13th april

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ASSENG/2015/64205

Vol. 1

Issue 306

Dibrugarh, Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Tension prevails at Tinsukia district's Pengeri after police firing, curfew continues

According to police source adequate forces were deployed in the area with army conducting flag march to maintain peace.

On the other hand, post incident Tinsukia witness a 24 - hour bandh call by ATTSA and AASAA. However, the bandh call was reduced to 12 hours from 24 hours. Earlier in the day bandh supporters forced bandh on the people of Tinsukia a head of Rongali Bihu celebration in the state. Reports of supporters’ man - handling auto

ET CAPSULES

Fire gutted two shops in Margherita Margherita, Apr 12: Two shops were gutted in a fire which broke out today at Vineer Mill Bazaar in Margherita. The people who have lost their shops in the devastating fire are Puja Material Godown which belongs to Mukundu Bhattacharjee (Tiya) and a Cosmetic Shop of Shibu Bose.

Other three shops which affected the fire are Cosmetic Shop of Pranab Paul,Godown of Debnath and Whole Shop of Daroga Sah. According to local resident it was the handy work of some local miscreants.

Five lakh properties were gutted in the fire. Bhim Karmakar President of Margherita BJP Sadar Mandal Committee have showed grief for all those persons whose shops were gutted. (Correspondent)

A Staff Reporter Guwahati, Apr 12

Sonowal during his visit to AMCH today. rickshaw pullers, breaking shops at Hijuguri poured in and in no time the town came to a halt.

Last minutes reports suggest that cremation of the eleven persons killed in Monday's police firing could not take place on Tuesday. Top officials from district administration and police administration conducted a meeting to chalk out a strategy to bring the situation under control so that curfew can be relaxed.

As per reports available with The Eastern Today several top police officers available re camping at

Pengeri.

On the other hand, here in the neighboring Dibrugarh district BJP chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal along with Dibrugarh MP Rameshwar Teli visited the injured at Assam medical college and hospital. In a statement issued by Assam Chai Majdoor Sangh, the union has condemned the murder of the two adivasis while demanding 10 lakhs compensation for those killed in yesterday's firing. ATTSA and AASAA, here back in Tinsukia district, has expressed political motive behind the incident.

The Government of Assam today declared exgratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased in the incident that took place at Pengaree in Tinsukia district on Monday. The amount for ex-gratia may go up to Rs 5 lakh on the basis of Deputy Commissioner’s report.

The State Government also announced Rs l lakh each to the seriously injured and Rs 20,000 to those who sustained minor injuries.

Free treatment will also be provided by the Government to the injured persons.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had already announced that the Government would institute a judicial inquiry to go into the circumstances leading to the incident.

Torrential Flood badly affected Diyun and Bordumsa

EAC-Diyun along with his officials took stock of the flood situation in Udaipur Village under Diyun Circle ET Correspondent Diyun, April 12

Pre-Monsoon showers over the past four days in DiyunBordumsa circles has been creating havoc in the area inundating many villages namely, Udaipur, Dumpani, Jyotipur and Bijoypur. People in the areas are reeling under severe turmoil as Nao-Dehing River

is flowing above the danger level. Fortunately, there has been no loss of lives being reported. Alarmed by the flooding of the river, Extra Assistant Commissioner of Diyun, Tagam Mibang and his local police officials have paid an emergency visit in order to assess the ground situation. In Udaipur village alone, 75 families are affected by the flood,

five houses are completely inundated and destruction of paddy fields has been also reported.After being briefed by the EAC about the unprecedented flood situation, the MLA of Diyun-Bordumsa constituency, Nikh Kamin ordered immediate precautionary evacuation steps, besides, providing basic necessities to the affected people.

About a hundred novices ordained at the Golden Pagoda Bilaseng Namchoom Tengapani (Noi Cheynam) Apr 12

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A new record has been set today with the ordination of about a hundred novices from different Theravada Buddhist communities of Arunachal Pradesh at the Golden Pagoda (Kongmu Kham) located at the Noi Cheynam,Tengapani in Namsai district. Earlier fifty four novices were ordained here in 2010 during the first ceremony followed by thirty six during the second. Now in

5.00

Pages- 12

HAPPY RANGALI BIHU

Assam govt. declares 2 lakh each as ex-gratia

ET Correspondent Tinsukia, Apr12

Tension continued to prevail in Tinsukia district's Pengeri area on Tuesday, a day after eleven people were killed and over dozen injured in police firing leading to snag of high voltage overhead wire. However, amidst curfew continuing for the second day, senior police officers including ADGP R.N. Singh visited the spot. He was accompanied by DIG (eastern range) B.P. Rabha, Superintendent of Tinsukia police Mugdha Jyoti Mahanto and deputy commissioner of Tinsukia Puru Gupta.

Price -

the third ceremony novices from Tai Khamti, Singpho, Tikhak, Tai Phake,Tai Khamyang,Chakma,Tai Ahom and Mishmi communities have been ordained today in a grand and sacred ceremony in the premises of the Golden Pagoda.

Ordination or Khamsang in Buddhism is believed to accrue merit of the highest order for the novices who undergoes through monastic life after the ceremony.

The Golden Pagoda at Tengapani.

Contd. on Page 4

Girls prepare for Bihu dance rehearsal for the ensuing Rangali Bihu in Mangaldai. Pic - UB Photos

'Above normal' monsoon this year: Met office gling farmers.

PTI New Delhi, Apr 12

After two consecutive drought years, the country will receive "above normal" monsoon with a fair distribution of rainfall across major parts of country and it will be a "good year", the Met office predicted today, easing fears of strug-

India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General Laxman Singh Rathore said there are 94 per cent chances of country receiving "normal to above normal" rainfall while there is only 1 per cent probability of "deficient" rainfall.

The monsoon seasonal rain-

fall will be 106 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a model error of plus or minus 5 per cent. "Above normal" monsoon is between 104110 per cent of the LPA and anything beyond 110 per cent of the LPA is considered as "excess".

Contd. on Page 4

Labourer attacked by leopard in Sonari ET Correspondent Sonari, Apr 12: A laborer was injured critically when a leopard attacked him in Teok Tea Estate near here today. According to Sujan Singh, head mohorer of the estate, one Debojit Munda (25), a temporary labour of the estate, was busy with his routine work in No. 27 section when a full grown leopard attacked him.

Seeing the leopard the other workers who were busy with their work started shouting forcing the leopard to flee from the place. Debojit who sustained critical injuries in his head and face were rushed to Charaideo Sub-divisional Civil Hospital for treatment. According to hospital sources, condition of the labourer is stated to be stable now.

Adivashi Mukti Sangram Samittee condemns the Pengeri incident ET Correspondent Tezpur, April 12

Adivasi Mukti Sangram Samity, Assam (AMSSA) vehemently condemned the Pengeree (Tinsukia) incident where as many as eleven people were killed and over 20 others injured after police firing upon a move of an Adivashi people.

Demanding an impartial probe into the incident Secretary of the frontline Adivashi body, Biswajit Minz in a press statement urged the government to provide Rs. 10 lacs to the family of each of the victim and Rs. 5 lacs to the family of the injured.

Meanwhile, the Sonitpur District AASUA has demanded the state and the central government for a probe into the incident and provide adequate compensation to the victim families and demanded exemplary punishment to the accused police officers involve ed in the incident.

Labourer attacked by leopard in Sonari

Temple fireworks mishap: 13 persons arrested PTI Kollam, Apr 12

Thirteen persons, including members of the managing commitee of the Puttingal Devi Temple, were today arrested in connection with the fireworks mishap there in which 110 people have died, police said.

The arrested included seven members of the managing committee and six workers of the two contractors, who carried out the fireworks display on the final day of the seven-day long festival early Sunday.

The arrests were made by the police after day-long questioning, sources said.

In a dramatic move, the temple trust's President Jayalal, Secretary J Krishnankutty and members Shivaprasad, Surendran Pillai, Ravindran Pillai had surrendered before the Crime Branch police in the wee hours today.

Two other managing committee members Srendranathan Pillai and Murugesan were picked by police here this morning.

Other six workers of the two contractors who carried out the fireworks disply were also picked by police after the accident.

A Crime Branch probe into the fire tragedy is currently underway.

The ghastly mishap at the 100-year-old temple at nearby Parvavoor occurred when sparks from fireworks fell on a storehouse stocked with crackers, triggering powerful explosions.

GOVERNMENT OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH OFFICE OF THE ADDITIONAL DEPUTY COMMISSIONER JAIRAMPUR:: DISTRICT:: CHANGLANG No. JRP/JUD/KR/2016 Dated Jairampur, 10-4-2016

NOTICE This is for general information for all concerned that the Deputy Commissioner, Changlang has through an order vide No. C-JUD/123/16 dated Changlang, the 31st March, 2016 appointed the undersigned, the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Jairampur to conduct an enquiry of the incident and aftermath that took placed on 29th March at Diyun under Changlang District, Arunachal Pradesh.

The undersigned is already stationed at Circuit House, Diyun and started the enquiry process. If any individual, organization, forum etc wants to depose or submit evidential inputs regarding the incident and aftermath before the magistrate he/she/they are allowed to do either in person or by writing. In case anybody wishes, his or her identity will be kept confidential. Anybody who wishes to meet the undersigned pertaining to the incident can meet him with prior appointment and due permission. The undersigned can be contacted on 09612425346 or 08730010377 or 09436835266.

Sd/- Kento Riba Additional Deputy Commissioner Jairampur

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Today's edition of The Eastern Today carries a 8-page Bihu SupplementSpring Sonata Free

The Eastern Today wishes all its esteemed readers, agents, advertisers, clients and all a Happy Rangali Bihu. Due to Bihu holidays there will be no edition of this publication on April 14 and 15. The next edition will be published on April 16. - Editor

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

PAGE 2 ASTRO FOR YOU Aries Today will be as agreeable as any day can be. You are satisfied with what you have. Besides, you have already planned on what you desire and are moving towards it.

Taurus You may not find an easy way out of your financial problems and will find it hard to take firm decisions. Your experience and expertise plus your great way of dealing with people will eventually enable you to make correct and profitable investments.

Gemini You will witness a marked improvement in your emotional quotient. This change may either come through watching a film, listening to a song or just a simple insight. At the workplace, people will be lavishing praise on you for your excellent performance.

Cancer You will tend to try new recipes at home. Family members will take advantage and enjoy it. You will indulge in pastimes. Arrival of guests will bring in an air of festivity and happiness.

Leo You will be filled with extra-ordinary self-confidence and will be able to take on huge risks. Sportspersons will be able to make a lot of progress in their fields.

You will square off against any obstacles in your way using your entire might.

Virgo You may realise the futility of your efforts and constant failure in achieving success. Recharge your imagination, inquisitiveness and intelligence and focus on your long-term goals.

Libra Trivialities should be the least of your concerns today. Do not let the small things faze you out. Remember that it is the overall picture that matters, and not one small stroke of the brush. Bear this is mind, since you may come under some pressure from subordinates at your workplace.

Scorpio There is a big black hole in your pocket, and it’s high time you looked for remedies there. Loved ones will make use of your money as suntan cream – liberally and carelessly. You are most likely to burn the holes larger by spending lavishly.

CMSS stages dharna demanding better wages for tea garden workers ET Correspondent Margherita, Apr 12: Chatra Mukti Sangram Samity Margherita Regional Committee today Staged Dharna infront of Margherita Sub Divisional Office(C) gate which started from Morning 8:00 am.More than 500 workers from many Factories of Margherita Region were present and raised many Slogans against Margherita Administration and Labour Department.Pappu Dutta President of Chatra Mukti Sangram Samity said that at Margherita Region there are Factories where Workers get Rs 80 to Rs 100 as daily wages. Pappu Dutta said that Assam Government Labour Department is one of the most Worthless Department where till today they Couldn't been able to implement the Minimum Wages,Act.There are many

Factory owners at Margherita Region where they managed the Labour Department officials, Ministers with Huge amount of money while for this Honest workers of Factories are exploited by the Factory owners from wages and

other Basic Facilities alleged Pappu Dutta.Chatra Mukti Sangram Samity Margherita Regional Committee has been from the long time demanding to implement the Minimum Wages, Act and other Basic Facilities for the Factory

KLO arrested

Sagittarius Mushy talks and whispering sweet nothings in your beloved’s ears may give you little joys of life. However, brace yourselves as there are times when relationships do not workout, and you may experience this soon.

Capricorn You are busy as a beaver. It is extremely difficult for you to think for yourself as you are all tied up by the demands of your work. You want to be creative, but again, the workload will not let you have that freedom.

Aquarius Travelling is on the cards for you today. Travel alone, because if you take people with different tastes along with you, their preferences may dampen your mood and spoil the trips.

Pisces Your fount of creativity spouts everyday like there is no tomorrow. However, you need to be organised and in position to implement all those revolutionary ideas that occur to you in a jiffy.

PRASAR BHARATI (India's Public Service Broadcaster) ALL INDIA RADIO : DIBRUGARH (M.W.529.1m/KHz567 F.M. 101.30 MHz) Phone No.-03732325456 E-mail -dibrugarh@air.org.in Facebook Page-All India Radio Dibrugarh Programme Highlights 13-4-16 (WEDNESDAY) 6-10 A.M-Swasthya Charcha 6-15 A.M-Classical Music (Flute Recital) 6-50 A.M-Tokari Geet 7-15 A.M-Aajir Dinto (Morning Information Service) 7-30 A.M-Geetanjali 8-35 A.M-Surar Panchoi (Composite Programme of Assamese Film Songs) 9-05 A.M-Antara (Composite Programme of Hindi Film Songs) 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 8-00 P.M-Bijnan Jeuti-1. Talk-"Bongshanukromik Cancer" by Dr. Gayatri Gogoi, 2. "Bijnan Barta" by Raju Kr. Chetry 9-30 P.M- Sahitya kanan-1."Sahitya Sangbad" by Jadav Gogoi, 2.Short Story "Jeewan nodir Dore" by Rajiv Baruah 10-00 P.M-Classical Music Sd-/H.O.P

ET Correspondent Kokrajhar, Apr 12: Security forces belonging to Assam police and army in a joint operation, apprehended a cadre of Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) from Nayekgaon area on Tuesday

in Kokrajhar district.

Based on a specific information about presence of the militant organisation,a joint team of police and army launched an operation in the are and apprehended a KLO cadre along with arm. The cadre was identi-

fied as Ajay Barman alias Takla,20,of Darnagpur of Baksa district.He was involved with extortion, kidnapping, recruiting new cadres, logistic supports to militant outfits.

A pistol and a live bullet was recovered from him.

Rangia Kamrup turnout recorded 88.52 % ET Correspondent Rangia, Apr 12: The second phase of Assam Assembly Election in Kamrup and Rangia Election District was passed off peacefully on Monday. Polling in six LACs under Kamrup Election District, namely 48 Boko (SC), 49 Chaygaon, 50 Palashbari and 55 Hajo was held on April 11 and

total 88.52 percent turnout was recorded in these six LACs till the preparation of this report.. Poll percentage in Boko was 87.41% Chaygaon was 90.9%, Palashbari was 87.89% ,Hajo 87.89% Rangia 84.47% and Kamalpur LAC was 85.72% turnout were recorded. Polling began at 7.00 am AM in all

1219 Polling Stations and ended at 5.00 pm amid tight security in all Polling Stations. The DC and DEO of Kamrup Election District and SDO and DEO of Rangia Election district Vinod Seshan and Kailash Karthuik respectivly have expressed their gratitude to the voters of both the District for their positive response.

workers of Margherita but Assam Government Labour Department is in deep sleep alleged Pappu Dutta.Today a Memorandum was given to Margherita Sub Divisional officer(Civil) with five demands such as To implement Minimum

Bizarre holiday of Diphu Post Office Sushanta Roy Diphu April 12: Close up of Diphu head post office yesterday for Assam Assembly election phase 2 has turn out to be a funny story for thousands of customers who turn up to the post office during first hour yesterday.

A 4th grade employee present in the office told this correspondent that employees including the post master has not turn up for duty as the authority has declared holiday. The bizarre type of fallacious cause sited by this employee was difficult for the irritated consumers to believe as election for 4 constituencies of Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong took place on April 4 and on that day Diphu Post Office re-

mained closed as per the N I Act, also the local administration declared the day as general holiday.

Now the crux of the bizarre is why Diphu Post Office should remain close when election was taking place in middle and lower Assam?

“This post office is functioning erratically since quite a long period, banking section extend worst service among other sections, staffs are inefficient, ill-behaved and not accommodating; don’t be shocked it the whole joke turnout to a celebration ordered by the employees themselves” said a senior citizen, who came to draw money and had to return empty handed.

Sivasagar makes satisfactory result in upper primary ET Correspondent Sivasagsr, Apr 12: Sivasagar make a satisfactory result with 70.16 percent in recently declared upper primary scholarship result by Education Department of Assam.

Plavan Mili of Dikhowmukh Janajati High School bagged the first position while Bismita Boruah of Banmukh Higher Secondary got the second.

Surajeet Kalita and Uddipto Saikia of Sivasagar Govt as third, Ayan Ashis Hanqiue of Dhekiyal Pukhuri ME School gets fourth position along with Wagata Bora of Fuleswari Girls Higher Secondary,

Chintu Saikia of Salaguri Higher Secondary and Partha Protim Bora of Shantipur High School.

Aoyan Roman Garg of Sivasagar Govt as fifth, Jinnat Firdousa Ullah of Fuleswari Girls Higher Secondary as sixth, Gayatri Devi of Salaguri Higher Secondary as seventh, Askola Gogoi of Demow Higher Secondary as eighth, Nabanita Bhuyan of Salaguri Higher Secondary as ninth and Abhijeet Baruah of A H D Higher Secondary gets tenth position along with other two named in District top ten.

On the other hand Plaban Milli able to get fourth position in all Assam basis.

