Amra Bangali Video Release – Bangalistan

“Sawar Agarwal and Shyam Brothers scammed more than Rs. 1 Crore by not supplying free text book to poor children” Madan Tamang

Darjeeling, May 23, 2008: In what has come as a shock to the publishing concerns all over the Hills, Madan Tamang, President, All India Gorkha League today alleged that Sawar Agarwal owner of the Systematic Computerised Offset Printers, Shyam Prakashan and Shyam Brothers in connivance with former GNLF bosses made way with more than Rs. 1 Crore by not supplying free text to the poor children under Government Schemes. It has been further alleged that a scam that ran from the Principals of the schools, to the education department, DGHC and Sawar Agarwal, students were made to buy books which they normally were to receive free. The tender quotations in the different publishing works released by the DGHC were also said to have made available to the owners of Shyam Prakashan. Sawar Agarwal is alleged to have been a close associate of the former Chairman. Sawar Agarwal is presently associated with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. The AIGL President has requested all parties not to associate themselves with ‘such unscrupulous individuals’. Sawar Agarwal and Shyam Prakashan could not be reached for comment.

Why are communists popular in West Bengal and Kerala ?

By Sumita Ghosh

Inspite of economic policies that have destroyed industry in the two states , leaving the populations with no choice but to migrate to other states or out of the country to earn a livelihood , communists still win every election. In West Bengal in particular , the communists are breaking all sort of records and even demolishing the dreaded incumbency syndrome by winning all elections held over the last 3 decades.

I have never been to West Bengal , but saw a BBC program which focussed on the rural areas just a few miles away from Kolkata , the poverty of the people was heartbreaking. Also seen pictures of people in rural Bengal living on the brink of starvation. Massive proportion of the population of Bengal lives well under the poverty line. Closer to Bihar than the rest of India. Other poor states like Rajasthan , MP and even UP have shown remarkable improvement in eradicating poverty to an extent over the recent past, but Bengal has been a huge failure on this front.

Heard gory stories of a Mamta Banerjee led Trinamul Congress supporter having his hands cut off by leftist goondas. Also of stories of massive petty corruption in railways , where a naive TC gets getting beaten out of his life if he demands certain passengers to show their tickets. Muslim dominated colonies that get free electricity and never have to pay any bill of any sort. Married hindu women who get molested at will by the leftist and muslim goons and police and public simply looks the other way.

Morcha maps demand

Calcutta/Darjeeling, May 22: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders today met Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Writers’ Buildings in Calcutta over their demand for Gorkhaland and handed him a map of the proposed area of the new state. [Inset: Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. Below: GJM President Bimal Gurung]

“We submitted a memorandum demanding a separate land for the Gorkhas. We also handed over a proposed map of Gorkhaland to the chief minister and requested him to arrange for a tripartite meeting in Delhi to discuss the issue as the hill people are linguistically and culturally different from the rest of Bengal,” said Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri.

The leader was talking to reporters after the one-and-a-half-hour-long meeting. The proposed area on the map includes Darjeeling, Siliguri, the Dooars and Terai.

Bhattacharjee, however, rejected the statehood demand and instead asked the Morcha to sit for talks so that the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Act can be strengthened through amendments.

“The chief minister has made it clear that he is willing to have discussions on the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Act and was in favour of increasing the autonomy of the body. But he insisted that there was no need of a separate state and said the economic development of Darjeeling was closely associated with Bengal,” said home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti.

According to the home secretary, Bhattacharjee asked the Morcha to steer clear of organisations like the Kamtapur Progressive Party and Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party. Both want Cooch Behar district to be declared a state and are supporting the Morcha in its Gorkhaland demand.

Sailing high

Namchi is embedded with some mesmerising destinations and is still largely unexplored, says Gopa Samanta

North Bengal has a lot of wonderful spots that keep attracting tourists from all corners of the world. Holidaying in an exotic place itself sounds enthralling and when it comes to be a Himalayan abode, the experience can be remarkable. A visit to Namchi, nestled among the hills, offering a charismatic panorama of snow-capped mountains, affords abundant pleasure. Namchi in the Sikkimese language means “top of the sky”. Although it is located at an altitude of 4,600 feet but staying here gives a feeling on the top of the world. Namchi is just 100 km from Siliguri. The district headquarter is fast becoming an important tourist destination in Sikkim for some of the best trek routes around. While on the treks, you can witness the magical beauty of this sedate town. It is also an important pilgrimage destination as it has the revered Namchi Monastery. With beautiful surroundings of high peaks, deep valleys and the Rangeet River, Namchi is not less than a picture postcard. The significant addition is the view of Mt Kanchenzunga from the hotel balcony (however, one must choose the location of hotels to capture this glimpse). However, Namchi still remains exotic with only Nepali, Bhutia and Lepcha people all around.

