College to close in transfer protest

Darjeeling, Dec. 23: Bimal Gurung has directed the Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarathi Morcha to close down the Darjeeling Government College office for an indefinite period starting tomorrow to protest the state government’s decision to transfer two teachers from the institution. Although colleges in the hills are closed for winter vacations, the administrative wings of the institutions are open and a closure of the office would mean that the teachers who are to be transferred would not be given release orders, mandatory before joining a new college.

Sherpa Bhutia, the head of the geography department, is to be transferred to Chandernagore Government College. The other teacher, Willie Henry, who heads the zoology department, is supposed to be transferred to AB Sen College in Cooch Behar. “We met our party president Bimal Gurung (today) and according to his directions, we are closing down Darjeeling Government College indefinitely from tomorrow,” Asok Chhetri, the vice-president of the Vidyarathi Morcha, told The Telegraph today. Darjeeling Government College is the only government college in the hills. Under the GTA memorandum, the college is supposed to be handed over to the hill body Gurung, the GTA chief executive, had directed GTA executive member R.P. Bhujel to send a written objection to the state higher education minister asking the government to stall the teachers’ transfers till the institution comes under the autonomous hill body. The letter dated December 18 read: “I, as directed by Shri Bimal Gurung, Hon’ble Chief Executive, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Sabha, request you to kindly hold the transfer of these teachers till the transfer of Darjeeling Government College is completed.” Gurung had also directed Kurseong MLA Rohit Sharma to look into the issue. The development comes at a time chief minister Mamata Banerjee is about to start a tour of some north Bengal districts and a review meeting between the state, Centre and the Morcha on the functioning of the GTA is also scheduled in Delhi on December 26. “This is a political transfer,” said Bhutia, who has sought the state government’s permission to remain in Darjeeling. He cited the guidelines framed by the higher education department (Letter No. 583-Edn (H)/ION-59/12) dated June 15 which states that government colleges would be categorised in four zones: A, B, C and D. Zone A is classified as areas within 25km of Sealdah/Howrah and B, C and D are zones are within 75km, 200km and beyond 200km from the stations. “The guideline clearly suggests that if a teacher does not want to serve in A and B zones, he would be allowed to stay in C and D zones but not more than 10 years. I am in Darjeeling for only seven years now,” said Bhutia. Darjeeling is in zone D. The teacher also stated that rule number 4 of the guideline says that: “Normally a teacher would not be asked to serve in D zone colleges twice. If the incumbent opts for a second transfer to D zone, his request will be considered.” “However, my request is not being considered,” Bhutia said.(TT)

Read More

Barla to meet CM

Siliguri, Dec. 23: A group of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supporters led by John Barla would meet Mamata Banerjee in Jalpaiguri’s Nagrakata on Friday in an attempt to get the chief minister’s seal for an alliance in the panchayat elections. The JMM has been in talks with north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb for a panchayat poll alliance between the ruling party in the state and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and Barla’s party. Trinamul leaders in the Dooars, where the party lacks a widespread base, said the decision on the alliance with the JMM and Morcha, if spelt out by Mamata would largely help them in the panchayat poll campaign. “The initial move has been made by Gautam Deb (on the alliance). What we now need is the final seal. This would help us as well as the JMM and the Morcha who will work at the grassroots for the panchayat polls,” a Trinamul leader said. Although chief minister Mamata’s visit is planned around government work, Barla said: “The minister (Deb) has agreed to allow us time so that we can meet the chief minister and articulate our demands.” The demands Barla spoke about were of the tea industry in Dooars. Barla and his team will present Mamata a list of 10 demands. “We have consulted among ourselves and met the Trinamul leaders and the north Bengal development minister and expressed our willingness to attend the government event in Nagrakata, where the chief minister would be present,” Barla said. “Tea workers under the banner of the Progressive Tea Workers’ Union will attend the meeting. We have passed the message to each tea garden in the Dooars. People in large numbers will be present at the event from the brew belt,” Barla said after meeting Deb in his Siliguri office today. “Our key demands are for land rights to tea workers, the forming of a separate department for tea in the state government, the reopening of closed tea estates and the creation of a wage board to fix wages of tea workers,” he said.(TT)

Read More

Kurseong tea festival

Siliguri, Dec. 23: A three-day tea and tourism Festival begins in Kurseong from January 3 to highlight the tourism potential of the hill-town. “We are introducing unique items to promote the festival by involving tea pluckers and showcasing the village life to highlight the tea and tourism prospects in our town,” said Jeetu Giri, the press and publicity convener of the festival organising committee. Samir Deep Blon, chairman of the Kurseong municipality, is the president of the organising committee. Asha Mukhia Lama, Vinod Prakash Sharma and Saran Dewan are the vice-presidents. “It is important that the whole town should feel the festive spirit. Hence, we have decided to light up shops and establishments on Hill Cart Road,” said Giri. “The toy train track between Kurseong station and Mahanadi will be used for joyrides for the first time in the past two-and-half years. Paragliding and rock-climbing will also be introduced,” Giri said(TT)

Read More

Power transfer to GTA nears end - Cabinet minister rank for gurung

Darjeeling, Nov. 26: A meeting between the elected members of the GTA Sabha and the Bengal home secretary here today appeared to have paved the way for the smooth transfer of 57 subjects to the autonomous body. The home secretary, Basudeb Banerjee, said after the meeting that the 57 subjects to be transferred to the GTA had been clubbed into 40 departments and notifications had already been issued to hand over 40 subjects to the autonomous body. He also said the GTA chief executive, Bimal Gurung, had been accorded a status equivalent to the rank of a cabinet minister. The state government had earlier given him a rank equivalent to that of a minister of state (independent charge). Except Gurung, all other 44 elected members of the GTA Sabha were present at today’s meeting.

Banerjee, who was in Darjeeling more in his capacity as the principal secretary of the hill affairs department than the home secretary, held the meeting at the GTA headquarters at Lal Khoti. “The meeting has been extremely fruitful and we had detailed discussions on the transfer of departments and powers and clarifications sought by the GTA members on various issues,” said Banerjee. “The 57 subjects mentioned in Section 26 of the GTA Act have been clubbed into 40 departments. Out of the 40 departments, notifications for the transfer of 27 departments have already been issued. We have asked the GTA to set up offices of three other departments, while the transfer of the remaining 10 departments will take place soon,” he added. The three departments whose offices have to be set up by the GTA are sports, statistic programme implementation and town and country planning. The three departments have offices only in Calcutta at present. Banerjee also clarified that the GTA would have its own chief medical officer of health. At present the CMOH supervises both the GTA area and Siliguri subdivision which is not under the GTA but falls within Darjeeling district. Lt. Col. (retd) Ramesh Allay, the deputy chief of the GTA, said: “All PWD bungalows in the GTA area will soon be handed over to the autonomous body.” Roshan Giri, an executive Sabha member of the GTA in charge of education, said Dow Hill and Victoria Boys’ School in Kurseong, which were the only state run ICSE schools in Bengal, should be handed over to the GTA. “The state government has agreed on this count,” said Giri. Other demands raised by Giri included powers to upgrade and grant recognition to schools, opening of a regional office of the West Bengal Council of Higher Education and filling up of vacant posts of school teachers without the concurrence of the state government. He also demanded that the Centre hand over the control of reserved forests to the GTA. “It was agreed that the state will approach the Centre for creating a Zilla Sainik Board for the GTA and hand over of Sainik Guest House at Bagdogra in Siliguri subdivision to the GTA,” said Allay. Later, the home secretary briefed Gurung on the meet.

Read More

2 hydel units by Dec

Takdah, Nov. 26: The NHPC Limited said today that two units of the Teesta Low Dam Project-III would start generating power by December 31. The units would yield 64MW. It is the first of the two projects on the Teesta to become operational in the district. S.R. Roy, the executive director of NHPC, said: “The project will be commissioned by December 31. We will make two of the units at TLDP-III operational and the remaining two will be made functional by January end. The two units (to be operational in December) will generate 64MW (together). When all the four units become operational, TLDP-III will be able to generate 132MW.” There are five hydel projects on the Teesta out of which three are in Sikkim and two, TLDP-III and IV, are in Darjeeling. Two of the three projects in Sikkim, TLDP-V in Singtam (510MW) and TLDP-II in Rangit (62MW) have already been commissioned. In Darjeeling, TLDP-III is in Rambi, 70km from Darjeeling, and TLDP-IV is in Kalijhora, 75km from Darjeeling. “We are looking at commissioning the 160MW TLDP-IV by September 2013,” said Roy.

Most of the electricity generated by the projects is likely to be drawn up by the state. “A memorandum of agreement had been signed between the NHPC and the Bengal government (in 2003) and the state government had expressed willingness to buy all the electricity generated from these two projects. It is up to the Union power minister to decide whether the entire electricity will be given to Bengal or shared with other states,” Roy said. According to NHPC reports, TLDP-III was supposed to be completed by 2008 while TLDP-IV was to be commissioned a year later. When asked about the delay, Roy said: “We faced difficulties as there was lot of flooding at the sites in 2007 and 2009.” According to NHPC’s 2002 estimates, the Rambi project was supposed to cost Rs 768.92 crore and TLDP-IV was a Rs 1,061.38 crore project.

Read More

Settlers refuse to pay tax - 400 business families in Sikkim demand exemption

Gangtok, Nov. 26: Around 400 business families in the state have turned down a request by the income tax department to file their returns and have demanded the same tax exemption which applies to people holding Sikkim subject certificates. The Chogyal dynasty had issued the Sikkim subject certificates to the people living in Sikkim in 1961 under the Sikkim Subject Regulation Act of 1961. The 400 business families, also known as “old settlers” had come to the state before 1975, the year Sikkim merged with India, but don’t possess Sikkim subject certificates. They allege discrimination and demand a tax exemption similar to the one enjoyed by the certificate holders.

