Running Like The Wind

By Sudipta Bhattacharjee

There is a jinx on Mizoram. Or rather, its picturesque Raj Bhavan. Why else would four people in a row opt out of its gubernatorial joys in a matter of weeks?

Situated in the heart of the state capital, Aizawl, the Raj Bhavan, more compact than its sprawling counterparts elsewhere in the region, was built in 1899. Since then, it has undergone structural changes, but continues to hold pride of place, surrounded by the secretariat and the legislative assembly on the northern side, Republic Veng (a civilian residential area) on the east and a small children’s park, maintained by the forest department, to the west. It is certainly not this panoramic campus that is making governor-designates resign in a hurry.

Shortly after the National Democratic Alliance came to power, there began a scramble for resignations by governors appointed during the United Progressive Alliance regime. B.L. Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh), M.K. Narayanan (West Bengal), B.V. Wanchoo (Goa), Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland), V. Purushothaman (Mizoram) and K. Sankaranarayanan (Maharashtra) set the trend, followed by Sheila Dikshit, who was appointed the governor of Kerala in March, just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and months after losing power in Delhi.

When Purushothaman left Aizawl, Kamla Beniwal, who had a running battle with Narendra Modi when he was the Gujarat chief minister, was shifted from the western state to Mizoram. After the NDA government came to power, she was sacked her for ‘misuse of office’ and Sankaranarayanan was chosen. He publicly criticized the decision. “[The president] has all the powers to transfer a governor, but then I thought it is not convenient... I decided not to go to Mizoram,” he announced.

Big mystery

The next name to do the rounds was that of Sheila Dikshit. First she met the Union home minister, Rajnath Singh, and the president, Pranab Mukherjee, in Delhi on hearing the plans to transfer her to Mizoram, and said she would resign if the government took such a decision. Last week, Dikshit resigned, claiming: “I did what my heart said I should do.”

While Mizoram awaits a new entrant to grace its Raj Bhavan, the Union minister of state for home, Kiren Rijiju, has hit out at the governors who refused to be transferred to that state. Hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, he has taken the matter to heart. In a recent interview, he said: “It is a very emotive issue for me. When a person is posted to the Northeast and he refuses to go there, that person loses the moral authority to speak on equality in the country. If people like governors and IAS and IPS officers will only choose serving in metropolitan and comfortable cities, then they don’t deserve to be in their position.” He added that such people should “apologize to the nation and to the people of the Northeast.”

Postings in the region are often considered a ‘punishment’ because of problems of militancy, lack of infrastructure and facilities as well as the difficult terrain. But Mizoram has been an “oasis of peace” since 1986. It has an airport nestled amid blue hills, a fairly decent road network and a friendly people. Its Congress government is headed by a veteran leader, Lal Thanhawla, not known for crossing swords with the occupant of the Raj Bhavan. The state is culturally resplendent and unlike others in the region, dissidence, horse-trading and the juggling of chief ministers (situations when the governor galvanizes into action) is almost non-existent.

With no visible reason thus far to not accept the gubernatorial post, one wonders if the two historic wooden cannons, installed in 1979 at the gate of the Raj Bhavan, hold any clue to the mystery of the reluctant governor.

'Mary Kom', A Motivational Masterpiece

By Subhash K. Jha

It's that life-defining moment when a character on screen transforms totally into a real life personality. We've seen Seema Biswas, Ben Kingsley and Farhan Akhtar metamorphose into real life characters in front of our bewildered eyes.

Film: "Mary Kom"; Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Darshan Kumar, Zachary Coffin, Robin Das, Shakti Singh;
Director: Omung Kumar;
Rating: *****

Now it is Priyanka Chopra. She virtually transforms her physicality before entering the spirit and the soul of boxing champ Mary Kom (MC).

And what a grand entry!

Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Priyanka as the gritty volatile boxer from Manipur who won't take no for an answer, even from god. Penetrating a male domain like boxing in a gender-defying swoop, Priyanka's MC takes us on a voyage of self-discovery where a plucky poor girl from rural Manipur goes right to the Olympics. It's an incredible story filled with sound and fury signifying something deep and seductive, just waiting to be told.

Hats off to debutant director Omung Kumar for bringing us one of the most inspiring biopics to have ever reached the silver screen.

"Mujhe bronze pasand nahin aata," barks MC's coach. As we see Mary's dreams come true in front of our eyes, we know she was born to win. The narrative has a soaring quality and texture. It simply takes off with scarcely any room for breathing space. The breathless quality of storytelling goes well with the protagonist's stormy mercurial nature.

As MC' story unravels in a flashback we meet a woman who is not affected by gender rules and discrimination that governs our society.

