गोरामुमोले शुरू गर्‍यो छैटौं अनुसूचीको निम्ति गाउँ समिति निर्माण कार्य... फेरि पोष्टरःफेरि दुखमन ... सिक्किम ताइक्वाण्डो टीमले हत्यायो 5 स्वर्ण अनि 6 रजत पदक

सिक्किम ताइक्वाण्डो टीमले हत्यायो 5 स्वर्ण अनि  6 रजत पदक

मनोज बोगटी, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ, 6 मई। भारतको स्पोट्‌र्स एण्ड युथ अफेयर्स अनि स्पोट्‌र्स अथरिटी इण्डियाले अरूणाचलप्रदेशको दिराङमा आयोजना गरेको खेलखूद प्रतियोगितामा ताइक्वाण्डो खेल्न गएका सिक्किम ताइक्वाण्डो टीमले पॉंच वटा स्वर्ण पदक अनि छवटा रजत पदक हत्याएको छ। यसको जानकारी त्रिलोक सुब्बाले दिएका छन्‌। तिनले बताए अनुसार अरूणाचलप्रदेशको दिराङमा भएको विभिन्न खेलहरूमध्ये ताइक्वाण्डो प्रतियोगिता पनि एक थियो, जहॉं सिक्किमलाई प्रतिनिधित्व गर्दै सिक्किम ताइक्वाण्डो टीमले अंशग्रहण गरेको थियो।
सुब्बाले जनाए अनुसार खेलमा सिक्किम पहिलो, मिजोराम दोस्रो अनि मणिपुर अनि अरूणाचल तेस्रो स्थानमा आएको थियो। पुम्से सिनियर इभेन्टमा त्रिलोक सुब्बा अनि रबिन राईले स्वर्ण पदक हत्याए भने ख्योरोगी इभेन्टमा परमेश्वर बुढ़ाथोकी,अविनाश प्रधान,बेनुका मगरले स्वर्ण पदक हत्याएका छन्‌ । यसैगरी पेम्बा डोल्मा तामङ, विनि तामङ, भुवनप्रसाद लिम्बु, नाक्सुम भोटिया, रविन राई, अनि मिङमा लमु सेर्पाले रजक पदक हत्याएका छन्‌।
मोठ बाह्र जना प्रतियोगीहरूले जम्मा 11 वटा पदक हत्याएको सुब्बाले जनाएका छन्‌। सिक्किमलाई प्रतिनिधित्व गरेर जाने टोलीमा टिम कोच कुमार वर्देवा, रेफरी साङ्गे डिकी भोटिया रहेका थिए।

गोरामुमोले शुरू गर्‍यो छैटौं अनुसूचीको निम्ति  गाउँ समिति निर्माण कार्य

मनोज बोगटी, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ, 6 मई। पहाड़मा पुनःस्थापित बन्दै गइरहेको गोर्खा राष्ट्रिय मुक्ति मोर्चाले छैटौं अनुसूचीको निम्ति ग्रामीणस्तरमा गाउँ समिति निर्माण कार्यलाई तीब्र गर्दै लैजान थालेको छ। गोरामुमोले भनेको छ, अब चन्द्रेको बाउ इन्द्रे आए पनि छैटौं अनुसूचीको बील रोक्न सक्दैन। यसकारण छैटौं अऩुसूचीको शाषण प्रणाली अन्तर्गत पर्ने गाउँ समिति, गाउँ प्रमुख, गाउँ सुरक्षा समिति बनाउन गोरामुमोले अहिले रौंचिरा नै शुरू गरेको छ।
यसैक्रममा आज गारोमुमो कालेबुङ शाखा प्रचार प्रसार सचिव अनिल लोप्चनले एक विज्ञप्ती जारी गर्दै कास्योङमा गाउँ समिति बनाइएको जनाएका छन्‌। राजेन्द्र गुरूङको  आवासकक्षमा रणबीर गुरूङले अध्यक्षता गरेको एउटा सभामा राजेन्द्र गुरूङलाई कास्योङको गाउँ प्रमुख तथा भिलेज चिफ बनाइएको छ। अनिल लोप्चनले विज्ञप्तीमा उल्लेख गरे अनुसार छैटौं अनुसूची लागू हुन अब धेर समय लाग्दैन। यसैकारण पहाड़मा बहाली हुने गोर्खा हिल काउन्सिललाई व्यवस्थित गर्न गोरामुमोले अहिलेदेखि नै कार्यपहल शुरू गरेको हो। यसैक्रममा नै गाउँगाउँमा अहिले गाउँसभा भइरहेको छ, जहॉं सर्वसम्मतिमा गाउँ समिति, गाउँप्रमुख अनि गाउँ सुरक्षा समितिहरू तयार भइरहेको छ। गोरामुमो, केन्द्र अनि राज्य सरकारले एउटा त्रिपक्षीय वार्तामा दागोपापको विकल्पकोरूपमा गोर्खा किपटलाई भारतमा संवैधानिकरूपले अन्तर्भुक्त गर्न एउचा चुक्ति गरेको छ।
उक्त चुक्तिलाई कुनै पनि पक्षले विश्वासघात गर्न सक्दैन। सोझै गोर्खाल्याणअड दिने पक्षमा दुवै सरकार छैन, यसकारण गोर्खाहरूको भविष्य अनि आउने पीँढिको राजनैतिक सुरक्षाको निम्ति गोरामुमोले छैटौं अनुसूचीको माग गरेको हो-लोप्चनले विज्ञप्तीमा लेखेका छन्‌। तिनले लेखे अनुसार गुणात्मक शिक्षा, रोजगारहरूको व्यवस्था, सवैवर्गका हरेक समस्याको निदानको निम्ति मानव संसाधन अनि प्रकृतिक संसाधनहरूलाई विकास गरेर लैजान गोरामुमो कटिबद्ध रहेको छ। जातजातमा विभाजित गोर्खाहरूलाई सिङ्गो गोर्खाकोरूपमा 1931 को जनगणनाको आधारमा गोर्खाहरूलाई गोर्खा अनुसूची जनजातिको मान्यता दिइनुपर्ने सम्बन्धमा गोरामुमोले दिएको चाप अनुसार शीघ्र नै कुनै न कुनै फलाफल आउने संकेत मिलेको पनि लोप्चनले बताएका छन्‌। गोर्खा हिल काउन्सिलको बीललाई कसैले रोक्न नसक्ने बताउँदै तिनले अझ भनेका छन्‌, अहिले आउने व्यवस्थालाई हेरेर गाउँगाउँमा गर्नु पर्ने कार्यहरूलाई गोरामुमोले तीब्र राखेको छ। कास्योङको सभामा यसै विषयमा राजु शंकरले उपस्थित समुहलाई अवगत गराएको पनि लोप्चनले जनाएका छन्‌।

