THE SHILLONG TIMES, SHILLONG, SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017
Truckers block NH-44E...
(Contd from P-1) In a memorandum submitted to Kropha on Friday, General Secretary of the union D. Sun said the order has
created in convenience for coal traders in
Maweit and Nongstoin.
Sun said the two weighbridges at
Mawpun and Domprut are not functioning
properly.
KAS renews demand...
(Contd from P-1) to remove Khasi (MIL) the rules to ensure that officers and public
as a compulsory paper was in fact a shadow use Khasi language for official purposes,"
cast upon the Khasi Language which has he said and added that inclusion of the lanweakened its essence," D.R.L Nonglait, guage in the Eighth Schedule is being depresident of the Khasi Authors' Society (KAS), told The
Shillong Times on Friday.
Stating that Khasi MIL was
made compulsory for degree
courses by NEHU, Nonglait
wondered why the language
cannot be made compulsory
at the higher secondary level.
Want of recognition
Another hurdle faced by
the Khasi language is in the
aspect of recognition by the Members of Khasi Authors' Society and others take
government. "The state govpart in the rally on Friday. (UB)
ernment had in May 2005
published a notification in which Khasi and manded for the past 30 years.
Garo were made the associate official lanHe asserted that the representatives of
guages but till date it has not been imple- the state should have discussed and urged
mented uniformly in the state government the Centre to include Khasi language when
there was a debate during the inclusion of
departments," Nonglait said.
"Khasi is a rich and expansive language Nepali, Bodo and Manipuri in the Eighth
which has its own eminence but it has lost Schedule. He expressed concern that till
its sheen with the changing times," he date, the representatives did not demand
added.
the Central government to come up with a
Meanwhile, the rally, which started from Bill to incorporate the Khasi language in
the community hall of Jaiaw Dorbar Shnong the Eighth Schedule.
and culminated at Students' Field, Jaiaw,
"This is a matter that has been taken
served as an instrument to create public lightly by the representatives and we feel
awareness on the importance of Khasi lan- that it has weakened the spirit of love for
the language," he added.
guage.
He observed that there is a threat to the
On the occasion, the members of KAS
and other organisations called upon the Khasi language as the people in urban arstate government and elected representa- eas do not express their love for the lantives to seriously take up the issue of guage by speaking it among themselves but
choose instead to speak in English.
strengthening the language.
However, Nonglait stated that KAS does
Nonglait recalled that United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organi- not oppose anyone speaking in English and
zation (UNESCO) once placed the Khasi encouraged the people to learn other lanlanguage on the list of endangered lan- guages as well, but encouraged them to
guages.
speak in Khasi in the family and in society.
UNESCO has withdrawn the language
He informed that there are many writers
from its Atlas of the World's Languages in in Khasi with as many as 71 registered with
Danger, yet he felt that the language will the KAS. Earlier, Nonglait presented a gist
of the demands from various speakers durbe endangered in the years to come.
Need for political will
ing the gathering at Students' Field.
Nonglait urged the state government to
He said, "The speakers have demanded
use Khasi language uniformly. "The rules the setting up of Khasi Sahitya Sabha, to
framed by the state government in relation include the Khasi language in the Eighth
to the associate official language are very Schedule and to renew the demand to make
weak. The government should strengthen Khasi (MIL) compulsory for class XII."
PN Syiem opposes...
(Contd from P-1) adding that there is no
harm in allowing mine owners to carry out
operations as long as they adhere to safety
norms.
He stated that the Government should
come up with a clear policy so that anyone
who mines coal can follow the regulations
to avoid damaging the environment.
(TEN)
Aadhaar alternative...
(Contd from P-1) The enrolment for Aadhaar in Meghalaya was halted following protests from several quarters.
However, the process will start in East Khasi Hills from
this month.
"Under the scheme, which took off on May 1, 2016, we
had a target of providing LPG connections to 5 crore BPL
women within three years. In the first year the target was
1.5 crore," Pradhan said.
The scheme has already covered 2 crore households
below poverty line.
The minister said apart from LPG connections under
the Ujjwala scheme, around 1.25 crore connections were
provided to households living above the poverty line.
Pradhan added that around 4,600 new LPG distributors
have been recruited under PMUY.
The scheme has become more popular in tribal areas
since the poor were using firewood, which affects both
humans and the environment, he said.
HC upholds Champion...
