Jiri to Imphal rail line track to be realigned

IMPHAL, Jan 16: Following detection of certain variance in the alignment of the proposed railway track from Jiribam to Imphal, steps have been taken up for realignment of the route at some places.(Briefly reported in our Jan 9 edition under the caption, “Joint control room starts work’)According to an official source, the steps have been taken up for realignment of the railway track after the member engineers of the Railway Board detected certain variance in alignment of the route from Jiribam to Tupul which is to be laid in the first phase and from Tupul to Imphal which is to be laid during the second phase.As per the alignment of the route worked out earlier, the railway track from Jiribam to Tupul was to be laid at the ruling gradient ratio of 1: 80 and that of the track from Tupul to Imphal at the ruling gradient of 1: 60.However, after the member engineers of the Railway Board pointed out that there should be no difference in the ruling gradient of tracks from Jiribam to Tupul and from Tupul to Jiribam, steps have been taken up for realignment of the track in some parts of Tamenglong and Senapati district, the official source disclosed.To be constructed under the Prime Minister’s package, laying of the rail track from Jiribam to Tupul in the first phase has already been announced as a National Project by the Prime Minister in February 2005.Even if the proposed rail track from Tupul to Imphal to be laid during the second phase of the project has not yet been announced as a National project, nonetheless, after the Railway Board assured necessary funding for the same, a joint meeting of the officials of the Railway Board, Northern Frontier Railways and Railway Nodal Authority of the State Government was held recently.In the said meeting, member engineers of the Railway Board pointed out that the variance in the gradient of the proposed railway route from Jiribam to Tupul and from Tupul to Imphal should not be there.The source explained that if the railway track from Jiribam to Tupul is to be laid at the gradient of 1:80, then the proposed station yard at Noney would be further away from Noney Bazar. However after the realignment Noney Bazar will be nearer by 1.5 Kms.As the realignment of the railway line is to be carried out in some places of Tamenglong and Senapati district, the Northern Frontiers Railways has also directed the Deputy Commissioners of the two districts to put on halt distribution of compensation to the land owners whose land had been acquired earlier, the source disclosed.To expedite the task of laying the railway track, a transit office and a guest house of the Railways officials have been constructed inside the MSRTC complex at Jiribam and are ready to be inaugurated, the source informed, adding that there would be progress in the task of laying the railway track if the Railway officials can stay in the guest house and function from the transit office.Railways engineers are also currently discharging their duties from some designated sites along the proposed route from Jiribam to Tupul. Along with completion of the construction work on accommodation for the work agencies and the security barrack at Noney, the DGP has been requested to provide the security.At the current market rate, the estimated project cost of laying the railway line from Jiribam to Tupul, which is being targeted to be completed by 2010 stands at Rs 2714 crores. The estimation was Rs 727 Crs in 2004-05.

Night landing facilities Local firm’s service roped in

IMPHAL, Jan 16: The construction work of a Solar Power Obstruction Light (SPOL) tower at Nong-maiching hillock by Airport Authority of India to facilitate night landing of plane at Tulihal Airport has been handed over to a local firm after the outside firm left midway.According to a reliable source, even if the Airport Authority of India is planning to carry out test landing at night along with completion of the SPOL towers and the lighting system of the runaway by March this year, the delay in completion of the tower at Nongmaiching has caused an impediment after an outside firm which was taking up the work left midway. Consequently, after a long interruption the task has been entrusted to a local firm.The construction of the approach road to the SPOL tower at Nongmaiching is also yet to be completed, though all the required construction materials for both the tower and the approach road have been kept ready..It is said that other than Nongmaiching, construction of the SPOL towers at Langjing, Heibokching and Phunal Maring hillock have already been completed.

