Majestically spreading their wings in the sky and traversing almost 5,600km from Mongolia, when the Amur falcons come to Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Assam, Nagaland and other parts of Northeast India, the people rejoice.
Manipur and Nagaland are particularly important as the Amur falcons mainly throng there. The villagers in the two states also consider the arrival of Amur falcons as the sign of goodwill and prosperity. Since the time immemorial, they had been coming and the people too had been rejoicing: the matter of a long tradition.
Not making it biased, keeping in mind the equality and respect of both the religion, the Supreme Court gave an alternate land of 5 acres to the Sunni Waqf Board for the purpose of building the mosque. It was also cleared by the court that 5 acres is restitution for the unlawful destruction of mosque held way back in 1992 over the disputed area in violation of the status quo orders of the court.
“Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged Narendra Modi to set aside "his deep-rooted suspicion" of society and nurse India back to harmonious, mutually trustworthy society that can help the economy soar”.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that GDP growth rate of 4.5 per cent was unacceptable and worrisome, and urged his successor Narendra Modi to set aside "his deep-rooted suspicion" of society and nurse India back to harmonious, mutually trustworthy society that can help the economy soar.
Delivering his valedictory address at a national conclave on economy, Singh said mutual trust is the bedrock of societal transactions fostering economic growth, but "our social fabric of trust, confidence is now torn and ruptured".
The "toxic combination of deep distrust, pervasive fear and a sense of hopelessness in our society" is stifling economic growth, he said.
Indian Columnist and political commentator Sunanda Vashisht's speech has taken the social media by storm after she testified at the US Congressional hearing on Human Rights on November 14. Organised by Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a bipartisan US congressional caucus was held in Washington to examine the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the context of the region's history.
During her speech, Sunanda highlighted some of the crucial human rights situations in the Valley, India’s successful attempts to fight against insurgencies in J&K, milestones achieved post abrogation of article 370 and made several other important statements in the context of Kashmir's human rights violations over the years. The hearing also addressed the Valley's lockdown situation including restrictions on internet and communication.
Here’s her exact wordings addressed in the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission:
I would like to thank the Tom Lantos human Rights Commission, for inviting me to testify here as the witness. Today is worth remembering, that this commission is named after the late Congress man Tom Lantos, a Hungarian born Holocaustsurvivor. In July 2003, he said, Indians & Jews share a passionate commitment to respect for others, for the rule of law and for the mindless, vicious, fanatic Islamic terrorism. Am also reminded today, of American Journalist Daniel pearl, who was kidnapped and beheaded by Pakistani terrorists. His last word, my father is a Jewish, My mother is Jewish and I am a Jewish. Honourable members of the Tom Lantos Commission, I speak before you, the last words of Daniel pearl in my own words, my father is a Kashmiri Hindu, my mother is a Kashmiri Hindu, I am a Kashmiri Hindu, and her home and lives were destroyed by radical Islamic terrorism. As I begin to speak, I am choked by the thought of those voices, I represent here, because their voices were extinguished in most brutal fashion. I am the member of the minority Hindu community from Kashmir, victim of the worst ethnic cleansing witnessed in the independent India. I speak here today, because, I am a survivor.
First edition of ‘North East Food Show’ kicks off in Shillong
The first edition of ‘North East Food Show’ by Meghalaya Government and Salon International de l’Agrolimentaire (SIAL) Group was inaugurated here today by Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma in the presence of Minister, Agriculture, Banteidor Lyngdoh.
Speaking during the Inaugural Session of the three days’ food festival Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, said the North East has a great potential and he hoped that the food festival would provide the right organization, platform and network to farmers, entrepreneurs and all stakeholders in the food industry. “North East has a great potential and farmers and entrepreneurs are doing so well but there is a missing link somewhere and that is why it was important to have such a food festival in North East on a common platform,” he said. He added that the three days’ festival would bring together farmers, technology providers, entrepreneurs, buyers, chefs, hotels and all stakeholders in food industry in a single massive platform. “The objective of the food festival is to give exposure, connection and opportunities to the farmers and entrepreneurs of the North East,” he informed. He also said that the government intends to take the food festival forward every year making it an annual event so that it will not only be beneficial to the North East but the entire South East Asian region. “We are hopeful and targeting that this will be the biggest food festival in the South East Asian region,” said the Chief Minister.
