Assam House To Vote Today For PM’s 5th Term in RS

Guwahati, May 30 : The Assam assembly is set to elect Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday for his fifth straight term in the Rajya Sabha. He has been representing the Upper House from Assam since 1991.

The election follows a week of dissension within the Congress over the nomination of Shantius Kujur, a lesser-known Adivasi party activist, for the second Rajya Sabha seat to fall vacant in Assam after June 14.

The ruling Congress played down the trouble. But Assam parliamentary affairs minister Nilamani Sen Deka said a three-line whip would be issued to all party legislators to ensure 100% turnout.

The Congress has 79 legislators in the 126-member assembly. Singh and Kujur also have the support of 12 MLAs of the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), the Congress’ alliance partner, two Independents and the lone Trinamool Congress legislator.

With the Asom Gana Parishad (nine MLAs) and BJP (five MLAs) having decided to abstain from voting, the Prime Minister and Kujur need 38 votes each to win. The pro-Muslim All India United Democratic Front has fielded its general secretary, Aminul Islam, but the party has only 18 legislators.

“All the Congress and BPF legislators will be divided into two groups for casting their votes,” Deka said. The Congress Legislature Party strategy entails 49 votes for first-candidate Singh and 45 for second-candidate Kujur.

Earlier this month, the Prime Minister’s nomination attracted criticism for an age mismatch. The nomination papers were resubmitted with his age changed from 82 years to 80 years.

Meghalaya Man To Appeal HC For Ailing Sons' Mercy Killing

Shillong, May 30 : A father has decided to seek permission from the Meghalaya High Court for mercy killing of his three sons who have thalassemia, a blood disease.

"I can no longer see my children suffering. I have nothing left but to seek permission from the Meghalaya High Court to take away the lives of my children before I commit suicide," 50-year-old Abdul Rahim told IANS.

Rahim, a shoe merchant, said that he has to spend Rs.45,000 each month on the blood transfusion of his sons Sadik Ahmed, 16, Suheil Ahmed, 14, and Mohammad Samim, nine.

Though originally from Assam, Rahim lives in Meghalaya, while his wife and other children live in Doboka in Assam's Nagaon district.

"Only god and my family knows about the suffering that I am undergoing for the treatment of my three ailing children. I have sold off my properties and even my shoe factory. I did all I could to meet the medical requirements of my three sons," he said.

He added that he would approach the Meghalaya and Assam governments for medical assistance his children need.

"If the governments refuse to provide assistance, then I have no other option but move the court with a plea that permission should be granted to kill my three sons and then kill myself," Rahim said.

Meanwhile, Meghalaya Health and Family Welfare Minister Alexander Hek said: "Rahim has not approached us. If he does, the government will examine the matter and then take a decision accordingly."

In Meghalaya, a universal medical health insurance for all residents provides medical relief of Rs.90,000 annually to a family of five and Rs.1.6 lakh in case of critical illness.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/meghalaya-man-to-appeal-hc-for-ailing-sons-mercy-killing/1/273668.html

Mizoram To Produce 60% Of Rice

Aizawl, May 29 : Mizoram was making efforts to produce 60 per cent of its rice requirement during the 12th Plan, state Agriculture Secretary Lalram Thanga said today.

Addressing Farmers' meet organised by Agriculture department here, Thanga said that Mizoram could produce only 20 per cent of its rice requirement during the eleventh plan period and efforts were now made to produce 1.06 metric tonne which would be 60 per cent of the requirement of the staple food of the Mizos.

Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla also said that fund allocation for covering 1.35 lakh families in the state under the flagship programme of the present government, New Land Use Policy (NLUP), was already in place.

Lal Thanhawla claimed that there has been 48 per cent reduction of jhum cultivation areas after implementation of the NLUP in the state since 2011.

He also said that fund for different departments were not diverted for NLUP as alleged by the opposition parties.

