Hydrocarbon deposits found in Mizoram

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has found hydrocarbon  deposits in Mizoram. It is for the first time that gas is found in the Assam-Mizoram bordering areas under Kolasib district.

“ONGC is now conducting tests on the gas found. The company has continued its drilling and hydro-fracturing to find out whether more deposits of hydrocarbons are available in the area.” -H Rohluna, Mizoram’s Industries Minister

ONGC has already found large reserves of natural gas in Assam and Tripura. It has been present in Tripura since 1972 aand has so far drilled about 206 wells in the state, half of which are gas bearing. They were now engaged in excavation efforts in Mizoram in search for natural gases. As of now, the ONGC predicted that there could be 5,52,674 standard cubic feet (SCF) of gas per day from the Kolasib exploration site.

Four oil giants were involved in the oil exploration venture in the state,  however, that the Reliance company was axed for not undertaking exploration and the Director General of Hydrocarbons would soon float another global tender to choose companies to take up exploration in the southern parts of the state.

Anthrium Festival: An overview

The three day (1^st to 3^rd October) Anthurium festial was held in Lengpui, about 40 kms from Aizawl. The Anthurium festival this year, like every year was organized by the state tourism department and the horticulture department. The main objective of the festival was to promote the cultivation and marketing of the Anthurium flower and attracting more tourists to the scenic beauties of the state. The festival highlighted the rich and rhythmic cultural dances and folk songs, local games, food, handlooms, and of course the enthralling Anthurium flower.

This year, Mizoram Bamboo day was also held along with the festival to promote the state’s bamboo industries and showcased handicrafts made of bamboo canes. At least 20-25 stalls were opened to showcase the artistic works done out of the bamboos by the local men and people from the neighbouring states. There were stalls from the Manipur, Tripura and Assam.

There was a mixture of both local and non local cuisines in the festival. Popular cuisines like Briyani, Chow mien, Fried Rice, Momo, Beef fry, Dosa were available. Local dishes like Sawhchair could also be tasted. The festival also served the local Mizo drink Zu-fang.

The dances that were performed included the Chheihlam, Solakia and Cheraw, which is popularly known as the bamboo dance. The festival also presented the specific dance forms of the Brus and the Chakmas. Apart from the dances there were also some live musical performances by some of the renowned local Mizo artists.

The festival had a range of sports that could be played by the visitors. The games included fish hook, dart, 3 cards and many other. The organisers also made a Quad bike circuit for the people. There was also a highlight of the local Mizo sports like Insuknawr and Inbun.

The festival was held in Reiek village in the initial years but due to the increasing number of visitors each year, the organisers have decided to shift the venue to the mini sports complex, Lunglei. The small village of Reiek could not stand the huge inflow of visitors.

Can Mizoram be the next Bamboo hub?

Mizoram, a state with a population of 10 lakhs that lies in the north eastern part of the country has an economy based on horticulture and forest products. Although the state has one of the fastest growing economies among the states in India with a per capita income of Rs 50,021, the state still lacks in self reliance and has to depend on the centre for funds.

Mizoram being a state which is mostly covered with topical forest do not have enough scope for agriculture. Most of its cultivated land is under jhum and only 20 per cent of the demand for rice could be met within the state. So there is no question of exporting agricultural products. Now remains the option of horticulture and forestry. Although the state was not doing very well until now, the government is trying to explore its true potential.

The state has abundant reserve of Bamboo forest covering 12,54,400 ha, which contributes 14 per cent of all India Bamboo distribution. Around 57 per cent of geographical area of Mizoram is under bamboo cover. A total of 20 species of bamboo are found in the forests of Mizoram and out of these species, Melocanna Baccifera is the predominant species which occupies 95 per cent of the bamboo afforestation.