फेरि पोष्टरःफेरि दुखमन

मनोज बोगटी, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ , 6 मई। पहाड़मा जनताको आकांक्षालाई हेरेर राजनीति नभइरहेकोमा असन्तुष्ट कुनै जमातले पोष्टर मार्फत आफ्ना असन्तुष्टीहरुलाई प्रकटमा ल्याएको छ। तर यसपल्ट देखिएको पोष्टर सुनिएको कुनै राजनैतिक-अराजनैतिक शिविरबाट होइन कुनै पनि अभिभावकहरूको नाम उल्लेख नभएको अहिलेसम्म कसैले पनि नसुनेको नयॉं सङ्गठनले नगरभरि टॉंसेको छ। अल गोर्खा युथ फ्रण्ट नाममा टॉंसिएको पोष्टरमा राजनैतिकरूपले जनमुद्दालाई सहीरूपले सम्बोधन नगरिएको आरोप लगाइएको छ।
पहाड़मा व्यापक अराजकता र अगणतान्त्रिक परिस्थिति निर्माण गरिएकोमा रोष प्रकट गरिएको पोष्टर जुन सङ्गठनको नाममा टॉंसिएको छ, त्यो नयॉं देखिएको छ। युवावर्गहरूको सङ्गठन रहेको भान दिने पोष्टर कुनै पनि दलको असन्तुष्ट जमातको हुन सक्ने शंका गरिएको छ। यसै पनि पोष्टरले कालेबुङमा फेरि नयॉं दलको उद्भव भएको संकेत दिइएको भए पनि पोष्टर नगरको मूल केन्द्र डम्बरचोकमा नटॉंसेर अन्यत्र टॉंसिएकोले कुनै असन्तुष्ट जमातको उपद्रव पनि हुनसक्ने लख काटिएको छ। पोष्टरमा मुख्य गरी छैटौं अनुसूची अनि अन्तरि
आन्दोलनको नाममा धन लुट्‌ने र थुपार्ने काम भइरहेको छ। जनताविरोधीहरू होसियार। पोष्टरमा दलीय अनेकतालाई पनि प्रमुखता दिइएको छ। भनिएको छ, सबैको माग गोर्खाल्याण्ड हो। गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति काम गर्नेलाई मात्र हाम्रो समर्थन हुनेछ। जनताको आकांक्षा गोर्खाल्याण्ड भएकोले हामी सबै मिलेर काम गरौं। यता 12 सय शहीद गर्ने सुबास घिसिङलाई प्रशासनले पक्राउ नगरेको कारण माग्दै सीके प्रधान हत्याकाण्डका दोषीहरू प्रशासनले निकाल्नुपर्ने माग गरिएको छ। भनिएको पनि छ, मदन तामङका हत्याराहरू छाती खोलेर हिँड़िरहेका छन्‌। उनीहरूलाई किन पक्राउ गरिँदैन? छत्रे सुब्बालाई किन जेलमा सड़ाएर राखिएको छ? अब युवा जमातले यी सबै प्रश्नको उत्तर सरकारबाट माग्ने छ।
SMS Headlines: Duk Nath Nepal formed Sikkim Liberation Party.
Tara Sundas, CPM leader exposed thug traders of Kalimpong.
Grass test in landslide zone to protect soil

