Northeast today TruePDF january 2019

MoU INKED WITH CML FOR 30 FOOTBALL SCHOOLS IN MANIPUR HOMEGROWN APP BASED TAXI SERVICE LAUNCHED IN MEGHALAYA Three new districts were carved out in Arunachal Pradesh.. Delving Deeper A

Vol.9 Issue.01 January 2019

CONTENTS

WINTER FESTIVAL

Making Forward Strides

the Grass is Greener

20

Press at Peril

44 54

Old Rail Routes

Assam

Assam Gets India’s Longest

Rail-cum-Road Bridge

50 62

Mixed Bag

Journey to anOasis of Nilgais

Northeast and the north-easterners have often been neglected by the

‘mainland India’ and the sons from the soil have been usually been

neglected, even though they break the barriers by creating a name for

themselves Maumita Mazumdar & Partha Prawal catch up with a bunch

of immensely talented souls from the soil who have been gradually

climbing the ladder of success and carving out a niche for themselves

in their respected fields.

EDITOR’S NOTE

As we have entered into a new year, bidding adieu to 2018, it’s

time for all of us to introspect and leave out all the negatives that happened in the year gone by and take forward only the positives from the year Leaving aside the socio-political turmoil that the Northeast witnessed in 2018, there have been many positive transformations that took place in the region In 2019, let us help to spread these positive vibes across the entire Northeast region.Northeast has been ravaged by a series of problems- starting from insurgency to many others It is very recently that the region has started opening up: let us keep up with the momentum

The region has huge potential in terms of resources and over the years we have had some success in tapping some of the previously untapped areas In 2019 let us make effort to tap the several other untapped areas To achieve this, all we need to make is strong resolutions and work towards the growth and development of the region All we need is determination A determined mind can achieve anything

Let us pledge to shun negativity and explore all opportunities for the betterment of the region

Wishing you all our readers a very Happy New Year!

LET US PLEDGE TO SPREAD POSITIVITY

CEO & DIRECTOR

Executive Editor: Ranjan Engti

Managing Editor: Manjari Gupta

General Manager: Dogen Sharma Gurumayum

Business Communicator: Kshitiz Singh Suri

ADVISORY BOARD

Sudarshan Srinivasan, Dharamsing Teron

EDITORIAL

Consulting Editor: Pradeep Kumar Behera

Assistant Editor: Partha Prawal Goswami

Sub Editor:Chirasmrita Devi, Maumita Mazumdar

Arshad Shah

Special Correspondent: Aamir Jawaid,

Oken Jeet Sandham, Dibya Jyoti Borah

Correspondent: Kingson Chingakham,

Jeijei Newme

CREATIVES

Layout & Graphic

Designer: Tridip Saikia

I appreciate your attempt of covering different

achievers from all the eight states of Northeast

However, I feel the selection could have made

from diverse fields Yet, it was a good cover story

Best Wishes

Shenaz Saikia, Nagaon

The article on Kiwi Wine was very

informative Despite from belonging to the Northeast, I was not aware of this Organic Kiwi Winery in Arunachal Pradesh I think it’s a great attempt to promote local products worldwide

Aryan Singh, Manipur

Northeast is the land of festivals There are so

many colourful festivals that are celebrated

throughout the year in all the states of the

Northeast I am glad to see that your magazine

covers a lot about these festivals Keep it up!

Tyra Thangalianmang, Aizwal

I really liked the Cover story and its title ‘The

Dominators’ of your December issue Reading about such personalities not only inspire us but also make us proud as belonging to the Northeast

Ridi Kesang, Itanagar

MAIL JUNCTION

DECEMBER 2018

Reading about Dhritiman Bora and his

bamboo craft was really inspiring Such old traditions are dying a natural death In such

a scenario, it feels good to see people like Dhritiman who makes efforts to keep the traditions alive

Ajay Thapa, Peling

January 2019 9 www.northeasttoday.in

MAIL JUNCTION

I would like to request the team of Northeast

Today to kindly improve the Travel section of

your magazine I am a regular reader of your

monthly and I have noticed that the quality of the

travel stories have been degrading with every issue

If possible, kindly make it more interesting and

informative Thank you

Gerang Metha, Nagaland

The fashion article of the December issue

was good and informative as I was not even aware that there are so many different types of are actually available However, the author could have added the details of where to find these varieties It would have been much better

Jhelum Roy, Silchar

I was really happy to see the ‘Tenga Chaats’ of

Chandmari getting featured in your magazine

It’s really trending in Guwahati and I appreciate

the team for writing about people like Jyotish da

Prakriti Kalita, Guwahati

The Rapid Fire section was an interesting

read Do continue this fun section in your

upcoming issues

Anjan Das, Guwahati

The photogram section of the December

issue was very interesting But, I feel that you can change the layout and design

of the section as it’s almost the same in all the issues A little change would make it more visually appealing

Ritisha Khanikar, Guwahati

Please introduce a section for poetry and

fiction It would very nice for writers like us

as we will be able to contribute Thank you

- Sameer Phukan, Bhetapara

QUICK PICK

A significant initiative to develop football

at the grassroots level in Manipur is

undertaken by the government by

signing a memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) with the Centre for Micro Finance and

Livelihood (CML), an associate organization

of Tata Trust As per the MoU, 30 Grassroots

Football Schools would be set up in different

areas including remote areas of the state

‘Shillong Cabs’ is Meghalaya’s first homegrown

cab aggregator with a soft launch of almost

400 cabs already in early December As of now, the service covers entire Meghalaya and parts of Assam including Silchar and Guwahati The android app took almost five months to be developed to ensure the real-time database of the drivers’ location

to be maintained

MoU INKED WITH CML FOR 30

FOOTBALL SCHOOLS IN MANIPUR HOMEGROWN APP BASED TAXI SERVICE LAUNCHED IN MEGHALAYA

Three new districts were carved out in

Arunachal Pradesh The state assembly on

August 29, 2018, passed a bill for the creation

of three new districts – Pakke-Kesang, Lepa-Rada,

and Shi Yomi Shi Yomi was declared as the 23rd

district of the state on December 9, 2018 Lepa-Rada

and Pakke-Kesang as 24th and 25th districts were

declared on December 10 and 14 respectively

THREE NEW DISTRICTS IN

ARUNACHAL PRADESH

Vivian Richards the legendary cricketer from

West Indies was in Guwahati as a part of his campaign ‘Made for Medicine’ Richards

is the Brand Ambassador of American University

of Antigua College of Medicine, and was in the city

to participate in promotional events for the medical college He also expressed his wish to take home world famous Assam tea which is one of the best

