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ANGTOK: This is note first time that Mr.

handari is attempting toerge his Sikkimangram Parishad intoe Congress. Hisances, however, are theightest this time. In fact,s senior colleagues, inelhi with him at present,aim that 99 per cent ofe job “is done”. “All con-itions have been dis-ssed threadbare andreed upon. Now onlye announcement re-ains,” a senior Sangramild NOW! The state-unit Cong [I], however, in-sts that the merger willill take some time. TheSP leaders in Delhi, one other hand insist that“formal” announcementill come any day now.he confusion continues

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FRIDAYFURYFriday the 13th proved trulyunlucky for residents ofRongong Tumlong GramPanchayat Unit, ward No. 4,Phodong, North Sikkim. Thesleepy hamlet was hit bylandslides which continueto put houses in danger

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DEEPFOCUS

RANJIT SINGH

In Anticipation Of Traderime Minister will be in China by Sunday and if the an-ement does not come about before he touches down at, then it will most probably be made during his state visit.

la or Jelepla will be opened for trade. Resumption of tradee passes has been a consistent demand for Sikkim andat it is close to becoming a reality, the State needs to workactly how it plans to benefit from it and how prepared it is.st, lets see who benefits most. China will undoubtedly bein beneficiary. Movement of goods over Nathula and Jeleplang a port closer to Tibet which at present has Hong Kong nearest port. Supplies to this region will benefit most. Also,ng post so close to the major Indian markets will further the transportation costs for the cheap Chinese goods.rrot which tempts India to snap the deal is that opening ofsses for trade means China’s acceptance of Sikkim as a India. Sino-Indian trade in the region could never resume960 because China did not recognise the 1975 Merger

as averse to commerce over disputed territory. Should the be opened for trade it would be Chinese recognition of as an integral part of India. Not that such acceptance willany difference within India, but it does take care of an em-sing irritant.e benefit for Sikkim will be essentially limited to tourism. Thean hardly benefit commercially since it does not produce

ng that could find a market further north. But tourism ish. Not only will an open border attract the religious touristsomestic and foreign], but will also entice the adventurersg to retrace the footprints of those who opened Tibet at the the last century. It is here that Sikkim needs to negotiatehinese diplomats will try and get the best deal out for them-. They might open the border for trade and domestic touristsd for Kailash and Mansarovar, but deny international tour-m using the passes. Sikkim will have to pressurise the Cen- opening the border for full-fledged tourism. China has a arrangement with Nepal which drives many tourists overto Lhasa, so why deny Sikkim? The environmental and de-phic impact of the trade also needs to be studied. Trade willger be about yak caravans. Truckloads are going to crosskkim and thunder through its eastern extremities. There isto be increased human traffic and resultant impact on the of local population and the pressure on local infrastructureething that Delhi needs to cushion for Sikkim. Local entre-rs also need to come up to speed to corner whatever sliv-

commerce get left for Sikkim. The State could benefit muchn open border, but it has to be prepared and aware other- will just watch from the sidelines as middlemen and biggers steal away profits which are Sikkim’s by right.

tinence - Not Really Aiding Awarenessoing through a handbill on AIDS awareness, solutions be-easy. If the policy makers believe that “avoiding sex till yourried” is a workable possibility, then medicine is a profes-at could soon become obsolete. Why, for example, do weoctors to cure jaundice when all it will take to prevent peo-

m contracting jaundice is abstaining from water. Come mon- and instead of advising people on how to keep the water-diseases at bay, just tell them to stop drinking water. Soundsterous? It is. But that is how Sikkim, falling in line with the

ty-infused AIDS awareness drive piloted by Ms. Sushmaj, plans to tackle HIV. An AIDS awareness pamphlet beingted in Sikkim lists behavioural patterns which put people athose with more than one sexual partner, having sex with with sexually transmitted diseases, sharing needles withsers or using un-screened blood are supposedly at risk. Theaverages might put these people at risk, but then, why isorn in South Africa [the country with the highest percentageopulation infected] not listed as a risk factor? The latest AIDS awareness has put a moral quotient on the epidemic.the information now being handed out on the disease, HIVething that infects only the debauched. Given the fact thatrnational focus is now on compassion for the infected, such

sive attitudes could set back whatever advances we mightade in containing the spread of the disease. “Safe sex” iss the simplest and most effective way to combat AIDS, buts to be abstinence which is being promoted. Our policy-

It was only a matter of time forresources to run dry. The British and American economies

are now beginning to realise theimpact of outsourcing jobs to In-dia. Across the world, resistanceis increasing to outsourced jobsmoving to India. They are nowfeeling the pinch.

The British media complainsof 2,00,000 banking and insurancejobs moving to India. CNN reportsthat 1 million Indians work for US-based companies. Within India,there are reports that 40 millionjobs have already been created inthe English-speaking services seg-ment. The United States ofAmerica, Britain, Germany, Neth-erlands and Malaysia are all coun-tries where such resentment hassurfaced.

With increasing protests in theUS over outsourcing of jobs toIndia, especially in the IT sector,the American government hasbeen forced to cut down issuanceof H-1B visas for overseas profes-sionals. Companies have also beenasked to reveal how many Indiansthey are employing. The import offoreigners and export of jobs over-seas has resulted in the loss of jobs

investment proposal is approved inIndia, few people are likely to askwhether an Indian company is ca-pable of producing the samegoods. Yet, in developed countries,such questions are routine ones forcross-border movements.

Restrictions on global labourmovement is a post World War Iphenomenon. Yet, controls on im-migration have now come to beaccepted and the World Trade Or-ganisation’s services sector nego-tiations have minimum marketaccess schedules for temporarymigration of skilled personnel.Despite these commitments, bar-riers are erected by developedcountries for such migrations andthere ought to be a new classifica-tion of non-tariff barriers for la-bour movement. Security consid-erations have now compoundedtraditional concerns about immi-gration. If governments defy eco-

oped countries find diffaccept. The developed woits comparative advantmanufacturing to southeeast Asia and thought it hin services.

