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GANGTOK, 06 July:Sikkim had its moment ofglory today and each mo-ment in the sun was soakedin with enthusiasm. Allroads led to Nathula todaywith the earliest vehicleleaving Gangtok at 2:20 AMand following behind werea few hundred more, alldriving to witness the his-toric reopening of the moun-tain pass of Nathula fortrade. The perpetual drizzleand moody skies were nochallenge to the feverish en-thusiasm on the ground.

When the moment came,after the chief guests on ei-ther side of the border atNathula – Chief MinisterPawan Chamling and Chair-man, Tibet Autonomous Re-gion, Qiangba Puncog - hadrounded up their keynoteaddresses, the red-carpetedexpanse on either side of theborder was swamped byjournalists, soldiers and bu-reaucrats from both sidesscampering about for photo-ops, possible quotes andsound-bytes.

The state has never beforewitnessed such unrestrainedmedia indulgence. Everyone,from BBC to Japan Broad-casting Corporation to corre-spondents for foreign newspa-pers to NDTV to Zee News toCNN-IBN, Channel 7, AFP,descended on Nathula in a del-uge so strong that theyswamped the 100 Indian trad-ers 1:3, literally leading to asituation where anyone whostarted speaking, was a guar-anteed an audience of journos.

Almost lost in the meleewere diplomatic subtleties inwhich China coats its publicstatements. The ChairmanTAR, dropped one in the verybeginning of his keynote ad-dress. In an address deliveredin Chinese [translated simul-taneously by a Chinese inter-preter], he congratulated ChiefMinister Pawan Chamling onthe historic occasion. Whilethat was expected, how hequalified his introduction ofthe Chief Minister shouldspread some glee in the Min-istry of External Affairs. “Dr.Pawan Chamling, Chief Min-

Nathula, 06 July, 2006

ister of the Sikkim State of In-dia,” he said.

There are many who keephighlighting that China hasnever explicitly recognizedSikkim’s merger with Indiaand has only changed thecolour of the maps. If the factthat China was starting bor-der trade with India overNathula and through a trademart at Serathang was notproof enough, now, there isalso how the Chairman TAR

sees Sikkim.For many, the reopening of

Nathula for trade was mostlyabout improving Sino-Indianrelations and the bonhomie atNathula today was reflectiveof how commerce can helpovercome traditional suspi-cions. It also helps if the sus-picions are of more recentmake than the centuries ofcultural exchanges.

Mr. Chamling, in his ad-dress, stressed that Nathula

was a symbol of mutual inter-dependence and collective sur-vival. The reopening, he said,resumed the centuries of cul-tural exchange that India andChina had cultivated. He saidthat he was overjoyed that thisinteraction was now possibleover Nathula in Sikkim andadded that today’s inaugura-tion justified the 12 yearsthrough which he remainedcommitted to the idea and pur-sued with several governments

in Delhi in the face of doubtand even ridicule at times.

The Chairman, TAR, re-ciprocated the ChiefMinister’s optimism and saidthat the reopening of Nathulasignified a new stage of SinoIndian relations which wouldlead to economic prosperityand social upliftment forpeople on both sides.

The official addressesover and the ceremonial rib-

turn to pg2

DRUMMING UP A CELEBRATION: A cultural troupe from the Tibet Autonomous Region

performs a traditional Chinese drum routine to mark the reopening of Nathula.

THE EVENT & THE COVERAGE: Chief Minister Pawan Chamling and Chairman TAR, Qiangba

Puncog exchange khadas at Nathula after cutting the ceremonial ribbon and throwing Nathula open for trade.

GANGTOK, 06 July: The Chinese Am-bassador to India, Sun Yuxi, who attendedthe reopening of Nathula for trade today,exuded enthusiasm and optimism in an ex-clusive chat with NOW! at Nathula today.

“Both sides will benefit. This is just thebeginning; right now the list of items oftrade is limited, but as the trade progressesthere will be a demand from the people toincrease the number of items,” he enthused.

