Imphal: Despite the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act, (AFSPA) in the seven segments of Imphal Municipal Council area, the percentage of dead in the hands of military forces is rising with at least 3-4 persons being killed everyday, stated Mr Irengbam Arun, editor of the Ireibak, an Imphal-based Manipuri newspaper.
Addressing the agitators, Sharmila Kanba Lup, on the 14th day of their relay hunger strike in support of Sharmila the editor stated that as per reports or heard, most of those killed as suspects were arrested from their houses or local areas, taken to a ‘killing field’ and then killed. In this regard, Irengbam Arun suggested the need for a 24x7 control room in every locality to keep an eye on the arrests and even opined that this control rooms could help in the investigations of the arrests and the murders. (NNN)
5 militants killed in Manipur gunbattles
Imphal: Five militants have been shot dead in separate encounters in two districts of Manipur, police said on Tuesday.
Sources said police commandos, attached to Imphal West district, searched Lilong area near here on Monday following reports of the presence of some militants.
During the search, some militants of People's United Liberation Front (PULF) opened fire at them and a militant Md Tajuddin was killed on the spot when the commandoes retaliated, sources said, adding, that one 9 mm pistol was found the spot.
In another incident, combined forces of police commandos and personnel of 12 Maratha Light Infantry shot dead an unidentified militant at Tabungkhong Mayai Leikai in Imphal West district on Monday evening.
In yet another incident, two unidentified militants were also gunned down by personnel of 57th Mountain Division at Irengbam village in Bishenpur district on Monday. One 9 mm pistol, one grenade, four live rounds of ammunition and one extortion note of Kangleipak Communist Party-Military Council were found from the spot, sources said. The personnel of 29th Assam Rifles also shot dead a militant at Maklang area in Imphal West district on Monday. (PTI)
Officials shield colleagues in corruption probe: Assam minister
Guwahati: Assam Agriculture Minister Pramila Rani Brahma on Tuesday maintained that corruption charges against district-level officials of the department went mostly unaccounted for as district administration officers entrusted with fact-finding had failed fail to prepare proper reports.
''Whenever we receive charges of corruption, the department approaches the respective district administration to conduct an inquiry into the complaint.
"But the latter tends to shield the accused and we are unable to proceed,'' she said here.
The minister, however, affirmed that she would act tough if conclusive evidence was provided.
On delay in providing seeds to the farmers, Ms Brahma said, ''the Agriculture department has to go through a lengthy process in the Revenue department for sanctions for procuring the seeds which causes much unforeseen delay. ''
On other measures, the department was undertaking for the growth of agriculture, she said organic manure worth Rs 1.4 crore would be bought and an organic manure market would be established in Guwahati. (UNI)
Coal mines a major threat to tiger population at Balpakram
From Our Spl Correspondent
New Delhi: After adventurists blaming cement factories damaging the caves, now environmentalists are out against coal mines alleging threat to the Balpakram National Park and its main inmate, the vanishing tigers.
The headman of Chitmang Gongrot Aking was interested on initiating coal mining near the boundary of the Balpakram National Park. Besides construction activities, mining near the park poses a threat to the tigers as well as rare species of plants such as orchids and pitcher plants.
NGOs in the area got together under the banner of the Chitmang Hills Anti-Mining Forum ( CHAMF) to protest against the mining and construction activities. They send a legal notice, seeking remedial action, to the state forest department officials, according to reports here.
Meanwhile, an official report said that the country has lost at least 110 tigers, including 17 tigresses, in the past six years due to poaching and several other reasons. North East is one of the hot spots as far as tigers are concerned.
The figures reflects that the royal predators have been unsafe not only in non-protected area but also inside reserves, given that this year alone 14 cases of tiger mortality, including four tigresses and two cubs, have been reported till November.
"These are official figures and the actual figures may be higher," Delinda Wright, prominent wildlife expert, noted. The situation was grim in 2006 too, when eight tigresses and two male striped cats died inside the reserves in various tiger-range states.
The Balpakram National Park, besides tigers, also houses leopards, elephants, hullock gibbons, deer, great Indian hornbill, pheasant and wild cats.
Some rare species of plants such as drosera also flourish here, said Kamal Medhi, team leader of Samrakshan Trust fighting for the big cats, the reports said.
Earlier an PIL filed by the Meghalaya Adventures Association in the Supreme Court alleged that the cement companies have manipulated all records to continue to exploit the limestone main raw material for cement production. "Caves are the unique creation of Nature and integral to environment and human-animal-plant existence.
Destruction of caves will result in un-assessable loss to the humanity and will certainly lead to a catastrophe, the implication of which would be immeasurable.." the petition had said.
The western side of the park borders Siju Bird Sanctuary, which hosts many species of birds. " We have sent notice to the authorities. We will initiate legal proceedings against the government officials if the coal mining and road construction activities are not curbed," said CHAMF secretary Ginseng Sangma.
The NGOs claim no clearance was taken under the Forest Conservation Act and the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification before work began near the park. There is no clearance from the Meghalaya Pollution Control Board, either.
Mining activities besides destroying the wildlife will also destroy livelihood of a number of villages as it has an adverse impact on land, soil and water sources.
The NGOs claim 26 villages and 600 families and almost 3,000 individuals will be affected by the construction.
Coal mining in other parts of Meghalaya has led to the influx of undesirable elements that cause permanent damage to the social life of the simple tribals.
This has led to social evils like alcoholism, drug abuse and prostitution, the report said. Even by the Government’s own admission coal mining in Meghalaya goes mostly unofficially without much control.
