06 May, 2005; NOW! 1Friday, 06 May, 2005 Vol. 3 No. 316 Gangtok � Rs. 3

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GANGTOK, 05 May: Sikkimenshrines a rich spirituallegacy unique to the State.Sikkim is a land blessed byGuru Padmasambhava andNay-sol Pecha [prayer textsdedicated to deities ofSikkim] have given detail ac-counts of Sikkim as Ba-yul or‘the hidden Holy Land’.

Those who have studiedBuddhism know that in earlymedieval era of Indian history,and especially during the re-gime of Asoka, Buddhismspread in a number of Asiancountries including Tibet,China and Bhutan. Due toSikkim’s proximity with allthese countries, it became a‘nerve-centre’ of Buddhism fora long time. Sikkim is the onlyplace in India where one can

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 05 May: SikkimPolice, urged along by publicsupport, today conducted araid on illegal liquor dens andarrested several people in-volved in the sale of illegalhomemade liquor.

As informed by the DIG[Range], Akshay Sachdeva, thepolice had for long been on thelookout for such illegal liquordens as there had been severalcomplaints from the public.Some of these are “normal”shops, but without license tosell liquor. Incidentally, theState Government has stoppedissuing licenses for new liquorshops. Similar raids had alsobeen conducted by the Pakyongpolice station following com-plaints lodged by the public.

Today, a Sadar Thana police

team, headed by OC Sadar PS,Palden Bhutia, conducted fourraids on houses/ makeshiftshops along the District CourtRoad below PNG School wherethe residents were selling home-made liquor without licenses.

Some of the shops were alsoengaged in selling Indian madeforeign liquor. Among the ar-rested are Dawa TsheringLepcha who owns a paan shopnear PNGS, which was engagedin the illegal trade; Kamal Sunar

who also owns a shop at PNGSRoad and from whom about 25litres of homemade liquor wasrecovered; Bir Bahadur Raifrom Middle Sichey from whomabout 20 litres of liquor was re-covered, and Bishnu MayaPradhan from Syari near the Pri-mary School from whom fivecases of beer, three cases of rumalong with homemade liquorwere seized.

All four have beenchallaned under the provisions

of 19 Sikkim Trade LicenceRules, 1985, read with 14Sikkim Police Rules, 1985.

The drive by the policeagainst people selling illegalliquor began with the raids con-ducted by the Pakyong police.About seven places were raidedby the police at Pacheykhani onthe evening of 03 May whichyielded about 50 litres of ille-gal liquor, both homemade andmanufactured.

ILLEGAL LIQUORDENS BUSTED

WHAT STARTED IN PAKYONG, ENDSIN GANGTOK WITH FOUR ARRESTS

RAIDS PROMPTED BY PUBLIC WORRIED THAT STUDENTSWERE BEING LED ASTRAY BY THESE ADDAS

turn to pg 2

know about Buddhism in detailand where one can visit mon-asteries of all schools of Bud-dhism. There are more than 200monasteries in Sikkim and twomore are to be added to that listcome 10 May when PenorRinpoche visits the State to dothe honours of inauguration.

Among the oldest monas-teries of Sikkim are the two thatwere built at Yuksom in the 17th

century. These were destroyedduring the wars with Nepal andthere were hardly any signs ofruins to signify their existence.Three years ago, YangthangRinpoche took the initiative torebuild the two ancient monas-teries, Kartok Yossel Ling andGnadak Chang Chub Ling.

The modern history of Sikkimdates back to this century whenthree incarnates of Guru Rinpoche

Penor Rinpoche tore-inaugurate Sikkim’s

oldest monasteries

turn to pg 7

Cartosat-1,Hamsat in

orbitMUMBAI, 05 May: Indian Sat-ellite Research Organisation[ISRO] has successfullylaunched India’s heaviest remotesensing satellite Cartosat-1 andlightweight Hamsat from thenewly set up Second Launch Padat the Satish Dhawan Space Cen-tre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

The Polar Satellite LaunchVehicle [PSLV] soared into thesky at 10.14 am and placed thesatellites in the 618 km polar SunSynchronous Orbit [SSO] at10.32 am. Both the satellites havebeen placed in polar Sun Synchro-nous Orbit [SSO] at an altitudeof 632 x 621 km with an inclina-tion of 97.8 deg with respect tothe equator. The solar panels ofCartosat-1 were deployed soonafter its injection into orbit.

The 1560 kg Cartosat will beused for mapping applicationswhile the 42.5 kg Hamsat, amicrosatellite, will help expandbandwidth to help amateur radiooperators around the world.

2; NOW!; 06 May, 2005 ED-SPACE

cy·borg PronunciationKey (sbôrg)[A human who has cer-tain physiological proc-esses aided or controlledby mechanical or elec-tronic devices.]

Since the dawn of civili-zation humans haveawed at the utility and

purpose technology, tool andmachines have provided us.From taming FIRE to settingfoot on the MOON we havedefinitely come a long way. Ourprogress with mechanics andmechanical systems have al-ways been fostered by ourneeds and designed by our un-derstanding of theabilities and functionsof our own bio-me-chanical systems.

E.g. Shovels ex-tend our arms, cranesour fingers to grabheavy objects, waterpipes function like ourveins and arteries, tel-escopes augment ourvision and today Com-puters/Internet act likeour nervous system.

Man-Machine-In-tegration [MMI] is in-creasingly gettingcommon as proven bythe advances in disci-plines of artificial im-plants, prosthetics, artificialintelligence andnanotechnologies. For years wehave been using mechanicalprosthesis that imitate bio-me-chanical functions, like knees,arms, legs, hip joints etc. [Evenour ex-Prime Minister had hisknee replaced by Dr.Chittaranjan Ranawat in thefall of 2000. That does qualifyour ex-PM as a CYBORG -check definition above]. Arti-ficial heart valves have beenimplanted to save hundreds ofthousands of people facingmorbidity and imminent death.

