First ever record of a threatened onespot barb fish, Puntius terio (Hamilton) from Arunachal Pradesh, India: A biodiversity hot spot

Assam is located in the North-East of India surrounded by seven states viz. West Bengal, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. It also shares its boundaries with two countries viz. Bangladesh and Bhutan. Tea industry plays a very vital role in Assam as far as state economy is concerned. It produces more than 50 percent of the total tea produced in the country. Both management and workers have significant role in the development of the industry; unfortunately, no association or branch exists to monitor the welfare of workers and functions of management at the state government level. However, the Chief Minister of Assam, Mr. Tarun Gogoi, recently pronounced a new unit solely to look after the welfare measures and development of tea workers.

Migration is a significant factor in the organization of regional and urban space in India. In India, migration has been dominated by people from Eastern and Central regions moving to western and northwestern regions. On the other hand, Northeast has been known for in-migration and the conflicts arising from influx of migrants, but studies are lacking on the out-migration from the region. This study makes an attempt to study both inflow and outflow from the region and covers both internal and international migration. In this study, the Northeast India consists of the seven states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Each state of the region shares an international boundary. The paper uses data from Census 2011 and has tried to study the magnitude of inflows to the region as well as the outflows from the region at the state level and also the reasons for migration. The state of Manipur is unique in the entire Northeast as outflow is three times higher than the inflow in the state. Assam is losing population due to internal migration to other states of India but compensated by international migration. The state of Assam presents a balanced ratio of inflow and outflow as stands in 2011 contrary to the popular perception that the state is gaining population inundated by immigration. The rest of the states of Northeast are gaining population predominantly due to internal migration, whereas Tripura gained population more from international compared to internal migration. The paper throws light on the combined impact of internal and international migration in the Northeast region which is generally lacking in migration studies on Northeast relevant for economic policy and political decision making. It also makes an assessment of reverse flows during the pandemic and lockdown.

In the present electronics era most of the adolescent are not participating in physical activities and concentrate on studies. Regular physical activity would be important for life's quality even if it had no relationship to disease and longevity. Physical activity is a significant ingredient in the quality of life, because it increases energy and promotes, physical and mental well being in addition to conferring health benefits. Boys from various schools of (Tripura (TR), Meghalaya (ML), Assam (AS), Mizoram (MZ), Manipur (MN), Nagaland (NL) and Arunachal Pradesh (A.R.)) (N=21000) North-Eastern states of India were selected as subjects at random. Their age ranged from 13, 14 & 15 years (studying from 7th to 10th standard). Flexibility was measured by the sit and reach box test. The collected data were analyzed by using one-way ANOVA. Among the groups and if any significant difference, scheffe's post hoc test was used to find out the paired mean difference (P ≤ 0.05). The results of the study show that, the adolescent boys of North-Eastern states were differing on hip flexibility. Hence it was concluded that, age, geographical region, growth, social behaviour, food habits and level of physical activity may influence the flexibility of adolescent boys.

The North Eastern Region (NER) of the Indian Union constitutes eight states namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. It covers 8 percent of the geographical area of the country, accounts for 3.9 percent of the population and 2.7 per cent of the allIndia net domestic product (NDP). The region is rich in development potential in terms of natural resource endowment, tourism and exports. However, with lack of basic infrastructure facilities, the states in the region lagged behind other regions in economic development. In absence of industrial and service sector development, the economy in the region reflects primarily the character of agrarian economies with two-thirds of its workforce dependent on agriculture. The gains of the rapid growth witnessed of the Indian Economy during the last two decades have not reached this region in an equitable manner. Recognizing the need for the region to catch up with other regions in economic development, the Government of India has categorized the North-Eastern states as Special Category States for allocation of Central Plan Assistance. Special attention has been given to the development of the region from Eighth Plan period onwards. Dr. N. S. Shetty* Mrs. Sona P. Rai** Issues and Challenges of Expanding Financial Inclusion in the North-Eastern States1