“The new income tax commissioner in Siliguri, Subrato Sarkar, had convened a meeting with the old settlers in Gangtok last week. Alleging discrimination, they have refused to file their income tax returns,” said the general secretary of the Sikkim Chamber of Commerce, Kailash Agarwal. Sikkim was a part of the Chogyal Dynasty and became a part of India on April 26, 1975. The central government had exempted Sikkim subject holders from paying income tax in 2008 after the amendment bill was passed in the Finance Act by the Parliament based on the state government’s request . “We have been raising the matter with the central government on the income tax evasion to the old settlers. But so far, there have been no response. We will not file the IT returns,” said Agarwal. “There are 400 families which have come to Sikkim before 1975. The list was prepared on the basis of government documents such as electricity bill, driving licence and trade licences” he added. “I have filed a petition with the Rajya Sabha Committee in 2008 and the hearing on the matter is still pending” said Prem Goyal, the chief co-ordinator of Nagrik Sangarsh Samity. “We are only the implementing agency and would comply with the income tax rules. We will again serve notices on those who are yet to file their returns” said an official source. The Sikkim Chamber of Commerce has also requested the income tax department to conduct sensitisation workshops for those people who need to file their returns.

Read More

Permits from today for trips to East spots

Gangtok, Sept. 30: The government will resume issuing permits to visit Chhangu lake, Nathu-la and Baba Mandir in East Sikkim from tomorrow with the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg being repaired for lighter vehicles. The popular tourist destinations in the East district have been out of bounds for tourists since June when the J.N. Marg was blocked by multiple landslides. The check-post division of Sikkim police is the authority to issue the permits, for which each vehicle has to pay Rs 10. The permits are issued at the 2nd Mile police check-post when the tourists produce their photo identity cards and submit passport-size photos. The permits are mandatory as the three tourist spots are near to the China border with Chhangu lake, located 10km from the boundary, being the farthest. “The tourist season has already started in the state and with North Sikkim Highway being destroyed (by a flash flood on September 21), the tourism department has decided to issue permits to visit the East district from Monday,” said Chewang Rinzing, the additional secretary of the tourism department. The taxi fare for each tourist to visit Chhangu Lake and Baba Mandir is Rs 180.

Read More

Police officer & car fall into Teesta

An SUV carrying the officer in charge of Rambi police station rolled down 100 feet into the Teesta in Kalimpong.Along with OC Shiv Sagar Chhetri (right), his friend Soumen Banerjee and the driver of the car are missing.

The accident happened at a place called Geilkhola, which is 17km from Kalimpong and on NH31A, on Saturday night. Banerjee is an employee of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation. The driver’s name is Pritam Chhetri. Sources said the police officer was returning to Rambi after attending a programme. The accident happened at a point that had no crash barriers.

“The accident happened between 9.30pm and 10pm but we were unable to ascertain the cause of the mishap,” a police source said. Shiv Sagar Chhetri, 48, is a resident of Mangaldara, and took over as the OC of Rambi outpost on May 21. Banerjee, 35, is a resident of Saradapara in Siliguri and had been working at NHPC’s Teesta Low Dam Project at Rambi since 2004. Driver Pritam, 20, is a resident of Rambi. “We have pressed three rafts into the search operation (top), but have not managed to trace either of them or the vehicle. The strong current of the swelling Teesta must have swept them down stream. We will try tomorrow as well,” said Sukbir Tamang, the president of the Teesta-Rangeet River Rafting Association. Text by Rajeev Ravidas; picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Read More

LPG Domestic cylinder crises is raising the voice against the distributer

27TH SEPTEMBER 12 Day by day LPG Domestic cylinder crises is raising the voice against the distributer and from today in the work procedure of plant situated at bageykhola too . At Sikkim there is only one riffling plant at bageykhola between Rangpo and Singtam and in the plant premises too the cylinder distribution problem and crises in too much unfortunate and silent over the issue by the management of plant is also a suspicious. in one side NSKY indene is working very hard to provide the cylinder but according to the distributor they has received an information that only after the depositing of kyc form the distributer may provide cylinder and the distribution is compelled to follow the norms .the distributor has also clarified that they has no any intension to give any difficulty .in other side the consumers reaction and voice is raising day by day. the public signature letter containing to immediate solve of lpg cylinder problem the letter was handed over to the block development officer Duga and BDO has also shown positive response and has assured to discuss the matter with the food and consumers department for solving problem as many of the household lpg is ended and due to heavy line too they are not in position to take cylinder and they has compelled to take dinner and launch at hotel or their relatives and some has purchased in black market the several ngo ,clubs ,association has discussed the matter and has taken the issue seriously .by showing the problem they has started taking initiatives the members and delegates are going to ready for dharna at the lpg bottling plant and also has decided to move to court if not listened their voice and solve the problems as the item is come under the essential commodities the plant must provide the cylinder to everyone .the kyc form fill up process shall be in one side and those who has blue book must be provide cylinder .

Read More

Gurung GTA pay: Rs 50000

Darjeeling, Sept. 27: The GTA Sabha has proposed to pay a monthly honorarium of Rs 50,000 to its chief executive, rs 25,000 to elected members and Rs 5,000 to nominated members. The payment is subject to the approval of the state government. The GTA Sabha has 45 elected members and five nominated members, three of whom are from the Trinamul Congress. Sources have said the honorarium for the chief executive is equivalent to the monthly salary enjoyed by a Grade-A official in the state government. “The deputy chief’s honorarium has been capped at Rs 45,000, while the chairman and deputy chairman of the Sabha will get Rs 40,000 and Rs 35,000 respectively,” said a source. The 14 executive members will get an honorarium of Rs 30,000 each per month. “The rest of the elected members will get Rs 25,000 a month,” said the source. However, each of the five nominees will get only Rs 5,000, that is one-fifth of the amount fixed for the elected members. Saumitra Mohan, the principal secretary to the GTA, said: “It is true that the GTA Sabha has fixed different honorarium scales and this will be sent to the state government for its approval.” Apart from the honorarium, the GTA members will be entitled to Rs 500 for attending a Sabha meeting, apart from travel allowances that will be reimbursed on the production of bills. There is no ceiling on the travel allowance. Unlike the MLAs and the MPs, GTA Sabha members are not entitled to any allowance. An MLA in Bengal gets Rs 5,000 as allowance, Rs 4,000 as constituency allowance and Rs 3,000 as telephone allowance. For ministers, there is a daily allowance of Rs 1,000 for every day spent in office or outside doing official work. So, they can earn an additional allowance of up to Rs 31,000 a month (in a 31-day month), besides the salary. The salary of a minister of state is Rs 7,200, Rs 7,500 for a cabinet minister and Rs 8,300 for the chief minister. The ministers also get full reimbursement of electricity bills both in Calcutta and their houses in the districts and cooking gas connections. Sources said since the government had to give its nod to the honorariums for the GTA members, the state could increase the amount for the nominees, probably making it equivalent to the elected members’ pay. A senior government official said the honorariums for the GTA members was high, but it was not illegitimate. “Functioning like the Assembly, on a much smaller scale, the GTA Sabha can take such decisions within their budgetary allocation,” he said.

Read More

50km trek for father hunt

Gangtok, Sept. 27: A 15-year-old boy walked 50km for five days to reach Chungthang last night to look for his father, missing after a landslide at the Teesta hydel project site on September 21. Adesh Kumar found that rescue work was yet to start at the Teesta Stage III Hydel Project as the road has been washed away by the flash flood. Biswanath Ram, his 47-year-old father, is among the missing. One person at the project site has so far been declared dead in the flash flood and landslip last week. Across North Sikkim, 12 people have died. Adesh, a Class VII student of Dikchu Senior School, walked for five days from Jang in East Sikkim to Chungthang. “I reached Chungthang last night around 8 and found that there has been no effort to search for my father,” Adesh told The Telegraph over phone. He was at the project office 1km from the site where relief workers have not been able to reach. Adesh’s family hails from Motihari district in Bihar. Biswanath was an operator with the Gujarat-based General Mechanical Workers’ Company (GMWC) and he had been staying in Sikkim since last year. He was working on site as hydropower developer Teesta Urja had sublet the work of a tunnel construction for the project to the GMWC.Biswanath’s wife and four children stay in Jang. Adesh is the second son. The boy walked from Jang to Mangan, 19km away, with mother Saili Devi. “We got to know about the flash flood from one of my father’s colleagues and we decided to walk as there are no vehicles plying because of multiple landslides. My mother and I started early on Saturday. She could not walk beyond Mangan so I told her to go back and I walked till Chungthang. I asked for shelter from local people on the way during the nights.” Adesh said his father was the only earning member in the family. Sikkim relief commissioner S.B.S. Bhadhuria said: “Two workers from GMWC are missing. One is Biswanath, the other is Amarjit Singh. The third person, also from GMWC, succumbed to injuries while he was being airlifted to Gangtok.” A GMWC employee said the landslide had washed away almost the entire dam site, making excavation work difficult. “The first priority is to reach the spot as the road leading to the site has been washed away by the flash flood.”

Read More

Trinamul bats for berths

Siliguri, Sept. 24: Trinamul leaders from north Bengal have started lobbying for the inclusion of party MLAs from the region in the state cabinet as six slots have fallen vacant following the resignations of six Congress ministers. Of the six Congress ministers who put down their papers, four were from north Bengal. Now there are five ministers from the region. “As we have 17 MLAs from north Bengal and only five of them are cabinet ministers, our expectations are high that the party will provide berths to some of the MLAs in the state cabinet,” a senior Trinamul leader from Jalpaiguri said. “We want the total number of ministers (nine)to remain and we would urge the state leaders to look into it,” he said. According to Trinamul insiders, any reduction in the number of ministers from north Bengal would make the Congress and the CPM take it up as a political agenda. “Both the parties will keep on blaring that the Trinamul was not concerned about north Bengal or is reluctant to ensure adequate representation from the region in the state cabinet,” said a source. The five ministers from the region who are in the state cabinet now are: Gautam Deb (north Bengal development), Sabitri Mitra (women and child welfare), Hiten Burman (forest), Shankar Chakraborty (jails) and Chowdhury Abdul Karim (library services and mass education). The resignation of Congress ministers has brought down the number of state ministers from Malda and North Dinajpur in the state cabinet and there are no ministers in the cabinet from Darjeeling after Phansidewa MLA Sunil Tirkey resigned. “We have urged the state leadership to contemplate over the fact that it is necessary to have ministers from Cooch Behar and North Dinajpur to counter the Congress,” said a Trinamul leader in Cooch Behar. “Ahead of the panchayat polls, the Congress must not get a chance to make it an issue that Trinamul has ignored the region,” he added. Sources said names like Rabindranath Ghosh, Trinamul president of Cooch Behar, Cooch Behar MLA Argha Roy Pradhan, MLA of Jalpaiguri’s Rajganj, Khageswar Roy, Anil Adhikari, Falakata MLA, Hamidul Rehman, the Chopra MLA who deserted Congress and joined Trinamul and Amal Acharya, Itahar MLA, are doing the rounds. Four MLAs from South Dinajpur are also in the queue. “The final decision rests with the chief minister. She has always had high priority for north Bengal. As no names have been officially spelt out yet, there is no reason to think that the region would lack adequate representation. Except Malda, we have MLAs in the five other districts (of the region), who can be selected for the post of ministers. The decision is expected to be taken soon,” minister Gautam Deb said.

