DYNAMICS OF COAL AND LIMESTONE EXTRACTION IN MEGHALAYA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Coal and limestone are the two important natural resources abundant in Meghalaya. These two minerals have been extracted substantially during last few decades and have been contributing significantly to the employment and income in the state. But the rising extraction over time has raised concern about the sustainability of the progress of the area as the extraction has been going on not for any kind of local industrial development where employment may be generated further and progress would be accelerated. These are mined only to export and earn money without much value addition. Hence an attempt is made to comparatively study the nature of extraction of these two valuable resources and their future possible consequences with respect to the development of the state.extraction of nonrenewable resources, sustainability

Proceedings of the Conference on Human and Economic Resources

The objective of the paper is to explore the interlinkage among the population growth, poverty and environmental resource use with special reference to North-East India. We calculated the correlation between changes in population and incidence of poverty and the changes in forest resources across the North-Eastern states. Also we compared the over time changes in population, poverty and changes in forest resources in the region.poverty, natural resource management, India

Globalisation and cointegration among the states and convergence across the continents: a panel data analysis

This paper tried to examine the level of cointegration among various nations across the continents in regard to the globalisation. Also here attempt is made to analyse the nature of inter and intra continental variation in globalisation over time. The proximity and convergence over time in terms of the growth of globalisation is also examined by using a panel data set over a period of 1970 to 2007. The outcome reveals the presence of co-integration among the selected nations despite the fact that the European nations are more co-integrated than the other continents. It is followed by the countries in Africa and Asia. The proximity matrices of overall globalisation and political globalisation provided some important indications that geographical proximity, economic necessities, cultural and political understanding play crucial role in determining the clusters of countries in terms of globalisation or choice of the countries to open with other nations for trade, cultural exchange etc.Globalisation, Proximity, Stationarity, Cointegration, Regional Convergence, Panel Data

FOOD SECURITY AND PDS IN TRIPURA: A POLICY INTERVENTION

Tripura is facing the problem of food insecurity for quite some long period of time and lagging behind the most other states of India with respect to the development of human capital, agriculture and industry. Food security is one of the basic criteria for the formation and improvement of human capital and also productivity of human being. The working of PDS and other government policies have not been successful in achieving food security at the desired level. However the recent offtake pattern of PDS supply shows a decelerating trend and hence raises the question of maintaining the PDS in the state. The paper tries to analyse the food security condition of the state during the last two decades and the working of PDS in Tripura with some macro measures.Food security, Public Distribution System

Status of Women in the Rural Khasi Society of Meghalaya

The issue of empowerment of women has been much discussed at various levels to find out the solution to age-old problem of gender discrimination, exploitation of women and to uplift their status and position in the society. However, in most of the tribal societies even if poor, women always have an instilled special position and role they play in different spheres with great responsibility vis a vis their counterpart men. The Khasi society of Meghalaya is such a society, commonly known as matrilineal where authority, title, inheritance, residence after marriage and succession are traced through female line. So it is presumed that they do not require any special effort to make them aware and get social, economic, political or psychological understanding and knowledge to establish their rights along with men in their society as they are automatically placed on an esteemed level. They are presumed to have access to education, ownership of property, authority in their family and society; they are the heads of their families and decide what to be done or not etc. But a recent survey by us in the rural areas of Meghalaya shows that about one-third of the families are headed by the male. Also many of the families headed by females who are either widow or deserted. Also in the political sphere, hardly anybody is there who is female and even in the Dorbar; females are not allowed to take part in the meeting or decision-making. But in most of the socio-economic activities, still now dominance on female is observed even though they are assumed to be physically weak. Also, even though some families are headed by males it may be that they are just to carry out activities with the guidance of their female counterpart who has better control over assets and therefore no fear of loosing anything even if they are deserted by their husbands. Therefore, a question may arise whether in Khasi tribe the status of women is ascribed or prescribed by the society. Also it is pertinent to enquire about the direction to which the position and status of women are moving with the development of the society. This paper is thus an attempt to examine the dynamics of status and role of tribal women in Meghalaya, especially of Khasi women. It is examined through a number of social, economic, political, cultural, psychological and attitudinal indicators on the basis of the primary data on such factors collected from two villages in East Khasi Hills District of Meghalaya.Empowerment of Women, Status of Women, Role of Women

Ericulture as a Remedy of Rural Poverty in Assam: A Micro Level Study in Barpeta District

Ericulture i.e., rearing of eri cocoon and spinning as well as weaving of endi clothes has been an integral part of the rural economic activities especially of the rural women in Assam. Though both male and female folk of all sections of rural population have been engaged in different sericulture activities, tribal women have been predominant in the rearing and weaving of eri raw silk and endi textiles, who in addition to their daily household activities use their leisure time and with the help of their traditionally inherited knowledge produce useful but comparatively cheaper endi clothes. The activities not only help to increase their household income but also help many of them to come out of the acute poverty. Moreover, these women become economically and thus socially more empowered. An attempt is made in this paper to throw some light on the role of ericulture and endi-entrepreneurship in the generation of income, employment and removal of poverty in Assam.Ericulture, Poverty eradication, Rural entrepreneurship