A collaboration between the State Government of Meghalaya, Inter Ads Exhibitions Pvt Ltd, sole licensee of SIAL in India, the world’s largest food innovation network with over 50 years of global food innovation experience, the North East Food Show 2019 is platform of North Eastern India that is focussed on creating a global platform to ‘Inspire Food Business’ for this part of the country. The North East Food Show is also the curtain raiser to ‘Charting of a new course through food processing and supply chain management’ for the North East. A series of conferences, workshop and demos will be held which will culminate in the North East Chief Ministers’ Conclave on the last day in which key decision and policy makers from the Union and State governments along with key representatives from the industry will be present for deliberations.
The Chief Minister also virtually launched the Meg Tea Factory, Upper Shillong, the website of the Directorate of Food Processing and the Meghalaya Plastic Free Challenge Bags during the occasion.
100 Pipers’ ‘Play for a Cause’ performance in Shillong
The 100 Pipers’ ‘Play for a Cause’ brought together 107 celebrated musicians and bands to generate awareness about 15 adopted causes across 27 cities on 29th November. The ‘Play for a Cause aims to bring together celebrated musicians to support causes that impact our society including polluted air and water, dying hills, art, oceans, plantation and wild life, and other issues such as meals for underprivileged and one time plastic use, rain water harvesting to name a few.
In Shillong Soulmate, Fourth Element, Empirical Tribe performed with a pledge to ‘Save the Hills’. Shillong favorites ‘Soulmate’ played in Cloud9 as part of the '100 Pipers Play for a Cause'. This initiative had brought about 100 musicians together on a single day to perform live across 27 cities on this event, on November.
The band played ‘Hole in Your Soul’ which is one of the song from their upcoming album which has been inspired by the ‘Ksan coal mining tragedy’.
Soulmate member Rudy Wahlang said that the special thing about this event is that we are playing for different causes that are related to our day to day life. Though this initiative is being organized for the first time in Meghalaya yet the band is pleased to be part of this cause. Rudy Wahlang believed that such initiatives will have a huge impact in the future.
Committee constituted for re-construction of Church of God
The Dorbar shnong of Quallapaty today met the Church of God leaders and donated 50 thousand.
The delegation was led by Headman of Quallapaty M. Pyrbot along with the Executive Committee of the Dorbar Shnong and others. Headman of Quallapaty said it is good to see that even people of different faith and communities were there the help the Church people in taming the fire on 17th November.
The church and the locality as a whole with the help from the police department will sit and discuss on how to dispose the waste from around the church. Rev A. C Moore said that a committee will be set up for the construction of the new church building and a budget of Rs 10 crore is estimated to cost for the new Church building. Rev A. C Moore said that the church as a whole is thankful to the people of Quallapaty for being with the church when the Church was on fire. The church leader with the committee will also have to sit with the Government especially MUDA to look for ways to construct the new Church building.
The Church of God building was 95 years old which was engulfed by fire on 17th November 2919.
In present education system, where most of the teachers of schools are running parallel commercial coaching in their tuition centres and compelling students to take private coaching but to break this commercialization of education in the name of private tuition centres, a seed of education is already planted this year at Gauripur (Assam) with 100's of students in the name of Assam Heritage Senior Secondary School with the message that "Our students don't need any private tuitions as because we are with them".
This newly established higher secondary school at Gauripur really is an example and takes challenges to break the parallel tuition system which is slowly killing the aim and objective of the schools and colleges in the society.
It is a fact, that the interest of students to attend the school is gradually losing, rather they become ironically dependent on private tuitions of their school teacher and if this goes on, the country will lose the best brains and talents who cannot afford the fees of private tuition.