Read More

A Barfi bridge in Darjeeling? Possible - GTA mulls sprucing up shooting spots & naming them after films & actors

Darjeeling, Sept. 24: The success of Barfi!, which was shot here, has prompted the GTA to toy with the idea of beautifying the spots where films have been shot and name them after movie titles or lead actors to woo tourists. Bollywood films used to be shot in Darjeeling from the 1960s through the early ’80s, but most of the locations are forgotten.

The GTA believes if it can turn these locations into landmarks, it will boost tourism. “We have found out that authorities in Switzerland usually mark the area where films are shot for the benefit of tourists. I have been told that the Jammu and Kashmir government has named a valley Betaab Valley where the film Betaab was shot,” said Binay Tamang, the GTA executive member in charge of information and culture. “Since Bollywood films are deeply loved by all Indians, we are confident that tourists would love to visit the locations, maybe, simply to take a photograph. We have already formed a team to scout all these locations so that we can beautify them and put up sign boards there,” Tamang said. It won’t be surprising if a road or a bridge is named after Barfi!. Many tourists visiting the hills want to visit St Paul’s School, where Shah Rukh Khan starrer Main Hoon Na was shot. “There is already much interest among tourists to visit places in and around Darjeeling where Barfi! was shot,” said Suraj Adhikari, a hotelier in town. Some scenes of Barfi! were also shot outside St. Paul’s. The mall, Ghoom railway station and Tindharia are among the other places where the film was shot. The GTA plans to complete the beautification of Bollywood locations in a year. “We have already worked out a proposal to name roads leading to these locations either after the film or the protagonist. For example, as Vinod Khanna-Shabana Azmi starrer Lahoo Ke Do Rang was shot extensively in Lebong near Darjeeling, the road leading to the location could be named after Vinod Khanna,” Tamang said. One problem that the authorities could face is the beautification of all the locales because of the large number of films shot in the hills. Sanjay Biswas, a writer from Darjeeling, said: “Over 200 films in Hindi, Bengali and Nepali have been shot in the Darjeeling hills.” The list of Bollywood blockbusters which were shot in Darjeeling is impressive. Raj Kapoor was in Darjeeling for Barsat, Dev Anand visited the town many times to shoot for Mahal, Joshila and Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai. Amitabh Bachan was here with Rekha for Do Anjane and with Rakhi for Barsat Ki Ek Raat. “Anurodh, which had Rajesh Khanna, was also shot in Darjeeling. Sunil Dutt, too, had visited Darjeeling for Hamraaz,” said Biswas. The Rajesh Khanna-Sharmila Tagore starrer Aradhana and Shah Rukh Khan’s, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman were also shot here. A senior official said the GTA was trying to tie up with the Union information and broadcasting ministry to organise a film festival in Darjeeling. “The response is positive but since a confirmation is yet to come, we are not in a position to announce the details of the festival,” he said.

Read More

चिल्ड्रेन क्लबको गठन गरी समाजका अधिकारबञ्चित नानीहरुको हक-हित र सुरक्षाको निम्ति पहल गर्ने

24 सेप्टेम्बर (कालेबुङ) :-  चिल्ड्रेन क्लबको गठन गरी समाजका अधिकारबञ्चित नानीहरुको हक-हित र सुरक्षाको निम्ति पहल गर्ने कालेबुङको बाल सुरक्षा अभियानका नानीहरुको प्रतिबद्धता प्रशंसनीय मात्र होइन तर वयस्कहरुको निम्ति समेत अनुकरणीय बनेको छ।

यी स साना नानीहरु घण्टौंदेखि लाम लागेर बसेको यो दृश्य कुनै सिनेमा हल, चिडियाखाना वा पार्कको टिकट काट्न बसेको दृश्य होइन। यी नानीहरु त आफ्नो मत अधिकारको प्रयोग गर्न बिहानैदेखि आफ्नो पालो पर्खेर बसेका हुन। यति साना नानीहरुको मताधिकारको कुरा धेरैलाई पत्यार नलाग्ला तर यी नानीहरु कालेबुङको गैर सरकारी संगठन बाल सुरक्षा अभियानले सुरक्षा र आश्रय दिएका नानीहरु हुन। सानै उमेरमा समाजको क्रुरता र परिस्थितिको हण्टर खाई सकेका यी नानीहरु आफूहरुजस्ता अधिकारवञ्चित नानीहरुको हकहित र सुरक्षाको निम्ति पहल र वकालत गर्ने बालनेताको निर्वाचन गर्न यसरी घण्टौंदेखि आफ्नो पालोको प्रतीक्षा गरेर बसेका हुन। बाल सुरक्षा अभियानको अधीनमा गठन गरिने यस्ता चिल्ड्रेन क्लबका निर्वाचित पदाधिकारीहरुले बाल अधिकारको क्षेत्रमा मात्र काम गर्दैनन तर पर्यावरण संरक्षण, सामाजिक बिकास र पूर्वाधार निर्माणलाई समेत आफ्नो कार्य क्षेत्र बनाएका छन। बीएसएको अधिनमा कालेबुङ शहरबाहिर दुइवटा चिल्ड्रेन क्लबहरुले पूर्ण जिम्मेवारीका साथ आफ्नो भुमिका निर्वाह गरिरहेका छन भने शहरसंलग्न क्षेत्रमा पनि चिल्ड्रेन क्लबले फोकस गर्न शुरु गरेको छ। यसको निम्ति एउटा प्रशासनिक संस्थान गठन गर्न आज चुनाउ गरिएको हो। वयस्कहरुको निर्वाचन पद्धतिलाई पालन गर्दै आज बीएसएका एक सय पन्द्र जना नानीहरुले चोल्ड्रेन क्लबका पदाधिकारीहरुको निर्वाचन गरेका छन। एक जिम्मेवार नागरिक निर्माण गर्न सानेदेखि नानीहरुलाई यस्ता गम्भीर बिषयहरुबारे शिक्षित र जागरुक गर्ने उद्देश्य लिएर बीएसएले चिल्ड्रेन क्लबको परिकल्पना तयार पारेको हो। चिल्ड्रेन क्लबमार्फत नानीहरुले प्रशासनका उच्च अधिकारीहरुसम्म आफ्ना समस्या मात्र उजागर गर्दैनन तर आफ्नो क्षेत्रका आमजनताको समस्याको निदानको निम्ति समेत आवाज बुलन्द गर्ने गरेका छन।

कालेबुङबाहिर पेदोङ अनि कागे ग्रामपञ्चायतको मारिया बस्तीमा गठित चिल्ड्रेन क्लबको कार्यकलाप र परिणामले ठूलाहरुलाई पनि दंग पारेको छ। यस क्षेत्रमा क्लबका नानीहरुले स्थानीय प्रशासनमाथि लगातार दवाउ सृजना गरेर केही भुइचाँलोपिडीत परिवारहरुलाई चाढो क्षतिपूर्ति दिलाउन सफल भएको छ भने क्षेत्रमा नयाँ आईसीडीएस केन्द्र ल्याउन पनि नानीहरुले उल्लेखनीय भुमिका निर्वाह गरेका छन।चिल्ड्रेन क्लबको गठनले नानीहरुको अवैध ओसार पसार र तस्करी अनि बालश्रम रोकथाम गर्न पनि सहयोग मिल्ने बीएसएको धारणा छ। आफ्नो क्षेत्रमा नानीहरुको गतिविधिमाथि निगरानी राख्ने, संदिग्ध मानिसहरुबारे संगठनलाई सूचित गर्ने नानीहरुको गतिविधिले पनि बाल तस्करी र बालश्रम नियञ्त्रण गर्न मदत पुगेको बीएसएका कार्यकर्ता तेजकुमार थापाको भनाई छ। यसबाहेक नानीहरुलाई सानै उमेरदेखि आफ्ना हक अधिकारबारे जागरुक अनि संगठित बनेर काम गर्न प्रोत्साहन दिने परिकल्पना लिएर चिल्ड्रेन क्लबको गठन गरिएको उनले बताएका छन।

Read More

chief minister Mr. chamling back from Delhi after four vdays visit

RANGPO-21ST SEPTEMBER 12 Atithidev bhava the best slogan for exploring the tourism business was seen a good response from the side of the chief minister of Sikkim Mr. Pawan kumar chamling .today Sikkim chief minister Mr. chamling was coming back from Delhi after four vdays visit .huge gathering of cabinet ministers ,chairman’s ,party leaders,yuva and cheli morcha members ,delegates of vyapari morcha was in the queue at Rangpo tourism campus to welcome the chief minister .

a group of tourist of hongkong after enquiry regarding the queue and they also want to see the chief minister of the state .when Mr. chamling reached and when see he stood with them to take photo .after taking photo the tourist seen too much happy and has asked that the day is a memorable for the lifetime

Read More

LPG ball in Bengal’s court

Calcutta, Sept. 21: Non-subsidised domestic cooking gas will cost Rs 832 per cylinder in Calcutta following the Centre’s decision to forego customs and excise duties that add up to Rs 103.50 apiece. However, if the Bengal government drops local levies, consumers can save Rs 52.50 more as the price will fall further to about Rs 780 a cylinder. According to new rules, every family will have to pay the market rate once it crosses the annual subsidy quota of six cylinders available at Rs 401 apiece. Congress-ruled states have been told to raise the limit to nine cylinders. On top of that, the Centre today announced the abolition of duties on market-rate domestic cylinders. But Bengal charges a cess and a 4 per cent VAT on commercial cylinders. If the new non-subsidised domestic segment is spared these levies, the price can come down by Rs 52.50 to about Rs 780 for a 14.2kg cylinder. An IOC official said the final price would depend on international fluctuations.

