Deal Signed On Grape Sale From Mizoram

Aizawl, Jan 28 : Mizoram's Champhai Grape Growers Society (CGGS) and Radiant Manufacturers Limited signed a deal in Guwahati yesterday in which the Guwahati-based wine making company agreed to buy 3.6 lakh litre of concentrated grape juice from the CGGS annually.

Lalremsiama, Sub Divisional Horticulture Officer and Managing Director of the CGGS told PTI over phone that the agreement was inked on behalf of the Radiant Manufacturer Limited by its Director Roshan Chand and three representatives of the CGGS.

The Radiant Manufacturers Ltd, which used to procure concentrated grape juice from Goa would now buy from Mizoram-Myanmar border Champhai district.

The grape growers, which established its own winery at Tlangsam village in Champhai district, were worried that their sales would plummet after the new liquor law replacing the stringent dry law was in place in Mizoram for the first time in 17 years.

Thangseia, general secretary of the CGGS opined that disposing around 15,000 quintals of grape expected to be produced this year would be a difficult task after the change of the state government's liquor policy and the deal with the Guwahati-based wine-making company was a welcome step.

Close to 500 Bru families return to Mizoram on their own from Tripura relief Camps

By Adam Halliday

Aizawl, Jan 28 : Close to 500 families of the Bru tribe have reported to the Mizoram government that they have “self-repatriated” themselves into the state from relief camps in Tripura since the last formal process in June last year, when less than 280 families returned.

Combined with the more than 530 families who have returned home on their own in the past, the data appears to underline the increasing desire by many to return home, often in secret, from almost two decades of squalid exile despite resistance by community leaders at the camps who want better rehabilitation packages and security.

In all, a little less than 670 families have come home under the formal process, which involves both the Tripura and Mizoram governments announcing dates, arranging for transportation and setting up stalls to facilitate their return.

These formal processes almost always clash with shows of resistance by Bru leaders in the camps, who organize roadblocks and dharnas there to discourage those who want to return. These have been apparently successful, for example in 2012, only seven families returned under the formal process.

On the other hand, as many as 573 families have chosen the “self-repatriation” route in which they sneak out of the camps and simply head towards and cross the inter-state border, only later informing Mizoram government authorities of their return and thus eligibility for the rehabilitation package.

The close to 500 families (455 of them to Mamit district, between 20 and 30 others in Kolasib district) who have reported they have come home on their own await formal verification and thus have not yet been given the rehabilitation packages.

As things stand, what is left of the Mizoram government’s funds for their rehabilitation will no longer be able to meet the expenses required to rehabilitate these almost 500 families if they are all found to be legitimate returnees.

Thousands of families from the Bru tribe fled ethnic tension in Mizoram and settled in Tripura as refugees 18 years ago, where they live in six squalid relief camps.

The Tripura government disallows them from owning land – including for farms – elsewhere, provides them no work under the MGNREGS while they are also not entitled to vote for state elections.

The Brus perforce live on cash and ration doles – Rs 5 per adult per day (Rs 2.50 for minors), 600 grams of rice per adult per day (250 grams for minors) plus Rs 10 per months each to every family for purchasing cooking oil.

The social justice bench of the Supreme Court had earlier this month rapped the centre for providing meagre compensation, and also termed “highly objectionable” the government’s reasoning for the paltry hand-outs – better camp conditions would make the Brus disinclined to return to Mizoram.

The judges’ anger elicited an apology from the Additional Solicitor General.

But Bru leaders have been saying the same thing – that Tripura treats them badly so they are forced to vacate the relief camp land, much of which they say has already been given to local tribals under the FRA.

They also say the state government fears their permanent residence in Tripura because that would greatly add to the tribal population there. Tripura has for generations seen ethnic, often violent, conflict between its Bengali and tribal communities, the latter once in majority but overrun by the former within a few decades after India’s independence and the establishment of East Pakistan and, later, Bangladesh.

Boy Shoots Dead Brother in Mizoram

Aizawl, Jan 28 : An eight-year-old boy has shot dead his elder brother by using their father's hunting gun in Mizoram, police said here Tuesday.

The incident took place late Monday in Serchhip district.

"R.C. Lalchuangkima after returning from the forest, kept his bullet loaded hunting gun in his home Monday night. His son John Kennedy reportedly used the gun to shoot his elder brother David Lalengzuala, who died on the spot," a police officer said.

Kennedy pumped two bullets into his 12-year-old brother's head, said the officer. Police are yet to ascertain the motive behind the killing.

Mizoram To Curb Corruption At All Levels

Aizawl, Jan 27 : Mizoram is fully committed to root out corruption in all its forms and at all levels, and this has been the main agenda to achieve good governance, Governor Aziz Qureshi said here Monday.

