Northeast Students' Rally to Protest BPO Staffer's Rape

New Delhi, Nov 29 : Scores of students organizations from the Northeast India and others from the northeast living in the capital will hold a protest rally at Jantar Mantar Monday to protest the gangrape of a BPO staffer from Mizoram earlier this week and demand speedy justice.

The rally will be organised by the Delhi Mizo Students Association and will begin at 1 p.m.
Madhu Chandra, spokesperson of the Northeast Support Centre and Helpline said: 'Students of the northeast who live in Delhi are often subjected to harassment and discrimination because of the way they look.

But unfortunately, despite cases of sexual harassment against girls of the community, authorities do very little except make lofty promises'.

'The rally therefore aims to voice out the community's angst against such unfair treatment meted out to them. And to demand for quick justice.

Even last year there was a huge hue and cry after two such cases and a lot of promises were being made to make the city safer for the community, but nothing was being done,' he added.

A 30-year-old Mizo woman was abducted by four men and gangraped in a moving goods carrier early Wednesday.

She was abducted soon after being dropped along with another girl, 100 metres from her home, by her office vehicle in Dhaula Kuan area in south Delhi late in the night.

The men then drove all the way to Mongolpuri in northwest Delhi and dumped her there.
Police have registered a case and are investigating.

On Friday, police released a sketch of one of the accused based on a CCTV footage of the four accused and by the questioning of the victim's friend.

Shillong Chamber Choir To Sing In KL

By P.Vijian

New Delhi, Nov 29 : The talented choir entertained US President Barack Obama during his recent visit to Delhi.

Come Dec 15, the Shillong Chamber Choir from India's hilly northeast region, will enthral audiences at a private function in Malaysia.

The dedicated singers-cum-social workers, who take care of street children and aged people with money earned from their programmes, will perform in the function at a leading hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

"We sing to earn for the marginalised children. All our team members live together in the same house in Shillong.

"We train together and help children from poor background and those who are mentally-challenged," founder and maestro Neil Nongkynrih told Bernama in an interniew on Sunday.

The versatile troupe, which started in 2001, is already collecting accolades, having won the Indian reality television show, 'India's Got Talent' (Season 2) this year, with its fusion of Bollywood, gospel and jazz.

This year, it also won the World Choir Games in Shaoxing, China with gold diplomas in all the three categories -- Musica Sacra, Gospel and Popular.

The 16-member team hails from Meghalaya state, located in the remote north-east of India, where people are often known for musical talents.

Shillong is the capital of Meghalaya.

Their repertoire includes western classical greats like Bach, Gershwin, Handel, Gershwin, Mozart and their very own folk songs.

They sing in the Hindi and English languages.

"In Malaysia, our team would love to sing in the national language. Music is a powerful tool, we want to use music to heal and uplift people," added Nongkynrih.

The group looks after 25 children at their home in Shillong.

Mizo Rape Victim to Fight On, Refuses to Leave Delhi

By Vijaita Singh

New Delhi, Nov 28 : Despite her nightmarish experience, the 30-year-old BPO employee, who was  abducted and raped by five men in south Delhi, has decided to stay back and pursue her case so that no one else from her community has to suffer the same fate.

The woman, who hails from Mizoram, is presently undergoing treatment at a south Delhi hospital. She has refused to go back to her native place till the accused are brought to book.

The victim is extremely brave and is coping with the situation quite well. When we asked her if she wants to go back to her native place, she said no.

She added that she was here to fight the case and see that it reaches its logical conclusion. She said if she will not do so, other women from her community will continue to be victimised,” said Takam Sanjoy, MP from Arunachal Pradesh. Takam is actively pursuing the Dhaula Kuan rape victim’s case.

This year, at least 17 cases of heinous crimes like rape and molestation, involving women from the north-eastern states, have been reported.

Meanwhile, the victim’s parents arrived in the Capital on Saturday.

Takam added that they would meet the Union home minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday to discuss strategies to help protect women from the north-east.

“A team of psychologists is taking care of her. We are worried about how the police are going to handle this case as we did not have very good experience in the past,” said Madhu Chandra, spokesperson, Northeast Support Centre and Helpline.

The victim is being taken care of by the Mizoram government.

“The government authorities are taking adequate care of her and she has been provided accommodation as well. Her colleague, who escaped the tragedy, is also extending full support,” said Takam.

On Saturday, the victim helped the police prepare the second sketch of one of the five accused.

In Haryana, Get a Bride For Rs 1K From Bihar

By Sukhbir Siwach

Chandigarh, Nov 28 : Haryana, reeling under a skewed sex ratio, is faced with yet another startling fact – an NGO has found that girls are being "bought" and brought to Haryana from 20 states across the country. The state's sex ratio stands at 837 in the 0-6 years age group, its lowest in the last five years and second only to Punjab.

In one case, the family of a girl from Bihar was paid just Rs 1,000.

