DU students develop app for uncommon languages

NEW DELHI: The Indic Language application, when it goes live, may not help you discuss the geopolitics of oil in Ladakhi or Mao Naga (also called Imela) but you should be able to swear in them. After he discovered in school that he could impress friends by writing their names in different languages, Vikalp Kumar, 21, learnt eight. That interest has translated into a rather unique conservation effort for "lesser-known" languages at Delhi University's Cluster Innovation Centre.

A team of four undergraduates, including him, are gathering words from native speakers and will make that corpus-with audio versions -available through a web application. So far, it has completed work on two languages-Ladakhi and Mao Naga. More are in the works.

Vikalp, originally from Chennai, speaks Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, English and Sarazi (or Saradzi)-spoken in one district in Kashmir-and possesses a "workable understanding" of Persian and Sanskrit. Initially, he was thinking large scale-"We wanted to cover South Asia."

As mentor and coordinator of BTech in Humanities, Sukrita Paul Kumar's job was to keep ambitions realistic. An editor for People's Linguistic Survey of India, she knew just how massive an undertaking this project was. The students found out soon enough-spadework alone took a semester; the questionnaire took three months. Typically, this sort of exercise would claim large chunks of funds and field visits. The team found ways around both.

Delhi's 'melting-pot' status helped. "There are speakers of 80 northeastern languages in Delhi," says Vikalp. They found some through friends and student associations. Containing over 2,600 English words (covering 30 topics) and phrases in English, the questionnaire is circulated among native speakers of a language for the closest equivalents in it.

In September 2013, members of Ladakhi and Kargil student associations participated in what Vikalp calls a "rapid vocabulary collection workshop". In about four hours, 2,500 words in Ladakhi were "collected"-"enough for a basic dictionary"-and recorded. He found speakers of Dhatki, from in Sindh in Pakistan, at the South Asian University in Delhi.

Technology allowed Vikalp to cross borders. He contacted a speaker of Khowar (from Chitral, near Swat Valley) in Islamabad through Facebook. Words are "collected" by email and recordings, by instant messenger, Whatsapp.

"When we have about five languages," says Kumar, "We can go public." She's also considering letting future batches of students pick up where the current leaves off, adding to the number of languages.

But the app isn't another online dictionary. It has songs, subtitled videos and indicates the geographical spread of a language. "There aren't equivalents for all English words. In Sarazi, there's 'here', 'there', 'yonder' and 'out-of-sight' instead of 'front', 'back' etc," explains Vikalp, "Some languages have words for 'uphill', 'downhill', 'upper-stream' and 'lower-stream', others don't." "You can see how geography influences language formation," adds Kumar.

Himanshu Patel and Vivek Shekhar worked on "geography, culture and politics" for the first semester. The 'tech' team-Himanshu and Leelambar Soren-had to teach themselves Flash from internet tutorials; help was also sought from linguistics departments within and outside DU.

In his fourth semester, Vikalp is taking a few courses in linguistics from the university department-BTech in Humanities runs in the meta-college system allowing him to pick what he likes. A bachelor's degree isn't offered in it at any college.

Charming vignettes of life in Mizoram

Isha Arora, Feb 20 :

Few Indians ever think of Mizos, fellow-citizens who inhabit the far Northeastern outreaches of the national territory,” the introductory passage entailing the gist of ‘The Camera As Witness: Capturing Mizo Pasts’, a photography exhibition from Mizoram throws light on this stark reality. 

Resonating with the current sentiment in the Capital, post-Nido Taniam’s death and the discourse around discrimination, it seems true not just for Mizos, but for all the Northeasteners. Recently displayed in India International Centre Annexe’s Art Gallery, the exhibition curated by Joy LK Pachuau from Jawaharlal Nehru University and Willem van Schendel from the University of Amsterdam, took us through the period of nearly a century, offering a charming glimpse of life in Mizoram.

