9th september by THE EASTERN TODAY

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Vol. 1

Issue 98

Price -

Dibrugarh, Wednesday, September 9, 2015

5.00

Every Thursday & Sunday

Pages- 12

Union Finance Minister pledges support Over 1.5 million people on greenfield airport to Arunachal hit by floods in Assam

ET CAPSULES

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NSCN (K) cadre arrested

ET Bureau Itanagar, Sep 8

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Irked by frequent evictions by the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) and the District ○

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BSNL targets Rs.42,000 crore revenue generation by 2018-19

High Court upheld three months imprisonment of Tripura PCC president

State-run telecom operator BSNL aims to increase its revenues by almost 50 per cent to Rs.42,000 crore in the next four years as part

In a big blow to state Congress, four months ahead of the statewide civic polls, the division bench of the High Court of Tripura upheld the three

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China slowdown may have an impact on India China's economic slowdown will not affect India directly but the resultant global sluggishness may have a bearing on the Indian economy, a

any harassment. Addressing a press conference here today, a vendor Mr Chirup Warbah said, “We demand the government to provide vending zones in the city so that we would be free from ○

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president Smt Agnes Kharshiing, during 2010-11, the department had purchased only 500 capsules in the entire state to distribute among infertile males. However, in the subsequent year, the demand has jumped up to 20,075,00 lakh capsules. The capsules were meant to distribute to infertile males in the State, but it is not known whether the State government had conducted any study to know the number of infertile males who need to take this ○

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capsules. The information showed that during 2010-11, the money used to purchase the capsules come only at Rs. 20,12,500 lakh, while in 201112, it went sharply up to Rs. 7, 12,66,250 crore. Each packet of capsule cost Rs 355. Out of seven districts in the State in 2011-12, the East Garo Hills had received the highest number of 400000 lakh capsules, South West Garo Hills 350000, West Garo Hills 300000, West Khasi Hills 348000, East Khasi Hills

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200000, Ri-Bhoi district 7500 and the least the Jaintia Hills district which received only 2000 capsules. The Civil Hospital Tura in West Garo Hills received 10000 capsules. The government had allotted to Meghalaya Drugs distributors to supply capsules in the entire state. If someone takes into account the number of capsules purchased by the Meghalaya government, one might get the idea that majority of the males are infertile in the State.

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Truck burned in Golokganj

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tion to achieve the revenue target fixed by the Government in the Tezu Division. Therefore, on account of pending amount which is hampering the PHE & WS Department from earning their desired revenue, Deputy Commissioner Tamiyo Tatak has issued a circular informing all the District Heads of Offices, other office branches of both

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Tezu, Sep 8

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Due to default in payment of water bills by various employees and government establishments, both State and Central, the Department of Public Health Engineering and Water Supply finds itself in an odd posi○

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any harassment by the authority”. As per the Meghalaya Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street

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Administration of East Khasi Hills, a group of hawkers in Shillong have come out to demand provision of vending zone as per the law passed by the Meghalaya Assembly with regard to freeing them from

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Tezu Division among worst payer of water bills

Frequent evictions irks hawkers, demand vending zone in Shillong Dmuising Khongirem Shillong, Sep 8

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In a release, the government of Arunachal Pradesh ordered Tahang Taggu, IAS (AGMU:99) to hold the charge of Commissioner (textiles and handicraft) with immediate effect and until further order in the interest of public service. Consequent upon the above, Shurbir Singh IAS (AGMU: 2004) has been relieved from the charges of Secretary (textiles & handicrafts) with immediate effect, as per order by Chief Secretary, Itanagar. ○

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Contd. on Page 4

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ET Correspondent Naharlagun, Sep 8

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Contd. on Page 3

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In what may be surprising, the Directorate of Health Services of the Meghalaya government had spent almost Rs. 7 core to purchase Zy 10 forte (male infertility) capsule during 2010-11 and 2011-12 under the centrally sponsored scheme the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). As per the RTI information filed by Civil Society of Women Organisation (CSWO) ○

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Seventy-three houses were washed away affecting at least 103 families in two villages of Arunachal Pradesh in the recent wave of flood triggered by incessant rain. The houses were washed away in the two villages of Lower Dibang Valley district while a lift water tank at Anpum village and a hanging bridge at Loklung village connecting agricultural fields were also damaged, Paglam Circle Officer Tatling

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Pertin said in a report today. "A relief camp is being set up at Anpum School ground for the flood victims. Though the water level has receded but erosion is still continuing. Many villagers have been dismantling their dwelling houses for fear of being washed away by flood water," Pertin said. The district administration has lifted 94 bags of rice and essential medicines to Dambuk, the ADC headquarters, he said.

Agencies Itanagar, Sep 8

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73 houses washed away in two Arunachal Pradesh villages

Arunachal govt appoints new textiles and handicrafts commissioner

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Dmuising Khongirem Shillong, Sep 8

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Chief Minister Nabam Tuki has expressed happiness that the new-found enthusiasm of sports persons of the state is yielding results in terms of bagging medals in competitions and bringing laurels for the state at national and international levels. In a statement this evening,

proud of him. He has opened up the account for India in the prestigious Championship and I am sure other sports persons from the country would follow suit,” he said. The Chief Minister also congratulated Teli Jermin, Namdu Lapung and Kamdo Boi who won Gold and Bronzes respectively in

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the Chief Minister showered praises on young weightlifter Jimjang Deru, who added another feather to his cap by winning a Gold in his weight category in the ongoing 5th Commonwealth Youth Games at Apia, Samoa – the first Gold for India in the Championship. “Young Deru has been showing exemplary consistency in his chosen field of sport. The people of Arunachal Pradesh and the country are

ET Correspondent New Delhi, Sep 8

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malayan snow melt and monsoon rain, has been overflowing in many areas along its course. It has submerged over 2,000 low-lying villages as well as large swathes of agricultural land in 16 of Assam's 23 districts which include Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji. India usually experiences monsoon rains from June to September, which are vital for its farming.

Meghalaya spent around Rs. 7 crore to purchase male infertility capsules

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Arunachal CM hails sports persons of the State

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Authorities in Assam are struggling to respond to massive floods which have affected more than 1.5 million people and forced more than 200,000 people to seek refuge in relief camps, senior government officials said on Monday. Heavy monsoon rains in the tea and oil-rich state have caused burgeoning rivers, including the mighty Brahmaputra, to burst their banks, killing more than 50 people this year, including 15

Contd. on Page 4

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State and Central establishments in Tezu, Sunpura and Wakro for early clearance of their respective pending bills to avoid further action by the appropriate authority which may include penalty and service disconnection against non-payment of their respective water supply bills. The default institutions include Schools, Hostels, and Offices etc. (DIPRO) ○

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Forest Minister visits Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary

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people in the past week. Assam's Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the state was unable to provide adequate assistance to flood-hit villagers as it did not have enough resources and called on the federal government in New Delhi for more support. "We need urgent assistance and relief materials for the flood affected people from the central government. We have exhausted all our limited resources. We are in a helpless situation," Gogoi told reporters. The Brahmaputra, Assam's main river which is fed by Hi-

ET Bureau Guwahati, Sep 8

Dalim Phukan Morigaon, Sep 8

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Contd. on Page 3

Golaghat, Sep 8: In the wake of allegations of rape by a daughter studying in class IX of Dhruba Nagar area in Golaghat against her own father, creating an up roar in the area among the denizens, the father Badal Chandra has been arrested after the local people lodged a complaint at Golaghat PS. However, the people are now worried about the girl's future as her mother too fled last year with a youth. (Correspondent) ○

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According to Buddhist tradition, it is believed that if you sincerely wish and pray for peace in the world, it truly comes about. And, it has been a tradition among Buddhists to pray for world peace out of compassion. They often come together in a congregation for

Father arrested after daughter alleges rape

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ET Correspondent Diyun, Sep 8

Golaghat, Sep 8: Under the auspices of Salesian of Don Bosco Dimapur Province a degree college at Don Bosco Church premises named as Don Bosco College Golaghat was inaugurated today by the Chief Guest Alak Buragohain Vice Chancellor of Dibrugarh University. Father Nestor Guria delivered the welcome speech and Father Dilip Bara spoke about the college. Sister Mary Antony and Sister Daisy Jacob also delivered speeches. Prayer Dance and Welcome Chorus were presented in which songs of Sudhakanth Bhupen Hazarika were sung by the students as a tribute to the legend. A street play presented by students of Jorhat was highly appreciated. Afterwards, Father Jose Palely gave vote of thanks. The programme ended with the rendition of the Axom Anthem. The programme was coordinated by Bornali Nath Dowerah and Himadri Dutta. (Correspondent)

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Praying for World Peace at Diyun

Don Bosco College inaugurated

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Assam Forest Minister Atuwa Munda along with the top officials of forest department paid a visit in the flood ravaged Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Morigaon district

today and took stock of the post flood situation at the sanctuary. It may be mentioned here that the whole of Pabitora Sanctuary was inundated by the Brahmaputra flood last week forcing the wild animals Contd. on Page 4

Kabir Mondal, Dhubri, Sep

Communal tension prevails in Golokganj area as frenzy mob set a truck on fire after unloading cattle from it following an incident at Raipur where a piece beef was recovered from the premises of Manasa Debi temple today. Two more cattle laden trucks were stopped by the mob which were later seized by police. Three persons including a driver of the truck were arrested by police.

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India and Food Safety Food safety is a serious public health concern in the world's two most populous countries, China and India. In both countries, the challenges of feeding a large, geographi-

BUSINESS

REGION

NEIGHBOURS

EDITORIAL

of the Modi-government's plan to turnaround the loss making firm by 2018-19. The company's revenues stood at Rs.28,000 crore during the last financial year (2014-15). "We have prepared a detailed plan as per which BSNL should turn profitable in 2018-19. At present

months' jail term handed down to incumbent PCC president and Congress MLA Birajit Sinha. Sinha, in a 2004 case in which two persons including his personal guard was killed and equal number injured, was found guilty of possessing more ammunition than entitled along with his licence revolver.

state-run thinktank here has said and called on the two Asian giants to work on "complementary approaches" to protect their interests. "The Chinese actions will affect the developed economies enormously, as has already been observed.

cally dispersed population, millions of whom are poor and malnourished, are immense. This has led to the proliferation of illegal, dishonest, and bootleg suppliers and slipshod government policies. The results are detrimental to public health, particularly for vulnerable communities.

Jewellers’ buying triggers gold recovery by Rs. 110 New Delhi, Sep 8

Snapping its 3-day fall, gold prices recovered Rs. 110 to Rs. 26,840 per 10 grams at the bullion market on Monday on emergence of buying by jewellers Contd. on Page 4

THE RECOVERY AFTER THE FALLS ØGold prices recovered Rs. 110 to Rs. 26,840 per 10 grams at the bullion market. ØSilver eased Rs. 325 to Rs. 35,250 per kg due to reduced off-take by industrial units and coin makers.

ØGlobally, gold dropped 0.4 per cent to $1,117.89 an ounce in Singapore. ØThe precious metal had lost Rs. 330 in the last three trading sessions. ØSilver coins, however, ruled steady at Rs. 51,000 for buying and Rs. 52,000 for sale of 100 pieces.

cmyk

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Sonari, Sep 8: Normalcy returned to Ratanpur tea estate in Sonari today after Monday's unrest with the intervention of the Charaideo sub divisional administration. A tripartite meeting was held today at the office chamber of Naranarayan Nath, SDO (C), Charaideo in which representatives of the garden's management and workers representative were present. It was decided that the garden management will solve the problems of the workers in a phased manner, on the other hand, the workers representatives too assured that there would be no repetition of Monday's incident in future. (Correspondent)

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Normalcy returns to Ratanpur TE

People with domestic animal crossing flood affected area of Mayang in Morigaon. Pic - UB Photos

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Contd. on Page 3

ØArun Jaitley has assured that the Centre will provide all possible support to the state for fast tracking the process to set up the Greenfield Airport at Hollongi.

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ØOram advised the chief minister to improve sports infrastructure in the state to enable the talented tribal youth to develop their potential in various disciplines and assured his support towards the same.

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Margherita,, Sep 8: NSCN (K) Laong Laway Sankey apprehend by me & staff on today from near Ledo railway station while he was coming for collecting demand money. (Correspondent)

ØMeanwhile, Minister of State for Power Piyush Goyal informed that his Ministry is co-ordinating with agencies such as Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and Central Water Commission (CWC) to expedite the issues related to the hydropower projects in the state while stating that the Centre is committed to exploit the hydropower potential in greater national interest.

ØAlso, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram asaid that he will expand the presence of Eklavya Model Residential Schools in the state and instructed his officials to examine the status of the said project at the outset.

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Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has assured Arunachal Pradesh that the Centre will provide all possible support to the state for fast tracking the process to set up the Greenfield Airport at Hollongi. The assurance came when Chief Minister Nabam Tuki met Jaitely in New Delhi last evening, an official statement said here today. While agreeing to the fact that the absence of an Airport in Arunachal Pradesh is an impediment towards allround development,

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IN SUPPORT OF ARUNACHAL

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DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

Meghalaya BJP dares Congress Govt on Mining Plan ET Correspondent Shillong, Sep 8: The Meghalaya State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has termed the MUA-II Government led by Congress as incompetence as the latter failed to frame Mining Policy even nearly two years after the direction from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). In a statement issued here on Monday, the BJP General secretary Mr Dipayan Chakraborty dared the Congress government in the State to hand over the matter to the party so that the party can pursue the issue with the central government. The BJP questioned the Government’s failure to come up with the Mining Plan even as the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had already directed the State Government months back. “It is unsure when will the State Government be able to make Mining Plan”, Chakraborty said adding,

"the inefficiency of the Government led to the undue delay and the people of the State had to suffer. “If the government cannot make Mining Plan, give it to us to pursue with the central government”, State BJP general secretary said. He said that the NGT has already outlined the need for Meghalaya government to prepare a comprehensive mining guidelines/plan on the lines of environment protection and in the absence of such plans further mining of coal would not be allowed. According to Mr Chakraborty, there is no single sign that the State government is moving forward and has no clue on how to move forward on this issue. “The Chief minister Dr Mukul Sangma who looked after the mining dept is answerable for inaction for almost 15 months after the direction of the NGT”, he

Young Rubik's cuber from Guwahati becomes a world champion ANI Guwahati, Sep 8: Youth from the Northeast have been making India proud at different international sporting championships. One such young achiever from Guwahati, Kabyanil Talukdar, recently won gold at the Rubik's Cube World Championship in Brazil. The 15-year-old from Guwahati is happy after winning gold at the Rubik's Cube World Championship held at Sao Paulo in July this year. He became a world champion in 3*3 Rubik's Cube blind folded category with a timing of 24.86 seconds. The Championship was organized under the aegis of World Cube Association. Kabyanil, who also plays chess, developed an interest in Rubik's cube in 2012 during a train journey from Delhi. Since then, he has gone on to win many national accolades in the game. Kabyanil said that the competition at the championship was tough. "This competition was the toughest in my whole career. I have been associated with this game for two and half years. In the last world championship, I was not able to solve the cube blindfolded

but this time in Sao Paulo, I won the event. So, it was quite successful for me," he said. The game which is relatively new has a huge scope for becoming popular as it doesn't require much investment and is a good mental exercise as well. Kabyanil has also been organizing workshops and competitions in the city to popularize the game among youngsters. Kabyanil's father, Hariprashad Talukdar, urged the youth to take up such sport. "If every parents started buying Rubik cubes for their kids, it will be really good as there is not much financial involvement but it is a good mental exercise. Children waste their time by playing games on mobile /computer or watching cartoons on television," he said. "Instead of that if they practice this for 1-2 hours every day, it will develop their mental stamina and benefit students a lot," he added. Youth in the Northeast display a natural inclination towards a variety of sports and have been bringing laurels for the country. Achievers like Kabyanil also serve as an inspiration for the youngsters in the region.

said. The failure of the State government to come up with the Mining Plan had wreaked havoc on the people of the state, where thousands have been affected due to the ban on mining of coal, limestone in the State.

Bangladeshi minorities to stay in India without papers' Dhaka, Sep 8: The Indian government has decided to allow minority refugees from Bangladesh and Pakistan to stay in the country even after expiry of their visas. "The central government decided, on humanitarian considerations, to exempt Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to minority communities who

have entered India on or before December 31, 2014, in respect of their entry and stay in India without proper documents or after the expiry of relevant documents," said the report.According to the statement, the decision has been taken under Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and Foreigners Act, 1946.The government also

List Of Phone Numbers Of Nursing Homes Tinsukia City Hospital & Research Centre Category: General Hospital Hospital Address: Gnb Road Near Bujhuri-786125, Assam Pin Code :786125 Phone Number :0374-2333349 Fax :0374-2350026/2339974

Dr.Bawaris Nursing Home Jeevan Jyoti Nursing Home Category: General Hospital Category: General Hospital Hospital Address: Parvathiya Road Hospital Address: Parbatia,Opp Hindi Girls High School-786125, Assam Tinsukia-786125, Assam Pin Code :786125 Pin Code :786125 Phone Number :(0374)2339756 Phone Number :0374-2336319 Fax :0374-2335334 Fax :0374-2350131

Pinewood Hospital Category: General Hospital Hospital Address: Subothoni Road Moniam Dewan Nagra-786125 Pin Code :786125 Phone Number :0374-2300730 Fax :0374-2339730

Help-Line APST BUS SERVICE Ph: 0360-2212338, 0360-2351490 NIGHT SERVICES Name of Routes Departure Distance(km) Bus Fare 1) Itanagar- Shillong ( Daily service) 5:00 pm 510 460/2) Itanagar-Nyapin(Mon, Thu, Sat) 2:00 pm 325 400/3) Itanagar- Aalo (Daily service) 2:30 pm 325 350/4) Itanagar-Daporijo (Daily service from Nlg)12:00 noon 432 470/5) Itanagar - Yingkiong (Alternate day) 01.00 pm 436 550/6) Itanagar - Seppa (Alternate day) 12:00 noon 385 420/7) Itanagar - Khonsa (Sun, mon, wed, thur) 1:00 pm 677 620/8) Itanagar - Namsai (Daily service) 1:00 pm 655 580/9) Itanagar - Koloriang (Alternate day) 2.30 pm 334 400/DAY SERVICE 10) Itanagar - Guwahati (Daily service) 6.00 am 395 350/11) Itanagar - Pasighat (Daily service) 6.00 am 270 250/12) Itanagar - Tirbin (Mon, thu & sat) 5.30 am 328 330/13) Itanagar - Bomdila (Daily except Fri) 6.00 am 346 320/14) Itanagar - Aalo (Daily service) 5.30 am 325 350/15) Itanagar - Sagalee (Sun, Tues & Thur ) 7.30 am 121 135/16) Itanagar - Pakke Kessang (Mon, Wed & Fri)7.00 am 160 200/17) Itanagar-Mengio (sun, tue &Thur) 6.00 am 198 230/18)Itanagar-Kimin/ H-Camp (Daily except Sat)12.00 noon 94 80/19) Itanagar-Gerukhamukh (Daily except Fri)12.00 noon 134 120/20) Itanagar- Balijan (Daily except Sun) 12.30 pm 105 105/21) Itanagar - Sonajuly (Daily except Sun) 01.00 pm 70 80/22) Itanagar - Jote (Daily except Sun) 07.00 am & 01.00 pm 22 30/23) Itanagar- Lakhimpur (Daily Service) 3.30 pm 64 70/-

