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- Sister States
"Assam and Sister States" refers to the easternmost region of India consisting of the contiguous states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.
Northeast India is ethnically distinct from the other states of India. Linguistically the region is distinguished by a preponderance of Tibeto-Burman languages. Strong ethnic cultures that had escaped Sanskritization effects permeate the region. That the eight states form a special category is officially recognized.
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- Arunachal Pradesh
 Arunachal Pradesh attained its statehood on 20th February 1987. It is situated in the North-Eastern part of India with 83743 sq. kms area and has a long international border with Bhutan to the west (160 km), China to the north and north-east (1,080 km) and Myanmar to the east (440 km).
It stretches from snow-capped mountains in the north to the plains of Brahmaputra valley in the south. Arunachal is the largest state area-wise in the north-east region, even larger than Assam which is the most populous.
It is situated between latitude 26° 30' N and 29° 30 ' N and longitude 91° 30' E and 97° 30' E. Itanagar is the capital of Arunachal Pradesh and located at an altitude of 530 meters above MSL.
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- Assam
Assam is located in the northeastern part of the country and has an area of 30,285 square miles (78,438 square kilometres). It is bounded to the north by the kingdom of Bhutan and the state of Arunachal Pradesh; to the east by the states of Nagaland and Manipur; to the south by the states of Mizoram and Tripura; and to the west by the state of Meghalaya, Bangladesh, and the state of West Bengal
Assam has a single-chamber legislative assembly with 126 members. The state sends 21 members to the Indian national parliament: 7 to the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and 14 to the Lok Sabha (Lower House).
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- Manipur
 Manipur literally meaning "A jeweled land" nestle deep within a lush green corner of North East India. It seems much like an exquisite work of art executed by superb hands of Nature and is indeed a state of exquisite natural beauty and splendors, the beauty of which once inspired Mrs. St. Clair Grimwood described it as " A Pretty Place more beautiful than many show places of the world" Late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru paid a fitting tribute by describing it as "Jewel of India".
Surrounded by blue hills with an oval shaped valley at the centre, rich in art and tradition and surcharged with nature's pristine glory.
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- Meghalaya
Meghalaya has precise historic, geographic and strategic significance for India. Meghalaya "the home of clouds", became a full-fledged State on January 21, 1972. It is surrounded on the north by Goalpara, Kamrup, Nagoan and Karbi Anglong districts of Assam State, and on the east by the Districts of Cachar and North Cachar Hills, also of the State of Assam.
On the south and west is Bangladesh. Meghalaya is predominantly domesticated by the Khasis, the Jaintias and the Garos. These tribal communities are the descendents of very ancient people having distinct traits and ethnic origins. There are different legends, beliefs and findings about the Khasis, Jaintias and Garos.
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- Mizoram
 Mizoram is a mountainous region which became the 23rd State of the Indian Union in February, 1987. It was one of the districts of Assam till 1973 when it became a Union Territory. Sandwitched between Myanmar in the east and south and Bangladesh in the west, Mizoram occupies an area of great stategic importace in the north-eastern corner of India. It has a total of 722 Km. boundary with Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Mizoram has the most variegated hilly terrain in the eastern part of India. The hills are steep and are seperated by rivers which flow whether to the north or south creating deep gorges between the hill ranges. The average height of the hill is about 1000 metres.
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- Nagaland
 The State of Nagaland was formally inaugurated on December 1st, 1963, as the 16th State of the Indian Union. It is bounded by Assam in the West, Myanmar (Burma) on the east, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam on the North and Manipur in the South. The State consists of seven Administrative Districts, inhabited by 16 major tribes along with other sub-tribes. Each tribe is distinct in character from the other in terms of customs, language and dress.
It is a land of folklore passed down the generations through word of mouth. Here, music is an integral part of life; folk songs eugolising ancestors,
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- Sikkim
 The modern history of Sikkim begins from 1642 A.D. with the coronation of Phuntsog Namgyal as the first Chogyal or king of Sikkim in a tranquil pine covered hill in Yuksom Norbugang in West Sikkim.
The Namgyals were scions of the Mi-nyak House in Kham in Eastern Tibet. It is said that there were three brothers, chiefs of Kham Mi-nyak. A letter dropped from heaven directed the middle brother to go south towards Sikkim where his descendents were fated to rule. Khye Bumsa also earned himself the hand of the daughter of the Sakya hierarch and settled in Chumbi Valley, which remained, for a long time, the epicenter of the later kingdom of Sikkim.
