March 03
Copyright © 2008, The Arunachal Times Publications Pvt. Ltd., Siang House, Sector
-
All rights reserved.
Universities should be place of debate, not violence: President
Kochi, Mar 2: Advocating free thinking in university campuses, President Pranab Mukherjee today said students and faculties must engage in "reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagating a culture of unrest".
He also said it was tragic to see students caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet.
His comments come in the backdrop of the ongoing tussle between RSS-
"It is tragic to see them (students) caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet," Mukherjee said while delivering the sixth K S Rajamony Memorial Lecture here.
Underlining ancient glorious culture of universities in the country, he said, "Our premier institutions of higher education are the vehicles on which India has to propel itself into a knowledge society."
"These temples of learning must resound with creativity and free thinking," he said. Mukherjee also cautioned against the exploitation of "fault lines" in the society, intolerance and attack on women.
He said there should be no room in the country for the "intolerant Indian" as this nation has been a bastion of free though, speech and expression since ancient times.
The society has always been characterised by the open contestation of diverse schools of thought and debate as well as discussion, the President said.
"Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution. There must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent," he said.
The views of Kaur, daughter of an army officer killed in action against militants, evoked sharp reaction from Union minister Kiren Rijiju who went on to ask, "who is polluting her mind".
Kaur was allegedly threatened with rape on her Facebook page and was mocked by sportspersons and celebrities who questioned her pacifist approach.
"Protection and safety of our women and children must be a nationwide priority. The acid test of any society is its attitude towards women and children. India should not fail this test," he said.
In terse comments, Mukherjee said he does not consider a society or State to be civilised if its citizens behaviour towards women is uncivilised.
"When we brutalise a woman, we wound the soul of our civilisation. Not only does our Constitution guarantee equal rights to women but our culture and tradition also celebrate the feminine as divine," he said. PTI
APCC slams Modi govt on LPG hike, DDUGJY
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has slammed Narendra Modi, following the steep hike in nonsubsidised cooking gas (LPG cylinder) prices from March 1. The Congress has demanded its roll back.
"Common people are being ripped apart by Modi as LPG cylinders are hiked by Rs 86 and small cylinder by Rs 30", said APCC in a release.
It also said that the levying of Rs 150 per transaction for cash deposits and withdrawals
beyond four free transactions per month is pick-
It called for exemption of the transaction policy.
APCC has also alleged that the tender floated by the State Govt for rural electrification works under Deen Dayal Upadhaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Solar Energy amounting Rs.199 crore is being dictated by the centre.
It is another scandal as the Modi Govt is dictating the State Govt to go for single
tender instead of having it district-
Since formation of BJP Government in the centre, the BJP and RSS are taking undue advantage for the benefit of big corporate houses, sabotaging & depriving the local contractors and entrepreneurs of the state, APCC said.
The party demanded immediate cancelation of the tender process and retendering so
that funds can be allocated district-
APCC further said that Regional Office of MoRTH should be shifted back to Itanagar for the greater interest of the State.
Contractors’ bills pending for years: AARCA
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: The All Arunachal Registered Contractor Association (AARCA) has
lodged a complaint with the Chief Secretary against the Chief Engineer (Power), EEZ
and the Executive Engineer (Elect), Deomali Electrical Division and others for allegedly
harassing few firms and their attorney holders by not clearing their pending bills
amounting to several lakhs of rupees as well as irregularity in the NIT for works
of DESD /Deomali under SPA during February-
In its complaint letter, AARCA alleged that the bills of M/s NB Supply and Agency,
M/s Shree Ganesh Associates and M/s Jangba Enterprise have been kept pending for
5-
Rather, they have lodged false and fabricated complaints against those firms at Longding Police Station and various other places, the AARCA said.
AARCA also alleged that one of the attorney holders of the firms have received threatening
message from anti-
According to AARCA, the EE has not yet provided information as sought by the applicant even after eight months.
AARCA alleged that the terms and conditions of the NIT were framed so that no firm can participate in it other than one firm which happened to be the business partner of the EE.
