Updates (December 14, 2010)

1) NDFB: On George Boro's arrest: Linky

Top NDFB (anti-talk) leader B Jwangkhang alias George Boro, a prime accused in the October 30, 2008 serial blasts who was detained in Aizawl by a joint team of Assam Rifles and Information Bureau on Friday, was brought to Guwahati this morning (December 12).

Then: Linky

Self-styled deputy commander-in-chief of banned NDFB B Jwangkhang alias George Boro and his body guard S Baglari was today produced before the Court of Special Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup where the duo was remanded to 14 days police custody. The custody was permitted on the strength of Basistha police station case number 439/10, which relates to an extortion demand of Rs 20 lakh. The money was demanded from Jatin Kalita, a city-based business by a caller who had identified himself as a platoon commander of the banned outfit. B Jwangkhang is one of the accused in the case, the FIR related to which was filed on August 27 this year with the Basistha police station.

Telegraph adds: Linky

Boro’s family, including his mother Nilima Boro, were present on the court premises. Boro who hails from Guduligaon in Baksa district did his Masters in English from Pune University before joining the NDFB in 2005.

2) ULFA talks: Linky

The 28 battalion of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) has extended its full support to the proposed peace talk between the ULFA and the Centre. Self-styled commander of the battalion, Bijoy Chinese alias Bijoy Das, in a statement issued to the press, favoured peaceful solution to the three-decade-old conflicts through dialogue. Chinese reiterated that his battalion would only extend direct cooperation to the proposed talks if it would be held in a conducive and honourable atmosphere.
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It may be recalled that the self-styled deputy commander of the 28th Battalion of the ULFA, Lieutenant Haren Phukan also issued a similar statement a few days back.

3) What are they going to do about GNLA now?: Linky

The fledgling Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) has started to bare its fangs and has sent an extortion demand to a sitting Garo Hills legislator yesterday. Sources said a Garo Hills legislator received a call from a person identifying himself as a GNLA cadre on Sunday and demanded Rs 50 lakh. “The legislator is obviously in a state of shock and is consulting his party men,” said the sources.
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Meanwhile, sources said most of the Garo Hills legislators are apprehensive of travelling in the interior parts of Garo Hills districts fearing for their safety. They say the present government has failed to maintain law and order in Garo Hills by being unable to crackdown on GNLA, still a group of riff-raff.

4) PC visit to Manipur: Linky

He will then head for Churachandpur district where he will visit the designated camps of the 19 Kuki militant outfits, which signed the suspension of operations. The construction of the camps is almost complete and the militants have moved into them. The home minister’s visit to the designated camps is expected to herald the start of a political dialogue that the 19 Kuki militant groups are pressing for. The have been demanding the creation of a Kuki homeland (state) under the purview of the Constitution. Chidambaram is expected to get first hand information about the aspirations of the Kuki groups when he meets them.

5) NC Hills scam: Linky

The role of former Governor of Assam Lt Gen (Retd) Ajai Singh in the financial scam in North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council has come under scanner as the records recovered during investigations by different agencies proved that he had given orders for payments directly and in one case he violated the financial rules by issuing an instruction directly to a bank manager. In one of the letters written by the Additional Secretary to the Governor, a bank manager was instructed to honour four drafts and official sources pointed out that there was no reason for the Governor to get involved in such a case and issue orders directly to a bank.
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The special audit report of the AG also pointed out that expenditures amounting to around Rs 8 crore for special projects under the Agriculture Department of the Council could not be audited as the records relating to the projects were taken away by the Additional Secretary to the Governor. Those, along with some other records, were retained by the Governor’s secretariat and the same could not be audited during the special audit carried out by the office of the AG as per the instructions of the Central and State Governments and no one is sure where the money was spent. It is also alleged that RH Khan, one of the main accused in the financial scam, was allowed to use the helicopter allotted for the use of the Governor on several occasions and “security threat” was cited as the reason for the same.

Meanwhile it is rhetoric time: Linky

Former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta today said that the State Government was not cooperating with the Enforcement Directorate in the money laundering case against DHD-J leaders Niranjan Hojai and Jewel Garlosa in order to hush up the Rs 1,000-crore NC Hills scam.

