www.kalimpong.info

www.telegraphindia.com

VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, Aug. 21: Bimal Gurung has urged the state government to start immediately the process of forming the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, saying that his party might forget about the new arrangement — a hint that they might revert to statehood cry — if the delay continues.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief’s statement comes at a time when the tabling of the GTA bill in the monsoon session of the Assembly is bleak. The session ends on September 2 but the draft of the bill is not yet ready, a source in the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which has demanded the setting up of the GTA as early as possible, said.

The bill was not mentioned in the business advisory of the House that contains the list of proposed legislations to be tabled in the monsoon session. (more…)

www.telegraphindia.com

RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, Aug. 19: The directorate of cinchona sold rubber worth Rs 27 lakh in the last financial year and has targeted sales worth Rs 35 lakh this fiscal.

The second rubber processing unit and smoking house was inaugurated at Rango today to increase the production of rubber.

“The sales volume has been steadily increasing every year. We have been making crude rubber from latex extracted from trees for the past four-five years. If we get support from the government, rubber can be the alternative cash crop in north Bengal,” said Gyan Chandra Subba, the director of the cinchona directorate.

“Unlike in south India where it takes about eight to nine years for the rubber trees to mature, it takes about 10 to 12 years for the trees to mature in the hills. We only start extracting latex once the girth of a tree reaches 20 inches,” said Basant Tamang, the assistant manager of Rongo cinchona plantation.

The cinchona directorate had introduced rubber plantation in 1993 and the first processing house was built at Rango in 2004. Currently, rubber plantation is spread over an area of little less than 200 acres — 132 acres in Rongo, 40acres in Munsong and 15 acres in Mungpoo. Officials said rubber plantation was introduced to add to the revenue of the cinchona directorate that has been incurring annual losses of over Rs 20 crore for over two decades now.

Subba, who was in Rongo for the inauguration of the processing house, said there is tremendous scope in the rubber business. “The demand for natural rubber has been increasing while the output is decreasing. With proper organisation we can sell rubber worth Rs 1 crore annually within the next five years,” he said.

The two units were inaugurated today by B.N. Pradhan, who was the manager of the cinchona plantation at Rongo when rubber plantation was introduced there.

The cinchona director said rubber plants can grow on land below 1500 feet. “It can also be taken up in tea plantations and villages. The quality of rubber produced in our area is good,” he added.

Experts said the only way of sustaining the 151-year-old cinchona plantation spread over 26,000 acres is diversification. The directorate has already started cultivating fruits and flowers on a commercial basis on the cinchona plantation to add to its revenue.

Around 40,000 people earn their livelihood from the cinchona plantation.

————
www.kalimpong.info

www.telegraphindia.com
VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, Aug. 19: The the subdivisional officer of Darjeeling has resigned from his post as chairperson of the civic board after his efforts to modernise the system of paying taxes through banks met with stiff resistance from employees.

The decision comes even as the employees of the Darjeeling municipality decided to resume their pen-down strike from tomorrow, an impasse that will affect tax collection as well as issuing of civic documents like birth and death certificates.

The employees have alleged that the new norm introduced by the chairperson, under which property taxes have to be deposited in banks, has left 15 of them without any work. Besides, the process is also cumbersome, they said. (more…)

www.telegraphindia.com

Calcutta, Aug. 19: Sharpen your tongue-cleaners, you have nothing to lose but your inability to roll your Os and your identity.

Those who do not speak Bengali but live in West Bengal need to learn how to spell Paschimbanga and say Poschimbongo, if an “all-party” decision today is taken to its logical conclusion.

That means many Calcuttans and countless denizens of Darjeeling, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri will have to learn the art of strategically placing their Os in the right place every time they mention their home state.

Even those who can speak Bengali will have to figure out who they are: Bengalis, Bongolis or Poschimbongolis? If the word “Bengal” itself will not be allowed to exist, how can a derivative like “Bengali” survive without an existential crisis? (more…)

www.telegraphindia.com
RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, Aug. 18: About 1,500 Lepchas took out a silent march here today to protest the alleged denial of democratic rights to 300 members of the community who have been agitating in Calcutta since August 9 with a number of demands.

“It is unfortunate that our people are being deprived of their democratic rights. I am getting reports from Calcutta that at this moment our members are being threatened with arrest while taking out a march to the Assembly. Why aren’t we allowed to stage peaceful protest?” asked L.S. Tamsang, the president of the Lepchas Rights Movement.

