DARJEELING HILLS: Traffic signs fill up roads in Darjeeling

 THE HIMALAYAN BEACON [BEACON ONLINE] EXCLUSIVE

Traffic boards at Clubside Crossing in Darjeeling. Darjeeling has the worse Traffic managment system in the region. Accidents often occurs and administration rarely reacts in a defnitive manner. Photo by Barun Roy

DARJEELING HILLS: Centre’s aid sought to check H5N1 spread

FROM THE STATESMAN

By Pranesh Sarkar

Culling of birds in Darjeeling Hills in 2007. Photo by Barun Roy. From Beacon Online Archives

KOLKATA, Nov. 27: The state government sought the Centre’s assistance to prevent the spread of the H5N1 virus in the state.

In the wake of a Bird Flu outbreak in the neighbouring Bangladesh, the state blamed its failure in carrying out surveillance of poultry in the Darjeeling Hill on the agitation of the Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha. The state ARD officials could not carry out surveillance in Darjeeling due to the ongoing impasse.

Recently, the department of animal husbandry and dairying has asked the state to maintain strong surveillance on poultry in all districts following a Bird Flu outbreak in Bangladesh. But, a few senior officials of state animal resources development department said though all possible steps have been initiated in all districts, no such step could be initiated in Darjeeling.

Mr Anisur Rahman, state ARD minister, admitted that they were finding it difficult to carry out surveillance of poultry as directed by the Centre.

“We have informed the Centre about the situation. We have sought their assistance to maintain surveillance as our officials are facing trouble to carry out the programme which is needed to nip the H5N1 virus in the bud,” the minister said.

It may be recalled that the state suffered hugely after it failed to check the spread of the H5N1 virus in January last year.

NATIONAL: 28-year-old (Darjeeling youth) killed in Blueline accident

FROM THE TIMES OF INDIA

NEW DELHI : A 28-year-old man was crushed under a Blueline bus on Wednesday evening near Pandav Nagar in east Delhi.

Gopal Dev was on his way to Mother Diary in east Delhi on his motorbike when the bus on route number 347 tailgated him.

The driver of the bus has been arrested and case of death due to rash and negligent driving registered against him at Shakarpur police station. The victim hailed from Darjeeling and worked at a private firm in Noida.

 

ASSAM: Political astrologer predicts Cong(I) rule in Rajasthan

BY NANDA KIRATI DEWAN FROM GUWAHATI 

Dilip Kumar Paswan, a self styled astrologer by profession a richshaw puller predicts that the Rajasthan Assembly election will be won by Indian National Congress(I) in Guwahati, Assam on 25-11-08 Tuesday . He claims to have predicted Akon Bora�s (Minister for Social Welfare and Jail, Govt. of Assam) fate in the cabinet and informed the same to Rajib Bhawan, Guwahati. He also assures that he seeks no political mileage on this but yet he moves to different publishing houses predicting such political futures. Interestingly he only excels in politics. He also claims that Goddess Durga speaks to him about all this in his dream and he himself calls as Pandit no. 1994 (Thewala) God is Durga. UB Photos - Photo by Nanda Kirati Dewan

CONSPIRACY STORY: RED CHINA PLOTTED TO INVADE AND CAPTURE SIKKIM, DARJEELING HILLS AND THE NORTH EAST

BY MUTANT PLAN

Here’s a classic from the old days. Red Chinese Battle Plan was a full throated 1964 U.S. Navy propaganda film about China becoming global Communism’s “Second Rome” after Khrushchev said bad things about Uncle Joe and got sociable with the Americans. Its Chinese history seems a little strange:

This is in the beginning of the film, when the narrator tells us that “never had a major independent nation lost so much sovereignty, or suffered so much humiliation”. It doesn’t say exactly when, and the map doesn’t help. First we see Burma and what appears to be Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan fall. As far as Wikipedia goes, Burma defeated 4 Qing invasions before falling to the British Raj, while the other three seem to have had their differences with Tibet, which would occasionally call on the Mongols or Qing to help. Even if there were tributes paid by these regions, they were most likely symbolic. It hardly seems fair to say they were Qing territory, and there doesn’t seem to be a particular timeframe for all of them going at once.