Read More

Balasun queries hit army hurdle - Elders fail to find reasons for delay in the completion of water scheme

Darjeeling, Sept. 21: A group of senior citizens tracking the Balasun Drinking Water Project is being made to run from pillar to post seeking an answer to why the army has delayed the project, but none is forthcoming. The Concerned Citizens’ Association had sought to know the status of the project from army officers in Darjeeling. Their query was forwarded to the eastern command in Calcutta, which in turn sent the matter to the defence ministry in Delhi. But the ministry has now sent the matter back to Darjeeling. The Balasun project which is supposed to end the water woes of Darjeeling residents is stuck after five years of work because the army has not yet given permission to lay pipelines through its cantonment area in the town.

Construction for the Rs 55.86-crore project started in 2007. When complete, the Balasun project would pump water for 16 hours a day to supply 2 million gallons of water to Darjeeling from the Balasun river through two pumping stations.At the moment Darjeeling requires about 15-18 lakh gallons of water everyday but the municipality is in a position to arrange for only about 7-8 lakh gallons. Water was pumped from the Balasun to Tiger Hill on April 8, 2012, which suggests that the major part of work for the project has been completed. Pipes have to be laid from Tiger Hill to St Paul’s and Rockville reservoirs in Darjeeling town. These pipes would pass through the army area at Jalaphar and Katapahar.The project is being executed by the public health engineering (PHE) department. On June11, the senior citizens wrote to the principal director, defence estate, Calcutta, and also to the PHE directorate, seeking a status report on the project under the RTI Act. The PHE directorate replied on July 2, 2012, stating that it was yet to receive a “no-objection certificate” from the army to lay the pipes. On June 28, 2012, the office of the principal director, the defence estate of the Eastern Command in Calcutta replied to J.B. Edwards, the general secretary of the citizens’ association, that his query had been sent to the director general, defence estates, New Delhi. On August 31, the army headquarters sent the matter back to the public information officer of station headquarters in Darjeeling. The letter written by Major P. Nagaraj of the RTI cell of army headquarters said: “Since the subject… pertains to/is more closely related to the functions of your office/office under your jurisdiction, the application, is therefore transferred to you”.Edwards said: “Finally, the matter has come back to Darjeeling. We are wondering who is the appropriate authority to answer our questions.”

Read More

बोङबस्तीसंलग्न जंगलमा मानव कंकाल

21 सेप्टेम्बर(कालेबुङ):- कालेबुङ थानाअन्तर्गत लोअर बोङबस्तीसंलग्न जंगलबाट संदिग्ध अवस्थामा मानव कंकाल भेटिएको घटनाले क्षेत्रमा सनसनी फैलिएको छ। घटनाबारे सूचना पाएपछि बिहीबार साँझ कालेबुङ पुलिसले घटनास्थलबाट उक्त नरकंकाल उद्धार गरेको छ। कालेबुङ थानाबाट लगभग तेह्र किलोमिटर टाडा बोङबस्तीको गैरीगाँउ संलग्न जंगलमा स्थानीय एक किशोरले उक्त मानवकंकाल देखेका थिए। गाई बाख्रा चराउन सो जंगलमा पुगेका उक्त किशोरले त्यहाँ मानव कंकाल देखेपछि गाउँलेहरुलाई सूचित गरे। गाउँलेहरुले घटनाबारे कालेबुङ पुलिसलाई सूचना दिएपछि पुलिसको दल घटनास्थलमा पुगेर नरकंकाल उद्धार गरेको हो।

पुलिसले घटनास्थलबाट झण्डै चार किलो ओजन भएको डोरी, जिन्स पेण्ट, हाईनेक र एउटा पेन पनि उद्धार गरेको छ। घटनास्थलबाट प्राप्त यी सामग्रीहरुको आधारमा यो कंकाल 25देखि 30 बर्षको युवकको हुन सक्ने पुलिसको अनुमान छ। यस मानव कंकालको पहिचानबारे अहिलेसम्म कुनै तथ्य र जानकारी पुलिसलाई प्राप्त भएको छैन। कालेबुङ पुलिसले कंकालको फोरेन्सिक जाँचको निम्ति सिलगढी पठाएको छ। जाँचको रिपोर्ट पाएपछि मात्र केही भन्न सकिने घटनाको जाँच गरिरहेका पुलिस अधिकारीको भनाई छ। लोअर बोङबस्तीसंलग्न गाउँहरुबाट आजसम्म कोही पनि निखोज भएको घटना प्रकाशमा नआएकोले पनि यस मानव कंकालको पहिचान खुलाउन पुलिसलाई चर्को परेको छ। घटनास्थलको आरम्भिक जाँचपछि पुलिसले यसलाई आत्माहत्याको घटना हुन सक्ने सम्भावना न्यून रहेको बताएको छ भने अन्यत्र क्षेत्रबाट यहाँ ल्याएर हत्या गरी शव फ्याँकिएको हुन सक्ने पुलिसको अनुमान छ।

Read More

Govt. of Sikkim has Inaugurated 10 (ten) No's of Houses of CMRHM.

RANGPO-20TH SEPTEMBER 12 Smt. Tilu Gurung Honb'le .MLA. Cum Minister Building and Housing Department Govt. of Sikkim has Inaugurated 10 (ten) No's of Houses of CMRHM. Under Namthang BAC. To inaugurate such huge No's of houses at a time is to give the special present of DASERA / DASAI to rural poor people from the side of Government. She says that the value of CMRHM. houses can be realize only by the beneficiaries who was benefitted by this scheme, because they were the person who's dream was to live in the house where their family should be safe from rain in summer and chilling cold in winter. She made request to the well off people to appraise the value of scheme and support to achieve the target within this financial year. Finally Mr. Robin P. Sewa, BDO. Namthang and Ms. Sumitra Adhikari A.E. Namthang have also explained the importance and technical value of scheme for timely completion of programme. The programme was attended by all the Honb'le Zilla Panchayat Members, Gram Panchayat Members, Mrs. Kalpana Rai, Panchayat Inspector,Mr. Nirjal Pradhan J.E. along with RDA.'s has attended the programme. four families of parbing dobhan block mr dawa thendup shrepa ,tashi tender Sherpa ,kinjey dorjee Sherpa and birkha bahadur gurung ,two families Mr. Dhan bahadur Chettri and til bahadur ,purna kumar kaami of tajey bikhmat ,dhan kumar Rai and suresh Rai of nagi phomphok,and laxaman rasaily from maneydanda gram Panchayat unit has avail the scheme under the CMRHM .

Read More

Coach gives Barfi full marks - GTA peon makes it to the Bollywood set

Darjeeling, Sept. 20: Ajoy Singh, if he could speak, would have told his student, Ranbir, he gets 10 out of 10 for Barfi! Ajoy is a 40-year-old peon in a GTA office in Darjeeling who is hearing impaired. He was Ranbir Kapoor’s sign language coach in Barfi! On Monday, Ajoy, his family and 18 of his friends with similar challenges went to INOX to watch the film. Wife Sabita and 18-year-old son Anand, who acted as his interpreter when he coached Ranbir, were also with him.

Using signs, he said: “I am touched by his acting. I would give him 10 out of 10 for depicting the character.” His son translated for Metro. His favourite scene was when Ranbir falls down while chasing a toy train at Tindharia. “The other scene I really liked is the one where he (Ranbir) tried to rob a bank,” Ajoy gestured. Anurag Basu, the film’s director, was looking for a man in Darjeeling to teach Ranbir the right signs, when his contact person in the hills, Uday Mani Pradhan, suggested Ajoy’s name. Basu, who spoke over phone, mentioned Ajoy was “very expressive”. “I first met Ajoy when we started to shoot in Darjeeling through Uday Mani Pradhan. He was very expressive, even though I do not know sign language. Had I met him earlier, I would have cast him in the film but the role had already been given to someone else,” Basu said. “His contribution is immense in the film.” During the shoot in Darjeeling, Ajoy and Anand, who reads in a school in Kurseong, would go to the sets to teach Ranbir how to communicate through signs. “We used to go to the hotel where Ranbir was staying and my dad used to help him. They gelled really well,” Anand said. In July last year, after the shooting in Darjeeling got cancelled because of problems with crowd management, both Ajoy and Anand were flown to Mumbai by Basu to help Ranbir on the sets there. “We flew for the first time and we were thrilled. Anurag Sir and the crew took good care of us. Sometimes, we used to go to Ranbir’s house, at other times we went to the sets and used to be there from 9 in the morning till 9 in the evening,” Anand said, translating for Ajoy. “We also met a lot of actors, such as Aditya Pancholi, at Film City.” Ajoy, who had been trained in sign language in Delhi, stayed in Mumbai for nine days teaching Ranbir the expressions and signs to express love and anger. In a dance that Ranbir performed in Bhutia Busty, Ajoy was in the crowd. “My dad was a good dancer from his early days and has won trophies in Darjeeling and Sikkim,” Anand said. On Monday, INOX in Darjeeling gave Ajoy, who works in the GTA’s agriculture department, and his friends 50 per cent discount on the tickets. A bunch of college students who assisted Basu in managing the crowd and worked as extras, too, was thrilled after watching the film. “The students from the mass communication department of St Joseph’s College are the unsung heroes. They were very enthusiastic from Day One and they helped the shooting go smoothly. When I was in college, I, too wanted to be part of such projects, but it was so difficult to get into the sets. I hope they have learnt a lot,” Basu said. Anurag Pradhan, a third-year student at St Joseph’s, said it was difficult for media students in Darjeeling to get such an “exposure in the hills”. “Barfi! gave us the exposure on how a film is made.” Another student Roshan Rai said: “The best part of Barfi! was to work with cinematographer Ravi Varman. I learnt many things from him especially on lighting,” he said. Shrawan Lamzel of St Joseph’s managed an entire wedding sequence where Ranbir did the bird-like dance. Shrawan’s job was to get the entire baraat (groom’s party) dressed in their traditional clothes. “Our first meeting with Anurag Basu was in Chowrastha where he had invited all the students. In the first meeting he explained to us that our primary role would be to manage the crowd and also to look for passers in the shot, said Akriti Pradhan. “Managing the crowd was difficult at times.” Akriti, Yangchen Thapa and Priyanka Pradhan were also in the Keventers scene where Barfi (or rather Murphy) proposed to Shruti (Ileana D’Cruz). “It was great to see myself in Barfi!” Priyanka, who watched Barfi! first day first show, said. Yangchen, who acted as Ileana D’Cruz’s friend in the song main kya karoon said she was surprised to know that in the ’70s not too many people wore jeans. “Since Barfi! was a period film and was based in the 1970s, we were supposed to wear clothes from that time. It was a nice experience to wear costumes and even to get a dab of make-up. I was surprised to know that there were no jeans at that time. I was told to change my jeans.”

