Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
July 23-29, 2003; NOW! 1
1
GANGTOK, WEDNESDAY, July 23-29, 2003
EUROPETOURCALL FOR BOOKING:
TashilaTOURS & TRAVELS
94341-53567Telephone:
229842 / 222978
NOW!NOW!SIKKIM MATTERS VOL 2 NO 05 � Rs. 5
O f c o u r s e ! Yo u c a r e a b o u t y o u r f u t u r e ,B u t y o u n e e d s o m e o n e w h o c a r e s a b o u t i t e v e n m o r e . . .
Near Krishi Bhawan, Tadong
Gangtok. Phone 270876
Below Power Deptt, Kazi Road
Gangtok. Phone: 227917
Nayuma Building, Namchi Bazar
Namchi. Phone: 263919
e-mail: [email protected]
GET CUTTING EDGE
TECHNOLOGY
FROM
YOU SHOULDN’T BE A PART OF THE
I.T. REVOLUTION;
YOU SHOULD LEAD IT...
GOT BIG DREAMS???
OF ‘SEXED-UP’ REPORTSeditorial
HIMALAYAN OPTICAL CENTRE
A Premier Optical House in Siliguri
Since 1990
Mangaldeep, Hill Cart Road, Siliguri, Phone: 2433331
Authorised Dealer:
Computerised Eye
Testing, Spectacles &
Contact Lens Clinic.
GURUS ANDPEERS, ALL HAILBAICHUNG
NO WONDER WATER IS SCARCENOW! GOES DEEPER INTO THE MURKY RECESSES WHICH DENYGANGTOK ENOUGH WATER details in EXTRAS email NOW! [email protected]
Understand-ing what tofear
In April 1999, the FinanceDepartment signed an MoUwith the Government ofIndia. It committed itself topursue strict fiscal reforms.Such restraint, however, iseasier said than done.Specially for a bureaucracygroomed on financialirregularities.The Comptroller AuditorGeneral of India’s report onSikkim for 2001-02 ispeppered with gems of howgovernment departments inSikkim understand “fiscalreform.”� When the Finance Depart-ment notifies a 25 per centslash in Travel Allowances,our Departments shoot it upby a 3-year average of 74per cent.� A ban on purchase ofvehicles sees 211 vehiclesadded to the departmentalfleets.� A recommendation onreducing subsidies by 10per cent leads to a hike of2558 per cent!
No wonder austerity meas-ures remain so ambiguos inSikkim.
2; NOW! July 23-29, 2003
42
GANGTOK JULY 23-29, 2003
ED-SPACE
NOW!SIKKIM MATTERS
It ranges between an editor ofa “national” daily wanting tosee ULFA camps in Shillong
in the early ’90s, to SwamiDayanand Saraswati ofCoimbatore saying a few monthsago in Guwahati, in what seemedto be his perception of the Nagas’eating habits, that he had heardthat their state didn’t even havecrows, to Union Minister of Statefor Home Swami Chinmayanandcalling for Naga unity, inArunachal, a few days back.
This, unfortunately, happens tobe the degree of awareness thatsome mainland intellectuals andpoliticians display when it comes toissues concerning the North-east, beit its geography, social habits orpolitics. Only Chinmayanand seemsto have outdone himself, having re-cently visited Tripura and met gov-ernor DN Sahay, and not the headof the elected government, and thensaying that Chief Minister ManikSarkar had never informed the Cen-tre that insurgents from the NationalLiberation Front of Tripura [NLFT]had set up camps in neighbouringMizoram, when the status, accord-ing to the state governement, is ex-actly the opposite.
For now, Sarkar has said thatChinmayanand’s remarks mayhave been a result of his not be-ing aware of the position as hehad taken charge only recently.Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minis-ter, meanwhile, responded toChinmayanand’s statements asbeing “unbecoming of a Unionminister”.
Chinmayanand’s recent state-ments in the region have been at-
tributed to a “singular lack ofhomework” on his part. InArunachal Pradesh, for example,the Minister of State, while ad-dressing a BJP rally on July 11 inKhunsa, the headquarters of theTirap district, questioned the jus-tification of the state governmentlaunching ‘Operation Hurricane’to flush out Naga insurgents“when the Centre was trying tobring about peace with Naga in-surgents through dialogue”.
“The Union minister did thiswithout realising the fact that wehad decided to launch the opera-tion after consultations with theUnion Home Ministry’s Coordi-nation Committee on Security onMay 12,” says Kabang Borang,Home Minister, ArunachalPradesh. Militants belonging toboth the Isak-Muivah andKhaplang factions of the NationalSocialist Council of Nagaland(NSCN) have become increas-ingly active in Arunachal Pradesh,says Borang. “Recently they killedthe circle officer of Namtok.”
What Chinmayanand did notseem to be aware of either was thefact that all the states in the North-east have from the very beginningopposed the extension of thecease-fire with the NSCN to statesbeyond Nagaland. Manipur, forone, witnessed violent protestsagainst the Centre’s initial exten-sion of the cease-fire with theNSCN to that state as well. Anumber of people were killed inthe clashes that followed. “Wecannot tolerate activities of theNSCN in our state,” says Borang.
The Arunachal governmentnow plans to write to all newspa-pers and the Centre to appraisethem of the actual state of affairsas opposed to what Chinmayandbelieves, he says.
CHINMAYANAND’S FAUXPAS
Union Minister of State for Home Swami
Chinmayanand’s ignorance of North-east issues
draws flak
by PRANAB BORA &
AMIT RAY CHAUDHURI
Not to mention the Unionminister’s call for Naga unity inArunachal.
“We have never been a partof Nagaland and we will nevergive an inch of our land to anygreater Nagalim,” says Borang.“And the same can be expectedof all other states in the region.”
What Chinmayanand seemedto have ignored was the fact theissue of a greater Nagalim that theNSCN demands should includeall Naga-inhabited areas in theNorth-east under one administra-tive unit has also been vehementlyopposed by the other states of theregion. Any extension of thepresent cease fire with the NSCN(IM) to “contiguous” areas be-yond Nagaland is viewed as a de-facto acceptance of Nagalim bythe states bordering Nagaland.
Chinmayanand’s statement inAgartala, meanwhile, came in themidst of a controversy that hasseen Tripura and Mizoram tradecharges of allowing militants touse their respective states as a baseto launch attacks on the other.While Sarkar has made availablea list of camps which he says theNLFT operates in the Mammitdistrict of Mizoram, the state’schief minister, Zoramthanga hasrefuted all such charges, insteadsaying that militants of the BruNational Liberation Front (BLNF)were using Tripura as a base tocarry out operations in Mizoram.
Reacting to the Union minis-ter’s recent statement about theCentre being unaware of Tripura’sproblems, Sarkar said that thechief secretary of his state hadwritten to the Union Home Min-istry about the militant camps inMizoram on June 4 and on Au-gust 12, 2002. “The correspond-ence was done well beforeChinmayanand came to the Un-ion ministry,’ Sarkar said.(By arrangement with Newsfile)
The mainstream’s ignoranceof the northeast continues
Last week was World Population Day and India presented a chequered picture
with its 1.06 billion plus population.Though the population rate
has been successfully controlledby Andhra Pradesh, West Bengaland Assam, it has shot up in Bihar,Gujarat and Haryana. Over thelast decade, Bengal has broughtthe rate down from 2.2 per centto 1.6, Andhra from 2.2 to 1.3, andAssam from 2.2 to 1.7. Kerala’srate has dropped from 1.3 per centto 0.9. Bihar, on the other hand,has registered an increase from2.1 per cent to 2.5, Gujarat from1.9 to 2 and Haryana from 2.4 to2.5. The rate is stagnating at 2.3per cent in Uttar Pradesh and 2.5per cent in Rajasthan.
As the nation marks yet an-
related complications. It is esti-mated that every six minutes awoman dies during childbirth.Such a situation can, however, bemitigated with improved access tobasic health services. Persistentlyhigh infant mortality is also an-other major factor militatingagainst population stabilizationeven though a considerable de-
cline has been recorded in IMRin the past decades. A specialmention has to be made out forthe most populous states that arealso the areas of high infant andmaternal mortality and fertilityrates. Investments in health serv-ices are directly related to the rateof fertility, mortality and popula-tion growth.
The target free approach –dropping of demographic contra-ceptive targets, as also incentivesfor the contraceptive providers –need to be implemented in its truespirit. The conceptual frameworkmust be strengthened with a need-based approach involving the
The Mass And Mass Healthother World Population Day, thefocus should be on managementand governance of health servicesin smaller towns and rural districtsso that a functioning infrastruc-ture, caring manpower and avail-ability of medical help can addressthe needs for fertility regulation.A major challenge in the healthsector today is to provide quality,range and effectiveness of serv-ices throughout the country at theprimary, community and districtlevels.
Technological advances haveled to a rapid fall in the crudedeath rate, but this does not in-clude fatalities due to pregnancy-
DEEPFOCUS
RANJIT SINGH
community for planning andmonitoring reproductive and childhealth services. This means thatstakeholders at the panchayat,block, district and state levelshould all be involved in microplanning. It would also eventuallylead to the decentralization of themanagement in day-to-day func-tioning.
In the pilot areas, some degreeof financial autonomy andoutsourcing of scavenging andsanitation services to private sec-tor companies have made a re-markable difference in the generalupkeep. In certain areas NGOs areclosely participating in supportingcapacity building in the healthprogramme management.
