Category: News

IMPHAL June 9:  Due to present conflict situations, mental illness has been on the rise in the state and the matter need to be discussed in length.
This was disclosed by Dr. Abdul Bary of the Manipur State Mental Health Authority today at one day awareness campaign on mental health held at Kamong Meisnam Leikai which was organized by the Nupi Agang Yaipha Lup under the sponsorship of the Manipur State Mental Health Authority (MSMHA).
Dr. Abdul Bary was one of the resource person at the campaign.
He further said that various mental problems were found by the doctors in the state. Among them depression illness and panic or disorder are some of the main mental disease. Such illness of depression are mostly created by the lost of property, divorce etc.
Person with mental illness needed treatment as earliest as possible because this illness sometimes led to committing suicide due to high depression.
He further said that depression illness, panic and disorder illness were created in the state mostly due to conflict issue and family matter as well from friend’s circles.
He further mentioned that to give awareness on mental health, the state government had launch this campaign from 2008 and still gives awareness to villages.
He also appealed the villager of Kamong to consult medical practitioner and give immediate treatment whenever any villager are found having mental disorder.
M Shakhi Devi, vice president of the All Manipur Nupi Marup, who attended as chief guest also disclosed that prevailing conflict situation in the state is one main factor for developing mental disorder.
She further appeal the Manipur State Mental Health Authority to organise more awareness campaign like the one organised today at Kamong.
During the awareness campaign, Kh. Imoba Singh resource person MSMHA, Kamong GP Pradhan A. Kunjamala and Working Women Forum Manipur Y Indramani Devi also attended.

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By N. Arunkumar
Laika, the first living creature who was sent to space on November 3, 1957, had actually died it seems, soon after the launch of the Sputnik 2, Russia`s manned space ship, to go one notch up on its rival of those days , the USA. Unfortunately, Laika was a scapegoat, a guinea pig, as the jargon goes, for specimens used for laboratory experiments to test something new on a living creature, in the name of scientific progress.

Laika was a street dog, a mongrel that was picked up from the streets of Moscow, in order to be sent on that ground-breaking mission to space. Of course the poor mongrel clearly did not know what was going to be her fate, or even what the whole thing was about that was being secretly put in place by the Russian scientists.

In that rigid Communist regime of the erstwhile USSR, it was impossible for anyone to question or even enquire about the activities of the highly secretive and often ruthless machinations of the coterie holding the reins of power in their politburo. Had there been a pressure group to speak up for the ethical treatment of animals, the story would perhaps have been different and Laika would have lived an average dog`s life.

In fact, one scientist involved in that path – breaking mission, had declared that it was not worth having sent the poor mongrel to its terrifying end, as they had hardly learnt anything significant from that experiment, according to his own admission. The craft had eventually crashed into the ocean floor after a while.

The poor dog had died within five to seven hours of the launch, though the regime withheld that truth till much later. The people were however given to believe that Laika had lived in space for many days, instead of hours, as news was never told in truth from behind the Iron Curtains of the regime. The poor dog invokes a tear in those who care to read the real story of the fate of the creature, available all over the Internet today.

There are detailed accounts of how she was prepared for the mission and trained to endure the stress of space travel, though the scientists knew that they were sending her to her wretched end all the time. Mans singular aim to realize a majestic scientific accomplishment took priority over other noble human values, in the case of this dog. The poor street dog had only wanted a loving home and affection from her handlers, and perhaps she had felt secure under their watchful eyes and the special treatments that were being showered upon her in the build up to the last days before the mission, after she was snatched from the streets of Moscow.

There is a particular picture of the poor creature sitting in her capsule inside the Sputnik 2, looking helplessly and almost crying out for some sympathy from her handlers, who had left her in the capsule to be sent to space. That picture refuses to leave my mind even at this moment as I try to feel like her, sitting in that death row. A dog was about to be sacrificed at the altar of science and quest for supremacy over a rival nation, equally ruthless in its quest for doing one better than the other.

A monument has been erected in Moscow by the Russians now, as a memorial to the sacrificed little dog, Laika. The language of love, which all mankind professes as the only solution to achieve a peaceful world and happiness for all, is more or less all the time put under the butcher`s knife relentlessly. You might wonder why I should be musing over the death of a mere dog, who had been instrumental in mans pursuit for scientific knowledge.

