MAUTAAM

LAMKA POST:
LAMKA, Feb 25: Mautaam kial thuakte panpihna ding anntangte Primary Distribution Centre apat singtang a khochih tan puaktunna dia state sorkar in sum a piaklouh ziak a sen-le-pan teng Hausate’n a sik vek tungtang uh apaisa Feb 21, 2009 a ZEPADA in a pulakna gahsuah ding bang hi.
Muanhuaitak apat thutut kingah dan in, state sorkar in district thuneitute kiang ah National Calamity Relief Fund tungtawn a mautaam kial panpihna sum pen anntang puak man dia zat theihna dia phalna pe pahta ding hi. Hiai bang dinmun ah, Hausate’n anntang puakna dia sen-le-pan a neihsa tengteng uh leng sorkar in din vek ding a, dittatloutak a kial panpihna anntang suthelthang theite a di’n leng suanlam beita ding hi.

Khua 21 a ding mautaam kial panpihna anntang pua
LAMKA, Feb 25: Central Government tungtawn a Mautam Relief fund antang  853qtls tuni zingkal dak  9:00 in DC/CCpur Quarter kong IB Road ah SDO/BDO Henglep in khahkhia hi. Tuni a antang  853 qtls puakkhiakte uh truck 16 in pua ua, Henglep Sub-Division, Tipaimukh Road in tot khakna khua 21 ah pe ding uhi.  Khua hausa leh Henglep Block sung a Relief committee ten zui uhi.

MANIPUR EXPRESS:

SDO in antang khahkhia
Lamka, Feb 25: CCpur dist a Mautaam kialpi thuak Henglep area te ading in Ist phase antang quintal 1520 (½ bag ngen 3040) pai a, tuni zingkal in Ranjan Yumnam MCS, SDO/ Henglep in quintal 966.50 flag off phot hi. Antang puak khiak nailouh te ahihleh tunung in puak khiak hiding in kigen hi.

Relief antang 2nd phase laknang order omta
Lamka, Feb 25: CCpur Dist a Mautaam kialpi thuakte ading in relief antang 1st Phase ading in quintal 3923.40 district headquarter Lamka hongtung a, hiai te sub division tuamtuam ah hawmkhiakna pailel hi. 2nd phase ading in tuni’n antang quintal 3923.40 puak khiak theihnang in releasing order omta a, March 7, 2009 tan a puakkhiak ding in Govt in hun pia hi’n kigen a, huaihun sung a puakkhiak zawh ahihkei leh antang puakkhiak theih nang ahun behlap touhtheih hiding in thusuak kingah hi. Mautaam relief antang puakkhiak vek ahihchiang in quintal 26051.37 phading hi’n kigen a, Thanlon area in quintal 4777.90 tangban ding a, Henglep area in quintal 6171.12, Singngat area in quintal 4942.67, Tipaimukh area in quintal 5588 leh Vangai area in quintal 4571.68 tang ban ding uh hi’n kigen hi. 

LAMKA, Feb 24 of Lamka post:
Mautaam kial panpihna anntang Henglep bial a 3rd phase a centre 4 a ding anntang quintal 1520 truck 17 zang in zingchiang in puakkhiak hiding hi. Tuni’n FCS godown ah anntangte guang in om a, zingchiang zingkal dak 7:00 in IB Road a DC’ inn kong ah Sumant Singh IAS DC/CCpur in khakhe ding hi. Henglep bial office apan staff-te’n zui ding ua, centre 4 Henglep Hq., Leimatak, Santing leh Tuilaphai ah khe ding uhi. Anntang puak man ding sorkar in a piaklouh ziak a khua sung  mite kithohkhawm hial uh hi’n thutut kingah hi.

Lamka, Feb 23: Zomi Economic Planning and Development Agency (ZEPADA) thusuak in tuni a a taklatdan in, CCpur district in mautam kialpi nasatak aphutlai a, dist hqtrs apan khaw tuamtuam tan antang puakman amau leh amau kipiakmai a aom pen uh thil lamdang ahi chi uhi. Govt in rate tuamtuam a bikhiahte sang mah in antang puakman pen a leh 10 bang in tamzaw a, kialpi thuakte adia puakgik kibehlapna ahi chi uhi.

