Imphal, June 22 2017: New Delhi, Jun 22 :India is working with ASEAN to evolve “regional security architecture” in the Asia Pacific with the aim of finding collaborative solutions to emerging and non-traditional challenges, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today . Discussing various aspects of Indias strategic partnership with the powerful bloc, Swaraj said […]
Imphal, June 22 2017: New Delhi, Jun 22 :India is working with ASEAN to evolve “regional security architecture” in the Asia Pacific with the aim of finding collaborative solutions to emerging and non-traditional challenges, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today . Discussing various aspects of Indias strategic partnership with the powerful bloc, Swaraj said […]
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2017/06/ne-window-to-indias-act-east-policy-swaraj/
By Amar Yumnam Time is of the essence. This is more so in in the… more »
By Amar Yumnam
Time is of the essence. This is more so in in the case of development trajectory of a society. A society does not enjoy opportunities (economists call them shocks) all the time and in every phase. These do not come plenty but only rarely do they present themselves. In most of the instances, they present themselves in a very covert way, and the people really have to work hard to explore the shocks and use them for societal progression. Sometimes, absolutely sometimes, they do come in a very open framework. The fact of development, however, remains that the shocks themselves do not cause it; it is only conversions of the shocks into real phenomena for advancement that would lead to development of land and people. It is here that self becomes much more significant than others in pushing ahead in the race for transformation. I feel strongly that Manipur is now standing at that very moment of shock which we could convert into an opportunity for moving forward.
The Shocks:
I have two shocks in mind as very critical to Manipur’s moment of history.
One is the unfortunate death of Richard Loitam. Though he is no more with us, the fall-out of his death has certainly caused a shock which could serve the cause of Manipur in a very lasting way. He definitely must be a boy who had Manipur in his mind and heart so closely that even his death has played such a wonderful role to shake up the Indian psyche as never before. The moves of the people of Manipur from all over have helped in making the shock of his death to bring Manipur to centre of Indian attention. Vir Sanghvi writes in the Hindustan Times thus: “The days when north-easterners were seen as foreigners or as exotic people are now over. In many sectors – hospitality, beauty, etc. – north-easterners are the employees of choice. Ask any beauty salon who it would hire, all other things being equal, between an Andhraite and a Manipuri, and the chances are that nine times out of ten, the Manipuri will be preferred. So it is with restaurants and airlines. Most employers will take someone from the north-east over somebody from, say, Bihar.” The death of our boy has even caused addition of a phrase in the Indian lexicon of social concepts. Indrajit Hazra has coined a term called Loitam’s Law, following the surname of Richard: “So, if you`re unlucky enough to be a victim of murder, violence, rape or general thievery, ensure that you`re well-to-do. If you can`t be well-to-do, try and be visible enough for the mainstream polity and media to ensure you get attention. That`s Loitam`s Law.” Hazra continues: “The truth is that the law is like a busted radiator that sometimes works, sometimes doesn`t. But it also specifically comes in the way or turns its back with certain `kinds` of people…….The fact that the authorities initially suspected death caused by drug overdose was one sign that regional-racial stereotypes were at play. `North-east boys take drugs; North-eastern girls are loose,` is a standard `Indian` trope. The initial autopsy found no traces of any drug in Richard`s bloodstream except for small doses of the painkiller he had been prescribed after his accident……The truth is that the law is like a busted radiator that sometimes works, sometimes doesn`t. But it also specifically comes in the way or turns its back with certain `kinds` of people….The case of Richard Loitam is the story of a bias embedded in an existing creaky law enforcement structure. Richard may have indeed died because of injuries received by his scooter accident. He may have succumbed to injuries after a hostel brawl. But the inaction of the authorities point to something else: the lack of importance given by them to certain `types` of people. Law-enforcers pre-suppose certain traits about the victims – whether it`s regarding Aarushi Talwar`s `character` or Hemraj`s `background` or Richard Loitam`s `ethnicity`.” Any death has not caused the purpose of causing social rethink among the Indians like the lost of life of our boy in Bangalore. It is so wonderful of Richard that his leaving this world has also served the cause of putting Manipur in the centre of Indian attention; he has shaken right from the microfoundations to the macro structure. But the moment is for us to catch for causing long term policies to emerge for our land to move ahead faster.
