State boards yet to send results to DU

June 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, June 5 — Vijay Kandiya’s dream of studying in one of the Delhi University (DU) colleges might not materialise this year. Kandiya, a student of the Haryana board, doesn’t have his mark sheet yet despite the fact that his results are out.

Most state boards declare their results later than ICSE and CBSE. Kandiya, who wants to pursue B.Com (Honours) from a DU college, said: “I am very dejected. The mark sheets may take another 20 days to come.

What should I do?” According to DU admission guidelines, students from the Schedules Tribe and Scheduled Caste are required to bring their SC/ST certificates, along with their two self-attested photographs, school certificate and mark-sheet of senior school certificate examination. With such criteria in place, and just a week to go before the sale of forms closes, SC/ST students like Kandiya from state boards may not be able to apply for admissions to Delhi University this year.

Officials said they couldn’t do much as the boards have not sent the CDs of their results yet to the varsity.

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Traditional ‘Kahika Fair’ celebrated in Himachal Pradesh

May 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Kullu (Himachal Pradesh), May 29 (ANI): Thousands of devotees converged to celebrate the traditional ‘Kahika Fair’ in Shirar village, near Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu town on Friday.

Sounds of hymns in the air marked the beginning of the festival in the village that was adorned with colourful canopies.

An important ritual observed during the festival is a mock sacrificial ceremony of a member of Naur (a tribe) and getting his life back from the gods.

“It is a common belief that during the festival all gods and goddesses come under a tree and an arrow is shot in the air. The arrow is considered so powerful that it takes the life of the Naur and he is declared dead,” said Rajesh Sharma, a local.

“Then the gods and goddesses use their prowess to give life to the dead Naur,” he added.

The natives here believe that the prayers performed during the festival sanctify the village and purify the souls of the people participating in it.

“The rituals performed during the Kahika festival purify the area and shuns evil spirits and that is why the sacrifice of the Naur’s life is performed and he comes back to life,” said Arun Kumar, a local.

Kumar appeared confident that the festival would bring prosperity in the village.

“This year the Naur-Megha-Yajna (a ritual performed in which a person from the Naur tribe is declared dead and is brought back to life by observing ceremonial prayers) was conducted peacefully and it will bring happiness and prosperity among us,” said Arun Kumar. (ANI)

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Chakhesang tribe of Nagaland celebrates Tsükhenye festival

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dimarpur (Nagaland), May 13 (ANI): Members of Nagaland’s Chakhesang tribe recently celebrated Tsukhenye festival to mark the beginning of a new agriculture cycle.

Thousands of Chakhesangs gathered at the Dimarpur Stadium to participate in the `Tsukhenye’ celebrations, themed `Unity our strength’.

Organised by Chakhesang Hoho, Dimapur, the festival’s main attractions were indigenous folk songs, dances, wrestling, and a dress-exhibition.

The five-day festival is also underlined the need to celebrate youth, reward the righteous and punish the wrongdoers.

Chakhesang tribe has two main dialects — `Chokri’ and `Kuzhale’. Interaction at the festival sought the use of dialects for bringing the community together.

“Through this kind of festivals, we come together and strengthen unity. Division will only weaken us. . Through these kinds of festivals, we encourage youthfulness and vitality and convey the message that by working together we can do lots of things,” said S.K.Kenye, a participant.

“By coming together like this we learn to live with others. We are enjoying it,” said Medo, another participant during the festival.

The Chakhesang tribe believes in living in harmony, which they believe will lead to peace, prosperity and progress.

“The infrastructural development and economic development are important. All this cannot happen, if there is no peace, unity and harmony. So far, I think, there is total peace in the valley,” said Kuzholezo Nienu, Health and Family Welfare minister, Nagaland

Festivals like `Tsükhenye’ not only help in upholding India’s indigenous culture, but also spread the message of unity and brotherhood among all. (ANI)

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Cultural festival to promote harmony between Assam and Nagaland

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Jorhat (Assam), May 13 (ANI): Keen to promote friendship and harmony between Assam and Nagaland, people from the two states assembled in Assam”s Jorhat District to celebrate a cultural festival.

