Manipur News

IMPHAL, Sept 29: A teenage boy was killed and another injured when an oil tanker reportedly knocked them down this morning along NH-102 Imphal-Dimapur road. Reports said that the incident took place around 11.30 am at Chumreithong near NRL oil pump Mantripukhri, under Heingang police station, Imphal East district. The deceased victim has been identified as one Anish Ali, 12, son of Azad Ali of Muslim colony Mantripukhri. Anish was riding a bicycle with one of his friend identified as Kuku, 12, son of Aktar Bask when the incident took place. While Kuku is currently undergoing treatment at Raj Medicity, the lifeless body of Anish has been handed over to his family after post mortem.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/speeding-truck-kills-boy/

IMPHAL, September 29: Reports of alleged irregularity have surfaced in the recruitment process of lecturer posts in the Hindi department of Manipur University, one of the premier Universities in the region recently converted into central university.

According to reliable sources, as per the advertisement published by the university on January 22, 2008, applicants from across the country applied for the posts of faculty member including professor, lecturer, reader, lying vacant.

In this regards deans of schools of studies and local members of the executive council also set up guidelines for short-listing applications to be called for interview for teaching positions in the university.

Subsequently, four posts of faculty members including a professor and a reader were recruited as per the Guidelines.

However, it is learnt that of the total recruits two candidates allegedly skipped some of the guidelines. The recruited post included a professor and reader.

The sources further revealed that the candidate selected for the post of professor hails from Uttar Pradesh. In his application submitted to the University the candidate (professor) in an unconventional manner attached his credentials and additional remarks with the form roughly in writings.

In his academic, employment and professional column in the form, he also reportedly mentioned to be an editor of a magazine named `Dalit Jan Udbodh`™ however there was no mentioned of his tenure. Besides, he also attached list of his research and articles published, roughly in written form.

In the meantime, the candidate appointed for the post of reader during the time of the submission of his application was a Government employee nevertheless he failed to attach a no objection certificate (NOC) from the concerned authority he was working with.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/mu-appointment-of-hindi-lecturers-draw-flakes/

LAMKA, September 29: Thangam Kamba alias Punsi, a self-style Lt Colonel of KCP (Taibang Nganba), who is also the army chief of the SoO group, was declared brought death by the authority of Churachandpur District Hospital on September 27 evening.

Kamba was staying at the designated camp inside 7 AR of HQ Veng, Churachandpur. According to sources, saliva foam and blood was oozing out from Kamba`™s mouth and nose when he was brought to the hospital.

A case of unnatural death has been registered by the Churachandpur police in this regard. Exact cause of the death could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report, while Kamba`™s body has been handed over to the family members on September 28 after post mortem.

Sources further recalled that Kamba went jogging with one of his colleagues on the 27 morning at New Bazar area. Kamba somehow vanished from the area and was later found in an unconscious state at a waiting shed.

The sources continued that Kamba`™s colleagues brought his body from the bazar area at around 9 am, adding that police was informed after four hours`™ time. They later took him to the district hospital, but by then Kamba failed to respond to medical intervention.

Further, the sources maintained that Kamba has been with the party for the last 10 years. He is son of Th Thoiba of Koirengei.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/kcp-leader-dies-under-mysterious-circumstance/

IMPHAL, September 29: The minimum and maximum wages of employees working under the private sector in Manipur should be set and they should not be underpaid, stated Chief Minister O Ibobi.

He was delivering a speech as the chief guest in the skill development workshop organised by the State labour & employment department today at the Sangai Hall in Hotel Imphal. The workshop was also attended by State Labour & Employment minister I Hemochandra Singh as the president and Addl. Chief Secretary Nikhilesh Jha and National Skill Development Agency director general JP Rai as guests of honour.

The CM in his speech said that he was glad to be a part of the first and biggest Skill Development workshop ever in Manipur organised by the State labour & employment department.

