Month: September 2013

IMPHAL, Sep 9 NNN : Manipur Health minister Phungzathang Tonsing today said the Manipur AIDS Control Society (MACS) cannot fight HIV/AIDS in the state without collective support.
Tonsing was delivering a speech during a one day state level convention on mainstreaming HIV/AIDS for Autonomous District Councillors, Manipur at the Jubilee Hall, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here.
The minister said the state and Central Governments are seriously taking the HIV/AIDS issue in the state and taking various measures to curb it.
He appealed to the NGOs and concerned departments of the Government to properly utilize funds meant for controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS in the state.
Tonsing said MACs alone cannot fight the HIV/AIDS threat and control it, but need collective support of the public and political leaders as well.
At the convention organised by Hill Areas Committee (HAC) and sponsored by MACS, members of the ADCs resolved to undertake various steps and contribute their mites in controlling the disease.
They resolved to create an autonomous district councillors’ forum on HIV/AIDS in Manipur to facilitate, review and monitor the state response to the epidemic at least once every six months in a year.
To draft policies guaranteeing universal access to information, prevention, treatment, care and support for the alleviation of HIV/AIDS related impact and ensure its passage, they decided.
Also decided that they will support strengthening of the infrastructure of the testing centres and blood banks including care, support and treatment needs of TB, STI and other co-infection and the 2nd Line ARV drugs considering the drugs resistant cases of ART roll out in the state.
They also resolved that they will support allocation of funds for HIV/AIDS control activities at all levels and encourage contribution from ADCs, MLA Local Area Development Funds as a role model. The ADC members further decided that they will encourage the participation of general public, health staff and other social workers, especially at the village and ward levels by instituting state awards of excellence.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/collective-struggle-needed-to-fight-hiv-phungzathang/

MNS: Three day long Bharat Nirman Public Information Campaign on the flagship programmes of the Central Government will be held at Town Baptist Church Hall, Tamenglong from 11th to 13th September 2013.
J. Panmei, MLA, will inaugurate the function. The main highlight of the campaign are creation of awareness among the public on the flagship programmes like National Rural Health Mission (NHRM), Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), Rural Drinking Water Supply, Rural Housing (Indira Awaj Yojna), Rural Telephony, Total Sanitation Campaign, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Aadhar, Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme and Food Security Bill etc.
On the first day Aadhar, Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, Rural Telephony, National Rural Health Mission; on the second day Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Health Mission (MGNRHM), Rural Housing (Indira Awaj Yojna), Total Sanitation Campaign, Rural Drinking Water Supply, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS); and on the last day Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid-day meal and Food Security Bill will be the topics discussed during the campaign. It will be explained by the experts from the concerned departments. There will be interaction with the public after the speech followed by a quiz.
A one-day free medical camp will also be held during the campaign at the venue as a part of the campaign. Around seventeen departments will put up exhibition stalls and display their office activities. Song and Drama Division (S&DD), Government of India, will perform theme based cultural programmes in the form of song, dance, drama and martial art.
Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP), Government of India Tamenglong and Senapati units will organize field programmes from 9th September up to the end of the PIC in different villages in Tamenglong District.
It will be jointly organized by Press Information Bureau (PIB), All India Radio (AIR), Door Darshan Kendra (DDK), Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP), Song & Drama Division (S&DD) in collaboration with District Administration, Tamenglong, different departments, Government of Manipur and Government of India of Tamenglong district under the sponsorship of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/bharat-nirman-campaign/

IMPHAL, Sep 9 NNN : The Manipur unit of Janata Dal-United (JDU) on Monday said it would launch sustained agitation if the National Highway-37 (Imphal-Jiribam) road was not repaired by second week of next month.
Addressing a simple function welcoming minister T Hangkhonpao, who has joined the party at the state JD-U office here, party president N Tombi explained the party’s concerns about the NH-37, the second most important lifeline of Manipur, and the Indo-Myanmar Border Fencing that has become a political issue in the state.
Tombi, who is also the convenor of Non-Congress All Political Party, said the state unit will launch sustained agitation if the Government fails to restore the Imphal-Jiribam road within second week of October.
He further strongly criticised the Centre asking the intent of the Government in ceding massive border land areas of Manipur to Myanmar after erstwhile Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru in the past had ceded Manipur’s Kabow Valley to the neighbouring country in exchange of Andaman and Nicobar Island.
The Centre and state Governments should come out with a white paper on the border issue and bring it to the public domain soon, the JD-U leader demanded.
He also announced that the Non-Congress All Party has decided to visit the border line for a spot assessment at the end of the current month.
He pledged the party will not compromise on the boundary issue and recounted that the Non-Congress All Political Party has already sent memorandums to the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Home Minister calling for a halt to the Indo-Myanmar fence construction and bring an unambiguous solution in this regard.
Despite the appeal the Centre has not given a positive response on the matter and Myanmar Government has recently set up an army camp at Pillar No 23 inside Holenphai village of Manipur’s Chandel district deploying its 40-50 army personnel there, Tombi said.
He warned that both the Central and state Governments should own up responsibility for any eventuality that could come out of the flawed boundary fencing.
A six-member team of the state Opposition had visited the Indo-Myanmar boundary to oversee it on September 7 following that it has demanded the state and Central Governments to take steps to immediately stop the fence construction and pillar erection on the international line.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/jdu-to-launch-stir-on-highway-issue/