Rains wash away road

PAKYONG, June 03: Following incessant rains in the last few days, a stretch of the road and culvert at Basnet Gaon here have been washed away. Only light vehicles can negotiate this path.  Two staff service buses from Pakyong and Rongli are passing through this stretch by emptying the seats with the passengers crossing on foot. At present, the Border Road Organisation has temporarily stopped the road carpeting works and have installed two pipes under the road for the water to pass through.

Similarly, the road at Vharlang, near Rorathang is submerged by flood waters. The concerned department has begun restoration works. Residents say that heavy rains may completely wash away the road. Residents also complain that due to improper management of the drainage system, the water from Namcheybong, Pakyong New Market, St. Xavier’s School and surrounding areas flow towards Basnet Gaon, which may cause damage during heavy rains.

High level SSB delegation on a border recce

GANGTOK, June 03: The Director General, Sashastra Seema Bal (MHA), Gopal Sharma (IPS), IG, Frontier Hqr Patna, DR Doley Barman (IPS) and DIG, Sector Hqr Ranidanga, HC Pandey visited the Indo-Nepal Border in West Sikkim from May 31 to June 3. During their visit to Coy Headquarters and Circle Office, Uttarey, Mr. Sharma interacted with the local population and donated three computers along with the accessories to Government Secondary School, Uttarey. Since the deployment of SSB on Indo-Nepal Border, SSB is engaged in multifarious developmental activities in the border villages of Sikkim, informs a press release. The SSB director general also visited 24th Bn Hqr and Area Hqr Gangtok on June 2 and asked SSB Officers and personnel to maintain cordial relations with the local population and be a role model in their locations.

The Director General also called on Governor Sudarshan Agarwal and Chief Minister Pawan Chamling yesterday and apprised them about the SSB activities and future plans. [Sikkim Express]

ATM fraud victim seeks damages

Kalimpong, June 4: The victim of a recent ATM fraud, Bijay Baraily, has threatened the State Bank of India (SBI) with legal action if it fails to release by June 15 the Rs 1.23 lakh that was withdrawn from his account by another person with the same name.

In a letter to Sushanta Chakraborty, the chief manager of the SBI’s Kalimpong branch, Bijay has also sought compensation at the rate of nine per cent. “Failing which I will be compelled to seek redressal of my grievance at the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in Darjeeling,” said the former jawan of Eastern Frontier Rifles.

Bijay’s one-time neighbour and namesake Bijay Baraily, alias Robin, had got hold of the ATM card when it was wrongly delivered to him in early April. Robin had gone to the Kalimpong branch of the SBI and got the personal identification number (PIN) by posing as Bijay. Between April 9 and May 12, Robin with the connivance of George Rai and Robert Young had withdrawn money from Bijay’s account through the card.

The trio were arrested on May 20 and are still in jail. The money could not be recovered.

Bijay, however, has argued that the entire episode could have been avoided had the bank verified the name, address and signature of Robin according to procedure before giving him the PIN.

“As such this deficiency of service on the part of SBI has caused grievous financial loss to me at a critical moment,” Bijay’s letter said.

When contacted, the SBI manager said Bijay’s case is being looked into, but refused to set a timeframe to address his grievance.

Praful Rao, the secretary of the Kalimpong Consumers’ Association, said the bank should own up to its mistake and compensate Bijay at the earliest. [The Telegraph]

Money aid for jawan mom

Krishna receives the cheque from Tamta on Wednesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, June 4: Vinod Rai, a constable of the Central Reserve Police Force, had died while fighting Naxalites nearly two years ago. Today, his mother Krishna was given a cheque for Rs 7.5 lakh.

Kundanlal Tamta, the police chief of north Bengal, handed over the cheque as compensation to the late constable’s mother at the CRPF’s Siliguri group centre, located about 5km from town.

Krishna will also get Rs 3 lakh from the risk fund of the force and Rs l0 lakh from a group insurance policy.

Vinod, who was with the 171 Battalion of the force that had raided a Maoist hideout, was killed by the rebels in Bankura.

“I never expected this in life,” was Krishna’s first reaction after receiving the compensation.

“I wish such a situation should never happen to any other person,” the mother added.

The resident of Sikkim’s Rakdung village had come to take the cheque with her younger son Vikram, who is still in junior school.

On December 15, 2006, Rajesh Kumar, the then Bankura district police chief, got a tip-off that a group of Maoist rebels was holding a meeting at Bagdubi in Barikul.

Ban on plastic fails to take off

Siliguri, June 4: Although two months have elapsed since the Siliguri Municipal Corporation had announced the phasing out of plastic in town, nothing substantial has been done by the authorities to implement the programme.