Baukhungri festival kicks off in Kokrajhar ET Correspondent Kokrajhar, Apr 12: The fourth Baukhungri festival has been began from Tuesday with two-day various programme scheduled at Harinaguri,10km east of Kokrajhar town along the Baukhungri Hill in Kokrajhar district.

beautiful scene sustaining with natural look.The festival has been organising every year by BTC Tourism department to explore the tourism as well event step among the society. Tourist come from various parts of the state as well country,besides neighboring Bhutan during the festival and enjoyed festivity moment in Bodoland’, Borgoyary said.

The Bodos traditionally celebrate the festival as Baukhungri Hajw Gakhwnai (climbing of Baukhungri Hill) on the last day of Choitra month(April 13).

Youths perform Bihu dance on the eve of Rangali Bihu festival in Jorhat on 12-0416. Pix by UB Photos

Wages,Act at the Factories of Margherita Region,To Give 20% Bonus to Factory workers in any of the festival during in a year,To provide Provident Fund,Medical Facilities to the Factory Workers, To Regularise the Job of factory workers and To give Pending arrrears to the Workers..If the Demands were not Fulfilled than Chatra Mukti Sangram Samity shall intensify strong agitation in the Coming days said Pappu Dutta President of Chatra Mukti Sangram Samity Margherita Regional Committee. Lakhya Jyoti Gogoi President of Chatra Mukti Sangram Samity Tinsukia District Committee and Manash Konwar Working President of Chatra Mukti Sangram Samity from Central Committee was present at todays Dharna Programme.

The festival gathers its attraction and availling of different enjoyment, apart from adventure sports like paragliding, indigenous games like khomlainai (Bodo wrestling) and cockfighting and traditional cuisine from all over the re-

gion.

BTC deputy chief Kampa Borgoyary,who is also incharge of Tourism department inaugurated the festival in the presence of huge visitors and publics on the first day, was organised by

Tourism department,BTC on the eve of Bwisagu Bwtwr(Assamese new year).

region,especially on the eve of Bwisagu where peoples from all walks of life participates with great enthusiastic moment.

Borgoyary said that the Baukhungri festival is a national festival of Bodoland

‘The Baukhungri,itself have a historical based on its

A multi-community cultural demonstration was also organised on the day to mark the celebration of the festival. BTC executive members Rajib Brahma,Doneswar Goyary,BTC Principal Secretary Robinson Mushahary,social Rashmi Borgoyary among others were prominent attendees on the first day of the festival.

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

PAGE 3 Governor conveys ‘Bohag Bihu’ Festival Greetings A Staff Reporter Itanagar, Apr 12: The Governor of Arunachal Pradesh Shri JP Rajkhowa has conveyed his warm greetings and best wishes to the people of the State and Assam on the joyous occasion of the Assamese New Year, Bohag Bihu.

In his Message, the Governor said that the Bohag Bihu, also known as Rongali Bihu, is one of the most vibrant and important festivals of Assam, which symbolizes peace, happiness, spirit of brotherhood and friendship among the people, irrespective of caste, creed, religion or language. The festivity on the occasion brings people closer and instils a sense of amity in the human society.

The Governor wishes that this Festival promotes peace, unity, and integrity and reinforces the age-old harmonious relationship, by dispelling the past differences and misunderstandings, if any, amongst the citizens of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, in particular and the people of the North East in general.

Chief Minister Kalikho Pul aims to strengthen fire department A Staff Reporter Itanagar, Apr 12: In view of the repeated fire accidents taking place across the capital city, Chief Minister Kalikho Pul stated that the department of fire & emergency services will be given additional assets to strengthen its logistics and manpower capability to deal with the disasters.

He made this announcement during a surprise visit to the Itanagar fire station. As per the plan, the existing strength of two station officer of sub-inspector rank will be increased to two.

Likewise the sub-fire officer will be increased to six from the existing four officers.

Two more leading firemen will be added to the existing four, with increase in the strength of firemen to thirty from the existing twenty.

This is in addition to increase in number of drivers to six, which is double the

They also appealed for a lighter vehicle, for which they preferred a 709 model.

The fire department also appealed for security cover to firemen during the duty since there had been frequent attack on them by furious mob during the fire accident. The CM assured to fulfil all vehicle requirements for fire fighting and also to provide security from the nearest police station.

existing strength.

Also to make easy availability of water supply for fire fighting, the CM disclosed that four overhead water tank will be installed across

the city such as Ganga, Gohpur-Chimpu road, Jollang village and Nyokum Lapang. This will be equipped with fire hydrant for fire-fighters to tap into a water supply.

DA Carries out Second Massive Eviction Drive

For fire fighting vehicle, the fire department appealed for upgradation of the existing fire tender. It sought to replace the 1982 model vehicle with a new model.

On inspection of the store room, he discovered that there were shortages of fire fighting equipments. They had only one firemen axe and there was acute shortage of fire beater, without which the firemen would be rendered helpless. He assured to fully equip each fireman with all necessary fire fighting accessories such as fire proof jacket, helmets, fire beater to douse the fire, firemen axe and

ceiling hooks.

He also instructed them to keep all the fire fighting tools and equipment in proper order and to maintain proper inventory, without which in emergency situation you could lose precious time looking for the right equipment and tools. To make judicious use of the available room in the store, he directed the fire personnel to dispose all the unused and old equipment and to replace it with new ones.

The CM further instructed the fire personnel to keep the phone line always open so that people in distress could be heard any moment.

Every second the phone is kept in engaged mode, it could prove costly in emergency situation, he reasoned.

Taking tour of the office, the CM checked for water facilities in toilet and also inspected the resting room and the office cabins.

The CM drew satisfaction from the visit and said that he was pleased to see every fireman on duty chart present in the office.

Addressing the fire personnel, he said as firemen the only job satisfaction you could draw is by saving precious lives, properties and preventing fire accidents.

He advised them to perform their duty with service to people as their prime motto and instructed them to be always duty ready since disaster could occur any moment.

He also asked them to keep fire fighting equipment and fire tender always in stand by position to be ready for any eventuality.

Minutes of the meeting on gram uday se bharat uday abhiyan to be celebrated from 14 April to 24th April

Councillor Ponung Lego clarifies her candidature as Chief in PMC Spl Correspondent PASIGHAT, Apr 12: In a statement this evening, Councilor Ward No.10 Ponung Lego has clarified her position on Chief Councilor’s candidature and said that, she denied the proposal of her councillor colleagues proposing her name as Chief Councilor.

Lego in her clarification said that, on 22nd March last totalling 9 councillors (including herself) had jointly moved for noconfidence motion against the incumbent Chief Councilor Denong Tamuk due to his lack of transparency and misappropriation of funds under PMC. “On 25th March, the same numbers of councillors had projected me as their candidate for Chief Councilor in writing, but I refused the offer to stand as candidate for the Chief. However, I stand along with my fellow eight other councillors for the no confidence motion against the incumbent Chief for better transparency and working of PMC”, added Lego.

As per internal sources, the incumbent Chief of PMC is likely to resign at the last movement again to avoid the no confidence motion against him and would seek BJP party ticket for the Chief post again. Till then, it will be a wait and watch as the floor test is to be held tomorrow..

ET Bureau Aalo Apr 12

The West Siang District Administration carried out second Massive Eviction Drive from Gumin Nagar Tinali (near water tank) to Gour Hill Hikar Gumin Tinali on 11th April last.

During the eviction large num-

ber of CC Wall, iron gates, RCC pillars, Gumties, Barbet wire fencing, bamboo fencing, trees etc were removed by eviction team. It was necessitated for widening the road width as right of way is 4.5 mtrs on both sides from the centre of the road as per Government notification.

The estate officer cum ADC Shri Tamik Talom, EAC judicial

Ceremonial programme of councillors and others merger into BJP held

Spl Correspondent PASIGHAT, Apr 12: In a mass gathering of BJP workers and its supporters here at BJP Mandal Office yesterday, a ceremonial programme of INC councillors’ merger into BJP besides joining of more than 150 INC loyalists from Tekang, Yagrung, Runne and other village under Bosing Banggo region to BJP was held.

MLA Kaling Moyong and Mandal President Obit Tamuk

opined hope that BJP will become people’s choice in days to come. While welcoming the new joining members by putting BJP badges, Moyong opined hope that development fund management would be easy and smooth as there is BJP led government in the centre and its party MLA representing Pasighat besides PPA government having good rapport with BJP in the centre.

Moyong also quoted that PMC has got the power to function in free and fair manner and

Golden Jubilee Mopin festival Celebrated at Gour Hill, Aalo Aalo, Apr 12: The Golden Jubilee Mopin festival was celebrated at Gour Hill, Aalo with much fanfare and gaiety on 5th April last. On the auspicious occasion Shri Jarkar Gamlin HMLA 31-Aalo East Assembly Constituency inaugurated the Community Hall Gour Hill, Aalo and attended the programme as Chief Guest.

Shri Kenli Nyorak, President GJMCC 2016 cum Pingi Neri Gour Hill Zone, Aalo expressed his gratitude to the MLA for gracing the occasion as Chief Guest.

Kiren Ningo, Police team led by DSP Dr. DW Thungon and OC Olik Tamuk, Land record department, electrical, PWD, PHED and ALCs from DC office were engaged right from the morning till afternoon to complete all eviction process. Such eviction drive will be carried out in various sectors of Aalo Township in near future.

there would be no political interference in PMC's official function. He urged the councilors to work with dedication holding BJP party ideology besides maintaining closer relation with party high command.

Moyong took reference of state's Chief Minister Kalikho Pul for enhancing student's stipend and labour wages. The effort of the Pul will encourage the student communities for higher study, while it will boost economy of the poor labour families.

Bomdila, Apr 12: A meeting was convened in the D.C's Conference hall, Bomdila, West Kameng District in connection with celebration of Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday Abhiyan from 14th April,2016(Ambedkar Jayanti) to 24th April,2016 (National Panchayati Raj Day) wherein directives have been received to include conduct of Social Harmony Programme and conduct of Gram Kisan Sabha.

At the very outset, Dr.Sonal Swaroop,IAS, Deputy Commissioner, Bomdila, West Kameng District welcomed all the Administrative Officers from the outposts and Head of offices from various Departments who were present in the meeting.In her welcome address DC stated that there are specific objectives to be achieved while conducting Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday Abhiyan wherein 3 events are to be celebrated from 14th April to 24th April 2016.She called for a plan of action to be chalked out by District Administration and Line

Departments for the purpose of the aforesaid Abhiyan.

Shri P.Sora,ADC,HQ,Bomdila made a Power Point Presentation on Gram Uday SE Bharat Uday Abhiyan. He outlined the programme which is to be celebrated beginning with the Birth of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar on 14th April, 2016 culminating in the Panchayati Raj Day on 24th April,2016. He informed that the Panchayat Level events arre to be conducted in 3 phases viz1)Social Harmony Programme:14 to 16 April,2016 2)Village Kisan Sabha:17 to 20 April,2016

GPC and Member Secretaries.

3) Gram Sabha or Village Assembly: 21 to 24 April, 2016.

Prime Minister's Address to all Gram Sabhas on 24th April 2016 which will be telecast and aired live.

People will gather in villages across the country to hear the Prime minister's address.ADC directed that audio and visual arrangement for live telecast of Prime Minister's address is to be done by respective

In regards to Reports and Documentations ,3 Reports are to be submitted on 17th April,21st April AND 25TH April for the conduct of Social Harmony Programme ,Gram Kisan Sabha and National Panchayat Day respectively with ther coverage on whether the programme was celebrated across all GPs, main activities undertaken and special efforts and experiences.

SOME OF THE IMPORTANT ROLES OF COMMITTEES AND OFFICIALS: 1) Line Departments are to provide programmes/ scheme literatures in soft copies to all Gram Panchayat Member Secretaries.

2) To provide subject experts and field staffs to share their activities in Gram Sabha.

3) To make necessary arrangements for hearing the National Panchayat Day address of Hon'ble Prime Minister.

Carrying forward the Swatchh Bharat Mission launched by PHED, it was decided to distribute brochures and pamphlets if available. It was decided to conduct Mass Social Service on 24th April, 2016.Involvement of paramedic staffs like ASHAS were asked to be made in the celebration by the ADC. DC further added that rural sports comprising of sports activities were to be included in the celebration.

Modalities to chalk out on how to honour the aged citizens were also discussed in which D.D. ICDS and Administrative Officers were asked to decide the best way to honoure the aged.

The Field Staffs of the following departments have been asked to remain in their respective fields during the observation of the upcoming celebrations: 1) ICDS 2) EDUCATION 3) DAO/DVO/DHO/RD. The meeting concluded with vote of thanks by Mrs. S.W.Mosobi,CO, Bomdila.

4th Youth Orientation Camp concludes

Culture makes people understand each other better: Ering ET Correspondent Pasighat, Apr 12: "Culture makes people understand each other better. and if they understand each other better in their soul, it is easier to overcome the all barriers," stated Loksabha MP Ninong Ering while taking part in the valedictory function of the 4th Youth orientation camp, held in the Engo Takar Dere last evening. Such camp promote physical, intellectual, social and spiritual development amongst the younger generation providing guidance and instruction to children so that they learn to use positive means by which they channel their energies, how to achieve self-confidence and how to fulfill their duty to family, society. The challenge is to preserve our cultures by practicing and making them part of our lives. We must make an effort to sustain our cultures and not to depend on others. Our rich traditional cultures and indigenous

continuum, evolving incessantly since time immemorial. In a broader sense, cultural activities address issues pertaining to national identity in conjunction with various sectors, Ering further added.

systems may be lost if not regularly practiced, properly recorded and preserved, and proudly promoted.

Expressing his dismay, the MP said most of the young people are unable to speak their mother tongues. They do not even know their origins. They are moving away from own culture and traditions and that gives me an indication of how parents bring up their children.

Preservation of culture is essential, because culture ensures a

history. While appreciating the organizing members of 'Donyi Polo Yelam Kebang' (DPYK) for their untiring efforts, the MP said that young generation deserves to be cared for, directed aright, nurtured, and cultured, and prepared ready for the future of this nation. Culture should not be interpreted merely as a return to the customs of the past. It embodies the attitude of a people to the future of their traditional values faced with the demands of modern technology, which is

an essential factory of development and progress. DPYK is working tirelessly to hand down birthright and inheritance to an informed and prepared generation. The challenge is to preserve our cultures by practicing and making them part of our lives, we must make an effort to sustain our cultures and not to depend on others. It is the duty of every citizen to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture. The art and culture of our nation are a vast

Among others, President Tabi Jerang, Secretary General Tajom Tasung and women wing Secretary Yabor Taggu also spoke and shared their views. They informed that five children from fourteen 'Ganggins' undertook chores involving cleaning up, preparing and organizing each day's activities, etc. in order to learn the importance of selfless service to one another. Each day discourses were held on cultural and morality and a variety of social and spiritual activities also took place. Business community and well-wishers had provided food to the participating children during the four-day long orientation program.

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

PAGE 4

Union seeks DA’s attention on illegal construction at main market

Happy Bizu and Bihu

Maksam Tayeng PASIGHAT, Apr 12: .While continuing their move against illegal encroachment, the All Bogong Students’ Union (E) has again appealed the District Administration for an encroachment free Pasighat township in a letter address to DC Pasighat yesterday.

In the letter, the union has said that, some people are constructing building/s or structure/s opposite Police beat near Gandhi Chowk , main market after removing the big CC made dust bin. And a drinking water pipe with tap from where vendors and common public of market used to quench their thirst is also now removed by the encroacher, added the union. The sudden disappearance of such government properties for public utility is very saddening and unfortunate. In another tale of encroachment near the same place opposite Sangrila restaurant, attached to Ecological Park, drainage has been encroached and

The Bihu celebration, Bizu for Chakmas starts today. Chakma girls in Diyun offering flower to River Goddess on the first day of their 3 Day Festival, Bizu, their biggest socio- cultural festival

Abandoned by her husband, assamese lady seek help at delhi PMC board been relocated by the encroacher while constructing a commercial building, said ABSU (E) President Lungkang Ering and GS Talin Nonang in the letter copy of which is made available to us..

The duo also expressed dissatisfaction over the inaction and late move of the ADC cum Estate Officer who had assured to demolish the

illegal construction of commercial building of councillors in the backyard of fruit market as concern councillor has also confessed his illegalities saying others are doing and so I am. When contacted to get official version of the illegalities from a concern officer over telephone, he didn’t want him to be named, however, he clarified that, the construction near police beat is genu-

ine, but removal of CC dustbin and drinking pipe if true, is wrong.

But the other constructions taking place elsewhere within main market are all illegal, the officer added. The statement from ADC cum Estate Officer couldn’t be obtained as he is away on an official engagement, while attempts to get DC’s say on the subject went unanswered.

Rishu Kalantri.

Tinsukia, Apr 12. One Assamese female, name Srimoti Uma Magor,27 years from Tinsukia district, abandoned by her husband Sri Amit Mukhia, has landed in police station Amar Colony, South East District, South Delhi. According to Nodal Officer for North East Region, Delhi IGP

Heavy downpour 'Above normal' monsoon leads to flood situathis year: Met office tion in Namsai Contd. from Page 1

Responding to a question, Rathore told reporters that the drought-hit region of Marathwada and Bundelkhand will receive "good rainfall" this year.

"By and large, there will be a fair distribution of monsoon across the country. It will be a good year.

During good monsoon conditions there still remain some pockets... which is North-East India, where slightly less than normal monsoon is expected. Also the South-East part of the Peninsula like Tamil Nadu and adjoining Rayalseema districts, may get slightly less than normal rainfall," Rathore said.

"We are also expecting good month-wise quantitative distribution which may accentuate in the later half or the middle of the monsoon," Rathore added.

IMD scientist D S Pai said the El Nino conditions are "weakening", a phenomena that not only affected the monsoon last year, but also resulted in warmer winters.

