Centuries-old Festival Takes Tripura on Spiritual Journey

By Sujit Chakraborty

Agartala, Jul 19 : A centuries-old tradition comes alive in Tripura as the idols of 14 Hindu deities, kept locked in a room throughout the year, are brought out for worshipping during the tribal Kharchi festival from Monday - a spectacle witnessed by hundreds of thousands of devotees from India as well as Bangladesh.

Year after year, it sees the Communist government holding good its promise to the state's erstwhile royal family by continuing to bear the entire cost of the 'puja' and the week-long festival.

'The ceremonial worship starts with a holy dip of the 14 deities in the Howrah river, followed by the sacrifice of 108 goats in the presence of hundreds of thousands of devotees - all at government expense,' former minister and puja committee chairman Pabitra Kar told IANS.

Tripura Police even accord a guard of honour to the head priest of the Kharchi temple in Puran Habeli, Tripura's erstwhile capital in Old Agartala, 12 km from here.

'Kharchi' in the tribal Kokborok language means auspicious.

Colourful makeshift marquees, illumination, religious rites and chanting of 'mantras' amid the beating of drums turn Puran Habeli, the erstwhile capital of Tripura around 12 km east of Agartala, into a spiritual dreamland.

The deities are kept locked in a room throughout the year but only during the seven days of Kharchi - one of the hallmarks of one million tribals in the northeastern state - are they brought out for devotees to have a glimpse.

'Over one million people gather from all over the country and neighbouring Bangladesh to view the Kharchi festival,' Kar said.

This year's key foreign dignitary witnessing the 'Kharchi puja' and festival is US Consul General (Kolkata) Beth Payne.

According to 'Rajmala', the official chronicle of Tripura's royal dynasty, 'Once the mother of King Trilochan, a king of Tripura, went to take a bath in the river Maharani and noticed a wild buffalo chasing the 14 gods.

Later, the gods took the queen's help to kill the beast.

'Cheerful over the act, the gods came to the palace and the royal family offered puja by sacrificing wild buffaloes for the welfare of the state,' Rajmala said.

Gold idols of the 14 deities were stolen several hundred years ago and then the erstwhile kings made the idols again with 'ashtadhatu', an alloy of eight metals.

At the end of the 517-year rule by 184 kings, Oct 15, 1949, the erstwhile princely state came under the control of the government of India according to a merger agreement signed with Kanchan Prabha Devi, then regent maharani.

The merger agreement made it obligatory for the Tripura government to continue the sponsorship of temples, pujas and festivals run earlier by Hindu princely rulers. And it continues to this day.

'Tripura is the only state in India where the state government is at the forefront of funding such a religious festival. The tradition has been going on since Tripura merged with the Indian union and has been on during Left rule in the state,' Panna Lal Roy, a writer and historian of Tripura's royal era, said.

'Between 1760 and 1838, Puran Habeli was the capital of the then undivided Tripura, which included large parts of Sylhet, Brahmanbaria and Comilla districts of Bangladesh,' he said.

'In 1838, the capital had been shifted to Agartala from Puran Habeli by the then king Krishna Kishore Manikya Bahadur,' Roy said.

**Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in

Dipu Moni to Visit Tripura to Boost Indo-Bangla Trade

Agartala, Jul 15 : Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni will visit Tripura in September to boost cross-border trade and business with India's eight northeastern states.

'During Dipu Moni's visit, strategies to further improve trade between Bangladesh and northeast India and development of trade-related infrastructure along the border would be discussed,' Tripura commerce and industry minister Jitendra Chaudhury told IANS.

A business delegation is expected to accompany Dipu Moni. It will be her first visit to northeast India.

Industrialists and traders in the region would also meet her and discuss further development of trade and investment in both sides.

The two countries last March signed a crucial agreement to allow Indian goods to be transshipped to Tripura through Bangladesh.

Media reports said Bangladesh has also sought to know how India intends to use its northeastern Chittagong and southwestern Mongla ports under a landmark Dhaka-New Delhi agreement during Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina's visit last January.

Bangladesh Commerce Minister Faruk Khan has meanwhile said his country will facilitate setting up of markets along the border with India in the next two months.

During her visit, Dipu Moni will inaugurate a commemorative edifice being built in southern Tripura in memory of Indian soldiers and Bangladeshi freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives during 1971 war.

