Meghalaya Assembly passes Marriage Registration Bill

Shillong, Sept 7 NNN: The Autumn Session of Meghalaya Legislative Assembly on Friday passed one Bill and amended four Bills. The much anticipated Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Bill, 2012 was passed by the Assembly on Friday. The bills that were amended are Meghalaya Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2012, Meghalaya Police (Amendment) Bill, 2012, Rajitlal University […]

Shillong, Sept 7 NNN: The Autumn Session of Meghalaya Legislative Assembly on Friday passed one Bill and amended four Bills.
The much anticipated Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Bill, 2012 was passed by the Assembly on Friday.
The bills that were amended are Meghalaya Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2012, Meghalaya Police (Amendment) Bill, 2012, Rajitlal University (Amendment) Bill, 2012, and International Open University (Amendment) Bill, 2012.
In January this year, Meghalaya Legislator, Ardent Basaiawmoit had said as legislator of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly representing the Nongkren Assembly Constituency, he had tried to introduce the Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage Bill, but no legislator supported him, as this Bills would provide financial assistance to the women deserted by their husbands.
Ardent had stated that he was taken by surprise, that he introduced the Bill in the Assembly, he was not givene opportunity to explain about the Bills.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/meghalaya-assembly-passes-marriage-registration-bill/

India-EU Btia Negotiations: What is India Asking For?

Amit Guin At a time when the bilateral trade in goods between India and the European Union was € 40 billion, when India exported € 3.8 billion worth of services to EU, and when EU was India’s largest source of foreign direct investment; or in short when there were healthy trends in bilateral trade and […]

