Manipur News

IMPHAL, May 25: The union minister DoNER, B K Handique, will be inaugurating a programme “Developing Managerial Skill for Entrepreneurship” at IIM Shillong on July 2. The programme will be conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong through its Centre for Development of North Eastern Region (CEDNER).
An emailed statement of the ministry has stated that the ministry of DoNER has sanctioned an amount of Rs.79.15 lacs for this programme for training 60 youths from the region.  The Course will deal with developing managerial skills among the new generation of entrepreneurs of the region. The program is supported under the “Technical assistance and Capacity Building Scheme” administer by the Ministry of DoNER, added the statement.
The ministry of DoNER and the North Eastern Council has collaborated with the Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong to offer a range of short term skill development programmes encompassing the different areas of Management, Entrepreneurship, Tourism, Hospitality, among many others, from this financial year onwards, it stated.
According to the statement, this partnership is a result of the initiative of Bijoy Krishna Handique, union minister of DoNER and chairman, NEC who has been actively pursuing the agenda of involving the premier institutes in the North Eastern Region like IIM, IIT and Tata Institute of Social Sciences in the process of nurturing the human resources in the NER.
According to the statement BK Handique mentioned that “We have a larger roadmap in mind to continuously train youths from the Region with a focus on increasing their employability. The institutes like IIM, IIT and TISS are well positioned to cater to the training needs of the Region in addition to their regular courses. We have requested them to develop such courses and we have been able to make considerable headway in designing some. Our Ministry and its affiliated organisations like NEC will wholly sponsor these courses. I am hopeful that this development will bring some respite to the larger problem of unemployment in Region”.
The Ministry of DoNER had earlier announced a one and a half months programme in association with IIT Guwahati to train 30 Engineers from Assam Irrigation Department on “Mitigation of River Bank Erosion”, it added.

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IMPHAL,May 25: A large amount of drugs have been seized from a Maruti Gypsy bearing registration number MN-01-K-8433, by the troops of 116 Bn BSF of SHQ BSF CI (OPS), Manipur, while conducting vehicular checking at Heirok, Thamlai road disclosed a press release of the Deputy Commander, SHQ BSF CI.
The car was driven by one Wilson Shinglai Tangkhul, 43, s/o (L) Shangreiyo Shinglai Tangkhul. On checking the vehicle, thirteen big plastics bags containing white colour tablets suspected to be a high profile narcotic drugs/psychotropic substance, weighing a total of four hundred sixty kgs which  are worth approximately Rs. 50 lakhs,  were found.
It further mentioned that on further questioning him, the individual revealed that he was paid a sum of Rs 10 thousand to transport the drugs to a lady identified as Tinneikim Haokip from Khudeng Thabi and currently settled in Pallel.
The drugs were reportedly to be crossed over to Myanmar. He was later handed over to the Officer-in-charge, Narcotics and Affair of the Border PS, Imphal, along with the drugs, his mobile phone, Maruti Gypsy and a sum of Rs 10,650 seized from him after lodging an FIR on the case, it added.
Meanwhile troops of 42Assam Rifles of 26 sector under HQ IGAR (south) launched an operation in the general area of Bongyang on May 24 and apprehended an individual along with large amounts of Tie Cold tablets from a bus with registration number MN-01-1286, according to a press release by the AR.
The individual has been identified as Ajiz Singh, 19, s/o Ibuyai Singh, from Singmaizin, Mayang Imphal and he was later handed over to the Custom Office, Pallel, it added.

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From Our CorrespondentUKHRUL, May 25: The Students` Union of Pettigrew College (SUPC) Ukhrul has locked the Principal’s office today, in protest against the acute lack of basic infra-structures in the institution including power and water supply since the past eight nine months.
The general secretary of the union, MK Miya along with other representatives of the student while interacting with some media persons today at the college premise has demanded immediate change of the Principal who has failed to redress the grievances of the students even after the student union had approached for immediate action regarding the problems faced by the students of the college.
The student body has further charged that due to the limited time notification of the principal’s office regarding the submission of exam form and the imposition of late fines, some of the students were unable to appear in the exams.
It has charged that the official notification from the principal’s office came out on Novemeber 10, 2010 notifying that the submission of exam forms without late fine will start from November 13, 2010 and that submissions with late fine will start from November 17.
 The union further demanded the conduct of regular classes in the college and provision of all University Grant Commission (UGC) sponsored facilities with UGC Network Resource Centre-Computor and internet centre offering basic computer course, free remedial coaching for ST/OBC students, career guidance and counselling cell for the students, stipends @ Rs 500/- PM to selected regular ST/SC students of BPL which is done only once, coaching classes for entry in Services (competitive exams) for ST/SC/OBC/ Minority students and study tours every year- the central projects though available are not functional in the college, the union added.
Further maintaining on the lack of infrastructure in the college the union has maintained that there are no toilets and urinals available in the college, and that there is no proper fencing of the college.
The union further added that the union has also submitted a memorandum to the state education minister to redress the grievances of the college.
Further briefing the media persons, the union has stated that the college also lacked lecturers and further warned that the union will be left with no other option other than drastic form of agitations in case of the government failing to respond to the student body.

