Morcha cautions hill contractors | |||||||
THE TELEGRAPH: Darjeeling, June 22: The youth wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has warned its supporters to stop visiting party chief Bimal Gurung for his recommendations to bag contracts and instead asked them to focus on achieving Gorkhaland. “Following the destruction caused by Aila, a lot of damage took place and many party members are now engaged in construction. However, many of our supporters seem to have forgotten the demand of Gorkhaland and are running after contracts. They are coming to meet Gurung for clearance of contracts but none has come to advise him on the movement,” said Alok Kant Mani Thulung, the president of the Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha. The Morcha is neither a party to produce contractors nor a recommending outfit, Thulung said. “While the leaders are committed to the cause, some supporters seem to be slowly forgetting (the cause of) Gorkhaland.” Contrary to the youth wing’s claim (of not being a recommending party), the statement by its chief makes it clear that many contractors seek a clearance from Gurung before starting work. Contractors believe that if the Morcha president does give a verbal clearance to a project, they will not face any problem in executing the work under the DGHC and also the district magistrate’s office. Thulung voiced concern over many leaders at the unit levels using the Morcha’s official pad to bag contract from government agencies. “Such practices have to be immediately stopped and we will take action, if we find our letter heads are being used for recommendations,” he said. The Yuva Morcha has found that many people have been paying taxes to the government despite the non-cooperation movement launched by the party. “Some are also going down to Siliguri to clear their taxes. People must understand that this is a non-cooperation movement for Gorkhaland and the youth front will now take the responsibility of monitoring the payment of taxes,” said Thulung. Siliguri, June 22: After 221 years, people of north Bengal and Sikkim will get to see a total solar eclipse exactly a month from today. They will have to wait for a similar chance for another 114 years. “It will be a rare occasion for residents living in this part of the country to witness all the phases of the eclipse — right from partial phase to the diamond ring, corona and back to the partial phase. The entire process will continue for more than two hours,” said Debasis Sarkar, the secretary of the Sky Watchers’ Association of North Bengal, here today. “North Bengal had last witnessed such a total eclipse on June 4, 1788 and will again get the chance on May 14, 2124. It is an exceptional opportunity to see this astronomical phenomenon, visible on the eastern hemisphere of the Earth this time. If we consider Hashmi Chowk as the central point of Siliguri, the eclipse can be seen there from 5.30am.” According to Sarkar, the moon’s shadow that will form the eclipse will begin from the Gulf of Khambhat. It will reach Surat and criss-cross central India, covering Indore, Varanasi, Bhopal and Patna, before reaching north Bengal. People in Calcutta, which will be within the shadow track but out of the totality path, will be able to see only the partial phase. Malda and Balurghat in north Bengal will also miss the totality. “We, however, have the risk of an overcast sky in Siliguri and other parts of the region which can ruin the viewing,” a member said. Fighting drug abuse... GANGTOK, 22 JUNE: The state health department is all set to rope in village panchayat members, police, teachers, NGOs and educated youths of the state to spread awareness against the growing menace of drug addiction and the resultant increase in the number of suicides, particularly among the youths. The district mental health programme would stress on counseling and interaction to encounter the alarming proportions the drug abuse crisis has assumed in the state. The state health department has also decided to observe the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26 June in a big way.
According to Dr CL Pradhan, a renowned psychiatrist at the STNM Hospital in Gangtok, the state level drive has fixed a target group encompassing the youths belonging to 20 to 40 years of age. “People belonging to this age group are most vulnerable as far as the drug addiction is concerned. A kind of collective restlessness at the mental level seems to be afflicting the society and this is culminating in mounting number of the cases of psychosomatic ailments. And, stretched to the extreme, this illness is driving the addicts to commit suicide. This is an alarming phenomenon for the society and we must fight it out collectively,” Dr Pradhan said. He further said that the physicians manning the primary health centers were being given training to enable them to start the treatment in such cases. “Compounding our problem is the common people's aversion towards the psychiatrists, mental health and de-addiction centers. They are reluctant to be labeled as mental cases. We must try to remove this psychological block at the popular level in course of a relentless awareness campaign throughout the state,” he said.
