April  03

State Govt committed to strengthen police force: CM

ITANAGAR, April 02: “For maintenance of internal security and to instill confidence in people, my Government is committed to strengthen our police force while keeping high the morale of police personnel,” Chief Minister Nabam Tuki  said while inspecting the passing out parade of the 40th Batch of APP constables in the Police Training Centre, Banderdewa today. A total of 510 personnel of civil police passed out today, of which 267 are lady recruit constables.

While complimenting the contingents for an exceptional display of parade, Tuki said that the passing out parade was of highest order and discipline which reflected the professionalism and sincerity of both the trainers and the trainees.

The Chief Minister further opined for increasing the involvement of the police personnel in community policing which would go a long way in maintenance of law & order and tackling crime.

He also hinted plans for raising 1500 Home Guards in the State.

Tuki informed the gathering about the Union Ministry of Home Affair’s special package for the Tirap, Changlang and Longding Districts which included recruitment of 1949 police personnel besides sanctioning of 11 new Police Stations and up gradation of 9 existing Police Stations in these districts.

“Out of approved plan of Rs.139 crores for Tirap, Changlang & Longding, Rs. 49.33 crores has been released during 2012-13 for construction works, vehicles, weapons, communication equipments, training expenditure, salary etc.” he further disclosed.

Tuki also revealed that his Govt. has sanctioned manpower for 6 Out Posts at Gumto, Tarasso, Kakoi in Papum Pare District, Dising Paso in East Kameng District, Tali and Parsi-Parlo in Kurung Kumey district during 2012.

“My government is committed towards women’s safety in the state and hence 200 Lady Police (180 Constables and 20-SI) would be recruited against one Women Police Station at Itanagar and 18 Cells for Crime against women in 17 district HQs and one at PHQ. I believe this step would ensure a sense of security among the women in the society” the CM said.

While complimenting Arunachal Pradesh Police for doing quite well in the field of crime and law & order, Tuki said that several important cases of crime have been worked out in a very short duration.

The chief minister later announced some important projects for the lone PTC to a loud applause. The projects include, two barracks of 100 men capacity -  Rs. 200 Lakhs, Repair and maintenance of Barracks – Rs 25 Lakhs, Drill Shed  - Rs. 70 Lakhs, Water Tanker – Rs 15 Lakhs, Sports and Recreational facilities at district/unit headquarters – Rs. 10 Lakhs.

Earlier, the DGP gave a brief course report during his welcome address.

Among others, Arunachal Legislative assembly speaker Wanglin Lowangdong, host of ministers, MLAs, Chief Secretary, Senior bureaucrats and Senior Police Officers were present on the occasion.

 

 

6 abducted persons rescued, 4 vehicles recovered

ITANAGAR, April 02: A joint police team of East and West Kameng districts cracked an abduction case, rescued all the six abducted persons and recovered four vehicles today from Bebo colony, hydel area Seppa. The rescued persons were brought to West Kameng. However, one vehicle is yet to be recovered.

Giving details of the incident leading to the abduction with vehicles, the police source informed that on 31st March a written complaint was received at PS Rupa, West Kameng stating that on 29th March last while one Ramakant Mishra working for NEEPCO was coming towards Nechiphu, his vehicle Bolero Camper B/R/No. ML-08-C-7685 dashed with the Accent vehicle B/R/No. AR-01-C-7314 of Hano Jakhio of Jakhio village, Seppa.

He agreed to replace the damaged Accent vehicle with a brand new Accent vehicle, but Hano Jakhio demanded further Rs 10 lakh in addition to the brand new vehicle. Later, Jakhio forcefully took over their two vehicles Bolero Camper and another vehicle B/R/No. AS-01-DC-4553(AMW) and abducted the driver Bishnu Tamang and helper Ajit Doimari.

On 30th March last, Hano Jakhio, accompanied by 24 other persons armed with Dao, came to Tenga dam site, introduced himself as Zilla Parishad Member and presented a five-point demand for release of the abducted persons and the vehicle. Apart from the two demands mentioned above, he said that because of the incident he missed to attend the tender of hydropower worth Rs 5 crore, so NEEPCO should pay that amount, and he had mortgaged a local jewellery of worth Rs 30 lakh whose release date was on 30th March which he has again missed. So NEEPCO should pay him Rs 30 lakh as well besides for to and fro movement from Seppa again a sum of Rs one lakh should be paid.

Hano Jakhio and his men had further abducted four drivers of NEEPCO, Dhurup Patel, Khandu Tamang, Kumar Tamang and Jotin Mushary along with vehicles B/R/No. AS-01-CC-7576, AS-01-CC-7578 T/Tipper and AS-01-DD-0337(AMW) and demanded that they’ll be released only if the money be paid.

A case u/s 364(A)/419/34 IPC was registered at Rupa PS. A search operation was carried out by teams led by SDPO Singchung K Riba, CI D K Thungon, SI T Dorjee, ASI B Pait ASI S Thinley HC S Wangchu and others along with DSP S Singhpo and SI Sraban Singh of Seppa.

