Indian folk music is changing rhythm to please the global village. Boatman’s songs and Bihu festival tunes from Assam are being reset to the beats of techno-pop and soft rock, courtesy the East India Company band.

A folk-rock band from the northeastern state, it has taken the lead in changing the traditional sounds from the banks of the Brahmaputra to cater to an essentially young and uninitiated international audience.

‘Traditional sounds from areas far-flung are finally coming out in what you can call a reverse retro beat. India is invading the world with its indigenous music, set to the new beat of western pop,’ says 32-year-old Angaraag Mahanta, lead vocalist of the folk-rock band from Assam, East India Company.

Angaraag is being billed by the music industry as the voice to watch out for from the east, while the band with its heady repertoire of Assamese Bihu and folk songs and Sufi soul music is already is a hit in the live circuit.

Barely nine months old, the forte of East India Company, says vocalist Mahanta, is the blend of modern Sufi and old Bihu and Goalparia - river songs from Goalpara - folk music from its home state Assam, improvised electronically to fit into the genre of popular rock.

The quartet brought to life ‘unsung’ music from the heart of Assam at a concert in Gurgaon.

Mahanta, son of noted Assamese Bihu singer Khagen Mahanta, has been born to traditional music.

‘I have always heard Bihu and folk songs as a child, but only recently I have started travelling to villages in central, upper and lower Assam to cull from their music and rejig them our own way,’ Mahanta told IANS.

During his trips, he usually meets old musicians and picks up old melodies from them. ‘It’s tough, they have to be coaxed into parting with their old songs,’ smiles Mahanta, shaking his mane of curls.

‘I have been accused of glamorising folk music, but all that I have tried to do is to put folk in today’s context,’ Mahanta said.

The group composes its own music, besides writing some of its songs. It also remixes old numbers.

‘I am aiming at a musical invasion. Just like the East India Company invaded our country, we want to turn the trend around and conquer the world with music and goodwill that Indian traditional sounds generate,’ he said.

Mahanta says Assam has at least 16 kinds of folk music. ‘I sing almost all of them, including the Bihu, Goalparia or the river folk music, the Bagani (or garden folk), Tobari (from upper Assam) and Bodo folk (from the Bodo-dominated districts of central and lower Assam),’ he explained.

The young vocalist, who was till recently an architect by profession, learnt music from his mother Archana, a classical musician and disciple of Assamese musical guru Animesh Dutta.

‘But now, I have returned to pick up music from my dad consciously. The earlier influences were unconscious.’

Mahanta has two Assamese albums to his credit - a compilation of modern Assamese songs ‘Jonaki Raati’ and one of the Bihu songs composed the traditional way with the ‘dhol (drums) and pepa (pipe)’.

The tradition of Assamese music can be divided into five categories - regional folk music, ethnic folk music, the Bihugeet of the Bihu festival, bhakti music and the allied styles. The regional folk, say experts, is the richest with its melodic Kamrupia folk, Goalparia Lok Geet and Ojapali, ranking only second to Bihu in terms of popularity.

The growth of Assamese music, laments Mahanta, has been arrested by the lack of exposure. ‘The invasion by Western folk, rock and blues have pushed Assamese music to a corner. People in the state cannot appreciate their own music, only when they come out of Assam do they realise how beautiful traditional Assamese music is. Once you are out, you can have a bird’s eye view of things,’ Mahanta said.

Another barrier is Bollywood. ‘There is plenty of talent in Assam but the musicians are getting lost because of the influence of Bollywood and other popular Western sounds. I have to stick to my roots, for all roots are beautiful, especially in this age of globalisation and MacDonald’s,’ Mahanta said.

Most of the signature tunes of the East India Company are the boatmen’s folk songs from Goalpara. The band is looking forward to its first round of world concerts mid-year.

