After The Rains

By Anjana Palepu

Women pluck tea leaves at the Amchung garden in Assam. (Anupam Nath/AP/File photo)

Young Assamese dancers perform the Bihu, a folk dance from Assam, during Rongali Bihu celebrations, the festival which marks the Assamese new year and the onset of spring. (Anupam Nath/AP/File photo)

The seven sisters is the wettest region in the country, receiving over 432 mm of rainfall every year. So there is a lot of relief that the monsoon is ending, making this the ideal time for a visit.

Different from the rest of the country, it is home to the biggest tribal population after Africa, with 168 tribes, many allowing you a peek into their world. While much of the region is still unexplored, rustic homestays allow you to break bread with the locals, while unusual adventures will see you going back for more. If you are planning a holiday, experts suggest you pack light and do not carry too many valuables as you may have to travel to remote areas by foot. Some attractions you cannot afford to miss:

Discover via taste traveling to the seven states can also be a culinary journey, with each state having a distinct style of cooking and local spices cooked in mustard oil. The Assamese staple diet is fish and rice with a range of pithas (rice powder cakes with sugar or jaggery) as dessert. Though chicken is considered taboo, duck eggs and a variety of fresh water fish are regularly consumed, cooked in little spice and oil.

Traditional Manipuri dining is a ‘sit-down’ affair with banana-leaf plates. Kabok is a traditional speciality — fried rice with vegetables and some basic spices. Iromba, another speciality, is a combination of fish, vegetables and bamboo shoots fermented and served on the side. You might want to treat the harmless looking Manipuri chilli with caution — it rates nine on the Scoville scale! In Meghalaya, the cuisine includes a lot of pork. Jodah is a spicy rice and pork dish eaten at any time of the day.

Kyat is the local brew of this region and adds zing to all celebrations.

Meanwhile, Sikkim has its own unique dietary culture with an infusion of Tibetan specialties like momos and thupka.

Don’t say no to their local millet beer – Tchang, usually served in  bamboo mugs. Wrestling and boat races each tribe is like a chiefdom, independent of each other, with different customs and rituals. The change of the seasons is celebrated across the seven states.

The most famous event is the Hornbill festival of Nagaland in December, where all Naga tribes participate. With over sixty per cent of the state directly dependent on agriculture, the festival is named after the Indian Hornbill, a large and colourful forest bird, that makes an appearance in tribal folklore. You can partake in cultural performances, sporting events and food fairs, in addition to the famous Naga wrestling. Book well in advance, as the accommodation in rustic homestays are in demand.

Assam celebrates Bihu every April, a selection of three different festivals where you can witness the traditional Assamese dance and share their local feast. The Boat Race festival in Assam, usual ly in September, is covered by tourists across the world. Historical evidence has suggested that boat races, a common feature during the reign of the Mughal empires, was revived in 1965.

Green escape, the world’s most eco friendly village, Mawlynnong in Meghalaya leads the way for earth lovers. Being the first village in the world to impose a complete ban on plastic, it has been voted as the cleanest village in Asia, complete with dustbins made of bamboo. Imphal boasts of a woman-only market where in addition to the local produce, you can shop for handicrafts and handlooms characteristic of that region. Architects, listen up. In the Kohima district of Nagaland, this is an open air museum features traditional style Nagaland buildings.

Guwahati Features in Top 15 Online Shopping Destinations

By Bikash Singh

Guwahati, Sep 6 : Northeast India is fast taking to online shopping. The size of online shopping industry of the region is between Rs 75 Crore to Rs 100 Crore.

Myntra.com fashion portal, conducted a study recently that highlighted the growing prominence of online shopping among the youth in Guwahati. This study ranked Guwahati 11th among the top 15 cities in India for online shopping. In the top bracket were Delhi NCR, Bangalore and Mumbai.

The portal which has done a business of Rs 400 Crore in last fiscal year is eyeing a turnover of Rs 800 Crore. Northeast India accounts for Rs 10 Crore of the company's business and company is targeting around Rs 25 Crore business in this fiscal year from the region.

With the growing size of e-commerce business, Assam government is working on the law to tax the online shopping transactions.

