May 17
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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305 days have passed. The culprits involved in the July 15 attack on The Arunachal Times associate editor Tongam Rina are still at large.
News Impact
Panchayat & municipality polls pass off peacefully
ITANAGAR, May 16: Panchayat elections across Arunachal Pradesh and polling for Itanagar
and Pasighat municipalities ended peacefully today barring some sporadic poll-
An estimated 60 per cent voters exercised their franchise for the three-
65.90% voters exercised their franchise in Pasighat Municipal election, informed Assistant Town Planner Tani Taloh. 5,033 voters out of the total 7,637 cast their votes, and the ratio of male and female voters was 2,531: 2,502, Taloh added.
State Election Commission (SEC) Secretary K Peyang said that the final poll percentage would be available only tomorrow after reports from several district reach the commission office.
The commission had to postpone polling in 20 booths under Tali and Pip Sorang circles of remote Kurung Kumey district as polling officials could not reach due to inclement weather and disruption in surface communication, Peyang said.
Fresh polling in nine booths under Tali circle has been fixed on May 20 next while polling at 11 stations under Pip Sorang circle has been fixed on May 29.
Polling was held for 143 Zila Parishads seats out of 177 as 32 zila parishad members
(ZPM) were declared unopposed while election for two ZPM seats was not conducted
due to non-
Out of total Anchal Samiti Member (ASM) seats, election was held for 1031, while 739 candidates were declared unopposed and election was not conducted for 17 seats. Election for the Gram Panchayat Member (GPM) seats was held for 2,346 out of total 7, 401 posts and elections in 124 seats were not conducted, Peyang informed.
Altogether 12, 356 candidates were in the fray for the Panchayat polls being held for the third time in the state.
A total of 102 candidates were in the fray in the municipal polls being held for the first time at Itanagar and Pasighat, sources said.
DIPROs add: Panchayat elections in trouble-
Live feed from three polling stations were streamed but it was often interrupted due to inclement weather. Long queues were seen in many villages as the enthusiastic voters cast their votes braving inclement weather. The district administration and the district Police made elaborate security arrangements during the poll.
In Changlang too, people turned out in large number to exercise their democratic rights.
Brisk and peaceful polling was reported from all the polling stations. No untoward incident was reported from any polling stations of the entire district till filing of this report. Female voters out numbered their male counterparts and the voters enthusiastically exercised their adult franchise without fear or favour. The District Administration made elaborate security arrangement to maintain law and order.
Polling was also completed peacefully in all the polling booths including Hasse-
It is worth mentioning here that Sibsagar administration in Assam posed a tremendous
threat in holding the Panchayat election in Hasse-
Quoting Supreme Court's order on disputed boundary area, DC and SP of Sibsagar
district of Assam with large number of police force had arrived at Hasse -
Peaceful election has also been reported from Lower Dibang Valley district.
Polling teams with man and materials have started reaching the receiving centre at VKV Auditorium Hall where the ballot boxes will be kept in strong room under tight security. Polling teams from 34 polling stations at Roing, Meka, Iduli, Koronu and some from Hunli Anchal Block are expected to reach by tonight. Polling teams from the farthest circle, Desali is expected to reach tomorrow evening.
Dambuk SDO, A Tayeng told over telephone that the election was also held peacefully at Dambuk Anchal Block and polling teams barring Paglam Circle are expected to reach Roing in the evening today.
Panchayat poll in Papum Pare district also passed off peacefully today. No poll related incident has been reported from any circle till the closing of polling.
Polling teams, along with ballot box of nearby polling stations have started reaching strong room at Yupia.
Panchayat election in Upper Siang witnessed a large turn out of voters and there
was no report of any poll related incident received from anywhere in the district.
However, the actual turnout could be ascertained only after polling teams return
from polling station in interior places like Migging, Panggo, Kugging, Nyering, Angging,
Singging, Peki-
It is reported that the voters of Gelling, Norbuling, Tasigaon, Mankota boycotted
the Panchayat poll within their segments to register its protest against non-
Large voter turnout has also been reported in Dibang Valley district.
According to report, the percentage of voter turnout in 24 polling stations out of total 29 was 73.34. The reports of voter turnout in five polling stations in remote and far flung Ambolin, Atthunli, Engalin, Yayi and Kronli Anganwadi Centre are still awaited.
Meanwhile, East Siang Deputy Commissioner Rajesh Kumar Mishra informed that Panchayat Poll in Pasighat block and Municipal election in Pasighat Township ended fairly and peacefully and no untoward incident has been reported.