Assam has earned the dubious distinction of being the most corrupt State in the country, on the basis of corruption in 11 vital services. Corruption level was alarming in four other States, as well. The latest India Corruption Study 2007 conducted jointly by Transparency International and Centre for Media Study and released by Vice President Hamid Ansari on Saturday is embarrassing news for Assam, where corruption level was described as ‘alarming’. The four States, which follow Assam include Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

The grouping of States on corruption reflects position of States in the context of eleven services. The eleven services included ‘basic services’ like PDS, hospital service, school education, electricity and water supply services and ‘need -based services’, like land records, registration, housing service, forest, NREGS, banking service and police service (traffic and crime)). The study does not include operational irregularities in the system and even corruption that does not involve citizens directly.

The study covered all 31 States and Union Territories and is focused on the poorest and rural areas. It included below the poverty line people (BPL) in both rural areas and urban slums.

The level of corruption in all the 11services studied in Assam and Madhya Pradesh was alarming. In Delhi and West Bengal, for example, corruption level was moderate in most services surveyed. Among smaller States of the north-east, like Nagaland and Goa, corruption level was alarming, whereas in Meghalaya and Sikkim, it was very high. In Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur the level was high, while in Tripura and Mizoram it was found to be moderate.

The total bribe amount involved in a year in BPL households availing the eleven services is estimated at Rs 8,830 crore. Based on the incidence of bribe paid by sample BPL households, an estimate is made for the total amount paid as bribe by BPL households in the country during the last one-year in the eleven services.

School education (up to class XII and government schools) among the 11 services studied stands last in the ranking meaning the level of corruption is the lowest among all. While police service stood number one. The land records and registration and house and plot, which are specially tailored for BPL households, stand at two and three respectively in the rank.

The level and extent of corruption in police service was high in all States, as if it is universal – but the ranks of other services show variations across the States. Given the nature of need-based services, which are monopolistic or involve asset creation or volume, these services ranked high on corruption as compared to basic services.

Releasing the report, the Vice president said the report brings to light the negative impact of competitive politics on targeted schemes aimed at the poor. It has reported instances of BPL, SC/ST and other vulnerable households of being told by political activists of a linkage between benefits and electoral preferences.

“This, to the extent it is true, amounts to political corruption in its damaging form since it undermines the very institutions of democracy at all levels. A national consensus at its avoidance is thus imperative,” he opined.

The Department of Posts has started a pilot project, christened ”Arrow,” in which about 200 post offices would be e-enabled so that these can act as the ‘Window to the World’ for the people in the rural areas.

This project, initiated by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, would be started in 10 post offices in the Northeast namely Cherrapunjee in Meghalaya and Mokukchung in Nagaland from August 15 and in Jowai (Meghalaya), Sabroom and Panisagar (Tripura), Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), Champhai and Lunglei (Mizoram), Wokha (Nagaland) and Senapati (Manipur) in later stages.

Talking to reporters here, Chief Postmaster General, North East Circle, S K Chakrabarti said at a press conference here today that besides the e-enabled postoffices, the Department of Posts has a proposal for opening more branch offices in the NE Region during the 11th Plan Period.

A scheme has been launched to enable educated unemployed youths to serve as postal insurance agents. There are also steps taken for speedy delivery of mail, he said.

E-enabled services like e-post, Western Union Money Transfer, Instant Money Order Service which were till now confined to post offices in urban areas, will now be extended to post offices in the rural areas also where broadband services will be provided by BSNL.

He said the department has also taken up with the Ministry of Finance to raise the interest payable under various deposit schemes offered by the Centre through the post offices such as monthly income scheme, time deposit, recurring deposit and various kinds of saving certificates for the benefit of the rural people.

The department has also taken up with the Finance Ministry the matter of authorizing the post offices to sanction loans against deposits made under various small saving schemes to help small investors in rural areas at reasonable rates.

Out of 1.55 lakhs post offices in the country, 1.38 lakhs are located in the rural areas which serve 80 per cent of the rural population.

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United Liberation Front of Barak Valley (ULFBV) militants are all set to surrender with arms at a ceremony in south Assam’s Hailakandi district before Independence Day.

Hailakandi superintendent of police Bibekanda Das told that the surrender would be treated as “a stepping stone” towards possible successful conclusion of the peace dialogue between the Assam government and the outfit’s supremo Pachau Ram Reang.