NE may bid adieu to pre-paid service

IMPHAL, Jan 15 : Come February and all pre-paid mobile customers may have to say good-bye to their service as the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has stopped giving new pre-paid connection and is in the process of turning the pre-paid service to post paid service.Speaking to The Sangai Express an official of the BSNL said that all mobile service providers have to get the pre-paid service extended each year from the Department of Telecommunication. However for this year, no extension has been given, said the official. The BSNL office at New Delhi has already intimated to all the Chief Managers of the company to stop issuing fresh pre-paid connection from next month in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East States, said the official. The primary reason for the decision to stop pre-paid service in the North East and Jammu and Kashmir could be the wrong usage of the service, said the official, who however hastened to add that Manipur takes a lot more care while issuing pre-paid service to any new customer. Since 2004, when mobile service arrived at Manipur, the pre-paid service has been extended for a year every February. The current validity of the pre-paid service expires on February 22 and it may not be renewed this time, said the official.The official further informed that as of now there are 1,20,000 pre-paid BSNL customers in the State. As per instructions from the head office of the BSNL, pre-paid SIM cards and recharge coupons with a validity period of over three months, which are ready to be handed to customers may be withdrawn from the market any time, informed the official further. The other instructions issued by the BSNL include possible activation of pre-paid general SIMs with validity of 90 days for upto November 21, 2008 and balance pre-paid SIMs be withdrawn from the market; revision of the minimum recharge conditions of 6 months and fixed as 90 days with recharge/top up coupons of Rs 100 under new amount and Rs 25 under old amount; in case any physical withdrawal of RCVs and SIMs is not possible, the same may be blocked in the IN system and customers may be suitably educated well in advance that pre-paid service may not be available with effect from February 22, 2009 and they can switch to any available post paid sche-mes. To a query, the official said that the pre-paid service of the BSNL may exist for some time but no such fresh connection will be given from February. Earlier, BSNL issued only a certain number of post paid connection, but once the new arrangement comes into force, there will be no such restriction, said the official.

PREPAK has distributed among the Children of Orphan Homes

Task Force and Recovery Team of the proscribed PREPAK has distributed blankets, rice, note books and pens among the children in orphan homes in Senapati, Ukhrul, Churachandpur and Chandel districts of Manipur. It is said that these items have been provided with the main objective of promoting unity and amity among the people of both the hills and the valley.

Police looks North-East in DDA case

New Delhi, Jan 15: Widening the scope of probe into the irregularities in the allotment of DDA flats, Delhi Police has started examining applications submitted by people from North-East states, especially from Manipur. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police`s Crime Branch has already found that a large number of applications were submitted with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) fraudulently by a cartel of property dealers and agents to corner flats reserved for SC/STs. With North-East states having a substantial population of SC/STs, a senior police official said, police is now examining the applications submitted by people belonging to SC/STs from these areas. "We have information that about 900 applications submitted by people belonging to Manipur. There are applicants from other North-East states also. We are looking into whether there is any fraud involved," the official said. Investigators will also look into applications from other states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, the official said adding, this is besides extending the probe into the general category. The EOW is presently investigating into a complaint that it received last month that some property dealers had connived with DDA officials and applied for flats under fictitious names to get the flats under SC/ST quota. A number of allottees in Rajasthan were even unaware that they were allotted the flats and admitted that some people from Delhi who came to their villages had taken their signatures in DDA forms. In some cases, applicants did not even know that applications were submitted in their names. Majority of them belong to Rajasthan`s Jhunjhunu. Police have already taken possession of CDs containing the details of over 5.67 applicants from DDA yesterday for further examination. This move comes close on the heels of sleuths seizing the hardware of the computer used for controversial draw of lots for DDA flats. "Both the hardware and CDs are being examined at the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Hyderabad," the official said. Police have already arrested Laxmi Narayan Meena, a sacked bank employee, and Deepak Kumar, a law graduate, for allegedly collecting details of SC/ST people and submitting applications for DDA flats earmarked for them without their knowledge. The official said this was part of their investigations to ascertain whether any DDA official is involved in committing the irregularities. The sleuths are also examining the call records of Meena and Kumar to check whether they had been in touch with any DDA officials to "rig" the draw of lots which was held on December 19 last year. Meanwhile, one more name cropped up in the investigation with Delhi Police trying to ascertain whether he was an employee of DDA. Investigators went to the DDA headquarters yesterday to find out whether one B L Gautam, whose name cropped during the investigations, was an employee of the agency. "We had gone to DDA for investigating whether Gautam is in the pay rolls of the agency. We checked the files but could not find any person in the name of Gautam," the official said but refused to divulge how he was involved in the case. Police is now investigating whether Gautam is a former employee of the DDA.