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- Tripura
 Tripura is one of the seven states in the north eastern part of India located between 22 degree and 56 minutes and 24 degree and 32 minutes north latitude and between 90 degree and 09 minutes and 92 degree and 20 minutes east latitude. It is bounded on the north, west, south and south-east by Bangladesh whereas in the east it has a common boundary with Assam and Mizoram.
There is a common belief that the name of the State has originated from "Tripura Sundari" - the presiding deity of the land which is famous as one of the 51 pethos of Hindu Pilgrims. It is fact that in days of yore the boundaries of Tripura was extended up to the Bay of Bengal when its rulers held sway from Garo hills to Arakan.
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CORE PROFESSIONAL GROUP (CPG)
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Seeking a Holistic Solution to the problems of Flood and Erosion of the Brahmaputra River Basin
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The Core Professional Group (CPG) is a group of professionals of Resident and non-Resident North East Indians across the globe formed under Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS). The mission is to study and understand the problem and to seek meaningful solutions to the Flood and Erosion problem of the river Brahmaputra. The primary goal of the CPG is to coordinate and combine all the efforts being done by so far by the North East Indians together with works being done by others in the field to seek an integrated solution to the problem. One immediate goal is to come up with a document which will address the issues that needs to be done about the Brahmaputra and how to achieve these.
The Brahmaputra is the largest river basin in India. The river had been a boon to the state of Assam. However, since the 1950 great earthquake, there have been changes in course of the river as well as upliftment of the river bed which was accompanied by erosion resulting in accelerated the silt deposition on the river bed. Today, the flood and erosion problems of the river Brahmaputra in the region tells its own story for Assam’s agony. During the last six decades a great amount of work is being done to mitigate this flood and erosion problem of the Brahmaputra. However in spite of these ongoing efforts, we are doing very miserably. More disappointing is the fact that there does not seem to have a clear blue print for our work. What is needed a holistic approach for the management of the Brahmaputra river basin through Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) like what China is doing in case of Yellow River. The Brahmaputra river and its basins need proper planning, design and construction, monitoring and maintenance of appropriate long term measures / structures to mitigate both flooding and erosion. One of the problems is that many a times, people outside of the North East are suggesting solutions without understanding the socio economic impacts. Many of these matters are decided by people from outside who have limited understanding of the issues or dimensions involved.
In order to address the issue, Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS) searched for the professionals from the North East who have been doing scientific work on Brahmaputra, and formed a sub-committee which was named the "Core Professional Group” (CPG) for the Brahmaputra River Basin Flood and Erosion Control. Initially, the core group consisted of Dr.Arvind Phukan P.E (USA), Dr. Chandan Mahanta (IITG-India), Dr. Deva Bora (USA), Dr.Nayan Sarma (IITR-India) and a few other North East Indians involved with various works of the river. In January 2010, the group participated in a technical session on “Seeking a Solution to the Flood and Erosion Problems of the River Brahmaputra” in NEIIM-2010 (North East India International Meet) held on 11th January 2010 at the Pragjyoti ITA Center at Machkhowa, Guwahati being organized by Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS). The session was presided over by Dulal Ch Goswami and the group discusssed various issues and solicited suggestions and constructive criticism as well as cooperation from government and nongovernmental organizations so that all can combine their efforts to create the necessary political and cultural will of the people of the North East India to solve this chronic problem facing Assam. Following papers were submittted all of which were published in the NEIIM-2010 Souvenir.
1) Friends of Assam and the CPG – An Overview -Rajen Barua (USA)
2) Brahmaputra River Basin - Chandan Mahanta (IITG)
3) River Bank Erosion and Restoration in Brahmaputra River - Dr Aarvind Phukan (USA), Dr. Deva Bora (USA), Dr. Nayan Sharma (IITR), Ananta Nath, Rajib Goswami
4) The Brahmaputra - Dr. G.K Handique (Delhi)
5) The Brahmaputra – India and China- Mirza (JNU, Delhi)
Some members of the CPG also attended the International Conference: India 2010: 3rd International Perspective on Current & Future State of Water Resources & the Environment held in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, Chennai, India. ASCE-EWRI was a good platform where they presented several papers on the river Brahmaputra.
The CPG group also met with Sri Tarun Gogoi, the Chief Miinister of Assam who welcomed the formation of the CPG. The professionals of the Barhamaputra Board also exrended its full support and cooperation. Subsequently, the group broadened it scope and included other members and registered itself as a separate professional entity under the Indian Societies Registration act (1860).
At present the CPG is busy preparing a working plan to move forward with its goal.
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