US Keen On New Silk Road For Trade, Commerce Through Mizoram

Aizawl, Jun 20 : The US expects better trade and economic ties between India and the Central and Southeast Asia by developing a New Silk Road, an American official said.

"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has recently highlighted that the US looks forward towards the setting up of the New Silk Road, where the northeast India plays an important role as the region connects India with neighbours in the east," Kolkata-based US Consul General Dean R Thompson said.

While interacting with the students of Mizoram University on Monday, Thompson said: "One of the most important elements in the US-India relation is the growing importance of eastern India, and its geographical importance is being increasingly recognised."

Clinton recently sought India's active role in accomplishing her ambitious goal of the New Silk Road linking South and Central Asia with Southeast Asia.

"Together, we must continue laying the groundwork for the long-term vision of a New Silk Road that connects markets, businesses and consumers from the Caspian to the Ganges and beyond," Clinton said in Washington last week.

Only 250 km out of the northeast's 5,000 km outer perimeter touches India. The remaining 4,750 km represents international boundaries with China, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Thompson said that the US and Indian governments have created "Education USA Centres" in various parts of India to help get clear and accurate information about opportunities to study in the US and also offer individual counselling for interested persons.

He highlighted that education has become one of the main pillars in the bilateral strategic partnership between the two countries.

"There are currently more than 100,000 Indian students studying in the US. However, only 2,300 American students currently study in India. Hence, initiatives are being made such as the 'Passport to India' programme designed to bring more American students to study in India," he added.

"The Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative provides $10 million for increased university partnerships and junior faculty development, exchange visits of faculty, administrators, Indian and US students.

Then there is the community college initiative programme, the summer institutes for scholars and professionals, the sports visitor programme, and so on," he said.

The consul general said that the US-India relationship rests on the firm foundation of common ideals and that the strategic dialogue between the two countries is grouped into five pillars.

These include strategic cooperation, energy and climate change, education and development, economics, trade and agriculture and science, technology, health and innovation.

Also the American government is frantically trying to reach out to the people of the northeast India with the music, history, art and culture of the US, he said.

The US consulate in Kolkata recently organised 'Taste of America Festival' in Agartala, first time in India's northeast.

The one-day festival highlighted services offered by the US consulate general in Kolkata for the residents of Tripura and other northeastern states.

It included a 'Spelling Bee' competition for school students, a knowledge of US quiz competition and debates.

The American officials said that there would also be seminars and counseling on higher education facilities in the US and advice on formalities for submitting visa applications.

First Naga To Climb Everest Hailed

Kohima, Jun 20 : Nagaland government will on Thursday felicitate Major Neikhrietuonuo Linyu, the first Naga to conquer Mount Everest, at Raj Bhavan in Kohima.

According to the programme, Governor Nikhil Kumar and chief minister Neiphiu Rio will address the gathering in which a presentation will be made by Linyu, a doctor with the Indian Army.

Part of the Indian Army mountaineering team that which included four women officers, Linyu scaled Everest on May 25 becoming the first Naga woman to record this feat. At present, she is posted in Agra and in the past has been a part of the UN peacekeeping force in Congo.

Neikhrietuonuo, daughter of Pelhousenyu Linyu and the eldest among five siblings, did her schooling from Don Bosco higher secondary school in Kohima and went on to complete MBBS from RIMS, Imphal after passing her PU from Science College, Jotsoma. She is.

The expedition was carried out through South ( Nepal) which is known as the traditional route, from which Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay had first climbed the peak.

Earlier, Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio congratulated Linyu and observed that the achievement is a landmark for the state and her feat should inspire Naga youths to strive towards excellence to bring glory to the state and the country.

He also said that her achievement should be particularly inspirational for Naga women and proves that our youth and women are capable of reaching the highest standards in the international arena.

Telecom Facilities To Be Raised in Northeast To Spur Growth

Shillong, June 19 : The central government has decided to upgrade telecommunications facilities in insurgency-hit and border areas in India's northeastern states with a focus on all-round economic development of the region.

"A core IT (Information and Technology) infrastructure has been established in all the states for a smooth roll out of the delivery of citizen-centric services," Minister of State for Communication and Technology Sachin Pilot said here Monday.

Pilot reviewed the progress of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) schemes, telecommunication and postal services in the region.

The meeting was attended by IT ministers from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, besides chief secretaries and IT secretaries from the region and senior central government officials.

Pilot said the union cabinet recently sanctioned a Rs.388 crore special package for northeast to impart affordable ICT training to youths in the region, and, of the total sanctioned amount, Rs.63.35 crore would be spent this year.

Saying that the project would help train 14,000 youths per year, the minister hoped it would ensure the availability of trained professionals in the region to attract IT Industry to set up their units there.

The National Institute of E-Learning and Information Technology (NIELIT) will implement the project by upgrading the six existing NIELIT centres located at Imphal (Manipur), Aizawl (Mizoram), Guwahati (Assam), Shillong (Meghalaya), Gangtok (Sikkim) and Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), Pilot said.