Primary abdominal hydatid cyst presenting in emergency as appendicular mass: a case report

Hydatid disease, caused by Echinococcus granulosus, is a common parasitic infection of the liver. Disseminated intra-abdominal hydatid disease may occur following rupture of the hydatid cyst into the peritoneal cavity, producing secondary echinococcosis. Rarely cyst may develop de-novo in the peritoneal cavity without involvement of any other intra-abdominal organs. We present a unique case of 56-year-old woman with a primary intraabdominal hydatid cyst in the right iliac fossa masquerading as appendicular lump

STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE RURAL KHASI SOCIETY OF MEGHALAYA

The issue of empowerment of women has been much discussed at various levels to find out the solution to age old problem of gender discrimination, exploitation of women and to uplift their status and position in the society. However, in most of the tribal societies even if poor, women always have an instilled special position and role they play in different spheres with great responsibility vis a vis their counterpart men. The Khasi society of Meghalaya is such a society, commonly known as matrilineal where authority, title, inheritance, residence after marriage and succession are traced through female line. So it is presumed that they do not require any special effort to make them aware and get social, economic, political or psychological understanding and knowledge to establish their rights along with men in their society as they are automatically placed on an esteemed level. They are presumed to have access to education, ownership of property, authority in their family and society; they are the heads of their families and decide what to be done or not etc. But a recent survey by us in the rural areas of Meghalaya shows that about one-third of the families are headed by the male. Also many of the families headed by females who are either widow or deserted. Also in the political sphere, hardly anybody is there who is female and even in the Dorbar; females are not allowed to take part in the meeting or decision-making. But in most of the socio-economic activities, still now dominance on female is observed even though they are assumed to be physically weak. Also, even though some families are headed by males it may be that they are just to carry out activities with the guidance of their female counterpart who has better control over assets and therefore no fear of loosing anything even if they are deserted by their husbands. Therefore, a question may arise whether in Khasi tribe the status of women is ascribed or prescribed by the society. Also it is pertinent to enquire about the direction to which the position and status of women are moving with the development of the society. This paper is thus an attempt to examine the dynamics of status and role of tribal women in Meghalaya, especially of Khasi women. It is examined through a number of social, economic, political, cultural, psychological and attitudinal indicators on the basis of the primary data on such factors collected from two villages in East Khasi Hills District of Meghalaya.Status of Women, Empowerment of Women

Nature based Tourism, Opportunities of Indigenous Women and Their Empowerment: A North East Indian Perspective

The trade-off between economic development and the environmental quality is a wellknown phenomenon. Till a nation become very highly developed and learn how to manage environment or critical natural resources while undertaking various developmental socio-economic activities the growth process becomes unsustainable. Hence a debate has always been there in regard to the sustainability of the growth process and the preservation of natural resources and maintaining inter-generational as well as intra-generational equity. It is found that the poorer especially the indigenous people, whose livelihood are highly dependent on the natural resource extraction are the worst victim of the natural resource degradation that are caused by the socio-economic activities undertaken by the state as well the richer section of any society. Hence, there is a strong inter-linkage between social and economic activity, sustainability of the resource use and environmental quality. In the context of aforesaid background, nature based tourism that has been one of the fastest growing economic activities in the world during past few decades can be a better option for the maintenance of sustainable welfare along with the preservation of natural wealth. Ecotourism has thus become a buzzword of the time. The indigenous people especially the women have been found to be involved in selling a large number of handloom and handicrafts product that has been prepared from the locally collected minor forest products. Moreover, the development of scope of employment and income in the growing hospitality sector and transport business with the growing demand by the nature loving tourists has created an opportunity for sustainable environmental management at the regional level for the livelihood itself. This paper tries to explore how a substantial section of indigenous population of North East India manage their livelihood through the growing nature based tourism activities through the maintenance of nature itself. Not only that the women who are involved in such activities are empowered in their indigenous rural set up. It is examined on the basis of empirical observation through a primary survey conducted in three prime tourist sites in Meghalaya, the areas of highest rainfall zone in the world. The pleasant climate and the beauty of natural forest are the prime attractions of the visitors over the years

FOOD SECURITY AND PDS IN TRIPURA: A POLICY INTERVENTION

Tripura is facing the problem of food insecurity for quite some long period of time and lagging behind the most other states of India with respect to the development of human capital, agriculture and industry. Food security is one of the basic criteria for the formation and improvement of human capital and also productivity of human being. The working of PDS and other government policies have not been successful in achieving food security at the desired level. However the recent offtake pattern of PDS supply shows a decelerating trend and hence raises the question of maintaining the PDS in the state. The paper tries to analyse the food security condition of the state during the last two decades and the working of PDS in Tripura with some macro measures