01 April, 2004; NOW! 1

C M Y K

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Chakung moves to Gangtok,wants Goley back

I AM AN SDF SOLDIER, WILLCONTEST FROM WHEREVER THE

PARTY WANTS ME TO: GOLEY

KALIMPONGREMEMBERS

THEROERICHSTURN TO pg 5FOR DETAILS

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 31 March: It was al-most as if all of Chakung had emp-tied into Gangtok as some 350 ve-hicles [jeeps and trucks] carryingruling party supporters from thesouth Sikkim constituency rolledinto the capital in a bid to petitionthe SDF high-command to recon-sider its decision to take their areaMLA, PS Tamang, known morepopularly as PS Goley, away toCentral Pendam. Reports indicatethat the party decision to pit Mr.Tamang against SPCC [I] presidentNar Bahadur Bhandari from Cen-tral Pendam, evoked a very emo-

tional response at Chakung.Mr. Tamang, while speaking to

NOW! from Soreong, said that thepublic response was “spontaneous”and clarified that he had no role toplay in the show of support whichspilled over to Gangtok streets.

“In fact, after hearing the partydecision yesterday, I was planningto leave for Gangtok immediately.People from Chakung, however,came over and insisted that I didnot leave for Gangtok. All they

wanted to do was try and retain meat Chakung and given the highemotions on display, I decided tolisten to them and stayed back. It isa democracy and they have the rightto express themselves and I did notwant the situation to spiral out ofcontrol, so I listened to them andlet them go to Gangtok. Bear inmind, there are no opposition sup-porters in Chakung, they are withthe SDF,” he said.

Mr. Tamang added that the pub-lic reaction was also understandablegiven the fact that a certain bond had

SDF supporters from Chakung in vehicles flying the party flag on the return leg after a show of strength insupport of PS Tamang, whom they want retained for their constituency

turn to pg 4

TAMANGSWANTMORE

TURN TO pg 4FOR DETAILS

CHEWANGDADUL LASHESOUT AGAINST

BHANDARITURN TO pg 4FOR DETAILS

Bhandari’sbazaaryatra

SARIKAH ATREYA

GANGTOK, 31 March: “Yo pali,Congress lai jitauno parchha hai,” afemale voice speaks from behind acircle of party faithfuls and curiousonlookers even as the former ChiefMinister greets a totally bemusedand perplexed lady sitting behind asewing machine inside a tailoringshop at the MG Marg. An assistanthands over a khada to Nar BahadurBhandari, who puts it around thelady’s neck and with folded handsseeks support for the Congress.

In the next shop, the exercise isrepeated. The SPCC [I] president,flanked by a group of party mem-bers, with a party Standard leadingahead, seeks every shop along thecommercial hub of the capital, thusmarking the official start to the Con-gress’ canvassing from here today.

This may not be anything likeSonia Gandhi’s road shows. ButMr. Bhandari is sure trying to emu-late that here. So its paidal yatra forhim through an area which sees novehicles after 5PM. And what bet-ter start to his comeback yatra thanfrom the Capital itself?

The former Chief Ministerlooked confident and visibly happywith the response he was getting.Some even offer him a khada back.All greet him with folded hands. Hestops for small chitchats with theshopkeepers. Addresses a few bytheir names. No bhashans here. Hasdirect one-to-ones with the Janata.“Our day has come, now we haveto work together,” he cajoles. Hisassistants distribute the Congressmanifesto to the people. All lookpleased. It’s not everyday that a

turn to pg 5

DDRC HANDEDOVER TO SOCIAL

WELFARE

DDRC HANDEDOVER TO SOCIAL

WELFARE

DETAILS ON pg 3

2; NOW!; 01 April, 2004

C M Y K

Artist, filmmaker, keen photographer, columnist with internationalmagazines... It’s hard to pin Twan Yang down. Born to a Chinesefather and Tibetan mother, he grew up in Kalimpong and worked inSikkim. NOW! serializes Twan Yang’s autobiography, Houseboy in India...

NOW!FIRST WITH THE NEWS

ED-SPACE

lsewheree

-19-

Now that I had begun tothink about this matter,this desire to earn more

stuck in my mind and I could thinkof nothing else but how to earnmore and get as much as theothers. I begged the cook,who was always very kindto me, to look aroundfrom time to time to seewhether there might beanywhere some vacantplace suitable for me.And one day he did findme a job about fifteenmiles from Delhi in asmall village calledGhaziabad.

When the cook toldme about this job, I wasin difficulty. How couldI go away from this place when Ihad no excuse for leaving? Since Ihad never made any error, my mas-ter would probably not want to letme go. If I could make some mis-take for my master to see, he mightperhaps dismiss me, or at least notobject to my going away to takeanother place.

At last I thought of something.One day I went out in the morningto the bazaar and then to an Indianpicture house, to the morning showat eleven o’clock. This picture I sawwith great enjoyment, then I con-tinued to walk around the bazaartill three o’clock in the afternoon. Icame home too late for my usualwork. My mistress was angry withme and began to abuse me in Eng-lish with all kinds of nasty wordssuch as ‘dirty dog’ and ‘fool’. Butsince I did not understand themeaning of the words, I did notmind her abuse.

That same day I told my mis-tress that I did not want to continueworking any longer in this house,that I would like to look for anotherplace if she had no objection. She

said there was no objectionwhatever if I was not

happy to work forher. This settled thematter. How happy

my heart felt! My face beamed andsmiled: feet, arms and hands allworked nobly together on accountof this happiness. I worked so wellbecause of this feeling that my mis-tress said, “What has happened toyou today that you seem so veryhappy?” I invented an answer, say-ing that today was my birthday. Re-ally, I meant the birthday of a newplace.

Now the English have a curi-ous custom that on one’s birthdayone receives gifts to show the hap-piness of the occasion. So now mymistress very kindly gave me a pairof new shoes and a packet of choco-late as a birthday gift. This gave methe greatest joy and at the same timecaused a great deal of trouble in mymind, for now that she showed, forthe first time in a long while, kindfeelings towards me, I no longer feltso sure I should leave this place andgo to Ghaziabad. Thinking this, I

could for a moment only show myhappiness by folding my hands andsmiling to show my gratitude forthe gift.

The cook gave me a letter ofrecommendation, and that verysame day I asked my mistress forpermission to leave, saying I wasreturning to my country. I told thislittle lie in order to part from her in

a kindly way. My mis-tress raised no objec-tion, as she did not liketo keep me if I was dis-satisfied. She could af-ford to pay wages andobtain as many boys asshe liked instead of me.In this world there isonly one great magi-cian, and that is money.I had knot known much

about money up till now. All I knewwas to make friends with that bagin the body called stomach. Butthen I learned that the absence ofmoney was an obstacle to thisfriendship; for without money myfriend, the stomach, could not helpme and would have to be buried inthe ground.

