Kolkata A three-member delegation of the GJM on Thursday met Union Home Secretary R K Singh in New Delhi over the determination of territory of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). The GJM leadership once again raised their pitch against the state government over the territory issue demanding the inclusion of 399 mouzas of Terai and Dooras region into the GTA.

The GJM leaders, who rejected the report of Justice Shyamal Sen Committee over the inclusion of mouzas into the GTA, reiterated their demand to the Centre.

Harka Bahadur Chtetri, GJM MLA and senior GJM leader, said: “We have waited for a long time. We want our territory to determined. Our leaders held a meeting today and the result is satisfactory. We want the report to be submitted soon.”

FROM INDIAN EXPRESS

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Siliguri, Dec. 27: North Bengal University today appealed to the candidates appearing for UGC-NET this year to view the varsity website www.nbu.ac.in for the updated seating arrangement and venue of the examination.

The exam is scheduled to be held on December 30.

The Centre Code for NBU is 44 and the venues under it are NBU, Birla Divya Jyoti School at Uttarayon Township, Salesian College (Siliguri campus) and Siliguri College.

“This year, the number of candidates appearing for NET from north Bengal is 6,574. The UGC had sent us a new notification a few days back regarding the updated seating arrangement and the examination venue for candidates registered for Centre Code 44. We have posted it under the notice/circular section in the website,” said an NBU official.

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

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BY NIRMAL MANGAR

A flower show in Gangtok on Thursday. Picture by Prabin Khaling

Gangtok, Dec. 27: An international flower show with around 20 participants from India and abroad will be held in East Sikkim on February 23.

“Flower-growers from Australia, New Zealand, Holland, the US, Taiwan, Nepal and Thailand will be participating in the event. Bengal, the seven northeastern states, Delhi and Karnataka will also take part,” said D.K. Bhandari, the joint director of the horticulture, floriculture and cash crop department that will organise the event.

He added that Rs 5 crore had been allotted for the event, where more than 15,000 flowers of various species will be on display.

The show will be held at Saramsa garden, 10km from Gangtok. This is the second such international event in East Sikkim, the first being in 2008.

“There would be 75 stalls displaying cymbidium, coronation, lily, roses and other seasonal flowers. We will also organise a buyers-and-sellers meet,” a senior official of the horticulture department said.

According to Bhandari, the objective of the event is to promote and showcase developments in floriculture and horticulture in the state.

Governor Balmiki Prasad Singh will tomorrow inaugurate a mini flower show in old Sikkim House in New Delhi to promote the international festival.

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

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KURSEONG, 26 DEC: Horses were at one point of time one of the main modes of transport in Darjeeling Hills. They also used to carry goods. Horses were then found in abundance in the entire district and traffic from villages dotting the surround terrain used to be a sight of long line of horses laden with agricultural as well as citrus products for sale in the nearby towns.

On their way back to the villages the horses were again laden with rations for domestic use via the ancient trail of footpaths zig-zaging its way among the tea bushes that only these animals could traverse through the rough countryside of the then Darjeeling Hills.

After the Gorkhaland agitation of 1986-88 and the signing of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) accord in 1988 several development schemes and projects were taken up in the district and development of road was given the maximum thrust by the then chief, Mr Subash Ghisingh. Meanwhile, at several remote villages across Darjeeling Hills roads started to be constructed that linked them with major nearby towns.

That may be the main reason why horses gradually started to fade from the transport scene and finally disappeared altogether in the early 1990s.

However, it is learnt that presently, some horses are still being used for transport in a few remote villages like Bunkulung, Dhajay and others where there is no road connectivity worth the name. With the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) also stressing on the importance of good road connectivity, the remaining remote villages will soon get linked with the outside world the consequence of which will be that horses from these places too will cease working as carriers and hence will ultimately disappear.

D B Rai, who earlier used to keep horses, said: “We used to come to the town on horses carrying some agriculture and other products as well as goods belonging to other villagers to sell and deliver in the market to earn our livelihood. We mostly used to carry products of others to the town and back to the villages for which we used to charge some fees.”

He said later, after road connectivity started reaching such villages and vehicles were seen at door-steps, the horses lost their prominence among the villagers as they preferred vehicles over horses which they found cheaper and faster.

“I remember I sold my last horse in 1991 to a person in Mirik as vehicles started to come in plenty to the villages as well as expenses to keep the horses were turning out to be expensive with business coming down. After that, I stopped the use and business of horses,” said Rai.

Earlier, horses used to be of very high quality that were used in transportation and also in races at Lebong in Darjeeling but they gradually faded away from the scene in Darjeeling Hills.

Today, one can still find horses but of inferior size and quality, that too only in a few villages and the tourist

spots of Mirik Lake and Chowrasta in Darjeeling where the animal is used for recreational purposes, like horse rides for tourists.

