ROCKVALE ACADEMY OF KALIMPONG CELEBRATED ITS SILVER JUBILEE TODAY IN ITS SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

Cracks in alliance fighting for separate states Press Trust of India, Darjeeling, 9 OCT: Cracks have surfaced in the three-party alliance fighting for separate states in North Bengal with sharp differences among top leaders of Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, Kamatapur Progressive Party and Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party. The GJMM, KKP led by Mr Atul Roy and GCBDP led by Mr Asutosh Barma which joined hands last year for a common fight for separate states in North Bengal do not see eye to eye any more, GJM president Bimal Gurung said here. “Unke saath humlog ka taal mil nahin ho raha hai. Unke kaam karne ka tarika alagh, aur humara alagh (We are not getting along well with them. We work differently),” he said. “Our movement is to create a separate state within the Indian constitutional framework by 2010 through non-violent Gandhian form of protest and not through armed struggle,” Mr Gurung said. The problem also arose from GJMM’s concept of proposed Gorkhaland which includes some areas in the Dooars in neighbouring Jalpaiguri district, which the KPP wants to include in its Kamtapur state. Also, the territorial demands of KPP and GCBDP include parts of Darjeeling. Gurung reiterated that he would declare a separate state of Gorkhaland if the fourth round of tripartite talks scheduled on December 21 in Darjeeling failed. “The GJMM will not accept anything short of Gorkhaland. We want Gorkhaland for the development of Darjeeling Hills. Only full statehood can usher in lasting peace and fulfill the aspirations of the people of the region who have a different identity, culture and language from the rest of Bengal,” the GJMM chief said. The entire region faced neglect for decades and there was not a single major development project of consequence in the region since Independence, Mr Gurung alleged. He said BJP’s failure to come to power at the Centre had upset GJM's plan to achieve Gorkhaland by March 10, 2010. “BJP had committed Gorkhaland to us. Our target suffered because of the saffron party’s failure to come to power in the Lok Sabha elections,” Mr Gurung said. He said GJMM is now trying to establish relations with the Congress. On West Bengal Congress chief and finance minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee ruling out division of North Bengal, Mr Gurung said, “He is saying this as a political leader and for political reasons.” CPM demands ban on Gorkhaland Personnel SNS, SILIGURI, 9 OCT: The CPI-M today demanded a ban on the Gorkhaland Personnel ~ a voluntary force raised by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha. The CPI-M Darjeeling district leadership, after a mass convention in Siliguri tomorrow, would write to the state home secretary, demanding ban on the GLP. “We would send a letter, along with photographs of GLP activities, to the home secretary and request him to take necessary action to ban the outfit,” the state municipal affairs and urban development minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya said today while speaking on the GJMM's diktat on dress code. The GJMM recently decreed that students and teachers would have to wear traditional dress in colleges thrice a week and GLP personnel would be posted in colleges to check the matter. Mr Bhattacharya today held a review meeting of the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority. The SJDA would publish a booklet on the controversial Kawakhali land deal soon, said Mr Bhattacharya. The minister rejected the Trinamul's claim of alleged corruption in the land deal. “The booklet would contain all details of the deal,” said Mr Bhattacharya. The minister today also appealed to the Siliguri Municipal Corporation Mayor Miss Gangotri Datta to organise a training programme for the new SMC councillors. “I met her for the first time today after she was elected as the SMC Mayor. I have requested her to organise a training programme to inform the new councillors of the rules and Acts. I would extend all help for the purpose,” Mr Bhattacharya said. N Bengal university’s tribute to ‘Hill Gandhi’ SNS, SILIGURI, 9 OCT: The History department of the North Bengal University would give recognition to the contribution of the Darjeeling Hills-based freedom fighter, Dal Bahadur Giri, better known as “Hill Gandhi”. “We seek support from the state government and the North Bengal University in this respect,” said one of the NBU History professors. According to an eminent historian, Prof Ananda Gopal Ghosh, the contribution of Giri, the first freedom fighter from the hills as per the historical records, remains unrecognised in the state even as the 125th anniversary of