(Contd from P-1) assisted by Philemon Nongbri, counsel
for the prosecution were also present in the Court.
It was on July 30, 2012 that Champion was arrested
from an area under Pynursla in Indo-Bangladesh border.
Legal notice to police
Meanwhile, Dey said that as per the request of his client, he may send a legal notice to the assistant Inspector
General of Police G. K Iangrai for providing a 'vague' list of
cases pending against Champion.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked the concerned
authorities to provide the list of cases against Champion.
"The list provided by the official is not clear, hence we
may issue a legal notice to him," Dey said.
Pressure groups...
(Contd from P-1) The HYC leader pointed out that "if states
like Assam and Kerala can make Assamese and Malayalam compulsory in their respective states, why can't Meghalaya do the same."
Echoing similar views, Khasi Students' Union (KSU)
CEC member Trulywell Lyngdoh announced that the Union has decided to use Khasi language for any official
communication with the government.
The JSU also extended support to the decision.
BSF DG pledges...
(Contd from P-3) DG BSF emphasising on fitness and
health participated himself in a yoga session with officers
and Jawans.
While addressing the officers and Jawans, he motivated
them to adopt new financial schemes and to spread financial
literacy in order to become financially sound.
‘Number of suicides...
(Contd from P-3) “Most of the suicides are related to
domestic stress and not to work related stress,” the DG
said, adding that most of the suicides in the Force take
places after jawans comes back from their holidays.
Reacting to a query, he said that the BSF often try to
assess their well-being during medical checkups.
In addition, the BSF is also issuing living permission to
newly married personnel to stay in its guest house and if
possible even in Border Outposts.
Kerala reinstates
Senkumar after
SC slaps fine
NEW DELHI/THIRUVA N A N T H A P U R A M :
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday
night reinstated T.P. Senkumar as the police chief, hours
after the Supreme Court
fined Rs 25,000 for disregarding its order to restore him
his post.
According to informed
sources, the order signed by
Vijayan will be handed over
to Senkumar on Saturday,
when he is likely to make his
triumphant return as the state
police chief. Senkumar was
moved out of the office the
day Vijayan assumed office
in May last year. Reacting to
the turn of events, Senkumar
told reporters that he would
speak at an appropriate time.
Senkumar will replace
Loknath Behera, who will
now the Vigilance Department, while the present Vigilance chief Jacob Thomas
has extended his leave.
On Friday morning, the
apex court, hearing a clarification petition about its or-
ders of April 24 directing the
Vijayan government to reinstate Senkumar as the Director General of Police, slapped
a fine of Rs 25,000 for wasting the court's time.
The court said they knew
what to do if its orders were
not implemented.
In a contempt petition
filed by Senkumar that Chief
Secretary Nalini Netto was
delaying his posting, the division bench on Friday
asked for a notice to be
served on the state government. The next hearing in the
case will take place on May
9. The opposition targeted
the Chief Minister.
Leader of Opposition
Ramesh Chennithala told reporters that all this happened
because of the "false ego of
Vijayan". State BJP President
Kummanem Rajasekheran
said the fine of Rs 25,000
should be taken from the
salary of Vijayan. "Vijayan
has to quit and this situation
has risen just because of his
arrogance." (IANS)
EKH to have...
(Contd from P-3) The special juvenile police units will
be headed by a DSP posted at headquarters and the officer
will coordinate with the units.
The cases related to the juveniles will be reported to the
Juvenile Justice Board and the trial will take place in children’s Court.
The SP said that in rural police stations, where there are
no women police sub inspectors, male police personnel
will take care of the juvenile units.
The matter related to alarming number of POCSO cases
and the need to have proper investigation into these cases
was also discussed in meeting.
Marak said as per the Juvenile Justice Act, the children
above 16 till 18 and are in conflict with law can be tried in
children’s Court and those who are below 16 are not tried
as per the Act.
Meghalaya to get...
(Contd from P-3) The officials said that two ITIs were
covered under up-gradation and five ITIs under Supplementing Deficient Infrastructure in Nagaland. An amount
of Rs. 1149.47 lakh has been released for this purpose to
the respective state governments. (UNI)
Much to be
done to reach
forest cover
target:
President
DEHRADUN: Noting that
India's forest policy calls for
maintaining a third of the
country's total land as forest cover, President Pranab
Mukherjee on Friday said a
lot was to be done towards
this goal.