He also expressed that Nathula couldbe developed into a major trade route withmore commodities passing through it withimprovement in the existing infrastructure.

The Chinese commitment and intentconcerning trade over Nathula was mademore explicit when the Chinese Ambas-sador revealed to NOW! that his govern-ment has set aside 300 million Yuan forthe trade and development of infrastruc-ture to support it. The recently-openedBeijing-Lhasa rail-link, the highest in theworld, would likely be extended to Yatung,about 56 km from Nathula, he added.

So optimistic is the Ambassador about

Next step tourism

turn to pg2

China plans 300 million Yuan investment on Nathula, India Rs. 100 crores in next phasea NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 06 July: Whenconfronted with the over-whelming and intimidatingfigure of 300 million Yuan[Rs. 1,500 million], as dis-closed by the Chinese Am-bassador as the bud-get for the develop-ment of Chinesetrade via Nathulawhich was reopenedtoday after 44 years,the Additional Sec-retary, Ministry ofCommerce & In-

dustries, Government of In-dia, Dr. Christy Fernandez,revealed that Delhi too hadplans for development oftrade here.

In an exclusive chat withNOW! Dr. Fernandez, seem-ingly unfazed at the daunting

amount quoted by theChinese official, re-vealed that thus far,the Centre as well asthe State governmenthad invested aboutRs. 25 crores in theinitial phase leading tothe reopening of the

Nathula pass to trade.“We have engaged RITES

for the preparation of furtherdevelopment plans related tothe trade and the final reportis expected to come in by Au-gust 2006,” he disclosed.This, he said, would providethe primary indicator for de-velopment for the next phase.

Dr. Fernandez revealedthat the central governmentintended to invest around Rs.100 crores in the next phaseof infrastructure develop-ment related to the trade be-tween China and Indiathrough Nathula in Sikkim.

This, he said would in-clude development and con-

turn to pg2

Left: The reception committee from the Tibetan Autonomous Regionholding the stream of ceremonial silk ribbons for the inauguration.Inset: Addl. Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industries, GoI, Dr. ChristyFernandez.

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bon cut, the two chief guestsexchanged khadas and giftsand Nathula became a color-ful jamboree of Indian andChinese nationals intermin-gling and crossing over intoeach other’s territories. Offi-cials and media-persons ex-changed business cards, Chi-nese soldiers posed with In-dian army and Sikkim Policepersonnel for photographs.

Nathula that he said tourismwould be another aspectwhich the two countries willlook into soon.

He is not a lone inthinking so.

Chief Minister PawanChamling, who has seen whatappeared to be an impossiblewish get realised today, isaiming even higher now.

In his keynote address de-livered at the reopening ofNathula today, he said thatNathula has potential for morethan just trade, stating that Bud-dhist Circuit Tourism could alsobe developed over it and pro-posed that the two nations nowstart a Sikkim-Lhasa bus ser-vice to bring the two ancientcivilizations even closer.

It is notified that TELEPHONE ADALAT forGangtok, Singtam and Mangan areas (East and NorthDistricts of Sikkim) will be held on 22.07.2006 from1100 Hrs to 1400 Hrs in the Office of the GeneralManager Telecom, Cherry Building, Gangtok. Thesubscribers are requested to FILE THEIR COM-PLAINTS ALONG WITH COPIES OF DOCU-MENTS REGARDING 1. Excess Billing 2. Serviceetc. by 17.07.2006 addressed to the Accounts Officer(TR) O/o The General Manager Telecom, CherryBuilding, Gangtok, Sikkim.

Smiles abounded and signlanguage kept everyone en-tertained. But the fun had toend and soon it was time forthe real business of the day –the crossing over of traders –the Indian ones headed forRinchengang, about 17 kmsinto Tibet and Tibetan trad-ers headed for Serathang.

Through the mist, drizzle,protocol and whirring cam-eras, history was made todayat Nathula.

