Wrap up meeting for JRM of NERCORMP held in Shillong
SHILLONG: A wrap up meeting for Joint Review Mission (JRM) of NERCORMP was held in NEC Secretariat here on Thursday. The meeting was chaired by NEC Secretary, Ameising Luikham who is also the Chairman of NERCORMP Society and was attended by Mission Leader, Project Management, Livelihoods, Rural Infrastructure and Convergence, Deep C. Joshi, Saleela Patkar (Institutions and Governance, Gender and Targeting), Pratul Dubey (Financial Management and Procurement), Ms. Antonella Cordone , IFAD, Rome and Vincent Darlong from International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), India Country Office besides officials from NEC and NERCORMP. The JRM was conducted from May 3 to 14 in the three states– Manipur, Assam and Meghalaya– where NERCORMP is operating. NERCORM project is jointly funded by IFAD and North Eastern Council since 1999 and currently in second phase. The objective of NERCORM is to improve the livelihood options of economically vulnerable groups in a sustainable manner through the promotion of improved livelihood opportunities and strengthening of local institutions that relate to livelihood development. Gogoi urges PM to take up dam issue with China
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up with China the issue of construction of dams on Brahmaputra river there. There were serious concerns over construction of dams by China over Brahmaputra river as that would adversely impact its downstream flow, a press release quoting Gogoi said here today. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi must convey India’s concern to Beijing during his visit,” Gogoi said. The Prime Minister is on a three-day visit to China, starting on Thursday. (PTI)
Construction of 25 composite BOPs completed along Indo-Bangla border
Rangamura (Tripura) Twenty five composite Border Outposts (BOPs) out of total 65 BOPs have already been completed along the 856 km long Tripura-Bangladesh international border (IB) to maintain stringent vigil to check smuggling and infiltration, BSF said on Thursday. “There are 245 BOPs in Tripura of which 65 BOPs are being converted to composite BOPs for stringent vigil and domination in the border. Out of 65, twenty five such BOPs have already been completed,” IG of BSF, Tripura Frontier B N Sharma told reporters. The Rangamura composite BOP in South Tripura district, about 90 km from here was today inaugurated by the DGP of Tripura police, K Nagraj. This kind of BOP would provide better logistic supports and better facilities to the BSF personnel which would help maintain better vigil in the border. A composite BOP would have at least one jawans barrack, one kitchen, one dining hall, one garage, one generator room, one toilet block, one administrative block, one wireless room, one weapons room and six cemented bunkers to resist any attack and also medical facilities. Sharma said, earlier many BOPs were makeshift and the BSF personnel faced problems during rain and winters. Tripura DGP said barbed wire fencing could not be constructed in some places of the border due to hostile terrain and human habitation in the border, but despite all constrains works are on progress. He stated that fencing could check infiltration and border smuggling up to some extent. (PTI)
IRS body demands action against Assam Rifles personnel in NE
New Delhi: An organisation of customs and central excise officers has demanded action against some personnel of paramilitary force Assam Rifles for their alleged highhandedness on a revenue officer. The IRS Customs and Central Excise Association claimed that some Assam Rifles personnel had allegedly misbehaved with an Assistant Commissioner of Customs Department in Manipur last month and it took up the issue with the Home Ministry demanding action against the erring personnel and seeking a mechanism to check repeat of such incidents. “We have given representation to MoS for Home Kiren Rijiju and brought to his notice the high-handed behaviour of Assam Rifles on a senior Customs official. We just want that this type of incident should not take place again and agencies should work in coordination with each other,” IRS Association President Metta Rama Rao told PTI. In April, personnel of Assam Rifles in Manipur had allegedly harassed a Customs officer who was on official duty. The jawans stopped official vehicle of the Assistant Commissioner Gaikhonlung Panmei and allegedly interrogated him for almost an hour. The IRS officer has alleged that he was frisked and searched thoroughly twice in public view, with threat of dire consequences if he didn’t cooperate. “We have asked for suitable departmental action against erring officials after enquiry. They (Assam Rifles) should not behave as if he (the IRS officer) is criminal. This type of small clashes should not disturb government functioning,” Rao said. He said the association has requested the minister to evolve suitable mechanism so that such incidents do not occur in future. (PTI)
Arunachal Pradesh restarts five defunct hydro projects
Itanagar: Despite funds crunch, the Arunachal Pradesh Hydro Power Department has restored five mini hydro projects in various parts of the state. While Rina small hydro project (2×1000 KW) in East Siang district was revived in the first week of May, Tinning micro hydel scheme (MHS) (2X25 KW) in Changlang district has been put into operation, a release said today. The Tinning MHS built under the Prime Minister’s package had been lying idle since its installation. Rina had been shut due to damage by floods in September 2014. In West Kameng district, the Saskorong MHS (3X100 KW) has been restarted this week, which is meeting the load demand of 60 KW of nearby villages. In Upper Subansiri district, only one unit of Sippi project (2X200 KW) was operational, with another which was shut for almost 2 years, also restored in the last week of April. Mechuka MHS (6X25Kw) in West Siang district and Siri Korong MHS (2X250Kw) at Lhallung have also been put on track. However, due to shortage of staff, both the hydel stations could not be operated at the same time. The department has appealed to the higher authorities to sanction posts for the hydel stations. Meanwhile, the Department has thanked Hydro Power Parliamentary Secretary Phurpa Tsering for his role in restoring the hydel stations, the release added. (PTI)
