More Foreign Tourists Visiting in Mizoram

More foreign tourists visiting in Mizoram

The number of foreigners visiting the northeastern state of Mizoram increased last year, with a larger number of US citizens than other foreigners stopping over in this state that borders Myanmar and Bangladesh, officials said.

"Around 745 foreigners visited Mizoram last year, 87 more than the previous year (2011)," an official at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) told reporters.

According to the official, of the total 745 foreign tourists, 138 were from the US, 104 from B ritain, and 78 from Australia.

"In 2011, 657 foreigners, including 128 from the US, visited Mizoram," the official said, quoting the FRRO office records.

"Foreigners prefer to visit the state in December and January because of chilly weather at that time in the region. But there are also tourists who like to enjoy the not-so-hot climate of June or July, when the monsoon is in full swing," the official said.

The official said that the relaxation of the Protected Area Permit (PAP), a permit required by every foreigner who wishes to visit certain northeastern states, including Mizoram, would enable foreign tourists to travel more frequently around the state.

The Union home ministry last month relaxed for another year the protected area rules in three northeastern states of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. This would allow foreign tourists to visit these states without seeking the special permit.

"The Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958, has been relaxed for one more year beyond Dec 31 last year to allow foreign tourists to visit the three northeastern states subject to certain conditions," the official said.

The order of 1958 was first introduced with the aim of protecting the region and better preserving local culture. The rule was first relaxed in 2010, and has since been extended every subsequent year.

'Blood For Your Valentine' in Aizawl

Aizawl, Feb 15 :  Valentine's Day, the day of love, was celebrated in Mizoram today with young people exchanging gifts like roses, chocolates and cards.

Candle light dinners were held by the lovers and married couples in hotels, restaurants, farmhouses and also in some picnic spots outside the city.

In mass blood donation camps named 'Blood for Your Valentine', organised by the Association for Voluntary Blood Donation of Mizoram, 759 units of blood were voluntarily donated in some parts of the state.

Mizoram CM Seeks Banks Help For Flagship Projects

Aizawl, Feb 15 : Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla today appealed financial institutions operating in Mizoram to help the beneficiaries get optimum benefits from the state's flagship project New Land Use Policy.

Speaking a state credit seminar organised by Nabard, Lal Thanhawla appealed the banks to provide working capital loans to enable the NLUP-assisted farmers to harness optimally the productive capacity created with their newly acquired assets.

"Banks may also extend orchard maintenance investment loans for the purpose where the NLUP assistance has been phased out and plants are stabilised," he said, adding that close coordination between banks and NLUP line departments would go a long way in reinforcing the benefits of NLUP.

The Congress government's flagship project would provide sustainable occupation to around 1.2 lakh families, thereby gradually eradicate the primitive shifting cultivatioon which about 70 percent of the state's farmers still depend.

"Our farmers need a helping hand from the banks so that they switch over to the settled cultivation from the present unsustainable practice of jhum cultivation," he said. The CM was happy that the Nabard consultancy services has taken up third party monitoring and evaluation of NLUP, and he was optimistic that this would yield better results.

Although the ratio of priority sector advances to total advances in Mizoram as of March 2012 was well above the stipulated 40 percent, percentage of agriculture advances was much below the RBI mandated target of 18 percent, the CM pointed out.

He requested the banks to take proactive steps in devising ingenious ways and adopting innovative strategies to step up the credit flow to priority sector, especially to agriculture sector in the state.

The focus of this year's state credit seminar was on "development of rural infrastructure for accelerating inclusive growth." There are 41 priority projects during the 12th Five Year Plan for which the Nabard will sanction Rs 545.25 crore under its rural infrastructure development fund.

The Poppy Fields Of Arunachal

Guwahati, Feb 15 : A survey by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has identified six districts in Arunachal Pradesh most affected by illicit poppy cultivation.

The survey, which was conducted between the last week of January and February 10, found widespread cultivation of opium in Longding, Tirap, Upper Siang, Changlang, Lohit and Anjaw districts.