In Haryana for example, over-turn to pg 4
Of “Sexed-Up” ReportsThere are many in Britain who feel that BBC was wrong ingoing ahead with a documentary which implied that intelli-gence agencies “sexed-up” secret dossiers to suggest thatIraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction. The documentaryand subsequent enquiry were followed closely by the media.Attention was drawn to the British Ministry of Defence con-sultant, Dr. David Kelly, as the mole referred to in the docu-mentary as the “intelligence expert” who spilled the beans.The limelight drawn on him forced Dr. Kelly to “apparently”commit suicide. Politicians and a section of the media evnsaw him as a traitor who weakened his country’s hand whileit was at war.Should BBC have gone ahead with the story?With regard to the first question, the answer is simple. ThePress is in the business of information and if it feels thatsomething needs to be placed in the public domain there isno compunction on it to suppress the story even if it goesagainst national interest. The media reports on events, it doesnot create them. National interest should have been a con-cern of those who “sexed-up” the documents, not those whoreported on it. The same logic extends to India when thosein power suggest that news of communal discord be down-played because they trigger further animosity. That shouldhave been the concern of those who created the situationand those who allowed it to happen. Of course, such newshas to be thoroughly whetted for accuracy. Here, BBC mightnot be entirely in the clear. Dr. Kelly is not an “intelligenceexpert,” he is a “biological weapons consultant”. While hemight have had access to secret documents, it is debatablewhether he was privy to information of their being doctored.This is a rather grey area and will perhaps be debated evenafter the British army withdraws from Iraq.The subsequent witch-hunt of Dr. Kelly, both in the corridorsof power and by the media, might have been excessive butcan hardly be deemed wrong. Aspersions were cast and thegovernment has the right to conduct an inquest on who leakedthe information. The media, too, is justified in its search forthe unnamed mole in a bid to verify whether the informationstemmed from a “solid source” or not. The government wasdefinitely wrong in leaking Dr. Kelly’s name as a possiblesuspect. Its enquiry on the matter proved inconclusive andto expose Dr. Kelly to media hounding was unjustified. It is adifferent matter that BBC has since revealed the doctor tobe its source and was fully justified in protecting his identitytill now. The government lacked such scruples. Even the jour-nalists who traced Dr. Kelly out are without blame. They weresearching for the truth and once an issue is thrown into thepublic domain, no side can complain when the media tries tofind out how deep the rabbit hole goes. Just because oneorganisation took a statement at face value, does not meanthat every news agency should have done the same.Fact remains that so long as the media does not “sex-up”information, they are in clear.
July 23-29, 2003; NOW! 3
Who cares for fiscal reforms?
53
UP-FRONTUP-FRONT
NEW BRANCH at Tadong Ph: 232881,98320-31547
MONSOON OF
FER!!! PC now at
unbelievable priceIntel Pentium 4 Processor - 1.9 GHz
128 MB DDR SD RAM, 40 GB HDD
48X CD DRIVE + 1.44 FDD
Compaq MV5500 Color Monitor (15”)
JBL Platinum Speakers with Digital Audio Port
Optical Mouse + Internet Keyboard
USB 2.0 Ports
AMD Athlon XP_Processor 2000
+ Quanti Speed architecture
128 MB DDR SD RAM, 40 GB HDD
48X CD DRIVE + 1.44 FDD
Compaq MV5500 Color Monitor (15”)
JBL Platinum Speakers with Digital Audio Port
Optical Mouse + Internet Keyboard
USB 2.0 Ports
Rs. 36,990/-
just for
Rs. 31,990/-
just for
AMBER Ent.on
ly a
t:
MG Marg, Gangtok.Ph: 220817 / 225116 / 228849 al
soat
our&
RUSH TO: Zed CA
Paro Building, Opp. Arambagh’s
NH 31 / A, Deorali Ph: 281039
Zed BonanzaZed Career Academy offers computer course in
Programming, Designing, Multimedia, Animation,
Dual Course, Auto CAD
All Under One Roof!All the more reasons to join Zed CA this July.
All fresh enrolmentswill get exciting FREE gifts
like Walkman, Camera, Digital Diary, Flasks, Watches
+ 10% Off
HURRY! LAST 9 DAYS LEFT!
GANGTOK: Few even recollectthat Sikkim’s Finance Department,with its lopsided revenue-expendi-ture ratio, had to enter into aMemorandum of Understandingwith the Government of India inApril 1999 assuring commitmentto a mutually agreed fiscal reformprogramme. The programme in-cluded measures to raise revenue,reduce expenditure through struc-tural adjustment and policy re-forms. All this to “stabilise” theState Government’s fiscal position.Although an Action Taken Reporthas since been submitted to theCentre, the bureaucracy appearsunwilling to change. Each depart-ment seems determined to outstripthe other in violating notificationsstressing more restrained spendinghabits. The Comptroller AuditorGeneral of India’s report for Sik-kim for year-ended 31 March 2002has some gems of bureaucratic ger-rymandering.
The CAG Report details thatalthough the State Government is-sued a circular “banning” expendi-ture on fittings and furnishings forall the 40 departments, a “testcheck” revealed that eight depart-ments [Buildings & Housing, Fi-nance, Home, Food & Civil Sup-plies, Police, Forest, Agricultureand Horticulture] went ahead andcollective spent a whopping Rs.1.17 crores in redoing their offices.
The ridiculous commitment tothe MoU continues in regard toexpenditure on Travel Allowance.The State Government, the CAGReport reveals, informed the Cen-
tre that it had notified all depart-ments to bring down TA by 25 percent. It did not, however, issue anynotification to the effect and whenthe Accountant General’s auditorswent through government records,they discovered that annual ex-penditure on TA had actually goneup by 74 per cent since the MoUwas signed.
The absurditycontinues with theState’s commit-ment [as made inthe MoU] to “ra-tionalise” subsidiesand lower them by10 per cent “acrossthe board.” TheHome Departmenteven issued a circu-lar ordering thesame. Now savourthis. Subsidiesstood at Rs. 1.07crores in 1998-99,the year precedingthe signing of theMoU. In the finan-cial year 1999-2000, when theMoU was first applied, subsidiessaw a phenomenal spike of 2558per cent and rested at Rs. 28.40crores! The next financial year sawa plunge to Rs. 2.02 crore and wasup the next year to Rs. 5.76 crores.Either the MoU was misunderstoodby our officers, or they simply didn’tcare. How else does one explain atotal increase of 1029 per cent insubsidies when the State was com-mitted to a 10 per cent reduction“across the board”?
As for the MoU-forced ban oncreation of new posts [imposed bythe State Government in June1999], in the three years since[covered till 2001-2002] 82 newposts were created.
With finances so tightlystrapped, the departments con-tinue to stretch out arrears [due tothem]. Major revenue earning de-partments did not even furnish theauditors with details of their pend-ing collection, which must haveforced the limelight on two -SPWD [Roads & Bridges] andSikkim Nationalised Transport -and reveal that pending collec-tions by these departments in-
creased by 62.45per cent in 2001-02. “The overalldeterioration inthe position ofarrears of rev-enue showed aslackening ofrevenue effortsof the State Gov-ernment,” the re-port records.
While thereseems to no re-luctance atthumbing thenose at the MoUon fiscal reforms,the departmentsappear veryt i g h t - l i p p e dwhen it comes to
sharing information of their ex-cesses. When the Auditor Gener-al’s office sent out questionnairesto 40 departments calling for de-tails on procurement and mainte-nance of government vehicles,only 28 volunteered the full infor-mation, seven [Agriculture, Elec-tion, Education, Forest, Horticul-ture, Home and Land Revenue]furnished partial details, whilefive departments [Irrigation &Flood Control, Art & Culture,
Power, Building & Housing andRoads & Bridges] did not evenrespond. The review covered theperiod from 1997-98 to 2001-02.
The MoU in question had ledto a ban on purchase of vehiclespost-1999. Sikkim assured com-mitment to the MoU and the Cen-tre agreed to extend financial as-sistance and deferment on loanliability. A circular in June 1999banned all new purchases.
Did the ban hold? Did anyoneexpect it to? Negative for both.
Between July 1999 to March2002, 34 departments procured211 vehicles at a total cost of Rs.7.78 crores. During the same pe-riod, 55 vehicles were auctionedaway resulting in a net additionof 156 vehicles for which the gov-ernment had to incur additionalexpenditure of Rs. 44.46 lakhs peryear [drivers’ salaries plus petrol].This, over and above the cost ofrepair and maintenance.
Should the ban on vehiclesbeen implemented earnestly, therewould definitely have been a short-age of vehicles. For this, the HomeDepartment notified that officialsof the level of Joint Secretary andbelow would have to share vehi-cles - one vehicle for three offic-ers. This pool system would havelimited the number of vehicles at adepartment’s disposal, but theCAG report reveals that whileFood & Civil Supplies Departmenthad 50 per cent more vehicles thanwas its share, Animal Husbandry,RDD and Education departmentstook the cake with 200% vehiclesin excess. Everyone, it appears wasassigned an official vehicle. Anavoidable expenditure of Rs. 2.07crores was incurred.
While some departments ar-gued that several officials rankedbelow joint secretaries had to un-dertake extensive field trips and
DEFINITELY NOT THE GOVERNMENT
DEPARTMENTS.
A NOW! report on how the bureaucracy has
carried out the State Government’s
commitment to pull back expenses,
boost revenue...
A notificationbans
expenditureon
refurnishingof offices.What do
departmentsdo?
Spend Rs. 1.17crores on
redoing theiroffices
-turn to pg 7
4; NOW! July 23-29, 2003
4
POWER PLAYPOWER PLAY
buy a PHILIPS
21” FLAT TV for Rs. 16,990/-
and get a Mobile Phone
worth Rs. 4,990/-
FREE
*Medal VCD
� Conditions Apply� Scheme at the Sole Discretion
of the Dealer� No cash will be given in lieu of
the Prizes� No Scheme on Mobile Phones
OFFER AVAILABLE ONLY AT:
1. Rajeev Electronics
P.S. Road, Gangtok
223779 / 223590
2. Rajeev Electronics Pvt. Ltd
M. G. Marg, Gangtok
Ph: 224879 / 221778
3. Rajeev Distributors
National Highway, Tadong
Ph: 231992 / 270583
4. Rajeev Electronics
Singtam, East Sikkim
233618 / 235202
SPECIAL PRICE
SAMSUNGWashing Machine
just for Rs. 6990/-& Rs. 11,990/-
FreeVCD Player* with
SAMSUNG 20 CTVfor Rs. 9,990/-
OFFER VALID TILL 31ST JULY, 03
Samsung 20CTV +
Samsung175 ltrs.