Contd from pg1

Nathula, 06 July, 2006

Addressing a press confer-ence later in the evening, Mr.Chamling said that he will nowprioritise lobbying in NewDelhi for integration of tourisminto Nathula and launch of aNathula-Lhasa bus service.Pointing out that the Govern-ment of India has always beenpositive towards Sikkim’s re-quests, he expressed confi-dence that even this demandwould be met soon.

Earlier, Mr. Yuxi, hadsaid, “I am indeed happy towitness history.”

Almost as if to drive homethe point that even more his-tory would be made soonwith Nathula also allowingtourist traffic, Mr. Yuxicrossed over from Nathulaand drove on to visit Shigatsein Tibet Autonomous Region.

Contd from pg1

Next step tourismstruction of roads andupgradation of the trade martat Serathang. The Govern-ment of India, he said, in-tended to upgrade the roadleading from Gangtok toNathula and also develop thehighway from Siliguri toGangtok. This phase wouldbe taken up over the nextthree years.

As for the trade itself, Dr.Fernandez revealed that theCentre was examining theproposal to enlarge the scopeof trade in 3 phases. The firstwould involve enlarging thelist of items beyond the ex-isting number which are dutyfree. The second, he said,would be a further under-standing on expansion ofitems of trade which will in-clude increase in the positiveitems of trade based on mostfavoured nation status afterpaying appropriate duties.

“At a later stage, as and whendemand rises, we may enlargethe list to include a negative listof items after detailed study andtaking into consideration theconcerns expressed by thepeople of Sikkim and impact ofenlarging trade,” he said. Thenegative list of items, he said areunknown at present.

Dr. Fernandez called thereopening of Nathula a greatstep forward for both nations.

“It may be symbolic fornow but follow up action willbe taken which will be sub-stantial and significant.”

On the adverse fallouts the

trade could have, Dr. Fernandezsaid that such concerns werealways expressed whenever anew initiative was undertakenand assured that due cogni-zance of all factors would betaken as the trade progressed.

The Chinese Ambassador,Sun Yuxi, on the other hand,expressed only optimism.

“This will lead to greaterfriendship and greater coop-eration making the people onboth sides prosperous,” hesaid, adding that it wouldalso impact the worldeconomy if carried out well.

The Ambassador alsomentioned that this wouldassist in resolving politicalissues such as the pendingboundary issues between thetwo nations and lead to de-marcation and settlement ofpending border disputes.

When asked to comment onwhy 06 July, the birthday of theDalai Lama, had been chosenas the big day for Nathula, theAmbassador said that the daywas not chosen by design butthat their preparations had con-cluded at this particular time.However, he added “In future

Contd from pg1

China plans 300 million Yuan investment...we will remember this day”.

Dr. Fernandez when askedthe same said that the Indianproposal had been for 01 Julybut was not possible becauseTibet Autonomous Region wasbusy on that day with the open-ing of the Lhasa rail link. “Thenext nearest date possible wasthen chosen and it happenedto be 06 July,” he said.

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 06 July: TheSherathang Trade Mart wasinaugurated today by ChiefMinister Pawan Chamling ataround 12 noon. This wasdone soon after the CM de-scended from the interna-tional border at Nathula af-ter inaugurating the moun-tain pass to trade togetherwith the Chairman, TibetanAutonomous Region,Qiangba Puncog. Sherathangis the designated trade marton the Indian side for traderscoming in from TAR to en-gage in trade here.

Stating that the people ofSikkim were “very happy” onthe occasion of reopening thepass after 44 years, the CM,in his address, said that thetrade would be an economicinstrument to be used for thedevelopment of the State aswell as the country.

He, however, added thathis government would havezero tolerance for those whoengaged in anti-national ac-tivities in the name of trade.Terming the day as historic,the CM went on to say thattogether, India and Chinawould change the pattern of

Sherathang sets up shop, facilitiesneed upgradation, CM states

growth and development atthe global level. Nathula, inthis regard, he said, was apositive step.

The Chief Ministertermed the existing trade-re-lated infrastructure nascentand said that this would bemade robust for major tradeand urged the Centre to takeup this cause.

