04-10 Feb, 2003; NOW! 1

C M Y K

KAMAKHYA SIDHA ASTROLOGY TANTRAYOGI’S NEWSSince last six years Shastriji using Astrology Science in givingSuccess too many human beings by making impossible intopossible.Our worshipper Guru Acharaya Professor Dr. ShivshankarShastriji (State Astrology) through Astrology Study and Divinecapacity of Meditation has spread a light in India for welfareof different problems of Mankind Since last five years.Swamiji, taking the responsibility of “Vishwa sewashramSangh” & “Astrological Research Project”, “Viswa JyotishVidyapith” in Siliguri under the Human Research DevelopmentMinistry Govt. of India has succeses to create a new belieftowards the Astrology study to the people of North Bengal,Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam and Nepal. Shastriji divine “Power”Astrology and through Meditation of Tantra many ChildlessCouples have achieved the happiness of child. Problems failure

by Doctor giving birth of child ever after the presence of balanced Simons between husband& wife, sexual & physical weakness, obstacles in marriage, unsuccess in love affairs,unhappiness in marriage life, family troubles, attract towards other women being wife,troubles in child education bring child towards right path, too much alcoholic, Suddenunsuccessful in business and got no Success even after every attempt, Sudden stopped ofMoney, Victory over enemy, physical security from uncertain enemy to get success injudicial affairs, got no promotion in service. Right prediction about kids, Relief fromunwanted planets, Horoscope study as making Horoscope from computer etc could besolved at right time. You all along with your family members come to Swamaji and get theproblem could solved. Swamaji has honoured from our country and from outside world forhis service towards the Astrology & Tantra has been honored by “Jems Silver” in 2001from “American Institute of astrological Science” (New York, U.S.A.) InternationalFederation of Astrology & Spiritual Science (Govt. of Sri Lanka) had honored Swamiji byGold Medal in 2001. For his unprecedent Astrology Power Swamiji has been honoured by“Bharat-Bandhu” in Kolkata by the Governor of Utter Pradesh Bishnukant Shastriji in22nd January 2000. While vice-chancellor of Rajasthan University and Pondichery honoredGold medal. Has been honored by “Bharat Mata Samman” & “Life Achievement Award.”

SINCE OBLIGED BY

K. N. LAMA, Supdt. of Custom, Siliguri, Ph. 2661602 (R), 98320-61432DR. R. K. AWASTHI, Senior Scientist, Sikkim, Ph. 03595-23130 (O)D. B. SINCHURI, Manager, Youth Cebtre, Ministry of Education, Thimpu, Bhutan, Ph.324506 (O)SAILAZA CHHETRI, Senior Air Hostess, Kathmandu, Nepal, Ph. 4780873HIRAMANI SEWA, Salbari, P.O. Sukna, Ph. 0353- 2512523 (O)

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THE FIRST MANIFESTO INTHE FRAY IS SIBLAC’S

SUPPORT MANIFESTO AND GETEN-BLOC BL VOTES, ASSURES

APEX BODY

DETAILS ON pg 5

2; NOW! ; 04-10 Feb, 2004

C M Y K

GANGTOK 04-10 FEB, 2004

NOW!SIKKIM MATTERS

ED-SPACE

Who Reads Manifestos?It is a bit ironic that the first manifesto to land in the publicdomain happens to come from an organisation that hasconsistently claimed to be apolitical. To give SIBLAC itsdue, in a democracy it is rather difficult to remain apolitical.In fact, it is even unhealthy. Any responsible person shouldhave political preferences and leanings. It would be all toowell to hope that such preferences are guided by intelligentobservation, but that would be too utopian and not evenpractical. There are after all, always more than one rightchoice. If perfect parties existed, a multiparty democracyas we see in India would cease to exist and with it would gothe colour, the excitement and the innovation we force frompoliticians every five years [if things sail smoothly, muchfaster if the tidings are rough].Elections are interesting because these are the times whenwe make the political bosses approach our doorstepsinstead of lining outside their’s. This is also the time weforce them to think. While soul-searching is a bit too muchto ask for, we do manage to extract apologies, force themto mend the fences and the best of all, make promises. Thethinking and promising combine in the manifesto that everyparty prepares listing the ideas that fuel their bid to power.These are important documents, but sadly, jumpy nervesand touchy sentiments make them too politically correct toshow any promise. Sift through any of the past manifestosand you will notice that no tough measures are ever assuredeven though they are required for the long-term good. Thatis where most manifestos go wrong. They have becomemere books recording sops that the voting masses canexpect. These documents no longer even reflect the idealson which respective parties are based.Take the last elections for example. The three players inthe fray, all made more or less the same promises andassurances. We can expect more of the same. Be preparedfor lengthy expositions on the sanctity of the TripartiteAgreement, the importance of Article 371F, the uniquenessof the Sikkimese people and the Special Status. Franklyspeaking, these points need no further elaborating. Respectfor these issues are expected not just from parties, but alsoindividuals and the people of Sikkim have been forced tolive with these issues since 1979 when they were firstflogged by politicians. No one expects any party to comeon record and say they will dilute any of these guidingprinciples of Sikkim’s identity and we need no morereiterations on how they need to be protected. What Sikkimshould ask of its leaders is a blueprint for progress anddevelopment. These don’t necessarily mean hiked salariesand perks, but the roadmap for Sikkim’s next five years.Real plans on how Sikkim will be weaned away from centralgrants to become self-reliant and proud. Real proposals onhow the education system will be spruced up to producewinners and not just fodder for the unemployed youthassociations. The draft proposal on how rural tourism willbe delivered, of how cardamom and ginger will mean morethan just an annual ritual of selling to middlemen and anactual trading activity in which Sikkim plays a role in theglobal market; of how Nathula will be made the deliverer oftrade in real terms...Rest assured all these issues will be promised. What thevoter should demand is how they will be delivered. It hasbeen too easy for subsequent political parties to promisefight to restore the reserved Assembly seats lost in 1979.Two decades hence, the only fight witnessed has been intrying to find new ways to present the same demand inmemorandums. Perhaps the people should ask for the planof action that the party’s propose for this demand. Similarly,everyone will assure protection of the BL and Sangha seats.Maybe we should first ask how they are threatened in thefirst place. The bottomline is - the people need to ask more,not For More.

India and China are takingsmall but significant steps towards building confidence,

with the Chinese foreign minis-try ordering the “removal” ofSikkim from its official yearbook,printed around March, and bothsides agreeing on third round oftalks on the boundary issue, to beheld next month.

Diplomatic sources here saidthe two Special Representativeson the boundary talks, PrincipalSecretary Brajesh Mishra andChinese Senior vice-minister DaiBingguo, agreed to carry forwardtheir political dialogue in Delhi inMarch, notwithstanding the factthat election process in Indiawould then be in full swing.

Significantly, both Mishra andDai are said to have in principleagreed to reach some conclusionson the guidelines and parametersof the boundary settlement, even

before Chinese premier WenJiabao visits India later this year.

While both sides continue tomaintain silence on the qualityand content of the talks, they saidthe removal of Sikkim as an in-dependent state from the Chineseyearbook constitutes the secondstep in the process agreed uponwhen PM Vajpayee visited Chinalast summer. The first was to de-lete the Sikkim mention from theChinese foreign ministry websitein October. The last step in theprocess will occur when Beijingchanges its maps in accordancewith those printed by cartogra-phers worldwide.

Mishra, who went to Beijingfor the second round of talks inJanuary — only days after he re-turned from the India-Pakistan

summit in Islamabad — was alsohosted by Dai in his home city ofGuiyang in Guizhou province.

As they took a boatride downthe local river, went sightseeingto Buddhist temples andchecked out underground grot-toes in the area, the ambience isbelieved to have helped prolongtheir conversations in “mutuallyadvantageous directions”, thesources said.

The diplomatic sources alsopointed to recent “signals” thatindicated a thaw in bilateral rela-tions. Such as the broadcast by thegovernment-owned Chinese tele-vision, of Chinese ambassador toIndia Hua Junduo’s New Yearparty in the third week of January(it was broadcast over and overagain) before that of France, aswell as telecast by CCTV of In-dian cultural performances

Is this the new frontline

for Nepal?

NARESH NEWAR

Political parties and their affili-ated student leaders intensi-

fied street protests this week, ac-cusing security forces of brutalcrackdowns. The government re-sponded by putting army and po-lice under a unified command tomeet the escalating protests.

The streets of Kathmandulooked like a war zone with burn-ing tyres and vehicles. On Thurs-day, the student unions declareda bandh in Lalitpur and Bankedistricts. Students and teachers,unaware of the bandh, werecaught in cars that were stoned inPatan. Dozens of other vehicleswere damaged. In Nepalganj,hundreds of bus passengers werestranded at the Indian border.

As pro-republican protests in-tensified, King Gyanendra him-self was conferred the title ‘Em-peror of the World’s Hindus’ bythe World Hindu Federation(WHF) last Friday. The federationhas chapters in 22 countries andits current president is Nepal’sGen Bharat Keshar Simha. “HisMajesty, as a new king, hashonoured us by accepting the titlefrom the world’s one billion Hin-dus,” Simha told us.

Political parties were angeredby an interview in Time maga-

STOPPRESS

SIKKIM FALLS OFFCHINA YEARBOOK

Street battles

zine by King Gyanendra thisweek. In it, the king reiterated hiscommitment to democracy andthe constitution. But politicalleaders said the king’s commentswere “unconstitutional”, andtook umbrage at his sentence:“The reality is: the people ofNepal want to see their King,they want to hear from him.”

A palace insider was puzzledby the criticism: “It is knee-jerkover-reaction,” he said. NC presi-dent Girija Koirala warned theprotests would be intensified. Ex-

Indian prime minister ChandraShekhar’s meetings with Koiralaand the king this week doesn’tseem to have doused the flames.“I can’t tell you what was dis-cussed, they can if they want,” hesaid before leaving on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Royal NepaliArmy has responded to criticismof its human rights record by say-ing it has punished 25 officers, in-cluding a major, for violations. Fif-teen got jail sentences, and otherswere either discharged or demoted.

- Nepali Times

04-10 Feb, 2003; NOW! 3

C M Y K

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SIKKIM MOTORSSIKKIM MOTORS

GANGTOK: It has the potentialto spread very fast, it has no treat-ment and it could cause majorepidemics. Avian flu or “bird flu”has taken 12 lives so far in an epi-demic that is sweeping Asia andwhich scientists fear may now betransmitted from person to per-son. If the H5N1 virus changesand acquires the ability to spreadfrom person to person just like thecommon cold virus, the threat ofa fast spreading global pandemicof influenza that could be fatal tohumans is only too real.

On Tuesday, February 3, thestate government geared up itsemergency response system andactivated the government machin-ery to monitor and regulate themovement of birds from outsidethe state as well as within.

In an emergency meeting heldat the Department of Animal Hus-bandry, and attended by all depart-ment officials from all four districts,a contingency plan was put in placefor immediate preventive measures.

A disease monitoring commit-tee consisting of district subcom-mittees has been formed with thehead office at the east district toenforce all control measures strictly.

“We have decided to take strictpreventive action so that we areprepared if the disease hits thestate,” says PB Sharma, Director,Animal Husbandry.

Two teams have been formed.While one team will be deployedat check posts with the vets andwith necessary equipment tocheck all birds entering the state,the other team will visit poultryfarms in the state to examine birdsfor unusual behaviour.

“We have given special in-structions to all check posts tothoroughly examine all the birdscoming into the state. Infact, weare also involving the police inthis. The check posts have beenasked to check the certificates is-sued by the vets clearing all birdsto be disease free,” adds Mr.Sharma.

These responses have beenactivated after the department re-ceived letters from the union ag-riculture ministry suggesting aplan of action to ward off an out-break. All states and Union terri-tories have been sent guidelinesfor prevention and, in the eventof an outbreak, immediate action.

The guidelines include imme-diate halt to the entry of new birdsin the flock from outside sources

and from sources of unknown dis-ease, status and strict regulationof entry of personnel, material,visitors and vehicles to an areaaffected by the disease.

“In case of finding any symp-toms of the disease we are goingto isolate the area and in the eventof detection of infection in theflock, the entire operation of thefarm in terms of marketing ofbirds or eggs will be stopped com-pletely till the disease is eradi-cated,” informs Mr. Sharma

The guidelines state that culledbirds and droppings should beburied deep or incinerated withinthe affected area. No exchange ofany material and personnel be-tween different farms in the af-fected area should be done. Allfarms should adopt a vigilancesystem for early detection and fol-low-up action. If the vigilanceteam detects a suspected case, itshould be reported to the farmauthority and to the state veteri-nary department immediately.

The World Health Organiza-tion says a mass slaughter of in-fected birds is the major line ofdefence to prevent further casesof human infection and to avertthe emergence of a new virus.

The government is setting upan expert committee of officialsfrom the department to ensuresurveillance.

If an outbreak is suspected, theIndian Veterinary Research Insti-tute and all regional laboratorieshave been asked to test thesamples and send the morbid ma-

terial to the high security AnimalDisease lab at Bhopal for confir-mation.

With the virus appearing tohead closer to India, last week thegovernment banned the import ofall birds, dead or alive and ordered

a high alert on the borders.If the virus does enter Sikkim

it could severely hurt the poultryindustry. With poultry reared inbackyards in rural areas and openslaughterhouses and trucks ferry-ing live chickens most people

would find it hard to avoid somecontact with chickens.

And the only proven way hu-mans can contact the H5N1 virusis through close contact with in-fected poultry. Birds that havesurvived the infection continue tosecrete massive quantities of thevirus in their faeces. People whotouch birds or inadvertently comeinto contact with or ingest tiny andinvisible faecal particles are atrisk. WHO has not found anyproof to suggest that the viruscould be transmitted throughfood. However doctors say itwould be wise to cook thoroughlyall poultry-based edibles, includ-ing eggs, as influenza viruses aredestroyed by heat. Meat should becooked till it is no longer pink.Also avoid handling any animalor eat the meat of any animal thatshows unusual behavior.

High fever, cough, breathless-ness and pneumonia are some ofthe symptoms of Avian flu.

With the drawing up of thecontingency plans, the state gov-ernment seems ready to launchOperation Prevention. With infec-tious disease specialists believingthat no country in the world isprepared for a new influenza pan-demic and current stocks of nei-ther vaccines nor antiviral drugssufficient to deal with it, the de-cision could be timely indeed.

SIKKIM ON ALERT!

a NOW REPORT

BUILDS DEFENCES AGAINST BIRD FLU

4; NOW! ; 04-10 Feb, 2004

C M Y K

POWERPLAY �

GANGTOK: The state unit ofthe Congress [I] suffered a set-back last Wednesday when thelast Congress Chief Minister ofSikkim, Sanchaman Limboo,called it quits with the party overwhat he saw as the “selfish” in-terests of the new members.

