Year-end 2012: The year that was for Tripura

2012 saw insurgency on the wane in Tripura besides considerable progress in achieving rail, telephone and air connectivity with neighbouring Bangladesh.

The beginning of the year was marked by the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who received an honorary doctorate from the Tripura Central University.

The 726 MW gas-based thermal power project at Palatana in Gomati district started generation from November. The first unit of the plant is now capable of generating 300 MW power, which is much higher than Tripura's requirement of about 280 MW.

The Tripura government in a joint venture with ONGC and Tata Chemicals would set up a Rs 5,000 crore fertiliser manufacturing unit in north Tripura district by using the natural gas available in the state.

The National Highway Authority of India approved a proposal of the state government for conversion of the Agartala-Sabroom national highway into four-lane.

However, in a setback, the Agartala-Dhaka bus service was temporarily suspended in from September following torching of India's Maitree passenger bus by a mob at Narsingdi in Bangladesh. The bus was set afire by miscreants in Narsingdi and it resumed service after a fortnight.

BSNL will lay optical fibre cable through Bangladesh to connect Agartala with Akhaura, the nearest town in the neighbouring country. If this connection is set, then Indian telephone networks would be connected with the Bangladesh tele network.

Tripura government announced a pension scheme for accredited journalists of the state in May.

The state also requested the Centre for upgrading the Agartala airport into an international airport and establish air connectivity with Dhaka and Chittagong.

Tripura secured top position in the country in implementing AADHAR project under the UIDAI programme.

A Bangladeshi agro-food processing group, Programme for Rural Advancement Nationally agreed to invest around Rs 6.80 core to set up an agro-food processing unit in the state.

The ruling CPI(M) retained the Nalchar Assembly seat in Sipahijala district with its candidate defeating the Congress rival in June in the bypoll. The seat fell vacant following the death of CPI(M) MLA Sukumar Burman on March 10.

India completed the final survey to lay the rail link between Akhaura in Bangladesh and Agartala, a project which New Delhi plans to implement for linking railways between the two countries.

Talks were also on for a direct bus service from Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka. At present there are bus services from Agartala to Dhaka and Dhaka to Kolkata and vice-versa.

Tripura also came up with the first heritage park in the Northeast, designed to present the landmarks as well as archaeological, architectural and sculptural sites of the state in miniature form in November.

The Left Front government has decided to launch the park on the sprawling 10 acres of land in Kunjaban, north of Agartala. It is opposite Malancha Niwas, formerly a royal guest house that had hosted Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore who was close to the last four kings of Tripura and had visited the state seven times during his lifetime.