Vetiver plants distributed by the NGO in Kalimpong. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Rajeev Ravidas, TT, Kalimpong, May 6: A Kalimpong-based NGO has started a project on an experimental basis to promote the planting of a grass that can control soil erosion in landslide-prone areas
The NGO, Save The Hills, has distributed 15 gunny sacks of vetiver or khas-khas grass at cost price to different groups for planting in the landslide-prone areas of Chibo-Pashyor and Sindebung on the fringes of Kalimpong.
The grass was also given to two other NGOs, which are working in remote areas of the subdivision, promoting agriculture and spreading awareness on the measures needed to arrest landslides.
“Vetiver is a tough grass native to south India. Even though vetiver is being used the world over to check soil erosion and for slope protection, this is the first time that we are trying out the grass in these mountains for erosion control and slope stability. This is very much an experiment since we found bamboo to be not too suitable for soil binding once the rainfall crossed a certain threshold,” said Praful Rao, the president of the STH.
Rao said if the experiment proved successful, the NGO may start vetiver plantation on a much larger scale, especially in the rural areas where farmers are losing land continuously because of erosion by jhoras.
“What is special about vetiver is that its dense fibrous roots go vertically into the soil over a four-five year period. Its roots are normally three-four metre long. Some call the grass ‘living soil nailing’ in reference to an engineering technique used to prevent landslides. The grass is also used as fodder and its stems as fuel,” he added.
Landslides are taking place with increasing frequency in the hills, killing people, destroying properties and eating up land. Although experts talk about a comprehensive landslide prevention plan, no initiative has been taken to put in place a mechanism to tackle the problem.
“Such a plan requires huge resources which would certainly require the government's involvement. Ours is a small attempt to help in landslide prevention,” said Rao.
Even though the STH was formed four years ago mainly to raise awareness on landslides, it has managed to set up an SMS-based early weather warning system and put in place automatic rainfall gauges in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong to continuously monitor rainfall.
The STH president regretted that even though the National Disaster Management Authority talked about a paradigm shift in disaster management from a relief-centric regime to one which believes in prevention and preparedness, the opposite is practised at district and subdivisional levels.
“The district disaster management plan is nothing more than a contingency plan which lays down action by different government agencies in the event of a disaster,” he said.
Himul in red, milk supply stops

Himul’s processing plant at Khaprail. (Kundan Yolmo)

Abhijit Sinha, TT, Siliguri, May 6: Himul, the largest milk co-operative society in north Bengal, is grappling for survival with Nadia farmers stopping the milk supply because of non-payment for weeks.
The state-owned enterprise, which sells dairy products and cattle feed, is in the red now and fresh funds need to be pumped in to clear the dues of milk farmers and raw material suppliers.

The society used to receive a daily supply of 25,000 litres of milk and produce 1,200mt fodder each month. However, the daily milk supply has come down to around 7,000 litres and the fodder production to 100mt.

“Signs are not positive as far as the future of Himul is concerned. Milk could not be processed and distributed because of less supply on at least two days, including today, in the past three weeks,” said Aloke Mitra, the general secretary of the Intuc-affiliated Himul Employees’ Union. “Our six chilling plants in the hills have been closed for two-three months after farmers stopped delivering milk as they were not paid money.To compensate the gap in the supply, milk was bought from Karimpur in Nadia for the past two-three weeks. But farmers there, too, are unwilling to continue business with us as dues to them have accumulated over Rs 1 crore.”

Around 200 co-operative societies — each having 100 farmers — in the Darjeeling hills used to send 18,000 litres of milk to the six chilling plants in the hills. From there, the milk would be sent to the production unit at Khaprail on the outskirts of Siliguri.

“The hill farmers stopped the supply when the dues reached Rs 1.6 crore,” said a Himul official.

With the halt in the supply from the hills, the daily delivery came down to 7,000 litres from 25,000 litres or so. “The 7,000 litres come from the plains in the Darjeeling district as farmers there are paid on a regular basis,” said the official. “As the Karimpur farmers were not paid money, their supply has also become irregular. If the situation continues to remain unchanged, the unit might close down any day. We used to receive around 7,000 litres of milk from Karimpur.”

The drop in the supply has also shrunk Himul’s market. Earlier, packaged milk was sent to the Dooars and Cooch Behar, but now, the sale is limited to some pockets of Darjeeling district and Jalpaiguri.

The financial crisis has hit Himul’s fodder production also. “In the cattle feed plant, the monthly production has come down to 100mt from 1,200mt because of shortage in the supply of raw materials. Himul owes around Rs 1 crore to the raw material suppliers,” said a source.

The aggrieved employees say the story does not end there. “Around 10-15 per cent of us have not yet received salaries of April. Besides, our pay has not been revised, while state government employees are given increased salaries recommended by the pay commission,” said an employee.

P.M.K. Gandhi, the Darjeeling district magistrate, who is also the Himul chairman, could not be contacted.

Paljor turf ready for kick-off - Bhaichung’s team to play on inaugural day

Paljor Stadium with the artificial turf. Picture by Prabin Khaling

TT, Gangtok, May 6: The work of laying an artificial turf at the Paljor Stadium is complete and the ground is now awaiting the inauguration that is likely to be held at the end of this month.

Sikkim sports secretary Karma P. Bhutia said an exhibition soccer match would be played between the United Sikkim and an I-League club on the inaugural day.

The United Sikkim club, co-owned by Bhaichung Bhutia, is presently taking part in a competition in the second division I-League final round in Shillong. The contest will end by the third week of May.

“Work for laying the artificial turf at Paljor Stadium started from January 1 and the project was completed at the end of April. This is the fourth stadium in the country to have an astro-turf after the stadiums in Goa, Calcutta and Aizwal,” said Bhutia.

The sports secretary said with the the artificial turf at the stadium, football lovers of Sikkim and upcoming players would have a lot to cheer about.

“Till now there was a lack of ground for footballers to play or practise in Gangtok. With the artificial turf, which can be extensively used as compared to natural grass and requires zero maintenance for a minimum of eight years, they can practise freely and we hope that a lot of talent will come out in coming years,” he said.