Read More

Trinamul might in Cong den Ruling party hits streets against strike in message to ally

Sept. 20: Trinamul workers today hit the streets of north Bengal, particularly in places that are Congress strongholds, to foil the strike and drive home the point that their party is the bigger force in the region. Workers of Trinamul encouraged people in the Congress strongholds of North Dinajpur, Malda and Cooch Behar to defy the general strike called by the Left Front and go to work and keep shops and other establishments running, sparking clashes in several places with CPM activists. Congress sources said the party did not oppose the bandh because there was no instruction from the high command or the state Congress leaders on the matter. On record, however, no Congress leader was willing to speak on the issue. The Left’s 12-hour strike was called to protest the diesel price hike, FDI in retail and the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders.

Trinamul leaders held up the Congress’s “inaction” as an example of the party’s “tacit understanding” with the CPM. Bikash Choudhury, a Trinamul leader in North Dinajpur, which is the fief of Congress MP and Mamata Banerjee-baiter Deepa Das Munshi, said: “Our local MP (Deepa) claims that the district is a Congress stronghold but today, no party worker was seen opposing the bandh. “The Congress’s silence has made it evident that the party has a tacit understanding with the CPM. The Congress does not want to antagonise the CPM ahead of the panchayat polls, where it will have to contest alone. This is the Congress’s ploy to win more seats in the rural polls and the next Lok Sabha elections,” he said. In Malda too, Trinamul supporters tried to foil the strike. “Not a single Congress leader was seen in the district today. Our party workers helped people defy the bandh and keep life moving,” said Sabitri Mitra, the women and child welfare minister and district Trinamul president. “We think the Congress’s silence has got something to do with its relationship with the CPM. The bandh was called against the decisions of the Congress-led UPA, but the party’s leaders remained indoors and showed no concern for people.” Congress leaders Adhir Chowdhury and Mausam Noor attended a rally in South Dinajpur but did not speak on the bandh. In Siliguri, north Bengal development minister and Trinamul leader Gautam Deb went around the city requesting people to defy the strike. “We fail to understand why the Congress did not oppose the strike. The leaders seem to be least bothered about the interest of the people of the region,” he said. But despite Trinamul’s efforts, the bandh was near total in most parts of north Bengal. In the two Dinajpurs, Jalpaiguri, Malda and Cooch Behar, private establishments, educational institutions, most banks and shops and markets remained closed. Private vehicles kept off the roads. Government offices were open but the attendance was low in some places. Government buses plied on the roads. The strike, however, did not have any impact in the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong. Tea gardens were open. Scattered incidents of violence were reported from some places. Around 7am in Raiganj, bandh supporters threw stones at an NBSTC bus plying on the Kaliaganj-Siliguri route at BBD More. The windscreen was shattered and driver Apurba Roychoudhury and a passenger suffered head injuries. In Panishala on the outskirts of Raiganj town later in the day, alleged Left supporters stopped another government bus and pelted it with stones. The passengers fled. Driver Ranjit Pal suffered injuries. Both drivers were admitted to the Raiganj district hospital.Trinamul and CPM supporters clashed in front of the District Primary Education Project office. Police brought the situation under control. In Cooch Behar, alleged Trinamul supporters assaulted SUCI workers who were enforcing the strike.The Trinamul supporters, led by youth leader Rajeev Narayan, beat up the 10-odd SUCI workers, including two women, with rods and sticks at Harish Pal More on Suniti Road. “We had stopped an NBSTC bus when the Trinamul supporters armed with party flags attacked us. They did not even spare the women. One of our leaders, Bashad Ali, suffered serious injuries,” said Nepal Mitra, the Cooch Behar town committee secretary of the SUCI. The police arrested five SUCI workers, including the two women, on the charge of disrupting normal life. “Once they are released, we will file an FIR against Narayan and his accomplices,” Mitra said. District Trinamul chief Rabindranath Ghosh denied the party’s involvement in the attack. “The SUCI workers faced the passengers’ wrath for stopping their bus.”

Read More

Tremor in Gangtok on first quake anniversary

Gangtok, Sept. 18: A 4.1 magnitude quake today shook Sikkim at 5.56pm when the state was marking its first anniversary of last year’s tremor.

There has been no report of damage or casualties yet.

Last year on the same day, a 6.9-strong quake killed 60 people in the state. That quake, with its epicentre near Mangan in North Sikkim, happened a little before 6pm.

This evening’s tremor, which lasted barely two seconds, created panic in Gangtok where people were gathering on MG Marg for a candle-light march. People came out of their houses in panic.

The power department cut off electricity for five minutes in Gangtok to prevent any accident because of the quake.

According to a preliminary report, the epicentre of the quake is believed to be between Gangtok and Mangan.

In West and North Sikkim districts, the tremor — described as “slight” on the IMD site — was not felt.

“I was watching TV at home when I felt a strong jolt which disappeared in seconds. That was enough for me to rush out,” said Aman Sundas, a resident of Tibet Road.

Lata Chettri, a 56-year-old homemaker on MG Marg, said she could not feel the quake. “I was walking and saw some of the people running on the road. I remember last year’s quake, it was so scary that my family and I slept in our car for two nights.”

The fear was evident on the faces of the people who had gathered at MG Marg this evening.

“My friend and I had come to participate in the candle vigil at MG Marg; I was carrying candles in our hand. The sound was loud, I am still nervous,” said college student Madan Tamang.

Many of the shopkeepers at MG Marg downed the shutters and headed to their respective homes after the tremor.

“I was showing garments to customers when the earthquake happened, though it didn’t continue for a long time, the jolt was enough to make me shiver” said a garment shopkeeper at Kanchenjungha shopping complex.

Read More

Morcha rally test in plains

Darjeeling, Sept. 17: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha will hold rallies in the Dooars and Terai on September 20 to protest the fuel price hike, but it is the footfall at the rallies that will be watched keenly.

The Morcha has planned to hold the rallies at a time when its own leaders in the plains are disenchanted with the party after the formation of the GTA.

Binay Tamang, the assistant general secretary of the Morcha, said: “We have decided to organise protest rallies in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik, Terai and Dooars on September 20 to protest the recent fuel price hike. We are not in favour of calling a strike as this will hamper relief work after the recent landslides.”

The Morcha did not disclose the places where the rallies would be held.

Observers believe that given the recent resignation of Padam Lama, the president of the Morcha’s Dooars committee, and its secretary Ganesh Allay, the crowd count at the rallies will show if the Morcha still holds its appeal here.

Lama, while submitting his resignation from the Morcha, had said he was finding it difficult to show his supporters what the party had done for the plains.

“There is no interaction with the central committee leaders from the hills,” Lama had said.

The Morcha’s demand to include 397 plains mouzas in the GTA has not made headway. Without that happening, the Morcha leaders in the hills will not be able to use the central grants they get for the plains.

Asked about the party’s expectations, a Morcha leader here said: “Let us not cross the bridge before we reach there. Even though some leaders have resigned, we still have alot of supporters in the plains.”

The party has not formed a new committee in the Dooars after Lama and Allay’s resignations. An observer said that the Morcha would go all out to make the rally a success.

“They are out on the streets on an issue that has touched the common people and they would go all out to make it a success. However, a lot is at stake for the Morcha.”(TT)

Read More

Vet hospital in North Sikkim in ruins

NIRMAL MANGAR
Gangtok, Sept. 17: The sole sub-divisional veterinary hospital at Chungthang in North Sikkim continues to be in ruins nearly a year after the September 18 earthquake and the only remains is a guest house with a single room where 37 employees carry out their duties.

The hospital is a vital centre in the region where people are largely dependent on animal husbandry and was constructed in 1976.

Staff quarters and feed stores damaged in the earthquake last year are yet to be repaired.

The employees are forced to share a room in the guesthouse for accommodation in a barracks-style arrangement. Despite these constraints, veterinary services are going on without any hiccups.

Veterinary officer D.D. Lachenpa said the supply of medicines is adequate till date and veterinary services are provided to the local farmers smoothly.

The sub-divisional hospital serves Lachung, Lachen, Chungthang, Shipgyer and Naga along with the yak breeding farm in Zema, Angora rabbit farm at Rabom and piggery breeding farm at Bop, Lachenpa said.

Animal husbandry secretary D.P. Sharma said repairs of the damaged infrastructure like the milk processing plant at Peyong, Class II quarters and guesthouses are being carried out in North Sikkim under the National Disaster Relief Fund. Sharma said a restoration proposal regarding the sub-divisional veterinary hospital at Chungthang has been put to the state government after an assessment. The proposal is being studied, he added.(TT_

Read More

Sikkim food and civil supplies department has started campaigning for issuing new ration card

RANGPO -18TH SEPTEMBER 12
Sikkim food and civil supplies department has started campaigning for issuing new ration card but for the consumers and residents of the state new ration card issue form is too much tough as like to win the battle war .along with several other documents the issuing authority has demanded the post office or bank account number ,lpg gas connection book number along with electricity bill Xerox copy .what a funny documents that the issuing authority must know that all the residents of the state may not live in their own house and many families are still residing in the rented house than how they shall show the electricity bill copy .still many families are using keroshine oil and many small families are using heater for cooking .how they shall produce the lpg gas connection book Xerox .lot of families have no any account at any bank or post office and they are not in position to show the bank account details than it’s a big issue that either they shall avail the facility provide by the state government or not .in other side the department has notified that all the documents must be produced with attested copy by gazetted officer .specially in Rangpo it is seen that from early in the morning there is a queue at Rangpo phc doctor chamber and Rangpo police station in charge cabin for attestation of documents by taking more then fifty copy with one family person . Though the gazetted officers are fully supporting the local residents and more then thousand copy is attested per day by the officers but the main responsibility of the concerned officers is totally hampered. if the department is serious to provide the ration card to the all the residents of the state than they has to think over the problem of the residents of the state .

Read More

Quake cash crunch for school - 112-year-old Graham’s Homes school needs Rs 20 crore but has a tenth of the amount

Kalimpong. Sept. 16: Nearly a year after the September 18 earthquake, the 112-year-old Dr. Graham’s Homes in Kalimpong is yet to get adequate assistance to rebuild all its facilities.

