Be 21st Century Buddhists says Dalai Lama in Tawang – Arunachal Pradesh
www.phayul.com TAWANG, India — The Dalai Lama held a mass audience with tens of thousands of devotees Monday on a “non-political” visit to a region near India’s border with Tibet that has drawn shrill protests from China. More than 30000 people, many of whom arrived days in advance, packed into an open-air polo ground near the remote Tawang monastery in the northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh to hear the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. “Compassion and peace are the two words that should be remembered by all,” the Dalai Lama said at the opening of three days of religious teaching. China, which claims Arunachal as its own territory, has condemned the week-long visit and accused the Dalai Lama of seeking to stir up tensions in relations between New Delhi and Beijing. On his arrival at Tawang on Sunday, the Dalai Lama dismissed China’s complaints and rejected charges that he actively promotes anti-China unrest in his homeland. “My visit to Tawang is non-political,” the 74-year-old Nobel laureate told reporters. “It is quite usual for China to step up campaigning against me wherever I go,” he said. “It is totally baseless on the part of the Chinese communist government to say that I am encouraging a separatist movement.” His comments were splashed on the front pages of the Indian press and Arunachal state officials on Monday informally requested journalists to refrain from asking him questions for the remainder of the visit. The Indian government had already barred …
Meghalaya Governor attends BRPL function Correspondent
Currently, Manipur and BTC area have become the most violence-prone and insecure place in comparison to other NE states and regions, said the Governor of Meghalaya, Ranjit Sekhar Mushahary, who was the chief guest at a special programme organised by BRPL to mark the celebration of 50 years of IOCL yesterday at its refinery club-cum-community centre.
The Governor praised the BRPL employees and officials for upholding work culture in this oil industry.
He criticised the work pattern of Dispur Secretariat, where common people do not get service because of sluggish discharge of duties by the employees. He expressed concern over superstitions practices like sacrifice of animals. With a rider the Governor said that after sacrificing buffalo at Kamakhya temple, the king of Nepal lost his kingdom.
The BRPL employees and officials felicitated the Governor with due honour. They highlighted achievements and undertaking of welfare works by BRPL.
Manipur under home ministry scanner
Imphal has been virtually paralysed since the August 2 following an alleged fake encounter, which was caught on camera.
The revelation sparked off wide protests against Chief Minister Ibobi Singh and high handedness of police commandos.
In the recent chief ministers’ meet in Delhi Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh and Home Minsiter P Chidambaram were critical of Manipur’s law and order situation.
Home Scretary Pillai is expected to do some tough talking with officials here. He met DGP and CM regarding law and order situation
Congress wins Meghalaya by-poll
Congress nominee and Meghalaya education minister Ampareen Lyngdoh on Friday won the by-poll to Laitumkhrah constituency defeating the
United Democratic Party (UDP) candidate Malcolm Tariang by a margin of 2,327 votes.
Lyngdoh polled 5,800 votes, while Tariang bagged 3,473 votes. The lone women legislator increased her winning margin from 1,593 in the 2008 assembly elections to 2,327 this time.
In 2008, Lyngdoh, then a member of the UDP, had defeated Tariang who had contested as independent candidate.
The four other candidates – Stephen Nongbet (BJP), Remeo Phira Rani (Hill State Peoples Democratic Party) and two Independents, George Garry Lyngdoh and Andrew Aibok Jyrwa, forfeited their security deposit.
“I won despite personal attacks by my opponents. I must say they are yet to learn the game (of politics),” Lyngdoh said after emerging victorious.
She was under attack by her opponents who branded her as a “betrayer” after she resigned from the UDP and the Assembly on March 31 before joining Congress, necessitating the by-poll.
Laitumkhrah constituency has always been considered as the strong hold of Lyngdoh family. Before Ampareen, the seat was represented by her brother Robert G Lyngdoh and their father late P G Marbaniang.
Nagaland hold State Level National Integration camp
A week-long State Level National Integration camp was held in Nagaland with active participation of youths from different parts of the country.
Youngsters from different States were provided an opportunity to share their thought and develop a better understanding about persons of different cultures and States.
