BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed in Hospital

Former MP and joint secretary general of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Salahuddin Ahmed is in Meghalaya police’s custody for illegal entry into India and a case under Foreigners’ Act registered here in the State Capital today.

Additional Director General of Police, SK Jain told the Assam Tribune that Ahmed was found in a “disoriented state” and had no documents on him when he was found.

He said a case has been registered under the Foreigners’ Act, 1946 as he had no documents to prove his citizenship. “We will not say he has been arrested, but definitely he is under our custody,” Jain said when asked.

The additional director general of police said the case is being looked into from “various dimensions” and appropriate steps are being taken to handle this sensitive case.

In fact, Ahmed was first seen loitering suspiciously in Golf links area in the State Capital on Monday and was alerted by the local residents after which he was taken into custody. The police interrogated him and he admitted that he is a Bangladesh citizen and was a former MP.

However, when the police found him a bit disoriented he was referred to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), but the institute confirmed he was mentally sound. He is now lodged at the Shillong Civil hospital earmarked for under trail prisoners.

For the past two months Ahmed went missing from Dhaka and his whereabouts were not known with speculation that he was arrested by the plainclothes men in Dhaka.

Ahmed’s wife Hasina Ahmed ran an extensive campaign and even sought Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s assistance to locate him. There BNP held numerous hartals in Dhaka to help locate Ahmed.

Meanwhile, Ahmed who spoke to some media persons here alleged he was kidnapped from Utarra area in Dhaka on March 10. Ahmed said he doesn’t recall how he came to Shillong and landed in the hospital.

On the other hand, police official said that Ahmed’s case has been intimated to the Central Government for further action after verifying his credentials from the Bangladesh embassy. However, many are tight-lipped about the duration Ahmed was staying in the State Capital or when he entered into the country.

The arrest of Ahmed in the country has once again exposed the gaping holes in India’s security network. Questions are being raised how and when Ahmed sneaked into the country hoodwinking the vast security apparatus deployed all along the 443-km International border with Meghalaya shares with Bangladesh. 

INDIA'S ANCIENT SCIENTIFIC FEAT CAME AT A PRICE!

There is a greater emphasis and debate about India’s ancient scientific achievement these days, overlooking the modern India burdened by expensive scientific imports.

Union Minister for Science and Technology, Harsh Vardhan was recently quizzed if the budget allocation of the past, towards Research and Development (R&D,) had anything to do with India’s scientific feat - if considered for the sake of a discussion that India was once a superpower in science and technology.

 

Vardhan does seem to think so and said that India was one of the top economies of the world from 1AD till the advent of British rule. India’s contribution, Vardhan said, at one point of time towards the global economy was about 30 percent. He believes that with such resources at stake the allocation for scientific development could have been significant.

Now, when it comes to modern India – which is of primary concern to many – the India allots a paltry 0.88 percent of its total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) towards R&D.

USA, China, UK, Japan, Germany, France, Russia and other larger economies than India allocates more from its GDP towards R&D than New Delhi.

For instance, US allotted 2.79, China   1.98, Japan 3.35, UK 1.72, France 2.26, Germany 2.92, Russia 1.12 (per cent) of their total GDP towards R&D in 2014, according to World Bank data.

On the other hand economies like South Korea, Israel and Chinese Taipei spend 4.35, 3.93 3.6 per cent respectively of their total GDP towards R&D, to cite some examples. These are some of the countries that could be termed as pioneers in science and technology in the present age and are inventing major technologies.

Vardhan said the budget allocation towards R&D in India cannot be increased in a matter of days. He, however, added that the “Make in India” is a good initiative and would help R&D.

He further pointed out that India is one of the five Nations – US, China, Canada and Japan - of the world which would be building the world’s largest telescope.

“We would be contributing Rs. 1300 crore towards the project, but that would be in kind in the form of technologies and software,” the Minister said.

The Minister, moreover, lashed out at his critics saying these days it has become “fashionable to criticize” those who speak about India’s glorious past.

He said, much before the western world, India was far advanced in medical science and other fields of scientific knowledge. He said Indian physicians inoculated people for small pox much before Edward Jenner.

But realistically, what India needs more than reflection on its past, is injection of funds and patronage towards R&D as such "ancient India scientific feats " could not have come without a price.

BRING OUT IDEAS-TECHNOLOGIES NOT MERE JOURNALS: HARSH VARDHAN TO RESEARCHERS

Union Minister for Science and Technology, Harsh Vardhan said India urgently needs new ideas and technologies, not  mere research journals.

The Minister added that researchers must start developing these new ideas and technologies, instead of merely showing published journals as their contributions towards the society.

