Tag: National

MNS:- Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, in consultation with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, has agreed to amend the Notification issued vide GSR 786(E) dated 27.10.2011 regarding steps to be taken by the film industry while depicting smoking scenes in their films.
As per provisions of the amended draft notification agreed to by the two Ministries, anti-tobacco health spots of minimum 30 seconds shall be displayed at the beginning and middle of the films displaying tobacco products or their use. Also, an audio-visual disclaimer of minimum 20 seconds on the ill-effects of tobacco use shall be displayed at the beginning and middle of the films displaying tobacco products or their use. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has agreed to bear all the costs relating to production of such health spots and disclaimers. These health spots and disclaimers prepared by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare will be provided to the Central Board of Film Certification in digital beta format for distribution to the filmmakers at the time of their application for certification.
In addition to the health spots and disclaimers, the films showing use of the tobacco products shall also be required to display an anti-tobacco health warning in the form of a static message during the period of display of the tobacco products or their use in the films.
It has been agreed between the two Ministries to drop the clause that necessitated “UA” Certification for the films showing tobacco products or their use. Films showing use of tobacco products will now not be considered for “UA” certification on this ground alone. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has issued revised Notification in this regard.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/ministry-of-ib-and-mo-health-to-amend-notification-regarding-depiction-of-smoking-scenes-in-films/

MNS:- The Union Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaram approved a new tax saving scheme called “Rajiv Gandhi Equity Saving Scheme“(RGESS),exclusively for the first time retail investors in Securities Market. This Scheme would give tax benefits to new investors who invest up to Rs. 50,000 and whose annual income is below Rs. 10 lakh.
The Scheme not only encourages the flow of savings and improves the depth of domestic capital markets, but also aims to promote an ‘equity culture’ in India. This is also expected to widen the retail investor base in the Indian securities markets.
Salient features of the Scheme are as under:
a. Scheme is open to new retail investors, identified on the basis of their PAN numbers. This includes those who have opened the Demat Account but have not made any transaction in equity and /or in derivatives till the date of notification of this Scheme and all those account holders other than the first account holder who wish to open a fresh account.
b. Those investors whose annual taxable income is = Rs. 10 lakhs are eligible under the Scheme.
c. The maximum Investment permissible under the Scheme is Rs. 50,000 and the investor would get a 50% deduction of the amount invested from the taxable income for that year.
d. Under the Scheme, those stocks listed under the BSE 100 or CNX 100, or those of public sector undertakings which are Navratnas, Maharatnas and Miniratnas would be eligible. Follow-on Public Offers (FPOs) of the above companies would also be eligible under the Scheme. IPOs of PSUs, which are getting listed in the relevant financial year and whose annual turnover is not less than Rs. 4000 Crore for each of the immediate past three years, would also be eligible.
e. In addition, considering the requests from various stakeholders, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Mutual Funds (MFs) that have RGESS eligible securities as their underlying and are listed and traded in the stock exchanges and settled through a depository mechanism have also been brought under RGESS.
f. To benefit the small investors, the investments are allowed to be made in instalments in the year in which tax claims are made.
g. The total lock-in period for investments under the Scheme would be three years including an initial blanket lock-in period of one year, commencing from the date of last purchase of securities under RGESS.
h. After the first year, investors would be allowed to trade in the securities in furtherance of the goal of promoting an equity culture and as a provision to protect them from adverse market movements or stock specific risks as well as to give them avenues to realize profits.
i. Investors would, however, be required to maintain their level of investment during these two years at the amount for which they have claimed income tax benefit or at the value of the portfolio before initiating a sale transaction, whichever is less, for at least 270 days in a year. The calculation of 270 days includes those days pursuant to the day on which the market value of the residual shares /units has automatically touched the stipulated value after the date of debit.
j. The general principle under which trading is allowed is that whatever is the value of stocks / units sold by the investor from the RGESS portfolio, RGESS compliant securities of at least the same value are credited back into the account subsequently. However, the investor is allowed to take benefits of the appreciation of his RGESS portfolio, provided its value, as on the previous day of trading, remains above the investment for which they have claimed income tax benefit.
k. For the purpose of valuation of shares, the closing price as on the previous day of the date of trading will be considered so that new investors are certain about their debits and credits into the account.
l. In case the investor fails to meet the conditions stipulated, the tax benefit will be withdrawn.
Like all financial products which have reached out substantially to the retail investors (post office savings, life insurance policies etc) through tax benefits, this tax break for direct investment in equity is expected to substantially encourage the retail participation in securities market as well as to enhance their participation in the growth of Indian industry. Entry of more retail investors are expected to further deepen the securities markets as they bring in long-term stable funds, which can counteract the volatility created by the liquidity providers of the market. The Scheme, thus, also furthers the goal of financial stability and promotes financial inclusion. Since Exchange Traded Funds and Mutual Funds have also been brought under the Scheme, the Scheme should provide encouragement and re-assurance to the first time investors. The broad provisions of the Scheme and the income tax benefits under it have already been incorporated as a new Section – 80CCG – of the Income Tax Act, 1961, as amended by the Finance Act, 2012.
Department of Revenue will notify the Scheme and SEBI will issue the relevant circulars to operationalize the Scheme in the next two weeks.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/finance-minister-approves-the-operational-features-of-the-rgess/

