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The Telegraph

Kalimpong/Calcutta, Nov. 30: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha said any interim administrative arrangement would have to include the Dooars on a day the interlocutor appointed by the Union home ministry to facilitate the fourth round of talks stepped into Writers’ Buildings for the first time.

Lieutenant-General (retired) Vijay Madan, the interlocutor, met the state chief and home secretaries and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to get a grasp of the ongoing problem in the Darjeeling hills. (more…)

The Times of India
TNN 28 November 2009, 04:05am IST

DARJEELING: The GJM will maintain a record of the bikes and cellphones seized from students and provided them with a receipt. The seized bikes will be returned after six months though they are still not sure about the fate of the cellphones.

However, before going ahead with the confiscation, as announced on Wednesday in Pedong near Kalimpong by party chief Bimal Gurung, GJM has decided to first counsel students on the ills of using cellphones and bikes.

Gorkhaland Personnel (GLP) commandant, Col (retd) Ramesh Allay, said on Friday that heads of schools and colleges would be asked to counsel students through teachers and professors who are close to them.

“We have not yet started a full-fledged drive to start the seizure of phones and bikes. We will first counsel students, which will be done by teachers and professors,” said Allay. “However, we will keep a close vigil in school and college campuses all the time,” he added.

The Statesman

KURSEONG, 25 NOV: The GJMM has now clapped prohibitory orders against the use of cell phones and two-wheelers by students, including college goers.

Forbidding the use of cell phones and two-wheelers by students in the hills yesterday during a programme at Kashyong, Pedong in Kalimpong, the GJMM chief, Mr Bimal Gurung said that most students misused cell phones by storing objectionable photos and movies in the gadgets, which is a dangerous trend. “Hence, to develop a clean society with moral values, we have to curb the use of mobile phones in the student community,” he said.

He also added that besides cell phones, the students would also not be allowed to use two-wheelers. According to him, several accidents have been reported in the hills from rash two-wheeler riding. “In view of the students’s interest we are taking this step. The Education Monitoring Cell and institution heads have been informed of the decision,” he said.

The Statesman

SILIGURI, 24 NOV: The ambassador of Luxemburg to India, Mr Mark Court inaugurated a school at Pedong in Kalimpong sub-division yesterday. The school would cater to the education requirements for the students residing in the rural areas. This is the first educational institution in the area coming up at the initiative of a Luxemburg-based organization. The GJMM president, Mr Bimal Gurung was present at the programme as a special guest.

Addressing a gathering here and later at Algarah, Mr Court said that his country would do everything possible to build a strong education infrastructure in this region. “We value our abiding friendship with India and love this region nestled as it is in the expanse of the Himalayas,” he said. Mr Court also visited a school, St Anthony, built up in the 1950s in the Mirik area near Algarah at the initiative of the Luxemburg government.

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, Nov. 24: A 34-year-old youth was allegedly killed by his mother at Primtam Road here last night. Soon after the murder, Lakshmi Bhandari appeared before police and confessed to the crime.

The deceased, Pankaj, was unemployed, while his 56-year-old mother is a nurse at the Kalimpong Subdivisional Hospital. She has another son Satyam, 28, and he is also jobless. The woman’s husband had died three-four years ago.

Police sources said the incident occurred around 10pm when Pankaj picked up a fight with his mother and the younger brother. “Satyam told us that Pankaj had brandished a sword-like weapon at him and the mother. To avoid any problem, Satyam walked out of the house, but returned a short time later fearing for the safety of the mother,” said a source. (more…)

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, Nov. 23: Spring and Summer took him to Calcutta. Now Polanaise Brillante has propelled Prayash Biswakarma to Hyderabad possibly en route to Sydney for the grand finale of the Global Music Competition.

Eleven-year-old Prayash returned home yesterday after winning the Calcutta-leg of the violin competition being organised worldwide by Lions International. The Class VI student of Dr Graham’s Homes got the better of his competitor from Shillong in a one-on-one contest at Deshapriya Park in Calcutta on Saturday. (more…)

The Telegraph

Nov. 20: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today ended its strike “temporarily” at 6pm, but with the state government offering no assurance on when the contract workers of the DGHC would be regularised, threatened to start a fresh agitation soon.

After a meeting with home secretary Ardhendu Sen at Writers’ Buildings this evening, DGHC administrator B.L. Meena said: “The government is examining the regularisation process but cannot specify any time frame within which this will be done. The continuous agitation by the DGHC employees has hampered the process and they should desist from doing so.” (more…)

Siliguri, Nov 20 (PTI) Normal life was crippled in Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal as the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-sponsored 24-hour bandh began this morning.

Shops, markets were closed and vehicles kept off the roads in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong sub-divisions as a result, official sources said.

Educational institutions and tea gardens were, however, exempted from the strike call.

The GJM has been demanding permanent status for over 6,000 employees in Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.

GJM General secretary Roshan Giri alleged the West Bengal Government did precious little to accord them permanent status by November 17, 2009 as promised.

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, Nov. 18: All nine members of the Gorkha Janmuki Morcha who were showcaused by the party for acts of indiscipline have replied to notices served on them and are now waiting for outfit president Bimal Gurung to decide on their fate.

