States Of Northeastern Region Research Articles

Design Interventions for the Sustainable Livelihood of the Bamboo Craft Community

Bamboo is a plentifully available material in India’s North-Eastern Region (NER), comprising eight states. Bamboo craft serves as a crucial source of livelihood in these states. Meghalaya, one of the NER states, has a centuries-old tradition of practising the woven bamboo craft. The state is somewhat isolated from mainstream developmental activities, leading to a persistently unchanged livelihood structure over generations. The absence of infrastructure and limited technological access has empowered these communities to exercise increased autonomy, thereby preventing them from participating in the country’s circular economy. The paper delves into the challenges faced by bamboo craft communities, exploring issues related to their practices, livelihoods, and culture. It also shares the experiences and insights gained from a three-year-long collaborative design intervention project called Shken.in.

Overview of municipal solid waste management in sub-tropical climatic region of North Eastern India.

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is perceived as a global issue regardless of the place of waste generation. The amount of unmanaged waste is increasing rapidly, along with its impact on the environment and human health. In hilly areas, specifically the North Eastern Region (NER) states of India, due to the unique topography coupled with socio-economic factors, there are inadequate waste management practices marked by insufficient infrastructure, minimal research studies, and limited data availability. This paper comprehensively reviews the existing status of MSWM practices and waste treatment technologies, identifies the challenges, and discusses the prospective approaches for MSWM in NER states of India. NER, is characterized by its hilly terrain and has the most diverse demographic profile in the country. The study highlights the notable increase in waste generation in the urban population in NER. The total amount of waste generated in NER is about 2907 tons per day, with a collection rate of 86.96%, treatment at 31.09%, and landfilling at 33.67%. The biodegradable fraction makes up the majority of waste composition (more than 50%) in NER, followed by recyclables and inert. The existing MSWM consists of waste collection, transportation, and disposal with limited source segregation and treatment. All the states of NER practice open dumping and burning as the primary waste treatment and disposal system. The study discusses the challenges and prospects to ensure effective MSWM in NER. This review is a region-specific study that considers cultural diversity, topography, and socio-economic dynamics. The outcome of this review will be helpful to the researchers and policymakers in making appropriate waste management plans and improve the MSWM system in NER.

Landslide Affected Areas and Challenges Imposed in North Eastern Region of India: An Appraisal

The Earth Observation (EO) data of various Spatio-temporal resolutions are used to study potential sources of landslide hazards in the North Eastern Region (NER) of India. The studies are made in all the eight states of NER, namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura on different project modes during the past decade. All types of landslides of various magnitudes and dimensions are triggered by rainfall, earthquakes, or by combined effects in this tectonically active region. Anthropogenic factors also play a role in places, particularly in urban areas. The NER is one of the most seismically active regions in the world, and it falls in the highest seismic risk zone, (Zone V), in the seismic zoning map of India. The region also receives much rainfall because of its geographic and climatic conditions. We report how the physiography, as well as the local geology, plays the main role in the failure of the rock formation and over-burden causing the landslide hazards, which create severe communication disruption and sometimes casualties. Fragile, soft, and weathered rock formations along the steep slope make the terrain much more susceptible to landslides. Deep-seated landslides disrupt transportation networks for a longer duration while shallow slides, mostly affect the urban life for a short duration. The reported causalities associated with landslide hazards are much high in the NER compared to other parts of India.

Challenges of Rural Healthcare Infrastructure: A Study among North-Eastern States of India

Health service is very important for the socio-economic upliftment of a country. Every citizen of a nationwants a better healthcare service to maintain their hygienic life. In India there is always facing a shortfall ofhealthcare services mainly in rural areas of the country. Therefore, the present study is trying to examine thecurrent status of rural healthcare infrastructure of the nation especially in the North-Eastern Region (NER)of India i.e. the states Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura andSikkim. It also aims to make a comparative analysis of healthcare infrastructure among NER states. Thestudy is solely based on secondary data and collected from different sources of Government of India.

