Indigenous goods capture the heart of Delhiites

Under the ageis of Crafts Society of Manipur (CSM), a grand "North-East Crafts Festival" is being held here at Dilli Haat from December 16. The 15-day long mela was inaugurated by Kashiram Rana, Union Minister of Textiles.

Braving the foggy and cold wintry breeze, artisans from the North-East put up their indigenous goods for public exhibition and sale. This is the third time that such a mela is being organised in the Capital.

It has now become an annual feature for the craftmen and artisans from the North-East region to prove their skills and talent. The mela is being sponsored by Development Commission (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles.

The festival is being organised annually with the objective of bridging the gap between the craftsmen and customers through direct contact and popularising the North-Eastern crafts among the people. The mela thus gives an opportunity to others to know about the cultural heritage and craft development of the region. It also aims at providing a wider spectrum for the artisans to sell their products.

Craftmanship in the region is more than just a profession, it's a way of life. Step into the mela and a mosaic of cultural heritage would greet you. There are various kinds of products that has attracted the people. The unique bamboo and cane products amazed the people. From tray to letter box, stools to chairs, mats to lamps all reflect extra-ordinary craftmanship.

Known for their handloom products, the Nagaland stalls have all kinds of shawls from traditional to modern. With a variety of designs and matching colours, the handloom products of Nagaland are in great demand. At Meghalaya stall the ‘Muga cloth’ stands as their pride product. The cloth costs as high as Rs. 650 per metre. "You can use it for 50 years," says a proud trader from Tura, B.K. Saraff.

The Manipur stalls bring to light the past glory of handloom production. Some of the asset production includes Morangphee, Leirum, Laqshingphee, Phanak and mosquito nets. Handloom is the largest industry in Manipur.

Even if their products differ from state to state, there is no doubt about the skills of the craftsmen of all the states. Th. Premeshwar, Administrative Officer of CSM, expressed his happiness over the overwhelming response the festival has received. "This year’s mela is more successful than the one held previous year", he said. The CSM is planning to organise the same kind of festival in Calcutta from 8-17 January, next year. The proposed mela is to be sponsored jointly by the North Eastern Council (NEC) and Development Commissioner (Handicraft), the Ministry of Textiles.

Mr. Premeshwar told NENA that henceforth, the festival will be an annual feature. "We are going to organise it here next year also", he said. He however regretted the Manipur government’s indifference towards the development of handicrafts in Manipur. "We did not get any help from the state govertnment," said Mr. Premeshwar. He also reasoned on how corruption has eaten up the all-round development of the State.

While the organisers maintain the story of success, there are other participants who differed. Said a woman from the Pioneer Women’s Welfare stall: "People are not coming. The response is not up to our expectation. This may be due to the cold weather." Mukat Jalukdar from Assam, who put up a stall as part of the festival was however optimistic to have a good response. "With Christmas festival round the corner, the business would pick up in a day or two," he said. Raj Kumar, another artiste from Assam, said the public response was good enough. "Foreigners buy more goods than the local people", he said. He added that he had received orders from foreign countries like America and Holland. The cane furniture such as stools, chairs, trays, etc. are in great demand", he said.

Yet, transportation of goods has always remained a constant headache for the participants. Yaomi Sasa from Manipur alleged he was harassed by the police. "We have to grease their palms", says Mr. Sasa. "If we fail to pay them, they may detain us for a day or two". He disclosed about the ‘tax’ collected by underground outfits. "We paid Rs. 1000 to them," he said. As the number of unemployed is increasing, the development of local industry is the need of the hour.The Government should take initiative to promote handicraft, felt the artisans.

Bill on use of RDX introduced in Lok Sabha

Recently a bill seeking to amend the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 to provide for regorous life imprisonment for unauthorised possession of special category lethal explosive substances, was introduced in the Upper House.The Bill, introduced by Union Home Minister L.K. Advani seeks to put all lethal explosives including Research Development Explosive (RDX), Penta Erythritol Tetra Nitrate (PETN), High Melting Explosive (HMX) and remote control devices under "special category explosive substances".

The Explosives Substances Act, 1908, whose Section 2, 3, 4 and 5 are sought to be amended, currently provides for imprisonment ranging from five to 14 years for a person found involved in the use of conventional lethal explosives.