"The state government is devoted to eliminate corruption at all levels. The Lokayukta Bill, 2014, has been passed by the state assembly in line with the central Lokpal after holding a number of talks with many NGOs, intellectuals and various stakeholders," the governor said after hoisting the national flag at the Assam Rifles ground here.

He said : "To ensure equality of gender in Mizo society and marriages, the Divorce and Inheritance of Property Bill, 2014, has also been passed by the state assembly in November last year, in line with customs and traditions prevailing amongst the Mizos."

Qureshi said that KG-I and KG-II classes would be introduced in government primary schools from the next academic session (2015-2016) and 148 primary schools were selected, to start with, as a pilot project.

"The food department has undertaken the computerisation of the Targeted Public Distribution System operations in the state and currently 215,463 out of 241,272 ration cards (89.30 percent) have been digitised."

He said that with the view to promote Indo-Myanmar border trade, the land customs station at Zokhawthar in Champhai district (in eastern Mizoram) has been completed and is ready for formal inauguration.

The governor said that a 50-seat Mizoram medical college is also being set up at Falkawn, near Aizawl, and would start its classes from August this year.

"Mizoram has a vast potential for generating hydroelectricity. The power department is taking up construction of two hydel power projects of a total capacity of 9 MW and this is likely to be commissioned during 2015-17," he added.

Republic Day was celebrated across Mizoram, with numerous functions and programmes, including sports and cultural events.

Northeast Woman Treated Like Alien At Parade

By Vishnu Sukumaran

New Delhi, Jan 27 : Couple reports her to police, frisked again

“Do I look like a terrorist or a Chinese?” said a 32-year-old lawyer from Arunachal Pradesh who claimed to have faced racial discrimination when she went to watch the Republic Day parade at Rajpath on Monday.

Liyi Noshi said a couple sitting next to her in an enclosure thought that she was not Indian, and they went to security personnel to find out how she entered the area.

Security personnel then questioned her and she had to undergo frisking in the enclosure despite being frisked three times before reaching there.

Liyi, who hails from East Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh, lives in a rented house at Pushp Vihar in Saket, and practices at Saket court.

She had reached enclosure number 23 in Rajpath at 7.30 am after standing in long queues for 90 minutes.

As it was raining, she was wearing a raincoat and was carrying nothing other than an ID card, a spectacle case, some keys and a couple of hundred rupees in cash.

She said that a couple and two men were sitting next to her.

 “I was reading a booklet distributed in the enclosure about the two-hour-long procession when the man sitting next to me came there with a security personnel. The cop told me that the couple had complained about me being a security threat,” Liyi says.

Liyi was shocked to hear the allegations, and said no women security personnel were even called to attend to the complaint.

“The policeman asked for my ID card to prove my nationality and then told me to empty my jacket’s pockets. I told the policeman that I had crossed several layers of security to reach there, but he refused to listen. I was treated as if I was a terrorist or some Chinese spy,” she added.

Pockets emptied

On being left with no other option, Liyi emptied her pockets to prove her innocence.

As no incriminating material was found with her, the policeman apologised to Liyi, but did not take any action against the couple.

“I was racially discriminated and humiliated in front of a packed enclosure. I felt so disrespected as an Indian that I tore the invite and left the enclosure,” Noshi said.

“I cried on the way back, but was not able to seek help from people known to me as I was not carrying my mobile phone,” she added.

The matter was reported to Robin Hibu, Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police (Training), who is in charge of north-east affairs.

Liyi has decided against taking legal action.

“This is not the first time that I faced racial discrimination in this city. Being a woman from the north-east community, we are routinely treated like outsiders who can be mistreated and humiliated,” she added.

Deadly Japanese Encephalitis Surges in Northeast India

By Amarjyoti Borah

Guwahati, Jan 27 : Cases of deadly mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis have risen nearly five-fold in five years in India's northeast Assam state as a result of warming weather and changing rainfall, health experts say.

Between 2010 and 2014, the number of annual cases rose from 154 to 744, with deaths rising from 41 to 160, according to data from the Assam health department. The disease, which in 2009 was recorded in only half of the state's districts, now is seen in all of them.

Doctors say climate change has played a major role in the spread of the disease, which once appear largely from May to July, but now is seen as late in the year as November, as mosquitoes survive longer in warmer conditions.

Japanese encephalitis is characterised by inflammation of the brain and high fever.

"Now the temperature ... which is ideal for breeding of the Culex mosquito is present almost until October or so, and as a result of this the cases of the disease are increasing," said Rabindra Nath Talukdar, a senior official of the Assam health department.

"Initially it was only an upper Assam disease ... but now it has also been detected in lower Assam districts, and (now) cases have been reported from all the 27 districts in Assam," Talukdar said.

