Civic Poll Jolt For Mizoram Congress

By Santanu Ghosh

Mizoram, Nov 7 : The dismal show by the ruling Congress and its ally, the Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP), in the first 19 wards of Aizawl municipal council poll has come as a big jolt to the party. The Congress had secured 32 of the 40 seats in the 2008 Mizoram Assembly election.

In 2008, the party’s performance was spectacular in Aizawl where of the 11 Assembly seats it had bagged eight, marking the newly found popularity of the party, with a traditional rural base, in the urban segments.

The crucial Aizawl election on Thursday, with a voter count of 1,68,649, however, did not go too well for the ruling alliance.

The Congress-ZNP combine has shared the spoils with five seats each in the 19-seat council, managing a slender lead of only a seat over their joint adversaries, the Mizo National Front (MNF), and Mizoram People’s Conference (MPC), which together won nine seats.

While the MNF won five seats, its ally, the MPC, formed by the former chief minister Brig. (retd) T. Sailo, ended up capturing four.

One of the Congress stalwarts in the state, R. Laldanglova, elder brother of the state’s home minister R. Lalzirliana, was defeated in ward 8.

Assessing his party’s poor performance, the Congress vice-president in the state, Hiphei, today admitted that given its commanding show in the last Assembly polls, the party is shocked with the municipal election results that were declared yesterday.

He said the Congress this time had great expectations from the municipal poll verdict, as its role in the turnaround of the limping economy of the backward state of Mizoram was yielding results in the entire state.

Hiphei, a former minister and a veteran Congressman, however, made a blunt admission that Aizawl was never an ideal hunting ground for the party, and the party’s victory in the Assembly election in 2008 was a windfall as the then ruling party MNF has “mismanaged” the economy of the state by allegedly squandering its resources.

Chilli Eating Competition During Hornbill Fest in Nagaland

Kohima, Nov 7 :  In order to promote ''Naga Chilli'', the hottest variety in the world, a raw chilli eating competition will be held during the annual Hornbill Festival here in December.

Speaking at a function here today, chief minister Neiphiu Rio said ''Naga King'' chilli, also known as ''Bhut jolokia'', is a crop which could be distinctly characterized with the Nagas and the state can be the world leader in its production.

''Naga King'' has been scientifically proven to be the hottest chilli in the world.

Inaugurating the new directorate building of the horticulture department here, the chief minister asked the department to identify food products that could be tagged with the Nagas.

He also emphasised the need to concentrate on a few crops in which the state has the advantage over others instead of undertaking too many crops for cultivation.

Lafarge's Meghalaya Plant in Trouble

Shillong, Nov 7 : Lafarge's Meghalaya plant is in trouble due to protest against the company at the plant location. Lafarge is the cement giant of France and it is all set to set up its own plant in Meghalaya. More than Rs 1000-crore has been sanctioned by the firm to establish the same.

But now the project has met the major obstacle when the locals have protested against the plant.

They are saying that the plant would cause environmental hazards and they will protest against the company. More than hundreds of people were gathered at the proposed plant location on Thursday and demanded the officials of the district council not to issue the no-objection certificate (NOC) to the company to set up plant at that location.

The Meghalaya project of the firm contains a 1.1-million tonne Greenfield integrated cement plant. Lafarge has decided to establish the plant at the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya which is the filled with rich limestone. However, the project is at its initial phase and the technical and feasibility studies are going on at this point of time.

The company sources have also said that after the technical survey, the company will decide the further possibilities.

For Your Intellectual Stimulation

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again invited readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

(This has nothing to do with the Washington Post)

Here are the winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the
subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus : A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxicaton : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until
you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation : Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops
bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows
little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy : Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of
getting laid.

7. Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very high

8. Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the
person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte : To take coffee intravenously when you are running
late.

10. Osteopornosis : A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

11. Karmageddon : It's like, when everybody is sending off all these
really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's
like, a serious bummer.

12. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day
consuming only things that are good for you.

13. Glibido : All talk and no action.

14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when
they come at you rapidly.

15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after
you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into
your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

17. Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in
the fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its
yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate
meanings for common words.

And the winners are:

1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has
gained.

3.. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4 esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.

6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only
a nightgown.

7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been
run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle, n. A humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by
proctologists.

13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with
Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies
up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by
Jewish men.

More Bru Families Return to Mizoram

Aizawl, Nov 7 : Altogether 15 families today returned on the second day today of the repatriation of Bru refugees from six relief camps in North Tripura, a senior home department official said.

With this, 51 families have returned so far from Tripura and would be resettled in Mamit district on the border with Tripura, he said.

Bru Coordination Committee general secretary Elvis Chorkhy told PTI from Tripura that the second phase of the repatriation would be taken up soon despite opposition from anti-repatriation hardliners.

“At least 70 per cent of the refugees are willing to return to Mizoram,” Chorkhy said.

