Aware, Awake & Arise: Issues that concern the region

Friday, March 28, 2008

A guided tour of 'outer' India

By Maloy Krishna Dhar
"Have you ever heard of places like Somdal, Chapkikarong, and Soraphung? To many, they might not even sound Indian. But they are areas in the Indian State of Manipur. The Indian Army and paramilitary forces took over three months (November 07 to February 2008) to partially recapture the sensitive Somdal area on the Indo-Myanmar border from hordes of Meitei (Manipuri Hindus) rebel groups."

Meghalaya to have ayurveda and homeopathy

"Institute for ayurveda and homoeopathy will be set up in Meghalaya capital Shillong. The union cabinet approved the scheme on 27 March 2008. The North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homeopathy will be an autonomous organisation under the department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH). It will be built at a cost of Rs.675 million."
Read full article on http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/meghalaya-to-have-ayurveda-and-homeopathy-institute_10031875.html

NGO’s and locals oppose uranium mining in Meghalaya

"Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and pressure groups have expressed their strong opposition to the Central Government’s plan to start the uranium mining process in Meghalaya."
Read full article on http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/south-asia/ngos-and-locals-oppose-uranium-mining-in-meghalaya_10032017.html

Canada keen to import fruits from Meghalaya

"Canada is keen on importing fruits and their value-added products from Meghalaya, Canada's High Commissioner to India David M Malone said."

Tibet-China conflict and Arunachal Pradesh

By Rishabh Srivastava
"Recently, Indian Prime Minister visited Arunachal Pradesh. While addressing a rally in Itanagar, he said that Arunachal Pradesh is India’s land of rising sun. China lodged its protest on Manmohan Singh’s assertion over this claim of India. China has always said that Arunachal Pradesh is part of China. Officials on Indian side are numb since then over an issue, which has potential to turn into a controversy."
Read full article on http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=131268

Manipur steal show on Day IV: National Masters Athletic Championships

"Manipur overcame overnight leaders Tamil Nadu to top the medals tally on the concluding day of the 29th National Masters Athletics Championship at Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium in Sarusajai Sports Complex, Gauwahati."
Read full article on http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080327/jsp/northeast/story_9061339.jsp

Manipur on top: Women football

"Manipur continued to rule the roost in women’s football in the country. By winning the 16th edition of the National Championship, annihilating Orissa 4-1 in the summit clash in Haldia, East Midnapore district, Bengal, Manipur ensured its 14th National title, the last 11 of them coming on the trot."
Read full news on http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/20080329503002200.htm

Govt OKs rubber plantation, development schemes

"The government approved schemes for rubber plantation in the country and for rubber development in the north-east worth 4.13 billion rupees during the eleventh five-year plan, it said in a statement."

Analysis: Violence up in India's northeast

By Kushal Jeena
"An Indian Interior Ministry status report on internal security acknowledged that despite a massive anti-insurgency offensive, there was a sharp increase in overall violence in the country's restive northeast in 2007 over the previous year."
Read full article on http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Emerging_Threats/Analysis/2008/03/27/analysis_violence_up_in_indias_northeast/2806/

Govt okays Rs. 535 cr Myanmar project to help North East

"The government on Thursday approved a Rs 535.91 crore multi-modal transit transport project in Myanmar, which India will use for improving access to the North-Eastern states."
Read full article on http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200803271551.htm

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Mizoram faces famine after plague of rats

By Biswajyoti Das
"About a million people in Mizoram are facing famine after a plague of rats ate the region's entire paddy crop, officials and aid agencies said on Monday."
Read full article on http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-32532420080317?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

River songs from Assam in pop avatar

"Indian folk music is changing rhythm to please the global village. Boatman’s songs and Bihu festival tunes from Assam are being reset to the beats of techno-pop and soft rock, courtesy the East India Company band. A folk-rock band from the northeastern state, it has taken the lead in changing the traditional sounds from the banks of the Brahmaputra to cater to an essentially young and uninitiated international audience."
Read full article on http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/river-songs-from-assam-in-pop-avatar_10030032.html

