Coming From Nagaland? Have Your Visa Ready! Mobile Phone Stores Staff Need to be Trained Well

By Alfie D'Souza

Mangalore: While I am writing this article, persons and business names are not revealed, only for the fact that I don't want any employees to get fired from their jobs because of their lack of knowledge and courteousness.

I really don't blame the store employees for their lack of customer service talents, but would blame the owners/management for not training their staff handling various departments about the company products, procedures and rules etc etc.

Sometimes when you apply for new mobile phone connection or any other matter, you will be surprised at all the documents the staff ask for, which actually is not needed and at same time its waste of your time and energy running to xerox shops to make bunch of copies.

By the way when did Nagaland became a foreign country ? Why do you need a visa to visit Mangalore? I thought Nagaland was still a Indian state, but according to a authorized mobile showroom staff it is not.

Other day I was at the mobile showroom to pay my bill, but since the automated paying kiosk was out of order, I stood in the queue inside the store to pay my bill. At that time there were two youth, I guess either from Tibet or Nagaland, trying to get phone service activated.

I could hear the conversation between the youth and the store employee - at one point I heard the staff asking them for their visa copies. The confused youth with much argument with the staff left the showroom in a grumpy mood.

Minutes later after done paying my bill, I approached the same staff and asked where the youth were from, and she replied they were from Nagaland.

Quickly I asked her again, then why were you insisting on their visa copies, since Nagaland is not a foreign land.

She was all puzzled and confused, and the manager who standing close by who heard us, directed the staff to run outside and look if she could find those two young youth from Nagaland, but all in vain. I bet they went to a better mobile showroom. What a blunder the staff did, just to lose two customers?

Another incident-- once again that too at a mobile showroom - my American friend who was on a visit here for couple of months wanted to see if he could get temporary SIM card. So I took him to the mobile shop, where the staff asked him for his copies of passport, visa and other travel documents etc - which he did.

After a while the store staff came and insisted copies of Voter's ID or a ration card. What a dumb question to ask a US citizen for a voter's ID and a ration card, when she knew he was a American on a vacation with a tourist visa. We didn't speak a word, instead left the shop, and later got him a SIM card under my friend's name at a different shop..

Sometimes getting a new mobile phone service is much more difficult than getting a passport or visa - too much hassles and too many documents to be produced for personal verification. Like few months ago, when I tried to get a new mobile service to be approved I went through hell - after all copies of needed documents were submitted, and after waiting for nearly 15-20 minutes, the mobile shop staff tells me that I look fair on my passport and OCI (Dual citizenship) card, and I look dark on my Karnataka State Drivers Licence. She wanted me to lighten the photostat copies of my DL - I had to go back again to the xerox shop, and after wasting nearly 10 copies, I finally got a perfect copy of my DL photo to match my PP photo. I still don't understand why the photo color mattered so much. I only wished the RTO office had a better camera device to take personal images ?


Source: mangalorean.com

AAPSU-Bandh Affects Life in Arunachal Pradesh

Itanagar, Jul 10 : Normal life was affected in Arunachal Pradesh today following the 36-hour state-wide bandh called by the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) in protest against the non-fulfilment of its various charters of demands.

The bandh was total as all business establishments, educational institutions, financial institutions, central government offices remained closed while attendances in state government officers were very thin.

All sort of public and private transport remained off the road while a few state transport buses were seen plying with escort.

The bandh which began at 5am in the morning remained peaceful throughout the state barring a few stray incidents where bandh enforcers pelted stone at police vehicles near Naharlagun, Capital SP Seiju P Kuruvilla informed.

Reports from other districts revealed that the bandh was total and incidents free.

The state government in an order yesterday  had declared the bandh illegal and directed all the departmental heads to ensure full attendance during the bandh period.

The AAPSU had called for the bandh after the state government failed to fulfil its demands even after the union’s first phase of 12-hour capital bandh on June 25 last which was marred by violence including burning down of vehicles.

Police had arrested AAPSU’s president Kamta Lapungon June 25 last and sent him to 14 days judicial custody. He, however, was later released on bail.

The AAPSU has demanded a ‘White Paper’ from the state government on the present financial position of the state besides demanding immediate payment of employees’ salaries and pending bills to the contractors.

The other demands of the union include, ban on the appointment of chairmen and vice-chairmen, providing uninterrupted power and water supply in the state capital and proper maintenance of all sectoral roads and highways in the state.

Lal Thanhawla Seeks Creation of Boundary Commission To Settle Boundary Issues With Assam

Aizawl, Jul 9 : Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla today told the state Assembly that he had asked the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to constitute a Boundary Commission to settle boundary disputes with Assam.

Intervening during question hour, Lal Thanhawla said, "Constitution of boundary commission was the need of the hour to prevent bloodshed and violence in the region by finding amicable solution to the border disputes with Assam."