Mr. Limboo resigned fromthe primary membership of theSPCC-I on 28 January, express-ing resentment over the “presentsetup of the organization and itsday-to-day functioning.”

In a letter to the SPCC-Ipresident, Nar BahadurBhandari, Mr. Limboo said thatCongress and its “exclusivemembers” in Sikkim were“working only for their personalinterest and not for the peopleof Sikkim.”

Speaking to NOW! soon af-ter his resignation, Mr. Limboosaid that he was disappointedwith the attitude of the executivemembers of the party, as formerSangramis were being favouredover founder members.

“The former Sangramis inthe party are being favoured ig-noring the sentiments of thefounding members of the party.The original members are beingforced to take the back-seat ineverything these days. More-over, executive members arenow indulging in communal ac-

PARTY NO LONGER WORKING FORPEOPLE, SAYS FORMER CM

“DON’T EXPECT ANYTHING FROM THE CONGRESS”

tivities by encouraging communalforces in the State,” he said.

Mr. Limboo was apparentlynot too pleased with the new setupof the SPCC-I after the SikkimSangram Parishad led byBhandari merged with the partyearlier last year. The new execu-tive committee formed in Decem-ber last year, was giving more im-portance to the former SangramisMr. Limboo alleges.

What has also upset Mr.Limboo is Mr. Bhandari’s con-tinuing weakness for communalpolitics. “Mr. Bhandari has notchanged. He still takes very com-munal stands. This is not good forSikkim and I could not take it any-more,” he told NOW!

Interestingly, this is the secondtime that Mr. Limboo has steppedout of Mr. Bhandari’s shadows.He had led the 1994 revolt againstthe SSP supremo to take chargeas the Congress CM, a post heheld for six months till the nextAssembly polls.

On the relevance of the Con-gress in the State, Mr. Limboosaid that he did not see any sig-nificant achievements or role thatthe present lot could play in theSikkim politics.

“The people of Sikkim shouldnot have any expectations from theCongress. At present, it is a partymore interested in fuelling com-munal passions and playing thecommunal card than working forthe welfare of the people. What

Limboobreaksout of

Bhandari’sshadow

again

a N

OW

! fil

e fo

to

can one expect from a party thatdoes not want to field a Sherpacandidate or remains mired in ar-guments forwarded byorganisation like GAC andSIBLAC? Moreover, SPCC-I hasno concrete ideology and vision orpolicies for the upliftment of theSikkimese people. The membersare more interested in their ownpersonal gains than the welfare ofthe people in general,” he said.

At a time when the Bhandari-led Congress is trying to comeacross as the only party that canguarantee seats for the Limbu andTamang communities, now thatthey have been included in theScheduled Tribes list, the loss of aprominent Limboo leader is a sig-nificant setback. Specially since Mr.Limboo was one of the threeSangram MLAs in 1990 whosigned an Akhil Sikkim LimbuChumlung memorandum petition-ing the Prime Minister for accord-ing tribal status to Limbus. At thattime, Mr. Limboo and the two otherMLAs were served show-cause no-tices by Mr. Bhandari for having en-dorsed the memorandum withouthis clearance.

“Mr. Bhandari was never evenin favour of tribal status for Lim-bus, how can he work to get theirseats?” he asks today. Later, thesame year, Mr. Bhandari also re-fused to extend the Mandal recom-mendations to Sikkim even afterthe Limbus had accepted OBC sta-tus in lieu of their tribal demand.

SARIKAH ATREYA

This again is a point that Mr.Limboo refers to while voicing hissuspicions on Mr. Bhandari’s con-cern for the Limbus.

The touchy issue of seat reser-vations for the Limboo-Tamangsin the State Assembly has alreadybecome the favourite electionplank for the Opposition. Speak-ing on this issue, Mr. Limboo saidthat seat reservations for theLimboo-Tamangs was somethingthat no one had to lobby. “Theseseats are guaranteed by the consti-tution. They cannot be denied andthey will not effect the seats al-ready reserved in Sikkim,” he said.

With Sikkim slated to go in forsimultaneous polls in March-April, Mr. Limboo’s new align-ment has also come about quickly.While speaking to NOW!, he con-firmed that he will be supportingthe ruling SDF in the forthcom-ing elections as a primary mem-

ber of the party.An official

a n -

nounce-ment inthis regardis expectedon 8 February,Sunday.

“Bhandari was against tribal status for Limbus, how can he guarantee the seats?”

GEYZING: A state-levelpanchayat sammelan was held atGyalshing Community Center on29 January, last Thursday, at-tended by a huge gathering ofPanchayats, public and officialsfrom all over the state.

Speaking on the occasion, theChief Minister, Pawan Chamling,urged the panchayats and the pub-lic to work for the development ofthe state. Reiterating his pro- poorcommitments, the Chief Ministerannounced the government’s planto double the salary of laborers toRs. 3,000 per month with effectfrom April 2004.

Mr. Chamling also stressed

that his government had suc-cessfully rid the branding ofNepalese as “immigrants” byseeing through the inclusion ofLimboo and Tamang communi-ties in the Scheduled Tribes list.He further announced majorschemes such as a Rs. 300 crorehospital at Sichey near Gangtokand grants of Rs. 50 lakh and Rs.5 crores to gram panchayat unitsand zilla panchayats respec-tively in near future.

At the sammelan, the EleventhFinance Commission Grant forGPUs of all four districts was alsohanded over to the respectiveDDOs. The grants amounted to

Rs. 12,60,000 for North Sikkim,Rs. 31,50,000 for east, Rs.28,35,000 for south and Rs.32,13,000 for the west District.The Ecclesiastical Affair depart-ment distributed another Rs. 5lakhs to Sai Mandir, Daramdin,and a sum of Rs. 50,000 each toGompa, Sribadam (w), ShivaMandir Gerethang, PramaniMandir, Lower Kamrang (s), andParbing church Damthang .

RDD Minister, Girish ChandraRai, while speaking on the occa-sion, urged the Panchayats to uti-lize the grants for this year byMarch 2004. The Minister alsoannounced an increase in the

number of beneficiaries for thecoming year. “Schemes of GCIsheets, LPG connections and ru-ral housing will all be doubled,”he said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister in-augurated a 14-room Panchayathostel, which consists of well fur-nished dormitories, library, watertesting laboratory etc. The build-ing was built at the cost of Rs.1.25 crores. The same day, Mr.Chamling also inaugurated thenew district hospital at Gyalshing.Constructed at a cost of Rs. 5.02crores, the hospital has accommo-dation for 110 patients.

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04-10 Feb, 2003; NOW! 5

C M Y K

� POWERPLAY

The first manifesto in the fray is SIBLAC’sSUPPORT MANIFESTO AND GET EN-BLOC

BL VOTES, ASSURES APEX BODYGANGTOK: Simultaneous pollshave not been officially an-nounced yet and political partiesin Sikkim are just about warmingup for the campaign trail, butstealing the march is an admit-tedly “apolitical” organizationwhich has gone ahead and re-leased its manifesto.

The Sikkim Bhutia-LepchaApex Committee [SIBLAC],which calls itself a “force toreckon with” and claims to have“managed to consolidate aboutone lakh Bhutia-Lepchas of theState under one umbrella whilemaintaining equal distance fromall political parties andorganisations,” has come out witha “BL Manifesto” for the upcom-ing polls.

The BL Manifesto, saidSIBLAC convener Nima Lepcha,here on 1 February, Sunday, wasan articulation of the apex body’s“stand on various issues relatingto the BL community for the ben-efit of the various political out-

fits in the fray.”In a major announcement, Mr.

Lepcha promised that SIBLACwould “support” those candidateswho incorporated the pointsraised in BL Manifesto in theirparty manifestoes.

“Any political party that standsby our manifesto will get our out-right support,” he said.

On being asked how it wouldextend “support,” Tseten TashiBhutia, ruling party MLA and alsoSIBLAC convenor, said that it doso by “telling the people whomto vote for.”

“We will tell the people di-rectly which party supports ourcause and ask them to vote ac-cordingly,” he said.

Interestingly, SIBLAC has notyet made it clear whether it wouldrender support to a political partyfrom the outside or actively par-ticipate in the campaigning.

In fact Mr. Bhutia, when askedwhether Sikkim could expectSIBLAC to field candidates whenthe State goes to polls, said: “Onlytime will tell.”

As for his own political future,

Mr. Bhutia, an SDF MLA fromAssam-Lingzey, finally an-nounced that he would be “leav-ing” the SDF party shortly. Hehowever did not make it clearwhether he would contest theelections for another party or asan independent candidate.

“I shall be continuing with mywork associated with SIBLAC,”he said.

“We are hopeful that the po-litical parties in the State will re-spond to our cause. This will alsoreveal how much the political par-ties are receptive to the hopes andaspirations of the BLs of the Statewho are now united underSIBLAC,” Mr. Lepcha added.

The 12-point “BL Manifesto”released by SIBLAC touchesmostly on issues like protectionof Article 371F and fight againstcommunalism that every othermanifesto will be voicing. It coulddiffer from most other manifes-

tos in its demand for cleansing ofthe “Bhutia” definition to excludethe three communities of Sherpa,Kagatey and Yolmo from it. Thefive other communities, it mightbe recalled, are now acceptedwithin the ambit of Bhutia bySIBLAC.

The manifesto also demandsdelimitation of the 12 BL assem-bly constituencies to be carriedout on the basis of Article 371Fand not the guideline prepared bythe Delimitation Commission. Ithas also said “no” to trade overNathula till the seats reserved forthe Sikkimese Nepalese, takenaway in 1979, are restored.

While SIBLAC wants ticketsfor Bhutias and Lepchas to be dis-tributed on parity basis [most po-litical parties are already toyingwith the idea of 50-50 represen-tation, an arrangement whichfavours the Lepchas, who arefewer in numbers compared to the

Bhutias in Sikkim], it has calledfor an additional 10 per cent res-ervation for Lepchas in matters ofemployment and education. It hasalso stated that the Teesta hydelproject not be cleared without theconsent of the Lepchas of the af-fected area.

Given the complicated arith-metic that make for Sikkim’s seatreservation formula, the oneSIBLAC demand that most par-ties might shy away from commit-ting to is 12th and final point ofthe manifesto. SIBLAC has de-manded that in the event of anincrease in Sikkim’s Assemblystrength, there should be a propor-tionate increase in the seats re-served for BLs.

How seriously the politicalplayers view SIBLAC’s claims ofhaving “consolidated and condi-tioned” BL votes will be seen inthe coming days in their responseto the SIBLAC stand.

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK: Even though theylogged less than 4 per cent of thevotes in the last Assembly polls in1999, Congress [I] leaders here areconfident that they will form thenext government in Sikkim. “Asof now, the Congress party is well-placed to form a viable alternativeto the ruling party,” say SPCC [I]General Secretary, press & media,Jigme N. Kazi in a press releaseissued on 1 February, last Sunday.

Interestingly, even as many seethe upcoming polls as the lastchance former CM Nar BahadurBhandari has of resuscitating hispolitical career, the Congress ad-mits to as much, albeit from a dif-ferent angle.

“The coming election is the lastchance for the Sikkimese peopleto free themselves of the casteist,communal and corrupt forces inthe State which have the tacit back-ing of the SDF government and theruling party,” Mr. Kazi writes.

He also sees the elections as the“last chance” for the people tocome together on a single platform

and under one leader “to shape acommon destiny and forever se-cure the special status accorded toSikkim and the Sikkimese peopleunder Article 371F.”

“Future generations ofSikkimese people will never for-give us if we do not seize the dayand move in the right direction,”says Mr. Kazi, better known as theeditor of Sikkim Observer and theauthor of the book Inside Sikkim:Against the Tide.

While alleging that the rulingSDF has failed to deliver on itspromises, Mr. Kazi claims that “asection of enlightened and untar-nished political leaders” have cometogether in the Congress under theleadership of party president SoniaGandhi and state-unit chief NarBahadur Bhandari to pose a viablealternative to the ruling party.

He goes on to claim that theresponse to the SSP-Cong [I]merger has been “overwhelming”and that the popularity graph of theparty has been on the up ever since.

Confident that they will formthe government this time, Mr.Kazi promises that the Congress

WE WON YOU TRIBAL STATUS, WE WILL GET THESEATS TOO, CHAMLING ASSURES TAMANGS

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NAMCHI: Addressing members of the Tamangcommunity at the Maniram Senior Secondaryground here in South Sikkim on 28 January, lastWednesday, the Chief Minister, Pawan Chamling,while reminding them that his party had “won”tribal status for Tamangs and Limbus last year, wenton to assure that it was only the Sikkim DemocraticFront which was serious about and capable of get-ting them their seats reserved in the Assembly.

Mr. Chamling was speaking at a state-levelMaitri Sammelan and Priti Bhoj organised by theSikkim Tamang Buddhist Association as part of itsLochhar celebrations on the day.

The festivities, which were highlighted by thebrilliant display of Tamang culture and folk dances,were also attended by Mr. Chamling’s cabinet Min-isters, MLAs and senior and respected citizens ofthe region.

While stressing that it was necessary for everycommunity to progress on the developmental pathwithout forsaking their culture, language or tradi-tions, Mr. Chamling reminded the gathering that itwas only after the formation of SDF that the mainlanguages of Sikkim were recognised by the StateGovernment. He reiterated that his party and gov-ernment were committed to supporting the devel-opment of ethnic languages of Sikkim.

In response to the tirade of allegations levelledagainst his government by a resurgent Congress [I]in the State, Mr. Chamling said that Oppositionparties in Sikkim have played only negative poli-tics in the past nine years in an effort to confuse theSikkimese into supporting them.

While reiterating that the SDF functioned on apro-poor ideology and that his government was de-velopment oriented, Mr. Chamling urged the peoplenot to be bothered by the Opposition diatribe. Re-acting to the Opposition allegation of rigging theelectoral rolls, Mr. Chamling reminded the peoplethat the voters’ enumeration was being conductedon the directives prescribed by the Central ElectionCommission and that neither the State nor its lead-ers and ministers could influence the process. TheOpposition, he said, was aware of this, but was stilltrying to cast aspersions on the process and expos-ing its own bankruptcy of ideas and vision.

Wiped out in ’99,party confident of

sweeping 2004

CONG “WELL-PLACED” TO OFFER VIABLE

ALTERNATIVE, CLAIMS KAZI

a NOW REPORT

turn to pg 6

6; NOW! ; 04-10 Feb, 2004

C M Y K

POWERPLAY �

will set an example of “howpeople in a democratic set-upshould be governed.”

“The people of Sikkim deservea much better government. TheCongress party is deeply con-cerned about the short-term aswell as long-term interest of thepeople,” the press release reads.

