Beauty Queen Weaves Dream of Spinning Yarn

Assam girls scorch the ramp, focus on securing PhD degrees and write about modelling experience

KHELEN THOKCHOM

(From left) First runners-up Sangita Phukan, winner Kashturi Borkotoky and 2nd runners-up Roseleen Kayiakhrasi. Telegraph picture

Imphal, Jan 21 : A beauty contest crown in her kitty, Kashturi Borkotoky, the “Queen of the Mystic East,” wants to dabble in the ways of the wordsmith.

The 18-year-old from Dibrugarh won the pageant organised by a Manipur based organisation, Youth Initiative Foundation at Bheigyachandra Open Air Theatre in Imphal city last evening. As a next step, she wants to use her modelling experience to write a book on the glamour world.

Twenty-one year-old Sangita Phukan from Jorhat was the first runners-up title while Roseleen Kayiakhrasi, 21, from Senapati district of Manipur won the second runners-up title. The winner received a cash prize of Rs 1.2 lakh, the first runners-up Rs 80,000 and the second runners-up Rs 50,000. Kashturi also won the Miss Perfect Ten title. Sangita was named Miss Photogenic. .

A final year student in a college in Delhi, Kashturi now models for choreographer Anup Banerjee, associated with the Indian Institute of Fashion Technology. At 5 feet 6 inches, Kashturi has bagged more than 40 fashion shows, including some during the recent Commonwealth games.

Though she has participated in beauty pageants like the Glam Hunt and Tilottama, a crown came her way for the first time last evening. Having started her modelling career in Class X, Kashturi wants to go international in her modelling career. Her immediate plan, however, is to get a PhD degree in philosophy. “I just want a doctor’s tittle before my name and I want to write a book on the glamour world, based on my experience. I also want to be a role model for those younger to me,” she said.

Kashturi has edited her college magazine, so she has not ruled out a career in journalism. “I may become a journalist, who knows?” she mused. In the final round of the beauty pageant she was asked why beauty pageants were held in Northeast. She said through beauty pageants, girls here get a chance to showcase their talents. The reply won her the crown.

Sangita is already a writer. She has written four novels in Assamese. The 21-year-old from Jorhat has set her sights on a PhD in English literature. She is now teaching English in Karanga Girls Higher Secondary School, Jorhat, and pursuing a master’s degree through distant education. She also won the Miss Barak title last year.

Asked about Ulfa, Sangita said the stalemate could be resolved through negotiation. “I am not against Ulfa, nor a supporter of it. It is because of their activities that Northeast gets some attention from the Centre. This place has been neglected for long,” she added. She said corruption was the main reason behind the problems in the Northeast and was confident that if talented youths come up, the problems can be easily solved.

No Solace in Sight For Northeast India Prepaid Mobile Users

Mobile customers queue up in front of a network service provider in Guwahati. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, Jan 21 : Confusion continues to reign and the experience continues to be harrowing for mobile users across the region.

The only respite seems to have come in Silchar and Nagaon where crowds trying to get their prepaid mobile phones re-verified have begun to thin.

“That’s because the people at BSNL along with the other service providers had adequately informed users about the nitty-gritty of the entire exercise,” said a prepaid user. Crowds were also seen thinning in Agartala and Guwahati, with many people now resigned to their fate of having their prepaid connections disconnected.

BSNL authorities here had only last evening clarified that the verification process would continue after January 19 and expiry of the deadline would only mean that those who failed to get their connections re-verified would not be able to get their phones recharged. The prepaid phones will not be disconnected, the authorities had said.

Loopholes in the system were, however, far from being plugged, users said. “First of all many people do not know the details about the dates. Then there is also confusion regarding the documents required. Forms are being sold without any justification,” Priyanka Kalita, a college student in Dibrugarh, said.

Police personnel continued to be deployed in front of the Aircel franchisee on RKB Road in Dibrugarh town to prevent the occurrence of any untoward incident.

“Hundreds of people had gathered in front of the franchisees. Traffic flow has been affected because of the crowd. We had to deploy police teams, including lady constables, after requests from telecom service providers and their franchisees," Hiranya Bora, officer-in-charge of Dibrugarh (sadar) police station said.

