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| Singh, Gurung: The hill bonding |
Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Nov. 29: A four-member Gorkha Janmukti Morcha delegation led by Roshan Giri left for Delhi today to meet Jaswant Singh, a day after the party set a December 20 deadline for the Centre and the state to establish the interim authority.
Going by the composition of the delegation, the Darjeeling MP is probably acting as a mediator between the party and the Centre and is expected to help thrash out the contentious issues before the final agreement on the interim authority is drawn up.
Tight-lipped about the delegation’s objectives, Giri said: “We are going to meet Jaswant Singh. This is our only agenda right now.”
The three members of the team are former chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh Trilok Dewan, former principal secretary of DGHC L.B. Pariyar and party spokesperson Harka Bahadur Chhetri. The four members have been an integral part of the tripartite meetings between the Morcha and the Centre and the state in the past.
Observers believe that the team is probably trying to hold negotiations with the Centre through Singh to thrash out four contentious issues: mode of selection to the interim set-up, transfer of tauzi department, procedure for handing over of legislative powers and the territorial jurisdiction of the new body.
After meeting Union home minister P. Chidambaram on November 1 along with Singh who had then mediated between the two sides, Morcha president Bimal Gurung had announced that “only one more meeting was needed to ink the deal”. But the Morcha’s announcement of the deadline yesterday and the sudden departure for Delhi today are pointers that the state government, which is already in an election mode, is probably not in agreement with the party on the four issues.
The Morcha had claimed that a joint verification committee would be formed to review its demand for the inclusion of Gorkha-dominated areas in the interim set-up, the report of which would be placed before the appropriate authority by May 2011.
The hill party had also claimed that the members running the interim authority would be nominated instead of being elected and that the transfer of the tauzi department had been broadly agreed upon. “Given the Morcha’s recent decision to hold rallies for the inclusion of the tauzi department and to set a time frame to sign the deal failing which it has threatened to launch an agitation for a final solution, it is obvious that all the loose ends are yet to be tied. There must have been objections from the state government and the team has probably left for Delhi to sort out the issues,” said an observer.
In the hills, rival GNLF iterated that the Sixth Schedule was the only viable solution. “Given the present situation, the Sixth Schedule is the only viable option and an agreement had already been reached with our party in 2005. The Sixth Schedule has constitutional guarantee and the same cannot be said of the interim set-up,” said Shivraj Thapa, media and publicity secretary of the GNLF’s Darjeeling sub-divisional committee.
Subash Ghisingh, the president of the GNLF, has already expressed his desire to return to the hills and this has also prompted a strong response from all political parties. “In a democracy, all parties are allowed to function. We, however, believe that the hill people have already rejected the Sixth Schedule status and Ghisingh should drop the idea of Sixth Schedule for a separate statehood,” said Narayan Chhetri, the spokesperson for the ABGL.
The CPRM added that if Ghisingh was to return to the hills, he should leave behind all his “bad habits”. “If he is to return he should leave behind his bad habits like confusing the general public and encouraging them to drink. The Sixth Schedule does have constitutional guarantee but the people have rejected it. Instead, he (Ghisingh) should concentrate on statehood,” said R.B. Rai, the general secretary of the CPRM.
Giri said Ghisingh must be day-dreaming about reviving the GNLF in the hills.
Hills bond SMC allies
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| The board meeting of the SMC on Monday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo |
TT, Siliguri, Nov. 29: The Trinamul Congress and the Congress today jointly adopted a resolution moved by the Opposition Left Front on the jurisdiction of all 47 wards of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation.
The consensus — between the allies that helped adopt the resolution opposing the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s demand for including six wards of Siliguri in the proposed interim set-up — comes after more than a year of strained relationship.
“All the six wards (2, 3, 41, 42, 45 and 46) have Gorkha majority and so we want their inclusion in the authority,” Shankar Adhikari, the chief convener of the Morcha’s Terai committee, had said.
Mukul Sengupta, the CPM councillor of Ward 2, proposed that a resolution be taken at the civic body, opposing the Morcha’s demand.
“As the SMC has been formed under constitutional provisions, the demand raised by the Morcha to separate six wards from the civic body is confusing and can create unpleasant situations. We, therefore, want the resolution to be passed opposing this demand,” Sengupta said.
Gautam Deb, the Trinamul leader of the party at the SMC, however, suggested modification to the proposal. He said since the civic body did not have any written document on the Morcha’s demand, except for media reports, the resolution should not contain the name of any organisation or party.