Amit Guin
At a time when the bilateral trade in goods between India and the European Union was € 40 billion, when India exported € 3.8 billion worth of services to EU, and when EU was India’s largest source of foreign direct investment; or in short when there were healthy trends in bilateral trade and investment between the two, the seeds of a High Level Trade Group (HLTG) were sown during the 2005 India-EU Summit to explore ways to give further boost to trade and investment between the duo. Different platforms were thought over during the brainstorming discussions by the HLTG. It was commonly agreed upon during the discussions that only after the removal of non-tariff obstacles to trade could the dream of strong trade ties be built. It was finally recommended that a broader platform for expanded trade ties be inculcated through the negotiations of a broad-based Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA).
The India-EU BTIA talks have since then discussed issues related to trade in goods and services, sanitary & phyto-sanitary measures, intellectual property rights, technical barriers to trade, dispute settlement, customs and trade facilitation and procurement among others.
But from the period when the negotiations for BTIA started in June 2007 till today, the economic scenario has worsened and become gloomier for both India and the European Union.
With the Eurozone economy forecast to shrink by 0.3 per cent in 2012, and with the European Commission crystal gazing zero growth for the current year for all the 27 Member States and 1.3 per cent growth for the coming year, the picture is all dispirited for the European Union. On the other hand, India’s economy is projected to grow by 6-7 per cent, much below the norm of 9 per cent.
Hence, in this scenario when the global economy is on a boil, the BTIA could make them strengthen their positions and help regain the confidence lost both domestically and internationally.
It is to be noted that the bilateral trade between India and EU in 2011-12 stood at USD 109.87 billion which increased from USD 90.62 billion during 2010-11. The India-EU BTIA is paramount owing to the fact that it will give a projected leapfrog of € 150 billion to the bilateral trade by the year 2015. Added to this is that the fructification of the trade agreement would slash duties on over 90 per cent of the bilateral trade. Along with helping in more job creation, the trade agreement would also let EU to have a greater say in the Asia’s commercial sphere.
But the road ahead is not so flowery as it seems to be. There are enough hurdles for the negotiators to cross so that the agreement sees the light of the day.
A major issue which is of concern to India is related to the safeguard clause introduced for the Mode 4 (the supply of a service by nationals of one Member, through the presence of natural persons of the Member in the territory of any other Member) quota which would substantially puncture the expected gains from this. Hence, India seeks that for the movement of natural persons for providing services under Mode 4 to happen, the safeguard clause should be removed to 20 per cent threshold beyond which the clause could operate. At the same time, in Mode 1 (cross-border trade), India needs to be declared as data secure in order to provide access. According to a study done by Boston Consulting Group, it is expected that because of Mode 1, there would be over six million jobs and a generation of revenue worth USD 170 billion by 2020 in India.
Another roadblock is the reduction of duties on automobiles, wines and spirits. In the automobile sector, EU has sought for tariff cuts from the existing 60 per cent. In the case of wines and spirits, EU is looking for further reduction in duties from the existing 150 per cent. A middle road could be arrived through a mutually acceptable duty cut.
India has also conveyed her concerns regarding Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS), Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Non-Tariff barriers (NTBs).
Keeping in mind the levels of economic development, India has asked EU to eliminate tariffs on at least 5 per cent more tariff lines and 5 per cent more trade volume than what India does.
This will help India take deeper revenue cuts on account of duty elimination/reduction. But EU has flagged difficulties in achieving asymmetry of more than 4 per cent. India has sought the elimination of NTBs as it is of the opinion that mere reduction in tariffs will not pave the way for increased trade.
At the same time, India has stated that its exports to EU have been hampered by EU’s SPS measures, which had its impact on the exports of agricultural and food products, and also by TBT, which had grossly affected the exports of industrial products. India is of the opinion that strong SPS and TBT measures will also help in developing a framework for looking into the causes of NTBs faced by Indian exporters, while at the same time duly respecting each other’s legitimate public policy objectives.
The India-EU FTA has also impacted the Indian pharmaceutical industry. It is well-known that Indian pharmaceutical industry obliges to World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). But, now EU is asking India to adopt intellectual property protection standards more than what is under TRIPS. India has clearly conveyed to the EU that India will limit any agreement to its existing laws and to obligations under TRIPS. India has clearly stated that it cannot go beyond the same.
Negotiations, which commenced on June 28, 2007 at Brussels, and carried out as per the mandate received from the Trade & Economic Relations Committee, have been held fourteen times in all. Apart from these deliberations, officials from both the ends have continuously engaged in sector-specific inter-sessionals, digital video conferences to iron out the issues.
Along with these interactions, India and EU have engaged each other through India-EU Joint Commission and its Sub-Commissions (on trade, economic cooperation and development cooperation) to mull over contemporary issues relevant to trade and commerce. (PIB Features.)

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/india-eu-btia-negotiations-what-is-india-asking-for/

Extension of merry making

Why it becomes a necessity to arrange grand feast every time we hold a function at home. Common masses it seems have cooked up the theory that no programme is complete unless there is a grand feast added to it. People of the state following different faiths and religions as a tradition hold various programmes […]