The two-day festival began on Tuesday and concluded on Wednesday. It was celebrated with a procession at Deberapara village.
“We have organised the programme for strengthening the brotherhood and integration between people of Assam and Nagaland,” said Gautam Gogoi, a member of the organising committee.

The two states have a long-standing border dispute, which often results in many clashes.

“We always want to bring the peace between the people living nearby Nagaland border as well as the people of Nagaland,” said Deepak Tanti, Vice President of All Assam Tea Tribe Students” Union (AATTSU), Jorhat unit.

The procession went across the Naga foothills, and also covered many villages in Assam over a distance of six to seven kilometers.

After the procession, tribal dances of Nagaland, Assam”s Bihu dance and Jhumur dances, as well as many dances by the Mising and Deuri tribes, were performed.

The cultural festival was organized by Deberapara Bihu Committee, the All Assam Tea Tribe Students” Union (AATTSU) and the Deberapara Police Outpost.

The dispute between Assam and Nagaland is said to be the most prominent.

Both states have accused each other of illegally occupying each other”s territories. Assam claims that Nagaland has annexed more than 50,000 hectares of its territory. (ANI)

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Orissa tribals demand ST status

May 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Malkangiri (Orissa), May 10 (ANI): Tribals of the Konda Reddy community staged a protest in Orissa”s Maoist-infested Malkangiri District on Monday demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status from the state government.

Tribals residing in the Paplur village shouted slogans in favour of the ST status.

Pandama, a tribal woman, said the lack of ST status has deprived them of basic facilities like health and education.

“We are demanding for the Scheduled Tribe status. We have been staying here since the British period. Earlier, there was no school. It was only after the 1970s, that schools were built,” said Pandama.

“But our children are still not getting educational benefits, as we don”t have a Scheduled Tribe status,” she claimed.

“We are demanding the ST status. Our children are not getting any facility, neither in the education field nor in service field. Several times, we have raised voices but there are no results,” said Cina Bhai Palasa, a tribal.

Konda Reddy tribals had earlier handed over a memorandum to the district collector urging the state government to grant them ST status soon.

There are several groups that benefit from government affirmative action such as the Scheduled Castes (SC), made of former ”untouchables”, Scheduled Tribes (ST) made of ”tribal groups”, and the Other Backward Classes (OBC) made of a host of ”lower castes”. (ANI)

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Avatar fan wants a girlfriend who speaks Na’vi language!

April 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, April 26 (ANI): An American man has become such an ardent fan of sci-fi movie ‘Avatar’ that he dresses like one of the big, blue aliens and speaks the Na’vi language.

Richard Littauer, a.k.a. Taronyu, a linguistics student, has even compiled a dictionary to help others learn the lingo, and he wants to start his own tribe here on Earth, along with a like-minded girlfriend.As soon as I saw the trailer for Avatar, I knew this film was going to take over my life,” the Sun quoted Littauer, from Edinburgh, as saying.

“I’ve spent a few hundred pounds at the cinema. I must have seen it 17 times, but I also pay for other people to see it because I want to spread the word.

“I study linguistics and when I saw they’d invented a new language for the film I was really, really excited.

“I was impressed by the fact they didn’t just use existing human languages.

“Star Wars was just lazy and has Ewoks saying things like ‘Please can I have a cheeseburger?’ in Tibetan and other things that don’t correlate to the events on-screen.

“With Avatar they have created a new language totally from scratch,” he said.

His ultimate aim is to join a blue race tribe on Earth, and find a fellow Avatar fanatic to rub tails with.

“Strangely, I haven’t got a girlfriend at the moment. It’s hard to find someone 14ft and blue – that would be perfect for me,” he said.

“But if I could find a girl who speaks the language and lives in my area that would be a dream.

