रंगली रंगलीयट तक्दा खण्ड बिकास कार्यालय अन्तर्गत ग्राम पंचायतमा सयदिने रोजगारमा घोटाला भईरहेको खुलासा .......CM blames Centre for delay - Mamata promises to deliver on hill body but no assurance on GTA date...Squad lined up for Northeast tournament.

रंगली रंगलीयट तक्दा खण्ड बिकास कार्यालय अन्तर्गत ग्राम पंचायतमा सयदिने रोजगारमा घोटाला भईरहेको खुलासा- जबकार्ड बनाउँन गएका ब्यक्ति जबकार्ड बनिन नपाई हिस्रिक्कै 

डी के वाइबा, कालिमन्युज,  कालेबुङ, 29 फरवरी: सयदिने रोजगारमा जब कार्ड बनाएर काम गर्ने बिचार बोकि पंचायत कार्यालय पुगेका प्रबेश राई जबकार्ड बनाउँन अघिनै जिल्ल परे। तिनी जबकार्ड बनाउँन पंचायत कार्यलय पुग्दा तिनको नाममा पहिला नै जबकार्ड बनिएर पनि काम गरेको पैसा समेत झिकेको थाह पाएर जिल्लै परे।

तिनको नाममा पंचायत कार्यलयमा जब कार्ड त अघिनै बनिएको थाह भयो तर 5 अक्टोबर 2011 को दिन नै 3120 रुपीया समेत पोष्ट अफिसबाट कसैले झिकिसकेको थाह पाउँदा तिन छक्क परेको आज पत्रकारहरुलाई बताए। तिनी जब कार्ड बनाउँन पंचायत कार्यालय 27 फरवरी 2012को दिन पुगेका थिए तर तिनको नाममा बनिएको जबकार्डबाट पैसा भने अक्टोबर 2011 को दिन झिकेको घटनाले सय दिने रोजगारमा ब्यापक घोटाला भईर्हेको खुलासा भएको छ। 
उक्त घटना रंगली रंगलीयट तक्दा खण्ड बिकास कार्यालय अन्तर्गत लाब्दा ग्राम पंचायतमा भएको हो। उक्त घोटाला भएको कुरा त्यतिबेला मात्र थाहा पाईयो जतिबेला लाब्दा ग्राम पंचायत वार्ड नम्बर पाँचका बासिन्दा प्रवेश राई पंचायत कार्यालयमा आफ्नो जबकार्ड बनाउँन गएका थिए। तिनले पंचायत कार्यालयमा पुगेर आफ्नो जबकार्ड बनाउँने आवेदन गर्दा तिनको सय दिने रोजगारको जबकार्ड अगावै बनिसकेको थाहा पाए। यस बिषयमा अझै सोधखोज गर्दा जबकार्ड अगावै बनिसकेर पनि तिनको नाममा काम समेत गरिरहेको थाहा पाए। त्यस पछि तिनले यसबारेमा सोधखोज गर्दै स्थानीय पोष्ट अफिसमा जाँदा आफ्नो नाममा रहेको सय दिने रोजगारको खाताबाट पैसा समेत झिकेको थाहा पाएको जानकारी दिदै यस्तो कसरी हुन सक्छ भनि प्रश्न गरेका छन। आफ्नो नाममा रहेको खाताबाट आफुले पैसा ननिकाली पैसा झिक्नु कस्को हात हुन सक्छ भन्दै यो सयदिने रोजगार कार्यमा घोटाला हो भनि तिनले दाबी गरेका छन। 
आफ्नो जबकार्ड आफुले नबनाई कसरी अन्य मानिसहरुलाई पंचायत कार्यालयले बनाईदियो भन्ने प्रश्न गर्दै यो पंचायत कार्यालयको लापरवाही रहेको तिनले आरोप लगाएका छन। यस बिषयमा लाब्दा ग्राम पंचायत सचिव एस पी शर्मासित जान्न चाहँदा प्रवेश राईको जबकार्ड रहेको बताउँदै तिनको नाममा तिनकै पत्नि अंजली राई सय दिने काममा हिडेको दाबी गरे। प्रबेश राईकी पत्नि आफ्नो पतिको नाममा काममा हिडेको कारण पोष्ट अफिसबाट पैसा पनि तिनकै पत्निले निकालेको पंचायत सचिव शर्माले दाबी गरेका छन। 

यता पंचायत सचिवको बयान झुटो रहेको दाबी गर्दै आफ्नो पत्नि र आफ्नो जबकार्ड नभएको कारण छिमेकीको नाममा रहेको जबकार्डमा काम गरिरहेको दाबी गरेका छन। आफ्नो पत्निले डाक घरबाट पैसा निकालेको कुरा नितान्त झुटो रहेको दाबी गर्दै यदि आफ्नो पत्निले पैसा झिकेको हो भने आफुलाई थाहा हुने बताउँदै आफ्नो नाममा रहेको खाताबाट कसरी अन्य मानिहरुले पैसा झिक्न सक्छ भनि प्रश्न गरे। अन्य मानिसहरुलाई पोष्ट अफिसले कसरी पैसा दियो भन्दै यस बिषयमा बिभागले सही प्रकारले छानबिन गर्न पर्ने माग गरेका छन। कुनै पनि पोष्ट अफिस अथवा ब्यांकहरुमा खाता धारक बाहेक अन्यले पैसा झिक्न नसक्ने दाबी गर्दै आफ्नो नामको खाताबाट पैसा आफुले नझिकी अरुले निकाल्नुमा निकै गहन कुरा हुन सक्ने बताउँदै यस बिषयमा सही जाँच हुन आवश्यक रहेको तिनले बताए।
यस घट्ना सम्बन्धि यता तक्दा खण्ड बिकास अधिकारी एस्तर लेप्चासित जाँन्न चाँहदा आफुलाई कुनै जानकारी नभएको तिनले बताईन। यस बिषयमा पिडीत ब्यक्तिले पंचायत कार्यालयमा लिखित गुनासो दर्ता गरेको खण्डमा आफुले जाँच गरेर सही कुरा के हो भन्ने पत्तो लगाउँने पनि तिनले सुझाव दिईन। एकजना ब्यक्तिको नाममा कसैले पनि जबकार्ड बनाउँन नपाउँने बताउँदै यो कानुनि अपराध रहेको अनि यसबारे जाँच गर्दा यदि दोषि पाए कार्वाही गर्ने खण्ड बिकास अधिकारी लेप्चाले बताईन। जबकार्ड बनाउँदा सम्पूर्ण आवश्यक कागज पत्रहरु जाँच गरेर मात्र बनाउँने प्रकृया रहेको बताउँदै कुनै ब्यक्तिको नाममा अर्काले जबकार्ड बनाएर पैसा समेत झिकेको घटना निकै गम्भिर रहेको तिनले थप बताईन। यद्यपी यस घट्नाको वास्तविकता नबुझेसम्म आफुले कुनै कुरा भन्न नसक्ने तिनले यस संवाददातालाई बताए।
अर्कोतिर बिशेष सुत्र मार्फत जानकारी पाए अनुसार पोष्ट अफिसले सय दिने रोजगारको पैसा खाता भएका ब्यक्तिलाई मात्र भुक्तान गर्ने हुँदा हुँदै पनि सयदिने रोजगार ग्यारेण्टिमा कार्यरत सुपर भाईजरले सबै काम गर्नेहरुको पैसा निकालेर बाँड्ने गरेको थाहा लागेको छ। पैसा पोष्ट अफिसबाट निकाल्नको निम्ति सुपर भाईजरले सबै काम गर्नेहरुबाट फारम भरेर सही छाप गरी ल्याउँने गरेको कारण पोष्ट अफिसमा सबैको हस्ताक्षर जाँच गरेर पैसा दिने गरेको सुत्रले थप जानकारी दिएको छ। कानुनि रुपमा पैसा केवल खाता धारकलाई नै भुक्तान गर्न भए पनि पहिल्यैबाट सुपर भाईजरहरुले सबै काम गर्नेहरुको फारममा सही छाप गरेर पैसा निकालेर मजदुरी रकम दिने काम गरिरहेकोले गर्दा पोष्ट अफिसले ब्यक्तिगत रुपमा पैसा भुक्तान गर्ने नगरेको पनि सुत्रले बताएको छ।
CM blames Centre for delay - Mamata promises to deliver on hill body but no assurance on GTA date

Mamata Banerjee wrapped a khadaaround a young performer who presented it to her in the presence of Morcha chief Bimal Gurung at Gymkhana Club in Darjeeling on Wednesday. Picture by Amit Datta

ARNAB GANGULY, TT, Darjeeling, Feb. 29: Mamata Banerjee today accused the Centre of delaying the implementation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration in the Darjeeling hills.
“The state government has done what it had to for the GTA. The Centre has left it pending. I went to Delhi on February 22 to discuss this issue with the Prime Minister. I met him and told him that the process should have been completed by now,” Mamata told a gathering at Gymkhana Club.
“Like the Morcha, it is also our dream to see the GTA implemented. When the GTA comes into effect, we will work together. We have promised to work together. What I have promised, I will deliver,” she told the audience, which also included the Morcha leadership and the three MLAs from the hills.
The chief minister, however, did not give any assurance that the GTA would be formed before March 27, the deadline set by the Morcha.
That the Morcha, too, has realised that the government will not be able to meet the deadline was evident when party chief Bimal Gurung refused to speak this evening though he was present on the dais. His name, too, was there as one of the speakers at the programme.
Instead, the Morcha chief directed party leader and Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri to speak on his behalf.
“Bimal Gurung has said that he will speak only after March 27,” Chhetri told the 600-odd audience amid loud cheers. “Instead, he has delegated to me the responsibility of speaking on his behalf.”
But the Kalimpong MLA was all praise for the chief minister though he reeled off a list of demands before her.
“We had Bengali chief ministers. But now we have the chief minister of Bengal. She truly feels for us and so she keeps rushing up to the hills,” Chhetri said.
His demands included a waiver on electricity bills lying unpaid in the Darjeeling hills for the past three years.
Although the Morcha has asked the hill residents to pay their electricity bills from August last year after the GTA was signed in July, the party wants a waiver on the arrears on unpaid bills that has reached almost Rs 100 crore.
Mamata, who is herself seeking a moratorium from the Centre on payment of interest for the debt accumulated by the state government over the years, did not comment on the demand when she rose to speak.
But reacting to Chhetri’s remark that the dilapidated NH55 had been closed for more than a year, Mamata blamed the Centre for the delay in repairing the road that links Siliguri to Darjeeling.
“National highways are under the Centre. Why should a national highway remain without repair for so long? I have raised this issue with the Prime Minister. Like the national highway authority, we are also setting up our own state highway authority. Once it starts functioning, all roads in the state will be done up,” she said.
Mamata also announced some of the old projects: Rs 103 crore for rural electrification in the hills, Rs 155 crore for drinking water distribution, Rs 100 crore for tourism development, Rs 304 crore drinking water project for Kalimpong and ITIs and polytechnincs in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Mirik.
She said the master-plan on turning Darjeeling into Switzerland was underway. She inaugurated a museum on Chittaranjan Das at his residence Step Aside and a Tea Museum at Darjeeling Chowrasta.
Mamata tries to woo Hills leaders
SNS, DARJEELING, 29 February 2012: In a bid to win over the residents of the Darjeeling Hills, chief minister Mamata Banerjee today announced several development schemes for the area. She also said that presidential assent to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Bill in the Darjeeling Hills was expected to be signed within a few days.
“The Bill is expected to receive presidential assent within a few days,” she said at a meeting with Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung and other leaders. She said that during her recent visit to Delhi she took up the issue of the tripartite agreement with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The chief minister arrived at Darjeeling around 7 p.m. and surprised the gathering with addressing a few words in Nepali. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.
The chief minister attended a meeting with GJMM leaders and government officials. She distributed 99.54 acres of land to 277 landless people. Miss Banerjee also promised stipend to around 7,964 scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people. The total amount to be paid is around Rs 14.98 crore. She announced a Rs 13-crore pension project for 4,952 and 23,621 Ex-servicemen from the urban and rural areas of the Hills, respectively. She said 572 students have been granted scholarship with a special funding of Rs 3.9 crore. The chief minister announced that all the funds will be released within March.
The chief minister also announced to facilitate the rural areas of the Hills by setting up ITI, Polytechnic and degree colleges. The GJMM chief, however, refused to address the gathering and asked Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri to speak on behalf of the party. Mr Chhetri said: “The GJMM chief is willing to speak only after 27 March.” The GJMM has given an ultimatum if the GTA is not implemented by that day, it would resume its agitation. Mr Chhetri, however, did not mention a point on the delay of the GTA implementation. He also made his party’s stand clear that they will not force the residents to pay the outstanding electricity bills.
“The Centre, state government and the GTA will work together to ensure development in the Darjeeling hills, neglected in the past 34 years of Left Front rule,” the chief minister said. She claimed that there was heartburn in the CPI-M as peace had returned to the hills after a long time. “If there is peace in the hills, there will be peace in the plains also. “I am asking them not to stoke fire. Do not try to create a division between people living in the hills and the plains.” The state government planned to turn Darjeeling and the adjoining Dooars and Terai into Switzerland, she said, adding that Rs 100 crore had been sanctioned for north Bengal tourism development.
Smiles & promises mask hills tension
TNN | Mar 1, 2012, DARJEELING: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced a host of promises and projects for Darjeeling but stuck to her stand that there would not be any divison of Bengal.
In spite of the smiles and the apparent bonhomie between Mamata and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Bimal Gurung refused the chief minister's repeated requests to take the mike. He sat stonefaced as Mamata asked her to speak. The Morcha chief had publicly announced that he would not say a word until March 27, when his deadline for the tripartite agreement for Gorkhaland Territorial Administration expires.
Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri took the mike on Gurung's request and heaped praise on Mamata but made it clear that the GJM would relaunch the agitation if the GTA agreement wasn't implemented. The CM, who was delayed by an hour due to inclement weather, got off to a hurried start and announced several packages for the Hills, Terai and Dooars. "We will work together with the GTA for the development of the Hills which has been neglected for more then 34 years," the CM said. "We have drawn up plans to make this region into Switzerland."
"I congratulate Gurungji and his party for keeping the commitment to work together to form the GTA. Come what may, I will ensure that GTA is functional at the earliest ," she said, adding that she had taken up the matter with the Prime Minister. Chhetri reminded the CM that promises were not enough. He raked up old issues like the waiver of electricity and telephone dues, reopening of NH-55 (closed for 18 months) and establishing two colleges in Kalimpong . "It is after 64 years that we have a Bengal chief minister and not a Bengali chief minister. We are her fans and that is the reason why we are taking the liberty to place our grievances and demands ," Chhetri said. Earlier in the day, Mamata inaugurated the Deshbandu Chitarranjan Das museum and a tea boutique and museum in Darjeeling. She also distributed pand pattas. There would be four more passenger ropeways in Kurseong , Kalimpong, Mirik and Darjeeling. The Hills Banerjee would get a special package under the Rs100 crore North Bengal Development scheme, she said. "A master plan is being chalked out to convert the Hills with the adjoining Terai and Dooars regions into Switzerland . Darjeeling is our 'gaurav' . W e will ensure there is development here," said the CM. The government has plans for a Rs 304-crore water supply system in Kalimpong and Rs 155 crore has already been sanctioned for Darjeeling to bring potable water from Balason River, Mamata said. She announced allocation of Rs 14.98 crore worth of stipends for 7,965 SC and ST students and Rs.4.45 crore assistance to 4,952 elderly people. The CM also said that Sandakphu, a popular trekking destination, would be developed.