MNS:- Union Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Ajit Singh has said that providing affordable air connectivity to remote and interior areas of the country, the North Eastern Region and Tier-II & III cities of India is high on his priorities. For this new and innovative solution in the form of Route Dispersal Guidelines, aircraft acquisition and development of low cost airports will be put in place. He was addressing the 5th ASSOCHAM International Conference on Indian Civil Aviation in New Delhi today.
The Minister outlined a number of important action points needed to develop civil aviation sector in India. The agenda that he narrated in the Conference to develop the sector included getting ATF declared as notified product to bring transparency in its pricing and reduction of VAT on ATF by the States; creation of Civil Aviation Authority to manage the phenomenal growth of air traffic with safety; development of world class ANS infrastructure to manage the coming growth phase safely and efficiently; development of low cost airports to keep the tariff at its minimal at smaller airports which in turn would help in making air travel affordable; restructuring of Airports Authority of India into ANS & Civil Wing to make it more effective, efficient and professional body; creation of a separate Civil Aviation Security Force which is professionally trained and exclusively meant for the work of civil aviation and skill augmentation in civil aviation sector through a vibrant, world class aviation education and training.
Shri Singh expressed concern over the financial health of airline carriers in India despite the high growth rate of passengers. Stating that the approximate losses of airlines in the last financial year 2011-12 have been over Rs. 10,000 crores, the Minister said that one of the major challenges of the air traffic industry in India is the high and growing debt burden of the carriers. He said nearly half of the debt is aircraft related and the rest is accounted for by working capital loans, dues to airport operators and fuel companies. Shri Singh said that while there are number of structural factors that are responsible for this phenomenon, the operating cost environment is adversely impacting the financials of the airline sector.
Shri Singh emphasised the need to develop India as an international hub for the passengers. He said that action in this regard has been initiated, which includes revisiting the policy regarding bilateral air service agreements with different countries and also rationalisation of all bilaterals and traffic entitlements on international routes to Indian carriers and rationalisation of traffic on domestic routes. The Minister outlined the major actions taken in the last nine months in this direction which included allowing 49% FDI by foreign airlines in Indian carriers, allowing Indian carriers to import ATF, allocation of traffic rights to domestic private carriers to fly on International routes and creation of separate Air Accident Bureau for effective analysis of causes and taking corrective measures. Shri Singh also touched upon the steps taken to bring turnaround of Air India including equity infusion, conversion of short term loans to long term loans and issue of Government guaranteed NCDs to raise funds.
The Minister said India needs to make lot of efforts and significant investments in the field of development of airport infrastructure (construction of new airports, expansion and modernization of existing airports), improvement in connecting infrastructure (road, metro, sea, link etc.) and better air space management. He called upon the industry to come forward with innovative & implementable ideas for the development of civil aviation sector in India.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/ajit-singh-says-air-connectivity-to-remote-areas-is-high-on-his-priorities/

AIZAWL, Sept 20 NNN : High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Pankaj Saran had discussed with Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla on Wednesday on issues related to trade with Bangladesh. The two focused on measures in this connection.
Before leaving Mizoram today, Pankaj Saran also met the Governor of Mizoram and also state Trade & Commerce minister Lalrinliana Sailo, the state chief secretary and the state Director General of Police and discussed with them separately on issues related to the trade with the neighbouring country.
During the meeting with chief secretary L Tochhong, the High Commissioner was briefed in detail about Mizoram and its society. L Tochhong explained to Pankaj Saran about the culture and tradition of Mizoram. She also told the High Commissioner on the important role plays by Young Mizo Association (YMA) in Mizoram. Pankaj Saran was also briefed by the chief secretary on the flora and the fauna found in Mizoram. The High Commissioner was reported to have told the state chief secretary that Mizoram is a nice and peaceful state.
During the meeting with Mizoram Trade and Commerce minister Lalrinliana Sailo, the High Commissioner was informed by the former about the several initiatives that had been taken for the India-Bangladesh trade through Mizoram. The Mizoram minister told the visiting High Commissioner that for the construction of the Integrated Check Post (ICP) about 65 bighas of land will be required at Kawrpuichhua and that, for the same Land Lease Certificate has been submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the approval of the MHA is now awaited.
Lalrinliana also mentioned about the initiative being taken for the construction of RCC double lane bridge at Thekka river which will connect to important trade centre Thega Bazar (Thegamugh). The Mizoram minister then apprised to the High Commissioner about the need to ask Bangladesh government for the construction of road for connecting Thekkamukh and Chittagong Hill Tracts headquarters Rangamati, and road for connecting Thegamukh and Barkal Upazila headquarters through Chhotokorina.
Lalrinlians Sailo then said that for the construction of four border haats the state government had submitted the needful to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and Ministry of DoNER.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/mizoram-to-start-trade-relations-with-bangladesh/