VIVIAN RICHARDS VISITS GUWAHATI

January 2019 11 www.northeasttoday.in

QUICK PICK

The social welfare department at Lammaul in

Aizawl on December 19, 2018, organized the

post-harvest festival Paul Kut The festival was graced

by Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan and

congratulated the Social Welfare Department and the

Ministry of Tribal Affairs for their concrete efforts in

organizing the festival, which he said is a unique initiative

and an innovative concept undertaken by the State in

promoting its rich culture and traditions It is one of the

main festivals of the people of Mizoram and is celebrated

typically in December for 2 days after harvest

On December 12, 2018, the “Agri-Link Road

and Marketing Shed under MGNREGA was inaugurated in Kizoma village Nagaland Kezoma VDB Secretary Zadekhweto Zecho, District Rural Development Agencies (DRDA) Project Director Kohima Alemla J Chishi in the presence of Khovi Thaprii BDO RD Block Jakhama, inaugurated the structures

AGRI-LINK ROAD AND MARKETING SHED INAUGURATED IN NAGALAND

PAWL KUT FESTIVAL ORGANAIZED

IN AIZAWL

The over a century old Ujjayanta Palace of

Tri-pura’s Manayikya kings houses the state seum of Tripura The museum is all stated to get a digital facelift to boost the number of visitors According to the tourist department of the state, the number of visitors to the museum in the last nine years has been 9, 50,000 The palace was converted to

mu-a stmu-ate museum in September 2013

TRIPURA STATE MUSEUM TO GET DIGITALISED

SIKKIM HOSTS WORKSHOP ON

DISASTER RISK EDUCATION IN

SCHOOL CURRICULUM

A state-level consultation on Child Centred

Emergency Preparedness for Response was

held at Gangtok, Sikkim Shakti Singh

Choud-hary, Mayor of Gangtok Municipal Corporation

pre-sided over the inaugural session of the workshop The

programme was organized by Sikkim State Disaster

Management Authority (SSDMA) in collaboration

with UNICEF, NDMA and OXFAM India

THEY STATED

”

Our milestone in Mizoram is getting a respectable number in

the assembly will not be a problem for I have friends in gress, MNF and ZPM

Con-Himanta Biswa Sarma (On BJP’s quest to secure a seat in Mizoram)

”

“ Development is the message of BJP and young party activist will

convey this to each and every Indian

Amit Shah, BJP President

(At the closing ceremony of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha national

Workshop ‘Vijay Lakshya’ 2019)

”

“ Be it doctors or politicians- we are here to serve the people We are

not here to take your abuses If you are a common person and if you think you can say anything to those in power, no you can’t If somebody in power has done any wrong, you can go to the court But you don’t have the right to abuse anyone publicly

N Biren Singh, CM Manipur, (Over the detention of a journalist under NSA for allegedly calling him a ‘puppet of Hindutva’ recently)

”

“ Today a corrupt, immoral and anti-people group is talking of

‘change-transformation-Parivartan’ all over But Parivartan

(transformation) does not take place only by lip service

Pawan Chamling, CM Sikkim

(On completion of 24 years of government in Sikkim)

“

January 2019 13 www.northeasttoday.in

THEY STATED

”

“ After the creation of Staff Selection Board, you must have realized that

favours like job-for-vote are not possible anymore Now you have to

also ensure that cash-for-vote practice is thwarted if you wish to see

development in the real sense

Pema Khandu, CM Arunachal Pradesh

(On shunning cash-for-votes culture, a call to the people for clean elections)

”

“ We need improvement in many areas especially when it comes to

rural healthcare We are looking at ways on how we can work with the private sectors to achieve our objective of providing better services to the people

Conrad Sangma, CM Meghalaya (at the launch the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY))

”

“ I had predicted over 29 seats for MNF and less than 10 for Congress My

prediction has come true Voters were fed up of the mismanagement of

the Congress

Zoramthanga, CM Mizoram

(After coming back to power as a CM)

”

“ How many crores will you give? (abuse) Is it journalism? People

like you are demeaning journalism This man is against us from earlier on

Badruddin Ajmal, AIUDF Chief (On being questioned by a scribe journalist about his position for next year election)

STATEWIDE ARUNACHAL

PRC ISSUE ROCKS ARUNACHAL PRADESH

Maumita Mazumdar reports on the present political tension that has surfaced in Arunachal Pradesh owing

to the government’s decision to grant PRC to the non-tribal people residing in the state for decades

First Words

Arunachal Pradesh as a

re-gion has always remained

politically conflicted

ever since it attained statehood

Be it the disputed

internation-al boundary with China or the

Dragon nation’s claim on the

ter-ritory Or the shared tensions of

the northeastern states like

insur-gency, differences between the

Central Government and the

na-tive tribal people added on by the

increasing migration problem

With the recent political

development in the country, it

is interesting to notice how the

otherwise alienated northeastern

states are touched by the Modi

wave and painted in Saffron, and

Arunachal Pradesh stands as an

evident example of it

The political drama in the

state has recently grown more

riveting with the announcement

made by the Arunachal ernment that it is considering granting Permanent Resident Certificates (PRC) to non-tribals residing in Namsai and Chang-lang districts of the state which has evoked strong resentment

Gov-Arunachal Pradesh tutionally is a protected state

Consti-No outsider could have any land

or trade licence, which is a stitutional provision Granting PRC to anyone who is non-trib-

con-al amounts to a violation of the constitutional provision

Delving Deeper

A senior journalist of the state Pradeep Kumar Behera while speaking to Northeast To-day said, “A committee regarding the grant for PRC was constituted during the former chief minister Dorjee Khandu headed by then Lok Sabha member and present

state Congress President Takom Sanjay But the decision met strong opposition from AAPSU who claimed that it would harm the sentiments of the indigenous people And hence the issue was dropped out.”