He told The Telegraph that similar rallies were being held in Darjeeling and Kurseong as well.

The Lepchas have been holding dharnas and rallies in Calcutta to demand the setting up of a development council or board to preserve and promote the community’s culture and language.

The rally in Kalimpong was taken out under the aegis of the movement. Attired in their traditional dresses, the marchers walked through streets before gathering in front of the subdivisional officer’s office. The protesters presented a memorandum to SDO L.N. Sherpa, listing their demands — introduction of Lepcha language in the formal education system and representation in the Assembly and Parliament, besides the development council.

Tamsang said the Lepchas would continue with their protest in Calcutta till chief minister Mamata Banerjee agreed to meet them. “We demand the chief minister’s positive intervention,” he said.

Samden Lepcha, the movement’s public relations officer, said from Calcutta that although around 50 agitators were suffering from various ailments, they were determined to continue the protest till the demand for the development council was met.

The Lepchas are one of the original inhabitants of the Darjeeling hills.
————
www.kalimpong.info

www.telegraphindia.com
VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, Aug. 18: The Darjeeling sessions court today announced capital punishment for a man who killed his law-keeper mother, a warden of the correctional home where he had been kept since he bludgeoned her to death inside the jail compound four years ago.

Amar Rai, whose father too was an employee of the Darjeeling correctional home, was arrested while he was shopping for a coffin to hide his mother’s body that he had kept wrapped in plastic sheets at the prison staff quarters below Chandmari, 1.5km from here.

The 37-year-old, who police said was into substance abuse, had allegedly wanted his mother’s government job, which she got after his father M.B. Rai died in harness.

Terming the murder as a “rarest of rare” case, the district sessions judge Subrata Mitra today said: “You murdered your mother in cold blood and you have not shown any remorse either. This is a rarest of the rare case and he shall be hanged by neck till death.” The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 or a rigorous imprisonment of one year. (more…)

www.telegraphindia.com
VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, Aug. 18: The Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha that had forced the Darjeeling Civil Society to cancel a rally in support of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption drive two weeks back has now decided to organise a procession tomorrow to support the cause.

Amrit Yonzone, the vice-president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s student wing, said: “We have decided to hold a rally with the students of Darjeeling from Chowrastha tomorrow. We have asked the participants to assemble at the venue around 11am.”

He added that from Chowrastha the rally would go to the district magistrate’s office where a memorandum would be submitted.

On August 6, the Darjeeling Civil Society had to cancel its rally in support of Anna Hazare after the Vidyarthi Morcha protested the involvement of students without its permission.

“It is a well know fact that the Gorkha Janmukti Vidyarthi Morcha is the most active student organisation in the hills and we have continuously held programmes with students in the past. We fully support the fight against corruption but when students are involved, they (the civil society) should have discussed or at least informed us about the rally,” Yonzone had said.

He had also said if any “untoward incident” had occurred during the rally, the people would have blamed the Vidyarthi Morcha because they were the “sole representatives of the students in the hills”. Yonzone said that was why, the civil society members were requested to not go ahead with the programme.

Asked if the Vidyarthi Morcha would invite the Darjeeling Civil Society members to take part in the rally tomorrow, Yonzone said: “Everyone is welcome to join and we are thinking of inviting the members of the civil society.”

The civil society members had said that it was an apolitical organisation and the only reason behind taking out the rally was to educate the people about Hazare’s campaign about the provisions in the Lok Pal bill.

B.K. Pradhan, the president of Darjeeling Civil Society, said: “I heard about the rally today and we might think of attending it tomorrow. For us, the cause is more important.”

Nima Sherpa, the media and publicity secretary of the Vidyarthi Morcha, said students of all schools and colleges in Darjeeling had been asked to take part in the rally and they expected that a large number of people would show their support.
————
www.kalimpong.info

August 30 date for panel meet
www.telegraphindia.com
VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, Aug. 16: The joint verification committee will hold its first meeting in Calcutta on August 30 at a time the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is worried that there has been no progress in the functioning of the panel that will look into the party’s territory demand.

The committee has been constituted to consider the Morcha’s demand for the inclusion of Gorkha-dominated areas in the Dooars and the Terai in the proposed Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

Anil Verma, administrator of the DGHC and the convener of the committee, said: “It has been decided that the panel will hold its first meeting in Calcutta on August 30. Since it has been agreed that the committee will frame its own rules and regulation for its functioning, there is hope that efforts will be made in this regard at the first meeting.”