Students allege encroachment of Govt. lands
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: The Siang district unit of Adi Students' Union (AdiSU) has drawn the attention of the Siang Deputy Commissioner towards encroachment of school lands and government farm area in the district and demanded to free the lands from the grabbers.
In its complaint letter, the students' union informed the Deputy Commissioner that encroachments of lands were rampant at Govt. Hr. Sec. Schools, Pessing, Pangin, Kaying, Bolenq and Rumgong leaving no or little space for future infrastructural development.
Non-
The students' union also informed the Deputy Commissioner about encroachment of government farm lands at Jomlo Mobuk.
The public are encroaching government lands adopting different methods like planting bamboos, developing orange and vegetable gardens, fish pond, WRC field and construction of local house in the name of government staff illegally, the students' union said.
The AdiSU unit appealed to the Deputy Commissioner to take drastic action against those land encroachers at the earliest.
BSC picks 7 budding talents for final selection
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: Seven budding sports talents from the state were picked for final selection by the Army' Boys Sports Company (BSC), Secunderabad.
They were selected after three days talent hunt conducted at RG Stadium, Naharlagun and at Sange Lhaden Sports Academy (SLSA), Chimpu from February 24 to 26 February.
If selected, they were provided free coaching, education, food and boarding facilities etc. by Army Boys Sports Company (BSC).
The medical test and final selection trials will be held on April 24 at Secunderabad.
The selected boys are Tayer Ronik (10), Sosar Tama (11), Chera Tania (11), Tagrik Tani (10), Sangha Tabio (11), Kampu Degio (11) and Tadar Taging (13).
Arunachalee students duped in the name of free education, CM to intervene
[ Rup J Pater ]
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: For the 214 odd students from across Arunachal Pradesh who landed at Hyderabad for higher studies 'free of cost' under a 'scholarship' programme, it was a heaven sent opportunity. Unfortunately, it wasn't.
All the students including girls hailed from poor family backgrounds with not more
than Rs 2.5 lakhs annual income. It was one of the eligibility conditions. Hundreds
of students and their parents clamoured to avail the scheme and saw All Arunachal
Pradesh Students' Union (AAPSU) as their saviour, for it was the apex students' organization
that had come up with it in collaboration with so-
It was 2014 and the new academic sessions were about to begin. The Telangana movement, meanwhile, was at its culminating point.
Biru Nasi, the then General Secretary of the Union, was approached by a group of
youths from Hyderabad during the early part of 2014 offering free technical and medical
education to students from Arunachal Pradesh in various 'recognized/affiliated' institutes
of Hyderabad. They 'called' themselves representatives of one Dr YSR Educational
and Welfare Foundation, a Hyderabad based non-
The basic funda behind the offer to give free technical education to ST students was that the tuition and hostel fees would be borne by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and Ministry of Minority Affairs through scholarships for SC/ST/OBC /MOBC.
"For me the offer was god-
However, Nasi made it a point to check and verify the credentials of the Foundation and also the colleges listed by the Foundation. He enquired with the Dept of Social Justice, Empowerment &Tribal Affairs and confirmed that funds do come.
He visited the colleges in Hyderabad and went through papers of their affiliations
with AICTE and universities. He also cross-
Satisfied, Nasi as the then AAPSU General Secretary signed a MoU with Dr. YSR Educational & Welfare Foundation on May 22, 2014.
As per the MoU, selected students had to pay Rs 60000/-
Paying Rs 85000/-
Just when everything seemed settled, Andhra Pradesh got divided and Telangana was born on June 2, 2014. With it disappeared YSREWF...ditching AAPSU, the students, the parents and Nasi!
AASA had disappeared several weeks ago! And so did the Rs 85000 paid by each of the students!
Nasi admits he was duped and in turn AAPSU and the students were duped. Not shying away from his responsibilities, he somehow managed to arrange the yearly fees of the students who preferred to continue with their education despite the fiasco. Presently 180 students from the odd 214 are pursuing their education at Hyderabad.
Nasi had no option left but approach Chief Minister Pema Khandu to help the students, who were promised free education but ditched for no fault of theirs as most of them are nearing completion of their respective courses.
