A Corridor For Northeast’s Prosperity

A robust economic strategy and a tie-up with East Asia will make India a competitive alternative to China

By Akshay Mathur

In May this year, the Congress party won its third straight victory at the hustings in Assam. By itself, the event is liable to be dismissed as another victory in a far-away state. But this win has a different complexion: It is for the first time in three decades, that the Congress is presiding over the fate of Assam that is at peace.

This is a historic opportunity for the country to launch a bold peace-time initiative in the North-East that will provide an economic, diplomatic and security boost not just to India’s eastern flank, but to our global ambitions to be a relevant Asian player and a competitive regional alternative to the Chinese juggernaut.

What’s needed is a robust regional economic strategy coupled with new international trade relationships for the North-East that will provide a viable option to the limited trade and travel opportunities through the expensive “Chicken’s Neck” route to the rest of the country.

One such option could be a “Seven Sisters Corridor” modelled on the Rs4 trillion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), which is already dramatically changing the landscape of India’s western hinterland. In the North-East, a similar mega infrastructure project —requiring a basic investment of Rs11,000 crore (not including land and power)—will link the Seven Sister states of the region to each other and to multiple border points with contiguous neighbours such as Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan. Like DMIC, an exemplary foreign-policy initiative with Japan as a 50% partner with the Union government, the corridor could partner with Thailand, a country with which India is in the process of signing a free trade agreement (FTA), and whose government has expressed interest to partner with India. Major Thai companies such as Italian-Thai Development PCL and the CP Group have the necessary expertise to develop infrastructure and small-scale industries such as food processing. At $85 million, it is already one of the largest South-East Asian foreign direct investors in India, even topping China, and the potential is many times greater still.

The plan (see map) will provide high speed road, rail, and air connectivity, land for industrial regions and complementary housing needs, access to ports for trading goods, financing for start-up entrepreneurs, broadband and telecom access for businesses, and security to people.

To accomplish this, the North-East region must first be stabilized using the triumvirate of diplomacy, development and policing—a winning strategy that brought peace to Assam. While most of the insurgencies there are winding down, Manipur is still troubled. Repealing the despised Armed Forces Special Powers Act where the corridor would run, will help.

India must then use the diplomacy of mutual interest to draw its neighbours. There is already a base to build on. The Kaladan Multi- Modal Project connecting Sittwe Port (Myanmar) to Lawngtlai (Mizoram) is under way, and this has prompted Bangladesh to open its Chittagong, Ashuganj and Mongla ports to India. In India, integrated checkpoints are being developed at various border points, and the east-west highway from Porbander (Gujarat) to Silchar (Assam) is almost complete.

The corridor’s success will depend on thriving industrial activity developed around it—not just big private firms feeding off the region’s lucrative natural resource base, but small and medium value-added businesses. Food processing, for instance, remains untapped even though the region produces large quantities of rice, sugar, ginger, pineapple, potato, millet—products essential for food security. The corridor will enable building smaller food parks and processing units closer to tier II or III cities and to the farms—a boon to small entrepreneurs and marginal farmers, creating a base of skilled labour and business entrepreneurs. It will also harness the talent of the region’s literate, English-speaking youth who are migrating to other parts of India in droves, manning the front desks of the hospitality business across the country.

The corridor is the ideal place to productively direct the vast subsidies allocated to the region by the Centre and the states, few of which are successful. The Rs70,000 crore committed to the North-East by the 11th Plan will certainly get a better return if blended into the Seven Sisters Corridor budget rather than expecting piecemeal efforts to add up to a grand economic strategy. But banking on the government for financing is neither practical nor appropriate. The initiative needs stakeholders that can invest for the long term. This means private Indian business, and a reliable foreign country partner such as Thailand.

This is a good time for the Congress government to introduce this as its flagship initiative. A new corporate entity to manage the project must be created and the North-East Industrial Policy must be revised to support enterprises on the corridor. The Central Industrial Security Force, which provides security to airports and oil refineries, can also cover the corridor. Finally, the ministry of external affairs must make the corridor an integral part of the Look East Policy and prioritize the completion of the FTA with Thailand.

The Assam elections showed that the North-East is not only a robust participant in India’s democracy, but with imagination, it can play a role in leading an economic transformation from the east.

