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| Though Guwahatians suffer from shortage of drinking water: the Guwahati Municipal Corporation has failed to check wastage through leaking pipes. Picture by UB Photos |
Of late, the people of Manipur have taken to delivering instant justice whenever a crime is committed in their locality. They do not wait for police to come and pick up the alleged culprits. Instead, they themselves target the victims and their houses. One such case is the dismantling of the house of a newly-married man in Imphal East, who was suspected of having a hand in his wife?s death. The wife, Aruna Devi, was found hanging in the house. Suspecting foul play, the angry residents attacked the man?s house. The police had to resort to blank firing to disperse the mob. Four people were picked up for taking part in the attack.
In yet another incident, angry neighbours damaged the furniture of a murder suspect in Imphal West. The man had allegedly clubbed to death a relative following a heated argument. The victim died on his way to hospital. Angered by the incident, the neighbours stormed the house of the accused the next day and ransacked the rooms. The accused and his family managed to flee in the nick of the time. The residents decided to ostracise the family of the accused.
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| Neeraj Shridhar |
Music lovers rocked and swayed to the scintillating tunes of Bombay Vikings, the popular music band, which performed at Dimapur stadium recently.
Neeraj Shridhar, the face of Bombay Vikings, stole the show by belting out one popular number after the other. Born in India, Neeraj is currently settled in Sweden and often visits India to perform for his fans in the country. The group, which shot to fame with its very first album, is climbing the success ladder every day.
The popular remixes of the old Hindi film songs, broadcast by music channels regularly, were belted by the Viking members amid thundering applause.
Amongla Jamir, a student, was very excited, ?We should have more such national and internationally-famous bands performing here. In fact, it will be a good exposure for our local bands, who hardly get the chance to perform outside. We have many talented musicians here, but they are not aware of the technical developments in this field. Overall, it has been a great experience for us.?
The mushrooming of PCOs is a boon not only for the people of Imphal, but also for some of the government departments.
The staff of the Sajiwa Jail in Imphal East is particularly thankful to the owner of the PCO, set up recently at the gate of the jail, where over 35 agitators are lodged. As the phone installed in the jail has been out of order for over a year, the PCO caters to the needs of the jail employees and their families. If one wants to contact any of the staff, he has to dial the number of the PCO. ?Our telephone has been dead for more than a year for reasons we do not know. For important and emergency official business, we use the wireless sets. But for other purposes, we use the PCO,? an employee said. The owner of the PCO is not complaining.
Tiny Mizoram, a scenic and pleasant state in the Northeast, continues to be an economic backwater, but interestingly, when it comes to education, it has managed to outstrip the advanced states in the country.
This state, with a population of about 8.75 lakh, has added a feather to its cap with the national census, 2001, revealing that it has bagged the first three places in the district-wise count of literacy among women. According to the census, Mizoram?s Aizawl, Sherchip and Champai districts occupy the first three slots in the national district-wise list of women?s literacy with 96.06 per cent, 96.02 per cent and 89.64 per cent literacy. In the district-wise literacy rate for men and women, two districts of Mizoram, Aizawl and adjoining Sherchip, topped the list by scoring 96.64 and 96.02 per cent literacy.
However, when it comes to the state-wise comparison, Mizoram slipped down the ladder by a notch with 88.49 per cent literacy, giving the right of way to Kerala, which earned the glory of having the highest literacy rate in the country with 90.92 per cent. Mizoram?s success in popularising the literacy campaign in the state is ascribed to the efforts of the Church and Christian missionaries, who played a pioneering role in spreading the message of the value of education.
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| Artisans at work |
In an attempt to generate awareness among the masses about the potential of bamboo industry in the Northeast and to revive the traditional crafts, Nagaland is hosting the international bamboo festival, Bamfest, from October 29 to 31.
The festival will be part of the state?s policy to make bamboo the favourite raw material for the indigenous population in all forms of construction. The festival will be held at the Naga heritage village, Kissama, 11 km from Kohima.
Bamfest, 2004, will coincide with the European Union Bamboo Thematic Network conference.
Representatives of 11 European Union countries will arrive in Nagaland for the meet, being held outside Europe for the first time.
The Nagaland government has already set up an organising committee, with chief minister Neiphiu Rio as chairman and agriculture production commissioner as member-secretary.
The aim of the festival is to revive traditional crafts of the region and to highlight local customs and the uses of bamboo. Moreover, the festival will highlight the capabilities and the export potential of craft of people from different states. It will go a long way in forging closer ties among the craftsman of different states.
The festival also aims at providing a platform to discuss the common issues for adopting newer technologies in the field of craftsmanship and to provide a brand name to crafts groups from the Northeast.
