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Women in India

Name of the State

Description

  Assam

It is believed that Assam is only the anglicized version of ‘Asom’- the name the Ahoms gave to the country, when they conquered it.  Geographically Assam is a shadow of its former self.  It has been reduced to one-third of its original size in thirty years.

Assam, as it is today, may be divided into two important physical regions – the Barak valley and the Brahmaputra valley.  Assam is dominated by the Brahmaputra river (length: 2900 km).  Its drainage area is roughly 935,5000 sq km.  Rainfall, one of the highest in the world (between 178 and 305 cm), is concentrated in 4 months, June to September.

The principal food crop is rice.  The cash crops are jute, tea, cotton, oilseeds, sugarcane, potato, etc.  Noteworthy horticulture items are orange, banana, pineapple, arecanut, coconut, guava, mango, jack fruit and citrus fruits.  Assam is known for her rich forest harvest.  The State is also rich in minerals: oil, coal, limestone, refractory clay, dolomite, and natural gas.

Assam contributes 15.6% of the world’s tea production and 55% of the country’s tea output.  Assam is the first state in the country where oil was struck in 1889 at Digboy.  The state has two oil refineries and the third with petrochemical complex is underway.  Other industries are sugar, jute, silk, paper, plywood, rice and oil drilling.  Important cottage industries are handloom, sericulture, manufacture of cane and bamboo articles, etc.  Assam is the largest producer in the world of the golden colored ‘mug’ silk.

Guwahati - Kaziranga - Sibsagar and Guwahati - Manas are two travel circuits promoted by the Union Government.  Additional circuits proposed by the state are  Guwahati - Bhairabkunda - Orang - Bhaluking - Tezpur, and Guwahati -Diphy - Haflong - Silchar.  Kazranga National Park, famous for rhinos and elephants and Manas are two important national parks.
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  Bihar

The name ‘Bihar’ is a corrupt form of ‘Vihara’, which means a Buddhist monastery. It finds mention in the Vedas, Puranas, epics, etc., and 24 Jain Tirthankars.  Bihar, squeezed in between West Bengal, Orissa, MP and UP, reaches up to the Himalayas in the north and is completely landlocked.  Located in north India, Bihar is bounded by Nepal in north, Jharkhand is south, West Bengal is east and Uttar Pradesh is west.

The main occupation of the people is agriculture.  The principal foodgrain crops are rice, wheat, maize, and pulses.  Main cash crops are sugarcane, oilseeds, tobacco, jute and potato.  Bihar has cotton spinning mills, sugar mills, jute mills, and leather industries.  It is also famous for production of tusser.

Important places of tourist interest are: Bodh Gaya (most sacred place for Buddhists), Gaya (center of pilgrimage for Hindus), Manar (sacred Muslim shrines of Sufi Saint Hazarat Makhdoom Shah), Nalanda (ruins of world’s earliest Buddhist University), Patna (ancient city of Pataliputra), Pawapuri (where Lord Mahavir breathed his last), Rajgir (pilgrim place of Buddists), Sasaram (tomb of Shershah Suri), Topchanchi (scenic value), Vaishali (the seat of the first Republic of the world in the sixth century BC), Vikramshila (ruins of another Buddhist university).
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  Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh is situated in the central part of India.  It is bounded by Andhra Pradesh on the south, Orissa on the east, Maharashtra on the south west Jharkhand state on north west.  Chhattisgarh consists of about one third of former Madhya Pradesh’s geographical area and population.  This area boasts 44 per cent of former MP’s total forest land.

Chhattisgarh is rich in natural resources, mainly minerals, power, and forest products. Major minerals include bauxite, limestone, coal, and iron ore.  The well-endowed Bailadila mines, numerous power projects, the steel plant at Bhilai and many cement factories are in Chhattisgarh.  Agriculture is the mainstay of more than 80% of the people.  The principal crops are paddy, wheat, maize, groundnut, pulses, and oilseeds.  45% of the land is covered with forests.  The Mahanadi Basin has been dubbed as the country’s rice bowl.  Korba has a super thermal power plant.  The major aluminum producer of the country, BALCO, is situated in Chhattisgarh.

Prominent tourist centers include Bastar, Chitrakote Falls, Tirathgarh Falls, Keshkal Valley, Kangerghet National Park, Kailash Caves, Mahamaya Temple (Ratanpur), and Udanti Sanctuary.
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