On 1st April, the main accused Hano Jakhio was arrested and produced before the Magistrate and was remanded for seven days police custody.

In the meanwhile, at the instance of the arrested accused the police team conducted massive raids for search and rescue of the abducted persons and recovery of the vehicles.

The search for other co accused and the remaining vehicle is still on.

While applauding the good work done jointly by the police team of West Kameng and East Kameng, West Kameng district police said all of them will be suitably rewarded, according to a press note issued by West Kameng SP.

 

 

Tea Board implements HRD and labour scheme in state

ITANAGAR, April 02: Tea Board Regional Office, Itanagar for the first time implemented the HRD and Labour Welfare Schemes earmarked for the financial year of 2012 -13 in Arunachal Pradesh.

Tea Board provides various financial assistance to workers  and their dependents  such as financial assistance to disable person upto Rs 2500, scholarship to top four students of a class between class VIII to class XII @ Rs1000, Nehru Award to meritorious students @Rs 2000 to Rs 2500 and educational stipends upto Rs 40000, including hostel and tuition fees. These schemes were not availed due to ignorance by the garden management although all schemes are uploaded into Board’s website. Tea Board has decentralized its physical and financial activities to Regional Office recently, according to a Tea Board release.

Applications for all schemes can be received, scrutinized, sanctioned and payment can be made from Regional Office. In the recent review meeting held in Kolkata during February this year, these decisions were undertaken and physical and financial targets were earmarked for  2012 -13.

“To achieve targets, the office approached the state trade and commerce department, all registered tea gardens, office bearers of small Tea Growers Association and sought their co-operation for effective implementation of these schemes within March, 2013,” the release informed.

The Trade & Commerce department sent all stakeholders of Tea Industry whoever came to them, to Tea Board RO. Awareness was made on all schemes by distributing booklets on scheme guidelines & CDs, the release said adding that applications received under these schemes were not upto the mark since there are very less number of registered tea garden  and registration process is hindered due to requirement  of  Clearance Certificate from Ministry of Environment & Forest, New Delhi for planting tea which is applicable only for Arunachal Pradesh.

There are hardly 40 registered big gardens (above 10.12 ha ) in Arunachal. Most of the garden owners revealed that they utilize only some daily migratory labour force from bordering areas.  Hence, they don’t posses any school going children etc eligible for availing the schemes. However, a few big gardens like Donyi Polo,  Dullung TE etc availed benefits of  HRD schemes.

“No body was aware that Tea Board can provide capital grant of 70% of total cost of Ambulance for Tea Gardens as well as hospitals near to tea growing areas. Ambulance is provided for the benefit of patients belonging to tea gardens. This scheme is applicable to big gardens only in non- traditional tea growing areas like Arunachal, Tripura etc.  This office approached big growers, hospitals for submitting application for Ambulance”. Two applications namely M/s Dullung TE, Dollungmukh  and NE Homeopathic College and Hospital, Itanagar  are sanctioned and paid 70% grant ( Rs 300390) of an ECCO ambulance  (Total price Rs 429000) to each. In return, these two beneficiaries have to provide free transportation facilities to patients of Tea Garden workers, the release informed.

Similarly, Tea Board can provide capital grant to hospitals for purchase of medical equipment maximum upto Rs 8 lakh. In return, they have to provide free testing facility to garden workers in the particular equipment for a certain period of time. M/s Emmanual BTM Hospital, Naharlagun applied for grant for purchase of an USG machine costing Rs 1327500. Tea Board has paid Rs 8 lakh grant and an agreement is made for giving free testing facility to tea garden worker for atleast 5 years, it said.

Tea Board has implemented these schemes for first time in Arunachal and looking forward to provide more financial assistance in coming years, the release added.

 

 

 

Media freedom challenged by Legislative mania

By Prabhakar Kulkarni

While both the electronic and print media in India are free enough to report truth and comment on the facts in reported incidents and relevant stories, are they free enough to comment on matters related to behavior of members of a state legislature? The question is raised by privilege action by the Maharashtra Assembly to issue privilege motion against two editors of the electronic media, IBN-Lokmat and ABP-Maze. Although the question is raised in the case of Maharashtra legislative Assembly and Marathi electronic media, it has wider and also national significance as similar incident or critical situation may arise in other states in the country.

The incident that five MLAs of Maharashtra state encircled a police sub-inspector in corridors of the state Assembly and beaten him so severely that he had to be admitted in hospital for treatment of multiple injuries. The recent incident was duly reported in the print media with some comments. But the two electronic media in their usual style carried out a comprehensive discussion with some prominent speakers from various fields besides some political personalities. The discussion harped on the cruel and criminal action of the said MLAs who are described as goons and ‘Mavalis’as their action indicated. The discussion further harped on criminalization of politics. The editors Nikhil Wagle (IBM-Lokmat) and Rajiv Khandekar (ABP-Maza) not only raised various aspects of the issue and relevant questions but added their own comments during the discussion. Their comments harped on the elected representatives’ ‘gundaism’ and how it is a matter of shame and what would be the message to people and those who elected them.