In its report released in Pune on Saturday, the NGO, Drishti Stree Adhyayan Prabodhan Kendra, has found that most of the girls were brought from West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Assam. It's findings also indicate that girls were bought within the state too.

The NGO surveyed 10,190 households in Haryana and found 318 women who were bought and married off to men in Haryana. The NGO has shared the findings with the Haryana government.

Among these 318 women, 145 are from different parts of Haryana, followed by West Bengal (43), Bihar (27), Andhra Pradesh (17), Assam (15), Uttar Pradesh (14), Himachal Pradesh (11) and Rajasthan (10). Women have been brought from other states too, including even prosperous states like Gujarat.

The NGO has covered a population of 56,520 in 92 villages of five districts -- Sonipat, Karnal, Mahendragarh, Sirsa and Mewat. The study was conducted to ascertain whether the brides came from other states and if a price was paid to get them to Haryana.

The NGO found that in number of cases, men had to buy their wives despite the fact that dowry system is prevalent in Jatland.

The report says whenever respondents were asked about money being paid for brides, the women chose to be silent. Only 15 women out of 318 reported that money was paid to their families. The amount varied between Rs 10,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh.

"This may not be a big amount but these girls come from poor families and this could be luring parents to give away their daughters, despite the girls going to faraway lands and having to adjust into alien culture," the report said.

Indian Railways to Invest Rs 17,000 cr in Northeast India

Guwahati, Nov 28 : The Ministry of Railways has an investment plan of over Rs 17,000 crore in different projects in the North-east, which are scheduled for completion by 2015. The Central Government has also approved augmentation of foodgrain storage capacity in the region by 5.25 lakh tonnes, more than doubling the existing storage capacity of 4.58 lakh tonnes.

For petroleum products storage, an augmentation plan was under way by IOC involving an investment of more than Rs 500 crore, to be completed over the next three years.

This was revealed during the two-day review meeting Union Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar had with the chief secretaries of the eight north-eastern States on the progress of the major infrastructure projects in the region. The meet decided on having “firm milestones and targets” for completion of the ongoing projects in all the four key sectors, i.e., roads, railways, foodgrains and petroleum products.

“This will bind the implementing agencies as well as the sanctioning authorities at various levels both in the States and the Central Government to take the required steps to achieve the mutually agreed timelines, and thereby provide the necessary thrust towards completion of all pending projects,” an official release said.

In order to ensure compliance with the deadlines through timely action by all agencies, it was decided that each Chief Secretary would set up a committee headed by him for each of the four sectors, comprising secretaries of the State departments concerned as well as representatives of the ministries/departments concerned of the Central Government to monitor and ensure that the projects progressed according to the agreed timelines.

On the Railway Ministry’s investment plan of more than Rs 17,000 crore in projects in the region to be completed by 2015, it was assured that those projects would be taken up as per schedule and funding would not be a constraint.

On the road sector, it was emphasized that NH-44, NH-53 and NH-39 would be taken up on priority and efforts would be made to speed up work, including maintenance, before the onset of the next monsoon. The need for regular maintenance of the roads, particularly by BRO, was also stressed.

It was revealed that the Centre had in principle granted approval for augmentation of foodgrain storage capacity in the region by 5.25 lakh tonnes through construction of additional depots by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

The meet also agreed on providing adequate security for the projects under implementation for preventing slippages. “The State governments were requested to make suitable arrangements so that the personnel working on the projects feel safe and protected enough to work on the projects unhindered,” it said.

Willie Nelson Busted With 6 Ounces of Marijuana

New York, Nov 28 : Singer Willie Nelson has been arrested with six ounces of marijuana in a Texas-Mexico border town.

According to ABC local station KVIA, the country music legend was put in the slammer before posting the $2,500 bond shortly afterwards. He then headed to Austin, where he'll be performing at the Austin City Limits Live concert in February, reported the New York Daily News.

However, it's not the first time Nelson has been charged for drug possession.

In 2006, he was busted with a pound-and-a-half of weed and mushrooms and charged with a misdemeanor. Nelson's new album Country Music was released in April, this year.

Vishal Mega Mart Offers Apology to AASU Over Donation Row

Guwahati, Nov 28 : Finally the tussle between the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the business firm Vishal Mega Mart over the issue of donation came to an end with the authorities of the business firm today tendering apology in writing to the people of Assam and the students’ body.

The authorities of the business firm also apologized to AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattacharyya personally for the recent episode over donation in which his name was dragged to controversy.

The Vishal authorities, represented by their COO Manshu Tandon and their retail chain president Pawan Agarwal, also announced in their written statement that the Vishal outlet would remain closed throughout the State tomorrow, ‘as a mark of their goodwill and respect for the people of Assam.’

The Vishal authorities clarified that they have been contributing to the AASU ‘at their own pleasure.’ There has never been any demand. They also acknowledged the useful social activities of AASU for all sections of the people of Assam.

