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ASSENG/2015/64205
PAGE 12
Vol. II
Issue 10
LIFE: IN THE WATSON WAY!!!!
Dibrugarh, Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Golaghat, June 27: An incident of suicide today created sensation in Golaghat. According to the report a man named Jatin Saikia who worked as a Chowkidar at the Office of the Inspector of Schools Golaghat today committed suicide at his quarter. Jatin Saikia who hailed from Bosagaon Salikihat lived in the quarter alone and last night he went to his home and today he returned and after that he committed suicide at his quarter. The reason of his suicide is still not known but some sources stated it to be related with financial problem. (Correspondent)
Two dacoits arrested by Tinsukia Police Tinsukia, June 27: Tinsukia police arrested two dacoits from Tinsukia bypass during the wee hours of Monday and seized two motorcycles bearing registration number AS 06P 3013 and AS 23J 9892. The arrested dacoits have been identified as Jyotish Gohain and Rajni Das alias Dullu, duo resident of Chabua. According to sources, based on a secret information of 3 without number plate Tata sumo coming to Tinsukia from Chaulkhowa in Dibrugarh police was kept on stand by and patrolling was increased in and around Tinsukia entry point. At around 1.45 am in the morning police noticed a gang of 3 dacoits attacking a trailor (carrying vehicles). The dacoity was almost completed as the gang opened the battery of the vehicle and even threatened the driver to kill him and sell the vehicle at Dimapur, sources said. They also snatched rupees 2300 from the driver. The police arrested two dacoits red handed while third managed to flee from the spot. Police is trying to find out whether the bikes sized are stolen ones or not. ( Spl
Correspondent)
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Major extortion racket busted Team Sarba's first cabinet along Assam-Arunachal border, meeting decides to appoint 3 arrested turned out to be Sulfa 10,000 TET teachers, 700 doctors Reports of few small tea growers paying lakhs rupees to fake ulfa confirmed : Army sources
A Staff Reporter Guwahati, June 27
The first cabinet meeting of the BJP led Government in the State held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in Assam Secretariat today took several key decisions in the interest of all sections of the people of the State. As per the commitment of the new dispensation, the Cabinet has decided to appoint ten thousand TET qualified teachers in different schools of the State before 31st March, 2017. Moreover, decks have also been cleared to appoint
Rishu Kalantri Tinsukia, June 27
CM Sonowal along with his council of ministers during the cabinet meeting. Pic - UB Photo seven hundred new doctors in to a full-fledged district and decided to rationalise government-run hospitals. inaugurate it before 31st entertainment tax and service August, 2016. Moreover, in charge for exhibition of The Cabinet has decided to line with recommendations of cinema. Contd. on Page 4 upgrade Majuli Sub-Division Jahnu Barua Committee, it
Hidden agenda of BJP to snatch power has finally surfaced : Richo A Staff Reporter Itanagar, June 27
After reports came out that BJP national president Amit Shah had sent a message to Chief Minister Kalikho Pul regarding the merger of his team in the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) with the BJP, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) claimed that the hidden agenda
of the BJP has finally surfaced. However, BJP state unit president Tapir Gao, who had conveyed the message to Pul, denied of setting a deadline for the merger. The APCC claimed that the BJP has threatened that President’s Rule would be imposed in the state again to destabilize the present PPA Government if the PPA Government does not merge
with the BJP. The Congress frontal wing also alleged that after the change of guard in the state, Tapir Gao and leader of BJP Tamiyo Taga stated that they were part of the political crisis and involved in toppling the Congress Government in the state a few months earlier. “Appointing a governor with RSS background and using the Raj Bhawan as BJP
headquarter is known to everyone”, said APCC president Padi Richo, and reiterated his claim that the BJP had directed the governor to pre-pone the Assembly session on 16 December, 2015, instead of the session summoned by the state government for January 14, 2016.
The arrest of three sulfa's for carrying an extortion racket along Assam- Arunachal border has come as a relief to thousands of businessman, tea garden owners and small tea growers in Tinsukia district, particularly, Doomdooma to Bordumsa belt. The Eastern Today was one of the only handful of newspapers who broke the news of arrest of 3 fake ulfa by a joint team of army and Tinsukia police well ahead of other newspapers in the June 27 edition. Special sources confirmed ET that the group of sulfa was using the name of wanted ulfa cadre Pabitra Moran to carry on its extortion activities and in a few cases were successful by collection several lakhs of rupees, particularly, from small tea growers. Speaking exclusively to this correspondent, commanding officer of 7 Madras Regiment of Indian army Colonel Avinish Singh said, following several reports of extortion calls in this area we launched a secret
operation almost 3 weeks back. We pressed our sources, collected CCTV footage and all other possible clues and finally got them identified by one of the victim, he added. Col Singh said, based on their identification a joint team of army, Tinsukia police and CRPF launched search operation in the areas of Bordumsa and Philobari. Search operation resulted in apprehension of suspected ULFA(I) cadre Diphul Medhi. Col Singh added, during further interrogation of individual led to apprehension of two more suspected ULFA cadres namely Dhahya Saikia and Raju Moran, the trio turned out to be surrendered Ulfa cadres i.e., sulfa. On interrogation late night on Sunday, they confessed to be involved in extortion activities using the name of wanted Ulfa cadre Pabitra Asom and owned up illegal possession of weapon. Search of house of Diphul Medhi at Bokapathar resulted in recovery of one 7.65 mm
Bikul Bikash Gogoi Naharkatia, June 27
The Central government’s move to lease out 12 oil fields of Assam to private investors has resulted in angry protests by various organisations across the state. It might be mentioned that union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan had recently stated in Guwahati that exploiting these small fields required micro-level management and specific technologies, making it unattractive for the two public
Ogranisations during the protest in Duliajan. Pic - Surajit Gogoi
ET Correspondent Jorhat, June 27
sector oil giants to invest in them. Hence, these fields have been lying unexploited over the years. These 12 fields in Assam have been clubbed into eight clusters and global bids would be invited to select players to exploit them, he had stated. Starting this July 15, the Centre will start the global bidding process for 67 discovered small oil and gas fields across the country which has been lying undeveloped for many years,
Health and Family Welfare department, government of Assam through a notification today suspended three doctors for not joining their duty at Sri Sri Pitambor Dev Goswami Civil Hospital at Goromur in Majuli . As per posting order issued on June 13th 2016 by the department of Health, government of Assam, informed Dr. Udayan Saikia, Joint Director Health and Family Welfare I/c, Jorhat here today.
Contd. on Page 4
The doctors were Dr. Ajit
Baruah-MD, Dr, Achit BaruahDGO, and Dr. Tridip Buragohain, Anathesist as all three were reported to have attended their duty on June 20 and June 21, when the Assam Health Minister and Assam Chief Minister were present in Majuli. Meanwhile it was found that after Chief Minister and Health Minister left Majuli the newly posted doctors managed to remain away from duty since then, following which department decided to suspend the three doctors until further order. On the other hand Dr.
Lionel Messi and Argentina: Will his latest international low really be the end? “The 29-year-old has said he will quit the international game after another final defeat, but there is still time for a glorious ending and to emulate Diego Maradona” Agencies New Jersey, June 27
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Sources informed ET that this group was active ever since hard core Ulfa cadre Mekuri was gunned down during an encounter few weeks back. These sulfa had letter pads given by Mekuri which they used for extortion, added sources and said, fourth member of the group has been identified as Dharmen Moran of Ratanipathar who is absconding and hunt to nab him is on. It is important to mention here that at regular times some people with criminal bent and surrendered ulfa takes opportunity to extort money from businessmen here in Tinsukia district in the name of Ulfa. It is the alertness of both, Tinsukia police and army, who have ensured that such people are nabbed before the situation is worsened. In many cases, security forces has arrested such people well before they could collect a single rupee against their extortion calls.
Contd. on Page 3
fields to private players in Duliajan
No use off 3.65 crore building due to mere lack of approach
Boginadi Model Hospital of Lakhimpur District has turned to be a white elephant due to non-prudential behaviour of National Health Mission. Though the large building of
pistol, 5 live rounds of 7.65 mm pistol, one magazine and two mobile phones, Col Singh said.
3 docs suspends Angry protest over handing of oil from Majuli hospital
Boginadi Model Hospital turns to be white elephant
Ranjit Kakoty Lakhimpur; June 27
PAGE 10
the said hospital was built investing an amount of Rs. 3.65 crore. it has come to no use for the betterment of the patient and the other people of the local area as well as the district. Contd. on Page 3
The vast majority of lives, in football and elsewhere, end in failure. The poignant farewell, the reminder of the transitory nature of the gloria mundi, is familiar parts of the narrative. But still, there would be something desperately sad, desperately unfulfilling, and desperately banal, if Lionel Messi’s international career were to end with a penalty blazed over the bar in East Rutherford. The MetLife Stadium in
New Jersey may be excellently appointed, but it is not one of football’s great arenas. The Copa América Centenario may have proved more engaging than many imagined, but it is not one of football’s great tournaments – it is not even, Conmebol decided last week, a Copa América. This was not a place for Lionel to say goodbye. After Sunday’s Copa América final defeat to Chile, he sounded adamant. “My thinking right now and thinking about it in the
dressing room, I’m done playing with the national team,” he said, face solemn, barely able to meet the eye of the journalists who surrounded him. “I tried my hardest, it’s been four finals but I was not able to win. I tried everything possible. It’s hurts me more than anyone but it is evident that this is not for me.” That echoed what he had said before the game, when he had reflected glumly on three lost finals and spoke about changing history. Lionel Messi
Contd. on Page 4
Syaeda Khatun from the department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Subrajit Das-Surgery were also away from duty since 21st but they too remain for the day for the celebration of the International Yoga Day but till date they are yet to join duty, as they are absent under medical ground, informed sources here. Meanwhile Dr. Bikramjit Baruah from the depth of ENT and Dr. Dipankar Gogoi from dept of Ophthalmology were kept stand by and currently they are attached on duty at Jorhat Medical College Hospital, inform official sources here.
Central Assam Bandh affects normal life ET Correspondent Morigaon, June 27
Normal life was paralyzed in Morigaon and Nagaon districts today due to 24 hours central Assam Bandh called by local units of All Assam Students Union (AASU), All Tiwa Students Union, and AJYCP and Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti from 5 am today protesting the Assam Government decision to establish the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) at Changsari and demanding the establishment of AIIMS at Raha in central Assam. All shops and business establishment remained closed while vehicle stayed off the roads. The National Highway No 37 was blocked by the protesters at Raha, Phulaguri and Kathiatoli. Hundreds of protesters were arrested at Raha. Government offices were opened but attendance was not satisfactory at Morigaon.
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Employee Commits Suicide
5.00
PHOOLKA SNUBS PUNJAB MINISTER'S CLAIM OF ONLY ONE PERCENT YOUTH BEING DRUG ADDICTS
Page - 11 ET CAPSULES
Price -
DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, JUNE 28
PAGE 2 ASTRO FOR YOU Aries You may be alone, but not necessarily lonely. You may want to listen to your inner voice, and express your true self creatively. Spend the evening with a loved one who can hear the music in your silence too. Taurus Fortune favours the brave and you will wake up feeling gutsy. Your performance will peak today and you will reap the benefits of real estate and construction business. Your peers and boss will extend all the support you need. All in all, a day to bask in the glory of advantages and awards. Gemini You need to pay more attention to yourself today. Your kind and generous nature means you often think about others rather than about yourself. Now is the time to pay attention to your own needs. You need to spend more time with your family and friends as well. Cancer You should watch your back today. However, he wants to make it clear that you may be at the receiving end of others' actions. Anyway, your cautious and watchful approach will save you from needless discomfiture. In short, life will teach you priceless and precious lessons today. Leo You will be in a light-hearted mood today. Be it at the office or at the home, you will be full of joy and will be looking to pass your time leisurely. You will spend time with family and friends. You will be unable to implement your plans for tackling work today in your current mood. Virgo You are quick-witted, sharp and artistic to the core. so you may go ahead and enrapture people with your special abilities, perhaps at a social gathering. However, it would be better if you could conserve some of that enthusiasm in order to focus your attention on issues of greater importance. Libra you will be able to show your love and appreciation for your beloved. Small issues will crop up and keep you tensed and uncomfortable today. Just remember good days and old memories and life will seem good again. It is essential to have confidence in yourself if you want to go ahead in life and be happy. Scorpio Cultivate healthy eating habits and exercise regularly to stay away from disorders like obesity. Irregular eating habits and unhealthy lifestyle may lead to many other troubles. Eat healthy, stay happy. Sagittarius You may have been experiencing hair loss in the past due to back-breaking stress, but things will begin to clean up today. As complex issues begin to fall in place, you are likely to receive some good news about a promotion or increment. At the end of the day, you will feel content in your comfort zone in the company of near and dear ones. Capricorn You comparatively less experienced than others in the office, but the boss will choose you with a hope to get the company out of the existing troubles. Trusting your intelligence, skills, and potential, you will assigned some crucial matters. It is a great deal to live up to such high expectations, but you will be able to do so and win the hearts of many. Personally, you will express your deep emotions to your sweetheart. Aquarius You will be on a spending spree today. But, make sure that your desire to enjoy life doesn't burn a hole in your pocket. Watch your words and steps, as people are observing your every move. You have put all of your eggs in one basket, so make sure that you don't mess up and lose everything that you have.
ATTSA protest against illegal timber business in Dibrugarh A Staff Reporter Dibrugarh, Jun 27: Hundreds of Adivasis people under the banner of Assam Tea tribe Students’ Association (ATTSA) today hit the street here over the death of Balram Sabachi(22) year old tea garden worker who was killed by alleged timber mafia on Saturday night. Sources said that the victim's legs were tied by ropes behind a timberloaded truck (AS-06- 6649) and was mercilessly dragged for almost 5 km on the rough gravel road all the way from Greenwood tea estate upto Maijan ghat
along the Brahmaputra at around 8.30 pm. People in the Maijan area who witnessed the sight gave chase to the speeding truck forcing the driver to stop. The agitated crowd dragged out the driver and the two helpers from the truck and beat them. The driver who was later identified as Bijoy Dutta however managed to fled away from the scene taking the advantage of the darkness. The two helpers who were identified as Kaliram Gogoi and Jitul Baruah were rescued by the police from the clutch of the mob was admitted to the
Golaghat DC Reviews Price Rise Situation ET Correspondent Golaghat, June 27: Following the strict instructions of Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal to control price rise situation the Deputy Commissioner of Golaghat Varnali Deka today visited many shops in the town and reviewed the situation. The DC along with other officials of Golaghat district
administration inspected various shops and monitored price lists and available stocks of essential commodities and ordered to maintain fair price list in proper manner for the convenience of consumers. Also the Deputy Commissioner assured to take action if any shopkeeper is found violating rules and regulations.
Assam Medical College and Hospital in extremely critical condition. The agitated people set the truck on fire. Today, the body of the truck driver Bijoy Dutta was found floating in a water body at Maijan. It is suspected that he fell into the deep waters and died while trying to escape the mob. According to locals the people in the area have been raising voice against the timber mafia from time to time who use the route to transport truckloads of timber. According to sources, there are several illegal saw
A Staff Reporter Guwahati, June 27: Emphasizing on preventive healthcare initiatives for the media persons a special program titled ‘Evening with a Doctor’ is mooted at the premises of Guwahati Press Club. Under this program a practicing doctor will be available for free consultations on healthcare issues for the benefit of GPC member-journalists along
with their close relatives. The doctor, representing any government or private hospital, will arrive at press club on every Saturday by 5 pm and continue the consultations till 8 pm. A number of city based hospitals has already agreed to support the initiative of the press club providing their qualified physicians of dif-
ET Correspondent Jorhat, June 27: Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi heavily flayed the Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s decision over dissolving of School Management bodies as the new government had issued guidelines where management is most committees will be headed by graduates, said Tarun Gogoi while interacting with the newsmen at Titabor here today. Gogoi said Union HRD minister Smitri Irani, who herself is not the graduate, how come such a system could be forced to make possible when the Union Minister is under graduate.
Phone No.-03732325456 E-mail -dibrugarh@air.org.in Facebook Page-All India Radio Dibrugarh Programme Highlights
Nurses at the Golaghat Kushal Konwar Civil Hospital organised a sit-in in protest of ill-treatment being meted out to on duty nursing staff. Pic - Amit Nagori
Meanwhile, the All Assam Tea Tribe Students' Asso-
ferent departments to the program on a regular interval. The program, scheduled to start by next month, is also expected to help the interested scribes to understand various aspects of healthcare in a better way that would finally encourage them to cover the vital issue with more authenticities, said a GPC statement.
Conflict between two drug addict Ex-CM Tarun Gogoi flays over new groups in Sivasagar, Police nab Assam School management policy the group members
PRASAR BHARATI (India's Public Service Broadcaster) ALL INDIA RADIO : DIBRUGARH (M.W.529.1m/KHz567 F.M. 101.30 MHz)
5-35 A.M-Bhaktigeeti (Devotional Songs) 6-10 A.M-Swasthya Charcha (Health Programme) 6-15 A.M-Classical Music 7-15 A.M-Aajir Dinto (Morning Information Service) 7-30 A.M-Geetanjali (Assamese Modern Song) 8-35 A.M-Surar Panchoi 9-05 A.M-Antara 12-30 P.M-Gharjeuti 2-30 P.M-Dopahar Samachar 3-45 P.M-Programme in Miju Mishmi 4-05 P.M-Programme in Khamti 4-25 P.M-Programme in Wancho 5-00 P.M-Programme in Idu 5-20 P.M-Programme in Tangsa 5-40 P.M-Programme in Nocte 6-15 P.M-Ganya Raijor Anushthan 7-15 P.M-Yuvavani 8-00 P.M-Gyanmalini (Sponsored Programme of D.D.E.,Dibrugarh University) 8-30 P.M-Jnan Bijnan 9-16 P.M-Barerahaniya 9-30 P.M- National Programme of Play (Regional Version) Sd-/H.O.P
Sources said that the timber mafia’s pay haftas regularly to the forest personnel and opening running the business without fear.
ciation has sought a compensation amount of Rs 20 lakh for the deceased family. They also demanded strict action against the illegal timber business in the district. “There are altogether 20 illegal timber business operating in the Rohmoria Maijan area. After knowing everything the forest department doesn’t take necessary action to stop such mills. Therefore, we demand to take necessary action to stop such illegal timber business operating in the area,’’ said Lakhindar Kurmi, Publicity secretary of ATTSA.
‘Evening with a Doctor’ program mooted
Pisces Take one cautious step at a time today. You will discuss intimate matters at home and official matters at work but be careful about whom you trust and deception from someone close might lead to worry and stress in the future. Even though you are an emotional person, lay onus on working with your head over your heart today as people might try to take advantage of your nature and step on your shoulder.
28-6-16 (TUESDAY)
mills along the Brahmaputra in the nearby Rohmoria and Nagaghuli area. Even after the Supreme Court's ban on tree felling on December 12, 1996, plywood, veneer and saw mills have not shut down completely in the state while illegal tree felling is said to be rampant in many areas.
Utpal Sharma Sivasagar, June 27: Conflict between the members of two drug addicted groups in the midst of Sivasagar town on Monday right in front of the police was enough to narrate the ugly truth of how the menace is spreading the dreadful wings of the death in the state. Drugs is a burning issue of the hour which has not only taken many of the young generation into its grip but
creating a threat to the future of our society too. The conflict of the drug addicted youth right in the middle of the town was thus a worried issue. However Police reacted in right time and took the notorious youth into custody. Later speaking before the media, Officials of Sivasagar District Police administration described that the whole occurrence
was nothing but a street play only as a part of the awareness mission of Sivasagar district administration against Drugs. The members of Golden Jubilee NGO came forward joining hands with the initiative of Sivasagar police by taking part in the street play. Obviously the effort of Sivasagar police against the dreadful Issue of Drugs was praiseworthy and the people of the town appreciated it.
“There may be a good political leader, good sports person, a prominent social worker or a journalist but not graduate, will their caliber be compared with a “graduate”. Why will he or she will not be allowed to contest election or others, I think it is not fair and I seriously protest over the new system in the school management body which will be worst then before”, Gogoi added. Regarding establishment of AIIMS at Central Assam is most important while Sangsari is not the centre for
the people of North East, if it is establish at Raha then the entire region will be benefitted including Arunachal, Upper Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and even Mizoram, Gogoi said. The former Chief Minister criticized the NDA government at the centre over the plan to lease 12 oilfields of the state to private parties along with 55 other such small oil fields across the country, which will be great set back in long run that has been put up for greedy people under “Discovered Small Fields Bid Round-2016, said Tarun Gogoi during his party meeting held at Madhopur in Titabor sub-division. Gogoi further added definitely our youths and other side lines profits will be missed along with the scope in the OIL sector if private parties rule the roost. Meanwhile, All Assam Tai Ahom Students Union has called 12 hour Assam Bandh on June 28 over the process to lease out 12 oilfield to private parties while several other organization like AASU, AJYCP, along with 12 other organization taking up protest program against handing over oilfields to private parties.
Managing director of Margherita Journalist's Association submits a private company memo to Assam CM arrested in Jorhat ET Correspondent Jorhat, June 27: Malavya Borpujari, the managing director of Amar Astha Pvt Ltd (a multi facet company) who was suspected drown and missing at Neematighat on April 11, 2016 and appeared like a second coming to this earth after 78 days in exile, as he surrendered at the Jorhat Sadar Police station and carrying a phenyl bottle in his hand said I wanted to die but could not, but I will commit suicide, said Malavya who surrendered and was later arrested and booked under section 406/420 of the IPC under case number 813/16 here today.
Malavya who was carrying a phenyl bottle said that his employees and agents looted all the money that was collected from various sources that his company deals with like deposit and loan, pharmaceuticals including food materials retail outlet. It was the pressure from the police to his family to surrender as the company transit nearly a crore of rupees which is suspected to be missing for which Malavya who is the managing director of Ms Amar Astha Pvt Ltd, corporate office located at MG Road, Jorhat, said police. His private Maruti car
was found abandon at Neematighat on April 11th 2016 following which a suspected drown and missing case was reported by his family at the Neemati Police station, police even seized the abandon Maruti car. Police even raided Amar Astha corporate office several times but was forced to keep mum as the case was suspective and clueless, said police here today. Malavya who was arrested was produced before the court today and was further taken for five days in police custody for more investigation, informed police.
ET Correspondent Margherita, Jun 27: Margherita Journalist's Association today submitted a memorandum to Honourable Chief Minister of Assam and Honourable Health Minister of Assam through the Margherita Sub Divisional officer (Civil) regarding to Provide Better treatment to Journalist Diganta Chetia who was seriously attacked by miscreants at Ledo Region under Tinsukia District on 6 July 2011. Diganta Chetia was a Correspondent of than a local Assamese news channel and associated with many local newspaper attacked when Diganta Chetia went to Cover a news at Ledo
on 6 July 2011. Till now three operations were held at Heart, Neck and Head of Diganta Chetia where Rs 12 lakhs total cost of expenditure were Bear by Pranab Chetia Father of Diganta Chetia and his admirers by selling Plot of Land also. The members of Margherita Journalist's Association request to Honourable Chief Minister of Assam and Honourable Health Minister of Assam to provide better health treatment to Journalist Diganta Chetia for his recovery which would be a great relief for the family members of Chetia and the entire Media fraternity of Margherita.
DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, JUNE 28
PAGE 3
Centre assures Arunachal of Textile Park A Staff Reporter Itanagar, June 27: New Delhi: Union Minister of Textile, Santosh Kumar Gangwar has assured to sanction for establishment of Textile Park in Arunachal Pradesh when the State Deputy Chief Minister, Kameng Dolo called on him here today at Udyog Bhawan. Union Minister, Gangwar said that the state government would be informed as and when this proposal would be cleared by the ministry, while advising the state government to submit Detail Project Report (DPR) at earliest. When he was invited to visit the state, he informed the visiting minister that he would be visiting the Arunachal Pradesh next month to inaugurate the Garment Manufacturing unit at Pasighat under East Siang district. He further disclosed that during his visit to state in next month, he would be attending the Fair & Exhibition programme on Textile and Handicrafts as Chief Guest, where he is expected to announce many developmental packages for Arunachal
Pradesh in the textile and handloom sectors. During the meeting, the Deputy Chief Minister, Kameng Dolo, who is also Minister of Textile and Handicrafts expressed his desire to establish Weaver Service Centre in State Capital of Arunachal Pradesh. He said, at present the Weaver Service Centre, located at Guwahati is providing services to Arunachal Pradesh, which is located at 400 KM away from
the state. Justifying his demands, the State Deputy Chief Minister, Dolo said due to absence of this Centre, our poor weavers are deprived from the hands on training and other facilities provided by the Centre, whereas his neighboring states like Assam, Manipur and Nagaland are having the establishment of Weavers Service Centre in their respective states. Deputy Chief Minister in-
formed the Union Minister that permission for single brand under "Make in India" programme has been obtained from the IKEA, a Sweden based company for Bamboo products. His technical advisor, Pratap Goswami is working on this project. A visibly happy, Dolo exuded hope that the youths would be provided with works once it set up in the state. "Arunachal Pradesh is a Zero based industry state in entire
country", Dolo claimed while maintaining that without the central government's financial assistance, the state government won't be able to meet the people's demands and needs. Drawing the attention of Union Minister towards several pending proposals lying with the Textile Ministry, Dolo pleaded the Centre Government to clear all pending proposals at earliest possible time so as it would help the State Government for creation of job avenues for the people of the state. Responding to Deputy Chief Minister's request, Union Minister, Gangwar informed that the ministry would release the second installment under North Eastern Textile Promotion Schemes shortly after observing all required formalities. " The proposal for Textile Tourism at Poma near State Capital would also be cleared, Union Minister of Textile, Gangwar assured while adding that demands put forth by the state government are genuine and justified.
Nabam Welfare Society calls on HCM A Staff Reporter Itanagar, June 27 : Nabam Welfare Society (NWS) called on Chief Minister Kalikho Pul and urged the state government to give due recognition to Nabam Rungkhi, the man behind to have proposed Itanagar as the state capital. The society appreciated the Chief Minister for felicitating Rungkhi on an earlier occasion for making his contribution known through out
the state. The state government had given a new Bolero Vehicle in recognition of his contribution towards making Itanagar as the state capital. Pul had contributed his two months salary of Rs 2 lakhs for pol item and maintenance of the vehicle. Also Rungkhi was given accommodation in a government bungalow for his stay at Itanagar. Chief Minister Pul hailed
Rungkhi as "visionary" man, who could visualise the benefit of having capital city in present day location, that came as a boon for people in uplifting their socio-economic condition and living standard. "The modern facilities we enjoy today of having a state capital is all contribution of Mr Rungkhi. Had he not convinced the then Governor of NEFA, who knows our capital would have been still op-
erating from Shillong," said the Chief Minister. He said that people from other places like Basar, Pasighat and Tezu were reluctant to part with their land, and it is when Mr Rungkhi grabbed the opportunity. "Though uneducated on academic terms, he was aware enough to understand the importance of having a state capital," said Pul and observed that
"people are still reluctant to part with their land to make way for development." The Chief Minister promised to give life time remuneration for Rungkhi with land allotment in the capital city in the location where he has been given government accommodation. He also promised to have a cabinet approval for awarding gold medal to Rungkhi.
Dibang Valley sex ratio 1000 : 889 lowest in the entire country – CDPO 'Women Empowerment Day’ observed at BRMC
Bishnu Rana Tezu, June 27: Articulating the very essence of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ on the Women Empowerment Day of Brahmakumaris Rajyoga Meditation Centre (BRMC) here on June 24 last marked to commemorate death anniversary of Mamma Day also known for Jagadamba Swaraswati, Sujan Chai CDPO exhorted everyone to virtually dissuade from gender bias and infanticide (killing of girl child in the womb). The CDPO in brief explained the basic objective of the BBBP highlighting the poor sex ratio in 100 districts of India and depressing sex ratio in Dibang Valley where there is 889 female in 1000 male which is lowest in India. Low birth rate and high suicide rate prevailing is the prime cause as quoted by her. She also advised the mother to immunized 0-6 catego-
ries of child and maintained proper nutrition to get rid of dreaded diseases. BK Jayanti in – charge BRMC spoke about the spiritual power of woman which is desperately required to mould and nurture the children personality, “Spirituality make known to lots of hidden power of woman which can be explore through proper meditation. To make your child a complete human, meditation plays a key role to build them”, she said. Rina Singh Captain NCC girl also briefed about the fitness and cleanliness of girl. She advised the girls to give preference to cleanliness for both physical and mental health. Elaborating the legal aspects of women, Sibali Yun GS AMWWA said if any sort of domestic violence, the women should report to police for justice or inform
the member of AMWWS to defuse the issue if arise. Other speaker Asha Chaudhery JT Tamlanagar Govt. Sec School said that female are earlier termed as Abala however it called as Sabla due to its maximum participation in all aspects competing with male counterpart. She said Female has left no stone unturned in any front and has done better then male. The programme was organized by BRMC Tezu sponsored by ICDS Lohit district which was held on 24th June at BRMC premises. Overall 100 of adolescence girls, Gramsavikas, Supervisor from ICDS, ASHA workers, Doctor, other members from All Mishmi Women Welfare Association (AMWWA) and other women from BRMC also participated to mark the ‘Women Empowerment Day’.
DFP doing an excellent job in creating awareness Three-day training on about Schemes in remote areas - T Taku Fruit Processing concludes
ET Bureau Seppa, June 27 : As a part of ongoing "Special Outreach Programme" being organized during last two months by Directorate of Filed Publicity, Arunachal Pradesh Region, the Seppa Unit of DFP organized an awareness campaign on various centrally sponsored schemes of the NDA government at Mebua Village near Seppa in East Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh.on 24/6/ 2016 Shri T. Taku, Hon'ble MLA cum Parliamentary Secretary Power attended the function as the Chief Guest. In his address he informed the villagers that the present Chief Minister of the State, Shri K. Pul has stressed on the Health Sector and efforts are going on to post sufficient doctors and nurses in all CHCs & PHCs and also in improving roads and supply of electricity. He also appreciated the activities being carried out by DFP in creating awareness about various flagship programmes of the government in every nook and corner of the State. Various resource persons from different implementing agencies of centrally sponsored schemes took part and elaborately explained to villagers
Rally during SOP at Seppa about the benefits of those schemes. The Agri. Development Officer, Seppa while speaking as a resource person stated that "No culture without agriculture" and that their department is working for all round development of agriculture. In the state but still, Arunachal Pradesh is lagging behind in bringing out green revolution like other states of the country due to some geographical conditions. He also requested the villagers to inculcate the practice of water harvesting as they have to depend on rain which is not dependable and urged the villagers to
use power tillers which are being supplied by the agriculture department at subsidized rates. Similarly resource persons from various departments like Urban Development, Rural Development, Health, Public Health Engineering and Women & Child Development spoke on various centrally sponsored schemes implementing by them. In spite of inclement weather conditions a large number of villagers, teachers, students and NGOs attended the awareness campaign organized by the Unit. Theme based quiz competitions were organized
by DFP and colorful cultural programmes by local artistes of the village were the highlights of the day long programme. Attractive prizes from DFP were given away to the winners of quiz competition by the Chief Guest. He also distributed a good number of mosquito nets among Gaon Burhas which were supplied by Malaria Department of the district and also umbrellas from Hon'ble MLA's side. Earlier, Shri Rama Kamsa, FPO, Seppa explained about aim of organizing the awareness programme.
Boginadi Model Hospital turns to be white elephant Contd. from Page 1 It is due to mere lack of the approaching entrance to the building which appears to be a matter of disgrace and public grievances. It is worth mentioning that the foundation stone of the Hospital was laid on January 11 in 2011 by Himanta Biswa Sarrmah, the then Health Minister of Congress government of the State, at a place almost opposite of the Boginadi Health Center. The construction of the hospital Building completed two years ago and a major part of the office staff was appointed. Yet the matter of disappointment is that the Hospital has not been dedicated for the service of the suffering people within this long period of two years. It is
because the approaching entrance was not designed and constructed so that the people and the ambulance enter to the building easily though the Hospital Building was established just by the NH 15. The main door of the building was constructed facing towards the West direction on the contrary to the NH 15 runs east and west on North direction. On the other hand, a retired teacher named Sreedam Kumar Chanda along with his family has been living on West direction on a plot having Myadi Patta. In such circumstances, only two feet wide space is their for the approaching entrance between the boundary of the residential plot of the retired teacher and the Hospital building. Only
this two feet wide space was left for the entrance to enter from the NH-15 on the North to go to the main door on the West. It is alleged that the Sreedam Kumar Chanda has not give up a part of his land for the sufficient approaching entrance and that is why the Hospital can not be inaugurated. With regard to this, while interviewed, the retired teacher informed that the concerned department made no negotiation with him before the building was constructed on giving up land for the entrance. "Though the contractor called on me on this subject about eight months ago, he told me nothing on how I would be benefited for sacrificing my land", he said. It is to be noted that the
drawing of the building could be changed earlier in case while the present model allows no sufficient entrance to the building on the west. On the other hand, enough space was left on the east of the building. In such circumstances, the conscious citizens have questioned why the Hospital building was constructed in such an irresponsible manner and who is liable for this nonprudence of the concerned department. It is worth mentioning that the appointed staffs are rendering their service in other Medical Institutions of the District. They appealed the intervention of the Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmah and an enquiry to the issue.
A Staff Reporter Itanagar, June 27: A 3Days workshop on fruit processing, organized by the Muskan Welfare Society (MWS), a voluntary ladies organisation, based in Raj Bhavan, Itanagar concluded on 27th June 2016. Sixteen trainees, who completed the three-day course received the certificates, which was handed over by Secretary Horticulture, Shri. Gamli Padu and Joint Director Horticulture Shri Kamo Ado in a simple function held in the premises of the Fruit Processing Center, Raj Bhavan Complex, Itanagar. While congratulating the trainees and appreciating the efforts put forward by the resource person Shri. Gojen Kalita, and Muskan Welfare Society, the Secretary Horticulture advised the trainees to practice what they have learned here and also to tell others about the unit so that more participation is generated. Local unemployed youths can make use of this and become entrepreneurs. Joint Director, Horticulture in his speech advised the trainees to be very meticulous with the process when making a processed product. Mrs. Olen Megu Darin a trainee while sharing her experience, expressed pleasure on the initiative under-
taken by Muskan. She added that such training program will really encourage entrepreneurship amongst the youth and older generation. Mrs. H.P.Oka, a young entrepreneur of M/s Spice Ziro added that through the training she could hone her skill furthermore and that she would try to include the things taught here in her products thereafter. Ms. Onam Nayam, from Women Helpline (WHL), Oju Welfare Association (OWA) added that Knowledge is only spread by sharing and that she and the fellow trainees from WHL will impart knowledge learned here to the victims of Domestic Violence, Child mar-
riage, Child Traffic and orphans at Oju Mission as per feasibility. The trainees expressed their gratefulness to the Muskan Welfare Society and expressed hope that the Society, led by the First Lady of the State will bring out innovative ideas for financial ans socio economic empowerment of women through micro, mini and small enterprises. Senior member of MWS, Mrs. Tumken Angu, who also spoke on the occasion exhorted the trainees to utilize the techniques and methods they have learned and share it with their friends and neighbours. While announcing the opening of the Center from 28th
June onwards, Muskan Secretary Ar. Kobby Zirdo Bagra apprised the gathering that the Center will cater to public on weekdays Monday to Saturday, from 9:30 am to 3 pm. As the unit has to sustain itself, minimal charges will be levied on the products and services in terms of Weights of the finished product, quantity of preservatives used and the packing materials used. On the part of public, they have to bring the raw materials for preparation and bottles or containers if they desire and attendants at the centre will thereafter guide them. The Governor of Arunachal Pradesh Shri JP Rajkhowa inaugurated the Center on 25th June 2016.
Hidden agenda of BJP to snatch power has finally surfaced : Richo Contd. from Page 1
Richo said that after formation of the PPA Government in the state, the BJP is now indulging in applying pressure tactics on the PPA Government to merge with the BJP. “BJP has the habit of forming government
with back door entry by destabilizing the popular government of other parties using the Raj Bhawan, like it did in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and the other attempts made in many other states”, he added. Richo also stated that the disqualification of 14
MLAs, who had allegedly defected from the Congress, is also in the Guwahati High Court, and will come out with a verdict soon, and if the Supreme Court also decides against the Governor’s order of 9th December, 2015, then the Tuki Government will resume its position.
‘After forming BJP Government, they will try to make “Mukt Congress – Mukt Minority” in our state. The PPA should not succumb to pressure and tactics of the BJP party and keep their own identity and dignity as the lone regional party in the state’, said Richo.
DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, JUNE 28
PAGE 4 Sarudaiya Japi of Assam included in the Guinness Book of World Record Dalim Phukan Morigaon, June 27: The Sarudaiya Japi, an Assamese traditional umbrella created by bamboo, cane etc. was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Record at long last. The noted artist of Morigaon district, Subhas Medhi, who built a huge traditional japi at Bhurbandha field completed his works on October 25,2014 after long three years. The then Minister of Assam government, Basanta Das inaugurated this mega japi covering 15 bigha of land. At long last,the Authority of Guinness Book of World Records, London sent a letter to Artist Subhas Medhi informing him about inclusion of his japi in the Guinness Book. The letter was received by Medhi on June 23. The inclusion of Assamese Suradaiya Japi in Guinness Book of World Records is a major success story of an artist of Morigaon district who devoted time and energy for last 10 years to the cause. Subhas Medhi talking to newsmen said that his efforts was recognised by the world organisation and the heritage of Assamese culture was established in world forum.
Cow lifters panic looms large in Tinsukia, 5 cows and 2 goats stolen Spl Correspondent Tinsukia, June 27: Despite several cases of arrest of cow lifters and recovery of stolen cows from different parts of Tinsukia district, panic of cow lifters looms large in Tinsukia. The recent case has come to light from new development area of Tinsukia town from where five cows and two goats has been stolen on Saturday during the day time.
with police. According to one of the victim Shiv Kumar Kahar, his younger son had untied the cow in the noon. An hour later when he came back to see the cow it was missing. We checked all nearby areas for the missing cow till the evening and later came to know that three more cows and two goats are missing from the nearby houses, added sources and said they have filed a case
Foundation Day of AAHYC at Doomdooma ET Correspondent Doomdooma, June 27 : The foundation day of All Assam Hindu youth Council will be celebrated at Doomdooma Marwari Panchayati Bhawan tomorrow in collaboration with Doomdooma branch committee ." It was stated by the President of the council's central committee President Kailash Mahato . In a day long program , the Doomdooma branch President Shivchandra Bagh will hoist the flag at 10 am .The ceremonial lamp lighting programme and tributary offers will be done by the
council's Doomdooma branch committee President Rubul Chakraborty .The rituals to " Bharat Mata " will be performed by assistant Secretary Avdhesh Thakur and branch advisor Ashok Gupta . At 11 am onward a drawing competition will be held under the instructions of district advisors Ajay Singh and Rajeswar Prasad Shah . General meeting and discussions will be held in the afternoon which will be presided over by the central committee President Kailash Mahato .
It may be mentioned here that few days ago Bordumsa police had seized a Tata Sumo with two cows just ahead of new development area. They also arrested one person along with the stolen cow who hailed from Chaulkhowa area Dibrugarh district. He informed the police about two other accomplish from the same locality.
One electrocuted ET Correspondent Rangia, June 27: One Abed Ali of vill Duhibala no 2 was electrocuted and killed on the spot on Monday night when he was repairing inverter in his resident. He was 40 and survived by one daughter and wife.
Asstt Teacher passed away ET Correspondent Rangia, June 27: Dhirendra Nath Das, teacher of Bahrampur Hat Bajali Primary school passed away at GNRC North Guwahati on Monday. He was 50. He was admitted in the hospital as heart patient. He was survived by wife and two sons.