The elaborate discussion with comments and analysis by the invited speakers exposed the criminalization of politics in general and the MLAs criminal action in particular. It is also pointed out that in the beating incident MLAs of almost all parties were directly or indirectly involved. In response to the discussion on the two channels, the next day the privilege motion was raised in the Assembly and the action against the two editors was declared to be taken.

All MLAs backed the action without any vote of dissent. The MLAs also raised the vital issue of police officers’ entry into the Assembly without permission of the Speaker and the way they had planned to arrest the accused MLAs on the basis of the victim PSI’s complaint. The high officials in the police departments had a special meeting to plan the way to arrest the concerned MLAs and how the police vs. MLAs was the scene after the beating incident. The privilege motion against the two editors was again a topic burning enough to trigger similar discussion and IBN-Lokmat in his daily program ‘Question today’ raised the issue on 22n instant and invited panel of experts from various fields including the legal expert.

After reporting vehement discontent of journalists’ fraternity against the action of privilege motion and protest demonstrations in some parts of the state, the editor Wagle asked panelists as to whether the privilege motion is an action to terrorize the media and suppress the freedom of expression. Most of the panelists have commented that it is certainly an action to pressurize and terrorize the media which has been exposing the misdeeds of the corrupt politicians irrespective of their political parties.

The incident and the media comments against the MLAs has been an opportunity to take action against the media and to cut the media personalities to size so that they should not comment against politicians or MLAs in future. But what exactly is the privilege of the legislative members? According to advocate Uday Walunjkar who elaborately analyzed the issue, the MLAs privilege is a legal immunity given to them to speak freely without any inhibition or fear of legal action in their discussion in the state Assembly and the privilege is in public interest in democracy because the truth should come out and people should know it as the elected representatives are privileged to speak it frankly in view of their immunity. But their action to beat a police officer and that too in Assembly corridors is not so privileged as to let them be set free without any action which is obviously criminal. As the alleged criminal action does not enjoy any privilege or immunity public or media comments on it also do not come under the privilege immunity and hence the action of privilege motion against the editors is not relevant or having valid legal basis. He cited Supreme Court’s judgment in a case of Bihar Assembly and its exposure by the then news publication ‘Search light’.       

All speakers in the panel protested against the privilege motion and pointed out that politicians who have criminal records are elected because their elective merit is considered by political parties. The fact that both the ruling party MLAs and those of the opposition unanimously passed the resolution of the motion is indicative that there is a sort of secret relationship between the two rival groups or parties and all MLAs are of the opinion that they should not be targeted and exposed.

Another comment is that the motion is indicative of the legislative arrogance. One of the vital comments is that when Maharashtra is hard-pressed by crisis of drought and farmers are struggling to survive, the issue of confrontation between police and MLAs has gained so much importance that the message before people is that drought situation which should have got priority in the Assembly is sidetracked deliberative or otherwise. It is also pointed out that in democracy not the MLAs or Assembly is supreme but people are supreme power which should not be neglected by the so-called legislative arrogance. Besides the advocate Walunjkar, other participants were CPI leader Ajit Abhyankar, social activist Vishwambhar Chaudhari, Sadabhau Khot of Shetakari Sanghatana, pro-Congress activist Ajit Sawant and Lokmat’s editor Anant Dixit.            

While electronic and print media has raised the issue with comments no political leaders except two have come forward to comment on it. The BJP leader Gopinath Munde and chief of Maharashtra Navanirman Sena Raj Thackeray whose party MLAs are involved in the criminal act, have commented that privilege motion against the editors is absolutely not proper nor necessary.  (The  writer is a senior journalist)

 

 

School health programme launched in L/Dibang Valley

ROING, April 02: The School Health Programme was launched in Lower Dibang Valley District under the aegis of District Health Society at Yibuk-Rayang Middle School, Roing today.

The programme being implemented under National Rural Health Mission aims to improve health and hygiene of the school going children, informed Dr M Basar, DRCHO. He informed that all the 16,837 students (as per 2012-13 session) of Lower Dibang Valley District will be given Iron (Folic Acid) Tablets every week preferably on Monday and de-worming tablets in every six months i.e., twice a year under the programme. This programme has been taken up by the Govt. of India considering the fact that 60% (National Average) of the school going children in the country are found to be anaemic (deficiency in haemoglobin content in their blood) which adversely affect theirs learning capacity/mental growth. However, the figure is comparatively better in tribal states like ours with 42% of the school going children with anaemia in the state, he further informed.

The programme has been launched with a view to supplement their (school children) diets with Iron (Folic Acid) Tablets in order to increase their haemoglobin content in the blood and ultimately to enhanced their academic performance, Dr Basar added.   Another health problems commonly found  among the children is the worm in their intestine/stomach which weaken them from within, therefore deworming tablets will be given twice a year as per the guidelines of the programme. He requested the head master of the school to maintain proper register of each student so that no one is left out and tablets are given on schedule regularly. He also exhorted the students to work hard in order to achieve high post in future.  

