Ros Altmann, director-general of Saga, as saying.

“A translator seems like the obvious solution to prevent the generational gap from widening.

“This app will provide people with the opportunity to stay connected with youngsters, and nurture relationships across generations.”

She added: “In our estimation around 5 per cent of all words currently in use in the English language are completely alien and indecipherable to people born before the 1960s.”

The app offers the same service as an online dictionary dedicated to ‘teenglish’ – teenage English which was launched in 2008.

The charity Parentline Plus spent months talking to parents and teenagers about the latest slang before creating gotateenager.org.uk

Kunjarani, The Queen Of Inspiration

By Biju Babu Cyriac

Bangalore, Mar 27 : The heroics of Nameirakpaam Kunjarani Devi, who won scores of medals in international weightlifting competitions and part of Manipur's sporting folklore now, is still inspiring hundreds of her state mates to take up the sport. With a berth in the state team coming at a premium, a large number of them are now even wearing the colours of other states in National championships.

After Kunjarani, who is yet to announce her retirement, Manipur produced a number of top-class weightlifters who went on to win laurels for the country. A look at the list of weightlifters competing in the National Weightlifting throws out some interesting statistics. There are just a handful of teams who are competing without a Manipuri in their ranks.

"Over the past few years we have given at least 20-25 No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to our weightlifters. As we had many good lifters, especially women, we couldn't give a chance to all," Ranjan Singh, Manipur coach told TOI. "Of the 10 lifters competing in the women's 53kg category, five are hailing from Manipur," he said.

Asked about the huge popularity of the sport in Manipur, Ranjan recalled that it was Kunjarani who acted as a catalyst. "In the early 80s, powerlifting was the rage in Manipur. Then during the 1985 National Games, Kunjarani won the gold in the 44kg class and that was the start," he said.

"It continued from then on with Monica Devi, Sanamacha and Renubala Chanu at the Delhi CWG. Now we have at least 80-100 lifters. Most of them who are competing here are juniors and they will ready for the top-class action soon," Ranjan said.

Jharkhand's gain

The flurry of top lifters coming out of the gymnasiums in Imphal turned out to be hosts Jharkhand's gain in the recent National Games as the state roped in six Manipuris.

"It was difficult for us to get into Manipur state team and there were other states who didn't have quality weightlifters. Six of us joined Jharkhand as they had promised big cash awards to the tune of seven, five and three lakh to the gold, silver and bronze winners. In the end we won two gold, two silver and two bronze medals," Premoshawari, who won the silver medal for Jharkhand in women's 58kg, said.

"We are all waiting for the cash awards. They have promised to organize a big function to honour all the medal winners," said the 24-year-old from Imphal.

Gogoi: Will Grant Refugee Status

APCC president Bhubaneswar Kalita, Assam CM Tarun Gogoi and Assam incharge Digvijay Singh release the party’s manifesto in Guwahiti — PTI

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi here on Saturday released the Congress’ election manifesto, which included the commitment to grant refugee status to all non-Muslims who fled erstwhile East Pakistan fearing prosecution.

In a carefully drafted remark, Mr Gogoi maintained a safe distance from using the word ‘Hindu Bengali’ and told reporters, “We have taken up this issue for the first time. We intend to grant refugee status to all those who were Indian citizens at the time of partition and compelled to leave their country due to persecution and atrocities.”

He added, “Though majority of them were Hindu there were some Christians as well, so we want to grant refugee status to all non-Muslims.”

The Chief Minister also slammed the saffron party saying, “BJP has been raking this issue up for so many years but have done nothing. But, we will soon take up this issue.”

In an obvious attempt to woo a sizeable chunk of Hindu Bengali voters, Mr Gogoi said, “We decided to take up this issue on humanitarian ground and included it in our manifesto as well.”

Releasing the party manifesto with AICC general se-cretary Digvijay Singh, Mr Gogoi also asserted that the Congress would romp back to power for the third consecutive term in the state.

Asserting that the AGP and BJP have a secret und-erstanding, Mr Gogoi said this was not new as, lie in 2001, they had an electoral understanding, but both have been losing election after election since then.

The CM also ruled out that an Ulfa threat or bandh call would affect the prospects of the party.

Asked about possible seat that Congress would get, the Chief Minister said, “I am still a just a politician and not a fortune teller.”