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C M Y K

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GANGTOK, 25 March: The Con-gress [I] has started the process ofdeclaring its candidates for theupcoming polls in Sikkim. The rul-ing Sikkim Democratic Front is yetto make any announcement as yet.Speculations abound over the pos-sibility of new faces in the ruling

all the four districts today. He re-minded them that in a democracy,the party is important, not the can-didate and called on party workersat all levels to spread informationon SDF’s ideology, principles andprogrammes at the grassroots.

The difference in approach be-tween the SDF and Cong [I] is eas-ily explained. While Congress hasto introduce its leaders, promisesand candidates afresh to the elec-torate [and it is already running lateon that count], the ruling party hasto first handle the profusion ofticket hopefuls from running foul

with the party.Informed sources reveal that

almost every constituency has morethan one leader promoting himselfas a prospective candidate. Intra-party rivalry is peaking and the con-tenders are even resorting to anony-mous pamphlet campaigns targetedagainst their competitors fromwithin the party, sources add. Whilethe veracity of this development isdebateable, what is obvious is thatlobbying for SDF tickets is at anall-time high. The choice-makingprocess is made tougher by the fact

DC deniesrumours ofcurfew in

WestGANGTOK, 25 March: As per acommunique received from theDistrict Magistrate, West,

Gyalshing, no curfew has beenimposed anywhere within WestDistrict and people are free to con-duct legitimate and legal activities.

This explanation is in responseto the rumours that “Curfew” hasbeen imposed in West District,which is incorrect.

He has clarified that there is norestriction on organizing rallies,processions, public meeting etc.with prior permission of the au-thorities, neither is there any restric-tion on any political activity relatedto the elections.

However, the following restric-tions have been imposed for pro-viding a level playing field to allpolitical parties and a conducive at-mosphere for conduction ofsmooth, free and fair election aspreventive measures.1. There is restriction on possessionand carrying of arms and weapons2. There is restriction on number ofvehicles moving together. It means thatno more than three vehicles can movetogether, however, there is no restric-tion on the number of vehicles whichcan be brought into West District.3. There is restriction on giving in-flammatory speeches or posters andbanners which produce hatred be-tween different communities.4. There is restriction on movement ofpeople from West Bengal to WestSikkim. People can enter through AkkarBridge and Rambang check post.

This is to emphasize that this isa part of the Preventive Magiste-rial procedure recommended by theElection Commission. Report fromDC (West), Gyalshing, WestSikkim. [IPR]

WHY THE SUSPENSE WILL LINGERThe Congress has already started the process

of declaring its candidates for the upcoming

polls. A NOW! Feature looks at the reasons why

the ruling Front is likely to delay its set of

announcements for as long as possible.

party’s list of nominations, but allthat the party chief and Chief Min-ister, Pawan Chamling, will revealis that the party is bigger than thecandidate.

Mr. Chamling echoed much thesame sentiment while meeting adelegation of party supporters from

PURAN TAMANG

MELLI, 25 March: The Congressheld a public meeting here at MelliBazaar today with over 1,000 peo-ple in attendance and SikkimPradesh Congress Committee [I]president, Nar Bahadur Bhandari,presiding. DD Basnet was the mas-ter of ceremony. The meet saw theformal announcement of the can-didature of Tara Man Chettri fromthe Melli constituency.

Mr. Chettri, got into election-eering mode straight away with ascathing list of allegations againstthe incumbent ruling party MLAand RDD minister, Girish ChandraRai, whom he labelled “incapable

Congress zeroes in on Taraman for MelliParty promises to solve Melli’s problemswithin 3 months of assuming power

of fulfilling the dire need of safedrinking water to the people ofMelli Bazar.”

“Besides,” he added, “the area isalso suffering from other problems.”

He urged the people to vote forCong [I] this time around andpromised that if brought to power,the Congress would solve all theproblems of the Melli people withinthree months of assuming power.

“Melli is a dry area and its mainsource of income were small indus-tries which were running well dur-ing the reign of Mr. Bhandari, butnow they have all vanished,” he al-leged further. He also carped on theplight of the villagers who had toput up with bad and incomplete

roads, but could not voice their prob-lems due to the alleged ham-handedness of the SDF government.

The SPCC vice-president,Dawa Lhamu, in her speech allegedthat Sikkim was losing all sem-blance of political values and thatthe only person who could raise thestandard of politics in the state wasMr. Bhandari.

Mr. Bhandari, in his turn saidthat he would never forget the sup-port he had received from the peo-ple of Melli constituency during the1996 elections. He apologised forhis previous mistakes and assuredthat they wouldn’t be repeated.

“Today, the people of Sikkimare facing so many problems due

to the attitude of the SDF govern-ment. These can only be solved bya government formed by the Con-gress,” he argued. He further al-leged that the 1999 elections werenot fair and called the victory ofthe SDF a “miracle in Indian po-litical history”.

He went on to inform the gath-ering that the Congress was a na-tional party with 52 years of admin-istrative experience.

“If we come to power, the statewill be peaceful and prosperous,”he assured.

Purna Kumari Rai, an activeCongress member, and the party’sLok Sabha candidate, Biraj Adhikari,were also present at the meeting.

turn to pg 6

Silkworms in KpgDETAILS ON pg 4

ACCUSED OFPOISONINGHUSBANDDETAILS ON pg 3

2; NOW!; 26 March, 2004

C M Y K

lsewheree

NOW!FIRST WITH THE NEWS

ED-SPACE

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...

-14-

We left Lahore at nine o’clock at night. As the sunrose above the horizon next morning, the train began to go very slowly over the rocky hill. I looked

out and saw that we were coming to a bridge over a smooth-flowing river. It seemed to me the most beautiful view I hadseen in India, reminding me of my own country, Kalimpong.At the other end of the bridge over the river I could see ahole in the mountainside. This was a tunnel, something I hadheard about but never seen. In the tunnel I was frightenedbecause we seemed buried and everything was dark outside.A light came on inside the compartment so that we couldsee, then we soon passed out of the tunnel into daylight again.I was relieved, but then we ran into another tunnel. Therewas no less than seven tunnels, big and small, one after theother, on this line!