ZEPADA thusuak in agenzelna ah, FCI in Dimapur apan PDC centre Parbung leh CCpur hq tan antang puakman ding seng ua, state govt in PDC centre apan khaw tuamtuam a hawmzakna a sum le pai sen a om te puakkhiak ding chih himahleh, State govt in tuni tan limsaklou a, ZEPADA in ngetna tamveitak bawlta chi uhi. Kialpi antang hawmzakna khatveina Singngat area ah neih ahihlai in govt in bangmah sum le pai pelou in khaw hausa ten amau sum le pai kisen in antang pua uh chi’n ZEPADA in taklang a, District administration in departmental official te leh khaw hausate tung ah action laksawm zawmah chi ua, antang puakman ding in NREGS fund divert in omlai chi’n ZEPADA in gen hi.

Thanlon leh Henglep area a antang puakman ding in alou theilou in gari khat ah Rs 20,000 apan Rs 92,000 kikal lut a, khaw hausaten hiai sum bangchi puak khiak mahmah ding hiam chi kawm in, April 2-3 2008 in Inter Ministerial team in mautam hong etkhiaklai ua, centre team te’ giahman, nekman leh adangdang a ZEPADA in Rs 17,964 seng a, kialpi antang ding puakman pezou lou ten ZEPADA te sumsente a dinkik zou ding uh chih gintak haksa mahmah chi uhi.

SOURCE:Manipur Express

DHAKA (AFP) — Bangladesh’s remote Chittagong Hill Tracts region faces a serious risk of prolonged famine and bubonic plague unless a ballooning rat population is brought under control, experts say.

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) began distributing three million dollars of emergency food supplies to some 120,000 people in the southeastern tribal area bordering India and Myanmar last May, after the rat population exploded.

The rats — some weighing as much as 1.5 kilogrammes (3.3 pounds) — feed on bamboo forests in the hilly region.

Dhaka University zoology professor Nurjahan Sarker recently visited the hill tracts and sounded the alarm over the “devastating” impact of the year-long rat plague.

“The threats of a famine-fuelled conflict are real as the rats are destroying everything in the hills,” she said.

Adding to the urgency of the situation, she said authorities must act fast to avoid an outbreak of deadly bubonic plague.

“I don’t think the government has understood the gravity of the crisis or figured out how to tackle such an unprecedented situation.”

Steven Belmain, a rodent ecologist of Britain’s University of Greenwich — in Bangladesh studying the impact of the rat infestation — said the rodent population was doubling in size every three weeks.

This means, of course, they must spread into new areas in search of food.

“In addition to destroying nearly all field crops in the region, the rats get into people’s houses, eating stored food and damaging all sorts of personal possessions and biting people while they sleep,” Belmain said.

“The whole region has been affected by localised famine, forcing people to depend on food aid. Food shortages will be a permanent feature here for many years,” Belmain told AFP.

“We have captured 2,000 big rats from one hectare (2.47 acres) of land. I can tell you the situation is worsening as rats are invading new territories.”

The WFP will begin a 2.6-million-dollar programme in April to help the thousands of people who have lost their livelihoods because of the rats.

The European Union, which spent 1.65 million euros (two million dollars) on emergency relief to the area last May, has just announced a further assistance package of two million euro for the next 12 months.

The last rat flood in the region was in 1958, when the bamboo flowers last blossomed. Back then, the plague lasted three years.

Government minister Dipankar Talukdar said the situation had improved in some areas after the government introduced programmes to contain the rats.

But Belmain said the rats had left some areas only after they had eaten everything they could and then had to move on.

He said the risk of an outbreak of bubonic plague was high in the country of 144 million, one of the world’s poorest.

The disease is caused by bacteria picked up from the bite of fleas that are carried by rats, and which is believed to be the Black Death that killed millions in 14th century Europe.

An outbreak in Bangladesh would severely damage the economy, which has been growing at more than six percent a year during the past four years, thanks to a surge in exports.

An international quarantine would be imposed, which would see all flights into and out of the country suspended, as well as exports, dealing an incalculable blow to the economic well-being amid global catastrophe.

Modern precedent exists — a small plague outbreak in the western Indian city of Surat in 1994 led to the imposition of similar “national quarantine” measures with grave economic consequences.

Belmain said health and economic problems resulting from the rat infestation could exacerbate security issues in an area with a history of ethnic unrest.

The dwindling food supplies are already putting additional pressure on simmering tensions between the 13 ethnic minority groups in the area and recent settlers from other parts of Bangladesh.

The government signed a peace treaty with the region’s main tribal group in 1997, bringing an end to a two-decade long insurgency that left some 2,500 people dead.

Since then sporadic clashes have continued as some tribes reject the deal and others accuse the government of not fully implementing it.