Refrigerator+ Medal VCD
Just for Rs. 17,990.00
(FREE CARPET)
GANGTOK: Chief MinisterPawan Chamling left for NewDelhi on July 21 to approach theCentral government on the issueof providing the Limboo andTamang communities in the Statewith reserved seats in the StateAssembly now that they havebeen declared Scheduled Tribes.
Mr. Chamling is being ac-companied by a high-level delega-tion comprising of his Cabinetcolleagues, legislators and seniorofficials. The Chief Secretary, SWTenzing, is also accompanying theChief Minister.
The delegation, led by Mr.Chamling is expected to meet the
Prime Minister Atal BehariVajpayee and the deputy PrimeMinister LK Advani on 23 July.
Mr. Chamling is expected toplace the proposal for increasingthe number of seats in the StateAssembly for the existing 32 to40, under the provisions of Arti-cle 371f (f) before the Centralleaders.
“This has been necessitatedafter the inclusion of the Limbooand Tamang communities in theScheduled Tribes list and in or-der to provide them with seat res-ervations in the Assembly, whichis rightfully theirs,” Mr. Chamlingsaid in the State Assembly on Sat-urday.
Addressing the House on theconcluding day of the two-day
special session of the Assembly,Mr. Chamling said that while theCentral Government has frozenAssembly as well as Parliamentseats till 2026, this should not beapplicable on Sikkim due to itsspecial provisions. “Article 371Fof the Constitution makes specialprovisions for Sikkim for inclu-sion of different communities andfor delimitation of Assembly Con-stituencies,” he said.
Article 371f (f) of the Consti-tution states: “Parliament may, forthe purpose of protecting therights and interests of the differ-ent sections of the population ofSikkim make provisions for thenumber of seats in the LegislativeAssembly of the State of Sikkimwhich may be filled by candidates
belonging to such sections and forthe delimitation of the AssemblyConstituencies from which candi-dates belonging to such sectionsalone may stand for election to theLegislative Assembly of the Stateof Sikkim.”
Mr. Chamling, was however,categorical in his reiteration thatthe 12 seats meant for the BLs inthe Assembly “will remain intact”and there was “no need for theBhutia-Lepcha community to feelinsecure” over the issue.
Other issues that are likely tocome up during the meeting of theCM with Central leaders are bor-der trade with China via theNathu-La Pass and discussing thelogistics and infrastructure re-quirements of the State in this re-
380 village women, some whohad until recently a veil over theirfaces, are today spearheading amajor social change in the healthsector for empowering ruralwomen. Similarly in UP, rapidprogress is being made in improv-ing health-care services focusingon the over 8,00,000 populationliving in the urban slums ofLucknow.
Here the emphasis has beenon rationalization of existinghealthcare delivery structures andinstitutions with optimum use ofmanpower. Several health facili-ties that were in disuse or run-down, were consolidated, merged,restructured and manpower re-deployed.
The need to optimize the avail-able infrastructure can hardly beoveremphasized. More often thannot, the use of these facilities remainssub-optimal due to lack of desiredmanpower, operating equipment andsimple consumables. By simply pro-viding some element of financial andmanagerial autonomy, it has beenseen that such facilities are put backto good use.
The challenge today is to im-prove the ‘governance’ of thehealth system by involving all sec-tions of the community –public,private and NGOs to achieve thebetter health of the people.
Contd from pg 2
The MassAnd Mass
Health
gard, the demand for granting oftribal State status to Sikkim, di-rect taxes issue and the delimita-tion process in the State. At anearlier Press conference, the ChiefMinister had also mentioned thatthe visit was also to thank thePrime Minister and colleagues forhaving delivered on the StateGovernment’s demand for reo-pening of Nathu la for trade withTibet Autonomous Region.
a NOW REPORT
CM to petition Vajpayee for increase in Assembly seats
NOW!CAN BE REACHED
AT 270949
Post for Accounts Clerk va-cant. Educationalqualication: B. Com. gradu-ate. Addittional Qualifica-tion: Computer savvy. Paynegotiable as per experi-ence. Apply in person withhandwritten application en-closing xerox copy of certifi-cates to Baker’s Cafe.
WANTED
July 23-29, 2003; NOW! 5
FROZEN
5
RECAP SIKKIMRECAP SIKKIM
&&&&&
GIANTS of the Industry
SBI & MARUTI
present
Car Loan Maha Mela
CHECKLOWESTEMI= Rs. 1712/-
STATE BANKOF INDIA
Personal Banking Advance Centre
NH 31 A Cintury Bhawan
Gangtok
Contact: Mr. P. T. Bhutia
Ph No: 221165
ENTELMOTORS (Pvt.) Ltd.
AUTHORISED MARUTI DEALER
6th Mile. P.O. Tadong, Gangtok
Sikkim - 737102
Phone: 231828, 231950, 232059 & 232341
Fax: (03592) 231950
email - [email protected]
Time: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM; Venue: Entel Motors
Maruti Forever Yours Extended Warranty Policy is available at all Maruti SuzukiDealerships. Prices vary according to the model / variants and are subject to change.
RUSH FOR:� On Spot Loan Approval
� Lowest Interest Rates@ 10.25%
� Longer Repayment Period (7 Years)� Spot Booking Facility Available
� Maruti Cars on Display at Entel Motors Pv.t Ltd.
� Most Transparent DealPlease carry the Documents:� Statement of Bank A/C for last 6 Months
� 2 Passport size photographs
� Passport / Driving License / Voter’s ID
� Residence Proof� Salary slips of the last 3 Months
(for salaried people)
� IT Returns of last two years (for self employed)
22, 23 & 24 July 2003
No processing and prepayment charges. Interest rates applied on reducing balance. Sub-
vention amounts on selected models. 30% Rebate on extended warranty.
GoldFree CoinsPLUS
Scheme not valid for Government vehicles, Maruti 800 cars and Maruti Gypsy
JORETHANG: Each time thekids here slurped on the orangeice-cream manufactured at a lo-cal ice factory owned by OngmuTakarpa and leased to SandeepGupta, they consumed not onlypotentially carcinogenic sub-stances, but also synthetic chemi-cals which could cause seriousdigestive disturbances or triggeroff Asthma. This ice-cream brand,already pulled up twice for usingbanned substances, has indulgedin adulteration again and the banthis time around appears perma-nent. On July 15, the Food HealthAuthority notified the ban of theorange ice cream produced by thesaid factory when it found it con-tain banned substances like Sac-charin and Sunset Yellow.
BB Rai, Senior Food Inspec-tor with the Health Department,
further disclosed that this was thethird time that health officials hadfound this particular ice cream tobe adulterated. He informedNOW! that even way back in1998, samples of this ice-creamfrom the two manufacturing unitsof the said factory, one located atJorethang Industrial Area and theother located in the main town,were found to contain Saccharin,an artificial sweetening agent anda colour called Sunset Yellow,which is not permitted by Preven-tion of Food Adulteration rules.
At that time the ban had beentemporary and lifted when officialswere assured that the adulterationwould not be repeated. The com-pany was found using these bannedsubstances again a year later and letoff with only a warning.
This year, tests conducted bythe Department revealed that notonly did the orange ice-creamcontain Saccharin and Sunset Yel-
low, but that the manufacturerswere using more harmful chemi-cal substances like Tartarzain andCarmoisin colouring agents tospike it.
Incidentally, Sacchrin is sus-pected to be carcinogenic [asusbatnce that causes cancer]while Sunset Yellow can causeserious digestive disturbances,swelling of blood vessels andcause “allergic-type” reactionssuch as asthma.
Dr. DK Subba, Principal Di-rector, Health Department cumFood Health Authority, points outthat the ban was enforced “in theinterest of the children” and as-sures that there is no doubt aboutthe contents since it was properlytested at the Public HealthLaboratory at Guwahati. While theban is welcome, it is a wonder thatthe company was allowed to sellsuch adulterated products for fiveyears before deciding on the ban.
by TINA RAISALESFood HealthAuthority finallybans Jorethang’sadulteratedorange ice-cream
GANGTOK: The recent decisionof the State government to in-crease seat reservations in highereducation and government jobsmay have been seen as a “histori-cal decision” by the Chief Minis-ter Pawan Chamling, but the re-action to it has been divided.
Mr. Chamling has justifiedthis decision as an “attempt” tobring the economically weakersections of the society, especiallythose belonging to the unreservedcategory in the State, at par withthe rest of the masses. He has alsoexplained that the rearrangementwas worked out after thoroughlystudying the reservation schemeprevalent in eight other states.
Accordingly, seat reservationsin higher studies for the ScheduledTribes has been increased to 31percent, Scheduled Castes-6 per-cent, OBC-21 percent, economi-cally weaker classes belonging toun-reserved communities-11 per-cent, 5 percent seats for childrenof government employees andthose from the business commu-nity and 26 percent on merit forlocal students with Sikkim SubjectCertificate and Certificate of Iden-tification. A similar structure hasbeen adopted in respect to reser-vations in government jobs withthe exception of the 5 per cent re-served for wards of government
employees, which has been addedto SSC or Certificate of Identifi-cation holders who now have 31per cent jobs reserved for them.
This move by the State gov-ernment has been generally re-ceived well by the social organi-sations in the State, specially thosebelonging to the earlier unre-served categories, while the op-position has come from politicaloutfits which have called it “illogi-cal” and “anti-local.”
Earlier, the Akhil SikkimChettri-Bahun Kalyan Sanghahad welcomed the decision of theState Government to provide seatsreservations for unreserved com-munities calling it a “historicalstep and a landmark decision.”
