03 August, 2016, Wednesday

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Vol. II

Issue 46

Dibrugarh, Wednesday, August 3, 2016

WEST INDIES VS. INDIA: STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS OF DAY 3 OF KINGSTON TEST

Pasighat, Aug 1: Lok sabha MP Ninong Ering, Pasighat MLAs Kaling Moyong (Pasighat East), Ex-Minister Bosiram Siram and ZPC Kaling Dai expressed shock and grieved the sudden demise of Director Environment Oni Dai, IFS, who took last breath yesterday at Itanagar's RK Mission due to cardiatic arrest at the age of 57 yrs.

Expressing profound sorrow in their condolence messages, the dignitaries said that people would always remember Dai for his sincerity, dedication and positive outlook to life. They prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and to give strength to the relatives and friends to bear the irreparable pain, in the messages. (DIPRO)

Young Diyun Christian Association (YDCA) has appealed all the communities of Diyun and Namsai to maintain peace and tranquility in the wake of the unfortunate incident concerning Mr. Lalrinsanga Ralte who happens to be a Christian leader.

YDCA has stated in the release that since the accused is a Christian leader, some people with vested interest are trying to make it a religious issue which is evident by some of the posts and comments

CM Khandu urges ministry of defence to provide Delegation of Seven Oil Companies fair compensation to locals while acquiring land contribute Rs 15 crore to CM Sonowal for CM’s Relief Fund ET Bureau Itanagar, Aug 2

security interest high while the interests of the community are secured.

Chief Minister Pema Khandu has urged the Ministry of Defence to ensure that they grant fair compensation as required by the law to the local community while acquiring the land for defence purposes.

Further the Chief Minister appealed the defence ministry for dual use of the eight Advance Landing Grounds (ALG) at Ziro, Aalo, Mechukha, Pasighat, Walong, Vijaynagar and Tezu to be used both for civilian and defence purposes to enable effective connectivity, which would give a boost to tourism and economic development and could prove crucial during emergency medical cases and natural calamities.

The Chief Minister made the remark during a discussion with Manish Thakur, Joint Secretary (Works & Land), Ministry of Defence on land use for defence purposes, which was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister

CM Khandu making remark during discussion with Manish Thakur Chowna Mein and Chief Secretary Shakuntala Gamlin.

He urged that the livelihood

shared in the social media. It also refuted the claims of forceful conversion carried out

by L. Ralte and condemned such claims and stated that making such false claims has the capacity to disturb the peace and tranquility of the area.

Some people have also posted photos of the Spiritual Awakening Programme in social media to assert their claim of conversion. The programme was conducted by YDCA on 15th and 16th July to provide spiritual guidance and wisdom to the Christian followers of Diyun irrespective of their denominations. The

programme had nothing to do with conversion but to imbibe the Christian values to the followers of Christ.

YDCA also stated that the alleged youth is already released on bail and the matter is sub-judiced now. It also appealed all to let the law take its own course and the matter should not be given a religious color.

Diyun is a very peaceful area where communities of different origin, culture, religious beliefs and faith coexist and we must not let the communal harmony and tranquility be disturbed.

issues of the people should be taken into account when acquiring land so that a balance is achieved – keeping country’s

Massive floods causes heavy casualty of wildlife in Kaziranga ET Correspondent Jorhat, Aug 2

A total of 282 animals mostly hog deer, rhinos have been killed during the current of devastating floods at the world famous Kaziranga National Park. Over 95 percent of the national park spread across the four ranges were submerged due to the floods, said Subasish Das, the DFO of KNP. The causality of hog deer is 216 along with rhinos after getting struck at water bodies in new areas had reached to 22 till Monday last. We cannot say now how much the toll might go up as water is receding fast but 75% area is still submerged as water is stagnant, said Mr. Das. We aspect wildlife to be back from Karbi Anglong within 10 to 15 days but still their transit

is on during night hours and also during the day, said KNP DFO. On the other hand, Mobile Veterinary Service (MVS) of the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Rescue team (CWRC) so far rescued caring 111 wildlife cases in the ongoing flood crisis till date, said Rathin Barman, director, WTI, KNP here today.

Mr. Barman said, MVS team have handled 111 rescue cases in last seven days and had released 62 hog deer out of 98 rescued cases attended by CWRC team while treatment and observation for 9 rhino cubs are on at the Large Animal Nursery premises, all is stated to be stable and they are regularly taking milk and other oral suspension, vitamins along with two baby elephants and two snakes are among rescued wildlife during the past eight days.

Minister Pramila steps to divert river water in Indo-Bhutan border Forest Minister visits SSB border post

ET Correspondent Kokrajhar, Aug 2

Forest Minister and local MLA for Kokrajhar east Pramila Rani Brahma join hands with villagers to make diversion for water harvesting on Saralbhanga River for the villagers at Saralpara Ultapani area along Indo-Bhutan border in Kokrajhar district just few days’ post floods as villagers have been facing water crisis in the region.

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DISPATCH FUEL BY TRAIN, TRIPURA ASKS RAILWAYS Page - 5

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Young Diyun Christian Association appeals not to make L. Ralte case as religious issue ET Bureau Diyun, Aug 2:

ET Correspondent Kokrajhar, Aug 2

Forest Minister Pramila during her visit to IndoBhutan border

Forest Minister and local MLA for Kokrajhar east Pramila Rani Brahma visited at SSB border outpost at Saralpara in her visit to flood affected areas in Kokrajhar district on Tuesday.

Brahma was welcome by senior officials of SSB (BOP) along IndoBhutan border and inter acted with official and discussed about border

security management in the district.

Brahma said she visited the BOP to know about security management in Indo-Bhutan international border where SSB has been guarding the border areas. She has appreciated SSB official and jawans while making stern security vigil along the border.

Pradip Kumar Medhi welcomed Minister Brahma for her maiden visit at BPO post Saralpara.

Delegation of 7 Oil companies giving Rs. 15 crore to CM Sonowal for CM’s Relief Fund A Staff Reporter Guwahati, Aug 2

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Oil India Limited (OIL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Gas Authority of India Limited and Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) together contributed Rs. 15 crore to Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

Bongaigaon (6), Chirang (6), Dhubri (6), Udalguri (6), Kamrup Metro (5), Morigaon (4), Cachar (3), Karimganj (3), Baksa (2), Karbi Anglong (2), Kokrajhar (2), Dima Hasao (2) and Hailakandi (1).

A Staff Reporter Dibrugarh, Aug 2

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"Another 235 JE and 1,107 AES positive patients from across the state are currently undergoing treatment in various

hospitals. The intensity of the disease as compared to other years has however come down. Fogging and DDT spray have been undertaken throughout the districts. The first round of DDT spray is already over and the second round has been initiated.

People have been advised to use medicated mosquito nets for their safety," Bhuyan said.

The JE death toll in other districts are - Sivasagar (8), Nagaon (7), Darrang (7),

Kamrup Metro (5), Kamrup Rural (4), Nalbari (4), Jorhat (3), Tinsukia (3), Sonitpur (3), Dhemaji (2), Chirang (2), Goalpara (2), Karbi Anglong (2), Kokrajhar (2), Morigaon (2), Udalguri (2), Baksa (2) Bongaigaon (1), Dhubri (1) and Karimganj (1).

Similarly the AES deaths are - Sivasagar (11), Tinsukia (11), Nagaon (10), Sonitpur (9), Dhemaji (7), Darrang (7), Nalbari (7), Goalpara (7), Kamrup Rural (7), Jorhat (6),

“After Dibrugarh, Sivasagar stand on the second in JE 8 people lost their lives and 11 people died of AES. In Nagaon till no 7 people died of JE and 10 people lost their lives due to AES,’’ said Bhuyan.

He added that JE cases increases with the monsoon, this year the monsoon started early. “Generally monsoon started from June in Assam and June to August when maximum cases of JE’s were detected. The first round of DDT spray is already over and the second round has been initiated. After detection of JE case from a area we can use fogging with 3km according to

the guidelines of World Health Organisation(WHO),’’ he added.

After the recent spate of flood in Dibrugarh the places like Bordoibam, Lezai, Doh Kalkhowa, Sakoipathar, Sessa Kinar Maina Missing Gaon, Pani Miri Gaon which have affected mostly in the flood now posing threat treat of JE. However, the outbreak of JE usually coincides with the monsoon and pre-monsoon seasons, which are conducive for mosquitoes to breed. The three months from June to August are the peak period for the disease. Domestic pigs and wild birds are the carrier of the JE virus while stagnant water is the breeding ground for culex mosquito, which is the main vector of the disease.

Joint director of Health services, Dibrugarh, Pawan Swarnakar said that Fogging

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan took a special initiative under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to mobilise the oil companies to contribute to Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

Senior officers of the companies handed over the cheque to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at a simple function held at Chief

Minister’s Office in Assam Secretariat today.

Acknowledging the gesture of the oil companies in helping the government’s bid of extending support to the flood affected people, Chief Minister Sonowal expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and oil companies for standing firmly with the people of Assam amidst this calamity.

Meeting to host Under-17 FIFA World Cup held at Guwahati A Staff Reporter Guwahati, Aug 2

After successfully holding major national and international sporting events, Guwahati will play the host of Under-17 FIFA World Cup and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal according top priority to the event conducted a review meeting to assess the State’s preparedness for the event.

The meeting which held at the conference room of Assam Secretariat on Tuesday evening was a part of a series of events, Chief Minister Sonowal has been taking to streamline the available sporting infrastructure and facilities thrown up in Guwahati which can be used for the world cup.

The event that is likely to be

Dibrugarh records highest death in Japanese Encephalitis The death toll from encephalitis this year in Assam has touched 218 with Dibrugarh district recording the highest number of casualties. Director of health services Rathindra Nath Bhuyan said that from January 1 to August 1, 2016 as many as 149 persons had died of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) while 69 persons had succumbed to Japanese Encephalitis (JE).

Among the districts, the death toll in Dibrugarh was the highest with 25 deaths, of which 19 were AES and 6 JE cases.

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cannot reduce JE cases it is just create a sense among the people that Fogging helps to reduce JE cases. He said that government has sanctioned Rs 18,000 for fogging but later they sanctioned 1 lakh which was distrusted to the Public Health Centres.

held in September-October in 2017 featuring 24 countries will be held at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium. Moreover, four more venues will be made ready which will be used as practicing venues. Chief Minister Sonowal asked the competent government officers to take up all steps expeditiously to address all issues for successfully holding the matches for U-17 World Cup. In course of the meeting it has been brought to the notice of Sonowal that existing infrastructure has to be upgraded and works with respect to players’ dressing room, media centre, VIP lounge, FIFA Office, players tunnel etc. have to be given a proper direction. Sonowal asked the officials to put up their best for improving the

infrastructure as fund will pose no problem for the event.

Chief Minister Sonowal assured all his government’s help in successfully organising the event. He moreover asked all the officers in the State in charge of monitoring the preparation and conducting event to put up all arrangements meticulously so that the State can exhibit its ethos of strengthening sportsmanship and camaraderie through the event.

Minister of State (I/C) for Sports Naba Kumar Doley, Commissioner and Secretary Ajay Tewari, Commissioner PWD (B) Ajay Bordoloi, Secretary to the Chief Minister Solanki Vishal Vasant, Secretary Health and Family Dr. J. Balaji along with others were present at the meeting.

Constant erosion posing serious threat to Rohmoria

An Official from Malaria Department said that this year under Dibrugarh Municipality Board (DMB) area Fogging have been done in most of the urban areas but in some areas they cannot do the fogging because the roads were too small and their vehicle cannot go inside the area.

A Staff Reporter Dibrugarh, Aug 2

The official of Malaria Department claimed that fogging has been done in Amraguri . On the other hand, the people of Amraguri alleged that no fogging has done in the area.

The people Bogoritolia in Rohmoria mauza under Lahowal constituency are facing the wrath of constant erosion for past several years.

Rohmoria is about 36km from

Erosion view of Rohmoria Dibrugarh town, the headquarters of Dibrugarh district. Every year due to erosion, the people have to lose their agriculture land.

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Dignitaries condoles over demise of Oni Dai

5.00

PM ASKS YOUNG IAS OFFICERS TO BE SENSITIVE TO SURROUNDINGS

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ET CAPSULES

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DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

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ASTRO FOR YOU Aries You will be indecisive today, which is not usually the case with you. This could lead you to indulge in speculation, which is not so bad unless you risk all your money in it. Besides, when it comes to matters of the heart, you must exercise a great deal of caution.

Taurus Impulsive action kicks in as you work and interact today. Do not let the pressure and strain cloud your thoughts, and instead focus on acting on the things at hand. If you find things spiralling out of control, take a break and listen to some music that soothes your heart.

Gemini Today, you will decide to become a bit more conscious about your health. You may or may not join a gym or measure your calories, but you will definitely sit up and take notice of your lifestyle and unhealthy food habits. A new job is also likely, which will open a completely new chapter in your life.

Cancer Today, you will put your heart and soul into whatever task you take up. And, that's a great thing to do. Don't lose heart though, if despite the best efforts, the results of your efforts are not too forthcoming. Feeling dejected is only going to hamper your progress. Remember that you'll receive your due sooner or later. Spend some time with your loved ones to revive yourself. Alternatively, a quiet evening tucked in the bed with a nice book is also a great idea.

Leo If one were to put an earnest spirit and a frank attitude together, the result would be a Leo; it's like your hallmark. And with qualities like these in your kitty, don't be surprised if you happen to reach a milestone or two today. Will it be marital bliss or career success? No matter what the area is, be assured that your societal standing shall get a heady boost today.

Just don't let the success go to your head.

Flood relief campaign organised at Namrup ET Correspondent Naharkatia, Aug 2: Aiming at extending helping hand towards the flood affected people of the state, the Namrup Anchalik Sangeet Shilpi Santha has already spruced up to organize flood relief camp w.e.f 31st July under the banner of All Assam Sangeet

Shilpi Santha.

The members of Namrup Anchalik Sangeet Shilpi Samaj have seen coming out of the different places of Namrup to collect donations in various forms for the said occasion.

Ramesh Gogoi and Porokh Dihingia, who led

this grand event, told this correspondence that they would continue to do the same for the whole week.

The people of Namrup have generously contributed to and voluntarily took part in this flood relief measures taken by Namrup Anchalik Sangeet Shilpi Samaj.

SAMANAY raises relief materials for the flood hit peoples of Majuli A jungle cat kitten which was recovered in Naharkatia today. Pic - Debojit Sonowal.

Virgo The booster rockets of your ambitions and spirit to work will kick in at the maximum today. Seek recreation after a hard day's work and look to relax at private parties, socialdos and even weddings.

Mission Clean & Green Dima Hasao launched at Muolpong Haflong

Libra "Every man has specific natural abilities", said Aristotle. This seems to be true for you today. Your natural talents will be acknowledged and documented at work. This might prompt your equals to hold you up above the rest, and for your seniors to positively encourage you to scale greater heights. But as always, be careful to make sure that success does not make you heady with arrogance. Keep yourself firmly grounded, and remember that, 'pride cometh before the fall'.

Scorpio You will find yourself thinking with your heart rather than your head today. You may not be able to repress your feelings, and you should not even try. But you should be careful about how you express them, particularly in public as people may judge you wrongly on the basis of it.

Sagittarius Today, your superiors at work are going to trust you with many complicated assignments.

But, after exerting yourself, you are sure to come out with flying colors and have your work appreciated. Do not be surprised if cash incentives come your way. Such may indeed be your fortune.

Capricorn You will be a live wire, today. With amazing exuberance you have completed mammoth tasks and have spread the energy around. It will give you tremendous job-satisfaction.

Everything seems well and good the personal front, too. Spending some quality time your spouse will relax your mind and keep you in an upbeat mood.

Aquarius For a moment, it seems that you're swamped with problems. But you are brave enough to deal with any ugly issue that crops up suddenly. A romantic evening, which may just be time together in a jacuzzi, or simply preparing a meal together. Pure ecstasy!

Pisces You are fond of traveling and are always looking for an excuse to set off. Hence it comes as no surprise if you pack your bags and decide to embark upon a journey on a whim today.

It is a much needed break too, from the daily stresses of earning a livelihood. While you are seeking solitude, you will take your friends and relatives along with you on the trip.

ET Correspondent Bokajan, Aug 2: SAMANAY- a socio cultural organisation of Bokajan has launched a campaign 'EMUTHI KORUNA' to raise relief materials for the flood ravaged peoples of Majuli. The campaign has been initiated by 'Red Media' in collaboration with 'Khiriki', a nongovernment organisation

based in Guwahati.

Devastating floods have caused havoc across the state with many districts submerged under water.

Thousands are rendered homeless in the trail of destruction and many are still stranded awaiting help. The state is battling one of the worst flood in history as over 1 million peoples have

reportedly been affected besides animals.

Pranjit Gogoi, President, SAMANAY has appealed the peoples to support them in their endeavour to provide the much needed relief supplies to the affected families. He even urged peoples to be a part of the noble cause by contributing whatever possible to the relief supplies.

DC inspects water supply system of Golaghat

Phone No.-03732325456 E-mail -dibrugarh@air.org.in Facebook Page-All India Radio Dibrugarh Programme Highlights 3-8-16 (WEDNESDAY) 6-10 A.M-Swasthya Charcha 6-15 A.M-Classical Music 6-50 A.M-Folk Song (Tokari Geet) 7-15 A.M-Aajir Dinto 7-30 A.M-Geetanjali 8-35 A.M-Surar Panchoi 9-05 A.M-Antara 12-30 P.M-Geetimanjari 1-10 P.M- Troops Programme 2-00 P.M-Singphow Songs 2-10 P.M-Brindagaan 2-30 P.M-Western Music Programme 3-45 P.M-Programme in Mizumishimi 4-05 P.M- Programme in Khamti 4-25 P.M-Programme in Wancho 5-00 P.M-Programme in Idu 6-15 P.M-Ganya Raijor Anusthan 7-15 P.M-Chah Sramikor Aasor 7-45 P.M-Aadhunik Geet 8-00 P.M-Krira Jagat-Talk-"Rio Olympic Aaru Bharotiyo Kheluwoir Pratyasa"by Jayanta M Gogoi 9-30 P.M-Sahitya Kanan-Poem Recitation by Nilotpala Dutta Shaikia 10-00 P.M-Question Hour in Parliament

ET Correspondent Golaghat, Aug 2: DC Varnali Deka and other Administrative officer today visited the town water supply system and checked the matter along with Municipality Chairman.

It is to be known that the water of the pond is used by Municipality for town wa-

ter after filtration. But presently the pond was found to be filled up with bottles, thermocol and other materials which is a kind threat to the health of town people.

Today DC Varnali Deka herself visited the spot with other officials and was amazed to see the system and instantly gave orders to collect the sample of reser-

voir and other chambers of filtration process. As the very water is supplied to almost every nook and corner including hotels, houses, shops, schools etc.

DC Varnali Deka also gives orders to the officials to carry out the cleanliness drive as soon as possible so that every people gets the clean water.

4 NDFB-S cadres arrested in Kokrajhar

Ranu Langthasa, Chairperson, NCHAC, Haflong inaugurated the programme in presence of Samuel Changsan, Executive Member i/c.

The improvement of tourist spots including road communication, infrastructures, lodging facilities, plantation

by Afforestation department and other related to beautifications to attract the tourist' and so as to enhance the income source, especially for local unemployed youths and also revenue of NCHAC, Dima Hasao were the prime agenda of the programme.

Medical & Health Services, Debanon Daulagupu, NCHAC Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of Haflong Town Committee, Officer and Staffs of Tourism department, various NGO's and Organizations,

The programme was organized by Tourism Department Dima Hasao under the leadership of Kulendra Daolagupu, MAC, NCHAC, assisted by Tourist Officer Nirmendu Kemprai.

Govt doctors allegedly taking bribe Baruah Gaon PHC regularly and one of the doctors is seen in her private clinic most of the time . They also alleged that the doctors treat the patients in a rude manner and often demanded bribe . Today the argument between the doctors and public later became violent . The doctors were held captive by the angry mob for sometime. Now the big question arises will the new Health Minister take stern steps against such government medical employees or such things will remain to be continued like the previous times .

ET Correspondent Golaghat, Aug 2: Golaghat District Committee of Kalita Jangosthi Students Union today asked the Central and State Government to take some permanent measures regarding flood and erosion problem.

