Saturday, 22 December 2012
Sunday, 4 November 2012
Naga IAS officer builds 100-km road in Manipur without govt help
Times of India
Manimugdha S Sharma, TNN | Nov 3, 2012, 10.26PM IST
IMPHAL: Villagers of Manipur's Tourism sub-division in Tamenglong district are a busy lot these days. At least 150 of them on a daily basis are clearing away a thicket with their machetes and daos. Some are lugging away heavy branches of recently felled trees; and others are operating bulldozers and earthmovers to give themselves the "best Christmas gift ever".
Theirs is one of the remotest corners in the country, where the India shining story has not yet reached; but the villagers are part of modern India's most ambitious road project embarked upon by one man, a young Naga IAS officer, without any funding from the government.
A 2005 graduate from St Stephen's College in Delhi, Armstrong Pame is the sub-divisional magistrate of Tamenglong, his home district, and the first IAS officer from the Zeme tribe. He has, of his own volition, begun the construction of a 100-km road that would link Manipur with Nagaland and Assam. Incidentally, the Centre had sanctioned Rs 101 crore in 1982 for the construction of this road, but for some unknown reason the project never took off. "Last December, then Union home minister P Chidambaram visited Manipur and asked what happened to the road.
The state government declared that it would be 'done soon', but nothing moved on the ground. Then in June-July this year, there was an outbreak of tropical diseases like typhoid and malaria. It takes two days for anyone in the village to make it to the nearest hospital on foot in the absence of a motorable road. Hundreds of patients had to be carried on makeshift bamboo stretchers, but very few made it to the town alive.
Also, town doctors were unwilling to come to the village because of its inaccessible terrain," Pame told TOI over phone from Tamenglong.
Perplexed and frustrated with the situation, the officer decided to reach out to doctors in his friend circle. A woman friend agreed, and Pame promised to sponsor her stay. "She treated over 500 patients and conducted quite a few minor surgeries. Many lives were saved in this way; but I realized how perilously poised the situation was in the absence of a road. That was the catalyst," Pame said.
To construct an all-weather, motorable road in an area untouched by the progress made by Independent India in the last six decades was an uphill task. And with no help coming from the government, Pame turned to his family and well-wishers.
"Armstrong and I grew up in a village in Tousem amid a lot of hardships. Our father was a schoolteacher and had a limited income. We used to walk down to the district headquarters—about 60km away—and carry 25 kilos of rice back home. It used to take us four days to go and come back and the rations used to last for two weeks. When we came to Delhi for higher studies, we would survive on biscuits for days without enough money to buy food. The remoteness of our village ruined its economy; and we knew that unless there was a road, there would be no development. So, when Armstrong proposed to undertake the venture, we all threw our lot with him," said Jeremiah Pame, an assistant professor at the Delhi University and elder brother of Armstrong.
"My wife and I donated our one month's salary, Armstrong paid five months' of his, and our mother paid our dad's one month's pension of Rs 5,000. Our youngest brother, Lungtuabui, recently started working. He donated his entire first month's pay for the project," he added.
Manimugdha S Sharma, TNN | Nov 3, 2012, 10.26PM IST
IMPHAL: Villagers of Manipur's Tourism sub-division in Tamenglong district are a busy lot these days. At least 150 of them on a daily basis are clearing away a thicket with their machetes and daos. Some are lugging away heavy branches of recently felled trees; and others are operating bulldozers and earthmovers to give themselves the "best Christmas gift ever".
Theirs is one of the remotest corners in the country, where the India shining story has not yet reached; but the villagers are part of modern India's most ambitious road project embarked upon by one man, a young Naga IAS officer, without any funding from the government.
A 2005 graduate from St Stephen's College in Delhi, Armstrong Pame is the sub-divisional magistrate of Tamenglong, his home district, and the first IAS officer from the Zeme tribe. He has, of his own volition, begun the construction of a 100-km road that would link Manipur with Nagaland and Assam. Incidentally, the Centre had sanctioned Rs 101 crore in 1982 for the construction of this road, but for some unknown reason the project never took off. "Last December, then Union home minister P Chidambaram visited Manipur and asked what happened to the road.
The state government declared that it would be 'done soon', but nothing moved on the ground. Then in June-July this year, there was an outbreak of tropical diseases like typhoid and malaria. It takes two days for anyone in the village to make it to the nearest hospital on foot in the absence of a motorable road. Hundreds of patients had to be carried on makeshift bamboo stretchers, but very few made it to the town alive.
Also, town doctors were unwilling to come to the village because of its inaccessible terrain," Pame told TOI over phone from Tamenglong.
Perplexed and frustrated with the situation, the officer decided to reach out to doctors in his friend circle. A woman friend agreed, and Pame promised to sponsor her stay. "She treated over 500 patients and conducted quite a few minor surgeries. Many lives were saved in this way; but I realized how perilously poised the situation was in the absence of a road. That was the catalyst," Pame said.