Cong “well-placed” tooffer viable alternative,

claims KaziContd from pg 5

Party congratulatesLepcha on receivingRoll of HonourGANGTOK: The ruling SikkimDemocratic Front has expressedpride while congratulating itsnorth district youth convenor andChairman, Landuse & Environ-ment Board, Nim Tsering Lepcha,on his being awarded a Roll ofHonour by the State Governmenton Republic Day. A party pressrelease claims that Mr. Lepcha hasbeen a diligent social worker whohas served the people of Sikkimwell in the past. The Roll ofHonour, the party believes is inrecognition of his work in the so-cial and cultural fields.

&

TO COVER SIKKIMBETTER

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contact NOW! Gairi Gaon, Tadong, Gangtok. ph: 270949;sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

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270949

GANGTOK: The Sikkim LepchaYouth Association [RenjyongMutanchi Rong Ong Shejum] is car-rying on with its outreach programmeamong the Lepchas and reachedPalitam village in Namthong, SouthSikkim, early last week.

A Shejum press release in-forms that the meeting was con-vened to open its branch in the

village and the more serious busi-ness was preceded by a festivedisplay of folk songs and dances.

While SLYA’s west district co-ordinator, Tenzing Lepcha, spokeon the need for the Lepchas tounite and target a common, pros-perous future.

The release further states thatthe senior citizens who attendedthe meeting praised SLYA’s ini-tiative to hold free winter coach-ing classes for local students.

a NOW REPORT

Shejum stretches south

MANGAN: The Congress [I],under its new state-unit presidentand former Chief Minister, NarBahadur Bhandari, has been in aresurgent mood and its series ofpublic meetings reached northSikkim on 29 January, last Thurs-day. The entire senior leadershipof the party was at hand at themeeting with Mr. Bhandari, apartfrom explaining why he was nowconvinced that only a nationalparty could serve Sikkim best, hadsome special announcements forthe north district as well.

Addressing a crowd of about4,000 people [the Rang-Rangcheckpost recorded 315 meetingbound vehicles], Mr. Bhandariassured that should he form thenext government, north Sikkimwould be accorded autonomousdistrict status.

Launching a scathing attack onthe ruling Sikkim DemocraticFront’s nine-year rule, Mr.Bhandari alleged that the grow-ing tendency of the ruling partyto divide the people on caste andcommunity lines was threateningthe peace in this border state. Ac-cusing the present government ofhaving diluted the essence of theMay 8 Tripartite Agreement andArticle 371F of the constitution,Mr. Bhandari promised that allSikkimese will “get back” theirpolitical rights as guaranteed by

BHANDARI SEEKS NORTHERN SUPPORT

SPCC [I] president Nar Bahadur Bhandari arrives at Mangan flanked by party office-bearers and supporters

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the two documents.Playing on the current BL fears

of losing the 12 reserved seats,Mr. Bhandari assured that his gov-ernment would ensure that theseseats remained “untouched” alongwith the lone Sangha seat in theState Assembly. Pulling some airout of the ruling party’s successin securing tribal status for theLimbus and Tamangs, Mr.Bhandari alleged that the tribalstatus without seat reservationsproved that the SDF was inca-pable of working for theSikkimese.

Continuing with his decisionfavouring a national party over aregional outfit, Mr. Bhandari saidthat leaders to “destroy” Sikkimwill not come from Delhi, butwould grow from within. Refer-

ring to the 1994 episode when asection of his legislators toppledhim, Mr. Bhandari said it was anexample of how Sikkim and itsleaders still lacked in unity andwere blinded by material gains.

Claiming that corruption hasbeen “institutionalised” in thepresent regime, Mr. Bhandaripromised to form the next govern-ment of young, idealistic faces.

Detailing his plans for gettingSikkim on the right track, Mr.Bhandari said that his first moveto tackle unemployment would beto raise the age-bar for govern-ment employment to 35 years.Salary hikes and allowance en-hancements were also announcedalong with the allegation that theCentral Referral Hospital atTadong had failed to deliver. Mr.Bhandari said his party was seri-ously considering shifting STNMHospital to the Manipal complexinstead.

The Mangan meeting also sawformer Minister Athup Lepchareturn to the limelight. Mr.Lepcha, while addressing thegathering said that he decided toend his nine year sabbatical frompolitics after realising that thepresent government was not serv-ing the people of Dzongu in theearnest. Seventy per cent ofDzongu cardamom has been hitby disease and yet the governmenthas not initiated any concretesteps to curtail its spread, he al-leged while adding that the devo-lution of power to the panchayatswas only on paper.

a NOW REPORT

Continuing with his area-spe-cific concerns, Mr. Lepcha al-leged that even though theTholung monastery should ideallybelong to the Dzongu people, itcontinued to remain occupied byother people. He even hinted thatthe matter will be raised in theAssembly shortly.

A prospective candidate andCongress’ north district president,Anil Lachenpa continued with theSDF-bashing spree alleging thatthe district had not seen as muchprogress as was seen elsewhere inSikkim. Poor road connectivity,the lost apple orchards and eco-nomic backwardness of the dis-trict were highlighted by Mr.Lachenpa in his speech.

Party vice-president, ThukchukLachungpa, also addressed thegathering and claimed that Con-gress was riding a positive waveat the moment with more and morepeople coming out in its support.The handsome gatherings at everyparty meeting ever since Mr.Bhandari joined the party werenever seen for a national party meetearlier, he admitted while addingthat he was confident that thiswave would take them to successin the ensuing elections.

Other Congress leaders likeTseten Lepcha, Jigme N. Kazi andBB Basnet also addressed thegathering, each reiterating the callfor northern support to Congress’play for power in the upcomingpolls. All stressed that not onlywas the time right for a change, itwas also necessary.

04-10 Feb, 2003; NOW! 7

C M Y K

� DATELINENORTHSIKKIM

Sikkim Akademi is organising the second SpringBook Fair 2004 from 8th to 10th March, 2004 atCommunity Centre, Gangtok. Reknowned pub-lishers and booksellers from Sikkim, West Ben-gal and Delhi will participate. Fiction, non-fiction,children’s books and rare books in Nepali, Hindi,English and other local languages will be in theexhibition-cum-sale.Seminar, Symposium Panel discussion on con-temporary subjects, cultural shows and specialprogramme for the children and students will bethe added attractions of the fair. All are cordiallyinvited.Interested publishers, booksellers are requestedto contact Sikkim Akademi, Old Council House,Near Bhanu Park, Gangtok (Phone: 228876, Mo-bile: 98320-89914) for further details and book-ing of stalls.

General SecretarySikkim Akademi

Gangtok, Sikkim.

SIKKIM AKADEMISecond Spring Book Fair 2004

MANGAN: The 54th RepublicDay was celebrated here lastMonday with Dzongu MLA,Sonam Tshering Lepcha, whoconducted the flag-hoisting andtook the salute.

The welcome speech was deliv-ered by the DC [North], PS Targainwho read out the Republic Day ad-dress of the Chief Minister.

The chief guest, in his shortaddress, spoke on the relevance ofthe constitution and what it guar-antees the Indian citizens. Speak-ing on the concepts of peace, unityand communal harmony that un-derline the Constitution, hestressed that the State government

has done much to foster these doc-trines and urged the people tomaintain the same. He also called

on the gathering to take pride inbeing Indians and work for thenation’s progress in all spheres.

from OUR CORRESPONDENT

Dzongu MLA takes the R-Day salute at Mangan.

Republic Day observed at Mangan

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Training heldto makewomenself-reliantfrom OUR CORRESPONDENT

MANGAN: A trainingprogramme for the women folk ofthe district under the“Swayamsidh” programme wasconducted here by ICDS function-aries at the Zilla PanchayatBhavan on 30 January, last Friday.

The training, attended by sixtywomen from different parts of thedistrict, was conducted by theICDS Deputy Director, KKSubba, and CDPO [North], GMSubba and other ICDS officials.

The trainers, while speaking toNOW!, informed thatSwayamsidh was a centralscheme aimed at making womenmore self-reliant. “The idea be-hind this concept is to helpwomen form self help groups toinitiate schemes to supplementtheir incomes and keep thembusy,” Mr. KK Subba explained.

During the training, the train-ees were reminded that womenwere still being neglected in thedevelopmental process and thatthe most effective weapon for thedevelopment was initiative fromwithin.

Swayamsidh is incidentally a5-year plan in which the ICDStrains women on the finer pointsof running a self help group. TheDepartment is committed to pro-vide not only training, but alsofunds, advice, employment andprogress. Provided a self helpgroup performs well, the Depart-ment also steps in with furtherloans and grants to help increaseits area of activity, Mr. Subbaadded.

He stressed that if run properly,these self help groups could endup benefitting the entire commu-nity and not just the women.

Midas Touch Inc.unsheathes

at Vajra Cineplex

14th Feb, 2004, 5:30 p.m.

Tickets available at:X’cape, City News, Oberoi’s Barbecue, Tashi Movie

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75 tickets only. Act Fastfor further details call Midas Touch Inc. [225521]

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8; NOW! ; 04-10 Feb, 2004

C M Y K

RECAPSIKKIM �

NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR HOTEL MANAGEMENT AND CATERING TECHNOLOGYPUSA COMPLEX, NEW DELHI-110012.

(Under Ministry of Tourism and Culture Deptt. of Tourism. Govt. of India.)&

INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITYANNOUNCES-JEE-2004

FOR ADMISSION TO THE FIRST YEAR OF 3YEAR BACHELOR OF SCIENCE(B.Sc.) PROGRAMME IN HOSPITALITY AND HOTEL ADMINISTRATION

National Council for Hotel Management Catering Technology and Indira Gandhi NationalOpen University, New Delhi invite applications for admission to the 2875 seats on all Indiabasis that are available in First-Year of the Three-Year Bachelor of Science Programme inHospitality and Hotel Administration for academic session 2004-2005. The Three-Year De-gree Programme is open to candidates from Science, Commerce, Arts or any other recog-nized stream at senior secondary level or equivalent. Information Brochure and ApplicationFrom priced at Rs. 800/- for General Category and 400/- for SC/ST/PH Categories will be onsale from 24th JAN 2004 to3rd FEB 2004 at the Institute of Hotel Management, Tadong, NearAyurvedic Hospital. Filled in applications should reach JEE Cell, National Council for HotelManagement, Pusa Complex, New Dlhi-110012, latest by 26th FEB 2004.

ELIGIBILITYQualification: Should have passed +2 stage of system or equivalent examination in any streamwith English as one of the subjects. Candidates appearing in+2 or equivalent examination in 2003can also apply.Upper Age Limit: 22 years as on 1st July 2003 in case of General Category and 25 years as on 1st

July 2003 for SC and ST Categories only.

RESERVATION (Reservation can be availed only under any one Category)SC-15% ST- 71/2% Physically Handicapped-3%

IMPORTANT DATES

Sale of Prospectus at IHM, Gangtok 26th January to 23rd February 2004

Last Date for receipt of completed application form 26th Feb.2004

Date of JEE Written Test 18th April 2004 (2.30 to5.30pm.)at Central Hotel Gangtok

Centralized Counseling for allotment of Institute 7th June to 16th June 2004

Commencement of academic session 19th July 2004

FOR MORE DETAILS ACCES www.nchcmct.org or CONTACTInstitute of Hotel Management, Tadong , Gangtok, Sikkim, Ph. 270235,270557.

1ST PRIZE - No. 4345

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3RD - No. 3876

Namprickdang Namsung Celebration CommitteeRAFFLE RESULT

CONSOLATION

1. No. 2758

2. No. 3780

3. No. 1090

4. No. 3147

5. No. 5534

GANGTOK: The officialwebsite of the Department of In-formation and Public RelationsDepartment was launched by theChief Minster, Pawan Chamlingon 26 January, last Monday atMintokgang coinciding with the54th Republic Day Celebration.

The website is comprehensivein itself carrying information onthe State, News and Views andabout the Department.

The contents of the website are:Physical features of the State, His-tory, Places of tourist interest,people and faces of Sikkim, pro-files, festivals of Sikkim, PhotoGallery, Administrative heads, etc.

The website also contains infor-mation on the administrative set-upof the IPR Department, News andViews of the State, list of publica-tions brought out by IPR Depart-ment and Press Releases of theGovernment. Sikkim Herald, amouthpiece of the Government andthe publication of IPR Departmentcan now be accessed online.

Initially it can be read in En-glish online; however, shortly thepeople of Sikkim and elsewherecan read it in other regional lan-guages of the state too.

The website can be browsedfrom the portal as given:www.sikkimipr.org.

IPR debuts on the net

NAMCHI: The Study CircleNamchi conducted a pre-boardexamination here at the Govern-ment Senior Secondary Schoolfor the students of Class X andXII CBSE.

The examinations, held fromJanuary 24 to 30, were especiallymeant for students preparing fortheir class X and XII board exami-nations this year and also takingtuitions from the SCN. 310 studentsfor Class X and 26 students fromclass XII were enrolled for the ex-aminations this year.

The questions for the exami-nation were prepared by All In-

dia Secondary School Exam Pro-moters, Haryana based on theCBSE syllabus.

The founder of SCN,Ghanshyam Sharma, a Mathemat-ics teacher at the Tendong Edu-cational Institute here, informsthat the Circle was established in1993 and the pre-board examina-tions started from 2003.

Calling the pre-board exami-nations a “dress rehearsal” for thestudents, Mr. Sharma said that stu-dents learn a lot through such ex-aminations which prepare themthoroughly for the main board ex-aminations.

“We Students gain a lot of con-fidence through this examination,

which also helps us in knowingthe subjects that need extra atten-tion,” Prabha Chettri, a Class XIICommerce student of the NamchiSenior Secondary School said.

The Study Circle Namchi isalso planning to start a crashcourse in Economics from thisyear onwards.

PURAN TAMANG

Namchi’s circle of studies

GANGTOK: The new officebearers for the 2004-07 of theT’nites Alumni Association [anassociation of ex-students ofTNSS School] were unanimouslyelected on 1 February, Sunday.

The election was conductedduring a day-long picnic-cum elec-tion programme held at the IpecacGardan, Saramsa. IGP D. Rinzingwas the chief observer of the elec-tion. Chief Patron Tseten DorjeeLepcha, minister, buildings depart-ment and Hissay Lachungpa, min-ister, power department were alsopresent on the occasion.

