Morcha Announces Closure of all Schools, Clears NH 31A, Paramilitary Force arriving by tonight

KalimNews, Kalimpong, July 21 9.00 pm: Central Government has deployed 700 paramilitary force to clear NH 31A , they will be on duty by tomorrow morning, a police official confirmed. It is understood that this is in accordance to a supreme court direction. Earlier Supreme Court had given a direction to both the GJMM and Govt of West Bengal to keep the Highway open in all circumstances and during the last Bundh of GJMM it was served a show cause notice. This time too both received such notices and Amar Lama and Anmol Prasad left for Delhi.

In view of the changed scenario GJMM has declared NH 31A open from tomorrow morning though it had already kept it open till 22nd July. According to a source of GJMM it is for making a suitable atmosphere for the forthcoming tripartite talks.

GJMM has again imposed indefinite strike to all educational institutions from 22nd July. Schools will remain closed for an indefinite period in protest against the statement of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Earlier GJMM had excluded Educational Institutions from the Indefinite Bandh from Monday the 20th July along with Tea and Medicinal Plantations.

Though all Secondary Schools opened from 20th July , there were some confusion regarding the transport availing by the students and teachers and there were reports of such instances too. Now the students who returned back to their hostels and guest houses only on last Sunday and Monday are in a consternation and expected to return to their respective home.

GOVT SENDS PARAMILITARY TO CLEAR NH 31A

New Delhi, July 21 (PTI) The government today rushed about 700 Central paramilitary personnel to open the crucial highway (NH 31 A), connecting Sikkim with the rest of the country amid an ongoing indefinite bandh called by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in support of their demands. Four companies (about 400 personnel) of Central Reserve Police Force, two companies (about 200 personnel) of Sashastra Seema Bal along with a company of women personnel (comprising about 100) were sent to clear the highway, a senior Home Ministry official said. The GJM has called for an indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling hills since July 13 in support of their demands despite the Centre preponing the tripartite meeting on the Gorkhaland issue.

"The Highway has been blocked for the long time. The Central forces will open the route in order to bring life to normalcy in the region.

GJM given two weeks by SC to file its reply over NH 31A bandh issue OP Bhandari files a fresh petition in SC due to recent bandh, also to file a contempt case

