Mary Kom Wants to Represent Jharkhand in National Games

Jamshedpur, Jan 23 : World Boxing Champion MC Mary Kom has expressed her desire to represent Jharkhand in the forthcoming 34th National Games to be held from February 12 to 26.

"Yes, I want to represent Jharkhand in the mega sports event and I had talks with the Jharkhand Boxing Association (JBA) general secretary, Dinesh Upadhyay and coach Ajit Singh in this regard," Mary Kom said from Pune over phone.

Asked why she wants to represent Jharkhand, the five-time world boxing champion said, "One of my Manipur statemate Sarita Devi has qualified to represent Manipur in the National Games in the same weight category (51 kgs). So I want to represent Jharkhand."

"As the National Games was big event, sportspersons can represent any state or board with the consent of the proper authority," she added.

JBA officials have no objection to her representing Jharkhand, while expressing confidence that she will procure the No Objection Certificate (NOC) soon.

"Mary Kom's representation would ensure a medal for Jharkhand and it will also be a morale booster for the state women team," Upadhyay said.

Bru Refugee: Fresh Trouble Crops Up in Tripura

Agartala, Jan 23 : The hope for repatriation of Bru refugees has suffered a set- back after the Mizoram Government officials failed to fix a date for resumption of the process.

As part of the agreement, an eight-member team of Mizoram Government led by SDO Lalzama had visited the refugee camps in North Tripura in Kanchanpur subdivision to identify genuine citizens of Mizoram. They had conducted the exercise and left the area on January 14 without informing the local administration.

In course of the survey, the team had identified only 95 as bonafide residents of Mizoram who were staying in four refugee camps in Tripura. This move has triggered widespread resentment among the refugees sheltered in different camps.

“We are not aware of the departure of the Mizoram officials. Well, we know they have told refugees there is little chance of return of refugees as Central funds have got exhausted”, he said.

Brono Reang, general secretary of Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF) at Ashapara refugee camp said on Tuesday, “We could have helped the team to find out the bonafide citizens but they were not consulted during the exercise”, he said.

Virtually putting a question mark on the will of the Mizoram Government, the refugee leader alleged the government is not keen to take their people back immediately. He also lambasted refugee leader Elvis Chorkhey for putting the refugees into trouble. “He had gone to Aizwal without addressing the decade-long problem”, he alleged.

In a new twist to the refugee imbroglio, YMA and MZD have decided not to settle the repatriated refugees in cluster villages in Mizoram. A unanimous resolution in this regard was passed in a recently concluded meeting of YMA and MZD. However, both power organisations will allow the genuine refugees to get settled the way they had used to live in Mizoram.

Successive Shutdowns Disrupt Life in Northeast India

Silchar (Assam)/Agartala, Jan 23 : Continuous shutdowns in southern Assam have affected rail and road traffic as well as supply of essential goods between the northeastern states and the rest of India, officials said Saturday.

According to a district administration official, life was severely disrupted when a 36-hour shutdown by the joint action committee of Dimaraji tribals that ended Thursday was followed by a 100-hour strike by the Indigenous People's Forum (IPF), an umbrella organisation of different Non-Dimasa tribals, comprising Kuki, Naga, Paite and Hmar.

The Dimaraji tribals observed the strike demanding a separate state (for the Dimaraji tribals) comprising four districts of southern Assam - Dima Hasao, Karbi Anglong, Nagaon and Cachar.

The shutdown, which ended Thursday morning disrupted rail and road traffic between Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram and southern Assam and the rest of India.

Within hours of the shutdown ending, the Indigenous People's Forum (IPF) called a 100-hour long strike beginning Friday evening demanding bifurcation of the Dima Hasao district.

The Assam government has further tightened security in the troubled areas, mostly mountainous places.

Following the strikes, the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) has again cancelled several trains for an indefinite period in Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram and southern Assam.

'Keeping in mind that the separatist outfits may create violence ahead of and during Republic Day celebrations, the NFR has also suspended passenger trains during night in entire Assam,' a railway statement said.

The metre gauge railway line from Guwahati passes through southern Assam's mountainous North Cachar district connecting landlocked Tripura's capital Agartala and parts of Manipur and Mizoram with the rest of India.