List of hospitals in Dibrugarh with contact details & phone numbers, Assam Bordoloi Avenue, Paltan Bazar, Dibrugarh - 786005 Phone Numbers: 0373 - 2302219, 2302225

G M Hospital

Shrishti Hospital & Research Centre Paltan Bazar, Dibrugarh - 786 005 Phone: 0373 - 2300024, 2302099

AMC Road, Jalan Nagar Dibrugarh - 786 005

Archana Trauma & Orthopaedics Hospital

Brahmaputra Diagnostics & Hospital

Paltan Bazar, Dibrugarh - 786 005 Phone: 0373 - 2302100, 2302099

Near Indian AirLines City Office Paltan Bazar Dibrugarh - 786 005 Phone Numbers: 0373 - 2303476

Assam Medical College

Marwari Arogya Bhawan Hospital Paltan Bazar, Dibrugarh Phone: 0373 - 2302872, 2302051

Graham Bazar, A.T. Road Dibrugarh Phone: 0373 - 2322547

Jalan Nagar, Dibrugarh - 786 002 List of Phones numbers: Emergency Room : 0373 - 2300627 Labour Room: 0373 - 2300022 Drug Deaddiction Centre: 0373 - 2302952 Community Medicine: 0373 - 2302994 RIA Centre: 0373 - 2302093

Sanjivani Diagnostic & Hospital

Dr. Pawan Bajaj's Skin Clinic

Aastha Hospital

Paltan Bazar, Dibrugarh Phone: 0373 - 2303448, 2303458, 2301904

Sankardev Hospital Mancotta Road, Chowkidinghee Dibrugarh Phone: 0373 - 2327717, 2327715, 2326960

cluding issuance of Long Term Visa (LTV) for these refugees have been initiated, it said.There are 400 Pakistani Hindu refugee settlements in cities like Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Jaipur. Hindu refugees from Bangladesh mostly live in West Bengal and northeastern States added the report. (Agencies)

ASTRO FOR YOU An enterprising day. The stars say you may visit an ancient place. A museum, perhaps, or a historical place. But your health may require some attention. If so, it’s a good idea to spend an evening by yourself. Be prepared for taking instant decisions and acting promptly on them. Today you are likely to meet several such situations but you have the acumen and experience to deal with such contingencies. You will have no trouble finding the right solutions and seeing things through. Your exemplary managing skills will be noticed, appreciated and admired. Others are likely to come to you for consultation and advice. Your desire for a clean house will reach the level of obsession. You may plan to wash your car, clean your yard and arrange your wardrobe. And you don’t trust the housemaid with any of the chores, because no one can clean the house better than you. Personal hygiene will also get your full attention. Watch out for winds of change and act accordingly. Your task will be easier if you adjust to circumstances. Fun and entertainment are today’s password. In the social sector business, you will have success. This is the right time to enhance social prestige. You are advised to be more attentive to your work today. You will try to do the best work possible by putting in your maximum efforts. However, the results might turn out to be lower than your expectations. You need to be wary of excessive expenses or financial loss today. You need to escape losses today by keeping your wits above you. In all likelihood you will indulge in some writing or artistic work, which will bring about wonderful results. As you are passionate about these things, you may convert them into your hobbies, if you are not involved in them as a professional. There are chances that today you might start some long-pending renovation project for your house. You may decorate your home with new paintings and items. There may be guests over in the evening that will make you very happy. You may also go out for dinner with your family and friends or, more probably, with your sweetheart. The one thing that we neglect the most about ourselves is health. But today you are unable to do that. Your health needs to be paid enough attention as you may be suffering from ailment/s. Try to regularise your routine along with healthy food and regular exercise. You are all set to groom your skills as a professional. Talking about work, determination and dedication are likely to rule you today. Putting your heart and soul, your work speaks volumes about your efforts. Appreciation, though slow in pace, is on its way to encourage you. You’ll have apparently no time for anything else, as partnerships and projects will keep you on your toes. Your communication skills and diplomacy will fetch you accolades in meetings, and also enable you to judge a person or a situation correctly, and form the right opinion. The efforts you have in the past may come to fruition today. Today is the day to turn dreams into reality and how! With your talent, wit, and intelligence you will make a great impression on everyone’s mind. Icing on the cake will be the cash inflow. You know your cards and you play them well to your advantage. There may be a catch though, keep yourself guarded.

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

phones starting Rs.1,000 and smartphones priced up to Rs.13,000 to Rs.14,000. (Agencies)

Aditya Diagnostics & Hospitals

claimed that there has been no exact numbers of minority refugees from these countries but officials put the figure of around two lakh Hindu and Sikh refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan living in India.Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi government came to power in May last year, several steps in-

You will communicate with your friends or relatives living abroad today. There is a chance that these communications could translate directly into substantial gain for you. You will find yourself in the mood for socializing. You will most likely invite friends over to dinner at your place in the evening.

Pixel V2 smartphone launched by Lava Mumbai, Sep 8: Lava International Ltd., a leading Indian mobile handset company, has launched Pixel V2, a smartphone that comes with superior photography features. The second product in the Pixel series, this smartphone is priced at Rs.10,399. "It has been designed by our inhouse research and development (R&D) team keeping the growing trend of smartphone photography in mind. At this price point, the Pixel V2 will compete with many Indian and MNC mobile phone manufacturers," said Navin Chawla, Senior Vice-President and Head Product, Lava International Ltd. This phone is 4G enabled and will be available in Icy White and Royal Black colours across retail outlets and multi-brand outlets across India. From September 15, 2015, the phone will be available online. The phone features a 13 MP rear camera with dual LED flash and an 8 MP 'selfi' camera with LED flash. Lava has roped in fashion photographer Subi Samuel for this product. "The smartphone segment in India is growing exponentially, driven primarily by the youth. With smartphone becoming an indispensable part of their lives, camera becomes so much more important. The youth today wants to capture social moments in their life and share them instantly in their social circle," Mr. Chawla said. In India, it sells both feature

issued two notifications in the Official Gazette Monday under Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and Foreigners Act, 1946, adds the report.The issue of regularisation of entry and stay of such Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals in India has been under consideration of the central government, the statement said.The report

Paltan Bazar, Opposite Aditya Hospital Dibrugarh

Dr Damani's Nursing Home Near Circuit House, Dibrugarh Phone: 0373 - 2300928, 2302873

Phone No.-03732325456 E-mail -dibrugarh@air.org.in Facebook Page-All India Radio Dibrugarh Programme Highlights 9-9-15 (WEDNESDAY)

5-35 A.M-Bhaktigeeti(Devotional Songs) 6-10 A.M-Swasthya Charcha (Health Programme) 6-15 A.M-Hindi Language Lesson 6-30 A.M-Bidyarthir Anusthan 7-15 A.M-Aajir Dinto (Morning Information Service) 7-30 A.M-Geetanjali(Assamese Modern Song) 8-35 A.M-Surar Panchoi(Composite Programme of Assamese Film Songs) 9-05 A.M- Antara(Composite Programme of Hindi Film Songs) 12-05 P.M-Surar Satsori 2-30 P.M-Western Music Programme 3-45 P.M-Programme in Miju Mishmi 4-05 P.M-Programme in Khamti 4-25 P.M-Programme in Wancho 4-45 P.M-News for Arunachal Pradesh 5-00 P.M-Programme in Idu 5-20 P.M-Programme in Tangsa 5-40 P.M-Programme in Nocte 7-15 P.M-Karpumpuli 7-35 P.M-Ujjwal Bhabishyat 8-00 P.M-Parikrama 9-30 P.M-KRAMASHA: (Serial Novel Reading)-Novel"Mouno Ooth Mukhor Hriday",Written by Yeche Dorje Thongchi Sd-/H.O.P

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DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

DC warns Ponzi scheme operators, Beena Ghose Roy Award goes to Solina Kambrai cautions gullible public Khonsa, Sep 8: The Deputy Commissioner of Tirap district Ravi Jha through a circular on 3rd September said that he had received complaints related to operation of Ponzi schemes in Tirap and Longding districts adding that Ponzi schemes were illegal Multilevel Marketing schemes which were run with the sole purpose of attracting the gullible public

by promising high returns. He said that the agents try to rope in as many investors as possible to accumulate more money. The Deputy Commissioner cautioned the innocent public of the district not to indulge in such fraudulent schemes for which they may have to repent later. He told the people to report to the district administration if unscrupulous adver-

tisers or promoters were found anywhere in the district. The public can report to DC office: 03786222222 and SP office: 03786222261. It may be mentioned here that one recent complaint was received by the DC office in respect of RELIANT (INDIA) NIRMAN LTD. headed by one Ratan K. Dey and one Nirmal Karmakar. (DIPRO) ET Correspondent

Arunachal BJP holds Pt. Deen Dayal Maha Prashikshan Abhiyan Workshop

Wakro, Sep 8 : The DC, Lohit Tamiyo Tatak guided the youth and members of general public saying “Human life is beautiful and precious. One need to make the most of the time one has in life to achieve a sense of fulfillment.” He further cautioned the students not to get distracted during their academic pursuit and warned them of the ills of drug abuse and intoxicants. He

was addressing members of Panchayat Raj Institutions of Wakro, Heads of Govt Departments, teachers, students and youth in particular on the International Literacy Day celebrations at Wakro. He appreciated the Wakro general administration led by EAC Dakto Riba and local NGO for organizing the event. DC Tatak also gave away the Beena Ghose Roy Award for academic excellence to Solina

Candlelit march organized across changlang district

ET Bureau Itanagar, Sep 8: The Bharatiya Janata Party, Arunachal Pradesh held the Regional “Pt. Deen Dayal Maha Prashikshan Abhiyan Workshop” on 6th and 7th September, 2015 at Pine Ridge Hotel, Hapoli, Lower Subansiri District, Arunachal Pradesh, under the Chairmanship of Er. Tage Taki Hon’ble MLA, Shri Kuru Tai, President, Subansiri Frontier Regional Committee as overall Incharge and Shri Tilling Doley, District President, BJP, Subansiri Unit as Member Secretary. The workshop was attended by delegates from six Districts (Upper Subansiri, Kurung Kume, Kra Dadi, Lower Subasiri, Papum Pare and Itanagar) comprising of District office bearers and Morcha Heads, Mandal Presidents, General Secretaries, District & Mandal Pramukh and Sah Pramukh of Maha Prashikshan Abhiyan, the Hon’ble MLAs,

senior leaders, state office bearers and workers from across the Regional Committee. During the inaugural session, Er. Tage Taki gave the welcome address and asked the delegates to extract maximum benefits from the training and impart the same to the villagers and others. The State General Secretary and the State Training Incharge Adv. Dominic Tadar explained the importance of the party training and asked the party delegates to be attentive and maintain discipline during the training. He also took up the subject of History and Development of Bharatiya Janata Party as resource person and threw light on various related subjects. The State President Shri Tai Tagak while giving his Marg Darshan during the inaugural session, exhorted the party delegates to learn the prime idea of BJP. He also told the gathering that training is a

must to become a true cadre of BJP and they should take full advantage of the programme. Shri Tagak also as resource person, took up the subject on Our Working System and dealt at length on the various aspects of the party. Meanwhile, Shri RK Khrime Ex-Minister and Chief Spokesperson of the party spoke on the present political situation of the state and he impressed upon the party cadres to know the present political situation in the state. Shri Mitilesh Kumar spoke on Sangh Vichar Pariwar and told the purpose and movement of Rastriya Swayam Sevak (RSS). The programme was also attended by the State Vice President Shri Techi Necha, Shri Doni Nich National Secretary, Yuva Morcha, Shri Techi Tara General Secretary, Subansiri Frontier Regional Committee and other state and regional leaders.

Forest awareness programme conducted Bomdila, Sep 8: In yet another endeavour to educate and create awareness on the importance and need for preservation and conservation of forest and wildlife in the district, a day’s awareness programme was conducted at Bomdila today by the Bomdila forest division in collaboration with the NGO Green Saviour. The programme began with the cross country race themed ‘Run to save forests’ in the morning flagged-off by the local legislator Japu Deru and Superintendent of Police Dr. A. Koan. The Workshop was held in the later part of the day. In his inaugural address, MLA Japu Deru voicing against mindless cutting of forest, earth and extraction of stones said that not only the administration and the department of Forest but also the NGOs, PRI and public leaders, Gaon

Buras, officers and the educated youths have a vital role to play in preserving forest and wildlife in the area. He impressed on dissemination of information and asked the department to reach out to the people in the villages too so that afforestation works could be taken up on a large scale. Earlier, Deputy Commissioner AK Singh advocated for proper and hygienic disposal of wastes to minimize manmade disasters and to put an end to the practice of hunting and fishing. He attributed rise in human population and the reckless destruction of forest and the animal habitats as major reasons for environmental concerns and called upon all the stakeholders to address the issue jointly. Divisional Forest Officer Tasso Sira earlier presented a paper on ‘Forest and Environmental

education’ and summed up stating that tackling of environment concerns requires a personal commitment on the part of every individual. The technical session saw presentations by C Murli Krishan, Research Scholar, NERIST, on ‘Benefits of Wildlife and Wildlife Protection Act, Community participation for forest conservation’ by V K Jawal, DFO Bhalukpong and ‘Sacred groves and its protection’ by Lobsang Tsering Tashi, Research Scholar, NERIST. Thupten Jamba, an Assistant Professor from Government College Bomdila briefed on the ‘Environmental Concerns of India’. The technical session was followed by the interactive session mostly attended by the HoDs, NGOs, Gaon Buras, PRI and public leaders and the forest officials of the district. (DIPRO)

Kambrai. Solina is the best performer among APST students in government secondary school of Wakro. The DC lauded the girl child for her performance and exhorted the girls to excel in life through hard work, determination and leading a disciplined life. He also guided the boys to keep pace and improve their performance. Tamiyo Tatak, DC also visited the market area. He formally announced the “Clean and Green Wakro” campaign spearheaded by social leader Chinmay Panth. Under the programme it is targeted to sensitize the members of civil society to contribute in achieving a litter free clean and green environment. Families and institutions are expected to keep premises clean and maintain good drainage system. People have been encouraged to create soak pits where drainage is not available. Plantation drive has

been started with the Deputy Commissioner, Tezu planting a sapling near the statue of Mahatma Gandhiji in the market area. The DC appealed to all in the market to maintain a cordial and harmonious atmosphere and asked them to discourage and fight any criminal activities that will affect law and order. He lauded EAC Dakto Riba and ZPM Patam Rangmang for supporting the Clean and Green effort. Under the programme Wakro has been identified into six sectors and awareness campaign has already begun in right earnest. The circle administration has constituted a core committee to monitor the progress with Er Chinmay as the Chief and forester Mafelum Chikro as the Deputy Chief. The DC also met the leaders of Cultural and Literary Society of Mishmi in the sidelines of the International Literacy Day cel-

ebrations. Somadang Tawsik, Soleng Rangmang, Mafelum Chikro and Bakesum Tawsik of the CALSOM apprised the DC about the opium menace and challenge posed by drug abuse. Tatak assured the CALSOM delegation that the Lohit district administration will be always willing to support and partner any cause of public welfare. “Awareness on the ills of all types of addictions must be created in the public and govt will initiate all steps needed to check drug abuse to save the future generation” assured the DC. Meeting Apne Apyalu Mam and Apne Reshma Halai, DC Tezu lauded the 82 Mountain Brigade of the Indian Army for reaching out to the rural people by sponsoring education of children in need. The DC also visited the Primary Health Centre at Wakro.

Union Finance Minister pledges... Contd. from Page 1

Indrajit Tingwa Miao Sep 8: The All Changlang District Students Union (ACDSU) today organized a candlelight march simultaneously across the district in collaboration with other civil society organizations and NGOs to protest and condemn the heinous rape and murder of Late Thuking Tikhak, a first year student of Margherita College . At Miao, the Miao SubDivision Youth Organization extended support and organized the event alongwith Miao Mothers Association, APWWS Miao Unit, APYC, Students and Women Association of T.R.Camp, Muklom Elite Society, Muklom Employees Welfare Association, Miao Taxi Union and various SHGs. About a thousand people including students and public leaders participated in the candlelight march which started at 4 pm from General Ground. It covered Upper Colony and Lower Market Miao and culminated at the General Ground. Prior to starting the march, a two minutes silence was ob-

served by everyone who assembled at the Miao General Ground. It may be mentioned that the girl from Kamba village in Margherita Sub-Division, Assam was brutally raped and murdered by three labourers, supposedly, illegal immigrants on 30th August when she was returning from college. The culprits, Nuruddin Laskar, Sirajuddin Laskar and Faizur Rehman were arrested by Ledo police on 31 August but the voices demanding 'fast tracking' the trial and ensuring justice to the victim and her family has been growing ever since. The participants in the candlelight march also carried placards which read 'FLUSH OUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS'. The speakers at a brief meeting conducted after culmination of the march were unanimous in their view that illegal immigrants were the root cause of the heinous crime which occurred and expressed concern on the fact that many so called illegal immigrants have spilled over to Arunachal Pradesh too.

73 houses washed... Contd. from Page 1 A report from West Siang district said that incessant downpour in the past week has swelled the water level of Yomgo river which is flowing above the danger mark. Flood has left a trail of devastation at Liromoba area in the district. Paddy fields at Kambu village have been completely

washed away and more than 52 households of the area have been affected by nature's fury. Kambu is one of the most populated villages under Liromoba constituency which is yet to be connected by road. Local MLA Nyamar Karbak, along with ADC Niken Lollen, CO Sara Borang, EE WRD Tadam Kamcham, trekked to Kambu village from Rui village to assess the damage on Sunday.

Jaitley said that some kind of air connectivity should be provided even if it was on a smaller scale. They also discussed the setting up of the Film, Television and Animation Institute in the state which was recently announced by the Centre. Upon the invitation of the chief minister Jaitley has agreed to visit the state to lay the foundation of the Greenfield Airport and the Film Institute at Jote sometime in January next year, the statement said. Tuki also held a series of meetings with key central ministers and sought assistance on priority for over-

all development of the state. He also met Minister of State for Power Piyush Goyal and discussed the ways to strengthen and further the hydropower sector in the state. The chief minister apprised Goyal about the need to address issues like constitution of expert committee to expedite environmental clearances by the Centre and also touched on the continuing impasse over the Lower Subansiri hydro electric project. Goyal informed that his Ministry is co-ordinating with agencies such as Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and Central Water Commission (CWC) to expedite the issues related to the hydropower

projects in the state. He said that the Centre is committed to exploit the hydropower potential in greater national interest. Tuki met Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram and Oram said that he will expand the presence of Eklavya Model Residential Schools in the state and instructed his officials to examine the status of the said project at the outset, the statement said. He advised the chief minister to improve sports infrastructure in the state to enable the talented tribal youth to develop their potential in various disciplines and assured his support towards the same, the statement added.