Checklist and contribution to the knowledge of the odonatofauna of Paraíba state, Brazil

Abstract: We present the first listing of odonatan species (Insecta: Odonata) that occur in the state of Paraíba, Brazil. There are 49 species and 29 genera registered, making Paraíba the third in number of species among the Brazilian states of northeastern region. The families with the largest number of species were Libellulidae, with 31 species and 15 genera, followed by Coenagrionidae with 11 species and 7 genera. Interior regions of the state are under-sampled, which should still lead to an underestimated number of species. In addition, we present taxonomic notes of two species collected during our expeditions: males of Progomphus dorsopallidus Byers, 1934 and females of Macrothemis griseofrons Calvert, 1909. Here, we detail important characteristics and present figures to aid their morphological identifications.

Traditional Technology on Medicinal Plants Used by Indigenous People of Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary, Meghalaya, North East India

Meghalaya a state in North Eastern Region of India is a rich source of biodiversity which includes high potential of naturally occurring medicinal plants. The study was conducted in and around the Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary located in the Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya to investigate the uses of medicinal plants and their conservation. The Nongkhyllem wildlife sanctuary was carved out of Nongkhyllem reserve forest in the year 1981 for adequate protection of the floral and faunal species of the area and covers an area of 29 sq. km on steep hill slopes (20° to > 65°). Participation rural appraisal (PRA) methods and tools were used for interacting with them. Information was extracted through key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Plants specimen were collected and identified and preserved as voucher specimens following standard herbarium techniques. The study comprises 71 species of ethnomedicinal plants belonging to 42 families. The most dominant family recorded as a whole is Malvaceae followed by Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Rutaceae, Solanaceae. Herbs were found to be the most used plants in preparing traditional medicines. Among the different plant parts, the leaves were most frequently used for the treatment of diseases followed by fruit, root, flower, bark, whole plant, seed, stem, rhizome and tuber. People collect plants from their surrounding plant communities in wild, semi-wild and some are cultivated as well. However, cultivation of medicinal plants in surroundings, home-gardens, agro-forestry systems is a very new and important from conservation point of view in north east India.

Energy Market Integration in Northeast Region of India: Efficiencies, Vulnerabilities and Strategic Implications for Asia

Energy is a common thread that connects multiple economic domains of countries and sub-regions in Asia. In the drive to trigger and consolidate energy market integration, the North Eastern Region (NER) of India offers great potential as electricity trading hub. This article analyses multiple potentials of energy markers of NER with neighbouring countries through cross-border trade. Supply and demand analysis under different connectivity scenarios shows that not only the eight states of NER of India may be able to fully utilise the economic benefits of energy market integration, but also the neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar should keep their carbon emissions in check by importing reliable cost effective energy sources. However, lack of infrastructure for the transfer of power to a common transmission system increases the vulnerability of energy market integration. Given the region’s diverse hydro-geography and wide range of clean energy portfolios, energy market integration perspective offers a way forward for strategic energy security planning and climate mitigation strategy for NER and neighbouring Asian countries.

Variation in injecting drug use behavior across different North-eastern States in India.

Prevalence of adult HIV infection in India is still high in certain North-eastern (NE) states, particularly among injecting drug users (IDUs). This study aims at exploring IDU behavior profile and their variation across the different states of NE region, India. Data were drawn from a population-based, cross-sectional survey of IDU in the integrated bio-behavioral surveillance from 2014 to 2015. A total of 4272 IDUs from four states (Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland) aged ≥15 years were interviewed. Descriptive analysis was conducted to identify the variation in demographic and IDU behavior across four states. Youth predominance in Mizoram was evident by the mean age of initiation <18 years; 74% and 65% had the first exposure of any drug and injecting drug in <20 years. In Manipur and Nagaland, 60% and 49% of IDUs, respectively, were ≥30 years of age. These specific age groups may be targeted for IDU risk mitigation addressing the state-specific determinants.