It is of course insignificant to many who have no element of compassion for our speechless friends from the world of the animals of less important faculties. But, the simple fact is that they are also creatures, who have needs and fears just like us superior humans.

Man has forever been a major threat to weaker animals, and it would not be out of place to mention here that more often than not, he is even prone to be wilder than the wild animals roaming in the jungles of the world. Man has pitted himself against monster beasts, using his feeble body but far superior powers of thought and action.

But, Laika, my dear girl, you will forever be remembered and cherished as the brave girl who went ahead in your journey to death, and I take solace in thinking that you went away from our midst, nearer to God who treasures you now in his garden of everlasting joy. You will always remain alive in our memories Laika, my dear brave girl.

I heard your last bark that was recorded before you went silent eternally. Your terrified bark will forever travel in the waves of eternal time as a message to those who sent you up, as a bark to the horrors of being men. However, we pray that you are resting in peace, nearer to the creator who loved you more than us. I console myself by these self delusions.

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IMPHAL, June 15: Decrying the land acquisition of Kabo Leikai located under the Wangkhei assembly constituency in connection with the expansion of the Hotel Imphal into a 5 star hotel, the All Manipur Christian Organisation (AMCO) organized a press conference at the Manipur Press Club this afternoon and demanding the government to shift the construction to another location which will not affect the general public.

Speaking to media persons at the press club president AMCO Rev. S. Prim Vaiphei has termed the land acquisition notice served to the inhabitants of Kabo Leikai in North AOC area in Imphal East district as “discriminatory” and “undemocratic” and has appealed to the Governor of Manipur to issue immediate order for its withdrawal.

He has further stated that the state government has set apart the areas which are adjacent to hotel Imphal such as MPSC, Government Oil Depot and Tourism Directorate Office and instead are attempting to take over the land of the poor people residing at Kabo Leikai.

Such action of the government is amounting to discrimination and also a direct confrontation to secularism, he added.

He further mocked the Christian MLAs accusing them of trying to convert Christian churches into a luxury hotel and added that Christian MLAs have forgotten their election promises and the oath taken in the name of God to do work for justice enshrined in the Constitution of India.

The constitution of India protects the rights of the Christian minority, but here in Manipur such rights have come under tremendous threat from the government, it said, and has pledged that it will continue to strive for well being, communal harmony, peace and co-existence in the state.

One resident of the area who identified herself as Bina present during the press conference also said that the Kabo village located under the assembly constituency of Wangkhei has around 300 voters with 50 houses. And the total area is about 1.50 acre.

She further said that the village is settled by nine different communities since a very long time back.

She also added, “We do not want money, we love our land”. “We are unwilling to receive the said compensation of the government for the land and properties and we will fight until we die”, she added.

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IMPHAL, June 17: Desperate evicted families of Lamphel Yaipha Leikai stayed in the Lamphel Police custody briefly after their temporary sheds and shelters were yet again evicted by the Police.

A team of the Lamphel police as a part of their continued drive of eviction today ransacked the temporary makeshift sheds and shelters this evening around 3 pm, put up at the road side between the Lamphel Employment Exchange office and office of the Chief Electoral Officer by the affected individuals of the eviction that was carried out on June 6 at Lamphel Yaipha Leikai.

About 10 individuals including two children forcefully climb on board the Police vehicle contending that they have no more shelters due to the further eviction of their only sheds and shelters.

After staying in custody of the police for a brief period the displaced residents later walk away from the police station late in the evening.

The police were compelled to take the aggrieved residents along with them till the police station following their adamant act.

The displaced residents have been putting up temporary sheds and shelters in the area since the eviction. Moreover they were left in the agitating mood for only 14 houses were affected by the eviction leaving behind some houses nearby.

In the meantime, even as the concerned MLA offered a place at the vicinity of Lamphel for relocating the displaced residents the offer however was rejected by the residents owing to the lack of security over the land and the unfavorable condition for habitation.

It has been reported that the alternative relocation is a marshy area at the same time temporary for three months only.