Sikkim Express, GANGTOK, July 20: The Supreme Court today asked the legal counsel of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) to file its reply within two weeks in response to the fresh petition filed by advocate OP Bhandari on the blockade of the NH 31 A and on not following the directives of the Supreme Court issued on July 3 last year to keep the highway open from purview of all bandhs. It may be recalled that Mr. Bhandari had approached the apex Court in 2005 seeking that the NH 31 A should be kept free from all bandhs. The Supreme Court today directed the GJM’s counsel to file the reply to the petition within two weeks’ time. During the hearing of the petition, the GJM counsel had asked for four weeks time to give a reply. The request was denied and the respondent was asked to file the reply within two weeks’ time, it is informed. Speaking to media here over phone New Delhi, Mr. Bhandari’s legal counsel Arjun Garg said that they had filed a fresh petition against the GJM, various other political organizations including the CPI(M), the West Bengal government, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Surface Transport who have been made respondents to keep Sikkim’s lifeline insulated from bandhs. Mr. Garg said they had filed a fresh affidavit due to the bandh called by the GJM from July 13 to 17 recently. “We argued on the urgency on the fresh bandh called by the GJM which had paralyzed Sikkim and not following the Supreme Court directives”, he said. Mr. Garg had argued that the apex Courts’ orders had not been complied with and notices had been issued to the parties. It is also informed that Mr. Bhandari will be filing a contempt of Court’s order petition against the respondents against violation of the Court’s order to keep NH 31A free from bandhs. The petition will be filed within a week in the Supreme Court, it is learnt. It may be recalled that Mr. Bhandari had first filed the writ in his personal capacity in 2005 in the Supreme Court which had been taken up last year due to the ‘urgency’ of the matter in view of the recent bandhs that paralyzed the hill State based on which the apex Court had asked that the NH 31A be kept free from purview of all bandhs. Mr. Bhandari’s petition was also backed by an interlocutory application filed by the State government in support of the petition and asking for directions for interim orders and relief last year. The State government again filed an additional affidavit recently due to the recent bandh. In his petition, Mr. Bhandari had prayed that the Sikkimese people should not suffer due to the frequent bandhs called by the various political organizations and parties of West Bengal that brings the NH 31A to a complete standstill with no movement of vehicles thereby disrupting normal life and flow of essential items to the State. He had also demanded that proper security should be provided so that the movement of people and goods are not stopped during such bandhs.. GJM must review its Gorkhaland strategies: GM Rai GANGTOK, July 20: Sikkim Gorkha Prajatantrik Party (SGPP) president GM Rai has suggested to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) to review its ongoing strategies towards the Gorkhaland demand in the Darjeeling hills. Speaking to media, Mr. Gurung said that GJM must take effective decisions in the upcoming strategies. “Gorkhaland involves the identity issue of all the Gorkhas in the country and this demand must be taken on a national level”, said the SGPP president. He opined that the present strategy of GJM to clamp down the Darjeeling hills will not have any affect on the anti-Gorkhaland forces. It may be added here that the SGPP president had pressing on the need for taking the Gorkhaland issue to a national level. Presently the movement is going on with any desired results and the anti-Gorkhaland forces have not taken the Gorkhaland movement seriously, said Mr. Rai adding that there are no gains attained in the hills bandh. It may be recalled that the SGPP president had shared the same dais briefly with GJM chief Bimal Gurung at Paljor Stadium during the latter’s visit to Gangtok in August last year. Mr. Gurung had arrived at Paljor Stadium to listen to the sermons of a spiritual leader. Both the leaders had interacted with each other briefly. However, it is learnt that there is no contact between them after the Paljor Stadium interaction. SOLAR ECLIPSE-22 JULY , 2009 The solar eclipse on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 is the longest total solar eclipse of the twenty-first century and will not be surpassed in duration until June 13, 2132. Its totality will last for up to 6 minutes and 44 seconds and will be visible in India, some of the Japanese islands, China and Pacific Ocean. The eclipse begins with the sunrise in the western part of India, travels to eastern part of India, crosses to Mynamar (Burma), small islands of Japan and China. Considering the Earth as a whole, the eclipse begins at 5:28 am IST when the shadow of the Moon touches the Earth at local sunrise at a point in the Arabian Sea close to the western coast of India. The eclipse ends at 10:42 am IST when Moon's shadow finally leaves the Earth at local sunset at a point in the South Pacific Ocean. View in India In India Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Varanasi and Patna are some of the cities lie close to the central part of the totality. According to a research by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Taregana, a place near Patna, is the best location as the altitude of the sun will be about 15 degrees here at the time of total eclipse. Following is the Map of India showing variation in the magnitude of eclipse in different regions. Area encompassed between lines of 1.0 magnitude will experience total eclipse of the Sun. Decreasing magnitude lines indicate proportionately partial eclipse. This is second in the series of three eclipses in a month. There was a lunar eclipse on July 7 and now a solar eclipse on July 22 and then a lunar eclipse on August 6. How does it occur? A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is fully or partially covered. Without the sun's light, the sky darkens enough for stars to be seen and the corona makes a spectacular halo around the moon. It can only occur at New Moon when the Moon passes between Earth and Sun. If the Moon's shadow happens to fall upon Earth's surface at that time, one sees some portion of the Sun's disk covered or 'eclipsed' by the Moon. Since New Moon occurs every 29 and 1/2 days, why can’t we have a solar eclipse once every month? It is because the Moon's orbit around Earth is tilted 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun. As a result, the Moon's shadow usually misses Earth as it passes above or below our planet at New Moon. At least twice a year, the geometry lines up just right so that some part of the Moon's shadow falls on Earth's surface and an eclipse of the Sun is seen from that region. The Moon's shadow actually has two parts: 1. Penumbra : The Moon's faint outer shadow. Partial solar eclipses are visible from within the penumbral shadow. 2. Umbra : The Moon's dark inner shadow. Total solar eclipses are visible from within the umbral shadow. Following is the geometry of the total solar eclipse: Is it safe to watch with naked eyes? Partial eclipses, annular eclipses, and the partial phases of total eclipses are never safe to watch without taking special precautions. Even when 99% of the Sun's surface is obscured during the partial phases of a total eclipse, the remaining photospheric crescent is intensely bright and cannot be viewed safely without eye protection. The Sun can be viewed safely with the naked eye only during the few brief seconds or minutes of a total solar eclipse. The safest and most inexpensive of these methods is by projection, in which a pinhole or small opening is used to cast the image of the Sun on a screen placed a half-meter or more beyond the opening. Projected images of the Sun may even be seen on the ground in the small openings created by interlacing fingers, or in the dappled sunlight beneath a leafy tree. Binoculars can also be used to project a magnified image of the Sun on a white card, but you must avoid the temptation of using these instruments for direct viewing. The Sun can be viewed directly only when using filters specifically designed for this purpose. Such filters usually have a thin layer of aluminum, chromium or silver deposited on their surfaces that attenuates ultraviolet, visible, and infrared energy. No filter is safe to use with any optical device (i.e. - telescope, binoculars, etc.) unless it has been specifically designed for that purpose. Experienced amateur and professional astronomers may also use one or two layers of completely exposed and fully developed black-and-white film, provided the film contains a silver emulsion. Since all developed color films lack silver, they are always unsafe for use in solar viewing. Do not experiment with other filters unless you are certain that they are safe. Consult your local planetarium or amateur astronomy club for additional information. Happy safe-viewing! *Director (M & C), PIB, New Delhi.

