Northeastern States Of India Research Articles

Indo‐ASEAN Trade Complementarity and Favourability with Transition from Look East to Act East Policy: Evidence from Northeastern States of India

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to access the effectiveness of policy initiatives on the emerging trend of Indo‐ASEAN trade by answering the critical question of whether the implementation of the Look East Policy (LEP)/Act East Policy (AEP) influences the growth trends and trade complementarities in India’s trade with the ASEAN countries for the period 1990–2018? The result reveals that both import and export increased in India during the AEP period, but unlike the LEP period, AEP period shows negative growth. It is found that India’s exports and imports are intense with ASEANs compared with its trading pattern in the rest of the world. It can also be observed that coefficient of time dummy has a positive significant relationship with India’s bilateral export of merchandized product to ASEAN countries. The study observes five breaks on the growth of export, import and total trade, spread over three decades. Further, the growth and volume of trade was found to be highest via Land Custom Stations (LCS) Moreh amongst all LCS of northeastern states during the period of AEP.

Manipuri Lores: Folktales, Cultural History and Anthologies

The paper will establish a connection between folktales and the cultural history of a region, particularly with respect to the Indian state of Manipur. It is premised on the belief that a study of folktales can alert us not only to the various interconnections between folktales and the cultural history of a place but also help analyse the dynamics of the publication of the anthologies of folktales in relation to this cultural history. The paper will include analyses of Meitei and tribal tales pertaining to the nationalist phase and contemporary period in the history of the North Eastern Indian state of Manipur and look at how in the past few years, compilers and translators have incorporated versions of tales different from the earlier anthologies, establishing a direct link between the tales and the times of their publication.

Development of genic-SSR markers and their application in revealing genetic diversity and population structure in an Eastern and North-Eastern Indian collection of Jack (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.)

Jack (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a multi-purpose out-breeding tree species of the family Moraceae. We generated 42,928,887 high-quality expressed sequence reads, assembled them into 89,356 unigenes, and discovered 16,853 unigene-based perfect SSRs in A. heterophyllus. Thirty-eight polymorphic SSRs were used to analyze the genetic diversity and population structure of 224 germplasm accessions of A. heterophyllus constituting three populations from three agro-climatic zones, namely Eastern Plateau and Hills, Middle Gangetic Plain Region, and Eastern Himalayan Region, encompassing five Eastern and North-Eastern states of India. At the 38 SSR loci, we detected 142 alleles with a mean of 3.74 alleles per locus. The PIC values for the loci ranged from 0.25 to 0.69. The maximum genetic diversity was recorded in Eastern Plateau and Hills (I = 0.98, He = 0.52). The ANOVA analysis indicated significantly higher within-population variation (90%) than between populations (10%). The indirect estimation of gene flow (Nm) from PhiPT indicated significant gene flow among all three populations. The population structure analysis showed at least four distinct groups among the three populations with different introgression degrees. The NJ-based clustering grouped the 224 germplasm accessions into three main clusters, each with three sub-clusters. However, we did not observe distinct geographical structure among populations except some clustering among the germplasm accessions of the populations of geographically close locations. The transcriptome dataset and the SSR markers developed in the study would boost the species' molecular characterization, conservation, and specific need-based improvement.

Literature Review on Renewable Energy Sources in North-eastern states of India

Literature Review on Renewable Energy Sources in North-eastern states of India

Role of traditional institutions in Covid-19 management: A case study of Dorbar Shnong in Meghalaya, India

ABSTRACT With the outbreak of Covid-19, India’s focus becomes to prevent the disease from the mass spread. Accordingly, several preventive measures were introduced, including nationwide lockdown. However, despite these preventive measures, the government fails to stop the mass spread of the virus mainly because of the lack of community participation on a large scale. Participation of the community in managing public health can make a difference, as shown by Ebola epidemic management in Sierra Leone. In such context, an attempt is being made in this paper to understand the role of traditional institutions of Meghalaya - a hilly state of North Eastern India, in managing Covid-19.