The new office bearers are ledby Lhendup Dorjee Lepcha as thepresident, Damber Chhetri andSonam Topgey, vice-presidentsand Menla Ethenpa and ChewangZangpo as general secretaries.Ramesh Periwal is the treasurerwhile Lalchand Khatri is the jointtreasurer. RK Tamang and KarmaTshering are the publicity secre-taries. Rapden Bhutia, TashiThendup, Tensung Lepcha, PMRai, Pema Ongda, and Dilip Giri

are the joint secretaries while theexecutive secretaries are KarmaTshering Bhutia, Pema Dadul,Penjo D Namgyal, SonamTopgey, Dr. Wangchuk, KazimanChhetri and Sonam Tashi.

a NOW REPORT

T’Nites get a new body

04-10 Feb, 2003; NOW! 9

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� DEVELOPMENT

NEDFiNORTH EASTERN DEVELOPMENT

FINANCE CORPORATION LTD.Near Super Market Complex, Development Area, Gangtok – 737101.

Telefax: 228269 Mobile: 98320 33786

For registration & other details contact:

Sikkim entrepreneurs will be providedfloor-space for free along with travelallowance for two persons perenterprise. Participants will also beprovided DA of Rs. 250 per day for theduration of the exhibition.

10; NOW! ; 04-10 Feb, 2004

C M Y K

RECAPSIKKIM �

crime watch

APTECHCOMPUTER EDUCATION

TM

Daragaon, Tadong, east Sikkimph: 232418

GANGTOK: Reacting to allega-tions made out in an FIR lodgedagainst some locals here [Crime-Watch, NOW! 28 Jan-03 Feb,2003], villagers of SamdungKambal in Rakdong Tintekcontituency maintain that thescuffle which led to the arrests ofsome boys was not over religionor construction of building of an-other faith, but an argument overalienation of local land to non-lo-cals which went out of hand.

Giving their side of story, some

villagers counter-allege that the “vic-tims” of the fight were trying to buildon a land belonging to a local. Noon in the village was very clear aboutwhat was being built, but were con-cerned since those involved in thework were “outsiders” and the landbelonged to a local Lepcha.

“We had gone over to check onwhat was going on. We know thepeople working on the plot to befrom Nepal and also know thatthey cannot buy and own landhere. We also know for sure thatthe person to whom the land be-longs does not have much and canill afford to give it away to any-

a NOW REPORT

Samdung scuffle over principles, not faith

Job Placement onCourse CompletionWE

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A fifteen day capacity build-ing programme for NGOs of

North Eastern States of India washeld at IIMC [Indian Institute ofManagement, Kolkata] one of theprime management institutes of In-dia. The programme was from Janu-ary 15 to 30, 2004. The programmewas organised by Indian Institute ofManagement, Kolkata and sup-ported by the Royal Danish Em-

one. We feared that he had beeninfluenced or duped into it andwent over to check. The owner ofthe land was not there and an ar-gument ensued with those work-ing there. Our concern was overalienation of local land, not reli-gion or places of worship. Thatangle has been mischievouslyadded,” said a local youth.

The youth are also worried thatsimilar cases might be replicatingelsewhere in Sikkim where a lo-cal landowner with limited meansis being hoodwinked into partingwith it and want people to remainmore vigilant.

RAPE ARREST

The Melli Police on January 30 caught a man accused of rape.Santosh Tamang, 26, a resident of Melli Kuvinday village was ar-

rested on charges of raping a 22-year-old woman of the same area. Theincident had reportedly taken place on 31 December, 2003. The victimherself had reported the incident to the Melli Thana on 2 January andthe accused had allegedly absconded after committing the crime. AMelli Thana Police team, led by SI Bijoy Subba, after search opera-tions lasting a month, finally nabbed Tamang at Lava Pasting in WestBengal. The accused is in Police custody now.

FALSE CURRENCY NOTES FOUND

A case has been filed against Pannalal Gupta of Jorethang for possession of false currency notes. Gupta was found with counterfeit

currency notes of Rs. 100 denomina-tion amounting to Rs. 2,200. He wastrying to pass off the same as genuinenotes. The money has been seized andan investigation launched as to how he came to have it in his possession.

HOME GUARD ASSAULTED

Home Guard Ram Bahadur Basnet was assaulted by a group ofboys on 30 January, last Friday. Basnet, who was patrolling at

Tibet Road, Gangtok, was beaten up at around 9.30 pm at night. Afterregistering his FIR, the police sent him to STNM Hospital for medicaltreatment. Investigation into the case by the police and the questioningof witnesses led them to the culprits who have been arrested.

SUICIDE

An 18 year old girl was reported missing on 29 January fromGangtok. She had been working in Gangtok as a maid servant.

Later in the day her body was found in the bathroom of a newly con-structed building. Police files record it as a case of suicide.

ANOTHER SUICIDE

36 year old Ram Bahadur Karki was found dead hanging from a treein front of his house at Upper Deythang, below Ravangla Bazaar.

According to investigations by the police, Karki was suffering fromsome kind of mental illness for the last two years. He is survived by hiswife and two children.

BODY FOUND

The dead body of a man was found at a jhora in Phewa Busty, Tadong.Investigation by the police have revealed that the man was known

as Kaley Mistry. He did not have a permanent address, but lived tem-porarily at Phewa Busty in a rented house. He also seemed to have adrinking problem. The dead body of Kaley Mistri was forwarded toSTNM Hospital for post mortem examination.

MAN STABBED

A man was stabbed at Kaluk but has survived. Krishna BahadurLimboo has alleged that one Purna Kumar Subba from the same

village came to his house in the evening of January 26 for some per-sonal work. They got into a heated discussion, which led to Limboogetting stabbed by Subba. Limboo who suffered head injuries was sentto hospital for medical treatment. The case is still under investigation.

WANTEDA. Teachers: Graduate/ PG in Relevant SubjectB. Instructors: Diploma in Relevant SubjectC. Accountants: B.Com/M.ComFOR CONDUCTING COURSES: Dairy, Poultry, Beekeeping,Medicinal & Aromatic Plants, Floriculture , Mushroom Farming,Computer Hardware and Networking, PCO and Internet CaféManagement, Handicraft, Watch and Clock Repairing, AutomobileRepair Technology, Tourism & Adventure Sports Management,Office Management, Office Management, Still Photography &Videography, Beauty Culture & Saloon Management.Salary negotiable. Submit your Bio-data within 7 days to ProjectCoordinator, M/S Sikkim Binding Industries (SIBIN), Daragoan,Tadong, Gangtok or email to :cwpl_Gangtok@rediffmail.com. OrCall9832071807 immediately.

bassy, New Delhi.A total of 23 NGOs from all

the North-East took part in theprogramme. The participatingstates were Arunachal Pradesh,Assam, Tripura, Nagaland,Mizoram and Sikkim.

Sikkim was represented byfour “outstanding” NGOs in thestate. Sikkim Development Foun-dation was represented by the Ex-ecutive Director, Karma P Takapa,Dikchu Youth Welfare Associa-tion was represented by District

Sikkim NGOs undertake training in KolkataYouth Awardee 2001, ChungChung Tongden Lepcha, TsetenDoma Bhutia of Kewzing Tour-ism Development Committee andMani Kumar Gurung of YouthDevelopment Society of Sikkim.

All the participants from Sikkimfared very well in the Project Pre-sentation, Group Work and otheractivities. A number of topics likeManagerial skills, leadership styles,globalisation, behavioral science,Financial accounting, marketingand values were taught.

Managerial skills for social workers

a NOW REPORT

WHAT WOULD YOU DOIF YOU FOUND OUTTHAT YOUR CHILD

WAS A DRUG ADDICT?Would you give him another chance??

There are many young people who need a second chance. A

little help from you can turn their lives around.

Give them asecond chance.

Support the

NOW! Drug

Rehabilitation Fund.

We are launching the NOW! Fight Against Drug Abuse Fund. The moneycollected will be used for launching awareness campaigns, sponsoring youth forde-addiction and working out a long-term rehabilitation plan for recovering ad-dicts. But we cannot fight the battle alone. We request our readers to contributegenerously towards this fund. Donations can be made vide cheque to NOW! witha covering letter marking the cause or in cash at the office. The contributionsraised in this fashion will be published in subsequent issues of NOW! and monthlydetails on how the funds have been utilised will be similarly published.

04-10 Feb, 2003; NOW! 11

C M Y K

by PRAVEEN MOKTAN

Kpgstate

a

of mind

� DESPATCHES

The Power Department has been making earnest ef-forts to maintain regular power supply in the State. Inthe last few weeks there has been interruption in powersupply in Gangtok and in the East district of the State.The main reason for this is limitation of power drawingcapacity from the grid. we strongly feel the importanceof maintaining regular power supply in view of the factthat our young ones are preparing for their Board Ex-aminations. - If all the consumers extend their co-operation theDepartment can continue to maintain regular powersupply in the state.- We appeal to all our consumers to take the follow-ing actions to help the department to maintain regu-lar power supply.

1. Do not use heaters, geysers, electric irons and otherelectrical gadgets during the peak hours i.e. 17.00 hrsto 21.00 hrs.2. Switch off the lights, which are not necessary.3. Replace your bulbs with compact fluoroscent lamps4. Do not use compound with lights and flood lights.

Use of electric welding sets, industrial loads, motor ofany kind is restricted from 06.00 hours to 09.00 hoursand 17.00 hrs to 21.00 hrs till further notice. If anybodyis found using electricity for such purposes the serviceconnection will be disconnected and heavy fine will beimposed.The Department Appeals to all the consumers for theirkind co-operation in the interest of our consumers andtheir children.

R. K. PradhanChief Engineer (HQ)

Power DepartmentGangtok

APPEAL

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Of the many sad things that I have seen in thisrelatively short life of mine, the most depressing sight is that of middleaged men, well

into retirement age, carry home copies of the EmploymentTimes and other employment gazettes tucked under theirarms, for their still-at-college sons and daughters.

What sort of insecurity drives these people to lookfor jobs when they should be reaping the benefits ofa well-earned retirement?

The answer lies somewhere in the employmentstatistics of the hills.

For the majority, the government has always beenthe main employer. You could argue about the eco-nomic demerits of this system till the cows comehome [now that there are going to a large number ofcows to come home], but one fact thatyou cannot deny is that in a countrylike India where social security is ajoke and especially in the hills,where we see the only industryworth its name i.e. the tea industrybeing stripped down to its bone andbeing either converted into busteesor hotbeds of confrontation, thatopportunity to become a babu or achaprasi or a teacher, provides atleast some the chance to lead acivilised life.

You could of course argue thatthese job-descriptions do demandthe amount of work to justify theirsalaries. But that is neither their fault nor thepoint that we are trying to make here. Take theexample of the government drivers who suddenlyfound themselves with no vehicles to drive becausethese had been torched during the Agitation and thereplacements took forever to come. Whose fault is itthat these do no work?

If you look at the larger picture, you begin to seethat what these humble people have been doing withthe salaries- educating their children and generallypaying for the appurtenances of a modestly civilisedlife. This is not what you could say for the way moneyis managed in the higher echelons. But now that thetaps are drying up and policies are changing to meetthe demands of a more stringent economic environ-ment we see such opportunities slipping us by.

The implication of all this however, has not yetfiltered down to the masses who as of yet do not seethe bigger picture and still seek the security that agovernment job provides. Since policies seldom takeinto account the incidental vagaries of small placeslike Kalimpong, whatever benefits the NEP may haveon the population here, can only be availed of if thereis an exodus to places [read cities] where it wouldactually have a positive impact.

There are two problems associated with this.Firstly, new employment looks for certain types ofskills and proficiencies, something that the educa-tional apparatus here is sadly ill-equipped to pro-vide. Look at the case of call-centres, where cer-

tain, very base level skills arecalled for - that is the skill to talk.Even in this we see a very skewedpattern of employment as those

children coming from non-Conventbackgrounds [who do not possess the facultyof a ‘neutral accent’] miss out.

To summarise, the one big impedimentis the nonperformance of formal educa-tion. It is one thing to be able to trainstudents for a government job in ourown backyard and quite another to equipthem to meet the demands of aglobalised workplace. [Has anyone no-

ticed how 90 per cent of the teachers of gov-ernment schools would rather as a matter offirst choice send their own children to Mission-

ary or other public schools?]. Let’snot even start talking about non-formal education, since it does notexist at the moment.

The second problem is a socio-logical one. Granted that someonegets a job in the Metros? Thenwhat? Of course he/she may do all

the things that yuppies do for a while. Butwhat would be the scenario, say after ten-twenty years down the line? Does hestick on there to make ends meet [andcomfortably at that] or does he come

home to be with his old parents and look afterthem? Does he take them with him? And when hedoes so, what do they do there? Granted that I maybe taking things a little too far, but it is hard to missthe point.

The only solution is, to modify the PM’s expres-sion of “not taking people to the business but mak-ing it come to them.” Tourism does it in most places,education does it in Kalimpong, hospitals may do itin Sikkim if they can mange to get their acts right[after all it is eminently comfortable to recuperatein a Sikkimese summer than boil in Chennai].

And last but not the least I do not see any reasonwhy out-sourcing opportunities cannot come to thehills. Telecommunicationally-speaking, Delhi andDarjeeling are equidistant from the US or the Euro-pean Union.

Of course I forgot to mention that my phone lineshave been out of repair for over a month now. Andquite a few households here in Kalimpong have gotfive figure monthly bills...

IT’S A TOUGH CALL

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For Course Details You Can collect Prospectus from The Center By Paying Rs 300/-NOTE: 1. Candidates from any discipline can apply for the above Courses.

2. Candidates failed or comparted in 10+2 can also apply for DIT/DEC/B.Sc. IT Courses.However, DIT/DEC/BSc IT Degree will be awarded only on the completion of 10+2.

COURSE FEES: For DIT/PGDIT/B.Sc. IT/M.Sc. IT Courses: Rs. 7,000/- per semester. Add: Examination Fees. Rs. 500/-per examination. (One Semester= 6 Months)THOSE WHO HAVE COMPLETED PGDIT AND HIGHER CAN APPLY FOR JOB

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LAST DATE OF ADMISSION 20TH FEBRUARY 2004

12; NOW! ; 04-10 Feb, 2004

C M Y K12

Gangtok’s Muslim communityprepares to offer Namaaz atthe mosque below PrivateBus Stand to mark Id-ul-Azha,known more popularly asBakr-Eid, on Monday.

The festival commemo-rates the ordeal of HazratIbrahim, who had been put toa terrible test by God whenhe was asked to sacrificewhatever was dearest to himand he decided to sacrifice

Save a few stray initiatives, commercial mushroomfarming has never really taken off in the state. Manyfind the process of cultivation difficult and time-

consuming. But the recent private venture of one man maysee commercial mushroom farming taken to new levels inthe state. BL Dahal, Agriculture Officer at Krishi Bhawanhas launched an enterprise that will provide fresh, hygieni-cally cultivated Oyster Mushrooms to people in the capi-tal as well as to other parts of the state. At the same time itwill hopefully motivate and encourage others to take upthis occupation. At his home at 5th Mile, Tadong, Dahalhas started a mushroom farm in the four rooms of theground floor flat, below his residential quarters.

