Shamans in Darjeeling during Guru Purnima

Videos by Barun Roy

India wins AFC challenge cup 08, Qualifies for Asia Cup

BY KAMAL PRADHAN

New Delhi: India put up a great show by defeating Tajikistan at the finals of AFC cup. The Star football player Sunil Chhetri scored three goals while Bhaichung Bhutia could score one goal for Indi, throwing some 13,000 spectators at Ambedkar Stadium into cheers. India qualified for the Asian Cup after a 24-year gap with a fluent 4-1 victory over Tajikistan in the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup. It is a glorious moment  for theIndian football fraternity since football in India has seen a new phase. The event was held at Ambedkar stadium with spectators more than 10000 waiting to see their Indian fotball heroes. A group  Gorkhas were seen cheering up for indian team and specially for sunil Chhetri and Bhaichung Bhutia, hoilding placards written “go Chhetri go” and “mera bharat mahaan”.After the match was over Delhi Gorkha boy Sunil Chhetri applauded the crowd, the efforts of his team and said “bhaichung has been a great leader” The hat trick by Sunil Chhetri will ever be remembered in the football history of India. The Gorkhas of Darjeeling, Sikkim, Dooars, Assam were  rejoiced with this victory and hat trick by Sunil Chhetri who expressed their happiness to each other and congratulated the Indian team led by Bhaichung Bhutia.

Prachanda says closed industries in Nepal will be reopened

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

By Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Aug 16 (PTI) Newly elected Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal today said the industries and business enterprises in Nepal which were closed due to the Maoist threats in the past will be reopened.

Maoist chief Dahal popularly known as Prachanda, who waged a decade-long armed struggle against monarchy, was yesterday elected as Democratic Nepal’s first Prime Minister in a one-sided race in the Constituent Assembly.

Dahal, during a meeting today at his Baluwatar residence with a business delegation led by chairman of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries Kush Kumar Joshi, said the government will make efforts to reopen all those industries which were closed due to the threats issued by Maoist trade union workers or by other armed groups.

The prime minister assured that he will also make efforts to reopen the highways in eastern Nepal which have remained closed for the past one week following killing of a truck driver by unidentified gunmen, said noted industrialist Rajendra Khetan, who is also adviser of the FNCCI and a member of the Constituent Assembly.

Thousands of passengers have been stranded and supplies of essential commodities have been halted in eastern Nepal due to the indefinite transport strike.

Jitender sails into fly weight quarters in Olympics

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEWS SHARED BY AARDEE

Beijing, Aug 16 (PTI) Jitender Kumar out-punched Uzbek Tulashboy Doniyorov in an ill-tempered bout to set up a tough quarterfinal clash against three-time European champion Georgy Balakshin of Russia in the boxing competition’s 51kg category at the Olympics here today.

The 21-year-old Haryana boxer, who is on his maiden Olympic trip, clinched the issue 13-6 to move into the last-eight stage and inch closer to a medal.

In a bout marred by frayed tempers, Jitender led all the way before rounding it off in style with a left jab.

The Indian started confidently taking a 4-1 lead in the opening round and extended it to 5-1 at the of the second round.

Frustration began to show on Doniyorov in the third round and unable to connect punches, the 27-year-old Uzbek resorted to some wrestling inside the boxing ring.

The fury didn’t do any good to his chances and Doniyorov was penalised two points for rough play as Jitender continued with his aggressive assault to stretch his lead to 11-4 by the end of the third round.

With Doniyorov letting his anger get the better of him, Jitender was in control of the proceedings but even he lost his cool in the beginning of the fourth round inviting a two-point penalty.

But that hardly made a difference to the final scoreline as Jitender stamped his authority with a combination of uppercuts and jabs, outmaneuvering his rival in tactics.

Ghising’s wife passes away

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Subash Ghisingh with his wife Dhanmaya Ghisingh at Siliguri

SILIGURI: Dhanmaya Gurung, wife of beleaguered Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) supremo Subash Ghising, died here today.

Gurung, who was suffering from various ailments for a long time, died while being taken to hospital from a guesthouse in the outskirts of the town at around 8:30 am, IG (North Bengal) K L Tamta said.

The GNLF supremo, who had been forced to leave his home in Darjeeling town following violent protests by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) activists on July 25, had been staying at the Teesta Project bungalow of the irrigation department at Tinbati More for the past 20 days.

Gurung had accompanied Ghising along with other family members from the hill resort to the plains on the face of violent GJM protests following death of a supporter on that day.

