Day: November 8, 2012

IMPHAL, Nov 8 NNN: The Manipur Agriculture Department has instructed all the concerned district Agricultural Officers (AOs) to submit their relevant reports on the destruction caused to paddy fields by incessant rain during the last four days.
With an aim to recuperate the failure of flowering of crop due to scanty rainfall this season and also to make up the destructed paddy by heavy shower in the last four days, Agriculture Department is also planning to provide winter crop seeds to the farmers by November 15, L Palandro, Director, Agriculture Department today said.
The department is taking necessary steps to know how far the incessant downpour from November 4-7 has done damage to the crop during the crucial period of harvesting stage in the state.
The concerned district AOs have been instructed by the department to submit their respective reports on the recent destruction caused by rain during the harvesting stage, Palandro said.
However, as of now, not a single district AO has submitted the report in responding to the instruction, the Director further said.
According to statistics collected from Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Lamphelpat, the total rainfall that recorded from November 4-7 was 88.0 mm. The rainfall received on November 4 was registered at 5.2 mm, November 5 recorded 9.9 mm, November 6 received 13.7mm and November 7 received the highest rainfall during the four days at 59.2 mm.
The total area of paddy fields both in the hill and valley is 1.95 lakh acres. Several fields were left without farming due to late monsoon coupled with insufficient rainfall. Some places in the four valley districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal and Bishnupur could not grow crop due to insufficient rainfall this season. Some other places in the hill districts of Churachandpur and Chandel also failed to grow crop due to the same reasons.
Yet, the situation confronted by farmers was not declared as drought but it was officially termed as drought-like situation and hence the exact number of fields hit by the drought-like situation was not determined, Palandro added.
The total number of crop lands in the state yearly produce around 503.04 thousand metric tonne of rice but this season cannot reach the average yield as 20 percent to 30 percent is expected to haul down. Likewise, the recent rain havoc may decrease the rice product but it cannot be officially confirmed as to how far will be the magnitude of loss, he said. nHe also said since the rain has stopped from Friday it is hopeful that there will not be much loss in the yield but the exact loss will be known only after the reports of the district agriculture officers are received.
The Agriculture Department cannot take immediate measure when drought or flood strikes, he asserted and said the important job of the department is to provide seeds and knowledge of scientific cultivation to farmers in order to increase product.
“We are focusing on Rabi crop to recoup the failure of flowering crop due to insufficient rainfall this season as well as the destruction caused to the crop by the recent rain in the state,” he announced and added that as part of the policy the department is planning to distribute Rabi crop seeds to farmers by November 15.
For Rabi crop, the department will provide 80 metric tonne of mustard oil seeds, 64 metric tonne of pea, 16 metric tonne of wheat and 8 metric tonne of Rabi maize to farmers, Palandro said.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/report-of-destruction-of-paddy-fields-due-to-heavy-rainfall-demanded/

Mail News Service
Imphal, Nov 8 : There were certain editorials and news reports in some of the local daily newspapers relating to the Information and Public Relations Day, which falls on November 1, which was not celebrated this year due to the financial constraint faced by the Government said a press clarification issued by Th. Samo, APO(Press) today.
It was stated that the State Journalists’ Awards were given on the Information Day in earlier years as a matter of convenience and not as a mandatory event. It was decided by the Government that it would be more appropriate to give the journalists’ Awards on the National Press Day on November 16, and this has been done from 2011.
Proposal for giving the Awards along with observance of the National Press Day on November 16 this year is being processed by the Government. Seminars and workshops on important issues on journalists and journalism are also organized on the National Press Day and not on the Information Day.
It will be proper to distinguish between functions/responsibilities of DIPR and celebration of the Information Day. Functions of DIPR are services provided by DIPR to others, i.e. other Departments of the Government and the public, including the press.
But celebration of Information Day involves providing service to DIPR Officers and staff themselves. Apart from serving to highlight the importance of DIPR, it also serves as an occasion for DIPR staff to celebrate and enjoy themselves, and for giving benefits to the officers and staff of DIPR in the form of gifts to retired employees and selected good performers in certain years. It was felt that it would not be proper for DIPR officers/staff to celebrate and enjoy themselves this year w.iile the Department is unable to pay bills for newspaper subscriptions, printing publications, etc.
The fear in the mind of DIPR officers was that spending money on celebrating Information Day while bills remain unpaid would invite criticism. Hence, the decision to forego celebration of Information Day Was taken in good faith in deference to the difficult financial situation in which the Government finds itself today. Non-celebration of the day is a loss for DIPR officers/staff, and not for the public or the press.
DIPR officers/staff felt that by foregoing celebration of Information Day, they sacrificed their chance of getting benefits from the Government.
Non-celebration of Information Day has no adverse effect on the services provided by DIPR to others.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/diprs-stand-of-information-day/