The artificial turf cost Rs 3.77 crore.

According to Bhutia, apart from football, other sporting activities like taekwondo and handball, which do not damage the pitch, can also be held on the artificial surface.

He said the sports department would issue identity cards for sportspersons to avail themselves of the facilities at the stadium.

The artificial turf had been a pending demand of football lovers here as the natural grass pitch at the stadium had been deteriorating over the years.

“I am not a great fan of the artificial turf but Gangtok requires an artificial turf because there is not enough space for footballers to play. You don’t have much time to play in a natural grass pitch as it would require maintenance but you can have football during the whole year on an artificial turf. Maintenance is also easy and we needed an artificial turf simply because of space constraints,” Bhaichung said over the phone from Shillong.

Although no formal invitation has been extended to his club, also known as the ‘Snow Lions’ club, to play on the inaugural day, Bhaichung said he was always ready to support the state government and be a part of the opening day festivities.

“Given a chance I will be happy to play in the ground in which I grew up,” said the footballer, who used to play on the ground when he was a school student. The ground had a sandy pitch and used to be known as Polo Ground then.

It was during one of the matches at the Governor’s Gold Cup at the stadium that the teenager was first noticed and picked up by East Bengal team.

The Paljor Stadium will also be the home ground for Bhaichung’s club which is currently in the third position in the second division of the I-League final round behind Shillong Lajong and Vasco FC.

“We are planning to hire the football pitch for our club. We will be requiring the pitch for two hours daily for practice,” said Bhaichung.

He said the sports department could set up floodlights and construct roof over the gallery on the hillside to make the stadium more appealing.

When asked about how the artificial turf would promote football in Sikkim, Bhaichung said: “I am sure it will benefit better than grass where you cannot allow play everyday. But with astro-turf there is an opportunity to play every day and it will benefit all.”

Parishad plans more land raids - Drive on to spot tea gardens on tribal plots

Ownership fight: A small tea garden in Jalpaiguri district. File picture

TT, Jalpaiguri, May 6: The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad has decided to seize more tribal plots bought “illegally” for tea cultivation across north Bengal, emboldened by the successful takeover of 22 bighas of a tea garden near here on Wednesday.

As the Parishad has launched a drive to identify tribal land held by non-Adivasis in the Terai, the Dooars and North Dinajpur, the Jalpaiguri district administration has said it will look into the illegal occupation of the tribal properties once the election process is over.

“There are many Adivasi-owned plots in the Terai and the Dooars that have been grabbed illegally by outsiders to set up small tea gardens. We have already identified such plots in Jalpaiguri Sadar, Rajganj, Mainaguri and Mal blocks of the Jalpaiguri district and the process is on in other areas. Once this is completed, we will finalise the blueprint to launch operations like we did in Jamadarpara,” said the Parishad’s state general secretary, Tezkumar Toppo.

In a dramatic move on Wednesday, members of the Progressive Tea Workers’ Union (PTWU) “seized” 22 bighas of a small tea garden in Jamadarpara, 12km from here. The land had been allegedly bought by a Siliguri-based planter, who is not an Adivasi, and run by another person in Jalpaiguri. The PTWU is an affiliate of the Parishad.

Giving details about the identification process in Mainaguri block, Toppo said the Parishad had found out that 5.27 acres of land belonging to Mahadeb Oraon, Khuruk Oraon, and Lalu Oraon — all Adivasis — had been bought and converted into a small tea garden by non-tribals at Panbari in 1994.

“Similarly, in Kalamati and Ramsai, in the same block, 1.55 acres of land owned by Bachchu Oraon had been purchased (by outsiders) in the same year and is used for tea cultivation now. We have already estimated about 200 acres in Jalpaiguri district, but there are more cases and we have appealed to our community to come forward and inform us,” said Toppo.

The Parishad leader said the land occupied by non-Adivasis was being identified in the Dooars and similar tasks would be carried out in North Dinajpur, which has the largest concentration of small tea gardens, and in the Phansidewa-Phulbari areas in the Terai.

Toppo said a large quantity of land belonging to the Adivasis had not been acquired as per legal provisions.

“They have been acquired using underhand tactics and by duping the owners. On November 23 last year, we had submitted written complaints to the district magistrate, the land department and the backward classes welfare department. But nothing has been done. We are waiting for the election process to end and if the administration still remains dormant, we will launch our operation,” he said.

A senior official of the district land and land records department said land registered in the name of an Adivasi could be bought by a non-tribal person, only if the same area of land was provided to the Adivasi elsewhere. Moreover, this transaction can take place only with the mediation of officials of the land department, the official pointed out.

Sources in the land department said there were 6,200 small tea gardens in Jalpaiguri district. Most of the tribal land bought illegally by the non-Adivasis has been converted into small tea gardens.

The secretary of the Small Tea Owners’ Association in the Jalpaiguri district, Bijoygipal Chakrabarty, conceded that there were many gardens on tribal land.

“If anyone has bought land belonging to tribal people to set up small gardens, it is definitely against the law. However, those gardens which have come up after 1994 are on tribal land that was voluntarily given by the owners in return for work in the plantation. But, now after all these years, the Parishad’s movement will only vitiate the peace. The administration should come forward and solve the problem,” said Chakrabarty.

Jalpaiguri district magistrate Vandana Yadav, who had criticised the Parishad’s Jamadarpara operation, said today action would be taken if she received specific complaints about occupation of tribal land by non-Adivasis. .

