The Northeast Notebook

Eight weddings and a reform
AN NGO in Tripura has shown people the way to fight dowry. Last week it organised a mass marriage in the state capital8212;eight couples tied the knot as wives of the state governor and chief minister looked on.

The NGO has announced it would organise such mass marriage at regular intervals to help poor families.

Assam refinery finds market in Myanmar
THE Numaligarh refinery in Assam is all set to export its petroleum products to Myanmar. A deal for export of 1,000 tonnes of high speed diesel to Yangon is on the cards with refinery officials expecting to sign the contract this month.

While the refinery has been eyeing markets in neighbouring Bangladesh and Myanmar, the latter too is more interested in buying fuel from Assam instead of Thailand and Malaysia.

Naga youth at sea
IT8217;S certainly a change from the rugged hills of Nagaland to the sea. But that is not stopping Naga youth from choosing the navy as a career. While about 40 young Nagas have been selected for the Indian Navy, a special recruitment drive will soon be launched.

A recent recruitment test saw over 150 Naga candidates take the written examination. The state hopes the numbers will keep increasing.

Kaziranga prepares for centenary
ASSAM8217;S Kaziranga National Park, home to the one-horned rhinoceros, is already preparing for its centenary in 2005.

It was in 1902 that the Calcutta Zoo wrote to the then British administration in Assam, asking it for two rhinos for its conservation campaign. Finally, in 1905 the government declared Kaziranga a protected zone.