The distinction betweenwhat is natural and what is ar-tificial is getting fuzzier. Foodswe eat like ice-creams, cakesand pastries are artificially fla-voured; we artificially controlclimate in our immediate vicin-ity with the help of Air Condi-tioners, coolers, heaters etc; weartificially create light whenthere is none thanks to ThomasAlva Edison and GE; aboveand beyond that today we have“Virtual Reality”.

In the August of 1998 Pro-fessor Kevin Warwick head ofthe Cybernetics Department atthe University of Reading, Eng-land had a computer chip sur-

by KARMA M BHUTIA

SUGARFREE

Political correctness bedamned... People on the brinkdeserve some plainspeak, not

sugar-coated counselling...

gically implanted into his body.The implant was wirelessly in-terfaced with a computer thatwould automatically opendoors while he walked and avoice would greet him at thedoor and inform him about hisschedules and emails.

After the success of the firstexperiment he implanted a more

advanced version of the chip thatwould allow the computer toplot/measure his moods and al-ter them. The logic is that everyemotion is also an electro-chemi-cal impulse in the brain and if youcan replicate the waveform of aparticular mood you could trans-mit it to the implant which wouldthen fire a predetermined im-pulse and alter your mood.

In May 2004 chemistsNadrian Seeman and WilliamSherman of New York Univer-sity built a microscopic bipedwith legs just 10 nanometreslong [1 nanometer=One bil-lionth of a metre] fashionedfrom fragments of DNA. Theidea being that for the promisesof nanoscale manufacturing tobecome a realistic prospect,mobile microscopic robots willbe needed to assemble othernanomachines and move usefulmolecules and atoms around.

For years, scientists havedreamed of machines that canread minds, and then act on in-structions as they are thought.Now, the first human trial of anearly version of one such tech-nology has begun. Cyberkineticsa Boston [USA] based companyhas received FDA approval tobegin a clinical trial in which

four-square-millimeter chips willbe implanted beneath the skullsof paralyzed patients. The chipswould allow patients to sendcomputer commands, essentiallyby thinking about them.

The Human GenomeProject initiated way back in1990 by the US Government[Department of Energy andNational Institute of Health]and later joined by UK, Japan,France, Germany, China etc.completed sequencing the hu-man genome in 2003. It is“THE” event of the 21st Cen-tury as it alters our perceptionof technological possibilitiesinvolving the human body and

giving rise to othernascent and evolvingdisciplines likenanotechnology.

Genomics, biome-chanics, robotics, arti-ficial intelligence,n a n o t e c h n o l o g y,neuroprosthesis, bion-ics and cryogenics areacting as catalysts forthe evolution of hu-mans towards some-thing very awe-inspir-ingly fantastic or to-wards extinction. Wellthe arguments are defi-nitely up for debate;but that fact that thesedisciplines exist

proves that there is a huge po-tential emanating and the nextbig thing is just on the horizonfor better or for worse.

The worst case scenario; ifany; would be that of establish-ing a non-carbon based artifi-cially intelligent race on earthwith an innate instinct to exploreand colonize other parts of theuniverse and without the limi-tations that prohibit us humans[air, water and food]. Their abil-ity to survive without water, airand food would allow them tobecome true explorers of theuniverse “Going Where No ManHas Gone Before”.

It’s interesting to note some re-markable advances in robotic tech-nology; “AIBO” a robotic house petdog manufactured by SONY and“ASIMO” a humanoid manufac-tured by HONDA. Its ironic that a100% artificially manufacturedproduct is called a “humanoid” anda human with prosthetics is calleda “cyborg”; nevertheless; the ques-tion to ask is why these big con-glomerates are so deeply investedinto creating these while it isn’t eventheir core product?AMEN[The author is an entrepreneurwith technology based businessinterests in India and abroad.]

Man-Machine Integration:The Future, Now

Let’s Take The SingaporeModel A Step Further

Sikkim has just begun its attempt at emulating Singapore inits clinically clean ways. While the proposed initiative is limitedto copying Singapore’s “litter & spit free” environs, Sikkimcould also do well to adopt Singapore’s cleanliness driveagainst corruption. Yes, this phenomenon [corruption, not thecleansing] is a shared problem between Sikkim andSingapore. The latter managed to sweep it away after firstaccepting that wherever there was development underway,the attendant demand of professionals and the importanceof projects fostered corruption. But they took that realisationa step further to work out a solution while we continue justaccepting it as a part of our lives. The Singapore lesson is asworthy of duplication.

The Singapore government effectively cleaned up acorrupt developing society in a very short time through threeclear strategies. These, broadly, were a “strong-arm theory”,a “strong-men theory”, and a “strong-wage theory”. The formathas obviously worked for Singapore and Sikkim could do wellto borrow a tried system and replicate it here.

The strong-arm theory included strict laws and efficientanti-corruption agencies. These are already in place in Sikkimas they are elsewhere in the country, although the actualenforcement is far from satisfactory in many cases. The strongmen theory is interpreted as an unwavering political will fromthe top leadership. No matter what we might believe aboutsmart bureaucrats corrupting naive politicians, if the publicrepresentatives put their foot down and demand transparency,corruption would start faltering. The requirement to file propertyreturns while filing nomination papers in the recentlyconcluded elections was a step in the right direction. Even ifIndia does not do so, Sikkim could perhaps appoint anindependent body of auditors to check whether what wasdisclosed was the true reflection of assets. The strong wagetheory is high wages for the top leadership. On theunderstanding that corruption at high levels is far more difficultto deal with than petty corruption, the top levels of governmentis highly paid as an incentive to remain clean. The Singaporeprime minister, after a recent pay-cut, earns more than theU.S. president, the Chancellor of Germany, and the Britishprime minister put together. Little reason left for him to becorrupt then. Sikkim has already tried out this trick and hasperhaps the most well paid officials in the country.