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IMPHAL, June 23: The state government has notified the list of candidates found eligible for the interview as per recruitment rules for the post of Graduate teachers to be recruited under the Rastriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan (RMSA).

The list of candidates found eligible for the posts and the marks obtained by them on the basis of academic performances are being uploaded at the website www.manipur.gov.in.

The government has notified recruitment for 536 posts of Graduate teachers under RMSA which include 201 posts of Arts, 134 posts of Science, 67 posts of Mathematics, 67 posts of English and 67 posts of language Graduate teachers.

The RMSA recieved 13378 applications forms out of which only 3059 candidates have been found eligible for the interview as per recruitment rules, said a government notification adding the interview will carry only five (5) marks weightage.

The government notification also said any candidate who wants to raise any claim or objection on the marks obtained should submit application in writing enclosing documentary proof of the claim on or before 5pm of June 30. All such application shall be addressed to the additional state project director, RMSA office, Babupara, Imphal.

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The news item that Hollywood movies are making their way back in the cinema theatres in Imphal came as a pleasant surprise. After more than a decade of their abrupt withdrawal from the state cinema together with Bollywood movies following a ban on the latter by the underground Revolutionary People’s Front, RPF, the pleasurable tradition of going for these movies in Imphal’s then growing number of movie theatres had begun to seem like a distant memory. It may be recalled, the RPF had banned Hindi film saying they are a dangerous tool for advancing culture hegemony from mainland India in the immediate wake of the killing of one of their top leaders, allegedly in custody by the security forces towards the end of the 1990s. The story at the time was, national film distributors, probably under covert official pressures, had set the condition to Imphal movie theatres that if they did not screen Hindi movies, they would not be entitled to have English movies either. In the end, both were dropped and movie theatres in the state had to find other means of survival.

Thankfully, this was the time the digital age was not only burgeoning but as is the case with all modern technology, becoming cheaper by the day. Understandably the vacuum left by the sudden withdrawal of Hindi and English movies created a stir in the fledgling Manipuri film industry, and had it not been for the much cheaper and easier digital technology available, the vacuum perhaps never would have been filled. This is not to say it has been filled completely or adequately, but the fact is, it was not left a complete vacuum. Something good did come out of the bad situation. The necessity of the moment pulled the tottering Manipuri film industry up and forced it to stand on its own legs. A new crop of enterprising and talented young film makers came forward to take on the mantle from their forerunners who worked on the celluloid medium. While the former managed to bring out movies at the rate of at the most one every two or three years, their inheritors the digital film makers of today, especially the commercial oriented ones who are interested only in using well established formula melodramas, bring out several each every year. In the absence of competitors from infinitely bigger, richer, resourceful and experienced film makers from the giant industries of Hollywood and Bollywood, they had the entire field to themselves to experiment and also not be mauled into total submission by flops, therefore not be afraid to experiment further. They also helped at least a good percentage of the cinemas theatres to sustain their businesses. At the time of the withdrawal of Hollywood and Bollywood films, there were 11 theatres in Imphal city alone. Some are still very much around, but some others have had to convert their infrastructure to other more sustainable businesses.

We do hope that screening of the Hollywood film “Fast and Furious” at Usha Cinema last Friday is the beginning of a new era of openness in the state. Though movie fans did continue to still see Hindi and English releases on private video facilities and TV, seeing them in the theatre is an altogether different experience. We also hope theatre owners would also take the necessary steps to upgrade their theatres to make them fit for the new age films made on radically transformed technological platform. To underscore the point, what is more important is the atmosphere of openness and freedom which only can guarantee the foundation on which good art can grow. Manipuri film industry benefitted from the decade long hiatus of films from outside, but now it certainly has its own legs and should face no danger of being pushed away into insignificance by the formers’ re-entry. The pressure of having to live up to a higher standard should also do the home industry good in the long run, provided the people behind the enterprise are ready to meet the new challenge. We are confident and optimistic they would be able to do this with courageous aplomb, for they have indeed carved out an unmistakable niche for themselves amongst theatre goers in the state. This confidence is writ large in the large hoardings at vantage positions all over the Imphal city. The same confidence is also equally evident in the gleams on the faces of the Manipur film industry’s ever growing number of star actors and actresses.

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