The black and white pictures distinctly elaborate how Mizos engaged with their social environment, as the course of history turned from the colonial rule, the arrival of missionaries to the insurgency between the 1960s to the 1980s. With extensively detailed captions and text, the exhibition divides the course of Mizo history as it dwells on different stages such as the prominence of Lushai chiefs (the 60-odd autonomous chiefs who ruled the Lushai (Mizoram) hills before getting incorporated into an administrative system under the British colonial rule); the arrival of missionaries in 1894 that spread Christianity with a focus on education; the staging of culture and tradition by representing local culture pictorially as it became a focus of attention for both colonialists and missionaries; education, troubles, music etc.

Interestingly, the photographs emphasise the underlying reality of how Mizos became the forerunners in search of modernity. What comes across as ‘westernisation’ for the rest of India this side of the Brahmaputra, is indeed the Mizos’ acceptance and adaptation to the global symbols of modernity as they domesticated these symbols to fit their local culture. For instance, their interest in cosmopolitan lifestyles got an impetus during World War II when allied forces spread across the region. That’s where the trend of cowboy-inspired dressing styles and American popular music impregnated the Mizo culture.

Through a sweeping glance at studio photography and wedding portraits amongst other frames, the exhibition provides a comprehensive look at Mizo history with an array of evocative pictures.

Mizoram cops arrest militants in Manipur

Imphal, Feb 20 : Mizoram police and IRB from Mizoram have entered neighbouring Manipur and arrested five cadres of Hmar Peoples Convention-Democratic (HPC-D) in the wee hours today, according to UPF.

HPC-D is one of the outfits under the umbrella organisation of United People's Front (UPF) which is engaged in the Suspension of Operation (SoO) term with the Government of India and Manipur Government.

UPF leader Robinson informed Newmai News Network tonight that a combined team of Mizoram police and IRB numbering around 100 personnel entered the territory of Manipur around 1 am of Wednesday and conducted operation at a village called Parvachawm in Churachandpur district bordering Mizoram.

In the course of operation, five cadres of HPC-D were arrested by the Mizoram security force personnel.

The United People's Front (UPF), one of the two umbrella organisations of Kuki militant outfits in Manipur, condemns the conduct of the Mizoram police for arresting its cadres at Parvachawm, Manipur today.

UPF information secretary Robinson said the Government of Mizoram ought to respect and acknowledge that the UPF is in Suspension of Operation (SoO) with the Government of India and the Government of Manipur, the Government of Mizoram also ought to honour the terms and conditions of the SoO as it is ushering the UPF into the peace process.

The act is a serious violation of the tripartite agreement.

"The un-invited highhandedness of the Government of Mizoram can derailed the hard earned peace in its neighbouring state.

It is merely inviting trouble to itself.

The government of Mizoram should concentrate and maintain peace in their own jurisdiction not in other's state," Robinson stated.

"The concern officer who had granted permission to operate in the state of Manipur is dishonouring the tripartite agreement where in the govt. of India, the govt. of Manipur and the UPF are party to the pact.

In future the government of Mizoram is to honour and respect the agreement," Robinson further said.



Newmai News Network

Why Murnirka’s ‘diktat’ against NE tenants is no surprise

By Shruti Dhapola

New Delhi, Feb 19 : Delhi’s Munirka village is once again in the spotlight, for the wrong reasons. According to reports on social media, a ‘panchayat’ in Munirka held a meeting on Sunday where it was decided that tenants from northeast India would be asked to leave the area. The news caused outrage with many viewing this as a "diktat by a khap panchayat". Munirka is also the same area where a 14-year-old Manipuri girl was recently raped by her landlord’s son.

“The first panchayat meeting took place on 9th February after the 14 year-old from Manipur was raped. Thanks to media pressure, the rapist was caught. That was a first.

At the first meeting, some of the people said that the people from northeast are ‘gandey log’ (dirty people). Then another meeting was held on Sunday, where they said they wanted to rid of all ‘gandey log’.