Citing an example of his recent visit to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat in Assam, the minister said he asked the researchers what the Institution developed in terms of technologies and ideas in its 30 years of history - he was only handed 100s of published journals instead.

“I asked the researchers at Jorhat what are the breaking news from the Institute in terms of new ideas and technologies, to which they showed me the journals that have been published by the Institute,” the Minister said while speaking as the Chief Guest at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institution of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in Shillong the State Capital of Meghalaya in India's northeast.

Vardhan said, journals are “theoretical” in nature and have little value in terms of benefit for the society, unless the theories are implementable on the ground and changes people’s lives.

Urging the researchers to start “thinking out of the box” rather than going through their “routine and casual” regime, Vardhan added, 60 years have gone by due to such casual attitude.

“This has to change. There must be a re-orientation of our thinking in terms of research. There has to be breaking news. India must begin by identifying its priorities and then build and also create a pool of entrepreneurs,” he said.

Vardhan said India has a great advantage over other countries be it its ancient past with scientific advancements or the present demographic dividends. He said the demographic dividend of India gives the country “great hope” and therefore urged the young people to think and work differently in a deviation from the past 60 years.

 

Asked about budget allocation towards Research and Development in India, Vardhan said that this area would always be a concern. “There is always a constraint,” but at the same time added that increase in budget allocation “cannot be done in a day.”

The Minister, however, said that the Make In India is a great initiative of the Government to boost R&D and at the same time help in the growth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and the overall economy.

MEDICAL COUNCIL OF INDIA (MCI) DEAD HORSE ON A PACEMAKER

Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan today said the Medical Council of India (MCI) needs reform and there must be more transparency in terms of its functioning.

Vardhan, who was earlier the Union Health Minister and is also a medical practitioner, said that the MCI has the “potential to function better.”

“The MCI could have functioned better. I too feel that the MCI has to be more transparent in terms of its functioning,” Vardhan said.

The Minister was responding to questions posed by journalists after the Director of North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institution of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), AH Ahangar launched a scathing attack against the MCI calling it a “sick Institution” during his address in the presence of the Union Minister.

Ahangar said the MCI is the “road block” for medical education and research for the country and said the “sick institution” must be urgently reformed for the sake of medical education and research.

“The MCI is the biggest roadblock for medical education in India. It is a dead horse on a pacemaker. Unfortunately the monitor showing picks doesn’t mean the Institution is alive,” Ahangar said.

He said the MCI “must be taken care of” which in turn would help medical education and research in India. “If MCI is taken care of than medical education in India would be much better and India would not only be able to take care of itself but would also be able to export manpower to the rest of the world by 2050,” he added.

MEGHALAYA WITHDRAWS FERTLISER SUBSIDY

With an eye on brand-building and market Meghalaya as an organic food producing State, the State government has withdrawn the chemical fertilizer subsidy to farmers, thus raising serious livelihood questions.

Although there is a growing demand for organically-farmed food globally for health and environment benefits, however, the decision of the government to withdraw the subsidy altogether has left the farming community in the lurch dependent on conventional methods of farming.

Recently, farmers from different parts of the State staged a rally in the State Capital pleading the government to continue with the subsidy. But, the government said it would not retract its decision.

P Khargonkor, Principal Secretary, Agriculture Department, while stressing the health benefits of organically-farmed food, said chemical fertilizers and pesticides are available in the open market for those willing to buy them.

“The farmers can buy the chemical fertilizers and pesticides from the open market, but the government would not provide the subsidy,” Khargongkor stressed.

However, the affected farmers are questioning why the government did not give a window period to make the transition from chemical to bio-fertilizers. Another important question raised is that if the government is in no mood to give such a breather, why does it not give some sort of subsidy on bio-fertilizers to the farmers, which would have worked as an incentive.

Meghalaya is an agrarian economy, but the State is not self-sufficient in food-grains and vegetables and much of these produces are imported from the neighbouring State of Assam and elsewhere, which uses conventional method of farming and the respective governments providing subsidy on fertilisers.

It may be noted here that although those who have taken to organic farming are getting better cost on their produce, but then it is a niche market produce. Organic farms need more land as the yield is low compared to conventional method of farming. The verdict is not out yet on the viability of organic farms over conventional method of farming.

This means that Meghalaya, which is not self-sufficient in agriculture produce, would produce even lesser and with other States like Assam not taking up organic farming in the near future, the State residents would have to partake more of food produced by conventional farming methods.

What is ironic is that local farmers would now have to sell their produce at a higher price with locally sourced chemical fertilizers and pesticides from the open market.

