Motorsport spree
The Arunachal Festival of Speed-2014 was held in the beautiful Dirang and Sangti Valleys on 1-2 February. Organised by the Motorsports  Club of Arunachal under the aegis of the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India and sponsored by JK Tyre, the festival witnessed three forms of motorsport, namely, Autocross, Rally Hill Climb and Rally Sprint, a format hitherto unseen in Indian motorsport. The Arunachal Times was the print media partner of the event. The Autocross took place at Lopon Stadium in Dirang. Reigning APRC champion Gaurav Gill took top honours and posted a time of 1:55 min in his rally-prepped Polo. Second was Philipose Mathai from Delhi, driving an Esteem.
The Hill Climb took place on a 5.5-km undulating track through a private orchard at Rungja village in Sangti Valley. This climb proved to be a handful for the competitors and saw a lot of cars breaking down and not reaching the top. Philipose Mathai, who was running second in the Overall Championship, could not finish the Hill Climb and was on the back foot and veteran rally driver and nine-time Raid de Himalaya champion Suresh Rana posted a blistering time of 7:56 min and caught up with him in the overall points tally.
The last event, Rally Sprint, took place three kilometres from the Hill Climb venue. The track  was 2.8 km of sand traps. Gaurav Gill took advantage of his first start and used the untouched track surface to his advantage and posted a time of 2:09 min. The dogfight between Mathai and Rana eventually led to a tie between the two brilliant drivers and they posted a time of 2:10 min and were jointly awarded second place.
The event saw a brilliant response from the motorsport fraternity and drivers from all corners of the country to support Lhakpa Tsering, president of Motorsports Club of Arunachal. He said, “The whole idea behind the Arunachal Festival of Speed was national integration; to bring motorsports enthusiasts from across the country to Arunachal so that they get first hand experience of the region&’s potential as a destination for adventure sports as well as a tourist destination. The response we received was phenomenal and we wish to make this an annual affair.”
The Overall Championship saw Suresh Rana and Philipose Mathai, both with 50 points, jointly win the First Runner-up prize and Gaurav Gill took home the Championship with a point.

Silverine Swer
In every lifetime, society produces men and women of calibre and spunk, of integrity and compassion all rolled into one. Centenarian Silverene Swer (103), who was also decorated with several honours, not least being a Padma Shree awardee, passed away on 1 February, according to a report in The Shillong Times. She served in undivided Assam and left her footprints behind in Arunachal Pradesh at a time when development was just a word. She took up the task of streamlining the public distribution system there. Swer was unhappy with the state of governance in Meghalaya and also about the lack of environmental and ecological response from the authorities concerned and   often expressed deep despondency at the condition of the Umkhrah river and urged those in power to facilitate the process. With the nature of constructions coming up in and around Shillong, she often anguished over what would happen in the event of a severe earthquake or a disastrous fire and whether the educational institutions had fire exits and regular drill on how to evacuate students in case of such calamities. This was a concern she harboured until the very end and often asked how the government could be so callous.
As a social activist she belonged to the tribes that believed in action than in press releases. As a founder-member of Synjuk Kynthei, one of the oldest women&’s organisations initiated by her brother, Swer showed the way to several generations of women on how to engage with issues concerning their wellbeing. With meagre funds but much energy, the small band of women under her leadership showed exceptional commitment, setting up crèches in rural areas. These are achievements that may be missed in an age where people rely heavily on documentation.