Given that Indian salaone-tenth of those in the deworld, that assumed compadvantage is also disappLabour productivity andskills do not generally justhuge salary differentials. Aas outsourcing to India mfew call centers, resentmmuted. But increasingly, bprocess outsourcing meanthan call centers and nonlated managerial, adminiand clerical jobs especibanking and insurance amoving off shore.

Job losses and salarythe developed world are atable outcome of globalisathough transitory pains haaccentuated by continuedsion in the West. HowevWest cannot have its cakeit too. First, it cannot preatrade and resist opening uculture or textiles and gaSecond, it cannot push f

Outsourcing Outclassed

Thirty-two months of production is all that an at-tempt at an industry could

last in Sikkim despite the fact thatfunds and loans seemed to beavailable to it on demand. WhySikkim Vanaspati Ltd. was sopampered is now for the CBI tofind out [the State cabinet handedthem the brief a couple of weeksback], but the fact that it was pam-pered is for all to see. The paper-trail the failed enterprise generatedsince its inception in 1982 to itslast shutdown in January 1995[thirteen years in which its factoryoperated on a depleted capacity forbarely two and half years] makesfor some interesting reading.

Sikkim Vanaspati Ltd,Manpur, Melli, was registered onDecember 31, 1982 with KunzangTopden as its promoter. It was au-thorised for a share capital of Rs.2 crores and a 50 tonne per dayvanaspati plant. In 1986, SIDICOwas approached for participationin the Share Capital. SIDICOagreed and entered the board ofdirectors after investing Rs. 93lakhs, translating to 51.54 per centof the stake, in SVL. The privatepromoters held 25.26 per cent ofthe share [Rs. 45 lakhs]. ThenIDBI was approached for financialassistance to meet the cost of the

project. IDBI, acting as the leadinstitution sanctioned a term loanof Rs. 4 crores in consortium withIFCI and ICICI at an interest rateof 12.5 per cent per annum.

Everything moved ratherquickly for SVL. The joint sectoragreement with SIDICO wasinked in July 1986 and the IDBIloan was cleared by July end thesame year. One reason why the Rs.4 crore loan was sanctioned so fastwas perhaps because the FinanceDepartment of the then Bhandarigovernment agreed to execute an“unconditional and irrevocable”deed of guarantee for SVL’s loan.The State government had nowbeen roped in for the long haul.

Two years later, and SVL wasyet to start production. Instead, itapproached IDBI for additionalfinancial assistance to part financethe cost over-runs. A loan of Rs.40 lakhs was made availableagainst the mortgage of the com-pany’s immovable properties. Thiswas in July, 1988, and by Octo-

ber, the State Governmentto sit guarantee on this loa

Production commencesame month, but closed dNovember 1989. Unfavoconditions prevailing vanaspati market, shorworking capital, transpcommunication problemoffered as the factors whicthe enterprise unviable.

The unit remained clothe next five years, until iber 1992, the managemehanded over to KolkataPawan Saraswat Associaterehabilitation package worThe Associates renewed tsector agreement with Sand within a month, secur2 crore soft loan from it.hoc loan of Rs. 75 lakhs wafrom SBI, Kolkata. AlthoState Government did not santee on this soft loan, iton the dotted line again fo3.63 crore cash credit

GREASED THROUGHSikkim Vanaspati Ltd. was perhaps the most pampered s

industrialisation in Sikkim. Between 1982 to to 1992, SVL

availed more than Rs. 11 crores in loans in which the Sta

Government sat guarantee. The liabilities have come ba

haunt. It will be for the CBI to investigate the conditions

made SVL so popular for loans, but a study of how many i

availed still makes for interesting reading. A NOW FEATUR

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OK: Mergers are always complicated and the proposed amal-n of the Sikkim Sangram Parishad into the Congress [I] is not. The merger, which has been rumoured ever since the SSPself in the Opposition bench back in 1994, gathered more ur-ith its chief and former CM, Nar Bahadur Bhandari camped iner the past week to renegotiate the terms of the merger afresh.anied by some of his senior colleagues and a faction of theradesh Congress Committee [I] members in favour of “imme-erger, he has been meeting several senior leaders of the Con-gh-command, including Sonia Gandhi, to ease through theHis aides, while talking to NOW! from Delhi, insist that thes will sign on the dotted line by the time this issue hits theut SPCC [I] President, Namkha Gyaltsen maintains that it mighto early to break open the champagne.section of the Congressmen in Sikkim are to be believed, thecy which rumours had us believe about an impending SSP-

erger is too premature. The former CM who has flirted with the] several times in the past, might not yet return to a rousinge at Rangpo as a Congressman. They insist that the merger stilla “proposal” despite the bid by those keen on rushing the mergerto directly approach the Congress high-command in Delhi.rocess has to be followed in such things. The party high-com-ill need feedback from us and because it was not discussed state-unit we are not really in a position to advise the highd on the proposal,” SPCC [I] President, Namkha Gyaltsen,W! Mr. Gyaltsen was in Delhi over the last weekend to brief high-command on the political situation in Sikkim and also to

the proposal for merger. He admitted that he learnt of the re-id for an SSP-Cong merger only upon reaching Delhi. A ploy,r. Gyaltsen insists, is not how a merger can be engineered.handari’s merger bid in Delhi was reportedly instigated by some

] members, who, sources reveal, convinced him that the mergerail through if he approached the Congress high-command di-ost office bearers in the SPCC [I] are seen as “anti-merger” by

y wanting Sangram to merge with Congress in Sikkim.or Sangramis camped in Delhi at present, however, maintainers for a merger came from the Congress high-command thisplying that the AICC [I] side-lined the state-unit on purpose, aandari aide who was in Delhi for “pre-negotiations” even be- Bhandari arrived, said that even the Congress bosses in Delhilised that the party has been decimated under Mr. Gyaltsen’stship in Sikkim.ave seen letters welcoming Mr. Bhandari into the Congress.

ritten in 2001. The merger was cleared even at that time, butby some members of the SPCC [I] at the last minute. The high-d seems committed not to allow such delays any more and

a gesture of good faith, even replaced the partyman in-chargem who was opposed to the merger,” said a senior Sangrami NOW! over the phone from Delhi.ting to charges that he is seen as “anti-merger,” Mr. Gyaltsend the suggestion and pointed out that it was he who first mootedin 2001. Denying that the merger fell through because they hadto the ruling party, Mr. Gyaltsen said: “The merger could not comeat that time due to many disturbances. The unacceptable condi-led by Mr. Bhandari defeated any hopes for a smooth merger.”or members of the state-unit further revealed that not only didndari want the SPCC [I] president’s post, but also wanted aent from the party high-command that it would not “listen” to

idence to his functioning from the within the party’s ranks in These conditions along with a fund of Rs. 3 crores to kick-start] activities in Sikkim made the merger proposal unappetising

CBI that Primula Cottage, hisChurch Road, Gangtok, residence,was made from money “given” tohim by Rajiv and Indira Gandhi.