The Tripura Government provided transport for the refugees and security due to opposition from the newly-elected Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF) and Bru Displaced Welfare Organisation (BDWO) who tried to forcibly prevent the refugees from returning to Mizoram.

The MBDPF and the BDWO have demanded that talks should be held first between the representatives of the refugees, the Centre and Tripura and Mizoram government before repatriation.

Thousands of Brus fled Mizoram in the later part of 1997 in the wake of the murder of a forest guard inside the Dampa Tiger Reserve by Bru militants which triggered communal tension and another wave of exodus occurred after a 17-year old Mizo boy was gunned down by Bru militrants on November 13, 2009, three days before the commencement of the repatriation.

Diesel Shortage Hits Mobile Services in Manipur

By Sobhapati Samom

Imphal, Nov 7 : The seizure of diesel by the police in their anti-blackmarketing drive in Manipur has seriously affected the mobile services since the last five days.

The cellular service networks of most of the major service providers as a result have virtually collapsed. Aircel, Vodafone, Reliance and Idea mobile phone network users of the State’s 10 lakh mobile users are the most severely affected, according to sources here.

“Functioning of around 30 per cent of the towers have been disturbed as there is no diesel supply,” sources in the Manipur Telecom Diesel Filler Committee (MTFC) which had been providing 30 litres of diesel per day to each of the 700 towers for the six cellular services such as BSNL, Airtel, Aircel,Vodafone,Tata Indicom and Reliance, said.

With the approaching festive season, the situation has become depressing, affecting lakhs of mobile users across the State. “Except BSNL, there is no mobile phone network here”, Etomba, a resident of Ukhrul said.

Manipur had been facing acute shortage of fuel even after the United Naga Council Manipur sponsored 69 day economic blockade on the National Highways was concluded months ago. The situation still remains the same even as it recovers from the economic blockades.

MTFC had reportedly stored around 4,000 litres of diesel for their emergency use in view of the ongoing situation. But police has seized it as part of its anti-blackmarketing drive recently.

Meanwhile, talks are on with the State officials for the restoration of the mobile towers’ functioning. With the arrival of the representatives of the concerned mobile service providers in the State, fuel supply to the mobiles towers has resumed, according to MTFC sources.

Manipur Gets Bumper Mustard Crop With New Technique

By Sobhapati Samom

Imphal, Nov 7 : After successful cultivation of oil seeds such as mustard under zero tillage cultivation formula, Manipur has started to apply the same principle on pea for the first time.

The new method of cultivation without any form of fertiliser has been initiated under State Agriculture department’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) method of cultivation with the additional technical inputs from Central Agriculture University (CAU), Imphal.

According to Pheiroijam Rajendro,Deputy Director (Soil Chemist) of the Agriculture department, the State authority under guidance of the Centre is planning to take up zero tillage pea cultivation for the first time. This could be perhaps the first time in the entire Northeastern States.

“As of now we are initiating it in just 30 hectares of recently harvested rice fields”, Rajendro said. Longjam Sarat, 45, a cultivator of Nongpok Lourembam village in Imphal East district has started to cultivate pea under zero tillage formula at his recently harvested rice field.

“I have taken up this new method of cultivation on a trial basis after attending an awareness programme at a mobile plant health clinic”, Sarat said in an interaction with The Assam Tribune at his field. “We are planning to expand the cultivation area once the entire harvest is over”.

Sarat used to get not less than 100 bags (each bag weighing 50 kilogram) of rice from his family’s five hectares of land at Nongpok Lourembam Loukon measuring around 30 hectares. He had cultivated mustard sometime ago, but it did not get him much profit.

His elder brother Modhuchandra said, “Cultivating pea under the new method will certainly help the rural economy in the State as Manipuris love to eat various parts or forms of pea particularly it’s fresh leaves and bud, etc.

A rice field measuring one fourth of a hectare requires around 20 to 25 kilograms of well treated pea seeds. However, Dr Kh Ibohal, an Entomologist from CAU Imphal want the farmers to carry out proper seed treatment to avoid crop diseases.

“We need to use authenticated fungicide (carbendazim 12 per cent plus Mancozeb and insecticide Imidacloprid for the seed treatment to protect the plants from any disease”, the Entomologist said. “Chances of attack by any worm is very negligible if we do so”.

It may be worth mentioning here that IPM method of cultivation has a success story in the mustard seed production in the recent past in this land locked State which is, however, blessed with suitable agro-climatic conditions.

Farmers of Maklang village in Manipur’s Imphal West district got a bumper harvest in the last season, producing an average of 1,300 kg of mustard seed per hectare which is much higher than that of national yield of 1,070 kg per hectare. They cultivated mustard in an area of 1,500 hectares last season.

A Journey Through The Mist of Uncertainty: Displaced Brus in Tripura

By Manas Paul

Agartala, Nov 4 : As the rising sun slowly dispelled the cool mist hanging over the mountains along North Tripura and Mizoram border, they began their journey to home. It was a dream that came true, but still the uncertainty that their eyes reflected could not be missed.