At about six in the morning we reached the city station ofPeshawar. I could see the town surrounded by a high walllike Lahore, with two high towers standing up in the middle.I learned that they belonged to a Mohammedan masjid. This,too, was one of the finest views I had ever seen in India.

We got out of the train at a station named Chaoni, to thenorth of the town of Peshawar. The people in this place lookedquite different from those I had seen up till now in otherparts of India. Our destination was a large bungalow sur-rounded everywhere by flowers and guarded by trees. Inside,the rooms were richly decorated with pictures and ornaments.From it a few other houses could be seen in the distance, allof which were connected with the regiment stationed at thePeshawar army camp.

Everyday I had to take the children twice to the maidan,

A YearIn Peshawar

or park once in the morning and once in the evening. Most ofthe people we met walking in the road were army people.Either European soldiers, mostly kilted or Gurkhas. I heardthat this was the place for the whole Peshawar Army, calledthe chaoni, or camp. On this road I always heard the pipers.Sometimes we would meet Scottish soldiers marching twentystrong with one piper, sometimes there were larger groups

with three pipers.Half a mile away from my mas-

ter’s house there was a large pa-rade ground where every morn-ing the soldiers went through their

drill. The whole place was surrounded by barracks of theSikh regiment, on the east the Gurkha barracks, and next tothem the barracks of the Mohammedans, who were Pathans.

One morning, when I had taken the small baby to thepark and the big one was still at home with my mistres, I meta young Gurkha, that is a Nepali soldier. He spoke to me,“You look like one of our own caste. Are you?

“Yes,” I replied. “Well, well them let us now speak Nepa-lese, that is better than Hindustani.”

Then he asked me where I had come from, and I toldhim the truth that I had been brought up in Kalimpong. ThisGurkha was returning to the barracks and he took me withhim and introduced me to one of his friends, also a Nepaliin the army.

We sat talking for a long time. Among other things theytold me never to be afraid of the Afghani people in the fron-tier country. “They are afraid of us Gurkhas, and so you mustbe like one of us. Besides, you must always wear a kukri, aswe do. All the Nepalese in Peshawar, even if they are not inthe army, still look like us because they wear the same kindof clothes and always wear a kukri. Tell your master that heshould buy a kukri for you and then you must wear it on yourleft side.

I told my master about the kukri, the slashing knife theGurkhas wear. So one evening my master took me to thebazaar and found a second-hand kukri for three rupees. Itwas neither large nor new, and not as sharp. Nevertheless, Ifelt very proud of it and from that day forth I always wore itwhenever I went out.

-to be concluded

The Finality of SuicideA father of four hangs himself. A second-year student at a professionalcollege does the same. A teenager goes missing and is found twodays later, dead by her own hands. All are people with either theirwhole lives ahead of them or a lot to live for. And yet they decide tocall it quits. While suicides are not rare anywhere, they will alwaysremain aberrants. Even more so when they are reported among theyoung. Suicides are obviously triggered by depression, somethingthat one does not associate with the teen years. Yet, a disturbingnumber of Sikkimese youth have taken their lives in the recent past.There are even more who have survived suicide attempts. Thepresent-day youth is so troubled, it is urgent to start caring for them.It is obvious that the splitting of the joint-family system into nuclearslivers has taken away the support system that acted as a salve onthe fragility of the more tender minds. This is not to state that thenuclear families don’t care for the child enough, but they couldinadvertently lack the tenderness and time which a child needs. Urbanpressures, peer pressure, hormonal pressures, academic pressure- these are only some of the tensions which one goes through growingup. In this light, the Health Department’s initiative to sensitise teacherson recognising and handling such psychiatric symptoms as stress,depression and trauma in school-going children is a welcomedevelopment. While psychiatry might still be an iffy science, it is knownbeyond doubt that if symptoms are recognised in time, there is acure for every psychiatric ailment. At the social level, we need torecognize the fact that the younger generation is growing in conditionsmuch different from earlier times. Their elders, who are still to cometo grips with the changes around them, are ill-equipped to deliverthe special care and understanding that the new environs demand.While one can debate endlessly on what drives a person to suicide,we limit ourselves here to the five established reasons. Understandingthese reasons can help us recognize the risk of suicide in peoplearound us. Change: Suicide is way to change how the person feelsor what is happening in their life at the moment. Choice: To assert ormake a choice during circumstances in which there are no choicesor important choices are being taken away. Control: The suicidalact is seen as a means to grab control of events which have spiraledout of control or to effect some change in others. Self Punishment:Suicidal behaviour is a means to relieve guilt. Punish Others: Thesuicidal act is intended to inflict harm or punishment on others.Psychotic Illness: The suicidal act is the result of strange and bizarrebeliefs caused by a mental illness or a severe medical problem. Nowthat we know the 5 most probable causes for suicide, it becomesour duty to recognise them when we see them in those near us; toconfront it and if necessary, seek professional help. Given the presenttimes, changing the situation is not always possible, but if we knowthe problem, then we can at least work on a solution.

It is only appropriate to call uponeveryone, in your capacity asbureaucrats, technocrats, ac-

countants, teachers, foresters,businesspersons, and most impor-tantly as concerned citizens to up-hold the principles of good govern-ance through efficiency, transpar-ency, and accountability.”

Our system agreed wholeheart-edly with this call made by the coun-cil of ministers on 11 November,1999, when it issued its report ongood governance. Implementing thedeclared principles, however, appearsto be a different story altogether.

