Group foils rice-smuggling bid
SHILLONG, March 11: The Riwar Mihngi Development Organisation (RMDO) on Thursday afternoon thwarted a rice-smuggling attempt and handed over the seized items to the police and BSF authorities. The members of the RMDO also filed a complaint subsequently with the Pynursla police station, alleging that the attempt was made to smuggle rice into Bangladesh. In the complaint, the RMDO informed that they had intercepted four vehicles carrying packets of rice near the BSF police outpost at Pyrdiwah on Thursday afternoon. Whilst one vehicle along with five packets of rice were handed over to the BSF, the other three vehicles along with 15 packets of rice were handed over to the Pynursla police station by the members of the RMDO.
Beef price hiked in city
SHILLONG, March 11: The people of Shillong were caught by surprise after the price of beef saw a sudden spike. Now, beef with bones costs Rs 450 from Rs 400, while the price of beef without bones has been hiked by Rs 100 and now costs Rs 600. The Khasi Jaintia Butcher’s Welfare Association (KJBWA) has decided to increase the price of beef with effect from Thursday while reasoning that the retailers are facing hardships due to increased price of cattle. When contacted, president of the KJBWA, Generous Warlarpih, informed that if they did not increase the costs then majority of the shops selling beef at Iewduh would have to close down. “…the price of cattle has gone up due to illegal smuggling of cattle to Bangladesh,” Warlarpih said. It may be mentioned that cattle traders have been facing such a challenge in the past since as majority of the cattle heads supplied to the state are smuggled to Bangladesh at exorbitant rates. The KJBWA president also informed that earlier they slaughtered around 30 to 40 cattle in a day, but at present the number is a mere five or six. “We are facing problems due to the closing down of the cattle market. We are dependent on cattle from outside to meet the demand of beef in the state,” Warlarpih said.
A Garo priest (Kamal) presents offerings to the Gods during the A’galmaka or A’galmakdoa ceremony, a traditional Garo ritual, conducted recently at the
Garo Heritage Village at Chibragre near Tura. Agalmaka or A’galmakdoa ceremony comprises two significant rituals, viz. Asiroka — invoking the blight/curse so that the crops are not infected by the curse of the land, and Rokkime ringgama — calling on Rokkime, the mother of rice, to bring rain and to ensure that the rice and other crops are protected.