Bnei-Menashe Israeli Becomes IDF Officer

By Hillel Fendel

History was made on Wednesday when Shalem Gin, 20, became the first IDF officer from the Bnei Menashe community - descended from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Gin received the rank of Second Lieutenant, known as Sagam, before friends and family at a ceremony held at the Bahad-1 military base in the Negev.

Born in Mizoram, a state in northeastern India, Shalem made Aliyah with his family at the age of 4. He joined the IDF in 2009 and enlisted in the Combat Engineering Corps, where he finished near the top of his class in his commanders course. After completing the course with honors, Gin was then sent to officer training, which he officially completed yesterday. He will now return to his unit as a platoon commander (mefaked mahlakah).

“This is a dream come true. It brings great joy and pride to me and my family,” Gin said. “As the first Bnei Menashe officer in the IDF, I hope that more from the community will follow.”

“When I met Shalem a few years ago,” said Michael Freund, Founder and Chairman of Shavei Israel, “he told me that even as a child in India he always dreamt of becoming an Israeli combat soldier. Nonetheless, I’m sure that Shalem himself did not imagine that he would become the first Bnei Menashe officer in the IDF, but today he has achieved that goal and we are all very proud of him.”

Shavei Israel, leading the efforts to bring about the return of the Bnei Menashe to the Landof Israel, has helped bring some 1,700 Bnei Menashe home to Zion. Another 7,232 still remain in India, and Freund called – again – on the Israeli government to allow them to make Aliyah with all due haste.

“Shalem Gin’s success story underlines the contribution that the Bnei Menashe wish to make to the State of Israel,” Freund said. “It is time to bring about an end to the community’s waiting, and to enable them to come home to Israelas soon as possible,” he said.

The Bnei (Sons of) Menashe claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, which were exiled by the Assyrian Empire more than 27 centuries ago. Their long-running traditions say that throughout their exile, and even after their one copy of the written Torah was lost, they continued to observe Jewish traditions, including the Sabbath, keeping kosher, celebrating the festivals, following family purity laws, and remembering the Exodus from Egypt.

Shavei Israel works to teach Judaism to the Bnei Menashe in India, helps them make Aliyah, and even helps support them in Israel. The organization is active in other countries as well, providing assistance to the Bnei Anousim in Spain, Portugal and South America, the Subbotnik Jews of Russia, the Jewish community of Kaifeng in China, the "Hidden Jews" of Poland from the Holocaust era and others.

Photos: Michal Fattal

(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Indo-Bhutan Friendship Car Rally to Begin Soon

By Karma Palden

Thimphu, Feb 18 : The 4th Indo-Bhutan Friendship Car Rally, 2011 – Eastern Himalayan Challenge with the theme ‘Connecting people of India and Bhutan’ is scheduled to begin from March 2.

The first leg of the rally will begin from Guwahati, India, to Samdrupjongkhar on March 2 and the second leg from Samdrupjongkhar to Mongar on March 3. The third leg will be between Mongar and Trongsa on March 4 and the final leg of the rally will be between Trongsa and Thimphu on March 5.

The event will have two categories, one for the experienced competitors called extreme

and the other called adventure for enthusiastic motor sport lovers with standard vehicles with general safety attachments.

Like every year, there will be a gala cultural event from both the

countries during the prize distribution ceremony at the clock tower square in Thimphu.

The only international event in the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) calendar, the rally promises to be more challenging by covering some of the most difficult terrains in the country.

The rally is promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Indian Embassy in Thimphu, Indian Consulate in Phuentsholing and Royal Consulate of Bhutan in Kolkata with the support from Bhutan-India Friendship Association, India Bhutan Foundation and Indo-Bhutan Friendship Association, Kolkata and North East India Chapters.

The rally is organized by Friendship Car Rally Association under the approval of FIA and FMSCI.

