Days And Nights in The Forest

By Ramki Sreenivasan


Shadows play in a dense nook. Photo: Ramki Sreenivasan


A hornbill makes a point from its perch. Photo: Ramki Sreenivasan

As giant trees come crashing down, the author discovers a birding paradise in Arunachal Pradesh.

Cerebral malaria, leeches, poisonous snakes, running out of food, contaminated water, exhaustion from tough climbs were the known hazards when we planned an expedition to the jungles of Namdapha in the extreme Northeast of India. However, the most dangerous, which I was to experience at very close quarters, was not mentioned in any literature, trip report or jungle tale.

Falling trees — giant dead rainforest trees, struck by lightning, being knocked down with the onset of tropical thunderstorms. They would destroy anything in their path as they came crashing down to the jungle floor.

For the first time in our trip (we were already four days into it), I noticed our guides Chakma and Singpho were anxious. Yashi, their leader, realised that the sky darkened and suddenly started running. After catching up with him and the rest of our guides, we were told to watch out for falling trees. At that instant, without warning, we heard a loud crack and a massive tree snapped at about a third of its height and crashed to the ground. We witnessed three such crashes as we ran that afternoon in the pouring rain. Miraculously none fell in our direction.

We were in the heart of Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh. Namdapha’s altitude ranges from a mere 200m in the plains to a lofty 4,570m (Daphabum peak) in the easternmost tip of the Himalayas, providing an impressive altitudinal range. This coupled with its massive size —about 2000 sq.km. — makes this reserve one of the most bio-diverse areas in the world. It is probably the only place in the world that has the tiger, leopard, clouded leopard and the snow leopard. Namdapha is also a birding paradise with more than 400 species, some found only in this part of India.

Some time back, a good friend and ace Mumbai-based birder Shashank Dalvi and I made a week-long birding expedition to Namdapha. Our goal was to try and photograph several of Namdapha’s avian specialities, most of them accomplished skulkers. The trip was organised by the enterprising Miao-based, Phuphla Singpho who assembled a motley and enterprising crew of cooks, guides and helpers to assist us. We walked during day and camped at night. From Deban to Haldibari to Hornbill to Bulbulia to Rani Jheel to Raja Jheel to Firmbase and back. Easy to moderate walks and not more than 10-12 km a day, but always through dense jungle along the northern banks of the beautiful Dihing river. Our first evening was spent at the picturesque forest inspection bungalow at Deban on the banks of the formidable Noa-Dihing River, our trailhead. This was also the last night under a proper roof as we spent the rest of our week-long trip in tents. The following morning, at daybreak, we crossed the great river and entered Namdapha. The tropical forest is dense and a lot of birding happens, quite literally, by “ear”. Soon, by sound, we were singling out Fulvettas, Yuhinas and Wren-babblers. The reserve has several microhabitats and each supports its own wildlife specialities. River banks like Noa-Dihing and Namdapha are great places to see Gibbons (India’s only ape), Flying squirrels, Ibisbills and the endangered White-bellied herons.

Haldibari and Hornbill (overnight camping locations for days 2 and 3) are set in the midst of tall evergreen forests and are phenomenal for hornbills, falconets and other birds. Rani Jheel is a natural bheel or forest lake where one can occasionally find the endangered White-winged wood duck. The stretch from Raja Jheel to Firmbase descends steeply through fabulous bamboo jungle and supports specialities like Hodgson’s Frogmouth, White-hooded and Red-billed Scimitar Babbler, Pale-headed Woodpecker, Grey-headed and Lesser Rufous-headed Parrotbill, etc. Firmbase, on the banks of the Namdapha is a fabulous open riverine habitat with giant forests on both sides offering opportunities to spot deer, wild dog and water birds.

Namdapha has more than its fair share of troubles that require fairly urgent attention. In spite of its remoteness, Namdapha suffers from the classic tropical rainforest problem or the “empty forest syndrome”. Thanks to unsustainable hunting and poaching by local tribes, tropical forest species have been decimated, though the forest seems dense. In addition, encroachments in the form of full-fledged tribal settlements in several areas have caused serious habitat degradation. Forest clearings have been converted to paddy fields. Because of its massive area and a large portion of it still being densely forested, Namdapha can regain its original glory, but it needs serious political will as well as committed enforcement by the forest department.