BackgroundRecent reports of emergence and spread of artemisinin resistance in the Southeast Asia region, including Myanmar, pose a greater threat to malaria control and elimination in India. Whole genome sequencing studies have associated mutations in the K13 propeller gene (k13), PF3D7_1343700 with artemisinin resistance both in vitro and in vivo. The aim of the present study was to find the k13 gene polymorphisms in Plasmodium falciparum parasites from the three sites in the Northeast region of India, bordering Bangladesh and Myanmar.MethodsA total of 254 samples collected during 2014–2015 from Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh states in the Northeast region of India were used to obtain the full-length k13 gene sequences.ResultsThree non-synonymous (NS) mutations: two in the propeller region, namely at codon 446 and 578, were observed besides one at codon 189 in the non-propeller region. The treatment outcome was not affected by these mutations at any of the sites. In addition, microsatellite variation in the N-terminus of the k13 protein was observed at all the study sites.ConclusionThis is the first study to document the presence of F446I NS mutation in the k13 propeller region from Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh, a site adjoining the Indo-Myanmar border region, where this mutation is highly prevalent. In addition, NS mutation A578S has been observed only at Lunglei district, Mizoram, a site bordering Bangladesh and K189T mutation with relatively higher frequency in Mizoram and Tripura states. The presence of F446I mutation in a region close to the Myanmar border is notable. Considering the spread of anti-malarial drug resistance from Southeast Asia to the Northeast region of India in the past, there is an urgent need to undertake systematic mapping studies to ascertain the role and extent of this mutation in artemisinin resistance in this region of country.

North East of India, popularly known as N.E., comprises of the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim and geographically situated in the North East corner of India with an area of 25.5 million Sq. Km (7.8% of the land mass of the country). N.E. shares the International boundaries of India with China to the North, Bangladesh to the South-West, Bhutan and Nepal to the North-West and Myanmar to the East. It has from time immemorial been the meeting ground of diverse ethnic and cultural streams. Through the long columns of history, people of different races and ethnology have migrated into this land and merged into a common harmonious whole in a rare process of fraternization and assimilation. Tourism in Assam is essentially nature based; therefore, national parks, wild life sanctuaries, rivers, lakes, hot water springs and thick wooded forest and wildlife are the major components of tourist attractions in Assam. Tinsukia is one of the twenty seven administrative districts in the state of Assam. The district occupies an area of 3790 km² and has a population of 1,316,948 (as of 2011 Census) of which males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. The Tourism potentiality of the Tinsukia district of Assam is immense with a combination of human, natural, cultural, ethnic beauty, religious attractions, heritage sites and deep forests. Most foreign travelers look for ethnic and culture mosaic, adventure and Tourism while a domestic tourist is enthused by religious attractions, wildlife and flora and fauna. In all these areas the Dehing Patkai Region of the Tinsukia District of Assam has tremendous scope for attraction. The lush green valleys and scenic splendour of this area covering the geographical areas of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts and South-Eastern part of Arunachal Pradesh, cast spell on visitors. The lush green rain forest patch of Joypur, Dirok and Upper Dehing locations are ideal for a wide variety of flora and fauna as also for trekking. Thus the whole region of the Tinsukia District of Assam has tremendous potentiality for furthering Tourism development. Hence the area also has tremendous scope for entrepreneurship development. The paper intends to highlight the potentiality of tourism development in the Tinsukia district of upper Assam with that of its infrastructure planning.

The family Drosophilidae comprises more than 4000 described species in the world. Studies associated with the geographic distribution of Drosophilidae in India have taken rapid strides in recent years. However, such information from the north-eastern part of the country, which includes eight hilly states – Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, still awaits thorough exploration and proper documentation. As Drosophilids help to unravel and appreciate intricacies concerned with the relationships between the ecological factors and population fluctuations, exploring and understanding its diversity in ‘biodiversity hot spot’ north-east Indian region is of great interest and importance. In view of this, we are attempting to review available literature relating to Drosophilid fauna of north-east India. A total of 13 genera (Genus Amiota, Curtonotum, Drosophila, Hirtodrosophila, Leucophenga, Liodrosophila, Lordiphosa, Microdrosophila, Nesiodrosophila, Scaptodrosophila, Scaptomyza, Stegana and Zaprionus) of Drosophilids having 83 species were described and recorded till date. Of them, 34 species are new to science, illustrating the biodiversity richness of this region. To assist fly workers of this region, detailed key to species identification also provided here. This is the first comprehensive review on Drosophilid biodiversity of under explored north-east India.