Piperine content variation in different Piper longum germplasms of North East India determined through RP-HPLC method

The present experiment was conducted at Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat with ten accessions including check variety of Piper Longum germplasm collected from different states of North Eastern region during 2013-14 and 2014-15.The piperine, a major alkaloid used in different therapeutic treatment, per cent content was determined from dried plant materials. Deionised water was used throughout the experiment and the chromatographic separation was carried out in an isocratic elution mode on RP-18 column with 5?m particle size, 4.6mm internal diameter and 250mm length. The mobile phase was a mixture of methanol and water (80: 20). The solvent flow rate was 1.0 ml/minwith injection volume 20 µL. The photo diode array detector wavelength was set at 342 nm for the identification of piperine in all extracts. The per cent piperine content in extract was found to be 42.36 per cent in germplasm PLJ-30.The highest per cent piperine content in fruit was recorded in PLJ-11(7.85%) followed by germplasm PLJ-9 (7.64) and significantly superior over check variety“Viswam”(5.15%). The descending order of piperine content in fruits among germplasm was PLJ-11?PLJ-09?PLJ-30?PLJ-17? PLJ-03? PLJ-19? check variety?PLJ-01? PLJ-20 and PLJ-16. It can be revealed from the present experiment that piper germplasm with high piperine content has a great scope for commercial cultivation as alkaloid piperine has high demand in pharmaceutical use.

Inquiry into Nexus between Economic Development and Governance in North East India

There is a general consensus that the level of economic development of a country is dependent on the quality of governance. That governance is the life line of economic development and growth which has a positive spill over effect on the economy has been well studied in the literature. The present study attempts to examine the state of economic development and governance in the eight states of the North Eastern Region (NER) of India and examine the relationship between them. This paper constructs indices to obtain the objectives of the study. The result highlights the position of NER states in economic development and state of governance. Also preliminary result shows that there is a convergence in the relationship between the level of economic development and governance in the states of NER.

Viability Analysis of Photovoltaic/Wind Hybrid Distributed Generation in an Isolated Community of Northeastern India

This article examines the viability of standalone PV/Wind Hybrid system for remote household in north eastern region (NER) of India. Sizing, optimization, and the economical analysis of the Hybrid system is done through HOMER software. Sensitivity analysis is carried out with solar radiation data, wind speed data, cost of PV and Wind system for a 1kW PV/Wind Hybrid system. Annual peak, scaled annual average, and the average load of 697 W, 3.85 kWh/day, and 0.175 kW respectively are assumed for a remote household for analysis purpose. This article presents the optimal sizing, cost of electricity (COE), battery profile, and converter profile of PV/Wind hybrid system for different NER states. The outcome of this study shows that COE for the NER states lies in the range of 0.279-0.518 $/kWh, making hybrid PV/Wind system the most successful option for mitigation of power demand in the rural areas of the region concerned.

Unprecedented Drought in North East India Compared to Western India

The rainfall distribution over Western and North East India during the southwest (SW) monsoon season is geographically distinct with the heaviest seasonal rainfall occurs over the North Eastern Region (NER), while the lowest rainfall occurs over the Western region (Saurashtra and Kutch in Gujarat, and also in Rajasthan). Gujarat is located in arid to semiarid region and has more drought-prone areas. In contrast, Assam and Meghalaya have humid climate and occurrence of drought is unusual. Here, we analyse the percentage departure of rainfall for nearly two decades (1997-2014) along with crop statistics. Our results indicate that the SW monsoon rainfall in the NER has gradually dropped in recent years compared to the 1980s and 1990s. As a result, these regions have witnessed frequent unprecedented drought than Western India. In NER, probability of drought occurrence was 54%, and it is 27% for Western India in the recent decade (2000-2014). The frequent drought has caused adverse agricultural impacts and our results show a significant negative rice production anomaly during drought years 2005-06 and 2009 in Assam. Drought impacts were also reported from other states in NER during 2010-11 and 2013. Drought associated with El Nino was not so strong; however, increasing temperature and increased monsoon season rainfall variability have an impact on global climate change. This may cause warming-induced drought leading to adverse impact on agriculture and food security in the NER.

TLR2∆22 (-196-174) significantly increases the risk of breast cancer in females carrying proline allele at codon 72 of TP53 gene: a case-control study from four ethnic groups of North Eastern region of India.

