Day: April 7, 2015

Truckers extend support to kidnapped girl

IMPHAL, April 6: The Highway Truck Owners`™ Welfare Organisation (HITOWO) has stated that it supports the democratic movement taken up by the JAC in connection with the kidnapping of Lakshmi

IMPHAL, April 6: The Highway Truck Owners`™ Welfare Organisation (HITOWO) has stated that it supports the democratic movement taken up by the JAC in connection with the kidnapping of Lakshmi Phaomei by Md. Afsar son of Md. Nazimuddin of Top Kshetri Leikai as well as against the Manipur Government and Police Department.

According to a release of the organisation, appeal has been made to both the government and police department to not to dismiss cases without inquiring on the facts. It also appealed to all organisations and associations in the state not to impose strikes on NH 37 as the highway is the life line for the people of Manipur.

In this regard, the organisation has appealed to withdraw the general strike called on the NH 37 from April 7-9 and to hold the democratic movement by other means, it said.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/04/truckers-extend-support-to-kidnapped-girl/

Mind Matters

By Paonam Thoibi `It is quite common for adolescents having occasional mood swings, especially when they are nearing their periods. But if she shows unusual irritability and sadness or crying

By Paonam Thoibi
`It is quite common for adolescents having occasional mood swings, especially when they are nearing their periods. But if she shows unusual irritability and sadness or crying that becomes concerning`

Q: My daughter is in her eleventh class. She is normally an outgoing and jolly child but has become idle of late. She shows no interest in anything she used to do. I am scared if she is having depression. What are the warning signs and what do I do about it? Basanti, Sega Road.

Ans: Dear Reader, it is quite common for adolescents having occasional mood swings, especially when they are nearing their periods. But if she shows unusual irritability and sadness or crying that becomes concerning. This is one of the early signs that your teenager child is having depression. If there was anybody in the family who has had depression there are chances of her developing similar symptoms. Observe the change in grades, performances, friendship in school. Observe if they are talking less about their friends and showing no interest. See if she alone in her room or aloof from the rest of the family most of the time. You have already said she shows less interest in anything she used to do. Try to let her talk out and share her feelings. If this is difficult, please consult the counselor in school or a mental health professional to know what exactly she is going through.

Q: What is the best thing I can do as a friend for a person who is having mental illness? There is this friend of ours and he is showing weird behaviors since he was a kid. We don`™t know what his problem is and we are not able to talk about this freely to his parents too. But we know for sure that he is going to see a doctor quite often. -name withheld

Ans: Dear Reader, it must be difficult on your part to initiate a dialogue with your friend or his parents about his condition. You must be also feeling that there isn`™t much you can do about it. But let me tell you, there are a lot of good things you can do. To start off, you can try to build an environment that encourages him to open up. Changing how you act and speak to them can create a lot of difference. They are highly functional people who must be having areas which are not affected and they can perform in a conducive environment. Don`™t be quick to label them as `crazy`™, `insane`™, `stupid` etc. Treat people with mental illnesses with respect and dignity, just as you would anybody else. Most importantly, learn more about mental health to remove your doubts and share the facts with others too.

Q: Dear Madam, nowadays there are a lot of teenagers drinking alcohol. If people dread Drug addiction so much why do they have drugs? They use drugs making it look like drug addiction is a voluntary choice. Please comment. -Prahlad, Imphal West

Ans: Dear Reader, your observation is not wrong but it isn`™t right too. It is not true that all teenagers drink or do drugs. Even if the majority uses, there are still a percentage of youth who are not into it and are aware of its consequences. These very youngsters can influence others who are trapped in the habit and help them come out of it.

People do drink or experiment with a drug for a first time voluntarily even if they are pressured by peer and surrounding. Addiction however is not voluntary. Over time, abuse of alcohol or drugs can alter the body`™s biochemistry and result in addiction. For some persons, addiction happens immediately, for others the process can take longer. Each substance can cause different changes in the neurological circuit, but in general they seem to affect the “reward circuits” or “pleasure pathways,” the information pathways that tell the brain when something is pleasurable. The changes can make normal, pleasure-producing things seem less pleasurable, while reinforcing the need to use the addicting agent

