Friday 6 January 2012

Tapping the North East


The North East(NE) is a physically and traditionally isolated region of India. Its well heeled cultural heritage, landscape and biodiversity has a lot to offer culture travelers, wildlife enthusiasts, nature lovers and of course, photojournalists.

For decades, NE India has been physically and emotionally marginalized from the rest of India. The biodiversity of this region is known to many, but experienced by very few.

The NE of India comprises the eight states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur and Sikkim. The region is home to a rich flora and fauna, diverse culture, customs and yet distinguished from each other by interesting paradoxes. While Mizoram has the second highest literacy rate in the country, Arunachal Pradesh lags far behind. Assam is well connected by roads, railways and airway while there is no connectivity of railways in Sikkim, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

NE India evokes myriad images of warm culture and hospitality, interesting cuisine, spectacular landscapes and much more. Yet, somewhere I observe shades of loss and gloom because of the sense of monotony in the day-to-day grind. NE India is in a state of qualified, but perpetual abeyance. This is largely due to the fact that the enormous potential of the NE remains largely untapped, even six decades after Independence.

Even before the rest of India comes to terms with the huge potential of the NE, the people of the Northeast themselves must realize their potential. They must not wait for opportunities to come their way, but must carve out opportunities themselves. I would like to highlight the potential of the North East on a state by state basis –
The beauty and diversity of NE India has attracted those with a taste for mysticism and lateral thinking ever since. Nature has always played a major role in determining the lifestyle of the region. 167,00 sq. km is under forest area and out of the 1300 species of orchids found in India, 550 are from Arunachal Pradesh alone. North East India also supports some of the rarest birds and animals. Mawsynrem in Meghalaya prides in being the area with the highest rainfall while Arunachal Pradesh has the second largest Buddhist Monastery in Asia. In Manipur there is the Loktak Lake while Tripura can boast of an unmatched cultural diversity.

The Ministry of Tourism has called the NE as “Paradise Unexplored”. To say that the NE has tremendous tourism potential is an understatement. But unfortunately, not enough measures have been taken to promote tourism in the region. People are averse to visiting the region because of preconceived notions and due to the geographical terrain and other factors. Infrastructural development must be followed by the revamping of the “Look East Policy” which, without doubt, shall be a boon to the region in all aspects as the region shares close similarities with the people of East Asia.

The very successful “Incredible India” campaign must take into consideration the “unexplored” Incredible North East as well. Enough budgets should be allocated for tourism development in the NE but most importantly, there should be a credible political will as well. Above all, keeping in mind all the factors, the uniqueness of the region should not be disrupted at any cost. A pathway to innovating and implementing sustainable tourism should therefore be the way forward.

ARUNACHAL PRADESH-

There is immense potential for plantation crops like tea, coffee and rubber on the vast tracts of hill slopes. The area is also blessed with a favorable climate for this. The Brazilian variety of the rubber tea has been found to be suitable for this region. Arunachal’s picturesque landscape, lofty mountains, turbulent rivers, deep gorges and thousands of species of flora and fauna present ample scope for the development of tourism. Recreational activities like river water rafting, mountaineering and hiking will add a unique flavor to tourism. The hydropower potential of Arunachal Pradesh is 30,000Kw [Source : CEA ] but it’s a pity that only 0.076% of it’s available potential has been harnessed so far.

ASSAM-

Perhaps no other product has promoted a state as much as Assam tea has promoted Assam. The state’s tea finds its way to millions of homes all over the globe. Other than its intoxicating brew, there is also scope for development of the Khadi industry. Currently there are 55 Khadi production centers producing yarn, soap, cloth, etc. This industry alone can employ more than 100,000 people if properly developed. Inspite of having immense potential for power generation, Assam’s performance in this sector is not encouraging. It also has the unique advantage of being situated close to Myanmar, which is the gateway to the ASEAN countries. Assam, thus, has the potential to emerge as a strategic base for foreign and domestic investors to tap the vast potential of the markets of Myanmar, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia and Indonesia.

MANIPUR-

Throughout the state of Manipur handloom weaving is a popular industry and Manipuri fabrics with picturesque and indigenous designs are extremely beautiful. However, no serious effort has been made to export these clothes to other parts of India or even overseas. To further develop this industry a switch over to power loom would be beneficial. Large deposits of limestone have been located in the Ukhrul region and a cement plant is the need of the hour. There is also scope of setting up a re-rolling mill in Manipur as Manipur is entirely dependent on the rest of the country for all its requirements of iron and steel.

MEGHALAYA–

The potential jackpots in Meghalaya are minerals, food, tourism and health care. The coal available is mainly of the sub-bituminous type and can be utilized in varied industries ranging from power, fertilizer, cement and textile to paper, rubber, brick burning and pottery. The coal can also be converted into coke and recover value-added chemicals like light, medium and heavy oil. Apart from a food-processing unit of 400 MT capacity there is no fruit processing industry. The climate in Meghalaya is congenial for animal husbandry like the rearing of cattle, pigs, goats and poultry. There is also great potential for the development of tourism.

MIZORAM -

Mizoram has a number of areas for development like horticulture, fruit processing, agro-based industries and tourism. A tea industry can be set up in the state as it has been estimated that tea could be raised in four blocks over about 10,000 ha in ten years. The state has the potential for raising about 5,000 ha of rubber plantations in three blocks. For cash crop plantations there is scope for the establishment of nurseries in each block of Kolasib. The annual income of each nursery has been estimated at Rs.2.37 lakhs.

NAGALAND -

The potential exists for the setting up of industrial zones as an integrated approach to address the basic issues of industrialization. Various kinds of minerals are found in Nagaland and the emphasis should be on the exporting of finished products and in attracting investments from outside the State. There is also tremendous potential of trans-border trade between Nagaland and Myanmar.

TRIPURA-

Tripura has that one precious natural resource that very few states in India have-natural gas. If a pipeline can be constructed connecting Tripura to West Bengal it can do wonders for the state’s economy. Tripura is also the second largest producer of rubber in India. But only a fraction of that is exported. Efforts must be made to boost trans border trade between Tripura and Bangladesh. Tripura is a mountainous land divided by valleys of about ten rivers. This naturally beautiful landscape provides scope for the development of the tourism industry, which is at a very nascent stage in Tripura.

In the end it can safely be concluded that the potential NE India has is unbound. The question that we need to ask is will narrow nationalism isolate the Northeast and harm it or will the region impart a sporting spirit of nationalism and thereby open up its wonders to the world. If the NE can live up to its potential the result will be an intoxicating mixture of the outrageous, the unseen and the incomprehensible.

{Source: Excerpts from http://fromnortheast.isgreat.org/?tag=tourism and http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles/Northeast-India.asp}

Thursday 5 January 2012

Vince Lombardi - The Number One Speech


Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

"There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.

"Every time a football player goes to play his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

"Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.

"It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win.

"And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

"I don't say these things because I believe in the 'brute' nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."