Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Farmers delighted as King Chilli goes international

Kohima, Dec 18 : Naga King Chilli, touted as the hottest chilli in the world is vying for its rightful place in the world. The first phase of filing of Intellectual Property Rights has begun.
The King chilli was on display and sale at the exhibition hall at Naga Heritage Village Complex, Kisama about 12 kilometers away from Kohima.

With peace ruling in Nagaland, people are dreaming big and trying to fulfill their desires that have long remained suppressed due to the turbulent times in the State.

Farmers in Nagaland are keen to take up commercial cultivation of Naga King Chilli. The attraction for its cultivation has grown after a memorandum of understanding signed recently by the State government, Indian Tobacco Company Limited and Spice Board of India.

Thangi Mannen, Commissioner and Secretary, Department of Horticulture, said: “We have entered into a memorandum of understanding with the ITC and Spice Board of India for crop diversification and to increase the production of the chillies.”

“Until now people here were cultivating Naga King Chilli on a small scale in their homes. Commercial cultivation requires technology and inputs which we hope to acquire through this MOU,” Mannen added.

Nagaland government has also started the process of securing Intellectual Property Rights for this chilli that has attracted millions of people for ages for their taste buds. The local farmers are now expecting a good return in the near future.

Chen Rengma is a farmer from Tsonsinyu village of Nagaland. He is visibly delighted and proud of the chillies that he grows. Earlier, for a long time, he was perplexed whether he should continue with chilli farming or not. But the recent agreement has generated a fresh hope of prosperity for many farmers like Rengma in the State.

Rengma, said: “It (Naga King Chilli) has immense potential for farmers. If it is cultivated on a commercially viable scale it can bring fabulous returns to the farmers improving their livelihood phenomenally.” Rengma added: “More chillies means more peace, more happiness and more money for the rural farmers.”

Abe Mero, Promoter of Naga King Chilli, said: “Naga people no doubt want to carve a niche and a new identity for themselves. They know they have the potential, and given the right kind of environment, people would harness the development process for a better morrow.” Mero added: “Eco tourism and horticulture industries in the State are two major sectors that are in for a major boost. Peace is paying phenomenal dividends and it is reflected in the people’s confidence, in their attitude to development and life.”

Truck supplying rice to Mizoram looted

Aizawl, Dec 18 : A rice-laden truck, heading for Lawngtlai in Mizoram, was looted on its way in between Leite and Maudarh hamlets under Hnahthial police station, police said here today.

The driver of the looted truck, which was the last of the convoy of three trucks, realised after reaching the Maudarh village that a few bags of rice had gone missing from his truck.

It was suspected that some miscreants climbed on the moving truck and fled with the rice bags. Meanwhile, the truck drivers supplying rice to government godowns in rural areas expressed the fear of being robbed on the way following the widespread famine caused by bamboo flowering in the State.
Some of the supply truck drivers said many people had requested them to sell them some of the rice, even as the state, particularly its southern parts, was reeling under acute rice shortage following the Mautam famine.

“It is so distressing to see old women urging us to sell the rice. Sometimes we had to lie that we were carrying sugar, iron rods or something else,” a driver said.

Confirming that all government godowns across Mizoram were running out of rice stocks, the supply drivers said whatever amount of rice arrived at the Bairabi railhead, were being distributed to different destinations as soon as they arrived.

“The clarifications of government officials in newspapers and TV channels that the rice shortage is not as bad as that alleged by the media is totally different to the actual situation,” the drivers pointed out.

Previously, the Centre had allegedly remained inactive during the previous Mautam in the late 1950s and early 60s, which triggered 20-year-long insurgent uprising led by Laldenga.

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga, the late Laldenga’s former right-hand man, also expressed fear of recurrence of another such rebellion if the Centre did not act fast to relieve Mizoram from the prevailing rice shortage.

India's violent north-east

A wave of violence in the north-eastern Indian states of Assam and Nagaland has again highlighted the tensions and fissures in this part of the country. News Online looks at why there is so much violence in north-eastern India.
Why is north-eastern India so restive?