Many of our official organisa-tions and public institutions, not tomention private bodies, show adeep reluctance to share informa-tion. We see this in nearly all gov-ernment sectors, the corporationsand the armed forces. Contrary toprofessed policies, especially trans-parency, the real conviction appearsto be “the less said the better”.

In Bhutan, there are some issuesthat are being weighed on the scalesof transparency and confidentiality.There are other issues that need tobe brought out into the open evenif it is done only to dispel rumoursand misconceptions.

The confidentiality surroundingHIV/AIDS infected people, for ex-ample. While we all agree that thevictims should not be ostracised, weare struck by the need to protect oth-ers from infection, and sometimesit could be spouses and family mem-bers of those already infected. It is asensitive debate, dealing with life,but our overall objectives should beclear. The idea is to prevent thespread of HIV/AIDS.

In the education sector sensitivi-

ties have led to the authorities plac-ing a lid on the names of studentstopping the Class XII examinations.This is more difficult to understandsince nation-wide toppers receivewide recognition in every country.

As the crime rate escalates,particularly in our towns, the

police are beginning to cover upcriminal cases, including rape. Thisgoes against the universal under-standing that social trends must bebetter known to be cured.

For the financial sector, nearlyeverything is a secret. This, too,should be questioned at a timewhen the details of national budg-ets around the world are madeavailable to the public. Even moreso, our national institutions like theRMA and funds like the BTF,NPPF, HTF are obligated to reporttheir investment and expenditure tothe government and public.

There is a natural tendencyamong government organisationsto publicise successes and sweepfailures under the carpets. It is doneat all levels on a relatively widescale. In fact media organisationsare avoided, even “punished”, af-ter a negative report. Employees arewarned not to talk to the media.

It is understandable - and uni-versal - that some issues of nationalinterest cannot be publicised. Nogovernment, for that matter no pri-vate interest groups, should jeopard-ise national security. In fact, generallaws on national security are sostrong that they are sometimes mis-used to cover up questionable activi-ties by politicians in power. It is al-

ways discomforting when publicorganisations avoid the public.

Traditional Bhutanese wisdomconcludes that the main purpose ofsecrecy is usually to cover up one’sown deficiencies. In today’s contextit could be a project gone bad, a casenot solved, a rapist not caught, a badinvestment, public funds wasted, atender awarded to the wrong per-

son... our system is already guilty ofall these mishaps. And more.

When a public official says “Icannot talk to you, I’ll get into trou-ble,” one suspects a problem. Whenpapers and studies are commis-sioned for large sums of money andthen quietly filed away, it is also aproblem. Banking is done in a cul-ture of secrecy but when the invest-ment of public funds remain undis-closed something is wrong.

Even personal income is sup-posed to be transparent. If an in-come is not declared it is a crimeby our tax rules. True, the flaunt-ing of wealth is not appreciated, butthe fact remains that if wealth isearned honestly it is entrepreneur-ship, if not it is a crime.

Privacy is an individual’s right.But a person who holds a publicposition, spends public funds, andmakes decisions that affect the pub-lic cannot reasonably reject trans-parency. Not when he or she is apart of a system that promises in-formation as the public’s right.

Perhaps that is why the three pil-lars of good governance go together.If there is no efficiency it would bebetter to avoid transparency; then thereis no question of accountability.The hardest task is not to do whatis right but to know what is right

-courtesy Kuensel

B H U T A N

Minding others’ business

26 March, 2004; NOW! 3

C M Y K

� NEWSSCAN

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 25 March: Inclusionof vocational education in juniorclasses, increase in stipends fordeserving students in school andcollege level, a combined effort toeliminate drug abuse and inculcat-ing a sense of discipline among theyoung were some of the demandsplaced by the All Sikkim StudentsUnion before the Chief MinisterPawan Chamling, in a meeting heldon 21 March, Sunday.

Led by its president, SantoshRai, the ASSU delegation, whichincluded its executive body mem-bers, felicitated the CM on the“successful and very fruitful”completion of his present tenure.Especially coming in for praise

was the effort of the governmentin the field of education, like theupgradation of schools in deserv-ing places, special emphasis on theneeds of primary students and theencouragement to sports andsportspersons.

Some of the other demands thatcame up during the course of themeeting were the need for a Stu-dents Bhawan in the capital and aban on tuition by governmentteachers, which they claimed “re-flects poorly in the classroom”.

The CM, informs an ASSUpress release, was totally support-ive of their demands and assuredhis full support.

Asking them to educate them-selves fully, he talked on the his-tory of education, from the Gurukul

system to the present one, whichwas so job-oriented that it did notreally enlighten the students on thefiner virtues of life. He emphasizedon such an education for everybodywhich will make them able citizensand train them to tackle the prob-lems of day-to-day life.

The CM also deliberated onthe lack of interesting literatureamong our people asking every-body to develop a reading habitsince it was not only a source ofinspiration and entertainment butalso education.

AASU is holding its generalbody meeting on 26 March atTadong, after which they will travelto various parts of the state tospread awareness on the value ofeducation.

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No record breaking crowds, no beer-guzzling breaks, no heart-breaking evocations, no heart braking vehicles either.

The TV is on, so we entertain it- by watching cricket. No,we don’t know about the bat-breaking missile launched by theRawalpindi Express or about the ball-breaking century by VVSLaxman. We only watch cricket. And blast a few crackers atthe end of play. Oh, we won, did we? What a break!

About the only force of numbers that got together to watchthe finals of the ODI tournament just off MG Marg; on the stepsleading down towards Hot Stuff. [see pic].

Not much emotion was visible just a few enquiries as towhich day it was.

One TV showroom had a set tuned into the cricket match –but not worth window shopping or stopping. The rather offcolour set was somewhere within the bowels of the showroommaking it a “for the staff only” exclusive.

But we won, so who cares.

Cricket seems to be a private affair around here

HOWZZAT?