In Nagaon, the police yesterday resorted to lathicharge at the Aircel counter where more than a 1,000 people had gathered for the re-verification.

The situation in Manipur was chaotic, with people having spent up to two days queuing up before service providers’ offices. “Why only Northeast and Kashmir, why not other states, like Mumbai which have seen terror attacks. This again shows how the Centre treats the people of the Northeast,” said Atom Samarendra, an employee in a central government office in Imphal and a prepaid BSNL user, who had to miss a day’s work at the office to get his phone connection fixed.

“Do the Centre or the directorate of telecommunications think all the people in the Northeast are terrorists or militants? The whole exercise is meaningless and aimed at treating us like second class citizens,” he added.

“Such an irrational attitude of the Centre only adds to the feeling of alienation in the region,” Popcha Yambem, a resident of Imphal West said. Yambem has lost two days standing in queues and he could not submit his documents even today.

Tempers also ran high in Shillong where people continued to queue up to get their prepaid connections re-verified. “As responsible citizens, we do not mind following directives for the sake of national security. But the term national security denotes a countrywide character. Why is it that only we are being put through this? It is humiliating,” R. Lyngdoh, a pre-paid cellular subscriber commented. “We had submitted all the required documents at the time of taking the connection. Why are we being asked to go through it all over again?” he said.

“Why should innocent citizens be put through such an ordeal when the onus lies with the cellular operators?” another prepaid customer, D. Majaw, asked. “Law enforcers should go after the cellular operators instead of harassing the people,” he added.

Erratic Power Cuts in Manipur Forces Aggrieved to Approach Court

By Brozendra Ningomba     

Imphal, Jan 21 : A Division Bench of Gauhati high court, Imphal Bench, comprising Justice BK Sharma and Justice Asok Potsangbam today issued notice of motion to the power department of Manipur and the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission for Manipur and Mizoram (JERC). The notice was issued in a writ petition filed by advocate Meihoubam Rakesh on behalf of three petitioners.

Submitting his arguments, Rakesh prayed the court to issue an order directing the respondents -- Commissioner/ Secretary, Government of Manipur, Chief Engineer, Electricity Department, Government of Manipur and Secretary, Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission for Manipur and Mizoram -- to provide uninterrupted power to consumers.

The petition seeks to make the respondents liable for providing reliable and safe electricity on demand for eight hours a day to all bona fide consumers of electric power in the state of Manipur.

Seeking a court direction for complying with the obligations laid by the JERC so as to provide reliable electricity, petitioners have sought a direction to ensure reliability of power supply, both in terms of quality as well as quantity to genuine consumers of Manipur.

The petition also sought a direction to be issued to the respondents to submit progress report for achieving the desired standard of performance periodically before the high court.

Rakesh contended that bonafide consumers of electric power get only about three hours of electricity in a day in Manipur while consumers in neighbouring states like Mizoram, Nagaland and Assam get 24 hours of uninterrupted power supply. Counsel said that considering the peak hour requirement of 170/180 MW, the state could only afford to purchase only about 90 MW from power companies like NEEPCO and NHPC. But out of this, about 80 percent of power is lost every month due to power theft and tripping.

The lawyer further pointed out that the electricity department of Manipur spends Rs 11.5 crore every month in purchasing power. However, the department manages to collect only Rs 1.5 crore from the consumers as a result of systemic failure and widespread corruption in the department.

Rakesh submitted that the new regulatory structure has been of no help and Manipur, probably, is now the only state which is doing with, at the most, not more than four hours of electricity a day, that too distributed in extremely irregular intervals, Rakesh asserted. Maintaining that it is not just about inconveniences caused to individuals, although it is enormous, advocate Rakesh stated that it is more about the death-knell this has sounded and continues to sound for hundreds and thousands of small and micro scale enterprises in Manipur that needs to be addressed

Although Manipur has hydro power potential of 2000 MW, at the moment the power sector of the state is by and large 'powerless' to meet even domestic requirement of around 1,74,127 consumers, he added.

