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Mount Thingchinkhang: Peak trouble
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TT, Gangtok, Oct. 21: The death toll on the slopes of Mount Thingchinkhang in West Sikkim has risen to two, according to porters who have reached Thangshing, situated below the base camp.
The district collector of West Sikkim, S. Pradhan, said he had been informed that one of the dead mountaineers was Mangesh Deshpande. Officials at Gyalshing, the district headquarters, said one of the porters had identified him. “There is word of another casualty, but poor weather conditions are delaying rescue operations and we are yet to get any more definite reports. Attempts to reach the spot are still on,” the officer said.
Four climbers, accompanied by the porters, had scaled the 19,712-feet peak on Sunday but were hit by an avalanche during their descent just 500 metres from the top.
The rescue operations were hampered by bad weather, heavy snowfall and cloud. The weather did not allow the two helicopters of the Indian Air Force to make any sorties.
The avalanche and one of the deaths were reported yesterday when a porter reached Yuksom.
All the team members are from Mumbai. Records with the West district officials had identified the mountaineers as Mangesh Deshpande, Sadasivan Sekar, Shantanu Pandit, Parag Pendharkar and Anju Paniculam. Anju had stayed back at the base camp at 14,000ft after she fell ill and could not make it to the summit.
While Pendharkar and Deshpande are from Pune, Paniculam and Sekar are from Mumbai. The 46-year-old Pandit lives at Vashi in Navi Mumbai. All five are members of Mumbai-based mountaineering group called Chakram Trekkers.
Kiran Deshmukh, the vice-president of Chakram Trekkers, told The Telegraph:“According to information received, two of them are believed to be killed in an avalanche, but we still don’t know which of the five (sic). There is no confirmation of their death. The other three members of the group are expected to reach the Down Camp by tomorrow afternoon. I think the picture would be clearer (then).”
Deshmukh said he had last spoken to the team on October 12 when they were at Sokha, a village about 10,000 feet above sea level, on the way to the summit. “That was the last place where mobile phone range is available. They said the weather was not that clear, but we all know that in the Himalayas, the weather changes within a few minutes. This group has done tougher expeditions like Lungser and Chamsher Kangri in Ladakh,” he said.
Paniculam works with a corporate company and lives in Mulund and is amazingly fit. “Pandit is known as a stickler for safety and drafted excellent safety manuals for the group. We are in touch with their families and authorities in Sikkim. The families are very anxious, and it won't be advisable to speak to them right now until more concrete information arrives,” said Sameer Karve, an organising committee member of the group.
The West Sikkim collector said: “The rescue operations will start in full swing once the weather clears. Officials from the tourism department and district administration along with expert Sherpas had left Yuksom and Thangshing for the base camp. However, communication links with them are very poor.”
Yuksom is 138km from Gangtok. Pradhan said the injured climbers and porters were stranded at a height of over 18,000 feet and the rescue team would try to reach there before nightfall today. Two helicopters are scheduled to make sorties tomorrow. Climbers from Sonam Gyaltso Mountaineering Institute are also joining the rescue team and so are Sherpas from Darjeeling.
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WITH INPUTS FROM SATISH NANDGAONKAR
Families Divided as Bhutan's Refugees start New Lives
Chandrakhar Adhikari does not know whether he will ever see his two brothers again.Claire Cozens Published: 11:29AM BST 21 Oct 2009, Telegraph.co.uk
Earlier this year, the pair left the refugee camp in Nepal where the family had lived for 17 years for a new life in Kentucky, reluctantly leaving 29-year-old Adhikari behind because he refused to go with them.
Thousands of Bhutanese refugees are leaving the camps in eastern Nepal, where they have languished for almost two decades, under a United Nations resettlement programme.
But a significant minority say they do not want to leave, forcing families to choose between staying with their loved ones and the promise of a new life in the West.
"Bhutan runs in my veins, it is in my blood," Adhikari said in his tiny bamboo hut in the Beldangi camp, home to 40,000 refugees who fled their homes when ethnic tensions flared in Bhutan in the early 1990s.
"I can still remember my village and my neighbours, and I want to return to Bhutan one day. This refugee problem needs to be resolved, and it will not be resolved if we resettle."
Around 100,000 ethnic Nepali refugees fled Bhutan, claiming ethnic and political persecution, after the Buddhist kingdom made national dress compulsory and banned the Nepalese language.