To construct an all-weather, motorable road in an area untouched by the progress made by Independent India in the last six decades was an uphill task. And with no help coming from the government, Pame turned to his family and well-wishers.
"Armstrong and I grew up in a village in Tousem amid a lot of hardships. Our father was a schoolteacher and had a limited income. We used to walk down to the district headquarters—about 60km away—and carry 25 kilos of rice back home. It used to take us four days to go and come back and the rations used to last for two weeks. When we came to Delhi for higher studies, we would survive on biscuits for days without enough money to buy food. The remoteness of our village ruined its economy; and we knew that unless there was a road, there would be no development. So, when Armstrong proposed to undertake the venture, we all threw our lot with him," said Jeremiah Pame, an assistant professor at the Delhi University and elder brother of Armstrong.
"My wife and I donated our one month's salary, Armstrong paid five months' of his, and our mother paid our dad's one month's pension of Rs 5,000. Our youngest brother, Lungtuabui, recently started working. He donated his entire first month's pay for the project," he added.
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Thursday, 5 July 2012
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Monday, 4 June 2012
Saturday, 5 May 2012
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Swamiji - Sumanasananda Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission at Cherrapunjee
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| Swamiji - Sumanasananda Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission at Cherrapunjee with Mr. Ranjan Chatterjee of the Planning Commission, at the North East Summit in New Delhi in January 2012 |
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Monday, 20 February 2012
Friday, 10 February 2012
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Assam Rifles ! Bhut Jolokia chili - Naga Jolokia - recipies
(reproduced)
The Bhut Jolokia chili pepper as it is commonly known—also known variously by other names in its native region, sometimes Naga Jolokia—is a chili pepper previously recognized by Guinness World Records as the hottest pepper in the world. The pepper is typically called the ghost chili or ghost pepper by U.S. Media. The Bhut Jolokia is an interspecific hybrid cultivated in the Assam region of North Eastern India and parts of neighbouring Bangladesh. It grows in the Indian states of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur. It can also be found in rural Sri Lanka where it is known as Nai Mirris (cobra chili). There was initially some confusion and disagreement about whether the Bhut was a Capsicum frutescens or a Capsicum chinense pepper, but DNA tests showed it to be an interspecies hybrid, mostly chinense with some frutescens genes. In 2007, Guinness World Records certified the Bhut Jolokia as the world's hottest chili pepper, 401.5 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. Since then, the Infinity chilli, Naga Viper pepper, and the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper have surpassed the Bhut Jolokia's Scoville rating.
Some sauce recipies we have tried and replaced the Latino chilli's and peppers with the Bhut Jolokia chili. The chillies are available in many places but one is the basti area at Ulubari in Guwahati.
| Belizian Style Habanero Hot Sauce |
- 1 small onion -- chopped
- 2 cloves garlic -- chopped
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup carrots -- chopped
- 2 cups water
- 3 Habanero chilies (3 or 4) -- minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Saute onion in oil until soft. Add carrots and water.Bring to boil,reduce heat,and simmer until the carrots are soft. Remove from heat . Add chilies,lime juice and salt to the carrot mixture. Place in processor and puree until smooth.Pour into sterilized jars and seal.
| Bufalo Chipotle Sauce |
- 1 1/3 cups dark corn syrup
- 1 1/3 cups coffee -- strong
- 1 cup catsup
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 4 tablespoons corn oil
- 6 tablespoons chili powder
- 3 tablespoons prepared mustard
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 cans chipotle peppers -- en adobo
Blenderize thoroughly. Bring to boil and simmer until desired thickness. Good shrimping sauce.
Also see link for more on the Bhut Jalokia, recipes and pepper warnings.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
CII NSDC Meet at Guwahati January 23-24, 2012
Meet lays stress on training
Telegraph Calcutta
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Guwahati, Jan. 23: The National Skill Development Corporation today said youths of the region need to be given the opportunity to develop skills for employment to stop migration in search of jobs.
At a conclave on skill development in the Northeast here today, the corporation pointed out that between 2011 and 2021 over 14 million people would be potentially available for migration.
The region will generate employment for 2.6 million persons while the supply of human resources will be 16.8 million, leaving an excess supply of 14.2 million persons.
“This necessitates the need for skill intervention to focus on development opportunities to create local demand,” said Dilip Chenoy, the CEO and managing director of the NSDC, a public-private partnership created by the ministry of finance.
In 2007-08, about 3,75,311 persons migrated from the Northeast to other states, the majority of whom were from Assam, followed by Sikkim and Tripura.
The last decade registered the largest migration from the region for jobs and higher education.
“Our interaction with the industry reveals that only five per cent of the people who go out for higher studies, return to the Northeast,” Chenoy said.
