History, Culture and Politics in Eastern India

About The Book

India's North Eastern region is a gateway to South-East Asia. Owing to its strategic geo-political importance in the Indian sub-continent, the areas has attracted over the years, specialists from different fields especially sociologists and anthropologists. Earlier, Christian missionaries and scholarly-oriented British administrators also tried to project through their writings, the traditional life styles, customs, rituals, religious beliefs, etc. of this region. Undoubtedly, the North-Eastern region still poses challenges as well as vast scope for study in its multifarious facets.

About the Author

Vinod Kumar Rawat is Associate Fellow Varanasi. He has a PhD from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, with specialization in Women empowerment. He has published many articles in journals and chapters in books. His main research areas are urbanization, poverty, health, social exclusion and social protection programmes.

Preface

Architecture, it is said, is the mother of the Arts. It is the only art form that can be experienced from within and from all sides. It is sculptural-a comucopia of color and texture, surfaces and edges. It is "frozen music" as Goethe said, sacred, and mathematical. It dances to melodies made of stone and steel, harmonies of bent glass and drifting concrete. Architecture emulates Nature, expresses thoughts and ideas, and communicates the metaphoric symbolism of our place in the Universe. It is language. It is prepositional.

It embodies movement, canonizing the ritual aspects of society and culture. It holds a civilization's dreams within its hallowed halls, and expresses the psychological and spiritual aspects of human emotion, aspiration, and perseverance. Form simulates the structural aspects of the human skeleton, and personifies the human will to become, and the human need to be. Architecture is a mirror. It reflects us to ourselves. It reflects our exigency for expression. Then again, it speaks to us. It defines us, defines the human race. William Churchill said "we shape our buildings and our buildings shape us."

Introduction

Construction is the process of constructing a building or infrastructure Construction differs from manufacturing in that manufacturing typically involves mass production of similar items without a designated purchaser, while construction typically takes place on location for a known client. Construction as an industry comprises six to nine percent of the gross domestic product of developed countries.Construction starts with planning, design, and financing; it continues until the project is built and ready for use.

Large-scale construction requires collaboration across multiple disciplines. A project manager normally manages the job, and a construction manager, design engineer, construction engineer or architect supervises it. Those involved with the design and execution must consider zoning requirements, environmental impact of the job, scheduling, budgeting, construction-site safety, availability and transportation of building materials, logistics, inconvenience to the public caused by construction delays and bidding. Large construction projects are sometimes referred to as megaprojects.

ETYMOLOGY

Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects. systems, or organizations, and comes from Latin constructio (from com- "together" and struere "to pile up") and Old French construction. To construct is the verb: the act of building, and the noun construction: how a building was built, the nature of its structure.

Types

In general, there are three sectors of construction buildings, infrastructure and industrial. Building construction is usually further divided into residential and non sidential (commercial/institutional). Infrastructure is often called heavy civil or heavy engineering that includes large public works, dams, bridges, highways, railways.

Statistics in thwater or wastewater and utility distribution. Industrial construction includes refineries, process chemical, power generation, mills andmanufacturing plants. There are also other ways to break the industry into sectors or markets.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages