Future Bright For India And Rising Star Jeje

By Priyanka Kumar

New Delhi: The limelight in the SAFF Cup has been on Sunil Chhetri, but his young strike partner Jeje Lalpekhula is quietly building a reputation for himself.

The young star from Mizoram has found plenty of support among the 1,000-odd spectators for India’s matches at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Maybe it is his name - ‘Jeje’ is as easy a chant as any player’s name can be - or maybe those fans shouting his name and holding his banners know that the Pune FC striker is the most likely to fill the long-term void left by the talismanic Bhaichung Bhutia’s retirement.

The man himself, though, is unperturbed by the attention and unwilling to take on extra pressure. “It’s too early to compare me to Bhaichung,” said Jeje, on the eve of India’s SAFF Cup final with Afghanistan on Sunday. “He’s my idol, but I have a long way to go. It doesn’t put any pressure on me.”

Jeje’s rise to the top has been as quick as the pacy and skilful forward can be. He scored on debut for India’s Under-23 team last season, in a pre-Olympic qualifier against Myanmar, and then repeated the feat with the senior team as well, against Chinese Taipei during the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in Malaysia in March. After scoring four goals in his first three games for India, he has taken his tally to seven goals in 14 matches going into the final.

“I owe a lot to Colm Toal (the India U-19 coach) and Bob Houghton (former India coach),” acknowledged Jeje. “They gave me a good opportunity in the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers.”

Jeje also starred in the domestic league, ending the last I-League campaign as the top-scoring Indian player with 13 goals in 15 games while on loan at Indian Arrows. His ability to score goals, as well as his movement off the ball which allows him to create chances, has seen him being labeled as India’s rising star. When asked about what sets him apart from others, however, the 20-year-old is modest. “I work very hard,” is all Jeje is willing to offer.

By his standards, however, the ongoing SAFF Cup - his first full-fledged competitive tournament with India - has not been as rewarding. Perhaps recovering from his week-long trial at Rangers that saw him arrive just a day before India played their first match, Jeje has scored only one goal so far, in a group match against Sri Lanka.

“I have to perform better,” he admitted. “This tournament has been a good experience for me. I will take a lot from these games.”

Meanwhile, senior striker Chhetri has been prolific, scoring six goals in the four games so far to top the goal-scoring charts.

“Chhetri is a great player. I played with him for the first time in the qualifiers in March,” said Jeje. “He gives me advice, tells me what to do and what not to do. He encourages me every time and tells me how to play, how to run and how to find space and take up positions on the field. We have played just about 10 matches together so far. Once we play more matches together, our partnership will get better.”

India coach Savio Medeira agrees. “Jeje is only 20 years old. He needs more time to form a partnership with Chhetri. His performances in the AFC Challenge Cup were much better than in this tournament. But I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, because he’s so young. He will mature over time. He has a lot more years to go, as compared to Chhetri."

“Whatever work he has done so far is good, and as he and Chhetri play more matches together, the understanding and combination between them will improve.”

In the immediate future, Jeje and Medeira are keen to win their first major tournament with India.

“We just have to believe in ourselves, we have to stick to the tactics and try and correct the mistakes which we made in the first game against Afghanistan (which India drew 1-1). There is nothing we can change in such a short period of time anyway. We will try our best,” said Medeira.

“I think our chances are good,” said Jeje, looking ahead to final. “The first match was very difficult for the team. Sunil and I had gone to Scotland and we came back just a day before that match. We didn’t practice together with the team, we just played directly in the game. We were a little tired. Anyway, the first match of any tournament is never easy.”

“But our performances have improved since then and we will play better in the final. It will be a different match. If we play as we have been playing and stick to our game plan, like the coach wants us too, we can win.”

However, when pressed on his own goals, the shy striker would only say, “I also have to try my best, both for India and then for Pune FC.”

Jeje, it seems, is a man of few words, who would prefer to do his talking on the field. For India though, that is a promising thought.

Manipur Girls Rescued From Mumbai Traffickers

Mumbai, Dec 11 : The Social Service Branch of the Mumbai police raided a bungalow at Oshiwara on Friday night, where a prostitution racket was being run in the guise of a massage parlour. Ten Manipuri girls were rescued. Three persons were arrested while the owner of the place is wanted.

