'Being Assamese, I Was Asked For My Passport'

By Devidas Deshpande

Director Jahnu Barua -- who made the award-winning 2005 film Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara -- gets candid during an award ceremony in Pune. Devidas Deshpande reports.

Pune, Dec 4 : Even as he received an award in the name of his "Dronacharya-like guru" in Pune, acclaimed Assamese filmmaker Jahnu Barua revealed how he was once asked for his passport in Rajasthan.

"I have been through many such instances. People mistake us (Indians from the north-east) as foreigners and they can't be blamed totally. We also have to blame ourselves," he said, citing an incident in Udaipur, Rajasthan, when he was asked to present his passport at a five-star hotel.

"When I checked in, the receptionist asked me to present my passport. When I told her I was from Assam, she bluntly replied, 'I understand Sir, but we have a policy of asking passports from foreigners.'"

"The issue was not resolved even when I advised her to see the map of India. Later, it was resolved with the intervention of her boss," he said.

Barua received the first-ever award instituted by the Pune-based non-governmental organisation, Sarhad, on Sunday.

The award ceremony was held against the background of the brief exodus of Assamese and other north-easterners from Pune just three months ago.

"During the late 1970s," Barua said, "I did all the work for my production company. The owner of the studio -- where I gave my movie reels to develop -- thought I was a Nepalese working in my company. I did not try and remove his impression and built a good relationship with him since he was a good-hearted fellow."

"He got to know my real identity five years later through a newsreel playing in a movie theatre when I received the National Award. Had I reprimanded him for thinking me a foreigner, we could not have built a relationship," he recalled.

Recounting his meetings with the late maestro Bhupen Hazarika, Barua said even though he met Hazarika just 10, 12 times, he had a close relationship with the composer and was a 'guru' in a way for him.

"He (Hazarika) told me that 'If you are scared, you are not a creative person'," Barua said.
Describing Maharashtra as his second home, the Mumbai-based Barua recounted some humourous anecdotes from his early days at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune.

"I spent three years in Pune -- they were the best years of my life," he said, narrating how he spent three nights in a garden in the city. Many years later, he showed the bench where he had slept during those nights to his wife.

Photograph: Jahnu Barua receives the award from former Assam chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta (partly seen).

Study Underway on Climate Change in Northeast

Agartala, Dec 4 : The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), an autonomous body under the union ministry of environment and forests, has undertaken a study to assess the impact of climate change in the northeastern region, a top official said here Monday.

"Like other parts of the world, there must be a climate change affect in the mountainous northeastern region. Rising population, developmental works and illegitimate activities are putting pressure on environment and forests," ICFRE director general V.K. Bahuguna told reporters.

The crucial climate change study, which began recently, will help the authority to take apt action to protect the forest and environment of the northeast, the official said.

He said: "Besides the climate change study, the ICFRE has also taken a series of steps to sustain the livelihood of forest dwellers, focusing on forest-based income generation, promotion of non-timber forestry products, and development of cultivation techniques and value addition for forest produce."

The ICFRE, an apex body in the national forestry research system, has been undertaking holistic development of forestry research through need-based planning, and coordinated research and education.

The council has eight regional research institutes and four research centres in different bio-geographical regions of the country to cater to forestry research needs of the country.

The ICFRE's northeast regional office in Assam's Jorhat district looks after the entire region; there are also two other centres recently set up in Tripura capital Agartala and Mizoram capital Aizawl.

Bahuguna, also the Chancellor of the Dehradun-based Forest Research Institute University, said that to quantify the socio-economic impact and living standards of those beneficiaries who received land under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, there was need to conduct impact assessment exercises and disseminate success stories in other parts of the country.

ICFRE is also planning to restore bamboo resources in Tripura, promoting the most preferred bamboo species of the state.

"The centre is committed to extending technical support to bamboo growers at every stage, from nursery to plantation management," the ICFRE director general said.

He said the bamboo treatment techniques patented by ICFRE would also be transferred to users, to save time and money spent every year in the maintenance of their structure, besides conservation of bamboo resources by minimising consumption.

The latest report of the Forest Survey of India (FSI) holds that the percentage of forest cover of the total geographical area of the eight northeastern states -- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura -- is 66.07 percent.

Why Mobile Map Apps Are Actually Getting Worse

It's the one part of your phone that might not be getting better. Why every major mobile company is re-creating reality from scratch. posted about 4 days ago

By John Herrman

Source: theamazingios6maps

For a few wonderful years, the mobile mapping landscape sat on an easy-to-navigate pangea. Google Maps was the default location app on the iPhone and Palm OS, and an easy-to-download app on Windows Mobile and BlackBerry OS. The Android version was typically a bit better than the others, but its underlying data set was the same. It was solid, predictable and consistent. It was good enough to trust, no matter the platform.