Central government offi-cials present on the occasion- Dr. C Fernandez, Addl. Sec-retary, Ministry of Com-merce, Mr. Brahma, Jt. Sec-retary MHA and Saurav Sen,Director, China, MEA - wereimpressed by the CM on theneed for further developmentof the trade mart. “We needa guest house here and otheramenities right now and inthis regard we need the sup-port of the Centre,” Mr.Chamling iterated.

He further said that thecourse of trade would changein a few years which wouldnecessitate a revision of thelist of items to include ser-vices, tourism, bio-technol-ogy and also investment.

“The new rail link built byChina adds a new dimensionto the trade,” the CM said.There is a proposal to set up

a special economic zone inSikkim and develop Sikkiminto a major trading zone likeSingapore. The CM also saidthat the reopening of Nathulawould help the country in re-alizing the nation’s Look EastPolicy and consolidate subregional groupings.

The programme on theopening of the trade mart be-gan with the welcome addressdelivered by the Principal Sec-retary, Industries, KarmaGyatso which was followed byan address by the Minister, In-dustries, RB Subba. Dr.Fernandez then took the po-dium and expressed the bestwishes on behalf of the PrimeMinister, the Minister, Com-merce, GoI, Kamal Nath andSecretary, S. Menon. He con-gratulated the CM and his teamon their dedication towards get-ting the high pass reopened totrade which he said would leadto peace, stability and social and

cultural development.He added that the Centre

would make all efforts to ex-pand the border trade to nor-mal trade at the same timetaking into consideration theconcerns and apprehensions

of the people of Sikkim.Later, the CM handed

over a letter of appreciationand a memento to Dr.Fernandes as a token of thestate’s appreciation.

The vote of thanks wasdelivered by SP Subba, Di-

Top: Traders from the Tibet Au-

tonomous Region at Nathula dur-

ing the inauguration ceremony on

06 July.

And a group of TAR traders later in

the day at the Sherathang Trade Mart.

rector, Industries.With the conclusion of the

inaugural programme, thefirst batch of traders fromTAR arrived at Sherathangand visited the trade martwhere various items were ondisplay for them.

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 06 July: “Nowit is in the hands of the busi-nessmen and Sikkimesepeople on how they wish toutilize the Nathula traderoute to its best,” said theChief Minister PawanChamling at a press confer-ence held here at SammanBhawan this evening.

Responding to a query,Mr. Chamling said thathenceforth, the State Govern-ment would only regulate andfacilitate the trade by takingcare of the security of thetraders and deliver theinfrastructural requirements.The Central Government willwork on the broader aspectsof the trade route, he added.The trading, how well itprogresses and how soon, hesaid, will depend on the trad-ers involved.

“We have opened Nathulafor trade, but the trading willhave to be done by Sikkim’speople,” he said.

The businessmen and the

Trade’s fate andprosperity in the

hands of traders now:Chamling

Sikkimese people, he said,were the key players in thistrade and should change theirmindset and work hard toachieve the gains this re-opened border trade promises.

On the poor road condi-tion of National Highwayfrom Siliguri to Nathula, theChief Minister informed thatthe Central Government hasalready finalized the DetailedProject Report for itsupgradtion and work to de-velop the road will be initi-ated very soon.

He also said that this projecthas now become a nationalinvolvement, so the UnionGovernment would certainlytake positive initiative.

On the future plans of hisGovernment to broaden theutilization of this traderoute, Mr. Chamling in-formed that integration ofthis route with Tourism,launching of Nathula-LhasaBus Service, opening trad-ing for all and declaration ofan ‘Special Economic Zone’were on the cards.

Yanhthang SSS organizes10 days of health and

awarenessa NOW REPORT

PELLING, 06 July: A ten-day long free medical camp wasorganized by Yangthang Senior Secondary School, WestSikkim in association with NSS volunteers from 10 to 20 June.

During the medical camp, a plantation drive was alsoundertaken by the students and the NSS volunteers. Around300 saplings were planted at Smriti Van, Upper Martam.

The volunteers also helped in the construction of kucchafoothpath surrounding Upper Martam Primary School.