The rally was first started in 2007 with the objectives to spread motor sports in remote eastern Himalayan region and to build friendship and cooperation between the two countries. Since then, the annual event has become a success proclaiming its own place in the annual calendar of world car rallies.

NCA Wants to Develop Cricket in Northeast: Patil

Shillong, Feb 18  : Offering help to develop cricket in the Northeast, former Indian player and director of National Cricket Academy (NCA), Sandeep Patil, today suggested that states in the region should have at least one ground with a tiger turf.

"We from the academy are not entitled to sanction any thing but we can carry forward your requirement to the BCCI," Patil told a press conference here. Patil, leading an NCA delegation, is visiting different states of the region and would submit a report to the BCCI, making recommendations as to how to develop the sport in the region.

Patil, who was a member of the 1983 World Cup winning team further said, "what we are authorised to do is to help you walk up the ladder in the cricketing carrier.

As of now there are no activities for boys above 21 years of age here as there are no tournaments for the people of that age group."

After taking a stock of the cricketing infrastructure in Meghalaya today, he said, "some good programmes were needed at the grassroots level. The state association has been suggested to acquire more playing fields."

The NCA, he said, was ready to provide all the push needed in terms of coaching, training and other expertise.

"I have suggested to the states in the region, that they try and have a tiger turf astro-turf where a permanent mat is put on the pitch. It is weather proof.

We have had one in Bangalore two years back, and is doing well," he said. He also suggested at the district level, there should be at least one good playing field with two wickets and space for fielding practice.

Meghalaya Ranks Poorly in Elementary Education

Shillong, Feb 18 : Meghalaya ranks way below the national average in imparting elementary education in the country, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2010.

The national average of children in the 3-4 years age group in 'anganwadi' schools is 75.7 percent, whereas Meghalaya's average is way below at 46.7 percent, revealed the report, released Thursday by Leader of Opposition Conrad K.Sangma.

According to the report, the national average of children in the age group of 6-14 out of school is 3.5 percent and Meghalaya's average is more that double at 7.2 percent.

Moreover, children between ages 3 and 6 years not attending any kind of pre-school is very high in Meghalaya and the percentage of such children in the state is increasing year after year since 1997.

Amongst the seven districts of the state, Jaintia Hills fares the worst in imparting elementary education, the report stated.

The report comes as no surprise since pre-school teachers, mostly in rural areas, are still getting a salary of Rs.1,800 despite many appeals to the government. This salary has remained unchanged for the past ten years, so many of these teachers juggle between several jobs to make ends meet.

'Many of the elementary school teachers have outsourced their jobs to others. In return they get 50 percent of the salary and carry on other work,' the report said.

'In such a scenario, how can the state expect to do well in imparting elementary education,' Sangma said.

He also claimed that the central government's flagship programme - the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme - has also lured children away from the schools in the villages.

'Many school children are not attending their classes and are taking up jobs under the MGNREGS. The state government must ensure that such instances do not take place,' Sangma said.

ASER is the largest household survey on elementary education in India.

Militants Release WWF Volunteers in Assam

Guwahati, Feb 18 : Three volunteers of environmental group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), who had been kidnapped by militants in Assam Feb 6, were released from captivity Thursday, police said.

A police spokesperson said the three male WWF volunteers were released Thursday morning by memebrs of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) near Balajan, close to the district headquarters of Kokrajhar, about 220 km west of here.

'The three of them were tired, but remained physically unharmed,' a police official said.

'We shall be able to get details from them only by Friday when we get a debriefing from the released hostages.'

The three men, along with three women volunteers, all Indians, were taken hostage by about 20 masked rebels Feb 6 from Manas National Park while they were counting tigers and elephants in the reserve, bordering Bhutan. The women were released Feb 9.

The reserve lies 200 km west of Assam's main city of Guwahati and borders the foothills of Bhutan. The rebels have attacked and sometimes killed wildlife officials in the past in the region.