The school suffered extensive damage and authorities have estimated that Rs 20 crore would be required for the repair. But the institution has managed to gather only Rs 2 crore from alumni, one of them being the Bhutanese Prime Minister Lyonchen Jigme Yoser Thinley, and well-wishers.

“The school buildings, staff quarters, the dispensary and the chapel need major repairs. Repairing the chapel requires specialised work. We have so far spent about Rs 1.2 crore,” said Anmole Prasad, a lawyer and a member of Homes’s governing body.

The state government gave Rs 50 lakh to the school but the institution, Prasad said, had written to it for more assistance after chief minister Mamata Banerjee promised help during her visit to the school earlier this year.

“We will also get our insurance money,” Prasad said, but did not specify the amount.

Altogether, 11 buildings, including the main school, the students’ cottages and the chapel, were damaged. Five of the cottages were totally destroyed and students don’t stay there anymore.

“The property is over 100 years old. Most of the houses on the ridge line suffered major damage,” he said.

The school, where nearly 1,500 children from India, Bhutan and Nepal read, has now put up a flash on its website requesting aid to rebuild its facilities.

While funds are the main constraint for the school, another Kalimpong landmark, the 111-year-old MacFarlane Church, faces problems because of the nature of the restoration work. About Rs 76 lakh is required for the reconstruction of the church. Eighty per cent of the church was damaged.

Miku Fonning, a member of the church’s reconstruction committee, said the work was taking time because all the restoration has to be done using lime and stones.

The church is expected to be restored by early next year. A three-member team of architects — Subin Pradhan, Upendra Gurung and Chetan Shreshta — is overseeing the restoration work.

Pradhan said almost 75 per cent of the work was complete, and if all is well the remaining work should be completed by January next year.

“The restoration work on the church building will be completed before Christmas. The work on the tower will be taken up shortly and we hope to accomplish the task by January next year. We are doing the work to strengthen the building from within, while retaining the original character of the heritage structure,” he said.

Read More

20% bonus for tea hands

Darjeeling, Sept. 16: The Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA) last night agreed to pay the annual bonus at the maximum rate of 20 per cent, but managed to extract a promise from all trade unions that they would ensure each labourer puts in eight hours of work, excluding their lunch time, by September 30.

Bonus percentage is calculated on the total annual earnings of a worker and 20 per cent is the highest rate permissible under the Plantation Labour Act, 1951. The act also says that planters cannot fix the bonus at a rate less than 8.33 per cent.

The DTA has 63 tea estates and it had paid 20 per cent bonus in 2011 also. But this year, bonus ceiling was raised from Rs 9,000 to Rs 10,000, that means even if 20 per cent bonus works out to Rs 12,000, for a worker, he will get only Rs 10,000.

The bonus agreement was signed at a meeting between representatives of the DTA and tea garden unions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, CPRM, CPM and the Congress last night.

Sandeep Mukherjee, the principal advisor to the DTA, said the bonus would be disbursed by October 6.

The DTA gardens are categorised as Grades A, B, C and D, depending on production and other yardsticks. The number of estates under Grade A are 12, and under Grades B, C and D are 15, 16 and 17 respectively. All garden workers will get bonus at the same rate, irrespective of the garden’s grade.The Darjeeling tea industry employs around 55,000 people. Although some hill gardens are under the Indian Tea Association, it generally follows the bonus rate fixed by the DTA.

The DTA had said on August 26 that it wouldn’t be able to pay the bonus at 20 per cent as production had come down and absenteeism was still high.

But Mukherjee today said: “In an effort to maintain a cordial atmosphere in the gardens, we decided to match last year’s rate.”

In lieu of the bonus pay at the highest rate, the unions gave an undertaking that the work hours would be increased from seven to eight by September 30.

Even though the labour wings had agreed to eight hours of work at a meeting on January 21, the Darjeeling-Terai-Dooars Chai Kaman Mazdur Union of the CPRM backtracked later, rendering the deal redundant.

The January 21 agreement read: “A worker would be working for eight hours in a day for the day’s wage and the lunch break would not be included in the working hours throughout the year.”

K.B. Subba, the general secretary of the CPRM union, while pulling out of the agreement said: “We discussed the deal with party colleagues and decided to oppose the deviation from the practice of including the one-hour lunch break in the total time of daily work.”

However, Subba sang a different tune today. “It is true that labourers have to put in eight hours of work. Earlier, there was some confusion. The (Plantation Labour) Act says the workers will have to put that (eight) many hours of work.”

The DTA said the unions had also agreed to help garden owners streamline sub-staff as many estates employees in a particular department and also to do away with various “traditional practices”, on a case to case basis.

“By traditional practice, we mean if a worker is entitled to nine maund of firewood (one maund is approximately 40kg) according to the act, there are gardens which have been giving more firewood. But now these gardens cannot scale down the amount. We want the unions to help us in such cases, to which they have agreed,” said Mukherjee.(TT)

Read More

2nd late dhanapati Sharma memorial challenge cup football tournament

RANGPO-16TH SEPTEMBER 12
Rangpo maazi gaon youth wing has organised the 2nd late dhanapati Sharma memorial challenge cup football tournament from yesterday .Rangpo police station in charge PI Sonam wangdi as a chief guest inaugurated the football tournament organised by the Rangpo mazigaon youth .32 teams participated in the tournament the final of the tournament shall play on 2nd octuber on the eve of Gandhi jaayanti between colourful cultural function where the winners and runners shall provide cash prize of rs ten thousand and five thousand with attractive trophy .yesterday two match was played in the majhigaon ground .first match was played between cipla and Sikkim distilleries .cipla won the match by 2-0.second match was played between veteran vs tarpin danda and veteran won the match by 7 -2 and has entered in the second round of the match .

Read More

A truck accident at kaami bhir

RANGPO-15TH SEPTEMBER 12
A truck accident at kaami bhir between Rangpo and Majhitar at national highway 31 a claimed the driver of the truck missing .according to the news the truck bearing no WB 73 A 1059 loaded with cement from siliguri plying up to Singtam was plunged into the tista river 150 feet from the road . Rangpo police and fire department suddenly reached the spot but due to lack of electricity and area covered with dark as accident was occurred at 6 .30 pm no any rescue operation was possible to start. truck driver is suspected to plunged into the tista river with truck .

Read More

Takling road on appalling condition, public appeals early mending

MUKESH SHARMA
Takling Busty: September 14
It is understood that road plays as principal role in the advancement of the rural places anywhere in the world. The magnitude of the development first counts on the condition and the availability of good road. The people residing in the remotest hamlets where the conditions of the roads are appalling, one can picture the state of the lives settled there. One such story is that of the 11 kms long Takling road.
The road till Teesta Gram Panchayat looks fine but as soon as it enters to Takling GPU, one can witness the pathetic condition of the road. The agriculturally dependent Takling farmers had to come down Teesta to market their produced almost every day, but they have been facing enormous hurdles due to the road condition. The question of small vehicles on the road is unimaginable, only jeeps and big vehicles ferry down the 11 kms long kutcha road. The Takling road also connects the rural places like Mangwa, Chota Mangwa, Chegra, Soreng, Kalimpong, Teen Chule etc.
The residents of the place during emergencies like that of illness have to rush via the road to the Teesta Primary Health Centre where only primary treatment is accessible and most of the patients are referred to Kalimpong which is 30 kms from Teesta.
The GTA area Sabhasad Ramesh Lama on the other hand had assured the villagers for the speedy restoration of the road in coordination with the Special Engineering Cell. The villagers of the area have appealed the concerned department to kick start crafting the condition of the road at the earliest.

Read More

Lions club of Rangpo gateway of Sikkim organised world peace rally

RANGPO-15TH SEPTEMBER 12
Lions club of Rangpo gateway of Sikkim organised world peace rally on the occasion of world peace week at Rangpo .organised with the special support and attended from the school students and teachers from Rangpo secondary school,rangpo junior high school, tiny tots school and little bells school the club members along with other delegates was also present in the meeting .Rangpo police station in charge PI Mr. Sonam wangdi was present as a chief guest while lion chabilal Sharma ,district chairperson lion mangilal jain and sanjay Agarwal was present as a special guest of the programme .club director Mr. v k nigam and lion k t wangchuk discussed regarding the peace and world environment specially stressed regarding peace Sikkim in the entire country and world .during the programme two new members named Mr. gaurav chhatri and suresh lama was inducted and lion rajen gurung president of the club has welcomed the new members in lion family .the slogan competition was also organised and top four slogan was awarded with attractive certificate by the hand of chief guest Mr. Sonam wangdi poise inspector cum in charge of Rangpo police station .Rangpo secondary school comes first while little bells school stood second followed by tiny tots school and Rangpo junior high school third and forth respectively .

Read More

Architect arrested

Darjeeling, Sept. 14: Pravin Mukhia, a Darjeeling-based architect who has designed the under-construction Gorkha War Museum, was arrested yesterday for allegedly kidnapping two 17-year-old girls and confining them to one of his houses near Siliguri.

Lodhama police picked him up from the Salbari market and rescued the girls yesterday. Mukhia, 52, was produced in the chief judicial magistrate’s court today and remanded in judicial custody till September 28.

Assistant public prosecutor Pankaj Prasad said Mukhia had been slapped with sections 363, 365 and 368 (kidnapping and confinement against will) of the IPC.

The lawyer said the girls had gone missing from Lodhoma, about 70km from Darjeeling, on September 5.

The girls’ confinement came to light when one of them managed to speak to her friend from Lodhama, he said.

Read More

Slide blocks NH31A for 12 hours

Gangtok, Sept. 14: The NH31A that connects Sikkim with the rest of the country was blocked for over 12 hours after a landslide at Kirney last night.

The road was opened this afternoon.

Around 500 vehicles were stranded on both sides of Kirney in Kalimpong subdivision as slush and debris fell on a 300metre-stretch on the highway. Most Gangtok-bound vehicles took a detour via Kalimpong that takes one hour extra.

“The landslide occurred yesterday around midnight. A portion of the land above the highway slipped on to the road resulting in the halt of traffic,” said an official of the Border Roads Organisation, which looks after the road.

On the Siliguri-Gangtok route, Kirney is 8km before Rangpo.

BRO sources said the landslide occurred because of continuous rain for the past few days.