T Tatak, DDSE participating in the programme as Guest of Honour clarified to the students that the Iron tablets is being given as a supplement not a medicine. Saying that “Healthy Child makes a Healthy Nation” he exhorted the students to abstain from unlawful activities like use of drugs, alcohols, cigarettes etc. but to remain concentrate in their studies while maintaining health & hygiene. He also urged the teachers to ensure implementation of the programme successfully and to work cooperatively in team work inspite of leaving the whole responsibility to one individual. He further informed that the State Govt. is planning to provide in cash to each student for stitching their uniforms as per their fittings from coming session onwards instead of providing ready made uniforms. This decision has been taken by the Govt. as there has been complaints regarding the fittings of the uniform supplied by them as only two sizes namely, medium and large size were supplied earlier. This amount will be deposited to the account of Village Education Committee after obtaining proper receipt which in turn will disburse to the students, he informed.

W Tikhak, attending the programme as the Chief Guest narrated that how earlier, people used to suffer from polio, iodine deficiency disease, other malnourishments due to ignorance and with no such benefits. He advised the students to avail the benefits provided by the Govt. in full saying that “you are very lucky to have such facilities”.

Akak Lego, Chairman Village Education Committee of Yibuk-Rayang Middle School chairing over the programme has thanked the education and health departments to launch the programme in their school. He further requested them to organise such health awareness programme in remote and far flung areas too.

Dr S J Metapo, District Tubercullossis Officer cum Medical Superintendent of District Hospital, Roing speaking on the occasion has given health tips to the students as how to remain hygienic besides maintaining good neighbourly relations with others. He also highlighted on free medical facilities available in the district hospital on malaria, leprosy, TB, etc. and called upon the people to avail the benefits. He further informed that such camps will be organized in different locations of the district. DIPRO

 

 

Save future generations from grip of alcohol, drugs

Correspondent

PASIGHAT, April 02: As part of their continuous efforts to curb alcohol and drug menace in and around East Siang district, the Woman Wing of Adi Baane Kebang (ABK) today conducted a public rally at Pasighat market today.

The rally sponsored by ‘District Tobacco Control Cell’ was attended by representatives of various women organizations from different circles of the district and the students’ union members besides head of officials.

The organizers expressed concern over the fact that the trend of alcohol and drug abuse is still posing a serious threat to the society, particularly young generations. They appealed all sections to save their future generations by sharing collective responsibility against the destructive practices.

Addressing the rally, District Medical Officer Dr M Perme elaborated the harmful effects of drugs, alcohol and tobacco on human body.

Another doctor Rumi Tasung discussed on alcohol, narcotics and other psychotropic drugs and its impact on household economy, while Dr Lalchand Darung unveiled various reasons of alcohol and drug addiction with reference to social, economic and psychological factors.

Speaking the occasion, Deputy Commissioner R K Mishra assured the people to extend all cooperation from the end of administration in checking the menace. Applauding the efforts initiated by the mothers, the DC urged them to maintain closer relation with the administration.

SP Puspendra Kumar said the police are always ready to act against any illegal activities reining in the area. He laid stress on growing awareness among the masses and requested the people to exchange any information with the police regarding trading of the contraband drugs and other complainable articles.

Discussing about drug trade and its legal implications, advocate Tonning Pertin briefed about the penalties under NDPS Act, 1985, for un-permitted possessing and trading of narcotics and other psychotropic substances.

Among others, retired IAS Oshong Ering, president of Pasighat Market Association Okom Tamuk and ABK women activists spoke on the occasion.

The ABK women wing also submitted a memorandum to East Siang DC, urging him to intensify police and administrative vigilances over narcotic and drugs trade and even to initiate counseling and motivation towards drug addicts through medical experts.

Meanwhile, Marlyang Area Students Union (MASU) has decided to conduct a Multi-Awareness Campaign (MAC)  for complete eradication of illegal cultivation of poppy plant in the region from April 5 to 15.

 

 

STS Aalo and Tezu achieve its revenue target

ITANAGAR, April 02: The State Transport Service Aalo had reason to cheer about as it celebrates 4th Year of revenue achievement function in a befitting manner at the station premises today. The Aalo station has achieved revenue target set by the government exceedingly well for the last four years ever since the joining of Station Superintendent Tuter Nima in 2009.

Gracing the occasion Marnya Ete West Siang Deputy Commissioner lauded the dedicated effort of station superintendent and his team of dedicated staffs for their endeavor to collect record revenue exceeding the target set by the government for four consecutive years. He encouraged them to keep up the healthy trend and maintain the same spirit in the years to come so that other revenue earning departments emulate the feat shown by him. DIPRO Gijum Tali said that the State Transport Service is a trend setter in revenue collection and present incumbent has been instrumental in giving fillip to the ailing transport department in the past. N. Riba Vice President COSAAP also graced the occasion.