The northeastern region of India, comprising the seven states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura, has the highest primate diversity of the country. There are numerous populations of primates living in and around the temples of the region but none have been documented. Of the 17 primates found in India, 11 occur in the tropical and subtropical forests of these northeastern states. A primate survey was carried out from April 2003 to October 2003 in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Tripura to assess the status and diversity of temple primates. We found 16 temple sites in the region that support nonhuman primate populations of four species: Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatto), Assamese macaque (Macaco, assamansis), golden langur (Trachypithecus geei), and capped langur (Trachypithecus pileatus). Loss of natural habitat and increased conflict between humans and nonhuman primates were found to be major threats for the temple primates of the region. The study suggests the need for a special conservation program with community initiatives to mitigate these problems. Key Words: Northeast India, temple, primates, habitat loss, human-primate conflict

There is inadequate knowledge of the natural resources in the remote inaccessible protected areas of North East Region (NER) of India. Arunachal Pradesh, which is one of the state in NER is extremely rich in biodiversity and forms a part of the biodiversity hotspots in the Eastern Himalayas. However its biodiversity is under threat due to various factors like infrastructure development, changing socio-economic pattern and other external pressures. Therefore the need of the hour is to map the current biodiversity of the area as well as potential threats in order to conserve the natural resources and create detailed spatial databases. The objective of the present study is to map the land use land cover (LULC) of Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) situated in Arunachal Pradesh using Remote Sensing and GIS technology. IRS LISS III satellite image has been used to extract LULC, vegetation maps using hybrid classification. Further a spatial database of the WLS was created which includes contour, drainage, spot height and elevation distribution maps.

The seven states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura make up north east India. The region spreads over 255,037 km2 or about 7.7 % of India’s total geographical area. The relief is rugged with plateaus, hills and mountains dominating. Level lowlands are at a premium covering only 27 % of the area. Rainfall is torrential with 6,300 mm annually a routine occurrence in the Cherrapunji area. In the rest of the region, average annual precipitation ranges from 1,000 to over 4,000 mm with the bulk of it occurring during the monsoon months of June to October. Stemming from this a luxuriant tropical vegetation ranging from alpine, subtropical pine and montane to evergreen and moist deciduous thrives making the region a global biodiversity hotspot. The focus of development in has centred around its primary resource base, largely around tea, timber and petroleum. What little else exists in the name of development has been concentrated in the urban landscapes. It is not surprising that in the region’s rural areas a dependence on natural resources—forests in particular—exists and there is not much option than to exploit the region’s forest resources.

The Seven Sisters states are a region in the North-eastern India frontier comprising the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. After the 1962 Sino-Indian war, China raised territorial claims on this wild region, rich in resources and featured by a strategic position. If China considers those areas be part of the national territo- ry, due to an ethno-linguistic continuity of some people who live there, nevertheless the backbone of the region consists of an environment dense of historical and cultural elements that belong to India and, indeed, that go beyond its boundaries.

Illicium griffithii Hook.f. & Thomson, a medicinal plant of the family Schisandraceae, is an Endangered species listed by the IUCN. A decline in population of this plant due to climate change as well as increasing human influences on the natural resources has been a matter of great concern among the researchers. In order to estimate the existing population of this plant, a field-based study employing linear transect method was conducted in four phases, May–June 2017, May–June 2018, April–May 2019, October–November 2019 covering an area of 700km² (approx.) in West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh that lies within the Himalayan biodiversity hotspot. The study recorded 3,044 live individuals of I. griffithii including 1,372 seedlings, 1,358 saplings, and only 314 mature trees. Additionally, 126 dead trees were also recorded. The study confirmed that the plant has a good regeneration rate but with a poor survival rate of saplings. Besides, large-scale collection of its fruits for trade and anthropogenic disturbances in the study area appears to be the major threat to its existing population. Therefore, proper training of the local people on large-scale cultivation of this plant together with awareness towards judicious harvesting of fruits from the wild may be the significant approach to conservation.