Manmohan Singh on 2 Day Visit to Assam

New Delhi, Feb 17 : Against the backdrop of government-United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) peace process, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will undertake a two-day visit from tomorrow to Assam, where assembly polls are also due in April-May this year.

Singh is expected to review the prevailing situation and some of the developmental projects in the state during the visit.

During his talks with chief minister Tarun Gogoi and senior officials, the prime minister will also take stock of the law and order situation in the wake of ULFA leadership starting peace dialogue with the government.

He is also expected to discuss with Assam government how to carry forward the peace talks with ULFA, review various development projects and discuss the Central government's involvement in such initiatives.

Top ULFA leaders, led by 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa met the prime minister in New Delhi on Monday last and discussed about the just-started peace process.

In his interaction with journalists yesterday, Singh had said that he had assured the ULFA delegation that the government of India was absolutely serious about finding an honourable solution to their issues.

During the stay, the prime minister will address a rally on rural development in Kamrup district, lay foundation stone for the country's second National Institute of Design in Jorhat and also lay foundation stone for Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Petroleum Technology in Sibsagar.

10 Hot New Phones To Look Out For 2011

The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, one of the technology's biggest extravaganza, is seeing a slew of smartphone launches. While some smartphones boasts of impressive looks, others of features and some has unique design and user interface.

The one thing that was common across most smartphones launched at the event was Google's mobile platform Android. The OS turned out to be a clear show stealer with maximum number of smartphones unveiled running on Android.

Here we bring to you 10 smartphones that created biggest buzz at the show and are expected to hit the market in the coming months.

ZTE Skate

China-based ZTE unveiled its latest phone Skate based on the new Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Successor to ZTE Blade, Skate sports a large 4.3-inch touchscreen display. Powered by 800MHz processor, the phone supports 3G HSDPA networks, 5 megapixel camera, built-in GPS and Wi-Fi.

ZTE expects the Skate to be available globally beginning May 2011.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Sony Ericsson unveiled its long-awaited PlayStation smartphone, Xperia Play.

Running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Xperia Play sports a 4-inch multi-touchscreen and a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash.

The phone's slide out game pad reveals a digital D pad, two analogue touch pads, two shoulder buttons and four PlayStation icons: circle, cross, square and triangle.

Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, Xperia Play has Adreno GPU for high quality 3D mobile gaming and Web browsing with.

The phone comes with 400MB internal memory and 8GB microSD card.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo & Xperia Pro

Apart from the PlayStation smartphone, Sony Ericsson also unveiled two more handsets, Xperia Neo & Xperia Pro.

Both the handsets are almost identical in looks with the only difference that Neo has a virtual keyboard while Pro comes with a physical keyboard. Sporting 3.7-inch touchscreen, both the phones have 3.5mm headset jack, a microSD card slot and micro-USB ports.

Powered by 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, Neo & Pro will come with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 320MB of internal memory, messaging and e-mail, FM radio, personal organizer, Sony Ericsson's Timescape interface, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, music player, 8 megapixel camera and a front-facing 2 megapixel camera.

LG Optimus 3D

At the MWC, LG Electronics Inc unveiled a phone with a 3D screen and a 3D camera called Optimus 3D.

The phone claims to sport world's first 4.3-inch stereoscopic LCD screen on which 3D content can be viewed without special eyeglasses.

Powered by Texas Instruments' dual-core OMAP4 processor, the phone packs 512MB of dual-channel memory. The phone includes a pair of 5 megapixel cameras for taking 3D photos and videos.

The Optimus 3D runs Google Inc's Android operating system.

ZTE Amigo

ZTE also unveiled its sideways slider Amigo at the MWC 2011. Featuring a 3.5-inch display, Amigo will run on Android 2.2 Froyo. The phone packs a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and QWERTY keyboard.

The phone offers support for Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS navigation, integrated FM radio and built-in compass.

Huawei Ideos X3

Huawei unveiled its first phone running on the Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, IDEOS X3.