Now, the Sikkim NewarSangathan, too, has welcomed thedecision calling it a “major pro-poorpolicy” of the State government.
Durga Prasad Shresthra, vice-president, Central Committee,SNS, said in a press statement thatthe decision has obviously beentaken “with the objective to safe-guard and protect the interest ofthose poor people belonging tothe un-reserved category.”
“This decision to provide 11percent reservation in higher edu-cation and government jobs to theun-reserved category of the Nepalicommunity in the State will instilin the minds of the people belong-ing to this category faith and con-fidence in the present government.
This timely step taken in the rightdirection by the government willgo a long way in the developmentand upliftment of the poorer sec-tions of the Nepalese society in theState,” Mr. Shresthra said.
The response from politicalcricles has not been as jubilant.
Sikkim Pradesh CongressCommittee spokesperson KNUpreti has dubbed the revision“ambiguous”. The increased res-ervation quota of 74 per cent, ac-cording to Mr. Upreti is not onlymisleading, but also in violationof the basic principle of reserva-tion which is unlikely to stand thetest of a court case.
The Congress spokespersonhas also criticised the new structureon the grounds that it leaves only26 per cent of the seats for merit inthe open category. He has spokenof the confusion created by the 26per cent reserved for Sikkim Sub-ject Certificate holders. “Does thismean that 74 per cent of the reser-vations are outside the ambit of theSSC/ Domicile?” he asks.
He has also voiced fears that thenew policy will affect the prospectsof bonafide locals. He has de-manded a White Paper on the StateGovernment’s reservation policy.
Informed sources in the con-cerned departments explain thatthe new policy had to be an-nounced suddenly keeping inmind the admission season else-where in the country.
Mixed reactions greet newreservation structure
From “Historical” to “Ambiguous”
a NOW REPORT
6; NOW! July 23-29, 2003
6
IN THE ASSEMBLYIN THE ASSEMBLY
comes toSunshine
WANT 2 FLY? WANT A WING?? COME ON!!!
GET A
RUSH TO:
SIKKIM HYUNDAI6th MILE, TADONG, GANGTOK
sales: 232874 service: 232873
Sanjana: 98320-11592 (sales) Arnab: 98320-43536 (service)
GangtokThe
GANGTOK: The State govern-ment has initiated yet anotheramendment in the Sikkim Allot-ment of House Sites and Con-struction of Building (Regulationand Control) Act, 1985.
The Sikkim Allotment ofHouse Sites and Construction ofBuilding (Regulation and Con-trol), Amendment Bill, No 10 of
GANGTOK: Four Bills were intro-duced in the House during the two-day session of the state Assemblywhich was held here on July 18-19.
During the legislative businesson the first day, Minister for RuralDevelopment, GC Rai, introducedthe Sikkim Panchayat [Amend-ment] Bill, while the Sikkim Coop-erative Societies [Amendment] Billwas introduced in by the Ministerfor Cooperatives, KB Chamling.The Sikkim Allotment of HouseSites and Construction of Buildings(regulation and Control) Amend-ment Bill was also introduced. Simi-larly, the Sikkim Industrial Promo-tions and Incentive (Amendment)Bill was introduced by the ministerfor industries, PS Tamang.
Earlier, the day’s session be-gan with obituary references tolate Songpon Lucksom, an MLAin the first Assembly, who passedaway recently. Leader of theHouse and Chief Minister, PawanChamling and Opposition leader,Nar Bahadur Bhandari paid richtributes to the departed leader. Atwo minutes silence was also ob-
GANGTOK: The Sino-Indiandecision to resume trade overNathula is perhaps the biggestdevelopment for Sikkim sinceperhaps the merger. The jubilationover the announcement is under-standable and so also the ChiefMinister Pawan Chamling’s an-noyance with a lobby promotingJelepla instead.
Addressing the legislators atthe recently concluded 2-day As-sembly session on 19 July, theChief Minister Pawan Chamling,said that he was aware that therewere some who were opposed tothe Centre’s decision to chooseNathula over Jelepla.
“The Centre’s decision to re-establish trade links with Tibetover Nathula is a major achieve-ment for Sikkim and everyone inthe State should take a pro-activestand on it. We should be able toreap a rich harvest after tradingresumes from here. But there havebeen some disgruntled voices thatare demanding that the bordertrade with China be reopenedthrough Jelepla instead. This isdefinitely the handiwork of some-one from across the border inWest Bengal, who does not wantSikkim to benefit in any way. Theyshould remember that it will even-tually benefit everyone in the re-
gion,” Mr. Chamling said.Mr. Chamling’s reaction
formed part of his lengthy vote-of-thanks and in the end was the onlyspeech with masala at the two-daysession which saw no debates oruncomfortable questions.
Taking the opportunity to spellout some of the recent decisionstaken by his government and thejustifications behind them, Mr.Chamling said that the two-dayssession of the Assembly was calledbecause of the increase in the PlanSize for the State for 2003-2004which was passed in the Budgetsession of the Assembly earlier thisyear. The Plan Size, passed for Rs.370 crores during the budget ses-sion was subsequently hiked to Rs.405 crores by the Planning Com-mission, it is learnt.
Mr. Chamling said that thePlan fund would be spent on vari-ous welfare schemes and projects,while adding that the Central gov-ernment has already earmarkedthe money for specific projectsand schemes and assured that thefunds “would be spent accordingto the guidelines of the Centre.”
Mr. Chamling said that amongthe various projects that have beenearmarked, Rs. 1.2 crores wouldbe spent on improvement and con-struction of State roads while Rs.7 crores have been kept aside forthe Voluntary Retirement Scheme.
The money for all welfareschemes and projects in the Statewill now be distributed through thepanchayats as part of the decen-tralisation drive initiated by thegovernment, Mr. Chamling said.
2003 was tabled in the State As-sembly during its two-day sessionheld on July 18-19.
Minister for Urban Develop-ment and Housing, ThinlayTshering Bhutia, introduced the Billin the House, which seeks to “givebenefit to the genuine and deserv-ing regular Government servants asin the case of public in the matterof allotment of house sites.”
The Bill, which was unani-
“We have already started di-vesting maximum power to thePanchayats, so that the welfareschemes and benefits reach thepeople at the grassroots level di-rectly. This is also part of thepromise we made when we cameto power that our priority areawould be rural development.About Rs. 103 crores worth ofprojects will be implementedthrough the Panchayats,” he said.
While speaking about his gov-ernment’s decision to decentral-ise administration, Mr. Chamlingmaintained that for any democ-racy to flourish, it was essentialthat the administration is not con-centrated in the capital.
“We believe in decentraliseddemocracy so that governancelinks right up to the grassroots
a NOW REPORT
Chamling upbeat about Nathula, sees Rangpo-paari
hand in move to promote Jelepla insteadlevel,” he said.
On the opening of the NathuLa pass for border trade, Mr.Chamling said that his govern-ment would soon conduct a thor-ough study on all the logistic andinfrastructural requirements of theState and the arrangements thatneed to be put into place oncetrade via Nathu-La resumes.
“We will prepare a master planwithin the next few months andpresent it to the Centre,” he said.Apart from the infrastructural re-quirements of the State, the Statewill also press for a Gangtok-Lhasabus service via Nathu La, the CMsaid. The government is also in theprocess of identifying the key ar-eas and sectors in the State thatneed special attention for interna-tional trade, he added.
mously passed by the House, with-out debate, does away with clause(b) in sub-section (1) of Section 4of the Act, which says that “nogovernment servant who has notrendered regular service for a mini-mum period 12 years shall be eli-gible for allotment of a site.”
This would now mean that agovernment servant need not waitfor 12 years before he is allotteda house site.
No more 12-year waits for site allotmentsa NOW REPORT
WANTED
a2-bedroom
flat in anaround
Gangtok.Contact: 223307, 225119
served in his memory.Later, Mr. Chamling, who also
holds the finance portfolio, presentedthe first Supplementary Demands forGrants 2003-2004 in the House, theExcess Demands for Grants, 1998-1999 and the Excess Demands forGrants, 1999-2000 for considerationand passing by the House.
During the second day’s ses-sion, Mr. Chamling introduced theAppropriation Bill for the firstSupplementary Demands forGrants 2003-2004, the Appropria-tion Bill for Excess Demands forGrants for 1998-1999, and the Ap-propriation Bill for Excess De-mands for Grants for 1999-2000.
All four Bills, and also the fi-nancial Bills were passed unani-mously by the House, without anydebate. The lone Opposition, Mr.Bhandari was absent from the sec-ond day’s session. Conspicuous inhis absence was also ruling partyMLA from Assam Lingzey, TsetenTashi Bhutia who stayed away onboth days of the Assembly session.
Mr. Chamling also tabled theReport of the Comptroller and Au-ditor General of India for 2001-2002.
Business as usualat the Assembly
a NOW REPORT
July 23-29, 2003; NOW! 7
Public representatives told how Sikkim spends public money
15
RECAP SIKKIMRECAP SIKKIM
Business Partner:
Sikkim Software Solutions (Pvt.) Ltd.
New Market
Gangtok - 737101
Ph: 222665 & 222640
E-mail: [email protected] is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation in the US and/or other countries. Intel, The Intel
Inside logo and the Pentium are trademarks of Intel Corporation or it’s subsidiaries.
R-Series: Best blend of portability and essential features. Ideal for sales people.
T-Series: A balance of performance and portability. For the office, at home or anywhere in between.
X-Series:Extra-light, extra-small, ultra-portable notebook. Ideal for frequent travellers.
A-Series: A high performance desktop alternative. Ideal for people who need to carry work home.