Tourism awards for Sikkim

TT, New Delhi, Feb. 29: It was a clean sweep for Sikkim, as the state bagged three awards at the National Tourism Awards here today. Chief minister Pawan Chamling himself was present to receive the award from President Pratibha Singh Patil.

Sikkim was rated the best state in the category of Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast.

This is the second time in a row, Sikkim has got this award. The state also bagged the first award for Best State-Clean India Campaign, constituted to stress on the recently launched campaign. The state’s plastic free image helped in getting this award.

Solophok in Sikkim also got award for most innovative tourism project. The award was shared by steam engines at Rewari, 5km from Namchi, which has a 108-foott high statue of Lord Shiva constructed in concrete.

Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival was also conferred a special award for having the best promotional website.

President Pratibha Patil gave away the National Tourism Awards to 78 awardees in over 50 categories. Madhya Pradesh got the award for Best State. Mandu in Madhya Pradesh also bagged the award for “Best civic management of a tourist destination”. Madhya Pradesh bagged the third award for its promotional film on MP tourism. New Delhi railway station got the award for tourist friendly station. The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad has got the award for the best airport in India.

Squad lined up for Northeast tournament

TT, Gangtok, Feb. 29: The Sikkim Football Association today announced a 22-member squad that will represent the state in the Dr T Ao Memorial Cup that starts on Friday.

The premier tournament for eight northeastern states is being organised by the Sikkim sports department and will be held at Paljor Stadium here from March 2 to 9.

The state team consists of players drawn from United Sikkim FC, Langsning FC Shillong, Sikkim Police, State Sports Academy and Sports Authority of India. Tenzing Tsephel Bhutia is the captain of the team, which is being coached and managed by Suresh Mukhia and Arjun Rai respectively.

Announcing the squad, SFA general secretary Menla Ethanpa said 26 players had been shortlisted for the weeklong selection camp that ended today.

“We have selected 22 best players for the Dr T Ao Memorial Cup. We hope our team will give a good performance and bring honour to Sikkim,” he said.

All the eight states are divided into two groups. Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Assam are in Group A, while defending champion Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya are in Group B.

The players are banking on ground support and weather for a good performance. “We have been playing at Pajlor Stadium since our childhood. The weather conditions also suit us. These factors make a difference when we play against the away sides. We hope for a good show in the tournament. Support from the home crowd will also boost us,” said Thupden Tshering Bhutia.

Dr T Ao Memorial Cup was launched by the ministry of DoNER in 2003 and Sikkim will be hosting the event for the first time. Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will clash in the inaugural match on March 2.

GJM meets Chidambaram...GTA bill delays ..4 in net for doc house robbery...Hills’ teachers demand regularisation of jobs.....Morcha wants GTA certificate power-... Mamata to visit Kalimpong....How north differs: 35 vehicles damaged- DM orders civic lock to be broken.Trade unions strike: West Bengal, Kerala worst hit by nationwide bandh....Darjeeling girl rescued from Delhi...SLP condemns BOBBC statement

GTA bill delays-GJM team meets Home Minister

Rajesh Sharma, KalimNews, 28 February: A five member GJM team led by President Bimal Gurung met P Chidambaram Home Minister at North Block today. The team had a brief discussion on the bill of GTA and its functioning.
The bill of GTA supposed to be signed by the President could not be processed today due to some pending official procedures and will take 2-3 days more, said Roshan Giri, General Secretary of GJM. 
A home Ministry source also confirmed that some important supporting documents to be sent by some departments as enclosure of the bill is delaying it. Earlier, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said that the union home ministry is expeditiously processing the bill in the light of the issues raised by various ministries and the comments of the state governments. It is assumed that the task is yet to complete.
During the meeting the team had discussion on inclusion of reserve forest in GTA and a demand of GJM for relaxation of height to Gorkha youth for recruitment in the army to which Chidambaram the Home Minister agreed to amend the criteria and authorise GTA to issue Gorkha certificate for the entire country. Giri also said that GJM has demanded opening of Army recruitment Training Centre in Darjeeling, Dehradun, Lucknow and Benaras. The Home Minister suggested to forward the proposal to the defense ministry for its perusal.
Meanwhile Mamata Banerjee, CM of West Bengal has changed her plan and wished to visit Kalimpong, a source disclosed. Due to the sudden change of her unofficial visit and district administration is working hard for making necessary arrangements.
Morcha wants GTA certificate power- Jurisdiction to issue Gorkha identity papers should cover country: Gurung
VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, Darjeeling, Feb. 28: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today demanded that the power to issue Gorkha certificates be given to the GTA, whose jurisdiction in this case should extend to the entire community and not be limited to the Darjeeling hills.
The demand is an indication of the Morcha efforts to create an image of a political party that represents the interests of all the Nepali-speaking people of India.
A Morcha delegation led by party president Bimal Gurung placed the demand before Union home minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi today.
Party general secretary Roshan Giri, who was part of the delegation, said: “We demanded that the GTA be given the authority to issue Gorkha certificates not just for the people living in the GTA area but for Gorkhas residing in the country. The Union home minister has agreed to look into the demand.”
Gorkha certificates are needed especially during recruitment in police, paramilitary and the armed forces as the community is given relaxations in height, weight and in other physical measurements. The certificate is now issued by the sub-divisional officers.
In keeping with its policy of creating a pan-India party for the Gorkha community, the Morcha delegation also demanded that recruitment and training centres for the Gorkha regiment of the army be set up in Varanasi, Darjeeling, Dehradun and Lucknow.
“The home minister has told us that the issue concerns the defence ministry and assured us that he will fix us an appointment with the department concerned. We will be taking up the matter with the defence ministry soon,” said Giri.
The Morcha attempt to raise issues that go beyond the Darjeeling hills is a bid to woo community members who had been supporting its statehood agitation despite staying out of Bengal.
These members had formed Morcha units in the northeastern states, Delhi and Dehradun. But in recent times, many of these units had felt let down when the Morcha settled for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, an autonomous arrangement for the hills, instead of statehood.
In fact, the Morcha had also fielded a candidate in the Mussoorie seat in the Uttarakhand Assembly elections held on January 30 to portray a pan-India image.
This was the first instance of the Morcha contesting an election outside Bengal.
Senior party leaders had then admitted that they were looking at the possibilities of contesting more seats in other states in the near future.
Among other issues, the Morcha also repeated its demand to include reserve forests within the GTA’s purview. “We reiterated our demand for inclusion of reserve forests in the GTA. The home minister said he was examining the issue and the inter-ministerial comments on the GTA Bill were expected to reach the home ministry by this evening,” said Giri.
Following the comments, the agreement would be sent to the President of India for her assent to the GTA Bill, which was passed in the Assembly on September 2, 2011.
GJMM leaders urge PC to expedite GTA formation
SNS, KOLKATA/DARJEELING, 28 February 2012: On eve of chief minister Mamata Banerjee's visit to the Darjeeling Hills, Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung today led a delegation to meet Union home minister P Chidambaram on the GTA issue in New Delhi.
The team members included GJMM general secretary Roshan Giri and Klimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri. Mr Gurung has already given an ultimatum that if the GTA Bill is not signed by 27 March, the outfit will resume its statehood agitation.
Speaking from Delhi after the meeting, Mr Giri said: “The Union home minister assured that the formalities to expedite the GTA formation is under process.” "We are leaving for Darjeeling tomorrow and we will meet and discuss the GTA matters with the chief minister," he added.
Meanwhile, Miss Banerjee today expressed her dissatisfaction on the inordinate delay made by the Centre to sent GTA Bill for the President's assent. "I've already written to the Prime Minister and urged him to expedite the move. I also met him too on 22 February over the issue," said Miss Banerjee.
Alleging that the Left Front did little development in the Darjeeling Hills in the past 34 years, the chief minister, however, said she expect some positive reply from Delhi within a day or two.
Mr Chhetri said that the state government has done its duty and formulated the Bill, but it should have monitored the process so that the Bill could be sent for President's ascent. “We are facing difficulties to explain to the youths and they are becoming impatient. So we must get some positive feed back from the chief minister,'' he said.

Trade unions strike: West Bengal, Kerala worst hit by nationwide bandh

CNN-IBN with inputs from PTI, 28 February, New Delhi: Banking and transport services remained crippled in many parts of the country following the 24-hour nationwide strike called by 11 major trade unions. The strike call was given to protest against rising prices, disinvestment of profit-making PSUs and the violation of labour laws.

West Bengal and Kerala were the worst hit. There were reports of a CPI(M) office in Kolkata being attacked allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers. The incident took place in south Kolkata's Jadavpur office.

In West Bengal, over 100 pro-strike supporters were arrested in different districts for obstructing rail and road traffic.

Shops, markets and business establishments were mostly closed in some areas, while state-run buses and trams plied with fewer passengers.

Attendance at the West Bengal state secretariat, Writers' Buildings, was at an 'unusual' 65 per cent in the wake of the warning to state government employees by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that absence from duty will be treated as break in service.

However, Mamata claimed that the bandh was a 'flop show'. "For the first time ever in the history of Bengal, the state government has managed to make the Opposition's bandh a flop show," Mamata said.

A TV journalist and a cameraperson were also reportedly heckled by agitators outside the Ganguly Bagan police station. They were apparently heckled for videographing the party workers. The policemen, meanwhile, didn't intervene.

Mamata, however, alleged that such incidents were staged by journalists.

Kerala, too, bore the brunt of the nationwide strike. The roads of capital Thiruvananthapuram wore a deserted look as buses and autos were not running.

The Congress-led UDF Government in the state has enforced 'no work-no pay' order in government offices.

Andhra Pradesh was also hit by the strike. Employees of various organisations and Left activists held rallies and other forms of protests across Andhra Pradesh as part of the nationwide strike against the anti-labour and anti-people policies of the Central Government.

CPI State Secretary K Narayana, who led the protest here charged that the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh imposed heavy burden on common people in various forms like hiking taxes and also VAT on traders.

Commuters in Delhi also complained that the frequency of state-run buses was low. A vast majority of the autos and taxis also stayed off the road.

Mumbai and Bangalore were among the least affected cities.
So far, West Bengal seemed to be the worst hit with four flights cancelled and blockades put up at the Asansol Railway Station. Some local trains remained stranded and there were also reports of one bus being destroyed at Salt Lake in Kolkata.
This came even as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has instructed her ministers to ensure that no Govt employees take part in the bandh which she says is Left sponsored. She has warned of consequences if her orders are violated.
Kerala too, was bearing the brunt of the nationwide strike. The roads of the capital Thiruvananthapuram wore a deserted look as buses and autos were not running.
Bengal defies bandh for first time in 35 years, gloats Mamata
ndtv.com, Kolkata: "Claiming that Tuesday's "Left-sponsored bandh" had 'failed' in West Bengal for the first time in 35 years, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said 'destructive' bandhs were not the future and it ended today.
Claiming that Tuesday's "Left-sponsored bandh" had 'failed' in West Bengal for the first time in 35 years, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said 'destructive' bandhs were not the future and it ended today.
Ms Banerjee said the "total failure" of the shutdown would serve a message to the Leftists in organising such strikes in future.
"Bandh is not the future of Bengal or for that matter the country. The destructive culture of bandh has ended today. Let no one have the courage to call a bandh again," Ms Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat where an unprecedented 65 per cent attendance was recorded today.
Without naming the CPI(M), she alleged that the party had kept its existence alive through bandhs.
''The manner in which people have responded against today's bandh, no one will now want to call a bandh. There is no impact of the bandh. It has failed totally with 100 per cent attendance by government employees in most places,'' she said.
The chief minister claimed markets were open in most places while operations in the port, coal sector and the government mint were normal.
Trains plied normally and in many cases long-distance trains arrived before time. The industrial belts functioned as usual and there was normal agricultural activity all over the state, Ms Banerjee said.
Metro services in the city were also normal, she said adding no flight had been cancelled from the city. "This is a new achievement in work culture."
50 additional state-owned buses were pressed into service. "Though private bus-owners are usually reluctant to operate on such days for fear of their vehicles getting damaged, we have assured them that an insurance cover will be provided in such cases," said Ms Banerjee.
TNN, Kolkata: Attendance at the West Bengal state secretariat, Writers' Buildings, was at an 'unusual' 65 per cent during the 24-hour nationwide strike called by 11 central trade unions on Tuesday.
The 65 per cent attendance was unusual compared to the low figures during shutdowns in the past, secretariat sources said.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee went around the secretariat to see for herself attendance in various departments.
Of the 6,000 employees at the state secretariat, 600 had stayed the night, while others arrived in the morning and some were still doing so by various modes of transport, secretariat sources said.
Food and other arrangements for employees who stayed overnight were made according to instructions by chief secretary Samar Ghosh.
Attendance at Writers' Buildings is usually taken as a yardstick of employee turnout during any strike or bandh in the state.
Yechuri and team in Sikkim on bundh day
KalimNews, 28 Febryary: CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechuri along with nine parliamentary committee members reached Sikkim today. Yechuri travelling along the NH31A reached Gabgtok amidst nationwide strike called by 11 trade union to which Yechuri belongs. The team will stay in Sikkim till 1 March and will visit different roads of National Highway, inspect the conditions of the road and developmental activities undertaken by the state.
Meanwhile 24 hours bundh didnot have impact in Sikkim and Darjeeling. All the Offices, educational institutions and business establishments were open during the day with normal operations. All vehicles bound to the local areas plied as usual except in the Siliguri and Dooars route from Sikkim and Darjeeling. Banks, Post Offices and BSNL cwere remained closed. 
How north differs: 35 vehicles damaged- DM orders civic lock to be broken