Consider the new geography: Windows Phone uses Bing Maps, while iOS uses Apple Maps. Palm OS sank into the ocean, and BlackBerry isn't far behind. Now Amazon, which released its first tablet late last year, has struck out on its own, giving Kindle developers access to yet another mapping service alternative to Google Maps, based on Nokia's Navteq data. (Microsoft licenses some of this same data; Apple licenses from TomTom; Google has its own.)

Here's Amazon's pitch, if you could call it that:

The Amazon Maps API provides mapping functionality for Android apps on most Kindle Fire tablets. If your app uses Google Maps, which is not available on Amazon devices, you can migrate your app to the Amazon Maps API. The Maps API offers interface parity with Google Maps.

While Amazon's announcement contains lots of information about how developers can use Amazon's maps, it doesn't explain why they should. The main reason appears to be, "because we say so."
The continents have drifted apart. The only major platform that uses Google Maps as its default mapping service is Android — and only Google-approved versions of Android. The Kindle Fire is based on Android, and shares much of its code, but presumably Google demanded a licensing fee to include maps.

Viewed separately, each of these moves makes sense: Apple is in direct competition with Google, Amazon is trying to establish its own platform, and Microsoft is doing all it can to position Windows Phone as a truly different alternative to Android and iOS. For a time, companies were dropping Google Maps due to high licensing fees, but Google has since slashed them dramatically.
But taken together, they're a perfect representation of what's happening in mobile right now. Terrified by competition, motivated by real, consequential patent threats, and hungry for the personal data — and ad dollars — that location-based services are so good at extracting from their users, every major-platform company is scrambling to disassociate with its former partners and re-create what they once could just buy or borrow. The fear is so deep and the competition so fierce — or at least, the anticipation of competition so acute — that these companies are constructing literal alternate realities: different representations of where things are on the planet's surface.

A search for "restaurant" near your location right now would be different depending on what kind of phone it was sent to. And until Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon (which is mostly licensing Nokia's maps and listings) catch up with Google's all-aware location database, it might result in different longitudes and latitudes for specific points of interest. This is a mostly not-good thing, at least in the short term: Apple Maps was so useless, its project manager was fired from Apple.

This period of distorted reality will most likely end in just a few years, as mapping platforms either get better and reach parity or reconsolidate. But for the time being, it's only going to get worse — don't be surprised if, when Facebook finally pulls the trigger on its mobile OS, it makes its own maps too.

END OF THE WORLD IS COMING: The time to freak out is now

NASA warns Emos at risk from 'end of the world'

Computer generated image of Sydney completely devastated after a mega Tsunami. This image shows what Sydney might look like if Mayan prophecies were fulfilled and life ended 21/12/2012. Picture: Sony

WHILE many are planning their large-scale end of the world celebrations, others are already hiding under their beds in anticipation of the Mayan Apocalypse of 2012, according to NASA.

NASA has issued warnings ahead of the reported 'Doomsday' on December 21 saying some people have been freaking so distressed by reports of the end of the world they are already not eating or sleeping.

It all started because December 21 is the last day in an ancient Mayan calendar, and the internet has been circulating rumours that a rogue planet called Nibiru would slam into Earth, destroying us all.

Last week the Russian Government tried to put an end to the doomsday talk after people started panicking and storing up supplies so they would still have kerosene and matches after the world was smashed to smithereens.

People everywhere were taking it so seriously National Aeronautics and Space Administration  scientists have been forced to hose down the situation, publishing a fact sheet:  Beyond 2012: Why the World Won't End.

They say there's no planet coming to destroy us, the Earth's rotation is not going to suddenly reverse, there's no danger from giant solar storms, and no evidence of impending doom.

"The world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012," they say.

"Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012.

"This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then - just as your calendar begins again on January 1 - another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar."

While the idea that the world is about to end is bunkum, the anxiety people are feeling about it is real.
NASA Ames Research Center astrobiologist David Morrison has warned that they received emails from young people who said they were too worried to sleep or eat, and some said they were suicidal.

"(Scientists), both within NASA and outside, recognize that this hoax with its effort to frighten people is a distraction from more important science concerns, such as global warming and loss of biological diversity," he writes on the NASA website.

"We worry about the effect of this fear on impressionable children.

"(If) you will just use common sense I am sure you can recognise the lies."

Satellite Aid To Contain Mizoram Jhum Fires

Aizawl, Dec 3 : The Centre has decided that the forest cover in Mizoram will be monitored through satellite imagery to deal with bush fires, which break out during winter and summer months.

According to forest department sources in Aizawl, the bush fires wreak havoc for miles and also take a toll on human lives.

Rosiama Vanchhong, the principal chief conservator of forests in the state, said last night that the forest department authorities had no other alternative.

Satellite imaging will be used to spot the wildfires and then adopt measures to prevent their spread.