"Analysis of previous data suggests that monsoon season rainfall over the country as a whole was deficient or below normal during 65 per cent of the El Nino years. However, during 71 per cent of the years followed by El Nino years, monsoon was normal and above.

"The latest forecast from

the Monsoon Mission Coupled Climate Model indicates El Nino conditions to weaken to moderate to weak levels during the first half of the monsoon season and neutral conditions likely to get established thereafter," Pai said.

Agriculture, which contributes 15 per cent to India's GDP and employs about 60 per cent of the country's population, is heavily dependent on monsoon as only 40 per cent of the cultivable area is under irrigation.

Due to poor monsoon in 2015-16 crop year (JulyJune), 10 states have declared drought and the Centre has sanctioned relief package of about Rs 10,000 crore to help farmers.

Robin Hibu, she is being abandoned by her mainland husband whom she married 2 years ago after which she is asking for shelter for night as she doesn't know any body at Delhi.

In a watsapp group, he appealed to Assam DPNER Representatives, Assamese Ngos

downpour for last seven days rainfall was recorded 234.00 mm in Namsai and all the major rivers are flowing abruptly high. Noa-Dihing river was flowing at 1.60 mtr at about 1230 p.m. today. Low lying areas have been inundated.

Overflowing water entered in New Silatoo, Nongkhon, Kakoni and Mahadevpur IV

village area and paddy field. In other area like Deobeel, Kherbari and Dharampur water is flowing neck to neck. No casualty reported so far. Administrative officers and the field staff of water res.ource department have been deputed at all vulnerable points. Residents of low lying area have been advised to shift to safer places. Situation is being

ET Correspondent Tezpur, Apr 12 : The British Royal couple William and Kate (Katherine) who is visiting Tezpur and Kazairanga national park landed Tezpur airport this evening at around 5.45 Pm. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi received and welcomed the duo.

The royal couple accompanied by officials from British High commission stayed at the Tezpur airport for about 30 minutes and interacted with Chief Minister and the officials of the Assam Government and enjoyed the Assamese Bihu dance presented by a special Bihu group and took the test of traditional variety of Assamese foods like, pitha, laroo, sira, doi (curd) etc. and later moved towards Kaziranga where the Dipholu river resort is ready to welcome the duo.

About a hundred novices ordained at the Golden Pagoda Contd. from Page 1

ET Correspondent Namsai, Apr 12 : Due to heavy

and activists to help her for night shelter otherwise police will to send her at Nari Niketan, where she doesn't want to go. Police trying to locate her elusive husband, still no trace of him, added Hi by and said thay he has informed Assam Bhavan for help but no response has come till now.

Tarun Gogoi received British Royal Couple at Tezpur airport

The ordination ceremony was organised by Poi Khamsang Committee, Golden Pagoda under the chairmanship and direct supervision of Ven. Vimalatissa Bhikkhu, abbot of the Golden Pagoda monastery and patronized

by Chowna Mein ,Deputy Chief Minister Arunachal Pradesh.

The day long programme was attended by monks from various Vihara and delegates from

other districts of Arunachal Pradesh as well as Assam. Around twenty novices who were ordained today came from different pockets in Assam. A large number of lay devotees thronged the Golden Pagoda to witness the sacred ordination ceremony.

Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein who was attending the day long ordination ceremony said that the event was historic for the people of the area.

He also said that the visit of the members of World Tipitika Foundation who arrived late in the evening

was a significant development as the transcription of the Tipitika in Tai Khamti language will be handed over to the people here in India.

Earlier in in the day, the heads of the novices were tonsured and dressed in princely attires signifying the attire of Prune Siddharth who later was known as Gautam Buddha prior to his leaving his worldly life and turning ascetic. Later after religious rituals were performed the novices were dressed in saffron robes which signifies the the start of formal monastic life.

Belgium students urged the world community to come forward for the cause of the marginalized children of the world Shambhu Boro Tezpur, April 12 : “Children are the future of a nation, backbone of a country, who should be taken forward with a mission to build a beautiful world.”

For such a mission and vision a group of Class XI standard students from Belgium recently visited Assam trying to go deep into the problems of the marginalized children living in some remote rural and Tea Garden areas in Tezpur and it’s periphery areas whose tragedies often goes unheard. The 36 member team comprising both students studying in Class XI and their teachers from St. Josephs’ CollegeAALST-Flanders, Belgium located some 25 km. away from Brussels after visiting a good number of schools and some rural areas and Tea garden areas interacting with this correspondent, expressed their opinion that it

is very unfortunate that even in the twenty first century world many children in Tea Garden and remote rural areas in Assam are being deprived from education facility, health and hygiene etc.

The students’ group led by Demuynck Walter was hosted here by a Missionary organization “Gana Chetana Samaj” located at Hajarapar area here, sharing about the experience of working for the disadvantaged children of the society said that marginality is an experience that affects millions of people throughout the world. People who are marginalized have relatively little control over their lives, and the resources available to them. “This results in making them handicapped in delving contribution to society. A vicious circle is set up whereby their lack of positive and supportive relationships means that they are prevented from participating in

local life, which in turn leads to further isolation.

This has a tremendous impact on development of human beings, as well as on society at large. As the objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy a productive, healthy, and creative life, it is important

to address the issue of marginalization.” They said adding development is always broadly conceived in terms of mass participation.

The group visiting the region with the purpose of knowing the activities of Jesuit run educational institutions, social and developmental centers in and

around Tezpur and also to see the living reality of the people in India and specifically of Assam and help the people for development further mentioned that marginalization deprives a large majority of people across the globe from participating in the development.

More importantly is to be stated here that Gana Chetana Samaj here run by father Xavier Lakra, Thomas Barla and Anup Minz has been dealing with many yeomen services for the marginalized section of the society. One of the students of the group Maarten Goubert said that the culture and heritage and the climate of Assam have impressed them a lot but seeing the condition of children in the rural and tea garden areas in Assam provided a very tragic picture. “After going back to our country we will collect money for the cause of these marginalized children and send to “Gana Chetana Samaj” for spending for the cause of these children.” He said.

The group urging the world community to come out of the Self Centered Life and see the broader world to make the world a better

Place further said that without a harmony among the people living across the globe the world would never be a better place. Saying world terrorism has created a worst environment in the world the students’ group said that gun power can never bring peace among the people. “The world is like a big flower garden where different kinds of flower provides one fragrance, like this we will have to remain united amid diversity among the world community.” They reiterated. The group visited Kaziranga National Park, Assam Valley School, St. John School, Balipara, and St. Xavier’s College, Sonabheel, etc. and interacted with the students and teachers while they came to know the education system, qualities and slandered of education etc.

They opined that it was very

impressive for them to see students of different ethnic groups sitting together and studying harmoniously.

They also visited village areas in Missamari and met different ethnic communities such as Boro, Nepali, Assamese and Adivasi.

They also visited a handloom and tailoring training centre of Gana Chetana Samaj at Banderhagi village, in Missamari, a tea factory and Tezpur Social Service Society (TSSS) at Dholaibeel.

“It was a very fruitful visit for us”. They expressed mentioning for it they could see the village situation of different communities and understood their livelihood.

Expressing their views on Assam and the Assamese people they said that the people of Assam is very hospitable, peace loving and harmonious which will make them bound to continue their visit to Assam.

REGION

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

Tripura Leader receives showcause notice

Rumtek Monastery, Sikkim Agartala, Apr 12: The Congress has issued a show-cause notice to its Tripura unit leader Sudip Roy Barman, days after he resigned as the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader to protest the party's alliance with the Left Front in West Bengal. The party has warned Barman of disciplinary action if he failed to explain his position properly within a fortnight. Congress general secretary V. Narayanasamy, in charge of the party affairs in north-eastern states in the show-cause notice to Barman said that by criticising the party's alliance with the Left Front through the media, he deliberately acted in a way calculated to lower the prestige of the Congress and carry out propaganda against the party leadership.In his resignation letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said the alliance would prove "harmful" to the Congress. Recently, four more Congress leaders quit party positions on the issue.

Meanwhile, Tripura Congress president Birajit Sinha and some others party leaders have said they would abide by central leadership's decision on the alliance with

the Left parties. Informed sources said a few other Congress leaders close to Barman and Saha might quit party posts either to form a new party or join the Trinamool Congress.

(Agencies) Caption: Tripura unit leader Sudip Roy Barman Sikkim to be a spotlight on Discovery Channel Gangtok, Apr 12: Unspoiled natural beauty, organic farming and football craze of Sikkim will be the highlight of a new travel series on Discovery Channel. A new travel series by the channel, named 'Go India Northeast' will focus primarily on the tourism aspect of the various Northeastern states of India. Sikkim will be the first state to be showcased in the series set to be aired in October-November. The series has been awarded to discovery Channel by the Ministry of Tourism for the promotion of the eight Northeastern states. The team will also highlight the traditional archery of Sikkim. Shooting will take place in locations like the Rumtek Monastery, Tsomgo Lake and the famous Paljor stadium in Gangtok.

(Agencies)

Shad Suk Mynsiem comes to a colourful end SHILLONG: The Shad Suk Mynsiem (Dance of the happy heart), showcasing the cultural heritage and rituals of the Khasis came to a close at Weiking ground, Jaiaw here on Monday in the presence of hundreds who turned up to witness the festivities.

The sweltering heat during the day did not deter the crowd and the followers of Seng Khasi from turning out in large numbers to participate in the annual celebration which began on Saturday.

The three-day annual festivity formerly known as the ‘Shad Phur’ is a thanks giving dance which symbolizes offering of salutations to God, homage to their ancestors and proclamation of unity of the Khasi people.

People present at the venue were thankful for a beautiful day as dancers made merry and matched steps rhythmically with the shrill sound of the pipe (tangmuri) and the inviting beats of the drum.

Even as daylight drew to a close, people thronged the venue in large numbers to have a glance of the cultural performance preserved by the Seng Khasi since ages.

Maidens decked in traditional attire danced in the inner circle while the men swayed with whips and swords enthusiastically to the music round the women symbolizing that the dignity and honor of women are protected by men.

Speaking to The Shillong Times, spokesperson of Seng Khasi, Dapbiang Kharmih, said, “The dance is our offering to God, the Almighty who has bestowed

upon us blessings of good health and wealth.”

She narrated that the festival was originally held at Mawkhar from 1902. However, to accommodate the increasing number of adherents of the traditional religion, it was later shifted to Weiking ground in 1911.

“There was a time when there was a case relating to the land at Weiking ground where people who no longer adhered to the traditional religion fought over the land. However, the Seng Khasi won the case,” Kharmih said.

‘Increasing number of people coming back to the Seng Khasi fold’ She further said, “In the very early days of its existence, there were very few devotees but currently there is an increasing number of people who are coming back to the Seng Khasi fold.”

Commenting on the significance of the dance, she said, “Shad Suk Mynsiem characterizes the cultural and religious aspects of the practices of the Seng Khasi, thereby adding essence to the dance.”

“Even after offering our prayers at Mawkhar, all the dancers ought to offer prayers before dancing at the Weiking ground,” she added.

On being asked about the degrading morals witnessed in the society, R. Rynjah, secretary, culture, Seng Khasi said people these days have lost conscience and are not practicing the valuable tenets of what one preaches.

“Religion is personal as it is up to the individual. If we dig deep, the festivals and merriment are the fruits of religion,” Rynjah said.

PAGE 5

12 NLFT militants surrender with families in Tripura Agartala, Apr 12: Twelve guerrillas of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) accompanied by 19 family members, including eight children, have surrendered to the Tripura police along with their arms and ammunition.

The militants laid down arms before the Director General of Police (DGP) K Nagaraj in the police headquarters in presence of the senior officials.

"Preliminary information what they have given us is that they are disgruntled with their leadership. The leadership is self-seeking; they are not interested in the welfare of the cadres and the leadership has also been promising about the talks (with the government) but the talks are not progressing, they are not leading to any direction so they got fed up and said that they want to come back to normal

life," said Nagraj.

"They also have said that the extremist movement has not helped in any way to improve the condition of the tribals. In fact they feel that the government is doing a better job of spreading development in the interior areas. That is the reason that they come out and expect most of the cadres have come from the NLFT headquarters at Sapcheri under Rangamati in Bangladesh." Ten NLFT militants along with their two associates fled their Bangladeshi hideout last week and crossed over to Tripura before surrendering to the superintendent of police (special branch) Arindam Nath in Tripura`s border village Bhandarima.The militants were accompanied by 20 family members, including eight children, he said. The militants were brought here late

NLFT militants surrender Sunday night and were being interrogated by police and intelligence officials followed by the official surrender today.

They deposited two selfloading rifle, one INSUS rifle, one G3 rifle and an AK-47 rifle along with six loaded magazines, two China-made grenades and a large cache of ammunition and sharp weapons. The militants have been identified as Tarani Mohan Tripura

alias Topreng, Holongsa Tripura, Benoy Tripura alias Bimal, Laxmanjoy Tripura alias Lalthang, Bijoy Debbarma alias Sunil, Mrityunjoy Aslong alias Mantha, Kusum Tripura, Debsing Reang, Majayram Reang alias Mukthang, Kushirai Reang and Unaram Reang alias Anilfaa, Jatanjoy Reang.

One of the surrender militants Holongsa Tripura said, "I do con-

fess that I have committed mistake in my life.

We led tough life in the camps but our officers do not care are staying as permanent resident of Bangladesh and have citizenship. We the soldiers do not get anything and so we thought what we could do and decide to come back." "We did not contact with the BSF or Assam Rifles and we contact the SP SB. As far as I know there are around 25 more camps, mostly rest camps and all total 87 cadres. The head quarter is at Sapcheri," he added. According to police, the NLFT was currently short of funds and the condition of the lower rank cadres was miserable, moreover, the frequent joint operations by the Bangladesh Army and Border Guard Bangladesh in Rangamati and Khagrachari districts in mountainous southeast-

NGT ban: Obstacles yet to be cleared Shillong, Apr 12: Two years into the ban on rat hole mining, other than dealing with the transportation of extracted coal after payment of royalty periodically, hurdles are aplenty before NGT lifts the ban once and for all.

In a recent order, the NGT has allowed payment of royalty till April 15 and the transportation of extracted coal till May 15 after which the State government has been authorized to sell or auction the remaining coal. An official with the Mining and Geology department said on Monday that the first hurdle before the State government is to amend the Coal Mines Nationalization Act, 1973 which was taken up with the Union Coal ministry by the State government. As per the current Act, all the coal mines including those in the State belong to the Union

government. As far as the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015 is concerned since the Act has the provision for allocation of coal mines through auctions this is contrary to the mining practices in Meghalaya. This Act also needs amendment to continue with the coal mining in Meghalaya, the official said. The official added that to exempt provisions of Coal Mines Nationalization Act, 1973 and Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015, the State Assembly has already passed a resolution urging the Centre to invoke Paragraph 12A (b) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution so that these central laws will not be applied to Meghalaya which can be rescinded through a Presidential notification. The argument

the State government wants to make is that since coal mining in the State is part of customary tribal rights, the existing central laws will come into conflict with the current practice. Hence, according to the State government, a Presidential notification under the provision of Paragraph 12A (b) of the Sixth Schedule can exempt Sixth Schedule areas in the State from the purview of central mining laws. When contacted to know the follow up action after the NGT ban, counsel of the State government and the Supreme Court lawyer Ranjan Mukherjee said that the mining plan and the mining guidelines are still pending with the Union Coal ministry for final approval. "Another expert committee under the State government formed as per the direction of NGT will have to submit a re-

port within four weeks from March 31 on the steps taken for the restoration of the environment and ecology, particularly protection of water bodies due to unscientific coal mining activities," he said. Mukherjee said that the expert committee has been asked to co-ordinate with NEHU to come up with a suitable report.

Though the loss due to the ban on coal mining per year was calculated at more than Rs 600 crore, the State government till date has earned revenue of nearly Rs 800 crore from the payment of royalty and others. "From November 2014 till date, calculating the royalty, Meghalaya Environmental Restoration Fund paid by the coal transporters and the money earned from the quantity of coal declared and the quantity assessed, the total amount will come to Rs 800 crore under these three heads,"

he said. However, there was no full enforcement of the ban as there were reports of extraction and transportation of coal sporadically in parts of the State especially in Jaintia Hills. The State government had last month submitted to NGT the names of as many as 41 mine owners as responsible for illegal extraction and transportation of coal. As a fall out the NGT ban, while two villagers were killed and seven others injured in police firing at Mookhep village in East Jaintia Hills on September 14, 2014 after they protested against the ban on coal mining, another tragedy was the death of P.J. Marbaniang, the officer in charge of Patharkhmah police outpost on January 25 last year, a day after he had detained 32 trucks which were illegally transporting coal. (Agencies)

Organic farming in Kohima boosts up Dimapur, April 12: Farmers in a number of villagers under Kohima district have been undergoing trainings on various aspects of organic farming, soil management and optimization of produce. The farmers who were selected for the training events were taught about the importance of organic certification and the efforts underway to make organic certification affordable to farmers, it was informed. The idea was to work in accordance with the objectives of the Participatory Guarantee System to 'convert producers into entrepreneurs' as stipulated by said system, the press release stated. The Agriculture division of Kohima district has been conducting training programs about organic farming for adoption of Participatory Guarantee System certification under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) for 2015-16.

The Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (Traditional Farming I m p r o v e m e n t

Image for representational purpose only Programme) was launched by Government of India to support and promote organic farming and thereby improving soil health. It envisages encouraging farmers to adopt ecofriendly concept of cultivation and reduce their dependence on fertilizers and agricultural chemicals to improve yields. The training programs in Kohima were conducted at Rusoma village and another in

Khonoma village. 58 farmers from five local organic groups attended the training programs, the division stated in a press release issued through the media. The selected farmers were sensitized on the importance of organic certification where efforts to make organic certification affordable to farmers, the agriculture division stated. They aim to work in accordance with the objectives of the par-

ticipatory guarantee system to 'convert producers into entrepreneurs' i.e., the new Participatory Guarantee System itself, the press release stated.