The decision to hold the meeting comes at a time a section of Morcha leaders started feeling “uneasy” about the lack of progress in the work of the 10-member committee although the state government had appointed a retired high court judge Shyamal Sen as the chairperson. (more…)

Goal.com
In order to nurture and groom the talent of the Kalimpong hills, Mohan Bagan Athletic Club and Darpan Publications join allegiances to open a football school in that area.

17-Aug-2011 3:47:00 AM
By Anselm Noronha

Mohun Bagan officials at Kalimpong
goal.com

Mohan Bagan Athletic Club and Darpan Publications on Tuesday signed an agreement for the foundation of their football school ‘Darpan Mohun Bagan Football School For Hills’ in Kalimpong.

The Publishing House of the most widely read Nepali daily Himalaya Darpan, Darpan Publications CEO Sandeep Choudhury and the Kolkata club’s secretary Anjan Mitra were signatories of this document.

Held at the Mela Ground, the event was witnessed by a large number of football lovers and was attended by many dignitaries of the area including legendary former footballer Shyam Thapa.

Representing Mohun Bagan, along with Mitra, was the Mariners’ coordinator Kalyan Chaubey.

Darpan Publications CEO Sandeep Choudhury spoke about the hills having many talented sportspersons who wane in the absence of any proper training centre.

Choudhury expressed his ardent feelings for the establishment of such a training school and thanked Mohan Bagan Athletic Club for readily accepting it. He hoped that many Shyam Thapas, Bhaichung Bhutias will come out from this school in the near future.

————
www.kalimpong.info

www.telegraphindia.com
RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, Aug. 10: About 300 Lepchas from different parts of the state — the majority of them from the Darjeeling hills — staged a dharna in Calcutta for the second day today, demanding the setting up of the Lepcha Development Council or Board to preserve and promote the community’s culture and language.

The dharna was held under the aegis of the Lepcha Rights Movement of West Bengal. The protesters took out a rally from Minto Park around 10am and then staged a dharna on Raja Rammohan Avenue.

“We will continue our protest till our demands are met. Tomorrow, we will be staging our dharna at Subodh Mullick Square,” said the movement’s convener Bhupendra Lepcha on the phone from Calcutta. The protest has the support of the Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association (ILTA), which has been in the forefront of espousing the community’s cause.

The other demands of the Lepchas include introduction of their language in the formal education system of the state and representation in the Assembly and Parliament. The Lepchas are acknowledged as the original inhabitants of the Darjeeling hills and believed to constitute 20 per cent of the 9 lakh people in the hills.

The movement convener said the council or board that the Lepchas were demanding did not envisage any territorial jurisdiction. “But it would be a system to facilitate the development of the Lepcha community and to promote their language and culture. The demand is not to reflect any animosity or ill feeling towards any other community, but to enhance the scope for the development of the Lepcha community spread across Bengal,” he said.

Notably, the Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Forum , which is the political arm of the ILTA, had earlier demanded reservation of seats for the community in the Gorkha Territorial Administration to ensure that they remained an integral part of the political system in their homeland. The forum had said the quota was necessary as ever since Independence, the political, cultural and social issues of the Lepchas had not been addressed at any levels of the administration —local, state or central.

————
www.kalimpong.info

www.telegraphindia.com
VIVEK CHHETRI

The house where Tagore stayed during his visits to Mungpoo. Picture by Suman Tamang

Mungpoo, Aug. 8: The state government has decided to set up the Nepali Akademy at Mungpoo, made famous by Rabindranath Tagore’s visits.

The assurance on the Akademy’s revival — the second in a month — came on the bard’s death anniversary.

The Akademy has been defunct since 1985 and on July 13, on the birth anniversary celebrations of Nepali Adikavi Bhanubhakta Acharya, a Mamata Banerjee aide had promised its reopening. Theatre personality Bibhash Chakrabarty had visited Darjeeling on that day and had conveyed Mamata’s message that the Akademy would be revived.

Today’s announcement was made by north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb at a programme held in Mungpoo, 32km from Darjeeling, to observe the death anniversary of Tagore.

“The chief minister wants to set up the Nepali Akademy here in Mungpoo. I will also propose to her to set up a Rabindranath Tagore International Research Centre at the museum here.”

The Akademy had been established for the promotion of the Nepali language which was recognised under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution in 1979. It used to award the Bhanu Bhakta Puraskar for literature, drama, music and art.