Former Tea Garden Workers Are Tripura's New Entrepreneurs

By Sujit Chakraborty

Kamalpur (Tripura), Jul 11 : A tea garden worker until seven years ago, 48-year-old Matang Tanglua is today among over 5,500 entrepreneurs who own small tea estates of their own, making meaningful contributions to the state that is emerging as a significant exporter of the commodity.

More than four decades ago, Tanglua's poverty-stricken family had come to Tripura from Orissa in search of a job. Tripura's then flourishing tea industry had provided them a livelihood and they became a traditional tea workers' family.

Tanglua was a five-year-old boy when his father, mother and grandfather started life as workers in a tea garden in northern Tripura.

"My grandfather died, parents became aged. Until seven years ago I was a tea garden worker as my ancestors. Now I am a small tea grower, having a little over five acres of tea cultivation areas," said Tanglua.

"From our small savings and by working both at the tea garden and the tea processing factory, we could earn some money to purchase the 'tilla land' (small hill). The government also helped me to set up the small tea garden," Tangula said.

The northeastern state of Tripura, which has a 115-year-old history of tea plantations, has successfully nurtured 5,500 small tea growers like Tanglua among tribals and non-tribals during the past decade.

The modest farmers-tea workers-small traders-turned tea garden owners not only became self-reliant but also employed a large number of local people in their tiny tea gardens ranging from two to three acres.

Tripura, bordering Bangladesh, produced nine million kg of processed tea last year from an area of 7,500 hectares. It is the fifth largest among 14 tea-producing states after Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The Tripura government, in collaboration with the Tea Board of India, has plans to boost production by providing better irrigation and technical facilities. This is also because the state, once ravaged by terrorism, has created history of sorts in exports of tea.

"We recently exported tea named Jewel Tips to Iran, the UK and some Scandinavian countries. This is the first time ever in the 115-year-old history of tea plantations that Tripura's tea has been exported," said Jagadhish Chandra Das, general manager of the Laxmi Tea Estate group of companies.

The first lot of tea exported from Tripura to Iran and other countries was grown in the Manu Valley tea gardens, one of the seven plantations of Kolkata-based Laxmi Tea Estate group of companies in the northeastern state.

According to Tripura Industries and Commerce Minister Jitendra Choudhury, the state will soon start producing green tea, which has a high demand in the international market.

"A cooperative owned tea estate -- Ludhua Tea Estate in southern Tripura -- has commissioned modern machinery to produce and process green tea from October this year," the minister told IANS.

Choudhury said the state government has drawn up ambitious plans to raise its processed tea production from the existing 1,446 kg per hectare to the national average of 2,100 kg per hectare.

In Tripura, 7,500 hectares of land is currently under tea plantations even though around 15,000 hectares of land is earmarked for the purpose.

"Some tea estate owners are trying to develop unutilised land earmarked for tea plantations for different other purposes. The state government would not allow this and may take over these lands for developmental purposes," said Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar after inaugurating a modern tea processing cooperative factory earlier this week.

The Dhalai tea processing cooperative factory at Kamalpur, 180 km north of Tripura\'s capital Agartala, was set up at a cost of Rs.30 million, part of which was sanctioned by the North Eastern Council (NEC), a regional planning body.

"The tea processing factory with a capacity to produce about 200,000 kg of made tea (finished tea) per year utilising about 1 million kg of green leaf would greatly help 2,500 small tea growers and other tea estates in the remote Dhalai district," said Tripura Industrial Development Corporation chairman Pabitra Kar.

**Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in

Fruit Processing Unit a Boon For Tripura

Agartala, Jun 29 : A revived fruit-processing unit is turning out to be a boon for the locals of Agartala, as it has opened up job opportunities for them.

The unit has been up by Pijush Agro Tech in Ushabazar area of the State.

According to the manager of the Pijush Agro Tech, the factory was in bad condition and has been revived now.

“We import pineapples from villages which benefits the farmers and factory workers. Earlier due to insurgency, we had problems. We were not being able to get fruits easily but now everything is fine and peaceful”, said S P Singh, Manager.

Workers of the unit are satisfied with their work and earnings.

“This factory is a boon for us as we are able to work here after completing our household chores. We are earning well here which is an extra income, moreover, we also have provident fund”, said Seema Das.