“We feel a similar proposal, in an amended form, saying that there should be no change in the jurisdiction and structure of the existing wards and none of the wards should be separated from the SMC should be passed,” Deb said. “It is important to keep in mind that no step or decision should be taken by the SMC which can affect the ongoing tripartite talks.”
Congress mayor Gangotri Datta endorsed Deb’s amended proposal. Soon, SMC chairperson Sabita Devi Agarwal placed the modified proposal for adoption. Both the Congress and the Trinamul councillors supported the resolution, while the Left members refrained from supporting it.
The Opposition members insisted that the words “In context of the demand raised by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha…” be included in the resolution.
The civic meeting continued for around four hours, discussing issues like repairing roads, construction of drains and drinking water supply. It also decided to set up statues of six prominent personalities — Rabindranath Tagore, Thakur Panchanan Burma, Sukanta Bhattacharya, Sisir Bhaduri, Rajendra Prasad and Maharaj Agrasen — at different locations of the town.
Youth found dead in police lockup - Cops claim suicide, relatives allege torture
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| Congress supporters demonstrate in front of Pradhannagar police station on Monday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo |
TT, Siliguri, Nov. 29: A 30-year-old youth was found dead in the lockup of Pradhannagar police station this morning, sparking protests from Congress supporters and local people who alleged that he had died because of police torture.
Police said Gautam Pal, a resident of Prakashnagar here, had hanged himself in lockup bathroom.
The protesters blocked Hill Cart road two times, first in the afternoon and then at night. During the second blockade, the relatives and neighbours of Gautam arrived near Gurunbusti with his body.
According to sources, Gautam was arrested, along with his friends Rajkumar Roy and Jaswant Singh, on Friday after a motorcycle went missing.
“Rajen Sonar, one of Gautam’s friends, had borrowed Rs 7,000 from him three months ago and had mortgaged his motorcycle. On Thursday, Rajkumar and Jaswant took the two-wheeler from Gautam for an errand,” said a resident of Prakashnagar. “The duo returned at night and told Gautam that somebody had lifted the bike. Gautam immediately went to Pradhannagar police station to file a complaint.”
But the police refused to accept the complaint, as he was not the owner of the motorcycle. The next day, Gautam went to Sonar and told him about the theft.
However, Sonar was not ready to buy the story and lodged a complaint with Pradhannagar police, accusing Gautam of lifting the bike.
The police picked up Rajkumar and Jaswant first and then Gautam, suspecting that they had sold the motorcycle to someone and cooked up the theft story. The trio were produced in a court on Saturday and remanded in three-day police custody.
Brother contests claim
“Around 6am today, I received a call from the police station and was told to reach Siliguri District Hospital where my brother had been admitted in a serious condition,” said Gautam’s brother, Jiten.
“When I reached the hospital, I found him dead and the police told me he had committed suicide. I believe my brother cannot kill himself and he died because of police torture. We want action against the inspector-in-charge and other policemen who were on duty last night.”
The police sources said Gautam, a bachelor who used to work as an LIC agent, had tightened a noose around the neck with his trouser and hanged himself from the ventilator of the bathroom.
Jiten, accompanied by a lawyer, lodged a complaint with the same police station to demand a probe into his brother’s death. The body was handed over to the family after post-mortem at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.
As the news spread, Congress workers reached the police station, along with relatives and neighbours of Gautam, Rajkumar and Jaswant. They shouted slogans demanding the arrest of the inspector-in-charge and other policemen. At 1pm, the agitators, numbering around 100, came out of the station and disrupted traffic on Hill Cart Road.
When the blockade was going on, former Darjeeling district Congress president Shankar Malakar and deputy magistrate Achinta Das reached the police station at 3pm and held a meeting with Kunal Agarwal, the additional superintendent of police, Siliguri, and other police officers. Half an hour later, Malakar came out and announced the authorities’ assurance of a fair probe.
“We have talked to senior police officials and demanded a judicial inquiry and action against those who were responsible for Gautam’s death in 24 hours. They have promised an investigation and considering people’s inconvenience, we are withdrawing the road blockade. We will meet the police officers after 24 hours and if there is no progress in the probe, we will lock the police station and intensify the agitation,” said Malakar.
The road was blocked once again for 30 minutes from 7.30pm with Gautam’s relatives and residents of Prakashnagar reaching Gurunbusti with his body. A police contingent, led by the circle inspector of Bagdogra, Gautam Ghosh, managed to convince the agitators that the police were looking into the case with “utmost seriousness” and dispersed the crowd.
SP orders probe
D.P. Singh, the superintendent of police of Darjeeling, said a probe would be conducted and reports had been sought from the senior police officers.