While no leader was willing to go on record, reliable sources in the party identified five names who have been served the notices. They are Bijay Sundas, a central committee member and former vice-chairman of the Kalimpong municipality, Nanita Gautam, a central committee member and former president of the Kalimpong unit of the party’s women’s wing, Nima Tamang of the Youth Morcha, Kalawati Acharya of the women’s wing, and Pravin Tuladhar, a party member. (more…)

The Telegraph

Gangtok, Nov. 18: The Kalimpong-based Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association will begin its second march to Dzongu in North Sikkim tomorrow after last year’s foiled attempt. The ILTA is determined to reach the destination to offer prayers at the holy site.

In April 2008, the ILTA had to return from Dikchu, the entry point to Dzongu, in the face of hostilities. The 500-odd marchers were escorted back by Sikkim armed police after a huge crowd of local people had set up a blockade in Dikchu.

This time, the ILTA claims to have secured the permission of the Union home and tribal affairs ministries for the pakram takram or pilgrimage to Dzongu. “We have submitted our requests to the Sikkim chief secretary, home secretary, North district administration. We plan to complete the pilgrimage between November 19 and 21,” said Paval Shimik, the ILTA president. “Dzongu is like Varanasi and Jerusalem to us. We will return after offering prayers to our guardian deities there.”

During last year’s stand-off, the Sikkim police managed to convince the Lepchas to call off the last leg of the march, fearing violence. The marchers were driven back to the Rangpo border.

This time, too, the people of North Sikkim have opposed the march. Dzongu MLA Sonam Gyatso Lepcha described the march as an “outside interference” in local affairs. “The pilgrimage is a ploy and is politically motivated,” he said.

The Telegraph

Kalimpong, Nov. 17: Around 15,000 prospective Madhyamik and Higher Secondary candidates in the hills were for the first time given uniform questions for the selection examinations that began at 129 schools today.

In the past, the schools framed questions individually or requisitioned those set by the All Bengal Teachers’ Association for the selection examinations. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha-affiliated Janmukti Secondary Teachers’ Organisation (JSTO), however, decided to do away with that practice from this year and introduced uniform question papers at all the schools in the hills.

The JSTO spokesman, Bhisan Roka, said the heads of the institutions wholeheartedly welcomed the new system when it had been first mooted in July. “Apart from making the examinations more competitive and thereby preparing the students in the hills to face the board examinations better, we are also trying to send a political message that we in the hills are equipped to take care of education on our own.”

“We selected two teachers from each subdivision for every subject to draft the questions. The six sets of question papers were then handed over to a moderator, who framed the final question paper for each subject,” said Roka.

Website: http://www.savethehills.blogspot.com
Email : savethehills@gmail.com

Press Handout
(Landslide Hazard Workshop on 20 Nov 2009. Venue: Town Hall, Kalimpong)

1. As you would know SaveTheHills (STH) is a Kalimpong – based NGO which has been working on the landslide issue for more than two years. In this regard, though we have achieved a lot in raising awareness about this rather unknown disaster form to the national level as well as amongst the local populace, much more remains to be done.

2. The Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas comprise of young mountains which lie approximately 800km north of the Bay of Bengal and as such receive some of the heaviest rainfall in the country during a 5 month monsoon period. This along with extensive anthropogenic interference has resulted in this area being one of the most landslide prone places in the country – yet despite this fact, nothing substantial has been done with regard to a sustained, holistic way of managing the landslide problem. Consequently, in recent times the frequency and intensity of landslides have shown a sharp surge; in 2009 alone we had over 30 deaths in Darjeeling district along huge with economic losses.

3. STH has already taken up the dire need to draw up a holistic strategy to combat landslide hazards in the long term in this area at the highest levels – the Hon MP, Shri Jaswant Singh has been apprised and matter was also raised at the thematic session on “Mass Movements” during the 2nd India Disaster Management Congress at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 05 Nov 2009.

4. In our endeavor to keep the landslide issue at the centre stage and also to highlight the need for a holistic landslide management plan, STH is organizing a one day Landslide Hazard Workshop in Kalimpong on 20 Nov 2009. Our resource persons are scientists and scholars of distinction with participation from Sikkim also. We expect around 200 people as invitees from the district and Sikkim, which will include people from Govt service (including army and BRO), distinguished people from the district and academics and students. Mr. ML Meena, Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Govt of W Bengal has kindly consented to be our Chief Guest for the occasion.

5. The Invitation/ Program along with the biodata of the resource persons are enclosed.

6. This is for your kind information.

The Telegraph

Darjeeling, Nov 11: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today said tourists would be allowed to carry liquor to the hills, but warned that the same relief would not be extended to local people.

Cars with liquor in them will be seized and the vehicles will be used by Gorkhaland Personnel for six months — a “punishment” for hill residents who would dare to flout the Morcha “ban” on the sale of alcohol.

“The GLP will conduct strict checks on all vehicles from tomorrow. If cars are found carrying liquor bottles, they will be seized and used for a six month period by the GLP as a penalty,” said Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the spokesperson for the party after a central committee meeting in Patlabas. (more…)

Here’s some footage of the paper factory in Kalimpong (from YouTube).
I know there are two of these factories now in Kpg, but couldn’t tell which particular one this was shot in.

The Telegraph
VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, Nov. 6: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha deciding to close down all licensed liquor shops from tomorrow, many restaurants and hotels are planning to fall back on traditional tipple to cater for the needs of tourists.

The Morcha move is supposed to “pressure the state exchequer” by stopping the flow of revenue that the party claims is being generated through the sale of liquor in the hills.

Morcha president Bimal Gurung had earlier said the state government had collected excise duty of around Rs 50 crore from the sale of liquor in the hills during the just-ended month long festival period. (more…)