Tribune EduFair from today

GUWAHATI, May 13 : The Assam Tribune EduFair ’09 will make a grand start tomorrow with a two-day progarmme at the TR Phukan Indoor Stadium, Nehru Stadium Complex, here. Sponsored and supported by oil giant Oil India Limited as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) project, this event will see the convergence of some of the best educational institutions from India and abroad.

Apart from the fact that more than 100 educational institutions will attend the EduFair this year, billed as the biggest educational fair in the entire North-east India, a host of career-related activities like expert career counselling and psychometric and cognitive test by experts from Mind India and Cognition Group, a leading talent testing organisation from the USA, will also be a part of the fair.

This unique test, made available for the first time in the Northeast, will help students find out their strengths and weaknesses and choose the perfect career path for themselves.

Usually these tests are very costly and not available in this part of the country. But, the Assam Tribune Group, keeping in mind its commitment towards the society, has subsidised the cost of this test by 95 per cent. Students need to pay only Rs 100 for appearing in this unique test in the fair.

In this mega career fair, students will be able to meet deans and principals of some of the reputed colleges and universities of the country for direct interaction and guidance towards their multiple career choices. They can also avail on-the-spot educational loan facilities and opportunities to earn educational scholarships.

There will be medical, engineering, management, biosciences, physiotherapy, law, social sciences and other courses on offer from the participating institutions. It will also see some new unconventional careers also – fashion, jewellery and graphic design, animation, etc. Students will also have the opportunity to interact directly with representatives from University of Sussex, UK, who are coming to the North-east for the first time.

The EduFair 2009 will have representatives from 17 countries.

Buddha Purnima on May 9

GUWAHATI, May 6 – As in the previous years, the Buddhists of Assam and the Northeast along with the entire Buddhist community of the world are making brisk preparations to celebrate the ensuing 2,533rd sacred Buddha Purnima festival at Buddhist viharas (temples), monasteries and gompas on May 9, with various programmes, Professor Lalit Shyam, Chief Adviser, All Assam Buddhist Association, Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists and Secretary General, North-East Buddhist Federation said in a press release.

The programme of the festival include prabhat bandana, hoisting of World Buddhist flag, Buddha puja, Puspa Puja, administration of silas, dharma discourses, Deeksha, world peace prayer, Seminar, public meeting, Maitri procession, Vipasana meditation, offering of food to Bhikkhu Sangha, cultural function and illumination.

Meet on kids caught in conflict

Guwahati, March 25 : Caught in the crossfire between militants and security forces, the future of young children in the Northeast does not appear to be too rosy.

Speakers at a conclave on early childhood care and development — organised by global outfit Plan India — highlighted how “armed conflicts”, an euphemism for militancy, has been causing displacement of a large number of families with children across the region irrespective of social status and economic background.

“The armed conflicts have caused severe harm to children — from physical harm to mental stress. These children are in the most vulnerable stage of their lives and yet they are deprived of care and support services,” Biswajit Chakrabarty, a former professor of Cotton College, said in his paper on Quick Survey of the Status of Young Children in the Northeast.

The issues discussed in the two-day workshop will be incorporated in the India Country Report, which will be sent to UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Geneva later this year.

The conclave, co-hosted by Forum for Creche and Childcare Services, was organised in order to initiate a reflection on the status of children in the Northeast.

“Armed conflict has also caused much displacement and those displaced are being sheltered in temporary camps,” Chakrabarty said in his paper.

A large number of women migrant labourers can be seen almost throughout the region engaged in construction on roads, bridges and drainage projects.

“They constitute a significant section of unorganised workers and children belonging to these workers are totally devoid of any services — health, nutrition or pre-school education,” Chakrabarty said.

According to data released, 20-30 per cent of rural children in the northeastern states are either stunted, an indicator of chronic under-nutrition or wasted, an indicator of acute under nutrition or underweight, indicator of chronic and acute malnutrition. Some states like Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh have touched alarming figures of 30-40 per cent of its children being either wasted or underweight.

Experts said the integrated child development service had performed rather poorly in the northeastern states. Corruption, under staffing, poor infrastructure and lack of awareness among the people in the rural areas are some of the hurdles plaguing their programmes.

India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Centre will have to submit a report to the UNCRC committee in Geneva later this year.

Move to develop food processing sector

Surajit khaund

GUWAHATI, Feb 15 - The Union Food Processing Ministry has identified North-east India as a potential area for development as far as processed food is concerned. The Ministry has also taken up a slew of measures, including infrastructure development and geared up the existing marketing system.