Dimapur/Aizawl, Sept 20 NNN: Church organizations in the Christian dominated states of Nagaland and Mizoram are pulling up their loins to ensure for the ‘free and fair’ assembly elections in these two states.
Assembly elections in Mizoram and Nagaland are just few months away and the Church in these two North Eastern states are deeply concerned about it as election times means wild parties, violence, money power displays, feastings and other activities which are hard to be accepted by a decent society.
In Mizoram, the church sponsored Mizoram People’s Forum (MPF) is spending sleepless nights while chalking out strategies for the campaign to ensure ‘free and fair’ assembly election due sometimes in February. In Nagaland, the apex church body of the state Nagaland Baptist Churches Council (NBCC) has just lighted its torch last evening christened as ‘Clean Election Torch’ in the state capital Kohima. Church leaders will light their own torches from this ‘Clean Election Torch’ and carry them to their respective churches or associations and from there the process of lighting of torches and transferring will continue till the village level.
Under the theme, ‘Clean Election and Environment,’ the church leaders of different denominations of Nagaland resolved last evening to fervently carry out the ‘Clean Election’ movement to the district levels and then to the village level.
In Mizoram, the Mizoram People’s Forum (MPF) which is sponsored by the Church had campaigned in the last Mizoram assembly election where it had issued ‘Dos and Don’ts’ to the political parties and the general public. Grand feastings, distributing of money, wild parties, etc., etc., were some of the restrictions issued by the MPF in the 2008 Mizoram assembly elections.
The MPF has been considered as the only genuine election watchdog in Mizoram by the people.
This time round, the MPF has begun its activities campaigning to ensure for the ‘free and fair’ assembly election.
Mizoram Peoples’ Forum (MPF), had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with major political parties in Mizoram so that free and fair elections could be held. The memorandum of understanding is nothing but rule for co-operation by the political parties with the Mizoram People’s Forum.
The parties which had signed the MoU with the state election watchdog are Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), Mizo Peoples Convention (MPC), Zoram National Party (ZNP), Mizo National Front (MNF) and the BJP for co-operation at Synod Committee Hall in Aizawl.
About 27 rules have been made by the MPF for the political parties to abide. Among the 27 points, one is that the political parties should only make an election manifesto which they can implement. If any political party violates any one of the 27 points, the MPF will “invalid” that party.
Some of the rules are that every party will try their best to have free and fair election; only the citizens of India should cast their votes; no political party should drop the voters to their polling stations by means of a vehicle; the MPF will check whether any one indulges in demanding money to the candidates and to the political parties; house to house campaign is allowed till 10 days before the election; “selling and buying” of votes are strictly prohibited and no candidate should distribute some material like silpaulin, Jersy, football, mobile handset, government schemes etc.; no protest rally should be organised 10 days before the election; a fixed number of banners, flags, posters are to be used by the parties.
The MPF is very influential and the people in the state have high regard for the Forum for its impartiality.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/church-bodies-to-check-election-vices/

MNS:- Defence Minister Shri AK Antony has said that the role of fishing community is vital in strengthening of coastal security mechanism. Inaugurating the three-day long, 31st Annual Coast Guard Commanders’ Conference here today, he said that community interaction programme is to be given impetus in order to sensitize the fishing community on the prevailing security situation and to develop them to be the “eyes and ears” for intelligence gathering.
Highlighting the expansion and strengthening of the Coast Guard, he said, the Coast Guard Development Plan have been approved and adequate funds have been provided. Shri Antony said, “The service is on course to double its assets and capacity building in the next four-five years. A Coast Guard Regional Headquarters (North East) and five Coast Guard Stations have been established. By the end of the current financial year, another six sanctioned stations are also likely to be established”.Adding further, he said that the phase-I of the Coastal Surveillance Network project is nearing completion. He said the system will indeed provide additional measures towards electronic surveillance.
“We aim to achieve near-gap-free electronic surveillance along our coasts and towards this end, Phase-II of the project will be started soon after the completion of the first phase”, he remarked. He commended all the Coast Guard personnel for their commitment, courage and involvement while discharging their duties and said “maritime security infrastructure, as it stands today, is quite robust and capable of handling various security challenges at sea”.
The Director General, Indian Coast Guard, Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan, in his address highlighted the progress made by the Coast Guard in acquisition cases of various types of ships and aircrafts, development of infrastructure, induction of manpower in the service and enhanced efforts for surveillance of the coast and the sea areas. 01 Pollution Control Vessel, 04 Inshore Patrol Vessels, 02 Air Cushion Vessels, 01 Interceptor Boat and 04 Interceptor Crafts have been inducted into the service. He said that the Coast Guard aims to achieve a force level of 150 surface platforms by the year 2018.
One Dornier Squadron has been established at Porbandar since the last Commanders` Conference. Establishing of 02 Air Stations, 05 Air Enclaves and 04 Dornier Squadrons has also been prioritized.
The conference will help the Coast Guard Commanders in analysis of the operational capabilities, deployment of forces and preparations for the future challenges. It will also provide an opportunity to the Commanders to introspect the standards achieved in the wide spectrum of Coast Guard responsibilities.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/antony-inaugurates-31st-coast-guard-commanders-conference/

