The Himalayan Beacon

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

BY AVIJIT SINHA

Siliguri, Feb. 22: Trinamul efforts to expand its base in the Terai and the Dooars have been hit badly with party leaders complaining that they were having to face uncomfortable questions on the demand to include some plains mouzas in the new hills set-up.

Although the questions are coming from the common man, the task has been made more difficult by outfits like the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad, which have considerable clout in the tea belt and are opposing the GTA and the territory panel.

“So far, we have opened units on only 45 tea estates in the Dooars (out of the 160-odd gardens) and are yet to focus on the Terai. In course of our campaign at the grassroots-level, we are facing uncomfortable questions. In that case, we have to steer our discussions and limit it to only tea. But questions are cropping up, specially on the GTA and on the Morcha demand,” said Joachim Buxla, the president of the Trinamul Tea Plantation Workers’ Union.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has been demanding that some of the plains mouzas be brought under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. The Trinamul government has formed a committee to look into the demand, which has invited widespread protests from the Dooars and the Terai. The inclusion of Morcha members in the committee has also drawn criticism.  Continue reading “SILIGURI: GTA queries hit Trinamul growth” »

FROM THE TELEGRAPH

BY INDRANIL SARKAR 

Click on the image to enlarge.

Burdwan, Feb. 22: A former CPM legislator was axed and bludgeoned to death in Burdwan this morning by alleged Trinamul Congress supporters in one of the most gruesome political murders in the state where battlelines have been drawn over the February 28 bandh.

Another CPM leader who tried to rescue former MLA Pradip Tah, 54, was also killed in the clash, the stage for which appears to have been set by a drive to mobilise support for the Left-backed general strike on Tuesday.

However, accounts from eyewitnesses and police sources suggest that the row over the strike only provided the spark.

Pradip Tah, an influential leader who had staved off the anti-Left wave in his pocketborough, appeared to have been singled out for the murderous attack. No other CPM activist was injured and Kamal Gayen, 65, former secretary of the CPM’s Burdwan Sadar zonal committee, was killed when he rushed to save Pradip Tah.

Chitralekha, Pradip Tah’s wife and a headmistress, told The Telegraph that an armed group led by Patit Paban Tah had reached her home at 9am and warned that she would become a widow soon. “They said that was the price I would have to pay for marrying a man like my husband,” she said.  Continue reading “BENGAL: Ex-MLA smashed to death Bandh stage for bloodspill” »

Vice Consul Jessica B. Pfleiderer (Left) in meeting with journalists in Darjeeling.

United States Vice Consul Jessica B. Pfleiderer is presently in Darjeeling to generate awareness about Visa procedures for the United States. Pflieder visited St. Paul’s School and presented an Interactive Visa Presentation to Travel Agents Association at Himalayan Resort. Pflieder will also be visiting Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences in Gangtok where she will be offering a Student Visa Presentation. On the same day she will also be offering an interactive visa presentation to Travel Agents Association at Thomas Cook (India) Limited in Siliguri.

Speaking to The Himalayan Beacon, Pfliederer said that she wanted to interact with students and travelers from North Bengal and Sikkim and speak to them about Visa Procedures for the United States. She said that there had been great increase in a number of visitors from the region to the United States and she would want the the number to increase further.  Continue reading “DARJEELING: US Vice Consul in Darjeeling to generate Visa Awareness” »

THE HIMALAYAN BEACON [BEACON ONLINE] EXCLUSIVE

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi today.Click on the image to enlarge.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today told Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that the Ministry of Home Affairs was expeditiously processing the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Bill in the light of the issues raised by various Ministries and the comments of the State Governments. The Prime Minister also assured the Chief Minister that the Ministry of Home Affairs will complete the processing of the Bill soon.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had today called on the Prime Minister to discuss on the issues of the leakage in Farakka Barrage, the concern regarding National Counter Terrorism Centre and the grant of Presidential assent to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Bill.

On the issue of the leakage in Farakka Barrage, the Prime Minister assured the Chief Minister saying that the Ministry of Water Resources was working on plugging the leakages in Gate No. 16 and Gate No. 13 and the leakages will be plugged during March 2012. As for the Chief Minister’s concern over the issue of the National Counter Terrorism Centre, the Prime Minister said that he has requested the Home Minister to find ways to take the concerns of the state governments on board on the issue of the National Counter Terrorism Centre.  Continue reading “BREAKING NEWS: Ministry of Home Affairs is expeditiously processing the GTA Bill says Prime Minister” »

FROM IBNLIVE.IN.COM

Thiruvananthapuram: Malayali scientist SD Biju, working at the University of Delhi, has done it again. This time around, he has discovered a whole family of legless amphibians from Northeast India, with ancient links to Africa, a research finding that has just been published in a journal no less than the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London.

SD Biju discovered the new family of legless amphibians called Ceacilians along with co-researchers from The Natural History Museum, London and Vrije University, Brussels. They have named this new family as Chikilidae and the new genus as Chikila. The scientific name Chikilidae comes from a Northeast Indian tribal name for these burrowing animals.

The remarkable discovery came after five years of study from 2006 to 2010.

“We undertook extensive soil digging surveys in about 250 localities in various parts of Northeast Indian states such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim and Darjeeling district of West Bengal,” said SD Biju. Continue reading “WILDLIFE WATCH: Malayali scientist discovers new amphibians” »

FROM REDIFF.COM

BY LAXMI NEGI

Roshni Rai won’t take anything lying down. Certainly, not if her nationality is in question.

It won’t take long for the 27-year-old to chase a passerby at a crowded railway platform and explain it to him that she is as much an Indian, not Chinese as he taunted her.

The training for the Comrades ultramarathon in South Africa does reflect here, what with her blitzkrieg chase which precedes her explanation.

Her reaction may leave some a little perplexed. But when someone questions her nationality, this shy, diminutive girl’s reaction is on anticipated lines — she has had to answer that same irritating question many times over.

For this Gorkha girl from Darjeeling fighting, especially on matters concerning her identity, is an innate attribute. Such incidents hurt her.

“Darjeeling was part of Nepal, but merged with India at Independence. We do speak Nepalese, but we are proud to be Indians. Yet we are called Chinese or Nepali,” laments Roshni.  Continue reading “PEOPLE: Roshni runs for her pride” »