Mizoram Hosts FIFA Grassroots Course

Aizawl, Oct 18 : The opening ceremony of the FIFA Grassroots Course taking place in Mizoram from Monday (October 15) to Friday (October 19) was attended by state Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, President of Mizoram FA Lal Thanzara and General Secretary Lalnghinglova Hmar, along with other senior officials from Sports Council of Mizoram and senior officials from the Mizoram FA.

The five-day affair which is being conducted by Scott O’Donnel, Technical Director Academies and Coaching, All India Football Federation (AIFF), is being attended by 28 participants from Mizoram.

The participants have been chosen by the Mizoram FA, who have the experience of working with kids and ability to implement Grassroots football in their respective districts and regions.

The theory sessions are being held at the Information and Public Relations auditorium and the practical sessions at the Assam Rifles ground.

Each day 25 kids attend the practical sessions to be part of small-sided games for kids which helps the instructor to demonstrate and explain the small sided games philosophy and its implementation in GR football to the participants.

A Grassroots festival will be held on Friday morning with approximately 75 kids between the age of 6-12 attending the same.

Now, Dial 108 For Emergency in Assam

Guwahati, Oct 18 : The Assam government Wednesday launched a one-point integrated helpline number (108) for all kinds of emergency response.

This is also the first such one-point crisis response helpline ever launched in the country and this integrated helpline number will encompass police, fire and all other disaster-related emergency incidents.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi launched the emergency number at a function at the state secretariat conference hall and said that 108 emergency services have already created an impact on Assam's health services, especially in dealing with accident-related cases and timely care for pregnant women.

"The 108 ambulance service has become very popular in the state and as such, its network has been further widened by encompassing other services like police, fire and disaster-related incidents," he said.

"The launching of the integrated emergency helpline would provide much-needed impetus to people living in far-flung and interior areas, including hilly areas. The integrated service will go a long way in providing timely relief to affected people at the time of exigencies," Gogoi pointed out.

He said the integrated service would help the common man to derive prompt services in health care, police, fire and other emergency services.

Assam's Minister for Health & Family Welfare Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was present on the occasion, said the 108 service under the aegis of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has been rendering yeoman services and the integrated service would further tone up health and other emergency services in the coming days.

"The launching of the integrated services will help the poorest of the poor in getting access to health and disaster-related emergency services," Sarma said.

The minister added that 100 small ambulances have been pressed into service for the hill areas under the 108 service. For referral cases, another fleet of ambulances will be placed shortly, he added.

The health department has been designated as a nodal department for implementing the integrated emergency helpline as it has been already partnering GVK-EMRI 108 helpline service.

A total of 655 police and fire stations have been connected with the 108 call centre to render fast services to the people, officials said, adding that a total of 4,355 emergency response personnel of the fire brigade and police have been trained for this purpose.

Ibobi Noncommittal On Naga Issue

Imphal, Oct 18 : Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh on Wednesday said that Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had sought his assistance to put to an end to six-decade-long Naga separatist movement, but he did not know if he could help.

“The Centre has sought our (Manipur government) cooperation in solving the Naga issue. But I am not in a position to oblige, since the exact points of agreement between the NSCN-IM and the Indian government is not known to us,” Ibobi told journalists.

Manipur, Chief Minister, Okram Ibobi Singh. Image courtesy PIB

The NSCN-IM has been fighting for an independent Nagaland for over six decades.
It however later demanded a Greater Nagaland by slicing off parts of three neighbouring states to unite 1.2 million Nagas.

The demand is opposed by Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

New Delhi and the NSCN-IM entered into a ceasefire in August 1997.

The two have held more than 50 rounds of peace talks to end one of South Asia’s longest-running insurgencies that has killed 25,000 people since 1947.

“The Manipur government too wishes that the Centre and NSCN-IM come to an amicable solution and wind up the peace talks,” Ibobi said.

The Manipur chief minister said that it was also too early for the Manipur government to comment on the Naga peace process as the points of agreement between the Centre and Naga separatist outfit have not been disclosed.

On Tuesday, Nagaland Home Minister Imkong Imchen exuded confidence that there could be an early settlement to the six-decade Nagaland conflict.

“We hope for an early settlement, especially since Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde showed keen interest in resolving the Naga issue,” said Imchen.

The comments followed a published report that the NSCN-IM had decided to accept the Indian constitution and drop the demand for a Greater Nagaland.

New Delhi’s main interlocutor RS Pandey, a former petroleum and natural gas secretary, did not comment on the news report but maintained that the peace process remained on track.

“The peace process is on the right direction. I have held several meetings with them (NSCN-IM) but at the moment things are yet to concretise,” said Pandey.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio led a 19-member delegation of legislators, including opposition leader Tokheho Yepthomi, to meet Shinde and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj in Delhi to apparently thrash out the final contours of a peace settlement with Naga insurgents.

