Day: February 11, 2013

MNS:- Students and teachers from remote areas of Manipur’s Imphal East and West District are on a tour of New Delhi this week as part of the National Integration Tour organized by 30 Assam Rifles  of 9 Sector under HQ IGAR(S). The students first visited the Metro Museum which is located at the Patel Chowk Metro Station. The students thereafter enjoyed a Metro ride from the Patel Chowk to Udyog Bhavan Metro station.
Delhi Metro is one of the largest metro networks in the world consisting of six lines with a total length of 189.63 km &142 Stations of which 35 are underground. The combination of elevated, at-grade and underground lines hypnotized the students with its dazzling architecture and engineering. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has been certified by the United Nations as the first metro rail and rail-based system in the world to get “carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions” and helping in reducing pollution levels in the city by 6.3 lakh tonnes (630 Gg) every year.Delhi Metro Museum is South Asia’s first modern Metro Museum which is a one of its kind existing in an Operational Metro Station. The students were ecstatic to see the museum which was holding a collection of display panels, historical photographs which traces the journey of the Delhi Metro which took 32 years to reach the operational stage from the drawing boards, reaching major milestones and overcoming issues regarding the selection of technology etc. It was the first time that the students saw the Delhi Metro and an escalator. They said these have got indelibly etched into their memories. One of the student said “It is for the first time that I saw the stairs which move on their own and initially I was scared but now I’m comfortable.” He further added that he wished to be an engineer and construct escalators like these back home in Manipur There was a flagrant happiness on his face.
The tour then moved to visit Nehru Planetarium situated in the green vicinity of the famous Teen Murti House, the official residence of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, which has since been turned into a museum. The students were amazed by the way Nehru Planetarium was constructed with its primary aim being the promotion of astronomical education.
This visit to the Planetarium invigorated the spirit of science in children and opened a totally new world to them. This tour helped students interact with what they are learning in the classrooms. The experience went beyond reading about a concept and the students were able to feel the planets and the solar system, learn about it and participate in it physically. On 11 December the tour will be moving to Dehradun for the second phase of their itinerary where they are scheduled to meet His Excellency, the Governor of Uttarakhand and will visit Indian Military Academy.The National Integration Tour from one end of the country to the National Capital, is being conducted by Assam Rifles so as to foster true integration amongst the young students who are the future of the country and to provide them with a platform to visit new places, interact with people and experience the culture in other parts of the country. This exposure to the students is bound to go a long way in broadening their horizons and understanding”, said an Assam Rifles press release.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/manipuri-students-savour-metro-flavour/