With the return of peace and normalcy in the region, various other industrial units are also planning to open their units in Tripura.

ARI Claims 24 Lives in Tripura

Agartala, Jun 29 : At least 24 people have lost their lives since the past fortnight following sudden spread of acute respiratory infection (ARI) in remote Kangrai hamlet under North Tripura along Tripura-Mizoram border.

Health Minister Tapan Chakraborty said according to hospital records, 24 people had died so far and 50 others were admitted with ARI complications, adding that there was a possibility of few more unrecorded deaths outside the hospital. Unofficial reports said 28 people, including 17 children, had died.

The minister said initial investigation revealed that the deaths occurred due to failure of the health officials to contain the disease in the area and village panchayats were also to be blamed for their careless attitude.

''We are giving our best efforts to control the situation and we have launched investigation into the cause of spread of the disease and all the accused authorities will be dealt with as per law,'' Mr Chakraborty said.

Leader of the opposition Ratan Lal Nath, who visited the affected area, meanwhile, alleged that treatment was being provided by quack doctors and the unidentified disease was posing to be a major threat to the patients with the health care officials totally at a loss.

''They did not organise a single health camp during the past one year in the area and no doctors visited the village,'' he complained, adding that the villagers fell victim to the disease as they had been suffering from malnutrition, which aggravated the respiratory complications.

Mr Nath underlined that the only source of income of the villagers was shifting cultivation and the MGNREGA work but the scheme had not been properly implemented. During the past three months they worked only for six days under MGNREGA, he added.

Tripura Rural Market Moves Towards Prosperity

Agartala, Jun 28 : Trade and commerce have picked up following a decline in militancy and banks are gearing up to penetrate the rural market in Tripura.

It's a win-win situation for both villagers and local entrepreneurs who will get easy loans and banks too make good profits.

In Abhoy Nagar village of Tripura, a group of housewives, most of whom belong to tribal families, recently formed a self-help group in an effort to become self-reliant.

A loan of 50,000 rupees from Gramin Bank enabled them to start making sofa cushions, decorative bags and embroidery work.

The self-help group is now planning to expand its business and expects to employ more poor rural women.

"We save the Group's profit in the bank and if any of our members requires money for personal use, we provide it on credit," said Monika Barua, Founder, Shib Sakti Self-help Group

Decline in militancy has given a fillip to banking sector in Tripura.

More branches are now opening up in remote and rural areas and people are taking the benefit of easy loans to start new businesses, for higher education and for buying farming equipment.

Tripura Gramin Bank, which has over 110 branches in the state, has come as a boon for people in rural areas.

In 2009-10 fiscal the bank did business worth Rs 2850 crore and made a net profit of Rs 35.35 crores, the highest by any rural bank in the northeast.

"In my opinion, Tripura is now very peaceful. For a very long time, there have been no reports of any kind of unlawful activities in the region. There are no extortion cases and insurgency has almost ended," said D Mushahary, Chairman, Tripura Gramin Bank


"I hail from a very remote area, and we have a bank branch operating there. This is very helpful as those who cannot come to Agartala can easily open their accounts in nearby branches. They can now easily withdraw money from there," said Edison Uchoi, Student, Account Holder, Tripura Gramin Bank

Militancy cripples the economic, social and cultural growth of a region.

Tripura too was affected, but now things have changed for the better.

Other militancy-affected states can learn a lesson from Tripura and reap the peace dividend.

Tripura Records Deficit Rainfall This Year

Agartala, Jun 24 : Tripura has recorded deficit rainfall this year so far and the first three weeks after onset of monsoon could not compensate the shortfall, the Agrometeorological department of ICAR said here today.

According to report, at the beginning of monsoon, till June 3, all parts of the state had received 20 per cent more rainfall than normal but it reduced substantially in subsequent weeks.

''The rainfall recorded in all 21 locations across the state revealed that last week there was a shortfall ranging between 4.1 and 96.7 per cent less than normal in current meteorological week,'' the report mentioned.

The report indicated that scanty rainfall in a few pockets of the state had adversely impacted agricultural production.

Send Back Mizoram Refugees, Tripura Asks Central Govt

Agartala, Jun 9 : Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar Wednesday said he has again asked the central government to take steps to repatriate 37,000 tribal refugees to Mizoram.

