Mizoram Congress Flagship NLUP Scheme Failing

By H C Vanlalruata

Aizawl, Aug 1 : The distortions in the flagship New Land Use Policy (NLUP) of the ruling Congress, which helped the party come back to power in 2008, has made the situation unenviable for it now ahead of the next year's Assembly election.

Aimed to benefit the working classes in both urban and rural areas, the New Land Use Policy (NLUP) was formally launched on January 14, 2011.

But the government received a jolt when many cows for distribution to the beneficiaries under the scheme died due to transportation fatigue and infection with Foot and Mouth Disease since April.

At least 169 cows out of 788 cows imported from Kurnal in Haryana and Ludhiana in Punjab have died, A H and Veterinary department director Dr L B Sailo said.

The trouble faced by the NLUP beneficiaries and the government has given ammunition to the opposition parties, including the Mizo National Front, which accuses the government of 'apathy' towards the plight of the NLUP beneficiaries.

It is not only the beneficiaries who suffered, but also some families in Sihphir and Durtlang near Aizawl who have been rearing cattle for years whose cows died due to FMD after the arrival of the cows from Haryana and Punjab in the two villages.

The state AH and Veterinary department officials, however, maintain that the FMD was already there in the villages as the "NLUP cows" were also infected with FMD 'O' which has been prevalent in Mizoram, not in Punjab and Haryana.

"The cows died due to sheer stress after being transported from North India by trucks and by spending 15 unrelenting days," Dr L B Sailo said.

Dr Sailo also said that the government would take all possible steps to ensure that the NLUP beneficiaries would not lose money in the process but would be able to carry on their trade.

The state government proposes allocation of Rs 2,907 crore.

An amount of Rs 90 crore was allocated for the ambitious project out of which Rs 1,269.80 crore would be disbursed to around 1.2 lakh families (beneficiaries) during a period of five years.

Almost half of the families would be assisted under the scheme as the number of households in Mizoram, as per the Census 2011 is 2,57,581.

According to the approach paper to the NLUP, agriculture sector would have the highest number of beneficiaries at around 31,600 followed by beneficiaries under horticulture and veterinary sectors at 28,800 and 21,860 respectively.

Under forest sector around 10,700 beneficiaries are proposed to be engaged in bamboo trade while 9,000 families and 3,000 families would be assisted under Soil and Water Conservation and fisheries sectors respectively.

Around 6,500 families would also receive the benefits of the NLUP under Sericulture and the same number of families under Micro-enterprise while around 3,000 beneficiaries would be under handloom industries.

Vice Chairman of the NLUP Implementing Board, P.L. Thanga, a retired IAS officer, says that the land-based project would not only boost economy of the state, the NLUP would also replenish degraded forests in the state.

"The flagship programme of this government would be instrumental in re-forestation of 60 per cent of the territory of the state, protection of wildlife and renewing water sources," Thanga says.

The NLUP may not abolish jhumming, the destructive and primitive slash and burn way of shifting cultivation overnight, the state government policy makers say, however, expressing optimism that at least 15 per cent of the land would be utilised for permanent farming after implementation of the scheme.

They also say that 10 per cent of the state's 21,087 square kilometres territory would be protected under public reserve area, while another 10 per cent of the area would be preserved as forest supply reserve forest as was done in the Mizo tribal society even before the advent of the British colonialists.

Beside the deaths of cows to be distributed to the beneficiaries, the scheme also has its initial hurdles which the opposition parties exploited to the hilt.

The fact that many people were angry due to the late implementation of the flagship programme was clearly illustrated by the fact that the ruling Congress could manage to barely win the first Aizawl Municipal Council polls – that also by forging an alliance with the Zoram Nationalist party (ZNP).

The Congress-ZNP alliance bagged ten seats while the opposition MNF and the Mizoram People’s Conference (MPC) combine won in nine seats.

Political observers predict that the Congress, which returned to power after being in political wilderness for two consecutive terms by promising NLUP to the people, and the same NLUP may result in its downfall.

However, the government still has almost one and a half years to rectify the implementation of the programme and win back confidence of the people.