Then Xinjiang, Mongolia and Manchuria all seem to go at the same time. These regions were taken piece by piece by Russia, Japan and others, but not all of it (Xinjiang was a total basketcase) and not all at once. Then, weirdly, Korea falls after Manchuria, since the Sino-Japanese War was in 1895 and Russia invaded Outer Manchuria in 1900. The Nguyen regime in Vietnam defeated the Qing army invasion of Hanoi and then paid tribute to the Qing Emperor, but also set things up so officially “it was a child who dealt with Beijing”. Any comments untangling what all that implies are appreciated – Granite Studio? A little help? Sun Bin?

The most interesting bit, though, has to be Tibet staying on the team. Apparently in 1964 the U.S. Navy didn’t agree with the Dalai Lama that Tibet became de facto independent in 1911.

If you ignore the blatant rah-rah American freedom stuff in the movie, it does have periods of being reasonably informative. Then it talks about how Mao Zedong and Lin Biao (that didn’t work out) are going to conquer the world by invading the “rural countries” (Asia, Africa and Latin America) as stepping stones to the “city countries” (the U.S. and Europe):

Chinese communism never really pulled off stage one of this supposed “battle plan”. Chinese capitalism, on the other hand, appears to be making a go of it. Then again, as the Wall Street Journal points out, China’s investment in the U.S. dwarfs that in Latin America. I guess everybody wants to be in the cities these days.

ASSAM: ECB calls off Hero Honda Cup: ACA confirms no match in Guwahati

BY NANDA KIRATI DEWAN FOR THE HIMALAYAN BEACON FROM GUWAHATI

Bikash Baruah, Secretary Assam Cricket Association (ACA) and members of ACA addressing mediapersons in Guwahati on 27th November 2008 Thursday confirming calling off of the ongoing 7 match Hero Honda Cup India- England ODI series following late night deadliest suicidal terrorist attack in Mumbai the economic capital of the country. UB Photos - Photo by Nanda Kirati Dewan

Following late night deadliest suicidal terrorist attack in Mumbai the economic capital of the country the England Cricket Board (ECB) decided to call back home their team. The ongoing 7 match Hero Honda Cup India- England ODI series also has been called off. In particular the Guwahati match has been called off was confirmed by Assam Cricket Association (ACA) Secretary Bikash Baruah this afternoon. In a press meet in Guwahati today at 3 pm ACA said that they will incur a loss of around 80 lakhs and they will claim the insurance company. ACA will also ask BCCI for legal procedures to reimburse the losses. ACA refused to comment on other aspect of the issue. However sources confirmed that sold out tickets will refunded in following days to come. Notably ticket sales were discouraging as there was no competition in the series as India was 5-0 up. It is the 2nd time in Guwahati that Indo-England match had to be called off. In 2005 Virender Sehwag and Andrew Flintoff men decided not play citing unfavorable playing conditions. However this news has left cricket crazy fan upset.

Aerial view of the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati, Assam on 27-11-08 after the Guwahati ODI Scheduled to be played between the India England has been cancelled following the terror attack in the India�s financial Hub Mumbai by the unidentified gunmen killing more than 100 people besides injuring hundreds of people. UB Photos - Photo by Nanda Kirati Dewan

NEPAL: Call to release Bhutan refugees in Nepal

FROM SOUTH ASIAN MEDIA NET

KATHMANDU: Bhutanese refugee leader Tek Nath Rizal has sent a letter to Jigme Singye Wangchuk, former king of Bhutan, requesting him to facilitate the early repartition of all Bhutanese refugees languishing in seven camps in eastern Nepal.

In his appeal to Druk monarch Jigme Singye Wangchuk, Rizal said the sufferings of refugees, who have been forced out of their homeland, would always haunt the monarchy of Bhutan.

After the 15th round of talks between Nepal and Bhutan failed to resolve the long-standing problem, Bhutanese refugees were given the option of resettling in eight countries, including the United States.