In a press release, Presi-

dent Preetamjit Baruah and Vice-President Ridit Raj Dutta have appealed the government for permanent remedial measures regarding the same. They have also asked the government to solve price rise problem and to implement Time Card system in Kaziranga for the betterment of all.

Stranded tiger creates havoc in NERIWALM area ET Correspondent Tezpur, August 2 : A tiger stranded due to the recent flood has been creating terror among the people in the NERIWALM campus at Dolabari area near here for the last a couple of days.

Sources said that the forest guards have been trying to intercept the tiger by placing cage and tranquilizing

it. However, their effort has remained failure till to the filing of this report.

The sources also informed that the stranded tiger last night attacked an inhabitant of the area. The victim identified as Samser Ali was rushed to the Kanaklata Civil Hospital here.

Noted politician, social worker, teacher passes away

Sd-/H.O.P

ral hospital in Golaghat . Today at Baruah Gaon Primary Health Centre in Golaghat angry local people created a tense situation . People in the area raised allegations against the two doctors posted in the health centre of demanding bribe from the patients and negligence of duty . However one of the doctors denied such allegations but surprisingly at last he had to return the money taken from patients as bribe in presence of the media. The angry local people alleged that the doctors do not come to the

SHG’s, Senior citizens and other dignitaries and local people were present during the inaugural function.

KJSU appeals centre and state to take remedial measure regarding flood

PRASAR BHARATI (India's Public Service Broadcaster) ALL INDIA RADIO : DIBRUGARH (M.W.529.1m/KHz567 F.M. 101.30 MHz)

ET Correspondent Golaghat, Aug 2: The new state government in Assam came to power with the message of change. The people of Assam voted for a change and thus the government was changed. But still the system is far behind for a change. The nature of the government employees remains to be the same. Negligence of duty, demanding bribe and such other things have become the common criteria for most of the government employees . Today public anger was seen at a ru-

ET Correspondent Haflong, Aug 2: With the objectives to keep Dima Hasao clean and green and to promote various tourist spots in and around the district a programme named ‘Mission Clean & Green Dima Hasao' was launched at Muolpong Haflong on August 1st, in presence of huge gatherings.

ET Correspondent Kokrajhar, Aug 2: Security forces apprehended four cadres of National Democratic Front of Boroland-Songbijit faction (NDFB-S) from Audang bazar area under Bishmuri police outpost on Tuesday in Kokrajhar.

Getting an input about presence of militant outfit cadres in the area, a joint team of police and army conducted search operation along the area and able to arrest four

cadres of the banned NDFBS militant organisation from Audang bazar.

They were identified as Monelal Brahma, Amit Kaklario alias Takla alias Lantha, Sumbu Basumtaty and Rajib Narzary alias Goldum. Two pistol, one .32 revolver, one AK type gun, seven live rounds, two hand grenades, three mobile handsets, extortion note, cash 500 were recovered from them.

They were involved with extortion like activities in the area besides making link with senior leaders of the banned NDFB-S organisation who are living in Myanmar.

Police administration has been conducting search operation against militant organisation in the region to gain healthy environment ahead Independence Day celebration, said Dr. LR Bishnoi, ADGP (BTAD) in Kokrajhar.

ET Correspondent Margherita, Aug 2: Veteran AGP leader, President of Ledo Sakha Sahitya Sabha, noted social worker of Ledo and retired headmaster of Tirapmukh LP School Bhupen Chandra Neog passed away today at Assam Medical College and Hospital,Dibrugarh.

Bhupen Chandra Neog was suffering from high blood pressure and was admitted to Private Hospital Dibrugarh but later shifted to Assam Medical College and Hospital Dibrugarh but today early morning breath his last. Bhupen Chandra Neog was associated with

many social organisations of Ledo and was popular among the masses. Bhupen Chandra Neog was a resident of Hamukjan Ledo and left behind three sons,grandson, granddaughters and a host of relatives.Many organisations of Margherita such as Margherita Journalist's Association, Baragolai Sakha Sahitya Sabha, AJYCP Margherita regional committee, AASAA Tinsukia District Committee condole the death of Bhupen Chandra Neog and conveyed their deep condolence to bereaved family members.

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

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SEWA in collaboration with Lohit alerts ASHA NVBDCP conducts free medical worker to active against imminent camp for flood victims at Lekang diarrhea outbreak ET Correspondent Namsai, Aug 2: Socio Economic Welfare Association (SEWA) in collaboration with Medical department particularly with National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) of Namsai today conducted free medical camp for the flood affected people in two different flood relief camps of Kokoni and Mahalono under Lekang circle. Altogether 110 people benefitted from the camp.

During morning hours, the team set-up medical camp at Kokoni of New Silatoo under Lekang circle where 74 people were treated with various ailments by Dr. C.M Thamoung, Dr. Sophia Shullai and Dr. Jayashree.

In the afternoon, the team visited Mahalono village relief camp and examined 35 patients with different cases.

Bishnu Rana Tezu, Aug 2: Aftermath of the flood fearing outbreak of vector borne diseases, The General Hospital Tezu under District Health Society has tightened its belt and kick started massive inoculation drive in the Lohit district to fight against the Diarrhea.

Over 43 villages in Tezu – Sunpura and 33 in Wakro would be covered under the campaign to generate awareness against the killer diseases. The team is well equipped with ORS and Zinc in a Van and reaching every doorstep to administer and aware the people about the imminent of dis-

eases. “So far no such report is found but normally after the flood diarrhea may spread its tentacle all of sudden”, says Dr S Nayil DRCHO. The forthnight campaign launched on 29th July to 11th August will cover up entire Lohit district. The ASHA workers in their respective villagers are also disseminated instruction to keep themselves alert to avoid any sorts of causalities and to contain its outbreak, informed Dr Nayil.

Meanwhile, proper hand wash method are also imparting to the student to get rid of the Diarrhea.

Awareness cum mock drill on earthquake preparedness and rescue operation held at Mani Yupia, Aug 2: Awareness cum mock drill on earthquake preparedness and rescue operation was conducted at Government Secondary School, Mani, under Doimukh Circle on today on 2nd August, 2016 by the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Papumpare (Rural), Yupia in collaboration with the 12th Bn NDRF, Doimukh.

Sub- Inspector Rahul Ranjan, 12th Bn NDRF, Doimukh while addressing the children informed that his team is ready to conduct such awareness programme in other schools and areas of the district in order to create awareness amongst the school going children and the villagers.

His team members explained the earthquake strike for few seconds and it continuing up to maximum one minute. The

NDRF personnel led by Sub-Inspector Rahul Ranjan conducted a demonstration on rescue operations & how to give First aid to the victims of disaster by involving few volunteers of the school.

Earlier, while welcoming the participants Smt Preetha Menon, DDMO, Yupia advised the students to make themselves acquainted with the Dos and Donts on earthquake & other natural calamities giving some tips on earth quake at ‘Drop Cover Hold’ for the students.

The Head Master Shri Nabam Rekom along with all teachers and staffs of the School were present in the programme and expressed his gratitude to the District Administration and NDRF for organising such type of valuable awareness programme in their school.

Besides conducting medical checkup and treatment the team also distributed essential eatables items like salt, tea, soap, and drinking wa-

ter. The supporting medical team distributed total of 160 mosquito nets to the flood victims.

DPO (NVBDCP) who is also the president of SEWA highlighted on the importance of preventive measures of mosquito borne disease during the monsoon season. He urged upon the villagers to use Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLIN) day and night to prevent from getting Malaria, dengue and JE diseases. Furthermore, he explained about the health and

hygiene particularly on Intensified Diarrhea Control Fortnight (IDCF) and spoke on the importance of hand washing and safe drinking water to prevent from diarrhea and dysentery and gastroenteritis which are very common in relief camp and post flood situation.

The medical camp was attended by SEWA team from Namsai and Lekang unit and ALISU president namely C.T Manlong, Sutlu Singphoo, Robin Borah, Nobeswar Saikia, Medical staff from Namsai and New Mohong.

DC convenes meeting on disaster preparedness ET Bureau Pangin, Aug 2: A consultative meeting on disaster management was convened by the Siang Deputy Commissioner Rahul Singh to assess and take stock of the disaster preparedness.

Addressing the officers Singh who is also Chairman of District Disaster Management Authority informed that the main objective of the meeting was to preliminary preparedness for mega mock drill on earthquake, flood, landslide, fire accident etc.

The DC urged all the members as well as all the line departments concerned to remain prepared to tackle any eventuality

that can happen anytime, anywhere. He sought suggestions from the house so that the effect of disaster could be minimized. Since incidents caused by natural disaster are unpredictable, better coordination among different departments/agencies involved in disaster management must be established, he said. All the preparations must be completed on time to deal with incidents with men and machineries. Singh also suggested inclusion of PRI leaders in the incident response system since they are well equipped and acquainted with the area for better information of the geographical landscape of the district. Taking stock of

unannounced visit to GHSS Bomdila with DDSE DW Kharma during the class hours. After visiting and interacting with the students of all the sections of C/X to XII, she was seen taking a period of C/XII science class. Incidentally, she happens to be a gold medalist in MBBS.

The DC also emphasized on stocking of food and other essential commodities including life-saving medicines, drinking water, temporary safe shelter, besides readying search and rescue team, evacuation and transportation, dissemination of warning and other important points before, during and after any disaster.

Intensified Diarrhea Control Fortnight launched in Siang

Now embarking on to improve the educational scenario of the district, DC Sonal has paid numerous unannounced visits to schools in the district. She has been instrumental in rationalizing the postings of the teachers in the NafraBomdila block. But much more remains desired which could be achieved if there is a political will.

With the district scoring as low as 43% and 53% in C/ X and XII respectively this year, it remains to be seen the sea changes that ought to be brought in the teaching-learning process, governance and administration.

Though it may seem to be a herculean task, concerted effort, team work, discipline and quality education with change in one’s mindset could go a long way in changing the educational scenario of the district.

This morning she paid an

ET Bureau Pangin, Aug 2: Intensified Diarrhea Control Fortnight (IDCF), 2016 was launched in Siang district under which various activities has been planned by the district administration. Earlier on July 27 a coordination meeting was convened by the Deputy Commissioner Rahul Singh in his office conference hall, Pangin which was attended by the members of District Health Society (DHS) including DMO Dr. R. Darung, officers of DDSE, ICDS, PHED and medical officers of CHCs, PHCs and Sub-Cen-

ters.

According to official sources, DC Singh has instructed the officers to intensify awareness on prevention of Diarrhea ensuring zero percent death of children due to Diarrhea.

Singh said that the root cause of diarrheal attacks amongst children were contaminated water, malnutrition, inadequate sanitation, poor hygiene and lack of immunization etc. Besides health officials, PRI leaders, ASHA and Anganwadi Workers should wholeheartedly cooperate the

ET Bureau New Delhi, Aug 2: Arunachal Pradesh Tourism got a major boost today when it bagged the Today’s Traveller Award 2016, organized by Gill India Group for Best Adventure Tourism Destination at the 10th Annual Today’s Traveller Awards 2016 held at Taj Palace in New Delhi.

Jigmi Choden, Additional Resident Commissioner along with Adong Moyong, Resident Tourism Officer, Arunachal Bhawan received the award on behalf of Arunachal Pradesh Tourism.

Vijay Goel, Minister of State (IC), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, who was the Chief Guest at the event, gave away the awards. He also launched the cover of the Today’s Traveller Coffee Table Book 2016 – ‘Game Changers’.

While lauding the efforts of

the Gill India Group in recognizing and acknowledging the leaders of the travel and tourism industry, he added, "We should appreciate the best in the industry, which helps to take Incredible India to the far corners of the world. We must strive to make India an all-season destination."

Apart from Arunachal Tourism, only Manipur Tourism from the rest of the north

eastern states could make its presence felt. It bagged the award for Best State for NICHE Tourism.

The award comes in the long line of various awards that the state has received in the recent past and is in recognition of the effort put in by the Department of Tourism, Government of Arunachal Pradesh to boost tourism, a major revenue earner, in the state.

Plantation programme taken up Longchang Elite Society

the inventory and resources available in the district, he asked the officers to update inventory record and organize a series of meeting and to conduct awareness campaign including workshop and mock drill cum preparatory exercises, involving student community.

DC Sonal Swaroop succeeded in streamlining and overhauling the working system of the District hospital Bomdila, Aug 2: In the recent past, just after taking over the reins of the district administration in April last, DC Sonal Swaroop succeeded in streamlining and overhauling the working system of the District hospital, Bomdila to the great relief of the patients and attendants especially coming from the outposts.

Arunachal bags best Adventure Tourism Destination Award

DHS to minimize the death ratio. They should shoulder collective responsibilities visiting all households and explain benefits of ORS, Zinc tablets and hand-washing practices and hygienic habits for good health especially in primary and middle schools. They should continuously demonstrate the way to prepare the ORS mixture, which is needed at the time of diarrhea. The DC also directed PHED to carryout proper maintenance and cleaning of all sources of drinking water.

ET Bureau Changlang, Aug 2: A road side plantation programme was undertaken by Longchang Elite Society in celebration of Vanmahotsava - 2016 on 30th July'16. 700 saplings were planted in a total 7 km stretch along Margherita Changlang Road from Thingdan (12km) to

Takengwa (Panikheti). The theme of the programme was 'CLEAN and GREEN' which aimed at instilling civic sense and importance of the environment to the future generation. The District Administration, The Deptt. Of forest and environment, PWD and BIPL company also collaborated with Longchang Elite Soci-

ety. The Dy.Commissioner, Changlang Dist., the SP, Changlang Dist., the HoD's,students, PRI members and women members planted saplings to mark the occasion. This was stated by Ngongpa Jongsam, General Secy, Longchang Elite Society, Changlang, Arunachal Pradesh through a press release.

Dc keen for change in education & health sectors ET Bureau Bomdila, Aug 2: In the recent past, just after taking over the reins of the district administration in April last, DC Sonal Swaroop succeeded in streamlining and overhauling the working system of the District hospital, Bomdila to the great relief of the patients and attendants especially coming from the outposts.

Now embarking on to improve the educational scenario of the district, DC Sonal has paid numerous unannounced visits to schools in the district. She has been instrumental in rationalizing the postings of the teachers in the NafraBomdila block. But much more remains desired which could be achieved if there is a political will.

This morning she paid an unannounced visit to GHSS Bomdila with DDSE DW Kharma during the class hours. After visiting and interacting with the students of

all the sections of C/X to XII, she was seen taking a period of C/XII science class. Incidentally, she happens to be a gold medalist in MBBS. With the district scoring as low as 43% and 53% in C/X and XII respectively this year, it remains to be seen the sea changes that ought to be

brought in the teachinglearning process, governance and administration. Though it may seem to be a herculean task, concerted effort, team work, discipline and quality education with change in one's mindset could go a long way in changing the educational scenario of the district.

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

PAGE 4

BSF seizes 6 kg Silver near IndoBangladesh Border A Staff Reporter Guwahati, Aug 2: The Border Security Force (BSF) on Monday seized nearly 6 kg Silver from near the Indo Bangladesh Border of Khurshahat in Cooch Behar (West Bengal).

On specific input provided by BSF intelligence unit, about the probability of smuggling of some precious metal, surveillance was mounted in the t a rg e t a r e a o n Monday. At about 1645 hrs, a suspect approached the target area with the consignment and tried to throw it across the border fencing, towards Bangladesh.

However, when the alert troops swooped on to the area, the suspect abandoned the consignment and fled from the spot.

The party recovered 6 kg silver in three securely packed packets, which was verified to be genuine, having on approximate cost of Rs 2.87 Lacs in the market.

E ff o r t a r e o n t o trace the suspect, besides, BSF troops of Dhubri sector seized 158 cattle heads on the night intervening of 1 or 2 Aug 2016 while these were being attempted to be smuggled out to Bangladesh through the river in border.

BSF troops are always alert to the issue of transborder crimes and illegal infiltration and are making all out efforts to prevent commission of illegal crimes despite being displaced from BOPs due to flood and other a s s o c i a t e d problems related to monsoons.

One died due to hospital negligence in Sivasagar ET Correspondent Sivasagar, Aug 2: Taking the advantage of less facilities in government hospitals, the private nursing homes are taking advantage and plundering poor people. Such an incident happened on Tuesday at Sivasagar in early hours, when a man named Mustafa Ansari (52) of Puranapatty area of Sivasagar died for not getting treatment.

According to sources, Ansari was feeling prob-

lems in respiration from early hours at 3 am on Monday and following which he was taken to Pragati Nursing Home & Hospital for treatment, but the hospital authority refuged to open gate. Then after same case was repeated in other nursing home. Relatives of Ansari took him to East Point Nursing Home, where they also refused to open the gate. After lot of request, they admitted him, but due to insufficient facilities at

the hospital Ansari died there.

There have other allegations that most of the private nursing homes in Sivasagar, are running without renewal of their licences.

According to health department sources, Pragati Nursing Home's license had expired on 24th April, Sharma Nursing Home's license was expired on 13th of July, Sampritee Hospital's licence was ex-

pired on one year ago and East Point Nursing Home's licence expired on 13th March.

After knowing it, people alleged that, these hospitals got power to play with the life of people due to unholy nexus between these nursing homes and health department. So people of Sivasagar as well as organizations like ATASU demanded a strong investigation against these nursing homes.

Eight Districts likely to Face Power Crisis Due to Shifting of 132kv Ranganadi-Ziro Transmission Line: Aalo, Aug 2: The recent heavy landslides triggered by incessant rains have caused heavy erosions at location 12 of 132kv Ranganadi-Ziro Transmission Line which delivers power to the districts of Lower/Upper Subansisri, Kra Daadi, Kurung Kumey, East/West/Upper Siang and some parts of Pamupare. The Chief Manager Shri Nani Kojin, Power Grid Corporation

of India Ltd Ziro has intimated on likely shutdown of the said transmission line for at least around 15days from the date of notice to be issued shortly.

During this shutdown period, all feeder districts are to make alternative power arrangements from their own ends. The districts may electricity problem without any intimation in the event of casualty like collapse of the transmis-

sion tower due to the unpredictable bad weather condition despite best effort being made by the agency to shift tower.

This tower no. 12 located at Hoj-Potin area of 132kv Ranganadi-Ziro transmission line was in vulnerable condition long before due to road widening activities carried out by PWD (Highway) for the construction of Trans A r u n a c h a l - h i g h w a y.

Meanwhile restoration job is going on in a war footing manner for immediate shifting of tower to safer location to avoid power interruption to eight districts of the state.

The Corporation has sought the cooperation of the people and administration to bear with inconveniences provide all necessary administrative supports in case of any emergency needs.

Moyong takes stock of post-flood situation

State Commission for Protection of Child Rights denies report published in the news magazine outlook A Staff Reporter Guwahati, Aug 2 : The Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has outrightly denied a news report published in the news magazine outlook, under the heading Govt Threatens To Sack Assam Child Rights Top Official. "It has come to our notice through various media reports in regard to a news item published in Outlook, on 8th August 2016. We would like to inform you that the Commission has not received

any threat either from National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) or the State Govt. Instead, the Commission puts on records that National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the Govt. has always been supportive and cooperated with the Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (ASCPCR) to put forward the main issues concerning child rights protection and promotion in the state.," said a press release issued by the Assam government.

According to reports, her flight was halted at the airport as the

ging. The students union organised street plays in three prestigious higher educational institutions in Golaghat . A team of young students who took part in the street plays to make aware the student community against ragging. The street plays were performed in HPB Girls College , Golaghat Commerce College and Debraj Roy College . The authorities of the three colleges appreciated such initiative of Golaghat Regional Students Union .

Minister Pramila steps to divert river water in Indo-Bhutan border Contd. from Page 1

Brahma visited the area on Tuesday accompanied by officials from Water Resources department along the Indo-Bhutan border area where few days back rain water from Bhutan site created havoc floods eroded large areas of the villagers damaging several properties.

Brahma initiated the river diversion work on Saralbhanga River with pitching boulder to harvest water for the villagers of greater Saralpara, Ultpani area.

Hundreds of villagers dedicated their work to divert water from the river,

which was affected badly in recent flood along IndoBhutan border villages.