Why it becomes a necessity to arrange grand feast every time we hold a function at home. Common masses it seems have cooked up the theory that no programme is complete unless there is a grand feast added to it. People of the state following different faiths and religions as a tradition hold various programmes every year. Barring one or two all these programmes are followed up by sumptuous meal that is offered to the gatherings. It is wastage of time and money. There is ushob, (grand feast), arranged by the family members in memory of their dear and near ones, who had passed away. Extension of merry making is not encouraging. For instance offerings to the departed soul can be ended with the holding of shradha function that serves the real purpose for which the function is held. Unnecessarily it is extended with the addition of deevosh. For those who do not understand Manipuri tradition deevosh means grand feast studded with fish. It is an added burden to the family members, whose lovely member had passed away. Likewise marriage ceremony can be ended with the tying of knots by the bride and the groom. This function too is extended with the addition of Mapam Chakkouba, an added burden to the bride’s family members, who had emptied their coffer in arranging dowry for the bride and marriage programme. Precious time is also wasted as one obliges the invite given to him or her by the friends and relatives to attend the grand feast. At least two hours time is wasted in attending a chakkouba. Government employees shirk their official duties to attend chakkouba or deevosh. Who can stop these unnecessarily extended programmes? A poor man will be ridiculed if he floats the idea of stopping chakkouba and deevosh, so he will never be able to do that. The rich and famous will be reduced to the butt of joke earning the title miser if they start it. Hence the onus of bringing a change to these added burdens lie with the civil organisations. Civil organisations can launch awareness programme to make everyone realise that the change is for the betterment of all. The question arises who can advise these civil organisations to launch the awareness programmes. Ever since an underground organisation issued dictates against helping examinees during the conduct of examination the practice of helpers swarming examination centres had disappeared. Prior to that even brothers scaled the roof of the school building to pass a piece of paper to his sister in the examination hall. Morality was thrown in the wind. It is just like the family members asking others in the same family to carry out illegal activities. When Amir Khan had his hairs shaved off to act in Ghajni a popular Hindi film thousands of youths followed suit. It means if someone, who is loved and respected by all stops extension of merry making large number of people will follow. That must happen as that will go a long way in bettering the economy of the people living in the state.

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/extension-of-merry-making/

Divorce cases on the rise in state

In Manipur, young couples are increasingly interlocking in dissolution of severance with the rate of matrimonial divorce case has been recorded very high in the last five years at more than 150 a year in the Family Court here Source Hueiyen News Ser…

In Manipur, young couples are increasingly interlocking in dissolution of severance with the rate of matrimonial divorce case has been recorded very high in the last five years at more than 150 a year in the Family Court here Source Hueiyen News Service Newmai News Network

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=25&src=080912

Election Commission of India ECI recognizes NPF as a state party in Manipur

The Election Commission of India ECI has recognised the Naga People’s Front NPF as a state party in Manipur also Source Hueiyen News Service NNN

The Election Commission of India ECI has recognised the Naga People’s Front NPF as a state party in Manipur also Source Hueiyen News Service NNN

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=23&src=080912

‘Media should serve as ambassador of peace’

On the occasion of 28th Anniversary celebration of Manipur Hills Journalists Union MHJU , HAC Chairman Dr Chaltonlien Amo called upon the journalists in the State to be a harbinger of love and communal harmony Source Hueiyen News Service Pamreiso…

On the occasion of 28th Anniversary celebration of Manipur Hills Journalists Union MHJU , HAC Chairman Dr Chaltonlien Amo called upon the journalists in the State to be a harbinger of love and communal harmony Source Hueiyen News Service Pamreiso Shimray

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=21&src=080912

Body builders protest Govt apathy

Expressing strong reservation against the alleged indifferent attitude of the State Government towards body builder Arambam Bobby, who have won several national and international medals and demanding that incentive awards also be given to him as done i…

Expressing strong reservation against the alleged indifferent attitude of the State Government towards body builder Arambam Bobby, who have won several national and international medals and demanding that incentive awards also be given to him as done in the case of other state players, the body builders and coaches staged a sit in protest at Keishampat Junction here today Source Hueiyen News Service

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=19&src=080912

DC Thoubal instructs all to submit license arms

In order to maintain law and order as well as to ensure peaceful conduct of the ensuing 4th General Panchayat Election scheduled on September 13, District Magistrate of Thoubal K Radhakumar has issued an order instructing all the people who are in poss…

In order to maintain law and order as well as to ensure peaceful conduct of the ensuing 4th General Panchayat Election scheduled on September 13, District Magistrate of Thoubal K Radhakumar has issued an order instructing all the people who are in possession of license arms to deposit the same in the Police Stations concerned on or before September 10 Source Hueiyen News Service

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=17&src=080912

CORE for rehabilitating evicted families

The Centre for Organisation and Research and Education CORE has expressed concern over the state Government’s failure to take up rehabilitation and resettlement programme for the families and children who had been evicted from Lamphelpat Yaipha Lei…