NCB’s zonal director Madho Singh today said the survey was carried out with the help of satellite images and ground survey. “We are also conducting a similar survey in Manipur. Three districts in the state, Senapati, Ukhrul and Churachandpur, have already been covered.”

“During the survey, illicit cultivation of poppy was found in small and isolated patches in the remote areas of the affected districts,” he said.

But there has been a marginal reduction in opium cultivation in Arunachal Pradesh this year because of co-ordinated operations carried out by government enforcement agencies, Singh said, adding that those involved in illegal cannabis cultivation would be dealt with firmly.

He said the NCB would launch an awareness drive next month to motivate farmers engaged in opium cultivation in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh to switch over to alternative crops like cardamom, oranges, apples besides other cash and staple crops.

“The NCB in co-ordination with police, CRPF and district administration destroyed 85 acres of illicit poppy cultivation in Wakka, Longding and Pongchau circles in Longding district of Arunachal Pradesh on February 8 and 9,” Singh said.

He said it becomes very difficult to arrest the cultivators since most of the illegal cultivation is on forestland.

In many parts of Arunachal Pradesh, villagers cultivate opium on a commercial scale since it involves huge money in a short period of time.

Cannabis is grown on a largescale in the interior and inaccessible areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. Since most of these plantations are tucked away in hills and forests, government agencies have a tough time destroying these.

Some of these plantations are in areas infested by rebel outfits. As such, they are not deemed safe by the bureau for carrying out operations without adequate security, which is not always readily available.

The NCB zonal director said they have also sensitised ground-level officials of the police, forest and revenue departments and asked them to collect intelligence about opium cultivation in the remote and interior areas of the state.

Another cause of serious concern is the rampant opiate addiction among the people in these areas.

In September last year, the NCB destroyed cannabis (ganja) crops spread across 109 hectares in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Destroying cannabis and poppy farms in Manipur and Arunachal Pardesh is also difficult because of stiff public resistance, mostly from the women, for whom it is a source of livelihood.

In Election Season, A Few Dark Thoughts in Meghalaya Coal Belt

By Esha Roy

EAST JAINTIA HILLS, Feb 15 : A patchwork green and black — hills of glistening coal and forested flats — sprawls over 2,000 sq km in the East Jaintia Hills. The digging, splitting and sorting of coal is ceaseless, as is the coming and going of SUVs loaded with migrant labour. A fine black film covers every inch of Ladrymbai — every aspect of life in this mining town revolves around coal.

Of the 29 candidates for Meghalaya's assembly in the East Jaintia Hills, at least 13 are well known coal mine owners; two have limestone mines. In the constituency of Khliehriat, all five candidates — one each from the Congress and United Democratic Party and three independents — are coal barons.

Meghalaya goes to polls on February 23, along with Nagaland. Counting of votes is scheduled for February 28.

First-time candidate Finelyness Bareh, 46, has several quarries around his village Rymbai. "I had not thought of entering politics, but the people of my village said that I should stand. I am running as an independent, but if I win, I will join whichever party is likely to form the government... there is really no point otherwise," he said.

Bareh's home towers above his neighbours' in Rymbai, whose smooth, tarred roads and brightly painted concrete dwellings indicate prosperity. A steady stream of villagers starts arriving at 7 every morning, and it is often 1 am by the time his day ends.

"I was not in favour of his joining politics, but this is the will of the people," said Eugene, Bareh's wife and mother of his four daughters.

The big election issue in the East Jaintia Hills — where almost all of the 61,000-strong electorate is engaged in the coal mining industry — is more national than local.

"This year has been bad for us. Our sales primarily happen in the winter. But with new policies coming into effect in North India, the trucks which used to come from Haryana, UP and Punjab did not arrive this year," Bareh said. "They have started importing coal at a price that is less than ours." Spirits were low at Christmas last year, he said.

Elected representatives from the Jaintia Hills are at the heart of Meghalaya's strong mining lobby. The Lok Sabha member from Shillong, Vincent Pala, one of the biggest coal miners in the state, is from Jowai, headquarters of the district. The network of powerful entrenched interests often works to block out modern and more productive mining practices in the area, several analysts and political observers in the state said.

