Manipuri Woman Molested By 'Drunk' Youth in North Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 7 : A 23-year-old woman from Manipur was allegedly molested in Roop Nagar area of North Delhi, police said today.

The accused, identified as Vikram, was in an inebriated condition when the incident took place last night, and was nabbed by a constable who was present at the spot.

Vikram works at a printing press in Civil Lines and resides in Sabzi Mandi area.

The woman is a student at a private university here.

"The incident was reported to police around 10 PM. The victim had gone to buy vegetables in the market when the man caught her from behind," a police official said.

As the woman raised an alarm, the beat constable who was posted nearby came to her rescue and nabbed Vikram. He later brought him to the police station, he said.

"A case under section 354 IPC (outraging the modesty of a woman) has been registered at Sabzi Mandi police station," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Madhur Verma.

Vikram was produced before the court today and has been sent to judicial custody.

Mizoram CM Asks Union Home Secy Goswami to Help Disenfranchise Bru Relief Camp

Aizawl, Aug 7 : Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla has asked Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami to plead with the Election Commission of India, or ECI, on the state’s behalf to remove from the state’s electoral rolls those internally displaced Brus who have “refused” to return home to Mizoram from Tripura in spite of an ongoing repatriation process.

Disenfranchisement of more than 10,000 Brus, who continue to vote for state and parliamentary elections in Mizoram from within six relief camps in Tripura through postal ballots, had been part of an agreement between the ECI and Mizo groups ahead of the calling-off of a statewide bandh that forced the postponement of the recent Lok Sabha elections in Mizoram.

Only about 1500 displaced Bru families have returned home since the repatriation process began in 2010 and more than 4000 families continue into live in the relief camps in Tripura in spite of the Tripura government stating several times, most recently through MP Jitendra Choudhury in the Lok Sabha, that these displaced people should return home.

Community leaders in the relief camps have meanwhile been demanding the enhancement of the repatriation package and have in the past boycotted the repatriation process, sometimes creating roadblocks to prevent those families who want to return home from the camps from leaving for Mizoram in a bid to show unity among those living there.

Repatriated Bru leaders who now live in Mizoram meanwhile describe life in the relief camps as extremely difficult due to lack of school and health facilities as well as farmland and that the rations-based economy there is controlled by a small group of moneylenders and semi-officials in the camps who receive these from the government.

Brus had fled Mizoram en-masse following ethnic violence triggered by the killing of a Mizo official by Bru militants back in 1997, around the same time Bru leaders began demanding a separate autonomous tribal district for themselves. The autonomy demand had already created ethnic tensions as Mizo groups strongly opposed it.

Assam State Bird 'Deo Hans' On Verge of Extinction

By Suresh Nandi

Guwahati, Aug 7 : The Assam state bird — white-winged wood duck, also known as ‘deo hans’, is facing an extinction threat due to human activities, habitat loss, hunting and sheer neglect by the government.

Ironically, the Assam Forest Department has not yet conducted any specific survey to get an estimate of the population of the endangered duck despite it being in the 2010 IUCN Red List category. As per estimates by naturalists and environmentalists, there are less than 400 to 450 white-winged ducks left in the state, mostly concentrated in the Nameri and Dihing Patkai besides Dibru Saikhowa forests. 

Noted naturalist Dr Anwaruddin Choudhary, who is also known as the ‘Birdman of Assam’, said that he had conducted a study in 1994 and had estimated that the population of the endangered bird in the state could be around 450. “Definitely, there is no chance of any rise in the population due to reasons like degradation of the habitats, egg-collecting, hunting, etc.  I feel there are less than 400 birds left,” Choudhury said.

An estimate by the Institute of Bird Population in 2012 said the bird’s population in Nameri is less than 200. Each pair needs around 250 acres of land to breed. It prefers inaccessible swampy areas and lives in secluded jungle pools, occasionally perching on trees during the day.  It breeds in hollows of mature trees during summer.

Wildlife activists say their habitats in Nameri-Balipara, Sonai-Rupai, Upper Dihing are fast depleting due to deforestation, encroachments and disturbance of riverine habitats, including loss of riparian forest corridors.  Besides, human activities  have also degraded their natural homes.

“The resultant small and fragmented population is vulnerable to extinction due to loss of generic variability, disturbance, hunting and collection of eggs and chicks for food or pets, ” according to a Birdlife International (2010) Species report.

Foodgrains for Tripura Reach Ashuganj Port

Agartala, Aug 7 :  The first consignment of food grains for landlocked northeast India’s Tripura state has reached the Ashuganj river port, a minister here said.

He said that in the next two days, the consignment will enter the state through the Akhaura integrated check post (ICP) by road.

Tripura is now bringing in 10000 MT of foodgrains through the Chittagong-Ashuganj route per month.

If this works, it may soon request Bangladesh for allowing it to bring in 35000 MT of foodgrains through this route.

The consignment started by sea from India’s southern state on Andhra Pradesh on July 3 last and had reached Ashuganj in 31 days.