Ten new extension centres would also be set up at Senapati and Churachandpur in Manipur; Dibrugarh, Silchar, Jorhat and Kokrajhar in Assam; Lunglei in Mizoram; Tura in Meghalaya; Tezu and Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh.

The two existing extension centres located at Chuchuyimlang in Nagaland and Tezpur in Assam will be upgraded.

Pilot also reviewed the implementation of central government's flagship scheme National e-Governance Plan and directed all agencies involved in it to resolve the pending issues.

The total expenditure planned for the northeastern states is about Rs.243 crore this year, of which Rs.190 crore would be spent on e-governance, the minister of state said. He requested the state governments to fully utilise this amount.

Pilot also unveiled a special training project for the government officials from all levels.

"A specific component of the funds, about Rs.1 crore, would be allocated for northeastern states. It is over and above the Rs.1.06 crore fund available for the region under the regular capacity building budget," he said.

Emphasising the importance of connectivity, Pilot said, "An ambitious plan in this regard is under consideration of the government and BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.) plans a capital expenditure of Rs.347 crore in the region," he said.

He said a special unit entrusted with execution of projects would be given Rs.142.93 crore, besides Rs.300 crore that would be spent on National Optical Fibre Network and other projects.

Pilot also announced 50 more post offices for the region under the Department of Post's prestigious Project Arrow.

NGOs Appeal To Political Parties For Christian VP

By Stanley Pinto

Mangalore, Jun 18 : Christian NGOs like the Catholic Secular Forum, All India Catholic Union, Christian Yuva Manch of Maharashtra, Maharashtra Christian Youth Forum, Indian Christian Congress, Association of Concerned Catholics, Konkani Sabha have appealed to all political parties to consider a Christian as Vice President of the country.

In an online petition to all political parties, over a thousand persons including Bishops, priests, laity, nuns, NGOs, NRIs etc have appealed to consider a Christian for VP in view of the singular contributions of the community to the nation.

Joseph Dias, general secretary, Catholic Secular Forum, who created the online petition said: Never in the history of independent India has a Christian become Vice President. There are many Christians, who are equally or better qualified, but ignored and the service of the community has not been recognized with constitutional positions.

Pointing out that top Constitutional posts have eluded Christians in the last seven decades, Dias said prominent among Christians, who could be recommended are Rajasthan governor Margaret Alva, former union minister Oscar Fernandes, Justice Michael Saldanha, former top cop HT Sangliana, etc.

He said Christian NGOs plan to represent their case with the heads of all political parties and governments, presenting memorandums, as Indian Christians are increasingly feeling alienated from the national mainstream and seem to be destined to remain on the periphery, unless no corrective action is taken.

Gas Crisis Boosts Sales of Charcoal Stoves in Mizoram

Aizawl, Jun 18 : Acute scarcity of cooking gas has hit Mizoram extremely hard as people are struggling to cook a day's meal. Alternative cooking devices have started selling like hot cakes with the perpetual scarcity of cooking gas.

Theft of LPG cylinders have become more common than theft of mobile handsets and laptops and with the value of cooking gas increasing, theft cases have also increased, police said.

A number of restaurants had to close down due to cooking gas shortage while some private hospitals, including the Greenwood Hospital, were forced to stop providing food to patients due to the scarcity.

However, while the people at large and many establishments suffer, there are some businessmen who are reaping huge profits from the scarcity of cooking gas. Charcoal sellers in Aizawl said their sale has been much higher in the summer than last winter, which was recorded as the coldest winter in Mizoram.

Mawii, a charcoal seller from the southern part of Aizawl city said her sales had increased by three folds compared to sales during winter and the cost of one bag of charcoal had increased from Rs 280 to Rs 350. "Even after increasing the price, we cannot meet the charcoal demand as more and more people are forced to use charcoal as alternative fuel for cooking," she said.

The sales of stores selling electrical stoves have also increased tremendously. An owner of a store selling electrical stoves said earlier they would sell around 100 'Infrared' stoves in half a year, but now 100 stoves are sold off within two to three weeks, even though one stove costs Rs 2,200 to Rs 4,000.

Charcoal-based stoves made in Manipur, Meghalaya and locally are also selling like hot cakes. Employees of a travel agent in Aizawl had to purchase a charcoal-based stove for an official of the Lengpui airport as the official nearly died out of starvation due to the unavailability of cooking gas.

An LPG cylinder costs around Rs 1,000 in the black market, but that too is impossible to find now even if you are willing to pay more.

Intermittent power cuts in the state is only adding to the woes of the people here as the public health engineering department could not continuously pump water due to the frequent power cuts leading to scarcity of water.

Lal Thanhawla Redicules H T Sangliana

Aizawl, Jun 18 : As Sonia Gandhi has made it clear that Pranab Mukherjee is the UPA candidate for the Presidential race, chief minister Lal Thanhawla has ridiculed the "self-projection" of H T Sangliana in the race to Raisina Hills.

