India (barely) Protests Dams on International Day Of Action

Hundreds of dams are planned for northeast India, but only those directly affected seem to care.

By Jason Overdorf

Siang River, Arunachal Pradesh: More than 150 hydroelectric power projects are proposed for the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh despite concerns about their impact on the environment and local cultures. (Jason Overdorf/GlobalPost)

Not many people in India recognized the International Day of Action Against Dams and for Rivers Wednesday – though nearly all of the country's great waterways are gravely polluted, and at least one activist has died fasting for action to save the Ganges from desecration.

But in Arunachal Pradesh, where the state government has signed memoranda of understanding for the construction of more than 150 dams in hopes of making the state “the powerhouse of India,” local tribal organizations hit the pavement in Pasighat, activist Vijay Taram said by telephone.

Representatives from the Forum for Siang Dialogue, the Siang Peoples’ Forum, the Mebo Area Bachao Committee and the Adi Students Union distributed flowers along with pamphlets with their objections to hydroelectric projects slated for the Siang River—which locals hold sacred, Taram said.

Sadly, nobody will likely listen. I visited Pasighat and other areas of Arunachal Pradesh last week for an upcoming series on the controversy over its race to dam the rivers, and it's a beautiful spot that deserves protection. But recent reports tell a different story.

According to an article in the Hindustan Times today, for instance, the current Arunachal Pradesh government's vocal support for the Lower Subansiri dam flies in the face of the objections its predecessors from the same political party (the Congress).

'The warnings were made through two letters — dated January 30, 2005, and March 16, 2005 — written by the Arunachal Pradesh power secretary to the chairman and managing director, NHPC,' the paper writes. 'The letters from the Arunachal government had pointed out “serious procedural lapses”, stating that its approval had not been acquired for the project.'

These days, everybody and his brother is rushing to push the project through, despite continued objections from people downstream of the dam in Assam, who say it will wreak havoc on the agriculture and fishing they depend on to survive.

Meanwhile, a second article in the Hindustan Times explains that some 13 dams in the Lohit River basin threaten to wipe out the local Mishmi tribe – who will face displacement and an influx of laborers from outside the state.

And a third item from FirstPost.com skewers the Ministry of Environment and Forests for clearing a massive dam project on the Lohit River despite the objections of the National Board of Wildlife. Apparently, too much money had already been spent.

If your experience of India is limited to cities like New Delhi and tourist meccas like Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and Pushkar, Rajasthan, you'd be forgiven for assuming that, where the environment is concerned, India is a lost cause (or a “gone case” as they say here). But take a trip to the Himalayas – and especially to Arunachal – and you're reminded that there's still a lot to save.

The only problem is that it's disappearing fast.

Kukis, Nagas fight over Manipur deputy CM

Imphal, Mar 15 : Soon after Okram Ibobi Singh was sworn in as chief minister for his third term on Wednesday, the fight for his deputy came out in public.

The Kuki-Paite bloc in Congress is unhappy with the party high command's move to appoint a Naga leader as the deputy chief minister. Sources say the Congress high command is in favour of appointing PCC chief Gaikhangam, a Naga tribesman, as the deputy CM to counter the Naga hard line politics played by Naga People's Front (NPF) and United Naga Council (UNC) as both are backed by NSCN (IM). The highest Kuki tribal body, the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) has openly supported the seniormost tribal minister and former PCC chief Phungzathang Tonsing for the deputy CM's post.

In a letter to AICC president Sonia Gandhi, KIM president Thangkhosei Haokip said the Congress in Manipur has neglected the political demands of the Kukis by following a Naga appeasement policy at their expense. He said, "Tonsing helped build the party during the NDA rule. He ensured 100 per cent success from Churachandpur district in the recently held election. Tonsing also enjoys the confidence of majority of the CLP members."

He informed the AICC chief that the state government had only agreed in principle to create a Sadar Hills district but had not fulfilled it yet. "This has created a sense of mistrust and alienated Kukis from the Congress," Haokip said. Manipur had suffered a 121-day economic blockade last year over the issue of creation of Sadar Hills district.

"Unlike Naga rebels who demand secession, the Kuki militant groups have entered a Suspension of Operations with the state government for a peaceful solution to our political demands. If the Congress continue to follow a blatant pro-Naga policy, it could be disastrous for the peace process," Haokip said.

He hoped the Kukis' loyalty to Congress will be kept in mind while appointing the deputy CM. Haokip reminded the AICC chief that "in every Lok Sabha, assembly and district council elections, the Nagas under UNC and NPF with support from NSCN (IM) have been attacking Congress candidates and workers. On the contrary, Kukis have been staunch Congress loyalists and are an important support base of the party."

