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04/22/2007: "Jamir hints at return to State politics Correspondent Nagaland Post"

Bid to promote Assam-Nagaland unity By A Staff Reporter Assam tribune
GUWAHATI, April 20 – The People’s Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam (PCPIA) and the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) today decided to work jointly to foster understanding and strengthen amity between the people of Assam and Nagaland. Addressing a joint press conference after a joint consultative meeting at the Swahid Nyas Bhawan here Chief Coordinator of the PCPIA Lachit Bordoloi and his colleagues Dilip Patgiri and Birinchi Neog and NPMHR secretary general Dr N Venuh and his colleagues Atoho Kiho and Elias T Lotha described today’s meeting as the beginning of a historic process.

They said that they would work for developing the people to people relations in the two States. Building mutual confidence among the people of both the States is what matters the most for them, they said. The PCPIA will send a delegation to Nagaland to further interact with other democratic organizations and civil society towards the end of May next in an effort to facilitate peace and harmony in the region.

Further, both the PCPIA and the NPMHR also decided to initiate the process of re-establishment of the traditional ties of friendship between the peoples of Assam and Nagaland. The initiative is being launched in the areas along the inter-state boundary between the two States, stated the PCPIA and NPMHR office-bearers. At the meeting both the organizations also decided to work in tandem to promote people-to-people dialogue in the region so as to facilitate the attainment of the hopes and aspirations of the people of both the States. In reply to a question, they said that border disputes between the two states were the creation of the governments and there might be some instigation on the part of the Central Government too in this matter.

PCPIA office-bearers observed that the Greater Nagalim demand was connected with one organization and in general, the people of Nagaland were not connected with it and it would be premature to comment on the demand at this juncture.
Referring to the demand, the NPMHR office-bearers said, “True Nagas will not speak that way.”

Both the organizations also expressed solidarity and support to the peace processes of Assam and Nagaland. The NPMHR leaders expressed support and solidarity to the on-going hunger strike of the six wives of the missing ULFA leaders and the PCPIA members. Both the organizations also called upon the Union Government to demonstrate humane attitude and show its sincerity to restore peace in Assam “by immediately listening to the voices of the people as expressed through the hunger strike.”
“If Nagaland and Assam become peaceful, peace will prevail in the entire NE region,” they observed.
Jamir hints at return to State politics Correspondent Nagaland Post
KOHIMA, APRIL 21(NPN): After Goa Governor Dr. SC Jamir's recent interview with a news magazine, speculations are doing the rounds that the former Congress veteran who has also the distinction of having served as the chief minister of Nagaland for four times, might come back to state politics. The latest issue of Eastern Panorama (EP), published from Shillong, which carried an exclusive face-to-face interview, quoted Dr. SC Jamir as saying "Yes, I am a governor yet I am a political animal and a politicians never retires. I cannot snap my political activities even though I am a governor."
Jamir's statement assumes significant as the assembly elections in Nagaland is slated for February 2008. Asked about the difference in functioning as chief minister and governor, Jamir said chief ministers are always confronted with problems of the state, but one "fine satisfaction" has always been that "whenever we are able to solve some difficult problem or been able to help somebody, at least, that happiness keeps us going. Everyday is an examination day for the chief ministers and when we cross the hurdle we are elated for the day."
"Being a governor is no doubt a dignified position. It is ceremonial and we do have our own limitations. Our main duty is to ensure that every state safeguards the Constitution of India. As politicians, whenever we speak in public gatherings, it becomes very exhilarating and acts like a tonic. But as a Governor, we need to speak in measured language. One has to tread most carefully," the former chief minister added. Asked what had actually gone wrong in the northeast during the last sixty years, the Goa Governor said "we cannot just blame the Government of India because immediately after achieving our freedom, the Government of India was completely engaged in healing the wounds caused on account of partition of the country. Even during the British regime this area was kept isolated. The leaders of mainland India had no opportunity to visit this area and so naturally it was like out of sight out of mind. We were neglected."
Jamir said in the intervening period, many issues had cropped up, some of which could have been resolved a long time back.
PM: Act as agents of change TIMES NEWS NETWORK

NEW DELHI: Unfolding the agenda for reforming the babudom, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said that in the era dominated by phenomenal economic growth citizens should be central to all government activities. Addressing the country's top bureaucrats after presenting the first-ever Awards of Excellence in Public Administration to two IAS officers,
Rajeev Chawla and R S Pandey, Singh said the years of economic reforms and strong growth impulses of the economy had changed the old notion of governance and bureaucracy.

"The government is no longer seen merely as a law enforcer or a controller of basic services and public goods; people expect the government to facilitate development," he said. Dropping clear hints that the babus would have to take a backseat in the new scheme of things, he said, "Civil servants have to shift from being controllers to facilitators and from being providers to enablers." Counselling them to reinvent themselves and adjust to the changed scenario, Singh said, "They need to master new technologies and new styles of functioning."

