Korean Band Biuret To Visit Nagaland And Manipur

Korean pop rock trio Biuret will be performing in India for the first time. The tour is an initiative by Korean Cultural Centre India, in association with Sevendiary.com (for the Northeast dates) to celebrate 40 years of Indo-South Korean friendship.

The full tour dates are:

November 29 – South Asian Bands Festival, New Delhi
December 01 – Hornbill Festival 2013, Kohima
December 03 – Maramfest 2013, Maram (Manipur)

They will officially launched the most awaited Hornbill International Rock Contest at Solidarity Park, Kohima on December 1, as the national level rock music contest set to go global starting this year. This is also the first time for any K-pop band visiting the Northeast landscapes, a region where Korean wave is extremely popular. The band has previously toured UK, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and China.

The group is led by the stunning Hye Won Moon (Lead Vocal, Guitar, Songwriter), Jai Hyun Ahn (Bass Guitar) and Gyo Won Lee (Lead Guitar). Formed in 2004, the band has performed in over 600 live shows from clubs, college festivals, TV appearances, musical theatre productions, rock festivals to opening for the famous british rock group Oasis.

Biuret were the winners of SUTASI Pan Asian 2009, an Asian Talent reality-show held in Singapore. Stream their winning LIVE performance on YouTube below.

Aamir Khan Celebrates Wife's Birthday in Assam

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and his entourage, which includes directors Karan Johar and Ayan Mukherji gave a surprise visit to the tea plantation town of Tezpur in Assam on Wednesday.

According to DNA source, the 3 Idiots celeb is reported to be holidaying in a private resort inside Nameri National Park in Sonitpur district, near Tezpur with his family and close friends to celebrate his wife Kiran Rao’s 40th birthday on November 7.

Aamir, who is on a five days Assam trip to visit different tourist destinations including the Kaziranga National Park, was also spotted playing with his toddler son Azad in the grounds of the resort today.

Aamir Khan drinking the traditional rice beer Apong of Mising tribe in Assam
Khan and his entourage earlier today visited a Balipara Mising village in Sonitpur district, where they were treated with the traditional rice beer called Apong of Mising tribe.

Bollywood Still Averse To Casting Faces From Northeast: Mary Kom

NEW DELHI: Boxing icon MC Mary Kom considers the northeast "one region". She now aims to bring home a bigger accolade than her Olympic medal, but also wishes to mentor young talent from the region who can carry forward her legacy. At the North East Festival 2013 on Saturday, she poured her heart out.

She said she misses watching Bollywood movies in Manipur because of the ban on screening of Hindi films, and fears that people back home may not be able to watch her biopic which is set to release. Kom and three other sporting and cultural icons from the northeast shared their journeys of making it big and their hopes and concerns for the region at the festival.

"As a child I had no one to guide me. I used to go to Imphal from my village where I was introduced to women's boxing. I did not tell my family what I was up to because if they had stopped me from boxing, my morale would have really gone down," she says. Her friends discouraged her because boxing is "not a woman's game". "If a man can fight, why can't a woman? I have proved myself," she said.

Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma, the maharaja of erstwhile kingdom of Tripura and member of Tripura Congress Committee, spoke about his journey as an entrepreneur: "When we started our heritage hotel in 2002, people asked us who is going to come to the northeast. We have proved them wrong by running it extremely successfully." Deb Barma also said that despite being a member of Congress, his personal thoughts on AFSPA are separate from his party's.

"I am against AFSPA. We need some moderate voices from the northeast to come to the fore. Our story is not only about failures and pain but about so many other positive things," he added.

Larsing Ming Sawyan, vice president of All-India Football Federation shared his experience of creating a football team that represents the entire northeast region. "Through the 60s, 70s and 80s we did not see much of northeast in national football. We began scouting for young talent in different parts of the eight states and formed a team that qualified for I League. We realized we didn't know much about each other in northeast. There is a need to create an identity that is pan-northeastern," he said.

Actor Adil Hussain, who belongs to Goalpara in Assam, impressed everyone off-screen too. Reacting to a question on why there have been fewer faces from northeast in Bollywood after Danny Denzongpa, he said, "It (Bollywood) is an industry. They don't cast faces from the northeast because it will not sell. I am probably here because I have some Aryan features."

Can Mizoram’s Unique Campaigning Model Be Replicated Elsewhere?

AIZAWL: The fervour of two events driving the country crazy — Sachin Tendulkar's swansong Tests and the upcoming assembly elections — is missing almost entirely in Mizoram.