He counseled for proper parental care and congenial domestic ambience to keep the adolescents from the allurement of drug taking. ;Statesman News service Bhaichung signs with East Bengal Thaindian News: Kolkata, June 22 (IANS) Soccer star Bhaichung Bhutia Monday inked a year-long contract with East Bengal, days after being slapped a six-month suspension by his previous club Mohun Bagan.
Bhutia’s move came even as his appeal against the suspension was pending with West Bengal’s soccer governing body Indian Football Association (IFA), and without Bagan giving him a release order. The national team captain said if he could not turn up for East Bengal due to the tight schedule of the Indian team, the contract will automatically spill over into the next year. Hundreds of East Bengal officials, members and supporters were present to welcome Bhutia, who had started his journey in the Kolkata league donning the club’s red and yellow jersey. Recalling his first few years as an East Bengal player, Bhutia said “I want to retire from this club”. There was an atmosphere of festivity at the East Bengal tent as Bhutia was garlanded and offered bouquets by frenzied club supporters. Bhutia had left the club in bitterness three years ago, protesting against a top official terming the contracted players “labourers” of East Bengal. Bhutia conceded that he had some misunderstandings with the club in 2006, but claimed he never said he would not return to East Bengal. Showering praise on the East Bengal management, he said the stark difference between the attitudes of the officials of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan had become evident in the way they dealt with the controversy centering around him. “East Bengal have shown they really care for the players.” Bhutia is scheduled to join the national camp to be held in Dubai from June 25. Taking umbrage over Bhaichung skipping some practice session and not turning out in an exhibition tie, the Bagan management had issued him a show cause. Later, the player was suspended as Bagan said they were not happy with his reply. In a press conference last week Bhutia described the Bagan officials as “dictatorial”, “publicity hungry” and “egoist”, and vowed never to play for the club so long the present management was in office. |
Build-up for circle of sway Forces plan to ring Lalgarh
“We already have domination over the road from Pirakata to Lalgarh,” an officer explained. “After the joint force from Goaltore moves to Ramgarh, they will have established domination over that route as well. The next step would be to secure the Lalgarh-Ramgarh route and this will be achieved by the force which will move up from Lalgarh. The final step would be to dominate the Goaltore-Pirakata road, where there is no resistance. Then, we would have achieved a perfect circle of domination.” Once this circle is in place, the police will start moving into the villages within the circle and sanitise them. “This circle will ensure that the entire Lalgarh area is sewn up with our forces, forming a ring that will prevent the Maoists from escaping,” the officer said. But the police are aware that this is easier said than done. The Maoists are said to be pulling out all stops to block the march of the force from Pingboni to Ramgarh, a distance of 9km. At Ratanpur, 4km from Pingboni on the way to Ramgarh, the Maoists, under the banner of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities, have set up a “checkpost” manned by young men with bow and arrows.