NetVista A Series
Integrated Intel® ExtremeTM graphics (select models)
Available with Microsoft® Windows® XP
Range of optical drives (e.g., CD-RW)
IBM Rapid Restore PC (via download)
TCPA-compliant IBM Embedded Security Subsystem
2.0 (select models)
Range of optional flat panel and CRT monitors
Select models available with 3.06GHz Intel®
Pentium® 4 processor
Great technology and
affordable prices
OPPORTUNITYTO BECOME A NATURAL HOLISTIC HEALER AND
RECOGNISED DOCTOR IN 2 1/2 YEARS
DIPLOMA / DEGREE through regular classes as well as
correspondence courses plus 6 months internship and
practical training.
ADMISSION OPEN - 2003 session
for further information please contact -
MANI HIMALAYA ACADEMY FOR ALTERNATIVE
MEDICAL SCIENCES & RESEARCHCharter of Holistic Promotion and Allied Education Foundation
(Govt. Regd.)
Main Administrative Office and Hospital
Aarogya Dham, Champasari Devidanra Bazar
Opposite Junior School, Siliguri - 734403
Ph: 0353 - 2577187, 98320 - 95076
City Office:
Pradhan Nagar, Opp. SNT Godown, Siliguri - 734403
Ph: 2517976
For details contact:
Sai Homoeopathic Health Clinic
Upper Deorali, Gangtok - 737101
Ph: 280141, 9832013113
GANGTOK: The AccountantGeneral’s office in Sikkim is theyoungest in the country and on 19July, tabled its twenty-fifth Reportof the Comptroller Auditor Gen-eral of India [for Sikkim] in theAssembly. The report was for theyear ended 31 March, 2002.
But why do we need theseCAG reports?
AWK Langstieh, the Account-ant General [Audit], Sikkim, ex-plains the role of his department thus:“Since India is a democracy, the pub-lic controls public expenditure. Nopublic money can be spent withoutthe approval of legislature. The de-partments have to follow certain fi-nancial norms. Our office checkswhether these norms are judiciouslyfollowed or not. Our findings arethen tabled before the elected repre-sentatives of the people.”
Apart from bringing to lightvarious irregularities [picked forpublication depending on theirseriousness], the Accountant Gen-eral’s office also presents the re-port card on the Government’s fi-nancial health.
The verdict on Sikkim’s fi-nances is rather mixed in the lat-est report. While the State hasseen the injection of some imagi-native financial manoeuvring, thetraditional trouble-spots remainunresolved.
The Report informs that whilethe State Government’s assets in-creased by 19 per cent in 2001-2002, it also saw a relative in-crease in its liabilities by 14 per
thus required vehicles, the audi-tors point out that the Home De-partment notification was clear inits guideline that the Secretarywould assign vehicles from the“pool” for such cases and not pur-chase vehicles exclusively forsuch officials.
Department’s did not onlyprocure vehicles in contraventionto the guidelines of the HomeDepartment notification, they alsodiverted funds for the same.
cent. The liabilities came in theform of internal debt, providentfunds, remittance balances andloans and advances from the cen-tral government.
Interestingly, the State saw arevenue surplus in 2001-02 of8.59 per cent. This despite record-ing a fall in its share from publicaccounts and public debts. Thiswas balanced by a rise of almost3 per cent in revenue receipts,thanks mainly to the new on-linelottery deal.
The revenue surplus was alsomade possible by improved tax rev-enue and increased grants-in-aidfrom the Centre. Among the taxes,collection of Sales Tax saw the big-gest improvement, increasing from37.43 per cent of total tax revenuein 2000-01 to 43.40 per cent in2001-02. In overall performance,tax revenue saw an improvementfrom a measly Rs. 36.50 crores in1997-98 to a more respectable Rs.80.39 crores in 2001-02.
The revenue surplus notwith-standing, the “quality” of Stateexpenditure saw a dip in the pe-riod in question. Plan expenditure- the investment in asset creation- saw a dip from 20 per cent ofthe total expenditure in 2000-01to 12 per cent in 2001-02. The restwas spent mostly on establishmentcosts, maintenance and services.
Even when the State decides
on investments, it does so injudi-ciously. The State’s investment oncorporations, government compa-nies, cooperatives and banks seerock bottom returns. An interest-ing table in the CAG Report re-veals that returns on investmentsto the tune of Rs. 64.37 crores onsuch undertakings has plummetedto an abysmal low on 0.02 per cent.The crores that the State spends onsuch undertakings are often serv-iced from loans procured at a mini-mum of 9.45 per cent. As of 31March, 2002, such undertakingshad chalked up an accumulatedloss of Rs. 27.83 crores.
It is difficult for the State’s fi-nances to come out of the redgiven such a scenario.
The CAG report also tables in-cidence of irregularities in the finan-cial dealings of select departments.It is impossible for the 20-odd au-ditors with the AG’s office topresent a detailed study of everydepartment. Mr. Langsteih informsthat departments are normally se-lected based on their plan outlays.Bigger departments obviously getdrawn into the limelight. With ruraldevelopment being the admittedfocus of the present department,RDD gets a substantial outlay and
hogs the pages in this year’s CAGreport [await forthcoming issues ofNOW for more details]. Other de-partments short-listed for this year’sedition of the CAG report are Fi-nance, Home, Education, Food &
Civil Supplies, Land Revenue De-partment, PHE [see details in ex-tras], Irrigation, Power, Roads &Bridges, UD&HD, Tourism, Trans-port, SIMFED and STCS.
The findings of the report areprocessed by the Public AccountsCommittee, headed by a legislatoras Chairperson, which investigatesthe objections, gives the depart-ment a chance to respond and isthen expected to fix accountabil-ity and recommend action.
CAG report tabled; Sikkim’sfinances need more refining
a NOW REPORT
The 49th Day Kutse Shegu of Late Azey Bhutia (Loben Ani)falls on 29 July 2003. All friends, relatives and well wishersare requested to join us in offering prayers for the departedsoul at our residence at Sonam Tsering Marg (Kazi Road),Gangtok.All members of the Rinzing family take this opportunity tothank all those who stood by us at the time of our bereave-ment and regret for being unable to do so individually.
T. D. Rinzing, Brothers & Sisters, Tatang Building,Sonam Tsering Marg (Kazi Road),
Gangtok.
Kutse Shegu
UD&HD comes close to pullingoff the most ironic purchase byutilising funds set aside to easecongestion on capital roads to addone more vehicle to the streets.The CAG document informs thatRs. 3.15 lakh for a vehicle pur-chase was diverted from the pro-visions set aside for the construc-tion of a multi-storeyed car parkat Gangtok. Similarly, Roads &Bridges Department diverted Rs.10 lakhs from the budget to car-pet roads at Rimbi and Pelling toprocure two vehicles.
So much for fiscal discipline...
Contd from pg 3
Who cares for fiscal reforms?
8; NOW! July 23-29, 2003
Where’s the turn on the turnaround
16
FOCUSFOCUS
SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY(UGC Recognised)
Courses Conducted at:
University Center No: 1760
ADMISSION OPEN FOR DISTANCE EDUCATIONPROGRAMMES WITH REGULAR CLASS FACILITYDIT Diploma in Information Technology (6mths)
PGDIT PG Diploma in Information Technology (1yr)
PGDCA PG Diploma in Computer Application (3yrs)
BBA Bachelor of Business Administration (3yrs)
BCA Bachelor of Computer Application (3yrs)
BComIS Bachelor of Commerce in Information System (3yrs)
BScIT Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (3yrs)
MBA Master of Business Administration (2yrs)
MCA Master of Computer Application (3yrs)
MScIT Master of Science in Information System (3yrs)
MComIS Master of Commerce in Information System (3yrs)
MScEB Master of Science in E-Business (2yrs)
MScCS Master of Science in Computer Science (2yrs)
AVAIL SMART SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
ELIGIBILITY: For Diploma and Bachelors’Degree 10+2 passed/appeared (anystream). For PG Diploma & Masters’ De-gree: Graduation Passed/appeared (anystream). HIGHLIGHTS: UGC recognizedcourses world class study material providedby SMU, Lateral entry to eligible candidates,Regular class facility (2 hrs per day), Ex-cellent infrastructure, Highly qualified andexperienced faculty, Interactive lecturesfrom Manipal via VSAT, Placement assist-ance through Manipal and Smart Academy,Limited seats, Live projects and industrialtrainings, Admission on first come first servebasis.
SMARTACADEMY
c/o Capital Career Centre, Deorali, GangtokPhones: 281043 / 280313. [email protected]
2007 IS A REALISTIC TIME-frame for Nathula to get abso-lutely functional. Purely becauseinfrastructurally, both the coun-tries need to develop the nitty-gritties of the route further. It is2003 now, another 3 years of con-stant upgradation of facilitiescould make Nathula trade-ready.And that’s exactly where the prob-lem lies.
As per the draft agreement ofthe two countries, there are twophrases that intrigue me:1. “Chhangu of Sikkim State” or“Sheathing”2. “Renquiggang of Tibet Autono-mous Region..”
Now lets assume these twointriguing places have been geo-graphically networked. The ques-tion arises how can India, or letsbe even more specific, Sikkim,take full economic advantage ofthe same.
Not much. Why?Sikkim Transport Department
statistics update till 1999-2000gives us a glimpse of an irony.Revenue earned by buses in 1997-98 was Rs. 177.40 lakhs, in 1998-99 it went down to Rs. 136 lakhsand in 1999-2000, it marginallyincreased to Rs. 153.94 lakhs.During the same time-frame,trucks and tractors have earnedRs. 692.46 lakhs, Rs. 449.55lakhs and Rs. 591.08 lakhs re-spectively. Incidentally, duringthe same time-frame, goods car-ried in metric-tonne in units oflakhs varied from 192.35, 124.87and 119.32.
If existing trade flounders somuch, however much India ex-ports in terms of goods, where’sSikkim in the topography. That iswhere Sikkim needs a revenuemodel which could be a combi-nation of toll-tax, corridor tax, in-digenous export and trade fee per-
DIARY
TSOMGO
by PARNAB MUKHERJEE
carefully. At the very grassrootspre-dropout level, the ratiodoesn’t exactly translate to veryflattering figures.