Not everyone who takes drugs or drinks alcohol will become addicted. Genetics and environment together play a role in a person becoming addicted to drugs. There are risk factors which increase the chance for addiction just as there are for other diseases and disorders. They include the type of the drugs; which means that some substance can cause addiction faster. Other factors like genetics also play a huge role. For example, study reveals children of substance using parents are more vulnerable to drug addiction. The age of introduction to a drug is also critical. Earlier the exposure easier it is to become an addiction. The social environment where one thrives is also a factor. Any psychological condition like anxiety, depression, mood disorders, adjustment issues and conflicts also makes a person vulnerable. Children who have had a history of neglect, abuse (psychological, physical and/or sexual) and other traumatic experiences are at greater risk of developing addiction.
Readers are requested to send in their queries at mindmifp@gmail.com

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/04/mind-matters/

Perpetuating Deprivation

In 2010, India`™s constitutional reservation policy was scheduled to end. But it was always anybody`™s guess even before the date that this would not happen, and as at the end

In 2010, India`™s constitutional reservation policy was scheduled to end. But it was always anybody`™s guess even before the date that this would not happen, and as at the end of every decade since the constitution came into force making India a republic, the policy was extended again by an amendment of the constitution. This will probably continue at least till the foreseeable future, and in fact, there are now more communities demanding to be put within the reservation category, as we all know. When the constitution was first enacted, the policy was meant to last only 10 years, and it is significant that one of the founding fathers of the constitution was BR Ambedkar, who himself belonged a major community for which the reservation policy was thought necessary to offset the imbalances in capabilities to take advantage of the new republic`™s offerings and opportunities. But anticipations of all these leaders and constitutional scholars proved far too optimistic. Hence, after 10 years of independence, India found itself unable to do away with its policy of positive discrimination. After 20 years the same, so also 30 years and so on, and now as the nation approaches its 70th year of independence, it will not need any soothsayer to predict that the policy is not about to come to an end. In fact, the tendency has been for the number falling within the reserved category to rise, so much so that the Supreme Court took the initiative to put a ceiling of 50 on the permissible limit of reservation. It also advised, and not directed, for reservation only in entry into government jobs, and not in promotions after entry. The advice of course remains to this day only an advice.

First it was just the SC and ST, but now more and more are discovering themselves to be underprivileged, and not falsely too. There are only two implications to be drawn from the phenomenon. One, there is something seriously wrong with the country`™s social engineering projects. Two, and more probable, there is something seriously wrong with the nature of the reservation policy, even if the policy per se is still warranted by the ground reality. On this subsidiary issue of whether the reservation policy is still necessary, the answer will still have to be in the affirmative. It must however be said that things are improving a lot, especially in Northeastern states, including Manipur. Even in Manipur for instance, consider for instance the results of some of the competitive entrance examinations. More and more from the reserved categories are making it into the general category marks. Especially after the introduction of Other Backward Classes, OBC, this has become a rule. This is natural too. Students taught and tutored in the same schools and colleges, will ultimately come to be of the same standard of competitiveness. To think otherwise would be to walk into the controversial territories inherent racial differences theories. We do not. We believe in the primacy of nurture over nature at least in matters of intelligence quotients.

The continuance of the reservation policy has a more pertinent question. Why has such a generous policy not had the result envisaged, at least in other parts of the country? Outside of the Northeast, it does seem apparent that the reservation policy has not been able to end the reality of social and economic imbalances. This is also partly because within the underprivileged categories, the policy fosters another set of privileged and underprivileged, so that while the former within this subset monopolizes the fruits of the policy by and large, the latter continues to be marginalised. Almost 70 years later, the fortune of this doubly marginalised section has been perpetuated, so that removing the reservation policy still remains unrealistic. In decades ahead then, our recommendation would not be for the removal of the reservation policy altogether, but to reform it so that it becomes calibrated. At the individual level, it must be made a one time opportunity, so that a family whose bread earner (or earners) has availed the advantage to rise to a respectable social and income status must be declassified from the underprivileged category so that those genuinely disadvantaged within the same category can have their turn to uplift themselves and declassify from the category too. In short, a `creamy layer` principle, as in OBC, should be introduced to all reservation norms. If such a continual process of declassification were to be made a reality, at some point in the future, the reservation policy would become redundant on its own. But the biggest trouble would be, selective advantages once given away, always create vested interests, and any suggestion of reformation of the current status quo would also be opposed by such vested interests, often extremely politicized ones.

