Lamka, October 25 2012: Villagers of Kaihlam, under Thanlon Sub-division of Churachandpur district are suffering from out-break of fever which has turned into an epidemic for the past one week.

According to the sources, location of Kaihlam village is 20 miles on the western slope of Kaihlam range, and communication bottleneck has caused serious set-back to the suffering villagers.

The lone Primary Health Sub-Centre (PHSC) in the village has not been able to cope with the prevailing large-scale epidemic.

On the other hand, Chief of Kaihlam village, N Liankhanmang has requested the Chief Medical Officer, Churachandpur for sending a medical team to contain the situation from going out of hand.

Source: Hueiyen News Service
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Cabinet reshuffle on Sunday, will Rahul be inducted ?

New Delhi, October 25 2012: The Union Council of Ministers is likely to undergo a substantive reshuffle which could see the possible induction of Rahul Gandhi into the Cabinet along with some other new faces and the exit of a few ministers.

The changes, expected to take place on Sunday, could also witness ministers holding more than one portfolio shed their extra responsibilities, according to political sources.

It is no no secret that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is keen to have Rahul Gandhi inducted into his Cabinet but so far the young MP was not not inclined as he was focused on building the Congress organisation, especially the youth wing.

Another proposal making the rounds is that Gandhi may be elevated from being a General Secretary to the revived post of Working President.

Road and Transport Minister C P Joshi may shed his additional responsibility of Railways while External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's continuance is a subject of considerable speculation amidst indication that he may be shifted to Karnataka where Assembly polls are due before next May.

Gandhi may have indicated to the prime minister when he met him on Oct 17 that he is willing to join the Cabinet and take a portfolio like Rural Development that touches the lives of people ahead of the 2014 elections.

The Congress is said to be working on more measures to reach the 'aam aadmi' (common man) on the lines of the NREG scheme which had paid rich dividends to the party in the last elections.

A number of names is being considered for External Affairs portfolio which includes Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Salman Khurshid, who have not not have exactly helped his case by his handling of the issue of allegations against the trust run by him and his wife.

Younger ministers like Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia are likely to be promoted and may get independent portfolios.

There has been speculation about a reshuffle in the Cabinet for quite some time now, especially after the exit of Trinamool Congress ministers both at the levels of Cabinet and Ministers of State levels.

There have been berths vacated by DMK representatives A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran in the last two years after their names cropped in the 2G scam.

However, DMK President M Karunanidhi had recently made clear that his party will not not like to reclaim their lost berths.

Today also Minister of State in the PMO V Narayanasamy met Karunanidhi at his residence in Chennai, his third in a month.

There was no no official word on what transpired.

Congress sources said that the reshuffle and induction could be largely from the party.

There is also speculation that some young faces, considered close to Rahul, like Manicka Tagore and Meenakshi Natarajan could be inducted into the council of ministers.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal (Telecom), Road and Transport Minister C P Joshi (Railways), Law Minister Salman Khurshid (Minority Affairs) and Corporate Affairs Affairs Minister M Veerappa Moily (Power) and Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi (MSME, S and T and Earth Sciences) .

With six ministers from TMC leaving, two to three Congress leaders from West Bengal are expected to be accommodated.

The names of Deepa Dashmunshi and Adhir Choudhury, known detractors of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and West Bengal PCC chief Pradeep Bhatacharjee are doing the rounds.

With the death of Vilasrao Deshmukh, there is a vacancy for a cabinet minister from Maharashtra.

Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai and Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaisawal have come under attack from the Opposition on the coal block allocation issue.

Changes in the government and the party could be taking place in tandem as there is a possibility that some of the ministers would be drafted for party work, sources said.

Source: The Sangai Express / Press Trust of India
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Mary Kom clears issue with state media

IMPHAL, October 25: “I will not set foot in Mizoram again, until the journalists clarify. They have tried to malign my image and I will take up action”, Mary Kom said to officials of the All Manipur Working Journalists Union today at a formal meeting held at Manipur Press Club.

The confusion among the State scribes which arose due to the reports in various papers regarding the statement made by Mary Kom at a press conference at Mizoram on October 20 about the Manipur media discriminating her has been cleared up.

The pugilist re-asserted her stance once again that she had been misquoted by the Mizoram scribes. It may be mentioned that on October 22, she had addressed a press meet at Manipur Press Club denying the reports of various papers which charged her of hitting out at the local media.

A visibly agitated Kom swore that she was not at fault and the video tape of the press conference held at Mizoram could be witnessed by the AMWJU officials as proof.

“I have the recording with me and seen in several times. I have not mentioned that the local media has discriminated me for being a tribal”, she added that she called up the organizers at Mizoram and also inquired on how the matter was reported. “The Mizoram episode has been sour to me and I wish that I had not gone there also. I am demanding a clarification within a time limit otherwise I will not set foot in Mizoram again,” she also mentioned of taking up legal action if necessary.

AWMJU had earlier taken 2 days time for settlement and further clarification from Mizoram Journalists Association regarding the matter. President of the scribes body, A Mobi also asked Mary Kom if she had unintentionally made some statement in Mizo dialect and misinterpretation at the conference might have confused the scribes.

Kom stuck to her stance that it had not been so and whatever questions she doubted on was referred to her personal secretary. She had answered in Mizo but what she meant was very clear, she said.

In the regard, AMWJU also resolved to support her testimony. The scribe body viewed the report of some section of the Mizoram scribes as a deliberate attempt to tarnish her image and create a rift between the State media and her.

Further, it was also resolved that AMWJU will put forward a complaint to the Mizoram Journalists Association and also pray that necessary action be taken to the erring scribes. The matter will also be forwarded to the Federation of Working Journalists and the Press Council of India.

Source: Imphal Free Press
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Mary Kom issue settled : AMWJU

Imphal, October 25 2012: The misunderstanding between All Manipur Working Journalists' Union (AMWJU) and Olympic Bronze Medallist MC Mary Kom over her alleged statement of Manipur media discriminating her in a Press Conference at Aizwal recently, has been solved today after a meeting of the Standing Committee of AMWJU with Mary Kom.

In the meeting, Mary Kom said that some mediapersons based in Aizwal are trying to tarnish her image and create a misunderstanding between Manipur media and her.

Reacting to the report published in national media, Mary Kom told the meeting that she had sought apology from media houses who published the false allegation and assured that she will take up legal actions against the media houses if they failed to apologise at the earliest possible.

Mary also stated that she has no desire of visiting Mizoram again after the incident.

After hearing her clarification, AMWJU again asked her to recall what she had exactly said in the Press Conference at Aizawl taking into consideration of her unfamiliarity with Mizo language.

Upon the proposition, Mary Kom said that she had reviewed the video footage of the Press Conference over and over again and she is quite sure that she did not mention any such things.

After a serious deliberation over the issue, meeting agreed that it might have been a deliberate attempt on the part of some mediapersons based in Mizoram to create misunderstanding between Manipur media and Mary Kom by distorting her statement.

The meeting also resolved to send an official letter to Mizoram Journalists' Association, Indian Federation of Working Journalists and Press Council of India for taking up appropriate action against the mediapersons responsible.

Meanwhile, AMWJU has appealed to the people of the state to refrain from posting comments in social media like Facebook over the issue which may lead to unwanted situation.

Source: Hueiyen News Service
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