Prevalence and change detection of child growth failure phenomena among under-5 children: A comparative scrutiny from NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 in West Bengal, India

BackgroundNowadays child growth failure phenomena are an enduring public health concern in lower & middle-income countries like India. West Bengal is a northeastern state of India where child growth failure incidents are predominately relevant which can cause morbidity and mortality among under-5 children. MethodsThe district-level data of child growth failure indices were extracted from the district fact sheets of West Bengal state, published by NFHS, India. This study is based upon two-time frames of the NFHS (NFHS-4 & NFHS-5) series. District wise change detection of child growth failure indices was estimated by differencing the last series prevalence from the previous series prevalence and spatial distribution of current child growth failure indices has been shown through thematic mapping. ResultResults revealed that the prevalence of stunted children is increased across 7 districts whereas wasted from 10 districts and underweight from 9 districts of West Bengal. As per data reported in the NFHS-5 fact sheet, there are still several districts in West Bengal where the prevalence of stunting, wasted, and underweight children have remained more than 30%. ConclusionDistrict level direct public intervention programs to enhance parent's education, their household's standard of living, and childhood health care facilities should be given more priority to combat the children's growth failure problem in high priority districts. This study will be beneficial for policymakers and health workers to understand the dynamic nature of prevalence and changes of child growth failure indices across the districts in West Bengal.

In Search of a Blue Ocean in the Indian Wine Industry

Naara-Aaba is an indigenous wine innovated by a woman who could predict a beautiful end to her vision of brewing wine from the sacred but exotic fruit kiwi. The brand was launched in 2017 at Hong village of Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh by Tage Rita Takhe; an engineer turned entrepreneur through her venture M/s Lambu Subu Food & Beverages. The brand was named after her late father-in-law lovingly known as ‘Naara’ and ‘Aaba’ meaning father. The motto of the company is to fight a social problem that wreaks havoc across the region, namely the suicides of thousands of farmers who cannot pay back their debt due to drought, poor harvest, and sometimes exacerbated by climate. Rita started her winery facing these hurdles and a field abundant in kiwi fruits. Despite facing many challenges such as lack of efficient production infrastructure, market connectivity, and minimum support from the government machinery, she has created a niche market in the wine industry. This case aims to establish the applicability of the Blue Ocean strategy by applying the tools to create an uncontested market space for Naara-Aaba, the first organic kiwi wine from the north-eastern states of India and second in the world after New Zealand. Research question: How to apply Blue Ocean strategy for the brand Naara-Aaba so that the competition becomes irrelevant? Theory: Blue Ocean theory Type of the case: Applied problem solving Basis of the case: Phenomenon-creating uncontested space in the market Protagonist: Present Findings: The findings revealed that implementing a Blue Ocean strategy will open up new uncontested market spaces for the brand to grow profitably. This case study shows how to apply Blue Ocean strategy for a wine brand. Discussion: Blue Ocean strategy advocates that by eliminating unnecessary attributes, reducing all features that pushes up the cost, raising utility, and creating higher value, a brand can redefine its market where competition is non-existent.

Diversity of beneficial microorganisms and their functionalities in community-specific ethnic fermented foods of the Eastern Himalayas