The cook came with to theDelhi Station to show me the trainand then left me, after giving me aticket for Ghaziabad. I do not knowhow much he paid for it, but I feltvery grateful for his kindness to apoor boy. I came at length to thestation at Ghaziabad and got downto the platform from the third-classcarriage with my little box and thebedding. I went straight toward therailway office near the platformwith my letter and showed it to arailway babu, asking how I couldfind the place given in the address.

- to be continued

DAMARU LAL BHANDARI

Of course, one could cite so many cogent examples when it comes to illustrate the fact that the incumbent

government led by none other than SuryaBahadur Thapa is illegitimate and lacks thedesired constitutional authority and mandateto remain in place even a second more.

What’s more, he lacks even basic per-sonal dignity expected from someone who isoccupying the government secretariat, whichhad at times been occupied by some deserv-ing people and who could be identified asthe representatives of the people. But moreabout that in the subsequent section.

To begin with, one could say none otherthan the monarch picked him up, with noneof the parties that should be having completesay in the affairs of the state conferred on theissue as to who should succeed his predeces-sor Lokendra Bahadur Chand fast enough.

The Next Without PrejudicesThe world as we know it might be turning into a global village andWTO might be fudging international boundaries as far as trade isconcerned, but people in general are becoming more and moreparochial. Almost every district wants to express itself as anautonomous region and every autonomous council harboursstatehood aspirations. Every locality frowns upon outsiderssearching their futures amongst them and every community swearsit has a unique identity independent of all others which is in need ofsafeguarding.

While it would be improper to deny anyone their right to self-expression, it would be criminal to ignore the fact that self expressionin the present-day politically charged times almost always comesat the cost of denying someone else. Our generation has abusedwith alacrity this fundamental right and mindsets are already fixatedon ideas which are prejudiced and illogical. There is little that canbe done on this front, but if we accept that things need to change,we should try and do so with the generation still untrained in thebiases which we have fomented. It is surprising how the secularenvironment of the schools still leaves many young minds scarredwith prejudices about other communities. True, Sikkim does nothave an obvious communal divide, but enter the homes and theopinions, which could later inflame into searing conflagrations, areall there. Passing comments, which never posed seriousrepercussions earlier, are no longer as innocent as they used to bein times when violent expressions were rare. We need to be morecareful and at the cost of sounding trite - more politically correct inthe presence of younger adults.

But that’s something we can practise at home. If we are to remainfree of the communalism which has already swept most of thecountry and is trying to find its own interpretation in Sikkim, weneed to address the issue more scientifically. The best places tostart are the schools. It is perhaps time that classes be set aside toeducate the younger generation on what makes their culture, theirheritage and history and how that has been embellished withinfluences from elsewhere. No culture blooms in isolation and notall infleunces are acts of dilution. Similarly, no overt attempts shouldbe made to bring every community under one umbrella and studentsshould be allowed the chance to celebrate each community’sindividuality. Once they know of other cultures and are also awareof their own, they will not feel threatened. The paranoia which keepsSikkim from achieving what it is worth will then hopefully be cured.

There is no need to keep the future generation in the dark aboutdifferences which exist between different communities here.Perhaps, if they are well informed about the points of attrition, theywill also be able to work out a solution. They might even discardthe whole concept of notional contradictions. But, they will be ableto do so only if trusted with the information. What the cominggeneration has to learn is that conflict is inevitable, but violenceisn’t. They have to learn that we, as Sikkimese, do not have toagree upon everything, but it would be nice if we could livecomfortably with different points of views. The time for sweepingstereotypical judgements is gone. Sikkim might not be a violentState at present, but it could still borrow a tip from what schoolselsewhere in the world are trying out - including nonviolent conflictresolution workshops in their curriculum.

It’s Time To MoveOn, Again

Democracy does not only allow a person the liberty of holding an opinion, but also expressing it publicly. If you feel strongly about

something that has been reported in NOW! or have an opinion on some recent development, then share it with a wider audience.

While the LETTERS section will carry responses to articles and news carried in NOW!, ACTION MAIL is about complaints and

grievances. Wherever possible, NOW! shall also search out a response to the Action Mail. If not, then at least a complaint would

have been filed in the public domain. write to: NOW!, Gairi Gaon, Tadong, East Sikkim. or email: sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

CRY, THE BELOVEDCOUNTRY

However, all this is something which couldbe expected to happen only in a realm wherelaw takes its own course and thieves, pick-pockets, hardened crimi-nals, drug-traffickers,bootleggers, wheeler-deal-ers and promiscuous elements caught withtheir pants down are punished by hanging onthe nearest electricity poles. Not here for sure.

And given the scenario, I am not expect-ing anything good happening here until thelaw takes its own course, until there is rightperson on the right seat at the right time andcrimes mentioned in the preceding sectionare not treated as serious offenses and con-

victs awarded capital punishment.The example to establish the fact that

T h a p a government is wholly il-legitimate would runinto a book-length story.

That is if it undergoes therigor of prob- ing and narrating the entiretrail of events, which prevailed upon the mon-arch when it came to decide whether he muststick to Chand or go with Thapa. Oh yes,future historians have a tough task in hand,with the past historians going down in his-tory after coming up with a largely porno-graphic account of the event.

What I know for sure is Thapa enjoys the

dubious distinction of spreading the name ofthe nation far and wide given his credentialsand of course his status as a politician. Infact, this is happening on its own with therebels running amok in the countryside andkilling in gay abandon while the foreign presssees to it that Nepal hits media headlines backat home. Then there is defense establishment,which sees victory in huge setback. What isalso being overlooked is the rapes perpetratedon rural womenfolk.

I w onder whether the people of Iceland,for example, had ever heard of Nepal beforealthough they are now reading every lurid de-tail about this nation and what is going wrongand who is responsible and abetting it, too.They are also learning that there is a monarchcalling the shots in the twenty-first centurywhile, of course, the parliament stands dis-solved and lawmakers go begging around,with elections a forgotten story altogether.

turn to pg 6

01 April, 2004; NOW! 3

C M Y K

� NEWSSCAN

ANAND OBEROI

GANGTOK, 31 March: The DistrictDisability Rehabilitation Centre[DDRC] was formally handed overto the Social Welfare Department,Government of Sikkim by AYJNIHH,Mumbai, here at Ladakhi Building,STNM Hospital today.

DDRCs have been set up invarious states in the country withthe aim of providing comprehen-sive rehabilitation services to thePersons With Disabilities [PWDs]under one roof.