Praying for World Peace at Diyun Contd. from Page 1 this purpose, and these congregations are most often than not led by experienced and proficient Buddhist monks. One such congregation is being held at Sadhanarama Bana Vihar (Jyotsnapur I Village), Diyun. It is a month long programme that started on August 29, 2015 which anybody is free to join. Every evening from 6 pm to 8 pm, a huge gathering is witnessed. Every evening, meditation session, Dhamma discourse, etc.

are held led by Venerable Nanda Pal Mahathero, a renowned Buddhist monk, along with the Bhikkhu Sangha (a congregation of monks) of the Sadhanarama Bana Vihar (Jyotsnapur I village), Diyun. The congregation prays for world peace in particular and for the happiness and well-being of all the livings on earth in general. Buddhists consider these kinds of congregations auspicious because at the individual level, participants believe that these prevent accidents, eliminate problems, difficulties, ill

omens, etc.; beneficial works both personal as well as community-based culminates in success as a result these while bad karma is wiped out off the way. On top of that participation in these kinds of congregation is believed to cultivate in the participants Maitri which is benevolence, good will and kindness; Koruna which is generally translated as compassion; Mudita which is sympathetic joy; Upekkha which is equanimity; and Ahimsa which means causing no injury, or doing no harm.

Arunachal CM hails sports persons... Contd. from Page 1 their age categories in the Sub-Junior National Judo Championship in Andhra Pradesh that concluded yesterday. He further congratulated Laa Takum for winning a Bronze in the All India Sub Junior Ranking Badminton Championship being held at Gulbarga, Karnataka. Calling upon all sports per-

sons of the state to aim for the highest, the Chief Minister assured that the state government will always support and provide necessary assistance to them to excel in their respective fields. Tuki reminded all of the ‘Mission Olympics’ programme adopted by the state government and reiterated that accolades in kind and cash won’t be limited to sports persons showing ex-

emplary achievements in national and international arenas. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also hailed the Sports Authority of Arunachal, Sports and Youth Affairs department, the Sangay Lhaden Sports Academy and various sports associations for successfully guiding and nurturing young sports persons of the state.

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Tezu, Sep 8: The 30th National Eye Donation Fortnight was observed in Lohit District from 25th August 2015 to 8th September 2015. A series of activities were undertaken during the fortnight. Essay writing Competition amongst the students of class IX & X of Government Secondary School, Teluliang on the topic 'Eye donation and its advantages' was conducted by the District Medical Office. Awareness message on eye donation through banner/pamphlets/posters etc; radio talks on nobilities of Eye Donation by ophthalmologist of District Hospital, Tezu on 7th September 2015 were part of the activities in the fortnight. An awareness meeting was organized at Government

Secondary School, Teluliang, involving teachers, students as well as staff members and para-medical staff of Medical Department under the chairmanship of Gautam Hazarika, SDO Tezu to create awareness on Voluntary Eye Donation and its advantages. The meeting was also attended by Dr. S. Chai Pul, DMO Cum District Program Officer (NPCB), Lohit, Dr. A. Wailing, Eye Specialist/Med. Superintendent, District Hospital, Tezu, Dr. S. Nayil, DRCHO, Tezu, Dr. U. K. Nath, DTO (RNTCP), Tezu and A. Kri, Head Master of GSS, Teluliang. G. Hazarika appreciated the District Medical Officer, Tezu for organizing the programme which will be of great service in sensitizing

the people on eye donation. He told the students and staff about that cornea or eyes can be donated after death. “By donating our eyes after death will let someone in need to see this beautiful world when we will not need our eyes anymore,” he said. “Hence we should be able to donate our eyes without any hesitation,” he added. He also asked the house to take preventive measures to prevent blindness and other diseases, and to avail the facilities available in the District Hospital for better treatment of diseases if any. Dr. S. Chai Pul also talked on the significance of eye donation and how this noble act can change someone’s life for good. She also added the preventive measures of eye to reduce blindness. She

encouraged the people to come forward and pledged for eye donation. Dr. A. Wailong, gave a detail description about Eye Donation, Blindness and its causes and prevention and told the students that the National Eye Donation Fortnight is a campaign which aims to create mass public awareness and to pledge their eyes for donation after death. A. Kri expressed and advised the teachers and students to be aware about eye donation and appealed to them to pass the message to the society. Further, he also requested the Medical Department to organize more awareness campaigns in the school so that teachers and students could get benefited. (DIPRO)

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DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

Bokajan scribes demand action against assault accused Sushanta Roy Diphu, Sep 8: Members of Bokajan Press Club staged a sit in demonstration in front of the office of the Sub divisional Officer (Civil) yesterday demanding immediate arrest of traders Santosh Jain, Bijoy Sing and Umesh Gupta for assaulting President of BPC Ananda Terang at a public place and branding him as member of a certain Karbi ultra organization last Friday. Both Bijoy Sing and Umesh Gupta have been accused as being Dimapur based antisocials who have taken refuge in Dimapur after perpetuating crime in neighboring Bokajan subdivision. The Bokajan

based scribes also submitted a separate memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police Karbi Anglong today in this respect at Diphu. It may be mentioned here that on the day of the incident, Ananda Terang was investigating a case at Sukanjan near Bokajann town at around 11.30 am when Santosh Jain, Bijoy Sing and Umesh Jain raised a hue and cry attracting the attention of about 200 shopkeepers and bystanders, and they smashed Terang's mobile hand set and camera and attempted to lynch him; Terang later managed to escape from the place and

reached the police station and registered a case against the three persons. However the trio also registered a case against Terang an hour later branding him as extortionist. The members of the BPC have alleged that the Bokajan police instead of arresting Santosh Jain, Bijoy Sing and Umesh Gupta forged a compromise with Terang under duress. It may mentioned here that Bijoy Sing and Umesh Gupta are known antisocials of Bokajan and are accused of more than seven criminal charges, and allegedly Umesh Gupta was released from legal custody only a few months back. The Ad-

ditional Superintendent of Police Karbi Anglong today acknowledged both the accused persons and assured the delegation of the scribe that a SIT (special investigating team) will be formed to monitor the case to ensure unbiased proceedings. During course of discussion the Bokajan scribes informed the senior police officer that the criminal network of Bijoy Sing and Umesh Gupta which smuggles illegal arms encompass Dimapur city of Nagaland which shares boundary with Bokajan. They urged the Nagaland authority to take steps against the two alleged antisocials.

Asom Sahitya Sabha observes Bhupen Hazarika’s central birth anniversary programme at Sonari “Protection of Assamese language and culture is in the hands of each and every Assamese” – Dhurba Jyoti Bora ET Correspondent Sonari, Sep 8: “Assamese language and culture is much richer than many other language and culture of various communities across India. The literary treasure of the state has been enriched by the many exponents of Assamese language and culture. At present due to the influence of western culture, Assamese culture too is facing great challenges. At this moment of crisis each and every Assamese will have to come forward and take responsibility to protect Assamese language and culture” – this was stated by Dr. Dhurba Jyoti Bora, President of Asom Sahitya Sabha during the ‘Setu Bandhan’ programme of the Sabha which was organized along with the central birth anniversary programme of music maestro Dr. Bhupen Hazarika in Sonari today. The 89th birth anniversary of the bard was organized by the Sivasagar Zila Sahitya

Sabha with a daylong programme today. Rather than asking what the Asom Sahitya Sabha has done for the protection of Assamese language and culture, each and every Assamese should himself or herself what he or she has done for the protection of Assamese language and culture; they will get the reply, he said in his speech. Dr. Bora also appealed to each and every Assamese to join the platform of Asom Sahitya Sabha and work for the protection of Assamese language and culture. Earlier, the education minister of Assam Sarat Borkotoky delivered his speech as guest of honour. The programme was anchored by Paramananda Rajbongshi, chief secretary of Asom Sahitya Sabha. Earlier, in the programme, members of the ‘Sur Bahini’ went around the nooks and corner of the town with their performance. Public obeisance was paid to the statue of Dr. Bhupen Hazarika in-

Bhupen Hazarika’s birth anniversary celebrated

ET Correspondent Jagun, Sep 8: Jagun Samanya Gusthi in association with the local public, celebrated the birth anniversary of Dr Bhupen Hazarika at a glittering function held today, in the Jagun Sahitya Sabha Bhaban. Mukut Borpatra Gohain Ex headmaster of Rampur Middle School in his speech as the chief guest waxed eloquence on the qualities of head and heart of Dr Hazarika. He said that Dr Hazarika is the greatest son of Assam who

is known the world over. The function had all the rituals of a birthday including cake cutting and presentation of songs by child artistes much to the delight of the audience. The programme was inaugrated by a Chorus song composed by Dr Hazarika, "Manuhe Manuhor Babe" as a sign of paying tribute to him. The delegates present in this ceremony were Hitesh Borah, Rishi Raj Sharma, Ganaga Chetri, Tikha Chetri among others.

Contd. from Page 1

and retailers at prevailing levels to meet the rising seasonal demand even as the metal weakened overseas. However, silver eased Rs. 325 to Rs. 35,250 per kg due to reduced off-take by industrial units and coin makers. Bullion traders said emergence of buying by jewellers and retailers at the existing lev-

Dikhowporia Sanmilit Yuva Sangha celebrates 89th birth anniversary of Late Dr. Bhupen Hazarika ET Correspondent Sivasagar, Sep 8: Dikhowporia Sanmilit Yuva Sangha celebrated the 89th birth anniversary of Late Dr. Bhupen Hazarika, the legendary musical maestro of the state, in line with the rest of Assam in Sivasagar town today. The social organization based in Thanmukh region of Sivasagar town has been celebrating the birthday of the legend since 1990 and from 2013 they had started to organize all Assam prize money

Bhupendra Sangeet Competition which has entered its third edition this year. The competition started at the auditorium of Sivasagar Natya Mandir in the morning after the hoisting of the organization flag by the president Ratan Saikia and the inaugural function by lighting the ceremonial lamps by Bibekananda Das, the Superintendent of Police of Sivasagar District. More than 80 participants from all over the state have taken part in the competition. Popular

Singer and Music director Mahendra Hazarika, Jayanta Nath and singer Vitali Das did the honours of judging the competition hosted by Bhaskar Jyoti Das. ONGC Assam Asset too participated in the event by co sponsoring it. The district administration of Sivasagar like in the past occasions assisted the organizers as partners. The organizers have brought out a souvenir with the title “Sudhakantha” to commemorate the occasion. There has been an ar-

rangement for a cultural programme soon after the competition and prize distribution was over with performances from Mahendra Hazarika and Vitali Das. The competitions were in full swing at the time of filing this report which is likely to be over late tonight. The music lovers appreciated the noble effort of the sociocultural organization towards paying homage to the bard and encouraging the youths to lean towards the musical way shown by the legend.

Lakhimpur celebrates Dr. Bhupen Hazarika’s 89th birth anniversary CM’s dream project Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Mukali Mancha inaugurated at Lilabari and Pachim Telahi stalled near the Sonari public pond. Apart from the guests, Naranarayan Nath, the SDO (C), Charaideo, Golap Konwar, former Principal of Sonari College were also present during

the programme. Later other cultural programmes and an exhibition were also held. The prizes of Dulal Chandra Borgohain Memorial Trust were also given during the programme.

54th Teachers' Day observed at Demow HCB Model English school Jaganath Gogoi Demow, Sep 8: The 54th Teachers' Day was observed at Demow HCB Model English school last Monday. The event was started at 10.30 am. The earthen oil lamp was lit by Luknath Gogoi Ex Principal of Demow Higher Secondary School. He said that a teacher in the present days has to face many obstacles

while showing the right way to a student. Attending the event as chief guest, Principal of Demow HS School, Ghana Gogoi said that teachers should lead the society in the right direction. On the other hand, the students of the school participated in various events in honour of their teachers including dances, songs, speech, jokes, etc.

AGP criticises Modi-led central govt ET Correspondent Golaghat, Sep 8: The recent policy that has been adopted by the Narendra Modi-led central government to protect illegal Bangladeshi migrants has been strongly criticised by Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). Today talking to reporters, Asom Gana Parishad's President Atul Bora stated that when the process of NRC update in the state of Assam is getting people's response, Modi govt's policy to consider il-

legal migrants who have entered India before 31 December 2014 as being legal on humanitarian ground is a threat to the nation and its integrity. Atul Bora said that this move of the Modi govt is a great insult to the historical Assam Accord as well as the people of Assam. Assam has suffered a lot due to the illegal migrant problem. AGP will always protest such kind of acts, he said appealing to the people of Assam to come forward to protest this move.

Jewellers’ buying triggers gold recovery by Rs. 110 els to meet wedding season demand mainly led to recovery in gold prices. They said, however, a weak global trend where gold held near its over 2week lows after the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to a 7year low, bolstering the case for a Fed rate hike this month, capped the rise. Globally, gold dropped 0.4 per cent to $1,117.89 an ounce in Singapore. In addition, a depreci-

Hit by erosion a father takes his son to hospital in Naharkatia. Pic - Debojit Sonowal

ating rupee against the dollar, making imports costlier, supported the upside in gold prices, they added. In the forex market, the rupee was trading at a two-year low of 66.85 (intra-day). In the national capital, gold of 99.9 per cent and 99.5 per cent purity rebounded Rs. 110 each to Rs 26,840 and Rs 26,690 per 10 grams, respectively. The precious metal had lost Rs. 330 in the last

three trading sessions. Sovereign, however, held steady at Rs. 22,300 per piece of eight grams in limited deals. On the other hand, silver ready fell Rs. 325 to Rs 35,250 per kg while weekly delivery shot up by Rs. 520 to Rs. 35,450 per kg on speculative buying. Silver coins, however, ruled steady at Rs. 51,000 for buying and Rs. 52,000 for sale of 100 pieces. (Agencies)

ET Correspondent Lakhimpur, Sep 8 : In line with the other parts of the state, the 89th birth anniversary of Bhupen Da (Dr. Bhupen Hazarika) was celebrated across the District of Lakhimpur. The fans of the music maestro remembered him with deep reverence and devotion in the District. As a part of the celebrations, Lakhimpur District Administration and the other organizations organized magnificent programmes across different places in the district. As per the declaration made by the State Govt. Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Mukali Macha, the dream project of the

Chief Minister was inaugurated in the District too at Lilabari Tiniali under Ujjalpur GP of Lakhimpur Development Block with a view to immortalize his legend. Artist Jogananda Gogoi opened the door of the Mukali Mancha. On the other hand Lakhimpur DC Debeswar Malakar dedicated the institution to the people of Lakhimpur while inaugurating the open session which was chaired by Padmeswar Chutia, the Principal of Ujjalpur HS School. Ex MLA of Lakhimpur LAC Ghana Burha Gohain, Lakhimpur SP Brojenjit Singha, Chairman of SC development

Board Bhupen Das, Lakhimpur BDO Rajkishore Doley, AP member of Ujjalpur GP Sanjay Kairi, President of Ujjalpur GP Nikumoni Baruah, Lilabari Airport Officer S D Sarmah including a host of prominent personalities attended the programme. Earlier the programme began with the lighting of ceremonial lamp and paying floral tribute to the portrait of Dr Bhupen Hazarika. Then a plantation drive, drawing competition were held. Meanwhile, Niran Bora, the Asst. General Secretary of Asom Sahitya Sabha inaugurated the Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Mukali

Manch built in the Telahi Devt. Block at Ajarguri Village under Pachim Telahi GP. Gupinath Das, the Chairman of Telahi AP presided over the meeting wherein Atul Bora, the Librarian of Panigaon OPD College took part as appointed speaker. Artist Tralukaya Sonowal, Ruchibarni Bhuyan and Dikshita Dutta performed cultural programmes centered around Bhupen Da’s immortal songs. It is noteworthy that many organizations paid homage to the music maestro by lighting lamps in the evening at different places of the District.

Frequent evictions irks hawkers... Contd. from Page 1

Vending) Bill, passed in 2014, it has been clearly mentioned that the Government should provide zones for hawkers and all hawkers should get themselves registered with the government authority. During this month, the District administration and the Municipal authority had continually conducted eviction drive at Khyndai Lad area to decongest footpaths, lanes illegally occupied by hawkers. “It is surprising that despite the Act being already

in place, the government is yet to provide any vending zone and we have to suffer a lot from eviction drives conducted by the Municipal and the District administration”, Mr Warbah said who is doing business of selling fast food at Khyndai Lad ( Police Bazar) in Shillong. He said that in absence of employment opportunities, the educated unemployed youths have to suffer in search of jobs and as such are compelled to take up any business to earn a livelihood. “We are from the State, we are not getting job opportunities as the govern-

ment lacks policy to create them”, he said. The hawkers said that they are ready to pay taxes imposed by the government if they are provided vending zones as stated in the law framed by the government. It may be mentioned that some of the major highlights of the Bill passed are the constitution of the Town Vending Committee with the Additional Deputy Commissioner or Municipal Board Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as the chairman. As per the Bill, the Government may nominate members to the committee

representing Government departments, local authority, planning authority, traffic police, local police, and association of street vendors, market association, trader association, local durbars, nationalized banks and such other interest as it deems proper. Moreover, it is also mentioned in the Bill that the street vendors are liable for penalties if they indulge in street vending without registration, vends beyond the designated vending zones or specified timing, vends goods or offer services that are detrimental to public health among others.

Over 1.5 million people hit by floods in Assam Contd. from Page 1

But in states like mountainous Assam, the rains frequently cause landslides and flooding that devastate

crops, destroy homes and trigger diseases such as diarrhoea. Decades of mass deforestation have led to soil erosion where sediment is washed downstream from

mountainous areas. It ends up in rivers where it builds up on the river bed, raising the level of the water far higher than normal. Over the past 60 years, successive governments

have built levees along most of the Brahmaputra, but experts say the embankments are not only poorly maintained but are a discredited form of flood management.

Forest Minister visits Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary Contd. from Page 1

including one horned rhinos to go to nearby highlands. Now only 50 per cent areas are free

from flood water while half of the sanctuary areas are still under water. The infrastructures of Pabitora were seriously damaged while link roads to the sanctuary

were managed at several places disrupting surface communication. According to forest department sources, one adult rhino drowned while several buffaloes

and wild hogs died during the flood inside the sanctuary. However, no poaching was reported during the flood thanks to the efforts of Pabitora's forest staff.