Minister Gautam Deb appeals to a shop-owner in Siliguri to keep his establishment open on Tuesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

TT, Feb. 28: Nearly 35 vehicles, mostly NBSTC buses, were pelted with stones and damaged in north Bengal unlike in the south where no vehicles were targeted by the supporters of the general strike today.
But like in the rest of the state, attendance in government offices was anything between 70 and 90 per cent, the administration claimed. In Balurghat, the lock on the civic office was broken on the instructions of the South Dinajpur district magistrate after some employees complained to him that they were unable to attend office.
The chairperson of the NBSTC and Trinamul MLA from Natabari, Rabindra Ghosh, said 24 buses were damaged in stone-throwing by strike supporters. Of them, nine buses were damaged in Cooch Behar, seven in North Dinajpur’s Raiganj, six in Jalpaiguri and two in Malda.
“We are yet to assess the loss but seven of our drivers and conductors have been injured in the attacks,” Ghosh said from the NBSTC headquarters in Cooch Behar.
The strike supporters also damaged a private car in Jalpaiguri, four trucks in Balurghat and five in Malda, police sources said.
Jalpaiguri police said Piyali Saha, the passenger of a NBSTC bus bound for Cooch Behar, was injured by broken glass when supporters of the strike pelted the vehicle with stones. She was treated at the district hospital in Jalpaiguri and released.
The conductor of a Siliguri-bound bus from Jalpaiguri, Dipak Roy, was also injured on the head and face after being hit by shards of glass and had been admitted to the district hospital, the police said.
North Dinajpur district magistrate P.N. Bhutia said the average attendance in government offices was 95 per cent.
Trinamul leaders said more policemen should have been deployed in rural areas. “Like in Calcutta and in other areas of south Bengal, more security forces should have been posted on the outskirts of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri,” said a Trinamul leader in Siliguri.
“Vehicles are always a soft target. Perpetrators have to just hurl a stone that can crack a windscreen and run away. But it is difficult to, say for example, shut down an office,” he added.
The Trinamul leader also admitted that the party had to strengthen its base in rural areas. “Except for Cooch Behar and South Dinajpur, we don’t have much presence in the villages,” he said.
In Malda, former civil defence minister, the CPI’s Srikumar Mukherjee, was heckled by anti-strike supporters.
The bandh breakers first dragged out postmaster Amit Lahiri from his quarters above the main post-office in town and asked him to open the rooms. The postmaster claimed that he did not have the keys to the post office.
“I was unnecessarily heckled, the keys to the rooms are with other officials. I have not lodged any police complaint but I will inform my higher-ups in the postal department about today’s incident,” Lahiri said. The mob broke the lock on the collapsible gate. But by 11.30am, some postal employees arrived and opened the office.
The same mob of alleged Trinamul and Congress workers surrounded minister Mukherjee and chanted “go back” when he stooped to talk to journalists in front of the post-office.
“The police were silent while I was pushed around and abused verbally. This has never happened in Malda,” Mukherjee said.
Malda police chief Jayanta Pal said he had heard about the former minister being heckled. “But we are yet to receive any complaint. We have arrested 570 people for trying to enforce the bandh and for stoning a bus,” Pal said.
The district secretary of the CPM, Ambar Mitra, said it was a shame that the administration allowed the Congress and Trinamul supporters to break the lock of the post-office.
Minister and Malda district Trinamul president Sabitri Mitra refused comment on the incident. “The people have rejected the bandh and attendance in government offices was normal,” she said.
In an effort to enforce instructions from Writers’, the South Dinajpur district administration broke open the lock of the RSP-led Balurghat municipality.
The executive officer of the municipality, Amiya Kumar Bhattacharya, and about four others, arrived at the civic office around 10.30am and found the main collapsible gate locked.
Bhattacharya said he tried to contact the RSP chairperson, Sucheta Biswas, but her cellphone was switched off. “Around 1pm, I informed district magistrate Durgadas Goswami that we were unable to enter our office,” Bhattacharya said.
The district magistrate sent the regional transport officer, Indrajit Talukdar, to oversee while the staff broke the lock.
“The chief secretary had instructed that all offices should remain open. When I came to know that the staff were waiting outside the shut office, I ordered the lock to be broken as we were not able to contact the chairperson,” Goswami said.
Civic chairperson Biswas described the action as “autocratic and unprecedented”.
“It was shocking to see that the administration went all out to defeat the strike. The locks were broken with the assistance of Trinamul cadres. If any file or important document goes missing, who will bear the responsibility,” she said.
Biswas said any government office with less than one-third attendance could be shut down. “Almost all the employees decided to stay away and that is why the office was shut.” Asked about the chairperson’s claim, the district magistrate said he was “not aware of any such rule”.
Kolkata becomes more like London...
Lois Kapila , SNS,KOLKATA, 28 February 2012: For once, today, Kolkata looked a bit like London. A few cars, a couple of buses and a lone cyclist were passing over the usually-crowded Howrah Bridge at around 11 am. It was a scene replicated at transport hot spots all over Kolkata: not many travellers but generally smooth travel.
Sealdah and Howrah stations, which had significantly fewer passengers than usual, saw some delay in services. Flights took off from the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International airport as scheduled, according to the airport manager.
At around 11 am, Dr BP Sharma, the airport manager, said: “So far, no flight has been cancelled” and “the airport is normal”. He said he was unable to compare the situation at the airport with previous strikes as he had only taken up his position last year.
There were a couple of discontented airport employees, though. Two men, who refused to give their names or designations, simply said they had been waiting since seven o'clock in the morning for attendants to let them into their office. The only complaint among passengers was that opportunistic taxi drivers had hiked fares to the airport. “We had to pay double fare,” shrugged Ms Bani Chakraborty, a teacher who was at the airport to pick up her mother from Port Blair. “But it is expected.”
Ms Chakraborty said she thought the chief minister had handled the strike “quite well” and that the atmosphere in the city is different today from previous strikes. “It is just the beginning,” she said. “But earlier, we could never have dreamed of coming out when there is a strike.” She attributed this “achievement” to a growing “young professional class.”
One of those young professionals, Mr Mainak Lahiri, who was travelling with his wife and child back to Bangalore, said that West Bengal is still seen from the outside as a “strike city” and was sceptical about whether the “bandh culture” was changing.
The DHL Express worker said that his company has five regional offices in India; the one in the Eastern region contributes less than 1 per cent of the company's annual revenue, he said, showing that the region is lagging.
Railway passengers were more affected but appeared patient. Although his train from Howrah had been delayed by an hour, Mr Cirayam Singh said, “the chief minister is right.” Mr Singh said he had hitched a ride in a press vehicle to get to the station, as he was “at a bus stop behind the airport, in the CPI-M area, so there was no transport,” but said that the strike had still had only a “low effect.”
According to transport minister Madan Mitra, who visited Sealdah at around 8 am, there had been some delays because of protestors “trying to throw banana leaves on the overhead lines in different parts of Bengal.” While there were fewer passengers than normal, he claimed everything else was “absolutely normal.” Eastern Railways said in a statement that the banana leaves had been cleared, and by 8 am, “except Diamond Harbour section of Sealdah south, train services on Canning, Lakshmikantapur, Namkhana and Budge Budge sections became normal.” The station manager at Howrah, Mr Samir Kumar Banerjee, said “a maximum number of trains have come in on time.”
All play and little work at Writers'
TNN , Feb 29, 2012, KOLKATA: It was an hour before sunrise when the employees started coming in. Some came in groups between 6 and 6.30 in the morning. And by the time the clock struck 8, they took their seats - a scene Writers' Buildings never witnessed before. The usual reporting time at the state secretariat is 10am.
It was a day Writers' Buildings never witnessed before. Employees started coming in by 5 am on Tuesday morning, some came in groups between 6 and 6.30 in the morning, and by the time it was 8 am, the gates had already opened and the employees were going into their departments in rows and groups. The usual time of reporting to work is 10 am, but that is strictly never followed by a majority of the 8,000 odd employees who come to work at Writers' Buildings every day.
But how and why did it happen? It was the much talked about circular of the past few days that did the trick. While the entire city witnessed a shutdown, thanks to the nation-wide strike called by the Left trade unions, the buildings housing the secretariat were very much alive and chock-a-block with most of the employees at their desks. And chief minister Mamata Banerjee was happy. Addressing a press conference, she said: "It is the end of the no-work culture, and it has been proved that if one wants to work, there is a way."
According to the chief minister, the attendance was 98% to 100% in most departments, 60 of which she visited herself.
The circular issued by chief secretary Samar Ghosh last week said that leave would not be granted if employees did not report to work. Many called the circular illegal, some said it was draconian and against the Fundamental Rights, but most of the employees did not take a chance.
Would there be a break in service? Would it affect their promotion? The uncertainty and fear of what the repercussion could be, worked wonders.
Some stayed back at Writers' on Monday night, joining tables to prepare makeshift beds, having dinner from the canteen. They woke up in the morning, took bath and went to their respective departments.
The Writers' Buildings employees, who have all these years loved bandhs on Mondays and Fridays as it would mean extended weekends, and taken casual leaves on bandh days, all woken up early on Tuesday and were all "present" even before it was time to report.
Kakoli Ghosh, an employee of the sports department, reached office by 8am. "I stay at Dum Dum and I took the first Metro this morning to reach office by 8am. Why take chances?" she said.
Arvind Kumar Pandit, an UD assistant in municipal affairs department said: "My home is at Shyamnagar and so I stayed back at a colleague's place in Taratolla last night."
Sashanka Sekhar Maity, typist in the agriculture department was among the first few to reach Writers' on Tuesday. "I took the Azimgunj Passenger train from Katwa and reached Howrah at 4.5am. By 5am I was at Writers' and had to wait till 7am for the gates to open. I came early fearing I might not get any transport later in the day."
So, was it out of fear that employees horded down to the secretariat? "I think everyone made some arrangement or other following the circular," Pandit said.
But if they were all at Writers' Buildings well before the scheduled time to report, was it a "busy working day"? Not really, if you were keenly hearing the whispers on the ground.
"Tapan! Shall we take the 4.22pm train? I am just whiling away the time. You want to take the 5pm one? Why? It's 3pm now. Sorry then, I'll get delayed. I'll leave soon. See you tomorrow," an employee was heard saying this to his colleague over the phone while walking along the corridor.
Many were bleary-eyed. "We had to wake up early and come to work after all. So we have to leave early," said an employee.
Many argued that they had to leave early in order to find transport. And for most part of the day, there were endless chats on how they had come to work defying odds.
Many walked along the corridors, looking with awe at what the CM had to say, some women were seen chatting on the newest jewellery design sitting on the corridor chairs, some men were busy enjoying a smoke.
The usual chatter was there, the usual cacophony followed by endless sessions of cha and adda, the sleepy afternoon under the incessant noise of the fans, the dusty mountains of files - everything looked usual. And by the end of the day, employees were taken in two buses to Howarh and Sealdah. Just another day where there is all play and no work for most of the day.
4 in net for doc house robbery

Some of the items seized from the four arrested men. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

