HIMALAYAN MIRROR NORTHEAST GANGTOK, FRIDAY 17 OCTOBER 2014 3 Finish all ongoing rural infrastructure projects by March 2015: Tarun Gogoi Northeast India turns to Myanmar, Bangladesh for rice Agartala, Oct 16 (IANS) : Transport bottlenecks have forced India's northeastern states to procure much needed rice from neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Indian government has floated bids to import rice from Myanmar for Manipur and Mizoram. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is ferrying rice from other parts of India via Bangladesh for Tripura. The poor transport connectivity in some northeastern states worsened after train services from the rest of India were halted in southern Assam Oct 1, snapping rail connection to Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram. This has been done so that rail tracks can be converted from metre to broad gauge. This 18-month two-phase track conversion work undertaken by the Northeast Frontier Railways is scheduled to be completed by March 2016. Mizoram Food and Civil Supplies and Transport Minister John Rotluangliana told IANS: "We have asked the central government to import rice from Myanmar. The Metals and Minerals Trading Corp (MMTC) has floated tenders for this purpose. "We are expecting rice from Myanmar very soon," Rotluangliana added. He said he recently visited Chin hills in Myanmar adjoining eastern Mizoram to gather knowledge regarding transportation of rice from there. Mizoram shares an unfenced border of 404 km with Myanmar. According to the minister, Mizoram, with a population of 1.1 million, requires about 52,000 quintals of rice per month for distribution through the Public Distribution System (PDS). The MMTC last month floated global tenders to import about 100,000 tonnes of rice from Myanmar for employment to rural population," he said. Gogoi also underscored the need for making a realistic assessment of the potential created for generation of income and employment in rural areas. The Chief Minister directed the officials to prepare new list of "innovative projects" and submit them for availing NABARD assistance. Gogoi asked the Department of Agriculture to go in for firm mechanisation in a big way and underlined the need for taking up minor irrigation projects in the state. In the meeting, the Chief Minister reviewed different RIDF projects undertaken by PWD, Water Resources, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Fisheries, Cooperation and Irrigation departments. Youths from Nagaland attacked in Gurgaon, one critical Manipur and Mizoram. Tripura Food, Civil Supplies and Finance Minister Bhanulal Saha told IANS: "Rice is being ferried from other parts of India via Bangladesh to avoid the long and mountainous surface road up to Tripura via Assam and Meghalaya. "Also, the stoppage of train services has created serious problems for carrying rice through the traditional system and route." Saha also said that 5,000 tonnes of rice transported in three small ships from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh reached the Ashuganj river port in Bangladesh Oct 12. "From Ashuganj, Bangladeshi trucks will carry the rice to FCI warehouses in Nandannagar (near Agartala) within a day or two," the minister told IANS. In August, 5,000 tonnes of rice reached Tripura through the same route. Ashuganj port over the Meghna river in eastern Bangladesh is located around 40 km from Agartala. The minister said the FCI had recently floated tenders to carry another 10,000 tonnes of rice via Bangladesh. The eight northeastern states, including Sikkim, are largely dependent on Punjab, Haryana and other states for foodgrains and essential commodities sold through PDS. The railways transport more than 70 percent of foodgrain to northeastern states from the rest of the country. Transportation via Bangladesh is easier as road connectivity is a big factor for the landlocked northeastern states surrounded by Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and China. There is only a narrow land corridor to the northeastern region through Assam and West Bengal. But this landslide-prone route passes through hilly terrain with steep gradients and multiple hairpin bends, making plying of vehicles, specially loaded trucks, very difficult. The distance from Kolkata to Agartala via Guwahati is 1,650 km and from New Delhi 2,637 km . The distance between Agartala and Kolkata via Bangladesh is only 350 km. The railway line is broad gauge from Assam's main city Guwahati up to Lumding in southern Assam. From Lumding it is metre gauge -in southern Assam and till Agartala, western Manipur and northern Mizoram. The 437-km LumdingAgartala metre gauge rail line, covering southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur, will be converted into broad gauge in two phases. Kuki students seek action against B’lore attackers Imphal, Oct 16 : Condemning Tuesday night's attack on three Manipuri students by miscreants in Bangalore, the Kuki Students' Organisation (KSO) has asked the