SUICIDE BY A POLICE CONSTABLE

Bureau:KN, 15 June, Kalimpong: An unnatural death of a Police constable of Kalimpong is reported from the Coochbehar Police. It is reported that Pravash Chhetri of Thakubari , Kalimpong shot himself with a service Rifle and died on the spot. Suicide attempt by the deceased occured while he was on his duty in Coochbehar Kotwali. A police Ofiicial informed that his dead body will be sent to his family consisting of his wife and others in Kalimpong after proper enquiry and postmortem of the body.

Contractors stop work on NH 55 for non-payment of bills Statesman News Service, Kurseong, 14 June: The Kurseong Contactors Association of National Highway 55 will intensify their agitation if their demands are not fulfilled soon. Following the non-payment of bills to the contractors of NH 55, the Kurseong and Darjeeling Contactors Association of National Highway 55 have jointly stopped all ongoing work on NH 55 since three days ago. The Kurseong Contactors Association NH 55, secretary, Mr Bharat Pradhan, said: "We have been deprived of our bills (about Rs 2.5 crore, including security deposits). The bills have been pending since 1992-93."Mr Bharat Pradhan furthered: "Whenever we demand our due bills of the concerned department (National Highway Division 9 - Siliguri) the division officials always tells that the bills have not been released so far by the concerned higher authorities. When we go to Delhi the officials there say that the bills have already been released and the bills would be given from the state authorities." Mr Pradhan continued: "Besides to the state finance minister, Mr Ashim Dasgupta, we have submitted several deputations to different ministers and authorities on the matter but to no avail. Around six to seven months ago, we had also submitted a deputation to the then minister of road and transport Mr TR Balu, in Delhi." With the help of court cases against the concerned department, some contractors have got there due bills with interest, but not every contractor is able financially to take a case to court against the concerned department. Mr Pradhan threatened that within two weeks, if the department fails to release their dues bills, they will intensify their agitation including road blockades on NH 55. The executive engineer, NH Division 9- Siliguri , Mr N Mondal, said that, concerning the due bills, officials are taking measures and soon would send a letter to the chief executive engineer and others concerned regarding the matter. Indefinite strike in Darjeeling likely Statesman News Service, SILIGURI, 14 JUNE: Darjeeling Hills is likely to reel under an indefinite strike either from June or the first week of July.Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) supremo Mr Bimal Gurung has advised the Hill residents to stockpile essential commodities towards surviving a ‘long-shutdown’ over the Gorkhaland demand.The GJMM central committee will be meeting in Darjeeling town any day between 20 and 22 June, to pick a date for the indefinite strike to commence, party sources said.As per the GJMM publicity secretary Mr Binay Tamang, the proposed indefinite shutdown is not linked with the delaying of the tripartite dialogue on Darjeeling by the Centre and is rather a part of its struggle for realising the separate Gorkhaland state. “We had suspended our agitation from February in view of the Lok Sabha polls and then due to the massive landslides across the Darjeeling Hills. Now that both these are over, we would rejuvenate the agitation and this time it would be more intense then before,” Mr Tamang added.According to him, other than the indefinite Hills strike, the party would also take up several other agitation programmes, which would be announced only after the central committee had met in Darjeeling between 20 and 22 June.As a preparation for the impending open-ended shutdown, the GJMM has also identified four godowns at Darjeeling, Kurseong, Mirik and Kalimpong towns, where the party plans to stockpile food grains and other essential commodities. Meanwhile, even as the wind of a possible shutdown has started blowing over the Hills, a six-member GJMM delegation today left for Delhi to draw assistance from the Central Natural Calamity Relief Fund for the landslide hit Darjeeling Hills.The delegation included party general secretary Mr Roshan Giri, vice-president Mr Pradeep Pradhan, advisor Mr Trilok Dewan, central committee members Mr Amar Lama, Mr Harkabahadur Chhetri and Mr Rohit Sharma. State urban development minister Mr Asok Bhattacharya has condemned the GJMM threat to go for an indefinite strike in the Hills. “The Hills has just survived a massive calamity and the relief and restoration is yet to be over. This is a time when everyone should come forward and condemn a shutdown which would only add to the sufferings of the common people,” the minister said. Tribals set tea deadline - Month’s time to show what has been done to better workers’ lot