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

Paswan not eligible as a national leader: Manjhi Patna, Sept 8: After being evicted by the Janata Dal (United) Manjhi who had been silent for quiet sometime broke it targeting none other than Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan - both are members of the BJP-led alliance in Bihar for the upcoming state Assembly Elections On Monday, targeting the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Manjhi said during a visit to Jehanabad Assembly constituency that Paswan was promoting his son Chirag at the cost of everyone else in the LJP. "Bhai-bhatija se aage wo nhi badh sakte hain (he cannot rise above dynasty politics)," Manjhi said. "On what basis does Ram Vilas Paswan call himself a national leader? He has not even been able to become the leader of the Paswan community," the former Bihar chief minister added. Instead, Manjhi claimed, he is the true leader of all Mahadalits and the Paswan community. For the Assembly Elections, Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha, Paswan's LJP and Union

minister Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) have joined hands with BJP as part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Reacting to Manjhi's remarks, Chirag Paswan said, "I don't want to comment on what he said as I couldn't understand the context he was speaking in." "Union Minister Ananth Kumar advised Jitan Ram Manjhi to have patience while speaking of colleagues. We have good personal and political relations; don't know in what context did he say all this," Chirag added. Describing Paswan as a "respected leader", the LJP leader said that the alliance has been strengthened after he joined it. (Agencies)

Bihar polls will be won hands down, says BJP New Delhi, Sept 8: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday said his party would win the elections in Bihar hands down as there was no political alternative to it. "We will win hands down. There is no alternative to the BJP there(Bihar). Let the Samajwadi Party divide their secular votes and we have our Hindutava votes," Swamy told ANI here. On the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting taking place in the national capital today which is likely

to extend term of party president Sonia Gandhi by a year, Swamy said "I don't think there is any difference if the son becomes or mother becomes, it's all in the family, The family has a dubious past and I don't think the Congress has a future. Those elements in the Congress think that Hindutava is the solution to India's problem then they should break and come and we can have relations with them." Gandhi's term ends in December. The party is likely to hold organisational elections in 2016. (ANI)

PAGE 5

REGION High Court upheld three months imprisonment of Tripura PCC president Agartala, Sept 8:In a big blow to state Congress, four months ahead of the statewide civic polls, the division bench of the High Court of Tripura upheld the three months' jail term handed down to incumbent PCC president and Congress MLA Birajit Sinha. Sinha, in a 2004 case in which two persons including his personal guard was killed and equal number injured, was found guilty of possessing more ammunition than entitled along with his licence revolver. This was declared during a press conference by Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman in the Congress Bhavan yesterday. Barman accompanied by PCC member Pijush Biswas who had represented Sinha in court said that though they 'accept' the verdict of the High

Court but would file an appeal in the Supreme Court. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Deepak Kumar Gupta and Justice Shubhasish Talapatra Monday upheld the judgement by the district and session court in Unakoti district in October 2013 charged with carrying five extra bullets in violation of the administrative order and for which he was convicted. The division bench, however, rejected three of the government's four-point appeal by rejecting the plea for enhancing Sinha's punishment, charges of murder and violation of Arms Act. The case started on July 20, 2004 when Sinha, accompanied by his personal security officer (PSO), had gone to Babur Bazar area under Kailasahar subdivision after receiving reports

of alleged booth capturing by CPI (M) in Panchayat election that day. There the Congress leader was allegedly encircled by CPI (M) hooli-

Parliament Sankar Prashad Datta, Deputy Speaker of Tripura Legislative Assembly Pabitra Kar and several other top Left leaders also took part in the peace procession. Krishna Rakshit, a protester said, "The peace loving citizen of the state are

Imphal, Sept 8: The four members of Naga Peoples Front (NPF) have claimed that they had tendered their resignation from the membership of Manipur Legislative Assembly to protest against the three "controversial" bills passed by the state Assembly recently. A source close to Speaker Thokchom Lokeshwar Singh, however, said the resignation letters had not reached the Speaker's office till 9pm Saturday. On Sunday, the Assembly secretariat remained closed, the source added. NPF sources said the four MLAs - L. Dikho, Samuel Risom, Victor Nunglung and V. Alexander Pou - submitted their resig-

nation papers at 7pm Saturday to the Speaker. In a joint statement, the MLAs said they had decided to resign to protest the passing of the Protection of Manipur People Bill, the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill, and the Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill. Sources said even if the MLAs wanted to resign the Speaker would examine whether there was any reasonable ground for resignation. The MLAs were not available for comment. A special session of the state Assembly passed the three bills on August 31 to safe-

guard the interest of the indigenous people, following a two-month violent campaign by the people in the valley demanding implementation of the inner-line permit. The four MLAs said they had wanted to take part in the debate over the bills but the House passed all three of them within 10 minutes. The Speaker did not allow them to discuss the bills, they alleged. Since the day the bills were passed, indigenous communities in the hills have been agitating saying when the bills became acts, their rights over their land in the five hill districts would be taken away by the government. The communities also ex-

participating in this mammoth anti-war procession against the imperialistic war craze and sending the message of love for life. We are following that the imperialist United States is trying to spread war throughout the globe and we are raising

voice against this." They also expressed their concern on the growing crisis of flood of refugees to Europe from the war-torn Syrian. "We the peace loving people of this state want to send the message to the world that no war should take place which is disastrous. Hiroshima and Nagasaki took place long back but it is still today harming the humanity. Though world war is not there but still people in various countries are still fighting among themselves and the capitalist countries are involved in these. Even in yesterday's paper we have seen that lakhs of refugees have rushed to the European countries and United States is responsible for this," alleged Pabitra Kar

(Deputy Speaker of Tripura Legislative Assembly. Meantime, Member of Parliament Sankar Prashad Datta said, "People are joining in this rally to raise their voice against imperialist force United States which is the main force of today's war." He viewed that even today the world is not free from the shackles of imperialistic powers which promote wars for their benefit. Cold wars are still going on today and in which America is indirectly supporting leading to loss of lakhs of lives including that of children and women. Even physically challenged men and women, foreign tourists and traders closing their business establishments also took part in the biggest ever anti-war rally held so far in the state. (ANI)

Youth should stand for the rights of the elderly Gangtok, Sept 8: A sensitization programme on 'Rights of Elderly Vis-Ă -vis Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007' was organized by the Legal Aid Clinic, Department of Law, Sikkim University in collaboration with Sikkim State Legal Services Authority (SSLSA) at 5th Mile Tadong here Saturday. Addressing the programme, SSLSA executive chairman and Justice S.P Wangdi stressed on the need to reintrospect on the approaches to provide justice

to elderly people who are nowadays being neglected in the society. He urged the younger generation not to neglect the elderly people. While underlining the importance of Rights, Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007, Justice Wangdi observed that a large number of the elderly people are still not getting their rights as provided under the Act adding that Article 21, 38, and 42 have largely covered the right to life and property with dignity. Justice Wangdi also urged the

senior citizens to come forward to provide assistance to sensitize the needy people at rural and urban areas who are less educated and ill- informed about their rights. He also highlighted various initiatives taken up the SSLSA to reach the interior of the villages through ASHAs and para-legal volunteers who are trained by the SSLSA from time to time. Justice (Rtd.) A.P. Subba and Sikkim University vice chancellor Prof. T.B. Subba also addressed the programme. (Agencies)

taken in a systematic manner beginning with a pilot project in selected areas of Dimapur district. He also highlighted on Swacch Bharat that it was not a programme but a multipronged mission for a clean environment, that seeks to eradicate Open Defecation by providing toilets for community and public, efficient disposal of waste and garbage in coordina-

tion with municipal authorities and spread awareness on cleanliness and hygiene among individuals and community. Also speaking on the occasion, Swacch Bharat brand ambassador for Dimapur, Geoffrey Yaden introduced the nine mission members for Dimapur district and also encouraged each of them to also nominate persons having interest and commit-

pressed apprehension that many of them, residing in Manipur long before 1951, would be made nonManipur citizens. Protection of Manipur People Bill describes "Manipur people" as those, whose names are in the National Register of Citizens, 1951, census report 1951 and in the village directory of 1951. The communities took strong exception to the Ibobi Singh government's failure to refer the bills to the Hill Areas Committee of the state Assembly comprising elected tribal MLAs before passing them. The MLAs also expressed displeasure over a resolution passed by the state Assembly on August

31 to safeguard Manipur's territorial integrity in the light of the recent framework agreement between the NSCN (I-M) and the Centre. A tribal leaders meet here yesterday, which was attended by the representatives of the United Naga Council, Kuki Inpi Manipur, All Tribal Students Union, Manipur, All Naga Students' Association, Manipur, Kuki Students Organisation, Hmar Inpui and Zomi Council, demanded resignation of all the 20 tribal MLAs from the hills. The tribal communities also urged governor Syed Ahmed and the Centre not to give their assent to the bills. (Agencies)

Unsure of Lalu and Nitish alliance in Bihat polls, says Chirag Paswan Patna, Sept 8: Lok Janshakti Party(LJP) leader Chirag Paswan on Tuesday said he was unsure Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) and the Janata Dal United(JDU) staying the course together till the end of the assembly polls in Bihar. "First the NCP got separated, then the Samajwadi Party(SP). As elections are approaching, they(Mahagthbandhan) is

disintegrating one by one. There is no mutual understanding between the RJD and the JDU ministers. I am wondering if Lalu and Nitish will be together till the elections," Paswan told ANI here. "As far as our alliance is concerned, we are very strong and have no doubt that NDA will form the next government in Bihar," Paswan added.(ANI)

MPCC yet to finalize party candidates for upcoming polls Shillong, Sept 8: For the upcoming GHADC polls on October 12, the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) will meet on September 10 to finalize party candidates. Informing this here on Monday, the MPCC working president Deborah Marak said that a large number of aspirants have applied for tickets and the names will be shortlisted during the September 10 meeting to

be held under the chairmanship of MPCC president DD Lapang. Earlier, UDP had decided to field candidates in all the 29 constituencies of GHADC while NPP is looking for a pre-poll alliance with likeminded parties. BJP has also decided to contest the GHADC elections.NCP, a coalition partner of Congress-led MUA Government, has not made clear its stand on contesting the GHADC polls. (Agencies)

'Ratna Samman' for Dr. Prabhat Pradhan

DC addresses Dimapur Swacch Bharat meet Kohima, Sept 8: Presiding over the first district level coordination meeting of Dimapur Deputy Commisioner Kesonyu Yhome informed the gathering of over 40 attendees, that the district administration would, in coordination with the district brand ambassador, district nominees and district administrative officials, that Swacch Bharat would be under-

Deb who was also allegedly attacked by the CPI (M) cadres also later succumbed to his injuries. Additional Public Prosecutor Rakhal

Protesting over the controversial bills, 4 NPF members resigned

Anti-war rallies held in Tripura to denounce World War II Agartala, Sept 8: Several protest rallies were organised in Tripura to denounce war on the 76th year of the World War II yesterday. Parliamentarian, legislators, intellectuals, artists, writers, poets, social activists, journalists and people, from all walks of life voluntarily took part in the protest march that went through various thoroughfares of the state capital to spread the message of peace to save human race. Protesters holding placards bearing anti-war slogans and pictures of the horrific incidents sang songs, recited poems and raised slogans denouncing war. Tripura Chief Minister and Communist Party of IndiaMarxist politburo member Manik Sarkar, Member of

gans to which his PSO had to open fire in which one Abdul Hannan was killed beside two other injured with bullet hit. Sinha's PSO Nikhi

ment for a clean environment. He also said Dimapur district was home to various tribes, from both within and outside Nagaland including various communities. In view of Dimapur being the gateway and commercial centre, he urged upon all to take initiatives to bring about a transformation of the city, especially as the festive and tourist season was

around the corner. In his concluding remarks, the Yhome informed that the nominees in coordination with administration and other departments would delineate segments for the mission in Dimapur and for which a core committee would sit to deliberate on steps to be taken to achieve the mission which was to end by October 2,2019. (Agencies)

Kurseong, Sept 8: The former principal of Kurseong College, Dr. Prabhat Pradhan received Shiksha Ratna Samman Award 2015 from the hands of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on September 4. Celebrating teachers Day the higher education directorate of the state government had organized a felicitation program to honour teachers with Shiksha Ratna Samman Award 2015. The function was held at Nazrul Mancha. The Awardees were presented with a certificate, gift hampers, book and cash Rs. 25 thousand. Pradhan had served Kurseong College, the only institution that caters

higher education apart from Darjeeling polytechnic, from 2006 to March 15, 2015 as the principal. College sources said Pradhan was instrumental in initiating awards for college students sponsored by many prominent faces of the town in a bid to motivate and inspire student for their academic growth. Pradhan before retiring from the campus also brought in Honours courses and courses on competitive examinations. He was empanelled as NACC Peer Team member from 2011 and had the opportunity to evaluate and assess two PG colleges in south India and one UG college in Orissa. (Agencies)

Chandra Debnath who appeared in the court on behalf of the government said that Sinha's bail bond has been cancelled and has been directed to surrender with a month's time and has been punished three months imprisonment but that will not affect his legislatorship or from contesting election in the future. Meantime, the CPI(M) state secretary Bijan Dhar viewed that the verdict of the court sure will have a political impact in the state especially in the Unokoti district from where Sinha has been contesting election and also inside Congress. However, Congress viewed that the 'conspiracy' of the ruling CPI(M) government to pin Birjit Sinha down with false charges which had fallen flat and today's verdict of the court is also an indirect victory for them. (ANI)

TMC leader arrested for alleged murder in West Bengal Malda (West Bengal), Sept 8: West Bengal Police last night arrested a local Trinamool Congress leader on allegations of committing several murders and committing anti social activities. Sarjen Sekh, TMC leader of the Kaliachok Block in West Bengal's Madla District,was arrested by the district police from his house. Police recovered one nine mm pistol, five rifles, 50 crude bombs and bomb-making materials from his house. Malda Police said they are going to produce Sekh before a Malda court today. (ANI)

11 year old carries brother to hospital on shoulders Ranchi, Sept 8: An 11-yearold-girl walked eight kilometers carrying her sick brother on her shoulders to reach a hospital in Godda district in Jharkhand. Jharkhand, a tribal dominated state, is considered to be very backward in terms of health facilities. The Maoist-affected state has lacked in providing many basic facilities such as transport, medical and education. In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party formed government in Jharkhand under the leadership of Raghubar Das. Earlier, it was ruled by Jharkhad Mukti Morcha led by Hemant Soren, the son of Shibu Soren. (Agencies)

West Bengal, Odisha fight over 'Rasgulla' origin New Delhi, Sept 8: Rasgulla or Roshogolla, as commonly pronounced in Bengal, is waiting for its fate to be decided after West Bangal and Odisha raked up a fight over the sweet belonging originally to their respective states. The two states have asked Chennai to decide on the Geographical Indication Tag that the sweet would get. As the fight between the two states emerged, West Bengal government has started the procedure of sending the concerned documents to Chennai to get the outcome. Bengal minister Sashi Panja has raised the question as to why it took so much time for the state government to claim the sweet's origin. "Researcher and writer Haripada Bhowmik author of the book 'Rosogolla' is clearly proving Orisha claims to be wrong. He has supplied several documents to the State Government to prove rosogolla originated from West Bengal," said Panja. However, Haripada Bhowmik is waiting for the final report from Chennai. (ANI)

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

Mahatma Gandhi's writings getting global prominence, claims Jaitley

(ANI) New Delhi, Sept 8: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday launched an e-version of the collected works of Mahatma Gandhi, and described them as a national treasure that has acquired global prominence and will continue to do so. "The writing of Mahatma Gandhi

is a treasure which would benefit all people and can be shared digitally with no cost," Jaitley said. The event hosted at the Gandhi Peace Foundation, marked the formal launch of the eversion of the 100 volumes of the collected works of Mahatma Gandhi in the form of DVDs and the uplinking

of data on the Gandhi Heritage portal. "Gandhi's writings, scattered all over the world, have been collected and constructed with stringent academic discipline as part of the project." The eproject was executed by the Publications Division of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry with support from the Gujarat Vidyapeeth, which is based in Ahmedabad. It was supervised by a three-member committee of experts on Gandhi, comprising of Professor Sudershan Iyengar, former vice chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Dinaben Patel, an eminent Gandhian scholar, and Tridip Suhrud, director of the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust, over the past four years. Jaitely thanked the people contributing to make the event and the project successful.

PAGE 6

RSS leader Vaidya dismisses Sonia's comment as one lacking knowledge (ANI) Nagpur, Sept 8: Senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader M G Vaidya on Tuesday dismissed Congress President Sonia Gandhi's comment about the RSS, saying it had no merit and

lacked knowledge of the organization. "It is a sign that they do not know the RSS. She has no knowledge of the RSS. The RSS is an organization of the society and not of a particular section of society. It is related

with education, spiritual, agriculture and RSS members have gone everywhere. RSS has the aim of establishing a complete society," Vaidya told. "The meeting takes place every year. Media's attention has gone there as Modi Government has come to power. The party decided who will be attending the meeting," he added. Vaidya further said that RSS gives guidance and it never controls anyone. Sonia Gandhi earlier on Tuesday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its three-day BJP-RSS meet last week. "The country last week was given clear evidence of what is obvious for a long time. Modi Government is controlled and directed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh," said Sonia.

Sonia losing touch with Beef ban imposed in Gujarat ahead of 'Bakra Eid' politics, says BJP (ANI) New Delhi, Sept 8: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday said that Congress President Sonia Gandhi is losing touch with politics and added that it was the Congress and not the BJP, that is removed from realities of India. "I think it is the time for Sonia Gandhi to realise that it is the Congress Party which is far removed from the realities of India today,' BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao told . Rather than making allegations against the BJP and the government at the Centre, it's time that Congress got real with the reality of India's politics today. The Congress Party is moving towards extinction with Sonia Gandhi losing touch with politics. Rahul Gandhi is still not mature to take the reign of the Party," he added. Congress President

PSU employees stage protest in J-K (ANI) Srinagar, Sept 8: Workers of the Jammu and Kashmir State Public Sector Employees Federation on Tuesday launched a massive protest march here in Srinagar, demanding the government to release the pending salaries of Public Sector Unit's (PSU's). They also appealed for introduction of revised gratuity, pension scheme, regularization of wage policy for temporary PSU employees among host of other demands. The protesters were shouting angry slogans against the government.

Army pays tribute to martyrs of 1965 war (ANI) New Delhi, Sept 8: Army paid homage to its 49 soldiers and officers who laid down their lives while capturing the strategically important Raja and Rani posts from Pakistan in the 1965 war. These two posts were later returned to Pakistan following the Tashkent agreement between the two countries. Lt Gen G.S. Shergil, Chief of Staff, Central Command of the army laid wreath at the Naman Sthal which has been erected in memory of the soldiers. These two posts were captured by the soldiers of 2 Sikh and 3 Dogra regiments.

Sonia Gandhi had earlier said, "It has become painfully clear that most of the pledges made by the Prime Minister during his election campaign were nothing more than Hawa baazi." "The economy is on a downward slide while prices continue on their

unrelenting rise. As for promises such as the creation of jobs or slogans such as Make in India, the less said about them the better," she said. The Congress President also said, "The media is being threatened with notices and other repressive measures."

(ANI) Ahmedabad, Sept 8: Maulana Mehboob-urRehman Qasmi , a Muslim cleric, on Tuesday said the beef ban has been imposed in Gujarat because the festival of 'Bakra Eid' is coming. He also said, "The government cannot force its ideology on the people of different sections." Billboards with pictures of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and the Islamic symbol of the crescent moon and star came up in an Ahmedabad locality with a message from the Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board of the Gujarat government, quoting a verse it claims is from the Quran to back its case for the protection of the cow. "People have democratic rights to choose whatever is feasible for them. The government should adopt the collective

Sheena Bora murder case will be professionally monitored, says new Mumbai Police chief

(ANI) Mumbai, Sept 8: New Mumbai Police Commissioner Ahmed Javed on Tuesday said the investigation in the Sheena Bora murder case will be professionally monitored in the way it deserves. "Talking on the Sheena Bora case, the investigation is a team work and at this stage the accused is already in the judicial custody. So, the investigation will be monitored in the right professional way, as it deserves," Jawed told media here. "Talking about our agenda, security, law and order and at the same time the safety of women and children is the top priority," Javed added. Javed replaced Rakesh Maria on the orders of Maharashtra Government. Rakesh Maria has been made Director General of Maharashtra Home Guards. Rakesh Maria was much in the news these days due to Mumbai Police's ongoing investigations in the Sheena Bora murder case.

No fight between Manjhi and Paswan: Shahnawaz Hussain

public opinion instead of forcing its opinion on the people," Qasmi said. He added, "We see cow with respect and its milk is used in 'ghee' and medicines, so how it is bad for health." The Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board website says the Gauseva Ayog, created

in 1999 and expanded as Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board in 2012, was "established for preservation, development and welfare of the cow and its progeny". The Gauseve Vikas Board is under the aegis of the Agriculture and Cooperation Department, Gujarat government.