He also expressed his optimism that the NSDA would extend support to the educated unemployed youths of the State.

Further stating that during his last visit to Delhi, he came across many students of Manipur who had completed their studies but were still confused of what to do next. He however ruminated that this might be the issue faced in other parts of the country too.

Ibobi said that in his various tours across many countries including Japan and China he enquired from officials of those countries about their national average employment statistics.

The current unemployment rate in China is surprisingly less than 4% and if the youths of China are not hesitant about working in rural area, the unemployment in China could be below 2%, he said he was told.

Veering to a different topic, the CM said until the new Land Requisition Act and Forest & Environment Clearance are not modified projects related to Hydel Power cannot be initiated.

The Government has difficulties in addressing the unemployment problem in the State, the CM said, adding that the Government is working on a war footing to address the problem.

Expressing optimism that the skill development workshop will help impart employment to the youths of the State in various sectors, Ibobi stressed that it was next to impossible to provide white collar jobs to all.

Highly paid officials are not punctual while coming to office and many of the officers utilised their working hours to pursue personal businesses and commitments, the CM lamented.

In the Public Works Department alone, around 3000 labourers are engaged in contractual work, and despite the workers failing to do their duties, they demand regular wages, he said, adding that the same category of people works for the Imphal Municipal Council.

ICM has a similar problem, the employees are more interested in staging dharnas demanding salaries commensurate with what the six pay commission has fixed, he added.

`Everybody in the State lacks a work culture including myself,` the CM said drawing a huge round of applause from the audience.

Narrating that even though privatisation of the State Electricity department has made the officers more efficient, the CM in good humour said that resignation letters of those officers who are adept at not attending office have also piled up.

Biometrics system will be installed in all the departments of the State to regulate the attendance of the government employees, the CM stressed urging people in the State to fast develop a work culture. Ibobi implored private entrepreneurs to refrain from underpaying their employees and exploiting them.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/biometrics-attendance-recorders-in-govt-offices-meant-to-bring-back-work-culture-says-cm/

IMPHAL, September 29: A 24 hour general strike has been called from 6 pm of September 30 by the schedule caste students in and around SC populated areas. The strike has been called against the failure of the State government to issue scholarship money to the SC students for the last three years.

A sit-in protest was organised today in this regard at IbudhouNao-Hallao temple area of Kakching Bazar. Students, meira paibees and women vendors of Kakching Bazar took part in the protest.

Later a committee was formed to further their demand and to launch various movements with Sana Devi as president, while general secretary of Kha Manipur College, M Pravinkumar as co-convener.

Pravinkumar, speaking to the media said that the government of Manipur has not issued scholarship money for the last three years. He continued that the total amount of the pending scholarship money would be around Rs. 10 crores.

He further said that repeated appeals had been made to the Chief Minister and deputy CM, but there has been no response till today, adding that the government has been discriminatory towards SC students.

The strike has been called because of the government`™s failure to listen to the rightful demand of the SC students, he added. Religious ceremonies, essential services including water supply, electricity and health, along with media will be, however, exempted from the strike.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/sc-students-call-24hour-bandh-to-protest-non-release-of-scholarship-money/

IMPHAL, September 29: Yumnam Thambou, the candidate of the Manipur Pradesh Trinamool Congress has been rejected from contesting the Hiyanglam bye-election.

According to an official notification from Kakching SDC Th Chitaranjeet, the returning officer designate in the bye-poll, Yumnam Thambou, the candidate of the MPTC has been rejected after the thorough scrutiny of all the nomination papers today.

Consequently, only five candidates now remain in the fray for the Hiyanglam bye-election on October 17.

the returning officer held the screening today at the DRDA conference hall of Thoubal DC office.

The five candidates still remainint in the fray are, AITC candidate, Yumnam Radheshyam, INC candidate, Elangbam Dwijamani, BJP candidate, M. Dhanabir, MPP candidate, M. Amutomba and MSCP candidate, Th. Laiba.