Brahma said, government has been initiated to divert river water from Saralbhanga River so that citizens could be availed waters for their livelihood. She said that she has visited the flood sites and took stock about damage and causes in the recent havoc floods in the area.

Minister Brahma also visited at Jharbari Banglajhora flood affected area where Saralbhanga River washed away several properties. She visited Banargaon Taktara village under Kokrajhar which was flooded in recent floods.

Contd. from Page 1

ET Bureau Pasighat, Aug 2: Pasighat MLA Kaling Moyong accompanied by EEs of WRD, PWD, RWD, Mondal President Obit Tamuk and party members yesterday visited flood ravaged areas and took stock of post flood situation. Moyong was shocked by seeing the quantum of damages and apprised the villagers that 100 Mtrs over

Poglek and 80 Mtrs long composite bridges over Tolon rivers would be constructed soon. A suitable scheme for has already been submitted to the government. Executing agency should maintain quality and long-lasting bridges whenever necessary fund is made available to them, he suggested. Concerned over the serious devastation made by

the nature's fury in the areas, he appealed the local people including PRIs to extend their fullest cooperation and volunteered services to the executing agency during restoration process.

The MLA during his daylong visit included WRC fields in Moruk areas witnessed how the notorious rivers severely damaged

Congress sources said Gandhi cancelled her planned visit to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in the evening to offer prayers.

Congress president was unable to travel back to Delhi. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Varanasi to meet his mother.

Reports also said that an air ambulance is being sent from Delhi for Sonia Gandhi.

ET Correspondent Golaghat, Aug 2: Ragging which has been spoiling many lives of meritorious students . For this social disease of Ragging teenage students who get admission in many prestigious institutions on the basis of their merits later had to leave the institutions and sometimes even study . So to prevent such type of disease in the society today All Assam Students Union Golaghat Regional Unit took out an awareness drive against rag-

Constant erosion posing serious threat to Rohmoria

paddy fields, horticulture gardens, fishponds, standing crops, irrigation channels and human habitations in vast areas. Construction of the said bridges would provide better road communication connecting three constituencies namely Pasighat, Ruksin and Nari in addition to West Siang District, expressed hope the MLA.

Sonia Gandhi being treated at airport; Rahul Gandhi may fly to Varanasi

Varanasi, Aug 2: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday suddenly took ill during a roadshow in the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Anti Ragging Drive in Golaghat

aking the battle to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's turf, Sonia Gandhi earlier today led a massive roadshow in Varanasi kicking off the party's campaign for the 2017 Assembly Elections in Uttar Pradesh where it is out of power for nearly three

decades.

69-year-old Gandhi, however, had to cut short the roadshow towards the fag end of the eightkm march route this evening after she fell ill as it wound through the streets of the temple town for nearly three hours.

The sources said that Gandhi was suffering from viral fever but had decided to go ahead with the roadshow as she was not inclined to cancel it at the last minute.

Ghanshyam Srivastava, a doctor who attended to her, said she was feeling dehydrated and running high blood pressure (88172) as well as fever. She was administered Electral and told to rest.

Modi prayed for Gandhi's quick recovery and good health.

The roadshow, which continued for about three hours, was halted for some time at the Lohurabir roundabout near the fag end of the roadshow from the Circuit House to Englishiya Line. The roadshow later proceeded without Gandhi.

The sources said Gandhi complained of uneasiness and after taking rest for some time, she left the area.

Thousands of Congress supporters and workers took part in the roadshow.

It was Gandhi's first visit to Varanasi after Modi became

Prime Minister in May 2014.

The march began with Gandhi garlanding the statue of BR Ambedkar at the Circuit House and the marchers crisscrossed lanes and bylanes of the temple town.

Gandhi, who was initially travelling in a car and later moved to a vehicle with an open sunroof, waved at the crowd which cheered and raised slogans against the Modi government.

She came out of her vehicle several times to accept the greetings of the cheering supporters, including groups of Muslim women. As the roadshow passed through several localities, rose petals were showered on Gandhi and her cavalcade from adjoining buildings. Placards carried by hundreds of workers also had the same slogan written on them.

Besides the party's chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit, AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, state party chief Raj Babbar and senior leaders Pramod Tiwari and Sanjay Singh accompanied Gandhi.

Babbar expressed the hope there will be a "miracle" in favour of his party in the elections.

“Due to recent erosion in Bogoritolia Village 4 sq km from agriculture were gobbled up by Brahmaputra River. The Historical Tamuli Ali road which connects Dibrugarh, Tinsukia is posing a serious threat due to constant erosion, the river Brahmaputra is 10 km away from the road,’’ Binod Kedia, the chief adviser of Flood Erosion Resistance Struggle Forum.

He said that Garapora Xatra which was gobbled up by the mighty river in 2006.

“Till now 38 revenue villages, Tea gardens, primary schools, one sericulture firm were eroded into the river,’’ Kedia added.

“If the erosion continues then six to seven villages under Rohmoria village will be gone under water soon. Due to constant threat of erosion more than 25,000 people have been shifted to other places,’’ said Ganan Gogoi, a resident of Bogoritolia.

The Flood Erosion Resistance Struggle Forum, which is spearheading the Save Rohmoria campaign, has urged the concerned department to take immediate step to control the growing erosion in region.

“Rohmoria Higher Secondary school is posing a threat of being wiped out in Brahmaputra River because it’s only 100 mts

away from the mighty river. Rohmoria police outpost has bee n shifted to safer place due to erosion,’’ Gogoi said.

In 1990, the erosion started in Rohmoria, which causes devastation for the people of the locality. “In 1999 they stopped the functioning of Oil India’s drilling station at Rohmoria but later it was open in 2006 but again it was stopped because of erosion threat,’’ Kedia said.

Binod Kedia said that C. Lal, senior Commissioner of Flood management project, Water resource, New Delhi said that they have no sufficient fund to release for Rohmoria.

Kedia added when we urged the department told us that if Assam Government asks us to provide fund for Rohmoria then under special fund programme they can releases fund for Rohmoria.

“Recently we have met Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and urged him to take immediate step to control the erosion at Rohmoria,’’ he added.

However, last year the government sanctioned Rs 78.48 crore under the Integrated Flood and River Bank Erosion Management for laying geo bags on this stretch on the remaining 6.4km from Gorpora to Bogoritolia but the amount has not releases yet.

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

REGION

PAGE 5

Dy CM spells out details of Sajiwa jail incident Dispatch fuel by Imphal, Aug 2 : Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam who is also in charge of Home Department today said that the three inmates killed in the brawl were allowed to stay together in a cell on their request that they would like to learn Indian and Saudi Arabian languages from each other since July 23.

Briefing media persons at his Old Secretariat office today, the Deputy Chief Minister said the three looked quite jolly when they visited the gymnasium together. When other inmates staying in different barracks of the same sector came out on hearing the noise of the fighting,

Dy CM spells out details of Sajiwa jail incident Thangminglen was found A combined team of 5th trol the volatile situation dead and an uproar ensued. IRB, Imphal East Police and they even fired several and Jail staff tried to con- rounds in the air. Security

PPF offers to claim corpses to perform last rites, rituals Imphal, Aug 2: The Pangal (Manipuri Muslim) Political Forum (PPF) has appealed to the Government authorities to let them claim the corpses of the two purported Saudi Arabian Nationals who were killed in a brawl inside Sajiwa Central Jail.

Seeking permission to bury the corpses of the two foreign Nationals in accordance to Islamic customs, the PPF today submitted an application to the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister, Additional DGP (Prisons), Special Secretary (Home), SP (Prison), Sajiwa Central Jail and the Manipur State Minority Commission Chairperson.

Speaking to media persons at Manipur Press Club here this afternoon, PPF spokes-

man MI Khan said that no country including Saudi Arabia has so far offered to claim the corpses of the two foreign Nationals. Offering to bury the two corpses in accordance to Islamic rites and rituals, MI Khan said that they would preserve their graveyards so that anyone who would like to investigate in future may do so.

Informing that PPF is prepared to perform the last rites of the two deceased foreign Nationals, MI Khan appealed to the State Government to hand over the two corpses to them. He also appealed to the Government not to dispose the corpses as unclaimed bodies. The two forieng Nationals were lynched by jail inmates on Saturday. (Agencies)

Consultation after Bill is fully prepared Imphal, Aug 2 : Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam has stated that the Government consulted senior lawyers of the Supreme Court and the process of drafting a new Bill in place of the Protection of Manipur Peoples (PMP) Bill 2015 is nearing completion.

Talking to reporters at his office chamber today, Gaikhangam said that ahead of the monsoon session of the Manipur State Assembly which would be held in the last part of the current month, another meeting of all political parties would be held to discuss the new draft Bill. He further informed

that the Chief Minister convened a meeting of his Council of Ministers this evening to discuss the draft Bill.

It is reported that the Council of Ministers would hold another meeting tomorrow and deliberate on the same Bill.

Through unofficial channel, the State Government has been working to come to an understanding with the Churachandpur JAC. All necessary measures would be initiated to bring a consensus of all stake holders on the new draft Bill, Gaikhangam asserted.(Agencies)

Prabhu lays foundation for Dhansiri-Zubza line in Nagaland Dimapur, Aug 2: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Monday laid the foundation stone of a 90.5km Broad Gauge (BG) line connecting Dhansiri-Zubza in Nagaland.

The new BG line will break off from the Dhansiri rail station in Assam's Karbi-Anglong and pass over the Dhansiri River before covering a distance of less than 20 km through the plains of Dhansiripar sub-division, snaking up the hills from Shoxuvi to culminate at Zubza in Kohima district.

"More than geography, it's about bringing together different aspirations of the people and to connect the capital of Nagaland to Delhi," Prabhu said at the foundation-laying ceremony at Dimapur station.

Prabhu said the government is in the process of ensuring development of northeast states at a faster pace . Admitting that the northeast has lacked development for too long, the Railway Minister assured that the project would be completed on time. He also said that the railways will use high-end technology for monitoring the project.

"A comprehensive plan on how to meet the aspirations of local people of northeast region will be finalised and soon it will be presented to all the chief ministers," Prabhu said.

Referring to a package to promote tourism in the northeast

states, including Sikkim, Prabhu assured that the railways would provide the infrastructure which can create wealth in the region.

Nagaland Governor P.B. Acharya regretted that despite abundance of natural beauty and resources, the state does not have proper connectivity.

Harping on the potentials of handloom, handicraft, agriculture and horticulture, Acharya said connectivity could bring vibrancy to the economy of the state. Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang said the new railway project in the state would connect the state's commercial capital Dimapur with the state capital Kohima.

Zeliang said the railway line would greatly ease the movement of goods and passengers.

He assured that the state government would do its bit in assisting smooth implementation of the project The Chief Minister also apprised the Railway Minister on the bigger railway project initiated for Nagaland to run from Dimapur to Tizit He requested the Railway Minister to revive the abandoned Dhansiri-Karong railway project Zeliang made an appeal to the people of Nagaland, especially the land owners, to cooperate with the railways, and assist the workers. (Agencies)

forces fired tear gas shells into the cell where the brawl occurred but the two foreign Nationals did not come out.

In the meantime, it was detected that the steel bars of the particular cell were connected to live wire.

Even as Jail staff tried to disconnect the live wire using a pole, the two foreign Nationals snatched the pole.

They were attacked by other inmates and were killed, Gaikhangam recounted. Even as the State Government wrote to the Union Home Ministry to initiate due process for deportation of the two purported Saudi Arabian Nationals on April 2, 2014, there has been no response till date.

After the arrival of the OC of Heingang police station, the padlock which kept the cell closed was broken by firing into it at around 4.45 am. In the next moment, the two foreign Nationals ran out and jumped into a pond located inside the sector.

With the Imphal East DC already directed to conduct Magisterial Inquiry, the State Government has informed both the Union Home Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs about the incident, Gaikhangam conveyed.

(Agencies)

Govt revokes Doctors refutes allegation 2009 land deal with UCIL Imphal, Aug 02: Dr L Subash of Thoubal district hospital has refuted the allegation of negligence on his part in the death of a newly born infant in the hospital on July 30. Speaking to reporters at Manipur Press Club, Dr Subash said that Soibam (O) Thoibicha (18) of Tekcham Maning Leikai gave birth to her first child through normal delivery at around 4.20 pm.

Chief Minister Mukul Sangma in discussion with his deputy RC Laloo and others after a Cabinet meeting in city on Monday.

Shillong, Aug 02: The State Government, as expected, has decided to revoke the August 24, 2009 decision of the State cabinet, headed by DD Lapang, to lease out a plot of land measuring 422 hectares in South West Khasi Hills for 30 years to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to carry out pre-mining activities.

The decision to this effect was taken at a Cabinet meeting, held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, here on Monday. Speaking to media persons after the meeting, the Chief Minister said that the Cabinet directed the concerned department to

communicate the Cabinet decision to UCIL. Terming the decision as a historic one, Sangma said that Monday's decision would mean that any initiative to carry out any premining activity, which is precursor to uranium mining, should not be done without taking the people of the state on board.

Slamming the UCIL of going ahead with the EOI, Sangma said that UCIL was given enough time to take all measures for taking the people of the state on board.

He also said that the EOI floated by the UCIL was not confined to pre-mining activities.(Agencies)

Govt hikes teachers' salary Shillong, Aug 02: The State Cabinet has decided to enhance the salary of over 3,000 teachers working in adhoc secondary and higher secondary schools in the state.

Speaking to media persons after a cabinet meeting here on Monday, Deputy Chief Minister in charge Education, RC Laloo said that the cabinet agreed to enhance the grant in-aid to various managing committees (SMCs) of adhoc secondary and higher secondary schools, which will be made effective immediately.

According to Laloo, now the salaries to be paid by the SMCs should not be less than Rs 20,000 for secondary school teachers, Rs 24, 000 for higher secondary school teachers and Rs 22, 000 for science teachers. Earlier teachers of secondary, higher secondary and science sections were drawing Rs 10, 000, Rs 11,000 and Rs 12, 000 respectively.

There are 2163 teachers working in 380 secondary schools, 434 teachers in 70 higher secondary

schools and 611 science teachers in 610 schools.

New appointments: In another decision, the state cabinet also approved the appointment of two assistant teachers in commerce and business study in Pine Mount School, Shillong under 3F. Laloo said that the advertisement in this connection had already been floated and interview was conducted on April 12 this year.

The two teachers for the posts would first be given appointment under 3F and later their services will be regularized by the MPSC. Agitation: The Joint Action Committee of All Teachers' Association of Meghalaya (JACATAM) will hold a rally on August 5 at 11 am. The decision was taken on the last day of the three-day agitation on Friday. The JACATAM is protesting against the alleged indifferent attitude of the State government towards its demand for provincialization of services of over 14,000 teachers of 4500 ad hoc, deficit and government aided schools in the State.(Agencies)

Refuting the claim of Thoibicha's mother-in-law, Dr Subash said that the baby boy cried at the time of his birth and he was completely normal. After keeping the infant in the warmer for some time, he was handed over to Thoibicha's family, Dr Subash said and added

that there was no visible complicacy at that time.

Saying that Thoibicha's mother-in-law even gave blessings to the staff of the hospital when she received her grandson, Dr Subash said that the hospital staff advised the patient's party to breast feed the infant after some time. Dr Subash said that he returned home after asking the doctors on emergency duty to do the needful.

However, to his surprise, he received a call from the hospital about the infant's death at around 6.05 pm, he said.

Now, post mortem report can only tell how and why the infant died two hours after his birth, Dr Subash said. (Agencies)

train, Tripura asks Railways

Dispatch fuel by train, Tripura asks Railways Agartala, Aug 2: In view of severe fuel crisis in Tripura due to disruption of vehicular movement on damaged NH-8, state government has demanded dispatch of fuel by rail as it has come to the broad gauge map of the country following flagging off a train between here and Delhi on Sunday.

"We have submitted a memorandum to the Railway Minister on Sunday charting out eight demands including dispatch of fuel.

It seems he is taking very pro-active role to meet our demands. He immediately directed the rail officers to discuss the matter with IOC. Later the officials of the rail and IOC met in the state guest house," Transport Minister Manik Dey said on Tuesday.

The vehicular movement through the National Highway 8 was seriously affected for the last three months due to damage of a

portion at Karimganj in Assam following incessant rain and waterlogging and the state was facing acute crisis of fuel.

Dey said the other demands include introduction of four trains within Tripura to connect Agartala with Dharmanagar, the northernmost town in the state, direct train from here to Chennai and other big cities of the country. The rail minister on Sunday announced that a direct train between Agartala and Kolkata would be introduced this month.

Dey also demanded to include Tripura in the TransAsian rail network. After the Trans-Asian railway network is established Tripura can be included with the network if 257 km rail track is laid from Tripura's Jawharnagar in Dhalai district with Kalay of Myanmar through neighbouring Mizoram s Darlon, Dey said.(Agencies)

KHADC no to road project NOC Shillong, Aug 2: Amid mounting pressure, the ruling PDF in the KHADC played it safe during the crucial meeting of pro and antiroad project groups by declaring that NOCs will not be issued for the NongstoinR a n g b l a n g - Wa h k a j i Domiasiat and MawthabahWahkaji-PhlangdiloinRanikor road projects. The Council on the contrary decided to allocate Rs 20 crore for the repairing of the roads much to the dismay of the pro-road groups.

Speaking to media persons after the meeting KHADC CEM, PN Syiem said, "We have decided to repair the existing road for better connectivity in the area and Rs 20 crore from the Special Assistance Scheme of Rs 133 crore has been earmarked for it. At the same time we will write to the Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) to express our opposition to pre-mining activities."

Syiem was optimistic that the allocation of Rs 20 crore will relieve the hardships faced by the people. The

repair work will start from Nongstoin (10 km) under Nongstoin division and the remaining 33 km is under Mawkyrwat and other divisions.

"Out of the Rs 20 crore, Rs 15 crore will be sanctioned for road repair and Rs 5 crore for new approach road to villages which will be identified," he said. KSU president Daniel Khyriem expressed satisfaction at the decision of the PDF and stated that the KHADC should now write to the Central and State governments to cancel tenders floated for pre-mining activities.

"The KHADC should stand firm on its decision," he said.

The KSU has been opposing the road projects which according to it were meant for facilitating uranium mining in the State. The Union had even held a strong protest outside the KHADC office on Thursday prompting the Council to call for an urgent meeting on the issue on Monday.

The secretary of the Joint Action Committee on Two Lane Road NongstoinMawthabah, West and South West Khasi Hills, Zandy Myrthong meanwhile expressed surprise at the decision of the Council and said that a public meeting will be convened on the issue.

"This is an attempt to divide the Khasi community and the JAC rejects the decision.

We demanded the NOC only for the road project and not for uranium mining," he asserted. Earlier, as a precautionary measure, security was beefed up on KHADC premises in the wake of the recent act of vandalism in the complex by certain unidentified miscreants.

Commenting on his meeting with National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) in Delhi, Syiem said that it is wrong to perceive that if the Council does not consider the D o m i a s i a t - Wa h k a j i Mawthabah road project, all

the schemes will be rejected.

Meanwhile, reacting to the state government's determination to implement the road project as revealed by a notification issued by the government as per provisions of a Central ordinance 2014, Syiem said, "We oppose this agenda of the government as it affects the people at large."

The State government had as per powers conferred under Section 10 A(e) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014 and in public interest, had exempted the project 'upgradation of 2 lane of Nongstoin-DomiasiatMawthabah via Wahkaji road' from the purview of public hearing, and social impact assessment among others However, the proposed amendment under Section 10 A (e) did not materialize as it was opposed in the Parliament by the Congress.(Agencies)

Wasnik, Joshi hold one-to-one Shillong, Aug 02: Contrary to all the hype surrounding reports of mounting dissidence in the State unit of the Congress, most of the MLAs and ministers who had one-to-one meeting with AICC observer Mukul Wasnik and Meghalaya in charge, CP Joshi claimed that the interaction focused on ways and means to strengthen the party further ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections.

The one-to-one meetings took place at the office chamber of MPCC president DD Lapang at Congress Bhavan, where both Wasnik and Joshi, who had apparently come to quell the rising dissidence in the State Congress, listened to each MLA and took down notes.

Speaking to media persons here on Monday, Urban Affairs minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said that the oneto-one meeting was a simple and healthy exercise

to know the views of the MLAs and ministers ahead of the elections. "My reading was that they are here to find out if we are ready for polls," Lyngdoh added.