OUR CORRESPONDENT, The Telegraph

Jaigaon, June 14: The Dooars unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad has asked tea gardens in the region to furnish it with details of what they have done to improve the lot of the workers. The tribals have set a deadline of one month failing which they have threatened to launch an intensified agitation. The move has caught both the management and the trade unions by surprise. The Coordination Committee of Tea Garden Workers, an umbrella body of all trade unions in the gardens, will meet in Jalpaiguri on Thursday to discuss the Parishad ultimatum. Over the past few weeks, the gardens in Kumargram, Nagrakata, Binnaguri and Banarhat have been receiving letters on the Parishad letterhead asking them to clear immediately workers’ dues like provident fund, gratuity, pension and introduce amenities like healthcare, drinking water and transport for school children. The managements have been asked to declare what steps they had taken to fulfil these demands. The convener of the coordination committee, Chitta Dey, said: “I have heard that the Parishad has been campaigning in the Dooars that our committee has no role in the tea industry. This is not true.” The trade union movement in the gardens had got new laws for workers to protect their rights and that the Adivasis were very much a part of that process, he added. However, the secretary of the Dooars-Terai Coordination Committee of the Parishad, Rajesh Lakra, questioned the effective implementation of the laws. “The trade unions have long been neglecting the workers. Our organisation does not accept the fact that only trade unions are the sole authority to address the worker-related issues. We also have the right,” he said. Prabir Bhattacharjee, the secretary of the Dooars Branch of the Indian Tea Association, said the Parishad should follow the law of the land to get their demands fulfilled. Dooars ex-MP joins Trinamul OUR CORRESPONDENT, The Telegraph Alipurduar, June 14: The former RSP MP from Alipurduar, Joachim Buxla, has joined the Trinamul Congress and has been made the joint convener of the party’s Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe cell in Bengal. Buxla, along with 25 of his supporters, went to Maharashtra Niwas in Calcutta yesterday and joined Mamata Banerjee’s party in her presence. “I decided to join Trinamul because they are following the style of movement that the Left Front used to do once,” Buxla told The Telegraph from Calcutta. “The Left Front, which has been in power for such a long time thanks to the support of the farmers, is acquiring their land without their consent. Trinamul under the leadership of Banerjee is spearheading a movement to protect the rights of the farmers.” The former MP said Banerjee had asked him to submit a proposal on the development of tourism, rail, tea gardens and forests in the Dooars. “She is worried about the healthcare system, drinking water facility and roads in the region and has asked me to concentrate on improving the workers’ condition in the closed tea gardens. This time, Trinamul has been given a number of ministries, including the rural development and tourism, and people of the state have high hopes that their demands will be fulfilled.” In the Lok Sabha elections, the RSP fielded Bengal junior minister for public works Manohar Tirkey in Alipurduar in the place of Buxla — a move that had annoyed the former MP. Buxla who had revolted against the RSP leadership had contested the general elections as an Independent candidate and bagged about 20,000 votes. RSP leaders in Jalpaiguri district have refused to give much importance to Buxla’s joining the Trinamul. “We are not worried about a person who has been rusticated by the party,” a senior leader said. First Swine Flue Death June 15th, 2009 - 3:31 am ICT by IANS, Thaindian News: London, June 15 (DPA) The first swine flue death in Europe was reported in Scotland, a government spokesman said Sunday in Glasgow. The patient, who died in hospital, had underlying health conditions and was one one of ten people who were being treated for swine flu in hospital in Scotland, the government spokesman said. For all of Britain, the total of infections has reached at least 1,250 cases. The Scottish government has tallied a total of 498 cases of the influenza virus (H1N1) to date, including another 35 cases reported Sunday. Family members of the swine flu victim asked that further details not be released, to allow them time to mourn. The name of the hospital was not released, but it was reportedly a clinic in Glasgow. Ministry of Urban Development to launch North Eastern Urban Development Programme PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU-CUM-IC, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA,GANGTOK, 15th June, 2009: Ministry of Urban Development will launch North Eastern Urban Development Programme assisted by Asian Development Bank in Gangtok, Aizawl, Shillong, Kohima, and Agartala in the first phase very shortly. This was informed at a meeting to review implementation of projects under 10% lumpsum provision for Infrastructure Development in towns in North East under the Chairmanship of Dr. M. Ramachandran, Secretary (UD) in New Delhi recently. He said that the programme at a total cost of Rs. 1371.4 crore will help improve basic municipal services in the identified cities. He also stated that every effort shall be made to expedite launching of Phase - II of the Programme to cover cities in remaining three States in the North East. The Scheme of 10% lumpsum provision for Infrastructure Development in towns in North East was launched in the year 2001-02 and 213 projects at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,700 crore have been sanctioned under the scheme out of which 1080 crore have been released as Central Assistance. Over 40% projects have been completed under the scheme so far. During the course of discussion, Dr. M. Ramachandran highlighted the need for early completion of ongoing projects and requested the States to adhere to the timelines committed by them for completion of projects. He also highlighted the fact that during two consecutive years, Ministry has been providing more than 10% for the development of urban areas in North East. He emphasized the need for early completion of projects. (PIB)