But then, politics is known tohave no permanent enemies andthose working on the merger inDelhi are convinced that “99 percent” of the work is done.

“The feedback has been con-sistently positive so far. This is amajor development and obviouslymany issues need to be ironed out,but everything has been worked outand now only a final meeting withSonia Gandhi remains,” said a sen-ior SSP functionary while claimingthat the formal announcementcould come by Wednesday morn-

ing depending on when they can get an appointmeMrs. Gandhi, who has been keeping a busy schedu

These claims are in direct contrast with what th[I] President believes. The merger, he states, migtake some more time. The newly appointed AICCcharge for Sikkim, Salman Khursheed, will be in thin the near future [not until July 15 though] to discissue with party-members here and hold talks with ainvolved and also look at other possible alliancesthe issue is decided.

“It will still be some more months before a cleature emerges,” he said. Mr. Gyaltsen, however, rethat he is not opposed to the merger, just that thmany sides to it which need to be understood.

“When we hold talks afresh, we will do so withprejudice,” adds another senior Congressman An[I] member who met Sonia Gandhi last week in ction with the merger proposal also revealed that “M

had assured that “no decision on the matter will be taken in haWhen asked what necessitated the merger, a senior Sangra

erated that the first move was made by the Congress high-com“We also saw it as a good change. We now know the limitaregional politics and it will be good for Sangram to now get itional politics,” he said.

What Sangram brings to the table is its performance in assembly elections where it cornered 7 seats and 44 per cenvotes. Congress bagged barely 4 per cent of the votes, so its cotion to the merger would obviously come in the form of the custhat a national party can provide in the various CBI cases that areing Mr. Bhandari as also the finances for sponsoring his bid to fgovernment in the next elections.

Whether the latest bid at a merger works out or not will bebefore the week is out, but it is now obvious that the mergeranything but smooth. The Congress state-unit is clearly dividedurgency of the matter and a section has been identified as oppoShould the merger come about, there is bound to be a major shin the party hierarchy in Sikkim which could take away somgains that the merger promises for either side.

HE CONFUSION OF A MERGER

E SSP-CONG MERGER: Congressmen insist it will be months before a clea

ture emerges, Sangramis believe the announcement will come any day now

c politics is boring and when it gets

it becomes confusing. Ditto for the

ing talks on the SSP-Cong merger.

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OK: A presentation of Multi-Stage Pumping programme ofom Rangit to Namchi and the surrounding areas in South Sik- held at the Rural Development Department conference hallJune 10.State government has approved an outlay of Rs. 6.50 crores forect that will deal with the acute shortage of water in Namchiurrounding areas. The project has been designed keeping in requirement of water over the next 15 years.

er from Rangit will be pumped to a height of about 1,200 me-hree stages. The treatment plant will have a capacity to treatlion litres per day. The annual operational maintenance cost ofct will be Rs. 76 lakhs in the initial stages once it is commis-

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NG: On June 13, last Fri-ple of Rongong Tumlongnchayat Unit, ward No. 4,, North Sikkim woke up to of Nature. At around 9am,py hamlet was hit by ma-

slides which destroyed 3their corn and cardamomd killed 3 cows and 2 pigs.le speaking to NOW!, SBthe area Panchayat, saidwhole experience was are. “Ever since the villagewe have been trying to get shock. Throughout Fri- were trying our best to livestock and shift our-

o the nearby school. Al-o one was hurt, these landve taken our cattle and ourhich are our source of in-aid Mr. Subba.

slides have left manyon unsafe foundations.

y SVL from SBI.ecember 25, 1992, com-

production, albeit on apacity, started at the complex again. In Janu-, barely months after the

w a change in the seat ofoperations at SVL shutrmanently.hings stand, an industryas loaned almost Rs. 11f which SIDICO contrib- 2 crores, has now left thevernment straddled with aility of Rs. 18 crores. Andsharks are calling from all December, 1993 the High Kolkata passed a decreer of ITC. In March 1999,d SBI filed recovery pro- against SVL in the Debty Tribunal at Guwahati.h the case has reached the disposal, the order has

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been reserved due to a stay orderprocured by SVL’s last private pro-moter, Pawan Saraswat.

The lending agencies can beheard crying foul over the presentState Government’s decision to con-test the case. “It does not matterwhose government guaranteed theloan. We sanctioned it knowing aState Government guarantee is safe.Such hesitancy will send out thewrong signals,” said a senior bankofficial while talking to NOW!

There is no denying that noteverything was above board in thehandling and promotion of SVL.The bank’s are not free of blameeither since they themselves areguilty of having ignored manypromising projects for lack of po-litical patronage in the past. Theyare lucky that their investments arenot lost since the State can only

delay the payment and not deny it.If, in the meantime, they candredge out the peculiar position-ing that SVL enjoyed, it could per-haps serve as a warning for simi-lar mistakes in the future.

GREASED THROUGH

While one family had to shift to thehospital quarters, another movedinto the principal’s quarters and stillothers took shelter in the school.Although the families have sincemoved back to their homes, theyflee every time there is a shower.

“The main reason behindthese slides is the fact that the roadabove their houses has no support-ing wall to share the load. Eventhe drains are clogged. With nodrainage, the surface runoff loos-ened the soil and resulted in theslides,” believes Bijay Subba, aresident whose fields have beendestroyed. “Mero Doodh Dinay

Gai, Jersey Gai Maryo,” sharesanother distraught villager.

The villagers however have nocomplaints with the relief package.