Ashutosh Lawania, Co-founder, Myntra who was in Guwahati on Thursday said, "There has been a steady increase in the number of online shoppers from Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sibsagar and Tinsukia in Assam in the past few months. The study also revealed that Myntra.com receives around 350 - 400 orders per day from Assam."

Lawania added, "Youngsters today are extremely fashion conscious and tech savvy here. Assam has always been known to be loyal markets. In Assam, men prefer to shop for smart casuals and footwear while women prefer to shop for western and ethnic wear online."

He said the study stated that over 68% of shoppers on Myntra are men while women account for 32%. The average age of these shoppers is 25 years. "Myntra also recently opened its delivery centre in Guwahati and offers services to over 50 different locations using third party couriers. Other states covered in this region are Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh."

The e-commerce trade of India is US$2 billion while size of this business in China is $190 billion. Lawania added, "By 2020 India will be around $80 billion market. There are 150 million internet users in India."

Lawania said that portal gets around 12000 orders every day whereas the number of hits to the portal every day is 5 lakh. "The conversion rate is two to three percent while in Western countries it is 5 percent. Earlier around 55 percent of the business use to come from metro cities now the trend is non metro cities is generating 55 percent of the business while metros are generating 45 percent."

He added, "We are exploring the possibility of putting the niche designs of Rajasthan in the portal and we will explore if similar thing can be done here. We will tie up with boutiques."

‘Save Mizoram Long March’ Concludes

Participants of the ‘Save Mizoram Long March’ campaign on Tuesday, September 3.

Aizawl, Sep 5 : The Zoram Nationalist Party’s (ZNP) ‘Save Mizoram Long March’ campaign concluded on Tuesday at Lunglei in Mizoram after having covered 175 km. The march was flagged off on August 26 from at Vanapa Hall, Aizawl.

The purpose of the march was to save Mizoram from its bondage, to heal the wounds that cripple the state, to free the state from corruption. The concluding function was held at Art & Culture Auditorium, Lunglei.

Addressing the programme, Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) chief Lalduhawma asked the people to make their choice between two options. He said, the people of Mizoram are dissatisfied with the performance of the past successive governments in the state.

"Now is the time to make a bold decision to choose between the good which will rescue the Mizos and the bad which will lead to extinction.”

Addressing the people at various places during the 9-day march, ZNP Vice President K. Liantlinga said Mizoram has several illnesses, and “we are encircled by a number of miseries.” "Thus, Mizoram needs to be saved. It has to be saved from poverty, corruption, malpractices and injustice. People have to be delivered from these bondages and our land should be saved from recession", he said.

The Chief Minister according to K. Liantlinga is constantly talking about Mizoram as a served state and that the people are sluggish. "But he is wrong, we are not a sluggard, instead we are not getting equivalent shares and profits", he said.

"Political parties who ruled the sate played party politics and vote bank politics. Instead of doing good deeds and making a remarkable treasure for the country, they only cared for their career. They exercised nepotism ignoring the qualified and talented one. We have to liberate Mizoram from this defective political system", asserted K. Liantlinga.

He further added that ZNP would not follow ‘Disbursement Policy’, but rather “follow the policy of reaping the fruit of hard work’. The disbursement of New Land Use Policy (NLUP) according to Liana is a mere fool. "As soon as people receive it, it comes to smoke and people remained at the same precarious state without making any progress. Therefore, free gift brings no good result", he added.

Source: Newmai News network

JNU To Have Separate Hostel For Northeast Students

By Pradeep Kumar

New Delhi, Sep 5 : Clearing numerous hurdles for construction of a 500-bed North East Students' hostel, the JNU authorities today identified land, courtesy the initiative of NE MPs Forum (NEMPF).

JNU Vice Chancellor Prof Sudhir Kumar Sopory, Rector Prof Sudha Pai, Deputy Registrar Kh Siile Anthony and Superintending Engineer Pradeep Kumar along with the forum's Secretary General Takam Sanjoy, Delhi Police Joint Commissioner Robin Hibu and a few officials visited the varsity campus here for demarcating the land for the ambitious project which would serve as a panacea for NE students pursuing higher education in New Delhi.

Union DoNER Ministry would provide Rs. 95 crore for the hostel, which would have 50 percent reservation for the NE girl students alone.