The proposed amendment to the Act stressed the need for more severe punishment for explosion caused by the use of Remote Control Devices. It noted that the Explosive Substances Act of 1908 does not make any distinction between offences involving use of conventional explosives as compared with offences committed with more lethal explosives like RDX, PETN, HMX, LTPE and other similar explosives.

"To overcome these deficiencies, it is proposed to amend the Act by putting more lethal explosives or a combination thereof and remote control devices for causing explosion under "Special Category Explosive Substances" and to provide for enhancement in maximum punishment for offences committed with such explosive substance by amending the relevant provisions of the Act", according to the statement of objects and reasons. It said that the measre was necessitated in view of the incidents of bomb blasts on a very large scale in some parts of the country, particularly in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and the North-East causing huge loss to life and property.

It pointed out that terrorists and anti-national elements have, through clandestine means, acquired RDX, PETN, HMX and other similar types of explosive substances.

When the amendment to the Bill is enacted, a person convicted of offences committed with conventional explosive substance may undergo imprisonment up to 10 years along with fine and in case of any special category explosive substance, the convict will attract rigorous imprisonment ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.

World Heritage status soon for Darjeeling toy train

The North East Frontier Railway general manager, Rajendra Nath is all hopeful that the nearly 100-year old New Jalpaiguri-Darjeeling toy train may soon be accorded World Heritage.

"We are hopeful of a favourable response to our request", as the proposal to this effect is most likely to get a "favourable response", said Mr. Nath.Talking to one of the dailies recently in Guwahati, Mr. Nath informed that the ministry had sent the application some months ago and a reply was awaited.Earlier he told reporters at a press conference that the NFR’s special emphasis was on converting the 280 km long Bongaigaon-New Jalpaiguri metre gauge line into broad gauge at the cost of Rs. 595 crore. The project will take about four years to be completed.

Mr. Nath said steps were under way to get three steam engines from abroad for the toy train. There are at present 14 engines available of which the youngest is 70 years old. Besides, orders for more coaches for the train have also been placed. "Of these, three have already been delivered while two more are ready," Mr. Nath said.The official said it would take "some more time" to restore services in the Tingharia-Kurseong section of the route which was damaged in recent landslides.The metre gauge line runs parallel to the only broad gauge line in the section."This is needed because the section is oversaturated at 130 per cent above the rated capacity, thus leaving no room for flexibility. If anything goes wrong with any train then it has a cascading effect on the timely running of other trains," Mr. Nath explained.

He said clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs was awaited to start work. "We expect to get the nod shortly," he said.Apart from congestion, another reason for late running of trains was "security patrolling" between Rangiya and Srirampur. These further out into line capacity, the official said.Mr. Nath said earnings from passenger and goods movement had increased by Rs. 21.80 crore and Rs. 35.80 crore respectively in the seven months of the current financial year compared to the corresponding period last year.The official, however, said the number of passengers did not show any increase. While the number was expected to rise by three per cent it has actually risen by about 1.5 per cent.

He attributed the reason to a large number of cancellation of passenger trains during this period due to floods, limited line capaciy et al."Besides, we give priority to movement of foodgrains and essential commodities," he said, adding that the NFR was more a "feeding railway" than a "loading railway".

The Terrorist gets Golden Pyramid award

The Indian entry in Tamil, The Terrorist, at the 23rd Cairo International Film Festival won all the top awards including the Golden Pyramid for the best film.While Mr. Santosh Sivan, who directed the film received the award for best direction, film’s heroine Ms. Ayesha Dharker walked away with the best actress award. For its artistic creativity, the film was also chosen for the international jury panel award.

An international jury chaired by the American actor. Mr. John Malkovich, gave away the prizes at a gala function in the Cairo Opera House late on Monday.The Terrorist is based on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination plot in which Ms. Dharker plays the role of a female terrorist who is told to blow up an important politician.

However, a few days before the scheduled execution of the plot, the terrorist realises that she is pregnant. On the crucial day, she goes up to the politician, belted up with explosives, and garlands him but does not press the button meant for triggering a blast.At a special screening of the movie, the packed hall reverberated with applause, appreciating the film’s sentiments.