They also helped level the ground for the newly con-structed monastery.

Animal Husbandry Deputy Director (W) informed thegathering on how to take care of cattle and also distributedfree medicines to the patients.

Dr. KN Sharma, Rinchenpong PHC also distributed medi-cines to the patients and free medical check-up was also held.

Volleyball and football matches were also organized be-tween the NSS volunteers and the villagers.

a NOW REPORT

NAMCHI, 06 July: AllSikkim Hawkers Association(ASHA) opened its branchoffice here, today at Namchi.The programme was orga-nized at the Club House ofNamuna Samaj today.

A senior hawker ofNamchi was invited as thechief guest. The programmewas also attended by theASHA president, GangtokBranch, Sonam Bhutia, presi-dent, Singtam branch, DilipRai along with members from

Namchi gets a hawkersassc branch

Singtam and Gangtok.Identity cards were also dis-

tributed to the new executivemembers of the Namchi branch.

Santosh Lepcha has beenappointed the incharge,while Purnima Gurung willofficiate as the vice-incharge,treasurer, Durga Pradhan,Joint Secretary Dhurba Rai,Vice Secretary BudhaPariwar, Chief AdvisorKhusan Chandra Rai, Advi-sor Kantu Man Rai, withother 10 active members.

Dilip Rai today highlightedturn to pg4

07 July, 2006; NOW! 3

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GANGTOK, 05 July: Withthe main aim to promoteunity among the students ofthe state the All Sikkim Stu-dents Association [ASSA] isorganizing the 3rd Sikkim In-ter School, Employees andVeterans Table Tennis Cham-pionship 2006.

The championship will beheld from 8 to 10 July at NewIndoor Gymnasium at PalzorStadium complex. The tour-nament is being held underthe auspices of Sikkim TableTennis Association andSikkim Veterans Table Ten-nis Association.

The organizers believethat the tournament willhelp the state players to testtheir game and skills andimprove their skills aheadof the upcoming North East

Sports Festival which is tobe held in Sikkim.

Team Championship [U-19 Boys and Girls], TeamChampionship [U-14 Boysand Girls], Veterans [Above40 Men’s], Employees[Men’s Single], U- 14 Boysand Girls [Singles], U-19Boys and Girls [Singles] andCadet Boys and Girls[Singles] were the events forthe championship.

For the first time orga-nizer has also included theevent for the Beginners[Nursery] Boys and Girls,who have just stepped intotable tennis, with the aim topromote table tennis amongthe children of the state.

It is learnt that the winnersand other participants willget trophy along with schol-arship from ICFAI and otherattractive prizes.

TT tourney coming up

REMUNA RAI

GANGTOK, 06 July: The71st birthday of the XIVthDalai Lama was celebrated ingrand fashion at the Sera JheDorphenling Monastery inChandmari today by the Ti-betan Community here. TheTibetans here immersed them-selves in the festivities dedi-cated to their highly reveredGod-King spiritual leader.

The programme beganwith the arrival and receptionof the chief guest for the oc-casion, the Governor ofSikkim, V Rama Rao and theportrait of the Dalai Lama wasinstalled at the Sera Gonpa.

Next, the students of ThumiSambhota Tibetan School ren-dered the Indo-Tibetan Na-tional Anthem, followed by asong in honor of His Holiness.‘Mentrel tendoe’ followednext with offerings made topray for the long life of theDalai Lama by the Governorand by the Tibetan WelfareOfficer, followed by the offer-ing of scarves and prayers byother dignitaries and the guestsand the serving of the ceremo-nial tea and rice.

Ngawang Norbu, TibetanWelfare Officer, gave the in-troductory speech and deliv-ered the message of theKashag [the Cabinet of theTibetan Government-in-Ex-ile], in which the Kashagprayed for the long life of theDalai Lama on this auspi-cious day for Tibetans andnon-Tibetans alike all acrossthe globe. The message in-formed that this would be thelast time that the 12th Kashagwas celebrating His Holi-ness’ birthday since its fiveyear term was drawing to a

Gangtok celebrates DalaiLama’s birthday

close and expressed its grati-tude to the Dalai Lama for hisable guidance during the lastfive years to help themachieve their spiritual andpolitical responsibilities.