6) NRC update: Linky

The amendments proposed are in respect of inclusion of an additional section 5 (B) in the Citizenship Act that provides protection to a displaced person who took shelter in India any time due to civil and religious disturbances from Bangladesh and Pakistan. The amendment, he added to say, is also being sought in regard to section 2 of Foreigners’ Act of 1946 to accommodate a displaced person as a citizen of India. The Supreme Court, it is to be recalled, while scrapping the IM(DT) Act has ruled that action against illegal foreigners could be carried out under Foreigners’ Act of 1946, Foreigners’ Tribunals of 1964 and Immigrant Expulsion Act of 1950. Nishitendu Chowdhury pointing out at the declining Hindu population in Bangladesh expressed his grave concern, calling it a subtle ethnic – cleansing, not in any way different from that of Cyprus where the dominant Greeks are being gradually and systematically swamped by invading Turks. “If this trend continues,” he apprehended, by 2050, Hindu population would be wiped out in Bangladesh. In 1961, Hindu population in Bangladesh was 18.5 per cent which has come down to nine per cent only in 2010, according to the UNDP.
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Prof Partha Sarathi Chanda articulating his views described the plight of Bengali Hindus in Assam as ‘of serious concern’ as many Hindus, uprooted from Bangladesh, and even with valid documents have been either sent to detention centres or pushed back to the other side of the fence. He cautioned if the Centre and State remained indifferent to the problem, a repeat of 1947 like situation could not be ruled out. He at the same time dubbed the exercises by Foreigners’ Tribunals, formed at the cost of huge public exchequer, as futile. Advocate Anil Chandra Dey of Silchar Bar called for immediate halt to the harassment of Hindus.

7) Crazyyy addiction: Linky

A source in New Bongaigaon said apart from taking drugs, sleeping tablets and cough syrups, youths widely inhale adhesives like dendrite and quick fix. There are at least 4,000 drug addicts in Bongaigaon district but it is not known how many youths and minors, including girls, are addicted to dendrite and quick fix, the source said. Ajoy Bose, the secretary of Pragati Sangha, an NGO based at Bhaolaguri near New Bongaigaon Railway Station, said they have been campaigning against drug abuse by creating awareness and motivating youths to discard drugs.

8) Some job for Dato Seri Samy Vellu: Linky

Samy Vellu (74), until recently president of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), will be Malaysia's Special Envoy to India and South Asia for Infrastructure with effect from New Year's Day 2011. Announcing his appointment, while releasing his biography at a function in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak praised Samy Vellu for his “connection” with the South Asian countries. “Many Malaysian companies will benefit from his role as a Special Envoy on Infrastructure,” said Mr. Najib. Mr. Samy Vellu has held infrastructure-related portfolio in successive Cabinets for 24 years, besides presiding over the MIC for 31 years. Mr. Samy Vellu would have an office in the Prime Minister's Department and report directly to Mr. Najib.

9) SATP declares:

The Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) declared Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwa and certain parts of Nuwakot Districts as Helmu autonomous region on December 13, reports Kantipuronline. UCPN-M leader Posta Bahadur Bogati made the announcement amid a function at Helambu in Sindhupalchowk. He added the region will be part of the party’s Tamsaling autonomous state. “The declaration is a protest amidst the uncertainty over whether or not the new statute will be drafted,” said Bogati. Tamsaling region in-charge Agni Sapkota said the autonomous state was declared in order to establish the right to autonomy and self-determination. As reported earlier, the UCPN-M has declared 11 autonomous regions before.

Updates (December 7, 2010)

1) Rail connectivity: Linky

The jinxed Lumding-Badarpur broad gauge railway track is expected to reach Agartala by 2013, while the ongoing track laying work up to Sabroom, Tripura’s southernmost town bordering Bangladesh, will be completed by 2014. Announcing this during an interaction with reporters, the general manager of Northeast Frontier Railway, Keshav Chandra, said the broad gauge track-laying work between Lumding and Badarpur was making rapid progress and would be completed soon. He said by 2013, the broad gauge railway line would be extended up to Agartala.
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Though official sources in the NF Railway here described the general manager’s visit as the head of officials as “routine visit”, state government officials here said Chandra had come to personally take stock of the situation at the ground level following frequent complaints over the quality of service provided by the railway in Tripura.

Tribune adds more on the history: Linky

Realising the communication difficulties in Barak Valley, Tripura and Mizoram as well as Manipur, the then Railway Minister Ramvilas Paswan laid the foundation stone of Silchar-Lumding BG in 1998. Former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav declared it as a national project and said that it would be completed by 2009. But the construction work has now been suspended due to extremists attack in NC Hills. This railway line is regarded as the lifeline of supply for not only Barak Valley but also Tripura and Mizoram, the Shuruwat memo said.