TT, Alipurduar, Feb. 28: A doctor’s house here was burgled by a four-member armed gang early this morning but police tracked down the robbers and recovered the loot worth Rs 4 lakh within a few hours.
Although the four men had covered their faces during the operation, Dr Partha Pratim Das could recognise one of the robbers who worked as an attendant in his chamber for two years. The police could trace the four on the basis of information given by the doctor.
The robbers came to Das’s two-storied house around 2.45am and called up the current attendant Kartik on cellphone, whose number is written on the nameplate kept outside the residence.
They told Kartik that a patient with acute abdomen pain was with them and he needed to be examined by the doctor. When the attendant opened the door, the robbers held him at gunpoint and asked him to call the doctor.
The physician came down from the first floor and found Kartik gagged and bound to the bed in his chamber.
“Suddenly, two persons pounced on me from behind and threatened to kill me if I raised the alarm. They were masked and carrying a gun and knife. They took me upstairs and asked for money. The other two gang members also entered the bedroom and threatened to kill my wife, children and servants,” said the doctor.
The burglars took Rs 25,000 from the almirah and snatched ornaments from his wife. They also got hold of four cellphones and took a motorcycle from the garage before fleeing the spot. The operation lasted for 45 minutes.
“The burglars had even threatened to kill my children and said a bomb was planted in the house. I suspected that one of them was my distant relative Samir Das, who was an attendant with me for two years, and immediately informed police,” said the doctor.
The police went to New Cooch Behar and took Samir into their custody from his house. The other gang members were also arrested from New Cooch Behar, 26km from Alipurduar.
“We interrogated Samir and recovered most of the stolen items from him. He spilled the beans about the three others and we arrested them one after another,” said Anup Jaiswal, the additional superintendent of police of Alipurduar.
The other three robbers were Jayanto Mandal, Pintu Das and Ramkrishna Barman. The police also recovered an improvised gun, one round of live cartridge and three knives from the four. All the arrested men are in their 20s and the police are investigating if they are wanted in any other case.
Das said he could recognise Samir from his voice. The 35-year-old doctor is posted as a contractual medical practitioner at the Alipurduar railway divisional hospital. He examines patients at his house and works at private nursing homes also. Das said from today, he would never check patients at the house after 11pm.
The four men will be produced in the Alipurduar chief judicial magistrate’s court tomorrow. The police will request the court to remand the four in their custody for 14 days.
Hills’ teachers demand regularisation of jobs
SNS, SILIGURI, 28 February: Teachers recruited on an ad hoc basis to work at state-aided schools in the Hills are demanding regular posts.
The School Service Commission (Hills) has been defunct since 2000, shut down to stop recruitment of teachers in the Hills from outside the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) area. During Mr Subas Ghising's tenure, the DGHC recruited teachers on ad hoc basis. Since the end of Mr Ghising’s administration, though, no teacher has been recruited even on an ad hoc basis. At a time when the DGHC is in no position to recruit fresh teachers to fill in vacant posts, the ad hoc teachers associated with several schools in the Hills have been demanding that their service be regularised.
Regularisation of ad hoc teachers is being delayed because of a technical problem, sources say, and without the regularisation of hundreds of ad hoc teachers, no fresh recruitment would be possible through the SSC (Hills) for the state-aided secondary and higher schools in the Hills.
Anyway, according to a senior administrative official associated with the DGHC, though, “It is very difficult to start the process for recruiting teachers through the SSC without execution of the proposed Gorkhaland Territorial Administration." Under the tripartite GTA accord, the new council would be able to form college and school service commissions for the recruitment of teachers for educational institutions.
DGHC administrator, Mr Anil Verma said that, despite the halt in the recruitment of new teachers, there have been no reports of adverse impacts on teacher-student ratios in the Hills. "We have to look into problem of several ad hoc teachers who are demanding regularisation of their school service," Mr Verma said. "The implementation of the GTA is a must to resolve the present crisis."
Darjeeling girl rescued from Delhi
TNN | Feb 29, 2012: KOLKATA: A 14-year-old girl, who was missing from Darjeeling since November, 2011, was rescued by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from Munirka in south-west Delhi recently. This was a big break for the Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the CBI, that was set up recently to collect, collate and analyze data on kidnappings and abductions from across the country.
According to an official, the AHTU received information about this girl and began investigations. During the course of investigations, the sleuths came to know that the girl, a resident of Darjeeling, was lured to Delhi by a young man who promised her a job there. Once in Delhi, he handed her over to others who abused her. The man who took her to Delhi and his associates also had plans to sell her to a brothel. A case has been lodged against the gang. The CBI began a search for the girl and traced her to Munirka in South West New Delhi. Sleuths have come to know that The man who took her to Delhi and his associates also had plans to sell her to a brothel.
"This was a major breakthrough for us.
In January this year, the CBI designated a unit in the Special Crime Zone of the CBI as the AHTU. It was realized that though a lot of human trafficking takes place in the country there was no centralized organization to deal with the matter exclusively. Most of this trafficking takes place from the eastern parts of the country as well as Nepal. Human trafficking is treated as a very serious offence internationally and India will have to reveal her serious intent in tackling this. The AHTU was set up for this purpose," an official said.
The AHTU has announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for those providing information that may lead to the arrest of and criminal action against gangs involved in trafficking. People with information who wish to provide inputs about such gangs, need to call on 011-24368638.
SLP condemns BOBBC statement
PR, KalimNews, Kalimpong: Sikkim Liberation Party in a press statement has said that the statements made time and again by different organizations including Bangla Bhasa Bachao Samiti and Adivasi Vikash Parishad (AVP) are unconstitutional, offensive and have remained unanswered and surprisingly, the parties which claim to champion the cause of Indian Nepalese instead have misled and made directionless the politics of Indian Nepalese community and turned it to an issue of amassing wealth.
Due to this very reason such organizations have found easy to make irrational and unconstitutional statements against the Indian Nepalese community, the statement signed by Duknath Nepal states.
The statement as directed by AVP in name of disapproving of GTA through its letter to the high power committee is strongly objectionable and Sikkim Liberation Party vehemently condemns it. Taking strong exception of such aversive statement in the meeting held today, Sikkim Liberation Party adopted the following resolutions : -
1. Those speaking out against the Nepalese community should know and understand that the entire Himalayan belt right from Burma (Myanmar) in the East to Sutlej in the West belonged to this community. Due to political frontiers and compulsion only, they are bound and governed under different political arrangements, but are culturally, linguistically and community-wise one at heart.
2. The fate of a community is not defined and determined by the geography, but it is them who define the destiny of a geography/land. If the AVP and Bangla Bhasa Bachao Committee thinks that the Nepalese residing in Indian soil are foreigners, than they have every right to define and determine their destiny and identity. Let us have a debate with the Govt. of India for this purpose we invite you all in this challenge.
3. The leaders of AVP and Bangla Bhasa Bachao Committee should know that people of Sikkim had decided to merge an independent nation in to the Indian mainstream, which beholds that it is the people who decide the fate of land.
4. The Nepalese community in itself is a complete arrangement and it does not require others assistance to defend its pride.
5. Further it also must be understood that if some leaders are misguided, it must not be concluded that the entire geo-politics of the community has got directionless.
6. Finally, Sikkim Liberation Party would like to suggest the leaders of Bangla Bhasa Bachao Committee. If they think they are really shrewd and intellects, they should ask for bringing back the mortal remains of great freedom fighter Subash Chandra Bose and erect a memorial in a place where he last breathed. The 120 crore people of India have been eagerly waiting to know about the real truth of Netaji.
It has also warned not prick and prank every now and then; as what political, economic and strategic importance this community carry in the centre of Himalayas.

Yechury on Swiss-hill difference...DGHC under Deb...बिभागले शिक्षकहरुको नियुक्ति नगरेको कारण कालेबुङको बीटी कलेज खोल्न सकेको छैन...Hill parties choose the middle path....Deb fails to get traders’ word....All India general strike on 28 Feb

Yechury on Swiss-hill difference

Yechury in Darjeeling on Monday. (Suman Tamang)

VIVEK CHHETRI,TT, Darjeeling, Feb. 27: CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury today took potshots at Mamata Banerjee, saying that Switzerland is not one city and the entire hills had to be developed if her dream of turning Darjeeling into the European country was to be realised.
The Bengal chief minister is scheduled to visit Darjeeling on February 29 and is planning to even go up to Sandakphu, the highest point in the state, the next day. Ever since coming to power about nine months ago, Mamata has been saying that she wants to convert Darjeeling into Switzerland.
Yechury was in Darjeeling today in his capacity as the chairperson of the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture.
He held a series of meetings with senior district and state officials and tourism stakeholders here
After the meetings, the Rajya Sabha member told journalists: “Comparisons are often drawn between Darjeeling and Switzerland. Switzerland is not one city. Darjeeling alone cannot be Switzerland. The area can develop as Switzerland if you have various (tourism) hubs in the region.”
Asked if he was mooting a proposal before the chief minister ahead of her visit to the hills, Yechury said: “No, No. We are saying the possibilities and potentials are tremendous. The point is to translate the dream into reality by conceiving concrete projects.”
The CPM leader refused to disclose the recommendations that the 13-member parliamentary team might make in its report on Darjeeling. But he said the meetings here had been “intense”.
“A lot of issues were discussed today… issues like the NH55 remaining closed for more than a year. The need to improve railways and air connectivity in the region came up for discussion. Specific projects like beautifying the Mirik lake and the ropeway were also discussed,” said Yechury.
The Darjeeling MLA of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Trilok Dewan, and CPM leader K.B. Wattar were among those who met the committee members.
DGHC under Deb
TT, Siliguri, Feb. 27: The DGHC will be brought under the north Bengal development department, minister Gautam Deb said today.
He also said his department would extend its expertise to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration once it was formed and replaced the DGHC. “We don’t want to differentiate between the plains and the hills for development,” Deb said.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha appeared surprised at Deb’s announcement. Party general secretary Roshan Giri said: “This is something new. We are striving for self-rule and what is the need to bring the DGHC under some new arrangement?”
On Himalayan mission for adventure sports

Lama while trekking in Nepal. File picture

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, Darjeeling, Feb. 27: A mountain lover from Kurseong is out to trek through the entire Himalayas, from Arunachal Pradesh to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, to encourage people from this part of the world to take up adventure sports.
Dhendup Lama from Gayabari has already completed the first phase of the journey and covered a 2,000-km stretch in Nepal in about 110 days.
Today, the trekker left for Arunachal Pradesh for the second leg.
To cover the entire expanse of the mountain, the 36-year-old will have to trek for about 10,000km.
Lama is travelling with a 50-year-old trekker from Darjeeling, Ram Bahadur Rai.
“We started from Darchula in Mahakali district of western Nepal on August 15, 2011, and reached Pashupatinagar (Ilam district) in eastern Nepal on December 9. We carried a load of 20kg-25kg, including our tents, during the Nepal trek. I plan to traverse all the regions of the Himalayas, from the base of Nanga Parbat in Pakistan to the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh,” he said.
The trekker had studied in Victoria Boys’ School in Kurseong before he worked as a mountain guide in Nepal for around five years.
“Whenever we talk about adventure tourism, the inspiration comes from the west. They have taken it in a big way but it is time for people in the east to inspire their own people,” said Lama.
He added that the journey was likely to be over by April next year. “I plan to cover the entire Himalayas by April 2013. In Arunachal Pradesh, we will start our trek from Tawang (on the Indo-Chinese border) and end up at a place in Anini. The trek would take around one-and-a-half months,” he said.
If Lama completes his mission, he would be the first Asian to trek through the entire Himalayan region. “As far as I know, a trekker from Australia, Robin Boustead, is the only one to have completed the Himalayan trail a couple of years ago,” Lama said.
The climber added that after covering Arunachal Pradesh, he would proceed to Sikkim, Bhutan and the Kumaon and Garhwal hills in north India before going to Pakistan. “I am in the process of getting permission from Pakistan and I hope this will not be a problem.”
The mountain-lover had moved to San Francisco in the US almost 12 years back and he completed a diploma course for outdoor educators (mountaineering).
But Lama said he never stopped dreaming about inspiring his own people back home. After returning from the US in 2010, Lama started preparing for the trek that he has named the Great Himalayan Odyssey.
“I did not take up any job after my return from the US. Arranging the logistic is the most challenging aspect of the trek and I have spent my time working out the details,” said the climber.
The whole trek is expected to cost anything between Rs 12 and Rs 15 lakh. “I am approaching sponsors for help,” Lama said.
बिभागले शिक्षकहरुको नियुक्ति नगरेको कारण कालेबुङको बीटी कलेज खोल्न सकेको छैन

डी के वाइबा, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुङ, 27 फरवरी। शिक्षकहरुको नियुक्ति हुनु नसक्दा कालेबुङमा रहेको सरकारी प्राथमिक शिक्षक प्रशिक्षण संस्थान(बीटी कलेज) खोलिन सकिरहेको छैन। कालेबुङमा रहेको एकमात्र रहेको जुनियर बीटी कलेजले नेशनल सेन्टर फर टिचर्स एडुकेशनको जम्मै नियमहरु पुरा गरिसकेको भएता पनि शिक्षकह्रुको अभावमा कलेज खोलिन नसकेको प्रचार्य मनिन्द्र भुजेलले जानकारी दिएका छन। यसको कारण अहिले घरी पहाडका बिद्यार्थीहरुले बीटीको प्रशिक्षण लिनबाट बन्चित बन्न परिरहेको छ। बीटी कलेजमा हाल एकजना प्राचार्यको रूपमा मनिन्द्र भूजेल मात्र रहेकोले अन्य शिक्षकहरूको नियुक्ति पछि मात्र संस्थान फेरि सुचारू बन्ने कुरा थाह लागेको छ तर कहिले शिक्षकहरुको नियुक्ति हुने हो भन्ने कुरामा भने कुनै पत्तो फाँट लाग्न सकेको छैन।

बङ्गालभरिकै बीटी कलेजहरूकमा शिक्षक नियुक्तिको निम्ति बङ्गालको शिक्षा विभागद्वारा भर्खरै 13 जनवरी 2012 मा अधिसूचना जारी गरेको थियो। त्यसपछि पीएससीले शिक्षक नियुक्तिको निम्ति विज्ञापन दिनपर्ने तर आजसम्म नदिएको आज प्राचार्य मनिन्द्र भूजेलले जानकारी दिएका छन। यसै विषयमाथि 15 देखि 18 जनवरीमा एनसीटीको बैठक पनि भएको थाहा लागेको छ। तर बैठकको परिणाम के भयो भन्ने कुराको कुनै जानकारी नभएको प्राचार्य भुजेलले बताए। पीएससी(पब्लिक सर्भिस कमिसन)ले विज्ञापन दिएर शिक्षकहरूको अन्तर्वार्ता गरेपछि नै सरकारले शिक्षक नियुक्ति गर्ने जसको निम्ति पोस्ट ग्रेजुएट हुन जरुरी रहेको पनि भुजेलले जानकारी दिएका छन।

एनसीटीएको अन्य क्राइटेरिया अनुसार 88को आन्दोलनमा कलेज भवन जलाएपनि अझ 5 वटा भवन असल अवस्थामा रहेको छ। जसमा बोइज गल्स होस्टल, पुस्तकालय, कक्षा 1 अनि 2 भवनहरू आजसम्म अचल छ। 12 ऐकर जमिन कलेजको आफ्नै रहेको जानकारी दिदै कम्प्युटर, इन्टरनेट, एलसीडी प्रोजेक्टर आदि जम्मै एनसीटीको नियमअनुसार कालेबुङ बीटी कलेजमा सुचारू रुपले चलाउन सक्षम रहेको तिनले दाबी गर्दै बिभागले आज सम्म शिक्षकहरुको नियुक्ति नगरेको कारण नै कलेज नखोलिएको तिनले बताएका छन। यदि ‘चॉंडै शिक्षक नियुक्ति भए यसपल्टको जुलाईदेखिको प्रथम सत्रबाट नै कालेबुङ बीटी कलेज शुरू हुनसक्छ भनि तिनले जानकारी दिदै सन 1988 मा जलेको पुरानो भवन पुननिर्माणको निम्ति पनि इन्जिन्यरहरूद्वारा सर्वेक्षण भइसकेको तिनले बताए।