“We are not downplaying the custodial death. We have been told that he was found hanging in the bathroom of the lockup,” he said. “Nevertheless, we have sought separate reports from the ASP and the DSP and based on their findings, necessary action will be taken. There is a CCTV camera in the lockup and we will check the footage.”
COAS visit to St Paul's School
KalimNews, (PR), Darjeeling:St. Paul's School, Darjeeling was honoured to have the presence of General VK Singh, Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Yudh Sena Medal, Aide-de-Camp, Chief of the Army Staff on the occasion of the Annual Speech Day of the school on 
Coffee replaces paddy for more profit
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| (Top) A coffee plant with beans; coffee saplings in a green house at Bongbusty in Kalimpong. Pictures by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha |
Rajeev Ravidas, TT, Kalimpong, Nov. 29: What tea is to Darjeeling, will coffee be to Kalimpong? A few more years and the answer will be there but for now the seeds of such a possibility have been planted.
Bongbusty, a picturesque village with terraced paddy fields, 3km from here, is where a project to introduce coffee farming in the hills has begun.
The experiment was started two years ago when Gopal Dixit and his brother Robin of Dixitgaon in Bongbusty replaced paddy plants with coffee seedlings in their fields.
The idea of cultivating coffee came from their cousin Deo Dixit, a coffee consultant based in Bhutan.
“We had been planting paddy in our fields for years. However, diminishing yield and non-availability of farm hands had made it non-sustainable. This is why we decided to experiment with coffee on a small scale,” said Gopal.
The Dixits have planted coffee seeds on their 6-acre plot. The trees are now two years old and they will take another year or two to mature.
“An acre of land can accommodate around 700 to 2,000 trees depending on the space between the plants and the variety of coffee. An acre of land can yield between 500 and 1,000kg of green beans,” said Deo. He said 1kg of green coffee beans could fetch between $3 and $5 in the international market.
The Dixits have planted Arabica coffee in their field.
“Arabica is a better variety of coffee and is grown in higher altitudes. The climate of Kalimpong is nice and warm and is right for coffee plantation. Many people here grow coffee as an ornamental plant in their gardens. I have hand crushed some of the beans and tasted them. They are really good,” said Deo.
He added that if the coffee experiment is successful then it could be good news for the farmers here.
“Coffee plants do not require much looking after. The money from selling the beans also remains with the farmers. A large number of people from the rural areas will also be gainfully employed,” he added.
Residents of Bongbusty are waiting for the experiment to bear fruit before they too wake up to the prospect of maximising profits from the land by planting coffee.
“If the experiment is successful and coffee farming gets necessary support from all people concerned, then Kalimpong can be on the coffee map of the world,” said Deo.
Review workshop for ‘Eco Navigators’
KalimNews, Prabin khaling, Gangtok,29 Nov:A review workshop regarding the progress on Eco Navigators – an environment education resource material was organized by WWF – India at Teen Taley Resort near Rumtek on 28-29th November. The Eco Navigators had been initiated in 14 schools of Sikkim by WWF – India as part of their Environment Education Programme on a pilot basis since July 2010, after an initial orientation of the teachers on using the material. The main objective of organizing the workshop was to gauge the progress in each of the pilot schools regarding the implementation of the kit, and get feedback from the teachers which would lead to development of future plans and strategies for the next year. 10 teachers from 6 schools (Palzor Namgyal School, Tadong Senior Secondary School, Central Pandam School, Geyzing SS School, Mangan SS School, Enchey Senior Secondary School and Phodong SS School participated in the review meeting.The programme for day one took the participants through a brief background of the EE resource material that gave information on how it was developed with the help of teachers. The teachers then worked in groups to discuss on the various questions that were put forward to gauge the status and the problems / challenges that were faced by them during implementation of the kit. Most of the teachers gave very positive feedback about their experiences of using the resource material and that the children enjoyed participating in many of the activities, while gaining valuable lessons from them. Audiovisuals, which formed an important part of the resource material, were felt to be an excellent medium for teaching, and most teachers requested for more to be added for the coming year.
Day two of the workshop focused more on the future steps and how the implementation could be upscaled to a certain level to reach out to a larger group of student. Inclusion of more schools as pilots for the second year was the general opinion of the participating teachers. Since waste management was felt as an important issue most schools were grappling with, the concept of zero waste management was also introduced to them by resource person Mr. Nima Tashi from KCC, who gave the example of the initiative being taken up at Yuksam for the trekking trail. Taking forward from here, the idea of setting up some schools as models of proper waste management sites at a small scale was put forward, and which will implemented in the coming year.