In this backdrop, if you are toanalyse where Sikkim stands -what we must realise is that theinformation concerning the use-fulness of Nathula should also bespread more.
Let’s delve into the historic-ity of the pan. If you are to con-centrate on the origin, it is notNathula, but Jelepla that comes toour consciousness. Why?1. May 1888 - Tibetans attackedGnathang below Jelepla.2. 1886 - Tibetans escape andstruggle near Jelepla.3. Younghusband’s Lhasa trip viaJelepla opened the monopolytrading route and Jelepla’s14,350ft as opposed to Nathula’s14,140ft was further strategic.
However, Nathula scores overJelepla purely because trading isnow more about time consump-tion and on that front Jeleplawould be a longer route.
But that leads back to our ear-lier question - is this history, gen-esis known to even a Sikkim stu-dent - if not, then how would the
blueprint emerge?Moreover, post-Nathula, what
is the environmental impact oftrucks on Sikkim. Is the proposedtownship absolutely foolproof interms of environment? India’s re-mote sensing satellite 1988 [No-vember] is with some interestingenvironmental data. Analysing thedata reveals that Sikkim’s topog-raphy is under a pseudo-develop-mental cloud.
Let’s look at a cross tablegiven above.
The entire structure shows adevelopmental grid that raisesquestions. Is our Teesta plan fool-proof or between Kaoelharo,Tehri, now-forgotten Dulhasti andSardar Sarovar - is Teesta’s poten-tial being overstretched? WhyTeesta in a Nathula format?
It’s about the same old refrain.Is information available? Howeffective is that information? Cana proposed blueprint of the mapbe made public - map of develop-ing Chhangu area.
And yes, where is the eco-nomic turnaround blueprint ofSikkim?
My car turned from BabaHarbhajan’s Mandir to Tsomgotowards Gangtok. Yes, there wassmoke in the horizon. Maybe fogis a better word. At Dolma’supstair eating joint or that guywho takes a yak in front of youenticing a Rs. 10/- ride, Nathulais a distant reality.
I am a sucker for cliches.Here’s a poem by YehudaAmichai, Israel’s best knownpoet. He calls it “Still Marching”.
They are still on the march, thetroops;the distance between the shoeand the headis immense, without interim hope,and like a shadowless road.
And when they rest, the waterspillingfrom their mouths at the cornerstears more terrible than weepingand not mentioned in the papers.
And in the slits of cheated lips weseeremnants of hope, like the crumbsof a lost meal eaten in hurry
On the ground they lie when thenight comesEach covers with himself hisbaby’s shadowwhich is his twin brother, his foli-age also
I cling to that good luck laugh-ing Buddha charm - available forRs. 100 at Tsomgo eateries.
Car rolls on. Gangtok...Siliguri... Bagdogra... Trucks gopast Coronation Bridge. Wouldthey be Sikkim’s, I wonder, whenNathula happens?
That is the million Yen ques-tion, even if you discount the de-preciation.
Reserve Revenue % ofForest Block Total Total
Crop Land 0.00 750.56 760.56 10.72
Total Tree Cover[+3-+12] 266.74 790.57 285731 40.27
Lake/Streams/dry river[20+21+22] 95.60 42.30 137.90 1.94
Township [23] 0.30 3.24 3.54 0.05
Major Landslide[24] 5.37 5.16 10.53 0.15
centage to bolster a wobblingeconomy.
It may even bargain for more,because realistically, by 2006-2007, China has a catharsis on itshands. Chief Executive of HongKong, Tung Chee Hwahas to route Hong Kong todemocracy - else...
Else... Relations withTaipei suffer.
And the simmering discontentin Britain’s last colony could turninto a cauldron. As a result, theeconomic policies of Chinaloosen slightly. And in that largergame-plan, Sikkim needs to creepin. Creep in desperately.
If one were to go by thegrowth rate figures of per capitaincome at constant prices, Sik-kim’s showing is fairly dismal. In1995-96 it is 15.71%; in 1996-97- 11.18%; in 1997-98 - 14.37%and the downhill slide is arrestedfor 1998-99 at 6.13%. For 1999-2000, it is a freeze at 3.53%
Therein lies the crux.What percentage of Indian
income is Sikkim’s revenue slab?The generation of revenue
slab as per Sikkim government’sblueprint can be through the to-pography of Chhangu-Ranka-Ranipool and 15 Mile quadrilat-eral. What can be done are betterroads, creation of a modern ham-let/ township and a trade corridor.
But how much would it affectthe rural lot?
Not much.
As per Education Depart-ment’s statistics till Match 31,2000, the ratio of teachers to stu-dents or pre-primary is 1:30, forprimary stage [I-V] it is 1:17, forVI-VIII it is 1:4, for IX-X it is 1:10and for XI-XII it is 1:10.
Let’s look at the figure more
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL
Admission Notice: 3rd Batch: 2003 - 04 Session
B. Sc in Internet Science (3 Years)
B. Sc in Software Systems (3 Years)
� Application are invited from (10+2) passed / appeared candidates in any stream
or Graduate in any stream.
� Regular classes are held in authorised centres (ZED CA) under continous super-
vision of the University.
� Study materials are provided byu the University.
� Scholarship discounts will be given to meritorious students.
� Students appearing for compartmental exams are also eligible.
Prospectus and application forms available at: Zed Career Academy (Gang-
tok & Namchi) on payment of Rs. 200/-
Last Date for submission of forms:31 August 2003.
Course Starts: September 2003
AUTHORISED N.B.U. STUDY CENTRES IN SIKKIM.
GANGTOK:
Paro Building, Opp. Arambagh’s
NH 31 / A, Deorali
Ph: 281039
NAMCHI:
Above Dokham Hotel, Near S.B.I.
Namchi Bazaar, South Sikkim.
Ph: 264686
Diploma in Multimedia (1 Year)
July 23-29, 2003; NOW! 9
Delimiting the Divide
17
DESPATCHESDESPATCHES
IMPHAL: Far from being an ex-ercise in updating democracy, theproposed delimitation ofManipur’s 60 assembly constitu-encies is beginning to show theeffect that was expected of it in thefirst place: that of further dividingthe state’s two main communities- the Manipuris and the Nagas,who have for long been ethnicallypolarised. The situation has onlybeen worsened by the fact that the2001 census, which is to be treatedas the base for the delimitation,
Sikkim is not the only northeastern State unhappy
with the delimitation drive. Manipur, too, has seen a
lot of tension over it
by SOBHAPATI SAMOM
shows abnormal differences in thegrowth of population in the state’svalley and hill districts, the lattertraditionally being the strongholdof the Naga community.
Not surprisingly, while mostpolitical parties, including the coa-lition partners of the ruling Con-gress-led Secular Progressive Front[SPF], have opposed any realign-ment of constituencies, influentialNaga bodies have welcomed thedelimitation, with the United NagaCouncil of Manipur [UNC] warn-ing that opposing the delimitationwould greatly hamper the “integrityand aspiration of the people”.
“Seat allocation should beproportionate to the population inan assembly constituency in boththe hills and valley districts,” theUNC recently said in a statement.On the ground, that would meanSenapati, Chandel and Ukhrul,three of the state’s five hill dis-tricts, gaining five assembly seatsthree-quarters of an assemblyeach at the cost of three valley dis-tricts Imphal West, Bishnupur andThoubal that would lose five.
The commission has in-structed that the task be completedbefore October next year. Whilethat may be so, political paritiesopposed to the delimitation pointout that there are serious differ-ences in the growth of populationin the hill and valley districts.
Senapati, for example, shows anincrease from 2,08,405 in 1991 to3,79,214 in the 2001 census (upby 81.96 per cent), while Ukhrulhas risen from 1,09,295 to1,40,946 (28.95 per cent).Chandel, for its part, has recordeda population increase of 72.80 percent (from 71,014 to 1,22,714).
“The 2001 census needs to bereviewed thoroughly to check theartificial growth,” said KhaidemMani, member of the steering com-mittee of the SPF coalition. “Suchincreases are unreasonable.”
As opposed to the quantumleap that the population seems tohave taken in the hill districts, thevalley districts of the state haveshown only marginal increases of13.9 per cent, 14.52 per cent, 16.68
per cent and 19.16 per cent inBishnupur, Thoubal, Imphal Westand Imphal East respectively.
The steering committee of theSPF has now appealed to the Reg-istrar General of India [CensusOperations] and the Directorate ofCensus Operations, Manipur towork out a fresh report, said Mani.The state’s BJP unit too has de-nounced the delimitation on thesame ground, pointing out addi-tionally, that the present reserva-tion quota of 32 per cent wouldautomatically shoot up to 40 percent if it is to be accepted in thepresent circumstances.
For a state that has in recentyears been torn apart by strifesparked off by the Nagalim issue,one that envisions the bringing to-gether of all Naga-dominated areasunder one administrative unit, theproposed delimitation could, by allaccounts, set the stage for a freshround of ethnic tension in Manipur.[By arrangement with Newsfile]
Paryatan
STATE BANK OF INDIAGangtok Branch, MG Marg
Contact: R. Mazumdar / Kajol Ghosh
Ph No: 222824 / 220616 Etn: 25
(Tourism) �PLUS
ANNOUNCING
for those in theTravel Trade industry
LOANS and Special Schemes for
anything related to Tourismlike Vehicles and
Setting up Modernised Offices
GUWAHATI: For all the news-gathering they do, newspapers inthe capital of Assam could wellmake front-page news them-selves. With the Hindustan Timeslaunching in Guwahati in Marchthis year, the city now publishesseven English dailies, that, alongwith 13 Assamese, three Bengaliand two Hindi papers add up to atotal of 25 papers that hit thestands every morning. The Timesof India (TOI), which began witha ‘national edition’ from Calcutta,now has a satellite edition of thepaper from Guwahati. It becomesthe fourth metropolitan daily toenter the Guwahati market, afterThe Telegraph, Asian Age andHindustan Times, all of whomnow print local editions here.