Meeting to discuss price rise issue held at Sivasagar Sorif Mohommod Sivasagar, June 27 : As per the directive of state government, a price rise meeting was held at the Sukapha hall of Deputy Commissioner's office here at Sivasagar today. Wholesale traders, retailers and Business establishment's of essential items, fruits and vegetables were present at the meeting, which was chaired by ADC Abhijit Baruah. ADC Abhijit Baruah has taken account of the prices of goods item wise and had directed the concerned to do the needful to arrest price rise . The ADC had also instructed to put up the rates of items on notice board compulsorily and these rates are to be announced on FLS by DIPRO. He also had appealed to all concerned to contain price rise in the coming flood season on account of black marketing and hoarding and instances of prices rise during natural calamity will not be tolerated.
International Day Against Drug Abuse and illicit Trafficking observed in Dhemaji
“International Day against Drugs Abuse & Illicit Trafficking” observed by BSF (HQ), Guwahati A Staff Reporter Guwahati, June 27: Border Security Force headquarters of Guwahati, in collaboration with the Zonal Office of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Guwahati and St. Claret School, Borjhar observed “International Day against Drugs Abuse & Illicit Trafficking” on 27th June 2016, at Patgaon in Guwahati. The program was inaugurated by Dr B J Lalwani, MS, DIG (Med), CH, CAPF Patgaon in the presence of officers from BSF and NCB. Besides, BSF personnel, their families and about 70 students of Std XII of St Claret School, Borjharalongwith three
teacher-in-chargesalso participated in the program. During the program, Sh Suresh Kr Singh of NCB gave very detailed presentation on – “Drugs, Their Classification and Identification”, for the benefit of the audience. He also made the children aware about the ill-effects of this menace and spread awareness amongst them to keep themselves away from this habit. The audience especially the children of St Claret School, Borjhar took active part in the interactive program and clarified several doubts regarding dugs and drugs abuse by asking very relevant questions from the faculty of NCB. The audi-
ence was also addressed by ShA K Singh, DIG/PSO, BSF, Guwahati Frontier. During the closing address, he highlighted the ill-effects of drug abuse and urged upon the parents, teachers, students and BSF personnel to refrain from use of any narcotics items, as this will not only ruin one’s personal life but also cause irreparable damage to reputation of their parents in the society and teachers. He also thanked NCB, Guwahati and authorities of St Claret School, Borjhar for making the program successful. The program was highly appreciated by the students and the teachers besides the audience from BSF.
Food Civil Supply & Consumers affairs officials decides to check price hikes ET Correspondent Kokrajhar,June 27: A high official meeting of Food Civil Supply & Consumers affairs was held at joint director office and CHD office of Food Civil Supply & Consumers affairs office premises with R o b i n s o n M u s h a h a r y, P r i n c i p a l Secretary,BTC in the chair in Kokrajhar on Monday. The meeting,which was convened by BTC Principal Secretary,discussed thoroughly on the issues of price hikes of essential commodities in the market bazars in Kokrajhar district along
with others districts of the state.The meeting was organised after Chief Minsiter Sarbananda Sonowal,directed all Deputy Commissioners of the state to despatch a report about price hikes on all essential commodities all over the state within stipulated time. Kokrajhar Deputy Commissioner, officials from concern department,Kokrajhar Municipality Board Chairman,Merchant Association members,traders were also present on the meeting and shared about checking and bringing back down of price hikes.
Mushahary said that we discussed about the price hikes on essential commodities and decided to checking programme along the markets by tomorrow. Madhav Prasad Sarma,DC Kokrajhar said that a checking programme on price hikes would be conducted tomorrow along bazaars under Swachch Bharat Abhijan initiative.We will conduct two groups of checking troup along Kokrajhar main bazar in southern part and another group will tour at several bazars along northern part town.
Seminar on anti drug abuse in remote Goria Maria Desi Jatiya Parishad demands border village of Assam -Arunachal Original Inhabitant (OI) status in NRC update
Vinod Singh Dhemaji, June 27 : Along with other part of state and world International Day Against Dru Abuse and illicit Trafficking was observed in Dhemaji district on Sunday. Addressing the rally which included people from all walk Dhemaji SP, Swapnanil Deka, appealed to the people to join hand with police and administration for eradication of drugs which is fast engulfing the youths. He further asked the people to be careful on their ward as the number of drug abuse is increasing day by day, due to our carelessness, and sav-
ing the coming generation is only possible with the helping hands of people in tracking the people involved in Trafficking drugs and selling to the youths. Along with district headquarter the day was observed in almost all the town of the district, everyone assured to eradicate drugs from society to save the generation to come. Deka assured the people that police department will maintain secrecy of those who giving information of place and peddler of drugs, along with addicts, to create congenial environment for generation to come.
ET Correspondent Mangaldai June 27 : A seminar on the occasion of international Day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking was organized by the 61stBattalion of SSB on Sunday at a interior bordering village Ankling in West Commeng district of Arunachal Pradesh , an area considered to be highly vulnerable for illegal practice of banned drugs and illicit human trafficking taking the advantage very risky surface communication and poor literacy of the local populace. More than 250 local people including teachers , school children and other citizens besides 30 SSB personnel participated the seminar. This was stated in a press release received from the
SSB Battalion here . The seminar discussed many things regarding the evil effect of drugs including how it damages the body parts of a human being, diseases like cancer caused by it and how it can be detrimental to the society. During this event a comprehensive lecture was also delivered by Om Prakash , the officiating Commandant of the battalion about the importance for observing the day". The Commandant elaborated on the financial losses a person suffered due to regular use of drugs and other intoxicated substances . Supported by a simple mathematical calculation he added "a person who spends Rs.1500/per month for purchasing drugs and similar
Lionel Messi and Argentina: Angry protest over handing Will his latest international low of oil fields to private players really be the end? in Duliajan Contd. from Page 1
It’s almost as though Messi feels he is cursed, that he is the reason this great generation, the players that won the Under-20 World Cup in 2005 and 2007 and retained Olympic gold in 2008, cannot win a senior trophy. But the sense of disappointment and disillusionment goes further than that. Javier Mascherano has also retired, while Sergio Agüero and Gonzalo Higuaín are considering their futures. Agüero missed two decent chances in the game. Higuaín wasted one, to go with the good chances he missed in last year’s Copa América final and the World Cup final the year before. Is it fair to blame the Napoli striker? Not really, but it’s
hard to not reflect that, for all the talk of Argentina’s 1986 World Cup-winners being Diego Maradona plus 10 others, Messi’s international record might look rather better if he’d had a centreforward of the calibre of Jorge Valdano to play alongside. Perhaps Messi will, in time, change his mind. He is angry at the moment with the Argentinean Football Association, calling it a “disaster” in an Instagram post last week. He subsequently promised to reveal exactly what he meant after the final. But a new president – the AFA is currently in the hands of a Fifa normalization committee as it tries to sort out a tie in last year’s presidential elections, when one more vote was cast than the number of delegates present – perhaps could tempt him back. He is only 29.
Contd. from Page 1 out of which 12 such fields have been identified in Assam which too would go under the hammer during the process. Three leading organisations of Assam, namely All Tai Ahom Students Union, All Assam Muttock Yuva Chatra Sanmilan, Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) today resorted to a massive protest outside the main office gate of Oil India Ltd in Duliajan.The protesters also burnt the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Chief Minister of Assam Sri Sarbananda Sonowal while making it clear that under no circumstances they will allow the oil fields to be handed to private players. “The issue of technology is a matter of laughter. Does the petroleum minister want to admit that his ministry is much more inferior
to the private companies? These issues are only a matter to further exploit the natural resources of Assam till the last drop, which we will never allow”, a leader of the agitating organisation said. The organisations also said that they will not allow the BJP government at the Centre to do this kind of injustice and will continue with their agitation till the government takes back its decision. It might be mentioned that the Tai Ahom Yuba Parishad, Asom (TAYPA) had called a 12-hr Assam bandh on Tuesday to protest the centre’s decision to hand over the 12 oil fields to private players. Meanwhile, the state government and the police had geared up to ensure maintenance of law and order across the state during the bandh hours. Accordingly, additional security forces have been deployed in vulnerable areas so that bandh supporters are not able to create law and order problems.
substances like liquor, tobacco, heroin, cannabis, opium etc involves a financial expenditure of more than Rs. 18000/- per annum and if such a person continues his practice for another 30 years, the total amount would be not less than Rs. 5,40,000/- and same could also been accumulated by depositing same in bank and capital amount with interest would be not less than about Rs.10,00,000/- in 30 years which will be very useful for the benefit of his family members." The seminar concluded with the oath taking by every participant to fight against drug abuse for the betterment of family, society and for country in future , the release added.
ET Correspondent Kokrajhar,June 27: The Sadou Asom Goria Maria Desi Jatiya Parishad strongly reacted over the deprivation of Original Inhabitant (OI) and early demanded inclusion into OI status in the NRC update process across the state, besides claimed that the Goria Maria was also indigenous community in the state. The Kokrajhar district unit of the Sadou Asom Goria Maria Desi Jatiya Parishad on Monday submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner, Kokrajhar Madhav Prasad Sarma seeking inclusion of Goria Maria Desi Jati into Original Inhabitant status in the state while implementing NRC update. The Gori Maria Desi community was also indigenous people of the state, but the community has been identified as Muslim through religion conversion.The community has own identity and tradition along with their own status. The NRC authority should include Goria Maria Desi community into OI status and held healthy integra-
tion in the state, the memorandum read. Leaders from parishad strongly reacted the OI status provided during NRC update termed that the OI status distribution was a divisive policy while update NRC in the state by classifying OI and some other status among communities. They demanded govt should initiate to allot OI status to the Coria Maria Desi community and implement the NRC update as soon as possible. Sheik Selim Patgiri,president of the parishad said, ‘Deprived of OI status in the
NRC update was unfortunate and condemnable for the society. We are indigenous peoples of the state, but community has yet to be included into OI status’. He has demanded Goria Maria community should be included into OI status and make a healthy integration. The leader of the parishad demanded the NRC authority should give detail definition while exercising status mentions, included OI status. He also urged government and NRC authority to make free and clear step from making harassed of indigenous peoples while implementing the NRC update in the state”.
Team Sarba's first cabinet meeting decides to appoint 10,000 TET teachers, 700 doctors Contd. from Page 1
The Cabinet decided to reduce the service charges from Rs. 40 per ticket to Rs 8 per ticket for non-AC cinema halls and Rs. 12 per ticket for AC cinema halls. This would increase the proportion of proceedings of admission charges due to producers while the owners of Cinema Halls are duly compensated. The Cabinet decided to constitute “Silpi and Kalakaushali Kalyan Nidhi” for which Rs.1 to be collected from every cine-goer. This has been done to create a welfare fund for the cineartistes and technicians and increase the share of the producers. The cabinet approved
constitution of District Mineral Foundation under the Chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner with representatives from PRIs and other stake holders in each district. This foundation will be funded from fees to be paid by the mining lease holders as per Government of India norms. This fund will be used to relief and rehabilitation for those affected from mining activities. In a move to perpetuate the memory and highlight the contributions of late Achyut Lahakar concerted steps will be taken at his native village in Barpeta district. The Cabinet has also decided to preserve the house of Swahid Kushal Konwar at
Sarupathar in Golaghat District and convert it to a Heritage Building. The road leads to Swahid Kushal Konwar ’s residence will also be repaired and renovated. The Cabinet has also given its nod to develop the house of Dr. Bhupen Hazarika at Kuthari in Nagaon District as a unique and priced memorial to the cultural doyen. As a mark of respect to the contributions made by journalists, the Cabinet has decided to grant one time ex-gratia compensation of Rs. 3 lakh to the next-of-kin of 45 journalists who lost their lives in various incidents of violence in the State. The Cabinet also approved Human
Development Report 2014. The Cabinet observed that as per report 77 per cent of the people of the State are not satisfied with the governance provided to them, the new Government in the State will prepare “one hundred day action plan” focusing on good governance and ensuring extensive public participation in governance. The Cabinet also gave its nod to convene Budget Session of the Assembly from 18th July 2016 to 12th August, 2016. The Cabinet also congratulated Angaraag Mahanta (Papon) on winning the best Playback Singer (Male) Award at “IIFA 2016” and conveyed its best wishes for all his future endeavours.
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DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, JUNE 28
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300th day of JAC's movement Hill people gather to pay homage to nine slain people Imphal, Jun 27 : The Joint Action Committee Against Anti-Tribal Bills (JAC) conducted a mourning cum prayer session to mark the 300th day of the tribal movement at Churachandpur on sunday. Tribal people from Ukhrul, Chandel, Senapati, Sadar Hills and Tamenglong along with the public from Churachandpur gathered at Young Paite Association general headquarters hall, Hiangtam, which was packed beyond capacity to join their fellow tribals from across the globe in the worldwide mourning and mass prayer programme, said a statement.
State govt to finally set up Directorate of Prosecution Shillong, Jun 27: Though the State government had promised to set up the Directorate of Prosecution in the context of rise in crimes coupled with shoddy investigation, especially on matters related to crime against women, the actual operation of the Directorate has been pending for the last 8 years. As per a notification on April 15, 2008, the Meghalaya Governor had approved setting up of the Directorate of Prosecution. Later, there were differences of opinion on whether the Directorate of Prosecution should be under the Law department or the Home (Police). An official with the Law department said on Sunday that the Directorate will be set up soon under Home department. However, there is still divided opinion on the matter since the Directorate of Prosecution is under the department of Law and Justice in many other states in the country as the CrPC makes it mandatory that a person heading the Directorate of Prosecution should be from the legal background. But, official sources said now the government is planning to bring up the administration of Directorate of Prosecution under the Home department. Earlier in the first week of June, the High Court of Meghalaya had stated that "it is difficult to appreciate that when the Governor of Meghalaya had approved the setting up of the Directorate of Prosecution as way back as on April 15, 2008, as to why the same is yet to be established and why the regular cadre of prosecutors is not available". As per the plan of the government, the Directorate of Prosecution would be responsible for conducting the prosecution in all the courts in the State and would have the liberty of scrutinizing the evidence in all the cases prior to their filing in the courts. The Directorate would be headed by a director, who would be the overall supervisory authority of the prosecution in the State.(Agencies)
Several bus loads of people from across the hill districts of Manipur came to Churachandpur to take part in the programme. Tribal leaders from United Naga Council, Thadou Women Association, Naga Women Union, Chandel Naga People's Organization, Anal Naga Union, Chini Union, Chothe Tribe Union, Monsang Naga Tribe Union, Naga Student's Union, Chandel district, Lamkang Naga Kver Kumpun, Maring Uparup Assembly, Machi Area Chief/Chairman Association, Khoibu Tribe Union, Moyon Tribe Union,
The Joint Action Committee Against Anti-Tribal Bills (JAC) conducted a mourning cum prayer session to mark the 300th day of the tribal movement at Churachandpur
Tarao Tribe Union, Naga People's Movement for Human Rights, Zeliangrong Baudi, Zeliangrong Youth Front and Autonomous District Council, Tamenglong attended the mourning programme. The programme began
with the paying of homage to the nine tribal martyrs. It was followed by the keynote address from H Mangchinkhup, chief convenor of JAC. He outlined the JAC's plans for the coming days during his speech.
The other speakers included Joseph Lalrothang, president of Hmar Inpui, Lalrinliana, president of Mizo People Convention, Vahchin, president of Thadou Women Association, B Dongzalian Simte, Chairman of Zomi Council and Gaidon Kamei, President of United Naga Council. The programme ended with a mass prayer session led by Nianglian, Convenor of All Manipur Tribal Women Union wherein the gathering prayed for the continued intervention and guidance of the Almighty in the struggle for selfdetermination and justice that has completed 300
days. The programme also witnessed the dedication of the tribal movement flag to be displayed in all tribal homes as a sign of protest and mourning. Thousands of flags have been dispatched today itself to other hill districts, the statement said and added that the same would be made available in Churachandpur shortly. The JAC also expressed its sincere gratitude to the general public for their overwhelming response. It also thanked Young Paite Association for allowing the JAC to use the hall for the programme.(Agencies)
Intl Day against Drug Abuse State policy to deal drug abuse on the anvil Imphal, Jun 27: As observed elsewhere across the world, the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was held today in different parts of the State while the main function was held at GM Hall here. The function was jointly organised by Social Welfare Department, CADA and the Federation of Indian NGOs for Drug Abuse Prevention (FINGODAP). Social Welfare Minister AK Mirabai, Social Welfare Deputy Secretary S Naba, Social Welfare Joint Director Surrender A Shishak, FINGODAP national president Padmashree Dr A Jayantakumar and CADA president Advocate Y Ratan attended the observation as presidium members. Speaking on the occa-
sion, AK Mirabai stated that a State policy would be formulated to create a drug-free society in the State through collective efforts of the Government, NGOs and CSOs. Claiming that all relevant departments are prepared to extend all possible assistance, the Minister appealed to all NGOs to work sincerely towards building a drug-free, healthy society. Social Welfare Department would take the central role in formulating a State policy against drug abuse by July. Pointing out that the degree of drug abuse has been rising day by day in the State, Mirabai asserted that all relevant Government departments are keen to work in close coordination with all NGOs and CSOs to eradicate the maladies of drug abuse from the
State. She then appealed to all Meira Paibi and Nisha Bandh groups to focus their attention and energy on prevention of drug abuse. FINGODAP National president Padmashree Dr A Jayantakumar said that Manipur and Punjab are the two States of India where drug abuse is highest. Informing that Punjab Government has taken up a slew of measures to check drug abuse in the State, Jayantakumar asserted that the Government here too need to formulate an effective anti-drug policy. With even young children taking to drugs, situation of drug abuse is worse in Manipur as compared to Punjab. Although the rate of abusing illicit drugs is comparatively low, checking abuse of drugs sold in
Intl Day against Drug Abuse State policy to deal drug abuse on the anvil pharmacies remains a major problem in the State. A large number of youngsters have been addicted to drugs sold lawfully in pharmacies, Jayantakumar rued. Even though prevalence of HIV/AIDS has been declining in the State, the rate of drug abuse has been rising at an alarming pace, he added. Some former drug addicts who have successfully given up their drug habits were also felicitated on
the occasion. The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was also observed at the office of the Imphal East SP. Imphal East DC M Joy, Imphal East SP Angam Kamei, NDPS Special Court Judge Simon, SASO general secretary RK Tiken and Imphal East CJM A Nautuneshori attended the observation as presidium members. (Agencies)
Pro-ILPS protest demands fresh legislation
Pro-ILPS protest demands fresh legislation Imphal, Jun 27 : Sustaining the popular movement for enacting a legislation for protection of indigenous people of the land from incessant influx, protest demonstrations were staged today along two routes. Human chains were formed and sit-in-protests were staged between Singjamei bridge and Kongba bridge through Khongman Mangjil and between W a n g k h e i Thambalkhong and Naharup Awang Leikai Thonkhong. A team of JCILPS led by its convenor in-charge BK Moirangcha held short meetings with the protesters at the protest sites. The protesters stood in rows and shouted slogans in unison like "Enforce ILPS in Manipur", "A new Bill should be passed in place of PMP Bill", "State Government should translate all the
points it agreed with JCILPS", "We condemn declaration of Kh Ratan as a wanted man", "Declaration of Kh Ratan as a wanted man cannot suppress the popular movement" etc. Notably, the ongoing phase of the mass movement started on June 23 and it would continue till June 28. It has been already announced that similar protest demonstrations would be staged between Bamon Leikai (Basketball Ground), Khongman, Bashikhong, Singjamei Chingamakha and Liwa Lambi tomorrow. On the other hand, another protest demonstration was staged today at Wangoo Laipham Chuthek Leikai New Bazar demanding introduction of a new Bill in place of PMP Bill 2015 in the next session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly.(Agencies)
Manipur to miss newspapers for month as agency is forced shut
Meghalaya's first Padmashree awardee no more Shillong, Jun 27: Sitimon Sawian, the first Padmashree awardee from the State, passed away on Sunday following illness at her residence at Umsohsun. She was 92. Sawain, an educationist and social worker was born on February 21, 1924. She was awarded the Padmashree in 1974. She was an active member of the Seng Khasi, a socio-religious organization of the Khasis and took charge as Headmis-
tress, Seng Khasi Primary School Mawkhar, Shillong, in 1955. She then gradually raised it to the standard of Middle English school, then High School and finally to the Higher Secondary level in 1967. The school was one of the two higher secondary schools in Khasi and Jaintia Hills at that time. She relinquished the post of Principal in 1972 after she was incapacitated due to the aftereffect of anti-rabies injections.
