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Showing posts from June, 2012

Khalorparor Kang strikes a chord with Hindus, Muslims

Ramlal Sinha Guwahati, June 29 Khalorparor Kang, a legacy of Jagannath’s return rath that has been striking the right chord with the Hindus and Muslims in the south Assam district of Karimganj is on its way to complete 200 years when the kang committee rolled its traditional seven fira kangs (returning chariots) in its 187th anniversary at Khalorpar on Friday, daring the devastating floods that have marooned hundreds of houses in the district. Khalorparor Kang, which has been rolling uninterruptedly since 1826, is unique on many counts in its appeal. As the tradition goes, as many as seven villages – Satra Lokei (Satragram), Tanga Lokei (Mantrigtram), Khulakpa Lokei (Patrogram), Kehurgang, Khalibari (Nayadahar), Mechigo Lokei (North Beelbari) and South Beelbari – roll out a rath each, and all the seven raths converge to a particular point under an age-old banyan tree amid the participation of thousands of devotees, regardless of their caste, creed and faith. The b

Bishnupriya Manipuris demand more employment opportunities

From our Correspondent SILCHAR, June 28: Members of newly formed Bishnupriya Unemployed Youths Association submitted a memorandum addressed to the Deputy Commissioner, demanding proper consideration with regard to selection of beneficiaries under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) 2012- 2013. Gopesh Sinha, president of the organization said that the un-employment problem had been gripping the youths of the community. He pointed out, “As most of them belong to semi urban area, the banks also do not pay interest for extending loan facilities.” He added to say that the unemployed youths of the community were deprived of different facilities given under different schemes like PMEGP, KALPATARU, CM’s Yojana. He alleged that the funds allocated for the youths of Bishnupriya Manipuri were also not utilized properly by the Bishnupriya Manipuri Development Council. He further said that gross anomalies and irregularities in funds in the name of auto rickshaw

BMUYA raises questions against activities of BMDC

From our Correspondent SILCHAR, June 24: The members of the Bishnupriya Manipuri Unemployed Youth Association (BMUYA) raised questions on the activities of the Bishnupriya Manipuri Development Council (BMDC), as they alleged that the funds allocated for the unemployed youths of Bishnupriya Manipuri in 2010-11 were not utilized properly. Gopesh Sinha, president of Bishnupriya Manipuri Unemployed Youth Association, said that the Council had recently distributed 62 auto-rickshaws in the name of unemployed youths in which large irregularities were found as those who received the vehicle maximum of them are employed. He added to say that the Committee received a huge sum in return to the distribution of auto-rickshaws to rich and well settled families. He pointed that the BMDC had taken a sum of Rs 30,000 from a youth of Karimganj, Rs 30000 from one of Nityanagar village of Hailakandi district and from another who live in Kachudaram area of Cachar, but they are yet to get

Hallelujah Drogba!

Delhi Diary Raj Kumar Mithilesh Sinha India is a cricket dominating country. Here cricket is a religion and Sachin is a God, But for me it is Football that drives my nerves. I follow this sport ardently just like a staunch, passionate believer of any faith. As it is said : ‘’Cricket is known as gentlemen’s game but Football is a men’s game. Here one will feel the passion, anger and love.’’ And I love this beautiful game.  Didier Drogba It was Sunday and the date was 17th June 2012. The scorching heat of Delhi compel anyone stay inside, but I was absolutely in a frenzied state to witness the historic moment I was waiting since long. It will not be an exaggeration if I say it is the best day of my life. I saw my favorite football star Didier Drogba in reality before my eyes. Former Chelsea striker and all time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team is a living legend for his country and for his Club. I hurriedly got ready and was soon riding my Enfie

Travel Blues (Part V) (New Delhi-Guwahati)

Non-Fiction RK Rishikesh Sinha To a lost boy in journey, nothing on earth supersedes the happiness of being found. I got separated for 4-5 hours from my father without a penny in pocket and with no instruction to follow; the journey came as an appalling and horrific experience for me. We were tired and had not taken food and sleep properly since the day my father and I began our journey from Kashmir to Jammu by bus, than taking another journey from Jammu to Old Delhi by train. We were travelling continuously with 2 heavy trunks and a bedding. The size of the bedding was so big that it was half my height, and trunks so heavy that a coolie can’t take two in one go. We were at one of the platforms in Old Delhi Railway Station where the train from Jammu had dropped us early morning and we hadn’t taken anything to give energy to our tired body. Our stay there was not too long. A railway announcement swung us to take another travel in a train stationed at a different p

Travel Blues (Part IV) (Silchar to Guwahati)