The present 25, betweenthem, claim a combined circula-tion figure of over 6.5 lakh. Thiswould be in addition to the circu-lation of at least three dailies pub-lished from other parts of the state.
And just what keeps the in-dustry going?
With just about no local adver-tisements, and a few released fromthe metros, Guwahati being a sell-ers’ market largely, papers herehave had to depend on state gov-ernment advertisements along withthose released by public-sector or-ganisations such as Indian Oil Cor-poration, Oil and Natural GasCommission and Indian Oil Ltd,that have interests in the region.
The “cash-cow”, however, is thestate government, that puts out ad-vertisements worth over Rs 2.04
Guwahati Newspaperson a Roll...over
crore annually. However, given itspoor financial condition, paymentsfrom the state government are re-ceived in instalments, after a mini-mum waiting period of six months.And there is the North-east FrontierRailway (NFR), headquartered atMaligaon in Guwahati, that, accord-ing to its chief public relations of-ficer, Jayanta Sarma, released adver-tisements to the tune of Rs 1.76 crorein the last fiscal year alone.
The total revenue generatedfrom state government and NFRailway advertisements, though,is far below the requirements ofthe growing giant that the news-paper industry in Guwahati threat-ens to become. While PGBarooah, Editor, The Assam Trib-une, the oldest English daily in theState refuses to comment on thestate of affairs, others such asManoj Goswami, editor of thenewly launched OxomiyaJanaxadharan, won’t describethe advertisement market beyond“good”. Atanu Bhuyan, editor ofOxomiya Khabar, describes themarket as “very poor, due to thelack of industries in the region”.The Khabar group now also printsHT’s Guwahati edition.
The bottomline: while the
Guwahatian has been bombardedwith new papers quite routinely,he has also been witness to quitea few bowing out of the race. Inthe past ten years or so, at leastfour English papers printed inGuwahati have downed theirshutters. Some ‘frontline’ papershave diversified, investing inhigh-end clubs and restaurantchains in the country and abroad.
The 68-year old daily newspa-per business in the state that be-gan with the publishing of Batorifrom Jorhat in upper Assam in1935, received a shot in the armduring the Assam Agitation of the‘70s and ‘80s. The clout has onlyincreased - Prafulla Mahanta’s de-feat in the last assembly electionsin the state is attributed, amongothers, to his clash with AsomiyaPratidin, by all accounts the high-est circulated Assamese daily.
“Assam is a state that reads,”says JP Roy of Durga Agency, thebiggest distributor of newspapersand periodicals in the state. Oth-ers, though, aren’t so enthusiastic.
“Guwahati used to be a cityknown for its teachers,” says HirenBhattacharjya, poet and recipientof the Soviet Land Award for Lit-erature. “Today, students are morefamiliar with newspapers and edi-tors, not books and teachers.”[By arrangement with Newsfile]
Guwahati has a glut of dailies despite a severe lack
of advertisements. DEBASHREE DEY ADHIKARI
& JAYEETA SARKAR report
ADMISSIONS OPENSILIGURI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & TECHNOLOGY
(Affiliated by) ‘Dr. C.V. RAMAN UNIVERSITY, RAIPUR’under University Grants Commission
Govt. Registered
For Courses Like: BBA, MBA, BCA, MCA,MASS COMMUNICATION,LIBRARY SCIENCE, PGD in
FASHION DESIGNING, HARDWAREMAINTENANCE, BIO-TECHNOLOGY
and Many Other Courses
CONTACT:
29, SWAMIJI SARANI, HAKIMPARA, SILIGURI,
DIST. DARJEELING, WEST BENGAL.
PH: 0353 - 2532131, CELL- 98320 16308, 41865
RaymondS U I T L E N G T H , P A N T P I E C E S & S A R E E S
on
ly a
t:
O C M
Gautam - MafatlalBelow LIC Bldg.New MarketPh: 222238
SUGAM
AVAILABLEAT HEAVY DISCOUNT
10; NOW! July 23-29, 2003
DEVELOPMENTDEVELOPMENT
18
fresh everyday
ofSLICELIFE
PRESENTS
Life is like
a butterfly.
You can
chase it,
or, you can
let it come
to you
Ruth Brown
GANGTOK: The State govern-ment has constituted a high-powercommittee to prepare a masterplan for dealing with logistics andinfrastructure requirements of theState in light of resumption oftrade between India and Chinaover the Nathula.
The 16 July meeting, chairedby the Chief Minister, PawanChamling at Mintokgang, was at-tended by the Chief Secretary,Principal Secretary, Planning andDevelopment, DGP, PrincipalSecretary, Finance and PrincipalSecretary RDD. The meeting de-cided that the Committee bechaired by the Chief Secretary,SW Tenzing.
The meeting also agreed thatwhile the state should tap the op-portunities that the trade routebrings about, it should also be pre-pared to face the fallouts arisingfrom the cross-border trade. Man-power management, recruitmentof police personnel and counterintelligence were some of the is-sues that will be looked into bythe Committee in its first meeting.
Proposals for setting up a newtownship between 15th Mile andTsomgo on the Jawahar Lal Nehruroad for establishing warehousingfacilities was also floated duringthe meeting. Also discussed wasthe possible need to set up a newtown between Ranka andRanipool with similar facilities.
In order to avoid traffic dis-turbance in Gangtok, Ranka andRanipool may have to be linkedby an alternative road, it was felt.The State Government also de-cided that it will ask the Central
Government to include the ChiefSecretary to be nominated as Statenominee in Joint Action Commit-tee, which will be formed to fi-nalise the details on the bordertrade.
The meeting also decided thatthe State Government would im-prove rural connectivity wherein444 kms of rural road be built by2007 through Rural DevelopmentDepartment in a phased manner.The Central and the State govern-ments will share the cost of itsconstruction.
The Chief Secretary toldNOW! that the government willsoon issue a notification in thisregard, which will spell out theareas of responsibility of the com-mittee.
Meanwhile, the United Na-tion’s Conference for Trade andDevelopment (UNCTAD) is re-portedly in talks with the Stategovernment for setting up a WorldTrade Office, Center of Excel-lence, to help prepare Sikkim inmeeting the challenges of globali-zation.
“We are talking to the stategovernment about this project in-volving setting up a center tospread awareness about the WTOin the state and prepare it for meet-ing the challenges of the glo-balized world,” Veena Jha, projectcoordinator, UNCTAD has beenquoted as saying.
Although the State govern-ment is yet to confirm this, reportsindicate that the Centre will sup-port the state’s ministries of Indus-try and Commerce, in particular,and policy makers in general,through researched technical in-puts, she said, adding the projectwould be finalized soon.
by SARIKAH ATREYA
State forms a “high-power”committee, UN offers Centre
of Excellence
PREPARING FOR TRADE OVER NATHULA RANIPOOL: The Ranipool Po-lice Station was inaugurated onJuly 17 by Chief Minister PawanChamling. Although a police sta-tion has been operating at
Ranipool since January 1990,work on the new three storeybuilding was completed on May,this year. Built on an area of 13.64square metres, the new police sta-tion has been made at a cost ofRs. 35 lakhs. The station has onehall, four rooms and two lock ups.
Addressing the gathering, Mr.Chamling said that the publicwould now feel more secure as thenew police station was in the heartof the town. The location of theRanipool Police Station is impor-tant because it was a major transitpoint for Gangtok-bound traffic.
a NOW REPORT
Ranipool gets a spanking new police station
4 SUICIDES,
ONE WEEK
a NOW REPORT
It has been a week of suicides. 12-year-old Passang TsheringSherpa, of Namchi commited sui-cide on July 12. His dead bodywas discovered by his fatherThendup Lepcha hanging insidehis room.
On July 17, Jai Bahadur, aged45 years and a resident ofChandmari area, committed suicideby hanging inside his room. On 18July 23 year old Romesh Pradhan,a petty businessman in Singtamcommitted suicide by hanging frommango tree near his rented house.The body of Goma Devi Subba,wife of Yuvraj Subba was founddead on July 19. In her early 30’s,Goma Devi was found hangingfrom a beam inside a cowshed.
July 23-29, 2003; NOW! 11
19
BUSINESSBUSINESS
DIRECT ADMISSION FROM GANGTOKStill you have time to get direct admission in ‘A’ GradeCollege in Bangalore, Nagpur, in B.Sc (Nursing),Hotel Mgmt, B.Com, BA (Journalism), Engineering(All Streams), B.PT, B.DS, M.B.B.S., B.CA, M.CAEtc.. Contact to Admission Co-Ordinator = Mrs. Dey,Tibet Road, Opp. Election Office, Gangtok - Ph:226510 (Res.) / 94341 53355 (Mob.). or PradipKumar, Rumtek. ph: 252225.N.B:- Pay only Rs. 10 Thousand by Bank Draft & Reserve your seat in Presi-
dency College & Reva Institute of Science, Bangalore (Balance in College).
LEARNFine Arts, Oil Paints, Glass Paint-ing, Fabric Painting, Pot Painting,Artificial FLower Making. Contact:Upper Arithang, Ph - 221587. mo-bile: 98320 33451
1000 Sq.Ft& 500 Sq.Ft.Vijaya Bank Building,Below Road Level
Contact:229835
GODOWNCOMMERCIAL
SPACEAVAILABLE
TUITIONSFor Maths & Physics For classesIX, X, XI & XII at Deorali. Contact:Ph 281039 / 221587 mobile:98320 33451
GANGTOK: Metroprints, theone stop destination for all kindsof designing and printing works,is ready with a new collection ofposters and postcards on variousdestinations in Sikkim.