Sikkim has already tried out two theories and is nowshowing signs of going serious on the political will. Theseoptions don’t work in isolation, they have to come together. Ifthey do, they can’t fail. All the best Sikkim.

As informed by the PakyongOC, several complaints had beenmade by the villagers againstsuch liquor dens. “As most ofthese places are near schools,there were numerous complaintsthat students were being influ-enced,” he said. There were alsocomplaints by the women folkthat the men spent a good part ofthe evening at these dens.

The seized liquor, which wasmostly being made from the BPLrice, is being forwarded to theExcise Department for initiationof proceedings under relevant sec-tions of the Excise Act, informsSP [East]. The liquor seized inPakyong was ‘destroyed’ in thepresence of the villagers.

Since most of the offenderswere women who had youngchildren to look after, the policelet them off lightly.

Contd from pg 1

write NOW!If you feel strongly about something that has been reported in NOW! or have anopinion on some recent development, then share it with a wider audience. Whilethe LETTERS section will carry responses to articles and news carried in NOW!,

ACTION MAIL is about complaints and grievances. Wherever possible, NOW!

shall also search out a response to the Action Mail. If not, then at least a complaintwould have been filed in the public domain. Personal attacks and inflammatoryletters will, however, not be entertained. The letters may also be edited for lengthand language. Anonymous letters are discouraged. The name of the writer willhowever be withheld on request.

send your mails to: NOW!, Gairi Gaon, Tadong - 737 102, East Sikkim or

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Illegal liquor dens busted

06 May, 2005; NOW! 3� RAJDHANI

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VACANCYFXB India Society, a voluntary social organi-zation, working in the areas of HIV/AIDS & or-phan children in all the states & union territo-ries of India is looking for a suitable candidatefor the position of Program Coordinator for itsSikim office at Gangtok. The responsibilitieswill be to manage & coordinate existing pro-grams, office administration writing reports,networking & advocacy. The ideal personshould be a post-graduate in social sciencepreferably knowledge in computer applicationin MS Office & writing skill in English.Post/courier with full bio-data, experience andcontact no. by 10days to FXB West Bengal100 C, Park Street, Kolkata – 700017, Ph.033-2281-7813/7604.Short-listed candidates would be called for in-terviews within 1 month.

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Jehovah’s Witnessesto meet today

GANGTOK, 05 May: The Cir-cuit Assembly of Jehovah’s Wit-nesses will be held at the SikkimGovernment College Auditoriumon 07 and 08 May on the theme‘Be Guided by the Wisdom FromAbove,” based on James 3:17.

Talks, interviews, demon-strations and experiences willencourage all in the audience toincrease their reliance on divinewisdom. The programme on bothdays will be begin at 9.40 AM.

Seats are free and there willbe no collection. Jehovah’sWitnesses have invited all toattend the assembly.

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 05 May: StateHealth Care, Human Servicesand Family Welfare Departmenttoday held the first Centre-StateConsultative Meet on ‘NationalRural Health Mission’[NRHM]” at Chintan Bhawan,which was attended by officialsfrom the Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare, GoI, and StateHealth Department.

RHM is a seven-year longprogramme on a ‘mission mode’addressing the rural health. Allvertical programmes related torural health like mother and childcare, tuberculosis, AIDS, com-municable diseases, drug abuse,adolescent health, blindness, etc.,would be merged under one um-brella, thus converging and pro-viding all required focus and to-tal health care needs in the ruralareas under one banner.

Since all health programmeswere functioning independentlyearlier and the overall effectswere unsatisfactory, this pro-gramme was initiated by theCentral Government to bringtogether all these programmes asone big project, making it a uni-fied health system to excel in allhealth related issues.

Today’s meet was basicallyheld to discuss on how to makethe new scheme of the CentralGovernment a success inSikkim.

Joint Secretary, MHFW, K.Raamamoorthy, informed thatafter the scheme was launchedon 11 April, last month, by PrimeMinister Dr. Manmohan Singh,it was immediately launched in17 states, including the NorthEast region, by the Ministry on25 April; the team consisting ofMr. Raamamoorthy was initiat-ing the scheme in the North East-ern region.

Only after 14 days of its first

launch Mizoram, Nagaland andManipur have already been cov-ered; Sikkim is the fourth NEState where the scheme is beinglaunched. The immediate initia-tion of the scheme, which focusesdirectly on rural health, shows itsimportance and how serious theCentral Government is to bringabout total health care in the ruralareas of the country, he stated.

“The budget for the projecthas been stepped up by thecenter. Budgetary allocation hasbeen made flexible. Last year, thetotal budget for health care wasRs. 4500 crores. With a 30 percent rise, the budget has beenincreased to Rs. 6700 crores, outof which 10 per cent of the allo-cation will be spent on the NEstates, that amounts to around Rs.670 crores,” he added.

Mr. Raamamoorthy furtherstated that another Rs. 400crores would be allocated laterfor the project and the betterperforming states will be pro-vided with more funds.

“A good project implemen-tation plan regarding training,equipment needs and urgent in-frastructure should be preparednow and all health administra-tors should put in their heart andsoul into the implementation ofthe project,” he added.

To run this mammothproject, Rs. 50,000 crores willbe spent by the Center duringthe seven years; this means thatRs. 7000 crores will be pro-vided annually. For the NEstates, Rs. 5000 crores will begiven during the seven years.Every year, added funds will bedisbursed for better results, Mr.Raamamoorthy informed.

“Do we have the capacityto absorb the funds? Can weacquire the methodology to runthe programme? In order tomake use and take advantage ofthe large chunk of resources we

all have to strain more. Eachstate has to have a vision and itshould not be limited only forthe seven years – the visionshould extend at least till 2025;not a single person in the coun-try should be deprived of healthcare,” he said.