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 25 March: A ladyposted in Phodong has been accusedby her father-in-law of trying to poi-son his son, her estranged husband.

According to a complaint filedby the father-in-law, the accusedhas been married to his son for thepast 10-12 years. The couple, whohave two children, are howeverstaying separately.

The complaint filed with thepolice alleges that the estrangedwife went to her husband’s house

on 19 March when only the maid-servant was around, “snatched” thekeys from her and spiked a bottleof Shangrila whisky lying aroundwith “some liquid substance”.

The same evening, when thehusband returned home and took adrink from the bottle, he felt uneasyand soon fell unconscious.

He was immediately brought toSTNM Hospital for treatment. Atthe hospital, however, the MedicalOfficer on duty did not suspect any-thing and discharged him aftertreatment of abdominal pain.

The next day the victim wastaken to Central Referral Hospital,Tadong by his parents. The doctorhere diagnosed him as having “Al-cohol induced Gastroenteritis”.

However a case has been reg-istered for detailed investigation.The whisky bottle has been seizedfrom the house of the victim and isbeing sent for expert opinion on itscontents to Kolkata.

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 25 March: “Intellec-tual development of a person isextremely important in this day andage. Without this, no society andno civilization can ever flourish.”

Chief Minister PawanChamling said this while address-ing a gathering of writers, intellec-tuals and publishers here today.

“In today’s world, we lead adual life - one social and the otherintellectual. All material things arenecessary for leading a satisfyingsocial life - money, luxurious life-style, but in the process of trying tolive our social lives, we tend to for-get the intellectual side whichneeds careful tending and nurtur-ing in order to make our existencemore fulfilling and meaningful. Ithas become imperative that we givetopmost priority to our intellectualdevelopment,” he said.

While admitting that discussingliterature and the arts was a “de-lightful diversion” for him, Mr.Chamling, who has pioneeredNepali literary publishing in theState, and who is also a prolific poethimself, said that today Sikkim

LADY ACCUSED OF POISONING HUSBAND

Sikkim needs to focus on itsintellectual development,

says Chamling

needs to focus on itself, in terms ofits achievements and drawbacks inintellectual development.

Mr. Chamling also said that thedefinition of patriotism needs aradical rethinking and changing intoday’s world.

“Patriotism is not merely fight-ing oppressors and freeing ourselves

from the clutches of foreign rule. Wehave achieved that. But we are stillnot free. Today, we are bounded bypoverty, communalism and live un-der economic colonialism. In to-day’s definition, patriotism shouldmean freeing the country from theclutches of poverty, unemployment,

‘NAYA SIKKIM’ RELEASED IN A

GATHERING OF LITERATI

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4; NOW!; 26 March, 2004

C M Y K

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KALIMPONG, 25 March: Apartfrom the horticulture and floricul-ture industries, Kalimpong is alsoknown for its “silkworm farming”or Sericulture. The people involvedin this field received a prop up to-day with the organising of a“Resham Krishi Mela” at the Re-gional Sericultural Research Sta-tion [Central Silk Board] at ReshamBari, 7th Mile. The mela was heldunder the aegis of the Union Min-istry of Textiles. The purpose wasto introduce newer technologies tothe silk farmers keeping in mindtheir applicability in the region.

The stress of the programmewas on mulberry cultivation, itsobstacles and solutions with thelatest technological developments.

Dawa Pakhrin, ExecutiveCouncillor, and councillor in-charge for PHE, was the chief-guestand Gaulan Lepcha, MLA, theguest of honour. Farmers from thenearby villages attended the func-tion in full strength.

A patriotic musical instrumen-tal rendered beautifully by the blindchildren of Gandhi Ashram set theprogramme in motion.

This was followed by an addressby K Mandal, Deputy Director, whoexplained the reason behind the mela.“The main aim [of the programme]is to demonstrate modern technolo-gies regarding the region specific re-search activities,” he said. “Wewanted this to be a common platformon the understanding of such issuessince like floriculture and horticul-ture this too can be a major source ofincome for the people,” he said.

Proper knowledge and imple-mentation were vital, he said, in or-der to make mulberry cultivation eco-nomically viable and also because“many are not aware on various mat-ters such as the disinfection processof the cocoons, effect of the weatherand also techniques of breeding.”

“The high yielding breed -BL259 [a Mulberry variety] is notknown to many. The autumn seedcrop which is so rare and can befound in Darjeeling, Kalimpong

and Kurseong, brings about a yieldof about 200-250/kg,” he revealed.

Mr. Lepcha, the guest of hon-our, recounted the existing prob-lems and measures for the growthof the particular sector. “Thefloriculture and horticulturalinvasion has been a kind of a revo-lution for the people of Kalimpongand now with the emergence of al-ternative crop systems we canperhaps raise the standard of theagricultural sector. This can be amajor tourist attraction leading toself development” he reasoned.

DR Sharma, joint director, StateSericulture, Sikkim, then came for-ward with a strong point saying thatmulberry growers in the regionshould take advantage of such pro-grammes and work towards develop-ing mulberry cultivation in the regioninto an industry with improved pro-duction and marketing facilities.

Several farmers from around thesub-division related their experiencesin the existing sericulture scenarioand the advantages they had. Theyadmitted that they had done well fi-nancially and had eked out a goodlivelihood out of silkworm farming.

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economic dependence and commu-nal forces,” he said.

Earlier, Mr. Chamling releasedNaya Sikkim, a new Nepali monthlymagazine. Published from Namchiby Sandhya Khaling and edited bySubhas Sotang and BhupendraSubba with Chandra Khaling as theEditor-in-Chief and Managing Di-rector, this magazine is the first ofits kind to be published from theSouth District headquarters.