"We had received specific information that immoral activities were going on at a massage parlour at the Mhada complex in Oshiwara. A decoy customer was sent. Following a confirmation from him, our teams raided the bungalow," said Mumbai ACP Vasant Dhoble.

Communication with the rescued girls has been a problem as they don't speak either Hindi or English. They have been sent for a medical examination to verify whether any of them are minors. They will be produced before a local court and then sent to a shelter.

Explaining the modus operandi used, a senior official said the accused used to offer memberships to their clients for not less than Rs 10,000. Depending on the type of membership selected, the clients could avail of a particular number of massages. The parlour has been functioning since 2009 and operates on word-of-mouth publicity.

The police came across a few local clients during their raid and are examining if anyone from the glamour industry used to frequent the parlour. The police have also found a rate-card and payment receipts in multiples of thousands inside the bungalow.

"We have arrested the cashier-cum-receptionist, the manager and the conductor. The owner of the place is a woman, who is presently in Delhi. We are looking for her. Further investigation is being carried out by the Oshiwara police," said Dhoble.

Provisions of the PITA Act have been invoked.

New Sports Complex Being Constructed in Mizoram

Aizawl, Dec 11 : The Rajiv Gandhi Sports Stadium in Aizawl, the first full fledged sports complex in Mizoram, is expected to be completed next year.

The sports complex will comprise of a football ground and an eight lane athletic track of international standards. It is being constructed at a cost of 150 crore rupees.The project began in 2009.

“Work is going at a good speed here. We have used 600 metric tonnes of iron and only 30 metric tonnes is left with us. And we think we shall be able to finish the work much before the set deadline,” said Diwakar Bhattacharjee.

Four different government agencies are involved in its construction, including the public works department.

The entire project is funded under the central government’s Non lapsable Central Pool of Resources with the operational part of this project taken under the state sports council.

Apart from the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Stadium, another contact sports stadium for contact games like Judo, Karate, and Taekwondo is also under construction.

These stadiums will provide a well organized set up for the training of Mizo sportspersons in future.

Both these projects are part of the bigger policy of the state government “Catch them young” that aims to train the under 14 youth of the region to promote sports in Mizoram.

“There is a great potential for sports in Mizoram and we are going to tap this entirely. I am encouraging cricket in the region and in a few years from now we shall be able to promote good players,” said Lal Thanhawla, Mizoram Chief Minister.

Bangladesh And Mizoram Minister Inaugurate Trade Centre

Aizawl, Dec 11 : Border Trade Facilitation Centre at Mizoram-Bangladesh border Tlabung town in south Mizoram's Lunglei district was jointly inaugurated by the visiting Bangladesh state minister for Chittagon Hill Tracts Dipankar Talukdar and Mizoram Trade and Commerce Minister Lalrinliana Sailo yesterday.

An official statement today said that the centre was constructed at the cost of Rs 108.07 lakh and funded by the Union Commerce Ministry.

The two ministers also unveiled the India-Bangladesh Shared Vision of Peace, Prosperity and Partnership stone at Kawrpuichhuah, the proposed border trade centre for Indo-Bangladesh trade, the statement said.

MJA Takes Strong Exception To Delay in Bill Clearance

Aizawl, Dec 11 : Mizoram Journalist Association (MJA) today took strong exception to the delay in the clearance of advertisement bills by the state PWD's National Highway for a long time and threatened to approach the court of law if all the pending bills are not cleared by December 31, 2011.

A press statement issued by the MJA also instructed all the local newspapers not to publish any advertisements issued by the PWD National Highway before the pending bills are cleared.

The scribes body also condemned the decision of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways that the rates of advertisement should be as per the rates of the DAVP and not as per the approved rates of the state government.

"The advertisements given through the state government should be billed as per the government rates," the statement said.

The advertisements been kept pending for a year should be paid with 12 per cent interests in accordance with the instruction given by Justice Murkandey Katju, chairman of the Press Council of India, the statement added.