For the past 13 years, Reang tribal refugees have taken shelter in six camps in north Tripura, adjacent to Mizoram. They fled western Mizoram after ethnic clashes with the majority Mizos over the killing of a Mizo forest official.

Sarkar met union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi Saturday and discussed various security-related issues, including Mizoram’s tribal refugee-related issues.

“Due to the long stay of the tribal refugees since October 1997, Tripura is facing serious socio-economic, administrative and security-related problems,” Sarkar told reporters here Wednesday.

“Education, health and other future aspects of refugees and their children, specially the new borns, hangs in the balance. They should lead a normal life in their own villages,” Sarkar told Chidambaram.

Chidambaram had during his visit to Aizawl last month asked the Mizoram government and the tribal leaders to help repatriate all 37,000 Reang tribal refugees to their ancestral villages.

After the union home minister’s trip, about 235 families comprising 1,200 men, women and children were repatriated in three batches last month (May 21 to 26) to Mamit district of western Mizoram.

“There is no information with the Tripura government about when the remaining refugees would be repatriated,” Sarkar told journalists.

Indigenous Cultural Groups of Tripura Miffed By Govt Promotion of Bengali

Kokborok language users seek policy

- Cultural groups miffed with Tripura govt’s promotion of Bengali

By Sekhar Datta

Agartala, May 24 : A conglomerate of indigenous cultural groups of Tripura has demanded a clear-cut policy for the development of their language — Kokborok.

The conglomerate — Movement for Kokborok — raised the demand on Thursday after the Left Front government organized a string of programs to commemorate the martyrdom of 11 people at Silchar railway station on May 19, 1961, to press for the recognition of Bengali as the second state language of Assam.

Expressing the resentment of Kokborok-speaking people, veteran poet Nanda Kumar Debbarma said: “We welcome such programs but the over-enthusiastic functionaries of the Left Front government should remember that their activities, especially their failure to resolve the tangled script issue is sounding the death knell for our language.”

Demanding a clear-cut government policy on the development of Kokborok language he said, because of the government’s apathy and failure to develop the language even indigenous students were losing interest in studying their own language.

At the time of princely Tripura’s merger with the Indian union on October 15, 1949, Kokborok had no script of it’s own and used to be written in Bengali script, Debbarma said.

While passing the Tripura Official Language Act in 1964 the then Congress government, he added, had recognised only Bengali and English as the official languages of Tripura.

In 1967, two linguists from Calcutta — Kumud Kundu Chowdhury and Shyam Sundar Banerjee — arrived in Tripura to work on Kokborok language.

Working in the interior areas of the state, dominated by indigenous people, Chowdhury and Banerjee devised a grammar and “modified Bengali” script for Kokborok, sparking a controversy.

The issue of studying Kokborok and its script got highly politicised with the ruling CPM advocating the “modified Bengali” script and the regional parties rooting for Roman script.

In 1990, Roman script was introduced by the Congress-TUJS combine that was in power then.

In 1995, the Left Front reintroduced the “modified Bengali” script.

Official sources in the administration refused to comment on the sensitive script issue but senior CPM leader Barun Adhikari said the majority of the indigenous people were in favour of “modified Bengali” script.

“The demand for Roman script itself is motivated. Former chief minister and legendary leader of the indigenous people, the late Dasharath Deb, himself had authored a booklet explaining in detail why the ‘modified Bengali’ script would be most suitable for bilingual Tripura. It will be wrong to assume that we are closed to another script or that we are trying to impose anything on the indigenous people. If they feel that a change is required, we will never stand in the way,” Adhikari said.

Young Tripura Entrepreneur Leads by Example

By Pinaki Das

A young female entrepreneur in Tripura is not only generating employment for people, but is doing her bit for the environment by converting waste to wealth. Alma Chowdhry is a housewife-turned-entrepreneur from Golchakkar village near the Indo- Bangladesh border in Tripura.

In 2007, she along with a team of 25-members formed Samrat Papers, an outfit to recycle waste paper, discarded paperboard and cartons with a small government loan.

"I had noticed that Indian wastepaper made its way illegally to Bangladesh so, I wanted to set up something here, which would create employment for our people," Chowdhry said.