Rio, Imchen, Congress leader Tokheho Yepthomi and MPs Khekiho Zhimomi and CM Chang were among the 20 in the Joint Legislators Forum (JLF) who also met NSCN-IM chairman Isak Swu and general secretary Muivah.

The JLF is scheduled to meet LK Advani on Wednesday in the national capital to seek support for an early solution to the Naga imbroglio.

During earlier talks, the NSCN-IM had proposed “a special federal arrangement” to enable the Nagas self-governance, but the negotiations ended inconclusively.

The NSCN-IM wants a special federal relationship with India, with a separate Naga constitution, and would like the guerrillas to jointly guard the international borders alongside Indian security forces.

Zoramthanga Faces Trial

By Linda Chhakchhuak

Aizawl, Oct 17 : A special court here has ordered framing of charges against Opposition leader and former Chief Minister and Mizo National Front (MNF) supremo, in a corruption case.

The Special Judge under the Prevention of Corruption Act asked the prosecution to frame charges against Zoramthanga.

November 19 has been fixed as the next date of hearing.

The former underground leader Zoramthanga is probably the first Chief Minister from the Northeastern States to face trial for misuse of government property for personal use.

The ex-CM is accused of using his powers as the Chief Minister to get issued Agriculture department materials worth around Rs 37 lakh for fencing his farm at Aipuk, a few kms from the capital in 2007. When the issue was raised in the House by the then Opposition Congress, he is accused of clarifying that the materials were issued to members of an Aipuk Farming Society on 50 per cent subsidy. Official documents were backdated to clear himself, it is alleged.

The ACB had filed an additional charge sheet alleging that the former CM held assets disproportionate to his known sources of income but this did not satisfy the Special Judge. But sources said that that the court has permitted them time to file a fresh affidavit on this count.

The ACB report said that in 2003 he owned about Rs 54 lakhs which grew to over Rs 1 crore, including various immovable properties showing a massive growth in cash and property assets without any known source of income.

It was only in 2009 that prodding by the popular anti-corruption group PRISM through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that the government instituted an ACB investigation under the watchful eye of the Gauhati High Court. During the course of investigations his residence was raided recovering several land pattas, passbooks, passports, etc.

The former underground leader appeared in the special court in person along with former Cabinet colleagues. He has been consistently claiming that he is being framed for political reasons. Assembly elections is just round the corner in November next year.

The other allegation against him is that he had authorised the collection of three per cent from all the PMGSY contractors ostensibly for party funds during two consecutive terms he was CM (1998 to 2008).

Far from denying this charge, sources said that the MNF supremo had claimed that all parties including the Congress collected its party funds in this manner.

Loktak Lake Scam: Investigation Demanded

In April 2010, Tehelka had exposed the corruption in the 224-crore project to clean up the Loktak lake in Manipur
By Sabika Abbas

Flashpoints The eye of the storm, the Loktak Lake

Photo: AFP Both Congress high command and Manipur government continue to maintain silence even as clamour for an inquiry into Loktak Lake scam increases. Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to be set up immediately to probe into the findings of the Tehelka expose.

“I have travelled extensively around the area where Loktak Lake is situated and couldn’t see even a fourth of rupee spent from the crores that were granted for cleaning up the Lake. No money has been spent on the rehabilitation of people living in areas near the infested lake”, says senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar. The clean-up project involves removing 132.94 lakh cubic metres of thick biomass, ‘phumdis’, from the lake.

Main Opposition party in Manipur, Trinamool Congress has also joined the chorus. “Our MPs will raise the issue in the Parliament”, asserted Kim Kangte, Trinamool Congress chief for Manipur. She stated that a joint-party meeting had taken place to look into the matter. “There is no doubt about the fact that the Congress party is directly involved in this multi-crore scam” she said.

Apart from political parties, civil society organisations in Manipur have also joined in. On 15 October, International Peace and Social Advancement, IPSA and the Ethno Heritage Council (HERICOUN) issued separate press releases demanding that the CBI be called in to investigate into the case.

In April 2010, TEHELKA had reported how a company that existed only on paper was awarded a Rs 224 crore contract to clean up the Loktak Lake (The Lake and the Fake Firm) in Manipur. Chief Minister Ibobi Singh, who is also the chairman of the Loktak Development Authority, had rubbished TEHELKA’s findings and claimed the process of selecting K-Pro Infra Works Private Ltd, the company that was awarded the contract, was fair and transparent. In an article published last week (The dirty clean-up work), TEHELKA reported that two years later, new documents give the lie to the CM’s claim and prove that the lake project is characterised by undue favours and flagrant violations of government norms.

Source: Tehelka

Tea is Officialy 'State drink' of Assam

Guwahati Oct 17 : The Assam cabinet on Monday gave its nod to declare tea as the ‘State Drink’ of Assam.

A press release stated that the decision was taken at a cabinet meeting held at the chief minister’s residence yesterday evening. A formal notification is expected to be issued by the state government in a day or two.