NEPMF chairman Mukut Mithi in a representation to the VC said the hostel should be named 'Subansiri Hostel' after the river in Arunachal Pradesh, and suggested co-opting JNU Deputy Registrar Anthony as liaison officer between JNU and the NEMPF.

However, Mithi could not visit the varsity today as he had been called by the PMO.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had consented to allot land for the hostel at a high-level meeting in All India Congress Committee (AICC) held under the chairmanship of Union Minister Oscar Fernandez on July 16 and attended by DoNER Minister Paban Singh Ghatowar, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, his Meghalaya counterpart Mukul Sangma, Mithi, a host of AICC leaders and MPs from NE, including Sanjoy.

Dikshit took up the matter with JNU Vice Chancellor after Sanjoy called on her with a written request on July 27 following which the VC had consented to identify land for the purpose within the university campus.

Sanjoy, who conveyed his gratitude to Dikshit and JNU authorities for identifying themselves with the cause of NE people, reiterated his plea to Delhi CM for implementing the Rent Control Act in the NCT region as "our students face a lot of problems as landlords arbitrarily increase rents by 40 to 50 per cent and use it as an instrument to remove the tenants."

With the formal letter of allocation of land, it would be the responsibility of the DoNER Ministry now to finalize the design, earmark fund to give the go ahead signal.

It may be mentioned here that this was one of the commitments given by the Congress Party during the 2009 Delhi University Students' Union election.

"Most of the NE Students' Unions had extended their support to DUSU with this demand," Sanjoy added.

The Delhi-Arunachal Forum (DelAru), a voluntary organization of Arunachalees living in Delhi, had also placed the same demand with the state's MPs.

World Zomi Convention Next Month

Imphal, Sep 5 : With an aim to create awareness, the Zomis or the Zo community settling at various parts around the globe will converge at the 3rd World Zomi Convention at Lamka, Churachandpur district in Manipur between October 25 to 27 under the theme, 'Marching on ....' , and reason together on the means to be followed by the community in order to make them stand more united in the face of challenges generated by technological advancement.

According to the organising committee of the 3rd World Zomi Convention, Union minister of Surface Transport Oscar Fernandes; Chief Minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh and his cabinet ministers including MLAs and high ranking officials from the Zo-descendents have confirmed their participations as chief guest and in various capacities.

The program will start from Lamka Public Ground, Hiangtam Lamka and wind up there in a grand concluding function. Various cultural dances will be showcased by troupes of different tribes in addition to another cultural extravaganza by troupes of other tribes and communities.

A fellowship programme under the theme, "Be a Blessed Nation," will be held during the night at selected churches. A seminar under various topics will be conducted by scholars and intellectuals with knowledge in the field at Hiangtam Lamka.

During the convention, a traditional heritage house will be set up and inside it various traditional costumes and clothes in addition to traditional tools and implements of the Zo people will be deposited and displayed.

This is done with an aim to make the Zo descendants realize of their “pristine traditions and glory and thereby drawing them closer to each through such a show.”

Mizoram FA Launches Official Ball & Theme Song for MPL

The Mizoram Football Association today, September 4 unveiled the official ball and theme song for the Mizoram Premier League - Season II.


The official ball for the MPL II is the Nivia Shining Star 2022 with an MPL logo printed on it. The ball was unveiled by Scott O'Donell, the AIFF Technical Director for Regional Academies, who currently is in the Mizoram capital Aizawl conducting the AFC 'B' License Course.

The theme song was released by Mohammad Basir of the Asian Football Confederation, who is the instructor for the on going AFC 'B' License Course in Aizawl. The song is performed by the leading artist of the state Rosangliana, who is fondly called by his fans as Zorock.

Here is the Link to the: official MPL music video on YouTube!



Speaking on the ocassion Mizoram Football Association president Lal Thanzara declared that the MFA Super Cup will be played on September 30 between Dinthar FC (MPL champions) and Chanmari FC (MFA Cup champions); which will be followed by the opening match of MPL II on September 26.

However, the date of the MFA Super Cup and MPL II start could be delayed if the floodlights at the Lammual stadium is not ready on time though the construction of the Lammual stadium floodlights is on in full swing.

