R. Lalrinawma elected Deputy Speaker of Mizoram on Wednesday
Aizawl: R. Lalrinawma of the ruling Congress was on Wednesday elected unopposed as the Deputy Speaker of the Mizoram Assembly. Speaker Hiphei said that only one nomination was received for the election and announced that Lalrinawma was the new deputy speaker. House leader Lal Thanhawla and opposition group leader Vanlalzawma accompanied the newly elected Deputy Speaker to his seat. Lal Thanhawla said that Lalrinawma was the chairman of the Law Commission during the previous government and contributed a lot to legislation of a large number of laws and also for discarding obsolete acts. “His knowledge of law would be invaluable for the state legislature,” the chief minister said, adding that he and the Congress members would support him in his efforts to maintain the dignity and decorum of the state legislature. An advocate by profession, Lalrinawma (53) was elected from Aizawl East-I seat in 2008 state assembly polls from where he won again in the Assembly elections held on November 25 this year. (PTI)
Pawar to approve project to combat bamboo flowering
Itanagar: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has assured to approve a project to combat bamboo flowering and consequent rat menace in Arunachal Pradesh. A project proposal ‘bamboo flowering and famine combat scheme in non-forest areas of the state’ has been submitted for consideration of the ministry by a delegation of Arunachal Pradesh Bamboo Resource & Development Agency led by Lok Sabha MP Takam Sanjoy called on Pawar in Delhi on Tuesday. Stating that the project would be a boon to the rural people of the state, Pawar assured to look into the proposal and approve it as per guidelines of the ministry, official sources said here on Wednesday. The members of the delegation included APBRDA Chairman Tanyong Tatak, Vice-Chairman Yora Tagung and Nima Sangey Sailing. During the discussion, Tagung said that the tribal people in Arunachal Pradesh depended on subsistence farming through jhuming and shifting cultivation and to some extent, settled agriculture. “The bamboo flowering, a regular phenomenon in the state, has severely affected the livelihood of the rural people as it increased rodent population which poses serious threat to agriculture crops,” Tagung added. (PTI)
Financial transaction in Nagaland hit by bank strike
Kohima: Financial transactions in Nagaland came to a grinding halt today as nationalised bank employees in the state joined the country-wide agitation called by National Confederation of Bank Employees. General Secretary, National Confederation of Bank Employees, Nagaland, A Lolly Moses said the strike has been called to press for immediate wage revision and halt banking sector reforms. Normal bank functioning would commence on Thursday, he said. Moses said the Confederation has also demanded that the Nagaland government increase the Christmas holiday for bank employees from three to six days from December 23 as it is considered a Christian state under the Negotiable Instrument Act. (PTI)
PPA sets monogamy as pre-condition for party tickets in polls
Itanagar: The People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) has resolved to set monogamy as a pre-condition for issuing party tickets to aspiring candidates in panchayat, municipality and parliamentary elections. The decision was taken during a meeting convened by PPA Mahila Council president Kenyir Ringu here yesterday, a party communique said on Wednesday. The party has put gender equality and women empowerment on its priority list and has decided to oppose polyandry along with polygamy, the release said. “The rules will be applicable and strictly followed in future and we will continue our campaign against the practice of plural marriage. “If any candidate is found violating the monogamous norms, they will have to surrender their party membership as well as the post to which they have been elected,” Ringu said. The PPA also said it would be extremely liberal in the matter of reserving seats for women and it was ready to go beyond 33 per cent reservation in case of availability of suitable women candidates. “It is the PPA which gave a ticket to Nyari Welly, who is even today seen as an iconic legislator and a voice for gender equality in the state,” Ringu added. (PTI)
Tripura constitutes child rights panel
Agartala: The Tripura government has constituted the Commission for Protection of Child Rights to deal with the related issues in the state, officials said here Wednesday. “The six-member commission was constituted recently with the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist senior leader and social activist Rupa Ganguly as its chairperson,” the state’s social welfare department official told IANS. He said the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has been asking all the state governments for the past many years to set up the state commission. According to the official, Tripura is the first state in the northeastern region to constitute such a commission on child rights. The NCPCR was set up in March 2007 under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005. The commission’s mandate is to ensure that all laws, policies, programmes and administrative mechanisms are in consonance with the child rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India, and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The child is defined as a person in the 0 to 18 years age group. (IANS)