“The authorities have takencontrol of the matter now and havealready visited the spot and prom-ised compensation,” informed BaliRaj Gurung whose house was alsodamaged by the landslides.

After the incident, the Panchayatreported the matter to the police andthe SDPO (north) visited the spot totake stock and console the residents.Later, the area MLA, DC and SDMalso visited the spot and assured “fullsupport” to the victims.

om pg 2

RIDAYURY

a NOW! pic

D OBEROI reports

e slides that visited

ong last Friday

Sonia petitioned to kee

direct taxes out

GANGTOK: Senior SPCC [I] of-fice-bearers who were in Delhirecently to discuss the proposedSSP-Cong merger, also took theappointment granted with AICC[I] President, Sonia Gandhi, topetition her with a request to keepimplementation of direct taxes inSikkim at bay.

In a memorandum signed bythe SPCC [I], Namkha Gyaltsen,the state-unit has pointed out thatsuch implementation would goagainst the spirit of the TripartiteAgreement of May 8 and Article371F which protects the Old Laws,of which the Income Tax Manualis one, of Sikkim.

Claiming that such an imple-mentation is on the “verge” of get-ting forced through, the SPCC [I]

President has also requesshould the implementa“unavoidable”, the tribalskim be exempted from the pof this Act.

The Congress Presidalso been petitioned to ensthe policy of safeguardingdigenous inhabitants of this continued. While welcomrecent inclusion of the LimTamang communities Scheduled Tribes list, the[I] has also petitioned for ing them with their “legipolitical rights in the formervation of seats in the Stsembly.

Also reiterated in the randum is “adequate suppprotection” for the SikNepalese by including “left out communities in theuled Tribe category.

a NOW REPORT

A LEVELS SEXUAL HARASSMENT

ALLEGATION ON SSP V-P

EM LALL’S IRE FALLSON JOURNOS

OK: The pressure of go-gainst the judiciary withed allegations and gettingback with a charge of per-

to be getting to the SSPesident, Hem Lalli. On June 11, just as theearing on the perjury moved against him con-Mr. Bhandari walked outourtroom and straight upurnalists sharing a cup ofide and launched into aing tirade.nu Neopaney, a reportere Nepali daily Hamroakti, while talking to

evealed that Mr. Bhandariff by criticising his paper’saying of the Sangram Dayons in Gangtok. Soon, hemore threatening andthe reporter against filingord” of the day’s proceed-

sing foul and abusive lan-e threatened to search me

out and beat me up at home if I re-ported on the court case,” Mr.Neopaney told NOW!

By then, another journalistentered Mr. Bhandari’s wrathfulline of vision. He turned his warn-ings towards Pema LeydaShangderpa, the Sikkim corre-spondent for The Telegraph. Theheated argument that followed sawthe exchange of many angry wordsand it was only after some SSPyouths intervened that Mr.Bhandari backed down.

The two journalists have sinceapproached the Chief JudicialMagistrate with a complaint ofcriminal intimidation which hasbeen handed over to the SadarThana for investigation. While thetwo admit that they perceive noimmediate threat from Mr.Bhandari since even his own partycolleagues seem to have hadenough of him, they point out: “Atpresent, he can only threaten be-cause he cannot mobilise the mus-cle to get physical, but who willguarantee that he won’t send boys

after journalists when he has moreclout and power?”

For once, the journalist frater-nity united in its condemnation ofMr. Bhandari’s actions. Both, thePress of Club of Sikkim and Sik-kim Journalists Association, whilecondemning the outburst as an as-sault on the fourth estate, havedemanded public apologies.

Splintering out from the June11 episode is an even more seri-ous allegation. SJA, in a press re-lease issued by its General Secre-tary, Sujit Chakraborty [editor,Northeastern Weekend Review]alleges: “Mr. Bhandari has beenerratically and irresponsibly tryingto foul-mouth the press and doingthings that can be construed assexual harassment of a womanscribe.” This a serious allegationthat should give Mr. Bhandari’slegally-trained mind more issuesto chew upon. That is, after he hasfigured how to squirm away fromthe perjury and criminal intimida-tion allegations that he has to con-tend with first.

W REPORT

PUBLIC NOTICEEP HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of AMALGAMATEDSPOWER (I) Ltd. has proposed to construct a 36MW Hydro-Electric Project near Rolep across the river Rongpo-chu. The salient features of the project are as under: 42.5m high concrete gravity dam across river Rongpo-Chu near Rolep village Latuk Blockt Sikkim, just downstream of the confluence of Nathang-chu and Rongpo-chu. Hopper type desilting basin 15m width 14.8 deep and 110m long. underground headrace tunnel of 2.6m diameter finished size and 4.5km long with onermediate adit of size 4.5m, 5m ‘D’ shaped 460 long.n underground surge shaft 9.5m diameter 60m high.ne underground pressure shaft 2m diameter finished size 60m long and one surface type

el penstock 2m diameter 730m long branching into two small size penstock of 1.5m diameter long each. surface type powerhouse of size of 16m wide 61m long and 35m high near Lamaten vil-

e, Latuk Block, East Sikkim.ppromixately 4.36 hectares of land to come under submergence.o acquire private / forest land (29.0 ha) for various project component and roads aroundject sites in Rolep / near Lamaten Village, Latuk Block, East Sikkim.

as by notification of Govt. of India in the Ministry of Environment and Forest No. 60 (E)27th January 1994, issued under sub-section (1) and clause (V) of sub-section (2) of

n 3 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1996) as made mandatory under Part-IIn 3 sub-section (II) dated 10th April 1997, the State Pollution Control Board is required toct Public Hearing in the interest of the public for preparing recommendations based onhnical assessment of documents and data furnished by the project authorities for obtain-cessary environmental clearance from MOEF, Govt. of India.

fore, notice is hereby given to all persons, including bonafide residents, environmentals and other located at project site / sites of displacement, sites likely to be affected tiopate and provide suggestions, views, comments and objections, if any and to attend the hearing to be conducted on 22.07.2003 at Rolep School, East Sikkim at 10:30 onwards.erson, individual interested to submit other written suggestions, views or complaints canon or before the hearing date, which may be addressed to the Member Secretary, Stateon Control Board, Department of Forest, Env. & Wildlife, Deorali, Gangtok.