“We had hoped that you would resolve our problem. But your abrupt abdication has saddened us,” the Bhutanese leader said.

He said Bhutan would lose its prestige further if it failed to resolve the refugee imbroglio.

Rizal, who also served as the people’s representative of Bhutan and adviser to the royal council, asked the former monarch to review his perception about Bhutanese refugees through study and consultations with experts.

The Bhutanese leader argued that the ruling system adopted in Bhutan cannot be called democracy as it has failed to deliver justice to people. He congratulated the former king for handing over the throne to his son Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk.

NEPAL: Disappearance bill lauded

FROM SOUTH ASIAN MEDIA NET

KATHMANDU: New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Advocacy Forum, an NGO, on Wednesday welcomed the proposed Bill to criminalise enforced disappearances but said improvements need to made on it.
The bill to be tabled in the parliament envisions an independent high-level commission to investigate cases of disappearance that occurred during the decade-long insurgency.

In a statement, the two rights bodies said the bill could play a crucial role in bringing those behind enforced disappearances to book.

“Disappearances were perhaps the worst aspect of a dirty and ugly war in Nepal,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW. “Yet so far no one has been held accountable.”

The two groups have called for a rigorous scrutinisation of the bill to make sure that it creates a system to hold the perpetrators accountable and provide compensation to the victims or their families. In a letter to the parliament, the two groups have recommended provisions that can be incorporated in the bill.

 

NEPAL: Nepal’s Maoists find revolution is going slow

FROM DAILY TIMES

By Deepesh Shrestha

‘Its been hard for the Maoists to transform their strategy and tactics from the period of war to being in charge of the government’

Nepal’s Maoists mark their 100th day in office this week, and the former rebels appear to have found treading the corridors of power as much of a challenge as fighting a guerrilla war.

Since the ultra-leftists took over running the new republic, progress on key issues has been slow or scant, diplomats and analysts say.

“Its been hard for the Maoists to transform their strategy and tactics from the period of war to being in charge of the government,” said Lok Raj Baral, a political science professor from Tribhuvan University.

“Their cadre lack the political training that can transform them into participants in the democratic system,” he said.

Observers say the chief problem for Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda is what to do with his “People’s Liberation Army” – 19,000 guerrillas who have been confined to United Nations-monitored camps since a peace deal was struck in 2006..

Under the terms of Nepal’s peace process, the hardened former jungle and mountain fighters should be integrated into Nepal’s security forces, with the Maoists insisting their former guerrillas be admitted into the national army.

But the army, a bastion of Nepal’s former ruling elite, says it does not want to open its ranks to the highly indoctrinated former rebels.

“The peace process is stuck on the issue of integration and it’s not certain that it can be resolved any time soon,” said a Western diplomat on condition of anonymity.

Furthermore, some hardcore Maoists are seen as being reluctant to disband the force that helped get them into Kathmandu.

“The Maoists themselves are divided on this, with some of them wanting to keep their army intact as a tool to use in the elections that are due to be held in two years’ time,” the diplomat said.

Political analyst and columnist Prashant Jha said progress on this issue is essential if the country is to finally turn the page on a decade of civil war, move out of peace process mode and become a smooth-running democracy.

“You cannot have insecure and angry people out there who don’t have a future,” he said of the Maoist fighters still twiddling their thumbs in the austere confinement camps.

“The government has to move on it,” he said.

NEPAL: India ready to revise existing bilateral treaties with Nepal

FROM SOUTH EAST ASIA NEWS NET

Kathmandu, Nov 26 : Visiting Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today reiterated that India is ready to replace the old treaties between the two neighbours with new ones.

Talking to mediapersons in Sunsari district where he inspected the reconstruction work at the damaged Koshi embankment, Mukherjee said India is serious towards finding a proper solution to difficulties caused by damaged embankment of Koshi River.

” India would extend all possible assistance to divert the river to its original path,” he added.

Mukherjee said that that India had suffered more from the inundation than Nepal. He also stressed the need for implementation of the past agreements.

During Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda’s visit to India in September, both governments had reached an agreement to complete the reconstruction of Koshi dam by April next year.