Confirming the need for skill development, labour and employment minister Prithibi Majhi said Honda had wanted 500 youths from the region but the state could provide only 100.
The corporation said people from the Northeast were able to find jobs in call centres/helplines with their politeness and aptitude for service and arts.
These traits could prove useful in animation, web design and gaming also.
The corporation has identified 10 sectors that could attract migration from the region — beauty and wellness, hospitality, IT/ITES, retail, restaurants, music, sports, fashion, flight attendants, ground staff at airports, nursing and care for the elderly.
Chenoy emphasised the need for skill development opportunities in sectors such as agriculture, fishery and animal husbandry, handloom and handicrafts, construction, horticulture and fruit processing and hospitality to create local employment or livelihood opportunities.
DoNER secretary Jayati Chandra said investments in the Northeast were not being translated into appropriate job opportunities and efforts should be made to bridge this gap.
The Centre had spent Rs 80,000 crore in the region in the Eleventh Plan.
Majhi said 50 skill-development centres had been created and stressed the need for more public-private partnerships in vocational education.
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi said the youth should be trained according to industrial requirements.
“We should join hands with the industry because the private sector will be potential employers to the youth. It is a responsibility from both the ends to develop the region through robust skill development process.”
The North East Skills Conclave, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) at the Srimanta Sankaradev Kalakshetra auditorium, will conclude tomorrow.
The programme included a seminar and exhibition.
DoNER minister Paban Singh Ghatowar and executive director of Tata Consultancy Services S. Mahalingam attended the conclave.
Ghatowar also spoke on the need to develop skills.
Telegraph Calcutta
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Guwahati, Jan. 23: The National Skill Development Corporation today said youths of the region need to be given the opportunity to develop skills for employment to stop migration in search of jobs.
At a conclave on skill development in the Northeast here today, the corporation pointed out that between 2011 and 2021 over 14 million people would be potentially available for migration.
The region will generate employment for 2.6 million persons while the supply of human resources will be 16.8 million, leaving an excess supply of 14.2 million persons.
“This necessitates the need for skill intervention to focus on development opportunities to create local demand,” said Dilip Chenoy, the CEO and managing director of the NSDC, a public-private partnership created by the ministry of finance.
In 2007-08, about 3,75,311 persons migrated from the Northeast to other states, the majority of whom were from Assam, followed by Sikkim and Tripura.
The last decade registered the largest migration from the region for jobs and higher education.
“Our interaction with the industry reveals that only five per cent of the people who go out for higher studies, return to the Northeast,” Chenoy said.
Confirming the need for skill development, labour and employment minister Prithibi Majhi said Honda had wanted 500 youths from the region but the state could provide only 100.
The corporation said people from the Northeast were able to find jobs in call centres/helplines with their politeness and aptitude for service and arts.
These traits could prove useful in animation, web design and gaming also.
The corporation has identified 10 sectors that could attract migration from the region — beauty and wellness, hospitality, IT/ITES, retail, restaurants, music, sports, fashion, flight attendants, ground staff at airports, nursing and care for the elderly.
Chenoy emphasised the need for skill development opportunities in sectors such as agriculture, fishery and animal husbandry, handloom and handicrafts, construction, horticulture and fruit processing and hospitality to create local employment or livelihood opportunities.
DoNER secretary Jayati Chandra said investments in the Northeast were not being translated into appropriate job opportunities and efforts should be made to bridge this gap.
The Centre had spent Rs 80,000 crore in the region in the Eleventh Plan.
Majhi said 50 skill-development centres had been created and stressed the need for more public-private partnerships in vocational education.
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi said the youth should be trained according to industrial requirements.
“We should join hands with the industry because the private sector will be potential employers to the youth. It is a responsibility from both the ends to develop the region through robust skill development process.”
The North East Skills Conclave, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) at the Srimanta Sankaradev Kalakshetra auditorium, will conclude tomorrow.
The programme included a seminar and exhibition.
DoNER minister Paban Singh Ghatowar and executive director of Tata Consultancy Services S. Mahalingam attended the conclave.
Ghatowar also spoke on the need to develop skills.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Pictures from the Mumbai Marathon 2012
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| Our star, Devayani! She ran the half marathon - 21 kms - For North East India! She almost reached North East India! |
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| Rajiv & Devavrat - past Fountain, opp. CTO |
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| With Devavrat on Marine Drive |
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| Rajiv running for eco-friendly North East India with Shekharji Bajaj running for his wife Kiranji's Eco-Friendly NGO. |
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| Devavrat, Rajiv, Shekharji Bajaj and Kavita |
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| Rucha, Pushpaben, Namrata, Kavita, Devavrat and Rajiv |
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| Rucha, Kavita and Namrata with the clown on Marine Drive ... a laughing matter! |
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| Devavrat, Rucha, Kavita & Rajiv |
Saturday, 14 January 2012
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