Very early in the tightly clenched narrative, we see MC get into a full-fledged scuffle with a school bully. Later she takes on another far more dangerous bully who threatens to destroy her boxing career. In and out of the arena Mary never stops fighting. "The rest of the world may be round. But your world is this square ring," her coach reminds her pointing to the boxing arena. The struggle, as depicted in the stunning unspoilt northeastern terrain of Manipur, captured with mesmeric intensity by cinematographer Keiko Nakahara, is manifold. Here it is a curse to be born a girl. And to be born a girl who wants to be a boxing champ!

You have to be kidding.

Admirably the narrative doesn't over-sentimentalise MC's struggle. This is "Mother India" without the glycerine and melodrama. As played by Priyanka, MC is both gritty and giggly, plucky and precocious, a ferocious fighter and a tender mother.

Priyanka expresses every shade of her character with a pitch-perfect bravado. Her northeastern accent could easily have become caricatural. The actress controls curbs and quantifies every component of her character's personality without losing that basic element of spontaneity without which Mary would have become mechanical.

I dare any other actress to play MC the way Priyanka has. Even Hilary Swank would have been stumped by MC'S mystical mix of the girlish and the aggressive. Priyanka gets the point.

My favourite sequences are the ones where MC shares tender marital moments with her husband. If it's vital for a career woman to get a supportive husband, it is equally essential for a film starring a female hero to have a co-actor who can play yin to her yang. Newcomer Darshan Kumar suffuses the screen with such supreme spousal sensitivity. He is a talent to watch.

Predictably enough a lot of the opposition to MC's dreams is shown to come from within her home. The skirmishes between MC and her father (Robin Das) and MC's gender battle with the slimy executive of the boxing federation (played with diabolic relish by Shakti Singh) are exceptionally filmy', and I use that word in the truest cinematic sense.

The picturesque narrative, the richly flavoured music composed by Shashi Suman and Shivum (watch out for the poignant lullaby sung by Priyanka), the rapid fire editing, the framing of the shimmering shots and the incredibly aesthetic use of rich colours bear the unmistakable stamp of producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is billed as Creative Director.

"Mary Kom" is a motivational masterpiece. From first frame to last it grips your senses and irrigates the parched corridors of your heart like very few biopics in recent times. Kumar weaves seamlessly in and out of Mary's remarkable life creating a work that is as dramatic as Mehboob Khan's "Mother India" and as inspiring as Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi".

Priyanka's powerhouse performance knocks the breath out of our solar plexus. She yet again proves herself the best actress of her generation.

Hereafter there will be an eternal confusion about whose face goes on the hoardings announcing Mary Kom's boxing events.

PC or MC?

Naga Blockade: Rajnath Singh Assures Assistance to Manipur

By Iboyaima Laithangbam

The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has instructed Governor Vinod Kumar Duggal, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and Home Minister Gaikhangam Gangmei to take up firm and effective steps to counteract the indefinite economic blockade called by the United Naga Council (UNC) against Manipur from Thursday morning.

This is in protest against the gunning down of two tribals in Ukhrul district on August 29 while dispersing a procession. 20 others were sustained injuries. After from blocking the movement of vehicles, the Nagas shall obstruct all national projects like the constructions of the rail lines, hydroelectric projects and installation of high tension transmission lines.

Briefing reporters on Wednesday shortly after the arrival of Mr. Duggal, Mr. Singh and Mr. Gangmei in Imphal from Delhi, Okendra Moirangthem, the government spokesperson said that the Union Home Minister was briefed on the happenings in the district leading to the killings of two persons. After listening to the verbal report, the Union Home Minister had instructed them to protect life and property of the people. He promised all assistances from the union government in ensuring uninterrupted supply of fuel, consumer items and others. They were also directed to beef up security measures so that construction works of the national projects are not disturbed.

Minister Moirangthem said that armed paramilitary personnel will escort the trucks and buses along the two national highways which are the lifelines of this landlocked mountain state to ensure that all sorts of commodities arrive at Imphal.

Following the gunning down of Ngarlarzar Malue, a member of the autonomous district council of Ukhrul district on July 12 allegedly by the NSCN(IM) cadres, the district has been under siege with the arrival of police and paramilitary forces. Prohibitory orders were also clamped. There have been demands to withdraw the additional forces and lift the prohibitory orders.

On August 29, the UNC organised a procession to demand the withdrawal of the state forces and lifting the prohibitory orders. Police intervened and during the clashes two persons were killed and 20 others were wounded. The government had offered Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the dead persons and said that it would foot the medical bills for the injured ones. However the UNC sponsored meeting said that the ex-gratia would be spurned.

In the past, the Manipur government could not ensure unfettered transportation of goods to the state since there was no back up from the centre. Now that the Union Home Minister has assured all assistances, the state government may ensure uninterrupted supply. Fuel is in short supply and the government is rationing it from Wednesday.