2) Transit fees: Linky

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni yesterday said an official exercise is in progress to set the tariff for the overland transit facilities to India under a deal signed to carry over dimensional consignments (ODC) for a power project at Palatana in Tripura through Bangladesh. “Although the rates are fixed for the existing protocol for river transit with India, now we will have to set the amount of fees for the new deal," she said when asked if Bangladesh allowed transit to India without any fees or charge.

3) India-BD border survey: Linky

The Co-ordination Committee on International Border — a pressure group comprising several NGOs engaged in finding a solution to the border dispute with Bangladesh — yesterday criticised home minister H.D.R. Lyngdoh for the government’s failure to include it during the inspection and survey of the border areas by the India-Bangladesh JBWG. The committee comprises the Khasi Students’ Union, Federation of Khasi-Jaintia and Garo People, Hynniewtrep National Youth Front, Synjuk ki Seng Samla Shnong and the Federation of War Mihngi and War Jaintia, a conglomerate of landowners and heads of villages along the India-Bangladesh border. The committee said Lyngdoh expressed his inability to do anything since the issue falls under the purview of the revenue department.

4) Mobile connectivity along the border area: Linky

State-run service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is improving its network on the Indo-Bangla border by setting up towers and common service centres, which would be unusable from across the neighbouring country. “Three operators – Aircel, Reliance and BSNL – have been assigned to execute connectivity to enable support for mobile services and broadband connectivity in rural and border areas of the three States of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura”, Chief General Manager (CGM) North East, Telecom Circle-1 Rajesh Gupta said. “We have erected four towers in border areas of Meghalaya at Tikrikilla, Rongjam, Mawsynram and Baghmara,” Gupta said at a media briefing here yesterday.
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The CGM said the BSNL began the process of erecting BTS Towers near the borders after the Centre relaxed its directive of setting up towers from 10 km to 500 metres from the border. “Earlier, there was a restriction by the Union Home Ministry to set up towers within 10 km from the international border. Now the restriction has been reduced to 500m. The new towers will be erected shortly,” he said.

5) Dato Seri Sami Velu quits, finally: Linky

Samy Vellu on Monday stepped down as president of Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) after 31 years at the helm. MIC sources told The Hindu the party's central working committee appointed G. Palanivel (61), until now deputy president, as successor to the 74-year-old Mr. Samy Vellu. Malaysia's Human Resources Minister S. Subramaniam was given the mantle of MIC deputy president. Mr. Palanivel is Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities. Devamany, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, was appointed the party's new vice-president (1).

6) Regrouping of the Kachin rebels: Linky

Many observers believe it is only a matter of time before war breaks out between the KIO and the Burmese armed forces. Tensions between the KIO and the Burmese Army have increased significantly since mid-October when the regime’s official newspaper the New Light of Myanmar used the term “insurgent” to describe the KIO. Normally the regime only uses insurgent to describe rebel groups such as the Karen National Union that have refused to sign an official ceasefire agreement. This was the first time since the ceasefire began in 1994 the KIO had been so labelled by the Burmese regime.
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The KIO and its KIA armed wing were established in the Kachin-inhabited area of Shan State in February 1961 in response to Kachin grievances with Burma’s central government then led by the mercurial Prime Minister U Nu. Overwhelmingly Christian, many Kachin were infuriated by U Nu’s declaration during the April 1960 election that if elected, he would make Buddhism the state religion, a promise he fulfilled in August 1961.

The Kachin were also angered that the Burmese government had never implemented a pre-independence agreement brokered by General Aung San, father of the recently released pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with representatives of Kachin, Shan and Chin ethnic groups that outlined the autonomy of those living in Burma’s ethnic “frontier areas”. The February 1947 Panglong Agreement was an important precursor for Aung San’s goal of Burma’s full independence from Britain. Clause 5 of the deal gave the ethnic groups represented the right to local self-government and declared that Burma’s central government “will not operate in respect of the Frontier Areas in any manner which would deprive any portion of these areas of the autonomy which it now enjoys in internal administration. Full autonomy in internal administration for the Frontier Areas is accepted in principle”. U Nu, who took over the reins of Aung San’s Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League party following the latter’s assassination in July 1947, did little to actually implement the Panglong compact after Burma received independence in January 1948. His failure to live up to the promise of Panglong left the Kachin and other ethnic minorities in Burma feeling betrayed.