SOLAR ECLIPSE PARTIAL IN THE REGION

On Wednesday, 2009 July 22, a total eclipse of the Sun is visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses half of Earth. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow begins in India and crosses through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. After leaving mainland Asia, the path crosses Japan's Ryukyu Islands and curves southeast through the Pacific Ocean where the maximum duration of totality reaches 6 min 39 s. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes most of eastern Asia, Indonesia, and the Pacific Ocean.

Expressindia: 21 july:As astronomers and astrologers are debating over longest total solar eclipse of the century, the second celestial event in the series of triple eclipse phenomenon, the people in the region are eagerly waiting for what the science enthusiasts call an opportunity and religious sceptics a bad omen.

Occurring at the sunrise on July 22 morning in the region, this rare celestial activity will, however, be partially viewed in the state while the eastward journey of moving shadow of the moon on earth presenting a clear view of the solar eclipse. It will start from Surat in Gujarat and towards parts of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, then covering Gaya in Bihar with clearest view and culminate in Dibrugarh in Assam, till 10.30 am.

The journey of the partial view of the solar eclipse in the region can be seen from 5.30 am to 7.30 am. The longest period of total solar eclipse at Surat will be of about 3 minutes and a few seconds, according to experts.

The triple eclipse phenomenon has seen lunar eclipse on July 7 and another lunar eclipse will follow this total solar eclipse on August 6.

"This is a rare phenomenon and holds a key to a lot of secrets of the Sun which otherwise remains elusive for scientists. This is only a shadow of the moon on the earth when the three align in space with the moon in between. There is no scientific basis for all the myths and superstitions protected in our society by some religious rites," said Dr Ravinderjeet Singh, educator and programmer at the Nehru Planetarium in the city.

Amid substantial fear prevailing among credulous public after what some astrologers have described it as a situation full of bad omen with potential to leave harmful effects on humankind, there are some people with scientific outlook who are creating awareness asking people to go out and witness the phenomenon.

Tarksheel Society Punjab is spreading the awareness that the longest total solar eclipse till now should be seen as an opportunity and not as a curse.

Providing technical help and knowledge from the field of astronomy, Dr Ravinderjeet who has a PhD in astrophysics, said people should come out and witness the event with no fear as there is no scientific basis supporting such myths.

"The rays of the sun on the day and at the time of the eclipse are the same as on other days," he educates the students of Government High School at Sunet in an awareness talk.

"It presents a remarkable opportunity to scientists to study various phenomena of the sun. They can witness a number of such activities of the sun as Corona, the outer part of the sun becomes visible.

The scientists can then see the prominences (flared eruption of hot material) as it flies off to a few lakh kilometres from its outer part and again falls back in it. Seeing this phenomenon is otherwise never possible unless such an eclipse lays the boundary of the sun bare," he explains while speaking to The Indian Express.

He adds that besides the opportunity to study the Frounhoffer Line, there are some beautiful phenomenons that can be seen at the time of the eclipse. "In the Diamond-ring phenomenon, a ring-like structure gets formed and the Bailey's Beads also occurs at the time. That is why people are also so eager to watch the eclipse."

For the record

The longest solar eclipse of the century will last for six minutes and 39 seconds and the next eclipse exceeding seven minutes will take place in 2132. The last such triple eclipse phenomenon had occurred in 1979. The next total solar eclipse will be seen in India in 2034. In the last few years, there has only been one eclipse each in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Solar Eclipse Animation

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Solar eclipse

This animation illustrates a total solar eclipse as the umbra of the Moons shadow passes over a narrow region on the surface of the Earth. Not shown is the penumbra, which will cause a partial eclipse on either side of the path of totality. Distances are not to scale, and we have idealized the illustration by fixing the Earth in space relative to the Sun. In reality, the Earth will be in motion around its orbit as the Moon moves around the Earth.