But with the Gorkhaland agitation starting in the 1980s under Subash Ghisingh, the Akademy stopped functioning. Even after the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council was formed in 1988, Ghisingh, who was then at the helm of affairs, did not attach much importance to the Bhanu Bhakta Puraskar.

Instead, the DGHC instituted the Agam Singh Giri Puraskar in literature and demands for the revival of the Akademy fell on deaf ears despite several pleas from quarters like the Kurseong Pustakalaya and Nepali Sahitya Sammelan.

The Bhanu Puraskar was revived in 2002, but from then onwards it came to be awarded by the Bangla Akademy.

Indra Bahadur Rai in whose name a college is being set up at Gorubathan in Kalimpong sub-division received the Bhanu Puraskar that year. However, the awards for the other three fields have never been revived.

Even the Bhanu Puraskar for literature was stopped after 2006, this time because of the uncertainties in the hills that preceded the revival of the Gorkhaland agitation the next year.

The details of the new Akedmy are, however, unknown. The earlier Akademy had a 23-member committee with then chief minister Jyoti Basu as the chairperson and then information and cultural affairs minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as its vice-chairperson.

“The district magistrate, who used to be called the district collector was the executive chairman of the Akademy and the secretary used to be of the rank of the assistant director of information,” said a district official. The Akademy also had two other government employees as committee members.

The chairperson of the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Authority Rudranath Bhattacharya, who was also in Mungpoo today, said: “The people of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri would also be happy to extend financial assistance to the Rabindra museum at Mungpoo, apart from the government’s initiative.”

Since Mamata Banerjee government has taken over, there have been frequent visits by ministers and people’s representatives from the plains to the hills to bridge the gap between the two regions.

Minister Deb said the government had sanctioned Rs 5 lakh for the museum recently and the electricity connection would be immediately restored. The museum is currently being looked after by the directorate of cinchona and other medicinal plants even though no separate funds have been allotted by the government for the purpose.

The museum is of much importance as Tagore had visited Mungpoo four times from 1938 to 1940 because of his love for the place and special bond with Maitreyi Devi, the daughter of his friend Surendranath Dasgupta. Memoirs of his stay here were published by Maitreyi Devi in her book Mungpoote Rabindranath (Tagore by Fireside).

————
www.kalimpong.info

telegraphindia.com

Siliguri, Aug. 7: Heavy rain lashed the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim last night, brought about by a cyclonic circulation with a fast upper air wind movement that results in what weather experts call “orographic effect”.

Heavy rain for high altitude areas and mild showers for plains was the result of the orographic effect as was evident from recordings in the Terai, the Dooars and Cooch Behar in the past 24 hours (see chart below).

While the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim received more than 65mm rain, several places in the plains recorded less than 50mm rain. Rainfall above 65mm is considered heavy by the weather experts.

South Bengal also experienced heavy rain yesterday because of the cyclonic circulation that prevails over Gangetic Bengal and Bangladesh.

Officials of the Jalpaiguri Met Office say the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim have recorded higher rainfall as the upper air wind in a cyclonic circulation moves at high speed and is forced to rise further when it meets a hilly barrier and finally precipitates on cooling.

“South Bengal is experiencing heavy rainfall because of the cyclonic circulation that prevails over Bangladesh and Gangetic Bengal. In such situations, the upper air wind moves fast as it is higher above the ground. The moisture-laden upper air wind travelled to north Bengal where it was obstructed by the hills in Darjeeling and Sikkim,” said Indranil Sengupta, the assistant meteorological officer at Jalpaiguri Met Office.

“When a parcel of warm air reaches a hill, it is lifted up the slope and becomes cool. This process is known as orographic lifting. The cooling of the air often results in large clouds, precipitation and even thunderstorms,” he added.

According to Sengupta, the orographic impact is less in places located away from the hills.

“The orographic lifting has some effect in the foothills. But the effect gradually comes down at locations farther away from the hills. This is the reason why hills received heavy showers, while plains recorded less rainfall,” said Sengupta.

The official said the hills would experience similar conditions as long as the cyclonic circulation persisted over south Bengal and Bangladesh.

“The hills will receive more thundershowers as long as the cyclonic circulation prevails over south Bengal. Heavy rainfall is forecast for some locations in sub-Himalayan Bengal and Sikkim in the next 24 hours,” said the weather official.
————
www.kalimpong.info