In Sikkim, it was being run atSTNM hospital in collaborationwith the Social Welfare Depart-ment, with help from the HomeDepartment. In the past three years,DDRC has reached its services to4,624 persons with disabilities byproviding various kinds of hearing,visual and ortho aid.

The Chief Guest for the func-tion was C. Cintury, Principal Sec-retary, Social Welfare. The Guest ofhonour was Dr. DK Subba, Direc-tor, Health & Family Welfare. Oth-ers present were N Lepcha, JointSecretary, SWD, Nodal Officer,DDRC, Mr. Matthew, Gangtok,AYJNIHH, Administrator DDRC,Dr SK Dewan, HOD/Ortho, DeepaRani Thapa, Dy Secretary, SWD,

staff of DDRC, officers of VHASand SWD, doctors and officers ofthe Department of Health.

Nodal Officer, N. Lepcha in hishanding-over speech said that eversince it was established, DDRC hasprovided the best aid and appli-ances to the disabled people in thestate. Although there were somedoubts voiced initially about thepossibility of sustaining the project,all obstacles had been overcome bythe dedication of the staff and theconcerned departments, he said.

He also handed over equipmentand accessories to the Social Wel-fare Department.

Saying that 5,000 aid appli-ances had been given to the disa-bled in the state which coveredabout 30 per cent of disabled inSikkim, he asked the Departmentto ensure that the figure goes up to100 per cent.

Dr. SK Dewan, who has beenclosely associated with the DDRCprogramme, said that it was one ofthe best ways to provide help and

assistance to the disabled. He dis-closed that Sikkim was the firststate in the North-East that pro-duced equipment for the disabled.

Dr. Subba, in his speech hopedthat now that the responsibility hadshifted from the Health Depart-ment to the Social Welfare Depart-

ment, the disabled would continueto get their rights. Saying that thepicture all over the country for pro-viding facilities and protection ofthe rights of the disabled peoplewas not very encouraging, hehoped that Sikkim being a smallstate could create the political will

RANJIT SINGH

GANGTOK, 31 March: Sex deter-mination before birth is to be made acriminal act. This was revealed in ameeting held by the State Supervi-sory Board under Pre Natal Diagnos-tic Technique [PNDT] AmendmentAct, 2002 at Hotel Sonam Palgeytoday. The meet was organised by theDeptt. of Health & Family Welfare,and was attended largely by membersof the State Supervisory Committee.

The Director, Family Welfarewarned of the penalties to be facedby those indulging in sex determi-nation and selection.

“Firstly, the pregnant womanherself will come under the scanneras will her family. Secondly, the doc-tor involved will have his licensecancelled for 2 years for a first-timeoffence and then permanently iffound guilty again. There will alsobe a fine of Rs. 1 lakh and a jail termof up to 5 years,” she informed.

With pre-natal sex-determina-tion tests becoming very popular inIndia, especially in the mainland,and the misuse of ultrasoundsonography techniques, an aware-ness campaign on maternal andchild health has been launched bythe Dept. of Health to create aware-

ness on the same among the masses.The family welfare programme

was based on an integrated, bottom-up approach driven by the needsand demands of the society. Its ba-sic premise was the right of awoman to her sex, to have a childin a safe and secure manner and herright to be informed and providedthe best and safest health facilities.

The various officials of theState Health De-partment pro-vided a status re-port on the exist-ing maternal andchild health situ-ation in the state.

The HealthSecretary, whileaddressing the au-dience, expressedconcern on thefalling sex ratio inthe state but at thesame time saidthat female foeti-cide thoughprevalent in thecountry was notan issue in Sikkimas it was notpracticed here.While the national

sex ratio was 927 females per 1000males, for Sikkim it was 875:1000.

“On the other hand, if the 0-6 agegroup of children were included inthe sex ratio then the number of fe-males per 1000 males shoots up to986 which is the highest in the coun-try,” the Health Secretary revealed.

A survey conducted by thehealth department for the past cou-ple of years had revealed that while

83% of the ur-ban populationpreferred a sona very healthy78% were com-fortable withhaving a daugh-ter. Those be-longing to theSC/ST category,along with em-ployed women,all preferred adaughter. Thelow sex-ratiowas thereforeconfusing.

The HealthSecretary rea-soned that influxof workers fromother parts of thecountry in the

to extend support towards therights of the disabled. He also gavehis assurance that the Health De-partment would continue to givetheir support towards providingaid, accessories and facilities to thedisabled in the state.

Thanking the Health Depart-ment for providing all technicalassistance to DDRC in the pastyears, the Chief Guest Ms.Cintury said that while earlierDDRC was being handled by anNGO, now it would be the re-sponsibility of the SWD.

She guaranteed that the staffwould be retained so that the disa-bled do not face problems as the10 dedicated workers were alreadyqualified at the national level. Shealso made it clear that all the cen-tral rules and acts would be givenfull priority and that the Govern-ment of Sikkim was committed tothe provisions of the People WithDisabilities Act.

Informing that new schools forthe disabled were being opened inthe State, she asked governmentoffices and movie halls to makeadequate infrastructure for the disa-bled. She further said that the Elec-tion Commission had already sen-sitized the polling officers about theprovisions for the disabled to vote.

Disability Rehab Centre handed over to Social Welfare Deptt.Cintury assures the good

work will continue

Social Welfare Principal Secretary, Ms. C. Cintury [centre], goes through the

documents which formalise the handing over of DDRC to her department

STUDY REVEALS, SIKKIM’S WORKINGWOMEN PREFER DAUGHTERS

State Supervisory Board holds meet to warn against prenatal sex-determination

state was one reason for the low sexratio of Sikkim as was the low lit-eracy rate and poor nutrition amongfemales. He also revealed that thenorth district had the lowest sex ratioin the state, which according to himwas due to the many projects beingundertaken there, which involved theimporting of labour.

The targets of the Reproductiveand Child Health scheme under10th plan policy of the State Gov-ernment were highlighted as 100per cent institution delivery

Also, to be implemented wasthe PNDT Amendment Act, 2002as per the order of the SupremeCourt. The Act was first formulatedin 1994 and came into effect in theyear 1996. The Act prohibits sexdetermination before birth; it seeksto regularise its implementation andprevent the misuse of the techniqueinvolved (ultra sound sonography)which is also used to detect geneticdisorders and other abnormalitiesin the foetus.

Under the direction of the Su-preme Court, for the proper imple-mentation of the Act, every statewas to set up a State SupervisoryBoard, three Appropriate AuthorityCommittee and Advisory Commit-tees at the district level.