The Eastern Himalayan regions of India, Nepal and Bhutan have more than 200 varieties of unsurpassed ethnic fermented foods and alcoholic beverages, which are lesser known outside the world. However, these ethnic foods are region- and community-specific, unique and some are exotic and rare, which include fermented vegetables, bamboo shoots, soybeans, cereals, milk (cow and yak), meats, fishes, and cereal-based alcoholic beverages and drinks. Ethnic communities living in the Eastern Himalayas have invented the indigenous knowledge of utilization of unseen microorganisms present in and around the environment for preservation and fermentation of perishable plant or animal substrates to obtain organoleptically desirable and culturally acceptable ethnic fermented food and alcoholic beverages. Some ethnic fermented products and traditionally prepared dry starters for production of alcoholic beverages of North Eastern states of India and Nepal were scientifically studied and reported till date, and however, limited publications are available on microbiological and nutritional aspects of ethnic fermented foods of Bhutan except on few products. Most of the beneficial microorganisms isolated from some ethnic fermented foods of the EH are listed in microbial food cultures (MFC) safe inventory. This study is aimed to review the updates on the beneficial importance of abundant microbiota and health-promoting benefits and functionalities of some ethnic fermented foods of the Eastern Himalayan regions of North East India, Nepal and Bhutan.

Mother’s Health Seeking Behavior During Childhood illness in Northeast India: Findings of National Family Health Survey 4 (2015-16)

The latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) report reflects the current health condition of the countryand its states as well as.Based on these findings this review carried out to highlight the mother’s healthseeking behaviours during childhood illness for the North-eastern states of India along with existing healthprograms catering to maternal and child health.Overall 60 percent of the children aged under five (U-5) werereceived any advice or treatment for Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) from a health provider in NortheastIndia. Nearly 20 percent of the children with fever were given antibiotic drug and only 1 percent of themwere given antimalarial drug. Meghalaya is the only North-eastern state were the maximum incidence (12%)of diarrhoea has been observed while least was seen in Sikkim (2%). The lack of basic amenities is directlyor indirectly responsible for the high burden of childhood morbidities in this region. Also, poor and unequaldistribution of maternal health seeking behaviours for their children were observed to all the North-easternstates of India. A huge proportion of children are still lagging behind from the adequate advices or treatmentsdue to various reasons like, poor quality of care and the lake of government health facility in the area, healthpersonnel were often absent from government health facilities and the major problem was the distance to ahealth facility specially in rural areas.

Effect of extreme climatic events on fish seed production in Lower Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, India: Constraint analysis and adaptive strategies

Abstract The climate of Brahmaputra valley (located in the North-eastern Indian state of Assam) witnesses considerable changes with sub-tropical rain-storm atmosphere and has four well-defined seasons (monsoon, post-monsoon, winter and pre-monsoon) in a year. The state is experiencing extreme climatic events like erratic rainfall patterns (causing abnormally high floods) and drought-like situations in recent years, which adversely affects fish seed production thereby affecting pond aquaculture and fisheries enhancements in open-waters of the region. The present paper describes the major constraints faced by fish seed producers of the region because of extreme climatic events (abnormally high floods and prolonged dry spells) based on field studies in 27 fish seed production farms (randomly selected) located in three districts of Lower Brahmaputra Valley Zone of Assam, India. Primary data on different aspects of constraints faced by the fish seed producers because of extreme climatic events were collected and analysed. Rank Based Quotient values were calculated, based on ranks given by the fish seed producers for each constraint to prioritize them. Dominant constraint related to abnormally high floods faced by the fish seed producers was ‘loss of brood stock’ (Rank based quotient = 99.1) whereas the least important constraint was ‘entry of weeds/macrophytes’ during floods (Rank Based Quotient = 25.5). Constraints related to drought-like situations ranged from the least important ones like ‘low milt production of male brood fishes’ that had the lowest value (12.5) to the over-arching constraint of ‘inadequate water depth in fish ponds’ during pre-monsoon and prolonged dry spells (Rank Based Quotient = 100.0). Adaptive strategies developed by fish seed producers of the study region to overcome the major constraints have been outlined in the paper. The need for developing improved risk management at macro-level through appropriate policy support to fish seed producers in the fish-deficit region and suggested policy support measures for ensuring sustainability are discussed.