Death of Politics and Destiny of Manipur

By Angomcha Bimol Akoijam
"The brutal murder of the migrant workers speaks about the destiny of Manipur more than many would care to know. It is not a specific episode but something that marks the nature of our trajectory as a collective political being. It is high time for us to do some crucial soul searching."
Read full article on http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=kshow&kid=1140

'Outsiders' must be welcomed

By KPS Gill
"From time to time, a rage against 'outsiders' is whipped up in different parts of the country by extremist political groupings, who then resort to varying degrees of violence against hapless innocents, ordinarily among the poorest and most vulnerable segments of the population. In the most recent wave of such violence, in Manipur, a succession of three incidents against 'Hindi-speaking' outsiders between March 17 and 19, 2008, resulted in the killing of 15 'migrants'."
Read full article on http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?main_variable=Columnist&file_name=kpsgill%2Fkpsgill44.txt&writer=kpsgill

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Rodent havoc triggers food crisis in Mizoram

"Nearly 1,00,000 people are going hungry as a largely unreported crisis unfolds in Mizoram following bamboo flowering, a phenomenon that occurs in the northeast every 48 years, according to ActionAid, an international anti-poverty agency."
Read full article on http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/08/stories/2008030855071400.htm

Border Disputes in Northeast India: Failures of Imaginary

By: Bidhan S Laishram
"The people(s) of Northeast India have failed themselves: they are suffering from a twin inability to evolve a common imaginary and say 'we'. The consequences of this failure are the most significant cause of the turmoil in the region both in the conflicts within, and vis-?-vis the Indian state. Both sets of conflict are multi-layered and feed into each other."
Read full article on http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=kshow&kid=1132

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Massacre of journalism in India

By: Nava Thakuria
"NORTHEAST INDIA has turned in to a land of happenings. From insurgency to ethnic tension and economic activities to cultural discourses, it started drawing the attention of media worldwide. The alienated region of the country has suddenly woken up to an anniversary of a massacre that took place 25 years back in Assam. A senior Indian journalist released a book on the issue in the national capital recently and suddenly a group of reporters began to pile up their reporting space with the memory of the carnage. Many of them even did not bother to check the old information, while putting those in their fresh columns (as might be nobody bothers about Northeast)."
Read full article on http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=130768

The magic of North East to come alive in Har Pal

"Shah Rukh Khan starrer Koyla could not do the trick, and the crew of another blockbuster of the King Khan, Dil Se - did not turn up for shooting in the region, substituting a mock setting for Assam's Lumding railway station. But now there are speculations that Bollywood would discover a new destination in the rugged and picturesque terrains of the North East once Har Pal hits the silver screen sometime in April next year."
Read full article on http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=f069457f-9dec-405e-95e8-0315dce108b8&ParentID=286669a4-55fb-4c6d-bc48-deb0d82cf578&MatchID1=4662&TeamID1=5&TeamID2=2&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1173&PrimaryID=4662&Headline=The+magic+of+North+East+to+come+alive+in+EMHar+Pal%2fEM

Northeast is reservoir of talent but needs more respect: Jahnu Barua

By Shweta Thakur
"The northeast is a reservoir of talent but it hurts when people consider the region different from India, says noted Assamese filmmaker Jahnu Barua."
Read full article on http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13024&Itemid=88

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

All The King’s Men

By: Teresa Rehman, Agartala
"Tribals in Tripura have chosen a powerfully symbolic mode of protest against their historic dispossession by outsiders. In an assertion of their claims over the state’s land, over 700 tribal families from across Tripura have “occupied” what used to be the erstwhile royal family’s property."
Read full article on http://www.tehelka.com/story_main38.asp?filename=Ne080308all_the.asp

Discovering Shillong

"Scotland of the East. This is the way Shillong is known as due to its striking similarity with the Scottish highlands. After a humid and wet night in Guwahati, I decided to head for the Meghalaya capital to let my hair down."
Read full article on http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/The_Sunday_ET/Discovering_Shillong/articleshow/2808741.cms

PMO push to tender for Northeast air link

"The Prime Minister’s Office has asked the government to come out with a fresh tender to float an airline that will connect a host of airports in the Northeast."
Read full article on http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080225/jsp/northeast/story_8945016.jsp