UNC Press Release: September 3rd, 2014

RESS  RELEASE

         Dated Tahamzam, 3^rd September, 2014

The ban on all vehicular traffic on National Highways and State Highways and ban on all construction works on National Projects in Naga areas to be enforced with effect from 6.00 AM of 4^th September, 2014 has been called because the sentiments of the Nagas have been demonstrated in measures beyond which it will become redundant.

Under the communal Government of Manipur(GoM) our voices and sentiments do not count. Our lives are not safe. Our democratic rights do not exist. In the Imphal  valley, the domain of the GoM, mainland Indians are being butchered and maimed in manners that are done to the most bitter of enemies. While in the hill areas of the tribals, where peace prevails, the GoM sends their Police forces to kill and brutalise the people they were purportedly sent to protect. The magnitude of social divide on communal lines in Manipur can only be addressed with a political solution.

Through this release we solicit free will donations towards the families of the martyrs Mayopam Ramror and Ramkashing Vashi and for those who were brutalised at Ukhrul on 30^th August, 2014. The same may be submitted to the Treasurer, United Naga Council for onwards submission.

We appeal to the general public, transporters and truck owners to extend their co-operation and solidarity for the protest against the insult on our people and the mockery of democracy where the voice of the people have been responded with bullets and force.

All Nagas are volunteers and it is the moral responsibility of every Naga to uphold the peoples’ movement.  The Tribe Councils and Regional Organisations will co-ordinate and monitor the bans in the respective jurisdiction.

The people are informed to be vigilant against any measures that may be deployed by the communal GoM to suppress the people’s movement.

Any individuals violating this stricture of the people will be doing so at their own risks.

. 

Publicity Wing

United Naga Council

Mizoram To Lift Total Prohibition

Aizawl, Sep 3 : The newly legislated Mizoram Liquor Prohibition and Control Act, 2014, which lifts total prohibition and allows drinks for people above 21 years of age will be in force in the current fiscal.

Stating this Excise and Narcotics Minister R. Lalzirliana said he discussed the draft Mizoram Liquor Prohibition and Control Rules, 2014 with senior officials in his office on Tuesday and it would soon be sent to the state Law Department for final approval.

The new Act was legislated by the state Assembly in July to replace the stringent Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act, 1995, imposed in the state for 17 years.

The minister said the state government was of the opinion that total prohibition did more harm than good to the people of the state as many people died due to consumption of spurious liquor.

Only people above 21 years of age would be allowed to drink under the new law while drunken driving and drunken brawls would be severely dealt with, he said.

Generic Drug Store in Mizoram

Aizawl, Sep 3 : Mizoram’s first generic medicine store will open soon in Aizawl’s government civil hospital compound.

The store will retail such merchandise at a far cheaper rate than the general variety of medicines. It is the third of its kind in the country after the outlets were inaugurated in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The medical superintendent of the civil hospital, Rosangluaia, today said the credit for opening such an outlet in Aizawl should go to the “vigorous steps” taken by Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla and health minister Lalthnzara in New Delhi for quite some time in the past.

He, however, said local doctors while writing prescriptions would never “force” patients to buy these generic drugs. They will advise them to go for the drugs only after the drugs are deemed fit for use by the patients.

Rosangluaia said the generic drugs, to be prescribed by the state’s doctors, would prove to be cheaper by 20 to 25 per cent in comparison to other general drugs being retailed in medicine shops.

The medical superintendent said generic drugs have already proved to be more effective in combating several ailments which people are generally prone to.

He said the department of pharmaceuticals under the aegis of the Union ministry of chemicals has now been insisting the state governments to open such generic medicine outlets in their main cities and towns in increasing numbers.

Rosangluaia said one condition for opening such generic drug outlets, which the Centre has outlined, envisages that each generic medicine shop should not be smaller than 120 square feet, and there should be at least three trained retailer employees present. He said to begin with, a generic drug store would deal with 361 drug items of the generic kind.

What Course Must India’s Rice Import Take?

By Tejinder Narang

Importing rice for Tripura and Mizoram doesn’t seem easy, but it is also a $450 million opportunity for trade.

For the first time, FCI is compelled to import rice for the north-eastern states of Tripura and Mizoram, owing to temporary interruption in railway lines rather than lack of availability of rice. Monthly consumption of these two states is 40,000-50,000 tonnes, or about half a million tonne per annum.

Indian Railways is commencing gauge conversion of a 220-km track from Assam to Agartala (Tripura) from October 1, 2014, while the highways in the region are in a shoddy state. Imports for the next two years—about 1 million tonnes—through alternative routes are a necessity rather than an option. Also, due to absence of trucking-worthy cross-border routes, imports may have to be diverted through the Chittagong port in Bangladesh.

