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Kalimpong, April 17: Saptashri Gyanpeeth is doing the spadework to prepare the field for young talents to bloom.

The occasion, of course, is the annual festival presented jointly by the nine ICSE/ISC schools of the town. Crossroads Fest, which is in its fifth edition, will be hosted by Saptashri on April 20 and 21. Organised under Association of Heads of ICSE/ISC Schools of Kalimpong, the two-day fest has been designed to enable students showcase their varied skills in oratory, painting, acting and singing.

While Blowing Hot and Blowing Cold has been programmed to test the oratory skill of the participants, Looney Tunes, Sa re do me fa and Geet Gata Chal will allow them display their musical versatility. Events like Market Mania (a spoof on common man) and Copy Cat (mimicry) will definitely provide comic relief to the programme. “Organising such an event is not only to provide a platform to the students to showcase their talent, but also to give them an opportunity to have friendly interactions with teachers and students from others schools,” said M. B. Pradhan, the principal of Saptashri.

To avoid fights among the students, the organisers have kept most of the items non-competitive. “We are not shying away from competitions, but Crossroads is about bonding and not rivalry,” said Prakash Pradhan, director, Rockvalle Academy, who is also the president of the ICSE section of the association.

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VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, April 13: The Indian Railways is conducting a survey on the possibility of laying rail tracks from Sevoke to Rangpo in Sikkim. Experts say a positive report could pave the way for train services to the Himalayan state.

Mainly goods trains are expected to run on the broad gauge line, which will act as a back up to NH 31A, the only road link between Sikkim and the rest of the country. Incidentally, the news comes a day after National Highways Authority of India announced a plan to widen NH 31A.

Railway officials said the survey on the new route has already begun. “The final report is being prepared and it will be completed within four to five months. It will then be forwarded to the railway board (for the final nod),” T Rava, the chief public relations officer of Northeast Frontier Railway, told The Telegraph over phone from Maligaon in Assam. (more…)

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Kalimpong, April 12: The Kalimpong unit of the CPM has alleged that the subdivisional hospital here is short of essential medicines.

Members of the party today submitted a memorandum to S.R. Pradhan, the subdivisional medical officer of health here, and claimed that anti-rabies vaccine and other medicines were not available at the hospital. They also alleged that the quality of food served to the patients at the hospital was way below par.

Pradhan, however, denied all the charges and said they were based on wrong information.

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Darjeeling, April 12: A drive to Sikkim is all set to become a breeze along a faster highway with a few new tunnels and bridges on the way.

The only road link between Sikkim and the rest of country is set to be converted into a two-lane highway with the Centre deciding to invest around Rs 900 crore in the next two years.

The stretch between Sevoke and Gangtok along NH 31A, covering an approximate distance of 90 kilometres, has been included under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North East region. One-third of the stretch falls within Bengal.

The project is being executed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and tenders are expected to be floated within the next four to five months. “A detailed project report (DRP) is in its final stage of being prepared,” R.P. Singh, project director, NHAI, told The Telegraph over phone from Siliguri. The project has been allotted under the Phase I of the accelerated road development programme, which is expected to get over by 2009.

Though the report has not been finalised, the two-lane highway will have “paved shoulders” for cyclists and pedestrians. At least three tunnels are expected to be dug along the winding route and a numbner of bridges built. “Efforts will be made to ensure that the highway does not have any sharp bend,” Singh said. The new road is also expected to cut down on the distance a little.

The NH 31A, which is approximately between 3 and 3.5 metres wide, will be broadened by seven metres. Additional room for pedestrians will be thrown open, which is expected to increase the total breadth of the road to somewhere between 11 and 12 metres. The lane is expected to make the highway safer for pedestrians.

The accelerated road development programme has been formulated for the repair and renovation of not only national highways, but also state roads and other routes of strategic importance.

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Kalimpong, April 11: A tissue culture laboratory and seedlings from The Netherlands could power the future growth of the floriculture industry here.

The lab was inaugurated today at the regional research station of Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya here. The possibility of sourcing seedlings from the Netherlands, on the other hand, will be discussed at a meeting between a Dutch delegation and Confederation of Indian Industry representatives in Calcutta tomorrow.

Participating in a workshop on commercial production and processing of cut flowers held here, MP Sudhangshu Sil said the Dutch have shown an interest in supplying seedlings with buy-back guarantee. Sil, who heads Mallikghat Flower Marketing Development Samiti in Calcutta, is closely associated with the floriculture sector of Bengal.