Health Secyspeaks atthe meet

Survey shows78% of Sikkimese

couplescomfortable with

a girl child;Sikkim has

highest girl toboy ratio in

country in 0-6age-group

ECI appointsObserversfor Sikkim

GANGTOK, 31 March: The Elec-tion commission has appointed AKAgnhotri, Malini V. Shankar andSaurabh Chandra as Observers forthe coming elections in Sikkim.

Several officers from the Statehave also been deputed as Observ-ers to other states for the comingelections.

TW Barfungpa has been sent to3-Churu, Rajasthan, Dorji Dadul to15- Sabarkantha, Gujarat, TobzorDorjee, Reserve, Sangay D Basi to2-Tura, Meghalaya, LobzangBhutia to 6-Budaun, Uttar Pradesh,Alok K Srivastava to 5-ChandniChowk, Delhi, Suresh ChandraGupta to 2-Arunachal East, GyanPrakash Upadhyaya to MumbaiSouth, Maharashtra, VB Pathak to52-Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh,Girmee Goparma to Latur,Maharashtra, Nari Tshering toMangaldoi, Assam, NangzeyDorjee to 4-Bilaspur, Chattisgarhand BP Pradhan, Reserve.

[IPR]

call NOW! @

953592

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4; NOW!; 01 April, 2004

C M Y K

POWERPLAY �

developed between him and the peo-ple after having worked for them forthe past nine and a half years.

People from his constituencydid make it to Gangtok after muchtravails of getting delayed atRangpo and being allowedthrough only in batches. Heavy de-ployment of police personnel inGangtok directed their movementwhich was limited to a show ofstrength procession before beingled back. The supporters, however,wanted to meet the party high-command and the Chief Ministerhimself. That did not happen andthe vehicles returned.

When asked to comment on theparty decision to send him to Cen-tral Pendam which could be con-sidered the toughest fight in theupcoming polls as it pits Mr.Tamang against Mr. Bhandari in aconstituency which voted in the lat-ter’s favour last time around, Mr.Tamang said: “I a loyal partyworker. I am a soldier who will goand fight wherever the party de-cides to send me. See, individually,I am nothing. It is the party thatmakes me and the party will be sup-porting me in Central Pendam too.”

Mr. Tamang, who was also theIndustries and Animal HusbandryMinister in the present term, admit-ted that the party had reposed greatfaith in him by sending him to Cen-tral Pendam.

“The party has shouldered mewith great responsibility and I haveto meet the expectations it has fromme,” he said, while adding that hewould be arriving in Gangtok thenext day [1 April] to take charge ofhis new responsibilities.

He also added that now that theemotions had lowered a bit, he wasspeaking with party supporters inChakung and convincing them toaccept the party decision in theright spirit.

Contd from pg 1

Chakung movesto Gangtok

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 31 March: ChewangDadul Bhutia, former Secretary of

SPCC [I], hasreacted sharplyto media-re-ports of his be-ing expelledfrom the partyby its presidentNar BahadurBhandari. Ex-

pelled day before yesterday for al-leged “anti-party activities,” Mr.Bhutia has termed the decision asmala-fide, arbitrary and against theinterests of the Congress in the State.

“By expelling me from theSPCC, Mr. Bhandari has provedonce again his dictatorial style offunctioning for which he isknown,” claims Mr. Chewang.

He also calls the decision takenby Mr. Bhandari to field SonamBhutia from the Sang-Martam con-stituency as the Congress candidateas “equally arbitrary, dictatorial and

undemocratic in a national partywhich is governed by a written con-stitution.”

“I supported Mr. Bhandari formore than ten years and he alwaysrelied on me during his difficultdays in the Opposition. He consist-ently projected me as the candidateto the Assembly from the Sang-Martam constituency. I have evenspent my own money in nurturingthe constituency. This decision tonominate Sonam Bhutia as the par-ty’s official candidate from Sang-Martam without even consultingme is most unfortunate,” he says.

Mr. Bhutia has also accused Mr.Bhandari of violating the letter andspirit of the constitution of the INCas he was expelled without even

being served a show-cause notice.“Therefore,” he says, “the decision

to expel me is illegal and mala-fide.”He says he has already written

to the AICC president, Mrs. SoniaGandhi and the CWC [Sikkim]incharge, Salman Khurshid abouthis illegal expulsion.

Serving a warning to the elector-ate, Mr. Chewang appealed to the peo-ple of Sikkim and to those of Sang-Martam in particular to be careful andcautious during the ensuing polls.

“We cannot saddle Mr. Bhandarion the chair and make him a dicta-tor for another five years,” he says.“We are a democracy and we mustelect democrats as our leaders togovern the state for the next fiveyears,” he concludes.

a NOW REPORT

NAMCHI, 31 March: After muchsuspense over who would find favourwith parliamentary board of the SDFto win a ticket for Jorethang, an answercame with the announcement of KNRai’s candidature for the constituency.Mr. Rai was shifted from his constitu-ency of Wok to this border constitu-ency yesterday. Even though there werereservations over how Jorethang wouldreact, reports indicate that this SDFstronghold has decided to respect theparty high-command’s decision. LIST IS FINAL,

STRESSES DDGANGTOK, 31 March: TheSikkim Democratic Front has reit-erated that the list of 22 candidatesfor the Assembly polls releasedhere yesterday was the final list andthere would be no changes in it.

Addressing party supporters atthe SDF head-office here today, thevice-president [administration], DDBhutia said that the list had beenprepared by the Parliamentary Boardkeeping in mind the aspirations andthe welfare of the people of the Stateand has been approved by all sec-tions of the party cadre. Being aparty based on ideology and princi-ples, all decisions taken by the SDFwere for the well being of the peo-ple of the State, Mr. Bhutia said.

Meanwhile, the party workersfrom the Pathing Constituency inEast Sikkim have welcomed thecandidature of Mingma Sherpa andextended full support to him, apress statement from the SDF headoffice read.

FORMER LIEUTENANT SEES ADICTATOR IN BHANDARI

DADUL SAYS EXPULSION

ILLEGAL; WARNS ELECTORATE

AGAINST BHANDARI

Mr. Rai visited Jorethang todayand was received by some 150 partysupporters in an indication of thissupport. On his first visit to Jorethangsince the announcement of his can-didature, Mr. Rai also called on tickethopeful Binod Rai at Mickhola.

“It was a simple meeting andnot concerned with any political orcampaigning strategies,” Mr.Binod Rai later revealed. The areacandidate will be coming toJorethang again and will then de-clare the place and time for thelaunch of his campaign, he added.

The process of acceptance, whichstarted yesterday with incumbent MLAfrom Rinchenpong, OT Lepcha, welcom-ing Dawcho Lepcha as the new candi-date, continued with Tulsi PrasadPradhan, sitting MLA from HeeBermiock extending support to NKSubba as the new candidate for the con-stituency. A press release issued by himtoday calls upon the panchayats and partyworkers of Hee Bermiock to “wholeheartedly support and work for the inter-est and success of the party and to ensurethe victory of NK Subba with a hugemargin in the forthcoming elections.”