The second shock I have in mind is of the global changes around us. It was only in October 2010 that the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) brought forward their Comprehensive Asia Development Plan wherein they had defined East Asia as including South Asia as well. In this document, they had identified projects for further enhancing the development of East Asia for regions even in Southern India. It was in the middle of 2011 that the core experts who had prepared the plan were here in Imphal for discussions on the missing component of their plan. We did have a thorough discussion on the core development issues of Manipur in particular and North East in general. Now the ASEAN has come out with a second component of the Comprehensive Asia Development Plan by incorporating the projects for linking Manipur and North East in the whole connectivity framework. One of the key experts was here recently along with other experts from the neighbouring South East Asian nations. We did have long discussions on further strategies for taking Manipur along in the development designs of South East and East Asia. Now it is pretty clear that the countries in the South East and East Asia are pushing hard for their global agenda, whether India and Manipur prepare for it or not.
One of the Justice for Richard Loitam, Protest Rally Held at Chennai which is held over the various parts of the globe.
Catch the Moment:
The above two shocks have thrown up a moment for Manipur to catch and catch for causing a sustainable development happen. The globalisation and development plans of the South East and East Asian nations are going to touch us. We cannot afford to be just plain spectators unless we are prepared to perish as society and community. The emerging connectivity frameworks and comprehensive development plans need to be supplemented by our own connectivity framework and comprehensive development plans in order that we have genuine development happening here. It is exactly at this moment that we should utilise the shock of Richard Loitam serve the ultimate cause of development plans for the land and people here to emerge. The government of Manipur should now push for evolving a comprehensive development plan and ensure that proper funding is affected for these. The moment is for the people and government to catch and move beyond the mind-set of petty contractors.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/manipurs-time-our-turn-to-catch/
By Amar Yumnam Nero was an Emperor of the Roman Empire in the beginning of Christian era. He is considered by history as one of the most irresponsible, irresponsive,… Read more »
By Amar Yumnam
Nero was an Emperor of the Roman Empire in the beginning of Christian era. He is considered by history as one of the most irresponsible, irresponsive, non-transparent and gory ruler. In fact, he symbolises any ruler who rocks and rolls when his empire is in danger. We never imagined that Nero would ever be a reality in our part of the world. We have had, not very distant in the past, a ruler who sacrificed and risked everything to protect the image, prestige and glory of our kingdom in King Gambhir. It goes beyond our farthest imaginations that in this land of Gambhir and people who still cherish the legacy of him, we would be experiencing a situation similar to the era of Nero. While the people have been longing for a return of the Gambhir era of pride and progression, they have instead been presented with a Nero treatment.
Fire Upon Fire: We have been living, we have been experiencing and we know for sure that the last few decades have not been an era of progression for Manipur, state or non-state. We also know that these years of negative experiences coupled with the lack of responsive and responsible governance have taken a heavy toll on the body polity as well as body society of Manipur. The last few years have been particularly damaging in this respect. Although we still encounter the problem of contestation of state, we now have to face what I have repeatedly called the fractionalisation of the society of Manipur along ethnic lines. So the society and polity of Manipur now faces the biggest challenge of remaining intact and coherent. Manipur is no doubt burning. This longer run burning is now manifested in the most acute crisis of availability of essentials for modern life and livelihood. This being the situation facing the land today, the question naturally arises as to whether Nero should be indulging in rock and roll. Should Nero be leaving his kingdom behind at all at this historically critical juncture of acute multiple crises?