Talking to this Correspondent here today, Awadesh Kumar, Director, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, said that to explore the potential of food processing sector in the North- east, the Ministry has laid emphasis on upgrading the existing infrastructure.

"In the last fiscal, we had a budget of Rs 242 crore of which 10 per cent was allocated to the North-east", he said.

Kumar, however, observed that public-private participation is essential to develop the food processing sector in the North-east. "This region is a potential area, but due to lack of proper technology, food processing sector is yet to gain momentum for which concerned state governments should take appropriate steps in this regard," he added.

Kumar who was in the city today in connection with a seminar jointly organised by the North East Trade Promotion and Development Council (NETPDC) and Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on the occasion of 2nd Asom International Trade Fair, also suggested initiating contract farming in the region. "Contract farming with modern technology will definitely benefit the farmers in this region", he said, and added that farmers in the region have suffered post harvest loss of their produce and that needs to be brought down by providing adequate training.

He admitted that the existing marketing system has remained a major hindrance, to the development of this sector and the Central Government has, therefore, taken some actions in this respect. "To sustain in the international market, quality and packaging must be improved," he added.

Leading entrepreneurs present in the seminar highlighted the problems faced during setting up of food processing industries. "We have sufficient resources, but we do not get funds from the financial institutions while setting up of industry," a local trader of Meghalaya who has been associated with this sector told this Correspondent on the sidelines of the seminar.

Subir Ghosh, Director of Annapurna Group, underlined the need to withdraw the existing marketing tax system. "Taxation is a huge burden and that has taken a toll on the food processing industries in the North-east. We have submitted several memoranda to the authorities concerned, but in vain," he alleged.

Region gains from Assam trains

rail budget skips mention of north bengal and DHR

The New Jalpaiguri station through which 50-60 trains pass everyday Siliguri, Feb 14 : The interim railway budget may have missed out on north Bengal, but people in this part of the state can reap some benefits out of it, only because of the region’s connectivity to Assam and the Northeast. In his budget speech, Lalu Prasad made only two announcements that are directly related to the region — the doubling of rail tracks on the Katwa-Farakka stretch and extension of the 5761/5762 Ranchi-Alipurduar Express to Guwahati. “Despite being an important section in the Indian railway network with a large passenger load, no new trains were announced from New Jalpaiguri to Calcutta, which has been a long-standing demand of the people here,” said Sujit Roy, a resident of Siliguri said. Some people will, however, benefit from the three new weekly trains announced for Assam. These include the Dibrugarh Town-Chandigarh Express, New Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express via Bhagalpur and the New Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express via Muzaffarpur. The increase in the frequency of the 2423/2424 New Delhi-Guwahati/Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express from five days to six a week will help people who frequent the national capital from the region. The existing Rajdhani Express runs on two routes on alternative days. These are Barauni-Patna-Mughal Sarai-Allahabad-Kanpur and Barauni-Hajipur-Chapra-Balia-Varanasi-Lucknow-Barailli-Moradabad. Residents here are disgruntled that no funds have been allocated for development of railway infrastructure in the region. “Considering the passenger and freight movement, it was important that funds for improvement of stations, cargo terminals and allied facilities should have been sanctioned. Nothing however came into our hands in this budget,” said Ramesh Jaiswal, a businessman who obtains his regular supplies from Delhi and other north Indian states. A section has, however, welcomed the introduction of three new Delhi-bound trains but wished more trains to south India. “People residing in this part of the country need more south India-bound trains. If we consider the importance of New Jalpaiguri, Guwahati and Calcutta and the distance among them, they should have been included in a feasibility study to run bullet trains. If this study can be done for the Howrah-Haldia, it could have been done for this region too,” said Nitin Thapa, a youth. There was, however, a mixed reaction among railway employees. “We welcome the rail budget and introduction of new train services in the region but simultaneously feel that the ministry should contemplate increasing the manpower,” Sanjoy Dutta, a member of the National Federation of Indian Railwaymen, a Congress backed employees’ union. “New trains means increase in workload of employees for which it is important that recruitments are made in different grades to strike a balance.” A senior official of the Northeast Frontier Railways, however, felt the current infrastructure was adequate for handling new trains. “But definitely there is scope for improvement,” he said. “We also expect some more announcements when the budget is tabled after the elections. Stations like New Jalpaiguri need funds for development.” The railway minister seems to have forgotten the two major toy train services in the country: one that runs in Darjeeling (Darjeeling Himalayan Railway) and other in Shimla. Both are heritage sites declared by the Unesco.