The resource material will be improved for next year based on the feedback from the teachers at the workshop and again handed over to the different schools for implementation for the next session.
Tea workers in govt dues cry
TT, Jalpaiguri, Nov. 29: About hundred workers from the closed Dheklapara tea garden and the sick Mujnai tea estate gathered at the district collectorate here today demanding their dues under two central government schemes.
Workers of Dheklapara Tea Estate said they were yet to be paid money under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and the Financial Assistance to Workers of Locked Out Industries (FAWLOI).
Basanti Tanti, a worker of Dheklapara that has been closed since 2002, said the operating and management committee sold tealeaves weighing between 500 and 1,000 kilos during the season.
“We get around Rs 30-40 a day from the OMC by plucking and sorting leaves. But only three days are allotted for work in a week. We are also denied money under a central scheme to provide assistance to workers of closed gardens. Although we worked for 21 days between April and November under the NREGS, we haven’t been paid the wages yet,” she said.
Another Dheklapara labourer, Lakshman Munda, said the garden dwellers were dependant on the work under the employment guarantee programme. “We are not getting the full quota of 100-days work that the scheme guarantees for a year,” said Munda. He said payments for June, July and August under the FAWLOI had been last made just before the Pujas. A worker gets Rs 1,000 a month under the FAWLOI.
A worker of the Integrated Child Development Services in Mujnai tea garden, Krishna Chhetri, said: “The labourers have not got work under the NREGS in the past five months and many of them are breaking boulders on the riverbeds.”
Both Dheklapara and Mujnai estates are located in Madarihat block.
As district magistrate Vandana Yadav was away, the workers met additional district magistrate (general), Doma Sherpa, who listened to their demands.
“Last year, Jalpaiguri topped the list of districts implementing the NREGS in the state by providing 64 days of work. This year, the Centre has been releasing funds slowly,” said Sherpa.
He said the dues would be cleared by the first week of December and after that, new work would be allotted under the NREGS.
Delay finger at forest
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| Under attack |
“Three days after the incident on September 22, a joint meeting was held in Gorumara National Park,” said S. Singh, the divisional railway manager of Alipurduar, which falls under the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR). “A number of decisions, aimed to curb the risk of elephants being hit by trains, were taken in the meeting. None of these have been implemented so far and since then, there has been no response from the forest department.”
The meeting had decided that a forester would be posted at the control room in Alipurduar so that he can pass on the information about elephant herds to his men. “No one has been deputed by the forest department so far,” Singh said. “On our part, we have been regulating the speed of the trains on the routes as decided in the meeting.”
The DRM said clearing vegetation from an area of 30 metres on both sides of the track would have increased the visibility of drivers but it was not done. “A joint survey to identify the corridors through which elephants cross the tracks but are not known to us was supposed to be taken up. But no move by the forest department has been witnessed so far,” Singh said.
Foresters said clearing of vegetation on both sides of the tracks had begun and was expected to be completed soon. S.B. Patel, the chief conservator of forests (wildlife) of north Bengal, said: “We have forwarded the proposal to depute a man at the railway control room to our seniors. However, information is being exchanged at the grass roots levels, that is, between range officers and station masters of all stations between Siliguri Junction and Alipurduar regularly.”
Residential certificate issue
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Darjeeling boy arrested
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Green glare on new rail link- Minister cites threat to wildlife to oppose train lines to Bhutan
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| The gateway to Bhutan a |
Avijit Sinha, Siliguri, Nov. 29: The state forest department will oppose any move by the railways to extend the Dooars rail route to Bhutan as it will pose threats to the wildlife, minister Ananta Roy has said.
The opposition from the government came close on the heels of the deaths of seven elephants on the Dooars rail tracks on September 22.
The Northeast Frontier Railway had planned to extend the railway lines from Banarhat and Hashimara to Samtse and Phuentsholing in Bhutan following an agreement between the two countries.
“We will oppose any move by the railways to extend the network to the bordering towns of Bhutan because the alignment is through the forests and the elephant corridors. If train services start on these routes (Banarhat-Samtse and Hashimara-Phuentsholing), more animals, particularly elephants, will be hit by trains,” Roy told The Telegraph. “Under the rules, the railways will have to obtain permission from the Supreme Court if it want to construct lines in forest areas.”
The minister, however, did not elaborate much on the rules.
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| Rail tracks that run through the Mahananda wildlife sanctuary on the outskirts of Siliguri |
Railway officials said the survey on the three stretches of Assam was complete but a similar exercise in Bengal was held up because of land encroachment.