The Issue: Nero leaving his homeland behind in the mercy of an engulfing fire is no problem if he were just a commoner. But here the reality is that he is the ruler. Now this ruler has much larger implications than the original Nero of the first century in the sense that the former is Nero under democracy. Being so, he is head of the people. The moment we talk about the head of the people, the implications get multiplied. Being head of the people and in his capacity as head of the governance machinery, he represents the state and the state speaks through him. This is where the issue begins when Nero leaves his kingdom behind.
The state, which is represented by Nero in socio-politico-economic manifestations, is the highest form of institution evolved by human beings. But the state as prevailing in Manipur yet has not reached the stage of ensuring participation, inclusiveness, stability and growth. While it has yet to attain the stage of naturalness and stability with the masses, it is not even the “composite reality and a mythicized abstraction” of Foucault. Manipur is now at the stage of political evolution and political economic dynamics where the state should rather be seen as “a practice….inseparable from the set of practices by which the state actually became a way of governing, a way of doing things.” We are now at that very stage where we need to revisit the state again and again in order that it acquires an innate capability to evolve practices of governance adequate enough to ensure participation, inclusiveness and social stability.
This requirement is all the more significant in the case of Manipur and given the post-World War II experiences of civil war. The prevalence of mountainous regions, the existence of multiple ethnic groups and fractionalization among them, and the lack of growth have been given prominence among the most prominent factors facilitating the onset of civil war. The heart shudders to imagine of Manipur in this context of global experience and the messages the fractionalized population might deduce from the absence of Nero at this point in time.
International Dimension: Now let us see if we can somehow justify the leaving behind of his kingdom by Nero. International relations do no doubt constitute a very important element of modern governance. So let us grant our Nero a provisional space of being contemporary in his approach, and endeavouring to attract investment to his kingdom. Well, here we have three reservations. Japan is a country which now symbolises “years of stagnation”. In this age of active pursuance of integration in Asia by both ASEAN and Asian Development Bank, can we justifiably think of leapfrogging over South East Asian brothers and closing on the East Asian ones.
Further, attracting investment is no joke. In other words, it necessarily involves arousing the “animal spirits” of the investors (a phrase coined by the indomitable twentieth century economist, Jon Maynard Keynes). In this something like the birds of the same feather flock together prevails. Once a set of investors enjoy the spell of animal spirits in Manipur context, other investors would as well follow. But here arises the critical reality. No burning Rome can arouse the animal spirits of investors anywhere. Indeed, the Roman civilisation declined.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/nero-fiddled-when-rome-burned-it-is-for-real/
Source : NEPS NEW DELHI, Mar 4: Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) India with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, organized the Buyer Seller Meet at Indian Trade Promotion Organization… Read more »
Source : NEPS
NEW DELHI, Mar 4: Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) India with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, organized the Buyer Seller Meet at Indian Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) here today. Shri Sumanta Chaudhuri, Joint Secretary, in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, delivering the key note address on this occasion, stated that, “India is a major exporter of light and heavy engineering goods and has a well developed and diversified industrial machinery and capital base’. He further said, “Exports of engineering goods from India are likely to be over US $ 50 Billion in the current fiscal”.
According to official sources, buyer Seller Meet (BSM) has participation of over 40 delegates from USA, Canada, CIS, ASEAN & South Asian countries. This BSM organized by EEPC India is the second in the series this year. Engineering Sector is the most important sector in India’s global exports. This event was organized in conjunction with India ASEAN Business Fair and Business Conclave coordinated by FICCI, and is an initiative to provide a platform to engineering companies for mutual interaction.
Shri S.C. Ralhan, Regional Chairman- EEPC India, Northern Region in his address stated that, “India is in fact one of the countries which produces the highest numbers of Engineers in the world. He also stated that Asia as a continent is going to play a very important role in shaping the destiny of world trade and that the world should look at Asian markets afresh.” The export of engineering goods are in a state of flux at present and highlighted that the growth of exports of engineering goods during April-January 2011 has been to the tune of 70% over the same period last year, he added. During the meeting, the next edition of the India Show to be coordinated by EEPC to be held at Toronto, Canada from October 17-20, 2011 was also announced.
Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/VV17X7RpkgE/