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

The post DARJEELING HILLS: Horses no longer run in the Hills appeared first on The Himalayan Beacon.

BY NIRMAL MANGAR

A cracked road in Sikkim following last year’s earthquake

Gangtok, Dec. 26: The state government has received only 28 per cent of the Rs 1,000-crore central funds announced by the Prime Minister during his visit to Sikkim after the earthquake on September 18 last year.

The state government received the first installment of Rs 200 crore last year but Rs 80 crore of the second installment of Rs 200 crore. The third installment of Rs 600 crore would be granted in 2013-14.

“The second installment of the relief fund approved by the Centre was meant for the financial year of 2012-13. The state government has so far received only Rs 80 crore and the remaining amount is expected by March next year” said S.B.S. Bhaduria, the relief commissioner of the state disaster management.

Bhaduria said the construction of 7,972 houses, which were damaged during the earthquake, had already started and Rs 391 crore would be spent till the end of this financial year.

The government wants to complete around 50 per cent of the houses by March and the remaining the next financial year. But construction has got over for about 30 per cent of the houses after over a year since the tremors.

Manmohan Singh had announced the relief package during his visit to the state after the 6.9 earthquake hit Sikkim on September 18, 2011, killing 62 people and causing considerable damage to property.

According to sources in the state disaster management wing, the central package was to be released to Sikkim in three installments — Rs 200 crore in the first two, Rs 600 crore in the third.

The Centre had granted priority and approval for phase-wise funds to two projects — the reconstruction of the earthquake-resistant Tashiling secretariat in Gangtok and the construction of the 7,972 rural houses.

The secretariat work has just begun and Rs 100 crore would be used for it.

The rest of the central allocation would go towards building homes for people whose houses were damaged in the quake.

Bhaduria said the construction of the houses had already started.

He could not give a clear reason on why the full installment of the allocation was not sent to Sikkim.

“The state buildings, roads, schools and other infrastructure are being repaired and reconstructed. The drinking water supply system is also being repaired. The funds for these projects are expected to come at the earliest,” Bhaduria said.

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

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One of the male leopards in a cage in the South Khayerbari Eco Park on Wednesday. Telegraph picture

Alipurduar, Dec. 26: The leopards are here but they have no human visitors at South Khayerbari Eco Park.

Three male leopards have today been put in an enclosure in the eco park where visitors come for a safari ride.

But the ride itself is missing now. The only battery-operated vehicle that takes visitors around the 3-hectare area has been lying defunct for four months. So, South Khayerbari gets no visitors now.

Three months ago, the three male leopards — Khakalu, Ganesh and Mithun — were brought to Khayerbari from Gorumara National Park.

The leopards had been rescued from different tea gardens in the Dooars and were brought to Gorumara National Park. They were later sent to South Khayerbari and kept in three cages.The South Khayerbari forest is 100km from Jalpaiguri.

However, for the past few days the leopards have not been having food and showing signs of unnatural behaviour.

Today morning, the leopards were brought in their cages and kept in the enclosure, which is a part of the forest, so that they could adjust to the new surroundings.

Tomorrow. they will be released in the enclosure.

The safari car would generally move close to the leopards — there were some female leopards in the enclosure earlier — so people would be able to see the animals from up close.

But the car has been out of order for the last four months as one of its broken parts is not available and the car had been sent to Siliguri.

The records available with the forest department show that in 2011 South Khayerbari earned Rs 38,879 through safari rides but this year it was Rs 15,307 .

Bhim Bahadur Rai, the assistant secretary of the South Khayerbari Forest Protection Committee, said: “ The entry fee now is Rs 40, which was Rs 20 earlier, car parking is Rs 30 which used to be Rs 20, heavy vehicle charge is Rs 200 which was Rs 100 earlier.”

But the collections this year are less than half of last year, when the lower prices were being charged.

Rajendra Jakhar, the divisional forest officer of wildlife III, said: “We will start a project to construct a 20-hectare enclosure where we will keep more than one car. If one car is out of order the other can be used. Hopefully within this financial year the sophisticated cars will reach the centre.”

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

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Darjeeling MLA Trilok Dewan in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Prem Singh)

Darjeeling, Dec. 26: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has demanded that the three-member fact-verification committee, constituted to look into the the party’s territory grievances, be asked to conduct a spot visit before its places its report before the government.

The demand was placed by the Morcha at the review committee meeting with Centre and state representatives in New Delhi today.

A field visit — an exercise that was not conducted before the Justice Shyamal Sen Committee filed its report — is unlikely to be conceded by the state government.

The Sen committee had recommended inclusion in the GTA of only five of the 396 mouzas demanded by the Morcha. Following the Morcha’s protest against the report, the three-member committee was formed to look into the grievances of the hill party.

“The visit is important to understand the ground realities,” said Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha who was at the meeting. The other Morcha representative was Trilok Dewan, the Darjeeling MLA.