“Hopefully one day I can meet one – that would be some wedding. There are also people I know who want to start a proper tribe living in the Amazon or something.

“I plan to get a few people together to go over to Cramond Island on the Firth and we’ll spend the night there and sing songs,” he added. (ANI)

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Avatar fan wants a girlfriend who speaks Na”vi language!

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, April 26 (ANI): An American man has become such an ardent fan of sci-fi movie ”Avatar” that he dresses like one of the big, blue aliens and speaks the Na”vi language.

Richard Littauer, a.k.a. Taronyu, a linguistics student, has even compiled a dictionary to help others learn the lingo, and he wants to start his own tribe here on Earth, along with a like-minded girlfriend.

“As soon as I saw the trailer for Avatar, I knew this film was going to take over my life,” the Sun quoted Littauer, from Edinburgh, as saying.

“I”ve spent a few hundred pounds at the cinema. I must have seen it 17 times, but I also pay for other people to see it because I want to spread the word.

“I study linguistics and when I saw they”d invented a new language for the film I was really, really excited.

“I was impressed by the fact they didn”t just use existing human languages.

“Star Wars was just lazy and has Ewoks saying things like ”Please can I have a cheeseburger?” in Tibetan and other things that don”t correlate to the events on-screen.

“With Avatar they have created a new language totally from scratch,” he said.

His ultimate aim is to join a blue race tribe on Earth, and find a fellow Avatar fanatic to rub tails with.

“Strangely, I haven”t got a girlfriend at the moment. It”s hard to find someone 14ft and blue – that would be perfect for me,” he said.

“But if I could find a girl who speaks the language and lives in my area that would be a dream.

“Hopefully one day I can meet one – that would be some wedding. There are also people I know who want to start a proper tribe living in the Amazon or something.

“I plan to get a few people together to go over to Cramond Island on the Firth and we”ll spend the night there and sing songs,” he added. (ANI)

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Women prefer chocolate to sex, wine!

April 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr 24 (ANI): A third of women dream about chocolate during the day, compared with only 18 per cent who think about sex, says a new British survey.

Around 2.3 million British women admitted that they have the sweet treat at least three times a day, reports The Daily Express.

On the other hand, six in 10 men have sex on their minds for most of the day and 11 per cent think about chocolate, the study found.

According to the study of 2,000 women, which was carried out by cereal bar firm Fibre Plus, more than one in five women say they would kiss goodbye to their sex lives before chocolate.

What’s more, a quarter would rather give up chardonnay and Chanel.

Spokeswoman Sally Tribe said: “Women turn to chocolate for comfort, or to cheer themselves up.

“For many, it never disappoints.” (ANI)

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Mysterious foreign phone calls behind Sharif brothers’ political moves: Elahi

March 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lahore, Mar. 29 (ANI): Senior PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has claimed that Nawaz and Sahbaz Sharif have been playing politics through telephone, as most of their big political moves have been triggered by “mysterious foreign phone calls.”

The Daily Times quoted Elahi as saying that the telephone has remained a key item in Sharif brothers’ policies as they change their decisions after receiving phone calls.

He further claimed that the Sharifs belonged to the “telephone tribe,” and had started the Long March following some late night phone calls.

The former chief minister attributed phone calls for Sharif’s election as the prime minister.

Elahi challenged the Sharif brothers to make some magical phone call to solve problems of poverty, unemployment and price-rise in Pakistan. (ANI)

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Union votes to strike in support of SA member

March 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The construction union has voted to bring Canberra work sites to a standstill if one of its South Australian members is jailed for failing to attend an industrial commission hearing.

The Australian Building and Construction Commission was set up by the Howard government to target union activity within the building industry and unions want the Rudd Government to dismantle it.

Adelaide rigger Ark Tribe faces up to six months in jail for failing to attend a hearing at the commission.

The 47-year-old addressed delegates at a Construction, Fishery, Mining and Electricity Union (CFMEU) meeting in Canberra.

He is due to go on trial in Adelaide in June.