No Wilf Life Protection in Manipur

Is there anybody to protect the wild life. A flying squirel being sold in the Tamenglong Market.

Recruitment of Loktak Protection Force begins

IMPHAL, Jan 13 : Besides discussing the proposal of providing hovercrafts to Manipur police during a meeting at New Delhi with Union Home Secretary Ma-dhukar Gupta in the chair, recruitment of Loktak Lake Protection Force has been initiated.A reliable source informed The Sangai Express that three hovercrafts may be provided to Manipur Police for deployment in Loktak lake to flush out insurgents from the lake.The meeting held at New Delhi on January 9 was attended by Principal Secre-tary (Home) DS Poonia, DGP Y Joykumar, officials of BSF Water Wing, Coast Guard and Special Secretary Home, MHA.After the Union Home Ministry agreed on Manipur Police using hovercrafts, an official team of BSF and Coast Guard came to Imphal in October last year and assessed the practicality of deploying hovercrafts in Loktak lake.Later, the team recommended the Centre to procure hovercrafts with sitting capacity of 20.However, in the meeting held at New Delhi recently, the Union Secretary expressed intention of procuring hovercrafts with sitting capacity of 5 to 10 security personnel. He also suggested that the hover-crafts be placed at a common place for Manipur Police and BSF/Coast Guard.The meeting also agreed to invite willing suppliers for the hovercrafts.Under its police modernisation programme, the State Government has submitted a proposal of Rs 5 crores towards procuring three hovercrafts, conveyed the source.The Union Ministry has also agreed to purchase the hovercrafts after perusing applications from suppliers soon.On the other hand, recruitment process for 375 personnel of the Loktak Lake Protection Force who would use the hovercrafts have already commenced. More-over, five locations for setting up outposts of the Loktak Lake Protection Force have been identified. Personnel of the Loktak Lake Protection Force will be given training in Mani-pur first before sending them for further training outside the State. Moreover, special training will be given to those personnel who would handle hovercrafts along with necessary training for maintenance of hovercrafts, added the source.