Dwelling on reforms in the administration, the PM said while for some people it meant a lesser role for the government in the country's affairs, it would actually imply allowing people to play a bigger role in decision making.

"I view the reform of government as a means of making citizens central to all government activities and reorganising government to effectively address the concerns of our people," he said.

Calling for an innovative approach to address the challenge of making the bureaucracy more efficient and result-oriented, the PM proposed introducing 'agents of change' who could work as catalysts for speeding up reforms in governance. He defined the 'agents' as "public-oriented personnel of outstanding calibre and would be strategically located to engineer reform”. Advocating changes in the government machinery and work-style and orientation of the officials, he called upon the civil servants to play an 'enlightened role' in bringing about this kind of transformation.
The awards were given to Rajeev Chawla, a secretary in the Karnataka government, and R S Pandey, who is the secretary in the Union steel ministry. The awards, which comprised a medal, scroll and cash of Rs 1 lakh, were given to them on the second Civil Service Day. Singh had announced the institution of the awards last year to acknowledge the outstanding and exemplary performance of civil servants.
Chawla, a 1987 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer, was chosen for the award for implementing 'Bhoomi', a computerised system for delivery, updating and safe storing of land records in Karnataka. A 1972 batch officer of the Nagaland cadre, 57-year old Pandey won the award for his initiative in enabling participation of the user community in the management of public institutions and services in the north-eastern state. Pandey was earlier chief secretary of Nagaland

A mixture of lies and mischief- Nagaland Post
A recent press statement of Imkong Imchen, Education Minister of the puppet Nagaland state wherein he said that spending more than rupees 71 lakhs from Nagaland fund for the students of Manipur state in the last HSLC and HSSE examinations was as per decision of the cabinet is not only baseless but ridiculous. He thinks that he is living on earth and others are on a fairy land. He is the Education Minister and what he put up in the cabinet is discussed in the cabinet.
If he had possessed integrity at cabinet member or for that matter, the Chief Minister he would have opposed even at the cost of his ministership for the rightful cause of his people. But he had thrown the sentiments of the Nagaland people into the dustbin and now he is trying to absolve himself from the criminal charges by giving Criss-cross explanations. But that will not work. Let us see how long he will be protected by the terrorists. In the same manner, T. Mannen, Commission Secretary of Nagaland state, the associate member of the Delimitation Commission of India is trying heart and soul to do what is dubiously unjust and discriminatory.
He is shuttling between Kohima and Delhi to influence the Indian and Delimitation authorities with whatever he can to fulfill his and his community's interests in selfish motives. But a time will come to reckon all these misdeeds. Again, V.K Nuh, general secretary of CNBC, the Baptist Christian Organization of the entire Naga areas, had recently invented another "Christian Principles" or a Baptist doctrine. In his press statement, recently, in relation to the current issue of delimitation exercise for assembly seats of Nagaland, he said that the Nagaland state Government's proposal to maintain 'status quo', whereby the rights and entitlements of someone are being enjoyed by others and the shares of someone are usurped by others, are the "Christian Principles" or Christian doctrines.
For instance, some Naga tribes have got one assembly seat for a population of a little more than twenty thousands only, whereas my Phom people have got one seat for a population of much more than forty thousands. Can such practice be justified by "Christian Principles" as maintained by V.K Nuh? If Nuh as a Christian leader cannot practice truth, justice, equality and kindness to downtrodden and backward people, then he should step down from the reverend post he holds so that people may practice true "Christian principles".
Also in the delimitation issue, some people are talking about "peace process which is actually untenable in the issue. There may be peace process between IK and GOI or NSCN (K) and GOI, but does in no way interfere in the delimitation process. Delimitation and peace process are quite different issues. They cannot be clubbed together for achieving someone's interests. Equal divisions of the segments of the Nagas for equal representation are most important matter even before or after the settlement of the Naga political problem. There should be no confusions. Namching Phom, Central Council Member, NSCN (K).
PWD Tamenglong not functioning but drawing crores: NSCN(IM) The Thangkul.com The Imphal Free Press
Tamenglong, Apr 20: The government has released a sum of Rs 1.20 crore to Public Works Department, PWD Tamenglong division last month on March 31 under non plan without the work order, said Lungchaibi Gonmei, convener of Zeilad Block Zeliangrong Region GPRN/NSCN(IM).

Last year in the month of March, the same department drew a sum of Rs. 1.60 crore without implementing any work in the district while the general public suffered and lagged behind in development, expressed the convener strongly condemning the department.

the department also drew in the name of Asing Kabui, special contractor, a sum of Rs. 1.20 crores under SPA scheme for filling pits on the road from Kaiphundai to Tousem by Dindai Joseph, executive engineer, Pantising assistant engineer, N Sarat Singh SO (computer) and Premchand SO. The convener said that they had demanded financial statement so many times and given warnings to them, but they remained silent till today.