The MP was responding to a query on the difficulties in procuring seedlings at affordable price by growers here. Himadri Bhattacharya of the agriculture university added that the tissue culture lab could also do its bit by producing seedlings costing as little as Rs 10 each. Present market prices range from Rs 30 to Rs 50 per seedling.

Amar Roy, in-charge of the research station, said the absence of a cold storage was another problem facing floriculturists here.

Sil said till recently, exporting flowers from Mumbai was 50 per cent cheaper than doing so from Calcutta or Bagdogra. “Freight charges have been reduced, but they are still not on par with Mumbai,” he added.

Sudhir K. Pradhan, general secretary, Kalimpong Horticulture Society, said they would meet railway minister Lalu Prasad to discuss the need for special bookings on faster trains to transport flowers from New Jalpaiguri to places like Delhi.

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Kalimpong, April 11: A new multi-purpose hall was inaugurated at St. Augustine’s School here today.

Constructed at a cost of over Rs 1 crore, the Diamond Jubilee Hall can be used both as an indoor stadium and as an auditorium. The facility is big enough to accommodate four standard size badminton courts, or two basketball courts.

At the inaugural ceremony, the principal of the school, Father Lawrence Monterio, said the need for a bigger hall was felt as the old one could not accommodate enough people. He also thanked the students, staff, guardians and different chapters of the school’s alumni association for helping in the construction of the hall.

After the formal inauguration, students put up a cultural programme, including songs, dances and a musical skit. Darjeelimg MP Dawa Narbula and chairman of Kalimpong Municipality C. K. Kumai were present on the occasion.

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RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, April 8: The opposition parties in the Kalimpong subdivision have demanded an election to the chamber of commerce here, which has been in a moribund state for nearly 15 years.

A team of local opposition leaders will meet the subdivisional officer Shakeel Ahmed on Tuesday with a request to facilitate the formation of a new body at the earliest.

For the past two years, the chamber of commerce was run by an ad hoc committee. The committee was supposed to become permanent within three months of its formation, as the long-awaited election was supposed to be held then. But the election is yet to be held and even the ad hoc committee was dissolved recently.

A convener for the body has been appointed at the intervention of Dawa Pakhrin, the Kalimpong unit president of the GNLF. Pakhrin reportedly has instructed that a new committee with “selected” members be formed before April 30.

The Opposition has taken exception to Pakhrin’s “intervention”. “The chamber of commerce here does not fall under the domain of the GNLF and Pakhrin has no business interfering in its workings,” said Tara Sundas, local CPM leader. D.K. Pradhan, president, GNLF(C) said: “The chamber office-bearers should be elected following democratic norms and not selected by an individual or a political party.”

Pradhan also said a vigorous membership drive should be conducted before the election. “Members should be from all trade communities,” he said.

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RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, April 6: Students of the Kendriya Vidayala here will participate in a worldwide voting tomorrow to elect the winner of the Global Friends’ Award, 2007. The school will be the first in the subdivision to take part in the unique exercise.

Eleven million pupils from 20,000 schools spread across the world will vote this year to elect the winner from among the three nominees — Inderjit Khurana of India, Cynthia Maung of Myanmar and Betty Makoni of Zimbabwe (see chart).

The voting opened globally on January 15 and will close on April 12. The D-Day for about 150 students from Classes VI to X of the Kendriya Vidyalaya here will be tomorrow when they will put a cross on their preferred choice in the ballot papers before putting them in the box. “The children are very excited to be a part of a global event. In the process, they have also learnt about people like this year’s nominees who have been making a difference to the lives of under-privileged children globally,” said Raj Narayan, a teacher at the school who is coordinating the voting here. (more…)

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Rambhi/Siliguri, April 5: A senior consultant with the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC)’s Teesta Low Dam Project was killed today when the vehicle he was travelling in went off the road and hurtled into the Teesta early this morning.

B.K. Parajuli, who was once known in media circles as the chief public relations officer of West Bengal State Electricity Board in Calcutta, was being driven in a Bolero by Bulbul, his regular driver, who miraculously survived the fall and was found unconscious on the river bank. He was rushed to North Bengal Medical College in a critical condition.

Parajuli, who had started from his home near Siliguri at 9 pm, was headed for the Teesta Low Dam Project (TLDP) III site in Rambi, 35 km away. (more…)

Dear Readers

I apologise for the recent lack of updates on this site. I have been traveling and have not been online in a while and hence have not been able to maintain the site.

But now I am in Kalimpong. Ironically, the fact that I am actually physically present in Kalimpong does not guarantee an improvement in the coverage of the happenings in this area. This is due to a number of factors… one of them being the slower net connections in this part of the world.

However, I am now here and will try hard to show what’s happening around here.

Thanks

Admin