“The rat flood could fuel renewed conflict in the region,” Belmain said. “Hungry people are angry people.”

Source:AFP

From M Kaimuanthang

LAMKA, Feb 23: The Mautam affected people of Churachandpur district are reportedly compelled to pay the transportation charges from the district headquarters to their respective villages which is 10 times more than the government approved rates.

It further said this is an enormous amount for famine affected people, adding they have scepticism as the government having given definite assurance is yet to recover the meagre amount of Rs. 17, 964 that ZEPADA incurred on food, lodging and transportation charges of the visiting Central ministerial team who conducted survey of crop damages during April 2 and 3 in Churachandpur district.

• Jewel Topsfield
• February 20, 2009

ONCE every 50 years a species of bamboo flowers in the Burmese state of Chin, heralding the beginning of a famine.

This sounds like the stuff of myth, the first line of a fairytale told to wide-eyed children around the campfire. But it is a well-documented freakish natural disaster, known as “mautam”, which also affects states in north-eastern India.

Victor Biak Lian, from the Chin Human Rights Organisation, who is in Australia to raise money for the latest famine, says that when the bamboo flowers, it produces seeds that rats eat. “These rats multiply so fast and there is a rat plague,” he says. The rats then devoured the rice crops in the isolated, mountainous region, leading to famine.

The last time the bamboo flowered was in 1958 — leading to famines in Chin and the neighbouring Indian state of Mizoram — with previous occurrences in 1911 and 1862.

Mr Lian says the bamboo began flowering at the end of 2006. A report by the Chin Human Rights Organisation last year said up to 200 villages were directly affected by severe food shortages and about 100,000 — 20 per cent of the Chin population — were in need of immediate food aid.

In Melbourne there are about 1400 Chin people, a Christian ethnic minority group persecuted by the Burmese military junta. The local community helped organise the Chin Live Aid Concert at the Box Hill Town Hall last Saturday that raised money for the bamboo flower victims.

Concerts, featuring Burmese and Indian singers, will also be held in Adelaide tonight and Perth next Saturday night.

Mr Lian, who fled Burma during the 1988 uprising and now lives in exile in Canada and Thailand, will also go to Canberra next week to lobby the Federal Government to raise awareness about the famine and push for a democratic system in Burma. “We strongly believe Burma needs a federal system in which all the different ethnicities are able to survive,” he says. “If we go on as it is, ethnic groups will be wiped out because of the Burmanisation policy, which is to make one language, one religion.”

SOURCE: WA

 S Singlianmang Guite

Lamka, February 19 2009: Joining the civil societies in condemning the killing of Kasom Khullen SDO and two of his sub-ordinates, the Zomi Human Rights Foundation today said the Government should not delay even by a single day for judicial inquiry over the incident to book the culprits.

Also joining in condemning the killing, Zillai?Vaiphei students’ welfare organisation today said it wanted the Government to initiate immediate steps to book the culprit and compensate the bereaved family as was promised by the Government.

Claiming that killings, ransoms, kidnappings etc have become the order of the days in Manipur, the foundation has appealed to all the peace-loving citizens to join hands together towards fighting against anti-societal elements for the normalcy and restoration of love and peace in ‘our land’.

On the occasion of Zomi Nam Ni which falls on Feb 20, the foundation has extended its heartiest greetings to all the Zo people around the globe.

‘It is the aspiration of the Foundation, representing the 69 Zo ethnic groups who are spreading over India, Burma and Bangladesh, to offer our humble tributes to the past and present leaders, who sacrificed their life and rendered valuable services for the welfare of Zo people; and to send our deepest consolation to the victims of Mautaam-famine & HIV/AIDS, and to the victims of reckless human rights violations, it said.

Hoping to overcome ‘One Day the Dividing forces against us’ the foundation said it wishes all the Zo people Good Health, Prosperity, and the Right Mind to do away with Domestic Walls that fragmented them into tight compartments and drive them asunder.

Meanwhile, the Zillai (Vaiphei Students’ Association) General Headquarters has also condemned in the strongest term the brutal & uncivilised killing of Dr Thingnam Kishan and two of his subordinate staff.

The organisation has appealed to the Govt to book the culprits and give them befitting punishment at the earliest possible time.

The organisation has demanded the perpetrators to identify themselves and give the reasons behind such barbaric act which is detrimental to communal harmony of the State.

The organisation also shared the pain and grief of the bereaved families and at the same time prayed to all to maintain peace and harmony in this hour of distress and grief.