FACT FILE

Nearest airport: Mohanbari (Dibrugarh), Assam (160 km)

Nearest railway station: Tinsukia, Assam

By road: Dibrugarh – Tinsukia – Digboi - Margherita – Ledo – Jagun – Namchik – Kharsang – Miao (about six hours)

8 Migrant Labourers Killed and 3 injured in Meghalaya

Shillong, Jun 25 : In a gruesome murder of innocents, eight labourers were killed in cold blood inside their coal quarries in Nangalbibra region by a gang of miscreants late Sunday night.

Three other labourers survived the attack and have been rushed to a hospital in Goalpara in critical condition.

Police have informed that preliminary investigation has revealed it to be the handiwork of dacoits, who taking advantage of the prevailing law and order situation, carried out the attack with an intention to loot.

“The workers were attacked with daos, daggers, knives, clubs and lathis. The dacoits also looted around eighty thousand rupees from one of the quarries,” said District SP Davis Netell R Marak while speaking to The Shillong Times on Monday.

The attacks were carried out on three coal quarries in Garegittim-Dobakkol region, 5 km from Nangalbibra and 51 km from Baghmara, the district headquarter. The attackers were reportedly of a mixed group who took advantage of the tense situation prevailing in the region.

The South Garo Hills district administration promulgated the order under Section 144 of the CrPC prohibiting assembly of more than four people in a bid to prevent breakdown of law and order in the district, Deputy Commissioner CP Gothmare.

In the first attack the armed dacoits murdered seven labourers and took away around eighty thousand rupees. They murdered another labourer in the second quarry nearby before attacking a third in which three other workers were bludgeoned and left to die. Fortunately, all three survived the attack.

The mine owner was alerted by the survivors, who, later in the morning brought their injured colleagues to the Nangalbibra police station from where they were shifted to a hospital in Goalpara, Assam.

Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma on Monday condemned the killing of the labourers and warned against lending a communal overture to any crime against women and children saying that perpetrators of such crimes do not belong to one single ethnic race or community.

“A criminal is a criminal regardless of race, sex, caste, creed or colour,” Dr Sangma told reporters here on Monday.

“We want to send a strong message to the people of the state that any crime against women and children should not be given a communal colour as this will hamper peace, security and tranquility in the State,” Dr Sangma added.

“The government is trying to contain this violence and will not allow the same to escalate,” Dr Sangma said, adding that the government is doing its best to ensure that normalcy returns to the trouble-torn region.

Referring to the mass exodus of migrant labourers, the Chief Minister said, “Labourers belonging to different ethnic groups and communities are bound to come and work in the State considering the fact that there are many cement factories, coal mining areas and the like.”

Meanwhile, the situation in West Garo Hills is slowly returning back to normal. However, night curfew will still remain in place throughout the district and round the clock patrolling is taking place in the sensitive areas of the plains belt region, particularly in Rajabala, Bhaitbari, Phulbari, Tikrikilla and Hallidayganj.

NCERT Told To Temove Sentence On Northeast From Textbook

New Delhi, Jun 25 : Union Tourism Secretary Pervez Dewan has asked the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to remove a line in the class 10 geography textbooks which claims that tourism has not been encouraged in the north-east and interior parts of the Himalayas for “strategic reasons”.

Mr. Dewan on Monday informed Kavya Barnadhya Hazarika, a Class XI student of the city’s Maharishi Vidya Mandir Senior School, that he had requested NCERT to remove the “careless sentence”.
Letter

Kavya had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and twice petitioned the President’s Secretariat helpline since April, wanting to know what those “strategic reasons” were.

The Hindu had first reported on Kavya writing and awaiting to hear from Dr. Singh and Mr. Mukherjee.

