Subansiri MoU After Doubts Cleared: Assam Minister

By Supratim Dey

Guwahati Jul 29 : The Assam government has made it clear that until and unless it was "sufficiently comfortable" that the 2,000MW Lower Subansiri Hydro Project would not have any adverse impact on the downstream areas in the state, it would not sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NHPC Ltd.

The state government will rely on "scientific studies" to assess the impact of the dam on downstream areas in the state.

"Only when we are fully comfortable that the proposed dam will not have any adverse affect on downstream Assam, we will sign the MoU with NHPC," said Assam's power and industry minister Pradyut Bordoloi.

He added that to arrive at any conclusion regarding the cumulative impact of the dam on ecology and downstream areas, sufficient "scientific" studies should be carried out.

A part of the Rs 6,400 crore Lower Subansiri Project falls in Assam and the rest in Arunachal Pradesh. The MoU with Arunachal Pradesh government had been signed following which construction on that side of the border is undergoing.

An inter-ministerial group, formed by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had submitted a report in March 2010, and recommended further studies on the Lower Subansiri Project. Bordoloi said that the group would soon send a team of experts to undertake further studies on the impact of the dam.

Recently, an expert committee report of Assam, which was critical of mega dams in Arunachal Pradesh and particularly the Lower Subansiri Project, has resulted in various students' and civil organisations taking to streets demanding immediate suspension of the project. "We have taken the expert committee report very seriously. We have already forwarded it to the Centre, and want the centre to take further steps. Our chief minster too has written to the Prime Minister requesting him to take up the matter," Bordoloi said.

Coming down heavily on the agitating organisations, Bordoloi said: "It is experts who, after detailed studies, will say us if the dam should be constructed, and not any students' or civil organisation leader who lacks such expertise to assess the impact."

When asked if he too favours immediate suspension of construction work at the site in the wake of the expert committee report, Bordoloi said, “We cannot forcibly stop the construction works. But we need to be comfortable through further scientific studies.”

“I assure you, if it is found that the Lower Subansiri Project is not in the interests of Assam, our government will never let it happen,” Bordoloi added.

Clubbing Their Passion For Bikes

Guwahati, Jul 28 : Royal Enfield owners love to flaunt their bikes and like it even better to do so in droves. So, four years ago seven Bullet enthusiasts formed the Royal Enfield Riders Association of Meghalaya.

Today, the total headcount is just a few short of 100 and is only increasing. Besides raving about their passion for the bike and roaring about the streets in style, they also make efforts to convey social messages and propagate awareness about diseases like AIDS.

"We started the club in 2006 as a tribute to the world's favorite motorcycle. By 2008 the number of members was 23 and now we have about 85 members," said P S Warjri, president of the club. He added that of these members, about 35 are hard-core Bullet enthusiasts while the rest are less obsessed with their bikes, though as much enamored by them.

"I fell in love with the Royal Enfield in 1974 and have been riding the bike since then," said Warjri, who will be turning 50 this December. "I have three bikes now and all of them are Royal Enfield Bullets.

I like this particular motorcycle model so much because it has a powerful engine and looks much more macho than all others bikes available in the market," he said.
The Bullet is almost a state favorite there are about 4000 Royal Enfields in Meghalaya.

The Royal Enfield Riders' Association is one of the most active bikers clubs in the region. Besides biking activities, it has been actively involved with issues of social welfare in Meghalaya the members organize and participate in rallies to create awareness about diseases like HIV and AIDS, educate people about disaster management preparedness and other such things.

"We organize roadshows to create awareness about issues plaguing our society and support other sports events as well," said Warjri, popularly known as Bah Bhang. Recently, he added, the club organized an event in which the members rode down to Guwahati when Meghalaya soccer club Lajong played with the East Bengal Club in the final match of the Federation Cup.

The club members also regularly participate in Riders Mania, an annual meet of Royal Enfield enthusiasts, which is organized in various parts of the country.

"In 2008, the event took place in Ooty. About 15 Royal Enfielders from Meghalaya took part in it. We rode our bikes all the way to Chennai and then further down to Ooty," said Warjri.