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What Irish song writer and singer Paul Brady sang 20 years ago in his song titled “The Island”, tormented by the increasingly mindless violence with no seeming hope for a conclusion in his homeland at the time, rings loud in considering the situation in Manipur today. Amidst the sombre mood of the song comes the stabbing line which should make everybody sit up and rethink: “Up here, we sacrifice our children for worn out dreams of yesteryears.” So much water has flowed down the rivers of Manipur in the half century of conflict, it is time now to reassess and re-evaluate the dreams of yesteryears so that they are not out of sync with the needs as well as aspirations of the changed times. Needless to remind anyone that times keep changing, and it is imperative for all to also change with it and remain relevant.
The half century of conflict however has not been of any waste. It served its purpose. The resistance had a driving logic that is why it came up. Had it not been there, it is quite imaginable that Manipur would have lost its will and inner fire long ago, and become content to simply surviving and not living. To all the sacrifices that have gone into this struggle, we all owe our gratitude for making us what we are today, or more relevantly, sustaining in all of us the will to live and be independent in spirit. Nothing, not a single life lost in the revolution that has been raging has gone waste. They all served a grand purpose of saving the soul of the place. Yet, the times have changed, and changed dramatically too. The fight is no longer the same, the fighters are no longer the same and so indeed the enemies are no longer the same. All these dramatis personae, and the valour or villainy associated with them, were determined by circumstance and circumstance alone. Nobody is born hero or villain, it is the given situation that categorises them in their respective moulds. Today’s enemies can be tomorrow’s friends and today’s friends can be tomorrow’s enemies. We have all seen this happen right before our very eyes in so many conflict theatres. It would be sheer obduracy and linearity of vision which would make anybody believe our situation is any different from this.
It is therefore vital for all the various political dramatis personae in our own conflict theatre to be open to self assessment and consequently self renewal. This is the only way to remain relevant. For this to happen, a constant dialogue and vigilance to be in touch with the pulse as well as the aspiration of the public at large, and with this knowledge as the lode star seek to understand the self better, is absolutely essential. Leaders of the people, both underground as well as those in the establishment must be willing to accept this onerous challenge, for this is of vital importance to the future and current welfare of the public they serve. This can happen best if communication channels are always open between these leaders and the public. Manipur is at a very crucial juncture now. It can either chose to be condemned to another one hundred years of solitude or else decide to integrate with the world and give itself a new and modern soul. This is also a crucial juncture because of the proposal from one of the most powerful underground organisations, the UNLF, for a settlement either through a UN supervised plebiscite or else by any other honourable means. We hope similar proposals for a just resolution also come forth from other groups so that a synthesis can be looked forward to and a common programme for a lasting solution to Manipur’s problems can come into sight. For a start, at least the UNLF chairman, who is now in custody, must be facilitated to be in closer touch with the people. This could be by arrangement with the state government. There have been models by which this has been done, some of which seem applicable in the current situation in the state in a realistic way. The ULFA model in which arrested ULFA leaders were released on bail is one. This one seems a little farfetched. The Dima Halong model seems a little more suitable. Here the state declares a house as jail and keeps the organisation leaders under house arrest there. In the case of the arrested UNLF leader too, such an arrangement could be made so that he can be in closer touch with representatives of the people on the ground. This model is also being played out in the case of Irom Sharmila, whereby the state government declares a section of the JN Hospital as jail premises and keeps the hunger striking, gritty, lady there. If it is for the sake of arriving at a solution to Manipur’s vexed problems, there is no reason why the state government cannot think of doing the same again.

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