Weather report dated 26.11.09 
Local forecast for next 24 hours (Gangtok & its neighborhood):

Generally cloudy sky .  Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 14°C and 09°C respectively.

Gangtok city forecast of Max., Min. & Wx. Condition.

Valid for the period	Max in oC	Min in oC	Rainfall in mm	Wx condition
Next 24 hours	14	09	000.0	Generally cloudy sky.
Next 48 hours	15	09	000.0	Generally cloudy sky.

 Met data dated 26.11.2009

Today’s Sun sets at (in IST)	16:39	Tomorrow Sun rises at (in IST)	06:03
Moon rises at (in IST)	12:58	Moon sets at (in IST)	00: 53
24 hours rainfall (in mm)	000.0
Max Temp. (in 0C)	15.9	Dep. from normal	-2.1
Min Temp. (in 0C)	09.0	Dep. from normal	+1.0

MADAN TAMANG fires -point Blank

KalimNews: Madan Tamang promised to disclose the name of five GJMM leaders who had already consented and agreed upon to compromise with the Central Government and State Government in lieu of Gorkhaland,  during a press conference here in Kalimpong. In regards to the notices sent by GJMM leaders to 29 of its leaders he commented that the issuing persons should have been received them first. 

He told the reporters that GJMM has agreed upon to receive an annual grant of Rupees two hundred. It is betrayal to the aspiration of people of hill and plains. He fired point blankly to Dr. H.B.Chhetri for his comment against Tamang. Chhetri was once my favorite buddy but he knows nothing about ABGL, his ignorance led him to say such foolish things , he commented.

Madan in Kalimpong met with his party cadres  and other  like minded people yesterday to discuss on the future course of action and gather public opinion.

RURAL OFFICES TO OPEN

TT, Darjeeling, Nov. 26: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to keep panchayat offices across the hills open from November 28 for a week to allow disbursement of salaries.

Jyoti Rai, a central committee member of the Morcha, said: “The panchayat offices will be open to allow the employees to receive the salary. It will, however, remain closed from December 5.”

Panchayat offices across the hills have been shut since November 7. Work at the block development offices have come to a standstill as the Morcha has only allowed the BDOs to conduct the 100 days’ scheme and issue and register birth and death certificates.

The youth wing of the Morcha said it was ready to hold talks with Madan Tamang, the president of the ABGL. “We will meet him wherever he wants to but he should arrange the meeting within two weeks and furnish all proofs of the allegations that he has been making,” said Alok Kant Mani Thulung, president, Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha.

Tamang had earlier claimed that some Morcha leaders had already settled for a council instead of a separate state of Gorkhaland and had also alleged that many central committee members had amassed wealth and purchased property in Siliguri, Bangalore and Pokhara in Nepal. “If the allegations are true, we along with the central committee will take action against those leaders,” said Thulung.

The youth leader said once the DGHC was repealed, the contract workers would have to be absorbed in some administrative structure. “However, this does not mean that statehood has been forgotten. The Morcha has not lost sight of its goal.” Thulung, however, did not specify what action the youths would be taking if the meeting did not take place within two weeks.

Tamang could not be contacted as he did not answer his cellphone.

Tripartite may fail to yield solution: Opp

SNS, SILIGURI, 26 NOV: Trinamul leader and the leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Mr Partha Chatterjee, is skeptical about the third round of Darjeeling tripartite talks to be held on 21 December.
Talking to journalists in Siliguri this afternoon, Mr Chatterjee said that the Left-run state government has been discussing the Darjeeling impasse since 1986, yet it could not find a lasting solution.
“We have been seeing this kind of tripartite talks since 1986, but Darjeeling remains volatile as always. The simple fact is that the CPI-M is never serious about bringing a solution to Darjeeling and rather wants to keep the issue alive for political gains. Let us see what happens this time,” the Trinamul leader said.
Adding, Mr Chatterjee said that his party respects the aspirations of the Hill people for self determination, but would not support the creation of a new state as is being demanded by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM).
It may be mentioned here that just after the 7 November Assembly bypoll victory, the Trinamul chief Miss Mamata Banerjee had made claims of solving the Darjeeling imbroglio “in just three days” if she were in state power.
The gesture was in response to the GJMM's unilateral support that was instrumental in the victory of Trinamul candidate in the Rajganj Assembly segment in Jalpaiguri district.
However, over this issue, Mr Chatterjee today denied of any understanding with the GJMM. “I am not aware of anything. It's you people (in the media), who are writing about this,” he said.
Meanwhile, taking cue of the Trinamul demonstration at the North Bengal University yesterday, Mr Chatterjee set a deadline till 30 November for the varsity authorities to address all issues of corruption. “If they fail to do so, I would meet the state governor, who happens to be the chancellor of the university, on 1 December and seek his intervention,” he said.