Being in a football-crazy state, it is understandable that most television sets are tuned in to mundane Hindi soaps, films dubbed in the local language and western music videos even as the Maestro turns out at Kolkata's Eden Garden. But the absence of any din related to polls — barely a fortnight away, is conspicuous, more so for a state that recorded an impressive 82% voter turnout in 2008.

There are no posters to be seen anywhere in the city, while the handful of banners are within the size stipulated by a local NGO. Candidates are barred from distributing footballs and party workers are not allowed to wear caps, T-shirts or badges with the election symbol printed on them.

Though political analyst Vanlalruate expects the chatter to get louder as campaigning - heavily monitored by the Church and its vigilante groups like Mizoram People's Forum (MPF) — picks up after Monday's deadline for withdrawal of nominations, he is sure that it would never reach the fever pitch associated with elections elsewhere in the country.

"Mizoram has always been an unusually quiet place - even in the capital city of Aizawl you barely ever get to hear any honking," he says. "Though things will pick up with Rahul and Sonia Gandhi visiting the state next week, it will never become even a fraction of the circus that it does elsewhere."

Among the MPF's diktats - prohibiting door-to-door campaigns, feasts, separate rallies and slandering rivals — that make electioneering a colourless and low-key, if utopian, affair, the one that has riled youngsters most is the ban on musical road shows.

"This is beyond the polling norms issued by the EC and it does no good for anybody. Not only does it stop musicians from earning their livelihood during this festival of democracy, it also takes away the one thing that attracts Mizo youth to politics," says Lalfengmawia, a senior functionary of the MZI, a federation of musicians and singers. "Even in the US, reputed bands like U2 and Pink Floyd perform for Republicans and Democrats and nobody makes a big deal about it."

Emanuel Lalhriazual Ralte, a 31-year-old entrepreneur, agrees: "Narendra Modi may be dividing opinions across the country, but he does not have much traction in Mizoram, and Rahul is known more as the son of Rajiv Gandhi, who is held in high regard by locals for the 1986 peace accord, ending years of brutal insurgency. I can assure you, more Mizos would turn up for music concerts than for rallies by either of the two."

Some believe that the campaigning structure in Mizoram is a model that could be replicated elsewhere in the country. Hoping that the turnout beats Tripura's record of 90%, chief electoral officer Ashwani Kumar says: "Campaigning in Mizoram works very differently. There are a very few violations of the code of conduct — candidates here actually call us to inform us about their canvassing plans and ensure that their strategy does not flout EC guidelines."

Lalthlamuana Ralte, an assistant professor at Aizawl's Pachhunga University College, says: "I am in favour of third-party controlled campaigning as it ends bribing for votes and provides a level playing field, but I do not believe it will work in other parts of the country. Religious organizations interfering with politics will not be taken kindly in other places."

By Vishant V Agarwala, TNN

Election in the Lord’s Own Country

Aizawl, Nov 8 : 'Thy Kingdom Come.' That's how Mizoram welcomes you. Painted big and bold across a giant Cross a few yards from the runway at state capital Aizwal's Lengpui airport, the message seems ominous as you get familiar with the political nitty-gritty of this Christian-dominated state.

Here, the entire election process has a sense of divine edict about it. Not only does the Church have a say in polling and counting dates — the upcoming assembly election was rescheduled to accommodate the Presbyterian Church's five-day Synod despite chief electoral officer Ashwani Kumar's protests, and counting postponed by a day to November 9 because "Sunday is meant for prayers" — the clergy also plays a virtual election commission.

The Church has issued a four-page list of dos and don'ts for both voters and candidates. Apart from the usual honesty and harmony bits, it says, "You should refrain from voting for those who drink or have extramarital sex." With almost 70 per cent of Mizoram following the Presbyterian Church, no party wants to rub them the wrong way.

Dr Robert S Halliday, secretary of the Mizoram Presbyterian Church, said, "The common people of Mizoram are a pious lot and they will abide by any guideline issued by the Church. We can only urge them to lead a moral life. We do not want to interfere with the election, rather we want to facilitate the process."

Meanwhile, Mizoram People's Forum, a Church-sponsored watchdog formed in 2006, has signed a 27-point 'MoU' with all major political parties, including the ruling Congress and BJP, to ensure a 'free and fair' election. Apart from strict curbs on lavish campaigning, the charter also prohibits tall promises in manifestoes, bans public meetings and protest rallies, and tells parties not to organize vehicles to drop voters to polling booths.