MNS:- After the launch of NRHM, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has taken several steps for strengthening health care facilities by integrating AYUSH systems in national health care delivery systems. The integration is facilitated by appointing or co-locating AYUSH doctors & supporting staff and creating infrastructure according to local needs.
There were 640 districts, 6431 blocks and 638588 villages incorporating 605 District Hospitals (DHs), 4535 Community Health Centres (CHCs) and 23673 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) till March 2011. Out of these, AYUSH facilities had been co-located with 416 District Hospitals, 2942 Community Health Centres and 9559 Primary Health Centres during 2011. About 68.76% District hospitals had been co-located with AYUSH facilities till 2011. All the District hospitals existing in the states and union territories of Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Lakshadweep and Puducherry had been co-located with AYUSH facilities, whereas, the states having more than 50% of the District hospitals co-located with AYUSH facilities were Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand., There had been no co-location of AYUSH facilities in the Districts hospitals of the remaining 12 states and union territories.
Nearly 65% Community Health Centre’s had been co-located with AYUSH facilities till 2011. All the CHCs existing in the states and union territories of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Nagaland, Orissa, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep and Puducherry had been co-located with AYUSH facilities., whereas, the states having more than 50% of the CHCs co-located with AYUSH facilities were Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Punjab, Tripura and West Bengal. The states having more than 25% but less than 50% of the CHCs co-located with AYUSH facilities were Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The states having less than 25% CHCs co-located with AYUSH facilities were Madhya Pradesh only. No co-location of AYUSH facilities had been observed in CHCs in the remaining 8 states and union territories.
About 40.4% Primary Health Centre’s had been co-located with AYUSH facilities till 2011. All the PHC existing in the Union Territory of D&N Haveli, Daman & Diu and Puducherry, Jammu and Kashmir, A& N Islands, and Lakshadweep have been co-located. The States/ Union Territories having more than 50% of the PHCs co-located with AYUSH facilities were Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Manipur, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu and Tripura, States having more than 25% but less than 50% of the PHCs co-located with AYUSH facilities, were Karnataka, Meghalaya West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. The states and union territories having less than 25% of the Primary Health Centres co-located with AYUSH facilities were Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/integration-of-ayush-in-health-care-system-under-national-rural-health-mission/

MNS:- The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari re-launched the “Frontline” magazine at a function here today. He commended the editors and publishers for this initiative aimed at retaining relevance in changing times for a newer readership. He wished ‘Frontline’ continued success in the service of discerning readers.”
Following is the text of the Vice President’s address :
“I may be forgiven for admitting that I am moderately conservative and tolerably radical – conservative in habits and radical in thinking. For this reason, I was less than enthused when the Shri Venkitesh Ramakrishnan met me with the suggestion that I attend today’s re-launch function.
I could not help recalling the old maxim don’t fix what is not broke. To me personally, ‘Frontline’ has always been a stimulant to the mind apart from providing good reading on most matters that I care to spend time on. The need for a remix in Bollywood terms therefore did not arise. Nor was there a need to replace persuasion with titillation. I was assured that the change would be conservatively radical rather than explicitly so! The presence here of Mr. N. Ram and Professor Romila Thapar provides further reassurance.
Having jettisoned my misgivings, I am happy to be here today for the re-launch of the ‘Frontline’. I understand that in its new avatar the magazine would have attractive photo essays on art, culture, heritage, wildlife, environment and land & people. It will also have new columns on media and literature, snapshots on developments in India, a science notebook, apart from in-depth analyses of the social, political and economic issues of the day.
This audience knows that the ‘Hindu Group’ has a rich legacy, and current practice, of sustaining its foundational motto of ‘fairness and justice’. ‘Frontline’ subscribes to it in full measure and will, I am confident, continue to do so. The theme of the debate scheduled for today, on some of the core values of our Constitution, is sufficiently serious, focused and relevant, and testifies to it.
In today’s age, the audio-visual media has emerged as a dominant medium for quenching the thirst of the target audience for real time news on current affairs, culture and entertainment. Despite this, there remains a real and popular demand for serious publications on topical issues which cannot be substituted by the ‘breaking news’ culture and short-attention span snippets in the domain of the electronic media.
I commend the editors and publishers for this initiative aimed at retaining relevance in changing times for a newer readership. I wish ‘Frontline’ continued success in the service of discerning readers.”

