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India-Pakistan | |||||
Al Gore wins Indian tribal award | |||||
2007-08-31 | |||||
Khasi tribes people in the Indian state of Meghalaya have decided to honour former US Vice President Al Gore for promoting awareness on climate change. They say changes in the weather are devastating the picturesque hill state.
The award will be handed over at the second Dorbar Ri (People's Parliament) on 6 October near a sacred forest at the village of Mawphlang, which has been preserved untouched for more than 700 years. The award will consist of traditional gifts including local handicrafts and a "small amount of money".
Meghalaya - literally "Abode of the Clouds" - is home to the towns of Cherrapunji and Mawsynram, which vie for the title of wettest place on earth. But rampant deforestation and global warming mean these areas are getting less rain, while the soil is not able to hold water that does arrive, environmentalists say.
The tribes people say that they are also at risk from a greater influx of migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, where global warming has increased the demand for living space because large coastal regions have become submerged. "Such huge influxes will reduce us to foreigners in our own land," says local politician Paul Lyngdoh. Such fears have prompted the authorities to launch what critics say are absurd measures to reward tribal mothers with cash if they give birth to more than 15 children.
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Posted by:john frum |
#3 mojo, in some Indian dialects Kanapune means the whole jackass. |
Posted by: Rambler 2007-08-31 23:21 |
#2 Dang, and I was hoping for something like this: "You now known as Big Chief Kanapune!" "Wow, that's great. What's it mean?" "What WHAT mean?" "Kanapune" "It mean 'South end of north-bound jackass.'" |
Posted by: mojo 2007-08-31 13:10 |
#1 Peter Lyngdoh, a local environmentalist local politician Paul Lyngdoh I think we've found our culprits, as I think the average Khasi tribesman wouldn't know Al Gore if he ran one of them over in his SUV... |
Posted by: tu3031 2007-08-31 12:27 |