“There is vast potential of tourism development in the north-eastern States and the interior parts of Himalayas, but due to strategic reasons these have not been encouraged so far,” says a sentence on page 92 of Chapter 7 — whose theme is “Lifelines of National Economy” — of the book ‘Contemporary India Part II’ (January 2012).
Request

Kavya requested Mr. Dewan on Monday morning through e-mail to ask the NCERT authorities to remove the sentence. Mr. Dewan, in his first letter to Kavya while referring to the particular line, stated that despite the efforts of the Ministry of Tourism and the State governments in the region, it was unfortunate that “a careless statement makes a sweeping statement that is totally inaccurate.”
Initiatives

He provided details of various initiatives and expenditures by the Tourism Ministry for developing tourism in the region.

However, the first D.O. letter written by Mr. Dewan on June 6, along with some promotion material of the Tourism Ministry for the north-east and a small gift were received by Kavya only on June 16.
Reply

Replying to Mr. Dewan’s first letter, Kavya wrote: “As you have acknowledged, regarding the painfulness of the sentence … mentioned in that NCERT book given the fact how the Ministry of Tourism is dedicating 12.12 per cent of the total budget on the north east.

“Therefore, that is what I wanted to know from Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and President of India through their online mechanisms. But upon repeated attempts, there was no such replies from their end till today. Anyway, as you have expressed your shock about the matter and have bothered to write to me although I have not approached your Ministry.”

Source: The Hindu

How to Make It as an Asylum Seeker

Five rules for NSA leaker Edward Snowden to make sure that life on the run goes as smoothly as possible.

BY BRENDAN I. KOERNER

As he journeys west from Hong Kong toward asylum in Ecuador, Cuba, or possibly Venezuela, NSA leaker Edward Snowden should keep in mind that dodging American justice isn't just a matter of hopping a few flights through sympathetic countries. It's an extremely long game. Once the initial public-relations buzz wears off, regimes can tire of harboring high-profile fugitives who end up causing more trouble than they're worth. If Snowden wishes to reach a ripe old age in Quito or Guayaquil, he might want to take some cues about staying one step ahead of the law from the fugitives of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Here are five rules from that chaotic era, when terrorists, radicals, and slightly bonkers hijackers regularly hopped across borders in search of asylum.

1. Clearly define your political motive. Extradition treaties typically include exceptions for crimes of a "political character." In theory, these clauses are meant to protect political dissidents from being sent back home to face prosecution for acts such as organizing protests or penning anti-government tracts. But governments have wide latitude to define these crimes as they see fit: In 1974, for example, the French declined to arrest the fourBasque assassins of Spanish prime minister Luis Carrero Blanco, stating that extradition would be an impossibility because the crime was "so obviously political."

Snowden didn't do anything that extreme, of course, but the U.S. government will obviously contend that his actions were more criminal than political and therefore worthy of extradition. In his interview with The Guardian earlier this month, Snowden did a good job of heading off that line of argument by emphasizing his dedication to the public interest. His proxies should now reiterate that sentiment as much as possible, so that no future Ecuadorian president is ever tempted to see things from the American point of view.

2. Stay quiet. Snowden has already discussed his motivation for leaking the details of the NSA spy programs, but from now on he should leave that campaign to his surrogates. History has shown that big-mouthed fugitives run the risk of rubbing their hosts the wrong way. The classic example from the Vietnam Era was Eldridge Cleaver, the minister of information of the Black Panther Party. On the run from an attempted-murder charge in California in 1968, Cleaver escaped to Cuba, where he was initially welcomed with open arms by Fidel Castro's regime. But Cleaver ruined things fairly quickly by speaking candidly to reporters, particularly about the harsh treatment being accorded several imprisoned American hijackers. The irate Cubans forced Cleaver to move to Algeria, where the Soul on Ice author eventually wore out his welcome by publicly calling for dictatorial president Houari Boumedienne to give him the $1 million brought over by a group of American hijackers. Boumedienne had Cleaver's headquarters raided in revenge.

Snowden doesn't appear to be quite the loose cannon that Cleaver was, but he should still be aware that his odds of accidentally upsetting his hosts greatly increase every time he opens his mouth on the record.