The members of the local organic group members were imparted training on Vermicomposting techniques.

"Vermi bags" and worms were distributed to the groups for free. The Participatory Guarantee System is an internation-

ally applicable organic quality assurance system [like ISO 9000] implemented and controlled by the committed organic farmer-producers through active participation, along with the consumers, in the process based on verifiable trust.

The system is not an "inspection raj" certification system but, rather, one that is based on personal integrity and peer pressure. Integrity is honesty when no one is looking over your shoulder to see what you are doing. The farmer pledges that the production process is free from manufactured chemicals [fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, hormones, etc] and lives by his word of honour. The "Local Group" of five or more organic farmers is the fulcrum of the selfregulatory support system of PGS. The quality assurance standards are harmonized by the PGS Organic Council, which permits the use of its PGS label on a product as a mark of quality.

(Agencies)

ern Bangladesh are also creating a huge problem for the outfit in hiding and free movement. The surrender was a big jolt for the NLFT especially at a time when the outfit is plagued by a funds crunch, disillusioned cadres and frequent rifts.

Members of NLFT and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) undergo arms training in hideouts and covert camps in various parts of Bangladesh, which shares an 856 km border with Tripura.

Banned in 1997 by the central government, the two outfits advocate secession of Tripura from India. However, ATTF has become almost defunct due to the surrender of most of its cadres.

Tripura and Union Home Ministry officials held two rounds of talks last year with the NLFT after the rebel group expressed willingness to hold peace parleys.(ANI)

Anti-party activity allegation denied by Frankenstein Shillong, Apr 12: A day after North Garo Hills Congress president and legislator Cherak Momin accused former Minister Frankenstein W Momin of indulging in anti-party activities during the 2015 GHADC polls, the latter on Monday denied the allegation and said that the Congress leadership ignored the objections raised by party workers and leaders and went ahead with allotting party ticket to the wife of NCP legislator Marthon Sangma.

"The accusation that I did not campaign for the party candidate is wrong and baseless.

There were objections by the party members to the application of Zingje D. Shira, the wife of NCP MLA from Mendipathar, Marthon J. Sangma, on the ground that she was not even a member of the Congress party and that her application to join the party was defective," Frankenstein said in a statement issued on Monday.

According to the former minister, the application was incomplete since she did not mention the name of the constituency and, moreover, she had submitted the application form without her signature. "Inspite of our objections, the ticket was forcibly given to her, and since there was no alternative for us, all the Congress workers including myself worked very hard for her though she was defeated with a margin of 3500 votes," Frankenstein said. The former legislator said that the result is more or less same for Resubelpara as the Rongrong constituency from where the Congress candidate contested also faced a similar fate. "This is the real position of the Congress in Mendipathar and Resubelpara, headquarter of the District Congress Committee in the last council election, where Cherak W. Momin is the president. I do not know whether he was sleeping during the election," Frankenstein stated. Referring to the disciplinary action against him as mentioned by Cherak, Frankenstein said he had not received any explanation call on the matter till date.

"In the past, I was the member of the disciplinary action committee along with late P.R. Kyndiah, as chairman. In our time, we took prompt action whenever we received such genuine complaints at the earliest possible. But in the case of GHADC elections, many months have already passed and even a notice is yet to be issued to me," Frankenstein said, while adding that he was ready to face any action. On the rebel tag pinned on him, the former minister wanted to know whether it has become a trend in Meghalaya to call anyone a rebel if he questions the style of functioning of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, or one who questions issues related to transparency in the functioning of the party. "If some people think that Mukul Sangma is the undisputed leader of Meghalaya after the demise of P.A. Sangma, I feel that many think otherwise," he said. According to Frankenstein, the by-election to Tura Lok Sabha seat is round the corner and the Assembly polls are barely two years away which will prove whether Mukul is the 'disputed' or 'undisputed' leader. (Agencies)

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

PAGE 6

Subramanian Swamy asks Centre to Sharif to visit London withdraw excise duty on jewellery New Delhi, Apr 12 : Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday took on the Centre for proposing excise duty on jewellery, saying that there was no economic basis, and, therefore, this should also be withdrawn just like the EPF tax. "I also think it is a wrong thing because if you (government) want some Rs. 200 or Rs. 300 crores of revenue, there are other ways through the VAT, which will not

affect the common people and it would also not discourage them from buying jewellery during the festive season," Swamy told. "You (government) are unnecessarily creating the situation where these jewelers will be harassed by income tax people or sales tax people or excise tax people. I am totally against it," he added. He said that he has made it clear through the party sources that this proposal should be withdrawn.

US mulls action against 300 Indian students 'illegally' extending stay

Image for representational purpose Washington D.C., Apr 12 : Following a sting operation by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Homeland Security Investigations, the United States government is set to take action on 306 Indian students for allegedly trying to extend their stay in the country illegitimately. "For the most part, they all came on legitimate student visas.

It was actually when they were in country here that some of them sought to - basically to stay here in the country, and that's when they sought, allegedly again, because this is still I think a matter for legal action - but allegedly sought to extend their stay in the United States," State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said in a press briefing yesterday.

However, a controversy arose following claims that the University for which the students had applied for never existed in the first place, to which Toner said that the students had met the qualifications follow-

ing which they were issued a visa. "These individuals who came here on a student visa did come either to work or to study legitimately. They did qualify and they met the qualifications. They were issued student visas. It was only after living here attending university or whatever that they then decided to, again allegedly, seek out the assistance of this criminal organization to extend their stay in the United States," Toner said. "They did come here legitimately, on legitimate visas. It's not about a visa issue. It's about once they were here in the United States, they then sought through a criminal organization to extend their stay," he added. Toner said that the ICE had carried out the sting operation to target members of criminal organizations who set up basically an operation by which they used an exchange visitor program to fraudulently maintain foreign nationals' non-immigrant status in the United States for profit. (ANI)

Nepalese PM offers condolences to Kollam inferno victims

Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli New Delhi, Apr 12 : Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli has condoled the loss of lives in the devastating fire at the Puttingal temple in Kerala's Kollam district.

The Nepalese Prime Minister spoke to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and offered his condolences.

"Nepal PM Shri KP Oli spoke to PM @narendramodi & expressed condolences on the loss of lives caused by the fire at a temple in Kollam, Kerala," the official twitter handle of the Prime Minister Office said in a tweet. At least 109 people were charred to death while 383 others injured in a fire accident at Puttingal temple dur-

ing a festival at Paravur in Kollam district early on Sunday morning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took stock of the inferno on Sunday, sought a detailed report from the state administration as to how the fire broke out and caused damage to life and property on such a large scale. After taking stock of the situation in Kollam, Prime Minister Modi said that he had assured Chief Minister Oommen Chandy of complete aid from the Centre and added that assistance would be provided if the serious patients need to be shifted to Mumbai or New Delhi for further treatment. (ANI)

Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy

"Just like the Prime Minister took the bold step of withdrawing the EPF tax, the same way this also should be withdrawn.

There is no economic basis whatsoever for this thing and only thing is that is a sadistic basis," Swamy said. The jewellers' are demanding the withdrawal of excise duty on jewellery. The Centre has constituted a panel to look into the jewellers' demands. The panel, which has been asked to submit its report in 60

days, will look into issues related to the compliance procedure for the excise duty, including records to be maintained, forms to be filled, operating procedures and other relevant aspects. The government, in the Budget for 201617, had proposed one percent excise duty on jewellery without input credit or 12.5 percent with input tax credit on jewellery excluding silver other than those studded with diamonds and precious stones. (ANI)

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at Heathrow Airport in London

Islamabad, Apr 12: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will be leaving for London for his routine medical check-up days after the Panama Papers' leak exposed his family's offshore dealings. A massive leak of 11.5 million tax documents on April 3 revealed secret offshore dealings of world leaders and celebrities, including three of his children for owning London real estate through offshore companies. Sharif will be undergoing detailed check-up, reports the Express Tribune. However, reportedly, it has been Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit suggested that he spends a week in London to reArvind Kejriwal had also launched a helpline lieve his 'stress and anxiearlier announced for 'odd-even' part two. ety' following the Panama guidelines for the sec- "People can call on 011ond leg of the 'odd-even' 422400400 if they have traffic scheme in Delhi, any questions related to saying women drivers odd-even traffic and vehicles carrying scheme." The Delhi students in uniform will Pollution Control Combe exempted from the mittee (DPCC) will gauge restrictions. Delhi's the impact of the second chief minister and min- phase of the Odd-Even isters would not be ex- plan on the capital's air empted from 'odd-even' quality at 119 locations in restrictions, he said. He and around the city. (ANI)

Sheila slams AAP Govt., dubs OddEven formula a 'gimmick' New Delhi, Apr.12 : Dubbing the Odd-Even formula to be a 'gimmick' former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led government of paying money to the Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) workers acting as volunteers when this scheme is in force. "The volunteers during the road rationing scheme are the Aam Aadmi Party workers, the government pays them Rs. 500 to 700," Dikshit claimed.

"Is this a way to give away the income to the party workers? During the entire Odd Even scheme, the party workers would earn between Rs. 8000 to 10,000. This has been done very cleverly" she added. Dikshit further said the government needs to look for long-term solutions rather than implementing

schemes which cause inconvenience to the people. "The metros can't be made overnight but the government should have bought buses. Chief Minister should pay heed to the transport improvement and should end this kind of gimmick," she added. The former Delhi chief minister stated that the Odd Even scheme in its first part failed to reduce pollution in the national capital. "I fail to understand as to what it is? It is a gimmick. Looking at the number of advertisements on the scheme it seems so," Dikshit said. "The government hasn't paid heed to the negatives of the scheme," she added. The second phase of the Odd-Even traffic scheme will start on April 15 and will continue for a fortnight.

Delhi Chief Minister

leaks. According to reports, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PMl-N) has been unhappy with Sharif's decision to address the nation on the issue of Panama Papers. Pakistani Prime Minister, in a rare televised address to the nation, last week had said a judicial commission would investigate his family for any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan in a public address reiterated his demand for an impartial judicial inquiry and a forensic audit into the matter and if nothing conclusive was forthcoming, he urged the people to rise before it is too late.

(ANI)

India committed to its policy of supporting Maldives

Pakistani under probe for possible links to Paris, Mumbai attacks in Austria ing to this are being looked into. Wide-ranging investigations on this question, among others, are ongoing, although the public prosecutors' office has been waiting for information on this from Pakistan since December 2015," quoted prosecutors in Salzburg, as saying in a statement. According to reports, the Smoke and flames billow out from The Taj Mahal arrested man is thought to be a bomb maker for the hotel in Mumbai on Nov 29, 2008. banned Lashkar-e-Taiba Vienna, Apr 12: Aus- strike in Mumbai. The (LeT) and Lashkar-e(LeJ) trian prosecutors have re- identity of the Pakistani Jhangvi vealed that they are prob- suspect, who has been in organisations. Lashkar-eing a possible link of a custody since his arrest in Taiba has been blamed Pakistani national appre- December in the western for string of high profile hended in Salzburg with Austrian city along with attacks in recent years. last year's Paris terror at- an Algerian, has not been India holds it responsible tacks and the 26/11terror confirmed. "Leads point- for the 2008 Mumbai at-

tack that killed 166 people and injured several. It has been suspected by the French investigators that the militant Islamic State (IS) group, which claimed responsibility for both the Paris bombings as well as attacks in Brussels on March 22, had sent both men to Europe in carrying out attacks.

Austrian authorities in February said that both men were believed to have been in the same boat bringing around 200 migrants to Greece.

Meanwhile, a senior security official in Pakistan said he had no information about the matter, reports. (ANI)

Masood Azhar targets Sharif following Panama Papers revelation New Delhi, Apr 12: Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar has targetted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations, saying that everybody was now well aware of the ruling family's illegal financial dealings. Azhar, in his column Rang-o-Noor, headlined Mazboot in the Al Qalam magazine, the mouth piece of JeM wrote, "The oppression unleashed by the (Pakistan) government is known to the Almighty and signs of punishment

can already be seen.

These days, the ruling family has been exposed in its financial dealings in such a way that everybody is cursing them.''

"How unlawful are those who are killing and arresting people in the name of law is visible to the naked eye now. Veils have been lifted, so keep watching what will happen in future. The sighs of the oppressed and their ill wishes won't go waste," he said. Following the 'Panama Papers' leak, Prime Minister Sharif drew flak from many Pakistan i

Maldives PresidentAbdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom with President Pranab Mukherjee New Delhi, Apr 12 : Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom called on President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan . Welcoming Mr. Gayoom to India, President Mukherjee said India attaches high importance to its 'neighbours first' policy.

Within that Maldives has a place of privilege. India also appreciates the 'India first' policy of Maldives. "Relations between India and Maldives have grown over the centuries substantially, building on the people to people relations that the two countries share. India is committed to its policy of supporting Maldives in every way including in building the capacity and infra-

structure of Maldives. India as the largest democracy will continue to extend all support for the strengthening of democratic institutions in Maldives," said President Mukherjee. The President said India and Maldives are natural partners in the Indian Ocean region. Reciprocating the President's sentiments, Maldivian President said the Government of Maldives is firmly committed to its 'India First' Policy.

India is the only foreign country he has visited more than once and this was his third visit in two years. He said the two countries are bound by strong civilizational and cultural links. (ANI)

Heatwave scorcher affects daily life in West Bengal

Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar political parties forcing him to address the nation of forming a highlevel judicial commission probe his family

after the expose revealed that his sons and daughter owned offshore companies.

(ANI)

Kolkata, Apr 12 : With the Met office issuing a warning that Kolkara may witness one notch increased temperature today than the yesterday's highest April heat in a decade at 41.3°C, the severe heatwave has made daily life miserable in the southern region of the state. The Met office has cautioned that the people will be having a real tough time for two to three more days under

the scorching Sun. In sheer contrast the northern parts of the state will have pleasant weather. Due to severe heatwave conditions, the administration has closed all government schools in the state till further notice but most of the private and minority associations-run schools remain open compelling the children and their escorting parents to suffer the unbearable heat outdoors.

(ANI)

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

PAGE 7

NEIGHBOURS

Syrian violence before peace talks Austrian prosecutors reveals possible link of Pakistan with Mumbai, Paris attacks brings in concern for US Washington, Apr 12: The United States is "very, very concerned" about an increase in Syrian violence just ahead of planned peace talks in Geneva this week, a State Department spokesman said on Monday, blaming Syrian government forces for the escalation in fighting. "We are very, very concerned about the recent increase in violence and that includes actions that are in contravention of the cessation of hostilities," spokesman Mark Toner told a news briefing. He said Secretary of State John Kerry conveyed the US concerns in a phone call with his Russian counter-

Anger expressed by China at G7 statement on East, South China Seas Beijing, Apr 12: China`s expressed anger on Tuesday after foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies said they strongly opposed provocation in the East and South China Seas, where China is locked in territorial disputes. "We urge the G7 member states to honour their commitment of not taking sides on issues involving territorial disputes," China`s foreign ministry said in a statement. The G7 should focus on global economic governance and cooperation against the backdrop of weak economic growth rather than hyping up disputes and provoking problems, it added. On Monday, G7 foreign ministers said after meeting in the Japanese city of Hiroshima that they opposed "any intimidating coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions" in the East and South China Seas.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas, and is building islands on reefs to bolster its claims.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the waters, through which about $5 trillion in trade is shipped every year. China also has a separate dispute with Japan over a group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea. China has every right to build on the Spratly Islands and there are no problems with freedom of navigation and overflight for the East and South China Seas, the foreign ministry said. China is committed to resolving disputes through talks with countries directly involved via international law and on the basis of respecting historical facts, to maintain peace and stability while safeguarding its sovereignty, it said. It repeated that China will neither accept nor participate in any arbitration "illegally forced upon it", a reference to a case lodged by the Philippines against China. "We urge the G7 member states to fully respect the efforts made by countries in the region, stop making irresponsible remarks and all irresponsible actions, and truly play a constructive role for regional peace and stability," the ministry added.

(Agencies)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. part, Sergei Lavrov, on Sunday. "We would say that the vast majority of violations have been on the part of the regime,"

Toner said when asked who was to blame for violations. Kerry wanted to make sure that in the next days leading up to

peace talks "every extra effort is made in order to sustain and solidify the cessation of hostilities," Toner said. Washington's worries come as the Syrian army appeared to send reinforcements to the ancient city of Aleppo, threatening a fragile truce in the runup to the second round of peace negotiations. The ceasefire was agreed in February between the United States, which backs Syrian opposition groups, and Russia, which together with Iran supports the Syrian government. UN-sponsored talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict are meant to resume on

Wednesday. The first round made little progress with no sign of compromise over the thorniest issue, the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Toner said the United States wanted to make sure that opposition forces were not attacked as the Syrian army seeks to take Aleppo. "If they are attacking members of the Syrian opposition who have signed on to the cessation of hostilities, then those are violations of the cessation of hostility," Toner said, adding: "We need greater clarity what is actually planned, who are they targeting."

(Agencies)

Vienna, Apr 12: Austrian prosecutors have revealed that they are probing a possible link of a Pakistani national apprehended in Salzburg with 2015's Paris terror attacks and the 26/11 terror strike in Mumbai. The identity of the Pakistani suspect, who has been in custody since his arrest in December in the western Austrian city along with an Algerian, has not been confirmed. "Leads pointing to this are being looked into.

Wide-ranging investigations on this question, among others, are ongoing, although the public prosecutors" office has been waiting for information on this from Pakistan since December 2015". According to reports, the man arrested is thought to be a bomb-maker for the banned Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT) and Lashkar-eJhangvi (LeJ) organisations.