Namchi has always played a sig-nificant role in the development andpromotion of Nepali literature in theState. This town has also contributeda great deal in the birth and devel-opment of the democratic process inthe State. However, literary activi-ties and publication has always beencentred in Gangtok. The publication

of this new magazine has been seenas a significant development of pub-lishing in Namchi.

The magazine has eminent per-sonalities such as Dr. NabalKishore Rai from Kathmandu, ProfDr. Mahendra P Lama from JNU,New Delhi and Dr. GhanshyamNepal from North Bengal Univer-sity on its advisory panel.

Others who spoke on the occa-sion were eminent writers, SanuLama, Dr. Ghanshyam Nepal, formerMP, Bhim Dahal, Chandra Khaling,while well-known poets Moti PrasadSharma from Kalimpong and ThiruPrasad Nepal from Namchi read outtheir poems. Three Nepali music al-bums with lyrics penned by Mr.Chamling were also released on theoccasion, along with an anthology onthe works of eminent Nepali writerKripa Salyan Rai.

Contd from pg 3

NAYA SIKKIM RELEASED...

26 March, 2004; NOW! 5

C M Y K

� NEWSSCAN

AMITAVA BANERJEE

DARJEELING, 25 March: TheDarjeeling Association of TravelAgents [DATA] has sought an ap-pointment with the DGHC chair-man, Subash Ghising, who is alsothe Councillor in-charge of Tourism,to get updated on his recent spate oftourism related travel in South Asia.

“We have requested Mr. Ghisingfor an appointment so that he can ap-prise us of the interactions he has hadwith different delegations during hisvisits to the different world tourismfairs and also to update ourselves ofhis future plans for tourism in theDarjeeling Hills,” said Mrs. S.Pradhan, the DATA president.

Incidentally Ghising accompa-

DATA WANTS TO KNOW

nied by DT Tamlong, Chief Princi-pal Secretary, DGHC and D. Pariyar,Additional Director of Tourism,DGHC, visited Singapore in Septem-ber last year to attend a travel martorganized by Pacific Asia Travel As-sociation. Later, the same delegation

attended the World Travel Fair inShanghai in end-February.

The DAT letter to the Chair-man, dated 15 March, also statedthat under his “able guidance” tour-ism in Darjeeling has seen an un-expected growth and they werealready feeling the positive impactof such projects as the Rock Gar-den, Gangamaya Park and theNightingale Shrubbery Park, alltourist spots developed by the tour-ism department of the DGHC.

“We are still waiting to hearfrom the Chairman’s side” addedPradeep Lama, General Secretary,DATA. Incidentally, more than 3lakh domestic tourists and 30,000foreign tourists visit the queen ofthe hills every year.

Darj tour operators seektime with Ghising

DEEPAK SHARMA

MANGAN, 25 March: The Depart-ment for Co-operative Societies or-ganised a Leadership DevelopmentProgramme at Mangan CommunityHall from 20 to 22 March, 2004. Allthe Cooperative Society membersand managers of North District par-ticipated in the programme.

The programme was conductedby Joint Registrar, BK Sharma,Deputy Registrar, P. Gurung, AOJD Bhutia, Asst. Registrar TG

Penchaongpa with two senior lec-turers from the Netaji Subash Re-gional Institute of CooperativeManagement [NSRICM], Mr. B.Chakraborty and RK Janngla.

The members of the CooperativeSocieties were taught effective MPCSimplementation and execution skills,customer relations as well as market-ing skills. They were also informedon the importance of inculcating newschemes, which are necessary for theprogress of the societies.

The lecturers from Kolkata in

their discourse emphasised on theconstant changes brought about byhuman civilisation especially in thecreation of new thoughts and ideas.

“In the last century our societyhas witnessed the emergence,growth and maturation of this in-stitution called co-operatives.Through co-operatives, peoplefound a way of harnessing theirlimited individual and economicpower in the market place. By tak-ing control and responsibility ofthem people also created a social

enterprise that reflects their senseof values and inspiration,” ex-plained Mr. Chakaraborty.

The gathering was also in-formed on the values and principlesof cooperatives by the lecturers.

According to them, “A coopera-tive is an autonomous associationof persons united voluntarily tomeet common economic, social andcultural needs and aspirationsthrough a jointly owned and demo-cratically controlled enterprise”.

The values by which a co-op-erative is expected to function werealso elaborated by them as being:self help, self responsibility, de-mocracy, equality, equity, solidar-ity, honesty, openness, social re-sponsibility, and social welfare.

On the other hand, as espousedby them, the principles of a coop-erative should be voluntary and openmembership, democratic membercontrol, member economic partici-pation, autonomy and independ-ence, education, training and infor-mation, cooperation among coop-eratives and community welfare.

North re-learns the essence of the Cooperative movement

World TB dayobserved in

NamchiPURAN TAMANG

NAMCHI, 25 March: World TBDay was observed here yesterdayat the Library Hall of Namchi Gen-eral Hospital.

The programme started at 10:30AM with a welcome address byCMO South, Dr. R. Dorji. The ZilaAdhakshya, Mrs. Phurmit Lepchapresided over the day’s activities asthe chief guest. Among those at-tending the programme were stu-dents, teachers, panchayat membersand the hospital staff along withrepresentatives of local NGOs. Theprogramme was organised by Dis-trict TB Control Board to raiseawareness among the people on thethreat posed by the disease.

The process of curing TBthrough DOTs was explained byMrs. M. Pradhan and Mr. DBGadaili. While sharing their expe-riences they expalained the symp-toms, causes and cure of TB. Alsosharing their experiences with thepeople were two TB patients ofNamchi TB Hospital, AntonyPradhan and Hemant Rai.

Addressing the gathering, thechief guest Mrs. Lepcha said, “Onemust be healthy to make a healthysociety. It is the duty of the students,teachers, NGOs and localPanchayat members to raise aware-ness among the villagers of remoteareas regarding this disease. This isone way it can be controlled.”