B Shabong, a 59-year-old Meghalaya government official and the oldest member of the club, feels that once one gets used to riding a Royal Enfield one would not like any other bike as much. "It is perhaps this edge the machine has over others that is leading to the renewed Royal Enfield craze in the state," Shabong said. While he is the oldest member of the club, the youngest is about 24 years old.

Almost at the same time that the Royal Enfield Riders Association was set up, another group of Meghalaya bikers formed their own club Royal Rhino Club. Saranjit Singh Bedi, the vice president of the club, who is from Guwahati, said, "We formed the Royal Rhino Club in 2006 and have 25 registered members so far. We have travelled through almost all the northeastern states on our bikes," he said.

Bedi is a Bullet lover and started his journey on the Royal Enfield in 1980. "The Bullet was my dream bike since my childhood days. My father, who was also a bike lover and owned a Bullet, bought me my first Royal Enfield when I passed my class X exams," said Bedi, who is just back in city after a trip to Ladakh. Recently, the club organized a Save Tigers' rally on their Royal Enfields.

"We also took the junior members of our club to Thimpu in Bhutan on a leisure trip recently," said Bedi.

Mizoram Police Compile Database on Burmese Nationals

Aizawl, Jul 28 : Mizoram police officials in Lunglei district, the second capital of Mizoram state in northeast India have been compiling a data base on Burmese nationals as of 21 July and, it is learnt.

The police are seeking detailed information including the names, addresses in Burma, Burmese ID card numbers, present address, and name of the house owner, where they stay, and taking photographs.

Pu Kapte in Lunglei said, “The policemen said they were collecting the information to investigate Burmese people in the event of their being involved in any crime. It will be easier for the police to trace them. There is no reason to worry on this score.”

Lunglei policemen collected data of over 70 Burmese people in Venglai and Electric block after which they will cover the rest in other blocks.

There have been instances of Burmese people being involved in drug cases, fake money laundering and other crimes in Mizoram state. On 3 July, two Chins got into a fight in Lunglei and one died on the spot. A woman was murdered by two men in Lawngtlai district. One was arrested and the other, a Chin fled to Burma. These incidents were highlighted in Mizoram daily newspapers.

The authorities seized fake notes worth Rs. 1.4 lakhs in Lawngtlai district in the second week of this month. The Chin involved in the racket, living in Sangau village, Lawngtlai district was arrested.

Rackets in drugs and smuggling are rampant in Aizawl, the state capital and Lawngtlai district. Drugs worth Rs. 19 lakhs and liquor were destroyed by the Young Mizo Association (YMA) in Aizawl city between 29 May to 2 July this year.

A Lunglei Ramthar Kumpuan Committee report says Rs. 4.5 lakhs worth of drugs and liquor were destroyed in Lunglei District between 23 May and 11 July.

via bnionline

Maradona No Longer The Coach of Argentina

Buenos Aires, Jul 28 : The Argentine Football Association said Tuesday that it would not renew Maradona’s contract, ending his erratic 21-month stint in charge of the national team that had mirrored his own long personal history of unpredictable behavior and defiance.

The AFA had offered him a four-year contract to continue through to the 2014 World Cup, but Maradona said he would only stay if his entire staff remained.

AP Argentina's head coach Diego Maradona reacts prior to the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Argentina and Germany in Cape Town, South Africa on July 3, 2010.

That was an unacceptable condition to AFA president Julio Grondona, who wanted to replace several assistants including Maradona’s close friend, Alejandro Mancuso.

The AFA executive committee sided with Grondona on Tuesday, ending Maradona’s tenure.

IPI Concerned Over Threats Against Journalists in Kashmir, Manipur

 

Kashmiri journalists hold placards as they protest against government's alleged use of force against the media, in Srinagar on July 10, 2010.

Vienna, Jul 28 : The International Press Institute (IPI) is concerned at reports that the media is facing harassment in India's conflict-ridden northern and north-eastern States, according to Nayana Jayarajan, Press Freedom Adviser.

In Manipur, where the security forces are locked in conflict with several armed separatist groups, local media declared an indefinite cessation of publication on Friday in response to threats against S. Singlianmang Guite, a local journalist, by members of an armed group.

According to a statement from the All-Manipur Working Journalists' Union, three armed men forced their way into Mr. Guite's house on July 21 and demanded to speak to the journalist about a report in the day's issue of the Sangai Express, the journalist's employer.