She had served as member - Textbook Advisory Committee (Khasi), Khasi and Jaintia Hills from 1956- 61 and also as member of Syllabus Sub-committee (Khasi) under Board of Secondary Education, Assam from 1970 to 1972, member of Central Advisory Board Of Education (1967- 70) and member of Central Social Welfare Board (1976 -78). She also functioned as member of the National
Committee on the International Women's Year (1975-1976), the National Committee on the International Women's Decade and the Committee of the Working Group of the International Women's Year, Meghalaya (1976). Sawian was also a founder member, honorary secretary and treasurer of a women's welfare organization - Ka Synjuk Kynthei. She married Rev. B.M. Pugh in 1976.
She was also associated with a number of social organizations. She was the founder chairperson of the Jeebon Roy Memorial Welfare Institute, Shillong and also founder president of Indian Council for Child Welfare, Meghalaya, besides being the founder principal of Lakreh Memorial School, Umsohsun, and founder member of the North East Network. (Agencies)
Illegal charcoal trade thriving in WKH Nongstoin, Jun 27: Despite the Supreme Court order banning production and transportation of charcoal in the State, there is rampant violation of the apex court order in every nook and corner of West Khasi Hills with burning of charcoal and illegal transportation being practiced without any interference by the police or the district administration or the Forest department. It was learnt that last year transportation of charcoal was done only in the night time since the smugglers were scared of the police or the district administra-
Khasi Hills is the main cause of illegal production and transportation of charcoal. The district has only a Social Forestry division and they have no authority to apprehend the smugglers. Taking note of the illegal charcoal trade, the KSU Nongkhlaw Circle condemned the Forest department for not doing anything to check illegal burning of charcoal. Despite the Supreme Court order banning production and transportation of charcoal in the State, there is rampant violation of the apex court order in every nook tion; however, this year, the order of the Supreme charcoal is being trans- Court. ported in broad day light Sources told absence of in complete mockery of a Forest division in West
KSU circle president S. Marbaniang said the Forest department should launch a cleanup operation to get rid of illegal possession, vending and transportation of charcoal and
other forest produces. Incidentally, a driver of a charcoal truck, on the request of anonymity, alleged that some local NGO members facilitate transportation of charcoal to some companies located at Byrnihat in Ri-Bhoi. Hinting at a large scale charcoal scandal in West Khasi Hills, the driver said trucks carrying illegal charcoal change the route after reaching Mawmaram and proceeds via the M a w m a r a m Umsawkhwan avoiding the national highways to escape detection by police and others. (Agencies)
Manipur to miss newspapers for month as agency is forced shut Imphal, Jun 27: Manipur will go without newspapers and news magazines for one month beginning from Sunday as the sole agent in the state was forced to shut shop by the Kangleipak Students' Association (KSA). The agent, M/S P.C. Jain and Co., was found stocking, displaying and selling copies of the Manipur General Knowlege written by R. Gupta and published by Ramesh Publishing House, New Delhi, which was banned by the KSA activists. As a "form of punishment", the KSA said it asked the agent's shop to be shut down for one month. Some KSA activists raided the two shops, M/ s PC. Jain and Co. and its sister concern, M/s Jain Book Store, on Saturday and found several copies of the controversial book, Manipur General Knowlege. The KSA activists took out these copies to the steet and made a bonfire of them. Meanwhile, the publisher is reported to have issued an apology for the "inadvertent mistakes" contained in the book. M/s P.C. Jain and Co. is the sole agent in Manipur for all newspapers and
news magazines published in India. The company being forced to shut shop would mean the state will go without newspapers and magazines for a month. Some KSA activists said, "The distorted book is fraught with factual mistakes and hurts the religious sentiment of the people. Lai Haraoba is original religion of the Manipuris. However, the book says that it is the dance of Shiva and Durga along with other gods and goddesses." The KSA also took a strong objection to the longest serving former Chief Minister and parliament member Rishang Keishing being described in the book as a "freedom fighter". Keishing was not a freedom fighter but a politician, the association insisted. In the past, the KSA and the Manipur Students' Federation had banned some books for alleged misrepresentation of Manipur. One of the books was on the history of Manipur, which said Arjun, the great archer among Pandavas from the epic Mahabharata, came to the northeast and married a Manipuri princess. This was an unfounded story, the KSA said.(Agencies)
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
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Phoolka snubs Punjab minister's claim of only one percent youth being drug addicts Amritsar, June 27: Senior lawyer and AAP member H.S. Phoolka on Monday accused Punjab ministers of being indifferent to the ground realities of drug addiction in the state. "The problem is that these Punjab ministers are so away from ground realities. Whenever they go in public, they are always surrounded by their security guards, nobody is allowed to meet them, and so, they do not even know the truth, and neither do they want to know about it," Phoolka told. He rejected Punjab Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani's contention that only around one percent of the state's youth is drug addicts and that some vested interests are trying to malign Punjab's
image. Phoolka said: "Let me remind Mr Jyani that this is last year, a judge of the Supreme Court Justice Sikri, former High Court judge Justice Chan and five other sitting judges of the high court took out a march in Bhatinda in scorching heat in month of May to spread awareness that drug use is a rampant problem in Punjab." Phoolka further questioned Jyani about what vested interest could a Supreme Court judge have, adding that the march was an attempt to create awareness and find a solution to the problem of drug addiction. "It is a deep rooted problem and to find a solution to it and make people and the public and the gov-
Last rites of martyred CRPF inspector performed in Thiruvananthapuram
The last rites of CRPF sub-inspector G. Jayachandran Nair, who was killed in the ambush by militants in Pampore, Jammu and Kashmir
Thiruvananthapuram, June 27 : The last rites of CRPF sub-inspector G. Jayachandran Nair, who was killed in the ambush by militants in Pampore, Jammu and Kashmir, on Saturday, is being performed here today. The suspected LeT terrorists sprayed a bus carrying the personnel of 161 battalion of CRPF with bullets at Frestbal. Eight CRPF personnel, including Jayachandran Nair, were killed on the spot and 21 others critically wounded. Eight CRPF personnel were martyred and 24 injured in the major ambush by two terrorists on Saturday, who were neutralised in the encounter in Pampore.
Security personnel recovered arms and ammunition, including two AK 47 Rifles, 11 hand grenades from the killed terrorists. Saturday's attack was the fourth one on the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir this month. At least 17 security personnel were killed and several others injured in the last three major strikes along the JammuSrinagar Highway during the period. Officials say infiltration has dramatically gone up compared to the previous year with more than 50 terrorists crossing the border in the last five months. Last year, there was zero infiltration in the first four months. (ANI)
Shivpal Yadav unlikely to attend cabinet expansion ceremony Lucknow, June 27: Upset over the Samajwadi Party's about turn on the merger between the Quami Ekta Dal (QED), senior party leader Shivpal Yadav is unlikely to attend the oath-taking ceremony here on Monday. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will today expand his Cabinet in perhaps the last reshuffle of his Council of Ministers ahead of next year's assembly elections in the state. Governor Ram Naik will administer oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at the Raj Bhawan here. The Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government, which assumed office in 2012, had in the last expansion in October last year inducted five cabinet
ministers, eight ministers of state with independent charge and eight ministers of state. The Samajwadi Party had on Saturday revoked its merger with gangsterturned-politician Mukhtar Ansari's Qaumi Ekta Dal (QEM). Senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav said that Uttar Pradesh Minister Balram Yadav, who was sacked by the Chief Minister, apparently for facilitating merger will also be taken into the state Cabinet. The merger of the two parties was announced on June 21 by Samajwadi Party spokesman and senior Cabinet Minister Shipal Yadav, who is the brother of Akhilesh's father and party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. (ANI)
H.S. Phoolka ernment aware of it (the march was carried out), and now, today, Mr Jyani to say that somebody has a vested interest now Mr Giyani what vested interest the judge of the supreme court could have," said Phoolka. Phoolka further urged the Punjab Health Minister to check the long queues
outside de-addiction centres to know the ground realities. "Check the de-addiction centres, so many people are going there and in government de-addiction centres either there are locks, or no doctors or where there are doctors there are no medicines and such long queues of
UP CM Akhilesh expands his Cabinet, Balram Yadav back as minister
people. This only shows that Health Minister does not know what the truth is or he is intentionally giving wrong statements to misguide the people." Earlier on Monday, Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani claimed that a survey conducted in ten districts of Punjab revealed that only 1.8 percent of the population is addicted to drugs. "We had conducted a survey in ten districts of Punjab. It shows that 1.8
percent of the population is addicted to drugs; we didn't conduct the survey in all the 22 districts of the state," Jyani told the media in Amritsar, during a function on International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking at the Swami Vivekananda Drug Deaddiction centre. He also said that the ruling dispensation in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Punjab is committed to tackle the drug Lucknow (Uttar ably the last one before menace.(ANI) Pradesh), June 27: In the 2017 elections. what may be seen as a The Samajwadi Party "The problem is that these Punjab message to the electorate Government, which asministers are so away from ground that he has say in the sumed office in 2012, realities. Whenever they go in public, party, Uttar Pradesh had in the last expansion they are always surrounded by their Chief Minister Akhilesh in October last year inon Monday in- ducted five Cabinet Minsecurity guards, nobody is allowed to Yadav ducted three Cabinet and isters, eight Ministers of meet them, and so, they do not even two Ministers of State State with independent know the truth, and neither do they (Independent Charge) charge and eight Miniswant to know about it," ahead of next year's as- ters of State. sembly elections in the The maximum permisstate. sible strength of the minBalram Yadav, who was istry, including the axed by Akhilesh appar- minister.html"> Chief ently for facilitating the Minister, is 60 in Uttar merger, has also been in- Pradesh. ducted in the Cabinet. The Samajwadi Party had Mohammed Ziauddin earlier on Saturday revoked Rizvi, Narad Rai, its merger with gangsterRavidas Mahrotra and turned-politician Mukhtar Sharda Pratap Shukla are Ansari's Qaumi Ekta Dal the others included in the (QEM). Cabinet. The merger of the two parGovernor Ram Naik ad- ties was announced on June ministered the oath of 21 by Samajwadi Party office and secrecy to the spokesman and senior new ministers at the Raj Cabinet Minister Shipal Bhawan here. Yadav, who is the brother This is the seventh ex- of Akhilesh's father and pansion of Akhilesh's party chief Mulayam Singh government and prob- Yadav. (ANI)
Linking everything to Kashmir is " absurd, unacceptable": Venkaiah Naidu New Delhi, June 27: Asserting that Kashmir is an integral part of India, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said trying to make it a controversy time and again would not help improve bilateral ties between India and Pakistan. Naidu said there is no question of India bargaining on the issue of Kashmir. "You want to discuss, clear your doubts any number of times, one can have discussion and also clear their (Pakistan's) doubts. But trying to make it a controversy time and again is not going to help to improve the relationship," Naidu said. "Terrorism is the enemy of the mankind. It should be curbed. And then, Pakistan also sometimes laments, saying they are also becoming the victims of terrorism. You are encouraging terrorists on one hand, and then, you are lamenting about terrorism on the other hand. So, let Pakistan realize and see that such forces are crushed down in Pakistan," he added. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister said India looks forward to friendly ties with Pakistan and is taking effective steps to
achieve the same. "Pakistan is our neighbour. We are always trying to hope for better relations and we are taking every step. The Prime Minister himself went to Pakistan.he invited the Pakistan Prime Minister to come for the swearing-in-ceremony. Steps are being taken. We have again restarted the dialogue process," said Naidu. "In spite of all that, if elements in Pakistan go on doing like this training, abetting and funding terrorism, this is not going to help the situation. Pakistan should give it up once and for all," he added. Naidu, however, avoided commenting on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's alleged remark that she is "ashamed as a Muslim". "I am happy certain clergies and leaders of the Muslim community in India have condemned it and also given a call. That's a healthy trend. Every religion should come out openly and condemn these barbaric activities of terrorism," he told the media here. The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister has come under sharp criticism of the National Conference over her "ashamed of
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu bloodshed in name of Islam during Ramzan" remark. "I am unable to understand how somebody can indulge in such shameful acts of bloodshed in the name of Islam, and that too in the holy month of Ramzan when people seek forgiveness and peace," Mehbooba said after laying floral wreath on the coffins of the CRPF personnel killed in Pampore, Jammu and Kashmir, yesterday. Meanwhile, Naidu also condemned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit's remark asking to focus on the Iftaar Party that was going on in the Pakistan High Commission rather than the Pampore attack. "The comment made by the High Commissioner of Pakistan. I thought
later he will realize it, but unfortunately he has not done it. The comment that was made let us focus on party that was completely insensitive," Naidu said. The Pakistan High Commissioner earlier on Saturday shrugged off the question on the attack, asking to rather focus on the Iftaar Party that was going on in the Pakistan High Commission. "It's the month of Ramzaan, let's focus on this Iftaar party. The issue of Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed issue between India and Pakistan. It's an issue which needs to be solved. We hope we will sit and discuss on the issue and find a solution. Let's have the iftaar party and enjoy ourselves," Basit told the media. (ANI)
AAP not surprised over Punjab Govt. defending drug addict stats New Delhi, June 27 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday said when the Punjab government itself is involved in drug peddling, its claim that only one percent of the state's population was addicted to drugs, wasn't surprising. "When the ministers are themselves involved in drug trafficking. How can they accept that state is being ruined by it?" AAP leader Sanjay Singh asked. "Bikram Singh Majithia, who is a part of the ruling dispensation, is hand-inglove with the drug peddler groups. So, the drug and problems related to it are getting government's support. So, one can expect the minister to accept it as a problem," he said. Singh, who has been frequently visiting Punjab, and is pitching for the AAP in upcoming election, said the villages of Punjab clearly
AAP not surprised over Punjab Govt. defending drug addict stats highlight the havoc caused by drugs. "Today, Punjab has a serious epidemic in regards to drug menace. Punjab is now being compared to Mexico in terms of the use of drugs," he added. Noting that there is a rehabilitation centre for women in Amritsar, Singh said it
shows the seriousness of the problem. "It clearly states that the government is indulged in drug peddling and hence this is obvious that the Health Minister will give these kinds of statement.... but everybody knows the truth," he added. The reaction of the AAP
leader came after the Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jayani claimed that a survey conducted in ten districts of Punjab revealed that only 1.8 percent of the population is addicted to drugs. "We had conducted a survey in ten districts of Punjab. It shows that 1.8 percent of the population is addicted to drugs; we didn't conduct the survey in all the 22 districts of the state," Jayani told the media here. "The survey has pointed out that the addiction of drug takes place mainly because of the peer group and because of the youth who make it a way of business," he added. Last week, Vijay Sampla, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and Punjab BJP chief, had claimed that less than one per cent of the state's population were addicts. (ANI)
Trupti Desai places faith in God on Haji Ali Dargah case
Trupti Desai places faith in God on Haji Ali Dargah case
Pune (Maharashtra), June 27: Bhumata Brigade activist Trupti Desai said she will seek blessings of the presiding deity at the Shani Shingnapur temple today ahead of Tuesday's Bombay High Court verdict in the Haji Ali Dargah no-entry case. "The Bhumata Brigade had taken out a protest in regard to the entry of women in the inner sanctum of the Haji Ali Dargah. The verdict in regard to the PIL in the Bombay High Court will come tomorrow. We are going to the Shani temple today to pray that the verdict comes in our favour," Desai told. She said she is a follower of God and has full faith on the supreme authority. "I had prayed and always kept faith on God during the Trimbakeshwar protest or Shani Shingnapur protest. So, we are going to offer our prayers today," she added. The Bombay High Court will pronounce its verdict tomorrow on a petition filed by a women's group challenging ban on entry of women inside the sanctum sanctorum of Haji Ali dargah in the city. Desai's efforts to enter
the dargah were foiled by policemen and local residents on April 28. The activist -- who had successfully campaigned against the ban on women entering the Maharashtra's Shani Shingnapur temple -- had planned to enter the dargah, one of the foremost Muslim shrines, which does not allow women in its core area. The high court is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activists Noorjehan Niaz and Zakia Soman of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan urging the court to lift the restrictions imposed somewhere between March and June 2012 by the Haji Ali Dargah Trust. The state had supported the entry of women saying that the trust would have to prove that banning entry of women is singularly essential to the practice of Islam. The trust had claimed that separate arrangements are made for women who are allowed up to a certain point from where they can offer prayers but they cannot touch the tomb of a male saint as it is a sin in Islam. (ANI)
DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, JUNE 28
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NEIGHBOURS
Pak. hunts for U.S. lobbyist amid strained diplomatic ties
Pakistan to consider India's request to probe Pathankot attack after Eid
Pak. hunts for U.S. lobbyist amid strained diplomatic ties
Islamabad, June 27: The Pakistan government has said that it will decide whether or not to allow Indian investigators to visit the country in connection with their probe into a deadly terror attack on an Indian airbase after Eid-ul-Fitr. On January 2, 2016, a heavily armed group attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station, part of the India's Western Air Command, killing six Indian security personnel. New Delhi has blamed Pakistan-based jihadi group Jaish-eMuhammad (JeM) for orchestrating the brutal assault. A high-level meeting to be attended by top civil and military officials
Pak, June 27: With diplomatic relations between Pakistan and the United States strained following Washington's refusal to subsidise an F16 deal and President Barack Obama's campaign to induct India into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Islamabad is now looking for a paid lobbyist in the U.S. capital. Pakistan Embassy spokesman Nadeem Hotiana has confirmed to that the country was now looking for a lobbyist "but has not yet taken any decision", reports . According to the U.S. Justice Department record the last law firm to lobby for Pakistan in Washington was Locke Lord Strategies and Islamabad failed to renew its contract with the firm in July 2013, after the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PMLN) replaced Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in the government in Islamabad. PPP hired Locke Lord
mainly because one of its partners, Mark Siegel, was a personal friend of the late prime minister Benazir Bhutto, reports say. Meanwhile, Diplomatic observers in Washington are of the opinion that even the best lobbyist could only try to improve Pakistan's image, particularly on the Hill, but cannot promise to deliver. "So Pakistan must think carefully before hiring a new lobbyist, as it costs money and a lot of it," Dawn quoted one observer as saying. The embassy was paying seventy-five thousand dollars per month to this group, which is the lobbying arm of the law firm Locke Lord. According to the U.S. Justice Department records, Locke Lord earned about 4.5 million dollars while representing the country and takes credit for the passage of the 7.5 billion dollars KLB aid package to Pakistan in 2009. (ANI)
Pak army chief directs officers to hunt for terrorists
Pakistan's Chief of Aremy Staff General Raheel Sharif Karachi, June 27: Warning that 'badly bruised and isolated' terrorists will go for softer targets for their own survival, Pakistan's Chief of Aremy Staff General Raheel Sharif directed senior security officials to frustrate their designs and hunt them down. Following the targeted killing of qawwali maestro Amjad Sabri and the kidnapping of the son of the Chief Justice of Sindh, General Sharif reviewed the security situation in Karachi and said that there is a need to up the ante against terrorists and criminals. While Sabri was shot dead by two motorcycle-riding gunmen in the Liaquatabad neighbourhood of Karachi on Wednesday, a day earlier advocate Ovais Ali Shah was seized by masked gunmen from outside Agha's Supermarket. Following the high-profile incidents some politicians and analysts questioned the effectiveness of the ongoing Rangers-led targeted operation in the provincial metropolis. General Sharif said that the Karachi operation has brought about a noticeable improvement in the law and
order situation of the city. "However, as we progress to target the crime and terror syndicate network, we need to keep our focus on actionable human and technical intelligence and totally dismantle their support structure," the Express Tribune quoted him, as saying during a meeting at the Corps Headquarters in Karachi yesterday. According to the statement released by the ISPR , Interior Minster Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. (retired) Nasser Janjua, Sindh's governor and chief minister, Home Minister Sohail Anwar Sial, ISI chief and the corps commander attended the meeting. "The operation has now entered a phase where terrorists and their abettors are badly bruised, isolated and hence will go for softer targets so as to find their survival and undermine the society psychologically," General Sharif added. The army chief said that the nexus of terrorists, their abettors, sympathisers and financiers will be broken at all costs and the ongoing operation will be taken to its logical conclusion.(ANI)
will be convened by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after he returns from London to discuss an India's request for a visit by its investigators and issues related to bilateral dialogue between the two neighbours, reports the Express Tribune. The Express Tribune has quoted a senior official, who is part of the government's core team dealing with India, that the meeting would decide whether to allow a team from India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) to travel to Pakistan for carrying forward the probe into the Pathankot attack. A five-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan had visited India between March 27
Pakistan to consider India's request to probe Pathankot attack after Eid and 31 to collect evidence with regard to the attack. The team comprising officials from police and intelligence agencies had met officials from National Investigation Agency in New Delhi
and had also been given access to the Pathankot airbase where the attack took place. Islamabad, however, contended that its investigators were given limited access as they were not allowed to meet eye-
witnesses. New Delhi, in return requested Pakistan to allow its investigators to visit the country to question alleged masterminds of the attack including JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother. So far, Pakistan has not officially responded to the Indian request. One of the reasons behind the government's reluctance has been reported that it thinks India may use the visit to ridicule Pakistan. "We will take the final decision after Eid," the Express Tribune quoted an official as saying. The official on being asked about the prospects of resumption of the bilateral dialogue said India appears to be 'hiding be-