Tamanglobby wantsone more

ticketa NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 31 March: A pressrelease issued by Nima Norbu Lama,claiming to speak on behalf of theTamang supporters of the SikkimDemocratic Front has demandedthat one more member of their com-munity be awarded a party ticket.Although ten names still remain tobe announced, the release, while re-iterating that the Tamangs of Sikkimcontinue to “stand” by the partypresident Pawan Chamling andSDF, stresses that Tamangs deserveone more candidate.

While appreciating the work ofthe SDF government especially insecuring Schedule Tribe status forthe Tamang and Limbu communi-ties, the press release commends theSDF high-command for its timelyintervention and struggle towardsthe attainment of this end.

But the community has takenexception to being given only oneseat for the Assembly electionswhile the Limbus have been givenfour seats.

Claiming that the voter share ofTamangs has increased from 14,186in 1999 to 16,000 according to lat-est trends, the Tamangs feel that the4:1 seat declaration has created asense of injustice among them.

The release has also voiced res-ervations about the party decisionto field PS Tamang from CentralPendam as they fear that his trans-fer from a confirmed seat mightleave the Tamangs with no repre-sentation in the Assembly at all.

The release also expresses hopethat their “boldness” is “absorbed ina positive manner” since it is not anattempt to offend the party president.

The process of welcomingnew faces continues

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C M Y K

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KALIMPONG, 31 March:Helena Roerich, wife of eminentRussian painter Nicholas Roerich,spent the last eight years of her lifein Kalimpong, where she settledwith her son George in 1947. Shewas revered by the local people asa great spiritual teacher and philan-thropist. A disciple of MahatmaMorya, she is best known for writ-ing about Agni Yoga - a spiritualdiscipline she learnt from her guru.

As part of the initiative tohonour Roerich, the Agni Yogapractitioners are converting

former Chief Minister visits themin their homes.

But these are election times.And the netas are only too awareof the importance of reaching outdirectly to the people. A handshake,a few pleasantries exchanged. Af-ter all, Gangtok ko janata has al-ways favoured the Opposition. Itdid so the last time around, andbefore that and before that…

The Congress MP candidate isalso here. Biraj Adhikari says it is alsothe official kickoff of his campaignfor the Lok Sabha berth as well.

The entourage stops at a popu-lar Chia Dokan for chia ra samosa.The chiawalah is flattered; quicklyadjusts chairs for to seat allCongreesis. A group of ladies el-bow their way closer. More khadas,more namastes. Even they are of-fered tea and samosas.

So, how are your chances this

time? “The Congress will form thenext Government. The ruling partyis breaking up. Lots of infighting.Bad condition,” Mr. Bhandari tells

NOW! His coterie shake their headsin agreement. Plenty of smiles andlively chatter.

The public response. “Someexcitement on a boring afternoonwith hardly any business happen-ing,” says a shopkeeper, even as hewaits outside his shop to greet theformer Chief Minister.

The bazar ko janata give theformer CM a warm reception.Whether this will actually translateinto votes, we will have to wait andsee. What the Bazaar yatra also con-firmed is that Gangtok’s getting Mr.Bhandari’s candidature.

Bhandari, flanked by party officials, on his MG Marg canvassing walk

Contd from pg 1

BHANDARI’S BAZAAR YATRA

Crookerty, the house in which shelived, into a museum dedicated tothe Roerich family.

Today, it was the turn of theRussian Ambassador Extraordinaryto India and Plenipotentiary of theRussian Federation Alexander M.Kadakin to pay his respects by vis-iting the White Stupa where HelenaRoerich was cremated at BuddhistGompa [Durpin Dara]. Later healso visited her cottage, Crookerty.

“This year,” he said, “has beendedicated to them in Russia and hasbeen named as the InternationalYear of the Roerich’s.”

In Russia postage stamps andcoins have also been issued to com-memorate the family.

“We’d also love if the history ofthe Roerich family and the WhiteStupa of Helen be included in all ofthe guide books and the history ofthe place,” he said, while adding that

all organizations are welcome to in-vest in Crookerty now that it is be-ing turned into a museum.

Roerich belonged to a distin-guished Russian family, whosemembers had strong ties with India.

Helena Roerich dedicated herlife to India in more ways than one.She worked for peace and under-standing and was deeply involvedin the country’s spiritual heritage.The entire Roerich family has

helped strengthen Indo-Russianbonds. In many ways, the Roerichsremain the bridge that connectsRussia and India on the culturalfront. Though the Kalimpong ini-tiative will not be handled directlyby the Russian consulate, it willsupport local efforts by providingdocuments and samples of work.

Helena Roerich died inKalimpong on 5 October, 1955.

Russian Year of the Roerich’s makes a Kalimpong stopRussian Amabassdor visits Kalimpong, want’s

town’s Roerich connection publicised

email NOW!

sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

SAGAR CHETTRI

MAJITAR, 31 March: Majitar to-day got a new and full fledged postoffice inaugurated by Vice Chancel-lor, Sikkim Manipal University, LCAmarnathan. John Samuel, Postmas-ter General, North Bengal andSikkim region was present as thechief guest for the inaugural functionalong with RS Grewal, Director,SMIT, Dr. Marak, Director PostalService, Sikkim State, post officestaff and SMIT students.

The welcome address was deliv-ered by DB Rai which was followedby Asish John, general secretary,Student Council, taking the daisduring which he thanked the postaldepartment for the new PO atMajitar saying the student commu-nity there would greatly benefit fromit. RS Grewal, Director, SMIT, toothanked the post master general forthe opening of the new post office.

LC Amarnathan, VC, SikkimManipal revealed that the proposalhad been forwarded by them a longtime ago and since it filled a vitalcommunication gap it had been

pursued till its realization.Post Office festivalA Post Office festival and PhilatelyExhibition was inaugurated today,31 March, at Majitar. Organized bythe postal department, the venue forthe three day festival and exhibitionis the SMIT campus. Cultural pro-grammes and a quiz competition arealso scheduled for the entertainmentof anyone interested.

The stamps on display are of awide ranging variety; from games topersonalities, from maps to cartoons.Also on display are stamps relatedto various periods in Indian historyas well as unique Bhutan 3D stamps.

Dr. Marak, Director PostalService, Sikkim in his welcomespeech mentioned stamps to bejewels of the country. He then wenton to relate the history of stamps.

Then John Samuel released theSpecial Cover a new type of letterpad cum envelope.