On Wednesday, 2009 July 22, a total eclipse of the Sun is visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses half of Earth. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow begins in India and crosses through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. After leaving mainland Asia, the path crosses Japan's Ryukyu Islands and curves southeast through the Pacific Ocean where the maximum duration of totality reaches 6 min 39 s. A partial eclipse is seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes most of eastern Asia, Indonesia, and the Pacific Ocean.

Animation of the 2009 total solar eclipse as seen from Shanghai

GET READY FOR LONGEST TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF THE CENTURY

Prabhavati Akashi*

The solar eclipse on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 is the longest total solar eclipse of the twenty-first century and will not be surpassed in duration until June 13, 2132. Its totality will last for up to 6 minutes and 44 seconds and will be visible in India, some of the Japanese islands, China and Pacific Ocean. The eclipse begins with the sunrise in the western part of India, travels to eastern part of India, crosses to Mynamar (Burma), small islands of Japan and China. Considering the Earth as a whole, the eclipse begins at 5:28 am IST when the shadow of the Moon touches the Earth at local sunrise at a point in the Arabian Sea close to the western coast of India. The eclipse ends at 10:42 am IST when Moon's shadow finally leaves the Earth at local sunset at a point in the South Pacific Ocean. View in India In India Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Varanasi and Patna are some of the cities lie close to the central part of the totality. According to a research by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Taregana, a place near Patna, is the best location as the altitude of the sun will be about 15 degrees here at the time of total eclipse. Following is the Map of India showing variation in the magnitude of eclipse in different regions. Area encompassed between lines of 1.0 magnitude will experience total eclipse of the Sun. Decreasing magnitude lines indicate proportionately partial eclipse. This is second in the series of three eclipses in a month. There was a lunar eclipse on July 7 and now a solar eclipse on July 22 and then a lunar eclipse on August 6.

How does it occur? A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is fully or partially covered. Without the sun's light, the sky darkens enough for stars to be seen and the corona makes a spectacular halo around the moon. It can only occur at New Moon when the Moon passes between Earth and Sun. If the Moon's shadow happens to fall upon Earth's surface at that time, one sees some portion of the Sun's disk covered or 'eclipsed' by the Moon. Since New Moon occurs every 29 and 1/2 days, why can’t we have a solar eclipse once every month? It is because the Moon's orbit around Earth is tilted 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun. As a result, the Moon's shadow usually misses Earth as it passes above or below our planet at New Moon. At least twice a year, the geometry lines up just right so that some part of the Moon's shadow falls on Earth's surface and an eclipse of the Sun is seen from that region. The Moon's shadow actually has two parts: 1. Penumbra : The Moon's faint outer shadow. Partial solar eclipses are visible from within the penumbral shadow. 2. Umbra : The Moon's dark inner shadow. Total solar eclipses are visible from within the umbral shadow. Following is the geometry of the total solar eclipse: Is it safe to watch with naked eyes? Partial eclipses, annular eclipses, and the partial phases of total eclipses are never safe to watch without taking special precautions. Even when 99% of the Sun's surface is obscured during the partial phases of a total eclipse, the remaining photospheric crescent is intensely bright and cannot be viewed safely without eye protection. The Sun can be viewed safely with the naked eye only during the few brief seconds or minutes of a total solar eclipse. The safest and most inexpensive of these methods is by projection, in which a pinhole or small opening is used to cast the image of the Sun on a screen placed a half-meter or more beyond the opening. Projected images of the Sun may even be seen on the ground in the small openings created by interlacing fingers, or in the dappled sunlight beneath a leafy tree. Binoculars can also be used to project a magnified image of the Sun on a white card, but you must avoid the temptation of using these instruments for direct viewing. The Sun can be viewed directly only when using filters specifically designed for this purpose. Such filters usually have a thin layer of aluminum, chromium or silver deposited on their surfaces that attenuates ultraviolet, visible, and infrared energy. No filter is safe to use with any optical device (i.e. - telescope, binoculars, etc.) unless it has been specifically designed for that purpose. Experienced amateur and professional astronomers may also use one or two layers of completely exposed and fully developed black-and-white film, provided the film contains a silver emulsion. Since all developed color films lack silver, they are always unsafe for use in solar viewing. Do not experiment with other filters unless you are certain that they are safe. Consult your local planetarium or amateur astronomy club for additional information. Happy safe-viewing! *Director (M & C), PIB, New Delhi.

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