The state government however in the recent years have tried to build a self-reliant economy based on its forest and horticultural resources, especially on its bamboo industry. The bamboo which was once a curse to the state in the form of Mautam has turned into the very structure of its economic up gradation. Recently I was in one of the state’s premier tourism festival called the Anthurium Festival. There I saw a huge publicity effort by the state government to popularised its bamboo products. Not only within the state, but the state government is also trying to export its products to the rest of India and the neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Bamboo can be a useful tool for sustainable development, helping in agriculture, construction, handicraft, transportation, micro enterprises and industries. Regarding the use of bamboo in agriculture, its pipes are used to irrigate vast tracts of agricultural land in different agro agricultural settings. More than a million bamboo pumps are in current use. Bamboo is also useful in making dikes, dams, sluice gates, farm implements; floats fish traps, wind break barriers and several other articles.

Bamboo’s natural elegance and easy workability make it a choice material for handicrafts. The Mizos are very good bamboo artists, making elegant handloom products. The high rising Chinese manufacture more than 8000 bamboo and rattan items. There is huge scope for the Mizos to enter the bamboo handicraft industry and compete with the Chinese, with such a massive resource backing. When it comes to micro enterprises, it makes extensive use of bamboo in furniture, handmade paper, handlooms, curtains and blins, toothpicks, incense sticks and various other products. The incense stick industry in India has over 3800 production units that generates nearly 400 us dollar from domestic and export marts.

Bamboo is also an ideal raw material for many industries. The bamboo shoot industry in china earns 130 us dollar per year from exports. About half of India’s bamboo consumption is for making paper pulp. Other major uses of bamboo are in the production of rayon, activated charcoal and flooring and panelling products.

Now the real question is how to explore the bamboo potential of the state which seems to be underutilised.  My argument is that each state of our country has an individual identity of its own. It’s my firm believe that the state of Mizoram has huge potential to emerge as the bamboo state of India. Anybody from this state will take pride in the thought that there state can come up to be known as the bamboo state of India rather than a simple state in the north eastern region. Moreover with the coming of the look east policy, Mizoram can be a bamboo hub for Myanmar and other South East and East Asian countries.

Raghuram Rajan @ MZU

Mizoram University, today, was blessed with the presence of one of the most charismatic personalities in our country, the governor of RBI, Raghuram Rajan. He is considered to be the most popular governor of our generation. Raghuram Rajan served as the chief economic advisor to the Ministry of Finance before being the governor. He was also the chief economist at International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2007.

The prime purpose of his visit to Aizawl was inaugurating of a regional RBI branch in Aizawl. He came to Mizoram University for an interaction programme organised by the department of management.

The programme started with the national anthem sung by the management students and then felicitating him and the vice chancellor. It was followed by a Mizo song and a welcome speech by the HoD of management department, Mr E Nickson Singh. The VC (Vice Chancellor) then offered Raghuram Rajan with some mizo gifts.

Before the interaction session started, Raghuram Rajan briefed the audience on where India stands on the global market. He talked about his recent visit to the IMF meet in Peru. He said that the Indian economy is highly respected in the global scenario. “India is a bright spot in the global market.” He however said that India is not growing as par as its true potential. He talked about the global slow down. India is also hit by the global slow down as most of the big Indian companies are listed in the global market. He said “as the world slow down we slow down.””We try to compensate.”

He discussed the three aspects of the economy. He explained fiscal deficit, current account deficit and the country’s monetary policy. He talked about the recent cut of interest rate and how it will encourage the people to invest more. He also said that that some of the policies which might not suit the people in the short run will help them in the long run.

Talking about growth of the economy, he said that the countries economy has grown at a high pace of seven to eight percent from 2002 to2012. The growth rate however has become lower. The reason for it was that the industries have reached its institutional capacity. There was a time when mineral ores were distributed in the first come first basis. But now there is a huge push and pull for the resources. He also talked about inflation and the measures to control it. He talked about the land acquisition bill and also about sustainable development.

He talked about the payment bank, where the mobiles will serve as the mode of transferring money. He talked about implementing the same within the year. He finally concluded his speech by encouraging the Mizo youths to think about an alternative career in the RBI. After his speech, there were some questions asked by the various department, specially the management, economists, commerce, mass com and the education departments. The questions ranged from the mizo economy to the national economy and of course his personal ambitions.