Breast cancer (BC) is the second most common cancer in women. In the North Eastern Region (NER) of India, BC is emerging as an important concern as evidenced by the data available from population and hospital-based cancer registries. Studies on genetic susceptibility to BC are important to understand the increase in the incidence of BC in NER. The present case control study was conducted to investigate the association between tumour suppressor gene TP53 codon 72 polymorphism and innate immune pathway gene TLR2∆22 (-196-174) polymorphism with BC in females of NER of India for the identification of novel biomarker of BC. Four hundred sixty-two histopathologically confirmed BC cases from four states of NER of India, and 770 healthy controls were included by organizing community surveys from the neighbourhood of cases. In our study, no significant association between TP53 codon 72 polymorphisms and the risk of BC was found. However, our study has shown that TP53 codon 72 polymorphism is an important effect modifier. In the present study it was found that females carrying 22 base-pair deletion in the promoter region of their TLR2 gene had two times (AOR= 2.18, 95 % CI 1.13-4.21, p=0.019 in dominant model; AOR= 2.17, 95 % CI 1.09-4.34, p=0.027 in co-dominant model) increased risk of BC whwn they also carry proline allele at codon 72 of their TP53 gene.

Livestock sector of Tripura-trends in production and infrastructure

Livestock is an important component of agricultural system in Tripura. However, like food grains Tripura is also deficient in milk, meat, eggs etc. and a wide gap exists between demand and supply of these items. An attempt is made in this paper to compare infrastructure and production of livestock sector in Tripura with other states of North Eastern Region (NEH) region. The study revealed that Tripura's share in total livestock population of the NER and all India has increased to 7.43 per cent and 0.35 per cent, respectively in 2007 from 6.93 per cent and 0.30 per cent, respectively in 2003. Total livestock population registered a much higher change (28.19%) as compared to NER (19.52%) and all India (9.21%). The share of Tripura in both indigenous and crossbred cattle in NER and all India has increased in 2007 compared to 2003. In the case of poultry, Tripura's share to NER remained unchanged at 8.38 per cent between these periods and its share in all India declined to 0.57 per cent in 2007 from 0.62 per cent in 2003. Though livestock and poultry population have increased, the productivity of animals in terms of milk, meat and egg is much lower than NER and all India level. Moreover, lack of technological intervention, lack of inadequate processing facilities and unorganized marketing have been major sources of concern leaving a huge potential for improvement in this sector. A proper policy initiative encompassing improved technological intervention, breed improvement, quality feeds and fodder availability, proper credit facilities, proper processing and organised marketing is needed to realise the full potential of livestock sector in the state.

Studies on Some Fermented Foods and Beverages of Nagaland, India

Traditional fermented foods are consumed and an integral part of diet of tribal community since early history and one of the oldest and economical methods for production and food preservation. In Northeastern region of India, fermented foods are made from local crops and biological resources. Nagaland is one of the state in North Eastern region of India inhabited by indigenous ‘Naga’ tribe comprising of 16 tribes having varied forms of rich cultural heritage and food habits. The traditional fermented foods and beverages form important constituents of staple diet of Naga tribes. It is more like an art of technology passed from generation to generation. The present paper documents the major fermented foods used by the different Naga tribes and the technique of preparation. Some of them are Axone/Akhone, Anishi, Bastanga, fermented pork fat, Hungrii, Jangpangnatsu, Jang kap, Zutho, Tsutotuocie and fermented fruit beverages.

Some fermented foods and beverages of Nagaland, India

Traditional fermented foods are consumed as an integral part of diet of tribal community since early history. Their products is one of the oldest and economical methods for production and food preservation. In Northeastern region of India, fermented foods are made from local crops and biological resources. Nagaland is one of the states in North Eastern region of India inhabited by indigenous 'Naga' tribe comprising of 16 tribes having varied forms of rich cultural heritage and food habits. The traditional fermented foods and beverages an important constituents of staple diet of 'Naga' tribes are reviewed here. It is more like an art of technology passed from generation to generation. The present paper documents the major fermented foods used by the different 'Naga tribes' and the technique of preparation. Some of them are 'Axone/Akhone, Anishi, Bastanga, fermented pork fat, Hungrii, Jangpangnagtsu, Jang kap, Zutho, Tsutocie' and fermented fruit beverages. The method of their preparation and physico-chemical characteristics are briefly reviewed. The future prospects are also discussed.