Members of NGOs likeGharelu Samaj, Purana Namchi andDrishti also shared their experi-ences on health-related projectsundertaken by them.

An inter-school quiz competi-tion along with an open quiz com-petition was also held on the occa-sion. Girls Senior SecondarySchool won the school quiz com-petition followed by Namchi Sen-ior Secondary School and NewSecondary School, Namchi.

According to Mrs. Lalita Singhi,district TB officer there are 20 maleand 10 female TB patients inNamchi TB Hospital and a total of119 in the surrounding PHC areas.

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Father offour commits

suicidefrom OUR CORRESPONDENT

NAMCHI, 25 March: A case of sui-cide was reported from Namchi.Phurba Tshering Bhutia, 40, wasfound hanging in the woods ofDeythang village under Rinchenpongconstituency on 23 March. His bodywas found after a search by membersof the village club after he had gonemissing for seven days.

Dawa Tshereing Bhutia, brotherof the deceased, says that hisbrother was not suffering any men-tal disorders. The investigationteam from Soreong Thana con-firmed that it “was a case of sui-cide and nothing more.”

The reasons forcing Phurba totake his own life are not known asyet. He is survived by his wife and4 children.

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MARCHAK, RANIPOOL, 25March: A 5-day training pro-gramme on food & nutrition beganhere today at the Krishi VigyanKendra. The training aims to raiseawareness on health, diet and nu-trition issues amongst the rural peo-ple.

About 15 trainees are undergo-ing the “Masters Trainer Course”under Udisha, a local NGO. TheseMaster Trainers will then go on totrain others at the grass-root level.According to AC Biswas, demon-stration officer, Government of In-dia, funds will also be provided tothe trainees to hold such pro-grammes in other rural parts of thestate.

“In the coming week, the par-ticipants will be trained in such sub-jects as health and nutrition, carefor adolescents, RCH programmes,micro-nutrients, health & care forchildren, infant mortality and na-tional nutrition policies and theirimplementation,” he elaborated.

Other topics to be touched uponwill be the importance of food se-curity for better nutritional status,importance of organic farming forhuman health, food environmentand human health, role of ICDS [In-tegrated Child DevelopmentScheme] and growth monitoring,health education, environmentalsanitation and safe drinking wateralong with the role of mass media,and communication in popularizingthese concepts.

Production units which dealwith the surety and security of food

availability, will also be discussedin the coming week.

Lhamu Bhutia, joint director,Social Welfare Department, in herspeech, spoke on “food facts” andnutritional deficiency diseases. Shesaid that the diet of rural peoplelacked nutrients and explained howthe food they consumed can be bal-anced.

“This will keep you diseasefree,” she said. She further men-tioned that the Government wasdistributing supplementary diets

Nutritional tips for rural folk5-DAY FOOD & NUTRITION TRAINING BEGINS AT MARCHAK

continued on pg6

6; NOW!; 26 March, 2004

C M Y K

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49th Day Kutse Shegu of late ex-Panchayat Gyen Tsh. Lepchawho left for his heavenly abodeon 11 February 2004 falls on 29March.All the well wishers, friendsand relatives are requested tojoin us in offering prayers forthe departed soul at ourresidence at Lum LowerDzongu, North Sikkim.I, the present Panchayat ofLum along with bereavedfamily also take thisopportunity to thank all thosewho stood by us during thetime of bereavement andrequest our inability to thankthem individually.

Family member andTshering Gyatso Lepcha,

Panchayat,Lum Village

Ph: 9434179290

Kutse Shegu

FRIENDSHIP SOCCERAFOOT IN NAMCHI

Namchi SportsHostel dribblesagainst Muslim

Inst. FootballAcademy

from OUR CORRESPONDENT

NAMCHI, 25 March: A footballmatch, the first of a two-match se-ries, was played between theNamchi Sports Hostel and the Mus-lim Institute Football Academy. Thesecond match will be played atGeyzing on 26 March. The entireprogramme including the hospital-ity of the guests is being lookedafter by the Department of Sportsand Youth Affairs except for thesecond match, which is beinghosted by West District Sports As-sociation.

Earlier this month, a footballteam of 20 players and 2 officialsof the Namchi Sports Hostel hadvisited Kolkata for a 3-match se-ries against the Muslim InstituteFootball Academy. This was part ofthe exposure trip and the recipro-cal arrangements with that institute.The trip was an eye-opener to theyoung players of Namchi as theycould now boast of having playedin Kolkata – the Mecca of Indianfootball.

The three match series endedwith a score line of 2-1 in favourof the more experienced and ma-ture footballers of the Muslim In-stitute. Nevertheless, the boys fromSikkim got much needed exposureand match experience while play-ing in a completely different atmos-phere and playing conditions.

All arrangements for theNamchi boys including food andlodging were provided by the hostsas part of their understanding. Andas part of the arrangement of reci-procity a team from the MuslimInstitute Football Academy arrivedat Namchi on 23 March.NOTICE

State Bank of Sikkim Em-ployees’ Association raf-fle draw extended up to16.05.2004.

Norbu Tamang,General Secretary

ph: 9434117402281469 [r]

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 25 March: Addingto the plethora of fairs and exhibi-tions visiting Gangtok this time ofthe year, the Jute Fair, too, is con-tributing its unique charm to thecurrent exhibitionist tendencies ofthe small crafts industries.

The Jute Fair took off todaywith the Industries Secretary, KBChettri inaugurating the Fair atHotel Rendezvous. The grand ex-hibition-cum-sale of jute diversi-fied products is being organised bythe Jute Manufactures Develop-ment Council, under the Ministryof Textiles, Govt. of India, in asso-ciation with Sikkim ConsultancyCentre, Gangtok. It is to be a four--day jute affair at Hotel Rendez-vous the timings of which will befrom 10 AM to 7 PM.