Guru Purnima celebrated by Shamans and lay in Darjeeling Hills

Shamans and commoners all worship Goddess Kali besides unknown mystic Gods on the occasion of Guru Purnima. Darjeeling Hills is draped in festivity and Shamans are the distinct part of Gorkha culture. All photos by Barun Roy

Buddhadeb calls for united action

FROM THE HINDU

NEWS SHARED BY AARDEE

KOLKATA: Calling for greater resolve and united action to resist separatist, communal and fundamentalist forces, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Friday that development work cannot progress unless the country was free from the threat of terrorism.

“The danger posed by terrorism has become a matter of grave concern at the international and national levels,” he said in his Independence Day address.

On the economic front, there was a need for better planning at the national level to check the rising inflation, the declining trend in agricultural production and the hike in the prices of essential commodities that was burdening the common man. The successes in agriculture achieved in West Bengal had to be consolidated. But the State’s plans for industrialisation were encountering some obstacles, he admitted.

“We have repeatedly made known our views that these [obstacles] must be overcome through consensus and discussions with all [concerned],” Mr. Bhattacharjee asserted.

The atmosphere in the State was conducive to investment. Industrialists from both within the country and overseas were coming to invest. “We will have to ensure that the trend is maintained,” the Chief Minister said.

DSA wants more Chhetris, but the striker says not enough money for that to happen

FROM INDIAN EXPRESS

By Saikat Sarkar

NEWS SHARED BY AARDEE

After his sensational hat trick in India’s AFC Cup final win over Tajikistan, Delhi boy Sunil Chhetri is reaping rich accolades and rewards from all quarters. From everywhere but the Delhi Soccer Association.

DSA secretary NK Bhatia, however, said a felicitation was well on its way and would be done soon. “The DSA president (Subhash Chopra) is out of station right now. Once he comes back, we will sit together and there will definitely be a felicitation programme.

For this we will speak to the chief minister and various other officials. We also need to take care of Chhetri’s other commitments during this period,” Bhatia told Sportline.

The DSA secretary, meanwhile, stressed the need of more players like Chhetri to revive the sagging fortunes of the Delhi team. “We want more Sunil Chhetris. At this point, we don’t have anybody close to him, but the DSA is running short-term, medium term and long-term programmes under the Vision India Delhi pilot project.

The process is already on.” The process may be on and India might have found an able substitute to slip into Bhaichung Bhutia’s shoes, but Delhi still are gasping to find a player of similar calibre.

Delhi coach Tarun Roy made a significant point in saying that Chhetri wouldn’t have been a name had he not gone outside Delhi. “Whatever Sunil Chettri has earned is because of his decision to move out of Delhi. Had he stayed here, he wouldn’t have made it this big. His services to the state has been immense and he needs to be rewarded,” Roy said.

Akhil stuns world champion, one win away from Olympic medal

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEWS SHARED BY AARDEE

Beijing, Aug 15 (PTI) Akhil Kumar did the unthinkable and upstaged world champion Sergey Vodopyanov in an edge-of-the-seat thriller to put himself just one win away from an Olympic medal here tonight. [Inset: Akhil Kumar. Photo by AFP]

The Haryana boxer, trailing 2-6 at one stage drew parity in the dying seconds and won on points to reach the quarterfinal of the 54kg category at the Workers’ Gymnasium.

Though the boxer insists he is not ready to settle for anything less than the gold, he would be assured of a medal if he wins his quarterfinal bout on Sunday.

The Russian world champion grabbed early initiative and had a slight edge in both the rounds as he raced to a 6-2 lead midway through the third round.

To make it even more difficult for the Indian, the Russian used both the orthodox and southpaw stance but it did not really paid off as

Akhil went on the offensive.

Akhil eventually prevailed in the third round to reduce the gap (7-8 ) and then in the final round, landed a couple of punches on the Russian to drew parity at 9-9.

With both the boxers levelled at 9-9, the Indian was declared the winner on points.

“It was not easy, for he is the world champion but once I levelled the score, I knew I cannot lose,” said Akhil, bathed in sweat.

“It’s not possible to assure you of the gold but I can tell you that I’m here to win only gold,” said the boxer, oozing confidence. PTI

Nepal braces for revolution with ex-warlord as PM

FROM YAHOO NEWS

KATHMANDU (AFP) – Nepal, the world’s newest republic, is set for more major change after the Maoist leader and former warlord Prachanda was appointed prime minister and promised to deliver a left-wing revolution.