Karnataka government to punish the attackers immediately. Victim Michael Lamjathang Haokip, president of Thadou Students' Association, Bangalore, was attacked by some goons in the Indiranagar area. They asked Haokip to speak Kannada, saying that it is India and not China. Haokip (26) received injuries on his back and head. His friends - N Haokip and Rocky K who are also members of the students' association — managed to escape with minor injuries. "This is not the first time that people from the northeast putting up in major Indian cities have faced the wrath of racial attacks and hate crimes," KSO general headquarters' (Manipur) general secretary Seiboi Haokip Guwahati, Oct 16 : Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today asked concerned ministers and officials to complete all the ongoing rural infrastructure projects by March 2015. Gogoi today reviewed different projects under NABARD assisted Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) and asked the ministers and officials of the concerned departments to complete the ongoing projects by March 2015, according to release by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO). "Rural infrastructure projects, which have been started, must not remain incomplete for want of resources. The ongoing rural infrastructure projects have to be completed on time to generate potential income and told TOI on Wednesday evening. Besides demanding fitting action against the attackers, Seiboi urged the Centre and the Karnataka government to do the needful to ensure that such crimes don't take place. A case has been registered at Kothanur police station and the three accused have been arrested, a source said. An Imphal resident, whose son is studying in Bangalore, said the Karnataka government should take steps to ensure that people from the northeast feel safe. "If such hate crimes continue to take place in Bangalore, I have no other option but to bring back my son," he said. Loitam Richard, a student of Acharya NRV School of Architecture, Bangalore, from Imphal found dead on his hostel bed on April 18 2012. He was allegedly beaten badly by his seniors inside the hostel the previous night. Though Karnataka police had registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC , no one has been punished till date. Gurgaon, Oct 16 (IANS) : Two youths from Nagaland, working in a call centre here, were injured one of them critically when they were attacked by some unidentified people while returning home, police said Thursday. The incident occurred late Wednesday night in Sikanderpur area here near the Mehrauli border. "My brother Sukoy and his friend James were allegedly forced to have drinks (liquor) while they were returning home to Sikanderpur late night. They were attacked when they refused to accept the offer," Sukoy's brother Sujoy said in his complaint. "James was attacked with beer and whiskey bottles. He got head injuries and my brother's hair were cut forcefully," he said. James was first admitted in the government hospital here but later shifted to a Delhi hospital as his condition was stated to be critical. The victims are in the age group of 22 to 25 years. A case under the relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been registered at DLF Phase 1 police station. "We are investigating the case and the culprits will be arrested soon," said Assistant Commissioner of Police Dalbir Singh Yadav. Repoll ordered at one polling station in Nagaland Kohima, Oct 16 : The Election Commission on Thursday ordered repoll at polling station 16 at Rusoma under Northern Angami-II Assembly constituency in Nagaland on October 18. The order followed complaint filed by BJP against the Presiding Officer at Rusoma polling station for allegedly allowing proxy voting in favour of NPF, an official said here. Byelection to the Northern Angami-II Constituency was held in 39 polling stations yesterday. Captive IAF man rescued in Meghalaya Guwahati, Oct 16 (IANS) : An air force personnel, held hostage in West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, was Thursday rescued in a joint operation by Assam and Meghalaya police. Anand Mohan Das, 40, was posted at the Indian Air Force base at Borjhar near the Lopriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here. Das, who hails from West Bengal, had gone to the district for some personal work with two people - Nekibur Zaman and Sofikul Islam, a police officer said here. "The two people held him hostage in a house and demanded Rs.10 lakh as ransom," the officer said, adding that Zaman and Islam were arrested during the raid. "We launched a search across lower Assam districts of Kamrup, Barpeta, Goalpara and Dhubri soon after a complaint was lodged at Azara police station Oct 6. But we could not trace him. "We came to know that Das had visited West Garo Hills. Accordingly, we launched an operation there. Finally, we managed to rescue him from a house at Tikritilla village," the officer said. 70 fall ill after eating 'prasad' in Tripura Agartala, Oct 