Next to it, about 15 youths could be seen lounging near a tin shed with rifles slung across their shoulders. They were all in trackpants and T-shirts, some were sporting caps. Some of their rifles were improvised and country-made, while some were .303s; two were AK-47 assault rifles. Inside the tin shed were piles of rucksacks, butts of guns sticking out. From the “checkpost” were two kuchcha roads leading to the villages. No “outsider” was allowed access to these roads. It is believed that in these villages are billets for the Maoists’ action squads. “There will be heavy resistance,” warned one of the armed youths near the shed. “In Pingboni (4km from Goaltore), the CPM has brought in armed cadres as well, and is also stockpiling arms. So, accordingly, we have increased our strength and firepower.” The members of the Cobra unit who reached Goaltore today conducted reconnaissance of the area with the state armed police. The police said that the combined forces, including a company of BSF jawans which yesterday joined the CRPF and the state police advancing from Sarenga, have set up a base camp at Majuria High School, about 5km from Pingboni. Between last evening and this morning, there was a massive mobilisation of forces in Goaltore. Four more companies of state police and one company of the CRPF, totalling about 500 policemen, reached there. Lalgarh, June 22: The sapping heat in the land of the Red Earth is taking a heavier toll on the security forces than the Maoists. “I can take bullets, but can’t bear this heat,” said a BSF jawan patrolling Pirakata Road, which runs through Jhitka forest and leads to Lalgarh thana. Drenched in sweat, the man from the disciplined force defied the rulebook, took out his bullet-proof jacket and hung it up on a banyan tree. A cap replaced the “suffocating helmet”. “We’ve been trained to stay fit in extreme weather. But I have never faced a situation like this,” said the man, cooling off under the tree. His patrol duty started at 4am and he was all exhausted by 10am. The 20-something man in camouflage gear could not walk any longer. According to the Met office in Calcutta, a heat-wave like situation has prevailed over the areas around Jhargram, about 30km from Pirakata. With the maximum temperature touching 40 degrees Celsius and relative humidity hovering around 90 per cent, the men on mission Lalgarh are having a tough time. Till now, bullets haven’t claimed a life but the heat has. N. Roy, a CRPF jawan, died of a heat attack on Saturday. According to data at the Lalgarh primary health centre, 57 people were brought in over the past two days with dehydration, headache and heat rashes. Almost half of them were security personnel. “They were all taken ill because of the extreme heat and humidity,” said Prashant Kumar Sana, the medical officer at the health centre that lacks in basic facilities. It has only two saline circuits and out of the nine beds in the four rooms only five have mattresses. “We can’t attend to so many people. So I am referring most patients to the Midnapore Sadar Hospital (50km away),” said Sana, adding that six patients had to be airlifted yesterday. If adverse weather is the primary challenge, the other big problem for the force is lack of action since Saturday. “The adrenaline rush during a fight helps tackle the weather woes. But here most of us haven’t fired a single shot and we are already drained. There is no clarity about when the operation will start and that’s really disturbing,” said a CRPF jawan patrolling Pirakata Road with an AK-47. Heat is not new to the man from Rajasthan but what has surprised him is a blazing sun since 6.30 in the morning. According to a weatherman, the high temperature is because of the absence of a cloud cover. The high humidity, because of the incursion of moisture from the Bay of Bengal into the lower troposphere, is compounding the problem and pushing up the discomfort. “This heat wave-like condition is likely to persist for at least another 24 hours after which there is a possibility of rain,” said a Met official. Lalgarh literally means red earth and the ground looks like it has been baked to that colour. Lalgarh, June 22: A serpentine queue formed outside the Binpur I block office this morning as some 700-800 villagers arrived to collect their rations. The block office, 1km east of Lalgarh police station, reopened today after the forces secured the area yesterday. The office had been closed for 16 days and all its officials had left the area as violence escalated and roads were dug up. “All of us came back yesterday. We are going to start all the development activities from today,” said block development officer Sourav Banik. The first task of the office, which caters to 1.5 lakh people, this morning was the distribution of rice. The office, which has received 10 tonnes of rice to be disbursed as special gratuitous relief, handed 6kg free to each villager. Hundreds arrived at the block office this morning carrying utensils, jholas, torn saris — anything they could carry away the rice in. Men, women and children formed long queues from 9am to 4pm. “A panchayat member told us they would distribute rice from the block office. I immediately picked up a jhola and set out, taking my two-year-old daughter along,” said Bharati Murmu, who had walked the 3.5km from Rija village. The villagers had to write out an application on plain paper with their name and the name of their village. They produced it at the godown to receive the rice that would ensure regular meals for the first time in days. “The markets, even the weekly bazaar, have been closed, and we have no money anyway. We have been eating just one meal a day. This 6kg of rice will mean meals at least for the next three to four days,” said Sangeeta Das, who lives in Rija with her husband and three daughters. Most of those who came were from villages the police have been able to reach. Although the office