A wide range of jute-basedhandicraft items are on exhibitionsuch as bags, baggages, floor cov-erings, mats and mattings, gar-ments, jackets and shawls etc. Alsoon display are exotic novelty itemslike a jute statue of Lord Ganesh,

quaint and aesthetic looking jutefootwear items and ornaments.

Mr. Chettri, visited each of thestalls at the Fair and complimentedthe participants for the impressivedisplay of items.

“I am impressed with the pres-entation of the goods; there seemsto be more variety this year. Jute is

an environment-friendly materialand has an aesthetic and artisticaura about it,” he said. He furthersaid that though Sikkim is notknown for jute there should be anattempt to produce it in the state.He also congratulated the organis-ers for putting up a wonderful ex-hibition.

Industries Secretary, KB Chettri, inaugurates the fifth instalment ofthe jute fair in Gangtok at Hotel Rendezvous on 25 March.

Talking to HC Saha, PrincipalConsultant, Sikkim ConsultancyCentre, Gangtok, one understandsthe impact that jute products havehad on the local market.

NC Boral, Officer-in-Charge,SCC, adds that skill developmenttraining programmes on jute diver-sified products have been initiatedsince last year at Majitar, Rongliand Rateypani. In fact, Rateypaniis represented in the exhibition bySamjhana, a local jute diversifiedproduction unit of Rateypani.

Mr. Boral adds that the rawmaterial is procured from “raw ma-terial banks” in Siliguri, which, hesays, is quite cheap. The traineesare also assisted in the procurementof loans from banks for settingthemselves up in the trade withmarketing skills also imparted. Mr.Saha says that the local entrepre-neurs have scripted a success storyfor themselves in the jute business.

This is the fifth time that thejute fair is being held here inGangtok. Most of the participants- there are 20 stalls in all - are fromKolkata and north Bengal.

JUTE FAIR RETURNS FOR A FIFTH TIME

Sikkim’s losingstreak continues at

Dr. T Ao Donerfootball tourney

IMPHAL, 25 March: The goingremains tough for Sikkim football-ers as they went down to SAI[blue], Imphal, in their fourthmatch of the tourney. This was alsothe last league match of Group A.

Reports indicate that both SAI[Blue] and Sikkim were evenlymatched and played well. The win-ning goal came in the 40th minutewhen the ball was passed by MPawonglung to striker ThJoychandra who found the net. Af-ter this goal the Sikkim team playedwell and attempted to equalise butcould not score till the final whistle.

The match also saw two yellowcards being flashed with Vikuzo ofSAI [Blue] and Norbu Bhutia ofSikkim, both getting penalised inthe 88th minute.

In another match played on thesame day, Assam beat Nagaland.The two teams are already in thesemifinals of the tourney. Assam,billed as the strongest team in thetournament has 10 internationalplayers and Nagaland has 3 inter-national players.

Sikkim has already lost to As-sam and Nagaland and managed todraw a match against Mizoram inthe tourney thus far.

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through various schemes to chil-dren and women.

Later during the day, there wasalso a speech by Dr. BP Dhakal,Eye Surgeon, STNM on Vitamin‘A’ deficiency diseases and othereye problems and their remedies.Audio visual shows were also con-ducted during the day’s pro-gramme.

Chairpersons for the first daywere Mr. Biswas, Puspa Sharma,demonstrator, and guest speaker,Lhamu Bhutia. The trainees werefrom ICAR and Department of Ag-riculture, Government of Sikkim.

Others listed to speak duringthe course of the programme are Dr.Chandrika Chettri, STNM, Dr.Sribastay, Joint Director ICAR, PK

Panda, Scientist, ICAR, Dr.Srivastava, Joint Director, ICAR,KK Subba, Dy. Director and Projectofficer, ICDS, Social Welfare De-partment and other officers fromSIEO, Gangtok.

The programme was organizedby the Food & Nutrition Board, Com-munity Food and Nutrition ExtensionUnit [CFNEU], Government of In-dia in association with KVK,Marchak under Ministry of HumanResource Development, Women &Child Welfare Department.

Nutritional tips for rural folkContd from pg 5

that the party has 31 sitting MLAsto handle first.

It is because there are so manycontenders that the ruling party isgoing to definitely delay the an-nouncement for as long as it can.This will provide the party high-command with the luxury of sift-ing minutely through the list of pro-spective candidates and at the sametime, will also delay an ignored

leader’s attempts at switching sides.By the time SDF declares its firstcandidate officially, Congresswould have finished with the proc-ess. A candidature turned down bythe ruling party can thus no longerbe accommodated by the othercamp either.

These are the obvious reasonswhy the party is delaying the an-nouncement. Another factor atwork is the need for fresh faces.While this would be a positive de-

velopment with the ruling partybeing seen as open to change, it isas much a move necessitated by thelatest Act of Parliament which lim-its Sikkim’s cabinet size to twelve.If too many “veterans” are giventickets, then there is going to be thatmuch more squabbling over cabi-net berths.

These factors and the compli-cated calculations that go intoworking the winning combinationsof voter share are the reasons whythe SDF can be expected to delayits list of candidates till is practi-cally possible. Till then, enjoy thespeculations.

Contd from pg 1

WHY THE SUSPENSE WILL LINGER

26 March, 2004; NOW! 7

C M Y K

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LONDON: The fact of the matteris that at the end of the day there isnothing, like, value-added aboutusing cliches 24/7 - with all duerespect it’s not awesome, it’s an-noying.

The Plain English Campaignsaid Wednesday it had canvassedpeople in 70 countries to find themost irritating phrases of all.

“When readers or listenerscome across these tired expres-sions, they start tuning out and

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completely miss the message - as-suming there is one,” said JohnLister of the Plain English Cam-paign.

People who busily “touch base”or talk about “ballpark figures” and“bottom lines” are not “singingfrom the same hymn sheet,” theyare quietly driving others to distrac-tion.