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/vice-president-re-launches-frontline-magazine/

MNS:- The Dept. of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY), Min. of Communications & IT has doubled Raj Bhasha fortnight celebrations by gifting further technology support to Indian languages. Sh J Satyanarayana, Secretary, DeitY, launched here today SANDHAN, the Indian language search engine for tourism domain. This will fill the wide gap that exists in fulfilling the information needs of Indians not conversant with English- estimated at 90% of the population.
Unveiling the search engines for Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu, the Secretary said six years of research has resulted in this milestone but this is only the beginning. He said for making the search engines successful, it is equally important to develop and promote content in Indian languages. Sh Satyanarayana said the real success would be when even village level e-services would be available in local languages.
SANDHAN has been developed by 120 researchers of 12 institutions over a period of 6 years led by Dr. Pushpak Bhattacharya under the supervision of TDIL DeitY. The project aims at satisfying the user information need through text documents present in the web. This search engine captures the information in the form of a query in one of the 5 Indian ‘query’ languages— Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. The query is processed to retrieve a set of relevant documents of the same language from crawled data in tourism domain from the World Wide Web (WWW). These retrieved documents are presented to the user in the form of an ordered list based on the relevance of the document.
Although designed mainly for tourism, sectors such as business and academia would also benefit from SANDHAN. It can also be deployed as part of e-governance and e-learning.
The following are the salient features of SANDHAN
• System is developed to satisfy the user information need in tourism domain.
• User has the facility to submit a query either with the help of in-script keyboard or phonetic keyboard. In case of in-script keyboard, user can type using the keyboard or onscreen keyboard can be used to submit a query to the system.
• It has the capability to process the query based on its language and retrieves results ONLY from that language.
• Snippets generated for each of the retrieved document helps the user to understand the context of query terms in that document.
• Summary is generated for each retrieved document. This feature helps the user to get an idea about the overall content of the document without opening the same.
• An additional URL based semantic search facility is provided for Tamil language.
• A set of ten results are displayed at a time to the user to increase the readability.
• Many of the Indian language web pages are in custom fonts that make the system difficult for retrieving documents. SANDHAAN uses a font transcoder that converts the custom fonts into Unicode fonts for processing.
SANDHAN is a mission mode project of a consortium of academic & research institutions, and industry partners. The institutes involved are IIT Bombay (Consortium leader), CDAC Noida (Co-Consortium leader), IIT Kharagpur, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information & Communication Technology Gandhinagar, Anna University-Centre for Electronics, Anna University-Knowledge-based Computing Centre, CDAC Pune, Gauhati University, Indian Institute of Information Technology Bhubaneswar, International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad, ISI Kolkata and Jadhavpur University. It is conceptualized, evolved and funded as a National-level project in the emerging area of Information Retrieval and Access in Indian Languages by Dept of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY).
SANDHAN project has been put together by Technology Development for Indian Languages (TDIL), a flagship programme of DeitY involved in research, development, standardization and proliferation of Language Technology in India in 22 Constitutionally-recognized Indian languages. TDIL Programme is also associated with international standardization bodies like the Unicode Consortium , W3C , IETF and ELRA.
The link for SANDHAN is www.tdil-dc.in/sandhan
Senior officers of DeitY and other stakeholders were present on the occasion.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/search-in-hindi-bengali-marathi-tamil-and-telugu-enabled-for-tourism-sector/

MNS:- Union Rural Development Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh said that if the issue of land rights of tribals would have been handled effectively in the country, the naxal menace could have been tackled in an effective fashion. Addressing the State Revenue Ministers Conference on Modernization of Land Records here, Shri Ramesh said that he also favoured the idea of Fast Track Courts to settle the land rights of tribals in a speedy fashion. He said that this issue will be taken up with the Law Ministry soon. He also called for the replication of the Andhra Pradesh model, where para-legal army helps the tribals to fight court cases. In many instances, the land belonging to the poor tribals were being grabbed forcibly by the powerful vested interests and therefore there is need for the proper survey of the land and modernization of the land records. The Minister also promised flexibility in spending of funds by the state governments and said that a detailed guideline will be issued soon in this regard and added that productivity of land is also an important issue. Referring to the Bhoodan Land, the Minister said out of the 5 million hectares of such land only 2.5 million hectares got distributed to the poor and the needy till date and a detailed survey is needed to ascertain the facts in this regard.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/jairam-pitches-for-fast-track-courts-to-settle-land-right-issues-in-naxal-areas/