“I’ve done this mainly to encourage mushroom farm-ing in the state. Many people seem to think that it is diffi-cult and time consuming. I want to show them that it is notso,” he says.

Dahal, who has been working at the Agriculture De-partment since the early 90’s, took under his wing twotrainees, who were trying out a similar venture at Sakyongin West Sikkim.

“They were finding it difficult to market the produce,so I told them I have the place, let us do it together atGangtok.”

With the place ready in November last year, Dahal andhis two assistants started with the process of procuring thespawn and preparing the substrate. In less than two weeks,mushroom started appearing as small pin heads in the plas-tic spawn bags hanging in the rooms. By January, they hadproduced nearly 175 kgs of Oyster mushrooms!

“The yield is almost immediate and so is the profit,”informs Dahal.

Oyster mushrooms, incidentally, are cultivated in 25countries around the world and is the third largest culti-vated mushroom in the world. The climate in Sikkim isparticularly conducive for its cultivation.

“Some time back a scientist had come here fromHimachal Pradesh. He found the climate and terrain herea goldmine for horticulture and floriculture. He told usthat it was especially suited for mushroom farming,” re-calls Dahal.

Amongst all cultivated mushrooms, the speciesPleurotus, which is mainly grown in the state has the sim-plest cultivation technology with the longest shelf life andproductivity.

But for Dahal, the biggest task he faced after the pro-duction was marketing. Although most of it was disposedthrough door-to-door campaigns, a substantial amount wassent to different parts of the state.

The mushrooms, priced at Rs. 100 per kg, may seemmarginally higher in price compared to the ones which

come from Siliguri, but Dahal is quick to point out thatthat the difference is in the hygiene and the totally organicmethod of preparation that he uses. For instance while thesubstrate at his farm is sterilized using the “boiling watermethod,” the ones that come from Siliguri are treated witha chemical solution for a period of 16-18 hours.

What of fears that many have about mushrooms beingpoisonous?

“This is a purely cultured mushroom and is perfectly

DEVELOPMENT �

safe,” he assures, adding that Oyster mushrooms infact havehigh nutritional value. Rich in vitamin C and B complex,protein, iron and mineral salts, these are very useful in thecontrol of many ailments.

While Dahal may have taken the department’s effortsto encourage mushroom farming a step further in leadingby example, the Agriculture Department has also been do-ing its bit to motivate more people to take up this occupa-tion. It trains nearly 70 persons in a year at the MushroomSpawn Complex at Marchak, Ranipool. Substrate and rawmaterial like paddy and straw are provided at subsidizedrates by the government.

“Growing Oyster mushroom is an ideal income-gener-ating activity for women, rural youth and other unemployedpersons,” tells DL Lama, Mycologist at the AgricultureDepartment.

Mushroom cultivation, she feels, could be well inte-grated within the daily routine of family work.

Like Dahal says, this is gentlemanly farming at its best.He has shown how with low investment and simple tech-nology in a limited space, mushroom cultivation can pro-vide an alternate and profitable source of employment.

Orders for fresh Oyster mushrooms can be placed atDahal’s Evergreen Mushroom Farm, 5th Mile, Tadong orbooked over phone at 270567.

SAGAR CHETTRI

An Officer And A Gentleman Farmer

A basement flat has been remodelled to double as a mushroom farm and a concept perfect

for Sikkim gets a working precedent that hopefully more will emulate in the near future...

top: Agriculture Officer BL Dahal with his spawn ofmushrooms at his basement farm in Tadong.

left: Oyster Mushrooms ready for harvest

his son.As he was about to apply

the sword to his son’s throat,it was revealed to him thatthis was meant only to test hisfaith, and it was enough, if heinstead sacrificed only a ramin the name of Allah.

This test of faith is cel-ebrated on the tenth day ofZilhijja, when the Haj celebra-tions at Mecca are roundedoff with the sacrifice of goats

or camels. In India, too,goats and sheep aresacrificed all over thecountry and prayers areoffered like the one inGangtok.

The festivities this yearwere however marred tosome extent by the stam-pede deaths at Meccawhich claimed more than200 lives the day beforeEid.

04-10 Feb, 2003; NOW! 13

C M Y K

STYLEHOTEL GOLDEN PAGODA,MG MARG, GANGTOK.

available at:

LOADING...

... 50%

pixelart@graffiti.net

extrasTHE NOW! 8-PAGE SPECIAL

NOW!

VOL. 2 NUMBER. 30

The four-day long Sikkim MahashantiPuja, which began on 28 January,saw the largest turnout of people on

it’s final day. According to officials from theorganising committee more than one lakhpeople turned up for the entire event whichboasted the largest pandal ever con-structed for a puja in Sikkim.

With twenty-four associations workingtogether under one banner, the GangtokMain Line Taxi Drivers’ Association, onbehalf of the entire committee gives all thecredit to Paljor Lachungpa, President,TAAS and Chairman, Sikkim MahashantiPuja Organising Committee.

According to the GMLTDA, Mr.Lachungpa’s guidance was the sole fac-tor which made this event, which broughttogether all religions to pray for a bettertomorrow for Sikkim, such a huge success.

“We are further thankful to all the reli-gious heads, volunteers and security per-sonnel, because of whom not even a singlemishap took place during the entire period,”said Bal Kumar Thapa, social secretary,GMLTDA, who was responsible for the con-struction and supervision of the pandalwhich in itself was a feast for the eyes.

“The whole arrangement and setting upof the place was such a tough task. I thinkeveryone involved deserves praise for set-ting it up. Imagine, the pandal measured10,000 sqft, the biggest that Sikkim hasseen,” he said.

The final day saw thanks being given allaround. Paljor Lachungpa of TAAS thankedthe chief minister Pawan Chamling whodonated Rs. 1 lakh and supported the en-tire initiative, as well as the UD&HD which

THEPOWEROFPRAYERGangtok comes together

in a celebration of

communal harmony...

turn to pg 15

A JUGAL-BANDI OF BELIEFS:People from all faiths came together under

a 10,000 sq.ft. pandal in a 4-day jointinvocation to pray for peace and prosper-ity in Sikkim. From Hindu havans [top] tobhajans [bottom right] to Muslim clerics

[right] to Christian pastors [3rd from top]to Buddhist monks [below] all formed

part of the Mahashanti puja. Thousands[bottom left] also lined up for prasad

blessed by the Kopchay Guruji on the lastday.

14; NOW! ; 04-10 Feb, 2004

C M Y K

extras

- Inclusion of Sikkim in North East Council.- Reopening of trade route to Tibet China via Nathula Pass.- Inclusion of Tamang and Limboo Communities in the Scheduled Tribe.- Diversion of 70% of State Budget in development of rural sector.- Inclusion of left out communities in the OBC list of the State .- Constitution of Lok Adalats in all nine Sub-Division.- Grant of official language status to Tamang, Gurung, Rai, Sherpa, Mangar, Newar and

Sunar (Mukhia) languages and their further development by teaching in school.- Grant of old age pension of Rs. 200/- per month to beneficiaries above 65 years.- Framed Sikkim State Plan of Action for Children.- Reservation of 33 % seats for women in Panchayats and 30 % in government establishment.- A number of schemes for the well being of the women are being implemented.- A number of stringent measure were taken to preserve and protect the fragile eco-system.- The core and thrust areas of the present government policies are infrastructure

development.- More emphasis is laid on promotion of games and sports.- The literacy rate of the State risen to more than 70 per cent.- Grant of quota of seats for students belonging to other than reserved communities.- Sikkim can now boast of more than half a dozen colleges, including Advanced Technical

Centre of Computers and Communication Technology.- Sir Thutop Namgyal Memorial Hospital is being converted into an ultra modern hospital

equipped with sophisticated and latest machineries including telemedicine link with AllIndia Institute of Medical Sciences, New and STNM Hospital, Gangtok.

- Sikkim became first State in the country to launch Hepatitis – B Vaccination programmefor the children of 0-1year free of cost.

- Village Libraries have been established in all the Gram Panchayat Units.- Panchayati Raj system has been provided more administrative and financial powers.- Constituted the State Planning Commission.- Airport is being constructed at Pakyong.- A Ropeway at Gangtok linking Deorali with the Tashiling Secretariat has been

commissioned.- Model village having all the basic civic amenities and modern facilities are

being constructed in different parts of the State.- Free LPG gas connection is provided to families living below poverty line.- New Industrial Policy on the line of North Eastern Industrial Policy extended

to Sikkim.- Sikkim has been declared as Agri-Expo Zone.- Govt. determines to make Sikkim an Organic State.- Set up Regulated market at Rangpo for the benefit of the farmers.- 135ft. tall statue of Guru Padmasabhava, the Patron Saint of Sikkim has

been installed at Samdruptase.- As a mark of tribute to the last monarch of Sikkim life size statue of Chogyal

of Sikkim Palden Thondup Namgyal was installed at P.T. Namgyal MemorialPark at Deorali.

- Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, sanctions Rs. 350 Croresduring his recent visit to Sikkim.

- Janta Mela, the biggest ever welfare package for the poorSikkimese was held in different parts of the State.

A Decade of DevelopmentRemarkable achievements of the ruling Sikkim Democratic FrontGovernment during the past one decade.

Rel

ease

Ord

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04/IP

R/ 0

3-04

. Dat

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-02-

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Issued by

The Department of Information and Public RelationsGovernment of Sikkim

04-10 Feb, 2003; NOW! 15

C M Y K

extras

AROUNDTOWN

INTHECITY

allowed them to use the top floorof the shopping complex for con-ducting the prayers.

Appreciation was also given tothe entire bazaar committee forparticipating in the puja. The Rs.5 lakhs spent on the entire exer-cise was raised through dona-tions and contributions made byindividuals, associations andgovernment departments.

The puja which was held toward off evil spirits and bringpeace and harmony to the State,was inaugurated by Power Min-ister, Hishey Lachungpa on 28January. Spiritual leaders from allreligions gathered inside themassive pandal to pray for peaceand prosperity. Monks, priests,pundits and imams along withmembers of Sai Samiti andChinmaya Mission prayed to-gether in an unusual and secularinitiative to foster goodwill andharness positive energy.

It was, however, the presenceof Kopchay Baba which addednew dynamics to the puja. Hugecrowds gathered for blessingsfrom the Guruji, who in a shortwhile has attracted believers fromall across the region. Peoplescrambled for a darshan andhordes lined up to receive grainsof rice blessed by him.

Let us hope the faith of the or-ganizers and the people in thepower of puja brings good fortuneto the state.

Contd from pg 13

THEPOWER

OFPRAYERSur Sudha, the renowned

classical trio from Nepal, de-livered on their promise on Sat-urday, 31 January, when theycharmed the audience at theirperformance at Sikkim Govern-ment College Auditorium.

The event, organized by MaltaInternational in collaboration withFalcon International, was the firstof its kind in Gangtok. All appre-hensions that the organizers may

have had over the turnout at theclassical music programme wasbelied by the enthusiastic re-sponse of the crowd.

Sur Sudha consists of SurendraShreshta on Tabla, Prem RanaAutari on flute and Tara BirBahadur on sitar. The acclaimedtrio has performed at various inter-national venues and have won asmany awards for their music.

The Gangtok performancehowever did not have Tara BirBahadur at the sitar, but VidyaKumari Lama, the first lady sitaristfrom Nepal who came as his re-

placement gave a fine perfor-mance. The innovative interpreta-tions of traditional Nepali folk tunesalong with purely classical rendi-tions were enhanced by the pres-ence of fusion guitarist Anil Sahi.

Falcon International, a localevent management group, whichstarted its innings by bringing SurSuddha here promises to bringmore such artists from Nepal inthe future.

That will be something to lookforward to for Gangtokians, del-uged as they are under the on-slaught of pop music.

a NOW REPORT

ACLASSACTSur Sudhadelivers on itspromise

Even as nearly 30 excited chil-dren got into the SNT bus, to

head to Saramsa, it was clear theywere in for five adventurous andactivity filled days at the secondCamp Sikkim.

Organized by Sikkim Tours &Travels under the guidance ofLukendra Rasaily, the camp is aneffort to wean children away fromtelevision sets and have themexplore and learn more about theoutdoors.

“We want to teach childrenvarious things, about the environ-ment, about music, about creativ-ity, but all through a fun and en-joyable way,” tells Lukendra

At Saramsa, the camp was in-augurated by reading out of theschedule for the five days fol-lowed by an ice breaking sessionwhere all the little participantswere made to introduce them-selves. Apart from mealtimes andgames, the first day’s activitiesincluded leadership training andtime management. So if the kidcomes back home and says I want

something and I want it now, youknow whom to blame!

“We want to build aptitude andskill,” says Lukendra. Whichmeans introductory classes inhandicraft and toy-making, pho-tography, basis of dancing andacting will all form part of the 5day programme.

Competitions and prizes will beawarded on the basis of merit in

various categories.Parents and guardians are in-

vited on the last day for lunch atSaramsa. With 17 volunteers and7 counsellors, the children atCamp Sikkim seem well set for afun and learning experience. ForLukendra, who plans to make thisan annual event, it will be worthall the effort that he and othershave put into it.

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C M Y K

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Working in the MerchantNavy speaks of adventure,

independence, an exciting life-style and of course, a high in-come. If you work for a foreigncompany, the advantages of acareer in the merchant Navy aremany. Free boarding, big moneyand stopovers at exotic destina-tions are all part of this unusualcareer.

Now you can train for a careerin the Merchant Navy at Gangtokitself and moreover also get a jobthrough the company. At least thatis what the agency claims. ThePacific Management and Ser-

vices, a Kolkata based companyoffers these services from theirpremises at Jewel of The BigMountain, Near FCI Godown onthe National Highway.

The company offers two fourmonth courses and promises tofind job placements for those whohave completed the training. TheDeck Cadet course and the Gen-eral Purpose Rating course areboth approved by the DirectorGeneral, Shipping, Ministry ofSurface Transport, Governmentof India.

“Ours is a registered companywith national and internationalmaritime organizations. Wepromise a starting salary of atleast Rs. 15000,” said Sagar

Chakraborty, Managing Director,PSMS, at the launching of theservice, here in the state.

The company also sponsorsand liaisons students to variousDGS approved training institutesall over India. On completion ofthe course, these candidates canjoin the companies, which hassponsored them, at attractivesalaries.

The company which has cli-ents in countries like Seychelles,Mauritius, South Africa andKenya also provides hotel man-agement staff to their partneringhotels in these countries.

For more details phone225361/9832089774 or e-mail:admin@pacificjob123.com.