16 (IANS) : Around 70 people, including women and children, fell sick after eating 'prasad' offering to deity - in Tripura, an official said Thursday. At least 27 of them were hospitalised. "About 70 people, including women and children, suffered stomach pain and disorders like loose motions after eating 'prasad' at a religious function at Udaipur (60 km from Agartala) Wednesday night," a health official said. He said of the 70 people 27 have been admitted to the governmentrun Tripura Sundari Hospital in Gomati. The remaining people have taken treatment from the OPD (out patient department) of the hospital. Residents told reporters that the number of people fallen sick after consuming the 'prasad' - the offering to the deity - is over 100 as some people have taken treatment privately at their homes. China: don’t complicate border situation Beijing, Oct 16 : China on Wednesday sharply reacted to India’s plans to construct a road network along the McMahon line in Arunachal Pradesh and expressed hope that India will not take any action which may complicate the situation before a final settlement is reached to end the boundary dispute. “We still need to verify the specifics. The boundary issue between China and India is left by colonial past. We need to deal with this issue properly,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lie told a media briefing here. He was reacting to comments by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju stating that there was plan to construct a road network along the international boundary from Mago-Thingbu in Tawang to Vijaynagar in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh. “There is a dispute about the eastern part of the China- India border. Before final settlement is reached we hope that India will not take any action that may further complicate the situation,” Mr. Hong said. “We should create favourable conditions for the final settlement of the border issue,” he said. Meghalaya CM files defamation plea, HC restrains opponent PA Sangma New Delhi, Oct 16 : In a relief to Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul M Sangma, the Delhi High Court has restrained his political opponent P A Sangma from "repeating defamatory" statements against the CM. "Till the next date of hearing (November 24), the defendant No 1 (PA Sangma) is restrained from repeating the defamatory statements made on January 17, 2014, January 19, 2014 and June 4, 2014 or releasing any defamatory statements in the manner already made against the plaintiff (CM) to the press/television channels or on the internet without any cogent and clear evidence," a bench of Justice Manmohan Singh said in an interim order. The Chief Minister, a member of Indian National Congress, has filed the defamation lawsuit through senior lawyer Atul Chitale and advocate Suchitra A Chitale against P A Sangma seeking damages of Rs 25 crores for making the remarks against him. The Chief Minister has also sought an "ex-parte adinterim order" against P A Sangma, also a former Chief Minister and the Lok Sabha Speaker, and two media houses that included an English news channel and a news daily based in Shillong. The court, which also issued notices to P A Sangma and two media houses, said that the Chief Minister has made out a strong prima facie case for grant of interim injunction against them. "Let the plaint be registered as a suit. Issue summons to the defendants, on filing of process fee and reg- istered AD covers within one week, returnable on November 24, 2014. Dasti in addition," it said. "It is correct that freedom of expression in press and media is the part of Article 19(1) of the Constitution of India where by all the citizens have a right to express their view. However, the said right of the expression is also not absolute but is subjected to the reasonable restrictions...," it said. National level athlete branded as 'witch', assaulted in Assam Diphu (Assam), Oct 16 : A national level athlete was allegedly branded as a 'witch' and assaulted by a group of people of her own village Cherekuli in Karbi Anglong district in Assam, police said on Thursday. Superintendent of police M J Mahanta said Debajani Bora, medal winner in javelin at several national meets, was dragged to a 'namghar' (community prayer hall), tied to a post and beaten up by the group last evening. The group was allegedly instigated by the 'namghar' head Radha Laskar saying that she was a witch and was responsible for various problems faced by some villagers, Mahanta said. Bora became unconscious following the assault and her family members took her from the 'namghar' to Dokomoka Primary Health Centre with severe injuries in her back and neck, the SP said. Her family members filed an FIR today and two persons, including Laskar, was arrested while search was on to nab the others, Mahanta said. Bora, a mother of three and wife of a farmer, was selected to represent the country at an international meet at Malaysia in 2011-12 but could not attend it due to financial constraints.