the legend is round the corner. “A few people in the state know that DB Giri founded an unit of the Indian National Congress in the Hills a decade before the first unit of the Grand Old Party came into being in Siliguri in 1931. Besides, the first political hartal was observed in the Hills when Giri was arrested by the British government in May 1921 for his role in arousing the hill populace against the alien thralldom in course of the non-cooperation movement. When he fell ill owing to inhumane torture in gaol Subhash Chandra Bose issued an appeal to the countrymen to donate to the medical fund raised at his initiative meet the expenses for the freedom fighter's treatment,” he said. Speaking on the matter, the head of the NBU History department, Dr Bijay Sarkar said that when Giri had died an untimely death at the age of 36 Mahatma Gandhi had taken initiatives to rehabilitate his family at the Sabarmati Ashram. “It is the bounded duty of the state government and the North Bengal University to recognise the contribution of the great freedom fighter who had played a crucial role in integrating the Nepali-speaking Indians into the national mainstream. We would organise seminars and workshops to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary that is drawing near.” Dr Sarkar said. Workshop on north-eastern languages at NBU SNS,SILIGURI, 9 OCT: The third workshop for “compilation of common administrative terminology of north-eastern Indian languages” was inaugurated today at the University of North Bengal. The workshop would continue the compilation of administrative terminology of five north-eastern languages ~ Bengali, Oriya, Manipuri, Assamese and Bodo. The first two workshops held at the Viswa Bharati University in Shantiniketan. Inaugurating the workshop, jointly organised by the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore and the Centre for Studies in Local Languages and Culture of the NBU, the NBU vice-chancellor, Mr Arunava Basumajumdar said: “The workshop is of great importance and the university would set up better infrastructure to organise more such workshops.” The workshop would continue till 15 October. “We have completed compilation of 2,000 terminologies in previous workshops and from this workshop we would add the rest to it,” said Dr N Roy, director, CSLLC, NBU. The head of Materials Production Centre of the CIIL, Dr IS Borkar delivered the keynote address at the inaugural ceremony. The department of Nepali Language of NBU is working on a project ~ “Development of Nepali Language on Digital Media”. “This is a tree-year project and within one and half year we have completed a web dictionary of the language. We are now working on spell checker,” said the head of the Nepali department, Mr Ghanashyam Nepal. “In this age of technology, the project would be very helpful to learners,” he added. Ally bypoll talks hit Kalchini hurdle - Mamata wants Cong to give up Dooars seat

Mamata Banerjee and K Keshava Rao: Battle lines drawn TT,BARUN GHOSH, Calcutta, Oct. 9: Talks between the Congress and the Trinamul Congress for the November 7 bypolls to 10 Assembly seats across Bengal have hit a road block with Mamata Banerjee demanding the Kalchini seat in Jalpaiguri. The Congress, which said Mamata could field candidates in seven seats, has refused to give up Kalchini. The Trinamul chief, who returned to the city last night from Delhi, cited the victory in the Siliguri civic elections as an example of her party’s foray into north Bengal, a traditional Congress stronghold, for laying claim to the Kalchini seat. She has also sent a directive to the party’s north Bengal leaders on this score. “We want the Congress to part with the Kalchini seat along with Rajgung in Jalpaiguri district. Mamatadi has given us the go-ahead to contest both the seats,” confirmed Gautam Deb, the Darjeeling district Trinamul president and chief of the party’s core committee in north Bengal. But the Congress is unwilling to accommodate Mamata’s demand for Kalchini. “We have no problems to part with the Rajgunj seat. But the Congress has a legitimate claim to Kalchini since the party had fared better than Trinamul there in the 2006 Assembly polls. Moreover, our party is at the helm in the Kalchani panchayat samiti. Against this backdrop, Mamataji’s demand indeed worries us with a few days to go for the bypolls,” AICC general secretary K. Keshava Rao, in charge of Bengal affairs, told The Telegraph. The AICC member said he would call on Bengal Congress president Pranab Mukherjee in a day or two after getting a feedback from the Pradesh Election Committee which meets here tomorrow to formally select party nominees for the bypolls and send the list to the high command. “Pranabda and I will have to sit with Mamataji to settle the matter latest by