In his address he promised toequip other post offices in the statewith advanced facilities as well asopen a “post shop” where everypostal item would be available.

Full fledged post office for Majitar

Amarnathan inaugurates the post office while Sameul [left] and Grewal look on

6; NOW!; 01 April, 2004

C M Y K

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AIEE & AFMCFor 2004 Entrance Exam [Starting 1st April, 2004]BY A GROUP OF EXPERTS FROM SACHDEVA INST.

REGULAR COURSE FOR 2005 AIEE, PMT,

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Road, Gangtok. ph: 226510, 94341-53355C.C.I CONDUCTS COACHING FOR C.E.T. (SIKKIM) UNDER STATE QUOTA

Vajra Guru Dhungdrupat Pemayangtse monastery, West Sikkim

The Vajra Guru Dhungdrup or recitations at Pemayangtse Gompa,

Sikkim’s premier monastery in West Sikkim will commence from

8th April 2003 ( Lunar calendar : Dawa Nyipa Tsey Chopgay).

The recitations will be headed by his Eminence Yangthang

Rimpoche.

Devotees and interested persons from all over Sikkim who are

interested to participate at the recitations are invited to join us.

We would also like to inform that we will be providing free fooding

and lodging for those participating at the recitations. However,

please bring your own utensils like plates, mugs and spoons.

Once again all are invited to join us for the recitations.

Dueche, Pemayangtse Gompa

KATHMANDU, 31 March: Mao-ist rebels exploded bombs at threeseparate ward offices of BhaktapurMunicipality in Nepal on Wednes-day morning injuring two people.

The series of bombs exploded atWard no. 12, 15 and 16 office build-ings respectively at five-minute in-tervals. The explosions resulted inminor damage to the offices.

The explosion at Ward no. 12 of-

Of course, what is surely notgoing missing on them is there is apitchforked Prime Minister whogoes by the name of (SuryaBahadur) Thapa. Excuse me forleaving out the names of equallyillustrious ministers, who are pre-siding over the disaster while thenation cries. I wonder whether read-ers in Iceland or anywhere for thatmatter must be giving Nepal alonger thought given the fact thatpeople there do not waste time theway we are known to.

Which, incidentally, explainsthe longevity of the illegitimategovernment just because we havefailed to turn up at the city centeras a mark of protest. Meanwhile, Ienvy the Spanish people in particu-lar and the European people in gen-eral for general level of politicalawareness demonstrated by themsoon after the blast that killed over200 in Madrid.

Some two million people turn-ing up at the city center would havelong settled the issue dogging thenation back home for sure.

However the fact that whetherthey were fit for the job or not isaltogether a different issue andcould be debated separately onother occasions. Now suffice it tosay that they were the true and le-gitimate representatives of the peo-ple but have been told to stand.Someone who said that there arepeople who have Prime Ministerfor breakfast must be a politicalgenius and visionary. Sad to see thatit had to happen here of all the na-tions in this wide, wide world.

This brings us to the initial argu-ment whereby Thapa was flayed asbereft of not only personal dignity

and decorum but as also someonewho lacked desired constitutionalauthority insofar as he dithered fromfielding questions from reporters onThursday. It is true that the reporterswere there to submit a memorandumand never invited as press corps inthe first place. But what was incum-bent on the occupant of the govern-ment secretariat is that he should havebehaved as a political animal and notdithered to even open his mouth fear-ing the unimaginable.

I am sure there is no fixed waysin which a politician must speak inpublic and in front of the press.Improvisation is the key and if theinformation can be of any use toThapa, he must keep in mind thatthe person who has the desired dig-nity and moral authority for theposition is none other than KrishnaPrasad Bhattarai.

Blame, of course, the vagariesof politics that none can occupy thepost forever. And Bhattarai was noexception. Reporters would cer-tainly have come back a contendedlot had they Bhattrai as Prime Min-ister instead of Thapa who couldnot dare to utter even simple state-ment fearing reprisals.

In fact he had all the opportu-nity to lash out at the errant politi-cians on this side of the politicaldivide but given the consequenceshe decided to shut up and rightlyso. Perhaps he had been told tokeep shut following the Bhojpurfaux pas in which he had famouslycondemned the massacre as a nor-mal phenomenon before he wasgiven a good pasting in private.This is the latest example as to whypeople say he does not have the de-sired constitutional authority.

Cry the beloved country.courtesy: Kantipur Online

Contd from pg 2

CRY, THE BELOVEDCOUNTRY

In the land of Shakespeare, punc-tuation faced extinction until writerLynne Truss came to the rescuewith a clutch of carefully placedcommas and colons.

Taking a zero tolerance ap-proach to grammatical lapses, shewrote a sprightly guide to punctua-tion, “Eats, shoots and leaves,” thathas sold more than half a millioncopies in Britain alone and soaredto the top of bestseller lists.

Now, honing her crusading zealover misplaced apostrophes, Trussis off to the United States to ensuretransatlantic tidiness reigns su-preme on the printed page.

She fervently believes theInternet, e-mails and textmessaging have widened people’shorizons, but treat punctuation likeunnecessary linguistic baggage.

Truss, who says she is a stick-ler for accuracy and not an obses-sive pedant, thinks the English havelost touch with the language theyinvented and gave to the world.

But she will not cast the firststone at the Americans, oftenmocked by the haughty British forbastardizing their mother tongue.

“American education seems totake grammar quite seriously,” shesaid before leaving on a 10-city,

fice left two civilians injured, police said.The injured are undergoing

treatment at Bhaktapur Hospital.In the meantime, Kathmandu

District Administration Office[DAO] has issued prohibitory or-ders at more public places effectivefrom today.

According to the order issued bythe DAO, the extended prohibitedareas include Bhotahiti, Jamal,

Teendhara Paathsala Chowk,Ghantaghar and Ranoddip Chowk.The measure bans demonstrationsand protest programs in these areas.

The order has been imposed asper the Local Administration Act2028 BS, DAO said. Earlier, DAOhad issued prohibitory orders on 21March, 2004 after agitating politi-cal parties intensified their protestprograms in Kathmandu.

Maoists explode three bombsin Bhaktapur, prohibitory orders

imposed in Kathmandu

Tibet gets

its first

billionaireThe remote Himalayan region of

Tibet has produced its first bil-lionaire, the state media reportedearlier this week.

Qoinpe Cering [49] was bornin a poor family in a small villagenear Xigaze city in the Tibet Au-tonomous Region in southwestChina.

He made a fortune by setting upa company specialising in buildinghouses in the unique Tibetan style,Xinhua news agency reported fromTibet’s capital Lhasa.

