Land of Jewels (Sana Leibak)

The news that HIV/AIDS infection in the three hill districts of Manipur bordering Myanmar -- Churachandpur, Chandel and Ukhrul -- is on the increase mainly due to commercial sex workers from that country spreading the dreaded disease should be taken note seriously by the authorities. Myanmar is a country where the incidence of HIV/AIDS is 1.3 per cent of the total population (240,000 out of 47,373,958) while it is 0.3 percent is case of India. Myanmar ranks lowest among countries worldwide in international assistance per capita and among lowest in the world to get antiretroviral treatment access by the patients. Currently, fewer than 20% of HIV-positive people in need of drugs receive them -- either from international groups or in small amounts from the government -- according to a report of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) released in November 2008. More alarming is the fact that an estimated 42 per cent of Myanmarese women in the age group pf 15-49 carry HIV by the end of 2007. So, ne...

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. ...

GUWAHATI: Archaeologists and historians have stumbled upon artefacts dating back to the Neolithic Age in Assam's Morigaon and Kamrup districts while investigating the Ahom era canon balls that were recently excavated from Kajolimukh. Experts of the Strategic Research and Analysis Organisation (SRAO), a non-government historic research organisation, are investigating the remains in and around Kajolimukh and Mayong in Morigaon. It was during the excavation work that they found rock engravings, potteries and other relics at Hatishila, about 10 km west of Kajolimukh. The archeaologists feel that the artefacts could belong to the pre-historic period, while some could even belong to the Neolithic Age. "The findings point to the fact that Kajolimukh and Mayong could have been a cradle of human civilization," said Nilim Dutta of SRAO. "Many pre-medieval rock images of Hindu deities and statuettes were found from both the banks of the Kalang River. There should be extensive a...

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

Imphal, June 20 : "Looking at my three children, I am trying to forget the harrowing experiences of the past". These are the words of Chitra who lost both her first as well as the second husband in the prevailing gun violence. There are hundreds of women like Chitra in Manipur who are trying to piece together their shattered lives after their life partners have been killed without any trial by the State actors, non-State actors or simply armed hooligans. When her first husband fell to the bullets of CRPF personnel, Chitra thought it was her destiny. But thinking that living under the protective care of a husband may shield herself from the scornful look of the society and put an end to the persistent nagging of her child who did not know his father, she tied the knot again. Unfortunately, her second husband too fell to the merciless bullet of unidentified armed person and she never knew why her second husband was killed. When death of a husband is something that any women wou...

Imphal, June 20 : With the quantity of rainfall recorded in Manipur midway to June not enough for agricultural activities, the State Government has prepared an Action Plan to combat the prevailing drought-like situation. The Government is also likely to announce the State drought-affected very soon. A meeting of the State Cabinet held today with Chief Minister in the chair seriously deliberated on the issue and formulated an Action Plan in this regard. During the meeting, Disaster Management has also been entrusted to take up necessary measures in connection with declaring Manipur a drought hit State. According to a senior Cabinet Minister, around Rs 5.11 crores would be spent on implementing the Action Plan which include preparing nursery over 1000 hectares at the estimated cost of Rs 27,000 per hectare. A sum of Rs 2.70 crores which would be set aside for purpose of preparing the nursery and the task would be given to farmers and the nursery thus prepared would be distributed among t...

Imphal, June 20 : Manipur police may take action against a transport agency here for failing to report the alleged seizure of a truckload of medicines by the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) in Senapati district last month. The KRA allegedly seized medicines and life-saving drugs worth Rs 70 lakh from an Imphal-bound truck on May 20 and then released the vehicle belonging to Reliable Cargo. The Manipur Chemists and Druggists Association disclosed this yesterday. “It has been nearly one month since the reported incident took place and no transporter or medicine store owner informed us about the incident till today. If reported on time, we could have acted immediately and recovered the items. We will pull up the concerned transport operator,” DGP Yumnam Joykumar Singh told The Telegraph. Senapati district SP Nishit K Ujwal said the police would take action to recover the looted items. Source : The Telegraph