A couple from Pune, in their mid 50s - one an accomplished agricultural scientist with over 30 years of field experience and his wife, a committed educationist - have been living in Aben, an extremely remote village, for almost 2 and half year in Manipur’s most backward district, Tamenglong, studying the impact of Jhum cultivation on the lives of the Zeme tribe, who inhabit the village to counter the challenges that the hill people of region are facing by offering an viable alternative cultivation, aclimate-change smart sustainable method of agriculture.
Sloping Agriculture Land Technology or Small Agro-Livestock Land Technology or SALT in short, is what the couple is successfully introducing in the village with encouraging results, leading to increasing the productivity of the hill farmers and enhancing their income by introducing integrated system of farming.
Aben is tucked so far away, untouched by modern civilization and villagers rely primarily on shifting or jhum cultivation and the forest for their sustenance. With the region receiving eight months of rain in a year and given the pathetic conditions of the inter-village roads, 4×4 vehicle or foot is the only means of communication to Aben during monsoon.
Around two months back Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) walked out of the alliance with BJP in protest against the saffron brigade’s unflinching support for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
Now, just on the eve of Lok Sabha elections, why AGP took this 180 degree turn. Few months back the AGP leaders were seen hitting the streets across Assam with posters and banners against the citizenship bill. Really, it’s very difficult to read the mood of the politicians which keeps on swinging.
H. G Ley is an Andhra Pradesh base Neuro-linguistic programmer and magician on effectiveness of magic in education. Here is his extract during his demonstration in Shillong.
I am H.G Ley and since 35 years I’m in this field of performing magic show. Magic is an effective medium of communication which always appeals to the unconscious mind. Children know that listening to teachers and following their instructions is important for learning but not everyone can follow these instructions. Children are more curious when education is link to magic. Hence magic with education can help children attain their consciousness and curiosity in learning.
My inspiration to perform magic is to entertainment children, it’s not about self satisfaction. I conduct perform for various school children, I also educate children via magic by making it entertainment. There is a sense of wonderment and drama attached which makes the child curious, sharpens his imagination and he/she then starts thinking and raising questions. This ways their understanding of concepts is better.
The Star Cement Limited which is operating from Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya is in the news, this time precisely for wrong reason.The company which is extracting 9 lakh tons of limestone annually is proposing to raise it to 25 lakh tons per year. For this purpose a public hearing was conducted by Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board and East Jaintia Hills Administrators in collaboration with Star Cement which was opposed by the Village, Headman and school children. Floating all the rules, the public hearing was held at campus of Star Cement at Lumshnong where it was difficult for the people to raise their concern about environmental degradation with such large scale extraction of limestone.
It may be noted that in Jaintia Hills, there are large number of caves which took thousands of years to form are already destroyed by various cement companies because of its location at the close proximity to caves in the region.
The National People’s Party (NPP) has launched its social media campaign to enlighten the electorates across Northeast on its agenda with the theme — “One Voice, One Northeast”. The party has prioritised rural economy, education, youth and employment, promoting Northeast, education, environment and health as its key focus in their campaign - “Agenda for Northeast 2019”.
The three point agenda of the campaign — (a) to commit to the cause of indigenous people, minorities and the marginalised; (b) to ensure that the indigenous people and the minorities assert their ‘political say’; (c) to push for a strong political voice from the region to safeguard the interest of the people of Northeast.
On rural economy, the party envisage on the potential that lies in the rural areas of the Northeast and would push for a holistic development of the rural economy with particular focus on agriculture, horticulture and allied sector. “There is a need to strengthen rural infrastructure in social sector including health and education and the party would continue to focus on the core priority and would work to create an enabling atmosphere to promote education and health care facilities in the rural areas of the region,” the campaign states.
On youth and employment, the party states that it would encourage investment in private sector in tourism, hospitality, agriculture and IT. It also says that the party will formulate an ambitious policy to empower youth with different business and livelihood opportunities linked to rich resources of the region. The priority of the party will be to engage educated youth and professionals to harness on the opportunities, which is ample in the region. “There is a need to push and leverage our youth with a positive mindset, so that they can look beyond government sector and engage in activities, which will make them employable as well as make them entrepreneurs by way of which they would create jobs for many others as well,” the campaign states.