caters to all of Lalgarh, none came from the areas beyond the Lalgarh police station that are still to be secured by the forces. “We know that many people inside the villages are without any food. We will be working with the gram panchayat members and try to send rice inside the villages,” said a senior district official. “We will also try and purchase the sal plates and cups the villagers make so they have an income.” The block office is trying to arrange for clothes to be dis- tributed among the children and to stock up the Lalgarh primary health centre. But the block office has problems of its own, the most crucial being the shortage of cash. With banks closed, all the money being spent now — for instance, to hire people to distribute the rice and write the applications for the illiterate among the villagers — is coming out of the block officials’ own pockets. “We have asked the government for some money but we don’t know when it will arrive,” a senior district official said. “It’s not safe to send money from outside,” he added, referring to the possibility of the cash being looted by the Maoists on the roads. FOUR MORE TESTS POSITIVE-SWINE FLUE “The woman tested positive June 17 and was shifted to Deen Dayal Updhayay Hospital. She is said to have a chronic respiratory illness and her condition deteriorated Sunday and she was put on ventilator. She continues to be on ventilator. A group of experts is attending to her,” a health ministry official said. “Four new cases - two from Delhi and one each from Mumbai and Pune - tested positive for the swine flu in India Monday,” the official said. In Delhi, a 25-year-old man who came from the US and self reported to an identified health facility with complaints of sore throat June 20 was tested positive for the flu. The second case was of a 29-year-old woman, who travelled from Canada via Belgium and reached Delhi June 18. She has also tested positive for the flu. In Pune, a 24-year-old man who came from the US via London and reported to the hospital with flu like symptoms tested positive for the virus. In Mumbai, a 23-year-old woman who came from Melbourne June 19 has also tested positive for the flu. “All these people have been isolated and are being treated. We are trying to trace their contacts,” the official said. With increasing number of cases in Delhi, the government has sought help from the private hospitals in the capital. “We have written to all private hospitals asking them to join hands with the government in handling swine flu patients. They have to prepare isolation wards and the government will provide them with the Tamiflu drug. But we are yet to hear from them,” said a senior health official in Delhi government. Meanwhile, of the 63 cases 37 have been discharged after they recovered from the flu. India has reported six indigenous cases where people contracted the flu without going abroad. World Health Organization (WHO) has reported 44,287 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection from 94 countries. There have been 180 deaths. Health screening of passengers coming from affected countries is continuing in 22 international airports. 44,691 passengers have been screened on June 21 with 27,345 passengers from affected countries. A total of 224 doctors and 112 paramedics have been deployed to man 77 counters at these airports. A cumulative total of over 2,200,000 passengers have been screened. CPI(Maoist) BANNED The Hindu: NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday banned the Communist Party of India (Maoist), terming it a terrorist organisation. It invoked Section 41 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the extremist outfit. The CPI (Maoist) came into existence following the merger of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), the People’s War Group (PWG) and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC). The ban came two days after West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee met Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in the backdrop of violent incidents in Lalgarh and the ongoing operation by the police and the security forces to reclaim the area. The Chief Minister had said that his government would give a “serious thought” to banning the CPI (Maoist) as advised by the Home Minister. The ban was to avoid any ambiguity though all formations and front organisations of the PWG, the MCC and the CPI (ML) came under the purview of the ban. In September 2004, the CPI (ML) and the MCC announced their decision to merge and named the new organisation CPI (Maoist). There was some opposition to the merger and some elements in the two organisations continued to function independently. Mr. Chidambaram said the merged organisation would continue to be listed as a terror organisation. “When I looked into the matter a couple of days ago, I said that may be the position in the law. In order to avoid any ambiguity, let us add the CPI (Maoist) by name in that schedule of the Act.” Many States, including Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, had declared the CPI (Maoist) an unlawful association. Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu had done so under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. “When I had a discussion with Mr. Bhattacharjee, I advised him to ban the CPI (Maoist) under Section 16 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1908. That power is available with the State. I did not change my view. I still think that West Bengal should declare the CPI (Maoist) an unlawful association,” he told journalists. Asked about the Left parties’ opposition to the ban, Mr. Chidambaram said the Left had taken a view which was not that of the West Bengal government. “I hope distinction between the party and the government is still there in this country. I expect that the Chief Minister will look into the matter.” |
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