"It is a shame for the person who has been claimed to be Sonia Gandhi's favourite for the presidential elections. If not self-projection what else could it be," Lal Thanhawla said on Saturday.

Affirming that there has been a loud voice for electing a tribal christian to the Rashtrapati Bhavan in which seasoned politician from the Northeast P A Sangma emerged as a nominee, Lal Thanhawla said that there was no mention of the name of H T Sangliana.

"I have never known anyone canvassing himself for the President post," Lal Thanhawla said. A few weeks back, a local weekly magazine reported that the top cop-turned-politician was favoured by Sonia Gandhi for the President post.

This report was carried by a couple of English online news services in the Northeast, which further made it to one of the leading English dailies in the region.

However, not a single paper in Mizoram published the report. Sangliana, who had been elected to the Lok Sabha from Bangalore North after he retired as DGP of Karnataka, once said that he was proposed by Sonia Gandhi to head the Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee which however did not go down well with Congress leaders here.

Sangliana, a native of Mizoram, is current vice-chairman of National Commission for Minorities, an appointment after he joined the Congress party.

Mizoram FA Signs Rs 1.25 Crore Commercial Deal

The Mizoram Football Association (MFA) roped in ZONET Cable TV Pvt. Ltd. as their commercial partner by signing a five year agreement worth at least Rs 1.25 crore, undisputedly the most lucrative deals in Mizoram sports.

The deal which will usher a new football league – Mizoram Premier League, was signed between MFA President Lal Thanzara and RK Lianzuala, director ZONET Cable TV Pvt. Ltd  - one of Mizoram’s leading cable television - in Aizawl on Wednesday.

“We have entered into an agreement with ZONET Cable TV Pvt. Ltd. for five years for the promotion and development of football. We are excited that this will lead to wider reach of football in the Mizoram,” MFA President Lal Thanzara said.

 The agreement with MFA grants ZONET Cable TV Pvt. Ltd all commercial rights to Mizoram Premier League including sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting, merchandising, film, video and franchising.

RK Lianzuala, director, ZONET Cable TV Pvt. Ltd said ZONET and the MFA will work together to develop football talent, significantly impact the competitive level of the sport as well as attract high quality players.

The Mizoram Premier League is slated to start in late September as soon as floodlighting Aizawl’s prestigious Assam Rifles Ground is done.

“We hope Mizoram football will scale greater heights with effective marketing and development at the grassroot level," said Lalnghinglova Hmar, Honorary Secretary of MFA adding that it would be mandatory for teams which qualify for the Mizoram Premier League to have junior and sub-junior teams.

Even though during the last decade Mizoram has produced a few dozens of I-League footballers, domestic league in the state has always been a poor show. This agreement will steer Mizoram football to new heights.
The best eight clubs in the state will play in the newly formed football league.

Details of Financial Agreement
* Zonet TV will provide 25 Lakhs to Mizoram FA for each of the five seasons
* The break up of the prize money are as follows:
Champion - Rs. 5,00,000
Runner Up - Rs. 3,00,000
3rd Place - Rs. 2,00,000
4th Place - Rs. 1,50,000
5th Place - Rs. 1,25,000
6th Place - Rs. 1,00,000
7th Place - Rs. 75,000
8th Place - Rs. 50,000

Best Goalkeeper - Rs.5,000
Best Defender - Rs 5000
Best Midfielder - Rs 5000
Best Forward - Rs 5000
Man of the Match - Rs 1,000 x 56 matches = 56,000
Fairplay: Rs 20,000

Match Fee:
For all the 56 matches to be played, there will be match fee as follows
Rs.3000 (winner) + Rs.2000 (loser) x 56 matches - Rs. 2,80,000

Aamir Wants To Cast Actors From Northeast India

By Afsana Ahmed

Mumbai : Aamir Khan in disguise when he was promoting 3 Idiots in Varanasi.

While Bollywood has explored practically every aspect of conflict in its movies — from wars to riots to communal tensions — it has never featured the North East in spite of the troubles there. Why is this so?

Aamir: On a professional level, I feel all filmmakers (and those in

other creative art forms) have every right to choose what they want to do with their creativity. Cinema is to entertain and not educate. However, on a personal note, I want to see topics, stories and strong characters emerging from North-East India in mainstream cinema.

It’ll be a treat to watch such stories on the 70mm screen. If you remember, I took up an unusual character in 3 Idiots called Phunsuk Wangdu. I applaud Raju Hirani who digressed from the mainstream and made a Ladakhi his central character.

Why don’t Bollywood filmmakers expand their horizons and look for actors from the North-East, rather than just those from the South and the North?

Aamir: Excellent idea and a fantastic perspective! I certainly feel they have a place in mainstream cinema. The girls have very expressive eyes and the guys with high cheekbones are very handsome. I want to send out a message that the whole of India has to learn a lot from this part of the country.