He said the current strength of the outfit is estimated at nearly 300.

Das has been spearheading the efforts to usher in peace and normality in the insurgency-rocked district.

He said the outfit had participated in three rounds of preliminary discussions with the state government mediator Khagen Sharma, the IGP (intelligence) in Guwahati in June, on bringing about peace in the Katlicherra area on the Assam-Mizoram border.The outfit presented a six-point charter of demands to the state government on June 6.

Though the SP did not divulge the contents of this package, intelligence sources said the demands include rehabilitation of cadres, compensation for building houses, jobs for some of the surrenderees in the state police and financial help for the development of the tribal habitats in the south Assam districts. The outfit specialised in raids on government agencies, extortion and abductions.

It once had a tie-up with the Dima Halam Daogah (Dilip).

The group declared a ceasefire for three months at their strongholds in the south Assam districts on June 7.

The formal peace dialogues between the government mediators and the outfit’s delegation are, however, yet to get off the ground, but it is expected that the talks would be under way either in Guwahati or Shillong soon.

Das said the outfit had begun to assemble all its members.

He added that the activists had nearly 100 arms including some AK-47 and 56 varieties of lethal automatic assault rifles.

Is Guwahati the site where the ancient kingdom of Kamrupa existed or is it the Meghalaya?

This and many more questions, which are still mired in controversy, could be answered when archaeologists excavate the entire Bhaitbari-Tikrikilla area in West Garo Hills district in the state.

“Further excavations are likely to reveal the remains of the habitation, besides unravelling the historical antiquity of the plains-belt of the state of which very little is known from recorded history,” says senior government archaeologist Julies Marak.

This area of about 20 sq km hit the spotlight in 1992 when archaeological excavations revealed the existence of a fortified city with places of worship with exquisitely designed masonry oil lamps, besides a ’stupa’.

According to ASI officials, nothing is definitely known at present about the history of the site.

But on the basis of the deities like Ganesh, Parvati, Kubera and Yaksha - depicted on terracotta tiles scholars somehow have arrived at the conclusion that it was part of an ancient fortified city which might be contemporaneous to the reign of Harsha Vardhana, in the first half of the 7th century AD.

Again from the existence of ancient tanks of various sizes, it suggested that it was an important temple township, they felt.

Marak said many scholars say it could be the ancient city of Kamrupa.

“The structures of the ancient Kamrupa described in ancient literature bear resemblance to some of those excavated in the site,” Marak said.

The Meghalaya government is contemplating to tie up with the Northeast Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India to carry out excavations of the remaining areas in the ASI’s Bhaitbari site.

In 1992, A K Sharma of ASI, Nagpur excavated the site and unearthed the temples with numerous Shiva lingas besides the Buddhist stupa.

The mud-cum-brick fortification of the city runs at least five kilometres in a north-south direction in a horse shoe fashion with both ends on the bank of the Jingjiram river.

The fortification is about 15 sq km in area and has been laid taking advantage of the contours of the natural hillock. A deep moat exists outside.

A beautifully planned burnt brick temple lying under a mound was also unearthed.

An octagonal temple with eight miniature octagons each having shiva lingas was also found.

During the excavations the stupa was unearthed with the outer face lined with burnt bricks. It was the first stupa to be found in Meghalaya.

The archaeological findings are yet to be adequately carbon-dated.

It is only after the excavation of the residential area that anything concrete be said about its history, archaeologist said.

Meghalaya Brand Ambassador for peace and communal harmony Amit Paul today affirmed of being a teetotaller and said reports of his drunken brawl at a bar in Guwahati was “wrong and fabricated”.
“I am a teetotaller and don’t even smoke.

I went to the bar on a invitation dinner, when the fight started. But Assam police was cooperative and provided security to me and my friends,” he said.

The Indian idol finalist and six other youths were reportedly rescued by Assam police and released in the wee hours of Sunday after a brawl broke out between two groups inside a bar Saturday night.