"India has an area of 79.4
million hectares designated
as forests. This is about
19.32 percent of the country. The forest policy of the
year 1952 calls for maintaining one third of the total
land of the country as forest cover. This clearly indicates a gap of about 15 percent, which has to be
bridged," he said in his address at the annual convocation of the Indira Gandhi
National Forest Academy
here.
The President said the
Indian Forest Service does
not only have the responsibility of serving the sector
of forestry in the country,
but a much larger onus of
arresting climate change
apart from preservation of
bio-diversity, enhancement
of forest cover and encouraging forest-based livelihood.
"Forest management is
an important aspect in Indian cultural and ethos," he
said, expressing happiness
that the Forest Service was
working hard to improve the
forest cover in the country.
"It is indeed a matter of
satisfaction that, aided by
technology like e-surveillance and GIS application
along with the hard work
being put in by the officers
of the Indian Forest Service,
the forest cover in the country has increased from 64.2
million hectares in 1987 to
79.4 million hectares, as per
recent reports. While this is
a tremendous achievement
in itself, but yet there are
many more miles to be covered," he said. (IANS)
THE SHILLONG TIMES, SHILLONG, SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2017
(THREE)
B’desh no more insurgents’
safe haven, says BSF DG
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Bangladesh is
no longer a safe haven for
Indian insurgent groups,
said BSF Director General
K.K Sharma on Friday.
Sharma, who was addressing the media at the 8th
annual medical conference
at the BSF headquarters in
the city, said the few training camps and hideouts set
up by Indian rebel groups,
like HNLC and ULFA, in the
neighbouring country have
been destroyed by the Border Guards Bangladesh.
On border fencing in the
State, Sharma said BSF has
taken up the land acquisition issue with the State
Government. At the same
time, he said the border sentinels will introduce highend technology to detect
intruders.
“BSF is in the process of
filling up the gaps along the
border by technological
solutions — installing intruder detection alert system that would go a long
way in detecting infiltrators.
Reiterating that BSF is
EKH to have
child welfare
police officers
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Child welfare
police officers will be appointed in all police stations
of East Khasi Hills district
to deal with juvenile related
cases.
A decision in this regard
was taken on Friday in an
official level meeting convened by SP Davies Marak.
The SP told The Shillong
Times that the role of the
women police officers who
will form part of the special
juvenile police units will be
to look at the cases of those
children who are in need of
protection and in conflict
with law. (Contd on P-10)
News Capsule
Prohibitory
Orders
The District Magistrate
of Ri Bhoi has promulgated an Order under Section
144 CrPC prohibiting all
construction and operation of the makeshift stalls
all along the National
Highway-6 for illicit
stockpiling as well as sale
of coal by all concerned.
Violation of these rules
will be prosecuted under
the relevant section of the
law. The Magistrate has
also issued an Order under
Section
144
CrPC prohibiting parking
of commercial vehicles/
coal laden trucks on the
ground of the petrol
Pumps/Service Centres
and parking of more than
two heavy commercial
vehicles/coal laden trucks
in one place.
Notification
The Joint Secretary to
Government of Meghalaya, Law Department has
informed that the Headquarter of Khrawbok Basaiawmoit, Additional
Public Prosecutor/Additional Government Pleader, (District Council
Court), Shillong will
henceforth be at Sohra
with immediate effect till
30.06.2017 or until further
order.
Appreciation
B. P. Bajoria, Chairman. B.
K. Bajoria School has congratulated Sneha Deb Barma for securing JEE
(Main) 2017 Synergy Institute, Boyce Road, Shillong.
OBITUARY
Sumitra Chettri, wife of
late R. B Chettri, resident
of Dong Kadiang, Nongmynsong passed away
on April 28. Her Shradh
ceremony will be held on
May 9 at her residence.
‘Number of
suicide cases
gone down’
BSF’s 8th Annual Medical Conference
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The number
of suicides committed by
the Border Security Force
(BSF) personnel has gone
down in the last few years
and the border guarding
force is now targeting to
completely eliminate the
concern. Talking to media
persons here on Friday,
BSF Director General, K.K.
Sharma said that 45 BSF
personnel had committed
suicide in the year 2014,
however, the number has
gone down to 26 last year
and the Force aims to reduce it further.
Stating that the BSF
personnel are being encouraged to go for yoga,
he said that they are undergoing stress management courses in the Force.