Goodbye Hotmail, Hello Outlook

The Best Reason Yet to Ditch Gmail.

Microsoft is renaming its vintage Hotmail email service as Outlook.com. Hotmail was still the world's largest email service with 324 million users (about 36 per cent of the market) but had been losing its market to Google's fast-growing Gmail. The name Outlook is familiar to most corporate workers who use the popular Microsoft Office email application.

Hotmail was launched in 1996 by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith and acquired by Microsoft in 1997 for an estimated $400 million.

The rebranding and overhaul of Microsoft's email service is Microsoft's first major change in its email service in eight years. Here are 10 highlights of the new email service from the world's largest software company:

1. Outlook.com has a new design that Microsoft says users 60 per cent fewer pixels but 30 per cent more messages visible in the inbox
2. Outlook.com connects to Facebook and Twitter to enrich conversations. Users can view recent status by friends and Tweets shared by friends.
3. Users can chat with Facebook users and other Outlook users from inside Outlook.com.
4. Users can open, edit and share Word, Excel and PowerPoint files in Outlook.com.
5. Outlook's address book integrates contacts from Facebook and LinkedIn.
6. With Outlook.com users can make Skype video calls even when both users don't have Skype installed. This feature will be rolled out soon.
7. Photographs attached with emails can be viewed as a slideshow.
8. Outlook.com comes integrated with with Microsoft's cloud storage service SkyDrive, this removes the restrictions of attachment size limits.
9. Outlook.com automatically detects mass messages such as newsletters, offers, daily deals and social updates and puts them in separate folders. Users can customize the process to sort mail any way they want to.
10. Existing Hotmail users can upgrade to the Outlook.com preview and their email address, password, contacts, old email, and rules will remain unchanged. They can continue to send and receive email from their @hotmail.com or @msn.com or @live.com address.

Illegal Stone Quarry Reason Behind Rockslide in Mizoram

Aizawl, Aug 1 : Mizoram Geology and Mining Minister S Hiato has alleged that the illegal stone quarry near Keifang village was responsible for the massive rockslide at the Aizawl-Champhai road in eastern Mizoram that killed 18 people on July 21.

A bus travelling from Champhai town to Aizawl, had almost reached the end of the quarry around 0100 hrs when the boulders came crashing down, hitting the rear of the vehicle and killing 18 people.

Talking about the incident, Mr Hiato informed the state assembly yesterday evening, "The stone quarry near Keifang village, about 80 kilometres from Aizawl, is illegally operated by the Border Road Task Force (BRTF)." He added that the BRTF had been notified twice to stop the quarrying that posed constant threats to travellers along this road.

"Frequent blasting of rocks have created holes and let water penetrate into the earth surface. That softened the soil and caused rockslides," Hiato said

Teacher Saves Children in Mizoram

Aizawl, Aug 1 : A 30-year-old teacher of Rangte Government Middle School in Lunglei district, Albert V. Zirthanenga, saved two children from drowning on July 13.

“It’s awesome. This teacher saved two lives with no thought for his own. Such selfless acts must be rewarded,” the Rangte village council and the Young Mizo Association (YMA) said in a letter to the deputy commissioner.

“It was the bravest thing. This man risked his life to save the children,” the village council president, H.C. Rodingliana, said over phone.

Rodingliana said on July 13, Lalhunmawia, 8, fell into a pond while playing with his friends. As he was struggling and cried out for help, Rohluzuala, 10, dived into the water to save him, though he did not know how to swim.

Their cries for help alerted Zirthanenga, who was cleaning his vehicle at one end of the pond. Running to the spot he saw two children struggling and he jumped into the water to rescue them.

He managed to get a hold of one of the boys and pulled him to safety but by then Roh-luzuala had disappeared under water. He went back for Rohluzuala and managed to drag him out by his feet.

“It’s a miracle. Albert does not know how to swim, but he told me he crawled on the bed of the pond and found Rohluzuala. He was under water for several minutes,” the village council president said.