Non-Fiction RK Rishikesh Sinha There are times when you are caught between two sets of people who think differently. What would happen if the task take place high in the mountain in a confusing, tensed environment between these two types of people. One such incident, I witnessed while travelling from Silchar to Guwahati. My nap broke when the Sumo in which I was travelling stopped high in a mountain. It was dark all around, and I saw a long chain of elephantine night super buses with number plates of Assam and Tripura in front of us. I came to know, the Sumo was stopped due to heavy landslide. I discovered from my co-passengers that we are in a landslide-prone area. “Hell to this landslide!” I murmured. Except women and children, and old people, who were on the bus, all men came on the road and started taking stock of the situation. Looking at the faces of the women, it seemed that they have surrendered their wish to reach Guwahati on time. In the crowd of people, ther

Pocha Ojha: An epoch-maker

Ramlal Sinha Treading a few steps away from the usual path trodden by most of his likes, an ability to blend his own creative arts with what he has inherited from a number of gurus, his happy-go-lucky lifestyle, especially when young and his ability to withstand controversies of all hues with a brave front and determination have contributed their bits to help Braja Kumar Sinha, or Pocha Ojha as he was better known, linger for a very long spell in the Manipuri rasakirtan mandap. In the process, he has created a gharana or shaili of his own that remains a hallmark on the horizon of the Bishnupriya Manipuri version of kirtanango. In a discipline where Ojhas Sukhdev, Dango, Salia, Chapta, Braja Ballab, Khaimoni, Ramsingh, Ramgopal, Nilo, Kalasena Rajkumar and others have been dazzling as bright stars, the likes of Ojha-poet Senarup, Ojhas Pocha, Godoi, Kartik, Sunani, Mohan Chand and a number of others emerged with the true Bishnupriya Manipuri flavour of rasakirtan. They rescued the

Assam Search Engine: Bisarok

Exclusive search engine on Assam Manash Pratim Gohain, TNN Jun 16, 2012, 01.46PM IST NEW DELHI: Assam got its own search engine ' Bisarok '. The search engine has been launched to get results exclusively on queries and information related to Assam. 'Bisarok', means 'to search' in Assamese language, has been launched and has been linked to various websites of the Government of Assam and departments, educational institutions and media. The search engine is likely to give a new online experience related to searches on Assam. Built on Google custom search engine, the search engine would be collating and building a database of web properties exclusively of the state in the North East region. 'Bisarok' has been developed by RK Rishikesh Sinha, who had earlier created a similar custom search engine ('Bisarei') on Bishnupriya Manipuri. According to Sinha, apart from Google there was no link to get results particularly on Assam. Any web entity related

Travel Blues (Part III) (Silchar to Lumding)

Non-Fiction RK Rishikesh Sinha Relationships that build up between co-passengers in journeys are sometimes very funny that fails to go unnoticed. Journeys appear as a moving theatre of human behavior. I recently witnessed while coming from New Delhi to Guwahati, the simmering tension between two families got its ugly eruption at Maligaon. Both the families, including men and women, started abusing each other. I don’t understand why people fight in journeys, if there is no encroachment of reserved berth.  However, fighting does take place, and sometimes they are diffused.   One such incident took place during a journey between Silchar Railway Station and Lumding, which is considered as the most scenic train routes in India. As soon as the train had left Silchar, and we made our arrangement, a man in late twenties started conversing with other co-passengers. Something that was welcomed initially became a public nuisance when his constant chattering on different topics didn’

Travel Blues (Part II) (Silchar to Siliguri)

Non-Fiction RK Rishikesh Sinha I get goosebumps whenever I recall the 1993-94 floods in Assam. The tandav of devastation by mother earth on the life and property of people is still fresh and it fails to go away. And in that time of flood, my father and I had to leave Assam. It was a tortuous, harrowing journey that we took from Silchar to New Jalpaiguri (NJP). View Larger Map Owing to flood, communication by bus between Silchar and Guwahati had been thrown out of gear. We started our journey from Srikona and boarded in a black-colour boat, usually seen in the Barak River and in its tributaries. Before me, I saw a vast sheet of water that stretched away out of sight. At that moment, I had a wish if I could see a friend of mine at the spot since everybody would come to witness the level of water. As if God heard my wish, few minutes before we began our journey, I met my school friend Rajesh Sharma who came to see the water level. It was painful experience for me

The Brighter Side Of Darkness

Fiction Bidisha Sinha It had been a long day; long enough to be mistaken for two days and yet it was just one really long day. I had woken up to a deceitfully beautiful morning expecting nothing extraordinary. No chance meeting with a handsome stranger, no sudden inheritance of wealth from a distant relative, no empty space in a parking lot, no discount on a gorgeous dress, no lunch date and no dinner invitation. The usual morning kappa followed by the usual breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast seemed perfect to kick-start my day. I got down from the bed to the instant comfort of my slippers. those slippers were a gift from my mother. She claimed that the countless bumps on it of varying shapes and sizes were meant for 'good blood circulation'. Aah...she had always been a health freak and it only did us good. the slippers felt like a dream on my sleep-numbed feet. I reached for my cell phone on the bed-side table and checked if somebody considered me important enoug