1600 SPOs to be inducted, sops for meritorious students

SPOs to be attached to PSs in valley

IMPHAL, Jan 12 : In addition to the appointment of 300 Special Police Officers for Heirok, the SPF Cabinet which met today has decided to recruit more such Police Officers and to detail them at all the police stations in the valley districts to help in maintaining law and order. The SPOs in Heirok were appointed after the people of the area demanded that they be given the opportunity to defend themselves after the Yaoshang incident last year. The decision to recruit more SPOs and attach them to the police stations in the four valley districts was taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister O Ibobi at his office today at 9 am.Accordingly, the Cabinet has decided to recruit 1600 more SPOs in addition to the existing 300 SPOs for Heirok. Out of the proposed 1600 SPOs, the Union Home Ministry had already sanctioned 1350 posts, said an official source. The Cabinet today decided to propose to the Ministry of Home Affairs to increase the sanctioned posts to 1600 (250 posts for Lilong), said the source further. The decision to increase the number of SPOs was taken under the assumption that the new recruits would know the people in their localities who have joined unlawful organisations. This will go a long way in curbing the activities of outlawed organisations, opined the Cabinet. Other important decisions adopted by the Cabinet pertain to the Education Department, said the source.After minute discussion, the Cabinet agreed that from the 2009-2010 session the first 30 toppers in the HSLC examination would be gran-ted a merit scholarship of Rs 6 thousand each per annum while Rs 12 thousand merit scholarship each will be extended to the first 300 toppers in the HSSLC examination. The merit scholarship will be extended to the HSLC toppers for two years while it will be for three years in case of the HSSLC toppers. The Cabinet also discussed the possibility of extending one time financial assistance to students who excel in the HSLC examination. After minutely discussing the matter, the Cabinet decided to give a one time financial assistance of Rs 5000 to students who score above 75 pc in the HSLC examination and Rs 3000 to students who secure between 60 pc and 75 pc. However not the whole amount will be handed over to the students concerned as Rs 1000 each will be given to the school management and the teachers. In effect, students scoring above 75 pc will receive Rs 3000 and students scoring between 60 pc and 75 pc will receive Rs 1000 each, added the source.The amount deducted for the school management will be used to upgrade the infrastructure of the schools concerned while the amount deducted for the teachers concerned will be utilised further to produce meritorious students. The Cabinet has also given the green signal to upgrade some schools located in the hill districts. The schools include, upgrading the Somdal High School, Ukhrul to Higher Secondary School, Henbung Junior High School located at Saitu AC to High School, Phungkhothang Junior High School in CCpur to High School and Kwakta Junior High School to High School. Under the Public-Private Partnership pattern, the Cabinet discussed the possibility of handing over the charge of imparting skill development training to the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Service IL and FS.The scheme envisages imparting training to 5000 youths between the age of 15 and 30 and the training will be imparted in two phases wherein 2500 trainees will be given training in each phase. The training will be a one year course. The scheme will entail a total cost of Rs 4.2 crores and to implement it, the Education Department has been entrusted with the task of drawing up a Memorandum of Understanding with the said company. Other than this the Cabinet also deliberated on rationalising the posting and transfer of teachers in view of the presence of schools where there are teachers but no students and schools where there are students but no teachers. The possibility of closing some of the schools permanently and clubbing together some schools was also discussed. The Cabinet decided to start this exercise from Zone 1 in Imphal West. Once this is implemented in Zone 1 then the same exercise will be extended to other zones. The Cabinet also gave the nod to hold the viva voce for the recruitment of 1075 primary teachers, 83 Hindi graduate teachers and to recruit another 65 primary teachers. The written test for recruiting the 1075 primary teachers and 83 Hindi graduate teachers have already been held. Other than this the Cabinet also agreed to recommend to the MPSC to hold the DPC to recruit 28 more Higher Secondary teachers. This is in addition to the earlier recommendation to the MPSC to recruit 84 Higher Secondary teachers. It was also agreed to set up Special Category English Medium Government School from Class 6 to 10 in all the hill districts. Sportspersons who bagged gold medals in the 31, 32 and 33 National Games will also be provided Govt jobs, the Cabinet decided today. However it is still not clear in which Dept they will be absorbed. Police commandos who took part in the Langathel encounter with militants on December 8 will be given cash prize of Rs 5 lakhs, it was agreed. The Cabinet has also decided to propose to the Union Ministry of Shipping and Surface Transport to hand over all the work entrusted to the BRO to the State PWD as no satisfactory progress has been seen in the work of the BRO.

Hotel Bheigyo comes under bomb attack

IMPHAL, Jan 12: One hand grenade exploded at Hotel Bheigyo located at Keishampat here at about 5 pm. The hand grenade lobbed by some unidentified persons from the side of Mayai Lambi exploded near the reception counter of the hotel.Other than some damages caused to a pane, a certain portion of wall and a Honda Activa kept near the reception counter, there was no human casualty in the grenade attack, informed a police source.A caller who identified himself as one Pamen Meitei, commander cum fund raiser of the proscribed KCP has claimed responsibility for the grenade attack.The hand grenade was of Chinese made, added the source.Hotel sources informed that the proscribed KCP demanded money without specifying the exact amount through telephone three days back.Some months back, KCP made another monetary demand but the matter has been already settled. However the outfit maintained that the matter has not been solved and as such, they made the new demand, disclosed the source. The Imphal West SP visited the hotel and inspected the blast site.