“After the election process is over, we will sit with the Parishad and discuss the issue of small tea gardens on tribal land,” Yadav said.

Pirates Flee from Chinese Merchant Vessel Due to Prompt Indian Naval Action
KalimNews, PIB: On the morning of 05 May, an Indian Navy's TU 142 aircraft's persistant efforts led to pirates fleeing from a Chinese merchant vessel MV Full City.
At about 0845 hrs on 05 May 11, the Indian Navy received an SOS call regarding a pirate attack on Chinese merchant vessel MV Full City about 450 nm (850 kms) West of Karwar. The Indian Navy immediately diverted an IN aircraft and a CG ship.
The TU 142 (Maritime Reconnaisance) aircraft of the Indian Navy, which was on anti piracy patrol, arrived overhead MV Full City in less than 30 minutes. The aircraft observed a pirate mother ship next to MV Full City and an empty skiff alongside the ship.
The aircraft made a number of low passes over the ship and strongly warned the pirates, on radio, to leave the merchant ship immediately, stating that Naval warships were closing in the area. The aircraft observed that the warning had the desired effect and the skiff was seen fleeing from the ship along with the pirates and heading for its mother ship nearby.
As there were no surface forces in the immediate vicinity to board MV Full City and sanitise the ship, the IN aircraft maintained overhead MV Full City for over three hours assisting the rescue operation by co-ordinating with the NATO Task Force.
The TU aircraft finally left the area after over four hours, having successfully freed MV Full City from the pirate attack and, ensuring that surface forces were within range to proceed with the boarding and sanitising operations.
The operation highlighted the alacrity of the Indian Navy and also reflected adept international co-operation maintained by the Indian Navy as this operation involved co-operation with the NATO Task Force, the Chinese Task Force and the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Beijing. The Chinese TF also thanked the Indian Navy for its prompt and persistant action leading to neutralising the pirate attack on MV Full City.
MV Full City now continues its passage through the waters of the Eastern Arabian Sea its safety assured by the sustained anti-piracy vigil being maintained by the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard.
With independent as well as collaborative efforts the Indian Maritime Forces have reduced the threat of piracy in the Arabian Sea in general and the Eastern Arabian Sea in particular. It is particularly noteworthy that there has been a drop of over 80% in the number of piracy attacks in the Eastern Arabian Sea. As a matter of fact, in the month of April 2011, there was not a single reported piracy attack in the Eastern Arabian Sea. This demonstrates the nation's continued determination to assure safety of merchant shipping in the International Sea Lanes in the Arabian Sea.
MPs may Spend Rupees Ten Lakh for giving Assistance to The Physically Challenged Persons 
Members of Parliament get Green Signal to Spend A Maximum of Rupees Ten Lakh Per Year, from their MPLAD Funds, for giving Assistance to The Physically Challenged Persons
PIB, KalimNews: The Government of India has recently decided, to increase the annual entitlement of MPLAD funds of Members of Parliament, from Rs. 2 crores to Rs. 5 crores. This necessitates, a re-look at the entire gamut of operational guidelines and modalities, governing the implementation of the MPLAD Scheme, in order to make them simpler, more user friendly, and to ensure that MPs can use the annual fund, in a useful manner, to fulfil the urgent needs, at the grass root level in time every year.
Dr. M. S. Gill, Minister of Statistics & Programme Implementation, is keen to take a pro-active stand, to ensure timely, and fruitful utilisation of MPLAD funds, and is looking to create, a wider basket of eligible items, so that MPs have a larger choice of projects, which can be implemented through their MPLAD fund.
Government has received representations, requesting that MPs be allowed to spend some MPLAD funds, in assisting physically challenged people. It has been argued, that physically challenged persons face severe hardships, and it is the general policy of Government of India, to take all possible steps, to ameliorate their condition.
The issue has been considered at length, in this Ministry. It is felt, that it would be appropriate, to allow Members of Parliament, as public representatives, to spend some of their MPLAD funds, in assisting the physically handicapped in this country, towards a better life, as a mark of their concern.
Government is aware that Item No. 11, of Annexure II, of the current MPLAD Guidelines, prohibits assistance to individuals. After consideration, it has been decided, that this condition be relaxed, in favour of physically challenged persons only, keeping in view the larger public good. It is, accordingly directed, that henceforth, MPs will be allowed to spend a maximum of Rs. 10.00 (Ten) lakhs per year, from their MPLAD funds, for giving assistance to the physically challenged.
In order to ensure, that the fund is properly spent, it has been decided that such assistance be given only for the purchase of tri-cycles and artificial limbs, for differently abled persons. Directions have been issued, that all applications for such assistance will be examined and approved, by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the district, to ensure proper eligibility. The district authorities, under the District Collector / Deputy Commissioner, will also be fully involved in the selection of such eligible persons.
This change will come into effect from 1st of June, 2011.
Water-borne diseases strike Totos

One of the smaller tanks in Totopara. File picture

TT, Alipurduar, May 6: At least hundred members of the primitive Toto tribe are down with water-borne diseases at Totopara where water is supplied from a reservoir that has not been cleaned up in the past 15 years.

Around 1,000 persons live in Totopara, the only place in the country where the community is found.