Before 1951, slave ownersmade up only five per cent of thetotal population of Tibet but con-trolled 95 per cent of its wealth. Buttoday there is no dearth of million-aires in rural Tibet, the report adds.

However, Tibet is still a poorregion as a whole compared withmany other parts of China. The an-nual disposable income of farm-ers and herdsmen in Tibet aver-aged $183 in 2002, against $748for farmers in Shanghai, China’slargest city.

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Here Comes the Punctuation Vigilantecoast-to-coast tour of NorthAmerica for the launch of the bookthere next month.

“My sense of it is that BritishEnglish is worse actually thanAmerican English. I think Ameri-cans really like rules. I think we inBritain are very slapdash and don’tcare if we are right or wrong.”

But Hollywood has certainlyenraged Truss, a feisty columnistand broadcaster who would happilyreach for her marker pen to put inpunctuation where Tinseltown of-fers none. “What about that filmTwo Weeks Notice? Where was theapostrophe?” she asks, enraged thatthere is no apostrophe at the end ofWeeks.

01 April, 2004; NOW! 7

C M Y K

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The 49th day Kutse Shegu of late ShyamMoktan (M/s Siam Brothers, Tibet Road),DOB 5 September 1959, who left for hisheavenly abode on 16th February 2004fall on 4th April 2004. All relatives, friendsand well wishers are requested to kindlyjoin us in offering prayers to be departedsoul at our residence, TashilingSecretariat Road, near Mani Lakhang,Gangtok.We would also like to take this opportunity to thank allthose who extended their help during our time of griefand bereavement.

Mrs. Tshering Deki (wife)Hishey Moktan (son)

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The 49th day Kutse Shegu oflate Tshering Doma who left forher heavenly abode on 20thFebruary 2004 falls on 7th April2004. All friends, relatives andwell wishers are requested tojoin us in offering prayers forthe departed soul at ourresidence at ManjushreeNiwas, Tadong, Gangtok. Weheartily thank all those whostood by us during the time ofbereavement and regret ourinability to do so individually.

H. R. Sharma (Husband)

Vijay Sharma, Ajay Sharma (sons)

Neelam Sharma, Dr. Yogita

Sharma (daughters)

Kutse Shegu

The prospect of owning a roof over your head and the groundbeneath your feet couldn’t be any more real than it is today. Nolonger do you have to put aside every penny over a lifetime tobe able to consider such a big-time purchase. A combination of

realistic and affordable property prices, an abundance of properties tochoose from, low-cost financing options and attractive income-tax con-cessions have brought this dream closer to your doorsteps.

If you have the inclination but not the money, don’t fret. Help is athand in the form of housing finance companies and banks, offering low-cost loans. Interest rates on housing loans are at an all time low with mostbanks offering around 7.5 per cent.

In Sikkim, the State Bank of India claims to offer the lowest rate ofinterest on housing loans. Housing loans are available for governmentemployees. The schemes are divided into three categories, Teachers+,Police+, and Prasashan+. The bank has been reducing its housing interestrate regularly, with the present rate of interest being 7.25% for up to 5years, 7.75% for 5-15 years and 8% for 15-20 years.

Says Kumar Gazmer, Deputy Manager, Personal Segment AdvanceCentre, Gangtok Branch, “We get a lot of applicants for housing loans.Not only do we offer the lowest rate of interest but we also don’t charge aprocessing fee. We also try and disburse the loan in three sittings.”

The newly opened Oriental Bank of Commerce is also marketing itshousing loan segment aggressively. As in the case of other banks here,they only feel secure giving loans to government employees on the basisof a salary certificate. The bank has a special Griha Sewa Scheme forsalary plus persons. The rate of interest for housing loan is 7.5%. Says RKhan, Manager, OBC, “We have a very friendly environment here. Thescheme is easy, rate of interest is very low and response is also good fromthe people,”

UTI Bank offers housing loans under its Power Homes Scheme. Sala-ried individuals working in government service or reputed companies andhaving salary account with UTI with a net minimum salary of Rs. 7500per month are eligible for the loan, which comes at a higher rate of inter-est compared to other banks.

You can avail of loans from a minimum of Rs. 1 lakh to a maximumof Rs. 50 lakhs. The rate of interest is 9.75% up to 5 years and above 10%for more than five years.

Says Jayanto Chatterjee, Assistant Vice-president, UTI, “Yes, our in-terest rates are higher compared to other banks but we also give less har-assment and process the loan very quickly.”

Whichever bank you may decide to approach for a home loan thereare some things you should know.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR?Never get taken in by advertisements/ commercials that offer you loansat 8 per cent or now even 7.75 per cent interest rate.

There’s always an ** over such figures. And if you can locate wherethat ** is explained in very, very fine print, you will see terms, like inter-est rates for fixed tenure, terms and conditions apply, et cetera.

Always go by one thumb rule: The bank that offers you the lowestEMI [equated monthly installments] is the best.

BUY YOUR HOMENOW, PAY LATER

HOW TO CALCULATE EMIMost housing loan sites have what is called an EMI calculator. Hereyou enter the loan you need, the tenure and the interest rate offeredfor that tenure.

You will get the amount that you have to pay per month.INTEREST RATESAlmost all banks offer different interest rates for different tenures. Thelowest interest is always offered for the short-term loans.

Hence, you will get the lowest interest rates for tenures up to 5years. This will progressively increase as the term increases.

All banks offer floating rates and fixed interest rates loans, too.A floating rate loan means that the interest rates prevailing will be

applicable. So, if the interest rates go down your EMI will also reduceproportionately and vice versa.

A fixed interest rate means that your EMI is fixed and will remainunchanged despite fluctuations in lending rates.

Most experts feel that interest rates in India are on their way downand so a floating rate is the best option.PRE-PAYMENT CLAUSE:This is an important thing to look for. When you take a loan, you arealways looking at it from the point-of-view of your present income lev-els. Five years from now, you are most likely to be earning at muchhigher levels.

Most will want to pay off their loans much faster. Always look for abank that will allow you to pre-pay without any terms and conditions.

Some will allow you to only pay in multiples of EMI that you payand allow you to pre-pay only so many times in a year. Select a bankthat allows you to pre-pay any amount.PROCESSING FEES:Some banks will charge a fixed amount as processing fee. This isusually between 0.5 per cent and 1 per cent of the loan amount.

A one-time insurance (works out to around 0.25 per cent) and afixed advocate fee of Rs 2,500 too are charged.HOW MUCH CAN YOU GET:The standard is 48 times your gross salary. Most nationalized banksoffer only 85 per cent of the cost of the property. But there are banksthat will offer you up to 100 per cent of the loan amount, provided youcan show them that you have the capacity to repay.