Paul Lamare, who works for a communications company that produces TV shows in Jowai, said poor levels of literacy frequently acts to the detriment of the region's development.

"Politics here runs on money," Lamare said. "The coal barons and mine owners are millionaires, but many of them don't even know how to sign their name. This is a problem if the winning candidate has to run the administration and represent his people in the assembly."

Battle Lines Drawn Tripura Goes To Polls Today

Of the 3,041 booths, 409 have been identified as very sensitive.

Agartala: Battle lines have been drawn up for today’s polls to the 60-member Tripura Assembly where
heavyweights Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, TPCC president Sudip Ray Barman and president of Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura Bijay Hrankhwal are among 249 candidates in the fray.

The Left Front is hoping to script history by returning to power for a fifth consecutive time.

The main contest will be between the Left Front and its allies and the Congress and its partners.
The CPI-M, the dominant partner in the Left Front, is contesting 56 seats, RSP two and CPI and Forward Block one each.

The Congress is contesting 48 seats and its alliance partners INPT in 11 and National Conference of Tripura in one.

The candidates include 14 women, who are four less than those who had contested in the 2008 elections.

An electorate of 23,52,505 including 11,64,656 women are expected to exercise their franchise in the election contested by a total of 16 political parties and independents.

The CPI(M), which has taken credit for ending the four-decade-old insurgency in the state and ensuring peace and communal harmony, is projecting Tripura as a model state in terms of good governance having topped the list in the implementation of MNREGA.

The CPI(M) has also highlighted the 15 awards it received from the Centre for successful implementation of various schemes.

The Congress-INPT-NCT alliance has made “bad governance” of the Manik Sarkar-led government a poll issue, alleging that despite availability of central funds, employees, unemployed and farmers remained deprived during the 20-year LF regime.

Corruption and nepotism by party leaders and partisan behaviour of the government are also important issues for the alliance.

Prominent leaders who campaigned in the run-up to the election include Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, Union minister Deepa Das Munshi, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, CPI-M leaders Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, Surya Kanta Mishra and Brinda Karat.

Of the 3,041 booths, 409 have been identified as very sensitive (A+), 535 booths as very sensitive (A) and 726 booths as sensitive.

Altogether 250 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed in the state to maintain law and order.

The Border Security Force has sealed the 856 km border with Bangladesh and deployed additional forces to prevent infiltration.

The Election Commission has formed flying squads and Static Surveillance Teams to combat the menace of cash doles and bribes and carrying of illegal arms.

Static Surveillance Teams and Flying squads have been set up in all 60 constituencies with police and government officials headed by a magistrate.

Mizoram’s Curse: Young Deaths From Drug Overdose

Aizawl, Feb 14 : The Mizoram state government has sounded an alarm after the death of several youngsters, mostly girls in Aizawl, due to an overdose of drugs.

The latest was the death of an 18-year-old girl on last Thursday. Doctors in the emergency department of the Civil Hospital in Aizawl said 30 young people were treated in the hospital in January and at least 20 in February till last Saturday.

Jeremy V Pachuau, a doctor at the hospital, said four people died of drug overdose since January and the drugs abused are mainly Respira-D, Nitrazepam, Alprazolam and Pacitane, not the usual spasmo proxyvon and parvon spas, widely used by the Mizos earlier.

Pacitane, also known as Pepe, is the in thing these days as there is a misconception among girls that the drug gives them a whiter complexion, besides giving them a kick. Dr Pachuau said the young girls, mostly fans of Korean film stars, consumed Pacitane to become fairer, sometimes resulting in sudden death. He said the drug makes the girls pale and not fair.

The preferred time for drug abuse was night and several fatalities happened in sleep and was noticed when the youngster did not wake up in the morning. Their parents then rushed them to the hospital, he said. A majority of the patients were girls.

Pacitane is a drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and is never prescribed to people below the age of 18 in developed countries, Pachuau said. The chemical reaction of Pacitane if taken with other intoxicating drugs or alcohol could be fatal, he said.