Adaptive energy management strategy for sustainable voltage control of PV-hydro-battery integrated DC microgrid

DC microgrid has relatively more advantages of power quality, not requirement of reactive power, higher operational efficiency compare to AC microgrid. DC microgrid can facilitate effective integration of distributed clean energy resources and efficient solution for providing electricity to remote areas (e.g. North Eastern States of India). Recently, India has commissioned small hydro, solar PV and battery storage integrated DC microgrids (MGs) to meet the locally increasing load demand of northeastern states. The sudden change in solar insolation during the load power dynamics can cause unbalanced power flow in such isolated MGs. Due to the slow response time of small hydro power plant (SHPP) and limited output power of battery storage with fixed C-rate, the unbalanced power flow, during load power dynamics, cannot be compensated. The unbalanced power flow may lead to unsustainable voltage control at the DC bus of MG. To prevent this, MG follows load shedding. But, load shedding reduces the reliability of MG. To achieve the sustainable voltage control of DC MG, a smart adaptive energy management strategy (AEMS) is proposed in this research work. The novel aspect of proposed AEMS is that it operates the SHPP despite its slow response time by estimating the load power dynamics on the iterative basis. The deep charging/deep discharging scenario of battery storage due to mismatch between the total generation with estimated load and the actual load is taken care by the adjustable energy controller of proposed AEMS. To justify the potential contributions of proposed AEMS, it is assessed against various dynamic test load cases. Based on the assessment of obtained results against various test load cases, in this work, a comparative analysis is carried out between the proposed AEMS and the existing control strategies in the literature. The comparative analysis reveals that with the proposed AEMS, voltage sustainability of MG is improved by 22.7% and the utilization factor of SHPP is enhanced by 55.27% with 98.17% reduction in current stress levels of battery storage system. Finally, the proposed AEMS is evaluated in MATLAB/Simulink as well as validated through OPAL-RT real time simulator.

Putala Naach and Wayang: Ramayana Tradition in Puppet Theatre in Assam and Bali

The Ramayana is not only a Hindu epic, it is a symbol of truth, victory over evil, and this is the reason the main route of the epic has accepted by many countries along with India also. Many local parts of Ramayana have also recognised. Not only in literature, but the Ramayana tradition has preserved in performing art form also. Bali of Indonesia is one of the tourist attraction places for its tradition, culture, and puppetry. Besides the local version of Ramayana, through the Wayang (puppet) the Ramayana has been preserved in Bali. For thousands of years, the stories of Rama, Sita, Hanoman and Ravana have been told in Java and Bali in Indonesia, and thru Wayang (Wayang Kulit and wayang Golek) the Ramayana tradition has been performing. In the North-eastern state of India in Assam, the Ramayana tradition has been performing thru Putala Naach (puppet). The Ramayana tradition has been preserved in two different puppetry forms. In Bali, the Ramayana tradition has performed in shadow puppet (Wayang Kulit), but in Assam, the Ramayana tradition has been performing thru string puppet. Though there is a vast difference between Wayang and Putala Naach, this paper has tried to examine the relationship between them thru the stories of Ramayana, the repertoires, the puppeteers, the beginning rituals, and the musical accompaniments.

Coverage and correlates of health insurance in the north-eastern states of India

PurposeThe paper aims to analyze the coverage of health insurance and its correlates in the north-eastern region of India.Design/methodology/approachThe study accessed the raw data of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) (2015–16), which was an extensive, multiround survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India, which included socioeconomic, demographic and information on coverage of health insurance of any member of the household. The multivariate analysis of logistic regression was adopted to find the correlates of health insurance for all the eight (8) north-eastern states of India.FindingsThe results observed that among the north-eastern states, the coverage of health insurance was highest in Arunachal Pradesh (59%) followed by Tripura (58%), Mizoram (47%) surpassing the all India level of 27%, whereas the lowest was in Manipur (4%) followed by Nagaland (6%) and Assam (10%). The multivariate analysis of logistic regression found that the socioeconomic and demographic factors, households with a bank account and below poverty line (BPL) cardholders played a significant role in the coverage of health insurance in the north-eastern states of India.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focuses only on the coverage and correlates of health insurance. Further evaluation studies on each scheme of the social health insurance are needed for proper assessment of the health insurance schemes in the region.Practical implicationsThere has been evidence around the world (South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand) that health insurance could be a protective shield from the entrapment into poverty due to high health expenditure. The NFHS-4 put up the finding that in the north-eastern part of India, the coverage of health insurance had been low. This implied that the region could fall into poverty due to high medical expenses on health. Taking account of multiple health insurance providers, risk pooling and consolidation of health insurance providers have become the need of the hour.Originality/valueThe study is different from other studies of health insurance since it covered all the eight (8) north-eastern states of India, which are ethnically, culturally and historically distinct from the rest of India in general and within the region and states in particular and examines the impact of each of the independent variables with the dependent variables. The study has shown that the variation in health insurance coverage associated with socioeconomic and other household-level demographic attributes (although not very strong).