3. Find allies on the ground. Though his Algerian sojourn ended in disaster, Cleaver actually lasted over three years in the North African country -- a pretty impressive run, given his penchant for ruining things with his self-described "fat mouth." One of the keys to his success was the way he gained the support of other welcome guests in Algiers -- notably the North Korean diplomatic corps and representatives of the Vietcong, the latter of whom gave him a villa they owned in the tony El Biar neighborhood. These allies helped Cleaver liaise with the Algerian authorities. (Cleaver returned the favor to both: He broadcast virulently anti-American messages to American G.I.'s in Vietnam, urging them to frag their commanding officers, and he wrote the foreword to the English-language translation of Kim il-Sung's Juche.)

Snowden's libertarian politics don't dovetail naturally with the leftism espoused by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa (nor perhaps his government's assault on free speech), but he still should find some sympathetic souls on Quito's cocktail-party circuit. He'll need to tap those contacts in order to handle some very pragmatic issues, like figuring out a long-term housing situation and, more importantly, how to ensure his personal security in a nation with a high crime rate.

4. Make money. Staying on the lam is always more expensive than one might anticipate, especially when a mammoth entity like the United States of America is doing all it can to shut down your potential sources of income. The root cause of the Black Panthers' demise in Algeria was poverty -- the United States froze Cleavers royalties from Soul on Ice in accordance with the Trading with the Enemy Act, thereby forcing him to look to hijackers for a cash influx. (Washington claimed that Cleaver had forfeited his American citizenship by visiting North Vietnam and North Korea in 1970.) Snowden will have plenty of expenses while in Ecuador, both legal and personal, and the Correa regime probably won't want to pick up the tab for all eternity. Crowdsourced donations sound like a fine way to keep things going, but the WikiLeaks experience is not encouraging; last year, the organization attracted just $68,000 in handouts, barely enough to keep its servers running. Sure, Snowden could always settle for a run-of-the-mill IT job with some Quito firm to make ends meet. But who can honestly see that happening?

But there are always ways to route money to those in need. Snowden's wealthiest and most avid supporters should start thinking now about ways they can slip cash into his pockets without attracting the ire of the American government. Bitcoins could sure come in handy here.

5. Do something fulfilling. Boredom and loneliness can be vexing foes, particularly for an intelligent 29-year-old keen to leave his mark on history. Plenty of the folks who hijacked planes to Cuba in the late 1960s and early 1970s can attest to this dilemma: many of the ones who settled down into normal lives in Havana, sometimes complete with spouses and children, eventually decided to return to the United States often because they had tired of their drab proletarian existences.  Can you really picture Snowden being content with a nine-to-five gig in Ecuador? He obviously has a grander future in mind for himself.

Perhaps Snowden should follow the lead of a few notorious American fugitives who found some measure of contentment by transforming themselves into do-gooders. An excellent example of this path are Melvin and Jean McNair, a couple who helped hijack Delta Airlines Flight 841 to Algiers in July 1972; they now operate an orphanage in Caen, France. And the Black Panther Pete O'Neal, another veteran of Algiers who fled a federal gun charge, wound up running a shelter for homeless children in Tanzania.

So what selfless occupation could Snowden take up in order to create meaning in his life? How about teaching free programming classes in a barrio periférico.

10 Cool Office Spaces

While beige office walls may help keep some focused on the work at hand, for others it’s often seen as a blank canvas for fostering creativity. Whether it’s halls decorated like the New York City subway system or a floor-to-ceiling spiraling slide, these 10 companies show how to use and design office space in a whole new way.

See which photos employees have shared on Glassdoor that make up our list of 10 offices you wished you worked in:

 

1. Epic, headquartered in Verona, Wis., has designed an office hallway to look like the New York subway.

2. Google keeps some fun in mind at one of their offices as employees can literally slide from one floor down to the next. 

3. Microsoft employees pull up a seat around this large touchscreen tablet table.

4. Infosys brings games to one of their offices by adding in a bowling alley. 

5. Box, headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., has a playful take on seating arrangements as they added swings to their office.

6. Facebook employees can take advantage of a video game room.

7. Groupon breaks away from traditional office norms by adding color and modern design to their office.

8. Edelman, a multinational public relations company headquartered in Chicago, Ill., also adds bright colors and modern design elements.

9. Autodesk employees collaborate in architecturally interesting spaces.

10. HUMAN Healthy Vending adds comfy chairs that line its reception space.

Dropbox CEO Shares Screenshot Of His Bank Account The Moment His Company Raised Its First Million

By Christina Chaey

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston recently returned to his alma mater, MIT, to deliver the commencement address.