State chief minister Lal Thanhawla, addressing a press conference on January 9, said that 11 young people died due to drug overdose from December 20, 2012 to January 8, 2013. Doctors in the Civil Hospital in Aizawl said around 40 young people taken to the hospital after suffering from drug overdose were saved since January.

Pachuau, who is conducting a study on the recent drug problem, said that the youngest patient brought to the hospital was just 12. "The patients brought to the Emergency due to drug overdose were between the age of 12 and 40, but a high majority of them were below 25," he said.

These young people were not found to be addicted to heroin or clinical drugs like spasmo proxyvon or parvon spas, prominent pain-killers widely-abused in Mizoram earlier.

Manipur policeman found guilty in fake encounter got medal on Republic Day

By Esha Roy

Imphal, Feb 14 : A Manipuri policeman implicated in a fake encounter in Imphal was among nine police personnel from the state awarded the President's police medal for gallantry on the occasion of Republic Day last month.

The havildar rank policeman, N Nungshibabu Singh, and three others were found guilty by a judicial inquiry in 2010. But they are yet to be punished.

Two cousins, Mutum Rajen Singh and Mutum Herojit Singh, were killed in the alleged encounter in October 2008. Rajen ran a 'rice hotel' in Imphal West district with the help of his wife Ibecha Devi, and the couple had a four-year-old son.

According to Ibecha Devi's testimony in court, in the afternoon of October 14, 2008, Herojit took Rajen with him on his scooter to supervise the editing of a video of his son's Nahutpa (ritual performance of wearing earrings) ceremony at a studio in Chingmeirong colony. They are said to have stayed at the studio until 5 pm.

Later that night, Devi was told by relatives that a local TV news channel was reporting that her husband and his cousin had been killed in Lambui Lambi in Imphal East district by a team of Manipuri commandos. Attempts by Herojit's father to file a police complaint the next day were unsuccessful, and his letter to the DGP also did not elicit an immediate response.

Authorities said that according to a report filed by sub-inspector of the Manipur commandos, P Achouba Meitei, about half a dozen unidentified armed youth opened fire at the commandos while they were patrolling along the Lambui Lambi road. The youths allegedly escaped on their two-wheelers. The commandos pursued them and retaliated, leading to a gunfight.

Two men riding a scooter were shot dead, while the others fled under the cover of darkness. In the inquiry report, the state government said that Meitei and rifleman Nungshibabu shot one of the men, two other commandos pursued the other man who was fleeing and shot him down as well.

The police claimed they had recovered papers of the banned insurgent group KCP-MC, signed by its commander-in-chief L Khuman, a 9 mm pistol loaded with three rounds and an M 20 pistol from the duo.

But Herojit's father M Kumar Singh claimed in court that the two were actually picked up from outside LMS Law college and then taken to Lambui road where they were later killed.

A witness, Gurumayum Premjit Singh, told the court that he saw the two cousins speaking to the commandos on Lambui road. He stopped to see what was happening but was waved on by the commandos. A few minutes later, he heard gunshots from the direction of the commandos, he said.

The judicial inquiry said the Manipuri commandos "are contradictory in explaining the circumstances in killing of Mutum Rajen Singh on 14-10-2008. The respondents have failed to establish that there was an exchange of firing".

"Therefore, I have decided that the husband of the petitioner, namely Mutum Rajen Singh, was killed by the personnel of Manipur Police commandos, Imphal East Unit on 14-10-08 at about 6.30 pm after having (him) in their custody, in a fake encounter at Lambui Lambi Porompat, Imphal East District. I have also decided that there was no exchange of firing or encounter with the Manipur police commandos," district judge M Manojkumar Singh said.

In the past, human rights activists have alleged that gallantry awards may be one of the reasons for the high number of encounters in Manipur, saying such awards ensure promotions and more pay.
DGP Y Joykumar Singh told The Indian Express that he was not privy to the judicial inquiry report.

"It must have been a preliminary inquiry and I am not aware of this case. Of course there is a panel and possible recepients are verified at two levels before the list is sent to the Home Ministry. I cannot comment on this particular case," he said.