Severe winters expected this year

SNS, SILIGURI, 25 NOV: A severe winter seems to be in store for north Bengal this year, so says the weather specialists. The mercury might dip to 5 degree Celsius or even below in the coming days. If this happens north Bengal would get to taste quite a winter this time. According to Dr Subir Sarkar, a North Bengal University meteorologist, the severity of the chill would set in with the onset of December. “Come December and the people would scurry for protective woollen cover against the chilling west winds. The arrival of a remarkably severe winter has been clear from the very beginning. The long spells of late monsoon showers and the penetration of the west wind into the atmosphere, deemed to be the harbinger of winter, are indications enough,” he said.
Asked whether Darjeeling would have snowfall this season, Dr Sarkar sounded affirmative. “The higher ridges have already had snowfalls last week. And if the weather does not drastically change there is no reason the Darjeeling hills would not get snow capped this season,” he said. 

Immolation bid at VC door - Ex-student blames varsity for ‘zero’ in interview

The woman (face blurred) being taken away from the university. Picture by Kundan Yolmo TT, Siliguri, Nov. 26: A 34-year-old former student of North Bengal University tried to immolate herself in front of the vice-chancellor’s office this afternoon, allegedly after he refused to meet her. The woman was demanding an answer as to why she got zero in an interview conducted by the College Service Commission (CSC) recently for recruitment of lecturers. She was later arrested and released on bail. According to NBU sources, the woman made her way to VC Arunava Basumajumdar’s chamber around 11am and was told by him to wait in the adjoining room. However, she refused to listen and tried to forcibly enter his office. On being prevented by the VC’s secretary, Shankari Saha, she took out a bottle of kerosene from her bag, which she had hid beneath the shawl, and doused herself with it. “She even had a box of matchsticks in her hand but the secretary snatched the bottle and the matchsticks from her on time. The other staff members present there then led her to the vice-chancellor’s chamber,” a witness said. The varsity authorities informed police. Four women constables tried to pacify her for almost three hours inside vice-chancellor’s chamber before taking her to the Matigara police station. “Why have I been given zero for my College Service Commission interview? Why have they not taken my experience into account? I need an answer from the NBU officials. Why are they not able to look me in the eye? I am desperately in need of a job,” the woman shouted hysterically as she was being escorted to the police vehicle. The woman, a PhD in mathematics from NBU, had qualified the National Eligibility Test for lectureship this year. She had appeared for the CSC interview, the results of which were declared last night. However, when her name did not figure in the CSC list of qualifiers, she came to “protest” before the varsity authorities. A senior official of the varsity said those who qualify in the NET usually appear for the CSC interview directly and are marked on academic qualifications, research papers published, teaching experience and viva-voce. “The marking system is known to the students and except for the viva-voce, students can more or less find out for themselves how much they can expect in each category,” he said. The woman claimed that if she had been marked even the minimum in viva-voce, she was entitled to 49 percentile. According to results put up by CSC, four general category students from NBU have qualified in the maths stream with the lowest score being 48.94 percentile. Originally a resident of Nilkuti Baburhat in Cooch Behar, the woman has been living alone in a rented accommodation in Hakimpara here for the past few years. “I did my schooling at Suniti Academy in Cooch Behar and got my BSc degree in mathematics from ABN Seal College there. In 1999, I completed my MSc from the university and my PhD too this year. A lot of journals have published my papers. Why were these not taken into account at the CSC interview? I am a happy person and like to make others happy too. But this has made me very sad. I earn only by tutoring students at my rented house in Hakimpara. I need a job desperately,” she told journalists. The woman’s father, a retired government servant, said: “My daughter is mentally stable. I will be leaving for Siliguri immediately but for the time being I have told my relatives there to take care of her.” The varsity authorities lodged a general diary narrating the incident with the Matigara police station. “We had not filed any complaints against the woman and had requested the police to deal with the matter with a humanitarian approach,” said a senior official of the varsity.

REMEMBERING 26/11 Mumbai Blast Victims 

organised by SENIOR CITIZENS' FORUM of Kalimpong 

Pix: Samiran Paul

FIRE POWER SHOW IN TSONGU

Pix: Prabin Khaling

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State-wise Distribution of Working Children according to 2001 Census in the age group 5-14 years

Sl. No	Name of the State/UT	2001
	Andhra Pradesh	1363339
	Arunachal Pradesh	18482
	Assam	351416
	Bihar	1117500
	Chhattisgarh	364572
	Delhi	41899
	Goa	4138
	Gujarat	485530
	Haryana	253491
	Himachal Pradesh	107774
	Jammu & Kashmir	175630
	Jharkhand	407200
	Karnataka	822615
	Kerala	26156
	Madhya Pradesh	1065259
	Maharashtra	764075
	Manipur	28836
	Meghalaya	53940
	Mizoram	26265
	Nagaland	45874
	Orissa	377594
	Punjab	177268
	Rajasthan	1262570
	Sikkim	16457
	Tamil Nadu	418801
	Tripura	21756
	Uttar Pradesh	1927997
	Uttarakhand	70183
	West Bengal	857087
	Andaman & Nicobar Island	1960
	Chandigarh	3779
	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	4274
	Daman and Diu	729
	Lakshadweep	27
	Puducherry	1904
	Total	12666377

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour & Employment Shri Harish Rawat in a written reply in the Rajya  Sabha today. PIB