Reacting to a query about the issue of leadership change, she said that the Congress is a party, which listens to its high command, and lets it decide on all matters. Former BJP leader and incumbent Congress MLA AL Hek too said that the issue of strengthening the party was discussed in the meeting.

"In a big family, there can always be misunderstandings but it is not a big issue," he said about the reported rumblings within the party.

He added that if there are any differences, the party men can always patch up.

"The party will have to work together if it wants to win the elections in 2018," Hek said while denying that there was any discussion on

the issue of leadership in the meeting.

Reacting to a query about the BJP's offer to him to join the party, he said that anybody can invite him to be part of any political party but he would continue to work for the Congress.

Mylliem MLA RV Lyngdoh too dismissed any discussion over the leadership issue with the visiting Congress leaders. "When there is no issue of leadership, why should they seek our opinion," he retorted.

MPCC President DD Lapang, however, refused to speak on the matter and asked media persons to talk to the "big bosses".

Veteran Congress leader Salseng Marak also refused to reveal the details of the meeting saying that it was a confidential matter and he would again meet the AICC leaders on Tuesday morning. Another senior leader

RC Laloo said the one-toone discussion was like an interview and he thinks he will pass this one.

Senior Congress leader and Cabinet minister Prestone Tynsong also said that the meeting was all about preparing for the 2018 Assembly elections. Meanwhile, unlike an earlier occasion, the one-to-one meetings saw almost full attendance from party MLAs and MDCs. Several MLAs had skipped the meeting with CP Joshi the last time round.

Prestone Tynsong who was in Bangalore came all the way for the meeting and KHADC CEM P N Syiem, who was busy with a meeting in the Council, would call on the AICC leaders on Tuesday. The AICC leaders would also meet the block and district Congress functionaries besides the youth leaders on Tuesday.(Agencies)

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Bill in LS to provide transgenders separate identity

PM asks young IAS officers to be sensitive to surroundings

New Delhi, Aug 2 : A bill seeking to empower the transgender community by providing them a separate identity and putting in place a mechanism to punish those who exploit them was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016, seeks to define a transgender person and prohibits discrimination against them.

It also confers the right upon transgender persons to be recognised as such and also grants them right to "selfperceived" gender identity.

N K Premchandran of RSP opposed the introduction of the bill by Social Justice Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot saying a similar private member's bill passed by the Rajya Sabha is pending in the lower house.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan ruled that while the two bills may have similar provisions the one introduced by the government is different. The bill also provides for a grievance redress mechanism in each establishment to ensure the rights of transgenders are protected and they are insulated from any sort of harassment or discrimination.

Babbar hopes for 'miracle' in favour of Cong in UP Varanasi, Aug 2 : Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar today expressed hope that there will be a "miracle" in favour of his party in the upcoming assembly election in the state.

"The people of Uttar Pradesh have always been springing surprises - be it 2004, 2007, 2012 or 2017 - this time they are going to do a miracle in favour of Congress," he said.

Babbar is here to take part in Congress president Sonia Gandhi's road show in Varansi, the Lok Sabha constituency Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents. Responding to questions from mediapersons if road shows and other programmes would help the party at the hustings, he said, "Rest assured...we are among the people...Sonia is here to have darshan and take blessings of Baba Vishwanath in this holy month of Shravan."

This is the third major programme of the party in the past few days after "27 saal-UP behal" DelhiKanpur bus yatra and Rahul Gandhi's interactive session with booth level workers in Lucknow. Earlier, Sonia arrived here to a rousing reception by party workers for a six-kmlong road show.

Her cavalcade was accompanied by 5,000 strong contingent of motorcyclists from Lal Bahadur Shastri Babatpur airport to the circuit house. Huge banners and buntings have been put up by party to make the roadshow successful and launch the poll campaign in the eastern region of the poll-bound state.

BJP did not fare very well in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh in the last assembly election and Congress hopes to take advantage make inroads. BJP, which swept the 2014 national election in the state winning 71 of its 80 Lok Sabha seats, hopes to extend that victory to the 2017 UP assembly elections.(PTI)

The measure provides for a jail term from at least six months to a maximum of two years with a fine for those found guilty of of using transgenders for bonded labour or begging. Also, those who deny them any basic right or force them out of their homes or villages will be handed down similar punishment.

According to the 2011 Census, India has 6 lakh people belonging to the transgender community.

The community is among the most marginalised communities in the country because they don't fit into the categories of gender of 'men' or 'women'. They face problems ranging from social exclusion and discrimination to lack of education and medical facilities, and unemployment.

The private member's bill moved by Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva was passed by the Upper House on April 24, 2015. This was for the first time in 45 years that a private member's Bill was passed by the House. The government had then assured the House it would bring its own bill in Lok Sabha after wider consultations.(PTI)

New Delhi, Aug 2 : Be sensitive to the circumstances and surroundings to be able to effectively connect with the people. This was the message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to new IAS officers whose batch met him here on Tuesday.

Addressing the IAS officers of the 2014 batch at the inaugural session of Assistant Secretaries, he also asked them to work towards technology upgradation in the working of the government.

He told them that they had a great opportunity to enhance their skills and learn-

PM asks young IAS officers to be sensitive to surroundings ing, far beyond what they had imbibed during their Modi asked the young offictraining so far. ers to use the next three

PAGE 6

months to add value to their own skill-sets, and also attempt to add value to the working of the departments they had been attached with, a PMO statement said. The Prime Minister urged the officers not to be overawed by hierarchy and to be frank and fearless in their interaction with senior officers during the next three months of their attachment as Assistant Secretaries to the Union Government, the statement said. Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh and senior government officers were present on the occasion. (PTI)

Denied Maha Council entry despite pass: Kanhaiya Mumbai, Aug 2 : Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar today claimed he was denied entry to the Maharashtra Legislative Council despite having a valid pass. "I wanted to see the discussion over separate statehood for Vidarbha in the Legislative Council and the time allotted to me was be-

tween 12 and 1 pm. Despite reaching at about 12.20 pm, the security guards kept dilly dallying and did not allow me to enter within the stipulated time," he told reporters here.

He described the incident as a "fall of democracy" and claimed that the BJPled government was "anti-citizen." Mean-

while, despite Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' assurance to the Assembly that there was no proposal before the state government for a separate statehood for Vidarbha, Opposition parties in the Council refused to let the House function and demanded that the CM propose an "Akhand Maharashtra" resolution.

Panel Chairman Neelam

GST Bill amendments circulated, RS to take it up on Wednesday

GST Bill amendments circulated, RS to take it up on Wednesday New Delhi, Aug 2 : The government has circulated official amendments to the GST bill to drop 1 per cent additional tax and include a definite provision in the statute for compensating states for revenue loss for 5 years as it gears up to discuss the long-pending bill in the Rajya Sabha tomorrow.

Under the modified provisions of GST Constitutional Amendment Bill circulated among the members today, GST Council will be required to establish a mechanism for adjudication of disputes, which could arise between the Centre and states or among states themselves.

Gorhe then directed the House leader Chandrakant Patil to ask the CM to make a statement in the Council as well. Earlier in the day, Fadnavis told the state Assembly that he was the Chief Minister of "Akhand Maharashtra" adding it was not right to discuss an issue which is The 2014 bill authorised not pending before the GST Council to decide upon the modalities for House. (PTI) resolution of disputes. With these official amendments, the government has partially met the demands of the Congress party which has been blocking the bill in the Rajya Sabha. One of the three demands of the Congress was to do away with

Anandiben quit due to social Kashmir: Curfew, protest revolution in Gujarat: Lalu

shutdown continues

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav New Delhi, Aug 2: A day after Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel offered to resign from her post, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday held the ongoing "social revolution" in Gujarat responsible for her stepping down.

"Gujarat CM resigned due to social revolution going on in Gujarat. Dejected and deprived sections in Gujarat have made their discontent known," Lalu wrote on microblogging website Twitter.

Accusing the Gujarat government of using media and PR firms to project a positive image of the state and not paying heed to the underlying discontent of the people, Lalu said sponsored advertisements "cannot shut

mouths".

"Protests in Gujarat have proved that sponsored Media and PR can be used to promote oneself, degrade others and brainwash minds but not to shut mouths," he said.

Patel called upon the BJP leadership to "relieve" her from her present responsibilities before November in "keeping with the party's tradition of leaders who turn 75 vacating their posts".

Currently, the western state is in the centre of political row over incidents of atrocities against Dalits.

Patel was appointed as the chief minister of Gujarat after Prime Minister Narendra Modi vacated the post in 2014. The Hardik Patel-led Patidar agitation was also one of the low points of her tenure. (Agencies)

NGT nod to registration of 10 diesel vehicles New Delhi, Aug 2: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday cleared the decks for registration of 10 new diesel vehicles of Delhi Fire department which are conforming to BSIV emission norms. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar granted the relief to the fire department after it was informed that the department has scrapped 66 old diesel vehicles which were more than 10years-old.

"We permit the 10 vehicles of the Fire department to be registered by the Delhi RTO only after certificate of condemning and dismantling of old diesel vehicles is produced," the bench said.

The tribunal's order came after advocate Tarunvir Singh Khehar, appearing for Delhi government, informed the bench that the fire department has scrapped 66 of its old diesel vehicles and bought 10 new diesel vehicles which are BSIV compliant.

Recently, the NGT had allowed 112 fire-fighting diesel vehicles, more than 10-years-old, to ply on the roads of Delhi but directed the department to take immediate steps to replace the old vehicles. It had also directed

the fire department to either condemn or send such old vehicles outside the city where air dispersion is much higher and vehicular density is less.

The Fire department had approached the green panel seeking registration of its new vehicles as the tribunal had last year banned the registration of new diesel vehicles as well as re-registration after 10 years.

Later, the Supreme Court had also banned registration of diesel-run SUVs and cars having engine capacity beyond 2000cc in Delhi and National Capital Region.

Due to this, the transport department was not registering the newly-procured vehicles, which conform to BS-IV norms and not re-registering the old vehicles, the fire department said. In a jolt to diesel car owners in the national capital, the Tribunal had directed the Delhi government to cancel the registration of all diesel-powered vehicles which are more than 10 years old from plying in the city. Later, the tribunal had clarified that such deregistration of 15 to 10 years old diesel vehicles in the national capital would be carried out in a phased manner.(Agencies)

Srinagar, Aug 2: Authorities continued curfew and restrictions on Tuesday as Kashmir remained shut for the 25th consecutive day.

Police said the curfew would continue in some areas of south Kashmir while restrictions under section 144 of the CrPc (Criminal Procedure Code) will remain in force in Srinagar city and other districts.

the 1 per cent additional manufacturing tax.

On the demand for a Supreme Court judge-headed panel for resolving GST disputes, the official amendments say that the GST Council will establish a mechanism for solving disputes. With regard to the demand for putting a GST rate cap in the Constitution, the government has not mentioned anything in the official amendments.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, at a meeting with his state counterparts last week, promised to keep the incidence of tax low while safeguarding the revenue of the states. Jaitley has been meeting leaders of Congress and other parties, including SP, BJD, TMC and RJD, to build a consensus on the passage of the long pending indirect tax reform bill in the Rajya Sabha. It was approved by the Lok Sabha in May 2015.(PTI)

Electronic snooping: India raises concerns with US

Overnight protests occurred in Shopian district. Despite clashes at some places on Monday, some semblance of normal activities of life was noticed in parts of Srinagar city as private vehicles and pedestrian movement was seen almost after three weeks.

tive effort to reach out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Traffic on both the Jammu-Srinagar and Srinagar Jammu national highways resumed during the night.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who interacted with members of the civil society in north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Monday, appealed for a collec-

Train services, educational institutions, banks, post offices and government offices except essential services like health, water supply, electricity, food sup-

Authorities continued curfew and restrictions on Tuesday

plies, police and fire services are shut here for the last 24 days.

Officially imposed curfew and protest shutdown called by the separatists thr ough weekly protest calendars have crippled life in Kashmir since July 9, a day after Hizbul commander, Burhan Wani's death in a gunfight.(Agencies)

New Delhi, Aug 2 : The government today said it had raised its concerns with the US authorities over the reported snooping on Indian electronic communications by some American agencies.

"The government has raised its concerns with the US side, including at senior levels, on the reported authorisation given to enti-

ties of the US government to communications emanating from India. The US has noted that it fully respects and understands the feeling expressed by India in this regard," Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. He was asked about the details of reported snooping by American agencies. (PTI)

'Sacrificing scapegoat won't help BJP'

12 people killed by dengue so far this year

12 people killed by dengue so far this year

New Delhi, Aug 02: Dengue has so far claimed 12 lives this rainy season as about 8,000 cases were reported in the country, with Karnataka registering five deaths, the government said on Tuesday. Kerala and Odisha have registered maximum number of cases with 2,252 and 2,171 incidents respectively.

Arunachal Sikkim, Mizoram,

Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland,

Tripura, Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have not reported a single dengue case in June and July.

In a written response to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Faggan Singh Kulaste said during the current rainy reason (June and July), a total of 7,870 dengue cases have been reported.

"A video conferencing was taken with the state health ministers and health secretaries of 11 states to review progress of vector controlling activities and preparedness for prevention and control of dengue, malaria on July 12. "Two review meetings have been convened by the Health and Family Welfare Minister (J P Nadda) on the preparedness for dengue in the National Capital with the Health Minister of Delhi, secretary (Health and Family Welfare), mayors of Municipal Corporation of Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Council and other senior functionaries on April 29 and July 11," the minister said. Kulaste said a user friendly app "India Fights Dengue" was launched by Nadda on April 7 and states have been requested to declare dengue as notifiable disease. (Agencies)

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi New Delhi, Aug 2: A day after Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel offered to resign, Congress VicePresident Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying "13 years of Modi rule" were responsible for "Gujarat burning".

In a tweet, Rahul Gandhi said: "13 years of Modi rule, not 2 years of Anandiben are responsible

for Gujarat burning. Sacrificing the scapegoat won't save the BJP." Ending months of speculation, Gujarat's first woman Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on Monday offered to quit from her post keeping with the "party's tradition" of leaders who turn 75 vacating their posts. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat for 13 years before being elected the country's Prime Minister in 2014.(Agencies)

Petrol bomb hurled at J-K minister's house Srinagar, Aug 2: A petrol bomb was hurled at the house of Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Naeem Akhtar in Parraypora area of the city last night, police said on Tuesday. No one was hurt in the attack that was carried out by unidentified persons.

"A petrol bomb was hurled at the residence of the Education Minister at Parraypora late last night, causing damage to the main gate of the house," a po-

lice official said.

Akhtar and his wife were not present in the premises as they have shifted to high security Gupkar Road after the PDPBJP government was sworn in March last year. A petrol bomb was also hurled at the office of Road and Buildings department at SDA colony in Bemina area of the city last night, the official said.

He said no one was hurt in the incident.(Agencies)

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

NEIGHBOURS

Turkish FM to hold S Korea protests against talks in Pakistan Japan's territorial claims after failed coup Seoul, Aug 2: South Korea on Tuesday lodged a strong protest against Japan's repeated territorial claims on its eastern-most Dokdo islets, lying halfway between the two countries.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Islamabad, Aug 2: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is scheduled to hold talks with Pakistani leaders on Tuesday in Islamabad on the situation arising out of the failed July 16 coup in Turkey, officials said.

Officials said the Turkish foreign minister is leading a high-level delegation in his day-long visit and is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and hold formal talks with Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz, reported.

The Turkish foreign minister will also hold meetings

with several other ministers to discuss matters of bilateral cooperation and regional and international issues. Cavusoglu told the Pakistani state media on his arrival that bilateral relations and regional developments between Pakistan and Turkey will be on the agenda during his visit.

Pakistan was among the countries which had condemned the attempted coup and had announced support for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At least 246 people were killed in clashes during the attempt.(Agencies)

Nepal's Madhesis sign 3-point pact with govt-in-waiting Kathmandu, Aug 2: Nepal's agitating Sanghiya Loktantantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) on Tuesday signed a three-point agreement with the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre) which together propose to form a new government in the Himalayan nation, officials said here.

According to the agreement, the new government will implement the preconditions set by the Federal alliance, including declaring as martyrs all those killed during the Madhesi Morcha-sponsored agitation, providing relief to those affected and compensation to the injured.

The second point of the agreement stipulates that the government seek political consensus based on the Madhesi Morcha's 11-point memorandum of demands and 26-point charter of demands of the Sanghiya Gathabandan (Federal alliance) and move a constitution amendment proposal in parliament.

The Sanghiya Gathabandan is an alliance of Madhes-based parties and the Janajatis of the Nepali Terai region.

The Madhesi Morcha and the

Gathabandan are set to back Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda in the Prime Ministerial election slated to take place on Wednesday. The alliance decided to support Dahal's candidacy after the 3-point agreement but will not join the government.

The agreement is described as a political commitment on behalf of the NC and the Maoists.

The NC, Maoists and the Alliance had formed a nine-member task force to come up with a common agreement. "We recognise and respect the agitations that helped Nepal brace towards the Republic and also recognise the demands and aspirations of Tharu, Madhesis and Janajatis/Adhivasis. We have to find a way out that will enable all sections of Nepali society to own up the new Constitution as common property," said the statement jointly signed by the NC, Maoist and Madhesi leaders.

The parties also committed to implement the core values of the new Constitution and its intricacies like democracy, republicanism, inclusiveness, equality, and proportional representation of various classes and groups in the state entities.(Agencies)

Prachanda files nomination as Nepal PM candidate Kathmandu, Aug 2 : Nepal Maoist chief Prachanda today filed his nomination for the election to the post of prime minister tomorrow that could bring political stability to the country. Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba proposed the 61-yearold CPN-Maoist Centre president as the candidate for new Prime Minister, while Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara seconded it.

The crucial development comes a day after Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari gave a fresh call to all political parties to form a majority government when the deadline given to them for forging consensus expired without yielding any results. It is learnt that the Parliament has started preparation for beginning the procedure of electing the premier tomorrow.

Speaker Onsari Gharti has called a meeting of the 596member Parliament for 11 am to elect the new Prime Minister after embattled premier K P Oli resigned on July 24, triggering a fresh political turmoil in Nepal. Oli tendered his resignation after two key ruling alliance partners - Madhesi People's Rights Forum-Democratic and Rastriya Prajatantra Party - decided to support the no-

confidence motion tabled against him by the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPNMaoist Centre led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'.

The Maoist chief and former premier known for his antiIndia stance is expected to become Nepal's 39th Prime Minister with the support of largest party Nepali Congress, the Madhesis and other fringe parties if there is no dramatic development. Three Madhesi leaders - Upendra Yadav of Social ForumNepal, Sarvendra Nath Shukla of Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party and Laxman Lal Karna of Sadbhawana Party - have supported Prachanda's candidacy.

The Madhesi alliance decided to support Prachanda's candidacy after a 3-point agreement with the Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN (Maoist Centre) but will not join the government, Karna said. With the support of the alliance, which has 39 lawmakers, Prachanda's election as the new prime minister has become almost certain.

Meanwhile, the CPN-UML has decided not to field any candidate in the prime ministerial election but vote against Prachanda. The party of outgoing Prime Minister Oli decided to remain as the main opposition party.(PTI)

PAGE 7

Seoul's Defence Ministry called in an attache from Japanese Embassy in Seoul to protest against Japan's 2016 defence White Paper in which the islets are described as Japan's territory, reported.

It marked the 12th consecutive year that Japan claimed sovereignty over the islets in the annual white paper.

The ministry expressed deep regrets over the Japanese government in its protest letter saying Japan must immediately stop making

S Korea protests against Japan's territorial claims useless claims and make efforts to open a new future for relations between the two country.

The protest letter noted that South Korea's military will take stern actions against any Japanese attempt to damage South Korea's sovereignty over the Dokdo islets.

The foreign ministry said in a statement that South Korea strongly protests against Japan's unjust territorial claims on Dokdo islets, which are its indigenous territory historically, geographically and according to international laws.

(Agencies)

Pak completes construction of Afghan border gate Islamabad, Aug 2: The construction of a gate complex at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Torkham was completed on Tuesday. Construction on the Bab-e-Pakistan gate complex, which began on June 12 this year and led to escalation of tension between the two countries -with both sides trading fire and causing casualties on the border, has been completed, the reported.