The message also updatedthe audience on the fiverounds of Sino-Tibetan talkssince 2002, based on theMiddle Path Approach, heldby the envoys of the DalaiLama, thus making the aspi-rations and the plight of theTibetan known to the People’sRepublic of China and im-proving the Sino-Tibetan ties.

However, it informed thatthere has not been a percep-tible positive change inChina’s policy on Tibet andhuman rights violations, en-vironmental destruction, thelack of religious freedom,patriotic re-education cam-paigns to brainwash monas-tic institutions and banningof photographs of the DalaiLama still continue.

Also, since early May thisyear, the leaders of the TARand the United Front WorkDepartment have stepped uptheir campaigns to denounceHis Holiness with false alle-gations and derogatory re-marks against him. This hasdeeply saddened not just theTibetans but millions of peoplein the international communitywho support the Tibetan causeand such acts pose seriousthreats to the Sino-Tibetan dia-logue process, the Kashagmessage said.

The Kashag hoped thatsuch separatist activities inthe name of preventing sepa-ratism itself, which is a graveerror, is understood by all.

The Governor addressedthe occasion, speaking on the

life and achievements of theDalai Lama.

The vote of thanks wasgiven by a representative ofthe six Tibetan associations,namely the Tibetan YouthCongress, the TibetanWomens’ Association,Ravang Chokchung Associa-tion, the Utsang Association,the Dotoe Association andthe Domei Association.

Adding color and vi-brancy to the function was acultural show performed bythe students of ThumiSambhota Tibetan Schooland the Palkhang School,who with their well-re-hearsed songs and dancesenthralled all present.

The festivities continuedall day on the Sera Gonpa pre-mises, dotted with colorfultents and prayer flags stream-ing happily in the wind. Thegonpa was incidentally inau-gurated by the Dalai Lama lastyear on 26 April.

The general air surround-ing the celebrations was thatof happiness and enjoymentand queries about the people’sviews on the reopening of thehistorical border trade route ofNathula Pass were met withmany smiles and also somecold shoulders. While mostseemed optimistic about thereopening and resumption ofthe border trade, saying thatstrengthening of Indo-Sino

relations would also mean apossibly better Sino-Tibetanrelation and that the tradewould of course be good forSikkim, their current home,few seemed apprehensive tocomment on the issue, prob-ably not wanting to remem-ber old wounds on this mo-mentous day.

SNOD Complex, DeoraliABACUS

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

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that despite providing revenueto the Government, the hawk-ers continued facing harass-ment from various departmen-tal officials as well as from thepolice. Only a united standcould end such harassment, hesaid. He also appealed toASHA members to stay awayfrom political affiliations.

The ASHA president ofSingtam branch secondedthis and said that if any mem-ber wished to join politics, heshould resign first.

Sonam Bhutia, theGangtok branch president,further informed that ASHAwas a non-political bodyformed only for the welfareof its members.

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NamthangSSS prepares

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a NOW REPORT

NAMCHI, 06 July:Namthang Senior SecondarySchool will celebrate itsGolden Jubilee in April 2007and the members of theSchool Management Com-mittee [SMC] and the ex-stu-dents of the school have al-ready started its preparation.

The first meeting of SMCand ex-students of the schoolwas held yesterday at the schoolpremises and was presided overby the Rhenock MLA BhimDhungel, who is also an ex-stu-dent of the school.

The school was estab-lished in the year 1957.