This is similar to the Khirki incident, and they have said that Northeast girls are loose and of bad character,” says Binalakshmi Nepram, an activist and founder of Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network. Nepram was also one of the first people who tweeted about the incident.

Located in South West Delhi, Munirka is a popular place to stay for students from northeastern states given it’s proximity to the Jawaharlal University. Other than JNU, the village is also a mere twenty minutes away from the posh DLF Promenade and Emporio malls in Vasant Kunj. For a south-Delhi location, real estate is also quite conveniently priced. One of the gates into the Munirka village.

One of the gates into the Munirka village.

Why people flock to Munirka

According to a property dealer, a one bedroom flat (with space for a kitchen) is available for as low as Rs 7,500 if one is looking for a slightly newer apartment with a western toilet.

A two-bedroom flat is available between Rs 13,000-14,000. Buildings with older constructions and Indian toilets are even cheaper and apartment rents start at around Rs 5,000.

In fact, the most prominent boards you will notice in Munirka are those of property dealers. The narrow bylanes are filled with four and five-storey houses, some which are relatively new and are modelled on the more fancy constructions that dot upper-class residential areas in Delhi.

While some might consider Munirka a congested area, it is a favourite with students and youths from the northeast states for cheap homes available there. People from the northeast states form a majority of the tenants in the area.

It’s not just students but also families originally from the northeast who live in the area. 'Not against persons from northeast, just drunken, trouble mongers' Munrika’s Residents Welfare Committees, however, deny such a diktat was ever issued. Bharat Singh Rathi, general secretary of RWA, told Firstpost,

“This is a rumour. We only want to make sure that outsiders don’t come, get drunk and create a ruckus.” When asked to define 'outsiders', he says he meant people who don't hail originally from Munirka. "We don’t know who is coming here at night. We wrote to the police about this as well," he added. Other residents also deny that such a decision was ever taken.

"The issue was never about getting rid of people from the northeast. There are some students from northeast and some from our own community who stay out on the roads at night, get drunk and fight at ‘chowks’.

We want to make sure that all shops are shut post 11 pm and that there are CCTV cameras to keep a track of who comes and who goes," Ravi Kumar, a resident of Munirka, said. But Nepram says that the panic had already spread thanks to the panchayat’s decision. "If we hadn’t gone to the police and stood there for 11 hours, the RWAs and panchayat would have done what they wanted. I stand by my tweet. There was already panic among the people from the northeast community.

We sorted it out with the SHO and RWAs and got an assurance that no one would be evicted," she says. Akbar Chawdhary, JNUSU president, says that it was only intervention of the police that stopped the panic from spreading.

"In Munirka, the panchayat tends to take all the decisions. We called a meeting with the SHO because we were worried that this diktat will be used to discriminate against the people from the northeast.

Rumours like this caused massive trouble in Bangalore," Akbar said. History of atrocities While Munirka offers residents cheap accomodation, it has never exactly been safe for people from northeast.

Nepram says that the measures being taken on the pretext of boosting safety in the area were meant to target and drive out people from the northeast states. "Harassment is an everyday concern here for the girls.

Let’s not forget that in 2009, 19-year-old Ramchanphy Hongray was killed in Munirka," she said. In September 2009, a girl from a northeast state was molested and beaten up by her neighbours in Munirka.

Another TOI report from 2011 also highlighted the kind of harassment that many girls from northeast have faced while living in the area - some of them even had to resist attempts at rape. "Who will decide who is behaving in a drunk and disorderly way? The fear is that this deadline, safety argument will be used against people from Northeast as the police and local residents have a certain mindset when it comes to them,” Akbar said.

And where attitudes are concerned, some assumptions about residents from the northeast do exist among those renting out property. “60 percent of these Assamese people are bad. The good ones go to work in the morning, but some of them get drunk and create trouble for everyone else,” declared a landlord, who did not wish to be named.