(ANI) ]New Delhi, Sept 8: BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain on Tuesday rubbished reports of the tiff between Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. "There is no fight. Once we all sit together and talk, it will all get sorted," said Hussain. He reiterated the good relationship between the members of the alliance, saying, "We are different groups but we have the same aim of removing LAlu Prasad and Nitish Kumar from Bihar." Recently, Manjhi blamed Paswan of running a family business in politics.

Coal scam: Court grants bail to CWC meet: Election former MoS Santosh Bagrodia for post of Congress President postponed (ANI) New Delhi, Sept 8: Former Minister of State for Coal Santosh Bagrodia was granted bail on Tuesday by a Special Court in connection with a coal scam case. Bagrodia is accused in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in allocation of Bander coal block in Maharashtra. The court enlarged Bagrodia on bail on furnishing a per-

sonal bond of Rs 1 lakh with one surety of like amount. The court has now fixed the matter for scrutiny of documents on September 29. Bagrodia, on Tuesday appeared as accused before Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar a day after the Supreme Court refused to grant him exemption from personal appearance before the trial

court. Besides Bagrodia, Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda, his son Devendra Darda, former Coal Secretary H C Gupta, retired public servant L S Janoti, AMR Iron and Steel Pvt Ltd and its director Manoj Kumar Jaiswal are accused in the case. Other than Bagrodia, the court had earlier granted bail to the rest of the accused in the case.

Egyptian agriculture minister arrested over corruption charges

Cow must be valued for its immense worth, says GauRaksha Sewa Samiti chief (ANI) New Delhi, Sept 8: Election for post of Congress President was postponed for one year in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meet on Tuesday. The election will now be held next year, in effect giving Sonia Gandhi one year's extension. The CWC also passed three resolutions. Firstly, they have decided on uniform membership for all wings. Secondly, Congress President's term has been reduced to three years. And finally, all organisational elections would be deferred by one year. The CWC also decided to reserve 50 percent of the party's posts for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and women. The CWC meet has ended.

Jains cannot enforce their beliefs on us, says Sanjay Raut (ANI) Mumbai, Sept 8: Questioning the Maharashtra Government's beef ban order ahead of a Jain festival, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said that one cannot impose beliefs and opinions on others just because they (Jains) consider it to be wrong "If this is according to your religion, then keep it with yourself. You cannot impose your opinions or beliefs on others. We know the law of this country and we don't need to learn from you. They cannot impose on people to become vegetarian." Raut told. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has banned sale of meat for four days during the Jain festival of Paryushan.

(ANI) Ahmedabad, Sept 8: The President of the GauRaksha Sewa Samiti, Dr. Vallabh Katheria, on Tuesday supported the Gujarat Government's move to ban on beef, saying cows have great value and should be respected and protected. "In Gujarat, the cow has value in religion, environment, and medicine and in every other area. So, we thought to create awareness regarding importance of cow milk products." Katheria told. Katheria further said, "The value of cow is mentioned in our Vedas and other holy books. Those who want to understand it will. We are just trying to make people under-

(ANI) London, Sept 8: Egyptian agriculture minister Salah El Din Mahmoud Helal has been arrested in connection with corruption allegations shortly after he resigned on Monday. Helal was arrested along with other ministry officials on suspicion of taking bribes in exchange for granting land licenses. Helal was not immediately available for a comment but the Prime Minister's office said that his resignation was accepted on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's instructions. Egypt has embarked on various reforms to strengthen the country's economy that has been battered since former president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011. However, recent efforts to reform agriculture have seemed to be chaotic. stand the significance of the cow." An advertisement in Gujarat has asked people to show respect to cows and avoid eating its meat. "Show respect to cows, as

it is the leader of all bovines. Its milk, ghee and butter have therapeutic properties, but its meat is the cause of several diseases," the advertisement said.

President Mukherjee to present Gandhi Peace Prize 2014 to ISRO (ANI) New Delhi, Sept 8: President Pranab Mukherjee will present the Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2014 to Indian Space Research Organization ( ISRO) on Wednesday at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Gandhi Peace Prize was instituted by the Government of India in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of

Mahatma Gandhi. This annual award is given to individuals and institutions for their contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods. The Gandhi Peace Prize was instituted by the Government of India in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

North, South Korea to hold reunions of families separated by war (ANI) London, Sept 8: North and South Korea have reached an agreement to hold reunions of the families separated by the Korean War following talks by Red Cross delegates from both nations. According to Seoul's unification ministry, one hundred mostly elderly people from each country will be reunited with their relatives on 20-26 October at the Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea, The Guardian reported. The deal was struck between officials at the border village of Panmunjom. Earlier, both countries agreed to push for the reunions after peace talks in August eased a standoff that had flared after a landmine explosion blamed on Pyongyang wounded two South Korean soldiers.

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

PAGE 7

NEIGHBOURS

China slowdown may have an impact on India Beijing,Sep 8: China's economic slowdown will not affect India directly but the resultant global sluggishness may have a bearing on the Indian economy, a staterun thinktank here has said and called on the two Asian giants to work on "complementary approaches" to protect their interests. "The Chinese actions will affect the developed economies enormously, as has already been observed, but whether it grows fast or slow will not affect the Indian economy much," Zhao Gancheng, Director of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said in an article in a daily.Titled 'Can India benefit from Chinese economic slowdown? Think twice,' the article said the success of the Indian economy is more linked to internal fac-

The Indian people chose Modi as their leader in the hope that the Gujarat model can be copied to the whole nation.It said although Modi has been devoted to creating an FDI friendly environment in order to attract more investments, the results have not been as good as expected.

tors. "The success of the Indian economy in the years ahead lies in a number of crucial elements, and the most important ones are likely the leadership's policy options and internal interactions, which have so far not yet presented a very

Bangladesh PM against admission tests for toddlers Dhaka, Sep 8: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has condemned admission tests conducted for toddlers to get into schools, the media reported."Why toddlers should be subjected to formal admission tests?" she asked. Addressing an International Literacy Day event at the Osmani Auditorium in Dhaka, Hasina pitched strongly for open door admission to children old enough to join school."If they have to join school by writing admission tests from printed question papers, what is left for them to be taught," she said.She also insisted on improving the quality of education in government primary schools in urban areas, so that parents would send their children to those

schools."I request you to improve and repair the shabby schools children will get their first education from schools in their own neighborhood," Hasina told the primary and mass education minister and secretary, who were among the audience she was addressing. The prime minister stressed on measures to make school fun for the children, rather than `discouraging` them. "Curriculums which might frighten children should not be adopted. Loads of books and homework scare toddlers."Unesco has been observing the International Literacy Day on September 8 every year since 1997. This year`s theme for the Day is "Literacy and Sustainable Societies". (Agencies)

Suu Kyi calls for free and fair election Yangon, Sep 8: Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said today that the Nov. 8 general elections would be a crucial turning point for the country and appealed to the international community to monitor the voting and the results."For the first time in decades, our people will have a real chance of bringing about real change. This is a chance that we

cannot afford to let slip," Suu Kyi said in a video message posted to her National League for Democracy`s Facebook page."A smooth and tranquil transition is almost more important than a free and fair election," said Suu Kyi, wearing a traditional Burmese green dress with a pink scarf.The NLD is expected to win the historic poll. (Agencies)

optimistic picture," it said apparently referring to divisions between the government and the Opposition over key pending legislations on the GST and the land acquisition. The Indian economy is full of potential, and how to make it become

real growth tests the wisdom of leaders. When Prime Minister NarendraModi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, the state's remarkable achievements were a proof of how important good policies are. "The Indian people chose Modi as their leader in the hope that the Gujarat model can be copied to the whole nation." It said although Modi has been devoted to creating an FDI friendly environment in order to attract

Pakistan would provide a befitting response if India even thought of attacking: Sartaj Aziz Karachi, Sep 8 : Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said that the country would provide a befitting response if India even thought of attacking.According to the media, Aziz said that Pakistan would raise the issue of 'unprovoked' Indian firing across the Line of Control and the Working Boundary during a dialogue between the Director-General Pakistan Rangers and

Indian Border Security Force chief in New Delhi on September 9.The meeting is being held in accordance with the agreement that was reached in Ufa, Aziz said.He also said that the international community has already accepted Pakistan's view that Kashmir will be part and parcel of any agenda of talks with India.Aziz said that Pakistan will not come under pressure by Indian threats of an attack at any time. (ANI)

Islamabad, Sep 8: A police constable, who was the driver of slain Pakistani social activist Sabeen Mahmud and was a witness to her killing in April, was shot dead in Karachi city, police said.The 48-year-old Ghulam Abbas was shot dead outside his home in Korangi area on Monday night, Dawn online quoted a police officer as saying.Two men on a motorcycle opened fire at him and escaped. He suf-

fered three bullet wounds and died on the spot, a senior police officer said, adding that the attackers had been identified by two witnesses and initial findings suggested that they had come to see him a few days ago.Sabeen Mahmud, a social media campaigner and human rights activist, was shot dead on April 24 minutes after the end of an interactive discussion `Unsilencing Balochistan` she had organised at her

American helping quake victims American helping quake victims murdered in Nepal have arrested a local teacher, Narayan Paudel, who was hosting Yehia while she was in Pokhara to help victims of April's devastating earthquake. Pal said Paudel confessed to the crime and described how he hammered the victim to death and threw the body into the river. Pal said police found blood-soaked clothes and ropes they believed were used to tie

Islamabad, Sep8 : Major General Umar Farooq Burki, the director general of the Pakistan Rangers, is expected to reach New Delhi on September 9 to hold talks with his Border Security Force (BSF) counterpart Devendra Kumar Pathak.The Pakistan Rangers said in statement today that as per Border Ground Rules 1961, a routine, biannual meeting between the Inspector General of the Border Security Force and Director General of the Pa-

Yehia's body. Pal said authorities plan to seek the maximum sentence of life imprisonment for Paudel, 30, but that they need is the body to help build a strong case. Yehia had arrived in Nepal in July and reached Pokhara on Aug. 4, staying with Paudel. She was killed three days later, Pal said. Paudel was arrested on Sept. 2 and confessed the next day, Pal

said.Authorities believe the motive behind the murder was money, with Paudel saying he took money from Yehia, according to Pal.Following the April 25 earthquake, which killed nearly 9,000 people and damaged hundreds of thousands of houses in Nepal, aid groups and individuals rushed to the South Asian country to help the victims. (Agencies)

social forum - T2F. It was attended by journalists and rights activists, including the founder leader of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, Abdul Qadeer Baloch.In June, police claimed to have busted a gang of militants which had attacked a bus carrying members of the Ismaili community near Safoora Goth. The militants had also confessed to killing Mahmud because of "her views about Lal Masjid`s

cleric Abdul Aziz, Valentine`s Day and Burqa (veil)."The killing of her driver is a major setback to investigations into her murder, though police are not sure if the two killings are linked."Ghulam Abbas used to work as Sabeen Mahmud`s part-time driver. The witnesses insisted that the attackers knew him personally so we can`t reach any conclusion with authority about the motive behind the killing," the police of-

Colombo, Sep 8 : A journalist in Sri Lanka's MinneriyaNational Park has been killed after he was attacked by a wild elephant.According to the media, 43-year-old Priyantha

and several hand grenades from the area after the militants escaped under the cover of darkness," said the Khagrachari district administration official.The army searched the spot and arrested one person who was identified as an armed member of the regional political group JSS-MN Larma.Last month, five suspected militants were killed in a clash with the Bangladesh army in Chittagong hill region.Last month`s encounter between the army and JSS, a former rebel group which has been waging an insurgency since 1975 for political autonomy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) bordering India and

Ratnayake was covering incidents of wild elephantattacks when he was attacked in the area.He succumbed to his injuries soon after he was admitted to the Hingurakgoda Hospital. (ANI)

Ex-lawmakers of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami arrested for possession of bombs Dhaka, Sep 8 :Bangladesh police have arrested two former Jamaat-eIslamilawmakers along with 11 other leaders and activists of the part for possession of 20 homemade bombs in Mirpur flat.According to the media, Nayeb-e-Ameer of Jamaat Prof Mujibur Rahman (former MP of Rajshahi-1) is accused in 45 cases and Jamaat Assis-

ficial said.But for investigator Raja Umer Khattab, it might be an attempt to eliminate the key witness who had identified the suspected killers in court during the trial of the case."At the time of the attack Sabeen Mahmud was driving the car with Ghulam Abbas sitting on the rare seat," he said, adding that it would not affect the case because Ghulam Abbas had already identified Sabeen`s killers and his role in the case was already closed. (Agencies)

Huge arms cache recovered from Bangladesh's hill region Dhaka: A huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered after a gun-battle between the Bangladesh army and militants in the country`s Chittagong hill region, an official said.Based on inputs that armed cadres of regional political group Jana Sanghati Samiti (JSSMN Larma) were camping in the area, troops were mobilised in Khagrachari district.Sensing the presence of the military, armed rebels opened indiscriminate firing following which the security forces retaliated, the official said."We have recovered five firearms, 450 bullets and six pairs of military uniforms

kistan Rangers is scheduled to be held in New Delhi from September 9 to 13.The meeting is expected to focus on border management and security along the working boundary and international border between the two countries.There have been at least 180 ceasefire violations reported by both countries since the two prime ministers met in Ufa, Russia, last month. Both sides accused each other for escalating hostilities. (ANI)

Lankan journalist killed by elephant in Minneriya National Park

Pakistani activist's murder witness shot dead

American helping quake victims murdered in Nepal Kathmandu, Sep 8: Police in Nepal today said that they are searching a river where the body of a 27-year-old teacher from Austin, Texas, was thrown after she was hammered to death. Authorities are searching the Seti River for the body of Dahlia Yehia, who disappeared from the resort town of Pokhara in western Nepal last month, said police official Hari Bahadur Pal. Police

more investments, the results have not been as good as expected. "Local interests are difficult for the federal government to coordinate and address when implementing relevant policies," it said. "The key to understanding the situation is interactions between the global economy and the Indian economy. When the Indian economy developed very slowly, one of the reasons was the government's choice to keep

the Indian economy distant from the global economy. That was also the root cause for reform first in the early 1990s and now by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," it said. "Thus, if the global economy slows down further as part of the results of Chinese economic restructuring, it would be difficult to see why a sluggish world economy would help the Indian economy anyway," it said. "In fact, India's growth rate of the second quarter this year has fallen to 7 per cent from 7.5 per cent of the first quarter, perhaps an indication of influence of the global decline. That is a warning sign that both China and India may have to work together to find complementary approaches for sake of their own interests," it said. (Agencies)

Pakistan Rangers chief expected to visit India from September 9 to 13

Myanmar, was the first of its kind since 1997.The bitter insurgency ended in 1997 after JSS leaders signed a peace accord with the B a n g l a d e s h government.Despite the peace accord, JSS reportedly continued to have a bloody feud with another hill-based organisation the United Peoples` Democratic Front (UPDF) and JSS-MN Larma. Bangladesh Army claimed that the victims were armed members of two regional political groups - UPDF and JSS-MN Larma. The UPDF and the JSS later denied any link with those killed in the fighting. (Agencies)

tant Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar (former MP of Khulna-5) is accused in 12, said police.The party said in a statement that their leaders were framed, adding that the bombs was just a well-orchestrated police play.Following a tip off, detectives and Pallabi police in a joint drive also seized 20 to 25 bamboo sticks and Jamaat books on extremism. (ANI)

Beijing police shoot suspect in knife attack Beijing,Sep 8:Chinese police today shot and wounded a man in downtown Beijing who resisted arrest after killing one person and injuring several others with a kitchen knife, the city's police said on their official microblog. They identified the suspect as a 29year-old man surnamed Song from the northeastern province of Heilongjiang and said the motive for the knife attack on a street in Beijing's Chaoyang district was under investigation. The suspect and the victims were taken to hospital, police said. His injury was not critical, they said without giving further details. Public sensitivity to knife attacks in China has been heightened by a series of incidents, including a mass stabbing at a train station in March 2014 in the southwestern city of Kunming that left 31 dead. Last month, a lone attacker stabbed a French man and a Chinese woman in a popular Beijing shopping complex, killing the woman. Violent crime is rare in China, compared with many other countries, but there has been a series of knife and axe attacks in recent years, many on school children. (Agencies)

NHRC notice to Tamil Nadu over plight of refugees from Myanmar

MP Bodi indicted in graft case

New Delhi, Sep 8: Refugees from Myanmar, left "wandering on the streets" of Chennai looking for accommodation, has caught the attention of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which has issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government in this regard. The state government and Chennai Police Commissioner have been given four weeks time to respond to the notices. Taking suo motu cognisance of a media report, NHRC Member Justice D Murugesan ob-

Dhaka, Sep 8:A Dhaka court has framed charges against Awami League lawmaker from Cox's Bazar Abdur Rahman Bodi in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission for gaining wealth beyond the known source of income.Judge Abu Ahmed Jomadar of the Special Judge's Court 3 passed the order after rejecting his discharge petition today morning.The court fixed October 6 for recording the witness deposition.On August 21, 2014, ACC Assistant Director Md Abdus Sobhan filed three cases

served that the refugees, numbering around 57 including women and children, were made to wander in "utter disregard to their human rights." "The state authorities have the duty to protect the human rights of the refugees and to provide shelter to them the report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights," the commission said. According to the report, the refugees arrived at Thiruvalluar Street, Manali, and Tamil Nadu on September 3 with their

belongings to stay there following which the residents and authorities made enquiries from them."They informed that they are from Myanmar and they came to Chennai during the year 2012 and stayed at Kelampakkam, Chennai. The owner of the land in which they stayed, asked them to vacate and therefore, one Kabir Bai brought them to Manali to settle them. Due to the opposition from people of the locality, the local police asked them to vacate. (Agencies)

against Bodi and two other former state ministers with Ramna police station.The ACC sought a statement of wealth from Bodi where he showed that his family owned tangible and intangible assets worth a little over Tk5.20 crore.However, the income tax return that he submitted in November 2013 shows that the value of their assets was more than Tk16.06 crore.Although he told the ACC in the wealth statement that he had acquired the assets with income generated from his "export-import" business, he could not

produce any valid document when investigators went to him. The ACC thinks that he has hidden assets worth more than Tk10 crore. (Agencies)

PAGE 8

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

India and Food Safety

Neonatal tetanus

India's food safety crisis is indicative of bureaucratic failures.