The current cost of procuring Indian rice is R2,755 per quintal and despatch expenses are R3,200 per quintal to Tripura from north or south of India. It totals R59,550 per tonne, or about $975, as against the $375-385 per tonne landed value of 25% broken Myanmar rice if supplied through Yangon port to Chittagong. After accounting for unloading at Chittagong, transit storage, shortage, demurrage, road transport of about 200 km to Agartala, financing charges, etc, it should not cost more than $450-460 per tonne delivered at the FCI depot in Agartala. A 0.5 million tonne import will be approximated at about $225 million (R1,370 crore) per year versus the R2,977 crore incurred under local arrangements. The apparent cost saving is 55%. But it is going to be logistical and procedural nightmare to handle this import.

FCI is attempting to engage three PSUs (PEC, MMTC and STC) for this import while they are not well-versed with the scope of the work involved. Normally, these PSUs finalise bids, contracting and shipments to Indian shores, hand over grains to FCI and transfer payments to foreign suppliers. But, in this case, Indian PSUs may not be able to deal effectively with customs/phyto-authorities of Chittagong, handling agents and transporters of Bangladesh. Port authorities in Chittagong can delay berthing/discharging vessels for India-bound cargo due to their own local priorities. Trucks can be in short supply as a 25,000-tonne parcel requires 2,500 trucks (10 tonne per truck). Agreements by rice handling agents or transporters may be breached. Pilferages may be attempted both during storage and transit. Even Bangladesh’s own wheat imports have 2-3% short-landing as a routine occurrence, for which they deduct payments of shippers.

There is no government company in Myanmar that can transact 0.5-1 million tonnes of rice; private players of Myanmar lack export financing and are happy doing container business. Myanmar’s annual rice export is around 8,50,000 tonnes. China is currently a major importer of its rice. If India chips in with its annual demand of 5,00,000 tonnes, rice prices can witness steep rise. FCI may, therefore, include other origins like Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia for evaluation of bidding and provide an option to supply these origins if commercial feasibility from Myanmar is eroded.

Global rice traders who can participate in this import are based in Singapore, Dubai or Bangkok. But will they be ready to undertake comprehensive operation for shipping rice from Myanmar or elsewhere, clearance at Chittagong, and then arranging despatches to Tripura at “fixed cost” to FCI/PSUs? That alternative must be explored.

There are three options for the government. First, import through PSUs if they are prepared to perform totality of operation themselves by disbursing actual expenses incurred by them. Second, let PSUs configure the bidding process where the foreign suppliers takes the full obligation at a “fixed price” for origin at Myanmar or elsewhere, for delivery at Agartala and builds in the risk premium for Bangladesh while the PSUs disburse the amount to them in two stages. Third, FCI issues a global tender in which PSUs and other foreign sellers bid and compete for delivery at Tripura from any origin and any route at a fixed price. The assurance of Bangladesh giving transit facilities to the Indian government must form an integral part of the tender document. The second alternative may be more practical.

The combined business of about two years is about $450 million and its extension to third year cannot be ruled out. The quantum and pace of import tendering depends upon urgency at Tripura and commercial considerations. Will overseas rice traders see this as an opportunity?

The author is a grains trade expert.

Governors Who Refuse To Go To Mizoram Should Apologise: Kiren Rijiju

By Sunetra Choudhury

New Delhi, Sep 3 :  Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju has hit out at the UPA-appointed Governors who refused to be transferred to north eastern states like Mizoram. While appearing on a special show on NDTV, the minister who is from Arunachal Pradesh said those governors must "apologise to the nation."

"It is a very emotive issue for me. When a person is posted to the North East and he refuses to go there, that person loses the moral authority to speak on equality in the country. If people like governors and IAS and IPS officers will only choose serving in metropolitan and comfortable cities, then they don't deserve to be in their position,'' he said, adding that they should "apologise to the nation and to the people of the North East."

Recently, the NDA government first transferred Kamla Beniwal to Mizoram before sacking her and then sent Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan, who publicly admonished the government's decision. "Of course the Rashtrapati (President) has all the powers to transfer a governor, but then I thought it is not convenient...I decided not to go to Mizoram or any other state. I have my right to resign. I was thinking to resign since last three months," he said while explaining his decision to quit.

Since the BJP came to power, it has made it clear that it wants to replace nearly a dozen governors who were appointed by the previous government with its own nominees. Since May, many governors have either quit or have resigned after being transferred.

"Some of the governors are very pro-active. They interact with the people and take part in the developmental process. They are an inspiration to the people. But some of them unfortunately are not up to the mark as expected from the high office,'' he said.

In the same interview to NDTV, Mr Rijiju also indicated that the government was rethinking on the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA. Referring to Irom Sharmila, Manipur's social activist who has been on a 14-year-long hunger strike to the demand the repeal of AFSPA from the state, the minister said, "She has created a deep impact. Look at the way she has fought for the cause for so long and i am optimistic that I will meet her."