Mizoram Has the Highest Incidence of Cancer from Tobacco: CM

Aizawl, Sep 12 : Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla today said that the state has the highest incidence of cancer due to use of tobacco.

Addressing a function of the observance of the first Mizoram State Anti Tobacco Day in Aizawl, Lal Thanhawla said that the smokers and users of other tobacco products should stop immediately to enjoy healthy life and reduce spending.

The day was observed on the occasion of the 25th raising day of Indian Society on Tobacco and Health (Mizoram Chapter) in which the chief minister's wife Lal Riliani is the founder president.

State chief secretary L Tochhawng said that Mizoram was declared Smoke Free state on June 29, 2011 while all the gutkha products were banned in the state since August 22, 2012.

Mizoram State Anti Tobacco Day was observed all over the state and functions were held in all the eight district headquarters and in some Sub-Divisional headquarters across the state.

A Tale of Two Strikes: Manipur in Freeze Frame

By Alok Pandey

Strike shuts down Manipur capital Imphal

Imphal:  Two parallel strikes have shut down the northeastern state of Manipur.

Various student groups have launched a protest to push for their demand that all from outside the state be allowed entry only with permits. All schools and colleges have been shut indefinitely as the protesters are mostly students and the government fears violence.

The state has been virtually crippled by a highway blockade called by the United Naga Council after the recent death of two Naga activists. Fuel is in short supply and over 300 trucks are stranded on both the highways that lead to state capital Imphal.

The Naga council has decided to end the blockade today, as the state is confronting another emerging crisis.

In the last two days, a dozen people, including students, have been detained by the Manipur police after clashes. On Tuesday, the police had to step in when one group allegedly assaulted a non-Manipuri when he could not produce identification papers that they demanded. The group allegedly also turned on those who tried to stop them, including a young man who is now in hospital.

The groups called a strike yesterday demanding the suspension of the police officer who detained students.

The protesters want "Inner Line Permit Restrictions" across the state to prevent what they believe is a large inrush of outsiders. This means that they want "non-locals" - both Indians and foreigners - to be allowed into Manipur only with a state permit.

The rule is in place in Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Last year, there was an agitation in Meghalaya for it.

In Manipur, groups have been demanding it for over a year now, and their protests have often turned violent.

Scholarship Scheme For Northeast Students

New Delhi, Sep 12 : Union Minister for Human Resources Development, Smriti Irani, today announced that the UGC has launched a special scholarship scheme – ‘Ishan Uday’ – for students of the Northeast from the academic session 2014-15.

Addressing a press conference, Irani said that the scheme envisages grant of 10,000 scholarships to students from the Northeast, whose parental income is below Rs 4.5 lakh per annum and they would be provided scholarship ranging from Rs 3,500 to 5,000 per month for studying at undergraduate level in colleges and universities of the country.

‘Ishan Vikas’ is a comprehensive plan to bring selected students from the school and college levels from the north-eastern States into close contact with the IITs, NITs and IISERs during their vacation periods.

A typical visit is envisaged for a period of 10 days to one of these institutions, in the form of either an exposure or an internship programme, she said.

Each school will send one teacher to accompany a group of about 32 students of class IX and X. The college students would be organised in two groups in summer and in winter, each consisting of 32 students. About 2016 college students and 504 teachers from NE will be visiting premier institutes like IIT, NIT and IISERs in an academic year.

The summer internship for students from the engineering colleges with stipends and travel will be taken up. From 25 institutions, about 250 students will be visiting 16 IITs and six NITs (to start with, six NITs are being considered) per year, the Minister added.

Mizoram May Retire its Alcoholic, Drug Addict Cops

Aizawl, Sep 11 : The Mizoram government may ask policemen who are chronic alcoholics or drug addicts to leave the job, an official said on Wednesday.

"The state government is considering a proposal to refer the alcoholic or drug addict policemen to a medical board. If the medical board finds them chronic alcoholic or drug addict then they would be asked to leave the job," the home department official said.