The percentage of poll turnout in the district could be ascertained only after receiving information from the outpost administrative circle headquarters, he said.
Our Ruksin correspondent adds: Panchayat polls in Ruksin sub-
Polling in some polling booths passed off peacefully while polling continued till late night at Rani, Bilat, Rayang and Oyan polling booths under tight security, the sources informed.
No untoward incident has been reported till filing of this report.
Ruksin election department sources said that their office has so far received ballot boxes along with report of completion of polling from nine booths out of the total 20.
Ruksin sub-
The Ruksin Polling station witnessed 65 percent voting. (With inputs from PTI)
Meanwhile, lauding the voters of the state, particularly voters of Capital Complex and Pasighat for participating in the Municipal election for stronger democracy, BJP Arunachal Pradesh said that paisa has played greater role in civil polls, which is being held for the first time in the state. Use of money power in election is a unhealthy practice and it would set a bad precedence in electoral history of the state in years to come, said BJP president Tai Tagak. He further alleged that state machineries have been used in favour of party in power during the election process. While pointing out the difficulties faced by the voters under some Municipal wards in Capital Complex, the state BJP chief said the registered voters of Barapani, SRS colony, Takar Complex have to walk about three km distance to cast their votes at Pachin Colony.
Nirbhay Sharma is new Governor of Arunachal
Taba Ajum
ITANAGAR, May 16: The President of India today appointed Lt. General (Retd.) Nirbhay Sharma as the new Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. According to the information updated in the president of India official website, Lt. General Sharma will become Governor with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.
Later this evening official of Rajbhawan, Itanagar confirmed the news. The outgoing
Governor Gen JJ Singh is currently at New Delhi. With this, the 5-
Despite his people friendly tenure, Gen Singh was criticized for not taking bold step when state witnessed serious law and order problem in the year 2011 due to internal battle among Congress leaders over Chief Ministership. The sources believe that appointment of another retired army personnel in Lt. General (Retd.) Nirbhay Sharma shows that the Centre is worried about infrastructure development in the state. New Delhi is hoping that Lt. General Sharma will continue to closely monitor the major infrastructure projects in order to ensure the timely completion.
The misuse of fund especially under Border Area Development Programme (BADP) in
the state has been worrying central government. The recent Chinese incursion in Ladakh
sector has deeply worried the military think-
Lt. Gen. (Retired) Sharma is one of the most distinguished and decorated field commanders
of the Indian Army. During his tenure in the army, most of his assignments dealt
with Jammu and Kashmir and the north eastern states. His last assignment in the army
was that of being a Corps Commander and Security Advisor to the Government of Jammu
and Kashmir. He took part in the 1971 War and was a part of the Airborne Assault
Group, the first Indian Army Unit to enter Dacca. Apart from commanding a battalion
on the China border, he was part of the Sino-
Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand fare best in maths classes: Study
NEW DELHI, May 16: Students of Class IX and X in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand seem to be making the most of their Mathematics lessons as a NCERT study found nine classes are allocated for the subject per week in these states in comparison to just four in Odisha.
It said there are eleven states where six periods per week for teaching of mathematics are allotted.
Periods allotted per week for teaching of Mathematics in Class VIII was maximum in Jammu and Kashmir where nine periods are allocated for the subject in comparison to a minimum of five in Kerala, Meghalaya and Nagaland, the study says.
The report suggested the need for use of a common structure of education for the first ten years of schooling as suggested in the National Curriculum Framework.
This will help in implementing the centrally sponsored scheme and other educational policies, it says. "In this regard, meetings with state policy planners and administrators should be organized."
Though most of the states have introduced English in Class I, the report suggested that introducing the subject should be ascertained based on research for optimal gains.
Efforts should also be made for introduction of Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) programme and grading system in evaluation by organizing meetings with policy planners, orienting teachers and teacher educators, it said. PTI
AAPSU fact finding committee holds meet on NERIST issue
ITANAGAR, May 16: As per the resolution adopted on April 24 under the guidance of
AAPSU president Kamta Lapung, the first meeting of the 8-
After threadbare discussion, the Fact Finding Committee resolved for further persuasion with MHRD by the NERIST authority for immediate implementation of pension scheme. The Committee also resolved to give one month time for examination of the demand for regularization of 21 contractual employees of NERIST.