October 18 so that alliance candidates can start filing their nominations, the last date for which has been fixed for October 22,” he added. Justifying the Congress’s claim to the Kalchini seat, PCC working president Pradip Bhattacharya said in 2006, then party candidate Paban Lakra had polled 47,759 votes against Trinamul’s 5,257. The Left-backed RSP candidate had got 52,748 votes. “Mamata can field candidates in seven seats, but not in Kalchini. That seat is ours along with Goalpokhor and Sujapur,” he said. In Rajgunj, the Trinamul candidate had polled 60,076 votes against the Congress’s only 22,733. But the question bothering the Congress most is: How can Mamata stake claim to the Kalchini seat after her party nominee had fared so badly in 2006? Mamata has two answers for this. First, former Congress candidate for the Kalchini seat, Lakra, had broken away from the parent party to join Trinamul. As a Trinamul candidate, he had contested the Alipurduar Lok Sabha seat under which Kalchini falls this year and bagged 2.78 lakh votes. Second, she cited Trinamul’s poll performance in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation elections where the party bagged 15 seats against five in 2004. A Trinamul general secretary from north Bengal also claimed that the party has consolidated its base in Kalchini and its adjoining areas after Joachim Buxla, who had been an RSP MP from Alipurduar for four times, joined the party. “We have a plan to field either Lakra or Buxla in the Kalchini seat,” he added. However, a senior Trinamul leader warned that Mamata’s intransigence which had ruptured the alliance in Siliguri might have a similar fallout in the run-up to the bypolls. “Mamata should give up Kalchini and concentrate on contesting the seven other Assembly seats,” he added. Civic posts still vacant The Siliguri mayor, Gangotri Dutta: Yet to pick deputy TT,Siliguri, Oct. 9: The Congress is yet to nominate the deputy mayor and members, mayor-in-council, of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation even though one week has passed since the party formed the civic board with the support of the Left Front. The party is delaying the selection, hoping that it can bring around the Trinamul Congress with which it had contested the civic elections and trounced the Left. But Trinamul has already snubbed the Congress’s offer of the posts. “We will announce the names of deputy mayor and members-mayor-in-council within the statutory period,” said mayor Gangotri Dutta who assumed office on October 1. The West Bengal Municipal Corporation Act stipulates that the mayor, deputy mayor and members-mayor-in-council should be selected within one month of the councillors taking oath. As the new councillors of the Siliguri corporation took oath on October 1, the Congress has to choose the names by November 1. Gautam Deb, the councillor of Ward 17 and the district Trinamul president, today also made it clear that his party would not join the civic board, which had been formed with the support of the Left. “The posts are to be filled by the mayor, who was elected with the support of the Left Front. So, there is no question of accepting the Congress offer. The Congress is still justifying its decision to bag the mayor’s post with the help of the Left.” Shankar Malakar, the district president of the Congress, is optimistic that Trinamul will join the civic board and both the parties would rule together. “I have appealed to them (Trinamul) to join the board. The sole purpose of any alliance to contest an election is not the sharing of positions. There are some other goals and responsibilities that we should be aware of.” Sources said the core committee of the district Congress would meet later in the day and take some decisions on the civic posts. Mahajot survives Siliguri blow, Cong, Trinamool cut bypolls deal ENS. Oct 10. Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee’s mahajot — the grand alliance between the Congress and her party Trinamool — has, it seems, survived the Siliguri shock that she recently got from her ally, which tied up with her sworn enemy CPM to wrest the mayoral office. In a spirit of let bygones be bygones, the two allies are about to close a seat-sharing deal for the 10 Assembly seats where bypolls are due on November 10. The clincher was a Trinamool proposal to the state Congress today, which said the party was ready to set aside three seats for the latter and keep seven for itself. Shortly after, the Congress said it was more or less an “acceptable” proposal and would be discussed at tomorrow’s meeting of the party’s core committee. The Trinamool’s proposal was given to K Keshav Rao, the AICC in-charge of West Bengal, by Mukul Roy, Union Minister of State for Shipping.Of the 10 Assembly seats due for bypolls, the