Letter from The Editor
October 2008
By the time the magazine reaches your hand you must be in a festive mood.
No doubt Durga Puja is widely celebrated in most of the states of the North Eastern Region and in this issue of Eastern Panorama we have carried an article entitled ‘Durga Puja at Nartiang’ which is written by none other than Mr. Probhat Kanti Paul who was born and brought up in Cherrapunjee and who has in-depth knowledge on the history of the region.
Our cover story this month i.e., ‘Floods in Assam-Leave a trail of devastation’ speaks about how the menace of flood is affecting millions year after year and no remedial measures have yet been found. The silver lining is that this year the Government of Assam has entrusted the premier institute of the country, the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati to find out a long term solution to floods. This, we believe is the advantage of having national institutes of importance like the IIT in the North Eastern Region.
The most significant achievement in the past few months has been the holding of the North East Business Summit at Guwahati wherein many foreign investors showed keen interest in investing in the North East. This summit which was organised by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Govt. of India and the Indian Chamber of Commerce has created an atmosphere of development and as is usually the case with such events, a spurt in development is expected to occur. The summit was a great success with over 240 expressions of interest shown in all the North Eastern States as a whole.
Insurgency and terrorism continue to be an issue of concern not only for the people of the North Eastern Region but also for the country as a whole. Our Shri Bibhu Prasad Routray made a news analysis as to how the ULFA in Assam is dwindling and if things continue as they are, then as he says, the ULFA would soon be consigned to the pages of history. What has led to its downfall is the public opinion against the outfit and the frequent change of stand by the outfit on its ideology and principles.