“At the present scenario, the constituency of Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein mostly has peo-ple who are tribal in Assam but not schedule tribe in Arunachal Pradesh Many of them have land Patta during the British time,” further added Behera

“Because of the grant of the Union Territory and Arunachal Statehood Act 1986 the question

of granting them land possession certificate does not permit And

as the constituency of Chowna Mein people have been demand-ing land possession certificate and it has eventually become

Residents in Arunachal Pradesh taking out rally demanding PRC

non-tribal communities have

settled in Namsai and Changlang

districts of the state over several

decades and have been

demand-ing the PRC Six non-tribal

com-munities reside in Lekang

con-stituency under Namsai district,

which Mein represents Two

non-tribal communities reside

in Vijayanagar (Changlang

dis-trict), followed by four in

Nam-sai, two in Chowkham (Namsai)

and four in Diyun-Bordumsa

(Changlang)

These sections of the

peo-ple are tribal in Assam but are

non-tribal in Arunachal Pradesh

They have been dwelling in the

region for ages and hence are on

a demand for PRC

The decision has seen the

distinctly similar reaction which

it faced earlier with the student

union and civil bodies agitating

spontaneously against it and

tak-ing out massive rallies in its

op-position

Also, Deputy Chief

Min-ister Chowna Mein has been

slammed for announcing such

a crucial decision in haste

with-out considering the final reports

Addressing media person man of APACC, Taba Taku said that the organisation was not against granting PRCs to genuine non-tribals but the government should wait for the report which

chair-is due to be filed by the Joint High Powered Committee headed by state Environment and Forest Minister Nabam Rebia which is studying the issue He further added that the announcement made is “nothing but a policy of appeasement before elections”

Considering the impending intriguing situation, Chief Min-ister Pema Khandu addressing a rally said, “It is our responsibili-

ty that the issue of PRC is solved once and for all else, it has the potential to disturb the peace and harmony in the area”

Further a press statement leased by the Arunachal Govern-ment, “In no given point of time will the Government take a de-cision which will be against the interest of the Indigenous peo-ple and the State which has been amply reiterated by honourable Chief Minister and Honourable Deputy Chief Minister in various forums and occasions.”

re-According to the statement

released the Joint High Power Committee JHPC is still in the process of conducting consulta-tive meetings with all stakehold-ers in various locations in the State It is clarified that the Gov-ernment will examine the issue

of PRC only after receiving the report from the JHPC which will

be further taken to the cabinet for appropriate decision

JHPC was given a deadline

of January 2019 to present the port but as observed by AAPSU the time is insufficient As per the union, there should be a proper time frame for a thorough study

re-of all the aspects re-of the issue so as the concerns of all the stakehold-ers are duly addressed

Final Words

It would be interesting as how the entire issue is taken care of, considering the fact that the PRC issue is very sensitive in nature and while keeping in mind that it could create communal violence if not dealt wisely It is also import-ant to understand that just making

it an election issue and a statement

to win votes can back-fire the ernment both by the indigenous people and non-tribals

gov-STATEWIDE ASSAM

ASSAM GETS INDIA’S LONGEST RAIL-CUM-ROAD BRIDGE

The much-awaited bridge on the Brahmaputra- Bogibeel Bridge- was inaugurated on December 25 last by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thus bringing an end to a journey of over 200 months Northeast Today

compiles a detail report about the inauguration of the bridge right from the day it was commissioned

Throw Back

The roots of approval of construction of the

bridge can be traced back to the days when

the Assam Accord was inked The bridge

was sanctioned by the then government of India

in 1997-98 and the construction of the bridge

was expected to be completed by the completion

of the next five-year plan Even though the

foundation stone of the bridge was laid by the

then Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in 1997,

the construction, however, was inaugurated

only in 2002 by the then Prime Minister Atal

Bihari Vajpayee and the bridge was supposed to

be completed by 2008-09 But the construction

began only in 2007

The then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan

Singh in 2007 granted the bridge a national

project status The construction of the bridge in

a real sense, however, began only in 2011 The

initial estimated cost of the bridge was Rs 1767

crore, however, owing to the delay in construction

by several years, the total construction cost of the

bridge amounted to Rs 5960 crore

Key Points

• Bogibeel Bridge is India’s longest cum-road bridge It is not only the country’s first fully-welded steel bridge but the world’s longest incrementally launched steel bridge

rail-• Bogibeel Bridge has a ‘serviceable period

• The Bogibeel Bridge is also likely to play a crucial role in defence movement along the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh

• The bridge will reduce travel time from Assam to Arunachal Pradesh to four hours It will also reduce the Delhi to Dibrugarh train-travel time by about three hours to 34 hours as against

37 hours presently

• The bridge will reduce the distance to the

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal and other dignitaries taking a stroll at the Bogibeel Bridge after its inauguration

STATEWIDE ASSAM

Northeast region by 165 km, saving fuel worth Rs

10 lakh per day in the region

• The bridge and the train will be a boon for

the people of Dhemaji as major hospitals, medical

colleges and airport are in Dibrugarh, the

third-largest city in the Northeast

Other Developments

After the formal inauguration of the Bogibeel

Bridge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also

flagged off the first train on the bridge and he

described its opening as a ‘historic’ feat, calling it

a lifeline for the people of Assam

Prior to the inauguration, Union Minister

JP Nadda commenting about the importance of

the bridge, said, “This will usher in a new era of

progress and development for the North-eastern

states, with enhanced connectivity that will spur

economic growth in the region.”

Chief Engineer Mohinder Singh said the 4.9

km-long bridge is the nation’s only fully welded

bridge, for which European codes and welding

standards were adhered to for the first time in

India

Commenting on the importance of the bridge,

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, said, “By enhancing connectivity, the Bogibeel Bridge will provide a boost to growth and development in the Northeast, while furthering India’s strategic interests.”

It may be mentioned here that with the width ranging from 1.2 km to 18 km, the Brahmaputra has been bridged only four times in the past, and the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) holds the distinction of building two of these bridges and has now constructed the fifth

According to military experts, the Rs 5,920 crore rail-cum-road bridges are designed to bear a load of over 60 tonnes of battle tanks and withstand earthquakes up to a magnitude of seven

in the Richter scale Fighter jets can also land and take-off from the bridge in case of a war-like situation

Military experts also maintained that Bogibeel rail and Road Bridge gives faster movement to troops based in Nagaland and Manipur to reach the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh instead of crossing the Brahmaputra at Tezpur, which is 250 kilometres west

A view of the Bogibeel Bridge

(NCW) and the commission

works in collaboration with an

award-winning NGO called

Cyber Peace Foundation

and social networking giant,

Facebook It was first launched

on June 18, 2018, at Punjab

University, Chandigarh and has

been launched in four other

states- Haryana, Delhi-NCR,

Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu

The Northeast edition was

launched at Sangai Hall, Imphal

Hotel with Manipur Governor

Najma Heptullah, state social welfare minister Nemcha Kipgen and chairperson of National Women Commission Rekha Sharma inaugurating the function

“The digital literacy programme aims to train 60,000 women in universities across India this year, “said, Rekha Sharma in an interview with Northeast Today

“The two-month-long campaign project has so far covered around 16,000 and are bound to increase with the launch in the state and will further be launched in

Meghalaya and Sikkim in the next two weeks,” she noted

The Launch

The launching of this campaign is the need of the hour for a developing state like Manipur as the number of people getting online is increasing rapidly With the majority of the urban population having a Smartphone and using internet another immediate necessity, people automatically switched

to the online world

Governing bodies have also switched to the virtual world and provide a platform for its