“Rangpo and the surrounding areas recorded 80mm of rain in the past 24 hours,” said an official of the Met department in Gangtok.Rangpo is 35km from here.

“Excavators and workers were deployed to clear the debris. But shooting stones had become a major hurdle in the restoration work,” said the BRO official.

Gangtok-bound vehicles took a detour via Kalimpong, Munsong and Rangpo.

“It takes an hour extra to reach Rangpo via Munsong and it is the only road that leads to Gangtok other than NH31A,” said Madan Sherpa, a taxi driver from Gangtok.

Most Siliguri-bound vehicles, however, waited for the highway to open.

According to a police officer at Melli checkpost, 3km away from the slide-hit area, more than 300 vehicles were stranded for the entire night.

Pema Lama, a local tour operator, said around 150 tourists were stranded.

Read More

Barfi! treat for Darjeeling - Keventers on screen, crowd excited

Siliguri, Sept. 14: Darjeeling today came alive on the silver screen in Anurag Basu’s Barfi!.

The audience at Inox City Center in Siliguri were mesmerised from the very beginning as a scene showing a market in Calcutta gave way to another in which a smoke-puffing toy train chugged against the backdrop of the lush green hills.

The film is a story of Murphy, a hearing impaired boy. When Murphy says his name is “Murphy”, it sounds like “Barfi”, hence the name.

“Darjeeling is an intrinsic part of the movie and the central characters of Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D’ Cruz have been portrayed as local people. It is different from the movies that were shot here in the past, in which, except for a few landscapes, the storyline was not relevant to the local people. This is second movie shot in Darjeeling that I have enjoyed. The first one was obviously Aradhana,” said Sujata Pradhan, a 55-year-old resident of Pradhannagar.

The two-and-a-half-hour film is set against the backdrop of the hill town between 1972 and 1978. It is a love triangle between an autistic girl, Jhilmil, (played by Priyanka), Barfi and Shruti (Ileana).

In the Inox hall, the crowd got excited every time the Ghoom station, Keventers, the Capitol Clock Tower, St Andrew’s Church and the Planters Club flashed on the screen.

The pristine woods, colourful prayer flags, tea gardens, misty hills, wooden houses and rosy-cheeked children in woollens made the experience even more real.

“The places were so familiar, just like we see them while taking a walk round the town on a cloudy afternoon. We could relate to the scene where the actors were seen eating at Keventers and the view of the Capitol Clock Tower from there. Although some scenes were shot in the dark, I could identify the places,” said Darjeeling resident Archana Sherpa, who is now based in Siliguri.

“The wooden houses with tin barrels kept outside for preserving water were so very Darjeeling! It was a practice to store water in such barrels in the old times,” said Sameer Gurung, a Darjeeling resident.

A group of college girls from Darjeeling said they could instantly recognise the Happy New Year Bridge at Jamuni. “We nearly shouted with joy when the Happy New Year Bridge was shown,” said Dipti Subba, a third-year student of a Siliguri college. The once unknown forest village of Khairani-Punding has been captured with its paddy fields, forests, thatched bamboo houses on stilts and cattle.

“The scenes where he (Barfi) is proposing Ileana atop the Ghoom railway station and when he falls from his bicycle at Tindharia after being hit by the toy train were so funny. The scenes where Barfi and Priyanka were riding a wooden trolley on the toytrain tracks are adorable,” Srijana Thapa, a resident of Pradhannagar, said.

An official from Inox said today the occupancy rate at the theatre was around 70 per cent. “We are screening nine shows per day. The movie has had a very good opening and we are expecting full house during the weekend,” said Sinchan Biswas, the unit head of Inox, City Centre.

Read More

Landslides hit tea gardens

Darjeeling/Kalimpong, Sept. 14: Landslides triggered by heavy overnight rain in the hills caused extensive damage in six tea gardens but planters said the digging being done under the 100-day rural job scheme was making the soil come loose.

While work had to be stopped for the day in Takdah and Lopchu gardens because of the slides, Bannockburn, Phoobshering, Ging and Pussimbing reported loss of many tea bushes.

“Takdah received around 18 inches of rainfall in the last 24 hours. Around 160 labourer quarters have suffered damage. A 40ft road in Takdah has been washed away in four places and five culverts have been damaged in landslides. There is no approach road to the garden factory now,” said Sandeep Mukherjee, the principal advisor to the Darjeeling Tea Association.

Mukherjee said 13 labour quarters and two culverts had borne the brunt of the calamity at Lopchu.

“Tea bushes in an acre of land have been uprooted in Lopchu and road connectivity within the garden has become a major problem. Given the extent of the damage, no work could not carried out in Lopchu today.”

Road communication in the Ging tea garden, about 20km from Darjeeling, was hit after three culverts had been damaged. “In Phoobshering, 6,500 tea bushes have been uprooted by the landslides. There is no approach road to the factory now. Water has also seeped into the garden factory,” said Mukherjee.

The DTA has alleged that constructions under the 100-days’ work scheme aggravated the situation in the tea gardens. “The soil in the plantations loosens when boulders are removed to build pathways and roads during the monsoon. At some places, the main drain gets blocked while the sewerage is being improved, leading to spilling of water,” said Mukherjee.

The DTA has demanded that the government issue a directive to stop construction activities under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme during the rainy season.

“We are told that in many states like Harayana, 100 days’ work scheme is not executed during the agricultural season. We also demand that the scheme be implemented in the hill gardens bet- ween October and March,” he said.

Subin Pradhan, an architect said: “It is always advisable that earth-cutting is avoided during the monsoon as the loose soil could easily trigger a landslide.”

Saumitra Mohan, the principal secretary of the GTA as well as the Darjeeling district magistrate, however, said an order had already been issued to all subdivisional officers and block divisional officers, saying any project be cleared only after taking into account environmental concerns and technical viability. Elsewhere in the hills, four persons were injured in the landslides.

“A house collapsed at Singritam near Glenburn tea garden and one person was injured,” said a resident of Singritam, 25km from Darjeeling.

Minor landslides in over a dozen places in and around Darjeeling were also reported. The NH55was blocked at Dali early this morning because of a mudslide but the road was cleared by 8am. “The NH31A had also been blocked (at Tarkhola, Melli and Kalijhora) but all major roads have been cleared of debris with the help of agencies like the Border Roads Organisation and the public works department,” said DM Mohan.

In Kalimpong, the landslides occurred near Chota Bhalukhop-Leprosy Hospital, East Main Road, Mahakal Dara, between 3 Mile and 7th Mile and between Nimbong and Bakrakote. About 10 houses at Laminigaon in Chota Bhalukhop stand precariously below a hill where the earth has loosened and a landslide might occur anytime. Similarly, five houses along East Main Road could tumble down as there are high chances of a landslide getting bigger below.

Huge boulders rolling down the Deolo hill damaged the road at Mahakal Dara and a bridge near Tashiding in the 6 Mile area was destroyed in the landslides.

Read More

Lions club world peace really

RANGPO-14TH SEPTEMBER 12
Lions club of Rangpo gateway of Sikkim is going to organise world peace rally on the occasion of world peace week tomorrow at Rangpo. lion chabilal Sharma zone chairman ,lion rajen gurung president and lion anand Pradhan active member of the club giving details about the programme asked that the peace rally shall be participated by the students of four school named government secondary school ,Rangpo junior high school ,tiny tots school and little bells school along with local club members ,residents and delegates from several ngo .clubs and association .the slogan writing competition is also organise between the students of the four school in the theme of world peace and top five slogan shall be awarded with certificate and gift .from last three year the club is organising marathon race on the eve of world peace day but this time the peace rally is organised for spreading lesson to the entire world to take the lesson from Sikkim regarding to leave in peace from Sikkim as Sikkim is known as the most peaceful state in the3v country and world .

Read More

आजको पैह्रो दार्जीलिङ अनि कालेबुङमा

13(कालेबुङ)ः- गत राती परेको अबिरल बर्षाले दार्जीलिङ पहाडका धेरैवटा क्षेत्रहरु पैह्रोको चपेटमा परेको छ। पैह्रोको चपेटमा परेर केही मानिसहरु घाइते पनि भएका छन जसलाई दार्जीलिङको विभिन्न अस्पतालहरुमा भर्ना गरिएको छ। यता, राजमार्ग 31एको कालीझोडा अनि तारखोलामा पैह्रो सोहोरिएर राजमार्ग अवरुद्ध हुँदा आज बिहान 11 बजीसम्म यातायात ठप्प रहेको थियो तर बीआरओको तत्परतामा राजमार्गमा यातायात सुचारु गरिए पनि जामको कारण यातीहरुहरु समस्याको सम्मुखिन भएका छन।पहाडका विभिन्न क्षेत्रमा पैह्रोको कारण सयौंको संख्यामा मानिसहरु प्रभावित भएका छन भने सडकहरु अवरुद्ध भएको कारण जनजीवन पनि अस्तव्यस्त भएको छ। दार्जीलिङको डाली,ब्लुमफिल्ड, रिशीहाट, चौरस्तालगायत केही चियाकमानहरुमा पैह्रोले आवासीय घरहरुलाई व्यापक क्षति पुर्यााएको छ भने यता कालेबुङको भालुखोप, 7 माइल छिबो पोस्योर बस्ती, 15 माइल आदि क्षेत्रहरुमा पैह्रोले व्यापक क्षति गरेको छ। कालेबुङ क्षेत्रमा लगभग एक दर्जन परिवार पैह्रोको कारण प्रभावित भएका छन। पैह्रो झरेर सडकहरु अवरुद्ध भएको कारण यातायात सेवा पनि प्रभावित भएको छ। कालेबुङ शहरदेखि आठ किमी टाडा 15 माइलमा पैह्रोले एउटै गाउँको आठवटा घरहरुलाई आंशिक नोक्सान पुर्यााएको छ तर सम्भावित खतरालाई केन्द्र गरी स्थानीय प्रशासनले प्रभावित परिवारहरुलाई सुरक्षित स्थानतिर स्थानान्तरण गरेको छ। पैह्रोले नोक्सान पुर्यारएको घटनापछि स्थानीय प्रशासनका अधिकारी र सम्बन्धित क्षेत्रका जीटीए सभासदहरुले पैह्रोग्रस्त क्षेत्रहरुको भ्रमण गरी क्षयक्षतिबारे जानकारी लिईरहेका छन भने प्रभावित परिवारहरुलाई सुरक्षित स्थानहरुतिर पुनर्वास गराउने कार्य गरिरहेका छन। कालेबुङको 37 नम्बरसमष्टीकी सभासद कल्पना तामाङले पैह्रोग्रस्त क्षेत्रहरुको परिभ्रमण गरेपछि व्यापक नोक्सान भएका जानकारी प्राप्त भएको बताएकी छन।

Read More

Work begins for Gorkha museum

VIVEK CHHETRI
Darjeeling, Sept. 13: The GTA today started the construction of a Rs 1.5 crore Gorkha War Museum near Batasia at a time the hill body is accused of hurting the sentiments of the community by removing the Gorkha solider’s statue atop the Gorkha Rangamanch Bhavan.

