Bid to Boost Northeast Bhutan Trade Ties

Guwahati, Mar 22 : With a bid to improving trade and tourism ties between the North Eastern region and Bhutan, the NEDFi is organizing a Bhutan trade show, followed by interactive sessions both in Guwahati and Shillong from March 23. A delegation from Bhutan led by Chen Chen Dorji, vice president of the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry is arriving in the State to take part in the programs.

Welcoming the move of the NEDFi, Assam Industries and Commerce Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said that the programs would help immensely in boosting trade ties between the region and Bhutan.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, Bordoloi said that boosting of trade ties would be beneficial for both NE and Bhutan. He said that the investors from Bhutan would be able to take the benefits of the North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy, 2007 by setting up joint venture units in the region, particularly in Assam.

The Minister said that Bhutan has excess power and at present, the power is supplied to the Eastern grid. Talks are on to ensure that the region gets a share of the power, which will go a long way in improving the power scenario in the region. He further said that talks are on to introduce air connectivity between Guwahati and Thimphu. He said that he would meet the Bhutan delegation on March 24 to have a detailed discussion with them.

Bordoloi further said that economic cooperation with the neighboring countries including Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal can be immensely beneficial for the economic growth of the NE region and a delegation from the region recently had a very fruitful discussion with the Government of Bangladesh and the trade bodies in Dhaka.

Meanwhile, giving details of the schedule of the visit of the Bhutan delegation, NEDFi sources said that the programme would start with a Bhutan show in the NEDFi haat in the morning of March 23 where the products of Bhutan would be showcased. That would be followed by an interactive session where the local entrepreneurs and Government representatives have been invited.

The Bhutan delegation would also visit Shillong where the thrust would be on tourism.

NEDFi sources said that the investors of Bhutan can set up food processing units in joint venture in Assam, which would not only attract investments to the State but would also generate employment. Sources pointed out that at present, different items including coke, building materials, food grains, spices etc are sent to Bhutan from Assam and there have been instances of illegal trade. If the trade ties are formalized, both India and Bhutan would benefit from the same, sources pointed out.

via The Assam Tribune

Infrastructure Needed to Attract British Investors in Northeast

By Prabal Kr Das

Guwahati, Mar 22 : British corporate’s with strong overseas presence could be keen to start operations in Assam and parts of the Northeast, but not before infrastructure in the region and connectivity to the rest of the world improves substantially.

This was the view of British Deputy High Commissioner (Eastern India), Sanjay Wadvani, following a tour of Arunachal Pradesh yesterday. “Companies would be keen to invest, but only when there exists a definite competitive advantage,” he remarked.

He believed it was because of obvious locational advantages and good connectivity that British companies were running major operations in West, South and North India.

Education, tourism, waterways, renewable, and carbon trading are some areas where British companies have excellent credentials, and it is in these sectors that investments might occur either singly or through collaborative ventures in Assam.

He identified education and tourism as two potentially investment friendly areas for British companies, which already possess extensive experience of working in foreign countries.

“Institutional greening’, a relatively new, but fast emerging area of business, could be another area where British companies could enter the region, as there is a market to be tapped. Indian companies could be partners to work in the area, which was gaining more attention in the backdrop of global warming and climate change.

The senior diplomat, who in the recent past played a key role in taking British investors to parts of China, said that Assam could be a good choice for companies willing to invest in India, but local entrepreneurs and the Government have well defined roles to play. “You simply cannot afford to wait for others to show an interest, a proactive approach is essential to ensure that strengths of a region are identified and exposed to investors abroad,” he noted.

On security concerns regarding Assam, Wadvani discounted apprehensions, and said that the UK Government’s perception was that it was a safe place to travel to. The travel advisory issued from time to time does not describe it as unsafe destination, he added.

Asked to comment on the issue of mega dams being built on Arunachal Pradesh and its possible environmental impact, the Deputy High Commissioner was circumspect.

The Northeast with rest of India need energy, and the dams would provide just that, but it is important that the issue of sustainability is not ignored. Sustainability issues are at the core of some UK policies, he mentioned.

Favoring long term engagements with Governments and entrepreneurs from the Northeast, he assured necessary support to those willing to build and expand business ties with UK.

Fake Currency Smugglers Spread Their Wings in Northeast and AP

New Delhi, Mar 22 : West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have become more sensitive for security agencies in the last six months than states along the Indo-Pak border with intelligence agencies nabbing a larger number of couriers with fake Indian currency notes (FICN) and drug parcels in these states than the traditionally preferred J&K, Punjab and Rajasthan corridor.

States like West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, UP, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Chhattisgarh now account for the most number of arrests.