DIGITAL SHAKTI FOR NORTH EAST INAUGURATED

Digital Shakti, an initiative of the union government to digitally empower young girls and women, was launched for northeast region in Manipur in December Jeijei Newme reports

Manipur Governor Najma Heptullah along with other dignitaries during the launch of the Digital Shakti

January 2019 19 www.northeasttoday.in

STATEWIDE MANIPUR

functions like direct benefit

transfer (DBT) of schemes

like Old Age Pension, PMUY,

PMAY, MGNREGA and so on

It has become a necessity

but as there is a saying ‘little

knowledge is dangerous’, digital

populace mostly new users

fall prey to cyber traps and

even crimes With so many

possibilities available in just a

click, it can lead to somewhere

else There is a need to make

these new users aware of the

complexity of switching on

internet data

The government has

launched this programme

targeting women especially

to empower them with digital

literacy and also to curb crime

against women Three months back, a woman in the state was found brutally murdered by a man whom she befriended from

a social networking site There are many instances like this, reported and unreported and it has become a necessity to treat this threat with a better solution

In Conclusion

The launching workshop was attended by around 200 women, students and women civil society organisations from across the districts like Senapati, Chandel, Ukhrul, Imphal East and West districts

They were taught in detail

of usage of the internet and how to stay secure in the online

world, said Rekha

Chairperson of state women commission, Dr Meinam Binota informed that from the workshop, 15 ToTs (Training

of Trainers) will be selected

The selected ones will further organise campaigns in their respective locality or villages

Manipur Governor Najma Heptullah during the

function said, Manipur faces connectivity problem, but it is not the responsibility of the state government to enhance better connectivity but also the central government

Stating that the ‘world is in our palm’ through the internet, she also appealed all to use the internet wisely

Representative Image

STATEWIDE MEGHALAYA

First Words

Meghalaya has nearly

640 million tonnes of

coal reserves

Min-ing of coal by hand has been

going on in Meghalaya for over

150 years, mostly for local use

Large-scale illegal and

indis-criminate mining of the coal

by private landowners and the

local community started nearly

three decades ago Most of these

mines employ minors, some

from neighbouring states and

Nepal as well; the miners work

many metres underground in

unsafe conditions, mining coal

with their bare hands The

Na-tional Green Tribunal (NGT)’s

ban four years ago seems to have had little effect as the latest sat-ellite images taken by the North East Space Application Centre (NESAC) showed mining activi-

ty still underway were submitted before the NGT

This isn’t the first accident involving an illegal mine in the state In February 2014, four miners were killed when the walls of an illegal mine collapsed

in Garo Hills In December 2013, five miners died when the cable

of the contraption which was carrying them down to an ille-gal mine in Jaintia Hills broke

In July 2012, 15 miners drowned

in an illegal mine in Garo Hills

when an underground stream flowing near the mine flooded it.Very recently two activists, Agnes Kharsiing and Amita Sangma, were attacked while they were recording instances

of transport of coal from gal coal mines in the state The people familiar with the matter added to the recent accident in-volved labourers from the Garo Hills region of the state

ille-At the time the NGT ban was imposed, nearly 6 million tonnes of coal were being ex-tracted annually from Megha-laya’s illegal mines The ban had rendered thousands of people jobless and affected local busi-

THE RATE-HOLE MINING TRAGEDY

Rescue operation in full swing in East Jaintia Hills near the coal mine tragedy

Year 2018 ended on a sad note for the family members of some 15 miners who are still ‘trapped’ in

a coal mine in East Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya Even though efforts to ‘rescue’ them have been going

on a war footing, yet much can be said till the time of filing this report Northeast Today digs in…

January 2019 21 www.northeasttoday.in

nesses Prior to the assembly

elections in Meghalaya in

Feb-ruary, the BJP promised to lift

the ban within six months if it

was voted to power The party is

a minor partner in the National

Peoples’ Party-led government

in the state

The Incident

Around 20 miners had

en-tered the 370-foot mine on

De-cember 13 After reaching the

bottom of the pit, they entered

the horizontal tunnels, often

termed “rat-holes”, as each just

about fits one person

Accord-ing to local people, one of the

diggers could have accidentally

punctured the walls of the cave,

following which the river water

gushed into it Five people were

able to climb out of the flooded

mine, leaving the others behind

Seven of the 15 trapped

labour-ers hail from West Garo Hills

district, five from Assam and

three from the remote Lumthari

village, where the accident took

place

Even though the state

gov-ernment and other agencies have been trying their best to rescue the trapped miners, how-ever, till the filing of this report all efforts to trace the labourers have turned futile as the water level in the mine showed no signs of receding So far, as per the available reports, only some helmets of the miners have been found and rescuers have said of

‘foul smell’ coming out from the mines

Blame Game

The recent incident has opened the Pandora’s Box as allegations and counter-allega-tions from both the Congress and the BJP have surfaced

Congress president Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi for not do-ing enough to rescue the miners trapped inside a flooded coal mine

“15 miners have been gling for air in a flooded coal mine for two weeks Meanwhile,

strug-PM struts about on Bogibeel Bridge posing for cameras His

government refuses to organise high pressure pumps for the res-cue PM please save the miners,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted

“Meanwhile, the PM struts about on Bogibeel Bridge pos-ing for cameras,” Rahul further Tweeted after PM Modi on De-cember 25 inaugurated the Bo-gibeel Bridge- India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge

Meanwhile, on December

27, Union minister Kiren jiju asked Congress President Rahul Gandhi not to do poli-tics over the “tragedy” of 15 la-bourers trapped in a Meghalaya coal mine, saying the Centre has been helping the state govern-ment in its rescue efforts

Ri-Rijiju also blamed the vious Congress government in Meghalaya for the “unsafe illegal minining activities” in the state

pre-Last Words

Hope the New Year brings some positive news and the miners trapped are ‘rescued’ and the bereaved families get some respite

