Arunachal Talks

| In an attempt to arrive at a resolution to the decades-long border dispute, the governments of Assam and the Arunachal Pradesh governments on Thursday signed an agreement in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The agreement was co-signed by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal counterpart Pema Khandu to resolve the dispute in 123 villages.

Terming the border agreement a “historic” event, Home Minister Shah said that it put an end to a decades-long border dispute. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma described the deal as a “big and successful” moment, while Arunachal CM Khandu called it a “historic” one.

To arrive at an understanding regarding the border dispute, regional committees dealing with specific areas, comprising ministers, local MLAs, and officials from both states were formulated last year.
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| Changlang DC Sunny K Singh, who was recently bestowed with the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on National Civil Services Day (21 April) dedicated his award to the children of Miao, lauding them for transforming their lives through the New Age Learning Centre (NALC) in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Singh was honoured with the prestigious award for implementing the NALC, an innovative public library in the Changlang district of the state.

Upon receiving the award, the DC said, “This award means a lot, especially when Changlang district figures among the low-performing districts in terms of education.”

“This award is testimony to some novel interventions made during recent times to transform the state of education,” he further added.

Elated by the heartwarming gesture and expressing their appreciation for the DC’s revolutionary initiative, the United Miao Mission and its youth wing, the Miao Singpho Ramma Hpung, released a joint statement that said, “We find no words to express our happiness on receiving the prestigious award on the occasion of the Civil Services Day. We sincerely thank DC, Sunny K Singh for changing the face of Miao by implementing various innovative and people-friendly projects in Miao, including the NALC.”
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| With the launch of 254 network towers by the government of Arunachal Pradesh, as many as 336 villages located in the border areas of the state will be provided with the much-required and long overdue 4G mobile telephone connectivity.

The state government has given the green signal for the construction of 2,605 4G mobile towers with a total outlay of Rs 2,675 crore which will be providing connectivity to more than 3,721 villages and change for the better the lives of more than 70,000 people in Arunachal Pradesh.

Speaking at the inaugural event of 254 mobile towers, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said, “Today’s launch has happened mostly in border areas. By and large, most of the villages will be in border areas. Our district headquarters like Itanagar are already connected. The target is to reach out to unconnected and un-reached locations.”

Installed by BSNL, the 4G connectivity project will be immensely beneficial in connecting the remote areas of Tawang district which are subjected to frequent incursions of Chinese troops.

Assuring the attendees of the credibility of the project, Rijiju informed them about the USO Fund identifying locations for setting up 1,156 more 4G towers. In case 2-3 homes are left out in the border area, under the Vibrant Village Programme, they will also be provided with 4G network”.

The Union Minister further notified that 270 out of 2,424 sites for 4G services in the Northeast under the 4G saturation project will be connected through optical fibre, 1,237 through microwave and 917 sites will be connected through VSAT.

Speaking at the occasion, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu stressed the positive impact and transformation the 254 towers will bring along in far-flung areas of the state.
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| In a miraculous turn of events, renowned Indian woman climber, Baljeet Kamur who was declared dead after she went missing above Camp IV on Mt Annapurna has been found alive after remaining out of radio contact till this morning.

As informed by the Chairman of Pioneer Adventure, Pasang Sherpa, Baljeet Kaur, who scaled the world's tenth-highest peak without using supplemental oxygen has been successfully located by an aerial search team above Camp IV.

An aerial search mission was initiated this morning after Kaur managed to send a radio signal seeking 'immediate help'.

Notifying the media about the rescue plan, Sherpa said, "We are preparing to conduct a long-line rescue to airlift her from above the high camp.”

Sharing further details, Sherpa informed that Kaur’s GPS location has indicated an altitude of 7,375m (24,193ft) and three helicopters have been mobilised to trace the missing mountaineer.

The record-holding climber had climbed Mt Annapurna accompanied by two Sherpa guides at around 5:15 pm yesterday.

Another Indian climber Anurag Maloo, 34, from Kishangargh of Rajasthan, India, fell to his death from around 6,000m while descending from Camp III on the same mountain on Monday.

Meanwhile, Noel Hanna, a 10-time Everest summiteer from Northern Ireland breathed his last at Camp IV of Mt Annapurna after he returned from the summit point last night taking the season's death toll in the world's tenth-highest peak to two.

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| In a commendable initiative to bring about development, the Miao Batallion of Assam Rifles distributed eight solar street lights to the villagers of Mpen-II in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh as per its civic action plan on 5 April.

Located 13 km away from the Miami subdistrict, M’pen – II, is yet to witness basic infrastructural development. One example of the village’s backwardness is its lack of proper electricity supply which has led to the occurrence of several unfortunate incidents.

The village authorities of Mpen-II express their gratefulness towards the AR Miao Battalion for their noble initiative for the welfare of poor villagers.

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| Bringing home glory, Victoria Taying, a 19-year-old trans woman from Arunachal Pradesh, emerged as the 2nd runner-up in the Miss Trans Queen India 2023, held on 7 April in Gurgaon which witnessed the participation of transwomen from across the country.