Looks like the CM didn't do a YSREWF on him!
"On behalf of 'my' students and their parents, I extend heartiest thanks to the Chief Minister for immediately taking note of my plea and coming to rescue of the students. I hope he will always have this helping attitude towards the needy," Nasi said.
When queried why Nasi or the AAPSU didn't opt for legal action against YSREWF, the former AAPSU GS said that the option had come up but everyone decided against it for the sake of the poor students who were pursing their dreams keeping faith on big brother 'AAPSU'. (PS: Similar stories were reported from few other states of the North East. The similarity though ended with duping of a students' organization by YSREWF)
RBI meeting on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: The Reserve Bank of India, Guwahati conducted a Town Hall meeting on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises [MSMEs] related issues on March 1 at Naharlagun. The meeting was attended by senior officials from Department of Industries of the State Government, NABARD and banks, representatives of organisations nurturing entrepreneurs, Women Self Help Groups, MSME entrepreneurs.
Deputy Commissioner, Papumpare Tai Kaye while encouraging the banks to give more
credit to the MSME sector, appreciated the role played by them in infrastructure
financing and lending under the Stand-
Deputy General Manager, RBI Aridaman Kumar, highlighted the importance of the MSMEs in the economy and underscored the need for all stakeholders to come together and work collectively for the development of the MSME sector in the State. He also explained the initiatives and various policy measures taken by RBI to promote the growth of the sector.
Naharlagun is an important centre of handicrafts and weaving in Arunachal Pradesh with an agglomeration of various MSE units, said a RBI release.
Two presentations were made by RBI officials during the meeting. The first one was on the findings of a survey that was conducted amongst the entrepreneurs in Naharlagun and its adjoining areas prior to the Town Hall meeting with a view to understand the issues and difficulties faced by them. Another presentation on the framework for the revival and rehabilitation of MSMEs was made for the benefit of the bankers and the entrepreneurs
An interactive session was also held for the benefit of the participants and as part of the credit linkage efforts in association with banks, a few loan sanction letters were handed over to MSE borrowers during the meeting.
Family allege foul play & police inaction as boy dies
Correspondent
ROING, Mar 2: The mysteries surrounding the death of an 18 year old boy from Bolung village seems to be not so mysterious after all, as family and relatives allege murder after companions disclosed about physical assault.
To add to the miseries of the grieving family, the officials at Hayuliang Police Station have straightaway refused to lodge an FIR regarding the matter, informed a relative, and have refused to take any action for reasons best known to them.
As per statement from family, the deceased Gemin Yirang, along with his four other friends from the same village, had gone to collect their arrear of porter wages from the ITBP Headquarters at Kibitho under Anjaw district, when the fateful incident occurred at Kheroti Camp, 10 kms away from Kibitho.
Reportedly, the father received information about his son's demise from a neighbour who was informed telephonically by one of the companions of the victim. As per the story of the companions, after receiving their due from the ITBP, the boys had halted at Kheroti Camp for the night before returning home via Walong. However, Late Gemin Yirang was nowhere to be found when they woke up in the morning, and after a lot of search, they found his body lying near a river in the area in his undergarments.
The shocked and bereaved father brought back the dead body of his son and since, in their local customary system, the burial of a person who has died in such accidental circumstances has to be done immediately,
the body of the deceased was buried on reaching his village at Bolung on Saturday last. Believing the companions of his son, the father, a simple villager believed that his son's death was caused by some supernatural entity.
However, relatives and other family members found loopholes in the narration of events by the companions as the injury marks on the body was telling a different story. The money and mobile phone of the deceased was also handed over to the father by the other boys. Sure enough, after pressure from the family, two of the boys revealed the actual occurrences of the night.
According to them, after a few drinks together, the other two boys had a fight with the deceased and started hitting him with chairs and wood, causing grievous injuries to his head which they said, might have caused his death. The two accused have also, reportedly, confessed and accepted the events but they have denied the murder allegations, saying that Late Gemin was alive after the assault, and his body was found in the morning. As per the family and relatives, the culprits are roaming free without any sense of remorse.