Namchi was a tiny village on the slope of a Himalayan peak until 1994, when the head-quarter of southern district of Sikkim shifted from Jorethang to this place. Since then it is gaining size by both in area and in population, and the government of Sikkim is trying hard to promote tourism in Namchi. Namchi boasts of the famous statue of Samdruptse (Guru Rinpoche) that is not less than 118 feet in height. Namchi also embraces the famous Rock Garden, Cottage Industry, Doling Gompa and Namchi Monastery.

Royal resurgence

The transition of the Himalayan kingdom, from a monarchy to parliamentary governance, promises to work wonders for its prospective citizens, says Swaati Chaudhury

There is every reason to rejoice for the citizens of the tranquil Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. The world’s last Shangrila embraced democracy following completion of its first historic parliamentary elections on 24 March, which brought to an end 100 years of monarchy. With the blessings of the fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck who has been instrumental in bringing the transition in the Himalayan Kingdom, a large number of discerning voters from across the Kingdom exercised their franchise.

The voter turnout for National Assembly elections held on 24 March was close to 80 per cent of the 318,465 registered voters, which is two per cent higher than the National Council elections. The female voters outnumbered the male and the highest numbers of registered voters were from Gelephu constituency. The democracy of the tiny Himalayan Kingdom is a comprehensive one with its prospective citizens blessed with the right to govern and can reap the benefits of democracy. All fundamental rights mentioned in the draft Constitution, which will be adopted by the new National Assembly are enshrined in the interest of the Bhutanese citizens. The polls have shown that the political parties, constitutional offices, bureaucracy, judiciary and the media will work towards the greater interest of the citizens.

Two political parties contested in the first parliamentary elections, which include the People’s Democratic Party (founded on 24 March, 2007) and Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (founded on 25 July, 2007). The Druk Phuensum Tshogpa has been declared the ruling party led by Lyonpo Jigmi Yoeser Thinley secured a landslide victory in Bhutan’s historic National Assembly elections winning 45 of the 47 seats to the National Assembly. The DPT won all the seats in the eastern, central and southern constituencies while the People’s Democratic Party won two seats in Gasa and Haa.

The Druk Phuensum Tshogpa has to shoulder larger responsibilities entrusted by the people of Bhutan to lay a strong foundation for a vibrant democracy initiated by the fourth Druk King of Bhutan. The victory of DPT is contributed to the fact that its party manifesto promised clean and corruption free government and urged to bring equity and justice on the lines of Gross National Happiness platform. The newly elected government will adopt the draft Constitution and structure the draft Tenth Five Year Plan to the party’s manifesto.

ICDS scam in Darjeeling alleged

DARJEELING, May 22: A scam involving job allocation under the home quota in the Integrated Child Welfare Development Services has erupted in the Pool Bazaar Block of Bijanbari. “Illegal monetary transactions were carried out between some of the home quota applicants and people claiming to belong to the RSP for the purpose,” alleged the Darjeeling MLA, Mr Pranoy Rai today.  “The home quota appointments are made at the discretion of the MLA and the minister of the Department of Women and Child Development. They were made without my knowledge,” said Mr Rai adding that it was illegal to misuse the quota specially meant for the poor and the invalid.

According to the MLA, the District Social Welfare Officer, Mr Anindo Chowdhury released 15 such appointments in the month of May, despite the controversy. The name of Mr Mani Kumar Rai of Chung Thung has surfaced in the whole episode. “I have given an ultimatum of one month to the Minister to initiate an inquiry failing which, I shall resign as the chairman of the appointment committee,” Mr Rai, said. Mr Rai has not received any intimation from the department regarding the inquiry so far. “I am leaving for Kolkata tomorrow and will take up the issue strongly with the state government,” he said denying any link with the RSP. [The Statesman]

Sikkim ready to host career fair next month

GANGTOK, May 22: To develop skill in the human resources sector in Sikkim, BARY Tourism Management Company (P) Ltd in collaboration with The Statesman would organise a three-day career fair ‘The Statesman Sikkim International Career and Education Fair 2008,’ next month.  In addition to domestic ones, participants from United Kingdom, Singapore, Nepal and Cyprus are expected in the fair. “We are also expecting Switzerland to participate in the fair. A university of Cyprus will sponsor a student from Sikkim after the fair,” said Mr Yash Gurung organiser of the fair. “About 45 educational institutions from the country would participate in the fair,” he added.