The charismatic leader — whose nom-de-guerre means “the fierce one” — was overwhelmingly voted in as the impoverished country’s most powerful man in a vote by lawmakers on Friday evening.

His ascent from rebel to national leader clears the way for his band of ultra-leftists, who feature on a United States terrorist blacklist, to plough ahead with their vow to radically reform the country.

Nepal has already undergone momentous change over the past two years, which have seen the Maoists end a decade-long revolt and sign up for peace, unpopular king Gyanendra sidelined and then sacked, and a 240-year-old monarchy abolished.

Maoist number-two and top ideologue Baburam Bhattarai hailed a “golden dawn” — and more historic change.

“We feel that Nepal has found its hero. For any epoch-changing society, we need a hero,” he said of Prachanda , a 53-year-old former school teacher.

“After Europe’s capitalist revolution, Napoleon came along. To institutionalise socialism in Russia , Lenin appeared. In Nepal, to institutionalise the federal democratic republic after 10 years of People’s War and mass popular movement, Pranchanda is here.

“We have already finished destroying the roots of feudalism in Nepal. Under the leadership of Prachanda , the main agenda of the new administration will be nationalism, republicanism, economic and social transformation,” he said.

In April, Prachanda steered his party to victory in elections for a new national assembly, set up as part of a peace deal to abolish the monarchy and write a new constitution.

India, US hail Prachanda’s victory

FROM SULEKHA NEWS HOOPER

Kathmandu, Aug 15 (IANS) Within minutes of Maoist supremo Prachanda winning Nepal’s first prime ministerial election by a thumping victory, congratulations poured in from India and the US, the two countries the Maoists have been accusing of trying to prevent them from coming to power.

While it had taken India several days to congratulate Nepal’s first president Ram Baran Yadav after his electon last month, despite his heavy engagements on India’s 62nd Independence Day, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent a lightning message of congratulations to Prachanda, inviting him to New Delhi.

“On behalf of the government and the people of India, and on my own behalf, please accept my felicitations and congratulations on your election as prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal,” Singh’s message said.

‘I look forward to working with you to further develop the bonds of good neighbourliness that unite our peoples and nations, and to deepen the friendly relations that so happily exist between our two countries. We in south Asia share linked destinies, and are engaged in a common struggle against poverty, disease and hunger. India will continue to stand by the people and government of Nepal in consolidating your peaceful democratic transition and in your developmental efforts.

Singh said that he also looked forward to meeting Prachanda in the near future and would be happy to receive him in New Delhi as India’s state guest at his earliest convenience.

The US, which still considers the Maoists as a terrorist organisation, sent a message comgratulating “Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal”.

Finally, Nepal gets its govt: Prachanda is PM, his Maoists will control Defence

FROM INDIAN EXPRESS

By Yubaraj Ghimire

Kathmandu, August 15: Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, more popularly known as Prachanda, was elected Prime Minister of Nepal today, defeating his only opponent Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress Party by an overwhelming majority.

The direct contest saw Prachanda getting 464 votes of the 577 ballots cast in the 601-strong Constituent Assembly. Three parties – Nepal Mazdoor Kisan Party, Rashtriya Jana Shakti and Rastriya Janamorcha – abstained from the voting.

As Speaker Subash Nemwang declared Prachanda the winner, Deuba conceded defeat and assured that his party would extend full support in preparing the Constitution. The Congress has decided to sit in the opposition.

Prachanda, chief of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (CPN-M), was backed by two other major parties – the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) and the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) – and other smaller parties.

Japanese decorator goes to Himalayas in search of the elusive yeti

FROM TELEGRAPH UK

By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
Last Updated: 7:08PM BST 15 Aug 2008

Yoshiteru Takahashi, 65, claims to have seen a group of three yetis on his last visit to Nepal, in 2003, but maintains that the light quality during the evening sightings was too poor for him to take photographs.

This time – his fifth such mission – his seven-strong team is equipped with state-of-the-art motion-sensitive photographic equipment and they plan to position it along a ridge at an altitude of 4,800 metres in a range of mountains some 200 km from Kathmandu.

“The ones that I saw were small, around 85 cm tall, but it was getting dark and it was difficult to see them properly,” said Mr Takahashi.

“I don’t know what they are, but they appear to be some sort of hybrid of chimp or orangutang without a tail.”

Mr Takahashi and his team plan to stay at their base camp for six weeks to catch a glimpse of a creature, which he described as “shy”.

He traces his obsession with a creature that many believe is mythical to his first visit to the Himlayas, in 1971.