स्मरण रहोस हाल कुनै पनि शैक्षिक संस्थानहरुमा शिक्षकहरुको नियुक्तिको निम्ति बिभागले बीटी अथवा बीएड अनिवार्य रुपले हुनपर्ने नियम बनाएको छ। तर एकातिर अनिवार्य रुपले नियम बनाउँने बिभागले नै शिक्षकहरुको नियुक्ति नगरेको कारण यहाँको बीटी कलेज भने खोलिन सकेको छैन। जसको कारण पहाडका मानिसहरु भविष्यमा शिक्षकहरुको नियुक्ति भएको खण्डमा यसबाट् बन्चित हुने कुरा निश्चित रहेको छ। यी कुराहरुलाई हेर्दा बिभागको शिक्षा निति पहाड प्रति कस्तो रहेको छ भन्ने कुराको पोल खोलिएको छ।
Hill parties choose the middle path
SNS, KURSEONG, 227 February 2012: In what can be called a politically significant stance, the preponderant Hill-based party, the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM), has decided to maintain neutrality on tomorrow’s general/ industrial strike convened by 11 central trade unions. However, the parties sitting on the other side of the fence, like the AIGL, CPRM and GNLF, have extended moral support to the strike, though they would not take to the streets in its support.
When questioned which side their support lay with the issue generating acrimonious heat across the state, the GJMM spokesperson, Harka Bahadur Chettri, said his party would have nothing to do with it. “It is not our bandh and so it is not our responsibility to work for its success. But at the same time, we would not do anything to scuttle the bandh. We would simply remain neutral,” he added.
Echoing the Kalimpong MLA’s view on the matter, the central committee member of the GJMM-affiliated Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union, (DTDPLU), Mr Pranam Rasaily, said they would be neutral. “We are certain the bandh would have no tangible impact on the normal functioning of the tea and cinchona plantations across the Hills. If any organisation tends to put up obstruction we would not interfere. This is our clear stance over the sensitive issue,” he said.
On the other hand, a senior CPRM leader Mr Govind Chettri said their support for the strike would remain moral. “We are not in a position to take to the streets to make it a success in view of the reign of terror that has been unleashed in the Hills since the Mamata Banerjee government came to power in the state. We have no say, as our voice is likely to be ruthlessly muzzled,” he said.
The All India Gorkha League’s Kurseong unit president, SK Pradhan, said the bandh had been convened keeping in view the larger interests of the toiling class. “The state government should have supported it, given its much-hyped profession of a pro-working class line. However, we would not take to the streets in support of the strike,” he said. The GNLF has taken the same stance. The party’s Mirik unit chief convener, Arjun Rai, said they would stay away from it.
The branches of the nationalised banks across Darjeeling Hills are likely to remain closed tomorrow. Several unions comprising the bank employees have already made their stance clear on the matter.
Deb fails to get traders’ word
TT, Siliguri, Feb. 27: Minister Gautam Deb today failed to get an assurance from the business community that they would keep shops and business establishments open tomorrow.
At least two major trade bodies made it clear that the decision would depend on individual businessman.
Unlike south Bengal, Trinamul does not have a sweeping presence in the north where its relation with ally Congress, too, is most uneasy than in the rest of the state. Most traders are not willing to take any risk.
Deb, who is in charge of north Bengal development, urged traders’ bodies in Siliguri not to support the “bandh culture”. Earlier, he had said the government would compensate shop-owners who suffered loss during the strike.
“I have requested the traders here that to keep their shops open like any other normal day,” said Deb.
But the trade bodies said though they were against any shutdowns, they could not force traders to keep their shops open. “We are against any type of strike because it is ultimately the traders who are affected. But we cannot pressure our members to take any decision,” said Biswajit Das, secretary of the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industries, north Bengal (Focin).
Sujit Bose, an executive committee member of the Siliguri Merchants’ Association, also echoed Das. “It is completely up to our members how they will react to the bandh,” Bose said.
Unlike in south Bengal, where the Mamata Banerjee government is pulling out all stops to foil the strike, Trinamul is not that active in the six northern districts.
In the 2011 Assembly elections, Trinamul won 17 of the 54 seats in six north Bengal districts. But the party swept the polls in the 13 districts in south, including Calcutta, where it won 163 of the 240 seats on its own.
But even then, minister Deb has promised to be out on the streets to stand by the public. He has also met the administrative and police officials to take stock of the arrangements.
“I will personally take to the streets and appeal to people, particularly the shop-owners not to participate in the strike,” Deb had said earlier.
All India general strike on 28 Feb
KalimNews: On February 28th 2012 over 100,000,000 Indian workers will come out on strike. 24 hr general strike is called by the Central Trade Unions IFTU and TUCI and supported by the Left Parties such as CPI(M) & the CPI, against the price rise, protection of job security, enforcement of labour laws, social security for the unorganized sector, against privatization, against the contract labour system, for universal minimum wage of Rs. 10000 per month, for removal of ceilings on Bonus and Provident Fund and increase in quantum of Gratuity, for Pension for all and to enforce registration of trade unions, enforce the right to form trade unions of ones choice and to enforce the right to collective bargaining.
Workers from many unions and sectors are trying to gain improvements in areas such as, pay, pensions, and employment rights.The strike has been called because workers have said 'enough is enough', after two years of the government refusing to negotiate with unions on any issue. Indian's are sick of the rich getting richer, record economic growth, whilst 400 million people have not got a pot to piss in.
Over a dozen of India’s largest trade unions have called for and signed up to the strike. The strike will affect many sectors, including public sector banks, ports and docks, railways, insurance, road transport, energy workers, miners, and aviation workers.
“Recent months have seen a mounting wave of militant worker struggles in India, strikes for union recognition in India’s expanding auto sector, including a two-day occupation of a Hyundai plant, a wildcat strike by Air India personnel, and walkouts by telecom workers and coal miners against the central government’s privatization plans.”
The different unions have a variety of different demands, they include gaining the same rights and protection for temporary and contract workers that permanent workers have, raising and extending the minimum wage, resisting the attacks on trade unions, stopping price rises, the creation of a national social security fund, increase in pensions, and combatting corruption.
Despite seeing growth of around 9% each year, more than four hundred million Indians live in absolute poverty. Only a handful of countries enjoy similar growth, yet Indian workers have not even been flicked so much as a crumb from the bosses table. Working and living conditions are equal to, and actually worse than some African countries that are not experiencing the same economic growth.
Indian workers are starting to switch on to the fact that they ‘system’ only serves the wealthy and the bosses.The last few year has seen a dramatic rise in the number off millionaires and billionaires, yet jobs are lost, wages cut, and unions rights pushed back. India’s richest fifty five people have 1/6th of all the country’s wealth.
But the scenario in the state of west Bengal is quite different. Mamata Banerjee Bengal CM has decided to oppose the bundh and had made adequate arrangements to defy it. She has made official orders to all the government servants to refrain from observing the strike or taking any sort of leave on the day.

ज्वरो

राजा पुनियानी 
"सम्हाल पछ्यौरी त्यो लत्रिसक्यो भुइँमा
नत्र भने जिन्दगानी आगो लगाइदिन्छु" *

कसले सम्हालिदेला मखुण्डा
ईश्वरबल्लभले माया गरिराखेको दार्जीलिङको
जब ज्वरो आउनेछ हनहन दार्जीलिङलाई

यसपालि हिँउ पर्छ-पर्दैन
-कसले भन्न सकेको छ र
अहिले नै

विचारहरूको शृङ्खलाबद्ध विस्फोटपछि
शून्यवादीहरूको अराजक झुण्ड
डुल्न निस्किएको छ बजार

वर्षौं लामो जाडोमा ज्वरो त आउनेछ
तर यो ज्वरो
हुनेछ एउटा उत्तर-आधुनिक ज्वरो

ज्वरोको रापले
पग्लेर नाङ्गै भएको हुनेछ कञ्चनजङ्गा

नाङ्गै हिँड्नेछ कञ्चनजङ्गा
र चौरस्तामा आएर बस्नेछ भोक हडतालमा

पर्यटकहरूको ब्याग
कसले बोक्ला-
सोच्दैछ उदास भरिया
हडतालको बिहान

चराहरू अन्यत्रै बसाइँ सर्नेछन्
किनभने रूखहरू निदाउनेछन् निकै लामो

पाठशालाहरू स्टेट फोर्स-को घर बनिनेछन्

कसले टिप्ला त चियाका पत्तीहरू
किनभने लकआउट भएका कमानका तालाहरू
फेरिनेछन् बमहरूमा
र मुद्दा नपाएका एनजीओ र समाजसेवी समूहहरूले
फेरि एउटा अवसर पाउनेछन्

कुइनाइनको बोक्रा पिट्ने हातहरूलाई
फुर्सद हुँदैन
पोस्टर लेख्न र टाँस्नबाट

अबोला ढुङ्गाहरू
एकाएक आ-आफ्ना ठाउँबाट उठ्नेछन्
र नारा भट्टाउँदै गरेका हुनेछन्

बाटोछेउका मौन धुप्पीहरू
पिलिकपिलिक हेर्दै
जुलूसभित्र बिलाउनेछन्

कसले धोइदेला
रेस्तुराँका महङ्गो रक्सी र कफीका कपहरू-
वेटरहरू त गुप्ती यात्रामा छन्

ज्वरो आउँदा
सबै व्यस्त हुनेछन्
ज्वरोको जुलूसमा
ज्वरोको समारोहमा
ज्वरोको कार्निभलमा

ढोङ्गको साहित्य बालेर
आगो ताप्नेछन् नानीहरू
र इन्द्रबहादुर सर कोठामा कफी पिउँदै
ईश्वरको सम्झना गर्नेछन्

भद्रेको टोली-ले ज्वरोको नाटक देखाउनेछ
जब दार्जीलिङको विश्व विख्यात सौन्दर्य
गुफा पसिरहेको हुनेछ

बूढाहरू गाउनेछन् पीट सिगर र पल रब्सनका रौं ठाडा हुने गीतहरू
बिट पुस्ताको कविता भट्टाउनेछन् चेग्वेभाराको डाइरी पढेका युवकहरू
केटीहरू चाहिँ प्लाथ्, सिमन दी बूव र पारिजातका किताब पढ्नेछन्
तब
दार्जीलिङको नाप्पिएको ठिहीको सेखी झर्नेछ
ज्वरोको तापले

यही ज्वरोको आगोले
कण्ठस्थ गराउनेछ गिरीको युद्ध र योद्धा
कुइनेटो, चोक र मोडहरूलाई

चौरस्तामुनि साग बेच्ने बज्यै
गोप्य सभामा भाषण सुन्नेछिन्
जब
डम्बर चौकमा जलाइनेछ
अघिल्ला र भावी सम्झौताका प्रतिहरू

खरसाङको बजारभरि छपछप हिँड्नेछन्
परिवर्तनको आह्वान गर्दै
युक्तिवादी विद्यार्थीहरू
र गिद्धेको डाँडाबाट
कहिल्यै नाम नसुनिएको कविले
पटेकाजस्तै पड्काउनेछ कविताका शब्दहरू

जागित्रे भएर इबरा-को एमके
चोक बजारको जनसभाको भीडमा देखा पर्नेछ फेरि

पानी सुक्नेछ मिरिक झीलको
र मुरै खाएर बाँचेका माछाहरू
अज्ञात छापामार छाउनीहरूतिर लाग्नेछन्

घूमको रेल स्टेशनमा टोय ट्रेनभरि
थुनिनेछन् हावाहरू

आइहालेको छैन
आउन अझै कैयौं वर्ष लाग्ला

तर ज्वरो त पक्कै आउनेछ
प्यारासिटोमलले धरि नभ्याउने ज्वरो

ज्वरोसँगै उल्टी पनि हुनेछ दार्जीलिङलाई
शताब्दीभरि खाएको दालभात
र रक्सी
-------------
*ईश्वरबल्लभ-को लोकप्रिय गीतको उद्धृत अंश

गोर्खाहरु पुन: एकचोटि बिदेशीको आरोपले लान्छित - गोर्खाल्याण्डको बिरोधमा आदिवासीहरु एक रहेको बिरसा तिर्कीको ठोकुवा..Mamata in a three days tour to Darjeeling.....Defy-bandh plea with promise to pay - Deb: govt will stand by the people

गोर्खाहरु पुन: एकचोटि बिदेशीको आरोपले लान्छित - गोर्खाल्याण्डको बिरोधमा आदिवासीहरु एक रहेको बिरसा तिर्कीको ठोकुवा

डी के वाइबा, कालिमन्युज, कालेबुंग 26 फरवरी: गोर्खाहरु फेरी एकपल्ट बिदेशीको आरोपले आरोपित भएका छन । उक्त उपनाम वा आरोप आदिवासी बिकाश परिषदका राज्य अध्यक्ष बिरसा तिर्कीले हाई पावर कमिटिलाई लेखेको पत्रमा लगाएका छन। तिनले गत 24 फरवरीको दिन हाई पावर कमिटिलाई सुम्पेको पत्रमा गोर्खाहरु नेपालका नगरिक हुन भन्ने आरोप लगाउँदै उनिहरु यहाँ केवल भारत नेपाल सुगौली सन्धिको आधरमा बसेर भारतीय संविधान अनुरुप माग गरिरहेको लेखेका छन। यस्ता बिदेशी नागरीकहरुलाई भारतिय संविधानको धारा 5 अन्तर्गत नागरिक अधिकार नपाउँने अनि संवैधानिक अधिकारको कुरा गर्न नपाउँने तिनले पत्रमा स्पष्ट लेखेका छन।