“Almost 15 years ago a tank with a capacity to store 2,000 litre was built by the public health engineering department at Pakhagaon, about 1km from Totopara. The water is brought to the reservoir through a series of pipes from a stream called Tadri that flows down from the Bhutan Hills. We fear that the water has become contaminated as the tank is never cleaned and the pipes that bring the water has developed leaks at many places,” said Bakul Toto.

According to the local people, the reservoir has not been cleaned even once after it was built.

Bakul said there were five smaller tanks in Totopara, 73km from here, in which water from the main tank is deposited through pipelines.

With the ground being hard and rocky there are no tube wells in the area and the only source of drinking water is the reservoir at Pakhagaon.

According to Bakul, for about the past seven days local people were regularly reporting at the Totopara primary health centre with stomach problems. “The doctor at the health centre asked us to check our source of drinking water and yesterday I and some others went to Pakhagaon and inspected the main tank. The water has gone black and was smelling and there was mud inside the tank,” Bakul said.

He added that the block office was informed yesterday about the condition of the reservoir but nothing has been done as yet.

“We are grateful to the doctors at the health centre who are treating us with care and there has been no casualty so far. But many people are still admitted to the health centre,” Bakul said.

Rajkumar Saha, the doctor at the primary health centre, said at least 10 to 15 persons were coming for treatment everyday. “They are suffering from water-borne diseases and I have asked them to boil water before drinking and also to check the source of the water. However, the situation is not alarming and many patients have recovered,” said the doctor. He added that currently 16 persons were admitted to the facility with enteric diseases.

Kamal Roy, karmadhakshya of the public health engineering department, said he came to know about the matter yesterday.

“I am taking immediate steps to supply clean drinking water to Totopara and sending men to clean up the reservoir,” he said.

Kingfisher Beer in Sikkim
KalimNews, PR: Denzong Albrew Pvt. Ltd. of Sikkim has started production of Kingfisher Beer in Technical Collaboration with United Breweries Ltd. a flagship company of Dr. Vijay Mallya.
Mr. Kalyan Ganguly, President & Managing Director of United Brewery along with Mr. Cedric Vaz- Executive Vice President- Manufacturing & Mr. Gourishankar, Divisional President (East) visited the plants situated at Darpaney, Mulukhey, Rongli Road, Rhenock, East Sikkim has started on 05.05.2011. Mr. Ganguly highly appreciated the unit located in such a scenic area. The brewery shall expand its capacity of 150000 HL to 300000 HL per annum to cater the growing market of United Breweries Ltd. in the Northeast States, West Bengal & Bhutan.
Impressed by high potential of tourism in Sikkim and plant scenic location and its high tech technology Mr. Ganguly has planned to have the unit as a tourist destination, where tourist will be taken around the plant and process of beer making explained to them with beer testing like many plants in European countries in consultation with Government of Sikkim, further Kingfisher airlines will also include the same in its magazines and other ad materials to boost Sikkim Tourism. The plant is located near Aritar which is famous tourist spot in East Sikkim. The plant will also start selling draught beer in Sikkim market.
The unit is state of art modern brewery with fully automated processing plant and one of the best in-house laboratory facilities in the country. The plant was set up by Denzong Albrew Pvt. Ltd. in consultation with United Breweries Ltd. and the process plant has been manufactured & supplied by Praj Industries Ltd. Pune on turnkey basis. The bottling plant is supplied by KHS India and utilities by Thermax, IMDC and Chicago Phuenumatic. The filtration plant has been imported from Della Toffola, Italy.
Mr. L.D. Bhargava, Ex. UB Project Head was overall incharge of the project. The unit is giving boast to local employment and rendering technical training in UB’s breweries.The plant is schedule to be completed for inauguration in June 2011 as per Mr. Rishi Kumar Mittal, Director.
NCBC Act
PIB: The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) is constituted under an Act of Parliament of 1993 to examine requests for inclusion of any class of citizens in the Central List of Backward Classes, to hear complaints against inclusion or non-inclusion of any classes in such lists, and to tender appropriate advice to the Central Government.
Section 10 of the NCBC Act confers certain powers of a Civil Court on the Commission, in the performance of its functions.
Central Government has, on 3rd May, 2011, notified rules which also vest in the Commission the power to review any advice tendered by it to the Government. A person or group of persons aggrieved by such an advice may apply to the Commission for the review of such advice in accordance with relevant provisions of the Civil Procedure Code. When so approached, the Commission will have the power to review its advice in accordance with the relevant provisions of the said Code relating to review by Civil Courts.
West Bengal elections: Acid test for oppn in Round-5
TNN , May 7, 2011, KOLKATA: Will the Trinamool's flower bloom in this arid zone? Not much chance, if you go by history. But then, many of the 38 assembly seats in West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and parts of Burdwan, which stood unaffected during the Mamata tsunami in 2009, are now being buffeted by the winds of change. CPM's well-entrenched roots may be getting shaky here.
Round-5 of Bengal polls on Saturday is going to be an acid test for the Trinamool wave. Mamata Banerjee has made determined efforts to break the red hegemony in these parts. If the Left stumbles here, its tally will slide into double-digits.
This phase has the controversial and blood-soaked Keshpur assembly seat where CPM had got a lead of more than 1 lakh in the last Lok Sabha polls. Incidents like the Netai killings have eroded the Left base. The Congress and Trinamool Congress have made dents in CPM strongholds apart from strengthening their grip on old Opposition strongholds like Kharagpur Sadar and Sabang.
None of the seats in this phase, barring Barabani in Burdwan, is marginal. The Opposition has bright prospects in Kharagpur Sadar, Daspur, Debra, Bankura, Bishnupur, Purulia and Barjora where they had a close finish in the earlier elections. Mamata's intensive campaign in these areas would boost anti-incumbency as was evident in her massive meeting at Bankura some months ago.
The situation is similar in Purulia town, while the Durgapur industrial belt and Asansol coal belt seem poised for change. This Rurh of Bengal is home to about 80,000 people working in mines of Eastern Coalfields Ltd, while another 10,000 poor people are engaged in illegal mining across Barabani, Salanpur, Kulti, Jamuria, Raniganj, Andal, Ukhra, Pandebeswar, Laudoha and Hirapur areas. The trade is run by the coal mafia under patronage of political parties.
The result in this belt depends mostly on which political party holds sway on the polling day.
Two heavyweights to be watched are CPM's health minister Surjyakanta Mishra from Narayangarh and Pradesh Congress president Manas Bhunia from Sabong in West Midnapore. Both seats are termed safe for the two but they look unsafe this time.
Bhunia is caught in a triangular battle with a section of Trinamool supporters backing the SUCI candidate Narayan Adhikary. The stakes are high for Bhunia as he badly needs to scrape through to keep his party portfolio intact. Surjyakanta Mishra faces a triangular fight with his predecessor Bibhuti Dey contesting the Narayangarh seat. Dey, a former CPM man, has come as weapon to the Trinamool to drive a wedge in the Left camp.
Kharagpur Sadar could again go with Congress, thanks to the 90-year-old Gyansingh Sohan Pal who has won the seat six times in a row.
Some other constituencies, such as Daspur and Ghatal, are keeping the Left on its toes. Daspur is one among the three assembly segments that gave Trinamool a lead in the last LS polls. Trinamool leader Subhendu Adhikari's supervision has come as a boost to the Opposition working overtime to consolidate anti-Left votes in Dantan, Pingla, Keshiary and Debra seats in West Midnapore. The Opposition has made visible progress in these constituencies. 