To be retailed in the market inthe coming season, the productsare well photographed andprinted. Two posters showing apanoramic, wide-angle view of
HIMALAYANBOOK STORE
WANGDI HOUSE
SYARI ROAD
NEWSPAPERS
DIGITAL XEROX
S.T.D. BOOTH
& FAX
Post for Accounts Clerk va-cant. Educationalqualication: B. Com. gradu-ate. Addittional Qualifica-tion: Computer savvy. Paynegotiable as per experi-ence. Apply in person withhandwritten application en-closing xerox copy of certifi-cates to Baker’s Cafe.
WANTED
FOR SALE
1999 model
Maruti Zen in
excellent
running
conditioncontact:
9434174922
GANGTOK: “Realise yourdream car.” That has been the slo-gan of Maruti’s hardsell over thelast few months. Now, this oppor-tunity to own a car “instantly” isbeing offered to Gangtokians atEntel Motors at 6th Mile. The first“Maruti-SBI Car Loan MahaMela” began on 22 July, Tuesday.The three-day Maha Mela willconclude on Thursday, 23 July.
The Loan Mela has been pro-jected as the coming together oftwo giants of industry, SBI andMaruti Udyog, a collaborationfrom which, they claim, the con-sumer can only benefit.
Going by the response, theMela seems to have got off to agood start. Within an hour of start-ing business, six cars had alreadybeen sold under the scheme.
Speaking to NOW! Guru T.Ladakhi, CEO, Entel Motors,said, “The main aim of holding the
Mela is to make vehicles afford-able to those who cannot affordto otherwise buy it. We are in facthelping them get their dream car.”
According to Gopal Chettri,AGM, SBI, Gangtok-branch,more than 30 inquiries had al-ready been received about theschemes and they were expecting
another 300 by the time the daywas through. Apart from on-spotloan approval at “Lowest InterestRates” of 10.25%, the schemesoffer the longest repayment periodof upto seven years. While thedown payment for the vehicles is15%, in a special incentive forteachers, it has been lowered to
10% for them. Little wonder thenthat some 30 teachers from oneschool are contemplating drivingout of entel in their own cars be-fore the scheme ends.
Also on at Entel is a gold coinscheme which was launched onJuly 12 and will continue till Au-gust 11.
a NOW REPORT
When giantsjoin hands
THE CAR MAHA LOAN MELA IS A HIT
GIFT-PACKED MARUTIS ANYONE? Prospective buyers understand the Car Maha Loan scheme at Entel Motors, Gangtok
a NOW! pic
Khangchendzonga from NorthSikkim and from ChewaBhanjyang, West Sikkim comeswith names of all the peaks alongwith their heights marked. Theposters costs Rs. 15 each and arequite attractive.
Postcards are also available ofthese ranges. Holy lakes of Sik-kim, various images from NorthSikkim etc. make up the rest ofthe set of seven postcards. A pic-ture pack costing Rs. 15 has tenpages of photos depicting differ-
ent aspects of Sikkimese life andlandscape.
Gangtok in a Nutshell, with anartist’s impression map of thecapital done by Pankaj Thapa, hasbeen reinvented into a smaller for-mat with a new list of servicesavailable in the state.
“It’s been very satisfying, es-pecially since this time I have hadtotal control over the final prod-uct,” says Manoj Aggarwal ofMetroprints. Most of the photo-graphs have been taken by Manoj
a NOW REPORT
SIKKIM IN 4-COLOURhimself who has also designed theposters and postcards.
With this lot of “Promote Sik-kim” publicity material ready tohit the market, Manoj is busy withhis next venture, glamour and stu-dio photography. His fully digitalstudio has been equipped withprofessional lights and other ac-cessories to provide the completerange of options for family pho-tographs and portfolios.
GANGTOK: Getting and stayingconnected is getting easier every-day. Sancharnet Cards, a facilitythat offers the subscriber a newinternet connection without tedi-ous paperwork is now availablein Sikkim. This was disclosed ata press conference by the GeneralManager [BSNL], MK Seth, on21 July, Monday.
Inaugurating the SancharnetCards, Mr. Seth explained thatthrough this service a subscribercould now get an internet connec-tion without the earlier lengthyprocess of filling forms, issuing ofdemand and advice notes andsending the connection order toSiliguri. Now a subscriber can takethe connection instantly by depos-iting Rs. 540. While this connec-
tion will be for a period of 100hours, free internet connection willbe given on Sundays and NationalHolidays and during off-peakhours between 11pm till 8am.
BSNL is also introducing theWebfone Card, a facility throughwhich a customer can make inter-national calls to USA, UK, Ger-many, Singapore and Canada atjust Rs 4.50 per minute. There aredifferent tariffs for the WebfoneCard: Rs. 1080 for 6 months, forRs. 540 for 4 months and Rs. 216for 3 months. These cards are atpresent available at the Head PostOffice and also available atSiliguri, Bagdogra, Darjeeling,Kurseong and Kalimpong.
Using the occasion to furtherpromote BSNL services, Mr. Sethsaid that BSNL coverage in Sik-kim has increased so much that15,000 customers are already reg-
istered with another 15,000 on thewaiting list.
“People want to switch overto BSNL from other private com-panies because not only do weprovide proper services, but wealso cover rural areas likeDzongu, Dikchu, Upper Tintek,Sumbuk, Mangan and also be-cause we are much cheaper thanother companies,” he said.
According to him, the demandfor BSNL connections has in-creased over 50% in the last oneyear with most of the rural areasof Sikkim having been covered.Mobile centres have been put upat places like Geyzing, Ravanglaand Namchi. Responding to que-ries on bad connectivity he saidthat BSNL has installed addi-tional exchanges in the Statewhich should help decrease traf-fic congestion.
a NOW REPORT
The net just drew closer
12; NOW! July 23-29, 2003
Published by Lt. Col. (retd) P. Dorjee and printed at Choice International, Daragaon. Editor: Pema Wangchuk. Now! Near Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong. East Sikkim. ph: 03592 270949 email: [email protected]
SPORTSSPORTS
20
WOODEN PARQUET
FLOORING, HERITAGE
SURFACE TEXTURES,
VISTA FLOOR FASHIONS,
MARBLEX SUPER VINYL
FLOORING, WALL PAPERS,
SPRAY POLISH, PVC VINYL
FLOOR TILES & WOOD
PLANK TILES
For Best Flooring
CONTACT:TIKA ENTERPRISES, Near Krishi Bhawan Gate,31 A National Highway, UMA Cottage, Tadong. 737102
Ph: 231394 & 9832096499
For Best Flooring
GANGTOK: “I have always toldevery person who has coachedBaichung that his header is thestrongest weapon in his arsenal,”said Karma P. Bhutia, SE, Trans-port Department, Baichung’s“mentor”. And, it was a header inthe 54th minute in East Bengal’squarter finals clash against Indo-nesia’s second-best club, PersitaTangerang, that eventually took hisclub into the semis of the ongoingLG Asean Club Championship.
Baichung soared over hismarker, beat two defenders and thegoalkeeper to take East Bengalahead. A controversial penaltyawarded to the home team 12 min-utes later, apart from giving the In-donesians the equaliser, alsoforced an uncharacteristic reactionfrom Baichung - he slapped oneof the Persita Tangerang player andwas shown a yellow card.
Mr. Bhutia is convinced thatit was a Persita ploy to irritate himon the field to upset his concen-tration and force him out of the
Gurus and peers, all hail Baichung’s feat
AMBER,
MG Marg, Gtk.Ph: 228849AMBER Ent.
only at:
OFFER
AMBER, now with anothernow with another
MONSOON for
No Lucky Draws
No Lucky Coupons
Take Home A Free GIFT! with
EVERY REFRIGERATOR!!!
with every purchase ofREFRIGERATOR get a
Dinner Set FDinner Set FDinner Set FDinner Set FDinner Set Free!!!ree!!!ree!!!ree!!!ree!!!(28 Pcs.)
Offer Valid Till 15 August 2003
& AMBER Convoy Ground
Tadong. Ph: 232199
* Rs. 3000/- Discount on 300 Ltr Frost Free Refrigerator
match. “Teams at the tournamenthave identified Baichung as thedanger man and have two playersmarking him all the time. Tobadger him with some soccersledging could be a ploy to dis-turb his game,” he said.
The clubs know, whom tofear. A reborn Baichung is find-ing the net with frightening con-sistency. His goal in the quarter-finals was his sixth in threematches making him the leadinggoal scorer in the tourney. His fivegoals against Philippines ArmyFootball Club [which East Ben-gal won 6-0] is a tournamentrecord and even more special be-cause it took his teams to the quar-terfinals. East Bengal soared intothe semis downing PersitaTangerang [2-1], which could notutilise the packed home crowd atDjakarta to its advantage.
Commenting on Baichung’srecord feat, Manas Chakraborty[Baichung’s coach during hisschool days at TNA] said thatBaichung, apart from being a skil-ful striker, is also a born leader.“His five goals boosted the team
morale and convinced them thatthey could win. Not an easy taskfor the club’s first foreign tourna-ment,” he said.
Mr. Bhutia, who missedwatching the quarterfinals clash,said that the 5-goal haul [telecaston DD Sports] was a treat towatch. “I think that he is playingfor the right team and is under theright guidance of coach SubashBhowmick,” he said.
HT Basi, Joint Director, Sportsand Youth Affairs, a renownedfootballer himself, believes that theBury FC stint was the best thingthat happened to Baichung. “Inju-ries might have benched him of-ten, but the professionalism heimbibed has improved Baichung asa player. He is a much more ma-ture footballer now,’” he said.
Sherap Lepcha, Baichung’sone-time mate, was all smiles afterBaichung’s record run. “Baichungis certainly peaking. I knowBaichung knows no fear. This fear-lessness married to his natural skillas a striker and nose for goals is akiller combination. God help theIndonesians now,” he said.
a NOW REPORT