The Minister Transport and Cooperation Jarkar Gamlin also gave his congratulatory message to Station Superintendent and his staffs for achieving the revenue target by a huge margin.  On the occasion the Deputy Commissioner gave away the certificate and awards to the best STS officials of 2012-13 who are behind the success of the state transport department. Different cultural troops from various colony and STS presented rhythmical cultural shows that befit the occasion.

Meanwhile STS Tezu have also achieved the revenue target set by the government for second consecutively time. This time it has achieved 117% revenue target which is almost double the revenue of last year. Despite facing lots of problem such as road blockade and bandh calls the achieving of revenue target was only possible because of relentless effort of drivers and conductors of APSTS Tezu.  Further the staffs of Tezu STS have resolved to dedicatedly work to earn more revenue and give better service to the people of Lohit and Anjaw districts. (DIPROs)

 

 

Awareness workshop on SSDG & state portal

ITANAGAR, April 02: A one day awareness workshop/training on SSDG and State Portal” was organized by  State Council For IT and E-Governance (SCITeG), Department of Information Technology, Govt of Arunachal Pradesh, in collaboration with HP India Limited at a city hotel here today.

Inaugurating training, Chief Secretary, Dr. H K Paliwal mentioned that implementation of SSDG and State Portal is going to be the paradigm shift for the government officials of Arunachal Pradesh and shall bring good governance for the citizens. He also highlighted that Arunachal Pradesh is among the fore runner in implementing SSDG project and first in the North East. He committed his total support to ensure that there is complete cooperation from the district administrations for the district level training programs.

Minister of Social Welfare Newlai Tingkhatra, Parliamentary Secretary (Information Technology) C C Singpho, Secretary IT, Engineer Gaken Ete, Director IT Subrata De Sarkar, Regional Sales Head (Technical Solution) of HP India Priyam Mandal, Chief Architect of HP India G Ramakrishnan, Application Lead Koushik Bhattacharjee, SSDG Project Manager Sanat Ganguly and other eminent officers of various departments of the State attended the programme.

Government of Arunachal Pradesh has signed an agreement with HP India in March 2011 as a system integrator for the SSDG and the State Portal for Arunachal Pradesh. Under this project 11 numbers of services are covered of Land Management, Agriculture, Labour and Employment and Social Justice & Empowerment and Tribal Affairs departments. Citizens of Arunachal Pradesh would be able to access the service through Common Service Centres or through state portal using the internet.

As part of the state wide roll out plan of the project HP India will impart training to the concern departments at district level across the state.

The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of the Govt. of India aims to make all Government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable cost to realize the basic needs of a common man. One of the goals of the Government to meet this vision is the need to cooperate, collaborate and integrate information across different departments in the Centre, States and Local Government.

 

 

Irregularity in Aohali mega project alleged

Correspondent

PASIGHAT, April 02: Expressing concern over a press statement made by Pasighat division of Public Health Engineering & Water Supply department (PHED), the local people of Mebo subdivision in East Siang are raising question over transparency and accountability in implementation of mega water supply project at Aohali.

Some leading citizens of area have said the implementing agency has changed the location for construction of the WTP (Water Treatment Plant), which is causing shortfall in water supply. The departmental engineers claim to have achieved a lot to supply water from the project, but the local people are witnessing a reverse scene.

The sufferers say they need plenty of water during dry season, particularly from December to March, but the PHED failed to supply water during the lean period.

“The assurance given by the PHED officials of supplying available water after the month of April does not bear any meaning as we can have sufficient water from the river and stream sources”, they said.

Allegation has claimed that concept paper submitted on this mega project mentioned Bomak river as water source, which was later trans-located to Ruak river, at about 1 km down from the proposed site. It is alleged that there was no sufficient water in this source for supplying the required quantity of water to the WTP.

It is further alleged that water supplied from the mega project is flowing in 80 mm level out of the 200 mm DI pipe, which is too inadequate to meet the water demand in Mebo township. The mega project is yet to supply water to the nearby villages.

Cash reward stands

 

The cash reward of Rs 10 lakhs announced by the Arunachal Pradesh Police for giving information or clue leading to arrest of the assailant/s of Tongam Rina, Associate Editor of The Arunachal Times still stands. The identity of the informer/s will be kept secret.  The informer/s may contact Capital SP at tele. numbers : 09436040006

 

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‘Re-start APST bus service’

ITANAGAR, Apr 02: Adi Students Union West Siang unit strongly urged the authority concerned and the state government to restart the Arunachal Pradesh state transport bus service between Aalo and Pasighat.

The AdiSU unit in a release claimed that the bus services has been discontinued without any reason few years back due to which the people of both the districts are facing lots of problem.

In another release, the Adi students union unit condemned the physical assault of one Tapu Yornyi, a senior denizen of Mechukha at the premise of  ADCs office, Mechukha and strongly appealed to the local administration as well as district administration to look into matter seriously and arrest all the culprits involved in the incident and punish them as per law.