Sharma informed that the
personnel are also being
shown short movies about
positivity along with their
families. (Contd on P-10)
Senior officials of the BSF attend the 8th Annual Medical Conference in the city
on Friday. (ST)
committed to stopping cattle smuggling from India to
Bangladesh, Sharma said
cattle smugglers keep
changing their locations
even as he added that a
record number of cattle
were seized last year.
He also informed that
last year, 16 cattle smugglers died and four BSF personnel were killed while trying to stop smuggling.
When asked about the
circulation of fake Indian
currency notes from the
neighbouring country, he
added that border troops in
both countries have good
relations and will coordinate with each to address
the issue.
“We will definitely contain it,” he said.
DPR of Shillong-Dawki road
to be submitted by June
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The final Detailed Project Report (DPR)
of the Improvement of National Highway-40 between
Shillong and Dawki, and
construction of Dawki
Bridge under JICA funding
is likely to be submitted by
June.
Sources informed that
based on alignment broadly accepted by Ministry of
Road, Transport and Highways in December 2015, the
alignment was modified
based on proposal of JICA
team and the State Government.
The in principle approval of the alignment was
conveyed in January to the
State Government, howev-
The project would
be of major boon
in boosting trade
and commerce
between Shillong
and B’desh
er, the comments of the
government is still awaited.
The 71.2 km road, which
would connect Shillong
with Dawki, is to be taken
up at a cost of Rs 1330
crores.
The project would be of
major boon in boosting
trade and commerce between Shillong and Bangladesh besides providing a
safe journey to the tourists,
who would visit the differ-
Meghalaya to
get two ITIs
ent tourist spots in the areas including Dawki and
Mawlynnong, the cleanest
village in Asia.
Once the road condition
improves, it would be also
beneficial for GuwahatiShillong-Dhaka bus service.
It is learnt that the
project proposes to build a
four-lane road from Umshyrpi to Mylliem and from
there a two-lane road to
Dawki-Tamabil.
The road, which will take
two and a half years to be
complete after the issuing
of tender, will also include
a 368-m long and 12.5-m
wide bridge in Dawki.
M/s Transys Consulting Pvt Ltd will be the contractor for the road project.
AGARTALA: Two ITIs will
come up in Meghalaya as
part of the initiative of Ministry of Skill Development
and Entrepreneurship titled
“Enhancing skill development infrastructure in the
Northeastern states and
Sikkim.
As per the scheme, 22
new ITIs will be set up n the
Northeastern region.
The officials said out of
the 22 new ITIs, five have
been allocated to Assam,
Arunachal Pradesh will
have four ITIs, Tripura and
Mizoram will have three
each, Nagaland, Manipur,
Meghalaya will have two
each and Sikkim will have
one ITI. (Contd on P-10)
2 injured as
BSF opens fire
to stop cattle
smuggling
Cornerstone
Mawthoh
S/o (L) B. Morsely
Kharkongor and (L) Jngied
Mawthoh a resident of
Madanryting Block `F'
passed away on May 5 th
2017. His funeral will be held
on May 7 th 2017 at
Presbyterian
Cemetery
Madanryting at 3:00 PM.
From Our Correspondent
TURA: Two villagers from
Purakhasia border area of
West Garo Hills district have
been injured after BSF
troops manning the international border with Bangladesh opened fire to stop a
group of alleged cattle
smugglers who attacked
them in broad daylight on
Friday.
According to BSF officials in Garo Hills, troops
from the paramilitary force
on patrol duty spotted a
large herd of cattle being
driven towards the international border in the border
village of Kochu Adokgre,
near Purakhasia, shortly
past noon.
When challenged by the
troops who sought documents of ownership of the
cattle and reason for moving the herd of several
dozen cattle close to the international border, an angry
mob of around 30 villagers
from nearby Belabor village
allegedly attacked the patrol
party pelting stones and
other objects forcing the
troops to open fire.
The firing left two villagers, Namseng Sangma (35)
and Dipush Marak (29) injured. They were taken to
Dalu health centre for medical treatment. Doctors say
both victims are out of danger. Two other villagers,
Tapa Marak (60) and Brenath
Sangma (42) have been arrested by the border guards
for their alleged involvement in the cattle smuggling
attempt.
Recent events of cattle
smuggling in Garo Hills
have become a major cause
of concern.