“You have to plan and mid-course corrections have to bemade so that nothing remainsrigid. Plans should be alteredkeeping up with the situationand time. I suggest you all toprepare a Vision Document forthe next 20 years and prioritiseits need at the moment, other-wise the resources will go downthe drain. The Prime Ministerpersonally has stated that hewants the deserving NE statesto get the utmost sympatheticconsideration. You should startworking exclusively as themoney has to be spent effec-tively. Your documents shouldfocus on critical areas and theseareas should be addressed onwar footing,” he further stated.

He also urged the health ad-ministrators to play safe regard-ing the pandemic of AIDS, givemore stress on old age care andadolescent girl health in the State.

It was also informed thatfor the implementation of thisproject, a NE desk, headed byDeputy Secretary, MHFW,Amardeep Bhatia, had been setup, which will be supported bya team led by Under Secretary,MHFW, Ajit B. Chawan. Thedesk is especially in charge ofthe rural health developmentprogrammes and health man-agement in the NE region andwill scrutinise the efficiency inthe utilisation of funds.

Today’s meeting was alsoattended by Secretary, StateHealth Department, DK Subba;Director [FW], Dr. UmaPradhan; Director, Health Serv-ices, SC Pradhan; officials of

the department of H&FW,NGO representatives andPanchayat members.

Similarly, representatives ofthe Central Government todayheld a meeting with the ChiefSecretary, Government ofSikkim, ND Chingapa, Addi-tional CS, GK Subba, DC[East], R. Telang, secretaries andsenior officials of various linedepartments at the ConferenceHall at Tashiling Secretariat.

Centre-State consultationson Rural Health Mission

Nayuma Samachar everydayat 8: am and 8: pmDemand Express: Friday8:30pm and Sunday at 9:30amBhet Ghat: Saturday at 7:00pm, repeat on Wednesday at8:30 pmIndreni: Saturday at 7:30 pm,repeat on Thursday at 8:30pmSapthayik Rashiphal: Sun-day at 9:00 am, repeat onMonday at 7:30 pm

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WEEKEND MOVIES:

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Saturday.8:30am: I Robot10:30am: The Hero2:00pm: Kisna5:00pm: Munna Bhai MBBS9:00pm: Freedy vs Jason

EVENTS:8 May: Last day of GangtokTrade Fair.8 May: KhangchendzongaTourism Festival, Pelling,West Sikkim begins.

10 May: Last day ofKhangchendzonga TourismFestival.

10 May & 11 May: Inaugura-tion of two ancient monaster-ies at Yuksom, by PenorRinpoche.

13 May: Penor Rinpoche vis-its Gonjang monastery atFatak.

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a NOW REPORT

RANGPO, 05 May: Sikkim’sdismal performance incricket matches held outsidethe State may not be due todearth of skill in the localplayers; the problem lies else-where - lack of proper pitchesand cricketing infrastructure.This was the opinion ex-pressed yesterday by a three-member Board of CricketControl in India [BCCI] af-ter they surveyed the pitchand ground conditions ofRangpo Mining Ground andPaljor Stadium in Gangtok.

The BCCI representatives,who arrived here yesterday ona three-day visit, are here tostudy cricketing prospects inSikkim and develop infra-structure here.

Speaking to NOW!, RossiJee Jee Boy, talent research de-velopment officer [BCCI] whois also the main person ap-pointed by the BCCI forSikkim, said that Sikkim’s per-

formance in all matches heldoutside the State has been dis-appointing so far, with the Stateteam barely making it past thethird day even in a five-daymatch. The main culprit behindthis, he informed, was lack ofproper cricketing infrastructuresuch as proper pitches.

Prabhir K. Laha, pitch andturf specialist who is also thecurator of Kalyani Stadium,Kolkata, after surveying theRangpo Mining Ground yester-day, pointed out that the soilused at present in the groundwas sandy and the preparationof the pitch was not proper. Healso said that there were manyvoids in the pitch, which wouldresult in an uneven bounce.

To this, Mr. Boy added that50 to 60 per cent of clay wasrequired for a cricketing wicketand the State should make ar-rangements to see to it that thisrequirement is fulfilled.

Mr. Boy also informed thatBCCI and SCA had held dis-cussions and had come to an

agreement that they will nowput in a joint effort to effec-tively promote cricket in theState. “In the first phase,pitches will be improved, be-cause what Sikkim needs isgood pitches. Once this is ac-complished, it will definitelyimprove the game and take lo-cal cricketers to a higher level,”Mr. Boy stated.

Agreeing to this observa-tion, Mr. Laha also stressed onproper training of grounds menin Sikkim. He further men-tioned that a good pitch in otherparts of the country would costabout Rs. 1 lakh per strip.

“There are about 5-6 strips ofwickets in many standardgrounds. For the MiningGround here, which is smallcompared to other grounds, itcould only accommodate up tothree strips of pitches for gradematches,” he informed.

Earlier during the first dayof their visit here, Mr. Lahamade a power presentation atthe Tourist Guest House onpitch and ground conditions forone-day, three-day and five-daymatches, ground drainage sys-tem, ideal pitches, elements for

a good pitch, pitch construc-tion, pitch protection methods,types of turf, role of grass inpitch, watering, irrigation,compaction and rolling meth-ods, use of Hessian and pitchcovers, leveling, maintenanceand all required equipments.

“The purpose of my visithere is to provide ideas and sug-gestions on the behaviour ofpitches and all normal detailsrequired while preparing apitch,” he informed.

Also on visit to the State isDr. Asit Mukerjee, soil specialist.