The vote to shut down work sites in Canberra would affect the new $600 million Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) headquarters, the National Gallery of Australia extension and new schools due to be built in the Territory.

The union has also threatened a nationwide strike unless the Government scraps the commission.

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Tribal boy with 260 hours flying experience now a cabbie

November 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

NEW DELHI: A Scheduled Tribe boy from Hyderabad wanted so desperately to become a pilot, he took a bank loan to pay for the training and notched up 267 hours of flying, 17 more than is required for a Commercial Pilot’s Licence (CPL). But, instead of ending up in the cockpit, he now drives a taxi in Hyderabad.

P Chandan Chakravarthy of the Kondakappu tribe could not manage to get his dreams take wing but the lad clearly possessed an extraordinary level of determination.

He enrolled at the Andhra Pradesh FLying Club (now known as AP Aviation Academy) in April 1995. Back then, every hour of flying cost Rs 600. By 2001, when he accumulated 267 hours, the cost had spiralled to Rs 2,800 per hours. A resolute Chakravarthy took a bank loan of Rs 7.5 lakh.

He applied to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for his CPL but the DGCA turned him down saying his basic qualification — 10+2 from the Aeronautical Society of India — was not recognized. Chakravarthy moved the AP High Court, but was told the courts could do little about a DGCA policy decision.

Undeterred, the lad went back to school, passed the class 12 exam all over again and applied for a CPL once again, in 2006. But the DGCA turned him down again saying he had not flown 200 hours in the last five years. (By 2006, the criteria had changed from 250 flying hours to 200).

In effect, if Chakravarthy wanted to pursue his dream against all odds, he would have to start afresh and painfully clock up flying hours, each of which now costs Rs 10,000. He would have to invest another Rs 20 lakh.

Despite hurdles, Chakravarthy, did not give up hope overall but in the short term, he decided to drive a taxi to feed his family and pay off the bank loan. In the meantime, he pleaded with the DGCA to exempt him from the mandatory 200 flying hours.

Chakravarthy says he could, at best, meet requirements for CPL renewal, that is 25 hours of flying, which includes 15 hours of solo, four hours of cross country covering 250 nautical miles, five night landings, five hours of instrument flying and tripple test or day, night and instrument test. “It will take me six more months. But to ask for a repeat of entire flying hours is beyond my means,” he says.

Now, he has managed to persuade Congress Working Committee Member Oscar Fernandes to write to civil aviation minister Praful Patel, requesting that his case to be dealt with on humanitarian grounds rather than within rule-bound parameters.

Chakravarthy, who has presented his case afresh to the DGCA, now waits to hear the decision that could mean he either gets to the cockpit or behind his taxi’s steering wheel.

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Tendong Lho Rum Faat festival celebrated by Lepchas of Sikkim

September 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Gangtok (Sikkim), Sep 9(ANI): Hundreds of people came together in Gangtok recently to celebrate Tendong Lho Rum Faat, which is a festival of the indigenous tribe of Sikkim “The Lepchas”.

During the festival, Lepchas offer prayers and worship Mount Tendong; the Kanchenjunga mountain range, that they believe saved them from destruction by floods.

“This festival is more than worshipping the mountain. It shows a strong connection and affinities of Lepchas with Nature. This is not something recent. They have been carrying on this, the worshipping of Nature since time immemorial,” said Sheba Sasm, a local.

To mark the day, quiz, debate and flute competitions were also organised.

Norzang Lepcha, the organiser, said that through the festivals they want to educate youngsters about to try and respect nature as well as to save it.

“Through these festivals and seminars what we are trying to inject in the minds of young generations is to save the nature and to plant more trees, so that the temperature can be maintained. We can come to the natural level of temperature,” Lepcha said.

The festival falls on the 3rd lunar month each year. By Tashi Pradhan(ANI)

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Taliban infighting could benefit both US, Pak: NYT

August 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug.9 (ANI): An American counter-terrorism official has said that the infighting within the Taliban could provide an opportunity for both the United States and Pakistan to exploit the rivalries to their respective advantages.