With the omnipresence ofelectronic media in our

lives, it was only a matter of timebefore Sikkim took the first tenta-tive steps in this direction. SikkimDigital Media Academy [SDMA],a training school for those inter-ested in digital filmmaking waslaunched last year by SikkimComputers. The academy re-cently organized a four-day work-shop on digital film making.

Colleen Kaman, a televisionjournalist and film producer fromthe US was specially invited toconduct the workshop. Colleen,who has won many awards for herwork has worked as writer-pro-ducer for CNN, National Geo-graphic and other prestigiouschannels.

The basics of documentaryfilmmaking and technical ele-ments about camera movements,lighting, etc was introduced to theparticipants, who were dividedinto three groups and asked tomake short films on differentthemes.

“We were asked to cover threebasic styles of filmmaking, tradi-tional, reporter and verite,” saysPema Ladhakhi, one of the enthu-siasts at the workshop.

For the traditional form the stu-dents were taken to nearby vil-lages, while most shot the reporter

segments at MG Marg.“The experience was very edu-

cative. I hope they conduct alonger workshop in the future,”says Prashant Rasaily, who al-ready has two ongoing shows onNayuma Cable Channel.

The workshop ended with thehanding out of certificates to theparticipants. Jim, an Environmen-talist from USA was a special in-vitee and PD Rai, Founder,SDMA, the chief guest.

Addressing the gathering Mr.Rai said that the state has manytalented people who do not get achance to fully utilize their poten-tial. The academy will provide aplatform for these budding talents.

“We intend to conduct suchworkshops regularly to expose ouryouth to international standards,”

he promised.This was also reiterated by

Chunnilal Ghimeray, Director,SDMA, who said that it was veryimportant to learn the right tech-nique of filmmaking. Workshopslike these and training that theacademy provides will help in gen-erating an alternate career in film-making for the youth in the state.

Ms. Kaman said that her col-laboration with SDMA would re-main with her even after she re-turned to America. “I hope to sendacross directors and techniciansfrom there to conduct similarworkshops in the future,” she said.

With this being the first work-shop of its kind taking place here,the nascent film and television in-dustry in the state seems headedfor a more active time.

INTHECITYa NOW REPORT

Colleen Kaman [extreme right] with a participant

Learning to strike the right pose.Behind the camera

a NOW REPORT

MARITIME FUTURES FOR HIMALAYAN KIDS

PUREMASTIYoung“Campers”at CampSikkim

04-10 Feb, 2003; NOW! 17

C M Y K

POETRYSTORIESPOETRYSTORIESPOETRYSTORIESPOETRYSTORIESPOETRYSTORIESPOETRYSTORIESPOETRYLiTNOWWHEN THE HILLS WRITE

�He uttered his monosyllables in a

crusty Bhutanese guttural thatseemed to rise from the doma

paan soaked depths of his vocal cords.The words just hung out there in the air fora brief, gruff second and then faded out,killing all chances that the other party tothe exchange had of striking some sort ofa conversational intimacy.

I had known him for some years nowand it was only during the occasional get-togethers that I could manage toget more words than the usualDukpa negatives that he seemedlinguistically capable of. Theseparties, if you could call them that,were hastily worked out affairsarranged almost entirely on thespiritual strength of the oldfavourite Gold Star. A few friendswould pool in the money whileanother would proffer the facilitiesof his bachelor ’s pad and wewould in a Kalimpong minutehave a very convivial crowd. TheDukpa chipped in with imadachi -that idiosyncratic Bhutanese cu-linary concoction which in all itssublime smelliness hijacked ourtaste buds and had us wateringfor more. There was a very happymarriage of tastes, as the chillies,interspersed generously in thatmalodorous paste of ancientcheese highlighted the hideouspungency of ‘raw’ Gold Star andcreated in our throats a very ma-cho after-burn that had to bequenched with more Gold Star.The Dukpa was the one whotaught us the real way to drinkbrandy. It was otherwise our habitto dilute the spirit with coke tomake it easier on our throats. He was thefirst one to challenge that infantile, almosteffete notion of boozing by guzzling downthe spirit ‘raw’. A word that seemed to, in avery non-English way, capture the machoessence of the whole exercise.

And so it was with our parties.Of course, we all paid full recompense

for our sins the next morning when we wokeup with our heads swollen and our entiresystems hostage to a hangover that per-sisted for the better part of the day. But theDukpa seemed surprisingly immune to this.

Later I understood the reason for his re-silience from in an article that I read in Time.Dukpa was sixty and his brain had atrophied.This meant that while our inebriated brainsswelled with water and pushed at the cra-nium, Dukpa’s had shrivelled just enough.

This was one of the smaller mercies ofaging.

Dukpa however did not understand allthis and attributed his immunity to the biol-ogy of his race. As for the aging he wasmortified by it. Every grey hair, each foldof a wrinkle was cause for alarm. Therewas of course the dye to deal with thegreys, but the wrinkles had to be suffered.The only saving grace was the fact thatwrinkles as a matter of nature happenedvery slowly. Even then, Dukpa counted theyears with a philosophic disdain. Its arith-metic was overwhelmingly against him.Should he live to that abnormally old ageof eighty, it just meant another seven thou-sand three hundred days on the face ofthis earth. Dukpa knew this fact very welland debited each day after dinner by cross-ing out the date on the calendar. In a dif-ferential way, the unmarked slots in the cal-endar, was the quota of life that he couldlay claim to.

I learnt all this about the Dukpa whenhe spoke to me during our get-togethers.There used to be several threads of con-

A Traveller’s Mind

Yet another day

As I sit alone,

Watching, waiting desperately

For time to take its course;

The unknown future

Lurking ahead of me

Disrupting the present peace of mind.

Just a pause;

I exhale.

Wondering what lies in wait for me,

A blurry vision of the days to come

Turns desperation into urgency,

Urgency into addiction:

An addiction to sought-out dreams;

My whole being is engulfed in

A world of illusion.

Entrapment

You had me believe I was

the enchantress.

Needless, unspoken words that longed to

be heard

Silently expressed by the vibrant life in

your voice;

Radiant and reflected in the

windows of your soul.

So mesmerising,

The sinful nature of laughter

Resounding in my head.

I lose sight;

Blinded by the memory of your smile.

I feel my senses deserting me,

Oblivious to my screaming grip;

Intoxicated by your being,

Controller of my sanity.2poems

by DECHEN TASHI

Gangtok

ChroniclesKALDEN GYATSO

Remember Naya Bazar, fresh bazaarLal Bazar, a red bizarre.

The rambling strangeness of DeoraliCapital Gangtok in a capital G

And winter months when koyla ran outIn the hazy shade of December

To freeze GangtokiansAnd to freeze the madman

Who shouted and just shouted.

Mall road at evening and window shoppers,Tourists, students, rap and reebock

And local shaman buying antibiotics.Feathered friends and magical tong in

a breakA brake.

And in the dark streets wherePlaywin litters like breeding mongrels,

In the dull streets of Gangtok,Where parsimonious scatter of billboards

Hang mid-air betweenCommercialised versions and pathetic

reality.Young girls laughForeign laughter,

Perfumed laughter.Laughter in vulgar make-up congested

With anxious but dead parents.Faded parents, nonchalant, non committed

Like the community library, endangered stories,Sheltered in blankets of tattered parchment

With stapled fossils of silver fish.Fatly baffled

Simply dead.

Annual Ethiopian famine strikes CNN and BBC,And plethora of Gangtok eateries serving hot

Alien recipes of a foreign palateA divine favouritism I self assure

This is the strange townWhich has come up in the world, with its

Shabby Sundays and moss green concretes,Juxtaposed in an ugly stance,

Bakhu-clad palas in Reid ’n TaylorAnd lips reeking of a Mesolithic synonym

‘Politics’ and ‘Corruption’And shops with slow provocative eyes.

The facade of discos,Blaring karaokes and Star hotels that

Snatch some handful booze partiesWith comrade cupids curled on

gel-drenched hairInsomnia and a new genre of clan

I want to go back to its morning yearsWhere they don’t know New York,

Nor Europe where ambitions ripe,Instead afternoons mixed with the rhythm

Of monsoon raindrops in quiet little cottages.They sold moonshine for ‘A’

And peaches for ‘U’And in the woods pine grew cones

That fell with time,Fell like those worn out clichés

Performing a dust to dust traditionAnd some light years later

Landed in my mind.

In the end,I wish to rub off this town’s memory

And make it look for me in vain.

The poet studies in class X at Holy Cross, Gangtok

versation like parallel subplots of a largelymeaningless drama. The two of us spokeand the others engaged in their usual ban-ter with their usual partners. I liked Dukpafor his honesty, and the surprises that hetreated me with each time he revealed tome a newer aspect of his personality.There was a time when I had this one-di-mensional apperception of his existence.He was just a doma paan, a booming voiceand a scooter. But now he was much more.

His wife and her children were tuckedaway in a village in Bhutan. The sons werein the army and the daughters married off.His wife refused to come to Kalimpongwhere Dukpa taught dzongkha in a mis-sionary school. He missed his family in avery polite sort of a way. It did not motivatehim to take any action to fill the absence.[He however, did write them letters in hisbeautiful, literate, calligraphic hand.] Herehe led a useful life, a social animal with apurpose. He lived all alone in his quietquarters, going through the motions of lifelike a well wound clock. Of course there

were reservations that could be made ofhis personal hygiene. He smelt bad andhad this habit of rolling water in the mouthto warm them before he spouted them outin his hand to wash his face. There wereapocryphal stories about stones in hisbathroom but it does not serve anyone’spurpose to get more graphical than that.The Dukpa entrusted the more prosaicduties of housekeeping to a young kamigirl who used come there in the morning.

She cooked him his breakfast,made his bed and then did theusual things to make the househabitable on a day-to-day basis.The Dukpa used to go off toschool leaving the girl to water thegeraniums, and, to bring the mat-ter up again, remove the stonesfrom the bathroom.

She was a quiet girl,unglamorous in a rustic sort of away. She was like the Dukpa alittle partial towards monosyl-lables. The two of them when to-gether, lived in their own pocketsof silence. When I visited theDukpa to invite him to our partiesthe girl served me tea in a mugand having done so closed thatinteraction with a mechanicalfolding of the hands in an unspo-ken, unsaid namaste.

The Dukpa however had aproblem with that girl. She was, touse the Dukpa’s unadulterated in-sinuation, “a thief”. It seemed thatthe girl would, when she felt theneed, have no hesitation in help-ing herself with the vegetables,soap, loose change, candles etc.Things got lost when she wasaround in the house. Not the sort

of things that you would notice in a big waybut commonplace stuff, which a man wouldnever miss. But the Dukpa was a man oflimited means, not necessarily tight-fisted butforced by circumstances to keep a mentalledger on tomatoes and other kitchen trivialike that. When he confronted the girl, as anymaster would she not only denied it all butspent the next two days wrapped up in aself-imposed silence of hurt.

Of course things did not stop disappear-ing. The Dukpa was losing sleep over this.If he fired the girl, whom would he replaceher with? She was after all a good worker.

FICTION BY PRAVEEN MOKTAN

turn to pg 22

18; NOW! ; 04-10 Feb, 2004

C M Y K

extras

NOW!

It is said that the way to the heart isthrough the stomach. And if one is talking about feeding 1,500 hungry souls

everyday, it would surely mean winning alot of hearts.

And Sonny Gurung excels at just that.Young, smart and single. A confident

and independent entrepreneur, Sonnymade her mark in a very short span of time,achieving for herself what others at her agecan only aspire for. That too, in a field thatis considered a predominately male do-main - catering.

Schooled at Tashi Namgyal Academy,with a degree in Hotel Management fromthe Institute of Hotel Management, NewDelhi, Sonny did a short stint at the SikkimHouse, New Delhi, before quitting to jointhe Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in NewDelhi as a Guest Relations Officer. A yearlater she decided to call it quits and comeback home for good.

In early 1997, when the Sikkim ManipalInstitute of Technology first started at theCentral Referral Hospital campus at 5th

Mile, Tadong, Sonnyapplied for a job there.She was instead toldthat they neededsomeone to run thecanteen and a littlelater she was told thatthey needed some-one to run the hostelmess as well. Shewas more than readyto strike out on herown.

Sonny got thecontract to run boththe canteen as wellas the mess, but forjust a one-month trialperiod.

“The managementobviously wanted tosee whether I couldhandle the job prop-erly or not.”

The managementwas more than satis-fied with her work.She has been asso-

ciated with the SMIT for seven years now.Was the initial period a difficult one for

this fresh young graduate?“I was prepared to face anything. But

fortunately I did not face any opposition ordifficulties. It really wasn’t too difficult al-though I personally used to sometimes won-der whether I could pull it off or not. But thetremendous support I received from myfamily made sure that I did not falter at all.When I first started running both the messand the canteen, my father used to accom-pany me and help me through the initialteething problems,” she recalls.

Even her uncle would put in a helpinghand during big events and functions atSMIT. The management too showed greatfaith in her and her capabilities.

And, Sonny never let anybody down.Soon, she proved she possessed tremen-dous organizational capabilities. It is cer-tainly not easy for a woman to run a messfor 1,500 students and manage a staff ofabout 80 people on a day-to-day basis. ButSonny seems to have it all under control.She leads from the front – it is not very un-common to see her leave behind prejudicesand help her workers in cooking, distribut-ing food and even cleaning the mess pre-mises. She manages to extract the bestfrom her staff members and they in return,hold her in utmost respect and awe.

For Ram Kumar, her head cook, Sonnyis just more than a mere employer.

“I have been working for Sonny Madamsince 1999 and she has always been firmbut has also treated us with a lot of con-cern and care. She is a hard taskmaster.She shouts at us when we don’t work prop-erly but that’s only to get the best out ofus. She is a stickler for hygiene and clean-liness and no one complains since she al-ways treats us like her own family,” he says.

The management at SMIT echoes thesame sentiments. Col. Balwant Singh(Retd), the Project Officer, SMIT, is allpraises for her.

“It is simply amazing to see someoneso young single-handedly handle 1500 stu-

dents with so much confidence and effi-ciency. Providing good food for so manystudents with different tastes everyday isno mean feat. But for Sonny, it’s all in aday’s work. Even in extreme situationssuch as bandhs in West Bengal or the clo-sure of the National Highway, we neverhave to worry about anything. We can besure that there will be food on our tables,on time,” Col. Singh says.

Over the years, Sonny has become apart of the SMIT family, feels its director,Brig. [Dr.] RS Grewal.

“She is an institution by herself. Thoughher main responsibility is running the Stu-dents’ Mess and the Canteen but her con-tribution to various other extra curricularactivities is really significant. You cannotimagine a function in SMIT without herparticipation. She does not believe in say-ing ‘No’ or ‘Impossible’. Whenever thereis a function, we just haveto inform her. Even on lastminute requests, we areassured of sumptuousbanquets. She is definitelythe life of SMIT,” he says.