He said the government is considering all legal and administrative aspects of retiring such police personnel.

The proposal, mooted by the state home department, was considered at a meeting here on Tuesday. Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla chaired the meeting, where Home Minister R. Lalzirliana, senior home department and police officials participated.

"It was estimated that at least 25 to 30 policemen in each of the state's eight police battalions are either alcoholic or drug addict," the official quoted Lalzirliana as saying.

Alcoholism and drug addiction among the police personnel have become a major problem for the police authorities.

The chief minister and the home minister have also asked senior police officials to take appropriate steps to stop using constables for private works.

HC Asks Mizoram To Appeal Against 45 Acquittals

Aizawl, Sep 11 : The Aizawl Bench of the Gauhati High Court has asked the Mizoram government to appeal against all cases in which a lower court acquitted 45 people accused of executing a Rs 433 crore ponzi scheme that went bust in late 2008.

The court has also directed the government to submit its plan or steps it has taken taken to repay the thousands of families who lost their deposits in the scheme that has come to be known as chiahpuam, literally meaning “soak to swell”.

The HC’s order comes almost a year after the court registered a writ petition based on a depositors’ union’s letter to the Chief Justice complaining the state “failed to implement” a law that would protect depositors’ interests.

In the roughly two years the ponzi scheme was operational, collectors took crores of Rupees from depositors – including government officials, businessmen, professionals, faith-based organisations and pensioners– and circulated it among them, paying huge amounts of interests to some depositors by using the money invested by other depositors before the scheme eventually went bust.

Police eventually seized 46 land titles, 42 vehicles, 59 bank passbooks, valuables worth Rs 10 lakhs and about Rs 7 crores in cash which were connected with the scam. A total of 45 people were arrested and charged under the Indian Penal Code.

Affidavits filed in the HC by the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police put the total amount of money involved in the scam at a little over Rs 433.80 crores although the police was able to recover only Rs 12.13 crores after auctioning off the seized materials on the orders of a lower court.

The amount has since been transferred to the Deputy Commissioner on the directions of the lower court, which last October also acquitted all 45 accused.

The depositors’ union then wrote to the CJ, and the HC eventually took up the case and asked the government what steps it was taking to pay back the recovered amount to the depositors and why it had not challenged the acquittal of the 45 accused.

Another depositors’ body meanwhile curiously asked the HC to dismiss the petition saying they were happy with the lower court’s decision. The HC has since turned down the submission.

The state government replied to the HC saying the cases registered against the 45 accused were criminal cases and therefore the provisions of a law to protect the interests of depositors – called the Mizoram Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial establishments) Act 2002 – did not apply.

The government’s reply also included a submission by the public prosecutor, who gave several reasons for not challenging the acquittals, including that the depositors “all [took] the risks to get good returns” and that “if someone is to blame for this, they are all to blame.”

The HC slammed the government’s reply as “wholly inadequate”, and the government has since told the HC the money has been handed over to the Deputy Commissioner.

The HC has subsequently asked the government to file revisions in or appeal against all the cases the 45 accused were acquitted, and asked the Aizawl Deputy Commissioner to inform the court by October 22 what steps have been taken to enforce the law protecting depositors relevant to the case.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/hc-asks-mizoram-to-appeal-against-45-acquittals/99/#sthash.xZC4JH6M.dpuf

Day 5 of Manipur Blockade: Government Climbs Down, Protestors Defiant

By Alok Pandey

Imphal, Sep 11 :  Five days after the United Naga Council imposed a highway blockade in Manipur, the state government has withdrawn prohibitory orders imposed under section 144 in the town of Ukhrul.

But the United Naga Council, which had imposed the boycott, is not in a re-conciliatory mood and has demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi should intervene in the situation.

The prohibitory orders, which have been in force for more than two months, were imposed after a member of the Ukhrul autonomous district council Ngalangzar Malue was killed by unidentified people.

