Some Martyrs From Northeast Ignored by History Books: Handique

New Delhi, Sep 14 : Some martyrs from the northeast who had participated in the freedom struggle against the the British had not found their rightful place in history books and historical writings and this should be corrected, a central minister from the region said Tuesday.
There was considerable resentment against this in the northeast,

Minister for Development of the North East Region (DoNER) Bijoy Krishna Handique said while delivering the keynote address on “History as a window - Understanding North East,” at the Jamia Millia Islamia.

“There should be some recognition of these unsung heroes…The ways of history cannot be corrected but the inadequacy of historical writing can be corrected,” Handique said.

He said the northeast was a “complex region” and made “more complex by lack of understanding of issues”.

The minister said there was need to understand the psyche of the people and respect their sentiments of giving recognition to freedom fighters from the region.

He said the challenge of multi-cultuarlism was not unique to the northeast but it should be studied to understand issues concerning the region and devise a strategy for the future.

Mizoram Chief Minister Pu Lalthanhawla said that the successful Mizo accord can serve as a model peace process for other parts of the country.

The accord was signed in 1986 between the central government and Mizo Nataional Front (MNF). Lalthanhawla had quit as chief minister following the accord to pave way for an interim government headed by MNF leader Laldenga. He had been in and out of office since then and again became the chief minister since Dec 2008.

Lalthanhawla said a spirit of give and take, a willing bureaucracy and total involvement of civil society can make peace accords succeed.

He said the peace process in Mizoram was simpler as there were no multiple ethnic groups in the state.

“Peace, development and governance are closely related. Imbalance in one disturbs the other,” he said, adding that if the mindset of people can be changed, half the battle for peace was won.

Lalthanhawla said the northeast was “least visited and most misunderstood area” of the country, adding there was “a huge communication gap between mainland India and the region” more due to a mental block than geographical factors.

Pointing out that the northeast had a vibrant tradition of local self-government, Lalthanhawla said the region needed more schemes like the national rural employment guarantee scheme to empower the rural masses.

DoNER secretary Jayati Chandra said that bright minds from the northeast who had honed their skills outside the region should also look at the option of returning.

She said that while the government’s per head contribution in the northeast was greater than in any other part of the country, there was virtually no private investment.

She also said that more students from the region should opt for technical courses.

Jamia Millia Islamia vice chanellor Najeeb Jung said that the northeast should be better understood in the rest of the country.

“That is a concern for Jamia. That’s why a centre for northeast studies has been started to focus on the region,” he said.

The vice chancellor said the university was keen that more students from the northeast avail of its courses.

Sanjoy Hazarika of the university’s centre for northeast studies said that development in the region had shown unique flexibility. He said India’s Look East policy should be routed through the northeastern states.

NEEPCO to Upgrade 3 ITI’s in Northeast India

Agartala, Sep 14 : The North Eastern Electric Power Corp (NEEPCO) will take up three more industrial training institutes (ITIs) under the centre’s ‘adopt an ITI’ scheme to meet the growing demand for skilled manpower in the region, officials said here Tuesday.

The state-owned corporation will adopt one ITI each in Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura.

NEEPCO last year had adopted two ITIs- one at Halflong in southern Assam and another at Dirang valley of West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Under the ‘adopt an ITI’ scheme, a public sector organisation becomes a partner and upgrades an ITI by developing its infrastructure, redesigning the curriculum in consultation with the concerned state government.

‘The main objective of the scheme is to meet the demands of skilled manpower in the developmental projects in the northeastern region,’ a NEEPCO official told IANS.

Brahmaputra Overflows, Assam Flood Situation Critical

Guwahati, Sep 14 : The flood situation in Assam turned critical Tuesday with the main river Brahmaputra crossing the danger level at several places, taking the total number of displaced people to 500,000 in 10 districts, officials said.

A government spokesperson said floods have spread to 10 districts with the worst hit being Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Morigaon, Golaghat and Barpeta. Two people drowned earlier this week in separate incidents while trying to escape the fury of floods in eastern Assam.

‘More than 500 villages have been badly affected by the floods so far in 10 districts,’ the official said. An estimated 100,000 people are now displaced in Lakhimpur district alone, about 400 km east of Assam’s main city Guwahati.

‘Most of the flood-hit people are now taking shelter in raised platforms, on railway tracks, and also in government schools and offices so far untouched by the floods,’ a district official said.

A Central Water Commission bulletin said the Brahmaputra and its tributaries were flowing above the danger mark in at least eight places.

Gushing floodwaters had breached at least four vital mud embankments in the state.

South Asia’s largest river island of Majuli in Jorhat district has also been hit by the floods with a breach in a mud embankment reported Monday night, leaving thousands of people stranded on raised platforms.

Over 50 villages in Dhemaji district have also come under water.

Measures are being taken to plug the breaches in the mud embankments.

‘We have sounded maximum alert and have already kept disaster management teams on standby. We are also taking stock of essentials and other commodities in the district,’ Assam relief and rehabilitation minister Bhumidhar Barman said.