According to Koshi agreement, construction, maintenance and reconstruction of the Koshi barrage and the dam is a liability of the Indian government.

Earlier, he met Prachanda at the latter’s residence in Baluwater and discussed issues of bilateral concerns. The meeting dwelt on making the bilateral relationship between both countries more strong.

INTERNATIONAL: Tibetans’ strategy: Accept status quo or seek independence?

FROM WORLD VIEWS [SFGATE.COM]

Last Sunday, the Dalai Lama spoke during a news conference in the northern-Indian hill town of Dharamsala, where the Tibetan government-in-exile is based, and where a conference on the future of the pro-Tibet movement recently concluded. Photo by Abhishek Madhukar/Reuters

The news that China’s leaders have decided to postpone a December 1 summit meeting in Lyons, France, with their European Union counterparts because, as Beijing sees it, the E.U. has been cozying up too closely to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, comes on the heels of a gathering of exiled Tibetans in Dharamsala, India, where they discussed what the future of their pro-Tibet movement could or should be. (Historical note: Reuters recalls: “Chinese troops marched into Tibet in 1950, and the Dalai Lama fled the mountainous region in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.”)

The BBC reports that some European diplomats have indicated that “China has been angered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to meet the Dalai Lama. France [currently] holds the E.U.’s rotating presidency….Sarkozy has said he will meet the Dalai Lama in Poland on…December [6].” A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry stated: “[W]e oppose any foreign leaders having any contact with the Dalai.” He emphasized that France risked losing certain “hard-won” gains in its relationship with China if Sarkozy were to go ahead with his plan to meet the Tibetan religious and political leader. (The Dalai Lama is also the head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, which is based in the Indian hill town of Dharamsala.)

In response to the Chinese government’s we’re-not-going-to-your-darn-meeting announcement, the European Union has issued a statement saying that the multi-nation organization “which set ambitious aims for the 11th E.U.-China summit, takes note and regrets this decision by China [to postpone it],” and that it intends to continue to “promote the strategic partnership it has with China, particularly at a time when the world economic and financial situation calls for close cooperation between Europe and China….” (BBC).

Tibetan-exile participants in the Dharamsala conference agreed to continue pursuing the Dalai Lama

Agence France Presse reports that the gathering of some 600 Tibetan exiles that began in Dharamsala last week and ended this past Saturday provided an occasion for “a rare debate on the future of their movement,” even if it “failed to bring the dream of a free Tibet any closer to reality…. ” The big confab “had been presented as an opportunity for younger, more radical Tibetan exiles to voice their frustration with the Dalai Lama’s ‘middle way’ of seeking concessions from Beijing through” negotiations. In the end, participants in the meeting agreed to back “the Dalai Lama’s long-standing policy of seeking autonomy, rather than independence, from China.” This so-called middle way approach has long sought to avoid two extremes, that is, either calling for separation from China on the one hand or for accepting the status quo – China’s determined rule – on the other.

Of the position the conference attendees agreed to assume, AFP notes: “If that was a victory for Tibet’s spiritual leader, it was [also] one that will cause few sleepless nights for the Chinese authorities, according to Barry Sautman, a Tibet expert at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.” Sautman told the French news agency: “It’s all words in the air to them….As far as they’re concerned, the exiles can huff and puff all they like, but they’re blowing no one’s house down. The bottom line is still the same: Unless China suddenly collapses, Tibet will not be independent, nor will it be granted any meaningful autonomy on a par, say, with Hong Kong….”

NEPAL: India to sign new extradition treaty with Nepal

FROM HINDUSTAN TIMES

India will soon sign a new Extradition Treaty and the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance with Nepal.

At the end of his three-day visit to Nepal, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday that officials of both the countries are now trying to expedite the process of signing of the new agreement.

“We are hopeful to sign the agreement very soon,” Mukherjee said. However, he did not specify any time-frame for signing of the agreement.

The existing extradition treaty between the two countries has now been archaic as it was signed on October 2, 1953, at Kathmandu by the then Prime Minister of Nepal, Matrika Prasad Koirala and the then Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Bhalchandra Krishna Gokhale.