IMPHAL, Nov 8 MNS/NNN: Rendering a yeomen service, Phunjathang Tonsing the Health and Family Welfare minister, Government of Manipur today distributed mobile phones along with sim cards to the activists and other staffs of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) of National Rural Health Mission Manipur (NRHM) during a felicitation programme organized by State Health Society, Manipur which was held at the banquet hall of Imphal Hotel.
The distribution programme was attended by Ram Muivah, Principal Secrretary (Health and Family Welfare), Government of Manipur; Devesh Devan, State Mission Director of State Health Society, Manipur; Dr. Pradeep Haldar, Deputy Commisioner (Child Health), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and Padam Khanna, Senior Consultant of Private Health Practitioner (PHP), National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC) as president and guests of honour respectively.
Speaking as chief gueset on the occasion, Punjathang Tonsing stated that ASHA’s workers being the most important part of NRHM have been playing pivotal role in health sector. While lauding the workers of ASHA in helping ther State to bagged Best Performance Award in Health Sector among the small State of the country, the minister added that the government is trying to provide assistance to the workers in its best form.
The minister further stressed on the need to publish various journals of NRHM being published in the State in local dialects since most of the journals are published in English language.
Highlighting services being rendered under NRHM, Ram Muivah informed that the Central government had set up NRHM, which is a mission mode in order to cope problems like food-deficiency and child education adding that young workers and other knowledgeble staffs of NRHM are working hard to implement the mission in the State successfully.
Altogether 36 mobile phones along with sim cards were distributed to the activists and other staffs of ASHA at the programme. Under the flagship programme, 3878 workers of ASHA, 198 felicitators of ASHA, 470 ANM and 124 staff nurses working at different districts of the State would be getting mobile phones along with sim cards to enhance the mission’s services.
Prior to today’s distribution programme, the government had already distributed raincoats, umbrellas, radios, cycles, torchlights,the rmometers etc. earlier to the activists.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/cell-phone-given-to-staff-of-asha/

IMPHAL Nov 8 UNA: The judicial proceedings at Gauhati High Court, Imphal Bench was paralysed today as lawyers abstained from work decrying the process of deputation of judges for the proposed Manipur High Court, alleging that it tantamounts to deprivation of rights of the deserving advocates and judicial officers in the state.
Lawyers abstained from court works following a decision of the High Court Bar Association (HCBA), Manipur to abstain from attending court works at the Guahati High Court, Imphal Bench form November 8 onwards.
A court source said that proceedings of the Imphal Bench of the Gauhati High Court were totally paralysed today owing the cease work strike of the lawyers. HCBA has around 250 members and over 100 cases were taken up per day in the bench.
No case was taken up for the day and the same situation was likely to continue for days, the source added.
According to senior members of the HCBA, authority of the Central government did not heed to the appeal of HCBA regarding reservation of posts of judges for the proposed Manipur High Court which was being under process after the Parliament passed an Act for establishing separate High Courts for three northeast states inclusive of Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya.
HCBA president Kumarjit said that they have been demanding the deputation of seven judges for the High Court of Manipur and that they should be residents from the state. The matter was urged to the Union law minister Salman Khurshid in August 2012 through a representation.
Later, a delegation of HCBA met with the Union law minister who gave an assurance to look into the matter. However, without considering the demands of the HCBA, a decision has been reportedly taken for deputation of four judges for the High Court of Manipur including chief justice.
The judges would also be transferred from Gauhati High Court, Assam as per the recent decision of the Union law ministry, he said. The action is against the interest of the state and it was termed as step-motherly’ treatment.
The decision of the law ministry has hurt the sentiment of lawyers of the state deserving judgeship as it deprives their rights, and that there are no chances for eligible lawyers of elevating their status for decades more, he lamented.
“We strongly objected the arrangement. The agitation of abstaining from court work from today will go on until the pertinent authority consider our demands, Kumarjit said, adding HCBA will once again put up the matter to the notice of the Prime Minister, Union law minister and Manipur chief minister.
Senor advocate Khaidem Mani observed that it would not be practicable to depute four judges only for the High Court. It would give a great difficulty to litigants as the Supreme Court would be the only legally viable institution left to approach and not feasible for the state litigants.
He further said that there were about 6000 pending cases in the Gauhati High Court, Imphal Bench and this was the highest number of cases pending next to Assam in the northeast.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/lawyers-suspend-court-works/