Shilajit is an important folk medicine used extensively all over the world for large number of ailments specially for aging and general weakness. It is found all over the world including India, especially in the Himalayan region ie. the North Eastern part. The scientist has already recognized the importance of this folk medicine internationally in general weakness and debility sector, having huge market potential. Arunachal Pradesh which has so many locations [1,2] which has been identified for the presence of Shilajit but the major problem is its survey and analysis for purity and efficacy. The present study is based on collection, purification and quantitative analysis of reported active constituents of Shilajit. Shilajit a herbo mineral compound, effective in several types of ailment and it is being utilized constantly by patients. Affectivity of Shilajit is related to its quality which depends upon the area of collection. The location decides the presence of active constituents like humic acid and fulvic acid. The pH is also an important parameter, which plays an equally important role in the quality aspect of Shilajit. The present study is focused on these parameters. The Shilajit samples collected from Bomdila and Zero region of Aruranachal were analyzed for humic acid, fulvic acid and pH value. The collected samples were 1st purified followed by the extraction of different components viz. humic acid and fulvic acid, further the 1% aqueous solution was analyzed for pH [3,4]. The result showed that humic acid and fulvic acid content in the sample of Bomdila region was 20.3% and 22.6%, where as in Zero region sample was found to be 18.5 and 19.8, respectively. Different PH values ie 6.8 and 6.2 of these samples were also observed. The reported amount of Humic acid and Fulvic acid is very much encouraging as compared to the amount reported in other areas in the world [4]. Shilajit collected from Bomdila region of Arunachal Pradesh was found to be better i quality with respect of the content of humic acid, fulvic acid and pH value. The pH value was found almost near to neutral, which is required for its better efficacy and therapeutic value. Since the product already has a good market potential and faith so one can start the collection and purification activity of Shilajit in this region. It is also advisable that some agency may go for extensive survey work to get other locations also in Arunachal Pradesh and start the related processing on commercial scale. Acknowledgement: SFRI and RRI (Ay.) Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India.

Background: :North east region of India is well known as biodiversity hotspot with endemic flora and fauna. Organisms belonging to the cyanobacterial species are commonly known as blue green algae and are found in diverse categories in the environment of north-east India. Potentials of these cyanobacterial species are mostly unexplored. Present study aimed to isolate, identify and evaluate the potential cyanobacterial strains for the sustainable producers of biomolecules with agricultural, therapeutic and industrial significance.Methods::Growth and biochemical characterization were performed with the isolated cyanobacterial species to investigate the growth kinetics, cellular pigments (carotenoid, phycobiliprotein and chlorophyll), protein, carbohydrate and lipid content.Results::Three Phormidium sp., one Oscillatoria sp., and one Microcoleus sp. were isolated from the Tripura state (North-east region of India). Results revealed that isolated Oscillatoria sp. has high lipid (~20%), protein (~40%), and carbohydrate (~30%) yield. Further, two isolated Phormidium sp., produced significant amount of carotenoids (~23 mg/gm dry biomass), phycobiliprotein (~20-25%) and high protein (~55%). Microcoleus sp. produced 62% carbohydrate and 20% phycobiliprotein with significant amount of carotenoids (~17 mg/gm dry biomass).Conclusion::Isolated Oscillatoria sp. is the promising resource for lipid and nutritional supplement due to high accumulated primary metabolites. Two Phormidium sp., can be used as animal and human nutritional food supplement and also can be further investigated for pigment production at industrial scale. Isolated Microcoleus sp. is the potential resource of carbohydrate and pigment. Isolated cyanobacterial strains are identified as viable candidates for the industrial production of biomass as well as other value added biomolecules.

Northeast region (NER) states of India remain highly malarious due to their geographical and ecotype diversity. Furthermore, rapid urbanization and change in climate are also affecting the vector biology and behavior of the existing species. Hence, a study is conducted in the states of Tripura and Meghalaya to generate data on the bionomics of the prevalent malaria vector species. The data from this study show that primary vectors of malaria An. minimus and An. baimaii were anthropophagic. However, An. baimaii showed a behavioral shift towards zoophagicity (∼14%). Insecticide bioassays confirm that these two major vector species are reportedly susceptible to DDT, Malathion, and indicate that intervention by DDT-IRS is effective. Thus, the implementation of appropriate strategies based on this recent information on the bionomics of malaria vectors in NE region of India will provide an opportunity to achieve malaria elimination by date in these states.