He and another 12-year-old boy, Laltluangliana, pumped out the water from Rohluzuala’s stomach and then rushed him to Lunglei hospital. Zirthanenga said, “I had to do what I could because nobody else was there except the children,” he said.

Northeast Students miss Out On Varsities' Admissions

Hyderabad, Aug 1 : The violence in Assam has affected admissions even in city universities as students from the troubled areas of Bodo-Muslim conflict have missed out on admissions in varsities, including English and Foreign Languages University (Eflu) and University of Hyderabad (UoH). As transportation for most northeastern states is being channelled through Guwahati, students from Manipur and Nagaland are also affected by the trouble in Assam, officials said.

In University of Hyderabad, the population of northeastern students is around 400 while in Eflu it is just about 40. Interviews and written tests for Eflu and UoH courses had started in the beginning of this month, but the admission process for the final list of confirmed and waitlisted candidates started only last week as violence in Assam escalated. Many candidates, who had made it to the merit list of Eflu, have not been able to claim their seat, officials said.

Officials at Eflu said that they have tried their best to accommodate students who were facing trouble due to the tension. "One of the students who applied for a PhD was granted an extension as she faxed a letter stating that she was affected by the crisis and would like to take admission in the university later. The university gave her an extension of one week to report and saved her seat," said a senior officer from Eflu's admission and examination wing.

Assamese students of UoH said that a student who got seat in integrated M Tech/PhD course could not come for the admissions as she missed her train. "Now, most of the students are coming by flight so that they do not miss their chance to take admissions," said Debabrot, an M Tech student from the UoH, who hails from Assam. In UoH, officials said that no student has written to them citing tension in the state as the reason for their absence. However, the student organisations said that several cases have come to their notice in the last one week.

With the admissions getting over by the second week of August in both the universities, students who have not made it to the city so far will be forced to forfeit their seats for this academic year. Students' organisations in Eflu have asked the administration to slow down the admission process for students from these states as they also fall under the reserved ST category. "Before the admissions close the students should communicate the same to us," an official from EFLU said.

The off-state campus of Eflu in Shillong had deferred their admissions citing requests from students who were affected in the conflict. "We request the university officials to look into the matter and take the necessary steps to restore the lost seats to students from these states, especially Assam," said S Harinath, a student leader from the University of Hyderabad.

Devendro Makes Delightful Debut, Wins in Quick Time

POWER-PACKED: Devendro Singh proved too good for Honduras' Bayron Molina Figueroa in their 49kg bout.

The Indian boxer wins in just two minutes and 24 seconds.

L. Devendro Singh made a sensational debut in the Olympics, storming into the pre-quarterfinals of the men’s light flyweight category (49 kg) in just two minutes and 24 seconds at the ExCel Arena here on Tuesday.

Devendro stopped his opponent Bayron Molina Figueroa of Honduras with 36 seconds left in the opening round as the referee called off the contest.

The RSC verdict for Devendro helped him join teammates Vijender Singh and Jai Bhagwan in the pre-quarterfinals of the boxing competition.

The 20-year-old pocket-sized dynamo from Manipur meant business right from the beginning and started the bout aggressively against Figueroa.

Flurry of punches

Devendro displayed quicksilver footwork and stunned his opponent with a flurry of power-packed punches to dominate the contest right through.

The Indian knocked Figueroa down to the canvas with a powerful left hook that rattled his Honduran rival.

Thereafter, Devendro took control of the bout with some aggressive boxing, as he went hammer and tongs at his rival to force the referee to give his rival a standing 8-count twice in the opening round.

Figueroa failed to get his composure and footing back after the initial onslaught and the referee eventually stopped the bout with 36 seconds still remaining in the opening round.

Devendro’s domination could be gauged from the fact that he was leading 24-2 when the contest was stopped.

The Indian boxer will face Serdamba Purevdorj of Mongolia in the next round on Saturday.

POWERLESS: Northern Grid Fails Again in India

India's northern and eastern power grids fails, leaving about half the country without power.





For a second day running the Northern power grid collapsed today leaving the national capital in the dark but this time the Eastern power grid also buckled.

