Indo-Bangla Cell Phine Jam Plan

By Rining Lyngdoh

A mobile tower in a village on the Indo-Bangla border Shillong, Jan 14 : India and Bangladesh today agreed to approach telecom operators in their countries for a system to jam mobile phone signals on either side of the border to curb trans-boundary crimes. Officials of the border districts in Bangladesh and Meghalaya took the decision on the concluding day of the first two-day bilateral conference of deputy commissioners/district magistrates of both countries here. Security forces manning the international border are reportedly facing difficulties in curbing criminal activities owing to the active network of Bangladesh mobile service providers along the boundary. District officials from both countries today agreed they would take up the matter with the higher authorities to ask telecom operators to set up jammers along the border to block mobile signals. "The ability of miscreants and militants to communicate with their accomplices on the other side of the border by using Bangladesh SIM cards is a big concern for India," East Khasi Hills deputy commissioner Sanjay Goyal told reporters here. India's concern assumes significance in wake of the spread of terror modules in the northeastern states and West Bengal, which share a long border with Bangladesh. The countries share a 4,096km-long international border, the fifth-longest land border in the world, which includes 262km in Assam, 856km in Tripura, 18km in Mizoram, 443km in Meghalaya and 2,217km in Bengal. Criminals are allegedly using Bangladesh SIM cards from areas close to the border to get in touch with their counterparts in the neighbouring country to avoid coming under the radar of Indian agencies that track cross-border calls. Recently, NIA sleuths probing the Burdwan blast found out that Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) operatives in Bengal used to go near the border and use Bangladesh SIM cards to make international calls. By doing so, they avoided routing the calls through networks of Indian service providers. By making calls near the border, they made use of signals from a tower in Bangladesh. "We have requested the deputy commissioners of the Bangladesh districts bordering the districts in Meghalaya to take up this issue with their respective telecom operators to put in place a technology which can restrict the coverage of mobile network along the international borders," Goyal said. He said both sides have mutually agreed to find a solution to the problem so that such technological loophole does not provide an advantage to miscreants or militants along the border. Indian security agencies admitted the miscreants could easily access SIM cards of Bangladesh companies like Grameen Phone along the border. Allegedly, a number of Bangladeshi nationals who managed to enter Indian side could carry out illegal activities by using SIM cards made in the neighbouring country. Indian exporters who deal with Bangladesh allegedly use Grameen Phone SIM cards to keep in touch with Bangladeshi importers when they do not get access from their local mobile phones. Indian telecom officials said owing to the geographical proximity, Bangladeshi cell phone networks could be accessed from areas in India that are close to the border by using SIM cards made in the neighbouring country. The Union telecom ministry had earlier entrusted the department to take steps to extend cellular services to all villages along the Indo-Bangla border so that people on the India side could connect with their relatives in Bangladesh. The department said the connection package includes laying of fibre optics and supplementing the services with optical rings and use of power grid networks and satellite media. Northeast MPs had also raised concern over the availability of mobile signals from Bangladesh in absence of Indian telecom service providers along the border. The MPs had pointed out that the frequent use of Bangladesh service providers by militant groups inside India, which poses a major security threat. In the past, Indian security forces had seized a number of Grameen Phone SIM cards from arrested militants.

Mahindra Group eyeing sizable share of scooter market in Northeast India

By Bikash Singh

Presently the company has 50 touch points which include dealers, sales and service points. The company is planning to increase it to 75 by December 2015.

GUWAHATI: Mahindra Two Wheelers Limited, a part of the US $16.5 billion Mahindra Group is eyeing sizable share of the scooter market in Northeast India.

Presently around 9000 scooters are sold in Northeast India every month, Mahindra two wheeler commands 14 to 15 percent share of the Northeastern market.