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W REPORT

OK: In a meeting with they and other senior officialsepartment, the Minister, Bridges, RB Subba, ex-“great displeasure” overw progress of variousunder the Department.official Press release in-t the Minister convened theon June 12 to review thes of various ongoing like carpeting and strength-existing roads and construc-ew roads and bridges.ng a division and district-iewal of various projects,ister reportedly pulled upials for the delay in com-f most projects. the onset of monsoons ine Minister also directedials to stop work once thed set in the earnest and to required materials at thelf. Directions were also

nister unhappy with tardyogress of road repairs

passed to the concerned junior en-gineers to be present at the siteswhere work was in progress.

While urging them to expeditethe works, he reiterated that nocompromise be made on the qual-ity of the projects. The release alsoinforms that he reminded his offi-cials that the roads sector has beenaccorded top-priority by thepresent government.

G: Greed for money ledl double murder at Tayong

the evening of June 10, last Nirmal Basnet and his wife,re brutally hacked to deathersons who could have beentives. Their children Suraj,arayan, 9, were lucky and a murderous assault and identified one of the mur- Gopal Chettri, a Nepal na-ho had come to stay withut fifteen days earlier. Theade away with a sum of Rs.

tolen from the house.le Nirmal’s body was

THESE DACOITS CATHEMSELVES COPSa NOW REPORT

RAVANGLA: The next time a group of crew-cut, tough-looking,sters come knocking, don’t take their word for being cops. A faManngzong Jogi Dara, about 6 kms from Lingmoo bazaar herthe mistake of accepting 15 unknown persons as being police nel and are now poorer by Rs. 37,000 they had in their almihave lost all their jewellery. Official sources reveal that the saicame calling on one Man Bahadur Chettri in the evening of Claiming to be policemen invstigating a “case,” they told Man Bthat they needed to search his house for a pistol belonging to onsons. The entire family was tied up and locked inside a roomthey did not interfere with the “search”. The group then proceransack the house and left with the booty. When the father of threalised that they had been had, he filed a complaint and two ahave been arrested since. No loot has been recovered as yet th

found in the cowshed, his wife’sbody was found dumped outsideand covered with grass.

Statements given by the twominors suggest that after murder-ing the parents, the murderersturned their attention towards thechildren and strangled them.When they lost consciousness,they were probably left for dead.

The victims are both learnt tobe Nepal nationals who had beenhere as tenants of one Arjun Subedifor the past ten years. Police sourcestold NOW! that the victims mostprobably were related to the murder-ers and that the murders might haveresulted from a past feud.

The accused are absconding.

Even the dog squad which was puton their trail an hour after the in-cident lost their trace nearBermiok Martam. Police officialsbelieve that the accused have fledinto the jungles of Uttarey and onto Nepal. Although all check-postshave been alerted, no arrests havebeen made thus far.

The orphaned children, in themeanwhile are being looked afterby the landlord.

ATH COMES FROM ACROSS THE BORDERCouple murdered by

relatives from Nepal

Although not looked after by theRoads Bridges Deptt., the 9th Mileslide is one example of a problemspot that evades all solutions

W REPORT

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Ad i i Of f i (A l l W ki D 19 h 23 d J 2003)

GANGTOK: The NortheasternRegion Tibet Support Group hasasked the Prime Minister to playa “more pro-active role” during hisforthcoming visit to China.

The Group met in Salugara inWest Bengal for a two-day confer-ence on June 13-14 and passed afour-point resolution, which includedthis plea to the Prime Minister.

“We request the Prime Minis-ter to play a more pro-active roleto bring the Chinese Governmentto agree to the pragmatic views ofHis Holiness the Dalai Lama sothat there is genuine trust betweenthe two countries and lasting peacein the subcontinent,” SonamLhundup, co-convener of the Con-

ference, says in a Press staWhile welcoming th

posed visit of the PM to ChConference felt that apadiscussing the issue of tracommerce and openingtrade-route through Sikkimsue of Tibet must also beby the PM since the “Himculture is closely linked wof Tibet.”

The Support Group wof the view that the consof a rail-link by China fromto Lhasa, leading up to thnational border with India“directly affect India’s sand environment.” The Cence resolved to appeal toto also take up this issuethe visit, which they feel, cIndia’s security.

DURING CHINA VISIT

a NOW REPORT

rking on ruralater supply

W REPORT

OK: A one-day work- rural water supply andn was organised by RDDoration with the Water andConsultancy ServicesOS] on June 11 at thenity Hall here.ef Minister Pawang was the chief guest onsion.king on the occasion, Mr.g dwelt on the importance in day-to-day life and thepreserve it. He said thatple of Sikkim were notf the importance of water State had not yet experi-ater shortage. The Stateent has still initiated vari-mes on rainwater and roofrvesting in drought-prone the State, he informed.munity participation inr harvesting, water qualityng and treatment and ru-tion were some of the is-n up during the workshop.

Rabbitrytraining

OK: The State govern-rough the Department ofusbandry, has introduced

mme on rabbitry fundedentral Wool DevelopmentNDP, Border Area Devel-

Project and STEP. The Di-te of Handicrafts andms has in turn started a

nth training programme inool processing from May

3. This programme hasrted in collaboration with

ar Kumar, Consultant,

ELING: In a dramaticvents Kamal Gurung, aliasinla, one of the prime ac-

the Prakash Theeng mur- surrendered before thedicial Magistrate at the

ng Court on June 16. Helast one evading the law, the ones named in the FIR.e the Investigation Officer Poolbazar Police Statione FIR regarding the mur-

had been lodged, was nott the court, Police remandgiven. Kainla was insteadd to Judicial custody. Heth the others arrested in thee been booked under Sec

302, 120B, 34 of IPC and Sections25, 27 and 35 of the Arms Act.

Prakash Theeng, a SeniorGNLF leader and DGHCBijanbari Poolbazar area Council-lor, was shot dead on May 13 atGok, 48 kms from Darjeeling withan improvised gun. Based on thecomplaint lodged by the eyewit-ness, Bhakta Jogi, who was ac-companying Theeng when he wasshot, an FIR has been lodgedagainst six people. They are VishalRai, Milan Rai, Harkey Mangar,Man Kumar Rai, KanchaKalikotey of Deorali and Kainlaof Gok.