In fact, because of the political transformation in Nepal, signing of the extradition treaty has been delayed by more than two years. Earlier, it was decided that the agreement would be signed on October 4, 2006 by Nepal’s the then Home Minister Krishna Prasad Situala in New Delhi.

Unfortunately, the signing process was postponed at the last moment as some of the political parties were opposed to the new bi-lateral agreement during the critical phase of political transformation.

It has also been reported that the process of signing of the new extradition treaty was almost ready almost four years ago, and was delayed because of the forceful takeover of Nepal’s administration by King Gyanendra on February 1, 2005.

The new treaty has been aimed at checking the growing nexus between trans-border criminals, who have been making the best use of the 1,750 km-long open frontiers. Both India and Nepal have been fighting a losing battle in fighting trafficking of Nepali women and children for sexual trade.

NEPAL: Nepal’s Day of the Dead

FROM NEWS BLAZE

By John Child in Kathmandu

At the first sign of morning light in the sky, the myriad of oil lamps and bamboo torches that have covered the hill above Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath temple begin to stir. Slowly the lights flow down the hill like an illuminated waterfall as the hundreds of people who have spent a cold night fasting and praying descend to the riverside shrine and set their lamps afloat into the sacred Bagmati.

They will spend the next two hours on a barefoot pilgrimage around the temple complex, scattering offerings of fruit, flowers, vermillion powder and satbhiu, a mixture of seven seeds, at 108 sites in memory of loved ones who have passed away during the previous year.

Nepal’s Hindus believe that the gates to the underworld, where souls are judged and sent for rebirth, open only once or twice per year. The departed remain in this world until then, and their kin are required to mourn and worship during this time, making offerings to ensure their safe passage. The annual festival of Bala Chaturdasi in late November is an important opportunity to atone for any sins against the deceased that may trouble the conscience of the living.

Many of the mourners are returning to the spot where they bade their dead farewell: Pious Hindus wish to be cremated here, for to have their ashes mingled into the sacred river wipes away sins. The living mirror that as they place the lamps that they have kept burning all night into the water and take a cold ritual bath to wash their own sins away.

They also remember an unfortunate ancestor, Bala, who became an ogre though misfortune. All of the many stories of Bala agree that here at Pashupatinath he inadvertently consumed a bit of a corpse in his food and became addicted to human flesh. Bala soon turned into a demon, living near the cremation ghats and haunting the pyres.

SIKKIM: Orchid growing now a commercial success

FROM SIKKIM REPORTER

BY JANUKA SHARMA

Orchids for sale in Sikkim

Gangtok: Horticulture Department, Government of Sikkim, has given opportunity to the people of Assam Linzey, East Sikkim, to grow Cymbidium Orchid and become the biggest centre of India for this orchid. The department has encouraged people in high altitude areas that are suitable to grow the orchid. Of the many beneficiaries, Sikkim Himalayan Orchid Pvt. Ltd (SHO) and Shungoan Orchid Society (SOS) have been most successful in this cultivation. Other beneficiaries are also improving, said H.C.Singh, Additional Director of the department.

Mr. H. C. Singh, Additional Director, Ms. Kesang Lachungpa, Inspector and Mr. K.T. Bhutia, Joint Director of the department accompanied journalists in a visit to the orchid growing centres on Wednesday.

Ms. Laxmi Rai, Secretary of SOS said, last year the cultivation was good and they sales of flowering sticks to Floritech touched Rs.2,47,606. “There is no problem in marketing our produce as the demand for the orchid far exceeds production”, she said. The society expects to sell more than 30,000 flowering sticks in the coming season, she revealed.

Three varieties of Cymbidium Orchid – mediate, intermediate and miniature – are grown in SHO which are divided into four categories – Super A, A, B and C. The price of super A is Rs.100-150 per stick. Other three varieties are priced Rs.100 – 120, Rs.50-60 and Rs.30-40 per stick, informed Mr. Narendra Pathak, Executive Director of SHO.

ESSAY: Promoting life – Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park

FROM THE STATESMAN

Having completed 50 years, the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park plans to preserve the Himalayan eco-system by initiating applied research on animal biology, behaviour and health care, writes Minakshi Das.

