Babita was arrested from her residence. .. Govt dilly-dallying, will revive stir for Gorkhaland: GJM ... Bengal Mumbai FC and ONGC in Gold cup final ... Vrindaban School holds annual concert 'Ramailo Saanjh'

TOI, UNI, Darjeeling, Nov 1 : Babita Ganguly, one of the 30 accused in the Gorkha leader Madan Tamang murder case of May 21, was arrested here today, Deputy Superintendent of Police Tausif Alam said.

Ganguly, one of two members of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's woman wing, was named in the chargesheet filed by Darjeeling police for the lynching of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League president. Babita was arrested from her residence.

Another woman activist, Sani Sherpa, is still evading arrest.

So far nine persons named in the murder had been arrested. But prime accused Nickol Tamang fled from CID custody in Siliguri on August 21. He had been arrested in mid-August.

Darjeeling police had so far attached the property of 12 accused and process of attachment was on for another nine under the directive of a court order.

Chief Judicial Magistrate of Darjeeling S P Rajat had ordered the attachment of property of those who had been evading arrest in the case.
No interim setup if state units oppose- GJM
TOI, DARJEELING: Even as the stage appeared set for an interim setup in the Hills, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) on Sunday hinted that it might decline the Union government's proposed arrangement if the need arose. 
"If an overwhelming majority of our unit members from across the country opposes the setup, then there may not be an interim arrangement," said Harka Bahadur Chhetri, GJM press and publicity secretary, in Darjeeling. The Morcha leader was speaking on the sidelines of the formation of the party's national committee.
Meanwhile, GJM chief Bimal Gurung, Roshan Giri and Jyoti Prakash Rai on Sunday rushed to Delhi on an invitation from the Union home ministry. It is learned that the GJM leaders are also expected to meet Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh on Monday.
Meanwhile, the party suffered a setback when 34 families, owing allegiance to it, from Nayanor Busty in Pul-Bijenbari block and Kaijaley gram panchayat switched over to Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League.
Govt dilly-dallying, will revive stir for Gorkhaland: GJM

Sabyasachi Bandhopadhyay, IE, Kolkata,1 Nov: Hinting at a return of dark days in Darjeeling hills, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) on Sunday threatened to revive its demand for Gorkhaland if the Centre did not convene a tripartite meeting to sort out the issue of an interim council for the hills.

The party has stressed on the urgent need for holding tripartite talks on political level among the state government, the Central government and the Morcha

After getting an urgent call from Union Minister for Home P Chidambaram, a Morcha delegation, led by its president Bimal Gurung, left for Delhi on Sunday to have a meeting with the minister and the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“The Centre and the state are playing ducks and drakes with our patience. We can’t understand what they are up to. We have been waiting for the date for the tripartite talks but nothing is being conveyed. If it continues like this for some more time we will break away from all the talks on interim council and will go back to our demand of Gorkhaland,” Harka Bahadur Chhetri, spokesperson for the Morcha, told The Indian Express.

The representatives of the party’s other units including Kolkata, Delhi and Lucknow, on Sunday, attended a national-level convention in Darjeeling.

“The delegates told us that we should carry forward the agitation for a separate state of Gorkhaland. However, they left it on us to decide the path which can take us to our goal,” Chhetri said.

The last tripartite meeting on the issue at officers level was held on August 16 and since no decision could be reached then it was decided that a political-level meeting would be held at the earliest. No date has been fixed as yet for the meeting, said sources in MHA.

The issues related to formation of the interim council and the inclusion of Nepali-speaking people from Terai and Dooars in the area to be governed by the council are the issues over which the state government and the Morcha differ.

While the state government is in favour of holding election for the members of the council, the Morcha favours nomination. Secondly, the state government is opposed to the inclusion of any area outside Darjeeling district into the council.

“From the discussion I had with chief ministers and governors of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, I have found that the application of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution could not bring about much development in those states,” said Ashok Bhattacharya, state minister for Urban Development.

Bengal Mumbai FC and ONGC in Gold cup final

Prabin Khaling, KalimNews, kalimpongonlinenews.blogspot.com, Gangtok,   Nov 1: Bengal Mumbai FC reached the finals of the 32^nd All India Governor’s Gold Cup football tournament defeating crowd favourites Lajong FC, Shillong 1-0 in the second semifinals played today here at Paljor Stadium.

Striker Ajit Bhoir scored the all important goal in the 73^rd minute when he connected a free kick from team captain Henry Gangte into the far right corner of the Lajong net. The goal had come against the run of the play with the Lajong players till then completely dominating the proceedings and missing out a bunch of goal scoring opportunities.

Lajong strikers Lalramluaha Ralte and Kelechi Okeye were the main culprits missing at least six clear cut opportunities. They were denied through poor finishing and some heroic goalkeeping of Bengal Mumbai FC goalkeeper Harshad Meher who pulled off a string of stunning saves despite an injury in his lower back.

After conceding the goal, the Lajong players were unsettled and could not get their free flowing game leading to more frustration. The Bengal Mumbai FC was playing a defensive game packing its midfield with five players to support the lone striker Bhoir. The team sat deep after taking the lead and shut out the Lajong players for the next 17 minutes to set up a title match against I-League side, ONGC Mumbai.