The 174 Reang tribesmen, popularly known as Brus, were repatriated from their shanty refugee camps in North Tripura district, their home for the last 13 years, to Mamit district of Mizoram on Wednesday.

This was part of the Aizawl government's long awaited initiatives to break ice that gathered over displaced Brus' repatriation to their home.

Thirteen years ago in mid October, 1997 following a fierce ethnic violence between the Brus and Lushai (Mizo) tribesmen in Mamit district of Mizoram thousands of Bru villagers fled to adjoining Tripura. Since then they were sheltered in six refugee camps in Kanchanpur subdivision. The ethnic violence had erupted following Brus' demand for autonomy and recognition of their language which were vehemently opposed by various Mizo organizations.

As for the last 13 years sporadic communal skirmishes between the two ethnic groups in Mizoram in various forms took place and simmering tension ran strong beneath the apparent calm, displacement of the Brus to North Tripura also continued. At a point of time there were about 44,000 displaced Brus -considered the highest congregation of the refugees in Kanchanpur subdivision. Soon the Central government intervened and began to supply ration and relief to the camp inmates through Tripura government.

The immediate need for relief and ration were, of course, met but the moot question for their repatriation could not be addressed to. Reeling under the extra burden of thousands of displaced Brus, Manik Sarkar government moved New Delhi to prevail upon Aizawl to take back their subjects. Central government also held several tripartite meetings with Tripura and Mizoram governments to solve the issue but no lasting solution to the refugee problem could be reached at and also no effective repatriation could took place.

For the last 13 years the standoff continued as Aizawl contested the Tripura government's figure of displaced Brus-saying it would be much less, about only 16,000- and the refugees themselves raising the question of security in their original villages. Many suspected that a group of Bru leaders who were involved in centre funded relief and ration distribution were opposed to repatriation due to vested interest.

In late 1990s a militant organization also sprang up from the Bru refugee camps –Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) – to press for their demands. But ultimately after committing some stray violence inside Mizoram when they were forced to surrender in early 2000, many Bru families went back to their villages. Some of them got settled but, again, some returned to the camps citing security reasons.

Last year the problem aggravated following murder of a Mizo youth and communal flare up that forced more than 600 Bru families- all from new areas- to flee to Kanchanpur. They also took shelter in makeshift camps. It was suspected that the murder and subsequent ethnic tension in Mizoram along Tripura frontier was planned to sabotage the proposed repatriation.

"Now we have more than 29,000 displaced Brus belonging to 5000 plus families in the six camps. Recently, Mizoram government took steps to repatriate 53 families who had come in 1997 October. On Wednesday 35 families from Ashapara and Naisinghpara camps went to their villages in Kolaliang under Kortha subdivision. If everything goes as planned then 18 more families would leave the camp on Thursday or Friday", said D Darlong, Additional District Magistrate of North Tripura to TOI.

The Mizo officials, SDO, SDPO and BDO from Kortha subdivision had come to Kanchanpur to take the Brus along while Subdivisional Magistrate of Kanchapur Dilip Chakma saw them off.
Darlong said, centre had recently given Rs 2.44 crore for repatriation and rehabilitation of the Brus sheltered in Kanchanpur camps.

"The Mizoram officials assured that after repatriation the Brus would be given Rs 8000 in cash per family, a plot of land, one year's ration and adequate security", Darlong added.

However, many of them are still uncertain about their security once they are repatriated.

"We had been earlier also assured of security by Aizawl but while we got settled in Mizoram, there were no adequate security. Besides, since we were rehabilitated in groups –like cluster hamlets with Lushai villages all around, we became more vulnerable for ethnic persecution", said a Bru refugee leader who did not want to be identified.

"But, despite all odds we want to go back to our village and home. Who wants to live in refugee camps on government relief and ration? It cannot go on for infinity. But security is a must if Mizoram government indeed wants us to go back", he added.

Darlong said, the old Bru families who had come in late nineties were provided ration as per the fixed categories. The fund is provided by the centre.

"But for the new migrants, who came here in 2009, the expenditure is borne by Tripura government. Their ration is only rice and salt. Nothing else. They are indeed in a pathetic condition", he said.

The impasse over Bru repatriation had a tell-tale toll on thousands of camp inmates. While death stalks the six camps in the form of gastro enteritis, hepatitis, measles etc especially when the dry spell sets in, Bru children- disease stricken and suffering chronic malnutrition- was a pathetic sight. Worst, an entire new generation among these camp inmates were coming up bereft of any education. A child who was born in 1997 would now be 13 years old and he did not have any proper education.

"He does not have any state, and certainly he does not have any hope in his heart. Watch them carefully, they would pose a new threat to this region already beleaguered by militancy and ethnic conflicts of various shades and colours", said a Professor Asesh Gupta of Tripura University.

via Times of India