At the monthly board meeting of the SMC on March 26, Mayor Bikash Ghosh had announced that as a first step, a ban on plastic bags with less than 40 microns in thickness would be in place from June.

Shopkeepers found violating the order would be fined Rs 500 on the spot, while the penalty for individuals would be Rs 50.

It was also announced that a massive campaign would be carried out in April and May to make people aware of the need to discard plastic.

But there is hardly any visible sign of the campaign. Not a single hoarding has come up in town announcing the ban and the ill effects of plastic.

A scroll on the ban on a local cable channel and small advertisements in two newspapers sum up the campaign, an official of the conservancy department said.

A senior official attributed the delay in enforcing the ban to the panchayat election.

“Because of the polls, the councillors had to go to the added wards in Jalpaiguri for campaigning,” the official said.

Authorities have also said the drive against plastic took a back seat because the administration was preoccupied with the agitation by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

The official, however, said the member mayor-in-council (conservancy), Mukul Sengupta, would be taking “concrete steps” to enforce the ban on his return from a tour around June 8.

Tax slash born of political need – Govt gives up Rs 500 crore to ease burden

Two-wheelers line up at a petrol pump in Jalpaiguri on Wednesday afternoon to tank up before the price rise. Picture by Biplab Basak

Calcutta, June 4: The Bengal government today took the political initiative to reduce duties on petrol and diesel to soften the burden of the price hike and send a message to voters ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The decision to forgo Rs 500 crore by slashing the sales tax on fuel comes after the reverses the CPM suffered in the recent panchayat polls and considering that the general elections could be only a few months away.

Finance minister Asim Dasgupta cut the sales tax on petrol from 25 per cent to 20 per cent, leading to a reduction in its price by Rs 2.12 a litre.

In case of diesel, the cut is from 17 per cent to 12.5 per cent. It would lessen the hike by Rs 1.38 a litre.

The new rates would be effective from midnight.

The government’s initiative to reduce the sales tax on fuel comes after a decade.

The CPM’s “political need’’ for the step is borne out by the cash-strapped government’s willingness to incur a revenue loss to the tune of Rs 500 crore.

Big screen debut for students – Inox host to wannabe spielbergs

The production team of Subha in front of Inox on Wednesday. A Telegraph picture

Darjeeling, June 4: The swanky auditorium at Inox here was bustling with activity at nine this morning. But the packed hall had not come to watch the latest Steven Spielberg movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, currently being screened at the multiplex here.

Rather, the attraction was a number of wannabe Spielbergs, who took their first wobbling steps. Three graduating films made by the students of St Joseph’s College (North Point) made it to the big screen for the first time today.

“We always used to joke that one day our films would be screened in this auditorium and when it actually happened, the emotions were too big,” said Mikma Tshering Lepcha, the music composer of Subha, which deals with child molestation.

Lepcha, however, said the students had no watertight roles as directors or editors. Everybody switched roles according to the film’s requirements.

The first graduating batch from the department of mass communication and journalism in North Point were divided into three groups, each consisting of nine students, who were asked to make “proper” films.

“The show they have put up today has made us proud. They still have to travel a long way but the early steps are encouraging,” said Vikram Rai, a lecturer of the department.

The other film, A Thin Line, was based on the trials and tribulations of teenagers. It also explored the problems faced by gays. Except for the third film 13 13, which ran precisely 13 minutes and 13 seconds, the other two were about 20-25 minutes each.

For students like Gayatri Bhandari from Bhutan, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. “I am now confident that I can go the distance. I want to return to my country and do something,” he said. [The Telegraph]

Boy axed for clicking teacher – Smut clips on cellphone of Class IX student shocks school

Malda, June 4: A Class IX boy of a school here was suspended after he was caught clicking one of the woman teachers of the school on his mobile last Saturday.

The teacher spotted the boy taking her photograph and had seized the cellphone.

“She then called us and we were shocked to see many obscene photographs saved in the phone memory. We immediately summoned the boy’s parents and placed him under suspension,” a senior teacher of the school said.

The 15-year-old, however, is good in studies and this dark side of his has shocked the teachers.

“He was always very attentive and scored well in his examinations. But this has left us devastated. If this kind of tendency is there in other students as well it will be a matter of concern,” the teacher said.

The secretary of the school managing committee and veteran member of the Malda Bar Association, Subir Bhowmik, was out of station.

“The decision on whether to expel the boy or suspend him for a period will be taken at a meeting of the managing committee to be held as soon as the secretary returns,” the headmaster of the school said.