Sikkim cricketers don’t lack skills, they miss pitches

Israel remembers holocaust victimsJERUSALEM, 05 May: Remembering the six million Jews whoperished during the holocaust, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharonhas said that Jews will never again be caught unprepared.

“Jews will never again be without a home, without a saferefuge, without protection,” Sharon said at the 60th anniversaryof the tragedy at Yad Vashem [Holocaust Museum] yesterday.

“We will never again be caught unprepared. Never again,” heasserted. President Moshe Katsav opening the ceremony said,“the wounds of the Jewish people will never heal.”

“Prior to the liberation, survivors would not permit themselvesto think about the future beyond the next day,” Katsav said.

Six Holocaust survivors lit torches to commemorate the sixmillion Jews killed in the Holocaust. A moment of silence willbe observed nationwide at 10 a.m. local time in the memory ofthose killed in the Holocaust.

Sharon will also take part in the ‘March of the Living’ cer-emonies at the Auschwitz and Birkenau extermination camps inPoland today. The event is in memory of the victims of the holo-caust during World War II. Sharon will be accompanied by Min-isters, public figures and Holocaust survivors and their familiesduring the event.

06 May, 2005; NOW! 5� NEWSSCAN

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a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 05 May: Anawareness generation pro-gramme to inform the ruralwomen of the functions ofSikkim State Commission forWomen and its role in impart-ing social justice to women ‘op-pressed and suppressed by fam-ily, society and others’ was heldat Uttarey, Rinchenpong andYangsum in West Sikkim on 02,03 and 04 May respectively.

Speaking during the pro-grammes, Manita Pradhan,chairperson of the committee,highlighted various schemes

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forgedsignature

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 05 May: An-other case concerning a forgedsignature has come to light.This time the person whose sig-nature has been forged is a jour-nalist with a local Nepali dailywhose signature was forged ona cheque by which money waswithdrawn, thus making himpoorer by a significant amount.

MB Limbu, of HamroPrajashakti, who has an ac-count with the Central Bank ofIndia, received a shock todaywhen he learnt that his bankaccount was lighter by Rs.30,000, withdrawn by a chequewhich he did not sign.

A complaint has beenlodged with the police and themiscreant is yet to be arrested.

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initiated by the State Govern-ment for the betterment andoverall empowerment of thewomen of Sikkim. Each andevery woman should be ben-efited by these schemes; theyshould not fail to draw advan-tage from these schemes thatare especially meant for them,she stressed.

She further emphasised thatas visualised by the Chief Min-ister, educated young womenshould come forward and takeup different productive activitiesthrough cooperative societiesand self-help groups to achieveeconomic empowerment.

Ricky Lepcha, senior staffnurse of Geyzing District Hos-pital, educated the women par-ticipants on various subjectsrelated to women’s health andhygiene. Similarly, Beena Rai,teacher of Bermiok HighSchool and president of MahilaKalyan Sangh of Hee-Bermiok,stressed on the need for parentsand the Government to giveincentives to girl students inevery field.

MLAs Dawcho Lepcha andNK Subba, who were presentduring the programmes held inRinchenpong and Yangsum re-spectively, commended the

commission for holding suchawareness programmes for ru-ral women. Both the MLAsalso highlighted the visions andprogrammes of the Chief Min-ister and SDF Government forthe upliftment and empower-ment of women in Sikkim.

Various other members ofthe commission, ZillaPanchayat and Gram Panchayatalso spoke during the pro-grammes. Beena Rai, chairper-son of OBC Board, was alsopresent during the programmeheld at Yangsum and addressedthe gathering, which comprisedof rural women of all ages.

Rural women in West Sikkim educatedon the weapons of empowerment

Awareness onSarva Shiksha

Abhiyana NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 05 May: To makeall coordinators of Block Re-source Centres and Cluster Re-source Centres fully acquaintedwith the rules, regulations andresponsibilities for implementa-tion of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyanin the West District, an aware-ness programme was held atSoreng Senior SecondarySchool yesterday.

Joint Director, Human Re-source Development Department[West], MP Subba, who chairedthe programme, stressed on in-dividual commitment and dedi-cation of all teachers appointedunder SSA. He further empha-sised that motivation, mobilisa-tion and sensitisation of all localagencies of the school lies on theshoulders of teachers appointedunder SSA.

Individual interactions andsuggestions from the partici-pants were also a part of theprogramme that was attendedby Assistant Director [Soreng],LD Lama, Deputy Director, KCGyatso, Deputy Director[West], CK Katal, and all of-ficers of West District.

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 05 May: In ad-dition to his present assignmentas Director [Projects], NHPC,AK Gangopadhyaya has takenover the charge of Chairmanand Managing Director of Na-tional Hydroelectric PowerCorporation Ltd.

Born on 03 September, 1945,Mr. Gangopadhyaya passed hisBachelor in Civil Engineering in1965. After working in variousorganisations from 1965 to 1981,he joined NHPC in September1981 as manager. From this pe-

riod onwards, he has held manyimportant positions in NHPC. AsChief Engineer [Contracts], hewas responsible for finalisingtwo high volume contracts eachamounting to Rs. 15,000 millionfor execution of Uri and DulHasti Projects in Jammu & Kash-mir on turnkey basis with twoforeign consortia.

He also worked as GeneralManager, Kurichu Hydroelec-tric Project, in Bhutan. Mr.Gangopadhyaya was responsi-ble for completing and com-missioning the 480 MW UriProject in Jammu & Kashmir

amidst severe law and orderproblems facing the area. AsExecutive Director [Planning],he was closely associated withthe formulation of CorporatePlan of NHPC. As Director[Projects], he has been respon-sible for the construction of theongoing projects of NHPC.

With over 39 years of richand varied experience in the fieldof construction of hydroelectricprojects, Mr. Gangopadhyay hastravelled extensively outside In-dia. He is an author of numberof papers relating to hydropowerdevelopment.