"We set up the factory where we collect waste paper, recycle it and export the product to Bangladesh and other states. Many people today have got employment in our factory," she added.

A majority of over 70 workers at Samrat Papers are housewives, who now earn extra income that helps them in looking after their families.

"We work as part-time labour and earn an additional income of Rs. 1300 per month. This is a great opportunity to earn for our family," said Rupa Das, a worker.

"Earlier we were just housewives but after being employed here we are now earning members as well. This extra income helps in educating our children and also running our families smoothly," said Asma Begum, another worker.

The final products are sold in Tripura and other states.

Cardboard is exported to Bangladesh and helps earn foreign exchange.

Indeed! Salma Chowdhry's initiative has changed many lives in the non-descript village.ore significantly, her contribution to saving trees by recycling waste paper is noteworthy.

Agartala Airport to be Made International

Agartala, May 17 : The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has begun preliminary work to upgrade the Agartala airport to an international airport to boost the region’s connectivity with southeast Asia, officials here said Monday.

AAI’s Agartala airport officiating controller R.C. Das said the decision to upgrade the Agartala airport was taken as part of the India’s Look East policy.

“As part of the plan, the terminal building, air traffic control tower, runway and other necessary infrastructure would be expanded and further strengthened,” Das told IANS.

A state government official said the AAI has sought 200 acres of land “to build additional infrastructure”.

The official said the chief ministers of Tripura and Meghalaya had been demanding introduction of direct flights between Agartala, Shillong and Dhaka to boost trade and economic activities between Bangladesh and northeast India.

“If the Agartala airport is made an international airport, the airway communication between India and southeast Asian countries would be easier and it would help in boosting trade and economy of the region,” said the official.

Among the northeastern airports, only in Agartala and Guwahati airports have night landing facilities.

At present, on an average ten aircraft operate every day through the Agartala airport, connecting Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Imphal and Silchar in southern Assam.

With Guwahati airport being the main and only international airport in northeast India, there are 11 operational airports in the land-locked region, namely Tezpur, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Lilabari (all in Assam), Dimapur, Silchar, Agartala, Shillong, Lengpui (Aizawl) and Imphal - apart from Bagdogra in the Himalayan foothills in West Bengal.

There are nine more non-operational airports in the northeast.

The North Eastern Council (NEC), the regional planning committee for the eight northeastern states, will soon float fresh tenders for operating an airline for the region.

“The NEC had floated tenders twice to select the airline, but the two private airlines and the state-run Alliance Air, which have submitted bids, could not fulfill the criteria of the NEC and the DoNER (development of northeastern region) ministry,” the official said.

He said the NEC had cancelled the bid and would float tenders, relaxing the criteria.

Cyclonic Storm Kills 3, Damages 1,000 Houses in Tripura

Agartala, May 17 : At least three people were killed and over 10 injured as a cyclonic storm lashed several parts of Tripura, leaving behind a trail of destruction, officials said Monday.

The pre-monsoon rains accompanied by strong winds and hailstorm Sunday night damaged more than 1,000 houses and killed many cattle in western and southern Tripura.

“Three people, including a woman, were killed in separate incidents of wall collapse and lightning at Teliamura in western Tripura,” a relief department official told reporters.

Ten people who were hurt in these incidents have been shifted to government hospitals, the official said.

Hundreds of trees, telephone and electric poles were uprooted in the squall, badly affecting the movement of vehicles Monday.

“Civil defence workers and district officials are busy providing relief. Telecommunication and power corporation personnel are working to restore communication lines and power supply,” the official said.

Similar cyclonic rainstorms accompanied by heavy lightning since March have also killed 15 more people in Tripura, damaged 15,000 houses and caused large scale destruction.

Meteorological department director Dilip Saha told IANS: “The seasonal Nor’wester (cyclonic rainstorm) would continue till the onset of monsoon next month. The recurring Nor’wester is now active in entire eastern and northeast India and few other places in the country.”

“The northeastern region, due to its topography, is a lightning-prone area. Lightning claims on an average 100 lives every year specially during March to May,” said Swapan Bhowmik, a physicist of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Agartala.

Census Work Begins in Tripura

Agartala, Apr 26 : The Housing Census and National Population Register (NPR) canvassing work in Tripura today began from Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's house.