Bhutan's government says the people who left were either illegal immigrants or went voluntarily. The refugees, who have no right to work or own land in Nepal, insist they are Bhutanese citizens.
Numerous rounds of high-level talks between Nepal and Bhutan have failed to reach an agreement on repatriation.
Adhikari says his brothers are enjoying their new life, although they have to work much harder than in Nepal, where refugees cannot legally seek employment and have food and education provided for them.
"They could not even celebrate Dashain (a Hindu festival) this year because their American employers did not give them time off. Their children will grow up not knowing their own culture," he said.
Since the resettlement programme was introduced in 2007, around 21,000 refugees have left the camps near Nepal's eastern border with India to begin new lives in countries including the United States, Australia and Norway.
Several times a week, a charter plane leaves the local airport for Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, bearing refugees bound for Western countries they know little or nothing about.
After almost two decades in the camps, most of the refugees are happy to be moving on.
But their departure leaves a huge hole in the community - often literally, as their huts are pulled down to make room for vegetable plots to supplement the remaining refugees' rations.
Om Prakash Dunghal's parents and younger brother had just left the camp on the day he was interviewed, bound for Colorado, where he planned to follow them with his wife and daughter.
"We are happy to be leaving, though I have spent 14 years here so it is quite emotional," he said.
"My wife's father and brother say they do not want to go. I hope we can persuade them, it will be very hard to leave them behind."
The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, says it is doing all it can to ensure families remain together.
"Whether to resettle or not is an individual and a family decision," said Diane Goodman, deputy representative for the UNHCR in Nepal.
"If an elderly person in the family does not wish to go for resettlement, we conduct further assessments before processing such cases."
But in a culture where women traditionally live with their husbands' parents after they marry, and extended families live cheek-by-jowl, it is not always possible to ensure that everyone remains together.
For Damber Kumari, a 50-year-old refugee, leaving the camp would be unthinkable.
In October 2007, Kumari's son left home saying he was going to seek work abroad. Four months later, the family received news that he had been arrested and imprisoned in Bhutan, although they say they do not know why he went there.
"He used to say that we had to find a way of getting back to Bhutan," said Kumari, her eyes welling with tears.
"The Red Cross helped us to go to Bhutan to visit him in jail and he told us he wanted to see his country.
"I have another son and daughter, but how can we go for resettlement when he is there?"
The UNHCR is putting in place measures to ensure that refugees left behind - particularly older ones who do not want the upheaval of resettlement - are taken care of in the camps if their families leave.
But at 85, Hari Maya Mainali says she has no qualms about starting a new life on another continent.
"I love this place, but we have to go where we can survive," said Mainali, who hopes to follow her son and his wife to Jersey in the United States.
"Wherever we have food to eat, that's home."
Cong raps Trinamul stand
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TT, Siliguri, Oct. 21: The Congress once again slammed the Trinamul Congress for the delay in the formation of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) board and alleged that Mamata Banerjee’s party had broken the alliance just for two posts.
“Ever since the process for the Siliguri civic elections began, we have been keeping in mind the need to keep the state-level alliance between the Congress and Trinamul intact. We have not yet selected the deputy mayor and members-mayor-in-council, waiting for Trinamul to join the board,” Shankar Malakar, the Darjeeling district Congress president, said today.
He said Trinamul was not responding to its calls to join the board. “It is unfortunate that they (Trinamul) are still firm on their decision to sit in the opposition and are not paying heed to our pleas. Frankly speaking, we have failed to understand why they are refusing to share power with the Congress. Just for the posts of mayor and chairman, Trinamul is not considering the importance of the alliance,” said Malakar.
He said options for talks were still open but the Congress would not approach Trinamul anymore with plea to join the board.
“It would be too early to say we have decided on the allocation of member-mayor-in-council posts among our councillors. If Trinamul does not budge from its stance, our councillors will meet and decide on the posts,” he added.
Ekka files nomination for Kalchini
SNS, JALPAIGURI, 21 OCT: Mr Sandip Ekka has filed his nomination today as the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad candidate for the Kalchini Assembly bypoll slated on 7 November.
Announcing this, the ABAVP Jaigaon-Hasimara zonal committee president, Mr Raju Bara said that Mr Ekka would contest as an independent candidate.