STATEWIDE MEGHALAYA

STATEWIDE SIKKIM

First Words

The beautiful state of

Sik-kim has garnered a

glob-al recognition by

trans-forming itself into an all organic

state and as the Green Man of

Sikkim, Omi Gurung speaks,

being the first organic state of

India has worked positively for

the state It has given a good

facelift to Sikkim globally and

the success is shared by all

“But more than the tag, it

is a story of determination and

hard work of people of Sikkim

to work in harmony towards a

clean and green state,” adds Omi

Indeed the inhabitant of the

state has taken upon themselves

the responsibility to maintain the green cover of the state and has supported the government

to take every step forward to protect the natural ecosystem

The earth is facing a major matic change and one of the major reasons is the forest cover depletion Deforestation in the name of development is costing more than what could be imag-ined

cli-On Climate Change

Climate change is one of the major environmental threats the world is facing It is one of the most important determinants of vegetation patterns and signifi-cantly affects the biodiversity,

natural resources and mankind

“Sikkim too has witnessed a drastic climate change in last five years The weather condition here is unpredictable Increase

in the population and use of the resources is one of the prima-

ry reasons for climate change However, with several environ-ment-friendly programmes and conservation policies of the state government has proved to be beneficial,” Omi further shared Several studies have shown

a decrease in mean minimum and maximum temperature in the state The snow cover and rainfall to have decreased in the Himalayan region of Sik-

TO THE SIDE WHERE THE GRASS IS GREENER

Climate change and deforestation are two sides of the same coin The depletion of the forest cover from the earth has directed the changes in the climate The mesmerizing state of Sikkim situated at the lap of the Himalayas has found ways towards the recovery of the forest cover

Maumita Mazumdar writes further.

Representative Image

STATEWIDE SIKKIM

kim The climate changes are

more rapid in the higher altitude

Mantam Lake at 4th Mile in

Up-per Dzongu, North Sikkim had

emerged after a hill avalanche on

August 2016

As stated by Chief Minister

Pawan Chamling in a seminar

recently, the green cover in the

state has risen to 47.62 per cent

in 2017 from 43.95 per cent in

1993 Sikkim covers just 0.2 per

cent of the geographical area of

the country and is an important

global biodiversity hotspot

Quoting Omi, “Green is

more than a colour Green is a

verb.”

Conservation Policies

The state government has

conceptualised a plethora of

conservative measures and these

have proved instrumental in

re-covering the forest cover by 4%

since 1993

In Omi’s words, “The

con-servation policies and

envi-ronmental programmes of the

government of Sikkim are truly

noteworthy and applaudable

Programmes like ‘Ten Minutes

to Earth’’, ‘Smritivans’, ‘Mith or Mitini Tree (adopting a tree)’

‘Paryavaran Mahotsav’, ‘Rural Tourism’ and ‘Swaach Sikkim’

have successfully created mass awareness on the importance of clean and green Sikkim Lots of creative and fun programmes for students and the general public are often organised by the gov-ernment of Sikkim in collabora-tion with NGO’s One of the best decisions by the government was

to ban plastic in 1998 becoming the first state in India to ban dis-posable plastic bag This was it and there was no looking back

Today, the tiny Himalayan state has emerged as one of India’s en-vironmental leaders.”

Sikkim has laid the path; it has set the example towards a more environmentally friendly society that can exist in a modern developing world And as Omi said, “We still have miles to go”

Definitely, a greater ment to recover the loss of forest cover from the entire region is required

commit-Pan Northeast PoliciesThe northeast region is fac-

ing severe climatic changes and should try to adopt the reforms implemented by Sikkim A sus-tainable lifestyle and individual commitment towards the mother earth is the need of the hour

“It is high time people come conscious consumer and try to live a sustainable lifestyle The policies and schemes will not

be-be effective unless each ual is aware of the negative im-pacts of climate change and work collaboratively with the govern-ment towards finding solutions

individ-to the environmental problems

in Northeast region”, Omi

Speaking more on able living Omi shares with Northeast Today as for how the very simple choices of the indi-viduals can have an impact on the environment He speaks on how people are unaware that even their clothing choices are exploiting resources and man-power

sustaThus it is more on the dividuals than anybody else to find a balance between develop-ment and preserving the envi-ronment

in-Adopt a Tree Scheme (Representative Image)

STATEWIDE TRIPURA

First Words

Nearly after five decades

after the erstwhile East

Pakistan (now

Bangla-desh) government suspended

train services near Belonia, a

small bordering town in South

Tripura district, whistles of a

rail engine have reignited hopes

for an international rail route

through the area On December

2 the Commission of Railway

Safety ran an inspection test on

the 9.8-km Santirbazaar-Belonia

broad gauge line which connects

to Agartala and could

potential-ly extend to lines in Bangladesh

Agartala became part of the rail network only in 2008, but railways are not new to Tripu-

ra People of southern Tripura enjoyed railway connectivity till

1965 when the Indo-Pak War broke out Then a small railway station at Parshuram village in East Pakistan, just 2 km away from Belonia, offered rail ac-cessed to Feni which was a gate-way to Chittagong and other cit-ies on the other side However, war changed everything The railway station near Belonia was shut down after 1965, thus cut-ting Tripura’s access to railways

Great Idea

Birendra Kumar Shil, a tired librarian of Belonia Govt Degree College, says reviving the old communication route would be a great idea

re-“We could journey by train till Feni, a district town in now Bangladesh One could get transport till Chittagong or Dhaka from there I have not gone beyond Feni But Kolkata could be accessed via Darsha-na,” remembers Birendra Kumar Shil, a 72-year-old retired librar-ian of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasa-gar Government Degree College

HOPES OF REVIVING OLD RAIL ROUTES TO BANGLADESH

January 2019 25 www.northeasttoday.in

at Belonia

Tripura played a crucial role

in the birth of Bangladesh with

liberation warriors being trained

at Melaghar in now Sipahijala

district and Agartala being used

as a strategic hub for the war

Though this meant Tripura’s

re-lations with Bangladesh,

bond-ed by their common language,

developed manifold after the

nine-month Liberation War in

1971, the communication routes

remained dead till both countries

started talks for international rail

connectivity in 2010

India and Bangladesh signed

a Memorandum of

Understand-ing (MoU) for a 15.054-km

rail line between Agartala and

Akhaura in 2013 It is

expect-ed to become operational from

2019

“People of Belonia have

wanted the old rail route revived

for years Now, the new tracks

can be linked with the old ones

on other side of the border,” adds

Shil In fact, the Belonia railway

station is only 80 feet away from

the nearest Indo-Bangla check post

Benoy Nandi, a 75-year-old retired headmaster of Belonia Vidyapith Higher Secondary School, echoed similar senti-ments “I was taken back to my younger days by the rumble and whistles of the rail engine

I heard these whistles every gle day in Belonia 53 years back since there was a rail station in East Pakistan, barely 2 Km away from our town I hope to see an Indo-Bangla rail again here,”

sin-says Nandi

Bikash Shil, a 29-year-old school local teacher praised the BJP-led NDA government’s ini-tiatives for better bilateral trade and transit with Bangladesh