On the evening of May 22,

Bishal Rai, Milan Rai, MannKumar Rai, Kiran Thapa aliasHarkey Mangar and PrabhatKalikotey were arrested fromNayabazar Check Post on the Sik-kim side of the Bengal-SikkimBorder in connection with thismurder. Kancha Kalikotey ofDeorali and Kainla of Gok werestill at large then. Working on theleads, from the arrested accused,the Police had conducted severalraids at Mangan in Sikkim but hadfailed to nab Kancha. However theSikkim Police finally caught upwith Kancha on May 26 atManganand handed him over tothe Darjeeling Police.

heeng murder accusedsurrenders before CJM

AMITAVA BANERJEE

or most of us garbagemanagement means littlemore than throwing ourrubbish into the dustbin or the jhora,

er happens to be closer.D&HD it means collect-

enever possible in the fewat they have and dump-

at an open ground at. For the State Pollution

Board it means collecting formulating action plan

And yet, solid waste man- could soon be our nem-mediate attention is not

it. According to Dr. Bta, Member Secretary,Pollution Control Board, is hurtling into an envi-al nightmare because ofdustrialization and inad-nfrastructure to controldeluge.” He goes on toat efficient waste manage-uld be our top priority.

angtok, the responsibilityge collection and disposalh UD&HD. has the department been efficient all these years? long has UD&HD been

for all this. It is not onlyonsibility. What about the

ho don’t seem to have most basic civic sense?out the State PollutionBoard? I only found out

back that solid waste man- falls under their ambit.they should spend someand time too,” contends Pradhan, Additional Sec-D&HD.

State Pollution Controlas problems of its own. understaffed, it has oneientist, one scientific as-

sistant and two lab assistants for allof Sikkim. The Board has under itsjurisdiction every conceivable arearelated to pollution. From manage-ment of solid waste and hospitalwaste to monitoring of ambient airquality, noise level and water qual-ity. Although eight technical postshave been sanctioned by the cen-tral government not one post hasbeen filled. This, despite the factthat salaries for the eight posts wereensured by the central governmenttill the end of the 10th five yearplan, with the provision for extend-ing it in the 11th five year plan. So,what could be the hitch? No clearanswers are available.

To get back on the garbagetrail, each day 27,000 kgs of gar-bage is generated by Gangtok townalone. Many localities in town donot have access to waste collectiondepots. As a result wastes aredumped on any unused piece ofland or into the jhoras. Around 60per cent of the waste is collectedby the seven UD&HD trucks daily.The rest are left as they are. Thecollected garbage is taken to thedumping site at Marchak on opengarbage trucks and need to beloaded manually. Most of thesetrucks scatter refuse as they travel.

The dumping site at Marchakis an open one. Indiscriminatedumping is also creating the dan-

ger of polluting the Rani Khola.There is no attempt made to seg-regate the garbage at any stage.Organic, hazardous and biomedi-cal waste is thrown out into theopen along with plastic, bottlesand chemicals. Obviously a lessthan perfect situation.

“We are aware of the situationbut one has to be realistic. We haveour own constraints. We have onlyfive fully operational trucks at themoment for the East district. Thesebig Tatas cannot go into smallerareas like Arithang or Syari. Whydon’t you ask the Roads andBridges department why they aretaking so long to complete the roadfrom Arithang to the Bye-Pass. Itwould become so easy to removethe garbage then. Everyone has todo their bit. We are at present alsoshort on manpower but are mak-ing amends for that,” says Ms.Pradhan when asked why garbageis not removed for days and al-lowed to pile up in the suburbs.

“Who is creating this prob-lem? It is the elite. From thehouses of the educated and therich, maids come out and throw thegarbage into the jhora. Do the peo-ple not have any responsibility atall?” she asks angrily.

The absence of safe disposalof biomedical waste is anothermatter of great concern. This wasteis much more complex than mu-nicipal waste as it contains bio-non-degradable items along withhighly infective waste. In Sikkim,there is no uniform method for thedisposal of hospital waste. STNMhospital generates 300 kgs of in-fective and other waste daily. Thehospital has only a 2 kg capacityincinerator. Most of the STNM

ON THE GARBAGE TRAI

waste goes into UD&HD dustbinsor into the jhoras.

“Work is going on to install amuch bigger incinerator. Within amonth we should have it,” informsDr. SC Pradhan, Additional Super-intendent, STNM.

What about the fear that plac-ing such an incinerator in acrowded locality will cause airpollution? “Initially, the nearbyhotels raised some objections butwe have been assured that therewill be no air pollution. The smokewill come out at a height of morethan 100ft and will not affect thepeople,” the doctor adds.

Ask the State Pollution Con-trol Board if that is true and theydisagree. “The hospital authoritiesknow the rules but they have notyet approached us for permission.They are going ahead and doing iton their own when they should beconsulting us. Of course it will cre-ate air pollution,” says Dr. GopalPradhan, senior scientist, SPCB.

While the different depart-ments work out their own way to

solve the problem, there that things will soon get b

“We have prepared aand are working on an ActiThings are moving and soproblem will be solved. shifting the dumping sitMarchak to Martam. A solid waste treatment planinstalled there. All the gcollected by UD&HD willregated and treated herecloses Dr. Pradhan, of the

Lack of money is no loproblem it seems. The centernment has sanctioned Rs.for the project with the Staernment chipping in with 10of the allocated budget. UDgetting five more trucks for collection. STNM hospitaldered supplies of different cbuckets to segregate the waste at source. While thinto be moving in a positivtion we can only hope that thtiatives do not remain onlyper but get implementedground level too.

It is no great revelation to tell Gangtokians that they

have a solid waste management problem. We live it.

MITA ZULCA goes on the garbage trail to find out

exactly how serious the problem is and who is

doing what and how much about it...