Houston has since annotated a version of the speech that's now up on Rap Genius, the hip-hop lyrics decoder that also demystifies poetry, recipes, and news articles.

Among Houston's annotations: A screenshot of his bank account, showing the moment when he reaped the benefits of Dropbox's first-ever funding round--$1.2 million from Sequoia Capital.

"For a 24-year-old, this is Christmas--and opening your present is hitting refresh over and over on bankofamerica.com and watching your company's checking account go from 60 dollars to 1.2 million dollars. At first, I was ecstatic--that number has two commas in it! I took a screenshot--but then I was sick to my stomach. Someday these guys are going to want this back. What the hell have I gotten myself into?"

Among Houston's first purchases is a $17.35 splurge at Radio Shack.

Flying East

Imphal as an international flight hub is a great idea. But Northeast still awaits a robust transit infrastructure

If all goes according to plan, the upgrade of the Imphal and Agartala airports to international status will help end the physical isolation of India's landlocked Northeast. Currently, Guwahati is the lone international airport in the eight northeastern states, including Sikkim.

Given the region's dire need for better connectivity — with the rest of India and neighbouring countries — an integrated airports development project that upgrades and connects the dozen or so northeastern airports, including Bagdogra in West Bengal, will help build Imphal into a regional hub for international flights to Southeast Asia, and facilitate domestic movement and commerce. Road and rail connectivity for the economically deprived Northeast has remained a festering absence since Independence.

While an international flight hub will likely stimulate road projects, the upgraded airports will need better road and rail links. Manipur, for instance, is a state that sits at the ends of NH 39 and NH 53.

As the protracted 2010-2011 Manipur blockades brought home, it's all too easy to cut the state off from the rest of the Northeast, to say nothing of the country, by blocking these two arteries.

Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,000 km border with China, a border that Beijing can reach faster than Delhi, even as the people of the state languish in rugged and remote terrain.

Imphal is a good choice for the hub, given Manipur's close links with Myanmar — India's only gateway to ASEAN states by land. But to develop the region, its linking with Myanmar's Sittwe port, via NH 54 and the Kaladan river, and with Bangladesh's Chittagong port, must be speeded up.

As should connecting Manipur with the trans-Asian highway system and the Imphal-Mandalay bus service.

The long-awaited rail corridor through Bangladesh would reduce the distance between Kolkata and Agartala to 550 km from 1,700 km. The needs of the Northeast necessitate integrated, long-term thinking. The Imphal hub cannot be an exception.

Marriage Should Be Between Man and Woman only: Mizo Church

Aizawl, Jun 24 : The Mizoram Presbyterian Church Synod, the largest church in the state, recently issued a policy statement on sex and marriage, saying that God created human beings as man and woman and marriage should be only between members of the two sexes and not the same sex.

Homosexuality is unnatural and "against the will of God", the Church said, besides issuing guidelines for women to dress "decently" while attending wedding celebrations.

The policy statement, drafted and issued by the Synod Executive Committee (SEC), said sexual relations should also be only between married couples and that extra-marital affairs were sinful.

"Homosexuality is against the will of God, as God meant only man and woman to have sexual relations and that too only those who entered holy matrimony," the statement added.

Meanwhile, the women's wing of the Presbyterian church also issued guidelines on how to dress "decently" for wedding celebrations in the church, the vestry and wedding receptions in halls.

While discouraging women from wearing "revealing" dresses, the women's wing urged people to dress according to the tradition and customs of the Mizos. "Mizoram is a nation, so we should encourage our national and traditional dress," the directive said.

Bridal gowns should also be made to suit the height of the bride, the statement said, adding that those who attended the wedding in the church should dress "decently".

Frowning upon the trend of relatives of the bride and the groom wearing the same colour, the women's wing said the practice could be embarrassing for other people who attended the wedding service and make them feel uncomfortable.

H Lalpianthangi, assistant coordinator of the women's wing of the Mizoram Synod, said the guidelines would be read out in all local churches. However, as they were just guidelines, no one could be forced to follow them, she added.