After hearing the submission, Justice Asok Potsangbam remarked that even in Nagaland, which does not have its own power generation, electricity is available 24 hours. Justice BK Sharma also expressed displeasure at the prevailing situation of electricity in the state. The notice is returnable within four weeks.

A Depiction of Northeast India States And its Agony

By Dr Asha Mandpe

Never ending issues going on in North-Eastern states of India like Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh provoke our younger generation to stand up and do something about the same. Youths are choosing different mediums to express their thoughts.

Samata Vichar Prasarak Sanstha offers a platform to youths and encourages them to express their views. This week Samata Vichar Manch and Samartha Sevak Mandal jointly organised a mono play Le Mashale' that was presented by Ojas S V, a young social worker from Pune.

In this mono act, Ojas presented Manipur's problems like development, souring prices, electricity, human rights and cultural problems. Many sensitive incidents were staged that shattered the audience. It showed the Indian soldiers atrocities on women.

Irom Sharmila, a popular activist in Manipur, went on an indefinite hunger strike for the injustice and our Indian government arrested her for an attempt of suicide and has still not released her after 10 years. In this period, Sharmila has not eaten a grain of food but the government is making attempts for her survival but not giving her justice. She began her protest after the Assam Rifles personnel opened fire and killed 10 villagers in Imphal town.

The Indian freedom fighting movement started with Naga people's fight with the English who were ruling India at that time. But their names are absent in the history of Indian freedom. Even in our national anthem we don't find the reference of these North-East states.

Ojas, who personified herself as the people of Manipur raised fundamental problems of the state. The play insisted that without realising Manipur people's language, religion, culture, patriotism, our government is doing annihilation of human rights in that region. It also raised questions about the concepts of nationalism, politics, Indian armed forces and civilization. Ojas impressed the audience with her intensity, spirit and sensuous acting.

Expressing her views to Thane Plus, Ojas said, "Irom Sharmila represents the young generation of India. When her movement against the injustice of Manipur completed 10 years ago, youths from 20 Indian states who believe in non-violent movements expressed their views in symbolic ways. Many of them preferred to use the internet and wrote their personal expressions on their blogs. Some of them have different views. But now the debate has started and youths are thinking and writing about their concepts about nationalism, citizen's rights and democracy.

We glorify our country as the biggest democratic country in the world but in fact our government is subduing our own people. I believe that theater is an effective medium to bring awareness about sensitive issues. I have not taken any formal training in acting but my instinct leads me to present my thoughts," Ojas concluded.

Meghalaya to Have Another Elephant Reserve

Domesticated elephants being used in an illegal timber depot in Meghalaya, bordering Assam. The latest census figures reveals that Meghalaya is left with just 1,811 of the gentle giants. File photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

Shillong, Jan 21 : As man-elephant conflicts are on the increase in Meghalaya, the state government has decided to create another elephant reserve in an effort to minimise the incidents.

“On an average, four to five people are killed in the state by elephants every year apart from their attacks on humans, their property and crop land. The man-elephant conflict in the state is quite intense,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forests V.K. Nautiyal said.

Of the total 22,000 sq km geographical area of the state, the forest cover is 15,657 sq km. But unlike in other states which have well-demarcated forest areas and reserves, most of the forested areas are not under the direct control of the state government, Mr. Nautiyal said.

Only 1,027.20 square km are under the control of the State Forest Department constituting only 4.58 per cent of the total geographical area of the state and 6.56 per cent of the total forest area of the state.

The remaining area is either private or under the indirect control and management of the Autonomous District Councils.

“The situation here is different. These private forest areas are interspersed with human habitations and crop land.

This leads to frequent man-elephant conflicts in the zones,” Mr. Nautiyal said.

According to the latest elephant census done in 2008, the state is left with just 1,811 of the gentle giants.

Most of the pachyderm population is concentrated in the plains of South Garo Hills, West Garo Hills, West Khasi Hills and Ri Bhoi district.

The forest department is in the process of declaring another forest area as an elephant reserve.

One elephant reserve already exists in the Garo hills belt.