Replying to a query from Lalruatkima of the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF), Land Revenue and Settlement Minister R Romawia said that the state government's accepted boundary with neighbouring Assam was the border accepted in the treaty signed between the then Mizo chief Suakpuilala and the British government representatives in 1875.

He said that Boundary Committee was formed to collect documents to prove the veracity of the claims of Mizoram.

Rs 5,116-cr Earmarked For Rail Projects in Northeast

New Delhi, Jul 9 : The State BJP leaders heaved a sigh of relief when Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda said that an outlay of over Rs 5,000 crore has been earmarked for 23 pending projects, including 11 national projects in the North East, marking a 54 per cent jump in allocation.

While there was no word about the fate of the North East Region Rail Development Fund announced by Mamata Banerjee, the then Railway Minister, the Narendra Modi government’s maiden Rail Budget did not enthuse the Congress, but BJP leaders were a contended lot.

Gowda announced a number of new trains connecting North East. But some of the trains were already existing but were re-labelled and proposed as new trains.

“There are 23 projects under way in the North East, of which 11 are National Projects. I propose to allocate substantially higher funds for these projects compared to previous years,” the Railway Minister said presenting his maiden Budget.

In 2014-2015, an outlay of Rs 5,116 crore is earmarked for projects of the North East. This is 54 per cent jump over allocations in the previous year.

With higher allocations and by close monitoring of works in this region, I hope that Dudhnoi-Mendipathar New Line, Lumding-Badarpur-Silchar Gauge Conversions, Harmuti-Murkongselek and Balipara-Bhalukpung sections will soon get commissioned. These measures will also give a boost to the State Capital connectivity projects in the region, he announced.

Ten rail projects in the North-East region have been declared as national projects in 2009-2010 Rail Budget. These include Bogibeel rail cum-road bridge and gauge conversion of Lumding-Silchar-Jiribam, Rangiya-Murkongselek.

Presenting the Railway Budget for 2009-10, Mamata Banerjee had said, the North East region is very sensitive and its projects are in progress for providing connectivity to State capitals of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

Gowda, while presenting the Budget, said that the Railways planned to take up eco-tourism and education Tourism in North Eastern States.

Among the five premium trains announced today, Assam got one – Kamakhya-Bengaluru Premium Express. In the express train segment, three new trains are proposed to be introduced in Assam. They include Guwahati-Naharlagun Inter-city Express (daily), Guwahati-Murkongselek Inter-city Express (Daily) and Kamakhya-Katra Express (Weekly) via Darbhanga.

The eight passenger trains proposed to be introduced all over the country included Guwahati-Mendipathar Passenger (daily) and Rangapara North-Rangiya Passenger (daily).

Reacting to the Budget, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi described it as disappointing. He alleged that existing and old trains were introduced as new trains. “We had asked for introduction of long-distance trains, but it were not given.”

Long distance trains running between Assam, Chennai, Trivandrum, Mumbai, and Delhi should be made faster by reducing the journey time and better facilities should be provided to make the passengers more comfortable during the journey, Gogoi had demanded.

Describing the Budget as positive, Ramen Deka of BJP said that overall, seven new trains and 54 per cent hike in allocation for the national projects have been announced for the North East.

Reacting to the Budget, Biswajit Daimary said that compared to the previous budgets, this year’s budget is encouraging. For the first time specific funds have been earmarked for the national projects and a few new trains proposing to connect interior areas like Murkongselek with passenger train has been proposed. “Comparatively, this is a better budget,” he opined.

‘Punishment posting’ may land Sheila Dikshit in Nagaland

With Kerala governor Sheila Dikshit defiant despite being nudged by the home secretary to step down and make way for an NDA appointee, the government is considering transferring her to a smaller state. 

New Delhi, Jul 9 : With the NDA government having hinted at naming new governors mid-session, sources in the home ministry indicated that gubernatorial appointments for around seven to eight states may be announced shortly.

With Kerala governor Sheila Dikshit defiant despite being nudged by the home secretary to step down and make way for an NDA appointee, the government is considering transferring her to a smaller state. Her new address may well be Nagaland, as Mizoram governor Vakkom Purushothaman, who on Sunday was transferred to Nagaland, is reportedly unwilling to accept the new assignment and may resign.

As many as five Raj Bhavans fell vacant following the resignation of UPA-appointed governors, including B L Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh), M K Narayanan (West Bengal), Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland) and B V Wanchoo (Goa).

Apart from these states, there is a vacancy in Gujarat after the NDA government on Sunday transferred incumbent Kamla Beniwal to Mizoram. If Dikshit is moved to Nagaland, a vacancy would arise in Kerala as well.

Meanwhile, the terms of some governors, including H R Bharadwaj (Karnataka) and Jagannath Pahadiya (Haryana) are ending later this month.

The NDA government's signal to certain UPA appointees in Raj Bhavans to step down had evoked a mixed response. While some governors sent in their resignations without much delay, others like Narayanan and Wanchoo waited to be questioned by the CBI in the AgustaWestland scam before quitting. Others like Beniwal, Dikshit and K Sankaranarayanan (Maharashtra) refused to take the hint, with the latter two even asking for a formal communication in case the Centre wanted them to resign ahead of their terms.