China needs to overhaul Xinjiang policy Hong Kong, June 27: China is very afraid of terrorism perpetrated by its Muslim Uighur population. High level Chinese counterterrorism experts warned, "With Uighurs in conflict zones with motivation, skills and networks directing, inspiring and instigating attacks in Xinjiang, the potential for a spike in extremism and terrorism in China in the immediate to the mid-term is high." One facet of China's antiterrorism campaign was its first comprehensive antiterrorism bill that came into effect on 1 January. Pushed through by President Xi Jinping, it contains 97 articles in ten chapters. The law defines terrorism as, "Any advocacy or activity that, by means of violence, sabotage or threat, aims to create social panic, undermine public safety, infringe on personal and property rights, or coerce a state organ or an international organization, in order to achieve political, ideological or other objectives." Significant is the word "advocacy". In the first draft of the law, it listed "any thought, speech or activity." Western commentators severely criticized the word "thought", and while it was removed, "advocacy" remains vague enough to cover nearly any eventuality. Uighurs have been blamed for a number of high-profile attacks in China. Recent examples include an altercation in Lukqun in June 2013 (35 killed), a deadly knife-wielding assault in Kunming railway station in March 2014 (33 killed), and an attack at a coal mine in Aksu last September (50 killed). Dr Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told that, "The challenge China faces is not from the Uighur community as a whole, but from a tiny segment of politicized and radicalized Uighurs." The contemporary origins of Uighur nationalism and, later, Uighur Islamism can be traced back to conflicts in two theatres - PakistanAfghanistan and IraqSyria. "Uighur participation in conflicts emboldened and empowered them to fight for their own Muslim, and later an Islamic, state," Gunaratna documented. Gunaratna informed, "A greater understanding between China and the West and the rest of the world is essential for China to better manage the extant and emerging Uighur threat. As escalation in violence in Xinjiang has implications for other countries hoisting Turkic territorials and diaspora." There are large Turkic populations in Afghani-
stan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, and spreading Uighur extremism and terrorism could affect all these, as well as Europe and North America. Gunaratna said "the Chinese are aware of the dangers" from Uighur extremism. He noted, "While it is essential to preserve the traditional Uighur culture and religious traditions, China should protect the Uighur community from extremist influences from the Middle East and South Asia.While remaining in the shadow, Beijing should co-opt the existing and emerging Uighur leaders in Xinjiang and empower them to manage their own community." The counterterrorism expert acknowledged that the challenges Beijing faces in Xinjiang and Tibet are "daunting". He continued, "The unity of China depends on the ability and willingness of Beijing to work with the minorities in China. The current relationships Beijing builds with the Uighur elite will determine the future security of Xinjiang and beyond." However, the kind of restrictions laid upon the Muslim community in the current holy month of Ramadan will likely do more harm than good. Muslim members of the Chinese Communist Party cannot openly follow Islam, while all are encouraged to eat in daylight hours during Ramadan. In Xinjiang, the government's strict rules forbid anyone under the age of 18 from following a religion. Indeed, parents face stiff fines if their children are found studying the Quran or fasting during Ramadan. It is reported that security staff are installed inside mosques 24 hours a day to monitor adherents, and the sermons of imams must be preapproved by censors. Such draconian measure seem at odds with a White Paper on religious freedom in Xinjiang released by the State Council on 2 June. It stated, "No organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. No citizen suffers discrimination or unfair treatment for believing in, or not believing in, any religion." Gunaratna continued, "To maintain security and stability in the long term, China should integrate its minorities with the other communities." The professor believes China does not have the option of allowing minorities to do as they want, as this would lead to a breakup of the country. Going into more detail, he advised, "To limit the spread of foreign ideologies and extremist practices, China should continue to maintain a security platform in Xinjiang.If China relaxes the security measures in
Xinjiang, the threat will grow and spill over to other parts of China." "Today, China should develop strategies to fight the operational threat, counter ideological extremism and promote coexistence between Han, Uighur and other communities in Xinjiang," the Singaporebased expert advised. A key part of the counterterrorism effort is the public. Article 8 of the new counterterrorism law tells authorities to establish joint coordination mechanisms to mobilize grassroots organizations, Article 74 directs them to set up formal forces/com-
Taliban and al Qaeda. The nationalist ETIM also morphed into the politicoreligious Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), both organizations fightingthe US-led coalition in Afghanistan from 2001 onwards. Gunaratna told , "Xinjiang continues to be affected from the spillover effects of the Afghan and now the Syrian conflicts. Today, several hundred Uighur foreign fighters from Xinjiang are active in Asian and Middle Eastern conflict zones. The blowback to China is in the form of a sustained campaign of terrorism in Xinjiang, a region bordering Pakistan and Af-
ing use of kinetic and lethal force and embrace strategies to reach out to the Uighur community. China should adopt a smart counterterrorism doctrine, the integration of hard and soft power." This would ideally be 5% kinetic/lethal measures, and 95% engagement strategies. Such a "hard on the inside and soft on the outside" doctrine calls for a range of measures, according to Gunaratna. He listed a three-pronged methodology. First, use intelligenceled tactical counterterrorism units to hunt terrorists, including those overseas. Interest-
China is very afraid of terrorism perpetrated by its Muslim Uighur population. munity volunteer groups, and Article 44 encourages civilians to act as informants. The law also contains provisions that require telecommunications and internet providers to give the Chinese government "backdoor" access to their systems for investigation purposes. Another proviso restricts how terrorist incidents are reported, including reporting on response agencies and personnel. Such an approach could backfire, however. Dr Zunyou Zhou, head of the China section at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, explained, "This is because public ignorance of the true state of terrorism affects people's ability to cooperate with the government in its counterterrorism efforts. Further, freedom of the press is not only a fundamental human right but also a major foundation of democracy." The new counterterrorism law gives the government and agencies powers above and beyond those it already possesses. Zhou assessed that, "These new powers will inevitably affect fundamental human rights," something for which the legislation does not really provide any specific protection. Beijing vigorously blames the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for its terrorism ills. It is known that several hundred Uighurs traveled from Xinjiang to join ETIM, a group molded by the
ghanistan." He believes probably nearly a thousand Uighurs are actively linked to terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State (IS). "China faces an imminent threat from Uighur terrorist and extremist networks," he warned. Western governments, media and academics often focus on human rights abuses in China's prosecution of its war on terror, but Gunaratna believes this aspect has been exaggerated. "Human rights are a political weapon used by Western powers against their enemies. As such, China should not worry too much about Western governments, Western public opinion or lobbying by NGOs [non-government organizations], including human rights organizations." What then should China do about the problem of Islamic-inspired terrorism? Gunaratna summarized the best approach as follows: "The Chinese strategy should be threefold. First, to detect, disrupt and dismantle the threat structures. Second, win over the Uighurs both in China and overseas. Third, protect its interests at home and overseas." However, it is clear that China has overreacted to the problem, causing the threat to grow. Chinese antiterrorism methods often appear heavy-handed or disproportionate, and Gunaratna agreed that Chinese strategy "has lacked sophistication and finesse". He advised, "China should abandon the dominant and overwhelm-
ingly, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is now allowed to conduct antiterrorism operations overseas under China's new law. Second, Beijing needs rehabilitation programs to deradicalize captured terrorists and extremists. Third, the authorities need to engage and empower communities to counter the spread of extremism and promote moderation, toleration and coexistence. China is attempting to improve its methods. For example, the Northwest University of Political Science and Law in Xian is planning to open an antiterrorism school to teach "the latest antiterrorism theories and practices". University president Jia Yu added, "The purpose is to develop specialized talents for antiterrorism." Gunaratna assesses that Chinese expertise in fighting terrorism has improved since 9-11 but it still remains limited. "The strategy of harsh measures alone will not work in the long term," he warned. "China has much to learn from global counterterrorism good practices." Problems include "competition between the different services, and there is no coherent effort to tackle the problem". Gunaratna concluded his interview with, "Beijing should as quickly as possible develop a comprehensive national strategy to contain, isolate and eliminate the terrorists and engage the Uighur community."(ANI)
hind the Pathankot incident.' The Pathankot attack led to the cancellation of crucial foreign secretarylevel talks, which were to take place in mid-January. India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj last week at a news conference in New Delhi said that foreign secretarylevel talks were not cancelled but New Delhi is only awaiting probe from Pakistan side on the Pathankot attack. Though the prospects of resumption of talks at present are at grim, officials are hoping that the both nations will eventually return to the negotiating table before the next Saarc summit scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in November this year. (ANI)
Singapore Airlines flight catches fire after emergency landing at Changi Singapore City, June 27: Singapore Airlines Flight SQ368, carrying 241 people, caught fire as it made an emergency landing at Changi Airport. The flight flying from Changi to Milan returned to Singapore two hours into its journey out after reporting an engine problem, reports the Guardian. While the passengers clapped as the jet made what appeared to be a smooth emergency landing, reports say that seconds later, the right engine and wing were ablaze, with flames engulfing the right side of the jet. Singapore Airlines in a series of tweets narrated the event and confirmed that no one was injured. "Flt SQ368, a B7300ER opting SIN-MXP returned to Singapore on 27Jun due to an engine oil warning message. The aircraft right engine caught fire after it touched down at ard 6.50 a.m.. The fire was put out by airport emergency services and no injuries to the 222 pax + 19 crew on board," Singapore Airlines tweeted. It added, "Pax disembarked safely and will be transferred to another aircraft which is expected to depart for MXP later today. SQ is working with authorities." Singapore Airlines has only had one accident resulting in fatalities in 2000. A flight from Singapore to Los Angeles crashed into construction equipment after attempting to take off on the wrong runway during a typhoon, killing 83 of the 179 people on board.(ANI)
Nepal EC to PM Oli: ready to hold polls if laws ready Kathmandu, June 27: Nepal's Election Commission today told Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli that the constitutional body would be ready to hold elections at the local, provincial and federal levels if the government prepares necessary laws on time. Oli visited the commission office to take stock of its functioning including preparations for the elections. "He asked us about overall preparations for the upcoming elections," the Himalayan Times quoted Election Commission Joint-Secretary Bir Bahadur Rai as saying. "The Commissioners here requested him to expedite procedures to formulate laws necessary for the polls," he added. Meanwhile, Oli's press coordinator Chetan Adhikari said that the Commissioners expressed readiness to conduct the elections if the government announced dates for them. He added that a team led-by Oli had asked the Commission if they had prepared timetables for preparations of the polls. Though no specific date has formally been announced for the election, the government has been saying that it would hold local bodies' elections by mid-December. (ANI)
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Killing spree by Islamic militants poses threat to Bangladesh's polity Part I Target Rhino Clear and present danger for the survival of this majestic animal Within a month of the BJP government in office, two full grown rhinos were killed at Kaziranga National Park. The first rhino was killed on June 7, when Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma was on a three-day (Photo: .thendu) visit to the park to take stock of the situation. The minister also stated that rhino poaching rackets are very smart and they use modern arms and technologies to kill the one-horned pride of Assam. Pramila Rani Brahma also said, "Unless a proper system is in place, curbing of rhino poaching is difficult." In another incident, a sensational raid conducted by the Anti-Corruption Branch of Assam Police on June 13 not only recovered over Rs 66 lakh in cash from a Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Mohit Chandra Talukdar, from his office in Dhemaji district, but also found at least one tiger skin, some quantity of ivory and other animal parts.The arrest and recovery came at a time when forest minister Pramila Rani Brahma had been struggling to put an end to rhino poaching in Kaziranga National Park amid allegations that forest personnel had a hand in most of the poaching incidents and other forest-related crimes. Talukdar, who has been posted in Dhemaji district in eastern Assam for over two years now, was initially arrested by the ACB sleuths after trapping him and catching him red-handed with Rs 30,000 that he had sought from three truck owners who were transporting some forest produce with legal documents. The Assam government also placed Director of the Kaziranga National Park, Mufakkher Ali under suspension for allegedly trying to conceal from the state forest minister an incident of rhino poaching that had taken place on June 7 even as the minister was on a tour of the Park. There is a clear and present danger for the survival of this majestic animal. They are killed for their horns that are traded in the international black markets for humongous value. The state government has miserably failed to contain, let alone stop, poaching of rhinos in Assam. The central government also has to share the blame, even if it is a state subject, for not acknowledging the gravity of the situation or taking adequate measures at appropriate times to address the problem, in a swift and cooperative manner in association with the state government. Rhinos are being targeted by trans-national crime syndicates that are organised with components of arms smuggling, money laundering, cross border smuggling, terrorism and international illegal wildlife trade. The demand for poaching originates in foreign countries. The government from time to time has come under severe criticism for failing to address this burning problem of poaching adequately. The Rhino war has led to the killing of 108 poachers along with a number of guards while more than 500 rhinos perished since 1985. Innovative steps like Rhino DNA indexing system (RhODIS), Camera Traps, a specialised dog squad, proposed deployment of drones and satellite surveillance to track the intruders and others are being conceived and put to use. But it is important that the government corrects the basics first. Steps like the Assam government's amendment of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 2009 by raising the penalty for second offences against wildlife such as rhino to minimum of seven years, and maximum of life imprisonment, and fines is good but it has to be executed to realise its full impact.
Polio free Collaboration at all levels was key to India's success It was indeed a great moment when India achieved one of the biggest achievements in global health: it was certified as polio-free by the World Health Organization after three years without an endemic case of polio. After almost twenty years of fighting the disease, the Government of India (GOI), with the support of the World Bank, UNICEF, WHO, Rotary International, civil society organizations and millions of volunteers, finally graduated from being one of the four last countries in the world where the polio virus remains endemic. India began aggressively battling the disease in response to the WHO's 1988 Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Despite some progress in the 1990s, many people doubted that India could actually eradicate polio given the enormity of the country's seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The logistics of delivering and administering the vaccine across a vast, varied terrain with poor health services and roads were incredibly complex. The human scale of India's polio eradication effort was also an impressive effort. Over 2.4 million volunteers and 150,000 vaccine administration supervisors helped administer the oral polio vaccine to 170 million children under five years old on two nation-wide immunization days each year. Areas where polio cases were concentrated such as the northeast states saw 5-6 repeat rounds, reaching 70 million children each time. Strong political will at the highest levels, secure financial resources, and an incredible network of volunteers and supervisors to administer the vaccine across India were critical factors, as was the indefatigable effort by the Indian government from the national to the local levels. Indian states have fully owned the effort in the past few years. Polio elimination in India constitutes a global public good. The Bank is at its best when it partners in such initiatives that go to the heart of eliminating poverty and enhancing shared prosperity. India must continue its efforts to guard against polio. One potential way for polio to return is through migrant populations. For the past few years, the polio vaccination campaign has targeted train stations where people travel from polio-infected areas. Today, India also enforced travel restrictions to polio-affected countries and requires travelers to carry proof of polio vaccination. Continued surveillance of polio outbreaks is also a critical to maintain polio-free status. It is a normal tendency to say 'we've done it,' but India must maintain intense focus and a significant effort to maintain the polio-free status. In 2012, there were just 223 infections worldwide, compared to 360 000 in 1988, when the United Nations launched a campaign to eliminate the highly contagious illness that causes paralysis and sometimes death, particularly in young children. Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease. There is no cure, but there are safe and effective vaccines against it. The strategy to eradicate polio is therefore based on preventing infection by immunising every child until transmission stops.
Bangladesh". A day earlier, Ripon Ckakraborty, a 50 year-old Hindu Mathematics lecturer of a government college was brutally assaulted by alleged Islamic militants in southwestern Madaripur district. Again on June 10, Nitya Ranjan Pandey, a 60 year-old worker a Hindu ashram Rupak Bhattacharjee of was murdered in Bangladesh is currently western Pabna district. experiencing a sharp rise According to SITE intelin deadly attacks by Is- ligence group, the IS lamic militants on mem- claimed responsibility for bers of Muslim minority the killing. It was the third sects and other religious killing of a member of regroups, secular activists ligious minorities in the and liberal thinkers with at past week. In a gruesome least eight persons killed incident on June 7, since May. Despite all ef- Ananda Gopal Ganguly, a forts of the present Sheikh 69 year-old Hindu priest Hasina government to was hacked to death in curb Islamic militancy, the western Jenaidah district. Bangladesh has witnessed The dreaded international a resurgence of jihadi jihadi group IS took credit groups. Local reports sug- for the killing. gest that there exist more The previous day, susthan 100 Islamist parties pected Islamic extremists and extremist stabbed and shot dead 33 Mahmuda organisations in year-old Bangladesh. Innumerable Khanam Mitu, wife of Sumaddrassas owing alle- perintendent of Police giance Wahabi and Salafi Babul Akhtar in southport city ideologies have been im- eastern parting radical Islamic Chittagong. It was the first teachings throughout the attack on any policeman's country. The civil society family. Babul, who conof Bangladesh is seriously ducted several successful concerned about growing counter-terrorism operareligious intolerance and tions in Chittagong and radical agenda of the ex- Cox's Bazar, had been factremist and terrorist ing threats over the past few months. While servgroups. Attacks on the minority ing as Additional Deputy of groups in the last few Commissioner Bangladesh Police's Deweeks Branch in In a disturbing develop- tective ment on June 16, sus- Chittagong, his investigapected Islamists claiming tion led to the busting of a to be Islamic State's (IS) Jamaat-ul-Mujahideenfollowers threatened to Bangladesh (JMB) hidekill the monks of Dhaka- out and arrest of its miliwing chief based Ramakrishna Mis- tary sion if they continue to Mohammad Javed in Ocpreach in "Islamic tober 2015. Police suspect
proscribed outfit JMB or local religious extremists were behind the killing of top anti-terror officer's wife and Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal assured that the killers would be apprehended soon. In another bizarre incident on the same day, 65 year-old Sunil Gomes, a Christian grocer, was murdered near a church in northwestern Natore district. The IS claimed responsibility for the killing of Gomes, saying it was "part of a series of operations in Bangladesh". The deadly attack on Gomes, who had just completed his Sunday prayer, was similar to those on Hindu and members of other religious minorities and sects during the past several months. It is estimated that Islamist violence has claimed at least 40 lives in the last three years. Bangladesh's tiny minority groups have been peacefully living in Bangladesh for centuries and violent attacks against them highlight an alarming trend never seen before in this Muslimmajority nation of 160 million. In an interesting development on June 18, over one lakh Islamic scholars issued a fatwa (ruling), declaring militancy and terrorism in the name of Islam as "haram or impermissible". Referring to the Quran and Hadith, they pointed out that Islam is the religion of peace and it does not support terrorism. The Awami League government's measures to contain militancy
Image for representational purpose (Photo: affairstoday) Facing criticism for not doing enough to contain unabated Islamist violence, the Awami League (AL) government has finally resolved to act against the religious extremists and terrorists. Bangladesh police launched a nationwide crackdown on Islamic militants responsible for a series of murders of minorities, foreigners, rights activists, intellectuals and bloggers. In two separate encounters with the militants on June 7, police killed two top JMB leaders in Dhaka, while another member of the banned outfit was shot dead in northwestern district of Rajshahi. Police claimed that two JMB militants killed in the capital city had played key roles in most of the recent attacks, including bombing in the Shiite shrine and murder of a liberal university professor. Police also killed one more JMB operative in Shibganj subdistrict in northwestern Bogra the very next day. In another major breakthrough on June 18, police shot dead extremist Golam Faizullah Fahim. Police claimed that Fahim
was involved in the attack on the Hindu college teacher and a member of IS group Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation). It is an international terror group that seeks to unite all Muslim countries under the leadership of the IS. The group is outlawed in many countries, including Bangladesh. Earlier on June 10, police shot dead Mozaffar Sana, leader of extremist Sana group of proscribed Purba Bangla Communist Party in Satkhira district. In addition to these, Bangladesh's police detained more than 11,000 persons; including members of Jamaat-e-Islami, its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, alleged criminals, fugitives of different cases across the country until June 14. Police have also arrested 194 suspected militants from different parts of Bangladesh since June 10. Among them, 151 belongs to JMB, 21 to Hizb ut-Tahrir, 7 to Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, 6 to Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), 3 to Ansar al-Islam, 1 to Harkat-ulJihad, while one was re-
portedly an "extremist who returned from Afghanistan". The weeklong operation was aimed at dismantling all terrorist groups and its networks in Bangladesh. Reports indicate that the IS claimed responsibility for 21 of about 40 attacks and al Quida in the Indian SubContinent (AQIS) took credit for rest of the recent killings. However, the AL government denies the presence of transnational terror groups in Bangladesh and blames the local militant groups for the killings. Bangladesh Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam recently said the IS was trying to ride a wave of religious radicalisation by falsely claiming killings and noted that there was enough evidence implicating domestic militant groups. According to Bangladesh police, two home-grown militant outfits-JMB and ABT-were behind the attacks as part of their efforts to impose Shariah law in Bangladesh which is considered as a moderate Muslim nation.