On promoting Northeast, the party says that North East India is a kaleidoscope of cultural and linguistic diversity. Each state of the region has its distinctive heritage and tradition. It is a melting pot of indigenous communities and their faith. NPP envisages to promote and safeguard the interest of the indigenous people. To curb the economic disparity in the region with synergistic focus on development. The region shares its proximity with South East Asia and NPP envisages to promote cultural, business and economic ties.
On agriculture and logistics, the party would lay its importance and thrust on the indigenous agricultural practices, which are climate friendly and also replicate ideas and scientific interventions to boost agriculture. There is huge advancement in agriculture sector, however, a lot of intervention is required to link our producers and farmers of different agri-horti and allied sectors to the market.b In most North Eastern states, the agricultural produces are organic by nature and are sold in the nearest market directly from the farm. There is a need to create hope amongst our farmers, so that they are able to innovate their agriculture products and add value, which will result in better returns. There is also a need to tag and brand our farm produces, which would create stories of our products regionally, nationally and globally. Our commitment is very clear that agriculture sector would be an important area to propel development and ensure economic stability and food security. The core area of intervention will be – (a) Agriculture and Environment; (b) Animal Husbandry and Fishery; (c) Food Technology and Balancing Agricultural outputs; and (d) Marketing linkage and Economic Stability.
On education, the party said in its campaign that quality of education has posed a major hurdle for development. For want of better education many communities, particularly the indigenous people are left behind. NPP embarks upon a responsibility to touch the lives of the indigenous people in particular and the minorities of the country. If a nation has to grow, the education sector needs to be strengthened. There are several initiatives and intervention to improve the education scenario of the country. However, most of these schemes have not percolate down to the vulnerable and marginalized section of the society. NPP has taken up education as a core priority to reach out to the unreached and ensure an equitable opportunity for educating the indigenous people along with other communities. The party underlines the principle of ensuring holistic development of the society with emphasis on elementary, secondary to higher education vis-à-vis professional and vocational education system. Education is crucial for helping the indigenous people cope with national integration. Education will determine their prosperity, success and security in life.
On environment, the campaign says that climate change poses a real challenge to our society, our economy and our national security. We are committed to combat climate change, which affect our children, our future and us. We are committed to promote clean and sustainable energy and provide alternative livelihood opportunities to our people, particular those dependent on jhum and other forms of traditional agricultural practices, which poses threat to our ecosystem. Our endeavour will be to mitigate climate change and protect the rich natural resources, and ensure that the quality of our air, water, and land for current and future generations. From investing in clean energy to protecting our ecosystems, NPP as a party is working to address the biggest environmental challenges, paving the way to a sustainable India.
On healthcare, The prevailing scenario of healthcare facilities in India is a major challenge for the people, especially those living below the poverty line and the marginalized section. For want of medical attention many people in rural areas and unreached hilly region of our country die due to different life threatening diseases. We as party are very much concerned and aware of the issues that affects everyone. We believe that by putting our thrust on this very important subject, we will be able to address the concern of our people, particularly those who are not able to afford high cost of medical treatment.
Governor Tathagata Roy assured to take necessary action into the demand for setting up of National Eligibility Test (NET) examination centres in Meghalaya for the interest and welfare of post graduate students.
The assurance was made before a delegation of the North Eastern Hill University Students’ Union (NEHUSU) led by its President Genuica Majaw who met the Governor at the Raj Bhavan here requesting for his intervention into the matter.
Majaw told reporters that the decision to approach the governor, who is also the Visitor of the University, was after the state government has delay in taking any step to address the grievances faced by the students’ community in the state. She said the Union had met the chief minister Conrad K Sangma on February 19 earlier this year for his intervention into the need to set up of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-NET) and University Grants Commission (UGC-NET) centres in the state.
Unlike other states, she said the state for the past many years has no CSIR-NET centre except only one UGC-NET centre at Qualapaty, Shillong which cannot cater to the need of students who are aspiring to appear for such examination, especially after it was made a computerized test.
At present, students who wanted to appear for the CSIR-NET exams have to go to Guwahati in the absence of such centre in the state. This has created a lot of problem in term of travelling expenses and stress to find the location of the centre, Majaw added.
