vaiphei blog - vaiphei online resoure: Sep 8, 2009

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Exposition on HIV/AIDS inaugurated

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MPHAL, Sep 7: The 2nd State level exposition which aims to give more economic empowerment to PLWHs (people living with HIV) has been inaugurated at Hotel Tampha here today.
Various products manufactured by PLWHs like garments, Kouna mats, clay pottery and eatable items are being displayed at the exposition which would continue till September 9.
The event is being organised jointly by the Population Foundation of India, Manipur State Unit (PFI Manipur) and Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Manipur.
The inaugural function of the exposition was attended by Project Director (Technical) of MACS Dr Kh Pramodkumar as chief guest, Joint Secretary of Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Manipur Hegin Lupho as president and Joint Director (TI) of MACS Abhiram Mongjam and State co-ordinator of UNAIDS Sunil Huidrom as guests of honour.
Giving the key note address, State Programme Co-ordinator of Population Foundation of India, Manipur State Unit Acharya observed that the biggest problem being faced by people with HIV/AIDS today is the financial problem. Earlier, it used to be their health problem and stigma and discrimination. However, this two problems have been solved to a certain extend after extension of the ART facility and generation of mass awareness programme.
However, PLWHs have to survive, educate their children, take part in social activities and eat nutritious food supplements. All these need money, he said, adding that the financial difficulties of PLWHs is even more among those women whose husband have died from HIV/AIDS.
To generate income for survival, these poor women have been indulging in manufacturing of various products like handloom and handicrafts from time to time through forming of Self Help Group. But the unfortunate part is that there is no market for these products. So to provide a platform for marketing their products, the exposition is being organised.
Apart from public display and sale of these products, awareness programmes on various development schemes would also be facilitated during the exposition, he informed.
There would also be recreational programmes like cultural activities, fancy dress competition, spot painting, competition, etc during the exposition, he added.
The president of Ukhrul Network of Positive People Ayo, who is participating in the exposition, noted that finance and transportation are the biggest problems that PLWHs in Ukhrul are facing.
Although there are around 60 self help groups (SHGs) in Ukhrul, only around 30 of them are active in income generation activities. However, there is no market facility which could have otherwise lessen the economic difficulty, Ayo said.
Similarly, Isaac of Chandel Network of Positive People listed finance, transportation and stigma and discrimination as the biggest problems of the PLWHs in Chandel district.
Counsellor of Progressive Network of Positive People, Sugnu Bazar Rosallym noted that the location of Sugnu Bazar is at epicentre of Chandel Thoubal, Churachandpur and Bishnupur district and what the PLWHs of the surrounding districts want the most is opening of an ART centre or link ART at Sugnu Bazar. As in other districts, the problem of financial difficulties, transportation, stigma and discrimination are very much prevalent, she said.

Ukhrul caught in IT blues

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khrul, Sep 7: Mobile and internet services are regarded to be the boons in terms of communication and exchanging information fast. However these services have been to reduced to a complete farce in Ukhrul district.
The denizens of the district were overwhelmed with the launching of BSNL mobile few years back with the hope that it would reduce the communication hardships. However, the service provided by the State own-ed company is plagued by poor connectivity and disarray customer care system.
Then all the hope shifted to private service provider Airtel, when it planned to launch its service in the hill district. Again the customers are annoyed with the ‘verification’ process of the compa ny. Despite the customers had already provid- ed enou-gh verification papers, like ID cards, driving license and domicile certificate while applying for new connections, the company asked for further verifications more than four-five times within four months.
Adding more woe to the inconvenience of many cu-stomers’, the private com- pany has randomly disconnected many of the custo- mers from their service.
One such customer is Chingai A/C MLA Khashim Ruivah. Information receiv-ed from the office of the MLA said that as the Airtel has blocked Ruivah’s SIM, the MLA is not able to retrieve the important phone numbers saved in the SIM.
In a press conference held at the office of Ukhrul Students’ Union (HKL), the executive council lead by its president stated that frantic verification calls and random cancellation of service have effected over 400 Airtel registered customers, which is very unfair for any service provider.
If the company continues to befool the public, HKL warned, the company would not be allowed to operate their services in Ukhrul.
The unprecedented cancellation of registration even after verification and sporadic services of the Airtel have also greatly affected the daily news reporting activities of the journalists who are already discouraged by poor internet connectivity.
Ukhrul Students Union cautioned that all the mobile towers and transformers would be grounded to dust if the concerned authority fails to do the needful to solve the problem of sporadic mobile services and erratic power supply in the district.

