Staff Reporter
Shillong, Oct 18: Meghalaya government has decided to clear Rs 565 crore pending power dues to National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in 20 installments.
The decision proposed by the power department was approved by the State Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today.
Addressing the media, Power Minister Abu Taher Mondal said the department has moved the NTPC for negotiation after the power dues rose to Rs 665 crore, which if allowed to continue would soon cross Rs 1000 crore and create a burden for the Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited (MePDCL) vis-à-vis Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) and also to the State government.
“Accordingly, after the negotiation and frequent meetings, they (NTPC) agreed that now we can pay them Rs 565 crore instead of Rs 664 or 665 crore. So we got a relief from that point of view but this amount should be paid in around 20 installments,” he said while adding NTPC has agreed to waive off over Rs 100 crore and that there is now a possibility of lowering the interest rate as well.
Stating that the MeECL is not financially sound, Mondal said, “That is why the State government has decided that this amount of Rs 565 crore will be paid to NTPC.”
“We are still negotiating and NTPC is open minded on whether this will have to be returned within these 20 installments or we can have some relaxations as far as installments are concerned so that our installment burden also reduces. So we want once the cabinet decides then they will give that scope so it may go to 30 or we will push something more also so that there is no more interest in that and we clear these dues from NTPC and get clean as far as NTPC dues are concerned,” he added.
The power minister informed that earlier the State government had availed the Atmanirbhar loan and cleared 50 per cent of the accumulated power dues of Rs 488 crore to NTPC.
“Out of Rs 488 crore, we have paid Rs 244 crore and remaining Rs 244 crore now became Rs 665 crore. (Therefore, if there is no negotiation) this amount will continue to go up and up and thereby put us into a financial crisis also. (To avoid this situation), the cabinet has been kind enough to agree to this proposal of the power department,” he said.
According to him, the situation had arisen due an agreement signed between the government and NTPC in 2007.
“NTPC was charging quite high (in terms of) fixed charges. We had approached them for reduction in interest and fixed charges and all these things and ultimately it did not materialize. After that we have even moved to the court of law but then as this agreement was executed in letter and spirit even the court has not given a favourable verdict in favour of us,” he said.
Staff Reporter
Shillong, Oct 17: The United Democratic Party (UDP), which is the largest regional political party in the state, has so far received application for ticket from three aspirants, who have expressed keen interest to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election from the Shillong parliamentary constituency.
Sources within the party said that three ticket aspirants include two former legislators – Jemino Mawthoh and PT Sawkmie and former Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) president Robertjune Kharjahrin.
Kharjahrin was recently removed as HYC president in its general council meeting.
A party leader said that the party would soon take a call to finalise the official candidate for the Shillong seat.
UDP has 12 MLA in the 60-member House.
Meanwhile, its alliance partner, the Hill State People Democratic Party (HSPDP) chief KP Pangniang has informed that his party would take a collective decision on the matter in the upcoming meeting of the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA) to be held shortly.
The HSPDP has only two MLAs in the 11th Assembly.
Pangniang said that there are many people who have approached the party for a ticket for the MP election. “However, we have decided to take a call after discussing the matter in the upcoming RDA (led by UDP) meeting,” he said.
Staff Reporter
Shillong, Oct 16: As part of 91st Anniversary celebrations of Indian Air Force, Headquarters Eastern Air Command is organizing an Air Display by IAF aircraft over Umiam Lake, Shillong as part of its public outreach initiative. The air display will comprise a Flypast by ALH and Chinook helicopters, Dornier transport aircraft, SU- 30 and Rafale fighter jets.
The aircraft will carry out formation flying and other extraordinary aerial maneuvers demonstrating exceptional flying skills and professionalism. The Grand finale would be the helicopter formation flying display by the Sarang Helicopter Display Team. Sarang Display Team is acknowledged as one of the best helicopter display teams in the world. The air show is planned on 20 October 2023 and the Full Dress Rehearsal (FDR) will be conducted on 17 October 2023 from 9.15 am.
Staff Reporter
Shillong, 16: Midday Meal Workers have threatened to stop performing their school duties from November 2023 if the state government fails to release their three-month pending honorarium.
Speaking to media persons, president of the Cook cum Helper under the PM Poshan scheme Banalis Syiem said that recently the state government has promised to release the pending honorarium of six months but has only released three months.
Syiem said that till date the cook cum helper has not received the honorarium for the month of July, August and September 2023 and this has forced some of the helpers in different parts of the state to refrain from attending their school duties.
“We provide time to the state government till October 2023, to release the pending three months honorarium failing which we will call for a mass agitation by refraining ourselves to performing our duties in our respective assigned school” said Syiem.