Travel Blues (Part I) (Srinagar - Jammu)

Non-Fiction RK Rishikesh Sinha From the countless journeys that we undertake to travel from one place to another, some remains etched in our mind for various reasons — for being turned dangerous and fearsome, some becoming the theatre of human behaviour, and some just to brood over. View Larger Map One such travel that would have remained just a journey, in few hours of its beginning, turned dangerous. It was my journey from Kashmir to Jammu. The 300-Km long journey began early morning in the winter season from Panthachowk, a BSF transit camp in Kashmir. I was the only boy in the fully-occupied bus with officers sitting in the front and the rest seating according to rank. The bus was iron-fenced in the windows to thwart any attempt of grenade attacks by terrorist. On time, the bus started and it was accompanied with more buses and trucks and all left the gate. Like disciplined ants, all the vehicles were one after another and were on the wheels. As far as I coul

Bishnupriya Manipuri bodies demand dissolution of Development Council

Special Correspondent  SILCHAR, June 9: Various Bishnupriya Manipuri bodies in a joint memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister of Assam and submitted through the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar have demanded dissolution of the Bishnupriya Manipuri Development Council on grounds of large scale corruption and irregularities in the utilization of government grants-in-aid of Rs 10 crore provided to the Council during 2010-11 by the Government of Assam. They also demanded its reconstitution with the members of the social organizations of repute for welfare of the community and for the sake of fairness and transparency in its functioning.  The memorandum alleged that there have been allegations from the people of the community against the Council which has not been constituted properly. The very constitution of the committee for Development Council, it has been pointed out, has not been done in consultation with the executive heads of Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Mahasabha, the par

European excellence award for Assam girl

Post Bureau  GUWAHATI, June 9  Roma Sinha, senior operational manager (East India and Nepal) at VFS Global won the “European Process Excellence” award, 2012 for her ‘Best Process Improvement project’ on business management. She is daughter of Rebati Mohan Sinha and Ranju Sinha, hailing from Bekirpar near Kabuganj in Cachar district. The award was presented during the recent PEX Week Europe Summit – a multiday event for process improvement professionals in London.  Courtesy: Seven Sisters Post +++++++++++++  Girl from Cachar bags international award Girl from Cachar bags international award From our Correspondent SILCHAR, May 18: Roma Sinha, senior operational manager at VFS Global, a multi-national company, won the European Process Excellence award 2012 for Best Process Improvement project on Business Management during the PEX Week Europe Summit recently held in London. She is the first Bishnupriya Manipuri woman to receive an international award. The Proces

Assam Search Engine Bisarok

Anyone who seeks to find information related to Assam, with the launch of Assam Search Engine Bisarok , now would get a new online experience. They would get the queries of their search from the web entities of Assam only; all in a clutter-free environment. Now they could fetch any information from the list of websites maintained by the Government of Assam (it is too big), media houses (be it is print or television) of Assam, or it is from educational institutes (schools, colleges, universities) of Assam. In simple words, Bisarok would be one-stop search solution for the people to get any information from the Assam-based websites.     Bisarok would be made more robust and intelligent with the inclusion of websites from business and other sectors of the state.  You can share your experience. You can even submit websites to the Assam Search Engine Bisarok .

Gogoi urged to dissolve Bishnupriya Manipuri Dev Council

Press Trust of India / Karimganj (Assam) June 10, 2012, 13:25 Several organisations of Bishnupriya Manipuri community have urged Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to dissolve the Bishnupriya Manipuri Development Council on grounds of alleged large scale corruption and irregularities in the utilization of government grants-in-aid. President of Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Mahasabha Debendra Kumar Sinha, in a memorandum alleged that the Council had indulged in large scale corruption in the utilisation of government grants-in-aid of Rs 10 crore provided during 2010-11. He also demanded that the Council be reconstituted as the constitution of its committee was not done in consultation with the executive heads of the parent organisation - Nikhil Bishnupriya Manipuri Mahasabha.  Courtesy: Business Standard

Living with half a face

Fiction Bidisha Sinha It was a beautiful day; the sky was the perfect shade of blue. The scene outside was like an artist's impression of a perfect day. My heart was full of bubbling hope. I was finally going to tell him how much i love him. The past few weeks had been a frenzy; the initial denial and then the slow acceptance. My mind went on flashback mode: the first time we met, the first time i saw him smile, the first time we held hands and the night he proposed...moments engraved in my heart like a part of me. My phone beeped loudly, snapping me out of the flashback. I started scouting the sheets for the phone...love made me careless, clumsy and messy! After a thorough search lasting exactly 5 minutes, I found it amd my heart gave a jolt!         1 text received         "I hate the fact that the sun rays touch you before me." Under normal circumstances (read: i actually know the sender and he appears to be my boyfriend or something!), I would h