The eventful first year

When we decided to launch Oriental Times (North East edition) our motto was to bridge the gap of information and understanding between the North-Eastern India and the mainland India. Because we felt that for people in North-East, Delhi is too far. To powers that be in the national Capital, the North-East is out of sight and therefore out of mind. We also felt that this gap was wide and indeed getting wider.

As a new entrant to the media world Oriental Times (North East edition) began a stimulating odyssey through the times exactly a year ago. Today, we are happy to note that our achievements in the last one year are not negligible. Circulation is picking up, more and more people are showing interests in Oriental Times to know and understand the region better. And frankly such positive response in such a short span of time was well beyond our expectations.

As a matter of fact as soon as our first issue hit the stand, we got encouraging signs from a cross- section of people. Initially, we were tempted to publish those reactions, but on second thought we dropped the idea. Reason: despite being overwhelmed by such favourable response, we refused to deviate from our goal ----- serving the people of North-East.

It's a pity that the picturesque region, rich in natural and human resources, today has become a zone of chronic unrest. The Centre's apathy towards the region is not the sole cause behind such a situation. There is something more to it. There is a group of people within the North-East who is actively encouraging the trouble-makers in the region for its personal gains. They prefer a troubled North-East to a peaceful one as that allows them to fish in troubled water. Along with praises, we have also received threats from these people.

We must admit that during the last one year, we faced some criticisms too. But we took it into our stride and tried to rectify ourselves and our shortcomings as much as possible after learning the reactions of our esteemed readers. We introduced 'National' and 'International' pages on the advice of our readers. Also some changes in the lay-out were effected after the readers expressed views to make the publication more attractive.

Another important step Oriental Times (North East edition) has taken during its year-old existence is to introduce a web page. Notwithstanding the heavy financial burden, the idea behind introducing the web page was to inform the people not only in India, but all over the world about the North-Eastern part of the country. We are happy to note that within a span of only six months, our website has gained much popularity and we are receiving lots of letters and articles through Internet.

On the occasion of our first anniversary we thank all our readers and well-wishers for their kind support.