Garbage is not a problem. We generate enough of it. It iscollection and disposal that we falter.

a NOW

ANNOUNCEMENTis for information of the three communities asioned below, in particular, and the public inral, that the Law Commission of Sikkim hasred a draft report on the Customary Laws andes of the following Communities, namely:LEPCHABHUTIASHERPAe Draft Report is being circulated amongsted people, village elders and knowledgablens viz. members of Panchayats / Local MPsAs, Heads of Departments etc. calling for ob-n / suggestions, if any, before finalising thet. The draft report is available with the under-d in the address given below and the samebe obtained for the purpose of perusal andideration. therefore, resuested that the objections/sug-

ons, if any, on the draft report may kindly beitted to the undersigned by 30th June, 2003

fresh everyday

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ING: Sikkim’s avianon excited even the great-thologists of all times,li, into devoting an entire them. It is thus surprisingenough attention has been cashing in on thissity wealth. This couldnge. While the focus of

ism industry in the Statearily been on regular tour-vities such as trekking,nd sightseeing, experts arepinion that the industryversify and find new andive ways to promotesm as well as conserva-ven the fact that Sikkim 600 species of birds, bird-g may just be the answerstry is looking for. is a relatively new con-ng promoted by a localkkim Development Foun-n an attempt to cash in onral resources of the Statee same time promote lo-omy and take conserva-rts to the grassroots level.first glimmer of this ini-ame with the week-longme - “Bird-watching foration and Ecotourism” - atresque Kewzing village

Narsingh Suwal, ornithologist andpresident of the Lumbini CraneConservation Centre, Nepal.

Nestled in the laps of theMaenam Hill, the Kewzing villagein the Ravangla Sub-division is amini-biodiversity hot-spot in itself.An abundance of birds are foundin the areas surrounding Ravangla,Kewzing, Rayong and Maenam.

“In just three days of our stayhere, we came across as many as110 species of birds in the area,some very rare ones as well. Thisis a very encouraging sign,” Mr.Suwal said. Some of the interest-ing species Mr. Suwal and enthu-siastic members of KTDC locatedin the surrounding areas of

Kewzing and Maenam were theMunal, Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird, theSultan Tit, the Green Magpie, theYellow-Necked Woodpecker, theWhite Throated Kingfisher, theBrown-Wood Owl and the BlackEagle.

“Some of the birds we cameacross are extremely rare and indig-

enous to the area. There are somemigratory birds too, which indicatesthat the area is a thriving ecologicalhot-spot. Now the onus is on theState government as well as NGOsand locals alike to conserve thebiodiversity of the area and mini-mize environmental degradation atall costs,” Mr. Suwal said.

“We have realized that thereis a tremendous scope for birdwatching in Sikkim, which will notonly promote ecotourism in a bigway, but will also give a tremen-dous boost to our conservation ef-forts. This way, we can also initi-ate local participation in tourismpromotion and conservation,”Karma T. Takapa, Executive Di-

rector, Sikkim De-velopment Founda-tion said.

In fact, the Foun-dation started thebird-watching pro-gramme a couple ofmonths ago throughthe RTDC and itsRavangla VillageTourism Project, inwhich two youngmembers of the

KTDC, Tsewang Rinchen Mongpoand Karma Sonam Bhutia under-went an intensive 15-days trainingin bird-watching in Nepal with Mr.Suwal. Now, they are using their ex-pertise to educate the local villagersand school children on the impor-tance of promoting bird-watchingand conservation methods.

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GANGTOK: The Civil DGangtok, observed its Raishere on June 8. In a departuits earlier “Clean Campaign,cus this year was on tree plaAdhering to the slogan, “In where trees are destroyed, and other calamities prevaCivil Defence team particia tree plantation campaigSmriti Van in Bulbuley onThe Additional Chief SeTashi Topden, Chief EnSwastik, the DC, East, DIGGuard, T. Wangyal and memCivil Defence planted sapthe Smriti Van to mark the o

cotourism on the wingsm Development Foundation, in

boration with Kewzing Tourism

lopment Committee is experimenting

an ecotourism option - bird-watching.

m, with its repository of some 600 bird

ies, should be a hit with the serious

hologist as well as the hobbyist.

zing could soon be a destination that

s ecotourism the wings to sail on....

RIKAH ATREYAfrom June 7-14. A joint-initiativeof the Sikkim Development Foun-dation and the newly-set upKewzing Tourism DevelopmentCommittee (KTDC)the programme wasfunded under the“Sustainable Tour-ism Developmentand Income & em-ployment Genera-tion Project” spon-sored by the Austral-ian Foundation forPeoples of Asia &Pacific (AFAP) andsupported by theKathmandu Environmental Edu-cation Project, (KEEP).

The week-long programmesaw experts from Nepal set upcamp at Kewzing and interact withthe locals on the nuances of bird-watching and conservation meth-ods. The main resource person forprogramme was Rajendra

The Bird-watching foservation and Ecotourisgramme received a tremensponse from the locals andchildren in particular.

The programme Kewzing village concludeday-long event organizedKewzing Secondary Schoowhich was attended by tdents and the villagers, alothe members of the FounKTDC, Mr. Suwal and PT Executive Director, KEESherpa gave a talk alongslide show on tourism inwhile Mr. Suwal presentedshow on bird-watching forvation and ecotourism.

A painting competitthe theme “Birds of Kewas also held for the studthe Kewzing Secondary with the aim to generateness on the variety of bidemic to the area.

The Sikkim Foundatithe KTDC plans to prepatailed list of the birds prethe Kewzing-Ravangla inchure, which will providerelevant information on thpopulation here for bird-wThe Foundation is also pto identify other places in tthat can be promoted awatching corridors.

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OK: Two new variants ofrdamom, Sikkim-I and

II, developed by scientistsgional Research Station,

of the Indian Cardamomh Institute, have been ap-y the Union Ministry of

ure and promise a three-ease in yield for all farm- opt for these variants inntations.Utpal Gupta, Senior Sci-Transfer of Technology],scientist who has workedloping the two variants,nnouncing the official said: “These two selec- of a high-yielding types.ikkim-I is suitable for cul-in medium to high alti-kim-II is suitable for me-itude.”further claimed that the variants promise a yield 900 kgs per hectare. Aial leap from the 155-200hectare that Sikkim aver-resent. To tap the full po-f this cash crop it is es- replace the local uneco-

arge cardamom with theiants, he adds. new selections are rec-ed for large scale plant-hould come as good news

l growers who have beeng with the combined on-of aging plantations andd crop. On the diseaseew strain of disease, dif-rom the Foorkey and

, which have plagued Sik-

kim’s large cardamom crop forquite some time, had troubledgrowers even more. Weather, too,played foul last year when hail-stones destroyed a major portionof the local crop.