Akshay Mathur is the geoeconomics fellow at Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, Mumbai.

Graphic by Ahmed Raza Khan/Mint

Will you be here on 'doomsday'?

If you haven't heard about Bugarach, it is high time you do, because the day of judgment is nearing

A journey through the 'doomsday' village

Surrounded in legend for centuries, Bugarach has become a focal point for many Apocalypse believers as rumours have circulated that its mountain contains doors into other worlds, or that extraterrestrials will return here on Judgment day on 12 December 2012 to take refuge at their base. Residents of the tiny southern French hamlet with a population of only 194, are witness to a rising influx of Doomsday believers convinced it is the only place that will survive Judgment day. Click on to journey through this idyllic 'doomsday' village.

The village and Peak of Bugarach, the highest point of the Corbieres massif, in southwestern France.

The Peak of Bugarach is also called the upside down mountain because its top layers are older than the ones at the bottom owing to the uplift of the Pyrenees.

In the lap of nature! Buildings nestled amidst the lush green locales of the village of Bugarach.

A women examines an esoteric sign engraved on a rock near the summit of the Peak of Bugarach.

The verdant greens of the village of Bugarach, viewed from the Peak.

A milestone indicating Bugarach. Come 12 December 2012, thousands of doomsday believers are expected to throng here.

A church stands tall amongst an array of buildings at Bugarach.

The pebbled walls of an edifice at 'doomsday' village.

A closer look at the Peak of Bugarach.

The Peak of Bugarach stands tall amidst idyllic surroundings.

A house displays a 'For Sale' sign on a street in the village.

The central square in the village of Bugarach.

Jean-Pierre Delord, mayor of the village of Bugarach, poses in front of the peak. The mayor is believed to have threatened to call the army to contain the milling crowds on doomsday.

Source: India Syndicate
Image credits: Reuters

Chinese Government Officials Star in World's Worst Photoshopped Picture

Chinese local government officials appear to float above the tarmac. Picture: Huili County Government

• Road inspection pic goes viral
• Bad editing has officials levitating
• Inspectors now stars of the internet

It is the picture that has the web talking about the wonders of tarmac inspection in south west China - for all the wrong reasons.

Huili County Government has become a joke after posting on its website what may be the worst faked picture in history.

The picture shows three local officials inspecting a newly completed highway in China's Sichuan province but the men appear to hovering several centimetres above the tarmac.

What's astonishing about the poor display of picture editing is that it happened at all. Other photos show the men did visit the road and on the same day. And yes, the road was even completed. But for some unknown reason the photographer decided to ditch the original photos and go for a doctored picture instead.

Other pictures show the men did inspect the highway but for some reason the photographer didn't like this shot. Picture: Supplied

Huili County Government was ridiculed soon after the picture went up on Monday. The authority took down the picture and immediately apologised, a rare thing in China.

"A government employee posted the edited picture out of error . . . The county government understands the wide attention, and hope to apologise for and clarify the matter," a Huili official told the state-run Xinhua news agency.

The picture has gone viral and inspired countless parodies, including showing the men on the moon, at the final of 2006 soccer World Cup and surrounded by dinosaurs.

It didn't take long before the parodies started appearing. Here, the officials survey Jurassic era highways. Picture: Supplied

Don't think much of the tarmac here? The officials even made an appearance on the Moon. Picture: Supplied

Celebrity Chef Film Bombs, Taking Just $181

Gordon Ramsay celebrity chef film, Love's Kitchen, bombs - taking just $181

Gordon Ramsay's film had "one of the worst performances ever" in its opening weekend. Picture: Alex Coppel

• Just 20 people saw it, says box office analyst
• Film took just £121 ($181) in Australia

At some point, somebody involved with the romantic comedy Love's Kitchen must have thought that it was a recipe for success, but box office figures out yesterday told a very different story.

The UK film, starring Dougray Scott (who previously appeared in Desperate Housewives as Teri Hatcher's love interest), Four Weddings and a Funeral actor Simon Callow and Gordon Ramsay (as himself), had indeed achieved one of the most remarkable opening weekends in cinema history, though not quite in the sense that the producers were hoping for.