Seizures are generally considered a very small fraction of the actual smuggling, accounting for less than 10%. According to figures compiled by the government, West Bengal couriers were caught with over Rs 60 lakh, the highest FICN seizure among all states between July and December 2009.

Andhra Pradesh stood second with seizure of Rs 50 lakh. The other substantial FICN seizure was made in Punjab (Rs 49 lakh), Maharashtra (Rs 33 lakh), UP (Rs 32 lakh), TN (Rs 25 lakh), Assam (Rs 20 lakh), Gujarat (Rs 12 lakh) and Chhattisgarh (Rs 9 lakh).

Intelligence agencies have often found these couriers carrying arms and explosives such as high-grade RDX along with FICN consignments at the behest of terror masterminds in Pakistan. The couriers also act as feeder to various terror sleeper cells in the country as revealed during investigations in many of these cases.

A high-level committee headed by the home secretary and comprising officials of central agencies and police officials constantly monitor these issues and draw strategies to counter the rising menace. Similar monitoring bodies have also been set up in states comprising of police and intelligence officials.

Petrapole on the Indo-Bangladesh border is considered the most active for smuggling of contraband and other jihadi activities. A heightened surveillance is mounted at these places by security agencies.

The seizure revealed all the notes were of fine quality using the same inks that were used in RBI currency notes. In all the cases, the seized notes were of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations.

Drug consignments, mainly heroin of Afghanistan-make, is smuggled into India while many Indian pharmaceutical preparations are smuggled out of the country to Bangladesh and Myanmar.

An Insulated Domain

‘Most tribal societies are very possessive about their cultures and wish to project the best to the world’

By Patricia Mukhim

After Kerala, Mizoram is the state with the highest literacy rate. Surprisingly, the state does not have any English daily newspaper. Earlier there was a sort of broadsheet called Newslink, which has now gone kaput. The reason they say was lack of readership.

Mizoram is a fairly homogenous society where people speak the same language. With due respect to the Mizos, there are observers who term them as insular. Mizos can easily exclude outsiders out of their conversation without batting an eyelid. Those of us who have lived in boarding schools and grown up with Mizo friends would know what I am talking about. Love for one’s language and culture is never a discredit. But an inordinate obsession for that culture to the exclusion of others may not be such a good idea in a world whose borders are shrinking. Moreover, a healthy exchange of ideas is the only way to progress.

While the Mizos may not feel any great loss about the absence of a newspaper in the English language because they can all read the local language newspapers, it is the rest of the world that wants to understand Mizoram, to know what Mizos think, to understand their world view and to learn something about their cultural moorings.

Closed culture

A study of people and societies has always engaged sociologists and anthropologists across the universe. But from what one has been able to gather, very little has been written about the Mizos by non-Mizos. We might say this is good but such writings cannot be as objective as when our histories and cultures are written about by people outside of our societies. A glance at the national and regional newspapers is enough to tell us that not much goes out of Mizoram for others to read.

While news agencies like PTI and UNI do have correspondents in Mizoram, they report on politics and other news stories. But this is not how a society interfaces with others. Every society produces writers who interpret the society to others and to themselves. Granted that most tribal societies are very possessive about their cultures and wish to project the best to the world, the truth is that only those societies with the courage for self-introspection can progress on a positive trajectory. The more we insulate ourselves from others the more likely we are to develop institutions that are oppressive and regressive.

Let us look at the Young Mizo Association (YMA) which is viewed by every Mizo as the hallmark of everything good and noble because of the social responsibilities that the organisation takes upon itself. But does any Mizo dare to critique the YMA? I am afraid not. So we have a sort of oligarchy here too as we have in other tribal societies.

If the Nagas, Khasis and Garos have traditional institutions that are exclusive and parochial, for the Mizos, the YMA represents that exclusivity and parochialism. Is the average Mizo happy about the way their society is regulated? Maybe, some are, but many aren’t. The question is whether those who are unhappy with the way in which their personal lives are regulated by social diktats can voice their dissent without consequences. At this point it is difficult even for educated Mizos not to tread the path chalked out by such social institutions.

Coming to the media and how Mizos interface among themselves, one learnt from conversation with Mizo friends that the electronic media is very vibrant in Mizoram. Television audiences send text messages and regular feedback to the respective news channels. They lambast the government and point out acts of corruption happening in districts, blocks and villages. This informs us that Mizo society is actively engaged in the modern political and democratic processes and they understand the power of the media.

Women’s rights

But what about the social sanctions? What is the position of a Mizo woman? In the light of the 33 per cent reservation of seats for women in state Assembles and Parliament, how prepared is the Mizo woman to come out and claim her rights? It is not easy for women who have grown up in the lap of patriarchy to suddenly leave those moorings behind and take to politics like a fish takes to water. However, that will eventually have to happen. The point is whether Mizo women want political empowerment. The reason one poses this question is because one hears so little about what Mizo women think. But why only Mizo women? It is difficult to get anyone from Mizoram to speak at seminars and workshops outside their own state. It would be safe to assume therefore that there is also a certain amount of academic insularity apart from social and political padding.