Tripura Explores Bamboo Shoots Business

Agartala, May 29 : The Tripura Bamboo Mission (TBM) has undertaken packaging of shoots for a palatable dish in star hotels of India and abroad.

In the integrated development of the bamboo sector to ensure employment generation and economic development based on available resources, the business of bamboo shoots has great potential, TBM officials said on Monday.

Referring to market opportunity for bamboo shoots, industries and commerce minister Jitendra Chowdhury said the mission is in the process of putting in place an effective collection mechanism from the field and linking it to a storage and bulk packaging facility can open up market opportunities.

To begin with, a small-scale production facility may be set up that calls for an investment of Rs 35,000 towards equipment that can function from a room at a home location. This system of production will deploy basic cleaning, cutting, and bulk packaging facility.

"These bulk packs can be shipped out to food processing units in other parts of the country through a consolidator's intervention assuming a margin of Rs 5-6 a kg that can be achieved through this route," added Chowdhury.

The second production mechanism could be a scaled up facility capable of processing 40 MT of shoots given the 90-day duration for the harvesting season where processing of other fruits would help justify a larger investment.

A bamboo shoot processing unit is already operational in Agartala and is selling products under a brand name in which NERAMAC is also involved through its distribution efforts. In any case, it makes sense to establish a formalized collection system to feed the existing unit in Agartala. This would call for storage and a network system of procurement at the community level connected to a manufacturer.

Shillong-Dhaka Bus Service To Start Soon

Shillong, May 29 : Bangladesh and India are set to have another link with the introduction of the much-awaited Shillong-Dhaka bus service.

Meghalaya transport minister HDR Lyngdoh said India and Bangladesh have mutually agreed to start the bus service and both governments have cleared it.

Lyngdoh said, "We hope we can commence the bus service soon as we already have road connectivity".

The Meghalaya government had sent a proposal in 2002 to the Centre for introduction of a direct bus between Shillong and Dhaka, connecting Sylhet in Bangladesh and Dawki in Meghalaya.

"After the proposal was submitted by the state government 10 years ago, the Centre had given the nod for the project while asking whether the state was prepared to go ahead with the project as infrastructure along the border was minimal," a state government official said.

"The Meghalaya government later communicated to the Centre its willingness to start the bus service, expecting financial assistance from the Centre," the official added.

Home minister Lyngdoh said the bus service would not only ease travelling to Bangladesh but would promote tourism between the two countries.

Meghalaya shares mutual interests in terms of trade besides geographical and historical contiguity with the neighbouring country. Though Bangladesh is next door, people from Meghalaya now either go to Kolkata or Agartala, where the only visa office in the Northeast is located.

Asked if the bus service would encourage influx, as feared by some NGOs, Lyngdoh assured that the government would take care of the issue and that travelers would be required to possess valid passports and requisite visas by producing required documents.

Bangladesh Permits Foodgrains Movement By Ashuganj Port

Agartala, May 29 : Bangladesh has agreed to permit India to use its Ashuganj port for transporting foodgrains to the Northeast.

Tripura Food and Civil Supplies Minister Mr. Bhanulal Saha said, Bangladesh government previous week allowed India to transport 10,000 tonnes of rice for Tripura which would come from Haldia port to Ashuganj port in Brahmanbaria district in Bangladesh; about 40 kilometer (km) from here, and then the grains would reach Agartala by trucks.

Mr. Saha said, the order was passed by the Bangladesh government earlier last week following hectic diplomatic parley and the state government has taken steps to carry the food grains.

Dhaka had allowed to transport heavy and over sized machineries for the Palatana gas—based thermal power project through its territory.

Palatana thermal power project in Gomati district would begin generation commercially next month.

How Engineers Are Building a New Railroad Under New York City

By Tim De Chant

Workers inspect the “shock tubes” that set off blasting caps, which detonate the charges. More than 2,400 blasts have been conducted on the project.