The Centre for Organisation and Research and Education CORE has expressed concern over the state Government’s failure to take up rehabilitation and resettlement programme for the families and children who had been evicted from Lamphelpat Yaipha Leikai, Imphal West on June 6, 2012 Source Hueiyen News Service Newmai News Network

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=26&src=080912

Committee to monitor central schemes

The Committee on Delegation Legislation of Manipur Legislative Assembly has directed all the concerned officials for furnishing all the necessary information and related documents of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes being taken up by the State Governmen…

The Committee on Delegation Legislation of Manipur Legislative Assembly has directed all the concerned officials for furnishing all the necessary information and related documents of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes being taken up by the State Government by September 10 Source Hueiyen News Service

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=22&src=080912

Special Intelligence Unit SIU raids Air India office

The Special Intelligence Unit SIU raided the Air India Cargo Manipur Branch, MG Avenue, Imphal today and seized three parcel boxes believed to be contraband drugs Source Hueiyen News Service NNN

The Special Intelligence Unit SIU raided the Air India Cargo Manipur Branch, MG Avenue, Imphal today and seized three parcel boxes believed to be contraband drugs Source Hueiyen News Service NNN

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=18&src=080912

Education Department to finetune its transfer policy Stringent measures would be put in place to plug the existing loopholes in the Edn Department

With a view to overcome the problems being faced by its employees, the State Education Department has decided to revise its Transfer and Posting Policy in tune with the changing time Source Hueiyen News Service

With a view to overcome the problems being faced by its employees, the State Education Department has decided to revise its Transfer and Posting Policy in tune with the changing time Source Hueiyen News Service

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=20&src=080912

‘Will never compromise in education’ Education Minister

Education Minister Moirangthem Okendro inaugurated a food processing unit and a two day seminar on ‘Gender Racial Discrimination The Paradigm of Women’s Vulnerability’ at S Kula Women College SKWC here on Friday Source Hueiyen News Service

Education Minister Moirangthem Okendro inaugurated a food processing unit and a two day seminar on ‘Gender Racial Discrimination The Paradigm of Women’s Vulnerability’ at S Kula Women College SKWC here on Friday Source Hueiyen News Service

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=24&src=080912

Chandel District Hospital stands alone sans specialists

The District Hospital Chandel located at Chandel Christian is standing alone to welcome its poor patients without any specialist doctors Source Hueiyen News Service Gyanand Naorem

The District Hospital Chandel located at Chandel Christian is standing alone to welcome its poor patients without any specialist doctors Source Hueiyen News Service Gyanand Naorem

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=16&src=080912

College gets food testing lab

Along with inaugurating the ‘Food Testing Laboratory’ of S Kula Women’s College, Nambol Kongkhampat, Education Minister Moirangthem Okendro attended a two day national seminar on ‘Gender Racial Discrimination The Paradigm of Women’s Vulnerability’ a…

Along with inaugurating the ‘Food Testing Laboratory’ of S Kula Women’s College, Nambol Kongkhampat, Education Minister Moirangthem Okendro attended a two day national seminar on ‘Gender Racial Discrimination The Paradigm of Women’s Vulnerability’ at the indoor hall of the College today Source The Sangai Express

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=7&src=080912

NIA frames charges against Meghen

The Court of special judge NIA, Assam, on Thursday framed charges against the Chairman of United National Liberation Front UNLF , Manipur, Rajkumar Meghen alias Sanayaima, and 15 others for waging war against India under sections 120, 120 B , 121, 12…

The Court of special judge NIA, Assam, on Thursday framed charges against the Chairman of United National Liberation Front UNLF , Manipur, Rajkumar Meghen alias Sanayaima, and 15 others for waging war against India under sections 120, 120 B , 121, 121 A and 122 of the IPC Source The Sangai Express Agencies

Read more / Original news source: http://e-pao.net/ge.asp?heading=6&src=080912