It requires a mention here that NERIST employees had ended their week-
AAPSU, VHP demand apology from Maharashtra Board
ITANAGAR, May 16: Taking serious note of the error committed by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU) today condemned the ‘blunder’ and demanded apology to the people of Arunachal Pradesh from the Board.
A section of local and national media yesterday reported that for lakhs of 10th class
students in Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh is not a part of the country as the north-
AAPSU said that the publication and distribution of the erroneous book should be stopped until it is rectified by the authorities.
The board's blunder comes at a time when an escalation in tension along the border has put relations between India and China on a knife's edge.
Pointing out Chinese reported claim over Arunachal Pradesh and the Maharashtra text book which leaves Arunachal out of India, AAPSU said the Maharashtra should have to take responsibility in case of any border clash between the two neighbouring nations in near future.
Lastly, the Apex students body urged both Arunachal and Maharashtra Govts to constitute a committee to bring proper solution to the board’s blunder.
The Arunachal Pradesh units of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Arunachal Vikash Parishad have taken serious note of the blunder committed by the Education Department of Government of Maharashtra by not showing the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the map of India in its geography textbooks.
“This is an unpardonable mistake where Arunachal Pradesh has been shown to be a part of the territory of Republic of China. This kind of mistake not only aggravates the border tension between India and China but also weakens our international stand as far as the unity and integrity of our nation is concerned,” the VHP unit in a release said.
Condemning in its strongest terms the irresponsible act on the part of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Education, the VHP demanded a high level inquiry into the incident and punishment to the guilty. At the same time, the books published by the education department should be taken back in no time and fresh publication with correct map should be supplied to the students, the release added.
In its release, AVP also demanded immediate withdrawal of the books and strict action against the board.
“The Board and Govt. of Maharashtra must apologize to the people of Arunachal Pradesh and should rectify it immediately,” AVP demanded.
Expressing serious concern over such ignorance on the part of the higher authorities, who are supposed to educate and guide the new generation in proper direction, AVP suggested the Maharashtra board to educate the students about Northeastern states and hoped that the issue will open the eyes of the people of the country.
Copyright © 2008, The Arunachal Times Publications Pvt. Ltd., Siang House, Sector
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All rights reserved.
Youth are the future of state
Dear Editor,
As a budding youth of this state, I strongly feel the need to seek for the loss of the state. It is painful and sad to say that today most of the youth are involved in crime and some of them are addicted to intoxicants. What pleasure do they get? Is this a way to show your youthfulness? By doing this you are not only spoiling your life, instead you are polluting the whole state. Remember that we the youth are responsible for everything that is happening to our society.
Our little act can shake the whole state. We were born to do great work in Arunachal Pradesh and not to just doodle around. Our future depends on the good work done by us. If you guys continue to act destructive way, the day is not far when we the indigenous people of this state will face wrath of acute poverty, ignorance, crime, unemployment etc.
In my opinion, the youth are the bravest among all and the bravest are surely those
who have clearest vision of what is before them-
Yours
Magri Bagang
V.K.V. CHIMPU
Publish job advertisement online
Dear Editor,
With this letter I want to share my idea regarding the advertisement in your daily. There is no job advertisement in the online website of Arunachal Times. It is a necessity for the students who are studying outside the state. We don’t get any update about job opportunities. Other newspaper like Times of India and all are advertising such information in their online publication.
It would be very helpful for the students if you could publish those advertisements online. We the student communities would be very thankful to your daily if you publish such information in your online edition.
Yours,
Karmi Taso
Now panel to measure backwardness of states
The backwardness of the states would be considered under various criteria including per capita income and other human development indicators.
Amid demands for special category status by certain states like Bihar, the Indian government on Wednesday set up an expert committee to evolve a composite index to measure backwardness of states.
"It has been decided to constitute an Expert Committee... to consider backwardness of the States in terms of measures like distance of the State from the national average under criteria such as per capita income and other human development indicators and for evolving a Composite Development Index of States," the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The terms of reference of the committee will be issued separately, it added.
The 6-
The other members of the committee are Shaibal Gupta, Bharat Ramaswami, Najeeb Jung, Nirija G Jayal and Tuhin Pandey.
The panel, set up in pursuant to the Budget announcement, can invite other experts as Special Invitees for deliberations.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his party JD(U) have been demanding special category status for Bihar, which lags behind the national average on all important indices, to spur its development process.
The present criteria for determining backwardness are based on terrain, density of population and length of international borders.
In his Budget 2013-