“I have climbed the Dhaulagiri (White Mountain) massif four times, and every time, I saw footprints of the yeti,” he said.

“In 1971, one of my expedition members saw one of these creatures.

“It looked like a gorilla,” he said. “It was only 15 metres away from him and watching for about 40 seconds,” he said.

“It was about 150 cm tall and stood on its hind legs, like a man. Its head was covered with long, thick hair and he was certain it was not a bear or a monkey.”

In another visit to the region in 1994, Takahashi discovered what he describes as a “bolt-hole,” a natural cave that stretched back 5 metres into a rock face at 5,000 metres above sea level.

“Animals had definitely visited the cave and there were more of the footprints in the snow around the mouth of the cavern,” he said.

Unfortunately, his camera failed and he couldn’t record his find.

“The footprints that I saw were similar to the one photographed by British explorers Eric Shipton and Michael Ward in 1951,” Takahashi said.

Found in the Gauri Shankar pocket, those prints were fresh when the mountaineers chanced upon them. The trail continued for nearly 2 km until it finally disappeared on hard ice.

Maoist chairman Prachanda elected as first republican PM of Nepal

FROM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda has been elected as the first Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal today.

Prachanda – Prime Minister of Nepal

Kathmandu, August 15: Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has been elected as the first Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal today.

Following the election at the Constituent Assembly in New Baneshwor, the Constituent Assembly Chairman Subash Chandra Nemwang announced Dahal’s victory after 438 votes were cast against his rival Nepali Congress candidate and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Out of the 551 Constituent Assembly members who took part in today’s voting, 464 voted in Dahal’s favour

Nepali Congress (NC) candidate for the Prime Minister’s post Deuba was quickly dumped out from the race with only 113 votes.

According to Kantipur, the former Maoist rebels, who re-joined mainstream politics in 2006, were slated to win the post from the start.

Before the votes were cast, all factors had already indicated that Maoist Chairman ‘Prachanda’, whose party emerged as the single largest party in the Constituent Assembly (CA) after the April 10 elections, would win the race for the premiership and become the new Prime Minister.

A majority of the political parties had said they would support the Maoist chairman’s bid for the premiership at today’s legislative session of the Constituent Assembly (CA), at the International Convention Centre in Kathmandu.

Gov’t probing jail break in south Nepal

FROM PEOPLE’S DAILY ONLINE

Nepali government on Thursday formed a three-member probe panel to investigate into the incident related to Siraha jailbreak, local newspaper The Rising Nepal reported on Friday.

The probe panel headed by director general of Prison Management Department Anil Kumar Pandey is assigned to investigate into the case and prepare a report with recommendations within a week, Home Ministry said on Thursday.

The panel has been asked to probe the cause of jailbreak and negligence of the staff. The government has also asked the panel to recommend the prize to the security personnel who risked their lives to discharge their duty, the home Ministry said.

Fifty-four inmates escaped from the Siraha jail, some 150 south of Nepali capital Kathmandu in Wednesday evening injuring policeman Tanalal Yadav, a sentry on duty.

Sonelal Yadav, an inmate sentenced for involvement in drugs trafficking, was killed on the spot when the sentry opened fire.

The jailbirds succeeded to break free when the sentry police was injured after being hit by a ladder, which they were using to climb up to the attic of the jail building everyday.

Sporting activities mark first day of I-Day celebrations at Soreng

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

SORENG, August 14: The two day long 61st Independence Day celebrations commenced from today at Soreng ground on a sporting note. Sports minister PS Goley attended the first day celebrations as the Chief Guest along with tourism minister and area MLA, RB Subba as the guest of honour. The day’s activities began with an open marathon race for boys and girls. Male contestants had to run 12 kms from Zoom Fatak to Soreng ground while the girls had to run a distance of 7 kms from Chakung bazaar to Soreng ground.

Surjay Hang Subba outlasted the other competitors to claim the first position in the boy’s category followed by Chandra Hand Subba and Suman Subba in second and third place respectively. Sarita Sunwar won the girl’s meet followed by Ranju Subba and Ambika Chettri. The top three received cash prizes of Rs.5,000, Rs.3,000 and Rs.2,000 respectively. The marathon event was followed by an inter school debate at the auditorium hall of the Soreng Senior Secondary School that was organized by Hemakarna and Sancha Rani Subba Memorial Trust in the name of late father and mother of the area MLA RB Subba.