Healthcare utilisation: a mixed-method study among tea garden workers in Indian context

PurposeThe study examined the utilisation patterns of healthcare services among tea garden workers and analysed the factors influencing utilisation in an Indian context.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employed a mixed-method approach and an explanatory sequential design for the study. A survey was conducted in the beginning followed by in-depth interviews in a north-eastern state of India (Assam). Andersen health behaviour model was used to explore the factors influencing healthcare utilisation. The sample size for the survey and in-depth interviews were 300 and 19, respectively, recruited employing multistage random and purposive sampling techniques.FindingsOut of 300 workers surveyed, 169 (56.3%) were females, 257 (85.7%) were married, 77 (25.7%) were illiterates and 229 (76.3%) had monthly household income less than 100 US$. The survey also found that 47.3% and 15.3% had non-communicable and communicable disease respectively. Most of the workers (67.3%) utilised government facilities, and close to one third (28.7%) utilised tea garden hospitals. About 63.3% had health insurance, but a majority (78.9%) did not use it previously. The analyses of interviews explored the need, enabling, predisposing factors under three important themes influencing utilisation of healthcare services among the workers.Practical implicationsThe study generates evidence to strengthen the Indian Plantation Labour Act, 1951 for tea garden worker's welfare protection and warrants transition from colonial-era policies to contemporary industry realities in order to improve their living, employment, nutritional and health conditions.Originality/valueThe research adds to the existing literature on overall healthcare services utilisation (including coverage and utilisation of health insurance) among blue collar workers who usually lack access to healthcare facilities and explores important factors that determine utilisation in the Indian context.

Co–circulation of different genotype, sub-genotype and serotypes of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and its epidemiology in Assam: A north-eastern state of India

PurposeHepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global health problem. HBV has different genotypes and subgenotypes with geographical distinctiveness. Aims: To study the molecular epidemiology and distribution pattern of HBV in Assam; a distinct state of India that may have different genotypic divergence. Settings and design: Patients attending a tertiary care hospital susceptive of Hepatitis B were included, irrespective of age and sex in different agro-climatic zones of Assam. MethodsSamples positive for Hepatitis B surface antigen test and COBAS®TaqMan® HBV tests were further confirmed by PCR and sequencing followed by phylogenetic analysis.Statistical analysis used: Chi-square test was used to determine whether there was a significant difference among the results in this study.Results: An increase trend of HBV positive cases has been observed in the state. The incidence in female was lower than that of male and age group 26–35 years was most vulnerable. Genotype D, subgenotype D2 and serotype ayw3 were predominant genotype, subgenotype and serotype. The prevalence of subgenotype C3 was a new finding. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the genotypes of HBV prevailing in the state have close relationship with neighboring countries of India which may be due to increased cross border migration of population ConclusionsThis comprehensive study of HBV in Assam described the distribution of HBV genotypes and subgenotypes and serotypes in different agro-climatic zones of Assam. These findings will help to formulate the roadmap for prevention and control of the disease as well as targeted therapy of HBV in this State.

