Deolo Hil Top covered with monsoon fog ( Visible are mobile towers)

Photo: Samten Kabo

PADRI GANGA PRASAD PRADHAN JAYANTI CELEBRATED-

2 JOURNALISTS FELICITATED

PHOTO: Manoj Rai and Lydick Tamang

KalimNews, Kalimpong 4^th July : 158th Birth Anniversary of Late Padri Ganga Prasad Pradhan was celebrated by Kaleybung Sahitya Utthan Samity today in Disha Hall of Kalimpong. With Solon Karthak a writer and prominent writer of many travelogue of Kalimpong as Chief Guest of the programme it felicitated two prominent Journalists of Kalimpong Mr.A.K.Rasaily and Mr.A.K.Rai (Tathura) for their contribution towards Journalism.

The programme had Sitaram Kafley of Kumudini Homes as Master of ceremony and Rev. Samuel Lepcha as President and Yogbir Sakya Member, Sahitya Academy and Secretary , Nepali Sahitya Adhyan Samity as Guest of Honour.

Highlighting the contribution of Padri Ganga Prasad as a Journalist Solon Karthak stated in his speech that Padri was an editor and publisher of Gorkhey Khabar Kagat the first Gorkha monthly Newspaper and a Journalist in the true sense. He stated that Gorkhay Khabar kagat had not less than 11 part time correspondents covering different areas and it was circulated not only in Nepal and India but to western countries too.

The issues in record indicates that it was published from 1901 to 1928 and had the same selling price of 1 anna without any enhancement of the price which is a significance of the paper claimed Karthak in his speech. He further stated “The rules of the subscription were very proper and the intact specimens stored in Madan Pustakalaya of Nepal signifies of its good paper quality”. “The paper included news of all places grouped in different local, regional and national and international level.” “Though the language of that period was a bit peculiar but they were more appropriate though some colloquial words and Hindi words were used” he added.

Felicitated Journalists A.K.Rasaily of Sunakhari Samachar and other dailies and A.K.Rai also of Sunakhari Samachar and other journals incidentally happens to be the present President and the Secretary of Kalimpong Press Club respectively. They were presented a Shawl with a citation by the Chief Guest and later congratulated by all the dignitaries present in the programme. Pawan Thapa and Pradip Moktan read the citation while Anjana Rai and Sarita Samdarshi presented the biography of the felicitated Rai and Rasaily. Yangden S.Ghising Asst. Headmaster of Kumudini Homes conducted the felicitation programme. Raju Rai the Secretary of the Samity established in 2006 presented his Secretarial report. Samiran Priyadarshi and Krishna Pradhan were the recipients of Ganga Prasad Pradhan Puraskar presented by the Kaleybung Sahitya Utthan Samity in the year 2006and 2007 respectively.

Archive News ....

Padris Journalism Award to Priyadarshi By Charisma K. Lepcha

Fourth of July is a big deal for Americans. They remember the birth of their country. Fourth of July is beginning to be a big deal for Hill people. They are beginning to celebrate the birth anniversary of a long forgotten pioneer.

Born on July 4, 1851, Padri Ganga Prasad Pradhan was not your regular Darjeelingay. While assisting Scottish missionaries with Bible translation work from English to Nepali, he was attentively grasping the workings of the publication world. For More..... CLICK HERE

Gorkha Janamukti Yuwa Morcha's Torch Rally in Kalimpong on 4th July 2009. Photo: Samten Kabo and Samiran Paul

Extract of matter raised by Rajiv Pratap Rudy in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, July 3, 2009

Rajya Sabha: MATTERS RAISED WITH PERMISSION OF CHAIR

RE. CONCERN OVER SCARCITY OF DRINKING WATER IN DARJEELING.

SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY (BIHAR): Mr. Deputy Chairman, Sir, the Planning Commission, sometime back, had sanctioned a scheme for lifting water from the Balasan River to meet the long-time drinking water requirement of the hill district of Darjeeling. The project commenced in July 2007, but it has not seen the light of the day and is causing huge distress to the large hill population. Water scarcity is having adverse impact on the health and social well being of the people there. Water scarcity in the hill district of Darjeeling is very acute and deserves an early intervention by the Union Government. This speaks loud on the development which has taken place in North Bengal so much so that this has resulted in implications of raising a separate State for which the people of Gorkha Land have been struggling. They have been agitating for more than three decades now. The aspirations of the people which basically stem from development issues for the plains; the neglect of the Queen of Hills with poor infrastructure, lack of education facilities and neglect of tea gardens coupled with growing discontent in the Duars region and the plains of the hill district is a matter of concern. (Contd. by 1O)

RG/DS/12.05/1O SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY (contd.): Recently, when there was Cyclone Aila, 32 people got killed in the landslides, and there was absolutely no infrastructural plan or disaster management plan. As a result, the state of affairs in the region is such that the large hilld destination is growing into a slum area. There has been a consistent

neglect of the entire region of North Bengal which has created this situation, and this is creating great unrest in that part of the country. Sir, it is a matter which deserves the attention of the House because as we are saying, there is chicken-and-egg kind of a situation in the State. The State borders three nations; it is a gateway to Bhutan. Being an

international border, there are a lot of ramifications and a lot of implications on what is happening in that particular region of North Bengal. And the unrest in that region, which takes place again and again, has created a situation where it is becoming dangerous for the country. Moreover, with a large influx of Bangladeshis in that region, the

situation has changed the demographic profile of that area. So, we will request the Union Government to look into the aspects as far as the issue of Ghorkhaland and the issue of the Nepali-born Indian citizens are concerned. These are issues which need to be addressed by the Government. (Ends)

UNION MINISTER OF POWER SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SHINDE DEDICATES 510 MW TEESTA STAGE V NHPC PROJECT TO THE NATION

Singtam ( East Sikkim ), 4 July, PIB:78000 MW power will be added during the 11^th Plan Period says Union Minister of Power Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde. He was speaking at the ceremony to dedicate the 510 MW Teesta Stage V NHPC Project at Balutar, Singtam, East Sikkim today. Shri Shinde the UPA government is committed to provide one unit of power to each household in the country by 2012. In this process a target of 1 Lakh MW has been fixed for the 12^th Plan. The Minister announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10000/- each to all the 412 employees of National Hydro Power Project working at the Teesta Stage V Project. He announced the setting up of an IT Institute of Rs 5 crore in Sikkim. On rehabilitation , Shri Shinde said, NHPC should appoint a Rehabilitation Officer to look into the various issues arising out of displacement of hydro power projects. All future hydro power projects undertaken by his ministry would set up an ITI so as to train local youth and then be employed locally. Governor of Sikkim, Shri B P Singh, Chief Minister of Sikkim, Shri Pawan Chamling and Union Minister of State for Power Shri Bharatsinh Solanki were also present on the occasion.

This is the first major hydro power project in Sikkim that has already commissioned since March 2008. The project built at a cost of Rs 2619 crores was completed in a span of about eight years. NHPC is giving 12% free power to Sikkim. The surplus power is being given to Damodar Valley Corporation, West benga, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand.(PIB)

SWINE FLUE TALLY 129

New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) A Thai national was found suffering from swine flu, taking the total number of influenza A (H1N1) cases in India to 129, said an official statement Saturday. “The only new case reported Saturday was of a 23-year-old Thai national who travelled from Bangkok to Mumbai by Thai Airways flight TG 317 that reached Mumbai June 28 and proceeded further to Kandla port (in Gujarat) to board a ship on which he is a crew member,” it said.

“He was detected at the screening at Kandla port and isolated at the Kandla Port Trust Hospital July 1. Four other crew members in close contact with this case have also been placed under quarantine. They have been put on chemoprophylaxis.”

The statement said, “871 persons have been tested so far, of which 129 are positive for Influenza A H1N1. Of 129 positive cases, 90 have been discharged.”

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 89,921 confirmed cases of influenza A H1N1 infection have been reported from 125 countries till July 3. There have been 382 deaths worldwide, most of them in Mexico and the US.