“We have received the news that the first consignment of 5000 MT of rice reached Ashuganj port today (Wednesday) afternoon and transportation of the consignment to our state is likely to start from coming August 8. We thank Bangladesh for allowing us to use their ports and roads and not charging anything for it,” said Tripura’s food and civil supply minister Bhanulal Saha.

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) will ship 10,000 MT of rice to Tripura from its Vishakhapatnam silo via the Ashuganj port in the neighbouring country under the “Indo-Bangladesh protocol route”.

India has begun using a new trade route via a Bangladeshi port as well as land terrain to ship food grains to the North-east, as the NDA government steps up ties with the neighbour after foreign minister Sushma Swaraj’s recent successful visit to Dhaka.

Moreover, for around two years there shall be a major blockage of train route in Assam due to conversion from meter to broad-gauge between Lumding and Dharmanagar.

This is the lone train route for transporting food grains other than the lone national highway 44 that connects Tripura to mainland India.

“Bangladesh has been kind enough to move the Indian food grains to be transported through sea, river and its roads. Without their co-operation, it would not have been possible,” said B Tayeng, general manager of FCI northeast region.

“We are immediately trying for this route and going to reassess our difficulties after completion of the pilot project. We shall calculate the cost and time differences in transporting food grains on conventional land routes from Punjab to the northeast region by train and through the non-convention route through Bangladesh from Andhra Pradesh.”

The official informed that if the trial is successful then India will go for some permanent arrangement with Bangladesh for regional cooperation so that there is a win-win-situation for both the nations.

The new sea route reduces distance between some south Indian states and the Northeast by about 900 km, potentially cutting down transporters’ operating costs and opening up possibilities of greater commercial traffic.

From Ashuganj port, which is around 34 km from Tripura’s capital Agartala the consignment will be transported in Bangladesh lorries which will enter 7 km inside India up to Nandannagar FCI warehouse.

Tripura along with other northeastern states of India which suffer deficit in their staple food rice, try to make it up from northern surplus states like Punjab, Haryana or Chhattisgarh by train and roads which are often closed due to natural calamities and law and order problem within the region.

So the Indian government is exploring for an unconventional alternate route through Bangladesh.

Train Services Resume in Mizoram After NGOs Lift Weeklong Blockade

Silchar, Aug 6 : After a weeklong blockade, train services resumed in Mizoram on Tuesday.

A meeting between officials from Assam, Mizoram and the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) resolved the crisis and train services resumed from Tuesday afternoon. The Silchar-Bairabi passenger left Silchar at 4pm on Tuesday for Bairabi in Mizoram, NFR officials said.

Since July 29, the movement of Mizoram-bound trains was regulated between Silchar and Lala Bazar stations in Assam due to a rail blockade by a couple of NGOs on either side of the Assam-Mizoram border.

Officials of both states and NFR met at Hailakandi on Monday. Kolasib district deputy commissioner Jitendra Yadav said adequate security arrangements would be made for smooth movement of trains in Mizoram. Bairabi, an important trade hub, is Mizoram's railhead.

A Rousing Welcome For Tripura’s Star

By Syed Sajjad Ali

HOMECOMING: Commonwealth Games 2014 bronze medalist Dipa Karmakar being given a grand welcome in Agartala on Monday.

Dipa Karmakar who became first Indian woman gymnast to win a medal in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games has set an eye on the forthcoming Asian Games. Her coach for 14 years Biswasar Nandi said he has a dream to see her winning Gold in next Olympic.

Ms. Dipa and Mr. Biswasar were given a rousing welcome in Agartala to mark their homecoming on Monday.

The greetings started from the Airport where hundreds of sports enthusiasts, officials and common people assembled in the morning.

Tripura government organised a reception for Ms. Dipa who won bronze in women’s vault. From airport she was taken for a road show in an open jeep escorted by a few hundred motorbikes.

School children, traders and people of all sections lined up on both sides of her show route in the city.

She was taken to Umakata Mini Stadium for an official felicitation function.

Delighted over the welcome and affection of people she thanked everyone concerned for the support she received as a gymnast. Convincingly she said she has set an eye on the Asiad to do better and make Tripura as well as India proud.

A tearful Biswasar Nandi who took charge as a Coach when she was just 6 said Ms. Dipa would fulfil his dream by winning Gold Medal in next Olympic. Mr. Nandi was also a national Gymnast and winner of Arjuna award.

Waiting For The Governor

By Tungshang Ningreichon

Manipur Governor visiting Shirui village in Ukhrul

Our house in the village is like a train with a gap, like a bogey derailed. The gap is the living room that was never built and now it stands as the self styled mud room. The gap speaks of hope that one day the house will be completed. The hope has lasted for more than 15 years!

Our home is simple but aesthetically challenged. It reflects a lack of architectural input and resources. People often mistake it for the village primary school a few meters away, or sometimes for the pastor’s quarter, traditionally built in an ‘L’ shape with many rooms to accommodate guests.