According to the counter-terrorism official, one of those opportunities, from the American point of view, would be the ability to focus its fleet of drone aircraft on attacking militant leaders who were involved in the Afghan war, or on Qaeda leaders planning attacks against the West.

That has been a source of tension between the Americans and Pakistani officials, who had viewed the Mehsuds as the most urgent threat.

One Pakistani official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the fighting could create an opening for the Haqqanis, another group that has close ties to Al Qaeda, to intervene in resolving the leadership issue.

Sirajuddin Haqqani is the point man in Pakistan for the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Muhammad Omar.

Details of the fighting were spotty on Saturday.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, confirmed reports of a shootout at a meeting in South Waziristan and said one of the commanders had been killed but did not say who it was.

“The infighting was between Waliur Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud,” Malik said, adding “We have information that one of them has been killed. Who was killed we will be able to say later after confirming.”

Reports received by government officials on Saturday indicated that Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud – a member of Baitullah’s tribe but not a close relative – argued over succession at a tribal meeting at Sara Rogha in South Waziristan.

A shootout ensued, killing Mehsud and wounding Rehman, officials said.

A senior government official in Peshawar was quoted by the New York Times, as saying that Baitullah Mehsud’s father-in-law, who had been at the meeting, was now in the custody of an opposing faction.

Beyond being a succession struggle, the infighting may also represent a deeper conflict over the goals and direction of the Pakistani Taliban.

A resident of the area who spoke by telephone on Saturday said foreign militants favored Mr. Rehman while local Mehsuds wanted Hakimullah to be their new leader.

The alliance between Al Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban leaders goes back years in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas, where local Pakistani militants helped ferry Arab operatives back and forth across the border from Afghanistan. More recently it has surfaced in the attacks on Pakistan’s major cities, far from the war-torn western tribal areas.

“They are interconnected,” a Karachi counterterrorism official said, referring to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. “They depend on each other.”

Clear evidence of that alliance, counterterrorism officials say, was the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

The bomber was an Afghan, trained by Taliban fighters in Mohmand Agency, part of the tribal area where the Mehsuds operate. But it was a Qaeda operative of Kenyan origin, Usama al-Kinni, who planned and financed the attack.

In an added complication with serious implications for security in Pakistan, the handlers and facilitators in that attack were from Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous and strategic province, which itself has been the target of a series of suicide bombings and commando-style attacks since March. (ANI)

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BSP to Sonia Gandhi: Apologise to Mayawati in Parliament for Joshi slur

July 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Lucknow, July 16 (ANI): The controversial arrest of Uttar Pradesh Congress unit chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi over her objectionable remarks on State Chief Minister Mayawati has taken the shape of a major political clash with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-led State government here.

BSP State chief Satish Mishra on Thursday demanded that Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi apologise in the Lok Sabha for Joshi’s remarks against Mayawati.

Bahuguna’s house was set ablaze and some property at the premises was targeted by some unidentified hooligans here on Thursday.

The Congress party blamed BSP workers for the arson act.

Reacting to the incident, Congress party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: “It’s a state-sponsored vandalism, hooliganism. We are certainly going to take a serious note of it and all possible legal recourse available to us.”

BSP leaders, however, claimed that Congress workers had set fire to Joshi’s house.

“Our workers did not torch Rita’s house. It was rather Congress workers who set it ablaze,” said Mishra.

State police later claimed to have detained four persons in connection with the incident.

Meanwhile, police prevented the burning of an effigy of Mayawati today. They also baton and cane-charged Congress workers and detained about a hundred of them while they staged a street demonstration against Congress leader Joshi’s arrest.

Police arrested Joshi on Thursday and a local court sent her to 14-day judicial remand for making remarks on Wednesday against the CM in an issue related to rape and murder of some Dalit girls in the UP.