The topic of debate was “English is the most suitable medium of introduction in the School of Sikkim”. The final day of the debate competition saw Soreng and Chakung Senior Secondary schools hotly contest each other. Finally, Soreng school was adjudged the winner. Awkash Kharel student of Tharpu Secondary School was selected as the best speaker in entire debate competition. Rodhi Pariwar of Buriakhop won the open cultural competition for NGOs.

NHPC Limited pays highest ever dividend of Rs. 300 crore for the year 2007-08

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, August 14: The National Hydroelectric Project Corporation (NHPC) Limited has paid the highest ever dividend of Rs. 300 crore for the year 2007-08, against Rs. 278 crore of previous year. A press release informs that out of the Rs. 300 crore dividend paid for 2007-08, an interim dividend of Rs. 100 crore was paid to the Government of India on January 24, 2008. The cheque for balance amount of Rs. 200 crore was presented today to Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Minister of Power by SK Garg, CMD, NHPC Limited in the presence of Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Power, Anil Razdan, Secretary (Power), Government of India and ABL Srivastava, Director (Finance), NHPC Limited.

During the year 2007-08, NHPC has registered highest ever profit after tax of Rs. 1004 crore against Rs. 925 crore in the last financial year. The sales of the Company have gone up from Rs. 1963 crore in the previous year to Rs. 2301 crore in 2007-08, the release further informs.

GORKHALAND: Century old demand, century old conspiracies

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

DARJEELING, August 14: Even as the hills continue to run on auto-pilot, the West Bengal government has not displayed its cards for an amicable solution to the political issue of Darjeeling. Burning question is-What is the West Bengal government doing to evolve a solution?

Another poser-Is the Writers Building properly conscious of this political problem and the true aspirations of the hill people? Frustration point is that the government is intentionally trying to distance itself from the Darjeeling demand for a separate state. As history records, the demand for a separate state by Darjeeling hills have been a century and a century of intrigue has happened to derail the demand. Now, the demand for separate state has transcended into a sensitive matter of identity struggle for the 1.4 crore Indian Nepalis. If the present situation is looked into the archival records of 1975, a major root can be unearthed. In that year, the Delimitation Commission divided the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency into two parts as a part of the greater conspiracy of the state government and Centre. Nepali dominated areas of Dooars were snipped off from Darjeeling and trusted into Islampur-Chopra constituency. This was a deathblow to the aspirations of Darjeeling people from both ends making the divide and rule policy of the state government transparent.

Eleven years later, the slipshod attitude of the GNLF supermo Subash Ghisingh was exposed and encashed by the state government that led the state demand being compromised with a bunny Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC). Ghisingh saw through the conspiracy of the state government only belatedly. True to his form, he did not let others an opportunity to understand this. The maverick ‘king of the hills’ was allowed to run DHGC as his personal fief by the state government who did not questioned where the developmental funds meant for the Darjeeling people was being spent.

Additional Central assistance to Sikkim for natural calamities mitigation

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, August 14: The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for grant of Additional Central Assistance to the Government of Sikkim and Union Territory of Puducherry for long-term reconstruction of the infrastructure damaged during floods of the 2005 season at a total cost of Rs.115.71 crore during 2008-09 with a grant component of Rs.84.87 crore and a loan component of Rs.30.84 crore.

This will enable the Government of Sikkim and Govt. of Puducherry to undertake long-term reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure.

CM focuses on development and responsibility on I-Day

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, August 14: The Chief Minister, Pawan Chamling has focused on the twin ideas of development and citizens’ responsibly on the occasion of Independence Day. Highlighting an impressive array of achievements recorded under his fourteen and half years governance, the Chief Minister has presented a series of futuristic activities for the people of Sikkim to be undertaken on an urgent basis including addressing the connectivity issues.

In his Independence Day address, the Chief Minister informed the people that announcement for an alternative highway for Sikkim has been announced by the Centre. “The work will commence soon”, he said.
“Construction of Green field Airport at Pakyong shall commence within a month and shall be operational by July 2011″.

Connectivity issues have been long pending demand of Sikkim with its sole road link, NH 31 A subject to natural and political disturbances triggering hardships and financial losses to the state. Raising this issue in his Independence Day address, the Chief Minister said that loss Sikkim have suffered on a daily basis during such disturbance have been over Rs. 4 crores while the mental agony and other forms of sufferings inflicted by such closure and disturbances are ‘too large’ to assess. The Chief Minister also announced that construction of Degree College at Geyzing and Mangan will start early. He also expressed his commitment to develop the Sikkim Central University into a world-class educational destination.