In response, the print media community in the State declared a cessation of publication until the government takes action against the gunmen.

In Kashmir, which is still reeling after a month of demonstrations and protests which left 16 people dead, government curbs against the media were met by a three-day cessation of publication by the local media. Journalists' associations in the State declared a three-day strike from July 8 to 11 in protest against the restrictions on journalists.

The media community was protesting the government's reluctance to issue curfew passes to journalists to allow them to continue coverage during curfew.

“They issued only 10 curfew passes per media organization,” said Anuradha Bhasin, Editor-in-Chief of the Jammu-based Kashmir Times. “This is not enough. You need at least 40 passes even to run the paper with one-third of its staff.”

Ms. Bhasin also told IPI that while there had been no outright curbs on coverage, the security forces were harassing journalists whose coverage they saw as unfavorable. “Those whose reporting they don't like, they are harassing them in various ways,” she said.

“The media in these regions are often forced to work under extremely difficult conditions,” said IPI Director David Dadge. “It is heartening to note the united response of the local media to these press freedom threats; however, the Indian government must do more to prevent the harassment of journalists. If not, it runs a very real risk of becoming part of the problem.”

Assam Ministers Blatantly Violated Cabinet Decision

‘There has been misappropriation of funds during the year 2007-08 and 2008-09. This is how public funds advanced to the Council by the Government of Assam have been utilized’

Guwahati, Jul 28 : In order to put an end to the rampant misuse of Central and State government funds meant for the NC Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) in the State, the State Cabinet had taken a decision to release all funds to the council through the Hill Area Development (HAD) Department only.

However, in what could best be termed as an outright violation of the Cabinet decision, the State Health and Family Welfare Department led by Himanta Biswa Sarma as minister — apart from the Social Welfare and Food and Civil Supplies departments — directly released crores of rupees to the NCHAC at a time when embezzlement of funds had been at its peak in the hill district leading to the multi-crore-rupee NC Hills scam.

The unusual promptness on the part of the State Health Department in particular in releasing crores of rupees to NC Hills district violating the Cabinet decision has made many in the State wonder whether Dispur was directly involved in the multi-crore-rupee scam in the hill district.

Surprisingly, even after the Rajkumar Manisana Singh Commission pinpointed the violation of rules in the release of funds by the departments in question, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi fell short of taking any action against the ministers concerned.

An otherwise vocal Himanta Biswa Sarma, on the other hand, has also been silent on the violation of the Cabinet decision in the release of funds by his department that were brought to light by the Manisana Singh Commission.

On June 22, 2007, the State Cabinet had discussed the issue of rampant embezzlement of development funds meant for NC Hills district.

After a detailed discussion, the Cabinet meeting had taken the decision to release all funds to the district, both of the Centre and the State Government, including funds under Plan and Non-Plan heads, through the HAD Department only.

The Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had taken the decision in order to effect fiscal discipline and to keep a watch on the funds being pumped to the hill district. It was imperative for all the departments to respect the Cabinet decision.

The State Health department, however, did not bother to follow the Cabinet decision, nor did the other departments as mentioned.

The Health Department continued to pump crores of rupees to the hill district directly, bypassing the HAD Department.

The Social Welfare and Food and Civil Supplies departments also released funds directly to NC Hills district.

Within a month of the Cabinet decision, the Health Department had directly released Rs 63.43 lakh to the NCHAC on July 17, 2007, and then Rs 24.25 lakh on August 4, 2007, Rs 118.75 lakh on September 27, 2007, Rs 30 lakh on October 11, 2007, Rs 1.81 lakh on January 11, 2008, and Rs 94.18 lakh in two installments on March 24, 2008.

The Social Welfare Department, to which the prime accused in the multi-crore NC Hills scam RH Khan belonged, had released Rs 1,92,91,770 on October 10, 2007, while the Food and Civil Supplies Department had released Rs 1.19 lakh on March 12, 2008 to the NCHAC directly.

All these violations of the standing rules were mentioned by the Manisana Singh Commission in its report. The report said: ‘‘In the above view of the matter, some of the line departments were not following the decision taken on 22/06/07 by the Cabinet. These may be prima facie a breach of the decision of the Cabinet.