The Samajwadi Party, the main opposition party in Uttar Pradesh State Assembly, blamed the police and offered the Congress party any proposal to carry out a joint protest against the state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh. They criticised the police for acting at the behest of State Government.

“Police are working on the directions of Mayawati Government,” said Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party’s U.P unit chief.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Maneka Gandhi demanded the dismissal of the Uttar Pradesh government.

“Time has come for dismissal of the UP Government. In my constituency, about 50 political workers are detained every week. I have never seen a situation like this in India ever,” said Maneka Gandhi.

Joshi was arrested in Ghaziabad en route to New Delhi. She was charged under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Mayawati.

Joshi, however, has denied having said anything to offend Mayawati or Dalits.

“It was at a meeting in Moradabad that I had simply sought to draw the people’s attention to the fact that Mayawati’s dole of Rs.25,000 to every Dalit rape victim was quite ironical as the state police chief was spending lakhs on the helicopter ride that he undertakes to hand over that paltry amount to the victim,” Joshi told media persons. (ANI)

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La Ink | La Ink Tattoo Shop | Kat Von D | Kat Von D Makeup | La Ink Websitde | Pixie Acia | La Ink Address | Tattoos | La Ink Tattoos

July 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

La Ink | La Ink Tattoo Shop | Kat Von D | Kat Von D Makeup | La Ink Websitde | Pixie Acia | La Ink Address | Tattoos | La Ink Tattoos

The tattoo shop created for the popular TLC reality show has force-fed “Rock of Love” cast-off Aubry Fisher (this girl — woof) into the cast, and she apparently, when the star artists, Ami James and Chris Nuñez, moved to a new studio up the block, Love & Hate Tattoos.

The world for a new Travel Channel show, Worldwide Tribe, which will be based out of Love & Hate.

La Ink | La Ink Tattoo Shop | Kat Von D | Kat Von D Makeup | La Ink Websitde | Pixie Acia | La Ink Address | Tattoos | La Ink Tattoos

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Tribal children being trained as boxers in Jharkhand

July 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Dhanbad, July 6 (ANI): Several tribal boys and girls are being motivated to develop skills in boxing sport at a boxing club at Chalkari in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad region.

These teenaged boys and girls belong to Birhor, a tribal community of Jharkhand.

Under the auspices of the Dhanbad District Amateur Boxing Association (DDABA), the club has been instituted as part of a plan to take the sport to the village-level.

The boxing coach at the club believes that these kids are much stronger than urban kids and capable of performing well in the competitive ring, if trained and groomed well.

“I think the village children especially the tribal children are stronger than the city children. I chose the Birhor children because they are the least educated and deprived. I want to help them in getting noticed and bring them onto the map of India through boxing,” says Paritosh Kumar, Coach-cum-Secretary, DDABA.

The coach hopes to train the kids for district and State-level boxing competitions and further help them find a platform to showcase their talent as scientific boxers.

Each trainee has been provided with a boxing kit worth rupees a thousand rupees, including two pairs of mittens and gloves, two head-guards and two punching bags.

Budding pugilists are thrilled to learn the sport for professional purpose in future. They believe that even they can do something remarkable in the ring, if given an opportunity.

“We learn boxing in the mornings and evenings. This is going to help us move ahead in life,” said Mahesh, a trainee from Birhor community, Chalkari.

On their part, the parents too are a delighted lot. Sharing their enthusiasm, they believe that learning the sport is supplementing their children’s education.

“Our children are studying and also learning the sport of boxing. Such things were not there earlier. It feels very good,” said Phoolchand, a local resident of Birhor.

Birhor tribe is one of the primitive tribes of Jharkhand. Today, it is a small, nomadic tribe which is on the verge of extinction.

The members of the tribe make a living by hunting, gathering honey and making ropes from tree fibres. Life expectancy among the Birhors is as low as 38 years. (ANI)

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‘Emboldened’ Taliban issues ‘section 144′ ‘diktat’ in North Waziristan

July 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, July 5 (ANI): The Taliban has banned public gatherings, including ‘jirgas’ in North Waziristan, and warned that strict action would be taken against those who defy its orders.