On the other hand, prices of such imports would remain the same because of continued subsidy offered to farmers in different State of India.

The Mission Organic was launched by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma this year. “The new policy of the State government aims to build the ‘Organic Meghalaya’ brand producing organic certified food and products...,” the Agriculture Department says. But the question is, at what cost?

Brahmaputra Board now history

The Brahmaputra Board (BB) has been consigned to the pages of history today with the central government stating it has outlived its mandate and would “reincarnate” with a new nomenclature and concept.

After holding the last meeting of the board here at the State Capital Union Minister for Water Resources, Uma Bharti said, the BB would now have a new name “within a week or two” and the entire functioning and mandate would be changed.

“I can declare with a firm conviction that today is the last meeting of the Brahmaputra Board. The next meeting will be held under a new name and concept. It would reincarnate with a new name and concept in which the views of every state will be incorporated. We would decide on the new name within a week or two,” she said at the sidelines of the 8^th meeting of the board here at the State Convention centre.

The Union Minister added the board has outlived its mandate.  The Board which was established in 1980 and was not performing to the expectation of the people and therefore it would be overhauled.

“When the board was formed the aspirations from it was different so was the technology. We would now take suggestions from all stakeholders how to revamp the board and make it more effective with the present day aspirations of the people,” Bharti said.

One of the important roles of the board would be to take care of the flood and erosion caused by the River Brahmaputra annually – an aspect the BB has not been able to tackle effectively.

On the other hand Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has suggested that a Brahmaputra River Basin Management project be established on the tributaries of the River, which would benefit most of the Northeastern States. The Union Minister has already hinted that she has taken a liking for the proposal of the Meghalaya Chief Minister.

On cleaning of the River Brahmaputra, she said, that since the Ganga and the Brahmaputra have the same source of origin and cleaning work on the Ganga has begun, the Ganga cleaning project would have its impact on the River Brahmaputra.

“River Brahmaputra is the elder brother of Ganga and has its origin at Mansarovar so the Ganga cleaning project would have its impact on it. Nonetheless, the Ganga cleaning model would be replicated on different Rivers of the country,” she informed.

Meanwhile, speaking about the controversy over building of dams in the region, she said that the water resources ministry was not against building of dams, but the ecology of the River and the people’s sentiments have to be taken care of while implementing the projects.

“The technical aspect of dam building must be safe in such a way that the ecology is not disturbed and kills Rivers. Moreover, the sentiments of the people must also be taken care of while building the dams and this, I have been told, is being looked into by the Ministry of Power,” Bharti said.

BYE BYE 2014 WELCOME 2015

The year 2014 in Meghalaya is more significant from the Garo Hills context because the impoverished region witnessed unprecedented bloodshed, but again the region saw itself wending historically towards the rest of the world with the first train being flagged off on November 29.

The Mendipathar-Guwahati Railway line of 131-km is a historic event not just because it is Meghalaya’s first rail network, post independence, but also because in a region with poor socio-economic indices it had other significance.

First, the rail network has broken the decade-long opposition against the Railways by organizations in the State arguing it would bring in influx. More importantly, for several decades terrorist, militants and criminals of all hues hoisted the poor developmental indicators of the region on one shoulder and guns on the other and claimed to have the mandate of the people to fight on their behalf for equal opportunity.

However, in the process most of these elements pursued their self-interest and unleashed terror on the hapless people. The year 2014 was particularly brutal as senseless killings by these elements took the lives of several innocent people. There were extortion, kidnapping and other forms of violence and at times Garo Hills cocooned into a world of its own.

Apart from terrorism and militancy, nature was also unkind to the region as flash flood and landslides in September took the lives of over 60 people and destroying property of people several times that number, mostly in West Garo Hills. It was one of the worst natural calamities in the State’s history.

The year also witnessed a significant order by the National Green Tribunal which passed an interim ban on rat-hole coal mining in Meghalaya for causing environmental damages. Earlier this year The Dalai Lama paid a visit to the State during the convocation of the Martin Luther Christian University.

Meanwhile, the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council scripted a new chapter in its 62-year-old history by electing for the first time a woman, Theilina   S Thangkhiew, as its Chairperson, which is equivalent to a Speaker’s role in the Assembly and Parliament. Another woman, Wansuk Syiem retained her seat at the Rayja Sabha.

However,  yet another woman and Social Welfare Minister Deborah Ch Marak appeared before a local court in Williamnagar, East Garo Hills after she was charge-sheeted for her alleged links with a terrorist outfit.

