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| Tiwa Kings, Satu Raja and Panchu Raja, participate in the seminar chaired by noted scholar Moneswar Deori on the Protection of the Traditional Heritage of the Tiwas, on the occasion of their Youth Festival 2004 at Morigaon recently, organised by the Tiwa Yuba Chatra Parishad. Picture by UB Photos |
People of Manipur had believed that with the coming of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s mobile service, the telephone subscribers’ woes would be over. But their hope is fast evaporating as CellOne phone services, being provided by the Imphal circle of BSNL, break down frequently.
Most of the time a mobile phone user cannot get through any call as the network is always “busy” or “down” or “the number you dial is not reachable” ever since it was launched in February.
Subscribers’ complaints are pouring in at the Imphal office, but the officials blamed technical snags. The deputy general manager (DGM), J. Lunkim, maintained that other subscribers moving in from other districts has made the network in Imphal busier.
Officials said one of the three antennas put up at Khuman Lampak, with a capacity of 1,000 connections for Imphal subscribers, broke down after installation.Besides, the micro link between Dimapur and Kohima often went out of order, affecting the service in Manipur, the officials said.
The DGM assured that more facilities were coming up in Manipur and the subscribers’ woes would soon be over.
The BSNL was supposed to provide 4,000 connections in the first phase. So far, 3,000 connections have been provided.
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| Utkarna Aranya |
It’s a tribute to the Orchid Lady. Utkarna Aranya, is a compilation of write-ups eulogising the grit and determination of a woman of substance, who is no more.
Popi Santana Bharali, an ardent nature lover, was also a research scholar at the department of life science, Dibrugarh University. The cheerful lady left for her heavenly abode after fighting a brave battle against cancer for the past three years. Her studies and research continued in spite of repeated hospitalisation for chemotherapy. It was during her illness that she floated Irab Khirab, an environment organisation. It aimed at creating environment awareness among people, especially among children. She established herself as a rare persona, a powerful writer and poet, a research scholar on the orchids of this region and an activist for the preservation of nature. She also worked towards spreading awareness about cancer. Popi’s programmes began with an awareness of the immediate resources. She was awarded the Joymati Award for her achievements but her promises far exceeded her achievements.
Tamul and paan are the greatest friends in Nagaland — addictions cutting across class, even political partylines. Wangyuh Konyak’s future in Parliament is being discussed.
A journalist told him chewing tamul was not allowed in Parliament. The next speculation was what the former minister from Mon would do to have his tamul.
“He’ll need to have it ordered by flight to Delhi — fresh every week,” said one party member.
The elections are over and now it is time to think of the downsizing of the ministry in Nagaland.
There has been opposition to the amendment in Parliament on the grounds that the state has several tribes and all the tribes need to be represented.
Now though it is an accepted fact that downsizing is inevitable. “Many are going to be ministers and then one fine morning when they wake up they’ll find themselves mere MLAs,” said Congress working president Hokheto Sumi.
Laughing at himself, the senior leader said he had three such mornings in the last three decades to find himself a minister one night and wake up a legislator.
The size of the ministry is likely to be downsized from a whopping 35 ministers to just 11.
The night of July 5, if not earlier, will be a sleepless one for many, say observers.
Those plagued by the escalating medical bills can now heave a sigh of relief. Assam’s health department is planning to “rationalise” the cost of treatment in private hospitals. There are 36 private hospitals in Guwahati while the number of such hospitals in the Northeast is 385.
The Assam Health Establishment Act 1993 was amended during the last Assembly session and has already been approved by the governor. Hopefully we will soon have some transparency in the flourishing health industry in the state.
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The Okram Ibobi Singh government is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to make the 12th Finance Commission’s team comfortable and keep the members happy during their stay at the state capital. The team is scheduled to visit Imphal either later this month or early next month, to finalise projects. The Ibobi Singh government is pinning its hopes on generous sops by the Finance Commission in the government’s effort to tide over the state’s financial crisis. As part of the preparation for the visit, the Ibobi Singh government has bought eight air-conditioned Ambassador cars for use by the commission members in Manipur. The cars landed in Imphal on Tuesday. The state government was embarrassed when one of the cars carrying finance commission members broke down during a tour outside the state capital some years back.
The members of the central team were said to have been unhappy with the then government. Ibobi Singh clearly is not willing to experience the same thing.