“Mr Ekka, the secretary of the ABAVP Jaigaon-Hasimara zonal committee, has resigned from the post last Monday to clear the decks for filing of nomination. The ABAVP being an NGO, a functionary cannot contest. Now, divested of the position, he is ready to take on the electoral challenge for the crucial by -election in the sensitive Dooars,” he said.
Mounting attack on the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha for trying to exacerbate tension in the multi-ethnic region, the ABAVP leader said that the hill-based outfit having got into the fray had goaded them to field a candidate of their own.
“ We cannot help countering the GJMM move to grab the land inhabited by the Adivasis for generations in the garb of the Gorkhaland movement. No other party has taken pain to oppose the demand as we have done. Other parties keep mouthing ineffective jargons while ours is the only party that has taken the gauntlet in right earnest,” Mr Bara added.
Mayor in Delhi as SMC board impasse lingers
Bappaditya Paul, SNS, SILIGURI 21 OCT: Mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) Miss Gangotri Dutta flew off to New Delhi this afternoon to discuss with Congress top brass the ongoing impasse over the SMC board formation.
Accompanied by the Congress Darjeeling district president Mr Shankar Malakar, the Mayor left Siliguri at around 2 pm. The Congress Jalpaiguri MLA Mr Devaprashad Roy is also in Delhi now.
As per Mr Malakar, they are scheduled to meet the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president and the Union finance minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee and the AICC general secretary in-charge of West Bengal, Mr K Keshav Rao at 9.30 p.m. this evening.
“Mr Mukherjee is the head of our PCC and we have come to brief about the latest situation with regard to the SMC impasse and take his suggestions for our future course of action,” Mr Malakar said over the phone from Delhi.
The development comes close on the heels of Trinamul's declaration in Siliguri last night that the party would prefer to sit in the SMC Opposition unless the Congress severed all ties with the Left Front.
In clear words, Trinamul wants the resignation of SMC's current Congress Mayor and chairperson, who swung to power with the Left councillors votes and thus pave the way for fresh negotiations between the two political allies.
Contacted over the phone, Jalpaiguri MLA Mr DP Roy said, he has come to Delhi on some other purpose and not to discuss the SMC impasse. “But if the Congress High Command seeks my opining on the SMC impasse, I would surely do that,” Mr Roy said.
As per a highly placed source, the Congress is now almost certain to form the SMC board on its own, keeping out the Trinamul. The Congress local leadership have identified 23 October to announce Mr Nur-ul Islam of the CPI-M as the SMC’s Leader of Opposition and 26 October as the date for formation of the Mayor-in-Council (MIC).
“The Siliguri delegation is in Delhi to get Mr Pranab Mukherjee's seal on this,” the source added.
However, the Darjeeling district Intuc president Mr Aloke Chakroborty is still trying to workout a reconciliation formula between the two estranged allies the Congress and the Trinamul.
“I met Mr Keshav Rao and other leaders in Delhi on 13 October and put forward a formula to end the impasse. That is, let the current SMC Mayor and chairperson elected with Left votes resign and then freshly reelect the Congress mayoral candidate with support from the Trinamul.
In return, Trinamul can be spared the posts of chairperson, deputy mayor and a major share in the MIC,” Mr Chakroborty said, adding that he was hopeful that the Trinamul too would agree on this formula.
RSP wants LF to dissociate itself from Cong
SNS, SILIGURI, 21 OCT: Expressing reservation over the Darjeeling district Left Front's stand on the Congress-Trinamul Congress stand off regarding the Siliguri Municipal Corporation board formation, the RSP, an important constituent of the Front, said that the Leftist bloc should dissociate itself from the ‘political drama’ in time before the deepening acrimony within the Congress-Trinamul alliance smeared the image of the Front. “We repeat the charge that the Left Front has committed a blunder in extending support to the Congress regarding the election of the mayor for the Corporation. And as for our party, we would never vote again in favour of the Congress in future if the situation warrants such a support from the Left Front,” said the RSP Darjeeling district secretary, Mr Benoy Chakravarty.
“It is beneath the dignity of the Left Front which swears by value-based politics to make hay out of the opponents’ bungling. It would be rather to the health of the Left Front if the Congress and the Trinamul stop fighting over loaves of offices and get allied, for it would spare us the ignominy of coming to the rescue of the Congress which we keep opposing as the fountain- head of the socio-economic ills plaguing the country,” Mr Chakravarty said.