“A project is being conceived to declare a forest area in the northern part of Ri Bhoi and West Khasi Hills districts bordering Assam as an elephant reserve. An eco-compatible development scheme will be proposed for the area,” Nautiyal said.

The department will try to confine the elephant population in the area and propagate crops not liked by the elephants, he said.

Besides, an extensive awareness programme is being undertaken to minimize the conflict situation.

“People tend to attack the elephants with fatal weapons, giving the animal festering wounds which make them ferocious.

This insensitivity among the people should be removed,” the PCCF said.

Mumbai Meet to Address Key Developmental Issues of Northeast

Shillong, Jan 21 : The Indian Chamber of Commerce is organising the 6th North East Business Summit in Mumbai from tomorrow which will address key issues related to the overall socio-economic development of the North-East.

Despite being a region with tremendous economic potential, North-East has not been able to grow as expected and has literally remained untapped, ICC Director General Rajeev Singh said.
The two-day summit is the annual flagship meet held for the 6th time in collaboration with the Ministry of DoNER and is the largest trade and investment conference-cum-exposition on India's North-East region.

The Indian Chamber strongly feels that policies and programmes need to be suitably monitored and implemented for taking the region to a higher growth trajectory, in sync with the NE Vision 2020 document released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008.

It recommends a structural transformation of the region in terms of development to catch up with the rest of the country with an increasing average growth rate of 12.95 Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) per annum from the present 7.5 per cent, an official communique said.

The Summit will have focused Sessions on strategic areas like: Prospects of Mining in North-East; Enhancing Infrastructure in the NER; Agenda North-East Opportunities and Strategies; Action Agenda for Agro and Food Processing in the region ; Opportunities in the Tourism and Hospitality sector.

The Summit will also have an Exhibition on the North-East region wherein all the States will display their indigenous products, and showcase their comparative advantages to investors.

More than 1,000 delegates from across the country, and also from neighbouring countries are expected to attend the Summit, which is happening in Mumbai for the second time after 2002.
Several Union Ministers and Chief Ministers of the region are expected to attend the meet.

The ICC will release three reports on Powering Infrastructure Growth in North-East, Capacity Development and Skill Upgradation in NER, and Horticulture in North-East India at the Summit prepared by Yes Bank, ICC''s knowledge partner in the Summit.

Air Force to Set up Defence Radar Station in Mizoram

Aizawl, Jan 20 : The Indian Air Force (IAF) will set up an air defence radar station (ADRS) in Mizoram bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh, an official release said here Wednesday.

‘The ADRS would be set up at Zopuitlang in Lunglei district in southern Mizoram, for which 300 acres of land has been identified jointly by the IAF and the civil administration of the Mizoram government,’ the release said.

The Eastern Air Command chief, Air Marshal K.K. Nohwar Wednesday held a meeting with Mizoram Governor Lt. Gen. (Retd) M.M. Lakhera and discussed the matter. Land, revenue and settlement commissioner R.L Rinawma was also present at the meeting.

‘Nohwar has also sought land for setting up of a base station for the IAF aircraft at Lengpui airport in Mamit district in western Mizoram,’ it added.

The mountainous northeastern state of Mizoram shares a 404-km international border with Myanmar and 318-km border with Bangladesh.

Nohwar has asked Lakhera to assist the Mizoram government in organising an international festival on life, culture and traditional customs of different ethnic societies.

The senior IAF official said that a state-of-the-art fully equipped archery range of international standard is being set up by his command headquarter at Meghalaya capital Shillong.

The 10 Famous Rock Bands of India

Rock Band in India has a big craze right now,the current generation of India love to hear rock music. India is well known for its classical and folk music, Varanasi is famous for its music Garana. Indian rock is a genre of popular music in India that incorporates elements of Indian classical music and mainstream rock. India itself continued to produce bands in various styles of rock music, from soft rock and roll and rock pop, to hard rock and metal. The current Indian rock scene has a larger following than ever and may soon become recognized in the international. India has produced many rock bands, some of whom have made it into mainstream Indian music.