“Reports of me being in a drunken state with the girls are totally misleading and fabricated.
The two girls, whom I didn’t even know, had come to me for my autograph.”

Meanwhile, Meghalaya Chief Secretary Ranjan Chatterjee has said that the state government would assist the singer if he desires.
Paul was designated as the brand Ambassador for peace and communal harmony by the state government after he became the runners up in the “Indian Idol’” reality show last year.

The Manipur government today decided to form an all-woman force to combat ,child, “kidnappings” — believed to be the handiwork of militant outfits for recruitment — as it looked for an answer to one of its biggest crisis in recent times.

Manipuri women are known for their extreme courage and activism, always leading from the front in times of crisis.

The women’s force will consist of members between the age group of 18 and 30 years who will keep watch in the localities and roads in small groups.

The meeting was attended by members of the public, student organisations and NGOs.

The decision was significant as it gave enough indications that the people were not convinced about the government’s measures to stop the abductions. The state government has issued orders making it mandatory for children to be accompanied by elder relatives.

Today’s meeting also decided to move the Centre apprising it of the serious nature of the situation. Since May 1 this year, at least 12 children have gone missing in the state.

Though a militant group has claimed that some children have come to join it on their own, it is generally believed that the youngsters are being lured. Earlier, a mass rally was organised by the Kanglei Apunba Ima Yaipha Lup in Imphal today. The rally was attended by students, parents and representatives of citizens’ organisations.

The procession started from Thangmeiband Athletics Union ground and snaked through important streets of the city and finally converged at Manipur Dramatic Union hall where a meeting was held.

Th. Ramani Devi of Nupi Samaj, Prof. N. Mohendro Singh of the Senior Citizens’ Forum, advocate P. Tomcha Singh and social activist Sanjoy Khaidem also deliberated on the occasion. Several teachers and parents also spoke today.

A five-point charter was adopted which said no to child soldiers, demanded the immediate release of all children in militant custody and called for a stop to atrocities against children by state forces. It suggested that the government ensured right to life for children and that parents and guardians must take good care of their wards. The decision to raise the force was taken after daylong deliberations on Child Abductions and the Impact on Society, which was organised by two leading groups — the United People’s Front and Ethno Heritage Council — which are campaigning on the issue.

All Assam Students’ Union is not the guardian of Assam Gana Parishad, which gave birth to the six-year long historic Assam agitation with the support of organizations like Asom Gana Sangram Parishad, All Assam Karmachari Parishad, Assam Lawyers’ Association, Purbanchaliya Loka Parishad, AJYCP and others.

The organizations took part in the agitation had formed the AGP in the convention of these organizations held at Golaghat. But it does not mean that AASU had given birth to the AGP. Hence, the AASU leadership has no legal right to interfere any internal affairs of the AGP as its legal guardian, opined the Asom Yuva Santha president Shyamanta Kashyap here in Nagaon.

Welcoming the unification process taken up by the AGP, the Asom Yuva Santha president Kashyap said that although it is high time, it is quite necessary to work out the unification of all the regional parties- AGP, AGP(P), TGP and PLP, so as to strengthen the regionalism in the State to meet the aspirations of the people of Asom, for which they launched such a strong agitation at the cost of extreme sacrifice to build up a greater and prosperous Asom by driving out the Bangladeshi intruders. As the AGP emerged out as a result of the historic agitation, the prime responsibility comes to AGP again to take the lead of regionalism to meet the aspirations of the people of Asom and to bar the infiltration of Bangladeshis to Asom, which has already changed the demography of the State, and this is due to the soft corner developed by the ruling Government.

Kashyap further said that at present the AASU is being dominated by a section of people who are not the students in reality. He further said, S Bhattacharya, the chief adviser of AASU is not a student at present, so he should not be in AASU. AASU being a non-political students’ organization should maintain its non-political identity.

Kashyap further said that neither the State nor the Central Government is serious enough in regard to holding talks with the ULFA for the solution of the burning problem.