Tripura Provides Most Jobs Under NREGA

Agartala, Dec 11 : Tripura has once again topped all the states in implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which guarantees minimum job days to people in rural areas, a minister said here on Saturday.

State Rural Development Minister Jitendra Chaudhury, quoting a performance report of the union rural development ministry, told reporters: “Tripura stands at the top in terms of person-days generation of 45 so far in the current fiscal (2011-2012), followed by Andhra Pradesh (39.19 person-days) and Sikkim (38.39).”

Others in the top 10 list are Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Lakshwadeep, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

The MGNREGA guarantees 100 days of employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

Tripura has also topped in getting per head fund allocation from the central government and providing wages to MGNREGA workers through banks, the report added.

The minister claimed that in 2010-11 and previous years too, Tripura secured the top position in the country by providing on an average of 67 man-days to people under rural job scheme.

Northeast Has Huge Pool Of Resources in Sports: Maken

Shillong, Dec 11 : Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Ajay Maken today acknowledged the potentiality of huge pool of resources in sports in North-East and assured assistance from Centre.

"North East and Meghalaya (in particular) has enormous potential in sports, particularly in football," Maken said while speaking to reporters at the sideline of YES project convocation held here.

He said, "Rs 42 crore has been sanctioned for NEHU multi-purpose sports centre which will be ready by August next year."

While admitting that the project has been delayed, Maken said he had met the CPWD Superintendent engineer and asked him to complete the project within August.

Centre has sanctioned two regional sports centres - one in Assam and another in Manipur - and a SAI training centre in Shillong.

For People in Imphal, The State Is A Failure

By Gaurav Sharma

Imphal, Dec 11 : Ibungochoubi Ningthoukhongjam, 49, owns five mobile phones, not because he is a gadget freak but to ensure he does not lose contact during an emergency, as one cannot count on the erratic telecommunication network in the Manipuri capital plagued by months of civil unrest and supply blockages.

"Carrying five mobile phones is cumbersome. The extremely poor mobile connection forces a person like me to keep them. When the diesel supply won't reach the gensets in mobile towers, how can you expect uninterrupted communication? This state is a failure," Ningthoukhongjam told a visiting IANS correspondent.

There are many like Ningthoukhongjam, who are languishing in Manipur which is riddled with decade-old ethnic clashes, insurgency, sporadic economic blockades and the clamped under the much hated Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

The recent 121-day economic blockade, brought about by a dispute between the Nagas and the Kuki tribes over the creation of a new administrative district, literally brought the entire state to its knees by pushing prices of essential commodities sky-high. The blockade led to severe shortage of essentials, petroleum products and cooking gas cylinders, besides medicines and machines, causing untold misery to Manipur residents.

Even on normal days, life in Imphal comes to a standstill after 5 p.m. All you can see on the deserted roads are stray dogs and police vehicles.

Shops too down shutters after 5 p.m. in this city of around 250,000 people. Venturing out alone, without any plausible reason, may be foolhardy as you or your vehicle may draw unnecessary attention of the armed forces, who dot the roads, and who can ask you to produce your identity cards.

However, with their gritty determination, people have come to terms with life here. They don't bemoan the bandhs, curfews, economic blockades or other travails of life in verdant and panoramic Manipur, home to some 2.7 million people.

"We don't complain any more as there is nothing much you can do as the state government is sleeping and the centre does not care. Movement for secession is bound to rear its head as Manipur has been forgotten by the government of India," a local told IANS, refusing to be named.

The students from upper middle class families go to other parts of the country to pursue higher education.

"Anyone who wants to pursue good education cannot do so in Manipur as, due to the numerous bandhs, education gets disrupted," said Nintagmba, who is studying in Delhi.

The prevalence of drug use is very high in this state bordering Myanmar, from where opium and other narcotics are smuggled here.

Many youngsters and middle-aged people in the state are in the grip of substance abuse.

"Seeing the present state of affairs in Manipur, it does not seem that the situation will improve even after 10 years. You cannot expect a miracle when nothing has changed over the decades," said 44-year-old Imphal resident Rakesh.

(Gaurav Sharma can be contacted at gaurav.s@ians.in)