'Because of the strikes and the suspension of train services, the supply of food grain and fuels is likely to be affected in Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur and southern Assam,' Tripura's food and civil supplies department director K.D. Chaudhury told IANS.

Rail transport is the main mode of transport in the landlocked region for supplying foodgrain and other essential items.

Mizo Man Arrested With Heroin Worth Rs 3 crore

New Delhi, Jan 23 : The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Saturday arrested a Delhi resident and a South African national with over three kg of heroin, valued at Rs 3 crore in the international market.

On the basis of specific intelligence, DRI officers apprehended Hranglawta from Mizoram with three kg of high quality heroin at Jaipur. The accused was disembarking from a private bus arriving from New Delhi when he was apprehended by the police on Thursday.

“The contraband was cleverly concealed in the midst of various items, such as the inside of a ladies purse, the hollow pipe of a steering component, the backside of a cycle seat, etc. The heroin was recovered from eight different parcels in his luggage,” a senior DRI official said.

Hranglawta, who resides in Uttam Nagar, had allegedly gone to Jaipur for sending these parcels to various destinations across the world through post offices and courier agencies.

Later, based on information acquired from Hranglawta, a

South African national named Joseph Nyathi Ndlovo was apprehended from New Delhi.

“Joseph is an active member of the criminal syndicate and alleged supplier of the drug. We have recovered incriminating documents and items corroborating the concealment and transport of narcotics at Joseph’s residential premises,” the official said.

Both the accused were placed under arrest on Saturday and remanded to judicial custody in Jaipur.

Mizoram Farmers Demand Repeal of Royalty on Broom Grass

Aizawl, Jan 22 : The All Mizoram Farmers' Union, the largest farmers' organisation in Mizoram, has demanded repeal of royalty on broom grass to lessen the burden on poor farmers.

According to the AMFU, the Mizoram government has imposed a royalty of Rs seven on one kg of broom grass cultivated on land with Village Council pass.

''Whereas broom grass cultivated on land certified by the state's Land Revenue Settlement Department with land settlement certificates or periodic patta are exempted from royalty, those poor farmers, who cultivate broom grass on land allotted by concerned Village Council, have to pay the royalty,'' leaders of AMFU said at a press conference here today.

The farmers' union has submitted a letter to the state's Environment and Forest Minister H Rohluna, requesting him to immediately repeal the royalty.

Broom grass cultivated in forest reserved area is also subjected to a royalty of Rs seven per kg of tall grass.

''The Environment and Forest Department should repeal its principal chief conservator of forest's order in the interest of the poor farmers whose income largely depends on broom grass cultivation,'' the AMFU leaders said.

Imphal-Jiribam Railway Line Spearheading Infrastructure Development in Manipur

Imphal (Manipur), Jan 22 :  Infrastructure development tops the central government's agenda in the northeast and in this context, the ongoing construction of the 84-kilometer-long Imphal-Jiribam Railway Line in Manipur, assumes significance.

Construction began in late 2004 and is to be completed by 2016 at an estimated cost of Rs.3123 crores.

The broad gauge railway line will pass through the Barak Valley and the proposed Tipaimukh Dam. It will have 35 tunnels and 80 large and small bridges.

The line, which the central government has declared as a national project, is divided into nine stations with Tupul as its last station in Tamenglong District.

P.N. Rao, the site in charge of the project, said: "Work is going on at a good speed and we are progressing really fast. We complete a good part of the entire railway line every month."

The railway will reduce travel time between Imphal and Jiribam that currently takes at least two days by road.

Rumpeo Kamai, the chairman of Sekhaino Village, welcomed this joint initiative of the state and central governments.

"It will reduce travelling time and cost and will help the poor people," Kamai said.

Pavitra Singh, a villager, said: "This is really a good step as it will not only open the way from Jiribam to Imphal, but will also open the door for trade and work across international border.

Important Things To Know About Number Portability

The long-awaited mobile number portability (MNP) is finally here! The facility allows customers to change their cellphone operator without losing their phone numbers.

