By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: With just five months left for the Assembly elections in the State, the emerging trend is that Meghalaya may yet again witness a coalition Government after the 2013 polls.

 Indications are that no political party will get absolute majority, though the Congress may emerge as the single largest party.

 Too many applications to secure a single party ticket in the run up to the Assembly elections and infighting in the Congress can put hurdles for the Congress to get absolute majority.

 With too many political parties in the fray, the chances of the Congress crossing the half-way mark out of the total 60 in the House is a difficult task.

 Besides the Congress, the UDP, NCP, the newly formed National People’s Party (NPP), the revived Meghalaya Democratic Party (MDP), HSPDP, BJP and KHNAM will be contesting the 2013 polls.

 Moreover, efforts are being made by other political parties like Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Trinamool Congress to contest the elections.

 Though LJP had contested the 2008 elections, the party could not win a single seat.

 Independent candidates can also play a crucial role in the Assembly election in Meghalaya. In the event of major political parties denying tickets to prominent leaders, they are likely to contest as independents.

 Many independents who had won the elections in the past played a crucial role in Government formations. Congress working president Deborah Ch Marak recently said that the split in NCP and emergence of NPP will be advantageous to the Congress in Garo Hills.

 However, this was contradicted by the NPP leadership by saying that the party has already started preparations for the Assembly elections by way of strengthening various blocks in parts of the State.

 The Congress is aiming at getting absolute majority in the House so that it can form a Government on its own.

 Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma recently appealed to the people to elect any party which can provide stability as Meghalaya had witnessed too many change of governments and threats from the coalition partners to withdraw support from the Government.

 Dr Sangma also indicated that he wants to carry on with the development initiatives undertaken by him meaning that there should not be any frequent change of leadership.

 The Congress has 28 legislators at present followed by UDP (10) including the KHNAM entrant Paul Lyngdoh, HSPDP (2) and five Independents.

 There were as many as 15 NCP legislators after the Assembly elections in 2008.

 However, after the recent merger of the NCP legislature wing with the NPP, two legislators out of the total of 15 – Sanbor Shullai and Adolf Hitler Marak – remained with the NCP.

 The Tura seat is currently vacant after PA Sangma resigned as MLA to contest the Presidential poll while the Chokpot seat fell vacant with the death of sitting legislator MM Sangma recently.

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: In a ray of hope for the water-starved residents of Jowai and adjoining villages, the much-delayed river pumping water supply scheme for the area is expected to be commissioned by March 2013.

An official of the PHE department recently informed that the project is in its final stages and 90 per cent of the work has already been completed.

“The department is currently carrying out the distribution of pipelines,” the official said.

Tagged as the most-awaited Centrally-sponsored scheme, the project was inaugurated in 2003 and subsequently, the PHE started work in June 2007.

Sanctioned under the Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources by the Union Ministry of Urban Development, the scheme aimed at meeting the rising demand for water in Jowai and surrounding villages including Mihmyntdu and Ialong.

The project, undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs 1541.31 lakh, envisages to pump water from the Umngot river and supply it to the concerned areas.

It may be mentioned that concerned over the continued delay, some prominent citizens of Jowai had also filed a writ petition in October 2011 against the PHE with the Shillong Bench of the Gauhati High Court following which Justice T Vaiphei directed the department to complete the project within a period of six months.

Goalpara/TURA: Two suspected militants of the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) were killed in an encounter with a joint team of police and Army in lower Assam’s Goalapara district, police said on Sunday.

 The security forces had launched a search operation on a tip-off about the presence of the extremists in Borjhora village, under Lakhipur police station, and cordoned off the area.

 On coming face to face with the security team around 11 pm on Saturday night, the ultras opened fire and in the retaliatory shooting the two were killed.

 A 7.26 mm pistol with 11 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the slain militants, who are yet to be identified.

 RDX, pistol recovered from encounter site

 Garo Hills police have recovered 200 gms of RDX explosive along with 48 detonators and a pistol from the site of Saturday evening’s encounter with GNLA militants in which one ultra was shot dead in Salmanpara village.

