Darjeeling Boys in Siachen – Exclusive never seen before pics

Today’s Communist Party of India Marxist!

Cartoon by Ninan

Stir by hospital against staff assault

The Statesman, Kurseong, Feb. 4: Demanding security, the employees of the Kurseong Sub-Divisional Hospital observed cease-work for more than two hours in the morning. According to them, the friends and relatives of an accident victim had misbehaved with them and the doctors last night. A Maruti van fell into a 6,000 feet deep gorge near Phatak Dara last night. The DGHC cultural department, Kurseong branch, assistant director,  Gautam Lama, the Darjeeling Polytechnic Institute, lecturer, Sushil Khaiba and the driver, Binod Pradhan, were seriously injured in the accident. The hospital authorities referred them to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) after administering first aid, but Khaiba died at a private nursing home in Siliguri.

Brew belt demands pay hike

Siliguri, Feb. 4: Trade union leaders in the tea belt of north Bengal have demanded a pay hike for workers just before discussions begin on a new wage agreement.

The existing tripartite industry-wide agreement expires on March 31. The three-year deal was signed in Calcutta on July 25, 2005.

“Though some gardens are still closed and a few are short on funds, the tea industry in north Bengal has done much better in the past couple of years,” said Chitta Dey, convener, Coordination Committee of Tea Plantation Workers. “So, we want planters to revise the salary structure of employees before the new wage agreement is implemented from April 1.”

The Coordination Committee is the apex body of tea trade unions, including the Citu and the Intuc.

ABGL out of coalition meet

The Telegraph, Darjeeling, Feb. 4: Except for the ABGL, all the opposition parties in the hills today shared a common platform and pledged to overlook the hurdles of coalition politics to fight for statehood.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha along with the CPRM, GNLF (C), Congress, Trinamul Congress, BJP, Sikkim National Front and Gorkha Rastriya Congress addressed a public meeting at Chowk Bazaar.

The ABGL has refused to join the forum unless “collective leadership is practised in letter and spirit”. With this announcement, the death knell of an earlier coalition — the People’s Democratic Front, an anti-Subash Ghisingh forum — was sounded.

R.B. Rai, the general secretary of the CPRM, said: “The abilities of leaders are not judged by their age. Bimal Gurung (the Morcha chief) might be the youngest politician among us but he enjoys mass support and we must stand by him so that our dream for separate statehood is fulfilled.”

Toy train lovers ready to go off track to help people

The Telegraph, Siliguri, Feb. 4: Steam fanatics from the UK are doing their bit to help the communities living along the tracks of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. [Photo: Barun Roy]

The London-based Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society has announced a contribution of Rs 1 lakh for development projects in the hills, while the DHR Community Support Group, an offshoot of the Society, has raised about £2,500 (Rs 2 lakh).

“Our major concern at the moment is the welfare of the communities residing along the toy train tracks. We formed the Support Group in March last year to exclusively work with those communities and raise funds for the projects,” said David Barrie, the chairman of the Society, at the eighth annual conference of DHR Lovers organised by the Siliguri-based DHR-India Support Group on Sunday.

“From our own activities in the UK, we have been able to raise some money of which we are committing Rs 1 lakh now. The projects will be implemented by the DHR India Support Group,” Barrie added.

Feed ban hurts manufacturers

The Telegraph, Siliguri, Feb. 4: The northeastern states and Bhutan have stopped importing poultry feed from bird flu-hit Bengal to go with the ban on chickens and eggs, putting at risk an industry with annual turnover of Rs 200 crore. [Inset Photo: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com]

“The decision has come as a jolt to our industry,” said Pradip Bagla, the managing director of the Calcutta-based Amrit Feeds. “Units manufacturing poultry feed are badly hit as they are not being able to sell their produce to fixed clients in those areas.”

The state has around 20 companies producing feed in 20-30 manufacturing units, including four or five in north Bengal.

Around 60 per cent of the total produce is exported to the Northeast and Bhutan.

After flu, anthrax stalks animals- Cow deaths reported from Cooch Behar as Bengal gears up to get rid of hidden poultry

The Telegraph, Cooch Behar, Feb. 4: Animal diseases seem to be stalking Bengal with the district administration here announcing that the anthrax bacteria was detected in cows that died in Mathabhanga subdivision recently.

Cooch Behar district magistrate Rajesh Kumar Sinha said today that a family in Bhojanerchhara village, 34km from here, lost five cows last Friday. “We had collected the samples and sent them to the animal resource development (ARD) laboratory in Cooch Behar for tests. The result was positive for anthrax.”

Sinha said another family in the same village had lost one cow to the disease. At Jotpatki, in Mathabhanga, seven more cows had died on January 31 and February 1. Samples of these animals, too, have been sent for tests. “Given the situation, we have decided to vaccinate cattle in the area from tomorrow,” he added.

ARD sources said all the dead cows were suffering from fever and died after bleeding from the mouth, typical symptoms of cattle infected with the anthrax bacillus.

“The dead animals have been buried more than eight feet underground,” said Tapan Roy, the deputy director of the ARD in Cooch Behar.

Cows infected with anthrax bacteria do not survive for long and stop giving milk. “There is no cause for panic, but care should be taken not to eat contaminated beef,” an official of the department said (See chart).