 

GWS’s plea to FM

ITANAGAR, Apr 02: Expressing apprehension that the recent ban on Government transactions, including the hard earned salary of the Government employees would spoil the festive season of the Galo and the common citizen of the State, Galo Welfare Society (GWS) urged the Finance minister to immediately address the issue.

 

APTJCEU calls off proposed bandh

ITANAGAR, April 02: The Arunachal Pradesh Tribal Job Contract Employee Union (APTJCEU) NEEPCO Ltd, Itanagar has called off its proposed 168 hours bandh call in the ongoing projects by NEEPCO Ltd, Kameng and Pare Hydro Electric Projects.

The decision came after the head of the projects of both Kameng and Pare H E Projects negotiated with the union.

 

AAPYO demands creation of contingency posts in every dept.

ITANAGAR, April 02: The All Arunachal Pradesh Youth Association (AAPYO) in its charter of demand to the Finance, Planning and PWD Minister Chowna Mein has demanded for creation of contingency posts in group C & D in every department and to regularize contingent staffs who have completed 15 years of service.

Also demanding for issuing Tender Notice only for work orders above Rs 5 Crore, it reasoned that work orders amounting less than Rs 5 crore can be given through quotations. AAPYO further sought preparation of AOP in every department.

 

Association seeks action against land encroacher

ITANAGAR, April 02: Claiming that rampant encroachment against the government land is going on at Likabali town; Likabali Youth Volunteer Association today sought action against the land encroachers saying that menace would bring hurdle for town infrastructural expansion.

In a letter addressed to the commissioner land management, the association resented that no action had been taken by district administration to curb the menace. The local people in the area donated their cultivating lands for government establishment but it’s now been encroached by encroachers, it rued.

 

Two more dead bodies found in capital city

Staff Reporter

ITANAGAR, April 02:  It seems that finding dead bodies in the capital is a common phenomenon as two more bodies were reportedly found today.

According to police source one person was identified as PWD employee, 60 years-old and his body was found on the way to Donyi- Polo Vidya Bhawan School. Another body of a young man, around 22 years old, was found near Mithun Gate at Tempo parking stand along NH-52A. Second body  still remained unidentified, police added.  “We got the report around 5.30 am about the dead bodies” said Make Bui Officer In charge Itanagar Police Station.

“An unnatural death case has been registered with Itanagar police station and matter is under investigation” OC added.  OC further informed that the post mortem had been conducted and body of unidentified youth is being kept in morgue for 72 hours.  Itanagar police further appealed to the citizens to identify the unclaimed dead body.

 

BJP demands resignation of  FM

ITANAGAR, April 02: After the PPA, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Arunachal Pradesh also demanded immediate resignation of the Finance Minister from the present ministry on moral ground and  urged the state Govt to appoint a commission for thorough enquiry into the  “financial mismanagement, misappropriations  of public fund in the sate”.

While terming the statement of Finance Minister on financial position of the state as hollowed, eye wash and misleading,  the party said,  “State BJP find no justification in the clarification of the  state Finance Minister on state fiscal situation which is far  from the truth.”

 “The Finance Minister have to say that there is nothing panicky about fiscal status and the government was having sufficient fund, then what is happening around the financial closure for the successive 2 financial years 2011-12 and 2012-13 where the people are made to suffer with most of the work departments parking their funds as Fixed Deposits (FDs) with the banks,” the BJP questioned.

Referring to the budget proposals presented in the recently held assembly session, the BJP said “outstanding debt liability of the state is Rs. 8,123.99 crore and there is no remedy in the prevailing situations and it is huge burden for Arunachal Pradesh.” The party said there is a need for the state government to reorient its spending priorities towards growth and development enhancing activities.

 

National seminar on ‘pre-colonial society & Culture of the tribes of Central Arunachal’

ITANAGAR, April 02: The Department of History, Rajiv Gandhi University has conducted a one-day National Seminar on “Pre-Colonial Society and Culture of the Tribes of Central Arunachal Pradesh” on March 30 at University Conference Hall.

In total 16 papers were presented on different aspects of pre-colonial society and culture of the tribes of Central Arunachal Pradesh which has culturally been categorized under the Tanii group of tribe.

Prof. A.K. Singh, NEUPA, New Delhi and Prof. A.K. Thakur, NEHU, Shillong had come all the way to attend the seminar and presented papers.

The other paper presenters were Associate Professors and Research scholars of different faculties of Rajiv Gandhi University.

The presentation of papers were conducted in two technical session, Prof. Shiela Bora, Dibrugarh University presided over first session as chairman and the second session was presided over by Prof. J.L. Dawar, Mizoram University.

Vice Chancellor Prof. Tamo Mibang inaugurated the programme.

Some distinguished Professors from other Universities had come all the way from different corners of the country.

 

Computer training for women begins

ITANAGAR, April 02: The second batch of two-week-long Computer Training for 20 women on basic computer and MS-’Office for generating employable skills among women sponsored by Department of Industries, Itanagar began at ITI, Balinong yesterday.