OBITUARY
‘The National Health Mission and State Health
Department will conduct the Fourth round of
Mission Indradhanush Phase IV which will be held
from 8th May 2017 for seven working days in
following districts EKH, SWKH, EJH, WJH,
NGH, WGH & SWGH. It is requested that
parents of children under the age 0-2 years and
pregnant women who are unvaccinated or partially
vaccinated to come forward and avail the services
provided for them at fixed vaccination sites.’
Director of Health Services (MCH & FW)
Cum Jt. Mission Director, NHM
Meghalaya, Shillong
Cordially invites you at the
Launching of
KWID Climber
On
06th May, 2017
Saturday at 3:00 PM
Shri Saleng A Sangma,
Former Minister CNRD
Currently Chairman of
Privilige Committee
will grace the occasion as
Chief Guest
And will inaugurate the first
KWID Climber of
Meghalaya
At Mawblei, Madanrting,
Near State Bank of India
For details : - 8794734507
TENDER INVITING NOTICE
On behalf of the Secretary, ICAR, the Director, Central Potato Research Institute,
Shimla re-invites e-tenders from the registered contractors/service providers on the prescribed
tender form for execution of various field farm Operational work on contract basis at ICARCPRS, Shillong.
Sr.
Name of Work
Earnest Money
Tender ID
No.
Last date
Opening of
Submission/Uploading of
Tender
Tender
1.
Execution of various field
35,000/-
2017_DARE_199498
25.05.2017
26.05.2017
farm Operational work at
ICAR-CPRS, Shillong.
The tender documents alongwith detailed terms & conditions can be downloaded from
our website http://cpri.ernet.in or GOI portal http://eprocure.gov.in.
The Director, CPRI, Shimla reserve the right to accept or reject any or all the tenders
without assigning any reasons.
Sd/xxx
Administrative Officer
BSF DG pledges
better healthcare
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: BSF Director
General K.K. Sharma has
made a commitment that he
would take measures for
modernisation of the healthcare system in the Border
Security Force.
Speaking at the 8th
Annual Medical Conference cum CME of the BSF
in Shillong on Friday, he said
that the BSF has already
started the process of modernisation of the healthcare
system in the Force.
While admitting that the
BSF suffers from shortage
of doctors, the DG said that
measures would be taken to
appoint new and contractual doctors.
He also said that the
Force has done well as far
as tele-medicine is concerned while expressing his
happiness over the fact that
malaria related deaths have
been brought under control.
The BSF has started a
force level Annual Medical
Conference at Ftr HQr BSF,
Umpling on Saturday and
the annual event is conducted generally at New
Delhi. However, since last 3
years, it is being organised
at different locations of BSF
and this year the opportunity of conducting this annual affair was assigned to
FTR HQ BSF& Composite
Hospital, Shillong.
It may be mentioned that
the BSF medical Directorate
has got distinction of being
one and only amongst Central Armed Police Force
(CAPF) to conduct Medical
Seminar regularly at all its
Composite Hospitals and
FTR HQ and force level Annual Medical Conference
too.
A book ‘BSF Health
Magazine 2017’ was also released by the DG BSF along
with official logo ‘Medi-con’
for the conference. Before
the Medical conference, the
DG BSF also inaugurated a
shopping complex within
BSF Umpling Campus.
During the interaction of
the DG BSF with the officers of the Frontier Meghalaya, P. K. Dubey, Inspector
General and apprised him of
the security situation in
Meghalaya along International Border and in the hinterland.
(Contd on P-10)
HC unhappy
over Govt reply
on healthcare
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: High Court of
Meghalaya has expressed
unhappiness over the affidavit filed by the Secretary,
Health Department regarding the deficiencies in the
health care system in the
state.
During the hearing of the
suo motu case on the deficiencies in the health sector
on Friday, the Court said that
the affidavit field on May 3,
by the Health Department is
apparently lacking in particulars.
“Even the so called action taken report annexed
with the affidavit does not
bear the signatures of the
author of that report or the
date”, HC said.
According to the Court,
the contents of affidavit are
also laconic and do not answer to the major part of the
serious questions involved
in the matter with necessary
details and particulars.
As the Court expressed
reservations over the matter, the Government Advocate sought a day’s time to
rectify all the defects and to
file proper affidavit with all
the particulars.
Hence the matter was
fixed for May 8.