Various Naga organisations protested against the order which prohibits more than 4 people assembling in a public place.

On August 31, two protestors of the United Naga Council were killed and several injured when police allegedly opened fire on a sec 144 protest rally held in Ukhrul.

The United Naga Council than imposed an indefinite blockade of all highways in Naga inhabited areas in Manipur from September 4.

Even though the state government has now backed down, the United Naga Council has said it will not back down till the Prime Minister directly intervenes.

In the meantime, 300 trucks carrying essential supplies like LPG and Fuel were brought in to the Imphal under heavy police escort on Sunday evening .

This was done via the alternative Jiribam - Imphal highway, that leads to the state capital.

The main highway into Imphal , the Guwahati - Dimapur - Kohima - Imphal road, continues to remain blocked

Despite the trucks reaching Imphal, petrol is not available at pumps while diesel is still being rationed . Rice, pulses and vegetables are however available in the city.

Gogoi Draws flak over official language circular for Barak Valley

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Guwahati, Sep 11 : Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has come under attack from the opposition AGP and BJP, as well as from other groups over the state government withdrawing a circular regarding use of Assamese as official language in the three districts that comprise Barak Valley in southern Assam.

The Assam government had on November 30, 2013 issued a circular asking the deputy commissioners of all districts of the state to ensure use of Assamese as official language and submit a half-yearly report to the government on its implementation.

This had generated a lot of protests in the three Barak Valley districts – Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi – where Section 5 of the Assam Official Language Act 1960 as amended in 1967 had specified Bengali as the official language there.

While protests in the Barak Valley prompted the state government to issue a fresh circular on September 9 saying that the official language (Bengali) of Barak Valley will continue to be used for all official works, the opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and BJP have come down heavily on the Congress government of Tarun Gogoi for apparently withdrawing Assamese from the Barak Valley.

“This is a totally anti-Assamese decision of the Congress government. Moreover, the circular comes just three days ahead of crucial by-election to three assembly constituencies, two of which are in the Barak Valley, clearly revealing that it is intended at catching votes,” said AGP general secretary Kamala Kalita here today.

The state BJP unit too has hit out at Gogoi, with its president Siddhartha Bhattacharyya described the circular as one that wouldlead to further division of Assam. “This circular is a weird decision of Tarun Gogoi that will have long-term impact and cause irreparable damage to the state,” Bhattacharyya said. The BJP leader also said that Gogoi’s intention behind such a circular on the eve of the by-elections was to get votes through what he described as typical Congress politics.

Noted litterateur and former Asam Sahitya Sabha president Nagen Saikia too criticized the state government and said this would create linguistic tension. “I may sound harsh, but I feel this circular will create a rift between two linguistic communities of the state,” Saikia said.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/gogoi-draws-flak-over-official-language-circular-for-barak-valley/#sthash.rQfnAlXE.dpuf

No-Frills Airports To Take Flight

By Sandeep Dikshit

Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh; Kishangarh in Rajasthan; Jharsuguda in Odisha; and Hubli and Belgaum in Karnataka will soon get no-frills airports.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said here on Tuesday that these airports would have all the basic safety and security facilities, but no frills so as to keep capital cost and recurring expenses down.

The bells and whistles associated with metro airports — huge seating areas, food marts, phone-charging kiosks, shopping areas and so on — would be absent.The Minister, however, said they should not be called low-cost airports.

At a press conference to mark 100 days of the Modi government, he ruled out a bailout package for the airline industry, but said the Centre was actively engaged with the States to ensure lower operational costs in the form of reduced taxes.

“This is not a sector that is entitled to subsidies,” he said Mr. Raju said the Centre was in talks with the States to lower the tax on air turbine fuel.

Mr. Raju launched a “Know Your Rights” portal of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in case of inconvenience to passengers due to delayed flights, denial of boarding and lost or damaged baggage.

The DGCA has made special provisions for disabled passengers such as blocking two window seats for them till 24 hours before departure.