 Tura police’s SWAT commandos entered South West Garo Hills district of Ampati and killed GNLA corporal Lilu T Sangma while second cadre Habing Ch Marak surrendered. An NDFB militant with the group managed to escape.

 On Sunday morning, police managed to recover 200 grams of RDX explosive while 48 detonators were recovered on Saturday night itself. A pistol left behind by surrendered cadre Habing Marak was also retrieved from a jungle near the house where the encounter took place.

 Habing hails from Lokaichar area of Mahendranganj and revealed that the group was planning to kidnap traders, extort from markets and even use explosives to target security forces travelling on the road in the region.

 The total number of seized items from the encounter site include one AK 47 rifle with 84 live ammunition, empty cases and magazines, hand sets, and GNLA documents along with identity card of the GNLA corporal Lilu T Sangma who was shot dead. It is also revealed that Lilu was behind the killing of two villagers in Mikdikgre village of Chokpot region last year. He allegedly orchestrated the murder on the orders of then area commander Reding Marak. (PTI and Our Correspondent)

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: A fresh case has been lodged against the owner of the New Life Home, Reverend SK Miller, by social activist Angela Rangad alleging him of aggravated sexual offences against minors including trafficking of children for exploitation by means of false promises and misrepresentation.

Reverend Miller was recently arrested on various charges including rape, molestation, exploitation and sexual abuse against minors.

The FIR filed by social activist Angela Rangad here on Sunday, alleged that the 65-year-old priest was involved in luring a 15-year-old girl from Umpho village to stay at New Life Home in the name of education for the past seven years, but she was made to do heavy work besides facing verbal, mental and physical abuse.

According to the FIR, the minor was made to wash clothes for which the pastor charged money from the hostellers, making food and tiffin for the hostellers, besides other tasks.

“The pastor would abuse her regularly and especially on two occasions when she was ill he molested her,” the FIR added.

The abuses and sexual offences continued till February 2012 when the victim met her father and convinced him to take her away, the FIR added.

Stating that these acts committed by Rev Miller constitute very serious cognizable and non-bailable offences, Rangad has demand severe punishments as prescribed under the IPC, Juvenile Justice Act 2000, Child labour legislations and the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act 2012.

Recently, several NGOs of the State including the Lympung ki Seng Kynthei, the Civil Society Women’s Organisation, the Khasi Students’ Union, Domestic Workers’ Union, besides others had sent a letter to Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma demanding stern action against the accused.

Meanwhile, the medical reports have confirmed that Reverend Miller, who was admitted at NEIGRIHMS following complaints of cardiac problems after his arrest, was not suffering at all. Rev Miller was admitted at the Shillong Civil Hospital the day he was arrested, and was later shifted to NEIGRIHMS following complaints.

Official source from NEIGRIHMS informed that more tests will be conducted in a day or two to confirm whether Rev Miller was really suffering from any cardiac problem.

By Our Reporter

 Shillong: A team of millet farmers from Meghalaya visited Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu recently to forge a network of millet growers and facilitate knowledge exchange in millet cultivation, conservation, consumption and commercialisation and also to study honey bee rearing and management.

 Accompanying the team was Phrang Roy, Co-ordinator, Agro-biodiversity international and Chairman, North East Slow Food & Agro-biodiversity Society (NESFAS), Dr CO Rangad, Director NESFAS, and Wancy Passah of the Megahalaya Rural Development Society (MRDS).

 To counter the stresses caused by climate change in the cultivation of food grains, millets have been identified as the food grain of the future because of their resilience to water, nutrient and climatic stresses.

 Traditionally Meghalaya had been a millet growing and consuming State but the growing pressures of modernism have pushed this traditionally grown crop almost to extinction.

 Knowledgeable farmers have in recent times articulated that they want to revive millet cultivation not only to ensure the maintenance of tradition but also to encourage biodiversity, food sovereignty and security.

