Mizoram Set For ADC Poll

By Nilotpal Bhattacharjee

Aizawl, Apr 29 : Altogether 1,776 women candidates are in the fray for the elections to village councils and local councils, slated for April 30, in Mizoram, which is a strict patriarchal society where full gender parity in politics is still a far cry.

The campaigning for the elections to 536 village councils in six districts and 83 local councils under Aizawl Municipal Council, which came to an end this evening, witnessed a rise in the participation of women compared to past years. C. Lalawmpuii became the first woman MLA in Mizoram in 27 years after she won Hrangturzo Assembly bypoll last year.

This is for the first time the seats are reserved for women in the elections to local bodies, thanks to the state Assembly which passed Lushai Hills District (Village Council Amendment) Bill, 2014, according to which one seat shall be reserved for women in a village or local council having five seats, two seats in village or local council having seven seats, and three seats in village or local council having nine seats.

The state election commission today has imposed some restrictions under Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 that prohibits "displaying any election matter by means, inter alia, of television or similar apparatus, during the period of 48 hours before the hour fixed for conclusion of poll in a constituency".

An official of the state election commission today told The Telegraph that the preparations for the elections to village and local councils have been done, while security has been beefed up to avoid any untoward incident.

The election commission said a total of 3,96,601 electorates would elect 2,278 village council members for 536 village councils, while 1,92,382 voters would seal the fate of 535 local council members for 83 local councils under the Aizawl Municipal Council area. Altogether 5,894 candidates, of which 1,465 are women, are in the fray for the village council polls in six of the eight districts - Aizawl, Lunglei, Sherchip, Champhai, Mamit and Kolosib.

The number of candidates for the local councils in Aizawl is 1,237. The autonomous district councils, under the framework of the Sixth Schedule, administrate elections in Lawngtlai and Saiha districts.

Of the total 597 polling stations set up for the village council polls, 21 have been declared "sensitive" of which eight are in Kolosib, six in Mamit and seven in Lunglei district. Tight security arrangements are being done at all these polling stations, which are predominantly located in Bru and HPC (D) militants' active zone, sources said today.

The elections are unlikely to be held in six villages in Kolosib district and 25 in Aizawl in northern Mizoram as not even a single candidate has filed nominations in the wake of the diktat issued by the HPC (D) militants to boycott the village council polls. There are 123 village council seats in these villages.

The ruling Congress and the Opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) are the main contenders in the ensuing polls. However, other parties like Mizoram People's Conference (MPC), Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP), and the BJP also fielded candidates. The Congress fielded 2,127 candidates, MNF 1,693, ZNP 594, MPC 86 and BJP 200 for the village council polls, while 501 Congress, 460 MNF, 155 ZNP, 67 MPC and 14 BJP candidates are in the fray for the local council polls.

Swiss Duo Help Discover Ultimate Meghalaya Bat Caves

By Anand Chandrasekhar

Meghalaya's unexplored caves hold great promise for cavers and biologists alike

(Thomas Arbenz)

A unique collaboration between cave explorers and biologists has helped discover rare bats in northeastern India. Now, they’re working with local tribes, researchers and officials to secure the future of these flying mammals.

Swiss caving enthusiast Thomas Arbenz is hooked to the thrill of exploration. For the 61-year-old adventurer, caves remain one of the few places on earth where no humans have set foot before.
“It is such a good feeling to step into the unknown,” Arbenz told swissinfo.ch. “You feel like an explorer from the old days.”

It is this longing to discover new caves that led him to a remote part of India - more specifically to the state of Meghalaya in north-east India which has the reputation for being the wettest place on earth. He is a co-leader of a group of international group of speleologists who systematically explore and map Meghalaya’s intricate network of caves. They also contribute to science by helping biologists discover rare bat species that live in these unexplored caves.

Bats galore

In 2011, fellow Swiss Manuel Ruedi, a biologist at the Geneva Natural History Museum, accompanied Arbenz on the Meghalaya expedition after hearing that the cavers routinely come across bats.

“Cavers are often the first people entering many of those caves,” he told swissinfo.ch. “So, the likelihood of finding exciting new biological material is there.”

Ruedi managed to catch some of these bats by placing special nets at the mouth of the grotto. It turned out that he had stumbled upon two new species of insect-eating Tube-nosed bats.  

“When you catch a bat that seems a bit different from the other ones, you don't immediately realise it’s a new species,” he says, adding that differences can be so subtle that it takes a lot of work to confirm if it really is a previously undiscovered kind of bat.