According to sources, the banned outfit distributed pamphlets in Miranshah bazaar area of the province warning people against holding any meeting.

The pamphlet said that any type of meeting or ‘jirga’ would be considered ‘pro-government’, and the leaders of would be punished.

“No tribe was allowed to hold a gathering of more than five people in any area of the agency. Any public gathering would be considered a pro-government committee, and the group leader would be killed and suicide attacks would be carried out against such groups,” The Daily Times quoted the pamphlet, as saying.

People have also been asked not to enter government offices and the FC Fort in the region.

“People visiting public offices for any purpose should be ready to face the consequences,” the pamphlet warned. (ANI)

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South Waziristan tribe agrees to abide by 2007 peace accord

July 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, July 3 (ANI): The Ahmadzai Wazir tribe has decided that it would abide by the peace accord inked with the government in 2007, and would not attack the troops stationed in South Waziristan.

The decision was taken during a ‘jirga’ in Wana, where about 120 tribal elders met the Political Agent of the region, Syed Shahab Ali Shah.

Earlier, a group of tribal elders had met the Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir, and officials claimed that the talks were ‘successful’.

Members of the ‘jirga’ claimed that Nazir has agreed to support the peace deal in view of the situation in South Waziristan and work for peace in the region.

However, sources privy to Nazir rejected reports of any such meeting, The Dawn reports.

They said the government was trying to ‘isolate’ the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud with the help of Ahmadzai Wazir jirga.

Meanwhile, the administration has released six tribesmen as a ‘goodwill’ gesture on the request of the ‘jirga’. (ANI)

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Women don’t always fall for tall men

July 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, July 2 (ANI): It may be time to reconsider the adage that bigger is better, for a new study has shown that traditional hunter-gatherers in Tanzania don’t consider height to be an important factor when choosing a partner, as compared to western women, who favour tall men.

Previous studies have shown that when finding a mate, tall men have advantages, as they are more likely to marry, and produce more offspring on average. But most of those studies are based on western data.

In the new study, Rebecca Sear of the London School of Economics and Frank Marlowe of Florida State University in Tallahassee examined partner choice in the Hazda forager tribe in Tanzania.

They looked at the height and weight of married couples, as well the number of marriages per person, reports New Scientist.

The researchers found that out of 46 women questioned, only one said she preferred ‘big’ men, and neither sex was influenced by size in their choice of partner.

Sear suggests that height preferences are context-specific and while some mate preferences might be universal, it is “time to reassess our ‘bigger is better’ view of size”.

The study has been published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. (ANI)

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Orissa Government to strengthen tribals land rights

June 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Bhubaneshwar June 24(ANI): The Orissa government has decided to bring amendments to Orissa Scheduled Tribe and Traditional Dwellers Act, 2006, to pave way for tribals to continue in the land occupied by them.

The Government has so far identified about 20,000 tribals who are traditional forest dwellers but hold no land rights.

This announcement came after the Chief Minister Navin Patnaik’s visit to the areas of the trouble hit Narayanpatna in Korapat district.

Today’s decision of the Orissa government is significant as, thousands of activists of Maoists backed tribal outfit Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangh (CMAS) led by Nachika Linga, forcibly occupied nearly 800acres of agricultural land belonging to non-tribals across Narayanpatna block, earlier this month.

To counter the Maoist from taking an advantage of the situation Chief Minister Patanaik instructed the Revenue, the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Development Departments to ensure that not an inch of tribal land should not be remained in possession of non-tribals.

The Orissa Government has also decided to strictly enforce laws under the land reforms act and tribal laws to give justice to the tribal population of the sate and to launch awareness drive to educate tribals about their rights.

Revenue Minister S N Patro said the Governemnt has decided to rovide legal assistance to the tribals who are not in a position o fight out their cases and if necessary it will bear all the legal expenses. (ANI)

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