Deloitte Recommends 3 Mizoram PSUs Be Abolished

Aizawl, Mar 14 : Deloitte and Touche Consulting India Pvt Ltd, employed by the Mizoram government to study the functioning of state government corporate bodies, has recommended that three PSUs should be abolished.

After conducting a thorough examination of the PSUs, Deloitte recommended that three of them - Mizoram Agriculture Marketing Corporation (Mamco), Zoram Electronics Development Corporation (Zenics) and Zoram Handloom and Handicraft Development Corporation (Zohandco) - should be abolished.

The recommendations said that these state government undertakings have been incurring losses rather than earning profits for the government and it would be more profitable if the government abolishes them.

Deloitte also recommended that Mizoram Food and Allied Industries Corporation (Mifco), which owned food and fruit processing units, should be privatized and Zoram Industrial Development Corporation (Zidco) should be revamped.

The state government in 2008 launched the Mizoram Public Resource Management Programme to improve its finances and the state finance department employed the services of the Deloitte to study the functioning of the PSUs.

The state government is yet to take any action on the recommendations.

Facebook Blocks 'Chutia', is Twitter Next?

New Delhi: If you are a "Chutia", your Facebook account might get blocked! No pun intended. This is what Facebook is doing these days.

Of late, Facebook reportedly blocked accounts of almost all the members of the All Assam Chutia Students' Union (Aacsu), confusing their surname "Chutiya" with Hindi slang. However, Chutiya, pronounced as Sutiya, is the name of a community in Assam.

But "Chutiya, or Chutia" is also a derogatory term in Hindi. And that's what Facebook must have presumed before deleting those accounts.

"Facebook has blocked the accounts of all the subscribers belonging to the Chutia community of Assam thinking the names are false and fabricated. For Chutia being an abusive word in the Hindi language, Facebook authorities thought that the account holders are fake and fabricated. But, they are still unknown to the fact that Chutia is an ethnic tribe of Assam which has a rich historical background in the state history," Firstpost quoted Jyotiprasad Chutia, Aacsu general secretary, as saying.

Facebook always insists that the users register themselves with their real name else the action will be taken against those using a pseudonym. But the latest move by Facebook is nothing but a result of its sheer ignorance. However, Facebook's goal may be to become an international verified identity service, but its desired project to become a network of real-named people is halted when the network spreads into cultures and languages where the company lacks expertise. And that's what has happened in this Chutiya incident!
If Facebook can not bear to have profiles with derogatory words on its site, then what about the pages with such names? There are many pages with lewd names on Facebook like "Ye kya Bakchodi hai?" that has over 94,000 subscribers, "Daaru Pi Daaru Bakchodi mat kar (Drink whiskey & stop being non-sense)", "Jab kismat ho Gaandu, to kya kare Pandu", "ye kya chutiyapa hai" with approx. 60,000 subscribers, and many others. These pages have existence on Facebook for quite long. And practically, most of the content posted on these sites are quite humour-driven, and not libidinous.

However, Google+ recently relaxed its real name policy to pseudonyms. Also, Twitter also does not ban users for having pseudonyms. But if one day, all the social networking giants continue this trend of removing fake names and become stringent with their real name policies, then there are many pages and accounts across these social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+, which might get deleted.
These also include the twitter account @BollywoodGaandu, which actually tweets about Hindi film gossips, @GhantaGuy, @SabChutiyapahai, and other such accounts on Twitter.

Besides, one more concern here is that will Facebook also remove the pages of companies and institutes whose acronyms come out to be dirty. One such example is Tamilnadu Advanced Technical Training Institute (TATTI). Though there are many other possibilities.

Thus, it is suggested that the social networking websites should focus more on the content than names. If something is to be removed, it should be based on the content being posted, not on the basis of profile or page names.

42 Children Dead in 2 Months in Assam

Why does rural Assam have one of the highest mortality rates among children? Ratnadip Choudhury looks for answers
Shankar Chanda with one-year-old Priyanka Photo: Partha Seal Shankar Chanda, 35, holds his one-year-old child Priyanka close to his heart as a team from the UNICEF state office inspects the 10-bedded paediatric ward at the Karimganj Civil Hospital in Assam’s Barak Valley. Shankar does not want to let go of his child, who is suffering from acute diarrhoea. “I am very scared to get my child treated here in this hospital, but a poor villager like me cannot afford to go to a private nursing home, and this is the only hospital in the district. But infrastructure here is pathetic, and now it has become a death bed for children,” says a worried Shankar. With as many as 42 children dying in a span of two months, the situation is alarming in this very remote and poor district. The only 100-bedded civil hospital, is witnessing an abnormal increase of deaths; all in the age group of 1 to 12 years. Almost all children referred to the hospital from rural health care centres were in critical conditions.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma has ordered a probe, after UNICEF stepped in and flew in its paediatric expert to the region.

The Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) too sent a notice to the Directorate of Health Services to look into the unfortunate deaths. Preliminary probe points to lack of infrastructure at the Karimganj Civil Hospital, as also the critical stage in which the children were brought to the hospital.

Though Assam boasts of successful implementation of the National Rural Heath Mission (NRHM) scheme, the state has the fourth highest infant mortality rate in the country. The latest records of the Registrar-General of India put it at 61 per 1,000 live births against the national average of 50. It is all the more alarming in rural Assam where the IMR is as high as 64.

“According to child specialists in the hospital, no neo-natal deaths were reported. The children who died were in the age group of 1-12 years and were in a critical condition. Almost all died within a few hours of admission. Our hospital lacks basic infrastructure. We do not even have adequate staff, and at times we also run out of medicines. We have to attend to patients far beyond our capacity because it is the only referral hospital in the district with a population of 12.5 lakh,” says in-charge medical superintendent of the hospital SK Sen.

“We took up the matter with the state government and the issue was raised in the floor of the Assembly on many occasions but nothing has changed. Out of a total of 79 sanctioned posts for medical officers in the hospital, 51 posts are lying vacant,” admits Matiur Rahman, Joint Director of Health Services at Karimganj. He, however, fails to mention the complete absence of rural healthcare infrastructure in the district that is also witness to the large-scale influx of illegal Bangladeshis, many of them cross the border illegally for medical treatment.

The district has five Primary Health Centres (PHC), one Community Health Centre (CHC) and as many as 17 mini PHCs; all of them fall under the NRHM. Locals, however, claim that most of the rural health centres are non-functional in Karimganj. Several PHCs are run by ayurvedic doctors since there is a dearth of MBBS doctors. The Karimganj civil hospital requires 50 doctors, but is now running with only 18. “The problem is not only about infrastructure. The staff on duty does not always work diligently. As always, the Assam government is hardly bothered,” explains Uttam Saha, a senior journalist from the region.

UNICEF feels a proper analysis of the death report chart of children over the last three years, which must feature the cause of death, what medicines were prescribed, time of admission and on top that whether these children were taken to the primary and community level health centers would reveal a lot. “We are not so sure about the working of the PHCs and CHCs here. It is time to re-energise the ASHA workers for better performances along with adequate training stints across the district,” said Sachin Gupte, a UNICEF health expert.

As a face-saver, the Tarun Gogoi government has decided to step up the works for a child care unit to be built at Rs 1.52 lakh for the Karimganj civil hospital, but this would not stop the main opposition party in the state, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), to turn it into a political plank in the minority dominated district.

With additional reporting by Arindom Gupta in Karimganj Ratnadip Choudhury is a Principal Correspondent with Tehelka. ratnadip@tehelka.com

Several Orchids in Mizoram Being Rechristened

Aizawl, Mar 12 : Several orchids found in Mizoram, not having Mizo names, are being rechristened.

Mizoram-grown orchids are being compiled in a book with fine pictures to popularise them across the world. A special programme for rechristening Mizoram's orchids was held today at Hla Kungpui Mual (or poets' square) at Khawbung near Myanmar border in Champhai district where a sanctuary of orchids has been established.

Khawbung-based forests ranger officer (RO) Lalthazuala, who spoke at the ceremony, informed that the sanctuary is now home to 34 different species of orchids.

"It is being developed to house all species of orchids found in Mizoram," he said. Expressing concern over the smuggling of wild orchids into neighboring Myanmar, the forest official said that different species of orchids found in Mizoram were also found in northern Thailand which could mean that orchids smuggled from Mizoram found their way into Thailand.

Mizoram State Planning Board member secretary P L Thanga, who attended the ceremony, also given a Mizo name to a species of orchid Thunia Alba as Zomawi. Mizoram has a wide spectrum of orchids growing from the lower elevations to the high hills. The orchids grown in the high hills fetch a good price in the market at Delhi and Kolkata.

More than 200 varieties of orchids have been identified in Mizoram till now. In view of the right agro-climatic conditions prevailing in Mizoram, there is an immense potential growing Orchids for large scale commercial purposes. However, wild orchids in Mizoram are under threats of Myanmarese smugglers.

"We should take united effort to stop the smuggling of our state's valuable forest resources," C Vanlalena, DFO of Champhai district in eastern Mizoram bordering Myanmar, said.

