Tags:
Journalism of Courage
PATIENTS of Manipur heaved a sigh of relief as a private super-speciality hospital was inaugurated last week at Imphal. Patients needing special care so far had to travel to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Vellore since the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences and the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, both at Imphal, were not able to fulfill the needs. State health director C Churamani himself has admitted that the medical board has been referring at least 20 patients every week to hospitals outside. The new 100-bed hospital, with some of the latest state-of-the-art equipment, is expected to curtail this number drastically.
Meghalaya: Net helps curb extortion
WHILE extortion has become a kind of cottage industry in several Northeastern states, the Meghalaya government has launched a unique way of helping people who are scared of going directly to the police station to register their complaints. In July, the state government publicised an e-mail address, which account has seen complaints pour in by the dozen every week. If Additional DGP W R Marbaniang is to be believed, the police have so far rounded up at least 50 extortionists through the new facility.
Arunachal: Money from bamboo
VARIOUS tribes in Arunachal Pradesh have been using bamboo since time immemorial for various purposes ranging from baskets to hanging bridges. Yet, most of the state’s bamboo has still been going to waste. The Cane & Bamboo Technology Centre, set up at Guwahati under the aegis of the UNIDO, UNDP and the Department of Science and Technology, tribal youth are being motivated to take up projects for better economic exploitation of bamboo. The first such project, a bamboo splitting and cutting unit is being set up at Ziro, in Lower Subansiri district. Several other units are in the pipeline.