Dharmendra Mishra, Vice President Sales & Customer Care, Mahindra Two Wheelers said, "In Northeast India the sell of scooter is higher. In two wheeler segment across India, motorcycle accounts for 75 sale while rest 25 percent is made up by scooter. In Northeast India scooter commands 40 percent of the two wheeler market and 6o percent is motorcycle."

Mahindra has launched new 110cc scooter. Mishra added, "The Company is working on several formats. With the launch of Gusto we are aiming to increase our market share considerably in Northeast India."

Presently the company has 50 touch points which include dealers, sales and service points. The company is planning to increase it to 75 by December 2015.

3 TV Channels To Be Launched For Northeast India

By Sushanta Talukdar

Guwahati, Jan 13 : Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Colonel (retd) Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Monday said that the work for launching three new television channels for the North-east for the promotion of local language and culture, and local programme production was in progress, and the government would soon come out with the details of the proposed channels for the region.

Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the 19{+t}{+h}National Youth Festival which concluded here on Monday, the Union Minister said that survey work for setting up of a Film and Television Institute in the region had also been carried out, but the government was yet to finalise the site.

The construction of the permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication Centre at Aizawl would also be taken up in the current year, he said.

Colonel (retd) Rathore said that All India Radio has wide coverage in the region and the government would also support the setting up of community radio centres to reach out to more people in remote areas along international borders.

Mizoram plans to give 210 MW HEP to NEEPCO, says Chief Minister

By Adam Halliday

Aizawl, Jan 13 : The Mizoram government plans to let the government-backed North-Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) take over the 210 MW Tuivai HEP in northern Mizoram, which was earlier touted as India’s first proposed “PPP-mode with Viability Gap Funding” initiative for a hydro-electricity project.

Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla told Congress workers during a meeting Monday that NEEPCO’s board of directors will land in Aizawl later this month for talks with the state government on how to carry the project forward.

A PPP-mode VGF for the 210 MW Tuivai project was approved by the Finance Ministry in mid-2013. Under the move, the developer and the government would together foot the bill for constructing the hydro-power dam.

But the plans fell through with banks and interested private developers when it came to the tender stage, and the state government has had to look for other alternatives.

CM Lal Thanhawla had earlier said the state government is looking to develop HEPs that can together produce 2500 MW by damming all of the state’s rivers.

He said Monday the government expects to commission the 60 MW Tuirial HEP by the end of this year.

Mizoram is a power-deficit state and produces just about a tenth of its total demand.’

The current government’s stated aim is to make it a power-surplus state.

Survey on For Imphal-Mandalay Bus Service

Imphal, Jan 13 : The proposed Imphal-Mandalay bus service took its first step towards reality with the start of the field survey of the 579-km road by a joint team from India and Myanmar on Monday.

Of the total length of the road, the Imphal-Moreh section of NH-39 is 110 km, while on the Myanmarese side, the distance between Moreh and Mandalay via Tamu town is 469 km. According to an earlier MoU signed between the two countries, passengers of the Imphal-Mandalay bus service should possess valid passports. The passengers may be granted a single-entry visa with a validity of 28 days on arrival at Tamu in Myanmar and Moreh in Manipur. The visas would be granted by immigration officials of either India or Myanmar depending on which direction the passengers are travelling. Tickets would be issued only to Indian and Myanmarese nationals with valid travel documents.

An official said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Myanmar has boosted the neighouring country's response to an earlier draft report on the bus service by New Delhi. India and Myanmar had held an inter-ministerial technical meeting at Nay Pyi Taw in June last year.

A comprehensive proposal for introduction of the bus service was initially submitted to the DoNER ministry and ministry of road transport and highways in June 2009 by the Manipur government. About 20,000 Manipuri Meities live in and around Mandalay.

An official said the joint inspection team, which left Imphal on Monday, will assess all requirements of the bus service along the stretch.

The 10-member Myanmarese team includes superintending engineer of public works of ministry of construction of Sagaing Region U Tang Toe Aung and officials of the traffic police force and ministry of rail transport. The Indian team includes officials of the ministry of external affairs, road transport and highways and Manipur public works and transport departments.