Sonny surely has herfinger on the SMIT pulse.

“Her ability to under-stand human nature helpsher in coming up to the ex-pectations of the students.She can visualize theirneeds and takes action ac-cordingly. It would not bean over statement to saythat her endeavour is togive the students a homeaway from home, at leastas far as catering is con-

cerned. She regularly takes the feed backfrom the students and modifies the menuto cater to the tastes of students who hailfrom different regions of the country. Athome it is difficult for a mother to cater tothe tastes of all her children but she is ableto strike a good balance. Whenever shegets a complaint, and that is not very fre-quent, she immediately takes action to re-dress it,” adds the director.

The young entrepreneur, however,laughs off the praises, in her characteris-tic cheerfulness.

“I guess I am lucky to be doing what Ihave been trained for. The training that Ihad has been put to good use,” she laughs.

Her recipe for success?“Work hard. Take no shit from anyone

and always enjoy what you do!”Yes Ma’am.

- SARIKAH ATREYA

FUTURE NOWthe

is

NOW! profiles SONNY

GURUNG, the lady

who feeds 1,500

students everyday...

Sonny at work

ARIES: Financial strain will be reduced.Understanding with your life partner will begood. Happiness will prevail. Cash flow willbe very good. Tensions will be reduced. Youwill receive encouraging communication.TAURUS: Happiness will prevail. Tensionwill be reduced. Cash flow will be verygood. You will release tangled assets. Youwill seek a balanced view of things. Youwill receive good news.GEMINI: There will be happiness at home.Financial crisis will be reduced. You will bepopular. Social status will improve. Healthwill be good. You will be free of all worries.CANCER: You will be successful in all youdo. Financial status will be sound. You will

be in a position to release tangled assets. Youmay come into ancestral property. Prosperityis indicated. Worries will be reduced. Under-standing with your life partner will be very good.You may welcome a grandchild in the family.LEO: A long trip is indicated. Financial posi-tion will be sound. Happiness will continue.Business will be brisk. You may be blessedwith immovable property. Some may acquirea new vehicle.VIRGO: You may face a financial crisis. Youmay be blessed with immovable property.Domestic happiness is indicated. You mayreceive a promotion. Happiness will prevail.Those in trade and agencies may do better.LIBRA: You will find favourable changes.

You may go on a long trip. You may face asetback in health. Business will thrive. Youmay take on a new agency business. Achange in surroundings will make you happy.You may face hostility. Uncommon expen-diture is likely. Service people may get a pro-motion and a transfer.SCORPIO: You will be very active. You mayget an overseas opportunity. Health will begood. Understanding with your life partnerwill be good. Litigation will be postponed. Po-sition and prosperity is indicated.SAGITTARIUS: You may take a major de-cision at home. A financial crisis is indicated.Litigation will be postponed. Expenditure onchildren is likely. Encouraging communica-tion will be received. Understanding with yourspouse and business partner will be verygood. Financial position will be good. Trad-ers may find an improvement.

CAPRICORN: Financial crisis will be re-duced. Traders will do better. Understand-ing with your life partner and business part-ner will be very good. Those appearing forcompetitive examinations will find easy suc-cess. You will observe positive changesaround you. Family life will be very good.AQUARIUS: Success in all your attempts isassured. Litigation will be postponed. Exportbusiness will be very good. Cash flow will bevery good. Expenses will be reduced. Ten-sions will be relieved. mical activities will con-tinue throughout. A change of place will cheeryou up. Domestic happiness will prevail.PISCES: You may get a good opportunityto showcase your talents. You will find suc-cess in competition. Students will do well.Financial position will very good. You mayinitiate new ventures. Health will be good.Litigation will be postponed.

Workhard. Takeno shitfromanyoneandalwaysenjoywhat youdo!

04-10 Feb, 2003; NOW! 19

C M Y K

FACTOR NOW! FOR THE YOUNG✗

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Nothings

All dear concerned...

May I beg “Lord” to

permit for all of us the

grant of peace,

prosperity, health and

happiness in all these

days to come

Dilip Kumar Darjee,

SMU, Tadong

Dear Diki

Please remember that

life is never so bad at its

worst that is impossible

to live and never so

good at its best that it is

easy to live. Sorry for

what happened.

TK

Hey man in black

Get some colour in life

and get back here

pronto. Things dull here

without your

wisecracks.

Aunty

Last week’s winning message: Dear Mom & Dad, Happy Anniversary! Wishing you

two many more years of undying love and togetherness. Much Love, Nannu & chhotu

Gitika Singh of Class X waschosen as the ‘State Win-

ner’ of Sikkim in the recently heldGreen Olympiad Examinationconducted by The Energy andResources Institute (TERI), NewDelhi, under the Ministry of Envi-ronment and Forests, Govern-ment of India.

The Green Olympiad wasconducted on September 2003.

Twenty two students ofKendriya Vidyala has taken partin the examination. Gitika stoodas ‘State Winner’ for Sikkim andhas been awarded with a cashprize of Rs. 5000 along with a certificate.

“Her achievement has gone a long way to encourage other stu-dents to utilize every opportunity and to achieve success in theirevery endeavour,” says E Krishna Murthy, Principal, KendriyaVidyalaya

Congratulations Gitika!

WINNER GETS FREEDINNER FOR TWO AT

NO CORRECT ENTRIES

Solve the crossword correctly. Rush it to Oberois (MG Marg) or NOW!, on or before Sunday anda lucky draw of all correct entries will decide who wins FREE DINNER FOR TWO at LITTLE ITALY,DEORALI.Snacks coupons to be collected from NOW! office

italylittle

SNOD Complex, Deorali,Gangtok.Ph: 281980

LITTLECROSSWORD - 078

THE

Across1. Speaks withimpediment6. Close rangephotograph8. Scent9. In favour of10. Capital of Italy12. Small dam15. Conclusion16. Capable ofbeing cured18. Inhabitant ofSparta19. Teacher

Down1. Femaleleopard2. Tart3. Rub vigorously4. Made a hole5. Persons ingeneral7. Owner of abusiness11. Noon13. Sharp14. Publish17. Waist band

All my people in the crowd

Grab a partner take it down!

[B:] It's me against the music. [M:] Uh uh

[B:] It's just me. [M:] And me

[B:] Yeah. [M:] C'mon. Hey Britney?

[B:] Are you ready? [M:] Uh uh, are you?

[B&M:] No one cares

[B:] It's whippin'my hair, it's pullin' my waist

[B&M:] To hell with stares

[B:] The sweat is drippin' all over my face

[B&M:] No one's there

[B:] I'm the only one dancin' up in this place

[B&M:] Tonight I'm here

[B:] Feel the beat of the drum, gotta keep it that bass

[B:] I'm up against the speaker, tryin' to take on the music

[B:] It's like a competition, me against the beat

[B:] I wanna get in the zone, I wanna get in the zone

[B:] If you really wanna battle, saddle up and get your rhythm

[B:] Tryin' to hit it, CHIC-A-TAA

[B:] In a minute I'm a take a you on, I'm a take a you on

Hey, hey, hey

[CHORUS]

[B&M:] All my people on the floor

[B:] Let me see you dance. [M:] Let me see ya

[B&M:] All my people wantin' more

[B:] Let me see you dance. [M:] I wanna see ya

[B&M:] All my people round and round

[B:] Let me see you dance

[M:] Let me see ya

[B&M:] All my people in the crowd

[B:] Let me see you dance

[M:] I wanna see ya

[B&M:] So how would you like a friendly competition

[B&M:] Let's take on the song

[B&M:] It's you and me baby, we're the music

[B&M:] Time to party all night long

[B&M:] We're almost there

[B:] I'm feelin' it bad and I can't explain

[B&M:] My soul is bare

[B:] My hips are movin' at a rapid pace

[B&M:] Baby feel it burn

[B:] From the tip of my toes, runnin' through my veins

[B&M:] And now it's your turn

[B:] Let me see what you got, don't hesitate

[B:] I'm up against the speaker, tryin' to take on the music

[B:] It's like a competition, me against the beat

[B:] I w anna get in the zone, I wanna get in the zone

[B:] If you really wanna battle, saddle up and get your rhythm

[B:] Tryin' to hit it, CHIC-A-TAA

[B:] In a minute I'm a take a you on, I'm a take a you on

Hey, hey, hey

[CHORUS - as before]

[B&M:] Get on the floor, baby lose control

[B&M:] Just work your body and let it go

[B&M:] If you wanna party, just grab somebody

[M:] Hey Britney

[B&M:] We can dance all night long

MeAgainst

TheMusic

Britney Spears featuring Madonna

KV girl lifts GreenOlympiad

Hi Tall Slim Sexy

Don’t forget us and

especially you know

who!! And its allright. I

understand. It happens

to the best of us.

From one who knows

Dear Ganga

Many happy returns of

the day and may this

year bring you all the

happiness you deserve.

From your loving

parents

Dear Rahul

All the best for the

exams. Remember if

you refuse to accept

anything but the best in

life, you very often get

it.

Didi

20; NOW! ; 04-10 Feb, 2004

C M Y K

NEXT CHANGE

DENZONG

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DOLBY DIGITAL;SURROUND EX

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Jashoda loves surfing the net, music and reading

extras

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LAST WEEK’S ANSWER: Nicole KidmanWinner: Karma S., Gangtok

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BEST POP PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH

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songwriters (Evanescence Featuring Paul McCoy)

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THE NOMINEES ARE

04-10 Feb, 2003; NOW! 21

C M Y K

Q.1 Draw a graph showing the variation of current with resistance of a con-

ductor, if the potential difference across the conductor maintained at a

constant value.

Q.2 Name the elements of Earth’s magnetism

Q.3 How would you minimize the heat produce by eddy current in a trans-

former?

Q.4 Why ground wave communication of the signal is not possible for long

distance?

Q.5 Why is wave nature of matter not appeared to our daily life?

Q.6 In the following diagram, calculate the current through every path.

Q.7 A galvanometer has a resistance of 100 OHM. A resistance of 1 ohm is

connected cross its terminal. What part of the total current flows through

the galvanometer?

Q.8 A point charge q is moving with a speed v perpendicular to a Magnetic

field as shown in the figure.

Explain what should be the magnitude and direction of the applied Field

so that the net force acting on the charge is 0.

OR

Explain the cause of earth’s magnetism.

Q9 In figure the straight wire AB is fixed while the loop is free to move under

the influence of electric current flowing in them. In which direction does

the loop begin to move?

Give reason for your answer.

Q10 Calculate the power factor of an electrical network having a resistance a

4 ohm, an inductor of 3 Henry in series.

Q11 What is total intravel reflection? Define critical angle of a medium.

Q12 If a convex lense be immersed inside a liquid of refractive index 1.5 how

does its focal lense change.

Q13 Obtain an expression for the energy stored in a parallel plate capacitor.

OR

Two charges 3 micro coulomb and 4 micro coulomb are apart by a distance

3 cm, find a point where the electric field intensity due to these charges is 0.

Q14 How can a moving coil galvanometer be converted into an ammeter. To

increase the current sensitivity of a galvanometer by 50%, its resistance

is increased so that the new resistance becomes twice the initial resis-

tance. By what factor does its voltage sensitivity change?

Q15 A bulb of resistance 10 Ohm connected to an inductor of inductance L

Henry, is in series with an a.c. source marked 100V, 50Hz. If the phase

angle between the voltage and the current J/4 radian, Calculate the

value of L.

Q16 Draw a labeled diagram of Hertz’s apparatus and explain the principle of

the experiment to produce electromagnetic wave.

Q17 Define polarizing angle. Derive the relation connecting polarizing angle

and refractive index of medium.

Q18 Draw a graph to show the variation of angle of deviation D with that of

the angle of incidence I for a monochromatic ray of light passing through

a glass prism of refracting angle A. Hence deduce the relation.

Sin (A+B)

M= 2

Sin (A/2)

Where M=refractive index of prism.

Q19 The wavelength of ë(lambda) of a photon and de-Broglie wavelength of

an electron have the same value. Show that the energy of photon is 2

ümc/ h time kinetic energy of the electron where m, c and h have their

usual meanings.

Q20 Calculate the energy released in the following nuclear reaction:-6

3Li + 1

0n ------------- 4

2He + 3

1H

Given mas of 3Li6 = 6.015126u; mass of 10n = 1.008665u; mass of 42He= 4.002604u; and 31H = 3.016049 and 1u = 931 He V.

Q21 Define the term (i) disintegration constant and ii) half period for radioac-

tive nucleus and obtain relation between them.

Q22 How is P-type semiconductor formed? Name the major charge carriers in

it. Draw the energy bar of a P-type semiconductor.

Q23 Define the term Modulation. What is the role of satellite for the commu-

nication?

Q24 Obtain an expression for the height of antenna for sky wave communica-

tion. For your city Gangtok, calculate the region through which a 20 m

high antenna at Hanumantok can transmit the signal of Akashbani, Gangtok.

Q25 An electric dipole of dipole moment 6P is held in Uniform electric field 6E,such that the axis of the two makes an angle s with the electric field.

Prove that (i) no translatory force acts on dipole. (ii) The torque on the dipole is6.T = 6P X 6E and what happens to the dipole when released in the uniformelectric field

OR

A glass rod rubbed with silk is brought close to two uncharged spheres in contactwith each other. The charge on them as shown in fiure. Show with diagram ineach case (i) what happens when the spheres are slightly separated, (ii) subse-quently removed; separated far aparts.

Q26 Define the term potential barrier and depletion region for P-N function diode.Wxplain with the help of a circuit diagram, the use of P-N function diode as afull wave rectifier. Draw the input and output Forms.

Q27 How many KWh are consumed by an A.C. drawing 10A current at 200V for 2hours daily in the month of September? What is the temperature of inversion?How does it depend upon the temperature of circuit junction.

It is desired to deposit 0.5 kg of silver per hour on the Cathode of Silver Volta-meter when resistance is 2m S. How much P.D. must be maintained between theplates of the Voltameter during electrolysis? Use the known value of Faraday’sconstant F=96,500 c/mole. Relative atomic mass is 108.

�

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B

A C

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P=10 ohm Q=20 ohm

P=300 ohm 600 ohm

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+ + + ++ + + +

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22; NOW! ; 04-10 Feb, 2004

C M Y K

MARKETPULSE �

Kutse SheguThe 49th day Shegu of late Chumki Bhutia, w/oRinzing Wangyal Kazi, who left for her heavenlyabode on 27th December 2003 falls on 13thFebruary 2004. All well-wishers, friends andrelatives are cordially requested to join us in offeringprayers for the departed soul at our residence atYangtey Kothi, Sakyong Road, Geyzing.We also take this opportunity to thank all those whostood by us during the time of bereavement andregret our inability to thank them individually.