Tarun Gogoi, chief minister of Assam, had in November last year declared tea as the ‘State Drink’ of Assam and the cabinet yesterday approved the same. Gogoi had also assured the industry to try and convince the Centre to declare the beverage as the ‘National Drink’ of India.

Recently, a parliamentary standing committee on commerce, which was constituted on August 31, 2011, and submitted its report on August 9, 2012, had recommended that tea be given the status of ‘National Drink’.

Welcoming the decision of Assam cabinet, Bidyananda Barkakoty, chairman of North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) said tea had been the only industry where Assam could retain its leadership for over a century.

“Way back on May 8, 1838, three hundred and fifty pounds of Assam tea were dispatched to London and sold at India House, London, on January 10, 1839. Since then, over the last 174 years, it is the only industry where Assam has retained its leadership”, Barkakoty said.

“Tea is indigenous to Assam and is an area where Assam can take a lot of pride. Southern China and Assam are the only two regions in the world with native tea plants”, added Rajib Barooah, chairman of Assam Tea Planters’ Association (ATPA).

The tea industry is one of the largest employers in Assam. Assam tea industry employs around 7 lakh permanent workers and another 5 lakh seasonal workers. Another 10 lakh persons are dependent on Assam tea industry.

Around 50 per cent of workers are women and hence, Assam tea industry is the single largest employer of women. More than 3,50,000 hectares area is under tea cultivation in Assam.

Barkakoty said this formal declaration of tea as the ‘State Drink’ will bolster the marketing of Assam tea. “Tea is now accepted as a health drink world over. This fact coupled with the “State Drink” tag will also attract the large youth population of the region towards this health beverage,” he added.

The tea industry expects that the ‘State Drink’ status to the beverage would increase its per capita consumption in Assam from 650 gm and help touch the national average which is about 730 gm.Assam’s share to the total tea production of India is around 55 per cent.

Mizoram Govt To Decide on Village Councils in Sinlung Hills

Aizawl, Oct 16 : With the state election commission cancelling proposed elections to village councils, Mizoram's Local Administration Minister P C Lalthanliana today said that the state government would soon decide on the formation of village councils in 15 villages within the Sinlung Hills Development Council (SHDC).

Lalthanliana told PTI that there were a number of choices before the government, including appointment of advisory bodies in the villages and the final decision would be made by the chief minister.

"Let the state election commission submit its report to the government and we will make a decisions soon," he said, however ruling out the possibility of extending the terms of the village councils any further.

Elections could not be held in the 15 villages along with the other village councils on February 23 due to intimidation by the Manipur-based Hmar People's Convention - Democrats militants.

The state election commission's efforts to hold village council polls in October failed.

No nomination paper was filed even after extension of last date of filing nominations three times.

State police officials said that the HPC-D militants sent threat smses to political party leaders in the area not to file nominations.

500000 Cyber Warriors For India? What A Stupid Idea

I was reading the Times of India 5 lakh cyber warriors to bolster India's e-defence. I just wondered. What does National Security Advisor thinks of Cyber warriors? Does numbers count or skills?

One person with enough skills can do more than thousands of these so called cyber warriors. This takes back into focus - the Indian system of education, the lack of the out of the box thinking. everything...

Its a useless effort. Build up skills is my suggestion...


Indrani Bagchi & Vishwa Mohan

Recognizing the threat of cyber attacks from a host of hostile entities — ranging from domestic saboteurs to foreign rivals — a new initiative intends to train five lakh cyber warriors in the next five years to meet a critical gap in India's defences.

NEW DELHI: Recognizing the threat of cyber attacks from a host of hostile entities — ranging from domestic saboteurs to foreign rivals — a new initiative intends to train five lakh cyber warriors in the next five years to meet a critical gap in India's defences.

A government-private sector plan will look at beefing up India's cyber security capabilities in the light of a group of experts reckoning that India faces a 4.7 lakh shortfall of such experts despite the country's reputation of being a IT and software powerhouse.

Efforts to draw a strategic plan for India, being overseen by National Security Advisor ( NSA) Shivshankar Menon, may need to be speeded up as India lags the research and planning leading western and Asian nations have already undertaken.

Cyber warfare has emerged a top threat to national security with India's systems subjected to an increasing number - and more sophisticated — cyber attacks. India faced a severe test during the 2010 Commonwealth Games when cyber attacks from Pakistan and China sought to damage information systems.

Most of the attacks India deals with originate from countries like the US, China, Russia, a few east European countries and Iran. Chinese hackers have targeted a large number of institutions, even stealing data from schools run by the armed forces.

A Canadian investigation in 2010 revealed that Chinese hackers had reached Indian missions at Kabul, Moscow, Dubai, Abuja, US, Serbia, Belgium, Germany, Cyprus, the UK and Zimbabwe. A machine at the National Security Council secretariat was tapped as were computers at military engineering services (MES).