7) Baburam Bhattarai interview: Linky

To make the constitution on time and to implement the Comprehensive Peace Accord it is important to mobilise the masses. Unless there is pressure from the people, the old parliamentary forces will not go for a progressive constitution and implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Accord.

Updates

0) How much of the KNLA (Karen National Liberation Army) violence against Burmese junta instigated by the chinis in response to the Kokang incident? Seeking comments and a breakdown of the inter-ethnic lowdown in Burma.
1) The Union finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee, is scheduled to visit Bangladesh on August 7 for two days to discuss the sharing of the Ganga waters and other bilateral issues. Kati, any take on what the other bilateral issues are?

Meanwhile, Linky

PRAN Group, a Bangladeshi food processing and manufacturing firm, will set up agro and food processing plants in Tripura, Orissa and Tamil Nadu, a company official said here today. “Setting up of an agro and food processing joint venture plant with Indian entrepreneurs in Agartala is now in an advanced stage,” said Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, deputy managing director of the PRAN Group of companies.
“PRAN (Programme for Rural Advancement Nationally), which is the first Bangladesh company to invest in India, has also sought approval from Bangladesh Bank to invest in India,” he told reporters here. The Tripura Government has allotted an acre of land to the group at Bodhjung Nagar industrial zone in western Tripura to set up the proposed unit for which a new company, PRAN Beverage India Private limited, was floated recently with Indian entrepreneurs. “Though India had lifted its restrictions for Bangladeshi and Pakistani investors and businessmen to invest in India two years back, Dhaka is yet to withdraw restrictions to invest abroad by the Bangladeshi industrialists,” said Chowdhury.

2) BD fencing issues: Linky

Meanwhile, the Central Government has no plans to declare identified illegal migrants in Assam as stateless citizens, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs M Ramachandran said in a Rajya Sabha reply. In a written reply to a question by Kumar Deepak Das, the Minister added that declared illegal migrants are being deported to their countries. According to report of the Foreigners Tribunal set up in Assam, 2242 persons of pre-1971 stream have been declared as illegal migrants and during the 2007-2010, 5175 persons were so declared. At least 441 deported illegal migrants had re-infiltrated and were detected and deported to their country, he informed.

During 2008, some 5.41 lakh Bangladeshi nations entered the country on valid documents of which 31,229 overstayed. The same year 12,625 Bangladeshi nationals were deported, the Minister added. The highest number of deportations took place in 2006, when 13,692 illegal migrants were deported. In 2006, 24,497 Bangladeshi nationals over stayed, the next year 25,712 nationals of Bangladesh overstayed. The same year 12135 illegal migrants were deported to Bangladesh, it was reported by the Minister.

Of the 4096.70 Km India-Bangladesh borders, 3436 Km is proposed to be fenced. About 2706 km has been fenced so far, Ramachandran said in a separate reply.

No fencing work has been taken up in the India-Myanmar border. These are very, very difficult terrains and difficult conditions. These borders are porous, Chidambaram said.

3) Adani coal buy in Oz Linky

Linc Energy Ltd. said Tuesday it sold its Galilee thermal-coal property in Queensland state to India's Adani Enterprises Ltd. for 500 million Australian dollars (US$456 million) plus royalties, in the biggest acquisition by India of an Australian asset, as the fast-growing nation tries to plug gaps in its energy supply.
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The breakthrough ends years of frustration for Brisbane-based Linc after two previous attempts to sell coal properties in Queensland to Chinese entities, including Galilee, collapsed at an advanced stage of negotiations.
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As one of the world's fastest-growing economies, India currently has to import coal because it doesn't produce enough to meet increasing demand. According to government data, India is estimated to face a coal shortage of 52 million tons this fiscal year, and power utilities have been asked to import 35 million tons of the fuel. Linc said the Galilee property could support a development producing 60 million tons of coal each year. Imported coal will help India meet its aims to nearly quadruple the annual addition to power generation capacity over the next few years to 13,000 megawatts each year from around 3,500 MW now, to power rural households and prevent blackouts.

