Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 467/15

CM INAUGURATES NATIONAL KNOWLEDGE NETWORK IN CITY

Shillong, July 7, 2015: Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma inaugurated the National Knowledge Network (NKN PoP) and e-Services at the NIC Building here in the presence of IT Minister, A. L Hek, Sports & Youth Affairs Minister, Zenith Sangma, Parliamentary Secretaries, MLAs and host of officials from NIC and IT Department on Tuesday evening.

Inaugurating the system, the Chief Minister stressed the need to integrate all the upcoming and advanced networks in the State to connect the citizens at the grassroots level. He was however happy that the State Wide Area Network and Meghalaya State Data Centre have already been integrated to NKN.

Dr. Sangma also asked the departments concerned to work on upgrading the districts in view of the fact that districts are not able to get adequate network.

The launch of NKN PoP and e-Services was organized by NIC Shillong in collaboration with the IT Department as part of Digital India Week which concluded on Tuesday.

Press Release No. 468/15

DIGITAL INDIA WEEK CONCLUDES

Shillong, July 7, 2015: A concluding ceremony of a weeklong celebration of the Digital India Week in the State was held today at Shillong Public School, Shillong. Meghalaya Urban Affairs Minister, Dr. Ampareen Lyngdoh graced the concluding ceremony as the Chief Guest.

“To be digital is not uncommon in today’s digital world”, said Dr. Lyngdoh while speaking at the concluding ceremony at Shillong Public School and added that the State Government has been putting a lot of effort in bringing the State under the digital roadmap. Dr. Lyngdoh hoped that the teachers will take full advantage of the digital classrooms and help the students excel in their studies and prepare them to be at par with others in this competitive world.

Speaking as the Guest of Honour, Commissioner & Secretary, Information Technology Department, Shri D. P. Wahlang said that the traditional ways of teaching and learning will be revolutionized with the introduction of the digital classrooms and added that the online portal, www.khanacademy.org is one of the many available free online learning portals that can help the students in gaining in-depth knowledge about a particular subject. He urged the students to empower themselves by taking full advantage of the technologies. He also lauded the Shillong Public School for introducing the Child Tracking System in the school. He also informed that e-library will be launched soon for the benefit of the students’ fraternity in the State.

Earlier in the programme, Meghalaya Urban Affairs Minister, Dr. Ampareen Lyngdoh handed over the certificates to the students of the Shillong Public School, Shillong who participated in the various competitions that were organized as part of the Digital India Week followed by the inauguration of the digital classroom in the school.

Shri W. Synrem, Economic Adviser, NEC, Shri A. Ch. Marak, Director, School Education & Literacy and officials from the Education and the IT Department was also present at the concluding ceremony.

Shri A. Warjri, Principal, Shillong Public School delivered the welcome address while Smti I. Phira, Assistant Teacher, Shillong Public School offered the vote of thanks.

Press Release No. 476/15

MEETING WITH POLITICAL PARTIES ON BOUNDARY DISPUTE WITH ASSAM HELD IN CITY

Shillong, July 7, 2015: A meeting of all the political parties was convened here today at the Conference Hall of Secretariat Main Building to take the views and suggestions of all political parties to work out the modalities for solving the long pending issue of the Assam-Meghalaya boundary dispute.

Welcoming all the political parties and their representatives, the Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma said that the boundary dispute with Assam has been one of the most contentious issues which require a resolution that is acceptable to the people of the state in the best possible manner. He also said that the long pending issue has resulted in conflicts in the past and subsequent dislocation of people living in the borders and stressed the need for adopting a political consensus to bring in lasting solution to the issue.

The Chief Minister also informed that the Government has from time to time maintained that this issue needs to be resolved at the earliest and requires the involvement of all concerned so that when the modalities of resolving the issue is worked out it is capable of capturing the concerns of all concerned and is acceptable to the people of the state. He said that there is a need for engagement of all political parties as in a democracy political parties articulate the concerns of the people and the state.

The first exercise of the consultative meeting with all the political parties is a part of the commitment of the Government to effectively engage with the Government of India and Assam on the issue. The Chief Minister said that such engagements would continue for enlightening the members of various political parties in respect of the documentation that the State Government has done and shared its counterpart to build up the claims of the State with regard to the 12 areas of difference to have a complete clarity and to supplement with further documents if required to strengthen the claims.

The suggestions that have evolved out of the meeting will be further discussed to decide the way forward jointly involving all the political parties, he added.

Different political parties participated effectively in the meeting and various concerns were flagged and suggestions and ideas were shared during the discussions to evolve a mechanism to find a solution on the boundary dispute. The suggestions include broadening the platform beyond political parties and inclusion of traditional institutions, among others.