Wait for first monsoon shower

Lightning zig-zags across the sky over Loleygaon near Kalimpong on Wednesday. (Chinlop Fudong Lepcha)

Siliguri, June 4: After a relatively mild summer, north Bengal is all set to welcome the first monsoon rain “any time now” and it will be a heavy one, says the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

In the daily monsoon forecast yesterday, the IMD warned of isolated heavy to very heavy rain in sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, along with the Northeast, Kerala, coastal Karnataka and Lakshadweep.

“Because of fractured cloud formation, heavy precipitation has not been possible so far. We expect depression to become bigger in the next few days and the region will get the first monsoon showers,” said Subir Sarkar, the in-charge of the weather station of North Bengal University.

G.N. Raha, a meteorologist at the Regional Met Office in Jalpaiguri, said his department was waiting for rains to make the official announcement of the monsoon arrival. “The conditions are favourable and it should rain any time now,” he added.

In the District Level Ensemble Weather Forecast issued by the IMD today, it will rain 12.1mm on June 5, 22.2mm on June 6 and 9.7mm on June 7 in Darjeeling district.

Officers at MP ‘baggage’ service

By VIVEK CHHETRI and The Telegraph Bureau

Darjeeling/Delhi, June 4: A set of guidelines for liaison officers who will accompany MPs visiting Darjeeling later this week has instructed the civil servants of gazetted rank to even “handle the baggage” of the politicians.

The guideline issued by the Lok Sabha secretariat is for the 23 liaison officers who have been told to “render assistance in all possible manner for comfortable stay/journey” to the equal number of MPs and officials of the central government coming to Darjeeling for a three day visit on Saturday.

The team from Delhi will go on an inspection tour of the projects undertaken with the MP local area development fund.

The liaison officers include four WBCS officers on probation and joint BDOs, besides other officers of gazetted rank.

All of them have been asked to “escort the members and officers accompanying the committee from their respective hotel rooms (and) to take them to their respective cars”, apart from “help(ing) in handling their baggage”.

This is not all. The officers have been told to be polite and courteous at all times and are expected to “assist the officers accompanying the committee in arranging/purchasing the air and rail tickets against exchange vouchers/identity cards/cash”.

“The job is almost like tour guides and bell boys, all rolled into one,” said a civil servant in disgust, for the guidelines say the liaison officers “should have knowledge about places to be visited and about the route”.

“Add to it the baggage handling,” the bureaucrat added. The officers have been also advised “not to enter the rooms meant for interaction/discussion and they should be with the members at all places starting from arrival at airport, railway station till departure”.

Price blow, strike bonus

Petrol and diesel price increases will be lower because of the sales tax cuts

New Delhi/Calcutta, June 4: The long-feared oil price increase was announced today but the blast from Delhi was outgunned by the boom of twin bandhs in Bengal — and only in Bengal, among the larger states.

The Manmohan Singh government raised the price of petrol by about Rs 5, of diesel by about Rs 3 and of cooking gas by Rs 50 a cylinder. The increases would perhaps have been more had it not simultaneously announced waiver of the 5 per cent import duty on crude oil and a Re 1 cut in excise duties on petrol and diesel.

Not to be outdone, the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-led government in Bengal reduced sales taxes on petrol and diesel, which will directly benefit consumers. Instead of the Rs 5 rise in petrol price the consumer would have had to bear, the burden will be Rs 2.12 less and for diesel, instead of Rs 3, about Rs 1.38 less.

Similar benefits from the cuts in central taxes will not accrue to the consumer because these will be diverted to oil companies groaning under losses from rising international prices that they have been subsidising in the domestic market.

Without these cuts, prices would have had to be raised by Rs 16 a litre, according to some estimates, to narrow the gap between international and domestic prices.

Amid calls for rollback and the Prime Minister’s resignation, Manmohan Singh found the occasion momentous enough to speak to the nation, describing the step as “inevitable”.

“It must be appreciated what has been done is the bare minimum with a substantial burden being borne by the government and the oil companies.”

While the BJP likened the increase to “unleashing economic terror” on the nation, the Prime Minister faced worse from his allies. Prakash Karat, the CPM general secretary, said: “This is not a marginal hike, this is a substantial hike and it will have a very deleterious effect on the people who are already suffering from the price rise of essential commodities.”

Other allies, such as Lalu Prasad’s RJD and the DMK, also opposed the increase.

Gurkhas challenge pension policy in court

LONDON (AFP) — Three former Nepalese Gurkhas challenged the government’s pensions policy, which they said had left them struggling to survive, in the High Court in London on Tuesday. Their case relates to an offer made by the British defence ministry in March 2007 to transfer pensions’ benefits from the existing scheme for Gurkhas, the Gurkha Pension Scheme, into the more mainstream Armed Forces Pension Schemes (AFPS).