Meanwhile, the Yirang Welfare Society (YWS) has appealed to all civil society to support the aggrieved family at this stage of misery to impress upon the law enforcing authority to book all the culprits under relevant laws and award exemplary punishment to deter such possible heinous crimes in the future. They said that it is because of such acts of negligence from the Police as that of the Hayuliang PS that criminals are at large without any fear of Law.
Efforts to revive Papum Pare tourism
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: The District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) meeting of Papum Pare District was held on Tuesday at DC Office Chamber, Yupia to discuss the status of tourism promotion in the district.
DC cum Chairman DTPC Tai Kaye emphasised that all the tourism infrastructures and amenities that are lying defunct should be made functional and asked the District Tourism Officer to keep monitoring the tourism assets in the district.
DFO Banderdewa suggested that there should be Tourist Information and Reception Center in all the important entry points of the district for the benefit of tourist.
Tour Operator and president of Arunachal Pradesh Tour Operators Association John Panye also stressed for creation of awareness on tourism potential of the district by conducting tourism promotion activities in important locations of the district. He also pointed out that Tourist Lodge cum convention hall needs to be established near Railway Station.
Naharlagun to facilitate the tourists.
Earlier DTO Tater Mize apprised the chairman about the present status of tourism in the district and said that the Papum Pare District has lots of potential for development of tourism. He said to boost up tourism more and more awareness is required. Among others present in the meeting were DPO, DACO, UPO and TIO. DIPRO
NE dances showcased at Jan Pratha Utsav
[ Maksam Tayeng ]
PASIGHAT, Mar 2: Colorful dance performances by around 300 artists from across the
eight North-
Popular dance forms of North-
Present on the occasion was Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar National Award awardee and a board member of Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), New Delhi, Delong Padung who urged all to realize the importance of their indigenous culture and rich folk arts.
Earlier, during the inaugural day of the Utsav, MLA, Kaling Moyong and Lok Sabha
MP, Ninong Ering lauded the effort of Sangeet Natak Akademi for organizing the utsav
at Pasighat for the first time in the state. The duo had also appealed the Akademi
to encourage and promote tribal folk arts of the North-
Deputy Speaker election
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: State Legislative Assembly Speaker has fixed Mar 7 next to elect Deputy Speaker of the sixth Legislative Assembly.
Nomination paper shall be delivered to the State Legislative Assembly Secretary on or before Mar 6 while, the nomination maybe withdrawn not later than 1000 hrs on Mar 7, according to an official release.
Halt interview: ATA urges CS
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: Arunachal Teachers' Association (ATA) has in a representation to
the state Chief Secretary on Wednesday appealed to her to keep the process of interview/
viva-
ATA informed that many aggrieved teachers have filed a writ petition regarding the APCS (Entry Grade) issue.
ALSYA threatens to call 2nd phase Lower Subansiri bandh
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: All Lower Subansiri Youth Association (ALSYA) has threatened to launch the second phase of district bandh unless its demands were not met at the earliest.
ALYSA called Lower Subansiri bandh on February 28 in protest against non-
ALSYA informed that representations highlighting these issues were submitted to the authorities concerned, including the Chief Secretary and Chief Engineer (Highway) on several occasions.
Alleging low quality renovation works from Potin to Bopi, the ALSYA informed that demands were also made to the concern authority to conduct an inquiry into the matter by constituting a committee as well as to take action against the engineers involved in the construction of the road for their alleged dereliction of the assigned duty. But there has been no positive response, which has compelled us to resort to democratic movement, ALSYA said.