DC prevented from joining office

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MPHAL, Sep 7 : Former Tourism Director H Deleep who has been newly re-posted as Deputy Commi- ssioner of Chandel District was prevented from taking charge of his office by a large group of people today.
Meanwhile, the Chandel Naga People’s Organisation (CNPO) has warned of intense agitation in case the transfer order of former Chandel DC Devesh Deval is not revoked by September 10.
An official order issued on September 2 replaced Devesh Deval by H Deleep as Deputy Commissioner of Chandel district.
As per the Government order, H Deleep went to Chandel district headquarters to assume charge of Chandel DC today.
As he reached Forest Range office of Chandel district Hqs, a large group of people including leaders of the CNPO and other organisations came on a rally and blocked the newly posted DC’s way.
Around 100 people including men and women surrounded the DC’s vehicle including his security escorts and asked Deleep to turn back.
On seeing the scene, a police team led by Chandel SP A Radhashyam came to the spot and tried to control to agitated crowd.
As hours of negotiation yielded no results, Deleep requested his predecessor Devesh Deval to come to the spot and convince the crowd. Later at about 1.10 am, Devesh Deval came to the spot with security escorts.
On seeing the arrival of Devesh Deval, the crowd rushed towards his direction and forced him to leave the area.
Rendered helpless by the situation, Deleep turned back at about 1.15 pm.
After the new DC had turned back unable to reach his office, the crowd staged a protest demonstration at Chandel Bazar demanding immediate revocation of the Government’s transfer order.
Talking to media persons by the sideline of the protest demonstration, CNPO president Victor said that there are rules in the Government’s statute which stipulated that a DC should be kept in charge of a district for at least three years.
However, for Chandel district, the DC has been changed quite often.
Because of this frequent change of DC, no development programme can be im- plemented completely in Chandel district, Victor said. The Government order issued on September 2 to replace Devesh Deval with H Deleep as Chandel lacked rationality for it was only in February this year that Devesh Deval was posted in the district.
The Government’s tran-sfer order has also come as a great impediment to all development programmes already initiated in the district, he said. Because of all these reasons, copies of a memorandum have been submitted to relevant authorities including the Governor and the Chief Minister on September 4 to cancel the transfer order of Devesh Deval. But instead of considering the appeal, the Government sent H Deleep to take over as Chandel DC, he decried. Demanding cancellation of the transfer order of Devesh Deval by September 10, the CNPO president said that various forms of agitation would be launched if the people’s demand is not fulfilled by the given deadline.

Transfer quagmire

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he uproar raised in some districts following the reshuffling of a horde of IAS officers with the concomitant effect of transfer and re-posting of Deputy Commissioners needs some serious re-thinking. Already large sections of people are up in arms against the transfer of the former Chandel DC. A number of influential civil organisations are also demanding cancellation of the transfer order of Tamenglong DC. Chandel district seemed determined to retain the former DC if the barricade put up by the people between the new DC and the DC office was any indication. At the same time, it is a prerogative of any Government to re-shuffle its officers from time to time. But in Manipur, no one is stranger to protest demonstrations staged with vested interests even in matters like transfer of a teacher, leave apart heads of district administrations. There have been many cases in the past when such matters were ballooned into big, social issues. It is only natural for both officers and the local people to feel saddened when the officers get transferred after a relatively long period of close association. But such sad feelings cannot be any valid reason to object the transfer order or disturb Government machinery.
Certainly, the Government would be having its own set of policies regarding Transfer and Policy. Here, we cannot overlook the fact that the state often used transfer and re-posting as a way of punishing its officials. Having said this, we cannot simply dismiss the people’s strong protest that erupted against the recent transfer of the Deputy Commissioners of Chandel and Tamenglong districts. The contentions put up by the agitated people merit thorough introspection. The contentions that the Chandel DC was posted and re-posted thrice this year and that the Tamenglong DC was in the district hardly for five months are not incorrect. At district level, the Deputy Commissioner is the highest authority. The assertion that frequent transfer of DC hampers development work is also a fact. The assertion has all the rationality. It does not reflect any emotional shade that usually builds up after a certain period of close association. Considering all these points, the Chandel people’s protest against the transfer order has a very valid cause. It sounds indigestible if the Deputy Commissioner of a district is changed thrice in a single year as a punitive action. It is another matter if the Government has some well-founded reasons for the recent reshuffle and re-posting. In that case, it is imperative for the state to inform and convince the public that it was necessary. Had the state took a little trouble to explain its move, the present turmoil witnessed in Chandel and Tamenglong districts could have been averted. Whatever it may be, administrative restructuring or otherwise, resorting to transfer and re-posting at an inscrutable rate without any sound policy would certainly prove a serious deterrent to smooth functioning of the district administration. Upright and dedicated an officer may be, it would be more preferable for the people to raise no objection if the officer’s transfer is made according to rules.

KNO rubbishes

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MPHAL, Sep 7: The KNO has rubbished the irrational press statement of MAFYF which appeared in some local dailies on September 2 regarding the hardships that befell upon the villagers of Khamenlok Kuki and Nongshum in the aftermath of the combing operation launched by security forces. A press release issued by the KNO’s information and publicity secretary Lenin H Kuki asserted that MAFYF neither has the right nor mandate to condemn, warn or speak against the hill people, particularly against the KNO.
Saying that the KNO operates not in Naga, Meitei or any one’s lands but in its own ancestral lands, it maintained that MAFYF has no legitimate right to threaten or shoo away the KNO through their sinister propaganda.
The outfit also appealed to all, particularly Khamen-lok Kuki and Nongshum villagers to be vigilant and don’t let themselves brush off by the divisive forces whose sole purpose lies in creating communal discord and social conflict.

Memo submitted to Prime Minister

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uki Inpi has submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding to settle Kuki problem before making any settlement with NSCN (IM). The memorandum also demanded to restore all the 100,000 Kuki displaced villagers of 360 uprooted villages during Naga-Kuki violence at the cost of the Government.
Failing to fulfill the demand, the memorandum added, it would be declared that the Indian law does not cover the Kuki people and their land.

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