India declared maternal and neonatal tetanus free In yet another major achievement, India has been declared free of maternal and neonatal tetanus. Calling it a "significant public health milestone", the World Health Organization (WHO) congratulated Indian health workers for achieving the feat which comes almost a year after the country eliminated the scourge of polio. India was finally declared free of maternal and neonatal tetanus on May 15, 2015. In 1983 the Indian government introduced two doses of tetanus toxoid vaccine to all pregnant women during each pregnancy as nationwide expanded programme on immunisation. But in 1990 neonatal tetanus still accounted for almost 80,000 deaths as per UNICEF. Also in 2013 and 2014 fewer than 500 cases were reported. The elimination of neonatal tetanus is defined as less than one case in 1000 live births in every district across the country, said the WHO. The disease usually occurs in newborns through infection of the unhealed umbilical stump, especially when the stump is cut with a non-sterile instrument. Maternal tetanus is considered eliminated once neonatal tetanus elimination has been achieved. WHO had on March 27, 2014 officially declared India 'Polio Free'. Children and their mothers are at the highest risk of infections just after the delivery. And Tetanus, which majorly occurs due to an open wound in the body, is one of the biggest reasons behind maternal and newborn mortality.As per WHO, about 787,000 newborns worldwide, died because of neonatal tetanus in 1988. Reports also say that maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) was responsible for the deaths of an estimated two lakh adults and children every year in India, when the infection was at its peak. But the figures have been constantly decreasing with help of aggressive medical intervention . Neonatal tetanus which is a form of generalised tetanus that occurs in newborns. Infants who have not acquired passive immunity from the mother having been immunised are at risk. It usually occurs through infection of the unhealed umbilical stump, particularly when the stump is cut with a non-sterile instrument. Neonatal tetanus mostly occurs in developing countries, particularly those with the least developed health infrastructure. In many affected countries, there was a lack of awareness of maternal and neonatal tetanus and how to prevent it. Education and immunisation campaigns have been launched in the remaining countries at risk and are targeted particularly at pregnant women. Education focuses on hygienic birth practices and infant cord care as well as the need for immunisation.. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 24 countries that make up for 36 percent of the global population and account for 70 per cent of child and maternal deaths. Mali has the highest Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) at 78, while South Sudan has the highest Mother Mortality Rate (MMR) at 730. India's IMR stands at 40 while the MMR stands at 167. in comparison, in 1990, the IMR was 380, and the MMR was 540.

Coal scam A game for the elite class of people The coal scam, or what's popularly called the coalgate, first came to light when India's audit watchdog, The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, raised the issue of inadequacies in the allocation of coal blocks from 2004 onwards. It created a political storm, as the loss to the exchequer was initially pegged at over Rs. 10 lakh crore. The final report scaled it down to Rs. 1.86 lakh crore. The report created a massive uproar in political circles with the government being heavily criticised for causing a great loss to the exchequer. CAG's criticism was that though the government had decided to allot coal blocks through a system of competitive bidding, what it ended up following was a method that was opaque and subjective. Further, its point was, there was no legal impediment in introducing a more transparent process. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that coal blocks allocated by the government between 1993 and 2010 were illegal. The CAG has come to the conclusion that the government's decision to not auction 194 coal blocks between 2004 and 2011 meant that the country lost a huge amount in revenue. The figure was initially believed to be more than Rs 10 lakh crore, but the CAG chose to keep PSUs out of its final report, bringing the figure down to Rs 1.86 lakh crore. The CAG feels the loss could have been avoided, or at least have been lower, as the procedure for auction of the precious natural resource could easily have been put in place by 2006. The failure to do so meant that 25 firms, including Essar Power, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Tata Power and Jindal Steel and Power, received a windfall through coal blocks on nomination basis, instead of competitive bidding. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who held the coal portfolio between 2006-2009. is seen here. There was no specific criteria for allocation of coal blocks in India till 1993. From 1993 onwards, the Ministry of Coal started awarding blocks to private parties for captive mining on recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Screening Committee or through direct allocation. The concept of allocation of captive coal blocks through competitive bidding was first announced in 2004. However, the government is yet to finalise the modus operandi of the mechanism. In the mean time, 194 coal blocks were allocated to different government and private parties up to March 31, 2011. To bring objectivity and transparency in the allocation and for tapping of a part of benefit for accruing to the allotees of captive coal blocks, CAG said the coal ministry should "urgently" work out modalities to implement the procedure of allocation of coal blocks for captive mining through competitive bidding. The CAG clearly proves one thing, that the elite class of Indians and high ranking politicians are involved in most of the anti-social activities of our society.

........ Asit K. Biswas and Kris Hartley

Food safety is a serious public health concern in the world's two most populous countries, China and India. In both countries, the challenges of feeding a large, geographically dispersed population, millions of whom are poor and malnourished, are immense. This has led to the proliferation of illegal, dishonest, and bootleg suppliers and slipshod government policies. The results are detrimental to public health, particularly for vulnerable communities. These crises further compromise international perceptions, indicating poor governance, weak political will, inadequate policies and lax enforcement. The path to development is not exclusively about economic growth, jobs, and infrastructure. Clear and consistent food regulatory policy, and their implementation are both imperative for growth and the inherent responsibility of responsible and progressive governments. In recent years, tainted milk products in China have led to child deaths, resulting in consumer backlash and pledges by the government to address the safety of food sources. Other food safety episodes in China include the 2013 discovery of a crime ring marketing fake or tainted meat products, and an August investigation of distillers charged with adding the virility drug Viagra to liquor products. McDonalds and KFC have suffered losses in China due to food safety concerns, and the widely publicized gutter oil scandal lingers amid ongoing investigations. Concern about food contamination more than a desire to improve health - is now driving increased interest in healthy diets, including organic meat. Likewise, food scandals have plagued India for decades. The ongoing case of Nestlé's Maggi instant noodles has thrust the issue of food safety into the national political spotlight. Additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), which some consider a pos-

sible health concern, have been detected in Maggi noodles, although the company has consistently denied using such additives. After the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) discovered unhealthy levels of lead in the noodles, the Indian government banned Maggi. Tests in six countries, including Canada, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S., have determined the product to be safe for consumption, but Nestlé still responded by destroying more than 35000 tons of the product. In a legal petition, the company argued that India's testing system is flawed, leading to inaccurate findings. In August, an Indian court overturned the government's ban on Maggi noodles, arguing that the move was "arbitrary" and "that principles of natural justice were not followed."

Other cases illustrate India's food sourcing challenges. The rampant use of milk adulterants (agents to reduce thickness after water is added) can cause both short-term digestive problems and long-term chronic health problems. Genetically modified products are increasingly seen by some as a viable solution for feeding India's growing population, setting the stage for a public battle among corporations, scientists, public health advocates, and NGOs. Although the EU recently lifted a ban on imported Indian mangoes, a number of agricultural products remain subject to import restrictions, due ostensibly to lax regulations and enforcement. In addition to garnering political notice, health and safety issues have become a publicly visible concern as well. For ex-

ample, a recent video accusing of Hindustan Unilever of dumping toxic wastes has created a wave of attention on social media. Such episodes are indicative of a groundswell of discontent as information becomes more ubiquitous and consumers more informed - inevitabilities of a more educated and technologically savvy public. Regrettably India's food safety standards are not at developed world standards. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) frequently rejects products shipped from India, from food to generic medicines and cosmetics. Given this, it is difficult to see how Maggi was declared unsafe when analyses by Singapore, the United States, the U.K., and Canada indicate otherwise. This raises the prospect that India's food safety monitoring system is in-

consistent and arbitrary, a product of larger governance and bureaucratic failures at the regulatory level. Testing and analytical capacity among India's official food safety monitoring units is inadequate to manage a supply system that feeds nearly 1.3 billion people. In Delhi alone, a food testing agency has only three chemists and has had to rely on outsourced capacity of dubious reliability. Many have argued that food testing laboratories lack adequate equipment and expertise. Assuming the Maggi product sold in India is the same as that sold around the world, there appears to be a breakdown in India's food safety monitoring system. Beset with under-capacity, the country's food regulatory bodies lack credibility among the domestic public and international com-

Food safety is only one of many threats to public health in India. Delhi city ranks in the bottom 100 of 476 Indian cities for sanitation and waste management. Child deaths from diarrhea are among the highest in the world due in part to poor water quality. Not a single city in India provides clean water that can be consumed form the tap. To connect the issue with larger developmental concerns, India needs FDI to maintain growth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to improve India's ranking in the WEF's Global Competitiveness Index, but consistent bureaucratic bungling and foot-dragging such as those related to food safety are compromising these efforts by signaling to investors that the country's regulatory culture is haphazard, arbitrary, whimsical, and ineffective.

munities and investors. This undermines government efforts to protect citizens against legitimate health threats. Food safety is only one of many threats to public health in India. Delhi city ranks in the bottom 100 of 476 Indian cities for sanitation and waste management. Child deaths from diarrhea are among the highest in the world due in part to poor water quality. Not a single city in India provides clean water that can be consumed form the tap. To connect the issue with larger developmental concerns, India needs FDI to maintain growth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to improve India's ranking in the WEF's Global Competitiveness Index, but consistent bureaucratic bungling and foot-dragging such as those related to food safety are compromising these efforts by signaling to investors that the country's regulatory culture is haphazard, arbitrary, whimsical, and ineffective. The solution is more effective appropriation of resources to regulatory units, institutional strengthening and capacity building, tighter strategic and operational coordination among agencies, and the maintenance of a balance-of-powers system in which one government branch (in the Nestlé case, the judiciary) calls out other government bodies for incompetence. Restrictions and sanctions should be applied in areas needing urgent policy attention, but targeting high-profile products in an attempt to signal regulatory activity is counterproductive. Regardless of whether the Maggi case was a legitimate health threat, it is clear from this lamentable episode that India's food safety and public health regulatory regimes are in dire need of a robust overhaul, sooner the better. Asit K. Biswas is Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. Kris Hartley is a doctoral candidate at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

China's Military Might India's possession is exactly half of what China possesses. That apart, by displaying the latest sophisticated weapons, China instills a virtual worry among the super powers, not excluding India. Pakistan's constant hobnobbing, currying favour with China must have emboldened that country to maintain an inimical stand against India, preposterously charging India of ceasefire violation. It is high time, India should concentrate on strengthening its military might honestly. During UPA regime, a dubious deal in defence like acquiring of Helicopter with Italy rocked the country which had to be droped. Prior to that also, some deals like 'Before' jolted the country, where Rajib Gandhi's name, too got entangled. This sort of lapsation on the part of the government can never be acceptable. The erstwhile UPA government's handling of a sensitive department like defence left much to be desired. In fact, many important issues got diluted during UPA regime, not excepting defence. We appeal to our Prime minister Narendra Modi to strengthen our defence more effectively. We are in dire need of great scientists like A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, whose absence is very much felt now.

Sir, On September 3, China, to commemorate 70th year of China's victory over Japan in the Second World War, the Chinese army exhibited its military show that kept everyone spell bound. The dazzling parade of the women cadres, undoubtedly was scintillating. The show was held in Bejing's Tiananmen square, wherefrom the President Xi Jinping declared, of the total 23 lakhs army men, 3 Lakhs would be terminated in phases. If we contrast the remaining 20 lacs,

Yours etc Ashok Bordoloi Dibrugarh

Congratulations to Nahid Sir, Indian Idol Junior is a well known singing reality show telecast on Sony Entertainment Television. The show which features young children with singing talents from around the country. The pride of Northeast and Assam Nahid Afrin lost out in the final’s of Indian Idol junior but her participation and humility ensured

that she competed with grace right till the end. Assam was gripped with Nahid fever with most leading figures barring a few supporting her openly. While Odisha girl Ananya Nanda lifted the trophy of the second season of singing reality show “Indian Idol Junior” received the price money of total Rs 10 lakhs. As a result came out a pale of disappointment came upon all the fans and supporters of Nahid , but just like the little star they were gracious in defeat. But we all know that winning and losing is a part of life and we are sure that Nahid will prove her mettle in the long run. Over the last month the indian idol junior has gripped the state of Assam,which is overcoming the tragedy of floods.According to many though if certain NGO’s and political parties had come out in open support then this girl could have won the title, however with elections down the corner, there has been accusations of polarisation amongst communities. Yours etc Neha Thakur Jorhat

Best Letter The best letter of the month in the Letter to the Editor section will be awarded an amount of Rs 200. So please keep writing. Letters to the editor and articles should be sent to : The Eastern Today Chowkidingee, Near Sankardeva Hospital Mancotta Road, Dibrugarh-786003 (Assam) Ph: 0373-2328944 Web : editor.easterntoday@gmail.com

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

Page 9

Opium Menace Eradication Crusade Needs Paradigm Shift Denhang Bosai There is absolutely no iota of doubt that insurgency problem and drug menace are a paradigm of the destructive side of human nature. This is why the infamous Golden Triangle comprising Myanmar, Thailand and Laos and Golden Crescent comprising Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan merrily thrive on gun and drug trade. Unfortunately, due to their proximity to the Golden Triangle, most of the Northeastern states are affected by insurgency and drugs malady. The national survey shows that the states of Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram figure prominently in the list of states severely affected by drug addiction. The insurgencyinfested districts of Arunachal Pradesh which share boundaries with Myanmar and Nagaland; Tirap, Changlang and Longding, popularly known as TCL are also under the severe grip of opium addiction, especially among the youth. However, many other districts in the state which are free from insurgency are also not free from opium cultivation and addiction. The districts like Lohit, Namsai, Anjaw, Upper Siang and Lower Dibang Valley are known for being opium hubs.While lauding the genuine and serious effort of Narcotics Bureau of India and state government in eradicating opium menace in TCL, it is necessary to add that the stereotyped practice followed for decades may be replicated by more pragmatic and resultoriented programmes. I have seen that for the last

many decades the standard practice adopted or followed by the Narcotics Bureau of India, district administration and the Police has been to destroy the standing poppy plants annually. But paradoxically, the opium growers or cultivators and consumers have only burgeoned over the years to a dangerous proportion. So, a threepronged strategy may be invariably explored and adopted to effectively tackle the fast spreading vice of opium. The government may first of all consider providing alternative source of earning like cardamom plantation, rubber plantation, piggery, goatery, poultry etc. It has been found that the large cardamom grows very well in whole Lazu area. In fact, the people of Upper and Lower Kolam villages have adopted large cardamom as an alternative to opium plantation which is giving them good yield. Till the opium growers find a steady source of sustenance, the government may supply ration on highly subsidized rate. Secondly, the main growers and peddlers may be identified. Thirdly, rehabilitation centres to treat the addicts may be established. In Tirap district the main growers of opium are in Lazu areas bordering Myanmar but the consumers are spread across the district. The state government is viewing the opium addiction problem in TCL seriously. The Tirap Deputy Commissioner convened a meeting on 4th August at Khonsa in which new strategies to address the issue was discussed at length. Incidentally, the Narcotics

Bureau of India officials with the help of the district administration and Police destroy the standing poppy plants which are situated on the roadsides. They seldom reach the far-flung areas where the major poppy cultivation is carried out. To compound the problems of the district administration, the opium growers are now going away from the roadsides and starting to plant in inaccessible terrains for obvious reason. Moreover, they are not growing in a cluster area but sparsely to avoid detection by air mapping of poppy area and opium destroyers. Interestingly, in

undivided Tirap district, during the pre-Independence and post-Independence era, the black variety of opium called 'Pota' used to be distributed to the local people possessing a 'Pota' license. This 'Pota' used to be distributed by the Political Assistants and the Political Interpreters. This rather strange practice was in vogue during the erstwhile NEFA administration also. Probably it was a remnant of the British policy when the British officers used to distribute opium to tame the otherwise aggressive locals those days when 'might was right.' The villagers also

used opium as a medicine in the past, especially to cure stomach ailments. I vividly remember that my father used to ask me to have a puff or chew a small piece of opium, especially during the times of festivals when we used to consume lots of meat. They used to be not many opium addicts in Tirap district then and usually it was the elderly people who used opium. But sadly today most of the addicts are the young people who are supposed to be in their most productive phase. However, the most alarming development today is that the young drug addicts have started taking

Assam tea workers and the politics therein

Ranjan Chowdhury In Assam there are 845 registered Tea Gardens, where approximately 10 lac workers are working but out of which 4 lac 50 thousand are permanent while 5 lac 50 thousand are temporary workers. They have basically migrated from Odisha, Bengal, Bihar etc., as cheap and bonded labour during the pre-independence period under the aegis of the British. Now tea workers of Assam are more or less getting the benefits of daily wages, ration, PF, gratuity, bonus, fire wood, owing to the last 70 years of Trade Union movement by tea workers. Plantation Labour Act is not uniformly implemented in all the Tea Gardens of Assam. Some of the tea workers have reportedly not kept their quarters and laboratories well-maintained and are running local wine (chulai) business from their home. Assam Cha Mazdoor Sangh (ACMS), affiliated to INTUC, is the main and strongest trade union

among the tea workers of Assam. Unfortunately ACMS have not been able to raise tea workers organizationally and politically. Trade union movement in Tea Gardens is mainly centered on the issue of 20% bonus raise. Visibly, whenever there is trade union movement in the Tea Gardens it is always manipulated by All Assam Tea Tribes Students Association (AATTSA) or by Assam Adibashi Shatra Association (AASA), which is believed to be detrimental for the trade union movement. In the year 2003, in the month of October, workers of Khobang Tea Estate of Tinsukia District staged agitation for the demand of 20% bonus, at the instigation of AATTSA. And, in the wake of firing by security personnel, seven workers had died and hundreds of workers were injured. At that time, I had made a political prediction that for the first time Congress would lose the Dibrugarh parliamentary constituency elections and accordingly

in 2004 Pawan Singh Ghatuwar lost the election. Tinsukia District Administration ordered a judicial inquiry into the killing incident of tea workers but unfortunately AATTSA did not figure in the inquiry rather they called an Assam Bandh. In the year 2010, 28thMay at Powai Tea Estate (Tata Group), a chemical spray worker by the name Sri Gopal Tanti died on duty and the tea workers started protesting and again due to police firing Shri Ranjit Paharia and Deep Sona were killed and several hundreds of workers were injured. The Powai Tea Estate recognized union is ACMS but as usual agitating tea workers were under the control of AATTSA; I, on behalf of the Assam Bagicha Karmi Union (AITUC) and ATLU leader Izrail Nanda called on International Union Food & Agriculture Workers (IUF) Geneva to intervene. And accordingly along with the representative of IUF we visited the victim's family members in

their quarters and after that we visited Powai Tea Estate Hospital to meet with the injured tea workers. But surprisingly ACMS and AATTSA activists jointly attacked and harassed us and also tried to burn our car in front of CRFP and Assam Police. Somehow we managed to escape with the help of some tea workers. It was anticipated that Govt. of Assam, ACMS, AATTSA and Assam Branch of Indian Tea Association (ABITA) would try to quash the entire incident and that's why the IUF delegation team was brought in to Powai Tea Estate to highlight the matter at the international level, especially with regard to how Tata Tea Group was exploiting tea workers of Assam. Although Tata Tea is famous in the international market, the customer should know that they are not drinking Tata Tea but it is the blood and sweat of tea workers. In this regard, we also met with the then Governor of Assam J.V. Pattanayak. AASA have started agitation for a minimum daily wage of Rs. 330/- and later on AATTSA interestingly started to demand Rs. 300/ - for tea workers. It will not be out of place to mention here that on 30th March 2014 the then national president of BJP Sri Raj Nath Singh said in an election rally at Tinsukia that daily wage for Tea workers at Rs. 94/- is very low and that they would make it Rs. 180/-. This commitment has borne no fruit as of now. It is a common notion that, whoever is in power, Congress or BJP, tea workers of Assam have been exploited and used as a political trump card during elections. Since the British period tea workers of Assam were getting ra-

tion. But after BJP came to power they have allegedly started a conspiracy to stop ration for tea workers which has been protested by all trade unions irrespective of political affiliation except the BJP. Tea tribe leaders of BJP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa (MP), Rameshwar Teli (MP) and Sanjay Kishan Keep are visibly mum on the whole issue. As per ILO & Central Trade Union minimum wages should be Rs. 15000/-. Narendra Modi on 10th July 2014 also said that minimum wages would be Rs. 15000/-. In this regard Assam Bagicha Karmi Union (Affiliated to AITUC) also sent a letter through Deputy Commissioner Dibruagarh on 9th December 2014 to the PM. Unfortunately, minimum wages of Rs. 15000/- has not yet been realised. The so called leaders of Tea Tribe students have joint the Congress and BJP and became MLAs, MPs and even State and Central Ministers. But the condition of Tea workers has not changed. Central Trade Union called a Bharat Bandh on 2ndSeptember 2015 vis-Ă -vis their 12 point Demand of Charter including minimum wages for Tea workers at Rs. 15000/-. But again, during the industrial strike, ACMS (INTUC), AATTSA and AASA have kept mum in Assam; only ABKU members participated in the historic strike which is very unfortunate for Tea workers. Political leaders should change their perception towards Tea workers immediately otherwise that day would not be far away when the tea workers of Assam will be under the control of Moists because these groups are very much active in the Tea Tribe areas of Assam.