सन 1921,1931 अनि 1961 को जनगणना रिपोर्ट अनुरुप हेर्नु हो भने तराई डुवर्समा गोर्खाहरु केवल 8/10 प्रतिशत मात्र बसोबास गर्ने गरेको बताउँदै अहिले घरिको जनसंख्या बृद्धि नेपालबाट आएर बसेको कारण हो भनि तिनले लेखेको पत्रमा उल्लेख गरिएको छ। “तराई डुवर्सका भू भागमा बसोबास गर्दै आएका गोर्खा समुदायका मानिसहरु भारतका असल नागरीक होईनन, उनीहरु केवल सन 1950 मा भएको भारत नेपाल सुगौली सन्धिको आधरमा मात्र यहाँ बसिरहेका छन। नेपाल देशको नागरीकता भएका गोर्खाहरुले अहिले यहाँ छुट्टै राज्य गोर्खाल्याण्डको माग गर्दै आईरहेका छन जसको आदिबासी बिकास परिषद घोर बिरोध गर्दछ” – उक्त कुरा आदिबासी बिकास परिषदका राज्य अध्यक्ष बिरसा तिर्कीले हाई पावर कमिटिलाई बुझाएको पत्रमा लेखेका छन।

पत्रमा गोर्खाल्याण्ड राज्य मागको कुरालाई बिरोध गर्दै गोजमुमोले सम्झौता गरेको जीटीएमा समेत तराई डुवर्सका भू भागहरु गाभ्ने कुराको बिरोध गरिएको छ। आबिप राज्य अध्यक्ष तिर्कीले गोर्खाहरु यदि भारतका असल नागरीक हुन भन्छन भने सन 1950 अघिदेखि बसोबास गर्दै आईरहेको नागरीक प्रमाण पत्र देखाउँनुपर्ने माग समेत गरेका छन। तिनले हाईपावर कमिटिलाई बुझाएको पत्रमा गोर्खाहरु यता केवल बिगत 30/40 वर्ष अघिदेखि मात्र बसोबास गरिरहेको तर्क राख्दै यदि यो कुरा साचो होइन भने सन 1952 अनि सन 1957 मा भएको मतदान सूचीमा तिनीहरुका नाम हुने थियो भनि बताएका छन। यी कुराहरुलाई हेर्दानै गोर्खाहरु तराई डुवर्समा पहिल्यै देखि बसोबास गर्दै आएका थिएनन भन्ने कुराको पुष्टि हुन्छ भन्दै बिगत 30/40 वर्ष यता मात्र गोर्खाहरुको जनसंख्या बृद्धी भएको तिनले पत्रमा ठोकुवा गरेका छन।

तराई डुवर्सका कुनै पनि भू-भाग गोर्खाल्याण्ड तथा जीटीएमा गाभ्न नदिने स्पष्ट अडान राख्दै गोर्खा र आदिवासीहरुको धर्म, संस्कृति कुनै कुरा एकार्कामा मेल नखाने भएको कारण गोर्खाहरुसित आदिबासीहरुको कुनै हित नहुने तिनले दाबी गरेका छन। तराई डुवर्सको भू भाग गाभ्न नदिने पक्षमा आदिवासीहरु एकमत रहेको दाबी गर्दै उक्त क्षेत्रमा नेपाली भाषी मानिसहरु केवल 8/10 प्रतिशत मात्र रहेको तर आदिबासी भाषी मानिसहरुको संख्या 70 प्रतिशत रहेको तिनले पत्रमा दाबी गरेका छन। तराई डुवर्स र दार्जीलिंग पहाडको भौगोलिक, सांस्कृतिक, सामाजिक, तथा आर्थीक पक्ष कतैबाट पनि एकार्कमा सम्पुरक नरहेको कारण पनि गोर्खाल्याण्ड अथवा जीटीएमा तराई डुवर्सका कुनै पनि भू-भाग गाभ्न नदिने आबिपको माग रहेको तिनले पत्रमा उल्लेख गरेका छन। तिनले हाल तराई डुवर्सको वास्तविक वस्तु स्थिति बारे प्रकाश पार्दै आदिवासी, बंगाली, मुसलमान, मारवाडी, राजवंसी लगायत अन्य जाति समुदायका मनिसहरुले तराई डुवर्सका भू-भाग जीटीएमा गाभ्ने कुराको पूर्ण बिरोधमा रहेको स्पष्ट पार्दै यदि गाभेको खण्डमा 90 प्रतिशत आदिबासी जनताहरुले ज्यान दिने चेतावनी दिएका छन।

बडो तकनिकी ढंगमा लिखीत उक्त पत्रमा हाई पावर कमिटीले उल्लेख गरेको चारैवटा बुदाहरुलाई क्र्मवद्द ढ्ंगमा लेखिएको छ। पहिलो बुदा एकरुपतामा दुवै जातिमा कुनै समानता र सामंजस्य नरहेको कुरो धर्म, सस्कृति, भाषा र रितिथिति उल्लेख गर्दै प्रमाण गर्ने प्रयास गरिएको छ। यसको साथै डुवर्समा आदिवासीहरुनै बहुमतमा रहेको बताइएको छ।

ठोसपनामा दवै स्थानको भौगोलिक स्थिति अलग अलग एउट पहाड र अर्को मधेस रहेको अनि एकाध स्थानमा बाहेक अरुमा स्वतंत्र रहेर कुनै निर्भरता नरहेको दवै क्षेत्रबिच भौगोलिक, सामाजिक, आर्थिक्, मनोवैग्यानिक ठोसपना नरहेको प्रमाण गर्ने कोशिष गरिएको छ।

दुइ जातिहरु बेग्ला बेग्लै जिल्लामा पहाड र मधेसलाई विभिन्न पहाड र नदिहरुले छुट्याएर अलग गरि राखिएकोले कुनै समिपता दुवैमाझ नरहेको पत्रमा उल्लेख गरिएको छ् ।

बस्तु स्थितिमा जलपाइगुडी जिल्लाका आदिवासीहरुलाई अनुसुचित जनजाति भनेर सरकारद्वारा मान्यता दिएको र् 5 विधायक र 1 सांसदको सिटहरु पनि आरक्षण गरिएको लगायत अन्य विशेष व्यवस्थामा रहेकोले यो अलग्गै रहेको अनि यो क्षेत्रका सबै जातिहरुले जिटिएमा गाभिने प्रस्तावनाको विरोध गरेको उल्लेख यसमा गरिएको छ। आदिवासीहरुले 2009 देखिनै यसको विरोध गरेको अनि आज पनि विरोध गरिरहेको बताउदै भोटांगमा भ्एको आन्दोलन पछि त्यहाबाट खेदाइएका 15 लाख नेपालीहरुमा अधिंकाश् डुवर्समा बसेर नागरिकता लिएको पनि बताइएको छ। अंतमा डुवर्सका स्थानहरुका नाम आदिवासी र अन्य भाषामानै बेसि राखिएको उल्लेख गर्दै गणतांत्रिक ढंगमा कुनै निर्णय लिइने हो भने यसको निम्ति नै चुनाव जनमत लिएर मात्रै गर्न सकिने प्रस्तावना यसमा दिइएको छ।
Mamata in a three days tour to Darjeeling.
KalimNews: According to itinerary of Mamata Banerjee Chief Minister Of West Bengal she is arriving Darjeeling on 29 February via Bagdogra. She will meet GJM leaders and have discussion on GTA. On 1st March she will leave for Sandakphu and make a halt in a tourist lodge over there. On 2nd she will return to Darjeeling. It is assumed that she will announce some development packages as well possible dates of GTA election from Darjeeling.On 3rd she will return Kolkata.
Defy-bandh plea with promise to pay - Deb: govt will stand by the people

Minister Deb (centre) at a meeting with the police and administrative officials in Siliguri on Sunday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

TT, Siliguri/Cooch Behar, Feb. 26: Ministers and leaders of the ruling Trinamul Congress today convened meetings with the administration across the region to ensure a bandh-free Tuesday and appealed to the public to ignore the Citu shutdown call, even going to the extent of promising compensation if there was a loss.
North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb met senior police officials of Siliguri subdivision and Jalpaiguri district to discuss how to maintain law and order and ensure that life was not affected on February 28.
He also promised government compensation to shop-owners if their establishments were attacked by bandh supporters.
Yesterday, Mamata Banerjee had issued a public appeal against the shutdown. She had asked people not to join the Citu in its general strike at an official event of the unorganised sector in Salt Lake, Calcutta.
Today, the employees of the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) were read the riot act from Writers’ by its chairperson and Trinamul Congress Natabari MLA Rabindranath Ghosh and managing director C. Murugan. The NBSTC management said the government has barred its employees from taking leave on February 28 and said absentees would have to face break in service.
Minister Deb said he would go all out to prove wrong the popular perception that the people of north Bengal responded to bandhs called by all and sundry.
“There is a common perception that the residents and traders easily respond to bandh calls. Peace has returned to the hills and several closed tea gardens have reopened because of the efforts of our government. I will personally take to the streets on February 28 and appeal to the people, particularly shop-owners not to participate in the strike,” Deb told journalists after meeting the subdivisional officer of Siliguri Baibhav Srivastava and the two additional superintendents of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri Amit P. Javalgi and S. Pandey.
He said control rooms would be opened in the office of the north Bengal development department in Siliguri as well as in the offices of the SDO and the ASPs. “We will tackle any untoward incident swiftly. I will meet the traders of Siliguri tomorrow and ask them to carry on with their business as usual on bandh day. The government will stand by the traders and will compensate them if they are affected by miscreants,” Deb said.
Deb said he was in touch with the administrations of Cooch Behar, Malda and the two Dinajpurs. “I have also spoken to the chairperson of the NBSTC about the arrangements they are making,” the minister said.
Asked if Trinamul workers would also take to the streets during the bandh, Deb said: “We have strictly instructed our workers not to get provoked in any way or indulge in any confrontation. Police will be there to maintain law and order. We have told the police not to tolerate any breach of peace.”
In Cooch Behar, NBSTC managing director Murugan said he had met the leaders of the four unions of the transport body.
“We have told them that the government will not tolerate absenteeism and it would invoke the deduction of a day’s salary,” Murugan said.
MLA Ghosh, who is also the NBSCT chairperson, said about 450-500 buses of the corporation’s running fleet would take to the roads on the day of the bandh.
“We are opening control rooms in Siliguri, Raiganj, Cooch Behar and Behrampore for smooth operations. If there is a dearth of private buses, we will hire them so that people can have a normal life,” said Ghosh.

Global Urban Vision –  March2012

(Compiled and Published by J.N. Manokaran  and Hudson Silas on behalf of Glocal Leaders Network)

I India:

1. Dowry death: One bride burnt every hour: In a crime that is prevalent only in India, greedy husbands and his relatives harass the newly wed bride for getting more dowry, and often kill her in the process. And, very often, she is burnt alive. This horror is therefore called bride-burning or in official terms, dowry death. In 2010, there were 8391 reported cases of dowry death in the country. That works out to a shocking one death every hour approximately. Bride-burning is on the increase - just a decade ago, in 2000, there were 6995 cases. Dowry is an ancient tradition among the upper castes but its spread among all sections of society probably in the late nineteenth century. With increasing commercialization this acquired a new meaning - it became an opportunity for men and their families to get their hands on cash, jewellery, durables, and various other commodities. Although the government prohibited dowry through legislation in 1961, it was never implemented properly. Prohibition officers were supposed to have been appointed in each district, taking the battle to the grassroots but nothing happened. And, the tide of greed driven murder of young brides continued unabated. In 1986, under huge pressure from the women's movement, the Indian penal Code was amended to include section 304B, specifically against murder following harassment for dowry. Section 498A was added to define harassment and cruelty by husbands and his relatives. Strangely this too has not had much effect. Laxity of the government machinery can be one reason for the failure of legal measures. After all, conviction rates in bride burning cases have dipped from an already weak 37% in 2000 to 34% in 2010. In section 498A cases, the conviction rates are even lower: just 19%, although reported cases were 94,000 in 2010. But perhaps the primary reason for spread of this cancer has been the almost complete absence of any public campaign or mobilization against it for the past 25 years. As a result, girls are considered a burden on the parents, families go bankrupt trying to get their daughters married off, choice in forming relations is frowned upon and thousands - maybe lakhs - of young women suffer violence silently behind closed doors.  (Subodh Varma, (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dowry-death-One-bride-burnt-every-hour/articleshow/11644691.cms accessed on 27 January 2012.)

Please Pray:

1       That dowry system may be rooted out in Indian marriages

2       Indian families may built on foundation of love instead of money and greed

2. Poor labourers pledged Rs 100, get Re 1 for day's work under govt's employment guarantee scheme: Poor workers are being paid wages as low as Rs 1-10 for a hard day's labour in states like Rajasthan and Karnataka under the Mahatma GandhiNational Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which promises a real wage of Rs 100 per day. Many desperate, poor labourers across the country are being cheated of their hard earned money and the much publicized guaranteed daily wage of Rs 100 on many occasions remains a mere illusion. The scheme legally entitles any citizen in the hinterland to demand work for 100 days from the government and be paid Rs 100 per day for the work rendered. The rules of the scheme have allowed government officials to cheat the people of their day's entitlement. Initial reports had suggested just a one-off case of Re 1 being paid to several in Tonk district in Rajasthan. But trawling through hundreds of muster rolls in the state has shown that this is an endemic fraud being perpetrated on the poor in Rajasthan. A survey of 249 panchayats in 33 districts of the state carried out by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan has shown that in 37 panchayats, some people were paid wages between Rs 1-10 in 2011-12. Another 40 panchayats paid between Rs 11-20 to people employed to carry out rural development work under the scheme. In only 7 of the 249 panchayats, scrutinized workers ever got between Rs 91-100 per day for their work in 2011-12. The story is as bad in Karanataka. A scrutiny of the muster rolls shows that in Bapur village of Sadapur panchayat in Raichur, people got paid anywhere from Rs 2-11 for carrying out work under the scheme. It is not a one-off case in Karnataka either. The meagre wages have been paid in several districts over the last year.  (Nitin Sethi, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Poor-labourers-pledged-Rs-100-get-Re-1-for-days-work-under-govts-employment-guarantee-scheme/articleshow/11644764.cms accessed on 27 January 2012.)