Manipur transport secretary M Laxmikumar said the Indian team, after returning to Imphal, will submit its report to the Centre for signing a memorandum of understanding with Myanmar.

No talks with militant outfits indulging in violence, says Rajnath Singh

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Union Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal wave at the crowd during the closing ceremony of the 19th National Youth Festival in Guwahati on Monday.

Guwahati, Jan 13 : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Monday that there will be no talk with any group involved in violence. Expressing concern over the growing insurgency, Singh said that the nation was passing through a critical phase and sought cooperation of the youth in tackling the issue.

Apparently refering to the recent acts of violence in Kokrajhar and Sonitpur districts of Assam that left over 80 people dead, Singh said: “I must make it clear that there is no place for violence in a democracy. Doors for negotiated settlements are open only for the groups that do not indulge in violence. The government cannot remain a silent spectator to any acts of violence.”

Singh asked the people of the northeast, particularly the youth, not to allow any form of violence and insurgency to take place in the region. Saying that there is no disconnect between the northeast and the rest of the country, the minister said, “If Kashmir is India’s crown, the northeast is its strong arm.

If any foreign force makes any attempt to cause harm to the nation, this strong arm will give a befitting reply,” he said.

Terming unemployment as a major problem, Singh said the Centre has sought cooperation of the state government. The Centre’s ‘Make in India’ initiative was one such initiative that would help create huge job opportunities for the youth and wean them away from digressions, he said.

Complimenting the participants of the National Youth Festival, the minister also asked them to follow the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, who he said had taught that the whole world was a family. The country’s youth were capable of transforming India into a global superpower, he said.

Manipur Encounters: Burying the Truth

By Sreenivasan Jain

In 2013, a Supreme Court-appointed commission of inquiry found six encounters to be fake

Imphal:  In an overgrown field outside Manipur's capital, Basanta Nameirakpam points to the spot where his son, Nobo, lies buried. The 27-year-old was killed in an encounter by a joint team of Manipur police commandos and Assam Rifles in April, 2009. His cousin, Gobind, was also shot dead that evening. Ordinarily the two men would have been cremated, but they have been buried should the need arise to exhume their bodies, as proof against their killers.

In March 2013, a Supreme Court-appointed commission of inquiry found six encounters, including Gobind and Nobo's, to be fake. Its report, authored by Justice Santosh Hegde, noted that the incidents were "egregious examples of AFSPA's (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) gross abuse" in the state. The Court was acting on a petition filed in 2012 by the families of encounter victims and a Manipur-based human rights group.

During the inquiry, it was found that the security forces had acted on unreliable intelligence, if any, and the weapons seized appeared to be planted. There was no proof that Gobind and Nobo had ever been militants. Claims about retaliatory firing were also debunked. The two men were fired at 89 times, 16 of which hit Gobind alone, in breach of the court's guidelines on the use of force by the Indian Army.

"All the six encounters were actually out and out murder," Hegde told NDTV. "This was only a facade to show that it was an encounter."

In Manipur's bloody history, such unequivocal indictments of the armed forces have been rare. But, even attempts to probe the army's excesses have been denied. The Hegde commission could only learn that of the 66 complaints of human rights violations against the army since 2007, only 3 had been disposed of. The status of those cases wasn't revealed. Manipur Home Secretary, Suresh Babu, couldn't remember a single instance when the state had sought the union government's sanction to prosecute army jawans, as prescribed under AFSPA.

These circumstances, some say, have only perpetuated a culture of impunity, giving rise to fresh violence. "If you want to deal with the militancy, ensure that democratic institutions function," said Babloo Loitongbam, director of Human Rights Alert. "That is the core of people's anger."