The fair would provide spot admission and some job guaranteed courses. “Almost all the big international national and local colleges are participating in the fair,” said Mr Gurung. “Computer institutes, management institutes and call centers would participate too,” he claimed.  The objective behind the fair is to provide local students exposure at their doorstep. “We would not charge any entry fee from the visitors and we would provide free transportation for students to attend the fair,” he added. The fair would be organised at the Guards Ground at Tatangchan on the outskirts of Gangtok. [The Statesman]

Siliguri intellectuals for demand abrogation of Indo-Nepal treaty

SILIGURI, May 22: A number of eminent intellectuals from Siliguri have demanded the abrogation of the 1950 Indo-Nepal Friendship Treaty as a means of restricting border movement from neighbouring Nepal into Darjeeling and Siliguri. “Passport-visa system should be introduced and the citizenship rights should be bestowed upon the genuine Indian Nepalis who had come into India prior to the signing of the treaty in 1950,” they demanded. They also expressed apprehension that if the movement along the border was not regularised through passport-visa system, the settlers might outnumber the original inhabitants posing a serious law and order threat in near future for the hills and the plains in Darjeeling district.

Mr Ashru Kumar Sikdar, an academician and writer, said today that it was queer that the border between two countries remained open for years. “It is being used by people from the neighbouring country to settle in several areas of Darjeeling district, particularly Siliguri,” he observed.

“The only way to control this problem is to abrogate the Indo-Nepal Friendship Treaty immediately. The Maoist leader Prachanda has already demanded revising the treaty in the changed political context. We cannot understand why the Government of India is not yet serious about the issue,” Mr Sikdar wondered. Incidentally, the external affairs minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee, who was in Kalimpong to inaugurate a water project recently, had said in response to Prachanda’s demand that India was open to talks with Nepal.

Mixed bag for left in north Bengal

COOCH BEHAR, May 22: The CPI-M may have lost control in the two panchayat samity seats in Cooch Behar district but the Left Front has retained the 10 remaining panchayat samities. The Forward Bloc was able to come out as the single largest party in three panchayat samities and the CPI-M in seven.
Of the 29 seats in Mathabhanga-I, the CPI-M bagged 24 and the Trinamul Congress 5. In Mathabhanga-II the CPI-M got 16 seats out of 29 seats and the Trinamul Congress won 13 seats.
In Dinhata-I the CPI-M won in 13 seats, Forward Bloc in 13, the Trinamul Congress in 2 and the Congress in 13 seats. Of the 33 Dinhata-II seats, the Forward Bloc bagged 18, the CPI-M 10 and the Trinamul Congress 5.
The party position in other panchayat samities is as follows:
Mekhliganj (21) : Forward Bloc -18, CPI-M -5, Congress -2; Sitalkuchi (24) : CPI-M -19, Forward Bloc -3, CPI -1, Trinamul Congress -1; Sitai (15) : FB -10, CPI-M -2, Independents -3; Tufanganj-I (35) : Trinamul Congress -16, BJP -2, Independent -2, CPI-M -15; Tufanganj-II (29) : Trinamul Congress -8, BJP -8, Congress -1, Independent -2, CPI-M -10; Cooch Behar-I (43) : CPI-M -15, Forward Bloc -13, Trinamul Congress -5, Congress -4, BJP -1, Independent -5; Cooch Behar-II (39) : CPI-M -23, Trinamul Congress -5, Forward Bloc -3, Congress -4, BJP -3, Independent -1; Haldibari (15) : CPI-M -8, Forward Bloc -6, Congress -1. [The Statesman]

Bedi for job fair

Siliguri, May 22: Kiran Bedi will be available to the youths of the region for her views on what a career should be like. The first woman IPS officer of the country and Magsaysay Award winner will be here on Saturday to inaugurate the fifth Siliguri Career Fair.