GANGOPADHYAYA TAKES OVER AS CHAIRMAN& MANAGING DIRECTOR OF NHPC

ONGC DISCOVERS NEWOIL, GAS RESERVESNEW DELHI, 05 May: State-run Oil & Natural Gas Com-mission [ONGC] said it hasstruck oil and gas in three do-mestic locations, including oneclose to the main domesticsource off the western coast.The company said in a state-ment that it struck oil nearly 60km from the western IndianBombay High offshore oil andgas field, which remains thelargest domestic oil source de-spite dwindling reserves.

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Kutse SheguThe 49TH DAY KUTSE SHEGU of lateLhendup Bhutia, who passed away on 29March, 2005, falls on 15 May, 2005. All familymembers, friends and well-wishers arerequested to join us in offering prayers forthe departed soul at our residence BelowZero Point, State Bank of India, Gangtok.We also take this opportunity to thank all those who stoodby us at our time of bereavement and regret our inability todo so individually.

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Kutse SheguThe KUTSE SHEGU of late Dorjee DadulBhutia, who passed away on 27 March 2005,falls on 14 May 2005. All family members,friends and well-wishers are requested to joinus in offering prayers for the departed soulat our residence at Martam Thassay, NearSt. Joseph’s School, East Sikkim. We alsotake this opportunity to thank all those who stood by us at ourtime of bereavement and regret our inability to do so personally.

Palchen Bhutia [father], Chungthi [mother]and all family members.

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Memorial ServiceMemorial Service of our beloved father late Bhim Lal Thatal,who left for his heavenly abode on 25.04.2005 will be held atRanipool, East Sikkim on 07.05.2005 [Saturday] at 10.00am. We request all the relatives and well wishers to attendthe prayer service and join the bereaved family to pray for thedeparted soul at our residence at Ranipool.

Mary [wife], J.B. Thatal [brother],Anet [daughter], Augustine [son]

Kutse SheguThe 49TH DAY KUTSE SHEGU of late HisheyDorjee Lama [Ajho Champo] falls on 12May 2005. All family members, friends andwell-wishers are requested to join us inoffering prayers for the departed soul at ourresidence at Rhenock Bazar, East Sikkim.We also take this opportunity to thank allthose who stood by us at our time of bereavement and regretour inability to do so personally.

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LONDON, 05 May: Pollingbegan on a dull note in 645 Par-liamentary constituencies inBritain today with four latestopinion polls projecting a his-toric third term victory forPrime Minister Tony Blair andhis Labour party.

Of the 44,180,243 regis-tered voters, a record six mil-lion people have opted to casttheir vote by post.

The election has been post-poned in one constituency, Staf-fordshire South, following thedeath of one of the candidates.

PM reviews energysecurity scenario

NEW DELHI, 05 May: PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh onThursday reviewed India’s en-ergy security preparedness andsteps being taken to reduce thecountry’s import dependence tomeet its fuel needs.

Petroleum secretary S CTripathi made a power-pointpresentation to the Prime Min-ister. The presentation high-lighted the efforts to increaseproduction from existing fieldsand exploration efforts underthe New Exploration LicensingPolicy, officials said.

It also highlighted initia-tives to acquire oil propertiesin 34 focus nations in Africa,Asia and South America.

Along with voting in 645Parliamentary constituencies,elections will take place in 34county councils and three uni-tary authorities. There are alsofour mayoral contests.

Voting will take place from07:00 am (11:30 hrs IST) to10:00 pm (02:30 IST) andcounting of votes will takeplace immediately thereafter.

In the 2001 General Elec-tions, Labour had rompedhome with 412 seats, Con-servative 166 and LiberalDemocrat 52.

Four opinion polls pub-lished in national newspaperstoday gave Labour leads of be-tween 3 and 6 per cent over theConservatives. But Blair wasdetermined to ensure that La-bour supporters did not take hisvictory for granted insisting to-day’s election would be a closecontest.

“This thing is tight and it istough and we have got to fightfor every vote,” he told his sup-porters last night. “There’s nomajority assumed at all at themoment,” he added.

POLLING BEGINS IN BRITAIN

DEUBA

CHARGED WITH

CORRUPTIONKATHMANDU, 05 May: Ne-pal’s powerful anti-graft com-mission on Thursday chargedformer prime minister SherBahadur Deuba with misappro-priation of government fundswhile in office, a commissionspokesman said.

NEW DELHI, 05 May: Not-withstanding the OppositionBJP-led NDA’s decision toboycott remaining part of theBudget Session of Parliament,the Union cabinet on Wednes-day night cleared 11 Bills forintroduction in the session ofthe House which is slated tocontinue next week.

“Cabinet tonight had a veryheavy agenda. It has cleared asmany as 11 Bills to be introducedin the current session,” Informa-tion and Broadcasting MinisterS Jaipal Reddy told reporters.

Asked whether the govern-

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introduction in Housement would be able to completeits business in the backdrop ofthe Opposition boycott, he said:“It is our hope that the Opposi-tion will be persuaded to comeback to the House.”

“The Prime Minister, theSpeaker and other leaders willtry to persuade the Opposition,”he added.

06 May, 2005; NOW! 7� NEWSSCAN

GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATION

GOVERNMENT JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

TINGLEY, SOUTH SIKKIM

APRIL 25,2005

RAFFLE DRAW NUMBERS

Ist Prize - No.09428

2nd Prize – No.00297

3rd Prize - No01147

4th Prize – No.04461

5th Prize - No.05747

CONSOLATION PRIZES:05042, 06840, 02536, 03102, 08641, 08299, 08452,03458, 09484, 05618.

Organizing committee

a NOW REPORT

CHAKUNG, 05 May:Buriakhop Senior SecondarySchool today entered the finalsof the Chakung Senior Second-ary School Platinum Celebra-tion Debate Competition bydefeating the Soreng SSS in thesecond district-level semifinals.