The state government was represented by home secretary Basudeb Banerjee, while the Centre was represented by additional secretary (home) S.K. Skandan, Giri said over phone from Delhi.

The party has also demanded an increase in the Centre’s special package to the GTA, speedy transfer of departments, inclusion of all Gorkha communities in the ST list and the need for a Constitutional amendment for introducing a three-tier panchayat system in the hills.

“We have demanded that the Rs 200 crore special package from the Centre be increased to Rs 400 per annum,” Giri said. “We also raised the demand for transferring the reserve forest to the GTA,” said Giri.

The state government has also assured the Morcha that over 150 cases initiated by the government against Morcha supporters would be withdrawn within “10 days”. “Basudeba Banerjee has assured that the transfer of all departments would be completed by December 31,” Giri said.

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

The post DARJEELING HILLS: Morcha seeks hill panel visit appeared first on The Himalayan Beacon.

BY AMITAVA BANERJEE

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s North Bengal visit scheduled from December 26 to December 29 has sparked off anticipation whether she would be visiting Darjeeling. Though there is no official confirmation, there are strong chances of the chief minister inaugurating the tourist spot at Lamahatta and also taking part in the ongoing Darjeeling Tea and Tourism Festival.

When contacted, district magistrate Saumitra Mohan said, “I have not received any communication from the CM’s office yet regarding her visit to the Hills.”

Sources at Writers’ Buildings said the chief minister will be leaving Kolkata on Wednesday and after attending two important functions at Pundibari in Cooch Behar and another at Nagrakata in the Jalpaiguri District, she may arrive in Darjeeling on December 27 night or 28 morning and depart for Kolkata on December 29.

Mamata during one of her earlier visits, had stopped by Lamahatta, 20km from Darjeeling town and had expressed desire to develop this picturesque hamlet into a tourist destination. Accordingly the tourist department along with the forest department had built cottages and put up tents here. A watchtower, park and a walking trail is also being developed as part of the project.

The tourist spot was to be inaugurated on November 9 in presence of tourism minister Rachpal Singh, forest minister Hiten Barman and North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb.

FROM HINDUSTAN TIMES

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BY ASHIM SUNAM

Sushsil Ghalay

Army’s Sushsil Ghalay has won a gold medal in the 50m Rifle Prone Competition in the men’s category in the ongoing 56th National Shooting Championship. This was his second consecutive win and overall third win in the shooting championship.

THE 32-year-old Darjeeling shooter was sure of win even before he took his first shot. This is Sushil’s third gold medal as he won the title in 2009 and 2011 as well. He won the gold medal after putting up a total (combining both the qualifier score and finals score) of 695.4 points; Rakesh Mapat finished second with 694.2 and Sanjeev Rajput finished with 692.

Unlike many professionals, Ghalay did not practice everyday, but only practiced for four days before the event. But, during practice hours, he was completely dedicated towards it. “The way I was practicing, I knew, I would win the gold medal. I knew I would even come up with good score, but my score was down here (competition) as compared to my practice scores,” he said.

After taking the top position in the qualifier rounds there was no looking back for Ghalay. He was at his impressive best in the finals. Other players in the finals came up with good rounds as well. Sanjeev Rajput scored 104.0 in the finals, but it was still not enough to defeat the defending champion, who came up with 102.4 in the finals. Throughout the finals, he was in full control of his game, which came from his experience of winning three National Championships and other competitions apart from representing India in various World Cups, winning a Bronze medal in the Commonwealth Championship in Melbourne, 2005 and a gold medal in the SAARC Championships in Pakistan too.

Many players after attaining an age of 32 might as well think of giving up the sport, which requires a lot of travelling around the country and the world as well, but Ghalay looks hungry for more titles. He, in spite of winning the National Championships thrice has set a target for himself. He said, “I want to win a hat-trick of National Championship titles. I missed the gold in the 2010 National Championships and won it in 2011 and this time (2012) as well. So, I will try to win the 2013 title and complete the hat-trick of titles.”

After having come so close to qualifying for London Olympics, he has still not given up the thought of becoming an Olympian. He is no different from other shooters, who also want to represent India in Olympics. “I just have one objective for the future – to represent India in the Olympics and bring home an Olympic medal.” For this to happen, he may as well have to dedicate more hours to shooting with sincere dedication.

He is pleased with the ever-increasing standards of Indian shooting, but also understands the problems of civilian (non-army) shooters, who face problems with ammunitions, guns etc, as it is not available in India. Being an army man; helps a lot, Ghalay believes. “I am from the defense, so there are no problems as all the facilities are provided by the army,” he said. If Indian shooters are properly groomed by the government and are given good facilities, then we may as well find many shooters from all around the country placing India’s name in the global map as Ghalay has been doing all around the world.

FROM MERINEWS.COM

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