The 2,906-km-long Brahmaputra is one of Asia’s largest rivers and traverses its first stretch of 1,625 km in China’s Tibet region, the next 918 km in India and the remaining 363 km through neighbouring Bangladesh before flowing into the Bay of Bengal.

Call to Develop Infrastructure Along China Border

By R Dutta Choudhury

Guwahati, Sep 14 : Though the decision of the Government of India to deploy two additional battalions of the Army to improve vigil along the border with China is a positive development, there is urgent need for developing the infrastructure along the international border to deal with any eventuality, said former GOC of the 4 Corps of the Army, Lt Gen (Retd) DB Shekhatkar.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, Lt Gen Shekhatkar, who is well versed with the ground situation along the border with China in Arunachal Pradesh, said that the Government of India should have initiated steps to boost security measures along the border long back.

He said that though the Government of India is trying to maintain cordial relation with China, the lessons learnt from the 1962 war should never be forgotten and India should always be ready to face any eventuality.

Lt Gen Shekhatkar said that said that for years, the need for increasing the strength of the Army was felt and only now the Government has decided to deploy two additional divisions. He said that the decision to create a battalion of Arunachal Scouts is also a positive development and hoped that the personnel of the battalion would play a vital role in guarding the country’s borders. He said that there should be at least two more battalions of the Arunachal Scouts to deal with the situation.

The former Army officer pointed out that the Ladakh Scouts are doing a commendable job for years and hoped that the Arunachal Scouts would be able to emulate the achievements of the Ladakh scouts. He pointed out that the personnel of the Arunachal Scouts would be well versed with the ground situation and the stake of the local youths in guarding the frontier would be much higher than anyone coming from other parts of the country. Moreover, the creation of the battalion would provide employment opportunities to the local youths, which is also a positive development, he added.

However, Lt Gen Shekhatkar expressed the view that India is still lagging behind China in infrastructure development along the border and only increasing force deployment would not help in case of any eventuality. He said that priority must be given on construction of new roads leading to the international border to facilitate movement of men and machinery whenever required and there must be multiple entry points to the forward posts along the border. At this moment, only one road connects Tawang near the border with China and if that road is blocked, India would have a tough time, he pointed out.

Tripura Varsity to Launch Bamboo Development Course

Agartala, Sep 13 : India’s first course in value addition to bamboo products, intended to meet demands of the international market, will be introduced in Tripura University in collaboration with the textile ministry’s Bamboo and Cane Development Institute (BCDI), officials said here Monday.
“The theoretical part of the post-graduate diploma course would be conducted in the university campuses while the practical and hands-on training part would be done at the BCDI under the guidance of foreign experts,” university Vice-Chancellor Arunoday Saha told reporters.

According to Saha, bamboo technology and design experts from China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan would conduct the training.

The Tripura University, which was conferred central university status in July 2007, Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the BCDI to conduct the one-year course from the 2010-11 academic year.

“The new course would be industry- and job-oriented. After completion of the course the students would be able to prepare value-added bamboo products, which would be consumer and demand driven,” BCDI officials said.

They said that the value addition and designing would be aimed at meeting the demands of international market.

“Bamboo products of life style, domestic and products useful in everyday life have extreme demand in the national and international markets,” said R.K. Shrivastava, executive director of National Centre for Design and Product Development (NCDPD), another wing of the union textiles ministry.

“Proper use of bamboo resources with the use of modern technology can give a big boost to the economy of the northeast India as apart from the domestic market, there is tremendous potential for exporting bamboo products, particularly to European countries and the US,” he said.

Of the 1,250 bamboo species throughout the world, India has 145. Bamboo forests in India occupy approximately 10.03 million hectares, which constitutes almost 12.8 percent of the total forest area of the country. About 28 percent of the total bamboo area of the country is located in northeast India.

“The distribution of species and the quantity of bamboos, however, is uneven and more than 50 percent of the bamboo species and 66 percent of growing stock, out of about 80.42 million tones, occurs in northeast India,” an official document said.

“There are about 1,500 documented applications of bamboos. The major ones are use in building materials, agricultural implements, furniture, musical instruments, food items, handicrafts, large bamboo based industries (paper pulp, rayon etc.) and packaging.”

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Indian Dhruv Copter Gets Italian Makeover

New Delhi, Sep 13 : The Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) has been widely regarded as a triumph of indigenous military rotorcraft design and manufacturing.

Scores of Dhruvs already flying in army colours will be joined by another 159, which the military ordered last year from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). And, Ecuador's air force chose the Dhruv ALH in an international tender in 2008 for seven helicopters.

But now it emerges that the Dhruv is struggling with a serious problem. The army, which was to be supplied 20 Dhruvs last year, refused to accept any until HAL fixed a problem that was restricting the Dhruv's cruising speed to 250 kilometers per hour, significantly short of the 270 kmph that HAL specifications promise. Unable to find a cure, HAL has brought in a consultant: Italian aerospace propulsion major, Avio.