Therapeutic efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in four malaria endemic states of India

BackgroundMalaria is a major public health problem in India and accounts for about 88% of malaria burden in South-East Asia. India alone accounted for 2% of total malaria cases globally. Anti-malarial drug resistance is one of the major problems for malaria control and elimination programme. Artemether-lumefantrine (AL) is the first-line treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum in north eastern states of India since 2013 after confirming the resistance against sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. In the present study, therapeutic efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine and k13 polymorphism was assessed in uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria.MethodsThis study was conducted at four community health centres located in Koraput district of Odisha, Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh and Gondia district of Maharashtra state. Patients with uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria were administered with fixed dose combination (6 doses) of artemether-lumefantrine for 3 days and clinical and parasitological response was recorded up to 28 days as per World Health Organization protocol. Nucleotide sequencing of msp1 and msp2 gene was performed to differentiate between recrudescence and reinfection. Amplification and sequencing of k13 propeller gene region covering codon 450–680 was also carried out to identify the polymorphism.ResultsA total 376 malaria patients who fulfilled the enrolment criteria as well as consented for the study were enrolled. Total 356 patients were followed up successfully up to 28 days. Overall, the adequate clinical and parasitological response was 98.9% and 99.4% with and without PCR correction respectively. No case of early treatment failure was observed. However, four cases (1.1%) of late parasitological failure were found from the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. Genotyping of msp1 and msp2 confirmed 2 cases each of recrudescence and reinfection, respectively. Mutation analysis of k13 propeller gene showed one non-synonymous mutation Q613H in one isolate from Bastar.ConclusionsThe study results showed that artemether-lumefantrine is highly effective in the treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria among all age groups. No functional mutation in k13 was found in the study area. The data from this study will be helpful in implementation of artemether-lumefantrine in case of treatment failure by artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine.

Antimicrobial activity of bacterial endophytes from Chirata (Swertia chirata Wall.) and Datura (Datura stramonium L.)

BackgroundExploration of biocides in microbial system becomes increasingly interesting. Among the different microbial systems, the study of endophytes becomes an important field of research because of their agricultural as well as pharmaceutical importance. Bacterial endophytes from two medicinal plants from North Easter states of India had been studied for their potential antibacterial and antifungal properties.ResultsBacterial endophytes from two medicinal plant species abundantly available in North Eastern states of India, Chirata (Swertia chirata) and Datura (Datura stramonium), had been isolated and studied for their anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities. Six bacterial endophytes were isolated from Chirata and 5 from Datura. All these bacterial isolates were initially isolated by observing their colony morphology, and then 9 morphologically distinct bacterial isolates were identified at molecular level by their 16s rRNA sequencing. Among the identified isolates, 5 were found to be belonged to genus Staphylococcus, 2 Bacillus, and one each belonged to Rhodococcus and Cupriavidus. Antibacterial study was carried out against 2 plant pathogenic bacteria, viz., Xanthomonas oryzae and Ralstonia solanacearum. Antifungal study was carried out against 2 plant pathogenic fungi, viz., Fusarium oxysporum and F. solani. Out of 6 bacterial isolates from Chirata, one showed antibacterial as well as antifungal properties, and another one showed antifungal properties only. Likewise, out of 5 bacterial isolates from Datura, one found to have both antibacterial and antifungal properties, and another one has only antifungal properties.ConclusionFew bacterial endophytes isolated from S. chirata and D. stramonium L., abundantly available in North Eastern part of India, had potential antibacterial as well as antifungal properties. This could be considered as the baseline information on potential antibacterial and antifungal agents from bacterial endophytes. Further investigations are required to assess their efficacy against several other bacterial and fungal diseases of economic importance.