Land reform in NE Brazil: a stochastic frontier production efficiency evaluation

The aim of this paper is to address the sources of technical and allocative inefficiency from a cross section sample of 308 beneficiaries of a market assisted land reform program, called "Cédula da Terra"; from five states in Northeastern region of Brazil. In spite of some differences on governance of the "Cédula da Terra"; in comparison with traditional expropriation land reform program, studies carried by Buainain et al. (2002) have shown small differences between then, regarding their social and economic characteristics. We believe that our results could be useful to identify the main problems of Brazilian land reform settlements. We estimated a potential production frontier following the methodology of Battese and Coelli (1995), Coelli et al. (1998) and applied econometric techniques to explain inefficiency. The results indicate the existence of technical and allocative inefficiency, which is identified mostly in situations where the presence of production for consumption is high. This is a result that shows how immature the agriculture activity is in most of Cédula da Terra Program settlements and the difficulty to overcome the limitations imposed by the initial condition of formation of agrarian reform, primarily in Northeastern region of Brazil.

Internationalization of small businesses of border region: A study of the determinants

Cross border entrepreneurship has been accepted as a strategy to boost economic development of the areas that are typically peripheral to national territories. In the same line, the small businesses of three bordering states of northeastern region of India (NER) have been trying to internationalize their activities by utilizing long international border with Bangladesh. The present paper attempts to identify the factors that play a critical role during the internationalization process of small businesses of NER with Bangladesh, and possible measures that can be considered to reduce the impact of the identified barriers. In order to understand the background of cross border interactions, this paper, first, factually ascertains characteristics of the trade flow across the borders of the three states of NER with Bangladesh and vice‐versa. More specifically, the following were examined through the analyses of: a) quantum of cross border trade flow across 15 designated land port customs stations b) quality of trade flow in terms of commodity traded and variety of trade basket. The paper also analyses the stage wise business relationship development process of small businesses of bordering states of NER with their Bangladeshi counterpart and provides insights to the different entrepreneur centric factors and regulation centric factors that effect relationship formation. This paper argues that for achieving the economic benefits, arising out of unique geographical position of NER, a clear understanding of the cross border business relationship developmental process and the associated factors are important for the policy makers of both the countries to assess the situation in a better way and make or adjust policy prescriptions accordingly.

Agricultural accidents in north eastern region of India

An investigation was conducted to characterize the agricultural accidents, their magnitude, causes, severity and economic consequences in one of the states of north eastern region of India, Arunachal Pradesh. The accident data for 6 years between years 2000 and 2005 were collected by conducting a survey and personal interview of the victims in 42 selected villages of 4 districts. Agricultural accident incident rate was 6.39 per 1000 workers/year. All the accidents were non-fatal. Farm implement-related accidents accounted for 40% of the accidents. Slashing of shrubs accounted for one-third of the accidents causing cut and hit injuries of moderate severity. Twenty-five per cent of the accidents occurred on the way to or from the field leading to severe or serious injuries. Two-third of the accidents occurred within 4 h of start of work. Thirty-three per cent of the victims were 40–49 years of age. Based on the analysis, both passive and active measures have been suggested to minimize or prevent the occurrence of agricultural accidents.

Causes of childhood blindness in the northeastern states of India

The northeastern region (NER) of India is geographically isolated and ethno-culturally different from the rest of the country. There is lacuna regarding the data on causes of blindness and severe visual impairment in children from this region. To determine the causes of severe visual impairment and blindness amongst children from schools for the blind in the four states of NER of India. Survey of children attending special education schools for the blind in the NER. Blind and severely visually impaired children (best corrected visual acuity < 20/200 in the better eye, aged up to 16 years) underwent visual acuity estimation, external ocular examination, retinoscopy and fundoscopy. Refraction and low vision workup was done where indicated. World Health Organization's reporting form was used to code anatomical and etiological causes of visual loss. Microsoft Excel Windows software with SPSS. A total of 376 students were examined of whom 258 fulfilled the eligibility criteria. The major anatomical causes of visual loss amongst the 258 were congenital anomalies (anophthalmos, microphthalmos) 93 (36.1%); corneal conditions (scarring, vitamin A deficiency) 94 (36.7%); cataract or aphakia 28 (10.9%), retinal disorders 15 (5.8%) and optic atrophy 14 (5.3%). Nearly half of the children were blind from conditions which were either preventable or treatable (48.5%). Nearly half the childhood blindness in the NER states of India is avoidable and Vitamin A deficiency forms an important component unlike other Indian states. More research and multisectorial effort is needed to tackle congenital anomalies.