Security officials at the gate will check the movement of illegal people to and from Pakistan, the report said.

One of the gates will be used to enter into Pakistan, while the other will allow people to leave the country.

The 46-year old confessed to providing "sensitive" FBI information to an individual with connections to the Chinese government on a number of occasions, the Justice Department said in a statement. Originally born in China, Chun was a naturalised US citizen who had been an employee of the FBI for 19 years.

According to the complaint,

Kathmandu, Aug 2: Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda on Tuesday filed his candidature for the Prime Minister's post as the country is all set to vote for its new premier on Wednesday.

He filed his candidature papers at Parliamentary Secretariat backed by Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal Chairman Upendra Yadav, a prominent Madhesi leader.

However, Prachanda is the sole candidate for the post.

Earlier, the second largest party in parliament, Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) had decided to field a candidate but later the party decided not to.

Likewise, the agitating Sanghiya Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha has also

Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda supported Prachanda's candidature. Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party leader Sarbendra Nath Sukla and Sadbhawana Party leader Laxman Lal Karna have supported Prachanda's bid for the Prime Minister's post.

This will be his second come-back as Prime Minister. Earlier, Prachanda became the premier in 2008 and resigned after he failed in his attempt to sack the then Chief of the Army Staff Rukmangud Kutwal.

In the 595-member parliament, Prachanda will re-

quire 298 votes to win the election. The Maoist Centre, the third largest party with 82 seats in parliament, has the backing of the Nepali Congress, the largest party with 207 seats.

As per the time table for the election of the new premier set by the Parliament Secretariat, nominations should be filed between 11 am to 4 pm with the final list to be published at 4 30 pm on Tuesday.

The final election, if any, will begin at 11 am on Wednesday.(Agencies)

Japan warns China over territorial aggression Pak completes construction of Afghan border gate According to the security officials, the gate will promote peace not only in Pakistan but also in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has blamed a number of terror attacks in the country on Afghan nationals who crossed the border

illegally.

Pakistan has always maintained that the Bab-e-Pakistan gate was within Pakistani side of the border and hence it was Islamabad's prerogative to construct it.(Agencies)

Ex-FBI employee pleads guilty of being Chinese agent China, Aug 2: A former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employee with top secret security clearance is set to face up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to being an agent of the Chinese government.

Kun Shan Chun, also known as Joey Chun, was arrested by the FBI in March after an undercover operation and appeared in a New York court on Monday,reported.

Nepal's Prachanda files candidature for PM

Chun tried to recruit an undercover agent to provide him with confidential information, which he said could be exchanged for cash if it was sent to his associates in China, reports CNN. Chun pleaded guilty to one charge of acting in the United States as an agent of China without providing notice to the Attorney General.

In a statement announcing the outcome, New York

Southern District US Attorney Preet Bharara said, as an American who had worked as a foreign agent, Chun had "betrayed our nation". "And when the perpetrator is an FBI employee, like Kun Shan Chun, the threat is all the more serious and the betrayal all the more duplicitous," quoted Bharara as saying. Chun will be sentenced on December 2.(Agencies)

Tokyo, Aug 2: Beijing risks triggering unintended conflict with Asian rivals through its aggressive stance in maritime disputes, Japan warned on Tuesday in an annual security assessment. China's sweeping claims over the strategic South China Sea, where it has built a series of artificial islands capable of supporting military operations despite overlapping claims from other nations, have stoked international alarm.

The region's superpower "continues to act in an assertive manner" and its actions "include dangerous acts that could cause unintended consequences," Tokyo said in a defence white paper. Beijing is under pressure to respect a UN-backed tribunal's finding last month that there is no legal basis for its ambitions over the resource-rich South China Sea where the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and others also lay claims.

The white paper said China was "poised to fulfill its unilateral demands without compromise" including efforts "to turn these coercive changes to the status quo into a fait accompli".

And it again called on Beijing to abide by the ruling of the tribunal, which China has denounced as a fraud.

Japan also expressed concern over increased activity in the East China Sea, where the two countries have competing claims over a group of small uninhabited islets called the Senkaku in Japan

Japan warns China over territorial aggression and the Diaoyu in China.

"Recently, China has been intensifying activities near the Senkaku Islands, such as its military aircraft flying southward closer to the islands," it said. In the year to March 2016, Japan's air force scrambled jets 571 times against Chinese planes flying near Japanese air space, an increase of 107 from the previous year, it added.

In June Japan accused China of sending a spy ship into its territorial waters as Tokyo conducted a joint exercise with the US and India.

And last month the two countries were at loggerheads over accusations Japanese warplanes locked their fire control radar onto Chinese aircraft. Beijing sparked alarm after it unilaterally established an air defence identification zone in the East China Sea in 2013, demanding all aircraft submit flight plans when traversing the zone which covers islands disputed with

Tokyo and also claimed by Taipei.

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said in February that China's military presence in the South China Sea was increasing the risk of "miscalculation or conflict" between regional countries.

A US warship in May sailed close to a disputed reef Beijing has built up into an artificial island, prompting China to express "dissatisfaction and opposition".

Japan's white paper also highlighted concerns over North Korea's nuclear programme, saying it was possible it has "achieved the miniaturisation of nuclear weapons and has developed nuclear warheads".

Since carrying out a fourth nuclear test in January, North Korea has claimed it miniaturised a nuclear warhead to fit on a missile and successfully tested an engine designed for an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the US mainland.(Agencies)

China tightens anti-terror rules in volatile Xinjiang Beijing, Aug 2: Battling frequent terror attacks by Uyghur militants in Xinjiang, the volatile region has adopted China's first provincial-level anti-terrorism rules, including "reeducating" ring leaders and hard-line radicals.

The new regulation is based on China's Anti-Terrorism Law, giving detailed instructions on how to deal with terror activities, including keeping hard-line radicals away from other prisoners and re-assessing convicts' risk level before they can be released from prison.

The regulation is based on China's Anti-Terrorism Law that was designed to better

suit the situation in Xinjiang. It was approved by the autonomous region's legislative body on Sunday and went into effect yesterday, state-run reported.

Xinjiang is the first provincial-level region in China to have released a regional interpretation of the Anti-Terrorism Law since it was implemented on January 1 this year. The region has been haunted by terror attacks in the past few years that took hundreds of lives.

China had blamed at Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for the violence.

The regulation stipulates that prison authorities must re-assess the risk level of

convicts of terror-related crimes six months before their release. The assessment reports will be submitted to local courts, which will decide, within a month, whether a convict requires further re-education upon leaving the prison, it said.

Ringleaders of terror organisations, those who incited others to commit crimes while serving jail terms and those who resist education with violent tendencies must be confined in solitary and kept away from other prisoners, it said.

Clause 51 of the regulation states that those who have twisted the concept of "halal," which usually only applies to food, and expand

the concept to all aspects of social life may be subjected to fines of less than 10,000 yuan (USD 1,538) or detention of five to 15 days. China has already deployed large number of security forces in Xinjiang which borders Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, (POK) and Afghanistan.

Under the new rule, officials also have the power to suspend ongoing rallies, demonstrations, performances or other activities that have mass participation to prevent terror activities. It also give authorities the power to temporarily shut down schools, research facilities, enterprises and other organisations and stop the operation of plants or fac-

tories that involve explosive, radioactive or biochemical materials.

This specific clause is to prevent the spread of Islamic radicalism in prisons, analysts said quoting reports about prisons in EU where hard-line radicals tend to use jail time to attract disciples and groom petty criminals for greater attacks.

"The Anti-Terrorism Law is more of a general guideline.

As the main battleground of China's anti-terrorism campaign, Xinjiang is in urgent need of a more detailed set of regulations that target the specific form of terrorism the region is facing," Li Wei, an expert on counterterrorism at the Chinese In-

stitutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the daily. Xinjiang's regulation has also provided a more detailed definition of terror activities than that in the national law.

It further stipulates that recruiting, training or transporting terror-related personnel will be regarded as carrying out terror activities, as will organising or instigating others to illegally cross into another country to participate in terror activities or terror training. The regulation requires the establishment of a threetiered anti-terrorism mechanism comprised of agencies at provincial, prefecture and city levels.(Agencies)

PAGE 8

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

The Slow Decay of the Taj Mahal Whip on ragging A notorious practice It has been rightly said that the end may not always justify the means.

Behind the façade of 'welcoming' new students to college, ragging, in actuality, is a notorious practice wherein the senior students get an excuse to harass their junior counterparts, and more often than not, make them easy targets to satiate their own perverse sadistic pleasures. Apart from sustaining grievous physical injuries, those unfortunate students who succumb to ragging either develop a fear psychosis that haunts them throughout their lives, or worse, quit their college education even before it begins.

For any student who slogs day and night to secure admission into a prestigious college, ragging can be his or her worst nightmare come true. It would not be an exaggeration to say that, today, ragging has taken the shape of a serious human rights violation with even the most respected and disciplined educational institutes falling prey to it. As per reports a total of 14 incidents of ragging have been reported in various medical colleges of India in 2015-16 while there have been two deaths due to such incidents.

"Number of cases reported or received by the Medical Council of India (MCI) for ragging during the last three years are 23 in 201314, 21 in 2014-15 and 14 in 2015-16.

Whereas during the financial year 2015-16, Ministry of HRD allocated a sum of Rs. 5 crore for

How pollution and bureaucratic incompetence threaten to destroy India's greatest monument Heenay Patel

Media Campaign to UGC for undertaking a publicity campaign against ragging in Higher Educational Institutions in the country.

The UGC has spent an amount of Rs. 4.78 crore on various activities, including preparing and broadcasting of TVCs on Anti-Ragging by Doordarshan, making of films by NFDC, coverage through FM Radio and printing & mailing of posters by DAVP and broadcasting on All India Radio

by Prasar Bharati. The UGC had also announced a competition for students, teachers and general public for wide publicity and promotion of Anti-Ragging measures which include Poster designing, Logo/Icon/Slogan designing and Essay competition.

Whereas 390 cases of ragging, including death or maiming of students, were reported in different colleges of the country during the last year, including the States of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh which have reported higher number of cases. UGC is taking action on punishment for ragging as per UGC's Regulation on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Education Institutions, 2009. In cases and situations where the provisions of the Indian Penal Code are attracted, appropriate action is also taken.

The UGC has also recently expanded the definition of 'ragging' by bringing out the Third Amendment of its Anti-Ragging Regulations on 29.6.2016.

Every year eight million visitors flock to the Taj Mahal, drawn to its marble face, towering spires, and green gardens. But this monument to love, famously described as "a teardrop on the cheek of time"

by India's first Nobel laureate, is now at risk of being lost forever. Dense smog created by human activity is starting to discolor the marble, turning that oncepristine teardrop a sickly shade of yellow.

Besides inflicting devastating losses on India's cultural history and economy, these airborne impurities also threaten the people of Agra, the city in which the Taj Mahal resides.

So who's to blame? There are several factors: heavy traffic, wood-burning crematoriums, smoke from neighboring factories, and Agra's growing population, the last of which demands more and more water. As the Yamuna River dries up, it risks sliding the Taj Mahal off its picturesque banks into a sea of mud.

But perhaps the biggest concern to the Taj Mahal's future is bureaucratic incompetence, a point vividly illustrated by the threat of municipal solid waste (MSW), everyday items like plastic bottles, newspapers, clothes, and food. Instead of being properly deposited at landfills, much of this trash is burnt out in the open. What results is a thick

Looking to Compete

Pranjal Bezborah

Meghalaya tea with Assam, Darjeeling

The term governance derives from the Greek verb 'kubernao' which means to seer and was used for the first time in a metaphorical sense

by Plato. In English governance has been defined as supremacy, ascendancy, domination, power, authority, control, etc. Governance is the act of governing. It relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. It consists of either a separate process or part of management or leadership processes. These processes or systems are typically administered by a government.

When discussing governance in particular institutions, the quality of governance within the institutions is often compared to a standard of good governance.

Way back, much before Plato, Kautilya, in his treatise, Arthashastra while defining governance had emphasized on a few pillars of the area such as justice, ethics and anti autocratic forms of government as bigger framework of the art of governance. Conceptually, governance can be defined as the

Just like Assam and Darjeeling, Meghalaya tea could soon become a brand as hundreds of farmers are gradually shifting to tea cultivation in the state because of suitable climate and fertile soil. Already about 2,000 hectares of land in Meghalaya is under tea cultivation, half of which are young bushes planted within the last five years, state Horticulture Department officials informed.

According to Agriculture Department Assistant Director, Maqbool Lyngdoh Suiam "we produce about 7 lakh-tonne tea annually. Out of which about 75 per cent are grown without using chemicals. Tea production is increasing gradually every year. Our objective is to produce low volume but high quality tea," The state's topography allows for two distinct types of tea to be grown. In the lower reaches towards the Assam border and in the Garo Hills, high-quality Assam-style teas, strong in body and rich in flavour are produced.And in the central areas with their misty slopes ranging in altitude from 3,000 to 5,500 feet, produce-hill tea of real excellence, akin to those grown in Darjeeling or Sikkim. Because of its superior quality, rich and fragrant aroma and powerful liquor, Meghalaya tea is finding customers as far as the UK, Europe and Australia. The agriculture department's own brand "Meg Tea" from Ri Bhoi district's Umsning is already a hit with tea lovers for its green and black orthodox tea.

In Mawlyngot village, a co-operative of 20

farmers are producing green, black and white tea under the brand "Urlong Tea." Seeing the financial success of the crop, seven nearby villages in the East Khasi Hills district have also decided to shift to tea cultivation.Also encouraging the transition to tea is the horticulture department which is offering a one-time subsidy of Rs 10,000 per hectare to farmers and subsidising the cost of tea saplings and bio-pesticides besides training. According to tea experts, younger tea plants like the one in Meghalaya produce higher yields and rich flavour than the older ones in West Bengal and Assam. Most of India's tea is produced in Assam and West Bengal.

Meghalaya, on the other hand, is a late starter despite enjoying favourable climatic conditions for the crop. The first tea plantation began in the late 70s and now it is grown in all the eleven districts. Commercially, large areas of tea cultivation are located in the two districts of Ri Bhoi and West Garo Hills. Unlike Assam and West Bengal, Meghalaya doesn't has large tea estates as the land holdings are small and fragmented.Faced with the shortage of trained labour to work in large tea gardens, the government is encouraging farmers to employ workers only from their family. Officials said their focus is on producing organic tea using traditional methods. And at the same time they are also encouraging small and micro size tea processing units which can be run on a cooperative model.

(Photo: friendlyplanet) blanket of toxic smog, some of which gets into the lungs of Agra's residents, and some of which eventually finds its way to the Taj Mahal.

Dr. Ajay Nagpure from the University of Minnesota published a paper on India's MSW problem in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

"We studied the open burning of municipal solid waste in Delhi and Agra," Nagpure said in an interview. "According to our results, Delhi burns about 190 to 246 tons of MSW everyday, which is 2?3 percent of the total MSW generated…For Agra, this number is alarming: 223 tons/day, which is 24 percent of the total."

The findings are worrisome. New Delhi, the capital of India, burns only 3 percent of its municipal solid waste, whereas Agra burns about a quarter. The

resulting smoke directly impact Agra's great monument.

"We found that black carbon gives a greyish colour to the [Taj Mahal's] surface while… brown carbon and dust results in yellowishbrown hues," says Dr. S.N. Tripathi of the Indian Institute of Technology.

But surface discolouration isn't the only problem. Parts of the mausoleum are full of holes, and in some places the facade has actually crumbled. Insects and acid rain have eaten away at portions of the exterior.

Faced with the irreparable loss of India's most popular monument, the government has taken measures to preserve it. Last year, the Supreme Court ordered all wood-burning crematoriums near the Taj Mahal to be removed and replaced with cleaner electric ones, while Agra's state of Uttar

Pradesh banned the burning of cow dung, which serves as a cheap source of fuel but generates significant levels of brown carbon, the same kind that's turning the Taj Mahal yellowish-brown.

In addition to preservation, restoration work has also been undertaken. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) periodically applies Fuller's earth, a limerich plaster which soaks up dirt and grime from the marble pores in an attempt to revive its original luster.

Like most beauty treatments, however, this one is superficial. Professor R. Nath, a noted historian and one of the most prominent voices calling for better conservation of the Taj Mahal, warned that applying Fuller's earth "would only deface the monument."

And it has, causing portions of the marble to become patchy and "leukodermic."

The effects of Agra's air-

borne pollution aren't confined to the Taj Mahal. "The situation of Agra with respect to air pollution is bad," says Nagpure. "We have PM10 data from 2006 to 2012 [including] six airquality monitoring stations data for Agra….None of the monitoring stations meet the World Health Organization guidelines or Central Pollution Control Board of India standards."

PM or particulate matter is released by the burning of municipal solid waste. Not only does it discolor the Taj Mahal's marble, but its impact on humans is potentially lethal. "MSW… often includes plastics, rubber, and metal-containing refuse, the burning of which releases toxic emissions," says Nagpure in his study. "[Exposure] to these pollutants is associated with a number of health impacts, including respiratory and cardiovascular disease, adverse birth outcomes, and cancer."

When it comes to meaningful solutions, Nagpure believes the government has fallen short. "I don't think this is a good initiative," he says about the recent ban on burning cow dung. "It is very hard to implement the ban at ground level. Since most of the people who use cow dung for cooking are from a low socio-economic status… it is very hard for them to opt for other expensive fuels."

He does, however, offer some suggestions: "Authorities need to concentrate on all sectors which are re-

sponsible for the air pollution… transport, household, MSW, commercial industry, etc." Nagpure also advocates a strict clean fuel policy for all public and private vehicles, along with an environmental tax for traffic coming from other cities to Agra. "For example, all external vehicles must follow some criteria like age limits or pay extra tax if they violate this rule," Nagpure suggests. "It would certainly reduce the amount of pollution."

So far the lack of government oversight has only made things worse. In fact, India's Supreme Court recently berated the Uttar Pradesh government for the shoddiness of its repair work. "[Your] engineers should be ashamed of themselves," said the court about a new road leading up to the Taj Mahal. "People from all over the world come to see the monument and any construction done near Taj should be as good as Taj. You messed it up. It is unacceptable."

Whether it's due to political ineptitude or a lack of environmental regulation, with every passing minute this teardrop on the cheek of time wastes away. If the Taj Mahal is to survive or return to its former glory, then bold new solutions are needed, and needed fast.

Courtesy: The Diplomat Caption: Pollution and bureaucratic incompetence threaten to destroy India's greatest monument, the Taj Mahal.

Good Governance in Public Policy rule of the rulers, typically within a given set of rules.

One might conclude that governance is the process by which authority is conferred on rulers, by which they make the rules, and by which those rules are enforced and modified. Thus, understanding governance requires an identification of both the rulers and the rules, as well as the various processes by which they are selected, defined, and linked together and with the society generally.

Governance consists of the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised. This includes the process by which governments are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement policies; and the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them.

There is much subjectivity involved when we make comparative statement about good governance and bad governance. Each government consider themselves as most transparent and equality based governance with

full of egalitarian choices.

Word Bank Governance Indicators Based on a longstanding research programme of the World Bank, the worldwide Governance Indicators, since 1996 to till date, captured six key dimensions of governance. They are Voice and Accountability, Political Stability and Lack of Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law and Control of Corruption. They measured the quality of governance in over 200 countries, based on close to 40 data sources produced by over 30 different organizations worldwide and are updated on an annual basis since 2002. World Bank Governance Indicators have also made distinction between Rules based and Outcome-Based indicators. The Rule based indicators talk about the existence of rules, policy and legislation, whereas the outcome-based indicators consider its enforcement. But there is not clear line existing to make clear cut distinction between the two.

Whereas, UNDP has recognized nine indicators of good governance which may be brought or understood as

outcome indicators. Good governance is, participatory, transparent and accountable, effective and equitable, and it promotes the rule of law. It ensures that political, social and economic priorities are based on broad consensus in society ad that the voices of the poorest and the most vulnerable are heard in decisionmaking over the allocation of development resources. Absence of good governance acts as against the principle of inclusiveness in the achievement of sustainable development. The nine indicators of UNDP recognize the following core characteristics of good governance Participation, Rule of Law, Transparency, Responsiveness, Consensus oriented, Equity, Effectiveness and Efficiency, Accountability and Strategic vision. Inclusion of these indicators may lead to a good output.