Source: The Sangai Express

?“Nova” (7 p.m. on OETA-13): This new installment titled “Rats Attack” focuses on a horrendous event that happens every 48 years Mizoram, India. The ordeal is known locally as mautam, and it happens when an indigenous species of bamboo blooms and spurs an explosion in the rat population that feeds off the bamboo’s fruit.

SOURCE CLICK

Source: The Sangai Express / S Singlianmang Guite

Lamka, February 10 2009: Outer MP Mani Charenamei today announce his intention of recontesting the Lok Sabha polls but refrained from revealing the party in which he would affiliate with, saying it is still immature for such announcement.

‘Where ever I go, when ever I have a meeting with the people, in all the districts, most of them express that I should re-contest the Lok Sabha election,’ the bureaucrat turned politician Charenamei told a press conference here today.

When pressed for the party in which he intends to file his nominations, he evaded a direct response but said as an independent member they still can’t neglect me.

“Many parties have approached me, but the people have to advise me on this, so I think it is still immature to discuss the issue,” he added.

In town to address a seminar on “Tribals’ land and forest rights” the MP who grabbed a measly 4000 plus votes from the district during the last election said he was not offended by the numbers then.

‘I received the greatest support from here and only in Churachandpur I got full coverage,’ he said.

The Naga MP, who draws numerous criticism for his speech at the Parliament moments before the ‘UPA trust vote’ said he was in support of political empowerment of the people through the various peace initiatives taken up by the Government.

“I raised issues nobody (former MPs) think of raising in Parliament,’ he said with a matter of pride when asked of his achievements during his tenure.

Charenamei also claimed to have taken up the issue of international trade centres with the GOI and Myanmarese Authority, toiled for the release of border villagers arrested by Myanmar, for better rural connectivity and air services for far flung areas, railway reservation counters and for the sensational Mautam famine.

He also claimed to have rectified the ST quotas during a 2005 recruitment drive by the Railways, when only 17 STs against the reserve 48 seats were selected.

With his efforts, the FCI has sanctioned Rs 10 crore for construction of FCI godown in the district and this will materialize as soon as the Deputy Commissioner picks on the site, the MP said.

Expecting, as he has made it known at least 70 to 80 percent of the votes from the district this time around, Charenamei said the agenda he would be selling to garner such a whooping majority would be political empowerment for the hill people.

He however wasn’t sure of the true nature of empowerment which he expects it to receive from New Delhi.

Lian Ding Hmung
Chinland Guardian

Melbourne, Australia - 7 February, 2009: The last of the three well-known Chin singers invited to perform at the Chin Famine Live Aid Concerts has arrived in Australia, and the Chin community here is greeting her with excitement.  Mimi Lalzamliani, a celebrated Chin singer from Mizoram State of India, where thousands of Chin refugees and famine victims live, arrived at Melbourne International Airport yesterday.

A famous singer from Mizoram, who already participated in the previous Chin Famine Live Aid Concerts in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand to benefit Chin famine victims, was excited to see local Chin community members who welcomed her at the airport.

“Out of many famous singers in Mizoram, I’m honoured to be invited here,” Mimi Lalzamliani said on her arrival.  “As thousands of Chin people in Mizoram and Burma are facing a devastating famine, I’m happy to help, to give my time and to utilize my talent for them, and I am ready to do so in the future,” she added.

The Chin Famine Live Aid Concert will take place over the next three weeks in three Australian cities; Melbourne on February 14, Adelaide on February 21, and Perth on February 28.

“As the Chin community in Australia has put in considerable energy and effort to bring her to Australia, we are eager and looking forward to seeing her performances along with Mr. Cung Lian Thawng, who arrived last Monday from Burma,” says David Thang, a contact person for the organizing committee in Melbourne.

“It is unfortunate and disappointing that another invitee could not be with us” says Rev. Japheth Lian, referring to Bil Sung, another celebrated singer from Chin State who did not get her visitor visa to Australia.

According to Chin Human Right Organization (CHRO) and World Food Programme (WFP), estimated 100,000 people in 129 villages have been severely affected by the ongoing famine, which happens only once in fifty years because of rodent infestation.  In twice a century, an indigenous variety of bamboo in Chin State flowers abundantly and attracts the rodents.  The rats eat the fruit of the flowering bamboo, multiple quickly and destroy 75% of crops in Chin State, Burma.

The concerts in Australia will also feature speeches by Chin activists such as Victor Biak Lian of Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), Dr. Sui Khar and Dr. Salai Ngun Cung Lian of Chin National Front (CNF).

SOURCE