“Using these terms in dailybusiness is about as professional aswearing a novelty tie or having a

wacky ringtone on your phone,”Lister said in a statement.

A particular bugbear is the con-stant use of “like” as a form ofpunctuation.

Lister said that they had ex-pected geographical variations, butthe same phrases appeared to be

universally annoying around theworld.

“Gobbledegook jargon and cli-ches really are no respecter of in-ternational boundaries,” he told SkyTelevision in a cliche-riddled inter-view.

Other named-and-shamed cli-

*ing: PriyanshuChatterjee &Cleo Isaacs

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AVOIDING CLICHES ISN’T ROCKET SCIENCEches include:- blue-sky thinking- it’s not rocket science- crack troops- between a rock and a hard place- I hear what you’re saying- touch base- bear with me- to be honest with you

8; NOW!; 26 March, 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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LONDON: An American scientistbelieves that if life is finally provedto exist on Mars, its origins may bemore mundane and closer to homethan we think.

“I believe there is life on Mars,and it’s unequivocally there, be-cause we sent it,” said AndrewSchuerger in the New ScientistMagazine.

The University of Florida sci-entist said there is a good chancethat microbes from Earth havemade it to Mars by hitching a liftaboard space probes.

Schuerger said of all probessent to Mars, only the two Vikingcraft in 1976 were adequately heat-sterilised. Procedures used for allmissions since then, includingNASA’s twin rovers and Europe’sBeagle 2, would have left somemicrobes on board

752: Stephen II begins his reignas Catholic Pope1668: Bombay is transferred toEngland1845: Patent awarded for ad-hesive medicated plaster,precusor of bandaid1874: Poet Robert Frost (Mend-ing Wall, Road Not Taken) isborn1885: The first commercialmoving-picture film is producedby Eastman Kodak. What doesthe word Kodak stand for?Nothing. One of the most widelyrecognized trademarks in theworld was named because ithad a unique sound that startedwith the letter K, and could bepronounced and spelled in al-most any language.1934: Driving tests introducedin Britain1953: Dr Jonas Salk an-nounces new vaccine againstpolio1971: Bangladesh (East Paki-stan) declares its independence1980: Bombay gets its 1st rockconcert in 10 years (The Police)1989: First free elections inUSSR; 190 M votes cast; BorisYeltsin wins1992: Mike Tyson is sentencedto 10 years for rape

Raunchy pop star CHRISTINA AGUILERA has got engaged to her lowprofile boyfriend JORDAN BRATMAN. The 23-year-old singer haspreviously refused to make public her relationship with 27-year-old

Bratman - who works for her management company IRVING AZOFF - preferringinstead to emphasise her sexually charged single girl image.

However, Bratman’s grandmother SALLY has revealed Jordan recentlyproposed to the DIRRTY hitmaker - who immediately accepted.

The 72-year-old says, “Jordan asked her in Los Angeles. He called me andtold me two days ago.

“I’m very happy they are engaged. His mum and dad are very happy too. Idon’t know when the wedding will be - soon, hopefully.

“They have a ring and she has worn it. I think it has a diamond in it but Ihaven’t seen it myself. I have met Christina, we went to a New York restaurantowned by a friend.

“They are so good together.”

Aguilera to marry!

OSCAR-winning actress CHARLIZE THERON is planning to produce and star in JINX - a new movie basedon a graphic novel.

The MONSTER star, 28, is keen to bring an adaptation ofprolific comic writer BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS’s noir-esquecartoon to the big screen.

Considered one of Bendis’s best works, the story followsJINX ALAMEDA - a streetwise female bounty hunter whowants to earn enough money to leave her profession.

Theron will also be seen in the upcoming legal dramaCLASS ACTION and the adaptation of the animated seriesAEON FLUX.

THERON TO JINX

NEXT MOVIE

Soccer superstar DAVIDBECKHAM has been inadvertently caught up in the

Madrid bombing tragedy - he metone of the men charged over theatrocity.

Mobile phone repair manMOHAMED BAKKALI - whowas arrested two days after themultiple bombings which killed190 people on 11 March (04) - wasa regular visitor to the trainingcamp of Beckham’s team REALMADRID, where he succeeded inmeeting the ENGLAND captain.

Beckham even signed a birth-day card for Bakkali - who is saidto be an obsessed fan of the team -which was recovered when policeraided his house.

BECKHAM MET

MAN ACCUSED OF

MADRID BOMBING

GERMS HITCHEDSPACE PROBES

TO MARS-STUDY

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ARIES: You are impulsively affec-tionate and flirtatious at this time,and you feel quite restless if you arein a stable, predictable relationshipthat offers little excitement. You maybe highly attracted to someone new.TAURUS: You are in an eager, con-fident mood and this is a good timefor any competitive endeavor or any-thing that requires a lot of energy.GEMINI: Physical thrills and excite-ment have a strong appeal for younow, and you want to do somethingnew and out of the ordinary. You alsohave a lot of energy and quick re-flexes.CANCER: There is a friendly, coop-erative, harmonious tone to the in-teractions you have now. It is a goodtime for social activities and for get-ting in touch with friends.LEO: Friendships and love relation-ships are favored as you are openlyaffectionate, warm, and also quiteresponsive to loving gestures fromothers.VIRGO: Sharing your hospitality, en-tertaining, giving something specialand personal to a friend, and otherloving gestures are emphasizednow. You are apt to feel relaxed andpleasantly unambitious now.LIBRA: You're dissatisfied with the"same old tune" you've been playingor listening to from others, and nowyou're apt to do something different.You're drawn to the unfamiliar.SCORPIO: Errors in judgment, dueto personal prejudices or emotion,are apt to occur. Your mood verymuch colors your thinking right now.You can have fruitful discussionswith your close friends.

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