Congress held two — Goalpokhar and Sujapur, both in north Bengal — while the Trinamool held five — Contai South, Egra, Bongaon, Serampore and Alipore, all in south Bengal. The Left Front held two — Kalchini, which was held by RSP, and Raigunj, won by the CPM. Another seat that goes to polls is Belgachhia East, which fell vacant following the death of state minister for sports and transport Subhas Chakraborty. “What I told Rao was based on pure statistics of the 2006 Assembly elections. Both Sujapur and Goalpokhar were won by the Congress. In Kalchini, the Congress finished second, losing to the Left candidate. We won five, while we scored over the Congress candidate in two others. I hope this will be acceptable to the Congress high command,” Roy said. The Trinamool proposal has effectively buried all speculation of a rift with Congress. “There is no doubt we are stronger than the Trinamool at Goalpokhar, Sujapur and Kalchini. But we believe we have a strong presence at Serampore and Bongaon. However, we are ready to compromise for the sake of the alliance,” said Pradip Bhattacharya, the state Congress vice-president. Three senseless by tracks, train robbery suspected The three men on the Eklakhi station platform in an unconscious state. Picture by Surajit Roy TT,Malda, Oct. 9: Three men, two of them aged above 60, were found lying unconscious by a railway track near Eklakhi station this morning. It is suspected that they had been thrown off a running train after being drugged and robbed. Some people who had gone out for a morning walk found the three and took them to the station near Gajole. On the platform, water was sprinkled on their faces to bring back senses. “But they did not respond to our attempts. Then, we informed the station manager and left for home,” said Shyamali Mondal, one of the morning walkers. The three had been on the platform till 2. 30pm before they were admitted to Harimari primary health centre. The trio were identified as Aurobinda Mahato, 25, Sudama Mahato, 65, and Rajkishore Mahato, 60. The three men hail from Bihar — Aurobinda from Beguisari and the other two from Sumouli in Gopalganj. All the three persons were going to Chhapra in Bihar from Guwahati by Brahmaputra Mail last night. Aurobinda somehow told the rescuers that they had lost consciousness after taking tea at Dhupgiri station. He could name the others before slipping into unconsciousness again. Till about 6pm, all the three were still in a state of deep sleep. But none of them could recall how they had reached Eklakhi station. It has not been established whether the men were related to each other. Around 2pm, a huge crowd that had gathered at Eklakhi, forced the station manager to arrange for transport and took them to the primary health centre. Station manager Jajati Biswas said he had noticed that three persons were lying on the platform. “I do admit that I did not really try to find out why they were lying there. But I was not aware that they had been drugged and looted.” Biswas said he was not on duty when the three had been brought to the platform. “Tickets found on them show that they were on board the Brahmaputra Mail that passes Eklakhi around 3am. We presume that since they have no luggage or belongings, they were robbed on the train after being drugged.” Highest rainfall since 1968: Met office SNS, SILIGURI, 9 OCT: North Bengal has experienced unprecedented rainfalls in the past two days which are the highest according to the meteorological records since 1968 when a large part of the region, particularly the Jalpaiguri district, was ravaged by a devastating flood. Had the rains dragged on for another day the rainfall record might have touched the ‘68 figure, said the North Bengal University meteorologist, Dr Subir Sarkar. “The region seems to have been spared a calamitous flood as the rainfall over the past two days are not uniform. The hills have experienced less rainfall than the plains. Had the rains followed a uniform pattern in the plains and the hills alike the fury of Teesta would have swamped a larger tract of lands bringing devastation in its train,” Dr Sarkar said. The rainfall recorded in Siliguri was measured at around 380 ml over the past two days. “The rainfalls measured on Wednesday stand at 207 ml while the next day experienced around 162 ml of rainfalls. “The rainfalls recorded in 1968 spanning over three days were more than 500 ml. But Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills bore the brunt of the showers in 1968, while rainfalls are comparatively much lower this time,” he said. Asked whether the late monsoon rains would advance the advent of winter in north Bengal, Dr Sarkar said that winter might set in by early November. “And the winter would be more chilly this time around than the last year,” he added.