Lalgarh forest clean-up begins

PRONAB MONDAL, The Telegraph:

Kalaimuri, July 4: Security forces today began sanitising forests in Lalgarh where Maoists were believed to have taken shelter.One team of state and central forces that set out to secure a police camp in Kalaimuri faced no opposition from the rebels. Another engaged Maoists in a 15-minute gun battle after the rebels detonated an improvised explosive device in the Kumarbandh forest near Kantapahari. Police said the Maoists fired first after which the security forces retaliated. No injuries were reported. The team bound for Kalaimuri, about 40km from Midnapore town, also set up a new police camp at Madhupur, about 5km from Kalaimuri. Two months ago, tribals and armed Maoists had driven away the police from Kalaimuri. “We are in an area domination operation. We visited the villages where Maoists had been camping. Our next task will be to search the dense forests,” said an officer of a central force. Around 6.30am, security personnel started marching from three sides — Ramgarh, Goaltore and Salboni — towards Kalaimuri. “We took all precautions against the Maoists. While the security personnel marched on the kuchcha roads, policemen fanned out into the forests, going in about 500m so that the guerrillas would not attack us,” said an officer. Policemen searched several villages inside the forests too. “All the men in the villages have fled. No one was arrested during today’s operation,” said the officer. Naren Soren of Birbhanpur village confirmed that the villages had turned into Maoist dens in the past few months. “Sometimes they (the Maoists) patrolled the roads in daylight. But most of the time they stayed in the forests and held meetings. At night, they visited our houses and demanded food at gunpoint,” Soren said. The police said tracking down the guerrillas in the jungles was not easy. “They know the forest routes like the back of their hand. Besides, all forests, like Kadashole, Salboni, Godamouli, Jhitka, Kantapahari, Ronja, are inter-linked. If we search the Kalaimuri forest, they will take refuge in the nearby Jhitka forest. Combing these forests is very difficult,” said an officer. The police said re-establishing the camp in Kalaimuri was now the first priority. “We will have to construct it again. As the camp is in a dense forest, we can keep a vigil on Maoist movement in the jungles,” said Kuldeip Singh, inspector-general, western range. Maoists caught A team from the Balarampur police station captured four Maoists at Bersha village in Purulia last night. Four guns, improvised mines and wire were seized from them. One of the Maoists was a woman. Forces reclaim Modhupur Statesman News Service KOLKATA/PURULIA, 4 JULY: Based on the belief that Maoists might have taken shelter in some of the villages around Lalgargh, the joint forces conducted a combing operation in Modhupur. Early this morning, the joint forces left their respective base camps at Kantapahari, Ramgarh, Sejua and Bhimpur and headed for Modhupur via Sejua and Birbanpur villages. The joint forces faced a one-hour long gun battle with the Maoists in the jungle near Modhupur, before reclaiming the village around noon. A senior officer supervising the operation said that there was a landmine blast triggered by the Maoists at Birbanpur, followed by a gun battle between the Central Reserve Forces and the Maoists. The jawans also launched mortars at them, but no casuality was reported as a result of this action. Mr Manoj Verma, superintendent of police Midnapore West, claimed that this combing operation was performed with the sole intentions of restoring normalcy and rule of law in the area. The operation will continue until the administration starts functioning properly in the area again. Mr Verma also added that at least 28 suspected Maoists have been arrested so far from the Lalgarh area. Meanwhile, three armed Maoists including a woman, Ms Mala Kumar, were arrested from Baharampur jungle in Purulia. One person was also arrested from Sankarpur village near Rajnagar in Birbhum under the suspicion of having Maoist links. Mr Rajesh Yadav, superintendent of police Purulia, said that the Maoists were arrested during a search operation in the jungle. A landmine, two two-barrel guns and some posters were seized from them as well. The arrested Maoists are the members of the Dolma Squad of Ayodhya Hill in Purulia. Mr Yadav also said that Mr Bhupindar Singh, DGP, Mr Raj Konojia, IGP (Law and Order), and Mr NS Gill, DG of Central Reserve Police Force, visited the Kuchia police camp near Bunwdan and the bordering areas of Jharkhand. In Kolkata, the members of the National Alliance of People's Movement (NAPM), a human rights forum, staged a demonstration against police atrocities on the common people in Lalgarh. Gopal Menon, noted film maker, who was arrested by the police yesterday before proceeding to Lalgarh, alleged that he was seriously beaten up by the police near Debra. Suspected Maoist held Mr Ranjit Saha,(32) was arrested on suspicion of being a Maoist cadre from his residence in Birbhum’s Sankarpur village under the jurisdiction of Rajnagar police station last night. The district’s SP, Mr LN Meena, expressed his belief that Mr Saha was involved in the murder of Nandalal Mistri ~ a CPI-M cadre. Mr Saha allegedly supplied arms in connection with the murder of the cadre on 22 September last year.