Two drug peddlers held in Ri-Bhoi

The Ri-Bhoi District Police on Wednesday arrested two drug peddlers including one woman and recovered a drug consignment from them.

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Reportedly, the drug peddlers were transporting the consignment from Tripura to Bihar in a tourist bus bearing registration number AS 01LC 1412, where they were arrested by the ANTF Team Ri Bhoi District in a Naka check at around 9 AM in Byrnihat.

The two drug peddlers have been identified as Rohit Kumar Mogalpura Barkhat Khan Ka Akhara, Jhauganj, Bihar and Premlata Devi of Panchayat Lagar, Gram Timapur Lagar, Bihar. A total of five packages of different sizes of illegal contraband and two mobile phones were seized from the two arrested.

Preliminary testing suggests that the recovered contraband was around 16.2 kg and the test result of the preliminary test conducted on the spot showed positive for Marijuana.

Meanwhile, the two have been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and further investigation is underway.

Clans want amendment of property succession Act

Different tribal Clans have expressed support to the demand for amendment of the Meghalaya Succession to Self-Acquired Property (Khasi and Jaintia Special Provision) Act, 1986.

This was informed by Maitshaphrang Convener Michael Syiem after a meeting held with the different Clans (or Kur) at Jaiaw Shyiap community hall here.

The meeting was jointly organized with three other organizations – Khasi Students’ Union, Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People and Hynniewtrep National Youth Front as part of their campaign to pressurize the state government to bring the necessary amendment to the Act.

The objective of the amendment was to ensure the ‘equitable’ or ‘fair and just’ distribution of property among siblings in a matrilineal society.

“The Clans who attended the meeting today have expressed support to our demand and they have informed that they will be organizing similar meetings within their clans to discuss the issue before taking a final decision on the matter,” Syiem told reporters.

The State Assembly passed the Meghalaya Succession to Self-Acquired Property (Khasi and Jaintia Special Provision) Act, 1986 and received the Governor’s accent in 1986. The Act provides a special provision enabling the Khasis and the Jaintias to dispose of self-acquired property by will to any of their children.

“But when the children inherit this self-acquired property of the parents, it becomes ancestral and this ancestral goes back to the youngest daughter. So we will feel that we need an amendment to this to include self-acquired property and ancestral property as well in this Act,” Syiem had earlier said.

“Another amendment we want is that the word ‘equitable’ should also be inserted in this Act so that the parents can equitably will away their property to any of their children not necessarily only to the woman or the younger daughter,” he had stated.

The social activist had also said, “Equitable does not mean equal. Equitable according to the dictionary means fair and just so it depends on the parents to give to whom and how much. We feel that this word ‘equitable’ should also be inserted in the 1986 Act.”

IIM Shillong holds 14th annual convocation

Staff Reporter

Shillong, April 3: IIM Shillong, hosted its 14th Annual Convocation today with 5 Doctoral Scholars conferred PhD degrees, whereas 238 students from the PGP-2021-23 batch (2 years full-time residential programme), 43 students from the PGPEX batch of 2022-23 (1-year full-time residential programme), 16 students from PGPWE2020-22 and 47 students from PGPWE2021-23 batch (2 years programme for Working Executives) where conferred with MBA degrees.

While delivering the welcome address, the Chairman of the Board of Governors, Shishir Kumar Bajoria, congratulated the students on their achievements and emphasized the importance of skill development in shaping India’s future. He urged the students to leverage their learning from IIM Shillong to make a positive impact on society. You are the products of New India, since 1947 India received 950 Billion dollars of FDI of which 532 Billion was last 3 years. The growth of India is bottom-up. The growth of the first GDP was 3.5 trillion dollars which took 67 years, while 2nd trillion took 8 years and 3rd trillion took 5 years. From the 10th largest economy in 2015 to 5th largest leaving, Russia, Italy, Brazil, France and the UK and knocking at the door of Germany for the 4th position. This is New India. 65 per cent of our GDP was driven by domestic demand. 1.4 billion population, about 1 billion are young Indians with an average age of 29 years. India is World’s youngest country and will continue to be for the next 70 years and dear students, you are going to participate in that as Young Indians.

The event was graced by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and Information Technology & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, as the Chief Guest (through virtual mode) and Gaurav Swarup, Co-Chairman & Managing Director of Paharpur Cooling Towers Ltd, as the Guest of Honour,

While delivering the Convocation Address, Rajeev Chandrasekhar expressed his gratitude for his part as the Chief Guest of the 14th convocation of IIM Shillong. India has been fortunate to have been globally growing, with initiatives such as Digital India contributing to the country’s growth. While many countries are grappling with recession and other challenges, India continues to grow and emerge as a global leader. I firmly believe that India is the country of the decade, and I urge the students of IIM Shillong to leverage their education to contribute towards the country’s progress and make a positive impact on society. Further, he mentioned that New India offers tremendous opportunities for Young Indians to pursue dreams and achieve goals and based on their own hard work and abilities. Chandrasekhar congratulated all graduating students and wished them a bright future.

The Guest of Honour, Gaurav Swarup, congratulated the students and emphasized the importance of leveraging their education to positively impact society.

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The Director of IIM Shillong, Prof. D.P. Goyal, expressed his pride in the achievements of the students and lauded the faculty and staff for their efforts in imparting industry-relevant education. Professor Goyal further said, “As they embark on their professional journey, I urge them to uphold our institution’s values of integrity, empathy, and excellence, and to use their knowledge and skills to contribute towards building a better tomorrow.”

The convocation ceremony witnessed the participation of 238 students, who received job offers from 63 recruiters across various fields, including Consulting & Strategy, Finance, General Management, Human Resources & Operations, IT & Analytics, and Sales & Marketing. The gender makeup of the class was equally split, with 45 per cent females and 55 per cent males. With an average CTC of 26.96 LPA, Median CTC of 26.09 LPA and Highest CTC of 71.30 LPA, IIM Shillong continued to cherish the moment and congratulated the graduating students of the PGP batch for such achievements.

The Chief Guest highlighted the Government’s initiatives to create a conducive ecosystem for startups and urged the students to take advantage of the opportunities available to them.

The convocation ceremony concluded with a Pledge by the graduating scholars and students led by respective program chairs, that creates a sense of pride and accomplishment as the students looked forward to making their mark in the corporate world, armed with the skills and knowledge imparted by IIM Shillong.