AIZAWL, Sept 19: Hectic preparations are underway for the gala celebration of Anthurium Festival 2012 in Aizawl, as of every year.
With the flower Anthurium has become so popular all over the world and Mizoram has been blessed with the flower, the state government is encouraging to promote the flower.
Come September 20, the three-day gala Anthurium Festival will kick off here with colourful cultural programmes. Well known artists are also all set to enthrall the people during the festival. On the conclusion day of the festival i.e September 22, the organisers are preparing for the Anthurium Queen contest.
Mizoram Governor Vakhom B. Purushothaman will grace this year’s Anthurium Festival.
Large number of tourists from outside Mizoram are expected to participate in the three-day festival.The Anthurium Festival serves the purpose of bringing togetherness among the different tribes in Mizoram and promotes their cultures and at the same time attract domestic and foreign tourists to the beauty of Mizoram. Many farmers in Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir and Darjeeling had contributed a lot to their state economy through Anthurium cultivation, taking a note of this, Mizoram government had also taking all-out efforts to promote Anthurium cultivation among the farmers.
About 700 families in Mizoram are engaged in anthurium cultivation with financial assistance from the horticulture department. With hundreds of house-holds growing the flower, Aizawl district tops all other districts in anthurium cultivation. Horticulture officials said owing to the state’s suitable geographical conditions, Mizoram’s anthurium flowers are of high quality and are in great demand in other states of India and even abroad, besides the local market. Decorated and medicated anthurium flowers have been exported in huge numbers to countries like Japan, UAE, European countries through an agency called Zo Anthurium Growers Society (ZAGS) working for marketing and others improvement of anthurium farmers in Mizoram. Besides this festival, ZAGS had organised Anthurium Exhibition-cum-Sale programmes in various places of the state to promote farmers and selling the flowers at reasonable prices to the public.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/anthurium-festival-at-mizoram/

Mail News Service
New Delhi, Sep 19: UPA government and Trinamool Congress have showed no signs of going back on their stands after Mamata Banerjee yesterday announced her decision to withdraw support to the Congress-led coalition..
Trinamool, the second largest constituent of UPA with 19 MPs, wants the government to totally withdraw the decision to allow FDI in retail, slash the Rs 5 hike in diesel by Rs 3 or Rs 4 and raise the cap on supply of subsidized LPG to 24 cylinders a year.
Congress will be 19 short of majority in Lok Sabha, but with the support of outside allies like SP, BSP, JD (S) and RJD it still has the backing of over 300 MPs in a House of 545.
The Congress has virtually written off her differences as irreconcilable and is trying to consolidate the support of other key partners to ward off mid-term elections.
The ruling coalition or UPA is in a minority without Ms Banerjee and the 19 Lok Sabha MPs of her Trinamool Congress, who quit the alliance last night to protest against decisions on fuel subsidies and allowing the arrival of foreign mega-chains like Wal-Mart to set up shop in India. Sources say that on Friday, when Ms Banerjee’s six ministers are scheduled to meet the Prime Minister to resign, he may make a last attempt to convince them of the need for big-ticket reforms, but neither side expects a rapprochement. “The government is not in danger…whenever we have taken decisions, we have managed the numbers,” said senior minister Ambika Soni.
Mamta Banerjee said she informed Sonia Gandhi on September 14 last about inability to support the decisions, but no attention was paid to it. She also said there was no communication on the part of theCentre with her after the announcement of Trinamool’s pulling out of the UPA.
She said her party is not against reforms, but it should be pro-people and not against the common masses. She however opposed the strike call given by the NDA, the Left Front .

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/congress-trinamul-stick-to-guns/

SHILLONG, Sept 19 NNN: Civil society organisations in Meghalaya are in full swing to prevent the influx of migrants in the state.
On Wednesday, various civil organisations asked the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) to strengthen its “enforcements” and “traditional institutions” within its jurisdiction to help in tackling and controlling the problem of increased influx in the state.
A delegation of the KSU, FKJGP, CSWO, HNYF, KWADA, SSSS, RBYF today met the KHADC Chief Executive Member (CEM) PN Syiem to discuss on the issue.
“We have asked the council’s authority to take immediate steps by strengthening the enforcements of different departments to prevent from rampant issuing of trading licenses and labour licenses to non-indigenous people with doubtful credentials,” FKJGP president Jo Marwein told reporters after the meeting in Shillong.
According to him, most of the time, the KHADC has issued the labour license and trading license without verifying the documents of the non-tribal applicants.
He said, “We have also requested the CEM to issue direction to all the heads of the traditional institutions to stop rampant issuing of no objection certificates and given residential certificates without verification.”
Stating that State government is trying its best to strengthen the different mechanisms towards the problem, Marwein said, “The district council is also equally responsible in the task of tackling the influx problem.”
Meanwhile, the CEM assured the delegation that necessary steps would be taken up as far as the strengthening of enforcements are concerned.
He also informed that the KHADC would soon issue directions to the different Dorbar Shnongs to submit the list of non-indigenous people registered in their respective jurisdiction.
Border dispute
In connection with the Assam-Mizoram boundary dispute, Mizoram People’s Convention (MPC) president Lalhmangaiha Sailo said the dispute can be settled by constituting a coundary commission that will hold negotiation with the concerned higher authority.
The MPC leader said this while interacting with the media at Aizawl Press Club.
Saying that over the past years various political parties and leaders of Mizoram state had dealt with the misunderstanding between the neighbouring Assam state and Mizoram on the boundary issue, MPC president proposed that the problem on the boundary dispute could be solved by constituting a boundary commission and by way of negotiation. Lalhmangaiha Sailo added that the boundary line accepted by Mizoram is that of the one demarcated by the Mizo chiefs and the British Government in the year 1875. “However, in the passage of time, the Assam state does not accept that boundary line and therefore dispute on boundary has occurred.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/meghalaya-orgns-to-check-influx/