They admitted that one of their officers conspired with a local political person to tap the telephonic conversation between Samujjal Bhattacharyya and their organisation, without the knowledge of the top management of the firm.

“Undoubtedly, it was an unethical act. We are extremely sorry for it. We realise that the publicity given about the telephonic conversation has hurt the self-respect and sentiments of the people of Assam. We admit that the behaviour and the conspiracy of our said officer in collusion with the local political person was an attempt to lower the honour and prestige of AASU. We sincerely apologize to the people of Assam and AASU. We assure that such unethical act will never be repeated,” said the Vishal authorities.

They also said that they agreed that ‘Vishal would undertake social activities, especially in the field of education, on the advice of AASU.’

They assured that the local employees of Vishal would not be harassed in any way. Rather, they said, they would make efforts to ‘increase the employment chances of the local people.’

AASU president Sankar Prasad Roy and general secretary Tapan Kumar Gogoi told this newspaper that their organisation welcome all investors to Assam. But, the AASU leaders said, they (investors) should come to the State with the commitment towards its people. None of them should indulge in any act that may hurt the sentiments of the people of the State, warned the AASU leaders.

Meanwhile, the Asom Yuva Parishad (AYP), the youth wing of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has expelled its secretary Niren Deka from the organisation for his anti-AASU stand on the donation issue. The Parishad had earlier served a showcause notice on Deka giving him three day’s time for the reply. But Deka failed to respond to the showcause notice, said the Parishad in a press release here today.

Assam Ex-Governor Involved in NC Hills Scam

By R Dutta Choudhury

Guwahati, Nov 28 : It is now an established fact that huge amounts of money provided to the NC Hills Autonomous Council by the Central and State Governments were misused over the years, but has now come to light that the Council also lost substantial amounts of revenue due to large-scale irregularities and the name of a former Governor also cropped up in the report of the special audit of the accounts of the Council carried out by the office of the Accountant General (AG).

The report of the special audit, which is available with The Assam Tribune, reported that the Council lost substantial amount of revenue because of the irregularities committed in supply of bamboo to the Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC), while, the Council also lost huge amounts due to the failure to collect the land revenue.

The report said that in October, 2006, the Council signed memorandum of understanding with three contractors for extraction and supply of 2.90 lakh metric tonne of bamboo to the HPC on payment of royalty to the Council at the agreed rates. In December, 2006, one of the contractors reported rejection of the “Muli” species of bamboo by the HPC without any recorded reasons and the Council filed a writ petition to the Gauhati High Court. Following that, the HPC agreed to accept the “Muli” bamboo at a much lower rate, which was not accepted by the contractors. An arbitrator was appointed to look into the matter and he awarded compensation amounting to Rs 18.09 crore to three contractors proportionately. The award was accepted by the Governor of Assam and he directed the Council to pay Rs one crore in the proportion of the award amount and also to waive royalty of Rs 50 lakh.

However, in January, 2008, Rs one crore was paid to one single contractor against the direction of the Governor. It may be mentioned here that Lt Gen (Retd) Ajai Singh was the Governor of Assam at that time. The report further said that further amount of Rs one crore was paid to another contractor in March, 2008 without the approval of the executive committee of the Council and the records proved that the payment was authorized by the Chief Executive Member.

In fact, the audit report found a number of other glaring irregularities in supply of bamboo to the HPC. During the period from 2007-08 and 2008-09, orders were issued to five contractors for supply of 4.34 lakh MT of bamboo but only 80,000 MT was supplied, which resulted in loss of revenue amounting to Rs 3.95 crore. Even the penalty amount of Rs 88 lakh was not realized from the contractors by the Council as per terms of the contracts. There were several occasions when the royalty rates were reduced without any valid reason resulting in huge loss of revenue. The report further said that records of the Divisional Forest Officer on the quantity extracted were ignored.

The audit report said that during the period from 2007-08 to June 12, 2009, the target for collection of land revenue was Rs 8.02 crore against which, only Rs 3.79 was collected, leaving a shortfall of Rs 4.23 crore. The reasons for the shortfall were not on record. However, the Council stated before the AG that the collection target could not be achieved due to law and order problem. The reply was not tenable on the ground that the target for collection of land revenue was fixed by the Council every year taking into account the prevailing situation in the district since law and order problem in NC Hills is a regular feature, the report pointed out.

The audit also found glaring irregularities in financial management and said that funds were diverted from development schemes to meet the other inherent expenditures. The report revealed that the Council is to meet its expenditures on salaries and non salary components related to inherent functions out of revenue generated from its own sources. But in 2007-08, the expenditures on the same heads amounted to Rs 27.93 crore against revenue of Rs 7.43 crore. The position was worse in the following year when the Council spent Rs 39.11 crore against revenue generation of Rs 6.63 crore and up to June 12 in the following year, the Council spent Rs six crore against revenue generation of Rs 50 lakh, the report said. The excess expenditure was made by diversion of funds from the schemes under Agriculture, Education, PHE ad Health Departments, the report added.