Rinzing Wangyal Kazi (husband)

Rinchen, Diki, Gyaltsen (daughters), Jamyang (son)

Phone: 03595-250135

Railways are now to gohigh-tech. Soon the daysof standing in queue for

your train tickets will come to anend. At least for those with a mo-bile phone and access to the com-puter. In a months time E-ticket-ing will allow you to book yourticket online, take out a printoutand hop onto a train. You can alsobook your tickets on your mobilephone and get SMS alerts on traindelays. This was unveiled by Rail-way Minister, Nitish Kumar whilepresenting the interim budget on30 January, last Friday.

Passengers will be able to buytickets through mobile phones onthe net. The railways have beenrunning a service through the lat-ter half of last year for makingbookings through the computeron the net with the ticket beingdelivered at the address given bythe passenger. The service is avail-able on www.irctc.co.in.

Once you connect to the rail-way web page – the site has notbeen created yet – it will seek thepassenger’s name, age, train, des-tination, date of journey and theaddress at which the ticket is tobe delivered.

An SMS will be sent seeking

He had become used to her likeshe was a useful piece of furni-ture. The problem with servantsis that they are so rare. He couldhave one of those agents bringher a “black” girl from the plainsbut there was no guarantee thatthey would stay. This was the thingthat was eating the Dukpa for quitesometime now. There was a timewhen he did the housework him-self but like a new invention thatyou cannot do without once it en-ters into your system, the girl wasnow an essential part of his exist-ence like his hands or the domapaan. When I say girl it is not tosay ‘girl’ in that unique individualsense of the word. I mean, girl asin servant. This was what theDukpa tried to explain to me. Whatthis implied was that should theDukpa get himself another maidlike this one, life would go on asnormally as it did now. But ofcourse without that tension of liv-ing as a victim. Being thieved atfills one with a profound sense ofviolation, an unspeakable vulner-ability, as if you are naked or weakenough to be picked upon at will.The Dukpa needed a shoulder to

Contd from pg 17

THE MATCHMAKERcry on and I, being a veryempathising specimen, especiallywhen drunk, provided him with allthe support that he needed to re-solve his moral dilemma. This isalso the main reason why I couldnever find him another girl. It isonly when my sensitivities wereheightened by alcohol that I ap-preciate the gravity of the problem.The rest of the times it did notseem that important. The fact thatI rarely met the Dukpa did notseem to help much either.

However the last time that Imet the Dukpa he seemed a verychanged man. Gone was the ten-sion, that usual obsession withhis plight. He made a meanimadachi and downed his goldstar with extra relish. In fact heseemed younger than his years.I never really bring up that con-versation about the girl, its likereminding one of his toothache.But in my mind I satisfied myselfwith the thought that he hadfound another maid. I felt happyfor dear Dukpa and quietly mar-velled at the way our mental dis-positions reflect on our counte-nance. I was after all closeenough to be infected by his san-guinity. This was one of the best

parties I have had. As any tipplerwill tell you, a positive outlook anda good mood makes one marvel-ously resilient to the affects of al-cohol and it is biologically pos-sible to sustain the high for ab-normal lengths of time. Dukpaand I probably broke all recordsthat day. Our friends were plas-tered all over the place in variousstages of blackouts. There werealso some trying to puke out thepoison. But there we were talk-ing the night away.

Finally I summoned up thecourage to ask him about the girl.Dukpa with a flourish said, “Nowshe will steal no more.”

His tone had a Biblical finalityabout it.

I thought maybe he instilled inher the moral discipline to respectother people’s property. But whathe said after that threw the fieldwide open. He said, “I marriedthat *****, she is now my wife”.

All of a sudden I began to thinkof everything possible. Did the girlactually plan it out that way?Wasn’t that a master-stroke onthe part of the Dukpa, killing twobirds with one stone? There wereother things to think about too.She had been clearing thosestones from the toilet. Maybe theyreally were meant for each other.

GANGTOK: Targeting morethan 4,00,00 mobile and WLLcustomers in 2004, BSNL hasopened a new exchange atPenangla in the outskirts ofGangtok to ease traffic congestionin its coverage area. The newmobile exchange was inauguratedby the Governor, V Rama Rao, onJanuary 28, last Wednesday, in thepresence of a large number ofstate and central government of-ficials and BSNL staff.

Explaining the need for a newexchange, GM [Telecom], MKSeth, said that due to heavy con-gestion, the quality of BSNL ser-vices in Gangtok had suffered. ThePenangla mobile exchange willshare traffic and improve connec-

tivity in region while also expand-ing BSNL mobile’s footprint tobetter cover areas extending fromTashi View Point to Baluwakhani,Raj Bhawan, Sichey, Ranka,Ganesh Tok, and other surround-ing areas.

Continuing with the goodnews, Mr. Seth also informed thatSikkim would soon be providedwith 5,000 new SIM cards andadvised all interested clients toregister now since the cards willbe distributed on first-come first-serve basis. He further revealedthat BSNL pre-paid service willsoon include national roaming fa-cility too. At present, this facilityis available only for post-paidcustomers.

With the controlling station forall mobile services now shiftedfrom Kolkata to Siliguri, any new

service addition will now be pos-sible from Siliguri itself, the GMrevealed further while adding thatanother mobile exchange willsoon be inaugurated at Singtam.

While commenting on thecomplaints of hiked telephonebills from his land-line custom-ers, Mr. Seth explained that onereason was the higher numberof calls people were making tomobile phones other thanBSNL’s. While a call to a BSNLmobile gets billed at present atRs. 1.20 per minute, thanks toan ongoing special scheme,land-line users get billed at al-most Rs. 4.80 per minute whilecalling a mobile phone of otherservice providers.

The shortened pulse andhiked bills are primarily becausethe free incoming service of pri-

vate mobile providers have to becompensated by BSNL whichcollects it from the callers andreimburses the private opera-tors.

Calling a mobile numberoutside Sikkim becomes evenmore expensive for land-lineusers because after they arecharged for the STD talk-time,they are billed an additionalamount for having acessed amobile network. This double-billing, which cannot beavoided thanks to a TRAIguideline on it, has led to hikedbills which customers fail tounderstand, Mr. Seth said. Heeven advised that land-line us-ers give a missed call to mobileusers so that they can be calledback from a nearby land-line ifavailable.

“Otherwise, without realising,you total a big bill. A five-minutecall made to a person using amobile service other thanBSNL’s, for example, even whenpeople think its a local call couldcost anything between 20 to 25rupees,” he explained.

While enumerating thepoitives of the BSNL mobile,Mr. Seth mentioned the ongo-ing scheme for pre-paid custom-ers who get full talk time on theRs. 300 and Rs. 500 rechargecoupons minus the 8 per centservice tax. He also revealedthat the pre-paid customers willcontinue to get free incomingcalls during the 15-day graceperiod given to recharge. Ear-lier, even the incoming facilitywas disabled for users once thevalidity period expired.

SAGAR CHETTRI

BSNL MOBILES GET AN EXCHANGE AT PENANGLA, GMEXPLAINS FACTORS SPIKING TELEPHONE BILLS

payment through a credit card.Punch the credit card numbersand the confirmation will be in-stant. The ticket will be deliveredat the destination.

For bookings through comput-ers now, payment is also made bycredit card at a service charge of1.8 per cent plus Rs. 50 for thedelivery of the ticket.

To reassure those who are wor-ried about the security card therailways are starting a pilot projectwhere payments can be made tothe ticket inspector on the train.

Bookings will be made on thenet and passengers will be able totake a printouts of the ticket fromthe computer itself. Cancellationshowever will be done only at pub-lic reservation system counters. Apayment option is under discus-sion with mobile phone serviceproviders where the ticket pricewill be realized through themonthly bills of the subscriber.

The Rail Minister also an-nounced a scheme by which a pas-senger will get an SMS if a train isrescheduled by over 30 minutes.To begin with, this service will beprovided for the Rajdhani,Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi.

On the security aspect, some-thing that has many Sikkimeseparents with children studying inDelhi or places where they have

to travel via Bihar, from 1 July,all trains will have marshals toprovide security to passengers.The marshals will have the powerto arrest and prosecute miscreantswho commit minor offences.

A new train PoorvottarSampark Kranti Express betweenNew Delhi to Guwahati with stop-overs at New Jalpaiguri has alsobeen mooted.

a NOW REPORT

Book train ticket over the net and travelaccompanied by a Marshal

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GANGTOK: A co-ordinationmeeting of the heads of con-cerned departments, State So-cial Welfare Advisory Boardand NGOs was held in the of-fice of the Sikkim State Com-mission For Women on Janu-ary 27.

Manita Pradhan, Chairper-son of the Commission presidedover the meeting.

The main objective of hold-ing the meeting was to discussthe different issues concerningwomen of Sikkim and to iden-tify thrust areas which need at-tention of the administratorsand policy makers for empow-ering women in the true sense.

Opinions and suggestions ofeveryone present were obtainedfor formulating the State Policyfor the Empowerment ofwomen for which a State levelconsultation is being organizedby the National Commission forWomen, Delhi in collaborationwith the Centre for Women’sstudies on 26-27 February, atGangtok.

a NOW REPORT

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24; NOW! ; 04-10 Feb, 2004

C M Y K

Published by Lt. Col. (retd) P. Dorjee and printed at Darpan Publications Pvt. Ltd, Siliguri. Editor: Pema Wangchuk. Executive Editor: Mita ZulcaNow! Near Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong. East Sikkim. ph: 03592 270949 email: sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

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GANGTOK: The Regional Of-fice of the National Bank for Ag-riculture & Rural Development[NABARD], organised a seminaron rural development in Sikkimhere on 27 January, last Tuesday.

Various NGOs like HumanDevelopment Foundation ofSikkim and Voluntary Health As-sociation of Sikkim and Bankersfrom the State participated in theSeminar.

KR Nair, Deputy GeneralManager, NABARD, in his open-ing address detailed the variousinitiatives taken by NABARD to-wards rural development. He saidthat just as financial capital is animportant input for development,investments in human capital arealso considered as logical corol-lary to it.

The various organisations par-ticipating in the seminar also speltout the different activities under-taken by them towards develop-ment of the people of the State.

While Jyoti Prakash Tamanggave a presentation on the indig-enous fermented food of Sikkimand the various steps taken by himto popularise Kinema, Dr. BimalRai, explained the initiatives takenby him to create awarenessamongst the people of Sikkim onIodine deficiency and the disordersassociated with it. Ms. KK Subba,deputy director, ICDS, Social Wel-fare Department, talked about thedifferent activities of ICDS and thepromotion of Anganwadiprogramme in the rural areas. RPGurung spoke in detail on the needto develop cultivation of Passion

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Fruit in Sikkim and the availablemarket for the crop. The manag-ing director, SISCO Bank, MVVasu explained the initiatives takenby the Bank in strengthening themulti-purpose cooperative societ-ies in the State.

PD Rai, chairman, SIDICOand SABCO and member, StatePlanning Commission, in his ad-dress said that 60 percent of thepopulation in the State consistedof the youth below the age of 25years and they held the key to amodern and developed State. Heappreciated the initiatives takenup by NABARD Regional Officetowards popularising the conceptof Self Help Groups and VikasVoluntary Vahini Clubs.

The Regional Office ofNABARD also organised a high-power committee meeting on Ru-ral Infrastructure DevelopmentFund here on January 28.

The meeting was presided overby SW Tenzing, Chief Secretary.TT Dorji, principal secretary, fi-nance department and variousother senior officials from the Ir-rigation, PWD, PHE and Educa-tion departments were alsopresent in the meeting.

The Nabard Deputy GeneralManager, presented the status re-port on the NABARD financingin the State under Rural Infra-structure Development Fund(RIDF) and the rest of the NorthEastern Region. Since 1999,NABARD has sanctioned Rs. 45crores worth of projects underRIDF to the State Government,out of which Rs. 35 crores wasdrawn by the State government.The projects include constructionof rural roads, bridges, jhoras,

School buildings, rural drinkingwater supply, etc.

So far, nearly 360 projectshave been sanctioned byNABARD, out of which 80 per-cent are complete. Mr. Nair saidthat in comparison with the restof the contry, the share of Sikkimis only 0.15 percent.

Earlier, on January 24,NABARD also organised aSikkim State Credit Seminar here.Various State government offi-cials and senior officers of vari-ous Banks attended the Seminar.The AGM, State Bank of India,Regional Office had presidedover the function.

Mr. Nair presented the State Fo-cus Paper for the Year 2004-05. Hesaid that Banks had disbursed Rs.50.79 crores comprising Rs. 4.86crores for agriculture and alliedactivities, Rs. 4.21 crores for in-dustrial sector and Rs. 46.62 croresfor other priority sectors. Banks arebeing able to finance more for ser-vice, housing and vehicle purchaseschemes wich are becoming verypopular in the State, he said. Hesaid that NABARD is now focus-sing on promotion of Self Helpgroups, formation of Vikas Volun-teer Vahini clubs etc. It is also con-centrating on strengthening multi-purpose cooperative societies inthe State.

The salient features of theSwarojgar Credit Card Schemewas also discussed during themeeting. Banks in the State areexpected to issue such cards toborrowers such as artisans,handloom weavers, self-em-ployed and micro entrepreneurs ina flexible, hassle-free and costeffective manner.

GANGTOK: The Sikkim un-der-19 team left for Jharkhandto participate in the Under-19National Football Champion-ship for Dr. BC Roy MemorialTrophy. The East Zone Quali-fying Round will be played atthe Mohan KumaramangalamStadium from February 1-5.

The Sikkim Football Asso-ciation has sent a 21 memberteam headed by coach MilanSingh and manager TaraChettri.

The final zonal round will beplayed on 5 February.

According to MenlaEthenpa, Secretary, SFA, youngand upcoming footballers have

HMI EYES PANHURIIN SIKKIM FOR

STUDENTSGANGTOK: To commemorate its golden jubilee year, the HimalayanMountaineering Institute[HMI] is planning to put a group of studentson top of the Panhunri [South] peak in Sikkim. The mountain is situ-ated at an altitude of 7032 m and will be attempted by the students ofthe institute who have completed their advanced mountaineering course.

The institute had also sent a team to Everest last May as part of thegolden jubilee celebration of the first successful summit of the moun-tain. The premier mountaineering institute was established by JawaharNehru in 1954.

been chosen for this tournamentto get exposure and experienceof playing with teams fromother states.

The probable players for the

Sikkim team had been trainingat the TNA ground for the lastone month under the guidanceof Thupden Rapgyal and MilanSingh.

a NOW REPORT

U-19 footballers leave for Jharkhand

a NOW REPORT

NABARD PUTS SIKKIM’S RURALDEVELOPMENT PLANS IN FOCUS