Leader Writer: Pradip Phanjoubam

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/04/perpetuating-deprivation/

Committee formed to push NCTE regulations

IMPHAL, April 6: A `Committee for implementation of NCTE Regulations 2014, Manipur” was constituted under the Chairmanship of the Education Minister on April 2 at 3 pm in the State

IMPHAL, April 6: A `Committee for implementation of NCTE Regulations 2014, Manipur” was constituted under the Chairmanship of the Education Minister on April 2 at 3 pm in the State Coordination Meeting to examine the new NCTE Regulations 2014 in detail in the context of the existing conditions of the Teacher Training Institutions/B.Ed Colleges in the State in terms of infrastructure, courses, etc. in respect of Teachers Training needs and submit recommendations that are considered necessary for the implementation of the new NCTE Regulations 2014 in the State of Manipur with the objective to study the problems, lacuna and other shortcomings faced by the Teacher Training Institutions or inconsistency with any clause or provision with reference to the new NCTE Regulations, 2014 along with any other issues, particularly relating to promotion and improvement of access, equity and quality in Teachers education in the State.

According to a release of the Secretariat of the Higher and Technical Education Department, after a comprehensive study of the new NCTE Regulation 2014 in the context of the existing B.Ed institutions, the committee will submit a detailed recommendation to the Government by April 30, so as to enable the Government to take all possible concrete action before the commencement of next Academic Session 2015-16.

The Committee will consists of Director, (University and Higher Education), Government of Manipur as Chairman, Director, (SCERT), Government of Manipur as Co -Chairman, Director, (Education/S), Government of Manipur as Member, Nominee of Vice Chancellor, Manipur University as Member, Principal, D.M. College Teacher Education as Member, Principal, R.K. Sanatombi, College of Teacher Education (Pvt.) as Member, OSD/CC, Ole of Hr Education, Govt. of Manipur as Member and Joint Secretary/Higher & Technical Education, Government of Manipur as Member/Secretary.

The terms of reference for the above Committee are, to Examine, study and analyze the new NCTE Regulations 2014 in the context of the existing Teacher Training Institutions/B.Ed Colleges in Manipur and submit its proposals and recommendations for implementation in the State, to Study the existing status, conditions and functioning of the Teacher Training Institutions/B.Ed Colleges in Manipur and submit its recommendations for their improvements for the purpose of implementing the new NCTE Regulations 2014 effectively in letter & spirit in Manipur, to Examine the need or requirement of establishment of a separate Council for Teachers Education as a Regulatory Body in the State in the context of the new NCTE Regulations 2014, to Study and examine the difficulties in implementation of the new NCTE Regulations 2014 in Manipur within the given timeframe and if there be any difficulty that constraint the Teacher Training Institutions/B.Ed Colleges in Manipur, submit its reports for examination and further necessary action of the State` Government, The Committee may study the need and criteria, if any, for establishment of new Teacher Training Institutions/B.Ed Colleges in the State for consideration of the State Government. No fresh NOC may be given unless recommended by this Committee and to Examine any other issue pertaining to Teacher Training Institutions/B.Ed Colleges in Manipur and cover all spheres of Teachers Education so as to improve them in the context of the new NCTE Regulations 2014 and its implementation in both letter and spirit, it said.

The Committee may co-opt any additional member as deemed necessary in the course of their work, it said.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/04/committee-formed-to-push-ncte-regulations/

After Assam, illegal influx raises hackles in Meghalaya, Manipur – Economic Times

After Assam, illegal influx raises hackles in Meghalaya, Manipur
Economic Times
In Manipur, NGOs have rejected the Manipur Regulation of Visitors, Tenants and Migrant Workers (MRVT & MW) Bill 2015, which was passed by the state assembly recently. MPP president N Sovakiran said, “We demand immediate withdrawal of the MRVT …

After Assam, illegal influx raises hackles in Meghalaya, Manipur
Economic Times
In Manipur, NGOs have rejected the Manipur Regulation of Visitors, Tenants and Migrant Workers (MRVT & MW) Bill 2015, which was passed by the state assembly recently. MPP president N Sovakiran said, "We demand immediate withdrawal of the MRVT …

Read more / Original news source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNELd5jJdrdg-fajyvM3iWFPRyRqUw&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=jIcjVeDQLsuv3AGa7ICoAQ&url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/after-assam-illegal-influx-raises-hackles-in-meghalaya-manipur/articleshow/46833252.cms