This tunnel is under 55th Street and Park Avenue. The yellow material is a waterproof membrane, which goes on before the concrete finish.

During the day, rail cars will wait under Grand Central Terminal until it’s time to take commuters back home to Long Island.

The concrete floor of the 55th Street ventilation chamber being poured. A total of 10 such areas will circulate air between the tunnels and the surface.

This shows an access tunnel near 50th Street. These cross-passages (there are 19 total) can be used in emergencies or when repairs are needed.

In what will be the LIRR terminus under Grand Central, workers use a hose with a pneumatic nozzle to spray Shotcrete onto the tunnel walls.

The biggest public transit infrastructure effort in the US is almost completely invisible — unless you’re 160 feet underground. The East Side Access project will connect the Long Island Railroad to New York’s Grand Central Terminal via a massive tunnel under the East River. Actually, that tunnel was the easy part; it was started in 1969. The hard part? “We are building a brand-new railroad here,” says Michael Horodniceanu, president of Metropolitan Transit Authority Capital Construction. When it’s finished in 2019, around 160,000 people will see shorter commutes. But before that, engineers must complete three tricky segments. Here’s how (and where) they’ll do it.

1. Grand Central Terminal
“We are a stealth project when we land in Manhattan,” Horodniceanu says. “No one really knows we are here.” His crews are carving out a terminal beneath Grand Central (above), where twin caverns 1,050 feet long will have eight separate platforms.
2. Northern Boulevard Crossing
To keep the soft ground from collapsing, engineers snaked coils of coolant through the soil to form a protective arch of frozen earth. That let crews work safely while traffic rumbled overhead. Cost: $1 million per foot.
3. The Harold Interlocking
The busiest rail junction in the nation can’t stop for construction. As trains lumber through, crews have been boring the main tunnel below, rerouting and fixing cable and wire as they go. Work there, Horodniceanu says, “is like a dance.”
All photos: Dean Kaufman

Chinese Hunt Down Teen Who Defaced Ancient Egyptian Temple

Anger in China over teenager's graffiti at Luxor temple
Ding Jinhao's parents apologised for the graffiti at a temple in Egypt

The exposure of a Chinese teenager who vandalised an Ancient Egyptian artwork has led to a wave of anger among China's internet users. On Friday a microblogger posted a photo of graffiti at a Luxor temple complex saying: "Ding Jinhao was here."

A 15-year-old boy from Nanjing was then named and his date of birth and school were posted online, reports say.

His parents have apologised to a local newspaper, saying they are sorry for his actions, Chinese media say.

Luxor, on the bank of the Nile, is home to a large temple complex, built by Amenhotep III, who lived in the 14th Century BC, and later by Rameses II.

The graffiti was found carved on an ancient stone relief by a tourist named Shen, who visited Luxor three weeks ago. After he posted it on his Sina Weibo microblogging account, more than 100,000 net users commented.

'Too much pressure' "We want to apologise to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China," Mr Ding's mother told local newspaper Modern Express on Saturday.

She added that the teenager, now a middle school student in Nanjing, committed the act when he was younger and had realised the seriousness of his actions.

Ding Jinhao's father also appealed for the public to let his son be, saying: "This is too much pressure for him to take."

The boy's identification led to the hacking of his primary school's website, the Global Times newspaper said.

The incident comes as another example of the growing phenomenon of Chinese internet users exposing private information about those perceived to have done wrong.

In recent months a number of officials have been felled or shamed by information made public via microblogs.

Egypt's ministry of antiquities was quoted as saying the damage to the temple wall was superficial and measures were being taken to restore it.

But this latest controversy comes days after Wang Yang, one of China's four vice-premiers, said on 17 May that the "uncivilised behaviour" of some Chinese tourists was harming the country's image.

Chinese tourists spent $102bn (£67bn) overseas last year, up 40% on the year before, and the UN World Tourism Organisation says China is now the single biggest source of global tourism income.