One of the Tube-nosed bat species discovered during the 2011 Meghalaya caving expedition

(Manuel Ruedi)

After a year of cross-checking with specimens in historical collections and examining scientific literature, he was able to prove that he had indeed discovered two new species. He even named one of the bats after the Jaintia people of Meghalaya as a “thank you” gesture to the locals who allowed the team to explore their forests and hosted them.

But the caves of Meghalaya had more surprises in store for Ruedi. In 2014 he also discovered a new colony of the extremely rare Wroughton’s Free-tailed bat, the second such population known to science.

“We were very excited to find a bat colony 2400 km away from the only other known colony of the species,” says Ruedi.

Meghalaya native and bat researcher Adora Thabah was also present during the discovery. In fact, she had captured a single individual in 2002 during her field research for her PhD.

“It was a one-off catch and not finding another colony was very frustrating,” she told swissinfo.ch. “At last I was able to solve the mystery and there is now hope for the species in India.”
She believes that the bats would never have been found without help from the caving expedition.

“There are not many bat researchers in India and it would have been impossible for me to find them by myself,” she says.

Uncertain future

Bats are regularly hunted and eaten by the locals. To keep the rare bats off the menu, the biologists and cavers embarked on an awareness programme to convince people about the importance of protecting them and the caves they live in.

The children of Pynurkba village are keen to protect rare bats thanks to the awareness programme

(Manuel Ruedi)

“The main problem is that the people don’t understand the importance of bats in the ecosystem,” says Thabah. “It was explained to them that the bats eat their agricultural pests and pollinate their fruits, and that they were actually killing and eating a useful animal.”

However, it is not enough to protect the bat caves alone. The bats forage for insects as far as tens of kilometres from the cave. That is why it is equally important to preserve the forest habitat around the caves. However, deforestation for agriculture as well as for coal and limestone mining has taken a heavy toll on prime bat habitat in recent years.

“This is beyond what I can handle,” admits Ruedi. Instead, he has tried to get the state forest department officials invested in protecting the bat habitats by informing them of his discoveries and showing them where the important bat caves are.

Ruedi has also trained two local researchers who will continue the bat research and awareness programme to supplement Thabah’s efforts. This should at least ensure that the forest department officials are supplied with the information necessary for protecting critical bat habitats in Meghalaya.
“I was sort of a trigger for bat studies in eastern Meghalaya but now local researchers are taking the lead,” says Ruedi. “This is a great long-term outcome for the bats.”

Meghalaya – a caver’s paradise 

The tiny Indian state of Meghalaya - it is just over half the size of Switzerland - came to the attention of the international caving community two decades ago. In 1992, a group of four European cavers began exploring the caves in the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo hills and soon realised the potential of the region to become a global caving hotspot.

Since then, the small group has evolved into an annual caving expedition comprising around 30 cavers from all over the world and calls itself the Caving in the abode of the clouds project. So far, they’ve identified 1,300 caves, explored 825 of them, and surveyed in excess of 370 kilometres underground.

Most of the caves in Meghalaya are inaccessible to people who don't know anything about caving. To explore even easy caves you need to have basic equipment like head torches, helmets, protective suit and boots. More technical caves require climbing gear like ropes, carabiners and rope ladders. To enter river caves you also need neoprene suits, wellington boots and life jackets.

Besides technical gear, caving expertise and experience are a prerequisite for any kind of cave exploration. However, there are two or three “show caves” in Meghalaya that tour operators take visitors to see.

source: swissinfo.ch

Motorola Eyes Tech-Savvy Northeast

By Saurav Bora
Guwahati, Apr 29 : Mobile handset manufacturer Motorola plans to ride on the growing smartphone market and a tech-savvy population in the Northeast to boost sales of its customised variants in the region.

"The Northeast is a priority region for us. Looking at the demographics here, with a growing population in tune with the latest technology, we plan to expand our footprint here. Service/care centres will be put in place wherever necessary and our marketing will be focused on the region. We also look to engage with our clients through the social media," Marcus Frost, senior marketing director, EMEA (Europe Middle East Africa) & India, told The Telegraph here today.

Motorola, which was acquired by Chinese technology giant Lenovo from Google last year, sells its devices in India through e-commerce firm Flipkart.

"We have assessed the situation and preferred the e-commerce platform over brick and mortar. But we also know the importance of touch-and-feel and plan to set up at least nine brand experience centres in the country and Guwahati is in our scheme of things," Frost said. Motorola, as of today, has over 150 service centres in the country. "We will also be launching motor care vans to take our service to the client's doorstep," he said.