She will also participate in an interactive session on the same day on the pros and cons of a traditional career vis-a-vis a professional one.

The other speakers at the discussion will be G.S. Hora, the chairman of the CII’s North Bengal Zonal Council and Ravi Subba, the president of the West Bengal chapter of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.

“We hope the vice-chancellors of North Bengal University and the Sikkim Central University will also turn up for the discussion, and enlighten the youths on the career options open to them” said Sanjay Thapa, chief executive officer of SAPE Communication which is organising the fair in association with The Telegraph and Anandabazar Patrika.

Sikkim 10 do it alone-Expedition everest

Gangtok, May 22: For the first time, in an independent expedition, a 10-member team from the Sonam Gyatso Mountaineering Institute (SGMI), scaled Mount Everest this morning. [Inset: Mount Everest]

The expedition ended successfully when the mountaineers summitted the 8,848 metre peak from the south ridge on the Nepal side between 5.30am and 7.55am.

The past treks the members of the 43-year-old Gangtok-based institute had undertaken to the Mount Everest were part of the expeditions organised by other teams.

The scaling of the Everest was confirmed by Ang Tshering Sherpa, the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association which monitors every trek to the peak.

D.D. Bhutia was the first to reach the top at 5. 30 followed by Kunzang Gyatso Bhutia 10 minutes later. Both the Bhutias are instructors at the SGMI.

Girls rescued before job flight to Delhi

Siliguri, May 22: The GRP today rescued seven girls from a Delhi-bound train at Siliguri Junction station and detained two persons who were allegedly behind the trafficking attempt.

The girls from Barodighi Tea Estate in Jalpaiguri’s Malbazar were being lured away with the promise of jobs.

A member of the Child in Need Institute (CINI), which runs a drop-in centre near the station, spotted the girls, aged between 12 and 16 years. “When I saw the girls on the Mahananda Link Express, I asked the two persons accompanying them where they were taking the seven minors,” said Guddu Thakur, the CINI member who was on the platform around 10am before the train left the station. “As the duo failed to give me any satisfactory reply, I asked the girls who told me that they were being taken to Delhi. I immediately informed the GRP who rescued the minors.”

Nod to instant tea auction

Siliguri, May 22: The Tea Board of India has given its nod to the introduction of the instant auction (IA) system by the Siliguri Tea Auction Centre.

“The chairman of the board, Basudeb Banerjee, has approved the proposal that had come from the Siliguri Tea Auction Committee (STAC),” said H.M. Dwibedi, a consultant to the board. “Banerjee has signed on the letter that will be faxed to the STAC any moment.”

Siliguri will be the first tea auction centre in India to start the system.

“We are waiting for the approval,” said S.K. Saria, the chairman of the STAC. “A meeting of the sales advisory committee has been convened on Tuesday in which we will finalise the date for the implementation of the system. If everything goes as planned, we will start the new system on June 10,” he added.

A. Roy Choudhury, deputy director, Tea Board, north Bengal, said the new system would be subjected to a review after two months of its operation. He added that the system would be optional keeping in mind the opposition to it by a section of the industry.

The move by the STAC is an attempt to counter private sale, which accounts for almost 50 per cent of total business.

Twilight rides on toy train

Darjeeling, May 22: Steaming momos, folk music and Darjeeling in the twilight — tourists to this hill town can now experience all this on board the toy train.

For the first time in its history, the more-than-a-century-old Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) is set to chug uphill to Ghoom and back late in the evening.

“We have decided to start the evening services from tomorrow. We have hired a travel agent to run the show and there will be lot of additional services on offer,” Subrata Nath, the director of the DHR,  said over the phone from Siliguri.

The two rides will start at 3pm and 5.30pm respectively and will have attendants on-board and folk songs playing over speakers fitted in each coach. [Inset: New attraction for tourists on board the DHR]

To top it all, those who take the 5.30 train can look forward to a sumptuous dinner on the terrace of the Darjeeling railway station once the ride ends.

“The on-board attendants will serve mineral water, chocolates, sandwiches, tea or coffee and steaming momos to the passengers as soon as the ride starts. The three coaches will also have music systems that will play local folk songs to capture the essence of the culture of the Himalayas,” said Sanjoy Goswami, the director of the Siliguri-based KBS Tours and Travels, which will run the services for the railways for five years.