Opium addiction a serious concern
Pongchau, Mar 2: Opium consumption has been a menace for the society for far too long. Its production and consumption has led to societies being destroyed slowly and steadily. The younger generation has imbibed only the economic gains of opium production sidelining the ill effects which is much more than the economic gains. Longding District is one such area where opium poppy is grown in large areas. The District Administration has adopted various tactics to fight this menace. Meetings have been held in many villages growing Opium poppy to discourage this practice and to shift to more economical and beneficial cash crops like Large Cardamom. Projects for establishing Large cardamom gardens have been undertaken and planting materials of Large Cardamom have been distributed to opium affected also villages. However, despite such efforts Opium Poppy was still being grown in these areas.Therefore, the District Administration came down heavily on these growers of Longding District. Several hectares of opium poppy fields in Pumao, Longding and Pongchau Circles were destroyed that include villages like Pumao, Mintong, Niaunu, Zedua, Khasa and Jagan.
Opium addiction should be a serious concern for all. The Govt should also aim towards
setting up of de-
Mother and child health campaign on RMNCH +A and MI
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: An awareness campaign on RMNCH +A and Mission Indradhanush was jointly conducted by Directorate of Field Publicity, Ziro and Along units at Sangram in Kurung Kumey district on Tuesday last.
Attending the meeting as resource person Sangram MO, Dr. Noor Hussain explained about RMNCH +A and advised pregnant women to avoid home delivery and go for timely registration. While stressing on institutional delivery he explained about various safety measures and advantages available under JSK, JSSK etc. He also explained the importance of IFA tablets and its corresponding adverse affects and importance of minimum 4 antenatal care visits.
While speaking on adolescence health he explained the parents about behavioral changes during the period and advised them to keep a close look on such children and guide them properly and at the same time he requested the youths to feel free to express their problems without any hesitation with parents.
Ziro FPO, P Sonowal, Sangram SDO, M Tato and ACP, Hillang Taro also spoke on the occasion.
Earlier, a public rally was also organized which was participated by PRI members, ASHAS, NGOs, Anganwadi workers, pregnant women and general public.
Review meet on Mission Indradhanush
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: The district health society has conducted review meeting of District
Task Force Immunization (DTFI) on Mission Indradhanush phase-
Strategies for coming MI-
Chairmanship of DC-
DC also urged DDSE, ICDS and other line department of the district to work in tandem with health department for effective implementation of all health programmes.
He urges all health workers of district to pull up their socks and deliver their best.
DMO Papum Pare Dr. Tasso Kampu appealed all MO I/Cs and other health workers to
actively take part in the programmes and prepare micro-
Earlier, DRCHO Yupia Dr. Jomnya Ado briefed the target and achievement of 1st round of MI & IPPI of the district. DIPRO
Area development site survey completed
PASIGHAT, Mar 2: Pasighat Smart City Office (SCO) has completed the "Area Based Development Site Surveys." According to official source, Pasighat is determined to get the smart city project by focusing on retrofit and redevelopment of the existing city by addressing urban mobility, tourism, heritage, economy, environment and smart applications. SCO adopted retrofitting and redevelopment models on the basis of citizens' consultation and polls.
A team comprising Md. Fahad Shahab (Voyant Solutions), Dr. Jayanto Perme (Core committee
member) and TabomTamut (Astt. Town Planner) surveyed re-
Personality development camp
ITANAGAR, Mar 2: Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya (VKV), Itanagar organized a personality development camp for students of neighborhood schools.
The programme was inaugurated by State Liaison Officer of NSS Dr. VN Sharma. He inspired the participants to be better citizens by learning from the lives of national leaders. He said that knowledge is power and one can accomplish success through learning.
Principal K Jaisankar spoke on Vivekananda Kendra and its various activities for the all round development of Arunachal Pradesh.
36 students of Class VIII and IX and five teachers participated in the camp.
Dhawan is new Capital DC
ITANAGR, Mar 2: Prince Dhawan, an IAS officer of 2012 batch took over the charge of Deputy Commissioner Itanagar on Wednesday.
A day after his joining, he called a meeting of all the administrative officers where he asked the officers to maintain strict discipline and work culture in office.