Please Pray:

1       For economic development in poor laborers in India

2       For govt. schemes may implement properly without any fraud and scams

3. Boy sacrificed for hidden treasure in Andhra:  A 14-year-old boy was killed by a group of people in the belief that a human sacrifice would yield them a secret treasure in Andhra Pradesh's Nirmal town. The police on 26 January recovered the body of Ganesh at Shyamgarh Fort on the outskirts of the town in Adilabad district, about 250 km from here. One man, Raju, who reportedly sold the boy for Rs.20,000 to the treasure seekers, has been arrested while eight members of the gang which sacrificed him are yet untraced and on the run, police said. The boy was sacrificed for the believed-to-be hidden treasure in the fort on Amavasya (new moon night) on the intervening night of January 24 and 25. He was buried in the same area and the police exhumed the body on January 26. Ganesh was a Class 9 student at a private school, and was lured away with snacks by Raju, the boy's family members alleged. According to locals, several people in the town and other areas in the district believe in hidden treasures and that a human sacrifice would reveal these. (http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/boy-sacrificed-for-hidden-treasure-in-andhra-170720 accessed on 27 January 2012.)

·                Pray that india may come out of inhuman practices like child sacrifice.

·Pray that the society may not tolerate such evil and Government puts an end to such inhuman practices

4. A Black Ledger: A recent report reveals that four custodial deaths occur on an average everyday. Compiling data from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Delhi-based Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) puts the number of custodial deaths for the decade 2001-10 at 14,231. This includes 1,504 deaths in police custody and 12,727 in judicial custody. While judicial custody includes undertrials and those convicted (many of whom die due to old age and medical complications), it is deaths in police custody that raise concerns about torture. Maharashtra tops this list with 250 deaths, followed by UP (174) and Gujarat (134). Given that Maharashtra’s population is only about half of UP’s, ACHR director Suhas Chakma says the figures suggest torture is rampant there. As many as 99 per cent of the deaths in police custody—where those detained have no legal safeguards unlike those under judicial custody—happened within 48 hours of arrest. And yet, these figures comprise only deaths that the NHRC recorded. According to Chakma, the deaths reflect possibly only half the actual number. “Custody is often defined as the state when one is put in a lock-up but it should expand to include even those who are detained simply for questioning. Often many are beaten in public even before being arrested,” he adds. Moreover, the police don’t report all custodial deaths to the NHRC despite being required to do so. Conflict areas seem especially susceptible, with incredulously low rates of custody deaths—Manipur (2), J&K (6) and Chhattisgarh (24). The 10 Worst States: Maharashtra – 250; Uttar Pradesh – 174; Gujarat – 134; Andhra Pradesh – 109; West Bengal – 98; Tamil Nadu – 95; Assam – 84; Karnataka – 67; Punjab – 57; Madhya Pradesh – 55 and Haryana – 45. (Debarshi Dasgupta, Outlook 30 January 2012, p. 12)·                Pray that Indian goverment may take proper steps to stop Human Rights violations in police stations

·                Police may be trained adequately so that they honour human, children and women rights.

5. 78% urban youths take supplements: Survey: About 78% of adolescents in urban areas of India consume at least one dietary supplement such as pills, energy drinks, steroids and high-protein powders, says a survey by industry body Assocham. "The statistics are shocking, as many children are becoming overly involved and obsessed by a wide variety of substances that promise to boost energy, appearance, performance, immunity and overall health, even if it shortened their lives," it said in a statement. Over 85% of school and college athletes said their coaches and fitness trainers encouraged them to take supplements similar to steroids. They added these drugs were easily available at chemist shops and youngsters were well-equipped technologically to find information about them. Assocham Social Development Foundation (ASDF) team conducted the survey in states and cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Lucknow. Surveyors interacted with 2,500 adolescents (almost equal number of males and females) in the age group of 14-30 years. The survey was carried out in the period from October 2011 to January 2012 on "Ill Effects of Energy Drinks and Other Popular Dietary Supplements on Youngsters". It observed that consumption of dietary supplement was more in vogue in Delhi, Mumbai, followed by Haryana, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. Its report highlighted that use of steroids increased with age, especially in boys, with almost 45% of Class XII boys using those. Some students reported using other dietary supplements to boost their game or physical appearance. 47% said they used supplements such as protein powders, creatine and amino acids to gain body mass. Around 55% said they used supplements like fat burners, high-energy drinks and caffeine pills to lose weight. It also mentioned facts about participants consuming sports drinks (86%), vitamin and mineral tablets (75%), energy drinks (65%), herbal supplements (25%), high protein milk supplements (15%) and steroids (76%). (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/78-urban-youths-take-supplements-Survey/articleshow/11658810.cms accessed on 28 January 2012.)

·                Pray that youth of our country may not go astray in choosing incorrect food practices

·                They may find identity not just in physical appearance but in proper values and attitude.

6. Chennai sits on a growing e-waste pile: A Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) recommendation to set up e-wastecollection centres is gathering dust. Corporation sources say many people refuse to leave their products for free at such centres. The city annually generates more than 30,000 tonnes of e-waste, and it is growing. By 2030, this is projected to touch two lakh tonnes. Environmentalists and social activists fear that free distribution of television and laptops will add to the e-waste heap. Lead and other toxic substances in e-waste pose health hazards. Most of the e-waste from smaller computer firms ends up in landfills. With the share of e-waste in dump sites like Kodungaiyur and Perungudi growing over the years, environmentalists thought the proposed collection centers in 15 zones would reduce the burden of the dump sites, but the idea doesn't seem viable. The e-waste inventory prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board in 2005 put the annual e-waste generation across the country at 1.46 lakh tones. In Chennai, personal computers, televisions and mobile phones contribute 26,183 tonnes to the e-waste heap. Chennai does not have government-run recycling plants or collection centres for e-waste, but a private recycling plant at Urappakkam handles e-waste from the Madras Export Promotion Zone (MEPZ). (Christian Mathew Philip,http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-sits-on-a-growing-e-waste-pile/articleshow/11668823.cms accessed on 29 January 2012.)

·                Pray that the Government have right policies to handle e-waste. 

7 We are on the highway to hell: One death on the road every four minutes. By the time you finish reading this article, someone somewhere in India will lose his/her life in an accident. Hop to the right, step left, hop back, dodge the vehicles and then run for your life: Crossing a road in India is like a video game, and according to the Central Road Research Institute, being in a game without any extra lives has 90 percent of all pedestrians feeling unsafe. Road accidents are the third biggest cause of deaths in India and it is quickly catching up with malaria, which kills over 2 lakh people every year. With 1.35 lakh deaths a year, India is the world leader in road accident fatalities and 70 percent of them are caused by drunken driving. Drunk driving is rampant in India because it is not considered a serious offence by both the administration and the general public. Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which deals with drunken driving, states that an individual who has an alcohol level exceeding 30 mg per 100 ml of blood (the equivalent of two glasses of red wine or two pints of beer), shall be punished for the first offence with imprisonment of six months or a Rs 2,000 fine and is a bailable offence. Seldom does drunken driving result in jail time and even the maximum penalty of Rs 2,000, which would pay for a round of drinks, doesn’t serve as a deterrent. While there are separate clauses for subsequent offences, no record is actively maintained and in reality, almost all repeat offenders are treated as first-timers. What makes it worse is that there is no specific law to deal with death caused by a drunken driver. It is tried under Section 304A of the IPC, which deals with death caused by a rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide. The maximum penalty is two years in jail and/or a fine. It is also a bailable offence. Alistair Pereira, who mowed down seven construction workers in Mumbai under the influence of alcohol in 2006, received a sentence of just three years. Delhi businessman Sanjeev Nanda, who killed six persons, including three policemen, with his BMW, got a sentence of only two years.  Lives lost on the asphalt: 2010:  1 33 938; 2009: 1 26 896; 2008:  1 18 239; 2007: 1 14 590; 2006: 1 05 725.) Avalok Langer, http://tehelka.com/story_main51.asp?filename=Ne040212Highway.asp accessed on 29 January 2012)

·                Pray that traffic facilities (infrastructure) are provided to people walking and travelling on roads in India

·                Pray for Traffic Common Sense among all Indians.

8.     Dalit's hands, legs severed in MP village: In a shocking incident, three persons allegedly chopped off both hands and legs of a 27-year-old dalit youth at Pagari Bangla village under Malawar police station limits in MP's Rajgarh district, apparently over a petty issue, police said on Sunday. The victim, identified as Jagdish, has been referred to Bhopal for treatment and was in a serious condition, they said. The incident took place on Saturday when the accused, identified as Arjun Thakur, Shiva Gurjar and Madan, attacked Jagdish with an axe and a sharp-edged weapon since he had complained to police against them for allegedly stealing an electricity meter from his agriculture field. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dalits-hands-legs-severed-in-MP-village/articleshow/11681218.cms accessed on 30 January 2012.)

·                Pray that government may take steps to stop violence against dalits

·pray for  a cange in the attitude of people towards Dalits and casteism and racism may disappear from India.

9. Earphones on, boy hit by train: Sixteen-year-old Delhi school student Kaushlendra Pal never heard the train coming. He was using his earphones to listen to music from his mobile while crossing a railway track in Ghaziabad when a speeding train hit him from behind on 28 January afternoon. The driver of the Garib Rath Express blew the train horn, people standing close to the track shouted, but all in vain. When the train dragged him for several feet before stopping, his earphones were still on. The teen was rushed to a private hospital with severe head injuries and a severed leg. He was later moved to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital but didn’t survive. In December last year, two schoolboys were mowed down by a train in Ghaziabad. Like Pal, they also had their earphones on and couldn’t hear the approaching train. A similar case was reported from Narela in Outer Delhi last April.  (Peeyush Khandelwal, http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/UttarPradesh/Earphones-on-boy-hit-by-train/Article1-803939.aspx  accessed on 30 January 2012,)

·                Pray for students using the mobile while walking on the roads and rail track

·                Let not many lives be extinguished for such stupid reasons.

10. Maha No. 1 in domestic violence cases: Study: Maharashtra reported the highest number of domestic violence cases in 2010-11 of which economic abuse was the most rampant, followed by the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, a study has found. While Andhra reported higher number of physical abuse cases, Karnataka was evenly placed in cases of economic and physical abuse. Maharashtra reported 2,433 cases followed by Andhra with 1,174 cases and Karnataka with 1,013 cases. Madhya Pradesh (882) and Kerala (631) followed. The findings are part of an analysis of orders issued by the magistrate and sessions courts between April 2010 to March 2011. The pattern of violence and abuse are included in the '5th Monitoring and Evaluation Report on the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act'. The study in 16 states was done by the Lawyers Collective Women's Rights Initiative in collaboration with the International Centre for Research on Women and UN Women. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act was passed in 2005 to address the gap between the guarantee of the Constitution of equal rights and the gender based discrimination which women faced in their homes. Over 7,500 orders were analyzed, the largest number of cases were filed by married women followed by divorced women and widows. While the number of women in "relationship in the nature of marriage" is small, the study noted that the largest number of cases was in Delhi and the courts had been sympathetic to women in their orders in such cases. The report, however, did not paint a very rosy picture of the budget allocation, pointing out that 19 states did not have a specific scheme related to implementation of the DV Act. Of the states that had allocated budgets, the allocation ranged from Rs 2 lakh in Meghalaya to Rs 5 crore in Karnataka. However, the trends in expenditure were not flattering with Karnataka reporting 48% expenditure in 2010-2011. Spending had dropped over the last three years in the state as it had with MP, (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Maha-No-1-in-domestic-violence-cases-Study/articleshow/11693056.cms accessed on 31 January 2012.).

·                Pray for eradication of domestic violence in India

·                Pray that the society may change its attitude towards domestic violence

11. Gurgaon cops bust mineral water racket: Thousands of litres of spurious mineral water bottled and pasted with well known labels are supplied from unhygienic locations in villages here, HindustanTimes has found. The police have raided five plants, sealed them and arrested seven low-level workers but the big fish are still at large. (Leena Dhanakar,  http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Haryana/Gurgaon-cops-bust-mineral-water-racket/Article1-805449.aspx accessed on 2 February 2012.)

·                Pray that government may bring in laws to handle illegal business that may affect health of people

12. Illicit arms and elections:  4343 illicit arms factories unearthed and sealed in the run-up to the polls in Uttar Pradesh.  Unlicensed weapons seized so far; 2431 and counting.  Licensed weapons compulsorily ‘deposited’ at stations;  188 000.  (Outlook 6 February 2012. P. 10.)

·                Pray that Government may seal such factories permanently, not only during elections.

·                Pray that goverment take necessary action against people involved in this inhuman activity

13. 1.76 lakh people travel by CTU buses every day: As per the figures of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU), 1.76 lakh passengers commute by bus every day. The occupancy rate of the local buses that were procured under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM) is 76 per cent. Last year the occupancy of buses was 71 per cent.Proposals are now on the anvil to introduce e-ticketing as well as new route maps for the passengers. Among the most popular routes are routes 1 to 5 and 7 to 10. These include buses to PGI, bus stand in Sector 17 and 43 as well as to the IT Park. There are more passengers commuting on these routes than the others. Both the AC and non-AC buses are witnessing high occupancy rates. There is a proposal on the anvil to procure 86 more buses under the scheme. Some regular passengers, however, complain about delays in the arrival of buses. There are also complaints about conductors not issuing tickets despite charging the fare. Chandigarh, with a population of 10.54 lakh, has nearly 9 lakh registered vehicles. There is also a floating populating of vehicles from adjoining areas. The increasing number of vehicles is a cause of concern in the city due to the traffic chaos and lack of parking space. The Master Plan Committee has recommended an improvement in the public transport system. (Khushboo Sandhu, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/1.76-lakh-people-travel-by-ctu-buses-every-day/907673/0 accessed on 4 February 2012.)