India's military sets high store by the Dhruv's engine power; the helicopter must operate from tiny landing grounds at 6,500 meters (about 21,000 feet), which is the altitude of Sonam Post, India's highest helipad on the Siachen Glacier.

But even after paying French engine-maker, Turbomeca, Rs 1,000 crore to design the Shakti engine -- - a superb performer at high altitudes -- - the Dhruv's Integrated Dynamic System, or IDS, which transfers power from the Shakti engines to the helicopter rotors, is not performing optimally. That, say HAL engineers, has reduced speed, high-altitude capability, and the life of the IDS.

The Italian consultants will now scrutinise the Dhruv's IDS to diagnose the problem. Avio will start by building a single HAL-designed IDS in Avio's facilities in Italy, using their own materials and tools.

They will then test-run this for 400-500 hours; if it works perfectly, it would be evident that the flaw lies in HAL's manufacturing, rather than the IDS design. On the other hand, if the Avio-built IDS performs poorly during the test run, there is clearly a design problem. Avio will then redesign the IDS.

A senior HAL official explained to Business Standard: "Avio will review the whole design, on a purely consultancy basis. They will give us a redesign... that will be the first phase. We will have to translate that new design into an engineered product. And, after that, we'll have to do the ground testing and the flight-testing. It will be a long-drawn affair."

Avio, Business Standard has learned, was HAL's second choice. But the first choice consultant, an American company, had so much work on its plate that it had to turn HAL away.

Meanwhile, India's army and air force -- strapped for helicopters -- have no choice but to accept and fly Dhruvs, even though they are performing below par and metal keeps chipping off inside the IDS. HAL has itself implemented six changes inside the IDS and 30 helicopters have been flying with these changes for some 400 hours. So far, there has been no major problem.

"This is not dangerous for the pilots", says a senior HAL official. "Heavy chipping of metal would warn us about an impending failure of the IDS. There is a monitoring system inside the IDS, which checks for the presence of tiny metal chips in the oil. There is no danger of sudden, catastrophic failure in flight."

Top officials in the Ministry of Defence have conveyed strong displeasure to HAL over what they consider a "sloppy" work culture. Talking to Business Standard on condition of anonimity, a MoD official points out, "The Avio consultancy will place HAL's work culture under serious scrutiny.

To identify the fault in the Dhruv's IDS, Avio has insisted on auditing HAL's facilities and practices. This will amount to a full external audit, which will highlight systemic and procedural problems that HAL would never have identified on its own."

But the MoD also accepts that the aerospace establishment, hungry for success, developed the Dhruv in haste and introduced it into operational service without adequate testing.

Illustrating this point, the MoD official says: "The IAF asked for about 75 design changes while HAL was developing the Dhruv. This prevented a coherent and systematic design process. And, thereafter, HAL was too eager to introduce the Dhruv into service. It has now emerged that it was unwise of HAL, and of the IAF, to operationalise the Dhruv before the design was fully stabilised."

This year, the army and the IAF will introduce 31 new HAL-built Dhruv Mark 3 helicopters into service. These are part of an order placed on HAL last year for 159 Dhruv helicopters to be supplied by 2015.

Of these, 83 are utility helicopters called Dhruv Mark 3, used for transporting people. The other 76 are Mark 4 helicopters, which will be fitted with cannons, rockets, missiles and electronic warfare equipment. These are called Dhruv (Weapon Systems Integrated), or Dhruv (WSI).

Source: Business Standard

Something New From The Northeast in Bangalore

By Mandakini Dev Sharma

Bangalore, Sep 13 : After the onslaught of various regional cuisines such as Bengali and Rajasthani, Bangalore’s foodies now also have food from the North Eastern states of India to try out.

The ANTS store, Indiranagar, is working on a project called ‘Positive stories from the North East’ in an effort to raise awareness about the region in the city.

The store recently held a Manipur Food Festival focusing on the cuisine of Meities, a major Manipuri tribe. ANTS has organised similar evenings around Mizo and Naga food in the past.

“The Manipur Food Festival was organised by a few Manipuris in Bangalore — mainly working professionals and students,” says Devakishore Soraisam, a business management graduate from Christ College who was involved with the event, which was the brainchild of Trichao Thomas of ANTS.

Most cuisines from the North East are unique and very exotic and the same is true for Meitei food. The crowd savoured Manipuri dishes like Shingju, Paknum, Chagem Pomba, Bamboo Shoots, Eromba and Shareng Thongba.

“I loved the eromba, a very common dish which the Meitai prepare from fish, brinjal, potato, bamboo shoot, and chillis,” says Paonam Mahesh Chandra Singh, a Manipuri student.

Naga food is also making inroads in the city — and it’s not just Naga students making a beeline for the newly opened Naga Kitchen in Kamanahalli.

“The menu is very customer-friendly and we expect Bangalore’s foodies to try out North Eastern food,” says Mustaque Ahmed, owner of The Naga Kitchen, Bangalore who expects dishes such as smoked pork chili, smoked chicken fry, fried fish, Naga fried rice and pork Naga curry to do well.