The head of the department Dindai Joseph, executive engineer, Pantising assistant engineer, N Sarat Singh SO (computer) and Premchand SO had been absent since 2 to 3 years but instead of taking action against them the government again released the money, the convener said.

Meanwhile, on visiting the department, the staff said that the office was paralyzed. To take even a single signature of the head of the department they had to carry the file down to Imphal which created a lot of extra work and burden for them, the convenor said.

The social organizations, NGOs and other organizations should not remain silent while the department is misusing the developmental funds, said the convener urging all the social organizations, NGOs and other organizations to give cooperation to them while carrying out their work in the interest of Tamenglong district in particular.

Delimitation panel members to visit State Nagarealm.com
DIMAPUR, APRIL20 [NPN] : A three-member panel of the Delimitation Commission will visit Nagaland from April 25 to 27 to hold consultations with leaders of recognized political parties and representatives of tribal hohos and Naga Hoho on several issues relating to readjustment of Assembly constituencies (delimitation) in the State, at the Conference Hall, Police Officers' Mess, Chumukedima, Dimapur.

The Delimitation Commission members will include Dr. M. Sarangi, Deputy Election Commissioner (Delimitation)-cum-OSD to chairman, Delimitation Commission, Shangara Ram, secretary, and S. K. Mendiratta, legal advisor. During their three-day tour of Nagaland, the committee members will focus mainly on two issues -- allocation of seats for Assembly constituencies in various districts and composition of Assembly constituencies as per the guidelines of the Delimitation Commission in such a way as to maintain the integrity and compositeness of the various tribes, according to a release issued by T. N. Manen, State Election Commissioner & Ex-Officio Member, Delimitation Commission of India.

The Delimitation Commission members will discuss the above issues with the representatives of political parties on April 25 at 3:30 p.m. and representatives of tribal hohos and Naga Hoho on April 26 at 10 a.m. They will also hold talks with associate members on April 26 at 3 p.m. before leaving for Delhi on the morning of April 27. State Election Commissioner Manen has requested representatives of all tribal hohos, leaders of recognized political parties of the State and all the associate members to attend the meeting positively as per programme mentioned above. Only five representatives from each tribal hoho and Naga Hoho will be allowed to attend the meeting on April 26. The deputy commissioners of all the 11 districts will also attend the hearing representing their respective districts, Manen added.
Sun Rising in The East By Nirendra Dev Channel Times column
Mumbai, For long, eastern India has been designated as the laggard region in terms of adopting newer technologies including IT. But there has been a major change in the scenario during the last four-five years with the region making a bid to catch up with the rest of the nation.

In retrospect, it was only in the late seventies and eighties that militant trade unionism in the gateway state of West Bengal and administrative slackness in Bihar that kept corporate houses wary. The business establishments at various layers being the initial adopters of IT, the technology boom was only seen in hubs like Bangalore, Hyderabad and outskirts of Delhi like Gurgaon. Our interactions with partners reveal that these changes are owing to many factors. The principal factors among them being the shift in the government policy in West Bengal, change of government and a visibly improved official apparatus in Bihar.

Augmenting all these is the Prime Minister s look east policy. The response from the channel from across the region is that there has been change in the policies of almost all the state governments for the better. In other words, the ground feeling is that the government functionaries know that they can refine the welfare of the people through IT. Eastern India, comprising Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Bengal, Assam and seven other states, has been lately witnessing steady demand for IT products and infrastructure facilities like networking, not only from the respective state capitals but also from the upcountry markets.

Partners like Pawan Kumar Agarwal, Datamation in Guwahati finds tremendous growth in demands for PCs, printers besides the proliferation of notebooks and digital cameras. In fact, in some northeastern states there has been an overwhelming 100 percent growth and resellers are already talking about post-sales service, warranty replacement woes, etc. In Orissa, unlike earlier, all three key distributors Ingram Micro, Redington and Neoteric have established their offices and people no longer have to run to Kolkata for meeting various IT needs.

Resellers in Bhubaneshwar strongly voice their opinion about the varying prices for the same product. It creates confusion in the channel community and there is also a possibility that some vendors are overcharging resellers in this state, they complain. This is more detrimental as Bhubaneshwar is a major hub for Orissa and any such issue will harm the growth of the business for further penetration in the state. Among the products that are doing well in Orissa are laptops and camera phones. The brands that are strong in these two categories are Lenovo, HP, HCL and Samsung for laptops and Nokia, Sony for camera phones.

D-Link seems to be one of the preferred brands for networking although there are bigger players like Cisco as well. In the lesser known district town of Angul in central Orissa, the partners are able to push 40 desktops a month, the demand being mainly from the home and SOHO segments.