·                pray that government may come up with proper plans to reduce difficuties for bus commuters

·                Pray that traffic sense prevails among people in India

14. Cops tear off dalit boy’s ear in Sagar: A poor dalit boy's ears were pulled with such force by a couple of policemen that a big, bloody chunk came out, which surgeons could not stitch back. The incident happened in Sagar district of the impoverished Bundelkhand region.
    Narendra Ahirwar (13) was picked up by police on suspicion in a theft case on 5 February.   He was beaten black and blue, before two of the cops bodily lifted him upward by his ears. His left ear came detatched in the hands of one of his tormentors. The two cops, assistant sub-inspector Ghanshayam Dubey and constable Vishwanath Mishra have been suspended and booked under IPC and the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. A hunt has been launched to arrest the two, who are at large. After the incident, the boy was sent to home. However, his family members admitted him to a hospital and lodged a complaint with senior police officials. Meanwhile, surgeons of the district hospital tried hard to repair his ear. but in vain. It could not be stiched back, since over 24 hours had elapsed. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Cops-tear-off-dalit-boys-ear-in-Sagar/articleshow/11786717.cms accessed on 7 February 2012.)

·                Pray that the police may learn human rights and treat people with dignity

·                Pray that dalits may not be exploited and oppressed

15. ‘18 two-wheeler riders die on city roads every month’: 219 two-wheeler riders  were killed on various roads in Pune city and Pimpri-Chinchwad and is the highest in last three years. In 2010, 217 two-wheeler riders were killed and in 2009, 193 died. That means in the last three years, 600 families have lost a family member.Collectively, 417 persons died in 2011 in mishaps involving various vehicles on city roads. Of these, 50 per cent were riding two-wheelers. Police said on an average, 15-18 two-wheeler riders die on city roads every month. Already, in January this year, 17 two-wheeler riders have died in as many accidents. A staggering 174 persons in the age group of 18 to 40 years. Of these, 20 are women — mostly pillion riders — while the rest are men. In the 18 to 30 age group, 129 deaths were recorded. Police blame the trend to a steep rise in the registration of two-wheelers and the youngsters’ tendency to speed and ride without helmets. The city has nearly 22 lakh two-wheelers and the figure is constantly going up. Of the 219 deaths last year, police said, in 215 cases, the riders were not wearing helmets. (Manoj More,http://www.indianexpress.com/news/18-twowheeler-riders-die-on-city-roads-every-month/909385/0 accessed on 8 February 2012.)·                Pray that proper traffice sense prevails among the youth in India

·                Pray that Government may take proper steps to stop the 2 wheeler accidents

16. Gujarat HC raps Narendra Modi govt for 'inaction' during post-Godhra riots: The Narendra Modi government was on 8 February pulled up by the Gujarat high court for "inaction and negligence" on its part during the 2002 post-Godhra riots that led to large-scale destruction of religious structures.A division bench of acting chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala made these observations, while ordering compensation for over 500 religious structures in the state. The court was hearing a petition filed by Islamic Relief Committee of Gujarat (IRCG). Inadequacy, inaction and negligence on the part of the state government to prevent riots resulted in large-scale destruction of religious structures across the state, the court observed. The government was responsible for repair and compensation for such places, it further said. The court said that when the government had paid compensation for destruction of houses and commercial establishments, it should also pay compensation for religious structures. The court also ordered that principal judges of 26 districts of the state will receive the applications for compensation of religious structures in their respective districts and decide on it. They have been asked to send their decisions to HC within six months. IRCG's petition in 2003 had sought court's directions to the government to pay compensation towards damage of religious places during riots on the ground that the National Human Rights Commission, too, had recommended and the state government had in principle accepted the suggestion. The state government had opposed the IRCG petition, saying it was a violation of article 27 of the Constitution. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gujarat-HC-raps-Narendra-Modi-govt-for-inaction-during-post-Godhra-riots/articleshow/11806101.cms accessed on 8 February 2012.)

·                Pray that riot victims may be able to rebuild their lives.

·                 Pray that correct judgment is given regarding Godhra issue

17. Half of India still defecates in the open: Half of the country's population (about 600 million) still defecates in the open even after 60 years of independence, the Planning Commission has admitted. The panel is of the view that toilets should be constructed for hamlets too, apart from aiming to build toilets for households. The thinking is also to build bathrooms along with toilets. The government can afford to pump more funds into sanitation schemes as the rural development ministry has found that around Rs 10,000 crore allocated for demand-driven national job guarantee scheme (NREGA) was lying unutilized. Under its flagship Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) launched in 1991, the government had set a target of universal household sanitation coverage by 2012 which is unlikely to be achieved. While the scheme is being implemented in 606 districts of 30 states and UTs, a recent review report said 22 states will not be able to meet the target. In fact, only five states - Tripura, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Mizoram - will be able to meet the 2012 target, according to a report 'A Decade of the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC)' of World Bank's Water and Sanitation Programme and the rural development ministry. The report found an increase in coverage from 21% in 2001 to over 65%. In the 1990s, only one in five rural households had access to a toilet. It also ranked the performance of states on a scale of 100. Only three states - Kerala, West Bengal and Maharashtra - have shown a score of above 75. Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Sikkim, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Tamil Nadu were among the states whose performance was above average (50-74). Rest of the states were ranked below average (below 25). (Mahendra Kumar Singh, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Half-of-India-still-defecates-in-the-open/articleshow/11816384.cms accessed on 9 February 2012.)

·                Pray that proper sanitation facilities are provided to the poor

·                Pray that Goverment may take proper steps to eradicate such unhealthy habits

18. 15-yr-old Chennai boy stabs teacher to death in classroom: A class 9 boy of St Mary's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School stabbed his teacher to death in a classroom on 9 February morning. He later told police that he was angry at her for scolding him. Shock and fear gripped the school on Armenian Street in Parrys as 15-year-old Mohammed Irfan, son of a daily labourer, repeatedly stabbed his science teacher Uma Maheswari (42) in the neck and face. Maheswari was sitting in another class on the first floor of a three-storey school building when Irfan stormed in with a knife around 10.30am. "He stabbed her first in the neck," said an eyewitness, "and inflicted cut injuries again on her cheek and neck. She died on the spot." When the other students cried out loud, Irfan threatened them and ran out, but was caught by teachers and students, the witness said. He was handed over to police. "The boy came with a knife wrapped in a paper," a policeman investigating the case said. "He said he was angry because the teacher scolded him. We don't know yet if there is any other reason."  (A. Selvaraj, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/15-yr-old-Chennai-boy-stabs-teacher-to-death-in-classroom/articleshow/11821865.cms accessed on 9 February 2012.)

·                Pray that school students may not take be rebellious, violent and aggressive

·                Pray for right kind of atmosphere for discipline in schools are created.

19. It’s Plain Murder, By Rote: Three recent reports—Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), the Programme For International Students Assessment (PISA) and the Quality Education Study (QES) by Wipro and Educational Initiatives—serve a gloomy, telling reality check, busting some long-held stereotypes about the strengths of Indian students. The smart Indian techie, the world-beating Indian students at spelling bee contests and math quizzes, the brainy, high-IQ geniuses at Ivy League colleges, are they all a thing of the past? The new breed seem to portend a horrifying tale: not only are our kids not getting any smarter, they actually seem to know less than their peers from a few years ago. In Tamil Nadu, only 15 per cent students in the 15-year age group are skilled in maths. About three-fourths of Class 3 students in rural India can’t solve two-digit subtraction problems. in the top 89 urban schools across the country, the QES report says, there has been a 5-10 per cent drop in learning levels in the last few years in math, science and reading literacy. The PISA report, which conducted an extensive study among 4,800 15-year-olds in the high-literacy states of Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh, is even more grim. Among 74 countries—including the US, UK, Canada, China, Korea, South Africa—Indian students rank second to last, at 73rd position, just above Kyrgyzstan. This, despite a high enrolment rate of nearly 97 per cent, the Right to Education being in place since 2010, propped up by a wave of progressive schools and teaching tools. India has one of the world’s youngest populations, it is poised to become the knowledge engine of the world to China’s manufacturing mettle—this is what we are led to believe. But can the new generation fill those shoes? There’s also the challenge of age-inappropriate textbooks, unimaginative teaching and a 1.2 million shortfall of teachers.  Entertainment is replacing education as the central aspect of life of middle class children.  Rote method is the basis of Indian education system. According to the QES findings, the societal biases of children in private schools in the metros are rather glaring. For example, nearly half of Class 8 students in top private schools in the cities feel that girls needn’t go to school. The PISA research finds that the Indian curriculum covers more topics, compared to, say, the UK or Australian syllabus, which provides students with a broad learning base, so they are able to respond well to questions where they need to retrieve information. But where they have to interpret and integrate, most Indian students find it a challenge. There is a mismatch between the mathematical needs of modern society and the curriculum.  India is losing the edge in pure sciences and mathematics, and academicians also see a decline in cutting-edge research in India. In 2010, China published about 10 lakh scientific papers whereas India could muster up only about two lakh. (Neha Bhatt,Outlook 13 February 2012, p. 18-24)

·                Pray that government may bring proper reforms in education.

·                Pray that students may really grow in knowledge, wisdom and good moral values.

20. Dalit attacked for drinking from upper caste’s pot: In a macabre act of caste violence, a Dalit youth in Saniyana village wasattacked with a sharp-edged weapon and had his arm nearly chopped off for drinking water from an earthen pot belonging to anupper caste family.
    While doctors have stitched up his arm, the police arrested one Rajender of Daulatpur village and booked him under SC/ST Act. Police sources said that Pappu first inquired about the caste of the victim, Rajesh Kumar, before attacking him. The attack comes within two years of a violent caste clash in Mirchpur in Hisar district in which two Dalits - a physically challenged girl and her septuagenarian father -were burnt to death and 18 Dalit homes were set on fire by a mob belonging to the Jat community. Rajesh Kumar, 31, was on his way to neighbouring Daulatpur village on a tractor-trolley along with 14 others, when he felt thirsty and stopped to look for water. "Rajesh drank water from an earthen pot lying in a field. On seeing this, a farmer, Rajender alias Pappu, abused him while passing caste-related remarks against him for touching the earthen pot. Not stopping at that, Pappu then attacked him with a sharp edged weapon, almost severing his hand and inflicting serious injuries on him," said Harish Bhardwaj, the district police spokesperson, adding that the weapon has been recovered. (Bhaskar Mukherjee,http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dalit-attacked-for-drinking-from-upper-castes-pot/articleshow/11920719.cms accessed on 17 February 2012.)

·                Pray for eradication of untouchability, and racism

·                Pray for safetly of Dalits in India

21. Business dull, 65 B-schools across India to shut down:.On the academic floor, the MBA programme was once supreme. Arrogantly and unambiguously, it became the final sign-off to schooling, attracting not only those interested in business but also all those who wanted to master the tools of management. That hubris, thanks to its own profligacy, is now being shaken. The Indian management education sector grew so wildly when demand was rampant (today there are 3,900 management schools with close to 3.5 lakh seats) that supply overshot demand by a long straw. And now comes the fallout. 65 business management colleges across India are planning to close down; these institutes no longer see business sense in offering an MBA course, preferring to use the land for more lucrative ventures. In fact, experts predict that many more management colleges may close down in the days to come.(Hemah Chhapia, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Business-dull-65-B-schools-across-India-to-shut-down/articleshow/11944271.cms accessed on 19 February 2012.)

·                Pray for economic growth so that all people are benefitted.

·                Pray that only genuine educational institutions may be started in India.

22. 15,000 killed on rail tracks every year: Report: Voicing safety concerns over encroachments along rail tracks and trespassing which claim nearly 15,000 lives every year, a high-level railway panel has suggested amendments to existing acts and setting up of a task force in Mumbai where such deaths are highest. "No civilised society can accept such massacre on their own railway system," the Anil Kakodar-led safety committee said and suggested amendments in the Public Premises Eviction Act and the Railway Act by which encroachers will be penalised. The estimation is almost 15,000 persons get killed every year in such a manner in the entire railway system of which about 6000 death are only in Mumbai suburban section. Terming as "massacre", the huge number of deaths especially in the Mumbai section, the committee said that reluctance of Indian Railways to own these casualties, which do not fall under the purview of train accidents but are nevertheless accidents on account of trains can by no means be ignored. It said the "grim system on Mumbai suburban sysem has to be tackled on a different war footing where trespassing takes places mostly on account of lack of barricading, fencing, absence of adequate number of pedestrian overbridges and reluctance to replace pedestrian level. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/15000-killed-on-rail-tracks-every-year-Report/articleshow/11970421.cms accessed on 21 February 2012.)

·                 Please pray for the safety of the people travelling by train

·                 Pray that government take necessary step to curb such deaths.

II Global:

1. UK wants to smack kids?: London mayor Boris Johnson has joined Labour MP David Lammy in calling for the controversial easing of laws to allow smacking of children by their parents in Britain. Mr Lammy, whose constituency in London bore the worst brunt of last year’s riots, advocated that working-class parents must be allowed to be able to use corporal punishment on their children to keep them from straying. The Labour government under then Prime Minister Tony Blair introduced a law in 2004, Children Act, which only allows parents to smack their children, but without causing the "reddening of the skin". Mr Lammy linked the outbreak last summer’s riots to lack of discipline by parents. "Many came up to me after the riots and blamed the Labour government, saying: ‘You guys stopped us being able to smack our children.’ "When this was first raised, I was pretty disparaging. But I started to listen. These parents are scared to smack children, paranoid that social workers will get involved and take their children away," Mr Lammy said. (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/world/europe/uk-wants-smack-kids-396 accessed on 31 January 2012.)

·                Pray that proper wisdom may prevail while handling kids

·Parenting is becoming a great challenge, pray that the churches may conduct parenting seminars.