Mizo women are enterprising business promoters. In some parts of Shillong they run roaring businesses selling stuff that come across the Myanmar border. They bring most of the products all the way from Mizoram. This requires no mean skill, plus grit and sweat. If they can do all that, what makes us think they will not venture into politics? The point is they need to make a start somewhere. They need to grab the moment. Mizo women need to start now.

There are many attributes that Mizo society can be proud of. Of all the tribes they are the most hardworking people. They have come out on top in most careers. There are some outstanding scholars and academicians who can hold their own in any national or international gathering. Mizo society has produced a number of civil servants both from the administrative and allied services. There are no dearth of doctors, engineers and IT professionals. In terms of commerce, the Mizos show good transactional skills. Recently, Mizoram got into the Guinness World Records for their cheraw dance where 10,376 dancers performed with such joy and pride.

Restricted life

Yet there is something very restrictive and regulatory about life in Mizoram. The church has an almost claustrophobic hold over people’s lives. Drug addiction and alcoholism in a state declared officially dry and highly religious are ambivalence that is difficult to reconcile. Not that drug addiction is endemic to Mizoram. It is a problem that besets all of the Northeast. But while other societies attribute drug addiction to the unresolved traumas of adolescence, the Mizos are ruthless in dealing with drug addicts. The society is almost unforgiving with them. Drug addiction is seen through the prism of a moral paradigm only when actually it is an illness that afflicts the psyche. It requires sensitive handling, not societal reprimands.

There are vigilante groups in Mizoram which have taken it upon themselves to be moral policemen. Such action is undemocratic. Mizos do not generally welcome anything written about their societal aberrations in a language that others can understand. They believe in internal regulations and external cocooning. An English language media would pry into societal affairs, which would reach out to a larger audience. Already there are enterprising young Mizos engaged in media and communications work based in the national capital. They want to penetrate the bamboo curtain in their home state. Will they succeed?

This is a million-dollar question. But the Mizo people have to learn to reach out and to appreciate that progress comes when cultures intermingle. Nothing about human behavior is pristine. And culture is nothing but learned human behavior over a period of history.

This little known state needs to be known and studied by its neighbors and by the world.

(The writer can be contacted at patricia17@rediffmail.com)

BSNL 3G Reaches Manipur

Imphal, Mar 22 : Called a “Jewel of India”, Manipur lies in the shadow of hills. Manipuri dance is world famous and also its handicrafts. The important tourist centre in the state is Imphal, the capital and centre of all commercial and cultural activities here today.

BSNL launched the third generation (3G) mobile telecommunication service and soon the service will be available in other parts of the State such as Thoubal, Churachandpur and Senapati districts and so on.

Chief general manager of BSNL North East II Circle Ranjan Sanyal was present at inauguration function and stated that the 3G phone and access to the 3G network allows video calls, watch live TV, access the high speed internet, receive emails .

The BSNL prepaid customers in Manipur can shift to 3G services by paying subscription charges of Rs. 179. The postpaid customers of 2G can migrate to 3G service platform by submitting application for new services.

The 3G service is having much more to offer like download music tracks, making usual voice and video messaging services on a mobile phone, like person to person video, live streaming, downloadable video of entertainment, news, current affairs and sports content

BSNL 3G services in Imphal city covers the following areas currently Lamphel Exchange, Tera Bazar, orompat, Lamlong Bazar, Chingmeirong, Koirengei, Thangmeiband, Langjing, Kwakeithel, Singjamei Bazar, Manipur University, Kongba Bazar, etc.

Assam Plans For a Kaziranga-Manas Tourist Circuit

Guwahati, Mar 22 : In order to woo more tourists, Assam government plans to create a tourist circuit comprising Kaziranga National Park and Manas Tiger Reserve at a cost of Rs 50 crore.

The Centre has agreed to the proposal for the creation of the tourist circuit, officials said here.

At present tourists find it difficult to include the Kaziranga forest and the Manas tiger reserve in their itinerary as the distance between the two is an energy-sapping 350 kms. They can, at best, visit only one spot at a time.

Now, officials said, with the creation of the tourist circuit, tourists would be provided with food and lodging along the way as well as easy transportation facilities.

Another spot being groomed for tourists is the picturesque hill station of Haflong in the North Cachar hills district. The project envisages development of eco-adventure tourism destinations along with a helipad..

Homemade Amphibious Bike

Homemade amphibious bike made from water bottles by Li Jin from China.

