Stopping crashes in their tracksFOUR years after the Brahmaputra Mail and Awadh-Assam Express collision at Gaisal in West Bengal left hundreds dead, the Northeast Frontier Railway has finally started installing a series of anti-collision devices in its network covering the Northeast and parts of Bihar and West Bengal. Developed by Konkan Railways and first tested on NF Railway, the cost of providing 1,700 such devices at 398 unmanned and 465 manned crossings—leaving aside 198 stations—will cost about Rs 122 crore. Tripura’s first medical collegeTRIPURA, which has been running short of doctors especially in the rural areas, will soon get its first medical college that will produce at least a hundred doctors every year. The Centre has promised the state government a sum of Rs 200 crore to fulfill Tripura’s long-standing demand for a medical college near Agartala, the state capital. Apart from Central funds, the state government is also roping in the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) and a private business house to support the project. Replacing opium with orangesARUNACHAL Pradesh may have not succeeded in weaning away the people of Tirap, Changlang, Lohit and Upper Siang districts from cultivating poppy but there’s hope still. With public opinion becoming stronger against opium, the state government has launched an ambitious project to make horticulture a more paying proposition. Close to the notorious Golden Triangle, these districts are now being brought under an intensive campaign to popularise horticultural crops like vanilla, patchouli and oranges. Dancing in MajuliWHILE satriya, the mediaeval dance form of Assam, was recognised as a classical dance by the Sangeet Natak Akademi last year, it is only from this year on that the Vaishnavite satras (monasteries) of Majuli, the world’s largest river island located in Upper Assam, will open their doors for students from outside to learn this danceform. Leading the effort is the Natun Kamalabari satra where local students have been learning satriya dance for several centuries. The satra is starting its first course for students next month. Manipur’s rising crime graphBAD news from Manipur; crime against women and children is on the rise. While in 2001 the state recorded five cases of domestic violence, the number went up to 10 the following year. The number of cases of sexual abuse of women and children too rose from 21 in 2001 to 44 in 2003. Cases of abduction of women and children increased from 62 in 2001 to 70 during 2003.