Love's Kitchen grossed precisely £121 ($181) nationwide, The (London) Times reported.

The entire UK takings would cover the cost for one person of the cheapest available dinner with two small glasses of house wine, coffee and chocolates at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, the Michelin-starred chef's eatery in Royal Hospital Road, West London.

The record UK box office taking for an opening weekend belongs to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, which grossed £18.32 million $27.4 million) last November.

Love's Kitchen, by contrast, appears to have been seen by more reviewers than paying punters. You would hope that they enjoyed writer and director James Hacking's debut film more than the critics.

Wendy Ide, of the Times, awarded it no stars, describing it as "cack-handed, cloth-eared" and featuring "exchanges so painful to watch that you would be better off rubbing Scotch bonnet peppers in your eyes."

Charles Gant, a box office analyst, said that the film's opening weekend was "one of the worst performances ever" in the UK. "My guess would be 20 people saw this film," he said.

Mizo Parents Negligent?

Aizawl, Jul 4 : A large number of today's youths in Mizoram have a tendency not to study or work and expect parents to meet all their expenses, a study conducted by an NGO has revealed.

The study conducted by Aizawl-based New Life Charity Society (NELICS) has found a disturbing trend among Mizo youths not to pursue studies to build their careers and waste away time by taking drugs or just sitting at the computer.

The youth have no sense of responsibility towards their parents, nor do they have any sense of values, the survey conducted among 3,000 families has revealed.

''In some cases, the youths force their parents to pay for their expenses, demonstrating a severe of erosion of values,'' Zawmsanga Sailo, secretary of the NELICS, said.

The survey finds out that 15% of the youths are school dropouts and 12% refused to work to pay for their own expenses.

''More than 17% of the Mizo youths ask and receive all their needs from the parents and 4% use violence and threats against their parents to get what they want while 7% do not show any obedience,'' Sailo said.

The survey also finds that 11% never show any respect to their parents while 6% refuse to work. Sailo said 6% of Mizo youths, based in Aizawl, sleep during daytime and stay up the whole night. Findings also state that 9% take drugs and other intoxicants and 13% are regarded by their parents as 'useless' and 'completely undependable'.

The survey reveals that at least 14% of the parents discourage their sons and daughters to take up jobs or do anything worthwhile to fend for themselves. Still more shocking is that 20% parents among the 3,000 interviewed accepted that they pampered their children to the extent not to expect anything worthwhile from them.

Another intriguing fact is that 11% of them accept responsibity for their children becoming deviant or laggards. It is often found that fathers refuse to discipline their children even while knowing that they were going astray, leaving the job entirely to mothers.

''Today's Mizo fathers perhaps seem to follow the adage 'spare the rod and spoil the child' which should be discouraged,'' Sailo felt.

The survey report blames the state-of-affairs on the parent's overall negligent attitude. Many parents express the wish that they had started all over again from the beginning to reverse the trend.

''Today's Mizo fathers perhaps seem to follow the adage 'spare the rod and spoil the child' which should be discouraged.''

High On A Dream To Rock The Nation

- Manipuri heavy metal band Sandrembee releases first album

By KHELEN THOKCHOM

Members of Sandrembee perform at the album launch.

Imphal, Jul 4 : They are young and still pursuing higher studies in different cities of the country. However, this does not stop them from going ahead with their dream project “to rock the nation” with extreme metal tracks.

Sandrembee, an Imphal-based metal band, released its first audio album, Miscalculation and Cosmic Catastrophe, which has seven extreme metal tracks and an equal number of alternative rock tracts, here last evening as the first step to what they call rocking the nation.

“This is the first step to taking a big leap in Indian rock music. We will be seen competing in the western music competition of Nagaland’s Hornbill festival and touring outside,” Eroz Laishram, the vocalist, said after an electric performance by the band members, who don Korean-style haircuts, at the album launch function.

Eroz said the band was not just a group of heavy metal freaks. Its aim was to highlight the socio-political issues confronting Manipur through music before audiences outside the state.

For instance, one of the songs, Gangraped, describes how girls from the Northeast are raped and molested in big cities like Delhi. Revolt, another extreme metal number, is a voice against culture of violence in Manipur.