MORE MOSQUITOES

Health department officials said changes in agricultural patterns may be affecting the rise in encephalitis cases. Warmer conditions have allowed farmers to grow more crops of rice each year, which means rice paddies with standing water offer a breeding ground for mosquitoes for a larger part of each year.

"The Culex mosquito breeds on water in the agricultural land, and now since there is water on the field for several more months than before, it gives more time and space for the mosquito to breed," Talukdar said.

Faced with a surge in Japanese encephalitis cases, the Assam government has announced measures to tackle the problem, including more careful monitoring of cases.

Assam Health Minister Nazrul Islam described the situation as "a huge concern".

"I have asked the senior officials of the health department to monitor the situation carefully and to report to me on a regular basis," he said.

GROWING OUTCRY

Faced with a growing public outcry over the disease's rapid spread, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has ordered officials of the Assam health department to develop a plan to control the disease.

Plans should include "setting up of an intensive care unit in each district hospital for treatment of emergency cases, along with laboratory testing units," Gogoi said.

As well, "I have already asked the health department to procure laboratory testing kits for quick diagnosis of the disease, adequate vaccines and medicines for the hospitals, and also to carry out intensive fogging in the affected areas," he said.

Civil society groups and activists have however questioned why such steps were not taken earlier.

"The data from the state health department itself shows that the disease has taken a deadly turn over the years in the state. Unfortunately the state machinery waited for the disease to go out of control, whereas it should have taken steps to control the disease much earlier," said Sankar Prasad Rai, of the All Assam Students Union (AASU).

Several influential student groups of the state, including the All Assam Students Union and the Assam Jatiyatibadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), have staged protests over the government's failure to control the spread of Japanese encephalitis.

Mizo Women Body Hails Women Reservation in Local Bodies

Aizawl, Jan 26 : The All Mizoram Women Federation (AMWF) hailed amendment to the 62-year-old village councils act that envisages reservation of seats for women in the local bodies elections.

Addressing a news conference here yesterday, AMWF president Dr Jane Ralte hailed the Lushai Hills District (Village Councils) Act, 2014 as a major milestone in regards to political empowerment of women in the patriarchal Mizo society.

As per the amended Act, one seat will be reserved for women in a village council having three seats to five seats, two seats for women in a village council having seven seats, and three women seats in a village council having nine seats.

The State Election Com-mission is gearing up to conduct elections to village councils in Mizoram, with the exception of the three autonomous district councils, during February. This will be the first time that seats are reserved for women in Mizoram village polls.

Addressing a press conference in Aizawl, AMWF President Dr Jane R Ralte said the Mizo Marriage, Divorce and Inheritance of Property Act 2014 was enacted by the State Legislature on November 12, 2014, but was yet to be in force.

Arunachal Woman Inspires Farmers to Ditch Opium

By Prasanta Mazumdar

Guwahati, Sep 26 : A revolution is brewing in an Arunachal Pradesh district and fanning the flames of the energising change is ‘Tea Lady’ Basamlu Krisikro.

A post-graduate from the Delhi University, Basamlu took to tea cultivation to give her cancer-afflicted mother her daily dose of green tea, but the venture soon mushroomed into a thriving business.

Within a few years, her success story inspired several locals, who traditionally grew opium, to switch to tea crops. It is extracted from the poppy plant, which is illegally cultivated in Lohit, Anjaw, Tirap and Changlang districts in Eastern Arunachal, bordering China. Wakro alone has 12,000 to 13,000 opium cultivators.

The land here was once famous for its oranges, but the yield fell drastically over the last decade, leaving the farmers high and dry. Concerned at this, Basamlu and a medical practitioner, Nayil, took it upon themselves to convince the affected ryots that tea cultivation could be an alternative source of sustainable income.

They also encouraged opium farmers to replace their fields with small-scale tea plantations. And their hard work paid off. Within a year, at least a dozen of them turned into small-time tea growers.

“The sudden decline in yield of oranges perplexed farmers, who consulted experts and agencies in vain. Worried about their livelihood, they began cultivating opium. As a result, the local consumption of opium increased alarmingly. Opium gave them a source of income and got them hooked on to it as well,” Basamlu told Express.

“The consumption of the drug, especially among the youth, is increasing. The situation made some of us explore an alternative source of income. It was then that I got into tea cultivation. I approached some opium growers and advised them that they should opt for tea. I volunteered to provide them with technical and financial support,” Basamlu said.

Last year, her plantation spread across five hectares of land, produced 2,000 kg of orthodox and organic green tea.

Songelum, 40, is among those who gave up opium cultivation. “It is like an ATM. You will instantly get a buyer. Work hard from December to March and you will earn enough for a year. If you have a land measuring one hectare, you can get a produce of six to seven kg a year. Around `7,000 is all you will need to invest,” he said.