Land of Jewels (Sana Leibak)

Dhaka, June 21 : Indian high commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty has said his country had consulted Bangladesh over the construction of the controversial Tipaimukh dam on the Barak river. He says there is no international law that could stop India from implementing the Tipaimukh dam, perceived to wreak huge environmental disaster on Bangladesh. The envoy has taken a swipe at the BNP-led alliance for opposing against the Bangladesh-India Ganges water-sharing treaty and anti-India comments, which he said were aimed at gaining "political mileage" Chakravarty has trashed the allegation that India is depriving Bangladesh of due share of the Ganges waters as an "empty political slogan". "Recently, there has been a lot of agitation on the question of the Tipaimukh dam. I would like to reiterate that it is a hydro-electric multi-purpose project to produce electricity," Chakravarty said at a seminar on South Asian connectivity at the Sonargaon Hotel on Sunday. ...

SILCHAR, June 20 : A powerful social organization from Mizoram has extended support to a convention proposed to be held in Silchar, Assam on Sunday demanding immediate implementation of the much-delayed Lumding-Silchar broad gauge project. Young Mizo Association (YMA) members will also take part in the agitations to be chalked out by the Silchar-based Citizens' Forum during the meet. YMA expressed concern over the "inordinate delay" in implementing the broad gauge project, as the 221-km rail link is considered the lifeline for southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and parts of Manipur. Sources said this is for the first time a Mizo organization joined hands with its Barak Valley counterpart for the cause of the rail project. Source : Times of India

Dhaka, June 19 : Bangladesh's political parties continue to spar over a river valley project India is planning in its northeastern region as New Delhi awaits a parliamentary team accompanied by experts to visit the project site. Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith Friday urged "all to be aware" of any movement against the Tipaimukh dam project "by a certain quarter to gain its political interest," Star Online web site said. Muhith criticised the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for not protesting against the Indian plans although the latter had completed the design and detailed studies and floated an international tender during the BNP-Jamaat rule (2001-06). Addressing the "National Tipaimukh Dam Conference 2009", the finance minister, among the most experienced ministers in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government, said public opinion could have been mobilised earlier. India is planning to build the dam over the Barak river in Manipur sta...

Imphal, June 16 : As in previous years, decks have been cleared for the observance of the Great June Uprising and to pay homage to the martyrs who laid down their lives for the sake of safeguarding territorial integrity of Manipur at the Kekrupat Memorial complex on June 18 . In all 18 persons lost their lives in the spontaneous public uprising on June 18, 2001 against the extension of the ceasefire without territorial limits signed between the Government of India and Naga rebel group NSCN (I-M). United Committee Manipur (UCM) which came into being to spearhead the public movement has made necessary preparation for organising the 8th anniversary of the June 18, 2001 Uprising at Kekrupat where the mortal remains of the martyrs have been laid to rest on coming Thursday. Talking to mediapersons at Kekrupat Memorial complex, president of UCM and convenor of The Great June Uprising Observation Committee Yumnamcha Dilipkumar informed that as in previous years the State Government has given i...

DHAKA, June 16 : A Bangladesh parliamentary team will soon visit the site of a controversial hydro-electric dam India plans to build in its northeastern Manipur state that opposition parties and environmental experts say will affect a river system shared by the two countries. India has approved plans for a 1,500 megawatt project at Tipaimukh on the Barak River which flows from the northeast into Bangladesh before emptying into the Bay of Bengal. Experts warn that the dam could cause two Bangladeshi rivers -- the Surma and Kushiara in northeastern Sylhet -- to dry up. "It will be another Farakka and cause desertification in eastern Bangladesh," said Badiul Alam Khokan, a leader of the Sylhet Division Development Action Council (SDDAC). India commissioned the Farakka Barrage in 1974 on the Ganges river along Bangladesh's northern border to divert water to the river Hoogly to keep the Kolkata port navigable. As a result, Bangladesh faced severe water shortages during winter ...

BNP seeks international censure on Tipaimukh dam Dhaka, June 13 : BNP is urging the international community to speak out against India's construction of the Tipaimukh dam, saying it is a 'death trap' for Bangladesh. The opposition party also urged the government once more to protest in strongest possible terms against the dam to the Indian government. "The Tipaimukh dam is a death trap for the people of Bangladesh. We appeal to the international community to ask India stop construction," BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain told a press conference on Saturday. "The Awami League government must protest against the move immediately, or BNP along with the people will be forced to take whatever action is necessary to stop it," said Delwar. Former water resources minister and BNP vice president Hafizuddin Ahmed, in a written statement, said the government must act instead of playing the 'blame game'. He said all parties except the ruling ...

AMWJU GBM on Thursday: An emergency general body meeting of the All Manipur Working Journalists Union, AMWJU, has been convened on Thursday at 10:30 am at Manipur Press Club, Imphal. This is in connection with two statements received at media offices from the KCP (MC) group. As there has been pressure from a quarter to publish one statement and not to publish the other, the meeting has been convened to decide the AMWJU’s stance. All AMWJU members and media editors have been asked to attend the emergency meeting. National Tent Pegging meet begins on Thursday: The National Tent Pegging Championships being held for the first time in Manipur, commences on Thursday at the Imphal Polo ground. The five day long competition is being organised with the theme, ‘Save Manipuri Pony’. Altogether eight teams, plus the hosts, will be participating in the competition, including the ITBP, Haryana; ASC, North Gaya; Assam Rifles, Jorhat; UP police; ASC, Bangalore; West Bengal Police, Kolkata Police and E...

Public hearing to be reconducted at site: Imphal, Dec 14: Public hearing on the Tipaimukh Hydro-Electricity Power Project for which the foundation stone was laid a year back in 2006 will be reconducted at the project site. According to an official source the public hearing on the environment aspect of the project follows a directive from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The ministry also asked the Manipur government to conduct the public hearing as early as possible at the project site. Mention may be made that many civil organizations based in the state like the Action Committee Against the Tipaimukh Project, ACTIP have been objecting to the construction of the project in Manipur. They are also blaming the authorities for conducting the public hearing at other places and not at the site where the dam is to be constructed. Protesting that a public hearing in Tamenglong district in November 2006 was not conducted in a fair manner, project opposers had also burnt down a government off...

Tousem villagers prefer Nagaland solace: Imphal, Dec 6: Disconnected to Imphal or other parts of Manipur, people of 13 villages of Katang and surrounding area in Tousem sub-division of Tamenglong district have been heading to Nagaland for marketing and shopping and other purposes to the neighbouring State. Here, all educational programmes, health facilities and other development schemes under the Tribal Development Department have turned out to be an unpalatable joke. Katang is a frontier village of Manipur located about 20 kms north of Tamei sub-divisional Hqs. Hemmed in by the Barak river and the Maguiki river, the Katang villagers are most vulnerable to diseases spread by mosquitoes. But bad transport infrastructure or absence of it has been the worst misery of these hapless villagers. The harsh reality of the Katang villagers came to light only when a team of reporters went to interior areas of Tamei sub-division along with members of the Information Centre for Hill Areas Manipur (...