 To this end the team visited the project areas of the Agro-biodiversity Heritage Site of the Deccan Development Society (DDS) at Zaheerabad, Andhra Pradesh and interacted with the farmers and the Director, Dr PV Satheesh, who is also the National Convenor of the Millet Network of India (MINI) and his team.

 Farmers from Meghalaya were impressed by the cultivation techniques especially the system of mixed farming practiced by the Andhra farmers, which was very akin to the system adopted under jhum farming.

 The team visited fields where farmers subsisted on land barely two acres big but where mixed farming brought in enough food for a family of six members.

 What especially impressed the team was that annually a Biodiversity festival is conducted in addition to numerous food festivals throughout the year. The farmers maintain family seed banks. A central community seed bank has also been established. There is also a millet market as well as a millet café. The team also visited the millet processing units which evoked keen interest.

 The team then visited the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) at Chennai and the project areas of the foundation at Pondicherry and the Kolli hills.

 The highlight of the visit was the meeting with Dr MS Swaminathan, the Father of the Green Revolution.

 Dr Swaminathan said that Millets were a ‘Nutri Cereal’ and they are now being called the ‘Climate smart Cereals’.

 Millets, he emphasized, will be the food grain of the future and we would do well to lay adequate emphasis on their cultivation, preserve their seed and most importantly ensure that biodiversity is maintained.

 Dr Swaminathan also informed that the Government of India has taken a very positive step by including Millets in the PDS and the mid day meal scheme of the ICDS.

 Dr Swaminathan, an internationally decorated and highly respected agricultural scientist lauded Phrang Roy for the leadership role he has been playing in promoting locally appropriate and sustainable smart but marginalised crops like millet.

 The visit to the Bio-Village Resource Centre was also very informative and brought keen interest in community mobilization, organic farming, Rice Bio Parks, organic manures and the Village knowledge Centers (VKCs).The Meghalaya farmers were then taken to the Kolli hills where tribal farmers who are the traditional knowledge holders, are living sustainably in sync with nature and Biodiversity.

 The MSSRF, in collaboration with Biodiversity International, is striving to promote pro- poor, pro- women, pro- nature and pro- livelihood activities thereby creating space for farmers to take their own decisions.

 The Participatory Resource Mapping and the Community driven participatory plant breeding programmes were of immense interest to the visiting team.

 The Meghalaya farmers also visited several villages in the Nilgiri Hills District of Tamil Nadu. They witnessed how small tribal communities defended their traditional seed and cultivation practices of mixed cultivation for their own food security against the onslaught of large scale commercial cultivation of tapioca, tea and maize.

 The team also learnt how the staff of Keystone Foundation are enabling tribal communities to process millet into several products for marketing.

 The team of farmers have returned with the determination to start community seed banks and pilot small processing units to dehull and pulverize millet.

 Such a pilot unit would reduce the drudgery of women and help develop different food products from millet for sale initially within the neighbouring villages.

The trip was funded by MRDS, NESFAS and The Indigenous Partnership, Rome.

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: While other political parties are looking for pre-poll alliances with like-minded parties to boost their prospects in the 2013 Assembly elections in the State, the BJP is keen to go alone in the polls.

BJP Meghalaya general secretary, Dipayan Chakraborty, on Sunday said, “There is very little chance that we will forge alliance with any political party for the election.”

Ruling out any possibility of an alliance with the UDP, which is a coalition partner of the Congress-led MUA Government, the BJP leader said, “The UDP is a part of the MUA Government which is encouraging FDI through the mining policy, so how can we have an alliance with the UDP.”

According to Chakraborty, the BJP workers are working hard in many constituencies and the party is active in more than thirty constituencies of the State.

The BJP also claims that the recent support to the Bharat Bandh in Shillong goes to show that people in the State have begun to accept the party and they are fed up of Congress rule.

Reacting to a query on the number of seats the party plans to contest, Chakraborty refused to comment anything saying that BJP central command will take a decision in this regard.