The decision of the Cabinet is required to be followed strictly as the decision is for the purpose of promoting measure for maintaining purity and integrity of the administration of the State.’’

The report added: ‘‘There has been misappropriation of funds during the year 2007-08 and 2008-09. This is how public funds advanced to the Council by the Government of Assam have been utilized.’

The Health and Family Welfare, Social Welfare and Food and Civil Supplies departments have not been able to give any appropriate reply as to why they had released funds directly to the NCHAC despite the Cabinet restriction on such practices.

The mysterious silence being maintained by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who is also a State Government spokesman, otherwise very vocal, on the issue only adds to the suspicion as to whether Dispur was involved in the multi-crore-rupee scam.

Another question that can be raised is whether the funds released directly by the departments in question constitute a part of the multi-crore-rupee NC Hills scam.

What is even more astonishing is that the State Government washed its hands off the issue by making a mere statement in the action taken report (ATR): that ‘‘a Committee of Experts is constituted for monitoring the funds sanctioned and released by the Government to the Council’’.

Though the CBI has been investigating the NC Hills scam, a number of departments, including the Health Department, are outside the purview of the inquiry.

There are demands from all quarters that all departments of NCHAC be brought under the purview of the CBI probe.

via The Sentinel Assam

Shillong Ensemble Wins 3 Gold at Choir Olympics

Shillong, Jul 27 : A Shillong ensemble has won what are perhaps India's first golds at a choir Olympics, claiming three of the medals at the sixth edition of the event at Shaoxing in China.

The 16-member Shillong Chamber Choir won the golds Monday night in three categories of music - scared, gospel and spiritual and popular Choral - at the World Choir Olympics that began July 22, its trainer said.

"It is a really proud moment for us and the country to achieve this milestone at the World Choir Olympics. Perhaps, these are India's first golds in the World Choir Olympics and we are proud of it," Pauline Warjri, the trainer of Shillong Chamber Choir, told IANS.

The choir is mentored by its pianist, Neil Nongkynrih.

Eighty-eight countries from Asia, Africa, Europe and America are participating in the 12-day biggest choir competition in the world that is held every two years in a different continent.

The Shillong Chamber Choir had managed only a silver medal in the folklore category at the previous edition of the event in South Korea two years ago.

"The silver medal had emboldened them to perform better and here they got three gold medals," Warjri said.

"I am at a loss of words, but Shillong Chamber Choir has added another feather to its cap," William Richmond Basaiawmoit, a soloist with the choir, told IANS over phone from China.

The Shillong Chamber Choir was formed in 2001 by a group of singers who came together to produce a variety of music. Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, is often called India's rock capital.

The group made their debut at Shillong's Pine Wood Hotel in January 2001. Their repertoire includes works of western classical greats Handel, Bach, Gershwin and Mozart, as also Khasi folk songs and Neil Nongkynrih's compositions.

Nongkynrih's composition, "Sohlyngngem", has since earned rave reviews in several European nations.

Last year, the choir performed with the world renowned Vienna Chamber Orchestra in Shillong and Kolkata as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Austria.

Northeast's 1st Bio-Fertilizer Plant Starts Operation in Tripura

Agartala, Jul 27 : The Northeastern region's first Bio Fertilizer Production centre on private initiative started operating at Budhjungnagar Industrial estate on the outskirts of Agartala.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar yesterday formally inaugurated the unit at a cost of Rs 1.75 crore spread over about 2.5 hectares of land. He said it would help in the state government's drive of ensuring a clean environment.

Speaking on the occasion Mr Sarkar targeted the Centre and alleged that though it had given emphasis on agriculture in the current five year plan, land reform and other issues related to the interest of the farming community had not been resolved because more than 75 per cent of Indian farmers did not have their own land.

''The National Development Council has stressed on corporatization of agriculture but we strongly oppose the move because it will destroy the very objective of allotting good amount of fund for agriculture during this plan period,'' Mr Sarkar underlined.

He pointed out that Tripura had been using only 41-42 kg fertilizer per hectare while it is 78 kg per hectare at the national level.

Mr Sarkar maintained that farmers of the state had been facing acute crisis of fertilizers almost every year as a large amount was being illegally exported to the neighboring country.

This illegal business was going on through almost all the borders of the state though barbed fencing has been erected on the international boundaries, he said.