The DFO said they had recovered a number forest goods being smuggled into Myanmar. However, due to shortage of man power and financial constraints, their capacity to check the smuggling was limited.

Software Technology Park For Mizoram

Aizawl, Mar 12 : The central government will soon set up a software technology park in Mizoram tor boost IT in northeast India and software exports from India, official said Saturday.

"The Mizoram government has provided five acres of land in the Mizoram University campus to set up the park," an official of the state industries and commerce department said.

The land was given to the Software Technological Park of India (STPI) authority on a 66-year lease.

An agreement will be signed soon between the STPI authority, the state government and the Mizoram University, said the official.

The proposed STP in Aizawl would be the fourth center in northeast India after the Guwahati, Imphal and Gangtok STPs.

Why Manipur Voted What It Hated

By Pradip Phanjoubam

CYNICALLY YOURS: The outgoing government evoked only anger and indignation but people voted fot the Congress agains as there was no other choice. Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

The Congress' landslide victory of 42 seats in the house of 60 in Manipur was a foregone conclusion although many still think it was a surprise. Most post poll surveys predicted a hung house with the ruling Congress emerging the single largest party. The cynicism in the State being what it is, nobody thought a clear mandate was a possibility. But there is another way of looking at the Congress landslide. It still is an expression of cynicism in the sense that the voters stopped expecting a change for the better but were desperate to have things not slip any further.

The issues

The outgoing Congress-headed government, as many noted, inspired only anger and indignation. There would not be one in the State who has not complained in exasperation about the rampant official corruption, or not thrown up his arms in helpless bewilderment at having to do with two hours of electricity a day, or not cursed the government for the water taps that have run dry, or for the crumbling roads everywhere. There would, likewise, be a few who have not shown a clenched fist at the government for the continued imposition of the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA, for the repeal of which Irom Sharmila has been on an epic hunger strike for nearly 12 years now. Further, abject lack of governance has allowed the law and order to slip away almost completely. The periodic prolonged blockades on the State's lifelines with the government looking the other way even as prices of essential commodities rise to the sky, meant untold misery, uncertainty and insecurity for the common man. Yet, Manipur came out and voted resoundingly to bring back the government it hated.

The explanation is, the Manipur results were not so much about the Congress winning. It was more about non-Congress parties losing. In a hypothetical situation, had the people been given another choice of, say, a spell of President's Rule, the landslide verdict of Manipur voters would probably have gone in favour of the latter.

During the last Congress tenure in power with Chief Minister Okram Ibobi at the helm, almost all other political parties in the State were, either voluntarily or else by compulsion, on a path of self destruction. On most of the issues these parties were deafeningly silent. Many of their legislators hung around and nagged ministers for favours. In the run-up to the election, many of them queued up for Congress tickets. In summary, they reduced themselves to subservient allies of the ruling party. At least one party, the Communist Party of India (CPI) remained a formal partner in the State government, even after the party broke alliance with the Congress at the Centre. The opposition space in the Assembly was thus abdicated. This is the vacuum just right for a shrill and pushy party with a charismatic leader like the Trinamool Congress to enter. The party fielded 47 candidates and won seven, commendable for a newcomer. Had it entered the stage earlier, it probably would have done much better. All other parties, depleted in morale and commitment, ended up unable to set up candidates in even half the Assembly constituencies. Many including the CPI and Manipur People's Party (MPP) drew a blank.

Desperately trying to remain relevant, four of these parties urgently formed a pre-poll alliance, the People's Democratic Front (PDF) but this proved too little too late, despite the alliance attracting seven more parties at a later stage. The PDF partners also probably did not consider the thought that the Anti-Defection Law had lowered the ceiling on cabinet size — 12 including the Chief Minister in the case of Manipur, and therefore a coalition of more than two parties is likely to become strained as the only proven incentive of such coalitions is ministerial berths. The PDF hence did not present a picture of stability capable of instilling confidence to the badly fractured and shaken electorate of Manipur. The ruling Congress on the other hand was strong, resourceful, and because of its strength, able to posture as a non-partisan party, reaching out to the valley as well as the hills, and to all ethnic groups, setting up candidates in all the 60 constituencies, campaigning with the confidence of winners. It won seats from among all communities and regions too.

Those who concluded the Congress was not loved in Manipur in predictions before the results were probably correct. What they did not see was the second factor that this was the only party left seen as capable of providing the sinews to hold the badly divided state together. The party's victory was preordained, not by its virtues but by the absence of a credible adversary. Manipur's choice of the Congress was because it had no other choice.

(Pradip Phanjoubam is a senior journalist based in Manipur. Email: phanjoubam@gmail.com)