Agnee is the first Indian rock band to have seen a huge celebrated main stream release, and Shruti Haasan Band name Extramentals is the first girl band in India. Euphoria,an Indian rock band from the city of Delhi is most famous band in India. Their unique style of music with mixed electric guitar and traditional instruments like the tabla, dholak and sitar helped them gain an audience. Biggest platform for Rock Bands in India are the Independence Rock Festival Mumbai, Rock In India Bangalore, June Rock Out Chennai and The Hornbill National Rock in Northeast India. The Great Indian Rock festival was mostly held in Delhi, now foraying into Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Indian Ocean (Delhi): Indian Ocean is a contemporary rock band from Delhi, the capital city of India. The rock band has so far compiled music from different genres, including fusion, Indian, rock and jazz. This is the best band of Delhi, meanwhile Delhi’s music bands are well famous rock bands in India. Indian Ocean has performed across all over India, latest performance of Indian Ocean was in Pune in 2011. Some notable bands from Delhi include Parikrama, Hundred Octane, Indian Ocean and Them Clones.

Avial (Kerala): The Avial band’s music is a fusion of native folk music from Kerala and Alternative Rock. The band is named after the popular South Indian dish Avial. There are very few local language bands and Avial band is become the first ever alternative Malayali Rock band. Avial next album expected to be released in February 2011. Another famous rock band in Kerala is Mother Jane.

LBG (Little Babooshka’s Grind) (Chennai): The LBG is one of the pioneers of performing original music in Chennai. The album ‘Bad Children’ is the LBG’s first full-length studio music video and was the big hit. Chennai has a huge talented community of young musician, another best bands in Chennai is Junkyard Groove.

Tripwire (Mumbai): Tripwire band form the city of dreams mumbai,is the first punk band in India. Tripwire took Indian punk rock to the next level by being the first punk band ever to be chosen to play. Tripwire was formed in 2002 and has been playing shows across the country promoting Punk Rock. Famous Mumbai rock bands includes Black,The Works (Band), Zodiac, Khiladi, Asylum and Garden Of Thorns.
Bhoomi (Kolkata): Bhoomi –The Music of Earth is the best bangla band. Bhoomi band has the biggest and best collection of Bengali Songs in album JATRA SURU, which was the biggest hit album of bhoomi band. In July 2006 they became the first Indian band to play at the United Nations. Other most popular rock bands in Kolkata includes Cassini’s Division, Pseudonym, Hobos, Fossils and Cactus.
Thermal and a quarter (TAAQ) (Bangalore): Thermal and a Quarter is a rock band based in Bangalore,they describes its music as ‘Bangalore Rock’. Thermal and a quarter was notable for their focus on original music. They were among the first groups in Asia to make their music available under a Creative Commons. TAAQ has earned the enviable reputation of being a pioneering Indian Rock band. Bangalore bands also includes Raghu Dixit Project, Kryptos, Abondoned Agony and Inner Sanctum.
Soulmate (Shillong): The band created history by being the first and only blues band ever to represent India. Soulmate band is from Shillong, Meghalaya, inspired by the roots and groove sounds of the Blues and the Blues-rocks. India’s Northeast in general and Shillong in particular is widely regarded as the “Rock Capital of India”. Northeast India popular bands includes Girish & The Chronicles (Gangtok), Escape Velocity (Guwahati), Magdalene (Mizoram) and Soulmate (Shillong).
Microtone (Hyderabad): This band has carved its own unique niche in the Indian rock scene, fusing rock with funk to give an uplifting style of rock. Microtone is considered to be one of the first bands of underground Indian rock from hyderabad. Hard Rock Cafe is the best platform for these rockers to perform. Hyderabad well known bands also includes Evergreen, Asian Heat, Wreckage and Native Tongue.
Silver (Pune): Silver, an experimental band created three year ago with the very intention of creating original music, from Pune. The famous rock band from pune has represented India in Taiwan at Asian beat. Nemesis and prosody bands are also known for its performance and original music in Pune. Highway 61 rock band in another famous band in Pune.
Nicotine (Indore): Nicotine is a Metal Rock band from Indore,came into existence in few years back. Nicotine band is well known for its original music and probably the most known band from the central part of the country. Other famous bands from the “heart of India”are Overdrive and Unforbidden Souls.

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