Lashkar-e-Taiba has been blamed for string of high-pro-

Start of `spring offensive` announced by Afghan Kabul, Apr 12: The Afghan Taliban announced on Tuesday the start of their "spring offensive" even as the government in Kabul tries to bring the insurgents back to the negotiating table to end their drawn-out conflict.

The Taliban said in a statement they would "employ large-scale attacks on enemy positions across the country" during the offensive they have dubbed "Operation Omari" in honour of the movement`s late founder Mullah Omar, whose death was announced last year. The annual spring offensive normally marks the start of the "fighting season", though

this winter the lull was shorter and they continued to battle government forces albeit with less intensity. The statement promised "martyrdomseeking and tactical attacks against enemy strongholds", a reference to suicide bombings -- a strategy the group has long resorted to against its enemies the Afghan police and army, whom they view as "stooges" of the West. On Monday, 12 fresh recruits were killed in one such attack in the country`s east. The Islamists, who have been waging an insurgency since being toppled from power in 2001, also promised attacks on the

13,000 NATO troops currently stationed in the country, officially on a training and advisory mission since the end of their combat mission in 2014. "By employing such a multifaceted strategy it is hoped that the foreign enemy will be demoralised and forced to evict our nation," they said. The Taliban have made the departure of all foreign forces a precondition to the resumption of direct peace talks with Kabul, which began last summer in Pakistan but ended abruptly after it was revealed that Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. A four-country group comprising Af-

ghanistan, the United States, China and Pakistan has been holding meetings since January aimed and jump-starting negotiations, though their efforts have so far been in vain. Mullah Omar`s successor Mullah Akhtar Mansour, meanwhile, has won a string of impressive victories on the battlefield, helping to silence emerging factions by stepping up the intensity of his military campaign. Last year the Taliban were able to briefly capture northern Kunduz, the first time they had held an Afghan city since the fall of their government in 2001. The Taliban`s resurgence has

raised serious questions about Afghan forces capacity to hold their own, with an estimated 5,000 troops killed last year, the worst ever toll. It has also prompted calls for the US to reconsider its troop withdrawal schedule, already delayed once by President Barack Obama.

There are currently 9,800 American troops in the country, with the number set to fall to 5,500 by 2017. General John Nicholson, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan since March, had promised during his US Senate confirmation hearings to review the drawdown plan. (Agencies)

Spies used Mossak Fonseca revealed

by Panama Papers Berlin, Apr 12: Secret agents from several countries, including intermediaries of the CIA, have used the services of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca in order to "conceal" their activities, as reported Tuesday. "Secret agents and their informants have made wide use of the company`s services," wrote the newspaper, which obtained a massive stash of 11.5 million documents from the company that is sending shockwaves around the globe. "Agents have opened shell companies to conceal their activi-

ties... Among them are close intermediaries of the CIA," the newspaper reported. The Munichbased newspaper said Mossack Fonseca`s clients included "several players" in the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal, which saw senior US officials facilitate secret arms sales to Iran in a bid to secure the release of American hostages and fund Nicaragua`s Contra rebels. The Panama Papers also reveal that "current or former high-ranking officials of the secret services of at least three countries... Saudi Arabia, Colombia and Rwanda"

Image for representational purpose. are listed amongst the company`s clients.

Among them was Sheikh Kamal Adham, the former

Saudi intelligence chief who died in 1999. Adham "spent the 1970s as one of the CIA`s key intermedi-

aries" in the Middle East, the daily said. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung received the huge stash of Mossack Fonseca documents from an anonymous source and shared them with more than 100 media groups through the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. A week after the first revelations, the documents have shed light on how the world`s rich and powerful have used offshore companies to stash their assets, forcing Iceland`s prime minister to resign and putting pressure on a slew of other leaders around the world. (Agencies)

Rise in tiger population for first time in a century

Tiger, the national animal of India.

Kathmandu, Apr 12: Around 100,000 tigers still lived in the wild in the

1900, but 97 percent were lost in a century of constant decline. But their

numbers were finally on the rise, marking a turning point for the tigers' plight against poaching and loss of habitat. There are now 3,890 tigers, which is 700 more than the figure from 2010 when the population was estimated to be 3,200.

The figure was collated from national surveys conducted in tiger range states and from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has attributed the increase in number to rising tiger populations in India, Russia, Nepal and Bhutan, besides more accurate sur-

veys and enhanced protection of the species. Nepal has emerged strongly in its management against poaching through a professionalised approach to wildlife protection, according to the global nongovernmental organisation. "This is a pivotal step in the recovery of one of the world's most endangered and iconic species," said Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of wildlife conservation at WWF. "Together with governments, local communities, philanthropists and other NGOs, we've begun to reverse the trend in the century-long

decline of tigers." But Hemley does not believe that the work is not done as much more work and investment is needed for the goal to double tiger numbers by 2022, a pledge taken by 13 countries with tigers in 2010. From whisker to tail, every part of the big cats is traded by poachers using an underground network worth billions of dollars. The WWF said while some countries showed positive gains the outlook was not as clear in Southeast Asia, where poaching and rampant deforestation continue to negatively impact tiger numbers. (Agencies)

The sites after the 2015 Paris attack. file attacks in recent years.

India holds it responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people and injured several. It has been suspected by the French investigators that the militant Islamic State (ISIS) group, which claimed responsibility for both the Paris bombings as well as attacks in Brussels on March 22,

had sent both men to Europe in carrying out attacks. Austrian authorities in February said that both men were believed to have been in the same boat bringing around 200 refugees to Greece.

Meanwhile, a senior security official in Pakistan said he had no information about the matter.(ANI)

Number of Hajj pilgrims for 2016 decreased by Govt.

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Dhaka, Apr 12: The government has amended the Hajj Package for 2016, decreasing the number of pilgrims to 101,758, among whom, 10,000 will be permitted to avail government package. The decision came from the weekly cabinet meeting at the Secretariat in the capital

yesterday, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in chair."The number of Hajj pilgrims have decreased due to the request from the Saudi Arabian government," said the Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam, while briefing reporters.

(Agencies)

Indian prisoner Kirpal Singh dies in Lahore Lahore, Apr 12: Indian prisoner Kirpal Singh who was lodged in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail since 1992 died of heart attack on Monday. Managing Trustee, Edhi Foundation, Faisal Edhi informed that Kirpal Singh had a heart attack on Monday following which he was admitted in Jinnah hospital where he couldn't survive the attack and died. Kirpal Singh had crossed over to Pakistan on February 29, 1992 and was arrested on charges of bomb explosion and spying. He was sentenced to death. Later, Pakistan's High Court had acquitted him of charges of bomb blast but didn't rescind his death sentence in spying case. While expressing ignorance over the incident, Kirpal's nephew Ashwani Kumar said Kirpal had written a letter to his sister Jagir Kaur about a month and half ago wherein he had asked to send things of daily needs including tooth brushes, clothing's etc. Kirpal's arrest in Pakistan was exposed by his friend Gurmeet Singh to whom he had written his first letter in 2006 where he mentioned his address as 'Sajaj-e- Maut Qadi'. A judicial magistrate was also called who recorded the statements of some prisoners about the death of Kirpal, the official said.

To a question about the death of Kirpal by torture, he said: "The inmates of the jail near to Kirpal stated that he complained about pain in his chest and died instantly." "Apparently, it seems the Indian prisoner died of natural death. However, autopsy will tell the exact cause of death," he said. Ill-fated Kirpal from Gurdaspur has reportedly been acquitted of bomb blast charges by the Lahore High Court but his death sentence could not be commuted because of unknown reasons. Jagir Kaur, Kirpal's sister, earlier said that the family couldn't raise voice for his release due to financial constraints and no politician came forward to plead his case.

Earlier, in last week of April, 2013, Indian prisoner on death row Sarabjit Singh was brutally attacked and murdered by his fellow prisoners at Kot Lakhpat Jail.

Both accused Muhammad Muddasar and Amir Tamba also condemned prisoners are facing trial of his murder at the jail. Sarabjit was arrested on charges of conducting four bomb blasts in Faisalabad, Multan and Lahore that killed 14 bystanders in 1990. He was sentenced to death. (Agencies)

PAGE 8

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

Government notifies new solid waste management rules Real sector development 2016 will see a continued dearth of quality retail spaces Today, the world sees India as a land of opportunity for business and investment. The Indian real estate market has become one of the most preferred destinations in the Asia Pacific1 as overseas funds accounted for more Photo: than 50 per cent of all instatic.indianexpress vestment activity in India in 2014, compared with just 26 per cent in 2013. The Indian real estate market is expected to touch US$ 180 billion by 2020. The housing sector alone contributes 5-6 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the period FY08-20, the market size of this sector is expected to increase at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.2 per cent.

Retail, hospitality and commercial real estate are also growing significantly, providing the much-needed infrastructure for India's growing needs. During the first nine months of 2015, PE funds invested about US$ 2.4 billion in the real estate sector, across 53 transactions compared US$ 1.3 billion across 57 transactions in the same period last year. Deal sizes have also increased in 2015, and residential projects both luxury and affordable have attracted a substantial amount of capital. Private Equity (PE) funds and NonBanking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in India are seen increasingly investing jointly in real estate projects, in order to hedge risk and undertake bigger transactions. Mumbai is the best city in India for commercial real estate investment, with returns of 12-19 per cent likely in the next five years, followed by Bengaluru and Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). Also, Delhi-NCR was the biggest office market in India with 110 million sq ft, out of which 88 million sq ft were occupied. Sectors such as IT and ITeS, retail, consulting and e-commerce have registered high demand for office space in recent times.

India's office space absorption stood at 35 million sq ft during 20152, which is the second highest figure in the India's history after 2011, and was driven by corporates implementing their growth plans. India had the strongest activity in office leasing space in Asia and accounted for half of Asia's total office leasing in third quarter of 2015, with Delhi being the most active market3. Delhi's Central Business District (CBD) of Connaught Place has been ranked as the sixth most expensive prime office market in the world with occupancy costs at US$ 160 per sq ft per annum.

Demand will remain consistent over most of 2016, with occupiers showing a positive bias. While 2016 will bring in continued demand for leased spaces, quality supply will be lower. Thus it can be concluded that, in 2016, more mature investors will come in and buy built-up retail spaces. Once they have the relevant experience and foothold in India, they will start investing in 'greenfield' assets. Retailers will have to revisit their real estate strategy and have a flexible approach, customised to different micro-markets. The constant focus on development is expected to support a strong growth for the real estate sector. As a growth enabler, it is essential to develop the real estate sector to support the growth of over 300 other sectors and employment. However, a key challenge is the lack of technology and funding, where a massive gap exists. Realising the challenge at hand, several key reforms have been introduced recently and many more are lined up to improve global inflow of funds and promote growth of the sector.

Assam Polls'16 Overwhelming response Sixty-one assembly constituencies went to polls in the second and final phase of the vote in Assam, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) believes it has an edge over rival Congress party that currently is ruling the state. High voter turnout was again witnessed in the second phase poll. As per preliminary estimates of the election commission, the state witnessed a high voter turnout of 82 per cent. The turnout too was around 82 per cent in the first phase. The 2016 Assam election saw neck to neck contest between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which contested the polls in alliance with Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Bodoland People's Front (BPF) and two smaller players representing the tiwa and rabha communities.

The Congress party, which has been in power in Assam uninterrupted since 2001, was seen battling heavy anti-incumbency this time around. 'Porivorton', meaning change, had almost become the buzzword in the charged up Assam political atmosphere. The BJP, which till recently was a marginal player in Assam's politics (in the last assembly election it managed to win just five seats) had been seeing its fortunes swelling in Assam since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Prominent among those whose fate will be decided in the second phase include cabinet ministers Rakibul Hussain, Chandan Sarkar and Nazrul Islam of Congress, AGP leader and former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and BJP national spokesman Sidhartha Bhattacharya. Also in the fray is former Congress minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who revolted against Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and later joined BJP last year. There are 525 candidates in the fray.

In 2011, Congress won 24 out of 61 seats that will vote on Monday. AIUDF won 17 and BJP just 3. Together, the AGP and Bodoland Peoples Front - NDA allies - won 14 seats in this pocket and the BJP expects them to improve their tally this time. The outcome will have a strong bearing on BJP's government formation plan.

The Union Ministry of erators would now have to Collect Back scheme for Environment, Forests and now segregate waste into packaging waste streams- As per the rules, brand Climate Change three (MoEF&CC) recently no- Biodegradables, Dry owners who sale or martified the new Solid Waste (Plastic, Paper, metal, ket their products in packManagement Rules Wood, etc.) and Domestic aging material which are (SWM), 2016. These will Hazardous waste (diapers, n o n ? b i o d e g r a d a b l e , n a p - should put in place a sysr e p l ace to collect back the Swati Singh Sambyal kmi on ss -, tem t h e packaging waste generq u i t o ated due to their producMunicipal Solid Wastes repellants, cleaning agents tion.

(Management and Han- etc.) before handing it User fees for collection dling) Rules, 2000, which over to the collector.

The new rules have given have been in place for the Institutional generators, power to the local bodies past 16 years. market associations, event across India to decide the These rules are the sixth organisers and hotels and user fees. Municipal aucategory of waste man- restaurants have been di- thorities will levy user agement rules brought out rectly made responsible fees for collection, disby the ministry, as it has for segregation and sort- posal and processing from earlier notified plastic, e- ing the waste and manage bulk generators. As per waste, biomedical, haz- in partnership with local the rules, the generator ardous and construction bodies. In case of an will have to pay "User and demolition waste event, or gathering of Fee" to the waste collecmanagement rules. more than 100 persons at tor and a "Spot Fine" for It is difficult to comment any licensed/ unlicensed littering and non-segregaas to whether there has place, the organiser will tion, the quantum of been any learning from have to ensure segregation which will be decided by the past that has been in- of waste at source and the local bodies. corporated in the new handing over of segre- Also, the new rules have rules. They fail to gated waste to waste col- mentioned about the inteincentivise and impose a lector or agency, as speci- gration of rag pickers, strict penalty in case of fied by the local authority. waste pickers and poor implementation. The All hotels and restaurants kabadiwalas from the inrules have not pushed for will also be required to formal sector to the formal decentralised manage- segregate biodegradable sector by the state government of waste but have waste and set up a system ment. encouraged centralised of collection to ensure that The rules also stipulate treatment such as waste to such food waste is utilised zero tolerance for throwenergy, the present state of for composting / ing; burning, or burying which is not good in the biomethanation. The rules the solid waste generated country. Also, the infor- mandate that all resident on streets, open public mal sector has been con- welfare and market asso- spaces outside the siderably neglected in the ciations and gated com- generator's premises, or in munities with an area of the drain, or water bodies. new rules.

According to Union Min- above 5,000 sq m will Waste processing and ister of State for Environ- have to segregate waste at treatment ment, Forests and Climate source into material like As per the new rules, it has Change, Prakash plastic, tin, glass, paper been advised that the bioJavedkar, 62 million tonnes of waste is generInstitutional generators, market ated annually in the country at present, out of which associations, event organisers and hotels and restaurants have been 5.6 million tonnes is plastic waste, 0.17 million directly made responsible for tonnes is biomedical segregation and sorting the waste waste, hazardous waste generation is 7.90 million and manage in partnership with tonnes per annum and 15 local bodies. In case of an event, lakh tonnes is e-waste. He or gathering of more than 100 added that only about 7580 per cent of the municipersons at any licensed/ unlipal waste gets collected censed place, the organiser will and only 22-28 per cent of have to ensure segregation of this waste is processed and treated. waste at source and handing over The new rules are now of segregated waste to waste colapplicable beyond mulector or agency, as specified by nicipal areas and have included urban agglomerathe local authority. tions, census towns, notified industrial townships, areas under the control of and others and hand over degradable waste should Indian Railways, airports, recyclable material either be processed, treated and special economic zones, to authorised waste-pick- disposed of through places of pilgrimage, reli- ers and recyclers or to the composting or bio-methanation within the pregious and historical im- urban local body. portance, and State and Collection and disposal of mises as far as possible and the residual waste Central Government sanitary waste organisations in their The manufacturers or shall be given to the waste brand owners of sanitary collectors or agency as ambit.

Major highlights of the napkins are responsible directed by the local aunew SWM Rules, 2016 for awareness for proper thority. The developers of disposal of such waste by Special Economic Zone, Segregation at source The new rules have man- the generator and shall industrial estate, indusdated the source segrega- provide a pouch or wrap- trial park to earmark at tion of waste in order to per for disposal of each least 5 per cent of the tochannelise the waste to napkin or diapers along tal area of the plot or wealth by recovery, reuse with the packet of their minimum 5 plots/ sheds for recovery and recyand recycle. Waste gen- sanitary products.

Image for representational purpose (Photo: dnrec.delaware) cling facility.

Waste processing facilities will have to be set up by all local bodies having a population of 1 million or more within two years. For census towns with a population below 1 million or for all local bodies having a population of 0.5 million or more, common, or standalone sanitary landfills will have to be set up in three years time. Also, common, or regional sanitary landfills to be set up by all local bodies and census towns with a population under 0.5 million will have to be completed in three years.

Also, the rules have mandated bio?remediation or capping of old and abandoned dump sites within five years.

Promoting use of compost As per the rules, the Department of Fertilisers, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers should provide market development assistance on city compost and ensure promotion of co?marketing of compost with chemical fertilisers in the ratio of 3-4 bags is to 6-7 bags by the fertiliser companies to the extent compost is made available for marketing to the companies. Also, the Ministry of Agriculture should provide flexibility in Fertiliser Control Order for manufacturing and sale of compost, propagating use of compost on farm land, set up laboratories to test quality of compost produced by local authorities or their authorised agencies.

Promotion of waste to energy In a not-so welcoming move, the SWM Rules, 2016 emphasise promotion of waste to energy plants. The rules mandate all industrial units using fuel and located within 100 km from a

solid waste-based Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) plant to make arrangements within six months from the date of notification of these rules to replace at least 5 per cent of their fuel requirement by RDF so produced.