Kashyap also said that they will stage the protest throughout the State demanding the ST status for six scheduled tribes. In the meantime, they have discussed with all the six students’ organizations - Moran- Mottock, Chutia, Tai-Ahom, Koch-Rajbanshi, Sonowal-Kachari and Tea tribes.

During his visit Kashyap was accompanied by state committee members Rohan Bharadwaj, Kaushik Manta, Simanta Das, Biswajit Mahanta and Dipujwal Rajkhowa. During their stay, Pallav Bora of ADP College Students’ Union joined the Yuva Santha. Kashyap cautioned AASU not to interfere the AGP matters any more.

In comparison to last year’s model, the latest iPhone’s snappier Web speeds, better sound quality, location-aware navigation, and third-party application store left new owners with no doubts that waiting in line for hours was worth it.

But even the happiest among them offered tips for improvements for the iPhone — at heart a powerful computer and communications device — as well as reasons why it won’t completely replace other gear such as BlackBerrys or laptops.

Some of the gripes appeared easy to fix, while others may take a bit more work by Apple engineers. A common one was about the inability to copy and paste text on the iPhone.

Users of the Research in Motion BlackBerry or Palm Inc’s Treo can easily copy numbers or text from an e-mail and send them to a friend on the go.

“I’m still very confused why they don’t let you copy and paste on the phone,” said Nick Divers, 22, of New York, an aspiring filmmaker who traded his Treo for an iPhone.

“I’ve upgraded to a better product that can’t do one simple thing.” Shervin Pishevar, 34, head of Social Gaming Network, said the lack of copy and paste was a reason why he stopped using the first iPhone about three months after he bought it.

Still, Pishevar and his son camped out in Palo Alto, California, to buy the new iPhone. He lauded new applications from the “silly” PhoneSaber, which mimics the sound of a Star Wars light saber when the iPhone is waved around, to the “inspirational” Star Finder that shows information on the night sky, depending on the user’s location. But Pishevar’s got a new pet peeve.

While Apple’s iTunes pauses a song during a call and starts playing where it left off afterward, third-party applications such as Pandora’s music service quit when Pishevar used other iPhone features.

“Applications should not stop working when you go away,” he said. “For a game, you shouldn’t lose where you are.”

WHERE’S THE VIDEO?

Rob Biederman, 21, who works at an investment bank, gave up his BlackBerry for an iPhone, but was upset to find he could only buy songs from iTunes when his device is linked to Wi-Fi — short-range wireless networks found in places like cafes.

It has made the popular mode of local transportation—cycle rickshaw—just a phone call away.

Initiated by the Graduates Welfare Association of former IITians, Ecocab Call Centres have been set up all over the town to help residents of Fazilka to enable accessing cycle rickshaws without difficulty.

Fazilka is the first town in the country where rickshaws can be summoned by a phone call.

According to Navdeep Asija, Secretary of the Graduates Welfare Association, the lack of proper public conveyance in the town prompted him and his team to launch this eco-cab call centre.

He points out that while big cities have buses, smaller towns like Fazilka had nothing available as public transport. So we tried to make the existing system better accessible.

Every 1,500 houses in the town have a call center. As soon as the Rickshaw call center at the nearest zone gets a call, the rickshaw-puller reaches the desired point within two to three minutes.

Residents of Fazilka are happy over the innovation.

“Dial-a-rickshaw is very helpful. You just need to make a phone call and we get a rickshaw at our doorsteps. The service is very convenient for women, who earlier used to wait for long and walk long distances to take a rickshaw. Many households have privately owned cars, but only 10 per cent of women know driving. Hence, I like this service,” said Renu Madan, a resident of Fazilka.

A tea stall vender, now runs a call centre to manage over 50 rickshaws. He also earns additional income.

The rickshaw pullers have been given digital identity cards.

The rickshaws also display commercial advertisements that help them to earn more. Some of them have used the additional income to subscribe for health insurance.

There are about 500 rickshaw-pullers in Fazilka.

Harbans Lal of the Fazilka rickshaw pullers union claims that people in the town can get a rickshaw in two to five minutes by making a phone call

Cycle-rickshaws are a popular mode of transportation across the country for covering short distances.