UIDAI Signs MoUs With Assam & Mizoram

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) signed Memorandums of Understand (MoUs) with the Governments of Assam  and Mizoram, detailing the implementation of the UID Project in the states, at it office in New Delhi this morning.

            The MoU with the Government of Assam  was signed between Mr. Davinder Kumar, DDG UIDAI and Mr. Subhash C. Das, Principal Secretary, Assam in the presence   of Mr. R.S. Sharma, DG& MD, UIDAI.   The Chief Secretary of the Government of Mizoram, Mr. Vanhela Pachuau signed the MoU between UIDAI and  Mizoram.

            The Government of Assam has set up a State level Empowered Committee on UID under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister of Assam and  a State UID Implementation Committee under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, Assam to oversee the implementation of the UID project in the State.

            Mr. Sharma said, “the UIDAI is looking forward to close cooperation from the state governments to rollout Aadhaar (UID Number)”.

            The signed MoUs can be found on the UIDAI website: www.uidai.gov.in

Mizoram rail project awaits nod

Projects Today reported that the Union Ministry of Railways has been submitted a Final Location Survey report for the proposed railway extension from Bairabi to Sairang in Mizoram.

Work on the 50.90 kilometers long project will commence once the ministry gives a green signal. The survey work was carried out by Rail India Technical & Economic Services. Tender for further work will be floated after the approval of the survey.

As per sources, the project may entail a cost of INR 1,000 crore.

'Sour' grapes to turn sweet for Mizo farmers soon

Aizawl, Jul 8 : Grape growers in Hnahlan and Champhai in eastern Mizoram would soon see the people of the state quench their thirst with the 'fruits of their labour'.

Wine produced from this grapes will be available hopefully by September this year in Mizoram which has been under a dry law for 13 long years.

Earlier, the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act, imposed in the state on February 20, 1997, prevented the grapes from large-scale commercialisation even as the premium variety of Lubrusca grapes are most suitable for producing high quality and commercially viable wine. The Act was amended in April 2007, allowing the grapes to be processed into wine, containing 16 per cent alcohol. The grape wine will be branded as ''Zawlaidi'' which means love potion in Mizo language.

The grape cultivators had formed Grape Growers Society with district horticulture officer of Khawzawl as its managing director.

Two wineries had been set up by the society with logistical support from the government.

Vanlalruata Chenkual, managing director of the Grape Growers Society and Khawzal DHO has said each winery had the capacity of fermenting one lakh 650 ml bottles. The wine bottle would be labelled ''Not for sale outside Mizoram'', as it is expected that marketing the grape wine in the local market would be more profitable than exporting it.

The winemaking process will be monitored by experts from liquor major Shaw Wallace.

''To make the wine competitive and conform to international standards, experts from Shaw Wallace will train and guide the winemakers,'' Horticulture Director Samuel Rosanglura has said.

According to the sources, Hnahlan is expected to produce 8000 bottles of wine and Champhai 12,000 bottles. One bottle would be sold for Rs 150. Champhai Grape Growers Society has 325 families engaged in grape cultivation and harvested 478.5 quintals of grapes during FY10 and they expect to harvest 2,056 quintals during FY11. Hnahlan Grape Growers Society has 670 families of cultivators and their annual harvest during 2009-10 was 6916 quintals and expected 7910 quintals this year.

The grape cultivators believe that with its suitable climate and soil conditions, the region has the potential of becoming the largest grape producer in the country.

Toll in respiratory infection touches 27

Agartala, Jun 27 : The death toll in the week-long respiratory infection rose to 27 in the remote tribal Kangrai locality along the Mizoram-Tripura border in North Tripura.

Principal Secretary, Health, Y P Singh said here today that Health Minister Tapan Chakraborty accompanied specialist doctors to the village yesterday and camps had been arranged.

He said initial reports revealed that the causes of death were acute infection in the respiratory system and gastroenteritis. But he said only 14 deaths were recorded in the hospitals.

However, sources in the area stated that so far 57 people, including 26 children, had been admitted to several hospitals of the sub-division and the administration had sent blood samples of the affected people to Agartala for investigation.

Mr Singh, however, pointed out that there was a report of outbreak of water borne diseases in Autharamura foothills. But no deaths had been reported.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA Subal Bhowmik, who brought the matter to light, said, ''There are also incidences of spread of malaria in the villages. The health department did not take any proactive measure to contain the situation.''

National Press to Visit Mizoram

Aizawl: Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India intends to send a 10-member National Press team to study various on-going projects under centrally sponsored schemes such as PMGSY, NREGS, IAY, etc. in Mizoram.

The National Press Team will be touring Mizoram from June 14 -19, 2010, during which it will visit different villages and towns, where scheme projects under Rural Development, PWD, PHE departments are underway or have been succesfully completed. During their stay, Press Information Bureau (PIB) leh Rural Development Department officials will conduct and guide their tour.

SC judge to visit Mizoram

Aizawl, Jun 10 : Supreme Court Judge Justice Altamas Kabir is scheduled to pay a two-day visit to the state from June 14. Justice Kabir, who is also the chairman of National Legal Services Authority, will arrive here on June 14 and attend a legal aid clinic and awareness programme at Sihphir on June 15.

He would also visit another legal awareness and inter-departmental conference at Tourist Lodge, Chaltlang at 1600 hours on the same day.

The programme will also include speeches from Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla and other government officials. Officials from law & judicial, social welfare, women and child development, labour & employment, rural development and officials from other different line departments are expected to attend the conference.

The chief secretary and few government officials held a meeting today to discuss the matter at the secretariat conference hall to preview the SC judges visit.

A culture programme in honour of the visiting judge will be organised at Tourist Lodge. Earlier this week, another Supreme Court judge Justice Dr Mukundakam visited Aizawl. The SC judge, attended a meeting on Access to Justice and Socio-Economic Development organised by the Mizoram State Legal Services Authority.

Rail services to Tripura, Mizoram disrupted

Silchar (Assam), June 10 (IANS) Rail services to parts of Assam, Tripura and Mizoram have been suspended after damage to an old rail bridge in southern Assam, officials said Thursday.
“After sudden increase of water in a tributary of Jatinga river, a girder of an old bridge was washed away Wednesday night causing the railway bridge to slant,” Northeast Frontier Railway spokesman Subrata Hajong told reporters.
Senior railway officials and engineers have rushed to the spot, 300 km south of Assam’s main city, Guwahati.
A goods train running between Badarpur to Lumding in southern Assam was also stranded after the damage to the bridge.
“Work has been started to repair the railway bridge. We can not confirm when the railway services would be restored in this region,” Hajong added.
The meter gauge railway line passes through the North Cachar area of southern Assam, connecting Agartala and Bairabi in northern Mizoram besides several districts of southern Assam with the rest of the country.
In June 2007, eight people were killed and 15 others injured when seven wagons and the two engines of a goods train jumped the rail and fell into a flooded Jatinga river following the collapse of a 114-year-old railway bridge in the same region.
The accident had led to suspension of railway services in the region for more than four months.