The rules also direct that non-recyclable waste having calorific value of 1500 K/cal/kg or more shall be utilised for generating energy either through RDF not disposed of on landfills and can only be utilised for generating energy either or through refuse derived fuel or by giving away as feed stock for preparing refuse derived fuel. High calorific wastes shall be used for co-processing in cement or thermal power plants.

As per the rules, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Sources should facilitate infrastructure creation for Waste to Energy plants and provide appropriate subsidy or incentives for such Waste to Energy plants. The Ministry of Power should fix tariff or charges for the power generated from the Waste to Energy plants based on solid waste and ensure compulsory purchase of power generated from such Waste to Energy plants by discoms.

Revision of parameters and existing standards As per the new rules, the landfill site shall be 100 metres away from a river, 200 metres from a pond, 500, 200 metres away from highways, habitations, public parks and water supply wells and 20 km away from airports/ airbase. Emission standards are completely amended and include parameters for dioxins, furans, reduced limits for particulate matters from 150 to 100 and now 50.

Also, the compost stan-

Accident - Prone Roads

Image for representational purpose (Photo: starrfmonline)

Sir, Compared to the ever-increasing number of two wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers, the roads of Dibrugarh are narrow. As a result, the number of accidents that takes place in these roads is not few and far between. Certain roads, to be specific Tarun Ram Phukan roads (Convay road), R.K. Bordoloi roads (station road), the middle of the over-bridge, santipara's B.C. Das roads to name a few have already proved to be accidentprone. T.R. Phukan road starting from Amolapatty Chariali ends in the railway gate connecting A.T. road via Boiragimath. Two big car agencies, Maruti and Honda are located near Amolapatty Chariali and the big drain flowing across Dibrugarh adjoining the Honda dealer adds to the hazards as good number of cars are seen being parked in front of the agencies. That apart, the adjoining areas are fraught with car accessory shops, car washing centers. The entire stretch of the road becomes highly risky in the peak hours. Some students of Salt Brook School & Academy have

already fallen victims. R.K. Bordoloi road remains crowded almost all through the day and to cross the road in peakhours is an uphill task necessitating a foot-bridge near the Rongghar Police point. It is intriguing to note, the Mancatta over bridge is tapering to the middle of the bridge where usually accidents occur at night when vehicles run at speed. Santipara's B.C. Das road where a vegetable market takes place, the silt carrying mini-trucks play havoc. The pedestrians have a tough time to move on the road. The drivers of the minitrucks accelerate speed at their whims.

There is none to bridle these drivers.

Perhaps, the traffic police wait for a major accident to occur involving death of several persons.

Yours etc.

Ashok Bordoloi Dibrugarh

dards have been amended to align with Fertiliser Control Order.

Management of waste in hilly areas As per the new rules, construction of landfills on hills shall be avoided.

Land for construction of sanitary landfills in hilly areas will be identified in the plain areas, within 25 kilometers. However, transfer stations and processing facilities shall be operational in the hilly areas.

Constitution of a Central Monitoring Committee The government has also constituted a Central Monitoring Committee under the chairmanship of Secretary, MoEF&CC to monitor the overall implementation of the rules. The Committee comprising of various stakeholders from the Central and state governments will meet once a year to monitor the implementation of these rules.

Way ahead It will take almost 4-5 years to see the drastic change in how the waste management regimes will work in India. The SWM Rules, 2016 diminish hopes in pushing for adoption of a decentralised mechanism for solid waste management. However, it would be challenging to see how segregation at source shall work on the ground.

A massive awareness campaign in association with communities, NGOs, students and other stakeholders needs to be planned to push for better implementation of these rules. The Rules need to focus on making solid waste management a people's movement by taking the issues, concerns and management of solid waste to citizens and grass-roots.

Courtesy: downtoearth

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, Dibrugarh786003 (Assam) Ph: 0373-2328944 Web : editor.easterntoday@gmail.com

p O

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

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As The Scorching Heat Wave In India Kills Many, Is The Govt. Prepared For Action?

For the first time in its 140 According to the National year history, the India Crime Records Bureau, Meteorological Depart- heat strokes caused ment (IMD) has issued 16,000 deaths between temperature advisories for 2000 and 2014. Just in heat waves from April to 2015, an abnormally long June. The advisories in- heat wave caused over clude an early warning, 2,241 deaths in the counakin to the ones issued for try. With El Ni単o expected to be heavy on the rains and cy- Shreeshan Venkatesh w a n e t h i s clones.

The forecast is for 15 year, the heat during sumdays at a time, with up- mers in India (and in large dates every fifth day. It parts of Asia, Australia and also includes specific tem- southern Africa) is likely perature forecasts and to be severe. alerts for up to 100 cities With researchers predictand towns across the ing that heat waves will become increasingly secountry.

While governments and vere and frequent, governresearchers have focussed ment agencies at Central, on the changes in mon- state and local levels have soon patterns due to cli- begun to take note of the mate change, efforts to problem. "We now have counter the impacts of the capacity to issue cityheat waves had been vir- specific forecasts, alerts tually non-existent. The and warnings and plan to National Disaster Manage- roll out an expansion to ment Act, 2005, and the several cities in the near National Policy on Disas- future. While the advisoter Management, 2009, do ries can help improve vinot consider them to be a tal services in agriculture, processed foods, water natural calamity.

The government, there- and energy, the biggest fore, does not devote fi- benefit would be the supnancial and infrastructure port they will provide to resources to the problem. healthcare professionals This despite the fact that and the public health sysheat waves are the third tem during heat waves," biggest cause of death in says Sivananda Pai, head India (see 'Natural killers'). of the Long Range Fore-

casting division at IMD. Since heat waves are often caused by a combination of local and largescale climatic factors and are captured more accurately with localised forecasts, city-specific advisories are likely to be a great help for the agencies involved.

States Take The Lead Initiatives to deal with heat waves have mostly come from state governments.

For instance, following the devastating heat wave of 1998, which claimed over 2,000 lives in Odisha, the state put in place districtlevel disaster management centres. Similarly, after the 2010 heat wave that caused 1,344 deaths in Ahmedabad, a City Heat Action Plan was launched in 2013 to improve public awareness and promote inter-agency coordination.

In mid-March this year, Nagpur and Bhubaneshwar also launched their own citylevel plans.

The experience with Ahmedabad has been very positive. Local authorities are increasingly realising the requirement of a plan.

City-specific data from IMD will immensely help in generating warnings and predicting heat waves

Women protecting themselves them from the impacts of heat (Photo: scoopwhoop) because it allows better use of vital local factors such as humidity. In coming years, there are several new cities that we will assist in making such a plan," says Anjali Jaiswal, director of the India Initiative at New York-based non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council.

The non-profit has been a consulting partner in all the three action plans (Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Bhubaneshwar) that have

been devised so far in the country.

A Difficult Link To Prove The difficulty in linking mortality to heat wave makes the task of formulating and implementing relief measures difficult.

For instance, Andhra Pradesh announced a compensation of Rs. one lakh to the kin of those who had died in the heat wave last year. But a majority of the families were

denied the compensation on the ground that the heat wave could not be established as the cause of death.

"Medical practitioners determine the cause of death on the basis of most evident symptoms, which may be of some underlying condition. They often fail to recognise the role of heat. For example, a person with cardiac problem would be adjudged to have died of a cardiac ar-

rest even if the cardiac arrest was caused by exposure to heat," explains Dileep Mavalankar, director of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Ahmedabad. "The best way to ascertain the link is to check the body temperature soon after death and analyse for any correlation between heat and mortality," he adds.

The difficulty in linking cause of death and with heat waves has led to a huge underestimation of heat wave-related deaths in the country. This could also be the reason for the huge discrepancy in the number of deaths associated with the disastrous 2003 heat wave that struck Europe and killed over 70,000 and the 2015 Indian heat wave in which 2,241 people died. Both the events were of comparable duration and intensity.

In government records only deaths due to 'heat strokes' and 'heat exhaustion' are counted as heat wave deaths. Heat, however, can cause death in several ways-from organ failures to strokes.

"Heat strokes can be either exertional or nonexertional. Exertional strokes happen due to

physical exertion in intense heat and the effect is immediate. But nonexertional strokes are caused by stress on internal organs due to constant exposure to heat. They exacerbate existing medical conditions and the effects are not immediate.

Due to a time lag between the death and the heat wave, the link is less apparent and more difficult to establish," explains Mavalankar.

Experts also say that the most common victims of heat waves are also the ones that are least likely to benefit from government initiatives. "We have found that slum dwellers and labourers in big cities are the most susceptible group. They are also least likely to enjoy the benefits of action plans and technological innovations, "says Vimal Mishra, associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar. Mishra has extensively studied trends and health impacts of heat waves. "Unless relief measures target them, we cannot hope to curb deaths due to heat waves," he sums up. Courtesy: Down to Earth (DTE)

Cigarettes To Kids, Making Them Riding on mere hope?

Dance: How 'Tribal Tourism' Is Exploiting India's Tribes In February, earlier this Himachal and ally sensitive and ethical ter bottles at them, and year, the government of Chhattisgarh see maxi- approach to tourism. some offered cigarettes Odisha decided to once mum tribal tourism. Tribal They work on mechani- to small Jarawa children. again allow foreigners to tourism has been instru- cal business principles This led to the Jarawa visit areas with a tribal mental in creating various such as 'Unique Selling children becoming adpopulation after a gap of financial opportunities for Point' to run their busi- dicted to smoking and the three years. In 2012, the tribes living in the hin- nesses and do not bother adults dancing naked in Odisha barred access to terlands. It has helped about social conse- exchange for money. tribal areas f o s t e r quences. As reported by Research studies have for foreign Ritika Potnis a w a r e n e s s The Guardian, some reported the consetourists after about the in- agencies are willing to quences of reckless tourtourism websites used digenous people in India, 'force' contact with ist activities in tribal arpictures of scantily many of whom face op- Mashco-Piro (isolated in- eas. These include culdressed Bonda and pression, lack of opportu- digenous tribe in Peru's ture-shock, exploitation, Dongaria tribals in a bid to attract tourists. The kidnapping of two Italian tourists by Maoists the same year also led to the decision to curtail access.

The state government barred 'physical proximity' of tourists to tribals and entry into their homes. It asked collectors not to allow entertainment of tourists by tribals while banning them from clicking their pictures or shooting videos.

In the past decade, India has seen a revolution in tourism, and tribal tours have become extremely popular among tourists from all over India and abroad. As per the 2013 survey by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, tribals form 8.6 percent of the total Indian population.

Tourism in India is a Image for representational purpose (Photo: Reuters/Reinhard Krause) booming industry as it accounts for an average of around 6.7 percent of the nation's GDP. In 2012, nities and social exclu- Amazonian rainforest), if objectification, humiliaIndian tourism generated sion. the customers are willing tion, undermining one's 6.4 trillion rupees as cal- While tourism may seem to pay enough money. culture and an increase culated by the World to be doing good for the History has seen the far- in inter-tribe conflicts.

Travel and Tourism society, it also is creating reaching consequences of The question still remains: Council. social and psychological indigenous tribals interact- what can be done to 'Tribal tourism' as defined consequences for the ing with tourists. In make tribal tourism ethiby Terry Ward, journalist tribals that are more det- Andaman and Nicobar, cal and protect the indigand travel writer, is "a rimental than beneficial. since the Grand Andaman enous tribes from exploinew form of travel in In the past decade, many Trunk Road connected the tation? which tourists visit tribal tourism companies have city to the hinterlands, 'Responsible tourism' villages in order to be ex- mushroomed offering Jarawas, a pre-historic in- that is guided by ethical posed to a culture com- tours of tribal areas. digenous tribe came in practices and cultural pletely different from The thing is that these contact with the tourists. sensitivity is the need of their own." In India, 'tribal tours' offering According to reports, the hour. Visitors must be states of Madhya travel agencies are tourists would give naked educated on the negative Pradesh, Jharkhand, money making giants Jarawa men and women impact tribal tourism can Orissa, Nagaland, that do not take a cultur- money, throw empty wa- have on the indigenous

communities. Travellers participating in any form of tribal tourism should be sensitised about the community they are visiting. On a more formal level, the government must lay down fundamental rules regarding activities carried out in tribal tourism. Rules should also delineate the role of travel agencies and companies and the extent to which they can participate in tribal tourism activities.

Moreover, every tourism activity in indigenous and protected areas must be monitored and sanctioned by a team of professionals that will evaluate the risks of the same.

The Hornbill festival of Nagaland is an excellent example of tribal tourism.

This festival is an initiative of the Government of Nagaland to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Nagaland and its people. People from all over the world come together in the first week of December to take part in the celebrations. This festival is one of its kind because it opens up the areas with 'restricted entry' into protected areas for visitors without compromising on ethics and traditions.

Similar ethical tourism festivals are catching up in the rest of India. The Daman and Diu festival, and Maharashtra and Odisha's tribal tourism initiatives are slowly moving towards responsible tourism.

Carefully formulated tribal tourism can act as a powerful medium towards social and economic inclusion of tribals.

Similarly, it would also provide for the tribals to have a sense of belonging to the nation and live a life of dignity and respect.

Courtesy: Youthkiawaaz

The Manipuri pony is take them to the fields for facing extinction. If it dis- the games. appears, so will the And that's where the unique Manipuri polo. beauty unfolds. While the Two spectacles unique to bigger horses have to be Manipur might disappear nudged in the direction of in the t h e n e a r Iboyaima Laithangbam b a l l , f u t h e ture. The growing fear little Manipuri ones need that the ten hands 'high' no such guidance. They pony could become ex- chase the ball on their tinct will be a double blow own free will. So much to Manipur. If the pony so, the European players becomes extinct, the have stopped bringing spectacularly unique their horses to Manipur Manipuri polo will also and it's quite a sight seeend. ing six-footer players The last census of the riding the tiny ponies. ponies held in 2012 found And, more often than not,

factor.

N. Tombiraj, secretary general of the Manipur Pony Society, is a worried man though there have been campaigns to save the Manipuri pony.

Some years back, a pony setup was opened by the veterinary department at Tingkhai Khunnou in Senapati district. But the Rs 2 crore set aside by the department was wasted away. With no further funds released, the staff at Tingkhai Khunnou went back to their heads and the structures created have

Manipuri pony (Photo: ichef.bbc) that there were just 1,100 ponies left in Manipur.

The fear is that their population has further decreased. And with that comes the threat the original polo game of Manipur will fizzle out.

And that will be a pity.

Polo connoisseurs say the kind of polo games played with the regular 14 hands high horses lacks originality. They feel the sturdy horses shipped from the West are clumsy and come nowhere near the grace of the Manipuri ponies. The small but efficient ponies are said to outpace and out manoeuvre the bigger breeds which are well fed and well trained. In Manipur, the ponies are let loose in fields and are reined in only days ahead of the polo. The only training happens when players

the Manipuris win the games against the Europeans.

Will all this end? Rapid urbanisantion, the growing population, shrinking fields threaten the Manipuri pony. Wherever there are fields, the extensive use of fertilisers adds to the threat. There are no stables for these ponies and very little medical treatment available mainly because both the pony owners and polo players come from poor backgrounds. With fields disappearing, the animals stray into towns and eat rubbish thrown out of hotels and houses. Many ponies have choked to death after eating plastic bags left in the garbage. Increasing number of accidents involving ponies and vehicles has also been an alarming

been taken over by some former tribal rebels.

The Manipuri government says it's making efforts to save the pony.

State Veterinary Minister Govindas Konthoujam says, "The government is going to acquire 70 acres of land for setting up a pony sanctuary at Heingang near Imphal. We have sent a Rs 78 crore project report to the Central government".

But this project, even if it's cleared, faces a huge problem. The earmarked sanctuary is in paddy fields and the farmers there say they will never surrender their land.

If the government does not act fast, the future is grim. Both for the Manipuri pony and the thrilling Manipuri polo.

Courtesy: nezine

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

BUSINESS

Telenor to serve 4G service by fiscal-End TARGET 4G Telecom operator Telenor India, which positions itself as the most affordable network, expects to have 4G services ready in six circles by the end of this fiscal.

Telenor India Chief Executive officer Sharad Mehrotra. (Photo: telenor) Hyderabad, Apr 12: Telecom operator Telenor India, which positions itself as the most affordable network, expects to have 4G services ready in six circles by the end of

'Buying power' to be used by Govt. to acquire goods at cheaper rates New Delhi, Apr 12: Government, the largest consumer of goods and services in the country, proposes to use its "buying power" to negotiate competitive rates from suppliers and service providers. Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha has asked government departments and agencies to draw up annual procurement plans for common items of consumption so that better prices could be negotiated, sources said. "Most competitive rates for procurement would become possible only when the GeM (Government e-Marketplace) leverages government's buying power through an aggregation of demand. "It is, therefore, necessary that each ministry draws up its Annual Procurement Plan for common user items and place it on the GeM portal by April 15," a source quoted Sinha as saying in a communication to Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech had said to bring more transparency and efficiency the Director General of Supplies and Disposal (DGS&D) will establish a technology driven platform to facilitate procurement of goods and services. The Commerce Ministry has proposed to transfer DGS&D into GeM for procurement of goods and services by government and its agencies. As per the DGS&D website it is developing a government e-marketplace and in the first phase, two items are being included - computers and vehicle management (taxi) service which are used by various government ministries, departments and organisations. In 2015-16, different government departments and agencies had floated about 5.7 lakh e-tenders valued at Rs 4.04 lakh crore. (Agencies)

MS Dhoni signed as brand ambassador of mobile handset maker Lava

Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. (Photo: techstory) Pune, Apr 12: Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been appointed as a brand ambassador by domestic mobile handset manufacturer Lava International, the company informed. The wicket-keeper batsman will be the latest face of Lava's multi-channel marketing campaign as well as brand engagement activities. As per market experts, the decision to enroll Dhoni was taken in order to boost company's brand in India where it is amongst the top five players by volume. (Agencies)

this fiscal. "As we speak, we have already swapped 7,000 mobile sites. They are LTE ready. Based on this transformation we have started offering LTE in Varanasi. We expect

Telenor have already swapped 7,000 mobile sites which are LTE ready. Based on this transformation the company has started offering LTE in Varanasi. Expectation is to upgarde entire network by end of this financial year.

entire network will be upgraded by end of this

ecutive officer Sharad Mehrotra. The company has awarded Rs 1,240 The company has crore contract to Chinese awarded Rs 1,240 crore telecom equipment firm contract to Chinese Huawei for modernising all telecom equipment its 25,000 mobile base stafirm Huawei for tion in six telecom circles modernising all its where it operates. Telenor 25,000 mobile base sta- provides mobile services in tion in six telecom UP (West), UP (East), (including circles where it oper- Bihar Jharkhand), Andhra ates.

