GTA divide clouds civic polls in hills
ENS, Oct 02, 2011: Kolkata Although the state municipal affairs department has sent a proposal for holding municipal elections in the hills in December, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) is adamant on having the elections only after the territory of the GTA is determined.
The joint verification committee is scheduled to submit its report on the inclusion of mouzas of Terai and Dooars area into GTA after January. The differences between the state government and the GTA on the issue has made the elections uncertain in the hills.
“We have requested the state government to hold the elections in the hills after the territory of the GTA is decided. It is not practical and wise to hold the elections twice, once before the inclusion of the mouzas from Terai and Dooars and once again after the inclusion of the mouzas. We are trying to convince the state government and talks are on,” said a senior central committee member of GJM. However, the government is yet to respond to the matter, he said.
Significantly, on September 25, it was officially announced the elections to four Darjeeling Hill municipalities will be held on December 11. The last municipal elections in the hills were held in 2004. With the GJM managing to seize power by driving out the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) leaders and supporters from the hills in mid-2008, the GNLF municipal councillors had defected to the GJM. Since then, the GJM agitating for a separate state has put a halt to the elections to municipalities and panchayats.
Since then, the four hill municipalities have been run by boards of administrators headed by the SDO in each sub division of the district. Even panchayat elections are overdue in the hills since 2005.
Meanwhile, the joint verification committee on determining the territory of the GTA has started receiving the claims and objections from the people of the Terai and Dooars area.
“After the advertisement was published, the committee has received over 50 letters of claims and objections. We have specified the claims and objections should be based on facts and figures and should be supported by proper data sheets,” said an official.
He said they will receive the suggestions till end of October and in November, the committee will meet again to discuss the claims and objections.
Will Opp. guns now fall silent?
Asian age, Oct 01, 2011: No one else in the Congress has the stature to cement over cracks in the party and the UPA arrangement other than Mrs Sonia Gandhi
A veritable political storm, created by a finance ministry note of March this year, may have blown over thanks to the intervention of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Presumably Mrs Gandhi called in the key players — the two most senior Cabinet ministers of the UPA-II government, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and home minister P. Chidambaram — and persuaded them to effect a public patch-up before television cameras on Thursday so that the government is not hobbled by the perception of a war within.
Reports of in-fighting between the home minister and the finance minister have circulated in the past month or so, coinciding with the time that Mrs Gandhi was away in America for surgery. Bringing the sorry saga to a close became the first charge on the Congress chief on her return. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had attempted damage-control through public statements expressing confidence in both his ministers. But clearly neither of them was sufficiently impressed to let bygones be bygones. The episode, thus, underlines the importance of Mrs Gandhi in maintaining coherence within the party as well as in the Manmohan Singh-led government of which she is the architect and, as has become evident, the prime mover. Recent events would also suggest that no one else in the Congress has the stature to cement over cracks in the party and the UPA arrangement.
The BJP-led Opposition seized the opening offered by the two top ministers of the government to go on an all-out offensive, called for the home minister’s resignation, and darkly spoke of the Prime Minister’s “personal culpability” in allowing the 2G spectrum allocation scam to take place. This was the subject on which the conflict of the two ministers centred. It is early to say if the guns of the Opposition will now go silent. The 2G case is before the Supreme Court, which is specifically now said to be looking at documents of the finance ministry for the duration that portfolio was held by Mr Chidambaram. This is the period in which then communications minister A. Raja allegedly gave away spectrum in a manner that may have benefited him financially. The issue before the apex court is whether Mr Chidambaram connived with Mr Raja.
Until the top court pronounces on this, the Opposition may attempt to continue taking political advantage of the nebulous situation. The government would clearly have to be on its toes. Fortunately for it, its two senior members have declared a truce. But their reputation may have suffered as stalwarts of the Congress and the UPA on whose sound judgment the ruling party and the government can depends on not to bring about a situation that rocks the boat.
WEATHER FORECAST FOR NEXT 5 DAYS
DISTRICT : DARJEELING STATE : WEST BENGAL
DAY-1 DAY- 2 DAY-3 DAY-4 DAY-5
02/10 03/10 04/10 05/10 06/10
Rainfall (mm) 3 4 3 0 0
Max Temp 31 29 28 31 31
Min Temp 23 22 21 21 22
Humidity (%) 87 86 83 78 78
Wind speed 4 2 6 3 2
------------------ ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- -----------------
Forecast for next one week (1-7 October)
WEATHER FORECAST FOR NEXT 5 DAYS
DISTRICT : DARJEELING STATE : WEST BENGAL
DAY-1 DAY- 2 DAY-3 DAY-4 DAY-5
02/10 03/10 04/10 05/10 06/10
Rainfall (mm) 3 4 3 0 0
Max Temp 31 29 28 31 31
Min Temp 23 22 21 21 22
Humidity (%) 87 86 83 78 78
Wind speed 4 2 6 3 2
------------------ ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- -----------------
Forecast for next one week (1-7 October)
o Mainly dry weather would prevail over northwest India and central India.
o Monsoon would withdraw from remaining parts of central India and some parts
of east India.
o Scattered rain/thundershowers would occur over south Peninsula.
o Scattered rain/thundershowers would also occur over northeastern states
during first half of the week and isolated thereafter.
o Mainly dry weather is likely over remaining parts of the country.
Outlook for the subsequent week (8-14 October)o Further withdrawal of southwest Monsoon is likely from remaining parts of east
India and some parts from northeast India.
o Scattered rainfall is likely to continue over south Peninsula.
Arm suppliers on 12 days police remandKalimNews, Kalimpong: 6 arrested from Alipurduar Dooars for supplying arms were produced in the ACJM court and granted 12 days' police remand. Muksadal alias Ramo, Amirul Islam alias Jullat, Pankaj Mishra alias Pandit, Raj kumar Pashwan, Amit Oraon and Prakash Sarkar were arrested by police from Alipurduar and Kalchini area on 29 September with 2nos. AK-47 rifles, 24nos. 9mm Pistol, 270 cartridges with gold worth Rupees 20 lakh and a cash of Rupees 3 lakh 42 thousand. According to D.T.Lepcha the IG of North Bengal Police the arrest with such a huge stock or arms is the second largest seizure by police after the Purulia incident. CID team from Kolkata is arriving for further investigation.
New Traffic rule implemented in KalimpongKalimNews, Kalimpong: For lessening the traffic problems facing by the vehicles and the public a new traffic rule framed after several discussion with the concerned associations and the administration was implemented from 1st October. On the very first day the rule implementation made the traffic jam problem worst in the first hour later it was resolved. Parking Stands for 2 wheelers and other taxis and private vehicles are changed with slight alteration and restriction like one way movement for all including VIPs , limitation of bus parking in the old motor stand are the new rules.
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