A virtual parallel government runs there with all sorts of social evils with anti-social elements ruling the roost. - Shillong Times![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_a.png?x-id=90315d1b-d5fc-403c-81dd-20f81990cc40)
Addressing the agitators, Sharmila Kanba Lup, on the 14th day of their relay hunger strike in support of Sharmila the editor stated that as per reports or heard, most of those killed as suspects were arrested from their houses or local areas, taken to a ‘killing field’ and then killed. In this regard, Irengbam Arun suggested the need for a 24x7 control room in every locality to keep an eye on the arrests and even opined that this control rooms could help in the investigations of the arrests and the murders. (NNN)
5 militants killed in Manipur gunbattles
Imphal: Five militants have been shot dead in separate encounters in two districts of Manipur, police said on Tuesday.
Sources said police commandos, attached to Imphal West district, searched Lilong area near here on Monday following reports of the presence of some militants.
During the search, some militants of People's United Liberation Front (PULF) opened fire at them and a militant Md Tajuddin was killed on the spot when the commandoes retaliated, sources said, adding, that one 9 mm pistol was found the spot.
In another incident, combined forces of police commandos and personnel of 12 Maratha Light Infantry shot dead an unidentified militant at Tabungkhong Mayai Leikai in Imphal West district on Monday evening.
In yet another incident, two unidentified militants were also gunned down by personnel of 57th Mountain Division at Irengbam village in Bishenpur district on Monday. One 9 mm pistol, one grenade, four live rounds of ammunition and one extortion note of Kangleipak Communist Party-Military Council were found from the spot, sources said. The personnel of 29th Assam Rifles also shot dead a militant at Maklang area in Imphal West district on Monday. (PTI)
Officials shield colleagues in corruption probe: Assam minister
Guwahati: Assam Agriculture Minister Pramila Rani Brahma on Tuesday maintained that corruption charges against district-level officials of the department went mostly unaccounted for as district administration officers entrusted with fact-finding had failed fail to prepare proper reports.
''Whenever we receive charges of corruption, the department approaches the respective district administration to conduct an inquiry into the complaint.
"But the latter tends to shield the accused and we are unable to proceed,'' she said here.
The minister, however, affirmed that she would act tough if conclusive evidence was provided.
On delay in providing seeds to the farmers, Ms Brahma said, ''the Agriculture department has to go through a lengthy process in the Revenue department for sanctions for procuring the seeds which causes much unforeseen delay. ''
On other measures, the department was undertaking for the growth of agriculture, she said organic manure worth Rs 1.4 crore would be bought and an organic manure market would be established in Guwahati. (UNI)
Coal mines a major threat to tiger population at Balpakram
From Our Spl Correspondent
New Delhi: After adventurists blaming cement factories damaging the caves, now environmentalists are out against coal mines alleging threat to the Balpakram National Park and its main inmate, the vanishing tigers.
The headman of Chitmang Gongrot Aking was interested on initiating coal mining near the boundary of the Balpakram National Park. Besides construction activities, mining near the park poses a threat to the tigers as well as rare species of plants such as orchids and pitcher plants.
NGOs in the area got together under the banner of the Chitmang Hills Anti-Mining Forum ( CHAMF) to protest against the mining and construction activities. They send a legal notice, seeking remedial action, to the state forest department officials, according to reports here.
Meanwhile, an official report said that the country has lost at least 110 tigers, including 17 tigresses, in the past six years due to poaching and several other reasons. North East is one of the hot spots as far as tigers are concerned.
The figures reflects that the royal predators have been unsafe not only in non-protected area but also inside reserves, given that this year alone 14 cases of tiger mortality, including four tigresses and two cubs, have been reported till November.
"These are official figures and the actual figures may be higher," Delinda Wright, prominent wildlife expert, noted. The situation was grim in 2006 too, when eight tigresses and two male striped cats died inside the reserves in various tiger-range states.
The Balpakram National Park, besides tigers, also houses leopards, elephants, hullock gibbons, deer, great Indian hornbill, pheasant and wild cats.
Some rare species of plants such as drosera also flourish here, said Kamal Medhi, team leader of Samrakshan Trust fighting for the big cats, the reports said.
Earlier an PIL filed by the Meghalaya Adventures Association in the Supreme Court alleged that the cement companies have manipulated all records to continue to exploit the limestone main raw material for cement production. "Caves are the unique creation of Nature and integral to environment and human-animal-plant existence.
Destruction of caves will result in un-assessable loss to the humanity and will certainly lead to a catastrophe, the implication of which would be immeasurable.." the petition had said.
The western side of the park borders Siju Bird Sanctuary, which hosts many species of birds. " We have sent notice to the authorities. We will initiate legal proceedings against the government officials if the coal mining and road construction activities are not curbed," said CHAMF secretary Ginseng Sangma.
The NGOs claim no clearance was taken under the Forest Conservation Act and the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification before work began near the park. There is no clearance from the Meghalaya Pollution Control Board, either.
Mining activities besides destroying the wildlife will also destroy livelihood of a number of villages as it has an adverse impact on land, soil and water sources.
The NGOs claim 26 villages and 600 families and almost 3,000 individuals will be affected by the construction.
Coal mining in other parts of Meghalaya has led to the influx of undesirable elements that cause permanent damage to the social life of the simple tribals.
This has led to social evils like alcoholism, drug abuse and prostitution, the report said. Even by the Government’s own admission coal mining in Meghalaya goes mostly unofficially without much control.
A virtual parallel government runs there with all sorts of social evils with anti-social elements ruling the roost. - Shillong Times
No comments:
Post a Comment