But remember there is stamp duty, registration and other chargesthat will work out to around 10 per cent of the cost of the property.Take that into your calculations.DOCUMENTATION NEEDED:Most banks will ask for your latest salary slip, your bank statement forthe last one-year and last three years’ income tax returns [would notapply in Sikkim].

If you’re a businessman/ trader you will need copies of you taxreturns for the last three years. And two guarantors.FINALLY:Once you have selected the bank you want to do business with, sitdown with its officials and get a pre-approval for the loan before com-mitting on the property.

Banks will only disburse the loan after you have paid stamp dutyand registration, and your share of the money.

Do not pour all your savings on the loan. Keep a buffer amount inthe bank for emergencies.

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8; NOW!; 01 April, 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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ARIES: Loving family relationships andwarm personal and social contacts are em-phasized now. This is a good time to cre-ate goodwill between yourself and others.TAURUS: There is much activity; youmove rapidly from one thing to another anda hectic, somewhat stressful pace is likely.Many errands, phone calls, letters whichrequire a response, and other "busywork"is on the agenda. A minor but rather tenseconfrontation is likely.GEMINI: Agreements and contractswillwork out very much to your advantage now.A friend or person in authority may offer helpor present an opportunity which will benefityou now or in the future. Also, you will reaprewards later for the generosity and aid youextend to others at this time.CANCER: You are full of optimism andenthusiasm for new enterprises and plans.In fact, you may be foolishly overconfidentand take on more challenges than you canreally meet. This can, in fact, be a veryproductive time for you if you can keep yourexpectations within reasonable bounds.LEO: This is a difficult time period! Youfeel caught in a rut that you are unable tobreak free from. Your daily routine feelsoppressive, but improvement is not easilyachieved. You may feel a "creative block"that prevents you from working with thesame level of inspiration and originality.VIRGO: There is much activity; youmove rapidly from one thing to another anda hectic, somewhat stressful pace is likely.Many errands, phone calls, letters which

require a response, and other "busywork"is on the agenda. A minor but rather tenseconfrontation is likely.LIBRA: An incident involvingmiscommunications, missed messages, ormissed meetings which causes a changeof plans is likely. Co-workers may be un-accountably inconsistent. You may also geta bit of news that you will wish you hadn't.Try to take these in stride.SCORPIO: You are optimistic and pos-sibly extravagant now. You are less cau-tious than usual, feeling that nothing canpossibly go wrong. If you are inclined tooverindulge, overspend, or go to excessesin any manner, this tendency is exagger-ated at this time.SAGITTARIUS: This is a time whenit is difficult to stay within a budget or on adiet. You want comfort and ease and haveluxurious tastes. You need company andhappy fellowship. It's a good time for aparty, as long as you don't overdo it.CAPRICORN: Intense, irrationallystrong or compelling feelings emerge nowand intimate relationships are deeply emo-tional. You're apt to overreact.PISCES: Intense, irrationally strong orcompelling feelings emerge now and inti-mate relationships are deeply emotional.You're apt to overreact.AQUARIUS: There is much activity;you move rapidly from one thing to anotherand a hectic, somewhat stressful pace islikely. A minor but rather tense confronta-tion is likely.

1578: William Harvey of Eng-land discovers blood circulation.1877: Ignoring the taunts of fel-low miners who say he will onlyfind his own tombstone, pros-pector Edward Schieffelin be-gins his search for silver inTombstone, Arizona. He findssilver and Tombstone finds no-toriety with the Wyatt Erapgunfight at OK Coral.1918: The British Royal AirForce [RAF] is formed with theamalgamation of the Royal Fly-ing Corps [RFC] and the RoyalNaval Air Service [RNAS].1927: 1st automatic recordchanger introduced by HMV.1924: In Germany, Nazi Partyleader Adolf Hitler is sentencedto five years in prison for lead-ing the Nazis’ unsuccessful“Beer Hall Putsch” in the Ger-man state of Bavaria.1973: John & Yoko form a newcountry with no laws or bounda-ries, called Nutopia, its nationalanthem is silence1973: Japan allows its citizensto own gold.

STUDY: PUREBRED

DOGS RESEMBLE

OWNERSSAN DIEGO: Those who thinkpurebred dogs look like their own-ers are barking up the right tree, butmatching a mutt to its master isanother thing, a study suggests.

Research at the University ofCalifornia, San Diego indicates thatwhen people pick a dog, they lookfor one that, at some level, bearssome resemblance to them. Andwhen they get a purebred dog, theyget what they want.

When given a choice of twodogs, judges correctly matched 25purebreds with their owners nearlytwo out of three times. With mutts,however, the pattern went to the dogs.

“When you pick a purebred,you pick it specifically because ofhow it’s going to look as a grown-up,” said Nicholas Cristenfeld,UCSD professor of psychology andco-author of the study, which ap-pears in the current issue of Psy-chological Science.

DUCHOVNY SET FORX-FILES COMEBACK

David Duchovny is planning toreturn to the X-Files role that

made him a household name. Theactor, whose departure from the TVsci-fi hit led to the show’s demise,is in talks with X-Files creator ChrisCarter to recreate his Fox Muldercharacter for a new movie. And hedoesn’t mind the fact he’ll mostlikely be appearing without hisformer sidekick, Gillian Anderson,because Carter has a much biggermovie star name to tempt him with.

Alicia Keys has proved a majorattraction in Denmark - all of

the 1,200 plus tickets for her con-cert at Copenhagen’s Royal Thea-tre were sold in just 16 minutesyesterday.

The 23-year-old R&B singerwill perform on 16 June (04) on thetheatre’s main Old Stage, whichdates from 1874.

Officials at the Royal Theatre

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BANDERAS’ ADMITS TO GERE CRUSHActor Antonion Banderas hasnamed RICHARD GERE as hissame-sex crush - and the Span-ish hunk’s wife Melanie Griffithapproves.

The Hollywood couple at-tended the 15th annual Gay &Lesbian Alliance Against Defama-tion [GLAAD] Awards, whereBanderas was handed the Van-guard Award.

Banderas playfully revealed, “I al-ways found Richard Gere very attrac-tive. He has a beautiful smile. When Iwas watching movies at 18 years old, he’sthe kind of guy I wanted to be. He’s cute.”

With nodding approval, Griffith com-mented, “I think that’s a very good choice,”which prompted Banderas to point out, “You see?We have the same taste.”

say it is the first time ever that apop star will perform there. Thedowntown playhouse dates back to1770. Its repertoire includes clas-sical drama, ballets, operas andconcerts by philharmonic andchamber orchestras.

Earlier this month, tickets forSir Paul McCartney’s show inwestern Denmark sold out in 11minutes.

ALICIA KEYS TICKETS SELL OUT IN 16 MINUTES