China: here, there, everywhere

TILL last week, Charaideo was a sleepy village near Sivasagar in Upper Assam. Then the Archaeological Survey of India team came in to excavate the 40-odd earthen pyramids that are the tombs of kings, queens and other members of the Ahom royal families. The Ahoms ruled Assam for more than 600 years, till the arrival of the British in 1826. The excavation of the maidams pyramids has shed light in the manner in which the Ahom royals were buried. The ASI team has also found human bones, utensils and other articles that will help reconstruct history.

Focus on Majuli

THE campaign to pressure the UNESCO into recognising Majuli, the world8217;s largest river island, as a World Heritage Site, continues. Last week, at the North Eastern Cultural Festival organised in the sandy banks of the Brahmaputra in Majuli, eminent people like Bhupen Hazarika called for a more concerted campaign to draw world attention to the island and get international support to protect it from the threat of erosion posed by the Red River.

Trade yes, Bangladeshis no

WHILE the Centre has launched a countrywide campaign to throw out illegal Bangladeshi migrants, Abhijit Barooah, president of the Federation of Industries 038; Commerce, North-Eastern Region FINER, has called for increased trade and business between India8217;s Northeast and the neighbouring country. Lamenting the trade imbalance between Northeast India and Bangladesh, Barooah has pointed out that while the region imported goods worth Rs 52.6 crore from Bangladesh during 2002-03, the Northeast8217;s net export was to the tune of only Rs 28.9 crore.

Breathing Life into Death

THE Northeast has a number of cemeteries dating back to the World War II that are lying uncared for for several decades. One of them is at Jairampur in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh. It is the final resting place of several valiant soldiers who took on the Japanese army under the leadership of Hsiao Chu Ching, a company commander of the 2nd battalion of the 10th regiment of the Indian Engineers of the Chinese Army. Thanks to campaigns in the media, the New Delhi-based Indo-Taipei Cultural Exchange Centre has come forward to renovate it.

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