Pradesh (including As per Trai data, Telangana), Maharashtra Telenor had 7.24 lakh and Gujarat. Together, mobile subscribers at these circles account for the end of January and more than 50 percent of was among top five India's population. The telecom operators in company has permit for terms of new sub- Assam but is yet to start its scriber addition. services. Mehrotra said 30 percent Telenor customers financial year," said are using data and rest are Telenor India Chief Ex- using voice. "No doubt fu-

PAGE 10

Investment of $20 billion offered by India to Iran

ture is of high speed but at same time first time data users that are trying to experiment with internet on network like Telenor. We have our own target segment. As customer evolves they expect higher service.

In future we have to have high speed data play. We are looking at spectrum auction very closely," Mehrotra said. As per Trai data, Telenor had 7.24 lakh mobile subscribers at the end of January and was among top five telecom operators in terms of new subscriber Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. (Photo: addition. He said the firm thehindubusinessline) is working to build up digital products that its offers to customers as it Mumbai, Apr 12: India Oil Ministry. Mr. Pradhan ramps up network. has offered to invest $20 has requested Iran to albillion in Iran's petro- locate adequate land in the (Agencies) chemical, fertilizer and liq- SEZ. He also urged Iran uefied natural gas (LNG) for a favourable treatment facilities and in return in the pricing of gas for sought cheap natural gas India. The minister also and land to set up the units. wanted supply of gas at a Oil Minister Dharmendra competitive price and on Pradhan, who is in Iran a long-term basis for the with a delegation of indus- life of the joint venture try executives for two projects that Indian comapex court that they have days, discussed with his panies were interested in rejected it after 'full con- counterpart several out- setting up. India was also sideration'. Mallya, who standing issues related to keen to set up a gas is wanted by the law en- the energy sector. cracker unit and a liqueforcing agencies for a "Pradhan conveyed to the fied petroleum gas extracdefault of over Rs. 9, 000 Iranian side that Indian tion unit in Chabahar and crores, had not appeared companies could invest ways of transporting gas before the Enforcement up to $20 billion and were to India from Iran includDirectorate after he interested in setting up pet- ing through a planned sought an extension up to rochemical and fertilizer Iran-Pakistan-India pipeMay. The Enforcement plants, including in the line were discussed. The Directorate had earlier is- Chabahar Special Eco- two sides also discussed sued summons to Mallya nomic Zone, either the award of rights to Infor "personal appearance" through joint ventures be- dian firms to develop on March 18 under the tween Indian and Iranian Farzad-B gas fields and provisions of the Preven- public sector companies the pending payments by tion of Money Launder- or with private sector Indian refiners towards ing Act (PMLA). Follow- partners," according to a Iran's oil purchases. ing Mallya's request seek- statement from the Indian (Agencies) ing extension, the Enforcement Directorate last week issued a fresh summons to the liquor baron, asking him to appear before it on April 2 in the money laundering case. Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom and is being sought out in India over charges of money laundering, claimed that the banks gave him loans after evaluating all aspects and asserted that he is not trying to evade the law enforcement agencies but is on a personal visit.

ASSOCHAM asks banks not to get swayed away by shrill in Mallya case ANI New Delhi, Apr 12: Impressing upon the banks not to get swayed away by the shrill of public discourse against the purported willful defaulters, ASSOCHAM today said that offer made by liquor baron Vijaya Mallya should be considered carefully before rejecting it, because his offer does convey his 'intention' to repay the loans taken from the public sector lenders.

"With so much shrill on the wilful defaulters, the banks and their principal shareholder, the Government of India, should take a dispassionate view of the case rather than being influenced by the media reports which at times get exaggerated in the 'rightor-wrong' debate," ASSOCHAM secretary general D.S Rawat said in a statement. He said, the main concerns for the banks' consortium should be recovery of its assets which have become NPAs and all genuine efforts must be made towards that end. "Whether Mallya has done something right or wrong should be left to

the law enforcement agencies and the courts. The banks must evaluate with open mind what offer is on the table. Even if Rs 4,000 crore, as reported in the media, needs to be revised, the banks should be open to negotiations irrespective of the fact whether the borrower is sitting in Delhi or Dubai, Mumbai or London," the ASSOCHAM secretary general said. "Get your money back and cut your losses, if they occur." He said the real test should be as per the definition of the Reserve Bank of India of a wilful defaulter. "The default to be categorised as wilful must be intentional, deliberate and calculated," the chamber quoted the RBI Master Circular on the subject.

"Once it is established that the borrower intends to repay, the default cannot be deliberate." Besides, with excessive focus on the "wilful defaulters," the India Inc is being projected in a bad light in the eye of the general public, whereas the fact remains, they contribute a large part of the country's

Image for representational purpose only. (Photo: qzprod.files) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment generation. Rawat said in the present situation, the difficult times have to be faced by all the stakeholders- industry (borrowers) and the banks. "The choice has to be between keeping the units alive by taking some hair cuts or squeezing it to suffocation," he added. In the case of Kingfisher Airlines and Mallya, the ASSOCHAM does not want to sit in judgement, but what it certainly

wants is 'let there not be a media and public trial as such a thing is not good for the industry, banks or even the country's financial system.' A consortium of 17 Public Service Units (PSU) banks including the State Bank of India (SBI), which had approached the Supreme Court against Mallya, had on Thursday rejected his repayment proposal. Rejecting Mallya's proposal to pay Rs 4,000 crores by September, the consortium of banks told the

IFFCO's turnover jumps to Rs 29,000 crore in FY16

Micromax allies with Visa, TranServ for pushing m-commerce Bengaluru, Apr 12: Domestic handset maker Micromax will now integrate a new wallet offering, powered by Visa and TranServ, for its smartphone users as it looks to beef up its services business. The Gurgaon-based firm, which had partnered TranServ in December last year, is relying heavily on payments as part of its overall service strategy. "Payment is very critical to the overall service strategy for Micromax. Almost all the new smartphone products will have this wallet as natively integrated in them. Existing users of Micromax smartphones will also get this upgrade,"said Micromax co-founder Vikas Jain.

He added the company has partnered Visa and

Micromax co-founder Vikas Jain. (Photo: technologers) TranServ to offer unique and user base in place to digital solutions specifi- use this service," he said. cally designed to meet Using the proposed paythe demands of the "mo- ment solutions, bile-first" Indian consum- Micromax users will be ers. "VISA brings to- able to use mobile-based gether the merchant eco- push payments using system and TranServ mVisa and make takes care of the techni- eCommerce payments cal aspect, while on merchant and social Micromax already has media applications as strong service ecosystem well as interpersonal pay-

ments to personal contacts. In the future, the companies will also look at launching mobile contactless payments in physical locations through NFC (near-field communications). "The payment solutions will soon be available to Micromax smartphone users through the Udio app," he said. Udio is a digital wallet enabled by TranServ. It allows consumers to shop using a Visa card number linked to the underlying prepaid wallet, wherever Visa is accepted. "Digital payments is clearly an important part of our digital experience and services strategy. We are looking to provide an all pervasive payments layer to our services ecosystem enabling digitalisation of the lifestyles of our con-

sumers," he said. Chris Clark, Group Executive (Asia Pacific) at Visa, said mobile payments are part of the future of payments and their rapid adoption will be instrumental in helping India move towards a cashless society. "With India being the world's fastestgrowing smartphone market, we have a significant opportunity to combine the power, reach and security of the Visa network, with the strengths of our partners Micromax and TranServ, to create payment solutions tailored to local market needs," he added.

TranServ co-founder and CEO Anish Williams said the company is building solutions that will contribute towards a holistic and secure payments ecosystem.

(Agencies)

11 new stations to be constructed by Konkan Railways to enhance line capacity Mangaluru, Apr 12: The Konkan Railway Corporation Limited will construct 11 new railway stations in the sector to enhance line capacity and facilitate train handling, officials on Sunday said.

Eight loop lines will be built along its 740-km track and the corporation was waiting for the approval from the Railway Board, KRCL Chief Managing Director Sanjay Gupta said in a statement here. The

growth of traffic in the recent past had necessitated the construction of new stations, which were identified at the time of constructing the Konkan railway route, he said.

The ideal distance be-

tween two stations on a single-line network, like the KRCL, was 8-10 km for easier train movements, and at present it was 13 km on the route. The average distance would come down to around 11 km once the

new stations were built.

The corporation would meet the ideal distance of eight km once construction work on all 20 stations, as originally envisaged in the network was completed.

(Agencies)

IFFCO's Managing Director U S Awasthi. (Photo: bhartiyasahkarita) Lucknow, Apr 12: Country's largest fertiliser cooperative IFFCO has posted a 17.40% increase in turnover to Rs 29,000 crore in 2015-16 on account of higher sales of soil nutrients.

The cooperative's turnover stood at Rs 24,500 crore in the previous fiscal. Total fertiliser sales has increased to 130 lakh tonnes including 78.7 lakh tonnes of urea in 2015-16 compared with 111 lakh tonnes in the previous fiscal. "Despite rise in subsidy arrears due to the government to Rs 8,500 crore in 2015-16, the cooperative's turnover has gone up because of its overall efficient performance," said IFFCO's Managing Director U S Awasthi. Last year the subsidy arrears of the cooperative was at Rs 7,500 crore.

Awasthi also said that IFFCO is keen to support

and invest in startups and has set up a Rs 10-crore fund. "We are very keen to support new ideas and proposals, preferably related to agriculture sector or even if any other sector. And if required the corpus size could also be increased," he said.

IFFCO has five fertiliser plants in the country one each at Paradeep in Odisha, Kandla and Kalol in Gujarat, and Phulpur and Aonla in Uttar Pradesh. It has a combined capacity of 42.42 lakh tonnes of urea and 43.80 lakh tonnes of complex fertilisers. Besides these five plants, the cooperative has a sulphuric acid plant in Jordan with an annual capacity of 4.75 lakh tonnes, while an urea plant in Oman, in partnership with Kribhco, with an annual capacity of 16.5 lakh tonnes. (Agencies)

A HIGH JUMP Country's largest fertiliser cooperative IFFCO has posted a 17.40% increase in turnover to Rs 29,000 crore in 2015-16 on account of higher sales of soil nutrients.

The cooperative's turnover stood at Rs 24,500 crore in the previous fiscal. Total fertiliser sales has increased to 130 lakh tonnes including 78.7 lakh tonnes of urea in 2015-16 compared with 111 lakh tonnes in the previous fiscal.

Despite rise in subsidy arrears due to the government to Rs 8,500 crore in 2015-16, the cooperative's turnover has gone up because of its overall efficient performance.

IFFCO has five fertiliser plants in the country one each at Paradeep in Odisha, Kandla and Kalol in Gujarat, and Phulpur and Aonla in Uttar Pradesh. It has a combined capacity of 42.42 lakh tonnes of urea and 43.80 lakh tonnes of complex fertilisers.

DIBRUGARH, WEDNEDAY, APRIL 13

Features

PAGE 11

HORTICULTURE Rich potential, poor vision Wealth going waste to the are yet to exploit the exdetriment of Deepor port potentiality of Beel's ecology makhana, highly rich in A tiny, wetland fruit tells medicinal properties," you the tale of an oppor- says M.M. Goswami, tunity lost in Assam. And former professor of where Assam has lost out, Gauhati University.

Bihar has benefited.

Consider this. According Back in the 1980s, farm- to an Indian Council of ers from Bihar took truck- Scientific Research's publoads of lication, Kishore Talukdar 1 0 0 seeds of makhana grams of (fox nut) from Deepor makhana contains 9.7 perBeel in Assam and culti- cent protein, 76.9 percent vated it back home. Not carbohydrate, 0.1 percent just that. They carried out fat, 1.3 percent minerals integrated farming of fish and 12 percent water. An and makhana to such an irony that it is going to extent that today Prime waste, considering that the Minister Narendra Modi highly nutritious fruit terms it the "Makhana grows naturally in 30 perRevolution" which can lift cent wetland of the State. the poor out of poverty.

Nalin Kumar Mohan, Sadly, in Assam, where former chief scientist of the aquatic fruit is in abun- the Horticulture Research dance, its potential is still Station echoes Goswami's not being realised. "We view. Mohan says the

farming of this fruit has a tremendous potential to generate employment avenue without a penny being spent, but far from exploiting it, it's shockingly seen as a source of problem in Assam.

On the contrary, says Mohan, by using the fruits the mounting anthropogenic pressure on the water body for fish capturing could actually be reduced.

This is how it works. The harvesting of the fruit is done during the lean season. The fishing community, which sources it's sustenance from fish, could switch over to harvesting makhana during this lean season when the waters recede, giving much needed relief to the wetlands.

"Harvesting this aquatic fruit during winter will be

a good substitute to the livelihood as the availability of fish is at the lowest then," points out Mohan.

A win-win situation it seems for the fishermen.

Ecologically too, there are benefits. Harvesting in winter is a boon to the wetland ecosystem because it removes the excessive growth of large leaf plants that are potential threats to the wetlands.

In the Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary, situated south-west of Guwahati city, the uncontrolled growth of the aquatic plants is bound to have a long term adverse impact.

"Given the uncontrolled growth of makhana in the wetlands, the huge floating leaves of the plant will hamper sunlight to penetrate into the wetlands.

The dearth of sunlight un-

Black Pepper Farming Introduction of Black Pepper:- Black pepper is one of the popular spices and known as "king of spices".

This spice was originated from Western Ghats of India. In India, black pepper is mainly grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Konkan, Pondicherry & Andaman and Nicobar Islands. India is #1 producer, consumer and exporter of black pepper in the world.

Kerala itself produces 90% of total production of black pepper. This spice has good economic importance due to its earnings of exports from foreign exchange.

This spice is also called as "Black gold" due to its international trade factor. This spice botanical name is "Piper nigrum" and belongs to the family of "Piperaceae".

Black Pepper Cultivating States in India:- Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Konkan region, Pondicherry & Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Climate Required for Black Pepper Farming: Black pepper thrives best in tropical hot and humid climatic conditions. It requires about 200 cm of annual rainfall.

The ideal temperature for its successful growth is between 10°C and 40°C. This spice can be successfully cultivated at 1400 m above sea level (msl).A dry spell of at least a month before flowering is needed for fruit set.

Soil Requirement for Black Pepper Farming:- Black pepper can be cultivated on wide variety of soils like red loam, clay loam and sandy loam soils. However, Virgin soils rich in humus (organic matter) content and well drained are ideal for black pepper cultivation. For better yield, soil should have pH value of 5.0 - 6.5.

Propagation in Black Pepper Farming:- In commercial black pepper farming , generally Black pepper propagation is done by vegetatively (by cuttings).

However it can also propagated by seeds, as this process takes so long, It is not preferred method for commercial cultivation. In vegetative method of propagation, pepper cuttings with 23 nodes are made from vines are put bamboo basket (filled with soil) or raised in plastic bags during the month of March-April.

These pepper cuttings will be ready for transplanting during the month of MarchApril. These pepper cuttings will be ready for transplanting in the main field in about 3 months.

Planting Method in Black Pepper Farming:- Due to its

climbing nature, black pepper plant needs some kind of support. In monocrop, the support might be a tree or any fixed pole (Standard).However, if you have trees in your field, these can be used as standard or support.

Black pepper plants should be planted at a distance of 3 to 4 m. Due to its climbing nature; pepper plant needs some kind of support.

The support might be a tree or any fixed pole (Standard).However, If you have trees in your field, these can be used as standard or support.

Black pepper plants should be planted at a distance of 3 to 4 m. Pits with size of 0.5 m x 0.5 m x 0.5 m should be dug at a distance of 25 to 30 cm away from

trained on other crops like coconut (http:// agrifarming.in/tag/coconut), jackfruit and areca nut trees.

Manures and Fertilizers in Black Pepper Farming:- Below are the manures and fertilizers in black pepper farming. 10 kg of FMY (well rotten cow dung or compost) should be applied per plant (preferred in April-May months). Ammonium Sulphate of 500 grams, super phosphate of 1 kg & muriate of potash of 100 grams should be applied per plant (preferred in August to Sep month). Slaked lime at 500 grams per plant should be applied per plant in alternate years (preferred in April to May months). These manures and fertilizers should be applied at the depth of 12 to 15 cm at a distance of These manures and fertiliz-

Training & Pruning in Black Pepper Farming: - In black pepper farming, Training should be carried in pepper growing vines and training on the supported trees is very highly preferred. Removing waste terminal shoot growth and hanging shoots are highly recommended.

Pests and Diseases in Black Pepper Farming:- The main pests found in black pepper farming are beetle & scale insects. To control these pests, spray Dimecron 85 EC at 4 tea spoonful in 1 kerosene tin full of water at 12 to 14 days of interval.

Main diseases found in black pepper farming are slow wilt and quick wilt.

To control the slow-wilt disease, drench the soil with 9 to 15 litres of solution of Ceresan wet in the strength

der water will lead to ecological imbalances and primary productivity of the wetlands will be affected," warns Goswami. The presence of the aquatic plant is required but only in limited quantities. "In winter, the plants decompose and are converted into organic matter, making the water nutrient rich," he highlights. With the disappearance of underwater plant diversity due to lack of the adequate amount of dissolved oxygen, wetland productivity will suffer.