Inaugurating the training, KV Lincon, Principal ITI, Balinong advised the trainees to attend the training as per schedule. The Govt, has given rare opportunity to conduct such type of employable training course mainly for women at remote places like ITI,Balinong hence the trainees should try to acquire maximum knowledge from this training, he said.

Earlier in his welcome speech, J Kolita, i/c Group Instructor ITI, Balinong explained the importance of this training and expressed his views and suggested the trainees to take maximum benefits from the training.

 

Mediaperson passes away

ITANAGAR, April 02: Former  mediaperson from the state, Gopal Ghosh breathed his last today morning at Vellore, Tamil Nadu following a brief illness.

An experienced cameraman and sound recordist, Ghosh had worked on more than 20 documentaries and films. His association with the Centre for Cultural Research and Documentation, Naharlagun since its beginning in 1998 as a programme assistant is widely known among the film and media fraternity in the state. Between God and Me, When the Mist is Lifted, And Silently the Drums Wait and Ane Ge Nyode are some of the notable films among the many in which Ghosh worked as assistant cameraman and sound recordist.

Sharing his grief on the demise of Ghosh, CCRD, Executive Director, Moji Riba said, Gopal was a silent contributor and sentinel in all works of CCRD and the achievements of CCRD can be attributed to him.

Late Ghosh was in his mid-30s and is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Meanwhile, expressing its sadness on the demise of Ghosh, the Arunachal Press Club has conveyed its condolences to the bereaved family members of the deceased. The camaraderie and creative skills of Ghosh in the audio-visual field would be missed, stated APC.

Faculty and Students of Department of Mass Communication, RGU, also deeply mourned the sudden demise of  Ghosh, a strong pillar of the technical support team at the dept. His deep commitment and sincerity will never be forgotten. Sunil Koijam, Asstt. Professor, stated that "he was always ready for any responsibility given to him, even beyond his call of duty". With his demise we have lost a valuable member of the support team at the dept, he said.

 

AAPSU talks tough against donation

ITANAGAR, April 02:  The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) today appealed to the people to stop giving donation or succumbing to the pressure of extortion from any quarter which was the ground for mushrooming of numerous organizations and at time creating law and order problem in the state.

AAPSU president Kamta Lapung, in a statement, said the NSCN factions were thriving on extortions and donations which should be discouraged at all cost as giving or demanding donation was equally crime under section 7 and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.

Referring to his recent meeting with union home affairs ministry’s joint secretary (Northeast) Sambhu Singh, Lapung said that the GoI was deadly against the donation or extortion culture which was the reason for NSCN factions to flourish in the state.

Responding to an AAPSU memorandum demanding an end to ongoing turf wars between two factions of NSCN (IM) and Khaplang for area dominance though the ceasefire agreement between the GoI and the NSCN had not been extended to Arunachal Pradesh, Singh had assured all possible steps to improve the law and order situation in insurgency-infested Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts.

While the NSCN problem many a times spill over to the Capital Complex because of indulgence from some quarters, Lapung advocated stern action against any one irrespective of his rank and position for giving donation.

He, however, cautioned any organization for its misadventure of seeking donation in the name of AAPSU. If any complaint is received from any quarter, the union would be forced to act legally with the help of law enforcing agencies, he added.

 

Month long skill upgradation programme ends

ITANAGAR, April 02: The North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi) Itanagar branch organized a 30 days skill up-gradation programme on “Making of Bamboo Cutlery & Other Decorative Items” at the Common Facilitation Centre, Poma Village in association with Poma Bamboo Processing Centre from 4th March to 2nd April.  A total of 35 numbers of local artisans from Poma, Rillo, Bath and Khamir villages participated in the training.

NEDFi has been taking up various promotional activities under its initiatives of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which complement its core activities and results in improvement of quality of life of the people in the N E Region. Tridip Mahanta, an industry expert in the field of bamboo cutlery & other decorative items was the resource person and the ground support was provided by Poma Bamboo Processing Centre.

Subu Tabin, Joint Director, Industries, Govt. of A.P. graced the valedictory function. He appreciated initiative of NEDFi and advised the artisans to emphasize on quality finished products and with the skill attained during the training programme, they may take up bamboo crafts for their livelihood. He informed that the current state government is giving very high priority to skill up-gradation and employment generation and in this regard, the artisans may avail benefits under various schemes of the industry department. He also requested NEDFi to impart advance training to these artisans.

Branch Manager, NEDFi Itanagar branch, Alen Nabam, deliberated to the artisans that NEDFi will be facilitating more support through advanced form of skill up-gradation training programme on different bamboo based handicrafts at its R&D Centre, Khetri, or at Poma village itself and will also provide market linkages to encourage entrepreneurship of these artisans.

 

Awareness campaign under Nirmal Bharat  Abhiyan conducted

ITANAGAR, April 02: A month-long campaign under Nirmal Bharath Abhiyan was conducted in five blocks of Kurung Kumey district, namely Parsiparlo, Pipsorang, Nyapin, Damin, Tali from February 26 to create awareness among masses to ensure proper sanitation practice and drinking water quality management.