The likely list of NDA appointees in Raj Bhavans includes BJP veterans such as former UP Speaker Kesarinath Tripathi, Punjab leader Balram Das Tandon, former MP Lalji Tandon, senior party leader from Kerala O Rajagopal, former Union minister Ram Naik, Delhi leader V K Malhotra and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha.

Kalyan Singh too is being considered for governorship, but the former UP CM is reportedly unwilling to quit active politics yet.

OIL Starts Drilling Near Aizawl To Tap Mizoram’s Hydrocarbon Reserves

Maubuang (Mizoram), Jul 8 : Hydrocarbons major Oil India Limited (OIL) on Monday began drilling operations at it’s Aibawk 1 well, about 35 kms from Aizawl, an action that marks the PSU’s first major activity in a bid to tap into the North-Eastern state’s hydrocarbon reserves.

ONGC, the other major oil PSU, has had a head-start in the state’s northern areas and has already found an estimated 2.2 billion cubic metres of natural gas reserves near Meidum village. The company is currently preparing for hydro-fracturing processes to extract the reserves, according to H L Mawia, director of Geology and Mineral Resources in the Mizoram government.

At a ceremony to mark the beginning of drilling operations, Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla called the state’s huge hydrocarbon reserves as “God’s gift for his chosen people’s prosperity,” and recalled how the search for oil began in the state in the late 1980s.

He, however admitted there has been infrastructural bottlenecks within and near the state such as roads that are unable to host vehicles that carry heavy machinery and the absence of rail services.

Ajay Borthakur, head of OIL’s Geosciences division, said work at putting up a rig at Aibawk 1 began in 2007 and that it could not have been done faster because of these logistics problems. With no railway line into Mizoram, Borthakur said, “more than 400 trucks” had to carry material needed to build the rig.

OIL General Manager (North East Frontier) Rahul Dasgupta said the current drilling operation has a target depth of 4500 metres and will likely drill for at least two months. The rig would then be moved to other wells at Keifang, then to Thenzawl and later to Phulmawi.

OIL currently has a license to operate in 3213 sq kms in central Mizoram, while ONGC has sway over 4009 sq.kms. License to operate in a third oil block covering 3619 sq kms in southern Mizoram was earlier held by a conglomerate led by Reliance but has been terminated and a new global tender likely to be floated soon.

Mass Prayer Held in Presbyterian Churches Oppose Liquor Relaxation

Aizawl, Jul 8 : Mizoram Synod of the Presbyterian Church of India held mass prayer Sunday night in the local churches on the issue of relaxation of prohibition in the state.

The church has been opposing the proposal of the state government to relax the prohibition by introducing the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition and Control) Bill, 2014 in the state assembly session commencing on July eight, to replace the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act, 1995 in force for 17 years.

Meanwhile members of the Kristian Thalai Pawl (KTP), the youth wing of the Presbyterian Church, put up posters all over the Aizawl city opposing the government's move.

Dr Robert S Halliday, office Superintendent of the Mizoram Synod office said that 80,000 posters were printed to be displayed in different parts of the city.

State excise and narcotics minister R Lalzirliana was likely to introduce the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition and Control) Bill, 2014 on July ten.

Chasing Away The Spirits

The Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, home to Tawang village, sits between Burma and Bhutan and below Tibet.

New Delhi - A quiet Himalayan mountain village springs to life for a colourful Tibetan-style Buddhist festival designed to expel evil spirits and bring happiness.

The annual Torgya Festival in Tawang, in north-eastern India, is full of colourful dancing, music and theatre.

The three-day festival is held in the courtyard of the Tawang monastery, which is nestled on top of the hill overlooking the town.

The vibrant event was attended by Australian photographers Stephen Axford and Catherine Marciniak.

“There is nowhere on the planet as rich in ancient cultures as north-east India,” says Stephen, 62, of Melbourne. “We woke to the sound of a drum echoing through the landscape, before joining local villagers and pilgrims.”

Guests at the festival, which took place on January 29, 30 and 31, gather in the main square of the monastery wearing their finest clothes.

The three-day festival is held in the courtyard of the Tawang monastery, which is nestled on top of the hill overlooking the town.

Monks dressed in colourful robes and traditional Buddhist masks carry out performances that involve chanting, dancing and acting.

There were markets selling everything from food to textiles, and cheap Chinese toy guns bought by doting parents for young sons who were studying to become monks, explains Steve.

“The whole festival attracts people from many miles around. Some people will walk for many days to get there and come from as far away as Tibet and Bhutan.

“Over the course of the three days, the music, dancing and chanting combine to chase out evil spirits, help the crops thrive, and usher in prosperity and happiness for the people.”

The Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, home to Tawang village, sits between Burma and Bhutan and below Tibet.

Stephen says:

“We spent three days there and were never bored once.”