The National Wetland Conservation Management Programme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests has in a study found variation of dissolved oxygen in the waters of Deepor Beel.

While human beings are neglecting their role in sav-

Seeds of makhana (fox nut) from Deepor Beel (Photo: blogspot) ing the wetlands, help is coming from animals.

Wild elephants that migrate to Deepor Beel, the State's lone Ramsar site, do yeoman service by gorging on the aquatic plant. The fruit is a favourite of the jumbos, in fact, its saviour when food becomes scarce in the elephant's territory.

But it is the people of Assam who are losing out in a big way by neglecting the makhana. The fruit, with its medicinal properties, has a huge export potential.

While Assam has not realised this wealth, farmers of neighbouring Bangladesh have successfully begun exploiting the

aquatic fruit. Hopefully, good sense will prevail soon. ( Kishore Talukdar is an independent journalist based in Guwahati. His areas of interest include Development journalism and Environment journalism.

He can be contacted at tdrkishore@gmail.com ) Courtesy: Nezine

ART AND CULTURE

Aoling Festival of the Konyak Tribe The life and rituals of tribes in hilly north eastern state Nagaland is quite fascinating. In ancient ages, some of these tribes were aggressive warriors and believed Arnab in practicing pagan rituals.

The Konyak tribe of Nagaland is one prime example. In ancient ages, they used to be head hunters.

They stay in northern part of Nagaland, in the Mon district. This tribe is characterized by tattooed faces and body.

Life and events of the Konyak tribe The Konyak tribe used to be head hunters. While they have become less aggressive and sober over the centuries, skulls of humans can still be found in their shelves and on walls. Nowadays, they rely mostly on agriculture and resort to hunting only occasionally. They also resort to drinking and opium at leisure time.

Aoling festival The Aoling festival is celebrated by Konyak tribes in April's first week. This seed sowing festival coincides with advent of Spring. The Ghosh tribes remain in a jovial mood during this time, as it is.

Nuances of the Aoling festival During this harvest festival, they wear traditional and colorful attire. The headgear is particularly notable -made of animal or human skulls. While tribal women dance to songs, the men play log drums. Men also indulge in warrior dance rituals with their ancient weapons. Spears and guns are used in dance and later gunfire also takes place.

The first day of this harvest festival is known as Hoi Lah Nyih. This is the time when the tribes collect firewood, various vegetables and prepare rice beer. Chickens are

Aoling Festival (Photo: nelive) sacrificed and a ritual of soothsaying takes place. On next two days named Yin Mok Pho Nyih and Mok Shek Nyih respectively, they gather domesticated animals for killing later. On 4th day, named Lingnyu Nyih, the tribal men and women put on colorful attire and ornaments. It is a day replete with traditional

singing and dance. The community feasting is also worth mentioning here. The tribes also replicate their ancient headhunting ritual albeit in a mimicking way by shooting guns in air. The remaining days, namely Lingha Nyih and Lingshan Nyih are spent by meeting and honoring relatives and families. Courtesy: Nelive.

Cheiraoba Festival Of Manipur Black pepper cultivation (Photo: agrifarming) support (standard). Just before monsoon starts, 2 to 3 rooted tree cuttings should be planted in the pits made in soil. Make sure at least 1 node of the plant cutting will go to underground and remaining should be 40 to 45 cm above ground level. Fill the pits with soil and 10 kg of well rotten manure (cow dung).In the initial stages, covering the plants with shade would be beneficial.

Pits with size of 0.5 m x 0.5 m x 0.5 m should be dug at a distance of 25 to 30 cm away from support (standard). Just before monsoon starts, 2 to 3 rooted tree cuttings should be planted in the pits made in soil. Make sure at least 1 node of the plant cutting will go to underground and remaining should be 40 to 45 cm above ground level. Fill the pits with soil and 10 kg of well rotten manure (cow dung).In the initial stages, covering the plants with shade would be beneĂĄcial.

Black Pepper Plantation This spice also can be grown as mixed crop, in this situation, rowing vines can be

ers should be applied at the depth of 12 to 15 cm at a distance of 25 to 30 cm from base. It is required to well mix these manures and fertilizers in the soil with the help of fork or any other instruments.

Irrigation in Black Pepper Farming:- Frequent irrigation from Nov-Dec months till the end of March is recommended and thereafter, irrigation must be withheld till monsoon break In Black pepper cultivation, This will increase the pepper yield about 50%. Irrigation should be given at interval of 1 weeks in winter and at every 2 days during summer. Soil should be mulched with grass/dried leaves will retain some extent of moisture in the soil in hot summer season.

Weed Control in Black Pepper Farming:- 2 diggings should be given once in May to June months and again in Oct-Nov month. In black pepper cultivation, weeding and earthling should be done for better growth and yield.

Because of this, soil aeration will be improved.

of 1 gram/litre of water.

To control the quick-wilt disease, spray the Blue Copper at the rate of 14 tea spoonful per 20 litre of water at 1215 days interval.

Harvesting of Black Pepper:- Generally, Black pepper will be ready for harvesting when any one berry in cluster shows scarlet red colour. Black pepper berries will be ready for picking 6 months to 7 months of planting in the main field. Spikes can be harvested when almost 90 % of berries become matured. Usually harvesting starts from Nov and continues up to March month. Usually hand picking should be carried out.

Yield of Black Pepper:- 2 to 3 kg of berries per vine/year or 275 kg per hectare in India. Yield again depends on the variety cultivated and crop management practices.

Oil from Black Pepper:- Normally, pepper oil is obtained from stem distillation of powered berries. Yielding would be about 2 to 4 % oil. This pepper oleoresin is obtained from solvent extraction practice by using ground pepper.

Manipur is one fascinating hilly state located in north eastern fringes of India. Every year thousands of tourists visit the state to explore its awesome natural splendor. However, the attraction of Manipur is not really limited to its forests, hills, amazing wildlife or lakes. The state is also home to various tribes that cling to their traditional ways of life. Exposure to modern life or religious conversion has not led the tribes to forget their festivals or rituals. On the contrary, they celebrate their ancient festivals with much vigor and love. One such example is theCheiraoba Festival.

Nuances of Cheiraoba Festival The tribes in Manipur celebrate a number of festivals all over the year. While some of these are related with harvest, there are a few religious ones. Cheiraoba Festival is associated with celebrating New Year.

This is a major and sacred festival for the people of Manipur. The residents clean up their households and adorn them. It is the time when they visit friends and relatives and exchange gifts.

On this day, the locals climb adjacent hill tops since they believe the act symbolizes rise of human civilization.

The rites and rituals

Cheiraoba also called Sajibu Cheiraoba is an annual and religious festival which is held in April. The Meitei tribes are particular about celebrating this festival. They worship the deity called 'Sidaba Mapu'. They believe this festival is auspicious because this is held at the joining of two years. So, it is their duty to pay respect to the deity for good fortune.

Apart from cleaning the

utensils and clothes. On the day of the festival, the elderly member in each house reform a ritual for prosperity and long life at the gate. They worship deity Lainingthou Sanamahi in the early morning.

The locals make offerings of rice, vegetables and other foods to the deities like Iram Shenba Tushemba, Kum Sana Kumliklai and Lamaba Tumaba. Cheiraoba is asso-

men and women take part in preparing the dishes for offering to the deities. The dishes are offered to the deity in banana leaves as per their ancient traditions. The places of home where the foods are offered are decorated with mud and flowers.

After the offering to the deities are over, the dishes made for feast are exchanged with neighbors and relatives. This is known as Mathel Laanba. At the evening, the hill climbing

Cheiraoba Festival (Photo: media-cache) houses for 'Cheiraoba', the locals also discard old kitchen

ciated with another festival called 'Saroi Khangba'. Both

part takes place. Courtesy: Nelive

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DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

PAGE 12

Dominant India thrash Pakistan Golden Star Club 5-1 in Azlan Shah Cup beat Spears PTI Ipoh (Malaysia), Apr 12 : A dominant India registered their biggest victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in six years when they coasted to a 51 win in a round-robin league match of the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, here today.

This was India's biggest win since their 7-4 triumph against Pakistan in the 2010 Commonwealth Games at New Delhi.

Playing their best game of the tournament, Manpreet Singh opened the scoring for India in the fourth minute but Pakistan equalised in the seventh through captain Muhammad Irfan.

Sardar Singh But thereafter it was all India as the Sardar Singh-led side controlled the proceedings with SV Sunil scoring two opportunistic field goals in the

Man Utd players blast `clueless` Van Gaal post Tottenham rout

Louis van Gaal ANI London, Apr.12 : Manchester United players have reportedly took aim at their manager Louis van Gaal, describing the Dutchman as 'clueless' for his tactical decisions after his side's humiliating defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur in their Premier League clash.

Earlier, Tottenham thrashed United 3-0, with Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld and Erik Lamela scoring each within a gap of six minutes in the second half.

The players' reaction came in the wake of van Gaal's decision to pull off Marcus Rashford at the half-time for apparently seeking the ball in wide areas, thus promoting Ashley Young to lead the line instead of playing natural forward Anthony Martial in the central role.

According to the Mirror, the players had reportedly blamed their manager for the defeat at White Hart Lane and believe that van Gaal would not survive at Old Trafford for long.

Meanwhile, van Gaal slammed center defence for the six-minute period that saw Tottenhamscore three goals against United.

Van Gaal's job has been under scrutiny this season, with former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho had repeatedly been linked to take over at Old Trafford.

United's manager had also been linked with a return to Ajax as head of youth academy.

United are currently fifth in the points table and are behind fourth-place Manchester City by four points. They will now lock horns with Aston Villa on Saturday. (ANI)

10th and 41st minutes.

Talwinder Singh then capitalised on a rebound to score India's fourth goal in the 50th minute before Rupinder Pal

Singh converted a penalty corner in the 54th minute.

India's victory would have been bigger had Rupinder converted a penalty stroke in the 55th minute and an deflection into the net by Ramandeep Singh in the 69th was not disallowed after the umpire initially blew for a goal.

The victory took India to the second spot in the round-robin league standings with nine points from four outings.

The table is being led by world champions Australia on 12 points from four straight wins.

Australia took one step into the final when they

prevailed 1-0 over Oceania rivals and defending champions New Zealand, who now have eight points from five matches.

The all-important goals for Australia was scored by captain Jamie Dwyer, who capitalised on a rebound to shoot into the open goal with the goalkeeper at his mercy.

Later in the day, in an exhibition of the subcontinental style of hockey, India lifted their game by leaps and bounds to dominate the match, forcing Pakistan to crowd their territory in the second half to deny Sardar's men more goals.

Finch conquers Johnson's fear in Gujarat Lions' maiden IPL victory ANI Mohali, Apr.12 : Australia explosive opener Aaron Finch believes that he was able to overcome his fear of facing his former teammate Mitchell Johnson after guiding new franchise Gujarat Lions to their maiden win in the Indian Premier League.

Finch smashed a brilliant knock of 74 from mere 47 balls, including 17 runs off the 11 balls he faced from Johnson as the Lions claimed a five-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Monday.

Johnson, who retired from international cricket in November, was playing his first high-profile match in Mohali.

While saying that his heart starts racing every time he faces Johnson, the 29-yearold admitted that the fast bowler had 'terrorized' him in every net session while representing the home country in the past.

"He's someone who does tend to keep me up at night sometimes if you're playing

Aaron Finch against him down the track," Finch told reporters during the post-match press conference.

"It was just one of those days.

The wicket was really nice for batting," he added.

Reflecting on his performance, the right-handed batsman said that he wanted to start the tournament well and insisted that he felt glad he was able to score runs in his side's winning cause.

"You want to start any tournament well and it was good get out there. It was disap-

pointing to get out when I did but at the same time to put us in a winning position like that was really pleasing," said Finch.

Gujarat Lions, which won the bid of the new franchise for the next two editions of the IPL, brought Finch for USD 208,000, thus making it his sixth IPL franchise after playing with Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils, Pune Warriors, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians.

Sports Reporter Dibrugarh, Apr 12: Golden Star Club registered a 56 runs victory against Spears Club in the third Dembi Bori and Kusum Bori T20 cricket tournament organised by Dibrugarh District Sports Association at DDSA stadium here today.

Opting to bat first, Golden star piled up 148 for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs. Nizar Ahmed top scored with 38 off 46 balls, hitting five fours to the fence, while Abhijit Dutta contributed 28 off 35 balls, laced with two boundaries and one six.

Promod Rajak with his good line and length

condition.

However, specialist scans revealed that Taylor has a very serious heart condition called ARVC(Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Arrhythmia).

Offering his sympathy to Taylor through a micro blogging website Twitter, former England skipper Michael Vaughan described the batsman as 'one of the great people' of the game and vowed to support him whenever he needs.

Former Australian cap-

ANI Johannesburg, Apr 12 : South African pace spearhead Dale Steyn brushed aside criticism surrounding his T20 performances, insisting that his overall statistics would reveal that he has done fairly well in the shortest format of the game.

Considered as one of the most feared pacemen in Test cricket, Steyn has been ineffective in the 20-overs format in recent times and even dropped for two matches in the recently-concluded World Twenty20 in India.

The 32-year-old pointed out that he has often maintained an economy of under seven throughout his career, insisting that these figures are pretty reasonable in the batsman-dominated game, Sport24 reported.

He also urged his critics not to judge bowlers on the basis of past criteria, adding that the game has evolved past erstwhile ideas of economy rates.

BCCI paid Rs 50 crore as income tax last month PTI New Delhi, Apr 12 : The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) paid a whopping INR 50 crore as income tax for the year 2013-14, its monthly disclosure on spendings has revealed.

Giving details of spendings exceeding INR 25 lakh on its official website, the BCCI also revealed that it paid service tax of INR 2.74 crore.

India's Under-19 and A team coach Rahul Dravid was paid half of his professional fees during the month gone by and the figure for

that stood at INR 1.30 crore.

Besides, the Assam Cricket Association in India's eastern state was paid INR 3.37 crore as part of its annual dues for the year 2014-15.

Likewise, the Cricket Association of Bengal has been given INR 6.75 crore as part of their dues, while the controversial Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) was reimbursed INR 29.22 lakh for holding the Under-23 CK Nayudu Trophy's league and knockout matches.

The Board also made pay-

ments to three Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises for the ongoing season.

The Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils have been given advance payments for the IPL which started April 9.

The Punjab franchise (KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited) was paid INR 21.90 crore, while the Mumbai team (Indiawin Sports Private Limited) has been given 22.90 crore.

The Delhi team (GMR Sports Private Limited) has been paid INR 22.90 crore.

22-year-old British cricketer shot dead in Trinidad robbery ANI London, Apr 12 : A 22-yearold aspiringBritish cricketer was killed after being shot during an armed robbery in Trinidad.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Adrian St John died following the incident on Sunday night.

He was the captain of the

Chris Gayle Academy in London, which was set up "improve access to good quality education, training and employment for at risk young people in Jamaica and the UK".

Gayle took to Twitter to express his condolences to the cricketer's family and friends.

"Such sad news to hear.

My condolences to his family & friends. Adrian St John was the captain of the academy. #Sigh," said the West Indies cricketer.

According to local reports, Adrian was targeted by two gunmen when he stopped his car to pick up two friends.

Cricket fraternity lends support to Taylor after premature retirement ANI New Delhi, Apr.12 : The cricketing fraternity joined hands in extending its overwhelming support to England batsman James Taylor, who was forced to retire from international cricket due to a serious heart condition.

The 26-year-old, who played seven Tests and 27 ODIs for England, pulled out of last week's domestic first class fixture against Cambridge MCCU with what was believed to be a viral

claimed four wickets for 11 in 4 overs for Spears Club. Shanawaz Kahn took two for 31 in 4 over for Spears.

In reply, Spears club were bowled out for 92 in 16.5 overs. Wickets of Spears fall in regular interval.

Mohammad Sadam scored 14 off 14 balls while Sajid Khan contributed 12 runs.

Nizar Ahmed bagged two wickets for 7 runs in 2 overs for Golden Star Club. Nizar Ahmed was adjudged Man of the match. There is no match for two days and the next match will be played on Friday.

Steyn defends his `reasonable` T20 records

James Taylor tain Michael Clarke also consoled the

Nottinghamshire batsman and tweeted, "Re-

ally feel for @jamestaylor20 Absolutely devastated for you."

"Heartbreaking news about a seriously talented and hard working man. Stay strong my buddy, everyone's with you @jamestaylor20 #cricketfamily," Taylor's team-mate Jason Roy said.

Meanwhile, England seam bowler Tim Bresnan wished luck to Taylor for his operation, saying that he hoped for his soon recovery.

"Terrible news about @jamestaylor20 , was good to meet and play against you this summer. In my thoughts big guy. Go well Titch," South Africa spinner Dane Piedt said while offering his sympathy to Taylor.

England fast bowler Stuart Broad, Australian opener Usman Khawaja and South Africa paceman Morne Morkel were among other notable players who extended their support to the devastated batsman.

Sania Mirza `humbled, honoured`

by Padma Bhushan ANI New Delhi, Apr 12 : Sania Mirza has expressed that she felt ' honoured' and ' humbled' after being conferred with India's third highest civilian honour, Padma Bhushan for her contribution in the sport of tennis.

"Humbled. Honoured.

And truly thankful .. #PadmaBhushan," the 29-year-old tennis ace wrote on microblogging site Twitter after being presented with the prestigious award by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati

Bhavan on Tuesday.

Saina had lifted two Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon and US Open last year with her Swiss partner Martina Hingis. The world number one women's doubles pair enjoyed an unbeaten streak of 41 games till February this year.

Earlier, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and archer Deepika Kumari were conferred with Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards respectively for their distinguished contribution to sports in the country

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