The company today announced the launch of the 3G and 4G versions of the new Moto E range of smartphones. "The new Moto E with 4G network will provide amazing speed with increased bandwidth. Packed with an array of customisation options, the variants are value for money (the 3G version priced at Rs 6,999 and the 4G at Rs 7,999) and suitable for those who choose to migrate from feature to smartphones or opt for an additional phone," Frost said.

The handset manufacturer had last year sold three million units in the country with its Moto E and Moto G variants making up almost 80-85 per cent of the sales.

Mizoram’s Supply Lines Cut Off

Silchar, Apr 28 : Goods-laden trucks and other vehicles were not allowed to enter Mizoram from 5am on Monday due to an indefinite economic blockade called by several Assam-based NGOs.

Hundreds of trucks were stranded on either side of the inter-state border between Assam and Mizoram at Lailapur along NH-306 in Cachar district and at Ramnathpur and Jamira along NH-154 in Assam's Hailakandi district.

Hundreds of members of Silchar-based NGO, Forum for Protection of non-Mizos, All Cachar Karimganj Hailakandi Students Association, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and civil society groups put up the blockade on the two highways connecting Assam with Mizoram from Monday morning. They also staged protests against alleged atrocities on non-Mizo traders and workers in Mizoram by some NGOs there.

Mihir Lal Roy, an activist, said hundreds of non-Mizos have fled Mizoram due to harassment over the last few weeks. The victims hailed from Assam and were engaged in trade and other jobs in Mizoram under valid permit.

Roy said non-Mizos, particularly those from Barak Valley areas of Assam, are subjected to intimidation and cruelty of various forms in Mizoram. He said it has come to their notice that traders from Barak Valley region are targeted, attacked, threatened and physically harassed and asked by Mizo students and youth leaders to leave the state. The traders are also forced to shut shop, he added.

He added there are instances that business establishments owned by non-Mizos are looted by the miscreants and there have been no effort on the part of the administration to check such activities.

Congress MLA (South Karimganj) Siddique Ahmed, who joined the agitators at Ramnathpur, said the indefinite economic blockade would continue until the harassment on non-Mizos is stopped and normalcy restored in Mizoram.

A senior police officer said so far the agitation is going on peacefully and there was no report of any untoward incident.

Economic Blockade on Mizoram

Our Thoughts: Every year the Assam groups strangle Mizoram for the slightest reason. The Mizo government should give thought on how it can avoid it. That is, integrating Hmar Areas in Southern Assam with Mizoram building roads that can connect from Assam Hmar areas into Mizoram. Think of Greater Mizoram - Southern Manipur, South Eastern Assam. Its time the term Mizo has "greater" meanings.

Aizawl, Apr 27 : Several groups in southern Assam’s Cachar and Hailakandi districts are planning an economic blockade on Mizoram from Monday morning over some Mizo groups’ recent crackdown on non-local traders they say are engaged in businesses within the state without proper permissions.

Police officials said several groups in the Barak Valley region plan to impose the blockade from 6 am Monday at Lailapur (Cachar district) and Jamira (Hailakandi district), effectively stopping traffic on national highways 54 and 154 respectively.

The two NHs are Mizoram’s lifeline and only link to the rest of India save smaller roads connecting it to Tripura and Manipur.

It is not clear exactly how many groups are involved in the planned blockade and how long it would last, but police officials said some politicians from Karimganj- where a large number of informal workers in Aizawl are generally from- are likely to be present at either of the two places the blockades are imposed at.

The Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP or Mizo Students’ Association) and some other organizations have in recent weeks been closing shutters of non-native traders who they accuse of conducting illegal businesses in the Mizoram state capital Aizawl.

The Inner Line Permit system in force in Mizoram bars non-locals from entering, staying and working in Mizoram without prior permission from the authorities.

Both Assam and Mizoram police are preparing for any untoward incident that may take place on either side, especially with the hundreds of vehicles (private, public transport and good carriers) that ply the two highways in every direction everyday.

Northeast Fails To Learn Quake Lessons

By SUMIR KARMAKAR

National Disaster Response Force personnel from India carry out rescue operations in Kathmandu on Sunday. (PTI)

Guwahati, Apr 27 : Vulnerability warnings seem to have not woken up authorities to the threat of earthquakes, though two tremors shook Assam and the Northeast in the past 48 hours.

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority today said many schools, hospitals and government buildings have neglected safety measures even after a joint survey by Assam Engineering College in July last year revealed structural vulnerability.