India Mulls Purchase of US Maritime Patrol Drones for Indian Ocean India sent a letter of request to the U.S. last week outlining its desire to acquire Predator UAVs. India is considering pur- legedly was rebuffed by chasing multi-mission the United States since Predator Guardian un- India was not a member named patrol aircraft of the Missile Technology from U.S. defense con- Control Regime tractor (MTCR), GenFranz-Stefan Gady and also e r a l did not Atomics, the Times of have the status of Major India has revealed. Defense Partner. New Delhi has ex- Now the situation has pressed its desire to pro- changed. As The Diplocure the U.S.-made un- mat reported India bemanned aerial vehicles came a member of MTRC in a letter of request dis- in June 2016 and it was patched to the United also granted Major DeStates last week to offi- fense Partner status in the cially begin the Foreign same month. Indian Military Sales (FMS) Prime Minister Narendra process, according to Modi allegedly raised the unnamed sources. subject of drone purThe Indian military has chases with U.S. Presipreviously expressed in- dent Barack Obama durterest in the Predator ing an official state visit Guardian UAV but al- to the United States in
June 2016. "The United States will continue to work toward facilitating technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners," a joint statement issued by Modi and Obama read. "The leaders reached an understanding under which India would receive licensefree access to a wide range of dual-use technologies in conjunction with steps that India has committed to take to advance its export control objectives." The joint statement also underlined both countries commitment to cooperate on maritime se-
curity issues. With the new UAVs, India seeks to protect its maritime assets, in particular in the Indian Ocean, and detect intrusions on a real-time basis. Next to the threat of terrorism emerging from the maritime domain, India has been in particular concerned about the growing Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean. As I reported previously, India has repeatedly deployed its most advanced maritime patrol/anti-submarine warfare aircraft, the P-8I Neptune, on maritime patrol missions. It has also dispatched UAVs, including (Israeli) Searcher MK II drones, to the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, located in the Indian Ocean, for example. According to General Atomics, the Predator Guardian UAV, a variant of the Predator B, is capable of performing wide-area, long-endurance maritime Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions. It can stay in the air for up to 27 hours and can fly at maximum altitude of 50,000 feet (15240 meters). "Twice as fast as Predator, the aircraft carries 500 percent more payload and has nine times the horsepower. It provides a long-endurance, persistent surveillance/ strike capability for the
Plundering in Different Style
Image for representational purpose (Photo: usercontent2.hubstatic)
Sir, In the history, we heard of Md. Ghori, Taimur who invaded India wreaking havoc, not only killing brutally innocent people but also plundering lot of golds from temples like Somnath and others. Now, we find similarity of such invasion. The difference is this time, the invasion is from within, no such brutal killing but plundering of the government exchequer by an unholy alliance of ministers and bureaucrats in the erstwhile regime of the congress. Hardly had the dust centering round the unearthing of fabulous amount of money with gold, ivories and other costly materials from one Mohot Talukdar, a DFO, yet another scam in the Food and civil supply department ruffles quite a number of feathers in Assam - all perpetrated by these so called jugglers with a lamp of Aladdin in the Previous regimes. A news paper report, corroborated by news telecast by the electronic media suggest that with 3 Lacs fake ration cards, plundering of over Rs. 10,000 crores contin-
war fighter," the General Atomics company website notes. A U.S. letter of acceptance in response to India's letter of request is allegedly in the making. As of now, it is not known how many drones India intends to purchase. In November 2015, India has also expressed interest in procuring armed Predator Avenger UAVs. Overall, India intents to purchase over 250 new UAVs in the years ahead, according to industry sources. Between 1985 and 2014, India was the top importer of drones worldwide. Courtesy: The diplomat
Best Letter
The best letter ued for last 20 years. It implies that a of the month in span of 5 years belongs to Sri, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta's AGP. The mysteri- the Letter to the ous point worth noting is the missing Editor section of two files, one each from Dispur's will be awarded secretariat and from the office of the an amount of Director, Food and Civil supply, Rs 200. So Guwahati. In our candid opinion, the please keep erstwhile Chief-minister forfeits his rights to utter a single word of critiwriting. cism. The Present ruling dispensation Letters to the of Assam has been voted to power mainly on such corruption issues. It editor and articles remains to be seen what action, the should be sent to : state government initiates to nab the The Eastern Toculprits not excluding the ministers day involved if any.
Yours etc. Ashok Bordoloi Dibrugarh
Chowkidingee, Near Sankardeva Hospital Mancotta Road, Dibrugarh786001 (Assam) Ph: 0373-2328944 Email :
editor.easterntoday@gmail.com
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Anganwadis In MP Look The Other Way As Malnourished Children Suffer Saheli, a two-and-a-half- (DTE) approached year-old girl from Manki Yadav for the reason bevillage in Madhya hind the exclusion of Pradesh's Panna district, Saheli's name, she failed was not among the mal- to explain. She even nourished children regis- blamed a sudden increase tered in the local in the temperature, which anganwadi till April this led to an increase in the year. number of children sufWhen a local anganwadi fering from malnutrition. worker, This is not Shakuntala Kundan Pandey a negliYadav, was g e n c e asked how many mal- case. DTE visited at least nourished children are 20 anganwadi centres in registered at the centre, two districts - Panna and she replied, "Two," a Chhatarpur, especially standard response here. where Saur and Kondar Following her response, tribes are found. These volunteers checked on tribes are even looked about 40 children in the down in the Gond comvillage and found that munity. eight of them were mal- Manaur, a Saur-dominourished, as per the pa- nated village in Panna, rameters. had no children registered Saheli, who weighed ap- under the malnourished proximately four kg, was category. In Singaro vilimmediately admitted to lage of Chhatarpur, the Nutritional Rehabilita- Yashoda Kondar, the tion Centre (NRC). She anganwadi worker, gave was also diagnosed with the standard reply of two. tuberculosis. After 15 She informed that last days of treatment, she month, two children were gained three registered under the catkilogrammes. egory. When Down To Earth Prithavi Trust, a local non-
profit, started to measure children on the existing parameters and by comparing data collected from several anganwadis. Though the trust is yet to come up with a report, community workers shared their experiences. Pradeep Kumar Tripathi, community worker at the trust, said that three months ago he organised a meeting of village women at Gandhigram in Janakpur gram panchayat. During the time, Rubina, aged six, came with her grandmother. She had wounds on her entire body. She was taken to the hospital where doctors diagnosed her with tuberculosis and malnutrition, but her name was not mentioned as a malnourished child at the local anganwadi. When the issue appeared in a local newspaper, Tripathi was threatened over phone by unknown persons with dire consequences and told not to visit the village
again. Sharing her experience of Kalyanpur village, another volunteer, Snehlata Gangele from the same organisation, said that when she reached the village in the last week of May, she found only two children registered under the severe acute malnutrition (SAM) category and nine under moderate acute malnutrition. But when the organisation weighed and measured 45 children of the village, 11 were found under the SAM category. In Dhanoja village, not a single child was registered as malnourished. When Gangele and her colleagues weighed 32 children, they found five of them to be severely malnourished. In villages like Kawar and Bhusaur in Chhatarpur, not a single child was registered as malnourished in anganwadis. Madhya Pradesh is one of the worst-affected states as far as malnutri-
tion is concerned. The recentNational Family Health Survey 2015-16 points out that Panna has 43.1 per cent stunted children, 24.7 per cent wasted and 40.3 per cent underweight children. Similar was the case in rural Chhatarpur where 44.4 per cent children are stunted, 17.8 per cent wasted and 41.2 per cent underweight, as per the report. These facts highlight the weak links in India's 2013 National Food Security Act, which identifies anganwadi centres as responsible for ensuring food and nutrition for mothers and children. The Discrepancy Saheli's mother, Kusum, said that she and her other daughter get only one meal a day, and that too regularly. They are supposed to get two meals every day, local experts said. If they register children under the SAM category, they have to provide a third meal too, Mehrun
Image for representational purpose (Photo: cdn.downtoearth) Siddiqui, who works in a non-profit based in Khajuraho, said. If anganwadis show more children under SAM, there will be more pressure on the workers to take them to the NRC. There will also be a question on the kind of food being provided. If a particular anganwadi has been providing regular food to children, questions will rise as to how they have become malnourished or remained the same, Siddiqui said. Anganwadi workers
keep hiding information about malnourished children which saves them from work. When DTE reached Kawar village in Chhatarpur district, it found two women filling up the register and not a single child was present there. Another important observation was that almost all anganwadis have workers from the empowered class and majority of the children are poor. Many villagers complained that anganwadi workers do not even visit the centre
for as long as one week and, at times, for even a month. As per the government report, there were 13.42 lakh operational anganwadis in India as on December 31, 2014. As per the schematic norms of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), anganwadi workers and helpers are honorary women workers. These centres are supposed to tackle the malnutrition prevailing among women and children at the ground level. Courtesy: Downtoearth
A Firsthand Account Of The "Frenzy And Chaos" How AAP Is Making The Best Of The Power Battle Between That Was Harper Collins' Warehouse Sale Kejriwal And The Centre Very few events *read What caught the atten- people joined in by the immediately started These billing and pay- SALE* would serve as tion of thousands of bib- minute. We were met picking up titles by some ment points were oddly an incentive for me to liophiles were the prices wake up at 6 AM and that HC India had rehead out to a place quite leased for their collecfar from my house - tions on various online Faridabad. One of them posts. Paperback titles was the recently held were priced at 25 INR, 'Warehouse Sale' by the Hardbound titles at 50 Indian subsidiary of the INR, Collector editions well-known publishers- and Coffee-Tables were Harper Collins (HC) on astonishingly priced at 100 INR. The otherwise June 24. The capital has seen expensive book-sets many book-sales in the were being sold at 90% discount past and Mayuri Ghosh which made they seem sure all of us to pop-up every now and then at who were saving up to your favourite book- purchase the complete stores. But, it was a dif- collection of 'Game of ferent deal altogether Thrones', swore by our lives to be present there this time. How could it not be?! It for the sale! was a Warehouse sale! So on the grand first-day Which meant that the of the sale, I hauled myprices were unbeliev- self to the venue an ably slashed and you hour-and-a-half before wouldn't mind cutting off the sale was set to start,
by one of the warehouse managers - Mr. Arvind, who gave us a sort of a pep-talk 'before the battle inside'. We were told that there are several copies of most the paperback editions and might be lucky to come across some rare editor's editions. Though the time set for the gates to open was set at 10 AM, but upon seeing the crowd that was swelling up, the manager let the gates open at 9.40 AM and the initial batch of 300 people were let in by a roll-call of their names. As soon as I stepped inside the warehouse, I witnessed the frenzy and the chaos exhibited by the buyers. Some had come with
Harper Collins Warehouse sale (Photo: Event page/Facebook) that last pizza for the month to get your hands on brand new paperbacks and coffee-table editions. The details for this 'Warehouse sale' were released earlier this month on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. HC India, in its statement on these platforms said that the warehouse sale was more of a charity-sale event as it promised that 20% of the sale proceeds would go the well-known non-profit - 'Frendicoes', that works for animal rights and welfare.
which was 10:00 AM. The venue was the warehouse of HC India, located in an industrial area in sector 27B of Faridabad, Haryana. A kutcha lane from the metro station led to the gates of the warehouse where we were met with the HC staff who asked us to note down our names and contact numbers on a sheet of paper. As expected, I joined the queue inside with some 50-60 people, most of whom seemed to be in delirium or extremely pumped up about the sale. More and more
suitcases, some with backpacks and empty cartons. For a minute, owing to my incapability of registering chaos, I stood there and looked around myself. With a few of the staff members inside, people were seen running first towards the book-sets to pick up the muchawaited 'Game-OfThrones' collection. Much to my disbelief, this particular stack of GoT book-sets were pounced upon and were over in the initial 10 minutes. I reminded myself why I was there, and
of my favourite authors. The warehouse was divided into two sections. The larger one, which was a non-air-conditioned zone, had most of the book-sets, paperback titles of foreign and Indian authors and stacks of coffee-tables. But, to our disappointment, none of the titles were pre-segregated in the order of their genre which made it difficult to locate them and hence added to the chaos. The other section of the warehouse, which was air-conditioned, housed children books, anthologies and political readings. The warehouse, as told to us had a capacity of 300 people at a time, but I hate to disagree with that. Most of the buyers had cartons and suitcases with them, which made the narrow lanes quite difficult for one to negotiate the space. Some staff members were replenishing the stock immediately when an area would clear. One could not take more than 2 copies of the same book but people were seen piling books into their cartons and some picked up whatever they could find. Since, all the titles were literally sold at throwaway prices, the upper limit of purchase being set at 5000 INR meant that one could fill at least four large suitcases with books! This being the first warehouse sale organised for the general public by HC India, clearly some things seemed unplanned and muddled. The prime one being the billing and cash counters. For such an enormous crowd of 300 people in one batch, there were only two billing points with a total of 3 staff members for billing and a only a single payment point which had two officials accepting the payments in cash and credit cards.
placed and led to tumultuous scene at the exit. The staff also seemed very confused but then they kept adding volunteers at these points to facilitate the billing and payment procedure. As soon as I took the exit from the warehouse, I could see a sea of people waiting outside the main gates of the warehouse, standing in the scorching sun and heat. While, inside the gates in the main arena, another batch of 300-400 people were waiting to be let inside the warehouse. The manager, by then, failed to get the crowd queued up before they could enter the warehouse. Though, People from the new batch were continuously trickling in depending on the number of people who were exiting the warehouse. The worst scene was outside the main gates of the warehouse, where the sea of waiting buyers were made to stand in the scorching sun without much provisions like water or shade and that led to some unfortunate incidents like people fainting and being subjected to extreme exhaustion in that heat. But, overcoming all of that, most of the people got their hands on amazing titles and were seen heading to the metro station or to their respective vehicles with suitcases, backpacks, cartons flooding with books! After such a gruelling adventure, I finally boarded a cab with a smile and my backpack full of classic titles, some coffee-tables and an Editor's Hardbound edition of 'The Complete Chronicles Of Narnia'. Amidst the beads of perspiration, the cab-driver could see me smiling to my victory! Courtesy: Youthgkiawaaz
The last fifteen days have tre. lay in forwarding the bills certainly not been the nic- AAP realises it has 67 and in day-to-day bureauest for Indian politics. I am MLAs and few MPs in a cracy, introduced through not talking about the attacks country which sends more the office of LG were (are) made by BJP's than 4,000 MLAs to state another hurdle for it to Subramanian Swamy on assemblies and almost 700 overcome. The raid conRaghuram Rajan or Finance MPs to the Parliament. For ducted by CBI on Mr. Ministry adviser Arvind if it has to accomplish its Kejriwal's secretary's ofSubramanian, but the national goal, remaining fice guaranteed some drama going on in Delhi be- LIVE in national media is high-voltage drama. tween the Aam mandatory (na- But then even AAP has Aadmi Party Sumit Jain tion-wide media now learned a bit of poli(AAP), Lt. Govcoverage of tics. While it is sometimes ernor Najeeb Jung and the party's agendas was one of a victim of the hegemony Bhartiya Janta Party. With the important pillars in BJP's of the central government, political bashing touching strategy as well for 2014 it has mostly learned to another low (compared to general elections). While play its cards. The party the election time), it seems launching good policies do deliberately raises the isa lot remains to unfold. bring some media attention sue of full statehood for AAP was formed in 2012 (at least in Delhi), AAP was Delhi to match its political when there was a rift be- (is) not content with the ambitions. The party is tween Anna Hazare and same. It seems it has de- quick to gain points by Arvind Kejriwal over entering electoral battles. The party was based on the promise of delivering honest politics, a claim made by its party members even today. After forming a minority government (with the support of congress) and then resigning over the lack of consensus for passing the Jan Lokpal bill (one of its key pre-poll promises) in the State Assembly, the party got a thumping majority with 67 seats in an Arvind Kejriwal (Photo: i.ndtvimg) assembly of 70 in 2015. Since then, their strategy cided to drag the central using social media to put and ambitions seem clear. government in issues related the blame on central govThe party is campaigning to the governance of Delhi ernment in case of worshard for the coming state and elsewhere. While it then ening condition of law and assembly elections in Punjab loses on cooperation and order (the Delhi Police and and has announced it will support from the govern- ACB both come under be fighting the ballot in Goa, ment of India, coverage on centre's purview). Some Madhya Pradesh and prime-time and front page stern actions taken by Gujarat (all NDA ruled of national dailies is guar- ACB/Delhi Police like namstates); going all-out to ful- anteed. The spread of so- ing Mr. Kejriwal in water fill its national ambitions. It cial media has made this job tanker scam act as catalyst tried to do the same in the quite easy for the party (BJP in implementing AAP's 2014 general elections in a leaders, now famous for strategy of playing the vichustle but their plans could remaining pro-active on tim card. Recent comnot materialize because of facebook/twitter, too used ments made by BJP MPs poor planning and strategy this quite effectively in 2014 combined with 'dharna' making. The party then general elections). outside his home assure took note of some basic is- To say that the behaviour national media coverage. sues like health and educa- of government of India to- There is no doubt AAP is tion in Delhi and then capi- wards AAP was noble will playing a dangerous game. talized on some of its poli- be grave injustice to the lat- Its amendment (suggestcies like slashing the prices ter. In fact from control of ing removal of the post of of electricity and water bills, Delhi Police to that of Anti- Parliamentary Secretary allocating 23 per cent of the Corruption Bureau (ACB), from office of Profit) beDelhi government's annual it is the central government ing rejected by the Presibudget to education sector which has proved to be a dent of India, when other and establishing mohalla trouble-maker in the whole states have conveniently clinics in the capital. While scenario. AAP tried its best done so, suggests who the their achievements, like the to wrestle the control of party is locking horns implementation of odd- ACB in order to probe the with. But it seems Mr. even rule, made in the past charges put against Ms. Kejriwal is unfazed and fifteen months will remain Sheila Dixit (ex-CM of unmoved with all of this. debatable (the party at large Delhi). It even requested He looks prepared to take has failed to convince the the centre to handover the on every obstacle that population about its positive control of Delhi Police to comes between his naeffect on the environment), UT government to im- tional dream. The strategy what many people have prove the deteriorating law to implement ahead is, failed to observe is the rea- situation. But the Delhi though dangerous, crystal son behind its continuous party failed in both the clear. Courtesy: tussle with the BJP at cen- cases. Obstacles, like de- Youthgkiawaaz
BUSINESS
DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, JUNE 28
2.2% decline in housing sales in FY16 New Delhi, Jun 27: Housing sales fell 2.2 percent to 1.58 lakh units in seven major cities last fiscal, but the market is expected to improve by next March on the back of lower interest rates and fall in prices, says a report. Property consultant JLL India in its monthly report said housing sales in January-March period of 2016 rose by 9 per cent over the previous quarter. Real estate market is facing a slowdown from the last 34 years leading to significant delays in completion of projects and protest by home buyers. "The real estate sector saw the worst phase in 2015-16 with sales and prices plummeting. High inventory levels, diminished demand
More mango pulp to be bought by Coca-Cola Chittor, Jun 27: Leading beverages company Coca-Cola India and its bottlers in India are planning to double their mango pulp procurement from the farmers of Chittoor and Krishnagiri regions. This would benefit nearly 10,000 farmers, said a top company official. "Currently, we are procuring annually one lakh tonnes of mango pulp worth Rs.650 crore. As we have drawn up plans to make Maaza a $1billion juice drink brand by sales from India by 2023, we have to double our procurement and have started the ground work," said Venkatesh Kini, President, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia. Participating at an event to celebrate 40 years of Maaza in India, he said that when Maaza turns into a $1 billion brand by 2023, it would benefit 10,000 farmers against the existing 1,000 . Besides, the procurement value would jump to Rs.1,100 crore. "It took 20 years for us to reach this position ," he said. To meet its targeted sales of $1 billion, Mr. Kini said they have rolled out Maaza in new packaging formats and at magic price points such as Rs.10 and Rs.20 respectively. Besides, coming out with innovating marketing campaigns, they are also planning to improve the supply chain management. (Agencies)
Tata Teleservices subsidiary to raise Rs 3,000 crore through allotment ANI New Delhi, Jun 27: Tata Teleservices Maharashtra (TTML) announced its plans to raise Rs. 3,000 crore from its promoter Tata Teleservices through allotment of preferential equities in a regulatory filing. As per the filing, the Board of directors of the company at its meeting held on June 25, 2016 considered and approved issue of redeemable preference shares up to an amount of Rs. 3,000 crore to Tata Teleservices Limited (Promoter) on preferential basis. TTML operates mobile services in Maharashtra, including Mumbai circle, and Goa, where it narrowed its standalone loss to Rs. 159.3 crore for the March quarter in 2016, from Rs. 163.9 crore a year ago. The company, whose telecom license is expiring in September 2017, has recorded a provision for impairment of CDMA fixed assets of Rs. 29 crore. Meanwhile, the allotment has to be approved by shareholders like Tata Teleservices (TTSL), Tata Sons.