The topic of today’s debatewas “Responsibility of impart-ing quality education lies solelyon the school’s shoulders”,with the winning team speak-

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 05 May: ThoughSikkim State Karate-Do Asso-ciation bagged only one goldmedal in the 19th AIKF NationalKarate Championship held atNehru Stadium, Chennai, from24 to 30 April, the State team’sperformance in the event can-not be totally written off.

In fact, Bishnu Rai, teamcoach, has termed the team’sperformance as “goodprogress” and has expressed hishope that the State team willfare much better at the 20th Na-tional Karate Championship tobe held in January, next year,at Jaipur in Rajasthan.

Most impressive of all hasbeen the performance of SmitaRai of Deorali Girls’ Senior Sec-ondary School who is the solemedal winner from the State. Outof nine categories [of the total 55categories] the State team partici-pated in, Smita won the gold inthe Sub-Junior Girls’ Category inher very first bout against BhagyaP. of Andhra Pradesh by 5-1.

She continued her feat in

ing against the motion.Though Buriakhop SSS

won today’s competition, it wasGyampo Tamang of ChakungSSS who was adjudged the bestspeaker.

The final debate competi-tion will be held on 07 Maywhere today’s winning teamwill face Tharpu SecondarySchool that had secured its spotin the finals yesterday by de-feating the host school.

Today’s programme alsosaw Mangalbaria Senior Sec-

ondary School clash againstDodak Secondary School in thesecond semifinal match of Sen-ior Girls’ Football Tournament,where Mangalbaria SSS de-feated Dodak by 2-0.

The chief guest of today’sprogramme was Miss ChandraMaya Subba, West ZillaPanchayat Upa-adhyaksha.

The highlight of tomorrow’sprogramme will be variousschool-based activities, informedJacob Khaling, publicity secretaryof the celebration committee.

Buriakhop in Chakung School PlatinumJubilee debate comptt finals

– Lhatsun Namkha Jigme, KathokRigzin Kuntu Zangpo and GnadakSempa Phuntsog Rigzin – en-throned the first Chogyal [Dharmaking] Phuntshog Namgyal atNorbugang, Yuksom, the first capi-tal of Sikkim. The evidence is seenby the devout in the footprints andbody marks of Guru Rinpoche onrocks and in holy caves and stonecoronation throne at Yuksam.Other evidences are the footprintsof Gyalwa Lhatsun at YuksamNorbugang and seat of MonThekongsalong, the Lepcha chief,at Thrakthungrong in West Sikkim.

Gnadak Chempo built theGnadak Chang Chub Ling atYuksom but later abandoned itas the capital shifted toRabdentse and so did the reli-gious centre. Gnadak Chempothen built the Tashiding Mon-astery as a legacy of his oldabandoned monastery atYuksom. The Kartok YosselLing was built by KartokChempo who went on to buildthe famous Pemayangtse Mon-astery. There are no exact datesas to when the monasterieswere built but it has been as-certained that these were some-where between 1642 and 1647.

The two re-constructedmonasteries at Yuksom, West

Sikkim, will be inaugurated byHis Eminence Penor Rinpoche,the head of the Ngyingmapa sectof Buddhism. His monastery,the Namdolling NgagyurNyingmapa Monastery ofBylakoppe, at Mysore in thestate of Karnataka, is alsoknown as the golden templeamong the people of Karnataka.

His Eminence PenorRinpoche is to arrive at Yuksomon 09 May where he will be re-ceived by the Ecclesiastical De-partment. The inauguration of thetwo monasteries will take placeon 10 and 11 May, 2005. Hiseminence Penor Rinpoche, whois the guest of honour for the in-augural ceremony, will performthe Tashi Rapnay consecrationceremony on 12 May followedby Kawang for the public.

On 13 May, His Eminencewill depart for Gangtok by heli-copter where he is scheduled tovisit Gonjang monastery atFatak at 9 AM. This is to befollowed by offering of Man-drel Kusang Thukten byGangjang Rinpoche. At 1 PM,there will be a kawang on “longlife empowerment”.

On 14 May, His Eminencewill give a discourse to the monksof Gangjang Monastery from 7.30AM to 11 AM. He is to depart forBagdogra the same afternoon.

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Sikkim Regional Office.Maruti Gyspy King Hard Top(Model 4 WD 1998)for sale ‘as is where is basis’ is available for in-spection at the Bank office premises between 3PM to 5 PM on all working days except Satur-days. Interested parties may contact Shri.J.R.Katti, Manager NABARD, Sikkim Regional Office,OM, Niwas, Chruch Road, Gangtok for details ofterms and conditions on or before 21st May 2005.The bid may be submitted in the prescribed for-mat alongwith with earnest money deposit.

Penor Rinpoche tore-inaugurate Sikkim’s

oldest monasteriesContd from pg 1

the second bout where she de-feated her opponent from WestBengal by 9-3. In her third bout,she won the match by 9-3against Rajasthan and contin-ued on her winning streak tillher final bout where she de-feated Rammati Rohati ofMizoram by 14-10.

Smita also participated inSub-Junior Kata event whereshe defeated Melody Fernandezof Goa in the first bout. How-ever, her luck ran out in the sec-ond bout where she lost out toKalaivani C. of Tamil Nadu.

Similarly, in the Sub-JuniorBoys’ category, Sourav Gurungwon the first bout againstJammu and Kashmir by 4-3;however, in the second bout, helost out to West Bengal by 2-7.

In the Below 55 kg SeniorMen Kumuttee, Krishna PrasadRai lost out to Karnataka by 4-5.

In the Below 60 kg SeniorMen Kumuttee, Dichen Lepchawon the match against Gujaratin his first bout with an impres-sive score of 4-0 but was de-feated in the second bout byTamil Nadu with a 7-4 score.