Before the British, none of the previous empires in India had managed to control the remote north-eastern areas.


So the region had enjoyed a long history of independence. There are also sharp differences in culture and tradition with the rest of the country.

Separatists in Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Assam have tapped into these differences and been able to challenge the control of the Indian state.

The central government has used military force to quell these rebellions, which in turn has often provoked more violence.

Recent years have seen the growth of conflicting demands for independent homelands between various ethnic groups in the region, which have also resulted in much bloodshed.

How serious is the violence?

Very - particularly the violence between the various ethnic militias of the region, into which innocent villagers and non-combatants have often been drawn.

Violence unleashed by ethnic rebel armies against the settlers from outside the region has also assumed serious proportions.

How is the central government trying to end the violence?

It uses military force to try to contain the rebels and weaken them.

But Indian military commanders admit that only political solutions can resolve the many conflicts.

The Indian government has opened dialogues with many of these groups and correspondents say its attitude is more flexible than in the past.

Its basic position is that the various rebel groups have to accept Indian sovereignty over the region and give up violence.

The central government also pumps in a lot of federal funds to promote economic development that is seen as crucial to win the hearts and minds of the locals.

But local people complain that lot of these funds are pilfered by a corrupt local elite in collusion with unscrupulous contractors and businessmen resulting in a lack of development.

Are the conflicts restricted to Indian territory?

They are largely restricted to Indian territory but rebels from north-eastern India have ethnic cousins across the borders in Burma, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

They find shelter in those countries, particularly in the remote border hill regions.

Are there any beacons of hope?

The peace settlement in Mizoram, signed in 1986 between the Indian Government and the Mizo National Front, has held good and the once-troubled state is largely peaceful.

The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), the strongest rebel group of Nagaland and perhaps in the whole region, has also been negotiating with the central government for six years now.

Civil society groups in the region are more active than ever before. They are playing a leading role in initiating dialogues and sustaining the peace process.

After 50 years of bloody guerrilla campaigns, many civilians are tired and desperate for peace.

(courtesy - bbc)

NEC to build capacity of states to implement projects

Aizawl May 17: In the 54th North East Council meeting which was held held today, Doner and NEC Secretary Ms Sushma Singh said among the thrust area of NEC during the 11th Plan would be to improve capacities of states to implement projects.

While giving her report, Ms Singh said NEC will now no longer take up projects that are less than Rs 200 crores and will discontinue with small projects except to complete ongoing projects during the 11th Plan and this too with the spill-over of Rs 1921.69 crores from the 10th Plan.

The first priority in thrust area for NEC for the 11th Plan is road and air connectivity with power sector taking the second place. Ms Singh said several fiscal reforms had been made in the road sector that would bring about improvement in implementing the road projects. Among the fiscal reforms is bringing in a third party to oversee quality control on projects.

Transport (road, river and air) was given the lion’s share during the 10th Plan which amounted to 58.72 percent of the total outlay for Tenth Five Year Plan which was Rs 2511.50 crores of which Rs 2495.67 crores was spent during the period.

Two road schemes and seven out of ten proposed airports were completed during the period.

According to the NEC Secretary, 4.3 percent of the total outlay was allocated to manpower development during the last Five Year Plan from which several hostels were constructed in Delhi for students from the region.

During the same period, NEC funded 500 schools and 24 colleges to be covered under IT education.

Ms Singh also informed the meeting that from now on, all financial transaction would be done through electronic transfers, mainly core banking and NEC will release funds to the states only through this method.

Bad weather today caused Doner minister and NEC chairman Mani Shankar Aiyer to arrive in Aizawl at 12:30 pm as a result of which the meeting was commenced without him at 10:30 am, half an hour late from the scheduled commencement of the meeting.

Connectivity was the main theme of all chief ministers’ and governors’ speeches which underlined the poor connectivity – road and air – that the region has. Apart from this, other commonalities that the states had are power development, agriculture and its allied sector and tourism, except for Sikkim which has a thriving tourism industry already.

NEC will hold its 5th Sectoral Summit concerning mostly air connectivity tomorrow here.