DIMAPUR, Feb 11 NNN : Environmentalists, social organisations and pressure groups have asserted that the land, forests, rivers and all natural resources in India’s North East belong to the indigenous people of the region.
This was echoed during a two-day consultation programme christened as “Indigenous Peoples Consultation on Dams and Natural Resources Protection in India’s North East”, which concluded today in Agartala.
The event was jointly organized by the Borok Peoples Human Rights Organization, Committee on the Protection of Natural Resources in Manipur, North East Dialogue Forum, Citizens Concern for Dams and Development, Siang Peoples Forum, Mapithel Dam Affected Villagers Organization, Peoples Movement for Subansiri Valley, Civil Society Women’s Organization, All Loktak Lake Areas Fishermen Union, Affected Citizens of Teesta, Centre for Research and Advocacy, Save Sikkim, Initiative for Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples, Peoples’ Right to Information and Development Implementing Society of Mizoram, Federation of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo People, All Assam Students Union, Save Mon Federation, All Zeliangrong Students Union, Hmar Inpui United Committee on the Protection of Natural Resources, All Tribal Students Union Manipur, Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti, Naga Women’s Union.
“Our land and all natural resources are inherent sources for our life, culture, identity, survival and future of our present and coming generations,” the participants affirmed.They further affirmed that the indigenous peoples in the region have the right to self determination over their lands, territories and resources and they possess undeniable rights over its management and use.
According to a press communique received here, the participants expressed their concern on the introduction of more than 200 mega dams and other ‘unsustainable development policies and projects’ in the region done without the consent of the indigenous peoples of the region
The participants then asserted that mega dam constructions that had already been commissioned such as Loktak Project in Manipur, Dumbur Dam in Tripura have already led to widespread dispossession, loss of lands, extinction of flora and fauna, demographic impacts on indigenous peoples in the region and other human rights violations.
The environmentalists and pressure groups tool note of the ongoing and aggressive construction of mega dams such as 2700 MW Lower Siang HEP, 3000 MW Dibang HEP, 1750 MW Lower Demwe in Arunachal Pradesh, 1200 MW Teesta III HEP, 500 MW Teesta IV HEP, 97 MW Tashiding HEP, 280 MW Panang HEP etc in Sikkim, 1500 MW Tipaimukh HEP, 7.5 MW Mapithel Dam in Manipur, 2000 MW Lower Subansiri HEP, 600 MW Kameng HEP  in Arunachal Pradesh which have already led to widespread dispossession, environment devastations, militarization, conflicts and human rights violations
They also seriously concerned with the projection of mega dams in India’s NE as climate friendly and seeking carbon credits and profits by dam developers from CDM mechanisms of UNFCCC
The participants of the two-day event then expressed oncerned with the increasing corporatization of their lands and resources and the aggressive efforts to explore and drill oil in the region by corporate bodies, such as oil exploration efforts by Jubilant Energy in Manipur, Gas exploration in Tripura by ONGC, to mine uranium in Meghalaya by UCIL, etc.
These groups also said they are concerned with the increasing militarization of indigenous peoples land while pursuing mega dams and other extractive industries and the complication of conflicts by the destructive development processes and subsequent human rights violations.
The participants further said they are disrurbed with the increasing involvement of international financial institutions, such as World Bank, Asian Development Bank, the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation etc in financing energy and water related projects and in deregulation of related policies to intensify corporatization of our land and resources.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/dam-issue-discussed/

DIMAPUR, Feb 11 NNN: Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio today said that he is willing to go to jail for the sake of the Naga people and that he will continue to carry the voice of the Naga people. He said that there is nothing wrong in voicing the suffering of his people and the denial of rights to the Nagas.
“I am speaking for the right of the Naga people and for that why should anybody threaten to jail me. If I am to go to jail for the sake of my people, so be it”, Neiphiu Rio said today during campaigns at Longleng, Kiphire and Pfutsero.
“I shall speak the right of the Naga people and I am ready to go to jail for that,”  he stated. Rio asserted that the Naga People’s Front (NPF) has stood up for the rights of the Nagas and the party leadership has voiced the plight of the Nagas, especially those in Myanmar.
Speaking at NPF election rallies at Longleng, Kiphire and Pfutsero under Phek district, the Chief Minister said that the Nagas of Myanmar have achieved political recognition with the establishment of the Naga Autonomous Zone. The Nagas of Myanmar have their own elected members and the Nagas are also well represented in the Myanmar Parliament, Rio said.
Rio informed that likewise the NPF has also entered the poll fray in Manipur and will do so in other Naga inhabited areas of neighbouring states. The NPF is providing a political platform to Nagas and we are moving towards emotional and political integration, the Chief Minister said.
The chief minister also appreciated the initiative of the NBCC for the clean election campaign. We support the NBCC’s campaign and welcome the steps being taken by the church, the chief minister said.
The chief minister addressed NPF rallies at Longleng town, Kiphire town and Pfutsero under Phek district today.
At Kiphire, the NPF rally was disturbed by Congress workers who had come in a long convoy of two wheelers and other vehicles honking and shouting slogans in order to disrupt the rally when the chief minister was addressing the gathering.
He regretted that the Congress was using such negative tactics to disrupt the meetings of the NPF, however he advised the general public not to disrupt each other’s meetings and allow all political parties to hold their meetings without disturbance from the rival parties.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/i-am-ready-to-go-to-jail-rio/