Syiem said that this mass agitation will be in the entire state and this will have a great impact on the school children who are benefited from the midday meal scheme.
She added that from time to time Cook cum Helper of the Midday Meal Workers have impressed upon the state government to increase the honorarium but till date, their demands have not been met.
“We urged upon chief minister Conrad K Sangma to take up our issues with prime minister Narendra Modi so that Cook cum Helper of the Midday Meal Workers in the state are benefited from various schemes of the central government” she added.
Staff Reporter
Shillong, Oct 16: A delegation of the Khasi Author Society (KAS) today demanded the state government to make Khasi as one of the official languages of Meghalaya.
After meeting with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, KAS president Dr DRL Nonglait said, "As of now, after the Meghalaya Language Act, 2005 the Khasi and Garo languages have been made associate official languages only. But we want the government to make Khasi as one of the official languages of Meghalaya I mean together with English."
"The chief minister has assured us to look into it very carefully and he has also entrusted the department concerned to look into it and to brief him about the details of the existing Act and also provisions made in the Indian constitution in regards to making any language as one of the associate official languages," he said adding "Actually there is no bar to have two or three official languages within the State as the Constitution allows any state to adopt that policy."
He said that the State has to convene a special session because it has to bring an amendment of the existing Meghalaya Language Act, 2005.
"He (CM) has given us the assurance that he would look into the matter carefully and in due course of time he will do the needful," Nonglait added.
The KAS president said, "In the Act, it has been defined that Khasi language can be used in all official correspondences within the jurisdiction of Khasi, Jaintia and Ri Bhoi and Garo language within the district of Garo Hills but in reality that is not the case so the use of these associate official languages have been very limited. Now, by making these as official languages of the state then you will understand the implication."
On the use of Khasi language in the Assembly, Nonglait said, "In our discussion with the CM he said that is not a big problem."
Further, KAS has also sought the CM's intervention in regard to the demand for the inclusion of Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule.
"We informed him that on September 29 and 30, we had a national seminar in New Delhi and we also had a peaceful demonstration at Jantar Mantar. We have adopted resolutions which include seeking clarification from the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding the status of our demand and to urge the central government to initiate steps for introducing an official Bill in the next session of the parliament thereby to facilitate for inclusion of Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. We have also informed him that we have submitted our memorandum to the prime minister, union home minister and president of India. We requested the chief minister to write a follow up letter to the Centre for bringing an official Bill for inclusion of the Khasi language in the next session of parliament," he said.
Nonglait said that the CM has even sought our cooperation in preparing the follow up letter and will send to the Prime Minister or Home Minister of India.
Staff Reporter
Shillong, Oct 16: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today visited the spot where a fire had engulfed the entire building in Police Bazar. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Chief Secretary DP Wahlang, DGP LR Bishnoi and other senior officials.
The fire incident which occurred on Saturday took almost over 24 hours to douse.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma inspected the site and had a review meeting with the officials and has asked officials to submit a report on the incident, which has claimed one life. He has asked officials to conduct all safety audits of the building and ascertain the cause of the fire.
He expressed concern about the families that were affected by the incident.
“The incident had the potential to be disastrous as it was in the middle of the market area, which was congested and was difficult for fire service to come in. It was a challenging task, but all concerned departments and officials, especially fire service, army, air force, Assam Rifles, BSF, police, administration and the community all came together to contain the situation”, he said.
He lauded the efforts of all stakeholders, who ensured that the fire did not spread out from the affected building to the other adjoining buildings and houses. He informed that a detailed investigation would be conducted on the incident to ascertain the cause of the fire.
“We will closely look into the matter and come up with a response mechanism on how we can contain and avoid such a situation in future”, he said.
He said that the building had several godowns which made the entire operation challenging but all stakeholders have shown their utmost commitment in dealing with the situation. He said that safety audits and other measures will also be taken up to ensure that such situations do not arise in future. He also said that a cabinet meeting on October 18 will be held to discuss the entire matter
Staff Reporter
Shillong, Oct 16: NEIGRIHMS achieved yet another milestone recently by starting 4-D Radiation Therapy for cancer patients for the first time in the region. This advanced form of Radiotherapy is offered by very few centres across India. Extremely useful in the treatment of tumours that move with breathing, this special technique helps target tumours of lung, liver and pancreas wherein radiation can be focused precisely to destroy the cancer without much damage to the surrounding normal tissue and organs.