473 infant deaths in Mizoram from April-December 2013

Aizawl, Feb 19 : At least 473 infants below one year died in Mizoram during April to December last year while ten mothers died during pregnancy and delivery over the same period, a senior official said today.

According to Dr Gordon Zohmingthanga, Mission Director of the state National Health Mission, there were 14,825 pregnant women while 16,156 new-born babies reported in the state during the period.

"The Sample Registration System Survey, 2012 revealed that the national Infant Mortality Rate for a year was 42 in every 1,000 and the rate in Mizoram was 35 in every 1,000 pregnant women," he said.

He said that 89 per cent of the delivery was safe delivery (delivery in hospitals) while it was 98 per cent in Aizawl district and southernmost Lawngtlai district was the lowest at 62 per cent.

Chawngtlai to be declared as 'Historical Village'

Aizawl, Feb 17 : The people of Chawngtlai, whose village is one of the important villages in southeast Mizoram in Champhai district, are all enthusiastic to declare their village as "Historical Village' on coming February 21 .

The historic day is anticipated to mark with showcasing traditional way of warfare and headhunting alongside with displaying the tradition of Mizo heroes celebrating their victory by hanging their enemy heads at a raised ground.

During their interaction with media last Friday, Chawngtlai Welfare Committee told reporters that it has finally decided to declare Chawngtlai as 'Mizo Historical Village' as there are traces of Mizo forefathers- their artifacts and antiquities which are of historical importance.

According to Chawngtlai Welfare Committee there are a number of historical artefacts related to Mizo heroes which can serve as cultural heritage of the state.

Among the artefacts and antiquities are 'Sahlam' a place where heads of Pawih enemy were hanged by Chawngtlai king Nikuala and his brave worriers; first graveyard in Mizoram; Zawlbuk (a bachelor house established in 1932) and monuments and monoliths related to the Hmar tribe one of the major tribes of Mizo such as stone statue, Hranglung (stone erected in memory of wild beast or monster hunted), Hmar Lungtat (stone used for sharpening sword or spear), Lal Nikuala in (King Nikuala's palace), Pasaltha Hranghleia thlan (great warrior Hranghleia's grave), Lal Lungdawg (king's gravestone), Lalruanga lung kah keh (a stone fired into segment by Lalruanga, one of the well known Mizo heroes among Hmar tribe), Lungsen (a stone used to see luck) and a stone erected in memory of Biaklawma who is known to be the first to composed poem for commemorating child birth.

Besides, important monuments like Great Cave, the Lasi Cave (a cave identified with house of fairy lady) and Hringei Puk (cave where men are eaten alive) are also among the antiquities found at Chawngtlai village.

Scrap 15 of 44 dams planned across Siang in Arunachal: CWC report

By Nitin Sethi

The Hindu A bird’s eye view of the difficult terrain and hills of Arunachal Pradesh flocked by clouds as seen from an MI-17 helicopter near the Brahmputra basin, also known as Siang. File photo: Akhilesh Kumar

They will hit ecology and biodiversity as far away as Assam

A report commissioned by the Central Water Commission has recommended scrapping of 15 of the 44 dams planned across the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh. It has also suggested stricter regulations for the ones that are to be built in future.

The report has warned that the proposed 44 dams, meant to establish a capacity of 18,293 MW, will affect the river ecology and biodiversity and the region all the way down to Assam. Cumulatively, the projects will impact more than 500 km of river stretch. Of this, 353 km will be converted into reservoirs, and water will travel through tunnels for another 160.8 km. More than 18,000 hectares of forests will be impacted.

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests will consider the report at the next meeting of its Forest Advisory Committee before it assesses the controversial 700-MW Tato II project, which the UPA government has pushed hard to clear. But the CWC report notes that the downstream impact of the dams will be felt all the way to Guwahati.