However, Bengal Mumbia FC will be handicapped as it will be missing the services of Bhior who picked an injury in the game.

Meher, who ensured the team’s victory, is also unsure whether he will be playing or not in the finals due to his back injury.

ONGC Mumbai will be also missing its captain Jatin Bist who picked up a red card in the semis. However, its strike force of Nigerians ND Opara and B Babatunde has scored nine goals so far in the tournament giving an upper hand to the team in tomorrow’s final against Bengal Mumbai FC.

Sikkim hermonites welcome miss hawk

Prabin Khaling, KalimNews, kalimpongonlinenews.blogspot.com, Gangtok,   Nov 1: The Sikkim Hermonites Association (SHA) hosted a reunion dinner for the Hermonites in Gangtok yesterday (Oct 31) to welcome Ms C. Hawke, former teacher of Mt. Hermon School, Darjeeling, who arrived here on the same day from Kalimpong.
Speaking at the reunion at Hotel Tashi Delek, Hawke said it was “wonderful” to be back in Sikkim after fifteen years and added that the “fifteen years in MH (1962-1978) were the best years of my life.”
She visited Sikkim twice  - in 1990 and 1995 during the school’s centenary celebrations. Hawke, who began teaching in Mt Hermon in 1962, finally left the school in 1978 when a host of foreign teachers, including former Principal of the school, Graeme A. Murray, of New Zealand also retired.
One of her students, HRD Minister, NK Pradhan, who was present at the reunion, said Mt. Hermon was once considered the third best school in India and expressed apprehension over the falling standards of the school in the past several years.
“We still feel for the school and are concerned about it,” Pradhan said. Senior members of the alumni present during the reunion were former Secretary and Namgyal Institutute of Tibetology (NIT) Director, Tashi Densapa, Rajendra Lakhotia and wife Kavita, Cooperative Department Secretary, N. Yethenpa, and Punam Agarwal.
SHA President and Principal Secretary-cum-Chief Engineer, Karma Bhutia, welcomed Ms Hawke and her friend Jill to Sikkim with traditional khada during the reunion dinner.
After her arrival in India on October 27 from Australia, where she lives, Hawke attended two Hermonites reunions in Siliguri and Kalimpong at the Lakhotias and Binod Yonzone’s  (President, Kalimpong Hermonites Association) respectively.
In Sikkim, she is expected to visit North Sikkim, including Lachen and Lachung. She will attend a school function at the North Sikkim Academy (NSA – belongs to a Hermonite) in Mangan, headquarters of North Sikkim.
Before flying to Singapore on Nov 17 Hawke will visit Darjeeling, Thimphu and Calcutta, where more reunions for the Hermonites are planned.
Hawke was not only a strict disciplinarian and a teacher extraordinaire (she taught English literature like only Shakespeare could have done) but also a great pillar of Mt. Hermon.

Concert of Vrindaban School

KalimNews, Kalimpongonlinenews.blogspot.com, Kalimpong, 1 Nov : Vrindaban School, an ICSE affiliated educational institution of this town celebrated 84th birth anniversary of its founder and Chief Patron D.B. Pradhan by way of organising grand cultural function in the school premises in the evening of 31st October. 

A large number of local guardians and wellwishers were present to witness the function that included singing of solo, group songs and presentation of dance items by the students and guest artists. 

The main highlight of the programme was the very Tamang Selo (a popular typical ethnic dance in the Gorkha community) which was adjudged best among more than 70 folk dances in recently held folk dance competition in the capital town of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla. 
The school authorities also felicitated Rajen Gurung, dance guru of Kalimpong who has rendered tireless services towards the development of folk culture in the region and Samsher Ali, a renowned story writer for publication of his first book 'Biu Bhaley' (collection of short stories). Dayal Das Subba, 94 year old senior most member of the

society was also offered due felicitation by the school on the occasion. The local guardians who had thronged in their traditional attire, thanks to the ongoing month long cultural festival, attended the entire programme to encourage their wards and the school authorities for their endeavours.
Nationwide Monitoring of Mobile Tower Radiation Levels from November 16 – Sachin Pilot 
PIB, KalimpongNews, 1Nov:The Union Minister of State for Communications & IT, Shri Sachin Pilot has said today that nationwide random testing of radiations emitted by mobile towers will commence from November 16, 2010 onwards by the Telecom Engineering and Resource Monitoring (TERM) Cells. The progress in this regard and compliance levels will be monitored centrally, and non-compliance will result in fines and penalties envisaged in existing guidelines and amended license conditions, including imposition of a penalty of Rs. 5 lakhs for each non-compliant tower, the Minister said. 
The Electro Magnetic emissions of mobile towers in India are governed by the guidelines drawn from the recommendations of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). The Minister had earlier directed that self-certification of radiation levels of all towers should be completed by the telecom operators and certificates to this effect should be submitted to the TERM Cells of the Department of Telecommunications by November 15, 2010. Earlier, in his meeting with the telecom companies and other stakeholders in August, 2010, Shri Pilot, while lauding their efforts in improving tele-density in the country, had underscored the importance of being sensitive to any health related issues that might arise from the operation of mobile phone towers.