He further asked them to share the information and issues which needs urgent attention
and to work in close co-
Correction
The DIPRO, Khonsa has clarified that the Common Facility Centre at Old Lainwang,
which was inaugurated by Tirap Deputy Commissioner Ravi Jha recently, was funded
jointly by NERCORMP, Tirap-
-
A good beginning
One of the main reasons for underdevelopment of Arunachal over the years has been lack of proper planning while implementing the schemes. Due to lack of planning, the government funds are utterly misused by the politicians in nexus with corrupt bureaucrats. Arunachal's underdevelopment is more of poor implementation than lack of development fund and programmes. Policy summersault and development projects abandonment are common.
Political leaders as well as bureaucrats need to be sensitized on putting society
interest first and committing to development visions and programmes. In this context,
the decision of Chief Minister Pema Khandu to constitute group of Secretaries in
six different themes-
___________________
-
Harmonious existence
Dear Editor,
While the North Korean dictator recklessly develops weapons of huge destruction like Nerve Gas, Nuclear Warheads, Hydrogen Bomb, etc and threaten safe and harmonious existence of humankind and innumerable beings on Earth, his half brother gets killed by the same kind of nerve gas at an airport in Malaysia.
A sheer example of how, the Creator of Cosmos play his judgmental and balancing role as the ultimate ruler.
Proliferation of arms and weapons, and threat to safe and harmonious existence of humankind and Planet should be urgently phased out because, that is the desire of humankind and God.
Leaders of countries around the world should sit down, make negotiations for global reduction of all kinds of threat around the world towards collective achievement of safe healthy, lasting and harmonious existence on Earth.
Yours,
Tagam Mibang
Danger of play currency notes
Dear Editor,
A fun and business should not be mixed. It’s a big shame that an ATM machine of SBI
dispensed not the look-
More importantly, government should completely ban any kind of play currency notes
from being sold in the market. The sporty mind of a human being is not shackled -
Yours,
Salil Gewali
Meghalaya
False allegation
Dear Editor,
This is In response to certain allegations, assertions and false accusations made against me and my wife through a article "Complaint against officials for alleged child trafficking and kidnapping " published in the Arunachal times March 1,
Hence, i am clarifying the allegation made by santosh Chakma. The child was brought from Namsai to Itanagar by his relatives, the child was never brought to Khonsa and i have never seen santosh Chakma at that time.
On 11 December 2014 at 1130PM, two girls run away after breaking lock of my Itanagar resident. After that I lodged an FIR on 12th December 2014 at Itanagar Police Station and the same information was sent to her parents at Namsai. So question of late information does not arise. Morever, Mr Santosh chakma. who had shown his home address as Vijaynagar is not true. He belongs to Vijoypur Village under Bordumsa circle in changlang District. So all information given in the news paper is totally false.
In the month of September 2016, her father along with some local boys came to my home at Itanagar to discuss regarding missing child. Later on they demanded some money which I did not pay.
Again on 1 September 2016, I re-
In the month of February 2017, for the second time Santosh chakma demanded that I pay some amount against his missing child and to dismiss the case. But i did not pay the said amount and i said that our motive is to trace out the child.
Moreover some third person is involved in this case to get money from my side.
Rather, it is presumed that her parents might be know about the missing child so all the information given in the news paper is totally baseless and fabricated. I strongly deny all the allegations.
Yours,
Dy. Director of School Education, Tirap
Gurmehar Kaur is an inspiration
Dear Editor,
Through the column of your esteemed daily, I would like to express my kudos to the
English department faculty at Lady Shri Ram College, for backing student Gurmehar
Kaur and supporting her right to express her opinion on issues that embroil our university.
Kaur has inspired and instilled courage in many Indian hearts. We have to speak for
justice. LSR is an inspiration to their students as it is an expression of the honest
intellectual relationship that should exist between student and teacher. Passivity
in acts of injustice is equal to promote injustice. Kaur who was labeled by many
as an “anti-
She has triggered a movement for human rights while being a student at a University in India. There are many faces nasty abuses and threats every day. It is immensely gratifying for the teachers that she has responded sensitively, creatively and bravely to events in her immediate context rather than seek the safe refuge of silence.
Yours,
Vinod C. Dixit
Ahmedabad
___________________
All email and surface mails must be accompanied with contact numbers and full postal address. Do keep writing but please make sure that letters are short and to the point.
-