Final Words

Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) senior public relations officer Md MMY Alam had told reporters this February that the Belonia-Feni railway line pro-posal was yet to be approved by Dhaka Tripura transport minis-

ter Pranajit Singha Roy was not available for his comments on his government’s plans to initi-ate dialogue to connect Belonia railway station with Bangladesh Tripura Chamber of Commerce and Industry president ML Deb-nath said importing goods would

be a lot easier if the old rail route was restored at Belonia

“We have a land custom office there But if the old rail route between Belonia and Feni

is restored, business would be a lot easier and cheaper for both countries,” he said

Export-import trade with Bangladesh commenced in Tri-pura from 1995 Border trade in the state is currently estimated

to be Rs 300 crore per annum

A large number of tourists from the country also visit Tripura every year, making it the highest foreign tourist destination in NE India in 2017

(The article was first lished in The Indian Express and was authored by Debraj Deb)

pub-STATEWIDE TRIPURA

SPECIAL REPORT

First Words

The journalist

communi-ty across the country and even

from the South Asian countries

and some social organizations

has condemned the arrest

Mani-pur-based journalist Wangkhem

Kishorechandra and has

de-manded for his immediate

re-lease; whereas the Manipur state

government is firm on detaining

the journalist citing that he will

be a threat to national security if

released

Cause and Timeline

Kishorechandra on

Novem-ber 17, 2018, had uploaded a

video in his Facebook profile

ex-pressing his anger, indignation and frustration with the present BJP government at the state and the Centre, for pursuing Hin-dutva ideology

The journalist branded the

CM a ‘puppet’ of Hindutva itics, especially of PM Narendra Modi and the RSS He had also pointed out that the BJP govern-ment and RSS seek to obliterate the distinct history and unique identity of Manipur He made all these allegations based on gov-ernment’s decision to observe the birth anniversary of Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, claiming that such observance had noth-ing to do with Manipur

pol-He also used expletives,

rath-er unpalatable words for public use in the video that he posted, speaking both in Manipuri and English He also challenged the state government to arrest him for uploading the video clip.Following his video footage, the state government observed that his act of using filthy, de-rogatory and obscene language against the PM, CM and RSS amounts to sedition, which was highly objectionable and illegal

On November 21, Manipur police affected the arrest of the individual mainly on the charge

of sedition Considering and disposing of his bail application,

MANIPUR JOURNALIST JAILED UNDER NSA

Wangkhem Kishorechandra

An Imphal-based journalist, Wangkhem Kishorechandra was arrested on November 27, 2018, by the Manipur state government under National Security Act (NSA) and has been sentenced with twelve months detention/imprisonment under the Act Jeijei Newme reports.

January 2019 27 www.northeasttoday.in

the Chief Judicial Magistrate of

Imphal West on November 26

observed that the words, terms

and gestures used and the

com-ments made by him could not

be termed seditious and that it

appeared to be a mere

expres-sion of opinion The words did

not appear to be intended to

create enmity between different

groups of people, community,

sections, etc It could not be a

case of inciting people for

re-sorting to violence against the

government to topple it, the

court further ruled

However immediately on

the following day i.e on

No-vember 27, Kishorechandra

was arrested and detained

un-der the stringent NSA by an

order of the District Magistrate

Imphal West for a period of

twelve months

On December 13, the

ad-visory board of NSA approved

his detention, which said, “After

considering the proximate past

activities of the [detainee] and

potential danger of his

activi-ties which are prejudicial to the

security of the state and

mainte-nance of public order and there

is apprehension of his

continu-ing to act in [similarly]

preju-dicial activities, the moment he

is released from detention, is

further of the opinion that the

said person should be detained

for the maximum period of 12

months as provided under

Sec-tion 13 of the said Act.”

About NSA

National Security Act

em-powers the administration to

‘detain a person to prevent him/

her from acting in any manner

prejudicial to the security of dia, the maintenance of public order’ and so on It also em-powers the authority to ‘detain

In-a citizen without giving the tainee any right to move the law courts, and even the assistance

de-of lawyers denied to a detainee’

AMWJU Tussle

While many have called the slapping of NSA to KC as inappropriate and inhumane, including journalist bodies like Indian Journalists Union and Press Council of India, All Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU) remained si-lent IJU have questioned their stance over the issue and their silence in a press release on De-cember 3

To which, the acting ident of AMWJU, Brozendra Ningomba who is also the edi-tor-in-chief of the channel that

pres-KC formerly worked (till vember 19), ISTV, replied to IJU on December 22, that it was not their business to meddle in the case and even threatened to part ways with the parent orga-nization

No-This has created an ire among some journalists here

in the state that the reply to IJU was made by the president alone without the consent of the standing committee AM-WJU An emergency meeting was then called on December

25 and clear things out

A press release from the meeting tendered an apology

to the IJU and the union now joins the conglomerates of de-manding the release of KC from the clutch of NSA

CM’s Response

In a function held on cember 26, Manipur chief minister Nongthombam Biren Singh being firm on detaining the journalist clarified that KC had tried to incite and propagate secessionist idea by supporting militant groups

De-CM quoting dra’s “do not betray and insult the present freedom fighters

Kishorechan-of Manipur”, pointed out the reason for detaining KC un-der NSA CM asked “are these words questioning the unity, in-tegrity, sovereignty and nation-alism of India? Or are they mere criticism against me or my party

or the PM?”

The chief minister also tioned whether taking legal ac-tion against those questioning the unity, integrity, sovereignty and nationalism of India there-

ques-by inciting secessionist idea not the duty of a government?

Raising Voice Together

Now the issue is gaining mentum with support from var-ious fraternities, including me-dia, human rights, legal, social organizations and even student bodies They have condemned the use of inhumane act, even calling it draconian to detain a person just for expressing his opinion

mo-A little history of KC

Kishorechandra worked as

a news editor and anchor of a local channel, ISTV, till Novem-ber 19 when he was terminated

by his editor-in-chief Brozendra Ningomba

SPECIAL REPORT

N ortheast and the north-easterners have often been neglected by the ‘mainland India’ and the

sons from the soil have been usually been neglected, even though they break the barriers by creating a name for themselves Maumita Mazumdar & Partha Prawal catch up with a bunch

of immensely talented souls from the soil who have been gradually climbing the ladder of success and carving out a niche for themselves in their respected fields.

T he handicraft culture of the northeast

is rich and it not just defines the gion in totality but also contributes by strengthening the economy The variety of

re-products crafted in this region varies

accord-ing to the tribes and their lifestyle, rangaccord-ing

from intricately woven garments to daily

util-ity products Inspired by these crafts, culture

and symbols of the picturesque states of the

northeast Arpit Agarwal has come up with his brand of lifestyle product and accessory de- sign- NEST.