POWER WOMEN - In spite of its gender bias, India has women in leading positions- POLITICS AND PLAY

Ramachandra Guha,(ramachandraguha@yahoo.in), TT: A remarkable yet perhaps under-appreciated fact about Indian politics today is the influence, at the very top, of women. The most powerful individual in the country is a woman. The most powerful individual in the country’s largest state is a woman. The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha is a woman. Within a week’s time, the most powerful individual in the state of West Bengal will certainly be a woman, and the most powerful individual in the state of Tamil Nadu will quite possibly be a woman.

This is an extraordinary conjunction, especially when one considers the historic oppression of women in South Asia down the ages. India’s major religions, Hinduism and Islam, are in scriptural and practical terms deeply inhospitable to the emancipation of women, to the emergence of individual women as independent actors who can take their own decisions about how to live their life (rather than having these decisions taken for them by fathers, brothers, or husbands). And yet, here we have the policies of the country as a whole, and of several massive states within it, being shaped by women. Hundreds of millions of Indian men are now having their fate and future determined by those whom they have traditionally regarded as being subservient to them.
How does one explain the rise to power and influence of Sonia Gandhi, Mayavati, Sushma Swaraj, Jayalalithaa, and Mamata Banerjee? The cynic may claim that except for the last-named, all have had their paths smoothed by male patrons or family members. Had Sonia Gandhi not been Rajiv Gandhi’s widow, she would not have become president of the Congress. Mayavati and Jayalalithaa were the protegées and anointed successors, respectively, of Kanshi Ram and M.G. Ramachandran, the founders of the political formations these ladies now head: the Bahujan Samaj Party and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Sushma Swaraj was supported in her early years in politics by her husband, the former socialist leader, Swaraj Kaushal, while her recent rise in the Bharatiya Janata Party has been aided by male patrons, most crucially perhaps the Reddy brothers of Karnataka.
(Mamata Banerjee’s career in politics owes much less to male patronage. In fact, she came to prominence through challenging powerful men — first, the anti-Congress stalwart, Jayaprakash Narayan, on whose car she stamped and danced in 1974, and then, the communist stalwart, Somnath Chatterjee, whom she defeated in a Lok Sabha election in the Jadavpur constituency of Calcutta in 1984.)< The scholar may answer (or temper) the cynic by arguing that Sonia, Mayavati and company are the beneficiaries not of this or that individual, but of a long historical process, led and shaped by several generations of social reformers. In the early 19th century, Rammohun Roy responded to the challenge of Christian missionaries by campaigning for the abolition of sati and by arguing that in moral and intellectual terms women were at least the equal of men. In Roy’s wake came Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Jyotiba Phule and D.K. Karve, who championed women’s education; Mahatma Gandhi, who brought women into the freedom struggle; and Jawaharlal Nehru and B.R. Ambedkar, who insisted that women get the vote at the same time as men (in the West, they obtained the vote decades later), and who rewrote personal and family laws to allow most Indian women to own and inherit property and to choose their marriage partners.
Roy excepted, these male reformers were stimulated, challenged, aided and provoked by their female counterparts. The state of Maharashtra in particular produced some brilliant and very influential feminists, among them Pandita Ramabai Ranade and Tarabai Shinde. From the South came such remarkable women as Ammu Swaminadhan, Muthulakshmi Reddy, and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya. These feminists helped transform social mores and change state laws, so as to permit the greater participation of women in the economy, in education, in the arts, and in politics.
History and family ties have played their part, but so, too, has the character of these particular individuals. It helped Sonia Gandhi that she was the wife of one prime minister and the daughter-in-law of another, but these connections would have come to naught without her own determination and courage, which saw her bring her party back from the dead to a position of dominance. Both Mayavati and Jayalalithaa have faced, and overcome, vicious and vindictive male opponents. The former has had the additional handicap of being a Dalit in a country still subject to the cultural hegemony of the upper castes, the latter of being a Brahmin in a political climate soaked in anti-Brahminism. The Hindu Right is nothing if not reactionary and patriarchal, attitudes which Sushma Swaraj has had to negotiate and combat. And in some ways Mamata Banerjee’s journey has been the toughest of all, for she has had to fight, in district after district if not para by para, the rule of the wholly male dadas of the long-entrenched Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The success, in political terms, of these five women is manifest. Ironically, though, women continue to be marginal in parties and regions where one might have thought them to have enjoyed more influence. Communists the world over claim to stand for gender equality. Why then is there no significant woman leader of the CPI(M) in either Kerala or West Bengal? Adivasi culture has traditionally allowed women greater freedom; yet one cannot easily think of an important adivasi woman politician. The tribal and Christian communities of the Northeast have traditionally accorded more dignity to women than Hindu or Muslim communities; why then do only men become chief ministers in Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and so on? Unlike Hinduism and Islam, Sikhism grants scriptural equality to women; why has only one woman become the chief minister of Punjab, and that for a brief, abbreviated term?