“We own land on the two stretches (of Bengal) but they are already encroached upon by a number of families. When we discussed the project with the district magistrate of Jalpaiguri and the divisional commissioner of Jalpaiguri, we were assured that an alternative land would be provided,” said S. Singh, the divisional railway manager of Alipurduar which falls under the NFR. “We agreed to it but now we have no clue about the statements made by the forest department.”
Residents of the Dooars, who are unhappy with the consistent campaign by state ministers to regulate movement of trains and divert some from the Dooars route to stop elephant deaths on tracks, have described the opposition by the forest department as another conspiracy.
“The state government is trying to derail a railway project out of political vengeance using the wildlife as an excuse. The forest department has failed miserably to protect the wildlife and is now trying to hide its failure and create hindrance for the railways,” said Prabhat Dey, the secretary of the Dooars East West Corridor Movement Committee. “We will, however, not tolerate such political interferences that can stop the development process in the Dooars.”
Hunger strike for jobs
TT, Jalpaiguri, Nov. 29: Four tribal youths started an indefinite hunger strike on the premises of the district primary school council today, demanding their immediate appointment as contract teachers.
According to the agitators, all residents of Banarhat in Dhupguri block, they had appeared for an interview in a school at Chamurchi near Banarhat in April. They were also empanelled for the job. Later, they learnt that the selection had been cancelled. DPSC officials, however, said no fresh recruitment could be carried out immediately owing to some government orders. The district magistrate has been informed about the protest.
Gaur panic
Protest
Awards
Ganja seized
CM arrogant: Partha
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| Partha Chatterjee |
“The chief minister had said yesterday that there was no room for hotheads in his party. What about his own behaviour?” the Trinamul Congress leader told reporters at the party headquarters in Topsia.
Chatterjee recalled how the chief minister had described the CPM’s “recapture” of Nandigram in November 2007.
“He had said Trinamul supporters had been ‘paid back in the same coin’. Buddhababu himself is arrogant,” the Trinamul leader said.
“Buddhababu had said, ‘If they throw bricks at us, we will respond with bricks’. If this is not an example of hot-headedness, what is?”
Chatterjee said that since Bhattacharjee had “owned up his party has made mistakes, he should resign”.
The leader of the Opposition alleged: “Three generations have been crippled by the policies and attitude of the CPM and its members.”
He said the Left Front’s losses in the recent elections in the state were a pointer to the fact that it had “lost the moral right to remain in power”.
Preeti Thapa crowned 3rd ‘Miss Eclectic Model 2010’
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| Miss Eclectic Model 2010 Preeti Thapa (Centre) being flanked by 1st runner up Rituparna Lahkar (Left) and Rajkanya Baruah (Right) at the grand finale of the Pond's White Beauty Eclectic Model Hunt 2010 at ITA Machkhowa in Guwahati, Assam on Saturday night. Photo by- Nanda Kirati Dewan |
Archana Rai, KalimNews, Guwahati:
Miss. Preeti Thapa a Gorkha girl has been crowned 3rd ‘Miss Eclectic Model 2010’ at a glittering function held at Pragjyoti ITA Centre for Performing arts, Machkhowa, Guwahati on Nov 27, 2010 organised by Electic Group’s magazine The Electic Times. Rituparna Lahkar and Rajkanya Baruah who were the winners, the first and the second runners’ up respectively. Two of the winners Preeti and Rituparna has qualified for direct entry to the Femina Miss India East. There were lots of other prizes in store for the winners apart from the cash awards. The Pond’s White Beauty Eclectic Model Hunt 2010 also awarded a few other subtitles to the following seven contestants - Rajkanya Baruah as Miss Talented and Miss Catwalk, Smriti Mahanta as Miss Photogenic, Preeti Thapa as Miss Congeniality, Rituparna Lahkar as Miss Communicator, Eugenia Am Shullai as Miss Best Skin and Chandrashruti Bhattacharya as Miss Personality.
For the first time ever in Northeast, a beauty pageant of this stature was aired live on television! The grand finale of the Pond’s White beauty Eclectic Model Hunt 2010 was viewed by people from all over, thanks to television partner Rang, apart from those lucky ones present there at the Pragjyoti ITA Centre for Performing arts, Machkhowa, Guwahati on Nov 27, 2010.
The evening geared up with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the chief guest, the Governor of Meghalaya, His Excellency, Sri Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary (retired IPS) and the Guest of Honour, Kumar Sanjay Krishna, IAS, Principal Secretary, Planning and Development, Govt Of Assam. With eminent names in the panel of judges like supermodel cum actress, Dipannita Sharma Atwal, renowned model from Sikkim Bangalore
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