The GNLF and the CPRM had plastered posters across the hills condemning the GTA’s decision to remove the soldier’s statue.

The GTA had said the statue didn’t suit the Rangamanch Bhavan, a cultural centre, and so it would be shifted to the war museum.

The foundation for the museum had been laid by Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh at Batasia Loop on April 8, 2012. He also donated Rs 25 lakh from his MP Local Area Development fund for the project. However, the authorities decided to set up the museum at Quarry in Batasia, 1km from the earlier location, because of problems in acquiring land.

Today, the work on the museum was launched at a programme attended by GTA deputy chief Lt. Col. (retd) Ramesh Allay, executive member Binay Tamang and GTA principal secretary Saumitra Mohan among others.

Of the Rs 1.5 crore needed for the project, the state government has already sanctioned Rs 1.05 crore. “We also have Rs 25 lakh given by Jaswant Singh. So, funds will not be a problem. Construction should be over in a year and it may take another six-seven months to landscape the entire area,” said Binay Tamang.

The two-storied museum will be spread over 20,000sqft and house Gorkha war memorabilia.

Tamang said a research centre would also come up at the museum and students could access it.(TT)

Read More

Deb threat to launch road protest

Siliguri, Sept. 13: North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb has threatened to launch a movement against the Centre and the National Highways Authority of India if NH31D is not repaired immediately.

“If no initiative for repairs or upgrade of the road to a four-lane highway is seen in the next few days, we will be forced to launch a movement because people face a lot of trouble while travelling on NH31D, particularly in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar. The NHAI has to take immediate steps,” Deb said.

R.K. Chaudhry, the project director of NHAI posted in Siliguri, said: “Repairs have been initiated on NH31D. The road was last repaired two years ago and the onus is on the contractors who had carried out the repairs to restore the damaged stretches. We are issuing letters to them to do the work.”

He added: “If the contractors do not take up the task, we will engage other contractors and get the work done before Durga Puja.”

Read More

Paraglide treat for Sikkim tourists - 60 experts to take part in four-day international gliding festival starting on Oct 31

Gangtok, Sept. 13: Tourists planning to visit Sikkim in October-November would get a chance to enjoy a bird’s eye view of the place when the state hosts its first international paragliding fest.

Sixty paragliders will take part in the four-day event from October 31 that aims to promote adventure sports at a time when tourist traffic is heavy.

“Sixty paragliders from England, France, Germany and Nepal, and from Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim in India will participate in the four-day event,” said Bhim Dhungel, the minister for tourism and civil aviation.

He added that the event would be sponsored by the tourism department and organised by the Paragliding Association of India and the Sikkim Paragliding Adventure Sports Co-operative Society Limited. The estimated budget is Rs 25 lakh, Dhungel said. The fest would be held at the Sports Complex at Reshithang in East Sikkim, 8km from here.

According to tourism department officials, the paragliders would take off from Bulbuley in East Sikkim at a height of 2,200ft and land in the Sports Complex.

The festival that will end on November 3 would also include free flying and spot landing contests, an acrobatics show and sky diving that would be performed by experts.

“We will also organise tandem flights (gliders that are two-seaters) for tourists. For Rs 4,200, a tourist can enjoy a four-hour flight,” said Arjun Rai, the president of the Sikkim Paragliding Adventure Sports Co-operative Society. He added that many local youths were earning their livelihood through paragliding that became popular two years back.

In 2010, the state government had trained youths to hold paragliding sessions. The group was also sent to Himachal Pradesh for training. Most of them returned to Sikkim and started conducting paragliding sessions in the peak seasons. During March-May and October-November (the tourism seasons) paragliding is held at Reshithang and Chakhung in the West district.

Sikkim has 34 registered paragliders.

“The paragliding event would be a success in the sunny and enjoyable weather. One can look forward to an exciting experience while flying over the lush green Dang hills, water bodies, gardens and other picturesque locations,” said Manoj Roy, the secretary of the Paragliding Association of India. The event website www.pgaoi.org/pgfest2012 was launched today.

Paraglider and trainer Jocky Sanderson, who won the National Geographic 2010 People’s Choice Adventurer Of The Year award, will hold seminars and workshops during the fest. Sanderson had won the award for scalling the Everest and paragliding down the hill and kayaking through the Kosi river to the Indian Ocean.

Read More

Darjeeling ready for date with Barfi!

Siliguri, Sept. 13: Renuka Sharma’s yearlong wait will be over tomorrow when Barfi! releases.

The 58-year-old is enthusiastic about the film not only because a portion of the movie has been shot in her hometown Tindharia but also because she posed as a passenger in a toy train while Ranbir Kapoor sped alongside on a bicycle.

“I have been prodding my son to take me to watch the movie in one of the cinemas in Siliguri. It is not often that one gets featured in a movie starring Ranbir. I had worn our traditional attire of chaubandi choli and fariya that day and hope to catch a glimpse of myself as a toy train passenger in the film,” Renuka told The Telegraph today.

In Siliguri, the film will release in two INOX and one CINEMAX centres, along with one or two cinema halls.

Tindharia residents are happy that Bollywood has not forgotten their place where films such as Rajesh Khanna-starrer Aradhana were shot.

“The last movie shot here was Parineeta for which Saif Ali Khan rode in a toy train in a song sequence in 2004.We are grateful that the makers of Barfi! shot here again after seven-long years. The toy train and DHR (Darjeeling Himalayan Railway)’s Tindharia station have been extensively featured in the movie,” said Binay Chetti, a DHR enthusiast and a resident of Tindharia.

He hopes the worldwide audience the film will get will reverse the dwindling importance of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, which is a Unesco world heritage site.

“The promos show the toy train billowing smoke moving towards Pushkar daju’s shop where the film’s crew had eaten during the one-day shoot. A group of us are planning to come down to Siliguri to watch the movie next week,” said Chetti.

The movie was shot in Tindharia, 30km from Siliguri, in June last year.

Scenes which show Ranbir speeding alongside the toy train and on a bicycle and then falling were shot in Tindharia.

The Anurag Basu-directed film was extensively shot in Darjeeling, Tindharia and some locations near Sukna in June last year and February this year. The film is set against the backdrop of Darjeeling and Calcutta of the 1960s and the 1970s.

It revolves around a deaf-mute boy played by Ranbir and the two women in his life, played by Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D’Cruz.

In the remote Khairani-Cunding locality near Sukna, 15km from Siliguri, Sandip Subba is waiting to see how his village and house look on the big screen. The Barfi! crew had shot some scenes involving Ranbir and Priyanka in the village for two days.

“The promos look quite appealing and I could catch a glimpse of my village too. I want to see if my house, too, is in the frame because some of the shots were taken near my residence,” said Subba.

“Scenes of Priyanka and Ranbir arriving at the village in a rickshaw, moving around playing with goats and participating in a festival, were shot at Khairani-Cunding.”

Diksha Rai and her friends from Siliguri will watch the first-day-first-show at Inox in City Centre, Siliguri. She was lucky as she got to pose for a photograph with Ranbir at Bagdogra airport when he came for the shoot in February. She posted it on Facebook.

Diksha has already checked reviews of film critics on the movie on Twitter.

“I am so excited to watch the movie as both Priyanka and Ranbir are my favourite actors. Famous Bollywood critics like Taran Adarsh have applauded the movie on twitter. We are going to watch first-day-first-show tomorrow,” Diksha said.

Old-timers are eager to watch the “old world charm” of Darjeeling.

“My wife and I usually watch first-day-first show of all good movies and Barfi! is a must-watch. The film is appealing because it has been shot in Darjeeling and it will be a treat to watch how the scenic beauty and old world charm of the Queen of Hills have been captured using modern-day technology. I want to see how Ranbir who plays a deaf-and-dumb character relies entirely on his acting prowess to communicate his emotions,” said K.B. Gurung, 62, of Shivmandir near Siliguri.

Anurag Basu, the filmmaker, sounded equally enthusiastic. “It is a film where the positive aspects of life have been portrayed. We have shot extensively in the Darjeeling hills and feel that people of the region would love it watching,” Basu told The Telegraph over the phone from Mumbai.

Barfi! has also prompted stakeholders of tourism sector to gear up.

“In the promos, we have found an enchanting Darjeeling hills and hope it will bring more filmmakers to the region,” said Raj Basu, a tour operator who had also arranged logistics for the Barfi! crew.

“A couple of filmmakers from Calcutta have already conducted surveys for their upcoming films, which they plan to shoot in the region. Darjeeling has proved to be a favourite for filmmakers of Bollywood and we expect them to project the region further.”

In Darjeeling, people are equally enthusiastic, and are waiting for tomorrow.

Anup Subba, the unit head of INOX Leisure Limited, Darjeeling, said no other film had generated as much response and excitement as Barfi! in the recent past.

“We are getting bulk bookings from schools, colleges and various other groups. We had not witnessed such excitement in the past,” said Subba.

All students of the department of mass communication and journalism of St Joseph's College, Darjeeling, have booked tickets for tomorrow’s show. The students had extensively helped Anuraj Basu during the shoot in Darjeeling.

INOX, which has three screens in Darjeeling, plans to run seven shows a day.

“We have a seating capacity of 811 and we are expecting a tremendous response. The movie will be screened from 11.15am and the last show of the day will start at 6.15pm,” said Subba.

Ticket prices at INOX vary from Rs 110 to Rs 210.

“However, I have personally decided to slash the rates by half for the students of Salvation Army School, Darjeeling (a school for those who cannot speak and hear). They are planning to watch Barfi next week,” said Subba.

Additional reporting by Vivek Chhetri in Darjeeling(TT)

Read More