Director of Census Operation (Tripura) Dilip Acharjee said the Government of India had started canvassing all personal information of the individual, along with the residence lists, which will be maintained by unique identification number as ready reference for any use for the first time in India.

Formally, NPR preparation work began with registering information of Mr Sarkar and his family members this morning. The Chief Minister urged the people to cooperate with enumerators for household survey and to collect data for NPR as part of Census-2010.

''The mammoth task of Census is being taken up with missionary zeal and dedication. We expect both enumerators and supervisors to do the job sincerely so far as data collection is concerned and they are also expected to motivate the people, which will ultimately reflect the national sprit of unity and diversity,'' Mr Sarkar pointed out.

Meanwhile, Census officials urged peoples' participation on large scale and said the Census would provide information on size, distribution and socio-economic, demographic and other characteristics of the population, which would be used for planning and policy-making, besides evaluation of management and need for development.

Paramilitary Forces Arrive For Tripura ADC Poll

Agartala, Apr 26 : The Centre has assured to send 20 companies of Central Paramilitary Force (CPMF) for election to Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) slated for May 3.

Tripura State Election Commissioner Y P Singh told the media here today that the Union Home Ministry had agreed to provide 20 companies of CPMF exclusively for the election in which about 6,36,169 voters would exercise their franchise in 1,006 polling booths spread over about two-third geographical area of Tripura.

Mr Singh, however, stated that the administration has started deployment of Central Para Military Forces (and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) personnel in sensitive locations, besides state police, well ahead of the (TTAADC) election. The state had asked for additional 30 companies of CPMF for the ADC poll, as out of 1006 polling stations, 91 were identified as ''hyper-sensitive'' and 347 in the category of ''sensitive'' polling stations so far.

Security has been beefed up in poll-bound areas and BSF strength in Indo-Bangladesh border was increased substantially while counter-insurgency operations were intensified besides enhancement of security in all vital locations, Mr Singh said. '

'As part of these strategies state police has already begun a counter-insurgency campaign to foil any possible militant bid during election,'' Home department officials said, adding the state election officials reviewed the security arrangement across the state.

According to the plans, all the sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling stations would be covered by the CPMF while TSR personnel would be deployed in the outer periphery of the polling stations. However, all the normal polling stations would also be covered by CPMF security. The results of 28 seats of ADC election would be declared on May 7 next.

Tripura Tourism Gets a Helpline

Agartala, Apr 20 : The Tripura Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (TTDC) has introduced toll-free digital helpline round the clock to provide information related to state tourism for both domestic and international tourists.

State Tourism Minister Anil Sarkar said here today that the helpline was operational in three languages - Bengali, Hindi and English - and has voice recording system to cater to the needs of tourists and it was the first of its kind in Northeast.

''Any person from any part of the country can call 91-381-2300332 for information regarding the state's destinations, hotels and other relevant details at anytime and the queries would be recorded for further action from the part of the corporation,'' Mr Sarkar said.

He said the tourism sector in Tripura has registered a steady growth over the past few years and it got further impetus with the setting up of separate corporations. Both domestic and foreign tourist arrivals have also increased by 27 per cent over the past two years in the state.

While as many as 2,41,155 tourist footfall were recorded in 2008-09, the number of tourists went up to 3,25,694 in 2009-10 and of the total tourist inflow, altogether 4,763 were from foreign countries like China, Germany, Holland, Canada and the UK and the state had earned Rs 1.6 crore.

The TTDC has already taken a number of steps to boost the tourism sector especially in the field of eco-tourism and religious tourism and the state government had sought a special financial assistance from the Centre to revive Unokati, the immortal sculpture in the state.

Tripura Constitutes Police Accountability Commission

Agartala, Mar 30 : The Tripura government has constituted a police accountability commission to ensure "impartial and efficient" policing, an official said here Sunday.

"The four-member commission, constituted Saturday, would formulate guidelines for efficient, effective, responsive and accountable policing and identify performance indicators," the police official told IANS.

Former Tripura advocate general D.P. Kundu was appointed as its chairman while social worker Champa Dasgupta, and legal experts Bimal Bhowmik and Dipak Kumar Chowdhury are its members.

The official said: "The commission will look into allegations of serious misconduct against police personnel or any other case referred to it by the government, the director general of police or any member of the public."

He said Tripura was the second state in northeast India after Assam to constitute such a commission.