The withdrawal of the nomination will be held on October 1.

The election will be held on October 17 and the counting of the votes will be held on October 20.

All 34 polling stations of the constituency has been declared hyper sensitive. The least number of voters is polling station 38/34, Thounaojam (SW). The polling station has a total of 406 voters, out of which 206 are male voters and 200 are female. And the P/S with most voters is 38/13 Lamjao Girls LP School.

The P/S has a total of 1140 voters with 562 male vote and 578 female voters.

Briefing media persons at the party office in Moirangkhom after the scrutiny of the candidates, MPTCC president Thounaojam Shyamkumar said the confusion created in the minds of the people of the State, especially the people of Hiyanglam Assembly Constituency regarding the two group of the Trinamool Congress has been cleared beyond doubt by the returning officer.

The Kh Joykisan led MPTC has failed to field a candidate in the Hiyanglam bye-poll after the rejection of their candidate, he said appealing the people of Hiyanglam to elect Dr Yumnam Radheshyam contesting the election on an AITC ticket now that the confusion has gone.

MPTCC legislator Dr I Ibohalbi said: `Today, the returning officer has on his own discretion determined the genuine AITC candidate during the scrutiny of the nomination papers. The party will now intensify its election campaign being fought on the agenda of saving the territorial integrity of the state and enacting a law for implementation of ILP.`

Now, the party will take any positive actions in public interests and will refrain from washing the dirty linens of any other political party as we will only concentrate on retaining the Hiyanglam AC seat, he added.

AITC candidate Dr Yumnam Radheshyam said that he joined the MPTCC after finding out which party was the genuine Trinamool Congress.

Even if theTrinamool Congress is splintered into two separate groups in the State, the real party has now been identified by the Election commission during the scrutiny, he added.

Meanwhile, the Manipur Pradesh Trinamool Congress led by Kh Joykisan called a press meet at the Manipur Press Club regarding the rejection of their candidate Yumnam Thambou Singh from the Hiyanglam bye-poll.

The counsel of the MPTC, Aribam Gautam Sharma said that the rejection of the MPTC is a violation of the order by the civil judge (junior division) court Imphal to maintain the status quo.

The returning officer of the Hiyanglam bye-poll gave only two reasons for rejecting the MPTC candidate. The first being that MPTC is not included in the Manipur gazetted notification under ECI and the second being the non inclusion of the party in the website for Form A authorised by Mukul Roy, Gautam Sharma added.

`The returning officer has erroneously rejected the MPTC candidate from contesting the bye-poll, so we will go to an appropriate forum to raise a case against this gross violation of a court order`, the MPTC counsel said.

Meanwhile, Manipur State Congress Party candidate Thokchom Laiba survived a scare and was allowed to contest in the bye-election even though the party had claimed to have merged with the Indian National Congress with five of all its MLAs.

The party now is recognized with Adim Pamei as the president.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/returning-officer-rejects-mptc-candidate-only-five-of-six-candidates-still-in-byepoll-fray/

IMPHAL, September 29: The Manipur Students`™ Association Delhi has said that September 30 has been observed as Irabot Day in Manipur by various organisations as he was a pioneer in various fields.

According to a release of MASAD, the objectives of organising the Irabot Day Observation was to express their respect for Irabot and the roles he had played, and to have discussion on the messages that Irabot conveyed to the people.

MASAD has further said that the association wanted to discuss the direction of the political economy of Manipur, the forms of oppression and contradiction created by the political economy, whether the condition of the state of Manipur call for a new revolution, the leadership of the revolution and the requirement needed for it and in what direction the revolution will take.

It also said that Irabot has conveyed that since the negative and positive conditions in the society are the products of the political economy, the growth of every individual can improve the conditions as no individuals can escape from the political structure, to uproot those who benefit by keeping the condition of the society underdeveloped and that democratic movement by the people is essential for the development of the society, it said.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/msad-to-observe-irabot-day/