Senior officials of the fire and emergency department said 288 outbreaks have been reported between January and November this year and seven persons, including two farmers, have been killed in the fires.

The damage to property is estimated to be Rs 17.13 crore.

Vanchhong said jungle fires generally occur because at least 70 per cent among them use the slash and burn type of cultivation, and often use fire to clear the lands for farming.

He said in order to persuade the farmers to give up jhum cultivation, the government launched a scheme, New Land Use Police, to provide incentives and promote alternative forms of horticulture.

The Young Mizo Association is spearheading the campaign.

Sources said each year, forest fires damage between 400 and 600 square km of forest areas.

Hornbill Fest Kicks Off in Style

Kohima, Dec 3 : The 13th Hornbill Festival of Nagaland 2012 got underway on Saturday at the Naga Heritage Complex, Kisama, amid much fanfare.

Addressing the gathering as the chief guest, Nagaland governor Nikhil Kumar said the festival has become an important event not only in the state but in the entire country as is evident from the presence of people from different parts of the country.

Welcoming delegates from Myanmar, who have come to attend the festival, he pointed out the number of people witnessing the festival has been increasing over the years. The governor also extended his greetings to people for the Statehood Day, which coincided with the festival inauguration.

State chief minister Neiphiu Rio held aloft the festival, organized by the state government, as a popular annual tourism promotion event and a coming together of all components of the society. Over the years, the festival has gained in stature and popularity and has become a unique platform for tourists to witness the cultural diversity of the people of Nagaland, the chief minister said.

Rio enumerated a series of events to take place during the week-long festivities like a national rock contest, international motor rally, art festival, cultural show, fashion shows and the recently added Young Naga Achievers Award, etc. He lauded the organizers for the endeavour and emphasized upon the need for peace and tranquility in the state, urging one and all to maintain peace in the land.

The young achievers award was given out to Chekrovolu Swuro, the Naga Olympian at the London Olympics 2012; Nise Meruno, renowned soloist and musician who has performed with his group at international events and Atouzo, a young Naga entrepreneur based in the US who has worked with world famous celebrities. The award consisted of one million rupees, a citation and a memento.

Mizoram Congress: Good Job For Project implementation

Aizawl, Dec 3 : The ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) on Sunday praised Lal Thanhawla-led Congress government in the state for implementing development projects under the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR).

A few days ago, DoNER minister Paban Singh Ghatowar had in Parliament said there were backlogs in implementing projects under NLCPR, including those sanctioned in 2009.

Addressing mediapersons in Aizawl, Ghatowar said implementation of projects by the ministry under NLCPR improved considerably during the Congress regime in Mizoram. Asked about his earlier criticism, Ghatowar said situation improved remarkably during the past three years.

The DoNER minister further said since he joined the ministry, the state government has not defaulted. Ghatowar said 125 projects had been sanctioned for Mizoram under NLCPR at a total cost of Rs 1,039.67 crore. Of these, the state government has completed 65 projects at a cost of Rs 393.40 crore and there were 60 projects worth Rs 646.27 crore at various stages of implementation.

"There are 50 projects worth Rs 444 crore in the pipeline for sanction by the ministry, which include 14 new project proposals by the state retained by the ministry for possible funding," he said.

The minister, who arrived here on Saturday, toured Saiha, Lawngtlai and Lunglei districts in south Mizoram in a helicopter. He laid foundation stones of different infrastructure projects worth around Rs 81.39 crore.

Delhi Never Raised influx issue with Dhaka, say MPs from Bangladesh

The issue of illegal migration from Bangladesh has always been a matter of concern; the bitter irony is that the Indian Government has never addressed these issues to Bangladesh government at diplomatic level.

A twelve- member parliamentary delegation team from Bangladesh, which is currently in Guwahati, stated that India has never discussed anything related to illegal infiltration migration from Bangladesh.

A twelve member team of parliamentary delegation which is on a three day visit to India on a Parliamentary dialogue between India and Bangladesh has stated that, the Indian Government has never raised the issue of influx from Bangladesh and that the country is clueless about illegal migration to India. The delegation also reiterated that if India takes up the matter, it will be addressed accordingly.

The MPs  said that Bangladesh has already extradited  the militants from North- east to the Indian Government and very soon it is going to take  up a extraction treaty to have precise formula to hand over militants.

They also said that the treaty will help the government to take proper step regarding extradition of ULFA leader Anup Chetia, who is currently lodged in a jail of Bangladesh.

Regarding the controversial land boundary demarcation issue, the parliamentary delegations stated that after the signing of protocol of the Land Boundary Act 1974 by Indian PM Manmohan Singh with Hasina Govt in Bangladesh , most of the issues relating to the India- Bangladesh land dispute has been settled off.

They said issues of border dispute and illegal influx will not harm the growing economic relationship between India and Bangladesh.