The growing recognition of the link between good governance and successful development, as empirical evidence suggests, has stimulated the demand for monitoring the quality of governance across countries and within individual countries over time. The Worldwide

Governance Indicators are a compilation of the perceptions of a very diverse group of respondents, collected in large number of surveys and other cross-country assessments of governance. Some of these instruments capture the views of firms, individuals, and public officials in the countries being assessed.

Others reflect the views of NGOs and aid donors with considerable experience in the countries being assessed, while others are based on the assessments of commercial risk-rating agencies.

Despite many perceptions of good governance it is important to keep popular people's perception in mind.

These days there has been nationwide debate going on about the transparency in governance for making corruption free governance. This indicator could be one of the most sought after indicators of good governance. As making governance corruption free, many initiatives have been taken in the past and many more are going to be put on the table. Right to Information Act, debate for bringing Lok Pal Bill, setting up of Institution of Chief Vigilance Commissioner

Re-enactment of Drama Sir, We witnessed lot of scenes stage - managed during the regime of congress to curry favour with the Union leaders/High command during their visit to Assam in the hour of crisis. In fact, people of Assam got used to this sort of hoodwinking.

Thereafter, people wanted a change, accordingly, they effected the change in the last assembly election brining BJP with its allied parties replacing congress. After two months of its installation, people are unhappy with certain acts of the ruling dispensation. Now, the flood-scenario in Assam is rally grim that prompted the Chief-minister to postpone holding of the assembly session for couple of days, directing all the M.L.As to visit their respective constituencies to ascertain the actual loss caused by the floods and also to monitor the relief operation. The Union Homeminister, Rajnath Singh after aerial survey of the worst-affected areas and after visiting certain relief camps conceded that the devastation caused by the floods is of more dimension than what had been briefed to him. But we are appalled to see certain reenactment of stage managed scenes tele-

cast by the electronic Channels in Jagiroad.

The relief-camp where Rajnath Singh paid visit was such a stage-managed one where people are brought regardless of whether genuinely affected by floods or not and gave hearty meals in presence of the home-minister just to drive home the point that all the relief camps in Assam are well equipped and that all the inmates are fed well. From very next day, food crisis in the camp started surfacing. Hopefully, one may take the consolation, this time there would be no corruption, nor skewed notion like the previous regime of congress in the distribution of relief materials.

Yours etc.

Ashok Bordoloi Dibrugarh

could be another important tool for good governance which may lead to reducing the gaps between policy and implementation.

Indeed, good governance comes out from the strong commitment of the government where all commitment is made with keeping people as central focus. Policy, legislation, rules, programmes etc are essential for governance reforms which determine the governance rules whereas its execution with same or even higher commitment is much more important to have the outcomes. The institutional arrangements required for the implementation should encourage involvement of people in the entire decision making process. The need of the hour is to have decentralized planning, implementation and monitoring of the programme and projects. This vertical and horizontal structure of governance should work in harmony to ensure good governance.

Pranjal Bezborah is a Professor in the Department of Commerce, Dibrugarh University. He can be reached at: pranjalbezborah@yahoo.com

Best Letter The best letter

of the month in the Letter to the Editor section will be awarded an amount of Rs 200. So please keep writing.

Letters to the editor and articles should be sent to : The Eastern Today Chowkidingee, Near Sankardeva Hospital Mancotta Road, Dibrugarh786001 (Assam) Ph: 0373-2328944 Email : editor.easterntoday@gmail.com

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DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

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Going back in time: Vrindavani Vastra from 16th century Assam Roopa Sharma As a frequent visitor to London, UK, I have visited its enormous and awe-inspiring British Museum many times; but really, I have not seen even one tenth of its entire collection.

Three months ago, while in London, I learned that British Museum was having a Special Exhibit on 'Vrindavani Vastra' till August 15 of this year. For the very first time, this Vastra was shown in its entirety!

The title of the special exhibit was - 'Krishna in the Garden of Assam: The Cultural Context of an Indian Textile'.

Following day, I was at the museum with our daughter - this time, only to see a lost historical piece from our Assam. We were completely spell-bound by this spectacular gem of a textile from Assam - for its antiquity, intricacy of weaving and to witness how well it has been preserved for over several centuries!

What is 'Vrindavani Vastra'?

The Vrindavani Vastra, quite literally means 'the cloth of Vrindavan'. This was created in Assam in northeast India sometime in the late 17th century. It was made of woven silk with scenes from the early life of Lord Krishna during the time he lived in the forest of Vrindavan.

This ancient Assamese textile is over 9 meters long (length 937 centimeters and width 231 centimeters) and is the largest surviving example of this type of textile anywhere in the world. It is made up of 12 strips, each one different from the other, sewn together now (after it left Assam and was in Tibet). The main architect of this famous and exquisite piece was none other than Mahapurush Sri Sri

Shankardeva, the great Vaishnavite saint of Assam.

There are three types of motifs in this piece: 1) the Krishna scenes - from the 10th century text of Bhagavata Purana, 2) incarnations of Lord Vishnu and 3) text - in early Assamese alphabets and is a verse from the drama 'Kalidamana' by Srimanta Sankardeva tells the story of the defeat of the serpentdemon Kaliya by Krishna.

The Story: When Mahapurush Sri Sri Sankardeva was in Patbausi (near Barpeta) in the Koch kingdom, Maharaj Naranarayana and Yuvaraj Chilaraai (Sukladhvaja) invited Sri Sankardeva to their royal court and requested him to narrate to them, the details of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan and how he spent his time in the company of cows, cowherds and cowherdesses.

Sankardeva, a great scholar, orator and poet, started reciting the stories and 'lilas' of Krishna. The king and the prince were highly impressed and requested the saint if he could present the stories of Kishna to them in drawings.

The saint replied that it could be possible to depict Krishna's early life on cloth if the king and the prince could arrange the required amount of silk yarns of different colors for him. The king was delighted to hear this and ordered that the required silk yarns be supplied to Sri Sankardava.

The saint returned to Patbausi, had a meeting with the weavers and told them about the king's wishes. He engaged a large number of weavers - female and male, showed them how the various scenes of Krishna-lila were to be depicted in different colors in this massive cloth. The leader of this project was the master-weaver Gopal (later, Mathuradas Budha

Udta piracy, but rising popularity Latha Jishnu The high-octane Udta Punjab has opened up once again the fascinating debate on film piracy and its impact on the film industry. For the moment, let us forget the cavalier role of the Central Board of Film Certification in leaking a print of Anurag Kashyap's volatile film on drug abuse in Punjab and enabling its free download well before its official release. There are reports that board chairman Pahlaj Nihalani wanted to fix the producers after the court overturned the many cuts he had ordered.

In the event, did the leak of the print-everyone agrees it was of extremely poor qualityaffect the fortunes of Udta Punjab? The film industry was angry and shrill in its denunciation of piracy with one notable exception-of Kashyap.

His appeal to pirates (downloaders) was that they should desist till the film was released officially. The unorthodox filmmaker has an interesting take on the issue. Here's what he wrote in a Facebook post: "Piracy happens because of lack of access and in a world of free internet.

I do not have a problem with it. My problem is that this time it's a case of vested interests trying to demoralise people from fighting for their rights."

He goes on to say that when he has occasionally watched illegally downloaded films borrowed from friends he has made up for it by buying DVDs. However, it does not apply to others because "no one can stop your right to download a film".

Kashyap, in fact, believes piracy is justified and can actually help filmmakers. In a candid admission he says it was pirated versions of his films that made him popular with film buffs when he was not famous. So piracy is kosher with him. Kashyap's rationale is that if people have no access to affordable cinema they will turn

to cheaper, pirated versions. A much earlier champion of piracy was Shekhar Kapur, the maker of the globally acclaimed Bandit Queen and Elizabeth, who took on US media giants when they were shrill in their complaints about losing billions of dollars in revenue on account of piracy in China and India. At a time when their campaign had reached a crescendo a decade ago, Kapur was blunt in dismissing their inflated claims. Since 80 per cent of the people who bought pirated copies of movies in China could neither afford to go to theatres or to buy the legal DVDs sold at US rates, the losses were just notional.

With the model of film screening and distribution changing drastically in recent years to focus on multiplexes in urban centres, fewer Indians have access to cinema since tickets are priced high. If filmmakers want to make an impact on society either as purveyors of "meaningful cinema" or just as producers/directors who want their oeuvres to become popular, then a little piracy along the way could come in handy.

Tim O'Reilly, CEO of O'Reilly Media house, had argued about a decade ago that obscurity was a far greater threat than piracy for artistes.

His contention was that even the worst kind of piracy would pare just a little of the profits for well-known artistes but could make a huge difference to those just starting out. He was, of course, talking about writers, but as a general principle this rule could apply to filmmakers too.

We cannot expect Kashyap's scrupulousness about illegal downloads to be the norm; there is a vast tribe out there that revels in piracy.

And yet, even the worst of its depredations is unlikely to kill a film commercially. What we need is a new model of cinema viewing, especially in India where millions of potential filmgoers are denied access.

Detail of the 'Vrindavani Vastra', a woven silk textile.

From Assam, India, late 17th century.

(Photo: britishmuseum) Ata), who became a disciple of Madhavdeva later on.

Every day, Sankaradeva went to the 'karsana ghar' (weaving shed) in Tantikuchi to personally supervise the work and show weavers how the various scenes were to be portrayed in the loom. Every day, they weaved 'ek-beget' (about 6 inches) of cloth.

One day, Sankardeva was not well and he sent his disciple Madhavdeva to supervise the work. That day, the design of 'Brahmamohan Lila' was being woven and extra four inches of cloth could be made. Sankardeva was very pleased with the progress and named Madhabdeva 'Badhar Po'.

When the Vrindavani Vastra was completed, Sri Sankardeva brought it to his home in Patbausi Satra.

People flocked to his home to witness this gigantic piece of silk cloth with scenes of Krishna-lila and they were speechless. The Vastra was so long, wide and heavy that it took sixty (60) people to spread out the material, roll, tie and lift it.

Srimanta Sankardeva then took the Vastra to Koch-Behar by boat and presented it to King Naranarayana and prince Chilaraai. He explained each and every scene depicted in

the Vastra. Both the brothers were extremely grateful and happy. As a reward, the king offered Sankardeva the principality of Barpeta (Barpeta mahal) but the saint respectfully declined the reward.

Srimanta Sankardava was a multifaceted man. He was a spiritual leader, poet, writer, dramatist, social reformer, master-weaver, painter and much more. The saint was a great supporter and promoter of cottage industry in Assam and out of all, handloom weaving received his most attention.

During his time, the NeoVaishnava movement made a powerful contribution in the art of weaving all over Assam. Vrindavani Vastra is a stellar example of this art.

The enormous size of some of the surviving Vrindavani Vastra pieces indicate that they were probably used as 'Chandrataap' (canopies) or wall hangings to line the ceilings and walls of the 'Naamghors' and/or to drape over the 'Monikuts'.

May be the less elaborately illustrated smaller pieces used to wrap the sacred books. These are only speculations by the researchers.

The Style: We all know, Assam is famous for weaving beautiful silk for the centuries. The

Instead of continuously harping on the same theme, blaming Pakistan, and playing this game for decades, it is time that the Government seriously tries to resolve the Kashmir issue. And this cannot be done by sending the Indian Army which does not draw any boundaries in dealing with its own people, and using strangulating laws like the AFSPA. Most of the damage done to the North East India, and the alienation that the people there felt and still feel is because of this draconian law which gives impunity to kill, without any use of the law.

a symbol of injustice and attack. The same happened and is still happening in North East India.

Irom Sharmila's resistance is just that, taking its guard from an incident which she saw happening before her very eyes. Does her protest make her less Indian? We have reached a situation where dissent or questioning the law is construed as anti-Indian sentiment.

The Supreme Court's recent stricture against the AFSPA is a case in point where the Apex Court of the country has said in no uncertain terms that the law is applicable for everyone, a criminal or a terrorist. By sending the Army to combat people within the country is a harsh error of judgement that we have been making again and again. We have not learnt lessons in North East India or from the past. The fact is that the feelings of alienation and subjugation that the people of this part of the region feels still continues.

In Kashmir, it is war time once again. Whether Wani was killed by accident or design is not the point. The point is that the people have built forces of resistance against the Army which they consider have occupied their land.

This may not be construed as anti-Indian. It is a coming together of a people, for whom suffering has been a way of life, but for whom the Indian Army is

Children, men and women being blinded and maimed as is happening in Kashmir is worse than death. The suffering of people helpless, wounded even famished is a sign of anarchy of the times.

Blame it all on Pakistan, but Pakistan will call it illegal occupation.

'Lampas' technique of weaving was used to produce this Vastra . This lampas technique was flourished in lower Assam from around 1500 to 1800. It enabled weavers to produce textile with a base cloth woven with one set of warp and weft threads, and a design woven with another set of warp and weft. This tapestry-style technique produced highly sophisticated, intricate and colourfully figured textiles in the 16th 18th centuries. Sadly, this beautiful lampas technique became extinct from Assam forever.

In Tibet: Following this famous textile's life in the royal court of Assam, it had a second history in Tibet. There is no records of the details about how and who took these pieces, but the 12 strips were taken to Tibet. They were stitched together and then re-used as a hanging in a Tibetan monastery.

Since the pieces came from the 'land of Buddha', they probably took proper care of them. I could see that there was a broad border made from Chinese-style silk material on the top part of this textile, with metal rings attached to it to suspend the textile from the ceiling or the wall. Any Assamese would know that these borders were added later on in the monastery.

Assam is bordered by mountainous terrain including the mighty Himalayas.

How this huge and heavy textile traveled from Assam to a Buddhist monastery in Tibet at that time-period crossing all the hurdles will always be a riddle!

Journey to London: Francis Younghusband, a British Army Officer posted in India, led an expedition to Tibet. The main purpose was to open a trade route from British India to Lhasa.

ing, it is fine, but it is not.

By pinning faith in two families ever since independence- the Abdullahs and the Muftis the government has ignored totally the will of the people. All the politicking has been done at the behest of these two powerful families.

Are they the only one who can call the shots.

Dividing the state on the basis of two territories,

This Vastra was found by Perceval Landon in Gobshi (en route to Lhasa), during the Younghusband Expedition sent by British India to Lhasa in 1903-1904. Landon was a friend of Rudyard Kipling and was the correspondent from 'The Times' on the expedition. Among the artifacts that he took back to Britain were these intricately woven 'figured silk textiles ' from Tibetan monasteries. These silk tapestries were donated to museums in Britain in 1905.

And this is what is sad and ironic! For the next 85 years, these silk pieces remained in the museums catalogued as 'Tibetan Silk Lampas' - as Tibet was their last known place of origin!

It was only the other day, in 1992, a British scholar could identify the so called 'Tibetan Silk Lampas' as our very own Vrindavani Vastra from Assam.

We are eternally grateful to this scholar.

Other items in this special exhibit at the British Museum: There were few other artifacts from Assam in the exhibition.

One was illustrated pages from a 'Sansi-paator puthi' (sansi paat leaves) from a manuscript of the Brahmavaivarta Purana on loan from the British Library.

Also, there were dance masks (putanaa the demoness, Garuda etc) from Majuli. A big five-faced serpent (Kaliya) dominated the room as we entered…until we saw the colorful Vastra!

There were also some contemporary textiles - our muga mekhela sadors with red borders and butas, a phulaam gamosa, a beautifully decorated endi shawl.

Also, there was an interesting garment - a man's long gown where part of the Vrindavani Vastra material was used as the lining material for the gown and the top materiel was a light col-

ored Chinese silk! There were two short films going on in the adjoining room.

One of these was a video artwork by the Guwahatibased group and the other was a short documentary film - a footage shot at the 2014 Raas Leela festival in Majuli.

The Future of the Vastra: There were some discussion in Assam to bring back the Vastra to its birthplace Assam. Tarun Gogoi, then chief minister of Assam, went to see the Vastra not too long ago. Asked if the government would request the museum to return the textile to Assam, Gogoi said that his government had no such plan and also the museum authorities probably would never agree to the proposal. He also said it would not have been possible for Assam to preserve the tapestry the way it had been preserved in the British Museum.

It made me sad to think that our own people from Assam will not be able to see this gorgeous masterpiece of Assamese textile unless they come to London, or unless, somehow, it could be taken to Assam even for a short while! I am afraid, given the age of the textile, transporting this gigantic ancient piece to another country might shorten its life too! On the other hand, we all can take pride in the fact that an ancient piece from Assam is taking a prominent place in the British Museum and is admired by millions from all over the world.

ley is one, but its multiple orchestration of Muslim and Hindu views has made its division deeper seated.

Of course the torture of the Pundits is a slur on the history of the state, but to simply accommodate a fleeing population in other parts of the country is not solving the issue. It is only to keep it burning. The division of the state is a classic representation of a house divided made pub-

munity on the basis of language and culture. Instead what happened was hard core division, animosity and hatred. Then the blame game. Then, the generalisation that everyone is separatist, if not terrorist.

Terror of the time

One Last Look: The week after I saw the Vrindavani Vastra for the first time, I have decided to go back again to the British Museum. This time, I knew what to expect; so, I was not the wide-eyed, speechless person from the previous week! I roamed around the hall quietly, looking at the

It is now time we talk, soul search and deploy methods of talking to leaders of the community and senior political leaders of the country. Rather a group of political leaders, academics, intellectuals, artists and writers from all over the country, including Kashmir must be constituted and measures of persuasion rather than coercion must be chalked out. That is imperative.

Some healing, some affection, some compassion

intricate designs, reading the notes, spending some quality time with this stunning, brilliant piece from my homeland, and trying to paint a picture in my mind, imagining that time period of centuries ago and unconsciously going back in time…

Time stood still for me…

It was not just the physical presence of this Vastra that pulled me to the museum the following week. As a forever history student, it is the total history behind the Vrindavani Vastra from before its birth to its present status and the stories relating to it tugged my heart again and again…

I hope Vrindavani Vastra survives in this beautiful condition for many more centuries - so that people from of all over the world can come and look at this beautiful piece. I appreciated the fact that the British Museum (and many other fine museums in London) is completely free to the public - and locals and tourists alike can go to these museums all the time. I was marveled at this unique piece of textile from our homeland which has such huge importance now in a wider cultural, religious and geographical contexts.

Before I left the exhibit hall, I took one last look in appreciation of her fascinating life and historical journey from birth…traveling from place to place, with lost identity, and finally found her place, a permanent home - away from home, and like one proud Assamese, she is still standing strong, shining bright.

PS: there are a few scholars who say the Vastra was made 100 years after Srimanta Sankardeva's passing. I am writing on what I have found by researching so far. Courtesy: thethumbprintmag

this country who feel sad at the state of affairs there.

Their voices must be heard.

What is it we want? Do we want that the bitter pangs of separation to still continue? When we talk of integration, emotional integration, what does it mean? Why has also this unrest in Kashmir restarted since a new dispensation came to power?

Is it a fear psychosis of a people who think that their voices will be suppressed?

Ruthlessly? Is it the angst of the times? Have other ' happenings ' in the country stirred emotions? This is the test of the government. Honestly it must do some real introspection.

Otherwise the terror of the time will continue to exert

And in the midst of all this the press has been gagged. The voices of the fourth estate cannot be ruthlessly banned like this.

This points towards a fact that the entire peoples and community are branded as traitors or are against the Indian Government.

From bullets to pellets.

The intent is the same.

Alienation and more alienation. The over hundred unmarked graves in the valley remain a symbol of the state's death wish and the recalcitrance urge of a people to resist brute force, men in uniforms and the feeling that the entire population is manned by terrorists and forces of an undying separatism. The question is why, the roots of this apathy, the history of the state, the present state government established in a hurry for very short term gains. If this is work-

Image for representational purpose (Photo: qph.ec.quoracdn)

one Muslim and the other predominantly Hindu is once again the age old trick of division. The val-

lic if not official. The language assimilation of a community could have been used to bind a com-

must be on display. Otherwise the country and its people will be the biggest losers. There are people in

its vicious demon like grip on all of us who, care for the nation. Courtesy: thethumbprintmag

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

BUSINESS

Fourth tranche of gold scheme nets Rs. 919 cr.