The meeting was also at-tended by the school staffs,Zilla Panchayat and otherPanchayat members. In themeeting they decided to cel-ebrate the Golden Jubilee ina grand manner.

a NOW REPORT

GANGTOK, 06 July: TheMinistry of Environment &Forests, Government of Indiagranted Site Clearance for In-vestigation and Survey toAthena Projects Private Lim-ited, New Delhi, for the TeestaStage-III Hydro Project inNorth Sikkim on 03 March.The clearance, which is sub-ject to compliance to strictterms and conditions, makesit mandatory for the projectauthority to produce the com-prehensive Environment Im-pact Assessment Report com-prising of at least the data ofone year, informs a press re-lease issued by the AffectedCitizens of Teesta. The releaseadds that the project author-ity has also been directed toobtain a separate clearanceunder the Forest (Conserva-tion) Act 1980.

This EIA report was sub-mitted before April 2006.However, the ACT release al-leges that the report does notcontain data for one year asrequired by the MoEF. This,ACT believes, suggests thatthe EIA is based on false data.ACT allegations get strongerwhen it accuses the State Pol-

Contd from pg2

Namchi getsa hawkers

assc branch...

Teesta Stage III environment impactassessment faulty, alleges ACT

lution Control Board of striv-ing to give their recommen-dation and decisions to falsedata and information.

The EIA, ACT countersfurther contains glaring er-rors which display abject in-sensitivity to the sentimentsof the ethnic people of theregion. ACT has further al-leged that the errors are suchthat they could foment com-munal disharmony amongthe people already living in

North Sikkim and also thosewho will follow with thehydel project.

“ACT feels that such al-leged false data are not appro-priate to the Environment Im-pact Assessment report to besubmitted to the MoEF by theproject authority and the EIAreport is intended towardsdefamation of the tribalwomen and will cause unrestamong the North Sikkimpeople. ACT strongly con-

demns the report and asks theproject authority to refrainfrom such anti social activities.ACT will be sending reportsto the Ministry of Home Af-fairs, Government of India andthe National Commission forWomen,” the release states.

The release further in-forms that the EIA report alsostates that no monuments ofcultural, religious or histori-cal significance have beendiscovered in the project area

or the study area.This, ACT counters, is a

“complete fabrication” sincethe Ledho [sacred stone] atChungthang, the sacred cavein Shipger area and the KabiLongchok at Kabi fall in thestudy area.

“Such reports are easy in-struments to misguide thepeople and the authorities atthe Centre, thereby overrid-ing the sentiments of the lo-cal people here,” states ACT.

NEW DELHI, July 6(IANS): The central cabinetThursday approved amend-ments to two bills on juve-nile justice and protection ofhuman rights to widen theirscope and ensure betterimplementation.

“In the case of the Protec-tion of Human Rights (Amend-ment) Bill 2005, the cabinet hastaken on board all suggestionsmade by the parliamentarystanding committee,” Ministerof Information and Broadcast-ing P.R. Dasmunsi told report-ers after the cabinet meetingchaired by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh. The movewould ensure proper function-ing of the national and statehuman rights commissionsthrough changes in the criteriafor selection of its heads.

Further widening the scopeof the national human rights

commission, the amendmentwould allow it to take up casesreferred in courts in additionto the present system of mak-ing inquiries suo motu or onthe petition of the victim oron behalf of the victim. Theamendments in the JuvenileJustice (Care and Protectionof Children) Amendment Bill2005, approved by the cabi-net, seek to provide better carefor children in custody by en-suring that they are not keptin a jail or lock-up along withany adult.

They also seek to treat childbeggars as vulnerable childrenrequiring special focus.

Expressing hope that boththe bills would be cleared byparliament during the mon-soon session, Dasmunsi saidthey would help ensure betterprotection of the human rights

and dispensation of justice.The parliamentary standing

committee has stated that thenumber of juvenile justiceboards and child welfare com-mittees constituted so far isinadequate to cater to those ju-veniles in conflict with law andin need of care and protection.

It has sought a definitetimeframe for the states toconstitute such boards.

An important componentof the amendment is that itwould raise the penalty forviolation of the clause pro-hibiting publication of thename and other identifyingdetails of the juvenile facingcriminal charges fromRs.1,000 to Rs.25,000.

The penalty fund is to beused for the welfare of the childunder supervision, the newamended draft legislation states.

India to strengthenchild protection, human

rights laws

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