A bear at Padmaja Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling

Preservation of wildlife is a burning necessity not only for the maintenance of the eco-system but also for giving a spurt to the tourism industry. It is also necessary for educative or research purposes. Exactly 50 years ago, the Himalayan Zoological Park was established on 14 August 1958 in Darjeeling as a joint venture of the Government of India (Department of Science and Technology) and the Government of West Bengal (Department of Education). During the pre-independence era this area was acquired by the British government in the late 19th century and developed as a public park known as Birch Hill Park. In 1975, the late Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, visited this park and dedicated it in memory of the late Padmaja Naidu, ex-governor of West Bengal and re-christened it Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park.

Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park at Darjeeling

In January 1972, the park was converted into a registered society under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961, with an understanding that the maintenance cost of the zoo would be shared by the Central and state governments. The society was transferred to the Department of Forests, government of West Bengal in May 1993. At the Government of India level the Zoological Park is under the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The chief secretary, government of West Bengal, and the director of the park are now acting as president and member-secretary of the society and10-member governing body, respectively. About a mile and a half from Chaurasta stands Birch Hill, on the slopes of which is located this Zoological Park, the open-air zoo of Darjeeling town, at an altitude of approximately 7,000 feet, having an area of 67.56 acres. The Zoological Park is eminently suitable for housing and breeding animals from foothills to the alpine zone as this is the optimal altitudinal zone for the purpose.

 

The park is striving for the maintenance of ecological balance in the Eastern Himalayas with its proclaimed objectives, ex-situ conservation and captive breeding of endangered Himalayan animal species, educating, motivating and initiating awareness campaign among the local people as well as visitors on the importance of conservation of Himalayan eco-system and initiating applied research on animal biology, behaviour and health care. The park falls under the category of small zoos as per the Central Zoo Authority’s classification but is the largest high altitude zoo in the country. Being a high altitude zoo, the choice of animal species for display and breeding is very limited. It concentrates mainly on animals of Eastern Himalayan region and only thirty species have been identified for housing and breeding here.

SILIGURI: What would wake the cops up?

FROM THE STATESMAN

SILIGURI, Nov. 27: Despite the recent terror strikes across India and similar terror threats looming large over Siliguri, police in the north Bengal gateway town seem to be complacent and have not taken any special arrangement to avert any such incident.

Like in the previous cases, the latest terror attack in Mumbai, has only prompted police in Siliguri to initiate a few occasional naka-checking on important road junctions in the town and that’s all. Throughout the day today, there was no visible security beef up in the most important and crowded places like the Bidhan Market, Seth Srilal Market, the Tenzing Norgey Bus Terminus, the SNT Bus Stand or the Champasari Regulated Market.

The Bidhan Market-Seth Srilal Market, for instance, is an area having as many as 12 entry-exit points connecting it to the Bidhan Road, Sevoke Road, Hill Cart Road and Khudhiram Pally. This area bustles with people every day, especially in the evening hours. But astonishing enough that not a single policeman can be seen guarding on any of the 12- entry-exit points, even after the recent terror strikes at Kokrajhar and Guwahati in Assam closer home. The cases with the Tenzing Norgey Bus Terminus, the SNT Bus Stand or the Champasari Regulated Market are more or less the same, with the security of these places actually dependent on a handful of private guards. Contacted over the issue, the ASP Mr Gaurav Sharma said that he has instructed his subordinates to beef up the security arrangements in all important places and installations in and around Siliguri.

DARJEELING HILLS: GJMM says no to bipartite talks

FROM THE STATESMAN

DARJEELING, Nov. 27: The Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha announced today that it would not sit for the purported bipartite talks with the state chief secretary Mr Amit Kiran Deb and home secretary Mr AM Chakraborty before the tripartite talks that is slated to be held in Darjeeling on 28 November.

“Some of the media channels are propagating that Mr Chakraborty and Mr Deb will hold a bipartite meeting with the GJMM president and central committee leaders to discuss modalities of the tripartite talks. But we will not attend any talks other than the tripartite talks in Delhi,” said party general secretary Mr Roshan Giri today.