The camp promoted interaction and learning in an environment of mutual respect for each other’s distinct social and cultural identity.
Organised by the Nehru Yuva Kendra, Kohima, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, the camp signified unity in diversity. It was held at the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama in Nagaland
Five teams from Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland participated in the camp. The camp promoted national integration by bringing together youth and providing them an opportunity to learn more about each other’s cultural heritage and values.
“The purpose of these national integration camp is to bring young boys and girls together. To make them live together, build up oneness, togetherness, love to each other, culture, tradition and customs, irrespective of the gender, class, caste, religion. We all come together over here, learn each other’s culture and build up peace, communal harmony and share thoughts on development for the nation,” said John Makhabo, District Youth Coordinator, Kohima.
“We feel it brings unity, we can be friends like brothers and sisters. We are here for one week,” said Theodosia Nruth, a participant from Meghalaya.
“Because of these national integration, we can make friends with each and it brings unity. I have also made a lot of friends through this camp,” said C.L. Sanga, a participant from Mizoram.
Various participants exhibited their talents through various cultural programmess, community singing, sports and other activities.
The national integration camp is a step forward in creating harmony between different communities and promoting the spirit of nationalism among the people for a better society.
Sikkim youth give traditional Angora Shawls a new look
The Directorate of Handicrafts and handloom, originally established to preserve traditional Arts and Crafts and providing training to local youth, is now popularising the ‘Angora shawl’.
New elements and techniques have been added to the traditional Buddhist designs by the State handloom in Sikkim in the making of ‘Angora shawls’ to make it more popular.
Several local girls, who were proficient in the craft, were recently sent to Himachal Pradesh to learn new techniques. These girls have acquired new skills. They will be able to meet requirements of the market by fusing traditional and modern elements.
“We have sent some girls from Sikkim to Kullu, Himachal Pradesh for training. They learn the graphs from there and they’ve come here to execute the motifs and designs that they’ve learned. We also do embroidery and its in good demand in the market,” said Chozang Lepcha, Deputy Director at the Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom in Sikkim
“There are three castes in Sikkim such as the Bhutia, Lepcha and Nepali. According to their designs we make the shawls. Some are black and white in color. We have to make our own colour combination, and it looks nice,” said Pushpa Chettri, a worker.
The department has also provided modern IT facilities under which special designing programmes like CAD (Computer Aided Design) have been included for creative new designs using modern techniques.
With 32 centres across the State, the handloom department intends to preserve the traditional arts and crafts of the state while training and employing local youth.
Natives of Kyonsa in Sikkim to promote pillow fighting, pole climbing
The local residents of Kyonsa region in Sikkim gathered in huge numbers on Thursday to take part in an event to promote their age-old rural game of bamboo pole climbing and pillow fighting.
The locals shouted and cheered as the participants climbed bamboo poles and battered each other in pillow fights – reviving a practice that is slowly dying in the face of modern sports like soccer and volleyball.
“Our main aim is to preserve this old system of sports. Nowadays, we mainly focus on sports like football, archery and volleyball but our aim is to keep this traditional style of sports alive in our rural areas and entertain the public on such an occasion,” said Sonam Bhutia, General Secretary of Kyonsa Samaj Organizing Committee.
Sonam further said this was also a way of preserving their identity and by promoting this form of sport in the rural areas, the youth will learn more about their own traditions and not be swayed by modern sports such as football.
“Such rural sports encourage us and bring out the best in the all the villages who come from different areas. Here people come and gather for an occasion like this one. In this way we can preserve our age old sports which our earlier generations have been playing from a very long time,” said Anand Lepcha, a local.
The event was also marked by some spectacular dance performances.
Arms and ammunition recovered in Tripura-Bangladesh border
Security forces in Tripura recovered cache of arms and ammunition from a tribal hamlet close to the state’s border with Bangladesh.
Acting on a tip off by a surrendered militant, a joint operation was launched by state police along with paramilitary forces.
The ammunition was recovered from Karangicherra, a tribal hamlet in west Tripura district of the state.
“The place is not far from the Bangladesh border. It apparently appears that a group had left behind the weapons, concealed the weapons for further use or further utilization,” said Pranay Sahaya, Director General of Tripura police.