The report notes: “Siang Lower HEP (2,700 MW), Siang Upper Stage II (3,750 MW) and Siang Upper Stage I (6,000 MW) are planned to cover almost the entire length of the Siang in India. 208.5 km of the river will be converted into one continuous reservoir as all three projects are planned back-to-back without any free flowing intermediate river stretch.”

The report only asks for the smaller capacity dams, with a total capacity of 473.5 MW, to be done away with.

“It is strongly recommended that after dropping these projects, these river reaches should be kept free. These projects should not be re-allotted by altering their features, locations and names. Also on other free stretches/tributaries, no further hydropower projects should be planned/allotted in the entire Siang basin even if they are small (less than 25 MW) and do not fall within the purview of the EIA notification,” says the report.

The Ministry has decided to assess the Tato II project for clearance, claiming it is the first project in the river basin, though it assessed the 1,000-MW Siyom (Middle Siang) project for environmental clearance as far back as 2004-05.

The Ministry’s panel for forest clearances will also review the Lower Yamne State I and II projects, which fall in the Siang river basin and add up to 184 MW. The CWC report has assessed this sub-basin to be of the highest biodiversity value in the overall Siang basin.

Zopar Doing Good Business During Valentines

By SAURAV BORA

Guwahati, Feb 14 : In Cupid-struck Northeast, roses seem to be the flowers of choice for lovers, if the demand for the Dutch variety is anything to go by.

“The demand for Dutch roses is at an all-time high. Last year, it was a little over a lakh in the first two weeks of February. This year, it’s pushing 2 lakhs and we are expecting people to buy another lakh on Valentine’s Day alone,” said Rajesh Prasad, managing director of Zopar Exports Private Ltd, the leading flower supplier in the region.

Zopar produces 5,000 to 10,000 flowers daily in the region, which are sold locally. Guwahati tops the demand list, followed by Shillong, Dimapur, Kohima and Aizawl.

“We have 12 retail outlets and five wholesale points from where the flowers are distributed across the region. In Guwahati alone, we have sold over 60,000 roses this month,” Prasad said.

The average demand for roses in the Northeast is about two lakh per month. But between the third week of December and the second week of February, as many as five lakh roses vanish off the shelves in a month’s time.

“The season kicks off with Christmas and New Year’s Day, while post-January 15 it’s weddings and Rose Day on February 7. So not just roses, but anthuriums, chrysanthemums and carnations, among others, are in big demand,” he said.

Apart from roses, the monthly demand for varieties such as gerbera and orchids are the highest in the region at 75,000 and 50,000 respectively. “About 20,000 of each variety are procured from outside the region,” Prasad said.

The weather plays a crucial role in the rose output. “Ideally, the temperature should range between 15 and 30 degrees Celsius. However, the average winter temperatures in the region dip below 10 degrees Celsius, which delays the budding process. So, we have to cut a flower from its stem by the third week of November, so the next flower blooms in around 60 days,” Prasad said.

Zopar procures roses from Bangalore and Pune to meet the ever-growing domestic demand. “About 50,000 Dutch roses come from Bangalore and Pune in the run-up to the celebrations. The rest are met from local production. The bulk of the flowers are grown in Mizoram and Meghalaya, while in Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, we support government projects,” the entrepreneur said.

The flower company, which began operations in the region a decade back, supports nearly 2,000 farmers in the Northeast. “We facilitate setting up of greenhouses, provide technical knowhow and also buy back from the farmers,” he said.

Higher purchasing power and better lifestyles are also pushing up the sales of not just roses but other gift items like teddy bears and greeting cards.

On the eve of Valentine’s Day, the gift shops here were chock-a-block. Red heart-shaped pillows, teddy bears, mugs engraved with messages, greeting cards and chocolates of varied flavours were selling thick and fast.

“A teddy bear please,” said a college girl browsing through the shelves at a Panbazar outlet here. She was not alone. There were others queuing up to the counter to make last-minute efforts to find a “perfect” gift.