The ministry offered to transfer the value of the GPS pensions into the AFPS for periods of military service after July 1, 1997, which lawyers for the trio argue unfairly prejudices older retiring Gurkhas, whose service was primarily before that date. Lawyers for the ministry insist, however, that its conduct has been neither irrational nor discriminatory, as the Gurkhas’ lawyers argue.

‘These men are having a terrific struggle on the money they receive,’ Philippa Tuckman, a lawyer for the three — Kumar Shrestha, Kamal Purja and Sambahadur Gurung — said outside the court. ‘They have fought for us and served in the British Army all over the world and helped train our soldiers … all they are doing is seeking pensions that are fair and comparable with those of other Army servicemen.’ The three are all in their 30s, but were forced to retire early because of ill health. The hearing is expected to last three days, with a judgment expected at a later date.

Thousands of Gurkha veterans demonstrated in London in March and about 50 gave back military medals in protest at ‘disgracefully low’ pensions and the fact they do not have the automatic right to live in Britain. Nepalese Gurkhas have been part of the British army for nearly 200 years and around 200,000 fought for Britain in World Wars I and II. More than 45,000 have been killed serving Britain. Around 3,500 Gurkhas currently serve in the British army. Prince Harry paid tribute to the Gurkhas for protecting him when he was on a recent tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Sloth Bear At Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling

Sloth Bear At Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling

Photo by el_condor (Courtesy Travelpod)

Opposition SHRPP alleges harassment of its cadre by SDF

SHRPP (REGIONAL NEWS – EAST)
Created on : 06/03/2008 20:01 (PRI)

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Gangtok, Jun 3 (PTI) The Sikkim Himali Rajya Parishad Party (SHRPP) today charged the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) government led by chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling with resorting to intimidation and harassment of its cadre in order to stifle the voice of opposition.

Accusing the ruling party of virtually putting the state in a state of ‘undeclared emergency’, SHRPP spokesman Biraj Adhikari told reporters here that its cadre, including the top leadership, were being subjected to harassment and threat by Chamling’s men so that the opposition could be deterred from highlighting the misrule of the SDF government.

‘The vehicles of two of our top leaders, position could be deterred from highlighting the misrule of the SDF government.

‘The vehicles of two of our top leaders, including the SHRPP president A D Subba were set on fire by the SDF cadre, another SHRPP worker Thukchuk Lachenpa has been framed by the police at the instance of the ruling party in a bridge collapse case,’ he said.

Condemning the SDF government of targetting the opposition party leaders and workers by damaging their properties and framing them in false criminal cases, Adhikari urged the governor Sudarshan Agrawal as well as the Centre to step in to protect the democratic fabric in the border state. PTI KDK MM 06032007 DEL

GJM extends ‘fast unto death’ to Salugara

Siliguri, Jun 4 (PTI) The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) today extended its ‘fast unto death’ programme to Salugara two days after launching the agitation, demanding permission to hold a public rally at Naxalbari.

A fresh batch of seven party supporters went on strike at at Salugara today, GJM General Secretary, Roshan Giri said.

Eleven GJM activists went on the hunger strike in front of the Block Development Officer’s office at Naxalbari on June 2 and another batch of 11 joined the fasting at Bagdogra yesterday.

The hunger strike was launched to protest against denial of permission to hold a public rally on May 25 and June 1 earlier.

Giri, who came down heavily on the state administration, alleged that the West Bengal government’s policy not to allow public meeting to a political party, was autocratic and an attempt to throttle the voice of democracy.

‘If there was no positive response from the civil administration by today, GJM would further extend its ‘fast unto death’ programme to Siliguri tomorrow,’ he told PTI over phone. (More) PTI UBR DD cr RAP 06041420 DEL

Stating that a sixty-year old party supporter had also joined the hunger strike at Naxalbari, Giri said if the health condition of the strikers deteriorated, the civil administration and the state government would be held responsible.

GJM 2 LAST (REGIONAL NEWS – EAST)
Created on : 06/04/2008 13:58 (PRI)

The SDO, Siliguri, Smita Pandey told PTI that she had not yet received any instruction from her higher-ups but was keeping a strict vigil over the situation.

The health condition of all the strikers was normal, she said quoting reports of the doctors of the medical team present at the spot.

The Additional Superintendent of Police Rajesh Yadav said that sufficient police personnel were deployed to maintain law and order.

He could not confirm tomorrow’s GJM programme of extending the strike here to Siliguri police but would make necessary security arrangements if needed, Yadav said. PTI UBR DD cr PS 06041354 K 06041402 DEL
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