Nayachar is a 40 square kilometre island in the Hooghly River, near Haldia port in India’s West Bengal. It is the new site for a chemical hub that was originally proposed to be set up at Nandigram, a village in Midnapore district. Violent protests against land acquisition at Nandigram had claimed over 15 lives in…
Read moreAt U-S Dollars twelve billion, the POSCO (POSH-KO) project is the largest foreign direct investment in India. According to the M-O-U signed between the company and state government, the plant will produce twelve million tonnes of steel per year and hire about forty-eight-thousand people. But the project has attracted a lot of controversy over its…
Read moreITANAGAR: Chief Minister Nabam Tuki has strongly refuted and rubbished the allegations levelled by three MLAs from Tirap and Longding, Thangwang Wangham, Honchun Ngandam and Gabriel D Wangsu of using the NSCN (K) to coerce representatives from Tirap, Changlang and Longding (TCL) to support his leadership.While terming the allegation as baseless, unfounded, wild and made…
Read moreHello we go to the Indian state of West Bengal where thousands of farmers continue to protest forcible acquisition of prime agricultural land for Special Economic Zones or S-E-Zs. In a bid to boost the national economy, India has been promoting this particular model of industrialization based on creating export-oriented tax-free enclaves. The policy of…
Read moreBERTIL LINTNER The road up to the Se-la Pass winds its way tortuously along a steep mountainside. The temperature drops below zero and clumps of pine trees give way to a barren, rocky landscape. At a small Tibetan Buddhist shrine at the actual pass prayer flags flutter in the icy, howling wind. From Se-la, the…
Read moreEN RAMMOHAN The British East India Company ruled Assam and the hill states of the Northeast, except Manipur and Tripura where the control was indirect as they were Princely States. They began their rule in early 19th century after they defeated the invading Burmese forces from Upper Assam and Manipur. When they found that tea grows…
Read moreSYED BASHIR The Pathankot terror strike in Punjab has understandably raised the heckles in Delhi. Indian intelligence officials have been pointing to the Jaish e-Muhammed (JEM)’s involvement. The JeM and the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) are different from other Islamist radical groups in the Af-Pak region. Unlike other Islamist radical groups in Pakistan, which have been used but never…
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