With the Church wielding influence on the nearly 90 per cent Christians, no party defies the diktats. If they do, MPF would "invalidate the party," says the 'MoU'. Hinting at the impending visit of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi later this month, MPF general secretary Lalramthanga said, "The rules will not be relaxed for star campaigners of national parties. MPF will conduct their public meetings that have been permitted by the Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee."

Insisting that the EC, MPF and the Church share a common goal — a free and fair election — CEO Kumar explained the phenomenon: "In Mizoram, the Church is far older than the government. The state was formed in 1986 after the Church facilitated the peace process. Until recently, they were the ones looking after the education and healthcare of the people. The Church is not just a religious institution here, it is a way of life and the centre of all social activities."

So why do parties give in to the Church's demands. "While the realpolitik is the same across the country, unlike most parts of mainland India, constituencies here are small — about 15,000 to 20,000 people — and each vote counts. No politician can afford to ignore the Church's guidelines," says Kumar.

He believes the Church would have risen in stature if it had not forced a change of polling and counting dates.

While MPF has been honoured and lauded by the Election Commission of India for its efforts, there are many who question the role a religious body plays in a democratic process.

"Elections should be secular. The scenario in Mizoram is like that of 18th century Europe when religious doctrine got mixed up with political administration and what happened is history," said Lallianchhunga, assistant professor at Mizoram University's department of political science. "Would similar orders issued by another religious body in another part of India be accepted by the politicians?" he asked. "Going by this logic, we shouldn't have elections on Fridays and Tuesdays either because they are holy days for some religions."

Another reason parties toe the Church's line, said Lallianchhunga, is the absence of significant political issues in Mizoram. With no militancy, negligible poverty, a literacy rate second only to Kerala and a crime rate comparable to Scandinavia, politicians do not have a proper plank to stand on. "The only platform left for them is morality. The politicians may say they have nothing to do with the Church or MPF, but, in truth, it is a symbiotic relationship. Each feeds on the other for power over people," he says.

College student Nghaka believes MPF is a Frankenstein in the making. "What authority does it have to issue guidelines above and beyond those issued by the EC. The group is just seven years old and it is going to get far more powerful with time," he said. "We are supposed electing leaders, not saints. And some of the best leaders in world history — including Churchill and Kennedy, one a heavy drinker and another known for extramarital affairs — would never have been able to contest elections in Mizoram."

Mizoram Ponzi Victims Pin Hopes On Assembly Polls

By Rahul Karmakar

Aizawl, Nov 8 : Much before the Saradha storm, Mizoram endured Chiahpuam that hit 10,000 families across the urban landscape. The victims have now regrouped to elect whoever can get their money back.

Chiahpuam was a Ponzi scheme that caught the fancy of Mizos a decade ago until the bubble burst in 2008. Hundreds of investors, mostly government servants, found that they had sunk `80-90crore in a fake bank.

A few arrests were made but the assembly elections that year stole the focus from the investors’ plight. And the money confiscated from the scam masterminds — the real culprits, allegedly government officers, were never caught — was locked away in a savings account of the Aizawl superintendent of police (SP).

“The investors say the police seized around Rs. 25 crore, but the account of the Aizawl SP has only Rs. 12 crore, meant for redistribution to all depositors,” Helena Malsawmkimi, chairperson of the Mizoram Women Workers’ Union, which is fighting for justice to the depositors, said.

“We want all the confiscated assets and money to be returned to the depositors, besides blocking the accounts of all suspects and enforcement of Mizoram Protection of Interest of Depositors Act of 2003.”

Many like former schoolteacher H Thanhlira, she said, were literally hounded to deposit their post-retirement money in Chiahpuam. Thanhlira, 70, has gone back to the primitive jhum or shifting cultivation to sustain his family of seven.

Mizoram Starved For Power, Yet Wary of Building Dams

By Adam Halliday
Aizawl, Nov 8 : One development plan that seems to be moving backwards in poll-bound Mizoram is hydro power.

"We have said many times we are going to dam all our rivers," Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla had said when this journalist asked AICC general secretary Luizinho Faleiro in September how the party intends to boost the state's debt-ridden economy if it wins again.

The state Congress president had indeed said at several public meetings earlier that dams would be built across the more than a dozen rivers that run through the hill state's ravines so that they can generate 2500 MW.

As things stand now, plans are afoot and some work has begun on building dams across five rivers that can generate close to 1,000 MW for a state that requires barely 100 MW but where about 90 per cent of the demand is imported.

Among the proposed schemes is the 210-MW Tuivai project, approved earlier this year by the Centre and set to be the first hydro power project in India to be built through viability-gap funding and on a public-private partenrship.