The leader said that the state government was trying to tag the Gorkhaland movement as “undemocratic” by saying that tension would erupt in the Hills after the next round of talks. “The home secretary’s comment proves that the state government is planning to deploy additional forces in the Hills. The Gorkhaland demand should not be related to a law and order problem,” he said.

Mr Giri maintained that in the first round of tripartite talks on 8 September between the Centre, state and the GJMM it was “decided in principle” that a series of dialogues would be held on Gorkhaland demand and the next tripartite talk will be convened by the second week of November. “The third week of November has arrived, yet we have not received any intimation on the subject,” he said.

DARJEELING HILLS: To pay or not to pay…

FROM THE STATESMAN

DARJEELING, Nov. 27: Surprise awaited Darjeeling residents today in the shape of a notice signed by the Sub Divisional Engineer (technical) in the BSNL office announcing that its payment department would remain open for residents to pay outstanding telephone bills up to 6 December from today.

The unexpected part is that notice came without a formal declaration of the GJMM, which had been opposing all revenues in a non-tax payment drive since April. Although, many made a beeline to grab the opportunity, a dilemma still prevailed over whether or not to pay the bills without the GJMM’s affirmation. “Three installments amounting to Rs 5,000 is due but I am still not sure whether to pay or not,” said a woman subscriber outside the BSNL office.

Others even claimed to have received calls from the telephone department informing them to pay their dues. “I received a call from them last night and came over to confirm,” a shopkeeper said.

However, the GJMM was quick to step in saying that no telephone bills should be paid until the tripartite talks. “Nobody should pay telephone bills from tomorrow till the tripartite talks,” party general secretary Mr Roshan Giri announced at a press conference in the evening.

SILIGURI: NBU & science centre ink pact

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Pradip Ghosh (left) and Naresh Kumar sign the MoU in the presence of the vice-chancellor. (Kundan Yolmo)

Siliguri, Nov. 27: North Bengal University today signed a memorandum of understanding with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a publicly-funded industrial research and development organisation.

The MoU envisages a co-operation programme on training and research activities between the two institutions, mutually benefiting students and faculty on the one hand, and scientists and researchers on the other.

“The agreement will enable CSIR scientists to participate in teaching programmes through lectures on topics relating to their expertise and our course curriculum,” said NBU vice-chancellor Arunabha Basumajumdar.

The subjects include the fields of biological and chemical sciences, metallurgy and ceramics, he said.

The memorandum was signed in the conference hall of the administrative building in a simple ceremony. On behalf of CSIR, Naresh Kumar, its head of R&D (planning division), and on behalf of the varsity, Pradip Ghosh, its finance officer, signed the document.

“This is a unique MoU. For the first time, teachers and students of a university would be able to avail of the facilities at nine of the 39 well-equipped laboratories the CSIR has all over the country,” said the vice-chancellor

Up to 10 post-graduate students shall be selected a year for a six-to-eight week summer training programme at these laboratories, where they would be extended office, library and laboratory facilities.

SILIGURI: Vigil up, cops on alert

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Siliguri, Nov. 27: The terror attacks in Mumbai have prompted police and other security agencies to be alert in and around Siliguri.

Checkposts have been set up at all entry points on national and state highways. Officials of the SSB that guards the borders with Nepal and Bhutan and the BSF, guarding the boundary with Bangladesh, have stepped their vigil to avoid infiltration or sneaking out of suspected persons.

“No sooner had we got information of the attacks, we put our men on full alert along the borders,” said Satyalal Sarkar, the commandant of 22nd Battalion of the SSB guarding the Indo-Nepal border at Panitanki.

Senior police officers have said they are exchanging information with different intelligence agencies to avert any untoward incidents in north Bengal.

“Members of the public are our watchdogs. If anyone notices anything suspicious, they should immediately inform the police,” said K.L. Tamta, inspector-general, north Bengal. “All police stations, particularly those located along the borders, are on alert.”

