Manipur News

The post Rides to campaign appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL, November 10: In order to create an awareness of Manipur Sangai Festival, 2012, the Royal Riders Manipur (RRM) flagged off a fortnight long promotional campaign from Hotel Imphal, today this morning.

The 14-days long campaign was formally flag-off by additional DG of police LM Khoute, Deputy Director of Toursim, Velentina Arambam, Tourism officer Ibouchoubi and RRM president RK Tombisana.

It is the second leg of the promotional campaign by the Enfield motorcycle Manipur-RMM, for 10-Days long Sangai festival Manipur, in which they would cover district of Ukhrul and Senapati.

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The post State ASHA Convention appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL, November 10: A one-day state convention of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) Worker was held today at Rupmahal Theater, Imphal.

The convention was grace by former Minister IFCD, N Mangi, and All India Trade Union Council (AICTU) presidents M Nara and participated by ASHA worker and members of the state.

Speaking at the function M Nara, president AICTU lauded the dedication and roles taken by ASHA workers to improve the health of women population to the areas were health facilities are at least.

During the conference the ASHA worker stress the needs of increasing their honorarium provided by the government. Further they resolved to appeal the state govt. to provide their honorarium at 3000 per month like other states and, to formulate service rule for ASHA worker and to provide a line of promotion under the schemes of National Rural health mission. They further asked the govt to provide usable better quality mobile handset.

The post State ASHA Convention appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

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The post Children Day at Kangpokpi appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL, November 10: The year’s long inter-school events conducted by Sadar Hills Private Association (SHIPS), Kangpokpi concluded with inter-school football tournament at Kangpokpi Mission High School on November, 3.

As per a press release from SHIPS, a grand prize distribution function is being organised on 14, Nov to coincide with the Children’s Day at Kangpokpi Thomas Ground.  It further said that it’s the first time in the history of Sadar Hills to celebrate Children Day jointly.

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The post Tribal Student body ready for agitation appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

IMPHAL, November 10: The representatives of Tribal student body express dissatisfaction over the negligence in the functioning of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU), Regional Campus Imphal.

According to a press release from IGNTU Student Union, the tribal student body have agreed to take up any forms of agitation if the student’s requirements are not fulfilled within 18, November. The student body further added that their demand on the co-curricular activities and proposal made for student requirements has not been up to expectation.

The concerted decision was brought today after a meeting that was held at Adimjati Compelx, among the representatives of ATSFM, ZSUM, TKS, MUTSU and TSA. The student body also agreed to appeal the university authority to materialise the MoU signed on 24, Oct, 2012.

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The post Playing tourist in Manipur! appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

By Chitra Ahanthem
Reading a recent news report about the Ministry of Tourism taking up the task of compiling the top 100 destinations in the country made me think what are the chances that any slots in that list would be occupied by places and locations in Manipur. Yes, there is no dearth of beautiful and scenic locations or places that are steeped in history or having significance to local myths in the state. But the list that is being complied is NOT only going to about destinations but ALSO list places to stay while heading to the places in question, recommendations for what to eat and where and how to reach. Manipur lags behind when it comes to support services that will attract tourists to the state. Apart from one hotel in the capital that is perpetually over booked and which may not really be in contention for tourists on a budget, the state is yet to have a value system in terms of accommodation and places to eat.

With the annual Sangai Tourism festival being planned for a 10 day spell, the first thing for the state tourism department is to asses who they mean by tourists. Every year, the tourism festival sees footfall from the locals apart from state invitees for running stalls. Talk about total irony: foreigners being invited to sell things to the locals when instead it should be about local attractions being showcases to foreigners and people coming from the rest of the country! Earlier renditions of this column have raised the matter of why a conglomeration of stalls that sell local products, which are brought by local people at hiked rates should be called a tourism festival. All because there are cultural events taking place in the background?

Manipur’s poor run with managing the potential of tourism that the state has to offer is partly because of the tendency to do things at an exterior level. The norm seems to be that if other states have annual tourism festivals, Manipur must follow suit and ignore every other thing. There is a need for a reality check in terms of just how many tourists are going to feel that they absolutely HAVE to be in Manipur. No amount of advertisements on the upcoming festival is going to translate into actual tourists and travelers rushing to the state till there is an information flow that gives tips on places to stay, where to go and what to eat and what activities that they can do. Apart from the traditional advertisements where everything about the state is glossed over, the real review and information flow on travel to the state in independent web sites are totally silent on Manipur indicating that people are yet to come to the state.

The other matter of irony is that in most state tourism festivals, the hospitality partners are government run accommodation outlets. In Manipur, the government run hotel is not even used by government officials coming in from the rest of the country and is often the last place to be checked in by visitors when all other options for stay are exhausted. I still remember a very vivid feedback from some friends whom I had recommended the place to stay in. They said a breakfast order would arrive near to lunch time and that hygiene was a matter of concern. For dinner the staff told them to eat outside! Another set of friends who wanted to stay at Sendra had to go back disappointed since the guest houses there were not refurbished. Not only that, no one knew who was to be approached for permissions for stay etc. They had to resort to laughing at their own high expectations from the place after seeing the state of the dingy and stinking loos at the Sendra tourist point.