Which brings us again to the Garo Hills and at the fag end of the year, the State Government did manage to disarm another militant group from the region – Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) and its breakaway faction – on December 15 after negotiations that underwent for years.

The ANVC reportedly called the homing coming event its “Ecdysis” – in Zoology, it is the process of shedding the old skin (in reptiles) or casting off the outer cuticle (in insects and other arthropods).

 

And all along this deaths and the constant pressure put on by the security forces on the terrorists, the Home Minister Roshan Warjri put in her papers owning moral responsibility for the losses. Chief Minister Mukul Sangma is yet to decide on her replacement and is holding the Home portfolio.

Sangma on the political front did have a tough year with his own party colleagues from the Congress grumbling silently to replace him. They failed in their effort like on several other occasions.

The Chief Minister after consolidating his position also called out to other militant groups for talks like the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council and now the ground works are being laid for the talks to move ahead.

Therefore, in 2015 some would  like to undergo Ecdysis, others take wings or some more others simply chug away happily, as Bijay K Marak, the driver of the Mendipathar-Guwahati train from the Garo community did - but all hopefully towards better times where there would be peace and prosperity. 

SEISTA GOOD FOR HEALTH, START DAYDREAMING

Dalliance with your afternoon siesta or power nap is packed with health benefits and experts suggest that a half-hour snooze can actually boost your performance at work by reducing stress and recharging the energy levels.

Sleep specialist Dr. Deelip Chaterjee said that a half an hour siesta in the daytime helps in reducing stress by relaxing the body, but sleeping more than half and hour messes up with the night’s rest and so is not recommended.

“Snoozing for more than half an hour could interfere with your night’s rest and so is not recommended,” Dr. Chaterjee who practices in the US, but has opened a centre in Guwahati for people having sleeping disorders, said here.

A midday rest or siesta is common in most countries with hot climate. The Spanish word siesta derives from the Latin word Sexta Hora meaning sixth hour. Spaniards are strict adherents of siesta so are several communities around the world, including many in India.

 Several great leaders could not do without their power nap. In fact, Winston Churchill coined the word power nap as he believed that having his forty winks in the afternoon helped him to think better! Napoleon, Leonardo Da Vinci, John F Kennedy, Einstein, Thomas Edison amongst others, celebrated siesta almost every day in their lives.

“Edison had an interesting way for his siesta. He used to sit in a couch in the afternoon holding a spoon in his hand and placing a plate at his foot. He used to sleep that way until the spoon dropped from his hand onto the plate and wake him up in about half an hour,” Dr. Chaterjee said.

The physician suggested that an alarm should be set for half an hour’s rest if anyone wants to start this age-old practice to rejuvenate the body and mind. It is unlikely though that by practicing siesta there are greater chances of epiphany and inventing something path-breaking as a light bulb, but just to join the club of daydreamers, give it a shot! 

SANITY IN AN INSANE WORLD - SAN KER

IT’S A MAD MAD WORLD! Or why should anyone ever exploit, abuse, neglect and ridicule “extraordinary people” coping with “extraordinary situations?” But that’s the general attitude of societies all around the world against people with mental illness.

In this rather insane situation, Dr. Sandy Syiem brings in balance and discards the notion that mental illness is perpetual and therefore anyone fighting with such ailments must be treated differently. He states: “mental illness is curable” and has been demonstrating it, with compassion and love, over several decades now.

After Dr. Syiem completed his doctorate from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi back in the 80s,  like all his peers wanted to practise in a Metropolitan city or migrate abroad, but perhaps his fate was pre-destined.

Dr. Syiem recalls that when his brother expired after his studies, his parents insisted that he return home and so he did. After his return to Shillong Dr. Syiem took up a Government job and worked all over the State, looking after the mentally ill patients in different government institute, one such institute was infamously called the “Mawlai Mental Jail.”  

“This was a high security prison for dangerous insurgents from Nagaland, which was later turned into an asylum for the mentally ill,” Dr. Syiem said.

He said that the mentally ill were cramped inside dark cells without ventilation and were treated more as animals than human beings. Dr. Syiem tried to bring in changes, but was stonewalled by bureaucratic red-tapism and so he quit and that’s when he decided to start working on his own and founded the San Ker Rehabilitation Centre.

Dr. Sandy Syiem

The centre is an institute to look after the large number of “uncared mentally ill patients” of the State and is nestled amongst dense pine trees and beautiful surroundings at Mawroh.

“We began with the barest minimum in a cowshed and build the institute from scratch, taking loans in June 1990,” Dr. Syiem said. Now it is a 90 bed facility centre for male and female patients. Along with medication, there are group, individual and vocational therapy sessions. There is, moreover, the counselling sessions for the inmates as well as the families.