Chennai, Aug 2: The fourth tranche of the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme received applications for a record Rs.919 crore worth of gold bonds, taking the total amount received through the scheme to about Rs.2,240 crore across the four tranches of the scheme so far. "Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB): Record amount of Rs.919 cr equivalent to 2.95 tons gold mobilised in 4th tranche.

Scheme gaining popularity," Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das tweeted following the government announcement.

"SGB: 1.95 lakh applications in 4th tranche show growing investor interest this new instrument of financial savings in lieu gold," Mr.

Das said in a separate tweet.

"The encouraging response of the investors to the SGB Scheme (Series-I) of 201617, indicates that the product has come of age, and is becoming popular amongst the general public due to advantages it offers over physical gold, namely use as collateral for loans, capital gains tax exemption on redemption, zero risk of theft/ impurities associated with handling of physical gold; tradability through stock exchanges and also availability in DEMAT and paper form," the government said in a statement.

"The product, in addition, earns an interest rate of 2.75 per cent per annum, payable half yearly on initial investment," the statement added.

Economic Affairs Secretary, Shaktikanta Das. (Photo: financialexpress) The first three tranches of the scheme attracted a total of Rs.1,318 crore corresponding to 4.9 tonnes (4,900 kg) of gold, with the

second tranche holding the previous record of highest subscription amount of Rs.746 crore for 2.95 tonnes of gold. While the aim of the

Sovereign Gold Bond scheme is to "reduce demand, including through imports, for physical gold, and in the process reduce India's current account deficit," the fact of the matter is that the scheme has a long way to go in achieving this.

India imported Rs.1.1 lakh crore worth of gold between November 2015 and June 2016, the period encompassing all four tranches of the scheme. The total worth of the applications for the gold bonds across the four tranches works out to just two per cent of this amount.

The bonds sold in the period amounted to 7,784 kg of gold, which is just 1.7 per cent of the amount of gold imported in the period No-

vember 2015 to May 2016.

The government did try to make the fourth tranche of the scheme more attractive by reducing the minimum subscription limit to 1 gm from the previous 2 gm. It also exempted the redemption of the bonds from capital gains tax, a provision that was extended to the previous three tranches as well. The trading of the gold bonds on the exchanges was also operationalised.

The issue price of the fourth tranche was fixed at Rs.3,119 per gram of gold based on the simple average of the closing prices of gold of 999 purity for the week July 11 to July 15, 2016 as published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association. (Agencies)

Excess rainfall brings in key risk 4-month high hit by manufacturing sector in July: PMI to inflation outlook: report Nagpur, Aug 2: Although monsoon has gathered pace in July after a slow start in June, there is some risk of excess rainfall and floods posing a key risk to the inflation outlook, according to a report by Edelweiss Securities. "The key risk to benign inflation outlook arises from the possibility of excess rainfall damaging crops. In such a scenario, rural consumption could be hit," said the economy series paper on 'What does good monsoon mean for inflation' prepared by Edelweiss Securities Ltd. Currently, CPI (excluding pulses) is 5.2 per cent against a headline CPI of 5.8 per cent. The firm expects a 60 basis point dip in CPI if pulses inflation declines to around five per cent. According to the report, monsoon was only a marginal

Image for representational purpose. (Photo: preparednessadvice) factor in boosting rural sentiment or spending. It is far more dependent on the behaviour of agricultural prices, construction activity and government's rural spending. Forecasting a lower inflation by September, the paper said that the

IRS association calls off confrontation

Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley. (Photo: im.rediff) New Delhi, Aug 2: The Indian Revenue Service Association, the Mumbai unit of which had earlier passed a resolution against the revenue department, suspended its protest following a meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The Association made several demands of the government including reversing the punitive actions taken against officials in Mumbai due to the resolution that was passed. The demands also included ensuring that the Central Board of

Direct Taxes be allowed to administer direct tax policies, the manpower shortage at supervisory levels be addressed, and parity in pay be introduced.

"The delegation‌ discussed various issues and conveyed the deep sense of deprivation and injustice amongst IRS officers leading to severe discontent and demoralisation," according to a statement issued by the Indian Revenue Service Association following the meeting with the Finance Minister. "In view of the positive response and understanding shown by the

The company said sales of the compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Ritz, Dzire and Baleno increased by 4.1 percent to 50,362 units in July this year as against 48,381 units in the corresponding month last

year. MSI said sales of its compact sedan Dzire Tour declined by 9.2 percent during the month under review at 3,059 units as against 3,370 units in July 2015.

Sales of mid sized sedan Ciaz rose two-fold to 5,162 units during the month.

Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara, Ertiga, S-Cross and recently launched compact SUV Vitara Brezza surged over two-fold to 17,382 units in July this year from 6,916 units in the corresponding month last year.

Sales of vans - Omni and Eeco - rose 24.1 percent to 14,748 units in July this year as compared to 11,887 units in the same period of the previous year. Exports during the month rose marginally to 11,338 units as compared to 11,307 units in July last year, MSI said. (Agencies)

mist at Markit and author of the report, said. Supported by greater demand from both domestic and external markets, total new business rose at the fastest pace since March. Although output expanded at the fastest rate since March and backlog accumulation intensified, businesses refrained from creating jobs. Only 1 per cent of surveyed companies took on additional workers in July, while almost all the remaining respondents signalled no change in payroll numbers. "The ongoing muted trend for employment indicates that companies remain somewhat uncertain regarding the sustainability of the upturn," Ms. Lima added.

Meanwhile, the depreciation of the rupee supported Indian exporters as survey data pointed to the quickest rise in new business from abroad

Edible oil plant soon to be set up by Emami Agrotech

Hon'ble Finance Minister in the meeting with the delegation, and also keeping in view the ongoing crucial government projects including the Income Declaration Scheme, the IRS Association has advised its Mumbai unit to suspend the ongoing agitation, which started with the passing of the resolution dated July 22, 2016, by the Mumbai unit of the Association," according to the statement. (Agencies)

13% rise in Maruti sales in July on strong demand for utility vehicles New Delhi, Aug 2: Country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) posted a 12.7 percent rise in its total sales in July at 1,37,116 units as against 1,21,712 units in the same month a year ago. The company posted its best ever monthly domestic sales at 1,25,778 units, up 13.9 percent from 1,10,405 units in July 2015. Sales of mini segment cars, including, Alto and WagonR, however, declined by 7.2 percent to 35,051 units as compared to 37,752 units in the year-ago month, MSI said in a statement.

correction in international food prices (corn, wheat and soybean) along with expectations of good Kharif output raises hopes on the inflation front but it does not augur well for farm-incomes and rural-spending. (Agencies)

New Delhi, Aug 2: Manufacturing sector in India continued with its uptrend and hit a four-month high in July, backed by stronger upturn in new business orders, while subdued inflationary pressure may prompt RBI to reduce key policy rate, a monthly survey said. The Nikkei Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - a composite indicator of manufacturing performance - rose to 51.8 in July from 51.7 in June.

A reading above 50 denotes expansion while one below means contraction. "India's manufacturing economy is reviving at the beginning of the second half of 2016 after the slowdown seen in AprilJune quarter, as growth of both production and new orders continues to strengthen in July," Pollyanna De Lima, Econo-

Pune, Aug 2: Emami Agrotech Ltd. (EAL), part of the Emami Group, is keen on setting up an edible oil refining facility in Karnataka as it is central to the company's plans to increase its footprint in the western and the southern regions, according to a top official. "We are looking for land around Mangalore Port in Karnataka and

JNPT in Maharashtra. A plant near Kandla Port in Gujarat is under implementation," said Aditya Vardhan Agarwal, Director, Emami Group. "These three projects are crucial to our plans of expanding our reach in the west and the south," said Mr.Vardhan.The company has edible oil capacity of 4,000 tonnes a day split

between Haldia in West Bengal and Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. EAL makes edible oils like mustard, sunflower, soyabean, palmolein, rice-bran and other blended oils. It is expanding the Haldia capacity by 30 per cent while adding a bakery-fat making facility in Andhra Pradesh. The Rs.300 crore expansion of the Haldia facility will make the unit the largest singlelocation edible oil refinery in India. The company needs small parcels of land, located in close proximity to ports. Mr Agarwal said since the industry was import-dependent, portbased plant location was crucial. It had sought the help of Karnataka Government for getting about 25 acres of land for a Rs.250-crore palm and sunflower oil facility. "Edible oil is all about sourcing and logistics," Mr. Agarwal remarked. He said that the acquisition of Rasoi Vanaspati in 2014 with which it entered the vanaspati segment is doing well and the company is open to acquisitions. He declined further comment but industry sources said the company had been offered a national brand. (Agencies)

since January. Offering respite to firms, cost burdens rose at a modest and slower rate and the improving demand environment meant that businesses were able to raise their own charges in July.

"With inflation rates remaining lower than their respective long-run averages, it wouldn't be surprising to see the RBI loosening monetary policy at its August meeting in an effort to encourage investment," Ms. Lima added.

In its policy review meet in June, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan kept interest rates intact, citing rising inflationary pressure, but hinted at a reduction later this year if a good monsoon helped ease inflation. The industry is still hopeful of further rate reduction from the apex bank to boost investment. (Agencies)

PAGE 10

Vijay Mallya's assets to go under hammer for Rs 700 cr

Business tycoon, Vijay Mallya. (Photo: qzprod.files.wordpress.)

Mumbai, Aug 2: As the lenders and tax authorities cool their heels for Vijay Mallya to return to India, they will put under hammer next month assets worth over Rs 700 crore of the embattled businessman's long-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The items waiting for the right bidders are plenty - the erstwhile headquarters Kingfisher House near airport here; cars and office furniture; Mallya's plush personal jet along with everything inside that include cushy couches and even a bathrobe; Kingfisher Villa in Goa famous for parties hosted by Mallya; and numerous brands and trademarks including the famed 'Fly with Good Times' This would be the second try by the lenders and tax authorities at auction of these assets as part of their efforts to recover thousands of crores worth outstanding dues, after the earlier attempt for each of these properties proved to be a damp squib. Mallya's personal jet is being put under hammer by the service tax department, while other properties will be auctioned by the lenders whose dues

Yumchek in consultation to raise funds

from long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines have ballooned to over Rs 9,000 crore including penal interest. For almost all the properties, the reserve price has been marked down after the earlier attempts failed to attract bidders. The 17-bank consortium, led by the State Bank of India, is re-auctioning Kingfisher House in Mumbai and the airlines' trademarks and brands, including the 'Kingfisher' logo. On August 4, the lenders will re-auction Kingfisher House, the erstwhile headquarters of the airline, at a lower reserve price of Rs 135 crore. In the initial attempt in March to sell the property with a built-up area of over 17,000 sq ft in plush Vile Parle area near domestic airport here, not a single bidder came forward at the then reserve price of Rs 150 crore. Banks have also put up some of the movable secured assets worth Rs 13.70 lakh lying at Kingfisher House for sale. These assets will be auctioned separately on August 25 by SBI Cap Trustee, which possesses these assets on behalf of the lenders. (Agencies)

Booking for offline screens to be facilitated by Paytm Bengaluru, Aug 2: Digital payment platform Paytm said it will soon enable ticket booking for offline single screen cinemas on its platform to expand its footprint. The company, which introduced online movie ticketing about four months back, announced selling over one lakh movie tickets in a day on its platform.

Yumchek Founder and CEO, Piyush Gupta. (Photo: pbs.twimg) Beijing, Aug 2: Yumchek, a mobile application that offers personalised restaurant suggestions to users, is looking to raise funds of about $500,000-$2 million to fund its expansion in newer markets in South East Asia.

The application, which has seen over 1.35 lakh downloads till now, finds the best culinary options for the user based on their location and preferences. Further, to increase user engagement the app donates Rs.5 on users' behalf to NGOs that help feed children such as Akshaya Patra, once user uploads a meal receipt. A similar amount is credited to

the users' mobile wallet.

"We have a philosophy making each meal count‌This works on the crowd philanthropy model," Yumchek Founder and CEO Piyush Gupta said. "Currently, we are funding everything ourselves, but we are in discussions to raise funds‌ we will also be monetising the application by bring food and beverage brands on board." Users also earn loyalty points when uploading a meal receipt, which can be used to play a special lotto to win home appliances and other related prizes. (Agencies)

"We are very pleased at the encouraging response to our efforts to serve the millions of movie lovers in India. Paytm will also bring offline single screens on its platform over a period of time.

This will take the reach of Paytm deeper and further in this space, and also aid the theater owners in filling up seats," Renu Satti, Vice President - Paytm, said. Currently, Paytm has over 2,250 screens for which tickets can be booked online. This number will increase to 3,000 screens in the coming months.

(Agencies)

Air passengers now to pay less for ticket cancellations Mumbai, Aug 2: Fliers will have a reason to smile as the revised norms that caps ticket cancellation charges and bars airlines from levying additional amount for refund process are coming into force from August 1. Besides, carriers would have to indicate in an "unambiguous manner" the amount of refund admissible on cancellation of a ticket. "Under no circumstances, the

airline shall levy cancellation charge more than the basic fare plus fuel surcharge," aviation regulator DGCA said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also made it clear that airlines cannot levy additional charge to process the refund.

The move would come as a relief to air passengers against the backdrop of

many carriers hiking the cancellation charges in recent times. Coming out with the fresh set of rules, the watchdog said carriers should refund all statutory taxes and User Development Fee (UDF)/Airport Development Fee (ADF)/Passenger Service Fee (PSF) to the passengers in case of "cancellation/ non-utilisation of tickets/no show". "This provision shall also be ap-

plicable for all types of fares offered including promos/special fares and where the basic fare is non-refundable," the DGCA said. The changes were first proposed by the Civil Aviation Ministry in June as part of putting in place passenger friendly measures.

These norms are effective from August 1, according to the Civil Aviation Re-

quirement (CAR) issued

by DGCA chief M Sathiyavathy. To ensure more transparency, carriers would be required to indicate the refund amount in case of ticket cancellations. The amount and its break-up may be indicated on the ticket itself or through separate form used for the purpose.

Also, the policy and amount of refund shall be displayed by the airlines on

their respective websites, DGCA noted. Further, passengers can choose whether the refund money should be kept in the airline's credit shell or not.

"Airline shall not levy any additional charge for correction in name of the same person, when error in his name spelling is pointed out by the passenger to the airline after booking of his ticket," the regulator said. (Agencies)

Features

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

PAGE 11

HORTICULTURE Squash is one of the most versatile and delicious vegetables grown throughout the globe and it also pack good vitamins and an excellent health benefits. Squash is an herbaceous annual viny, creeping and trailing plant and produces vegetable that is large and variable in shape, size, colour and markings with a peduncle that is corky on the surface. This vegetable belongs to the family of "Cucurbitaceae' and genus of "Cucurbita". There are mainly two types of squash; winter squash and summer squash and most summer squash have a bushy growth habit, unlike the rambling vines of many winter squashes. Some of the common names of squash vegetable are winter squash, zucchini (summer squash), butternut, pumpkin, gourd, cushaw and marrow.

Squash is a rich source of vitamin A, phosphorus & calcium. Generally, the young and tender shoots are used in culinary (cooking) purpose. As the squash is warm season crop, India would be the best place to grow squash commercially.

Squash can be grown in greenhouse, poly house and under shade net as well.

Squash can be grown in pots, containers and backyards as well. Health Benefits of Squash: - The following are some of the health benefits of squash. " Squash is good for immune health. " Squash helps in manag-

ing diabetes. " Squash has anti-inflammatory properties. Squash has antiseptic, antimicrobial & antifungal properties. " Squash is good for lungs health. " Squash helps in neural tube defect situations. " Squash is good for heart health. " Squash is good asthma patients. " Squash helps in blood circulation. " Squash is good for eye and skin health. Squash is good for bone health.

Varieties of Squash: There are two groups of squash available; summer squash and winter squash.

Within these groups, there are many improved varieties available. Acorn Squash, Ambercup Squash, Autumn Cup Squash, Banana Squash, Butternut Squash, Buttercup Squash, Carnival Squash, Delicata Squash, Fairytale Pumpkin Squash, Gold Nugget Squash, Hubbard Squash, Kabocha Squash, Spaghetti Squash, Sweet Dumpling Squash and Turban Squash are some of the varieties grown throughout the world. Butternut squash is gaining popularity do to its keeping quality and sunburn is not a major problem.

Summer Squash Types Climate Requirements for Squash Farming:- Squash is a warm season crop and thrives better in the hot climatic conditions. Squash cannot tolerate any frost conditions. The optimum

monthly average temperature for good quality and yield of squash is 22 째C to 29 째C. Squash seeds germinate best at 28째C to 32째C. Planting/sowing of squash is recommended when the soil temperatures are high enough to germinate the seeds and last frost season is passed.

Soil Requirements for Squash Farming:- Squash can be cultivated on wide range of soils. However, they thrive best in welldrained sandy loam soils and clay soils rich in organic matter. But if they are grown in clay soils, it will be difficult task to harvest the crop in the wet field and also it requires extra labour to clean them. Low-lying fields should be avoided. If they are grown on large scale, soil testing should be done to find out the nutrient deficiencies in the field.

The optimum soil pH of 5.5 to 6.5 would result in good yield and quality of fruit.

Propagation and Seed Rate in Squash Farming:Propagation of squash is mainly done through seeds.

However, plants can be reproduced vegetative via cuttings. One can expect early fruiting from rooted cuttings than with plants from seed. Generally summer squash is directly seeded or transplanted for early marketing. Usually, one hectare land requires 2 to 4 kg of seeds.

Squash Seeds Land Preparation, Sowing Time and Method in Squash

A Guide to Farming Squash

Varieties of squash Photo: agrifarming Farming:- Prepare the field by giving 2 to 3 ploughings and harrowing and then furrow the field at 2 meter apart. Furrows should be made with a native plow or tractor to a depth of 15 cm .

Remove any weeds from previous crops. It is advised to dig holes at a distance of 2 to 3 meter between hills.

Sowing of the seed 2.5 to 4 cm deep in moist soil is recommended. When it comes to spacing, medium-vined

squashes should be planted in rows 2.0 to 2.0 meter apart, with plants spaced 0.5 to 0.6 meter apart in rows. For larger varieties, provide extra spacing.

Irrigation in Squash Farming:- Frequent irrigation should be carried out in dry and drought conditions for better output. Furrow irrigation should be carried after every 10 days interval especially planting, vegetative, and flowering and fruit

set stage. Avoid irrigation after fruit maturity. Drip irrigation can be adopted for better water management.

Weed Control in Squash Farming:- Weeding is very important activity that needs to be carried out on regular basis to get good yield. Hand weeding and hoeing should be done in squash farming. Carry out shallow cultivation when the plants are about 2 weeks old to control the weed

Building and maintaining a pond on your land difference of about five degrees and chemical differences in the water can kill the fish.

Beyond serving as a trigger for a sentimental memory of leisurely summer afternoons spent fishing or swimming, ponds fill many pragmatic needs.

Stormwater storage, water for overwintering wildlife, water for agricultural irrigation, recreation, and home for many water loving plants and animals are all functions of ponds.

Before you start digging or building, check to see what permits may be required for pond construction, and be sure that you are aware of the potential liability issues related to the community and state laws.

WHAT ARE YOUR CHOICES? Ponds come in two basic styles. One is made by building a dam across a stream, and the other is dug into the ground. Your choice between the two will be influenced by the shape of your land, soil type, water source, and what is downstream. If you choose to build a pond with a dam, plan to keep a permanent cover of grasses on the dam to stabilize the soils and prevent erosion. Experts recommend against planting trees on earthen dams, and your local jurisdiction may not allow it. Check with them before planting.

Your pond must be deep enough to maintain a balance between the water coming into your pond and the water leaving your pond by seepage or evaporation. Usually, a Virginia pond should be 6 to 7 feet deep with the most shallow areas of your pond at least 2 feet deep.

Unless the pond is to be used specifically as an ag-

ricultural "best management practice," avoid building a pond in an area where drainage from agricultural operations might pollute your pond. Too manynutrients from overfertilized lawns, agricultural sites, or poorly managed animal waste commonly cause eutrophication in ponds, leading to a growth of algae, weeds, and other aquatic vegetation that may wipe out other aquatic organisms, including fish.

MAINTAINING A POND Muddy Ponds: Muddy ponds may be the result of erosion from lands upstream. You must solve this problem because soil particles in the water will reduce light and affect the growth of aquatic vegetation and microorganisms.