In the rapid change round, helost out to his opponent fromArunachal Pradesh by 3-6.

Mongal Kumar Rai, whoplayed in the Below 65 kg cat-egory, was defeated by Goa by 8-0 and, in the rapid change round,he won against Orissa by 9-8.However, in the second round, hesuffered a 7-4 loss at the hands ofhis Chandigarh opponent.

In the 70 to 75 kg SeniorMen Kumuttee, Bhim BadurSubba lost out to Jharkhand by4-8. He also participated in theSenior Men Open Kumutee andwon the first bout against As-sam with an impressive scoreof 10-0 and with a 10-2 scorein the second bout againstAndhra Pradesh. However, inthe third bout, he was defeatedby Maharashtra by 3-9.

Bidhan Ballav Subba wonthe first bout against Assam inthe Senior Men Individual Kataevent. He, however, lost out toOrissa in the second bout.

The championship was par-ticipated by 33 other teamsfrom CRPF, ITBP, NGS [BlackCat Commando], etc.

Sikkim Karatekas finish nationalmeet with honour

MUMBAI, 05 May: A ses-sions court has acquitted anaccused in a rape case afterhe showed willingness tomarry the victim.

The judgement came a daybefore a Delhi court sentenceda ward boy to life imprisonmenteven after the rapist had offeredto marry the victim.

The Mumbai sessions court onTuesday acquitted Firoz Shaikh(25) after he told the court that hewas willing to marry the girl.

According to the publicprosecutor, just before pro-

nouncing the sentence, thejudge asked the girl if shewanted to say anything. The girlreplied that she would forgiveShaikh provided he marries her,to which Shaikh agreed.

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The judge, however, di-rected the police to escort theduo at the wedding which willtake place at Mohammed Aliroad shortly so that the accuseddid not escape.

8; NOW!; 06 May, 2005

Published by Lt. Col. (retd) P. Dorjee and printed at Baba Offset Press Works Pvt. Ltd., Gangtok. Editor: Pema Wangchuk. Now! Near Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong.East Sikkim. ph: 03592 271167 email: sikkimnow@rediffmail.com; sikkimnow@sify.com

THEFINALONE �

ARIES: Your tumultuous and somewhat aggressive energy startsearly in the day. Do not put yourself in a position of frustration.TAURUS: You might be pushed by a need to get work done thismorning. Feel less pressured and decide what must get done.GEMINI: A friend might disappoint you. You also might need to takeanother route to the same end. Experiment with ideas instead ofgetting petrified by a challenging situation.CANCER: A friend might disappoint you. You also might need totake another route to the same end. Experiment with ideas insteadof getting petrified by a challenging situation.LEO: You can chill out, and not go to bat on a key issue if you chooseto. You find that others will approach you. Your intuition serves youwell with a money matter and partnership.VIRGO: Work closely with others. You might be put off by what isgoing on with an associate who, at time, can be pushy.LIBRA: You might not believe another’s reaction this morning. Also,pleasing this person might not be possible.SCORPIO: Dip into your creativity for problem solving. Analyze whatneeds to be done, and find a path to this point.SAGITTARIUS: Another might push you too hard when it comes toyour investment and participation. As a result you’re likely to pull back.CAPRICORN: Others seek you out, though you might be a little putoff by a demand that comes along. An associate or partner could betouchy and difficult to work with.AQUARIUS: You could irritate someone more that you realize. Theramifications might not be comfortable. A serious altitude toward workcould have you rethinking your finances.PISCES: The morning and afternoon provide unusual excitement,though an element of controversy comes with the turf. You might notbe able to come up with a solution immediately.

Voters in Texas Town to Choose New Mayor, Possibly a Dead oneHEDWIG VILLAGE, Texas: Amayoral race can be surpris-ingly rough in this spiderwebof cul-de-sacs anchored bystately mansions - even whenone of the candidates is dead.

Mayor Dee Srinivasan diedfrom heart disease last month, butsupporters are still trying to winher votes for Saturday’s election.

Supporters in the commu-nity of 2,350, an enclave withinthe city of Houston, say theywant to ensure Srinivasan’sopponent, former Mayor Sue

Speck, doesn’t win. Speck lostto Srinivasan in 2001 by 12votes and has been criticizedfor her management style.

“They’re both strong-willed ladies,” saidCouncilman Bob Dixon.“When you have two strongpeople who have been mayorthey sometimes clash.”

Speck said she wouldn’tdiscuss the campaign out of re-spect for Srinivasan’s family.

If Srinivasan wins, the CityCouncil could call a special

JACKSON REFERRED TO MONEYAS “FRENCH FRIES”

SANTA MARIA, United States: In one of the many bizarremoments in Michael Jackson’s child sex trial, jurors learnedWednesday that the eccentric pop star referred to money asFrench fries.

They were also told an associate nicknamed him Arnold.“French fries meant he wanted money. Michael is always ask-

ing for money,” said Rudy Provincio, who worked with Jacksonassociate Marc Schaffel from mid-2001 to mid-2003.

“Marc called him Arnold. He’d say like Aaarnold, and Michaelwould laugh,” Provincio told the jurors.

Schaffel would call Jackson saying: “Arnold are you there?Are you looking for French fries,” Provincio said.

Provincio was hired by the “King of Pop” and Schaffel in2001 to help produce the Jackson single “What more can I give.”

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election or appoint an interimmayor who would serve untilthe next regular municipal elec-tion in 2006, said City Admin-istrator Beth Staton.

It wouldn’t be the first vic-

tory for a dead candidate.Mel Carnahan died in a

plane crash a month before the2000 general election and beatincumbent Sen. John Ashcroft.In 1991, Rep. Ted Weiss, D-

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