The Honorary secretary of Mizoram FA, Lalnghinglova declared that the Mizoram Football Association has signed an agreement with Nivia to work together for the promotion of football in the state. Nivia will support the running of the MPL by providing footballs, linesman flags, corner flags, referee jerseys, etc; while Nivia will also support the development of football at grassroot level in the state.

source: arunfoot.blogspot.com

Mizoram Likely To Restart Reang Refugees' Rehabilitation

Aizawl/Agartala, Sep 5 : The Mizoram government is likely to initiate the return of the 37,000 tribal refugees sheltering in Tripura for almost 16 years from this month, officials said Wednesday.

"I have called a meeting of officials concerned Sep 9. In the meeting, the schedule of repatriation of refugees would be finalised. We want to restart the repatriation from this month," Deputy Commissioner V. Lalremthanga of Mizoram's Mamit district told IANS over phone.

In an earlier round of repatriation of refugees, nearly 4,500 people were rehabilitated in Mizoram from Tripura. That process was stalled after differences arose over the terms of the repatriation.

Mizoram home department joint secretary Lalbiakzama told reporters in Aizawl Monday that the Mizoram government has approached the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to allocate additional quantities of rice for the returning refugees.

"Unless we get the additional quantities of rice for the tribal refugees, how can we provide them free ration for one year?" Lalbiakzama asked.

District civil supplies officer K.P. Mathew said that the quantity of rice needed would depend upon how many refugees return to Mizoram.

The tribal Reang refugees, locally called 'Bru', had fled their homes in several villages in Mamit district in western Mizoram in October 1997 after ethnic clashes with the majority Mizos over the killing of a Mizo forest official.

Tripura's revenue department secretary Swapan Saha told reporters in Agartala that the union home ministry has recently once again asked the Mizoram government to take back all the 37,000 tribal refugees, living in six makeshift camps in Kanchanpur sub-division of north Tripura, 180 km north of Agartala.

He said: "In a separate letter, Tripura Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar Panda requested his Mizoram counterpart (L. Tochhong) to take suitable steps so that refugees could go back home."

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in New Delhi in July and requested their intervention.

Sarkar, also holds the home portfolio in Tripura, told both the prime minister and the union home minister that "continuous presence for over 16 years of refugees from Mizoram has been a matter of concern for Tripura".

"The long stay has its own socio-economic and law and order problems. The state government is providing necessary support for early repatriation of these families. However, the process has been extremely slow," said Sarkar.

The refugees have been insisting that without a formal agreement between the central government and the state governments of Mizoram and Tripura and also the tribal leaders, their rehabilitation will remain uncertain.

The leaders of the refugees have sent several memoranda to the prime minister and the union home minister in support of their 18-point charter of demands, which include safety and security of the returning refugees, free rations for one year and financial assistance to restart cultivation.

High Child Rights Abuse Rate in Northeast

Guwahati, Sep 5 : The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), an independent regional non-governmental organization holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, has urged the Human Rights Council to engage in constructive dialogues with the Government of India to ensure that the government take all measures to reduce threats faced by children in conflict zones in India, including the North East.

In its written statement, the ALRC has mentioned that a host of factors, including ethnic conflicts, have affected the future of the children in the region. The ALRC also stated that the different insurgent groups in the North East, including the ULFA, have been recruiting children and teenagers in the region.

The report regretted that though India ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1992 with a declaration on Article 32 and the two optional Protocols to the Convention on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict on November 30, 2005 and on Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography on August 16, 2005, yet, children in India face manifold forms of human rights abuses, mostly in regions where armed conflicts exist, like in the north-eastern region of the country.

“Multiple conflicts between armed insurgent groups and between some of these groups and the government dominated the region since the last five decades. Insurgent groups by force recruit children in the region,” says the report pointing out that ULFA uses teenagers to ferry explosives and to detonate grenades.

On the other hand, the report also expressed concern over the high school dropout rate in all the eight States in the region.

“The dropout rate of children of age group 6-11 from school is 45.91% for boys and 44.87% for girls. This is way above the national average, which is 31.81% for boys and 25.42% for girls.

For the age group 6-14, the dropout rate is even higher, with the rate of boys leaving school at 60.08% and girls at 59.32% in comparison to the national average 50.84%,” the report says.

The report also says that frequent strikes by warring ethnic and political groups have affected the mobility of children and often forced closure of schools. It is common in the region, for schools to remain closed for four to six months due to strikes.