StatesManipur
Manipur makes Loktak Day a state festival and brings back helicopter flights to remote areas
Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh's Cabinet also cleared paddy land for big newspaper presses that want to move out of crowded neighbourhoods.
Key points
- Loktak Day will now be a state festival, with this year's celebrations starting on 26 October.
- Helicopter services to remote areas, suspended since 1 October, will resume through Pawan Hans, at the state's cost.
- Large newspaper presses may use up to 0.62 acre of paddy land to relocate from residential areas.
Manipur will celebrate Loktak Day as a state festival every year, Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh’s Cabinet decided on Thursday, giving official status to the day that honours the largest freshwater lake in the Northeast.
The day falls on the full moon of the Manipuri month of Mera, which usually comes in October. This year’s celebrations begin on 26 October, with events at the Loktak Lairembi Ground in Thanga and at Komlakhong. The Loktak Development Authority will run them with local clubs.
Helicopters back in the air
The Cabinet also approved the return of helicopter services to the state’s remote areas, which have been suspended since 1 October. Pawan Hans Limited, the Government of India undertaking, has been engaged to run them.
Manipur will meet the full cost itself, because the Union Home Ministry’s North East helicopter scheme will not provide central assistance for these flights.
Room for printing presses
In a third decision, the Cabinet added registered and licensed newspaper printing presses that run web offset machines to the “public purpose” category under the Manipur Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2014. Eligible presses can now use up to 0.62 acre of contiguous paddy land, subject to the Act’s safeguards.
The stated aim is to move large presses out of congested residential areas and cut the noise they make at night, when newspapers are printed.