Commenting on the matter, another senior district RSP leader, Mr Tapas Goswami said that his party might bring a no-confidence motion on its own against the existing Congress-led board after its six-month tenure was over. “We would ask the Left Front to support the motion. It is unprofitable for the Front to keep pumping life into a body which is destined to die,” Mr Goswami said.
Iodine Deficiency Disorders
Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) continue to pose a serious threat to the health, well being, economic productivity and advancement of several hundred million people worldwide. People living in iodine deficient environment suffer from reduced mental and physical abilities, cretinism, deaf-mutism, squint, still-birth, abortion, goitre of all ages, neuro-motor defects, etc. Even when born normal, young children whose diets are low in iodine have their lives trapped in mental dullness and apathy. IDD preys upon poor, pregnant women and preschool children, posing serious public health problems in more than hundred developing countries. Iodine deficiency was once considered a minor problem, causing goiter, it is now known that it affects developing brain much deadlier and thereby, constituting a threat to the social and economic development of many countries.
The magnitude of the IDD problem is quite high. This has led to an International focus on elimination of Iodine Deficiency Disorders and October 21 is observed as the Global Iodine Deficiency Disorders Prevention Day to create awareness towards this problem.
Iodine is an essential component of thyroid hormones which are needed for optimal mental and physical development and regulation of body metabolism. Therefore, in iodine deficiency populations, it is critical to have effective universal salt iodisation.
Iodine, a chemical element like carbon, oxygen or iron, is available in fairly constant amounts in seawater while it is found in an uneven distribution over land and fresh water. It is an essential part of the chemical structure of thyroid hormones. It makes two hormones - thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). The thyroid hormones act in target organs by influencing many different chemical reactions, usually involving manufacture of key proteins. The body must have proper levels of thyroid hormone to work well.
Recommended daily intake of iodine varies with age. To meet iodine requirements, the recommended daily intakes are - 50 micrograms for infants (first 12 months of age), 90 mg for children (2-6 years of age) 120 mg for school children (7-12 years of age), 150 mg for adults (beyond 12 years of age) and 200 mg for pregnant and lactating women. Most of it comes from what we eat and drink. Seafood is usually a good source because the ocean contains considerable iodine. Freshwater fish reflect the iodine content of the water where they swim. Iodine contents in other foods vary depending on their source. Plants grown in iodine-deficient soil do not have much iodine, nor do meat or other products from animals fed on iodine-deficient plants. Iodized salt is a special case. With only a few isolated exceptions, edible salt (sodium chloride) does not naturally contain iodine. Iodine is added deliberately as one of the most efficient ways of improving iodine nutrition. Iodine exposure can come from many other sources too, for example certain food colorings (erythrosine), skin disinfectants, such as povidone iodine, is absorbed and reaches the bloodstream, health foods – certain types of kelp, dyes and medicines. People also get iodine from its use in farm animals, for cleansing udders or as part of iodine-containing medicines. Iodate has been used as a bread stabilizer in commercial baking, although this practice is less common now.
Though iodine deficiency has terrific negative effects, its excess can play havoc too. The excess of it causes thyroid under activity. Iodised and uniodised salt are sold simultaneously in the country. But the awareness of the health priority aspect of iodised salt among the public has resulted in the creation of a significant consumer demand for iodised salt.
The World over, including China and the neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Myanmar, Thailand, etc., are implementing compulsory salt iodisation for human consumption. Globally iodated salt is recognized as the cheapest and most sustainable way to prevent and control Iodine Deficiency Disorders. Except few types of goiter, most of the iodine deficiency disorders are irreversible and permanent in nature, but they can be easily prevented by regular consumption of iodated salt daily.
Realizing the magnitude of the problem, the Government launched a 100 per cent centrally assisted National Goitre Control Programme (NGCP) in 1962. In August 1992, the National Goitre Control Programme (NGCP) was renamed as National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme (NIDDCP) with a view to cover a wide spectrum of Iodine Deficiency Disorders.
The Government’s goal of NIDDCP is to reduce the prevalence of Iodine deficiency disorders below 10 per cent in the entire country by 2012 A.D
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