According to data by Dealogic, the next biggest Indian corporate investment in Australia is Tata Steel Ltd.'s A$96 million purchase of a stake in Mozambique-focused Australian coal miner Riversdale Mining Ltd. The biggest single Indian investment in Australia, however, remains PetroNet LNG Ltd.'s agreement last year to buy liquefied natural gas from Exxon Mobil Corp. for 20 years from the massive Chevron Corp.-operated Gorgon project in Western Australia.

Adani said it has obtained approval for the Linc deal from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board and has also been awarded "preferred proponent status" by relevant authorities to develop a 30 million to 60 million-ton-a-year coal terminal near the existing Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay terminals at the port town of Mackay. Speculation that Linc would seal a deal with Adani firmed in recent weeks after Bond confirmed Linc was talking to the Indian group, which raised US$850 million through a late July share issue.

The deal is the latest in a flurry of corporate activity in Australia's coal sector, following last year's Chinese takeover of Felix Resources Ltd. and this month's offer by Thai miner Banpu PCL for Centennial Coal Co.

The acquisition of the coal assets has many benefits for Adani. The deal would help the company, which already has coal mines in Indonesia, work towards significantly increasing its power-generation capacity. Adani Power, in which Adani Enterprises has a stake of about 70%, has four thermal power plants under various stages of development and planning with a combined planned capacity of 9,900 megawatts.

4) Time for mid-term elections in Maldives? Linky

Having realised that it is getting near impossible to conduct the affairs of the government in view of various restrictions in the present Constitution, President Nasheed is veering round to the view that a mid term election will be necessary to amend some articles of the constitution.
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Two days earlier, on the day Abdulla Yaameen, the opposition leader was released, there was a very valuable advice in the press and this needs to be quoted. “There is no alternative to talks as an immediate measure on strengthening institutions of horizontal accountability such as Anti corruption commission, the Audit Office and the Judiciary for the long haul. The comment ended with the words “Get prepared for painful compromises in the short term.” This is the dilemma President Nasheed is facing. He is a young President of integrity and in a hurry. At the same time he has to sustain and get the young democracy take deep roots to ensure that authoritarianism never returns. Will he be able to go for compromises? This is what he was trying in the last few days in getting his party meet the leaders of opposition in three rounds of talks.
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The Special Adviser to President Nasheed, Zaki is said to be in India, perhaps to discuss the current political impasse.

5) NRC update Linky

The pilot project on NRC update began after long five years of the May 5, 2005 tripartite talks’ decision to update the NRC. Many are apprehensive that now the State Government is out to stall the NRC update work on the pretext of anomalies in the NRC form as the ruling party is afraid of losing ‘‘minority’’ votes in the Assembly election slated for next year. Assam politics has been taking a dramatic turn after the July 21 Barpeta incident. The Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF has been supporting the AAMSU from the very beginning. NRC update has been a long-standing demand of the AASU. In accordance with the decision taken on the tripartite talks on April 22 this year, work of the pilot projects on NRC update began on June 1 in Barpeta and Chhaygaon revenue circles. There was no protest from any quarters. However, the AAMSU discovered anomalies in the NRC update process in Barpeta.

6) Nepal Mayhem. wow. Linky

Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda' needs the support of the United Democratic Madhesi Front, constituting four Tarai-based parties, to get to 301 — the required simple majority mark. India had used its influence to convince the front to remain neutral in the last round of voting, in line with Delhi's preference to keep the Maoists out of power. However, 11 MPs of the Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum crossed the floor to support Prachanda. The Maoists are banking on either the front supporting them, or more Madhesi MPs defying the party whip in the next round.
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The decision to send Mr. Saran as special envoy has triggered multiple, and conflicting rumours, in Kathmandu political circles. Some suggested he would try to stop the Madhesi front from going over to the Maoists; others argued that India could well do a deal with Prachanda and encourage the Madhesi parties to vote for him.

Another rumour doing the rounds is:

Shyam Saran may have come to Nepal to champion the case of Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai and in all likelihood may appeal Prachanda to take back his nomination and forward Bhattarai’s name for the post of the Nepal PM in the next round of election.

7) Visa on arrival cancelled Linky

Malaysia is planning to introduce a Visa Facilitation System (VFS) for tourists from India and China. This follows a decision to revoke the Visa on Arrival (VOA) scheme for visitors to Malaysia from several countries. The VOA scheme was discontinued in respect of Indian nationals in 2008. The reason cited by the authorities, including Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, was that thousands among those who arrived from India under the VOA scheme later went “missing.” Chennai was identified as the embarkation point.