DECLINE IN SALES Housing sales fell 2.2 percent to 1.58 lakh units in seven major cities last fiscal, but the market is expected to improve by next March on the back of lower interest rates and fall in prices.
Property consultant JLL India in its monthly report said housing sales in January-March period of 2016 rose by 9 per cent over the previous quarter.
However, a positive twist to this otherwise grim situation is the rise in sales in Q1 of 2016 calendar year. This quarter saw a sale of 42,521 units compared to 39,001 units sold in Q4 of 2015 calendar year an increase of 9 per cent.
Real estate market is facing a slowdown from the last 3-4 years leading to significant delays in completion of projects and protest by home buyers. "
and limited liquidity affected new launches. Overall residential sales were down by 2.2 per cent in FY 2015-16," the report said. As per recent data, JLL said 1,58,211 units were sold in 2015-16 fiscal as against 1,61,875 units
in the preceding fiscal in seven major cities - DelhiNCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Pune. "However, a positive twist to this otherwise grim situation is the rise in sales in Q1 of 2016 calendar year.
As per recent data, JLL said 1,58,211 units were sold in 2015-16 fiscal as against 1,61,875 units in the preceding fiscal in seven major cities Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Pune.
Overall residential sales were down by 2.2 per cent in FY 2015-16. This quarter saw a sale of 42,521 units compared to 39,001 units sold in Q4 of 2015 calendar year an increase of 9 per cent," the report said. On the road ahead, JLL said trends are beginning to change on hopes of good monsoon,
revival in economy, reducing inflation and residential prices being bottomed out. "Also, the improving regulatory environment in real estate sector and the decrease in interest rates by the RBI, coupled with schemes such as Smart Cities, AMRUT and 'Housing for All by 2022' are beginning to have a positive influence," JLL India CEO - Residential Services Ashwinder Raj Singh said. The setting up of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority to ensure timebound delivery of projects and more efficient and transparent dealings with developers point towards consumers gaining trust and coming back to investing in the market. JLL further said the afford-
able housing segment has been witnessing increased traction on the peripheries of the major cities. Of the total sales, 60 per cent of the properties were priced below Rs 5,000 per sq ft in FY16. "Global factors do have an impact, but India's current low inflation rate coupled with low interest rates will induce faster growth in the residential real estate sector," Singh said, adding stimulus provided in the Budget, improved funding for the industry and the clearing of roadblocks on REITs would also help revive the market. Most convincing signs of revival should be visible by October-December or the JanuaryMarch period, he added. (Agencies)
$1.5 trillion needed by India for infrastructure development: Arun Jaitley Bejing, Jun 27: India needs over USD 1.5 trillion in investment in the next 10 years to bridge infrastructure gap as the government intends to connect seven hundred thousand villages with roads by 2019 as part of a massive modernisation plan, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. "We have been able to sustain growth in the phase of global slowdown essentially on the strength of the infrastructure creation in India where the gap is huge," Jaitley, who is in China to attend the Board of Governors of AIIB, said. "Over the next decade, we require over USD 1.5 trillion in India alone to fill up the infrastructure gap. We also use the additional re-
source which is available with us as a result of falling prices because that regime helps us. "In investing large public finance into infrastructure, for instance, we have seven hundred thousand villages in India. We intend to connect each of them by 2019," he said while addressing a seminar on "Infrastructure and Global Economic Growth" organised by China sponsored Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) along with Finance Ministers of many countries. He also spoke of massive rural sanitation programme as part of India's current infrastructure programme. "In terms of highway construction this year
Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley. (Photo: upload.wikimedia) alone our target is 10,000 kms. Our railway system is over 100 years old. We are going in for a massive modernisation," he said. Jaitley said the government is seeking
private sector participation in converting railway stations into commercial hubs. The government plans to build more airports, sea ports and generate more power, par-
ticularly renewable energy which is ecologically also better from all points view, he said. "These are all the emphasis areas we have under taken," he said. About arranging funding for the massive development, he said "We realise that starting point is public finances. It is only when the public finances are put into it, you start attracting and the activity begins a lot of private funds". At the same time there are large number of developmental institutions like World Bank, ADB which put in lot of money because infrastructure funding also brings in long time returns on a sustainable basis, Jaitley said. (Agencies)
Safety standards for alcoholic drinks framed by FSSAI Pune, Jun 27: Food safety regulator FSSAI has approved standards for alcoholic drinks like whiskey and beer and finalised a list of additives to be used for making these products, a top official said. This is a first for all major alcoholic drinks in the country for which standards and the additives list have been finalised. "The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has finalised a list of food additives and standards with respect to alcoholic beverages...," said FSSAI
FSSAI CEO, Pawan Agarwal. (Photo: thehindubusinessline)
CEO Pawan Agarwal. He added that these stan-
dards are in alignment with International
Goa mines soon to be made operational by Sesa Iron Ore
Sesa Goa Iron Ore's CEO, Kishore Kumar. (Photo: mwebantu) Panaji, Jun 27: Sesa Iron Ore, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Inc, expects to make all its mines operational in Goa post monsoon. "Out of the 21 (mining) leases granted to us by the government, 10 are operational have been ramped up since August, 2015. Post-October, we will have to ramp up the remaining ones," said Sesa Goa Iron
Ore's CEO Kishore Kumar in an interview ahead of Vedanta's AGM on June 29, in Goa. Environment clearance limit for the company is 5.5 million tonne spread over all the leases, he said. "It will be important for us to get our small leases also back in operation to achieve the limit. During the last financial year, our extraction was close to 3.2 million
tonne," Mr. Kumar said. The mining industry in Goa had come to a standstill for more than two-and a half years following a Supreme Court order to curb illegalities. Subsequently, the industry was in fear that it would lose trust of its buyers. Mr. Kumar said the trust on the steel mills, who are buyers for Goa's low grade iron ore is resuming partially. "Goan ore, being low grade, has a lower price. Also, it has got some value in terms of phosphorous material. It does help in a way in terms of marketing this product to China and we will continue to have that edge of cheap raw material for Chinese steel mills," he said. "Since the price of steel and iron ore have been slipping over the last six quarters, the advantage remains that margins will remain squeezed for steel mills and they will look out for cheaper row material," he added. The CEO further said, "We are in cyclical commodity business. We are going through a rough patch at the moment. (Agencies)
Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) standards. The file has been moved to the Union Health Ministry, and the standards will be operationalised soon after a notification. "With this, FSSAI has crossed a major landmark in setting of standards for almost all food categories available in the country," he said. Earlier this month, the regulator has operationalised the list of 11,000 food additives provisions that can be used by food businesses in various categories. This assumes importance be-
cause food products which have been manufactured by using these approved additives may not require product approval. FSSAI was established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which consolidates various Acts and orders that have hitherto dealt with food related issues under various ministries and departments. The regulator was in the spotlight after it banned Maggi noodles in June last year, which was later lifted by the Bombay High Court. (Agencies)
Mkt turmoil leads Forex to hit record high of USD 363.83 bn ANI New Delhi, Jun 27: Continuing the volatility after Britain voted to leave the European Union, India's foreign exchange reserves hit a record high of USD 363.83 billion as of the week ended June 17, shoring up the country's defences. As per the market analysts the FX reserves rose mainly on currency valuations. The Reserve Bank of India has also been steadily building dollars to help meet USD 20 billion in expected outflows in September tied to maturing dollar deposits or the foreign currency nonresident (bank) deposits raised during 2013 when India was in midst of a currency crisis. The weekly arrived amid the downfall of Indian rupee to as low as 68.22 to the dollar, its lowest since March 1 and not far from
a record low of 68.85 hit in August 2013, during the crisis. The currency however cut some of its losses to end at 67.96/97, compared with its close of 67.25 on Thursday. Reserves are likely to see some decline in coming months due to the FCNR redemptions. Over the medium term, we expect reserves to keep expanding, boosted by sustainable inflows such as FDI (foreign direct investment). Talking about Brexit' consequences on India, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India was ready to deal with the aftermath of the Brexit vote, citing its solid economy and planned government reforms. Rajan also touted the country's FX reserves as key defence against foreign investor selling.
PAGE 10
GT-R Drone designed by Nissan to match the updated 2017 GT-R
Image for representational purpose. (Photo: pictures.topspeed) Mumbai, Jun 27: Nissan has created one of the fastest accelerating FPV (first person view) racing drones in the world to match the updated 2017 GT-R. The GT-R Drone has been custom designed by World Drone Prix Champions Tornado XBlades Racing, and can hit 0-100 kmph in a mind-boggling 1.3 seconds! Both the machines will be on display at the upcoming Goodwood Festival of Speed. The drone outperforms the GT-R off the line but the supercar catches up with it soon after. This is because the drone has a speed of approximately 185 kmph, while the GT-R can hit 315 kmph. The GT-R Drone uses a special low-drag canopy on a race specification SkyHero quadcopter frame
and the lift comes via four propellers mated to 2000kV XNova motors. It is powered by a 1400mah lithium polymer 6s battery. The Nissan GT-R, on the other hand, is pulled by a 3.8-litre 24valve V6 twin turbocharged engine capable of producing 570PS and a blistering 637Nm of max torque. Power goes to all its four wheels. The Godzilla weighs 1752kg and hits 0-100 kmph in 2.9 seconds. The GT-R Drone took on the road-going supercar around the Silverstone circuit recently. The race saw Nissan NISMO driver Ricardo Sanchez take the wheel of the new GT-R with James Bowles, the 2015 British National Drone Racing champion, piloting the GTR Drone around a purpose-built 1.9 km course at the circuit. (Agencies)
Insufficient production of pulses led to spike in prices: Arvind Subramanian New Delhi, Jun 27: Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said undercultivation of pulses and their inadequate production have led to spike in prices, but vegetable prices have more to do with market forces than production. Besides, there has been a shift in dietary habit in which pulses have become core of food habits among the Indian people, but there was inadequate production to meet the demand, Subramanian told an international conference here. Under the circumstances, cultivation of pulses has to be increased to meet growing domestic demand, he said, adding the Centre has taken note of this and incentivised pulses' cultivation by raising the Minimum Support Price (MSP), besides taking other measures to encourage the farmers to produce such crops on preferential basis. Technology should have been put to better use to enhance cultivation of pulses' crops, he said. In the backdrop of surge in tomato price, he said fluctuation in vegetable prices was linked to market forces rather than cultivation. The markets should be made better to stabilize vegetable prices, he said. Subramanian also spoke on the need for strengthening the State's role in bridging fiscal relations between the rich and poor people and regretted low fiscal capacity of the country due to unusually low
base of tax payers. The ratio of voters to tax payers in the country stands at four per cent, but it should be 23 per cent for a country at its level of economic and political development, he said and suggested not increasing exemption limits could be a possible solution to augment fiscal capacity. As a legitimate tool to reduce gap between the rich and poor, the State should build a legitimate mechanism under which there should be delivery of public goods for all, but the bounties for well offs must be reduced and they should be taxed regardless of source of income, Subramanian said. Stating that the state is spending Rs 76,000 crore on the well offs by way of subsidy on kerosene (Rs 1,857 crore), railways (Rs 3,122 crore), electricity (Rs 26,370 crore), LPG (Rs 28,219 crore), gold (Rs 3,785 crore), aviation turbine fuel (Rs 762 crore), small savings (Rs 11,900 crore), he suggested such dole outs should be done away with. He also emphasised on spreading JAM, (Jan Dhan-AadhaarMobile) for financial inclusion of the poor people and said the government is moving in the right direction by spreading Jan Dhan and Aadhaar by creating three lakh and five lakh accounts respectively per day in 2015. He said the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in LPG was a big success. (Agencies)
AS A RESULT OF Under-cultivation of pulses and their inadequate production have led to spike in prices, but vegetable prices have more to do with market forces than production. Besides, there has been a shift in dietary habit in which pulses have become core of food habits among the Indian people, but there was inadequate production to meet the demand. Under the circumstances, cultivation of pulses has to be increased to meet growing domestic demand. Technology should have been put to better use to enhance cultivation of pulses' crops.
DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, JUNE 28
Features
PAGE 11
HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
LIFE: In the Watson way!!!! In today's society, portraying the concept of "sexy" is constant throughout media and the tabloids. We see half-naked men and women all over the covers of the latest magazines, yet what example is this setting for our youth? Adults try to keep their children away from the wrong examples that Hollywood portrays, yet how can one show their child the proper way to behave when all they see is great amounts of praise for celebrities that are famous for simply showing off their bodies such as Kim Kardashian. While many people find great importance in seeing "sexy" everywhere nowadays, others still find great importance in seeing "smart." So why can't we praise those who are able to knockout both smart and sexy at the same time? While "sexy" is constantly in the spotlight, the combination of smart and sexy together creates a more appropriate image for teens to look up to, rather than having nothing but appearance as what we see today. Pure "sexy" puts nothing but pressure and
stress on teens, especially as they may feel they have physical expectations to live up to. Rather than looking up to sexy models such as the ones that we see in the Victoria's Secret FashionShows, we should turn our heads towards the young women who have the ability to portray both smart and sexy, like Emma Watson. Many people know Emma Watson as Hermione Granger from the Harry Potterfilm series. Emma was cast the role of Hermione as a young, ambitious nine year-old, and now Emma is now 23! Most people don't know that Emma Watson was not born in England, and that she was actually born in Paris, France. Emma lived in Paris until she was five, and then moved to Oxfordshire following her parents' divorce. While in elementary school, Emma began taking acting classes at a theater arts school in Oxford where she learned to sing, act, and dance. However, before the filming of the Harry Potter films, Emma had never done any professional acting besides a few school plays. At the
age of ten, while in theater school, Emma and her peers were tutored on average five hours a day. She later took the GCSE school examinations in ten subjects where she received a total of eight A+ and two A's. The Harry Potter casting crew discovered Emma through her Oxford acting school, and her extreme confidence was what landed her the role as Hermione. The film was released in 2001 and broke records for opening-day sales and opening-weekend takings. Also, this was the highest-grossing film of 2001. The continuation of Harry Potter was a great success for Emma. The second movie release in 2004 created a great praise for Emma as she won two Otto Awards and the Child Performance of the Year award. After the release of the fourth Harry Potter movie, Emma had the opportunity to become the youngest person to appear on the cover of Teen Vogue. In 2007 Emma won the inaugural National Movie
Award for Best Female Actress. In 2008 Emma's modeling career began where she was lucky enough to partner with Burberry as the face of their autumn/ winter 2009 campaign, for which she received an estimated six-figure fee. September 2009 lead to the announcement of her involvement with People Tree, a Fair Trade fashion brand. She worked as a creative advisor for People Tree to create a spring line of clothing. Southern France and London inspired her styles. She also appeared in Burberry's 2010 spring/summer campaign. In February 2011, Watson was awarded the Style Icon award from British Elle by Dame Vivienne Westwood. Watson continued her involvement in fashion advertising when she later announced she had been chosen as the face of LancĂ´me in March 2011. While still filming the Harry Potter films, unlike many other actors and actresses, Emma chose to continue her education and go to college. Being as bright as she is, Emma did not
settle for online schooling or your basic university; Emma completed her education at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Emma is the prime example of smart and sexy as shown by her successes through her modeling career, acting career, and her ambition in education. Emma is the type of person that young girls should be looking up to because of her incredible qualities. Emma Watson has the dynamic combination of brains and beauty, which makes her such a great role model for women of all ages. Emma Watson at the Met Gala in New York City slayed the theme that was "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology". But what many people might not have known is that the actress donned a blackand-white, off-the-shoulder dress with pants underneath made of recycled plastic bottles. Calvin Klein and Eco Age worked with Watson to design the stunning and environmentally friendly gown. The star posted her thanks on
"In my nervousness for this speech and my moments of doubt, I've told myself firmly, 'If not me, who? If not now, when?'" (Photo: huffingtonpost)
Facebook along with a description of the clothing's purpose with the hashtag #30Wears, writing: "Thank you Calvin Klein & Eco Age for collaborating with me and creating the most amazing gown. I am proud to say it is truly sustainable and represents a connection
between myself and all the people in the supply chain who played a role in creating it. The body of the gown is crafted from three different fabrics, all woven from yarns made from recycled plastic bottles (!). Plastic is one of the biggest pollutants on the planet. Being able to
repurpose this waste and incorporate it into my gown for the #MetGala proves the power that creativity, technology and fashion can have by working together". In her role as a goodwill ambassador for UN Women, the actress had announced an initiative calling for new leadership, especially from universities and companies, to end the "persisting inequalities faced by women and girls globally". Impact 10x10x10 Initiative as part of HeForShe, was launched at the UN General Assembly in New York in a bid to get more men involved in helping fight for equality. Emma Watson delivered a powerful follow-up to her much-lauded speech on gender "It is my belief that there is a greater understanding than ever that women need to be equal participants in our homes, in our societies, in our governments, and in our work places. They know that the world is being held back in every way, because they are not. Women share this planet 50/50 and they are underrepresented, their potential astonishingly untapped." Courtesy: independent
WHO weighs emergency measures Herbs to Fight Arthritis Pain to stretch yellow fever vaccine In Angola, the worst outbreak of yellow fever in three decades may result in a vaccine shortage. If this happens, fractional dosing -- giving one-fifth the standard amount of vaccine -- could be used to control an outbreak of the viral hemorrhagic disease, according to a group of experts convened by the World Health Organization. In Angola, just under 3,300 people have been infected with yellow fever since December, and at least 347 people have
the WHO said in its latest report on the outbreak (PDF), released Monday. After reviewing all existing data, the WHO's advisory group, which was tasked with considering potential vaccine shortages, said that one-fifth the dose would still provide protection for 12 months, possibly longer. A standard dose of the vaccine offers lifelong protection against this disease, which is transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Symptoms include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vom-
Congo; as of June 20, the WHO had received reports of 1,106 cases (68 confirmed) with 75 deaths. Six additional countries -Brazil, Chad, Colombia, Ghana, Peru and Uganda - are reporting either yellow fever outbreaks or sporadic cases not linked to the Angolan outbreak, according to the WHO. Emergency vaccination campaigns to control the outbreak in Angola and its spread to Congo have placed unprecedented demands on the vaccine supply. More than 15 million
now because the vaccine, which is made by four companies, takes about 12 months to produce. The stockpile usually has 6 million doses of the yellow fever vaccine, but that supply has been depleted twice this year. Usually, only 4 million doses are needed to quell an outbreak in one country. This situation, the WHO said, is a first. The vaccine, which provides immunity within 30 days for 99% of people vaccinated, is safe and affordable. Abramson and his colleagues say more research is needed to see whether fractional doses would be effective in young children, who may have a weaker immune response to the vaccine. The vaccine was developed in the 1930s by Max Theiler, who earned a Nobel Prize for his work. It's been in use since 1937, and more than 650 million doses have been distributed in the past 75 years. The virus is endemic in tropical areas of 47 countries in Africa and Central and South America. Since 2006, more than 105 million people have been vaccinated in mass campaigns. According to the WHO, there are an estimated 84,000 and 170,000 severe Representational image (Photo: livestrongcdn) cases of yellow fever died. The outbreak began iting and fatigue. A small doses of vaccine have been worldwide each year, and in the capital city, Luanda, proportion of patients de- delivered to Angola and as many as 60,000 of those but has spread to at least velop severe symptoms, Congo, the WHO reported cases are fatal. 16 of the country's 18 and nearly half of these die on Wednesday. Formal recommendations provinces. The majority of within 10 days. "Right now, we have on the use of lower doses cases are among males be- Imported cases of yellow enough vaccines in the glo- of vaccine by the expert tween the ages of 9 and 19 fever through non-immu- bal stockpile to cope with committee are expected in years old. Health officials nized travelers have oc- the ongoing outbreaks if October. In the interim, it are concerned it could curred in three countries: there are no further exten- has found sufficient evispread to areas where the Democratic Republic of sions," said Dr. Jon dence that fractional dospeople are not vaccinated, Congo (59 cases), Kenya Abramson, chairman of ing could be effective to including the neighboring (two cases) and China (11 the WHO Strategic Advi- control urban outbreaks in countries of Namibia and cases). sory Group of Experts on situations of a temporary vaccine shortage. Practical Zambia. The outbreak of yellow fe- Immunization. "The massive vaccination ver in Congo was declared Given continuing infec- issues need further invesactivities have reached April 23. The total number tions in Angola and the tigation, though, including more than 10 million of suspected cases there ap- potential for an outbreak in obtaining suitable syringes people. However, new pears to have recently Kinshasa, Congo's capital to administer the vaccine, cases continue to be re- spiked. As of June 8, WHO city of 11.6 million people, which is injected into a ported, indicating that reports reflected only three experts have begun to con- muscle or just under the some pockets of unvacci- probable cases and 57 labo- sider a new dose-sparing skin. nated people still exist," ratory-confirmed cases in strategy. They have to plan Courtesy: edition
Arthritis symptoms can keep you from going about your everyday activities. The pain and swelling (inflammation) may still persist despite medical intervention. In an effort to gain relief and take a "natural" approach, more arthritis patients are seeking herbal remedies than ever before. Certain herbs may have anti-inflammatory properties that can help with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as well as the ability to reduce pain in all forms of the disease. Still, there is lack of scientific evidence supporting such claims. Before you treat arthritis the "natural" way, make sure you talk to a doctor first to avoid potentially lifethreatening side effects. Aloe Vera Aloe vera is one of the most commonly used herbs in alternative medicine. Known for its healing properties, it is popular for treating small skin abrasions. You may already have a bottle of aloe vera gel in the medicine cabinet from a past experience with sunburn for pain relief. This same type of product may be applied topically to soothe achy joints. Boswellia Boswellia is praised by alternative medicine practitioners for its anti-inflammatory capabilities. It is derived from the gum of boswellia trees, which are indigenous to India. Also called frankincense, this herb is thought to work by blocking leukotrienes. Leukotrienes are substances that can attack healthy joints in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. The NCCAM acknowledges promising evidence of boswellia in animal studies, but notes a lack of human trials. Boswellia is available in tablet form, as well as topical creams. Cat's Claw Cat's claw is another antiinflammatory herb that may reduce swelling in
arthritis. This herb is from a tropical vine, and its usage dates back to Inca civilizations. Traditionally, cat's claw is used to boost your immune system. In recent years, the immunity powers of the herb have been tried in arthritis. The downside is that cat's claw may overstimulate the immune system, potentially making arthritis pain worse. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center(UMMC), studies have shown that cat's claw can help with osteoarthritis pain and RA swelling. However, there's no proof that this herb can prevent further joint damage. Eucalyptus Like aloe vera, eucalyptus is widely available in western markets. It is used in oral medications, and topical oil extracts are used for a variety of conditions. Topical forms of eucalyptus leaves are used to treat arthritis pain. These plant leaves contain tannins, which may be helpful in reducing swelling and the resulting pain that arthritis causes. Some users follow up with heat pads to maximize the effects of eucalyptus on swollen joints. Ginger You may have ginger in your spice cabinet for cooking, but this herb is also a staple in many alternative medicine cabinets. The same compounds that give ginger its strong flavor are also the same ones that have antiinflammatory properties. The NCCAM says that early studies in reducing joint swelling with ginger in RA are promising. However, limited human trials have yet to prove the effectiveness of this treatment. Green Tea Green tea is one of the most popular beverages in the world, and has even been used to reduce inflammation in the body. It is possible that green tea can be used to treat arthri-
tis inflammation in the form of beverages, tablets, or tinctures. The NCCAM found in a 2010 studythat green tea might help both osteoarthritis and RA patients. Many more studies are needed to prove the potential benefits of green tea. Thunder God Vine Thunder god vine is one of the oldest herbs used in Chinese medicine. Extracts from skinnedroots are known for suppressing an overactive immune system, making thunder god vine a possible alternative candidate for treatment of autoimmune diseases such as RA. It is best used in topical form applied directly to the skin. Thunder god vine may
Willow Bark Willow bark is one of the longest-used herbs in treating inflammation. In fact, patients during Hippocrates' time chewed on willow bark to help treat inflammatory conditions. UMMC reports that the herb shows promise in relieving osteoarthritis-related joint pain, particularly in the knees, back, hips, and neck. This treatment is taken orally, either by tea or tablet. Getting the right dose is crucial, as an overdose can cause rashes and other forms of inflammation. Given the increased prevalence of herbal medicine, conventional doctors are more willing to assess the benefits of
Representational image (Photo: healthyliving)
work best when used with conventional RA medications. Use extreme caution with this herb, as it can be poisonous if extracts are derived from other areas of the vine. Turmeric Used in cooking to make curry, turmeric is a yellow powder made from the related flowering plant. Unlike other types of herbs, NCCAM has found that turmeric may work best in fighting joint pain when it is taken orally. Lab studies on rats have also found that this herb may slow the progression of rheumatoid arthritis. While relief may have been seen in animals, few human studies have been conducted with turmeric.
alternative remedies. When treating arthritis, some of these herbs may complement your current medications. It's important to understand, however, that herbs can even cause serious side effects. Discuss all arthritis treatment options with your doctor and don't stop taking prescribed medications unless instructed. Also, keep in mind that complementary medicine isn't exclusive to herbal supplements. Other complementary approaches to arthritis pain relief include: " massages " ice or heat packs " aerobic exercise " healthy diet Courtesy: healthline
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DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, JUNE 28
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Makum United FC trash Maotai FC by 5-0 Sports Reporter Dibrugarh, June 27: Makum United Football Club defeated Maotai Football Club, Arunachal Pradesh by 5-0 in the 8th Bodousa Cup Football tournament organised by Bodousa Sports Club in association with Assam Football Association at TDSA stadium in Tinsukia today. Altogether, 18 teams participated in the tournament. Makum United FC opened the account through Striker Ratan
Singh in the 37th minute while Sahajyoti alita made to 2-0 in the 56th minute. Kourab Sonowal came from the behind and netted the third goal for his team in the 65th minute. Ratan Singh ame strongly and scored his third goal in the 79th minute while the last goal was scored by Kourab Sonowal in the 90th minute. The players of Maotai FC tried their best to counter attack but they failed in their attempt because of their weak strat-
Chief guest L. Doungle, Addl.SP(Hq), Tinsukia & Arunjyoti Moran, president of Bodousa Sports Club shaking hands with players. Pic: Siddharat Singh
egy. Ratan Singh was adjudged man of the
match. omorrow, Bodousa Sports Club will
lock horn with Dibrugarh University.
Smith lauds `outstanding` 2016 season will help boost Windies Marsh post Caribbean cricket, believes CPL CEO tri-series triumph ANI
Steve Smith ANI Melbourne, June 27 : Australian skipper Steve Smith has lavished praise on his team-mate Mitchell Marsh after the latter's match-winning performance guided the side to a 58-run win against hosts West Indies in the ODI triseries final at Kensington Oval. Marsh finished with the figures of 3-32 in 10 overs and also contributed significant 32 runs in his side's innings of 270-9. Describing Marsh as `outstanding`, Smith admitted that he was quite impressed with the way the all-rounder used his bowling variation in the match. "There was a patch of grass where the ball was doing a few different things. We wanted the right-armers to hit that back of a length, try and get the ball to react differently and I thought the way Mitchell used his variations today was spot on," the 27-year-old was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. "He hit a beautiful area and let the ball do its thing. He got the ball through at quite good pace at times as well so it was nice to see him in
good rhythm,"Smith, who fell just four runs short of his half-century,added. Smith believes that Marsh has come a long way in the series and gained a lot of confidence from his overall performance. "He batted well the other day and I guess he's just going to gain a lot more confidence from what he did the other day and what he did today as well," the skipper insisted. Opting to bat first, Australia posted a difficult target of 271 runs, thanks to Mathew Wade (unbeaten at 57) and Aaron Finch (47). In reply, the Caribbean side were bundled out in 45.4 overs despite some resilient efforts by Johnson Charles (45) and Denesh Ramdin (40). Besides Marsh, Josh Hazlewood bagged five wickets while Adam Zampa and Nathan-Coulter Neil chipped in with a wicket each to help their side win the tri-series. Marsh was declared `man of the match` while Hazlewood was adjudged `man of the series`. Australia will now play their first series in Sri Lanka since 2011, starting from July 26.
Chile stun Argentina again on penalties to win secondstraight Copa America title ANI London, June 27 : Star striker Lionel Messi missed a penalty as Chile defeated Argentina 4-2 in a dramatic shootout to lift the second consecutive Copa America Centenario title at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Monday. After both sides failed to score goal in regulation time and extra time, Chile and Argentina were again taken to penalties to decide the winner. Chile striker Nicolas Castillo was the first to break the deadlock as he firmly struck the crucial spot-kick. Castillo's goal came after his teammate Arturo Vidal and Argentina's Messi missed their respective vital pen-
alties. Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano soon levelled the score before Charles Aranguiz netted a penalty kick for Chile to put them in lead again,the Guardian reported. Although Manchester United Sergio Aguero equalized the score for Argentina, Jean Beausejour and Jean Beausejour struck their respective penalties to ensure Chile lift another Copa America trophy. The victory brought back the memories of 2015 when Chile made history on home soil by defeating Argentina 4-1 in a dramatic penalty shootout to clinch the title in Santiago.
Port of Spain, June 27 : Damien O'Donohoe, CEO of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), believes that this year's tournament will be the biggest and best yet as the `biggest party in sport` welcomes some of the most illustrious names in world cricket. Dwayne Bravo's Trinbago Knight Riders will start their defence of the CPL title against the West Indies' World T20 winning captain Darren Sammy's St. Lucia Zouks at Queen's Park Oval on Wednesday. O'Donohoe, who was speaking at the launch of this year's CPL here in Harvard Cricket Club,said that the future of CPL is in good hands as the internationally renowned competition bids to extend its reach, both locally and globally in the weeks ahead. "The CPL continues to grow at a fast pace and we are hugely excited about the forthcoming campaign. Over the close season the team has worked hard to help deliver an outstanding product for our incredibly loyal supporters across all six teams. And with a new ter-
Of Abhinav Bindra, fear, pizza pole and Olympic gold PTI New Delhi, Jun 27 : Abhinav Bindra's insane search for perfection had pushed him to climb, as a simulation of sorts, a 40-feet high 'pizza pole' that saw him conquer his "fear" and go on to win a historic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Then 26, Bindra became the country's first individual gold medallist at the quadrennial extravaganza. Days before he would script history, Bindra tried to conquer fear that could "grip" him during an Olympic final, by attempting his hand at what the German special forces normally do. In a book titled 'My Olympic Journey' co-authored by journalists Digvijay Singh Deo and Amit Bose, Bindra said, "I had flown to Beijing from Munich. This was because a few days before leaving for the Olympics, I had decided to get out of my comfort zone and climb a pizza pole, also used by the German special forces. It is a 40-foot-high pole and becomes smaller as one nears the summit, with the platform at the peak the size of a pizza box. "I started climbing and halfway up decided I could not go on. But this was precisely the reason for attempting the task. I had to conquer fear, fear that could grip me during an Olympic final. I was scared out of my wits even though I was hooked to safety wires. I
Abhinav Bindra pushed on and finally stood trembling at the top." Bindra spoke as he recalled his exit at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens that left him in a state of shock. "... However, it (pizza pole) was an excellent experience as I was able to stretch the limits of my skill and endurance something that is definitely required of an Olympic champion." As he was bracing up for the finals in 2008, Bindra said his mind went back to Athens after a poor shot in the warm-up. "Before the final began, we had five minutes to warm up to shoot the ten most important shots of our life. My first shot in the warm-up was a 4. It was a great shock, and my mind immediately went back to Athens. The first shot in the final was a 10.7, pretty close to
bullseye. My experience in the previous Olympics at Athens had taught me a lot about detachment, and I drew from it. "I did not care whether I won the gold or not. The only concern was that I shoot well at the final. And as a result, those ten shots in Beijing were probably the best shots I have ever fired in my life. Even if I had not won a medal, there would have been no regret. "My last shot was a 10.8. The perfect shot in shooting is 10.9. When I finished, I didn't know the exact result, but somewhere at the back of my mind I was confident that I had done well. I had given it my all and was completely drained." While he was extremely relieved and at peace with himself after standing on top of the podium, the hullabaloo around left him drained. .
Neirong lifts Summer Football cup 2016 season will help boost Windies cricket, believes CPL CEO ritory opening up in Lauderhill, Florida from 28-31 July, these are exciting times for the growth of cricket in the West Indies," O' Donohoe said. "This year will be the most evenly-matched tournament that we've ever had. All six teams have recruited strongly across the international markets as well as in the West Indies' own thriving domestic competitions. With the introduction of the six 'marquee' players - AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Kumar Sangakkara and Shane Watson - in each of the franchises, it will undoubtedly add another di-
mension to the competitiveness and quality of cricket on show," he added. "After the heroics of the West Indies men's, women's and Under-19 world title winning squads in recent months, it is a golden era for cricket in the Caribbean and I have no doubt that the future of the game is in good hands. Each of our six teams will include an Under-19 representative, reaffirming our commitment to encouraging up-and-coming talent, while the addition of the ICC Americas representatives will also help extend CPL's reach across North America.
Neirong players with Winning trophy Namphal, June 27: In a superb finale of Summer Football Tournament for Girls 2016, Neirong team beats Namphainong team 3:1 to lift the champions trophy and cash prize of Rs. 10, 000 played yesterday at Namphai Government Secondary school ground. Namphainong
team, first runners up fetch home a cup and cash prize of Rs. 5000 while second runners up trophy and cash prize of Rs. 3000 went in favour of Old Plone. Individual prizes were given to best coach, best manager, highest scorer, best goal keeper and player of the tournament.
Altogether seven teams representing 7 local villages under proposed Namphai administrative circle participated in the 16 day hectic league tournament that kick started on June 10. Earlier Chief guest of the finale function, Changlang Zilla Parishad Chairperson Jowkhong Singpho addressing the jam packed audiences and players applauded Namphai Sports Committee for giving the girls the platform to demonstrate their hidden football talents. He also appreciated the general public for extending support to make the event a grand success. CO Namrata Bhatt, guest of honor said she was always overwhelmed to witness any event meant for Girls. She urged players to maintain sportsmen spirit and wished best team to win.
Hazard brands Belgium win over Hungary as his `best` performance ANI Paris, June 27 : After guiding Belgium to the quarter-finals of the Euro 2016, skipper Eden Hazard has dubbed his performance in the side's 4-0 win over Hungary as 'best' in his international career. Belgium remained in possession throughout the match, with defender Toby Alderweireld putting his
side ahead by scoring a header in the 10th minute. Striker Michy Batshuayi doubled his side lead in the 78th minute before Hazard struck a brilliant solo goal to put Belgium in a driver's seat. Yannick Carrasco then provided his side with a perfect finish by scoring a goal just few seconds before the full time.
Eden Hazard
Reflecting on his side's overall performance, the Chelsea star insisted that Marc Wilmots's men were almost perfect and that it is hard to improve on their display. "Maybe it was not the best opponent but they were still a tough side to play against. It will be hard to improve on the performance as it was almost per-
fect. We played well," the 25-year-old was quoted as saying by goal.com. Belgium will now lock horns with Wales for a place in the semi-finals of the European Championship. Describing their next opponents as `tricky`,Hazard observed that his side didn't manage to create many chances in their pre-
vious game against Wales and, therefore, called on Belgium to study them well. "Wales are a tricky side to play against; we met them in the qualification games. We didn't have many chances; they have a very compact unit and a great player up front. We will study them well," he added.
Chile manager Pizzi labels Messi as `the best player of all time` ANI New Jersey (US), June 27 : Soon after guiding Chile to their second straight Copa America Centenario title, manager Juan Antonio Pizzi has lavished praise on Argentina star striker Lionel Messi and described him as the 'best player of all time'. Pizzi's announcement came right around the same time when Messi was announcing his retirement from international football following
his country's 2-4 defeat at the hands of Chile in Copa America. Although Messi missed his crucial penalty kick in the final match, Pizzi's opinion about his fellow countryman remains the same. Admitting that he admires Messi, Pizzi believes it is very difficult to match the numbers that the Barcelona striker achieved during his career. "Because I know what it means to value certain
Juan Antonio Pizzi numbers and Messi's numbers are unmatched,
and I don't think they will ever be matched because
it's impossible for a player to find the things that Messi finds," Pizzi was quoted as saying by goal.com. The Chile coach also praised his side's successful defense of the Copa America title and said that his players helped them to become a strong national team, which can compete even with the best. After both sides failed to score goal in regulation time and extra time, Chile and Argentina were taken to penalties to decide the
winner. Messi, who was making his 112th appearance for the national side, missed his spot-kick in the dramatic penalty shootout as Argentina lost their fourth major final in nine years. Before two successive Copa America final defeats by Chile, Argentina were beaten 1-0 in the 2014 World Cup final by Germany. Messi's side had also suffered defeat against Brazil in the 2007 Copa America final.
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