The national capital went black today with passengers aboard the Metro services having to patiently wait in the trains until electricity supply resumed. Train services across states in the north and east were badly hit.

Yesterday seven states stopped receiving electricity early in the morning as the Northern power grid collapsed and was restored only after a few hours. Today the Northern power grid collapsed around 1.07 pm and the Eastern power grid collapsed soon after.

CNN-IBN reported that the fault could take five to six hours to resolve.

2.09pm: It has now been confirmed that 12 states have been affected by the grid collapses. Meanwhile a statement from the power ministry has said that essential services be restored in the next two hours. This would translate to power for hospitals, VVIP areas, trains etc. There is still no word on when power to homes and offices will be restored.

As many as 300 trains in North India alone have been affected by the collapse of the Northern and Eastern grids, with many more trains likely to have been impacted in the Eastern states.


The CPRO Northern Railways, Neeraj Sharma, speaking to CNN-IBN, said they will try to run some trains and make alternative arrangements like diesel power. The Delhi and Kolkata Metros are also not running.

The reason for the grid failures in the North and East have reportedly been caused because frequency has dipped below the optimal level. However officials have been unable to identify exactly where the fault has occurred., so it will take more time for them to get the grids back up and running. Meanwhile officials have said that Delhi’s VVIP areas will receive 100 MW of emergency power.

The World’s First 3D-Printed Gun

Hobbyist builds working assault rifle using 3D printer

It hasn't blown to pieces yet

Hobbyists have used 3D printers to make guitars, copy house keys, and bring robot dinosaurs to life, but a firearms enthusiast who goes by the handle "Have Blue" has taken this emerging technology into a new realm by assembling a working rifle from 3D-printed parts.

Specifically, ExtremeTech reports, Have Blue used 3D CAD files to print the lower receiver part of an AR-15 class assault rifle – the style of gun the US military has called an M16. The lower receiver is sometimes referred to as the "body" of the weapon, which houses the trigger assembly, the magazine, and the safety selector.

The lower receiver of a factory-produced AR-15 is usually made of metal, typically stamped aluminum. Have Blue made his out of the standard ABS plastic used by low-end 3D printers. He then combined it with off-the-shelf, metal AR-15 parts to complete the weapon.

The next step was to actually fire it. Have Blue started by chambering the gun for .22 caliber pistol rounds, a relatively low-powered ammunition. After firing 200 rounds, he announced to an online AR-15 forum that it "runs great!"

He then re-assembled the weapon to use .223 caliber rifle ammunition and tried again. "No, it did not blow up into a bazillion tiny plastic shards and maim me for life," he said, but the combination of the homemade and off-the-shelf parts wasn't working all that well, causing the gun to jam. Try, try again.

It's 3D-printed plastic, but it works, and it has no license or serial number. (Source: Haveblue.org)

Where this all gets interesting is in the potential legal ramifications of what Have Blue has done. It is legal in most US states to purchase AR-15 style rifles, provided the purchaser is licensed, which involves a background check.

It is difficult to get around the license requirements by purchasing the gun in pieces and assembling it yourself, because at least one piece – the lower receiver – carries a serial number and must always be purchased from a federally licensed arms dealer.

Without the lower receiver, the gun can't fire, so under US law the lower receiver essentially is the gun. The other components are less closely regulated and can be purchased online or from unlicensed dealers.
But Have Blue didn't buy his lower receiver from anyone. He made it himself. Using his method, potentially anyone could assemble a completed rifle from mail-order parts without any government licensing or registration at all.

It may not look like much, but the gun won't fire without it. (Source: Thingiverse.com)

It's not entirely as simple as that, though. First, although Have Blue says he used between $30 and $50 worth of plastic to print the gun, 3D printers that can output items the size of the AR-15 lower receiver are still expensive. But their cost is declining.

Second, a 3D printer cannot print ammunition. But given that accused Aurora, Colorado shooter James Holmes was found to have stockpiled some 6,000 rounds of ammo that he purchased online, the prospect of individuals being able to assemble working, unlicensed weapons using 3D printing technology should give regulators in the US and abroad some pause.