Prof. (Dr) Nalin Mehta, Director of NEIGRIHMS, congratulated the team comprising Drs. Sumit Kumar, Deiwakor Chyrmang, Resident doctors, Radiation Safety Officer, Medical Physicist and the Radiotherapy technologists for excellent teamwork and said “I’m very proud to declare that the NEIGRIHMS Radiotherapy department has standardized the delivery of this special 4D-RT, also called respiratory gating, that targets cancer masses that move with patient’s breathing while at the same time limiting collateral damage to surrounding tissue”.
He also stated that “With the installation of other State-of-the-Art facilities like High Energy Linear Accelerator, 4D-CT simulator and Brachytherapy, world-class cancer treatment will now be offered at the Regional Cancer Centre, NEIGRIHMS to not only patients of our State of Meghalaya but also to those from other North Eastern States as well as the neighbouring countries, who otherwise had to travel far for advanced cancer treatment”.
Dr Vikas Jagtap, Additional Professor and head, the Department of Radiotherapy, elaborated that such treatment required a good amount of time and application of technology. Also, the patients have to be coached for a few days to in breathing pattern exercises to aid in the precise and accurate delivery of focused radiation. He added that 250 patients had so far been treated with advanced radiation techniques like 3D-CRT, VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy) and ARC therapy which helps reduce side effects of radiation to a great extent.
Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, and Chemicals & Fertilizers inaugurated the Regional Cancer Centre at NEIGRIHMS on the 14th of October, 2023 and praised the efforts of NEIGRIHMS in providing quality cancer treatment and emphasised the role of NEIGRIHMS as a major health hub for the entire North East Region.
It is also noteworthy that Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy at NEIGRIHMS are offered at highly subsidized rates to cancer patients. For those who are enrolled under the MHIS and PM-JAY scheme, the benefit of cashless treatment is offered on the production of the registration card.
Staff Reporter
Shillong, Oct 16: Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh today visited the Wellness Centre at Nongmynsong.
During the visit, it became evident that there is an urgent need to upgrade the facilities at the Wellness Center due to the importance of the interventions required in the area.
She was accompanied by the MDC of the constituency Fantin J Lakadong, DHS Dr R. Ally, DM&HO Dr Shakina Lyngdoh as well as the Darbar and executive committee members, including Ashas.
Lyngdoh said in recent years, much like in other localities and areas around Shillong city, there is a pressing need to address the growing drug problems in and around the city of Shillong.
In Nongmynsong, there was also a felt need to stimulate discussions on health and drug-related issues.
Furthermore, she said it was observed that the Wellness Center had sufficient staff; a doctor with dual responsibilities from Rynjah attended to the residents' needs in the area.
Additionally, there is a need to increase vaccination coverage for minors, especially those who missed their doses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has been decided that vaccination coverage, currently at approximately 57 per cent in the entire area, will be intensified.
Furthermore, the Wellness Center must also address the increasing cases of non-communicable diseases.
There was a consensus that tuberculosis should be addressed on a larger scale, with a focus on raising awareness among the citizens so that they understand that tuberculosis is now a treatable disease, she said.
Staff Reporter
Shillong, Oct 16: Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh today visited Civil Hospital, Shillong and chaired a review meeting with the officers to assess infrastructure requirements and needs.
Lyngdoh informed that it was decided that the work at the hospital requires immediate intervention, and the engineering wing has been instructed to prepare a project for this purpose.
Additionally, the contractual staff at the Civil Hospital, particularly those recently discontinued under the emergency staff category, need immediate attention due to the vital facilities in the dialysis unit, the operation theatre unit, and the blood bank unit, which requires urgent replacement to ensure the hospital's efficient operation, she said.
Furthermore, the M.S. (Medical Superintendent) and the S.S. (Surgeon Superintendent) of Civil Hospital also informed the minister about the immediate need for hostel facilities for nurses and expanding trauma centres and ICU to meet the hospital's urgent requirements.
The Minister has assured that she will take up these matters with the competent authorities to find the best solutions to address these deficiencies and ensure the efficient functioning of Civil Hospital, Shillong.
Staff Reporter
Shillong, Oct 13: B. K. Bajoria School organised a fashion exhibition - ELEGANCE UNVEILED today in the school auditorium.
The event aimed to showcase the creativity and talent of students from the Fashion Studies Department, who worked diligently to craft unique and innovative fashion designs.
Elegance Unveiled turned out to be an event filled with cutting-edge fashion. The exhibition featured a diverse range of fashion pieces, from traditional to avant-garde, all created by students, aspiring to be professional designers. The event was a platform for them to pursue their fashion-related passions.
The exhibition was inaugurated by renowned Fashion designer Mr Daniel Syiem, who keenly observed all exhibits and applauded the budding designers for their skills.