Attending the programme at Parsiparlo, Anchal Sammitee Member Kaji Tapuk, distributed Field Test Kits to the trainees from the Panchayats of Parsiparlo area and urged them to avail advantages from the training for personal hygiene and better health. He has also highlighted about advantages of having a individual toilets.

At Nyapin, Ringu Taping, BRC Teacher briefed the participants about various water borne diseases and its preventive measures. He also explained importance of proper sanitation practices. District Consultants, Water and Sanitation and M&E-cum-MIS appealed to the villagers to apply the knowledge practically to prevent the water borne diseases in the area.

While coming up with the FTK demo, the District Consultants further appealed all the Gram Panchayat members to render their valuable support and cooperation to conduct such needful training programme in near future.

While concluding the training programme at each block, the District Consultants expressed their thankfulness to the Executive Engineer of PHED Sangram division for successful conduct of the month-long training.

 

 

 

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261 days have passed. The culprits involved in the July 15 attack on The Arunachal Times associate editor Tongam Rina are still at large. 

Copyright © 2008, The Arunachal Times Publications Pvt. Ltd., Siang House, Sector - E, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh - 791111, India

All rights reserved.

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•  

We are waiting for the result

Dear Editor,

Gravity of investigation on Tongam Rina's case seems to be subsiding day by day. I'm afraid that a day may come when your daily will publish, “Absconding assailant(s) was on run for scores of year... Unfortunately, culprit(s) died of old-age...!"

Is it the lacking in investigation or the assailant(s) really outsmarted the investigators. We are eager to know the result of the case soon.

Yours

Pakli Lombi, Tamil Nadu

 

 

 

Registration of cancer cases helps

Dear Editor,

My heartfelt thanks go to the Arunachal Times for publishing “Cancer and preventive measures” in the editorial page on the 29th March 2013 for the awareness of the disease in a very simple note. As we know that cancer is second most deadly non communicable disease after cardiovascular diseases, which is also halting the development of the nation. With this I would like to inform that registration of cancer cases (both incidences& death) is of vital importance; so that planning, implementation & study of this disease is curved out. In fact, PBCR (Population Based Cancer Registry) is taking the initiative to register cancer cases. It is for general awareness to the people of Arunachal Pradesh that in both Arunachal State Hospital and General Hospital Pasighat registration is done no matter where the treatment is taken. Let us all do the yeoman service by registering the cancer cases which would be helpful in the long run.

Yours

TM Boko

Social Investigator,

PBCR Pasighat.

 

 

Erratic power supply in capital

Dear Editor,

Through the column of your esteemed daily, I would like to share my view regarding power crisis in the capital complex. I am a student of class 10 and is one of the worst affected due to erratic power supply. Electricity supply in Itanagar has become periodical and it’s never perfect. The electricity supply goes off twice or more during the day and even if weather is fine the electricity supply is not irregular. In the rural place like Deomali, Ziro,Khonsa, etc where development is beginning to start the supply of electricity is much better and I says this because of my personal experience as I had stayed there in the past. The electricity goes off whenever we try to study and it comes back up after 3 to 5 hours. Many people are working at offices and thousands of students are appearing exam. Apart from it several major developmental works are going on across the capital. I am forced to write this letter only because of poor electricity supply in capital city. Hope this letter may create some kind of awareness among the citizen of our city, and hope our Capital City Itanagar will not witness such problem in the future.

Yours,

Songio Jora

P-Sector Itanagar

 

 

Poor electricity supply is concern for student community

Dear Editor,

This is a matter of grave concern that in recent month there has been frequent breakdown in supply of electricity in our locality.

Unfortunately the college-student are the worst affected as there examination is going on. Their career is at stake. Almost for the last 1 and half month the electric supply is being disrupted especially at night time. The entire Itanagar sinks in ocean of darkness. As we know this is prime study time for student community in general and for the examinees in particular.

Not only student rather people belonging to all spheres of life are totally fed up with the problem of frequent breakdown in electric supply. This problem has been persisting for the last few months which have adversely affected the residents of Itanagar.

Yours,

Nang Gao

DNG College

Ianagar.

Threat to urban food security

Policies to increase food security in the global South focus too much on rural food production and not enough on ensuring poor people can access and afford food, especially in urban areas, says a report published by the International Institute for Environment and Development.

It warns that climate change will only make this policy gap worse, because climate change impacts will affect not only harvests but also the systems that people use to transport, store and buy and sell food.

Most people in urban areas must buy their food and this makes the urban poor particularly at risk. Any climate-induced disruption to food production, transport and storage - either in the urban area itself or in distant farmland - can affect food supplies and prices in urban areas.

Yet most policies that aim to increase food security focus solely on boosting production from farms and fisheries in rural areas.

The report highlights the link between income poverty and food insecurity in urban areas. For most low-income urban citizens food represents a sizeable portion of the money they spend. Even small increases in price would therefore have big impacts of food security, with citizens reducing the amount and quality of the food they buy.