The few tourists who do come to the state are mostly people who travel on account of work and then do a bit of sightseeing. Most sightseeing (apart from sights in Imphal like the Ima Keithel, Govindajee temple and Kangla) are often limited to seeing Loktak, Andro and sometimes Ukhrul town or Moreh. All other locations are not even considered. If the tourism department is really serious about promoting the state as a destination to tourists, there needs to be more than what is on offer. The issue is not just of starting hotels in every other place but to bring in the concept of home stays that will take away the pressure of where tourists can stay but also provide employment opportunities. Home stays are also a forum for showcasing local culture, history and food tastes and are very popular with tourists traveling on a budget.

Manipur has immense potential not only in terms of locations and activities like angling at Loktak, pottery at Andro with even a try at rice brewing (!) but also for adventure trails in the form of treks, rafting, para gliding etc. But one potential that has been ignored is the lack in showcasing Manipur’s historical context in terms of the freedom struggle with Indian National Army (INA) raising the Indian flag before independence and Manipur’s link to the Second World War. The INA war memorial at Moirang is in a sorry state with leaking roofs and rain water seeping on to the life size painting of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose that is kept in a dusty library. As for sites with historical linkages to the Second World War in the state, there is no attempt to either maintain these places or highlight them as tourist sites.

End-point:
But till the real tourists comes calling to the state, let’s get ready to shell out that extra bit of money and enjoy the tourism festival that lies in wait for us. Let us all get enthralled by the photos and the cultural dances on display. Let us all make a beeline for the food that will be in the food court and make it worthwhile for the organizers and people running the stalls. Let us play the tourist game and promote tourism. So what if we are locals? We will be tourists at the Sangai Festival!

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The post Loot, Thy Name Is Corruption appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

By Dr. M. Nara Singh
The shameless looting of public fund by contractors, high ranking politicians and bureaucratese has become a phenomenon to-day in our society. Be it rural development, urban development, public works, social welfare, Lotak Project or even the highest democratic institution (Manipur State Assembly Secretariat) the funds meant for the purposes were misappropriated as if the looters think as their inherent properties. Discovering and unearthing of scam and scandals one after another is the order of the day in to-day`s India. Right thinking people and conscious citizens of the country must have felt shame before the eyes of the international community. Yet is seems that we are immune to such ugly scenario and it has become a way of life in Manipuri society. Who will say No to this phenomenon? Public or Politicians or the so called Social Worker Contractors?

It is very evident that the loot of public money in different forms and accumulation as wealth by a few has become a pride for them. While looting the booty is shared among the trio of the contractors, ruling politicians and the top bureaucracy. The latter two facilitate the loot and get their shares, that is, if exposed, is dubbed as corruption. In this loot and sharing of loot, the ruling class as a whole, irrespective of political affiliation is involved. In most of the scams and scandals that have been revealed during the regime of UPA-II it has been found that the decisions pertaining to reforms and neo-liberalism are at the root of the all pervasive corruption. Corruption has become a word in everybody`s mouth today in our country. The  moot points  is that the  imposition of policies of neo-liberalism  dictated by IMF and World Bank by the Narasimha Rao-Manmohan Singh duo in early Nineties Paved the way for unbridled loot of national and natural resources. Coal, gas, oil, minerals all were thrown open for loot and the ruling politicians of the time did share the bounties. Diversion of welfare funds and its loot is ancjther form of corruption that has come to light in several states.

In this background, there is nothing surprising in the revelations about Robert Vadra. He has become a billionaire within a few years. The DLF has obviously facilitated the turning of Vadra into a billionaire as it has been duly compensated rather awarded by the Congress Govts. in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. In our state of Manipur too right from the top political leaders to the top level bureaucrats have become millionaires within short span of time, everybody knows it. From the experience we know that nothing much will come out from enquiries as all ruling politicians have a vested interest in Protection each other. All investigations that are going on the several scams and scandals will meet the rate of Jain Hawala Scam in which politicians across the political spectrum barring the Left were accused and they collaborated with each other to hush up the investigations.

Of course, all Pervasive corruption is a burning issue and corruption at all levels needs to be fought relentlessly. But one should not forget that the type of scams and scandals that have come to the light since Nineties starting from Harshad Mehta and Jain Hawala Case to 2G Spectrum and Coal Gate are byproducts of the policies of economic neo-liberalisrn. It is one of the evils of this disastrous course of economic policies. Corruption must be fought with other evils like unprecedented price rise, curb on democratic rights, unemployment, retrenchment and growing gap between the rich and poor. It means those fighting against corruption and now joining politics have to take a comprehensive view on these socio economic issues. It they rail, it will give rise to apprehension that by raising the bogey of corruption they are becoming instrument in side tracking the real socio-economic issues raced by the common people.

Corruption at the state level Politicians and bureaucrates are also to be seen and analysed from this angle. The question of insurgency in our state is directly linked with corruption. Hence, without fighting corruption it will be impracticable to come to the conflict resolution stage.

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