IMPHAL, Sept 19 NNN: The Manipur unit of BJP has decided to endorse the 12-hour “Bharat bandh” on September 20 starting from 6 am to 6 pm in protest against the government’s recent decision to hike price of diesel by Rs 5, reducing yearly provision of LPG refill by a domestic customer and allowing foreign direct invesment (FDI) in the retail sector.
Addressing media persons at the state BJP office, president, S. Shantikumar asserted that the recent government decision has given a big burden to the common people while adding that the decision to allow only 6 LPG refill to a family in a year is like murdering the common people and encouraging the black-marketeers.
Justifying its opposition on the decision for hiking the fuel price S. Shantikumar said, “The decision to allow foreign direct investment in the retail sector is certain to hurt the common people as multi-brand companies would be dictating terms and conditions on various consumer items. By making the recent decision, the darkest chapter of the Congress led UPA government under the leadership of Manmohan Singh has come ”
Expressing that such ‘anti-people policies’ of the UPA government should be protested vehemently, the party also sought supports from the public in making the movement successful.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/bjps-strike-today/

Mail News Service
New Delhi, Sep 19: A Notification has been published by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India in the Gazette of India Extraordinary, Part l, Section 1, No. 163 dated 17.7.2012 on the directions of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, Chandigarh in CWP No.1332 of 2010 – Vyakti Vikas Kender Vs. Union of India and others for regulating the manufacture/trade of correction fluid/thinner liquid, which are chemical substances generally used in offices, and other similar chemical substances. These have been reported to being widely misused by children/street children as intoxicating substance/drug by inhaling them to get stimulating effects like drugs. All State/Union Territory Governments and various Central Ministries/Departments have been requested to take immediate necessary action for enforcement of the measures contained in the said notification, by sensitizing the industries producing them and the traders/shop distributing/selling them. The measures mentioned in the said notification to be enforced include:
(i) Banning of production of bottled Correction Fluids as well as bottled Thinners, of any chemical composition, both for ink erasing purposes as well as for use as Nail Polish removers and similar other purposes for retail sale.
(ii) Banning of sale of; bottled Correction Fluids as well as bottled Thinners, of any chemical composition, both for ink erasing purposes as well as for use as Nail Polish removers and similar other purposes.
(iii) Permitting sale of Correction Fluids as well as Thinners, of any chemical composition, both for ink erasing purposes as well as for use as Nail Polish removers and similar other purposes in the form of pens or similar devices which allow limited amount of the chemicals to come out of those devices when used.
(iv) Mandatory warning should be made on the application devices (pens or otherwise) of correcting fluids/thinners regarding the effects on health on inhalation of vapor/consumption of the chemicals contained therein.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/correction-fluids-nail-polish-removers-banned/

Mail News Service
Guwahat, Sep 19: The Central Bureau of Investigation has today arrested five accused persons in a case related to violence in certain places of Assam.
The arrested five accused persons are being produced today in the court of Special Judicial Magistrate, CBI, Guwahati.CBI had registered this case on 10.8.2012 relating to the alleged lynching of four Bodo youths by a mob in Police Station Kokrajhar(Assam).
CBI had taken up investigation of seven cases including the instant one relating to recent incidents of ethnic violence in certain places of Assam on the request of the Government of Assam and further notification from Govt. of India. These cases were earlier registered by Assam Police.
Further investigation in these cases is continuing to identify the other perpetrators and conspirators of the incidents of ethnic violence.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/cbi-arrests-five-assam/