Police has recovered eight AK-66 rifles, 23 magazines and 17 rounds of ammunition.olice suspect the involvement of a group of banned militants belonging to the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) in the incident but could not make any arrests.
There are at least 10 base camps of two outlawed insurgent outfits – the ATTF and the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) — in Bangladesh.
Taiwan visit not political: Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama denied any political agenda as he began what he described as a “purely humanitarian” mission on Sunday to comfort victims of Taiwan’s worst storm, trying to calm fears that he would further anger China by verging into politics.
Although the Tibetan spiritual leader has traveled to Taiwan before, many fear his arrival could hurt the island’s improving relations with rival China, the signature issue in the 15-month-old administration of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou. China has protested the visit.
The Dalai Lama, who clasped his hands and smiled as he greeted Buddhist followers and supporters at the Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei, said his visit would have no political overtone.
“I’ve visited different parts of the world, and I may have a political agenda there … (but) my visit here is purely for humanitarian concerns,” he said.
His arrival at a suburban Taipei train station was greeted by about 50 demonstrators waving Chinese flags and banners supporting unification with China and shouting “Go home Dalai Lama, don’t come here”.
China has long vilified the Dalai Lama for what it says are his attempts to fight for independence in Tibet. Beijing has said it “resolutely opposes” the Taiwan visit “in whatever form and capacity”.
Sikkim boy spreads awareness on social issues with motorbike stunts
In a unique act, a 21-year-old man in Sikkim is spreading social awareness among youth against drug addiction, excessive drinking and on AIDS by performing various stunts on motorbike.
Milan Pradhan, stunt rider, fascinates large number of crowds as he performs various formidable stunts on motorbike.
All the time Pradhan is riding, popping wheelies or sometimes burning rubber.
He performed recently in Gayshing town of Sikkim with another stunt rider.
“I want to give the message to young boys that by doing stunts you can earn a very good name and ensure a bright future. You will get busy in some work. You will forget about drugs once you are busy. By sitting in a room and taking drugs will not achieve spoil your name but stunts will make your future,” says Milan Pradhan, stunt rider.
He says the young boys love motorcycling and if they could be drawn into stunt riding which needs a high level of fitness and concentration, it will keep youngsters busy in a constructive way and they will have less chances of getting into drug habits.
Pradhan is a college student. He devotes most of his time learning new motorbike driving skills in style, when he is not attending classes or doing assignments.
He tells that he started trying stunt-riding when he was in his early teenage. The family was hesitant to allow him try hand on motorbike stunts.
But Pradhan managed to convince them by showing his daredevil spirit, which helped him keep away from attracted to drugs.
His love for performing tricks on motorbike has led him to appear for the MTV ‘Stuntmania’ and now he wants to pursue stunt biking to a greater level.
Organisers of the event said that generally the youth are interested in fast life, which sometimes can trap them into drug-addiction and anti-social activities. Motorcycle race or stunt riding can give them alternatives that match with their fast life but in a positive way.
“Biking goes very well with the present-day youth. The youth are very interested in fast cars, fast bikes. And with the fast life comes the very possibility of getting drawn to drug addiction, alcoholism and also the fear of AIDS. So with the youth coming and watching such programmes… we want to motivate them towards like diverting their lifestyle or mind to constructive things,” said Anand, organiser of the bike stunt show.
Organisers say such events will go a long way in attracting the youth to stunts and thereby indirectly diverting their minds from drugs and alcoholism.
Sikkim is located in the foothills of the Himalayas and shares international borders with Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. The northeastern belt, including Sikkim, has recently become a favourite transit point used by drug peddlers for smuggling drugs.
The unofficial data shows that use of alcohol has traditionally been prevalent among the local people. The state government has been running campaigns to create awareness on drugs and associated HIV/AIDS.
Alcohol use is traditionally prevalent in Sikkim and National Family Health Survey-2, Government of India, shows a significant prevalence of alcohol use in Sikkim- Boys (32%) and Girls (17%) among above 15 years of age. By Tashi Pradhan