In effect, people see a general turn around in the attitude and as a result vendors are also pumping in money with greater emphasis on hunting for prospective partners. However, there are certain inherent issues which ought to be studied in their totality. Recently in Meghalaya's capital Shillong, partners could not capitalize on a Rs 1.5 crore project for a microprocessor based traffic signal system as the order was passed on to Webel Mediatronics, a company owned by the West Bengal Government. The biggest dampener is the payment cycle, and ironically the smaller the states are the more is the trouble. Some states in the region like Nagaland or Manipur are perennially in financial crisis since 1990 when the government of India brought in a significant change in funding pattern following Ninth Pay Commission report. "With the government of Nagaland it is in terms of Rs 10 lakh and pending for years as the state is never out of financial crisis," laments Guwahati-based Mukesh Singh of Anku Computers.

True, the channel cannot do much about it. But the industry and the government coming together can help tackle these issues and use the opportunity for greater IT penetration both for improving the quality of life by enhanced e-governance initiative as well as making fast buck by the vendors. Enhanced focus from vendors on this region can enable the cities and smaller towns here to develop their own market and win new and retain existing customers. And I do see things already moving in that direction. Under the Prime Minister s Office Look East policy the government is encouraging greater IT penetration under various schemes under North Eastern Council (NEC) and also eyeing to foster better working relations with southeast Asian countries.

Vendors are also moving in, even as I see partners and small time sub-distributors trying to leverage the opportunity by doing among other things, plunging into tie ups with channel partners in larger cities like Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. As the traditional phrase goes, there is truly a goldmine.
PM asks civil servants to be sensitive to minorities Indian Catholic
NEW DELHI (ICNS): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday asked the bureaucrats to be sensitive to the concerns of minorities and other weaker sections, while assuring that his government will ensure that women and minorities are properly represented in the Government
Addressing the 2nd Civil Services Day, Dr Singh said, “As a Government committed to appropriate affirmative action for all disadvantaged sections, we will ensure that Constitutional commitments are fulfilled and that women and minorities in particular are properly represented at all levels in Government.”

He said the civil servants “should be particularly sensitive to the concerns of weaker sections, particularly scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, minorities and women and children. As more and more women join our civil services, we must pay special attention to improving work practices and administrative procedures which take into account their special problems involving twin roles as active members of the labour force as well as home makers.”

The Prime Minister said the challenge “before us is to change the role of civil servants in society, without diluting quality and commitment to national goals and concern for standards and retaining the regard of society.”

He said the All India Services in particular, have to preserve their "all India" character. “They need to carry grassroots experience to the Centre and a national perspective to the States. They need to play a unifying role even while serving in states,” he said.

“Nothing should be done to erode the cohesion of our country. In an era when our polity is getting increasingly fragmented, the responsibility on the All India Services of maintaining a national outlook has definitely increased and not diminished,” Dr Singh said.

In a globalised world that demands better services and government response, “people expect the Government to facilitate growth and development.” In this context, Dr Singh said, “civil servants have to shift from being controllers to facilitators and from being providers to enablers.”

He said the government will make it easier “for the honest and motivated among you to be duly recognised and rewarded while the dishonest are punished.” The government has already brought out major changes in Performance Appraisal formats for officers.

Dr Singh also gave away the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration to Rajiv Chawla, secretary, e-governance, Karnataka and RS Pandey, secretary, Ministry of Steel, Government of India and former Chief Secretary of Nagaland.
India, China discuss contentious border issue at 10th round of talks The Morung Express
New Delhi, April 21 (Agencies): India and China began another round of talks to resolve their decades-old border dispute, an official said. India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometers (15,200 square miles) of its territory in Kashmir, while Beijing claims 90,000 square kilometers of Arunachal Pradesh.
This is the 10th round of talks between the two sides since India and China appointed special representatives in 2003 to speed up a resolution to the boundary dispute, a legacy of their brief but bitter 1962 conflict. A formal ceasefire line was never established after the 1962, but the border has remained mostly peaceful after agreements were signed in 1993 and 1996. The Indian delegation at the talks was led by National Security Advisor M.K.Narayanan while China’s Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo headed Beijing’s team, said an Indian Foreign Ministry official who wished to remain unnamed.
“The preliminary discussions (on Friday) will be followed by another round of talks Saturday in Ooty,” the official said Friday referring to a popular holiday resort in southern Tamil Nadu province. In April 2005, India and China signed an agreement setting out the “guiding principles” to arrive at a border settlement pact. During a visit to New Delhi in November, Chinese President Hu Jintao said both sides would accord priority to resolving the border row.
Diplomatic ties between the two economic rivals have increased in recent years with the exchange of many bilateral visits and two-way trade touching two billion dollars a month, India’s trade minister Kamal Nath told reporters in New Delhi on Friday. Sources said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh plans to visit China this year.