Dwindling produce in a regionwhich accounts for 85 per cent ofthe nation’s large cardamom hascaused much concern at all levels- among the growers, wholesalers,the State Government and theHorticulture Department. Carda-mom plantations spread acrosssome 23,500 hectares in Sikkimand produce an estimated 4,000-4,500 metric tonnes of large car-damom annually. Cultivation ofthe cash crop employs about16,949 framers, of which about1,500 are small and marginal farm-ers. For many of them, cardamomis the only source of income andfalling productivity of their plan-tations directly impacts their in-come..

Declining yield in plantationsacross the State has also been at-tributed to lack of re-plantationsinitiatives. Experts wager thatover 80 per cent of the cardamombushes in Sikkim require imme-

diate replantation if the State isto stay on top in cardamom pro-duction.

Now that a new variant beavailable, it remains to seenwhether it gets the required sup-port from the concerned depart-ment. Replantation. Scientists atthe research institute are con-vinced that the local “uneco-nomic” large cardamom needs tobe replaced with the new variantsfor plantations across the State toremain economically profitable.

The RRS, incidentally, has setup a gene bank at Pangthang andhas been carrying out extensiveresearch in the development of asuperior variety of cardamom togive a better yield. It has beenworking on the new strains since1987 and testing and trail runshave already been conducted atMangan in north Sikkim.

Now that the two variants havebeen approved and registered withthe Union Ministry of Agriculture,cardamom farmers in the State canlook forward to a better yield inthe coming years. But it will besometime before the new variantsare introduced to cardamom culti-vators as the RRS will have totransfer the technology to the Hor-ticulture Department for large-scale production of cardamom rhi-zomes for distribution.

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OK: Despite the capi-ge as an extravagant des-, the Oriental Bank ofrce opened its 993rd

n the country here on Junespecial focus on the lowergroup. speciality of our bank arees like Suvidha Deposit

, Fixed Deposit Scheme,g Deposit Scheme, Cu- Deposit Schemes which

The reaction from the peoplehas been good so far, he furtherdisclosed.

Earlier, while addressing aPress conference on the openingof the new branch, VK Chopra,Executive Director, informed thatduring the year 2002-2003, theBank had achieved a total busi-ness of Rs. 45,486 crores show-ing an average growth of 11.6%in deposits and 17.6% in ad-vances. Gross profit of the Bankstood at Rs. 1,163 crores againstRs. 320 crores last year.

W REPORT

ET READY FOR SOMEORIENTAL BANKING

M I S S I Nsince 8 June 2003. NAR BAHADGURUNG, age 62 years, height-5wheatish complexion, resident of MBazar, South Sikkim. He was weariblue shirt, pant and hawaaii chappalContact: Police Station,Telephone No: 270203, 270259 (R)Tika Gurung, Melli Bazar, South Sikkim

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yeh Dil maange m re

GANGTOK: Work on the PaljorStadium, otherwise scheduled fora 2004 completion, is being accel-erated so that silver jubilee episodeof the prestigious Governor’s GoldCup football tourney in Octobercan be held there.

Speaking to NOW!, the Direc-tor for Sports, HT Basi said that the

GANGTOK: Board for CricketControl in India has decided toadopt Sikkim under its “New Ar-eas Development Programme,”aimed at promoting cricket withthe hope of finding new talent innortheastern region. This was of-fered at a meeting convened withofficials of the Sports & YouthAffairs Department by the BCCIin Kolkata recently.

Under this programme, BCCIhas offered to conduct an under-19 tournament between the north-eastern states. All expenses likejourney fare, lodging and board-ing, expenditures in coaching andequipment will be borne by BCCI.

The Kolkata meeting was at-tended by the Minister Sports &Youth Affairs, CK Mohra, Direc-tor, Sports & Youth Affairs, HTBasi and Tika Subba, Joint Secre-

OK: Prasun Banerjee,ndian football captain andward recipient was here

resentative for the Sportsy of India on a 2-day visitne 10-11 and had somews to share with the State.rming that he was in Sik-ntially to thank the Stateent, which, he said had

t of its way to promote Sikkim and appreciatedief Minister, Pawan

ng’s prompt gesture of SAI 20 acres of land inam and 30 acres ing village in South Sikkimtructing sports complexesvision for an office in for field operations.e sports complexes fol- years of surveys con-y SAI to convince itselfplex would prove benefi-only for Sikkim but alsoting fraternity of the na-. Banerjee informed.le elaborating SAI’s rolem, he revealed that it had the State’s request forI coaches for cricket, bad-nd Table Tennis.

incharge-cum-State Coor-AI, SAG centre Namchi,

umar Singh, added that the sports centres would defi-

elp the sportsmen of thee said that the idea behindp the centres in remote ar-to explore untouched ter-o that even the less privi-dents from rural areas get to exploit their talent.

Governor’s Gold Cup to return tPaljor Stadium!a NOW REPORT

a NOW

A WORK IN PROGRESS: Paljor Stadium preparea multi-layered feild

tary, Sikkim Cricket Association.While speaking to NOW!,

Mr. Basi, said that his Depart-ment also put forward its case ofaffiliation of SCA stressing onthe good performance of theState in various tournaments or-ganised by the Board in the EastZone. Sikkim also put forward aproposal to make available toplevel coaches to train resourcepersons in the state who couldlater work as coaches with up-coming cricketers.

department was doing everythingpossible to hold the tournament atPaljor Stadium in October.

Confident that they will be ableto meet the deadline, Mr. Basi re-vealed that although the stadiumwon’t have a grass field in place, theother layers of the field would becomplete. At present, the field is go-ing through the multi-layering proc-ess which will filter the water and alsoprovide drainage facility to the field.

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