Imphal Sewerage Project

"The inconveniences faced by the people, due to the ongoing Imphal Sewerage Project is likely to be aggravated as there is every likelihood that work on the project may be stalled from March 5 as the contractors concerned have taken strong exception against the failure of the Government to release their pending bills."
Read full article on http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=1..040308.mar08

Arunachal fast emerging as tourist hotspot

"Endowed with a unique natural and cultural heritage, Arunachal Pradesh is fast emerging as one of the most-preferred destinations in the North-east. Tourist arrivals – both domestic and foreign – in this remote Eastern Himalayan State have witnessed a manifold increase in the past couple of years."
Read full article on http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=mar0408/at09

Arunachal Pradesh integral part of India: Pranab

"India has "clearly" conveyed to China that Arunachal Pradesh is an "integral part" of the country, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha on Monday."
read full article on http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200803040323.htm

Monday, March 3, 2008

Rs 2082cr more for Northeast

"The northeastern region will have Rs 2,082 crore more than the last fiscal in this budget, a rise of about 14 per cent though indebted farmers in the region may not be celebrating."
Read full article on http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080301/jsp/northeast/story_8967574.jsp

$10m Aussie help to prevent AIDS

"An aid of Australian $10 million along with ideas drawn from Papua New Guinea and Vietnam is helping four northeastern states give thrust to prevention and “harm reduction” of HIV/AIDs."
Read full article on http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080303/jsp/northeast/story_8973565.jsp

Manipur tired of militancy, teachers and students call for halt

"Students and teachers in Manipur are tired of activities of militants in the State, which has affected the growth of education.The teachers say that different militant groups have been demanding money from educational authorities. These demands have resulted in shutdown of educational institutions. A five-kilometer long rally was taken out here last week by the All Manipur Recognized Private Schools’ Welfare Association and Manipur Educational Development Research Association."

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Hindi being popularised among Mizos

"Till a decade ago Mizos were not keen to learn Hindi, the national language, but with the passage of time, many are now drawn to learning it here. The Government of Mizoram has included Hindi in the school curriculum till standard seven and plans to include it till standard ten."
Read full article on http://www.dailyindia.com/show/214102.php/Hindi-being-popularised-among-Mizos

Nellie revisited: 25 years on

Nitin Gokhale /Senior Editor, Defence and Strategic Affairs
"On February 18, 2008, the Delhi Press Club was the venue for a small function organised by Hemendra Narayan, a veteran reporter, who works with The Statesman in New Delhi. The Occasion: Release of a monograph on one of independent India's darkest chapters: the massacre of over 3,000 people at Nellie in Assam. Exactly 25 years to date, Hemendra Narayan and a couple of other journalists - one from Assam Tribune and the other from ABC news - witnessed the cold blooded murder of migrant Muslims by a rampant mob."
Read full article on http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/showcolumns.aspx?id=COLEN20080042819

When Generals rebirth as Governors in Northeast India

By Nava Thakuria, Journalist/ News reporter
"If a chief minister in India is identified as the head of a state government and the governors are recognized as the constitutional heads of the states. The Indian Constitution has given most of the political power to the chief minister, but the governors are also empowered with some special power under various provisions of the constitution. While, a chief minister (with his council of ministers) of a State is directly accountable to its citizens, the governors are normally made accountable to the President of India only."
Read the full article on http://www.thecheers.org/article_2638_Expert-strategies-for-China-5-Overcoming-the-Challenges.html

Saturday, March 1, 2008

TCS launches initiative to harness talent from North East

"Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading IT services, business solutions and outsourcing organisation, announced that the company had taken a new major new initiative to harness and develop the intellectual capital available in the North East of the country."
Read full artcile on http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/pressmarket/tcs-launches-initiative-to-harness-talentnorth-east/17/15/328755

How to fix India's troubled north-east

An article by Kaushik Basu, Professor of Economics, Cornell University.
"Tucked away between China, Burma and Bangladesh, and linked to the rest of India by a sliver of north Bengal that arches over Bangladesh, India's north-east is a region of amazing grace - charming people, ancient cultures and bountiful nature. "
Read full article on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7232114.stm