To reduce the problem, maintain adequate groundcover over the areas being eroded. Fence your livestock to keep them out of the pond.

Their hooves and feet will

destroy grass and plants along the water's edge, further contributing to the potential for soil erosion.

Bottom-dwelling fish such as carp or catfish may also contribute to the pond's muddy appearance.

If suspended particles persist, powdered agricultural gypsum scattered evenly on the water's surface at a rate of 500 pounds per surface acre should clear up a pond in one to four weeks.

Dredging: Even if you do everything right, the nature of a pond's life cycle is to fill up with sediment, becoming more marsh-like and eventually becoming a woodland.

You must break the natural cycle to keep your pond a pond. Dredging can range in cost from $6 to $25 per cubic yard of spoil, depending on the price of labor at a specific location, the accessibility to the pond site, and the proximity of a site to dispose of the dredged material or spoil. Because much of the costs related

to dredging are the costs of hauling the spoil away, dredging expenses can be reduced by using a backhoe to scoop out sediment from the pond's edge and letting it dry, becoming more lightweight before it is trucked away.

Stocking: Stock your pond with healthy fish from a reputable hatchery.

Start with a mix of 100 largemouth bass and 500 bluegill (or 300/200 bluegill to redear sunfish) per acre. Stock bass in late spring to early summer and the bluegill in late summer to early fall. Having the bass present in the pond before bluegill begin to spawn is important. For angling diversity, add 50 catfish per acre if desired.

Do not dump fish into the pond! Fish must be acclimatized to your pond's water conditions. Slowly mix pond water in the containers from the hatchery, and then place the container into the pond allowing the fish to swim out on their own. A temperature

Diverting Polluted Surface Runoff: Common sense will tell you to keep polluted water out of your pond. If runoff may be carrying sediments or toxic chemicals, construct a diversion ditch around your pond.

Inspection and Repair: Inspect your pond on a regular basis. Fill in gullies, plant bare areas, and replace rip rap where needed. If you have a dam, examine it. Look for seepage, erosion, or other signs of weakness. Consult a professional for advice on repairs.

Aquatic Weeds/Algae Blooms: Nutrient-rich waters and sunlight can bring you a bumper crop of aquatic plants. Too much of this growth will shade and choke out other aquatic life. When the vegetation dies, the fish die because the plant decomposition process uses up the available oxygen.

You may choose to manually remove plants, employ biological controls, or turn to chemical methods.

Pond owners can manually remove excessive vegetation by raking out floating plants or using an aquatic weed harvester.

This is time consuming and labor intensive. Covering problem areas with black plastic may also kill vegetation by preventing sunlight from reaching the plants. If you can lower the pond's water levels during the winter months, you may be able to freeze out the plants, killing growth buds and preventing regrowth in the spring.

Dredging is an alternative

that will reduce the weed problems by deepening the pond and reducing the light reaching the bottom of the pond.

The safest and most effective control of excessive vegetation is the use of biological controls. The downside is that it is a slow method. Israeli carp or "triploid" sterile grass carp are two fish that will eradicate the weeds. You must have a permit to purchase carp in Virginia.

Permit applications are available from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Stocking rates for your pond are critical.

Understocking may have little impact while overstocking may deplete all the vegetation in your pond. For weed control (30 to 40 percent coverage), stock eight carp per weed-acre. For weed eradication, stock 16 carp per weed-acre. If the desired result is not achieved after the second year, add more fish at half the stocking rate. Check with the fish hatchery before stocking the carp if large mouth bass are present in the pond. The hatchery can advise you on the appropriate size of the carp to ensure the large mouth bass don't eat your new fingerlings for breakfast.

Chemical methods are often a "quick-fix" and may require professional assistance. If chemicals are used, instructions should be strictly followed. Don't treat your pond all at once or you are likely to kill all the fish with all the plants. Treat one-third of your pond at a time. A partial treatment will reduce the amount of oxygen depleted.

Courtesy: fairfaxcounty

growth. This shallow cultivation of squash plants is required before the vines cover the ground to keep the soil in good tilth stage and free from weeds. Vines can be trained to grow on a trellis or fence.

Manures and Fertilizers in Squash Farming:- Planting time, early vegetative growth, flowering and fruiting time are critical stages for applying fertilizers.

However, the rate of application depends on the soil analysis. Apply 20 to 25 tonnes of well rotten farmyard manure per hectare during the preparation of land. Apply four bags of complete fertilizer at planting time together with farmyard manure. This must be mixed will the soil at the rate of 1 to 2 kg per hill.

After 2 to 3 weeks after planting when the vine is about 30 cm long, sidedress with 3 bags of urea at the rate of 1 to 2 tablespoons per plant. After one month of planting and when the vine of the plant reaches about 90 cm, side-dress 1 bag of muriate of potash in 1 to 2 tablespoons per plant.

Additional urea and potash may be applied every 2 weeks whenever necessary.

Pests and Diseases in Squash Farming:- Powdery mildew, Downy mildew, Gummy stem blight, Bacterial wilt, Phytophthora crown and root rot, Verticillium wilt, Fusarium crown and foot rot, Cucumber mosaic, Squash vine borer, Squash mosaic, Squash bug,

Striped cucumber beetle, Yellow squash beetle, Armyworms, Aphids, Downy mildew, Powdery mildew, Cutworms, Leafminers, Stinkbugs ,Thrips, Cercospora leaf spot, Alternaria leaf spot, Septoria leaf spot, Angular leaf spot, Aster yellows, Blossom-end rot, Alternaria leaf blight, Bacterial leaf spot and Zucchini yellow mosaic are the main pests and diseases found in squash farming.

For the symptoms and control measures, contact your local or nearest horticulture department.

Harvesting In Squash Farming:- For better fruit quality, harvesting should be done at the right stage.

To use as fresh vegetables, summer squashes, such as zucchini and pattypan, should be harvested at immature stage. Squash develops very fast after the flowering, so they must be harvested before the rind begins to harden. Harvest before fruit is fully ripe or when the peduncle starts to dry up. It is best to harvest the fruit with a part of the peduncle attached to prolong storage life.

Squash Yield in Squash Farming:- Basically any crop yield depends on many factors, such as soil type, irrigation, cultivar and field management practices.

Most winter squash cultivars could yield about 20,000 kg/ha.

Courtesy: agrifarming

Benefits of having an Amla tree in your backyard Amla is a medium size deciduous plant. It grows to the height of 8 -18 meter. It has a crooked trunk and spreading branches. Its flower is yellow greenish in colour. The fruit is spherical pale yellow with six vertical furrows. The mature fruits are hard and do not fall for the gentle touch. The average weight of the fruit is 60 -70 g. It has a gray bark and reddish wood. Its leaves are feathery, linear oblong in shape and smell like lemon. Its wood is hard in texture. It wraps and splits when exposed in the Sun or in the excessive heat. It is planted through the deciduous of tropical India and on the hill slopes up to 2000 meter. It is commercially cultivated in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is also grown in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh also.

Cultivation methods : Amla can grow in light as well as the heavy soils. It is grown under the tropical conditions.

The young plants are protected from the hot winds as they dye easily. Amla is generally propagated through seeds. It requires proper sunlight. It is irrigated during the monsoon season. It starts bearing fruits in seven years from the day of planting.

Medicinal uses : The fruit is the richest source of Vitamin C and is a diuretic, aperient, Laxa-

tive and hair dye. It cures insomnia and is healthy for hair. It is used as the cardio protective, useful in hemorrhage, menprrhagia, leucorrhoea and discharge of blood from uterus. Amla power and oil are used traditionally in Ayurvedic applications for the treatment of scalp.

Amla power improves immunity and gives physical strength. It improves complexion and removes wrinkles.

Amla is also used to treat constipation and is used as a cooling agent to reduce the effects of sun strokes and sun burns.

Other uses : It is the main ingredient used in the shampoo. Amla oil is used all the world. Amla is used in sauces, candy, dried chips, pickle, jellies and powder. It is even used in the dyeing industry. It extract is popularly used in the ink. Amla wood is commonly used in firework.

Cultural Importance :Amla has been regarded as the sacred tree in India. It sin worshiped as the Mother Earth and is believed to nurture humankind because the fruits are very nourishing. It stimulates spiritual purity. Kartik Mahatma and Vrat Kaumudi order the worship of this tree. Its fruits and flowers are used in worship.

Courtesy: ecoindia

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DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

PAGE 12

West Indies vs. India: Statistical highlights of day 3 of Kingston Test Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

PTI Kingston, Aug 2 : Ajinkya Rahane carved out his seventh Test hundred before India’s declaration at 500 for nine against the West Indies on Monday.

Ø Wriddhiman Saha (47) has posted his highest score vs. West Indies in Tests, eclipsing the 40 at North Sound in the first Test of the series. His only two fifties have been recorded by him away from home — 60 at Galle and 56 at Colombo (PSS) — both vs. Sri Lanka in August 2015.

Rahane (108* off 237 balls) was at the crease as the visitors declared their first innings at 500/9 with early tea taken after a second rain interruption. India lead by 304 runs after West Indies were bowled out for 196 runs in their first innings.

ØRostan Chase (5/121) has produced his first five-wicket haul in Tests. Chase is the first West Indian spinner since David Holford’s 5 for 23 at Bridgetown in March 1976 to produce a five-wicket haul vs. India in home Tests.

Here are the statistical highlights of the third day’s play:

Ø India has, for the first time, taken a first innings lead of 300-plus (304) while batting second in a Test match vs. West Indies in the Caribbean. It is the third instance of a lead of over 200 vs. West Indies overall while batting second. Ø India has, for the sec-

ond time, registered a lead of 300 or more in successive Tests. In the North Sound Test last week, they had gained a lead of 323.

Ø India (500/9d) has re-

Rahane (108* off 237 balls) was at the crease as the visitors declared their first innings at 500/9 corded a total of 500 for the first time in a Test match at Kingston. In all, they have registered five totals of 500plus totals vs. West Indies in the Caribbean.

Ø Overall, India has reg-

istered totals of 500 or more in successive innings in Tests three times away from home.

Ø

Ajinkya Rahane (108 not out) has recorded the second highest score by India’s number five batsman vs. West Indies at Kingston behind the 117 by Polly Umrigar in March 1953. Umrigar had scored 130, while batting at number five, at Port of Spain in

January 1953 and Rahul Dravid — 144 not out at Georgetown in April 2002.

Ø

Rahane is one of the five Indian batsmen at number five to post three hundreds outside the subcontinent — the first four being Polly Umrigar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sachin

Independence Cup Football Tournament 2016 Miao Indrajit Tingwa Miao, Aug 2: Today the Miao Bum team scripted history winning both their matches in the tournament till now defeating their rivals 8-0. In the first the team knocked out RFC and in today's second round match they repeated the same score and results. Namphaill FC got washed away from the tournament unable to bear the tide of Miao Bum and thus failing to score any goals. Till half time Miao Bum were at 2 goals. In the second half , Sumchu Singpho, Jersey No.8 of Miao Bum scored 6 continues goals taking his team's total to 8. Sumchu netted 4 consecutive goals within four minutes. With today's and his previous scores,Sumchu becomes the foremost contender for the highest scorer title with a total of ten goals in 2 matches in his kitty.

Namphai -II FC missed two crucial attempts hitting at the goal bar. The third

goal of Miao Bum was bagged through a penalty.

Namphai -II FC directly entered the second round through a bye. With this win Miao Bum has become one of the hot favourites in this season of football at Miao.

The team next faces either Gara XI FC or Choepheling FC, whichever team wins the second round clash on 6 August.

Today the match was graced by Sri P.Kanmai,Block Education

Officer, Miao as the chief guest. He encouraged the players to give their best in the game and also uphold sportsman spirit.

Tomorrow's match: Mpen United will face Jotin Kaikhe FC

Ø For India, the first seven partnerships have produced 70.28 — their best average partnership in a Test series (17) away from home (minimum 10 partnerships of 50-plus). ØFor the third time in Tests

in the Caribbean, spinners from both teams claimed five wickets or more in an innings — India vs West Indies at Kingston in 195253, Bangladesh vs West Indies at Kingstown 2014 and India vs West Indies at Kingston in 2016.

Rupjyoti Sangha win Sports Reporter Dibrugarh, Aug 2: Rupjyoti Sangha, Jokai defeated Tenghakhat Sports Association 2-1 in the league encounter of the first Monuj Patra and Boga Das senior division football tournament organized by Dibrugarh District Sports Association at the DDSA stadium here today. Altogether, 11 teams are taking part in the tournament. Altogether, 11 teams are taking part in the tournament.

Sanjib Tiwa of Rupjyoti Sangha opened the account for his team in 4th minute converted the goal from the right flank. Bhaskar Gogoi made it 2-0 in the first half.

Bhaskar collected a pass from Sanjib from the left flank and found the back of the net.

In the second half, Rupjyoti Sangha missed some scoring opportunities Krishna Tanti of Tenghakhat scored the lone salvo for his team in the 60th minute. In the last 20 minute, Tenghakhat missed a crucial opportunity.

Tenghakhat Sonowal Kachari Students Union Football Club will lock horn with Milanjyoti Sangha.

Wrestler Narsingh Yadav calls on Prime Minister PTI New Delhi, Aug 2:A day after being cleared by the National Anti-doping Agency (NADA), wrestler Narsingh Yadav on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who asked him to focus on winning laurels for the country at the Olympics without any tension.

The wrestler met the Prime Minister at the latter's office in the Parliament House soon after the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting, and Mr. Modi assured Yadav that no injustice will be done to him.

“The Prime Minister gave his best wishes to me and asked me to be carefree and participate in Olympics without any tension. He asked me to focus on winning medals for the country.

He also assured me that no injustice will be done to me,” Yadav said after the meeting.

The wrestler, who failed a dope test on June 25 and claimed that it was a conspiracy against him, said he wanted to leave behind the controversy and focus on his participation in the Olympics and winning a medal there.

“I am thankful that the Prime Minister has seen me and supported me. I am

A recent photograph of Narsingh Yadav. The wrestler met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday thankful to people for supporting me. I hope to live up to their expectations. I am also thankful for the support of the Wrestling Federation and the media for standing by me,” he said.

Asked if he would like those behind the doping row be punished, he said an inquiry was on and hoped that justice would prevail.

“This should not happen to any player, otherwise they will stop taking interest in sports,” he said.

Wrestling Federation of India president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, who is also a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh accompanied the wrestler to the meeting with the Prime Minister.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic lands in Rio to bid for elusive Olympic gold

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 2: Tennis world No.1 Novak Djokovic has arrived here ahead of his bid for an elusive Olympic gold medal.

The 29-year-old was greeted by a throng of fans and journalists at the Tom Jobim airport arrivals hall late on Monday afternoon, reports Xinhua.

Djokovic told reporters he was looking forward to the "experience of a lifetime" at the Athletes` Village in Rio`s west.

"In Beijing we were all together.

In London I stayed in an apartment near Wimbledon," Djokovic told reporters. "I`m excited about being close to other athletes, share our experiences, have lunch together. It will be the experience of a lifetime."

Djokovic took bronze at the Beijing 2008 Games and just

missed out on a medal at the London 2012 Games, where he was the Serbian team`s flag bearer.

He was beaten by eventual champion Andy Murray in the semi-finals and lost the bronze medal match against Juan Martin Del Potro.

The winner of 12 Grand Slam titles warmed up for the August 5-21 Olympics by defeating Kei Nishikori 6-3, 7-5 in the Toronto Masters final on Sunday.

He said he was hopeful Serbia`s Olympic team would eclipse their tally of four medals in London.

"There are more Serbians competing, which shows that we are getting better. We are all hoping to get to the final. We are here to enjoy this great event and fight for a medal," he said.( IANS)

Saudi female runner breaks barriers in Rio marathon

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 2, 2016, (AFP) : Attar turned heads in the head-to-toe outfit she patched together with her mother to race in the 800 metres at the 2012 London Games, where she was one of the first Saudi women Olympians. Screen grab Pioneer Saudi sportswoman Sarah al-Attar has already raced at the Olympics, but now her campaign will become a marathon as she uses the Rio Games to break down barriers in the conservative kingdom.

Attar turned heads in the head-to-toe outfit she patched together with her

mother to race in the 800 metres at the 2012 London Games, where she was one of the first Saudi women Olympians.

This time Attar, now 23, will take on the gruelling 42 kilometer (26 mile) marathon race in Rio, where four Saudi women will take part.

Along with Attar, they are judoka Wujud Fahmi, fencer Lubna al-Omair and 100m runner Cariman Abu al-Jadail.

None qualified directly for their competition, but will take part with special invitations from the International Olympic Committee.

The women and seven Saudi men arrived in Rio on Monday, but were kept away from prying media.

Attar has no regrets and no doubts about running in London and Rio.

Gender divisions are so sensitive that the Saudi Olympic Committee website did not name the women who will represent the country.

"I was going for the women in Saudi Arabia, for all the young girls to have someone in the Olympics representing them, giving them a

picture of something they could one day strive for," she said in a recent article for the Like The Wind runners' magazine.

Attar finished last in her 800 metres heat in London, more than half a minute behind her nearest rival. She still got a standing ovation when she crossed the line.

The Californian with SaudiUS nationality has never run under three hours in four attempts on the Boston marathon, but can no doubt expect a similar acclaim in Rio. Taking part in sport is not easy for Saudi women and

finding women to go to the London Olympics was a challenge. Someone knew of the half-Saudi girl in California who liked running and so an invitation was made.

"My mom and I pieced together an outfit: a longsleeve shirt, full-length running tights, and a head cover we found online," Attar told Marie-Claire magazine.

"I was proud to wear the uniform and liked that wearing the appropriate dress connected me to Saudi girls who want to run and have to be covered while they do it."

Since London, Attar has become a sponsored athlete training with elite women runners in Mammoth Lakes, California.

Attar and her family have also noticed change in Saudi Arabia since the London Games.

Her father, Amer Attar, told the Washington Post how on a 2011 visit, when his daughter wanted to go on a run, he gave her a boyish "cap and warmup pants" and drove beside her.

Last year, he saw men and women running together in Jeddah.

"I even saw a guy with his,

I think, looked like his wife, and they were holding hands and running together.

And she was wearing the abaya, and she was covered up, but they were actually running."

Still, the IOC has rejected a suggestion by a Saudi Arabian official the conservative kingdom could jointly host the Olympics with neighbouring Bahrain, holding men's and women's events in separate states.

President Thomas Bach said "a commitment to 'nondiscrimination' will be mandatory for all countries hoping to bid for the Olympics in the future".

Brijbhushan said, “The Prime Minister asked Narsingh not to take any tension and play freely and focus on winning laurels for the country.”

Yadav was on Monday exonerated of doping charges by the NADA, which concluded that he was a victim of sabotage, paving the way for the wrestler’s participation in the Rio Olympics.

After more than a week of drama that began with Yadav testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid methandienone in tests conducted on June 25, NADA DG Naveen Agarwal put an end to the suspense on the wrestler’s fate by exonerating him.

Zico arrives in Goa today Panaji, Aug 2 (PTI) Brazilian legend Zico today arrived in Goa and was accorded a warm welcome by the FC Goa officials, laying all speculation to rest that he will not return back for the third edition of the ISL after the tournaments regulatory committees decision.

The 63-year-old Brazilian footballer arrived today at Goa airport amidst warm welcome accorded to him

by FC Goa fans. The coach, however, refused to entertain any media questions upon his arrival. FC Goa sources confirmed that Zico would be meeting clubs new chief Jaydev Mody before making a formal statement on August 4. The football legends arrival comes at the backdrop of several ace players leaving the franchise.

Then Dattaraj Salgaocar and Srinivas Dempo coowned FC GOA had hit choppy water after ISL regulatory committee imposed a hefty penalty of Rs 12 crore on the Goan franchise for not attending the prize distributation ceremony after they lost the finals of the second edition last year against Chennaiyin FC. Co-owners Dempo and Salgaoncar were banned from entering the stadium for two and three years respectively by the committee. Zico was disappointed over the ISL regulatory committees decision and had vowed not to join hands with the ISL club.

But the recent development of both the co-owners selling their 65 per cent joint stakes to Casino entrepreneur Mody seems to have finally made the Brazilian football legend change his decision. PTI MCS RPS SSC SSC

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