Marry and register in TripuraCOME January and registration of marriages will become a must in Tripura. According to the state’s Left Front government, which wants to make marriage registration compulsory from the new year, registration of births, marriages and deaths helps plan developmental programmes in the state. Meghalaya’s silted problemsINCREASED deforestation is creating a new problem in Meghalaya. The picturesque Umiam lake just 12 km off Shillong, gets a lot of silt and solid waste that is reducing the water-holding capacity of the lake. Unable to tackle the problem, the state government has sent a Rs 17 crore proposal to the Centre, which is not only aimed at arresting top-soil erosion in the surrounding hills, but also at educating the local population on soil conservation. Behind the timesWHILE Information Technology is spreading fast in several states of the Northeast, Nagaland is lagging. Concerned over this, an Assembly Committee of the state last week not only pulled up the state government, but also asked it to draw specific plans to catch up with its neighbours. The Committee said in the absence of heavy industries, it is IT and its application that can greatly help the state create jobs for the increasing number of educated unemployed. Manipuri films go digitalMAKING films for a small market, the only way out for Manipuri filmmakers is to use digital technology. The state’s highly professional film industry that took off only in 1972, has already made over 40 feature films on digital format. The Manipur Film Development Corporation has started financing film projects using digital technology, with investments worth Rs 1.5 lakh a film bringing back at least Rs 2 lakh within six months. Bodo language in Eighth ScheduleIT’S been less than a month since the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) was created and Assam’s Bodo tribals have another reason to be happy. The Parliament has included the Bodo language in the Eighth Schedule. The biggest tribe of the state, the Bodos,whose Sahitya Sabha has been demanding this status for over three decades, has produced many books in their language. Bodo novels and short stories are also being translated into various languages including English and Hindi.
