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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.