PLA suspects shot dead; UGs held

IMPHAL, Jan 10: Three armed persons including two suspected cadres of the proscribed PLA have been slain in separate encounters respectively at Ching- phei Ching in between Keirak Buffalo Farm and Kharungpat under Kak-ching police station, and Sa- murou area under Wangoi police station today.According to informed sources, those killed in the first shoot-out are likely to be Thingujam Jiten alias Khumancha (30) of Thoubal kiyam Siphai and Laishram Boyai alias Toni of Mutum Phibou.On the otherhand, sources conveyed that one 9 mm pistol has been recovered from the deceased of the Shamurou incident.Speaking to reporters about the shoot-out, Thoubal SP Clay Khongsai said that the police got information some 4/5 days back about the movement of PLA cadres in Sekmaijin, Wabagai and Keirak areas as well as the outfit’s plan to undertake multiple ambushes in the valley districts.Acting on intelligence input, Thoubal police commandos have been maintai- ning a close vigil on the movement of UG cadres.To pre-empt any subversive activity by the mili- tants, police commandos were deployed at strategic points at Sekmaijin, Wa-bagai and Keirak areas since 2 pm today.At about 2.20 pm, when a commando team reached the Buffalo Farm junction near Kharungpat, the commandos were fired upon by suspected militants with sophisticated weapons. Immediately, the commandos took position and retaliated killing two UG cadres. But the other UG cadres managed to escape in the direction of the lake, the SP said.In subsequent search of the area after the shoot-out which lasted for about 15 minutes, three AK-56 rifles, five magazines, 40 live rounds of AK ammunition, two pressure bombs and one bag were recovered.The SP further said that there might be explosive experts among the PLA cadres who were putting up in the area.Police picked up the corpses and deposited them at RIMS mortuary.One of the slain individual was wearing cargo pant of olive green colour and a green jacket. He had moustache. The other was wearing brown pants and red jersey. UG activists held: Two women activists of the KCP (MC) and one PULF cadre have been arrested by Im-phal East commandos from different places in the last three days. According to a release issued by SP Imphal East Th Radheshyam, Imphal East commandos arrested KCP (MC) activist T Shandiya alias Lei (24) d/o T Noren of Khumbong Ma-kha Leikai from New Chec- kon at about 3.30 pm of Ja-nuary 8. The other women activist of the same outfit identified as Tina Kimneichong Haokip alias Momoi (26) d/o Gou-mang Haokip of Bethlehem Motbung was nabbed from Lamlong along with two demand letters at about 9.15 am today.A team of Imphal East commandos further apprehended one PULF cadre identified as Md Manikhan alias Raju (35) s/o late Md Mahikhan of Kwakta Tera Khongshangbi from Hatta Minuthong at about 10 am yesterday. On the other hand, a press release issued by the PRO of Hqs IG AR (S) informed about AR troops apprehending one PULF (Umar Farooq) cadre and one over-ground worker of the outfit.The PULF cadre identified as S/S Cpl Md Amar (30) s/o Md Ibothem of Yairipok Bamon Leikai was nabbed by troops of 34 AR from Wangkhem today.The overground worker was apprehended by troops of 29 AR while checking a Tata Sumo at Tengnoupal yesterday. Identified as Md Naziruddin (31) s/o Md Kheibuddin of Kwakta, he has been handed over to Tengnoupal police station, added the release. Another PULF activist identified as Bogimayum Ramijuddin (25) s/o Amubi of Irong Makha Leikai was also arrested by Thoubal police commandos from Phundrei village at about 9 am of January 8, informed a release issued by SP Thoubal Clay Khongsai.