"Since Assam is located in the seismically active Zone V, we had surveyed 600 schools and 40 hospitals, mostly in Guwahati, and identified those having structural and non-structural vulnerability. Following the survey, we had issued notices and requested them to take up safety measures, including retrofitting solution for buildings with structural problem. But very few have taken measures suggested by civil engineers. We have seen the devastation in Nepal and must take measures necessary to reduce the impact in case of a disaster here," chief executive officer of the authority, P.K. Tiwari, said. Tiwari is also commissioner and secretary of the state revenue and disaster management department.

Some buildings in Guwahati, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Majuli developed cracks following yesterday's quake that wrecked havoc in Nepal. A quake measuring 7.6 on Richter scale jolted the Northeast this afternoon as well. But no damage was reported till the filing of this report.

Tiwari said many earthquakes measuring over three on Richter scale had hit the state since February. "The survey found some hospitals blocking their balconies with an almirah or other furniture. How will the rescue personnel reach them in case a disaster strikes? Stocks of blood and medicine bottles are kept in the almirah and in case of a quake these items will get damaged. The emergency support equipment in the ICUs are kept without any strong protection, so if they stop functioning during a quake, imagine what will happen to the critically ill patients," Tiwari said.

"We had served many deadlines to the schools and hospitals and will carry out another inspection and issue notices to make sure they take necessary measures. We are repeatedly spreading the message of vulnerability but people must also understand and take necessary safety measures. Retrofitting solution is costly and time consuming but they can at least go for other non-structural safety measures," he said.

The survey report released in August last year revealed about 34 per cent of schools in Guwahati had major structural vulnerability, 10 per cent located on the hills are vulnerable to slope failure/landslide, 5 per cent are vulnerable to floods and 74 per cent schools have non-structural vulnerability.

"Twenty schools and five hospitals in other parts of the state surveyed were found with structural vulnerability to earthquake. Even many deputy commissioner offices in the districts were found having structural problems and lacking disaster management facilities," he said.

Tiwari said the government departments were yet to prepare their own disaster management plans, which is compulsory under Section 14 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. "This issue was raised in the state executive committee meeting recently and each department was asked to make their disaster management plan within July this year," he said.

Kamrup (metro) deputy commissioner M. Angamuthu said they would issue showcause notices tomorrow to mobile companies on complaints of phone towers erected without following safety norms.

Before quake
Develop an emergency plan with a kit containing food, water, prescription medicines, first-aid, radio, flashlight, extra batteries, sturdy shoes and clothes
During quake
Remain calm.
If indoors, duck under sturdy furniture and hold onto it. If you can’t, move to a wall or archway and sit with your back to the wall, bring knees to your chest and cover your head
Stay away from mirrors and windows and don’t exit the building during quake
If outdoors, move to an open area away from structures such as bridges and power lines
If in a vehicle, stop in an open area away from all structures
After quake
Stay calm and count 60 seconds before moving
Move cautiously, check unstable objects and damaged buildings.
Anticipate aftershock
Listen to radio or TV for emergency information

50 Families From Mizoram Stuck in Nepal, Safe

Aizawl, Apr 27 :  All families Mizoram living in Nepal, many of them missionaries and evangelist teachers, were reportedly safe, reports from Nepal said.

Major Sangliana of the Salvation Army, working with his wife in Kathmandu told PTI over phone that there were around 50 Mizo families in Nepal all of whom were safe.

Sources in the Presbyterian Church said that there were around 30 missionaries working under the church in Nepal while the Baptist Church of Mizoram sent one Pastor and a teacher who were living there with their family members.

Mizo Govt Announces Rewards On The Heads of 6 Hmar Militants

Aizawl, Apr 25 : The Mizoram government has announced rewards on the heads of six militants belonging to Hmar People's Convention (Democrats) who ambushed the state Assembly committee on government assurances team on March 28 killing three policemen.

A notification issued by the government last evening said that anyone who can hand over the militants to the authorities or furnish information to the authorities leading to their arrest would be disbursed the amount placed on their heads.

The wanted militants were Biakliana, leader of the operation against the committee on government assurances team (Rs two lakh), Lalneihkunga (Rs two lakh), Malsawmkima alias Danny (Rs two lakh), Reuben Lalromawia (Rs one lakh), Lalninghaka (Rs one lakh) and Jehova (Rs one lakh).

Malsawmkima is a former constable of the state armed police who recently joined the HPC (D) after deserting the force with one AK-47 assault rifle and a few rounds of ammunition.