The MNP launch, which was deferred four times due to reasons ranging from operators not being ready with their networks to security concerns, promises to open a new chapter for India's burgeoning mobile population.

As the country’s mobile customers gear up to this new-found freedom, here's a ready reckoner on MNP that endeavours to answer all queries about MNP.

Can a CDMA subscriber change to GSM network? What will be the cost of changing my service provider?

How long will the transition take? This and many more such crucial queries on MNP are answered below.

So, here’s all that you wanted to know (and should know) about MNP.

What will you lose if you switch

Balance on prepaid cards. Similarly, in case it is a platform shift you will have to change handsets. This means if you decide to move from CDMA-to-GSM or vice-versa, you will also have to change your handset

Does it allow a technology switch?

A subscriber can stay within same technology, GSM/CDMA. Also, change to CDMA or vice versa. Both post-paid and prepaid subscribers can go for it.

How long will it take to port a number?

Seven working days. Fifteen working days in J&K, Northeast India.

How expensive?

Changing your mobile service provider will cost Rs 19. This will be collected by new service provider.

Can you retain your number in another city?

No. You can’t change circles. This means subscribers cannot take their Delhi number to an operator in Mumbai. They can only change their operator within Delhi.

How frequently can you switch service providers?

A subscriber must be with a provider for at least three months. Next number change not before 90 days.

Will MNP help improve quality of service?

Analysts believe that this is likely to happen only if operators believe that the churn out of their subscriber base is so high that they need to improve their service or customer care, etc.

However, surveys have revealed that the net effect of number portability is practically negligible.

This means most large operators gain and lose roughly the same number of subscribers, taking away any incentive to dramatically change quality of service or customer care or pricing owing to the threat of losing subscribers or the option of gaining subscribers.

Will switching operator help me cut my mobile bill?

Mobile phone tariffs in India are already extremely competitive and so moving to a dramatically lower bill is unlikely. Some consumers who are frequent callers, an equivalent of closed user group-or family members who are currently on different networks could now move to single network to take advantage of attractive tariff packages, including free calls within the same network, etc.

However, before you make any switch check whether your operator is providing a similar option.

What is expected in future?

Post-paid tariffs may drop. Telcos may offer discounted handsets.

How has MNP fared so far?

Trai figures say only 1.4 lakh subscribers, or 0.6%, in Haryana used MNP since November.

Mizo Church Dashes Woman Pastor Dream

Aizawl, Jan 22 : The concept of woman pastor is still something that the Baptist Church of Mizoram (BCM) can only think, but not turn into reality.

Even as the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP) or Mizo Women's Federation declared 2010-11 as the Year of Women Empowerment and the pastoral committee of the BCM recommended that R L Hnuni should be ordained as the first-ever woman pastor, the BCM assembly decided otherwise.

The BCM assembly, the highest decision-making authority of the church, held at south Mizoram's Lunglei district on Thursday night rejected the recommendations of the BCM pastoral committee, closing the doors again for ordination of a woman pastor in Mizoram.

Hnuni, the principal of the Baptist Church-run Aizawl Integrated Christian Studies (AICS), was earlier tipped to become the first-woman ordained pastor after recommendations of the pastoral committee.

She is one of the few women theologians who received doctorate degree in theology and her husband is also a well-known and highly educated priest and theologian working for the Baptist Church.

Mizoram Presbyterian Church, the largest church in the state, also has so far refused to ordain women as pastors, even as many women theological graduates and postgraduates were working in the church, thanks to the strict patriarchal culture of the Mizo society.

Around 40 years ago, Saptawni was the first Mizo woman to be elected as a "Kohhran Upa" or church elder, by the congregation of the Aizawl's Mission Veng branch of the Presbyterian Church. However, the Presbyterian Church declared her election as null and void as the church could not accept a woman as a church elder, though she was the wife of a pioneer church leader and an influential pastor.

Many trained woman theologians complained that it is difficult to break through the gender bias in the church, influenced by strict Mizo patriarchal tradition.

After many years of education in the church on gender equality, Hnuni recently expressed expectations, in a local television interview, that she would finally break this gender stalemate.

But her hopes were dashed to the ground by the decision of her church's highest authority.