IANS

Tripura Gets Tough With Cyber Crimes

Agartala, Mar 24 : The Tripura government Wednesday notified guidelines that propose stringent action, including a 10-year jail term, against those involved in cyber crime.

“If anybody is found guilty of indulging in cyber crime, he can be prosecuted with a maximum of 10-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs.200,000,” police spokesman Nepal Das told reporters.

He said the government has notified guidelines for private cyber cafes and internet dhabas. “If the cyber cafe and internet dhaba owners violate these guidelines, stringent actions will be taken against them,” Das added.

“There shall not be any cabin in any cyber cafe and proper records with detailed identity of the users shall be maintained by the cyber cafe and internet dhaba owners,” the guidelines added.

“Children below the age of 18 years should come to cyber cafe and internet dhaba with their guardians,” said the guidelines.

The spokesman said surprise raids will be conducted on cyber cafes and internet dhabas to ensure adherence to the Information Technology Act 2000.

The government has also designated certain police officials who can be informed by people about cyber crimes.

Bru/Reang Camp Gutted, 1800 People Homeless

Agartala, Mar 16 : About 1800 people became homeless after an entire camp of Bru/Reang refugees in North Tripura district was gutted in a major fire, officials said here today.

The camp with 320 makeshift houses made of bamboo and straw at Hamshapara was reduced to ashes by the fire that broke out in one of the huts yesterday.

The inmates are now sheltered in nearby Khedachhara community hall and Khedachhara school.

Senior officers of Kanchanpur sub-division, including the SDO, are in the area to arrange for food, drinking water and other essential items for the victims, they said.

The cause for fire is yet to be ascertained.

About 35,000 displaced Bru/Reang people from neighboring Mizoram are now sheltered in six camps in the sub-division including the Hamshapara camp.

The Bru/Reang people were forced to flee following ethnic conflicts with the Mizos since 1997.

Tripura Debates Maneka’s Plea Against Animal Sacrifice

Udaipur (Tripura), Mar 14 : Following a request from animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi to stop animal sacrifice in the famous Tripureswari temple, one of the 51 'shakti peethas', the South Tripura district administration has decided to gather opinion from various quarters.

I have received a letter from Maneka Gandhi last week requesting the deputy collector, who is the principal 'sebait' of Mata Tripureswari, to stop animal sacrifice. Now the opinion of the government, royal family priests and common people would be gathered before taking a final decision," District Magistrate Swapan Saha told reporters today.

Once a princely state, Tripura merged with India in 1949 following signing of a merger of agreement and one of the conditions was that the state government would worship Mata Tripureswari in traditional system. The temple was built by Maharaja Dhanya Manikya in 1501 A.D.

When contacted, Pradyot Kishor Devburman, the decendent of the Tripura's Manikya King said, "I am personally against animal sacrifice, but there is no need of any kind of advice from Maneka Gandhi. There can be an internal debate within the state whether this 'parampara' should be stopped".

According to mythology, Lord Vishnu had cut off the body of Mata Sati into 51 pieces by the Sudarshana Chakra and the pieces fell at various places throughout the country. These places are known as 'shakti peethas'. It is said the 'right foot' of Mata Sati fell at Matabari.

Tripura University to Confer D Lit To Sheikh Hasina

Agartala, Mar 8  : The Executive Council of Tripura Central University has decided to confer honorary D Lit degree on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her leadership and initiative to improve bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Arunoday Saha said here today that the authority's decision had already been conveyed to the Bangladesh PMO and her consent was awaited. Non-officially she agreed to receive D Lit and letter of confirmation is expected to reach soon.

Prof Saha said Ms Hasina would be conferred the degree in the university convocation scheduled to come up in November this year.

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has consented to be the chief guest in the function.

Appreciating Tripura University's decision of conferring an honorary D Lit on Sheikh Hasina, Tripura Industry Minister Jitendra Choudhury called the move as a way of further cementing the bilateral relation between India and Bangladesh.

He maintained that the versity had been facing problem of adequate number of faculty members and added, ''We do get competent and qualified teachers but they do not stay long enough to help us.'' Prof Saha pointed out that young professors joining the university from outside the state mostly come to gain limited experience to land better jobs elsewhere and leave whenever they find a job in a metropolitan city or mainstream states.