But Lal Thanhawla's government appears to have climbed down from its damming plans after anti-dam sentiment began surfacing, most of it fuelled by fears generated by the inundation of Builum village in northern Mizoram by the Serlui hydro power project, which anyway has been able to produce just a fraction of the 12 MW it was expected to.

The first opposition to a policy of damming all Mizoram's rivers came from the Science Teachers' Association of Mizoram, which cautioned against going head-on without first calculating the risks. The rebel group-turned-political party Hmar People's Convention said shortly after that it would oppose the Tuivai project at any cost since it would inundate several villages in the area.

Later, the powerful Young Mizo Association, the largest mass-based voluntary organisation in Mizoram, spoke out against the planned Tipaimukh dam on the Manipur-Mizoram border and questioned the wisdom behind dams in general given the amount of land it feared these will submerge.

In recent speeches, Lal Thanhawla has been more careful about talking about dams, and has said repeatedly, "We will work towards quickly finding and exploiting natural gas reserves which some companies have already begun so that we would not have to dam all our rivers."

Interestingly, the Congress manifesto for the November 25 polls does not even mention dams, and only states that the party will "try to produce at least 280 MW and try to have electricity in all rural areas within 5 years."

In another section the manifesto states the party "will continue to explore natural resources to earn more state revenue, produce electricity and cooking gas."

The Mizoram Democratic Alliance led by the Mizo National Front with the Mizoram People's Conference and Maraland Democratic Front has been more blatant about completing the planned hydro power projects, promising in a joint manifesto that four planned dams with a combined capacity of almost 1,100 MW "will be completed as early as possible".

However, it adds, "In view of the environmental impact that hydroelectric power projects and dams have, proposals for harnessing hydroelectric power will be reviewed taking into account the comprehensive survey and study of land that will be inundated and displacement of population."

Demand & Supply

2,500 MW if all rivers dammed

1,000 MW once five dams under construction completed

100 MW is all Mizoram needs

90% of that is imported

Youth Sidelined By Mizoram Parties

By Linda Chhakchhuak

Aizawl, Nov 8 : Party elders has sidelined youth leadership with geriatric candidates getting preference over the youth. Across party lines, youth leaders, who had been earmarked as candidates, have lost out during last minute string-pulling spilling discontent among the young rank and file of all the major political parties in Mizoram.

Eleven candidates in the 2013 fray including some from the ruling Indian National Congress (INC), were candidates in the general elections in 1972 when Mizoram was still a Union Territory.

As polling day for the 40 member State Assembly draws near, the Mizoram People’s Conference (MPC), a party nurtured by the legendary Brig T Sailo, got a jolt when leaders of its youth wing resigned enmasse protesting the denial of candidature to the president of the youth wing.

“Not only did they ignore our request, the party leaders have sold out to other parties just to satisfy the ambitions of a few of the party leaders who only want to become MLAs,” said C Lalliankhuma, vice president of the MPC. Flanked by about eight of his youth wing party men, he blasted the party leaders for forging an alliance with the Mizo National Front (MNF) and drowning out all future hopes for the party which had been nurtured by Brig T Sailo, he said.

“By agreeing to enslave themselves to the MNF, which has allowed them only eight seats, and even snatched away our leader, Brig Sailo’s constituency, our party leaders have rung the death knell of our party. We do not see any hope for the MPC in the future and this is why we are leaving it enmasse”, he said. The MPC has joined the MNF in a pre-poll alliance going under the Mizo Democratic Alliance umbrella.

In the MNF camp, the fact that youth wing president, P C Laltlansanga failed to figure in the list of candidates, has raised a sliver of anger in the younger ranks, but the party leaders seem to have managed to cool down frayed tempers. It was a foregone conclusion that Laltlansanga would get a seat as his name had already been unofficially announced several months back which had kept the youth leader busy nurturing his constituency. “He has spent time and money in the field and now they refuse to give him a seat. Had it not been for his campaigning on various issues in the past year, the MNF would not have had any presence in the State. And now this rejection, what a disappointment!” said a supporter.

In a similar vein, the Mizoram Youth Congress president, C Lalawmpuii fell from grace at the last minute. A sure shot candidate, being the leader of the youth wing, dynamic and highly vocal and a woman to boot, which would have made it a politically correct choice in this day and age, the geriatric Mizoram Pradesh Congress leadership seem to have given the chance to throw up fresh leadership the go by.

“From all this we can see that the political parties are still living in the past and wooing the electorate with the same old men who have ruled us for decades,” said a youngster. Across party lines, youthful politicians have sympathised with each other on this issue.