Born in Dibrugarh, Arpit is determined to alleviate his brand to a position which would reflect the brilliant craftsmanship and vibrant lifestyle of the people from the Northeast He aims to promote the art and culture of the re- gion with the amalgamation of his personal ideas and the existing indigenous designs Arpit Agarwal completed his post-grad- uation diploma in lifestyle accessory design from National Institute of Design, Ahmed- abad, in 2008 He began by assisting Rebecca Reubens of design firm Rhizome in Ahmed- abad, where he worked on a project exploring the sustainable use of bamboo in the produc- tion of furniture and lifestyle.

He has also worked as a design consultant for the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship and the Khadi Village and Industries Com- mission conducting crafts workshop on mod- ernising indigenous jewellery and the use of bamboo in Assam, Manipur and Meghalaya

NEST

The designs of NEST are brightly coloured graphics and illustrations inspired by the symbols and traditions of the tribal culture The products available are notebooks, coast- ers, posters, frames, tote bags, utility pouch-

es, calendars, postcards, magnets & badges,

January 2019 29 www.northeasttoday.in

COVER STORY

bookmarks, key rings, and jewellery etc The

Jewellery is made in 925 Sterling Silver with

18 Karat Gold Plating And the price of these

products ranges from Rs 99 to Rs 6500.

Designing as Career

Though Arpit states that designing as a

carrier was not on the cards, “designing was

never the first choice, until I went to Delhi

for my higher studies after my 10th standard

There I was introduced to design by a dear

friend, who told me to pursue a career in

de-sign as she thought I had the spark as I was

already into art and craft (very cliche) I will

always remain thankful to her for this.”

Arpit was very keen in art since a very

young age and hence when he went to Delhi

for higher studies he chose Commercial Art as

one of his subjects which opened his pavilion

towards the creativity that he is showcasing

today in each and every product he designs

“My commercial art classes in school were

like any other art class for me I took those

classes because it had art in it,” adds Arpit.

On being asked if he thinks the inclusion

of commercial art as a subject in schools in Assam or NE states can be helpful, Arpit said,

“Oh, yes art and design can be very much part

of school academics I think some schools have already incorporated that in their sylla- bus Design and art can definitely be a good career option beyond the traditional ones.”

“Creativity requires the courage to late go off certainties”, as stated by Erich Fromm

Challenges

A career like product designing comes with challenges galore and to establish a brand and to accomplish arrives with lots of uncertainties.

Speaking about it at length Arpit says,

“Challenges are a part of everyday life ery other day there is a new challenge that one needs to overcome A major challenge has been to create a market/ audience for the products that we create Being based here in

Ev-COVER STORY

Rittyz Kashyap: Connecting Art With Earth

R ittyz Kashyap is one of those rare breeds

of person who believes in tweaking

the medium of paint and brush with a

different avenue and imparting a message

Co-founder of ARTH Art for Humanity, a

Delhi-based NGO that aims in employing myriad art

forms as agents of social reform, Arth strives

to transform and invigorate communities.

The Beginning

Speaking about the initiation of the NGO

and how the members go together, Rittyz says,

“Art speaks to all, it can cut across all factions and usher social transformations It is this power which inspires Arth Art for Humanity.” Co-Founded by Rittyz Kashyap and Irfan Khan, this Delhi-based with PAN India operations has morphed into a network

of like-minded people, who seek answers

to the travails of a developing economy in

a globalised world And this they hope to facilitate through art, by freeing art from the consumerist tendencies of a privileged few Sharing his thoughts about the naming of the NGO, Rittyz says, “ The story, goes back a long way when Irfan and I met in one of the reputed creative agencies of India Smitten by the charm of advertising, we spent some great years together But something was missing Art for the sake of fuelling consumerism, or

to please the crème-de-la-crème was no more meaningful.”

“Art for us has to live up to its real meaning

or as one says ‘Arth’ in Hindi Art for us has to

be for humanity Hence the name, Arth Art for Humanity,” he adds on.

Work Process

The team believes in keeping things simple and they firmly believe that “answers to all complex questions lies in simplicity”.

“As an artist committed to social good,

Guwahati, certain resources have been limited

or not available at all, so managing them from

outside has been challenging.”

Way Forward

Nevertheless, from his first batch of

prod-ucts which he stared with stationeries till

today he has established himself not only as

an artistic mind but also as a prospering

en-trepreneur Entrepreneurship is a common

phenomenon in the Northeast due to the lack

of enough employment opportunities tunately, not all the entrepreneurial concepts flourish till the point of success and beyond And on this Arpit says, is the lack of thinking out of the box, most entrepreneurs seem to

Unfor-go with the trend and even though they have the zeal to do something of their own their growth becomes stagnant at one point of time.

“It’s all about being patient and believing

in your idea Just believe in yourself, be tient and be ready to face the odds.”

pa-January 2019 31 www.northeasttoday.in

COVER STORY

I start with gathering insights about the

problem to be addressed This is followed by

brainstorming sessions that lead to the final

idea - one that is simple yet appealing enough

for people to take note Adding the local touch

works wonder,” adds Rittyz.

Adding further he says, “Personally, I have

been always the one who tries to do his bit for

the greater good My art has become a tool for

me now.”

Projects Undertaken

With the support of its volunteers and

members, Arth Art for Humanity has been

able to reach out to communities across the

length and breadth of

Rityyz sharing details

about the projects

undertaken so far.

Adding further

he said, “Fishing at

Wah Umshyrpi is an

artistic expression that encourages people to

do their bit for ‘Um - The Lifeline’ In Khasi

‘Um’ means water It draws inspiration from

the myriad stories, about the once clean rivers

of Meghalaya, most of which have now turned

into mere drains.”

“The second project ‘Haq se Hero’ is

self-funded and we are looking for funds for the

same ‘Haq se Hero’ is an initiative to nurture

underprivileged creative talents to become

self-reliant through mentoring and livelihood

assistance, thus enabling them to achieve

what is rightfully theirs,” further adds on the vagabond artist.

And then there are other projects like the

‘Pots of Hope’ and ‘The Concrete Tree’ which were two initiatives of the NGO, which was supported by the Urban Green Movement and Humana People to People India.

“Pots of Hope, an up-cycled plastic planter making workshop was conducted with some underprivileged creative talents from old Gurgaon The idea was to plant the seed in their minds, so they can keep our hopes alive for a greener tomorrow,” shares Rittyz.

“The Concrete Tree, a sculpture, is an intervention to help our concrete jungles

realize the treasure they have lost, in their frenzy

to create a world of architectural wonders,”

he shares further.

The multi-talented artist further informed that after the recent floods in Kerela, the NGO organised a three-day expressive art therapy workshop as psychological aid for the flood-affected children

of Alappuzha in Kerela.