In the centre there is a basketball court and also some facilities to play sports. As soon as Dr. Syiem gets inside the centre the inmates surround him speaking about their problems, aspirations and desire to get back home. He consoles and advises each one of them, hugging them individually like a father-figure.

During this round of the centre, Dr. Syiem proudly displays some of the paintings that some of the inmates have created and are now mounted on the walls of the different corners of the institute. He says that many inmates are creatively inclined towards painting and they give colour to their emotions through their beautiful work. He also invites local artists and conducts painting workshops from time to time.

At the centre there are mentally ill patients from all over the region and speaks volume of the kind of importance state governments associate with mental illness. Take the case of a young rape victim from Assam. She has been handed over to the centre by a Government agency from the neighbouring State as there are “no facilities” to treat the girl in that State fighting mental imbalance after the rape.

Ironically, many of the patients who recover and are discharged are not taken back by their families. Geeta Roy, who was left at the centre years back now sits at the centre’s vocational training centre and makes beautiful flowers out of pine cones. “Mein ghar jana chati hu, legin koi mujhe lene nehi ata.” (I want to go home, but nobody from my family is coming to take me back), the frail woman says with remorse.

Dr. Syiem says that he has approached many times to find her family, but to no avail. There are many others who have been simply forgotten by the family. There is this stigma and people are sometimes ashamed to recognize one of their family members being mentally ill, Dr. Syiem says.

He adds that the society’s perception towards the mentally ill patient is stereotypical. Apart from the usual social stigma attached with mentally ill patient, women are worse off. Mentally ill women patients are victims of all forms of exploitation, including rape. He adds that in the first instance most of the mentally ill patients have undergone extreme physical and mental duress in one way or the other, resulting in their breakdown.

And when after recovery the society rejects them they become despondent and desperate further aggravating their situations. Moreover, with only a handful of NGOs working in this field and little Government assistance a large number of such patients ends up on the streets to be hounded and exploited from all quarters.

He further says that people generally don’t talk about mental illness. And they go for treatment quietly, be it at the hands of quacks or faith-healers. “They come here when all other options have been exhausted,” Dr Syiem said.

Interestingly, Dr. Syiem believes that awareness against mental illness is more pronounced in the rural sectors than in the urban areas. He says that in the villages it is not possible to hide anyone suffering from mental illness as the societies are very close-knit, but in the urban centres the case is the opposite.

Meanwhile, there is no authentic data to number the mentally ill patients in the country. So policies and programmes are not accordingly formulated. Moreover, research and studies on mental illness is woefully poor and so is the awareness level amongst the people.

For example, mental illness is associated with violent behaviour, which is necessarily not correct. People coping with diseases like Schizophrenia and Maniac depression can be extremely thoughtful and intelligent.

On the legislation front, the Mental Health Act, 1987 (which replaced the Lunacy Act of 1912) came into force only in 1993. This Act’s objective is to protect the mentally ill from exploitation and abuse and provide them the rights to live as equal citizens.

But this Act has only been cosmetically implemented in States around the country. Experts say that this Act needs to be enforced in letter and spirit and needs further amendments to suit modern science and conditions.

Dr. Syiem has been a vocal advocate for brining in changes in the State in terms of mental health care and says that the State Government needs to do more for the mentally ill in terms of budget allocation and legislation implementation. He points out that in the Meghalaya health budget, just 2 per cent is earmarked for mental health care and has been urging the Government time and again to increase this allocation.

For Dr. Syiem life has been a challenge, right from fighting societal stereotype, government indifference and on his personal front too as a Cancer survivor. Having being diagnosed with Cancer in 1998, he successfully fought it only for the disease to recur in 2001, which he again fought back and recovered. “This is not my fight but of many others and I believe there is a divine grace which has enabled me to do so,” Dr. Syiem says.

On his future plans the doctor has prepared an elaborate blue print for expansion of the centre, which is now run by a trust. There are plans to set up a 100 bedded centre with a hospice and other facilities. He says getting fund for the project is a constraint and has been running to the Government, philanthropic agencies and individuals, for help.

            

Centuries back, Vincent Van Gogh, whose mental instability is now legendary, with some instances being romanticized to a certain degree of sadism, could not sell a single painting during his lifetime as these were taunted and scoffed off as work of a “mad man!”

However Vincent Van Goh once stated “some of the colours I have depicted are not locally true, however they (colours) portray some inherent emotions.” Sadly, many short-sighted individuals and institutions of our present society are still being unable to see and understand these “beautiful minds.”