MNS:- Recognizing the popularity of the Indian Systems of Medicine in other countries, the Department of AYUSH under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has re-defined its strategy for International Co-operation. Several steps have been taken by the Department in this regard recently.
However, there are several impediments in popularizing AYUSH in foreign countries. These are – absence of regulatory provisions, lack of authentic knowledge about AYUSH systems and doubts about the safety of ASU drugs.
To remove these impediments, in addition to taking part as in seminars and conferences abroad, the Department is now engaging with other countries in a more structured and concrete manner by entering into MoUs for cooperation in Traditional Medicine as well as for setting up of Academic Chairs in educational institutions abroad.
Thus as compared to the previous years where only one MoU had been signed with China in 2008, MoUs on Traditional Medicines have been entered into with Malaysia and Trinidad & Tobago in the recent past. MoU with Nepal is currently under Government’s consideration. Furthermore, MoU with Serbia is also in the pipeline. Academic Chairs have been already set up in South Africa. In addition to this, Chairs are being set up in Germany and Trinidad & Tobago. Chairs will also be set up in Nepal and Srilanka after the MoUs have been signed.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/chairs-set-up-in-foreign-countries-for-popularisation-of-ayush/

MNS:- On the basis of result of the written part of the Combined Medical Services Examination, 2012 held by the Union Public Service Commission in June, 2012, the candidates with the under mentioned Roll Numbers have qualified for Interview/Personality Test:- Click here to see Result
The candidature of these candidates is PROVISIONAL subject to their being found eligible in all respects. The candidates would be required to produce the original certificates in support of their claims relating to age, educational qualifications, community, physical disability etc. at the time of the Personality Test. They are, therefore, advised to keep the said certificates ready.
In accordance with the Rules of examination all these candidates are required to fill up the Detailed Application Forms (DAF) which is available on the Commission`s Website http://www.upsc.gov.in. All the qualified candidates are required to fill up the Detailed Application Form (DAF) and submit the same ON LINE. The Detailed Application Form (DAF) will be available on the website of the Commission till 05.10.2012. Important instructions regarding filling up of the Detailed Application Form (DAF) and submitting the same ONLINE to the Commission are also available on the website. The candidates who have been declared successful have to first get themselves registered on the relevant page of the website before filling up the ONLINE Detailed Application Form. The qualified candidates are further advised to refer to the Rules of the Combined Medical Services Examination, 2012, published in the Gazette of India, dated 24.03.2012, which is also available on the Website of the Commission.
After submitting the Detailed Application Form (DAF) duly filled in ONLINE, the candidates are required to take out a print out of the finally submitted Detailed Application Form (DAF) separately and will have to send the printed copy of the Detailed Application Form (DAF) duly signed by the candidate along with all relevant documents to the Under Secretary (CMS), Union Public Service Commission, Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi-110069, so as to reach the Commission`s Office latest by 10.10.2012. The envelope containing the print out of the Detailed Application Form (DAF) submitted ONLINE should be superscribed “Detailed Application Form (DAF) for Combined Medical Services Examination, 2012”. It can also be delivered at UPSC by hand till 10.10.2012 (5.00 PM).
Interview of candidates who have qualified for the Personality Test are tentatively scheduled to commence from 29-10-2012. The exact date of interview will, however, be intimated to the candidates through Interview Letter/e-mail. Roll Number wise Interview Schedule will also be made available on Commission`s Website in due course. The candidates are advised to check their e-mail also for further information.
No request for change in the date and time of the Personality Test intimated to the candidates will be entertained under any circumstances.
“The marks-sheets of candidates, who have not qualified, will be put on the Commission`s Website within 15 days from the date of publication of the final result (after conducting Personality Test) and will remain available on the Website for a period of 60 days”.
The candidates can access the marks-sheet after keying in their Roll Numbers and Date of birth. The printed/hard copies of the marks-sheet would, however, be issued by UPSC to candidates based on specific request accompanied by a self addressed stamped envelope. Candidates desirous of obtaining printed/hard copies of the marks-sheet should make the request within thirty days of the display of the marks on the Commission`s Website, beyond which such requests would not be entertained.
The result will also be available on the U.P.S.C.`s Website http://www.upsc.gov.in.
Union Public Service Commission has a Facilitation Counter at its campus. Candidate may obtain any information/clarification regarding their examination/result on working days between 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM in person or over telephone Nos. (011)-23385271/23381125/23098543 from this counter.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/union-public-service-commission-combined-medical-services-examination-2012/

Certain instances of some e-mails with malicious and misleading content purported to be sent from CBI have come to the notice of Central Bureau of Investigation. The Sender(s) falsely claim that Central Bureau of Investigation is monitoring financial transactions of individuals and authenticating/proposing to take action on such transactions.
Some IDs from which these malicious & misleading e-mails have been sent in the recent past are:
statepoliceservice@gmail.com
cbi.policedesk.india@gmail.com
cbi-desk@indiapolice.in
csa@cbi.gov.in
The general public is cautioned that Central Bureau of Investigation does not send such mails, and they should not respond to such e-mails.
Anyone receiving such e-mail(s) should bring it to the notice of the Central Bureau of Investigation, New Delhi at e-mail ID: information@cbi.gov.in

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/cbi-advisory/