(One must also note that there is not a single Muslim woman leader of consequence anywhere in India. While perhaps easier to explain in sociological terms, this deficiency is nonetheless to be deplored and, if possible, remedied.)
The rise to power of Sonia, Sushma, Mamata, Mayavati and Jayalalithaa has also to be set off against the continuing discrimination against women in Indian society. Female foeticide, dowry deaths, khap panchayats, unwritten rules which militate against women becoming vice-chancellors of major universities and editors of major newspapers — these are the deep and poisonous residues of history, which generations of reformers have been unsuccessful in removing.
Finally, one must note that the five most powerful women in India have not always used their power wisely or well. Sonia Gandhi has promoted a culture of sycophancy that has inhibited Congress regimes from responding effectively to the challenges of governance. Mayavati and Jayalalithaa have pronounced authoritarian tendencies. Mamata Banerjee is, to put it politely, temperamental; her frequent changes of mood, and her lack of interest in policy matters, do not bode well for the government and state she is about to take charge of. Sushma Swaraj’s dependence on the mafia dons of Bellary seriously undermines her personal and political credibility.
The rise of Sonia, Sushma, Mamata, Mayavati and Jayalalithaa does not thus herald a ‘stree raj’, or even a new age of gender equality. Still, that in a society and culture so steeped in discrimination against women these five individuals have come to exercise so much influence is both striking and surprising. Whatever the reasons for their rise — personal (their courage and drive), or historical (the impact of generations of reformers), or political (the advent of universal adult franchise, where a woman’s vote equals a man’s) — and whatever its consequences, the phenomenon itself is noteworthy, and merits an appreciation, however qualified.
POWER AND THE GLORY
TT, Editorial, 7 May: The Bible is revered by all Christians. But the King James Version — often called the Authorized Version — deserves the reverence of all those who love and cherish the English language. The King James Version — to use one of its words —begat the English language. It was first printed and published 400 years ago in 1611. The Authorized Version owes its origins to William Tyndale’s translation of the Greek New Testament into English that he published from Worms in 1526. Tyndale’s most important successor was Miles Coverdale, who, in October 1535, published the first edition of the entire Bible in English. It was only in 1604, when King James assembled a group of bishops and moderate puritans at Hampton Court, that it was decided that a new translation of the Bible in English should be prepared since all the previous translations had several defects and were thus “not answerable to the truth of the original’’. The work of translating was distributed to six companies based in Westminster, Oxford and Cambridge. Out of the scholarship and diligence of these men was born the King James Version of the Bible.

Given the majesty of the prose of the King James Version, what is often overlooked is that large portions of the latter are derived from Tyndale’s translation. The Authorized Version, in fact, completed Tyndale’s original plan of making the Bible available to the lay English-speaking public. In this sense, the King James Bible is a triumph since it is said to be the most read book in English and, despite competition from other modern translations, it sells 250,000 copies annually.

A large part of the charm and attraction of the Authorized Version lies in its prose. The style is marked by the use of archaic language. The example of “begat” has already been cited in the first paragraph. The translators deliberately chose to use words like “ye’’, “thee’’ and “thou’’. It retained “eth’’ endings: thus “knoweth”. The most famous of these archaic uses occurs in the first line of the Lord’s Prayer: “Our father which art in heaven.’’ It is difficult for theologians and grammarians to explain the use of “which”. The use of such words, spellings and phrases cannot take away from the unforgettable cadences of the prose. Consider the simple profundity of the first verse of St John’s gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’’ The 23rd Psalm, in most previous translations, began with, “God is my shepherd, therefore I can lack nothing.’’ The King James Version made it memorable as, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.’’ But more than this, what the King James Version did was introduce innumerable phrases and sentences that have now become part of the English language. It thus completely transformed English. James Thurber, in one of his short stories, made a character say that Hamlet was full of quotations. The comment would apply a fortiori to the Bible King James commissioned and authorized.