Producing the album was not a mean achievement as the band members managed writing, composing and practising over the Internet as they did not have enough time to sit down together.

“We sent the composed songs to our band members through the net. We also sent the vocal tunes and instruments over the net by converting them to MP3. We could not find enough time as we are pursuing our studies,” Eroz said.

The 23-year-old lead singer, after getting a degree in biotechnology, is now in his first year of masters in international business in Bangalore. Bass guitarist Themis Thoudam got a master’s degree in biotechnology from Chennai and is preparing to do a PhD either in India or abroad.

Drummer Richardson Maibam is pursuing an engineering course in Chennai, lead guitarist Chingkhei Nameirakpam, is doing his BSc through correspondence while staying here.

Their dream of forming a band found roots when they were students of Class XII at Manipur Public School in Imphal city. They gathered, sang and enjoyed. Then in 2007, they formed the band, Sandrembee — the name of a very popular woman character in a Manipuri folk tale — and performed on stage for the first time in Imphal in 2009.

“We wanted to do something that could be left behind for our future generation. This is the whole idea behind forming the band,” the vocalist said.

Miscalculation and Cosmic Catastrophe has tracks of extreme metal songs, based on the present situation in Manipur, on one side and the other side has songs related to human emotion.

“We have big dreams. But all these will depend upon how much time we can take off from our studies,” Eroz said.

Given the commitment and determination of the boys and the applause they won yesterday evening, Sandrembee will surely rock with its music one day.

'I Am Learning A Lot From Seniors': Lalrindika

Lalrindika Ralte is at the acme of his career and has made his presence felt in the recently concluded I-Legaue as well as in the Pre-Olympic qualifiers against Qatar.

The Mizo lad who earned a place in the Senior National Camp for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against UAE has already won many hearts and impressed everyone with his talent.

“This is my first Senior National Camp and I am pretty excited. The seniors are guiding us very well and I’m learning a lot from them,’’ said Lalrindika.

“The state of football in Mizoram is very good now. There are lots of initiatives being taken to promote the game there. It’s the most liked sport and people take a great interest in playing as well as following it,’’ said Lalrindika throwing some light on the current situation of football in Mizoram.

Meanwhile, Sabeeth CS who plays for Viva Kerela in the I-League said, “I consider myself lucky to train with such talented players. This is my second stint with Senior National Team having played earlier in the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers in Malaysia."

India takes on UAE on July 23 (away-match) and July 28 (home-match) for the World Cup Qualifiers.

Myanmar Pigs Banned in Manipur

Imphal, Jul 1 : Following the outbreak of a fatal livestock disease in Myanmar, the import of pigs and pork from the neighboring country to Manipur has been banned. Although there is a huge demand for pigs imported from the neighbouring country, the import ban has not immediately hiked the price of pork in the state capital.

Manipur shares an over 350 km-long border with Myanmar and the construction a 10-km fence is underway at Moreh town in Chandel district of the state.

An outbreak of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) or the 'blue-ear disease' was reported in Myanmar's Naypyidaw district in early April this year, according to the neighbouring country's animal husbandry and veterinary department. In early June, it was reported to have spread to cattle and other domesticated animals, including cats and dogs.

Official sources said the WHO informed the Centre about the outbreak of PRRS in Myanmar after it was confirmed by the Office of International Epizooties, Italy. Following the instructions of the central authorities to all northeastern states, Manipur's veterinary and animal husbandry department imposed a ban on the import of pigs and pork from the neighboring country through the border town of Moreh and other 'unofficial' connecting routes through Ukhrul and Churachandpur districts.

Security agencies have also been asked to check the flow of Myanmarese livestock into the northeast states.

Sources said the state animal husbandry and veterinary department has been doing its best for the last few weeks to prevent the livestock disease from spreading to Manipur.

Pigs infected by PRSS suddenly lose appetite and, in some cases, pregnant pigs suffer miscarriages, the sources said. The disease was first reported in the US way back in 1987 and was then known as the 'mystery reproductive syndrome' or the 'mystery swine disease'.

Notwithstanding the outbreak of the disease, there have been no reports of the disease affecting the livestock in Manipur or of it spreading to human beings.