Taying’s victory comes as a mega achievement to the q***r community as well as the state of Arunachal as a whole.

In an interview with a team member of AP Queerstation, Taying shared that her reason for entering the world of pageantry was not just to fulfil her dream of winning a beauty pageant. It was also to raise awareness about and break the stigma around in Arunachal Pradesh.

Taying, who hails from Miglung Village of Arunachal Pradesh, is currently working as a Front Office Associate at Lalit Hotel, Delhi.

Expressing her gratitude to the q***r community and all those who constantly supported her in her journey, Taying talked about being hopeful for a better future for the LGBTQIA+ community of the state.

Furthermore, in a phone conversation with the members of AP Queerstation, Taying informed that she will be participating in the International Trans Beauty Pageant.

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| Addressing the attendees at the inaugural function of the first ever Prime Minister youth camp & cycle rally being held at Mechukha on Sunday, Chief Minister Pema Khandu updated on the completion of the Aalo to Kaying road as well as the stretch between Kaying and Tato, the work on which is progressing according to the set timeline.

Having said that, the CM expressed his concern while updating on the latest progress of the portion from Tato, the district headquarters of Shi-Yomi to Mechukha which is lagging quite behind the set timeline and therefore will not be completed on time.

“Travelling on the road, I can say that the equipment and manpower being deployed on this stretch is way below par and at this rate, the road will not be completed on time,” the CM said.

Awaring the audience about his full concentration towards arriving at a plausible solution, Khandu informed that he has taken up the matter with the BRTF commander, responsible for executing the project, who will soon initiate formalities honouring the agreement with the contractors and prioritizing the timely completion of the project.

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| A two-day identification and assessment camp for the distribution of aids and assistive devices among differently-abled persons was inaugurated at Itanagar’s Donyi Polo Mission School for Hearing and Visually Impaired (DPMSHVI) by the former chief minister of the state Gegong Apang on Sunday.

The camp has been conducted as an initiative by the Chennai-based National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD) in collaboration with DPMSHVI.

Speaking at the inaugural event, Apang hailed the noble initiative of NIEPMD for actively working in the larger interest of the differently abled persons of the state.

The former CM further highlighted the positive impact of such camps stating how they are greatly beneficial for the prevention, intervention and rehabilitation of differently-abled persons.

Addressing the attendees, NIEPMD’s senior clinical staff-cum-camp co-ordinator Hari Mathi assured the appointment of technical professionals at the DPMSHVI to fulfil rehabilitation services for all types of disabilities in the best professional and constructive way.

The first day of the camp started off with the screening of all the students of the DPMSHVI.

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The month-long livelihood & enterprise development programme (LEDP) on tailoring organised by the Senyi Apoo Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd (SAMCSL), under the aegis of the Apatani Baptist Church Association (ABA) and backed by the NABARD’s Itanagar-based regional office came to an end on Tuesday.

The vocational training programme organised with the intention of empowering the financially weak rural people by creating employment opportunities witnessed the participation of thirty SHG members.

The ‘valedictory-cum-certificate distribution’ function organised to observe the completion of the month-long programme was attended by multiple dignitaries including NABARD District Development Manager Mewang Lowang, SBI Chief Manager Lok Thappa, SBI LDM AK Choudhary, board members of the ABA, and 30 odd SHG trainees of the SAMCSL.

Shedding more details regarding the programme, the NABARD in its official release stated, “For this training programme, the NABARD supported the cost of the critical common facility in the form of 15 tailoring machines and one interlock machine, besides other training materials to the SAMCSL.”

Furthermore, the trainees were encouraged to be self-dependent and self-employed and establish their own tailoring businesses by availing bank credit under schemes like the Mudra loan.”

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Raising concerns and expressing strong dissent regarding China’s latest sly claim over Arunachal by releasing a third set of names in Chinese, Tibetan and pinyin characters for 11 areas of the state, the Congress has pinned the blame on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, holding his “clean chit” to the neighbouring country and blatant disregard of China’s continued attempts to seize control of the northeastern state responsible for it.

Taking to Twitter, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “For the third time China has dared to rename our areas in Arunachal Pradesh. April 21, 2017 – 6 places, December 30, 2021 – 15 places, April 3, 2023 – 11 places.

“Arunachal Pradesh is and will remain an integral part of India. After Galwan, the country is facing the consequences of Modiji’s clean chit to China.”

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi also took to social media to express his concern in a tweet that read, “China has snatched 2000 sq km of land, they are changing names of places – Prime Minister is silent, no answer! Prime Minister, why so much fear?”

Furthermore, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Jairam Ramesh highlighted that contrary to the claim of a top Chinese diplomat, the India-China border situation is far from “stable.”

Stating his concern, the Congress leader said that Arunachal Pradesh and its people have always been an integral and unalienable part of India and emphasised the urgent need to ensure that these realities remain unchanged.

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