Every time I come home there is new “technology” installed. My father loves to experiment with tools, electronics and machines, turning every room into a store room with wires running all over the house; plug points are dictated by his preference for sitting arrangement while typing. He is, by the way, the best typist I have ever known. When he first tried his hands on the computer, I thought the keyboard would break into pieces with the force he is used to, on old typewriters.

This time there were fancy lights installed in and around the house that took me by surprise when I went to use the washroom. I was not expecting tiny bright diodes to light up my night activity. These fascinating patch-like diodes were fixed on the wall, taped on each end like it was hurriedly done for temporary use. Yet again they reminded me how the genes of style and utility are so far away from each other with men in general, and especially my father, for most houses in Ukhrul have wires and plug points hanging messily over the wall or from one corner, speaking of men and designs.

Every house however has a number of interesting lamps, torch and light tools which are mostly made in China or Burma. For those who can afford it, the inverter is placed somewhere shabbily but owned like the most prized possession. The district, you see, has acute power shortage. These days the power supply is for an hour and a half during the day, and tactically from 10 pm onwards when the town is asleep so that mosquitoes, insects and animals can find their prey and their way home.

In Tamenglong, local organizations had to shut the electricity department to register their protest of the dancing truant lights. People of the district have found better use for the electric wires—they take it home. This is legally called “stealing” and is so rampant that the DC of the town had to convene a meeting to take stock of the situation. Why blame the people for making use of resources around them I say with a smirk.

One of the latest reasons cited for the shortage of electricity is the poor rainfall. By that logic, the God of rain is pleased with selective places in the State where people have been holy enough to receive rain and be lighted while the remaining can compensate with candlelight dinners!

I don’t know if any of the reasons we have been hearing past many years is justified anymore but, in the words of Apou, my “memory bank” does not have any data of ever experiencing 24 hours power supply ever since we lived in the village.

The last time people in Ukhrul had two days of uninterrupted power supply was when the Governor of the State was in town as the chief guest for Shirui Lily week. His visit was such a hit that the Facebook status of my town newsfeeders; Yoyo, Tennoson, Kahorpam and Khanthing, expressed “joy” like receiving rare grace that comes home like the uninvited guest.

The statuses seemed to say that the town is beaming with life and energy and also lack of direction; of not knowing what to do with the suddenness of being lighted!

The celebration however had to end the moment the Governor left. The set up, as I imagine it, is like the lineman was watching from a tower and as soon as he saw the dust and smog off the line of vehicles, he pulled the plug puffing a cigarette, much like how the curtains are drawn after a movie ends...ah, how dramatically he must have switched it off, and for the next two days the town was ‘powerless’. Perhaps the electricity department had to reclaim or make up for its generosity and the quota of the two days of lighting the Governor.

We wait for the Governor and his entourage to visit the town again or, even better, if Narendra Modi comes to see Shirui Lily and tour the villages in Ukhrul... yawn yawn...while my father and families acquire newer tools to light homes and the companies and dealers lick their fingers counting the profits!

**Tungshang Ningreichon is a happy mother from Langdang and writes occasionally for the love of stories, histories and memories.

Manipur Power Pact With Myanmar

Imphal, Aug 6 : India and Myanmar have decided to shape up the proposed joint-venture thermal power project in Myanmar's Sagaing region, boosting the bilateral ties of the two neighboring countries.

A joint meeting to this effect was held on Monday in the office of Tamu township military headquarters in Myanmar, about 5 Km from Manipur's border town Moreh, a source said.

The gateway to southeast Asia and a focal point of India's ambitious 'Look East Policy', Moreh has witnessed rapid progress of the economic development projects since the past few years. If the power project is successfully implemented, India would provide financial assistance and the required equipment for it, while Myanmar would offer the required land, the source added.

Manipur commerce and industry minister Govindas Konthoujam and Indian consulate general in Mandalay, N Nandakumar represented India, while union minister U Khin Maung Soe of the ministry of electric power, Sagaing region, led the Myanmar delegation at the meeting.

U Khin Maung, who was enthusiastic in setting up the power project, said he would discuss the matter with his country's top leaders and inform the same to India. Minister Govindas urged the Myanmarese delegates to extend support to the construction of the proposed Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Moreh aimed at boosting the ongoing commercial activities in Myanmar. On Govindas' appeal to release six Manipuris, who were apprehended by Myanmar Army, the neighboring country's delegates dropped positive hints, stating that the issue of releasing the captives would be considered.

Power officials, trade and chamber of commerce unit leaders both the countries attended the meeting. Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, who addressed the meeting titled "Region Investment and Business Conclave" in the Sagaing region in May this year, had called upon Indian investors not to think for India alone but also Myanmar so that the two countries could co-exist.

Ibobi Singh suggested that investment in the Sagaing region is very much possible in power sector by generating power in the thermal power plants, agro-industries. He suggested setting up of educational institutions and hospitals during the conclave attended by hordes of Indian businessmen.