brown sugar, smacks, marijuana, grass, LSD and other costly and potentially dangerous drugs which make their way into the district from different routes. Ironically, some government officials and personnel whose bounden duty is to check the spread of drug addiction are also hooked to opium and drugs. There are also reports that some of them are involved in drug peddling. This is obviously a dangerous trend and must be nipped in the bud. The young able-bodied villagers whose time is to meander aimlessly across the emerald meadows near

their village with a catapult or dao (a sharp weapon used for cutting) in hands and the children in Towns who should be playing in their School and College premises, smoke away their precious time in the many opium lounges in the villages and Towns which are synonymous with smoke, puff and gossip. It is needless to say that opium narcosis is very addictive and a person who puffs the opium smoke for a week or two continuously becomes an addict eventually. Not for nothing, 'kaani' (opium) is described as a one-eyed beauty. Her captivating charm can attract anyone with an elan.There are no two opinions about the fact that opium provides a temporary euphoric trance that ensnares the youths who are normally frustrated and unemployed. But when the momentary trance subsides the person takes the substance again to get that euphoric feeling. In this way the vicious circle continues. For a young addict the narcosis of opium annihilates or nullifies the significance of time and he wastes his precious time meaninglessly. When he opens his drowsy eyes to look at the magnificent and gigantic world outside, it is too late to rectify his grave mistakes he had made. He has only to repent helplessly and hopelessly as his productive years have been destroyed by him by indulging in smoking opium. The opium addict ends up becoming a miserable man. He is addressed as a Kanya (opium addict), a very derogatory term.He is avoided by the good people who have a purpose in life. Even his death is mourned

only by a few. The people rightly feel that nobody coerced him to get addicted to the dangerous narcosis opium so, they have no sympathy whatsoever for him. Today opium and drug addiction in TCL and other places of the state is a reality and we must confront it with all seriousness and arrest and defeat it. We must create drug-free societies for our children and their children. Together we can! Having said and done, the effort made by the Narcotics Bureau of India, district administration and Police should be truly pragmatic and should genuinely benefit the addicts. Their programmes and initiatives must not be for the sake of doing it. With great pride I would like to add here that the Women's Wing of Adi Bane Kebang based in East Siang district is doing a yeoman's service in collaboration with the district administration and Police in checking the menace of opium. Other women's groups in other districts of the state of Arunachal Pradesh should take a leaf out of the book of Ane Bane Kebang. It's the local people who can contribute more than the district administration in fighting against opium. The addicts are also our own people. Let us combine our humble endeavour and strive together in the crusade of wiping their painful tears and escort them to a life of aplenty and happiness from the ugly world of drowsy darkness. (The writer is DIPRO, Tirap and can be reached at denhangbosai@yahoo.co.in)

Death In Every Stride: The Book On Domestic Violence That Promises To 'Shake Your Thoughts' Megha Agarwal "My friend's mother cringed at her reflection in the mirror as she throws on makeup over the bruises circling her eye. She has been experiencing severe abuse from the father of her children from past 22 years. Her children are crying watching her from the peephole. She knew it's time to move out from that terror enclave and she tried to get over with it again and again but she failed." I was reading The Hindu at 10 p.m. one night and found the story of a woman who was brutally beaten and raped. In the three years I'd been reading the paper there had been no change in the atrocities undergone by women and the violence faced by them. Somehow, that moment triggered me to write a book. That very night I got to work on the plot of the

story. After coming across way too many incidents of domestic violence, I chose to focus my novel on that topic. Behind the closed doors of homes all across the world, people are being tortured, beaten and killed. Scars may never disappear but the haunting memories can be erased.Death In Every Stride was born out of my urgent need to wake today's youth up. It felt like it was my time to step forward for everyone whose lives can be redefined with colors of joy and elation. This novel allowed me to learn more about who I am. It allowed me to meet characters I'd never get to in real life, characters that were so much more than mere descriptions on paper. While I was writing, I could experience the feelings of all the characters and that's when I realized that this was the right platform for the voice within me.

When it came to publishing, I chose Authorspress. This publishing house accepted my manuscript and gave me the incredible opportunity to become a published author. It wasn't as long a process as I had thought it would be. The editorial team offered much support and encouragement, appreciating my effort to change people's thought process. Let me tell you what the book does. In a unique style, the protagonist's monologue with her diary takes the readers through the horrors of domestic violence; and makes them live and feel that fear. Death in Every Stride is a dark saga of atrocities that a young woman faces at home and an awful journey she embarks upon, from wedding to motherhood. Experience the battle that is Krisanne's journey and be ready to have your thoughts shaken.

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

BUSINESS

PAGE 10

BSNL targets Rs.42,000 crore China's 2014 GDP growth revenue generation by 2018-19 revised down to 7.3% Mumbai, Sep 8: State-run telecom operator BSNL aims to increase its revenues by almost 50 per cent to Rs.42,000 crore in the next four years as part of the Modi-government's plan to turnaround the loss making firm by 2018-19. The company's revenues stood at Rs.28,000 crore during the last financial year (2014-15). "We have prepared a detailed plan as per which BSNL should turn profitable in 2018-19. At present, BSNL's loss is coming because of depreciation of the assets and we need to generate an equal amount to profit to erase it; operationally we are still comfortable," said BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Srivastava. He added that the target was to increase BSNL's revenue from Rs.28,000 crore now to Rs.42,000 crore in 2018-19

to turn profitable. BSNL, which runs operations across the country expect Delhi and Mumbai, has been posting losses for the past few years and its revival is one of the top priorities for Telecom Minister Ravi Shanakar Prasad. According to official data,

TARGET TURNAROUND ¢ State-run telecom operator BSNL aims to increase its revenues by almost 50 per cent to Rs.42,000 crore in the next four years. ¢ The company's revenues stood at Rs.28,000 crore during the last financial year (2014-15). ¢ BSNL had posted a loss of Rs.8,851 crore in 201112, which dropped to Rs.7,884 crore in 2012-13 and stood at Rs.7,019 crore in 2013-14. ¢ The total income for the three years stood at Rs.27,934 crore, Rs.27,128 crore, Rs.27,996 crore. ¢ For the last financial year (2014-15), the losses stood at Rs.7,265 crore (un-audited). ¢ The contribution of mobile segment is expected to go up from Rs.13,000 crore now to about Rs.19,000 crore in 2018-19, the revenues from landline are likely to remain flat at Rs.11,000 crore.

BSNL had posted a loss of Rs.8,851 crore in 2011-12, which dropped to Rs.7,884 crore in 2012-13 and stood at Rs.7,019 crore in 201314. The total income for the three years stood at Rs.27,934 crore, Rs.27,128 crore, Rs.27,996 crore. For the last financial year (2014-15), the losses stood at Rs.7,265 crore (un-audited). "As of now, BSNL is self-sufficient. We are paying salaries to our staff from our resources and managing operational maintenance expenses from our own resources," Mr. Srivastava said. About Rs.15,000 crore of BSNL's revenue goes into paying staff salaries, while about Rs.11,000-Rs.12,000 crore is put in maintenance of networks (both landline and mobile) and core equipment. "The salaries we pay to our staff is almost

equivalent to Air India's topline, it is also more than that topline of a few private players," he added. While the contribution of mobile segment is expected to go up from Rs.13,000 crore now to about Rs.19,000 crore in 2018-19, the revenues from landline are likely to remain flat at Rs.11,000 crore. "Wireline contribution will remain static. While number of landline connections will go down, it will be compensated by the increase in number of broadband connections. We have huge hopes from our enterprise business, which contributes about Rs.4,000 crore to revenues. We see big opportunity in this space, especially with all the banks going to the rural areas and also smart cities coming up," Mr. Srivastava said. (Agencies)

Tokyo, Sep 8: China has revised its annual economic growth rate in 2014 to 7.3 per cent from the previously released figure of 7.4 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. The gross domestic product stood at 63.6 trillion yuan ($10.00 trillion) last year, down by 32.4 billion yuan from the initial estimate, the bureau said in a statement on its website. The bureau has revised down 2014 growth of the services sector by 0.3 percentage points to 7.8 per cent, which helped drag down estimated GDP growth rate, it said. The primary sector - the agriculture sector - grew 4.1 per cent last year, while growth

of the secondary sector, which includes manufacturing and construction,

A TALE OF REVISED GDP China has revised its annual economic growth rate in 2014 to 7.3 per cent from the previously released figure of 7.4 per cent. The GDP stood at 63.6 trillion yuan ($10.00 trillion) last year, down by 32.4 billion yuan from the initial estimate. The primary sector - the agriculture sector - grew 4.1 per cent last year, while growth of the secondary sector, which includes manufacturing and construction, rose 7.3 per cent. After the revision, the services sector accounted for 48.1 per cent of GDP last year, down from the previously announced 48.2 per cent, the bureau said. The manufacturing and construction sector accounted for 42.7 per cent of GDP while the farm sector accounted for 9.2 per cent.

42% fall in oilmeals export in August

Sequoia ogles new $800m India fund Mumbai, Sep 8: Silicon Valley's toptier venture capital (VC) fund Sequoia Capital is looking to raise $800 million, or Rs 5,050 crore, for its fifth India-focused fund, taking its total assets under management to $3 billion. This is the biggest raise by any VC firm for India-specific investments and comes at a time when the domestic tech startup ecosystem has been awash with risk capital for early-stage companies. Sequoia will likely close the new fund by the end of the year, said multiple sources familiar with the matter, giving it a substantial leg up over other investors amid rising valuations and expensive dealmaking. The VC fund, which has backed companies like Just Di al, Mu Sigma and Zomato, will see the new fund invest in Indian and Southeast Asian companies just like its Fund IV. An emailed query to Sequoia Capital India remained unanswered till the

time of going to press. Most VCs which have Indiadedicated funds are currently on the road to raise fresh capital in an extremely competitive local market fuelled by the advent of hedge funds and deep-pocketed investors like SoftBank and DST Global, among others.

Bangalore-based Kalaari Capital, an early-stage backer of Snapdeal and Myntra, just closed its new $285-million Fund III, while others like Nexus Venture Capital are likely to announce their new funds soon. Even as investors bulk up with more funds to manage, some

caution is starting to emanate on the back of US tech stocks plummeting over the past few weeks. Investors say they want to prize profit over scale which may lead to sobering in the number of early-stage deals and also valuations, going forward. But investors want to be prepared with a war chest to fight the likes of Tiger Global, one of the most prolific investors in Indian consumer internet companies which struck a slew of series a deals this year. Since Sequoia started operations in India back in 2006, the fund has invested in 100plus companies across sectors such as tech, healthcare, consumer and financial services.This year saw Sequoia-backed Freecharge, a mobile recharge company , being acquired by ecommerce major Snapdeal, post which the VC fund got a 3% shareholding in the Delhibased e-commerce firm. (Agencies)

Oil prices mixed after weak Chinese trade data Singapore, Sep 8: Oil prices were mixed in Asia on Tuesday after the latest Chinese trade data showed lacklustre demand in the world's top energy consumer, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery fell USD 1.34 to USD 44.71 while Brent crude for October gained 44 cents to USD 48.07 in late-morning trade. The Chinese customs administration on Tuesday said overseas shipments in

August fell 6.1 per cent in yuan terms from a year earlier. This compared with a fall of 8.9 per cent in July. Imports dropped 14.3 per cent, from an 8.6 per cent decrease in July. "This data just reinforces the view we are still seeing weakness in the Chinese economy and this data point suggests we have not seen a bottom yet," Bernard Aw, market strategist at IG Markets, said. "China's economy remains a worry for the wider world

economy and global asset markets," he added. The data was the first in a string of economic figures this week that will be used as a barometer of the state of the Chinese economy, the world's second-biggest and a crucial driver of global growth. Oil prices have come under pressure from concerns that China's slowing economy will curb demand for the commodities that have helped feed its astonishing growth over the

past three decades. The devaluation of the yuan on August 11 fuelled economic fears, sparking a slump in world equities sending commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials, to a 16-year-low before stabilising near current levels. Oil prices are down almost 30 per cent from this year's closing peak in May, according to Bloomberg News data. (Agencies)

Medicines of HIV, TB, cancer treatment may become cheaper Pune, Sep 8: Treating acute illnesses may become more affordable as the government delves into formulating a new method to ascertain prices, a HT report has said. Medicines and treatment charges for diseases like HIV, cancer, diabetes and tuberculosis may fall further, in a much needed relief for customers. The Supreme Court had, in July, asked the government

to revise the formula for pricing medicinal drugs. While cheaper medicines and treatment cost will ensure it is possible for more and more people can avail medicinal help, it may also prompt manufacturers to curb production as their margins will contract with falling prices. "We may go back to the older drug pricing formula. The health ministry is working on the proposal where it will

invite suggestions from stakeholders," Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, minister of state, chemicals and fertilisers, told HT. "We are discussing the proposal with industry associations, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and several consumer activists. No deadline has been fixed, we will take a decision after considering the viewpoint of each stakeholder," he added. Currently,

the pricing formula is market driven. Prices are fixed by taking an average of prices of medicine that hold atleast 1% of the market share. If the government reverts to the older method, as is expected, company data, manufacturing cost of different medicines, may be collected and analysed to arrive at a price using a costplus-margin method. (Agencies)

rose 7.3 per cent. After the revision, the services sector accounted for 48.1 per cent of GDP last year, down from the previously announced 48.2 per cent, the bureau said. The manufacturing and construction sector accounted for 42.7 per cent of GDP while the farm sector accounted for 9.2 per cent. The world's second-largest economy grew 7 per cent in the first half from a year earlier - in line with the government's target for 2015, but recent downbeat data has raised the risk the government could miss the full-year growth target. (Agencies)

Mumbai, Sep 8: Oilmeals exports fell by 42 per cent in August to 91,834 tonnes on sharp decline in soyabean meal shipments, Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) saidon Monday. The country had shipped 1,56,942 tonnes of oilmeals, used as animal feed, in the same period last year. "Soyabean crushing is very much reduced due to continuous disparity and high price of domestic market affecting

overall domestic availability of both oils and meals. Soyabean meal export is at a historical low," Mumbaibased Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) said in a statement. As a result, capacity utilisation is at the lowest and many plants are closed down due to disparity in crushing and export, it has said. As per the SEA data, soyabean meal exports dropped sharply to 768 tonnes in August this year from 2,778 tonnes in the

year-ago period. Similarly, the shipment of rapeseed meal exports fell to 49,788 tonnes from 1,12,375 tonnes, while that of rice bran extraction declined to 8,500 tonnes from 19,656 tonnes in the same period last year. However, castor seed meal exports increased to 32,778 tonnes in August this year from 22,001 tonnes in the previous year. During the April-August period of this fiscal, oilmeals exports fell by 33 per cent to 6,09,748 tonnes from 9,14,849 tonnes in the yearago period. Exports to South Korea declined by over 9 per cent to 3,84,956 tonnes in April-August this year from 4,23,918 tonnes in the yearago period. Similarly, the shipments to Thailand fell by sharply by 82 per cent to 17,142 tonnes in the said period. India exports oilmeal to countries including South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Iran and European nations. (Agencies)

Minimum 2 Mbps speed to be offered by BSNL from Oct. 1 New Delhi, Sep 8: Starting October 1, over one crore BSNL landline broadband users will be able to surf the Internet at a minimum speed of 2 megabits per second (2Mbps), at no extra cost. At present, the company offers minimum broadband speed of 512 Kbps. "We have increased the internet speed four times...we have ensured 2 Mbps is available at last mile, which is the customer premises starting October 1," BSNL CMD Anupam Shrivastava said. The move, which could also trigger a drop in data speed tariffs of private telecom operators, is a part of BSNL's revival plan and comes after the recently announced facilities such as free roaming and free night calling on landlines for its users. (Agencies)

New 2015 Polo launched by Volkswagen Noida, Sep 8: German car maker Volkswagen, launched a new version of its premium hatchback Polo priced between Rs 5.24 lakh and Rs 8.42 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai). "With the new Polo, we have enhanced the driving comfort for our customers, "Volkswagen Group Sales India Director (Volkswagen Passenger Cars) Michael Mayer said in a statement. He said the company is confident that the introduction of new features in Polo in this festive season will appeal to discerning car buyers across the country. The new Polo 2015 will have features like cruise control, cooled glove box and electrically foldable ORVMs with turn indicators across all variants of the model, the company said. (Agencies)

Samsung bets big on premium phones; unveils Note 5 Korea, Sep 8: Buoyed by a "healthy double digit growth" in premium smartphone sales, handset maker Samsung on Monday launched its 'Note 5' in the country priced at Rs. 53,990. The Korean company, which had launched the Galaxy Note5 in the US last month, will make the 32GB variant available for Rs. 53,900 and Rs. 59,900 (64GB) from September 20 in India. "We are witnessing healthy double-digit growth across categories, including premium smartphones [devices priced above Rs. 30,000]," said Samsung India Vice-President Marketing (IT and Mobile) Asim Warsi. He added that major sales for the Note series comes from "loyalists" that have previously owned a device from the

range. "In 2015, we have seen all our segments - feature phones, smartphones and tablets - growing at a healthy pace," he said. India is one of the fastestgrowing smartphone mar-

SAMSUNG'S NEW LAUNCH Note 5 in the country is priced at Rs. 53,990. The 32GB variant available for Rs. 53,900 and Rs. 59,900 (64GB) from September 20in India. The latest edition of the Galaxy Note range features a 5.7-inch quad HD Super AMOLED display, 4GB RAM, 16MP rear and 5MP front camera, 3,000mAh battery and is based on the Android Lollipop operating system. In Galaxy Note5, the S-Pen based productivity is pushed to the next level.

kets globally and is expected to replace the US as the second largest market by 2017, as people switch to smartphones from feature phones and gradually upgrade to 4Genabled phones. In the April-June 2015 quarter, smartphone shipment in India grew 44 per cent to 26.5 million units from the year-ago period, as per research firm IDC. Samsung was the market leader with 23 per cent share, followed by Micromax (17 per cent) and Intex (11 per cent). The first Note device was

launched in 2011. The latest edition of the Galaxy Note range features a 5.7inch quad HD Super AMOLED display, 4GB RAM, 16MP rear and 5MP front camera, 3,000mAh battery and is based on the Android Lollipop operating system. "The Note series has been an iconic one in the world. In India, it almost has a cult following. In the beautifully crafted Galaxy Note5, we have pushed the S-Pen based productivity to the next level," Mr. Warsi said. (Agencies)

"I can't describe the feeling because growing up, you look up to events like the Ryder Cup and feel terrible about it as you can't be a part of something like that. But thankfully, we have the Presidents Cup for us to aim for and it is an achievement to make the team."