Sporting a 3.2-inch HVGA (320x480) touchscreen, the phone comes with 3.2 megapixel camera, micro USB port and Wi-Fi. The phone's memory can be expanded upto 16GB.

Huawei IDEOS X3 also comes with applications that allow users to manage information and sync their various social networks.

Samsung Galaxy S II

Samsung unveiled its much-awaited Galaxy S II smartphone at the MWC 2011. Powered by the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system, Galaxy S II comes with 1 GHz dual core processor.

The phone has a 8 megapixel camera with full HD (1080p) video recording. It also comes with a new Live Panel service that aggregates live web and application contents to a single customizable home-screen.

Galaxy S II features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with 800×480 pixels resolution.
The phone also has a 3D user interface, HSPA+ connectivity, Bluetooth 3.0+HS, Android Market, Social Hub Premium, Readers Hub, Game Hub, Music Hub, Kies Air and NFC (Near Field Communication) technology.

HP Pre 3

Featuring a 3.58-inch multitouch screen with 480x800 resolution WVGA display, HP Pre 3 comes with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

Running on Qualcomm MSM 8x55 (1.4 GHz) processor, the phone packs a 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash, HD (up to 720p) video recording and front VGA camera.

On memory front, the smartphone offers 512MB RAM and 8GB or 16GB storage. The phone's connectivity features include Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n 5GHz), Bluetooth with A2DP stereo and a GPS.

HTC ChaCha & Salsa

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC launched its rumoured Facebook phones called ChaCha & Salsa.

Featuring a dedicated Facebook key, HTC ChaCha comes with a full QWERTY keyboard and a 2.6-inch touchscreen display with 480x320 pixel resolution. The smartphone will run on Android 2.4, has 5 megapixel camera and a front-facing VGA cameras for video calling.

HTC Salsa is the company's second 'Facebook phone'. With a dedicated Facebook button, Salsa features a full touchscreen with a 3.4-inch display. The phone has a 5 megapixel camera as well as a front-facing camera for video calling.

HTC ChaCha & Salsa

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC launched its rumoured Facebook phones called ChaCha & Salsa.

Featuring a dedicated Facebook key, HTC ChaCha comes with a full QWERTY keyboard and a 2.6-inch touchscreen display with 480x320 pixel resolution. The smartphone will run on Android 2.4, has 5 megapixel camera and a front-facing VGA cameras for video calling.

HTC Salsa is the company's second 'Facebook phone'. With a dedicated Facebook button, Salsa features a full touchscreen with a 3.4-inch display. The phone has a 5 megapixel camera as well as a front-facing camera for video calling.

Dialling 5683 On Your Mobile 'Can Arouse Love in Your Mind'

Washington, Feb 17 : Cell phones and specifically texting has drilled so deep into our minds that when we simply type numbers that correspond to the letters in a word like 'love', we can activate the meaning of that word in our minds, so says a psychological scientist in Germany.

Sascha Topolinski at the University of Wurzburg in Germany tested this theory along with his students.

For one experiment, Topolinski used a set of number sequences that correspond to positive words, like 54323 ('liebe' -- love) , 143 (I Love You) and a set for negative words, like 7245346 ('schleim' -- slime).

Volunteers were handed a cell phone with stickers over the buttons so they could only see the numbers, not the corresponding letters, and were told to type the number sequences.

Results revealed that most volunteers preferred dialling numbers that related to positive words over those related to negative words.

Merely dialling the numbers that corresponded to those letters was enough to activate the concepts in their minds.

In another study, participants were also able to dial phone numbers and then identify words on a computer screen immediately afterwards.

Topolinski relates these findings to a psychology concept called 'embodiment' -- the idea that certain body movements can make you think about related ideas.

The work has practical implications, too.

For example, "if you are a lawyer, try to get a phone number which implies the word 'justice,' or if you have a donation hotline, include the sequence 4483 for 'give'," he said.

The results are published in Psychological Science.