In December 2014, two important court judgements further acknowledged that encounter killings were a reality in the state. The first was in the case of the Malom massacre in November 2000, which saw 10 people killed by soldiers from the 8th Assam Rifles. After an explosive was set off near their convoy, the Riflemen had gunned down bystanders at a bus stop outside Imphal town.  Massive unrest followed, giving birth to Manipur's best known voice against AFSPA, Irom Sharmila. A recent judgement by the Manipur High Court disproved the army's claims that they'd been fired upon and ordered compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs to each of the victim's families.

The second was the Supreme Court's order of compensation to the family of Thangjam Manorama. On a night in July 2004, Manorama had been dragged out of her home in Imphal East district and killed by a team from the 17th Assam Rifles. Upendra Singh, who led an inquiry immediately after the incident, accused the soldiers of brutally killing her in a fake encounter.

The probe itself, Singh told us, had been repeatedly stonewalled by the armed forces and the state. The Assam Rifles didn't reveal the names of the officers who conducted the operation. His summons, too, got no reply at first. "They appeared only after I issued warrant for arrest," Singh told NDTV. His report, submitted a few months later, was only made public last November, a decade after the killing.

Repeated attempts to get the Assam Rifles to comment were unsuccessful. A source in the unit told us that they have internal processes to ensure action against such violations. But, he did not specify if there was any in these cases, or what that action could entail.

The court verdicts have been met with both relief and bitterness in Manipur. Victims's families are disappointed that neither judgements speak of prosecuting the guilty army personnel.

Our source in the Assam Rifles also claimed that extrajudicial killings are an exception, but this remains contested in the absence of credible data. Activists allege over 1500 such killings since the 1970s, but the Supreme Court could only investigate 6 and the Manipur government has rejected the longer list.

Last year, insurgency related deaths in the state had reduced to 48, from 485 in 2008. This has been attributed to the courts' pronouncements on Malom and Manorama. Suresh Babu, the Home Secretary, said that the verdicts have also created an environment for insurgents to come back. After six decades of violent conflict, which has killed thousands, this relative peace could easily be shattered and the pleas for justice, if unaddressed, are potentially explosive.

Zoramthanga For Peace Talk with Myanmar Ultras

Aizawl, Jan 12 : Mizo National Front president Zoramthanga left for Myanmar on Sunday for peace talks with the Myanmar government and ethnic rebel groups.

A statement by Mizo National Front said Zoramthanga will facilitate peace negotiations between Yangon and 17 ethnic rebel groups operating in the neighbouring country.

After leaving the state capital on Sunday, he will leave for Myanmar capital Naypyidaw from Kolkata on Monday.

As per schedule, Zoramthanga will hold talks with Myanmar Minister In-Charge of peace talks with ethnic groups, U Aung Min, during January 13-17. Then he will fly to Bangkok, where he is schedule to meet leaders of different ethnic rebel groups, including Karen National Liberation Army, Kachin Independence Army and Arakan Liberation Army.

Zoramthanga will give report to the Indian Home Ministry in the national apital on the 22nd of this month.

This is a follow-up to a discussion held earlier in October 2014 at New Delhi between Mr Zoramthanga and Dessislava Roussanova, one of the team members of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on brokering peace in the neighbouring Myanmar.

The statement said that Mr Roussanova felt that a former insurgent leader himself, Zoramthanga would be the best person to take up peace initiatives in Myanmar and that time-tested Mizo Accord was eloquent of the importance of the former chief minister.

Zoramthanga and Blair’s representatives agreed to work together to bring long-lasting peace in the trouble-torn Myanmar, the statement said.

It further claimed that Myanmar underground groups had long been insisting on having Zoramthanga as a facilitator of peace between them and the Myanmar government.

But it could not be fulfilled as the Congress-led UPA was in power in India at that time.

“Now, with the NDA taking over, the long-dreamt peace talks are about to be fulfilled with Mr Zoramthanga as mediator,” it said.

Zoramthanga is being accompanied by Mizo National Front General Headquarters Secretary Rosangzuala and an official from Delhi, it added.