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

PAGE 11

Anirban Lahiri

Euro qualifiers: Germany put Scots on the rocks; Portugal win Thomas Mueller scored twice and set up another goal as Germany beat Scotland 3-2 on Monday to move to the brink of qualifying for Euro 2016 after all but securing a top-two finish in Group D with two games left. The world champions now have 19 points while Poland, 8-1 winners over Gibraltar, are on 17. Ireland, who beat Georgia 1-0 and next face Germany in October, are third with 15 points. Scotland have 11 following their second defeat in four days. The top two automatically reach the finals in France. Mueller underlined his fine form by netting in the 18th minute with a deflected effort. The red-hot forward added his second with a close-range header

after Scotland had levelled with a Mats Hummels own

Real Madrid snub PSG's jaw-dropping 110m pound offer for Ronaldo

goal. Mueller, who was also on target in Friday's 3-1

transfer window. The move would have surpassed the current world record fee Real paid Tottenham Hotspur for Gareth Bale in 2013. Ronaldo, who moved to Real for a staggering 85.3million pounds deal, has a contract that will keep him at the La Liga club until 2018. (ANI)

by the Albanians in the reverse fixture at home after Veloso rescued them from a series of misses by Cristiano Ronaldo in Elbasan. The Real Madrid hitman skewed an inviting cross wide from almost point blank range in the 13th minute, shortly after forcing a good save from keeper Etrit Berisha. He glanced a header wide on the half hour and it looked like Albania would hang on until Veloso rose above his marker to head home a Ricardo Quaresma corner. Portugal are at home to Denmark and then away to eliminated Serbia in their last two qualifiers, while Albania are at home to Serbia before they visit outof-contention Armenia. (Agencies)

four stage after getting a walk-over from the Romanian pair of Simona Halep and Horia Tecau in the quarter-finals. Bopanna and his Chinese Taipei partner Yung-Jan Chan though had to battle hard against Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei and Henri Kontinen of Finland. The second-seeded BopannaChan combine got the bet-

ter of Hsieh and Kontinen 7-6, 5-7, 13-11 in a 1 hour50 minute battle on Court 17. Meanwhile, Bopanna also continued his winning run in the men's doubles draw as he booked a quarter-final berth alongwith partner Florin Mergea. Bopanna and Mergea staved off the third-round challenge from Canada's

Daniel Nestor and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 in a match that lasted for just over two hours. The sixthseeded pair dished out 10 aces as compared to the three sent down by the Canadian-French pair, which was seeded ninth. The Indo-Romanian duo will face Dominic Inglot of Great Britain and Robert

ships in Beijing I have decided not to race again in 2015," the 29-year-old wrote on his Facebook page. Bolt also said that he was happy to end the season without any injuries, adding that he was already thinking about the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio where he would attempt to defend his titles in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m. The decision means Bolt will miss Friday's Diamond League finale in Brussels. (ANI)

Lindstedt of Sweden in the last-eight encounter. India also saw success in the junior girls section as Karman Kaur Thandi beat Germany's Katharina Hobgarski 6-3, 7-6 in the singles opening round. Thandi will play Evgeniya Levashova of Russia in the third round. However, Thandi, 17, was not lucky in the junior girls doubles

draws she and Elini Christofi of Greece suffered a first-round defeat at the hands of the Australian duo of Kimberly Birrell and Maddison Inglis 3-6, 5-7. 15th-seeded Pranjala Yadlapalli though had to bow out after suffering a 67, 3-6 first-round defeat against Valentini Grammatikopoulou of Greece. (Agencies)

Sri Lanka appoint Another high for golfer Lahiri! 1st Indian to qualify for President's Cup Jayaratne as interim

New Delhi: Ace golfer Anirban Lahiri added another feather to his cap by becoming the first Indian to qualify for the prestigious President's Cup. Lahiri, World No.40, came through as one of the automatic qualifications for the International Team, which will take on United States in the biennial Presidents Cup in Korea. In the International Team standings, the deadline for which ended on Monday, Lahiri finished seventh to make the team. Expressing his elation at the qualification, Lahiri, winner of Malaysian Open and Hero Indian Open, said, "I can't deSaina will play against scribe the feeling because Thailand's Busanan growing up, you look up Ongbumrungpan in her first to events like the Ryder match. Among other Indi- Cup and feel terrible ans, World No. 4 Kidambi about it as you can't be a Srikanth is the only one to be seeded in men's singles. part of something like He will take on Scott Evans that. But thankfully, we of Ireland in the opening have the Presidents Cup for us to aim for and it is match. (ANI)

cricket coach

World No.1 Saina Nehwal eyes Japan Open title

Tokyo : The Japan Super Series badminton tournament gets underway with the qualifiers in Tokyo on Tuesday and World No. 1 Saina Nehwal will look to continue her rampaging form when she opens her campaign at the 275,000 US Dollar event tomorrow.

Brussels: Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has ruled himself out of the rest of the season after his triple gold medal success at last month's world championships in Beijing. The sixtime Olympic champion has had an injury-disrupted season but still claimed all three sprint titles for the fifth time at a major global championships. "After the excitement of the past few weeks at the World T&F (Track & Field) Champion-

Paes, Bopanna to clash in US Open mixed doubles semis New York: In what seems to be a mouth-watering clash for Indian tennis fans, Rohan Bopanna set up a semi-final clash with veteran Leander Paes after the two players won their respective mixed doubles matches on Day 8 of the US Open in New York, on Monday. The fourthseeded pair of Paes and Hingis moved into the last

Madrid: Spanish giants Real Madrid have reportedly rejected a sensational 110million-pound offer made by French champions Paris Saint-Germain for the three-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo. Real turned down the lucrative bid for their Portuguese superstar in the recently closed

victory over Poland, then rode to the rescue again af-

ter the home team had levelled once more with a shot from James McArthur before halftime. The 25-yearold Mueller set up the winner, cutting the ball back for Ilkay Guendogan to fire in off the post in the 54th minute. A stoppage time header by defender Miguel Veloso gave Portugal a 1-0 win in Albania and allowed them to extend their lead on top of Euro 2016 qualifying Group I. The Portuguese have 15 points from six games, ahead of Denmark who have 12 from seven after a 0-0 draw in Armenia. Third-placed Albania have 11 points from six games and despite the setback are assured of at least a play-off berth. Portugal avenged their shock defeat

`Sprint King` Bolt ends season to focus on 2016 Rio Olympics

an achievement to make the team." As of now the International team has four Australians, three South Africans and one each from Japan, India and Thailand. The US

team will consist of Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Jimmy Walker, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Matt Kuchar and Chris

Kirk, with two more picks to be included. The Presidents Cup will be held at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Songdo IBD, Incheon City, from October 6 to 11. (Agencies)

Colombo: Jerome Jayaratne will be Sri Lanka's interim coach for the home series against West Indies beginning next month, the country's cricket board announced. Sri Lanka were without a head coach after Marvan Atapattu resigned earlier this month following the team's back-to-back home Test series defeat by Pakistan and India. Instead of finding a fulltime replacement, Sri Lanka put its head of coaching and former under-19 player Jayaratne in temporary charge of a team grappling with a tricky transition following the retirement of batting stalwarts Mahela Jayawardene and

Kumar Sangakkara. Beginning on October 14, West Indies play two Tests, three onedayers and two T w e n t y 2 0 Internationals in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Cricket is likely to appoint a full-time coach before the team leaves for their New Zealand tour in December. (Agencies)

Indian lifter Lather wins gold, scripts record at Commonwealth Youth Games Apia: Indian weightlifters continued to dominate at the fifth Youth Commonwealth Games after Deepak Lather won gold in the 62 kg category on Day 2 of the competition in Apia, Samoa, on Tu e s d a y. T h e 1 5 year-old Deepak fin-

ished with a total of 258 kg with 120 kg in snatch, a new CYG record and 138 kg in clean and jerk. This was India's second gold in weightlifting after Jamjang Deru stood atop the podium in the 56 kg category on the opening day of the event. In-

dia is being represented by 25 athletes in eight disciplines out of the nine at the CYG. India's Velavan Senthilkumar secured a bronze medal in the men's singles squash competition a fte r his opponent failed to take the court at the Common-

wealth Youth Games. The Tamil Nadu boy Ve l a v a n g o t t h e medal on a platter after his losing semi-finalist opponent Israr Ahamad of Pakistan reported sick and could not take the court. Israr had earlier conceded his semi-final match

against England's Patrick Rooney citing illness and could not recover for the bronze medal match. E a r l i e r, Ve l a v a n failed to spring any surprise against top seed Ng Eain Yeow of Malaysia, whose crisp game gave little a w a y. Ve l a v a n

matched him for a while in the first game but better staying power saw the Malaysian cruise to a comfortable 11-7, 11-3, 11-7 win. Velavan will team up with Harshit Jawanda for the mixed doubles which gets underway on Wednesday. (Agencies)

Manoj Debnath will play under 55 kg category and his trainer Arup Rajkhowa will play under 80 kg category at Kualalampur , Malaysia from 26th sept to 5th oct .

DIBRUGARH, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

Features

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HORTICULTURE Cultivation Technology of Brinjal

The North East region has its own unique combination of living species, habitats and ecosystems, which together make up its diversity rich resource. While speaking strictly about plant diversity, two regions of the country are termed as hot spots. These are - Western Ghats and the North Eastern hill regions. In all living organisms the species is the single most useful unit to use in diversity assessment. Species richness and the relative abundance of different species is another criterion to measure the degree of diversity. The number of endemic species also reflects into account while assessing the richness of diversity. The North Eastern region of India comprising eight states namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim has vast physiographical variations. North East region is one of the richest reservoir of genetic variability and diversity of different crops that is various kinds of fruits, different vegetables, spices, ornamental plants and also medicinal & aromatic plants. The diversity for horticultural crops of this region has mainly been managed by local farmers, often women. Considerable diversity exists among the regional horticultural species including variation in plant type, morphological and physiological characteristics, reactions to diseases and pests, adaptability and distribution. Apart from the nutritional value, many regional horticultural crops are used for medicinal purposes, income generating and poverty alleviation programmes in the rural areas. Brinjal or eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is an important solanaceous crop of sub tropics and tropics. The name brinjal is popular in Indian subcontinents and is derived from Arabic and Sanskrit whereas the name eggplant has been derived from the shape of the fruit of some varieties, which are white and resemble in shape to chicken eggs. It is also called aubergine (French word) in Europe. The brinjal is of much importance in the areas of Northeast India. It is also popular in Egypt, France, Italy and United States. In India, it is one of the most common, popular and principal vegetable crops grown throughout the country except higher altitudes. It is a versatile crop adapted to different agro-climatic regions and can be grown throughout the year. It is a

perennial but grown commercially as an annual crop. A number of cultivars are grown in India, consumer preference being dependent upon fruit colour, size and shape. The varieties of Solanum melongena L. display a wide range of fruit shapes and colours, ranging from oval or eggshaped to long club-shaped; and from white, yellow, green through degrees of purple pigmentation to almost black. Most of the commercially important varieties have been selected from the long established types of the tropical India and China. Seedling raising: Nursery Bed Preparation : Brinjal seeds are sown on nursery beds to raise seedlings for transplanting in the field. Raised beds are necessary to avoid problem of water logging in heavy soils. In sandy soils, however, sowing can be taken up in flat beds. Raised beds of size 7.2 x 1.2 m and 1015 cm in height are prepared. Thus, ten such beds are sufficient to raise seedlings for planting one hectare area. About 70cm distance is kept between two beds to carry out operations of watering, weeding, etc. The surface of beds should be smooth and well levelled. Well-decomposed FYM or leaf mould may be mixed with the soil at the time of bed preparation. To avoid mortality of seedlings due to damping off, drenching of the beds with Bavistin is effective. Raising of Seedlings : About 250-300 g of seeds are sufficient for raising seedlings for one hectare of land. Prior to sowing seeds are treated with fungal culture of Trichoderma viride (4 g/ kg of seed) or Thiram (2g/ kg of seed) to avoid damage from damping-off disease. Sowing should be done thinly in lines spaced at 5-7 cm distance. Seeds are sown at a depth of 2-3 cm and covered with a fine layer of soil followed by light watering by water can. The beds should then be covered with dry straw or grass or sugarcane leaves to maintain required temperature and moisture. The watering should be done by water can as per the need till germination is completed. The cover of dry straw or grass is removed immediately after germination is complete. During the last week in nursery, the seedlings may be hardened by slightly withholding water. The seedlings are ready for transplanting within 4-6 weeks of planting when they attain a height of 15 cm with 2-3 true leaves.

Cultural Practices The field should be kept weed-free, especially in the initial stage of plant growth, as weeds compete with the crop and reduce the yield drastically. Frequent shallow cultivation should be done at regular interval so as to keep the field free from weeds and to facilitate soil aeration and proper root development. Deep cultivation is injurious because of the damage of roots and exposure of moist soil to the surface. Two-three hoeing and the earthing up are required to keep the crop free of

weeds. Hand weeding and hoeing are done to control weeds. Black plastic mulch is also an effective method to control weeds. Black polythene mulch prevents entry of light, which restricts germination of weed seeds and growth. Preemergence application of Fluchloralin (1.5 kg a.i./ha) coupled with one hand weeding 30 days after transplanting is effective for control of weeds staking is another cultural practice which help to keep branches upright and protect from wind damage. If support is not provided then heavily bearing branches may break. Manuring & Fertilization Brinjal being a long duration crop, requires a good amount of manures and fertilizers for high yield. The fertilizer dose depends upon the fertility of soil and amount of organic manure applied to the crop. For a good yield, 15-20 tonnes of well-decomposed FYM is incorporated into the soil. Generally, application of 150 kg N, 100 kg P O and 50 kg K O is recommended for optimum yield. Half dose of N and full dose of P and K is given at the time

of planting. The balance half of N is given in 3 equal split doses. The first split dose is given one and half month after transplanting, the second dose one month after the first application and the final at three and half months after transplanting. For hybrid varieties, the recommended dose is 200 kg N, 100 kg P O and 100 Kg K O. Out of this dose, 25 % of N and 100 % of P & K is applied as basal dose. Remaining 75 % of P is applied in three equal split doses. The first split dose of N is applies 20 days after transplanting. The second dose is given just before the onset of flowering while the third after the first picking/harvesting. Integrated Pest and Disease Management in brinjal: Major pest of national significance in brinjal 1. Insect Pest : Shoot and fruit borer, Jassid , Aphid ,White fly, 2. Diseases : Damping off , Phomopsis blight, Little leaf,Bacterial wilt 3. Weeds L a m b square(Chenopodium al-

bum), Pimpernel (Anagalis arvensis), Sweet clover (Melilotus sp.), Fumitory (Fumaria indica), Compsperry (spergula arvensis), Blue grass(Poa anuna), Canary grass(Phalaris minor), Rabit foot grass(Dectyloctium aegyptium) 4. Nematode IPM stratigies in brinjal I. Cultural Practices Phytosanitation to reduce the source of inoculum such as removal of plant after final harvest, volunteer plants. Clean planting materials, preferably certified seeds should be used. Crop rotation with French bean reduce bacterial wilt incidence. For root knot and reniform nematode crop rotation should be done with non host crop like sorghum and wheat. Intercropping with marigold, onion and garlic also recommended for nematode management. Adaptation of raise nursery bed (10 cm) for good drainage thereby avoid damping off in solanaceous nursery by preventing soil born fungi viz. Pythium, Phytophthora and Rizoctonia. Soil solarization using black HDPE transparent polythene sheets(60-100 gauge) on nursery beds for about 15 20 days which helps in killing weed seeds, nematodes and resting stages of insects and diseases. Deep summer plough also

helps to expose resting stage of pests to sun light. Avoiding over dose of nitrogen and phosphorus on brinjal reduces the incidence of shoot and fruit borer. Excess use of water for disease management is to be avoided. Use of ash dust reduces the incidence of shoot and fruit borer Destruction of crop residues /debris and alternate host plants reduces the inoculum load of many folier diseases. Crop seedling should be planted timely in well prepared fields at recommended spacing. Use balanced doses of fertilizers to obtain optimum plant population and healthy crop stand, which would be capable of copeting with weeds at initial stages of crop growth. Selection of less susceptible varieties like SB17-4, PBR129-5, Punjab Barsati, Arka Kasumakar, Pusa Purple Cluster for shoot and fruit borer II. Mechanical Control Collection and destruction of egg masses, larvae and adults of Hadda beetle and tobacco cutworm Removal of damage shoot,fruit and fruit borer and destruction. Use of yellow pan/sticky traps for sucking pest at 10 per ha. Regular destruction of damage fruits at each harvest in brinjal to reduce the

population. Crop should be maintained weed free for 4 to 6 weeks after by resorting to timely hand hoeing and hand weeding III. Biological Control Conservation In addition to certain parasites, general predators like Coccinellids, Syrphid, Spiders, Carabids, Staphylinids, Dragonfly, Damsefly, Pradatory miridbugs, Predatory pentatomids, Nabid bugs, Reduvid bugs, Anthocoridbugs, Geocorid bugs; Predatory mite, Pradatory thrips also actively suppress the pest population. Since these natural enemies are highly prone for pesticides, avoiding unnecessary sprays are the best way to conserve them. Growing cowpea and pulses on the bunds helps to build up natural enemy fauna. IV. Biopesticides Spray Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki, the commercial preparationat500 g/ha against lepidopteran pests. Seed treatment with trichoderma viride/ tricoderma harzianum at2g per100of seeds to prevent seed and soil borne infection of fungal diseases. V. Botanical Pesticides Five percent NSKE spray for sucking pests in early stages of the crop; it also takes care of serpentine leaf miner. Application of Neem cake at 200kg/ha, a basal dose at the time of land preparation for controlling root-knot nematode infection.

FLORICULTURE

Marigold farming boosts socio-economic condition in West Bengal Marigold farming is strengthening the socioeconomic condition of Koladipara village of Siliguri district while also empowering the unemployed villagers, especially women. Every family of Koladipara is engaged in marigold farming. While men are engaged in farming, the women and girls pluck the yellow flowers to weave garlands and sell them at the wholesale market in Siliguri town, where these are in high demand. Pallabi Roy, a student of the village, feels empowered as she is able to continue her education while

earning money from weaving garlands. "We pluck flowers and weave garlands between our studies to earn some money. There are many girls like me in this village who do the same between their work and studies" Roy said here. Most of the residents of Koladipara village are now involved in this new business. Most of the villagers were daily wage labourers before a local self-help group, Phasidewa Farmers Club (PFC), changed their destiny. It encouraged the villagers to start cultivating marigold flowers in 2010. The venture brought remarkable change in the

lives of the people. One of the members of the PFC, Kalyan Chandra Bhadra, and a farmer himself, said every single family is now engaged in marigold farming. "There are 45 families residing in this village. Although not every family owns a farmland - they take other's land on lease - everyone in this village is engaged in marigold farming," Bhadra said. Their success led to the neighbouring villages also to take up marigold farming. Today, Siliguri town exports marigold flowers to neighbouring districts of the state. (ANI)

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