In the course of the conversation, it was also known that the NGO recently completed an awareness as well as promotional campaign in Shillong for Metropolis 2018 around its theme

- The eARTh Connect.

“A total of 27 artworks on issues as varied

as rat-hole mining to river pollution were undertaken around the city, targeted at a population of over 2 lakhs,” he added.

Metropolis 2018 Experience

Shedding light on the Metropolis 2018 experience, Rittyz said, “It was a great learning

acquiring technology was becoming pretty easy to all the Indians.”

“ Manipur had a potential market due to its huge pool of local entertainment production, which was never professionally managed under a brand So both came up with the idea

to deliver a vision of digital entertainment platform for the Manipurians who were living within and outside also along with spreading the rich diversity of local cultures,” he says, while adding, “I, on the other hand, came to know them after we meet up at Khellen Oinam place in Safdarjung (Humayumpur village) aka Northeast Village Both of them had gone through a massive breakup and were chilling out and partying to steam of their romantic hangover I was currently doing a Japanese Anime merchandise business and was having

a tough time making the business happen On

a casual night, Samir introduced me to the

COVER STORY

experience for us as the creative partners

of Metropolis 2018 Metropolis, since its

inception, has been a great confluence of

artists and art lovers, and their theme ‘Th

eARTh Connect’ this time, they have taken it

further.”

Message for NET Readers

Sparing a thought for the readers of

Northeast Today, Rittyz says, “Together we

can and we will However small it might look,

a change is a change for the greater good So

put your best foot forward, and lead the way

to your better world.”

BRYAN AKOIJAM:

Empowering Through Entertainment

B ryan Akoijam aka Bryan Akoijam

Meetei Hao is currently the CEO

of a Manipur-based mass media entertainment site called Tantha, which introduces the viewers’ to diverse forms of mass media like films, fashion, music and photography Tantha aims to strive for many new forms of entertainment and present it to the viewers They aim at covering all forms of entertainment which enlighten the traditional culture of the princely state of Manipur.

Birth of Tantha

Sharing the story about the birth of Tantha, Bryan says, “The concept was initiated by Juswant Moirangthem who was pursuing mechanical engineering and Luwang Samir Kumar who was pursuing electronics and communications engineering

on September 2012 on their dorm room of Mahindra Engineering College, Tamil Nadu Their vision was to deliver a medium for easy access and properly managed data centre of digital contents since the advancement and

January 2019 33 www.northeasttoday.in

COVER STORY

idea about Tantha and I was instantly hooked

to it (since I had nothing better to do).”

“After that, we planned and came home to

start on the idea but by this time Juswant had

decided to leave the team due to his coaching

classes for he wanted to try for civil services

Once we started the idea to practice platform,

the initial concept of Tantha had to change in

order to adapt to their ground reality and we

agreed on a more different approach By this

time only Samir and I remained as the main

decision-makers to carry the idea ahead,”

further adds Bryan.

Meaning of Tantha

In Manipuri language ‘tantha’ means

rhythm As per Bryan, the idea was thought

over the intense argument and lengthy

bullshitting around to a final conclusion.

“The core idea lies in the notion the

everything that exists vibrates and has a

rhythm Life itself comprises different rhythms

- we wanted to encompass the rhythm of

living and existence all together but keep it

local in the name since we wanted to promote

our Manipuri scripture also Our logo also

represents a word from the letters of-of Tantha

in our own scripture,” says Bryan.

Challenges Encountered

“ Setting up a digital platform for

entertainment in our region is what I would

lai-lu meaning easy at the same time hard

because it’s a virgin market for such initiative

on a professional level,” says Bryan while

speaking about the challenges the team faced

while setting Tantha at its nascent stage

“ Many were there who had done it as a

part-time hobby but we made the whole thing

into a real centralised and regulated medium

since we needed to teach the supporters an

idea of branding an entertainment sector

We still face challenges today and we keep

on innovating the concept since competitors

are starting to pop up after seeing the new traffic trend of free Jio data On a sideline, Jio marketing campaign also has helped us reach this level with a serious boost to the traffic flow we got when Jio made huge offers and people got addicted to data and digital platform,” adds Bryan.

About Tantha’s Work

Tantha is an entertainment company, which focuses on the acquisition of entertainment content Providing promotion publicity and creating talk shows, music chart rating shows, entertainment shows etc which largely focuses on Manipur Film Fraternity Their business largely is based on the IT sector

or IOT sector (Digital India)

“Our initial idea was to promote the local film sector and introduce it to the nation and the world which we have succeeded and now we are currently focusing on a more commercial aspect One thing I have realised

is that ideas must never stay constant but must evolve in order to suit it’s surrounding since it’s a high time of globalization Small economies are easily affected by billion-dollar business models,” adds Bryan.

Sharing a piece from his personal note, Bryan feels that Northeast needs more and better IT infrastructure, apart from a faster internet speed with a lower price range

Bryan feels that in comparison to Delhi and other metro cities, the internet charges are to quite high for such an underdeveloped region of the nation

“The government needs to look on such sector since we also have consumers who are willing to pay,” says Bryan

Message for NET Readers

Persistent and determination alone is all powerful, so if you have that within you do whatever you think is right or viable to the current reality.

In the 40 seats Mizoram

As-sembly, the Mizo National

Front (MNF) won 26 seats,

with a clear majority The INC

won 5 seats and the BJP had to

close up in the state with just

one win The Independent

can-didates have performed

compar-atively better and have occupied

8 seats out of 40 in the

Assem-bly The MNF got a 37.6 per cent vote share, followed by INC with 30.3 per cent The BJP received

a vote share of just 8 per cent in the state Mizoram was the last bastion of the Congress Party in the North-eastern region With this defeat, the Congress Party has lost its ground in the region

The BJP has realised its dream

of ‘Congress-mukht’ in the

re-gion but was unable to achieve any substantial win in the state MNF leader Zoramthanga has been appointed as the new Chief Minister The Assembly will have

no women representatives

Madhya Pradesh

In Madhya Pradesh, the INC won 114 seats out of the total 230 Assembly seats Though it did

NATIONWIDE

HAND RISES, LOTUS WITHERS

Indian Democracy is vibrant and has once again proven that sovereignty lies in the hands of the citizens

In the recently concluded State Assembly Elections in Mizoram, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Telangana, the regional parties have proven their importance and the Indian National Congress (INC) has one again rose from its graveyards The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost in all the five states but special mention needs to be made on the defeat of its stronghold states- Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan This has opened the doors to the Congress Party and challenge the BJP in its endeavour of

‘Congress-mukht Bharat’ Kingson Chingakham reports

.

.