Eight giant water bottles serve as pontoons and the back wheel fitted with paddles propels the bicycle forward.

Delhi As The Street Kids See It

In New Delhi, Nigel Richardson joins an ex-runaway for a unique look at the life of the city’s homeless children.

By Nigel Richardson

Hundreds of homeless children eke a living around New Delhi's station Photo: ALAMY

Salaam Baalak has more than 100 full-time staff and looks after some 5,000 children a year through its shelters, contact points and mobile classrooms Photo: NIGEL RICHARDSON

The trust also offers offers daily tours of the area Photo: NIGEL RICHARDSON

In 1999, a homeless 11-year-old boy with a glue-sniffing habit jumped off a train that was pulling into New Delhi railway station and vanished into the surrounding shadow-world of the desperate and destitute. Ten years later that kid stands before me on one of the station platforms in the heart of India's capital. His name is Brijesh Pandey and he radiates charm and self-confidence.

"I changed myself," he declares in perfect English. "I don't know how, but I did it." His modesty belies the spirit that enabled him to overcome the beatings, imprisonment, solvent addiction and ill-health that are so often the lot of children living on the streets of India's cities. But he didn't come through alone. Brijesh is testament to the life-saving work done by the Salaam Baalak Trust, a charity for which he now works as a tour guide.

Salaam Baalak (literally, Greetings Street Child) offers daily tours of the area of New Delhi station, where hundreds of homeless children eke a living just as Brijesh once did. Most are runaways from the countryside fleeing abuse and exploitation. The guides have a unique insight into their predicament because they are themselves former street children.

New Delhi station abuts the tourist neighbourhood of Paharganj, with its cheap hotels and teeming Main Bazaar. Many tourists instinctively shy away from the poverty they find on these chaotic streets. The Salaam Baalak tours are a corrective to that instinct, a revelation of the human face behind the deprivation.

The trust was set up in 1989 with 25 children in its care and a staff of three. Now it has more than 100 full-time staff and looks after some 5,000 children a year through its shelters, contact points and mobile classrooms.

"Can you guess why the kids run away from home?" asks Brijesh as we walk along a disused platform of the station. "They are the kids of parents who abuse them – emotionally, physically, sometimes sexually. I was a street child myself, suffering the same hardships as the children you will see today."

Running parallel with the station platform is a siding where some old maroon-coloured rolling stock has reached its final resting place. Two five year-olds are washing in the water from a broken standpipe next to the tracks, their meagre bodies dwarfed by the carriage wheels. On the platform, lounged on a patch of sacking, a group of barefoot children of about seven are playing with a puppy held on a string.

"Namaste, Namaste!" yell the kids as we walk by.

"They have been living, all the family, on the street," Brijesh says. "Their parents are drug addicts. They don't have any idea how to live in a house. They don't work; they send the kids out to sell garlands and balloons." He jokes with the kids and their faces light up. "It is hard for them to trust," he says quietly. "They have been neglected by the society."

Brijesh's life story has an epic Dickensian sweep for one so young. He was born in Bihar, India's poorest and most lawless state, and at the age of six was farmed out to his aunt and uncle, who promised to educate him. "But my aunt didn't send me to school," he says. "I had to do all the housework. Sometimes my uncle beat me. That's why I ran away." He was eight years old.

Brijesh jumped on a train heading west and hid in the lavatory.

"Within one month I was behaving like a street boy. I learnt how to sniff glue, smoke cigarettes – these things that can help us escape from the present. I used bad words to the police and they beat me," he recalls.

When he arrived in Delhi, via the industrial city of Kanpur, he slept in the narrow roof space above the station platforms and he and his fellow waifs took showers in the "washing lines", the siding where carriages and locomotives are hosed clean.

Then at the age of 13 he started attending a contact point set up by the Salaam Baalak Trust and by degrees he was persuaded of the benefits of schooling. It seems a near miracle that the young man who stands before me, in pressed striped shirt, clean jeans and grey Crocs, was the semi-feral urchin whose tribulations he has been describing.

For the most part, Brijesh tells his story impassively. Just once he becomes emotional, when he recalls how his aunt used to treat him. "She used to use the words 'You are totally useless'," he says, and is momentarily choked up. Then he recovers and speaks with pride. "I started crying. I spent five years on the street and I did nothing for a good cause. Then I decided to show my aunt that she was wrong."

Essentials

Salaam Baalak Trust's guided city walks take place Monday to Saturday from 10am and last about two hours. To book your place, telephone 0091 99 1009 9348 or email salaamwalk@yahoo.com The fee is 200 rupees (£2.90). For more information on the trust, including details of how to offer help and make donations, see salaambaalaktrust.

via the Telegraph UK