Land of Jewels (Sana Leibak)

Feels like Gaza, says Israeli singer: Imphal, May 4: Roy Avital, lead singer of Dub L.F.O., a leading band from Israel, had little idea about Imphal or Manipur. He did not take too long to form one, though. "Manipur is like the Gaza strip," he exclaimed. "It seems here army is more important than culture, like in Israel," he said. Avital, who was a soldier for four years, is in Imphal to perform at the Roots Festival, an annual event held across the Northeast to hunt for local talent and also "inspire the youths to think differently from the daily killings and strife in the region". Roots festival will be held at Dimapur, Diphu, Itanagar, Guwahati, Aizawl and Shillong, where it will end on May 25. This will be the sixth annual edition of the festival, which has seen foreign bands like Aurora Jane and Massive Change from Australia perform. Avital, along with six members of Too Late Lucy, a band from London led by singer Ben Champniss, are the "guest ba...

Ibobi assures compensation to affected people : Imphal, May 1: Chief Minister O Ibobi singh has assured to suitably compensate the people affected by the construction of Khuga multipurpose dam in Churachandpur district, while visiting the dam site with a group of ministers on Wednesday. He also assured the people to take measures for the beautification of the dam areas to attract tourists. Blockade over, Moreh trade resumes : Imphal, May 1: Border trade hummed back to life in the border town of Moreh in Manipur’s Chandel district after transporters resumed services and government offices reopened. Vehicles went off the roads and attendance in government offices was practically nil following a blockade by the All Tribal Women’s Organisation of Chandel at Japhou, the district headquarters, demanding punishment for the killers of two women, murdered last month. Manipur to check bird flu outbreak: Imphal, May 1: Health authorities in Manipur held a three-day seminar and training on methods...

Kaladan deal awaits Myanmar seal: Silchar, Dec. 26: India is eagerly waiting for Myanmar’s foreign minister U Nyan Win’s New Year visit to Delhi for finalising the 00-million dollar Kaladan multi-model link project. The project envisages building of roads and waterway links to ensure the landlocked states’ easy accessibility to the Bay of Bengal through Myanmar. The detailed report of the infrastructure development project was discussed at a meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in January this year. The project had already been granted financial approval by New Delhi and Yangon, said senior officials of the border trade department of the Mizoram government in Aizawl. Sources pointed out that the alternative road, river and sea access via Myanmar’s southwestern flank had been extensively surveyed over the past six years by engineers of the two countries. The cabinet is likely to give a final nod to augmentation of the project once Win lands in India. Dhaka’s vacillation on providing t...

Mizo varsity signs agreement with UNCTAD: Aizawl, Dec 20: The Mizoram University’s Economic department has signed a two-year agreement with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for trade-related research in the state. According to the agreement, signed on Wednesday at the University campus here, two individuals will be given doctoral research fellowship (DRF) with a monthly salary of Rs 12,000 and another two individuals will be given post-doctoral research fellowship (PDRF) at the monthly salary of Rs 20,000. The agreement was signed at a seminar on ‘Introduction to trade data bases and modelling of international trade’, attended by UNCTAD officials from Geneva and New Delhi, and researchers from Kolkata and Manipur. The University officials stated that if the varsity and the UNCTAD could work together for two-years, Rs 42 lakhs would be handed over to the University by UNCTAD during the two-year course. Source: United News of India (UNI)