Security guards deployed at shopping malls have been divided into groups as part of heightened security. While some are posted at the entrances to the buildings, frisking visitors and checking their luggage with hand-held metal detectors, others are on the floors, watching the crowd.

DARJEELING HILLS: Bail order for six sent to Siliguri

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Calcutta, Nov. 27: The copies of the Calcutta High Court order granting bail to Chandra Bahadur Subba and five more GNLF supporters were sent to Siliguri today.

They will be released from jail, where they have been languishing for more than 100 days, after their lawyers furnish the bail bonds before the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Siliguri tomorrow.

Subba and 13 others were arrested in July on the charges of killing Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporter Pramila Sharma.

One of the murder accused is Deepak Gurung, the Darjeeling branch committee president of the GNLF. The bail plea of Gurung and seven others will be heard by the high court in a couple of days. All the accused alleged in their petitions that Morcha supporters were not allowing lawyers in Darjeeling to fight their case and as a result they were being deprived of justice.

“We have faxed the copies of the high court order to our counterparts in Siliguri. They are likely to produce them along with the bail bonds in the Siliguri court on Friday. After getting the formal order from the additional chief judicial magistrate, the jail authorities will release Subba and five others,” Souvik Chattopadhaya, the counsel on behalf of petitioners, said today.

On July 25, the Morcha supporters were staging a demonstration in front of Gurung’s residence in Darjeeling. Suddenly, a shot fired allegedly from the house hit Pramila and she was declared brought dead by the Darjeeling district hospital.

DARJEELING HILLS: Candlelight rallies to spur Round II talks

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Darjeeling, Nov 27: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to organise candlelight rallies across “Gorkhaland” from tomorrow to press for an immediate second round of tripartite talks on the statehood demand.

The Centre, state and the Morcha delegation had agreed to hold another round of talks when they sat on September 8 for the first meeting.

“It was agreed then that the second meeting would be held in the third week of November. We now believe that both the Centre and the state government are conspiring to delay the talks,” said Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha.

“We will hold candlelight rallies across Gorkhaland from 4.30pm tomorrow. We will continue to hold them till the next tripartite meeting is held,” said Giri, adding that his party would not tolerate conspiracies to delay talks.

The Morcha also made it clear that they would not attend any bipartite talks.

“The state government maintains that various modalities have to be worked out and that some more documents have to be submitted before the next meeting. We, however, want to make it clear that we will not sit for any bipartite meeting, as there is no need for such discussions. Our demand is Gorkhaland and nothing else,” said Giri.

Amit Kiran Deb, state chief secretary, is currently touring north Bengal but the Morcha has made it clear that they will not meet him before the tripartite talks.

The hill party said it has also written to the Union home secretary to arrange for the talks at the earliest.

“The state government has mixed up our demand with law and order problem. We would like to clarify that ours is not a law and order issue but a democratic demand and should not be treated as such,” said Giri.

DARJEELING HILLS: Tripartite meet delay a conspiracy: Morcha -‘Best wishes’ with caution –

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

A rally taken out by students in Darjeeling on Wednesday to demand Gorkhaland. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, Nov. 27: Madan Tamang, the president of the ABGL, extended his “best wishes” to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for the ensuing tripartite meeting but said the talks must lead to statehood.

Tamang’s statement comes at a time when both his party and the Morcha are at loggerheads. In recent times, Morcha supporters had gheraoed his house and demanded that he quit politics.

Such has been Morcha’s tirade against Tamang for his alleged false statements that the ABGL office in Darjeeling has remained closed for the past two weeks. Tamang, however, has denied that there has been any pressure on him. “The only reason why we closed the office for sometime was to ensure that there were no skirmishes and untoward incidents.”

Today, the ABGL leader extended his best wishes to the Morcha for the tripartite meeting. “However, these talks must lead to separation of Darjeeling and the Dooars from Bengal. If this is not achieved and if the people concerned (Morcha) accept some other arrangements, they will be branded agents of Bengal (government),” he said.

Tamang claimed that during his recent trip to Delhi he had complained to the Election Commission about how the Morcha was muzzling the Opposition voice and using schoolstudents in the hills to serve its purpose.