Effect of climate change and deforestation on vector borne diseases in the North-Eastern Indian State of Mizoram bordering Myanmar

Malaria and dengue are the two major vector-borne diseases in Mizoram. Malaria is endemic in Mizoram, and dengue was first reported only in 2012. The study was designed to study the impact of climate variables, and deforestation on the incidence of dengue and malaria in Mizoram. Temperature, rainfall, and humidity data of Mizoram in the monsoon period (May-September) from 1979 to 2013 were obtained from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Climate Forecast System Reanalysis. Forest cover data were extracted from the Forests Survey of India Reports and satellite products of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer missions. Vector-borne diseases data were obtained from the State Vector Borne Disease Control Program. Non-parametric tests (Mann-Kendall test and Sen's slope method) were used to estimate the long-term trends in the climate and forest cover variables. The Mann-Kendall test indicates that the minimum temperature during the monsoon period is increasing (p<0.001). The Sen's slope estimate shows an average annual 0.02 °C (0.01–0.03 at 95% CI) increase in minimum temperature, and there is an annual ~0.1 °C increase after 2007. There is a 20.45 mm increase in annual monsoon rainfall (5.90–34.37 at 95% CI), and a 0.08% (0.02–0.18 at 95% CI) increase in relative annual humidity. Forest cover data shows that there is an annual average decrease of 162 sq.km (272.81–37.53 at 95% CI, p<0.001) in the dense forest cover. Malaria transmission continues to be stable in Mizoram; compared to 2007, cases have increased in 2019. Over the study period, in the monsoon season, there was an ~0.8 °C rise in the minimum temperature, which could have facilitated the establishment of Aedes aegypti in Mizoram. Furthermore, the increase in rainfall and humidity may have also helped the biology of Ae. aegypti. Deforestation could be an important factor responsible for the consistently high number of malaria cases in Mizoram.

Contesting Militarized Violence in “Northeast India”

Abstract The northeastern states of India have been positioned as India’s postcolonial other in mainstream politics with the aim to create xenophobic binaries between insider and outsider groups. Comprising the eight “sister” states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura, this region represents India’s amorphous shadowlands in arbitrary political markings between the mainland and the off-centered northeastern periphery. These satellite states have been subjected to the neocolonial governance of the Indian government and its implementation of political terror through abusive laws, militarized violence, protracted wars against civilians and insurgents alike, and gender abuse. Women poets from the region, such as Monalisa Changkija, Temsüla Ao, Mamang Dai, and others, have played a leading role in exposing and denouncing this violence. This essay examines the importance of women’s poetry as a gendered documentation of conflict, a peace narrative, a poet’s reading of history, and a site of memory. Can poetry express the particularized “sorrow of women” (Mamang Dai) without sentimentality and concession? How do these poetic contestations of conflict represent complex interrogations of identity, eco-devastation, and militarization to invalidate an elitist “poetry for poetry’s sake” ethic?

A review of the diversity of aquatic avifauna in Mizoram, India

Aquatic avifauna are an important bio-indicator of an ecosystem changes. Mizoram, one of the north-eastern states of India, lies in one of the richest biodiversity hotspots of the world. Along its water bodies, it is home to several species of resident birds, and is also a temporary home for migrating birds in different seasons. These resident and migratory avifauna form an important component of most wetland ecosystems, as they are vital components of the food webs. While only the Tamdil and Palak Lake are recognized as wetlands, there are several rivers and smaller water bodies around which aquatic avifauna exist. However, official records comprise of about 14 species of waterbirds belonging to 6 orders and 8 families. Of these, Anatidae, Charadriidae, Scolopacidae, Anhingidae, and Podicipedidae are represented by one species each, while the Ardeidae are represented by four species. Among the 14 species reported so far, two species of the Order Pelicaniformes, namely Anhinga melanogaster (Family Anhingidae) and Ardea insignis (Family Ardeidae) are highly endangered. However, detailed studies are wanting and, while there are sporadic reports of sightings on social media, there is a need for a more comprehensive study of the diversity and seasonal variations of aquatic avifauna around the different water bodies of the state of Mizoram.